2025: Deja Vu All Over Again

 

 

Here we are at the end of another year, and I think we can say:  

 "Haven't we had a year like this before?"

Donald Trump began his second term by focusing his laser beam attention on an issue that concerns all Americans. That is: statehood for Greenland and/or Canada.

He also changed the name of "The Gulf of Mexico" to "The Gulf of America" because, well, just because.

The second term started with a lecture from a female Priest at the National Cathedral because it had been a whole twelve minutes since someone criticized Donald Trump.

The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, defeating the Taylor Swift Chiefs. By the way, in case you haven't heard, Taylor came out with a new album this year called "Death Of A Showgirl", which came out around the time she got engaged. Imagine that.

One of the songs on the album is called "Wood." The following is an example of the lyrics: 

Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see
His love was the key that opened my thighs

I'm sure this will be played at weddings everywhere.

Speaking of open thighs, the absolute highlight of the year on the social media site formerly known as Twitter (X) was when Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were caught in a "kiss cam" at a Coldplay concert, and they immediately went into some sort of spaz attack because who wants to be seen at a Coldplay concert. 

Democracy has suffered a huge blow when CBS canceled "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." 

But, don't worry, Democracy! Jimmy Kimmel still has a job, and he is still doing his daily lecture to America! He finished the year giving a lecture in England, of all places, about the state of fascism in the United States.  Just imagine Merv Griffin doing this. 

One of the most horrible incidents was the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It was gross.

Also gross was some people's reaction on the various social media platforms. People were posting their daily editorials exclaiming great joy that a "phobe", who caused such division because he held such controversial opinions as people should get married and have kids, got what he deserved. 

A memorial service was held a short time later. It was a very long memorial with everyone in the Trump administration saying a few words. His widow was the next to the last speaker. She gave a very poignant eulogy saying that she had forgiven his killer. The last speaker was President Trump, who decided that people needed to know that he would never forgive anybody. 

President Trump decided to build a ball room at the White House and to do so they had to demolish the East Wing of The White House.  You would be surprised the affection Democrats have for the East Wing of The White House. I went on a tour of the White House before the demolish began. They basically tore down a hallway.

New York elected a new mayor, a man whose platform included doing things he couldn't do and making things worse for New York.

"Saturday Night Live" celebrated its fiftieth year of existence and its forty-ninth year of people saying "it is not as good as it used to be."  

In travel news, while attempting to land at the Toronto airport, a Delta flight flipped over and came to a rest upside down. I spoke with a Delta employee who said, "Gee, one plane flips upside down and everybody forgets about all the planes that land right side up."

Better late than never: In "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, it is revealed that President Biden was an "elderly man" that wasn't "all there sometimes."  They also revealed that the sun "rises in the East and sets in the West."

Oh Really?  Former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote a book called "It Wasn't My Fault".

That didn't look good:  President Trump and Vice President Vance yelled at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a "hard name to spell".  

In personal health news, I spent a good part of the spring and summer going to the dermatologists, having various skin cancers removed.  The most interesting one was the one I had on the cartilage of my ear, and I had to have "Moh's Surgery" on it. The nicest thing I can say about "Moh's Surgery" is that it is not a day at the beach.  But my doctor did a good job and gave me some nice painkillers.

 

 

 

   

Things You Need To Know About Marietta

 

Like a dummy, I asked Google a question. 

It was "Are people moving out of blue states to red states?"  A better way of asking it is "Are people moving from Northern states with fat governors to Southern states?"

Google says "Yes", so don't get on me about documenting my sources. 

The AI Overview says (and who are you to question the great and powerful "AI Overview"?): 

"Yes, there's a significant, long-term trend of people moving from traditionally "blue" (Democratic-leaning) states like California, New York, and Illinois to "red" (Republican-leaning) states in the South and Sun Belt, like Florida, Texas, and Arizona, driven largely by lower costs of living, high housing prices in blue states, lower taxes, and different cultural/political environments

. This "blue state exodus" has been tracked for decades by data like IRS migration patterns, with millions moving to red states, although some also move to other blue states."

I can speak with some confidence regarding this because I was born, raised, and live in Marietta, Georgia, which is the epicenter of people moving to Georgia from "blue" states.  It has been going on as long as I can remember. Except we called the people moving from blue states "Yankees". 

My parents were a part of the first migration to Marietta in the early 50s because of the Lockheed plant. 

My dad moved here from East Tennessee to work at Lockheed because "they were hiring" (Dad never went into great biographical details), and my mom moved from Mississippi to help her sister who had twins. Having twins was a big deal back then. 

Soon, other people were moving to Marietta to work at Lockheed, but they were mostly from around the South, too.  Occasionally, you would run into a kid who was from an exotic place like Missouri, but that was about it. 

Well, progress marches on and the Interstate Highway system linked Marietta to Atlanta where you theoretically could live in Marietta, and shoot down to Atlanta in a "couple of minutes".  Of course, a couple of minutes soon became a couple of hours, but you could still enjoy the city of Atlanta, and the bucolic life in Marietta. 

It was in 1972 when the dam burst and all of the Yankees started moving to Marietta.  Kids from Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts began filling up the classes of East Cobb Junior High School.

I remember when I first saw a kid from Massachusetts. The office administrator brought her to my class and said, "This is Lynn and she's from Massachusetts."  I must admit I stared at her because I had never seen a real live person from Massachusetts, except for the four hundred Kennedys that were always on TV.  

The kids of my class basically got along with our Northern compatriots, except they all were a little bit smarter, a little bit better looking,  and dare I say it, a little more sophisticated than we Southerners. 

There were some hiccups. I've heard stories of Southerners stomping on other kids' feet for no reason except meanness.  Baptist kids walking up to Catholic kids and telling them they were going to Hell. Even with that, I think I can share with people thinking of moving to Marietta about the do's and don'ts

DO:  Learn to eat Southern food.  You don't have to have hawg jowls and all of that, but you do need to eat barbecue pork. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.

DON'T:  Quit talking about not being able to get a good slice of pizza anywhere at 2:00 in the morning. First of all, you should be in bed, resting up for church because Brother Harold is finishing up his six- sermon series on "Great Greek Words Of The Bible".  Secondly, what are you doing up at 2:00 in the morning? Visiting a honky-tonk?

DO:  Learn to appreciate air conditioning. Blessed be the name of Willis Carrier.

DON'T:  Share "how much better we did it in ________".  We don't care how they did it up there.  We have a local politician who somehow got elected to office even though she has said on occasion,  "In Detroit, it was done this way."  Really. We are looking to Detroit as an example of how to do something?

DO:  Wear a t-shirt with sleeves. You look tacky if you don't.

DON'T: Cuss.  Look, I know everybody thinks they are a Soprano, but you don't have to cuss so much, unless your team's star halfback fumbles the ball.

DO:  Say "Please" and "Thank you", basic polite society stuff. You won't die, it's not poison.

DON'T: Teach us to drive in the snow.  For one thing, we get ice down here, and even y'all can drive on it. For another, it gives us a free day off.  

 

* For the record, we do not have anything like the two images in the above picture. 
 

 

 

This Week's Picks- Week Fourteen

 

 

Jawja vs Bumbles:  Good Clean Old Fashion Hate is what the old timers call the annual Georgia-Georgia Tech game.  Georgia is number 4 in the country, while Tech has fallen to #23 due to its loss to Pittsburgh. There is nothing, I mean, nothing Tech would rather do than beat Georgia in this game. At the beginning of the month, I thought that was a real possibility. I don't anymore. Georgia wins. 

 

 

Missasloppy vs Upright Walking Bulldogs: Ole Miss is going through a little "will he or won't he" regarding Lane Kiffin and LSU. Pros:  LSU has a boatload of money, and they don't mind paying somebody. Con:  You have to live in Baton Rouge. If Lane stays, there's a good chance that one day they'll build a statue to Lane in Oxford. Either way, Ole Miss wins.

 

 

Ags vs Cows: This may be the kiss of death, and if so, I apologize to Texas A&M. I think when all is said and done, the Aggies will win the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision championship.  Everyone got sucked into the Texas hype, but you know, you have to win the games. The Aggies are just superior to Texas. Aggies win. 

 

 

Ahia State vs Meechigan: Despite all of the hype this game gets, it won't really matter. Ohio State is just better than Michigan this year.  Ohio State wins. 

 

 

Commode Doors vs Tennysee: Vandy has become one of my favorite side teams this year. Maybe they can get me tickets to a Nate Bargatze concert. Vandy is ranked higher than Tennessee, but it is being played in Knoxville, so Tennessee is the favorite. Tennessee wins. 

 

 

 

 

My Beloved Owls vs Liberty: One of the oddities of Kennesaw State's ascension in Division One sports is that they have become a rival of .....Liberty.  Liberty University was founded by Jerry Falwell and is the largest Christian university in the world. However, some of their fans lack certain fruits of the spirit, like not being a jerk (look, I know that is not in the Bible, but stick with me).  They haven't had a good season, while this season for Kennesaw State has been a revelation. Amen! Hallelujah! Owls win.

This Week's Picks Week Thirteen

 

 

Jawja vs Other 49ers: Georgia's dominance over Texas last week earned them this breather against the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. The 49ers (not sure how they picked up that nickname) are 1-9 this year. This shouldn't be a difficult game for the Bulldogs.  Georgia wins. 

 

 

The Bees vs The Pitts: Tech had a tough game against Boston College last week, almost losing the game. Although they have a better record than Miami, Tech is puttering around at 16. College Football is not pretty. Speaking of not pretty, Pitt looked real ugly against Notre Dame last week. Supposedly, they are going to be fired up for this game. Tech needs to win this game. Tech wins.

 

 

Ahia State vs The University of New Jersey. I still don't like The Big Ten in the Northeast like New Jersey. Ohio State really hasn't played anybody yet. They should have no problem with Rutgers. Ohio State wins. 

 

 

Trojan Men vs Quacks. I also don't like The Big Ten on the West Coast.  I think Oregon is better than its ranking, and USC is not as good as theirs.  Oregon wins.

 

 

Tennysee vs Lizards:  Back in the 90s, Tennessee and Florida was "Must See TV.  Now it is kind of  "Will watch it if I can't find anything good on Netflix TV." Needless to say, Tennessee is better than Florida this year. Tennessee wins.

 

 

Mormons vs Cincy: I'm not a fan of either of these teams. Cincinnati wins, I guess.  

 

 

My Beloved Owls vs Missouri State:  After winning seven straight games in a row, Kennesaw State lost to Jacksonville State. As they said when Kennesaw State handed me my diploma, all good things must come to an end. Missouri State is 7-3, like Kennesaw State, so this should be a pretty even game.  Kennesaw State wins. 

 

 

Like It Or Lump It: "Death By Lightning"

 

 

Welcome to another "Like It Or Lump It," where I review series from one of the several thousand streaming services and advise you if it is good or bad.

This "Like It Or Lump It" topic is the Netflix series, "Death By Lightning".

"Death By Lightning" is about the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881.

It concerns that period of time after the Civil War, which your high school history class skips over because, let's face it, it is not the most interesting time in American History and it is tough enough keeping the Zoomers awake for anything other than a TikTok video. 

As you know, I majored in history in college, and I can tell you my knowledge of the assassination of President Garfield in one sentence.  Garfield was killed by a "disappointed office seeker". 

There's more to it than that. Garfield was killed by a man named Charles Guiteau (pronounced "Get Toe").  Actually, Garfield was killed by his physicians, who poked around his body to remove the bullet but forgot to wash their hands and sterilize their equipment. Other than that, they did a bang-up job. 

Charles Guiteau was as crazy as a Betsy Bug. He was a guy with no talent, no common sense, no money, but a tremendous amount of narcissism.  If he had just the insight to be born 100 years later, he would have made a great social media influencer. He was a man way ahead of his time.

James Garfield was an Ohio congressman who happened to know how to read Greek and Latin (Footnote: Garfield was a member of The Independent Disciples Of Church of Christ Christian Church, the faith tradition I'm from, and he is a BIG DEAL to them.)

Garfield arrives at the 1880 Republican Convention and gives a speech. People loved it. Somehow, after 14,000 ballots, he is nominated as a compromise candidate for President with Pawnee, Indiana's parks and recreation supervisor, Ron Swanson, who conveniently changed his name to Chester Alan Arthur, man of massive sideburns, as his running mate. (Footnote:  There is some historical controversy as to how Swanson Arthur pronounced "Alan".  Some historians say he pronounced it as "A-Lon" instead of "Al-an". Those historians are turds.)

It just so happens that Guiteau was at the same convention and spent a good deal of time trying to convince Garfield to hire him. The only problem is that Guiteau is such a massive dink that he could not get hired into politics.

We then see a flashback to ten years earlier, where Guiteau was a member of a proto-hippie group called The Oneida Free Love Boogie Bunch, which said you could live with them on their farm land and have sex with whoever would consent to have sex with you. Today, we call this "college". 

Warning: you are shown women's bosoms as if it were a 1970s movie. Despite all of this nakedness, Guiteau could not get lucky.

Garfield wins the White House by defeating somebody else. Back then, you could walk up to the President and ask for a job. Guiteau meets with Garfield, but the First Lady comes down with malaria, and the job interview is cut short. 

Garfield goes to the train station without guards but with Robert Lincoln, the President's son.(Footnote: Robert Lincoln was at President McKinley's assassination, too. Really.) Guiteau shoots Garfield, and Garfield lingers until he finally dies, making Swanson  Arthur President who immediately hires Lesley Knope to be his annoying subordinate. Guiteau is hanged after he recites an awful poem.

The acting in "Death By Lightning" is good. Michael Shannon sort of looks like Garfield. The actor who plays Guiteau is awesome and probably should win an Emmy unless they nominate something dreary like "The Bear" to run against it.

Several things.

One: A couple of indoor restrooms are shown. I was under the impression that indoor facilities were not common in 1880, but then again, we didn't talk much about toilets in history class.

Two: There are a bunch of f-bombs dropped in the show along with some M-fers. Again, in history class, we didn't talk a lot about F-bombs and if the senator from Maine casually used M-fers.  There was one scene in which First Lady Garfield drops an F-bomb on Vice President Swanson Arthur. Even given the high historical tension of the scene, I just don't think First Ladies dropped the F-bomb until Betty Ford.

Three: Garfield sure says "Hmm" a lot.

Four:  A smart pants teenage girl comes in to lecture everybody about something, which she had no idea about. Something for the kids.

Five:   I never thought any movie about James Garfield would have naked bosoms. A Netflix series about Bill Clinton will be crazy.

Verdict:  Like it. Sure, it has its problems, but it is well done, and you feel like you've learned something. Especially about indoor toilets in the 1880s. 

 

 

 

 

This Week's Picks Week Twelve

 

 

Jajaw vs Texsass: This is a real important game. So important, Texas has revealed their away jerseys, which look just like their regular away jerseys.   Georgia is a 6.5 point favorite over Texas. The Longhorns started shaky this year, but have straightened out. Georgia did something unusual last week. They actually played an entire game without being 200 points behind. Both teams are battling for a spot in the playoffs. I just think Georgia is a little bit better than Texas. Georgia wins.

 

 

Bees vs Bahston College:  Georgia Tech dropped like a stone when they lost to North Carolina State two weeks ago. This wasn't right because Tech has really played well this year and deserves to be ranked higher.  But they play in the ACC, and I guess that was held against them.  They shouldn't have a problem with Boston College. Bees win. 

 

 

Wescohnson vs Indy: Did you see that catch?  Somehow, someway, Indiana won that game against Penn State. But that's what good teams do. Wisconsin shouldn't be a problem.  Indiana wins. 

 

 

Bama vs Okie: Alabama has their mojo back to say the least. Oklahoma has been up and down all year, but they have lost only two games. The question is: will they beat Alabama?  Answer: No.  Alabama wins. 

 

 

My Beloved Owls vs Jacksonville State:  Kennesaw State has this bad habit of scoring 21 points in the first quarter and then spending the next three quarters trying to make sure their opponent doesn't score 22 points. So far, this strategy has worked.  This week, The Owls play Jacksonville State, which is in Alabama and probably has as many students from Cobb County as Kennesaw State. They have a good record, but this is just Kennesaw State's year.  Kennesaw State wins.  

 

 

 

This Week's Pick-Week Eleven

 

 

 

Jawja vs Other Upright Walking Bulldogs:  Georgia, somehow, again won a game in which the other team outplayed them for about fifty minutes. Mississippi State beat Arkansas, which was exactly what the Cow Bell ringers needed. Georgia might be looking past their upright brothers to next week's Texas game. For what it is worth, Georgia is ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff rankings. To show you how rough College Football is, Georgia Tech, which has only lost one game like Georgia, is ranked seventeen. This just goes to show you how important every game is now.  Georgia wins. 

 

 

Mormons vs The Other Tech:  There have been a lot of comments on X-Twitter that College Gameday spends way too much time in the SEC and not enough time elsewhere. So, they'll be in Lubbock, Texas, seeing BYU play Texas Tech. Pat McAfee will probably try to herd some cattle or drill for oil. Texas Tech wins. 

 

 

Aggies vs Moosuri.  Mizzou always plays tough, but Texas A&M is the boss. I think the Aggies are the team you need to watch to win the whole kit and kaboodle.  Aggies win.

 

 

Ellessyou vs Bamy: In years past, this would have been appointment TV. Now, it is appointment TV only if you want to see sad LSU fans. They have an interim coach, and it sounds like the governor will be in on the Head Coach search. That should turn out well. The FSU game was a century ago for the Crimson Tide. Bama wins.  

 

 

WarTigers vs Commode Doors:  Another week, another Big Time SEC coach given the gate. Hugh Freeze just didn't fit in. Just take your millions and walk out the door. It is not a bad gig if you can get it. Vandy almost beat Texas last week. I just don't see Auburn winning this game. Vandy wins.

 

  

My Beloved Owls vs New Mexico State:  In case you didn't know, Kennesaw State is bowl eligible for the first time in school history. Praise Jesus. They are playing the other Aggies, New Mexico State, who are 3-5 this season. It should would be nice to get another victory.  Owls win.