Rant #3,138: Stuff Like That

Too much to do this morning, too little time to do what I wanted to do, which was to write up another entry to this blog.

First, my work gave me a little job to do, which was send out an email to all the services that we deal with to find out what they were doing to prepare for—and eventually deal with—a super typhoon that is slated to hit Guam in the coming days.

Not too many people in the U.S. know that much about Guam, even though it is one of our possessions.

It is a big military site for our country, as it is strategically placed in the Pacific, and ironically, it is a big tourist site for the Japanese.

But whatever the case, we have a major military presence there, and numerous military stores, so if a super typhoon is coming, it is my job to find out what the services are doing to protect themselves and the people stationed there, so that is what I am trying to do.

And then I really got blindsided, in a very pleasant way, by the announcement that the basketball group that my son plays in is actually going to have a summer session this year.

I don’t think that they have ever had one before, but according to an email I received this morning, “due to popular demand,” they are having a summer session at $85 a pop for six weeks.

I signed my son up for this session, and while we won’t be able to attend the first one—we are going to WWE wrestling at Madison Square Garden that Friday night—he will attend the other five sessions.

This is good for him, because, funny, I was just talking about my son’s lack of activities during the summer, and then this came up totally out of the blue.

They tried this with his bowling league several years ago, and they did not get too many people to join, but basketball brings a different crowd—although a lot of the participants also do bowling—and I think this is a great thing for my son.

I hope they get enough participants and that this thing is a go!

And somehow, this segues into the debt ceiling, a problem which is beginning to worry me and should be worrying all Americans, because if we don’t have enough money to pay our bills, it is doing to effect everyone in one way or another.

It will push us into an official recession—don’t tell me we aren’t already in one, so it could push us into a depression—it will ruin the stock market, it will force thousands of people to lose their jobs, and any program run by the federal government is gong to be greatly impacted, including Social Security, which, of course, greatly concerns me, since my wife, my son, my mother and I—and millions of other Americans--all get these payments each month.

I cannot for the life of me understand how both sides of this matter are trying to get a deal done before the deadline.

Each side seems to be steadfast in its beliefs related to this situation, and neither side appears ready to budge—

Once again demonstrating that neither the Republicans or Democrats really care a hoot about their constituents.

But let me ask what I believe to be a logical question in a very illogical situation:

If we have billions of dollars in debt, can’t we also have billions of dollars in money that is owed to us from other countries?

Haven’t we put off collecting these monies because we know it might put these owing countries in a bind?

But now,, we have our own problems, and isn’t it due time to collect these monies owed to us … maybe not every penny, but a substantial portion of what is owed to us?

Wouldn’t this help us out in a dire time of need that we are approaching?

But again, as a critical thinker, I guess I am reacting logically, a mindset that will never work when dealing with the Republicans and Democrats.

And ultimately, if this does happen, this all falls not President Biden’s desk under his watch, so please answer me, just how can anybody vote for him for reelection to office in 2024 if he has to answer to presiding over the mess?

And maybe that is the Republican’s plan, which makes this situation even more heinous.

So just let me go on the Internet … that is, if I am of age, because the surgeon general of the United States proclaimed that we are in a health emergency with our youth related to their use, and really, abuse, of the Internet.

This is a very weak generation we are talking about here, a generation which thinks it knows everything, but tries to solve its own problems by surfing the web and taking to heart everything that various sites—like TikTok—tells them is “true.”

They have no reasoning skills, do not know how easy it is to get out of their malaise—just turn off the darn computer—and have absolutely no social skills to handle both the good and the bad.

So, now like smoking, the Internet is harmful to our youth’s health … but the solution remains the same.

STOP DOING SOMETHING THAT IS HARMING YOU.

Don’t smoke cigarettes, don’t go to places on the web that upset you.

Simple as that.

But I guess it is not as simple when your mind—or body—is already poisoned by this stuff, but as human beings, we have to know right from wrong … and you know what they say: “If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Unfortunately, when talking about a generation without reasoning skills, this is a difficult thing to do, but for their own state of mind, these kids should find other pursuits to get them off their phones and tablets and into the real world …

And that is precisely why programs like my son is in are the perfect antidote to such nonsense.

(And that is how I tied all of this together into a nice ball … or basketball, if you will.)