That stands for pilot lingo, "What the f**k, over" The "over" is from the earliest days of radio, when, to transmit voice, you were on such a narrow bandwidth that you couldn't transmit duplex (both halves of the conversation at once), so a switch had to be thrown "over" (it was usually a large bat-handle switch on the front of the transmitter cabinet) to end the transmitter's broadcast and change the antenna to receive mode. The word "over" was added to the end of each voice transmission so that the receiving party would know that it was his/her turn to transmit. The military probably still uses this protocol, although most forms of radio-telephony are now full duplex.
WTF #1: Do you get the feeling that the whole planet is going to Hell in a Handbasket just now? We just re-elected a President who cares not for the Constitution he's sworn to uphold, and a Congress which won't follow THEIR oaths of office, either. We seem to have a military whose Generals seem more concerned about the press and fit of uniforms and how those unis dazzle the babes than their prowess in battle. Europe applies band-aids to their trashed economies, economies beaten down into the dirt by the excessive expense of Socialism, but the EU citizens don't get it, and riot over every little cut to the largess of their Socialist regimes. Now Israel has slouched into full war with Hamas, which will likely bring in Hezbollah in the next few days, and the IDF will have to defend the Jewish State on all it's borders. But, back on Wall Street, the Day Traders make their lightning trades, advancing their portfolios a penny here and a penny there, and thinking that they are singlehandedly holding the American Dream together. People, we are exactly one RCH away from global chaos, driven mostly by fear, OVER.
WTF #2: The "fiscal cliff". This story rates not only a WTF, Over, it rates a resounding "Whoop Factor Nine". Game of farging chicken. Means exactly ZERO, because neither party wants to address the central idea at the root of the "Fiscal Cliff" issue: the size of Government itself. The current (minority) flavor of Righty politix is "center-right", meaning that government excess, both fiscal and power, can be tolerated with minor objection only. The current (majority) flavor of Lefty politix is that Government is never big enough or powerful enough, so it's NEVER excessive to increase it's size or power. It all costs money, that Government, and there is only so much of it to go around, and not enough to actually PAY for all that Government, so we get a deficit (debt) building up, sometimes less and sometimes more, but always building. Okay, there is a perception that the cost of Government has built up from "of serious concern" to the "dire copnsequence" level, to finally the "Fiscal Cliff". It's all perception, people. There is no bright line, that when crossed, the economy fails. Instead, there's a progression: the higher the debt-to-revenue ratio, the more the costs of Government rise, and when the rate of rise approaches vertical, then an end will come, but we're a long way from vertical, people. Look, I'm not sayin' don't fix this mess, but I am saying that 010113 at 0001 EST, there is not a "Fiscal Cliff" to fall over, unless the boneheaded Day Traders of Wall Street declare one (and some are trying that, even as I write). If everyone just does their job: the President managing the Administration the best he can, and the Congress producing and passing a budget the best they can, we'll get by. We may not be the perfect Jeffersonian Model of a Government, but we'll get by, OVER.
WTF #3: The Lemming Factor. Reading the above WTF,Os, you get the idea that it is fear that drives us these days. You would be right, to a degree. The preppers prepare out of fear (I am one of those who evaluate common fears as to their potential effect on ME, and prepare accordingly). The Press sells soap because of fear (righty and lefty press). Fear causes more fear, but what is all of this fear but momentary discomfort? Enter the Lemming Effect. That's when the fear makes you run in the direction the herd/flock/school is running, just to be doing something about your fear. Someone at the head of the herd/flock/school gets lost (lack of good Navigator, heh!), runs over a Cliff (Fiscal or real), and un-necessary carnage results (and the Zombies waiting at the bottom of the cliff get fed!). That's the Lemming Factor. My take on the Lemming/Cliff paradox is all about not running when the herd/flock/school runs, but standing still to wait until the group passes, just to see what or who is driving them. If they are being driven, I have choices: I can join the running group, I can challenge the drivers, I can hide from the drivers. I have CHOICES, and so do you, OVER.
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