Kool-Aid liquid shooters!

Tucked away in the juice isle of my local Country Mart store, located in Forsyth Missouri, are tiny little 1.62 fluid ounce plastic containers of Kook-Aid liquid beverage additive that you add to water for a refreshing and calorie free drink! About a two second squeeze is all you need to flavor a 24 ounce bottle of water! There's enough in each of these to flavor about about 15 bottles! And, at about $3 per, this works out to a cost of about twenty cents! Not a very bad deal. And yes, these go on sale from time to time, for about $2.50 each. A really great deal!

That mean old prison problem!

In the spirit of thinking way outside the box, I recently addressed the prison population problem in America....

To say our prisons are overcrowded would be an understatement as the graph shown here indicates. Of that population, a majority are incarcerated due to drug offenses. But, since those individuals broke the law, I have little remorse to share for them or their fate. Still, it is very apparent that we will need to do something in the near term that doesn't involve the building of more and more centers of confinement.

So, here's my proposal. Let's set up a lottery. Each year there would be a drawing with about 25% of the prison population being lucky 'winners'. What do they win? Well, here's the deal. We would take these individuals to special military camps where they would be given a modicum of training, handed a gun (sans ammo), two weeks rations and then shipped via a group of C-130 Hercules to be dropped over hot spots like Raqqa, Syria! They would then be charged with the simple task of survival and should they make it back to America, by what ever means, would be given much reduced sentences. Now just imagine a force of thirty to forty thousand of these sorts of people landing in the middle of an ISIS stronghold! (Sort of like a remake of the Dirt Dozen run amok, I would imagine...).

The upshot of such an effort would be multi-fold. For one thing, we would free up a lot of room in the prison system. For another, a few surviving inmates might get a chance at a better life once they got back home. And finally, the media would have a brand new reality series for viewers world wide. Oh, and as to the fate of ISIS? Well, that would be the real icing on the cake wouldn't it... See a win-win deal all the way around! Oh, and I almost forgot! Yes, the men would get ammo, of course. It would be dropped at selected sites all over the target area making for a rather mad dash in the vein of the movie It's a Mad Mad Mad World!

St. Patrick's Day 2016!

For perhaps the first time in my memory, I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day without imbibing any green beer! Actually, I did not have any beer at all, for I was in the midst of a month long abstinence that began on March the 1^st! So, coke in hand, I found myself sitting on a third floor balcony looking over a small valley through which ran Lake Taneycomo. And even though the temperature was a coolish 65F, I found that due to my western exposure and clear skies, that the temperature was quite comfortable. Looking upwards at my anemometer, I could tell that there was a light wind coming out of the west. Sitting there, I was reminded of a time, decades ago, when I lived in an apartment complex in Schaumburg Il. That place also had a second floor balcony and faced south. I think the year was 1990 and that man was far younger than the old person I am today.

So, in many ways, I'd come full circle. In those intervening days that went by all too swiftly, I had owned a couple of homes, fought the grass, lived and grew old. Funny thing about living. It's sometimes over before you even knew it. and on this day, I had not a stitch of green on!

2016 Presidential Election a perfect storm?

After watching the Republican debate last night, it was becoming increasingly clear that there was a problem developing with a party that was sharply divided over Donald Trump. It's looking more and more that, unless things radically change over the course of the next few months, Hillary may be assured the 2016 move into the White House!

I state this on the basis that the GOP looks headed for a runoff of sorts with that party's nomination being picked by straw vote. If that occurs, about half the voters may just end up staying at home on election night in November! A situation that would almost guarantee Hillary's success even if the vast majority of the total sentiment of the country was running against her!

Whatever happens, the silent revolution that is boiling just below the surface of America is likely to boil over in 2017 into a more traditional violent upheaval as the Federal government continues on the path of self destruction.

Check out this great Chicago Dog, while you still can.

I was sitting next to a friend, recently, and he was lamenting a failed effort to start up a Chicago Hot Dog stand in the Branson area some years ago. Eating a Chicago dog should be on everyone's bucket list, yes, they are that good! It seems that the regulations needed to get a startup was pretty overwhelming. OK, I understand that food regulations need to be followed. But, this guy was shit canned from the get go. We seem to be drowning in a regulatory nightmare that now has gotten to the point that fewer and fewer entrepreneurs even want to try.. (More of the drip down cancer that has is now the government we used to honor).

At any rate, you can sort of, kind of, get a feel for the Chicago Dog by visiting most any Sonic's. The prices are still doable and the taste is great. [However, the trend for all businesses to be only allowed to exist  only if they are government controlled continues at an accelerated pace]. I'm also sorry to be so down this date.. but, hey everyone, I still have eyes and can see...

And so now the great conflict stage is set!

Imagine rolling a large powder keg onto a hot and roaring fire! That just might perfectly describe the state of the world as America rolls towards a fall election. An election that could see Donald Trump placed as the head of a country already in caught up in internal turmoil!

Personally, I could not imagine what would happen internationally should that transpire. Trump is the physiological and diametric opposite of Obama in terms of foreign policy; one could even liken him more as hyped-up version of Putin. He certainly would not be the squeaky mouse we've had in charge for the last eight years. And, therein lies the rub....

Folks, I don't believe I've ever witnessed a world that is so ripe for a world war as the one I find myself in going into 2017. China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and ISIS are all proven players in the roles of those who would rule the world. All of of them are active and growing in their hunger and are poised on a razor thin line at this time. (President Obama abrogated America's role as a world leader a long time ago and now were seeing some very dangerous individuals filling in the void he left).

Of the five I've mentioned, China is currently the real elephant in the room (my opinion). They are effectively creating a choke point in the south china sea, (via a set of islands) that could easily close off the flow of commerce that amounts in the trillions annually. They are also militarizing some of these man made islands with weapons of war! And yes, I can guarantee that there is a master plan in place. Getting them to retreat, at this time, is neigh impossible and would require the use of extreme force. (Exactly the sort of action that could easily ignite that powder keg I was referring to earlier). The fact that China's economy is also in the process of total collapse doesn't help very much and has only served to hasten the ascent of men to whom the word 'strategy' has little to no meaning.

Meanwhile Putin like the cat he is, is waiting patiently on the side, building up his forces to retake the Baltic states along with other lightening fast land grabs the moment a major world war breaks out. (He has also been rumored to be acting very closely with Iran to help insure that that country realizes its share of the Middle East). Likely caught in the pincer like action will be much of the oil producing countries with the resulting overnight drop off in supplies of oil to the rest of the world.

And then there is ISIS. A group of loons that will likely feed off the carcass that was a semi-civilized world after the collapse. They represent almost pure unadulterated evil and would love nothing more than to see everything fall down with a return to the sort of conditions they currently call home. I always think of them as I would envision a tribe of rabid hyenas feeding on the African Serengeti.

Yes, Donald the Trump will have his hands full when, and if, he is elected. The only worse possible scenario would be seeing Hillary or, God forbid, that communist Sanders rise to that control. I really don't think I could take that and would likely move to Canada...

No buns for your burger? No problem!

On a few occasions in the past, I've wanted a good old juicy burger, but found myself lacking and any buns. Not to be denied, I through a quarter pound burger on a toasted slice of Italian bread and went from there!

From a nutritional standpoint, this creation was low sodium, low cholesterol and came in at about 500 calories! Sure the fat content was up there, but nobody's perfect!