Before you ask why I am praising this merry band of whackos, maybe ask yourself the same question. Folks, politics have taken a wild turn in the last 12 years. Actually, make it 20 years! The Tea Party started all of this with the rise of “Republican” political types who simply voted NO on everything… ala Ted Cruz. I use air quotes because I do not think these types are actually Republicans, they must regurgitate the talking points on the TV. Then came Donald Trump, and the rise of the politician who actually did what he said he would do! It was also the rise of the MAGA movement, which I struggle to define as MAGA folks are all over the place and are typically only single-issue voters. President Trump winning and the rise of his supporters also gave rise to whackos on the Left side of the aisle.
Socialism sounds great until you run out of other people’s money
I call their movement MEGA. As in MEGA sized government. They have their supporters.
I recall the day when Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, was a left-wing whacko; however, the names above make him look almost sane. I think that is the whole point of his candidacy for President.
I work with someone who openly declares the above group needs to be voted out and shut up. This could not be more stupid, but when you can only repeat what info Sean Hannity gives you, I’m not surprised. Crockett is a nut, AOC is usually spouting off garbage that is not remotely true, and outside her enclave of New York City, she is basically unelectable. Omar loves defending Somalians who are ripping off our government; it’s actually quite laughable. None of those mentioned so far would bit’sllowed in the Democrat party years ago, but like the GOP, they have changed and not for the better.
Mamdani on the other hand is a totally different brand of crazy. One who may well take down some Democrats in New York and possibly nationwide. Mamdani ,during a heavy snow fall, did not open the warming centers in New York City. As a result, 19 homeless people froze to death. Maybe this is their way of handling the homeless now that their plans have mostly been exposed as a grift. Mamdani has now gone after the governor of New York, in essence, with a threat of a large property tax increases if she doesn’t levy a tax on billionaires. Folks, a tax on property will be devastating to New York City.
Check it out…
In 2026, the average annual property tax in New York City is approximately $10,311, with an effective tax rate of about 1.90% for a typical home. While New York State’s average effective rate is 1.45%, NYC often has a higher tax burden, with median bills often exceeding $6,500-$12,000 depending on location and property type.
Increasing that will cause a large number of people to leave the City, not to mention the exodus already taking place.
Mamdani’s ideas, as stated above, make Gavin Newsom look like a moderate in comparison. Heck, all of the above electeds are starting to make Gavin look and sound reasonable. As a result, I would suggest to fellow Republicans, keep those electeds in power. Depending on the tea leaves you read, the election and control of Congress may hang in the balance…. Why not give us an edge based on the comments made by these crazies? Heck, I would toss a camera and a microphone in front of each of them daily to get their latest political takes.
No liberal wardrobe at the State of the Union Show is complete without the “Fuck ICE” button
Silence them at your own peril. The target of these political types are the broke, uneducated, criminal types, and illegal aliens. Not a group I would want to ally with. My prediction, Mamdani spends New York City into a fiscal cliff of epic proportions in a couple years! Tie the milestone around the necks of the far Left! Heck even the center Left. I want to make known just how whacky these types are.
Nothing like yelling “K.K.K.” to show respect for your adopted country
The Chief
PS my rational is because we have some whackos on our side as well. The fewer on our side the better. Oh, having the Broad Squad wearing “Fuck ICE” buttons and yelling “K.K.K.” at the State of the Union speech last night was really classy as well.
I have been told by many so called conservatives that the courts only strike down Republican laws, never Liberal ones. This is patently untrue, but I cannot control the way you think as you have been programmed by tv media to think the way you do.
The Constitution says that taxes must originate in the House of Representatives, not the Senate, nor by Executive Order from the Executive branch. The reason for this is our Founders set up a process where checks and balances are a thing. Large states like California, Texas, and Florida get a large says about matters in the House, while small states like Rhode Island, the Dakota’s, and Montana can hold a larger say in the Senate on matters. The Executive branch is not allowed to issue Executive Orders on certain things; they must originate in the House.
“Sorry rules are rules.”
The Constitution states that Congress has the power: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”
Oh, isn’t that the rallying cry of the Tea Party, far right types whenever the Liberals are in control of things? It’s all about the Constitution.
As William wrote in his blog, if Congress did its job, we would not be here. This has gone back to at least the W. Bush presidency, we no longer have a budget, we do Executive Orders and Continuing Resolutions; neither of which is authorized by the Constitution. We fund the government for around 60-90 days at a time.
This Executive Order gambit has taken on a life of its own; due to Congress not doing its job.
The problem is actually a bi-partisan one. Both parties do it. When one party controls the White House, the other party, if they control Congress, digs in and refuses to pass any legislation that helps the party in power. As a direct result, the White House does executive Orders to go around Congress. Then it is essentially up to the courts to litigate it.
Typically, the process works this way. The party out of power (not the White House), finds a friendly judge, said judge rules it unconstitutional and blocks it. Then the President, via the Department of Justice, appeals the ruling to Appeals Court. When that occurs, the Executive Order, could be allowed to continue pending appeal outcome, which is what typically occurs. In the case of tariffs, it was allowed to continue. The appeals court will rule (it’s typically a random 3 judge panel, not one judge). If the outcome is not to the liking of one party or the other, it can be sent to the Supreme Court. If the Court agrees to hear it, they usually issue a stay and allow the law/regulation to remain in place until they rule on its legality. The Supreme Court ruled today, 6-3 saying tariffs done by Executive Order are illegal.
In closing, I will say this, regardless of your belief on tariffs, I have made mine known previously, this is a big win for the rule of law. Just imagine for a minute if the Supreme Court ruled the other way, it opens Pandora’s Box for the other party to do the same on their legislative priorities. If that were to occur, what is the point of Congress? Trump is aiming his anger at the Court; he should be aiming his anger at Congress.
I was witness to a customer and a colleague talking about things they saw on the television. As documented in this space, I do not have cable, nor do I partake in watching much more than, call it an hour a week. I think 90% of what is on said virtual babysitter is propaganda one way or the other. That includes Fox News.
They got to talking today, saying there are reports of people impersonating ICE agents and how it is impossible to know what is real and not. Since all ICE agents are masked, anyone could impersonate them, right? Right? The said the agents can bust down your door or shoot you while driving by… because they can! They can detain you and ask questions later. They were roused about how the shootings were not necessary and were entirely avoidable. I had to get up and take a long trip to the bathroom as this was unreal. But this is a reminder we live amongst the sheep; you view the tv for hours on end and think it is gospel truth.
This is why I am glad to be a libertarian; I will break down how the above is not true at all.
First of all, a warrant is required to enter your house by force (aka kicking the door down.) ICE agents, while masked, must still present valid ID documentation if asked. They also cannot enter your property via a locked gate, again, unless they have a warrant or are chasing you (the illegal criminal) on foot or by car.
If you are stupid enough to open your door for someone you don’t recognize, or feel has dubious credentials, you deserve your fate! There is nothing wrong with asking for someone’s credentials or flat out not answering the door. I don’t. If I’m not expecting you, you either better be dropping something off, or beat it. I will not allow entry!
Again, they need a warrant to operate. They cannot and do not operate in a vacuum like the folks on cable TV will have you believe. When ICE shows up to do a raid, they are usually looking for one or more people, who are here illegally, who have criminal records, and missed their court date. Read the sentence again. They do not simply raid the local Home Depot parking lot, that’s a lie. Also, this may be news to our California readers, but some cities and counties DO cooperate with ICE. When a person is arrested and it turns out they are here illegally, they can be turned over to ICE that night! Other times the person is picked up for a crime like; DUI, domestic violence, battery, or theft and when discovered is also turned over to ICE.
Regarding the statements about people in the home/car also being arrested and deported that is a thing also. It’s also legal. Choose your friends wisely! Folks, if I am in the car with a criminal illegal alien, I too can expect to be detained for questioning, just like if I was hiding someone in my house; in which case you can kick my door down! See how that works? I’m shielded from the law if I am doing nothing wrong, such protections do not exist when I am harboring a fugitive from the law! Folks, no judge will issue a bench warrant for failure to appear if you missed a hearing about a speeding ticket, these people are the worst of the worst.
Now regarding the part about shooting illegal criminal aliens. Again, what you are seeing on tv are clips from the incidents are formatted and condensed to fit a narrative. In the case of the women who tried to make a getaway in her car and was shot 3 times, it is hard to argue that she was a saint. She was agitating officers all day and was told to exit the car! She made a choice, that choice was suicide by cop! The other person who was killed, again, was agitating and out of control. He even brandished what appeared to be a weapon. I never am happy or will defend the shotting of someone, but come on, in both cases it was extremely avoidable.
The only commentary I will provide to defend the ICE agents is this. They have a very thankless job. They are vilified by the news/print/radio media constantly. They have been doxed (identity given to the public) and had their/spouses/family’s lives threatened by deranged whackos. They are doing their jobs. Oh, and the current President ran on this exact agenda. It should not be a surprise. Folks speaking again as a libertarian, the law gives wide latitude to peace (police type) officers when they are involved in a shooting. If said officer claims they feared for their life, or thought they saw a gun, they typically have the right to use deadly force, even in a state like California. It is not smart at all to agitate someone who is wearing a badge and carrying a gun, especially when they can use and apply deadly force as they see fit. I would not want to be hoping that officer is having a good day while I taunt him mercilessly.
Last point, I overheard the 90-day guy saying, “how come they can’t just shoot them in the leg?” This is a typical, highly uneducated response that I have come to expect from a “California Conservative.” First, you are not trained to shoot someone in the leg. Tell me you haven’t shot a gun before without telling me you haven’t shot a gun before. No gun range has the ability to get you to shoot someone in the leg, it’s a small target! Hence you aim for the center mass (the torso). Law enforcement is trained to only discharge their weapon to protect lives and property; think self-defense. This is the difference between cops and soldiers. The other aspect of a police shooting that he doesn’t have the ability to comprehend is, until the threat is considered neutralized, the medics cannot give the victim medical attention. So, to lay it out, shooting the person in the leg will likely just cause them to bleed out anyway. Trust me most of the time when there is an officer involved shooting, the criminal is very well known, and the police planned for this likely happening.
Some days I really wonder if the Republicans would rather be in the permanent minority like they are in Sacramento, California. An irrelevant bunch, who can go on the local friendly paper/news channel and preach about how “we need Republican’s ideas to fix this state!” They can carve out their individual fiefdom and never lose, and that’s ok.
I made the above statement because this came out this AM.
The video was posted on Trump’s Truth Social account which I did see. It is based on the Lion King movie, with Donald Trump depicted as the Lion King, other political types were depicted as well, including, the Obama’s as monkeys. Yeah, you read that right. Two black people, the former President and his wife, were depicted as monkeys, in the year of our Lord 2026. Folks I might be alone on this, but this is pretty dang racist.
Oh, the Senate’s lone Black Republican agrees…
“Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” Scott said about the video in a post on the social platform X.
“The President should remove it,” the Senator added.
Folks I want to say this, I do not think Donald Trump is a racist; however, he is, in my opinion, too flippant with his words and says/does stupid things. I will also add, I do not believe this video was created or even posted by him. Nevertheless, it was on his account, and as of 4 PM left coast time, no one has been fired. This tells me it wasn’t just “some intern” either. I want to see heads rolling, this is no better than people cheering Charlie Kirk’s death or wishing death on Rep. Omar. Whoever decided to portray the Obama’s as monkeys may be one of the dumbest people on earth.
Why do Republicans do this? They shouldn’t, but they never seem to learn.
Granted, the following is a list of things I have witnessed in my life, not so much on a nationwide level, but they were disturbing, nonetheless.
Tony Andrade’s (RIP) email to Sac Central Committee members depicting watermelons growing in the White House Garden when Obama got sworn in. Blatantly racist, a few members called him out, some maybe even supported it. Why? Stupid!
Dominic Foppoli putting up “Republicans freed the slaves signs” at my university late at night the day before MLK Jr’s birthday. Time and place, it was neither one, and while, yes, a Republican president freed the slaves, posting those flyers was felony stupid.
Folks, Republicans don’t do that, or should I say real Republicans. However, there is a new breed of Republican that came out of the closet when Trump got elected. It’s a new breed of character who I honestly detest. I have no need for the Jorge Riley’s of the world. They spout racist, drunken BS that no one agrees with, yet they are allowed to speak freely. I long for a simpler time. We are supposed to be above this; the Democrats are the ones who protest in trees, burn their clothing, riot, loot, set things and buildings on fire, not us. But that has changed. Believe it or not, January 6th changed that narrative, and now the GOP must try to change it back. Things like this do not help, they hurt the cause, and badly. Hopefully some adults will take over, and soon. With today’s proceedings, we are no better than the folks who cheered Charlie Kirk’s death as mentioned above. Was it Trump or someone else? Who cares, damage inflicted cannot be undone.
Folks I have a feeling, as much as I hate to say it, and do not wish to believe it, these types of mistakes may well cost Trump Congress in November. I hope I am wrong.
The Chief
Editor’s Note: I saw a claim on Facebook that the offensive video was made over a year ago and has been circulating on social media since then. After the proverbial stuff hit the fan, it was removed from Trump’s official page.
Yep, it’s a doozy just like the title reads. For those unaware of the “90-day” moniker, it is the stock market, more specifically earnings reports from corporations. They occur every 90 days, as such there is no longer term planning, only a short term “juice the results” focus. The focus of this blog is on the “reduce expenses” part of the earnings reports. Specifically sending jobs overseas to save money.
In this case, the company he works for is privately owned so they do not report earnings; however, when they talk about financial results, they always mention getting expenses under control. As such they outsourced the IT department at the beginning of last year.
Enter 2026. 90-day Guy needs a new laptop. He claims his was “compromised.” As someone who worked the IT help desk in college, I think those are the annoying pop-ups originating in the lower right corner of your screen which are essentially are click bait to “buy anti-virus” that a) doesn’t work, or b) that you do not need. (see Jason Stathan’s Beekeeper movie).
In my experience, these pop-ups generally seemed to show up if you were visiting … um, … let’s just call them “websites you shouldn’t be on.” This issue is correctable, but he would rather get a new computer because he likely didn’t want the friendly folks in IT looking through his browsing history!
The new computer shows up, and even though it has a large and very red sticker on it proclaiming: Warning do not touch or open until directed to by ISC. ISC is our IT department. Of course, as paranoid as he is, he decides to open it right away, pull out the laptop and put the old one in said box and affixed the return label on to it. He waited about a week, (this is key), without starting it and didn’t call IT until 10 days after he received it.
When he got around to calling, the computer would not turn on. When asked to plug the computer in, he could not locate the charger cord. When asked if he could locate the instructions, I saw his face turn the color of a white sheet. Yep, this genius did not even look for the charger cord nor the instructions because, like a kid on Christmas opening the gift, he wanted so bad, neither of those things mattered. Oh yeah, he claimed they were never sent, because his motto in life is never admit wrongdoing. When the IT person said they were in the box, 90-day Guy went to his old standby; many losers who call for help go to “I can’t understand you.” Not only is that behavior borderline racist, but it also shows how big of a scumbag you are when you treat people at the lowest levels of the customer service chain like garbage. Full disclosure, he had this call on speakerphone, the accent while existing was not very heavy, let’s just say I have heard far deeper accents and still could understand. He just didn’t want to admit that he sent the instructions, the old laptop, the old charger, and the new charger back in the box without looking for them. He had to call back the following day when he got a charger from a fellow associate.
With a charged-up laptop, now it was time to log in. The IT person helping him this time had a deeper accent but was very much understandable. After playing what’s your log in and password, and unique identifier number for a solid 45 minutes, he quit. He decided to turn around to me and have me finish the process.
Hard NO. Full STOP.
Folks one little piece of unsolicited advice, never touch a computer that is not yours; especially, if it’s “owned” by a corporation. Additionally, if it was not intended for you, do not touch it. That’s a pretty easy way to get terminated. Again, remember the 90-day Guy ignoring the instructions on the do not open label. Which brings me to my next point. His MO is to blame others when things go wrong. Had I assisted, then under the bus I would have gone.
The call was even funnier. He kept openly declaring “I am very computer literate” while clearly demonstrating the opposite. I am unsure why he kept insisting that.
(I always call hat in hand, essentially saying, can you walk me through it?)
Stil unable to log on after 35 minutes and exhausting all plays in the IT guy’s playbook, 90-day Guy declared someone needed to be sent out to look at it. Again, his ignorance showed. Sending someone out costs $$$ and lots of it so they want to make sure the issue is one that a) can be fixed by said contractor or b) is most cost effective. The IT guy declined to have someone come out. You see, when you outsource, you are really just paying a lump sum each month to a third party each month/year, then they get to administer what benefits are passed along. In this case, sending someone out was going to cost a lot of money (you pay by the service call). So, 90-day Guy called the IT guy incompetent (always a smart move) and then hung up.
A third call happened the following day.
Again, he went for 45 minutes trying to log in to the computer, it didn’t work. While on speaker, toward the end of call, he proclaimed “doesn’t anyone speak English anymore?” The voice on the other end said “I heard you, sorry English is my second language. I am working here to feed my family.” Ouch. He thought he muted the call but left the speaker on. Smooth move. The IT guys said the computer was “deactivated remotely.” Of course, our resident, very computer literate person, had no clue what that meant.
The IT guy asked what kind of laptop he was using. Right on cue the words “my work one” came out of 90-day Guy’s mouth. Yep. He’s really computer literate. Top of his class. A legend in his own mind. He had no clue how to find out what type of laptop he had. Oh, it’s an HP Pavilion, but I digress. I had to help him find that info conveniently located on the top of the laptop when closed. “HP” was emblazoned there in large letters and on the left below the keyboard when opened.
Also, this information appears on a sticker under the laptop, but I didn’t want to further erode his mental health plagued brain. The IT guy said he would order a new one to be shipped out and it would take a day or two. This was at 2pm west coast time, mind you. This was also Tuesday.
Fast forward to Thursday. Still no laptop, and he is growing quite angry. I guess he submitted a survey saying the IT guy was incompetent and stupid and should be fired. Nice! He was venting in my direction saying it should have been here Wednesday. Nope, it’s right on schedule. See what his generation refuses to understand is 1 day shipping, means one day from when it gets to the plane/truck to ship it.
What he also fails to understand is it is not like McDonalds (a favorite of his btw) where you click a button and pull forward to the window for payment and you collect your meal. It has to go through multiple chains of command.
I can personally guarantee you the guy he spoke with has no authority to order a new computer shipped out. If it’s like when I was in college at the help desk, I created a ticket, another person had to sign off, then a supervisor of his did the work order. After those steps (I am sure it’s still similar), the laptop gets shipped. Had the call had been made at, say 9 AM, he would have had said laptop a day sooner. Instead, he waited until most folks who are decision makers were either gone for the day or fixing to leave. Hence the delay.
As far as the “deactivated remotely” goes, this is a thing that we had it back when I was in college. In essence, you have so many days to plug in/turn on/log in to said work laptop or it gets remotely disabled. Think of it like a kill switch. This is very necessary because with the systems my work uses and info that is stored on said systems, they cannot take a chance it gets into the wrong hands. As such, after so many days, they deactivate it. Hence, no one will be able to log in. Simple fact, but it escapes you when you didn’t see it on Fox News last night.
In closing, the 90-day calendar he lives by bit him. The company, like many others, outsourced American jobs to save money. Hiring a contractor or vendor lowers expenses. He has zero interest in this practice when it helps his earnings on stocks he owns, but when it’s a hindrance, he gets frustrated. He isn’t smart enough to know the difference.
There is an old proverb that goes something like this “do not spit in the well because later you may want a drink.” Boy does that ring true here. It’s been a fun 10 days here watching a grown man have a meltdown because he is realizing life has past him by and he never tried to keep up.
By Chief
Editor’s Note: If you want a different take on computer tech support then check out this song by Tim Hawkins.
That sound you are hearing is the people’s brains (what’s left of them) at the local CRA chapter exploding on command. How could The Donald choose to work with a far-left crazy liberal?
It’s easy, and it’s something I would advise the Democrats to do more often actually.
If there are two things I wish Donald Trump learned from his first term, it’s that his own party really doesn’t want to work with him (in my humble opinion that has mostly continued to this day), and that Executive Orders are easily overturned by either; the Court, or his successor in office. If these things Trump wants are codified by Congress they become very hard to repeal or replace, like Obamacare. In all honesty, this term for Trump, I can only really think of one piece of legislation (the big beautiful bill) he has used Congress for. Everything else will be easily repealed or undone, before lunch the day his successor is sworn in (assuming it’s not a Republican).
Enter the Democrats in Congress.
Folks it’s painfully obvious that the Republicans do not want to eliminate or replace Obamacare, I could care less what Sean Hannity or any other host on Fox has to say about this. They had a chance, had no plan, and when voted on couldn’t muster the votes. Other pieces of legislation, they show little interest in being of assistance. Trump has actually dealt with a lot of drama in his first year back in office, nearly all of it started by his own party! Tom Massie, Rand Paul, Don Bacon, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, and a few others have either opposed his moves or made headlines screaming about “the Constitution.” Sure, I hear them on blowing up the “suspected” drug boats in the Caribbean, and arresting Nicolas Maduro, but is that the hill you wish to die on?
Trump made his comments and will be signing (signed?) and Executive Order limiting credit card interest to 10%. I cannot get a reading on his own Party on this, but if he is doing an Executive Order, he likely found out there isn’t much appetite on the GOP side for this. Enter Liz Warren. Warren is a fierce fighter of big banks and the ways they conduct business, resulting in hurting the poor and middle class. Do not get me wrong. She is wrong on quite a bit, but in this case, she sides with Trump. Warren can try to carry this bill through the Senate and get the House on board too, perhaps. It’s a Trump piece of legislation but in this case common ground exists. I have a feeling the GOP won’t want to hear Liz Warren sponsored it, so they will jump on board.
My point of this blog is politics creates strange bed fellows, but also Trump views everything as a deal, and he is not a conservative, he is a populist. Learn the difference! If I was leading the Democrat Party I would quit this impeachment and 25th Amendment nonsense, likely being pushed by far left media types like Matt Dowd used to do, and work with him. He seems willing and ready to deal on almost anything. Think of the possibilities? Democrats may well have a congressional majority next year, rather than sharpening the knives (impeachment and 25th Amendment), why not set the stage for deal making. Hate the ICE raids going on? Maybe strike a deal saying can you only go after the criminals? Leaving the family and day laborer types who are not criminals alone? Maybe cut a deal and say we will speak to the Democrat governors and communicate you only want to get the criminals and will do it for only a couple months? Trump may go for it if he gets an increase in defense spending, or if we can get some serious regulation roll back. Maybe tell Trump you want to see the ships in the Caribbean not blown up anymore, but in a trade, we will let you spend more money to hire inspectors at our ports and border patrol officers?
This already kind of happened in Maryland, Wes Moore, the governor, actually welcomed the FBI and ATF being sent in to work in Maryland. He didn’t want the National Guard, he gave valid reasons as to why. Folks are willing to work with Trump on certain issues, leverage that! Trump has a major say over members of his own party, and an election is coming this year.
Warren is not wrong on this, neither is Trump. Let us see if more deals are made.
As the year drew to a close, I have become more reflective on events of years past.
Folks, I have a strained relationship with many in my family as a result of their coddling of my sister. One thing that always bothered me was my sister could never do anything wrong in their eyes. They send her money to pay for her “influencer” lifestyle and think she will eventually turn it around, she is 38. At major milestones for my parents such as Christmas, Birthdays etc. I am treated to my parents saying they “just want 2 good kids.” I have always viewed this as a major slap in the face.
I am completely sustainable on my own. I own a home, have a great paying job, and have saved enough that when this job inevitably goes away, I can work because I want to, not because I have too. My sister on the other hand is a convicted felon due to her drug trafficking. Oh, and while on felony probation, she got a DUI in a crash on the way to the airport to fly home. Yes, she couldn’t even hold off on drinking until she got home. She suffered no consequences, no jail time, and very minimal fines. Oh, she still gets to live in San Diego, and my understanding is her apartment is near Coronado (high rent district). She has the perfect life. When we had family functions, I noticed family drifting toward her and away from me, they made their choice! I am the black sheep/persona non-grata.
I have gotten over it, it took some time, but I needed to realize I cannot control how other people think.
The wisdom I want to pass on?
1. Get the toxic folks out of your life. Not having a relationship with my 19 aunts and uncles (including spouses) was tough at first, just like not conversing with my 27 cousins (not including spouses) was hard at first. It gets easier over time; I don’t have Facebook or any other social media and honestly care not to hear the family gossip/goings on. It’s a relief! Trust me. They gravitate toward my sister for a reason, she has never seen a bottle of wine she couldn’t finish, when consequences do not exist, you continue your college days well into your late thirties.
2. Join groups and clubs to fill in your time but be wary of the folks who inhabit them. I made friends with William, thought I was friends with the Sith Lord, Sue, Terry (rip), Jared and others…. Boy was I wrong. I changed my voter registration to No Party Preference and viola, suddenly contact was cut off by the above group. Sith Lord and I were a 2 lunch dates a week kind of friends, then it was over. Sue walked right past myself and a friend at a political function last year. I know she recognized and saw me, because she turned her head quickly as to not make eye contact. Jared? I wrote him a letter of recommendation to be Executive Director of the County Party; he got the job and had no more use for me. Oh, he and the above cast of characters ran a fraudulent voter registration program… kinda sounds like a Democrat operation, right? All William and I were to them were errand boys. Oh, the kicker, they gave Jorge Riley an award after he was arrested for his role in storming the capital on January 6th and filming and posting it to the internet. Riley is the only person there that day that admits to purchasing a weapon specifically for the event. Riley never assisted with GOTV calls, or precinct walking, and there were rumors of having kid(s) out of wedlock and not being the greatest about paying support… but hey, at least he is registered Republican! My wisdom? Look at folks in volunteer groups with a jaundiced eye, you are likely just cannon fodder to them.
3. Limit your time in front of the TV. This one is easy; I harp on it a lot. Most of the shows on TV are behind society’s decay this day and age. Rioting when you don’t get your way, sleeping around while married, and viewing fantasy as real life are big problems. Folks, the real world, is not depicted on the TV, it’s fantasy land. Nowadays, TV consists of people screaming hot takes, whether it’s politics, sports, or gossip to get higher ratings. The problem is, it also gets whackos to do irrational things, such as killing Charlie Kirk, killing the Democrat elected in Minnesota and injuring another, attempting to kill Trump… the list could go on. TV, as a whole, is very unhealthy right now. Matt Dowd (colossal loser btw) said dumb stuff on TV and that indirectly led to Charlie Kirk being murdered. Sure, Dowd denies all culpability, but in my mind, he is just as guilty as the shooter. My wisdom? I cancelled cable 8 years ago after a bad breakup with a girlfriend. The first couple weeks were a little tough, then I realized that I do not miss it. Better yet, I came to realize my life was revolving around “what was on TV” as opposed to dealing with the real world. I’m better for it; you will be too.
4. Limit your use/consumption of vices. This one is pretty simple, but it almost got me. Gambling, drinking, and drugs are all bad for you. All three are very expensive hobbies to take up and will lead to wrecked lives. I have a friend whose parents dissolved their marriage after 30 years due to one person’s gambling addiction. She literally spent all the money from both paychecks each month. They couldn’t pay the mortgage. They were a retired prison guard, and retired state worker. They had money, not broke folks trying to “double their paycheck on red.” Drugs are a rough habit and got my sister in deep legal trouble. I failed the bar exam, if you know, you know.
5. Be true to yourself. Again, this sounds simple, and it is, yet I know several folks who refuse to do it. Being true to yourself just means be who you are, don’t try to be someone you are not. This is the root cause of 90-day Guy’s “mental health issues.” When you tell a different story to each person you see and take on a different persona in every room you walk into it’s very hard to keep the story straight. Worse yet, you stumble up and tell the wrong person the wrong story contradicting what you said in the past. Imagine the mental gymnastics going on in his head, constantly wondering what story he told who and how to keep the gimmick going. My wisdom? Be who you are, quit trying so hard to be someone you are not, and don’t you dare blame mental health.
6. Stop blaming other people for your own mistakes. I know it’s easy and fun to blame a person who is not in the room. Heck it’s even in style these days. These people are the worst; it’s never their fault, always someone else’s. I have witnessed these folks blaming every friend they have, even their own spouse, for something that is their fault. They are insecure and love pointing the finger. They think it’s a genius idea, but they couldn’t be more wrong. My wisdom? If they are throwing other people under the bus in front of you or have nothing good to say about other people in front of you, you are getting the same treatment from them when you aren’t in the room. Proceed with caution.
7. Stop comparing yourself to other people. One thing I have found out is the “very hot girl, with the boyfriend” both seem so happy. You imagine that you want that for yourself. Then you find out they are not happy at all. Outside of the bedroom, and her being hot to show off like a trophy, they are not happy at all. I noticed a couple at my gym, they seemed happy and close. Well, she is pregnant and now he doesn’t look so happy. I am sure things will work out (pun not intended) but the lack of rings on either’s finger tells me they gambled in the bedroom and got (un)lucky? And as a result, they will be parents and may not be ready or so much in love anymore. That person driving the expensive car? Well, they likely have a very high car payment each month, how long can they afford the payments? The guy who claims to have a huge bank account, yet his card is declined when paying for lunch/dinner? Yeah. My wisdom? 2008 taught us a lesson, we didn’t learn (or is it lear?) anything.
People were living a lie; it has started again. Be happy with what you have or better yourself. You never really know how happy that other group of people is.
8. Don’t dwell or even remember the past in your life. You can learn from it but bringing up things in a sense of woulda, shoulda, or coulda is not healthy.
It’s also very irrational. Gas was cheaper last week. Well, you may not have needed it last week. Ditto with food and other items, it’s in the past let it go. Dwelling on that doesn’t change anything. Life events happen; regret should never be a thing. My wisdom? 2 things. When I failed the bar exam, the best advice I got was from someone I barely knew, he said “get into a car with a gas pedal, no mirrors, and no brake pads.” Why? Keep moving forward in life, don’t look back and do not stop. Dwelling on the past likely leads to anger, hatred, and other unnecessary things. One thing I live by is “a setback is a set up for a comeback.” Don’t make the same mistake. Rebuild your life and things will be fine. My favorite thing about this came up a couple weeks ago. My old roommate called and reflecting on our past in college he said “man you should have approached ______ she was gung-ho about you, and you passed? How come.” My response was simple, I was fixated on someone else at the time, enough said. As far as had I approached her, let’s just say everything worked out. She is a specialty nurse who works in SF, makes quite a bit of money and has 3 kids. Seems like a no brainer, right? I screwed up right? Wrong. Sure, the money would be great, kids would be great, I would be miserable living in that area. I would never have crossed paths with the friends I made in politics or church in this area where I live. That is why I do not look back on my life and psychoanalyze everything. I think for myself, I do not need to impress my friends.
9. Get God in your life.
No, I’m not saying to start quoting Scripture or standing on the side of the road trying to “spread the word of God.” It’s about right vs wrong and good vs evil. If you have some sort of religious guidance in life, you will see that what I am preaching in this blog is pure common sense.
How is it a bad thing you ask? Easy, credit counseling, not credit interest rate cuts are needed. One thing I do agree with Sen Elizabeth Warren on is banks and credit companies take advantage of some of the most downtrodden and down on their luck individuals. They also prey on folks who should not even have a card to begin with.
Folk’s it may sound anti-business, but I do not think it’s right for a credit card company to be on a college campus hawking its products. Students, by and large, do not have an income, this is purely designed as a trap. Give them a card with $500 or so limit, get them to charge a bunch of fast food and booze, then tell them the minimum payment is all that’s required. Then when they hit the limit, either raise it, or charge over the limit fees. Then the higher interest kicks in and the minimum payment doesn’t even touch the principal. Countless lives have been ruined by these cards. Adults, families, and college age people by the way, credit cards do not discriminate.
One Year ago
So why is it bad to lower interest rates? It’s temporary relief, not the answer to the question. We are, in essence, rewarding bad behavior. I know some folks will be able to pay these cards off, but many more should also be closing them out. Pay in full and close them out? HA. This feels like an excuse to keep people spending once paid off, due to low interest rates compared to what they were paying. Not everyone needs to go to college and not everyone needs a credit card.
What do people need?
Seven Years ago
Credit counseling. Its not allowed in school as part of a budget class because it was deemed racist by the older generation. Not sure how budgeting is racist, but that maneuver has created a massive issue with the younger and some older generations. Credit cards, especially store cards, are far too easy to come by. While I do not think the interest rate should be allowed to touch 35%, I am not sure what the maximum should be.
On cards, I stick to what Dave Ramsey says; in essence you do not and should not need one. If you get one or more, like I have, be sure to pay them off in full each month, never spending more than you should. Differentiate between a need and a want. Sure, the points or miles are cool, but no one has gotten rich of credit card points… no one. Sure, it’s nice to earn a couple few hundred a year, but I do not have credit cards for that reason. Yes, its true people who get credit cards often overspend to earn extra “points” just remember folks 5% in rewards is $.05 per dollar spent, it’s not like you are coming out ahead.
My bigger issue is Donald Trump cannot do what he wants to do legally. Sure, he can sign an Executive Order, but will it stand the test of time? It appears to me to be blatantly unconstitutional. Time will tell, I guess.
My final thoughts are why do we no longer teach people about credit? Dave Ramsey is spot on when it comes to this. It’s the same with pay day lenders, pawn shops, and hard money lenders. Folks need to know what they are getting into, in the form of a class, via the internet or in person. Folks need to know how these financial vehicles work and what they could end up paying, not in the form of legal mumbo jumbo on their bill.
Bloggers note: No way was this going to be posted the day I sent it to William due to an earlier blog submission. Any changes after today will create a retraction to this story.
The day didn’t start well as a woman was killed by ICE Agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I will state I am never happy to hear anyone getting killed by authorities. There is more to this story, I am sure. If the ICE agent was in the wrong throw the book at him; however, I have a sneaky suspicion the person no longer with us was no saint in the matter.
On to the good parts.
First Trump is going to ban defense corporations from using government funds to buy back stock and pay dividends unless they make serious changes to manufacturing capacity and research. Here is some info below….
President Donald Trump said he would move to block U.S. defense contractors from paying dividends or repurchasing shares unless they significantly increase spending on manufacturing capacity and research, remarks that sent shares of major arms makers lower.
In a social media post Wednesday, Trump also called for sharp limits on executive compensation at defense companies, saying pay should be capped at $5 million until firms construct what he described as “NEW and MODERN Production Plants.” He argued that contractors are failing to produce and maintain military equipment quickly enough.
Defense companies “are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment,” Trump wrote. “This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!”
Folks to put it lightly, this needs to happen, and I hope it does. By no means am I insinuating that we should be stockpiling for war, we do need increased capacity to build war machines faster and more efficiently. The bottom line is that times are far different from fifteen years ago. We must be vigilant that war could break out in the not-too-distant future. Folks, the 90-day people amongst us will be angry but why should our taxpayer dollars go towards bloated executive compensation, stock buybacks, and dividends? That tells me we are being grossly overcharged. Why is it that everything to the older generation must be based on the almighty dollar and how big my bank account is? To be clear, I am not saying, and neither is Trump, they shouldn’t be allowed to make money, but look at the profits these companies are churning out.
More from Hegseth…
The criticism fits a broader theme of the Trump administration’s approach to the defense industry. In November, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized what he described as a slow and inefficient procurement system, arguing that weapons programs are often over budget, delivered years late and sometimes outdated by the time they reach the field.
Over budget, years late, and obsolete is not going to win too many wars.
The second thing is he wants to ban private equity/institutional investors from buying homes.
President Donald Trump said he would ban Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes in an effort to ease the affordability crisis that’s plaguing the housing market.
“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream,” Trump said in a Jan. 7 post on the social media site Truth Social. “I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it. People live in homes, not corporations.”
Institutional investors, such as Blackstone, have been reliably buying and renting out single-family homes since the 2008 financial crisis locked many Americans out of the mortgage market.
First-time homebuyers are suffering as housing has remained scarce and increasingly expensive. They made up a record-low share of all buyers in the most recent year, and the average age of a first-time buyer jumped to 40, according to an industry analysis.
Folks, I just turned 40. I have owned my home for over 10 years. I cannot fathom not being a homeowner until this age … but … the older generation has made it their mission to make it so my generation and the ones below it will never own a home. They started allowing these large corporations to buy homes with the only intention being to rent them out. In some places, like near Atlanta, entire communities are owned by these firms. They rent them out at top market rate, and when they are able, the rent is “raised to current market standards” regardless of their relationship with the tenant. Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep the rent increases manageable for a tenant you like, that will maybe take care of the property or at least not let it get run down? I would think so. As a result, it’s a “turn and burn” scenario for the renter. One of these outfits, Invitation Homes, bought a home about 5 doors down from me. The tenant has turned over 3 times in a 26-month period, and it currently sits unoccupied. The tenants also left a lot to be desired; the first was three generations of a Filipino family that moved in. Nothing against any race, but wouldn’t you consider it a bad sign 3 families are required to make rent each month? They quasi converted the garage into living quarters for the youngest family of 3. They lasted the longest. Next was a young Hispanic family, that lasted about 8 months. The last was a young black couple, they lasted about 2 months. In regard to the black couple, it sounded like the marriage was on ice and that was likely the reason for the short stay. As I note, it has sat vacant for about 5 months now. I predict it will sit for a while. The corporation can likely use the vacancy as some kind of write off, and they likely have the attitude of the 90-day guy and say “why take less than what we think its worth?”
The other big problem, first time and even not first-time homebuyers normally have a liquidity issue., They need to get the money together for the downpayment and sometimes have other contingencies … Selling their current home (if not a first-time home buyer). These corporations have none, their only ask is “where do we wire the money.”
These are both very good policies, with the second being probably my favorite of his term so far. Keep it up!
Chief
Oh, wait until I tell you about the healthcare issue in this country. BTW it ain’t Obamacare.
The 90-Day Guy lied. I have irrefutable evidence of his lie. Mental health is not a sympathy card and f**k you if you are using it as one.
How do I know he is lying? An aunt of mine who worked as a primary care doctor, and a surgeon, was over for Christmas. I asked for her expertise on this subject.
I told her what he had told me, that he told his doctor he was suicidal and had even picked out the knife to kill himself. She said the doctor is obligated at that point to make a call to the health and human service or related county/state department. She added that her medical malpractice insurance would not pay out if he had killed himself and she didn’t notify the correct channels. She went on to say he would be required to see a specialist for an evaluation. I told her he went once or twice then quit going, for money reasons. It’s always money with him, all the time. She told me that’s a lie also, as the appropriate channel/group would have forced him to attend, again being suicidal is a big deal this day and age with all the mass shootings done by them.
I further prodded, William will tell you it’s what I do, and her further responses crystalized his lying. She said mental health is a huge thing right now and most insurance covers it 100%. This is due to different laws passed as result of these shootings/killings. She said she had a feeling about what he did, I let her speak freely. Full disclosure, she is from Illinois, but I feel the laws/regulations on the books are likely similar or the same to California, where I am based. She said I can guarantee he went to an urgent care doctor, someone who is not his primary care doctor, he went in wanting to be diagnosed with a mental condition, and he won. Her words and I quote “he squealed to a doctor who is not his own and got put on a pill that will not fix his issue, it’s a here you go drug.” It’s a cover your butt, here you go, I guess you have a condition because you say you do. He went to an urgent care doctor because the doctor has plausible deniability, he can claim he sees a ton of patients each day, insured or uninsured he doesn’t know. It’s a free pass. That doctor was done with him after payment was processed that day, he got what he wanted.
He claims its anxiety when my phone’s alert for a call is coming in or a text is incoming bothers him; however, the sounds at the local casino do not. He gets off on things like this; it’s a sympathy card to him. It’s wild. When things do not go his way, it’s a mental health thing, yet he seeks no treatment. He is a liar.
There you have it folks, it’s been proven, truth always wins out. If you claim mental health and are lying about it, you are the lowest of the low. Actually, I’ll use a term the young people use: SYBAU … it’s an acronym for shut your bitch ass up. People with mental health issues need our help, not people who want to fake it.
