Not That I Ever Thought This Would Happen

 

"Well, on the bright side, now I won't have to figure out where TF I was gonna find the money to give everybody a $5,000 bribe."

And Now For Something Completely Different

 

"Hey, that's my line."

    You may have heard.  Something important is going on this coming Tuesday.  No, I won't go into my thoughts on that and any possible implications.  Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about the whole thing and you probably are, too.

    Bottom line, all the candidates suck.

Ears ringing, Comrade?

Including those who aren't even candidates.

     So, instead, I thought I'd go with something a little different this time instead of hammering away at the same tired old things.

Speaking of old things...

    Some (or none) of you may know that I went to Miami this week for a few days.  I took my wife to go see Lionel Messi play football.

AKA "soccer."  You know, the type of football which isn't hot garbage.

    Palm trees and balmy breezes notwithstanding, the city is not exactly my cup of tea (there are skyscrapers and construction EVERYwhere).  

To say nothing of the fashion.
Ewwwww, no socks.

    However, I was impressed by one specific thing.

    Hispanic culture, primarily Cuban, dominates the region.  In fact, you could assume most people spoke Spanish.  Most importantly, they had an equal grasp of English.  There seemed to be just as many signs in Spanish as there are English.  Admittedly, I do know some Spanish (four years of high school and an Argentinian wife), so I was very comfortable navigating my way about the city.

    But, some folks refuse to even attempt to speak the language much beyond "cerveza" and "toilet."

"'Toilet's' the same in both languages, El Dumbass."

    This got me thinking (I am capable of that) of the old joke:

What do you call a person who speaks three languages?

Trilingual.

What do you call a person who speaks two languages?

Bilingual.

What do you call a person who speaks one language?

American.      

    I think it's embarrassing that we Americans aren't nearly as fluent in another language (Spanish, French, German, Chinese, etc.) as we should be.

"Not even Klingon."
"Racists."

  In fact, some Americans think speaking loudly and with an accent is all they need to get their point across.

    That is obviously not the case.

    In my opinion, training in a foreign language should be a routine part of every American student's education, starting in the younger years.  I had Spanish lessons, to be sure, but they didn't start until I was in junior high school and took it only as an elective.  How much better would it have been if I started in elementary school and not in an environment where I had to battle boners  a lot of my educational "cement", so to speak, had already set.

    As an example, when I was stationed in Iceland, an Icelandic national told me that foreign language training starts at a young age and includes Icelandic (duh), English, and Danish.

Wrong Danish

    I don't  have an answer as to which language should be taught, mind you.  After all, this is a dopey blog which is only read by a couple people.

Clearly, though, Dothraki should not make the cut.

    But, it would be nice to be able to order lunch and not give myself a verbal hernia in the process.  Or make the poor bilingual person rescue me.

    On a personal note:  I told my wife we would never visit another country which didn't speak Spanish.  As my personal translator, she could guarantee a hernia-free lunch.

    Now, we return to your regularly scheduled program of bitching about which scumbag to vote for.

Talkin' to you, Jimmy.

   

Even Handed Hoopla?

When people ask from where I get my ideas for this hideous blog, I reply that I often have a line-up of topics upon which I can bloviate.

**Please note my skillful use of prepositions**

"The good sisters and I taught you well, boyo.  Knuckles, if you please."

Take the late Ayatollah Khamenei. I have quite a few pictures of him and wanted to use them in a mocking sendoff...err...respectful memorial.

Respectful...

   But, something else caused me to change my mind and write the below.

So, mullah confetti will have to wait.

"No sweat, infidel.  
Me and the 72 virgin goats apparently have plenty of time."

I saw a post on Facebook about the homecoming of USS Abraham Lincoln...

After an ungodly amount of time away from home, most of it at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln and her strike group returned to the United States to great fanfare. Having endured overseas deployments several times myself, it was always nice to receive an enthusiastic "Welcome Home!" whenever we returned...uh...home.

NOTE: I really oughta think of a more creative way to write these things. But, hell, I'm not getting paid to do this, so, really, why bother?

I commented on the Facebook post gushing over Lincoln's return with the following:

While I think this is awesome, where was the love for the crew of the USS Gerald R. Ford - CVN 78 when IT returned home? It wasn't exactly on a pleasure cruise, either.

NOTE (Even though not on my Facebook post, I provide the following information to give context to my comment. Ain't I swell?): The carrier Ford, homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, also had an excruciating deployment to the jihadi colon of the world. But, I don't recall over-the-top celebrations when she and her strike group came back.

One of my followers, an especially rabid MAGA acolyte, responded to my post with the following (I didn't include his name):

  My son Brandon was born on our Rota/Lajes deployment and Scott was born during the Iceland deployment. First sightings for me was 3 months and 3 1/2 months respectively. I have ZERO sympathy for any of these people. They each joined to defend this country and deployments are part of it, fucking deal with it.

    NOTE:  More amplifying information to give context-he is a veteran of the Navy's Patrol Aviation wing, a group of sailors who fly land-based P-3 aircraft.  The Rota/Lajes and Iceland deployments were six-month affairs at overseas naval air stations.  While not picnics, VP deployments (derided as "vacations" by those of my friends who rode ships) clearly aren't ideal.

Far too big to operate from carriers, P-3 deployments weren't bad. 
A big fan, I made four deployments with them.

My reply:

Reply

Kenneth Charles

 ·

 ·

Author

My point is that all the hysterical hoopla is directed to the Lincoln and not to the Ford. Happiness at the return of Sailors is appropriate. Don't forget, I have also served aboard ships (which included Christmas, 1997, underway in the Persian Gulf) and have endured VP deployments (which included Christmas, 1987, in Iceland where I ate a can of tuna fish because the blizzard kept us in the barracks) so I know what I'm talking about. No sense debating levels of suck (i.e., Marines in foxholes would kill to have a carrier to sleep in). Doing so is stupid and pointless. I agree the gushing is out of control. But, saying this is to be expected, while absolutely true, is tired and boring. I preferred to just do my job for my country and didn't expect an orgasm of celebration when I returned. I knew what I volunteered for and took on the suck willingly (if not always happily, to be honest). If my service took me to the level that Lincoln, Ford, AND their respective strike groups experienced, so be it.

In other words: Shit happens.

As an example:

Sailors on December 6, 1941: "DUTY IN HAWAII, BABY! WOO HOO!!!!"

Sailors on December 7, 1941: "Those mean Japanese have ruined my trip to the beach. I'm gonna write my mom!!!"

    Even though this seemed like a pretty longwinded response (my Facebook followers clearly don't come here), I sincerely hope it got my point across.

    Bottom line, while the celebrations over the Lincoln's arrival were extraordinary (just as much as the frantic hand-wringing over their participation in the war itself), they are what they are.

    I just wish that said celebrations were more even-handed because there are plenty of other Americans who are putting their lives on the line over in that cesspool.

    Including the crew of my former ship.

    And, while we're at it, enough with the "well, they signed up for this!" nonsense from those who had their own Suck-O-Meters to monitor.

    Jezz-a-Lou, we get it, already.  "Dick-measuring" over who had it worse is just stupid.  I know it sucks; what the Lincoln and Ford went through really sucked.  

    I also realize it could suck a whole lot more. 

    I salute the men and women of the Navy.  All of the men and women of the entire military.

    And so should you.

    Whether you like this war or not.

Death Star Meets Evil Star Trek

 

    I've always thought Space Force was even more a target of derision than the Air Force.  

And that's saying a lot.

   But this THIS.  JFC, this is just plain ass sinister.

    The hits just keep coming from the Orange Baboon.

Okay, I've been hammering on Trump (some of you would probably say he deserves it).  That's probably fair.  So, it's time to even things up a little and go for the other side.  Next post...?

"Does that mean what I think it does, master?"

Be On the Lookout

 

"It is a scandal that the Trump Administration is now allowing ICE
to set up drop boxes at 7-11s throughout the country!"


 

"Uh oh."

The Impending Disaster

     

    I’ve been on a bit of an anti-Trump jog the past few weeks.  

    While my feelings about the Orange Conman haven’t changed,           

"But, you'll get $5,000."

I decided to give it a rest this week.

    It was getting depressing, especially since I’m a Conservative.

    Don't worry, the Republicans don't have the market cornered on batshit crazy.  

    

"The Electoral College is a scam which awards advanced degrees to white people."

    This week, I decided to talk about the coming train wreck, 

"You'll never pin that train wreck on me.  We haven't laid a mile of new track."

Social Security.  Too many people opine on social media, both for and against, what was originally conceived of as a helping hand during the Great Depression. 

    Rather than limit myself to quick snippets on Threads or Twitter,

"X!"

I thought I’d give my opinion here on Blogger.  Where it’s sure to be seen by a couple.  And ignored by millions.

    Anyway...

    Social Security was established on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  A way of responding to significant economic hardships wrought by the Great Depression, the initial benefits were retirement payments to workers, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children, the blind, and maternal/child welfare.

    Retirement benefits started at 65 years old.  Workers paid into Social Security.  Remember this.  It will be important later.

"Well, that should cover it.  But, hey, if it doesn't?  We'll all be dead anyway."

    Payroll taxes to support this effort started in January, 1937 with the first monthly check issued in January, 1940, to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, for $22.54.

"Cheap bastards."

     The monthly benefits increased to include even more recipients.  I got tired of researching who exactly, so I’ll leave that up to you.  I can't do all the work.

     Okay, this is where I do a little cipherin’ with figgers.

"Do y'all have a sixth grade education, though?"

      I realize that the implosion is inevitable (some say sometime during the 2030s?).  Inevitable, that is, unless something is done.       

    Sadly, I don’t think the incompetent boobs in in Congress (on both sides of the aisle) have the spine to do anything about it, though.  That can will continue to be kicked down the road.

    I hope I’m wrong.

Can't put my finger on why I'm pessimistic, though.

    Life expectancy for American men in 1940:  61.4

    Life expectancy for American men in 2025:  75.8 to 76.4 (I don’t why a specific number is given, either.  Go with it).

    Okay, here are the important numbers:

    Labor Force in 1940:  53 million (it shot up to 75 million in 1945)

"Gee, thanks, World War II!"

    Labor Force in 2025:    163.5 million

    Okay, more important numbers:

    Social Security Recipients in 1940:  222,000

    Social Security Recipients in 2025:  71.5 million

    Finally, the vital numbers:

    Percentage of the labor force supporting Social Security in 1940:  .41%

    Percentage of the labor force supporting Social Security in 2025:  43.7%

    And that right there cannot be sustained without effective reform.  Especially since retirees can start collecting at 62.

    Full Disclosure:  I started collecting at 62.  My reasoning was that Social Security may no longer be around by the time I turned 67.  More importantly, there was no guarantee I’d still be around.

    I’m now 68.  So, I lost that bet.  This is a good thing.  I’d also like to never need Life Insurance, either.

But I will.

    What can be done?  Reduce the benefits paid out.  Yeah, you’d have a better chance of seeing Jesus at a nudie bar.

"So, whaddya think?"
"Forget it."

Or, raise the age at which benefits can be accessed.  Possibly.  Or, how ‘bout this, eliminate those who don’t rate Social Security?  Yeah, sign me up for that.

    At any rate, grandfathering any changes needs to be implemented.  While that sounds self-serving (perhaps it is), it at least holds out the possibility of real change.

    I’m sorry, someone still needs to pull the wagon.  Because, the way we’re going, eventually, that wagon will be full and people will wonder who’s gonna start pulling.

Exactly

    Finally (thank God, right?), to those who say that Social Security is Socialism...yeah, horseshit on that.  I’ve been paying into it since 1975.  And, to those who complain that Boomers are sucking off the teat of workers unfairly...?   I repeat, I’ve been paying into Social Security since 1975.

    In fact, I’m still paying taxes on my Social Security.

    That doesn’t make sense, but...     

then again...