Friday, July 31, 2026

Just Listen! - Conversations On Who Sets The Price Of Bread

Three generations of a blended family have gathered on this wooden porch to share a quiet moment of intergenerational learning and reflection, looking for clarity and connection during a time of social and economic uncertainty. Centered around a table with a potted plant, key, and book, they find a rare pause to consider the practical consequences of major societal shifts and the importance of preserving freedom. They set argument aside to consider who, in a free society, should ultimately decide the value of life’s most basic goods. Image Credit: EDJE Music Digital Staff via GEMINI (2026)

Just Listen! - Conversations On Who Sets The Price Of Bread

The other day, families all throughout America were shown a political face that is, all at once, seductive and very, very dangerous to all individual Human lives living in an intentional government formed where rights come from a power that is greater than any Human power known on our blue orb that circles the Sun.

The advancement of Socialism to a level never taken as seriously in previous decades is rising up within the modern Democrat Political Party and a faction named Democratic Socialists of America has been winning major executive office positions and winning Democrat primaries in advance of the 2026 Midterm Elections.

In the midst of this rising tide, commentator Glenn Beck has issued an open letter of unusual restraint and deliberate focus. Rather than launching into the customary fusillade of denunciation, the letter urges parents and citizens alike to set argument aside and simply pose a series of plain questions - then listen. The central inquiry that gives the letter its force is the deceptively ordinary one: Who sets the price of bread?

Beck observes that the language of modern democratic socialism presents itself as compassion and fairness, yet history records that whenever the state assumes the power to determine the value of ordinary goods and the means of their production, the individual soon discovers that the same authority extends to the ordering of daily life itself. The letter does not demand agreement; it asks only that the listener consider the practical consequences of transferring such power from the countless voluntary exchanges of free people to a central planning authority.

The questions that follow are framed with quiet precision. They distinguish between an expanded safety net of the Nordic variety and the outright ownership of the means of production. They inquire who, precisely, is to be trusted with the power to “un-rig” a system alleged to be corrupt. They ask whether any nation that has placed the means of production under state control has thereby enriched its poorest citizens. They note the direction in which people have historically fled when walls fall or borders open. And they return, again and again, to that simple, stubborn question of the loaf of bread - its price, its availability, and the unseen network of decisions that keep it on the shelf.

In the style of quiet observation rather than polemical heat, Beck’s letter presents these inquiries as a test of seriousness. If the conversation that follows is honest, the letter suggests, the seductive face of the new socialism may be seen more clearly for what it is: an ancient claim of superior wisdom over the messy, imperfect, and remarkably productive liberty of individuals who, left free to trade and invent, somehow manage to set the price of bread without a committee.


From Glenn Beck

If you have a son or daughter who’s starting to think that socialism is the answer to our problems, I want you to try something and report back. Next time you talk, don’t argue. Sit down, ask these questions, and just listen.

When you say “socialism,” do you mean that you want the government to pay for a bigger safety net like in Denmark, or that the government owns the means of production? Because those are two very different countries. You say the system is rigged. Who rigged it? And who should be handed the power to un-rig it? Who sets the price of bread? If not a single person or corporation, what causes that price to remain steady or go up? Can you name a country where the state took ownership of the means of production and the poor got richer? When borders open or the walls fall down, anywhere in the world, which direction do people run—toward the free-market system or the socialist system? And before the boundaries fell, which way were the guns pointed? Would you rather be poor today, or rich in 1900? By the way, only one of those has antibiotics. If you and I make a voluntary trade, and we both walk away happy, who got hurt? Someone has to decide what your work is worth. Would you rather it be you and the person paying you, or a bureaucrat with an army who has never met either of you?

Try having this conversation with your kids this week. Don’t argue. Only listen. And if you want, call into my radio show and tell me how it went.
ENDS

Enter EDJE Music and its Digital Staff to create a song inspired through the letter from Glenn Beck.

Image Credit: EDJE Music Digital Staff via GEMINI

Title: Just Listen
(acoustic folk, country, bluegrass, female voice)

*(Verse 1)*
If your son or daughter starts to say
Socialism’s gonna save the day,
Don’t raise your voice, don’t draw the line—
Just sit right down and take your time.
Ask the questions, hold your tongue,
And listen close to what they say.

*(Verse 2)*
When you say “socialism,” tell me true:
Do you mean Denmark’s safety net for you,
Or the state that owns the factory floor?
Those two roads lead to different doors.
You say the system’s rigged and cruel—
Who fixed the game, and who’d re-rule?

*(Verse 3)*
Who sets the price of daily bread?
If not one boss, then what instead?
Name a land where the state took hold
And the poorest rose from the cold.
When walls come down and borders free,
Which way do the people flee?

*(Verse 4)*
Toward the market or the plan?
And which way did the soldiers’ guns once stand?
Would you rather be poor right now,
Or rich in nineteen-hundred somehow?
Only one of those has medicine’s grace—
Antibiotics in this time and place.

*(Verse 5)*
If we trade and both walk off content,
Who got hurt in that moment spent?
Who should say what your labor’s worth—
You and the buyer, or some far-off clerk
With an army at his back, who’s never met
The hands that work or the ones who get?
Once the last physical reference falls to A-I,
Rulers rule with abandon, free of all.
Just ask these things, then listen well…
And let the silence gently tell.
ENDS

Direct Links >>>
RUMBLE
REELS
YouTube
Soundcloud





TAGS: #JustListen, #PriceOfBread, #GlennBeck, #SocialismDebate, #FreeMarkets, #IndividualLiberty, #DemocraticSocialists, #2026Midterms, #CapitalismWorks, #ListenFirst #MAXINE

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Things That Never Happen - So Say Those In The Know


Things That Never Happen - So Say Those In The Know

A song created with the Digital Staff used by EDJE Music that attempts to recognize the typical Democrat political talking point that becomes not true as time and evidence pop-up and call out the claim as false. After all, there is no such thing as election tampering and fraud in a citizen vote in elections within the confines of these United States of America ... that is, until we all look behind the curtain.

Just within the last week, we were treated to two news update speeches surrounding issues involved with Election Integrity. The first speech on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, from the Governor of New Jersey highlighted a recent administrative error in her state that inadvertently allowed approximately 400 noncitizens to be registered or participate in voting processes [The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin finds in their database 35,152 non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey]. 




Governor Mikie Sherrill addressed the matter directly (all the while, blaming Trump), framing it as an isolated "software glitch" mistake requiring immediate correction through enhanced verification protocols, while emphasizing New Jersey's longstanding record of secure elections under prior administrations. Critics and supporters alike noted the timing, as it revived broader national debates just as midterm preparations intensified.


The second address came one day later from President Donald Trump, who delivered a primetime update focused on election security vulnerabilities. He presented declassified materials alleging foreign interference risks - particularly from China - and pointed to issues like voter roll maintenance, mail-in ballot handling, and noncitizen registrations as persistent threats that "never happen" until they surface in audits or isolated cases. Election officials from both parties pushed back, stressing that documented fraud remains exceedingly rare and that safeguards like those in New Jersey have historically held. Yet the speeches together underscored a recurring pattern: procedural lapses or intelligence revelations that fuel skepticism, even as overall turnout and system resilience have improved in many jurisdictions.

In the end, these moments reinforce that election integrity is not a settled abstraction but an ongoing operational challenge. Claims of widespread compromise often outpace verifiable widespread incidents, yet even small errors - like the New Jersey case - erode public confidence when amplified. States continue refining voter ID rules, roll purges, and cybersecurity measures amid partisan tensions. True security lies in transparent processes, bipartisan oversight, and relentless focus on verifiable accuracy rather than narratives that treat anomalies as inevitabilities. The things that "never happen" keep reminding everyone why vigilance, not complacency, defines a functioning democracy.

Graphic from a shared FB/META timeline posting (2026)

The Things That Never Happen

LYRICS


"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

From broadcast mail-out ballots, to machines connected to the internet ...

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

 "The things that never happen just happened again"

From software glitch non-citizen voter registration, to printed mail-in ballots from China into Zuckerbuck Boxes ... 

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

Let the single-party continue to count ballots, from almost any unverified source, throughout the middle of the night, and beyond for weeks ...

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"

"The things that never happen just happened again"
ENDS

Graphic from a shared FB/META timeline posting (2026)

A song created with the Digital Staff used by EDJE Music that attempts to recognize the typical Democrat political talking point that becomes not true as time and evidence pop-up and call out the claim as false. 

After all, there is no such thing as election tampering and fraud of a citizen vote in elections within the confines of these United States of America ... that is, until we all look behind the curtain (or chain-link fence in Brooklyn).

Direct Video Links >>>
RUMBLE
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin has identified over 250,000 potential non-citizens illegally registered to vote in just 4 U.S. states. Only Americans should be electing American leaders.

ENDS




TAGS: #EDJEMusic, #MAXINE, #ZuckerbuckBoxes, #Machines, #ElectionIntegrity, #NewJerseyGovernor, #MikieSherrill, #TrumpSpeech, #ElectionSecurity, #VoterRolls, #Midterms2026, #Democracy, #VotingRights, #NoncitizenVoting, #ElectionUpdate, #PoliticalNews, #NJPolitics, #FairElections





Tuesday, July 14, 2026

IVANPAH: Broken Mirrors Of A Failed Future

Three mirror arrays that make up the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System lay in a partial shambles on the Mojave desert floor of California near the state line of the Nevada town named Primm. Image Credit: Las Vegas Review-Journal (2024)

IVANPAH: Broken Mirrors Of A Failed Future

In the heart of the California/Nevada Mojave Desert stands the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station, once hailed as a shining symbol of America’s renewable energy future. A curious explorer ventures deep inside the 392-megawatt solar thermal plant - opened in 2014 with a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee - only to discover a haunting scene of decay.  

Hundreds, of the thousands, of heliostats lie broken, misaligned, or abandoned, while the three massive towers still glow like artificial suns. What was meant to be a futuristic marvel of concentrated solar power has become an expensive, inefficient relic, technologically outpaced by cheaper photovoltaic solar and battery storage. Yet the plant remains operational, kept alive by long-term contracts and a desperate, overstressed California grid strained by surging electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.  

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System at ground level - falling apart. Image Credit: Screengrab - Wasteland By Wednesday YouTube Video (2026)

Through stark on-the-ground footage and unflinching narration, the YouTube film by Wasted By Wednesday reveals Ivanpah not merely as a troubled power plant, but as a powerful metaphor for civilizational collapse: a society that cannot afford to maintain its grand machines, yet cannot afford to shut them down. Birds incinerated by concentrated solar flux, a skeleton crew, and fields of decaying mirrors paint a dystopian picture where technology marches forward even as the infrastructure supporting it crumbles.  

Part cautionary tale, part visual elegy, this Wasteland Spotlight exposes the gap between green energy promises and harsh reality, showing how even “clean” monuments can become symbols of overpromise, under-maintenance, and the growing hunger of an electrified, AI-driven world.


EDJE Music Created/Curated AI Song
dystopian desert folk / dark Americana – think a slow, reverb-heavy acoustic guitar with distant echoing percussion like wind over broken mirrors, subtle synth hums mimicking turbine drones, and a lone, weary vocal delivery in the vein of Nick Cave meets Calexico.


LYRICS

**Chorus**
*Glowing towers, broken mirrors,
Feeding ghosts that never tire.
Sort of working, sort of dying,
In the wasteland we conspire.*

**Stanza 1**
Out where the Mojave swallows promises whole,
Three white suns burn on a skeleton soul.
Heliostats twisted like fingers in pain,
Chasing the light that they’ll never contain.
Once hailed as salvation, now rust in the heat,
A monument bleeding where futures retreat.

**Chorus**
*Glowing towers, broken mirrors,
Feeding ghosts that never tire.
Sort of working, sort of dying,
In the wasteland we conspire.*

**Stanza 2**
Birds fall like streamers through invisible fire,
While servers drink deep from the funeral pyre.
A-I dragons are hoarding the sparks we ignite,
Keeping the old beast alive through the night.
We pay for the glow with our children’s tomorrow,
A machine that still twitches, refusing to die.

**Chorus** 
*Glowing towers, broken mirrors,
Feeding ghosts that never tire.
Sort of working, sort of dying,
In the wasteland we conspire.*

**Stanza 3**
Civilization limps in its elegant decay,
Complexity cracking in the merciless day.
We build what we cannot afford to maintain,
Then beg it to save us from digital rain.
Under the flux where the last dreams are fried,
The wasteland keeps singing: sort of alive.

**Final Chorus** (slower, almost whispered):
*Glowing towers, broken mirrors,
Feeding ghosts that never tire.
Sort of working, sort of dying…
In the wasteland… we conspire.*

Obviously, we, at MAXINE, love the tools derived via Artificial Intelligence.

However, with a California political leadership bent on chasing out proven solutions (San Onofre, Chevron, etc.) while cleaving onto rough experimental prototypes as complete and whole solutions (similar in comparison with the labelling COVID-19 experimental biological solutions as vaccines), the continuation of this mirror array effort is simply a boneheaded political power application in the face of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality based in common sense.





TAGS: #Ivanpah, #SolarFailure, #RenewableEnergyCrisis, #BrokenFuture, #SolarThermal, #CaliforniaGrid, #EnergyCollapse, #AIDemand, #InfrastructureDecay, #GreenEnergyReality, #DyingSun, #MAXINE, #EDJEMusic

Just Listen! - Conversations On Who Sets The Price Of Bread

Three generations of a blended family have gathered on this wooden porch to share a quiet moment of intergenerational learning and reflectio...