Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Jimmy Carter served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.

Jimmy Carter aspired to make Government “competent and compassionate,” responsive to the American people and their expectations. His achievements were notable, but in an era of rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and continuing tensions, it was impossible for his administration to meet these high expectations.

Carter, who has rarely used his full name–James Earl Carter, Jr.–was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Peanut farming, talk of politics, and devotion to the Baptist faith were mainstays of his upbringing. Upon graduation in 1946 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. The Carters have three sons, John William (Jack), James Earl III (Chip), Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff), and a daughter, Amy Lynn.

After seven years’ service as a naval officer, Carter returned to Plains. In 1962 he entered state politics, and eight years later he was elected Governor of Georgia. Among the new young southern governors, he attracted attention by emphasizing ecology, efficiency in government, and the removal of racial barriers.

Carter announced his candidacy for President in December 1974 and began a two-year campaign that gradually gained momentum. At the Democratic Convention, he was nominated on the first ballot. He chose Senator Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate. Carter campaigned hard against President Gerald R. Ford, debating with him three times. Carter won by 297 electoral votes to 241 for Ford.

Carter worked hard to combat the continuing economic woes of inflation and unemployment. By the end of his administration, he could claim an increase of nearly eight million jobs and a decrease in the budget deficit, measured in percentage of the gross national product. Unfortunately, inflation and interest rates were at near record highs, and efforts to reduce them caused a short recession.

Carter could point to a number of achievements in domestic affairs. He dealt with the energy shortage by establishing a national energy policy and by decontrolling domestic petroleum prices to stimulate production. He prompted Government efficiency through civil service reform and proceeded with deregulation of the trucking and airline industries. He sought to improve the environment. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands. To increase human and social services, he created the Department of Education, bolstered the Social Security system, and appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government jobs.

In foreign affairs, Carter set his own style. His championing of human rights was coldly received by the Soviet Union and some other nations. In the Middle East, through the Camp David agreement of 1978, he helped bring amity between Egypt and Israel. He succeeded in obtaining ratification of the Panama Canal treaties. Building upon the work of predecessors, he established full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China and completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.

There were serious setbacks, however. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the suspension of plans for ratification of the SALT II pact. The seizure as hostages of the U. S. embassy staff in Iran dominated the news during the last 14 months of the administration. The consequences of Iran’s holding Americans captive, together with continuing inflation at home, contributed to Carter’s defeat in 1980. Even then, he continued the difficult negotiations over the hostages. Iran finally released the 52 Americans the same day Carter left office.

For more information about President Carter, please visit The Jimmy Carter Library and The Carter Center.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

For the past week the cries of, “The Sky is Falling”, have littered the press. Well not literally the stories have been about the Russian balloon that floated over the continental U.S. and was shot down in the Atlantic. The intrepid or should I say insipid Congress Person Margorie (Traitor) Green has been screeching that Biden should have taken in down sooner, this was after prophesying that the balloon could have had nuclear warheads or chemical bio weapons. It would be nice if she thought before she spoke, if there had been any dangerous payload onboard, President Biden had ordered it shot down and subsequently lives were lost I can’t even imagine the volume of the outrage machine.

The facts of the story that MTG and her ilk don’t disclose is that 3 such balloons floated over the U.S. during dear Donald’s reign, or the fact that the first one Biden had shot down was blocked from sending any signals and actual data was harvested before it was destroyed.

Now the White House has stated that any discovered unidentified floating object will be safely and promptly dispatched. Thus, ending the story, right?  Oh NO not a chance… Now Fox opinion is just asking the question, “Is this an alien invasion?” Great now the moronic masses will be playing “War of the Worlds” scenarios out in there feeble minds.

I don’t believe we are being invaded and if we were, lets be honest we are screwed!! No movie plot where we are the victors is plausible because first as a species, we couldn’t get on the same page to mount a defense.

I do have a suggestion for the spy balloons, I suggest that we track them, hi-jack any data they have and upload a spyware virus and send them on there way. They get nothing except the bug in their system that forwards valuable intel back to us then corrupts their data completely. There you go problem solved… you are welcome.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

We all complain about the Radical Right and their apparent desire, as of late, to turn the clock back to the 1850’s or the Loud Left that some seem to think is taking the country on the road to socialism but neither if these are entirely correct about either end of the continuum. Yes there are shrill voices on the extreme edges and lately those opinions are the only ones that are heard. There used to be  middle ground but sadly that middle no longer exists, we have been push so far to the right that the current right wing would call Reagan, union busting corporatist Reagan, a lefty socialist.

In the 20th century in the 1930’s FDR was considered a leftist we he proposed the rich paying their far share and establishing a social security that would allow people to retire with some level of dignity instead of the destitution and squaller that had been the unfortunate norm for many during the early industrial revolution. The conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower after Truman upheld these afore mentioned social views and even held the corporate and ultra-rich to a top tax rate of 91%, and believe it or not they were still rich. Eisenhower supported unions and expanded the federal highway system. At the time these were the conservative policies, support the working man and American families and above all else build it in the United States. The democrats wanted to do more and move faster to an equalization of shared resources, the republicans weren’t totally against these ideals they just wanted to go slower.

Every political contest both extremes are always in a race to recruit the middle to try and control or regain a power advantage. Both parties know that there are far more centrist that those on the extremes but as I stated previously the center is no longer a choice between far left hippy communes and the gilded halls of corporate consolidation.

In the 1970s, post Nixon things changed. Media got involved Roger Ailes proposed GOP TV to the Nixon administration so that the republican party could control the narrative. Imagine if they had that in the 70s, Water Gate and Nixon’s crimes would have been whitewashed out of the public eye. Then in the 80’s the billionaire media magnate Rupert  Murdock started Fox, which initially lost money, with a plan. Reagan took away the fairness doctrine that said that both sides had to be equally represented. Then came cable TV, everyone wanted cable and Murdock knew it so he put FOX NEWs on the lowest tier of cable for no additional charge.

Can anyone guess what that accomplished? If you guessed getting his ultra-right message to the masses in the middle of the political spectrum, you would be correct.

Fox calling themselves News, although 90% of the content is opinion, flowed freely into millions of homes and business. This brand of rhetoric tipped the scales because the mute, malleable, masses took this so called news and gospel and the undeniable truth that many are too lazy to find out the real facts for themselves was a huge gift.

Why do I keep calling the masses MUTE, it is because the majority never speak up. They were taught as children that silence is the best option. Although we do have a contingent currently that is so resolute in there brand of B.S. that they will not bend from it… (this group is historically in the right)

The goal to control the middle has come down to rage vs results. Democrats try and get things done for their constituents while Republicans rage that the left are stealing and giving things away to the undeserving. It’s an Us vs Them scenario and the them is anyone that doesn’t look like they do or believe what they believe.

Time has come for the mute to speak up be less malleable, if you are left of center and believe that all should prosper, Speak up. If you are right then coherently support your position, don’t yell it someone else’s face and then refuse to listen. There is common ground we just have to be willing to find it.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   Another voice of elected political reason (?) on the issue of guns. This individual feels that the 2nd amendment is far more important to preserve and protect than even possibly his own life.How can anyone not see the importance of every person being able to go into a store and buy a gun without regard to training, knowledge, or mental stability be checked. 

  He does not like the idea that cars and ownership of a vehicle are likened to owning a gun. We all know that a car driven by someone that is impaired in any way can lead to an accident and possibly harm those in the immediate area of operation. A gun is a safe item that can kill depending on the type of gun miles from where the person that has that gun may accidentally or intentionally fire that weapon.

  So let us concede that the ownership of guns is a right not a privilege and that all gun owners are sane, not frothing at the mouth maniacs when someone tries to pry it out of my hands while I am still alive, and get on with the business of protecting the rest of us from this sane rational person. A license is required and a background check, and that is just so wrong. You need a license to drive a car, own a boat, get married, become a doctor, lawyer, plummer, electrician, druggist, teacher, pilot and other things as well, you do not need a license to become a politician, or a minister or an activist, all you need to able to do is know how to either relay information that has meaning and hopefully improve things, or how to shoot off your mouth and say nothing of value except that someone is trying to take something away or change the status of something and it displeases you.

   We have many among us that would limit freedom of speech because the words are offensive to someone. Destroy a book or cause a newspaper to go out of business because we do not agree with their point of view . The practice is called censorship and we have had many attempts to censor speech, literature, movies and public displays  because the content did not match the more vocal of the local populace. Words can and do hurt and harm and as a courtesy to others we should not offend just to offend, nor should we remain silent when we are assailed, but rather we should reply as best we can without being derogatory to others.

   When the issue is a gun, if you take the time and effort you will realize that the majority of gun owners view that gun as a problem solver. The use of the matter that is between the ears becomes nothing more than the reflected action of Aim and Fire. For some, using the gun is more fun than using what is between the legs, and far more exciting than using the matter between the ears.

   So let us get back to basics on the ownership of weapons with the requirement to make sure the possesses of said guns are not complete fools. You don’t like it but gun ownership should require the background check with a periodic review of both mental and physical, it should require a yearly license renewal with fee to go with it. That ownership should require liability insurance just like your own policy does as or owning a business does. The use of the gun for any reason should require a trial . If the result is a not guilty verdict then a hearing on wrongful death needs to be conducted as most of the deaths that occur seem to occur from intentional effort to kill not accidental. What will it prove, accountability for one’s actions, and were you smart enough to insure yourself from yourself knowing that the gun is going to make you take actions that a thinking person would not take.

  When we reach to point of far to many carrying guns then the odds are in favor of you either being the person that keeps someone else from going home or not making it home yourself, and oh what a wonderful world it will be your 2nd amendment rights have been protected and your family gets to make it without you cause your gun got in the way of your good sense.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

I am so tired of the moral minority crying, “but what about the children…” when it is an inflated issue of drag queen story time, teaching accurate history, a conversation about same sex relationships, any LGBTQ issues. This is the height of hypocrisy because when real issues that effect children happen all we get is “Thoughts and Prayers”.

Yes, I am going to rant again about the idiocy of our gun culture.

Let’s talk about the children … anyone remember Columbine, Sandy Hook, Stoneman Douglas, Uvalde? There are so many more, but I don’t want to depress myself for naming them all. In 2022 there were 153 school shootings in the U.S. It is only February and there have been 8 counting yesterdays shooting at Michigan State. The really sad part if the Michigan story is 2 known students of this, it isn’t their first mass shooter experience.  

What do we offer these traumatized children? Oh Yea “Thoughts and Prayers”.

More than 1300 children die annually from accidental gun shots and statistically 10-20 die every day by their own hand using a firearm in the home. So you can go pound sand with your thoughts and prayers and you can stop the mock outrage about protecting the children because that story isn’t playing well with those of us who pay attention.

Do something about the guns and if  your precious right to own one is the problem then control the bullets. I will gladly have a conversation with anyone who can adequately prove to me the damage or death toll that a Drag Queen story time or the topic of Sally’s 2 Dads has done.

Thought and Prayers don’t work, they don’t comfort grieving families, and they sure as hell won’t stop this shit from continuing to happen. So if you are actually worried about the Children then lets collectively do something to protect them and address the Elephant in the room. Sadly, our children would be far safer with and actual Elephant.  

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The 117^th House of Representative under Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a very narrow majority was able to accomplish a lot for the American people. Yes, they also held hearings to investigate January 6^th proving that when motivated the congress can walk to chew gum. Unfortunately if you are a Fox (so called news) watcher all you know about is the trial to besmirched Dear Donald the exalted messiah of the RED HAT mob.

The bills passed by the House exceed the number that Senate was able to push through to Bidens desk due to the 50/50  Senate and the Democrats having 2 spoilers in their ranks but the amount of actual work done was still impressive.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/01/democrats-congress-control-achievements-joe-biden This is a link to a Guardian article that breaks it down better than I ever could.

The question now is what will the Republican’ts under McCarthy do in the next 2 years. From what we have seen so far my prediction is absolutely nothing. So far, they have held hearing to place blame for their collective woes on others. They have an obsession with Hunter Biden, who I would like to add does not serve in the government, and the “lap top” no one seems to be able to produce. Lets what else are they crying about, CRT, which isn’t taught in any primary school curriculum, Drag Queen story time, M&Ms, and now the balloon controversy. Will any of those help their constituents? The simple answer is NO. It seems the goal is to stoke outrage and distract while by the cover of bull shit they can steal for the treasury and topple our Democracy.

Thankfully there is a majority in the Senate and President Biden, although old, with his hand firmly on the rudder steering this ship for now. Even with the minimal House majority that the Republicans currently hold my impression is that the circus has far to many clowns and now ring master. So, for the next two years not much is going to get accomplished. Sit back and watch the cavalcade of  lunacy, keep your head up, don’t give up hope.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR IN 2024 VOTE!!

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

It is time to hold both parties accountable for the failure to do the work of the nation instead of exercising their ego’s.

  Neither party has any room to push crap at anyone as both are rife with self preservation at the expense of the citizens of the collective United States. Fill the media with all the little tripe about how this one or that one is going to expose someone for yet another crime like spitting on the sidewalk.  The constant requests for money to block this effort or that intended bill when asked where all the money goes no one provides answers because it is lining the pockets of people that are making fools of us all for the sole purpose of getting richer.

   The time has come for all members of both houses and all persons occupying the halls of power at every level in the nation to pull their collective heads out of their third points of contact and realize no one put them in the positions they currently occupy to watch them act like kindergarten students on a sugar fix. They were put there to represent the people of this nation and do the work necessary to keep us safe, sound and moving forward. There are plenty of people and nations waiting to watch us descend into a cesspool of our own building and there is no reason for that to happen. Cooperation and seeking common ground are what has made us great, not bickering and divisiveness. 

   The most belligerent of the members of Congress should be censored and excused from all committees without exception. Additionally they should be put on notice that attempting to create problems will get them expelled and removed from their positions without compensation and without being allowed to hold office or lobby ever again.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

In the U.S. and numerous countries today is Valentines Day, a much touted Hallmark Holiday. A day of dating extortion that is satisfied with chocolate and flowers and, for most adults that participate, the hope of a mutual sexual coupling. There is a exorbitant amount of money spent to celebrate a Saint that I am willing to bet many have no idea the multiple origin of.

Here is an anthology from the History Channel.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Still others insist that it was Saint Valentine of Terni, a bishop, who was the true namesake of the holiday. He, too, was beheaded by Claudius II outside Rome.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and—most importantly—romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Hallmark and the Flower industries have highjacked the day, but I thought a brief history lesson couldn’t hurt.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

I am thoroughly entertained by this current Republican party continuing to walk into their own propellers while convincing themselves that they are the adults in the room. Case in point during the State of the Union President Biden, playing the role of Bugs Bunny in a old Looney Toons cartoon, totally Rabbit Season-Duck Seasoned the Republicans into on network television agree to take Social Security and Medicare off the books when it come to their hostage taking of the debt ceiling.

They are now holding absurd hearings that equate to nothing, their addled attempts to try and paint a negative picture of their perceived targets backfire leaving egg on their faces. Their flag bearers, Green, Bobert, Gates, and the rest of the clown car yell and witnesses like petulant children which even for the Trump faithful make them look foolish.

I have a question for the Republican’s, What is your agenda for your constituents? Do you have one? There has been no published Republican Party platform, at least not one I have seen since Twitler sat his ass on your golden throne.

As much as the Republicans, who by the way cannot call themselves conservative in the purest sense of the word, want to scream that the world is crumbling the numbers do not support their outrage.

Unemployment at 3.4% (numbers no seen since 1969)

Debt reduction under Biden $1.4 trillion

Gas prices are down after inflated increase due to Putin’s war in Ukraine.

The infrastructure bill passed and this year we will see that money going to work all of the country. Didn’t Trump promise infrastructure would be his top priority and even when he had both chambers nothing was done.

So now the Repiblican’ts have a slim majority in the House and what are they going to do, hold the country hostage over a debt ceiling that they gleefully increase any time there is a Republican in the White House. They said during the State of the Union that Social Security and Medicare where off the books, time to ask them what they are willing to sacrifice. I would list infrastructure projects in their states or the bloated military budget or ever their salaries as possible cuts if that’s they game they want to play. By all means continue to piss on the electric fence.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

  The determination of some in Congress to phase out and destroy Medicare and Medicaid need to be on the receiving end of the kick when that day comes. Let the voting populous have the opportunity to determine whether members of Congress are allowed health care because of their positions as elected officials. At this moment I think they should have all benefits removed, health care, retirements, protection, postage, flights, office staff of more than one and no such thing as leave or sick leave while a session is in.

  For every item on their agenda that removes public assistance two should be removed from their portfolio. We need to take back control of the Congress and how they do business and stop this ongoing posturing. If any of us, the public citizen, ran a business with all the internal strife that is common in the Congress we would have lost our businesses by now. If they can not get back to doing the job they were elected to do we should have the right to fire them, as would happen to us if we did not do our jobs.

  Our right to control was removed 60 years ago and the members of Congress have become more and more interested in what the party bosses and major contributors are versus working to serve the people that put them in office. They have also become wealthy with all of the favored information and contracts they have acquired over time. It is time to figure a way to reinstate the will of the people back into the operation of the Congress.

  The party that wants to rid our nation of these programs also wants to close the Post Office, close libraries, privatize education by putting it in the hands of religious institutions just to name a few of the changes they wish to make. Nothing seems too far for them to go in a quest to make sure we become a nation that provides abundant resources for the very wealthy and minimal resources for the common person. 

   At every turn there is another “reason” to take away a support system, a right or a vote and all in the name of what. Some things we do not need on our streets are assault weapons and people brandishing guns in general. If you want a gun and you are a sane stable person then you should be able to have it, carrying it with you wherever you go might be another issue. Guns do not make us safer as the use of said gun comes down to how well wrapped the loose wire that the gun is and if that person’s solution is to shoot and then check or the other way around. It does confuse me as to why I must register and renew my dogs license and yet that is not necessary on an annual basis with a gun.

   Is this country the most desirable on earth? Good question what with live shotter exercise in schools, police beatings and shootings everywhere and a congress that seems to agree on one thing and that is to disagree.