SEXTROPOLIS: S1/CH7/"HEATHEN"

Season1/Chapter7
"Heathen"

It's Friday evening. The nightlife in downtown Fort Lauderdale is out of control. The venues are endless. All you have to do is pick  a spot or go to multiple spots during the evening. I had a good writing day. My work-out was long and intense. I feel good. When I got home, I called my cousin, Adrian. He was out and about but he knew I would call. I like hanging out with him because at our age, not too many of us are single. Single guys over forty have to stick together. Hoorah! He's an independent insurance broker. He loves it. Why? I don't know. He just does. The best part he says is that he makes his own hours. I guess that's pretty cool. He works for himself. So, he has no boss. Like I said, He loves it.

"Mr. Adrian Paul, How are you this fine evening." Adrian was at home now. He said, "I'm fine. What's going on? If your calling, that can only mean one thing. What's up for tonight?" I laugh and said, "You know me so well. I was thinking the usual." He said, "The Blue Martini." I said, "Yes sir, you would be right." He laughed. He said, "What time should I be at your place?" I said, "The usual, nine thirty." I could here him thinking and I said, "No need, I'm fully stocked, just come over." With laughter in his voice, he said, "I should have known."

"So what have you been up to?" I said, "I've been seeing someone." Adrian laughs and shakes his head. He said, "Uh oh! Here we go." I said, "Yeah, you can say that again." "So what's the problem?" I said, "It's not a problem. It's just that everything has been going well. The sex is great." "But!" "Yeah, but. I really like her but she's all about church. She's been trying to get me to go." Adrian said, "And you don't want to, you heathen. You like being with her but you don't want to do the church thing, dilemma, dilemma, dilemma." I head to the kitchen and make myself another drink, a screw driver. I ask Adrian if he wants one also. He said sure. I make the second and take it to Adrian. He said, "You have to make a choice. Go to church and remain with the girl. Or, tell her your not interested in church and lose the girl. What's your call?" I sip from my drink. I said, "It's not a tough decision. I'll decide tomorrow." I get up and raise my glass. I said, "Let's make tonight a night to remember."

The Blue Martini is worth the price of admission. Adrian and I make it there around 10:30 PM. The place is packed. Of course, we make our way to the bar. I see an age-appropriate woman who's having drinks with a friend. I head over to where her and the friend are. Adrian isn't far behind. I smile and start a conversation. I say, "Hello. How are you?" She smiles back and replies. We do the friend introductions and spend the rest of the evening talking. She's from out of town, visiting. Her friend lives in Fort Lauderdale. We dance like two couples who have been together awhile. We have more drinks and talk about commonalities. Closing time is approaching. We exchange numbers and promise to keep in touch. We'll see how that goes. As Adrian and I are leaving, I get a call. It's Indigo. She's hysterical and frantic. She said, "I need your help! Please come see me, hurry! It's an emergency!"

SEXTROPOLIS:S1/CH6/"ON TOP"

Season1/Chapter6
"On Top"

Everyone took a knee and bowed their heads. I just stood there at first. Indigo looked over at me and that's when I took a knee also next to her. The host of this swanky party is Jerome Bentley. He had both hands above his head and said, "He is our savior. He is our champion. He will show us the way to eternity." I thought, "Here we go. Down the rabbit hole." Indigo took my hand  and squeezed. Everyone was in silence and appeared to be praying. I was kneeling but looking around. That's when I noticed it. There wasn't any pictures, crucifixes and/or statues of Christ or his followers. I thought, "How strange. What or who are they praying too?" This went on for about 15 minutes. Then Bentley said, "Let us rejoice in his coming. He will show us the way." "Of course he will," was my only thought. The party continued as if that little segment hadn't occurred. Everyone was all smiles and jubilant. I went along and didn't push for answers from them or Indigo. We enjoyed the rest of the evening. After an hour had pass, we said our goodbyes and left.

We road in silence on the way home. Indigo likes to drive fast. She drives as if she is an hour late to an important appointment. This is quite stressful for me. I've been accused of driving like an old lady, one who is driving on Sunday morning. So, you can imagine my angst. The drive is short but she takes every corner like her name is Andretti. We get to my apartment and she parks next to my car. She gets out and heads for the entrance. I follow because what else am I suppose to do. We enter my apartment and she heads straight for my bedroom. Inside the bedroom, she begins to undress. To say that I was pleased with this turn of events would be an understatement. The words ecstatic comes to mind. I undress and get on the bed. She follows. We kiss and caress. She stops and then said, "I like a lot of foreplay." I give her the whatever you want look and said, "Okay." We proceed. Eventually, she gets on top and we enjoy each other some more. I'm not a fan of "her on top." But at this very moment, I'm not complaining. It probably has something to do with being average. OOPS! Forget I said that. Moving on, I climaxed. She might of, one can only hope. she rolled over and said, "Are you okay?" I said, "Just fine. Thank you for asking."

We are laying next to each other staring at my ceiling. She said, "About tonight, I wanted to apologize for not completely being honest with you." I look over at her and said, "Oh, you mean the church social and the praying. That caught me off guard a bit." She was still looking at the ceiling when she said, "Yeah, about that, we are true believers. I wanted you to be a part of it. I'm hoping you will want to learn more and maybe come to our church." I was silent for a while and then said, "You want me to come to your church. Service is probably a marathon." I shook my head and she looked at me. She was now laying sideways. She said, "You'll enjoy it. It's fun. Our worship is beautiful and we want to share it with you." I give her the inquisitive look. I said "I'm Catholic. I enjoy being Catholic. Being Catholic is low stress. You go to church for 55 minutes. In and out, it's like taking a college class. And if things get really bad, you go to confessional and all is forgiven. You can't beat that. Why would I ever want to leave that?" She smiles at me and I melt. She takes my hand and said "It will be enlightening. What have you got to lose?" I smile back and said "I didn't see any representations as to who you were praying too. You were praying to the Son of God, correct?" She gave an even wider smile and said, "Come to church with me and find out." My pubic hairs curled up unnaturally and I said, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

SEXTROPOLIS:S1/CH5/"HIS COMING"

Season1/Chapter5
"His Coming"

"Oh goodness! Is that my cell? What time is it? The clock shows 6:00 AM. Who in the hell is calling me at 6 in the morning?' I roll over and sit up on my bed. I answer the cell. "Hello." The voice is sultry and vivacious at the same time. It can only be one person. "Good morning Indigo." She laughs a little and I can hear her expression. She said, "Good morning again handsome." I shake my head and say, "Kind of early isn't it?" "Early for what," she said. I don't take the bait. I say, "Just early. What are you up to?" "I'm getting ready to go to work and I wanted to talk to you before I head out." I say, "Okayyy." I can feel her smiling. She said, "I need to ask you something." "What is it?" She continues, "I'm getting together with some friends this evening and I wanted you to come." I was still drowsy and waking up. I said, "Let me check my incredibly packed social calendar." I pause for a bit and then say, "I'm free. When should I pick you up?" She laughed. She said, "Nope. I did the inviting. I'll pick you up. I'll be by your place around 7:00 PM." I laughed and said, "Okay then, it's a date."

I head to the bathroom and then I head to the home office. I do my three hours of writing and head out for my work out. It's Wednesday, so it's work out day. I get back home from the gym feeling tired and soar. I get a call from my best friend, Justin. He is his usual happy and go -lucky self. He begins by asking me what's new. I say, "Nothing, the usual." He laughs and said, "That means something is going on. What's going on?" I say, "Nothing is going on. I'm behaving, being a good boy." "Bullsh*t," he said. "I know something is going on." I break down and I say, "I met a girl." With that, he yells out on the other end of the phone, "Hallelujah!" I laugh and he laughs. He said, "I knew it. When you didn't say anything, I knew it. You must be serious about her." I'm shaking my head. I tell him, "I just met her. Things are going well. We'll see." He takes a minute to stop poking fun at me and said, "I'm happy for you. It's time you met a nice girl and settle down." I say, "Whoa! I've only known her a few weeks. Let's hold off on the wedding bells." Justin laughs some more and said, "Okay, okay. But, it would be nice if you found someone." "Why, so I can double date with you and the wife." Justin said, "Exactly, just what the doctor ordered!" We talk some more about our friends, sports and politics. We end our conversation with a promise to get together this weekend.

Indigo proves to be as timely as she is beautiful. I have on blue jeans and a beige linen shirt. I throw on some designer boots, dark brown in color to match. Indigo has on white skinny jeans with high heels for days. Her top is a loose fitting blouse the color of indigo. Well, what did you expect? It makes sense to me. Smiley face. We drive to a spot that use to be an old industrial building. It has been converted to downtown lofts. We enter and there are about twenty to twenty-five people in attendance. The loft is a Chicago style loft with lots of room to mingle. The host has hired a chef and a mixologist. The affair appears to be swanky and upscale. Indigo and I meet some of her friends. They are nice people but a bit peculiar if I do say so myself. There's something off about them. I just can't put my finger on it. All is going well. I should have known, too well. That's when it happened. The host gathered everyone in the living room and said, "Time for us to recognize his greatness. Time for us to believe in him and his coming." I then thought, "Ah hell, I'm at a church social!" Indigo looked at me and smiled. I smiled back thinking, "EXIT, STAGE LEFT!"

SEXTROPOLIS:S1/CH4/"A DAY IN THE LIFE"

Season1/Chapter4
"A day in the life"

Morning is here and I have to wake up. Be disciplined, that's what they say. Yeah, right, whatever. It's Monday morning and the routine is the same. I get up. I stretch out. I head over to the kitchen and take my vitamins and supplements. I finish that and turn on the television to CNBC. I stand there watching the news for a few minutes. It's all depressing. White house this, New president that, it's all going to hell in a hand basket. Don't let it get to you. I say keep your cool, calm and tranquil demeanor. I turn the channel to Music Choice 844, the new jazz channel. The music sooths and relaxes me. Now I'm ready to write. I head over to my home office and begin.

I write for three hours per day, five days a week. What can I say, I have a short attention span. After three hours, I'm fried. I find I can write 1500 to 2000 words in those three hours and also get some editing in. I usually come up with some good stuff. I'm working on my latest novel. It's called "Borrowed Time." It's a thriller of course and I hope it strikes a nerve. We'll see. My three hours are up. I get up and head to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and then go to the bedroom. I change into my work out clothes and head to the gym. I work out at 24 Hour Fitness. Why do I work out there? Well, I work out there because it's open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You never know when I might get the compulsion to go work out at three o'clock in the morning. Hey, you never know! Anyway, I'm off to torture myself. No, I meant to say to work out at the gym.

My work outs take about two hours. I love this gym, that's why I'm in here three times a week. It's kind of quiet during midday. Everyone is at work. They don't get in until after work which is usually between 5 and 6 o'clock. I'm old so I use the machine weights. In case you didn't know, that's weights connected to a machine.The dead weights cause me injury, that and they're heavy as hell. It sucks to be old. I use to do the stationary bike but I heard it causes impotence. You kill yourself working out and then you find your manly parts don't work. How's that for life sucking the big one? Now I use the elliptical machine. Yeah I do five minutes on that baby before I'm dying a slow death and asking for my mommy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I need to toughen up. Please keep your opinions to yourself. There's an elderly woman who's been on that thing for an hour. God, I hate her. I think she's just trying to show me up. My work out is over. Time to go home. Say goodbye to the elderly woman. She's still going, holy f*ck. It's been fun. I'M OUT!

Back at my shack, I head over to the fridge. I grab a bottled water. They were a gift from a friend. I make it a rule not to buy water, seeing as how it's usually free. The faucet stuff is fine with me and plus, it has fluoride in it. You know fluoride, it's good for your health and teeth. I sit down for a minute and turn on the television. It's still on the jazz channel. I get up and head to the shower. I'm done. I get dress and head to my nightstand. I grab my wallet, cell and keys. I'm headed to one of my favorite restaurant and bar. It's called the Quarterdeck  off of the Las Olas Boulevard Strip. I'm going to have a bite, a few drinks and what the hell, mingle. I'll hang out with the happy hour crowd and see what comes of it. Yep, a day in the life of yours truly, Francis Bourdeaux.

SEXTROPOLIS:S1/CH3/"THE WALK OF SHAME"

Season1/ Chapter3 (No editing/written on the fly)
"The Walk Of Shame"

I woke up the next morning with the biggest, baddest hangover the world has ever known. I thought my forehead was going to cave into my chest. For a moment, I didn't know where I was. Then it started to come to me. I need some aspirins or something stronger. Good Lord, I have to stop drinking. I look around and there I was, in my room. Then I notice something. I was alone. I'm pretty sure I came home with someone. Oh yes, Indigo, I came home with Indigo. Where was she? I think I'm still drunk. I say that because, in my drunken stupor, I start to look for her everywhere in my room. She wasn't under the sheets. She wasn't under the bed. And no, she wasn't in the closet. Where could she be?

My bedroom door opens and there she was. She was wearing one of my old Nike t-shirts. It's to big for her but she still looks good in it. Wow, what a babe. She said, "Hey sleepy head. You alive?" I'm starting to sober up. I said, "Alive and kicking. What about you?" "I'm good," she said. And she looked good also. "So what happened last night?" She smiled and said, "You don't remember?" I said, "Fuzzy." She shook her head and said, "I'm not surprised." I got up and I noticed I still had my outfit from last night on. I said, "Where were you?" She said, "In the living room, on the couch." "Got up early?" She cocked her head and said, "NO, I slept there."

Slowly the words sunk in. I said, "You slept there, all night?" "Yep." "So what exactly happened?" I went to the dresser took off my shirt and got a t-shirt. I put it on. I said, "Did we, did we, well you know, sleep together?" She look like she was about to burst out laughing and then caught it." That's not a good sign. She said, "Don't you remember anything at all?" I didn't answer. I was embarrassed at this point. She said, "We got to your apartment and things were heating up. We were practically on top of each other." As she spoke, she went to the corner of the room and sat down. I sat back down on the bed. She said, "We headed straight for your bedroom and then I told you to give me a minute. I needed to go to the bathroom." She was looking at me the way a detective looks at a guilty man. She said, "I was about five minutes. And when I got back, you were fast asleep. I mean dead asleep. If the end of the world came, you would've ask for another five minutes." With that, she let out a little laugh. I did my uncomfortable laugh to save face. She smiled some more and came over to the bed. She sat next to me. She said, "I slept on the couch because you started to snore. Oh my God! The snoring was loud. You sounded like a hump-back whale giving birth, too triplets. It was that loud." She laughed.

After her story, I felt embarrassed, sad and humiliated. All self inflicted. Now what? I asked her if she was hungry. She said, "yes." I said, "Let's go to IHOP." She seemed lively and exuberant. I didn't know why. She said, "O.K. But first we need to get my car." I gave her the puzzled look. She said, "We left our cars in the parking garage. Also, I have a change of clothes in my trunk." I said, "O.K. Sounds good." She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and said, "You don't want me doing the walk of shame at IHOP, Do you?" At that statement, I laughed. "No, we don't want that." 

SEXTROPOLIS: S1/CH2/"BLUE ISLAND"

Season1/Chapter2 (No editing/written on the fly)
"Blue Island"

The crowd was starting to thin out. Indigo and I were having a blast. The would be suitors had all faded away. I was on my third patron margarita and she was on her second vodka martini. We had just finished off a couple of Jose Cuervo tequila shots. I felt great and she looked great. I was having the time of my life. Thank you Meetup. She looked around and said, "Do you want to get out of here?" I said, "Yeah, sure, why not." I asked her what did she have in mind? She smiled and said, "Let's go to Vibe." I wasn't sure what Vibe was so I asked. "It's a club on Las Olas," she said. "Club," I said. "Sounds good, Let's go."

She jumped in her car. I jumped in mine. I followed her to a parking garage just off of Las Olas Boulevard. We parked and headed for this club called Vibe. We were upright and could pass a roadside test. I was amazed at her stamina. The cover was reasonable and the place looked packed. The music was bangin' and it seemed non-stop. I scanned for the age group and I saw my kind. The 40 plus crowd had migrated over here also. Nice! She headed straight for the bar. A woman after my own heart. Smiley face. She was about to buy us a drink and it brought a smile to my face, again. I gave her the pause signal and I motioned the bartender over. I opened a tab and I said, "What's your pleasure, dear lady?" She smiled and said, "Blue Island Ice-Tea."

With those words, I quite literally fell in love. Blue island ice-tea was my all time favorite drink. I stopped drinking it. Because, after three, I couldn't remember a thing from the night before. What can I say? I"m a lush. I told the bar keep, "Two blue islands, please." The man was an artist. They came fast and strong. Nice! We got our drinks and danced by the bar. To say our dance was provocative would be understating the fact. It was the closest thing I've had to sex in 6 month. Did I just admit to that? Please disregard. Smiley face! I asked her what she did and she said, "I deal in import/export." I didn't want to pry so I didn't press. She asked me about my writing. I gave her the footnotes version. She took it in stride. It was approaching 2:30 AM and the club closes at 3. We had gone through three rounds of blue islands, most of which I drank. I had no shots this time around though. I wanted to keep my sushi. We were not drunk but we weren't sober either. Time to call an Uber.

We were sitting on a bench outside the lounge area of the club. I asked her how she was feeling. She said, "Fine." I asked her, "Can you make it home?" She smiled and said, "Nope." I asked her where she lived. She did not reply. She just smiled. She said, "Where do you live?" I said, "Less than three minutes from here." Now, I smiled. She shook her head and said, "Is that so?" I said, "Yes, that is so." We sat in silence for a while and watched as people began filing out of the club. I waited, waited, waited and then it came. She said, "O.K. loverboy, let's go to your place." The words were music to my ears. "God bless blue island and God bless Uber! WE OUT!"

THE WALL

So you are upset with your neighbor.  You tell your neighbor that you are going to build a new fence, in this case a wall. The wall is going to be all encompassing and taller than before. You feel that this wall is needed. The thing of interest here is; you tell your neighbor that he is going to pay for your wall. Does that make sense? It's your wall.


The truth of the matter is, that which concerns you about the wall has diminished. The problems you are obsessing about are decade(s) old. The danger you are foreseeing has been lessened by you and your neighbor. So now, you want to build the wall anyway and have your neighbor pay for it. Your neighbor tells you no. They basically tell you to go jump off a wall.


You tell your neighbor they will pay for it one way or another. You use to let your neighbor allow guest at their parties to park in your yard. You now say no. You use to keep an eye on your neighbors property when they were out of town. You now say no. Your neighbor use to lend you their tools, lawnmower and also keep an eye on your property when you were out of town. They now say no. You are both now at a stand-off. The cost for everyone goes up. The end result is, nobody wins. Where to now?

SEXTROPOLIS: S1/CH1/"Indigo Ballard"

Season1/Chapter1 (No editing/written on the fly)
"Indigo Ballard"

My name is Francis Bourdeaux and I'm a weekend alcoholic. I'm also over 40 years old, never been married, no kids and oh yes, no dog. Depressing isn't it? I live in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida or as I like to call it, Sextropolis. And no, I don't live on the beach. I wish. I earn a living writing indie novels. That's a novel written by an author who self-publish. No need to make a face. It's all the new rage. I had some success here and there. I wrote one novel that sold enough to cover my bills for a number of years. That was a good novel, one of my best. I have others, under different pen names, they bring in a few bucks here and a few bucks there. In any regards, I stay fed, housed and liquor is not a problem. What a life!

Socially, I get my fair share of activity. A few months back, a friend told me about meetup.com. Oh yes, meetup.com, that's how I met her. Well, let me first tell you what Meetup is. It's a site that brings groups together from all facets of life. I found and joined a group called Fortunaeto Events. It checked all the boxes. To join, you had to be 30 or older, interested in nightlife, a professional and a free spirit. I got one out of four, not bad. But what the hell, it was free so I joined.

The first event I went to was held at an Asian fusion sushi restaurant. Interestingly enough, the restaurant had a back room. In that back room was a bar, lounge area, a dance floor and a d.j. I was impressed. Looking in from the outside, you would have never guessed this was here. I walked in alone. I headed straight for the bar. The organizers were nice and made me feel right at home. The people were all friendly. The sushi was half price, so I ordered some at the bar. What the hell, it was a sushi restaurant. I listened to music and took in the scenery. It was then that I noticed her.

She appeared tall and slim but not sickly. She wore an outfit that accentuated her physique. Her facial features were striking and I could not stop looking at her. Little did I know, this woman would bring my life to a screeching halt. I finished my sushi. What did you expect? I was hungry. I gulped down half of my Patron margarita and headed in her direction. She was being mauled by several would be suitors. I heard the words, "net worth," "beach condo" and "Have you ever been to Paris?" She smiled and was being polite. I waited patiently. These guys were dead in the water or so I hoped.

She broke away and came over to where I was standing. I immediately said hi. She reciprocated. I said to her, "Your kung fu is pretty good." She gave me a puzzled look. I said, "The way you fought off those guys, you must be an expert." "Would you consider teaching me?" She laughed. We began talking and found we had nothing in common. She said her name was Indigo Ballard. We danced and had some more drinks. How could someone so beautiful be so dangerous. If I only knew, I would have done the same exact thing. She was just that HOT! What can I say, I'm a guy. 

PRO-DEMOCRAT

I will admit, I have been consumed by the person occupying the oval office. Like much of the U.S. and the world, there is no getting around it. I want to be informed but I don't want to be consumed. Great philosophers have theorized that the focus of your attention to a particular person, place or thing will bring about its materialization. The energy you spend focusing on a subject gives that subject power. Sometimes, it gives that subject power over you.

It is time to turn my focus elsewhere. I will not obsess with what I cannot control. I will support what I can. I will focus on that which serves to better the environment that I exist in. I will turn my interest towards other things that concern me. It's a big beautiful world out there and it needs to be explored. I will stay informed but I won't continue to focus solely on one subject. If I did, it would be the start of a long four years.

Let's turn our attention to entertainment, travel, sports and other topics. I believe that this will bring me peace and tranquility in these turbulent times. I will not turn a blind eye to ongoing events. I will however not be so focused on them. Wish me well my friends. I embark on new opportunities,
experiences and consciousness.

THE POPULIST

This new president says he is all about the ordinary people. His name is Donald Trump and he won the presidency through a populist movement. That may well be true but his actions goes against his rhetoric. He says that he will bring back manufacturing jobs. He says that he will make life better for middle class Americans. He says a lot of things. We are waiting to see if any of it comes to fruition.

Speaking of making life better for the ordinary man, Trump has brought a stop to two programs that would have helped the ordinary man and woman. The "overtime rule" and the FHA mortgage premium rate cut. One would have provided a pay increase for a projected four million workers. The other would have help everyone buying a home priced under $650,000. Now I ask you, how is that helping the ordinary man or woman? These programs were aimed at the middle class. They should have been one of the first things he made sure were made available to the American people. He should have made it clear that he wants these programs to exist and that he would put his administration behind them to see that they do.

Please note, these programs are being stopped. There is no replace for something similar or better. They were just stopped. These are things that would have helped. Now, they will not exist and therefore help no one. While it's true that President Donald Trump is not directly responsible for one of these actions, His new appointees to oversee the department that would fight for the "overtime rule" are not likely to do so. If they did, it would come as a pleasant surprise but don't hold your breath.

IS THIS WHAT'S MEANT BY "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN?"


Please read these articles for further information:
Rate Cut Squashed
Overtime Rule Blocked

APEX PREDATOR

WELCOME TO THE AGE OF "TRUMPONOMICS." You now have to be an Apex Predator. What is an Apex Predator you ask? Well, that's a predator residing at the top of the food chain where no other creature prey. You feel me!

Were you looking forward to government aid, social security, medicaid-medicare, and multitudes of socialist type programs to help you in this life. As my Italian friends are so fond of saying, "Fuhgeddaboutit!" You have to count on yourself for survival. And if you want to do more than survive, you have to become an Apex Predator. You must feast on the weakness of others, dine on the mistakes of the masses, and devour potential competitors.

President Donald Trump and his squad are believers in self-made. They do not like those who want a hand out. They do not like those who would take from the rich to help the poor. They do not like socialism to put it plainly. They are hard-core capitalist. And, they believe it should be lassez-faire. If you can't do on your own don't bother asking for help. You won't get it. Put on your big boy/girl undies and get to it, daylight is burning.

TRUMP "THE HERO"

If President-elect, Donald Trump, wants to be an instantaneous hero to over 90% of the American population, he should make this proposal. He should propose that medicare and medicaid be made available to all Americans. He should put together a committee of the persons involved in areas of medicare and medicaid to study how to make this proposal work. Once it is figured out, he should use his influence to pass it through congress.

What would happen if this proposal was enacted? It would do away with businesses having to provide insurance for their employees. This would free up a massive amount of time, money and effort that goes into providing medical insurance. The amount currently collected for medicare and medicaid would go up but most of the cost would be passed on to businesses. So now, small businesses would have their employees covered and would not have to worry about supplying medical insurance. Could this work? It does work in other countries (List of Countries with Universal Healthcare).

This is something that both Democrats, Republicans and Independents could agree upon. They would all want this because it serves the greater good. This would help control the sky-rocketing healthcare cost that appears to be out of control. It would help treat everyone and in the end, make life better for all of us. There are some negatives to this proposal (long lines, inadequate service, lack of choice, etc.). In the end, the positives (preventive treatment, pre-existing illness coverage, lower cost for medical service, etc.) out-way the negatives. This has been done. It's just a matter of America finding the best version of this and implementing it. If the President-elect, Donald Trump, were to pass such a plan, he would be a hero to many if not all Americans. 

BASIC UNIVERSAL INCOME

Basic Universal Income (BUI) is a form of social security in which all citizens or residents regularly receive an unconditional sum of money from the government or other form of public institution, in addition to any other income received elsewhere.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. I must be a socialist bastard to promote such a thing. But you should know this is not a new idea. It has been around a very long time. President Richard Nixon was trying to get this done when he was president of these United States. This is how it works. Every man, woman and child would receive a monthly check. The funds would cover basic housing needs, food, etc. It would not be based on how much you earn. It would be the same for everyone.

It has been tested and it has had some good results. People receiving this BUI use the money to take care of their basic needs. They still want to work to make more because they will not be penalized. In the current systems, you are penalize if you earn more or over a certain threshold. People are less stigmatized because in effect, everyone gets this. People become more financially responsible, especially women. People are not going into debt because they have to borrow less because they have money now (see: pay day loans). There are many more benefits to this.

If we had the BUI, we could get rid of many of the welfare programs that exist now. These programs serve us well but they limit, stigmatize and for lack of a better word, hold down, those they serve. It would improve our society as a whole. It would help raise millions out of poverty. It would place more money in the hands of the people who in turn would put it back into the economy. There are countries such as Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands and France experimenting with Basic Universal Income. The results have been promising. 

THE TRUMPIAN CONFLICT

The President-Elect, Donald Trump held a news conference outlining how he would navigate his potential conflicts. His conflicts involves his business and whether or not, he would separate from them. His solutions did little to sway the concerns most pundits have of those conflicts.

Mr. Trump plans to turn over control of his business to his two eldest sons and a trusted executive. This too many does not provide adequate separation between him and his business. He plans to form a trust, not a blind trust. Many have begun to argue the constitutional pitfalls his plan will set in play. He will, according to them, be under attack from democrats as well as fellow republicans. He will face lawsuits from the private sector. There are those who say he will be violating the constitution on his first day of holding office.

But let's look at the opposing side, should a man who has spent a lifetime building a business be force to give that business up? He could put it in a blind trust but that still means that a stranger would have to be the one running said business. Jimmy Carter placed his business in a blind trust. At the end of his term, his business was at the brink of bankruptcy. Could the same happen to Donald Trump? Whose to say? It is obvious that he does not want to give the control of his business to anyone who is not named Trump. Given Mr. Trumps personality, is it a surprise he refuses to relinquish control of his business?

In the end, America is in for a real life reality television show. Mr. Trump will be waging war from all sides it seems. There will be no end to lawsuits, investigations and whatever else may arise from perceived conflicts of interest. We were worried that if Hilary Clinton won, her presidency would be a quagmire of hearings, investigations and lawsuits. Now, it seems the shoe is on the other foot.