Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Common Sense


These days common sense seems to have fled from the spittle-flecked social-warrior mob ... and is hiding in a Conservative briar patch. In many ways, America was at its greatest when common sense was allowed to prevail. President Trump may not be an intellectual giant or a Lincolnesque orator, but he does have a powerful lot of common sense.

Mind Boggling


I understand that 5G communications is a line of sight (LOS) technology. Can you imagine how many 5G transmitters/receivers will be necessary to cover fully the United States (or the world) with 5G? And how often they will need modifications to correct for LOS dead spots ... say when new small branches grow on trees or new structures are built? 

Or what happens when a driverless car hits a LOS dead spot (say from passing trucks) at a critical moment?

It boggles my mind ...

Afterthought: These technological challenges suggest to this blogger that 5G might be either a huge market opportunity ... or a (China-driven) gigantic wet fart.


Generic 2020 Dem Platform


Hate Trump, open borders, higher taxes and give away lots of free stuff.


Headlines


Democrats hunt for an economic argument to counter Trump

Uber’s sky high valuation and huge losses makes sense in Silicon Valley, but not on Wall Street

Pope funds caravans

Suspected CA synagogue gunman called Trump ‘Jew loving’

NRA announces [Oliver] North’s resignation on stage as ‘crisis’ hits gun lobby

Crude oil breaks longest win streak in 4 years, but charts suggest more gains

White House Correspondents Dinner opens with dark sermon on Trump endangering  journalism ...

Trinity college professor: ‘Whiteness is terrorism’

Shooting in California synagogue kills 1,wounds 3

Only 28% of Americans plan to max out their vacation days this year

Iran foreign minister to visit NKorea ...

Trump renegotiates: $40 billion Japanese car plants coming to U.S.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Oceans Receding


From reddit Pics

Back when the oceans were higher (must have been Obama keeping his promise ...) 


Democrat Euphemisms


Women’s reproductive rights ... Translation: abortions

Voter suppression ... Translation: keeping dead people and illegal aliens from voting

Government investments ... Translation: fire-hose government spending

Sensible gun controls ... Translation: abolishing the 2nd Amendment

Government spending cuts ... Translation: reductions in the rate of spending growth

Compassionate immigration reform ... Translation: open borders

Free trade ... Translation: unfair trade

Trump Russian collusion ... Translation: Hillary lost

Prison reform ... Translation: cut ‘em loose

Working class ... Translation: welfare recipients

One man one vote ... Translation: voter fraud

Freedom of the press ... Translation: libel law avoidance

Sanctuary cities ... Translation: protecting criminal illegal aliens from deportation

White supremacists ... Translation: all Caucasian males

Shovel-ready jobs ... Translation: non-infrastructure spending

Original Joke

What do you get when you  cross a cantaloupe with a Shetland sheep dog?

Answer: A melancholy baby ...

(I thought up this joke some sixty+ years ago.)

Headlines


Virginia’s NCAA-winning basketball team declines White House invitation

Amid criticism Xi says Belt and Road project can be ‘shared by the world’

So far: 39 miles of fresh border barrier ...

Schiff: If we don’t impeach, it says Trump’s conduct isn’t impeachable

Buttigieg renounces lobbyist donations, refunding over $30,000

Biden reports $6.3 million 1-day haul, biggest in 2020 field

Winter storm to dump snow on millions this weekend ...

U.S. economy grew 3.2% in first quarter, beating expectations

Senate GOP lags Dems in battle for online cash

Elon Musk makes deal with SEC not to discuss Tesla’s finances without a lawyer’s approval

Rasmussen: Trump 44%, Mayor Pete 40% ...

Chamber of Commerce demands more immigration: ‘U.S. is out of people’

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Lily Gilding


IMHO, 5G communication is a technology that is currently not justified on a cost-benefit basis. Its potential user base is primarily those elites who will also most benefit economically from its implementation. Just because it can be done doesn’t mean it must be done. Someday it may be more easily rationalized, but it now seems like a multi-trillion-dollar lily gilding.

Afterthought: Is 5G necessary to allow driverless cars really to work?

Tecnology



Far too often technology, instead of making our lives simpler, adds layers of complexity, required/non-obvious learning and less privacy.  Steve Jobs would not have been happy. — Anon.

Headlines


Trump’s economy defies doubters

Amazon smashes earnings expectations

[Biden] Hires key Sanders aide — who donated to Buttigieg ...

Michael Avenati endorses Joe Biden for president

Biden goes to the dark side in launch video

Xi tells world leaders he’s committed to reforming China, but provides few details

Trump’s offshore drilling plan sidelined indefinitely ...

Feds charge sanctuary city judge with obstruction of justice

Sanders heckled at presidential forum for women

Trump reportedly approved a $2 million hospital bill from North Korea for Otto Warmbier

Gallup: Americans most stressed in world ...

Brexit party reveals West minister ambitions, more candidates

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Green Old Deal


From Powerline blog


MAGA


We have all read and seen the hostile reactions being exhibited by Trump haters. The Covington boys experience first-hand the kind of vitriol exhibited by the Black Israelites and a Native American drummer when they wore their MAGA hats on a field trip to Washington, DC. Over and over again our media reports of  physical attacks on Trump aides or supporters.  The person who attacked Kellyanne Conway at her birthday dinner in Maryland last year was just acquited of assault. (No, it wasn’t her husband.)

As a consequence, Trump supporters have been driven underground and are afraid of being discovered as Trumpers lest they lose their jobs, their friends or even family members. I have been fortunate in that few of these punishments have been visited on me. (A few people have “defriended” me on this blog.) However, maybe it is because I am too old for people to take me seriously.

One last thing, I have found a way of exhibiting my support for Trump when I am out in public. My daughter gave me one of those pink knitted hats for Christmas. I have polka-dotted it with Make America Great Again buttons ... so, when I wear this “pussy” hat, moonbats are reluctant to attack me because they seem confused as to my real allegiance.

Powerline Pic



But Stalin didn’t let prisoners vote.

Living Life


Pathos is having to let go of one’s precious “things” as one nears the exit door of life. — Anon.

Headlines


Joe Biden bets it all on the Obama coalition

North Korea wants to denuclearize but wants guarantees, Putin says after Kim talks

DHS releasing 1,400 illegals into USA every day ...

Bernie campaign chair comes out against voting rights for terrorists

‘Racism and sexism’: Women of color slam white male tilt of Dem primary

Tesla misses big on first-quarter earnings as demand fell for its electric cars

Shock poll: Biden opens up 8-point lead on Trump

UK police ‘screen out’ nearly half of  crime reports

Mulvaney: ‘I don’t recall’ telling staffers not to mention election security to Trump

US markets could move 15% higher, investor says

Picture emerges of well-to-do young bombers behind Sri Lankan carnage ...

Poll: Only 31 percent of Americans claim Medicare for All a ‘top priority’

Friday, April 26, 2019

Uncle Joe


Joe Biden has released a video to announce his candidacy for president in2020. Like many of his Democrat opponents the backbone of his message is anti-Trump ... I think a mistake. A long time ago I learned that politicians do better with a positive message ... Make America Great Again ... and sourpusses usually lose.

Sourpuss Biden, in his video, went after Trump repeatedly, mentioning Trump’s remarks about Charlottesville ... where Trump was in a way both blaming and excusing both sides. Of course Biden did not give a balanced account ... Trump’s denouncing the murder of a young woman by an alt-right terrorist there ... and the alt-left  riots surrounding the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee ... in which two Virginia state police officers were also killed.

Anyway see for yourself. Read the full transcript of Trump’s press conference from whence Biden extracted his Trump mud ... see: Politico Transcript. Read the entire transcript with an open mind ... accounting for the leading questions of the rabid press corps. It will take some time. The Trump remarks that Biden paraphrased are pretty far down ... so be patient. But read the whole thing as opposed to seeing just a biased 10 second CNN clip.

To this poster, I don’t see Trump as a neo-Nazi. In fact, I think he actually made an attempt at bringing the two sides together after that terrible weekend. Since Charlottesville, bad actors on both sides have been tried and convicted ... and many haven’t. I know Trump haters will disagree, but try to be fair-minded ... as opposed to Uncle Joe.


Headlines


How Big Tech’s cozy relationship with Ireland threatens data privacy around the world

Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

President opposed to aides testifying before Congress ...

Bernie Sanders plan would allow 183K murderers, 164K rapists to vote from prison

Jared Kushner dismisses Russia’s interfearance in 2016 elections

Stocks reclaim record highs, but investor enthusiasm is lacking

Justices seem ready to OK asking citizenship question on census ...

Harvard poll: Plurality of young 2020 voters oppose U.S. nation-building ...

Kamala Harris says she supports adding third gender option to federal IDs

US to send trade delegation to China next week

They’re back! ISIS claims responsibility for Sri Lanka terror ...

Drug importation increases despite fraud concerns


Mt. Rushmore


Fifty years from now when they finally carve Trump’s likeness on Mt. Rushmore, I hope that they dye his hair orange. — Anon.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Jeopardy’s Jeopardy

James Holzhauer






James on Jeopardy has already won

More money faster than anyone.

His mind is a camera,

Enhancing the drama:

Will he break the show’s bank afore he’s done?

Headlines


Joe Biden’s toughest 2020 opponent is Joe Biden

Elon Musk claims Tesla will have 1 million robotaxis  during next year — that’s optimistic

Oil spike continues ... CA highest in 5 years ...

Supreme Court to hear citizenship question case

Town Hall marathon exposes not ‘terribly many differences’ in 2020 primary

Russia’s hack into US election was surprisingly inexpensive, Mueller report show

Starbucks installing needle-disposal boxes ...

Trump orders crackdown on illegal aliens overstaying their visas

Pelosi beats back calls for Trump impeachment

‘I ain’t ever seen the dude’ — South Bend’s poor residents say Pete Buttigieg left them behind

Poll: [Trump] popularity hits record low ...

Sanders: Convicts should be allowed to vote from prison

Mind Boggling


“Ignorance is curable, stupidity is forever.” — Robert Heinlein

It is not just Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the abject stupidity exhibited by many politicians is mind boggling. — Anon.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Eye of God

From reddit Pics

Helix Nebula

Extrapolation


I am friendly with a probable illegal alien from Brazil. She is an honest, hardworking nice person. I would like to extrapolate, like Jeb Bush and most Libs, that she is representative of the many thousands of illegals who are poring across our southern borders daily. But I am pretty sure this is not the case. Nor can I extrapolate from some bad apples that ICE catches, also daily, that these caravans are full of — criminals of all stripes. Illegals represent 20% of our prison population, far ahead of their representation in our general population, so there is some justification here.

And I also do know that over 70% of these “dreamers” are dreaming of living off of the American taxpayer ... and do ... while generally not assimilating into their “adopted” country. In fact, far too many of these interlopers hold the United States in contempt. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you ...

This situation is not sustainable. We must get control of our immigration process. We already legally admit well over a million immigrants into our country a year. We cannot double or triple this number with illegals and still retain our national identity and safety-net sustainability. Time is running out and it seems only Donald Trump and the American voters seem to realize this cold hard fact.

Yes, I am a hypocrite ‘cause I don’t want to extrapolate this remedy to my Brazilian friend.

Candor


Candor is as anathema to a politician as water was to the Wicked Witch of the West. — Anon.

Headlines


How Stephen Miller made immigration personal

Trump will end Iran oil sanctions wavers, seeking to drive Islamic Republican’s oil exports to zero

Trump mistakenly tweets million dead [in Sri Lanka] ...

Nine in ten new UK jobs since Brexit went to British workers

Trump wins back big donors who snubbed him in 2016

Apple spends more than $30 million on Amazon’s cloud every month, making it a top AWS customer

Reports: Mexican troops disarm American soldiers on US side of border ...

Sri Lanka blasts: Radical Islamic terrorists blamed

Seth Moulton announces 2020 bid

Elizabeth Warren wants her wealth tax to wipe out America’s college debt and pay for tuition

Tehran raises stakes by threatening to close [Strait of] Hormuz ...

Gohmert on Mueller: ‘This is not a good man’

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Neural Networks


Your humble poster here once headed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software project. One of my best programmers quit because of his frustration over complex nested conditionals (neural networks). The ultimate success of AI will depend on the ability to identify nodes in such networks as well as being able to deal with the almost infinite levels of conditional complexities.

It seems to this author that one of Trump’s great strengths as a policy maker is his ability to include in our country’s decision-making process an uncanny knack to identify previously ignored nodes in our neural network — unfair trade alliances, over regulation, Russian pipeline into Germany, NATO slackers, open borders, steel and aluminum being strategic US native industries, etc.

The jury is somewhat out on Trump’s ability to navigate these new expanded decision trees ... but he is still way, way ahead of our last four presidents.

Back to the subject at hand. Yes, quantum computers may someday be able to handle the huge number of complex conditionals involved in true AI. But, if a butterfly flapping it wings in Japan can cause a tornado in Alabama, I still have some doubts about the logistics of the data amassing project needed to account for all possible inputs into such an ultimate AI breakthrough.

How about it Elon?

Headlines


Republican National Committee raises $15.5 million in March

Explosion kills at least 138 in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday

FBI arrests leader of group stopping illegals in New Mexico

2020: Beto O’Rourke loses top aide and deputy

Pope during Easter vigil: Reject the ‘glitter of wealth’

Medicare for All is dragging down healthcare stocks and there could be more pain ahead

Experts sound alarm over human-monkey hybrid ...

Piro on Mueller: ‘Political whoremanship’

‘The risks are real’ for the vulnerabilities of AI

French protesters set fires in Paris as unrest grows after Notre Dame blaze

Washington state to legalize human composting ...

Brooks: POTUS threat to system of government we have

Monday, April 22, 2019

reddit Pic


One of two turtle doves (on the second day of Christmas ...)

New Yorker

He had this.


“Daily Humor” cartoon that actually is funny.

Backlash


Aggressive behavior, even if seemingly justified, from one faction almost always spawns backlash from its opponents ... which, of course, ups the ante even further in the first group. This circular antagonism continues until either full hostilities erupt  (like now) ... or PBS does a “balanced” documentary (almost always) slyly shaming the conservative side.


Headlines


The Democratic base is angry as hell’: Cory Booker’s message of love falls flat

Earnings and data could prove that slowdown fears were overblown

Reuter’s poll: Trump approval drops to 37% ...

Holder: Prosecutors could win obstruction case against Trump

Trump campaign punishes Don McGahn’s law firm

Lawmakers call for Zuckerberg to be held accountable for Facebook’s privacy fumbles

Chomsky: We may have handed Trump next election ...

Mitt Romney: ‘I’m sickened’ by Trump’s behavior in Mueller Report

State Republicans challenge Democrats with ‘born-alive’ bills

Elizabeth Warren calls for start of impeachment proceedings against Trump

Border Battle: Militia in New Mexico detains asylum seekers at gunpoint ...

Pete Buttigieg questions whether Trump will run in 2020

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Fractured Definition


Matriculate — Mom fooled you into being tardy for an appointment.

Dear Reader


And Passover greetings ...

Next Bus


Loading the next illegal immigrant bus to that sanctuary city, San Fecalcisco.

Headlines


Inside Trump’s year-long attempt to stymie the Russia investigation

Amazon is shutting down its China marketplace business. Here’s why it has struggled

President cracks term limit joke after big win ...

Deep State Clapper: ‘Passive collusion’ with Russia swung election for Trump

Mueller paints damning picture of dysfunctional Trump White House

Judge upholds New York City’s mandatory measles vaccination order

White House lawyer refuses order to fire Special Counsel ...

U.S. Coast Guard seizes 8 tons of drugs in international waters

The obstruction case against Trump that Barr tried to hide

Donald Trump on Mueller’s appointment: ‘This is the end of my presidency. I’m f—d’

Poll: 68% say paid same or MORE in taxes ...

Appeals court upholds California ‘sanctuary state’ bill

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Truth Seeps Out ...


... on little cat feet.

The following is an Anonomous comment from The Diplomad 2.0. It has a hyperlink for you doubters:

Belive it or not, this is from CNN via DC Whispers –

If you consider Russian election interference a crisis for our democracy, then you cannot read the Mueller report, adding it to the available public evidence, and conclude anything other than Barack Obama spectacularly failed America. Subsequent investigations of this matter should explore how and why Obama’s White House failed, and whether they invented the collusion narrative to cover up those failures.

Read more at http://dcwhispers.com/report-why-muellers-report-looks-so-bad-for-obama/#qmdQMImhCS84V12m.

Powerline Pic




Vestage



Surviving World War I trench ...

Headlines


Post-Mueller report likely to target Russian dossier author Steele

Investors don’t think the Mueller report will hurt Trump’s re-election chances

Pelosi, Schumer call on Mueller to testify ...

Protesters warn Peter Buttigieg to ‘remember Sodom and Gomorrah’

Kamala Harris takes early lead in the big-money race

Facebook says it ‘unintentionally uploaded’ 1.5 million users’ email contacts

NKorea test fires new weapon ... Taunts west ...

Poll: GOP voters say immigration ‘most’ important problem in the U.S.

O’Rourke confronts cable TV drought

Man with gas cans at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral taken into custody by NYPD

NYC population dips for first time in decade ... Chicago. Still losing people ...

Feds: 1 in 4 inmates are foreign-born, costing U.S. taxpayers $1.4B annually

Friday, April 19, 2019

reddit Pic


In Bolivia ...

2nd Amendment


When the 2nd Amendment was enacted, the musket was a “weapon of war.” — W. Lewis Amselem (The Diplomad)

Single-Payer



“If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it’s free.” — P.J. O’Rourke

Most Democrat candidates for president have endorsed “Medicare for All” ... or a nice way of saying socialized medicine. Candidates like Bernie Sanders have had some success in selling this enticing concept to his adoring audiences because:

- In it’s extreme form, it will eliminate monthly premium payments, possibly co-pays, annual limits, and the need for supplemental private insurance. Obviously, this furthest left version may not be what is proposed by all the Democrat candidates ... for, as we know, we are the frogs in the pot of water as it is being slowly heated up on the Socialist gas burner.

- Or course, Obamacare will disappear like the Cheshire Cat, but it’s smile ... no preexisting conditions exclusions and children covered until age 26 ... may remain.

- Drugs will be free or priced low like they are in Europe and  Canada.

However, even in its less-than-extreme version, Medicare for All will mean that retirees will be faced with severely deteriorating medical treatments ... long wait times for appointments, more impersonal medical visits, triage based on age to determine whether treatments will be even offered for many serious illnesses (better known as death panels) ... and likely severe doctor shortages. In other words, our healthcare experience will be very much like what is received today by indigents in hospital emergency rooms.

Of course, the bad news is, in its extreme form, Medicare for All will eliminate the private healthcare insurance industry, worth close to half a trillion dollars ... and the concomitant hit to many citizens’ retirement accounts. This would be essentially an enormous capital confiscation on the part of the federal government. The worse news will be that this public program will cost taxpayers $30 trillion over 10 years. Will taxes then have to go up immensely to pay for this largess? You betcha Red Ryder!

When liberals push socialized medicine they often laud England’s National Health Service. What they neglect to say is that over 11% of Brits have private health insurance or medical concierge services ... so they can avoid  the horrors of socialized medicine. And, of course Mick Jagger chose to get his heart surgery in the United States rather than some moldy hospital in Londonstan.

But, most depressing of all, tens of millions of people, who never paid a nickle into Medicare, will be getting exactly the same diminished medical care as we saps who have been paying mucho dinero into this program ... and supplements ... for many decades. Seems fair to me ...

Headlines


Japanese leader plans grueling D.C. dash for Trump face time

Mortgage purchase applications hit highest level in 9 years

Miracle: Most [Notre Dame] interior intact ...

Pew Research: Hispanics to outpace black Americans as largest voting majority by 2020

Republicans stockpile cash to safeguard Senate majority

China says its first quarter GDP grew by 6.4 percent, topping expectations

Yuma, Arizona declares state of emergency over surge of illegals ...

Supporters cheer Peter Buttigieg kissing husband at 2020 announcement

U.S. to announce tough policy on businesses in Cuba

If Trump wins second term, stocks will likely get a boost, Robert Schiller says

Judge: Barr sowing public mistrust ...

Trump vetoes bill aiming to end American involvement in Yemen civil war

Equal Outcomes


I’m fairly sure I now don’t receive the same quantity and quality of healthcare as Warren Buffet.  I also strongly suspect that a strung-out druggie in Miami does not equal me in quantity and quality of medical attention.  So, if I vote for Bernie Sanders, is he going to even things out for the three of us? And, if he can’t ... as I can assuredly guarantee he can not ... since Socialism is a Pollyanna scam ...  then why should I or anyone else pick him for president?

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Fifth Avenue


We can’t prove that Trump murdered someone on Fifth Avenue ... nor can we prove that he didn’t kill someone on Fifth Avenue. But here is a list of ten people who have died on Fifth Avenue over the last two years. — Robert Mueller

Obstruction of Injustice


Why was there a Mueller Russian collusion investigation of Trump and the Trump campaign? Given the fact that the predicate for this investigation was quite murky ... and probably illegal ... there must have have been political rationales to weaponize Mueller and his band of partisan desperadoes.

May I suggest the following six Deep State reasons for this investigation (in order of importance):

1) Distract and cover up the slip shod and predetermined outcome of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s myriad crimes

2) Besmirch Trump and the Republican Party to the point where they would lose the 2018 midterm Congressional elections

3) Handicap the president in his ability to move forward with his administrative agenda

4) Provide a road map for Congress to start an impeachment proceedings if it chooses to do so politically

5) Provide an excuse for Hillary’s election loss

6) Alert the American public to the dangers of Russian efforts to interfere with our elections

Dear reader, it appears to this observer that the Democrats and Mueller scored on all six counts. And given the hysteria that has followed the release of the Mueller report this AM which exonerated Trump from the charge of collusion, I have concluded that he is certainly guilty of obstruction of injustice.

Race to the Bottom

Can you recognize the announced Democrat candidates?

Unfortunately, politics has a basic flaw ... being often it’s a race to the bottom. Throughout history, politicians who have promised the voters something for nothing have invariably had an advantage in any elections. — Anon.

Fractured Definition


Arson — the male offspring of the primary Aryan god.