2022

Lee Abrams: The New Mainstream

America appears broken on many levels. In fact, the whole world needs therapy. The voice of sensibility is muted by the insane effects of uncertainty and unrest

The solutions to calm a crazed planet will likely emerge when institutions sync up with the realities of the new mainstream, led by independent thinkers with the knack of creating ideas that connect with the new mainstream. Some will be discovered and corrupted by the traditionalists while others will stay true and find ways to create change that’s in harmony with the era. Maybe a few will succeed. It’s the era of the big idea from the world changing Amazon’s or Musk’s to the more granular that merely change industries of all sizes

We’ll never return to the past but we sure can make the future more interesting with a chance for a return to mass optimism.

But we are in the time of average and an adherence to the old playbook being acceptable and even encouraged. All in a period of massive change. It’s why I use the term NEW mainstream. The old mainstream is a relic of past decades that defined what is average, yet media, is living in and targeting the old mainstream.

We are seeing it in aerospace, technology, distribution and some commerce. In most other areas, not so much. Information presentation (news) and media standing out as being locked into the past.

For example, in news, without new thinking being generated, organized and presented, informational insanity creeps in:

Mindless conspiracy theories fueled by social media. Some, if not most, are beyond ridiculous presented by “truthers.” Low IQ theater at its finest

Magnet news sources that draw individuals that may skew a certain direction, plummeting into the extremity mode.

Lies. Plain and simple. Amplified by compelling presentations along with the magic of photoshop and other modern transformation tools.

Safe and comfortable presentation/production at a time when things aren’t safe and comfortable…sameness in an era of change. One solution resides in the new ways of presenting information…that connects…to the new mainstream. New thinking. New approaches. Newness that touches the nerve center of the new mainstream. Marrying extreme journalism with extreme creative and unafraid of reality — the good, bad and ugly is one way.

In whatever the endeavor, the barriers of tradition are mighty and well defended, but the possibilities are endless for those focused over the horizon. 2022 will be a good time to bend culture into the shape of now.

To learn more about Lee Abrams, click here. And Lee recommends these links to better understand the need for change in media right now.

https://www.leeabramsmediavisions.com/the-future-of-tv-news

https://www.leeabramsmediavisions.com/blog?category=TV%20Video%20News

https://www.leeabramsmediavisions.com/blog?category=Leadership

WHAT JOE MANCHIN REALLY WANTS

None Dare Call It Treason

If you have been following the insanity of our government during the last six months, you surely realize two things. One, the rules in both the House of Representatives and Senate stifle progress. The current filibuster is being used to block deeply partisan bills. The majority party, currently the Democrats, could change or eliminate that canon but they don’t because they want to be able to use it when they become the minority. Two, any Senator can amass major power by using procedures to block their own party’s agenda. Is there anything good about that?

Joe Manchin has been acting the part of disrupter with a polite smile and soft shoe dances with reporters and party members. He has decided he must like the Build Back Better bill 100% before he will give his blessings. There is no compromise with Senator Manchin from West Virginia, and perhaps that’s true because he has a long-term plan, or someone else has a long-term goal for him. Someone wants Manchin to become our president.

Take this for what it’s worth, Joe Manchin is rich. Some say he is a five-million-dollar man. His campaign chest is full of gold and most of it comes from Big Coal, Big Oil and, specifically, Koch Industries. Joe’s state once made lots of money on fossil fuels but now, between the declining job market and a horrible opioid crisis, West Virginia has become depressed. Manchin might want to create the illusion that he’s more Republican than Democrat, but there are some major flaws in his strategy.

West Virginians would benefit greatly by the Build Back Better bill because it’s money and programs would solve many of their problems. Manchin talks about curbing inflation, which is a nice gesture, but the people in his state need the money and services now. I suspect his rap about inflation is for his donors not his constituents. Manchin keeps asking for less in the bill not because he’s being consistent, but because it keeps him on TV. Had he stayed with the number he presented in the beginning his routine would seem genuine, but his waffling is sabotaging a plan for things most Americans desperately need.

Manchin seems tone-deaf when holding up a domestic budget plan with talk about saving money for future needs like the Russian military buildup in Ukraine or China’s actions in the South China Sea. It’s almost like he’s being led by some dark Republican force to make Joe Biden look bad or weak.

Could it be that Joe Manchin has been convinced by Charles, the remaining Koch brother, that if he plays the game right Koch Industries will help him become president? A moderate who supports legacy energy sources would be perfect for a company that spends money to buy candidates and keep them loyal. They lean on their minions in Congress to stop anything they don’t like and they have the power to pass legislation that benefits their oil and chemical businesses. If you were looking for a “deep-state,” look no further than Koch bucks.

Joe Manchin showed his hand last week when he came out against the offshore drilling ban that Biden wants to put in place. Just think about this, West Virginia has no shores so how could that position help his state? It’s not for his home state, it’s for his bestie benefactors at Koch Industries.

I think Joe Manchin would be a bad president because he lacks the ability, will and moral core to be trusted. Oh, I don’t think he would sell secrets to the Russians, or Chinese, but I don’t think he’s for the people, He’s for Joe Manchin.

When Manchin blatantly came out against increasing the federal minimum wage, I wondered how can a guy who says he’s for making things better for the middle-class fight against them like that? I am no longer sold on his good old boy routine. He’s just another grifter politician who cares more about reelection than moving us forward as a nation.

If I was Joe Biden, I would call Manchin and tell him to stop with this shit, and maybe that’s what he did by issuing that scathing White House statement on Sunday. What that statement revealed, is that Joe from West Virginia is double dealing. “If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.” And they added some salt to the wound that Manchin has inflicted on his own party with, “Just as Senator Manchin reversed his position on Build Back Better this morning, we will continue to press him to see if he will reverse his position yet again, to honor his prior commitments and be true to his word.” What they are saying is that Joe says one thing to placate Biden, and another to get Fox News viewers root against Biden. There’s something very smelly about Joe Manchin.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

Great companies hire great people. This short, easy-to-read book will help you recruit, review and refocus your new workers into the style and culture of your company. Motivating people to do great work will manage turnover and keeping good workers at your company will maintain your success. Employee inspiration makes a positive difference in our competitive world. HOW TO HIRE GREAT PEOPLE covers everything, including testing, training, tricks and tips. Follow this guide and you’ll assemble strong teams with smart workers, and you’ll learn some time-tested techniques about how to keep them. Kindle and Paperback Click Here

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

www.thedreamwindow.com

Another book you have to read:

We knew that the great divide in America would have a major effect on the presidential election in the year 2020, but something else was lurking that we didn’t anticipate. The world suffered a global pandemic of Covid-19, and everything changed. The lockdown motivated one author to write MASHED POTATOES: Covid, Cancer & Comfort Food. The cover ironically claims the book is a “humorous” recollection of 2020, but one might ask, “Where was the humor?” This is a work of survival to motivate those who desire to get beyond Covid-19, beat cancer and defend our precious Democracy. Get it here.

WHY DO WE NEED A 1/6 COMMISSION?

Use the laws already on the books

All men and women are created equal, right? And all laws are applied equally to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, right? And should you be thinking we no longer have candlestick makers, look no further than the recent tornado disaster in Mayfield, Kentucky. It’s comforting to believe everyone has equal protection under the law and no high powers who break laws are treated differently than Tom, Dick or Harry. Unfortunately, that ain’t America, buddy.

I don’t need to review what happened in Washington DC on January 6^th of 2020. We all watched it live on TV and have now seen countless videos from multiple sources that show us in high definition exactly what occurred. So, why haven’t there been more arrests?

Yes, some 500 people have been found, booked, arrested and charged for their 1/6 crimes, including Proud Boys, MAGA loyalists and members of an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia they call the Three Percenters. Their name is styled in a variety of ways such as 3 Percenters, 3%ers and even III%ers, but their name is derived from the actual amount of brainpower they use in decision making. Okay, these goons have been given justice, but what about the perps who planned, promoted and pounded out the lies that led up to the riot?

As we are learning from the massive text dump that former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows released to the 1/6 Committee, it’s apparent that there were forces inside the White House participating in the promotion and planning of the protest that led to the Capitol insurrection. In a more perfect union, the motivators of the riot that caused loss of life while trying to prevent the solemn act of accepting the electoral votes would have already been arrested.

Those who urged the protestors to fight, an activity that goes far beyond our First Amendment rights, should have been arrested that very day. To my way of thinking, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Jr. and his old man should have been rounded up and tossed in the hoosgow. It’s clear we have two classes of citizens and we must hold hearings for the elite rather than charging them with conspiracy.

As people are subpoenaed to appear under oath in Congress, why must they go through an arduous process of committee actions, votes and political carefulness? If you or I did the same thing, just like the 500 minions who obeyed the orders of the orange-faced conman we would have already been tracked down and put in jail. Why not arrest the people who caused the riot? Death is death, crime is crime, and those responsible rats may never go to jail, but they certainly should not serve in office ever again.

The text messages and emails released by the committee this week do show that some pushed back, like Fox News “personalities” and inner circle and family members. They were urging Trump to do something to quell the riot, which in my opinion they are equally guilty of creating. Why are some Congresspeople’s names redacted in the evidence? Why this lack of transparency? We need to know which members of Congress were communicating with Trump and Meadows, whose text said the National Guard would protect the MAGA people the next day. Is this not evidence of treason? Mark Meadows shouldn’t be held in contempt of Congress; he should be arrested for seditious acts against the United States. Why are there two sets of books?

The QAnon guy who came to D.C. the day before the insurrection brought many guns and tons of ammo. He also sent a text message to his family saying he would kill Nancy Pelosi. He just got 24 months in jail. Why is Mark Meadows not serving time for plotting an incident to bring down the government? What the fuck am I missing here?

Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, who were outed by the emails and texts they sent during 1/6, went on TV last night to say they’ve been consistent in their reporting on the riots, but with many qualifications. Ingraham said she was against the riot, “but it wasn’t an insurrection.” She wants to live in a denotative world but turns to the connotative dictionary of lies to present her defense. She’s full of shit.

As for Hannity, he’s always been so far up Donald Trump’s ass I am sure his blood stream is 90% methane. They speak no truth about the Covid vaccines, even though they had the shots. Similarly, nothing they say about January 6^th it is truthful. I get it, they are carrying water for the loser and that’s on them.

Can we please get this behind us, America? Arrest the people who committed the crime, all of them. Don’t let one single asshole wearing a “Don’t tread on me” flag think they can shoot up a pizza joint or shit in Nancy Pelosi’s office and get away with it. We have fewer armed robberies in America because the penalty is tough. I live in Florida where armed robbery is a felony offense, and a conviction may result in life imprisonment as well as a $10,000 maximum fine.

If we only had caught him, we would have been tougher on that twenty-something guy who murdered his girlfriend, stole her van and quickly disappeared from his parents’ house than we are being with the perpetrators who tried to kill our Constitution. Why are we not arresting Mr. Meadows and making him answer tough questions? Maybe we should release him in a swamp and let an alligator bring him justice. After all, he is originally from Branden, Florida, the very same place where a large confederate flag flies along I-75.

It’s high time to stop the media frenzy. 1/6 is a crime we all witnessed. We know they were trying to overthrow the election; we have fat-ass Trump on tape asking for an election official in Georgia to do just that. Why hasn’t he been indicted?

When Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows say they will not engage with the committee because False Prophet Donald Trump told them not to, that is WITNESS INTIMIDATION, which is a crime. Will the Department of Justice please grow some balls? Remember, Republicans screwed the man running that department out of a lifelong job on the Supreme Court. Mr. Attorney General Garland it’s time to act.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

Another book you have to read:

BAD PARENTS, BAD RESULTS

Does it Start with Participation Trophies?

I never trust the advice a childless person offers about raising kids. Yes, that seems logical, but many of our child “experts” have never birthed, raised, or dealt with kids in any way. A child is a major responsibility, and after having four of them I consider myself extremely lucky. First, most of, my kids turned out to be perfect (canned sitcom laughter) and second, knock on wood, I have never had to turn one of my kids in to the police.

What happened at Oxford High School in Michigan this past week was caused by the confluence of a severely troubled child of fifteen years of age, his enabling parents and an inept school which, like most, is incapable of managing a worst-case scenario. As this case unfolds, we will hear how each part of that linkage failed. There will be protests and lawsuits while the press lambasts the system and the people, but no one will even scratch the surface of a bigger problem –– participation trophies.

I am sure you are asking what trophies have to do with this case. Let me explain. There was a time when we preached, hell, even Vince Lombardi was alleged to have said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing,” but he wasn’t the first person to say it. The statement should be attributed to UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell (“Red”) Sanders. This is not a recent quote, it’s from the 1930s when America was smack dab in the middle of two World Wars. Men were expected to be tough, to fight to win and, when facing a loss, take it like a man, congratulate the winner and get the off the field. In fact, the word champion means the last man standing on a battlefield.

Somewhere in the early 1980s, we started believing that everyone had to be appreciated and acknowledged for their contributions, even when losing. Someone came up with the grand idea of giving everyone a trophy to help their self-esteem. Great.

I was puzzled when seeing the kid’s room of a neighbor stuffed with of trophies and ribbons. Looking closer it became clear that young Johnny Smith was never on a winning team. Some of the ribbons said 9^th or 11^th place but most of the trophies were participation awards. Much to my surprise, the largest of the plastic medals said “Best Kid.”

Now I have no gripe against building up kids’ self-esteem and helping them develop confidence to go out into the world, but encouragement must never be based on half-truths or lies. I remember the day when one of my kids was singing in the car and I said, “Well, you’ll never have a singing career.” Mean? Perhaps, but that truthful line has been repeated back to me several times over the years and I always felt terrible. One might lecture you should never say any negative thing to a child, but I would hate my brilliant kid wasting her time trying to force a music career when her forte was writing.

I once coached a Little League baseball team and after a 20–0 loss said jokingly, “Well, that was worst game I have ever seen.” My joke didn’t land and one of the mothers complained, “When you tell them it was the worst game ever, they hear ‘You are the worst players’ and they take it hard.” I apologized to her and later in the season, when we won a big game, I told the kids they were the best. None of them went on to play high school baseball, but at the end of the season they all got participation trophies.

I have no doubt that James and Jennifer Crumbley are terrible parents. They gave Ethan, their fifteen-year-old child, a gun for Christmas. What kind of parents do that? What kind of mother sends a text to her son warning him not to get caught after he was found reading about ammunition on his phone while in class? Jennifer sent a “Don’t do it” text to Ethan after learning there had been a shooting at his school, and James rushed home to see if the gun was still there. The complicity of these parents only deepened when they withdrew cash from their bank account and holed up in a Detroit warehouse very near to a Canadian crossing point. What were they thinking? I am sure the border guards would have caught them because they were under an arrest warrant.

Maybe these parents deserve a participation trophy for trying to save their own butts, but they have scored an F in child rearing. Their lawyer said the gun was locked up. Okay, did Ethan have the key? How could Jennifer and James not have known there was at least some possibility precious Ethan had the gun in his backpack? I’m sure many questions will be asked about why little Ethan’s backpack wasn’t searched, but it’s too late for those he murdered.

Ethan was sent back to class, not because the parents wanted to help him but because someone would have had to watch him if he was sent home. Bad parents pass the responsibility of raising their kids to administrators, teachers and coaches, and bad parents keep telling their kid how great he is and brag about bonding with him at the shooting range. What are we teaching our kids?

Jennifer Crumbley is all about the glorification of guns. She even wrote a letter to former President Trump thanking him for fighting for her right to own and carry a gun. I am sure the former President bears no responsibility for the shooting, but he was an enabler of violence and a false prophet in so many other ways. So, time to think. What should we do about all this?

Josh Hawley, the idiot Senator from Missouri, has suggested we go back to traditional roles and values of masculinity and femininity, but what the hell does that even mean? Baby fascist Josh wants a participation trophy just for being a man. Let’s all give him a little pat on the head for making things worse.

It’s time to get the sick kids to doctors, and parents need to be more critical of their offspring. Stop boosting them up so much they walk around thinking their shit doesn’t stink. Emphasize what they do well and make damn sure they understand what they need to deemphasize.

My father would have been enormously proud if I had become a star on my high school varsity football team, but that didn’t happen. At 5’9” and 155 pounds, all it took was a 250-pound linebacker knocking me on my ass to convince me that being beat up wasn’t worth a participation trophy. I read a book instead.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

License to Kill (In America)
www.thedreamwindow.com

Another book you have to read:

WE CAN’T BRING THEM BACK

The maddening truth about school shootings

I’m certainly tired of talking about it but I will continue to state my case with all the certitude of a truthteller. We are all crazy and will continue to be crazy until “we the people” do something together, but it’s not going to be easy. As John F. Kennedy said, “(We) do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone…”

We have been postponing action against the curse of gun violence and school shootings for years. Some say that we just aren’t smart enough to find a solution. Others declare that the constitution is utterly sacred and we must stand behind the Second Amendment, even if it comes with the cost of our own kids getting killed. Still others exclaim that now is not the time to confront the problem. Really? We’re mourning the loss of more young lives, and this is not the time?

We might have a goal, but we are scattered. The other side is organized with money and power. We have no way to measure our energies because we haven’t done anything. We have nothing to show.

The breaking news bulletin hits and I look down at my phone to ask, “Was this that one or is this a new one?” CNN reports that in 2019, there were 45 school shootings in 46 weeks. The EducationWeek website states, “There have been 29 school shootings this year, 21 since August 1, 2021. A shooting on Nov. 30, in which a student killed four people and injured seven at an Oxford, Michigan high school, is the deadliest school shooting since May 2018. There have been 87 school shootings since 2018.” So, my friend, it’s not a hoax; America has a systemic problem. A murderous virus has infected our school systems and the bloodstream of education.

I watched a TV talking head say that authorities are thinking about charging the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the kid who killed in Oxford. Okay, yeah, let’s pour on some parental guilt, and while we’re at it let’s string up the gun salesperson and then heave lawsuits at the weapon manufacturer until they’re bankrupt. Don’t you see those are all stupid, unworkable ideas? We didn’t arrest the painkiller companies that created hundreds of thousands of addicts and, yes, that took the lives of some schoolkids. The CDC says that from 1999 to 2019, nearly 500,000 people died from an overdose involving opioids, including both prescription and illicit medications. Who was arrested, charged, tried, convicted and sent to prison for life? No one, not a soul.

Here’s my question. How did a fifteen-year-old kid in Michigan get an automatic weapon? The surfacing facts reveal the same pattern we’ve seen before. According to the Daily Beast, “Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore, was previously flagged by administrators for ‘behavior in the classroom that they felt was concerning,’ Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Wednesday. He was called in to talk with school officials on Monday and Tuesday. Then, his parents were brought into the school the morning of the shooting for a face-to-face meeting about their son’s behavior. Sheriff Bouchard wouldn’t say what the behavior was, and police weren’t informed about any potential issues prior to the tragic event.”

There you have it. They knew something could happen but did nothing to protect the other students. I always ask about metal detectors. Do schools have metal detectors? Should schools have metal detectors? Experts say that they don’t work. Okay, but we use them in many places, but the real problem, each door would have to have a detector and each security clearance area would need an armed guard. And educators think they would make students feel like they are in prison. Really? So, I guess being in prison is safer than going to school?

It’s been more than six years since terrorists shot up a movie theater in Paris, and more than 17 years since a mentally unbalanced fan obsessed with heavy metal music shot and killed former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and three other people during a show in Columbus, Ohio. Most sporting events and music concerts deploy full body searches and/or metal detectors to keep the high-priced talent safe. Why we cannot do this in our schools is baffling beyond belief. Here’s an idea, let’s put a mega-tax on every weapon and box of ammunition that goes into federal funding for security at schools?

While anti-gun activists focus on registration laws, which are farcical at best, everyone must understand that damage and death will ensue when a hormone enraged teenager gets his or her hands on a gun and ammo. America has laws that disallow teenagers to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes because we know their immature brains often make bad choices. Texting while driving kills people but many kids do it, just like their parents. When it comes to kids and guns, isn’t it time we force their immediate role models to take some responsibility for what their metal has wrought?

I support freedom, rights and all the other things the Constitution says we must protect, but nowhere does it say that a kid has the right to carry a lethal weapon. Obviously, Ethan Crumbley’s parents did not lock up the newly purchased weapon. Did the father teach young Ethan how to shoot the gun? Why was there so much ammunition in the home? I have a feeling we will eventually learn that many things that were thought of as ”insignificant” were totally ignored. It’s sad that Ethan’s parents didn’t see he was a troubled child with revenge in his heart.

I keep a sign in my office that I used during a protest in Florida after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. As you can see, it didn’t work and no one in America will ever ban guns.

One problem is mental health, but the reality of death is determined by a device. We either decide to control possession of that device or we’ll lose more and more freedoms, until we’re all carrying guns and searched everywhere we go. As I am going through my obligatory American grief right now, my mind is trying to render meaning out of this most recent tragedy.

The truth is we all are to blame. Perhaps one day we’ll have had enough to ask the one question I ask myself every day, what are we waiting for?

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

Another book you have to read:

BANG, BANG, WE’RE STUPID

**I told you this would happen!**

I cannot hold back when I see “intelligent” humans doing the same stupid things over and over leading to the same result, yet there are those who think I’m crazy.

Here’s the news that came across early this morning: “Travel doors slam shut as new Covid variant triggers alarm.” All of my research, yes, real research, made it clear to me that we would have an ongoing pandemic. Too many of us have been consumed with conspiracy theories that have nothing to do with solving problems. Now we have word of blocked flights following the discovery of an aggressive mutation of the Covid-19 virus, echoing previous emergency responses that triggered a global freeze on travel. This new variant is spreading quickly in South Africa and has the potential to break through the existing vaccines. Travel restrictions are already in place for the European Union and other major travel hubs. You were told, you were warned, but you disrupted school board meetings and fought against local mandates because that is what you thought would help your political future. You are nothing other than slimy, partisan bastards! You would rather look good to your party members, QAnon followers and big mouth idiots instead of protecting your constituents. Why?

The World Health Organization is meeting today to determine the degree of fear we will face this winter, but I want to know if the shots I received for Covid-19, all three of them, will protect me from this new variant. I no longer care about the mindless disbelievers; I now care only about my family and the specialists we need to beat this scourge. Stop selling anti-Fauci T-Shirts to raise money for your maniacal bid for more power. Step back and find out what this Covid variant means and whether you should, once again, close the cruise ships and curtail indoor gatherings.

The stock market is already speaking. I found it ironic when the announcers on the financial cable networks were greeting each other with “Good Black Friday.” Of course, they were acknowledging the day after Thanksgiving, but we all know that when markets collapse, the day of the week on which it happens gets that name — Black [Name of Day].

Europe is reacting now. CNN is saying Germany plans to declare South Africa a “virus variant area” as of Friday night, which will mean that German airlines may enter from the country only to repatriate German citizens. French Health Minister Olivier Véran said the “rapid” circulation of the variant in South Africa “means that it’s probably contagious or very contagious,” justifying France’s precautionary stance.

So, when do we act? President Joe Biden lives in an avalanche of problems, and now he has another dire situation on his plate. This could kill the Build Back Better bill because moderates will want to “keep our powder dry” in case we need to push out more money to our workers. If that South Africa variant, yet to be named, comes to our shore we could be right back to where we were one year ago. Cases are already rising in America due to vaccine avoidance and colder weather bringing people into closed spaces that help spread germs. THIS JUST IN, they named it, the new variant from South Africa: Omicron. Isn’t that a space man?

According to CNBC, “The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 900 points, or 2.5%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively.” Friday is a shortened trading day because of the Thanksgiving holiday, with U.S. markets closing at 1 PM. That’s the only good news on a day that might bring major losses in the leisure and tourist sectors. Meanwhile, pharmaceuticals soared, especially for those companies producing vaccines and medicines for Covid-19.

It’s time to admit we have been collectively stupid. Experts told us this could happen, but there are still half-wits who believe the coronavirus is a hoax. While these unaware citizens wave their anti-Biden, anti-Fauci, anti-mandate banners, they will be threatened the most by the next wave. They’ve already exhausted their karma on foolishness, and there’s limited luck during a global pandemic.

The errant politicians and spokespeople might not care about their money, but they surely want to keep the jobs they finally got back to. It’s time for all of them to cease all the bullshit and think about their children. The next variant could wipe them out. Is that what you want? While you piss and moan about your Second Amendment rights, what about our Fourteen Amendment? You know it? “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

American citizens deserve “equal protection,” even against a virus. I say to all you off-base politicians, shut up, use better sources and start following the guidance of experts. You may be idiots but I don’t want you to die. Why do you take such illogical risks?

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

Another book you have to read:

V IS FOR VIGILANTE

A Test for America

The acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha is only the beginning of an era of misaligned values producing too much fear and misinformation. Most have a short memory, but I don’t.

Some of us wanted OJ to get off, but his legacy now is that of a felon and murderer. Some believed Casey Anthony’s ridiculous story, and then looked the other way after learning that she partied while her baby was missing. We thought those cops in Los Angeles would surely be punished for almost beating Rodney King to death, I mean, we saw the video. But they were aquitted and the city burned.

We saw the video of Kyle Rittenhouse shooting an AR-15-type rifle, so no one disputes that he killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27. We might have forgotten about the protests on August 25, 2020, after Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, was shot seven or eight times in the back. That incident was also captured on video. No charges were brought against the officer because he claimed fear for his life. Defense lawyers said Rittenhouse, then 17, was acting in self-defense and described to the jury that baby Kyle was afraid he might get shot and was justified in taking lethal action.

I believe that Rittenhouse is a troubled, brainwashed kid who was playing out a video game scene called Kenosha. Now, he’s officially and legally relieved of any punishment for killing people.

The American legal system derives its power from a sense of justice for all. I’m sure that had Kyle Rittenhouse been shot and killed that night, police would have arrested the perpetrator who would have been tried, found guilty of murder and sent away for life. So, why didn’t that happen to Kyle? What is the difference? If the standard of self-defense can free Kyle, why wouldn’t it be applied to the protesters as well?

Just to make things interesting, let me ask this. What if Kyle was Black? Would he be a free man today? Okay, use your imagination but why do I feel like Kyle got off Scott free? Shouldn’t using a firearm to kill other citizens bring with it a penalty of some kind? Has this stark fact been lost in the mélange of legal arguments? After the verdict was read, Kyle’s supporters outside the courtroom repeatedly said that he shot in self-defense, but the perception of “self-defense” is in the mind of the shooter so how can we ever know what he truly felt?

I can hear it now. Well, my neighbor Larry had a spider crawling on his head so I had to shoot. It’s all so numbing in an extremely dangerous way. The same people who were fighting for Kyle’s dismissal are the very same people who believe ending a pregnancy is a sin –– strange world, odd values.

Very few, if any, African Americans have used the Stand Your Ground law to explain why they took the life of a white person. Could it be they don’t have high priced lawyers to explain this to the judges and juries?

The damn excuse pops up again in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased by armed white residents of a South Georgia neighborhood and then shot dead by one of his pursuers. “He grabbed my gun and I had to shot him in self-defense.” Really? The white guy had a gun, the African American jogger was unarmed, what did you expect him to do? Arbery was in a LIFE-THREATENING situation. This idea that he would overpower the aggressor, take his gun and shoot him is highly unlikely. How do we know? Because he didn’t overpower and now, he’s DEAD!

America is going to overdose on guns in the next decade because white people, African Americans and Asians now see if they are not armed, they could be the next victim of a senseless killing. When more and more private citizens think they need to get their vigilante on and shoot to kill, this country will become more dangerous, not less.

Then there’s that old maxim from the NRA, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” That’s total bullshit! It holds no value because each day we learn about people we believed to be good guys who actually are sick fucks like Rittenhouse. We don’t know who the good guys are anymore. A bad cop can get away with a lot of injustice before being nailed by a whistle blower or a bodycam that catches their true personality. The “thin blue line” people blindly get behind cops because they are afraid of the truth. In today’s world, bad guys have bigger guns than the good guys so the good guys sometime shoot before thinking. That’s not good.

The reality is we’ve got too many guns and too few common-sense laws to protect us from lunatics who own fearsome military assault weapons. FACT: it was against the law for Kyle Rittenhouse to purchase that rifle in Illinois, so a friend bought it for him. I am sure Rittenhouse didn’t know, but it was not against the law for a minor like him to carry that gun into Wisconsin and discharge it. So, let me see if I understand. It’s okay for the kid to shoot a gun he’s not legally allowed to own? Where’s the logic in that?

Rittenhouse has become a tool of the white supremacist and vigilante groups in this country. I believe his mother should be charged with reckless conduct for driving her minor son across state lines to a location she knew could turn violent, but no one is judging her parenting.

The judge ruled that the gun was a hunting weapon. Too bad the deer in Wisconsin don’t have a lobbyist. We’re supposed to respect the judicial system, although the judge bent over backwards to give Rittenhouse every advantage. I don’t respect Judge Schroeder at all. He should retire and go away, but this certainly cannot be the final word on Rittenhouse’s night of fun.

Young Kyle is currently making the tour of all the conservative talk shows and he will be paraded as a hero by those right-wing people who believe the election was stolen and it’s okay to kill someone you disagree with. I am not sure how I will react when someone says that it was a righteous kill.

Rittenhouse needs to know that karma is a bitch and payback will come. Do we want to live in a country where cops stand down while vigilantes kill people? It’s a short path between the reasoning that it’s okay to open fire to stop a riot and it’s justified to shoot up a school board meeting. The equation is simple: more guns + more hate + lawless vigilantes = more death. What about my self-defense? If I have no defense, then why would I even want to live here? What is the deterrent? Surely, not more acquittals.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

Another book you have to read:

THE CALAMITY OF KYLE RITTENHOUSE

American Justice on Display

It repulses me that a mother would permit, aid and abet her son to travel from his home state to another with a scheme of “protecting” storefronts with an AR-15 automatic rifle. I would never put my child in such danger but promoting the use of force and murder because of a disagreement with protesters, regardless of their cause, has to be the lowest point of parenthood.

I don’t know Mrs. Rittenhouse but I am wondering if she would like to go back in time to stop her son Kyle from going to Kenosha for a fun night of target practice on real live humans. Now we have a theory from his defense lawyers that 17-year-old Kyle was shooting in self-defense. I suppose it could be seen that way, but he did kill two protestors and wounded another.

The problem here is that Kyle carried a “legally obtained” and fully loaded automatic weapon to a site of known unrest. Why? We can debate whether the laws governing firearms in Illinois and Wisconsin protect citizens from misguided teenagers out for a night of protester poaching, but it’s tragic there are no federal guidelines on firearm registration for “hunting” or “sport” and which weapons may be used. Had Rittenhouse thrown hand grenades at the protesters we would have a different discussion, but the same tragic results.

We will know shortly what the jury decides in this case but judging by the conduct and comments of Judge Bruce Schroeder, the longest-serving circuit court judge in Wisconsin, it’s easy to see how he can place his hand on the scale of justice and force the jurors to consider his viewpoint just as much as the facts. Perhaps you find this disturbing, but it’s something judges have always done. Some even proclaim it’s their job to make sure the jury doesn’t get “fooled” by a wily prosecutor or slick defense attorney. That aside, it sure does seem like Schroeder would like to see young Kyle, the defender of all that is right, be acquitted.

This kind of stand-your-ground defense cannot explain to a loved one why their spouse, sibling or child is dead and will never come back. It’s based on a fear of the assailant. If one who kills was sufficiently afraid of another, then this self-defense excuse can be applied. But may I ask how scared can a person possibly be when holding an AR-15 in combat stance? Could it be that Kyle was targeted BECAUSE he was carrying a gun?

Kyle’s lawyers can talk about self-defense until the cows come home, but it’s nearly impossible for the prosecution to prove the killings weren’t self-defense. If Rittenhouse beats the charge, what does that say about guns and extrajudicial killings in American streets? Have we returned to the lawless wild west days of gunslinger vigilantes deciding who lives and who dies?

If the state loses the case, I urge them to appeal. This kid needs to understand that what he did was wrong. We should not coddle Rittenhouse like a “snowflake.” He’s a soldier of the “cancel culture” who used an automatic weapon to stop protestors. He’s not a victim, he’s the culprit –– the very opposite of law and order and certainly not a good role model for any kid who might be tempted to play the role of a cop. Might I also add that Kyle is a terrible actor? Did you notice there were no tears when he was “crying?” That was a B-actor desperately trying look like he was oh so bothered by it all. I hope he gets at least a couple of years in jail.

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

www.thedreamwindow.com

Another book you have to read:

THE MYTHOLOGY OF SPORTS

Necessary Diversion or Image Perversion?

My local newspaper ran an editorial the other day about Atlanta Braves’ fans using an old native American chant while making a motion of chopping. They said it was time to stop this offensive form of cheering.

I lived in Atlanta for more than twenty years and raised four kids as Braves fans. The article mentioned recent team name changes, like the Cleveland Indians baseball team becoming the Guardians and the Washington Redskins transforming into the Washington Football Team. The new Cleveland team name is derived from statues on a bridge and the D.C. NFL franchise revamp is the result of a total lack of creative thought.

American sports have continuously progressed and changed over the years for many reasons. In the early days of collegiate football, for example, helmets were not required and 19 players died from head injuries in 1905. The Chicago Tribune referred to that statistic as a “death harvest.” In that same year, the ranks of college players included 137 serious injuries, so, the National Collegiate Athletic Association was created to lay down some rules and policies intended to kill fewer players.

Over the years, teams on the college and professional levels have had some terrible names. The Baltimore NBA team was once named the Baltimore Bullets, which didn’t mesh well with inner city crime statistics. They became the Wizards when they moved to Washington. The first MLB team in Houston was the Colt 45s, named after the gun, not the beer. They are now the Astros, named after… a dome, I guess.

I still laugh when cheerleaders for South Carolina scream “GO COCKS!” on the sideline of their team, the Gamecocks. The Cincinnati Reds were once the Red Stockings because they wore red socks but wanting to avoid confusion with the Boston Red Sox they took on a new name, the Reds. In 1953, when the term “Reds” became associated with communism, the ownership changed the team’s name to the “Redlegs.” In 1959, the team returned to the name Reds once people realized that RED was a color and not a diabolical anti-American force.

For those not familiar with baseball history, the Braves started out in Boston under many names including the Beaneaters, Doves, Red Caps and even Red Stockings, but the team eventually settled on the Braves, first used in 1912 and then revived in 1941. It originates from the term for a Native American warrior. Over time, from Boston to their 12 years in Milwaukee, the team used a Native American theme in their logos and marketing.

During the 1991 season, the Atlanta Braves rose from being the worst team in baseball and ended the season playing the Minnesota Twins in the World Series. Although they didn’t win, something happened that year that electrified their fans. A woman who was a big fan of the Florida State University football team, the Seminoles (another Native reference) brought a foam tomahawk to the Braves game in Atlanta and began air-chopping and chanting to rooting for her team. Her actions were caught on TV and within days fans were mimicking her. The Atlanta Braves quickly exploited the opportunity by handing out hundreds of thousands of foam tomahawks at their games. The eerie chant and the chopping incited Native American protest groups, who were kept “safe” in a corral outside the old Fulton County stadium. I am not kidding.

Current Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he talked with the Cherokee tribes in that area this year and claimed they said they didn’t mind the gestures and singing, but where’s the research? I doubt the whole tribe likes the chant.

Deep-seated racial guilt may be at play when this kind of team spirit annoys white people. If hardcore fans were to admit these appropriations are wrong, they would be echoing and validating the BLM movement and Critical Race Theory. Scratching that itch might be too far a reach for those with a “we don’t care” conservative political bent.

Braves fans believe the chop and chant helps their team win, just like shortstop Dansby Swanson proclaimed on live TV that his savior helped him through the rough times of the season. Just about everyone has a talisman or superstition. The cheers of a baseball tribe are just another example of a belief system, whose actions might be “wrong” at times but can unify the flock. In the Braves’ case, the gathering of believers pay hundreds of dollars to watch, chant, cheer and chop. They don’t comprehend the offense.

There are religious beliefs and customs that offend me, but I’m not about to curtail someone else’s creed. It’s a different story when actions hurt people. Maybe Florida State, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Braves need to sign a peace treaty with their fans. Wow, I cannot believe that just flew out of my mouth. Things change when an institution signs a treaty and what was once agreed upon can disappear. Some get miffed saying they didn’t agree to the change and they never owned slaves so why should they pay.

Here’s another revelation of baseball history. The original minor league baseball team that played for decades in Atlanta was named the Atlanta Crackers, and the Atlanta Negro League team was the Black Crackers. Yes, those were the names! The color barrier in professional baseball and other American sports took more than 70 years to end. A bizarre racist aspect of American life was Freemen could not play the sport they loved. It was something every Black parent had to explain to their kids.

Many professional sports players were of Native American origin, from Jim Thorpe to Johnny Bench, who played for the aforementioned Cincinnati Reds. You can learn about them here. They had to fight to get into pro sports, as did African Americans. That is why we began calling them baseball “clubs,” but that doesn’t fix those with offensive imagery.

Times have changed. The ”N-word” was often used by players in the beginning of baseball before 1947. Major star Ty Cobb known as the “Georgia Peach” once said he’d quit if N****** were allowed to play. This is the same player who used to sharpen his spikes to hurt players he slid into, the white ones.

Racism was rampant in America in those days and so it was in baseball. We do progress each year and have fewer and fewer things to shame us, but I might remind you that the USA Women’s Soccer team had to sue to get equal pay. Has that happened yet?

The word “cracker” referred to poor whites, particularly those inhabiting the frontier regions, and it is suspected the term it was a shortened version of “whip-cracker!” Does that mean that a Black Cracker would be holding a whip? I am sure no one in Atlanta dwelled on this from 1884 to 1965, when the Black Crackers field was torn down and replaced by a Sears & Roebuck. Maybe back then, it was a joke, about poor white guys playing baseball. But today, the joke’s on them now because they are taking major heat on the chop and the chant. It may take fans a long time to stop that, but at some time we must ask why we can’t find inoffensive ways of cheering.

Why am I offended when someone yells, “LET’S GO BRANDON?” Oh, yeah, because it really means “Fuck Joe Biden.” Time for some whip crackin’!

Book for the Recovery – Build Back Better!

How to Hire Great People: Tips, Tricks and Templates for Success

New Modern Art – Doodles and Cartoon Website

www.thedreamwindow.com

Another book you have to read:

NO ONE WANTS IT!

Why is it still a thing?

America puts up with a ton of meaningless crap we don’t want or need. My job is to complain about stupid things that don’t make sense to me. Let me share just one aspect of life here in the good old USA that drives me crazy: Daylight Saving Time (DST).

I’ve written about this before, but let’s review. Daylight Saving Time was first enacted by the US Government during World War I to conserve coal. Let me add that this happened during a pandemic when hundreds of thousands of people were dying. Maybe they wanted something else to talk about.

Daylight Saving Time persisted in various forms at local and state levels until the federal government passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966. Two states, Arizona and Hawaii, don’t change their clocks twice a year. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Island, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands also do not mess with their clocks.

We are far away from the agricultural lifestyles of the early 20^th century. Most farmers will tell you they never saw any benefit when changing their clocks back and forth. They got up at the same time to do their chores no matter what the clock said. It’s now unnecessary to save coal by adding morning light from November to March. Some say it’s safer for the little ones going to school, but in the days before the fall-back clock change the kids are already catching buses in the dark. If DST is all about the kids, shouldn’t we have clock changes to keep them in light during December and January?

Time is not a perfect science. Some large landmass countries cheat the clock into a time zone they think is right for them. India is 9 hours and 30 minutes ahead of New York, and Japan. India and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not observe some form of DST because they claim daylight hours are similar during every season. For them, there is no advantage to changing clocks. For example, the difference between Boston and Detroit on the scientific clock is great. At times they could be a 48-minute gap between each other. Clearly, most of Michigan should be in the Central Time Zone. So, one might ask, are the time zones we constructed in America accurate? Why do state lines determine time zones? Perhaps before we debate the DST question, we should make five time zones for the 48 connected states.

The USA cannot even “brag” about this DST B.S. In 1895, George Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand, came up with the concept of daylight-saving time. He proposed a two-hour time shift, so he’d have more hours of summer sunshine to go bug hunting. Really? It was because he wanted to catch bugs?

Benjamin Franklin gets some credit for the idea of DST, though his recommendation was made in jest. In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, Franklin jokingly recommended the people get out of bed earlier in the morning to minimize the use of candles and lamp oil.

In trying to keep an open mind, I turned to Britannica ProCon.org. to see if they could explain why DST is good for us in 2021. Here are the advantages, according to them.

Daylight Saving Time’s longer daylight hours promote safety.

“Longer daylight hours make driving safer, lowers car accident rates, and lowers the risk of pedestrians being hit by a car. Economists Jennifer Doleac, PhD, and Nicholas Sanders, PhD, found that robberies drop about 7% overall, and 27% in the evening hours after the springtime change. They stated, ’Most street crime occurs in the evening around common commuting hours of 5 to 8 PM.’” Comment: Well, in my neighborhood the bad guys usually come in the middle of the night.

DST is good for the economy.

“Later daylight means more people shopping after work, increasing retail sales, and more people driving, increasing gas and snacks sales for eight months of the year (the time we spend in DST). The golf industry reported that one month of DST was worth $200 to $400 million because of the extended evening hours golfers can play.” Comment: Yeah, fine, but why not golf in the morning, and don’t forget that most Americans shop online.

DST promotes active lifestyles.

“When the day is lighter later, people tend to participate in more outdoor activities after work. Hendrik Wolff, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University, stated, because of DST ’people engaged in more outdoor recreation and less indoor-TV watching… An additional 3 percent of people engaged in outdoor behaviors who otherwise would have stayed indoors.’” Comment: Okay, I see this. People do walk after dinner when it is light, but please, it gets darker sooner in winter with the clock change so this is simply a glass half full. In winter, we hit the couch right after dinner.

But wait, since the website is Pros and Cons, let’s get to the Cons!

Daylight Saving Time is bad for your health.

“Changing sleep patterns, even by one hour, goes against a person’s natural circadian rhythms and has negative consequences for health. One study found that the risk of a heart attack increases 10% the Monday and Tuesday following the springtime change and researchers found an increase in cluster headaches (sudden and debilitating headaches) after the fall time change.” Comment: That’s bad.

DST drops productivity.

“The Monday after the springtime change is called ’Sleepy Monday,’ because it is one of the most sleep-deprived days of the year. The week after the spring DST time change sees an increase in “cyber-loafing” (employees wasting time on the internet) because they’re tired.” Comment: This is true. Why can’t we face the music and simply end this stupid chore?

DST is expensive.

“William F. Shughart II, PhD, Economist at Utah State University, states that the simple act of changing clocks costs Americans $1.7 billion in lost opportunity cost based on average hourly wages, meaning that the ten or so minutes spent moving clocks, watches, and devices forward and backward could be spent on something more productive. The Air Transport Association estimated that DST cost the airline industry $147 million dollars in 2007 thanks to confused time schedules with countries who do not participate in the time change.” Comment: Sure, ten minutes is not a lot of time but think of the millions of Americans climbing ladders to change clocks or having to use YouTube to find a video to help change the oven clock.

This might be a good time to thank the computer nerds who figured out how to calibrate all the tech so that the time changes pass without us having to do anything. This year, I woke up at 2 AM to see how my Amazon Echo would change its clock. I stood there and watched it tick from 1:59 AM to 2 AM, and then I realized, it had already changed to DST! Did it cheat and change right at midnight? I’ll never know and, come to think of it, I don’t care.

Most people will tell you they hate clock changing. If President Joe Biden wanted to get his poll numbers back up right now, he would sign an executive order getting rid of all this fall back – spring forward stuff. People would have parades for him, ask him to kiss their babies… ah wait, they wouldn’t, because if Biden did end DST there would an uprising from the Cult of Trump protesting the removal of something they don’t care about. They would probably invent a Critical Time Theory.

So, I’ll get back to reality now and not waste any more of your precious time. DST is just another stupid tradition that has been baked into our country and because we are so influential and powerful countries all around the world have adopted our mistake. It’s like the claim the cryptocurrency uses too much electrical current. But wait, is that even true?

According to the New York Times, estimated electricity consumption (terawatt-hours, annualized) the Bitcoin network uses about the same amount of electricity as Washington State does yearly, or more than a third of what residential cooling consumes in the United States and more than seven times as much electricity as all of Google’s global operations.

On the other hand, global wealth is estimated at just over $1 quadrillion but Bitcoin’s market cap is just over $825 billion. Bitcoin thus represents 0.0825% of global wealth but uses more energy than a state. If Bitcoin functionality requires that much computer power, then why is it a good thing for the world? If we end Daylight Saving Time, shouldn’t we also stop Bitcoin from burning through so many terawatt-hours? Those bitches!

With all the problems we must solve, I am sure no one will challenge our useless clock changes, but maybe someone should concoct a better idea. Even in the fall when I get an extra hour of sleep, I feel out of sorts. And in the spring, I feel tired and out of sorts. I am going to have to drive to the store to pick up some more “sorts.” I hope they aren’t sold out.