Sexual Harrassment

Let me begin with the fact that I am 79 years old and obviously a product of another generation. Having said that, While in high school in the 1950's none of this took place.

But when entering the adult dating scene, a different standard prevailed. Sexually suggestive remarks were research into the degree of receptiveness of our overtures. To be clear, their is a huge difference between verbal flirting and physical touching. Between the sexes, verbal byplay has been and still is, acceptable.

If a guy goes too far, a raised middle finger and perhaps other verbal retaliation usually  solves the problem.

The blurred division between what I have described, is that the men in a power position, with employer/employee relationships is an entirely different thing. That involves coercion an unacceptable form of at best, making a woman's life difficult, to rape itself. The casting couch has been a standing joke in Hollywood for as long as I have lived. It you wanted to climb the ladder of success, you had to first climb a producer.

There is though, another category. One that places a woman in a position of pursuing powerful men. If you don't believe this happens you need to stop smoking funny weed., Sex, as a tool has long been a tactic of many women. I am not talking about power here, just human nature.

Good riddance! This needed to stop and apparently it is in that process. Unfortunately, we have drifted into the middle ground where flirting is now outlawed. There will be unintended consequences  from the over reaction to male/female  flirting. God help us all.

Federal Reserve Policy

There is  a constant barrage of information about the lowest interest rates ever. All of it positive. Home mortgages below 4%. But for every heads there is a tail. The other side of the coin.

Two negative results of super low real estate loans. People can afford a much higher price and the market responds with doubling down on prices of homes.

But the most severe hit is seniors that have invested all of their lives in bonds and equities designed for income, rather than growth. Thousands of senior savers had their retirements destroyed when the income from investments disappeared.

This is what happens when politics take over from a balanced economy. Watch when the interest rates finally go up what happens to the inflated equities that will suddenly deflate and leave people buried in loans that will exceed values.

Veteran's Day

I cannot remember a year where we veterans were honored, as we were this year. I don't think that has happened since the 1940's and the armistice with both Japan and Germany. Why it happened this year, I have no idea.

There is a huge backlog of wounded vets from the last several years of war. This undeclared war has lasted way longer that either the first or second world war and maybe the total of the two.

While the administration brags about the "Choice" program, the funds have quietly been used up and not replaced. The VA system is overloaded and crashing since the politicians are bragging about the new programs, they neglect to tell us that none of these programs are currently funded.

In addition to these young warriors, there are those like me, age 79 that are dependent on ever increasing senior care and the problems that occur with age.

Thank you folks for your loyalty for us but we need more. Please contact your congressman or senator, or both and ask why these programs remain unfunded.

Here in Bayview, the Captain's Wheel Resort opened it's wallet to feed any veteran that wanted dinner, FREE. Folks that is a  huge cash drain, but they cheerfully did it anyway. Bless you, "Wheel." 

Green Thing

Checking out at the store, the young cashier
suggested to the much older woman, that she
should bring her own grocery bags because
plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't
have this 'green thing' back in my earlier
days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem
today.  Your generation did not care enough to
save our environment for future generations."
She was right --  our generation didn't have the
'green thing' in our day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda
bottles, and beer bottles to  the store.  The
store sent them back to the plant to be washed,
sterilized, and refilled, so it could use the
same bottles over and over.
So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have  the "green thing" back in
our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown
paper bags, that we reused  for numerous things,
most memorable, besides household garbage bags,
was the use of brown paper bags as book covers
for our schoolbooks.  This was to ensure that
public property (the books provided for our use by                     
the school) was not defaced by our scribblings.                     
Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown            
bag but we didn't do the "green thing" back     
then.
We walked up stairs because we didn't have an
escalator in every store and office building. 
We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb
into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had
to go two blocks.
But she was right.  We didn't have the "green
thing" in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because
we didn't have the throwaway kind.  We dried
clothes on a line -- not in an energy-gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts --  wind and solar
power really did dry our clothes back in our
early days.  Kids got hand-me-down clothes from                        
their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new                        
clothing.
But that young lady is right; we didn't have
the "green thing" back in our day.
Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house
-- not a TV in every room.  And the TV had a
small screen the size of a handkerchief
(remember them?), not a screen the size of  the
state of  Montana.
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand
because we didn't have electric machines to do
everything for us.  When we packaged a fragile
item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old
newspapers to cushion it, not styrofoam or                        
plastic bubble wrap.  Back then we didn't fire up                      
an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.                    
We used a push mower that ran on human power. We                  
exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health         
club to run on treadmills that operate on               
electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the "green
thing" back  then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty
instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle
every time we had a drink of  water.  We
refilled writing pens with ink instead of
buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in                  
a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just            
because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the "green thing" back then.
Back then people took the streetcar or a bus
and kids rode their bikes to school or walked
instead of turning their moms into a  24-hour
taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van,                       
which cost what a whole house did before the "green                   
thing."  We had one electrical outlet in a room,                  
not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen                   
appliances.  And we didn't need a computerized                    
gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000           
  miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger    
joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments
how wasteful we old folks were just because we
didn't have the "green thing" back then?
Please forward  this on to another selfish old
person who needs a lesson in conservation from
a smartass young  person...

We don't like being old in the first place, so
it doesn't take much to piss us off . . .
especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced
smartass who can't make change without the cash                        
register telling them how much.
Stupid kid.

Church and State

 Read yet again an article from the associated press that repeatedly quoted the phrase, "Separation of church and state." 

This passage does not appear anywhere in the constitution nor any  federal law.

The establishment clause in the constitution simply states that no state religion can be established. This was a direct result of the hangover from the state religion, the church of England. 

Remember, these principles were established very soon after we gained our independence from England.

My big problem here of course, is why reporters are so lazy that they repeatedly misquote the law. Or perhaps it isn't lazy, but the forwarding of a political agenda that chooses ignoring of the U.S. Constitution.

Anti-religion groups are very active these days.  They have identified Christianity as an anti-liberal movement Led by left wing liars,  have elevated the philosophy of anti-religion groups, though I haven't figured out why Atheists feel threatened by others beliefs. The philosophy of live your own life, and don't' worry about your neighbor's business is apparently lost on these poor lost souls.

  More on fake news as I am inspired.