Mighty Mighty Mustang
No copyright. Simply load the program and write what you want. The free version makes you watch commercials for a minute, or you can buy a faster version without commercials. It gives you nine images.
Such a deal!
12/22/2023
12/14/2023
Two Very Old Candidates
So we enter our election in 2024 with two aged candidates that are very unpopular. Many people think both men are too old for the demanding job. And Trump faces four criminal trials.
Many people would like to turn the page and have younger candidates. But it is very hard to unseat an incumbent, and Trump running for a second term is like an incumbent.
A younger candidate would likely win in the general election. But they cannot beat the incumbent in the primary.
In December 2023 the polls show that Trump is ahead. And it is certainly possible that he will convicted in one or more of his trials, so we face the prospect of a convicted criminal as our President.
Biden will not get out of the race because he thinks he has the best chance to beat Trump. And Trump wants to win so that he can dismiss the Federal cases against him, or pardon himself if he is convicted before he is elected.
Is this a great country, or what?
Spiders!
I was standing in the mess hall line at the Marine Base
in 29 Palms, California, in the Mojave Desert in August.
A warm and lovely place.
I noticed a black widow spider on the collar of the Captain
next to me.
"Captain, don't move." I said and tried to brush the spider
off of his shirt with the brim of my cover (cap). The spider
deftly dodged under the brim and ran down
inside his camouflage shirt.
"Hold on," I said and slowly and carefully unbuttoned his shirt, which probably looked odd to the rest of the Marines in the chow line. When I unbuttoned the last button the Captain stripped his shirt off and did a war dance, slapping every inch of his body to get rid of or kill the spider. Spider was nowhere to be found, which disconcerted the Captain even more.
Then the Captain said "Next time, don't help."
The ingrate. See if I ever help him again, after all I did.
_____
The Marine Corps did not issue us spiders - there were plenty of them for free.
We had lots of black widow spiders at the Marine Bases in 29 Palms, CA and Yuma, AZ in 1967-68.
I had many of them under my desk. I would periodically beat them down with a broom and burned them out a couple of times with a torch, but they always came back.
But they were nice and never bit me. I suppose I should be sorry for being mean to them.
One time I was laying on my back on the floor of a room, with my head slightly under a desk.
And there was the red hourglass of the spider's abdomen inches above my large and long nose. Startled me a bit.
_______________
Another Marine Spider story. One of our Marines really liked tarantulas. He captured a large hairy one in 29 Palms California and brought it back to his apartment in Berwyn, Illinois.
Tarantula got out of the box and moved to another apartment. When they discovered spidey in their cupboard the residents convened a hasty kangaroo court and quickly evicted our spider loving Marine and his tarantula.
Craig Hullinger
Marine Corps Regular and Reserve 66 to 99
I also have a childhood memory of Marlin Perkins from the TV show Zoo Parade holding a large tarantula
in his hand and saying, " as long as I don't make any sudden moves he won't bite."
12/12/2023
12/09/2023
a felon cannot vote, but can run for president?
Yes. Nothing in the Constitution prohibiting it. Our founding fathers probably thought it unlikely that a felon would run for office, or get elected.
Why would you ask? No problemo. Is this a great country, or what?
Illustration from the AI program craiyon.com
12/07/2023
Their Heart's Desire
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
______________________________
We may reach agreement on Mencken's prediction. A point of national agreement in our divided nation.
Where we will disagree is which President reached the Heart's desire of the the plain people of the other party.
______________________________
― Abraham Lincoln
______________________________
Combining the two quotes leads to the inevitable conclusion that some of the people have been fooled all of the time and elected a downright moron.
Of course, it is those other plain people who were and continue to be fooled. Not us.
Perhaps both side of the question are right.
12/06/2023
Anger Media
Anger media can be defined as companies that operate by presenting stories with a "Hook" to get the reader interested and then wound up. The reader is exposed to an "ain't it awful, the country is going to hell" meme.
Liberal and conservative media are both guilty. They get the reader engaged, wound up, pissed off, and eager to read or view more of the same thing. By watching only their favorite angry media sites the consumer become convinced that things are awful.
This system works very well and keeps people agitated. The media get their readers angry, watching or reading and being exposed to advertising which makes the media corporation rich. Pundits who used to be fairly balanced have now gone far left or right. This may be because their views have changed, but more likely is that it brings them more money. They have sold out.
Our political parties and candidates do the same thing. Their focus is a little different. The party out of power demonizes the other party, getting the viewer convinced that the other party is awful and must be replaced. The country is going to hell, and only can be saved by electing our party.
The even-handed sites that give both sides are not as interesting, don't get as many customers, and lose out on money. And it is apparent that both the talent and media companies have shifted left or right to cash in.
This is not a new thing - we have always had yellow sheet "journalism". But our electronic media has made it worse. Any wanna be pundit can put his views online with a blog (me!) or video. And our electronics make it possible to consume content 24/7.
Back in the good old days we only had a few media companies and they tended to be centrist. Now we have many, and many of them take a left or right slant.
The bad thing is that the viewer ends up with a terrible view of our country. Which can lead to depression and anger. And of course people tend to only watch the stations that reinforce what they already know.
The Answer? Don't read so much news, and certainly don't spend too much time viewing and reading bomb thrower media. Don't only read the media that you agree with. Reading both sides of the question will make you fair and balanced. And don't just read or view yellow sheet media.
Take a walk. Watch a good movie. Think positive.
12/01/2023
Social Media
linkedin.com/in/craighullinger
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