WISE THOUGHTS FROM A WISE GUY- 10/10/2023

Is lifting 1 pound one hundred times the same as lifting 100 pounds one time? – Asking for a friend.

Was the lady I observed recently as foolish as I thought she was? I was N/B, stopped by a freight train on an East/West set of railroad tracks. She came E/B on a street parallel to the tracks and stopped at a stop sign (She had to turn left- towards the tracks, or right- away from the tracks). Her vehicle had no turn signal activated. She looked to her left and saw the gates down and the train also traveling E/B. The driver waited for the train to pass. About five minutes after she stopped the train cleared the tracks. I went Northbound and saw that she was turning right, away from the tracks- making a turn she could have made legally and safely five minutes earlier!

If you were playing a card game called “POLITICS” would the most powerful card, be the race card?

Do you think our 30+ trillion-dollar national debt is as dangerous as I think it is? I am scared to death that, sooner than later, our government will not have the funds to function. If you ran a business and a potential client who was 30 trillion dollars in debt asked you to bid on a project, would you prepare one? I, probably, would not. If I did, I would stamp- cash in advance- on every page of my proposal!

I believe we need GOD! We always have and we always will!

Is Flip Wilson’s famous line, “The devil made me do it!” ever true?

I’m thinking of the times you should get up early for work, but hit the snooze a time or two more than you should and come in late- did the devil make you do it? Maybe you stop studying for “That really important exam” when you know you should put in a few more hours- could it have been the devil that made you do it? How about when that “clueless” driver cuts you off and you release the steering wheel to give a “double bird?” Could the devil have had any input in that reaction? 

I believe the devil loves for our lives to be in disorder and, maybe, he is trying to achieve that by convincing us to stop doing what we should, the actions that will lead to happiness and success.

There are accomplishments I’ve had in my life that I am very proud of. There are others I am ashamed to think about; and then there are the many more things that are so trivial I don’t ever think of them at all! Does that put me right in there with EVERYONE ELSE?

When did it become acceptable for stores to ask if they can keep your change to give to their charity? Do they literally want to get our last dimes!

Speaking of “spare change,” which is what people begging for money on the street used to ask for; as a police officer, I took a complaint from a man who had given a person begging for money a dollar. The person crumpled it up and threw it back at him while yelling, “What do you expect me to do with this!” I guess the cost of even their services (Whatever they think they are) has gone up!

I have always tried to present an image of myself as a person who is knowledgeable and capable of making important decisions. Recently, I have been given many reasons to believe that I convinced, at least some portion of the population, that that is true!

I have been receiving numerous requests from political candidates requesting I take surveys to help them determine their platform. I’m always a little bit surprised that the questions contained within are not very difficult- instead of asking me how I would solve the budget problem or what my stand on abortion is, they are asking generic questions without substance. Then I come to the end of the useless survey and see a request for a donation!

As my dear old dad used to say, “I was born in the morning, but it wasn’t yesterday morning!” My suspicion is that, perhaps, they do not really want to pick my brain for the betterment of mankind! I suspect that maybe the questionnaire is only a ruse to ask me for a donation! I can’t believe that honorable servants of the public would do such a thing, but my keen perception and police training are leading me to suspect that something deceptive is happening here!

How many pages do you think are reasonable for a federal bill (piece of legislation)? I know our government officials can be long winded, but I feel, after a bill reaches a certain length, it is unlikely that it will be read, studied and analyzed as it should be. Remember our representatives swear an oath to protect our interests! They should be aware of every point in every bill before they vote on it! Sometimes these bills are completed late in the night and voted on the following day.

Our House of Representatives and Senators passed a budget for fiscal year 2023 that was signed by President Biden. The bill was 4,000 pages long and budgeted for $1.7 Trillion in spending (From CNN politics 12/29/2022).

Do you think ANYONE read the entire bill? 

What would you do if you wanted to get away with something? Maybe it would be a good idea to hide it in a 4,000-page document and hope nobody found it. $1,700,000,000,000.00 would be very hard to keep track of.

My wise thought on government spending is this: If you are elected to watch out for my interests and then sign a 4.000-page document I am going to quiz you. If you don’t know what was in that bill that gives an OK to spending ONE AND SEVEN TENTH’S TRILLION DOLLARS OF TAXPAYER’S MONEY over a twelve-month period- YOU ARE FIRED! Believe me- if that was the criteria for not being re-elected- we would have a brand-new congress every election cycle!

The world-renowned economist, Milton Friedmann said, “Nobody spends somebody else’s money as wisely as they spend their own.” That is something we should all remember as we enter the voting booth. I believe, we should also remember how any incumbent has voted on money/spending- can we afford their generosity with our money?

There’s a commercial in my area for a money saving scheme related to buying gas. The commercial has one friend explaining to another how great the app is. She says, “I’ve already saved $200.00!” My first question is, “Over what period of time?” Two hundred dollars per week would be phenomenal! Over a month it would still be great, and even over a longer period it might be good. If it’s over a year, maybe it’s not worth the paperwork?

Have you ever laid in bed thinking, “Boy, I need to get up, I have so much to do today.” without realizing that you are wasting time? I compound that problem by falling back to sleep and then thinking about all that time I wasted. Oh well, I am working on it.

When you were a kid did you get “assigned” to do dishes with some, or all, of your siblings? That was my job for years and it turned out to be a pretty good bonding experience for our family. How about at holiday parties? We used to have almost everyone involved, clearing the tables, washing, drying, putting the “good China” back in storage boxes, sweeping the floors and more. Just writing I can, almost, feel the warmth. I have to admit that, occasionally, the mood was shattered by a broken plate. Even those memories are good, as long as it wasn’t me that dropped the plate!

It is beneficial to remember that there are two sides to every story.

One question: Should there be reasonable bond. Yes! Of Course!!- but how reasonable? A hundred dollars is a tip to some people and a great amount to others. But, if the bond is too low, or non-existent, it may be putting an offender right back out to re-offend. There are many reasons to discuss problems in depth, in the news, on social media and wherever and whenever to get the best solution. That’s why I’m scared when politicians like Hillary Clinton make comments about “formal deprogramming” of Trump supporters. She was almost president, and she thinks that comment is constructive? I’ll fight for her right to say it, but I question anyone who would vote for a politician who is in favor of “deprogramming” the opposition- what would that involve? Censoring? Incarceration? I can’t imagine! She did say the silent part out loud more than once. 

The comment above comes from me, as one of the deplorables, I am concerned about any politician thinking we should “improve” our government to one that only considers a single view! That sounds dictatorial to me, what about you?

Thanks for reading. Please comment on what you liked or didn’t like and let me know if you have your own wise ideas to share.