Monday, July 31, 2017

Ego Monuments


Skipping through the Interner recently. I came across the above picture of the engineering building of the Cooper Union in New York City ... remember the Lincoln Douglas debates? I immediately thought that this must be another Frank Geary mishmash. I was wrong. 41 Cooper Square was designed by Thom Mayne ... see: Cooper Union Write-up.

Why do architects design such oddities? (Why do they have a first name like Thom?) The answer is obvious ... it is to set themselves apart from conventional architects whose buildings use materials that work, are functional, are reasonably economical, and look good. I can't believe that the above building meets any of these norms.

The first such architectural monstrosity I recall seeing was the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright, another man with a "monumental ego". That building has been plagued with problems ... like many of Wright's houses. And the interior viewing space leaves lots to be desired. Unfortunately, Wright was wildly successful in getting commissions ... and so is slavishly emulated by the likes of Geary and now Mayne.

The people who commission these ego monuments obviously have more money than brains.

Headlines


All found on Internet news sites. Guess which ones come from Political?

As Trump steams, Senate Republicans consider new repeal effort

Wasserman Schultz seemingly planned to pay suspect [Awan] even after he went to Pakistan

Trump threatens to cancel health care benefits for Congress ...

DHS: 2.6 million H-1B workers approved to enter the US in last decade

Trump slams China: 'They do NOTHING for us with North Korea'

ICE: Man who raped Oregon woman was released despite detention request

Amazon under investigation over Iran-linked sales ...

Ferrari owner totals $288,000 car hour after purchasing it

Congress advised it has authority to undo any transgender ban

Al  Sharpton is protesting Trump over anti-Irish racial slur

Obama staffer: Michelle was boss ... if mad, big trouble ...

Buchanan warns: Scaramucci possible 'early causality'

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Save the Parrots

It was 48 degrees Fahrenheit last night outside of Boston ... on July 30th ... the middle of Summer for heaven's sake!

I think that this anomaly gives me an opportunity to make oodles of real money. I can cobble up a movie called "An Inconvenient Fiction" with lots of PR BS ... use it to convince millennials and gen-Zers that the next Ice Age is upon us ... get the climate scientists at East Anglia University to fudge their data once again ... get Michael Mann to point out that his hockey stick is used on ICE ... give 97% of scientists a shot at the government teat by getting the Trump administration to give grants to study how to save our planet ... call nitrogen the culprit leading to our frozen doom ... get the EPA to label nitrogen a pollutant ... win the Nobel Prize for Science ... get Merkel, Macron and Trudeau to start quoting my "settled science" ... plaster pictures of endangered parrots everywhere ("Save the Parrots") ... get the UN to relocate to Ecuador to save themselves ... and watch my bank account grow to Bill Gates levels as I start selling nitrogen credits.

Yeah, that's what I'll do ...

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which from Politico?

Schiff rankles Republicans talking Russian probe on T.v

Shock poll shows Kid Rock with a huge lead in Michigan GOP Senate primary

Chicago on course to top 700 homicides this year ...

Rubio: Venezuela crisis 'personal priority' for President Trump

Bipartisan House group meets quietly on Obamacare

Report: Mooch's wife files for divorce

Apple removes apps from China that would help Internet users avoid censorship

Tillerson standing between Muslim Brotherhood and terror designation

Trump intends to sigh Russian sanctions bill into law

North Korea says ICBM test showed surprise attack capability

Musk warns of [Tesla Model 3] 'manufacturing hell'

Baby Charlie Gard dead, 'Our beautiful child is gone'

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Axis of Evil


Over fifteen years ago President Bush designated Iran and North Korea as members of the "Axis of Evil." They still are and even more sinister. North Korea has atomic weapons and Iran has sophisticated ICBMs and they both hate the United States with an unnatural passion. Why wouldn't they get together like peanut butter and chocolate to carry out their dangerous designs? Only Afghanistan and China stand between them on a land route ... so they could  secretly swap their terror technologies.Well, unfortunately they seem to be doing just that ... see: Breitbart Article.

This collusion complicates our national security issue tremendously. I would like to believe that there is a solution to these "existential" threats other than turning these countries into charcoal briquettes  (a John Bolton phrase) ... because much of the rest of the world will likely conflagrate along with them. Will sanity prevail once they are both locked and loaded? It did during the Cold War and I would like to believe that it will again. But there are no guarantees.

Will we have suicide countries like we have had suicide bombers? Only Allah and the "little fat kid" can tell ...

Afterward: Wouldn't it be nice if Ayatollah Khemenei's prostate cancer and Kim Jong Un's obesity  took care of these problems for us?

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

How McCain tanked Obamacare repeal

After vulgar rant, Trump's new comms guy vows never to trust another reporter

Border wall prototype delayed until Winter ...

GDP rises at 2.6% annual pace

Gowdy: More coverage of Bieber tour than Lynch scandal

House Dems call for Kushner to be immediately dismissed

Obama aides unmasked hundreds during election without justification

Gingrich on NPR: Mueller has hired antiTrump killers

After health care failure,Trump tweets 'let Obamacare implode'

Macron aims to clear migrants from the streets of France

Stock market +19% since election ...

Gingrich on Scaramucci: Full of himself, 'talking more than he is thinking'

Friday, July 28, 2017

A Key Test


A key test for General Kelly as President Trump's new Chief of Staff will be whether the Mooch (the new Director of Communication, Scaramucci) reports directly to the president or must go through General Kelly. If he reports directly to Trump, Kelly will not last long. If he reports through Kelly, then Scaramicci will likely be a short timer.

Also I expect that White House leaks will stop post haste ...

Will be interesting to see ...

Payback's a Bitch


"You can attract more flies with honey than you can with vinegar."

Senator John McCain joined Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins to kill the "Skinny Repeal," the last hope for any kind of an Obanacare repeal bill to pass the Senate and go back to the House for reconciliation ... see: Bloomberg Story. Was this act of sinking President Trump's attempt to fix the health-care insurance debacle left to him by his predecessor because of McCain's Democrat sympathies ... or his current health crisis ... or was it payback for Trump's once saying that McCain wasn't a hero in his mind "because he was captured."

Yeah, I think I'll go with the last one ...

Afterward: If Murkowski and Collins also acted, at least partially, out of revenge for Trump's "pussy" comments caught on a hot mic during the campaign, then Trump surely sunk this part of his agenda himself ... and three Senators reduced themselves to Trump's base level with their spite. Unfortunate.

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which from Politico?

Scaramucci cranks up the pressure on Priebus

IRS continues to hire employees with performance problems

Plane sized asteroid buzzes Earth undetected ...

Erdogan: Universities need to stop Muslim 'brain drain to West'

Joint Chiefs: 'No change' to transgender policy

Pakistani village orders teen raped for her brother's crime

Texas GDP soars 3.9%: California flatlines at 0.1%

Amazon Bezos world's richest man

Graham: Firing Mueller would be the 'beginning of the end' of Trump's presidency

Newt Gingrich tells Scaramucci to slow down and learn the business

OJ sends cease and desist to Goldmans ... says threatening him ...

The 'Trump option': Basic health care for all, private insurance for everything else

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Gender Bemding


Sometimes distinctions make common sense. President Trump's new policy of banning transgenders (just the T in LGBT) from the military has raised another imbroglio. It seems that this about-face from an Obama out-the-door policy was primarily motivated by Congress's inability to deny taxpayer payments for sex-change operations and hormone therapy for transgender service personnel.

Who has been our most recent transgender soldier? Remember? Why Bradley Manning, that's who. He was the traitor who gave over seven hundred thousand secret and sensitive documents to Wikileaks, was convicted of espionage, started sex reassignment treatments and renamed himself  Chelsea ... and spent less than four years in the brig out of his 35 year sentence ... having gotten an executive pardon during Obama's last days in office.

Maybe, with Trump's new policy tweet, this Chelsea Mamning debacle will now be a lot less likely to be repeated?

Afterward: Why did Obama find a novel and departing affinity for transgenders?

Awan to be Alone


OK ... let's take some bank fraud, money laundering, possible blackmail of Congressmen, likely kickbacks, a suspicious bankruptcy, e-mail hacking, espionage, stealing, double billing, aiding and abetting of terrorism, etc., etc. ... mix it all together with a high-level cover up ... sounds like a pretty juicy [Democrat] scandal,for our MSM right? Nope ... not when you spend all your reportage on how the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to defeat the incorruptible Hillary Clinton for president ... which, to date, has resulted in dozens of dead ends.

This story has been around since at least February, but its only coverage to speak of has been in a few on-line news sites, the NY Post and Fox News. It involves the Awans, three Pakistani brothers, and two wives who all worked in IT for Democrat House representatives ... each earning the maximum of $160,000 per annum for mostly no-show jobs. The other shenanigans that this quintet were involved in will curl your hair. But rather than recanting all of them here, I suggest you read it in this synopsis: The Biggest Scandal You Never Heard Of. And the oldest Awan brother was just arrested trying to flee the country after wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars back to Pakistan. Some of the others have already slipped out.

To view part of the cover-up efforts in this case go to: Powerline Blog

Will this scandal grow so large as to eclipse Russia-gate like it clearly should? Not if the MSM, the Deep State, Comey and Mueller  have anything to say about it. Priorities are priorities after all!

You now get an inkling of why Trump has changed "swamp" to "sewer" when describing Washington.

Headlines


All from Internet hews sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Sessions' powerful friends stand up to Trump

Clean Obamacare repeal fails in the Senate

Michelle O: Some never saw past 'my skin color' ...

Grassley warns Trump: No more Attorney Generals [sic] this year ...

Dems to GOP: No amendments until we see your [healthcare] bill

Report/ Trump banned transgenders to stop Congress fighting over it

CBO: 15 million would opt out of Obamacare --if they could!

Israel caves, removes metal detectors from Temple Mount ...

Trump's transgender ban is a legal land mine

Imran Awan turns to long-time Clinton associated ate for legal help

Bannon: Let's raise taxes [on the rich]!

House Judiciary Committee approves effort to investigate Comey, Lynch ...

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

At Ohio rally, Trump keeps making campaign promises

Trump bans transgenders from serving in the military

Stocks hit new record again and again and again ...

Levin: Trump treating Schumer, Pelosi better than Sessions

Wasserman Schultz [IT] aide arrested trying to leave country

State Department denies rumors of Tillerson departure

Fall Preview: New Hillary nook blames everyone ...

Tucker: Trump's attacks on Sessions are 'nuts'

House Republicans seek to dodge border wall vote

Princeton hopes to promote 'healthy masculinity' on campus

End of diesel and gas cars in UK ... by 2040 ...

Trump gives Sessions a stay: Won't fire -- for now ...

Management 101


I have never claimed to be a great manager ... but I do remember a lesson I learned in Management 101 in graduate school ... never humiliate a subordinate in public. If you have an issue with one of your reports, make sure you impose any dressing-down or corrective actions IN PRIVATE. Humiliating someone in public creates many more management problems than it can possibly solve. How many times have you seen people leave a company so that they can "spend more time with their families?" This is the genteel way ... and it has been my way.

However, this is apparently not President Trump's way ... as he has been throwing barbs at his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for a number of days. Primarily, Trump is angry about the slow-motion coup taking place ... spearheaded by the Special Council, Robert Mueller ... and he blames Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russian election interference investigation. Clearly, President Trump, unfortunately, doesn't believe in this management nicety ... although he went to Wharton School.

I know that many readers here believe that I am a Trump sycophant ... but, if you would take the time to browse through many of the entries, you will see that I have not always walked the Trump line ... and I am not now doing so on this issue. He is once again being brutish.

Although unlikely, I do hope Sessions stays at AG. He is a very decent and honorable man. Too good to be so treated.

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which from Politico?

McCain to make dramatic return for Obamacare vote

Senator asks DOJ about Democrats' work with Ukraine to smear Trump campaign

Musk hits back: Zuckerberg knowledge 'limited' ...

.. Dem Manchin encourages Sessions: 'Keep doing your job

Trump assails Sessions for 'very weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes'

Exclusive: Sessions allies are furious at how Trump is treating the AG

Polygamous leader found guilty of having 25 wives ...

Scaramucci terminates suspected leaker from White House

Source: [Rep.] Nunes likely to attend Kushner interview

'Facr-checker' Snopes is begging its readers for cash

Erdogan urges all Muslims to 'visit' and 'protect' Jerusalem ...

Study: 8,471 cases of double voting uncovered in 21 states

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The Human Condition


Everyone is composed of a full menu of positive and negative attributes ... and this profile is not two dimensional as some attributes, both good and bad, are more consequential than others. And no one is perfect. But finding someone with 80 or 90 percent positive attributes is a rarity. Elevating someone to a position of power with only 10 or 20 percent positive ones, of whatever magnitude, can be quite corrosive.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Quote of the Day


I take it back. Washington isn't a swamp. It's a cesspool, a sewer. -- President Trump

Afterward: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. -- President Truman


Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which from Politico?

Kushner defends his Russian contacts: 'I did not collude'

Illegal immigrant repeatedly raped 12-year old girl, police say

DNC Chair dodges: Should Pelosi keep leadership role?

Paul Ryan defends Robert Mueller: 'Anything but' a 'biased partisan'

Giuliani: Sessions 'made the right decision' to recuse himself

Trump takes another shot at 'beleaguered' Jeff Sessions

Viewers outraged as Phelps races simulated shark ...

Early poll: Kid Rock up 4 on Stabenow in Michigan Senate race

Trump: Washington is a 'sewer' not a 'swamp'

Shocker: Colleges stop exorbitant price increases after Congress caps student loans

Zuckerberg slaps Musk: Predictions of AI doomsday 'irresponsible' ...

World Council of Churches sends letter of support for Palestinians campaign for Jerusalem

The Greening of America


Environmentalists have used "greening" as a proxy for the process of improving our environment ... but what is happening ... have you noticed? ... is there seems to be a real increase in the verdant vegetation in our fields and forests. In his famous discourse on global warming, Princeton Professor of Physics Emeritus, Freeman Dyson, said that the world's vegetation has been long living on a "starvation diet of carbon dioxide". This meager diet of CO2 in our atmosphere got as low as 36 parts per million (that's 0.0036%) at its low. Now it is closer to 0.004% and one can almost here our shrubs and trees licking their lips and burping.

Not that this current level is a bacchanalian feast because hundreds of million years ago (the Carboniferous Period) CO2 got as high as 0.04% (400 parts per million). Even nurserymen today pump equivalent or higher levels of CO2 into their greenhouses to enhance the plant growth there. So we see, boys and girls, that our Industrial Age can be viewed as a great benefit to our plants as we are clearly helping them grow and stay healthy. Our plants are gobbling up the carbon dioxide we are producing almost as fast as we can pump it out ... possibly why Al Gore's bugaboo "global warming" has defied the computer models of 97% of our environmental scientists. They seem to have forgotten about ol'  Mother Earth's feedback mechanisms.

Perhaps our environmentalists might wake up soon and start loving CO2, like I do, for all the good that it does in "the greening of America."

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Europe prepares to bite back at U.S. over Russia sanctions

FBI seized smashed hard drives from Wasserman Schultz IT aide

Amid flaring tensions, Israel installs cameras at holy site ...

Scaramucci: If the WH comms staff keeps leaking ... 'I'm going to fire everybody' ...

Trump on Twitter: Republicans 'do very little to protect their president'

Schumer: Democrats, not Russia to blame for election loss

Chainsaw-wielding attacker injures five in Switzerland street rampage

House Dems angry over Coast Guard used to protect President Trump

Trump lawyer: Supreme Court will decide on presidential self-pardon

Schiff  wants to probe Trump organization

Update: 9 illegals bake to death in TX ...

Bavarian president: 'We all know that immigration wave will continue'

Strategic High Ground


The following successful companies currently enjoy the strategic high ground in their markets ... and their stock prices reflect it, IMHO. Here are what I feel are the indicated reasons for their success (besides mostly good operational prowess):

Tesla -- Almost $5 billion in U.S. government subsidies.

Facebook -- Huge share of corporate media on-line advertising dollars without, like most other media giants, having to spend on content ... because its users provide it.

Apple -- Respectable market share in the smart-phone business with very high margins because of premium pricing and off-shore manufacturing.

Amazon -- Ability to predatory price for on-line retail goods because of its Internet " cloud" (Web Services) revenues and profits.

Google (Alphabet)  -- Dominate market share in on-line searching and associated ads ... allowing it to gobble up other Internet opportunities at will.

Microsoft -- Owns the operating system and Internet browser of record on most newly purchased PCs along with the ability continually to obsolete and replace its commodity software products.

Netflix -- Huge and growing (international) subscriber base due to the appeal of its original content programming, the spiraling cost of the movie theater experience ... and the quality/low cost of home theaters.

How long these companies will enjoy these lofty positions is anyone's guess (witness Walmart).

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Trump approval: How low can he go?

Hungarian PM: Soros, EU trying to 'Muslimize' Europe

Poll: Macron popularity tumbles ...

Ex-Bill Clinton pollster urges Kamala Harris to run for POTUS

Former spy chiefs tear into Trump

WaPo buries glaring caveat on latest Sessions scoop

Chemical experts fear terrorists could release the Black Death in cities

Target blames Trump for low number of Hispanic shoppers

The spiraling costs of a student loan relief program

It didn't take long for people to start attacking Sarah Huckabee Sanders after her promotion

Trans inmate wins right to move to female prison ...

Poll shows half of liberal Dems troubled by socializing with Trump voters

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Three Wishes


What would I wish for if a (Muslim?) Genie were to give me three wishes?

1) Grant the world a complete understanding of the science of our life experience -- Earth's likely future?, life elsewhere in the Universe?, human population limits?, complete understanding of photosynthesis?, limits of human lifespan?, disease cures?, future of fusion as an energy source?, can man inhabit other worlds?, how magnetism works?, how gravity works?, is the speed of light the limit of speed?,  parallel universes?, worm holes?, existence of an afterlife?, the ultimate in subatomic particles?, etc., etc.

2) Cause a glorious Renaissance in the (non-political) arts that lasts throughout eternity.

3) Make all the bad actors in the world forever decide it makes no sense to wage war. The only competition allowed would be mercantilism and non-lethal sports contests.

3.5) Make me, all my family and all my friends (and this blog's readers)  as wealthy as we want to be and as healthy as we need be.

3.75) Bring the Clinton crime family to justice.

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Trump options on Russian probe: Discredit, pardon, fire

Co-founder of firm behind the Trump-Russia dossier will plead the fifth

NFL: OJ will be on Hall of Fame invitation list ..

Dershowitz: 'Unlikely' Mueller will 'want to come away with nothing'

Russian sanctions deal passes without changes Trump wanted

Report: Sessions did talk about the 2016 campaign with Russians

Wall Street Journal editorial writer found dead ...

Reuters tries to trash Trump with poll showing him gaining with his voter base

Schiff, Warner launch preemptive strike on Trump pardons

Report: Trump will use anti-terror law to sidestep enviro review of border wall

Dems to rebrand: 'The better deal'

Lindsey Graham: Vote me out if you oppose amnesty and outsourcing

Drip, Drip, Drip


Note the predictable pattern of the Deep State's slow-motion coup. A leak of damaging information usually on a Saturday so that speculation of the more serious possibilities can be chewed over on the Sunday morning TV talk shows. (It is this speculation that stays in the viewers' minds.)  This week a probable NSA leak through the Washington Post that AG Sessions did talk about the Trump campaign with the Russian ambassador, Kislyak. No hard documentation. No sourced names. Just innuendo. This pattern is so reliable that you could make book on it. Next week it will likely be the New York Times with the newest "bombshell".

Who is orchestrating this slow-motion coup? Podesta? Comey? Hillary? Mueller? Bezos? But, rest assured, there is a schedule of drip, drip, drips probably well into the future ... with teasers, posers and an occasional crescendo. Whoever is the maestro on the podium for this macabre symphony, he/she has the score in front of him/her with the syncopation and timing all pre-planned.

It is fascinating to watch and to understand how such a slow-motion coup unfolds ...

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Slow-motion Coup


We've seen this movie before. President Richard Nixon was hounded from office by a cabal of the American media, the Democrat party and millions of naive Republicans (myself included). It took roughly two years but in the end the pressure of the elite classes finally flipped the Republican political leadership to abandon Nixon over his obvious attempt to cover up for a petty Watergate break-in ... meant to do nothing more than stop the Deep State leaks inside his administration, (Remember the "plumbers" was the name of those who broke into the DNC to find the source of these leaks.)

Now, taking a lesson from this successful slow-motion coup, a similar group is attempting these same tactics to negate the 2016 vote of the American people in electing Donald Trump president. The logic behind this coup is that the drip, drip, drip of unsavory revelations about Trump and Company will eventually turn even the most ardent of his supporters against him ... and he will be driven from office. Clearly the Special Counsel Mueller has the backing of much of the media and the Democrat party (read a vindictive Hillary Clinton) in this overthrow attempt. There is one small difference this time however ... so far defining Trump's crime is dicey at best. Throw in that Trump is doing, to the best of his ability, what the voters sent him to Washington to do.

Also, as I first stated, we have seen this movie before. The script and the players are familiar to anyone who lived through Watergate ... except possibly for Bob Woodward. From recent interviews, I get the distinct impression that he has reflected on what part he played in Nixon's ouster and is less likely to take up the assassination pen this time around.

In many ways this (and Nixon's) cabal reminds me of that great novel "The Caine Mutiny" which I read many years ago. Here, Quegg, captain of a old rusty minesweeper, now a resupply ship, the Caine, was masterfully painted as the unstable, eccentric villain throughout most of the book ... until his second in command mutinies and takes over the ship in a storm. He, court marshaled for this offense, is acquitted when Quegg breaks down while testifying. Then the author, Herman Wouk, turns things upside down by making Quegg into the demi-hero for doing his small part in the much bigger picture of the war in the Pacific. Although annoying, nothing that Quegg had done deserved the disloyalty of his holier-than-thou crew. In a blink of an eye, the villain in this book became the protagonist.

So Trump is clearly eccentric and makes enemies at the drop of a tweet. But he is doing the job that the American voters asked him to do ... despite all the obstacles thrown up by the Democrats, the elite media and the establishment Republicans ... a job much more difficult than need be. Instead of his enemies taking him down with a Caesar-like assassination ... for which this country wouldn't stand ... they are opting for another slow-motion coup ... in many ways much more sinister and morally repugnant ... much like the naive crew of the Caine.

Cartoon of the Day

From Powerline Blog
Really Carptoon of the Day

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico.

Sessions won't resign for now, but gets Trump's message

U.S. Postal Service breaks election laws to support Hillary, media silent

FTC probing Amazon deceptive discounting ...

Food stamp use falls to lowest level in 7 years

Spokesman for Trump's legal team resigns just two months after starting

Mueller to investigate money laundering by Trump's former campaign manager

Al Gore: Some levels of Earth have 'crossed point of no return' ...

Exclusive: [Sen.] Manchin urges Trump to block sale of CSX to Chinese

Christie's last big move could be filling Menendez's seat

German court system on verge of 'collapse' due to mass immigration

First female to join Navy elite force may be a former man ...

Joe Biden charging hundreds for signed books

Friday, July 21, 2017

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politici?

Supreme Court won't let Trump travel ban hit grandparents

Trump puts Mueller on notice

McCain brain tumor ... Particularly aggressive type ...

Paper : [OJ] parole in jeopardy after caught masturbating

[AG] Sessions to step up drug-war seizures

Trump says he 'would have picked somebody else' for Attorney General

Samantha Power emerges as central figure in Obama unmasking operation

Judge halts planned auction of Madonna's used panties

Sanders: Trump trying to 'sabotage' health care

Wasserman Schultz 'negotiating' with police over computer in hacking probe

Antidepressants during pregnancy linked to autism ...

WashPo: Elite economists endorse Trump's 'merit based' immigration reform

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Stuff


"He, who dies with the most toys, wins."

Watching "American Pickers" it becomes overwhelming clear that our current American society is obsessed with stuff (I know why it is called that) ... old signs, toys, ,antique cars, posters, sports memorabilia, bikes, electronics, dolls, ephemera, motorcycles, vintage appliances, architectural salvage, tsotchkes, old furniture, etc., etc. Frank and Mike crawl through huge piles of cast-offs searching for "rusty gold" among all this junk. Watching these two men often pay up for trash leads me to believe that their show makes their money on advertising and not on their resale trading, I have been to their store in Nashville and never saw a displayed item being purchased. Besides who wants to buy a cracked plastic car with no wheels?

To me the saddest part of this TV series is to see a "collector" who has grown too old or died and his or her collection is now overwhelming others and needs to be disposed of. The Pickers  over-paying for a few items of their amassed trash never solves anything. There still remains stacks of maudlin memorabilia. (I am reminded of the hermit who died when his huge piles of old newspapers fell over and crushed him.) So think three times before buying that special pot to cook asparagus or that neato knife to devein shrimp. Make do with what you have.

The lesson, dear children, is never fall in love with objects ... stuff is a cruel lover.

Afterward: You don't own a lot of stuff ... a lot of stuff owns you!

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Update: Google releasing 20 million lab grown mosquitoes ...

Trump targeting corporate tax rates in the 20s

Democrats refuse to condemn Women's March support of a cop killer

Peru: Two ex-president convicts meet over sandwich in prison

Foreigners snap up record number of American homes ...

GOP plan to repeal Obamacare meets fatal opposition

GOP senators who voted for clean Obamacare repeal in 2915 won't vote for it now

Trump warns Venezuela of further sanctions

Update:  'Pecurlar' radio signals emerge from space ...

Trump to nominate Huntsman as Russia ambassador

UK Advertising Standards Authority bans gender stereotyping in ads

FBI warns Internet-connected toys can be hacked

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politicos?

Trump blindsided by implosion of GOP health care bill

Trump, McConnell, Pence call for full, complete repeal of Obamacare

Buchanan: The real crime is collusion between media, leakers

Graham says McCain getting 'forgetful' ...

Trump administration will certify Iran still complying with nuclear deal

DC Berger chain offers free nothingburgers

Shock poll: 4 in 10 [Americans] favor impeachment

OUT magazine encourages readers to drop gay Republican friends

Trump fights demand he testify in ejected protesters suit

London mayor reiterates his objection to Trump's UK trip

Nolan's 'Dunkirk' hailed as masterpiece

Oregon bill designates heroin, cocaine use use a misdemeanor ...

Fudd Wuckehs


Wascally Democwat wabbits weally want and wave when Wepublicans don't wepulse Wussians. These wude Democwats awe weliving the Wed Scahe of the cold wah by accusing Twump of colluding with the Wuskies. What wot! Twump hawdly knows Putin ... and besides it was Hillawy who attempted the weset with the Wussians just weeks aftah they had invaded the Ukwaine. Was she any less of a wascally wabbit than this Twump wed hehwing?

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones are from Politico?

Poll: 70% say Trump acts unpresidential

Hungarian gov't calls campaign against George Soros a matter of national security

Anti-migrant party becomes more popular in Austria

Amazon may let companies see Alexa transcripts of customers' private convos

Secret Service: Trump Jr. not under protection during meeting with with Russian lawyer

Top House intel Dem admits Dem-Ukraine collusion unacceptable

Tesla autopilot blamed when car flips ...

Christian pastor shot dead outside church in India

Poll: 46% of respondents approve of Trump's handling of economy

Trump reelection campaign pouring money into Trump businesses

Rasmussen: Trump approval at 43%

Caitlyn Jenner considers run for Senate

Monday, July 17, 2017

Term Limits


There is major problem with democracies ... at least in their current form. And most Americans agree. That is that politicians often enter office as poor reformers ... and leave office decades later filthy rich and in need of reforming. This is the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned ... that of non-professional politicians who also had other jobs to which they would return after a few terms in office.

Term limits for politicians have been proposed as a solution, because those who once get elected have time-tested ways of convincing their voters that they really need to go back to Washington. Besides, term limits also wash out even the few good pols.  I think I may have a solution to this dilemma which I first proposed as a comment on Diplomad 2.0. That is that pols could accumulate retirement benefits for their first 6-10 years in office ... but then start losing them thereafter. If an elected official stayed in office for, say, 40 years, then all their retirement benefits would have been totally forfeited.

If this were the process, then only dedicated patriots would stay in office forever. Less motivated  and self-serving politicians would likely term-limit themselves out of office. Wouldn't that be nice?

Complexity


I guess it may be a function of my little grey cells dying off, but I am increasingly revolting against the complexity that technology is forcing upon me.  Recently, my e-mail supplier switched to AOL and, in order to use this new service, I have had to learn a whole new user interface ... one that is clumsy and non-intuitive. And, to do my income taxes this past Spring, I spent too many days trying to decipher the insane complexity of our tax code. Why am I being led by the nose into these labyrinths of what idiosyncratic designers think is the proper way of doing things? And, to place their brand on their designs, old protocols are eschewed for newer but not necessarily better ones.

Part of the genius of Steve Jobs was that he frequently got the user interface right ... one that was naturally intuitive. It didn't require a user manual to understand how things worked. Now end users seldom have manuals to educate them on the ins and outs of a new gizmo ... an unfortunate homage to Jobs.  Features that may be neat to the designers, become a bear to figure out. So I have become a bit of a Luddite. I wont use a smart phone ... an old clam shell works just fine. I do use an IPad, but grit my teeth much of the time. I do not look forward to autonomous cars because I don't really believe that they will simplify my life. When something goes wrong ... and it will ... many of us will be at a loss as to how to fix things.

In a way I am not too unhappy that I may not be around for this brave new world of increasingly complex technology. Matter of fact, I am thinking about buying an old Chevy Bel Air to get around in ... and hire H&R Block to do my taxes next year.

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. guess which ones from Politico?

Trump campaign paid $50,000 to Trump Jr.'s lawyer

Everyone who knows House [of Rep.] hacker says Congress should be worried

Macron outshines Merkel as EU top diplomat ...

Carville: No one 'in charge' of Democrat party

McConnell: Senate to 'defer' on Obamacare repeal vote

Previously deported Nigerian pleads guilty to ripping off U.S. for $12 million

Guam eyes end to American colonial rule ...

Phil Donahue: Trump era 'darkest political moment in American history'

Poll: Trump's six month favorable rating hits historic low

New batch of Al Qaeda meets U.S. Special Operations, Allah

Surgeon finds 27 contact lenses in woman's eye ...

Howard Dean: Republicans are 'morally bankrupt'



Sunday, July 16, 2017

Headlines


All came from Internet news sites. Guess which ones from Politico?

Trump badly lagging Obama, Bush, Clinton in political appointees

Exclusive: Doubt surfaces about 'suicide' claim of Clinton investigator

Russians passed DNC dirt during Jr. meet

Dept of Energy doles out $46.2M for solar power project

Jared's lawyer Abbe Lowell  taking over Russia case from [Jamie] Gorelick

Erdogan marks anniversary of coup attempt by firing thousands of employees

Republicans exempt their own insurance from Obamacare rollback ...

Gay couple brutally attacked in German asylum home

Governors steer clear of Trump

Jerry Brown makes desperate pitch for California Cap and Trade [bill]

Amazon antitrust concerns emerge in Washington and Wall Street

Poll: 59% of French approve of President Trump's visit

David vs. Goliath


Donald Trump is in an epic struggle with the establishment media and much of our elite society. He has vowed to "drain the swamp" in Washington and the swamp seems equally dedicated to draining him. This is a cage match where there can only be one winner and, considering the odds, this winner is unlikely to be Trump. Yes, Trump does have huge chunks of middle America on his side, but his enemies are targeting various pockets of his supporters by slow-walking his campaign commitments ... and concocting devious narratives to turn them against him.

And they are quite likely to succeed because of their sheer numbers and the ferocity of their attacks. It is David vs. Goliath... and  David's only effective weapon is his Twitter account. And even there, Trump's aim is sometimes errant. So my realistic expectation is that Trump's sizable opposition will eventually grind him down and he will leave the White House a beaten man.

But what if he wins? What if David fells the giant Goliath? This is almost unthinkable, but what if he does? What might be the consequences? Here are some thoughts:

- Online media might then dominate the news business. Some cable news channels (CNN) might disappear ... but most will surely be eclipsed.

- Our traditional two party system (some might claim it's a one-party system)  might expand into three or even four contenders. Trump, like Teddy Roosevelt, might be the father of one of these newbies.

- Hollywood will start making some pro-conservative movies.

- Most politicians will take to Twitter (or its equivalent) to communicate directly with their public.

- The "resistance" will go underground ... hoping to reemerge at some later date.

- Trump might eventually find his way onto Mt. Rushmore. Gasp!

- America will be great again ... at least for a while.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Headlines


All came from Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Don King: 'Mr. President, Now you know what it is like to be a black man'

Trump makes progress packing courts with conservative picks

Each box mailed by Amazon gets $1.46 gov't subsidy ...

Russian lawyer who met with Don Jr. worked with Dems for years

Hawaiian judge allows grandparents and others to bypass travel ban

Loretta Lynch let Russian lawyer into the U.S.

Macron woos Trump with Parisian splendor in lesson for Europe

Trump steps in to help Afghan girls enter U.S. for robotics contest

Gowdy fumes at Trump administration's handling of Russian controversy

Guys on Mopeds carry out acid attacks in London

Pelosi giggles through question about NKorea ...

[Sen.] Kamala [Harris] vows to block Trump's border wall

Friday, July 14, 2017

Pithy


Are the many analyses on this blog pithy? -- Yeth!

Headlines


All from Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico.

Jimmy Carter collapses at Habitat build ...

Senate Republicans one vote away from Obamacare repeal failure

Shortage of foreign labor forces Maine businesses to hire local workers

He's in: Kid Rock running for Senate

Stock market up 17% since Trump election ...

Trump: I may slap quotas and tariffs on steel

Pelosi: Funding sex change preserves national security

Shock: Criminal aliens drawn to sanctuary cities

Hollywood relying on China to halt box office slide ...

Trump: Democrats overplayed their hand on 'the Russia thing'

Liberal media bias got Trump elected, says former federal prosecutor

Study: 73% of Democrats would give up alcohol for Trump impeachment

Eternal Youth


A manic quest for eternal youth almost always comes a cropper ...


Thursday, July 13, 2017

Headlines


All found on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Trump crafting plan to slash legal immigration

Exclusive: Radical Dem worked for Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr.

Obama DOJ gave Natalia special entry

John Bolton: Trump administration needs to call Muslim Brotherhood, Iranian Guard terrorist groups

Trump: Putin would prefer Hillary Clinton for U.S. president

France unveils plan to 'systematically' deport illegal migrants

Impeachment effort gets just one Dem supporter

11 countries resume compliance with U.S. deportations, halving international resistance

Wray: l've given no loyalty oath to Trump

Harvard Faculty Committee recommends banning frats

Former Brazil leader Lula gets 10 years in jail for graft

WaPo: NRA hurts itself -- with unwavering support for law enforcement

The Alpha Male


"It's my movie" -- Ken Kesey

Somewhere in the cobwebbed recesses of my brain I remember this line from "The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe ... a story chronicling the drug-induced antics of the Merry Pranksters led by Ken Kesey. The above quote was this alpha-male's pronouncement ... when challenged by a subordinate ... that he was the director of all the real action.

After eight years of an omega male in the White House, we now have an alpha one. This previous vacuum created a whole pack of wannabe alpha males around the world -- George Soros, Kim Jong Un, Vladamir Putin, Hillary Clinton (note the pantsuit), the media (as exemplified by Joe Scarborough), John McCain, Ayatollah Khemenei, Angela Merkel, Chuck Schumer, James Comey, Xi Jinping -- all not so happy with this interloper, Trump. So now world leadership is being hotly contested ... which results in all the friction we are now seeing.

Will Trump prevail and eventually end up leading the pack of nations? These are a lot of contenders ... but I suspect he will, but a lot of bloody skirmishes will need to take place first.

Headlines


All came from Internet news sites. Guess which ones cam from Politico?

Scarborough tells Colbert: 'I'm not going to be a Republican anymore'

They don't like him but key Trump allies think Mueller should keep his job

Don Jr.: 'I would have done things little differently' ...

NYPD officers turn their backs on De Blasio at murdered cop's funeral

White House feels 'helpless' as Don Trump's scandal blossoms

Pence distances himself from fallout over Don Jr.'s meeting

Quincy Jones: Michael Jackson's estate owes me $30M ...

Trump sued for blocking some of his critics on Twitter

Reeling Republicans take one last shot at Obamacare

Homeland Security bill provides $1.6B for border wall

Paper: Democrats used Kremlin-fed information to attack Trump ...

Japan population free fall continues, study finds half of citizens still virgins st 30

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The Proletariat


The proletariat mindlessly follows the narrative laid out for them by their elites ... until suddenly they don't ... generally caused by the elites forgetting to listen.

Headlines


All came from Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico ...

ACLU sues Trump over Election Integrity Commission

Claim: Sixth mass extinction already under way ...

Comey [Columbia professor] friend: Docs given to me were not marked classified

Israel backs Hungary, says Soros a threat ...

Natalie: I was not from Kremlin ...

Donald Trump Jr. says he'll cooperate with Congressional Russian investigation

Everyone is forgetting that Clinton allies did the same thing as Don Jr.

Seattle approves income tax on wealthy ...

L.A. Times calls for Trump to disband 'sham' voter fraud commission

Trump: Congress wouldn't 'dare' leave without healthcare bill

Army sergeant arrested by FBI SWAT for alleged ISIS ties

Stephen King: 'The news is real, the president is fake'