There Are No Sure Things...

A few days ago, I watched the nearly ‘sure thing’ that the Olympic Gold medal for Men’s Figure Skating was either Japan’s Yuma or the USA’s Ilia. I saw the short programs of nearly all the men competing. I believe it was that program that I’d watched ‘live’. Yes, there were mistakes. I’d thought they’d finished a couple of days ago and that Ilia had won. I moved onto watching Luge, Curling, Slalom, Hockey, Short Track, Speed Skating, X-Country Ski, Biathlon, Half-pipe, Super-G, Skelton and a few other events.1 I’ve always been into the Winter Olympic Games since I could remember. Now that is nearing on 60 years.

Lately, I’d been reading a lot more as well, finishing three books I’d started in mid-January, starting a fourth one and doing very little writing in the past few days. This was due to the fact our oldest was coming home for a visit and I had wanted to cater to her, along with completing certain house chores that I’d left undone due to the snow and ice accumulations on and around our property. I had tended to them nearly daily since January 19th. That along with watching the entire Superbowl which I rarely do, because I’m more of a fan of the other NFL games leading to the Superbowl. Yet I wanted to watch the Super Bowl Half-time show.2 I knew it would be creative. For me watching creativity helps my writing.

I also maintain reading up on legislation as well as fact-checking social media posts and outlets that seem to skew the truth. And yes indeedy, I’m watching/reading anything on the Epstein Files, the SAVE act, DHS/ICE funding, Minnesota, ongoing FBI investigations and how they’re being mishandled by people who have no business being the heads of the DOJ, DHS, FBI as well as our ability to vote uninterrupted.34 Too, keeping an eye on the three white men at the top, two of which belong in prison along with their cabinet members. Then add in two writing projects, one is for a friend I’m formatting a book for and the other is a book series I’ve been working on for over three decades. To say the least, I’m busy.

Quite a few people are ever truly that busy. I’ll add as well, my mission to set an athletic record on two levels to boot now in my mid-60s. As well, dietary changes I’d made in late December. And as much as I’d love to get a dog, it wouldn’t be fair to the dog because I’m too emotionally occupied to give time that a rescue would need. I do indeed miss our three pets who’d passed of mostly old age all within five and a half months of each other by the third week of May 2025.

So, this morning as I’d decided to take a rest from finishing another chapter in Avi Loeb’s “Extraterrestrial…” a book on …’the first sign of intelligent life beyond earth’, I saw a post that I thought was fake. I couldn’t get a clear answer that I felt I could trust. I’d seen it

1 https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/schedule

2 https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/every-performers-at-super-bowl-2026-bad-bunny-green-day-more

3 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/22

4 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/13/us-homeland-security-department-shutdown

yesterday and had known that the House had voted 218 to 213 to pass the SAVE act, which would have an impact on women’s ability to vote in the midterms this year. One Democrat from Texas voted with Republicans. Next, I’d read Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she would join others in the ‘yes’ vote for the SAVE act in the senate when it arrived. Here’s a woman wanting to inhibit women from voting. She has been the bane of women’s existence in this country.5 She has greatly harmed most people in this country with her votes, and she is no better than Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, he no longer is seeking another term. Senator Collins is seeking another term, which she said back in 1992 that she would not make it a political career longer than 12 years. Yes, go look that up. There’s the video from 1992.

With that, after much research, currently the SAVE act that would hinder women’s ability to vote, when it arrived in the Senate it was pretty much ‘dead in the water’. They needed 60 votes to pass in the senate. Our current authoritarian leader said he had the power to provide an Executive Order to pass the SAVE act.6 Well, No he can’t. It is illegal for any President in the United States to do so. And a couple of Senate Republicans do not want the SAVE act passed as well, which helps. So, there’s that.7

Next, DHS funds are now limited because the budget covering that and the current ice program were not approved. Also, the people who signed up to be ice agents aren’t getting the $50,000 signing bonus the way they thought it was advertised. Ho hum. Racism doesn’t pay. Neither do authoritarians pay their bills; however, We the People do, will. We pay the price.

And after all that research, I needed to breathe and either go back to my 4th book to read more on astrophysics or read up on what was next in the Olympic games today. I decided to scan the Olympic upcoming events and as I had, I was floored. Yuma of Japan received the Silver in Men’s Figure Skating and a young man from Kazakhstan won the Gold in Men’s Figure Skating. My mind flashed, ‘No?! Can’t be. That’s crazy.’ I thought I’d witnessed the USA’s Ilia his final performance that sealed the deal; however, I had watched one of the performances of each skater that day.8 There was another section of skating I’d missed. It was the final performances of each skater needing to complete the skater’s performance to then know who won and who’d medaled in the end. I thought only one person could beat Yuma and only one person could beat Ilia. After researching I found out that it was Ilia’s to lose, in a sense; however, one thing I know about any sport, as I’d been professional in

5 https://www.newsweek.com/susan-collins-save-act-filibuster-11523411

6 https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/presidents-executive-order-elections-explained

7 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-passes-save-america-act-trump-backed-election-bill-rcna258614

8 https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/live-blog/2026-winter-olympics-live-updates-rcna256605

three sports over three decades and made attempts to achieve an Olympic level in one. And the fact that I’d always been considered the underdog in any sport—There are no sure things.

Too, as the Epstein Files unravel, I am skeptical of our ability to bring down those who had been and may be still the rapists and sex-traffickers of those young girls in those files.9 My hope is that we clean up this mess, which may take as much as a decade to get every single connection of who’s guilty; however, we now know that our current authoritarian leader sure as hell is involved and had done vile things to children.10 We know his abuses of women and minorities. Now we know them emphatically towards underage young girls too. We aren’t moving fast enough on this. If it were concerning a white man’s dignity, we would have this done by today. Conversely, the files and investigation were unavailable to the people till about mid-2025 because much was still under investigation. It was revealed by this current authoritarian’s administration that they could release them anytime soon. That did not happen and still has not been completely been released as promised.

Will justice be served? There are no sure things. One thing I know, I will most likely stop trusting white men. Especially when it comes to politics or reporting the news. Too, recently I’d discovered that white men who’d I’d entrusted with my life in the past three decades I have now disconnected from my life. Also, some white women who either refused to believe women who’d been victimized by powerful men or their racism had been revealed to me. Racism is where the buck stops with me. It is something that will sever every tie to me as a friend. No. I won’t have that conversation with them. I’ll just walk away. Ghost them, if you will.

This morning, I learned truths and truths about myself. I am usually the most loyal friend you could ever encounter; however, when you say, “I can’t be bothered.” When I realize I have been bothered by others’ plights, inequality, mistreatments and such. Today I resolved that I can’t be bothered to know you, or perhaps buying anything at the store you manage. And I’ll go further, boycotting anything you are affiliated with. Especially if you are white. You’ve had your day in the sun and what did you do? Most of you didn’t serve or you served to be rewarded. You voted to steal other’s rights. You voted to take away another’s ability to have prosperity, basic living, better education, better healthcare and food. You’d voted from a place of fear and hatred. Not from knowledge, but from a place of greed and as well agreeing with disgusting, lustful other white men.

9 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/12/pam-bondi-epstein-hearing-key-takeaways?traffic_source=rss

10 https://meidasnews.com/news/raskin-says-trumps-name-appears-in-the-unredacted-epstein-files-over-one-million-times-report

Someday, white men ruling, being so powerful will end. Yes, there are no sure things. Yet I will guarantee the rage and self-righteous indignation I have felt even as a child and now ever more so feel will have its ripple effect on those white men in power. Somewhere nearly every woman feels this rage, and deep yearning of ridding ourselves of white male oppression. There may be no sure things; however, with enough momentum—There are some sure things.---Jody-Lynn Reicher