1984

At one time we thought law enforcement was there to protect people's from criminals. That has changed. Now law enforcement has become the jackbooted thugs that will kill you if they feel threatened by your questions or if you assert your constitutional rights. They have been practicing for decades by subjecting communities of color to their wrath. Now they letting the criminals run amok. They give the criminal a slap on the wrist and send him back into the community to victimize the people.

Why are there criminals? Locally it is failed families and a failed education system that provided the seeds. Without education they have no jobs. They turn to drugs to escape their misery but to get drugs you need money. So they turn to crime. Petty theft becomes grand theft auto. Grand theft becomes drug running and weapons. They go through the revolving doors of the "justice" system, becoming braver, gaining more skills they learn from older criminals. They live fast. They do not fear the law, they know it is a toothless tiger. They do not fear death.

They see those richer than them as suckers. They say to themselves why should I work when I can steal with impunity?

No, we will see much worse as now the thieves wear suits. They are in power. Everyone below them are potential victims. The new thing is the prison industrial complex. It is the new slavery. Yes companies are bringing back jobs to America but those jobs are in prisons. Where once they made licence plates they now do product assembly. They do customer service. They handled that online purchase you made. And they were paid wages that even a third world country could compete against.

So many people are uninformed, unaware, and generally ignorant. They fall for the propaganda and sound bites from talking heads on TV. They fall for distractions. Whenever something evil or threatening is being done by the government people are bombarded with distractions to keep them from noticing what is happening. Those in power have been doing this a long time. As the Romans had gladiators to create spectacles to entertain the masses we have professional sports. Have you ever seen a news program in a bar? No, they don't want you distracted. So you get sports that makes you linger a while longer and drink more. There is a science behind the use of distraction. It is all part of the propaganda process

We are fucked. The masses have been brainwashed. Ignorance has been elevated to a virtue. Humanity is perceived as weakness. Science is considered a plot by intellectuals to discredit ignorance. Orwell warned us. We are now entering "1984".

Kleptocracy

The kleptocracy is in power. Congress are but the whores of the corporations. They do not represent the people. They now have elected their "god emperor" Trump. He is now ruling the swamp and bringing the predators into the cabinet. He will assuredly add more predators to the courts. The system is heading to fascism. He will do so much damage in his first two years that it will take a revolution to undo. Once the oligarchs have control they will not allow a challenge to their rule. Unfortunately like in Germany the people will embrace the brutality and by the time they realize what they have wrought it will be them that are enslaved. I am older. I don't have children. But I will cry just thinking how the children and grandchildren will suffer. The children will curse this generation for what they have done. May God have mercy on us all.

Jackbooted Thugs

First their was Occupy. It challenged the capitalist system. It was crushed brutally to send a message that the next time they would substitute real bullets for batons. Now we are seeing a threat to Standing Rock that says to avoid a brutal battle they must disband and move to a "free speech zone". Since when has the government been given power to say the First Amendment only applies in certain areas? The threat is implied that if the water protectors do not comply they may be severely injured or imprisoned for exercising their First Amendment rights. This is so wrong on so many levels. It is one more brick in the wall, the wall of fascism that will enslave us. If you want to see the fury of the beast you take a stand. They will gleefully gas you. They will use weapons of war upon the innocent. If they kill you they will say it was justified. The jackbooted thugs are now in charge. First at Standing Rock. Who's next?

music

As a kid I played with an old cylinder player. It was the device before records were invented. Then I discovered a massive collection of old recordings. Some were single sided 12 inch disks. Then came vynyl. I remember the first 45 rpm records. Then came the 33-1/3 long playing albums. When I got my first car we only had AM radio. Then came fm converters. Four track tapes were the new thing. I got my first 8 track in my 1957 Bel Air. It was a hit on cruise nights. Later I started driving Volkswagens. I got a cassette player. Later in life I got a new Saturn coupe. It had both a cassette player and a CD player. During my working years I used to buy a CD or two every week. They cost about $15 then. My Saturn Vue has a six CD changer when I bought it. It lasted about 100K miles. My current truck has an in dash CD player. It plays mp3 disks. It also has HD radio. I even dabbled in DVD audio. It was astounding but extensive. DVD audio disks cost $25 or more. Music has always been a passion. I gave away my CD collection to a friend. Now everything I have is digital. Nothing like a 32 GB memory stick full of all of your music.

Trump Pence Ryan ...

Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Two despicable men. The personification of greed, mysoginy, bigotry. Trump has Pence to protect him. If you impeach Trump you get Pence. Then you have to impeach Pence. Then you get Ryan. The nightmare continues. It just might be best to overthrow the whole system. Or at least secede as a state of group if states and form a new country. It might come to that.