Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Here's Where Rap Got It Roots From

Here's one of the early rappers- Jimmy Dean



Joe Casey died June 22, 2012.
He was a square dance caller for 62 years throughout New England and New York.

Bet many of ya didn't know anything about the roots of rap did cha?
 :-)

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Amish Auction For Their Kids Healthcare Costs

Uploaded September 26, 2021

Holmes County, Ohio

I don't think there could be better people in the country then these folks. They set a great example for us all. I found it rather surprising how much  Amish buggies cost.

Need Me Some MORE Bruuuuuuuce




The 'Hard Rock Calling' festival in London, 2013

Need Me Some Bruuuuuuuce

Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2006

Saturday, September 25, 2021

We're Losing The Economic War

This was the statement I made the other day. Here's more about that.

nypost.com
LA port backup grows to record 62 ships as supply chain crunch worsens
"A record 62 cargo ships are waiting to dock at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and are stuck floating off the coast... The Port of Long Beach has broken monthly records for how much cargo has passed through for 12 of the last 13 months, with 32 percent more cargo processed this year than in 2020..."

Simple logic dictates every one of those incoming cargo ships are making other countries even richer. They then can use those profits to buy up more American farms and manufacturing companies. Then in turn shutting them down requiring us to buy even more crap from them. Thus creating a shortage will drive up profits even higher for them.

Duh !
U.S. leaders must be a special kind of stupid to continue allowing this to happen. There's very little consumers can do about this. Unfortunately Washington politicians are too busy trying to destroy one another to be bothered with what would be in the best interest of the country. 




Saudi Arabia Buying American Water Rights

There are no limits on the amount of water foreign governments can extract and export.








They're even buying the cargo ports themselves!

So while the ignorant damn fools down in Washington are playing political games we're being taken over through ownership. The countries that own our wealth are the ones that will control Washington (if they aren't already). This is some seriously alarming stuff in my book.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Local Board Meetings Are The Backbone of America.

Brian Williams Clip From His MSNBC Show 'The Recount'

This is why intelligent species from other planets never make contact. Perhaps they did a drive-by eons ago dumping their undesirables and flew off   Now we're stuck with them.

It was also could explain Genesis in the bible as to the expulsion from the garden. It wasn't about bad apples after all. God and the angels didn't want to raise a bunch of nuts so they weeded them out. Somewhere along the line translators must have mixed up the two since both are vegetables.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Clips From 4 Of The Best Shows Ever On TV

These show's writers forced people to think about things going on in the world. Will there ever come a time once again where TV shows receive the kind of budgeting requirements they need to appear on network TV?
OR
Has network TV entirely succumbed to the fee based streaming services business model only?

I, for one, miss those days when major networks were the truly 'must see TV' it once was. Shame on them for abandoning shows like these. The following performers and writers deserve much more credit then I would have assumed. I took for granted they'd always be others in the pipeline. Sadly I was very much mistaken.


The Newsroom: Will McAvoy On Being A Republican...



The Newsroom: Ground Zero Mosque Debate



Boston Legal: Alan Shore- Illegal Immigrants



Boston Legal: Alan Shore vs Supreme Court



Madam Secretary: How The Sausage Gets Made- General Mourad Cherat



Madam Secretary: Former Secretaries of State advise Elizabeth



Madam Secretary: VOTE!



The West Wing: Jed Bartlet Scenes

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Biden Administration Treatment Of Haitian Migrants

huffpost.com
Chuck Schumer Criticizes Biden Administration Over Treatment Of Haitian Migrants
"The Democratic Senate majority leader urged President Joe Biden to cease the expulsion of Haitian migrants who have been massing at the U.S.-Mexico border."

I DISAGREE!

Most of those interviewed had been staying in South America for months. Some for years. If  my family and I arrived at a hotel and the rooms are all full we either need to go somewhere else or head back home. For these people it's as simple as crossing back to where they left Nobody is forcing them to live in squalor like they choose to do under the bridge. This is of their own making. We didn't do it. Biden nor any of us should be held responsible for these unwise decisions they continue to make.

Then there are those screaming their heads off about Biden allowing them into the country. The other half of the jackasses yelling Biden shouldn't send them to Haiti. What is Biden supposed to do. Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't. How the hell are we suppose to stop them.. shoot them?

The way I see it these wanderers determine their own destiny. I'd not give them food nor water or anything else. All they have to do is turn around walk back across the river. None of this is America's doing. We can't take on every problem people create for themselves.

There's only so many people a boat can hold before it sinks. Such is the same with nations. Before trying to lay a guilt trip on the American people all sides need to be reminded no single nation can solve all the world's problems. There is such a thing as generosity. Another to allow others to exploit the American people's good intentions till it weakens us.

There's a time for compassion. But no such time as it endangers our country because of others failures to deal with what should be their own responsibility. In short.. these people need to realize we're not suckers for every unfortunate thing happening elsewhere in the world. They need to go elsewhere till they are invited. Even better, stay home. Work on the conditions that made them want to leave in the first place.

4th Grade Common Core Division


OMG these poor kids. Hours of teaching what could probably be taught in a fraction of the time. It's like driving through Pennsylvania to Ohio for a beach vacation in New Jersey.

We had a kid who worked with us in the wet mix room at a food plant where I worked. At the end of the run we only needed a partial batch. The guy working with me told the kid to figure the amounts we needed. He was given a paper and pencil. He told the kid to do this while he did something else which needed to be done. Unbeknownst to this kid my coworker already made up the partial batch before this genius could come up with the amounts needed. And my coworker did it all in his head.

Is it any wonder then why our schools are behind nearly every other developed country?

To add a little extra burn to this story, nearly all the equipment we were using was engineered and manufactured in other countries.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

What The Hell Is Wrong With Texas?


Lawsuits are all fine and dandy but they only serve to punish taxpayers. Never the jackasses that deserve punishment. These officials seem wanting to make things as miserable as they can for so many who don't deserve it. Drunk on power if you ask me.

MLB Moves Bat Production To China


(MLB's balls are hand-sewn at the Rawlings factory in Costa Rica.)


newsweek.com
China is Coming for American Farms
"The biggest Chinese agricultural investment in the U.S. came in 2013, when the Bank facilitated the largest acquisition of an American company to date: the $4.7 billion purchase of Smithfield Foods [the licensee of Nathan's Famous pre-packaged beef hot dogs], also the world's biggest pork producer, by the Shuanghui Group. The 146,000 acres of land that Shuanghui thereby gained made it one of the largest foreign owners of U.S. property.

But Beijing hasn't stopped there. Currently, ChemChina, an agricultural state-owned enterprise, is attempting to take Swiss firm Syngenta, the world's largest crop protection maker and third-biggest seed supplier, public. Its value? $50 billion. More importantly, while Syngenta is a Swiss company, it operates multi-billion dollar farm sites across 16 U.S. states, invests in research and development yearly, employs over 4,000 Americans in 41 states and views the U.S. as its top market. Its stake in American farmland is thus critical, and China knows it.


This scene from 'Madame Secretary' two years ago
sums things up nicely for what I'm about to say.

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH !

So while we fight among each other over just about everything China's been on a straight forward path towards world domination. I fear we've become such fools that we see each other and just about every other person in the world a threat except the very country that threatens us directly the most.

At one time we worried about manufactured imports from Japan. Then our jobs going to Mexico. They both pale in comparison  About the only thing we make anymore in this country is TikTok videos and lawsuits against one another.

Isn't it about time we wake the hell up?
We're engaged in a economic war with the rest of the world. One which we're losing badly.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

THE LION KING on Broadway Reopened On 09/14/2021


It re-opened September 14, 2021 at
'The Minskoff Theatre'
200 W. 45th St., New York, NY

We had the good fortune to see this musical in October 2001. One month after the Twin Towers were destroyed. Attendance was full. Despite what had happened many, such as the wife and I, were determined to not allow ourselves succumb to fear. It was the first LIVE Broadway musical production to grace 'The New Amsterdam Theatre' after it's $34 million restoration. It had been decaying for years since hosting 'The Ziegfeld Follies' (1913-1927). 

Elton John wrote the musical score. Tim Rice the lyrics. It was the first Broadway production to use actors in giant animal costumes as well as large hollow puppets. The show premiered on October 15, 1997 and has been going strong ever since. Grossing over $1b (highest of all time).

August 19, 2021:
Director Julie Taymor addresses the cast of THE LION KING on Broadway before they sing through 'Circle of Life' for the first time since March 2020. The performance is led by Tshidi Manye.


You may ask, well what's playing at the New Amsterdam now. Well I'll tell ya. Glad you asked. "Alladin" returns on Sepetember 28, 2021 to the stage.

James Monroe Iglehart at the 2014 Tonys as the genie.



As of 2019 there were actually 5 genies to that date
James Monroe Iglehart, Michael James Scott, tour Genie Major Attaway, and standbys Juwan Crawley and Deonte L. Warren

Monday, September 13, 2021

Eagles Season Opener 32 To Falcon's 6

 


I'll admit I was skeptical but one never knows do one?

Fingerprint Door Locks Are Useless


This can also work similarly on numerical keypad locks. Not to mention worn dirty buttons may give away which buttons are frequently pressed. So much for high technology.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Covid Doesn't Give A Crap What People Think






cnn.com
Daily Covid-19 case average is more than 3 times higher than it was last Labor Day
"The United States' seven-day average of new cases Monday (137,270 daily) dwarfs the average seen on Labor Day of last year (39,355 daily), according to Johns Hopkins University data."

As I surmised Covid never has given up the fight. It was just waiting in the wings till people got sloppy. Well here we are folks. I expect by October this whole thing is going to get out of control (especially in the schools).

It doesn't matter one iota what people want to believe. The virus itself couldn't be concerned less what happens despite all the screaming, hollering and bickering with one another. Sometimes the human race has to learn the hard way. This is one of those times.

It's shame so many innocents who do the right thing have to suffer because far too many others choose to be jackasses.

Monday, September 6, 2021

Michael Moore On Ending War In Afghanistan




Clip from 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (2004)




This is a 14 minute clip from a longer documentary called
"Rethink Afghanistan" that was released over eleven years ago
by 'BRAVE NEW FILMS'

Hundreds of thousands were feeding off the teats of the American taxpayer. No wonder so many are pissed off with Biden ending the war.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Meet Some Genuine Amish Mennonites In Ohio


These kind of videos are much better watching then any so-called reality programs on TV. Unscripted The real deal. Nothing could be more authentic then people you see here in this video. I must say, many of their opinions align with mine.

Once again an example why my preferred viewing are YouTube videos. These kind of videos take me to places and people I'd never meet. I learn new things from them constantly.

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Taliban Inspect U.S. Aircraft Left Behind At Kabul Airport


Yeah sure we trained some of them how to repair aircraft.
Course they'll need the proper parts that fit each to do that :-)

The Haves And Have Nots Getting Worse

Freed from traditional offices, remote workers are relocating all over the country, fueling "Zoom booms" in remote towns. In Crested Butte, Colorado, the new influx is leaving locals with nowhere to live, prompting the town to declare a housing emergency.


So let me see if I get this correct.
Locals have to live in tents, cars and trucks so wealthy can enjoy their 2nd and 3rd homes served by them. Well this sucks. It reminds me of indentured servitude. This restaurant lady pays them whereupon they give half or more of the salary back to her to live in one of her rentals.

The gap between those who have money and those who have not are getting wider each passing month. We see this in most of the third world countries around the world. If this inequity is not addressed the United States could become one like them. If there could be one thing worse then socialism it's capitalism run amuck. Unfortunately all indications are we are headed in that direction.

Talk about going full circle.
Seems to me we're headed back to a time miners, ranch hands, plantation/farm workers, cement factory employees and others had to live like this. So much for the American dream. More like a nightmarish future for some. The way ahead not looking too bright if this trend continues unabated.

Friday, September 3, 2021

ABBA Back After 40 Years!





Few groups today can excite the music industry like ABBA. It's so welcome a relief for me to hear of their return no matter how they do it.

'Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now (cover by HSCC)


Another great cover band from South Australia I came across.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Social Security Funds Will Run Out Sooner Than Expected

nypost.com
Social Security funds will run out sooner than expected, feds warn
"Social Security will need to cut benefits starting in 2034... Medicare is still expected to exhaust its reserves in 2026."

ssa.gov
Social Security Board of Trustees: Combined Trust Funds Projected Depletion One Year Sooner Than Last Year
PRESS RELEASE: "If Congress does not act before 2034 there would be sufficient income coming in to pay 78 percent of scheduled benefits... Social Security paid benefits of $1.096 trillion in calendar year 2020. There were about 65 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year."

SSA Trustees Report- "The Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, or Medicare Part A, which helps pay for services such as inpatient hospital care, will be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2026, the same year as reported last year. At that time, the fund's reserves will become depleted and continuing total program income will be sufficient to pay 91 percent of total scheduled benefits...

Lawmakers have many policy options that would reduce or eliminate the long-term financing shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare. Lawmakers should address these financial challenges as soon as possible. Taking action sooner rather than later will permit consideration of a broader range of solutions and provide more time to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare."


Indeed there are measures congress could take. However given the current political climate, will they in time?