Doritios, Snickers Bar, & Marlboros....Question???

 The the " Daily Diary of the American Dream" as they once called themselves, the Wall Street Journal had an article this morning on people's buying habits, especially at the 7-11, Circle K, convenience type stores. 

I know to buy gas, we all stop at these type stores. Where else you going to get it? A truck stop? Which is just a bigger convenience type store. Often with a Burger King or Wendy's inside. 

Sales inside these stores are down 4.3%. That's big for these type businesses. 

- Refrigerated products are down 7%

- Chocolate candy like Snickers, Almond Joy, Hersey bars are down 7%.

- Part of the problem the average consumer is saying things like a large bag of Doritos is like $7 now. 

- People who bought a carton of cigarettes in the past are just buying one pack....And making them last. 

Most folks get back into their car and keep on going once they pump their gas. 

In an attempt to get people back inside, companies like Pepsico are developing Doritos with warm nacho cheese and other toppings.... Smuckers , the jelly/jam company now owns Hostess and they are coming out with a limited edition cherry flavored Twinkie in the near future. Smuckers is also pushing their crust-less sandwiches. ( On YouTube, they've been advertising " Uncrustibles" like crazy.....That said, I still don't want to buy one.)

It seems the only thing that is bulletproof are lottery tickets. There is no change in the American population thinking they're going to be the next millionaire.  

I know here, I am see more and more HEB chips, and soft drinks...And if you've not tried them, they're pretty good, especially the HEB "Pure Cane Sugar" Cola. It's pretty darn good....

So, the question of the day is this.....How much have you stopped buying incidentals, or treats? Are you still getting a " Big Gulp" from you local 7-11 type store? ( I can't remember the last time I bought a fountain drink.) 

Boys, Mens, Don't Do This.....

 And if you already have, well, we will try and get you straightened out. 

This past week on my YouTube, the following videos have popped up on Hugo Jacomet's site, AskOkay's site, the Gentleman's Gazette. 

And it concerns you having a black suit. 

Especially if you buy it as your first suit.  

Now I know this is SE Texas, and well, people just don't dress up. I understand this, however, if for some reason you decide to get a suit, please, don't do this.....

A Black Suit....

If we lived in Victorian or even Edwardian England in the late 1800s, early 1900s, the color of men's frock coat, or business coats was black.....But by the 1950s, this changed dramatically. 

Black Suits were seen to be worn by people in mourning...

And if you are funeral director or undertaker, or you are in the funeral business, well black is an appropriate color. 

Men, boys, and ladies,( if ladies,  you're shopping for your BF, husband, dad, brother, etc...... ) your first suit , should be navy....and if you get a second suit, charcoal grey. 

A basic navy suit will work for anything. A job interview, work in an office,  a wedding, a funeral, a night on the town. 

And if you just cannot stand a navy suit, get the charcoal grey. It'll work...

Please, make it a solid, don't be like me and more and more of my suits are pinstripes( Economics Teacher. The banking community first started wearing pinstripes, and it symbolizes commerce today.) or I have a khaki suit with a blue Prince of Wales check. ( I am dying to wear that one to a wedding. )

Sorry, couldn't do economics today and to be honest may take the next two days off from blogging. ( Unless something big happens, like a UFO lands in the middle of Hwy96 in front of Black Gold for some BBQ.)

 

Them Decisions, Them Decisions.....And Tuesday Morning's Economics....

 There is a joke behind the title, one of which, is now not good for polite society.....But, was often told in old Southern Baptist pulpits....But today? I would not go there....

But I got decisions.....

I received an invitation this morning, via, email for my 50th High School Reunion...

Class of 1975 Vidor High....50 years ago this coming May.......It doesn't seem that long ago....It seems like an an eternity.....That old " Best of times, worst of times"idea......

And the venue they have chosen is not that far from my house.   

And they do want $50 for me to show up....Trouble is, I am tight, tight with a dollar. I'd rather spend about £50 quid in a pub drinking Rev. James Ale talking with the UK locals. 

It is not until the end of June, so I have time to decide.  

I'm leaning a hard " No." Unless I was in the band, I never associated with these people when I was in school. Especially high school, and unlike Buna, there were 3 different elementaries funneling into the secondary schools, and the kids from the other two schools, well, never really associated with them. ( Plus, my graduating class was right at 400.)

I am looking at a " Hard Pass." And not go....I've not seen these people in 50 years, why now? 

- On to the economy....

The futures this morning have a modest gain on the Dow. Looking at various amounts since I got up, the NYSE is up around +100...This after losing almost -900 yesterday.  

Yesterday the stock markets lost $4 trillion in value. 

This morning the so called experts are talking about a " Credible threat of recession."

I think we are there. 

Southwest Airlines announced no 2 free checked bags starting May 28th.....Got to make a dollar, somehow....

When the tariffs finally go into effect, the companies will raise prices, even the prices on products they have had for a while.....Trouble is, the consumer can't buy their products now. go up on prices? They will substitute goods, or do without.  And force the businesses to cut prices in an attempt to stay in business. 

And if no one is buying goods and services, this will mean there will be cuts in workers. But how much?

The Economy and a Recession.....

 I get up this morning, and the VIX( That tells the economic volatility) is down -26. When it is double digits, it is not good....

And sure enough the stock market futures are down -385 points, Bitcoin was down to $82,000. Wasn't that long ago Bitcoin was over $100,000. 

I just looked back and saw that the Dow futures are now down -421.  That's within about 10 minutes. When the markets open at 8:30 CDT, who knows what will happen. 

I know a lot of people, companies are looking at keeping everything liquid right now ( In cash is liquid) 

And then there is the talk of tariffs, and the yes, no, yes, no...start /stop of the threat of tariffs, if you're going to do it, fuckin' do it. 

Then, the last 2 months people have slowed buying. And the car market, housing market, well, they have slowed too. And a large part of that is interest rates and inflation. 

Dow futures are now at -504...

The American populous now owes $1.2 trillion in credit card debt. And growing. People want that lifestyle. 

Say what you want,  Cracks are forming in the economy.... Layoffs are mounting,  hiring is slowed way down, I know people have hundreds of applications out....consumer confidence is eroding and inflation is picking up speed.

I am afraid it is going to break down to this, ..." Do you have a job? Does your neighbor have a job?" 

 

Did Not Expect This from Ya'', and Not Going to Lie, I Cried....

 I made an off-hand remark about people who have been with a long term Significant Other, and now, they are no longer together, and I am not going to lie, it upset me. 

I heard from more people in my Private Messages then I have well, perhaps, any other topic. 

And I am not going to lie, I broke right down and balled my eyes out some upset me so badly. 

To be honest, I am worry about us as a society. I know there are a large number of males ages 18-40 who have just given up on women. Just done. 

Most I have spoken to blame the social media, dating, apps, the internet, all the above, some of the above...

And the thing is, it is both males and females who have given up having a long time love in their lives. 

A couple of guys told me they would not dare ask a girl at school, at work, at a bar out for a date. They're scared of being called a creep, or worse. 

Now, I thought it was bad back in the 1970s, but today....

And the thing is, I do not know what people want. Boys or girls. 

I do look back at some of the girls I dated in the 1970s, and how I dodged a bullet.A girl I dated is now on husband number 5.........But it is such a different world.  And I know people my age do not understand why their grandchildren are often not married, or even looking, and I've seen a lot of research, watched a lot of YouTube, TikTok posts, and 50+ folks, it is so different. And to make matters worse, the economy is not helping.

And every person who sent me a private message seemed so discouraged. And 80% asked for prayer. And I don't blame them, the way they broke up with their SO, well, it was going to hurt them....

And of course, I put you on the prayer list. 

I am getting closer to 70 with each passing day, and I am not kidding when I say this, I am worried about many of you......And you may take this with little solace, but y'all are on my pray list permanently. 

Older folks, I am worried......It you might want to be concerned too....

The Pope Explodes......Literally, he " Blows-up."

 Let's see who gets upset today.....

Little background on the potential death of the present pope.  And deaths of former popes.

In October, 1958, Pope Pius XII passed away at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. In the mountains, the residence was cooler than Rome which is warm in the summer. This was long before universal air conditioning. 

The long time doctor of the pope decided to experiment with an embalming technique saying it would " sooth the pope into sainthood. For years after their death if a priest, or bishop or nun, or pope was dug up and their body was " fresh faced" it was considered a miracle by the Catholic Church, and this was a step towards sainthood. 

The pope's doctor was sure that his method of embalming would be the first step toward Pius XII becoming a St. Pius. 

Trouble was, the doctor did not have a clue what he was doing....( Need Bruce here to explain the science behind embalming)

Trouble was Dr. Galeazzi-Lisi, the pope's personal physician  by all accounts, was not a very good doctor. He knew nothing about embalming. 

-First Pius XII was soaked in oils, then wrapped in cellophane, allowing gases to build up, as the pope was not embalmed in a traditional manner. 

- Pius XII's internal organs were not preserved, allowing a large amount of gases to build within the body cavity. 

- Putrefaction and autolysis started....."Putrefaction is the breakdown of tissues by bacteria....Autolysis is the breakdown of cells by the body's own enzymes..."

- Pius XII lay is state 4 days, unwrapped, and eventually, his body explodes. 

- The smell from Pius XII was so bad, the Swiss Guards, standing watch over the body had to be rotated out every 15 minutes, and the faithful, who viewed the body, often passed out from the stench.    

- Toward the end of Pius XII lying in state, people who viewed Pius XII said his face turned green. 

-At the very end, the Pope's nose and fingers fell off. 

In August 1978, after his death, a similar event took place with Pope Paul VI. In the summer heat, and under TV lights, the Pope was literally being roasted. People could see Paul VI rotting away. The bureaucracy at the Vatican decided to close Pail VI's casket, long before it was time to do so. Again, poor embalming methods. 

We will talk more about what happens when the pope passes away. I am even in the middle of writing a blog on exorcists. I had planned to write it as part of this blog, but it'd be much too long, and I have to keep blogs short, or people get bored.May even talk about a student who I am certain was possessed, yes at Buna. I even had student in the class who was convinced and came and talked to me about it. So much so, she changed classes, Did not want to sit near him during graduation. Even gave me a the " Prayers against the Powers of Darkness " book. 

Until she came by and we made arrangements to move classes for her, I thought I was just crazy thinking the person may have been....I already would not take her outside to discuss grades, other concerns this person may have had. They scared me.

But' we'll talk about it later. And probably not who you think.

Biblical Prophecy?

 I took a class in seminary a hundred years ago, seriously, 40+ years ago that had a lot of "Biblical Prophecy" included within the course. 

Classes like this, or course are not taught anymore, or if they are, they are not taught the same way they were in the late 1970s to middle 1980s. 

In 1970, an author by the name of Hal Lindsey wrote the book, " The Late Great Planet Earth." 

The book of course was an Evangelical view of how the world would end. 

Lindsey made a fortune from this book and series of books that followed up to this book. 

People in the Evangelical world sang all sorts of praises about Lindsey, and Lindsey saying that Jesus was coming in out lifetime, soon, very soon, like in 5-7-10 years. 

I have heard ministers praise Lindsey saying he was a " Christian's Christian." 

Never mind that Lindsey was married 4 times in his life, all ex-wives divorced him, mostly for reason....and the money from his books, speaking engagements allowed him to buy a new German luxury car every 3-4 months......and he was going to London's Savile Row and buying several £15,000( $19,500) hand made suits at a time.

I say this because one of Lindsey's tag lines was "Jesus was going to return in his lifetime. "

Lindsey died at the end of last year, 2024.  

And there were many people who either hung on every new book he published, or in those days, a number of people just like him. It was a business. 

I am convinced the Southern Baptists used Lindsey's books to scare the hell out of younger Baptist people. Keep them from having sex. listening to Rock-n-Roll( Country and Western was okay, but Rock, was the " Devil's music...Never mind Country was full of those drinkin' and cheatin' songs), and the biggy, drinking alcohol.....And worked for a lot of them. I swear it caused a lot people I know to marry at 18, so they could screw, never mind most of them most of them divorced, also sin according to the Baptists, but this is another story....

Now, there has always been prophecies in the Bible. 1/3rd of the Bible is claimed to be future events, or events in the future which have already taken place. 

All religions, have prophecy. 

All.

All forms of Christianity have prophecy. 

All...Even the Roman Catholic Church. 

So, with the illness of the 88 year old Pope Francis, and his now third week in the hospital, most of it in critical condition, I was asked by a few people to discuss the prophecies of St. Malachy. 

Malachy lived from 1094 until 1148. He was the Archbishop of Armagh, a city in Northern Ireland. ( We've been there. Nothing special, but we liked Northern Ireland.) 

He is said to have...." an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocrypha." 

It is called the Prophecy of the Popes. 

Francis is Pope number 112.....and according the Malachy, is the last pope.  

In this 112th's pope's time....Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills ( Rome) will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End

Trouble is, what happens, if this does not occur, and Francis dies?  

Already, there are people saying that Francis is not number 112....That some previous popes were not pope. Trouble is, which one? 

Some of the Catholic experts are saying the confusion is during the time in which there was 2 popes. One in Rome and one in France. Of course, politics is involved. Called the Great Schism, or Western Schism, The Schism of 1378, and about 5 other names. 

Trouble is, during this time, there was period in which there were 3 popes. The 3rd one reigned from Pisa in Italy from 1409-1410. However, he died, and there was no replacement for him. 

They are saying that if the next pope is Italian, then, he will be the last pope. 

Many analyses of the prophecy note that it is open to the interpretation that additional popes would come between the "glory of the olive" and Peter the Roman. Popular speculation by proponents of the prophecy attach this prediction to Benedict XVI's successor. Since Francis election as Pope, proponents in internet forums have been striving to link him to the prophecy. Theories include a vague connection with Francis of Assisi whose father was named Pietro. 

Trouble is, is any of this right? 

I question a lot of people interpreting Revelations. Heck, I don't believe in a rapture. Show me the word rapture in the Bible? The idea of it didn't show up until the 1800s. And in truth, why are you so narcissistic to believe you are good enough to not go through suffering? I know most of you, you ain't that good. You better hope there is some sort of grace, a technicality to get your sorry butt through to the other side.  

And don't write me a thesis on end times. Don't be quoting the Bible on me. I'll quote stuff back you in Koine  Greek and ask you questions. People have not gotten it right, if there is an end of times or not.  It might be man made with a nuclear war, or an asteroid at some point may slam into the earth.....That said, don't be telling me how this is all going to end, because you , not I, nor anyone on earth knows. 

All this said, if you want to know a little more on Catholic prophecy, let me know. I may wait until the pope dies, but if there is enough " popular demand" I may go there....