Jim's Opinions

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In face to face conversations, when I'm asked to offer my opinion on some topic, I find that it is better to politely decline. I really can't think fast enough to offer an intelligent and cogent opinion on most matters. That's because I want to avoid knee-jerk responses.

So I figured I would place my opinions on my web site. If you happen to stumble upon this page, so be it. You may or may not agree with what I say here, but then, I'm not thrusting my thoughts on you via Facebook or Twitter or Parler or Truth Social or whatever "social media" platform that's out there.

So, if you're interested, read on. If not, no problem-o.

Okay - Let's see what happens...

Trump will be president again in 2025. He says will slap a 25% tariff on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada (amongst others).

And he will deport all illegal immigrants.

* Folks are predicting prices for groceries much of which is picked by illegal immigrants and/or comes from Mexico, and lumber from Canada will skyrocket.

Most everything else like electronics, furniture, clothing; things made in China, will become more expensive.

* Folks are predicting that overall inflation will go up, perhaps as high as 25%.

* Foks are predicting the economy will experience a recession, if not a depression.

Trump fanboys Musk and Ramaswamy are saying they'll slash and burn the federal government workforce because it is bloated.

* Folks are predicting the jobless rate will skyrocket. As a result the Fed will resort to higher interest rates to deal with inflation and exacerbate the jobless rate.

Trump says Day One: drill baby drill and will open federal lands and national parks and coastlines for oil drilling.

* Folks are predicting the price of gas will drop, giving Trump something to point at to deflect the rising costs of everything else and the jobless rate.

I'm predicting that Trump will either suspend the Constitiution and/or suspend the mid-term elections in 2026.

This was written on Thanksgiving Day 2024. I'll revisit and update as time goes on.

MAGA Mantra

... It's Okay - Go ahead, hate your neighbors.

... It's Okay - Steal from and cheat on your friends.

... It's Okay - Do it in the name of Jesus Christ,

you'll be justified in the end.

PRAY FOR ISRAEL (?)

Pray for Israel? Why? They sold and exported sophisticated military equipment to a Muslim country (Azerbaijan) in return for money and oil.

And then, Azerbaijan used that sophisciated military equipment to perform ethnic cleansing of Christian Armenians in Artsakh (also called Nagorno Karabakh).

Now, Israel is finding itself being attacked by Muslims.

Pray? I dunno... seems like Karma to me....

A POLL...

I've often thought about starting a simple multiple choice survey just for shits and grins.

The survey would start with the following statement:

I am praying for Donald Trump ... (with the following choices)

1. To die.

2. To be thrown in jail.

3. To be re-elected as president.

4. To disappear from view.

The Trumpers will all go for #3. The anti-Trumpers have a variety of ills to wish upon the man. It's not scientific - and it is a bit like the stupid survey Elon Musk posted on Twitter to see if Trump should be allowed back on.

I don't have the means or the wherewithal to publish such a survey in any "official" capacity, nor a way to offer responses and track them. I was thinking about using Survey Monkey... nah...

Updated 11/28/2024 - The Trumpers got their wish.

The "Media"

Back in “the day” media outlets had to conform to something called “The Fairness Doctrine” – where the outlet had to present, without bias, all views on any story, no matter how mundane or controversial it was. Usually, the outlets would avoid the “controversial” subject matter and focus more on the “mundane”.

But, when they did get into the controversial subject matter, they were required to present all known sides of the story. My point is: the outlets (aka: “the media”) are no longer required to to this.

In the 1980s, good ol’ Ronnie Reagan repealed “The Fairness Doctrine” claiming it was not constitutional and violated the First Amendment right to Free Speech. So here we are, 40 years later and what’s happening is: the consumer of news is now responsible to determine “what is fair”. It is NOT the responsibility of the originator of the story. As a consequence, the viewer is presented with left or right wing fringe news outlets who say they’re “fair and balanced” (when in fact, they’re not) and contribute red meat into the echo chambers for the idiots who religiously consume stories from these so called “news outlets”.

At the top of the food chain are Fox “News” – MSNBC, and CNN – all of whom have decided to carve out a niche of nuttiness in the American Dumbass Viewer population. Then there’s OAN and NewsMax (amongst other smaller operations) which have placed themselves squarely into the realm of extreme-extreme far right.

Social Media has proliferated the availability of echo chambers and extreme views. 'X' (formerly known as: "Twitter"), Facebook, Youtube, Parler, and Truth Social, plus other smaller platforms. And - all of these outlets have required the consumer to decide which what’s right, wrong, legal, and fair.

However, I submit the average consumer is not trained in journalistic values. In their cluelessness they simply go with whatever "truth" these niche services claim to deliver and base their "authority" on the ratings. (3 million people watch!!! 3 million people can't be wrong?!?!?)

What was it that Fox "News" used to say? - "We report - you decide." They should have added, "And, because you're unable to properly check our sources, we'll tell you what to decide and you'll accept it because you don't know how to vet sources!"

"WOKE"

The people who are 'anti-woke' are those who "just don't understand them gays" type. Being "Woke" is about becoming aware of social injustice and discrimination. It was originally subscribed to racial injustice and discrimination, but, it also applies to non-christians and sexual orientation. Since the conservatives can't really play a race card anymore because they need to fill their ranks with wanna be rich Blacks, Latinos and Asians, they've decided to vent their anger at alternative sexual orientation. So "woke" has become the new code word for "fag" or other words with a negative connotation toward alternative sexual orientation that are socially unacceptable. The conservatives are threatened by "them fags" when they have their pride marches or are represented on tv commercials or programs. "Well... shit.... we ain't got no White Pride parades!" they exclaim. Oh yes, whitey. They do have their marches. Complete with swastikas and upside down US Flags.

I think some it has to do with the backlash reported in the various and sundry press outlets and demonstrated in daily life. Example: the song "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits. The song has a reference to a "faggot" in the lyrics. Recently, the portion of the song with that lyric has been edited out. Some folks went bat-shit crazy when that happened. "They gone Woke!!!" is the complaint. Regarding Money For Nothing, I think the song is better with the lyric intact. Why? Because it ends with the statement that the so-called "faggot" is a millionaire - all the while the poor gay-bashing bastard complaining about it is a fat-assed, cigar-chomping appliance installer who is obviously a conservative and is jealous of the "faggot's" success. And maybe that's what it's all down to... jealousy. Maybe these gay-bashing, non-woke, folks are jealous seeing a 'fag' celebrate their happiness; because the non-woke folk are not happy. "Pursuit of happiness" is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. If people of certain sexual orientation are seeking their happiness, why would it matter to others who don't share the same thoughts? I don't see the same kind of vitirol spewed by the LGBTQ community about deer hunting.

"JERKS - CARS"

Another click-bait article on the internet about which cars are associated with jerk drivers. So I thought I'd present my own list! Here goes, and, in no particular order of jerkiness:

Any BMW - Any Mercedes Benz - Land Rover/Range Rover - Tesla - Audi - Any brand of pick up truck - Chevy Camaro - Dodge Challenger...

To a slightly lesser degree: any idiot who outfits a typical family sedan or sub-compact with modified exhaust and custom wheels and paint job.

Honorable mentions: Prius - Honda Accord - Subaru - Mazerati - Porche.

There you have it ...and with no annoying ads!!!

"JERKS - DRIVERS"

The article didn't outline what kinds of things these jerky drivers do. So, I'll do my own outline:

- Excessive speed, anywhere, anytime. Such as: doing 110MPH on the freeway, or 65MPH on residential streets.

- Not caring how a 4 way stop works.

- Not caring how a traffic circle works.

- The mindset that "Everyone must yield to me."

- Rushing ahead of cars to cut in front of traffic when a lane is set to end.

- Passing on the right, using the bicycle lane as a passing lane.

- Running red lights.

- Turning left in front of oncoming traffic as soon as the light turns green.

- Turning right to cut through a corner lot, crossing all traffic lanes on the perpendicular street, then turning right again; all to avoid stopping at a red light.

- Tailgating.

- Failing to use signals.

- Driving with their lights off in the dark.

- Cutting left turns, where they end up in an oncoming traffic lane before getting back on their side of the street.

- Driving down the middle of the street forcing others driving in the opposite direction to pull over or risk a headon collision.

- Driving without lights in foggy conditions.

And most annoying of all for me, when someone does any of the above and they have a permanent handicap label on their license plate, regardless of car make/model.

The TEN COMMANDMENTS

The state of Louisiana passed a law requiring the 10 Commandments be posted in every state supported school. People are going batshit over this, and with good reason.

Our country and constitution rests on the bedrock of the separation between the church and the state!

And that is the MAIN REASON people should be upset with this new law.

Folks are jumping up and down about the varying versions of the 10 Commandments between Jewish, Protestant and Catholic versions. Except for the numbering and merging of some of the commandments they’re essentially the same.

See the chart below.

#	King James	Catholic	Jewish
1	You shall have no other gods before me	I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me	I am the Lord Your God
2	You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything	You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain	You shall have no other gods beside Me
3	You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God	Remember to keep holy the Lords day	You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain
4	Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy	Honor your father and mother	Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy
5	Honor your father and your mother	You shall not kill	Honor your father and your mother
6	You shall not murder	You shall not commit adultery	You shall not murder
7	You shall not commit adultery	You shall not steal	You shall not commit adultery
8	You shall not steal	You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor	You shall not steal
9	You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor	You shall not covet your neighbor's wife	You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10	You shall not covet your neighbor's house	You shall not covet your neighbor's goods	You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s

The governor who signed the bill defended it by saying our laws are based on the 10 Commandments.

BULLSHIT

As with all Conservative Right Wing / Christian Nationalist Nutjobs, they take a tiny kernel of truth and wrap all their illogic around it.

Take away the numbering scheme of the commandments and you have the following:

God identifies himself as “God”
Don’t make any false gods in God’s place
Don’t use God’s name in vain
Keep the Sabbath holy
Honor your father and mother
Don’t commit adultery
Don’t kill
Don’t steal
Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor
Don’t covet your neighbor’s stuff, like: wife, house, possessions

The first 4 in the list above have no laws associated with them at all.

Honoring father and mother falls into the commonsense realm, but no law dictating it.

If there were a law against adultery, Donald Trump would have been in the pokey a long time ago.

But, there’s not.

“Don’t kill”, “Don’t steal”, and “Don’t bear false witness…” DO have actual laws associated with them.

And if the “covet” commandments had laws based on them, then ol’ DJT would have been thrown in the pokey even before all the adultery he committed.

People like to muddy up the argument by adding things like:

Why not display the 5 Pillars of Islam?

Or the 5 rules of Hinduism?

Or the 5 precepts of Buddhism?

Anyone for Shinto? Sikhism?

Children of agnostics and atheists will suffer PTSD!

The Catholic kids and Protestant kids will fight over this!

The bottom line:

Our country and constitution rests on the bedrock of the separation between the church and the state.

My Facebook policy for the next 100 days (written 100 days before the US Election day)

Updated 11/28/2024: This is now my permanent Facebook policy.

Any FB post that is, in any way, political will be hidden. No matter which "side of the aisle" the post advocates - it will get hidden.

If any friend publishes more than 5 such political posts, they will be put into "Snooze" mode for 30 days.

Any advertisement from a political candidate will be immediatly hidden, and if it comes up multiple times, it will be reported.

I will not have all these political messages screw up or interfere with my seeing what my friends are up to... which are things that really matter!

Such as: birthdays, anniversaries, their kids moving along in life, vacations, lifelong goals attained, or any other GOOD NEWS.

Folks... I've already decided how I will vote. Facebook posts or posts on any other social media platform will not change my decision.

Unless I see something on AP or Reuters (which I belive are the most balanced reporting platforms), to make me question my decisions, I will then conduct further reviews.

If I change my mind, you won't know. Because it ain't your business! And, I'm not going to stand on the top of the Social Media Mountain and proclaim my choices in hopes you'll follow me.