Kama Kama Kama Kameleon...

 Remember that song by Boy George from the 80's? Nice little catchy tune, everybody liked it. While we're on the topic of chameleons, seems we have one surfacing in the limelight. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Harris has long been known as a progressive liberal. Her policies and positions have always reflected that. But, now that she's running for president it appears her stance on some major issues has changed. Her position on most of these policies have been consistent throughout her public life. And now, they've changed? Let me point out that most of these policy shifts are 180 degree shifts, they're not slight or insignificant. Is she simply lying, trying to buy more votes from the middle-of-the-roaders, just to try to get elected? Then switch back to what has always been her stance on the issue once the election is over? That's quite possible, even likely. Looking back through the past several elections, such is not that uncommon. Especially with Democratic candidates, though Republicans have done it as well. It's dirty politics, but you know what they say, "Shit happens..."

Let's take a look at some of the topics that Kakala has flip-flopped on. Immigration and the border wall. Harris has always been a staunch opponent of building a border wall. She has insulted Trump calling it a "medieval vanity project." Seems she's now behind the idea and recently stated that she will continue building the wall. In the past she has always been lax on immigration policy, but now says she will vigorously enforce our immigration laws.

In the 2016 election debates Harris said she would put in place a federal ban on fracking. Now she claims she will allow it. She has long been a proponent of the Green New Deal, her and Biden have mandates regarding electric vehicles and charging stations. Now she says there will be no electric vehicle mandates. Also in 2016 she said she would push for Medicare for all. Which happened to carry a price tag of 44 trillion dollars, more than the current national debt. Now it seems it's not such a good idea. She also said in 2016 that there would be a mandatory semi-automatic rifle buy-back program. Now the flavor-of-the-day is no mandatory buy-backs. She's also backing the idea of no taxes on tips. She backed legislation as a senator to increase IRS funding especially for bird-dogging middle income taxpayers. As the California Attorney General she pushed for cash bail, assuring criminals were kept in jail. As a senator and VP, she has pushed against cash bail. Marijuana. As an AG Harris pushed hard to punish marijuana offenses. She has even publicly bragged about. She has recently pushed for a federal law legalizing medical marijuana. 

So, what is a voter to make of all this? Is she lying to get votes? Undoubtedly. Where did some of these good ideas come from? Donald Trump. That's kind of embarrassing, no? I recently saw an interview with the filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. He said it's perfectly OK to lie to get votes. Politicians have been doing it for ages. You just do whatever you have to do and say whatever you have to say to get in office. He's voting for her no matter what. Seems to me that's more of the Democratic party's ideology than politicians in general. Granted, they all lie but they typically don't all have private servers in their basements either. Harris has been taking some heat for not granting any press conferences or interviews since being 'crowned' the Democratic candidate. I say crowned because not one vote has been cast anywhere by anyone to elect her as the candidate. So, no press conferences or interviews, no statements regarding her official policies. Based on all the flip-flops if she did announce her official policies they'd probably change anyway...

#policy shifts

#kamala harris

#Harris policy

#2024election

#democrats lies

Let's take a break...

 We've been talking about politics lately because this is election year. It's what's on people's minds. Well, most peoples. It's important, it's going to affect our lives for at least four more years. But, then again, politics is politics. It doesn't always involve the truth and it's always in your face. Is spite of how important it may be, it wears on us. We get tired of hearing it. So,  let's take a break. 

I can't think of a better subject to get our minds off politics than music. I can't help but remember a quote from Shakespeare, "If music be the food of love, then play on...". Well then, let's play on...

It matters not if your preference is country, rock, pop, alternative, or whatever it may be, music is indeed the food of love. It moves us, it makes us feel things and they are almost exclusively good things. It makes us happy. Since the beginning of time there has been music. Since the days Christ walked the earth. You've heard the expression "There's a reason for everything," well, there's certainly a reason for that. Music is magical. It stimulates people. It inspires people. It always has and it always will. Why? That's a question humans have to ask about everything. The answer to that is probably one of the mysteries of the universe. You'll have to ask someone smarter than me. But it does. And when it does, it is nonpareil. It has no competition. It makes people fall in love. It reminds people of past loves. It inspires people of future love. It moves us. It. is. powerful.

But whatever type of music works, it works. It causes us to behave in a way that reflects our core. If you love someone, then you will express that. If you have a goal, you will work harder and persevere toward that. Nothing else works quite like this. 

Whatever type of music you may like, in this case, there is something to please everyone. What other topic can make that claim?... My preference is multifold. Classical, rock, alternative, country... That covers a lot. If you happen to like music of those sorts, then follow along. I have a recommendation. Get on YouTube and search for Dovydas. This is a guy from Lithuania who is a musician. And a very good one. Really good. He's a street musician and invites people from the street to play and sing along with him. It just so happens that the people he invites to play and sing are extremely good as well.  Don't take my word for it, google him and see for yourself. 

For the most part he plays guitar to accompany singers. His ability, I would put on the same level as some of the world's best guitarists. Seriously. Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Prince, BB King, and yes, even Jimi himself. I know, that's a pretty audacious claim. But check it out for yourself. He could be in a studio making millions, but he chooses a more austere path, one of making people happy through his music. And oh, but does he ever succeed at that...

Davydos. See for yourself. It's a nice break from politics...

#davydos

#street musician

#Guitarist

#Great guitarist

#Great music

The 2024 Democratic Convention

 Last night was the second night of the DNC. The Obama's spoke, both Michelle and Barry. Both of them spent a considerable amount of their allotted time berating and trashing Donald Trump. I suppose this is an indication that they feel this is time well spent that will further convince their followers and the fence-sitters that voting for Trump will lead to catastrophic consequences and result in the destruction of our democracy. And of course there were the obligatory accolades for the candidate, Kakala. Since these are 'supporters' I suppose it's ok to give them a pass on talking about substantive issues, after all, they're just supporters. But when it comes to real issues, such as the economy, inflation, the border, foreign affairs, Kakala and Timmy Walz dont get any passes. Up to this point there has been no mention or discussion of these topics. And let's not overlook the fact that Kakala hasn't held a press conference since Biden stepped aside and she was announced as the 'default' candidate'. I say default because she's the first presidential candidate in history to be named as the candidate without having been voted as such by a single delegate. The party just placed her name in the blank. 

But back to the Convention. From the speakers so far, all that has been talked about is Trump sucks, Kakala is great and we're excited. We know prices are high and some Americans are struggling, but as soon as Kakala is elected she will put price controls in place and fix that problem. That's it... No talk of the issues that are at the front of the minds of American citizens. There are serious conflicts taking place in the world that alter geopolitics for decades to come. No talk of policies regarding those conflicts. 

There's a problem that has been around since probably, well, for a very long time. There are a large block of voters that vote based on, let's call it vagaries, for lack of a better term. Most people, a lot of people, when they face making a major decision whether it be buying a refrigerator, a car, joining a club, anything that costs a lot of money or has the potential for affecting their lives will spend some time researching it. Get some information, some facts and base your decision on what you learn. An election should be no different. Heaven knows they have enormous potential for changing lives. But for some unknown phenomenal reason they don't do this. They base their decision on something else. Charm, charisma, gut-feel, curb-appeal, pity, physical attributes, who knows what... The sad thing is they dont gather facts and objective information as a basis of their decision. They vote along the lines of their emotions. Maybe they feel like, wow, I could be their friend. I like them. Their perspective of a good candidate is based on all the wrong things. 

Kakala is out of town campaigning. We're assuming she'll be back in town for the remainder of the convention. Republican or Democrat, we want to hear, what are your policies, what are you going to do, how are you going to fix problems... Get to the point...

Shark-infested waters...

 There's been a lot of rhetoric lately about the inclinations of the Democratic Party. Specifically the behavior of some of the candidates. The leftists, liberals, socialists, and lately they're even being tagged as Communists. Inflation and high prices are in the forefront and Kackala has proposed government regulated price controls to get inflation under control. To make food, groceries and necessities more affordable for everyone. She has accused grocery suppliers as profiteering and price gouging. Hell, she's accused corporations in general of price gouging, just like Biden did. 

So, is the government regulating prices a good idea? Is that a viable solution to the inflation problem? Is swimming in shark-infested waters a good idea? Not unless you're suicidal and want to go out in the worst way possible. As a Washington Post correspondent recently wrote, if your opponent is calling you a communist it's best not to validate the label. One would think that any reasonable person with even a basic education would surmise that government price controls would not solve nor even deter inflation. In fact, it could even have the opposite effect. Defining price gouging is a task open to a broad spectrum of interpretation. Even in the absence of a disaster or national emergency. A basic understanding of economics will reveal that price gouging did not cause inflation. Massive government spending and handouts put too many dollars chasing fewer goods and services caused by supply chain disruptions during the pandemic. Increasing government regulations since has exacerbated the problem. Corporate greed isn't the problem, they are in fact the ones who went to work solving the supply chain problems, which would lower prices. The government made no contribution to solving the supply chain crisis. What they did was continue to pump borrowed money into the economy which had the effect of fanning the flames of inflation. The effects of this are still being felt today, two to three years since the pandemic. Instituting price controls would be tantamount to mirroring how things are done under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party. Since taking control of the CCP there has been major movements in government control of business in China. The shift shows how China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has remade private business, bringing it firmly under government and Chinese Communist Party control. Officials have forced successful companies off the public stock markets, jailed entrepreneurs and abruptly barred booming industries from making profits. Is this the direction we want to go? Do we really want to follow China's example? What's next after price controls, taking control of the production of goods and services? Exactly what China is doing (and Russia...). Deciding who succeeds and who does not.,. Do we really want to swim in these waters?...

It's out in plain sight for everyone to see...

 Todays political landscape is interesting, and compelling. It's a real task to understand just how it all came to be, but politics is like that. But at the core of it all are a few key issues. First, I believe would be the fact that the nation has become so divided. I dont think calling it Democrats against Conservatives is the right way to characterize it, though that's a start. It's more a clash of perspectives and ideologies. Conservatives and liberals is more accurate. What's noteworthy is that there have always been liberals and conservatives. Since probably sometime in the 1800's. Differing ideologies. And that's not a problem. Until recently. Seems now it's a problem. And the reason it's a problem is there's no middle ground, no compromising, no tolerance for a perspective that differs from one's own. A different perspective is now somehow 'wrong'. What happened to understanding, compromise and tolerance? What happened to patriotism? I guess there are different opinions on just exactly what patriotism is now, as if the meaning of it should ever change... Just as there are differing opinions on exactly what is right and wrong now. With no tolerance for other opinions. And second, this lack of tolerance is carried to extremes. To violence and hateful speech and behavior. Decadence, is what it is, a constant state of extenuation. The state of the nation is a state of decadence. There is no sense of unity or direction. We no longer deal with the problems of the nation as a nation. The right and the left insist on dealing with it their way. What was once a great, solid, unified nation (One Nation, Under God) is no more. The glory days of being strong under the leadership of great leaders eludes us. We simply dont have any at present. The Lincolns, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, the Reagans, would be disappointed. They did their job when it was their time and they did it well. They were able to bring the country together. 

So, let's get back to the point. Is the recent leadership of the country doing things that are 'wrong'? We shouldn't look at it as right and wrong. It's an issue of what's best for the country and Americans. That characterization certainly opens up a fresh can of worms though. I've no doubt that every president from Dwight Eisenhower forward has believed they were doing what was best for the country. So, how do we know whether they actually were or not? One must look at some key, critical areas; the economy, inflation, jobs, immigration, global geopolitics (wars)... There are of course, more but these are the ones that win and lose elections and affect a lot of people's lives. Let's keep the discussion focused and look at the last eight years. How were the actions and events concerning these topics affecting Americans during the administration's of Trump and Biden? The answers are literally out in plain sight for everyome to see. Granted, it takes effort as the mainstream media that we could once depend on to bring us unbiased information doesn't exist any longer. We must now be able to filter the facts from the crap and lies. But it's all out there in plain sight for everyone to see. However, humans are very adept at seeing what they want to see. At hearing what they want to hear. At believing what they want to believe. Even if they are suffering for it. It's all very complex yet it's all very simple. Are you paying more for food, gas and essentials than before? Are you unemployed? Is government telling you that you must drive an electric car now? The you cant have an abortion, even if you were raped by an illegal immigrant? Yet in the past none of those issues were issues. 

Like I said, the reasons for such things are all out in the open for all to see...