Howdy all!!!
For over 11 years, this site has been our home. It’s been place where we’ve shared ideas, debated politics, laughed, and supported each other through life’s ups and downs. You’re not just people posting, you’re family. Some of you have been here since day one or even before. I’ve posted for about 5 years before this site, and some of you were already posting together before I first introduced myself. I lurked for a while. 😊 I’m so grateful for the trust and connection we’ve built. I’ve got big plans to take our mission, sharing real unfiltered political stories, to the next level. Global. I would like y’all to be a core part of it.
I’ve had this vision for A LONG TIME. I’ve always been intimidated by the scale and complexity though. Being basically an ‘army of one’ trying to put it together. It’s a lot to create. It’s a lot to learn.
There were two things that started it. One, and the one that stops many content creators, is fear of being in front of a camera. I have overcome that. Back in November a friend of mine wanted me to do a podcast with him. He had tried political, and I think he didn’t really have someone who was deep enough and excited enough about it to piece it together. He already had two others going. One is based on sports. The other is based on gaming. He wanted politics.
Before my mother passed away he had me join in on one where he also had a candidate for a Texas office. That was interesting. My mother passed away, and I had to focus on that. Little did I know he wanted to continue our discussions as a political channel.
Last November he said ‘Can you do a political podcast?’ He said he had wanted to start one permanently. That’s why he had me on several years ago. I didn’t ‘get it’ that his goal was permanent. I said yes. I have been doing that since mid-November, missing only three. One was either Christmas or New Years. Another was the 4th of July. The third was my recent Branson trip. So I can say, I have no problem being in front of a camera on a podcast.
One was the scale and complexity of the project. I would have to learn A LOT. I would have to learn how to broadcast, platforms to use, get the equipment, learn how to use it, learn video editing, etc. Overwhelming. Enter AI. I’ve been using AI since around the same time I started on the broadcast with my friend. Yes, like everyone, I started out doing goofy things. For Christmas I made a picture of a cat pulling Santa in a sleigh flying over Mar-a-Lago. I sent it to my sister, who hates Trump. She thought it was cute. She probably didn’t notice what he was flying over. 😊 Then I started using AI……’usefully’. I would have issues with everyday things, and he would help me work through them. Imagine. I’m trying to do something complicated. Whether a computer issue, working on diagnosing a vehicle, diagnosing my health issues, etc. I realized how he could ‘teach’. Many people here have probably had issues where they went to YouTube and watched a string of videos for a few days to figure out how to do something. It might take A LOT of videos and a lot of time. You might have figured it out, or you might have discovered that what you are trying to do wasn’t possible. Some would be a vision I had that I didn’t know if it was possible. Grok. I have something I am trying to research……watch a lot of YouTube videos…no. Ask Grok. Instead of days of watching videos, it became 5 seconds then ‘Yes. It can be done. Watch this and that video…this person has done it so go to his website to learn this or that…etc.’ WOW!!! Now I can do something complex, as an ‘army of one’. I don’t have to have one thing I am trying to do, spend a week trying to do it, then move on to another problem. He became the perfect assistant. That realization probably came around February. My ‘plan’ would require learning a lot of complex processes
First step. Get the website fixed. I had been working on getting it fixed since the end of March. It took A LOT of solid work, even with Grok. I have a single conversation with him that is still live that began around mid-April. I REALLY screwed it up at the end of May, when I was changing some behind the scenes code. I began the process of hiring someone to fix it. Just try to find the right person, someone who you can say ‘Do you have experience with blogger AND disqus?’ and they say yes. Calling around places that list web design was almost impossible. I wanted to preserve everyone’s comments. That was a focus. I couldn’t risk losing that.
Enter the amazing lady from Pakistan. I hired someone to help me fix it. I am EXTREMELY GRATEFUL to the people who donate to the site. I almost received enough of a donation to fix the site. And here we grow!!!
TB...
August 21, 2025
