A Closer Look … (October, 2024)

with Anthony Newcombe

October 24, 2024

This month’s topic

DON’T YOU THINK THE ELECTION PROCESS IS TAKING TOO MUCH ENERGY, TIME (AND CASH) FROM OUR LIVES?

I don’t know about you, but I am more than a bit concerned about the time, effort and patience, etc. that are tossed upon us during the extended process demanded of us to participate in. I get it, we are doing our civic duty, and we care tremendously about the success of the country. That said, what more can we be asked of/ demanded to do here?

DONATION TEXTS

Why are most of my new texts for donations? Is there NO AMOUNT of money that will fill the political bucket? Record numbers have been donated up til now, but you’d think all the candidates were dead broke. What is that all about? I mean, do we need to start funding the issues ourselves, or what?!

MAIL

I haven’t seen a piece of “wanted mail” in many months. All that appears is “candidate mail” – vote for this guy, that guy, this initiative, that initiative, blah blah blah. Face it, it’s just tons of extra paper for my shredder to slice and dice up.

COMMERCIALS

There were probably reruns of the same commercial 3-4 times in minutes interrupting a sports event I really wanted to watch. Why? Don’t they know we got the message once or twice? Do we need all these stimuli? We’re not busy enough?!

RALLIES

Have you ever seen so many rallies going on?! It’s impossible to keep track of them all these days. And who is keeping track of all the messaging? It looks to me like some of the rallies are doing some things that may be, shall we say, illegal …

MY FINAL VERDICT

In a nutshell, I think we have gotten a little too romantic looking at our candidates. We need to rein in some of the fantasy and refocus on some of the more obvious issues that need attention right here and right now!

Your turn now. What do YOU think can be done? 🙋

Hope your fall season is off to a great start! 🍁

-A.N.

PROFILE

Anthony Newcombe is a 4-time entrepreneur, published author & narrator, and full-stack web developer. He can be reached via our CONTACT PAGE for appearances.

Make up your minds people!

A Closer Look …

with Anthony Newcombe

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit befuddled by the “wishy-washiness” (for lack of a better term) of our current approach to running our country. Let’s just get right to it.

First, we need to figure out what our actual priorities are. I just received a weather report yesterday that over two feet of rain (yes, that is correct) was expected for the south Florida region in less than 8 hours. Normally, hearing that rain is headed to south Florida is nothing unusual. However, when the Ft. Lauderdale Airport becomes frickin’ Lake Okeechobee in less than an hour (requiring extensive closure), it registers. It really registers.

So, if political and corporate leaders wish to tout Florida as “the place to be,” shouldn’t they also pay the same attention to how people plan to navigate these apocalyptic conditions? In other words, it seems a fool’s errand to pack a state with people, homes, businesses, etc. while simultaneously ignoring the fact that the state can’t handle the worsening weather conditions, right?!

By the way, not to pick on Florida, but we can see this happening pretty much everywhere. Heavy snowfall one week, and dry fire conditions the next (see New Jersey or California). Tornadoes roaring through the mid west, south and also touching down in California.

I guess my point is: at what point do we figure out that we are in over our collective skulls? Do we need to see one of our states literally “fall off the map” in order to do more? Does some location need to sink?

What do you think?

A.N.

Profile

Anthony Newcombe is a 4-time entrepreneur, published author & narrator, and a full-stack web developer. He enjoys most outdoor activities and hopes to be able to survive the probable apocalypse at some point …

WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy

WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy

by David Leigh & Luke Harding, pub. 2011, 250 pps.

Sneak Peek: For book info, click FB link

What I learned from this book

I learned that a few tidbits that I thought I’d already known previously. First, I forgot how many supporters Assange had in the courtroom in England. My recollection from afar was that the world basically considered him to be an outsider or persona non grata, when, in fact, he became more of a cult-like figure – adorned with big-name stars and even a few groupies in tow. Second, I wasn’t aware of how targeted Hillary Clinton was during the dawn of WikiLeaks. It is almost surreal to read some of the descriptions of how her enemies plotted her demise. It gives a different perspective to the 2016 election and all that has taken place since.

What I liked about this book

I liked the way the authors laid out Mr. Assange’s childhood/ upbringing and showed how his experiences during youth lays an accurate and detailed groundwork for the type of figure he ultimately became. Basically, no matter what side you are on with respect to how and what Julian Julian Assange does (and has done) with WikiLeaks, it is more easily understood the elements of what makes him tick.

What I disliked about this book

There wasn’t much to dislike about the book.

Whom would I recommend to read this book

This book is a great read for all of those who don’t understand the enigmatic Julian Assange. When dealing with a complicated and intelligent human being, it is important to take the time and make the effort to understand his or her perspective prior to making judgment of character and/or actions. Hence, no matter which side of the political “side” our reader is on with respect to Assange and WikiLeaks, this work is inarguably an informative and historically important read.

Any thoughts?

-A.N.

WikiLeaks

The background story of Julian Assange and how he became of the world’s most controversial figures of the past decade…