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Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Post #7897 M: Weekend Update; Are the Cornell 7 Being Tried on Social Media?; McClanahan on The Debate of the Century

 Quote of the Day

he youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, 
or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, 
the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.
Henry David Thoreau  

Weekend Update

Are the Cornell 7 Being Tried on Social Media?


McClanahan on The Debate of the Century

Choose Life


Political Cartoon


Courtesy of M. Wuerker via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1965 Top 100 Hits

Love Potion Number Nine - Searchers

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Monday, October 19, 2026

Post #7896 Commentary: A Difficult Time to be Pro-Life

There are some scenarios I don't like to blog about. Take, for instance, the murder of UHC CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly at the hands of Luigi Mangione. I saw little sympathy (as we did for Charlie Kirk). Brian was survived by a wife and 2 children. Yet Mangione has perversely become the poster boy for the politically oriented opponents of for-profit healthcare businesses. Via Google AI:

Keep in mind health insurance is hardly the most lucrative business profit niche:

Sadly, political perspectives can obfuscate the tragedy of violent murder devastating any family. When I was young, one of my friends lost his Army dad during the Vietnam War. Personally, I opposed the Vietnam War; I didn't understand why thousands of young American men were being killed or injured in a nondefensive war. But I did not think my friend's dad "deserved" to die.

A similar point involves the Capitol cop (Byrd) murder of unarmed J6 protester Ashli Babbitt. I opposed the Trumpkin assault on the Capitol. But Babbitt did not pose a mortal threat to Byrd.. Leftists on X come out of the woodwork to attack Babbitt as deserving of losing her life for advancing her trespass in defiance of Byrd's warnings. 

One of the subjects I often don't talk about directly that often is abortion. I'm the oldest of 7; yes, I was raised Catholic, part of my Franco-American heritage, with a paternal aunt who was a sister/nun and a maternal uncle who was a priest. I never heard the priests discuss the topic of abortion pre-Roe, and the subject was never raised at home. I stumbled across the word "abortion" in the newspaper and asked Mom what it meant. My mom gave a clinical definition without any judgment. I still recall my utter shock at the notion that any mother would choose to kill her own child. I remember saying to my mom in disbelief: "But Mom, that's murder! What does the Church say? It has got to be against this!" Even when I attended OLL, a Catholic college recently turned coed and run by sisters/nuns (I initially thought I had a religious vocation to the priesthood), I was even more shocked to discover that pro-aborts were everywhere. Even among my Latino classmates. I remember one guy asked me, "You don't think a woman has a right to control her own body?" SS and I finished our undergrad degrees in a dead heat for highest GPA in the college class; she was pre-med and a strident pro-abort. This had nothing to do with a desire to control women's behavior. For me, it was the ultimate violation of the libertarian non-aggression principle. For me, it's hard to understand the ideological principle of "choice" taking precedence over innocent human life. I had to deal with the reality of the SSs in everyday life, maintaining civility. I try to persuade in a positive tone, as in my daily blog post feature, "Choose Life." But I've gotten heat, even from other pro-lifers. A former nephew-in-law was an impassioned abortion abolitionist. I logged into my Facebook account and found my feed obsessively swamped with dark memes. (At some point, I realized I could toggle off my following option.) But when I raised concerns with my niece, he turned against me like I was worse than a pro-abort: I was a despicable"hypocrite". Eventually. I exercised de-friend and blocking.

But that wasn't my only experience with a crackpot relative. My youngest brother's first son, a UT engineering graduate who had divorced his first wife, started dating this Aggie graduate woman, probably at least 2-3 years, because I had met her at least a couple of times on annual holiday trips to visit my late mom . I never really talked to her. Around the time of their wedding, I had added her as a Facebook friend. In 2024, Stevie Nicks released a pro-abort anthem called "The Lighthouse". Having grown up during the Vietnam era, I was familiar with protest songs and knew that some favorite entertainers, like the Wilson sisters of Heart, were pro-abort. I also knew Stevie Nicks had reportedly aborted a child fathered by the Eagles' Don Henley (apparently the inspiration for the Fleetwood Mac song "Sara"). This seemed to be a reaction to the Dobbs decision (restoring traditional state regulation of abortion).

Even as I struggled to cope with an ideology that arbitrarily defined away the scientific fact of a preborn child's unique DNA, the pro-abort side was particularly uncivil. Some even sought to honor the connection of women who had aborted their children! They ridiculed pro-life arguments and sought criminalization of pro-life protest. etc. They exaggerated the Dobbs decision, which did not roll back abortion-friendly state abortion laws, especially in blue and/or purple states. There were no restrictions against pregnant women traveling to pro-abort "choice" states. Stevie Nicks brought back the images of coat hangers, the symbol of women resorting to crude, desperate methods to abort unwanted preborn children, and the like.

I don't like entertainers who use their platform to promote divisive political views. They may alienate up to half of their fans.  In my case, I bought multiple Floodwood Mac records and some solo Stevie Nicks recordings in earlier decades. It's not that I opposed Nicks' right to another point of view.. This is a different case from Seals and Crofts' "Unborn Child", which hurt their career. That song tries to persuade pregnant women to choose life; they suffered radio bans, boycotts, and concert protests. Nicks' song was in-your-face.


I think my post is probably a bit harsher than I would write now, but as my post suggests, I didn't expect Nicks to release a song like this.  I don't think it charted on the Hot 100, but it did chart in the top 20 in digital song sales. My post got few reactions, even from my mostly pro-life relatives. I didn't know my new niece-in-law was a strident pro-abort, and she responded with a personal attack, ridiculing my point of view. Now, to a certain degree, I understand how many raised in a post-Roe America will reflect the ideological orthodoxy they were taught. I was surprised because I thought my nephew wanted more children (he has a son from his first marriage). We're no longer on speaking terms.

The Dobbs decision was fully consistent with our federal system of government, and the incorporation doctrine underlying the original Roe decision was constitutionally dubious at best; even pro-abort activists like RBG questioned it. Even if I held "pro-choice" views on the issue, I would have felt the same. This is not to say that I agreed with Trump's political manipulation of the issue. Recall that Trump supported "choice" when he ran for the Reform Party nomination in 2000. Even during his 2016 campaign, he dodged the question of whether he had contributed to Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider). Notably, Trump advocated prosecuting women who violated abortion restrictions in red states. I would not claim to represent all pro-lifers in my opinions, but most of us empathize with any woman losing her child during pregnancy It is not really possible to restrict pregnant women's freedom to travel or to engage in risky behavior (like illicit drugs or alcohol); we still need to be morally persuasive.


This extends to other pro-life positions as well, including capital punishment. Many of us pro-lifers see capital punishment as premeditated murder by the State. Trump and his Defense Secretary, Hegseth, not only reinstated military executions for the first time since the early JFK Administration in over 6 decades. They also wanted to bring back firing squads, last used in WWII, for the planned execution of Hasan, the alleged Ft. Hood terrorist. They recited the weakly supported deterrence argument for public execution.
Then there's the failed Tennessee execution of Christa Pike:

Finally, there's the MA resident Lindsay Clancy tragedy trial.. Lindsay allegedly strangled her 3 young children (5, 3, and 8 os.), suffering from postpartum depression. (She reportedly blamed the older children for interfering with her ability to mother the youngest.) The defense responded with a mental defect defense, which shifts the burden on the prosecution;  with the MA McHoul precedent shifting the burden of proving criminal intent to the state. The trial ended up with a hung jury, with 11 jurors voting Clancy innocent, despite compelling evidence of the murder. 

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Post #7895 M: Republican Midterm Ads Cold Open; Dumb Bleep of the Week; Stossel on You Don’t Understand the Environment

 Quote of the Day

You don't get harmony 
when everybody sings the same note.
Doug Floyd  

Republican Midterm Ads Cold Open

Dumb Bleep of the Week

Stossel on You Don’t Understand the Environment

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Rick McKee via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1965 Top 100 Hits

Heart Full Of Soul - Yardbirds

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Sunday, October 18, 2026

Post #7894 Social Media Digest

 Facebook

X/Twitter

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Post #7893 M: Trump Desperate to Win Midterms; The Controversy Over Flock Cameras; Why So Many Men Feel Lost

 Quote of the Day

There are many who dare not kill themselves 
for fear of what the neighbors will say.
Cyril Connolly  

Trump Desperate to Win Midterms

The Controversy Over Flock Cameras

Why So Many Men Feel Lost

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Bill Bramhall via Politico

Musical Interlude:1965 Top 100 Hits

Nowhere To Run - Martha & the Vandellas

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Saturday, October 17, 2026

Post #7892 J

 Endemic Report

The latest CDC weekly stats:



The Sick Times:

While the aggregate stats still show a declining summer wave, rising west/central states may signal the start of the traditional respiratory season. No clear news trends other than defensiveness from HHS Secretary Kennedy et al. over the measles outbreak in PA and NY. The Administration has also pulled publications showing vaccine effectiveness and pushed vaccine injury claims, etc. One incidental note: a CDC data-tracking webpage I have referenced for months, if not years, of writing this post suddenly disappeared. Perhaps they were doing website maintenance, but usually the government will post a relevant maintenance page in the interim (I remember doing that when I was maintaining a Siebel application for veteran records at National Archives in 2004)

Other COVID-19 news items:

  • COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
    • "Elkins woman admits to stealing $400k+ in Covid-19 funds"
    • "Phoenix man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for COVID fraud, firearm offenses"
    • "North Hollywood Man Receives 70 Months in Prison for Nearly $5 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud"
    • "Evansville woman gets prison for $965K COVID-19 tax credit scheme"
    • "West Virginia woman pleads guilty to more than $400K in COVID fraud"
    • "Montgomery County Man Facing Federal Charges In Alleged COVID-19 Healthcare Fraud Scheme"
    • "Stamford Doctor, Practices To Pay Over $860K To Settle Billing, COVID Fraud Allegations: CT Attorney General"
    • "Rockville CEO Charged In $100M Covid-19 Fraud Scheme"
    • "Muncie man accused of requesting $1 million in false COVID-19 relief tax credits"
    • "New Haven man pleads guilty to lying to IRS in $257K COVID-19 fraud scheme"

  • Legal/politicl issues:

Other Notes

The blog averaged over a dubious 7K page views over the past week. I'm working on my first October essay. My X followers are nearing 250 just weeks after dipping below 200. The only reason I can think of is that I have spent more time replying to tweets, and I think my replies are getting more views than my originals. 

I have to follow up on the weird Amazon order mix-up from last weekend. I expected delivery of a nearly $200 Prime deals promo order, but instead I received an unordered package of dog treats. The delivery notification clearly listed my ordered items, and I was amazed that Amazon's proof of delivery showed the slender package of dog treats. Anyone with a quick glance would know something was wrong. In any case, Amazon agreed to make it right. The next day I found a box on my porch—which seems to have been the mishandled order. I called customer service to let them know the box had unexpectedly arrived so they could make any necessary adjustments. I know a couple of times in the past they delivered a package to the wrong address and were slow to credit my account, hoping whoever got the package would re-deliver it to me or have me search the neighborhood to see if I could find it on my own. (Usually they have a snapshot of where they left the package, and I've had to point out structural differences at my actual address: I don't have a window there; my rail is on the other side of the stairs, etc.) In this case, they somehow linked the dog treats that were actually delivered to a larger shipment of other items.  I don't intend to profit from a package mix-up, and the vast majority of my orders are fulfilled correctly..

Well, UT has all but eliminated itself from contention for the football playoffs with a second consecutive field-goal loss, this time at home. They quickly jumped to a 17-3 lead (including a punt-return TD) against Florida, only to see Florida respond with 24 unanswered points, and I think UT gained about 8 yards in the entire third quarter, embarrassing for a former #1-ranked team against one of the weakest defenses in the SEC. Arch Manning has to be one of the most overrated QBs ever. Last week he threw 2 fourth-quarter interceptions; this week he fumbled late in the game.

Hallmark has started its annual Countdown to Christmas. They don't do a good job putting the ones I like (like "Heaven Down There") in the rotation. They have too many royal-themed and, lately, football-themed rom-coms. 

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Post #7891 M: Pete Hegseth Purges Weirdos and Wimps; Stop Assuming Schools Know What They’re Doing; Keynes VS Rothbard Rap Battle: End the Fed? Gold Is Dead?

 Quote of the Day

Men always talk about the most important things 
to perfect strangers.
G.K. Chesterton  

Pete Hegseth Purges Weirdos and Wimps

Stop Assuming Schools Know What They’re Doing


Keynes VS Rothbard Rap Battle: End the Fed? Gold Is Dead?

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Lee Judge via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1965 Top 100 Hits

Wonderful World - Herman’s Hermits

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