There are many things that make me go hmmm. I’ve taken some time since my last blog to cleanse my head of stupid Christian Nationalists. Yes, stupid. I will not apologize. As an atheist, I find it incredibly amusing that these crackpots are going to argue with Pope Leo. The first North American Pope is heads and tails more human and more Christian than the entire MAGA Nationalist cult. His pinky finger on his left hand is more pious than the collective as a whole. What in dunning kruger’s name gives them the gall to argue with the pope? That is a thing that makes me hmmm?!

Have you noticed the exponential increase of gambling applications and companies trying to suck every last bit of money from your hands? I feel there are over a dozen companies with various applications advertising on sports games, computer games, and You Tube videos by certain creators. The growth of the gambling industry in the Midwest has me really scratching my head. The money the states are supposed to be collecting from these ventures is either being misused or not making it to the budget at all. I have no desire whatsoever to gamble. Even if I play a stupid cell phone game, I don’t buy the upgrades. I watch the ads, and then play my next move on the word games I enjoy. Those that gamble, what is the attraction? Sports? Chance? The thrill of the win? Or did you fail in the humanities and don’t want to take another shot at writing, drawing, painting, or musicing? How does one find gambling interesting? That is a thing that makes me go hmmm?!

The cosmetic industry seems to be making billions. Everywhere I look men and women alike are wearing more and more cosmetics in public. I’ve noticed that many television personalities have so much foundation and rouge on their face that they look like they work for a circus. Politicians from both parties appear to be wearing make up more than usual. The men particularly have increased their mascara and foundation usage. The bad catholic comes to mind easily. The women of the right like our favorite representative from Colorado or the former Homeland Security princess seem to have doubled their make up usage. Is it to cover the wrinkles of age, or the fact that nicotine usage and drinking has done a number on the skin? I have never used any cosmetic make up. I did wear clown make up as a kid for a time, but that was a little thing my dad, brother, and I did for church (Clowns for Christ.) I don’t understand anything about the cosmetic/beauty industry. What is so wrong with presenting yourself naturally? There is nothing wrong with you as you are. Is it a self esteem issue? Is it a popularity thing like the cell phone you own? Why do people obsess so? This is a thing that makes me go hmmm?! (No, I’m not condemning make up usage. I just don’t understand… except for drag queens… I understand that… You ladies keep on doing your thing!!!!)

My wife and I ran an errand a county North of us after work today. My wife and I counted the number of people we saw on their phones while driving. A 60 mile round trip and we saw 32 individuals veering all over the road on their phones. What is so important that this can’t wait until you are safely parked? Is driving so boring you need to be entertained? You are more risky to the other drivers on your phone than someone who is sleepy or inebriated. Why? You are driving at a peak time with hundreds of other drivers around you. This is why you are more dangerous. One other thing? Why are you playing games in your car at the store? Run your errand, the game can wait. That phone can wait. I don’t understand these behaviors… it really is a thing that makes me go hmmm???!!!!

What is the obsession with AI? Have we all lost our desire to create something for the sake of creating it? A drawing, poem, story, painting, some pottery, gardening? The analog world we live in is far more interesting than a video game, or the digital plane of existence made up of code. Have we lost the ability to find some beauty to lose our collective minds in? Has the 50 years of standardized testing and the turning education into a capitalist enterprise ruined children’s imaginations? Is the United States the only country so obsessed with AI, because we have deregulated it so much?? I have used AI twice. Once to make a make a meme, and once to make a profile picture for my social media.

I just don’t have much use for AI besides these trivial uses. I know how to research appropriately. I just wish I had university access to studies like I used to. I love reading research studies. There is so much to learn from them. I’d rather do that than have an avatar tell me something from a for profit site. This is a thing that makes me go hmmm!!??

Sorry, I took some time off. I’ve been doing some biography reading. I finished Ron Chernow’s biography on President George Washington, finally. I’ve started on a biography covering the life of President Jimmy Carter. I’ve learned an incredible amount of information about both men, and their human frailties. Presidents are ordinary men trying to do something extraordinary. Unfortunately there are a few presidents who are less than ordinary doing underwhelming/horrific things too. I will leave it to you to infer what you wish by this statement. More things that make me go hmmm…. Take care of your loved ones… so it goes…