CHASING THE HORSES THAT GOT AWAY

So, Obama finally did a little something in regard to Russia's meddling in a presidential election. That's like slamming the barn door after the horses have escaped and are running free.  Who let them out in the first place?   Uh, that would be the dumbasses who left the door unlatched, and they're not good at chasing down escaped horses.  In this case, it's horses' asses.  Little time left in office, no real talent for chasing freed horses, not much will happen with this little slap on the wrist.  We expelled some people, issued a few sanctions, big deal.  And the results of this big time brain fart will take office in less than a month, and that is a big deal.

But the Russian affair is small potatoes compared to what has happened to this country's electorate. I've factored in frustration and anger, disappointment, and even the remote possibility that the dumbass voters that elected Trump has some justification for their errant votes.  I come up with the same conclusion:  They didn't get bamboozled; they're just ignorant as dirt.  As a college professor for many years, I saw this coming quite some time ago.  I watched a steady decline in academic standards, stood in front of students each passing year less prepared for college work.  The dumbing down of America has apparently bloomed into an epidemic of ignorance.  Ask any employer what they think of todays workforce, the applications they get for jobs.  I live in small town America where the school system is supposed to be good.  A local merchants recently told me that he'd had 55 applications for a sales job, and most of them flunked the drug test.  Some had criminal records, and others were just too stupid to hire.  He didn't fill the position.

I sometimes wonder if the gene pool for intelligence in this country has gone dry.  We're currently raising a crop (generation) of young people who seem to think they were born with the right to be taken care of.  Few people go searching for jobs anymore; they want a position, and with no credentials for a position.  They're wizards with electronic gizmos like cell phones and I-pads, but they can't fill out a job application form.  Do the statistical work yourself and just google illiteracy in America.  One in five people can't read past a fifth grade level, and about 40 percent of our population can't read well enough to understand much of what they've read,  unless it's the drivel that shows up in todays literary marketplace.

While watching the Olympics from London some time back, like over four years ago, I saw a blip where a Beefeater was being interview.  You know, those funny dressed guys who serve as tour guides at the Tower of London.  And the interviewer asked this Beefeater about the strangest question he'd been asked by a tourist.  He said a lady from Texas once asked him if the Tower of London was where they'd kept Snow White prisoner before they cut her head off.  He said no, that Snow White was a fictitious character.  And as the woman walked away with her husband she was heard saying, "He's wrong.  I know that's where they kept her."  The sad part is that I could perhaps walk downtown where I live here in Texas and tell that story to someone on the street, and I might well get a blank stare, and the question, "Well, was it?"  How much would you like to bet that the same person voted for Trump?

IT'S ANOTHER OF THOSE DON'T-DO-WHAT-I-DID STORIES

If you are another of those I'm going to stick it out at all costs people this post is not for you.  Like the old hippies used to say, "I know where you're coming from, man."  Some people grow roots instead of wings, and some like me never grew either.  I'm not rooted, but my wings have been clipped.  I'm grounded by old age, obligations, and situations, and that's a familiar story in this country.  I'm an American, but I'm not all that proud of it.  Love of country is one thing, but at some point in time you realize that life can be much bigger than that.  I'm not ashamed of my ancestry, nationality, home state, community, and anything like that.  I've had some grand opportunities here in America, but that was then, and now is now, and living here is just not working for me anymore.  I'm not one of your average American highly propagandized devotee to our way of life.  This ain't my first rodeo, and I've acquired a good education about what goes on in this country.  I see the good along with the bad, but that's like watching a football game.  You know the feeling, I'm sure, of when your team gains more yardage, has more first downs, looks like a winner all through the game . . . and then fumbles it away in the last quarter and loses.  Let's blame it on the refs for making bad calls. Let's blame it on a single player who fumbled or dropped the winning touchdown pass.  Let's blame it on just bad luck, but if we had played the game like we should have, the score wouldn't have been close enough for that one fumble or dropped pass to beat us.  We live under a government that fumbles a lot and within a society stupid enough to think that's just the breaks of the game.  A loss is still a loss, and we've turned into a bunch of losers willing to accept those losses.

Ok, so we now have a low class turdball of a President soon to be in office, and he's making some unbelievably bad decisions already.  He's not there by chance either.  We didn't have enough reasonable voters in place, and that's what put us in this position.  We didn't have a strong enough opposition to his bullshit approach to campaigning to beat him.  That's the only fair part about his election.  He won by hook and crook, deception and lies, and he found enough people willing to believe him to win.  Good for the turdball, he at least got that part right.  A big time fumble by the other side cost them the win, and it should have.  This makes you wonder just which side is really the dumbest, and that's something voters had to decide.  A good democracy offers much better choices, and we're not that kind of democracy.  I could present a good argument that we're not a democracy at all.  But still, almost all Americans will hunker down and wait it out, somehow believing that the democratic processes (that don't exist) will turn things around in time.  Dream on.  It won't happen.

I'm one of those trapped people who'll have to sit here and watch a country continue to decline, and it's going to be an ugly affair.  I'd rather not witness it at all, and since I'm old, perhaps I'll catch a break and get out of it much easier than younger people will.  I keep working each day, writing books that take me away from reality for a while, and wondering what comes next.  What if I live another ten years?  Yuk!  I'd rather be living elsewhere if that's going to happen, and I keep a tiny dream alive that I might be able to do that.  I won't go far, just to Mexico where I can live on far less money than here.  I've written half dozen books on Mexico, and my research has taught me a lot. First, forget almost everything you know from press reports up here because it's bullshit.  I challenge you to do your own research, if you've still got wings.  If not, don't torment yourself.  I could show you the way to a good existence down there, but we all need to draw our own lines on a map, make our own decisions.  If you've already bought into the American propaganda bullshit, you're fine with where you are.  You wouldn't fit in anywhere else anyway, so stay put and wait it out.  You'll wait forever, but that's what you bought, so wear it.  If you've still got a clear mind and wings that work, then fly and see what you can find elsewhere.  It's up to you.

A LEGACY FOREVER TARNISHED

Being the first black president of the U.S. made his legacy as chief executive important, and he has worked hard at promoting his achievements.  He has also offered some lame excuses for his lack of achievement, one of them being how he handled the Russian hacking situation.  In that regard, he blew it, and that will forever tarnish his legacy as a competent president.  He thought Clinton had it won, so he decided to roll the dice and let her deal with the problem once in office.  But he crapped out, and that ends up costing us more than just a lost election.  Yeah, I'm blaming the loss of the election to Donald Trump on Obama, will drop this hot potato right in his lap.  He should've known better.  Some people are willing to let that pass, but as Trump takes office and the frightening prospects we face become a reality, Obama's big brain fart will become more of an issue.

Obama knew the Democrats had a bad candidate, but he bit the bullet and worked hard to try to win it for her.  He knew his own party was rife with nitwits and dipshits, and he still worked toward electing the worst candidate Democrats have fielded in many years.  He did that because he knew Trump was that bad, about as bad as any candidate can get, and that leaves him with no excuse for what he did in allowing outside forces to turn the election.  He sat back as an FBI director changed the direction of the campaign and did nothing to get him out of the way, or to discredit him.  That's not a legacy anyone should be proud of.  I don't believe that Obama ever knew how to use power when the time came to get tough.  He was good at sending drones flying at an enemy everyone hated, but he didn't know how to handle our worst enemies of all - the home grown variety.  And that leaves me thinking that the biggest pussy Trump grabbed was Obama . . . who pussied up when he should've been showing some balls.  Bye, bye Obama, and bye, bye grand legacy.

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AT ITS WORST

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE DOES NOT WORK!  It has never been a democratic way of electing the President and Vice-President, but that's not a mistake.  Our forefathers designed it that way because they didn't trust the democratic process.  A history lesson in voting rights in this country should teach us at least that much.  I blame most of this on the federal system where states are allowed to control voting, which is idiotic when it comes to national elections.  But the way it's set up, this fart brained system of election, is the current law and should be respected until it is legally changed.  Trump should win the electoral college because he won the most states, and that's the simple fact of the matter.  And the vote in the electoral college won't be close due to the current rules. Forget all the bullshit about who won the overall popular vote because it doesn't count.  Forget all the Trump sculduggery as to how he won those states because that doesn't count either.  We let it happen, and now we have to live with it . . . and no one deserves it more than we do.

People who voted for Trump, the dumbfucks who bought the lies and skulduggery, are first in line when it comes to the Great Idiot Award . . . but just barely.  Were I giving the award, the Democrats would get it.  How can anyone screw up an election campaign any worse than they did?  Clinton should never have been the candidate, and her campaign cost them a victory in the way they went about ousting Bernie Sanders.  The Clinton campaign staff was rife with sleazy political operatives, nitwits, and lowlifes.  Want to talk about how badly Trump has damaged the Republicans?  He has, but there's no way he's done a number on them like the Clintons and their band of bullies have done to the Democrats.  Want to talk of party purges?  Start with the Democrats because they're truly become Dumocrats.  The Trump campaign was smart enough to seize the opportunity the Democrats provided them, so kudos to them for that.

But here's the bad news.  With Trump's win, this nation is now in the crapper.  Low class has risen to the top like rancid cream, and your new government will be staffed by corporate pirates, right wing extremists, racists, xenophobes, and the dregs of our political society.  And it won't work, and we'll all pay the price for that.  Complaints against Trump won't go away.  Investigations will cripple his presidency like none we've ever seen, the economy will suffer, unemployment will rise, and there'll be the onset of a season of real political hostility.  And since there are no good guys in this fight, there's little chance of a win for anyone.

Perhaps you've owned one, a car that just will not work right, always leaves you stranded and afoot. And you keep pouring money into repairs, but the car just keeps breaking down.  At some point in time you come to the realization that it's worn out and must be replaced.  You go shopping for a new vehicle to get you where you need and want to go, but finding something you can afford is almost impossible.  That's where we are with government and politics in the U.S.  It is broken beyond repair, and it's time for a new one, and we don't even know how to go shopping for it.  Too many obstacles are in the way, and so we keep pouring money into the old vehicle, hoping and praying it will get us around for a while longer.  What this all means is simple:  We're fucked.  And we did it to ourselves.

IF ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS JUMPED OFF A CLIFF, WOULD YOU JUMP TOO?

"Well, I just did it 'cause all the other guys were doing it," you said.  And your mother asked, "If one of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?"  Mom wisdom, you know, something we all got as kids and perhaps still remember.  I think about that when I think of religion, especially Christianity.  It's hard to remember a time when religion didn't dominate your life, and getting free of it can be difficult.  All my friends told me it was the right thing to do, so I followed along.  But I'm old now, and I no longer follow friends.  I don't follow religion either.  I've even distanced myself far enough from it now to where I can make fun of it, but I still feel foolish for having once believed in it.

Ok, so here's the sales pitch from the biggest of all religious groups, the Christians.  So, there's a God, and he loves you as long as you love him back, but if you don't, he might smack your ass around to remind you who's boss.  And if you don't believe in him, and prove that by joining some church where you profess everlasting loyalty and devotion to God, you'll be left out in the cold with all the other lost people.  But don't worry about getting too cold 'cause if you don't straighten up and join the church, you'll die and go the Hell where it's really hot.  And then there Jesus, God's son, and you have to accept him too, and that means join up and toe the line.  All sorts of bad shit happens to you if you don't.  There's more.  You have to give money to the church to stay in good graces, and you have to think like other church members do.

I'm among the lost, so look out Hell, here I come.  The way I've got it figured Heaven is really Hell because it's full of Christians (if you believe them), and that would most certainly be Hell for me.  So, if I can't go to Heaven, then where will my lost soul end up?  Maybe I'll get recycled again like an aluminum can, end up next time full of English peas instead of beer.  But then again, I might just float off into space looking for other lost souls, and that's just fine with me.  I don't give a shit about streets of gold, harps, angel wings, puffy clouds, or any of that mythical bullshit . . . and I sure don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of Christians.  As for God, I think maybe the concept deserves more consideration than simple dismissal.  Maybe we could think of God as a superior intelligence that once conceived all of this stuff about life on earth.  Who knows, maybe the earth is God.  I think maybe the entire earth was once a true Garden of Eden, and then . . . people showed up.  So long Garden of Eden, hello people.  You know, sort of like being a really happy dog until the fleas show up, and ever since then the earth has been trying to kick us off.  Maybe that's why Christians want to go to heaven, that great dog in the sky where fleas can have a field day.  I think they've about sucked the earth dry.

So, dear hearts, there is no Hell down there anywhere, and there's probably no Heaven either.  It's just life for a while, and then the great mystery either ends or begins.  I'd like to think it ends for me without great fanfare, only to find myself suddenly standing on a lonesome dirt road with nothing in sight but nice terrain.  I did Ok in finding my way in this world, so I think I can find something to do in the next one.  And if that's not the plan, I'll look forward to a very long nap.

GREETINGS FROM DUMBFUCKISTAN

CAUTION: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE USED HERE!

Greetings from Dumbfuckistan, the land of voters ignorant enough to elect Donald Trump and comrade Republicans to high offices.  It is also the land of Democrats dumb enough to totally screw up a campaign bad enough (mostly by choosing a bad candidate) to lose to a bunch of jerks.  And that means we're all screwed, and that in turn means that not only are we a nation of dumb fucks, we're also the land of gotfuckeds.  I'm one of the gotfuckeds, and of the red ass variety.  I'm not alone.  You have heard of yellow dog democrats who'd vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican, and of blue dog democrats who tend to be middle of the road (that means they're dimwits), and now we have the red ass democrats.  We're the real liberals, not the phony fuck dumocrats who thought Clinton was a good candidate.

These FFD type Democrats arrogantly thought they had it made.  How stupid do you have to get to allow a director of the FBI to hijack a political campaign?  How limp-dicked do you have to be to allow a foreign country to interfere in our biggest election?  How stupid do you have to be to run a national election through state laws? (bad laws, at that).  Either way it went, the election was a going to be a farce.  I don't know what percent of America's population is made up of dumb fucks, but I'd say the number is around eighty percent - dumb fucks on the right, dumb fucks on the left, dumb fucks in the middle, and no place for rational people to go.  This isn't about just an election; it's about a takeover by dumb fucks . . . right wingers, at that.  The dumbing down of America is real, and it has now taken control.  Way to go America, land of the free to fuck everybody, and the home of brave retards.

So, where do we go from here?  How can any nation think its way out of a desperate situation when it has gone bat shit crazy?  Well, maybe not crazy enough to really do something righteous, but crazy in a really stupid way.  Reasonable people are so badly outnumbered there's no real base for intelligent thinking in this country.  It's like we've gone to war with lots of guns but no ammunition.  And we won't win this war, so those of us reasonable enough (and brave enough) should be looking for an out.  This is going to be a real test of courage for the reasonable people, or those who think they are. You have options, and leaving this country isn't a bad one for many people.  What happens here will send shock waves around the world (this is already happening), and some places won't be safe havens for Americans leaving here.  But staying here is perhaps a bad option for you, and if you choose to do that, you might not be all that reasonable after all.  I'm just telling you what I keep telling myself - leave Dumbfuckistan.

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK, UNTIL YOU'VE EXPERIENCED IT

I've traveled along the border between Mexico and the U.S. quite a bit in the past fifteen years, and know some of it quite well.  I don't know much at all about the border between California, Western Arizona, and New Mexico, but I know some of the border in southeast Arizona and in Texas.  Over half our border with Mexico is along the Texas border.  If your knowledge of the border comes from news sources, like television, it's wrong.  I would say skewed or perhaps tilted toward some agenda, but it's just flat wrong.  It doesn't look much like you have it pictured, and it certainly doesn't function like you think it does.  If you've got an idea of a tightly secured border due to beefed up Border Patrol people, you can scratch that.  I've parked along a stretch of highway in southeast Arizona and watched illegal immigrants simply walk across the border and head north.  Fences and walls, where they exist, are mostly for show.  Ask anyone who lives along that border about illegal immigrants and drug traffickers, and they just shrug.  It's like asking Californians about earthquakes.

Half of the border between Mexico and Texas is busy.  Forget the image of tumbled down desert villages along the border and think in terms of metropolitan areas . . . like McAllen or Laredo or in New Mexico, El Paso.  Visit an international bridge and watch the traffic flow, and then ask yourself home much real damage is being done to trade between this country and Mexico.  You can fight the war against illegal drugs flowing across that border until doomsday and never win it, and for one simple reason - we want the drugs.  Without a market here, there wouldn't be much of a drug trade. In fact, the drug trade is double-faceted.  It's big money for the drug traders, and it's big money for those who fight it.  If we didn't need all those drug enforcement officers, and they were laid off, what would that do to our economy?  We need the drugs to keep commerce going, and not just for the sellers and users.  Government isn't interested in doing the smart thing and legalizing the drugs; they want the fight.  And they losing it, and they still want the fight.  

McAllen, Texas is a damn nice town.  It's good to look at, and it's ultra modern.  Hidalgo County has over half million people now.  If you drive from there to the coast, you see the build-up of population, and you see all the commerce, and you know the economy is in decent shape there. That's not the case all over Texas, and still, many Texans are scared to death of the border.  I love the part of Texas from Del Rio heading west near the Rio Grande River, all the way to Presidio.  Once you leave Presidio and head northwest toward El Paso, you hit some really nice country that's remote and still wild.  And in El Paso, the river is almost nonexistent, just a trickle of water.  Once you run out of river to mark the border, you just have lots of miles of wide open spaces that are impossible to police and protect.

So, let us go to the little town of Naco in southeast Arizona.  That's a place perhaps you've pictured in your mind, a dusty desert town that looks like the back side of the moon.  Not far away, you have the much larger towns of Bisbee or Sierra Vista.  But at Naco, you have a village, and on both sides of the border.  On the Mexican side you'll find dentist's offices and an otherwise grubby looking Mexican town.  I'm told this is where many illegal aliens cross, and the town is full of Coyotes, the guys who get them across for a fee.  And there's a Border Patrol presence there and a big fence that stops almost nothing.  Ten miles out into the desert from Naco there's only the remains of an old fence separating Arizona from Mexico, easy to get past, and then you have a short walk to a major highway where someone can pick you up and transport you north.  Think of this when you think of Trump's idiotic wall, and perhaps you'll see the idiocy in it.  But think most about what happens to the economies of those border states when and if the undocumented worker force stops, or even slows a lot.  Go drive the interstate between Nogales and Tucson and you'll see how important that work force is to Tucson and beyond.

Sometimes we play a fools game, and sometimes the fools are idiots when it comes to knowing the border.  My guess is most members of Congress are just these foolish idiots, and we all know what Trump is.

THE SPOILED ROTTEN TEST

I propose here a test to see how spoiled rotten you are, and I offer this mostly for Americans.  My exposure to the everyday variety of citizens here in Texas is that the majority of them are spoiled almost beyond belief . . . and I'm one of them.  I'm married to a spoiled rotten woman, and I have spoiled rotten kids and grandkids.  None of us are rich or even what could be called "well off."  Most Americans aren't either, but they're still spoiled.  We're so badly spoiled that we're starting to stink up the place.  Here's a test to determine your personal extent of rottenness.

1) How old and how expensive is the vehicle you drive?  Do you have more than one vehicle?  If you drive a new car (big payments) and have a second older car, you're rotten to the core, even if you can justify a need for two cars.

2) Do you live in a big house, say like 3,000 sq. ft. of living area?  Do you have nice furnishings?  If so, you're spoiled rotten, even if you can afford it.

3) Do you own at least three televisions or have more than one cell phone in the family?  Do you spend extra money on jewelry, recreation, and sporting equipment?  Do you have a budget for recreation?  If so, you're spoiled rotten.

4) What would it take to get you to live less well, say for instance half as well?  An act of God?  If so, you're spoiled rotten.

This isn't part of the test, but if you had to live on far less money could you do it?

Look, we're all under pressure to spend money, and it comes at us from all angles.  Anyone offering a service or good wants to sell it to you, and they work hard at it.  You get family pressures to spend money, and again, from all angles.  Everybody seems to need or want something, and those pressures aren't about to go away.  No, they're here to stay, and you can't go away from the pressures either . . . at least not easily.

I have a budget only in my head because I spend as much as I need.  Doing that makes life more of an obligation than a pleasure.  I wonder what it feels like to have a decent savings account?  I wonder what it feels like to have a safe supply of money left over at the end of the month?  It's not a mystery to me; I just wonder why I allow it to happen to me.  I don't have to do that.  I'm a willing victim to all the demands for my money, and that's stupid.

During my quiet hours, usually late into the night, I amuse myself looking for ways to save money, to get out from under the money mandate.  Last night I was checking our the housing market in San Felipe, Baja California.  It's a town of about 30,000 only about a two hour drive into Mexico, and lots of Americans have discovered it.  I started looking at San Felipe quite some time ago but wasn't much interested because I'm not a desert person.  There are deserts, like the lovely desert around Tucson, and then there are butt ugly, desolate, bleak deserts, like the one around San Felipe.  But there's lots of development there, quite a few homes for sale and at very reasonable prices.  Forget the fancy resort towns of Mexico because that's not what you'll find in San Felipe.  It's recreational, for sure, and the Sea of Cortez is really nice, lots of beautiful beaches.  But then, there's that desert.

I found several houses there selling for under fifty grand, and they were nice smaller homes.  Not fancy, but nice enough . . . if you can live in about a thousand to twelve hundred feet.  I see a few small houses I could simply buy outright, which is the way to go.  Just plunk down the money, and it's yours.  So, I spend fifty grand on a place like that knowing my property taxes will be almost nil, that my utilities will be a fraction of what they cost here . . . and I'd still be in a gated community where HOA fees are like fifty bucks a month.  Property and car insurance is less, and if I decide to keep using my medicare, American doctors and hospitals are not far away.  And, my outgoing money demands suddenly drop by 75 percent.  But, I'm still in that desert, so the question is:  Just how spoiled rotten am I?  I have a quick answer, which is:  Not that much.

I could do a lot of things to a property under conditions like that.  I'd have several thousand bucks a month left over, or maybe more.  Even if I jumped in big, bought one of the nicer homes in that area, I'd still be far better off financially.   But alas, I have a wife who has demands.  Have you ever tried moving a woman from a really nice house to a lesser one?  Or, try this statement on for size:  "I'm buying a house in a bleak desert in Mexico, and we're going to live off less than two grand a month."
And then, make sure your earplugs are in place.

HOW TO PISS OFF A BILL COLLECTOR

Phone rings, and you say hello.  On the other end is a bill collector.
          "Our records show that you owe us $180,000, an amount for services our hospital rendered that are now long overdue.  How do we resolve this problem?"
          "What are my options?"
          "Your option is to pay us in full."
          "Then the problem is yours because I don't have any money."
          "Then you'll have to liquidate some assets to pay us."
          "I don't have any assets either."
          "Then we'll set up a payment schedule for you to pay so much a month."
          "I don't have a job either."
          "That's your problem and not ours.  We still demand payment it full."
          "No."
          "What do you mean no?  You can't just walk away from this."
          "No means I'm not going to pay you.  If you check my records you'll see that I'm almost eighty years old.  I owe you money because of cancer treatments that didn't work.  I've got just a short time to live."
          "Then the debt will fall to your heirs."
          "How does someone who inherits nothing pay bills for a dead man?"
          "It's the law."
          "Here's a law for you called the law of averages.  I have no money or assets to leave anyone, and I don't have a wife or kids.  What is the law of averages on your chances of getting paid?"
          A long silence.  "I don't believe you.  We'll go to court to collect the money."
          "You do that, but don't be surprised when I don't show."
          "You'll go to jail if you don't appear."
          "So, who's going to dig me up?"
          Another long silence.  "This isn't the end of this."
          "It is for me."

THE PROBLEM OF TECHNOLOGICAL LAG

When a society logs behind technology we call that technological lag, and that's exactly what the U.S. and other countries are dealing with these days.  We've lived through a age of great technological advancement, and we're just not smart enough to know what to do with it.  All these modern conveniences of advanced technology are in fact killing us.  I can start off the the car, that mode of transportation that gets us around town or takes us on trips.  It's more than we can handle, and it's not like we haven't had it around for a while.  You'd think a century of dealing with cars would have taught us to use it properly, but we're still catching up.  I blame that partly on technological advancement in the industry.  It's not enough to have a vehicle that will take us where we need to go; it's all about the gadgetry these days.  I own one of those advanced machines and have developed a love/hate relationship with it.  For one thing, I don't want a vehicle that talks to me, especially when it gives me orders.  I'm not a gadgetry person.  Gadgets have robbed us of our ability to reason out how to get things done.  We don't have to do that now because the gadget does it.  They should rename the cell phone a "brain in the pocket."

Here's a good one, the social media gadgetry.  So, I got stupid and had a Facebook account for about six months.  I disabled it not long ago, and now I'm getting calls because some scam artist cloned me and is using my pic and profile to scam people . . . and, I can't do shit about it.  I can't get back on that account, but still some hacker was able to steal my identity.  Ever try getting Facebook to stop this? Forget it, they have no ears or eyes for your complaints, which makes them the real scam artist.  It's my fault because I should've known better.

Few people have learned to use the new technology without it somehow corrupting them.  So, Facebook has been ruined by scam artists, and Twitter is obviously for twits.  Electronic gadgets stole away much of our privacy, and we gave it up willingly.  Technology has turned you into a number, and the individual has been lost.  We no longer have real store clerks, just button pushers who're told what to do by the gadgets the work with.  School teachers and professors are being replaced by technology. We've even had a presidential election decided on the misuse of gadgetry - emails, texts, calls, and those infernal voting machines that can be hacked.  Are you starting to feel stupid now? You should, but you probably don't because the gadget hasn't given you permission yet.  So, go ahead and fiddle with your brain in the pocket thingie.  Look up technological lag, or check out the facts about a dumbed down public.  You can do it, so come on and look it up . . . and then we'll see if you can figure it out.

The next time someone asks you for your number, regardless of what number they want, just say, "Zero."  You'll get a dumb look, and, "No, the real number."  And you can say, "That is my real number because that's what you've reduced me to."  I paid my car payment this month using the telephone, never talked to a real person, just punched in numbers when an electronically produced voice ask for it.  Slick operation, got it done quickly, and easily . . . and I felt stupid for the rest of the day.  And, I felt a little sad that a bunch of numbers own my car instead of me.

LOOK TWICE, AND THEN LOOK AGAIN

At first glance, it might look good, but your second look is more revealing.  The reverse is also true. First looks might be negative images, and when you look again, it looks better.  I got good advice as a youngster from an old uncle who said, "Never fall in love with anything that's for sale.  If you want it too much, you'll overpay for it."  I've tried to remember that, but I've still overpaid for a lot of things, among them houses and cars.  And it wasn't necessarily the first look that got me.  I've looked at an overpriced car a half dozen times and still ended up buying it.  I did the same thing with a house, and not so much because I fell in love with the house.  The price was too good to turn down, and later on you discover why.  It was in a crappy town, and that means when you sell the home it's worth about what you paid for it.  Maybe you look at a house and get blinded to the neighborhood.  Or maybe you like the neighborhood and don't see problems with the house.  The best looking car I ever owned turned out to be a lemon.

Some years ago a friend went through a divorce, and he said, "I sure didn't divorce the woman I married."  And I said, "Who does?"  The word here, however, is projection.  We tend to project certain things onto things and people that strike our fancy, and we may or may not see the real thing or person.  We know what we want, and we mistakenly project qualities onto something that looks good.  Sometimes we do that no matter how many looks we take, and we end up disappointed. Hindsight is better than foresight, but we can make hindsight better if we do a better job with foresight.  It's a simple as asking yourself the question, "Why do I want that, and can I afford it?"

I want a house in Mexico, and I want it badly.  And yes, I'm guilty of projection when it comes to making such a move.  I know how bad I want it; I just don't know if I can afford it.  This is where the looks become very important . . . not just looks, but some old fashioned common sense brought about through intensive research.  You can never ask enough questions, and you need to ask the right people.  And then don't be too reluctant to take some good advice.  I found a place in Mexico that looked good, almost too good.  I studied as much about it as possible for a week, and started seeing things I didn't like.  It was beautiful but too remote.  It was full of American expats who were hard to live around.  It was too humid.  I found people online who'd been defrauded by opportunistic locals, and they were more than willing to talk about it.  And, I scratched it from my list.  Earlier, during the the first stages of investigation, I found a place that didn't look good.  Nice enough town and on the coast of the Sea of Cortez, but the desert was bleak.  Almost no rain, very little vegetation.  And then I find information about the developers there, Americans who've created a nice environment for retirees.  I took a second look, and then a third, and even more . . . and the more you look, the better it looks, even that butt ugly desert.  It went on my list of places to visit, and that's the best look of all. See it in person, find out all you can, and do that without the intent of falling in love with it. Sometimes you find some good things, even in a desert.

And if you look hard enough and long enough, you'll find the right deal.  Be wary of the great deal because it's usually not as good as it seems, and it's smart to take close looks at what seems overpriced.  Larceny starts in the heart of the buyer as often as it does the seller.  Somewhere in the middle there's a solution.  I'd have to say that I have few regrets about the things I paid too much money for, but I have quite a few regrets about foolish money I spent on what looked like great deals. In the end I'd rather say, "Yeah, I probably paid too much, but I still got a good deal."

THE NUMBER ONE LEARNING DISABILITY IS THE ASSUMPTION YOU ALREADY KNOW ENOUGH

Smart people, meaning the intellectuals of this world, are thought to be arrogant and snobbish by those of less intelligence.  This is a myth because the shoe is on the other foot.  I've never run across arrogance like you find with people of little education.  They seem to believe they were born with access to a smarts bank and they could write checks on it.  They believe they know enough about most things when in fact they know little about almost everything.  And they think this manifest of ignorance is all they need to claim an even footing with everyone else in society.  It seems to me that the real conservative base in this country comes from exactly this group of people, and they're no longer a minority.  Conservatism is in itself a learning disability, regardless of your educational status, but it's a good hotel for ignorance as well.  If you can't figure much of anything out on your own, especially the intricacies of government and society, you go the easy route.  You take a very narrow view of it all, and then go with that.  Couple with that the conservative's tendency to be religious, and the problem is compounded.  If there's any group out there that loves ignorance, it's fundamentalist religious groups.

All you need to do to see how easily this works is analyze a few things.  Selling Christianity to a smart person isn't easy, or at least it's a more difficult sale.  Selling conservatism to an intelligent person is likewise difficult because they see through the ruse, the total bullshit of conservative ideology.  To call something "conservative ideology" is an oxymoron because conservatism isn't based on ideas, just reactions to ideas.  Just look up the definition of the word, and that alone tells you something.  To conserve means to hold back, to save, and that also includes saving thoughts, the ideas that can generate good government and a better society.  Attach to that the impropriety of religion, and you've got a dumbed down citizen.  Are these vicious people we should worry about?  Not usually, and perhaps just the reverse is true.  Dumb dogs are lovable, and so are dumb people.  One could present a decent argument that people gravitate to what they know best - dumbness.  When I think of all the frustrating things around me, the arrogance of dumbness comes to the surface.  I suppose that's because it's so hard to ignore.

A REFRESHER ON WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER MEXICO AS A PLACE TO LIVE

I've said before, but it's always worth repeating.  Consider Mexico as a home, regardless of what your age is or what you do for a living.  It all starts with:

1) Abandon the notion that you just can't do it.  Necessity is the mother of invention, and you might need to leave here for a better situation somewhere else.  Mexico is the best option.

2) Purge your mind of almost everything you know about Mexico through American news sources.  It's mostly all bogus.  They have crime, yes, but many places there have far less crime than you live around here.  Their government is corrupt, you say?  Can you hear me laughing?  Like the one you live under here isn't?  Mexico is poor, you say?  Have you looked around lately?  It's here too, you know, and it affects upwards of half our population.  Mexico is backward?  Think of it this way: They didn't just elect a misogynist, xenophobic jerk to the highest office in the land, and we did.  I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is:  Don't believe what you hear here, not from our press. Do your own research, go take a look for yourself.

3) Don't dive into the deep end of the pool without your floaties.  Plan adequately, make contacts, form alliances, and again, do the research.  You'll find out some interesting things.  All of them won't be good, but you'll know what you're up against and can weigh the costs of moving there against the benefits.  You'll find the benefits enticing.  I did, and it only took a short while to do that.  We all have different situations and circumstances to deal with.  I'll reveal mine, show you the difference, and you can go from there.

I live in a nice house in central Texas and am on a fixed retirement income.  We, the wife and I, have a steady bankable income of about $4,600 a month, but she still works to help make ends meet.  On a monthly basis we spend about a thousand a month just on various insurances.  A move to a nice town in Mexico cuts that in half, even a little more, and we're just as well insured.  We spend over five thousand a year here on just property taxes, and for the same kind of house in Mexico, that goes down to more like two hundred.  Utilities here can run as much as $1,000 a month, almost always around $800 (that's for a home and my wife's business), and in Mexico that would be no more than $100 a month.  Three things, folks, just those three things would save this family around $20,000 a year.  With other reduced cost of living there, that number edges up close to $30,000 a year.  I fact checked it all; it's not a myth.

4) Be prepared to give up some things, and one of them is your spoiled American attitude.  Be prepared to change and adjust to another culture.  Mexico is mostly a pay as you go society, and if you go there and try to live like you do here (credit cards and big debt), you're very little better off. You won't have to sacrifice in lifestyle, just mostly in your style.  Don't be the ugly American.  One of the hardest adjustments you'll face is to shake your fearfulness, something you've been trained to be here.  You can't be fearful of people who're not like you and get along well anywhere.

5) Relish the adventure.  What do you really have to lose?  Nobody leaves a place that's working well for them.  They go looking for a better life, and that doesn't just land in you lap.  I'm trying to make that move, and I'm 75 years old.  If I can do it, anybody can . . . if they need to, and want to.  My need to move there is greater than my wanting to be there.  In in a position to say, "I'd love to stay, but they won't let me."  Too many people want to take too much here.  I want out from under that.

SOCIAL NETWORKING IS A BAD IDEA

We now live in a world of computerized gadgetry, and it has opened doors to a fascinating array of adventures.  It has also opened doors to fraud, and lots of it.  I disabled my Facebook account, but it got cloned anyway.  Trying to get Facebook to do anything about it is difficult, mostly because they're only easy to contact if you still have an account.  Try calling other numbers, and you get recordings . . . or nothing.  And it's not just social networking, it's the emails and texting and all that. Did you ever think you'd see a presidential election decided over the improper or careless use of these devices?  Well, it happened, and that in itself is a fraud.  What it is, in my opinion, is just theft and should be punished the same way.  Hackers should go to jail just like some dude that knocks over a convenience store . . . but they don't.  We let Russians get by with hacking sensitive information, and we even often make heroes out of jerks like Julian Assange and Wikileaks.  This makes the fraud even worse, and it makes governing agencies look like jerks.  Rights to privacy are involved here, and that should be reason enough to do more to stop the misuse of technology.  We're not smart about some things.  Emails became an issue in the campaign, but people thought Trump's tax evasion and refusal to release tax returns was acceptable.  Our we turning into a bunch of idiots?

HOW TO SURVIVE A MAJOR ECONOMIC CATASTROPHE

How could you survive a major economic catastrophe in the U.S.? I'm not talking about recession like we saw in 2008 or anything close to that.  I'm not even talking about the Great Depression of the 1930s when the stock market crashed.  Think in terms of total meltdown where government goes totally bankrupt and everything we now have that can support a decent lifestyle goes away.  So, the answer to the question is:  You can't survive it.  You won't have any options at that point but to go down with the sinking ship.  You might survive in such a crippled system for a while, but not for long.  It's an end of time scenario, at least the end of a time when you could keep living.

The good news is that's not likely to happen, but many are saying that we could still face catastrophic conditions.  We'd suffer through it as best we could, but life would become much more difficult.  Most of what brings enjoyment in life would go away, and you'd have to make major changes in you lifestyle.  You'd go into a survival mode, something a growing number of Americans are experiencing now.  Life should be more than survival.  Some, in fact, wouldn't even call it life.  But let's say our economic demise was less catastrophic.  This would set up a situation where we'd have to redefine catastrophe.  Some would consider losing a home and nice cars catastrophic, but others would adjust and go on with life at a more moderate pace.  That's not survival; that's adaptation. The problem here is that few in our society are taught to adapt, especially if that adaptation is a move down in economic and social rank.  We won't handle an economic downturn well because of these always upward or hold your own attitudes.

Perhaps you've noticed, but when money gets tight and resources become depleted, people turn mean.  When a society turns into a hold on to what you have situation, this sets up a grab what you condition.  It's you against the world, and you do what you have to to keep what you've worked to get . . . and that is usually a battle you can't win.  And the winners?  That would be the biggest dog in the fight.  Banks, for instance, won't lose as long as they can control the money.  Nobody in the corporate world is going to lose and long as the have what you need.  In short, you're the little dog.
So, how do you survive this?  That's a personal choice, and no one is qualified to guide you through it.  But it's like this with me:  If the house is on fire and out of control, I'm leaving it.  I'll forget about everything that will be lost and save myself and family.

And . . . I'll never live in a house made of wood again.

Can You Soar Like An Egale in a Flock of Buzzards?

Nothing in life is more frustrating than trying to soar like an eagle in a flock of buzzards.  I've seen sparrows chase off hawks, or even pigeons roost with chickens, but I'll expect to see a lamb lie down with a lion before I see an eagle buddied up with a bunch of buzzards.  That's the way any truly intelligent person should feel if elected to the Congress of the United States.  When it comes to buzzards, we've got them in Congress.  We've also got a few hawks, an eagle or two, and even some parrots.  And as you know, a buzzard is most at home around dead things, like . . . even a dead country.  They can't kill it because they're not up for that, but they can sure make it sick.  The death blow will come from Congress itself when it finally commits suicide.  They'll do this in the passage of some truly idiotic laws.

But forget politics and all the stinky stuff that goes with it, and concentrate on how you'll react if you're not a bottom feeder.  Will you try to rise above all the decay and soar above it?  That won't work because everything must come back to ground sometime.  That's when you get your feet dirtied. Consider this:  What about flying to where the landing will be better, where you don't land in deep shit.  Is there any such place within flying distance?  Yeah, there is, and nicer places.  I've got my sights set on Mexico, but the places to pick from are abundant.  Considerations about distance should be conditioned by the benefits of finding a better home, and we live in a world now where that's less important.  Here's a country you might overlook because of negative publicity - France.  But they have heavy taxes, you'll be told.  The country is eaten up with savage terrorists, they'll tell you.  The water is bad there, and it's socialist, and the people are unfriendly.  Remember (and don't forget this), most of this information comes to you via the American news media.  Do you trust them to tell the truth? They're the ones who pumped you full of bullshit propaganda about how wonderful the U.S. is, so keep that in mind.

Do your own research; it's easy to do.  Make comparisons, and then make judgments.  You'll find that the good old U.S. is a long way behind many other countries in any number of things.  Then make decisions based on what you can learn, and how much you can afford.  Don't neglect looking at countries that are much smaller than the U.S. because good efficient government, stable societies, are easier to create there.  Norway, Austria, New Zealand, and Chile are good examples.  Someone asked me about Uruguay not long ago.  I couldn't give a glowing report, but from what I know it it, some possibilities exist there.  There's always Panama, Ecuador, and Costa Rica, or you might like some of the far eastern countries.  Stop listening to all the chatter about unstable governments and take a look at your own.  Pay attention to costs of living elsewhere and make comparisons.

Ajijic, Mexico, on Lake Chapala south of Guadalajara, is full of American expats who're living on much less than half what it costs to live here.  Check out the youtube videos, look at realtor sites, talk to people.  The more you know, the better equipped you are to leave here.  I think mostly about location.  I can drive from my home in one long day all the way to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  I can move possessions and precious animals there, or any place in Mexico, with greater ease.  I can live there on one fourth what it costs me to live here.  Do what's most doable, something that's important to someone my age.  If you're younger, the broaden your search, explore other places.  And don't wait too long.  Time isn't critical at the moment, but a year from now the situation will be worse.  It's best to leave before you get caught in a bad bind.

DID YOU THINK YOUR VOTE WOULD MAKE HIM SAMRT OR SANE?

Just three weeks in after winning a narrow victory, and one that's being contested on several fronts, Trump is being himself.  He's still ranting, accusing and blaming, making idiotic appointments, and showing all signs of a failed presidency.  And he will fail as President, and almost any fool could've seen that.  But you didn't, Trump voter, and there's no mystery in that.  You didn't see it because you're just one of another dumbed down citizens who somehow thought your vote would make a nutcase fool either smart or sane.  And your vote did neither because he's still the same.  A leopard doesn't change its spots, and neither can he.  A bigger question is where do we go from here?  You don't have to be Einstein to see where this is going - down.  How long that will take is more difficult to predict, but it won't take long.  Here's why.
   
The same demented voters who put Trump in office did so for all the wrong reasons.  They did it because they hated a woman more than him.  They did it because they wanted change in the direction government was headed.  The did it because they're either ignorant or stupid, take your pick, and they'll get part of what they want.  Change will come, but it won't be good, especially for the Trump voter.  He won't get a wall built, and he won't create jobs . . . but he will carry through on his pledges to make life hard on illegal immigrants, or any immigrant, and he'll carry on with his misogynist ways and stupid ideas about how to boost an economy.  And, he most certainly won't stay out of trouble because he never has before.  He's going to be an enormous embarrassment, almost as big an embarrassment as is the Trump voter.  The only good thing is that you'll get what you deserve, while the bad thing is you've inflicted some misery on an entire nation.

And a year from now, if God exists and actually gives a shit about me, I'll be living in Mexico.  And that's the only favor you Trump voters did for me.  I can at least thank you for finally building a fire under a reluctant old man.  You even helped win some support for the move from others who've been reluctant to move with me.  Few things are no win situations, and where they's will there's sometimes a way.

A PESSIMISTIC RENAMING OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

Sunday, actually the first day of the week but treated as the final day.  We should rename it Sumday, a day for summing up, reflection.

Monday, seen by most as the first day of the week, and the worst.  We'll rename it Mumday, a day to keep quiet and adjust to a new work week.

Tuesday, a somewhat nondescript day, but we'll call it Tubeday, the day we take it in the ass, which keeps us from recovering from Mumday.

Wednesday, called "hump day" by many, should be renamed Whensday, a day of healing from taking it in the ass on Tubeday.

Thursday, the day before Friday and often the worst day, should be named Turdday, for obvious reasons.

Friday, the look forward to day when we're preparing for the weekend, should be called Fryday, a day when you eat anything fried. It's burgers and fries day.

 Saturday, big weekend day of relaxation or recreation, should be called sasserday, talk back time.

My favorite day is Friday, but that's because I'm retired and don't have to worry about a steady job anymore.  No, I've still got a steady job, but it's now my job, not their job.  That makes some difference, but Friday is still a good day.  But why should Monday be a bad day now?  I don't have to worry about getting to a job site, so what's up with that?  I just don't like Mondays.  My next favorite day is Wednesday, and it's no longer hump day for me.  It's still the middle of the week, a day to feel good about Monday and Tuesday being gone.  And, with Friday just two days away, it's time to plan for the weekend.  I'd like to add another day or two to the week, but that would screw up the calendar. I don't keep up with months or years.  They come and go, so why bother.  It's all about the moment, right?

NO PARDON FOR THE TURKEY OR THE PIG

In a fit of weakness, I changed my mind about Thanksgiving and had the big meal with family, at my daughter's house.  She worked too hard on it for me to just ignore it, so the turkey and the pig didn't get a pardon from me . . . and I feel a little guilty about it.  I gobbled down the usual fare, the traditional Thanksgiving food, and without shedding a single tear.  I ate pecan pie for dessert, visited with family and a few friends, and then came home and collapsed into a post-feast coma.  This is when you watch football on the tube, something you can do in a coma.

But, it's the day after Thanksgiving, and I'm in a slow recovery.  I won't eat much at all today, and that's good.  And I most certainly won't go shopping on this Black Friday, which I see as an event for morons.  I'm not a Christmas person, so there's no reason for me to get excited about shopping.  I got over that a long time ago.  I sat up most of the night working on a book I should've finished ten years ago, but it kept calling me out.  Time gives a writer a different perspective on an old manuscript they quit on.  For one thing, I can't remember why I stopped working on it.  Maybe I just got lazy, a malady of the mind that comes over me from time to time.  Maybe I didn't like the direction the book had taken, but that's forgotten now, and I have new ideas.

I've developed all kinds of book characters over the years, and some of them have been animals. I've written stories about dogs and cats and horses and even once about a remarkable cow.  Long ago a writer told me to write about what I knew best.  "If cowboys are your best friends, write about them." I was a college professor for a long time, but I've written only one story about a professor . . . and he was a drunk.  I've written lots of stories about cowboys, but I'm tired of doing that now.  I like stories about ordinary people who get caught up in extraordinary situations.  And what do I know best these days?  Old farts.  So, this new book endeavor is about a retirement village full of older people, and it's based on the notion that if you must get old, then do it with some good humor.  If you can't laugh at it, old age will kill you.

You know, of course, that old age won't kill you.  You hear it all the time, "Well, he just died of old age."  Well, he didn't.  He died because something wore out, or he got sick, or he slipped on a bar of soap in the shower and hit his head.  Old age didn't kill him, but sickness or injury did.  And yeah, I know that old age brings those things about.  We almost always cooperate with death, just let aging take it's course and eventually rub us out.  I wanted to create characters willing to say, "Ok, I know your coming sooner or later, Grim Reaper, but I'm not just going to sit here and wait on you.  If you want me, you'll have to run me down 'cause I'm going to still be moving."

JUST HOW BAD CAN YOU SCREW UP AN ELECTION? WE KNOW HOW

In the year 2016 we're still running presidential elections based on a plan set in motion by men who died two centuries ago.  Does that make sense to anyone?  It shouldn't, but we've still got a system based on state by state vote counts that determine who wins the electors from that state.  And each state gets as many electoral votes as it has representatives in Congress, meaning two senators from each state and whatever they're entitled to in the House of Representatives based on population.  So the state of Wyoming gets three electors for a tiny population of less than half million people.  Less people vote there than in a small section of a large city, but they get three electors.  The total popular vote total in this dimwitted election plan means nothing.  Does that make sense to anyone?  On several occasions the winner in the electoral college lost the popular vote, but still, they became the President.  This just happened again when Trump lost the popular vote by more than two million votes.  He won the entire west other than the west coast and a few states, and then more populous states he won were usually by squeaky think margins where voter fraud could have been part of the game.  And so, this all means that we ended up with a pussy grabbing, lying, cheating, unqualified, blabbermouth as President.

Trump was right about one thing - elections are rigged.  They're rigged by a crooked press, the media, and by idiotic state elections laws governing how votes are cast, and by a dumbed down voting public stupid enough to believe almost anything.  I'm not sure fixing the voting system would do much to fix the class of people we now have trooping to the polls, but doing that would at least make it more democratic.  The electoral college needs to be junked and the winner should be the candidate with the most popular votes.  It should be a matter of who won it all and not who won what state.  I've never been a fan of the federal system, which means I've never cared for states.  If you want to build a nation that can take care of national matters, get rid of state sovereignty over things like elections.  In national elections, we should have national rules that all government units abide by.  There can be no national direction as long as the nation is fragmented by different rules of governance.

I'd offer a solution for this, but it's a mute point.  The insignificant state will fight tooth and nail to keep their place in an electoral college, and since it's a political issue, it won't die easily.  And, we'll always be at risk of getting bad leaders.  A lot of people understand this but want no part of trying to change it.  We don't even seem to learn lessons the hard way, and somewhere in all of that, logic is lost.  It's so simple and easy a fix that we can't see the value in it.  Does everything have to be complicated?  Just count the votes, dammit, and do that in a way fraud is reduced . . . and you've finally got a winner that deserves the office.

THANKSGIVING IS FOR GIGGLES AND GRINS . . . IF YOU'RE NOT THE COOK

It's that time of year to feast on turkey and all the trimmings, a traditional thing to do, but without enough thanks to the cooks.  It's hard work for somebody but giggles and grins for everyone else.  In recent years, we've taken a stand on that sort of thing and have dispensed with the cooking.  There'll be no big feast here this year, like last year when we went to a Chinese restaurant.  The turkey gets a break around here now, and we may never do it again.  The cook gets a break too, and she's thankful for that.  But I have memories of Thanksgivings past that are worthwhile.  I think most families have a way of personalizing Thanksgiving, like in my growing up years there was also shrimp gumbo prepared by my Cajun uncle.  To me, that was the best part of the meal.

I love Thanksgiving food - the turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce and fancy vegetable dishes.  I love the desserts and the day with family and friends, but we all get old sooner or later.  Family members drift away and have their own families to tend to, and that's the way it should be.  As my wife and I aged, so did Thanksgiving as it moved to other houses where the kids had settled.  One year I drove through a snowstorm to get to the feast, and said on the way home, "Never again."  I broke that vow a time or two, but even though all I have to do now is drive across town for the feast, I'll bow out and leave it to the kids.  We might stop by later on, but the giggles and grins have gone out of celebrating the feast now.  I think that comes from understanding that one day a year to give thanks for the lives we have isn't enough.  Why not do it everyday?  And does it have to be a feast to remind  us of what we should be thankful for?

Giving up a special holiday might not seem like much of a sacrifice, but this was always my favorite holiday.  I'm not a Christmas person.  The commercialization of that holiday ruined it for me some time ago.  We haven't had a tree or decorations around here in a lot of years now, and the giving of gifts turned to just some money to special people to buy what they really wanted.  We forgot what Christmas is supposed to be about.  I've also considered the possibility we've really forgotten what Thanksgiving should be about, which makes it less essential, just too much fuss and bother.  I'll be thankful today, that's for sure.  I'll push aside all the things that bother me and think of the good things, and not just for today.  Maybe Thanksgiving should be about the promise of a better tomorrow, something that's not easy to feel good about sometimes.  Here's what I'm thankful for:  I still have some life left, for however long it lasts, and I still have choices as to how I'll live it.  That should be enough.

AN EXAMINATION OF FREEDOM FROM THE INSIDE OUT

From the outside, your freedoms look pretty good, and that's because they are nicely packaged.  You know how that works; it's all about the wrapper these days.  And they're broadly outlined in a Constitution that was written back in horse and buggy days and now are applied to a high tech society.  But, that old Constitution looks good and is revered by many and held in the same esteem as the Bible. Rights, or freedoms, even sound good when you hear them read aloud, like the right to keep and bear arms.  Right, arms.  Is that, uh, a single shot musket, or a submachine gun?  How about the right to free expression, like speech and press?  Try that one on for size and see how it fits.  Freely express you thoughts and see what happens, even if that right is protected by some vague law.  And, you how the right to worship as you please.  Uh, huh?  Put a big metal statue of a bull in your yard and start worshiping that in public and see what happens to you.  Here's the upshot of it all:  All rights, or freedoms, are relative and not absolute.  You don't have an absolute right to do anything but die. Wait!  That's not right either.  If you blow your brains out in a fit of depression, you could be prosecuted for first degree murder . . . were you still alive to be prosecuted.

These things are somewhat reasonable, but it gets worse than that.  You have the right to move about freely, right?  Well, just partly right.  If you travel and drive a car, you must have a registered car with insurance and a license to drive it, and if you cross state lines, you might be subject to checkpoints which determine if your vehicle is mechanically correct, like it's equipped with air pollution equipment not required in your state.  Weights and measure change from state to state, and so do traffic regulations you must abide by.  What this means is, you're nowhere near being free as a bird.  You have a right to ownership of property, but that too is subjective.  You can title it in you name, outright own it (owe no money on it), and still be subject to a bevy of restrictions as to what kind of buildings you may have, how they are constructed, and lots of other petty requirements.  And if you don't do these things, they fine the crap out of you.  And even once it's built, the government will assume they're in partnership with you and demand taxes on it.  Yeah, sometimes big taxes.

I could go on and on about living in America, but the more I point out to you about freedoms, the more you'll see how restricted these rights really are.  Did the thought ever cross your mind that you are the government's meal ticket?  They extract money from other sources, but you're the main target.  Government is notorious for being unfair about taxation, leave big loopholes for the rich, let the poorer classes off easy on income tax, and stick it to the moderate wage earner big time.  And the U.S. government isn't the main culprit here; it's the states and localities digging into your pocket these days through property taxes and various other levies.  And there's a great propaganda machine in place here that convinces you that all of this is fair, it's just the ticket you must buy to ride this great train to freedom.  In effect, what it is, dear citizen, is a ripoff.  Your freedoms are strictly limited, the government does little to protect you against even worse corporate ripoffs, and that makes you the turkey.

Does that sound to you like a well functioning democracy?  Uh, no, but don't worry about it.  This country hasn't been a democracy for a long time.  It's a system run by and for the vested interests, the top tier of society, and it's a ripoff for almost everyone else.  And apparently, you like it that way, or are willing to tolerate it.  The good news is that this won't last forever or even for much longer.  It won't end with a revolution of the oppressed masses, but it will eventually die from bloat . . . you know, greed.  This is what has brought down most great empires, rot from within.  If you start sniffing the air, you'll smell it.  It's already here, and that means it's just a matter of time before the beast finally dies.

MORE ON THE LOGIC OF LIVING IN MEXICO

I'm absolutely amazed at the number of people who refuse to move anywhere, even away from a city that's been treating them unkindly for a long time.  "But I grew up here.  I have friends and family here.  My roots are here," I've been told time and time again.  And my response is usually, "What are you, a tree?"  Well, apparently, most people are indeed trees, too rooted to move . . . and they suffer lots of indignities to keep their roots firmly planted.  If you use logic, face facts, you come to the conclusion you need to be more like a bird that's free to fly.  A tree is a wonderful thing, but it has lots of limitations.  It can't move, for one thing, and that means it must stay put . . . and at the pleasure of things that want to use it.  Trees, squirrels, cats, and a bevy of other creatures love trees, but so does the lumberman.  He'll chop you ass down in a heartbeat and saw you into lumber, and why? Because in the spurious society you live in a tree is worth more dead than alive.

So, consider yourself a tree and take note of what happens to you.  Unlike the real tree, you're a tree that can be chopped down slowly, a limb at a time.  You're there for the taking.  Government, corporate American, and the society you live in are going to chop away at you, leaving perhaps only enough of you to stay alive so you can grow new parts to chop off.  Government is going to tax and regulate the shit out of you, and Corporate America is going to whittle away at your income like drug crazed termites.  As for society, it gives up very little that's free.  Getting an education is costly, and churches always want money, and those pesky charities are always after your bleeding heart money. The grocer is going to gouge you with price increases, and the mechanic is going to rip you off when you need a car repaired . . . and it goes on and one.  Is it any different anywhere else?  Well, not many places, but at least you can cut into the amount of loss you'll incur by leaving this country.  I've investigated costs of living all over the world, have taken note of where expats have gone, and have made some startling discoveries.  After all the research, I've found the best place for cutting back on oppressive costs of living is right in our own back yard - Mexico.

You won't save much, if anything, buying property in Mexico.  Americans have pretty much taken over the real estate business in Mexico, and wherever Americans go, the dollar becomes the bottom line.  Yeah, that's more of corporate America at work, even if you leave home for Mexico.  You won't save money buying automobiles there either, and your savings in food costs will be only marginal . . . if you keep up the same lifestyle you lead here.  But, you can kiss the other outrageous costs of living goodbye.  Mexico doesn't bleed it's citizenry for taxes, especially property taxes.  The cost reductions are drastic.  You could easily go from paying ten grand a year here to just a few hundred bucks a year there.  Bye, bye big utility bills too.  Cost there are a fraction of what they are here.  You can actually afford to see a doctor regularly, and dental care is much cheaper there.  And the care aspect of medical care there is just as good or better than it is here.  But will I be safe in Mexico?  In most Mexican states, the answer is yes.  The states that run up crime statistics in Mexico are close to our border, usually, and many places there are safer than you can find here in the U.S.  Will I be treated well there?  Most expats say yes, exceptionally well in most cases.  But don't believe me, do your own research.  You'll find a completely different story than the constant bullshit our news agencies here have been feeding you.  And then stop being a tree.

BUT, WE DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD HAPPEN THIS FAST!

So, where did you think the dumbing down of America was going to lead, just another long line at the check-outs at Wal-Mart?  Did you expect more mud races, tractor pulls, rodeos, and goat cook-offs? No, you expected education to get cheaper so your dumbed down kid could get a watered down college degree, or maybe somebody would offer you a job you could do at home.  Maybe you expected morons to show up at the voting precincts and cast reasonably intelligent ballots, but that didn't happen either.  And for you mind-still-working crowd, you didn't think this would happen so fast, did you?  Well, it did, and the ugly clowns are taking office soon.  And already, the low class display of ignorance is on display as Trump picks advisors and other officers.  All the ass-kissers are lined up waiting their turn to become court jesters, and the despicable press corp still refuses to cover what's real news.  In case you've missed it, your country is being taken over by right wing extremists, and that means (be sure you get this part) - you're screwed.

That's the bad news, so here's the really bad news.  You've been played for suckers in the worst sort of way, if you're a Trump supporter or a loyal Republican.  You're now the chumps of all the world, and you've inflicted your ignorance on an entire nation.  You didn't think, you just reacted.  The Democrats didn't field a good candidate, but in your muddled mind you calculated bad against awful and did what?  Holy shit, you chose awful.  Look, we all know that having to choose between Democrats and Republicans give us two choices - either vote for a dipshit (democrat) or a dumbass (republican).  I've got news for you all you good old boys and gals:  Dipshit is better than dumbass, but you voted dumbass because that's what you are.  You are now well represented in Congress and the Executive Office, and before long the Supreme Court.  And that won't mean anything good for you.  Jobs you think you should have will disappear faster now than the leave America trend that started some time ago.  Your dollar will shrink in size and you entitlements are now in jeopardy. Over half the families in America draws some form of entitlement from the government, and lots of those people voted for Trump.  That being the case, you just might be the bird that shit in its own nest.  Trump isn't going to give you a better job because (guess what?) you're not qualified.  Foreign labor is cheaper, and they work harder, and the products they make turns out to be pretty good . . . and that means, you're screwed.  More and more companies are bailing out here, headed for Mexico or some place they can get goods made or produced by people who really want to work.

Education will take a big hit from these ugly clowns, so don't look for any progress there.  Law enforcement will continue to get worse, just at a more rapid race.  The drugs coming across the border won't stop coming, but the illegal workers might . . . and that means crap city for the construction industry here, and for agricultural labor as well.  If the wall Trump promised really goes up, conditions with Mexico will deteriorate, more bad news for us.  In short, there's little to no good news on the horizon, and it's all your fault, you nitwit voters.  Let me say it again:  You chose awful over bad, and that's stupid.  And the sad part?  You won't ever figure it out.

WILL YOU LET FEAR KILL YOU, OR RUIN YOUR LIFE?

I wish I'd been more courageous as a younger man, but that's just water under the bridge now.  If life were like a blackboard and I had the eraser in hand, I still wouldn't rub out the bad decisions I've made.  I don't want to go back and do it again, am ready to accept the direction some of those bad decisions took me.  In your twilight years, bad decisions can haunt you, but along with them come some good things I don't want forgotten.  They're too much a part of me to turn loose of, and in fact are perhaps things that make me what I am.  Hindsight is sometimes a better view than looking down the road ahead.  Uncertainties abound, but you have no choice but go forward.

Most of my fearfulness is due to love.  Not much can happen to me to make me fearful unless it happens to someone I love, and that's the great anchor in life.  It holds you in place, can even enslave you in a prison you want no part of.  You can't expect your dreams to be shared by those around you. They often can't envision what you can, and they don't want to listen to you talk much about them. What you see as practical sounds ridiculous to them; this is often the case.  I'm not talking about fragile relationships here but rather long term affairs that have brought some real meaning to your life.  Only a fool would give that up for a dream.  But we're all fools from time to time, and the real fool is the one who quits on a dream because they can't share it with those they love.

Examine, if you will, just what love is, or is supposed to be.  If someone refuses to share your dream, or in fact dismisses it as a trivial escapades into the world of fantasy, they are disrespecting your vision. That's not love.  I don't know what it's called by others, but I call it selfish love.  I'll love you if . . . you see it my way.  If someone chides you, ridicules your dream, the disrespect deepens, and the love becomes less that true love.  Love requires of us respect, some trust, some understanding, but it also requires some resistance to foolishness.  It's out of love that a parent punishes a child for being foolish; it's out of love a spouse might point out the foolish direction you've taken.  But to anchor down and refused to budge when an idea is presented to you, foolish or not, is disrespectful.  And you can't say, "I'm doing this for your own good."  You're doing it for your good.

I just finished a book about a man love killed.  He had a vision his wife wouldn't share, would not budge, wouldn't even bend an inch.  And like many men would do, he tried to live with what she wanted.  An overpowering sense of duty held him in place, and so he kept living in a miserable situation until it overpowered him . . . and he took what he saw as his only way out, and put an end to a life he could no longer tolerate.  He never came to realize that his wife would've preferred him dead and in a grave at home than alive and happy somewhere else.  He let his love for a selfish, fearful woman kill him because he knew he'd never find contentment anywhere else without her.  So, why couldn't he be happy staying right where he was?  He envisioned a better life, had a dream, and it wouldn't die.  You might argue he killed himself over the love of a dream, a foolish idea, but you still can't explain away the actions of his selfish wife.

So, why would I point this out?  Listen, dammit!  Don't turn away from someone who loves you when they dream.  You can disagree, try to point out the foolishness in the dream, but don't anchor down and refuse to listen.  Here's the upshot of it all:  If you can't share a dream with someone you love, consider the possibility that it''s not really love at all keeping you together.  Obligation and duty are wasted when you lose the real anchor, that of love that's shared . . . and respected.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE?

How about going on an adventure to Whatiflund, a place where you could let your imagine run wild?What about going there with lots of money, enough to indulge your fantasy while there?  What would you do with an almost limitless supply of money?  You might find that you would do more practical things than you think you might, like creating a place that's unlike anything you can find here in the U.S.  Enter Hiram E. Butts, billionaire industrialist and the creator of Whatiflund, a real place and not just a wonderland.  Hiram had enough money to build anything that struck his fancy, and he knew the people who could get it done.  Everyone has toyed with ideas of what they would do with big money at their disposal.  I've dreamed of living in expensive houses, driving high dollar cars, traveling to places around the world, and living a high life . . . but I no longer want any of that.  If I had millions of dollars, I'd still drive a car like I own now, and I'd live in a house much like the one I have now, and I most certainly wouldn't travel the world.  But would I build a village where life is different than anywhere else?  Damn right, and I'd do it with lots of imagination.  And as a writer, I can build anything . . . even without the money to do it.  I'm going to build it in Whatiflund.

Once upon a time I studied to be a manager, took up the study of public administration, thinking I might end up being a city or country manager somewhere.  I scraped that idea in favor of a career in teaching, but I know some things about how government should be managed.  Almost any real student of public administration looks at the American system as a disaster zone, a place where politics takes precedence over practical management.  And we have to train people in this country to adapt to that style of management.  If you look beyond the confines of that, you'll find places and people who do it much better than we do . . . not just a little better, but a great deal better.  The U.S. is dregs of good management, almost top to bottom, and we all pay a big price for that.  In short, as a citizen of this country, you've been screwed by inefficiency.

What if government did function more efficiently?  What would life be like without all the oppressive demands from government on its citizenry?  Forget the oppression of income tax; it's not that bad. It's bad enough, but it's nothing compared to the other levies we're forced to pay.  You get doubled dipped every time government gets a chance.  Federalism is a fraud, this duplication of function idiocy we've created that only loosed more tax assessment and collection on our society.  And what do you get back for all that money?  Uh, would that be freedom?  Bullshit.  That's just bullshit to keep you paying out the ass.  If you check it out, you'll find free people living all over the world without all the tax pressure, or if they do pay higher taxes, they're actually getting something back . . . like decent health care coverage, or good educations, or an infrastructure that's maintained - the things you're not getting.  I'm pushing hard to get out of here and be free somewhere else, but in the meantime, I'll keep writing stories about places like Whatiflund.  I know these places don't exist in real life, but if we lose vision of what could be possible, we've lost everything.  And we're getting there.  We need to stop looking at the world around us from the top down, or the bottom up, and work toward finding something in the middle.  And we can't do that very well when we're neck deep in all the refuge our current system dumps on us.  We can still look up, and maybe that's where the answers are found.  I don't know anywhere else to look.

LOOSE STRINGS

Should I keep a tight rein on this horse, or does it not need that?  Some horses need the bit in their mouth, and maybe a tight rein at times, but others don't.  I knew a cowboy once that rode his horse with just a pigging string around its neck, and did just fine with that.  These days, I keep lots of animals, too many to keep a tight rein on most of them.  We're talking cats and dogs here, and like people, each of them is different.  I have cats that are dependent, won't allow much control and must be left to fend for themselves outside.  That's the way they want it, and so I allow it.  And then there's the come and go cat, the one who wants inside for a while, and then wants to run free for a while. Petie, one of my calico cats, is like that.  She's antisocial with other cats, fights with them, and they all know she's easy to get riled up.  Petie accepts the house only when she's in my wife's bedroom/bath area.  Only three cats are allowed back there, and Petie is one of them . . . when she's inside.  I just went into the yard to get Petie out of a tree.  One of the outside cats was picking on her, so I shooed him away and she came to me.  And there Sparkle, a mottled black cat that's just not people friendly.  She lets me know when she need something, has made friends with the outside cats and hangs out with them.  They all stay close to the house, have comfortable places out there to sleep at night.

But . . . dogs are the crabgrass on the lawn of life for animal lovers.  Dogs are dumber than cats, and are more dependent.  I tolerate them because they're usually more lovable.  Nothing can love you like a dog, and that's a fact.  I've also got lots of dogs, and they're a lot of trouble.  One dog can screw up more than ten cats, create most of the problems around here . . . and I've still got 'em, so what does that say about my intelligence?  I've got a cow dog, a cocker spaniel, and a shitload of ornery little terriers.  They should call 'em terrorists.  The military should use them as attack dogs, if they ever start a war with midgets.  I figure that's coming sooner or later, big headlines, U.S. DECLARES WAR ON PYGMIES."

The world of animals is pretty much like the world of people, perhaps at a slightly higher level of intelligence.  With an animal, we can blame rude behavior on instincts, that survival of the fittest, natural selection thing.  With people, it's usually a product of aforethought.  I think animals are learning from us, though, and that's not always good.  There's a conspiracy going on around here about feeding time.  So, the dog goes to the cat and says, "If you'll knock that bowl off the counter, the old fart will come and clean up the mess and feed us."  And the cat says to the dog, "Ok, I'll do it, but you need to go bark and stand by the door so I can run outside when the old fart opens it."

I've never claimed to own an animal, but now I'm wondering if they don't own me.

THE JINETES: THE HORSEMEN OF HERRANDURA MESA

You are a photo-journalist investigating a legend about a haunted mesa in New Mexico, and you've been in a deserted village at the base of the mesa all night . . . waiting, and talking to rocks and shadows.  Are you really dealing with ghosts, or what are these mysterious horsemen you've seen? Yes, you've been here before with other men, and you've seen the horsemen as they rode through the old village like uncontrolled wildfire.  You know the stories of other men who've had contact with these ghostly horsemen; men who say bullets won't stop them.  But you've come to the mesa with a message:  "Come and meet me.  Come and see that I mean no harm."

And you wait, spend nights there in the old village, until finally . . . a man steps from the shadows and asks, "Who are you, and what do you want?"  And you tell this man that you came to find out who he is and what he wants, and that you come in peace.  A short conversation takes place, and you suddenly discover that this man is no ghost.  He comes from a place called Erailes, or wastelands, and he is a Jinete, a rim rider in a separate dimension.  And you realize you are talking to a man who can step across dimensional lines . . . a sort of cowboy time walker.

And so, this is where the story of Matias, the rim rider from Erailes starts.  This book is about the discovery of another dimension, another place very much unlike what you know here in the U.S.  It is about your adventures there and a great friendship between you and Matias.  But you are also caught up in circumstances in your country that become more distressing as time moves on.  You watch an election unfold, all the while seeing how close to disaster your nation is moving . . . and with a growing desire to leave.  You go to Mexico to hunt for property.  You start to develop an escape route, and you have the money to do that.  When Trump wins the presidency, your mind is made up to move to central Mexico, and you buy a house there and start the process of leaving the U.S.  But you can't do this without giving up some things.  Your only way to Erailes is through a portal only one man can create for you.  You can't leave New Mexico until Matias knows where to find you, how to create a gateway from his dimension to where you will be in Mexico.

Yout story is also one of dealing with all the problems that come with leaving America - like taking a wife with you, one that is reluctant to leave.  It's about people who'd like to go with you but can't because they're trapped by situations and circumstances.  And as a writer, you become more convinced than ever that this story must be told.  Few readers will believe what you have to say about separate dimensions, strange horsemen, or even government, politics, and society in this country.  But some will, you decide, and so you start a book that can only be finished when your story is finished - the transition from here to there, a dream fulfilled.

In this book, you the reader are the time walker, the traveler.  And even if the physicists are wrong about the fourth dimension, that time can't be mastered and there's no chance to travel to another dimension, there is still one dimension open to you.  It's a dimension with closed doors you'll have to learn to open, and it's called The Dimension of Wonder.  It starts with, "And I wonder what would take place if . . . "  How would I feel if my time suddenly changed to someone else's time, in another place my imagination knows nothing of . . . until I experience it?  And so, you ponder the question long enough, until finally, the gateway swings open, and you are there.  Read Jinetes.  I'll wait at the gate for you.  I have been there.

FEAR: LIFE'S BIGGEST OBSTACLE

Everyone is afraid of something, like perhaps spiders or snakes . . . or spinach on you plate.  These are little fears, so what about the big ones?  That varies from person to person, and is dependent on various situations and circumstances.  I don't have to worry about going out in public in small town American, but that can change with a move to the city.  But I don't worry so much about the things that can physically hurt me, not even death.  But taxes worry me, and I have to deal with that all the time . . . and that makes it a constant worry.  You can't spend money and avoid tax, and you can't earn money without it, and you can't even spend money on something (like a house) a not have to worry about it.  Government taxes what you earn, when you spend it, and even what you spent the money on.  And, since we live in a federal system, several governments get a shot at you.  I worry about the cost of living but no longer in amazement.  Everything costs too much, but at least I understand why. I worry about getting sick or injured because of the costs involved.  If you think health care costs in America are fair, what you need is a good dose of the system.  Have a heart attack, and then be amazed when the bills start pouring in for open heart surgery.  If seeing bills that amount to half a million dollars get your attention, you've gone one coming.  I knew a man who's cancer treatment exceeded three million dollars, and he lost a ranch over it.  The thing is, none of that strikes fear into my heart anymore.  What it does is piss me off . . . big time.  Better to be pissed off than fearful.

Tis better to be pissed off than pissed on, and everyone out there trying to make you fearful is actually trying to piss on you.  Our news services, the press, constantly feeds you a line of bullshit about how some foreign invasion is going to consume you.  Idiot politicians want you fearful, as does perhaps your teacher or preacher or your health care specialists.  Some fear is good, but too much of it, especially when it's displaced, is stupid.  So, I go to the hardware store and run across some redneck with a pistol strapped on his side like I'm living in the wild west again . . . because Bozo Billy Bob has been watching Fox News and thinks ISIS is in the parking lot.  Churches fill up on Sundays with people terrified they'll die and go to Hell if they don't praise the Lord . . . and drop a few bucks in the collection plate.  And, we just elected the Bozo of all time to the presidency in this country because . . . we were afraid of all the spooks and goblins.  Makes me ponder the question: Just how stupid can fear make people?

I'm tired of living around frightened people because fear makes them stupid.  I can see being afraid of a poisonous snake, but I cannot see how some poor Mexican looking for a job is going to hurt me. Oh, wait, that's not just a Mexican looking for a job, he's a criminal or a dope dealer.  Uh, so?  Like we don't already have plenty of them here already?  But that dope destroys minds.  Uh, like we've got a lot of great minds up here to be destroyed?  If the dumbasses had a functioning mind, they wouldn't be buying the damn dope to start with.  So, I can see the harm in some drugs, but we drink shitloads of booze here, one of the worst drugs of all . . . and it's legal.  It's even revered.  And you're worried about somebody puffing weed?  Are you nuts, or maybe bat shit crazy?  When's the last time you saw a crazed ISIS warrior running down the street with an automatic rifle?  No, you can't count the guy you saw at the mall wearing middle eastern clothing.  He might've been born here, like so many of your ancestors were.  Here's a little story for all you ain't we wonderful people.  A town here in Texas ended up with lots of Vietnamese people, and the good authorities of that town found a way to zone them off in once section of town.  And in time schools were built there so the Vietnamese kids wouldn't be crowding into the regular schools . . . you know, the ones where local kids went to school.  The Vietnamese village schools not only excelled, they won all the awards for excellence, sent more kids to college on academic scholarships than any school district in the state.  So, how do you like them apples, all you frightened people?

So, here I sit, an old man now and not afraid of much.  I'll still step around a poisonous snake, and little old ladies driving big SUVs in a parking lot concern me . . . but I'm not afraid of some foreign invasion.  Nothing much scares me now because I'm pissed off, and the thing that pisses me off more than anything else is - you, the frightened American.  Fearful and dumb and carrying a gun?  Holy Shit!  I should be scared to death.