Hanging with Rich

Is America Ready for President Trump?..... At first it was just a chuckle. Eventually I broke into a full-blown belly laugh. LMAO as they say. Literally. This was funnier than a SNL skit. One guy called the other a choker, and the guy on the other side a liar. I was watching the Republican presidential debate The comedian was Donald Trump. If it wasn't so serious, it would've been hilarious. Made this pic myself. Scary, isn't it? America has never had a candidate like Donald Trump. His bigoted, plain spoken style is not used by candidates running for the highest office in the land. This is talk you hear in a bar after a few drinks. But a certain portion of America seems to be eating it up. Donald Trump is a very rich man. He became that way mostly from real estate. That means he has had success in business. That gives him confidence. It doesn't give him the qualities to be leader of the free world. It does mean he can hire a very effective campaign staff. Righ

Apple vs. The FBI. Time to Choose..... Last December, terrorist Sayed Farook and his wife murdered 14 innocent people in San Bernadino CA. Their iPhone 5c was probably used in planning and other communication. Their other phones had been destroyed. (Note: Originally I had a picture of all the victims faces. Couldn't do it.) The FBI would like to get into that iPhone, but it's locked. The FBI has asked Apple to help. Apple refused. They say it would set a dangerous precedent, and potentially compromise the privacy of iPhone users. That's the situation in a nutshell. Civil liberties vs. national security. Corporate protection vs. protecting society. I'm afraid it's time to pick a side, people. How much of your privacy are you willing to surrender to live securely in today's world. FBI Headquarters To be clear, the FBI just wants help to get into this one particular iPhone 5c. It's password protected. If you guess wrong 10 times, the memor

What Can Generation Z Bring?..... I really enjoy comments and criticism on my thoughts and writing. At least it shows me somebody is actually reading and paying attention out there. One person that regularly lets me know about it is my daughter. I respect her opinion because she is a learned microbiologist and graduate student. So she's gotta' know something. Anyway, she thinks I should write about more serious topics. Too many fluff pieces she thinks. That may be true. But only because they're easy and fast to write. I just write some clever lines off the top of my head. Serious topics I actually have to think more and do research about. Nevertheless, today I will write about kids. Generation Z - Promise and Problems. Sounds ominous. First, let's do some generational definitions. Baby Boomers - the Woodstock generation. Baby Boomers are considered people born after World War II and through 1964. They are now between 51 and 70 years old. That's me. We ar

Superbowl Halftime Shows - That's Entertainment..,.. 50 years - still no Browns. Today is the day. The end of the football season. The Superbowl is being played out in NoCal. My local team is not in it. They never are. But it's a big enough deal that it dominates the day nationally. Everybody watches the game even if they are not football fans The most expensive commercials of the year will be watched. Ratings will be astounding. The commercials are creative and usually funny. The  halftime shows are spectacular. While this is the 50th Superbowl to be played, in the last 20 or so years, a headline performer has been selected to perform at halftime. This has turned into sort of a pop culture event. The old days of Up With People. Whiter than White. In the early years of the Superbowl, an old school marching band was used. (I still think The Ohio State Marching Band could put on a hell of a show. Maybe TBDBITL could make a diagram of Janet Jackson.) Then they brough