Busy

 Very, very busy. So busy that there is no time to frivolousness like writing.

Taxes

In this country one can be a mass murderer, a spy, a military deserter but nothing is such a major crime as not paying taxes. Al Capone the famous Chicago gangster who was responsible for countless murders was eventually arrested and tried for tax evasion. He made millions (lots of money back then) in the prohibition era but "forgot" to pay his taxes. This was a major crime.

According to some news commentators Biden has shown total deniability as far as his son is concerned. Regardless that his son was already indicted, and he did admit to wrongdoings, as far as Biden is concerned, he is as innocent as a baby. Then Biden son admitted to not paying taxes on millions of dollars he made. Yet, being the president's son has its advantages. He is allowed to make a deal instead of going to prison.

Also, over the weekend there was a state dinner for the visiting Indian prime minister. This dinner was hosted by Biden and paid by me, the taxpayer. The guests are usually the who is who in DC. VIPs all. And amongst them was an indicted person, the president's son. He smiled and mingled with the other invitees. Pretty crazy, if you ask me. This gave the opposition a tremendous amount of ammunition in their newscasts and commentaries.

Good country, America!

Grandma

Here is a long but very interesting story. This is not made up it is true.

On the eve of World War II, Sighetu Marmatei in Romanian, Maramaros Sziget in Hungarian, had the highest proportion of Jewish residents of any city in Hungary representing close to 40 percent of the municipality’s population of about 40,000. During four days in May 1944, after having been penned into two ghetto areas for several weeks along with several thousand of their relatives and other Jewish residents from the smaller communities surrounding Sighet, almost all of the Sighet Jews were deported to Auschwitz.

People did not know what waited for them, but they all guessed there was nothing good at the end. Understandably, parents tried to protect their children as much as possible. The parents of two little girls in this story also wanted to protect them so they escaped to a small village close to the Romanian border. There they found a good-hearted family who were brave enough to hide their daughters from the nazis who went around gathering up the Jewish population.

These little girls were lucky. They survived, but their father and brother did not. They were hiding inside haystacks and cellars. Life was very difficult and dangerous. This goodhearted family also had a son who was in on this thing and helped the little girls whenever he could.

Jumping ahead in time, these young people stayed in touch after the war and eventually got married. Their marriage resulted in three girls who gave them nine grandchildren and eventually five great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Thank God they stayed around to enjoy all of their off springs.

As I indicated the little girl I am writing about was Jewish, but her husband was not. Interestingly, throughout the year the question of religion never came up. That could have been because after WWII this subject was muted by the regime. Not going to church or synagogue, not having baptism or bar mitzvah was the norm for the times.

The family lived well, prospered throughout the years. Because the grandmother never ventured to tell her story everybody lived with the assumption that this was a non-denominational family. 

Until...

Her favorite granddaughter came to this country and started to work. As luck had it she wound up working in a pretty strict orthodox environment. She was liked very much by her coworkers. Because of her way of thinking and acting they constantly teased her that she must be Jewish. They said she acted Jewish, she looked Jewish so she must be Jewish. The girl didn't know any better but did not argue. But since she was in frequent communication with her grandmother, she always told her these stories.

The grandmother never reacted. Never gave any sign as far as the truthfulness of their observations.

One day the grandmother got very sick, looking ahead to a bleak future. At that point she decided not to keep her secret anymore and to tell her story. She called her favorite granddaughter on the phone and told her the truth. Up to that point the granddaughter did not know any better either. But then reality hit the fan.

Reality is that this is a true large Jewish family. Since Jewishness goes from mother to daughter, every daughter is Jewish as well as each of their children. The granddaughter who was privy to this information was entrusted with informing the family. It was not an easy task but she prevailed.

In Hungary religion does not play a major role in family life. Because of that the family has plenty of mixed marriages. But since the Jewish origin is matrilineal technically all the children are Jewish.

As expected, this information was received with mixed results, but there was nothing anybody could do about it. 

Once the grandmother passed away the granddaughter collected all her papers and found documents and photographs proving this story correct.

I know he granddaughter, and I met the grandmother who recently passed away. 

Sunday

 Another Sunday. Boy, how time flies.

Russia

October 1917 the Bolshevik revolution started. It took a few years until situation consolidated in the then Soviet Union. It is understandable, Russia was a huge country with tremendous outlying areas. It was not an easy task then to get all the necessary information to every corner of the country. A 106 years later I don't even think it is that easy now.

Today's news is full of an impending Russian civil war. This so-called Wagner semi-nazi mercenary group declared war against Putin. Here in NY there is nothing but analysis of this news story. The reporters are foaming at their mouth about this. Now they have something else beside Trump to talk about.

I think this situation will place Biden in a very peculiar situation. He will have to decide who's side he is on. Knowing this country's foreign policy, I am sure it will be on the wrong side. But can we imagine that after 106 years there is another civil war in Russia? Even though politicians are saying this is an internal affair, I don't think there is such a thing in today's world.

They can say whatever they want, it would affect everybody. As well as politically as economically. And that is something we do not need. Rumor is that Putin left Moscow to St. Petersburg. Maybe because it is closer to the border? But whatever it is, it is interesting to watch these events. I am just sorry for the everyday people living there because I am sure they do not need this. Nobody does.

Golf

My impression of golf that it is a r elitist pastime. I realize that there are public golf courses where basically everybody can play but the good courses are in country clubs where there are prohibitive fees. This, the way I see it locks out the aspiring and poorer players. They really have to try hard to accomplish anything.

I probably mentioned it before that I like watching golf. Fortunately, like the Tennis Channel, there is also a Golf Channel. So, there is always some tournaments being shown. I do not understand the logic behind these promotional tournaments. Every company on earth is having an annual golf tournament with large money prizes. No wonder there are so many professional golfers.

What is the advantages of spending these huge amounts on golfers? What is the business advantage of it? Most of these tournaments have a very limited tv viewership and the spectators on the golf courses, I'm sure don't pay enough to make up the prizes.

These companies can not spend their money in better places? I just don't see the point of all these expenditures. But then what do I know about business?

Funny

This is a funny story from way back. I had a very good friend, may he rest in peace, whom I knew most of my life. We came from the same neighborhood, he was about two years older and a lot smarter than me. Our mothers were very good friends and stayed in touch until my mother passed away.

He left Hungary about a year before I did and thanks to our moms, we found each other here in the US. He and I grew up in the same political system where religion was kind of outlawed. We didn't practice it and did not follow it but knew where we belonged to.

Here in this country,g he made a good life, had a nice family, lived in the suburbs in a nice house. I found it curious that since we grew up in a very similar environment he did become observant. Not zealous just moderately observant. He lost his father in the Holocaust, his mother lived alone but frequently visited him here. I knew her and liked her. She was a nice lady. Not very Jewish but still Jewish.

One time, years ago I visited him at his house when his mom was here. A cousin of his mom came by. This person was retired and since he had the time he decided to investigate their family tree. This investigation involved talking to still living relatives and also spending time in the Mormon Library. This library supposed to have a tremendous amount of information about people who lived in Europe.

He fed everything into a computer and then printed out the results. The results were very thick bundle of computer paper. No cd at that time.

After he connected all the dots he came to some very interesting conclusions., and he told that story to my friend's mom. Her ancestors came from a small village from Transylvania (Erdely). The village was predominantly Jewish as well as the entire area including several villages and also very likely orthodox.

History has it that a few hundred years ago this village was all Christian and since it was surrounded by the Jewish villages, the inhabitants decided to become Jewish. It was more advantageous for them. Bottom line: my friend's mother came from a Christian ancestry. She was pretty shaken up at this enlightenment. Her family suffered through the war as Jews but if they would have known this it might have changed some of the outcomes.

This thing didn't change his attitude toward the religion but both he and I found the results of this search a little hilarious. 

A funny postscript.

My friend's wife came from a very religious upbringing (also Hungarian). Father was a Levi and he was extremely observant. He wasn't very enthusiastic about my friend as his future son-in-law. His casual approach to Judaism was almost as bad as if he were a Christian, said he (or hinted). If he would have known that my friend's ancestors were really Christians he would have flipped. Fortunately, he was not alive by the time of this discovery.

Don't get used to this. I will not write this long very frequently.

Busy

Today is one of those few days when I have more to do than I would really like to. Not that I am complaining, but please. I am retired and I like it that way. It doesn't mean that I have to work, even if it is just around the house.

The day started early. 7:30 is early for me. In the morning hours we had some chores to do, going to bank, doctor's visit and then food shopping. Everything needed to be done before 2pm because that was the time our building super said he would come up and install our air conditioners.

Every year, when summer or summery weather is over, we remove the window air conditioners and store them. This will permit us to open the windows for more ventilation. But on the other hand at the beginning of summer they need to be placed in the windows. You see, we don't live in an airconditioned building. We have to fend for ourselves against heat and humidity.

Even though we had no real summery weather yet, we decided to put them in and that is usually the building super's job. He naturally gets compensated for his work. So, now the apartment is cool. All we need now is for the weather to notice it and become real New York summery. And that is hot and uncomfortably humid.

Robin

Today we took Robin to his monthly beautification. The young lady who does him used to work for one of the major pet store chains as a groomer. When she became pregnant, she left the company and decided to continue doing this stuff from home. Since she doesn't live far from us we decided to become one of her costumers. Robin knows her and likes her.

This work involves shampoo, nail trimmings and haircuts. Since Robin is very healthy his hair grows back pretty quickly. By the end of three-four weeks he almost looks like a lamb. But know that he is done, he looks adorable. I believe he knows this because he is prancing around the apartment showing off his ne coiffure. Almost like a human.

A month from bow we will be doing it again. I just hope the lady will continue doing this work because it is very difficult someone like her.

Now, I might have written about this subject before but the way I think some of you already don't remember what you had for breakfast yesterday so it is very likely that you will not remember this subject from before!

Sunday

 Never on Sunday!

pride again

I really don't understand why various groups of animals are called by different names. Do they understand that this how they are designated or let's say discriminated? I don't think so. Maybe if they would know they might complain. But what is the use of complaining? Nobody really cares about anything in this world.

Lions are one of the most ferocious animals. Their anger, hunting skills are well known. There is the male lion then there is the female lion. They travel in groups wit one male overseeing his females and whenever he feels like it, he mates (what a life). Never with another male but always with a female. The offsprings born as males or females! None of them ever has the urge to become anything else than what they were born to. None of them ever have the psychological controversy that would make them want to be other than what they biologically are.

So, why are they called the pride? If lions would understand that their groups are named the same as the LGBTQ movement, they would really get pissed. They are one of the  the most normal animals in the world. The males are the males, the females are the females, and the babies know where they came from and who their parents are. I never heard of a transgender lion.

Now, why belittle and insult these majestic animals by calling their groups pride?

Excuse

Here is my story why I skipped yesterday. It is a good story. All day yesterday I was very busy making various telephone calls. Nothing earth shattering but kind of important ones. The result was that I never got to sit down and write.

The icing on the cake was that we went to a concert. My wife and I both like country/western music and a named artist, Trace Adkins was having one not far from us. There was a Fox tv series by the name of Monarch and he played a lead role in it. That was where we got to know him and like him. So, he is a singer who is now touring the country with a stop in nearby New Jersey. That was where we went.

Because the starting time was 8pm and on the other side of the river (Hudson) we had to leave early because of the rush hour traffic. Normally the place is not more than a half an hour, it took us almost an hour and a half to get there. Parking was pretty easy in a good safe location.

The show was great. front of a full house inside large arts center. The guy is a great singer and really carried the audience. Even though I didn't recognize any of his songs, I still immensely enjoyed it. Being this country/western, the audience is not kids. They were mainly middle aged and it was still interesting to see how middle aged people can go crazy at good, popular music. They were up, jumping, and dancing or singing along with him (not me, I am more of a distinguished type).

It was over just a little before 10pm and lacking no traffic at all, we were home by 10:30pm. All in all it was a good enjoyable night.

Skipping

 I am skipping today and tomorrow I will tell why.

Gym

Last week my wife signed up wit a nearby health club hoping that by belonging will kind og force her to do some exercises. Most of her doctors encouraged her to do some form of physical exercise. In her younger days she was a professional athlete so exercising is no stranger to her. But life's peculiar ways denied the opportunity for regular workouts.

I, while I worked and was in a better position used to go to a gym and tried to keep my athletic figure intact. Didn't work much but I still enjoyed it. This particular membership allows her to bring a guest whenever she wants to. Last week Abigail went twice. This week she didn't go so far. I think her enthusiasm abated. So, today was my turn.

I greatly enjoyed it. Didn't do much, we were there for about an hour but what I did was enough for a first timer. We went there about noon today and it was packed. Many kids. They were coming out of school and stopped by for a short visit. Since the weather wasn't that good it explains their enthusiasm. It was raining and outside activities for the kids were limited. I'm sure once the weather improves, becomes more summery there won't be that many there.

The important thing is that I felt a little invigorated after my workout. I know I have to be careful because there are some exercises I can not do. Years ago I had that spinal surgery. My spine at my neck is full of nuts and bolts. The worst thing I could do is force that body area. And that I will not do. But there are still body areas that need improvement.

I know I can never become Mr. Atlas but there is always room for improvement. Right?

Complaining

I heard from "reliable" sources that I am angry and criticize and complain a lot. Well, it is true! It is also true that with age come certain rights. I have the right to be angry and I have the right to be critical. And, I will use every ounce of that "inalienable" right to express my feelings.

Up to now I lived a long life. I saw a lot, I did a lot. I honestly believe that I do know everything or enough and what I don't know (by now) it is not important any more. Now, tell me if I am not full of myself! Anyway, I was always a critical person. If I saw something I did not like, I expressed my opinion. Maybe not very loud but it was expressed. Now, unfortunately in this world there are a lot of things I do not like. And this is the channel where I can express my opinions.

Blacks and whites, pride or no pride, rich and poor etc. It doesn't matter where we look, we can always find things that are unfair, unjust and the bad thing is that nobody really care. They feed us the malarky that what it is good for us. Because of my age I have the right to be impatient, too. I lack the luxury of time to wait out until things are done. I used to have a boss whose favorite expression was once the assignment was given hop to it! This the way I feel. Get it done asap. 

So, complaining? Yes, I do complain. Angry? Yes, I am basically angry. Critical? Yes, I do criticize because I know better. By law (mine) this is my right. If anybody don't like this, too f... bad!

Sports

Baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, soccer, boxing. These are the major $ sports in this country. Actually they are major $ sports in many, many countries around the world. When I was a youngster kids joined sport clubs to train in certain sports. It was not to become millionaires but just to become good. If a better life came along with success, then it was for the better.

Today the end product governs the starting effort. There are sports that offer free college scholarships for those who excel. And then go on to the golden pastures. There are sports that do not require any education, like tennis because it starts at a very early age and continues for the selected few until they retire with ample capital for a good life.

Then there are sports that recruit from outside of the country, like baseball. The national sport of the US is recruiting the best of its players from Columbia and other neighboring countries. There are good American players, but the cream is from other countries. 

Soccer is similar. Even though years ago there were soccer clubs in school yet, soccer never developed into a popular sport and it did not develop any real good players. Now, it appears to catch some popularity but most of the players are from other countries. 

It is magical to see the power of money how they are assemble winning teams wherever they want to. Most countries sport clubs are having foreign players on their rosters. From Nigeria to Turkey to the US. These players will go where the money leads them to. This also makes good and friendly teammates, regardless of their religion or nationality.

With this, sport is one of the biggest international business in the world. I politics would work that way we would be in a better situation.

Sunday

 I hate to be repetitious but it is Sunday again.

Trend

There were times, and I am sure it still is when one could go to any hidden corner of the earth and find a Chinese store, food stand or local drinking hole. When I went to the Caribbean, no matter what island and didn't matter how far into any local neighborhood I always saw small Chinese storefronts. In the local casinos the Chinese men were a steady presence. I saw men sit at the tables, dressed like they just came from work and they pulled out such a wad of cash that my eyeballs almost popped out. 

This presence might still be there, but I noticed others. Weirdly, I like to watch golf. I think it is a fine sport and I find it fun to watch. Lately I noticed the presence of many Asian players. Korean, Chinese and other Asian natives can be found in front lines of professional golf. This applies both to the men and women. Korean women are exceptionally good as the Korean men. I am surprised at the Chinese professional golfers. China is a communist country, golf is a capitalistic pastime. This is a funny coincidence.

Maybe the money is the big draw. The good ones make tremendous amounts of money both from winnings. placements and promotions. Unquestionably this beats any 9-5 job.

Tennis is another sport that is being limited to certain types of individuals. Like in athletics the 100m and 200m sprints are ruled by blacks, tennis is being ruled by Slavic individuals. Russian, Byelorussians, Czechs, Serbs and similar others are in the frontline of the ratings. Somehow, Americans are falling by the wayside and can not make even the quarterfinals. This applies to the men as well as the women.

Again, I am sure the draw is the stellar amount of money to be made without really trying. Professional sports have this "mystical" draw over young people. Don't go to school, just be good at one of these moneymaking sports and then you are set for life. Providing one is not stupid enough to squander all the money. 

I was never any good at any of these money sports, thus I worked 9-5.

Trump

This latest Trump fiasco is disgusting and ridiculous. Our glorious president should turn more of his attention on how to stand straight and not fall on his face instead of trying to destroy his opposition. This unheard of act is making this country the laughingstock of the world. America is always in the frontline criticizing other countries for being crooked, unlawful, open to individual financial interests but never looks into itself because they would realize that the US is not any better than the one it is criticizing.

The crookedness of the Biden family, the things about Hilary Clinton's email saga are all being swept under the rug. And why? Because right now the reign is in the hands of the democrats and they are all clean while republicans are dirty. They are coming out with various ridiculous claims against Trump including planning a military takeover of this country.

Conspiracy theories are popping up with various players involved. His family is not safe any longer. They are listing names claiming others being involved with him. 

This is all a big sad joke. This is a big desperate effort from the democrats to hold on to power. There is a very good chance that all this will blow up into their own face and then they can blame nobody but themselves for their own crookedness.

Can't wait to see how all this will play out.

Good country America!

Hi-tech

I am sick of hi-tech. Everything is being taken over by hi-tech. Can't even get a damn theater ticket unless it is shown on the cell phone. What happened to the good old fashioned paper tickets? What if I am an old person who has no cell phone? Then I can not go to a theater?

Kids in schools are taught by using internet and cell phones. Answers to every academic question can be found on the internet. When tests are taken online from home they are using the internet for "unofficial assistance". Kids do not learn how to do manual calculations anymore. If it is not on the internet they don't know it.

Everything is now based on computers and high-tech. Pretty soon doctors will just feed a patient's symptoms into a computer and voila, there is the diagnosis. Oh, and all that can be done from home, no more office visits. If that is not already done. Imagine somebody finds himself in an abandoned island and in order to survive must do some manual calculations or medical stuff. No computer, no help. He can eat grass until found!

As an apropos. Wednesday for God knows why our internet stopped working. It worked earlier in the day but later for unknown reasons it stopped. We were totally lost without it. Finally, I called the cable company and they eventually put it back in service. When something like this happens you are at their mercy. If they want to fix it they will if not you are out of luck.

I am not against progress, but to "outlaw" good old approved systems is just not right.

Pride

If God approved gays he would have created Adam and Adam. That is the old adage, and I believe in it. I do not gays, homosexuals, lesbians, transgenders and anything not yet invented. I don't understand what this Pride horseshit is about. Everywhere I look there is talk about "Pride". Major stores exhibit their colors, some people wear their colored buttons, the theater program from the Broadway show Abigail went to is full with this subject.

I have no problem with who is sleeping with whom, but please do not shove it down my throat! I 100% support decisions where transgender athletes are locked out from sports where their strength is giving them unfair advantage. I also believe that "drags" should not be allowed to schools to meet with youngsters. These are all unnatural things and if anybody want to engage in these, fine but do not force it on others.

Don't tell me that I must like them if I don't and don't get insulted if I express my dislike. LGBTQ is the initial that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender". It started as LGB than it expanded. I wander how far it will go. How many more categories will be included. I am too old for this kind of nonsense, or maybe I am just too stuck in my conservative ways.

Most of the tv shows now exhibit some kind of same sex relationship in their storylines. I find it sick and uninteresting to watch women kissing or men doing the same. Many times, it has nothing to do with the stories, they just including it to appease the LGBTQ viewers.

I guess one of these days we might get a gay president and then they will take over the world.

Old car

When a car start ageing it begins to develop problems. We don't want get rid of it so we take it to the mechanic for repair. This thing will go on with more and more occurrences. If the mechanic is good he will do the necessary repairs for a while but hopefully his honesty will kick in and at that time he will say that there is nothing more can be done.

Are we in a similar situation? We are at a certain age when various discomforting issues pop up. Some are more discomforting than others. We go to the doctors hoping that they can fix whatever bothers us. The doctor being a good guy (or lady) will do his best to make our lives easier by prescribing some medication that supposed to ease our pains, and our minds.

My question is that like the honest mechanic will the doctor, taking our age into account would say that there is nothing more that can be done? Or that is not professional?                                                                Since medicine turned to become more and more businesslike, would the doctors keep on treating us because there is always money to be made or they follow the old Hippocratic oath?

This is a scary thought. It is normal that just an unwound clock. Things eventually tun down and stop. Do our parts work the same way? Only time will tell.

Theater

I love a good theater. Unfortunately, there are very few are to be found. Theater is strictly business and for that reason the ticket prices are exorbitantly high and good shows are hard to find. If one wants a good drama only in the opera can that be found.

Musicals are where money is to be made for the investors therefore Broadway theaters show musicals. Some gets lucky and run for years while some close fairly early. I do like good musical but I hate the childish ones. Somebody long ago said that a good musical is the one when you can hum the tunes on the way out. 

Mamma Mia, South Pacific, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha, Phantom of the Opera, Cats and some more were good musicals. I saw them and I liked them. Well, I saw more shows but right now I just don't remember all of them.

Because they are running out of good stories they are inventing stories that precede fairy tales. Like Wicked. This show "investigates" why a good witch becomes a bad witch. And the bad witch is the one from Oz. This was the one who wanted to get rid of Dorothy. The musical is about her story.

Abigail wanted to see this show, I am absolutely not interested about it. Bottom line, we bought two tickets for her birthday and good old Abigail and her mom went to see it. I hope they like it. I much rather stayed home with Robin and relaxed than go into Manhattan on a Sunday.

It appears that paper tickets went out of style. We purchased the tickets through Ticketmasters and the only way to use them is through the cellphone. This is crazy. I had all kinds of problems getting through the tickets until Abigail showed me how to do it. Week after next my wife and I are going to a concert, and I am scared that I will not know how to do it.

This civilization is for the birds. Give me back the good old ways.

Sunday

 Even the Bible says that the seventh day is a day of rest. Sunday is the seventh day so, I rest.

Laundry

God bless my wife for her cleanliness. I we don't do laundry twice a week, sometimes three times a week she gets upset. Our laundry boxes, hampers are always full. She has some theories, and there is never any argument about those.

In my earlier days we did laundry once every two weeks. Only personal items went to the washing machines. My shirts that I wore to work and bed things always went to the Chinese laundry. I did that for about 25 years. Suits, coats, dresses always went to the cleaners. As far as I knew this was the right way, and it worked.

Her command is, that whatever we wear outside our home and sit anywhere, the minute we get home that stuff is laundry material. That is how we get a lot of clothing to wash. I always say if we would have our own washing machines, it would be going 24/7. And would die after a year because of overuse.

Now I learned the errors of my ways. My wife showed me that everything can go to the washing machine. Actually the cleaners have a wshing machine like contraption in the back of the store and only they know what liquid they put in it. For all I know it could be a same washing machine the laundry uses. Anyway, Any clothing my wife washed they always came out squeaky clean.

Our apartment house has a large laundry room with several washers and dryers. When we take our stuff down she scientifically separates them. The whites, the colors, the different materials. When I used to do our laundry, I just threw everything into a machine, and they all came out ok. Now, we use 4-5 machines for our wash. I swear she has PhD in laundry science.

But just to keep the peace I keep my quiet and go along with her theories. 

Election

One year until the next presidential election and the list of the hopefuls is increasing with leaps and bounds. As far as I understand if the current president wants to run there would be no opposition from his party, which in this case is the Democratic Party. However even some democrats accept the fact that this president is not good and there are already a few candidates surfaced.

On the other hand on the republican side the list is growing by leaps and bounds. Some of the wannabees are known some are not. But this little unimportant fact does not scare them away from announcing their intention to become the leader of the free world. 

I don't understand how this system works. I know that to campaign cost money. As far as I know none of them is independently wealthy as Trump who can finance his own campaign. Actually that was exactly what he did back in 2019-2020. He was so much in the news that he did not need to pay for advertisements. But these candidates need money to go on. So, who is throwing money into the well? Because most of them must realize that they have no chance in hell to vin. Not the nomination and certainly not the election.

So is this just a political game, playing with our minds? And later on they turn their support to a larger candidate along with the votes of their believers? There are two major candidates, Trump and Desantis and time will tell who will come out on top. Desantis is a governor. Not known outside of Florida no matter how much he campaigns. He is also pretty radical and many people will not like his ways. Trump, well is Trump. There is nothing more to say.

No matter how much dirt they dig up about him his popularity keeps growing. His campaign chest is filled, he can campaign all he wants. They can tie him to the January 6 fiasco, they can say he took home classified documents, they can say he "raped" women. These things will not change people's mind if they want to vote for him. None of these have any effect on his presidency.

If I want to vote for him no New York Times, police union or any trade union will change my mind.

Abigail

Today, on June 2, Abigail is 21 years old. She treats this is a major milestone in her life. 21 is officially adulthood. She can go into a bar and order drinks, she can vote, and she believes that this is it. From here on she can make her own decisions because she is a grownup.

We are having a lot of arguments about this. She is far from being a grownup. Abigail wouldn't be able to find her way out of a paper bag. She needs supervision and guidance. As much as she resents it she does need it. Ok, so we are prejudiced. We still see her as a little girl. But the truth is that she can not be independent as she would like to be.

And these lead to constant arguments. She decides something and if we do not agree with her there is the argument. Her slogan is that I am not a child anymore, I know what I am doing. Yet, at every event, every corner her mom's advice is asked for.

For one thing, she can not drive for which I am very glad because she is a little haphazard and I am afraid she would get into accidents. She also does not know the city so moving around would create problems. Because of this she always relies on her mom or friends to provide her with transportation. Note: most of her friends drive.

So, calendat wise she might be 21 but in our eyes she is still a little girl!

Jamaica

I read a very interesting article on the internet. Jamaica is a fairly large Caribbean island and an independent country. Its native population is primarily black. They are descendants of African slaves brought by the Spanish conquerors. According to the article these people do not want to be called African American and maintain that they are not the same who are living in the US.

This is a very interesting attitude. To emphasize it further, the article mentioned a Jamaican black businesswoman who rents out her bungalows to vacationers. The reason this made news was that this lady listed her bungalows with a note that black Americans should not apply for short term rentals.

Her reasoning was that black Americans have attitude issues, they want things for free claiming that they deserve it, they have issues about their past and for these she would rather will not do business with them.  This thing caused a little bit of an uproar in black circles. They claimed discrimination, but the uproar was not as bad as if a white proprietor would have listed his property such a way. 

Many years ago there was a movement amongst African Americans to move back to Africa. Many did just that. Unfortunately, this did not work out because the locals in Africa did not get along the American newcomers because of their attitude. They were asked to go back where they came from. That is a pretty strong stand from their own kind.

I just love this Jamaican lady. Good, stand up for your business. In this life there is no free lunch!

Black businesswoman in Jamaica, the island