Corporate Persons and Madness

Senator Max Diemen was a SOB and he made sure everybody knew it.  He was in the Senate for one reason, and that was to make as much money for himself as fast as possible.  His votes were always up for sale under the guise of "Campaign Contributions", but he didn't come cheap.

Media USA, was the mega media conglomerate that resulted from the merger of the few remaining broadcast outlets.  It was the last man standing in the American broadcasting system.  It was loaded with dollars and ready to buy itself some congressmen, and Diemen was ready to be bought.  The Diemen, Media USA marriage would turn out to be a match made in hell for most of the people of planet Earth. 

The top management of Media USA had two goals, one was to give ALL rights  of person hood to corporations, and to take as many of those rights away from real people as possible.

The far right had been packing the supreme court with extremest judges for years, and they had finally had a rock solid majority.  So everything was in place for the management of Media USA to make its move through Diemen.  A case was brought before the court that said seeing corporations have some person hood rights, then they should be given all rights.  Diemen deposited some hefty sums of money into the offshore bank accounts of the right wing judges, and of course the court ruled in favor of Media USA.

Media USA waited a year then the process was repeated.  This time it was argued that if corporations are people how can people be people?  After all a tree is not a dog, a tomato is not a cat.  Of course the argument was ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than the original augment that a corporation is a person, so bribe money in had the Supreme Court ruled in 2020, that people were no longer people.

The night after that ruling there was one hell of a party the secretive Media USA underground compound in downtown Manhattan.  The best booze, cocaine, and food available on the planet was on display for all to consume.  Diemen being the pig he was indulged in it all.  He was pretty drunk and high when the heads of Media USA asked him if he wanted to see something very special. "Surrre" he slurred.

They headed deeper into the compound, and entered a very large but otherwise rather nondescript room.  On the other side of the room there were several rather large chambers.  "Hey Max", said one of the Media USA execs, "go into that middle room, and have a seat".  "What's it... for". Max slurred.   "Its the latest home entertainment media room we're working in.  Go in and have a seat" the exec said.  Max went in and sat down.  Soft music and the sound of a babbling brook played in the background.  Max quickly fell asleep.

"Turn it on and set it to 2120."  The Media USA exec said.  "I never want to see that SOB again for as long as I live.

Max woke up very stiff, but surprisingly with absolutely no hangover.  He looked around the chamber trying to remember where he was.  The door of the chamber he was in was open and a dim light shown through the doorway.  The chamber had a fail safe mechanism that woke Max up, safely shut the unit down, and opened the door when a power failure was detected.  Emergency lighting in the compound would last about 24 hours.   Max stumbled out of the chamber into the dimly lit room.  No one was around.

Diemen worked his way up the empty staircases, stopping at every level to yell into each floor to see if he could find someone talk to.  As level after level no one answered him, he started to worry.  Then he thought maybe its Sunday, yea that's it, its Sunday and all the suckers are at church praying to their sky daddy.  He chuckled to himself and continued on up to the ground level.

He opened the hallway door to the Media USA ground floor foyer.   It was a dusty dirty mess.  No one was at the front desk.   Confused and concerned he walked out the front door.  It was hot, and quiet.  Not a sound, other than an occasional bird call.  How can this be in downtown New York.  What the hell is going on here he thought.

Max wandered around down town New York for hours.  Block after empty block.  No one to be found anywhere.  Abandoned cars and broken windows were everywhere.  Max was now in a panic, he couldn't wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

It was getting dark when he found the "Underground Books" store.  The door was unlocked so he went inside.  There were candles everywhere, in various stages of having been burned.  He lit one, and started exploring the store.  He stopped dead in his tracks when he ran across a book titled 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century'.  Why would someone write a history guide to the 21st century when it is only 2020, he thought to himself.  He opened the book only to see a copyright date of 2103.  What kind of sick joke is this he thought to himself, but he started reading anyway.  He never put the book down, lighting candle after candle until he was done.  Here is the essence of what he read that night.

All environmental, food safety, drug safety, and product safety regulations were done away with because they infringed on corporate persons rights.  As a result large sections of the planet became too polluted to safely live in.  Mass food poisonings due to tainted food were rampant, disease pandemics were everywhere because drugs and vaccines were too expensive for many to afford.  Profits over people was now the law in every country on the planet.

By 2090, 85% of the population of the US was now dead.  The 1% that had caused this pain and their politician enablers, were rounded up put on the part of Manhattan that was still above water, and all the area bridges were blown up, turning it into a prison.   Most of these people died fairly quickly because they were ill prepared to take care of themselves.  Their skills at high tech crime were useless to them in their new situation.

By 2100 what remained of humanity had retreated to relatively small communities, in isolated areas.  It was hoped this way of living would prevent a repeat of the madness they all had lived through. It was estimated that maybe 1,300,000 people were still alive world wide.  Also in an attempt to be sure nothing like this ever happened again, corporations were outlawed, and 'The Real Humans History Guide to the 21st Century' was written and copies were air dropped to the former large cities in hopes any survivors would find them and know what really had happened to their world.

As Max put down his book down the reality of his situation hit him.  He must have been put into some kind of a suspended animation or time machine, and his best guess was that it was some time in the early 22nd century.  He realized he may now be the only person alive on the island he found himself on.  He was unsure if he could escape it, and was even less sure he could ever make it to one of the few remaining isolated communities.

But the thing that bothered him the most was all that work at corrupting the system had in the end been wasted.  He should be a millionaire now.  He should be living in a big fancy house on the ocean surrounded by every luxury one could imagine.  He had earned it.  He was entitled to it.  Scrounging for food, and living in run down dumps were for the lowly 99%, those useless breathers and not for him.  The idea how unfair this all had been to him slowly over time, drove him insane.

Protests and Pensions

Jimmy O'toole loved beating people up.  The rush he got when he knew a fight might be in the wind was like no other.  He especially like roughing up women.  They cried when he hit them, and there was little chance they would fight back.  But Jimmy stayed away from big guys, especially if they looked like they were ex military.  That is unless he and his buddies outnumbered the guy at least five to one, or he could shoot the guy from a safe distance.

Jimmy knew all the dirty tricks you needed in a street fight.  If your going to shoot somebody, aim for the head, then wait for people to try to help the person, then shoot them too.   He knew how to instigate a fight, so it was fought on his terms.

Yea, Officer O'toole loved being a big city cop.   There was always something going on.  Loiterers to be roughed up, petty thieves to slap around once you got them back to the station, were all good stuff.  But to Jimmy they couldn't  hold a candle to a protest, expecially if it turned into a riot, for sheer excitement.

There were so many possibilities at a protest, sneak up behind somebody and pepper spray 'em.   Get them down on the ground, cuff 'em then kick the crap out of them before you load them in the van.  O'toole could hit a protester in the head at a distance with a rubber bullet or a tear gas canister, better than anyone.  To Jimmy it didn't matter if they were 18 or 80, man or women, it was the cops against "those people", and "those people" needed to be kept in line,  they needed to know who was the boss, and the boss was Jimmy.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters were held in special contempt in Jimmy's eyes.   To him they were just a bunch of dirty smelly college kids that didn't want to have to pay their loans back.  Hey, nobody held a gun to their heads and made them take those loans out, he thought.  They just needed to get off their lazy liberal asses and get themselves a job.

OWS had the 1%er's nervous.  They were so close to crushing the working classes around the world, and bringing stability to their class by imposing neo-fuedalism on everyone else, that they could taste it.  The movement HAD to be crushed as soon as possible. 

In 2013 the Department of Homeland Security decided to coordinate the infiltration of the movement with some armed undercover cops to incite some real violence.  Then they would declare OWS a terrorist organization and shut it down for good.  Officer O'toole jumped at the chance to be one of those undercover provocateurs.

It was decided that a group of TV reporters would be assembled near where the police were lined up.  A few undercover cops mixed in with the OWS'ers would throw some rocks and bottles at the cops, the cops would fire back a couple of teargas canisters, then Jimmy would shoot one of the reporters once there was enough confusion to provide him cover.

It worked like a charm.  The video of the dead reporter, was seen all over the country.  The same scenario was repeated at a few other OWS protests, then as planned the group was labeled a terrorist organization.  People were arrested and held indefinitely without trials, which was now completely legal in the US.

OWS was the last hurrah for the working classes, they had been crushed.  Any attempts at organizing new protests were met with extreme violence.   Social programs were shutdown,  The .01%ers began slowy raiding Social Security and pension plans because that was where the last real wealth remained that wasn't yet owned by them.

Officer O'toole was forced to retire in 2023 at age 50 due to a repetitive motion injury from all the beatings he had given people over the years with his night stick.   His fellow officers joked that he had to retire because of "tennis elbow".

Jimmy had only collected is pension for 7 months, when it was raided too.
O'toole went nuts when he found out his pension was gone.  He called the station, and was told 'times were tough and the city could no longer afford to pay him'.  That just made him even madder, so he headed to the station to get some answers face to face.

The department was ready for O'toole and any other pissed off pensioners.   Dozens of fresh recruits were standing in front of the building in full riot gear.  Psychological screening had been used to be sure only low information authoritarian types were now hired as cops.  These new cops would blindly follow orders, and had little in the way of skills to determine if what they were told was true or not.

These new recruits were told they would not be getting pensions because the money was stolen by the older cops.  Of course it wasn't true but it made the young cops hate the old ones.  Divide and concur, it works like a charm on the uninformed every time.

O'toole approached the line of recruits.  "I'm here to talk to the Cheif, I have no beef with you guys!", he said.  As he got closer to the line, the 5 recruits that were nearest to him broke ranks and descended on him with the their night sticks.  "You lookin' for your retirement? We'll here it comes!" yelled the lead recruit, and they proceeded to savagely beat Jimmy.

The last thing Jimmy saw before he passed out was their 5 smiling faces.  They too loved being big city cops.

Lotteries and lives

Annie hurt all over.  She had never felt pain like that before.  It even hurt when she tried to open her eyes, so she laid there motionless.  Where was she?  What had happened?  Her curiosity finally overcame her pain and she slowly opened her eyes.  "Quick, turn on the camera and lights, she's coming around!" she heard a woman yell.  Her opening eyes were met with a blinding video camera light.  "Congratulations you won!" she heard the woman say.  "What did I win?" Annie mumbled.  Barely able to contain her excitement the unknown woman said, "You won treatment for your injuries, in the Great American Health Care Lottery!"

In mid 21st century America there were no longer any social programs.  They were all done away with in 2023 under the "Freedom for Americans Act".  This act did away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Unemployment insurance.  President Paul Ryan said signing that Bill into law was the highlight of his administration.

The termination of all these social programs was inevitable because the 10 years of austerity created under the 2013 "Future Wealth for the Middle Class" act, which had put the final nails in the coffin of the middle class in America.   Tax cuts for the top 3% of Americans were now permanent via a constitutional amendment.  This left the other 97% with taxes so high that they could no longer pay into SS or Medicare. Tax dollars for the other social programs were also diverted to pay back the national debt to make the private banks whole.

In 2020 Congress expanded Obama-care to "cover" all Americans, America finally joined the rest of the industrialized world, and had a single payer health care system.  Well, sort of.  They created the single payer system by turning health insurance into a lottery.  The reason for the lottery was that the insurance industry had exhausted their current business model and in order to keep growing so Wall Street was happy the lottery was adopted.

By law you had to pay a monthly premium but instead of being guaranteed treatment should you become injured or sick, when admitted to the hospital you would scan your National Consumer ID card to see if you had won treatment.  Fortunately for Annie she had won the needed treatment for the injuries she had received when her house was inadvertently hit by a missile fired at her house by a domestic terrorist killer drone.  The real target of the attack, Greenpeace escaped unscathed.

Annie didn't know it was a drone strike that had put her in the hospital, she had no idea what had happened to her, but as her mind began to clear, she was in a panic about husband and three kids.  "Are my kids and husband OK?" she asked?  "They survived."  The reporter answered, curtly.  "Maybe after we finish the promotional video shoot for the lottery you can see them."

The video shoot consisted of Annie laying in bed motionless with a giant Lottery Congratulations banner over her head, as the reporter talked about the lottery that gives the American people access to the greatest health care system in the world.  As the reporter jabbered on, Annie passed out from the pain from her injuries.   You see pain meds were not paid for by the lottery.  They had to be paid for by the consumer themselves, and a quick scan of Annie's National Consumer card showed she had no money available for such a luxury.

She woke up to a nurse taking her temperature.  She asked about her husband and kids.  The nurse said they had survived but were not health care lottery winners so they were not treated.  But they were made as comfortable as possible as they died from their injuries. (The medications for the dying, were thanks to the Rand Paul health care amendment which allowed family members to add the cost of their loved ones final medications to their personal debt load).

Because organ donation was a requirement for the 97%ers, the nurse said they would live on though the organs they gave to other health care lottery winners and 3%ers.  A tear rolled down Annie's right temple as she contemplated the loss of her entire immediate family.   But Annie understood that health care was not a right but a privilege to either the lucky or the rich.  This had been drummed into her head from her first days in her for-profit kindergarten class, all the way through her secondary for profit training in retail sales.  She knew it was now the American way, and she took some solace in that.

Of Sun Rays and Meltdowns.

It is the height of Solar cycle 25, May 15, 2022.  Big Bear Solar observatory is observing a massive sunspot when at 11:23 local time, two kidney shaped beads of blinding bright white light erupt from the heart of the solar storm. What was just observed was the start of the most massive Coronal Mass Ejection, (or CME) to ever have occured in recorded history.

Within an hour the alert goes out to the White House. President Bachmann is briefed on the impending disaster that is about to rain down on the United States. The dire news she hears causes her to have a debilitating migraine headache. She pops several Relpax and calls Carl Rove.

Rove makes the decision that a news blackout is necessary to prevent panic. A call goes out to Clear Channel Radio, Fox, CBS, and all the other major media outlets. They are told to only report that there will be a beautiful Aurora, and there might be some minor disruptions in communications especially anything that uses satellites.

Using that as cover the government shuts down any satellite transponders that broadcast foreign news. Facebook and twitter go down. All large internet providers turn on their CIA developed email filters, and any emails containing information on the CME have a 48 hour delivery delay put on them.

The next morning Aurora is seen at the equator. This is believed to be a first. The 'Good morning America' "news show" is there to record it. Beautiful photos and video of the Aurora are all over the news. Meanwhile Amateur Astronomers do their best to warn friends and family of what is coming. They meet with limited success. Grocery stores notice a slight increase in sales.

On May 17th the CME slams into planet Earth. All satellites go down. Phone lines and power lines catch fire as they are overwhelmed by the arrival of the solar energy. Multi ton transformers around the country burst into flames. Computer systems everywhere go down as their hard drives are destroyed by the massive blast of solar electro-magnetic energy. All of the hundred plus Nuclear plants around the United States shutdown, and their backup cooling systems fail. This scenario is repeated in all countries in North and South America, because by the luck of the draw that is the side of the planet that happened to be facing the sun when the CME hit.

Fukushima like disasters are set in motion across the western hemisphere, and there is no way to get the word out because all communications are down. A few of the nuke plant workers that drove old cars to work that day, cars that had no computer chips in them manage to drive home to evacuate their families. Anything that used electricity or a computer chip no longer functioned.

The United States has had it's technology clock turned back to the 1800s, as nuclear plants meltdown across the country and contaminate vast areas.

What happens next? Use your imagination, its beyond mine. Unfortunately massive CMEs are a reality. They have happened in the past and they WILL happen again some day. The last big one in 1859 set telegraph lines on fire. If one hit now, with all our technology it would be devastating. It would probably take years, maybe a decade to recover to some workable large scale society. And while that happened all those nuclear plants would continue to burn...

CO2 and Won'ers

The Great Texas Desert national park opened January 1, 2050.  It was the governments way of putting a happy face on the fact that most of Texas was now for the most part uninhabitable.   Summer daytime temps ran between 130-150 degrees Fahrenheit, and for all practical purposes, there is no water in most of the state.

In late March, a large methane bubble over northern Canada was ignited by a lighting strike from a severe thunderstorm.  125 square miles  of Tundra instantly ignited.   This could have been been catastrophic and could have burned tens of thousands of square miles of the dry vegetation but that same storm produced an EF8 Tornado that blew the fire out, in the same way a person blows out a match.  This is because EF7 and above tornados tap into the vacuum of space which creates wind speeds of almost unimaginable force.  (Note that the EF scale was that in 2011 ranges from EF0 to EF5, had to be expanded to EF10 in 2040 to accommodate the new super classes of tornados.

The 1%ers, 1ers, or as they themselves preferred to be called, "The Won'ers"  had indeed won.  They owned 95% of the worlds wealth.  They lived in ultra gated communities, that consisted of steel walled small but opulent cities.  These cities were built in a narrow band of the upper latitudes that still had a climate that those of us living now would recognize as being somewhat normal.  An aging fleet of satellites would reign down "rods from god" on anyone that got close enough to one these cities to be considered a threat.

The 1ers could only leave the cities at night, around new moon, by stealth aircraft.  They could only land at other 1ers cities.  If they landed anywhere else, what remained of the 99%ers would be sure they met with a very slow and very painful demise.

By 2050 the world of the 1ers was noticeably running down.  For decades they had felt they were entitled to all the worlds wealth, and "those 99ers" deserved nothing.  Their total contempt for the lowly souls that made their world tick slowly caused their support staff to drift away.   They showed little concern though, because they had had so much for so long, and were so out of touch with reality, that they thought their opulent life styles would go on indefinitely. 

The 2060s would show them how foolish this way of thinking was.

Debt-draggers and Seafood

12212012911 was about to experience his first, and last, real seafood dinner.  It was a "gift" from the state for him making it to his 18th birthday.  And because 12212012911 was a debt-dragger his next experience would be his conscription into the US military.

The year is 2040 and pretty much all the US military consists of debt-draggers.  These are the kids that inherited the debt of their parents when they were born.  This was made possible with the passage of the "Parental Responsibility" act of 2020.  The default rate on loans, especially college loans had become so high that President Paul Ryan said it was the only solution.  Media USA, now the only news outlet left in the US after the last merger, said his decision was one of incredible bravery, demonstrating astonishing leadership qualities.

12212012911 was born Winston Cliffton.  But after the enactment of the "Freedom to Travel" act of 2020, everyone was given a unique consumer number and smart card on which it was encoded.  When asked for, the card had to be given to any authority, and the number verbally repeated to that authority.  People were now stopped so often, and had been repeating their consumer number so often,  that they just stopped using their parent given names.

Winston's seafood meal was the first of his life because, seafood was now so contaminated that it was only recommended that it be eaten once or twice in an entire lifetime.  The radiation contamination really started in earnest after the Fukusima radiation release which was caused by the great Japanese Earthquake of 2011.  But things got much worse after the even larger chain of earthquakes that occurred in December of 2018 off the West coast of the US.  Those massive quakes and the resulting mega-tsunamis resulted in nuclear plant disasters that dwarfed  Fukusima.

Then to add insult to injury, all environmental regulations in the Gulf of Mexico were eliminated after the massive oil spill that occurred there in December 2012.  It was determined by the Koch environmental sub committee that the Gulf would never recover, so the "Free the Gulf" act was passed which made the Gulf the first of many "environmental freedom zones" where corporations could do what ever they deemed "reasonable" to the environment.

So Winston took his first bite of real seafood.  Seeing his seafood was considered 80% real fish ©lean it only had a moderate taste of petroleum, and metals.  But it still was very good.  He pondered if he should indulge in seconds on the states tab.  He knew it could significantly shorten his life, but when he thought about the $850,000 of his parents debt he now had to pay back, and the idea of six years of fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Iraq, made up is mind for him.   That afternoon he enjoyed three helpings of his tainted seafood banquet.

Herds and Health Care

In the USA  (United States of Absurd), we have a "debate" that health care should or shouldn't be a "right".  Now only in a selfish country with a non-reality based political class could such a ridiculous argument even be had.

Although we live in houses, instead of the woods, and drive cars, instead of walk, and eat prepared foods, instead of grass in a field, we are still just a herd of animals as far as any infectious diseases go. And just like any herd of animals we are susceptible to diseases that could devastate our herd.  This makes a basic health care system for all not a right but a NECESSITY!

Now some virus like the one that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, or something even worse, is not going to check the constitution to be sure that it is "legal" to infect a person.  It is not going to check their voter registration card to see if they  are a Republican or a Democrat, or check their insurance card, or their IRS tax return, if it CAN infect a person, it WILL infect that person.

Now let me tell you a little story of what could happen, because our society holds the "common good" in such low regard.

I hear that the current Mayor of NY rides the subway.  Lets say someday in the not too distant future, someone gets on Mr B's subway car with a, very deadly, very aggressive, very drug resistant, TB virus.  This virus was formed through mutations that occurred while it was infecting the uninsured poor who could not afford effective treatment.

WIthin weeks everyone that rode in that subway car is severely ill.  Most of those that were poor, die quietly in their homes, with no fanfare, because they cant afford to go to the hospital.  Mr.  B being rich, gets the best care that the "best health care system" can provide, but it is too late.  There is no cure for him, and Mr. B drowns in his own mucus surrounded by the finest medical hardware available.

This new TB virus has a 70% mortality rate, unfortunately it is decided by the corporate media that the public should not be told this to avoid panic.  Sadly not knowing the TRUTH prevents the public from acting in its own best interest.

 Soon the disease is spreading rapidly across the country.  Some Democrats and a even a few Republicans try to push through an emergency health care package, effectively creating a basic universal health care system so people can be universally vaccinated, and treated for the disease.

The right wing goes nuts over this.  They rally their base, and the bill is defeated.  Boehner feigning rage, says the country has been saved from socialism.  Shortly after the defeat of the bill, Beck becomes infected.  Once he starts coughing on air he is quickly and quietly replaced.

The disease spreads.  Many hospitals try to treat as many people as possible, but can't absorb all the costs and go bankrupt.  Some of the upscale for profit hospitals refuse to take non paying patients, and make quite a "killing" treating their upscale clients, but in the end most of them still die. The stocks of these for profit hospitals soar.

The rich retreat to their gated communities, but get infected anyway because their poor housekeepers and cooks can't afford to see doctors, and the free clinics are overwhelmed.  The poor infect the rich.

Things get so bad that Wall Street has to shutdown because so many traders are out sick.  Their lobbyists pressure congress to do something to help stop the spread of the disease, but the insurance lobby holds up any legislation until their lobbyists can be sure it is "health industry friendly".  That hold up of the legislation was the last thing Karen Ignagni of Americas Health Insurance Plans managed to do, before she succumbed to the disease herself.  AHIP gives her grieving family a very nice Lucite award all for her hard work.  AHIP replaces Ignagni before she is even buried.

Finally the disease hits K street and the Capital itself.  A universal health care package is quickly passed.  A tearful Boehner says Republicans passed the universal health care bill because, "It was the right thing to do", and they were, "always in favor of common sense health care reform".

The United States of the Absurd never recovers from what in the end becomes referred to as "The Fools Plague".  Some say it was a fitting end for what the American empire had become.

Sour Milk

I think a good analogy for our what our current two party political system has morphed into would be if dairy departments at grocery stores only sold two brands of milk, and both brands were always sour.  The two distributors of the two brands of milk have things set up so that no other brands are allowed to be sold nationwide. This means you only have these two choices, no matter where you go, and that's it.

So you go in and buy a quart of the Democratic milk, you get home drink it and it's sour, so you dump it down the sink. The next day you go back to the store and you buy some Republican milk. You get home, drink that one and it is just as sour as the Democratic milk was, so you again dump it down the sink.

The following day you you say to yourself: "Well maybe I just got a bad batch of Democratic milk", so you try it again. You get home, drink it, and it's sour, AGAIN. The next day you give Republican milk another try, and it's just as sour as the Democratic milk was, AGAIN, so down the drain it goes.

Now even though both milks are lousy, they have very unique packaging. Some people REALLY like the Democratic milk carton with the promises of quality milk inside, so they keep buying it hoping it will get better, but it doesn't. Same for the Republican milk carton. Different promises on the carton that appeal to different people, but still lousy milk inside.

There really is no incentive for either the Republicans or Democrats to actually make their milk better because they know you only have one other choice.  When you get sick of the other brand of bad milk the only choice you have is to go back to theirs, so both just put all their money into marketing and packaging. As a result both have the prettiest milk cartons, and promises around.  Heck I even hear one of the milk distributers is even PLEDGING that THIS time their milk wont be sour, (But personally I have my doubts about that, judging by some pretty consistent past performances).

Now a funny thing has happened over the years, many people have gotten used to the sour milk being peddled to them.  Some swear by the Republican sour milk while others swear by the Democratic sour milk.   I know, I know, that is really hard to believe but just look around, there are happy sour milk drinkers all around you!

But there is also something else going on.  More and more people are figuring out that neither brand of milk is any good, and neither is getting any better, so they are giving up drinking either milk, and are desperately looking for another choice.

Most of my life I've was told that it was a great thing that we lived in a country that only sells two brands of milk.  Now that I am a bit older and have tried both brands for many, many years, I now know that is not true.  But it does make me wonder if all this sour milk being peddled by Democrats and Republicans over the years, is where the old saying came from that; "There is no sense in crying over spilt milk."