All posts by Jim

Left HS before report cards came out. Enlisted in the Marines for four years. By the time those years were over, I was hooked - they had me for life. Spent nearly ten years as enlisted. Received a Silver Star, Bronze Star w/V, Purple Heart as a Sgt during first RVN tour. Upon returning to the State's received a combat commission to 2Lt. Retired after 36 total years as a Colonel. Book follows my career, but is more about the heroes with whom I served, the great mentors I had, and the leadership principles they instilled in me.
Current Events

Hey Mickey Mouse –

6 Comments
– Suck it up  rodent!

I swear, if you have not learned by now, we Floridians simply love our Gov. He takes sh*t from nobody, including the venerable rodent from the  Magic Kingdom. It’s amazing when a CEO listens to his employees, who in this case, I’m sure are the young spoiled brats of today’s generation, and makes a decision that affect the financial status of the corporation he is charged to run for the owners (shareholders).  This would have certainly gone over very well in Disneyland, but not here in Disney World. Perhaps this CEO thought he was in the Land not the World, Ha.

This is hilarious, and let it be a warning to all CEOs to be careful what you say. Run your damn company and stay out of politics, especially if you are located in Florida or the Gov will get you. I love it. 

Sadly, Mr. Walt Disney has to be screaming in his grave.

 

 

From the Wall Street Journal

Friday 22 April 2022

 

Revolt in Disney’s Florida’s Magic Kingdom

The Walt Disney Co. needs Florida more than Florida needs Walt Disney. That’s the latest chapter in this tale of a CEO who followed his woke staff like a lemming off the cliff of cultural politics. Disney employees demanded that Mickey Mouse oppose Florida’s misdescribed “don’t say gay” bill. Now state lawmakers are reacting by putting down a few glue traps.

The Florida Legislature voted this week to abolish the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which in effect lets Disney World run its own private government. Created by the Legislature in 1967, the district covers about 40 square miles and features two water parks and four theme parks, including the Magic Kingdom. Disney essentially controls land use, environmental protection, fire service, utilities, more than 100 miles of roads, and more.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the bill. The Journal cites a source who knows Disney’s finances and says the district saves the company tens of millions of dollars a year. Without it, services like fixing potholes could revert to county government.

Disney largely funds the Reedy Creek district, which had about $150 million in revenue last year. It also carries close to $1 billion in debt. The mayor of Orange County warned Thursday that if the district goes, then upkeep will “fall to the county’s budgets,” putting “an undue burden on the rest of the taxpayers.” The headaches look large enough that it’s difficult not to wonder about the bill’s effective date. It dissolves the Reedy Creek district on June 1, 2023—time for Disney and Mr. DeSantis to make up.

Are Florida Republicans engaged in unfair political retaliation? “As a matter of first principle,” Mr. DeSantis said last month, “I don’t support special privileges in law, just because a company is powerful.” Live by the corporate carve-out, die by the corporate carve-out. As a matter of political realism, the Reedy Creek district is a perk the state gave Disney. The mystery is why Disney thought it could push around state lawmakers without any pushback.

One answer is that previous corporate political signaling came with little cost and media hosannas. Recall when Major League Baseball pulled its All-Star Game out of Atlanta, as a punishment for Georgia’s new voting law. “Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. The voting law “does not match Delta’s values,” fretted CEO Ed Bastian.

Did they read the bill? Or did they trust President Biden, who called it “Jim Crow 2.0”? Voting absentee in Georgia is still easier than in New York or Delaware. The political frenzy in Florida began with a similar dynamic. Early versions of the state’s controversial bill were broader, but here’s the key line in the law that passed: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate.” That language belies the claim that kids with gay siblings or two moms couldn’t talk openly about their families.

At first CEO Bob Chapek told employees that Disney would take no position. “As we have seen time and again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds,” he wrote. But inspired by an earlier tweet from former CEO Bob Iger, Disney employees went into open rebellion. Soon Mr. Chapek was groveling to his underlings and calling Florida’s bill a “challenge to basic human rights.”

Perhaps he thought this would be a freeway to mollify his staff, but Mr. Chapek misjudged the political moment. Republican voters who have watched companies side with the progressive agenda and silence employees who disagree are fed up. Mr. Chapek was right the first time: Disney’s political foray didn’t stop the Florida law. But it made a lot of people mad, including Disney customers and state lawmakers.

There’s a warning here to other companies, especially Big Tech and Wall Street, which are mainly based in liberal states but conduct business everywhere. If they try to impose their cultural values, they risk losing Republican allies on the policy issues that matter most to their bottom lines, such as regulation, trade, taxation, antitrust and labor law. Polls show rising GOP hostility to big business, and that is likely to be reflected when Republicans take power.

If good tax policy can’t pass Congress because Republican voters are furious about cultural imperialism from the C-suite, that’s bad for the country. It’s also bad for business. The Disney lesson for CEOs is to stay out of these divisive cultural fights. The lesson for political partisans in the workplace is that their bosses run the office, but they don’t run the country.

Originally posted 2022-04-22 11:35:40.

Current Events

A Crime Scene Where the Victims Wore Masks

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We, as normal Americans, are too stupid to have any opinions or to think for ourselves — so believe our elected officials, especially those from the entire administration, even some of our GOP RINOS. But I sincerely believe their day is coming with each passing month until doomsday in November. God, help us to be able to sustain sanity until then. A very well written piece from the WSJ

From the Wall Street Journal

FREE EXPRESSION

By Gerard Baker

A Crime Scene Where the Victims Wore Masks

As terrified passengers stumbled from the train at the 36th Street station in Brooklyn last week, it was noticeable how many of them were complying with the mandate that to enjoy the privilege of venturing into the underground abyss known as the New York City Subway system, you must be wearing a face covering.

There they were, desperately fleeing a gunman or bravely helping rescue injured passengers, but still dutifully playing their part in the absurdist theatre of pandemic regulations scripted and directed for us by our little overlords.

Those flimsy pieces of fabric might have offered some minimal protection from the noxious fumes of the smoke bombs that Frank James allegedly set off in that subway car. But they were never going to be a match for the bullets fired from the 9mm semiautomatic handgun recovered at the scene. Many innocents were wounded, and it is something of an Easter miracle that no one was killed. For the millions of people who have dared to ride the city’s subway this year, the greatest danger to life isn’t some escaped molecule of a virus of rapidly diminishing potency. That exiguous risk is dwarfed by the combined threat of being pushed in front of an oncoming train, stabbed, hit in the head by a psycho with a hammer, robbed at gunpoint or being sexually assaulted. The number of robberies on the subway so far in 2022 is up 72% from the same period in 2021. There is no easily discover-able record of how many maskless riders have been struck down this year by Covid.

It’s hard to think of a tableau that better captures the disordered priorities of our governing classes than that scene in Brooklyn.

The politicians and bureaucrats who run almost all major cities, many states and the federal executive branch seem to care more about preserving the symbol of their authority that mask mandates represent than about the actual physical safety of citizens. In their warped ideology, crime is the result of material deprivation, prejudice and wicked police officers. The real need for enforcement is shown by those tempted to show their faces in public.

Masks are only an example. It’s hard to recall a time in recent American history when there has been such a monumental mismatch between the priorities of the people who govern us and the needs of the people. On issue after issue—crime, inflation, immigration— we have leaders so entrenched in their ideological priors that they seem incapable of, even uninterested in, addressing the actual challenges faced by hard-pressed Americans. Joe Biden was at it again last week with inflation. It has been clear for a long time that the return of this old horror is the largest threat to living standards and economic stability. But acknowledging that would have required the Democrats to abandon their ideological goals of ever-higher spending and forced them to reorder their governing priorities. So they didn’t.

Now, unable to dismiss it anymore, they have offered not a serious set of policies to relieve inflationary stresses, but a series of public-relations gimmicks that will have virtually no alleviating impact. Lifting the summertime ban on blended ethanol fuel will be about as effective in addressing higher energy costs as publicly shaming greedy corporations or blaming Vladimir Putin.

On immigration, the administration instinctively reflects a progressive mindset that regards border control as racist. It spent the better part of a year undoing the immigration restrictions imposed by its predecessor. As the inevitable border surge swelled, it feigned some concern. Now, as apprehensions of aliens in border areas reach their highest level in 22 years, what is its response? The repeal of Title 42, a measure that had been effective in curbing illegal crossings.

Interestingly, as the pandemic rationale for that measure is no longer deemed operative, the administration insists elsewhere that the emergency continues when it suits it. So, even as the nation yearns to return to normality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week announced another extension, for 15 days, of the federal mask mandate on airplanes and public transportation. It had been scheduled to end this Monday at long last. (And on Monday a judge in Tampa, Fla., held that the mandate exceeded the CDC’s statutory authority.)

On it goes. from needless bailouts for student loans to a fixation on sacrificing energy capacity in pursuit of long-term climate goals, Democrats display an unerring focus on aims Americans don’t see as pressing—or even necessary.

Obdurate insistence in the face of evidence of both rising unpopularity and accumulating failure is a common political flaw. No leader willingly acknowledges the irrelevancy of his policies. but it seems to be especially embedded in the modern progressive philosophy that the rulers know best; that they, by dint of their scientific expertise and moral superiority better understand our true needs.

Like all such authoritarian conceits, it doesn’t survive long in a democratic environment. That helps explain why leftists are so panicked at the thought of losing control over information, why they feel so threatened at the thought that a communications channel such as Twitter might fall out of their hands. Anything that challenges their right to go on pursuing their priorities is “disinformation.”

But it won’t take the intervention of a rogue billionaire to restore democratic equilibrium. A popular reckoning is coming.

November 8th 2022 is the Democrat’s  D-day. Get ready Americans!

 

Originally posted 2022-04-19 14:52:13.

Current Events, Recent Posts

Does Watching TV Make You Stupid?

Video 3 Comments

Well, watch the video and you may learn just how stupid you really are. It’s amazing how Americans are duped by watching TV shows and especially the commercials.

Now, I know not how accurate the actual figures are, but they come from the government. Of course, we all know how well we can trust the government, but I suspect the actual figures are close to reality. It will probably surprise some fo you to learn the population breakdown between blacks and Hispanics. However, if you watch the new shows on TV, and especially those horribly biased commercials placed by nationally known companies I’m sure that’s what caused the highly skewed estimates by Americans. Just who are these commercials aimed at, you and me? I doubt it.

Originally posted 2022-04-15 12:45:52.

Recent Posts

You’re Out!

1 Comment

What a shame that one of America’s favorite past times is going by the way of the NFL. Millionaires haggling over salaries while playing a game while its fans pay the bill. Not me! I don’t watch either.

MLB’s Alternate Universe

By: G. Maresca

As the Russians deployed tens of thousands of troops for an invasion of Ukraine, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) owners and the players’ union agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement.

MLB’s latest contract ended a lockout that lasted more than three months and barely registered a blip on the news’ radar. Their lockout impacted not just the spring training stadiums, but the local bars, restaurants, and hotels throughout Arizona and Florida. According to Seidman Research, these venues lost nearly half of their revenue when spring training was cut short in 2020.

Once upon a time in America, the national pastime was baseball. The once coast-to-coast sporting diversion is long past its time and prime. Baseball is the Pony Express in the era of the iPhone.

A work stoppage should be the last thing any professional league facing declining numbers needs. Billionaires argue with millionaires who disagree on how to divvy up a dumpster full of cash with the remaining fans paying the freight. Players and owners are heading down the Niagara River fighting over who gets to steer. Such unhinged business practices do not bode well for future growth.

When the MLB minimum salary is well over half a million, it is difficult to convince anyone with a pulse that the players are undergoing financial hardships, while the league’s anti-trust exemption remains. Making it to the “show” as players refer to the majors means the last guy on the bench can afford a wine cellar in their self-driving Bentley, while your average fan is fighting growing inflation that will price many out.

The issue is always the almighty dollar and if MLB’s goal is to drive their fans out, they are clearing the bases. Most could care less about salary caps, player minimums, arbitration, and baseball’s luxury tax structure, which parallels the federal tax code. The more they muddle with it, the more incomprehensible it becomes that has even seasoned tax attorneys bamboozled.

As Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal put it recently, “the nation’s most self-sabotaging sport is once more setting its own shoelaces aflame” and they have been at it for the last half century.

The league’s television ratings and attendance are proof the game remains in a serious funk. MLB is its own worst enemy and cannot afford to keep their fans away. Commissioner Rob Manfred makes his NFL counterpart Roger Goodell seem like a once in a lifetime lottery pick. MLB attendance last year was down to a 37-year low. The final game of the 2020 World Series had the lowest television ratings ever, while last year’s All-Star game was the second lowest. The league saw 45.3 million fans attend regular season games in 2021, a drop of 33.9% from 2019 – the lowest figure in 35-years.

There remains no joy in Mudville as COVID’s ominous clouds still cast a long shadow as unvaccinated players will be barred from Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays. MLB’s slow suicide picked up steam when the league stenciled BLM on mounds and outfields, while moving their All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver to appease Leftists – an insufferable and impossible task.

For many, MLB could terminate the season and it would have the same impact if the American Ceramic Society cancelled their annual convention. Even a game as superbly conceived as baseball can be so mismanaged that its fan base is doing a MacArthur and fading away. Those who still find the game worth the time and the expense, MLB’s opening day was Thursday, April 7, one week later than initially scheduled with its 162-regular season games in place.

Greed and envy are just two more nails in MLB’s coffin. In the free marketplace, businesses are at liberty to choose and live with the consequences.

Baseball will survive as it is great entertainment at many levels from the minors to college, high school, and youth leagues, where games don’t last three and a half hours and a hot dog and a beer won’t cost you a small fortune.

MLB’s hubris cares little about their fans just like Hollywood. Fans, however, can be heard by using their pastime money to support the millions of displaced Ukrainians – a grand slam in the humanity game.

 

Originally posted 2022-04-07 09:27:09.

Recent Posts

The Brainwashing of America

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Received this from Marine brother whom I trust who said this in his email:

I’ve noticed this even though I have recorded most tv I watch and fast forward the ads. Who really cares? What concerns me is that those controlling the media have an agenda. 

Just like those loudly opposing Florida’s new law on parental rights – The MSM, the president, Disney, and Hollywood. “They” are calling it the “Don’t Say Gay Law.” They also say that stuff is not being discussed in K-3. So, if not, why all the opposition? 

A small minority is attempting to change our culture. The silent majority needs to wake up.

This post was promised yesterday on the silent majority post. Folks, we NEED to act. Forward this post to all your friends, and yesterday’s post as well. Why should we spend our hard earned dollars on products and services from companies that hate us, but want our money and surmise we are too stupid to get the point of it all. Are we?

The Silent Brainwashing

Brainwashing is best accomplished when you have no idea that it is being done but simply occurs as part of the fabric of your life.  Think about TV Commercials and shows with these facts in mind.

Facts:

US population 334 million consisting of 57.8% white, 18.7% Latino, 12.1% Black and 11.4% Asian or other.

About 10% of all existing marriages are interracial including those of all races, and only 5.6% of the population identifies as LGBT.

You would expect the same ratios in TV commercials if they represented America but here’s what you see instead, taken from a log of TV commercials over a 4-month period, which is quite different.

For TV, white men as the majority of Americans have all but disappeared. When they are in commercials, they are either old, ugly and sick or they are the partner of a black woman and have no speaking part.

In 3 of the commercials the white men are doing laundry and always paired with a little girl to whom they are delivering the clean clothes. In other words, less than 10% of the population is driving 90% of the narrative.

There were zero commercials of White fathers and sons. None! So, while 75% of white children live with both their parents, including their fathers, we choose instead not to model that in favor of the 62% of black children that do not live in a two-parent household? Is this the healthy “normal” image we want to model to our population?

Equally disturbing, young white boys and teens have also disappeared, unless they were flagrantly new age gay, as though that represents the “majority” instead of the pitifully small minority. What distorted perception of reality does that serve?

The study found a majority of the children were white girls with a black “brother” even though this represents the smallest percentage of any reality discussed thus far! The MAJORITY of TV commercial couples consist of a white woman with a black man, when in reality these make up about 6% of the 30% of blacks that are married or about 2% of our population. Are you starting to see how pervasive this extraordinary brainwashing is? Exactly what are they trying to program into us with this relentless deluge of non-reality?

Surprisingly, in the month of December there was an uptick (but not a majority) in good looking white male models, but research determined that in each and every case it was a cologne commercial and every one of those commercials were made in Europe where they still use white men in their commercials.

Here, on the other hand, they prefer to portray young white males as so mind-numbingly stupid as being incapable of delivering their lines and couldn’t even say “Liberty Mutual”, the insurance company featured in the commercial.

Over a period of 4 months it concluded that while the African American population in America is only 12% they were in 94.3% of the commercials. Black males are only 5% of our population yet were in 89.7% of the ads.

Then you have to ask, where are the Asians and Latino’s that make up nearly THREE TIMES the black population? Are they in THREE TIMES the number of ads or is something severely skewed here in the minds of Hollywood and Madison Avenue?

The fact is that while white males make up the largest segment of our population, they were in only in 4% of the TV commercials! In most of those cases they are in their 60’s to 80’s and were pushing medication for debilitating diseases, reverse mortgages (Tom Selleck) or Medicare plans. While the study had many, many more alarming facts, one that really stands out is that virtually every ad campaign for new cars featured a woman driver except for Lincoln.

In the commercials for automobiles there were more black women drivers than white women. Again, Europe was the exception here where Mercedes and BMW had NO VISIBLE DRIVERS!! They showed the cars cruising highways but never allowed a view where the driver was visible. Are they more interested in selling the product while we appear to be more interested in selling the political/racial message?

And it is not just our commercials that offer this skewed media driven unreality. It is also nearly impossible to turn on a show that doesn’t have a gay couple or LGBT component, yet in reality only one in eighteen should, if they want to accurately represent the less than 5.6% of the population that fall in this group.

The results of this brainwashing are dramatic and very successful. Despite the low percentage in real life, when polled, Americans have been brainwashed to believe that 24% of all Americans are LGBT! Based on commercials, they must also believe that the “average” American family is biracial, that white men barely exist, and Latinos/Asians do not exist at all.

That is the magic and the tragedy of the fake, dishonest and unrealistic “woke” TV that we watch and are affected by 24/7, even though it is far afield from our reality.

Ditto for the “woke” minority that follow mindlessly in its wake, thinking that this bizarre narrative is in fact real or justified, when it is merely an illusion and fabrication. They truly do control our entire thought process and will distort our perception of reality, if we allow them to.

While it is one thing to erase the stigma of single parenthood, bi-racialism, or unusual sexual preferences, it is another thing completely to portray them as the “Role Model” or “Norm”, as representative of our entire society, especially at the expense of true normality or realism.

In this case, it looks like White, Latino, Asian and straight lives don’t matter according to them, and Black privilege with a side of LGBT has taken us over.

The brainwashing will continue and can only be stopped by educating those around you.

Pass this on folks and wake up America!

Originally posted 2022-04-04 13:33:22.