Non Fiction

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Updated 2024. Below are 80 different non fiction pieces I have written over the last few years. There is a bunch more material that is in various stages of completion, fiction and non. Sorting out my work and editing it are not my strong suits. This is honestly because I don't read any of my stuff after a quick once over for spelling and grammar errors. I will be winning no awards in this category either again this year. However, there is much to finish up and be done with. I will be switching over to non fiction here for a while as there are a couple stories already going that are several chapters each in the making and need some attention.   No, I am not on social media. I left it years ago and recommend you do the same.  I do try and get back to the readers and followers questions and comments and definitely appreciate the feedback. Thanks for stopping by......

Enjoy,

Jasa 

1. Bought a House in WDM!

2. 30 Days on Land

3. Return to Sea

4. The Food Bomb

5. Hawaiian EOD Team Training 1991

6. Flying with a Crash Test Dummy

7. Rock and Roll Wanna Be

8. Learning About Ideals

9.  Jacques Pepin: Simply the Best

10. Minimalism: Flying Solo

11. The End of a Generation

12. Football of Floyd?

13. Sex, Terror and Allah

14. Afghanistan: Vietnam 2020

15. Who is Your Daddy?

16. Thoughts on Religion

17. Madness in Mazatlan 1988
18. Welcome to The Jungle

19. Leadership By Example

20. Sanchez and Flounder

21. Memory Lane

22.  Leaving  Afghanistan 

23. Three Strikes and You’re Out

24. The Forgotten Beatdown

25. The Hotel Johnson County

26.  Almost  Dying In Lake  Tahoe

27. Hawaiian Humiliation

28.  Bar Girls  in College Classroom

29. Junior High Legend

30. Diver Down

31. Working at the VA

32. Cops and Robbers

33. Korean Airbase

34. The 373 Yard Drive

35. Math Genius

36. UFO's, Life and Time

37. Frat House Underwear in Iowa City

38. Two Dirty Jokes

39. The Rancher

40. Hawkeye  Legacy

41. Sweden  1992

42.  Homeless

43. St. Louis No Filter

44. $1,000  Blackjack Bet

45. MBA (Master Bullshit Artist)

46. Killing Them Softly

47. The Cornfed Giants

48. Wisdom for Tbag

49. The Mustache

50. Chef Lives Matter

51. Wog Day

52. Failed Agent

53. Dominican Dirtbox

54. Drug Smuggler

55. Hitting the Iceberg

56. Ashton Danbury Management Tips 

57. Philosophy

58. Viking Line

59. Europe 2022

60. Forgiveness

61. Obituary of Paul Mee-Chee

62. Vet Suicides

63. Ikigai

64. Stolen ID

65. Smokey and The Bandito

66. Shipwreck's Eyeball

67. Back to San Francisco 

68. Mare Island Contamination

69. Letting Go

70. Cancer, Dementia and Alone

71. Field of Dildos

72. Pissing Contest

73. SRV and The Tri-Dong Dancers

74. Jesus or Julius Caesar

75. Designated Driver

76. Warped Cancer Psychology 

77. Purpose and Legacy

78. Jomar Daze

79. Dad's Top 15

80. Calling Dr. Love

That time has come where the sea is calling once again. I stepped off the Matson Anchorage on the 23 rd of December in Tacoma, Washington and happy to do so. It was definitely a life changing experience as it was my first return to sea in decades. I can’t say I made any friends but did find a few of the guys friendly and enjoyable to work with. The work was easy and the pay was great. The beauty of Alaska, even if only observed from the ship, was amazing. The heavy seas brought a smile to my face but deep down there was always that thought if anything goes wrong with the ship there would be no surviving in those icy cold waters.
 

Hard not to comment on the COVID 19 pandemic. What is the truth? Sure, the virus is real and deadly. But deadly to whom? I know several people who have been infected and none of them went to the hospital. The average age of the deceased in Italy is 80 years of age I read. I don’t want anyone to suffer struggling of their last breaths of life but we all die. I do not feel sad when I read the obituaries and see an 80 year old has passed. Does it matter how they died when they are 80? How about 70? 60? What about the people who are in poor health? Sick people die too. How can you have a pandemic that locks down our entire society without actually changing the mortality rate of our country? In my opinion, this was not created by someone eating an infected bat in a Wuhan wet market. The virus seems very well designed indeed. What immunity does a two month old baby have compared to an 80 year old? I don’t want to speak out of my comfort zone but there seems to be almost no babies, children, athletes, entertainers dying from this. People are exhausted with the masks and social distancing laws that are arbitrarily enforced based on the political disposition of where you live. I guess I ask myself, “Where is all this urgency to get obesity under control?” Nope, it is OK to allow fast food establishments to continue to poison Americans with junk food. It is OK to allow people on food stamps to purchase crap that leads directly to great patients for America’s health care system. In a for profit health care system the one thing that is need is a steady flow of customers. Who better to make living off of then people who are in poor health and have Uncle Sam paying the tab for their care? Is the big concern about COVID 19 the simple fact that the best customers are dying in masses? No one wants to have this conversation and it is much easier to put your mask on, social distance and hope for the best. It surely is a perfect storm that has changed America forever. The financial fallout will be terrible.
 

But, for me, life is good. Being back on land there are the timeless needs a man has; to reunite with loved ones and friends, to enjoy the affection of a woman and to spend some money. Being a sailor, everything moves at twice the speed when back on land. It is interesting that it is no different than when I was in the navy decades ago; some things were almost as if I never left, others changed forever. I have seen the look in my friends and family members’ eyes when I tell my sailor stories. There is a feeling of happiness for me that I have found something in life that has changed me for the better. There is natural desire in all of us just to get away from the daily grind of life and just be free to do as you please. I am not sailing on cruise ships and am working every day, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I require a very long leash in life and, indeed, I have found one that fits.
 

I was disappointed to find my old girlfriend suffering from alcoholism and cigarette addiction. Indeed, there has been someone there to fill my roll that she was less than honest about but confirmed. Her life has changed but, unfortunately, not for the better. Left on her own it has become a path of self destruction only propped up by a healthy bank account and lack of anyone to hold her accountable. A wonderful lover is not enough to make for a healthy and productive relationship. Friends with benefits is also not my style as I don’t want any other friends to have those same benefits. Mutual masturbation is not love. Love indeed in the greatest feeling in the world and if it is watered down into a few physical moments without any attachment beyond that it is a relationship that already has an expired shelf life. It is only a matter of time before it doesn’t end well. I will always have a special place in my heart for her but am old enough now that I know addictions manifest themselves in self destructive behavior, dishonesty, denial and seeking out those who enable it to continue. I wish her the best and hope somewhere down the line she finds the strength to love herself as much I did.
 

So, as I have done in the past, I signed up for a few internet dating sites. This is comedy. I spam every girl on the site that I think is attractive and simply wait to see who bites back. Wow, eastern Iowa has few single women in my age bracket that are not overweight, covered in ink, don’t smoke, went to college and have a passport. My requirements are she has to be attractive, intelligent and honest. It doesn’t seem like asking for a lot but if she is not attractive there is little chance for a spark. If she is not intelligent I will become bored. If she is not honest the relationship is doomed from the start. After a couple brief dates that went nowhere fast I found a woman who was from my home town, West Des Moines. We lived on the same street as kids and went to the same high school. We never knew each other but indeed there are some common denominators there that are worth exploring. Not sure where it is headed but she indeed has made the last 30 days more enjoyable.
 

My son informed me while I was out to sea that he and his step father got into an argument where he felt it was necessary to point a gun at him. My son called the police, he was arrested and charged with domestic abuse and displaying a weapon. The judge threw him in jail for a few days. There will be no calling the ex wife to find out what happened as she has burned that bridge just too many times. She should have no misconceptions, she married a man with little man’s disease who gets drunk and lets the true colors show; a mental midget. I will always have a place in my heart for her too as she gave me two wonderful children and I wish her the best now that it is just her and him. The kids could care less about him and that is a shame as my step father has been the most influential person in my life. However, bad choices have consequences. My son is fine and
is joining the navy. I am proud of him. He has spoken with some of my old navy friends who offered words of encouragement. He will leave in a few weeks to start his life as young man with the help of Uncle Sam. My daughter is doing well in school but has had a few issues she is trying to overcome. I had a very good conversation with her and offered my love and support. Dad is not always there now but she is a young adult and needs to make some adult decisions about the direction of her life. She is a very intelligent young woman and I have confidence she will find her way.
 

The headlines have been fascinating. Trump’s loyalists stormed the state house in Washington DC in one of the most shameful political stunts in American history. Many of my friends are republicans and almost all of them thought it was humiliating to see. For me, it was a larger and more concentrated version of the antics pulled off in Portland and Seattle by the left wing crowd. In the big picture, I think what is unfolding is the separation of intelligence and wealth. Millions of Americans have seem to have lost their way and are willing to cling to ideals that are misguided at best. Who do you blame when you are broke, unemployed, in debt and see no way out of the trap of poverty? This is where intelligence comes into play. A person has to detach from the ideal and look at self improvement beyond the company of others in misery. Not everyone is going to be a STEM student in college or work at high paying corporate job. These people far out number the lifestyles of the rich and famous crowd. America better find a way of sharing its wealth or these divisions will only become more pronounced with even more violent uprisings.
 

Hard to say that social media has not played a major part in this division by distracting people from the simple things in life. People celebrate in public and suffer in private. Social media tends to make people feel insecure when they don’t have the things that are mostly being posted; vacations, nice homes, cars, sexy selfies and other material bullshit. The message is simple; “Look at me. My life is wonderful.” We all know this is rarely true but collectively say nothing. However, misery loves company and these folks gravitate to online groups that are simply like minded people who are angry and exhausted with the life that has been dealt to them. They poured out into the streets in 2020 and have continued to do so this year too. It is a very clear sign that not all is well in America. I got off social media early last year and am glad I did. I advise you to do the same. It is waste of time and a surrogate for real human connection. Thank me later.
 

I was around long enough for someone to steal the catalytic converter off my car. I guess it is the latest fashion in crime. A battery powered saws all totaled out my car in two minutes. It is happening everywhere as the thieves are interested in the platinum, palladium and rhodium contained within. A guy has to be pretty down on his luck to want to crawl underneath cars to steal a dirty piece of metal for a few bucks. However, good triumphs over evil and lemonade can be made out of lemons. My buddy is an ace mechanic and after being given the vehicle from the insurance company it is being put back together for half the cost of what I owed on it. That was my last actual debt. Now all I pay for in life is my rent, mobile phone and insurance. I enjoy being a minimalist and advise you too to look at streamlining your life and letting go of the whole idea that the purchase of something is going to make you happier, healthier, better looking, etc…The law of depreciation quickly takes over and the item that was purchased soon loses its appeal and the need to have something else to prop up the happiness has landed millions of Americans in debt. Not this sailor.
 

It is time to see some folks for the last time for a few months in the next couple days. Then it is pack the seabag, shipwreck, the sea is calling your name, again.

I was born in 1968. It has been an explosive time to come into the world. In my five decades here the world has forever changed at a pace never seen before in human history. In my life time man has explored space for the first time, computers evolved, the mobile phone and the internet were created, tens of millions of women began taking birth control pills, DNA was discovered and electric cars hit the road. The Berlin Wall fell, China emerged from almost third world status to the world’s largest manufacturer and the Soviet Union collapsed. The Vietnam war ended when I was a child but I also found myself in the navy in 1991 during Desert Storm. My children have grown up post 9/11 and throughout their entire lives America has been involved in the war on terror. All of this has occurred in my lifetime alone, and my parents are still alive. It is not just referencing historical milestones that is amazing. We Americans have also changed as people.
 

The year after I was born the Woodstock music fest happened in August of 1969. If you look at photos of the event there clearly are some observations the average mind notices. Other than thousands of hippies needing baths and haircuts, the pictures offer proof there were very few fat young Americans in the hundreds of thousands in attendance and even fewer name brands on almost any clothing article. No one is walking around with a bottle of Coke or water water bottle in their hands either. None of the women had fake breasts and few of the men looked like they had ever lifted weights. It was hard to spot anyone sporting tattoos or wearing shorts in August and no one shaved their pubic hair. My, how things have changed.
 

I have been in the food industry a couple years now. I took every cooking module at Kirkwood Culinary Arts program in Cedar Rapids and also went to Florence, Italy for three weeks last summer to cook. Kirkwood has a great program and I definitely learned a lot more about food and the kitchen than I knew before. But at 49 years of age there was no way I was sitting in a classroom again with most kids not old enough to order a legal beer in a bar. I already have one worthless bachelors degree, another year in the classroom leading to an associates degree was not needed. The program director cut me a deal and gave me a food service assistant diploma which I am proud of. I can hold my own in the kitchen these days, but I have been writing most of my life.

I have always wanted to write about some of the concerns I see that everyone in the industry knows about but no one seems to want to say. Right now, I see a food industry that is now on its knees from the COVID 19 virus pandemic. Not only were many of the restaurants and bars required to close in the name of public safety, thousands will never reopen. On top of this, the additional $600 a week authorized by the Trump administration, above and beyond the approximately $400 a week in regular unemployment benefits, meant hardly anyone would give up their substantial pay raise compared to their usual kitchen hourly wage. This left the kitchens empty as literally no one is going to give up the best raise they have ever gotten in a kitchen to come back and work for $12 an hour. The only ones who did were the people who didn’t qualify for unemployment. The shitty pay and lack of benefits in restaurants are only part of a larger problem in the industry but significant ones. 

The restaurants that do offer salaries and benefits are few and far between and usually national chain restaurants serving fast food or short order cooking. No one can live off these survival wages and those that do are teens, immigrants or burnouts living the apartment life with a roommate. In short, to attract and keep talented employees in the kitchen the money needs to be shared. How do you do this? Simple, create a food service workers union or require mandatory $15-$20 an hour wages with medicare benefits for all. Who is paying for this? Also simple, double the price of the meals. These concepts are never covered in culinary schools in America. Nor is there a peep about the Latino workers in kitchens across the country who never go to culinary school but are fantastic employees for the most part. Another let down from a culinary education is the reality that just because you graduate from culinary school doesn’t make you a chef. Yet, your neighbor at the backyard barbecue who believes by wearing an apron that says “chef” on it is he is entitled to the distinction. It is bullshit. Thus, 90% of the kids finishing culinary school today will not be in the industry 10 years from now because of one dirty little secret; they can’t afford to. The Latinos will work 12 hour days for close to minimum wage. This means usually only ex cons, teens and dead beats can afford to compete for those jobs starting at the bottom. The culinary graduate almost never starts out as an executive chef or sous chef. If you are just manning the grill, fryer or appetizers what is the point of culinary school anyways? However, with a union comes training and accreditation. The pay goes up, the skills improve, the culinary schools are jammed and the guy at barbecue with chef apron can be called out as a wanna be.
 

Almost every restaurant owner believes unions or higher minimum wages and benefits would be catastrophic and they would never be able to even open their doors. Good! Close the damn doors already or embrace change. There are far too many shitty restaurants available to American consumers and at least half of them aren’t worth visiting twice. The American corporate chain restaurants are garbage. I long for the days that the Red Lobsters, Olive Gardens, Dennys, Chilis and Cracker Barrels of America disappear. If you are eating at these places I suspect your are culinary and culturally handicapped. The owners attend the company meeting where the board members promote these cheesy airport bookstore ideas. The owners come back and talk to their managers about the team environment, better food and service. The employees could care less. They want to hear about pay raises, tuition reimbursements and benefits not the new employee quality scoring evaluations. This materializes at the table with my waiter trying to start a short term relationship with me or avoiding me altogether. The managers are more focused on their social media following than getting to know the actual customers. Nope, a fortune is pissed away on marketing and advertising and little in the way of quality food or good pay for employees. The profit sharing usually goes to the owners of the franchises and maybe a few upper level managers. The waitress or fry cook see zero of this windfall. Most franchises also have average food, service and ambiance at best. The popular sports bars surrounded with TV’s and multiple beers on tap have a corporate feel that neither delivers great food nor a memorable dining experience. The only reason these places are even popular is because the NFL has gouged the fans so bad for so many years most can’t, or won’t , pay the annual subscription fees or purchase game tickets to watch games. I prefer to keep my football and dining experiences separate but have often been sucked into this trade off to watch the Minnesota Vikings get their asses kicked on a Sunday too.

Almost all the fast food places should be banned and condemned because they’re destructive to our society as a whole. In three weeks in Florence, Italy last year I saw one McDonalds but tons of small restaurants with both talented employees and high quality food. You know what I didn’t see? A bunch of fat dumb asses in football jerseys and baseball hats with guts hanging over their belts walking around with some ding bat checking her social media 40 times an hour to see if anyone is paying attention to her. No one walks around with a can of Coke or Gatorade either. In fact, the only fat people in the country are American tourists. They stick out like strobe lights at midnight too. The Italians protect their food industry through strict quality regulation and preserve their culture by banning or limiting most outside influences. The chefs, cooks and waiters are vital members of their communities and not looked down upon as someone too dumb to get a real job as Americans tend to believe about our restaurant workers. The truth is if you could make $30,000 to $40,000 a year with health insurance and a retirement plan working 8 hours a day in a restaurant in America there would be far more people who would choose this line of work as a career. Corporate America wants zero to do with this model and strongly prefer the vast majority of the money going to a handful at the top.

In America If we put chemical markers in the foods from fast food restaurants the vast majority of people showing up to the hospital with diabetes, heart disease and obesity related health issues would pop positive for these exact indicators. Yup, McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Arby’s, Wendys, Papa Johns, the crap in the food courts of malls and almost anything with a drive thru. These companies are largely responsible of putting profits over customer health and proper stewardship of our agriculture. They have delivered high fat, high salt, high calorie, low quality junk food for decades. These fast food meals are usually served with a sugary drink as well. On the US Department of Health and Human services website it shows in 1970 there were zero states in America with an obesity rate higher than 25%. Today there are 32 states that hit this indicator. Odd, we can force the tobacco companies of America into a class action lawsuit over the health risks posed by smoking, and have made a substantial dent in the number of smokers, but we can’t seem to clean up the fast food industry who is an equally destructive participant in creating unhealthy Americans by the tens of millions. The dirty secret in American health care is the obese people make great patients/customers for doctors. The guy that owns the big and tall mens’ store has no problem admitting this but not a peep from the American Medical Association about their customers. In short, fewer restaurants with better quality food, higher paid employees and higher prices for restaurant meals is what is needed. Going out for a meal should be special. Higher prices will keep most people at home and thus learning to cook.
 

Next up would be the grocery stores. The very first thing that needs to be done is for the state and the federal government to make some very serious changes to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, better known as SNAP or food stamps. Feel free to look in the shopping carts in the check out aisle and what people that are using SNAP benefits are purchasing in their carts. You will more often than not see chips, soda, boxed food and very little in the way of fresh vegetables, fruits, or ingredients from scratch. This should be stopped immediately. The junk food lobbyists would go crazy screaming, “This is America. We don’t need the government telling us what we can and can’t eat. Freedom, communism, etc…” However, the change would not be telling Americans in need of food assistance what they can and can’t eat. It would simply be the government not subsidizing food that does not meet healthy nutritional standards. Adam Smith’s invisible hand would come into play and soon you would see far more healthier options start filling the shelves. Another dirty secret about grocery stores is the amount of food that goes in the trash every night. The shelf life expires and the food can’t be sold. It goes straight to the trash bin. I worked at the meat counter of a grocery store briefly earlier this year. 20% of all the meat on the meat counter ended up in the trash. Instead of selling all at a lower cost they get the maximum price they can and subsequently ended up wasting a large amount of fresh beef, chicken, pork and fish. 

For those that say there are food deserts I agree.I would say most of these are also in the ghettos of America. To these people I would say look up Gregory Bratton’s work in South Chicago. The 69 year old manages 86 gardens in the Chicago area and most of them in impoverished neighborhoods turning vacant lots into gardens. Much of America’s inner cities can host gardens in rundown properties and vacant lots. This can be parlayed into farmers markets and job training from the ground up. Indoor farming is the wave of the future and these properties are cheap to convert or demolish. One week of a heavy equipment demolition crew operating can create enough green space for public gardens for entire communities in most circumstances. This concept sounds like one hell of a good public works project or worthy cause for non profits looking to make an impact where it is needed most.
 

Now back to your own kitchen. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your own talent in the kitchen? Granted, not everyone is going to be a legitimate chef but are you culinary challenged? This usually amounts to simply being lazy. There are many helpful and instructional videos online if you sort out the seeds and stems. This leads me to the explosion in food oriented television programs. The vast majority of the shows are worthless entertainment leaving you hungry and with little residual culinary wisdom from the time spent watching. I do like watching Jacques Pepin’ reruns on the internet I must admit. I like the guy so much I wrote a piece about him awhile back. I also still like to watch videos of the late Anthony Bourdain describing the food and the lives of the people in various countries around the world. However, I think the whole idea of these subsequent rock star chefs and cult foodie followers is misguided at best. It is entertainment not education. The food tasting contests? Some of these are beyond stupid. Celebrities that have next to zero serious time in a kitchen rating and grading meals that you will never see on a menu? Dumb. I would rather see culinary arts and physical education required in all high school curriculums in the USA. Unfortunately, the food served in public schools across America is often far from fresh or made from scratch. The obesity problems start at a young age. The public schools are the perfect place for young people to learn the basics of how to feed yourself quality meals. In reality, many communities are run on tight budgets and the kitchen staff are not culinary students by and large.
 
How can I write a piece about food without starting at the beginning of the food cycle? The farms and the sea also should be addressed in this piece. Most people know that we are killing animals by the billions to feed ourselves. Our farmlands are drenched in chemicals to produce the corn and beans that go into countless products we consume including the animals themselves. The streams, rivers and lakes in Iowa are polluted with nitrates and phosphates that are directly caused by herbicides, insecticides, anhydrous ammonia and fertilizers. The yields are at lifetime highs but that is only because of the desire to sell crops overseas. Now that our trade war with China has started corn and bean prices have retreated to historic averages. However, the storage bins are full as farmers hold on hoping prices go back up before they have to sell. Good luck. 

Spraying anhydrous ammonia onto fields started in the 1940’s and has accelerated rapidly ever since. Prior to the anhydrous ammonia invention and being injected or sprayed on fields they would lie fallow for a year to allow the nitrogen from the previous stalks and plants to break down and be absorbed in the dirt. Anhydrous ammonia injected into the soil turns into nitrogen when it rains making the fields suitable for planting year after year. The problem now is all the fields have corrugated plastic tubing called tiling buried throughout. This moves the rain water through chemically saturated fields to the pipelines, to the ditches, then streams, lakes and rivers. This creates algae blooms in the lakes that take up all the oxygen and kill off the fish. Half of Iowa’s state park lakes have had to be drained, dredged, refilled and restocked because of this. The other half are on the docket to be next in line. The dead zone in the gulf spreading out from New Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi River is the now the size of Connecticut damaging the US domestic seafood and fishing tourism industries.

America easily has enough farms and ranches to feed ourselves. I am not opposed to selling our crops over seas just not at the expense of our environment. China and India can be taught how to make their own agriculture adjustments and advancements to feed their own people. These massive American poultry, hog and cattle operations, also guilty of over supply and environmental degradation, should be banned. The process imposes pretty cruel lives for the animals themselves and the slaughter houses are kept out of public view for a reason. The grip the major protein producers like Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Sysco and Smithfield have is a stranglehold on farmers. The same can be said for Pioneer/Dupont, Novartis/Sygenta, Monsanto and Advanta who control the vast majority of hybrid corn and bean seeds and all are genetically modified these days. The organic farmer can’t compete against these multi billion dollar operations and only the Americans with deep enough pockets and more than a passing interest in healthy eating are religious organic food eaters.
 

Our seas have become overfished and the last stop for much of our plastics. Primarily Chinese fishing vessels are to blame on the high seas. Thousands upon thousands of these vessels roam the seas with their transponders shut off to accurately measure the scope of their undertaking. The Chinese steal fish from waters that can be properly defended or patrolled. Most countries do not have the financial resources to have a significant coast guard that can protect their waters from massive fishing vessels using drag nets that catch, kill, freeze or can the fish before they even get back to port. I would like to see the US Navy operating in conjunction with the UN and start seizing these ships and crews. China has a lot of people that need fed but this robbery of our oceans’ bounty is unacceptable. The first thing people want in emerging markets as their economic livelihood improves is better food and this means protein. Instead of snakes, monkeys, bats and pangolins they opt for pork, chicken, beef and fish. The world’s oceans simply are not stocked with enough fish to feed the world on our current population growth trajectory. 

The plastics in our oceans is now finally getting the press coverage it deserves. The damage to fish stocks and the environment is difficult to calculate but by all scientific studies being released today it is staggering. Plastic is estimated to take a couple hundred years to disintegrate in sea water. The explosion in the use of plastic across the planet failed to take into consideration the disposal. Most plastic is buried in landfills as it is deemed one time use and not profitable to recycle. Other plastics were often sent off in shipping containers to China and Asia to deal with, out of sight and out of mind. In 2018, however, China stopped accepting garbage from foreign countries and now nations accustomed to exporting garbage and plastics to China have been forced to rethink their recycling policies from root to branch. This is good news as investment in this recycling infrastructure is long overdue. The recent research and advancements in plastic eating enzymes also seems encouraging.

Next up needs to be addressing India. India has roughly 1.3 billion people compared to America’s 330 million. India, however, is a filthy and disgusting country. Sorry, I call it as I see it. Youtube is full of videos documenting the filth in India. It boggles my mind they can create a nuclear weapon, are fantastic with math and computer science but still shit in the woods, on beaches, in squat toilets or in the streets and piss on the sidewalks. There are roughly 200 million Indians that still do not have electricity? This is 2/3 of the population of America without electricity. India too will have a surge in protein demand. The Hindus don’t eat beef and the Muslims don’t eat pork. But goats, fish and sheep production will skyrocket in the future to feed their people. India will require massive and unprecedented changes in its culture, infrastructure and regulation to temper its impact on global food resources and the environment. India and China’s gigantic demand for food resources can’t be emphasized enough. There are modern day aqua farms around the world and I foresee these only expanding along the coasts of these countries.

The best food news I have heard this year, however, is the rapid rise of plant based proteins in the form of burgers and sausages. This is just the genesis stages of this transformation too. I have tried this myself and have to admit an Impossible Burger from Beyond Meat was better than I thought. It is juicy and has the same taste and texture as a hamburger. I watched an interview with the CEO and he explained they can do this with almost any animal that is harvested for protein. If Asian people are really fond of the taste of wild animals they will be able to buy bat burgers and snake sausages in the future. Imagine in the lifetime of a single generation the slaughtering of animals for human consumption becomes as unbelievable to our next generation as people commuting by horse back was to ours. Crazy to think that way but I say, “Bring it on!”

Another plane crash marks the time. These folks getting smoked in Karachi on an Airbus 320 yesterday always gets my juices going. Like Pavlov’s dog I start sniffing around for information leading to some life long belief I too am going to die in a plane crash. Even if I only believe this for a few minutes it is every time I am on a plane; just as we take off and just before we land. Like a morbid reminder that I am wrong about religion and divine intervention has deemed I will be utilized as a spectacle for all to see being sucked out the hole of my window seat at 500mph. Through my mind races 1,000 reasons why this act would be dignified. In fact, I tried to warn him too, but no. Sorry, Full Monte for this joker.  I look confidently at the faces around me….quick checklist, no terrorists. All good. The one dude on the other side of the isle is a huge damn guy though. He gets out of hand and  I am going to have to kick him in the balls and bite anything I can until someone other dudes jump in hopefully. Wow, the stewardess is smokin’. Where in the hell do they find these ladies? Is this just me or is it every time I get on a goddamn plane there is a hottie? Note to self; I need to get a job interviewing these ladies some how. I know what good service is. Fuck man, I am sitting in the goddamn cheap seats, again. She knows I am a broke gimp...and yep, there she goes up to business class and first class. Oh, close the curtain? What, you only serve them? Hey, big surprise there, shipwreck. Oh look, here comes my guy. Name tag says, Steve. WTF? Gin and Tonic, bro.

No fooling me, 9/11 was a set up. I don’t know exactly what went down but it sure in the hell did not go down like Uncle Sam said. Did every single person that got on those planes in 9/11 have the same feeling I have right now? Nope. Next time you fly try this for yourself. Check the phone signal. Keep an eye on that baby and the Suunto altimeter on the watch. Mark time you lose reception. I have Verizon. 2,000 feet and there is zero signal at this speed? How did the government record such high quality last passenger calls before the crash with phones using 2001 technology? Jet fuel doesn’t burn steel either, fact. Most of the fuel went up in flames in the initial explosion as we all know, hot air rises. Another fact, I saw a cigarette extinguished in a bucket JP 5 jet fuel once in the navy. Think about that video of the guy on youtube with the different fuels in the jars? Jet fuel surely did not melt any steel. 9/11 had to be a set up. It had to be the use of shape charges. You can literally see the squibs going off under several floors as the buildings collapse. To pull off a stunt like that would be insane. The Man could do it though.  “Ah yes, Steve. Gin and tonic with a little lime. Please and thank you. Can you give me two because I will be done with the first one before you get to the end of the row? Thanks, bro.” Super Don up there in first class is probably drinking out of a Riedel tumbler and the hot stewardess is pouring out of the bottle. I am drinking shooters out of a plastic cup served by, Steve? Story of my life.  

I could have snuck something past the TSA. Security is better than it used to be but there are cracks still. Could someone sneak a TPAP bomb on here? Would the screen even pick it up since it is made of peroxide instead of nitrogen based? It would have to be someone working on the inside who could get a piece of luggage off a private plane and insert into the baggage of another flight. I remember working security at Arlanda in Stockholm in 1992. Man, that job sucked ass but my work buddies were cool. I never did get a free goddamn ticket from Delta. They can suck my ass. I am never flying those bastards again. Oh wait, shit. This is a goddamn Delta flight, genius. Impressive.  I remember that one curly headed blonde Swedish kid who had the Mesa Boogie amp, Magnus. He was hilarious. He could open up any  passenger bag in the damn baggage handling area. I don’t how the hell he did it but that shit was cool. He rode around in the bag delivery/conveyor tractor with the baggage carts in tow out on the tarmac and under the planes. In Swedish the word for fag is Bog. Except, put two dots above the O. An extra vowel they have and English does not. He used some tape and a marker and changed the vowel on the front of the baggage tractor to translate it literally to “Fag Driver” when he was driving the tractor. Anyone seeing him rolling around with that on the tractor would burst out laughing.  Nothing they could do. He was a member of Luftfartsverket union. No firing him. He would just laugh and go about his day. Kris, Johan, Darren, Marku, Agnetta, Kerstin, Relko, Sigrid, Schumel, Agnetta, Gitte and all the other faces. I remember them. Giving up the Springsteen tickets in Stockholm to Gitte on my way back home in 1993 sucked. I always thought she was hot. I told her so in the airport as I was about to leave. She told me I probably should have asked her out. I just shook my head and stepped on the final flight out to Amsterdam. I wonder what all those people are doing now? Seems like a long time ago.

Jetway is pulling back and no one is taking the seat beside me? Huge score! I like looking out the window but I am too tall for the window seats. We are pushing back. It is going to happen. Oh wait, a freakin’ traffic jam on the tarmac just before we are to take off? Wow, I am a long way from Iowa, again. What is taking so freakin’ long? These guys better not be delaying this flight. I have seen this play before. I could use the free flight voucher though…. hmmmm. I can’t stand watching Steve up front now showing me how to put on an oxygen mask and point to the damn exits. Dude, If this baby hits the water or the pavement we are done. How about getting me another beverage? No? Nice. I am not turning off my damn airplane mode on my phone then. Make me. I want the investigators combing through the charred burned remains of my corpse to find a miracle; my OtterBox saved my iPhone in a plane crash. I would be famous if only as a charred heap on the fantail of a salvage boat with a surviving smartphone. Come to think of it…. I never did get a good look at the pilot. Think about that crazy son of a bitch on Lufthansa a few years back who locked the other pilot out of the damn cockpit and drove that baby right into the mountainside with everyone screaming for their lives all the way down. Pretty simple, pal. I told you this day was coming. Reciprocity? Revenge? Whatever, the guy driving this son of a bitch is probably crazier than you are. Life imitating art; yes? Comedy. Life insurance is paid. Kids will be alright.  This won’t hurt. It will be a nano second and lights out. These people are going to freak the fuck out all the way down the drain though. Big price to pay for taking innocent victims with you. You need to get off the goddamn plane, pal. Roller coaster starts moving slowly up the massive first peak. I can feel it in my chest. Too late. Do these other people feel that shit? Sit back, idiot, and keep your seat belt fastened. As the engines roar I love that feeling. It gives me an erection. Our secret. Full throttle, brother. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah….Fuck yeah, that shit is cool. I should have been a pilot. Nice try, bozo. There is more math required than your tiny Happy Meal calculator mind can understand. Just sit back in your goddamn seat and see what they have for movie selections. Where in the hell is Steve?

Think of all the plane wrecks you know of though, bro. The crash in the Potomac when you were a kid and the people in the frozen water. That one dude who gave his life to save that lady. How about the space shuttle blowing up when you were a kid. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash,. Buddy Holly plane crash. Roberto Clemente plane crash. Jim Croce plane crash. Your great uncle plane crash. Patsy Cline plane crash. Bill Graham helicopter crash. SRV helicopter crash. All those guys on ST6 that went down in Afghhan helicopter crash. Those guys that went down in the drink on your tiger cruise on the Ch-46. Seems to me like you have been flying on borrowed time, pal. How many times have you been over the Atlantic? You don’t even have a single damn frequent flier mile? Why does this not surprise me? Not sure. Doesn’t matter. You won’t be needing them. You bought a round trip but this one will be a one way.

Not sure where these other folks are from or going but if this is Retribution Day their families and friends will never see them again either. I guess today is as good a day as any. You know bad news always comes unexpected and today’s ride will be no different. Any last prayers, comments or thoughts before we hit the pavement or the sea at the speed of sound? No? Imagine that. This will be noted. Already descending….? The wing flaps down like that changes the air flow over the wing? Whoa, the roar of that is so cool sounding. It is subtle at first and the crescendo will bring us to a stop on the runway. That was some smart shit figuring that out. I need to come up with something like that. All the fuel is in the wings though. Is that a goddamn flock of seagulls? Jesus, man, they are flying right us. I fucking knew it. Taken out by a goddamn bird dumber than I am. Wait a minute….. That is not a flock of seagulls you dumbass. Try wiping the goddamn window off. Have you been staring at a freakin’ booger and the remnants of a sneeze this whole time? Jesus. Try taking the sunglasses off, Elvis. How do you even manage to dress your goddamn self in the morning? However, if the wings tear off the fuselage when we land these are some terrible seats, Homeboy. You are fuckin’ doomed. You are literally going to be turned into a flaming shitbag in the sky before being extinguished in the harbor when this baby comes up short of the runway. Life by the drop, bro. Comedy. 3…2…1….Then the bump, the skid mark and the freakin’ noise of the wings catching all the air is just fantastic. Sounds like a Mesa just grinding it down my ear hole straight into the helmet. Then it slows down and we are just taxiing. Wow, that shit was great. I love flying. Sorry, spirit world, maybe next time. Time for another adventure. I see my buddy near the baggage claim. “Hey, how have you been, man? Wow, you look great. How was the flight?”

“All good. Same as usual. “ :)

Several years ago I was given an audio recording of a motivational speaker by a mentor. My mentor, Loren, was a very successful insurance agent in Iowa that was my parents age. He hired me out of college. I worked for him for a couple years selling insurance and financial services to clients of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa agency. We parted ways as the company went through some changes in the 1990’s but remained in touch via a business lunch once or twice a year for a few years. He was very intelligent and could offer me advice on business that few else could. I respected him for his wisdom and the success he had garnered from manifesting his knowledge and reputation into financial success. It was what I wanted to do. I saw myself as a young version of him at the time. All I needed to do was emulate what he had done and take his advice on what he would do if he were me and it would happen for me as well.
 

A few years had passed and I met Loren for a lunch one day to catch up on life. He had merged his business with another and was a millionaire several times over. My failed solo insurance and financial career was a flop. I ended up tens of thousands of dollars in debt and was forced to file bankruptcy with a young, and very pregnant wife. I literally took the same job I had in college, telemarketing for MCI/Worldcom, for $8 an hour and commission. I was actually one of the best callers in the company and was quickly promoted to a supervisor within six months. The wife and I had another child and purchased a new home. I felt comfortable with a good salary and proud of my accomplishments. Soon I felt I would be a manager, then senior manager, etc…this vision was squashed in 2004 when MCI/Worldcom crashed and burned in a massive fraud. The company ended up in bankruptcy, the CEO went to prison and 40,000 employees lost their jobs. I had to start over again. However, this time I had a wife, two young kids and a mortgage. The job market looked flat to me and I found corporate America too restrictive. I am not an ass kissing kind of guy. I swear like a sailor and am a wanna be rock roll guitar god at heart. Van Halen never called and I was forced with dilemma of paying the bills and holding up my end of the family bargain. I needed a good paying job where I got to carry the ball, call the shots and create huge stacks of chips that would feed my ego and get me the respect I felt I was due.
 

My idea was spawned by rewinding how I ended up in the position I was currently in. The future went from bright to bleak in less than 10 years out of college. I realized the reason I failed in the insurance and financial industry was not because I wasn’t smart or didn’t try hard enough. I failed because I ran out of people to talk to about my services. In reality, no one wants to talk to an insurance or financial professional unless they have to. The rejection is high and the attrition rate in the industry is on par with the fast food industry. Don’t be fooled by the nice cars, suits and watches. The industry knows that people want to do business with people that are successful, or at least appear to be successful. For every Loren in the industry there were a thousands folks who failed. Most didn’t fail because they made too much money either. It was the opposite. They failed financially, like me, not because they could not pass a test or didn’t try hard but because they ran out of people to talk to and the price of marketing yourself was too expensive. In a 100% commission environment you can’t go too many months without a paycheck before you hit the wall. Of course, you never hear this at the career fair on campus when companies are trying to recruit the next gimp who bought the line, “ Would like to be your own boss? You want to have an office, choose your clients, make a great income and be respected in the community?” It is much easier to recruit using these one liners than speaking the truth, “Step right up, son. You look like the exact kind of geek we are looking for. Let me guess, you are too dumb to do math and science so you opted for the bullshit liberal arts degree that no one here at the job fair is looking for, right? If you come work for us there is a 50/50 chance you will be broke and out of this industry within two years and an 80% chance you won’t make it five years. In fact, anyone you do sell, long after you are gone if they continue to pay premiums the home office gets that money and you get zero.” I bit on the former job description and the latter I learned, like most, the hard way.
 

My idea was a boiler room. I would combined the telemarketing skills with the knowledge I had of the insurance and financial industry. In short, I was going to cash in the 401k and start calling other insurance and financial professionals and see if they needed some more appointments throughout the week. We would call their clients or find some prospects in their area that would be interested in talking with them. The wife thought it was a terrible idea and the friction became unbearable. She had zero faith in me or my plan. The idea of setting up some telephones in the basement and have guys calling out of the house was a terrible idea. I didn’t care. I felt if I made it work and made a bunch of money she would have to admit I was right all along. Wrong, she filed for divorce, started sleeping with a guy at work and took half the 401k in a very messy divorce. It didn’t matter, my back was against the wall and it was now or never. The gloves were coming off. I recruited some former MCI/Worldcom guys in their early 20’s with telemarketing experience and started calling from the basement. Bing, bang, boom….It took off by us emailing and calling agents. I figured the guys in Iowa didn’t have enough money to afford the service, however, the guys in the big cities surely did. I was correct. A few hundred a week became a few thousand. There was beer drinking, pot smoking, shirts off and sunglasses on in my operation. I leased a few offices in Guaranty Bank in downtown Cedar Rapids and we started humming. I was up to five or six good reps on the phones making 50 calls a day each.
 

I didn’t give a shit what guys said on the phone. This business was going to be checks only and only from agents and planners that lived outside the state of Iowa. I could easily impersonate Loren on the telephone enough to let the hungry agents on the other end of the phone know I knew what I was talking about. The half a dozen reps I had simply copied me without out ever knowing anything about the insurance and financial industry or a semester of college. If they had a hot call it got passed to me to close them. For me, I knew most of these geeks on the phone were chest beating idiots much like myself back in the day who were too lazy to do the prospecting themselves or thought they were smarter because we were doing the heavy lifting for an affordable price. “Those dumb Iowans have no idea how valuable their service is to agents.” Wrong, Bozo. After a couple weeks of them getting zero appointments they would get pissed, call in and complain or request a refund. “Nope, sorry, pal. No refunds. We can have a conference call with your team though to go over best practices, a script and maybe explain some of your niche market a little better.” To listen to these idiots one by one talk about themselves was comedy. They hated to admit their own ego was used against them and they got played. Eventually, they would bitch and moan all the way down the toilet. We were bringing in a minimum of $20,000 a month the summer of 2006 and ended up making almost $400,000 that year.
 

The problem was I was miserable. It was a hustle. I wasn’t Loren. Shit, we couldn’t even tell the clients the truth or they would never buy the service in the first place. In the beginning we actually called a bunch of people to try and get these guys appointments but no one wanted to talk to any of our clients. It was easier just to not call and tell them they got a zero and no one was interested. It was much more profitable to spend our time going after new money. I was conflicted because I knew I was not going to be out hustled on the phone but the business model itself was doomed because we could never get repeat business. They all got ripped off. They couldn’t get their money back and if they wanted to take us to court they would have to come to Iowa which was out of the question. I called Loren and we had a lunch and I explained my dilemma to him. He did not have an answer for me but he sensed the problem was with me and not the business. The business was just a function of my input. A day or two later he sent me an audio recording of a motivational speaker that he recommended. I can’t remember the guy’s name but he worked with high end athletes, entertainers and rich folks about their maximum performance for about $10,000 a weekend in varying fancy hotel conference rooms across America.
 

I listened to the recording and the guy made a lot of sense. He said there were basically two types of successful people; Group A and Group B. Both have natural talent. Both usually have a high level of net worth. Both have success that is easily observed by others via material possessions. The difference was the Group A people were very happy, active in their community, close with their family and friends, philanthropic and spiritually growing. The Group B people were unhappy, selfish, constantly worried about their money, untrusting, jealous, had troubled relationships and feared failure as a core motivation. I was stunned. As much as I wanted to see myself as an A Group guy I fell into the latter group. The analogy the guy used was genius. He said the two groups of people view the exact same sunset on any given night. The Group A people see it as a beautiful and romantic moment to be enjoyed. When it sets they go home and think fondly of the episode. If so inclined they can watch again the very next evening. The people in Group B see the same beautiful and romantic sunset, however, instead of going home they go down to the dock, fill the boat up with gas and chase the sunset at full speed not wanting to lose the feeling of being in the moment. In reality, they pursue the moment at all cost because they believe it likely will never come again. They do not have an accurate perception about themselves and thus impossible to find continuity with others. In the process of trying to maintain an inaccurate ideal of ones self relationships are damaged, money is blown, time is wasted, mistakes are made and failure is inevitable. I knew I was doomed before the recording even stopped but I continued to listen.
 

In our ideals we see our selves at our peak performance with all the attention, respect, wealth and health that can be imagined. We physically look fantastic, sound intelligent when we speak, are the life of the party, the source of vast wisdom and the envy of all. The Group A people understand these ideals are simply positive self images and intellectual motivational tools to strive for and set goals around. There is conscious proactive work that goes into improving. Although the goal may never be reached the pursuit and effort applied to accurate ideals leads to outcomes that benefit not only the individual but those around them. The Group B people see themselves as failures in their ideal. They will never look or sound as good as needed to really be successful. They are always way behind and desperately running out of time. Their mistakes are insurmountable and compounded with each subsequent failure. If people really knew the person under the flesh they would not only not be impressed they would run. Thus the approach becomes to emulate someone else who is successful instead of understanding there is a formula for your own happiness and success. The Group A people know that failure is a learning opportunity and a chance to improve. The Group B people look at failure as humiliation and an assault on their ego. They were cheated somehow from what should have been a victory for them. The Group A people know that their friends and family are also not perfect but have faith in them and give them the benefit of the doubt as they know their hearts snd minds are in the right place. The Group B people have no genuine confidence in their skills. It is just a matter of time before they are figured out and the sun will set on their goals and dreams. Many friends and family members suffer from the Group B behaviors on display exhibiting a poorly calibrated ideal.
 

At the end of the recording I realized why Loren gave it to me. He could see the talent in me that I too saw in myself. What he knew that I didn’t is that I based all of my ideals on financial success. If I had a lot of money I would become the person I always knew I could be. In reality, the money is just one byproduct of an accurately calibrated ideal. My ideal was not that I wanted to take the introspective steps Loren had undergone to understand more about himself. I wanted to look at it in reverse. I wanted to be the center of attention and have the crowd ooh and ahh at my performance and material possessions. I was convinced this would lead me to happiness and freedom from the guy in my head who was brutally skeptical and cynical. Sure enough, the boiler room crashed and burned like MCI/Worldcom did. My failures continued and I often turned on myself. Unfortunately, for me, it was impossible to not like myself and expect to make others happy and productive. I had to find a way to like the person inside instead of comparing myself to an ideal I was never meant to, or going to be able to, achieve. Plus, if I could not achieve this ideal then it makes it very easy to be critical of others who are also not going to achieve the ideal either. Around this exact same time a guy said to me, “Jasa, if you have a conflict with everyone how do you win?” It just floored me. Most talented people have pretty big egos. Not all, but most. If you are not happy or in a cycle of failures and looking for wisdom to possibly change your trajectory I would save the $10,000 and recommend evaluating your ideals. What is your ideal? What do you look like? What is the tone of the conversation? We all want attention but how are you going about getting yours? Is it realistic? Are you setting goals and tracking them closely? How much attention do you pay to others goals and ambitions? If you don’t like you why should anyone else? Did you compliment or encourage someone else today? Do you owe someone an apology? Can you forgive someone for making a mistake? Are you a good loser? Do you share your struggles with people? How can you help? What are you doing to positively impact others?
 

This was years ago and I can say the motivational speaker’s message is something I need to remember in life. Sure, I still fumble and fail all the time. I am still not 100% sure what I want to be when I grow up either. However, I do know that I take myself with me wherever I go. If that guy is squared away and has a realistic ideal of himself and a properly calibrated moral compass the chance for happiness and success go up exponentially. When the ego gets in the way of the ideal the failures usually come quickly thereafter. Sorry, I can’t remember the name of the motivational speaker.
 

It is official I am an empty nest. It is one thing for mom and dad to shed a tear as they drop off junior at college or the recruiter’s office. I have already caught a little blow back from the 18 and 19 year old attitudes and perspectives of adulthood. Junior was reminded in front of his crew that helped move me into the new place that when we speak forget the “He be like” bullshit. You went to a good school and even though the lights went out on your senior year  no need to talk like a derelict at the bus station. 

“Yo, I can talk how I want, Dad. Your day is done, Old Man. Dad there is a white guy rapper, Ima Shitbag, he makes sick money and he says it that way. You? You are moving into a one bedroom apartment.” He retorts and smiles to his friends acting cool. My son. I shake my head.
“Son, I don’t give a shit how many billons of views Shitbag has on Youtube, his bitchez, his bling, his guns, his jewels…Yawn. Unfortunately, the crippling part is from time to time he sits around the table with the attorneys, accountants and financial guys and he learns the hard way he has the linguistic talent of a 14 year old. Ever wonder why most rap songs have only one or two syllables? As far as the cash? Always nice to have more than less. Let’s hope Shitbag saves some of his because times do change and there is a real strong chance he is not intellectual thunder. Hopefully, he just sounds like a dumbass as part of his act to suck geeks like you guys in and really is a tremendous orator in private with his friends and family.” They just started laughing. Truth is in Cedar Rapids there have been 5 kids in the class of 2020 throughout the city of 125,000 who have either been shot, committed suicide or overdosed. Fortunately, not my kids.

I bought some pizza and beer. They did not drink a single beer. Instead, they preferred a Texas Tea? An Arnold Palmer idea with about 5% alcohol. One can each. Didn’t even finish it. These guys are surely high school kids. The baptism of beers, babes and bong hits with Blutarski awaits them. I can see myself in them, but not really. These kids have been pampered their entire lives as far as I am concerned. There were a couple colorful moments but absolutely nothing like the way my brother and I grew up and this I am quite proud of. My son, in fact, is about as tough as his mom. Don’t tell him that. This is good. Hanging out at the University of Iowa Recreation Center is truly the absolute best optics in the state of Iowa. Soon he will be staring in the mirror in the weight room, getting beat down in pick up games, talking about last night and all that goes with campus life. My daughter is still chugging along with a nursing degree. Grades are good. Works at the hospital humping patients around too. She too has it all figured out and when we disagree she simply blocks me on her phone and disappears. The idea of sacrifice is part of the equation she finds most uncomfortable. These are short conversations. The old boyfriend is gone and new one is on the scene. Guess I will be meeting him soon, or not. I kind of liked the last one.

Storage shed is almost completely empty. The apartment is packed with my most important, useful and sentimental possessions. The rest is sold off. It is just me now. Everything in a one bedroom apartment. Nice place; all vinyl flooring, new appliances, free water, cable and internet. Electric is $50 a month. Underground parking. Security door and right on the bike path in a great location. $1,000 a month. Tough to beat. I will pick up a part time job until I head out to sea for some extra cash. Tons of ladies down here too. I do have a weakness for beautiful and intelligent women. I should write about some of my internet dating experiences. You guys would be in tears laughing. Maybe I will in the future. No ladies right now but when I do slip back into the water this is primo hunting grounds. I have literally used the same one liner for 15 years with fantastic results. I join match.com and simply spam every hot woman the same thing, “Hey, great looking pics and interesting profile. Tell me more about you.” The only ones who will bite back are the ones that like my mug and crazy profile. Then you start sorting. Tell them a couple jokes, agree with them on whatever is important to them and move to a beverage somewhere. Trust me, it works like a charm.

“Ah yes, Dr. Melphie, Wow you are even better looking in person. Whoa, your ex husband was truly a shitbag for losing you. Anyone can clearly see you, princess, deserve better. Communication broke down? Damn. You did everything while he just sat there? I can’t believe it. Wow, I am getting hungry. I forgot about the chicken in the fridge. I will be cooking chicken Parmesan with a pairing of Tuscan red wine tonight. You like Italian? You do? Amazing, I just went to culinary school in Florence last year.” Rinse and repeat. The trick is to appeal to their lowest instincts. Every other idiot out there is talking about their motorcycle, car, boat, lake house, cash, etc... The women I like have very good taste and have enjoyed most of these things already as I have, less the motorcycles. Most women are looking for something much more simple in internet dating and not just the next chest beater with a viagra prescription and some selfies. I will get settled in and get back out there, have no fear. Different story.

But we are traveling light from here forward. I have little debt, good credit score and a few bucks in the bank. Should become a little more productive with the pencil now too. 

I remember my dad telling me at the very beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan that it smells like another Vietnam. “It’s too far away, we have nothing in common with those people and nothing is going to change. Should have learned that from Vietnam.” Dad seems almost prophetic now as this article alludes to. Another thing I remember him telling me was how Vietnam changed America. “When I was a kid you believed your parents, your principal and the president. After Vietnam and Watergate that was destroyed and never came back.” This wisdom needs an exclamation mark.

Today? I guess my first question is do I feel safer here at home post 9/11? Not really. The TSA and the department of homeland security were needed, however. People often forget the caliber of employee at the airports prior to 9/11. This was one step below Starbucks and one step above McDonald’s. Had the airlines and airports offered their ground employees the same nice perks the pilots and stewardesses get there is a good chance a higher caliber employee would have been able to draw suspicion to at least one of the 19 Saudi terrorists who all had red flags in the check in process. 

Unfortunately, the Patriot Act was passed and The Man snuck into every crack in our private lives it could find entry. As Andrew Snowden’s Prism leak showed the world, this was done exclusively with the biggest internet and phone companies in America. This agreement allows backside access to Uncle Sam in real time. Sure, the NSA targets, collects and stores information on bad guys. But no one signed up to have all their communications recorded, stored and accessible by the government without their knowledge, period. Plus, there will be more leaks in the future. Recently leaked was the CIA’s catalogue of hacking tools and that were then subsequently released for sale on the dark web for untraceable crypto currency. Do I feel safer? Not really.

One of the biggest failures of our military and defense institutions is the requirement to always trumpet good news and suppress bad news at the lowest levels. Advancing in rank means more money and more prestige. In Vietnam the only thing that mattered was a body count. This number was easily digested by the American audience. Unfortunately, that number swelled to 57,000 dead Americans and many more wounded. The truth came out, protests erupted in the US and Saigon fell. 

In Afghanistan, and Iraq, the troops on the ground, and the vets who came back, were all silenced by the Bush and Obama administrations unless that message was freedom, honor and sacrifice. Predictably, another leak changed that narrative. Bradley Manning’s leak posted also on Wikileaks showed an American helicopter firing on and killing civilians and a reporter in a van. How did this happen? Just like Vietnam; the enemy is hard to identify among locals, we don’t speak the language and a feeling of impunity felt by the troops. Never was there any serious debate in public about, “Why not cut our losses and get the hell out of there?” Nope, the only message coming out of the Mideast is more freedom and democracy and winning the war on terror. Everywhere in the Mid East a Muslim terrorists mastermind is lurking around the corner we are led to believe. Whatever....just don’t say oil.

I have said all along the reason the results in the war on terror are terrible is this is an ideological war with no mission objective. Desert Storm of 1990-91 which I participated in had a solid war time playbook. There a clearly defined mission and overwhelming force. Kuwait was liberated, Saddam took a huge beat down and we left. In place was a no fly zone that kept tabs on Saddam’s decimated military. There was no shortage of history or intel on what lied in wait for us in Afghanistan prior to entering; legions of Muslim zombies, 3rd world poverty, largest poppy fields on the planet and a shit ton of guns and ammo in the hands of the bad guys. However, there wasn’t much in the way of prime targets for air strikes after a few days. Soon the the mission became a trillion dollar military machine targeting illiterate teenagers hiding in caves and valleys. One would think with such overwhelming force the results would have been different. 

Osama bin Laden and his henchmen had left Afghanistan long before any building was left standing that cost less than the bomb to blow it up. He supposedly ended up killed in a US Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan. The most highly sought after terrorist in the world was simply shot and killed in a botched raid and thrown over the side of aircraft carrier within 24 hours? After a years long international manhunt, torturing of detainees and paid informants when we finally get to the guy we shoot him in the head and dump him over the side without a single picture or video of proof of this for the American public? Odd, the Internet still has pictures of Saddam Hussein being hung and Libya’s ousted Ghadaffy being beaten to death but zero visual proof on Bin Laden’s demise. Odd, to say the least. 

The only way Afghanistan possibly might have worked was if the intention was making it, Ameristan. Colonize it and take over the entire country and establish martial law. America didn’t have the stomach for this. There were campaigns to win hearts and minds, payments for alternate crops, infrastructure projects and billions in cash poured into Afghanistan. However, it has been one of the most corrupt places on the planet for decades. The intelligence told us Bin Laden had left long ago. It we stayed. In fact, he’s been dead for a few years now and we are still there. What is also still there is $1 trillion dollars of rare earth and other minerals found by American geologists. Who did our Afghan puppet government give the mining rights to? China and India.

No, the Taliban will not adhere to this new agreement either. No, they will not support the puppet government, women’s rights, human rights, opium trafficking or any of their other previous agreements. Yes, Afghan is led by an American puppet government and the Taliban obviously know this too. They can wait, we can’t. Yes, Trump is right about departure. It doesn’t matter, it is not worth it and it is time to come home. Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia should also be a part of these negotiations. There is little to be gained in any of these places for America. There is untold opportunity right here on our side of the planet and plenty of bad guys just south of the border if our military wants to flex its muscles or do good deeds. 

To the troops and buddies of mine who served over there I wanted to thank you. There are many scars from this war as there have been throughout our country’s short history. The troops are youngsters just doing their jobs. America, like a young adult, will make mistakes. What is important is that we learn from them and avoid them in the future. This was not the case in Afghanistan. Good deal, bad deal or no deal....Bring the troops home.

"There are no atheist in foxholes.” A wiseman once said. I have to agree with this. I am not really sure what is out there to be honest. It would be foolish to say there is nothing beyond what the human mind can perceive at this point in time. However, I am almost positive it is not what the vast majority of religious people on the planet believe today. I do not believe in Allah, Buddha,Jesus or their supporting evidence. I am positive these religions will eventually fail as philosophies in general and take their place on history’s trash heap of once popular but abandoned ideas of the meaning and purpose of life itself. 

Honestly, there is not much proof beyond the ancient texts or scribblings either. Let’s be honest, this type of evidence today wouldn’t stand up in small claims court let alone explain life. I find it strange that just because something was written down a couple thousand years ago that it is automatically accepted as fact. There were no bullshitters or people with an agenda? On the contrary. When you add in the fact that the majority of people on the planet were illiterate well into the 15th century, at a minimum, much of this religious “science” and “history” can be categorized as folklore. Ever wonder why religious books are not stored in the non fiction section of the library?

A good universal test that can easily disprove most ancient religious tales is simply demonstrating the unreliability of human story telling in general. In a classroom, church, auditorium or gathering of 50-100 people who are unsuspecting of the test one simply needs to begin a short story. For example, “ A lady walks down 4th St. to the library on 3rd Ave. She picks out a book, The Life of Bud of Jones. It was a classic fictional story written by His granddaughter, Helen Jones, in 1934.” This can be any short 3-4 sentence story in this example. The person giving the test then whispers, or shows the sentences written on a piece of paper to the first person. That person then tells the next person verbatim what was told to them in a voice quiet enough no one else can hear it. Person number two then repeats the story quietly to person number three. The process repeats until the last person in the room gets the story. What you will find is that by the time the story gets to the last person in the room it is nowhere near the original story. So why do people believe stories written down a couple thousand years ago, translated many, many times over and created by illiterate people are true?
 

A good example for Christians would be comparing and contrasting some common American fables to stories in the Bible. No, the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota were not created by Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox roaming around the woods swinging an axe and creating gigantic depressions with their foot prints that later filled up with water. There is no one that believes this to be true. However, the idea of Adam and Eve creating all of mankind from one another is also not true. Obviously, this requires incest. As man has known for many, many centuries that incest leads to mental and physical abnormalities and deformities thus making it impossible to create a diverse world of humans from a single set of parents. The Bible is full of these falsehoods; walking on water, feeding the masses with a few fish and few loaves of bread, splitting the Red Sea, an arc carrying two of every animal, etc…To deny these are mere folklore is simply choosing to be ignorant. The same can be said for the 12 virgins in heaven awaiting muslim martyrs. Are all of these virgins females? Does this apply to women muslim suicide bombing martyrs too? Do they get 12 virgin females or is there a caveat so they get 12 virgin males? In fact, where are the damn Muslim women in religion? Same with Buddha. You can sit around and meditate all you want but in my life I have found the harder I work the luckier I get. There is nothing wrong with meditation but you also need to get off your ass and start hustling in the world if you want to accomplish anything meaningful during your time on the planet. 

Nope, religious people move along in life clinging to their scriptures and belief systems cherry picking the parts they like and ignoring the more controversial parts like yesterday’s potato salad. They wear goofy costumes and hold strange ceremonies worshipping a deity they have never met and only exists in their head. Their faith or personal relationship with their high power is simply gullible and misguided in my book. If they want to believe if in this stuff that is fine with me but never try the holier than thou stuff with me. I have done my own homework and I am not buying. Keep in mind there had to be the last person to believe in each of the pervious belief structures in history too. Eventually that person died off or was presented with a more sensical belief about life itself.
 

When I look out at the stars I often feel like some of the people that were roaming around the pubs and inns of Spain and Portugal around 1490. The Catholic Church’s doctrine was that earth was the center of the universe and all the other heavens rotated around this center. If one continued to keep sailing west there would be the edge of the earth and sea serpents devouring ships and their crew before they fell off the edge. Surely, there were citizens in these coastal towns and cities that told Columbus, his crew they were crazy. Indeed, Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were not the first ones propositioned to fund the journey to the new world, they were the last. Who are the most forgotten people in history? Indeed, the people in these same towns and cities across Europe that said Columbus and his crew crazy. In very short-order the discovery of the new world turned religion on its head. Soon came Copernicus and Gallileo to spawn the beginning of modern astronomy, physics and engineering. Eventually, the old ideas and philosophies about how the world worked died with its believers.
 

This brings me to another aspect of religion that has always seemed obvious. Why is it that man actually believed in the Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods in the first place? Almost all of these beliefs were tethered to astrology and seasonal changes that dictated the growing and harvesting of crops. No Horus of Egyptian mythology was not born from the bones of his father after his mother put his dismembered body back together, minus the penis that was thrown into the river and eaten by a catfish. No, Apollo did not pull the sun behind his chariot across the sky. No, Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty, was not born from sea foam and the severed penis of Uranus.

Long before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic these once popular belief systems had been laid to rest as folklore. Odd, the religious people of the world today seem to dismiss these once popular religions as ridiculous and yet cling to theirs as if their faith in their religion has somehow transcended the ignorance of our ancestors. Really? Actually what I notice with most religious people I have met is they are not very open minded at all. Although they may tolerate another’s different religious belief, deep down they believe the different religion to be inaccurate or misguided. “If only they knew the true power of the true gospel. “ This is mutual exclusivity is universal in the religious folks. 

In my opinion, a relationship requires two way communication. No, you do not have a special relationship with your higher power, God or whatever you want to call it. If you hear a higher power talking to you I would seek medical attention or suspect someone dropped some acid in your kool aid. No, the man or woman calling themselves a prophet, priest or spiritual translator is no more accurate their flock of sheeple in these failed belief structures. Anyone can can turn the television to the cable TV channels and watch the stupidest exercises in human reasoning 24 hours a day in America. One bullshit idiot after the next claiming to be the translator of the lord with more emotion than reason and then subsequently asking for donations. It is literally everything from talking in tongues, snake handling, faith healing or simple motivational speaker jargon disguised as Christianity. This garbage is so bad other Christians don’t even want to acknowledge their existence. Why? Of course, they have a more fundamental belief or more lucid translation of the scripture….Yawn
 

“So, what is that I do believe in? Nothing?” I have been asked. Well, I guess I would have to put myself in the modern day crew of Columbus. I do believe there is something out there. There are just far too many observations in science and life itself for there not to be a larger force in play. When I look out at the stars, much like our ancestors once did, I can’t see the other side. However, when I look at the periodic table I see a bunch of microscopic spheres with other spheres clinging to them that identify them as individual elements. For me it is the same thing I see when I look to the stars; a bunch of spheres with other spheres that identify individual locations. The exploration of the planets that are around us have proven they have the same microscopic elements we have here on earth in different amounts, density and temperatures. Life, as we know it now, can’t survive on these other planets because of these fluctuations. However, in our own Petri dish, earth, the environment does exist.

A Petri dish is also a good analogy to start. If one looks through a microscope into a sample grown in a Petri dish life is there. One can usually see a specimen of something using the available resources within the environment to grow by killing off and eating the other specimens in the Petri dish until all the resources are gone or they are moved to a bigger environment where they can continue to grow and flourish. Do the living organisms in the Petri dish have any idea they are part of an experiment? Nope. What about the blood cells in your body? Viruses? Bacteria? It is quite easy to see the biblical claims in Genesis that man has dominion over all the animals is ignorant. In fact, it is this microscopic world who has dominion over us and always has. It is only in the last couple centuries have humans really began to understand this world unseen to the naked eye.
 

This illustration also alludes to a hierarchy of intelligence. When I look into a fish tank I can clearly see life forms swimming around. They are born, mature, reproduce and die just like me. They know who their friends and foes are in the tank. They can even acknowledge me tapping on the glass. They know when I sprinkle food on the top of the water that it is nutrition for them. They can learn. Not much more than this but they don’t need to for their species to have evolved and lived for millions of years. This goes up and down the animal kingdom. 

The smarter and more complex animals sit at the top of the food chain. In the ocean this is the dolphin that is trained by man to do a variety of tasks. On land this is the chimpanzee who can be trained to communicate and use tools on a rudimentary level. But neither the dolphin nor the chimp have any idea about the bigger picture in life as they are just not smart enough. It is quite convenient for man to believe we are at the top of the food chain in our galaxy and there is no scientific experiment being undertaken on us without our knowledge. Do I believe in extra terrestrial life or UFO’s? I have never seen or experienced anything like this but many people have. It would make a lot of sense if it were true.
 

I also believe the single most important thing to life is not elements that are building blocks but intelligence. Without the ability to even perceive the surroundings? Nothing even exists. I believe that intelligence, like eye color, hair color and height definitely has a genetic component to it. We are just now on the very edge of this science but I do believe it will lead to the manipulation, incubation and gestation of life in a prescribed format. Why would you not want some better looking, more intelligent and healthier human life forms? We do this with almost every single living plant and animal incapable of stopping us already. All the crops in the fields, the animals on the farms and the organisms in the Petri dish go through this exact methodical process to get the desired species or outcomes that we humans want. None of these life forms have any idea that their entire life cycle is being manipulated either. Is it possible this pertains to life forms beyond humans too? If I am accurate and intelligence is something that can become a commodity it too would need a Petri dish to manifest itself or it would simply be a lifeless equation. If we are certain that man evolved from the apes and the apes evolved from another species and that species from another, etc...It would be ignorant to believe we humans are not in evolution. Even though we came from monkeys the monkeys are still here too. Do they know we came from them? Nope.

I don’t have all the answers either but this what I think about the subject of religion.
 

It would be hard not to write something about the Philippines. Although it has been many years since I have been back I can say there is no place I felt further away from home than the Philippines. The volcanic mountains tower over the island jungles and low lying towns. There are several stories I could tell of getting drunk on .25 cent Red Horse and San Miguel beer on Magsaysay Drive in Subic Bay. There are also the stories of great bands, idiot stunt pulled by drunk sailors and marines and the multitude of bar girls that were about $15 each. However, every US military guy that has been to the Philippines since WW2 has these stories and I can only say most of what you have heard regarding these subject matters is probably true.
 

The base is closed now. The US pulled after the Mount Pinatubo volcano in 1991 leaving behind a long legacy of US servicemen’s sins. Back in the day, when leaving the former US Naval Station Subic Bay sailors and marines crossed a bridge over the famous Shit River. It was a large filthy drainage basin that filled with varying amounts of seawater, rain water, raw sewage, bikes, beer bottles, household appliances, garbage and genuine filth. Kids could be seen playing in the water from time to time but never a US service member. It was a disgusting introduction to Olongapo; the town on the other side of the bridge. From first glance Olongapo looked like a filthy strip of Tijuana, Mexico. The smell of Shit River was supplanted by the smell of diesel pouring out of the exhausts of the jeepneys. These were converted old US military personnel carriers that had been left behind and now decades later were the Filipinos version of public transportation. Most were decorated like Asian Christmas trees blasting rock music at all hours of the day and night. If Shit River didn’t make you gag as you walked down Magsaysay Dr. there was the distinct hint of vomit, beer and piss in the air that was undeniable. All of these scents were jammed in your nose by the oppressing humidity that kept the stink low to the ground and pulled the sweat out of you simply by walking around at 8am. Walking down Magsaysay Dr. At night the streets were jammed with servicemen being constantly solicited to buy something from the tiny bodegas and bars. All of it was cheap both in price and quality. All the bars had American names and most of the girls did too.
 

I can say the most memorable events transpired in the fall of 1990. As America was ramping up Desert Shield to eventually become the invasion and subsequent war, Desert Storm, I found myself as a member of a four man Explosive Ordnance Disposal team onboard the ammunition carrier USS Mt. Hood (AE-29). The four of us did not get along well and spent no time with one of the others from our team while we were in any port and the Philippines was no exception. However, when we pulled in to Subic Bay EODMU5 took over the duties and responsibilities of the ordnance on the ship and pier. We were temporarily assigned to Mobile Unit 5 for a few days while the ship was loaded with a massive amount of ammunition on the pier. I knew one guy already at EODMU5, Perry Sassnet. He was a guy I had partied with a little bit in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida around the time I was in EOD school. He was a cool guy and he and some other EOD guys had rented a huge house right on Subic Bay. The rock music was blasting from some Bose 901 speakers and the beer was drank by the case. After my $15 bar girl let me throw it in her butt for an extra $5 in one of the rooms in the house her and another girl were sent off to get some fish for the evening’s entertainment. A 22 year old sailor 10,000 miles from home coming off a few weeks at sea and arriving in the Philippines? It was impossible to deny the comfort of sex with a woman. There were literally hundreds of girls to choose from dancing on the bars in bikinis with a number pinned to their bathing suit. It was as simple as speaking to the mama san and paying the $15-$20 fee. You actually got a receipt that was good for 24 hours. It was crazy but true.
 

The hours passed and Perry and I drank beers and told sea stories. It was good to be back on land after crossing the Pacific. Some other EOD guys showed up and a few of them had brought their wives from the states over with them. I am not sure if they were visiting, lived on base with them or out in town. It was smart of those guys to bring the wives over. A marriage would never make it if the guy was sent to the Philippines by himself. The temptations are just too strong and easily financed. What the women actually would do for jobs would obviously be restricted to the base as they would be paid almost nothing like everyone else in the Philippines outside the base. As the afternoon progressed into the evening the girls returned with a fish almost the length of my arm. I am not sure what kind of fish it was but it had already been gutted. They started a fire in a pit, threw a grate over it then threw the fish on top. It was primitive but highly effective. Not too long after that we were eating fish right off the carcass. It was probably best to end the evening there as I was already very drunk and should have headed back inside the house to crash but people began sitting around a picnic table. The next thing I knew a Filipina girl came out and stood on the table. She placed a soda bottle on the table and then stacked some coins on top of the bottle. This was the Peso Show I had often heard about but never witnessed. Without missing a beat the girl squirted some baby oil on the stack of coins balanced on the bottle. She dropped her bikini bottoms off and squated on the stack of coins taking each and everyone inside her vagina. She then jumped up and down and the coins came bouncing down on the table. I was laughing but the white wives were just stunned by the performance and offered a large tip. It brought the women up to speed in real short order about the difference between sexuality and love I suspect.
 

The following day we were back at Mobile Unit 5 and were assigned to a few guys who were going to blow up some retrograde ammunition out on their demolition range. We took about a fifteen minute pick up ride through the jungle to their range. The jungle was so dense you could not see but a couple feet into it. All I could think about was what it would be like to be my age back in Vietnam fighting in there knowing there were a bunch of other guys in there locked and loaded with booby traps everywhere. When we stopped the truck and got out it was a symphony of screeching birds and monkeys. There were a bunch of monkeys close to us and I had never seen them in the wild before. “Roll the window up, bro.” One of the MU5 guys told me.
“Why? It is about 80 degrees already.” I replied.
“Yo, genius. The monkeys will get in the car and steal our lunch if you don’t.” He replied sternly.
“Are you serious?” I was stunned as I looked up at the monkeys staring at me.
“Dead serious.” He said as he waited for me to obey the command. “You see that monkey right there?” He asked as he pointed his finger at one that apparently had one arm but was sitting close by in a tree.
“The one with one arm?” I asked.
“Yeah, that is Lefty. He is an asshole. He constantly stole our lunch and would shit in the truck. We rigged a blasting cap inside an apple and blew his goddamn arm off. He is still fucking there, man. Get our tools out of the truck we need to head down range.” He said as he walked off. I stared at Lefty and laughed. There were few rules in the Philippines. I liked that.
 

When we got out to the range before we set up the charges the MU5 guy was looking in the jungle with his binoculars. “What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Negritos” he replied without taking the binoculars off his eyes.
“What are negritos?” I asked
“They are bush people for the most part. They live in the jungle. They are darker in color than most of the Filipinos in town. They know what we are doing. They sit around and watch us from the bush. If they see us setting up a charge and walking back out of the fragmentation radius too slow they will run out there and cut the time fuse and steal the detonation cord, blasting cap and the whole damn charge. We can’t shoot them and they know it. So they hear us driving up and will look for a chance to steal our shit.” He confessed.
“Un-fucking real.” I was stunned
“Oh, it is real alright. Our captain is in the hospital right now because of these bastards. They use it for fishing. They throw the dynamite or C4 in the water and after it blows up the dead fish float to the surface. They collect the fish and sell them in town. We had some guys out on a dive op and these fuckers come floating up on a bonka boat and did exactly that. Our captain was one of the guys on the op and could have been killed. He got fucked up pretty good from the blast though.” The guy said as he let the binoculars fall from his face and walked out on the ammo that was being stacked up by the other guys. I was stunned by the balls these negritos had to have to run out on a burning piece of time fuse and cut the damn thing before it went off.
 

The next day we were diving on a WW2 navy ship that had been scuttled in Subic Bay during WW2. The ship was very cool but I had a problem with my regulator and had to abort the dive about five minutes into it. It was unfortunate because it was an amazing shipwreck in excellent condition. The following day I was in the hospital on base trying to get a new pair of glasses when I noticed a bunch of guys standing around a television. It was president George Bush saying we had begun bombing Iraqi targets. I went back to the ship and we left the next day for 60 straight days at sea without pulling in to a port. We never pulled back in to Subic Bay on our return home but I definitely want to go back one day.