Change and Moves

The building that Pimpernel lives in is being sold. These things happen and I was looking for a place to live when I moved here, so it is not a big deal. When I moved here I had just lost my home, I had lived in my own home for about half my life. I lost my home because of the divorce costs. Not the first or the last to face such a thing. I needed to move fast and a friend had an apartment for rent, I looked at it for two minutes and rented it. The building is older, I didn't care, it has limited amenities, I didn't care annnnnd, I just didn't care about anything, it was a place and I needed a place. Heck, my friend's family owned it and it was small (6 units). Small, closer to work and quiet, those are the things that mattered to me at the time. The building worked for me and I was able to live simpler and quieter and stress free after years of high stress.

I don't know how long I have lived here, I guess I could go back and read my posts to figure it out. I don't really care exactly how long ago; but, I think it was about six years ago. In the end it was where I needed to be at the time and worked incredibly well with me for my healing. Turned out I ended up really liking the location and have made many friends in the area. Now, I must leave and I think the timing is great. I am a lot better than I was when I moved here and I think it is time for a new adventure. I have no idea what that adventure will be; but, it will involve meeting new people and seeing the world in a new way. I think just maybe, it is time for me to be forced to look outside again. I think for most the past six years, I have looked to the past in my life and that maybe now, it is time to move on.

I have moved across the country four times and within those areas many, many more. In my first year of law school I moved five times. I moved a couple more before graduating. I moved three times in elementary school, three times in junior high and once in High school. My sibling have moved much more than I; but, it doesn't really seem to bother then. I think I am more attached to places than they are, or maybe they just adjust more fully. I never forget the places I live, they all hold memories for me. I guess land is like a touch stone for me, a memory trigger. When I moved from the first house that I owned I thought about my kids growing up in it, when I moved from my last house I thought about how it was a comfort to me as I went through the single worst part of my life. When I move from here I will remember how it helped me heal. I have good memories of this place and I was here when I needed to be here. I think we should look at our lives that way and appreciate what we have been blessed to enjoy.

Where I go from here is a little less clear. The problem is me, not opportunities. In my life, most of my moves have not been by choice. Those that were by choice were usually made for the benefit of others. I bought my first house so that my kids could have a backyard and more space, even though it meant I spent two hours a day on the road at a minimum and usually meant four hours a day. The other house I bought, I bought because I needed to take my father in to assist him. By the way, my father needed very little assistance, he just lost his short term memory, his attitude remained amazing.

I have a tendency not to change the places I move to, I tend to adjust to my surroundings. My sister changes her surroundings to fit her, as does my brother. I don't, I adjust to my space. I don't tend to buy new furniture, I don't have a look in mind, I don't think about what I am going to do with a space. I only question whether or not I can adapt to it. The one thing I will put up is art; but, even there, there is no plan. I put up what I feel like putting up and that alone can take a very long time.

I guess the reason this is all on my mind is because I am being forced to ask myself what I want again and actually have time to decide what I want. Where do I want to live, what sort of situation do I want to live in, those questions matter and I don't have a lot of experience answering them.

This blog is about change and what it means. While the change I write about is usually political or scientific, sometimes it is about personal change. "Gone With The Wind" is about change and how people adapt to it or fail to adapt. I adapt and if I am to tell the truth, I think the changes over my life have given me a certain ability to adjust; but, I always ask myself what the past has meant; because until we learn from the past, we cannot adapt to the future.

I hope you are all having a great week.

Why You Need to Know About the Brexit

This is an educational piece. I know most Americans do not know or understand exactly what the European Union is, how it came about or how it works. I will try to give a stripped down explanation though you are free to investigate further.

After World War II European nations created a number of free trade agreements amongst themselves. While today some will claim that the EU was created to prevent more European wars, that was not was discussed at the time. The treaties were created so that they could rebuild their steel and coal industries. Later these free trade agreements became treaties which began to have a greater reach into the sovereignty of European countries. Eventually a political and economic union was created. The political union is known as the European Union or EU for short. The economic union is known as the Eurozone; but, England did not adopt the Euro and kept it's currency known as the pound.

Now the people in those European countries do not get to vote for the people who write the laws for the European nations. The people who vote on the laws are appointed by their countries leaders. The bigger problem is that the people of the European Union didn't vote for that either. Well, currently the EU writes 70% of all the laws that Britain must follow and not all of the people in England are happy with this so they want to vote to see if Britain should leave the EU, that vote is called the Brexit. In three paragraphs you now know more about the EU than about 90% of all Americans. Their vote will happen in the next couple of months. Understand what happens there and you will understand what is happening here and why democracy, nationalism and populism matter.

YouTube - #Brexit: A Reason to Care. 

Bank of America $17 Billion Payment to Investors

This is going to be a short post, just something to think about. The banks have been fined billions by the government; but, just about all of that money went to pay off investors who bought mortgage backed securities. The banks gave out loans for more than they were worth and sold the loans. Now they are being forced to pay back the investors; but, the property owners get almost nothing. The gamblers get paid and the people who were duped into outrageous debt get nothing. Why didn't the property owners get paid first or at all? Because you don't matter, the same reason nobody went to jail for fraud in the banking industry or for fixing markets. They pay fines; but, not to the consumers, not to you and I. Oh, and their fines are tax deductible, if you steal someone's purse or rob their home, do you get to deduct court fines from your taxes. I bet not.

Michelle Fields and a Short Memory

Charles Johnson - Watch Michelle Fields Brag About Her First Media Manipulating Moment.  Watch the video, you can decide if she was telling the truth in 2011 when this report was taken. If you do believe her than you can see that she was actually on the ground, claiming the police did it and goes away crying. Just hold on to that one thought.

YouTube - Megyn Kelly Michelle Fields FULL Interview Corey Lewandowski Assault Allegations - 3/11/16. 

YouTube - Michelle Fields Refuses to Answer Bilderberg Questions - Runs Away When Covering Event. This video is from 2012 and was taken while she was fresh out of college, according to her, and covering the Bilderberg group for Fox News. The person who approaches her is a real jerk and quite rude.

YouTube - Assault? New Video Shows What Happened Between Michelle Fields and Trump Campaign Manager.  This is the video of what happened at the Trump event as she was getting in the way of Trump and his people who were leaving.

Ms. Fields claims that Trump's head election guy attacked her, almost threw her to the ground and that it was the worst thing that ever happened to her in her life, she also filed assault charges against him. Yet what happened to her at the Occupy Wall Street event was years earlier and the Bilderberg event had also been prior.

I don't consider this a particularly important event. The video speaks for itself, she was moved to the side as a Presidential candidate was being escorted out of a building by the Secret Service and his campaign manager. It was far from her first time in crowded situation and she didn't even know who touched her, she thought it was the Secret Service. Her claim that she was practically thrown to the ground is not evidenced in either video. The only video that shows her on the ground is from years earlier at an Occupy Wall Street event and Trump and his campaign manager were not there. Go online and see how much conversation has been dedicated to this, it is used to say that Trump doesn't like women though he never even sees her in the video and certainly never does anything nor is it claimed that he did. It was also discussed as further violence at Trump events. When everything is spun and twisted to meet a narrative, it is called propaganda.

I waited to write this post as I have done in the past when things were too emotional in the news. I waited to write because I want people to look again and ask themselves whether or not the media attempted to tell them the truth or the story that they want you to believe. What I hope my readers learn from my blog is how to see the lies, the manipulation and then look beyond it to see the result they are seeking, it is usually the one that is achieved.

The Powerful Hate Democracy

Real Clear Politics - Former CO GOP Chair: Message We're Sending Is "Your Vote Doesn't Matter And Your Voice Doesn't Count".  Colorado holds a caucus, that is a primary where only a few people are allowed to vote. Who gets to vote in a caucus can be different from state to state; but, they are not chosen by the voters, they are chosen often by the state's politicians and donors. In Colorado the caucus would take a straw poll vote on who they wanted to be their candidate; but, not this year. Nobody got to vote. In fact, the former GOP chair believes that Colorado should have a primary; but, the Colorado politicians don't want that. Nope, in Colorado representatives don't want to know what Coloradans want. Remember the rich and powerful don't like democracy and never did.

Denver Post - Angry Donald Trump blasts Colorado GOP results as "totally unfair". Trump complained that what happened in Colorado and other caucuses and states where he was the winner; but, more delegates were given to Cruz by the insiders. People voted for Trump; but, their votes went to Cruz's delegates, not very democratic is it, it is certainly not even representative.

Fox News - If Trump doesn't understand 156-year-old rules, how will he understand the presidency? So, who does the media blame for this all, why Trump of course. He should have known that the system was rigged. This article actually claims the rules have been in effect for 156 years; but, that is a lie. In fact Nevada only recently turned to caucuses and the rules for all the caucuses is fluid and controlled by a very few.

It is time to put an end to this nonsense. It is time to put in a Constitutional amendment that would require all parties to hold open primaries or not be allowed to put a candidate up for President. If a party does not represent democratic values, how can we expect the party to represent the people.

Rock, Race, the 60s and What Scares The People In Charge

The 1940s were the war years when millions of Americans were drafted into the army to protect the world. After the war the United States and Britain (too a much lesser extent) were the only world powers that still had an industrial base and the infrastructure to support it. Because we were able to build products for the rest of the world while they rebuilt, we became the single greatest economic force in history. It also meant that our people became the greatest middle class in history as our workers were desperately needed. If you want to understand what is going on now, you have to understand history a bit.

During the 1950s America became it's most prosperous with plentiful jobs, an educated workforce (because of the G.I. Bill paying for college) and that resulted in the most prosperous middle class in history. During the 1950s workers were required to be as regimented as soldiers. If you are interested in this subject read, "The Organization Man". Basically the successful businessman was expected to dedicate his life to his company and do whatever was best for the company and they did it by the tens of millions. It was a different time that may be difficult for my younger readers to understand. The 1950s was decade of conformity. Their children changed that.

The 1960s were a lot like the 1950s, music was still censored, books were still censored, the media was heavily regulated and fitting in with the establishment was like a religion. After Kennedy was killed in Dallas, things started changing. 1964 was a seminal year, the Beatles arrived in America and America began asking itself about whether it was right or wrong to treat blacks as second class citizens. The Beatles and the English invasion was confusing to the wealthy. After all, they were just a band of musicians; but, they were able to change American opinions on style, lifestyle and just about everything else. They filled arenas that no bands could even imagine playing in before. As for blacks, the American white population saw them as a warning sign to them of what happens when you don't work hard and smart. I know that the black people in that time worked as hard if not harder than the whites and were just as smart; but, they were denied educational opportunities. It doesn't matter what I think, what is important is how whites in America viewed blacks in 1964.

In the 1960s middle class kids began seeing that they could influence the world by following musicians, the Beatles mostly; but, others too. Bob Dylan began singing about what was wrong with the world and music became political. The Smothers Brothers did the same with comedy and promptly got thrown off the air even though their ratings were out of this world. Between 1964 and 1967 the middle class changed the rules and did what the people who own this country did not want them to do, they exerted their combined power to change the game. That scared the "establishment" to death because it meant they would lose power. There is nothing that makes the powerful scared and angry than threatening their power with decision making by the masses.

American faith in the establishment died with Kennedy being killed, 66% of Americans did not believe the official story. It got worse with Nixon being impeached. Between 1964 and 1967 the middle class changed the rules of the game and even began taking care of the poor. They also began refusing to serve in the draft as slaves. The draft meant that the government would demand that you either kill people in the military or go to jail. Many chose to leave the country and many chose to go to jail. This peaceful approach to civil disobedience totally shook the establishment. To them it meant that they were losing control. Their response was to infiltrate the groups that were against the status quo.

1968 led to full on panic by the establishment. While Robert Kennedy, who was running on a promise to end the war in Vietnam, was killed and Martin Luther King, who called for treating blacks as equal citizens, was killed, the public went ballistic. People were now angry with the establishment more than they had ever been before. Music, movies and books all took on the establishment and revolted at the ballot box. The Democratic 1968 convention was pure bedlam and the voters were ignored which led to Hubert Humphrey being placed on the ballot even though he had practically no delegates. Even though another candidate had more delegates and also ran on the promise to end the war in Vietnam, Humphrey was . His opponent was Nixon.

1968, was the final threat to the establishment. Millions of kids were protesting the war, treatment of blacks and the establishment itself. People began questioning having to live in jobs that treated them as military, unthinking and unquestioning slaves. Many called for not participating in the establishment, we called them hippies. 1968 showed just how powerful this emerging middle class was going to be and they didn't like it. The killing of Robert Kennedy only made people more suspicious of the establishment, both him and his brother and Mr. King being killed to stop a change in the established order and provide the people with power, that was scary.

Like General Patton, I believe in reading your opponents plan. The reason I give links to original documents that were prepared for the establishment, is because I want you to understand you opponent also. While we may not be a monarchy, we have an established oligarchy and they don't want to lose power. When kings were removed there was always violence; but, even when it was limited it still meant people had to lose power and control over the outcomes. 1968 was also the year of Woodstock, a million young people ignoring authority and coming together to protest the war. It was a group so large that it could make it's own rules regarding sex and pot; but, if they could ignore those rules, which rules would they follow, nobody knew ant the establishment only saw a threat. 1969 was the beginning of the establishment coming up with a response in an attempt to gain control again.

Think tanks were hired to decide how to keep the population compliant, a nation of happy followers who believe whatever they are told. It is also when the plan to keep the middle class weak was hatched. The great unwashed masses were to be put back in their place. That was when the plan to decimate the middle class in the west was decided. If you wish to steal from a powerful man, you must first tie him up and that is what has been happening since the early 1970s.

Trends of Technology

Politico - Tennessee GOP beats back Trump allies.  Trump one in Tennessee; but, the delegates being sent to represent him in the convention are not Trump supporters. The party instead gave him delegates that don't want him to win. Does that sound like Democracy?

The Week - Republicans are plotting economic disaster for 2016. 

The Japan News - Fingerprints to be tested as ‘currency’.  Japan is now testing a system whereby tourists would register their fingerprints and then be able to buy things and even use the print as their passport.

MIT Technology Review - Chinese Researchers Experiment with Making HIV-Proof Embryos.  Yes, the Chinese are genetically modifying embryos to make people that are protected from disease.

Reuters - Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways.  And this my friends is why bike lanes are painted in and crosswalks are being painted just like in Europe. Why wasn't this discussed before our tax dollars were spent on these things.