According to my trusted lenderS (plural), interest rates are going to remain high and probably go up. Great. But we can send billions to Ukraine. That sentence was all me, not the lenders.
We have had ELEVEN, count ’em, ELEVEN rate hikes and we are being told there’s a 50/50 chance of one more. I say there’s a 100% chance of another one and maybe TWO other ones, because this is how our government works now.
Pay attention to the political leaders who have put us into this inflationary situation, will ya? My job is real estate and this crap is pushing some buyers RIGHT OUT of the market. And without them? I have no job.
Hawaiians on Maui need help. Lest anyone think they are just rich, lazy, entitled, privileged vacationers who are out of touch…use any of the ‘favorite’ descriptions you want when you think Hawaii is just a massive wealth-heavy resort. No. Most of these people have jobs, they work, they love their families, they have doctors and issues, and troubles just like everybody else. And right now they are traumatized, deeply emotionally wounded, terrified and in shock. These people, our FELLOW AMERICANS have lost EVERYTHING. Their homes, their clothes, their shoes, their cars, their heirlooms, their pets. Many have lost family members, even their own children! The numbers of people who died or are missing are sorely understated, and if you listen to the ones who are there, wearing donated clothes, bearing bruises and burns and deep emotional scars, you will get the TRUTH. What THEY say and what the ‘media’ say are vastly different. Big surprise.
Is anybody curious about why no help is reaching these people? Doesn’t anybody else wonder why actual number of deaths is not being reported?? Why did billions of dollars go to Ukraine and each person who lost FAMILY members along with everything else, got 700 dollars and nothing else?? Can you imagine trying to survive on 700 bucks?? Why are government agencies, who work for us and whom we pay for with taxes, not doing right by our own people??? Where are OUR agencies, formed for the express purpose of dealing with big events like this, doing nothing? I’m going to guess it is because the ones at the top are inept, unqualified, and inwardly focused…as in “how can I profit from this?”
Watch some of the YouTube channels FROM Maui, so you can hear the residents talk about what happened, hear how they found out about the tragedy, hear them talk about the difference between what happened and what is being put out in the ‘media’. Start with “Hawaii Real Estate”. I know, real estate. But listen, this guy is desperately trying to help his fellow residents, even offering access to internet and phone service so people can make phone calls through Starlink. He rides his motorcycle, filming the devastation, to get the truth out. He interviews residents; that’s how I found the family I donated to. Why is FEMA not doing this? I think it is because communication is not encouraged or made possible for the masses of people who are devastated. SpaceX is sending Starlink out there, and Verizon is there. WHERE IS FEMA?
There are already scammers at work, seemingly focusing on the elderly who don’t understand the technology they have to try to deal with, many of whom are not well to begin with. Unconscionable. By the way this particular scam started with Red Cross. That, they said, was the number they were given to them to call to get help. Imagine that. Scammed at the lowest time of their lives.
I sent some money to one small family. It wasn’t much. I don’t have much, but I shared what I had. They work hard for their living, and they renovated a small, 50’s era home, if I recall correctly. They’re not rich vacationers. He’s a landscaper who is environmentally conscious. He actually breaks a sweat to work. Imagine that. They contributed to the welfare of their state! When they were on YouTube (Hawaii Real Estate channel) they said everything they were wearing was donated. Their clothes, their shoes, even underwear.
I would love everyone to find a FAMILY to donate directly to. If you give to an organization, the money will not reach the ones who need it. It seems our government have given everyone permission to steal and grift. Find a PERSON, and get the money to them through whatever means. Get on YouTube and find out the truth and then spread it. Shine a light on the abysmal situation there. Listen, there is too much intelligence, too much compassion, too much technology in our country for these people to be suffering this way, this long.
Ask why a police chief is also the coroner. He has zero skills; he was either appointed or voted in. Coroners are NOT doctors, they are not medical examiners, that’s not required. You know, I’m willing to bet there is a program already in place to find and identify human remains, based on residence, jobs, known patterns of living. Family by family, tax payer by tax payer, church member by church member, employee of a site by employee. It’s not rocket science. It’s not EASY, but with the right project manager running things, it can be done expeditiously.
It is critical that the truth of what is really happening be spotlighted and shouted to the rooftops. That is the ONLY way the corrupt ones will be forced back into their holes. I have rarely felt as helpless as I do now. But I made a donation to a real family, and I am spreading the word. Please do the same. Go to YouTube channel Hawaii Real Estate, start there, and listen to the PEOPLE there. Please. Once you go there, you’ll be motivated, I promise.
By the way, 3 days ago the death toll stood at 115. Are you KIDDING me.
I’m watching ‘environmental’ protesters blocking traffic and thinking they are so altruistic and intelligent, wanting to ban fossil fuels. Well, I’m noticing that the vests many of them wear, and the backpacks they carry, and the clothes and shoes they wear (even sandals)…and dare I say the hair die many of them used last week…were made from uh oh fossil fuel. So here’s a partial list of things made from fossil fuels, in case any of the protesters read. Here ya go. A DROP IN THE BUCKET of items made from …you guessed it:
Sweaters, leggings, floor wax, sports car bodies (Probably Teslas, too), tires, dishwasher parts, caulking, faucet washers, food preservatives, antihistamines (bet a lot of those are used by these protesters), cortisone, dyes, life jackets, TV cabinets, motor oil, ballpoint pens, boats, nail polish, tool boxes, petroleum jelly (duh), golf bags (don’t go there), antiseptics (uh oh, Covid), basketballs (uh oh), purses, deodorant, panty hose, rubbing alcohol, shag rugs (you can have that one), bearing grease, football cleats, insecticides, fishing lures, perfumes, shoe polish, transparent tape, soap, shoes, shoelace parts, electrical tape, putty, mops, skis, umbrellas, denture adhesive, tennis rackets, nylon rope, shampoo, clothes (pretty sure the protesters were wearing clothes), nylon reflective vests (watch out now), toilet seats, yarn, candles, hand lotion, football helmets (uh oh), toothbrushes, balloons, fishing rods, trash bags, paint rollers, ice chests, paint (uh oh, there go your protest signs), surf boards, eyeglasses, dice, crayons (there goes the fun), pillows, golf balls, paint brushes (you’re gonna have to do finger painting for your signs), dishes (just use your hands), artificial limbs, contact lenses (oh no), shaving cream, toothpaste (ouch), cameras, and oh I bet cell phone cases too, tents (what about the homeless shelters, protesters), bicycle parts (yep, even the electric ones). Even the products not directly made from petroleum are processed by machinery made from, yeah, fossil fuels. You guys are complete hypocrites.
So, for all of you smooth brains out there, including the ones in government, before you start ‘ending fossil fuels’, you had better educate yourself about where these fuels are used. And this is a SMALL list.
By the way, discarded car batteries pose a substantial threat to human health and environmental sustainability, according to the Institute of Physics…science, in other words, your second favorite buzz word. So once everybody is driving electric cars, would you like the discarded hazardous waste piled into your back yard? Oh wait, that would be your parents’ back yard. They have to go somewhere after all.
Listen, it is clear that there is too much crap being dumped into the environment. Like your plastic water bottles or those sippie cups you use? Petroleum products by the way…where do you put THOSE when you finish. You recycle? No, 85% of recycled products are not actually ‘recycled’. Oh sorry, you have to read to know that. Little protest people, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. So get off the streets (petroleum based) and go grow some beans. Oh wait, you probably think they come from cans. Paper straws destroy the rain forests, little protesters. And trees use carbon dioxide and put oxygen into the air. Bet you didn’t even know that nor care. Hint: If you can’t breathe, you die.
My point is, if you take your head out of the dark place and look around and THINK, you will start to do what YOU can do to make our planet a better place. By screaming and blocking traffic and harming others and their property, you harm your ideology. YOU do more harm. But you have to have your head out of your personal dark place to see that. Look around, read, know what the hell you are talking about in order to be taken seriously. And before you try to eliminate fossil fuels, YOU STOP using them…ALL OF THEM. Then lets see how you think about this issue.
Every time I see you block a child from getting to the hospital when the child is sick and in need of HELP I’m going to go fill up my GAS TANK. You are still egocentric, unable to see how your actions effect the world around you. So sit down and let the adults handle it. You’re making fools of yourselves and hurting the environmental causes.
Oh, one more thing: By the time all of the car batteries are past their useful life, it’ll be up to YOU to figure out how to not destroy the planet with discarded batteries. This will be YOUR legacy. Just saying.
We real estate agents are used to changes and updates; they happen so often that we’re in ‘school’ all the time. Any service provider in the real estate industry faces these issues. But changes are important and usually they are put into place for the sake of disclosure, so that all parties have a clear view of what they are either selling or buying, because these are big transactions. So the one I want to mention today is about governmental compliance in disclosures.
If you’ve sold a property in recent decades, you know you have to fill out what we call a ‘seller disclosure’, which asks about ages of systems components, whether or not you know of any issues, how much your HOA dues are and what they cover…even whether or not you HAVE an HOA. You’re asked about the exterior cladding, whether or not there fuel tanks on the property, whether or not there are any big noises or noxious fumes in the vicinity, whether or not there are drainage issues…and those are just a few. Until recently there was no request to disclose ‘governmental compliance’.
Well what is that? Let’s take permitting as an example. In the past, if you had added on to the property without permits, you could just exclude un-permitted space from the advertised square footage. You couldn’t give it the same value as the permitted spaces, or you gave it no added value. I always cautioned my buyers not to move forward with an offer in these cases, because if an addition is not permitted, what they used for wiring, for example, could represent a very dangerous hazard. But ultimately it was up to the buyer if they wanted to risk it. Now, however, sellers are being asked to state whether or not they are in violation of any governmental mandates…like permitting. And septic permitting as well, for example.
Importantly for buyers, if you buy a property with un-permitted space, it will become YOUR issue when you sell. So just be aware, and careful.
It is important to know that many municipalities purge their records in what I believe to be a short time. Sometimes under 10 years. So by the time you get all of the required permits, add on a den, and years later sell the house, your records could be gone. It gets sticky at that point. You know you permitted but you can’t prove it; your buyers don’t believe you but they cannot prove you did not. Sounds like attorney time.
So. Homeowners, PLEASE keep good records of renovations so that you can prove you got your permits. And agents, review this stuff with your clients way ahead of time. If your clients can’t find the permit, maybe they can find the place where they paid for it. That can go a long way to resolution in some cases. It’s not enough to claim ‘no representation’ anymore. I sometimes call that choice the ‘I don’t know and I don’t care’ choice. But you can find yourself in a bind if it relates to governmental compliance.
By the way, if you don’t think you need a real estate agent, think about this stuff. We know what to look for ahead of time, to avoid these roadblocks. This can be important when Due Diligence funds are on the table.
And who cares? Well in case you do, it started out as Vallow and murders later, it became Daybell. Have you heard about that case? Media called it ‘The Cult Mom’ or ‘The Zombie Mom’. But those were both too kind. Turns out it was ‘The Murdering Mom’, and mom isn’t even a good word. I’m hearing ‘bitch’ used a lot and I think that’s also too kind.
There’s another science article (and if you follow me you know I’ve read a lot of them) called “Love is Chemical”. It was about pheromones and ‘love at first sight’ and how that is also a misnomer. The thought is that we all have a chemical cloud around us, which I believe, and that sometimes, when two particular clouds collide, an unstoppable chemical reaction begins that some call love.
Love. Now that word is over used beyond all belief.
Well the two cloudy people, Lori and Chad (the frog man, I call him) ended up with a cloud of death around them. Interestingly, two of Lori’s husbands ‘died suddenly’, one by ‘natural’ means (don’t believe THAT one for a second) and the other one by a couple of bullets fired by her brother “in self defense” (proven to be a lie). Then there were the two CHILDREN, Tylee and JJ. The deaths were unimaginably cruel, particularly little JJ. I can’t write about this part; you’ll have to look it up. It’s abominable. And finally, there’s Tammy Daybell. She was Frogman’s wife who ‘died suddenly’, later to be called ‘murder’ by asphyxiation.
So that ‘cloud’ of pheromones was called ‘divine’ and well, Lori was a Goddess and Frogman was Jesus’s brother in ONE of his past lives. He had been married to Lori in several past lives and THAT pickup line worked like magic for the frog. But it was death to the ones around the idiots. Only, interestingly, it was only the ones connected to LORI who died, until Frogman’s wife was deemed an obstacle. She was beloved by her friends and family, by the way. Not a witch of a wife. She never knew what hit her. JJ did. Little JJ knew, and his death took TIME. In fact, I’m going to take a wild guess that it was primarily JJ who got the murderer, Lori, found guilty on six charges. She’s yet to be sentenced, but she’s not going to go around Frogman’s ‘storm’ ever again. Can you guess what the ‘storm’ is? Oh my god, this case is insane and ridiculous, but people died. Many good people died.
See, they took the death penalty off the table for Lori, but if anyone ever deserves the death penalty, it is her. Chad the Frog is yet to go to trial, but he’s going down, no question. He and Lori orchestrated all of this destruction for sex, money and power. Those are the words of the prosecutors, who nailed it.
So this story is going to be seen in movies, written about in books, talked about around the fire…all of that. Because it is so unbelievable, yet true. And this whole thing was primarily about sex, in my science opinion. That chemical cloud that literally blinded Lori. She orchestrated the death of her husband who had been a pro baseball player with big muscles and a flat stomach if you can believe it, for Chad the Frogman with a fat stomach and man boobs. And he looks like, well, a frog. But that sexual attraction turns some people stone cold and singly minded about sex. I’ve seen that happen in person and it’s frightening as hell and very, very real.
Charles, the husband who was shot, once had a million dollar life insurance policy with Lori as beneficiary. Well, God bless Charles, he changed the beneficiary to his sister. And Lori didn’t know. She thought she was going to be free AND a millionaire. Surprise! No cash. So she murdered her children and cashed their Social Security checks (hence the sixth federal charge for which she was found guilty). There’s a good chance Lori will die in prison, and also a good chance that the frogman will get the death penalty, well deserved. Such destruction.
Look, you should check out this case. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. Well two weeks or so after Tammy was buried, these two assholes got married and danced on a beach in Hawaii. It’s evil. It does exist.
I am a real estate agent, so there’s always competition around me, particularly in the ways all companies try to motivate agents. I hate that. I am told, “It’s the nature of sales people”, which I am loathe to accept. There’s a reason for that: I am usually not motivated by anything others around me do. Some literature says that makes me a rebel, and yeah, that’s probably right. I realize that there is a number of transactions I should achieve to make me ‘normal’, yes, but that’s a metric. And, I may or may not think I need to reach that number, or pass it. I have to assess my own situation first. I usually know what I need to do and I know what I want to do, and often, in a rebel way, I always look at the ‘motivator’ and figure out whether they are qualified to try to motivate me. That’s another story. However, if I’m in a foot race, well, that’s different. I’m going to try to outrun the others. But overall, I’m not a follower. That can make me hard to control, if that’s the goal.
I’ve been contemplating this topic and mostly trying to figure out what ‘influence style’ is either other-motivated or self-motivated. I know my Meyers-Briggs type puts me pretty much squarely in the middle of all of the metrics, so I can go ‘either way’ as they say. As far as introvert versus extrovert, I can tell I’m an introvert, but others might never believe it. I can be as out there as anybody, but when the day is done, I like my cave. I’m comfortable with my own company, I could be happy on a lone trek in the wilderness. And networking events are hard for me; they are a chore. But I think there must have to be a J in the last metric, as in ‘judging’, in order for one to be other-motivated, because that metric puts you in oversight of others and might be the thing that makes you more likely to compete in that way. And I’m not all the way in that category. It’s complicated. Generally, I compete with me. I want to be better than I was ‘before’ whatever that was.
When you are a real estate agent, your job is to advise your clients and help them through a very complicated set of tasks. My approach is to listen to their wants and needs, and try to help them get them, to the extent possible. That means I have to be a good listener, a good partner, and I also need to have a level of compassion. I also have to be a good communicator and teacher, so that the goals can be set and understood at the outset. It is without a doubt true that different age cohorts have different needs and attitudes and expectations. So there’s a great deal of skill and knowledge required to get in the right gear, so to speak, for the different age groups. Like millennials, for example. They’re great, because they do their homework, they know what they want, they’re engaged and usually ready to run or make a change quickly if needed. The risk is that they may not know what they think they know, and how to navigate that issue is a big deal.
Seniors are often shrouded in fear about the whole process, because they often haven’t done a real estate transaction in decades and they may be completely uncomfortable with the electronic world. They are also some of my favorites, by the way, because I understand them and know how to help them.
Experience is important, in other words. For me, I will take all the time necessary for my clients to feel good about their experience. Imagine if I am competing to have the monthly award and push my clients so I can win. That would be selfish and unethical. So, patience is important…and not always a factor in competition!
Anyway, if you are going to be a real estate agent, you should learn to set your own goals. Your OWN. Nobody else knows how much money you need to make in order to survive and how much you need to thrive. Go your own way; after all it is your business. You should be able to list your own goals and the things you need to do to achieve them. It would be a good idea to know whether or not you are actually motivated by someone else…which in my opinion isn’t a good thing. I think if you are always watching others, you can never really know you, and can never really get your own business grounded. And you might not care about that. Like I said: Complicated.
Maybe your broker-in-charge sets your goals at first. Well, if your BIC knows you and your skill level, that is very helpful. The best thing you can do is learn the business, learn about people, not just the ones like you, and remember you are an advisor, not a task master. The best agents are compassionate servants in my opinion. And remember by grounding your business you become a competent and confident leader, and that’s what your clients want. After all they are putting a huge financial transaction in your care.
Either way, future real estate agents, get a handle on what you…YOU…need to do to achieve your personal goals, and start there. You can’t succeed strictly by copying or solely by competing. There has to be an element of self motivation in there. Real estate is an ever changing entity, and you have to pay attention. We just got a list of the changes to the offer to purchase. Holy cow. Happens every year, too.
Whatever you do, have a good day, build your business, meet wonderful people.
They were killed in their droves. That’s what the ad said about mosquitoes. ON MY TV! Not, “They were killed IN DROVES.” What does ‘in their droves’ even MEAN and has any single person even asked that freaking question? Answer: NO! Why?Because nobody even knew the comment made no sense. Droves means large quantities. It comes from old English, or maybe ancient tongues. In their droves…oh my god. No, the mosquitoes were “killed in droves”. And whether or not that was even true, well that’s another posting. That’s about advertising and …I can’t talk about that right now. But, thing is, they will sell a freaking bazillion of the things that kill mosquitoes in their droves.
Same as this sentence in an interview: “When I thought about it, I wonder what that meant….” Started out past tense, second part: present tense. This was also on my television. It’s not bad enough that our society is being undermined by idiots, our very language is being corrupted and dumbed into oblivion. Forget ‘down’. It’s being flushed by idiots, dumbed into oblivion (mixed metaphor). What the ‘actual hell’ do they teach in school anyway?
I like ‘actual’ being used as an adjective though. I’m okay with that. BUT I DIGRESS. And I’m losing my hair from STRESS.
And I refuse to call a SINGULAR person ‘they’ (plural), or ‘their’ (also plural), or ‘them’ (also plural). Why will this upset people? Because they don’t know what singular and plural MEAN. These IDIOTS are screaming at us to call them (yes, plural) a MISNOMER. Kill me now. I’m going to jail; I just know it.
Nobody gets to police my psyche NOR my grammar. I’m sick of it; I’m tired of idiots trying to take over my language, my thoughts, my opinions. Nope, I’m going to jail. I just know it. LOL. Uh oh. There’s an acronym.
Here’s one. Say we lost our keys. Say we have a tendency to lose stuff. We don’t LOOSE things; we LOSE things. This is not rocket science. Oh we LOOSE things because we’re not TO smart. If you don’t see a problem with that, step away from this article. What do college professors do when people turn in essays or technical papers with this crap in them? Oh yeah, EVERYBODY GETS A TROPHY, damnit.
Then ONE DAY these idiots are going to prescribe PILLS for you and diagnose your ILLNESSES. They’re going to tell you that you have RBKD (because people are too lazy to speak words and they want to use acronyms for everything.) RBKD means really bad kidney disease. I made that up. And acronym has three syllables. If that stumped you, go back to …well I was going to say school but never mind. SO, if a ‘doctor’ tells you you have RBKD, you should ask, “Well, doc, how do you know?” And after you are slapped for QUESTIONING, Doc might say, “Duh because I checked these three boxes. Take these three pills. That’ll be a thousand dollars.” AND YOU WILL PAY.
What the ACTUAL HELL is going on? What does ANYBODY DO in school?? Oh wait, I know. Indoctrination. Uh oh, Five syllables. Can you say HOME SCHOOL?
Speaking of science, I read an article in a scientific magazine DECADES AGO that said humans would breed intelligence out of existence until we are too dumb to come in out of the rain. I remember laughing and then thinking, “Hmmmm”. It’s not TO bad to be in the rain, unless it’s 33 degrees out. And I KNOW. I did that on purpose to see whether or not you would notice. By the way, if you stay out in 33 degree rain, you DIE. That’s for the recent graduates.
Well, I’m looking around and thinking, “OMG they were right!” And I USED THE ACRONYM for OH MY GOD! I’ve been assimilated! Uh oh, another five syllable word. Well it happened so GRADUALLY. OMG that’s four syllables.
So, pharmaceutical companies are trying to make us wait FIFTY YEARS before they tell us the truth about the so-called vaccines. Bet you didn’t know THAT was happening, did you? Oh well it’s not being REPORTED. FIFTY YEARS! But thank goodness, that’s being fought in court, by people who, like me, had to EARN our trophies. It pays to dig around for actual facts, and that’s ACTUAL actual, if you follow me. The truth is out there. And in case you didn’t notice, I’ve been tooling around on the internet this evening and smoke is billowing out of my ears. What the actual hell? I like that. I’m gonna use it a lot.
So, HAGN (have a good night) and if you don’t, WTOY (well that’s on you).
I went to the gynecologist many years ago, because as it turned out, I had a cyst on one ovary. Don’t run; I’m not going into details. There’s a metaphor coming. Anyway, the doctor said, “I’ll schedule you for surgery.”
I said, “Nope.”
He said, “What did you say?”
I said, “I said no thanks; think of another way.”
Hahaha. I can still see that face of indignation glaring at me, a not-a-doctor, telling big man no, he in his white lab coat and I in…well nothing but a sheet and sitting on the exam table. But he said, “Well we can put pressure on it and burst it and I think you KNOW what will happen if it is cancerous.” By the way, this same guy asked me, years later, whether or not I wanted my baby circumcised. My baby was a girl. I never saw him after that. But I digress, and still I laugh. Let’s continue.
I said, “I don’t like that option; what’s next?” I ended up taking birth control and the cyst dissolved. DROP the mike. There went a boat payment for that doctor, no doubt.
My point is about the pressure and bursting and broadcasting cells throughout my body, a fear tactic that didn’t work. Why? Because I’m not stupid. But in light of the Fox News issue with Carlson…I’m thinking about the dispersal of all those Fox News watchers who have scattered to the winds, throughout the ‘body’, as it were. And I’m thinking this could end up being a very interesting outcome for those trying to stifle free speech and an even better one for those whose go-to news channel is now toast.
Think about it. There is a PLETHORA of sites conservatives can go to, run by independent journalists, individuals who are not under the thumb or control of “Big Media”, not beholding to a non-compete or a rule to parrot what all of the other parrots say. Do they really think we don’t notice that?? I always wonder whether any of them can actually spell the words they parrot. I’m sure some of them cannot.
Imagine how unruly, or rather, unruled, the voices of the middle-of-the-road folks will be. I’m talking about the grassroots folks who are able to listen to ALL perspectives and draw their own conclusions, who have escaped the brainwashing tactics, who believe in free speech! This is going to be amazing to watch folks. Don’t despair; just log on to YouTube and look around. You’re gonna love what you find there. Oh and dare I say it? Twitter.
And listen, this is the way of the future, big media in your silos shouting down at the minions within. You have built yourself a container within which you control everything, while OUTSIDE your silo, the world is leaving your asses behind. There is weather, sunshine, even goodness, and intelligent people and opinions different from yours! OMG. And I’m being generous when I equate you being in a silo. What I really think involves a stinky hole ending with a rectum, within which your head has become quite comfortable. Funny what wealth does to jerks.
I believe in the ability of intelligent people to find their ‘tribe’, to weed out the wackos, to sift through untruths and manipulations and find THE truth, not A truth, not YOUR truth…THE truth. Which does exist, it’s just that big media doesn’t want you to know that, because it will cost them. So yeah, I hear silos cracking. I’m loving it, because people can finally hear what is actually going on and be able to make good, common sense choices. And there will be no screeching like we’ve been set afire. We’ll just watch, analyze and move onward, leaving the screeching to echo within the silos…or that other dark smelly place. The rest of us will be outside in the sun.
Until AI. Sorry! Had to say that because you KNOW that’s going to really mess things up.
At a time when people are feeling powerless and hopeless, I hope you’ve noticed some things happening around us. We have had three very meaningful events unfolding recently that hold a bit of hope, give us a reason to raise an eyebrow and say, “Hmmmm.”
Let’s think about how powerless we all feel against the elite, wealthy and powerful companies who seem determined to bleed us dry of not only our resources, but also our joie de vivre. It feels like we had the boot of Covid on our throats and it never really lifted. Life has been quite difficult; it has emitted a feeling of uncertainty, a shifting of solidness, even fear. People don’t laugh anymore. Everyone’s angry, on the edge of combustion, all the time.
Well well well. It seems like the population at large do have a rudder; we do have a hand on the wheel. Think about CNN, think about Budweiser and now…think about Fox News. It has been simple, really. We just took our attention and our money to another place. We watched CNN crumble before our eyes, once we got tired of being lied to and fed a version of information that wasn’t right, didn’t resonate with the truth, and eventually sought to make the middle-of-the-road, grassroots people feel stupid. We’re not stupid. We were smart enough to select another source of ‘news’. We don’t like being pushed THAT hard. Let me be clear: I think we accept far too much blatant manipulation. But it would appear there’s a limit after all, which, dare I say, gives me hope.
Then there’s Bud Light. One voice, one person, inexperienced with real life, decided what that brand should represent, or ’embrace’, whatever you want to call it. She dissed the base of the brand by asking whether we thought she hadn’t thought about losing that demographic and how it wouldn’t matter. Ha! I laughed at that. Oh boy, did I laugh. And almost instantly, that product couldn’t be given away. Hard working people, people who don’t want others’ ideology shoved into their eyeballs, turned around, took their wallets, and bought a different product. Suddenly we saw the horses, the cowboys, the sweeping landscapes. Yeah, show them some pictures and they’ll swallow the pill, accept the indoctrination. But wait! Where are they going??? Then, let’s give the morons free product; that’ll bring them (their money) back. Nope. It went elsewhere. I’m thinking Miller, but I don’t drink beer so what do I know. I just know that even free beer stayed in the cooler. It would appear there’s a limit.
Watch out now; this stuff catches on. People have FINALLY figured out that these corporations need US, we the people, our money, and without it, they crumble to their knees. What??? CNN??? Oh yeah, big, powerful CNN. Oh they try firing some of the loudest voices (biggest mouths), or they cut prices, or they ‘change the programming’. But here’s the thing: We watch. Especially these days, we watch where our MONEY goes. And more and more, we’re tired of being poked in the eye with the sharp stick of something that makes our senses cry out in discomfort, saying, “What the hell is going on?!?!”
Oh I’m hearing that question every day, many times a day. I say it myself. But here’s a little side whisper for you. I quit CNN many YEARS ago, missing only the financial programming. But they were speaking a language that crucified MY ears many years ago. And I know, I am mainstream. Where I go, working people usually go as well, unless they are afraid, never brave. They are the ones most easily manipulated with fear, a favorite spice stirred into the fare they feed us. But what I think, I always hear others speak. So with my experience and my data gathering penchant, I have learned that my views are pretty common, very popular, very mainstream.
There’s Fox News. Because of, and mainly because of, what they did to Tucker Carlson, man was there a mass exodus. Including me. Look, I was seeing the cargo ship turning a while ago, so my viewership had diminished anyway, but now? No more Fox of any ilk for me, and remember…I am mainstream. We are watching the leviathan stumble, hearing the harsh sound of metal bending, ripping and collapsing. I, for one, won’t be sad to see it fall. I do have sympathy for some of the other big voices there whose income will dwindle away. But what Fox did was wrong, stifling the voices considered when the Constitution was written. How many speeches, how many soliloquies, how many shouts and whines do you think I have listened to that went against my grain, while I understood the right for those noises to be made? A lot, my friends, a lot. But I just changed the channel. I didn’t have a screaming meltdown. But wait, this is a wealthy giant! Well the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Bottom line is this: We are not powerless. We have had enough of being poked in the eye and brutally shoved into the corner by unintelligent, inexperienced people with money, who bought power. Have you noticed how many people are not going to doctors anymore? Why? They have lost trust because we were shoved into a corner by the government and pharmaceutical companies, manipulated and strong-armed (well not me and not some others, but most). Mainstream folks don’t respond well to strong arm tactics. Doctors are leaving the profession by the thousands. Why? Because, as one said, “There should be no politics in treating patients.” And yet there were politicians with zero science experience, and exceptional monetary incentive, telling doctors HOW TO TREAT PATIENTS. I can’t say that without raising my voice. OMG imagine Kamala telling MY doctor how to treat me. well, that wouldn’t work because I don’t go to the doctor.
Maybe health ‘care’, now health ‘business’ needs to take a look at what is happening to the other three giants I mentioned. Here’s a question: How long do you think the drug companies can direct your life if you just stop taking drugs for every change of wind direction? That’s a question I’ve asked for decades. We actually listen to JINGLES about drugs, of which the side effects of many, is DEATH. Sorry, that’s just stupid. STUPID. Yet we robot walk to the doctor and ask for the drug that says K is for Kidney. Oh my god kill me now. And then I say maybe this is natural selection. Sorry not sorry. People are so afraid they’re killing themselves trying to live a terribly unhealthy life and still want to live forever. Yeah, that’s natural selection. We get what we accept and/or deserve.
So look around you. Look at CNN. Look at Bud Light. Look at Fox News. And remember your own power as a consumer. And take that to the polls with you if you’re tired of having that sharp stick shoved in your eyeballs.
Well, well, well, whaddaya know. Baby Boomers have come back to the top. Boomers are now the number one age group buying homes. Overtaking Millenials. Imagine. WHAT’S THIS WORLD COMING TO?
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