nothing personal

  I'm guessing the TikTok people didn't go broke after the shut down. I sure heard a great deal about that possibility. Just how were these social media influencers going to survive? I still don't quite understand how they make so much money and exactly where that comes from. I guess TikTok has taken the place of the circus side show, people willing to pay to see freaks. I thought that was frowned upon these days but apparently that isn't the case at all. But they have ninety days to sort all that out, I'm certain there will be a "sale" and new management will take over. Nothing will really change except for that. When there is money to be made it will continue until it is no longer profitable. Hey I remember when they were selling pet rocks. 

  From what I'm hearing AI is the biggest thing going as far as investment. It isn't so much the technology as the promise of a great profit to be made. Imagine what you could charge for a cure for cancer? I heard testimony that with AI individual vaccines may be produced to stop cancer in its' tracks. I'm thinking that individual vaccine will cost far more than one mass produced. The promise however is a cure, not a treatment. An ounce of prevention? So it will be a one time cost, in theory anyway. It all sounds great but I remain skeptical. There are talking about mRNA vaccines. Chemicals designed to trigger a response from your immune system, to "trick" the body into believing something that may or may not be present. I still think it isn't good to fool mother nature. I just hesitate to fix anything that isn't broken. 

  I have never really understood how a state agency can refuse to cooperate with a federal agency. I can only assume the law allows for such to take place as it certainly does. The sheriffs office refusing to work with ICE officials, sanctuary cities and all that. Just seems to me if you broke the law you are subject to prosecution no matter which agency is involved. I've thought the same about this supposed legalization of marijuana. It is still a federal crime to possess that stuff. Federal law takes precedence over state and local law, at least that is what was taught in civics classes when I went to school. Now Trump is saying the federal government may withhold funding from those agencies/states that do not cooperate. I'm expecting that will change some minds real fast! 

  Setting aside all the ideology, the political theories and humanitarian intentions, the deal is this; it all comes down to dollars and cents. It is all about the money folks, like it or not. Those that control the purse strings control the world. It has ever been so and will never change. Those controlling the money determine what you and I get. The idea that we can work hard, do the right thing and be prosperous is an illusion. We are all dependent upon those with the money. Whether we have to work for it, provide entertainment or some goods and services isn't the important part. 

  We have to get money from somewhere and guess where that is? From the ones that have it. What a surprise. The ironic part in all of this is you have to give whatever money you do get, back to the ones you got it from in the first place. That is what you are really voting for. Taxes, fees, levies, whatever, the money goes back to those that provided it to you in the first place. You are paying them to tax you! You are choosing how you want your money spent. Well, that's the hope anyway. That's where the ideology part comes into play. Are we doing business, or running a charity? "It is just as important that business keep out of government, as that government keep out of business.' (Herbert Hoover) It's nothing personal, just business.