Doom and gloom

The American election is over.  What the hell happened??

Hindsight is often 20/20.  Here's my take on it.

Kamala came out of the gates to great fanfare.  Biden made it clear in the debate that he's in no condition to lead the U.S. for a second term.  If it were more clear that he wasn't running for re-election, perhaps the selection process could have been more concise.  Harris was basically coronated upon Biden's stepping down.  Now we're left wondering if Biden was right all along... could only he have defeated Trump?

Harris didn't have ample time to really mount an effective campaign.  Here's the ugly truth:  The very people Trump threatened all of his campaign to deport voted him into power.  Hispanic voters put him way over the top.  There was no shortage of black voters for him either.  I really hope that Muslim voters for Trump survive this, because they need to see what they've done to themselves.  And that's IF they get to stay.  And IF they survive the hate that's about to swarm their existences.

And here's my takeaway from the whole ugly situation - this election was all about estrogen vs testosterone.  On Kamala's side, you had the "swifties" (that's a small 'S' on purpose there), Beyonce fans, movie stars, and countless celebrities vouching for her.  On Trump's side, you had your Dr. Phils, Kid Rocks, Dana Whites and Joe Rogans.  The fact of the matter is this:  America is not ready for a female leader.  They should be, but they are not.  They are not evolved enough.  Neither is Canada, for that matter.

Rogan has a massive, massive audience, rife with machoism and alpha-male delusion.  Trump's campaign was a counter to Kamala's women-can-do-it-better appearance which very much upset the egos of the right.  She went on Fox and basically did the job, but she skipped Rogan, who fully endorsed Trump upon his interview with him.  Not being on Rogan may have been the tipping point.  She was fully capable of handling herself, so her decision not to appear on the podcast is a puzzling one, especially in retrospect.

Looking back, not giving Gavin Newsom, governor of one of the world's biggest economies (California), should have been given much more serious consideration.  Instead, he wasn't given any.  The fact that he's a man evidently would've given the Dems more of a chance.  One must wonder how different this outcome would have been had Newsom been in Harris' place.  The short-sightedness of Trump voters is staggering.  The dirt poor actually helped billionaires elect a faux-billionaire into power... again.  The entire rest of the free world sees what a threat he is to the world's democracy factions, steadily being whittled down by the far right.  

The ramifications of the results of this election are going to be felt for many, many years.  Ukraine will now be forced to surrender to Russia, who will then proceed to invade more European territories in its bid to re-establish the Soviet Union.  Trump will stand idly by while this happens.  Tariffs will be erected and crush taxpayers.  All the criminals responsible for the Jan. 6 debacle will be freed.  White supremacist groups will be empowered.  Jobs will be lost.  The poor will remain poor, and perhaps become more so.  Lumber trade in Canada will be choked by Trump's protectionism.  NATO will once again be bullied by him, and will return to its weak pre-Biden stature.  Under Biden, NATO was never stronger.  That will change.  By the way... Trump has said outwardly that he would not support a country that doesn't pay the full 2% of its GDP on the agreement.  Canada pays around 1.6%.  Also... after Alaska, Russia is right next door to us.  Literally.

The FDA is toast.

Reproductive freedom, at best, will be state by state in its acceptance.  Trump himself may cause abortion rights to be completely eliminated.  If your crazy uncle raped your 12 year old daughter, too bad for her.  Miscarriage?  You might get charged and even go to jail.  Gilead is upon us.  

The Dems gambled on reproductive freedom being the sole issue for voters, basically ignoring the male electorate.  That's what a lot of it comes down to.... Trump catered to the men, Harris to the women.  Somehow, he managed to convince more men than Harris did women.

Elon Musk will get carte blanche to do whatever the hell he wants with the aerospace industry, including militarization, and also including colluding with Putin, which has already been happening anyway on a regular basis.  The U.S. will become Russia.  If Trump dies, J.D. Vance will take his place, which could be far worse.  Don't count this out from happening.  Trump is 78 and unhealthy.  Upon this happening, you may see Vice President Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Don't laugh or shrug.  There's a real chance of this coming true.

And what's the next January 6 going to entail?  Will the Dems peacefully hand over power?  They must.  Not to do so would undermine what the party is all about to begin with.  Biden appointed Merrick Garland to AG with confidence he would resolve the legal matters regarding the attempted coup in 2020.  Garland dragged his feet the entire way, only hiring special counsel Jack Smith near the homestretch of the election.  Smith didn't have ample time or resources to get the job done, as much as he wanted to get it done, and even with a real measure of urgency.  But the Supreme Court is already stacked in Trump's favor.  And the 6-3 republican ruled judges have Trump's back if worse comes to worse and he actually was looking like he had to resort to it.  I've said for years that Garland is in Trump's pocket.  I still think he is.

Trump is to be sentenced later this month for his 34 felonies.  He can pardon himself when he takes office.  He will get away with everything.  Everything.  Tell me, "pro-lifers", is it worth it?  Because abortion will not be wiped out.  Only legal abortion will.  Support for newborns is the ideal anti-abortion strategy.  Quell the fear of what's to come for expecting mothers.  Don't fucking threaten them with jail time.  And stop giving excuses to deadbeat dads.

So long to Obamacare.  Trump's "concepts of a plan" will take good care of you, I'm sure.

Brace for more heartless deportations and more kids in cages, being separated from their families, likely permanently.

Oh, and one more before I go.... the next pandemic, if it happens with the Orange Turd in power like last time, will be an even bigger shitbowl than Covid-19.  A potential Covid-20 may just be unrecoverable.  And Robert Kennedy Jr. will see to it.

We'll be watching that meth lab underneath us and watch what they're cooking. 

Because Pierre Poilievre, whose campaign is being run by actual Trumpers, is next here.

May the God you believe in help us all.

The God I worship is super-clearly not the same God pop culture wants us to believe.

I pray now for awakening.  For hope.  Not to sleep.... but to be WOKE.  Yes, I said it, and I mean it.  Either wake up, or deal with it.

Peace and love to everyone.  

And I so, so very much want to be wrong about just about everything here.

Personal Blog: January '24, Round 1

The New Year's off to a good start.  Nobody's sick anyway, we wound up ending '23 in a rather opposite way there.  Man, Janice and me got knocked around pretty bad.  Christmas was nice, but extremely quiet.  It took me weeks to recover from noro, but we just kind of rearranged the holiday schedule a bit, in that we shifted Christmas dinner to New Year's Eve.  And that was pretty great, really.  Alexandra and Cole came over, and I made honey glazed ham, seasoned panfried potatoes, corn, and turnips mashed with carrots.  I love ham, but I'm not crazy about eating pork, because it's probably the dirtiest meat there is.  Still, we do it once a year, and give the piggies the rest of the year off.  We had our traditional bacon and eggs breakfast around Christmas Day very late, and that bacon I'd bought last Christmas; I'd gotten two packs of it at Costco and froze one of them.  Now we've got all this leftover ham, but the great thing about that is we can freeze it, and we make mac & cheese and cut up ham in chunks and mix it up with that.  It's quite great, really.  Unfortunately though, when we had our Christmas/NYE dinner, I had to retire almost immediately because of the repercussions of my illness before.  Thus, we wound up sleeping through New Year's Eve.  Hopefully next year will turn out a little better.  It's okay, though, we're safe, sound and healthy today.

So, it's January 6 as I type this, Friday night/Saturday morning, and all is pretty much calm.  I'm just about at 100%.  Maybe more than the virus I had, getting knocked out twice in that day might've had more of an effect in my get up and go than I realized.  The busted rib I have from that day is still making itself known, no question there.  That's not aiding in my sleep, that's for sure.  We started back to the gym after a monthlong layoff because of being sick and the whole holiday buzz.  To my surprise, even walking hurts.  I knew it would, but more than I expected.  Still, we went twice this week for an hour each day and put in around four and a half miles each.  No weights, because my busted rib will just not let me.  You don't realize how important supporting muscle groups are until you deal with that.  Sleep is still an issue.  I just can't seem to sleep at night, and it's quite frustrating.  Janice is beside me in bed while I watch whatever on TV or surf the net or read.  Most times I only get to sleep maybe around eight in the morning, or later even.  Good 'ol Marvelous Marbles Hagler is always right there with me though.  I don't know what I'd do without that little guy.

Up to now in this first week of the year, the weather is very mild and stable, with no real precip.  In fact, we haven't had a real snowfall yet this season, just dust-ups.  We've had a lot more rain than snow so far.  I guess El Nino is to blame for that, and climate change of course.

We've binge-watched the two existing seasons of 'Yellowjackets' on Showtime on Crave - pretty good show, but not for everyone.  It's somewhat comparable to 'Euphoria' in its edginess and is female driven; kind of like Lord of the Flies if it was all girls stuck in the snowy Canadian wilderness.  It's pretty gross at times, where it involves cannibalism, so take it from there.  Like I said, not for everyone.  I think Janice liked it more than I did.  It stars a rather unrecognizable Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis, and Lauren Ambrose (Clair from 'Six Feet Under') shows up halfway through season 2, playing a very different kind of role.  We'll give 'True Detective' a shot next, that show has five independent seasons so far, with the newest one getting a lot of attention starring Jodie Foster.

Janice's surgically repaired knee is acting up again, and she's once more forced to use a cane to get around.  She was told she was on the waiting list for knee replacement surgery, but when she called the other day, she found out she wasn't on that list at all, so now she has to push for it again.  She'd already signed the papers for the surgery, and then apparently just got forgotten about.  It's hard seeing her in pain all the time around this.  She's quite adamant about going to the gym though.  She does such a good job at work and built up the business for her post office kiosk, that she doesn't really like to be away too long, though Alexandra, who's her right-hand lady, does exceptional as her second in charge.  Alexandra, herself, has stubborn health issues that doctors can't seem to get a handle on.  It almost feels like they've given up on her.  But this is common across the country right now, with our healthcare in ruins, more or less, especially with Covid/flu/RSV wreaking havoc everywhere.  And noro, of course.  Janice and me got our shots for the flu and Covid, as we do every year.  It's at the point for me that I'm actually afraid to go to the hospital now.  Not because I'm afraid of treatment or anything, but that I'd have to wait 12-24 hours or more to just be seen, and be among all the flu and Covid infected people that cram the ERs.  I remember the days when you waited maybe an hour tops, but that's twenty years ago or more now.  Covid, in particular, has changed everything.  For the worse.

We decided that we should be pro-active in getting a new TV, because the one we've got is a 15 year old plasma Panasonic Viera that's likely on its last legs.  We got a brand new 65 inch 4K 'Smart' Samsung that was a Boxing Day sale item at Costco, now we just have to mount it, so I had to get a wall mount bracket on Amazon, which is in transit.  We love our TV, especially in the wintertime, because we both hate snow and the cold.

Other than that, we're both pretty much okay.  I got the doc to check on my cracked rib when it happened and had bloodwork done, and everything is top notch all around, sleeping issues aside.  One thing I want to do about my health regimen is find some kind of vitamin mix that'll take care of all the stuff I take now.  Which is, an Omega 3 capsule, a multivitamin, vitamin D, a prostate supplement, a zinc caplet and a probiotic supplement.  It's tricky, because I have to take my Sertraline meds away from them to retain effectiveness.  If I take them together, I wind up with nausea.  With my multivitamin bottle starting to get shallow, I'm going to have to look up what's best.  It'd be nice to just take a drink and be done with it earlier in the day.  I've been doing this vitamin regimen for decades, and my bloodwork always comes out great in checkups.

I'm thinking this is going to be a wild year, generally.  The U.S. election happens in November, and democracy and freedom are actually hanging in the balance down there.  Which is important to Canada, because as I've always said, what happens down there all too often winds up happening up here.  I worry about the Ukraine war and conservatives down there that are refusing to help.  Then there's the middle east war with Israel and Gaza.  I worry that more countries are going to get involved.  I feel like it's almost a certainty.  And I fear this year will be the year China invades Taiwan, which could be a world war catalyst.  

Something I'm looking forward to, though, is Bob Lazar's documentary 'Project Gravitaur', which centers around Lazar - having worked as a scientist at area 51 in reverse engineering flying saucers that are in government possession, which is now a known fact.  But what might be revealed in this doc is quite tantalizing to say the least.

Up to this point, for friends and family, I've only seen Natalie, who's coming over tomorrow to see us as I make my seasoned wings.  I gotta get out more.  Just going to the store and the gym doesn't really cut it.  I may have to make an effort to leave my comfort zone more often.  My cannabis oil helps my anxiety greatly, but I can't drive while I have it.  But boy, what a Godsend that stuff is.  I actually alternate between the oil and these gummies that we get, which I only need half of one to take the edge off and often help me sleep.  And I keep hearing about the benefits of cannabis.  The THC type is even shown to fight dementia.  And I ain't getting any younger.  I encourage anyone who drinks to give cannabis a try - and you don't have to smoke it.  I can't!  I tried and wound up nearly coughing up a lung, for frig's sake.  Plus, the oil and gummies I use have a much more sustained effect.  An alcohol buzz and a cannabis buzz are two different things altogether.  For one, you won't get a hangover.  For another, cannabis is a relaxant while alcohol is a depressant.  You won't find anyone picking fights who's on THC.  Alcohol, on the other hand......

Keeping my nose out of Facebook business has proven to be beneficial to me, too.  I was just going to stay off it until the holidays are over, but I'm reluctant to go back on, because things are so peaceful when you get away from it.  There are those who don't want to know my comments on politics or social issues, and there are those who do... but the more I thought about it, before Facebook, no one obsessed over that stuff like they do since social media hit.  I've found my view of people has altered for the positive since I've abstained.  That goes for all social media, really.  Anyway, as I've pointed out before, I do check my Facebook messenger, but I'm not terribly active there either.  I'll answer anyone who talks to me there, though.  Aside from spam-type stuff.

That's all I got for now.  I appreciate any interest folks take checking in on my humble Ragnar Station here.  God bless all of you.