I am from the last century.
The USA is a society where honest and meaningful ideas stand up to questioning and discussion, but the questioning and discussion rarely takes place.
Concerns here are not specific to any political party, personality or group identity.
Whatever seemed to work in the modern society of the last century was ditched to experiment with new ways of doing things some years ago. Incentives to maintain the modern society were removed.
This post is brought to you by the Old Man Blog category:
Thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
Original Old Man Blog here: https://oldmanblogdotcom.wordpress.com
New updates here: https://oakbaystarfish.com/category/old-man-blog/
Open Drug Use In Public
U Turn now happening:
National Public Radio Mar 5, 2024
Why Oregon is recriminalizing even small amounts of illicit drugs
Oak Bay Starfish take:
People can choose to take or reject drug rehab, Salvation Army shelters, etc.
As in the last century, camping on the sidewalk will not be permitted. Unfortunate that moves to legalize marijuana came along around the same time that camping on the sidewalk took off.
Related:
Sequim – Ongoing Breakdown of Society Update – Try This At A State Park & See What Happens
Things were up and running in the 80s and 90s
Homeless Camping/Camping on the sidewalk
Despite billions in public resources spent on issue,King Co. saw a 25% increase in homeless numbers.”
Newspeople Not Asking Questions
The press stopped asking questions a while back. People go to social media to share ideas. People are OK with basic rules such as:
No hate speech, insults, threats, foul language, attacking other commenters, etc. These are rules that make sense.
Today, social media posts are suppressed, filtered, censored and shadow banned. Will social media die out? What will become of the press?
Today, TV newspeople function like paid actors reading a script.
Mainstream TV News
Private citizens are stepping in and going out with a camera to see and document what is going on.
Instead of waiting for school teachers to teach about individual rights and limited government authority, waiting on the press to ask questions, or courts to handle cases, these guys go out and update us with a quick reality check.
Also not waiting on the overthrow of Saddam Hussein or the take down of the next bad guy in distant lands, as DOD defends the constitution, etc.
Videos recorded at or outside of sites that are funded by the public seem to be best for documenting these issues.
Any TV newsperson could go out and educate the public on their rights/public official’s obligation to provide info, etc. That does not happen.
JFK speaks about the role of the press in a free society:
Related:
Would any newsperson ever ask:
Sound Publishing And Black Press Media
Manage it, don’t ban it. Online comment sections
Censorship – Newspapers Suppressing or Eliminating Online Comment Sections
Pride Flag
City says no:
Oak Bay Starfish take-
Like an adult Mardi Gras theme, but broadcasted to the general population, not just those into Mardi Gras:
“Portland’s Pride community has just gained three new royal members after Sunday’s pageant.”
Renting An Apartment
Lived all over the USA in the 80s and 90s. Was a renter for years. Never had a problem renting. Payed on time, maintained good credit, followed property rules, left the place clean, always got my damage deposit back. Could get a good reference for renting the next place.
WA during COVID:
Governor says you may not be evicted for failure to pay rent.
Killing incentives to maintain apartment complexes and homes for rent. Killing incentives to pay rent on time. Killing incentives to be a good tenant.
Love to see newspeople ask:
Have any arrangements been made to cover property owner’s costs for mortgages, taxes, repairs, maintenance, water, trash pickup, sewer, insurance, etc.
Who pays to have the apartment complex dumpster emptied if the property manager cannot collect rent?
More here:
Police Pursuit
Last Century – WWII Generation In Charge
The way I grew up, (started driving in the 70s) there were incentives related to following the rules.
Maintain current registration and insurance. Have valid registration sticker on license plate, no broken tail lights, bulbs out, etc. Avoid speeding tailgating, etc. Park legally. Pay parking/traffic tickets on time so that fines are not multiplied, etc. Get a better rate on insurance by being a good driver.
Today, enforcement on the roads has been cut back.
Jun 6, 2024 FOX 13 News
“The county has also seen a 165% increase in fatal crashes involving pedestrians.”
Welcome Home Troops
Enlisting
During the last century, there was a tradition among American families where one generation after another would do time in uniform. I went into the Marines in 1979. No controversy. No war. No thanks for your service (a good thing). The US Armed Forces were on the back burner, right where they are meant to be. Some signed up out of high school, some did not. Both choices were good. The parental generation would support doing an enlistment.
Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars. Understandable why young people & their parents & grandparents would take a dim view on all this.
The DOD brand has been wrecked.
2024
Thousands of US families have now had a loved one who did one or more tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Will they encourage new enlistments?
The Oak Bay Starfish Take
The US Dept. of Defense was established after WWII, in the late 1940s. DOD has a truly poor track record with undeclared wars.
If DOD was an NFL team, sports talk radio would feature comments like:
The Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911. We haven’t won a war since.
Currently serving four-star officers and high level DOD civilians have been associated with what wars won by the US?
Both major US political parties may be forced to downsize their ambitions for various overseas military operations when American families no longer send the young ones to enlist and will not support a draft.
Four-star officers and high level DOD civilians built careers made of undeclared/unwon wars. Now they must mastermind ways to recruit a new generation.
Some may say it is time to bring back a draft.
A Draft? – DOD Brand Has Been Wrecked
They tried that during the Vietnam War. They found out they had to stop.
Last time there was a draft, children were raised by the WWII generation, in families where Mom and Dad were married to each other.
Prediction:
The breaking point will come at the US Armed Forces recruiting office.
Breaking Point Will Come At The US Armed Forces Recruiting Office
There is no WWII generation to encourage new enlistments like there was back in the Cold War era of the 1980s.
Closed Rest Areas
Granny is driving to visit us from out of state. She will not be able to use the rest area.
Welcome Home Troops
Oct. 15, 2021 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Washington closes several rest areas along Interstate 5 indefinitely due to vandalism, trash
“Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced the long-term closure of several rest areas between Everett and the Canadian border this week due to vandalism and ongoing maintenance issues.”
Long-term closure? No chance for a quick cleanup, ongoing State Patrol enforcement, maintenance & volunteer groups to keep rest stops cleaned up and ready to go?
49 other states operate highway rest stops. If I was Governor, I would insist on picking the top 3 states that are best at running rest stops and running WA rest stops in a similar manner until further improvements could be made.
These are federal highways. Publicly funded highway safety facilities will be shut down because of misbehavior? WTF?
“…some visitors have not been using the facilities for their intended purpose…”
Living at rest stops, illegal dumping, littering, vandalism and verbal threats against employees will keep gasoline tanker truck and HAZMAT transport operators from stopping to take a break for safety?
“…there have been numerous issues with some visitors who are not using the facilities for their intended purpose. This includes those who extend their stay beyond the posted limits, illegal disposal of trash and waste, vandalizing the buildings, verbally abusing and even threatening WSDOT employees.”
More here:
Closed – WA Interstate 5 Rest Areas
Voting
Some may prefer the protest vote. Some may quit voting.
Both major parties are good with funding:
Decades of undeclared/unwon DOD wars.
Military aid packages for foreign governments.
Twenty years of big US Dept. of Homeland Security spending & more cartel product in Hometown, USA than ever before?
Welcome Home Troops
Thanks for doing time/risking your ass in Iraq and Afghanistan, working to keep a post 911 USA safe & secure.
Don’t worry-The Super Bowl and public affairs will be safe:
Lies About Freedom
Both major parties are good with telling us that The Troops are sent to distant lands to defend American rights and freedoms:
CNN Nov 11, 2023
Biden honors Americans who ‘stood on the front lines of freedom’ in Veterans Day remarks
Sorry, no newspeople available to ask:
Mr President,
Going back to the 1990 Operation Desert Shield,
How would American freedoms today be any different if US troops were never sent to Iraq?
Uncle Sam is having a hell of a time finding people to sign up for the US Armed Forces. Pretending that decades of undeclared/unwon wars are linked in any way with American freedoms is the kind of dishonesty that will snuff out the energy American families once had for encouraging young people to enlist.
Good luck with your US Armed Forces recruiting crisis.
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.
In terms of American rights and freedoms- The Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.
The country struggles with:
Possibly of interest:
Most And Least Meaningful Federal Holidays
Hostile Forces in Distant Lands
The people of Alaska need services in the Middle East
1980s Army College Fund – Dad Shows Support
Photo-
Symbol of a culture that was once strong (Man On The Moon in ’69). A culture that is now weak. A culture that will yield the right of way to violators while pushing good citizens to the side & collecting big tax money all along the way.