It's That TIme Again!

It's time to make all those New Years Resolutions, Fellow Patriots!

It's time to make promises to yourself (and perhaps others) to do things in the New Year you could have done in the Old Year.  And would have, if you'd have really given a sh*t.  Deep down.

Right?

So how about making some resolutions you might really embrace?  And feel good about taking them?  None of that, "Lose 15 pounds" crap.  You can make up your own, but I have a few suggestions to aid you in your efforts:

     -  Never send your Little Darlings off to a $30,000 or $50,000 or $90,000 a year college or university again.  They're most likely not old enough or smart enough to make full use of it, they really don't need to learn about Medieval Lesbian Poetry, and it will only serve to make them fat and lazy, and you poor(er).

     -  Resolve to send them off to a tour of duty with your favorite Armed Forces.  The Army was my choice, but you/they can choose any of the others.  They'll grow up while serving something greater than themselves.  And be able to use the G.I. Bill to pay for school.  So you and your Mate can buy a camper and tour the U. S. of A.  Instead of having to work as a Greeter at the local Wal-Mart.  

(And no, they won't die in combat.  Especially if you choose the Air Force, the Navy or the Space Force.  A hangnail is about the worst they'll face.  And they'll eat better than you will.  So there.  The good news is they'll come home all growed up, tough as nails and ready to face life.  With a smile.)

     -  Resolve to never, ever buy Coke, or Pepsi, or Seven-Up, or any bottled or canned soft drinks again.  They're heavy, expensive and you're buying mostly water.  Buy Crystal Light and add your own water.  And save 80%.  And your back.

     -  Resolve to never, ever buy a new car again.  They've increased in price 70% in the past ten years.  The average new car price is $49,765.  Average.  Plus your payment will be near $four figures because of inflationary O'Biden interest rates.  Buy a car that's just come off lease, whether 3, 4, or 5 years, and save $half!  And you can easily utilize the remaining new car warranty, or purchase one to extend the warranty (but not from the dealership!  They'll rob you blind.).  All the bugs will be worked out of the car, it will still look good, and you'll save a fortune!

Oh yeah, don't buy or lease a Plug-In Electric car.  They cost twice as much, their insurance rates are often double, they chew up tires in only a few thousand miles, they'll give you "range anxiety," you'll lose up to 30% of their charge in either cold or hot weather, they'll have crappy resale values, and just might roast you in a fiery Hell due to Spontaneous Combustion!

     -  Resolve to never, ever be late for an appointment again.  I was a professional salesman and was never, ever late for an appointment.  That was a Resolution I made...and kept.  You can too.  Resolve to value the other person's time as if if was yours.  It will pay off in manifold ways...  

     -  If you STILL haven't bought a firearm, due to some misplaced inability to drop some perp like a bad habit, Resolve to at least buy a BYRNA.  They look like pistols, but shoot pepper balls and will incapacitate the prospective criminal in a heartbeat.  And then you can stomp on his neck a couple of times while you're waiting for the fuzz.  They cost a mere $350.00 or so, and you can go jogging feeling well protected.  

Or, like 99.99% of all your friends and neighbors who'll make useless Resolutions, they'll gain 15 pounds, they'll stay with the same crappy job, and they still won't learn Spanish.  

Happy New Year, Fellow Patriots! 

      

It Could Always Be Worse...

I learned a long time ago why some folks watch TV soap operas.

It's because their lives suck and they want to witness those who have it worse off.  No matter even if you're living in a motel with 4 kids, those TV soapers' lives suck even worse.  I know all that from years of professional pool hustling, years of professional psychology training, and years of professional sales.  Helping those to see the value in buying what I happened to be selling.  

With a smile.  

In other words, I think I know how all you folks whose lives have been put in the dumper by Joe O'Biden and his ilk can learn to smile again.  By learning about those whose lives suck even more pitifully than yours.  And I'm bringing it to you commercial free.  It's the Chuckmeister's gift to you, my Fellow Patriots.  And here goes...

You could be living in Oakland!

Yes, Oakland.  100 years ago it was where those poor San Francisco souls hoped to one day live.  To move there and rub elbows with the uber-rich.  In fact, the largest home in the entire area was on a hilltop in Oakland.  

More recently it's featured the Baseball A's, and the Basketball Warriors, and the Football Raiders,   And lots and lots of small and large businesses.  Bringing in $Tens of Millions of Dollars of tourist revenue annually. 

And although industrialized, and smelly, and now filled with crappy sand-colored buildings, I even chose to buy a chunk of the Oakland Convention Center back in 1980.  To avoid the ruinous taxes Jimmuh Carter imposed upon us.  And even though my purchase was heavily leveraged, I was able to write off a majority of my income taxes as a result.  I even knew a guy who bought a jojoba bean farm and an unreleased Willie Nelson record for the same reason.*

That was several decades ago.  Decades in which Oakland has deteriorated alarmingly!  Increasing taxes imposed by both the State and the City have forced out businesses.  Which has opened the door to increased crime.  The city council of Oakland through its rules and regs and policies and procedures has permitted all this to occur.  Which has created a "death loop" from which it may never recover. 

Want to feel better about yourself?  Your place of residence?  The crime rate around where you live?  Your chances of making it home when you leave for work in the morning?  Take a look at this:

The following Oakland businesses have already left, or have given notice they're leaving:

     -  The only In-N-Out in Oakland closed its door last January, because their employees were afraid to come to work.

     -  The only Denny's in Oakland closed the same month after 54 years in operation.  Same reason.

     -  The Clorox Corporation has given its 792 employees notice it's headed for the exits.  Same reason, plus  a "deteriorating business environment."  Until relocation, security guards will escort employees to and from the parking lots, garages, restaurants and coffee shops.

     -  Two Starbucks closed in 2023 because of car break-ins.

     -  A Subway on 98th avenue closed due to crime.

     -  The famous Black Bear Diner closed.  Same reason.

     -  Three Taco Bells closed their dining rooms permanently, and are available drive-thru only.

      -  A Raising Cane's closed its dining room.  Drive-thru only now.

     -  The Silverado Contractors moved from Oakland due to crime.

     -  Kaiser has alerted its employees not to leave the building for lunch due to crime.  And employees are to be escorted to and from the parking lots.

     -  Blue Shield now offers free rideshares for its employees to and from work.

     -  Wal-Mart has ceased negotiations to build its first store in Oakland. 

     -  Three Family Dollar Stores have closed in Oakland.  So far.  It's planning to close 670 stores this year.

     -  3 Rite-Aid Stores have closed.  So far.  Same reason.  Later declared bankruptcy.

     -  2 CVS Stores have closed in Oakland.  Rampant shoplifting, armed robbery, car break-ins and muggings.

     -  3 Walgreens have closed.  There is a rumor going around that it may be going out of business do to its heavy concentration of stores in California.  Where retail stores are go to die.

     -  A Party City Store closed in Oakland.  Nobody's throwing parties in Oakland.  And then Party City declared bankruptcy.  See a trend here?

     -  And then there are the sports teams:

        -  The Oakland A's will relocate to Las Vegas, becoming the "Las Vegas Athletics."  Taking with them the hearts and minds of baseball fanatics who love their Team.  Been there for 100 years.  Run out by BoyGuv and "woke" politics.  Having a brand spanking new $1.5 Billion Dollar stadium built for them in Vegas.

        -  The Golden State Warriors.  Soon to move back across the Bay and make San Franpoopco their home.  If a Team leaves Oakland to move to a cesspoool, that should tell you everything you need to know. 

       -  And the storied Oakland Raiders have left Oakland and are playing in a brand new stadium in Las Vegas.  This will mark the 6th move for the Raiders.  From Oakland to Lost Angeles, back to Oakland, back to Lost Angeles, back to Oakland, then on to Vegas.  May move to London if the owner's paid enough. 

     -  There are now 15 major intersections in Oakland with 4-way stops.  That's because the thieves have stolen the stoplights and stripped out their copper wires.  And sold them to local (corrupt) scrap dealers.  Five times.  No more, says the city council.  Just good ol' stop signs.  Seems that Oakland has devolved into the Wild West.   

     -  Oh yeah, and the nearly 200,000 citizens who have moved from Oakland to anywhere else listed Quality of Life issues (49%), taxes (37%), homelessness (28%), and the political environment (28%) as reasons why they bolted.  Annnnd, the crime rate is up 40%, BTW.  Which has a lot to do with the foregoing.

And so, my friends, just remember, it could always be worse.  You could live in Oakland.  And have to drive to another city to get your prescriptions filled.  And dodge bullets both to and from... 

*   The IRS came a'calling for my tax-dodging buddy.  Proving it's better to hide in the weeds than to wear orange and stand out in the crowd.  He went bankrupt trying to pay the $500,000 fine.  And it's tough to get a job when you're saddled with 4 years of probation...

  

Football as a Metaphor for Life.

The average NFL football game has 153 offensive plays.  And therefore, 153 defensive plays, so as to try and prevent those crafty offensive guys from scoring.

You should know that each team will have an average of 63 offensive plays.  Although in a fast-paced game, with lots of passes, it could be as many as 75.

(In life, like football, you'll have many chances to find success, despite many stumbles and falls.)

And each of those offensive plays will be met with a defensive response, with lots of big brutes dead-set on crushing the offense like a bug.

(Meaning no matter what you try, there will always be those who'll do their best to see that you fail.)  

The average Quarterback, who leads the offense and makes $Tens of Millions of Dollars, must memorize somewhere between 75 and 100 pass plays, and 20 - 25 run plays.  And the defense will attempt to break him in half.

(Meaning you'd best be prepared in life, fully educated so as to have the very best chance at success in life and make the $Big Bucks.)

And there are multiple judges who will try and oversee every single aspect of the game, so as to make sure no one takes unfair advantage.

(Meaning we have a Constitution outlining the "Rules" by way of which we're all supposed to be playing, even though not all of us choose to honor it.)  

And there are those who paid to get in and watch this game be played.  Tens of thousands of them.  Upwards of 65,000 at some venues.  Paying to watch the game. 

(Just like there will be always be those who will watch your every move, like a hawk, so as to gain an advantage if they can catch you taking undue advantage.)

And after the last second of this game is played, one of the two teams will win.  Their score will be higher, and the other, lower.  One will walk away with the trophy, the other will not.

(And as in Life, we win some, we lose some.  As in, some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.  And we're granted every chance to win.  But in either case, we should never quit.)

This generation has been taught that everyone goes home with a trophy.  To that I say, Bullsh*t!  Only the winners go home with a trophy!  The losers walk home with bupkus.  Having inculcated this "feel good" balderdash, it's no wonder we have so many undereducated and unprepared citizens running around loose.

Every game you play, whether chess, or Baseball, or Hearts, or bull riding, there's always a winner, and there's always a loser.  In my opinion, your life should mimic Football.  Start practicing, and preparing, and using every strategy and tactic possible when the game starts so as to force your way to success!

We've all got a brand-new year in front of us.  Maybe we ought to resolve to take life by the horns and win!*

*   My Kansas City Chiefs have played in 15 games this year.  They've won 14 of them.  They've scored a total of 357 points.  Meaning they've averaged only about 23 and 1/2 points per game.  Which sucks.  And they've won 14 of them by only a single score.  Only in yesterday's game did they win by more than one score.  Which means they've clawed their way to every single win.  And scored enough to take home the victory.  Next time you try and fail, just think of the Chiefs.  They just became their Conference Champs.  You could too...

A Christmas Wish.

This is a Christmas card to all my friends, and neighbors, and beloved family.

Thanks for reading all the rants that I've produced during the year.  I trust I haven't burdened you too much with my spleen venting, and that you found an occasional nugget of information from my bleatings.  

As the saying goes, "Even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and again."  

We, you and me, have gone through some testy times of late.  We've witnessed an effort to take over the tillers of power in our Gubmint and recast America as a socialist paradise.  Girls now have to compete against boys in their own sports.  Open borders allowing more than 10,000,000 known, and 2,500,000 million unknown illegal aliens have invaded our borders.  

The crime rate has surged in many of our Biggest and Bluest Cities.  Out-of-control spending has resulted in ruinous inflation.  Sex-change operations are now offered wholesale.  Nearly half of our States are now underwriting abortion untill the moment of delivery.  A weaponized Justice Department seems to focus its power against only one Political Party.  Power has been in the hands of Coastal Elites and Swamp Creatures, ignoring the needs of those in "Flyover Country."  

That could not stand.  It did not stand.

Now we've turned the "Ship of State" back toward a course benifitting everyone.  Like an aircraft carrier, as one of my lovely daughters opined, changing course for America has been a Herculean task.  It takes quite awhile.  But it's happened.

My Christmas Wish is that the choices our new Administration makes not only pleases those who voted for it, but also those who fought against it.  My Wish is that we put partisan goals and objectives aside as a Nation, and embrace the policies which will benefit us all.  Not just the Coastal Elites and D.C. lobbyists and the "Corporate Media" and those who inhabit the University Faculty Lounges, but those whose taxes pay the bills.  The "Little Guy."  Who needs it most.  

In short, if it doesn't help the farmer in Nebraska and the union worker in Detroit and the shopkeeper in Arkansas and the nurse in Pennsylvania, my Wish is that it should neither be considered by the New Administration, nor adopted.   

In this Holiday Season, my Wish is that we all share a gigantic "Group Hug," put down our slings and arrows, and act like the "United" States of America.

Please help make my Christmas Wish come true.  And while that happens, Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year to us all!

The Chuckmeister...

Your Money or Your Freedom.

Don't you find it interesting that, in the final analysis, the only thing your Gubmint can really take from you is your money and/or your freedom?

Oh yeah, it can take your property, and your reputation, even if wrong in doing so.  And is always asked in these situations, "How do I get my reputation back?"

You get a traffic ticket or park the wrong way or put your trash out on the wrong day, and you have to pay a fine.  For an infraction.  A few hundred dollars and the problem's in the rearview mirror.  

The worst you have to face is perhaps a traffic school, for which you pay too much for too little, and suffer it for way too long.  Welcome to being flattened by the Gubmint's Runaway Train.  

But you kick your dog, or throw a rock at your neighbor, and you might get smacked with a misdemeanor.  From which you might just get up to a $1,000 fine and 364 days in the county jail.  The jailing part almost never happens, because all their jail cells are full, and they can make more money out of you with bail and probation and court fees.  (If it's a year or more, they have to move you to a prison, and then lose the daily offender per diem they get from the Taxpayers.  Funny how that goes...)  

But try and mug somebody or jack their car or stick up the local 7/11, or make the mistake of drinking a tad too much and then driving, they will hook you up and "take you for the ride."  You get booked and charged, for a felony.  And for committing this first time felony you could get 2 to 5 years in prison.  But unless they catch you with a dead hooker in the trunk, or a live boy in your bed, or you've killed somebody - and they can prove it - you'll likely get kicked out on bail.      

And here in Taxifornia, and New Yawk, and ChicaGO, and so many other Big Blue Cities with George Soros bought-and-paid-for District Attorneys, that'll be a "no cash" bail.  Meaning, you walk out the back door of the station house before the cop who arrested you has finished your booking paperwork.  

Pissing him off royally.  Giving you at least one laugh at the expense of the Road Pirates.  That's our friendly nickname for those we pay handsomly to extort our money on every available occasion.  

But for more serious crimes, like the white collar variety, or maybe kidnapping or bank robbery, they'll lock you up.  And you'll likely get tried and convicted.  Especially if it's a Federal crime.  98% of all Federal prosecutions result in conviction, BTW.  If they come after you, you'll get got.  And you'll be sentenced.  A monetary fine of up to about $5k, and some days/weeks/months/years in the Gray Bar Hotel.  It could be a dozen years or more.  Uh oh!   

Like I said, your money and/or your freedom.

Think about our boy Rudy Guliani.  He defamed a couple of Georgia election poll workers back in 2022.  He said they'd altered the election results, which they hadn't.  It caused them untold grief, they said.  Lost sleep, lost sexual appetite, lost sense of smell, etc.  He was sued for slander, and convicted.  He was fined some $36,000,000.  That's a lot of slander, Kemosabe!  

Hmmm.  $36 MILLION DOLLARS?  Seems fair, right?  You get the loose lip and mumble some sh*t about some folks and they take you for $Millions.  In Guliani's case, he lost his pension, his bank account, his art collection, his Uptown Manhattan apartment ($3.6 Million).  And more recently his classic M-B convertible, a signed Mickey Mantle game-worn sweatshirt ($Millions?) and a game-played Babe Ruth baseball ($Zillions?).  

They asked him for his BVD's, but he said just take me to jail.  And unless The Trumpster intervenes, they just might.  

I guess we could say so until we reference the judgement meted against our boy Big Orange.  He was taken to court by an Attorney General who ran for office on the promise to Get Trump.  And he did.  To the tune of $575,000,000!  The single highest fine in the history of the world!  For a paperwork misdemeanor whose statute of limitations had already passed!  By several years!  Clearly unconstitutional, and likely to be declared as such by the Supreme Court in 2025.  But in the meantime, had he not been able to find a friendly bondsman, to whom he paid $187 Million Dollars in Cash, he'd have been in jail.  And unable to run for President.  

Lawfare?  You decide. 

So think about it.  Your Gubmint can take money and freedom from its citizens.  But as my very intelligent Dad once said, "Boy, they can kill ya,' but they sure can't eat ya."  True, Daddy, but they can sure punish your a*s in the meantime. 

But my question for the day, Fellow Patriots, is WHY DON'T THEY PUNISH THEM?  For it seems our D.A.'s are choosing to arrest and charge and try and incarcerate fewer and fewer criminals these days.  The New Yawk and Lost Angeles D.A.'s have been knocking down 53% of all the felonies to misdemeanors, and then bailing out the perps "no cash."  

Carjackers, muggers, gangsters, dope dealers, attempted murderers, all bailed.  Why don't they slap down illegal behavior before it becomes a serious threat to our community?  We hear every day about some crook who just killed a few people who had 30 or 40 or 50 prior arrests?  And out on bail for two or three crimes.  Yet to be tried.  What the Hell is going on here?

Is it that Faaaar-Lefffft commie socialist "feel good" district attorneys have taken hold and just won't punish anyone?  The ones in NY and CA and IL, for instance, knock down prosecutable felonies into misdemeanors.  And then turn them loose on a "no cash bail."  So they can go out and murder and rape and mug your friends and neighbors.

Oh well, it's just what happens when that old "...camel gets his nose under the tent" and winds up in total control of the levers of power...

Two Wolves and a Sheep...

Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall that fateful day back in the summer of 1789, right after he and our other Founding Fathers had crafted the Constitution.  A woman stopped and asked him what kind of Government he'd given us.  He said,

"Madam, we've given you a Representative Republic, if you can keep it."

And right now, we're all about trying to keep it.

It won't surprise you to learn that we Americans are divided politically.  But it might surprise you to learn the extent of that divide.  And quite possibly, why.

Right now exactly 34% of our citizens proclaim themselves to be Republican, 32% Democrat, and 34% Independent.

(BTW, Republicans are 2 points up since the Election, and Democrats are 2 points down.  And "Independent" means they sway with the wind.  Voting this way and that, from one side to the other, like the pendulum on a grandfather clock, issue by issue, unable to make up their fragile minds.  And how they choose to vote, whether for the "R's" or for the "D's," typically decides the Election.  And it most assuredly did on November 5th.) 

We go into the New Year and the New Administration knowing these facts:

     -  Those who vote Democrat are largely those who've yet to attain their financial goals.  They're wage-earners.  Often MinWage earners.  Or low level salaried.  Often among the 49% of our population who do not pay Federal taxes.  But yet vote, often only for their own financial intererests.

        Does somebody need to take a look at that?  Don't we all need to have skin in the game?    

        Or they're very, very rich.  The movie moguls and the Wall Street $Billionaires.  It used to be the Republicans who were considered the Party of Big Business.  Or of the rich.  No longer.  The Silicon Valley crowd who donate $Billions to Democrats, and the Hollywood types who are clearly ashamed of their success.  Jeffrey Katzenburg donated $30 Million to the Democrats.  This cabal of $Zillionaires gave Harris more than $1.5 Billion Dollars to play with.  They didn't really earn all those $Millions, I'm thinking they're thinking.  And many of them didn't.  And so they're giving it away, hoping to gain some level of public absolution for their "crimes."  Like the Nottingham Sheriffs of old, they seek a "Writ of Absolution" from the then current pope.  And pay BIG for it.  But it's now turned into a sort of a digital public "whipping."  To be able to look in the mirror again without gagging, I presume. 

        Or they're women who believe that they're voting for reproductive freedom.  Even though the Supreme Court delivered that freedom with the repeal of "Roe v. Wade."  Now, the decision as to whether a woman can abort her fetus up until the instant of birth has been returned to the various states.  They vote on it.  And if a woman's state votes differently than she desires, she can then vote with her feet.  She can move.  She can go to Illinois or California, with each having offered to pay all travel and medical expenses relating to the surgery.  At their taxpayers' expense.  MY expense!  So you're a woman in Texas who desires an abortion at 38 weeks, just call BoyGuv.  He'll send you a plane ticket and put it on my MasterCard.      

     -  And those who vote Republican are often trying to retain what they have, whether income, earnings, savings or property.  Against a Democrat Party dedicated to taking it all away.  An onslaught against their persons and property.  And then redistributing it to those who didn't earn it.  For their votes.  These are the folks who earned it and want to keep it.  It's like being inside the fort, surrounded by Indians, (the "woo-woo" kind, not those "red dot" others), and trying to keep the maidens and kiddies safe from the savages.  Who are hungry, and motivated.  And would peel you like a grape if they got the chance.  And HAVE done so when they got the chance.  That's why we now have a combined upper tax rate of more than 50% of one's earnings in some Big Blue states.  Like mine.

     -  And lastly, there are terrorists.  Those who for whatever reason have decided that blowing sh*t up is a good idea.  And lots and lots of our folks with it.  Like the Ivy League grad who murdered the healthcare CEO.  And the idiots who are singing his praises.  Thinking he's "hot."  And that he was pushed by drug companies "beyond his limits," as one of our Senators remarked.

        I'm not wishing to induce unnecessary alarm.  I am suggesting that if I harbored terroristic sympathies, now would be the time.  A child shot up a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin a couple of days back.  Several died or were wounded.  That never happened when I was a kid and everyone was armed.  EVERYONE!  Something is wrong.  Be on the alert.  We all know 3% of our population is as crazy as a hoot owl.  Drunk, or stoned, or off their meds.  Driving toward you at 70 mph.  Pay attention.  Especially now during the Holiday Season when the nutcases come out of the shadows.  Doing so just might save your life.

When Ben Franklin was asked by that same lady why the Founding Fathers hadn't chosen democracy as our governing standard, he said: 

"A democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch."

It appears the rules have been made and enforced by the wolves over the past several years.  Let's watch the incoming Administration to see if that can be changed around to our mutual benefit.

Are You Prepared?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if somebody turned off the lights?

I mean, on purpose or by accident your local power company just goes on the fritz.  And no longer produces overpriced electricity.  And out here in Taxifornia, for some of our overpriced growed-up golf cart cars to use.  

What would you do if the lights wouldn't come on?  And the stove or air fryer wouldn't cook your food?  And you couldn't charge your phone?  And your furnace wouldn't heat your home?  Or cool it?  

Have you ever wondered what would happen if our petroleum refineries were all sabotaged?  Blown up, or hacked, and no longer producing refined petroleum we can use in the vast majority of our cars?  Or dummies like our bozo BoyGuv keeps forcing them out of business with his "climate chaos" mentality?  Like Shell, which just announced it's bolting from the once-Golden State.  After more than 75 years of service.  Taking with it some 15% of our total refining capacity.  No refineries, no $6.00 a gallon gas at the pump.  And you don't drive.  Anywhere. 

Since we still live in a "supply and demand" economy (the socialists haven't replaced Capitalism just yet), what do you think will happen to the price of our gas when 15% of the supply goes away? 

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Internet was unplugged?  No more Google.  No more Facebook.  No more "X."  Just you.  And your family.  Like it used to be.  Back in the "good ol' days," like 40 years ago.  Your family depending upon you to protect them and make sure they are fed and clothed and kept safe from harm.

Do you know how to do that?  Have you ever even considered that you might have to do so?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if our Gubmint decided one day to take your firearms?  Just like Gubmints have done in every other country but the United States?  Would you give up yours?  Do you have any to give?  Did you know that there were more than 150,000 FBI Instant Federal Firearm Background Checks conducted on Black Friday alone?  The precursor to owning a firearm?  And you weren't one of them?  

That's alright.  I have enough for us both...

And speaking of firearms, there were 150,000,000 in American hands as of the day Obama was consecrated.  Now?  After him being named the Greatest Gun Salesman of All Time, it's 525,000,000.  With more than 110,000,000 American households owning at least one firearm.  Is your house one of them?

Can you make a fire without matches?  You know, take flint and kindling, and...  No?  Wouldn't it be a good time to learn?  Do you have a store of the food your family will need if all the grocery stores go out of business?  No gas or diesel for the trucks to bring it?  Because they've all been legislated out of existence?    And because there's no more electricity?  Could you hunt for subsitence food?  You know, because the firearms have all been confiscated, take your bow and arrows and go into the woods and hunt?  No? 

As you may have heard, Russia is in an all-out war with Ukraine.  Putin has already lost more than 725,000 of his own troops.  He's even imported the North Koreans to fight for him.  China and Iran are backing Russia, BTW.  The NATO countries, including the U. S. of A., are backing Ukraine.  They're shooting real bullets at each other.  People are dying.  

Iran, through its proxies, attacked Israel.  Israel is fighting back.  They've destroyed HAMASS, and Hezbollah, and southern Lebanon, and most of the defenses of Iran.  Which has caused the downfall of Syria.  Making it a lawless wasteland.  And the U.S. and Israel are attacking what's left of Syrian offensive capabilities with rockets and bombs.  Sinking their ships.  Removing their chemical weapons capabilities.  Or trying.  But Russia took in Al Asad.  And his $2 Billion Dollars.  Without Syria's aid and protection, Putin is even more vulnerable.  And paranoid.  

He has nuclear weapons, BTW.  And has changed Russia's constitution so that they may be used in more circumstances.  That should worry the pee out of every thinking human. 

It's still not a good idea to back a 5th Degree Black Belt into a corner.  Which we're doing.  A corner from which he knows he has only one exit.  You might not like the results. 

Iran may soon start to come apart at the seams.  Which could bring China and NoKo into the action directly.  China has forewarned us all that it intends to attack the Republic of Korea.  And 90% of our computer chips are made in South Korea.  Should that occur, whether we come to this small island's defense or not, it could bring that necessary supply line to a halt.  And American industry and manufacturing to a halt.  For months, if not years.  Returning us to the technological Dark Ages.

In short, the world's in a terrible fix, thanks to Joe O'Biden.  And one single human, somewhere, who zigs when he should have zagged, could push the wrong button and cause WW Part 3 to unfold.  Right smack in front of us.

Since you were likely born and raised in a "bubble," it's likely you have no idea how to fend for yourself.  I read a poll recently where 22% of Taxifornias believe meat comes from the local supermarket!  And I'm telling you it might be a good time to learn some of the basic skills you'd need if the Fit Hits The Shan.  

How to hunt, how to live off the land, how to build a lean to.  how to build a fire, how to stay warm, and how to stay safe.  One thing you could do is go to your local bookstore and buy a copy of the "Boy Scout Manual."  It will instruct you on all the things you'll need to know to live in a disconnected world, scary, mean, dangerous world.

Good luck, Fellow Patriots.  Sorry for the dose of reality.  I was taught by the U. S. Army to be prepared.  After having been taught by the Boy and Explorer Scouts to "Be Prepared."  I'm prepared.  Are you?

The way things look, unless The Donald can defuse multiple wars allowed to start and fester under the "Mumbler-in-Chief," you might need to get up to speed on some of the more "basic" life skills.*  

Especially if some authoritarian somewhere chooses to attack while O'Biden is still laising away on the beach at Rohoboth.  Still collecting his $400,000 a year...  

*    Or perhaps these are just the ravings of a paranoid old dude.  In which case you should just ignore them and go on back to your unprepared life.