About Tree Fiddy

 Since I have retired, I have gotten into a bad habit of watching " The Price is Right."

I know, I have better things to do in my retirement. 

Most of the crap they have on there as prizes, well, I would not want. 

Oh, on an occasion they might have a Corvette or a trip the the Scottish Highlands, but those prizes are few and far between. 

And they have bullshit like high dollar bicycles. A rental on an RV and the rental is not for any time where you could go someplace. Trips to Mexican resorts. You do know the resorts are owned by the drug cartels? 

And even when they have stuff like a Corvette or a Porsche, do you really want to pay the taxes, then the insurance on those vehicles? 

And the cars people get all giddy about...Most of the time they are cracker boxes with 1.4 liter engines. Not enough power to get out of their own way. Maybe if you were driving around in a city they might be okay, but on an interstate highway? You'd be killed. 

So, I doubt I ever am on the "Showcase Showdown" but my bid with be..." Oh about Tree Fiddy." 

Now my luck the other person who bids will " over" bid and I'll win....

 

 

And the Clap Dripping Mule You Rode in On...

 Yes, I've always been a little " rough" around the edges, unlike many in my family. 

Yes, I am a minister. Yes I cuss. Yes, I take a nip every now and again. My denomination is pretty understanding about such things. Yes, I will call you down on stuff Jesus talked about. I call myself down from time to time.

Yes, I get up every morning and pray for a now massive list I now have. And it's hard. But I really feel like I supposed to do so. 

Yes, I get upset at some of you who ask me to do " stuff" for them 12 months ago and forget to " follow-up" on dates and places. Just assume I know. The bride thought the groom told me....The groom thought the bride told me....I don't have much of a life, but sometimes I have to arrange stuff in my life for you. 

Yes, I sort of consider myself a minister for the un-churched. Why not?  I sometimes get phone calls out of the blue from people who just want to talk or get advice, and sometimes that advice certainly ain't what they want to hear. 

 Yes, I am going to attack the church and it's affiliation with political parties. I doubt Jesus would even vote.

Yes, if you want to call me an "Outlaw Preacher" or just an " Outlaw" I have no problem with that. On Sunday I doubt Jesus be found today at First Baptist or an other church. I doubt First Century Christians would recognize today's church and would be asking " What the hell is going on?"

Yes, I have had unhappy messages in the last few months. Again, don't like the blog, or whatever I am doing, just ignore me. I really don't want to wind up in heaven with you and the bunch down at whatever church. 

Gamestop

 I've never been in a GameStop. I know it was a "Brick & Mortar" place where people would trade in old PS3 games for less than half of what they paid and see the game being sold next week for a 100% mark-up on what they paid. 

GameStop has been struggling over the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and to the fact that gamers are increasingly purchasing titles virtually rather than physically. As a result, GameStop stock has been steadily going down.

Stock prices are changed by demand. If lots of people want to buy a company’s stock and don’t want to sell it, then demand increases, and the price goes up. If more people want to sell a company’s stock than buy it, then demand decreases, and the price goes down. The more GameStop’s future looked bleak, the more people sold their GameStop stock, decreasing demand.

In turn, the decrease in demand resulted in attention from hedge fund managers trying to “short” the GameStop stock.

Shorting a stock, or short selling, is the practice of borrowing stocks that you don’t own, selling them onto another investor at market price, and then buying them back. Unlike a lot of other trading moves, short stocking is lucrative when the price of a stock falls..... Hedge fund managers will keep the difference when a stock decreases in value. Basically, you sell high, the stock price falls, and then you buy back cheap, and pocket the amount that the stock has fallen for yourself.

Shorting a stock is therefore a risky move.....you have to be fairly certain that the stock you are borrowing will decrease in price. If it doesn’t decrease in price, then you’re out of pocket. If it does, then you’re smiling.

Thus, hedge fund managers will short the stock of a company that is generally expected to be going downhill. Like GameStop.

 As far as anyone can tell, Reddit users from the WallStreetBets sub-reddit banded together to buy up GameStop stock, some believe explicitly in order to fuck over hedge fund managers. The more Reddit users bought the GameStop stock, the more that the demand for GameStop stock increased. The more demand increased, the more that the price rose. The more that the price rose, the more out of pocket those hedge fund managers that had bought the stock became.

Hedge fund managers began freaking out, and buying their GameStop stock in order to stop the rising price. Which only drove the price up higher.

What does Elon Musk have to do with this?

Musk tweeted “Gamestonk” with a link to the sub-reddit. That drew more attention to the practice of driving up GameStop stock, which kept the ball rolling even more.

In short: a sub-reddit fucked a bunch of hedge fund managers by making a stock that was predicted to decrease in value increase in value.

Questions? 

 

 

 

Already Blew my Gubmint Check- And If You're My Friend, You May Want to Do This...Or Not

 As I wrote yesterday on Facebook, we got our stimulus check from the gubmint......And I blew it all this morning. 

It was enough to pay 2/3rds of our property taxes for the year. No, I wasn't waiting for it for that, but I don't want to give the county gubmint money before I just have to do so. ( Orange County it isn't late until Feb. 1st.) 

I was there when the tax office opened in Orange I am glad I did, there was already a pretty good line. So, I had a pretty good wait.

I then went to the credit union and deposited the gubmint stimulus check and they acted like they were not too thrilled to get a gubmint check. Maybe they know something about the U.S. Treasury that I don't? I don't know, I may need to switch to another credit union. This one acts like they have gotten too big for their britches. May need to go and see Jared at Mobil Credit Union. 

I then made the mistake of getting a late breakfast at Wendy's. Got a Baconator. I had to try one. The egg white was raw and the sausage was not quite cooked. Won't be back. The potato wedges, whatever they call them were fairly good. 

The neighbor's dogs enjoyed my baconator.  

Finally, as I may have written, Santa brought me a new cell phone. I finally took it to Verizon to get the stuff switched over. 

It was a nightmare. Took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get it turned on and it never did switch my stuff.

( My old phone was new when the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer used it to text Pope Clement VII asking for Henry VIII's  of England's annulment of marriage from Catherine of Aragon.) 

I have lost all my stuff from the old phone. 

I was cussing when I left. 

So, if you think, or think I might need you cell number, please send me your number. They all were lost. I know several of you, I will need your number, so either send me a private message or if you dare, add it to the comments and be sure and let me know who you are, I am going to need your number and name.

Yankee-Ass Carpetbagger

 So, as many of you know, Austin, Texas is being inundated with people from California, hell, other states. 

I remember being able to go in the late 80s-early 90s to Austin and being able to actually drive around. Hell, we used to go to eat Mexican food. 

The last time we went was to get my teacher retirement started and even then, it was a nightmare to drive in downtown Austin.

I wouldn't drive in Austin on a bet. I do everything to avoid it now and drive around the city now to visit my brother and his family out in Llano. 

Austin, while it was always a " cool" place to be, has grown like mad in the last 10-20 years. Mostly due to Yankees moving into the town. Yes, Californians are Yankees in my view. 

So, a sales executive with Hamamatsu, a photo/camera company wrote a group of Tweets  why he and his family moved from San Diego, CA to Austin, then back to California.    

Among his complaints-

-High property taxes( You got 5 kids, you got to pay for schools somehow. You give up a state income tax in exchange.)

-High water and light bills.

- School too militaristic and strict. ( Hell, I am going to make you behave. Even if I have to sit your ass in a desk in the parking lot in the rain.)

- High School football and it being a social event. ( You moved into Austin Westlake's District. They won the 6A state championship a week ago.....What do you expect?) 

- The mosquitoes and the cedar allergies. ( Hell, mosquitoes are better there, try Beaumont or Houston for mosquitoes. And all of Texas has some sort of allergies.....It's what happens when you have some 'green" stuff.

- No place to hike. Too much privately owned property you can't use. (Yeah, come walk across land I own or have control over. I might shoot your ass.) 

- Hated Enchanted Rock. ( Yeah I see it, I was not impressed either.)

- Had to drive 40 miles to find a Southern Indian Restaurant. ( You're in Texas. Ain't you supposed to be eating Mexican food?.......And I couldn't tell you the difference between Southern and Northern Indian food.)

-He complained about it being cold in the Winter.( Better than Minnesota here)

- He REALLY complained about how hot it was in Summer and how much it cost to keep his house cool.( You're in Texas, what did you expect?)

- He was unhappy how rude people in Austin were and how poor they drove. ( I guess so, it's full of Yankees now and the city planner have just not kept up with road construction.) 

But Austin has always been "different" than the rest of the state. The seat of government. A massive university, it has always had a "cool" factor even when I was in college. It isn't like the rest of the state. 

I can't imagine what he would say if he had moved to say " Beaumont." Especially when he griped about " Nothing to do."

You need to do some research before you move anyplace.....Especially a move across several states and sounds like he didn't. 

But, it is a Yankee moving back. All I can say.....

It's a start. 

 

 

Yes, Lots of Times it Sucks

 You know, we have to visit this from time to time to on this forum. 

Let us remind you once again, it is just a job. You got to work, and in exchange for this work, they give you money. 

You don't have to "Be friends" with the people you work with. Look at how many people I am friend with on Facebook who I worked with at Buna ISD...5? 6? Out of several hundred people I worked with at Buna? 

Come on, most people I worked with I don't care what they are doing now. Don't care what their kids are doing. As I have said, I actually only liked very few people I worked with. So many didn't understand the concept that you are there for the kids. Oh, I know you need money for your work, but so many people in education, well, I wondered, " Why the hell are you doing this job?" 

All that said, you have to remember in the end, it is just a job. If you get too caught up in your kid's problems, their home life, well, it will eat you up alive.

I never understood the concept, and I heard this all my life at every opening session of the school year, " We are a family here." 

No you're not. 

( I never understood the concept of people having "Work husbands and wives. " I have a wife. She is very good to me. I don't need some sort of 19th Century form of Mormon or 1000 B.C. Hebraic form of polygamy.  I believe in the old saying " One life, one wife.")

It is a job. Schools like just about any other job will throw you " Under the bus" the first time anything goes wrong and they can use you as a scapegoat.  

Every job sucks. 

Oh, you can say that you " love your job." But in the end, it is just a job. Something happens to that job you are presently in, well, you go and get another job. In a short period of time, you forget about the people at the other job. 

I've taught at school district in which I forgot about working there fairly quickly after being hired by the new school district. 

You do a job so you can have a nice life. A comfortable house, a nice car, money for your children. 

Save some of it for a rainy day. 

Save some and go on a vacation. Take the kids to Disney whatever it is. Take your husband to the mountains. Take your wife to the beach. 

Yeah, I liked my job. I loved teaching high school seniors. I thought a did a decent job. Hell, I tried to do a decent job. But in the  end it was just a job. And you've got to look at it that way. Enjoy your life outside of work. Work is just that, work.

 

Man, So Glad I No Longer Have to Go Here

 So, I made the mistake yesterday of going down that " Pig Trail" called YouTube. Looked up and I spent 5 hours going down it. 

Started off watching tailor made suits being made at first on Savile Road in London, then suits made in NYC, then Hong Kong( Kicking myself on that one. I was approached by a man in the New Territories about getting suit made in HK in 24 hours. Apparently that is the standard in HK.) and finally Bangkok. 

I let the YouTube go and it wound up on dating in 2021. And what it was like. 

Hell, I now understand why so many of you now are single. You can't get past the dating stage. Nor want to date.

Man, I don't know what is appropriate and what is not now. 

Had a whole group of Vlogs on " Who should pay for the first date?" Him? Her/ Go Dutch? And apparently the term " Go Dutch" is no longer appropriate. 

I remember back in the 70s, my first date my wife and I had was a " thrown" together spur of the moment event after a Lamar football game and both of us did not have a great deal of money, and we pooled our money together and got Dr. Peppers and Chili-Cheese Tots at the Sonic on Washington BLVD. ( As Chris Bossier says, the best Sonic in the area, and he is right, it was the best 40+ year ago. The Sonic near Lamar on Washington.) 

I don't know, I paid most of the time afterward, but to be honest, our dates amounted to going to her or my house and just " hanging out" because well, we didn't have a lot of money as college students. 

Then, I read where you almost have to have a contract to kiss on the first date. 

And if you don't have sex after date number 3 or 4 well, the relationship is probably doomed. ( WTH? Again, we did not have sex until our wedding night...And I am sorry you think that whoever you are dating/ marry should accept the number of partners you have had in the past, but I waited, I can expect whoever I marry to have waited. And they likewise....And if someone is okay with whatever your past is, that's their and your business. Don't be telling other people who they should think in their personal life. )

And I see some of these Vlogs in which they think it is okay to have sex with someone they are not exclusive with, even if they are "dating" someone exclusively. It's just sex. 

Huh? 

Then there were the Vlogs in which you pretty need almost a contract of approval even with you spouse to have sex. I don't know. So much romance is " spur of the moment." Especially when you are married. 

I could not date today. I don't know what someone else would want...Or worse what the rules are any more. Maybe I've been married so long I know the other person and vice-versa, we don't have to ask. 

As I have said before and will continue. If something happens to my wife before me, I'm done. I'll sell the house, move near the kids and live in a tiny apartment/house, whatever. I don't want to start over. I don't think I can, or in truth would not want to go through it going by today's rules. And I couldn't find anyone who would put up with the lunacy that is me, or find anyone better than what I have right now. 

Already the New President Made me Mad

 I knew it was coming, but I didn't want to admit to myself that it was coming and in truth I was not a fan of Keystone for different reasons than you imagine. 

Yesterday, Mr. Biden signed an executive order stopping the Keystone Pipeline. And while I would like the oil from the sand in Canada to flow into the area, again, I have mixed emotions about it. 

Something has to be done about the environment.  I don't know what. I know many of you don't want to face up to the fact that something is wrong with the weather, but the hurricanes we've had in the last 15 years should tell you something ain't right. 

I also am not a fan of Keystone as we own land in Franklin County, Texas, where the Keystone Pipeline came through. While pipelines have the ability to cut through property, they were first class assholes about it. We already have a pipeline( different company than Keystone's) going through our back property and to be honest, they are actually fairly nice about honoring our property rights. They even took care of tree damage after a tornado we had on our property, on property they did not have to take care of. 

Talk to any farmer/rancher in the county and Keystone and you'll get a cussing. 

On the other side of the coin I live in Southeast Texas in which we are a ' One Trick Pony' as far as industry is concerned. Oil and gas refining/Chemical Plants.

Say what you want, Keystone would have been good for the plants. 

Also, say what you want, peak oil/ gas industry is probably over. 

Oh, there will always be a need for by-products from oil. And gasoline, diesel is not going to disappear overnight, but we are headed that way. 

The vast majority of my ex-students are in some sort of oil/gas related field, and 20 years from now, will these jobs still exist? How many will be lost to changes in new energy sources and how many will be lost to automation is yet to be seen, but they are coming. 

Again, we are a one trick pony. Oil. 

Coal never thought their industry would end. Coal is dying, and dying more and more by the year.

People don't move here for the "lifestyle" or the view or anything else. I expect when the U.S. Census comes out either we will have lost people or have not, by a long-shot the population grown of the rest of the State of Texas.  I am not going to be shocked if we lose a U.S. Congressman or a Texas State Representative. 

There is no reason for people to move here. What is the attraction? The heat, humidity, mosquitoes and hurricanes?  

A lot of people who I taught got the hell out of here.  My kids are not coming back. 

And don't think it won't get that bad. I remember when Texaco ( Now Motiva) had a massive lay-off in the 1980s. It killed Port Arthur. Port Arthur was not always like it is today. Gulfway Drive had all sort of nice businesses, wonderful restaurants. My favorite restaurant in the 1970s was a place called Leo and Willie's. Classy place. Now you are taking your life into your own hands if you travel south of HWY. 73 into Port Arthur.

I sort of blame our local politicians. Instead of looking at other areas of business to bring in, they are stuck in that one industry. So many politicians either don't "get it" or are in it for their on personal gain.

And I wonder about the long term. 

And to be honest, it doesn't look good. 

Oh Man, Why This?

 I grew up in the evangelical world. And living in this part of the world, they influence your life whether you want them to or not. 

For months now, the people who have " prophets or make prophecy" in this evangelical world have predicted that Mr. Trump would win the election....And then after the election, they made the prophecy that some miracle would occur and Mr. Trump would still be President by some sort of event from God.

As I publish this, Mr. Biden has been sworn in as the 46th President. Mr. Trump for the first time in 150 years, an outgoing president skipped the inauguration. 

I go into the evangelical world of blogs and anti-evangelical blogs and for the most part, most are silent. Well, the anti-evangelical ( The anti-evangelical blogs are people who grew up evangelical, left that type of Christianity, remain Christian, but in another form of Christianity...Other have been so damaged by evangelicals that they have become atheists or agnostics.....Many are now in the "None" realm. 

Forty plus years ago a young undergraduate at Lamar University wrote a paper in a senior level Government class called " American Political Parties and Elections." 

In the paper, the young undergrad said that the evangelical church was going to leave their principal goal and become more and more involved in the world of politics.  He discussed Jerry Falwell and what was going on  at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia and the old " Moral Majority." And how the evangelical church was becoming more and more involved in the Republican Party. 

Of course, he met some opposition from a couple of Baptists in the classroom saying that the church would stay by the old " separation of church and state."  Forty years later, you rarely hear the word separation of church and state....The evangelical world has become a wing of the GOP. 

The old missionary " Great Commission" is secondary. 

There is a fear of change by the church. The church wants you to do what they want, not what you feel is right for you personally....And they wonder why there is a drop in church attendance? 

You know, you align yourself with one political party, you already have lost half of the people you are suppose to witness to.  

We had ministers storm the Capitol this past week. ( This 'preacher' was at one time the 6-man football player of the year in Texas, won state 3 times 2004-2006. And before he stormed the capitol, he was famous for coming out again pre-marital sex.  Never mind he had sex with every girl who would let him in high school and college. That pre-marital sex would "ruin" you life. Look, I waited, but I would never tell a 21-30 year old person they shouldn't have sex outside of marriage. 

When Jesus came in the First Century C.E., Jews expected him to throw the Romans out of Palestine. He didn't and Jesus was about as a non-political person as there was. The Jews killed him for not being political.

I wonder what kind of explanation these preachers/ministers will have someday when they are trying to get into heaven?

I wonder how much deception people who are the "elect" can be....It fails to take account of the evidence of history. Christians have been, and are, capable of being deceived. Have none of the elect been deceived in recent years into supporting “ministries” that have proved so tragically different in reality from what they professed to be? Sadly, we are more easily addicted to the spectacular (“signs and wonders”) than to the substantial, to novelty (“false prophets”) than to a wholesome orthodoxy. If we think Christians cannot be deceived, the deception has already begun.

I lied about you giving me a prophecy that Mr. Biden would not be president? 

Or instead of sharing the " Good News" I was storming the Capitol?   

Instead of worrying about "Political Power" these preachers need to be out "preaching the gospel." I don't remember the " Great Commission" talking about talking about political involvement-

I Was Talking to My First Wife-

 I have been trying to write a blog on the evangelical church and politics the last few days, but I am stuck. Plus I may wait until the inauguration. ( Donald Worsham, Jason Caillier have gotten me all "stirred up.")

So, I will go here first. 

So, I was speaking to my first wife......It's my first and only wife for those of you wanting to know if somehow I've been divorced. No, still on number one, and there won't be a number two. Too damn old to start over. And would be afraid to do so. In truth, just wouldn't want to. I got it so good with number one, well, sorry, no one else could "match-up."

I am just amazed at how much I have influenced my wife or she has influenced me. 

She has become about as big an Anglophile as me. 

We keep the house in Winter at 62F. ( In Britain they keep it 58-63F) We'd keep it 60F, but people complain when they visit.

About 3/4 of the TV we watch at night in some sort of British TV show....I prefer murder mysteries, she likes their cooking shows. Last night we started the new take on the old British show " All Creatures Great and Small." ( The new take on the veterinarian show is on PBS on Sunday nights at 8PM)   

Then, this morning, I find a list of sites to visit in Southwestern England and Wales. Hotels, flights, etc.....( I thought it was Ireland's turn again, but Wales is okay in my book.) ( Of course we can't go right now due to Covid, but I can see it in the future.)

I promise, I'll get a little more serious in future blogs....

I Need an Intervention

 I need an intervention. Badly. 

No, not for Irish Whisky. 

No, not for love of fried food. 

I got to stop buying clothes. 

I now have two suits in the closet, I have never worn, a Ralph Lauren pinstripe, and a Ralph Lauren tan with a glen plaid check. One made in Canada, the other Italy. One with a British cut, the other of course, the Italian cut.

And already found a suit I am looking hard at. In a charcoal with herringbone pattern. 

One of the "not worn" suits I have picked out to officiate a wedding in this Summer. I assume I am still doing the wedding. If not, another wedding/event will arise. 

Heck, I have a wedding in July in which I got mad at both the bride and groom in which I am wearing a white seersucker suit. Look like Col. Sanders of KFC fame. ( Not people who read this blog will know....Well, maybe one of them.)

Last night when looking online I was asked by the " Boss." Where you going to put these suits? And " Just something else to move, when we move someday." 

I don't know, I could be doing worse things.....Gambling.....Shooting heroin....Chasing women. ( 1. I'd get shot by the woman I live with. 2. What would I do if I caught one? 3. I've never had the desire to chase women. I felt lucky to have found one who would married me, and spoils me rotten.)

May have a more serious blog later today...

Heck of a Time for This to Quit Working-

 So, our TV quit last evening and we are about to return to Vidor Walmart for the 3rd time to find one that either doesn't " Leak Light" or has all of the plugs we need for the information overload we now require. 

I say all this knowing good and well, I can watch everything I need right here on the computer screen we have. 

No, here is what I originally intended the blog to be about. 

Get ready. Anything could happen this week in D.C. ( Heck it could happen at any state capitol building.)

( Quick English/Gubmint lesson- Capital- City in which the nation's or state's government leadership meets....Capitol- The actual building in which leadership meets.)

I know there are 25,000 National Guard troops deployed now in D.C. 

Man, I have not a clue, nor do you know what will happen. I fear for this nation, and have been for a while. 

At some point cooler heads will have to prevail. 

There has to be understanding on both the left and the right. And right now, neither side cares about anything but their agenda, and in truth, I do not think they know what they want other than to make someone else miserable, even those people very close to them in their religious or political beliefs. 

I seriously do not think people know what they actually want. 

I don't know what is going to become of us. 

Pray folks.....Pray hard....

Meanwhile in Beaumont

So, I read that the Harvard on the Neches( Lamar), Sam Houston, SFA, Abilene Christian, are leaving the Southland Conference and are joining the Western Athletic Conference. (WAC)

I read the press release, and you have to " read between the lines" to figure out what is going on. 

Originally, the universities were not going to leave until 2022 to join the WAC. But the Louisiana colleges( Nichols, Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern State, McNeese) in the Southland got together and kicked out the 4 Texas schools Summer, 2021.

The press release discusses how this will improve the WAC's basketball status. And the WAC is an odd conference right now as they no longer, as of right now, play football, but have stuff like swimming and soccer. ( Several schools in the WAC are affiliate schools and only play one or two sports because their football/basketball conference doesn't play those sports.....Example, the Air Force Academy plays soccer in the WAC because the the Mountain West Conference doesn't play soccer.)

With the addition of the "Texas Four" WAC plans to start playing football at the Football Championship Subdivision level( The old I-AA, now FCS) in 2021. ( The teams would be the Texas 4, Tarleton State in Stephenville, Dixie State( Utah school) and Southern Utah in this new football conference.

And then there was a sentence thrown in there...." With plans of moving into Football Bowl Subdivsion(FBS)" in a few years....Already New Mexico State, a WAC member, plays as an independent in the FBS. 

There you go. The move was about football. Want to play with the " Big Boys." 

Want to get Texas A&M, or the University of Texas, or heck, the University of Alabama to invite them to Tuscaloosa, or LSU invite them to Baton Rouge generally for a "payday."( It would be nice if the Lamar, or Sam, or SFA, or ACU band got to go, but this is about raising money for football...And the band travel would " Eat into the profit.") And a good ole fashion "ass-whoopin' ." ( "Lamar is down to their 4th string quarterback and good  news folks, the first-string quarterback's neck was NOT broken.")

It's about money folks. It's about perhaps one day getting to play in a bowl game. 

In the end folks....ALWAYS, " Follow the money."

Falling Apart

 I've been warning, telling anyone who would listen, this was coming. You just could tell it from the way people acted not only online, but in person. 

At one time it was that drunk uncle, that crazy aunt who lived in an attic who went here...Now everyone does. 

80% of Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Independents are saying that America is falling apart. 

17% of Americans are saying they are no longer proud to be an American.  

I am telling you, China is waiting. 

I get upset with what goes on, and tour the world, but will always carry a US Passport...As long as there is such a thing. 

This comes on the " stocking-up" of guns and ammo by Americans....Both Republicans and Democrats. Yes, Democrats. 

In some stores, there are 400% increase in sales. In some stores, they no longer have handguns in stock. I looked the other day at the price of ammunition and literally had ' sticker shock' at the prices of common rounds 

I myself have changed the firearms ready for usage at the Compound from .223 to .308 and placed a couple of additional mags within quick reach. Even checked to make sure the 'roommate' knew how to operate the weapon.

I am hoping I am far enough out to avoid whatever comes won't affect us too much. 

But I don't know. I am afraid it is going to get worse before it gets better. 

I now lead my prayers every morning with prayer for this nation.

Again, I Didn't Teach Some of You Sh*t

 I wish there was a way to retroactively go back and change some of y'all's grades.....At this point, I think I would. 

I took the day off yesterday from blogging. I'd planned on writing about the 14th Amendment, but just couldn't pull the trigger. I even sat down 3 times in an attempt to write about it, but alas, to no avail.  

I'm to the point of, I just need to do something else for a day, a mental health day if you would, I spent the day reading about another calamity, the Hundred Year's War.

Today, after prayers I made the mistake of reading the Facebook feed.....I knew better. But we went there anyway. 

So much just misinformation on there and just bullshit. 

Everything from stuff I taught was wrong, to the question being asked...." What turns you on more, neck biting, face licked," about 6 -7 different things.....I replied " I ain't doing none of these to you sir." 

I even had someone misquote Jesus, and I corrected them.....Call yourself a Christian and you've not even read the book.....Heck, I'll abridge it for you...Read the first 4 books of the New Testament. 

Do some damn research people.....I know you're pretty damn lazy, I had you in class and remember,  but take 5 minutes and look stuff up.....Dammit....

I think I am close to running the first purge of 2021. I may need to knock off about 150 of you. I think we'd both feel better.

Again?

 So, it seems the US House is going to impeach Mr. Trump a second time this week. 

This comes less then two weeks before he leaves office. Heck, about 9 days now. 

So, I am going to assume you know what it takes to be impeached and then removed from office. Simple vote of yes in the House, 2/3rds of Senate vote to convict. 

That said, the if the House votes yes to impeach, the soonest the US Senate will meet is Jan. 19th. One day before the inauguration. That means the Senate would not vote on whether to convict until after Mr. trump has left office. Trust me, it is a several day process to try an office in the US Senate. 

Which brings up the questions? Why? And has this been done before? 

This has been done before. 

In 1876, Sec. of War( Forerunner to today's Sec. of Defense ) William Belknap was tried after he had resigned from office for graft. 

Most people think this is being done to try and disqualify Mr. Trump from running again in 2024. 

That process would be this. 

- US House votes to impeach.

- Second US Senate votes to remove from office. 

- Third US Senate votes to disqualify from holding another office. And the Senate has determined that vote is a simple majority. 

The trouble is this-

Does Mr. Biden want the First 100 Days of his administration to be consumed by this? In any new administration, the First 100 Days  have turned into the most important. 

I don't know, the next few days, weeks may be very interesting- Or scary as hell.

Trump Not to Attend Inauguration

 So, earlier this morning, Mr. Trump tweeted he was not going to Mr. Biden's inauguration. 

I am not shocked and neither should you be. Speculation was for a long time he was going to be at his resort in Scotland. That was until the Scottish Government would not let anyone in to a golf course from outside the nation during a pandemic. Even an outgoing US President. 

A president not attending another president's swearing in ceremony is not unprecedented. 

-The first time was in 1801 when John Adams lost to Thomas Jefferson in what was a bitter campaign. Adams people even accused Jefferson of teachers to teach " Incest, Rape, and French like Rebellion" in which the streets will " Run with blood."

This election was also marred with the first confusion concerning the Electoral College. It was so confusing and complicated, Aaron Burr who received as many electoral votes as the presidential candidates, pushed Congress to elect him president. ( Burr was running for vice-president)( Electoral vote was a tie)

The entire incident resulted in the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in which the US President and Vice President received separate electoral votes. 

Adams left town at 4am in a wagon to avoid Jefferson.

- The second time was in 1829. 

John Quincy Adams won the Presidential Election in 1824 even though he did not receive the most electoral votes. Andrew Jackson had the most electoral votes, but Jackson did not receive enough to win the election. 

The election went to the US House to " Break the Tie," and in a political move in which the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay was promised the job of Sec. of State, Clay tossed his support behind Adams, thus getting him enough votes in the House to become president. 

Adams and Jackson ran against one another again in 1828 and this time Jackson received enough electoral votes to win outright. 

Jackson, bitter because of the Election of 1824, refused to speak to Adams 4 years later about the upcoming inauguration. 

To avoid any conflict, Adams left town the day before Jackson was sworn it. 

- The third time was in 1869

Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached had become US President after Lincoln's assassination. 

Because of his constant fights with the US Congress, Johnson was not given the Republican nomination in 1868. It went instead to US Grant, Union General.

Bitter, Johnson refused to attend newly elected President-elect U.S. Grant's inauguration, instead staying at the White House saying he was signing " legislation."

Johnson left as the Grant's were coming in the door of the White House. ( He snuck out the back.)

So not going to an inauguration is nothing new.

Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark

 I know, I know, I shouldn't be quoting the Bard's 'Marcellus' from Hamlet as a hook on this one but......

I figured my other title " What the Cornbread Fuck Denmark" well, just wasn't as good.

This story was in the Guardian. British newspaper about a children's TV now on the air in Denmark. 

The TV show is about a man with a giant penis....

Did I mention it is a kid's TV show?  

And this guy's pecker is 15-20 feet long...

What type of perversion( Pre-version for those of you in Cougar Country) is going on in Denmark?.....Never mind it is Denmark where until recently Kiddie Porn was legal. 

Denmark is one of those countries I never thought, " You know, I might want to vacation there." I have not ever even thought about going there. Somehow in the back of my mind I would be afraid I would be kidnapped and put into some some sort of " Sex Dungeon" for those attracted to "Bears." ( My Gay readers understand the term.)  

You can't make this stuff up.....I dare you to even try.

25th Amendment

 I am going to discuss it briefly this morning....Already Mr. Pence has said he is not going to invoke it. 

The 25th Amendment is a long 4 part Amendment of the US Constitution. 

Here is part 4- The part in which the cabinet would remove a president from office.

Section 4 (the only section of the amendment that has never been invoked) addresses the case of an incapacitated president who is unable or unwilling to execute the voluntary declaration contemplated in Section 3. It allows the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide", to issue a written declaration that the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of their office. Upon such a declaration being made, the vice president immediately becomes acting president while (as with Section 3) the president remains in office, albeit divested of all authority

-In other words the cabinet will get together and say the President is no longer either physically or mentally able to carry out his job. 

If and when a president thus declared unable subsequently issues a declaration stating that they are able, then a four-day period begins during which the vice president remains acting president. If by the end of this period the vice president and a majority of the "principal officers of the executive departments"( Cabinet members) have not issued a second declaration of the president's incapacity, then the president resumes his powers and duties.  

But if a second declaration of incapacity is issued within the four days, then the vice president remains acting president while Congress considers the matter. Then if within 21 days the Senate and the House determine, each by a two-thirds vote, that the president is unable, then the vice president continues as acting president...... Otherwise the president resumes his powers and duties....This is different than an impeachment. In an impeachment, a simple majority is needed to indict....two-thirds of the Senate to remove....in the 25th two-thirds vote is needed in both the House and Senate. 

Confused? By the time all this occurs, Mr. Trump's time in office will be over. And we won't even get into the number of interim cabinet members and their possible not having authority to vote, or having authority to vote...

 

The Coup d'etat....Some Thoughts

 I sat down several times trying to write a blog. I just couldn't say anything. I was just stunned. 

 I wonder what is going to happen next?

Will there be the same thing happen at the Inauguration? ( Maybe, but National Guard will already be deployed to quell it quickly.)

 I am going to ask the same question that was asked during the BLM protests/riots....Don't these people yesterday have jobs? Likewise, if this had been people with Black faces, would the police have acted differently? More violent?

Believe it or not, this entire event makes our enemies stronger. Russia, China, and especially the Iranians are laughing at us right now.  Don't be shocked if one pulls a stunt. 

The British talk shows are all convinced this is race based because the country is browning. "Trump allows them to be open racists." I wonder what some of you are going to do when you get to heaven and there are Black, Brown, people there? Maybe you're not foreordained to "make-it?'

I wonder if Trump will pardon the people in the coup d'etat? ( If they had planned the situation at their home state, they could be charged under state law.)

I know this has been said before, but the last time the Capitol was invaded was 1814.....By the British Royal Colonial Marines, under the command of Major General Robert Ross. ( Ross was later killed in the war, and his body was shipped back to England preserved in 129 gallons of rum.) 

What will be the aftermath? I do not know. I would not be shocked if Mr. Trump is charged under the Biden Justice Dept. .( He's going to pardon himself, but I can see Justice questioning the pardon in the courts.)

That said, I worry about this nation. 

Pray like you've never prayed before. 

 

 

Like a Train Wreck, I Won't Be Able to Turn Away

 I keep saying I won't watch the fiasco that will take place in the US Congress at Noon today, but I am afraid I will not even be able to stop myself. 

Heck, I've even got supper fixed for tonight and ' ready to go.'

Several things to expect. 

- Remember there will/ or can be two hours of debate for each state a GOP congresscritter(s) objects to. 

- Don't be shocked if some Democratic congresscritter(s) objects to electors in states that the GOP won. 

- See what Mitch McConnell says when the Senate goes into their group to debate. He is the first speaker. 

- See what the Vice-President does. I am not going to be shocked if he secedes the chair to the President Pro-Tempore of the Senate.

- It may be 3-4-5AM tomorrow before this whole thing is over. 

Permanent Stimulus Money?

 Permanent Stimulus? 

So, the nominee to the Sec. of Treasury, former Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen and Mr. Biden are talking about a continuing stimulus.....

At least until the end of the Covid Pandemic. 

What is being talked about includes the following. 

Almost an instant $2000 check when Mr. Biden takes office. 

The stimulus would include the following-

-  Regular $2000 checks? Monthly? 6 weeks?  Quarterly?

-  An increase in Social Security payments.

-  An increase in Social Security disability benefits.

-  A possible wiping away of student loan debt, up to $50,000.

Of course the " Daily Diary of the American Dream" ( AKA The Wall Street Journal had an Op-Ed piece against it this morning.....This is the same WSJ who says not a word when the government bails out businesses that should be allowed to fail for poor businesses decisions. Chrysler two times in my life has been bailed by the U.S Government...and now Chrysler is owned by the Italians.....Fiat. In 1983 the original time Fiat was here, I worked with a teacher whose 2 month old Fiat Spider caught fire in the parking lot at the school in Magnolia. The car had been cut off for 3 hours. Engine burned up, poor electronics.)  

I do worry about inflation, the international currency market( dollar weakness against the ¥, £, € , but something needs to be done to jump-start the economy.

And as always, you feel guilty about the money, send it to me. I will make good use of it.

 

 

I Kind of Hate Living Here.

 It an old " Love/Hate" relationship. 

The older I get, the more I realize I have little in common with most of my neighbors, the people living in this part of the world. 

I rarely hold a conversation with anyone from here. 

Rarely. 

It is why I quit going to church. I have nothing in common with these people.....Seriously.

And I can trace my roots to the people living people  in Orange County to the 1830s. I taught more relatives in Buna than many of you realize. I even failed a couple and had family their grandparents call my uncles/aunts and ask why? ( Because they didn't do any work.) 

I often wonder if I would be happier or will be happier someday when I have grandkids and we look at moving closer. That said, everyday, I get older and older for a move. I don't know if I would find myself happy in a an apartment or townhouse in Austin or Dallas-Ft Worth? 

I found myself happier in Scotland and Ireland than here and I know I will not move there. My favorite conversation was with a guy I met at a pub in Thurso, Scotland. I thought he was just some Scottish " Shebie" ( Their version of white trash) only to discover he had a bachelor's degree from the London School of Economics( If I had any choice to attend any university in the world it would have been LSE, Trinity in Dublin second).....with a degree in the " Modern Greats." I was your " Modern Greats teacher at Buna....well two of the three. Politics and Economics.....Philosophy is the 3rd party of the Modern Greats Curriculum. 

I don't know.....I am eligible to be a member of the Sons of Texas.....The Sons of the Confederacy....I am married, seriously, to the great-great granddaughter of a Confederate General. Yet, I have nothing to do with any such organization. And make fun of the latter one. I see slavery as America's Great Sin.

I am a landowner. More than you know.( In a complicated trust, one of the things having a lawyer brother)  I would be able to vote in old Colonial America. Yet I believe strongly in modern suffrage for all citizens.  

 We always thought we'd have a red-haired daughter in law. It was all our son dated in high school/ college. Yet when he brought a Chinese girl home, we discovered she was the best one of all the girls she ever dated. 

I don't know. 

I often wonder. 

I don't think you know how much I evolved in teaching at Buna. I was hard, hard until about 2002. Super hard in 2000 because I had a couple 3 kids I need to do so for their future.

And I often hate myself for conforming. 

I hate my accent. 

I don't know today......Just a little aggravated at myself for not doing what I know is right rather than " holding back" and blasting the hell out of some of you today....

Just a bad mood today.... 

What's Going to Happen Jan. 6th????

 This coming Wednesday, January 6, 2021, the US Congress will meet to certify the electoral votes of each state. 

Here is what to expect to happen. 

- On Jan. 6th, there will be a joint meeting of the US Congress, both the US House and US Senate-

- If there is one written objection by both a member of the House and Senate then....The joint session will be suspend.

- The House and Senate will then have 2 hours of debate over the subject.

- Both the House and Senate must vote to object for the electoral votes to be thrown out. ( That is not going to happen because the House will be held by the Democrats in 2021. And I doubt enough Republican Senators vote to overturn the electoral votes. Already Senate Republicans Thune, Sasse, Collins, Romney are objecting to the vote. ) The vote is a simple majority.

The entire thing is political theater.  

As Republican Ben Sasse, Senator from Nebraska says,. " We have a a bunch of ambitious politicians who think this is a way to tap into Mr. Trump's political base without doing any long term damage." 

I know some of you think that somehow there was "cheating" in the election. And if there was, why didn't Republican judges agree to hear the cases? Simply, you got to show actual evidence. Not that idea that, " I think they cheated because the President said they did"......It's the old Joseph Goebbels ( Nazi German Minister of Propaganda) ideology...“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Psychologically many of you think so because " Everyone I know voted for Trump." 

You don't live where everyone lives. 

Most of you do not live in an urban area, or a suburban area, you live in a rural area, and the cities have more people than the rural areas and psychologically you think land mass should count more than people.  

As I have said, there will be another election in 2024. The democracy will survive even though you've been told otherwise..I survived LBJ, Nixon, and Carter. 

The world, the US is changing. I know you don't think it should, but it is. 

Calm down. This too shall pass.