jas007

When I was in the Army back in the early 70s, I developed severe lower back pain. It was so bad I was having trouble sleeping. Anyway, I went to the Army hospital and they took some X-rays. They diagnosed "bilateral spondylosis at L-4" and referred me to physical therapy. The therapist recommended exercises called the "Williams" back exercises. That's easy to look up. I also had a series of treatments that warmed up my lower back. I forget what they called it, but it really helped. Some sort of diathermy, as I recall? In any event, I followed up with this treatments over the next month or so, and did the back exercises religiously. The entire problem cleared up in about three months and to this day, I haven't been bothered by it since. That all took place 50 years ago. Supposedly, the back exercises were to strengthen your abdominal muscles which, if you do it right, takes the strain off of your lower back. That was all a conservative approach. I think a TENS unit is for people with a bigger problem and pain that won't quit.

Possibly something to do with the DC traffic on Inauguration Day. The very first day I moved to DC as an adult (I lived there when I was a one-year-old) was the night of GW Bush's first inauguration. I flew into Reagan National Airport on a late night flight. I think I arrived around midnight. Anyway, when it came time to take a cab out of there, no cabs were available, Apparently, they were all in DC taking people around to all the inauguration parties. I must have stood out in the freezing cold for over an hour, waiting for some cabs to show up. Me and a whole line of other people. I can only assume the transportation options were better the night before the inauguration.

Thanks. I always thought it looked like a good place, I've just never been there. The very first time I visited Thailand, I had planned to go to Koh Samuii, but for some reason it was easier to go to Phuket, so that's what I did. That was 24 years ago. Anyway, I've been to Phuket numerous times, but I think I'm going to see what's what on Samui sometime in the next few months.

If you don't understand all of what I've written above and it makes you comfortable to believe the official propaganda, that's OK with me. It really is. You're in good company. Many people are brainwashed and just don't realize it. Where is it written that I owe you any kind of explanation? I could write 20 pages, but I would be wasting my time.

You wasted a lot of time worrying about something that's not going to happen. The American people have spoken. The electoral votes have been counted. And congress will certify the results on January 6, baring some kind of shut down because of there snow and ice. The Electoral Count Reform Act requires that one-fifth of each chamber must support an objection to force a vote on a state’s electors. If there are no objections from at least 20% of the members in both chambers, the certification proceeds without interruption. In other words, it's politics, it's business as usual, and it's a done deal.

What's the difference between a "conspiracy theory" and the truth? Lately, about six months.

I'm currently living in Thailand, but every once in a while I ask myself what I'm doing here. Then again, until I die, I have to be somewhere and a beach in the tropics is not bad. Nobody bothers me about anything, and I can do what I want and go where I want, which is more than most people can say. As for trying to characterize a country like the USA? That's probably an exercise in futility. Some people have it great there, some people not so much. And except for the weather, people living in a suburb could probably be in a suburb anywhere. In a sense, they all look the same. Same chain restaurants, same big box stores, and so on. Exceptions would be some of the big urban areas. NYC, LA, Chicago. Those are different and more expensive.

For me, what's going on in America is what I think is going on in America. I see it, many people don't. Or they simply won't open their eyes. It's more comfortable for them to think that what they hear and read in the mainstream media must surely be true. They've been brainwashed or, for whatever reason, they chose to believe the propaganda. That's how most people survive. They do their job, they do what they're told, and they otherwise go along with the program. In return, they work 40 hours a week or more, they collect a paycheck, and when they finally retire, they sit around and wonder what that was all about, because it sure wasn't much fun and their life is gone. As for providing you with documented "facts"? Do you not realize how silly that is? According to people like you, only the mainstream media has a monopoly on the "facts." A monopoly on the "truth." Everything else is a "conspiracy theory." Except maybe that's not always the case. Providing you with "proof" of that would be like trying to prove a negative. It's hard to prove something when much of the story and thus the proof has been scrubbed from the media or otherwise massaged to fit a desired narrative. It's called propaganda, and that's what you read and watch every day, apparently. But if it makes you happy, so be it. Some us learned a long time ago to question authority.

I don't know what MAGA "talking points" you're referring to, but I think most of what I write makes sense. For what it's worth, I didn't even vote in the last election. I'm 73 years old and can count on four fingers the number of times in my life that I've been inside a voting booth. I see it as a waste of time, for the most part.

Going by myself, I think. I'm 73, but I don't feel any different than I did 20 years ago.

When did I ever say I'm a MAGA cult member? If the Democrats started acting like real Democrats, I'd be a Democrat again. But they've morphed into something else, and it's ugly. They're trying to establish an authoritarian regime. They nominated Harris without the vote of a single voter. No primary, no nothing. It was a take it or leave it choice presented to the voters by the Deep State. Biden won the primary, as you should recall, and yet he was pushed aside. Democracy? LOL The only sane choice in the election was Trump, whether you like him or not. They've also been censoring the media and have been using it as a propaganda machine for years, and it's becoming ridiculous. Propaganda. A typical tool of totalitarian regimes through history. If you can't see that, I can't see it for you. Ddid you understand the phrase "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts"? Take a step back and appreciate the big picture. Maybe it'll come into focus for you some day. As for a "shocking" lesson? I'm in a nice condo on a tropical beach on the other side of Planet Earth from America. Nothing that will happen there anytime soon can affect me much. Perhaps the entire world financial system will collapse? Perhaps we'll see a global thermonuclear war? A real space alien invasion? A real pandemic with billions of deaths worldwide? Absent those events, I think I'll be just fine. I have more money that I know what to do with every month, my investments are doing great, and my health is fine. Trump and the DOGE people may not succeed in accomplishing much, given the broken political system, but I guess it's worth a try. The alternative is not good.

Thanks. Just as soon as some of the peak season crowd dies down, I'm going to book a trip somewhere.I'll see what kind of deals I can get.

James Carse, one of my teachers. His book, Finite and Infinite Games, might be interesting. I've been meaning to pick up a copy.

You fit the bill. As for my "claims"? I'm sorry, but if you can't observe, reason, and fully comprehend the Deep State/Globalist playbook, I'm afraid I can't help you. People who know and understand see it for what it is. Not based on any one factor, but on the totality of it all, so to speak. You have to think for yourself, because you'll never hear the story from any of the legacy media outlets. That's all heavily censored propaganda. Were you not paying attention during the COVID scam? Did you not see the media manipulation? The manipulation of the narrative? And it's still ongoing. They're trying to gear up for Round II. This time it's the Bird Flu. Or will it be space aliens? Or another "terrorist" bombing? Why do you think Elon Musk bought Twitter? Why do you think some politicians want to see him in jail, including politicians outside the USA? Remember, the truth is is a threat to the Deep State agenda.

I think he was talking about you.

You can't be serious.

Yes, but you seem to be attributing this classic sign to the wrong group. Have you not been paying attention to the tactics employed by the so-called "Democrat Party" in its effort to destroy Trump? Nonstop propaganda and lies. Those tactics come straight out of the Nazi playbook: Undermine the targeted group or person by suggesting the presence of mental deficiencies or a mental disorder. The idea was to diminish the "threat" while pushing a narrative of moral righteousness. Sound familiar? "Protecting our democracy"? That's all they could talk about. The need to "protect our democracy." The idea was to rally public support against those labeled as “undesirable.” What did Biden recently call the Trump supporters? Garbage? And let's not forget Hillary's "Basket of Deplorables" comment. The Democrats had it down to a science. And, like the Hitler, they controlled all the mainstream media and censored dissent until Musk bought Twitter and they lost control of the narrative.

I tried explaining all that to a friend when they started trying to "get" Trump one way or the other. Impeachments and all the rest of the nonsense. He wouldn't listen. I think some on the left were so sure that they could ruin Trump's life and destroy every chance he had to ever be elected again, that they just didn't care. They knew what they were doing was unconscionable, and they did it anyway. That was their mission. To "get" Trump. And they thought they could do it, absolutely. They were wrong.

Hopefully, they'll have better things to do. In any event, they won't have to manufacture fake charges. The real crimes won't be all that hard to uncover. Still, all I see them doing is appointing conservative judges, when they get the chance.

I don't have anything backwards. I understand what's going on and what the real issue is, for me. The imposition of authoritarianism and the cancellation of free speech. That's the current dream of what has now become the "Democrat Party." And stoping it is the only issue that matters. Lose free speech and you lose everything. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this year or next, but it will happen. Once you give the "Democrats" the power to shut you up when your ideas conflict with their agenda, it will be only a matter of time. Authoritarianism run amok. So, in a two party system, how do you save America? There's only one way. You vote against Harris. And before that, against Hillary. And you never again vote for any "Democrat" for any political office unless and until they start being real Democrats again and stop with all the nonsense. In case you haven't noticed, a handful of real Democrats helped elect Trump. RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Elon Musk. They all left the Democrat Party once they realized what was at stake. Even Trump himself was once a Democrat.

Take a trip to DC sometime and look around, especially when people are working. Weekends can be sort of quiet, by comparison. Anyway, take a look in all the parking garages near K Street, where a lot of the lobbying firms are located. See all the expensive cars. Go out to a restaurant in the area any time of the day or night and listen to the conversations. The entire metropolitan area seems to be about extracting money from taxpayers. That's its function.

I could always buy a car. You're probably right, though.

It's not hard. Just back off from the nonsense and try to think for yourself, rather than regurgitating the narrative. Free speech. Do you think that's important? And if so, ask yourself why the Democrats had to send people over to Facebook to pressure them to censor certain opinions. Why did the Democrats pressure Twitter to delete true information? They did that because they know full well that their ideas cannot survive free debate. The propaganda machine needs absolute control, or else it will fail. It's all very obvious.

Take a log vacation. Clear your brain. Maybe it will reset.