Hopes and Dreams - Stuck on AutoDrive

Texas Troubles
Cruz To Mexico!
February 20, 2021

Music Association: Bob Seger - Travelin' Man

-19 degrees F in Minneapolis
What's Cooler Than Being Cool?
Ice Cold!
February 15, 2021

Cold Cranking Amps! It is cold out when it is minus 19° F—in Minneapolis.

It was so cold in Minneapolis —

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

my degrees key got stuck, and it looked like bubbles.

Music Associations: Foreigner - Cold As Ice & Outkast - Hey Ya

GameStop Games Continue
Wall Street Loses Its Shorts
February 1, 2021

Let's say we started a corporation, called it Hopes and Dreams Capital Investments, Inc. or HADCAP for short.

HADCAP provides investment services information for a price. The cliché Time Is Money has everything to do with the business.

If you want the hottest news before it will even effect the stock market, then you will have to pay a premium. What (you might ask) would investment news be that has not even effected the market? It is not really news because nothing has actually happened. It is rumors. Theories. Lies. If you can afford the premium price, you get a HADCAP text message about the hot tip that is so hot that it has not yet caught fire — oxygen hasn't touched it.

If you can't afford the steepest price, maybe you can afford the next level of HADCAP message, the “look what's happening, you are almost too late” email. This only happens if enough activity occurs based on the original, premium news (that was not yet news). By the time the news is in a newspaper or magazine or on CNBC, the investment ashes are smoldering and the HADCAP vice-president in charge of tisk-tisking the general public about what could've happened tells the stories in a told-you-so voice and mentions the recent lottery numbers for all the good that does anyone.

That's how Wall Street works.

Reddit's WallStreetBets has been making plans and decisions out in the open, investing in GameStop (GME) for a variety of reasons, having little to do with the fundamentals of a brick-and-mortar retail dinosaur in the age of gaming downloads. But how much of Wall Street investment advice has anything to do with the realities of business?!? The market stopped making sense a long time ago, if it ever had.

Wall Street investment firms felt obligated to short sell GameStop, betting against WallStreetBets remaining invested in GameStop. At this point, the short sellers have generally lost (had to cover their orders).

The takeaway should be amusement. I never started HADCAP and do not give out investment advice. Editorial cartoonist Daryl Cagle had a cartoon last week showing Reddit clubbing Wall Street using GameStop.

Daryl Cagle cartoon of the GameStop investments, from January 28, 2021

Music Association: Spinners - Games People Play

Over 400,000 Deaths
Bye - Don
January 20, 2021

President Trump leaves the White House in disgrace

The inaugurations of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Kamala Harris could not have happened fast enough.

The four years of Bizarro-President Trump are over. Trump politicized the pandemic and preventative measures. Who would politicize a pandemic and preventative measures? Only Trump. And his cult.

The United States has surpassed 400,000 deaths due to Covid-19, about as many Americans that died in World War II. Many of those deaths are on him.

Over half of people who recover from Covid-19 report lingering symptoms two and a half months later. Some of those are long-haulers with severe, unshakable symptoms.

Last night, Trump pardoned 143 felons, including Steve Bannon, who was indicted by the Trump Justice Department for defrauding Trump supporters over a fake Trump wall.

Trump wanted a big military send-off this morning because the military would have to be there for him, even though he was never there for them. But the military couldn't be there because it's defending the Capitol from his cult.

It's the end of an error.

Music Association: Grand Funk Railroad - Bad Time

Definitions
Sedition & Terrorism
January 8, 2021

18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy

“If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”

28 CFR § 0.85 (l)

Terrorism includes “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

United States Constitution - 25th Amendment (1967) section 4

“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office of Acting President...”

Music Association: Natasha Bedingfield - These Words

Trump's Treason
Trump Terrorists Attempt
Armed Coup At U.S. Capitol
January 6, 2021
2:30pm CST

At the urging of President Trump, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, and armed Trump terrorists broke into the Capitol using flag poles as battering rams, over-running Capitol security.

The terrorists raided the U.S. House Of Representatives and Senate chambers and ransacked desks, that had been used only minutes before. A Trump terrorist has occupied the office of Speaker of the House Pelosi.

The Governor of Virigina has sent members of the Virginia National Guard to the District of Columbia. The Governor of Maryland has also sent the Maryland National Guard.

The D.C. National Guard was absent. Washington Mall security was absent. All of that was under the control of the President.

This is a dark day in United States history.

“Find Votes”
Dangerous President
January 4, 2021

President Trump and crew called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, January 2nd to whine and bully him into changing the results of the election towards Trump, specifically to “find 11,780 votes.”

Trump: I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes. There's no way I lost Georgia. There's no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes. I'm just going by small numbers when you add them up they're many times the 11,000. But I won that state by hundreds of thousands of votes.

Do you think it's possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County? Because that's what the rumor is. And also that Dominion took out machines. That Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their, uh, machinery.
Do you know anything about that? Because that's illegal, right?

Germany: This is Ryan Germany. No, Dominion has not moved any machinery out of Fulton County.

Trump: But have they moved the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?

Germany: No.

Trump: Are you sure, Ryan?

Germany: I'm sure. I'm sure, Mr. President.

Trump: What about, what about the ballots. The shredding of the ballots. Have they been shredding ballots?

Germany: The only investigation that we have into that — they have not been shredding any ballots. There was an issue in Cobb County where they were doing normal office shredding, getting rid of old stuff, and we investigated that. But this is stuff from, you know, from you know past elections.

Trump: I don't know. It doesn't pass the smell test because we hear they're shredding thousands and thousands of ballots and now what they're saying, "Oh, we're just cleaning up the office." So I don't think they're cleaning.

Raffensperger: Mr. President, the problem you have with social media, they — people can say anything.

Trump: Oh this isn't social media. This is Trump media. It's not social media. It's really not it's not social media. I don't care about social media. I couldn't care less. Social media is Big Tech. Big Tech is on your side. I don't even know why you have a side, because you should want to have an accurate election. And you're a Republican.

Raffensperger: We believe that we do have an accurate election.

~ ~ ~

Trump: So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.

~ ~ ~

Trump: Because most of them are made out to the name Trump. Because these are people that were scammed when they came in. And we have thousands of people that have testified or that want to testify when they came in they were probably going to vote on November 3. And they were told I'm sorry, you've already been voted for, you've already voted. The women, men started screaming, No. I proudly voted til November 3. They said, I'm sorry, but you've already been voted for and you have a ballot and these people are beside themselves. So they went out and they filled in a provisional ballot, putting the name Trump on it. And what about that batch of military ballots that came in. And even though I won the military by a lot, it was 100 percent Trump. I mean 100 percent Biden. Do you know about that? A large group of ballots came in. I think it was to Fulton County and they just happened to be 100 percent for Trump — for Biden, even though Trump won the military by a lot, you know, a tremendous amount. But these ballots were 100 percent for Biden. And, do you know about that? A very substantial number came in, all for Biden. Does anybody know about it?

~ ~ ~

Trump: So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already.

~ ~ ~

Trump: And because of what you've done to the president, a lot of people aren't going out to vote and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they're going to vote. And you would be respected. Really respected, if this thing could be straightened out before the election. You have a big election coming up on Tuesday. And therefore I think that it is really important that you meet tomorrow and work out on these numbers. Because I know Brad that if you think we're right, I think you're going to say, and I'm not looking to blame anybody. I'm just saying you know, and, you know, under new counts, and under uh, new views, of the election results, we won the election. You know? It's very simple. We won the election. As the governors of major states and the surrounding states said, there is no way you lost Georgia, as the Georgia politicians say, there is no way, you lost Georgia. Nobody. Everyone knows I won it by hundreds of thousands of votes. But I'll tell you it's going to have a big impact on Tuesday if you guys don't get this thing straightened out fast.

Music Association: Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia

Year in Review & Movie Review (Spoiler Alert)
Crowd Mentality
January 1, 2021

Every first snow of winter in Minnesota, drivers seem to forget how to drive in snow. They end up in ditches and spinning out. And while it seems like collective amnesia, it's not.

All Minnesota drivers don't forget how to drive in the first snow, just some drivers. Taking arrivals since last winter and adding the new drivers since last winter, you can easily account for all the spin outs and ditch parkers, without any overall problem of crowd mental deficiency.

Crowds don't behave with one mind.

That sums up several lessons of 2020.

A pandemic should not be a political issue. Health care had become a political issue and President Trump took that to the next level by politicizing Covid-19.

Protesters of police violence and racial inequities are not all alike. Most are nonviolent. A few are only there for the violence.

President-elect Biden received more votes in 2020 than any president in the history of the United States. But on the other hand, President Trump received the second most number of votes in the history of the United States, despite all that he has done the past four years. People have their own ways of thinking and not-thinking.

Crowds behave without like-mindedness.

I say that not to just review 2020 but to review Wonder Woman 1984.

Comic book movies have comic book crowds. They are all alike. Wonder Woman 1984 made cartoons out of male crowds, female crowds, and everybody crowds. It's my number two pet peeve about movies besides two-dimensional female characters, which they also had. The movie was a list of clichés.

One of the toughest things to do with characters like Superman or Wonder Woman is come up with challenging adversaries without resorting to:

1. lost powers
2. turned evil

If your character is too powerful, what challenge can the writer create?

My response is: don't get me started. There are an infinite number of things to write about being powerful. I'll ask you something. Have you ever broken something because it was not made to be strong enough? Whatever your answer, there. That's part of your story. Women and men break things all the time. Now imagine being in a confined space with someone who could easily break everything around you. Oh, I don't know, let's say it's a fighter jet, and you're the pilot. Wonder Woman was in a situation just like that, but she didn't break anything. Maybe because she was already losing some of her powers in a gradual way that kept all the components of the fighter jet safe from her.

The scene could have illustrated the relationship between the pilot from another era and Wonder Woman. They could have learned to fly the plane together by reading the manual under the seat. He would have needed some help from her.

There are huge categories of things that powerful characters would lack knowledge and experiences in order to relate to everybody else. Like understanding tired people or experiencing bad hair days. Those differences could be more interesting than lost powers.

The big message of the movie was -- be careful what you wish for. Great. Thanks. Aladdin, Shrek, I Dream Of Jeannie, and Bewitched already covered that concept. Wonder Woman 1984 just took reckless wishing to a global level.

The magic lasso scenes of the first movie were crowd favorites. By making ten times more lasso scenes in Wonder Woman 1984, the movie becomes more about the lasso and less about the woman holding it. While there was nothing wrong with the opening act, other than the queen's focus on her daughter, it was a bit of a repeat of the last movie. It hardly adds to Diana's background unless the plan is to slowly tell her origin story over the course of three or four movies, for a better box set experience.

There is nothing new about a sequel that doesn't live up to its predecessor. After a favorable first movie, I didn't think a good second movie would be so tough.

Music Association: Bruce Springsteen - Tougher Than The Rest
two stars

Do You Hear What I Hear?
Christmas Music Musings
December 26, 2020

This Christmas was different. Quieter. Not rushed. It was good. Christmas to me is not about lawn decorations or about wishing people a Merry Christmas, because I almost never say that -- it isn't meaningful. It's more about music, but most Christmas music isn't.

I listen to Christmas concerts and wonder about the conductors.

Three possibilities come to mind. Either they hate music and want every note to be a tortured mix of tones. Or they cannot hear and have great imaginations. Or they love the possibility that one of their students might just might surpass all these painful melodies to go on to become a virtuoso or at least popular.

And that's concerts with tickets that were bought with real money.

Everyone in the music industry knows Christmas music has the potential to make artists rich. That's music history. Every now and then, a song comes along that adds (right or wrong) to the catalog of most listened to Christmas songs.

Ask people if they like Christmas music, they might say yes.

Ask people if they like the entire catalog of Christmas songs, they would probably say no.

I like Christmas music like I like TV shows -- a la carte. I like some Christmas music, definitely, selectively, but if you ask a blanket question: do I like Christmas music yes or no? My answer is no. Too much of it chants or grates or tries too hard or doesn't try at all. Earlier this month, I was in a retail store, call it the Red Bulls Eye. A song was being played. I didn't know it, but I liked it. My mask was partly covering my ears, but one line in the chorus was, “I've got your back.” I liked the song. Weirder still, it wasn't a Christmas song.

If I went back to that store today, it still wouldn't be playing Christmas music because nothing stops Christmas music like December 26th. That makes this a most wonderful time of the year.

Music Association: Andy Williams - The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Movie Association: Pixar - Soul

In The Dark
Wisconsin Attacks!
December 10, 2020

An F-16 fighter jet belonging to Wisconsin crashed into Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Wisconsin has their own F-16s?!?

It was a training exercise at zero twenty-hundred hours. Had it been a full-fledged attack, Wisconsin would've attacked Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Here's the report:

A
Block 30 F-16 Viper belonging to the Wisconsin Air National
Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field Air National Guard
Base
in Madison crashed at around 20:00 pm local time on December 8, 2020.
The aircraft went down on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. 

Uh-hmm.

Music Association: Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee