Our Social Security Conundrum

"Or - we can just let the system implode and let our kids and grandkids pick up the pieces. What sense does that make? As much sense as leaving them a 50 trillion dollar debt. I know - it is not 50 trillion - yet. But it will be. No matter who is President. Just saying..."    

If I had a nickel for every time in my adult life I have heard the Social Security fund was going broke, I could retire all over again. So the question begs to be asked - is the Social Security fund going broke? Our world famous Ponzi Scheme? Yes, yes, and yes all over again. Actually, I am surprised it has lasted this long. Why is it going broke? It is simply a game of numbers. Too few workers paying in for too many to receive. Plus, our seniors are living longer. Whereas making it to 65 at one time was like winning the lotto, today 65 seems like "half life" to many seniors.

If I were in charge, and not afraid of the "third rail" of Social Security, what would I do? I would sunset the current system immediately for those under 40. It is not fair to them to pay into a system which might not be there when they retire. I would replace it with a system which was realistic and self funding. One where the participant has the option of controlling his or her investment, and (here is the big one), should the participant die before retirement, that self directed fund could be kept by the heirs, and not turned back into the government.

I know, I know. When the fund was set up, it was not supposed to be counted on. If you lived long enough to collect it, great. If not, it just went back into the giant fund to help the collective. But today, things are different. We have become dependent on Social Security. Most companies are no longer paying pensions. 401K and IRA funds can either be very good or very bad. And money in savings does not pay spit in interest. But Social Security? That has been solid for many seniors. A lifeline in turbulent times.

However - if we really want to help our seniors, stop all COLAs for five years. In exchange for that, take all federal and state tax off seniors who receive Social Security benefits. Is that the best solution? Maybe - or maybe not. But at least it is something. Better than being on the train, going 100mph towards a brick wall.

How about our President? Is he all over this thing? You bet he is. In true "Corn Pop" fashion, Slo Joe is telling all who want to hear, it is THE REPUBLICANS, who are trying to steal your Social Security. Other than that, he has nothing. No game - nothing. 

Or - we can just let the system implode and let our kids and grandkids pick up the pieces. What sense does that make? As much sense as leaving them a 50 trillion dollar debt. I know - it is not 50 trillion - yet. But it will be. No matter who is President. Just saying...    

Our grossly misinformed electorate

"What did Minnesota once have, which it now does not? A majority of citizenry who are Godly. Now we have "meh" voters, who don't give a wit how far down that dark tunnel the secular socialists take us. Many just no longer care."

What is up in Minnesota? This once normal state, which has now become a cauldron of evil and debauchery? This weekend, there was a "Trans Visibility" celebration in St. Paul. It was a DFL love fest. They had trannies of all stripes and colors, drag queens, and so forth. Why was this event so important to the DFL? Great question. One drag queen (allegedly), even admitted to being a satanist. And with this Sodom and Gomorrah event happening in our state capitol, where was the Governor? The citizenry? The people of God? Or have we just ceded the capitol to the forces of darkness?

Some might think I hate trans people. I do not. I recognize them as fellow humans, and they are loved like any other person. But I will judge them when they try to corrupt children. That is wrong and evil, and deserves condemnation. Drag queens "twerking" close to children, deserves condemnation.

But enough about last weekend. It is one I am trying to forget, put it out of my mind. On Palm Sunday weekend, secular socialists had no problem putting this spectacle on at the start of Holy Week. But my concern is mostly the electorate. The people who keep electing people, who are misfit for governing. People who vote for candidates who will not only tolerate things such as "Trans Visibility", but also support it. And to do it at the start of the holiest week in the Christian calendar.  

I reported last week, the number of people who have fled Hennepin and Ramsey counties during the period of July 2021 to July 2022. It is projected that more will leave during the period of July 2022 to July 2023. But who are these people who are leaving? Those who can. "Normals", who have had it up to their chins. But the "Crazies", are just fine with the "Normals" leaving. They cannot leave fast enough. 

I still believe the number of normal thinking people in this state, far exceed the crazies. But here is the problem. Passive/aggressive behavior. Many people either get so frustrated and angry, that they don't vote. Or - others who know better, vote for the status quo in Minnesota. You know - "Prairie Populists" like Garrison Keillor. Just sit back after voting for secular socialists (once again), and listen to some Prairie Home Companion. The net result of doing this for years and years? The most extreme abortion law in the country, and "Trans Visibility" Day for starters. Trust me, there are more - a lot more.

What did Minnesota once have, which it now does not? A majority of citizenry who are Godly. Now we have "meh" voters, who don't give a wit how far down that dark tunnel the secular socialists take us. We just no longer care. We are turning our back on God, only to embrace the craziness and evil which now pervades just about everything in Minnesota.

Father God, please forgive us. And please open our eyes to this evil, before it is too late.    

 

Our AI issue at hand

"Remember - AI was only the beginning. Right now, simple AI is just about everywhere. But simple AI is not much more than a play thing. The real prize exists in the Machine Learning, or the very scary, Deep Learning. That is where Frankenstein's Monster could be created."

This past week has held an interesting issue for all who are interested in the development of AI. It kind of reminds me of when 5g first became introduced. Much worry abounded if the microwaves from 5g would do more harm than good. But - the band marches on. Many new developments were in their final stages, and having the reduced latency associated with 5g, was critical. So 5g marches on.

But AI is interesting from a different viewpoint. It is one thing to have rudimentary AI devices like Alexa and Siri. But to take the next step and dapple in the mysterious world of ML (Machine Learning)? That might be opening Pandora's Box. 

By now, many of us have heard about the first application of AI ML. It was developed by OpenAI and launched in November of last year. So far, it has been a jaw dropper. Why? It does not "parrot", rather it thinks for itself. It can construct research papers all by itself. What - what? How is that going to work with kids in college? It is for reasons such as this (as well as many dystopian other reasons), that many are saying we need to put the brakes on our development of AI ML.

But hold on for just a minute. Our military is also very interested in AI. For reasons most of which, they are not disclosing. And we do know this - the ChiComs are also going full speed ahead on AI. Especially for their military. So if we stop, and they continue - I think we all know the answer to that one.

Remember - AI was only the beginning. Right now, simple AI is just about everywhere. But simple AI is not much more than a play thing. The real prize exists in the Machine Learning, or the very scary, Deep Learning. That is where Frankenstein's Monster could be created. I mean, could any of us forget the 1983 movie Wargames? That was advanced AI which almost ended us all. 

How is this going to play out? No idea. But it will be interesting to watch. As it is, we now have to be on the lookout for Deep Fakes when we are watching the news. And Deep Fakes are only the beginning of what could go wrong. 

  

Living life in a snowbelt

"According to Axios and Minnpost, between July 2021 and July 2022, Hennepin County lost 13,000 residents, and Ramsey County lost 8,000 people. Wow!"

As most of us know by now, we got hammered last night. A Giants in the Earth type of spring blizzard. Rumor has it, we now have had enough snow to put us in third place for seasonal snow totals (since records have been kept). How bad has this winter been, besides all the snow? Tomorrow, it might hit 50 degrees. First time since last October. That is a long time to be in the freezer.

At one time, I would complain about the weather in this state. That and the taxes. But now, we can add one more thing into the mix. We have the weather, the ever growing taxes, and a socialist landscape, thanks to the last election. For many who have lived here their entire lives, they ask what happened to the Minnesota they once loved. At one time, it was only the endless winters which made living here challenging. Now the weather is only a third of the equation.

Tom Emmer, Jeff Johnson, Scott Jensen. All good people. All smart people. They are last three Republicans who ran for Governor of Minnesota. Emmer and Johnson are lawyers, and Jensen is a MD. I know Tom Emmer and Jeff Johnson personally. I was on Jeff's team twice, and we became good friends. But Minnesota decided to elect Mark Dayton and Tim Walz instead. Two flawed people, whose track record revealed those flaws in technicolor. And those technicolor flaws have dimmed the once bright lights of Minnesota.

How bad is it today in the Twin Cities? Many schools are still failure factories. Rather than fixing our education system using smarter systems, thanks to Education Minnesota and Tim Walz, we continue to throw good money after bad. Who suffers besides the taxpayers? Our kids.

According to Axios and Minnpost, between July 2021 and July 2022, Hennepin County lost 13,000 residents, and Ramsey County lost 8,000 people. Wow! Plus, people who can, have been pulling their kids out of the Minneapolis School system. Putting them in better schools, where they can succeed. Why are all these people leaving? For the same reason that New York, California and Illinois are hemorrhaging people.

What is life like living in a snowbelt? Cold, for starters. And frustrating, as this once great state is turning into a modern day Detroit. For no reason. We are a cold Omaha (no offense, Nebraska), filled with expensive trains, which few people use. The future here? Grim, at best.  

 

The good, the bad, the very ugly

"Maybe we needed this to truly wake up. The tyranny has been building with a drip, drip, drip. Now the bloom is off the rose. We see things for what they really are. Time to fight fire with fire. Time to take back our country. Time to throw traitors in prison. Time to win EVERYTHING in 2024." 

Well, it happened. Pandor's Box has been opened. The investment that George Soros made in Manhattan might have paid off. Or so it seems. Alvin Bragg, the doppelganger for the Pillsbury Dough Boy, has somehow managed to bootstrap a possible misdemeanor into a felony. Over a charge which was out of his purview. A charge which was outside the statute of limitations. Donald Trump, the first President ever, has been indicted.

The weaponization of the DOJ is now complete. It was bad enough that Matt Taibbi had the IRS knock at his door, the day he was testifying in front of Congress about Hunter's laptop. That was unprecedented. But then just a short time later, the indictment of Donald Trump. Where is Merrick Garland when all this crap is happening? Hiding. 

I called this article the good, the bad, and the very ugly. The very ugly is right there in front of us, for all to see. It is the tort of our judicial system, by the tools George Soros bought and paid for. That is about as ugly as it gets. The bad is this - with the world on fire right now, and Putin giving us almost daily threats of annihilation (yes, there was another one today), we have the destruction of our republic to deal with. But the good? Where is the good?

The socialists and country wreckers on the left, have just done something which the Republican Party struggles with. They have lionized a candidate for Presidency. Donald Trump, who was already leading in the polls, just got a giant jump start. I know, I know. Many on the left will say that Trump is a flawed man, and got what he deserved. Maybe. But Donald Trump is now a symbol. A symbol of what an out of control government can do.

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, he went to Washington with a mandate. Drain the swamp. And he did a good job on starting that venture. However, to everyone's surprise, the swamp was deeper and wider than expected. It had infected the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS and 100% of the DNC. It was everywhere, including in parts of the establishment RNC. The net result? In the 2020 election, Trump lost. Fairly? Not with the swamp pulling the levers. 

But in 2024, most of us have learned our lesson. To take back America, we need to get Donald Trump back in the White House. We will not accept another "rigged" election. We will not accept interference by existing government agencies. We need Trump to finish what he started in 2016. To fully drain this swamp. 

Maybe we needed this to truly wake up. The tyranny has been building with a drip, drip, drip. Now the bloom is off the rose. We see things for what they really are. Time to fight fire with fire. Time to take back our country. Time to throw traitors in prison. Time to win EVERYTHING in 2024. 

   

The need for speed

"Some experts think that the SR-72 will be the start of a new era in avionics. Hypersonic drones. It will change warfare for sure. And travel? Will it change could long it will take to get to Asia? To Europe? Maybe."

For years, the SR-71 was the "King of the Hill". It was the fastest airbreather on the planet. How much so? It could fly over Russia, China, North Korea, or whomever - and they could not do spit about it. Why? The SR-71 could fly at Mach 3, at an altitude which was almost suborbital, and take high rez photos to its heart's content. But that was then, and it is now. Today, many countries either have, or on the verge of having, hypersonic missiles which would take this spy plane down. 

Currently, we have the "son of" the SR-71 being developed. And it is close to being ready. It is the long awaited SR-72, and it will be like the SR-71 - only better. How so? First off, it will be unmanned. A total drone. And - it will be quicker. Whereas the SR-71 could go Mach 3, the SR-72 is rumored to be capable of Mach 5. Truly hypersonic. 

One might ask, why do we need something like this? Don't we have excellent satellites? We do. Years ago, I was asked to be the backup to one of my co-workers who had clearance for the Keyhole Program. Keyhole was the code name for our spy satellites. This was in the 1980's. I was amazed at what these satellites were capable of back then. I can only imagine what they are capable of now. 

But if you need eyes on a rapidly developing issue, anywhere on the planet, nothing beats a good old fashioned airplane. Especially one which can go Mach 5. And the need will be filled in 2025, unless some problem pops up. Or Vladimir decides to nuke us before 2025.

Some experts think that the SR-72 will be the start of a new era in avionics. Hypersonic drones. It will change warfare for sure. And travel? Will it change could long it will take to get to Asia? To Europe? Maybe. In any event, the times they are a changing. Why? Because as usual, mankind has the need to speed. And the SR-72 is the thing which can scratch that itch. 

 

Threats from the bully

"What about the UN? Can't they get this bully under control? Don't make me laugh. This organization, formed to prevent bullies like Putin from doing harm, has turned into a bunch of globalists."

I have told this story before. When I was growing up, and while in elementary school, we had a neighborhood bully who would harass me. Picking on me was his favorite pastime. Just about every day, he told me he would "bash my teeth in.". I would tell my folks, and (bless them for this), they would tell me I needed to learn to fight my own battles. But this kid was bigger than me. I did not want to get "my teeth bashed in."

One day in a pick up game of softball, this bully did not like something I did. He came over and started to push me around. All of a sudden, the light went on. I had it with this guy. I got him on the ground and started to wail on him. His mother saw me and came running to pull me off her kid. That was the last time I was bullied by anyone. And to this day, I can't stand bullies.

I guess that is one of the reason I bristle when Vladimir Putin threatens us or NATO on almost a daily basis. Last week, one of his henchmen told the Netherlands, Russia might nuke the World Court. Why? They called Putin a war criminal, and want to try him. They have threatened to nuke Germany, the UK, Poland, and us, numerous times.

The latest threat from the bully from Moscow, is by the end of the year he will position his "killer subs" all throughout the Pacific. These are the subs which have the nuclear torpedoes, which can cause huge "city killing" tsunamis. Oh, and he will use those after he unleashes his "Satan II" ICBMs on many of our cities. What is our response to this bully? Nothing. We just sit back and take it. Oh, to have Donald Trump or Ronald Reagan in the White House right now. They knew how to stand down a bully.

Here is the long and the short of it. It has been reported that through the back channels, we told Russia that should they use a tactical nuke in the Ukraine War, we would sink their Black Sea fleet and destroy the rest of their army. And should Russia use a heavy nuke against one of our major cities, here is what will happen. All hell will break loose. We have so many nukes on so many platforms, we would destroy Russia. But they also have thousands of nukes, and would probably destroy NATO and the United States in return. Then nuclear winter would start, and it would kill any remaining survivors. 

There is no middle ground here. We either stand down from nukes (and the threats to use them), or we get into a nuclear exchange and kill everyone and everything. Those are the stakes that Putin is playing with right now. Putin may think should he unleash a nuke on us, timid Biden would send him a nasty letter warning him of carbon offsets for exploding a nuke. But that would not be the case. Our military would execute World War III, and it would over in a day. 

What about the UN? Can't they get this bully under control? Don't make me laugh. This organization, formed to prevent bullies like Putin from doing harm, has turned into a bunch of globalists. The UN could not punch its way out of a paper bag right now, much less getting Russia in line. 

Our only hope is if the Russian people wake up, and take care of this issue. Retire Putin, one way or the other. Pull its troops out of Ukraine, and let the rebuilding start. Until that happens, the daily threats will continue. They will continue until someone does something very stupid, and the wire is tripped. Then it will be over. For good.