Off My Chest! Defending America

 

OFF MY CHEST!
Defending America
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 15, 2026

The title of this Nugget is taken from a book Off My Chest, written by Hall of Fame Running Back of the Cleveland Browns, #32 Jim Brown. Sometimes things just need to be said, and October 2026 is such a time. I am aware this Nugget may offend some but frankly I do not care that it is what it is. 

Here are some questions for everyone. Have you been educated on the U. S. Constitution? Have you read the entire copy of the U. S. Constitution? When was the last time you read it? For me, yes, I was taught the Constitution in both Junior High School and in High School in classes labeled as Civics Class. I am not sure our educational system still has Civics Classes; I hope they do. I personally have two copies of the Constitution in my home and yes, I have read them as recently as a year ago even though I have read it before, many times. For anyone interested, you can obtain a FREE downloadable PDF file of the Constitution by going to: https://constitutionus.com/books/us_constitution_pdf/ 

I joined the U. S. Coast Guard in September of 1965. At the time, I was required to take an oath as was everyone who joined any branch of the military and yes, the Coast Guard is a military branch of the U. S. Government. The oath states, and I have underlined and I have underlined the most important part: 

"I, [Name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of MilitaryJustice. So help me God." 

Out of curiosity, I located the Oath of Office that members of the U. S. Governments must take AND OFFICIALLY RECORD to become members of congress. Again, I underscored that portion that I consider essential and mandatory as it is for members of the military. The big difference is that members of the military that violate their oath are held accountable through the Military Justice System. There is no such provision for Congressional Members who violate their oaths. 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." 

The U.S. Constitution establishes the qualifications for Members of Congress, but it is silent on what those DUTIES or their specific roles are. In the absence of formal constitutional mandates, duties have evolved from institutional rules, member priorities, and constituent expectations. 

Taken from a ChatGPT question: The most authoritative source detailing these roles is CRS Report RL33686, Roles and Duties of a Member of Congress: Brief Overview, published by the Congressional Research Service (Library of Congress). (My comment: Take note of the difference between “duties” as defined in the oath and the following list which is nebulous at best.) This report identifies the core duties as:

·         Legislation: Drafting, introducing, and voting on bills (cited by 87% of House members surveyed).

·         Constituency Service: Helping constituents solve problems with federal agencies (cited by 79%).

·         Representation: Advocating district interests and national issues.

·         Oversight and Investigation: Monitoring executive branch implementation of laws.

·         Electoral Activities: Fundraising and campaigning for re-election.

Additionally, House and Senate rules formally require Members to be present and vote on each question placed before their chamber. 

With the mid-term elections fast approaching, I thought that others might like to know my thought process in selecting a person for which I would vote. The following is non-negotiable for me and disqualifies any candidate for my vote. Do they support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. 

Greg Gutfeld, considered by most as a comedian and by others as someone who also routinely demonstrates unique and meaningful insights on a great many subjects, made the following analogy in regard to the Michigan U. S. Senate Race between Mike Rogers for the Republican side and Abdul El-Sayed for the Democrat side. He identified Rogers as being boring, dependable and we know what he stands for and what he does not stand for. As for his opponent Sayed, not so much except that he has aligned himself with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and has questionable ties to The Muslim Brotherhood, an organization declared by many as a terrorist group. Gutfeld then asked a simple question. You are about to board a 747 airplane. You must choose between having Rogers as your pilot or Sayed as your pilot. Which one would YOU choose? The answer should be obvious but for millions they prefer to look the other way and disregard some disturbing facts about Sayed based on his questionable history and what he has said and later reversed as compared to Rogers who has held the line on what he has said on policies and who is well known for his history. 

That takes me to the questions I ask myself about political candidates. The most important one to me is: Is THIS candidate (whoever that may be) a candidate that I BELIEVE would support and defend the U. S. Constitution, a document that I personally believe to be one of the best documents ever written except for the bible. Would this candidate be prepared to die to defend the Constitution as Military Members are all aware of. During a personal interview by a Board of Officers, I was asked, “Are you ready to die for your country?”  I dare say that I doubt any candidate for Congress was ever asked such a question but should be asked! 

Other questions I would like to know the answers to are where a candidate stands on: 

Are you prepared in your defense of the U. S. Constitution to kill anyone. both domestic and foreign, that threatens the U. S. Constitution like military members are?

Are you prepared to die in your defense of the U. S. Constitution if ever required to do so?

Do you hold a Dual Citizenship and if so, with what other country(s) and why?

Do you support that ONLY U. S. Citizens can vote in Federal Elections?

If so, do you support that voters show a photo ID and proof of citizenship when registering to vote?

Do you support the Second Amendment and realize it was written to protect citizens from a government that turns tyrannically against them, meaning people like you if you become an elected government member of Congress?

Do you support unrestricted abortions?

SPECIAL NOTE: Most politicians, regardless of party affiliation, are like chameleons, in that have the ability to change their colors to match their environment for protection. Politicians will say whatever they believe the listener wants to hear and that will garner them the votes they seek. Then, once in office they change to act in the manor THEY want rather than what their VOTERS WANT! 

I joined the Coast Guard with ZERO experience on using a firearm of any type. In a matter of weeks, I qualified as a sharpshooter on both the M1 rifle and on the 45-caliber pistol. There was no question in my mind that becoming proficient using these firearms was NOT for the purpose of hunting animals for food. We were a military force and the ONLY time those weapons would ever be drawn let alone fired, we understood it would be during the execution of a Coast Guard mission that required someone to be killed. Was I prepared to kill another human being when I was trained up until that day that “Thou shalt NOT kill!” To honestly answer that question, I am not sure that anyone could positively say yes until that moment a decision must be made. Training would suggest that you are. That Ten Commandants did not provide a list of exceptions. I fully understood that it was my duty to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies DOMESTIC and foreign.”  I have seen more American citizens in 2026 so ready to destroy the existing U. S. Constitution and move towards Socialism, which is nothing but a steppingstone to Communism If that is not an attack on the U. S. Constitution, I do not know what one would look like! Sadly, very sadly, some members of the U. S. Congress are in this group and as of October 2026, they are all Democrats. These people, such as Bernie Sanders, AOC and many others took the oath listed above for members of Congress. Were they serious or did the oath that they swore to have no lasting meaning to them? I must point out that there are NO expiration dates on the oaths the member of congress and members of the military take. I took my oath seriously, still do. Do they? Apparently not! That should be a disqualifying fact for any candidate AND existing members of the U. S. Congress. That one question to me is like choosing between Rogers and Sayed to fly the 747 that I am about to board. The answer is obvious or it should be to everyone. 

I never thought in my decades on this planet that I would ever have to consider defending the U. S. Constitution that is being attacked by American citizens or from a “domestic enemy,” NEVER! That is where America IS in 2026 when millions of Americans ARE prepared to shitcan the Constitution in favor of converting to Socialism, a governmental system that has failed every time it has been tried! EVERY TIME! Same goes for Communism. Supporters of people like Sayed in Michigan, Talarico in Texas, Nixon in Florida, and Congressional members like AOC and Bernie Sanders, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER SUPPORTERS, have never witnessed what happens to the average citizen of countries that use the Socialism system of government. Yes, they are ignorant of the ramifications of such a government and that attitude and belief points directly to our educational system in America. They know not of what they have in the palms of their hands and are willing to exchange that for a tyrannical government that dictates every aspect of their lives. 

I am in the Winter of my life, why should I care what happens to America? It is very simple, not only did I take a life-time oath to defend America, but I also have four children, eleven grandchildren and four great grandchildren, so far. I care for what happens to them. I do NOT want Socialism or Communism to touch any of them! You may not feel the same as I do but you will if those who seek to destroy America as we have come to know, and understand it, are successful in the move towards Socialism. 

You can no longer sit on the fence, you will have to pick a side because this is no longer a battle between Left and Right, Democrat and Republican, this is a battle between Freedom and Tyranny.

 

I chose FREEDOM!

How about YOU?

ABLE DANGER, IF YOU LOVE AMERICA, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

 ABLE DANGER

Was America Attacked on 9/11 Without Warning
Or Was the Warning Deliberately Silenced?
What the 9/11 Commission NEVER Told You
Written by Curt Weldon
A Book Review by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 8, 2026

IF YOU LOVE AMERICA, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!

As I read Able Danger, I could not help but think of The Warren Commission, created to investigate the murder of President John F. Kennedy. Why? Because even more than 60 years, few people that I know, belief the fake story line created by the very flawed Commission report. The 9/11 Commission was every bit as flawed as was the Warren Commission. You do not have to believe former U. S. Congressman Curt Weldon’s memory regarding the events before and after 9/11, but it is extremely hard if not impossible for this reader to ignore them.

What made this book so valuable to me is that it vindicated my existing belief that our government will say and do anything to protect its people and that includes lying under the guise of telling the truth through a Commission specifically created to uncover the truth.

Our government initially led us all to believe that 9/11 was an unexpected attack on America as organized by Bin Laden from a cave in the middle east. Our government told us that it had no prior knowledge of the events that led to the 9/11 attack. If Congressman Weldon is correct, and I believe that he is, segments of our government, specifically those members working within a program called Able Danger, not only were they aware that Mohammad Atta was in the United States up to a year prior to 9/11, but our government also knew that Bin Laden had planned to attack the United States having seen its lack of response to the previous bombing attack on the World Trade Center. The government was also aware that an attack on a Naval Ship would happen at least two weeks before terrorists attacked the USS COLE and they failed to inform the ship’s Commanding Officer or anyone in the chain of command.

Able Danger was ahead of its time using “super computers” to mine data from every source imaginable. It was, in effect, Artificial Intelligence (AI) long before the term was ever created. The super computers mined data, and it discovered both Mohammad Atta’s presence in the United States and the plan to attack a Naval Vessel BEFORE IT WAS TO OCCUR, our government NEVER TOLD US OF THESE REVELATIONS. According to Congressman Weldon, he and several other government employees have attempted to set the record straight on several occasions gut have ben thwarted on each attempt. The government, in its ridiculous attempt to protect the legacies of people such as Presidents Clinton and Bush, failed to report this information in the file Report on 9/11 prepared by the 9/11 Commission!

The attack occurred in 2001, and people are still dying from related causes in 2026 from the lingering unhealthy environment that the first responders worked in to recover and clean up after the attack. THE REALLY BIG QUESTION THAT ANY READER OF THIS BOOK SHOULD BE ASKING IS THIS: COULD THE ATTACKES ON THE USS COLE AND THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDINGS AND PENTAGON HAVE BEEN PREVENTED? If you take the time to read Able Danger, I am guessing that you will come to the same conclusion that I did; YES! That conclusion makes reading this book extremely disgusting.

I encourage everyone to read Able Danger and, if you do, ask yourself, “what would I do if I had information that could have prevented the attacks on the World Trade Center buildings and the USS COLE?” This is an extremely disturbing book on so many fronts!

Who Should Read Able Danger? Anyone and Everyone who loves America beyond the age of twelve.

Would I Read It Again? I would search for sections if I were ever questioned about my belief that America COULD HAVE prevented both attacks and by extension all future attacks anywhere on the planet.

Would I Give Able Danger as a Gift? I would but I would first need to know that the recipient wanted to know the truth or at least a storyline that is contrary to the official government storyline!

Eat or Be Eaten a book review

 

EAT OR BE EATEN

Conquering Your Demons Before They Conquer You
Written by Raphael Uzor
A Book Review by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 5, 2026

“Locus” What does that word mean? I had to look it up.

“A center or focus of great activity or intense concentration.”

The author uses the word “locus,” and the book lives up to that definition. It represents an intense concentration on life; past, present, and, more importantly, future. It explores the psychology of everyday living.

If you are like me, you will discover that on many pages, the author is describing YOU. You may recognize how you approach today’s problems and issues, and even what you may or may not have said to your children to get them to do what YOU think they ought to be doing. You may be surprised at just how much you influence and direct their futures, intentionally or unintentionally.

I read the book from the perspective of someone who had a career in the military, followed by a thirty-three-year career in real estate sales, management, and training. I found the book compelling and, more importantly, a guide to understanding how we approach and solve problems. It explains how to be a positive influence in someone’s life without becoming the director of that life, especially when it comes to our children.

Life might have been easier to understand and adapt to had I read this book decades ago. It would have helped me better understand why people do the things they do, or fail to do the things that seem so obviously necessary at the time.

Using specific life choices, the author illustrates real-life stories demonstrating how our decisions may or may not be in our best interests. More importantly, the book helps explain WHY we make those decisions and why we sometimes act, or fail to act, when we do.

The book WILL help you understand your personal relationships better and improve your business decision-making.

I use three questions after reading a book to help me determine its value to someone else.

Who should read the book?

I can easily see a benefit for everyone. Throughout the book, I could identify people I know, including myself, in many of the situations and behaviors described.

My answer, therefore, is simple: EVERYONE!

Would I read it again?

I would not read the entire book a second time, but I would return to specific portions whenever I recognize that I have fallen into one of the many traps the author discusses.

Would I give the book as a gift?

Absolutely.

There are sections of this book that I am certain could help people make better decisions in their lives. No group could benefit more than high school students and college graduates preparing to enter adulthood, when they begin making decisions that could affect them for the rest of their lives.

For that reason alone, I believe this book would make an excellent graduation gift for high school seniors and college students.

Who should read it? EVERYONE.
Would I read parts of it again? DEFINITELY.
Would I give it as a gift? ABSOLUTELY.

Advertising that is a Waste of Time AND Money

 

ADVERTISING THAT IS
A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 1, 2026

Every household, regardless of how many people reside in the home, have the same “needs” and “wants.” What is a “need?”  It is something, someone, or some service that the homeowner/tenant absolutely MUST HAVE! They cannot do without it! What is a “want?”  That is something that a person would simply “like” to have but does not necessary must have it. 

Homeowners may eventually need the services and/or products from the list of people. The “want” may eventually become a “need,” a MUST HAVE over time. It is important to understand that a person does not currently have a MUST HAVE requirement for them at this very moment but will eventually need them. If you were to ask them TODAY to name a person that could provide what they need, they could not. Keep that in mind as you review the list: 

Primary Care Doctor

Medical Specialist (orthopedic, pediatric, neurology, etc.)

Electrician

Plumber

Handyman

Lawn Treatment

Lawn Care

Pest Control

Real Estate Agent

Home Insurance Agent

Car Insurance Agent

Car Mechanic

Politician (running for office)

Barber

Beautician

Attorneys (family, business, accident, injury, etc.) 

The list is endless; the above list identifies the various people who would be the most often needed. It has been my experience that most of the people representing these categories have attempted to ADVERTISE to the public using the shotgun approach. By shotgun, I mean that they send out mail, create radio and/or television commercials and more recently, insert commercials on the various social media sites. Facebook inserts a small “ad” at the top of such commercials because a great many appear as stories where people identify a program that most of us experience and then explain their solution by promoting a product or a service. These commercials aim at no one in particular. You are aiming the advertising piece at everyone hoping that the message noticed by that one person who needs the product or service being promoted. Marketing is more a form of advertising, but you market your product and service to specific people such as friends, family or people in your contact database list or family phone directories. Marketing enjoys a greater degree of success than advertising to the public does. Advertising is more of a “hit or miss” activity. 

Some of the people representing the services listed above spend a great deal of money creating full color very slick mail pieces of ADVERTISING that they mail to the general public hoping that someone who receives it has a need at that very moment for what they are attempting to sell to you, the general public. As the graphic would suggest, most of these slick advertising pieces cost a lot of money to produce yet most and I do mean most, go directly “from the mailbox to the trashcan!”  That one very short comment was the best advice I had ever received, and it was from a successful real estate agent. 

He said, and this is the primary lesson to be taken from this Nugget, he said, you want to recipient of your advertising and even your marketing pieces, to identify who sent or published the material, what do they do that they are selling, how to contact them, and if the law requires, the name of the company they represent. 

This agent did not spend a lot of money on his advertising pieces. In fact, he made them on his desktop computer and printer; it is hard to believe that something you create at your desk would be so inexpensive, easy to create, yet work better than anything he had ever tried. Here you go! 

1. Create a 4-up post card on a normal 8x11 sheet of card stock, no paper, harder card stock.
2. Keep the message as simple as possible (see below).
3. Use a paper cutter and cut one 4-up sheet of four post cards into four individual post cards.
4. If necessary, reverse the card stock before you cut them into fours, so you can print your required information on the reverse side of the postcard if necessary. 

You have just created an advertising piece that is cheap, easy to create and one that you can easily change on your desktop should you need to change them in the future because you saved the setup and information as a file on your computer. Now for the important part. Keeping in mind the above comments, this is what appears on the “meat” side of the post card: 

THINK REAL ESTATE
THINK JIM BROWN
(PHONE NUMBER/WEB ADDRESS)
(In real estate, the name of the company would also be required) 

That is it. Put yourself in the position of a homeowner going to the mailbox. What is the first thing you do? You look to see who the mail is addressed to and who it is from. Most people would have already put the mail into two or three piles. Pile number one! Mail destined for the trash can. That would include this agent’s postcard. Mail addressed to a member in the home. If there were more than one person in the home, there would be a stack for each member, and this would all be done before the person picking up the mail gets back to the front door! 

The real estate agent would use the occasion of the season and change the color of the card stock to represent the season. Red or Green for Christmas. Purple for Easter. Orange for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Red for the 4^th of July. Red for use around Valentine’s Day. Otherwise, the cardstock would be white paper. Putting the color of the paper aside, THE MESSAGE WAS ALWAYS THE SAME! NO MORE, NO LESS! 

Why did he use the same message with each mailing? It becomes very familiar! When things are the same, they are much easier to remember and that is what he was his objective. When a person needed a real estate agent or a friend or neighbor needed a real estate agent, whose name would they think of first even thought they had never met him? 

To put an exclamation mark on this thought, think of your own life. Can you instantly recall the name of a plumber? An electrician? A family lawyer? An injury attorney? Anyone from the list provided above. For most people, they could not. In my geographic area the ONE exception would be for an injury attorney. Why is that so? If you listened to the 12:00 noon news on any channel, you see one commercial after another for injury attorneys. I counted them for one 30-minute news broadcast, there were ELEVEN injury attorney commercials – ELEVEN! They all say the same thing, “I can get you the most money!”  As a side note, what the commercials DO NOT say is that these attorneys get to keep 30 to 40 percent of any settlement that they get for their clients. I personally find that outrageous and explain why car insurance is so high in my state and city. That can work against injury attorneys because the number AND content of so many injury attorney commercials turn the view off rather than creating a favorable memory of the attorney(s). 

Some real estate agents send out full color shinny large and small postcards to show a property owner that they either listed a home for sale in their area or they recently sold a home in their area and the card is loaded with colorful photographs; very professionally done! If a homeowner does NOT have an immediate NEED for a realtor, the slick postcard goes from the mailbox to the trashcan. As a real estate agent with over thirty-three years in the real estate business, whenever I think of such cards going from the mailbox to the trashcan, I envision the recipient taking dollar bills (more like twenty-dollar bills) being removed from their mailbox and going directly into their trashcan. Then multiply that by the number of pieces mailed. It is overwhelming. 

Compare that cost to the cost of mailing out a small postcard created on your own desktop and printer. The cost of postage remains the same. The cost of materials and production are miles apart! 

The key to making this process successful is NOT sending out one postcard and thinking that it is going to be dollar productive. It may generate a call from a person who needs a real estate professional at the very moment the card is removed from the mailbox but the chances of that happening are zero. The key is repetition. How would YOU feel if you received such a card one? Twice a year? Four times a year? Six times a year? I can guarantee that you could send out multiple cards every year and still not spend as much as it would cost to send out a two-sided full-colored postcard just once! 

Ensuring that that you cover all the legal aspects, here is a fictious sample of a card that I would send out: 

THINK REAL ESTATE
THINK JIM “GYMBEAUX” BROWN

(phone number, smaller than your name but large enough to see)
(website address, it should be simple and easily remembered, same size as phone)
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
Each Office Independently Owned and Operated 

NOTE: The legal requirements such as my company name and the office disclaimer can be as small as you want, but it must appear. 

NOTE:   The less information required means you can make your name and what you do as large as possible, so large it could and should use the entire space on the card! 

What would I put on the reverse side? You may not be required but you could insert the full name and mailing address of the company in the upper left-hand corner where it would typically be located. Is that necessary? Not really, inserting additional information on the back costs very little but it does take twice the time to create the card. Personally, I do not think it is necessary. 

Addressing the post cards. You do NOT want to address the cards by hand, foolish and time consuming. Remember, your main objective is to simply get the card INTO the desired mailboxes. You do NOT even need to address the postcard to a name; in fact, I would avoid a name unless there is a local requirement that it be included. Why address it to just a street number and name, city, state, and zip code? Because you do not want to insult the homeowner by addressing it to “Homeowner.” You do not know if the homeowner on your database still lives there but someone does. When you address it just to the street name and number, whoever lives in the home will receive it and that is your objective. 

If you want to try this process, do not do it once or twice and then decide it does not work. It must be something that becomes routine, habitual, and non-stop! Real Estate agents could also insert one additional line when appropriate such as “ADDRESS – JUST LISTED!”  Or “ADDRESS – JUST SOLD” Now you are demonstrating WHO you are, WHAT you do, and example of WHAT you do, your phone number, your website address, and any other required information. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID is one of the best rules to follow – ALWAYS!

What Can We Learn From A Kelpie?

 

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM A KELPIE?
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 25, 2026

According to ChatGPT: A well-trained sheepdog can typically control 50–100 sheep by itself, and sometimes considerably more.

For large flocks, an experienced Border Collie, or a Kelpie (an Australian version of the Sheep Dog or Border Collie) may work several hundred sheep, especially in open pasture. That is worth repeating, ONE dog for SEVERAL HUNDRED SHEEP. For exceptionally large groups—500 to 1,000+ sheep—shepherds commonly use two or more dogs WORKING TOGETHER!

Why would I ever write a Nugget for the Noggin about an Australian Dog that most people would be unable to identify? I am SO glad you asked. Let me tell you.

Before I do, understand that it was NOT that many years ago, you could never get me to talk to anyone about political issues; I just did not care, and I said that every chance I got. That was then, this is now! Unlike today’s youth, I KNOW WHAT COMMUNISM IS! I KNOW WHAT MARXISM IS! More importantly, I KNOW WHAT CAPITALISM IS! I ALSO KNOW THE DAMAGE AND DEATHS CAUSED BY BOTH MARXISM AND COMMUNISM! I believe that today’s youth have not a clue to the damage and death caused by countries ruled by Marxist or Communist leaders if it was not taught in our schools. We certainly do not see it taught through documentaries on our television sets. If they were shown on our televisions, how many children would watch a documentary about historical events? In fact, the destruction and death created on 9/11 is not broadcast on television except on the anniversary each year. I doubt that it is taught as well. How else can you explain away that the very man elected to be the Mayor of New York City has the same beliefs of the men who “supposedly” flew the planes into the Twin Towers. In just twenty-five years, it appears that the people of New York City, at least the people who voted in the last Mayor’s election, did not seem to care or worse, did not even make the relationship between the two. Given the choice I would choose CAPITALISM, EVERY TIME!

That is NOT the case for so many American citizens in 2026 if what we see and hear on our television sets and on our electronic devices is true, which it is. People are going to vote for Democrat Socialists (DSA) in the mid-term elections in 2026. A vote for a DSA candidate IS a vote for Communism, Socialism, or some combination of the two. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT HAPPEN. Since you are reading this and have gotten this far, I am assuming that you do not as well.

Let us get into the weeds! I had never heard of Operation Mockingbird before the 1990s. That is when I read the book titled The Naked Communist, which is when everything changed for me. I could no longer sit idly by and say nothing about the significant changes I saw happening throughout America. I began to see them very differently than most Americans did. The changes I saw did not originate from the grass roots, meaning that they just grew on their own. No, the changes I saw happening were farmed! By farming, I mean people, real people, planted seeds, watered them, fertilized them, made sure they received plenty of sunshine and weather conducive to help them grow strong and sturdy.  While the seeds were growing, most people, like me but certainly not you, just did not care. I did not want to talk about them. Politics to me was a dirty word. The Naked Communist changed all of that!

If you owned one hundred sheep and needed to move them about your property, how would you go about it? You would purchase a Kelpie or the more popular Sheep Dog. I chose a Kelpie for this Nugget hoping that just the unusual word would be enough to trigger your interest enough for you to read this Nugget as compared to using a Sheep Dog.  You buy the Kelpie; it is well trained. If it is not well trained, you ensure it gets the training it needs. You then decide that 100 sheep is insufficient, so you buy 100 more. You discover that the ONE Kelpie is having a tough time controlling the sheep you have so you purchase a second Kelpie and then it becomes case of rinse and repeat. The more sheep you add to your herd, the more Kelpies you purchase.

I was going to add a brief explanation of Operation Mockingbird or provide you with a link where you could check for yourself, but I realized that most people would not click on the link and the term would be lost and never explained. Therefore, here is the ChatGPT explanation of Operation Mockingbird, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND UNDERST AND HOW EASY IT HAS BEEN TO CONVERT CLEAR THINKING INDIVIDUIALS INTO THE SHEEP WE HAVE BECOME.

From ChatGPT, words in parenthesis are my words: “Operation Mockingbird is a name commonly used for the CIA’s Cold War-era relationships with journalists and news organizations. The basic idea is real, but the popular version often combines several different CIA activities under one label.

During the early Cold War, the CIA considered newspapers, magazines, radio, publishing houses, and individual journalists (and television) useful for intelligence and for influencing opinion abroad. The Senate’s Church Committee, which investigated intelligence abuses in 1975–76, documented secret CIA relationships with members of the American media. Contemporary accounts of the committee’s findings reported that 50 American journalists had covert relationships with the CIA, ranging from freelancers and foreign correspondents to people associated with publishing organizations.

Those relationships were not all the same. Some journalists supplied information they encountered overseas; some provided cover or assistance to intelligence officers; and CIA covert-action programs also planted or encouraged propaganda abroad (the word propaganda is a kind way of telling LIES). Material placed in foreign media could sometimes make its way back into American reporting. This is the historical basis for the broader claim that the CIA sought to use media as an instrument in the Cold War. (Since the information, propaganda, came from a foreign newspaper, it must be true, right! It is like the exercise we all did as kids. One kid would tell a story and say pass it on. Each time it was passed on, it was embellished and by the time it got to the last kid in line, the story was completely different.)

There is an important distinction concerning the name “Mockingbird.” Declassified CIA records definitely identify Project MOCKINGBIRD, but that particular operation was a 1963 surveillance operation, not the name in those records for the entire CIA-media network. The CIA secretly wiretapped two Washington-based syndicated journalists, Robert S. Allen and Paul Scott, from March 12 to June 15, 1963, because they were publishing classified information. The CIA's own historical account confirms this.

The much broader meaning of “Operation Mockingbird”—a coordinated CIA program for influencing the press—is associated heavily with later writers and journalists. In 1977, investigative journalist Carl Bernstein reported that hundreds of American journalists had performed services for the CIA over the preceding decades. Author Deborah Davis subsequently used “Operation Mockingbird” to describe an extensive CIA-media influence network. Historians continue to debate whether there was actually one centrally organized program formally called Operation Mockingbird matching that popular description.

What is not seriously disputed is the underlying conduct: the CIA maintained covert relationships with journalists and media-related people during the Cold War. The controversy became substantial enough that in February 1976 CIA Director George H. W. Bush announced a new policy prohibiting the CIA from entering into paid or contractual relationships with accredited American news correspondents, while still allowing journalists voluntarily to provide information. (Like so many government activities, the simple statement that something has stopped does not mean it has really stopped. Many people, me included, believe that the program still exists to this day.)”

If you only watch ONE mainstream news outlet, there would be nothing to compare their broadcast to, and you would accept what you have been watching as being the truth. But…if you watched more than one mainstream outlet, you would think that you might get a different story on the same subject matter, that is what I thought! What I discovered was that it did not matter which outlet I watched, I not only got related stories, BUT I ALSO GOT EXACTLY THE SAME STORY ON EVERY CHANNEL USING THE SAME WORDS, PHRASES AND LANGUAGE. I EVEN NOTICED THAT THEY ALL HAD ALMOST IDENTICAL BODY LANGUAGE WHEN DISCUSSING THE SAME STORIES NO MATTER WHICH CHANNEL I WATCHED! That is impossible UNLESS…all the stations received their news articles from the SAME PLACE!

Our supposedly unbiased mainstream news media has become our Kelpies! We all watch on different channels but come away with the same story and beliefs. That is precisely how we all began to wear medical masks and stood no closer than six feet to everyone. That is how members of a junior high school band would sit in plastic bubbles and play instruments to prevent the spread of a disease that we were all taught was real and dangerous to everyone, young and old. We all watched in disbelief how some experts and non-experts spoke out against the disease and they were all cancelled. We saw doctors whose medical licenses were being threatened by the government if they did not follow the guidelines put forth by our government and REENFORCED on every news broadcast by the mainstream media. No one was permitted to speak out against these policies or procedures and feared for their own freedom from penalties for speaking out. The exclamation mark on this practice was visible when you saw the exact same practices occurring in every city around the world. The message had to be coordinated by someone to get that result!

How did something like that happen? We all became SHEEP. The government working closely with the media and our televisions became the Kelpies who not only watched over us, but they also controlled our every movement. If we failed to obey, we would be denied medical care, some lost their jobs. The penalties were severe! What did we all do? Like the sheep being corralled by Kelpies, we did what we were directed to do, and we went were we were told to go, and we dared NOT to speak out against all of this guidance given under the guise of being protected.

There is one word that EVERYONE should understand and that word is FEED! They call it “the news FEED” for a reason. A second word that everyone should understand is “programming.”  People understand that computers are programmed to cause them to react as we want them to react. Television news and television programming work on the same principle. We are being fed the subconscious messages that the people who wield power and who want us all to hear and believe the same things. That way WE become PROGRAMMED to react the way those in power want us all to react. To most people 2 + 2 = 4. To a much smaller handful 2+2 is 44. These are the people who think “outside the box” that frighten the people in power the most because they see through the organized programming and they ask questions. They do their own research. They find their own answers or find enough information to seriously question the programming they see and hear on their television sets. That is who I have become. Where do you stand?

We have all been programmed to believe certain events in our history occurred just as we have been told that they did. During my lifetime, the BIG ones have been Vietnam, the murders of JFK, RFK, MLK but especially JFK. We believed that Iraq had and used Weapons of Mass Destruction, 9/11, COVID and now election integrity. I am only guessing but if you did your own study by asking people you know about these events, you would get the same or remarkably similar explanations from each one; the stories would not vary. That is effective programming of the mind! As an example, we were all told that we HAD to fight in Vietnam because the North Vietnamese attacked two U. S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. We were told that we could not permit that to happen, so we entered the war. Thousands upon thousands of people on both sides were killed and many more wounded for life all based upon an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin that did not happen. But we believed it did.

The next time you watch the news, watch it as an observer would. What was said? Was it 100% the news or did the statements include news AND the commentators’ OPINIONS? You will discover as I did, there are about as many OPINIONS broadcast as there is NEWS. Then if you go further in your observation, switch channels and try to find a news outlet covering the same story and listen to the words and phrases used. YOU WILL FIND THEM, if you pay close attention.

Today’s news is fraught with examples of INSTANT PROTESTERS blocking traffic, abusing law enforcement officers, and using some of the foulest language. If you look closely, they are all wearing the same type of clothing with the same messages and same professionally prepared signage. These protests were not grass roots; they were well organized and well-funded. The protesters have become the sheep, and the organizers and money people have become the Kelpies controlling them.

If you have not figured it out, WE ALL HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED!

Simple Steps to avoid being brainwashed:

1.      Learn to pay attention to everything.

2.      Question everything, you hear or see.

3.      Trust no one in the media.

4.      Realize that politicians lie.

5.      Just because someone else does something does not mean you have to do the same things. This is particularly true in the world of fashion, fads and social media.

You might find the following WEBSITES interesting. If the links do not work, copy and paste them to your browser:

45 Communist USA objectives described in the book The Naked Communist, a 3-minute video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofB4hbFvhis

 

Operation Mockingbird:  https://allthatsinteresting.com/operation-mockingbird

 

The Art of Brainwashing:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-chemistry/201803/the-art-brainwashing

How the Gulf of Tonkin incident Sparked the Vietnam War:  https://allthatsinteresting.com/gulf-of-tonkin

Closing Gifts (Applies to anyone in sales)

 

CLOSING GIFTS
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 24, 2026

BACKGROUND: I retired from the real estate business in 2012 after 33 years in the business. One question that continually surfaced was “closing gifts” for customers. Do you engage in the practice or not? If you engage, how much do you spend? Do you know how much the Internal Revenue Service permits you to deduct on your income tax return identified as closing gifts to customers? Obviously, I have been out of the business for over 13 years and things change but I was shocked to discover that the IRS has NOT changed the amount for at least that length of time even though the cost of everything has gone up and not down. 

To be honest, it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to purchase a closing gift worth less than the IRS limit of $25.00 that has the desired meaning for giving such a gift to your customers. According to ChatGPT, here is a summary of the IRS rules extracts in September of 2026:

“The IRS generally allows you to deduct up to $25 per customer, per tax year for business gifts.

For example, if you are a real estate agent and give a customer a $100 gift basket at closing, you can generally deduct only $25 of its cost.

The $25 limit applies to the total gifts you give the same customer during the year, not to each individual gift.

There are two useful exceptions:

·         Packaging and shipping: Gift wrapping, engraving, and shipping may be deductible in addition to the $25 if they do not increase the gift's value.

·         Promotional gifts: Items costing $4 or less, permanently displaying your business name and widely distributed, generally don't count toward the $25 limit.

Keep receipts and records of the recipient, date, and business purpose.”

What can you give to a customer that would serve the purpose of keeping you and the service you provide ever present in their mind. Here are some negative things about closing gifts that I have observed over the years.

Flowers – they typically die quickly.

Plants – some succeed and some do not. If the customers eventually plant them in the ground, they remain with the house even after the customer may have sold it and therefore would serve no future purpose to keep your name ever present in their mind. If the plant dies that would be a negative reminder.

Meals. You can get a delicious meal, or you can get a bad meal. Customers may temporarily remember a delicious meal but for how long. I can assure you that they will remember a bad meal and whoever gave it to them for an extraordinarily long time. Meals have no shelf-life after the customers eat them.

Where am I going with this Nugget? Do I believe in closing gifts or not? I do believe in not only using closing gifts but also giving gifts of thanks in general. Why are closing gifts and gifts in general important for your business?

I will answer the last question first. They are NOT important to you and your business IF the closing gift turns out to be a bad gift OR the gift has no shelf life. By “shelf life” I mean, will the gift be around long enough to remind the customer of you and your service the next time the need arises? For most closing gifts the answer is no, they will not. If that is the case for the gifts you give, you may want to consider saving your money or changing your gift. As to the importance, you want the closing gift to have a shelf life with a positive memory and more importantly, whenever the customer sees it, the gift reminds them of you, the service you provide and how professionally you provided the service. Using real estate sales as an example, you want your gift to broadcast the message, “When YOU think of REAL ESTATE, you think of (insert your name)! If you currently give a closing gift, does the gift serve that purpose? If not, you need to rethink what you are doing and how you can do it better.

I would not write this Nugget if I did not think I had a better idea for people in sales to use and I do. Why? Because I know that it worked for me. First, you MUST eliminate the restrictions that the Internal Revenue Service has placed on you regarding the amount you can deduct as a business expense on your tax return. That restriction will significantly hamper your goal of helping the customer to remember you and the service you provided to them. Take whatever deduction you can and move on! Having someone remembering YOU and the SERVICE that YOU provide is far more important and is PRICELESS!

What checked the biggest box for me was giving people something that most people would want to keep and if they kept it, it would serve my desired purpose, being remembered! I purchased a box of note cards, the kind you would or should be using to write personal notes to probable customers and people you do business with. The cards I purchased had a pen and ink drawing of famous landmark type buildings located in the town I served, Slidell, Louisiana. By most city standards, Slidell would be a small town but even a small town with several memorable and iconic buildings.

I worked out an arrangement with a local art/frame store where they would mount three of the cards onto a colorful background, (I chose a simple solid blue felt like background) and then the store would frame them and cover them with glass. On the back of each creation, the store applied the brown paper that you see on all artwork like the one created for my customers. It was a beautifully finished product if I may say so myself. But…I was not done. I authored a poem, an original poem that I unfortunately have lost. The poem told the story about making a house a home (there is a difference). The premise was that a “house” just sits there until you insert a family and then it becomes a home where memories are created. I would take a Sharpie pen and copy the poem in my own handwriting on the back of each picture and then sign it.

Now, as the infamous radio announcer Paul Harvey would say at the end of each broadcast, “And now for the rest of the story!”

This is what happened and I swear as unbelievable as it may sound, it is just as I describe it. I do not recall any customer who received one of these works of art, never being extremely thankful for the gift. I have personally been in the homes that I had sold to customers who received the gift and it was still hanging on the walls within their home that they bought thirty or even forty years ago. They have told me that every time they notice it, they think of our sale together. That IS PRICELESS!

You can believe what I am about to tell you or not, that is your choice. I received a call from a woman who I had given one of these frames to and this is what she told me over the phone. “I was looking at the three cards, and I remembered that you wrote something on the back. I remembered that it was a nice thought when you gave it to me, but I had forgotten about it until this past week. I took the frame down to read what you had written, and it made me cry because it struck an emotional chord. I cried a lot and (as she said, here it comes) the tears dropped down on the back of the frame sitting on my lap and the ink ran and ruined what you had written. Can you send me a copy of the poem?”  That happened just as I had explained it. The actual words may have been different, but the message is the same. After all, this happened over thirty years ago so please do not fault me for not remembering the exact words she said. Due to a major computer crash, I lost the original poem I had written.

How much did the frames and cards cost? Great question. I think I may have spent $15 to as much as $25.00 on the box of cards but I do not remember how many cards were in the box. I did not consider the cost to be excessive. As I stated, I worked out an arrangement with the art store that they would get repeat business from me every time I closed a sale and they could put the name of their company and contact information on the back so it was a form of advertising for them and a business deduction for them as well. I do not remember the price we settled on but I remember it was less than $100 for each piece. It was more like $75.00. Keep in mind, I could deduct $25.00 on my income tax so that may the difference in the real cost to me was more like $50.00. Was spending $50.00 worth giving a customer something they would keep for life and that every time they saw it, they would think of me? Is a Giraffe afraid of ceiling fans!

If you could find something like the cards that I had discovered, you could do something similar. You could also save money by framing just ONE of the cards and making the item smaller and therefore much easier for the customer to find a place to hang it.

What did the finished product look like? This is one of the pieces the frame/art store made for me, and it still hangs on my wall as well.

I AM NOT ALONE!

I AM NOT ALONE (Thank God!);
IMAGINE THAT!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, September 8, 2026

I recently posted the following on a Facebook group page, “What’s Going on In Slidell”, thinking I was doing local restaurants a favor. Judging by some of the comments that were posted in response, you would think I was wrong and that I was complaining and/or bitching. 

“PUBLIC SERVICE REQUEST: Has anyone noticed that when you eat out, the portions on almost every plate have grown larger. Maybe it is my age, but I do not eat as much as I once did and the size of the plates actually "turn me off" rather than make me want to come back. If you look around, you don't see many people who are trim and healthy looking, you see a lot of obese people. The movement of the federal government is to Make America Healthy Again and eating better food and less food is one way to do that. Restaurants have a children's menu, why not a menu for people who prefer to eat less food or at least a senior menu? I was guilty. I have lost over 40 pounds over the past couple of years and all I did was choose to eat less food, and eat less sugar, nothing else has changed.” 

Most of the comments suggested that I request a to go box or bag and take the food home to be eaten later as if I did not understand that I could do that. 

AMERICA IS OBESE!  PERIOD!  END OF STATEMENT!  I have seen reports that a HUGE majority of young men and women could not physically qualify to serve in the military because of their weight.  One only need to observe to see that a great many Americans are overweight! 

Apparently, the following analogy needs to be said.  A gasoline engine requires gasoline to run.  The human body requires food to just stay alive. The gasoline and the food serve the same purpose, it keeps something running. You would not put 20 gallons of gas into a gas tank that only holds 17 gallons yet that is exactly what most people, certainly not you, do their bodies.  They put more food in than they burn off as calories which are required to keep from putting on excess pounds. 

As people grow older, some, if not most, become less active. I know this because I am now 81 years old as I write this.  I do not smoke; I rarely drink alcohol. I once was a runner that ran up to 10 miles at a time, and I played a lot of sports. I kept active until recently by maintaining the yard at our home. A permanently damaged knee, a broken back and age now keep me from doing any of these activities. It is simple math, if you do not burn off calories, you must reduce your consumption of food, or you will become overweight if not obese in your retired years. For the record, I have lost over 40 pounds over the past 2 years.  For the most part that is because I eat less and am careful to reduce the number of things I eat that contain a lot of sugar. 

My post was never intended to be a complaint or a bitch as some suggested. I was merely suggesting that local restaurants do what Middendorf’s of Slidell, LA has done; they offer a senior portion of many of their menu options. 

Habits are hard to break!  My parents taught us in the 1950s to eat everything on our plates.  It was not unusual to be told that there are starving children all over the world and it is our responsibility to eat what is in front of us on our plates. Obviously, that was an overstatement, but when you are taught lessons as a child, those lessons do NOT magically disappear from your unconscious mind, so you clean your plate well into your adulthood. “A happy plate is a clean plate!”  

Because of some health issues, my doctor has explained that your plate should be divided into types of food in relationship to “carbs” and sizes to help regulate your weight AND your blood sugar readings. Over the past several years, I have attempted to do that, and the result has been better blood sugar readings and the loss of 40 pounds; pounds that I put on despite a lot of running, sports and physical activities. I simply was NOT burning off more calories than I was taking in! One doctor joked about the best diet in the world was the “push away” diet plan.  He explained that simply pushing away from the table when you are full is a good plan. 

When I was young and healthy, I did not pay much attention to what or HOW MUCH I ate, and my weight was proof of that statement.  Keep in mind what I said, I do not smoke, I drink very little alcohol, in fact the only alcohol I drink is an occasional draft beer when we eat out. Plus, I was very active. Despite this routine, I managed to have a blocked artery that required open heart surgery.  I developed Type 2 Diabetes, I do not know why or how, but I did.  As I look around, it is impossible not to see grossly overweight people and my only thought is that if they do NOT have heart and blood sugar issues, it is only a matter of time. 

To say I was shocked that people would find fault with my post would be an understatement!  I was in the sales business for over thirty-three years.  The one thing I fully understood was that the customer was always right, even when they were wrong.  When I go to a restaurant, I am a customer.  I was simply stating a fact as to what THIS customer was thinking and would like to see happen as I looked down upon a plate of food that I could not possibly eat in one setting.  Many comments suggested that I eat at home and believe me, I have considered it.  I also have considered that taking my wife out for a night out is more important.  Call me selfish, I would like to have both a night out with my wife and a plate that did not runneth over with food I would never eat. 

I made the post without asking CharGPT if I might be the only person who thought like this.  I later did ask the question and the following is the answer.  In short, I am NOT alone (as many of the response posts would suggest).  I attribute most of the comments to people who are not nearly as old as I am so there is no way they could put themselves in my shoes BEFORE they made such critical comments implying I am too stupid to realize I could take the excess food home.  Dah!  

FROM CHATGPT: NOTE: Sections of the answer emboldened by me were also underlined for emphasis.

Yes, but with an important qualification: I could not find a large U.S. national survey that asks seniors the exact question, “Would you like restaurants to offer a senior-sized portion?” There is, however, fairly good research supporting the idea that many older adults prefer smaller portions and would benefit from having them offered.

One particularly relevant study interviewed older adults about their eating habits. Participants repeatedly described having smaller appetites, wanting smaller meals, disliking food waste, and sometimes ordering children's portions because regular restaurant portions were too large. The researchers specifically recommended that food-service businesses routinely offer smaller portions and noted that these could correspond to “senior menus.”

There is also quantitative evidence that older people actually eat smaller portions. One population study found that for 109 of 126 foods—86%—older adults consumed smaller portions than younger adults.

Restaurant research supports the concept as well. A CDC-published study of restaurant owners found that some restaurants already offered multiple portion sizes, with senior menus specifically cited as an established example of smaller portions. Owners said the reasons included giving customers more choice and allowing lower prices.

And a particularly interesting 2026 restaurant study compared customers ordering meals of 700 calories or less with customers ordering regular portions. The people choosing the smaller portions tended to be older. They consumed substantially fewer calories, reported essentially the same fullness, and most said they would order the smaller portions again.

What we can—and cannot—say

I would not claim something like “75% of seniors want senior menus,” because I haven't found a credible national study establishing a percentage like that.

But there is defensible evidence for saying:

Research indicates that older adults generally consume smaller portions, commonly report reduced appetites and concerns about wasting oversized servings, and can be well served by restaurants offering smaller, lower-priced portions.

There's an interesting business idea hiding in your question, too: rather than a stereotypical “Senior Menu,” restaurants could put a symbol next to entrées indicating “Smaller Portion Available — Reduced Price.” Seniors get what they want without being restricted to a separate menu, and anyone with a smaller appetite could order it.

Conclusion: The conclusion should be obvious.  Restaurants should either include a “senior menu”, mark their existing menus that “senior portions are available.”  Business Rule #2: The Customer is ALWAYS right, even when they are wrong!  What is Business Rule #1 you ask?  Never piss off a potential paying customer, EVER!