As of late I have been in a borderline crappy mood. What? How can that be? It is Christmas time even in Flalaland, though it seems a bit contrived. Chilly is 65-70 degrees. Santa costumes get hot inside. Bikini clad elves are a sight to see but let’s get real. But it is not just that. 

The world is a mess, to be candid. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men has gotten lost in translation. Middle East, Cuba, and Africa. France,Germany and all things Europe seem to be out of whack. Isn’t there a nice, quiet spot somewhere to just chill?

Our press hasn’t learned a thing in the past few months. Still prattling and losing viewers and readers by the boatload. You can only beat dead horses just so far. Podcasts are the rage if you have an hour or two. Of course I do if I decide not to talk to anyone in a meaningful way. What’s a guy to do?

Welcome to the world of backtracking. Biden wasn’t going to pardon his son and now is doing so for half the country. Trump was going to cut our grocery bills and deport 12 million illegals. Musk, Bezos and Zuckerburg are bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn king and even a million or two for the inauguration. It is amazing how one’s colors change when the rubber meets the road. 

Enter Hope Rural School. This masterpiece is located in Indiantown, Florida, about 15 miles west of Paradise. When Citrus was king or queen, the workers settled there. As gated communities bloomed, they, of course, needed cleaners and landscape people  And those people wanted to raise kids. Hispanic and poor, where were they to be educated ? 

Around 40 years ago two brave nuns started with nothing. To this day without public funding they created a place to learn and be loved for 142 pre K to 5th grade students. The good people of Harbour Ridge, where we live,  wanted to help. Some traveled several times a week to volunteer teach. Others opened their wallets to help build. And 28 years ago someone got the great idea to adopt families for Christmas. 

Last Wednesday, we delivered red bags full of Xmas goodies to 110 families. We all met in the cafeteria/meeting hall. Each class put on a musical act of singing and dancing. Club members were Mr and Mrs Claus, ably assisted by more members and a great time was had by all. Each child shook our hand to say thank you or Merry Christmas. Not a dry eye in the house.

It got me thinking. It wasn’t just us but thousands of individuals, groups, churches, companies, firemen, policemen, and service organizations throughout the land doing much of the same work. Not just at the holidays but throughout the year. Food banks, soup lines, interventions, fund raising of all sorts are organized by simple folk. They don’t get attention or praise. They are really quite astounding. 

I asked around and discovered that 25% of us do some sort of volunteering. There are over 1.5 million non profit organizations. Who knows how many more are informal groups to meet local needs? We as Americans gave over $550 Billion dollars to charity in 2023…that is with a capital B. Individuals gave $375 Billion. Corporations gave $36 Billion and foundations over $100 Billion. Why don’t we hear about that?

We were at Cigars and Scotch a few weeks ago. One of my buddies had on a pullover from a group that helped local kids in Jupiter, Florida. There is another group that takes troubled kids and teaches them a trade while finishing high school. We are not special. It is happening throughout America. 

My friend mused, asking what if there was an all-day or all weekend. blitz on national TV to tell every one of us that all is not lost. Not to raise money but to just psread the news. There are good kids and good people out there. Not government programs but just ordinary people jumping up and raising their hands. Why is that not “BreakingNews” or “Bulletins”?

The cynics among us will say that it will never sell. People love gore and bad news. I guess that is what the consultants of today are preaching. We are being told what to listen to and how we want our news because of this poll or that. It is probably just me, but this sounds absurd. 

It’s is Christmas and I think my mood is changing. I am going to concentrate on what is right with our world, not what is wrong. Sure we have problems but are they that daunting? Better yet can’t they be fixed to some degree by just toning it down. I don’t like being played by either side. They are firing up the troops for pay back not give back. How sad!

I hope this message is not mixed. I have to shape up my act and maybe you have to do the same to yours. Even the poorest of us have to realize that life isn’t all that bad. Imagine if we were having this conversation in Haiti or Somalia or Ukraine? Peace on earth. It is what I am aiming for and hoping for you. Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Giving feels good, is good for your health and is contagious. Women give gifts to more people than men. The average giver is 62 years old. Charitable giving rises about 1/3 as much as the stock market does. 

Kars For Kids gets over 40,000 care per year to support youth programs of all sorts. Man, I hate that song.

Approximately 90% of all network news is negative. If it bleeds, it leads. A website lost 66% of its users when they did nothing but positive stories over several days. We can still try!

According to the National Science Foundation,we have 12-600 thoughts per day.  80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of our thoughts are repetitive. Yikes!!

“Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love, or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give.

Depending on your political ideology, the next four years will either be the Christmas gift you have been yearning for or a nightmare that won’t seem to end. This should come as no surprise to anyone. It is a ritual that our forefathers dreamed up too many years ago. It is the way we do business.

If you don’t like something, change it. Every non incumbent will want to change this or that or perhaps blow the whole thing up and start over again. I have been through many changings of the guard. We are going to give the government back to the people. We are going to overhaul this department or that. Motherhood and apple pie. One problem! Either way 70 million or so are going to love you or hate you. 

We talk of mandates, which by defintion are an order or commission to do something. I always find this a bit of deception. We seem to want to confer unbridled power on the winner. That is sort of democracy. Then they get bogged down in a stupid thing called reality. 

The Department of Justice is an interesting example. There are forty different subheadings including : US Attorneys, FBI,Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau · Antitrust Division · Drug Enforcement Administration …to name a few. There are 115,000 employees spread out who knows where but that is a bunch of people even if you fire 25%. You would probably need 8-12 years to clean up the waste if everyone cooperated. This should be easy for Matt Gaetz who has managed to piss off 90% of everyone except his father and mother.

The Department of Defense has over 1.4  million active-duty service personnel, including soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, and guardians. The Department of Defense also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91  million employees. The budget is give or take $850 billion. Now you are smart people. Does it make any sense to put a former newsperson, granted he is a veteran, in charge of this behemoth? 

You might think I am a Dem. I am not. Ditto Republican. I hope by some definition, I am a businessman. I know things are bloated and self serving. His Hairness is carving out niches for his buddies. It is not only the Trumpster but Congress itself.Every spending bill affects all sorts of fiefdoms. People say they want to cut spending…just not in their district. 

I have been researching varying agencies. There is incredible overlap. In affordable housing there are over 100 departments that have their finger in the pie. Public health, agriculture, Congress and the Presidency have found a need for more people. Then you also need, secretaries, office space et al. This really is nuts. I welcome any effort to clean things up. 

Robert Gates was Secretary of Defense from 2006-2011. He tried for 7 months to figure the ins and outs of the department. He gave up in disgust. My point is that this government of ours is off the rails. Do we really think some of the nominations are going to work? 

If I were running the joint, I would just take one of the departments to work on. I would get the best pros in the business and go from top to bottom.  Make it my headliner, my working model. Make every effort public, no matter who you pissed off.  Indeed a small section of the swamp but it is better than drowning in the rest. This full metal jacket approach that is currently  being proposed has a lot of places to fail. 

We worry about Trump being a totalitarian, and some of those fears might be valid. Xi and Putin have surrounded themselves with sycophants who dare not share their contrary opinions. No news, but good news. It does not take a rocket scientist to see how that is working out. Trump wants absolute allegiance to everything he floats. I know what I am doing, so just shut up. I wince not because I am apolitical but because it just makes no sense. Unfortunately, to many it does, and I will respect that. Deep down we have to admit to frailties and bad decisions and fix them, not contiinue on a kamikaze mission. The thought of Slim Pickens riding the A Bomb comes to mind. 

Most of all we have to look at ourselves. After Harris’s loss, the politicos and pollsters were coming up every excuse they could muster. I think it came down to most people voting to avoid the other. Smiley backtracked more times than I have fingers,on the border,trans rights et al. The rank and file who did 180’s on Trump was sickening. The whole process was pretty bad. And yet we really did not protest in any tangible way. We looked the other way,held our nose and jumped…or voted.

The winners can’t gloat. The losers have to get over it. We have to be more aware and dare I say educated to understand what our vote really means. Is it solidarity or aquiesence? Is it strictly for my good or for the country as a whole. Sure we could have revolution but it could also be a Renaissance. I was hoping that Trump would be gracious and constructive and to really get things done in a sane way. Right now, I can’t bet the ranch on that. 

To finish, I was just thinking how many years I have to go. Probably 10-15. Not maudlin but practical. Do I really want to waste four of those precious 365’s watching one debacle of rancor after another? Is it productive or even rational to dissect every minute with talking heads or news conferences? Do I want to hear blathering on the floors of congress to empty seats? Do I want to guard my responses to friends lest there be a Donnybrook. That’s not the way I am going to spend the next four. How about you? No matter how old you are and how many years you have left?

As always 

Ted The Great

Factoids

The U.S. has lost almost $2.4 trillion in simple payment errors over the last two decades.

We spend  $1.7 billion a year to maintain empty office buildings.There are 80,000 of these.

It costs 3 cents to make a penny and 11 cents to make a nickel.

According to the G.A.O., the Department of Treasury has the greatest percentage of waste, fraud, and abuse at 23.87% of the department’s budget. This is followed by Labor at 11.68%, Veterans Affairs at 10.33%, Agriculture at 9.76%, and HHS at 8.87%.

Breaking News…At press time I just learned of Matt Gaetz withdrawing. Maybe there is hope after all.

I have been a tad sidelined for the past week or so. Looking for a rabbit hole or two, I go back to this whole idea of a consumer economy. 70% of our GDP is devoted to stuff of one form or another. We produce things. The the public at large has to use tehm in one way or another. We rely on this hamster wheel of buying to keep us all afloat. I keep wondering, how this came to be? 

Let’s go back about three hundred years or so. Everything was handmade of a sort. The cottage industries of furniture, textiles and food were meant to provide what we needed to live and not much more. If you were rich and famous or noble you could get the good stuff. Since they just hung out by themselves they did not have to impress anyone beyond their fellow courtisans. The poor people had no friggin clue what fancy was. 

Now along comes the Industrial Revolution which had its beginnings in England and spread in quick fashion to Europe. You no longer dealt in onesies and twosies in all aspects of life. Making tons of stuff required a new type of marketplace. In the early 19th century we had the advent of department stores that had acres of  indoor space to introduce people to the finer things of life. Even if you could not afford it, you could “window shop” and dream. 

The ultimate fairy tale dream maker was the Sears and Roebuck catalog. People everywhere, from the cities to rural America, were enticed by page upon page of things. Clothes, tools, toys, and even houses could be purchased and delivered right to your doorstep. This was starting to get good. 

The early twenties were heady times. Cities were growing, and people didn’t have to work 12-hour days, six days a week. This thing called leisure time had to be filled with movies, radios, and better eats, even in the sticks. Assembly lines brought down costs and more and more folks were increasing their wealth by serving this buying public. 

With the machines running 24/7 there was a lot of stuff. The trick now was to keep them buying. Enter PR and advertising. Daily newspapers, weekly magazines and the proliferation of radio were just what the doctor ordered. The Madison Avenue gang came to be and there was a little band of psychologists that came up with a variety of ways to tweek your buying neurons. They were also proferring a new concept, buying on credit. What a country. 

Hold that thought for awhile. Unfortunately, a little thing called 1929 and The Great Depression came along. Banks that had been lending money hand over fist, failed. Factories slowed down, and workers were laid off. But interestingly, there was a large demand for cheap goods. Prices went back to levels of 1913 and 1914. 

The promotion  boys were still hard at work. Entertainment provided a cheap way to take your mind off things, and of course, there were ads everywhere. They introduced the concept of envy. Not of higher classes but just a small slab of your world. Keeping up with the Joneses’ became the maxim and people did all they could to be the first one on the block.

During WWII things were tight with rationing and the war effort but the 50’s and 60’s provided the urge to buy after being cooped up for so long. The role of status and fashion came to the fore. Cars, clothes and even furnishings changed from year to year. The “latest” were defined by some genius somewhere and we as a buying public ate it up….and still do. 

Things no longer last a lifetime but have a planned obsolescence. You can buy a set of golf clubs this year that are the latest and greatest and next year they are yesterday’s news. Ties are wide and then thin and then no ties at all. TVs and streaming bring the theater to you. Sound systems, ear buds, EV’s and even booze require one to constantly be on their toes, lest you fall behind. 

Here is where it gets interesting. Are we inherently envious and desirous, or are we being persuaded into this way of living? There are business moguls who consider the masses to be idiots. Sheep to be led. There are others who consider the ability to buy to be the ultimate freedom for an individual. I buy because I can and that’s it. 

I have spoken before of depression and its main symptom, a lack of self-esteem. An advertising exec told me once that his job was to exploit that fault.

If you don’t drink the right beer or drive the right car, you will be considered a loser. If you have the latest and greatest, you are a worthwhile person who has made it. If not, you will probably be left out of everything that is fun. FOMO, Fear of Missing Out, is the worst trick our minds can play on us. 

All of this might sound mundane. Get a grip, TTG. It’s life. Yes, it is, but when our economy relies 70% on its perpetuation, what happens when the hamster slows down from exhaustion or, even worse, dies? It just seems to me to be a house of cards of a sort. We are being battered by Mother Nature all over our country and the world as well.  Are we in for another type of storm? Could it be consumerism?  Good question.  

As always 

Ted The Great  

Factoids:

In the US, digital media is expected to account for over 77% of total ad spend in 2024, with online advertising revenue reaching an estimated $252.8 billion 

Big Pharma spends about $95 billion on research and $18 billion on ads per year. We are one of only three countries in the world that advertise drugs.

There are 6-8 ads during NFL timeouts and possession changes. 

The average person in the United States is exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day. This number includes ads from traditional media, like TV and radio, as well as digital platforms like social media, search engines, and websites. 

There are 300,000 items in the average American home. Our homes have tripled in size over the last 50 years. The US has over 50,000 off-site storage facilities. There is 7.3 square feet of storage for every human being. We buy 53 items of clothing in a year. Party on kids!

Being a minimalist means you value yourself more than material things. It means making decisions based on what you need instead of getting everything you want. It does not mean the things you buy are cheap. It means they are something you need, regardless of how much they cost.  Interesting. 

Well kids, we are under two weeks from whatever. The polls are going nuts. Some screwball says he has picked the last five winners. Door County, Wisconsin picks the winner every time. Why do we even vote?

The first deciding factor is your sex. If you have Sir Orange in the mix it might be plain old sex itself. He’s never cheated on any of his multiple wives. He treats women with the utmost dignity. He “weaves” sex into almost every conversation and waxes eloquently as to a person’s looks or jock size. But don’t worry it is just the Donald being the Donald. 

Kamalla makes her sex about the right of a woman to have say over her own body. This gets a little tricky. We discuss when life starts and when we still can end it. When it comes to rape and incest some of us say tough luck. If a child is to be the culmination of a couple’s love for each other, then doesn’t that seem out of whack? Then again when it is just a matter of convenience or timing, I imagine there are a lot of us that would take issue. 

This really gets confusing when you say I don’t care how good or bad you are,you are one of me. Suburban housewives like Kamalla and macho men like Trump. Some guys can’t even picture a woman as president. Women detest Trump because of how he looks toward women.  I wish we could all wear blinders. It is 2024. Haven’t we outgrown the man and woman thing? I guess not. 

Inflation,deflation,taxes,tariffs are the predominant issue on everyone’s mind. One guy says he is voting for Trump because he can’t grill steaks anymore but has to settle for hamburger. Meaningful.

Things are more expensive for sure. Can a president really change that? Dunno. Price controls seem a little off the wall. But so are tariffs. 

Of course, neither one has said a word about my inconvenient topic of the national debt. Each one-ups the other with, I am going to cut taxes and issue givebacks that will bring a tear to your eye. I am crying because spending over $1 trillion on interest alone. I will see your lower income tax and raise your capital gains. 

Chuck Shumer is a progressve Democrat. He is also the guardian angel of carried interest for hedge funds. Simply put all the humungous profits they are taxed at a much lower cap gains rate. I wonder whom they are voting for?

Let’s do immigration. Kamalla was for open borders and now wants them slammed shut. His Hairness wants to send millions of illegals back to where they came from. Some have been here for over ten years. The sheer size and cost of any such operation gets lost in the shuffle. Would local commerce grind to a halt. We may find out. 

We can discuss whether we were better off under Trump than Biden. Some of us want to be walled in from the rest of the world. Some want to solve global problems. Ditto global warming, abortion, guns et al. Each side has its valid points. 

I have a problem with Kamalla in the way she answers questions. Her answers are sometimes circuitous and vague. You wonder if there is any meat to the thought process. I truly question Trump’s sanity. His narcissism would be fun to watch as a back bencher but as a president, he scares the hell out of me.  Forget the fact that he is crude and boorish. Some like it because we are seeing the real him. To each his own. 

Who am I voting for in the end? Good question. You know I will not answer that. In fact I am still undecided. That is the first time that has ever happened to me this late in the game. Part of me wants to look towards what it will mean for me and vote accordingly. Then my weird cousin Herbie asks me what is best for the country? Then I think about my kids and grandkids. A tough decision. I do not take it likely.  

As always

Ted The Great. 

Factoids: 

Registered voters are now evenly split between the Republican and Democratic parties. In reality, 1/3 are part of one party and 1/3 are part of the other. 33% consider themselves independents. Man, I wish we had a third party. 

Pew research lists what we consider to be problems. Dated 5/2024

How accurate are polls?   As a result, the actual margin of error in most historical polls is closer to 6% or 7%, not 3%, said a 2016 study from The New York Times. This represents an error range of 12 to 14 data points, the Times said. That gives one a warm fuzzy doesn’t it?  Think about how many of us are swayed by polls.  

I am sitting here in Flalaland awaiting the latest onslaught of Mother Nature. Whether it is Milton Bradley or Milton Berle, she seems to be playing a cruel joke on all of us. Sunday night at a neighborhood get-together, weather was the topic du jour. What do you think? Should we go or stay? I chuckled to myself. Weather is the one thing I have absolutely zero control over. Nada,zilch and yet we still fret. 

If we lived on the west coast of Florida, I would be doing some serious thinking about where I wanted to hang my hat in the future. The concept of rebuilding two, three, and four times just blows my mind. The idea of abandoning all hope also strikes one as a horrible Rubicon to cross. Talk about mixed emotions. 

People come here to escape the cold weather, which is fair enough. The two months from August 1 to October 1 are an acquired taste. Hot and humid can be worked around. For yours truly, it is a great way to maintain my weight. And besides, where would we go?

Up until two weeks ago, it might have been the hills of Georgia or North and South Carolina. We have visited Asheville, and it is or was idyllic. The Vanderbilts were on to something, and many followed suit. The Outer Banks? Not exactly. New Jersey, Long Island? How soon we forget Sandy. 

How about the deserts of California or Arizona? How many days straight of 100 degrees on the thermometer? I know, we will make our way to the mountains of California or Colorado. If you escape the fires, then you have to figure out how to get insurance on your little bit of heaven nestled in the woods. This is getting tough. 

The south and midwest breed a little thing called tornados as the rite of spring. The northwest has beautiful views of the Pacific but “The Big One” hits you may oceanfront property in Idaho. Could it be there is nowhere safe for TTG and the Divine Miss K?

Let’s go to the stats. The top two winners for safety are eastern Pennsylvania and Michigan. Huh? I am sure these are wonderful places but not exactly where I want to live my last. Cleveland, a Mecca? Maybe there is a message here. 

I think we have become more and more resistant to coping. Not just our physical environment  but maybe how we do things. We have become inured to life’s little troubles. If we have any little malady there is a doctor nearby who can cure anything. If he can’t, then there are specialists of every ilk.You don’t go to an orthopedic doc but only to one who knows feet or knees or hip joints. And by the way I want to see that guy yesterday. 

We redo our bodies. We redo our houses to avoid the worst curse of all…looking dated. I need a new car as a pick me up. Perhaps a jet away for a week or two to try to obviate my poor overworked and stressed out psyche. Oh God ,kids are a pain! I need a break. What happened to Suck It Up?

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal this AM. It was about that little thing we call the National Debt. It seems the Trumpster would add about $7 trillion to our national credit card. Smiley would only add $3.5 trillion. Just wonderful! No one wants to sit down and shoot us straight as to the disaster looming. We will fill in the details later. 

Over the years the toughest thing for yours truly is having to deal with something really distasteful.  Having to fire someone. Can we really afford to do this or that? Having to uproot not for whimsy but survival. Ok, you have cancer. How do we want to go forward? Do you help a child who is hooked on drugs or finally have them fend for themselves?  Do we treat a fatal disease or go into hospice? 

Of course, I could punt but this is where the rubber meets the road. As for weather, I have already said there is nothing we can do about it. As for so many other parts of our lives, we can meet conflict head-on or put it off for another day, but what good does that do?  It gnaws at you and keeps popping up at a most inopportune moment. But you know it is there.  Sooner or later, there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. As individuals or as a country, we really have to deal with it.

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids

California is the most disaster prone state in the union…for a lot of reasons. Throughout the US, although wildfires are the most common natural disaster, hurricanes inflict the most damage.

From 2003 to July 2023, the U.S. tallied 2,602 disaster declarations across all 50 states. California, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, Florida,Nevada and Montana round out the top ten in that order. 

Congress has not updated our immigration policy since 1986. We have had a balanced budget only twice in the last fifty years.

• 1969: President Lyndon Johnson balanced the budget
• 1998–2001: President Bill Clinton balanced the budget 

People are told to evacuate but a large number cannot. Evacuation, like most disaster resilience actions is easier if you have wealth, health and extensive social networks. You don’t have a car or can’t afford the gas.You don’t have family and you can’t afford a hotel room. You are handicapped or just can’t travel due to illness.  It ain’t all cut and dry kids. 

Ted’s Head is in trouble. The engine works fine and the gears mesh pretty well but I think I must have some bad gas in the fuel line. My petrol is simple. Take an idea or concept to be discussed, try to think it through and maybe even come up with a better way to do things. 

My buddy Pete calls me a “fixer”. That is not necessarily being a smart ass but trying to look at things in an alternative way. Maybe my way sucks but at least we ran it up the flagpole. A key ingredient is getting my facts right without any personal biases. You don’t make the problem fit the solution. You do a strange thing called listening. 

We have just come back from a cruise that wandered from New York City to Montreal. Boston was a revisit to where Kathy and first met too many years ago. We went right to the door front. Good stuff. Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were a discovery of so many things they called the New World in the 1400’s and 1500’s. 

My overall impression was that this is a part of the world that is doing fine. Sure, they would like more of this or that but they and their forefathers were used to sustaining life not necessarily embellishing every aspect. Until you look at not one but plenty of houses that where built in the early 1500’s you haven’t seen a thing. These were not a cutesy Sturbridge Village type of tourist attraction. People lived in them now and raised families in them and probably will for centuries to come. Hardy stock.

In New York City you were smashmouthed by the size, the opulence, the frenetic pace and the overall dispassionate mien of people towards their fellow travelers.  I really don’t say this to be critical. They love it that way…I think. But because of its size and many others, they dominate the conversation and set us on a path that we outliers don’t have a lot of sway over. 

We went to the 9/11 Museum. Every aspect of it rips at your guts. It was the area where I worked for many years and many of those faces on the wall were guys that I knew from trading bonds to drinking beers. The massive feel of the destruction and chaos was overwhelming at times. Ditto the hatred that engendered such a plot. Whether it was a fireman or cop or secretary or a hot shot executive no one was spared the swath of hellish fire that enveloped them all. 

After three or more hours Kathy and I didn’t say much but we felt together. As a city, as a country and maybe even as a world we were united back then. We cried and hugged and displayed the flag for all to see. USA was more than a chant. It was a vision we had all hoped for. You’ll see. We will do things differently. And yet like so many other good intentions, we let them slide in lieu of more important things. Our minds distracted by the banal. We want to be wooed or salved by more important things. 

I have really been into this fellow man thing. David Brooks has caused  me to be so much more aware of the other person. You have likes,dislikes and tendencies that are true to you alone. They are not left,right or conservative or liberal. They are your thoughts.  How dare some jerk try to silo you or me into this or that group for the sake of targeting you from everything as to who you are going to vote for and what kind of car you should buy. 

How many time have you been labeled this or that and come to realize you don’t buy everything that group is saying. In politics you cannot have an original thought without being chastised. How many of us in a business meeting thought the theme was out of line but never spoke up? Some will say that type of discourse is chaotic. I say it is creative and a hell of a lot easier to arrive at a consensus. 

I hope this does not sound crazy but the more we realize how unique we are,the greater chance we have of pulling this thing called life off. That being said I have no idea how to get started. Maybe that is the reason for my inertia. I am not going to change politics or the makeup of cities or my religion in my lifetime. And my period to pull it off is getting shorter and shorter. Swimming upstream gets tiring. 

Then again, maybe I am completely wrong. We should not change but just let things happen. We have lasted this long, why get so bent out of shape. It will all work out in the end. Maybe this should be my path to travel. Not quite there yet. 

I want to end up with one thought,humility. Think about that for a second. If we were all humble we would not be the end all and be all.

We would look at another person as something to be looked at for their unique properties not how they can benefit me.  We wouldn’t have to have so much stuff because we wouldn’t have to show off constantly. That is what we have it all,don’t we? If I am humble, I am just a part. Probably nuts but I am going to work on it. 

I am sorry my rudder is bent. At this point I should be able to put it on autopilot. I am old fart. I don’t have that equipment yet. 

As Always 

Ted The Great 

Governance is in its simplest form, a system to control, guide or manipulate. How do we make sense of whatever orb or orbs we live in? We elect a government of what we hope to be good administrators, who will watch over the fort while we go about our daily lives. In a sense we live in many different governing arenas from families to municipalities to states to nations and of course the world. 

Now if we lived on a desert island, we wouldn’t need much. When we start gathering and building stuff, then it gets more complex. Today we have two different schools of thought. One side says we have to regulate down to the tiniest detail and the other says blow your brains out. Just don’t include me. 

It would be so much easier if we could just trust one another to do the right thing. Just put out quality merchandise of whatever sort, get a fair price and pay your taxes so we can keep this puppy running on all cylinders. Yeah right! And that is why we need cops of all sorts. Save us from our own frailties and good old basic larceny that lies in the heart of all of us. At least mine!

I have breakfast with a great friend on Saturday mornings and we try to put on airs that we know what we are talking about. We take a topic and try as best we can to find some common ground to move forward. Yesterday we grappled with Israel and Hamas, inequality and the IRS. Add in about a half a dozen cups of Joe for moi and chaos ensued. 

Invariably we get to a point where there is no clear solution. Point being, we would not need audits from the IRS if everyone was legit and there weren’t a thousand different loopholes. What happened to Israel on October 6th was heinous by any measure but can you really ignore the death of a wife and four kids when the father was out getting a birth certificate for the newborn babe? I want you to make as much money as you can but when a mother with a job and two kids has to live in a car because their rent got jacked 50% and they can’t afford it, that gives us pause. 

The governance has two parts, the rules and regs and the people doing either the inventing or enforcing.The Wall Street Journal reported, Congress accidentally left a hole in the 2017 tax law by writing mismatched effective dates for new tax rules—and then failed to fix the problem. That is now allowing big companies to save tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that otherwise would have gone to the government. The solution is easy.  A minor fix. And yet neither party wants to solve it lest the other side look good. 

A burgh in Illinois built a water park for $13 million using COVID relief money. They weren’t alone. In Denver, it is next to impossible to build any type of housing because the permit process is so fraught with rules and departments that have to approve plans. The Code of Federal Regulations ran to 185,000 pages in 2020. In addition, state and local governments have their own laws and rules. It is estimated that there are dozens of agencies involved in affordable housing. Want to build a nuclear power plant? 

How did this morass get created? We did it. Think about it. Pols get  elected because they are going to change this or that. Specific interest groups or philosophies push to get their person a seat at the table. Let’s face it. They don’t care what is going on nationally. They want their district to reap benefits and not worry about the rest. If you keep getting returned to Congress you will move up the food chain and get more power. You can do whatever you want as long as it is in your district’s best interest. And the beat goes on. 

When some bill gets passed it is now up to the bureaucracy or cops if you will to figure out the details and enforce it. Congress cedes the responsibility for this because they are far too busy getting reelected. Nancy Pelosi, when asked what was incorporated in the Obamacare bill,  blithely replied, “Let’s just pass it and we will figure it out from there.” This gives enormous power to people in the back room.  

We don’t have a very efficient system. Bloated is a highly descriptive term because that is what we are. Cerberus with over fifty heads is even better. Spacex has been launching rockets weekly for years while Boeing and NASA are still playing with themselves at the International Space Station. Huge amounts of funds are unaccounted for in every area of government. Houston, we have a problem. 

Never fear, we will all come to our senses, tighten up and clean house. Really? Look at how we lead our own lives. We overindulge in everything from food to booze to things of all sort. Immediate satisfaction is our mantra. Put it on the credit card and worry about it next month. 

This is not trying to be a preacher at a revival meeting. This is from an old fart that is going to get out the door just fine. Look 20 or 30 years down the road. I’ll be long gone and leave you with a real mess. Oh, I forgot. We are in a new era. Let’s not be proactive at home or in the world. Let’s let things work out on their own. I am just going to worry about me. Now that is self governance. I wonder how that will work out? 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

There are 435 seats in Congress that are up for reelection. 365 are considered safe for either party. 48 are likely or leaning. That leaves 22 that are truly up for grabs. They have an 80% disapproval rating. 

Harris wants more spending. Trump wants to cut taxes. Please tell me what either side is going to do about the debt?

Improper payments, which refer to payments that are made incorrectly by the government, cost the U.S. $247 billion in 2022, according to the Government Accountability Office. The U.S. government has lost almost $2.4 trillion in simple payment errors over the last two decades, by GAO estimates. It seems like we don’t want to do anything about it. It is what it is.

When I questioned things about the way the government is run, a DC wag told me you can’t run the government like a business. My comment above about Spacex was not naive. I understand that there are constraints when one has to serve many masters and not just stockholders, but it does not exclude efficiency and of course that absurd word, CHANGE. There is little room for creativity and reward of excellence in our system of government.  

Hi People:

I have been doing a lot of reading on a variety of topics, rather than being a good boy and writing Ted’s Head. My mind is chock a block with all manner of social and economic theories. Throughout it all, I keep coming back to try to figure out why people are so unhappy? 

To cut to the chase, people don’t like being screwed. We are bombarded by pundits and the masses alike with messages that show this side or that is getting a raw deal. This election cycle will only amp up the rhetoric. Trump wants to make America great again and Harris will tell you we are going to rework society. All in all, we are pitting ourselves against each other. Can this ever work?

A book in progress for me is, “How To Know A Person” by David Brooks. David is a somewhat conservative writer who is better described as a wonderful thinker. I mentioned him to a friend, who scoffed he liked him a while back but now he is too liberal. I guess that means he is no longer coherent or has anything useful to say. But I digress. 

One of the precepts of the book is how incredibly different each and every one of us are. We live in a stereotypical world where unfortunately we believe we can size up a person in the first few introductory sentences. I’ve got your number and I know where people like you come from. We can be put off or on just by a glance. But the fact of the matter is that you and I are beyond complex and nuanced. 

Think about it. All of your thoughts, environment, relationships and biases shape how you view the world and react to it. You cannot put that into a bottle and label it. Going further, he explains the art of conversation.  Ideally, you are open and welcoming. It is not about you expounding but trying to draw out what the other guy or gal is thinking. You not only listen but do so intently. If you really think about it, it is pretty heavy stuff to come out of your world and into someone else’s. 

We have created a crazy world. It is sterile, calculating and methodical. We have no spare time to interact or if we do it is a hit and run. One of the key elements in anybody’s world is to be noticed and more importantly to have value. Some try to do it by their “things” but this fame turns out to be shallow and fleeting. Some attempt to be brilliant only to have their uniqueness scorned. Most are just put in the blender to be pureed and served up as a shake. It is so much better than that. 

I read an article about credit card debt. It seems that we as individuals have run up a tab of over $1.1 trillion dollars. All that debt supports an interest rate of over 22%. One of the main culprits is “revenge” spending. COVID caused us to miss so much, we are blowing gazillions of dollars on travel and entertainment. Trivial, irrational and flawed are adjectives that come to mind. 

Where am I going with all of this? We let ourselves be dictated to in every sense of the word. We are told what to wear, where to live, how to invest and what we are lacking. Don’t ask questions. Just shut up and we will show you the way to Eden whether it is through Taylor Swift, a new car or a house,way beyond your means. You can’t be yourself because that is not good enough. Everything you have is dated. Keep up or you will fall hopelessly behind. 

Our economy is 75% based on consumption. As long as you keep on buying, the world will be a better place. If you don’t we will go into recession. If you buy too much we have inflation. The Fed, Washington, Wall Street and corporate America are at the controls of the ship of state. Everything from food to healthcare and even dying has been monetized. And you wonder why people get in a bad mood?

I am a capitalist at heart but we have lost it. The disconnect and inequality today is over the top. Small-town America, replete with Main Street and simple pleasures has become passe. People want to be where the action is. Young people are becoming rich beyond compare in their thirties. Old people are counting their shekels and wanting more and more. Let the good times roll! 

But wait. Has anybody heard anything from either side about the National debt? Biden has run up a tab far beyond needs. Trump matched him buck for buck but we don’t hear about it. Drive down an Interstate and tell me how many potholes and bare spots you hit. Yes, even in Flalaland. 

Simply put, we have to sober up in a lot of ways. The oligarchs can’t keep squeezing more and more out of working America. The latter has to set realistic goals and desires. The gang on top does have to kick in more. The crew on the bottom can’t long for an absurd high life. Their playing field is not level but they have to work around it.

 If you have to live in your car you have every right to bitch. If your house is tight make do. How many of us grew up with 1 1/2 baths and made it? On the other end, 10,000 square feet with 8 bedrooms is obscene.  Yes, there is malaise on all ends, but tell me how really bad you have it. The grass is greener on the other side or is it?

As always,

Ted The Great. 

Factoids:

The average consumer has 3-4 credit cards. 1/2 of all those cards carry balances. As mentioned it is over $1.1 trillion.   

Twenty million people have medical debt. That is over $220 billion and could be a serious part of the credit card debt. 

The US debt now stands at $35 trillion. 

Trump administration (1/20/17–1/20/21)

• Net borrowing: $8.4 trillion
• Net borrowing excluding COVID measures: $4.8 trillion

Biden administration (1/20/21–6/21/24)

• Net borrowing: $4.3 trillion
• Borrowing excluding American Rescue Plan: $2.2 trillion

All of these were passed by bipartisan action. 

Fox News

The  Economic Policy Institute found that CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in 2022, up from an average pay ratio of just 21 to 1 in 1965. Kids, fun is fun but that is crazy. 

Years ago in my travels on Wall Street, there was one standard. Your word was your bond. You could be trading millions of dollar’s worth of securities over the phone. The simple words of “I buy” or “I sell” were sacrosanct. No reneging and no do overs. Fait accompli. 

As I write, I am watching the British Open. Golf is an interesting game. You may have an opponent but it is the one sport where you are completely on your own. Your mind plays tricks. The transition from the driving range to the golf course is often tortuous. A short putt missed or your ball finding the deep blue sea can ruin anyone’s day. 

There are some very intricate and difficult rules to follow as you make your way through 18 holes. You are required to call any misplays on yourself. Maybe your playing partner didn’t notice but you did. It is simple. You broke the rule. You take the penalty. End of discussion.  

As I watch the tournament I pay particular attention to Jon Rahm. The feisty Spaniard is one of the best. I used to like him, I don’t now. A few years back he avowed his allegiance to the PGA Tour during the period when the LIV group of renegades were throwing some serious money at people to bat a little white ball. “I have all the money I need. I want to just play golf in the PGA.” Fast forward a few years and he took the money and ran. That would have been okay if he hadn’t professed his loyalty. To me, he broke his word. How petty of me!

Back in the US, I was watching the Republican convention in Beer Town. Pol after pol from Vance to DeSantis to Nicki Haile, all have castigated His Hairness in the months vying for the nomination. This wasn’t a disagreement of sorts. This was downright hatred. And yet now we are love and unity. Great for getting votes but can I really trust anything you say?

The Dems now have a chance to reboot. Can they come up with someone without the requisite baggage?  Probably not. We all have skeletons in the closet. Can they level with the American people about things like the debt, and infrastructure? I say no. They don’t know how to do that and even if they did we are too deaf to listen.

Enter the fine art of equivocating. Oh, I was just kidding. I didn’t really mean that. It was taken out of context. When asked a question in his Monica Lewinski hearing, Bill Clinton answered “It depends on what the definition of “Is”, is?” Mind-boggling for all to see. Politicians of all sizes stretch credulity. Just give them what they want to hear and truth be damned. 

Trump,Biden et al have rattled off facts that are so outrageously wrong and misleading that we now accept them as the Donald being Donald or Biden is so old he just forgets. We now have fact checkers of every statement. Some are nitpickers but some are pointing out some really egregious falsehoods. Not to worry,it is not done in real time so the public doesn’t know or probably doesn’t care. 

I am continually amazed by the commentary of this or that celebrity on matters far afield from their stardom. It is as if they have been endowed with some sort of wisdom far beyond their years or capabilities. Years ago I listened to Famous Amos of cookie fame, opine on the deeper meaning of life.  Brother, you are entitled to any opinion you want but a savant you ain’t. 

As I write I might be considered guilty of the same sin. Over all these years I have espoused views on many different subjects. I would be shocked and dismayed if any of you took it as Gospel truth. I try as best I can to get my facts right but I  want it as a jumping off point for your own thought. 

Unfortunately we have to do our homework. We have to consider a lot of different sides to a premise. We have to deeply form our opinions and at the same time be open to change. In our instantaneous world we are not prone to do so. We listen to sound bytes. We read one paragraph summaries and think we have it. We do so at our own peril. I give you my word. 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

An average person lies once or twice a day. Politicians at least once every five minutes during a debate. 80% of women lie to their partners about their spending habits. 

Lying can have negative effects on mental health. Research has found that individuals who frequently lie experience more anxiety, depression, and stress than those who are more honest.

Lying can be a coping mechanism as well as a personality trait. Narcissists are pros at altering reality.   Over time we can become numb to falsehoods and consider them part of the landscape. 

People lie to avoid punishment, to gain an advantage, to protect themselves or others, or to fit in socially.  Trust me….Ha!

There are shallow and deep thinkers. Which one are you?

Scenery has a lot of meanings. It can be a lake,ocean,mountain or a village or city from an aerial view. It can also be constructed as a backdrop for a play or musical. We love to go to museums to see this or that but do we oft consider that all you really have to do is look out the window. 

Here in Flalaland we are chock a block with joys to the senses. Flora abounds and the water has such a mysterious blend of serenity and power. There is a big old live oak in our backyard. It has been there a long time and I wonder how many people have really stopped to notice. I feel right now as if I am looking at it for the first time. Leaves, branches and girth are symbols of grace, color, and strength. How many hurricanes has this guy been through and lived to tell the tale?

On the lake there is a big old alligator just cruising, looking for lunch. There is every type of waterfowl soaring and diving in the same endeavor. They didn’t play golf today or see a concert last night but they still seem to have it pretty good. They are not worried about inflation or AI and it doesn’t sound that bad. 

The sky? What can I say? Cumulus abounds.

You can take a Rorschach test every few minutes. One of my buddies was a weatherman of sorts in the Air Force before satellites. Macadoodle waxes eloquently about the diversity of our cloud cover while beating balls on the range. Not sure if he knows what he is talking about but it sounds pretty good to me. 

We have lived in some pretty beautiful and wonderful places. The ocean,mountains, desert, and cities all have a part of the newsreel Kathy and I call life. People call the Sonoran brown and ugly. They just don’t get it. Watch the sun rise and set in the mountains of Colorado. How about the vast ocean beyond the confines of Hawaii? The crazy part is that if you live there it doesn’t cost a dime. You don’t need a palatial mansion or trendy condo. 

I once took a friend for a ride on the Colorado River Road that stretches from Dotsero to Bond on the outskirts of the Vail Valley. I used to take it every so often to remind myself why I lived there.

As we passed an old Airstream that overlooked an astounding valley he said, “Isn’t that sad that is where that poor bastard has to live.” I was speechless at his lack of soul and then I remembered he was from New York. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 There was even beauty in a place called Viet Nam. Cam Rahn Bay and the French Quarters of Saigon were a tease of what could be without war. I was blown away when a friend of mine showed me a recent picture of our theater of war, replete with waterfront condos and outdoor cafes. I wonder if Gaza or Ukraine will ever be pretty again?

We do bad things to our scenery. We pump plastics into our lakes and oceans to the point where we ingest plastics from the fish we eat to the water we drink. In the Middle Ages we threw human waste out of the window onto the street. In a way we are still doing it.

I have often wondered if we took every vehicle or piece of machinery that lies rusting on major highways and local byways and put that all in one spot how big that mountain would be? Not a pretty sight for sure.

Scenery changes with the seasons and that is kind of cool. Going back to our mountain aeries at different times of the year gave you a totally different vibe. From the snow packed slopes in winter, to the meadows ablaze with wildflowers midsummer or the aspens in the fall, you have a show that even George Lucas or Dreamworks would find hard to equal. Budget? Zero. Admission? Free. 

I have been watching the Senior Golf Open this weekend. It is interesting that in addition to the Links like beauty of Newport Country Club, they feature the mansions of the Vanderbilts and other swells. I spent two years there in the US Navy. Ocean Drive was fantastic without the falderal. Get the Sunday paper and sit in your car for a front-row seat. Of course it was also a great makeout heaven at night. Want to come up and see my etchings? 

Scenery can be man-made. You see it on the stage and movie sets. It creates illusions, nightmares and fantasies. Of course, we have amped this up with all sorts of technical embellishments. Outer space and avatars will take you into a whole new reality. Can you top this? The Oscars for special effects are truly earned. 

In closing let’s get back to reality. Maybe I am getting old but my senses seem to be getting better. I am finally sitting down and just enjoying what’s around me. There are more greens and blues than I knew existed. A stupid tree or bush is really an art form if you look closely. Is this too sappy? I hope not. 

We can look at scenery or we can create our own. We can film in black and white or technicolor. We can do close-ups or panoramic shots. No matter what it is ours and we are free to choose. What’s in your pallette? 

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

There are 12 times more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way. Who needs Mr Hubbel?

Tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding can devastate entire towns at once, but the weather condition that proves deadliest to humans is actually heat.

Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan, Cats are among the many Broadway  sets/scenery that were off the charts. 

On the movie side, Ben Hur,Cleopatra, Harry Potter and Star Wars comes to mind. 

When we lived in Vail, I worked as a volunteer INFO person on the mountain in winter. While riding up on the #2 Avanti lift I was with three guests. As we neared the top I announced,” You are about to see one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world, the New York Range.” One of the passengers said,”Have you ever been to Nepal?” I wanted to say, “No a…hole, I haven’t ”  but I backed off. Surprising huh?