By Alex Halverson – Seattle Times business reporter
Jan. 20, 2026
From comments:
As Microsoft jams all its AI slop into copilot, which nobody asked for or wants, its CEO says “More industries need to use this slop.”
I’m just a basic consumer. I have been curious about AI over the past couple of years only because it is so heavily promoted. It feels like good ideas catch on because of honest consumer demand and that they will move ahead without a giant sales and marketing effort.
The word artificial isn’t very attractive. I’m wanting less artificial in my life.
Many consumer products are advertised, and people may opt in or out. AI seems almost to be force-fed.
I was happy with the internet 20 years ago. These days, I cringe a little bit when new software updates arrive. For me, changes will often make things different, but not more simple and easy to use.
Old Man Blog category:
Thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
“Of the “Gen Z” population—consisting of people born between 1997 and 2012—some recent estimates have indicated that only around one in four is eligible for military service.”
Any college or pro football coach would have been fired a dozen times over for what DOD has done with the US Armed Forces during the fake GWOT era.
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.
Unfortunately, DOD spent the past 30 years or so, squandering credibility in distant lands and here at home.
Some will say obese teens and young adults are to blame for the big recruiting crisis. Thousands of young, intelligent and athletic Americans participate in college athletics each year. Certainly, they would qualify to enlist- no rehab/prep program required.
Why are these people not showing up at the recruiting office?
Any questions from newspeople?
Thousands of American families have now had a loved one who did one or more tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Not asking about the oath of enlistment. Asking about what happens after the oath has been taken.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”
“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
“The Trump administration believes you don’t have the right to record Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in public. This stance is both factually wrong and an attempt to chill free speech by conflating it with violence.”
Minneapolis News
Valhalla VFT
Alternative media gets it done:
Kristi Noem describes the federal version of events:
WatchlistTYT
WatchlistTYT
Alternative media not yet shut down by DHS:
The Jimmy Dore Show
What Others Are Saying
A counterpoint:
Washington Gun Law
Mark Dice
Limited Powers
Law enforcement authorities in the US have limited powers away from border crossings and ports of entry.
In a free society- young people would understand this prior to graduating from high school.
It would be as well understood as memorizing a pledge to a flag.
Nothing about this knowledge is about being disrespectful or interfering with law enforcement operations.
We are hoping things begin to calm down inside and outside US borders. This is important because now is the time for a big America 250 celebration all across the US and we don’t want an ongoing (since I left high school 4.5 decades ago) breakdown of society to get in the way of all that.
WatchlistTYT
The Young Turks
Judge Napolitano – Judging Freedom
To set the right mood for America 250 celebration events in the months ahead, please meditate on press briefings provided by Karoline Leavitt.
Former Minnesota Governor:
The Rational National
Puget Sound Area Updates/Ongoing Breakdown Of Society
KIRO 7 News
KOMO News
Armed Forces Recruiting – 1980s
Part of what made it work:
In past decades, people could do time in uniform, then return to the US with a feeling that they were living in the best country on the planet.
They believed it and their parents and grandparents believed it.
Those who did may have wished to hand down a better version of the modern American society to their kids and grandkids.
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press
Dec. 20, 2025
“At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President Donald Trump — less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.”
Face the Nation
Brian Tyler Cohen News
The Jimmy Dore Show
Valhalla VFT
Just Be Honest
This could be a slogan for government to live by, no matter what political party or personality is in power.
The US federal government has been involved in decades of various events where records were sealed or redacted and files were kept secret.
Federal credibility is squandered over a period of decades. Now, people are scolded for wanting to be honestly informed on government activities. Well done. Something to get proud about.
Don’t lie to people and maybe they would be more patriotic.
Old Man Blog category:
Thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
American freedoms come and go and appear to be completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom over Coupeville.
“…reclassifying marijuana will not legalize medical use unless and until the Food and Drug Administration approves specific cannabis-based products as prescription drugs—an iffier and more distant prospect.”
The federal government prefers that legal drug dealers of their choosing supply Americans with their meds.
Chronic Side Effects
May cause thoughts of death or suicide which may be permanent and can be fatal.
Hey, good news-
Grandpa is feeling better now that he has quit smoking.
He is feeling well enough to participate in a TV ad for the meds he took.
When you go to stay with Grandpa this summer, just know that he may be experiencing:
“Hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions”
Imaginary Scenario:
In the months ahead, President Trump uses ICE raids to shut down legal marijuana sales in various states.
Justification is as follows:
Federal policy does not allow for the legal sale or use of marijuana.
Cartels profit from marijuana. Cartels have been designated as terrorist organizations.
Marijuana became legal in various US locations in recent years. Since that time, drug addicts have been seen camping on the sidewalks of some US cities.
Each state will be held responsible for eliminating permits to operate marijuana stores. Federal aid and funding for various programs will be cut off for any state hesitating to comply.
Internet providers, alternative media sources and web-based businesses will be penalized for questioning or posting any voice of dissent Re: federal marijuana policy. The same would apply to mainstream TV and news media outlets, but they moved away from asking questions related to public policy some years back.
An example of the questions to be banned:
It took a constitutional amendment to prohibit the sale of a glass of wine- why no constitutional amendment to authorize a federal prohibition of marijuana?
Crackdown Continues
Urinalysis drug testing for all who receive any form of federal pay or retirement checks. Ditto for people receiving any form of federal disability income, student loans, VA disability, GI Bill home loans, etc.
Emphasis on Patriotism and Loyalty
Daily pledge of allegiance at all pubic and private business and job sites will be required.
This was a good idea in the 3rd grade during the Cold War era. It is a good idea today.
Each state will be responsible for enforcing compliance at any private place of business.
Federal aid and funding for various programs will be cut off for states failing to comply.
As time goes on, the consumer choices we have are becoming more restricted by a combination of government and big business policies, not Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden or the next bad guy DOD will be going after in distant lands.
Both major parties are OK with federal prohibition of alcohol and tobacco for adults age 18-20.
The USA has a big 250 year birthday coming up in 2026.
I remember being in school for the bicentennial in 1976.
It will be strange to watch the celebrations next year because we are experiencing an ongoing breakdown of society that has been going on for years now, no matter what political party or personality is in office. Today, both major parties serve up a version of politics that is more extreme than what we saw in 1976.
I would expect a modern society to gently improve over time. This is not the case here.
A 20 year old today has a much steeper hill to climb than I did when I was 20 in 1980.
Leaving a better world to the next two generations would have been my choice.
US Semiquincentennial – Expect More Lies About Freedom
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
Emergency/crisis/chaos mode is what we get now.
Old Man Blog Category
Thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
In past decades, people could do time in uniform, then return to the US with a feeling that they were living in the best country on the planet.
They believed it and their parents and grandparents believed it.
Those who did may have wished to hand down a better version of the modern American society to their kids and grandkids.
Today-
Standards have deteriorated. The troops return to an ongoing breakdown of society.
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
State Correctional Facility for the Detention of Criminally Insane Youth – Heavily Restricted Trick-or-Treat Division
The Stepfather
1987
Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy
1989
My last house had a basement workshop. I like to work with my hands.
The blog below relates to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s. We may have experienced the golden age of trick-or-treating and Halloween fun.
The 60s and 70s were the days of church and charity bake sales, Cub Scout cake raffles, stay at home moms, three or four brothers and sisters, grandparent aged neighbors who created homemade treats like popcorn balls and enjoyed seeing kids they knew come by in costume.
Less food sensitivities and allergies, less concern about real life monsters harming kids who were out at play for hours at a time. Walking to the bus stop, bicycle paper routes, etc.
“Pit toilets overflow with human waste, garbage mars backcountry trails and illegal campfires threaten a bone-dry forest. Social media-driven crowds are flocking to Colchuck Lake, many underprepared for the trek. Search-and-rescue calls, including one for an Aug. 3 fatal drowning, tax county resources. Camping permits issued via an oversubscribed lottery mostly go unchecked.”
No problem folks. In recent years, the federal government has prioritized big cash for Ukraine, bombing the Middle East and conducting airstrikes on Somalia. Something has to give.
“Last year, the Forest Service employed 11 wilderness rangers to patrol the Enchantments and several thousand acres beyond in the Wenatchee River Ranger District. This year, the district is down to one as a result of Trump administration staffing cuts that followed a Biden-era hiring freeze on seasonal workers.”
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.
Drill Instructors and Marines with November Company, 4th Recruit Training Battalion march towards the Peatross Parade Deck before their graduation ceremony Nov. 16, 2018 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. (Official U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Yamil Casarreal)
Somebody in Washington D.C. decided that boot camp for male Marines should no longer be separate from Marine boot camp for female Marines. Marine Corps leadership followed along and did as they were told.
“Today, however, the Congress has relinquished its delegated powers, giving the President license to do whatever he and his office determine that they can get away with. Consequentially, the presidential and legislative oaths to the Constitution have just turned into a great photo op on inauguration day.”
“It is a sad and hard realization for a grunt who loves the Marine Corps to admit that the organization is not used in the preservation of liberty, and has not been used toward that end for a very long time.”
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
Image above: Don’t lie to people and maybe they would be more patriotic.
For Americans born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s, there have been several episodes over the decades where the federal government version of events may have fallen into question over the years, or may never have been fully resolved.
By now, some Americans may feel that both major political parties are manipulative and dishonest.
“What changed between Bondi saying the lists were on her desk and pledging to release them, to now assuring us no lists exist and acting as if only kooks would assume they did?”
“A few days ago, the president embarrassed himself by chastising a reporter who dared ask about disclosures Trump’s own team previously promised. It was a reasonable question (indeed, an obligatory one) to ask on the first opportunity since Trump’s team told us there was nothing to reveal. Aside from being lame and pathetic, Trump’s dismissive response contradicted accusatory comments he’d frequently made.”
Love the way Cenk Uygur narrates at 6:41 in the video below:
Unlike many local newspapers, alternative media is good with maintaining an active comment section. More than 4,000 comments are posted with the video above.
Old Man Blog Category
Thoughts on changes in American culture relating to those born roughly in the late 50s & early 60s.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, the Pentagon seems to specialize in undeclared/unwon wars.
Both major political parties are good with it.
Understandable why young people & their parents & grandparents would take a dim view on all this. Continuing on this path will wear down the energy American families once had for encouraging young people to enlist.
There has been good news for recruiting recently after standards were modified to create a prep course category for training recruits.
Our take:
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
Some will say obese teens and young adults are to blame for the big recruiting crisis.
Thousands of young, intelligent and athletic Americans participate in college athletics each year. Certainly, they would qualify to enlist- no rehab/prep program required.
Why are these people not showing up at the recruiting office?
Any questions from newspeople?
National Guard
National Guard recruiting would be tricky.
Recruiters are looking for people who will need to maintain a place to live and a regular job in their hometown area when they are not doing time in foreign lands helping DOD with undeclared/unwon wars and missions completely unrelated to their home state.
A few decades back, people might think of the National Guard as one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer plus a way to support your home state by being ready to get called out for floods, fires, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc. Maybe a way to help the next state over if they needed it.
Thousands of men and women who signed up for the National Guard in the past 25 years did tours in places like Syria, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.
Would any newsperson ever ask:
Why do the people of Home State, USA need services in distant lands, absent any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war?
Will there ever come a time when newspeople ask if there is any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war, linked to the movement of National Guard troops to an overseas location?
Recruiting crisis for Uncle Sam? Elected officials, top Pentagon Generals and the press earned it.
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better.
As time goes on, the choices we have are becoming more restricted by a combination of government and big business policies, not Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden or the next bad guy DOD will be going after in distant lands.
Since 1980-
A giant US Dept. of Homeland Security and mixed messages on cartel product inside the US.
Look for newspeople to ask zero questions in this area:
Were Clallam County drug overdose death numbers higher before the US Dept. of Homeland Security was established (2002) or are the numbers higher with a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security in place?
This giant federal agency now has more than two decades of experience and lessons learned in working to prevent cartel product from entering the US.
More overdose deaths now, or before DHS?
Over in Island County
Has the Island County Homeland Security-funded patrol boat been involved in any arrest or seizure related in any way to the US/Canada border?
If you are on the Kristi Noem team, you are out kicking ass.
If you are part of a local drug task force, or narcotics enforcement team, you are advertising the latest big drug bust after cartel product is able to move past the jurisdiction of federal agents at borders, border crossings and ports of entry and a barrier of DOD ground units, US Navy and US Coast Guard vessels prior to arriving in Hometown, USA.
If you are part of a local health dept. you are handing out Naloxone as always, to deal with the stuff that doesn’t get reported in the big local drug bust.
The WWII Generation had things up & running in the 80s and 90s. Will best advances in REAL ID & AI technologies make it better?
Will newspeople ask questions?
Just Be Honest
Elected officials from both major political parties and high level DOD civilians speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.
The press plays along by not asking questions.
The post 911 era has been a time to tell the American people that US troops are sent to distant lands to defend American freedoms. This urban legend has run its course. People have seen enough now to know this is no more than a marketing strategy. Uniparty newspeople play along by not asking questions. Please see video below.
Memorial Day Marketing Strategy
The idea that the US Armed Forces are sent to distant lands to defend American rights and freedoms is repeated many times over.
The reality is that American freedoms may come and go and appear to be completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom over Coupeville.
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in this area:
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
Looks like the final summer for my favorite outdoor chair.
It was like an old pair of blue jeans, it got better as it got older. This is a stay at home chair. We have several newer chairs ready for guests, or if we need to pack along chairs when we head out or head over.
This one had the special ice holder vault built into the left arm. Just the ticket for those who don’t want to unass and reach for a cooler. I never used it even one time. If you did, it would create a swampy condition when the ice was gone and become an incubator for mildew in the warm weather. Same would occur if you hosed off the chair or it got rained on.
Had a couple even more favorite chairs over the years:
I used to love these. They were used constantly until they wore out.
So comfortable, it was great for use as in indoor chair while traveling.
About the time I decided these were the best chair ever made, they became extinct. Haven’t seen one in years. Really don’t remember when or where I bought these.
The gas can came along for many salt and freshwater canoe outings in N. Carolina, California and WA.
The area where I lived in N.C. was surrounded by fresh and saltwater areas that were very appropriate for a canoe.
I found a used canoe and separately, a used outboard. In many cases I would leave the outboard off and enjoy quiet paddling and much in the way of wildlife sightings out and about in the stillness of rivers and wetlands. I made good use of this rig later in California and in Washington State.
In the photo below, I’m ready to launch at Twin Spits (N.E. entrance to Hood Canal) on a low tide day.
Above:
A clamshell beach on the eastern shore of Rat Island, near Kilisut Harbor.
The can was also used for mowing on Whidbey Island:
Both major parties have taken turns in power over the past 40 years or so. For sure, there is a chunk of public policy that has become worse, not better. I think I touched bottom with news and politics a while back.
As time goes on, the consumer choices we have are becoming more restricted by a combination of government and big business policies, not Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden or the next bad guy DOD will be going after in distant lands.
Both major parties are OK with federal prohibition of alcohol and tobacco for adults age 18-20.
That was before decades of military operations for your freedoms.
Armed Forces Recruiting Crisis
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. Continuing on this path will wear down the energy American families once had for encouraging young people to enlist.
Thousands of American families have now had a loved one who did one or more tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
Elected officials from both major political parties and high level DOD civilians speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization.
The press plays along by not asking questions.
The post 911 era has been a time to tell the American people that US troops are sent to distant lands to defend American freedoms. This urban legend has run its course. People have seen enough now to know this is no more than a marketing strategy. Uniparty newspeople play along by not asking questions. Please see video below.
Memorial Day Marketing Strategy
The idea that the US Armed Forces are sent to distant lands to defend American rights and freedoms is repeated many times over.
The reality is that American freedoms may come and go and appear to be completely unrelated to military operations/US Troops in distant lands, or the Sound of Freedom over Coupeville.
Good news: efforts are being made to keep young people fed.
Random Thoughts
Some may think of a time when there may have been no need for such a program.
Some people may think this would be a part of parental responsibilities.
How did all this work when the WWII generation raised their kids?
Any questions from newspeople to give us a better understanding of the program?
Cold War Era Gas Station
I grew up in the 60s and 70s. We had gas stations. They would install a new fan belt, check under the hood, do an oil change, give directions or sell you a map, etc. For food, they had a pop machine and a Cold War era vending machine with candy, gum, and little packs of crackers. Maybe two or three of these.
The place smelled like auto transmission fluid and gear oil. Not a bad thing-happy to go back.
Gas stations are mostly gone now. Mini-marts with 24 hour corndogs, nachos and giant cans of beer have taken their place. If you have car trouble, this is probably not the place.
Tax money-which some people intend to be used to help others via public assistance programs-has also gone for bombing Iraq and Afghanistan.
Helping others by donating to churches or private charities, food banks, etc. can avoid these conflicts.
Donors are free to opt out if a charity misbehaves.
People could keep more of their own money to donate to causes of their choosing if the federal government was not taking it to pay for wasteful programs.
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
During the 80s, there was a period of Cold War era peacetime stability. This has been replaced with undeclared/unwon wars that seem to come along more frequently now.
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
How did the recent ICE raids start out? I don’t know all the answers, I have no LE experience. The perception may be that the initial arrival of LE personnel in Los Angeles involved those dressed in military-style gear.
Love to see newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
“In March, the King County Council approved the formation of a new task force aimed at improving safety measures on public transit.”
“The task force came on the heels of a string of violent incidents on buses, including the stabbing death of Metro driver Shawn Yim. Yim was killed while on his route in Seattle’s University District on Dec. 18, 2024.”
Several interesting comments are posted with the article above.
Would any newsperson ever ask:
Have Seattle area drug addicts had any difficulty finding their cartel product of choice due to the March 20, 2025 Kristi Noem public affairs crackdown?
Public lands closed to the public June 4th, then reopened June 8th:
The U.S. Forest Service overseeing the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest issued a forest closure on June 4 for the area where the girls were found. They rescinded the closure on June 8.
“After law enforcement officers spent days scouring a remote section of Washington state for a man accused of killing his three young daughters, the sheriff leading the manhunt turned the search over to federal authorities, officials said Monday.”
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
“While many of the services have said they are continuing to prioritize and fund fixing and building new barracks, Military.com reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon will shift $1 billion meant for Army barracks maintenance and renovation to its southern border mission.”
“Mold painted over, wires dangling and black rusted pipes framing the ceiling were part of everyday reality for Marines, sailors and airmen living in barracks on Guam. The conditions left the Navy’s top admiral in charge of barracks across the service baffled.”
Not here to say that military benefits are inadequate. Just stick with whatever was offered when people signed up to stay on for multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and we’re good.
The guilt doesn’t seem to work towards staying out of undeclared/unwon wars, maintaining the barracks or managing federal contracts related to TRICARE.
A giant flag ritual at the next ball game will make it all good.
I grew up in the greater Seattle area back in the 70s. Gun ownership was a common thing. The WWII Generation had set up a modern society. Moms and Dads were in charge. Seattle was a considered to be a safe place for teens to go on dates.
Preparing to honor the fallen and later celebrate our nation’s freedoms this weekend.
Went in yesterday to purchase beer. Our local, small town grocery store has a new policy: All must show ID to buy beer. If Mom & Pops go through the line with beer, both must show ID. This happened last time I went shopping there with my wife.
I was born in 1960. Yesterday, I was asked for ID. I had forgotten about the new policy, but quickly remembered.
I mentioned to the cashier in a cheerful way that I have been legal to buy beer for about 45 years now.
Both major parties are OK with federal prohibition of alcohol and tobacco for adults age 18-20.
Wife and I went out to a local grocery store to pick up veggies and beer.
Wife is up front with credit card to pay while I unload cart behind her. Cashier (friendly and professional) needs to see both of our IDs to make beer purchase.
Both of us were born in the 1960s. Wife told me/pointed out that the store had put up a bold type sign in advance notifying of this new policy.
Over the past few years:
Some places simply want you to state your DOB. Some want to see ID and some want to scan ID.
This was the first time both adults had to show ID for one adult to pay for beer.
Not here to say that military benefits are inadequate. Just stick with whatever was offered when people signed up to stay on for multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and we’re good.
Random Stuff
What has changed for the US Armed Forces since the 1980s?
During the 80s there was a period of Cold War era peacetime stability. This has been replaced with undeclared/unwon wars that seem to come along more frequently now.
I went into the Marines in 1979. No war. No controversy. No thanks for your service (a good thing).
In the 60s & 70s I never attended a Veterans Day assembly at school.
There were none.
Probably enough veterans around to remove most of the mystique, or maybe those veterans thought it was all just an average thing and did not want to be seen as a separate part of American society, or get head of the line parking spots over at the grocery store. Maybe the concept of Armistice Day had not gone completely extinct.
Growing up in the 60s & 70s- veterans were all around- church, school, Boy Scout leaders, family, the neighborhood, etc. It was all just an average thing. These folks weren’t seen as a separate part of American society.
People weren’t stepping over to say “Thanks for your service” to my Dad- who did time in the Navy in the 50s- but looked just like anyone else out in public.
These guys weren’t lining up for free dinner promotions marketed by major restaurant chains.
2025
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.
If you did your homework back in May of 2024, you remember:
“We are committed to keeping all of our military families informed about your health plan, your choices, and ensuring a seamless transition to new contractors,” said Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, director of the DHA.
My memory is that the National Guard was more about one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer plus a way to support your home state by being ready to get called out for floods, fires, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc. Maybe a way to help the next state over if they needed it.
Thousands of men and women who signed up for the National Guard in the past 25 years did tours in places like Syria, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.
Please help us now by encouraging your own kids, grandkids and a younger generation to go see a recruiter and sign up because right now we are dealing with an ongoing recruiting crisis.
“A routine search by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office at the county jail led to the discovery of fentanyl in the medical housing unit on Tuesday, the agency said.”
Routine search discovers fentanyl that maybe should have been kept out of the US by a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security.
Routine search discovers fentanyl that was able to move past jail security screening protocols and procedures prior to becoming the subject of a Sheriff’s Office commendation of the efforts of the corrections staff at the facility.
Well Done
Real newspeople may ask why K9 Harley and others with similar training didn’t prevent fentanyl from entering the facility in the first place. How often do jail security screening protocols fail to keep fentanyl from entering the facility?
Press Release Style of News Reporting
For the story above, KOMO goes with the press release style of news reporting where a statement is prepared by whatever agency was involved in the latest policy update, drug bust/federal grant money award, etc.
Newspeople post this statement as is. A 5th grade book report would require more in the way of asking questions.
Really like the jalapeño cheese bagels at Safeway.
Normally pluck out one or two and they go into a plain paper bag similar to what we carried for school lunches back in the 70s.
Yesterday, these plastic bags were stocked in place of the regular paper ones. I am confused now about what version of bags are meant to be used or avoided based on saving the planet. In the 70s we were taught not to be a litterbug. Recycling was a thing.
The plastic bagel bag was a dandy for cleaning out the cat litter box today. We promise not to throw it all out the window as we blast down the highway, or leave it at the beach next time we go out.
Give the planet a break and reach for these super lightweight, environmentally-friendly produce bags. Use caution when loading sweet potatoes, ears of corn, bananas, etc. Using two, three or four of the lightweight bags creates enough strength to recreate the use of the old bags that were not OK for the global environment.
Also, be sure to allow plenty of time and patience to pick away at the proper end of the bag in order to try and get it open. Using several bags for a few sweet potatoes requires the attempt at opening the bag steps to be repeated multiple times for the same size produce purchase.
Took a look on the web to see if others were sharing on this topic. No such luck. Independent thinking and blog posts appear to have been scrubbed away. The web is now about trying to sell you stuff.
Possibly of interest:
A local Mom and Pop’s restaurant is still using the banned and evil plastic bags that are best suited for their customers to carry home hot menu selections.
Above: Kalaloch South Beach
