kanesrealm

On April 14 I announced I would not be a candidate for President of the United States. In light of the rise of Donald Trump, that clearly was a mistake, as a gasbag of extremely aromatic fragrance I have a lot to offer. Oh well, it's too late to raise the money but I can still share some proposals to create a better nation. 1. Peanut Butter to be proclaimed our national food. Who doesn't feel better after a nice PB sandwich, it's hard not to smile. 2. All members of the U.S. Senate must wear a nice cardigan sweater when appearing on the floor to speak. You just can't be cranky when you're wrapped in a comfy old cardigan, it's like a million hugs all at once. The Senators will be happier and thoughtful. 3. All members of the U.S. House of Representatives must wear red vests to create a festive spirit of unity. Red vests are just plain fun and those poor souls need a boost. 4. All members of the House and Senate must smoke a pipe. Pipe smokers are thoughtful a...

A fellow pipe enthusiast and I used to greet each other with the question "what's your favorite tobacco?" We would then reply with whatever was burning in the pipe at the moment followed by, "for now!" Tastes change in everything we do as human beings, at least for most of us. In pipe tobacco it's the norm to start out with traditional American aromatics. Some love them and stay with them, still others find a need for further explorations into the world of straight Virginias and latakias ( commonly referred to as English blends, but that's not really accurate.) Never be afraid to try something, even if you are surrounded by well meaning fellow enthusiasts denouncing some category of tobacco as an abomination or just flat out crap. One man's poison is another man's meat and drink. We all find our way to the kind of tobacco and brands which become our constant companions and go to smokes. I certainly have mine and they are primarily in the straig...

Do you smoke? You really should, no one's getting out of this journey alive, so enjoy. Not cigarettes, there nasty tasting little shit sticks. I myself enjoy the pipe, cigar and occasionally a hookah! I'm often asked about pipes so here's some of my brain farts on the subject. Enjoy and you're welcome! Is there a difference in the smoking quality of cheap drugstore pipes and higher cost machine made and artisan pipes? This oft had debate can result in passionate conflict but it shouldn't. Here's the way the question usually goes, is there a difference between a $25.00 pipe and a $200.00 pipe other than $175.00? The answer is yes. Rather than get lost in the minutia, the simple facts are that the premium artisan pipe in general smokes better than it's economical cousin because the Briars has in most cases gone through a lengthy drying process, often three to five years or longer. For that period the craftsman has a dramatic pause in turning a profit from t...

The Chinese Stock Market takes a rapid tumble and so does ours. Which  begs the question, if China is such a rotten destructive force on us, as some politicians and Americans suggest, why do we have so much riding on their success? The first thing that needs to happen is our news media needs to take a chill pill and stop covering stock market flip flops like the Sun is crashing to Earth. Remember that as some are losing some money, there are others who swoop in and make money in a downturn. There is a difference between the gamesmanship of Wall Street and the real economy of  goods and services. The blips on a screen and shuffling of paper and manipulation by the money masters has cost our country and the world dearly. It is all illusion but accepted as real because we all agree to it. Reach into your pocket right now and pull out a one dollar bill. That piece of paper has value for acquiring goods and services because we all collectively agree it's worth a dollar. If tomorro...

The film "Maggie" is the antithesis of two things, the first is the Zombie genre and the second is a typical Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. A deadly epidemic turning people into Zombies is plaguing the world but that's not the point of this story. Abigail Breslin plays Maggie, a teenager bitten by an infected person while she's wandering the streets of a city. Schwarzenegger is her father Wade who has been searching for her since she left the family farm. When he finds her in a hospital he takes her home after strings are pulled by their family doctor. Quarantine is the legal destination of the infected but Wade is determined to protect his daughter from the horror of dying among flesh eating infected strangers, ultimately put down like an animal through a painful lethal injection. Wade and Maggie both know what the future holds, but can Wade actually kill his daughter even once she has fully turned? He sends his two younger kids by his second wife away. Maggie and he...

Republican Presidential hopeful Scott Walker has declined to take a public position on Donald Trumps recent immigration policy recommendations, including his comments about so called "anchor babies" and the 14th Amendment. Not exactly Presidential but perhaps wise for his campaign. In the interest of truth and intellectual pursuit I decided to revisit the 14th Amendment. There are five sections but it is the first that is applicable. Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The 14th Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868 and was largely about ...

Welcome to the first of a new recurring series titled "It Came In the Mail". I get a lot of shit in the mail and I do mean shit. I didn't request it, they simply chose to intrude on my solitude so this series will not contain my normal civility. I will not go out of my way to be courteous to the buffoons plaguing our land or at the very least my land. I'm the King of my castle and trespassers will be treated to hot oil. First up is a group or one person, who can really tell, called Public Advocate. It comes in the guise of an official looking presentation. The Hon. Eugene Delgaudio, President of Public Advocate of the United States. It's not a government agency and this is made clear in capital letters on the last page. They've clearly been complained about. This is a three page double sided bird cage filler that I will address in sequence. 1. "Dear Pro-Family American, It's a dark time for our country...Even though the U.S. Supreme Court just struc...

Do you enjoy a fine meal of suspense and fear? Of course you do. Everyone enjoys a good scare so long as you're in no real danger. On the whole I'm against serial killers in fact. In fiction however, they can be fascinating, even then I've never been that big of a fan except for Hannibal Lector. Exactly how did author Thomas Harris create a monster so sublimely terrifying that you hope your paths never cross, yet somehow you're rooting for the evil bastard? Harris himself has admitted that writing Hannibal frightens him. That's quite a statement considering that Harris is the puppet master. Dr. Lector first appeared as a minor character in the book "The Red Dragon". Harris understood that there was much more to be explored with Lector. A mere seven years later "Silence of the Lambs" was published. Eleven years later "Hannibal" was published. Mr. Harris is in no hurry to publish books. All three of these books are must reads in my not...

It has recently been suggested to me that I give people in general too much credit for being intelligent and that I use big words. This reminds me of a personal story. In the winter of 1991 I had sent my resume to a head hunting firm in Cincinnati, Ohio on a blind ad. The firm was prestigious by all accounts. I received a call from the top dog himself, he was handling the screening process because the client was a close friend. Mr. Hunter, that's what will call him, gave a brief description of the management position in question and asked if I understood the general concepts of team management as the client was restructuring his company. I said yes, the 80's and early nineties were plagued with Japanese style team management, but I didn't tell him how much I despised the concepts. Mr. Hunter was sufficiently impressed to want a face to face. He said he would come to Indianapolis and we could meet in his lawyer's offices downtown. A few days later high in a skyscraper ...

Before we get to the heart of the post,let's take a moment to reflect on the raw power of Kanesrealm. Check it out, msnbc is now MSNBC. I am positively giddy with influence. Now back to our program already in progress. Mr. Trump issued his first policy paper and it's a doozey on immigration. He wants to eliminate birthright citizenship, the so called anchor babies. One small impediment would be the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, pesky little document. If you're born here you are a citizen period. Trump is under the misguided belief that there are lawyers who believe there's a case to be made for his argument that people who can read are incorrect about what the Constitution states. Only a lawyer on crack and who's been disbarred believes this. What court would hear such a case? Only through the amendment process could you repeal the 14th. So that's not happening. Trump says he'll deport the eleven million alleged illegals by trippling the number ...

I cannot begin this post without first explaining it's title. It was not what I originally planned to dub it when the germ of the idea infected me. I have just finished watching a five person panel at the American Enterprise Institute discuss the book, "State of the American Mind", of which two members are editors. It's about the decline of Americans reading books and an anti-intellectual spirit abroad in the land. This panel is easily one of the most picture perfect representations of poster children for academic snobbery and cause for turning people off to intellectual pursuit that I have seen in a long time. Their analysis and own narcissism is it's own catalyst for anti-intellectualism. If you wish to view it in it's entirety you can find it at C-Span's website but your time might be better spent watching cute kitten videos on YouTube. I love books and am surrounded by them even as I write this electronic missive. You can't force a person, of any ...

At this time we will leave our regularly scheduled program, The Trumpenator© to bring you a brief look at the Democratic Party's race for the Presidency. History is inevitable, individuals are not. Hillary Clinton is poised to be a history maker but even inevitability needs a nudge. Clinton needs to step up her game after labor day. She needs to do more media and lay out a strong vision for the future. As of this posting she is being defined by others as unethical, manipulative and untrustworthy. There are politicians and media figures regurgitating untruths and distortions concerning her use of a private e-mail server. You can't disprove a negative but in politics lies become truth very quickly because the information morphs to become what the voter is already inclined to believe. While the Republicans have a huge field, for obvious reasons, the Democratic contenders are few. Democrats aren't known for being disciplined and following the unwritten rule of it's your t...

Pardon my simplicity, but the Republican Party is in deep doody. At the start of Trump's campaign he resurrected the phrase the silent majority. A mantra created by Richard M. Nixon. Nixon was written off by the Republican Party after losing the Presidency to Kennedy then his 1962 race for Governor of California. The man was done, over, put the fork in. But then quietly, one rubber chicken dinner at a time he gathered his forces. He coined a phrase, these vast numbers of voters who felt left out. Who didn't march, sign petitions or complain to anyone other than the dog, the silent majority. Nixon was right and before you burst a blood vessel I'm not suggesting Trump is Nixon's intellectual equal but he doesn't have to be. Every third or fourth sentence out of Trump's mouth is a truth and not by accident. He knows what he's doing. The Republican Party should collectively wet their pants because this man actually wants to be President, has he surprised himse...

Perhaps the biggest problem is they should make the letters all capital. But that would require a decisive commitment. You may or may not have noticed that msnbc has upended it's daily lineup, again. The person who should be let go is Phil Griffin, the big cheese of the network. I'd call him President but I don't want to offend any anti FOX sentiments. President is such a corporate view point. One of the reasons FOX beats msnbc is because they have never lost sight of their mission. They present a right wing agenda 24/7, I won't use the word conservative because that would be an insult to the real ones. Contrast that with msnbc which hasn't got a clue what their mission is. Whether they wish to admit it or not, this is aimed at Phil, Keith Olbermann put that network on the map. Whether you liked Olbermann or hated him you were never bored or confused about where he stood. His ratings were also the highest so it sure makes sense to have let him go. Chris Matthews...

Kane Media Group, parent of the  Kanesrealm Blog, has just released it's August polling data on the 2016 Presidential race. KMG's Director of R&D and Chief Polling Officer Dr. O. Jeesh, who earned his PhD. at the Kane Institute of Strategic Schooling, has developed a unique polling technique known as Creative Reactive Acquisition Protocol. Utilizing C.R.A.P.® we can definitively state that, based upon our control group of one, that 100% of those asked if polls really tell us anything, the answer is no. But when the question is do polls point to anything, 46% said yes, 44% said no and 10% were undecided. Dr. Jeesh will be expanding the control group to three in upcoming polls which will of course reflect the totality of belief of a nation with over 300 million people. Lighten up, would ya! (Dr. O. Jeesh is available for consultation and can be reached at the K.I.S.S. campus in Hindtit, Indiana, where he is a tenured Professor of Cheese Theory)

Hillary Clinton has turned over the private server and thumb drive which we have heard way too much about. It is now in the hands of the Justice Department, voluntarily provided which you will not hear emphasized. It will mean nothing. Her opponents will spin the story to say she scrubbed it clean and then turned it over. After all, she's a Clinton, why else would she turn it over. All of this over Benghazi. Why is it again that we are still discussing this aside from it's historical detail? Seven Congressional Committees have investigated Benghazi and concluded, pardon my banality, it is what it is. There was no wrongdoing by Secretary Clinton or anyone else. Let me repeat that, seven Congressional Committees have already concluded no wrongdoing. Those committees were all under the control of Republicans. Can we all say hypocritical manipulators of the people's house? They are so desperate to stop Clinton, they are continuing to suggest she did something wrong with regar...

Okay? Thank you so much. Political candidates are rarely held to the same standard of public deportment as the rest of society. This is particularly true during the election season. Donald Trump and let me just say his name appears as a springboard here, not as the focus of the topic. Demands have been made that Trump apologize to Megyn Kelly of FOX News because of the "bleeding" comment. I apologize to Megyn Kelly for misspelling her first name in a previous post. That said, there is a game of obnoxious banter between media and other public figures who equally use it to their advantage. I have full confidence that Kelly can deal with the fiery rhetoric of Trump, a man who has appeared on FOX so much, he should be given an office. When I was growing up there was no political correctness. We had something called manners, which refers to social conduct and etiquette. Being polite and civil to one another as often as is possible. Sometimes it becomes necessary to suspend civi...

Unfortunately Fox made the decision to broadcast the first Republican debate on FOX News Channel only and not go wide with it's affiliate channels across the country. I don't get FOX News from my cable company, which is odd considering I live in cornhole country. Even without me they managed to get twenty-four million viewers. Make no mistake, those numbers were because of Trump. FOX should be kissing his ass today, maybe send a fruit basket. I've seen the wrap-ups, analysis and clips of the debate. Eventually it will be shown on C-Span and I'll catch it in full then. But it would appear that true substance was lacking, not entirely unexpected but disappointing. Here's my advice for Donald Trump, double down, dig in and come out swinging. Most of the politicians on that stage have courted Trump in the past and have sought campaign contributions, I would make all their names well known. Trump answered honestly about donating to both political parties and here is th...

Something fascinating, momentous and historically important is happening on the opposite side of the world. It will change the geopolitical dynamics of Asia and enhance our national security. Japan is about to transform it's military from a strictly defensive force to a fully offensive service capable of acting beyond it's own borders. At the close of World War II Japan's constitution was written to forbid offensive military capabilities. For over 70 years they have worked to be a good and productive member of the international community and they are. Over 10 percent of the United Nations budget comes from Japan. The Japanese are one of the biggest contributors to crisis plagued areas of the world in need of economic assistance. They do these things as a matter of conscience, moral duty and atonement. China is not happy about these developments because of Japan's historical dominance of Asia. China's unhappiness is understandable but they are no longer the weak po...

The Republicans in the Senate are trying to remove all federal funding from Planned Parenthood, again. That's right, again. Planned Parenthood is a favorite hobby horse of Congressional Republicans and they've gone after them many times. They claim it's about these "hidden camera videos" that are currently being circulated concerning the use of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood is far more than a clinic for abortions. They provide low cost medical care on a wide range of women's health needs and help in actual family planning for low-income families who have no other access. Planned Parenthood can speak for itself and this commentary is not about defending them, it's about defending the facts. Under the Hyde Amendment it is illegal to use federal funds for abortions, end of story. Those currently working on defunding say they would shift the tax dollars to other family clinics. History demonstrates this is untrue, the goal is to remove all federal funding...

Over the years I've watched on T.V. and personally attended many boring political events but last night's gathering of fourteen Republican Presidential candidates at Ansem College in New Hampshire was the worst. The event was co-sponsored by the Manchester Union-Leader, a leading newspaper and voice for Republicans. Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee and Jim Gilmore were not in attendance. Gilmore would have loved to be there but he didn't get in the race soon enough. Huckabee simply declined in a voice mail. Trump said no because he's feuding with the Union-Leader. Frankly those that didn't show up missed nothing. The format was terrible. Each candidate would go up on stage for some questions from the moderator in a variety of rounds. The candidates did not engage with one another. All of their answers were dry, uninformative and predictable. Most of them seemed unusually nervous and shaky. Rand, Cruz and Rubio were live via satellite from D.C. It was such a snoozefest ...