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Thursday, December 31, 2020

Post #4951 M: Ron Paul on the Real COVID Spending Bill; 2020: Year in Review; Kibbe on the Deep State

 Quote of the Day

Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, 
Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, 
Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.
Walt Whitman 

Ron Paul on the Real COVID Spending Bill

2020: Year in Review

Kibbe on the Deep State

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Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

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Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Post #4950 M: Citizen v Government 8; Life Under Lockdown; Wuhan a Year Later

It's the Blogger's Birthday!

 

 Quote of the Day

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, 
and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. 
Robert Frost  

Citizen v Government 8

Life Under Lockdown

Wuhan a Year Later

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Ding Dong! Merrily on High

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Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Post #4949 M: Stossel on Good News in 2020; SCOTUS and the Right to Navigate Waters;; Leaving California For Texas

 Quote of the Day

Love conquers all.
Virgil  

Stossel on Good News in 2020

SCOTUS and the Right to Navigate Waters

Leaving California For Texas

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Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Shepherd's Pipe Carol

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Monday, December 28, 2020

Post #4948 M: Censorship of Vulgar Birds; Homeless Shelter vs Local Government; COVID Relief Bill

 Quote of the Day

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
Michelangelo  

Censorship of Vulgar Birds

Homeless Shelter vs Local Government

Kibbe and Massie on the COVID Relief Bill

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Political Cartoon

Courtesy of AF Branco via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Chrismas

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

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Post #4947 Rant of the Day: Jill Biden's Title

 If you are a regular reader to this blog you may already know my position on this. It's a bit of a sore spot for me, not in the sense you might think. I've even tweeted and probably blogged a recent comment when I first ran across a piece in the National Review mocking Jill's use of the title on her Twitter account.  Why this rant? Because over the past 24 hours I've heard Chris Wallace and at least 2-3 others refer to Jill's degree as a "PhD"; no, you idiots, she has an EdD. There's a difference. A PhD, like I earned, is an ACADEMIC/research doctorate; it's meant to require an original contribution to human knowledge and is the prerequisite for an academic career as a professor.

Other degrees, like an EdD, MD and a DBA (not to be confused with my IT profession, but think of it as more of an extension to an MBA), are PROFESSIONAL degrees. That's right; your medical doctor is actually lower on the academic food chain. As per Wikipedia:

In the United States, the M.D. awarded by medical schools is a "Professional Doctorate" (as opposed to the Doctor of Philosophy degree which requires a focus on research)...in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries, the M.D. is a research doctorate, higher doctorate, honorary doctorate or applied clinical degree restricted to those who already hold a professional degree in medicine; in those countries, the equivalent professional to the North American and some others use of M.D. is still typically titled Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.)

Wallace tried to make it sound like a professor is trying to attain a higher status by using 'Dr.'. And then he was dismissive of the kerfuffle pointing out Martin Luther King used the title, etc.

Now the only time I insist on the title being used is when I am on a college campus, and I still use it when I talk to my former dissertation chair, as a matter of respect, generally not in talking to fellow faculty. If people want to make a good impression, they'll use it, like one of my sisters-in-law, my insurance company, etc. But my Twitter handle, unlike Biden, doesn't say Dr. Ronald Guillemette, or Ronald Guillemette, PhD. Oh, if you read my profile, you'll see my academic credentials. In fact, I get annoyed when I see medical doctors stick MD on their tag. "My, aren't we special?" Yes, I know there's a lot of hard work in becoming an MD, and many MD's are bright individuals. There are a lot brighter people who never pursued an MD.

Most PhD's don't really go out of their way to point out their academic credentials: to give a simple example: the columnist George Will has one, Newt Gingrich, Tom Woods, almost any economist you know. Most of us bright people feel our work speaks for us.

I don't know why Jill Biden insists on explicit public recognition, probably why Trump always brags on his degree from the Wharton School. I could write what I've thought of EdD's long before I knew Biden had one, but today it would be considered a political attack. I'll simply point out Bill Cosby also has an EdD with a dissertation on Fat Albert and the Cosby kids.
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Sunday, December 27, 2020

Post #4946 M: Stossel Interviews Peterson; The Economics of Scrooge; Walter Williams: A Life of a Free-Market Economist

 Quote of the Day

He who holds hopes for the human condition is a fool.
Albert Camus

Stossel Interviews Peterson

The Economics of Scrooge

Walter Williams: A Life of a Free-Market Economist

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Al Goodwyn via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

O Come, All Ye Faithful  (I was so blown away I licensed the download)

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Post #4945 Social Media Digest

 Facebook



Twitter


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Post #4944 Commentary: A Nuanced Take on Trump's Veto of the Defense Bill

 I've tweeted on this topic, but I really wanted to provide more of my consolidated take on Defense Spending and Trump's provocative late-term veto. From a political standpoint, I expect Trump's veto to be overridden, likely the first and only time in his expiring election term. The House is back in session Monday, and reportedly McConnell plans a Senate vote Tuesday, assuming a House override; both chambers passed the bill with overwhelming veto-overriding margins.

To me, this is a puzzling move, especially if Trump is flirting with the idea of a 2024 comeback. Backing a strong national defense has been a traditional GOP issue, and in fact Trump initially ran on a strong defense funding platform, arguing Obama had eviscerated the DoD during his tenure. Trump really isn't arguing here that Congress here is undercutting his funding request. Why would he be opposing getting the funding he requested, possibly putting national defense at risk?

I'm not even going to the official White House statement here, because the reasons have been fleshed out in public for weeks:

  • Trump opposes, for personal reasons, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and demands its repeal. This basically shields social media providers from liability from user content. Trump is highly incensed that Twitter and other providers have tagged some of his factually-challenged claims (not that he has been censored). We libertarians reject Trump's self-serving position and see Section 230 as consistent with the intent of the First Amendment.
  • Trump opposes renaming certain (mostly Southern) military bases named after certain Confederate-era public figures/generals. Now most of us libertarians condemn politically correct wars on Southern heritage but understand addressing a morale issue in today's integrated military.
  • Trump argues Congresswoman Cheney and others are tying his hands on tactical decisions like troop withdrawals in the Gulf Region. This one gets the most sympathetic hearing from us; we firmly oppose neo-con interventionists like Cheney. Depending on the nature of the legislation, one could argue that it infringes on the POTUS' duties as Commander-in-Chief or that certain Presidential actions, say involving prospective treaty obligations or violations, must be approved by Congress.
Now the topic of defense funding is a special case for libertarians because we believe that if there is a case for central government, it's for common defense (and a guarantor of individual rights). This does not mean we agree the nature and extent of the DoD: over 800 military bases overseas, multiple alliances, etc., by any measure beyond the mandate to protect our national territory. Never mind the inadequacy of auditing for a vast infrastructure, even political corruption like Congressmen connected to suppliers pushing goods not even requisitioned by the military, others fighting closure of redundant military facilities for fear of economic consequences on local economies.

Many of us minarchists are often mocked by the more purist AnCaps who argue accepting the legitimacy of a minimum mission of government is like a woman being a little bit pregnant, over $700B pregnant; this is a little disingenuous; I don't know, off the top of my head, what is the optimal funding level, but I do know it's significantly less than what Congress passed.

At the risk of oversimplification, I would argue that most libertarians would welcome Trump's veto, like Congressman Justin Amash, not necessarily for Trump's reasons, but as a first step towards getting the bloated defense budget under control

I have to admit to having mixed feelings because I'm a military veteran and I have in the past worked as a defense contractor; don't I have a vested interest in a bloated budget? Well, the military stores information just like the private sector; I currently am a database administrator. I have worked as a consultant or contractor at every level of government, including cities (e.g., Oakland, Chicago), counties (in WI and MN) and state (OK), not to mention multiple federal agencies (National Archives, Patent Trademark Office, NASA, Veteran Benefits, etc.) I've also worked extensively in the private sector (clients include IT products (chip testing, displays, semiconductors, network gear, smart devices, etc.), industrial machinery, paper products, packaging supplies, universities (ERP software), library supplies, industrial supplies, mall retail chains, duty-free shops, tax services, automotive parts (airbags), sugar refiners, nutrition products, marketing research, credit cards, a television channel, insurance, energy companies, etc.) My extensive MIS background (PhD/former professor) also supports other IT professions, and I've often done Unix administration, development and system analysis as ancillary responsibilities. A DBA's skills are fairly generic, not unlike say a military cook, a pilot, nurse or doctor. As a professional, I work to the best of my ability for any client, whether in the private or public sector. I've had to deal with government shutdowns in the past, some were briefer than others, and unlike government employees, we usually don't get backpay. 

I have no doubt my livelihood might be impacted by a budget fight between POTUS and Congress. My personal approach is to adapt to circumstances.  My issue with Trump is not necessarily his veto, but the rationale of his veto over basically trivial, unrelated reasons; if you're going to fight with Congress, make it worthwhile, like getting defense spending under control.

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Saturday, December 26, 2020

Post #4943 M: Kulldorff on a Lockdown Critique; The REAL Postbellum South; Stossel: The Full Snowden Interview

 Quote of the Day

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a lifetime's experience.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.  

Kulldorff on a Lockdown Critique

The REAL Postbellum South

Stossel: The Full Snowden Interview

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Hallelujah (Handel's Messiah)

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Post #4942 Commentary: Sledding, Accidents, Lawsuits, and Governments

 I have been quite aware of the pro-liberty work of free-range kids advocate mother Lenore Skenazy. Skenazy, an Ivy League-school NYC newspaper columnist/blogger and TV host, ignited a firestorm back in 2008 when she penned a column explaining how she allowed her 9-year-old son ride the infamous NYC subway home unescorted, gaining a progressive tag as the "world's worst Mom". 

As a baby boomer, I and my 6 younger siblings often had done stuff on our own that would raise eyebrows in today's America; for example, my maternal grandfather used to give us nickels to spend on penny candy at the variety store across the street from his Fall River, MA grocery store, and we walked the several blocks on our own (never mind going to Notre Dame Elementary School, even further away; my grandfather never owned a car). We walked or rode our bikes to playgrounds, baseball games, the base swimming pool, etc., never a bad incident. 

I even did some seriously risky stuff; I recently blogged how, during my high school days in south Texas, I didn't want to wait another 20+ minutes for buses to pick us up after school and occasionally cut across a direct one-mile path through ranch land between school and  the base. (The government had tried to negotiate an easement with the rancher but failed; so buses had to do a 3-mile or so route around the property on busy city streets.) I think once or twice I learned the path going with others, and we largely ignored the hissing of rattlesnakes, although I never saw any; God knows what would have happened if I had gotten bitten.) Note that I didn't routinely do this, but I probably didn't mention it to the folks.

I sometimes blame the public hysteria on what I call the "Oprah Winfrey effect". We started seeing any adult approaching or working with kids as a likely pedophile or kidnapper; the clergy became bogeymen. Make no mistake; there are some evil people out there who do victimize children. It's one thing to be prudent, another thing to impose your own parental preferences on other people, to accuse them of criminal neglect. My personal belief is that we shouldn't underestimate our kids and we need to give them enough space to make mistakes, learn from them and earn our trust. 

Skenazy's latest Reason post drew my attention because it draws from some family history. Now I've personally never owned a sled or to the best of my memory ever used one; for the most part as an Air Force brat, I've lived in states where it rarely snows (FL, SC, TX).

But my late maternal uncle did, and part of family mythology involves a childhood incident. To provide a context, my grandfather's house sat on an inflection point on Reney St. What's important about that is there is a steep decline down the hill to the end of the street several houses down, a natural setting for sledding, and among my uncle's few possessions was a sled.

Now I have to mention something which may seem irrelevant but is part of the story. My grandmother and godmother, who died from cancer complications before I turned 3, reportedly had the bloodstopping gift/powet. No doubt it was well-known in my Franco-American (French Canadian) heritage. The mythology is the gift is passed on through members of the other gender, and requires a special prayer (according to the Wikipedia source, a verse from Ezekiel); no word in the family if Grandmother passed on her gift. So the idea is that the gifted person can stop a gushing blood wound using his/her power and reciting the ancient prayer.

So the story is my grandmother was watching my preteen uncle sledding down the hill one day when the sled suddenly flipped and one of the blades came down on one of his legs, deeply cutting him, leaving him bleeding profusely. My grandmother rushed to his side and invoked her power; by all accounts, uncle's bleeding immediately stopped.

Now I have to say I am a skeptic of all this stuff about a power and the gimmick of how it's allegedly passed down to others of the opposite gender; my uncle was a conservative priest, extremely intelligent with a licentiate from a prestigious seminary. He had zero patience with astrology, magic, and assorted other superstitious rubbish. So one day I asked him incredulously about the sledding accident. Now my uncle did not believe in arguing for its own sake or in repeating himself. He simply told me it was a fact; he was there and saw what happened; the bleeding stopped after his mother's intervention.

Of course, Skenazy's column has nothing to do with bloodstopping. It has more to do with parents' scapegoating municipalities for their children's accidents and suing them--and the predictable Statist response has been to ban sledding. I don't think it ever crossed my grandparents' minds to sue Fall River over my uncle's accident. Accidents don't happen because of public policy; they can be tragic. And prohibitions never work anyway, can be counterproductive and are typically unenforceable. Sledding technology and knowhow exists. We need to stop lawsuit abuse and the Nanny State.

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Friday, December 25, 2020

Post #4941 M: Merry Christmas!; Tom Woods and Jeff Deist on 2020; The Story Behind Candy Canes; Urban Planning of the North Pole

 Quote of the Day

Let us live for the beauty of our own reality.
Charles Lamb 

Tom Woods and Jeff Deist on 2020

The Story Behind Candy Canes

Urban Planning of the North Pole

Choose Life


Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Pat Cross via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

O Little Town of Bethlehem

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Post #4940 J

 Shutdown Diary

Well, the crisis just became a lot more real to me from my home state of Texas where my Mom and all but one of 6 siblings live and many of my nephews and nieces. In particular, my oldest nephew's family got hit with COVID-19 infections around Thanksgiving (rural East Texas) and reportedly two nieces' spouses (in FL and TX) have been diagnosed. No word yet on test results for my nieces, but the older one doesn't feel well. My oldest nephew isn't quite sure how his family got exposed, but they suspect two of my grandnieces may have been infected on a school-related bus trip. I do have a relative in an assisted living facility which has experienced a handful of residents and staff infected out of maybe a couple of dozen people; apparently my relative will take her first vaccine shot over the next couple of weeks.

So, make no mistake: this is a nasty disease, and you don't want to get infected. I originally intended to spend Christmas with my Mom in Texas like I had over the last 3 or so Christmases, but not under current circumstances. The recent event of a Latino passenger on a United flight who died of COVID-19 complications is instructive; he had falsely checked off not having classic symptoms like loss of taste and smell.

Although I've been highly critical of Draconian, inflexible public policy COVID mandates and business shutdowns/restrictions, I personally engage in well-known safety practices like face masks. Now I have not met obviously symptomatic individuals in public, but I am well-aware of the risk of virus-laden droplets/spray from coughs, sneezes, etc. so even my otherwise useless cloth mask provides prospective protection. I've generally restricted trips to grocery runs and medically-related visits, e.g., earlier this week a routine blood test and an eye exam. In both of the latter cases, I had to reply in advance to a battery of COVID-19 questions, any symptoms from me or a member of my household, any test results, etc.; in one case, I had to print out a pass.

Daily Annoyances

For interested readers, I also have a companion SoftDoc blog.  (SoftDoc was a business concept I coined leaving academia in a 1990's recession. I think I referenced it in passing in a book chapter I published in one of Jane Carey's Human Factors in IT anthologies. I have had research interests in human factors in software and documentation.) I have always liked to look at the fit between humans and technology, meaning not just physical characteristics like display legibility, workstation design for comfort, ease of operations, etc., but cognitive aspects, like personal productivity, task suitability, intuitiveness and naturalness of an interface (e.g., telling vs typing what Amazon Alexa should do) For example, an experienced user might want things like shortcuts to desired functionality. less focus on computer interruptions from task performance, the ability to leverage learning in other contexts, say through interface consistency. (For instance, the Help/About menu in Windows applications often lets us check versions of software, even attach us to upgrade channels.)

I often do anecdotal usability checks in what Don Norman references as the design of everyday things. Do I mistake pulling vs pushing a door open? Do I have to consult documentation in order to replace a battery? Do computerized driving instructions provide convoluted results? 

Let me give an example to make a point. When I was driving a U-Haul from Arizona to Maryland back in 2017, I particularly wanted to stick close to interstates with easy on/off ramps. In cities, you are pretty much restricted to driving straight  and/or right angle turns. You can't back up or you'll jackknife (I was towing my car), and u-turns are almost impossible. The last thing I wanted was driving on some narrow, unfamiliar streets, maybe missing a direction change driving in the dark. Now I'll often use my Garmin and/or Google Maps--plus hardcopy directions "just in case", e.g., my cellphone had GPS connection issues when I was driving in the Harrisburg, PA area, maybe my Garmin lost its charge. So I was driving on a major highway north through Virginia and into West Virginia. I knew ultimately I wanted to take I-70E to Baltimore. It turns out the two highways intersected in WV, but I didn't know that and my hardcopy map didn't show that.

Google Maps sometimes has some weird quirks. I remember in one case it suggested a route connecting two highways in Pennsylvania was just over a mile long (and it turned out to be more like 15 miles). I ended up driving back and forth thinking I had somehow missed a turnoff for the second highway. Then there were 2 times I missed interviews in Baltimore and Delaware; I remember in each case pleading for driving instructions via the agency from the clients and getting no response. I went to Google Maps. In the Baltimore case I was told the exit should lead to a T-intersection but I found myself it a merge along a coastal route. In Delaware I was told to look for a certain right turn off an exit, which didn't exist. In both cases, the agency wasn't prepared for my call but dropped me after I didn't make the interview.

Now I had just driven several hours through Tennessee and Virginia, and the sun was coming down. I started looking for a hotel; I was hoping to get to 70-E which was quite familiar (back in early 2014 I had commuted back to Baltimore from West Virginia on weekends). Google had me getting off the highway, ostensibly on a route to 70-E. Tired, I couldn't find the connecting route off the exit and I was having to drive in right angles to turn around. I soon found myself driving in an unfamiliar area in the dark and it probably took me an hour to work myself back to the highway. I was determined to find the first hotel I could find which turned out to be in WV. It cost me close to $120/night vs $60-80/night earlier in Texas and Tennessee. I was planning to look at maps via my laptop; however, on asking the desk clerk, I was told there was an I-70 interchange maybe a 20-minute drive ahead

I have several posts in my Softdoc blog detailing anecdotal usability experiences, including the time I tried driving to the nearby WV post office for the first time using my Garmin and found myself on an unpaved mountain one-lane road. Most recently, I described how I had to reconnect my Amazon microwave to my WIFI.

More recently I had become more interested in Bluetooth; I have used it in my car to tap into my library of hundreds of pop hits (mostly 60's to early 2000's). It can also provide an alternative to scarce USB slots on a PC. I'm in the process of transitioning my workhorse PC to a newer laptop with Bluetooth functionality. I bought some nice Bluetooth devices, including a rechargeable keyboard and mouse. The were easily installed and usable from the get-go when all of a sudden the new mouse stopped working.

At first I thought maybe the mouse needed to be recharged. I then checked my Windows Bluetooth settings; the mouse settings, etc.; everything seemed to indicate my mouse should be operational, but it was nonoperational. Was I going to have to go through the hassle of going to Amazon to get a product replacement?

I ended up doing something similar to how I fixed my microwave oven: I dropped the Bluetooth device from Windows and re-registered it. The mouse is now working as expected.

Final Comment This Year on Christmas Movies

I was ecstatic last night when NBC ran "It's a Wonderful Life" and then MeTV ran my favorite (musical) version of "Scrooge" in the early morning hour. And then I discovered E! was running an "It's a Wonderful Life" marathon today.  Not to mention as I write, I'm watching my copy of "White Christmas" on my desktop PC.

I'm not sure how these licensing deals work; I think AMC used to run "White Christmas" and/or "Miracle on 34th St." I do hold many classic titles on DVD, but some of them are probably in storage. It's like some are on Netflix, some on Freeform (a cable channel not in my bundle), others on Apple or Disney, etc. I'm simply not going to join a streaming service just to get access to a movie or two. I already have two streaming services bundled with Amazon Prime and my cable subscription.

In a follow-up to a dated cable movie "Merry Kissmis" I found on Amazon, I found it recently playing on Ion channel.

I think Hallmark and Lifetime are finished debuting new Christmas movies this year. Almost none of the new movies really caught my attention while I was working on my blogs. Hallmark is signaling it will continue featuring a Christmas movie once weekly after the new year.

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

Post #4939 M: Christmas Eve; Will Trump Pardon Ross Ulbricht?; The Economics of 'Jingle All the Way'; Ron Paul on the Stimulus Bill

 Quote of the Day

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, 
Or what's a heaven for? 
Robert Browning  

Will Trump Pardon Ross Ulbricht?

The Economics of 'Jingle All the Way'

Ron Paul on the Stimulus Bill

One of the Greatest Christmas Songs Ever

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Steve Breen via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

O Holy Night/Silent Night

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Post #4938 Rant of the Day: The Post-Election Trump/Trumpkin Meltdown

Let me be clear: I'm not looking forward to the Biden Administration. Will I be happier without Trump's ceaseless self-promotion, need for attention and undisciplined, roiling, unconventional tweeting and other behavior? Yes. Are there certain things I'll miss with Trump's departure? Yes. Trump's approach to regulation is more market-friendly and some of his court picks were excellent; at least he hasn't started new wars. Biden's tax and spend, high regulation agenda is worrisome for economic growth; his high-profile picks to date seemed to be warmed-over Obama Administration veterans, and his DoD Secretary is a more recent military veteran who would require a Congressional waiver (I prefer civilian leadership): I do not see Biden walking away from international meddling/conflict, especially after the progressives' 4-year Russiaphobe obsession, now exacerbated over the alleged cyberwar attacks on government and corporate facilities. I'm also not hopeful of the rollback of Trump's disastrous, economically illiterate anti-trade and anti-immigration policies, given longstanding union opposition, although I expect accommodation of dreamers (foreign-born children of undocumented parents).  I think it's possible Biden could resurrect TPP (Asian-Pacific) and TTIP (Europe) initiatives under Obama,  but traditional GOP support is no longer a given with Trump-era protectionism infiltrating GOP legislators, and given Trump's possible 2024 campaign, Republican incumbents will be wary of Trump confrontations.

Personally, I loathe the hyper-partisanship on Twitter. I've made no secret that I oppose Trump; in fact, I switched to the Libertarian Party when Trump clinched the GOP nomination. I supported his impeachment and Senate conviction. I've probably adversely replied to dozens of Trump tweets; I've written probably well over a dozen critical blog posts. But, I've mentioned this before, the level of anti-Trump rhetoric goes beyond the loyal opposition; there are endless threads or trends on replacing Trump (yes, even in the last month of his term!) via the 25th Amendment, Russia puppet Trump, racist Trump, sexist/rapist Trump, COVID-murderer Trump, criminal/traitor Trump, the countless repetitious memes of him mocking a disabled reporter, grab them by the p*ssy,  etc. I know Trump wouldn't like my jabs at him, but I'm more apt to engage in sarcasm or mockery than in direct personal attacks, and typically I'm focusing on his words and actions.

This is not to say I'm crazy over the countertrends, Trump as victim of the Deep State, the Fake News, etc. Just this morning there was a trend on "the plot to steal America". It turned out to be a video clip retweeted by Trump, a Trumpkin propaganda piece arguing conspiracy theories about the election, putting a positive spin on Trump's horrendous trade wars, etc. 

Trump had telegraphed for months prior to the election that he would not accept an election loss under any circumstance, e.g., in late September:

US President Donald Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses November's election.

"Well, we'll have to see what happens," the president told a news conference at the White House. "You know that."

This is a guy who still refuses to concede he lost the popular vote in 2016 to Clinton, arguing that the loss was due to illegal voting, e.g., by unauthorized immigrants. I know I've repeated cited these statistics before, but Trump has almost never had a net positive rating his entire first term in the Gallup ratings. Biden had consistently polled nationally at 50 or above for weeks before the election (vs., at last count I saw, 51.3% and 81 million votes, 8M more than Trump) and won most of the state polls in all the battleground states that Biden flipped narrowly  and in question: AZ, GA, PA, MI, WI, NV. Whereas Trump exceeded poll expectations, that had more to do with Trump's percentage understated in the polls vs. Biden's more consistent percentage performance.

Trump had fought Vote By Mail tooth and nail; he knew that the GOP vote tended to be more in-person Election Day and Democrats preferred vote by mail under pandemic conditions. In many states, vote counting of mailed ballots, a slower process, couldn't start until Election Day, and ballots postmarked by Election Day qualified. (I believe the number of ballots received after Election Day was, in any case, nominal and not material to the outcome.) The fact that late-counted mail ballots offset Trump's Election Day performance in close states was entirely expected, especially in large percentage urban centers favoring Biden.

I've nauseously followed Trump's frivolous election lawsuits, including a last-minute Hail Mary from Texas suing other states trying to infringe on the internal affairs of other states. Trump thought having 3 SCOTUS nominees on the Court gave him a home court advantage for his parochial interests. But conservative judges aren't necessarily nationalists and are less likely to overrule state laws short of discriminatory public policy or other violations of fundamental rights.

Trump's refusal to concede the election is nothing short of an abomination. I have been on the losing side of elections for 4 straight Presidential cycles (the last two voting for the Libertarian Party nominee). I personally opposed the elections of Bill Clinton and Barry Obama. Still, I accepted the choice of the plurality/majority of fellow Americans. Trump's self-serving sore loser temper tantrum is profoundly un-American and immoral.

For me, the final straw, touching off this rant, was when former Congressman Allen West, now head of the Texas GOP, hinted in the wake of the SCOTUS Hail Mary decision that Texas should consider secession in confederation with other Trumpkin-voting states. Seriously, my native state would secede over TRUMP?

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Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Post #4937 M: Christmas Political Humor; Tom Woods on the Ongoing Public Health Failure; Coronavirus Shutdown vs. Business/Charity

Quote of the Day

Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse.
Author unknown  

Christmas Political Humor

Coronavirus Shutdown vs. Business/Charity

Tom Woods on the Ongoing Public Health Failure

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

 Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Gabriel's Message

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Post #4936 M: Political Humor: Pence's Vaccine Shot; Ron Paul: the Lockdown War on Small Business

 Quote of the Day

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. 
Be the chess player, not the chess piece.
Ralph Charell

Political Humor

Inside joke: SNL cast a new Joe Biden character, which explains the reference why he looks so different.

The Cost of Lockdowns

Ron Paul: the Lockdown War on Small Business

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Sussex Carol

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Monday, December 21, 2020

Post #4935 M: The COVID Relief Bill; the Georgia Runoff; Immigration Made America Great; Ron Paul on the Birx Hypocrisy

 Quote of the Day

Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.
Gail Sheehy  

Note to Readers

I generally prefer to post newer content, but there are seasonal factors, like two of my key video sources, McClanahan and Woods, don't publish or do so on a reduced schedule during the holiday season. (Of course, I've sometimes sampled older material in my posts.) It didn't affect today's post, but /I usually prefer at least 3 segments, and I'm finding it harder to find current day clips that meet my standards for the blog. So don't be surprised if I include some older clips or fewer segments during the next couple of weeks.

The COVID Relief Bill; the Georgia Runoffs

Immigration Made America Great

Ron Paul on the Birx Hypocrisy

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Margolis & Cox via Townhall

Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

The Coventry Carol

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Sunday, December 20, 2020

Post #4934 M: Will Sore-Loser Trump Hurt the GOP in the Georgia Runoffs?; SNL Trump Retrospective; Woods on the War on Business

 Quote of the Day

When you make a world tolerable for yourself, 
you make a world tolerable for others. 
Anais Nin  

Will Sore-Loser Trump Hurt the GOP in the Georgia Runoffs?

SNL Trump Retrospective

BTW, Jill Biden holds an EdD, not a PhD.

Woods on the War on Business

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Choose Life





Musical Interlude: Traditional Christmas

Jingle Bells

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