Category Archives: America

10/9/21

Cut The Crap — Fentanyl And The Southern Border

I have been totally mystified as to what the end game is on the Southern Border — why? What is going on on the border? I live in Texas and it is a disaster.

It is not, however, solely about a broken, nonsensical, sophomoric immigration policy — we are on track to admit more ILLEGAL immigrants than LEGAL immigrants which seems sort of dumb — it is also about drugs, in particular FENTANYL.

Fentanyl (developed in 1960 as a legitimate drug as a painkiller and as a surgery anesthetic because it did not make patients nauseous) is a hyper-dangerous synthetic opioid that is 100 X more powerful than morphine and 50X more powerful than heroin which is damn strong.    Continue reading →

10/6/21

The Generations — Or, Talking About My Generation

I was getting ready to write a blog post contrasting and comparing the various generations, so I did some research to make sure I had the demarcation lines right.

Turns out it is very complicated. Here is what I have found:

I am ignoring the Lost Generation, the Generation of 1914, and the Interbellum Generation since they would be 106-131 years old today. Sorry. No disrespect intended.

 1. Depression Era Generation, the Greatest Generation – born 1912-21 (my late father’s bunch) – 12,000,000 declining rapidly

 2. World War II Generation – born 1922-27 (some fought in WWII) – 11,000,000 declining rapidly

 3. Post War Generation – born 1928-45 – 41,000,000 declining

The three preceding generations are also called the Silent Generations, the Traditionalists. You can get an argument on that.

 4. Baby Boomers, Boomer Cohort I – born 1946-54 (my gang) – 33,000,000

 5. Baby Boomers II, Generation Jones – born 1955-65 – 49,000,000

Taken together BB I/II totals 82,000,000 making them the largest generation.

 6. Generation X, the Baby Bust – born 1966-76 – 41,000,000

 7. Millennials, Echo Boomers, Generation Y, Gen Next – born 1977-1994 (my children) – 71,000,000 – the second largest generation

 8. Generation Z, iGen, Centennials – born 1995-2012 – 23,000,000

 9. Gen Alpha – born 2013-25

Stay tuned. More to come.

Sleeping Tee

Generation Alpha grabbing a nap while pondering the future, hoping the Millennials don’t wreck the joint while she’s growing up. Loves Boomers — grand parental units — cause they can be talked into anything.

10/4/21

Loyalty

Comes to the front of my mind on this bluebird day in Austin By God Texas the subject of loyalty — a strong feeling of allegiance or fidelity to a person or a cause that results in a sense of heightened duty or devoted attachment.

In school, the military, business, and family, I have been exposed to extraordinary examples of loyalty, been the beneficiary of loyalty, been loyal.

The Virginia Military Institute

There is no more loyal bunch of alumni on the planet than those of my alma mater, The Virginia Military Institute.

Stonewall Jackson, former prof at VMI, guarding the parade ground overseeing the Rockbridge Battery (Mexican War, Civil War vets) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John in front of Jackson Arch wherein is inscribed the inspiring phrase, “You may be whatever you resolve to be.”

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09/29/21

Taxing Unrealized Capital Gains — A Truly Bad Idea

Washington DC provides stiff competition when it comes to stupid ideas related to policy, spending, and taxation as regular fare, but the idea to tax unrealized capital gains is a real doozie.

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen explaining her taxation proposal, “Just give me and Joe all your money. You can trust us to be good stewards. We can spend it better than you.”

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09/28/21

The Debt Ceiling Kabuki Dance

Every few years, the United States rubs up against its mythical “debt ceiling,” a number which must be approved by the Congress to enable the Treasury to use debt to pay our national bills and conducts a ritualistic charade of acting like fiscally responsible adults — a bloody Kabuki dance.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer discussing the debt ceiling in costume of Japanese Kabuki dancers.

The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money the US Treasury has authority to borrow in the form of bond sales.

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09/15/21

Common Sense, Courage, Critical Thinking

Our Nation and society suffers from a horrendous shortage of three commodities:

Common sense — sound and prudent judgement based on a simple and practical assessment of facts.

Courage — the intellectual or moral strength to continue to act in the face of fear, danger, difficulty, and virulent opposition; and,

Critical thinking — the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information and data gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication in order to develop wise opinions and to make sound, fact/data-based decisions.

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09/2/21

Time For Questions About Afghanistan

During the Afghanistan evacuation, the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Pentagon spokesman sang the chorus, “There will be plenty of time after this to ask questions, but now is not the time.”

Well, dear readers, it is now that time — the Question Time to find out what went wrong in Afghanistan, who was holding the steering wheel, and who will be reprimanded and held accountable.

The Three Stooges of Kabul. Hire clowns, expect a circus.

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