Mike Simcik

How To Catch Wild Hogs

submitted by Mike Simcik

Ever wondered how the word “Freedom” creeps into our everyday lives? That word started to get hammered in Television ads, videos, multimedia, commercials, songs, sports events, etc, shortly after our 44th president took office in 2009. A quote: “I will fundamentally change America.”

This article was never intended as a joke but many people not only see the humor in it but what is actually coming in the near future. Most well-informed individuals definitely see the handwriting on the wall as the word freedom will change from a good thing to bad and right before your very eyes.

The word communist changed to socialist, and socialist to liberals, then liberals to right wing and all with the sole intention of changing our historical views from negative to positive on any ideology.

I recently had a great conversation with a wounded career veteran, just discharged, and was attending a larger college in one of our northern states. He told me about some of the courses he was taking and at least one close encounter with a campus professor.

While in one of the Veterans classes this professor began making references to and the philosophy there-of Carl Marks. This was very upsetting as the Veteran had several tours of duties in countries where He was shot several times defending those same countries against communism take over. Some of His wounds were not completely healed yet and at times making the Veteran very uncomfortable.

The professor paused during his lecture and asked the Veteran what was the matter? Asking again if He had a problem or would like to leave the class? The veteran student told the professor that He had been shot fighting against communism while overseas and the wound is still painful. In the middle of the wounded Veterans story, he asked the teacher a strange question. He asked: Do you know how to catch wild hogs? The teacher thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The Veteran student said: It’s no joke. “You can catch wild hogs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The hogs find the corn and begin coming to eat every day. When they get used to the idea every day of eating the free corn you put up a fence on one side. They eventually get used to the fence and keep eating the free corn then you put up a second fence. After a while, you put a third side of the fence with an open gate and still the hogs pay no attention to it because they got used to eating the free corn.

The following day you just slam the gate on them and you have captured the whole herd of hogs.

Suddenly the hogs realize they have lost their freedom. Yes, they run around inside the fence trying to find a way out but it’s too late, they’re caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn because they forgot how to forage on their own in the woods so they accept their captivity. The Veteran told the professor that this is exactly what He sees happening slowly in America and Canada today.

Our own government keeps pushing us towards Communism/socialism and keeps spreading the free corn around in the form of insidious programs.

Some of these programs are; supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, pay-outs not to plant crops, welfare entitlements, medicines, drugs, etc. At the same time, we continue to lose our freedoms just a little bit at a time.

One should always remember two truths:
[1] There is no such thing as a free lunch, and [2] you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

If you recognize that government intervention is a threat to America and democracy then you still have a brain to fight back. But If you think that all this government help is beneficial to your current way of life and accepted the “free ride” then you’re already caught. The problems we face today exist because people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living!

History lesson warning. A quote from Carl Marx; “Remove one freedom per generation and soon you will have no freedom at all and no one would have even noticed the change.”

God help us all when that gate slams closed!

The It Generation?

submitted by Mike Simcik

We have had the Un-Civil War generation 1845 to 1880 and the Lost generation from 1890 to 1915.

The Interbellum generation was from 1901 to 1913 and the Greatest generation from 1910 to 1924.

The Silent generation was from 1925 to 1945 and the Baby Boomers from 1946 to 1964.

Then we had Generation X from 1965 to 1979 and the Xennials from 1975 to 1985.

Next came Generation Y and the Millennial’s 1980 to 1994 and Generation Z from 1995 to 2012.

More recently came the Alpha generation, 2013 to 2017, now we have the IT generation 2018 to ?.

We call this the IT generation because there is no more gender allowed in public or private use. Yes, that means anyone can apply to anything using only a last name. No more gender names can be used like Bill or Mary or John and Jane not to mention Mr. & Mrs. We will all become known as It! Think of all the possibilities, we can be male today and female tomorrow.

When a crime occurs, here is what you tell the law enforcement officers when they ask you to describe the Perpetrator; it had some hair and was wearing cloths. That’s all you can say because we can’t offend any one by mentioning race, color, or sexuality. That would be targeting! We can’t mention any defects, nor can we say average height, tall, short, fat or skinny because that would be too demeaning.

The new America has reduced its intellect to the level of a one-celled amoeba! It no longer has the ability to define and direct its own culture, society, and future. We are reverting to a mindless mass of green goo, floating aimlessly in a toxic waste pond. And then we wonder why the world no longer respects or looks to us for help and guidance.

When the doctor stands over my deathbed, telling me it’s time for me to go, and since I have no gender my parting shot will be, “Well paint me yellow and call me a taxi!” I’m ready.

Imagine yourself in a tavern or restaurant, and after having a few beers you walk to a single bathroom with no door only a question mark above it in place of “male or female”. You now have the privilege of standing shoulder to shoulder at the urinals with your fellow Americans regardless of gender. I guess half of this nation must learn how to do it standing up. So proud!

Think about all the money the government, schools, and municipalities will save by having only one bathroom. We won’t even need a door to worry about or privacy walls from each other or from the public for that matter. They will be completely indifferent. After all, individuality is so outdated.

But please don’t worry about all this crap that the liberals and socialist come up with because it can all be compared to flatulence. Of course, this analysis would make the ancient wise men and profits correct once again when they said; “And this too will pass!”

Aren’t You Glad You’re You?

by Mike Simcik

Well, at least we have had a chance in life to be a success or failure, to be married or single. Even to vote is a privilege. But what about all the others? I’m referring to all those denied the right to speak or vote, those who have no voice, no human rights, no representation of any sort, unable to make a choice.

I’m sure that each person reading this must be very happy that his or her mother had her priorities straight: giving birth and allowing her children the opportunity to enjoy life. But doesn’t it make one wonder that so many liberals enjoying life today are forcing abortion on our nation? Isn’t that socialist tyranny?

I wonder what would happen if we lowered the voting age to someone with a beating heart? Let’s change the rules like the liberals and politically correct do every day! I’m pretty sure sixty million babies would have voted pro-life since 1973! Maybe the reason Planned Parenthood is pushing so hard to meet a quota is that they are afraid of being outvoted by babies choosing life and this organization losing its $500,000,000 budget from the government. It seems like a reasonable assumption!

It’s a safe bet that all the aborted babies in America would vote life given the simple inalienable rights that American adults voted for themselves two hundred and fifty years ago. Has the world become so callous and self-centered that if anyone is considered inconvenient, undesirable, a nuisance, or just politically incorrect that he or she is aborted? It probably is on the Supreme Courts future agenda.

I recently attended a multi-denominational Right To Life gathering at St. Patrick’s Church in Grand Haven, Michigan. The guest speakers packed the pews and sang songs whilst school children carried lighted candles up to the altar. A violinist and pianist set the tone for our nation’s loss of life and heartfelt sadness to music.

In this computer-driven, politically charged, agnostic era we live in, has your own life’s identity been hacked? I’m pretty sure that Islam does not tolerate any abortions, so what does that mean for the rest of us?

Yes, I will say it again, “Aren’t you glad you’re you?” That is until the socialists, our government, our schools, or the Supreme Court say you can’t be you anymore, that you must be someone else!
And if you refuse, you’re aborted from schools, the workplace, your community, or life itself!

Let’s make this simple by aborting the socialist, liberals and fascist and bring back the House On Un-American Activities!

Guns Are Not The Problem

by Mike Simcik

I agree with John Rosemond in his January 31 st. Tribune article; No, guns are not the problem.

It would be difficult at best to describe my life wrapped around a gun but I will try nonetheless.
At the very early age of eight, I was enthralled with hitting a tin can on a fence post with a slingshot, or a Daisy Red Rider BB gun. My father would have never consented to me owning or shooting a firearm without some type of formal instructions. So he enrolled me in a school at the age of twelve run by the Sheriff’s department and state troopers of northern Illinois. An almost unheard of thing in 1956. After I passed the course Dad bought a 16 gauge bolt action shotgun for me to hunt with. And I did, not only with my uncles from Chicago but down the old railroad tracks three blocks from my house.

To be trusted by my parents on my own, with a gun, was a privilege worn like a badge of honor.
Two years later I took up trap shooting, thanks to Dad, at the Winchester Range just over the border in Wisconsin. Even later I tried out for the rifle and pistol shooting team in the US Navy. Yes, I was hooked on hunting and clay target shooting of all types and I still do it in my middle seventies. The friends, memories and comradely at the many gun clubs I’ve been a member of is priceless.

One can not explain in ordinary words the joy and heightened emotions of hunting with a friend.
To wander through a pristine forest or field in Autumn with a fine shotgun cradled in hopes a game bird will rise could be compared to a quiet walk with God.

What I see today are generations of useless curds with their thumbs on a joystick and finger on a trigger. Youth having brains no more valuable than the video games they play and the garbage movies they watch put out by Hollywood Hippocrates who seem to be appalled by the violence.

Talk about “Zombie Apocalypse”, they live and walk among us. So who is the blame for this domestic terrorism? The parents of course! What has me stymied is why they had children in the first place. Those kids just cramped mom and dads lifestyle and became a nuisance during the divorce. But the law says mom or pop must raise the kids or go to jail, wow, what a concept that is. So the law offers a choice, either put the parents in jail now for neglect or put the kids in jail for murder later! Naturally, the parents are the first ones to cry help us, we need more gun control! And so it goes.

The best form of gun control that worked for me is focusing on the target with a firm, steady hand. Ironically, this is the same successful formula used for disciplining a neglected, problematic child.

In the meantime, the Social-Communist sit back and have a good belly laugh at American parents, Congress, the ACLU and Supreme Court implementing useless laws. Yes, the Commies want nothing better than to completely disarm America and disband the military in order to control the masses.
And the NRA has been working hard trying to tell America where the problem is and who’s the blame for it. Are you even listening? George Washington; Is anybody there? Does anybody care?

The invention of the gun was not expressly for taking of human life, rather, intended to make good people and bad people equals in disputable confrontations. Madness, anger or fear pulls the trigger.

Adolf Hitler quote; In order to conquer a nation, first you must disarm its citizens.
Sam Elliot quote; If you think criminals will obey gun laws, then you are a special kind of stupid!
Mike Simcik; People afraid to own, use, or protect themselves with a gun are already conquered!

A Whole New World, Fear It or Embrace It

Predictions for the future
by Mike Simcik

Software disruptions, nanotechnology, power, medicine, food, transportation.

Auto repair shops will just go away. A gasoline engine has 20,000 individual parts. An electrical engine has 20 parts. Electric cars are sold with lifetime guarantees and are only repaired by dealers. It takes only 10 minutes to remove and replace an electric engine. Faulty electric engines are not repaired in the dealership but are sent to a regional repair shop that repairs them with robots.

Your electric engine malfunction light goes on so you drive up to what looks like a Jiffy- auto wash. Your car is towed through while you have a cup of coffee and out comes your car with a new engine.

Gas stations go away. Parking meters are replaced by meters that dispense electricity. All companies install electrical recharging stations.

All major auto manufacturers have already designated 5-6 billion dollars each to start building new plants that only build electric cars. Coal industries go away. Gasoline/oil companies go away. Drilling for oil stops.

Homes will produce and store more electrical energy during the day and then they use and will sell it back to the grid. The grid stores it and dispense it to industries that are high electricity users. A baby born today will see only personal cars in a museum.

More info you’re not prepared for:

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt. What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 5-10 years and, most people won’t see it coming. Did anyone think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on film again?

Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels but followed Moor’s law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a time, before it became superior and became mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen again (but much faster) with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture, and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Software disrupting traditional industries in 5-10 years:

Uber is a software tool, they don’t own any cars, but are now the worlds largest taxi company.

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don’t own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go-player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.

In the US., young lawyers already don’t get jobs. Because of IBM’s Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans. So, if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future, only omniscient specialists will remain.

Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, its 4 times more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous cars:

In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear to the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don’t want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. The very young children of today will never get a driver’s license and will never own a car.

It will change the cities because we will need 90-95% fewer cars for that. We can transform former parking spaces into parks.

1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 60,000 mi (100,000 km), with autonomous driving that will drop to 1 accident in 6 million mi (10 million km). That will save a million lives worldwide each year.

Most car companies will doubtless become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels. Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi are completely terrified of Tesla. Insurance companies will have massive trouble because, without accidents, the insurance will become 100 x cheaper. The car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars will become mainstream in ten years. Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity. Electric power will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can now see the future impact.

Fossil energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that simply cannot continue, technology will take care of that strategy.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination of salt water will only need minimal expense per cubic meter (@ 0.25 cents). We don’t have scarce water in most places, we have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health Care now:

There are companies who will build a medical device (AKA the “Tricorder” from Star Trek) that works with your phone, the price will be announced this year. It scans your retina, blood sample, and your breath. It will analyze 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease.

The Times They Are A Changing

by Mike Simcik

There seems to be a lot of talk lately about Senior Centers in the area and most of it not very flattering.

For example; Sometime before the presidential election a notice was sent out in the monthly news bulletin from a local senior center that their computer system database and membership files were hacked into and stolen. I received one of these notices in the mail.

If anyone had a curious or suspicious mind one would wonder what happened to that very private and personal information and how was it illegally used. Of course, everyone knows senior centers are state and federally funded which is enough to make anyone’s eyebrows raise.

Just suppose that information was used in favor of one candidate or the other. It’s just a guess on my part but it is more than possible that a lot of senior citizens in this area voted for someone they did not want to.

For that matter, in these disturbing times, we live in today, our seniors could have voted several times without knowing it. Since hacking never happened before at these places, why now, and just before election time?

Another issue has taken shape and in no way are any conclusions being drawn. But it has been noticed and talked about by many seniors that there is an appalling lack of ethnicity in those same Senior Centers. We know there is a considerable population of retired African Americans and Hispanic in Grand Haven and Muskegon areas that do not go to or are a member of a senior center. Perhaps they feel there is not much offered for them at these centers.

The one thing that sticks in my mind because of recent events is some practical advice for all senior citizens and that is; keep your private life information private and watch your back. These are very disturbing and socially unfriendly times we live in dividing our nation.

The Little Plane That Couldn’t Fly

By Mike Simcik

In November 1954, the Korean war had come to an end, and Thanksgiving had already passed as well. I was ten years old at the time and everyone in my family knew I was crazy about building the new jet model airplanes.

It was the in-between times during the holidays that my family headed for Chicago to visit my Aunt Montiree and Uncle Eddy. One of my favorite places in the windy city was Marshal Fields with its decorated windows and the giant oval candy counter on the ground floor.

Monti, as everyone called my aunt, liked to put on a big dinner for all the in-laws and hand out Christmas presents that evening. My cousin Diane, who was three years older than I, came with her mother from Detroit. After dinner, Diane and I went out for a walk and talked about what was happening where we lived. When we returned to the house Monti began handing out the gifts.

I was given a slender gift-wrapped package and I could tell by the shape, size, and weight what it was. It had to be an airplane. I was sure that box couldn’t be anything else. I excitedly removed the paper and there it was – a modern wooden fighter jet, just begging me to assemble it.

At the back of the house was a study room with a table and some newspaper nearby to protect the table surface while working. I laid out all the parts, I read over the model plans, and then I was ready to assemble the parts. Dad walked into the room and saw me sitting in the chair with a very disappointed look on my face. He was surprised that the plane wasn’t already finished and flying out the window.

I glanced up at him with a sorrowful expression and said, “no glue!” Dad, Mother, Uncle Eddy and Aunt Monti searched the house for any kind of glue. But no. Nothing. Not even paper glue was found. After a half hour of searching, sudden realization sank in: it was Sunday night and every store in the whole world was closed. Imagine my plight having to wait until the following morning to glue the plane together in my room at home.

Later, as a parent, I forget the batteries for my kids and grand-kids because I am too busy being an adult. So here is my suggestion. If one doesn’t want to sadden some child over the holidays have these items on hand in reserve: scotch tape, duct tape, several types of glue, rubber bands, all battery sizes, paper clips, scissors, screw-drivers, pliers, reading glasses for fine print, sealing wax and kite string. I mean, what do grownups think about when they buy stuff and read, “some assembly required” or “batteries not included?” Ask yourself, “would Santa forget the glue and batteries?”

During today’s holidays, I recommend having your smart-phone charged and be prepared for that little kid coming up to Grandpa asking how to do something you never even heard of. Just Google the answer. But, sometimes that little kid is smarter than we are! Keeping up with modern times and being well stocked with remedies for presents lacking something, is better than not having glue for that little wooden airplane that could not leave the runway on schedule.

After all that’s said and done, I miss being ten years old, standing in front of Marshall Fields windows at Christmas time, holding my dad’s hand.