Tis The Season…

I am on the Pacific coast of Mexico. A little town called Chacala, just north of Puerto Vallarta. The Kenny clan is assembling to celebrate what for Kathy and me is a significant birthday. Suffice to say the weather is spectacular and the view magical. I hope you are all getting together with some sort of family while probably under different climactic conditions. Stay warm.

We are hearing recaps of 2025 as we move towards the end. This has in a word, been tumultuous. The good, the bad and the ugly. I will let you line up your own column A and column B. There have been births  to celebrate and deaths to mourn. Marriages and divorces. There have been incredible successes and horrendous failures. 

Every day the news brings mostly bad things. We seem to delight in that. I think a big part of that is a distance created by, I am sure glad that is not me. I think in hospice, people stay away because it is more than an ample proof of one’s mortality. I can’t conjure up in any way how the parents of those two kids at Brown are suffering. Yet it happens hundreds of times every day in incidents that don’t make the nightly news. 

The good is out there. We don’t pay a lot of attention but if we look hard we can find it in so many ways. Stupid things. Little gestures. A smile you didn’t expect. A phone call that bespoke an effort to seek you out. Some quiet nobody who left their life savings to some cause. 

Those are all the best. Pleasant surprises. We never knew. 

Our world today has become an equation and somewhat predictable. Customs and rituals are great as long as they are meaningful and not just repetitious. Oh yes, we always go to Uncle Lenny’s house for Christmas Eve or Grandma’s for a 47 pound turkey on the big day. Creativity and imagination go out the window for that good old time religion. If you really want to do that, go right ahead but don’t do it for the stupid reason, we always have. 

That seems sacrilegious to some and I am not trying to be the Grinch. I am also not saying you have to go off the wall either. But I also run into people that say the holidays are intolerable. Eat,drink and be merry. It is probably why so many gym memberships are sold in January. 

I read a great article the other day on gift giving. It espoused not giving many gifts but just one. The package was the product of a lot of thought and love. It fit the person to a tee not by the price tag but by the depth of thought. One young girl put a message on 30 Keurig K cups so her mom would have something loving and positive to look at in the morning. I thought it was great. 

As part of a ritual where we live, we “adopt” families associated with the Hope Rural School in Indiantown. It is a community of hard working mostly Hispanic immigrants. We help around 120 families by buying gifts for every child in the family. We had a party there about a week ago. Pre K to 5th grade. Incredible!! The families were grateful but not subservient. This place exists without any government funding to be cut off. But wait, those horrible people. We should send them all back where they came from. Really???

You and I can argue about whether he is God Himself or just a nice guy. Crazy how His religion has hung around all this time with various sects and denominations. His message still makes sense. Can you really argue with the tenets and their applicability no matter how far civilization has come?The Bible is still the best selling book in the world.  Have we conveniently put all that on a shelf?

I can’t improve on this. I am so glad you got this far. The message is simple. Peace on earth. Good will towards men. Is that so tough to understand? I hope not. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and whatever else. 

There was a guy born a couple of thousand years ago. When he got to age 30 he started preaching a way of life. Do unto others. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be humble. Praise someone other than your false gods. You certainly are not a god. Give and accept nothing in return. Don’t kill. Don’t mess around. Don’t steal. What was He thinking?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:  None to speak of. 

A Different Perspective…

The definition of perspective is an interesting one. A “perspective” is a specific way of viewing or understanding something, shaped by your beliefs and experiences”. You and I see things differently.  The world would love to define us by silos but it is not as easy as that. I scan newspapers with articles and op-eds trying to discover what is going on. How do I feel about it.  Now I have to add is it true? That kinda sucks.

I am rereading George Friedman’s, The Storm Before The Calm. He is a favorite read of mine as a geopolitical theorist. He starts by giving you a capsule summary of our history as a young nation. The good, the bad and the ugly. He then separates various time frames into both institutional and socioeconomic outcomes. Each with its own idiosyncrasies and of course, successes and  failures. All without mudslinging or condemnation. It is what it is. 

He heralds that we are a nation born of rebellion and violence. We are upstarts and cocky. We don’t have the centuries of history and traditions like Europe to fall back on. We have been through slavery but so have many other nations in our world. The 13 colonies were each separate and provincial. We united in war but had differences. We have had robber barons, monopolies and  racism at it best. Not only towards blacks but to the Irish,Poles and Chinese. The Catholics and Jews and now Muslims. Please do not get your back up. It is all there. 

Rather than dwelling on it or trying to change that history, he looks at it as a tableau to be studied. Politically we had the era of Washington and then Lincoln and onto FDR and the last of them Regan,as being noteworthy. We are waiting for the next one and it is probably not Trump. True we are fed up with just about everyone from the government to business to education and our very malevolent press. We have not managed our resources well. Wait TTG, our economy is doing great, unemployment is low and we have a few shootings here and there but overall we get a ‘B”. Not so fast.

I would hold out to you we have a bunch of problems that get ignored while your AI stocks and Bitcoin are flying. Not only Obamacare or Medicare but healthcare as an industry is going to put us out of business. I agree let’s get rid of the subsidies but what do you do from there? Do you just let people die or waste away from their chronic diseases. Immigration has been fixed. Sorta. We have removed by force or their own volition about 2 million illegals. Unfortunately not all were criminals and the hard work they did does not fit into the aspirations of our current legal workforce. 

People are getting old! I had to visit a patient in an assisted care facility. Average cost $7,000 per month. It was not exactly what I was hoping for. And these are the people that can afford it. As the elderly section gets larger and larger there are a lot less young people that are around and better yet willing to take care of Mom and Dad. I could go on but the point is we are approaching tilt on our little pinball game of life. No one and I mean no one is providing answers. 

Friedman will tell you the end of the cycle is not pretty. Our government is moribund. Corporations are too busy making money and will continue to automate. Educational standards are getting lower and lower as we continue to throw money at it. Today’s morality is questionable.Anything goes. We have no states people nor leaders of industry that are willing to come forward and  say,”Hey gang, we have to fix a lot of things. It will require a different way of looking at our livelihood. We have to have the humility to realize what isn’t working and we will ALL have to pitch in to fix it”. Maybe you know that dude or dudette but I don’t. 

This will probably sound crazy but I am suddenly at ease. I take comfort that this has happened before and we have worked our way out of it. In my lifetime,WWII,Viet Nam, the Oil Embargo, Watergate, 9/11, 2008, Afghanistan, Ukraine ,COVID. That is only naming a few. Going back in history was the The Revolution, Great Depression, Civil War. In all those happenings an adult in the room had to come forward. Out of the box thinking and cutting through red tape. Political parties talking to one another. Or perhaps blowing by rules and regs en masse to get things done. We are truly at a crisis precipice. Oops, I better shut up or I will get gaslighted or deported. 

In an absurd way I am accepting our current situation. I have so little power to change things I have to search anywhere to find someone who will. A group of men and women who have to give us tough love. If you think we can go on this way, go for it. I am a little too practical and maybe have seen too much to dig out my rose colored glasses once again. My IRA may be gaining but the underpinning of this big blue marble is showing some serious cracks. As they say,Look Out Below. 

We have become gigantic from corporations to government to our universities. They are hard to control, unwieldy, prone to error and corruption. Friedman will tell you minor repairs and band aids won’t work. In the end we will sober up. Throw the bad parts out and polish up and streamline the good ones. If you believe AI is the salvation tell me what we do with the other 90% that do not directly benefit. I really do have a different perspective and it is not all bad. It sure beats just bitching about it. 

As always

Ted The Great 

Factoids. 

Interestingly the government in relation to the population is less than it was 80 years ago. In 1945 it was 2.6% of the population. In the 70’s it was 1.1% Today it is .6%That’s a scary thought. 

There are approximately 5,000 laws on the federal books. There are also 300,000 rules and regs. Obamacare was 1,000 pages as a bill. There are untold number of rules all written by the staffs of agencies. …ably assisted by insurers, drug companies and HMO’s. Many nullify others or are in direct conflict. 

The National debt is currently $38 trillion. That is $112,000 for each person in the US. 10,000 people turn 65 every day. They are consumers not producers. Healthcare costs $15,000 per every single person every year. We simply do not have the revenue through taxes of all sorts to cover our current expenditures. 

Our life expectancy in the US is 78.4 years  Men at 74 and women at 81. Older people can expect to live around 5 years with pain or a serious illness. Sorry kids, that costs a lot of money. 

I’ve Had It…….

Is it just me or are a lot of things going down the chute at the same time? I am a pretty optimistic person but our world or at least our small part of it seems to have taken a nasty turn. Spending two weeks in a different hemisphere only seems to amplify certain thresholds we should never have crossed. 

As denizens of the US do we have a responsibility to set a tone for the rest of the world? If you thought the behavior of the fans at the Ryder Cup was not beyond the pale or if you thought it was cool to drop F bombs and throw beer at the opponent’s wives, then we are on different wavelengths. There are basic tenets of decency, empathy, morality that I am trying to live my life by. Not always succeeding by any means but it is part of my game plan.How about you?

This all comes from the top whether it is government, business, military, professions, religion or education. We all have our part. It is so easy to blame one or the other but don’t we all have a hand in each one? If we vote clowns in aren’t we complicit? Corporations are constantly  paying exorbitant sums to make things go away without admitting guilt. Universities aren’t areas of discussion but lockstep acceptance to get a good grade. Religion? Do I even have to go there?

We all want to see gang members and criminals who have repeatedly come across our borders with abandon, kicked out once and for all. I just want to ask if this is what you voted for? Masked ICE enforcers answerable to no one. They don’t care if they are criminals or not, they just have to make quota. A man or woman could have standing in the community after being here for decades. Shouldn’t they at least have a hearing? There kids who were brought here at the age of one or two. Do you really want to toss them all out?

12 short years ago there was the “Gang of Eight in the congress who drafted legislation to undertake immigration reform in all quadrants from legalization, to border security to dealing with DACAS. Was it perfect? No, but it was a blueprint to be worked on. It passed the Senate and never even made it to the floor of the House for debate because of John Boehner. Of the eight notably there was John Mc Cain, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham. No word since. 

I cannot stand the Donald getting up and spouting off statistics that are nowhere close to the truth. People shrug their shoulders and say he is just being Trump. His berating and name calling of opponents are beyond childish. His threats of retribution for even a TV ad smack of a very insecure man. He cuts off discussion. He ascribes to the ready, shoot and aim form of warfare. He contradicts himself and backs off his pronouncements the next day. He rambles and constantly seeks adulation. Is this any way to run a railroad?

Wait! Do you think I have gone to the dark side?  No way! I am still firmly entrenched in the middle. Do I agree with Trumps objectives? Many of them. Do I like his style, demeanor, vacillation and gilded lifestyle? Not a prayer. Do I in any way see salvation in Chuck Schumer and Co? Not one iota. Gerrymandering is cheating the system no matter how you look at it. Taking a three or four week recess in Congress in the middle of a shutdown is unconscionable and criminal. The lack of backbone both locally and, nationally and worldwide is obscene.  I hope you catch my drift.  

Two articles blew me away this week. The first was about the FIG. That is Figueroa Street in LA. For FIFTY blocks it is the most notorious prostitution area in the US. Girls as young as twelve are being trafficked. The younger the more money people pay.One did her work with a colostomy bag attached. Why not put the National Guard to work here? How can this even exist in a modern and supposedly educated city? LA has been beset by cutbacks to police. Have we totally lost it as we label this a victimless crime?

Another was about Sudanese refugees in Chad. It seems US AID grants helped these people go to school and get on their feet in a business. The cost per student was $205. That’s it and they are on their way. Yet the machete of Rubio and Co removed all that with the surgical precision of a chain saw. Both of these articles just leaped out at me as a whole new brand of thinking. Don’t get involved. Let someone else figure it out. I am a very busy person and have to worry about my family. The US of A  is your family!

By now you think I am a bleeding heart liberal. I am not but I do have a crazy thing called empathy in my heart. I was not raised this way. I can’t look the other way. Absent in all of this is that no one seems to be fighting back. No one is standing up to the Bully in Chief. We cannot parse sound thinking from screaming and yelling at each other. Faith in our institutions of all sorts is at new lows. Some say we are numb. Some say this is new thinking vs old thinking. I am saying we have got to get off the couches of all classes. 

Please don’t take this as a whiner adding to the load. Take it as someone who is pissed off that in all our wealth and abundance we cannot figure out a way to share that. I wish it would start at the top. Doesn’t look that way. I guess we minions have to start from the middle. I really have had it! How about you?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids;

Poverty in America is defined by a family of four making less that $30,000 per year. They spend about 40% on housing alone. Is it their fault? Maybe. Are there cheaters? Of course. But are they all bad? Good question.

Elon Musk wants to get paid $1 trillion. That is around $19 billion per week or almost $2.5 billion per day. The Mets pay Juan Soto $765 mill over 15 years or $62 mill per year. Tom Brady gets $37 mill over ten years to comment on NFL games. Are they worth it? Fired LSU football coach is going to be paid $53 million to do nothing. 

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Trump came up with supposedly 18 misstatements. Subject to debate. However when AI looked at 20 questions posed to him over a period of time, they found serious errors or exaggerations in 16 of them. They used 5 different AI programs to avoid bias. They all came up the same.

The House is in recess and has been so for several weeks. The next session is scheduled on November 7, 2025. Don’t worry. They are all getting paid on time. 

US aid to foreign countries was $100 billion in 2023. 40% of that was military aid. Of the $100 bill, $71 billion was actually spent. Top recipients were Ukraine,$17 bill, Israel,$3.3 bill, Jordan $1.7 bill,

Egypt $1.5 bill and Ethiopia $1.5 bill. 

I don’t want the Trumpster to fail. I just want hime to grow up and act like and adult. Pretty simple, huh?

GPS….

I am writing this from beautiful Machu  Picchu,Peru. It is part of the latest Magical Mystery Tour that TTG and the lovely Kathy are participating in. It is truly among the most thought provoking and beautiful things we have come to. I hope I get it right. 

We started in Quito,Ecuador which was our doorway to the Galapagos. Driving from the airport at night was a tad depressing. One conjures up a vision of beautiful colonial architecture  of which there was plenty. But we also saw the poverty in a beautiful country that caused one to think. That while we were ensconced in a five star hotel Iin the old town of Quito. 

The next morning revealed a square filled with hundreds of people ranging from hawkers to families looking for a deal or at least sweets of some sort.

Stalls filled every side street with everything from hardware supplies to 20 pounds sacks of animal crackers. Go figure. There were several churches that were chock a block with altars and gold beyond belief. The country like Peru is overwhelming Catholic on and in both places people  practice their religion. 

We are soon on our way to Galapagos. Ironically the airport code is GPS. We approach the islands after a two hour plane ride. The similarities from the air to the Hawaiian islands are striking. Sans Waikiki and endless hotels and condos. Various modes from buses to launches  to Zodiacs get us to our home for the next four days, the Isabela II. We are diverse group of 28 from various colleges and universities. The largest group was from Hollins College with a current enrollment of 1200, all women. 

We trekked across several islands over the next four days.

We snorkeled and just sat and pondered. We got up close and personal with seals, seal lions and birds of every description. Even some moms of sea lion and chicks let us get a few feet away. We followed Darwin but we also discovered remoteness both physically and spiritually. Watching Mother Nature at work creating families and colonies. Things like maternity and a lack of ant real predatory action almost showed life as it should be or maybe ought to be to be. We have a lot to learn.

We had  several presentations of the islands, sometimes over a scotch. Meals were an occasion to mix it up and listen to a bunch of different points of view.No put downs but just expressions. Some opened up and some remained reclusive but as the days passed people did a stupid thing. The opened up and of course yours truly was in the middle asking questions and trying to engender ease. It actually worked. 

Most striking were our guides. They worked one month on and one month off. They spoke with pride and love of their home. Their far off gaze at the beauty of their environment was contagious. It engendered a serenity not often found. There are about 35,000 people who live on two or three main islands. Tourism is big business and growing. I really hope we don’t screw this up.  

I could go on about all sorts of flora and fauna. Especially blue footed boobies but I could never do it all justice.

We will just rely on memory as foggy as it gets sometimes. Hopscotching from GPS to Guayaquil  to Quito to Lima where we said good bye to most. Literally! The hardy few were seeking more adventure in the Andes. 

The Lima airport is only four months old and the amount of passengers was startling. There we were introduced to the best amenity by far. In Peru,senior citizens. have preference by law. Whether it is a line for customs or a table in a restaurant, we go to the front. 

We landed in Cuzco, the capital of the ancient Incan empire. 

On the road after spending the night at a hotel that was a former convent, we started to climb, and climb and climb by coach and train. Along the way we encountered Work In Progress. The countryside is inundated with homes that are half done. It might have a first floor but the second was open air or just some jutting rebar. Why? They cannot afford to go any further. Day laborers or free lancers have no credit history. They try to accumulate whatever surplus they can and that goes to putting a kitchen, a toilet or even a window or two. 

Poverty in both Ecuador and Peru is pervasive. Most of their economy is based on tourism. COVID was not an inconvenience but a stab in the heart. That being said, one it not uncomfortable with the poor as much as much more cognizant. We have so much. 

Arriving at Machu Picchu is like waiting to open a present. After  seeing a bend in a walking trail you come upon a sight that is beyond belief. This was a sacred place to live in and be part of. The sophistication and utility of the construction is mind blowing. The scope is from temples to store houses for food  situated precariously on sheer mountain cliffs. 

We lived in the middle of the the Rockies for many years. Not even close. From Cuzco to Macchu Picchu is about seventy miles. I could not even imagine doing this on foot although there is a trail that hardy hikers do take. Soaring and sheer mountain faces almost guard the entrances or at least serve as warning. 

I could rhapsodize for pages but I don’t want to bore you with my amateur slide shows. Suffice to say this has been not so much life changing but more refreshing thoughts and ideas that get lost in my vapid life. You think about how  this all came to be be. You are hit in the face with needy and hardship. You understand how simple and satisfying life can be. You wonder about how far afield one can get. Most of all is we do not have the monopoly on smarts. People without instruments and earth movers created majesty with their own hands and heads. Life in the islands is the the same as it has been for millennia. We are still only a dot in the history of our world. That’s a good thought to leave on. 

As always 

Ted The Great

Factoids:

The Incan Empire numbered around 10 million in 1500. It was defeated and destroyed by the Conqistadors who numbered around 500. All for gold and silver in the name of saving souls for Christ. At least that’s their story and they are sticking with it. 

There are over 9,000 different species on GPS. Around 1500 are endemic. Some only exist on one island and not any others. Giant tortoises can grow to almost 1,000 pounds and do not need to  eat or drink for almost 6 months. Great food source for sailing ships on long voyages. 

Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos while on a worldwide voyage on the HMS beagle. It was 1535 and he was 26 studying for the priesthood. He only spent 5 weeks exploring the islands. He would research and contemplate for almost twenty years before publish the “Origins of Species” 

Machu Picchu was built in the middle of the 1400’s. It took around thirty years. It was abandoned in 1535 and no one really knows why? Several sites were left unfinished.  

Poverty in South America is around 27%.This is people living under $6.85 per day. Extreme poverty which is 10%, is defined by people making $3.65 per day. The worst countries are Mexico,Brazil and Venezuela. The continent  has substantial natural resources. Political instability and corruption make any sort of foreign investment difficult at best.  Thing are getting better but very, very slowly. 

I Hate You….

I have spent the last few days researching a topic that has intrigued me and alas at times consumed me. Ironically, my title is supposed to be attractive and catch your interest. We love anger and retribution. If I had said, I lLove You, that would probable merit a meh and you would move on. I hope you stay. 

Defined,hate is “a profoundly intense and enduring dislike for someone or something. It is not anger, resentment, or disgust. Those are emotions in a way. It is deep seated and hard to get rid of. It is in your gut from an experience or maybe a familial or cultural upbringing. Those SOB’s have been that way since who knows when. It attacks the core nature of another person, a group of people  or an institution. 

It comes from fear, hurt or insecurity that leads to hopelessness. Our political climate is a good example. We have the ins and the outs. The outs feel helpless and fear for their future. The ins want to put it to us. We have this feeling of disgust which over time becomes deep seated. To even contemplate discovery and compromise is totally out of the question. I would have to admit that perchance some of my ideas don’t make sense. Ha! Even worse I would have to look at you as a human being and not an abstract object. 

A lot is due to pure ignorance. We have been fed a line of reasoning and leave it at that. There was an instance where someone was homophobic. He or she decided to spend a month with a bunch of gays. At the end of the thirty days there was a new appreciation for what it is like to be homosexual. Wow, there were some pretty nice people. We actually had areas of common interest. It probably took a lot of guts and openness on both sides. The more you know the tougher it is to hate.

I know this sounds like a cop out but I have to mention social media from two points of view. We are bombarded with story lines all day long. As I previously stated this is all predetermined by algorithms. You think a certain way and you will get articles that reinforce your thoughts good or bad. They make money by riling you up not calming you down. Your feeling of camaraderie gets more intense. See, there are a lot of people out there that think the way I do. And the beat goes on. 

Secondly, the internet is anonymous. I can say anything I want and never be called to task. I feel so lonely and frustrated, I want to lash out. Inequities quadruple. It’s not my fault. They are against me. Better yet I have kindred spirits who will back me up. They have been screwed too. I am not alone. I think I will put out a manifesto. Tell them what I really think. And then the unthinkable. I am going to buy a gun and a boatload of ammo. I will show them who is boss. I will be famous. It is not as far out as it sounds and that is very scary.

As infants we do not know hate. We know love and even anger or frustration, but not hate. Our families have a huge impact. Biases and prejudices are passed down. Blacks,Jews,Arabs,Commies. They are all alike. There is not a decent one among them. Besides they are a threat to me. With Hispanics and Blacks we will no longer be a majority. There will be more women than men. Don’t they know the woman needs to have her place in the world and stay there. 

What really becomes sad is if you want to think a different way. Family and social pressures are  potent forces. Say you want to go to a different church or even church at all. The silence and the looks are intimidating. We don’t think that way and neither can you. Say you want to invite a Republican or Democrat to dinner. Even worse, marry one. Come on, you know it is true. We want to be gracious but that often is replaced by being gratuitous. Man, this is going to take a lot of work. 

Where do we start? For me it starts right here. I am not holier than thou. My Irish heritage has ruled me with a quick bolt to anger and prejudices have abounded. So I have to admit I am prone to getting pissed off and yes I hate certain people and ways of doing things. I can give you a zillion reasons why I am right and you are wrong. Yet the kinder, gentler TTG really does want to come out. 

I wear a bracelet that was given to me by one of Kathy’s buddies. Last January she asked me for my word of the year. It was EMPATHY and that’s where it lies on my wrist. I had just lost a good friend. I thought about my work in hospice and how I try to reach out to everyone. White,black,female or male with all sorts of ethnicities. Then as I thought further I realized what a fraud I am. For my four hours a week I was a nice guy but man could I be a jerk at other times. 

Hate is a learned experience. It is possible to unlearn it. Try to see where the other person is coming from. Try to figure out what is triggering their hate for you. Watch FOX to MSNBC and just listen. See if there is anything you can latch onto and grasp. I am trying but man do I have a long way to go.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Hatred negatively impacts the nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system. Extreme emotions trigger the release of stress hormones in the brain. Over time, these stress hormones lead to increased inflammation throughout the body, resulting in significant health consequences. 

It is easy to hate today. Israelis-Palestinians. Illegals-citizens. right-Left. America vs Europe in the Ryder Cup. Haves-have nots. Brian Kelly at LSU. Old thinking vs new thinking. Oops! Some of the are mine. 

Through the miracle of neuroplasticity we can change the way we think. It is almost like working out and it takes a lot of work and discipline. Or you can be a couch potato and just say,Screw It!

Rhetoric is a strong tool. It can incite and it can calm. We value celebrities. I wish they would speak out more. 

Road To The Sun…

We are on tour. For the longest time we have wanted to see where our grandkids go to school. Seeking out environs in Colorado, Montana and Bellingham,Washington we have hit the road. No planes but ribbons of highway. Scenic to say the least and riveting in so many ways. 

We began in Rado where one goes from small to extra large. Colorado College in the Springs has a student body of 2,000. A compact campus and a different way of learning. You study one subject at a time for three and half weeks full bore. Then five days off and rinse and repeat with a new subject. Anders is just starting. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Next up is CU(University of Colorado) in Boulder.

This is home to 38,000 students and of course Coach Prime. The campus rambles for blocks and all the time you have a view of the magnificent Flatirons. I asked my very social granddaughter how many of the 38k she knew? We walked into a restaurant on Pearl Street and among the staff were three of her friends. Divide and conquer. 

Heading North we went through Wyoming. The vastness of miles and miles of rangeland are strangely beguiling.

It is our first look at a gigantic state with only 590,000 inhabitants. We stopped at a McDonalds in who knows where and there were six old hands in jeans and baseball caps. Drinking coffee and trading thoughts. You become jealous not bored with the sheer simplicity. 

We spent the first night in Jackson Hole which runs the gamut for well heeled to worker bees. Swells to ski bums. The Tetons are dramatic in their youth. It seems the sheer peaks were formed later than most of the Rockies. Simply put they have not been ground down yet. Give them another million years or so. The next morning we stop for an everything bagel with BEC in a local coffee shop. . Huh? Bacon,egg and cheese. I am learning. 

We then climb to around 8,550 feet above Florida at the Teton Pass. Spacious views but holy crap we have to drive down the backside. Ten degree grades! For the initiated that is seriously steep. You note the steady stream of traffic going the other way into Jackson. As in every ski town there is no way ordinary folk can live nearby. This was a gorgeous autumn day. Can you imagine navigating all this during  a blinding snowstorm in a month or two hence? At the bottom, Voila we are in Idaho ! Go figure. 

A hop skip and a jump and we are in Montana making our way towards Bozeman and home to my grandson and Montana State University. The state’s  population of just over 1.2 million, is sprinkled with cities of  25-30,000 people….and a lot of cows and wheat. The 17,000 students aka Bobcats, are a mix of on and off campus housing. This is where it gets interesting. 

Aiden is studying Civil Engineering. After my BA from Georgetown this is nuts. We toured the campus and wound up in engineering central. There are classrooms, labs and we pass by a cache of students working on a very complex formula. There is a room called Make Space where these dudes and dudettes can just come in and dream stuff up. Electrical, mechanical, you name it. Does anybody have any fun?

There is an area outside of town called Big Sky. And it is big!

The base of the mountain is about 6,000ft. The summits is 11,100. That is a lot of vertical drop for skiing. Steep and deep. There is also some serious money here. One wonders where they come from? What did or do they do. 

A very private aside as part of Big Sky is the Yellowstone Club. It costs over $400,000  and upwards of $40-70k for yearly dues. to join but you have to be a homeowner. That can cost you about $4mill for a one bedroom condo to $5-15 mill for a house. The club is estimated to have between 50 and 80 billionaire members The club’s 900 homeowners are worth more than a combined $290 billion.It is very impressive a ski area but all of this seems strangely out of place. 

We are now in Whitefish, Montana after driving through Glacier National Park. The sheer magnitude of the soaring heights and incredible sheer rock faces makes this more than awesome to a former Coloradan.

From a road that is around 6,000 feet, the highest point is Mt Cleveland at over 10,000 feet. That is almost a mile higher. The highest building in the world is 2100 feet. This is serious. 

I could go one and on about the vast expanses and towering heights but just being here is beyond chill. People are friendly but not overwhelming. We haven’t looked at the news in four or five days. In all this driving we have encountered just two BMW’s and one Audi. The state vehicle has to be a Subaru or pickup truck. If you are a local your vehicle has a patina of mud and grit. Probably several years worth. 

I will go back to the fact that if were any other country we would probably be four or five separate ones. Our divisions are natural. I can see why these are red states. They want the government to leave them alone. I am pretty sure they don’t care who the Trumpster hires or fires. Woke isn’t even on heir radar.Yet at the same time there is an allegiance to each other and to their country. They don’t take a fancy to threats or even scandals. Live and let live. They are doing just fine. 

This all leads to MAGA in a way. After many miles, America is already great. Whether you are lunatic left or right can’t you understand all we have? This process of blowing everything up after every 2 or four years gets tiresome. Waste and corruption seems to me to be evident on both sides of the ledger. Maybe all the crazies should just take a ride with me…on the Road to The Sun.

As always

Ted the Great 

Factoids :

Road to the Sun is a 50 mile long pathway through Glacier National Park. “Journey to the Sun” is a documentary film about the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Look it up and be amazed

In Dubois,Wyoming there is a National Museum of Military Vehicles. It is about 30 miles from Jackson but could be on the planet Mars.

A billionaire has collected over 500 military vehicles(and a few boats )and has assembled them in a 160,000 sf exhibition hall. He and his family have spent over $100 million to collect all these pieces and build the museum in less that four years. Now that’s a guy we should have in government. Go to :https://nmmv.org

Our trip will end in Bellingham Washington to  visit  our last stop and grandson at Western Washington University where he is studying Kinesiology. We will have covered over 1800 miles. 

Wyoming 587,618 residents

Colorado 5.9 million

Idaho 2.02 million

Montana 1.137 million 

Washington 7.95 million 

Total around 16 million 

California 39 million

Texas. 31 million

Florida 23 million

Justice….

“Justice, at its core, is the concept of fairness and impartiality in the treatment of individuals, often involving the application of moral principles, laws, or rules to ensure that people receive what they deserve.” Humbly, I will try to grind through in a few hundred words what people have tried for millennia to figure out. Pick out a few words like fairness, impartiality, moral principles and what people deserve. Tell me if we all agree. 

I am not on a personal Kamikaze mission. This whole idea of fairness splashes through dozens of news items these days. Ukraine, Bam! Weather, Socko! Trump, Gaza, Equality, DOGE, Reparations. Yikes, I could go on for days. If you don’t at least consider the concept, shame on you. 

Ideally, the rules should be the same for everyone. You play by them and you get ahead. You break them, you get punished. It is that simple. I guess you might call that a pure democracy but I think that is leaving a bit to be desired right now. 

The current discussions on Ukraine offer a glimpse of the obvious. Russia began the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 in the Crimean Peninsula. Putin, always the villain, invaded with soldiers showing no insignia or identification. Obama was at the helm and basically looked the other way. The full-scale invasion was in 2022 with Biden presiding. Putin had been professing for months that they were on training exercises while massing a huge force on the border. He is such an upstanding citizen of the world, who wouldn’t believe him ?

The Trumpster says Ukraine started it. If your jaw hasn’t dropped enough, he also says, as of press time, that Putin should get land he hasn’t even come close to capturing. By anyone’s count, the Ukrainians are suffering a pretty serious injustice on a number of fronts. Morally, geopolitically, legally, and yet they have to come, hat in hand to get assistance. This just ain’t fair or is it?

The whole law thing gets me going. Does everyone get a fair shake? Let’s say you live in a blue-collar neighborhood and your son or daughter goes out one night and gets picked up for drunk driving or vandalism, or doing drugs. Chances are, they are going to get tried and convicted in short order. Hop over to the gated side of the tracks. Either you get some hotshot lawyer to get them off, or even better, you know somebody who knows somebody, and the whole thing goes away. I forgot. That is why we haves and have nots.  

There was an article last week about a couple who bought a piece of property a couple of years back near the Bourne Bridge crossing the Cape Cod Canal. They both worked and built a house they were proud of and looked to enjoy in retirement. The only problem was that the state is going to take over the property by eminent domain and tear it down to make room for a new bridge. Legally, the state has the right to do so. Morally, shouldn’t something be done to help these people? Nobody told them, even though the realtors and townsfolk knew beforehand. 

I often wonder if there can be any justice in capitalism? The economic theory would hold that people with money want to create a capital endeavor or service. They might even pool with other monied people. They build this fantastic business that makes them even wealthier. They now have stockholders who want to see a return. We have to squeeze every last dime out, which means we have to go with a smaller employee base, boost productivity, pay them as little as possible and maybe even cut a few corners. Let’s not say whether this is right or wrong, but is it just, in the truest sense of the word? 

I have thought about the education thing. We need an education to get ahead. It cost money to go to school. There is a lot of aid but even given that, there are a lot who can’t do it without signing up for debt for a major part of their lives. The rich don’t really have those problems. Is it really an equal playing field? 

Okay, I am not espousing revolution or even playing with your minds any more than I do mine. But it really becomes a quandary. I would like to see a fair world where people get what they deserve as human beings. But just what do they deserve? We can’t all be the same financially. There have to be rewards for the daring and the ambitious, or else you have a stagnant world. What are the boundaries for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Great question. 

Life is neither fair nor unfair. Just or unjust. It is a very subjective reflection by each one of us. What is considered good or bad in your part of the world might not be so in another. There are cultures and norms that are substantially far apart. Is there any underlying tenet that we can live by?  

Do unto others is a great precept. Really concentrate on it for a minute. Am I going to blow someone’s head off if I am pretty sure they are coming back and do it to me or my loved ones? Am I going to steal from you, try to seduce your wife, or cheat you in a business deal when I know it will come around and hit me in the same way? It is neither religious nor pompous. It is simply recognizing that we are all the same. I know that won’t happen, but it isn’t something to strive for, rather than winner take all or to the victor belongs the spoils? 

Our current path does not seem to be going down this road. A lot of us are just out for ourselves. Might work for a while. Long term, you will probably get screwed just like the rest of us. On this, life doesn’t feel like playing favorites.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Justice can be distributive,legal, procedural, social, and corrective to name a few. Yikes, this is complex. 

The financial crisis of 2008 saw tens of thousands lose their homes in loan default. Not one banker or mortgage broker went to jail. 

Our current illegal immigration crisis is replete with injustice. For years, we left the gate open and looked the other way.. The farmer used them to pick crops and till his fields. Then we cut off the supply. Now those crops are unpicked only to rot. Who gets sent back? Kids were brought here at 2 and 3 years old. Are they at fault? At the same time people have been waiting on line to get in for years.  What’s fair? 

During WWII 120,000 American citizens who were of Japanese descent were relocated and sent to relocation centers that were really internment camps. 

Sometimes there is no black and white in justice. That was not a play on words. Circumstances or mores really come to bear. Justice is not always perfect. People can get burned one way or the other.  

Talk To Me….

Well kids,I have come to the conclusion that the whole world is nuts. Many of you have already gotten there but I always hold out hope. A couple of great friends, who used to be Army brass, have told me many times that hope is not a strategy. Tragic flaw on my part. 

I keep looking for a middle ground on anything. Israel seems to be starving Gazans but Hamas and friends brought this on themselves. They are living in underground tunnels and so you have to bomb the crap out of them but everything is already back to the stone age. Where is the solution?

Ukraine blows my mind. We supply them with arms but only so much. We don’t want to get Putin mad. Putin is certifiably stark raving mad already! His Hairness says he and Vladimir are on good speaking terms. I would love to know what language they are speaking.

And young people on both sides are being wasted in a war of attrition. Haven’t we made any progress since the Huns and the Tatars?

The stock market has always been risky, but it is now the world’s’ largest casino. You can bet long,short, buy, sell and the wizards of Wall Street come up with a different wrinkle every day to figure out how to make money out of you and me. Meme stocks are the rage and the only thing good about them is that they confound the big shorts. Crypto,Sports gambling? What is the harm? Samo,samo.

I read an interview this morning with Yuval Harari, a very heavy duty thinker about AI. I have gotten through a good portion of his book, Nexus,and I am still as lost as ever. We have Generative AI which digests enormous amounts of data and spits out some translation or analysis. Like reading mammograms or analyzing an impending pandemic. Now we have Agent AI. This little beauty can create its own thought process, edit and correct itself and make decisions without any human interaction. It is said it can read your emails, respond to them and then give you a list of ones you should review. Not trying to be an old fart but isn’t this bordering on mega(not MAGA) dangerous? Maybe that too. 

It seems to me a whole lot of things are about to go TILT. We mess with tariffs, DOGE and going back over Russiagate, impeachments, stolen elections and Hunter Biden. Yet the looming imperatives of immigraton, Social Security, Medicare and unfunded pensions go wanting for lack of interest. Congress is taking six weeks off. The Trumpster is playing golf in Scotland and NYC is going to elect a socialist or pervert, depending on the results. Is it just me? 

Kabul is out of water. Nada, zilch! Who cares about Afghanistan? I really don’t, but is this the canary in the coal mine? Wildfires everywhere from the vast wilderness of Canada to the Western slope of Colorado to the Greel isles. Coincidence? Our oceans are now chock a block with microplastics, which are ingested by fish, that  healthy people are supposed to eat to live longer. Makes perfect sense. 

Now, if you are the average earthling, you probably have three responses. First is, I really don’t give a shit. Your little corner of the world has no effect on mine. Secondly, I have my own worries to think about. Food, rent, entertainment and travel are in my wheelhouse, so get out. Lastly, these problems are so complex that I can’t possibly have any effect on them. I am going to go with one side or the other and just roll the dice. 

Why don’t people speak up? I have thought about this quite a bit. With what I do, I spend a lot of time talking to people. Some special friends say I can talk to a tree. Thank you so very little. But it is true, I love to engage people. I revel in a good deep conversation. Someone’s wife told me once that her husband never talks to anyone…but me.  How does that happen? 

I could take you through the difference between monologues and dialogues, but I think you get it. I ask questions. Look for common ground or hot buttons. I want to be interested in what they have to say. Of utmost importance is that they know, It Ain’t going anywhere! 

People don’t like to look bad. They don’t like to buck the party line. There is a big air of vulnerability that happens in good conversation. Are my ideas stupid? What will the other person think of me? It is so sad, what you really want to say, never comes out. We put people down. Bury them with criticism. Bully them and bowl them over. That is the surest way to success. 

I have a couple of good friends I can go down and dirty with. We have talked at times for hours and I treasure it. I have patients and families in hospice that are beyond kind and trusting to let me into their world and their hearts. No matter what they say or feel is incredibly valid.They are more than worthy. They are so important. 

Bottom line is that we really run the risk of losing that. We have sacrificed our point of view to pundits and politicians.Bottom line is that we really run the risk of losing that. We have sacrificed our point of view to pundits and politicians. I don’t think we remain silent because of shyness or embarrassment. We all have very valid viewpoints and philosophies. We just have no one who will truly listen. We are all too busy or just not interested. You know when you are at a cocktail party and meet someone who, while talking to you, is scanning the room for someone more important to talk to. Hey, good to see you. Let’s get together soon. They never do. 

I am going to go out and look for a tree to talk to. Maybe I will just send you a note because it has been so long. I have no special talent. We all can do it. Maybe I will just get out of myself. Who knows? It might work.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

A lack of communication can lead to misunderstandings, damaged relationships, and increased stress, particularly in personal and professional settings. Emotional distance with family and friends. Damaged morale and missed opportunities at work. 

The line “What we have here is failure to communicate” is a famous quote from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke.

“Talk To Me” is a creepy horror movie about kids with an embalmed hand. which I have not seen. Maybe Ted’s Head is a horror flick in its own right. 

We think faster than someone else can speak. On average words are spoken at the rate of about 125 words per minute. However, our mental capacity to comprehend what was spoken is much higher; around 400 words per minute. As we are using only 25% of our mental capacity, this leaves ample room for our minds to wander. It takes work and practice. 

People have many sides to themselves. A person can be a Teddy Bear at one time and an Orca the other. Not a Jekyll and Hyde but just something that makes life interesting . 

In My Opinion…..

As I hit the keyboard once again, I am asking myself a very important question. I have been doing this for over fourteen years. What right do I have to interject my thoughts on so many people? Who the hell do I think I am to wax poetically about this or that? It is really just my opinion. 

There are so many learned people out there. They have studied philosophy, the sciences, and the arts. They have a lot of knowledge under their belt. They have written dissertations, given speeches, and been interviewed by all sorts of media. These dudes and dudettes really know what they are talking about or do they? 

I always put factoids into my missives. I try to cross-reference them a couple of times because you know how fast and loose people play with the facts today. There are two I use when something seems particularly outlandish. One is Snopes and the other is factcheck.org. Not infallible but they give one the confidence I am employing some sort of due diligence. I try not to get too crazy. 

It becomes habit-forming. To the chagrin of many I speak out on things that I think are wrong. I like to point out what I think are train wrecks about to happen. It is not really complaining but just speaking my mind. To a fault, I am not a diplomat. I just hope my argument wins you over even if my demeanor sucks. Of course, there is a better way to schmooze and convince. I just write it off as one of my many tragic flaws. But I do my homework.

There are so many ways to solve a problem. Mine is just one of many. When someone just rattles off a party line I wonder how much of their belief is just regurgitating some sort of pablum or have they really thought about it? Our thinking is the result of months and years that pass while dealing with a concept. God, Immigration, abortion, poverty, LGBQT, Communism, War. I could go on and on. I guess one can say it sets up their version of morality or even reality for a start. 

I spend a lot of time thinking. It is what gets my juices going. I love to read columns of all sorts. Guys like Brooks, Friedman, and Zeihan are fun to read and listen to. Not to be sympatico, but to just hear what they have to say. I like to read reports from the front lines, whether it is a war zone or a demonstration. A market analysis or a theory on psychology. It probably fills my little brain with too many ideas but I rarely consider that to be the God blessed truth. It is someone’s opinion or interpretation.

This does not always win me friends or associates. People do not like to have their beliefs and theories put into question. I am not so much challenging them as to whether they are right or wrong, but in the tiniest way, ask if could their input be flawed? I question all sorts of my thinking after a good conversation. And I do adjust. Not wide u turns but gentle nudges one way or another. For me, that is healthy. 

In the winter here in Flalaland, I go to Bible study on Tuesday mornings at 7:30. I had never gone to anything of this sort before then. We were led by a very cool minister who put everyone at ease. There are 20 or so guys that do so. We are encouraged to speak our minds, and it is fascinating how many do so. That’s right, ladies,sluggo guys baring their souls and nothing more, thank God. And we all walk out of there feeling something. Maybe religious, but maybe even more just being alive. Neat stuff. 

I am pissed off at our discourse today.

We want to shut down any contrary thinking. The debacle of the Big Beautiful Bill was disheartening. Not because of what was in it, but because so few spoke what was on their mind. To succumb to threats on both sides of the aisle was embarrassing. Fall in line and shut up, or I will destroy you. Is this where we are? We can shake our heads, but don’t we do the same things in our own lives? Equivocating is so easy. 

Opinion is: a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Ironically opinionated is: conceitedly assertive and dogmatic in one’s opinions. We are all so quick to fall under the banner of this or that political view. We are convinced the leader is all-knowing. Read through the precepts. Are we all truly left or right?

Just think about this, kids. None of us has all the right answers. There are flaws in every argument and we would be fools to ourselves if we didn’t admit it. Don’t hide behind resolve as an excuse to not admit our flaws. We can all bend and not break. We can all look at a different side of things. But then again that is just my opinion.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids

 Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign asked participants to categorize 12 statements about current events as facts or opinions. They found that 45.7 percent could do that correctly no more than half the time.

Examples of facts include “The Earth is round” or “Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius”. Examples of opinions include “Chocolate ice cream is the best” or “That movie was boring”. Facts are objective. Opinions are subjective

In the same temperature room, some will feel cold and some will feel hot. Who is right? You will not win that argument with your spouse or significant other.

There are approximately 48,000 news analysts, reporters, and journalists. There are over 100 syndicated columnists. Tell me you have that figured out. 

Pew Research polls thousands of people on a number of topics annually. Interesting stuff. Give it a look

It’s What We Do…

I am struck by all the discussion around assisted suicide. There is a New York State law that pushes the boundaries a little further down the road. People can argue both sides without any input from yours truly, but maybe I have a unique perspective. 

As most of you know, I work as a volunteer for Treasure Coast Hospice. I have been doing that here in Flalaland and in Colorado prior to moving here. That is coming close to just shy of twenty years.

My primary job is simple. I interact with patients and their families in our Inpatient Unit (IPU). They come there when their symptoms can’t be treated at home. I truly see them at the end of the journey. 

I have probably been with a person at the time of their death dozens of times. I have watched the last breath be taken. It has never been a bad sight. It is actually quite beautiful and serene. There is finally closure for him or her and the family as well. 

Too many years ago, I wanted to be at the birth of our firstborn. That didn’t happen much back then, so the doctor wanted to meet me so he could feel comfortable that I wouldn’t go to my knees. As we chatted, he said no matter how many times he delivered a child, it was always a thrill to see a baby come to life. He said,there are four of us in the room and then there are five. I have thought the same as a person has passed and I think there were five of us in the room and now there are four. The circle of life. 

Hospice is not a building or an institution; it is a philosophy. You are diagnosed by a doctor that you have six months or less to live. You begin a journey with very tell-tale steps. We have been there thousands of times. We can see the pratfalls and pitfalls ahead. We hold your hand and guide you. We do not dictate but let the family be very much a part of the process. We neither retard nor hasten death. Compassion is our middle name. 

Right now, we have over 625 patients in our care. We do so with over 400 employees and 250 volunteers of all sorts. We are a non-profit organization. Our goal is to break even. Ironically, 75% of the hospices in the US are owned by private equity. You know, the guys who like to show big returns to their investors. They are in businesses of every type. Sorry, when people dying becomes a profit center for whomever it really pisses me off. But I digress.

When we get a patient in the IPU, it is after a long slog. They have been through a myriad of doctors and treatments. Coming from a hospital or rehab center they are deemed to be beyond hope. The caregivers have been doing their thing for months if not years in many cases. Chemo, radiation, therapy sessions, surgery, you name it. They and the patient are exhausted mentally and physically. 

As a volunteer, we ask the care nurse four simple questions about the patients. How old are they, what do they have, are they verbal, and do they have family? We then knock on the door, I say I am volunteer Ted, and with the scant bio, try to gain their trust in a matter of moments. I first tell them this is our home and you are our guests and we will do anything we can for you. It is a relief that technicians and staff are not running in and poking them. There is a quietude that is not eerie but comforting. We do good by holding hands,giving hugs and letting them know we have their back.  Good stuff.

We also provide care in facilities such as nursing homes and at home, where most of our patients want to die. Our volunteers have a different goal, which is more long-term. They get to know people on a totally different basis. Same love and empathy. Different providers. 

After death we provide grief support to anyone, even if your loved one was not in hospice. We do the same for the community we live in as a service during a catastrophic event or mass shooting. We recieve no compensation and are funded by grants and donations. 

Why am I telling you all of this? Assisted suicide is cited to put people out of their misery with one pill. I can’t argue the ethics for or against. I guess I want you to know two things. I am not a fan of messing with life in any way from birth to death. We are in an era where we want to give birth to blonde-haired, blue-eyed geniuses, and we are developing technologies that can do so. There is a randomness to life that is part of its beauty. To AI and quant our lives away seems terribly boring and predictable. There is a form and rhythm to nature that has existed for millions of years. We are so arrogant to think we know better.

Secondly, if you or a loved one is faced with impending death, I hope you realize there is another way. Too many times you wait till the last minute. We do not want to take hope from anyone, but when I see someone beaten up by therapies, I do wonder if it is all worth it. Especially as we all get on in years. I guess I could ask myself, what am I trying to accomplish, and more importantly, why? You can call hospice for an evaluation or to answer questions. In all these years I have not met a single person who has not said that they either wish they had done it sooner or that more people knew about us. 

Life is precious, right to the end. We get it. It is what we do.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Hospice provides palliative care for individuals with life-limiting illnesses, focusing on comfort and symptom management rather than curative treatment. It is a covered benefit under Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans. 

It is a proven fact that a patient in hospice can achieve a higher quality of life, knowing that so many things are being cared for. 

Doctors are egotistical, and we want them that way. Unfortunately, it is beyond difficult for them to have the conversation about hospice. Ironically, they tell a patient there is nothing more that can be done. Of course, there is; they can call hospice. 

You can leave hospice if you feel your condition is improving or you just don’t want to be part of it anymore.  There are no contracts or locked doors. 

The clinicians and staff I have been involved with over the years are some of the most incredible loving and caring people I have ever met. Hospices always need volunteers of all sorts. I have had more than a few who say they could never do it, and now are a part of our family.