Post #11: 2/28//18

There are innumerable things about Trump I despise, things he's said or written. It goes beyond his adolescent behavior, his crude tweets, his economic illiteracy, his unprincipled, phony populism. But when Reason quoted him as saying "Take the guns first, go through due process second.", I'm done with him. That's anti-constitutional authoritarianism. It's theft. It's a material violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, and he as POTUS vowed to uphold the Constitution. He may think he's tough act in this variation of "act first, and apologize later", but no, you don't have a "right" to prejudge someone who owns a weapon, that they are going to use it to commit a violent crime.

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Since I no longer have to abide by Twitter's arbitrary 140 or 280 character limit, I'll do what I want in this format: call the above an abridged rant. (Technically on Twitter, I could have done a workaround, like capture the rant in an image.)

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It turns out the Coward of Broward County, 54-year-old Scot Peterson, who failed to take on N. Cruz, the alleged  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter, is retiring to a $52-70K/year lifetime pension. We need serious public sector pension reform in this country.

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One of the moderators of the Pro-Life Libertarians FB group mentioned taking a softer tone in how he approaches the abortion issue, mentioning the in-your-face (abortion) abolitionists. I have always been pro-life. Even graduating with top honors from OLL, a Catholic college, a few years after Roe v Wade, I was in a photo-finish for the highest GPA in my graduation class with a strongly pro-abort premed coed. Two professors even privately admonished me on my allegedly strident views. I've had to deal with the fact that 2 of my best friends are pro-aborts. I take a softer approach in my blog, focusing on the theme of choosing life.

One of my nieces married an abolitionist, and I think I accepted his FB friend's invitation after the wedding. I soon found my news feed almost obsessively swamped with dark abolitionist posts. (I know you don't have to follow a "friend's" posts.) I cautioned my niece a couple of times he really needed to tone this stuff down. There's more to the story (including my niece posting on a different topic), but I was about to "de-friend" him when he beat me to the punch, but not before issuing a long personal attack over my "hypocritical" pro-life views. I don't let punks or trolls yank my chain, but seriously, dude, I was pro-life before your mother chose to bring you into the world.

Post #10: 2/27/18

Trump suggests that he would run into the Parkland high school unarmed to stop Cruz, the alleged shooter.  Yeah, this is a guy who ducked a Presidential debate so he wouldn't have to face Megyn Kelly.

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Trump wants to defer the eligible age for owning some  weapons from 18 to 21. But he is still willing to let 18-year-old military enlistees to bear dangerous arms and to die using them.

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Democrats have introduced legislation to restore government's death grip over the Internet, AKA "net neutrality".

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No, Hillary Clinton, war on the preborn is not a "human right": it's a crime against humanity, our future.

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A Russian (?)  troll responded to a recent Facebook comment where I made reference at the end of my comment making reference to the rights of self-defense and rebellion implicitly recognized in the Second Amendment. Paraphrased, he said "You don't seem to know your stupid Constitution very well, do you? It talks about suppressing insurrections, etc." Well, I was referring to natural rights, not legally-conferred "rights".  Each government, of course, refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of its opposition. The Bill of Rights did not "create" the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and property; it simply provided a Constitutional context for their recognition. Even Founding Father Thomas Jefferson recognized the right of rebellion when he famously wrote :

 God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. [i.e., Shays']...What country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.

Post #9: 2/26/18

#ThingsPeopleShouldKnow Trumponomics won't work

#ThingsPeopleShouldKnow Don't depend on senior entitlements when you're ready to retire.

#ThingsPeopleShouldKnow There are no "free roads", "free schools" or "free lunches".

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Broward Co. Sheriff Israel: 'Not My Responsibility' That His Employee Failed to Confront Parkland Shooter. "I gave him a gun. I gave him a badge. I gave him the training. If he didn't have the heart to go in, that's not my responsibility."

You hired him. You put him in charge of the safety of young students, our nation's future. He failed. He had a gun; those kids didn't. That means you failed. There is no acceptable excuse. Man up and take responsibility. Resign, or get voted out of office.

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This is Soft Rock America. This song goes out to Scot Peterson, the Coward of Broward County:


 

Post #8: 2/25/18

I I think we've found the only person in the world I can dance better than.

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 #AsAKidIThought I wouldn't need a permission slip to do what I want. And then I met the government. 

#AsAKidIThought I thought sex was a lot of trouble to go through to have a baby.

 #AsAKidIThought I could change the world. Only the world changed me.

 #AsAKidIThought I would no longer have to deal with schoolyard bullies when I became an adult. And then Trump got elected.

 #AsAKidIThought I thought once I left home, I got to make the rules under my roof. The government laughed at me.

 #AsAKidIThought I thought Lincoln and FDR were great. And then I learned real history.

 #AsAKidIThought I thought there were differences between Democrats and Republicans. And then Bush, Obama and Trump were elected.

 #FakeOlympicsFacts Team USA gets bonus medals if officials hear you yell: "USA! USA! USA!"

 #FakeOlympicsFacts An Olympic gold metal is made of 100% real gold.

Post #7: 2/24/18

Let's play hashtag games:

Donald Trump: "I know the BEST words." (even if I don't use them) #DumbThingsToBragAbout

I can bend my thumbs back at a right angle. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Your stature. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

How many hot dogs you can eat at a contest. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

How many girls you've gotten pregnant.  #DumbThingsToBragAbout

The participation trophy you won in youth baseball. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

You voted for both Clintons. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Trump knows the bankruptcy laws. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

You graduated summa cum laude from Trump University. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Gross stuff you've eaten on a dare. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Holding the NFL record for most interceptions in a game. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Owning a football personally signed by O.J. Simpson #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Voting for Obama twice. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Things you brought home from the city dump.  #DumbThingsToBragAbout

Holding your high school's truancy record. #DumbThingsToBragAbout

I love Lily Tomlin's telephone operator bit. #ImShowingMyAge

I remember when going to a movie cost a quarter. #ImShowingMyAge

I still have the slide rule I used in high school  #ImShowingMyAge

Post #6: 2/23/18

Trump says that he strongly believes in an online sales tax. Of course he does, just like his flip-flopped support of gun control and his ongoing tariffs. He's anti-consumer.

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Dorothy never really left Kansas. #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Richard Nixon resigns from office. #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Austrian family escapes the Nazis. #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Superman dies--or does he? #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Bastian names the empress "Moonchild". #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

ET escapes arrest by ICE. #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Rocky Balboa loses the fight.  #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

They live happily ever after.  #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

She wouldn't let me kiss.  #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

Admission is too damn high.  #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

They ran out of popcorn.  #SpoilAMovieIn5Words

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"Germany’s bishops approve Communion for Protestant spouses." Heck of a job, Pope Francis.

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What's this crap about Trump thinking it's okay for an 18-year-old old enough to hold a rifle in the Army, but not to own one to protect himself?

Post #5: 2/22/18

Really weird weather: I actually had to turn my air conditioner on as the temperature in my home sailed past 80. It was just a week or so ago I was chipping ice off my car windows.

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What the heck is Trump doing claiming exoneration from Mueller because of the Russian indictments? Just because some some Russian activity predates Trump's official candidacy doesn't mean anything.  Trump's own defensiveness over the investigation is suspicious.

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The gun restrictionists continue to go on the offense following the recent Florida massacre of 17 teenage high school students. One of the teachers opposes and mocks the idea of arming teachers. Tell me, would someone take the risk of being outnumbered by armed individuals? Don't count on teachers using martial arts against armed intruders.

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Trump is "threatening" to withdraw immigration control from California. Yes, please, and would you also add the other 49 states and DC, giving them a boost in long term growth?

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Doesn't it bother you that the unprincipled POTUS, while militarizing the police, wants to control your right to self-defense?

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Did you ever notice that the 20% of the American population who are left-fascists claim to represent "the people"?

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Trump supports "comprehensive background checks" to buy guns. What does that mean? I think if you didn't vote for Trump in 2016, you're disqualified..

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A mother says if her child hits another with a stick, she won't blame the stick but take it away.

How many sticks are there in America? All those trees.

Me, I'll go to the nearest sports retailer and buy a bat. What are they going to do, look up my lifetime batting average?

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Technically, a school bombing. But yeah. Remember when Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama had 41 men on his kill list--didn't get them all, but managed to exceed expectations with 1147 people killed, including children?

Post #4: 2/21/18

Well, the stats on the new blog aren't encouraging. considering I was averaging over 1000 impressions or Tweet-views daily and right now all my readers could fit in my living room. It takes a while to build; I don't even know the stats for my political blog over the first couple of years., and it took a while for my numbers to rise. But as I've said in the past, I'm not in it for the pageviews, although it would be gratifying. There was a time I thought a free blog could build build an audience for a book project; that's not going to happen anytime soon, unless I become an accidental celebrity.

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It looks like one of the biggest WalMart bargains may be its own stock price which had its biggest drop in years after disappointing financial news.  (I'll probably scoop up some shares, but I'm not in a hurry.)

There are some interesting nuances between WalMart and Sam's Club. I mentioned in an earlier post how dirt cheap eggs were at my local WalMart's, e.g., 50 cents a dozen (for commodity eggs, not premium varieties like cage free, etc.)  WAY CHEAPER than what I saw on my last trip to Sam's Club. And I like a Sam's Choice brand of Brazilian coffee sourced just north of Sao Paulo--the closest I've had to the Brazilian coffee I had on my last trip down there.

Some things on my list to Sam's Club:

• I've just noticed what they may be doing with leftover rotisserie chickens, at least at my my club. Of course, I usually pick up one of their bargain $5 whole birds. But I found in one of their prepared foods aisle a tray of maybe four generously sized breast portions including a wing for about $4. That'll be dinner for a workweek.
• They have a store-brand (Member's Mark) jar of olives stuffed with garlic and jalapenos.
• They sell grass-fed New Zealand lamb at very good prices. Also multiple 1 lb packages of grass-fed ground beef.
• I can't eat this very often because of carbs, but they offer a twin-pack of frozen wood-fired Margherita pizzas for about $10.

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Huge kerfuffle today over some Twitter "lockout" which purportedly stripped Russian bot accounts following Trumpkins and conservatives. I probably was called a Russian bot at least a dozen times by "progressives" since the 2016 election. I ended up with something like 74 followers (and lost quite a few over the years. The earliest were usually like minded pro-liberty folks and I think several recent ones were attracted by my open immigration perspective. Definitely not bots.

As I wrote in leaving Twitter: Twitter is not part of the government and is free to discriminate against us.  I do think the sweep did take out real users.

Post #3: 2/20/18

via Tea Party on FB

I don't have an issue with the police; in fact, one of my nephews is one. I am concerned over abuse of authority and the double standards in the justice system, civil forfeiture, and Trump's militarization of police.

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Trump's opposition is getting creative. From Twitter:

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A sample economic illiterateTrumpkin on Twitter (sigh!)

Steve‏ @slconine 15m15 minutes ago

@DNC agenda-trade deficits.-more entitlements less jobs.-silence free speech-open borders-take our guns-take our god-take our freedoms. @realDonaldTrump agenda. America First Trade plan-more jobs fewer entitlements. Restore Christian values.protect our rights.close border.#MAGA

First of all, our last trade surplus was in 1975. We have had trade deficits under Reagan, both Bushes, and Trump. Trade deficits are not bad for the economy; they reflect capital surpluses: foreigners want to invest in the US. Exports are our price for financing imports.

Yet, despite trade deficits in the past and ongoing ones, US growth has continued, even as Trumpkins want to credit him for improving government statistics on jobs.

This "America First Trade plan" is basically little more than corrupt mercantilism. Trump has attacked win-win NAFTA and isolated us from TTP and other pacts. Whereas no trade pact is perfect, these quid pro quos generally lower existing barriers between trading partners, and this usually translates into bigger markets for exporters and better variety and prices for consumers. Often domestic consumers and industries have other domestic companies and their employees who seek corrupt politicians to protect them against competition; for example, domestic sugar producers sell above world prices; that's not good if you're a candy or cookie manufacturer competing with higher costs. And it certainly isn't good for consumers who would be able to stretch their income or savings. Politicians like Trump come down on the side of the few with concentrated benefits (sugar producers)  vs. diffuse costs (commercial or personal buyers).

The fact is Trump and his administration is no surrogate for the collective genius of over 320 consumers, who do not need Big Government to tell them what to buy or from whom.

As for "fewer entitlements", Trump himself has protected senior entitlements and Medicaid, which are the 70% or so of the federal budget and highest cost drivers.

 Democrats are hardly "open borders"; their union constituency has always oppose immigration for labor-protectionist reasons. Obama sabotaged 2007 immigration reform and did not prioritize Dreamers when he had a super-majority in the 111th Congress.

No, as a Catholic and Christian, I oppose the integration of church and state. I respect everyone else's choice of religion or against religious; I believe in liberty.

Expecting Trump to protect our rights when he threats companies like Carrier, Ford, Apple or Nabisco which make decisions he disagrees with, when he espouses eminent domain to seize people's property, when he doesn't have an issue with his minions or the police of being rough with protesters, when he openly attacks judges who make decisions he disagrees with (e.g., Bergdahl, pro-execution of Snowden. Curiel). challenges one's credulity.

This is part of the problem I had for years on Twitter. These trolls pack so much garbage in one tweet; it's difficult to unpack it in one 140-character or even 280-character tweet.

Post #2: 2/19/18

It's President's Day. Not one of my favorite holidays, given the growth of the imperial Presidency. We should be celebrating liberty, not some overrated authority figure. But give props to Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge.

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Coolidge was not a saint; he signed an abominable restrictive immigration bill. I have to wonder what would have happened if Coolidge had run for reelection in 1928. Hoover was no Coolidge.

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During Coolidge’s tenure American debt fell by one-third, the tax rate by half and unemployment collapsed.

The journey to the White House, which began when Warren Harding asked him to be vice-president on the Republican ticket in 1920, enjoyed strong support. By the summer of that administration’s first year, though, the stock market had fallen by 47.8% from its peak in 1919, further than it would fall in 1929. The country was awash in debt left over from the first world war; unemployment was high. The new administration responded with austerity.

“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones,” he said. “Let administration catch up with legislation.” Coolidge opposed the dams and power projects beloved by his successors, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. He also objected to public ownership of the Post Office, tax exemptions for municipal debt and farm subsidies, all of which have produced costs that still hang heavily over America.

To read more, see The Economist.

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I recently bought a Seagate 6-TB drive/USB hub on Amazon for roughly $115 (plus sales tax and/or shipping (free with Prime membership); h/t CNET Cheapskate). Note that I do not plug commercial products and vendors for my personal benefit; you are free to search other vendors for comparably or better priced alternatives. As a professional DBA, I'm obsessed with backups, and I can remember working for what is now an Equifax company, over 20-odd years back a privately-held company which did marketing research studies using Oracle databases on a Unix platform. We used to buy 4 GB Seagate BarraCuda drives to the point there were supply backlogs; in fact, company leadership tasked me with getting developer and DBA usage of storage under control. I used to develop 25-GB databases from scratch in less than a week at a time most DBA's worked on several megabytes. It is simply astounding to think I could store many of the databases I've worked on in my professional career for just over $100.  (Of course, I have other external drives, some big thumb drives, a cloud drive, and multiple backup PC's.) Not to nag my readers, but at these prices, you need to backup your stuff regularly, whether it's your software, password files , workfiles, etc. (I maintain copies of all my critical documents, like my passport, auto insurance proof, social security number, birth certificate, PhD diploma, resume, curriculum vita (professor's resume), in encrypted vaults (e.g., here). Some examples of backup software are listed here.)   

Welcome to my newest blog!

When Twitter sanctioned/censored my account for 12 hours over some unspecified "community standard" allegations, I was done with it. As a libertarian, I don't have an issue with media like the Gray Lady restricting, editing or inviting access to its op-ed pages. I think in part I'm motivated by mushrooming "safety zones" on campuses for grown young adults with shrinking free speech zones. But I also believe in free association. and I do not accept these restrictions. As a libertarian I espouse the Non-Aggression Principle; I'm not crazy about the fact that there are so many obsessed left or right-fascists out on Twitter; I certainly didn't follow or stalk any of them. If and when I encountered them reviewing trending hashtags or flaming one of my Tweets, I might bash a particularly egregious one, say attaching an obnoxious meme. I was often trolled by left-wing wackos insisting I'm a Russian bot or some hired gun for  the Koch brothers or the Mercers, while Trumpkins called me a "liberal" (not in the classical sense, but in the bleeding-heart modern sense). I've had a few extended exchanges, but if I thought it got to the point of the troll harassing me or getting repetitive, Twitter has tools to mute or even block the offender. I know some "progressives" blocked me (because they told me), and it was because they didn't like my views.

So this format will give me the freedom to write without Twitter's arbitrary rules (including tweet length and not being able to edit typos in published tweets). I think over more than 10,000 tweets, I've developed the discipline to write concisely (Dr. Scamell, my dissertation chair, would be impressed; he once joked it took me 20 minutes to introduce myself).

Just like my signature miscellany format in my flagship political blog evolved over the first few years. the post format may evolve. The intent is for a daily post with one or my entries, which may be updated with new entries, but there may be days without entries.