Apparent Election Outlook

 There is a lot that has been said about the undesirable qualities of both presidential candidates for this upcoming election.  I do not intend to get into the details, but we are in the exact same circumstance with the candidates as we were in 2020.  Regardless of the outcome, we will be stuck with the aftermath of whichever new president gains the Whitehouse.  I will be candid.  I prefer Donald Trump over Biden any day.  Trump may be crass and tactless, but he is a shrewd businessman that knows what needs to be done in order to stabilize the U.S. economy.  I believe he also has a better grasp on dealing with dictators such as Putin across the globe.  Joe Biden's foreign policy of "appeasement" has weakened the standing of the United States on the international stage and we have become a laughingstock instead of a respected and feared country.  Under Donald Trump in his 2016 term, we had a stronger military, no dictators threatening their neighbors, and no terrorist groups controlling international shipping routes.  All of this, in spite of opposition from democrats and members of his own party. 

By contrast, Joe Biden's 2020 term has ignited wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Hamas and Israel, all due to the general weakness of the Biden administration.  To make matters worse, funds to assist Ukraine have been funneled to the country slowly, rather than give Ukraine enough weapons to adequately defend themselves - something we could have done from day one.  This allows Putin to literally get away with murdering Ukrainians and even his own people.  None of this is even mentioning the economic costs on the global economy.  This war may not have even started at all had Trump remained in office.  

I am no economist.  But it is obvious that the U.S. economy is doing much worse under Biden than it was under Trump.  You only need to look as far as gasoline, grocery, and housing prices to see the difference between now and 2016.  Ironically, the fact that the democrats are pushing so hard against Trump, will be the ultimate reason for him getting elected, were that to happen.  It is certainly the primary reason that I am supporting Trump.  The Democrats are so obviously and blatantly abusing their power against a political opponent.  If they can do that against Trump, then what is going to stop them from doing the same exact things to the average citizen like me or you.   That is a question that we must all ask ourselves as we approach the November election.  Until next time, reach anyway.  

Ecology Card game review

 Ecology is a 4 player card game.  I was able to play the game a few times recently, and I found it to be very entertaining and fun.  Especially if you like animals and ecosystems or how nature interacts with itself.  Some good things about the game are that it is enjoyably competitive, while at the same time educational about ecosystems and ecologies.  The game even goes as far as to detail the interactions that specific popular animals have with each other such as salmon and polar bears.  The purpose of the game is to create and maintain your own ecologies for points.  That being said the competitive aspect arises when other players are able to destroy key aspects of your created ecology.  Therefore, you have to try and factor in sabotage as you attempt to garner points in stable ecological interactions.  

As far as playing this game with dyslexia and fine motor skills, it is very possible to overcome dyslexia so long as you have a good memory for pictures and can connect actions to the pictures.  I have this capability.  If you do not, then this game is probably not something that you could play on your own.  As for fine motor skills, you may end up needing some assistance in handling the cards as they are as flimsy and difficult to handle as regular playing cards.  

Overall, I do not recommend playing this game if you are not comfortable with extreme competitive playstyles.  However, you do not have to play in a cutthroat style if you don't want to.  The game ends when either nobody plays any cards at all, or when someone reaches 12 total points.  The biggest downside of this game would be that the point system is very wonky.  Rather than having the points as 1,2,3,4 in ascending order, various cards are given the point value of 0.25,0.5,0.75, etc.  I would recommend that the game is played with a calculator or with close monitoring of points in play per player regardless of whether or not you are keen with numbers. 

I was able to purchase this game on ETSY for $25 while it was on sale.  The game is also available on amazon in addition to its various expansions.  I would highly recommend this game for people who want to casually learn more about ecologies and for people who like competitive card games.  I really had fun playing this game, and I am glad that I was able to get it as a gift for my father.  Remember, keep having fun, and keep reaching anyway until next time.