The Squirrel is Shorting out the Transformer

I was one of the millions who watched (most of) the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.  I had meant to watch the whole thing but was sidetracked.  Approximately thirty minutes into it I realized it was on.  I tuned in on an online audio stream and couldn't believe it.

Is that Joe Biden murmuring?  Is that really him?  Holy smokes, he isn't sounding good!  I then went to an online video stream to watch the rest of it.  And I still couldn't believe it.  Biden's movements and facial expressions reminded me of an old Star Trek episode.  The Corbomite Maneuver.  Captain Kirk and crew are facing off what they think is a malevolent alien.  The movements of Biden and his facial expressions reminded me of Balok..........or rather..........that puppet who was purported to be Balok.  That blank look.  That scowl.  Only capable of side to side movements.  Blank, vacuous eyes, staring straight out into nowhere.  

Trump, on the other hand, kept his cool.  Biden kept trying to bait him.   Trump wouldn't take the bait.  Biden made some ridiculous claims, one of which that he has created "thousands of millions of jobs".  (That's billions, for those of you who are in Rio Linda.)  He made some other claims, which he was called out for.  And then it was finished.

Organized Media went into meltdown within a New  York minute.  Most debates I have watched in the past, in my opinion, had no real clear-cut winner, but this one?  To put it mildly, Trump cleaned Biden's clock.  This wasn't a good night for Biden.  The whole nation got to see the real Joe Biden, and it wasn't pretty.

Since then there has been a war erupting within the Democratic Party.  Some of the donors and some of the power brokers in elected office want Joe Biden out of the race.  I wasn't sure if this were a passing hissy fit or not, but as I write this over one week later, the momentum for that doesn't seem to be diminishing.

Now some of us have been telling you for four plus years that Biden isn't mentally fit for the office.  Organized Media told us otherwise.  They spent these past four years not covering the mental state of the President, nor even questioning it.  "We know what's best for you, so shut up!  Nothing to see here!"  And now there are cracks in the dam, and it's anybody's guess as to whether or not Joe Biden will step down from the ticket or even be forced out of office.

The situation is amongst the most bizarre I've ever remembered seeing in my life.  My longtime friend Birdman has a great analogy that applies here.  It's like watching a squirrel short out a transformer.  As grotesque as it is, you can't help but watch it in morbid fascination.  

And Here We Are With a Curfew

 In an emergency session this past week Tucson mayor Regina Romero convened an emergency meeting of the Tucson City Council, and they voted in her mandatory curfew unanimously, only making one change.  She wanted it to start at 8:00 PM and end at 5:00 AM.  The council modified this to start at 10:00 PM, and it went into effect this past Friday.

There is no doubt a lot of science behind this.  The Democrats, the champions of science, know some things that the rest of us don't.  This new curfew has some interesting language in it, and I'm very sure that science played a large part in this.  Let's look at the science.

With the curfew being between the hours of 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM, this tells us that COVID cannot possibly be transmitted outside of these hours.  When we first had lockdowns we didn't know this.  We thought that the virus didn't care what time of day it was.  Now we know better.  It's very dangerous after 10:00 PM, and you'd better not leave your house until 5:00 AM.

What's really interesting is that these hours are not reflective of sunrise and sunset times local to Tucson at this time of year.  Our earliest possible sunset is 5:17 PM and change, and that passed us a few days ago.  Our latest possible sunrise comes in around 7:30 AM (I'll have to check that again) and that happens next month.  Now if we look at this in terms of astronomical twilight this does narrow the nighttime hours some, but still it's significant to note that the virus needs about 4 or 5 hours of darkness before it can activate.

There is another interesting fact about the virus.  It absolutely, positively can not be transmitted to or from anyone who's homeless.  How do I know that?  The homeless are exempt from the curfew.  I understand that there will be the argument that we can't really round them up and take them off the street, but if we can lock down the economy and force everyone to stay home, then why can't we round up the homeless and house them somewhere?  

Now the first responders are exempt too.  On this one there's some logic that's easier to understand.  Crime does not observe the curfew and neither do medical emergencies, so in this instance we don't need science to justify their exemption.  Other language in this ordinance allows exceptions for going to get medicine for a family member or a pet, to flee a dangerous situation, or if you're going to/from work.  Of course, those exemptions are not based on science.

All of that said, the curfew is set to expire on the 23rd of this month.  It may be extended.  Or maybe the virus will decided to wake up earlier, say at 8:00 PM.  The virus might also decide to stay up later.  As far as I know science hasn't yet figured out what makes a virus come off of a graveyard shift and work either day or swing, but I'm very sure that the scientists who are studying this will inform our mayor and city council accordingly.  

And of course, our city leaders know what's best for us, and if they say we can't eat out but they themselves get to, there has to be some science behind this that the rest of us are not capable of understanding.

The Good and the Bad

 The good news here is that I had my first performance review with my present employer.  I knew I was doing well, but I didn't know that it was that well.  I think I know what it was that got me that rating.

When I reported to work there, I realized that I had an opportunity.  I am working local and I am working in manned spaceflight development (again).  This time I'm doing it locally and I'm doing it for a company that has an excellent reputation.  I figured I had best figure out how to keep this opportunity going, and I came up with something.

I decided that two things were going to happen each day at work.  One, I would give them a reason to make them glad that they hired me.  Two, I would go to bed each night a little bit less ignorant than I was when I got up that morning.

The second is easier than the first, as that the opportunity to become less ignorant is always there in front of you each day, meaning that you don't have to go out and look for it, though on some days you might have to.  The first, well that's something that you do have to go out and look for, though there will be the day every now and then that hands you that opportunity.  

If today's review is any indication, there is evidence that doing these two things daily is a big help.  I probably ought to add a third thing to that list of daily goals, and I intend to think about that some over the approaching weekend.

Now for the bad.

I'm going to open up about the election.

I don't think this one was on the up and up.  I cannot believe that someone who stayed closeted in a basement the way that Biden did could be capable of winning.  He wasn't the early on favorite of Organized Media.  Over 70 million people out there think he doesn't have all his marbles.  Telling off Cornpop and bragging about how children love rubbing your hairy legs isn't Presidential.  And then he picks a running mate who was first to drop out of the primaries.

And I'm supposed to buy this result?  There are lots of articles about ballot harvesting, dead people voting, fraud, irregularities........yes it's natural for these to arise from the losing side, but why doesn't the winning side ask for an investigation here?  If Russian collusion can be investigated, then why can't this election?

There are the legal challenges, and I have no problem with them.  Al Gore opened up that bottle and let the genie out and it shouldn't be a surprise that getting that genie back in that bottle is a whole other matter.  As to the merits of those challenges, I can't answer that.  I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV.  

The whole thing stinks, and I'm wondering if I should continue being a voter.  

It goes back to something Joe Stalin once said.

It doesn't matter who votes.  What matters is who counts the votes.

One more thought.

The question isn't whether or not Joe Biden will be in office come the end of January 20th.  

The question is whether or not he will be in office come the end of July 20th.

So Who is Going to Win This One?

 There are all sorts of polls and predictions as to what the outcome of Tuesday's election will be.  I will make no prediction, but I will make observations, and my primary observation is that this one has, for me, that same eerie feeling that the 2016 election did.   Organized Media is reporting record turnout for the early voting.  That in and of itself doesn't tell you who is going to win.  What that tells you is that a lot more people are voting earlier than ever before.

What does that mean, anyway?  Why is that happening?

No one knows what it will be like out there on Election Day.  No one.  People might be fearing social unrest.  They might be fearing the Wuhan Virus.  They might be fearing the long lines they might encounter if they wait.

Why did I vote early?

In my case it was for a different set of reasons.  I have been working a lot of overtime lately, and I mean a lot.  I am being compensated for it, which is great, because that doesn't always happen when you're salaried.  We had a major deadline of today to get a lot of things done, and I didn't know if I would be working another crisis on Tuesday.  I voted last Friday when a rare opening on my calendar emerged and took advantage of that opportunity.

It was extremely tempting to wait until this coming Tuesday.  I'll tell you why.

I very much wanted to lie to an exit pollster on my way out, though I'm also going to have to admit here that the Good Lord wouldn't exactly have smiled down on me for doing that.  Yea verily, I will admit that I get tempted to do things like that.  I'm not going to hide that.  If you're looking for an example to follow, on some days (if not most) it might be to your benefit to look to someone else besides me.

Regardless of the outcome:  get ready for riots Tuesday night, which will continue for several days.

No, you didn't hear it here first.

Question for 7/9/20

If Mayor Regina Romero were to issue an order to the Tucson Police Department to shoot anyone on sight who is not wearing a mask, would Senator Martha McSally respond by tweeting a picture of her dog?

The 4th of July

Last night the neighbors got a bunch of us together to light off fireworks.  We did not wear masks and we did not practice "social distancing".  I even shook hands with one of them.  Yes, we were out there, lighting fireworks, drinking in public, and celebrating the founding of our great nation.

Anyone who has a problem with that is free to chain themselves to the door of the nearest Federal Building.

* * * * * * *

When I see images on TV and on the internet of protesters pulling down statues, smashing windows, and burning police cars, it doesn't make me want to vote Democrat.

When a bunch of Republicans stand around and watch all of this with their hands in their pockets, mumbling to themselves and not otherwise saying anything, it doesn't want to make me vote for them either.

* * * * * * *

A lady who was visiting her doctor asked "how much longer with COVID-19 last?"  The doctor thought for 10 seconds or so, and then said "I don't know.  I'm not much into politics."

* * * * * * *

A very curious thing about the news reports about the spike of COVID-19 cases in Arizona.  Not one single news outlet is telling us about how this is filling up hospital beds.  Neither is a news outlet reporting a commensurate increase in fatalities.

What it is, is that more people are being tested, and anyone having antibodies against it are going to be reported as a "case".  Even if there are no symptoms and nothing happens, it's still a "case".

Hey, a number is a number.  Gotta have numbers so we can get federal funding.

* * * * * * *

Another curious thing.  This time with the local spike, the elected leaders in Arizona are *NOT* calling for a lockdown like they did in March and April.  They want us to wear masks, and they want to fine us if we don't, but they're not making us stay home.

I find that very odd.  Don't you?

* * * * * * *

Although not under house arrest, I am working from home three days per week.  Sometimes four.   There really isn't any reason why I should go in and sit at a desk if I have to spend a good chunk of the day doing Zoom meetings.

That may change in a few weeks, as that my job title is "Lead Test Engineer", and one of our programs is going to need me to support testing of a ground unit, that is identical to a flight unit that's going up to the Space Station in December.

* * * * * * * 

I could say more, but I want to move on to something else.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

Brainless in Seattle

I have consciously avoided posting anything about recent events and social unrest, aside from the government-imposed house arrest related to the virus, but that situation in Seattle has now been deemed worthy of observation and comment.  If you're of the snowflake type, you might want to stop here because of the possibility of you not liking what you are about to read.  If you're not of the snowflake type, then odds are you're going to find yourself in a safe space, but without coloring books and therapy dogs. 

As you no doubt know, a bunch of "activists" in Seattle have seized control of the Capitol Hill district, and immediately started calling it "CHAZ".....Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.  The first thing these activists did was erect barricades around it, and not even being aware of their hypocrisy in being against the border wall.  Many of the guards are carrying guns, which is legal and their right to do so, but again they're unaware of their hypocrisy in wanting to outlaw the types of guns that they're carrying. 

It gets better.  This morning there was talk of renaming it "CHOP", as in Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.  Some of the movers and shakers within that entity are now saying they're not trying to secede, which explains why the signs they put up saying "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE USA" have been taken down and are no longer available in Google searches.  "CHOP" might be more accurate as that an "autonomous zone" would not have to be soliciting donations in the form of cash, cigarettes, liquor, food, and the like. 

So what do we do about this mess in Seattle?

One, we can do nothing.  This is hoping that the activists will get tired of it all and then go home.  In some situations that might work.  Whatever happened to "Occupy Wall Street"?  Have you heard anything from them lately? 

The problem with that is that Organized Media and some fatass politicians don't want this CHAZ/CHOP thing to go away anytime soon.  You have to wonder what they want out of this.  Do they want a civil war?  Are they hoping for some extremists from the other end of the spectrum to show up with their weapons and then starting something?  Odds are those other types might regard that as a waste of their time and ammunition, and they'd rather be doing what they are doing now instead of doing something about this. 

Two, we can build a wall around CHAZ/CHOP.  No one goes in.  No one comes out.  No commodities are allowed to breach that wall in either direction.  It won't result in another Kurt Russell movie, but it might have the effect of starving them out.

There's a problem with that too.  What about the civil rights of residents who are trapped within that barricade?  Many people regard that area as still being United States soil, and the residents as being willing citizens.  Do we punish them along with the activists?

Three.....send in the Marines.  Just go ahead and invade them, take it over, and then place them under military occupation.  Eisenhower had to send in the 82nd Airborne to enforce desegregation in some places in the South, so there's precedent for military action.  But does this go beyond the scope of what we have a military for?  Before we answer that, didn't we send an Army into the Confederate States of America to quell a rebellion, and take back the states that seceded?  How do we argue that this is not an option?

One thing I think is clear.  President Trump has told the local government there to fix it, or he will.  Is he bluffing?  Does he mean that?  I think he does. 

It doesn't appear that Seattle will fix this anytime soon.  The police chief is saying that it wasn't her idea to abandon Capitol Hill.  The mayor, well she's suffering from the Neville Chamberlain Syndrome.  Governor Inslee claimed that he didn't know what was happening, so it's not like he can be relied on knowing what to do.

Regardless of how this plays out, we're in for some interesting news. 

And soon.

Democrats....You Own This Now

This evening Donald Trump became the third President in history to be impeached.  I wasn't sure after the Clinton impeachment that I would see another one of these in my lifetime, but now I'm thinking I might see two or three more.  The standard of impeachment has now been cheapened to where a President can be impeached simply because those engineering the impeachment simply don't like him.

I had stated an opinion in my last post that the Republicans would not retaliate in the future.  I am thinking that I may be wrong in this.  Trump is a fighter among the likes we haven't seen since Andrew Jackson, and I think he's going to take this one to town.  The Democrats now own an issue that they can't run from, so they will have to run on this, and they're about to find out that 63 million Americans (and likely more) are angry, and this will come back to bite them.

Did I just say that the Republicans might retaliate?  I'd better re-think this.  I'm now going to bring up another thought I had earlier today.

After Trump leaves office, there is the possibility of the fatass politicians retaliating against the voter.  The Democrats certainly don't like the way that people vote and there is ample evidence that Establishment Republicans don't like it either.  Remember Trent Lott?  "Talk radio is running the country, and we've got to do something about it."   Do I dare accuse the Republican party of being in *support* of the Constitution?

Some of them will want to retaliate against a future Democrat President.

Whether or not that happens depend on how much of the swamp gets drained.

The Democrats are going ahead with this, and in one way I'm in favor of it.

It will be fun watching Mitt Romney squirm on this one.

They Can't Stop the Train Now

It's been announced that two Articles of Impeachment against President Trump will be drafted, voted on, and likely sent to the Senate.  Neither one alleges bribery, or "quid pro quo".  The charges are "abuse of power" and soliciting interference for an election that hasn't even started the primary process.  Not one witness observed evidence first hand.  Hearsay is not permitted in any court of law under United States jurisdiction but we are now finding out that it can be considered in a Congressional inquiry.

The odds of a Senate conviction are about half as likely as the Beatles getting back together, yet the House Democrats are going forward with this anyway.  There are two questions to ask.  One is "why?".  The other is "why not?"

Let's take the why.

One reason why they are doing this is because they can.  Another is that if they do this at this time for the reasons thus cited, they've lowered the bar for impeachable offenses......meaning that they can do this again if the first attempt fails.  Now I can observe that if they do this, that the Republicans at some future point can also retaliate in kind against a future Democratic President.  (Hold that thought, we'll get back to this).

The two reasons why listed above don't quite cover this.  A third reason is that Madame Speaker Pelosi can't stop the train.  The process was allowed to start to placate that wing of the party that has been hijacked by "the Squad" and their followers.  Speaker Pelosi doesn't have the tight grip on her caucus that other Speakers and party leaders have had.  Their dam started cracking when they regained power and all attempts to patch it up have failed.

Now we'll go into the why not.

One, why not do this if you have the opportunity?  How do the Democrats know that they'll have the House in the next Congress?  They can't run against the economy.  They can't run against record low minority unemployment.  They can't run against the United States being an energy exporter for the first time in decades.

For the second reason along the why not line of thinking.......and now we're back to that thought I asked you to hold.

Does anyone think that the Republicans are going to retaliate?  If they wouldn't go after the Obama administration gunrunning "assault weapons" then why would they go after a future Democratic President for something less than that, but something more than "abuse of power"?  Did the Republicans repeal Obamacare?  Did the Republicans secure the border?  Did the Republicans do anything about the national debt?  Let's be honest about something here.  The Republican Establishment is just as much as an enemy to your way of thinking as Organized Media is.

And this now goes on to something else.

What reason do I have to vote for Martha McSally next year?  I know, she's being primaried, but the the McCain machine won't let her opponent succeed, and if for some reason he does then the McCain machine will back Mark Kelly for that Senate seat (and Mark Kelly will win too).  There's a swamp in Phoenix that needs draining too.

Meanwhile, the Impeachment Train is rolling right along.

My opinion is that it's only a matter of time before it jumps the tracks.

An Apology

I wish to apologize to the American people and to the rest of the world for voting for Mitt Romney when he was running for President in 2012.  I originally was going to sit that one out, but I fell for his phony line about how he was a true conservative, even though there was evidence that he wasn't.

I also feel bad for having once endorsed his choice of Paul Ryan as Vice President.  Once I saw how Speaker Ryan was, I realized Romney could have done better.  I guess I can make the argument that it was the best choice he had available at the time, but I didn't know Ryan as well as I should have.

Mitt Romney, a/k/a Pierre Delecto. 

Mitt Romney, setting up a fake Twitter account.  That's as dishonest as Hillary and her missing emails and those smashed hard drives.

Voters of Utah.........will you now please step forward and apologize too, for sending Mitt Romney to the Senate?

Why the Rush to Impeach?

For at least a week, most of what we have heard about it is the so-called "impeachment inquiry" against President Trump.  I will note here that it has not gotten past me that Speaker Pelosi has NOT scheduled a vote on this.  This reminds me of when she openly speculated she would "deem and pass" the legislation called Obamacare when she didn't yet know she had the votes she needed.

There is a lot of speculation as to why.  I think the answer lies in something the Congressman Al Green said.

If we don't impeach him now, he will be re-elected.

What I don't get is why the Speaker won't bring this to a vote.  In a way, it's clever.  Yes, she caved to the Squad, but she's also protecting those Democrats who are the swing districts.  OK, I've just answered my own question, but if you're going to make this a campaign issue then vote.

There is another reason being speculated on.  A lot of dirt is about to make the light of day.  Attorney General Barr has someone looking into this, who is threatening to produce more than Robert Mueller did and in less time at that.

We are in some very interesting times.

The Political Situation Report (As I See It), 8/1/19

I have deliberately been trying to avoid politics these past few posts (months), but there's been too much political theater to ignore.  Plus, my history teacher back in college in 1977 encouraged us to document from time to time, what we thought of current events, as that historians would appreciate that.  Provided that this entry and/or blog is not censored, you may be reading years (decades?) into the future of what is going on now, as I write this, as I see this.

This evening we had a rally from President Trump.  The previous two evenings we had debates from the gaggle of Democrats who are running for President.  I watched a good chunk of the rally but didn't watch the Democrat debates (I did listen to talk radio analyze them).  Here is what struck me.

One.  On night one, Marianne Williamson, who I will from this point forward affectionately refer to her as the New Age Queen, outshone the others.  She led a prayer for white people who wanted to apologize for being white.  I wasn't aware that there was anyone who needed to apologize for who they are or what they were born as, but it's readily apparent that the universe where my thought resides is different from hers.  In a way I'm rooting for her.  She stole thunder from Elizabeth "I Have High Cheekbones" Warren and the Bern Man himself.

Two.  On night two, the knives were out for Joe Biden, who fumbled since there wasn't anyone there in a wheelchair who he could tell to stand up.  We also had Tulsi Gabbard go after Willie Brown's former mistress Kamala Harris.  When I heard the sound bite I thought "wow!", and the one night a week I get to watch Tucker Carlson on Fox, he's got Tulsi on his show and I'm once again thinking, "wow!".  I wouldn't agree with Tulsi Gabbard nearly as often as I would disagree with her, but I have to give her kudos with which the way in which she presented herself on Tucker Carlson.  And guess what?  She's now being called an agent of Putin!  Cheese Louise!  Is everyone who disagrees with these uber radical Democrats an agent of Vladimir Putin?  Really?  He's really got that kind of reach??

Three.  I watched some of the Trump rally,  He was on fire tonight.  This time he didn't go after the "Squad" (I haven't mentioned their existence until now, and believe me I held off for as long as I could), but he did go after sanctuary cities and the Democrats who run them.  And I'm thinking, has Trump always felt this way?  I knew of him many years ago, and I would have pegged him as a Democrat.....which I have read that he was....and why does he now have the positions he has?   I had trouble believing he was the real deal in 2015 but folks, we know now he means what he says.  I voted for him to keep Hillary out of the White House for more than any other reason, and now I can't wait to vote for him again.

So what do I make of this?  If I were to make predictions, what would I make?

I'm going to confess something here.

I don't like to make predictions.  I don't.  I've seen way too many predictions made by others fail, and that is the kind of company that I don't want to be known for keeping.

I'm not going to predict what will happen between now and the election, or who is going to win it.  I am thinking that the Democrats are so caught up in their ultra left policy positions, that they are too far invested in them, that they don't dare let them go.  They will march off the cliff believing in them, or rather, convincing themselves that they believe in them, and with more than one year to go we're going to hear more about the Green New Deal, reparations, Universal Basic Income, higher taxes, man made "climate change" (remember, they don't call it "global warming" anymore).......what they haven't thought of (yet) is calling for illegal aliens being able to vote.

That said, I don't personally think next year is going to go very well for them.  My advice is that they stock up on six years worth of prozac, and the rest of us better prepare for six more years of Russia Russia Russia.

Situation Report for Wednesday, 6/19/19

As of tomorrow I will be one month into the new job.  Things are slower than I would like for them to be.  That though is dependent upon my new employer getting some things worked out with the customer.  I know that the process is on-going and I've been promised that this time around, I will not be pigeonholed into a specific role like my previous employer did.  My task lead this time around wants his engineers to be able to wear more than one hat.  That was made clear before I had a chance to voice any concern about being typecast.

The vacation, sick time and comp time policies are also miles ahead of their competition.  Vacation time earned has no expiration date, like most companies do.  That said, I have to make sure that it doesn't back up to two years worth.  Most employers confiscate it from you; allowing only 40 hours carry-over into the next calendar year.

Sick leave is also accrued into a separate account.  I didn't know there was any company around that still did that.  Folks, this is not a small employer I am working for.  They have tens of thousands of employees and a presence in several locations.  I am feeling more and more like I did the right thing with accepting the job offer.

On another front......well guess what, I had another dream about that trial.  I really didn't want to talk about this soon after the last post but the dream had its own appreciable merit of absurdity.  We were standing around the defendant, confronting him......and I was yelling at him.  I kept yelling over and over, "you're going to the river!  You're going to the river!"  We were overlooking a river that the bank we were standing on was some ten feet above the river, and we were going to throw him into it and never see him again.

Thing of it is, I was yelling it so loud in the dream that I woke up Sheila.  This wasn't the first time that she's had to settle me down about some dream that's a consequence of being there at the trial.  I'd like to think though that it will be several months before I wake her up again in such a manner.

On the ham radio front, conditions haven't been that great lately.  I have concentrated on chasing sporadic E, which is much more dependent on season than it is solar flux, and have made some good contacts.  And in spite of the dismal conditions, I was able to get France twice one late afternoon on the 20 meter band, which isn't affected by sporadic E.

I have it in mind to try two new antenna projects.  I can get to both of them right away but one of them will take a little more effort and probably could use some more deep thought.

And on the political front..........I don't have much of anything to say, aside from the observation that the theater might be akin to watching a squirrel short out a transformer.  Yes, this is the second time in two posts I am mentioning the squirrel, but that is how life is sometimes.

End communication.  Beep.  Boop.  zzzzzzzzzzt.

Situation Report for 3/19/19

Last night I had a dream of the type that I hadn't had for a while.  It was again about that jury trial.  I dreamt that I came on here and spilled the beans about it, without giving away very much.  I know that I have mused before about venting, but I stopped thinking about it a couple of months ago.  Life was returning to its new normal and I got involved in other things.

No, I'm not going talk about it here.  I'm not going to talk about it in any online forum that I frequent nor do I say anything about it over the air.  I have discussed the matter offline with a ham radio friend of mine who knows the details, but not on the air.  My co-workers know about it.  My family knows about it.

I am willing to discuss what happened, but only with those that I know well.  I'll leave it at that.

* * * * * * *

My furlough from work is now in its fourth week.  These past two weeks have been more sabbatical in nature than the first two weeks, although I have been busy with other projects.  I am occasionally heard joking that I need to get back to work so that I can get some rest.

I have been catching up on a lot of reading (mainly ham radio magazines) and I've been on the air too.  This time of year, being an equinoctial period, has been good for propagation to South America in the mid to late afternoons.  I tend to go QRT (off the air) around sunset, though I should stay on longer to see if I can get Australia and New Zealand.  Propagation to Japan is almost year round; I either talk to them when it's late afternoon here and morning there, or I get up at 3:00 AM when it's past their sunset (which I've only done once).

One thing I am doing.  Whenever I make contact with someone, I will later on go online and look up where they are on Wikipedia to learn more about their area.  One locale I learned about in Argentina turned out to be a tourist destination in the province of Córdoba.  It's a great way to learn about the world.

* * * * * * *

Unless you've been on Mars for the past six months, you can't help be aware of the alt left hijacking the Democrats.  They've got what.....20 people running for President?  All of them in favor of reparations, strict gun control, strict Internet control, Green New Deal, free healthcare, free college tuition, free pre-school, etc..

I know that I have raised the question before, where is the money going to come from?  It's like no one stops to think about that anymore.  Where the money is going to come from is a non-issue.  They might admit taxing the rich, but a lot of wealth is in stocks and bonds that are worth something because there are a lot of people who think it's worth something.  In other words, the entire global economy is based on an illusion that a piece of paper is worth something.  Yes, you've heard me say this before.

Asking the question "where is the money going to come from?" doesn't work with these people.

So......I'm going to propose another question.

If something is free, is there ever going to be enough of it to go around?

Odds, Ends, and Random Thoughts.....8/12/18

I got a phone call from my employer a few days ago.  Some work is coming my way, starting in two weeks, give or take a few days.  I forgot to ask who the client was but it isn't the same one that I had before.  They were based in Oro Valley and although it was a longer commute than I would have liked, I really enjoyed working there.

As it is, I've been in touch with a friend of mine that I made while I was there.  We're heading out for lunch tomorrow.  His gut feeling is that they are going to be asking for my services again in a few weeks, which I'm good with.  They're just going to have to work it out with my boss.

The one thing I like about the new gig is that I can work out of our business office, which is on my side of town.  I won't have to leave the driveway at 6:15.  I can leave at 7:30, and be home in time to support the ham radio traffic net that I've gotten involved with somewhat recently.

There will be some travel associated with this.  I presume it will be to Phoenix metro which is where a lot of aerospace components are qualified using environmental chambers which subject the units under test to extreme conditions involving temperature and humidity.  My experience in qualification test procedures was for electromagnetic environments as well as mechanical shock and vibration, but I'm familiar with climatic testing.

I won't say that having all this time off has been easy.  I am simply not ready for retirement.  I might be ready in five years.  I might not be ready at all.  Solar conditions as of late have not been great for amateur radio activity, but when the sunspots come back in a few years then maybe that will be time.

- . . . -

I've been following the political scene from a comfortable distance.  That means listening to talk radio and online reading, but not letting that dominate my daily routine.  Organized Media and their sycophantic followers have three things on their mind these days.  Those three things are Russians, Russians, and Russians.

It's gotten so bad that incumbent Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who is facing a tough re-election fight with challenger Rick Scott, claimed this week that he has evidence of Russian hacking in some of Florida's counties.  Governor Scott has already asked for proof of this statement, but no one should hold their breath waiting for it.  Senator Nelson knows his chances of losing are excellent, thus he needs to get his excuse ready.....knowing that Organized Media will harp on this for a while.

- . . . -

Here in Arizona, we have former Tucson City Councilman Rod Glassman running for the Arizona Corporation Commission......as a conservative Republican.  I had forgotten all about him.  He got on the City Council, to use as a stepping stone for the U.S. Senate, but lost to Senator Benedict McCain. (excuse me, that was a typo).  Back then Glassman seemed to think he was entitled to that job.  After his defeat, he disappeared as far as I was concerned.

It turns out he moved north, and became acting Town Manager of Cave Creek.  I can find no evidence that Cave Creek was in any way dissatisfied with him.  He appears to have switched parties to Republican upon moving to Cave Creek.

His credentials and experience are impressive.  He may make a good commissioner.  My problem is, is that I'm not sure I want a career politician in that slot.  I have no beef with the Arizona Corporations Commission as I write this.  I'm just not sure I want a McCain Democrat to be elected to it, and I'm not sure if that's what he is.

- . . . -

Weatherwise, we're in the monsoon season.  Last weekend we had excessive heat warnings and I was outside last Saturday way too long.  I was useless the next day and for part of the day after that.  Yes, I should have known better, now having lived here for 19 years, but I was enjoying myself on the back patio with my ham radio setup and didn't want to quit.

Monsoon season doesn't really wind down until Labor Day.  Some years we're treated to a grand finale, with intense bullet rain and cars sliding off the freeway.  There's already been a fatality here in Tucson due to the weather.

- . . . -

Finally, I have received a jury summons, my third since moving to Tucson.  I doubt that I'll be selected.  I served once in San Jose, back in 1985,  for a DUI trial.  We returned a verdict of guilty.  California law at that time (and probably still does) states that refusal to take a blood alcohol content test is evidence of guilt, and that's what happened.

However, that wasn't why I voted guilty.  I initially joined one other person in voting not guilty so that a discussion was forced on the issue, which we had.  I ended up voting guilty mainly based on the testimony of a subject matter expert on alcohol and toxicology that the prosecution brought in, and I told the prosecutor that if it hadn't been for that expert I would have voted not guilty as that there still may have been reasonable doubt.

Anyway, because of that, there's no way a defense attorney will want me.  My NRA membership would also get me off, especially if a gun crime is involved. And if it's an armed robbery, there's no way I'm getting on since I've already survived one, even though it's now close to 40 years ago since that happened.

I would willingly serve if for some reason I got on.  It's an interesting experience.

Thing of it is, it's hard to want to do this since there's no way a defense attorney would let me on, and that it's a waste of my time to show up in the waiting room.

Universal Basic Income

Universal Basic Income found its way into the news again today.  The city of Chicago is considering legislation to give 1000 families a stipend of $500 per month, no questions asked.  As far as I know, the bankrupt city of Stockton, California has a similar program, and I've heard that San Francisco gives out $300 per month to the homeless with no questions asked.  Finland is said to have been experimenting with this.  I believe it's only a matter of time before the state of California tries to get a program going too (I'm surprised I haven't heard of them talking about it yet......but give them time!).

Universal Basic Income is not exactly a new idea.  I first heard about it in 1980 while attending a political science class at San Jose State University.  The instructor, who I will state was fair and lectured from the center, mentioned this.  He pointed out results from a survey that had once been taken of legislators.  United States Senators were more likely to favor this than United States Representatives.  It should be pointed out that in 1980, the Democrats were in power, and had owned both houses since the 1954 elections.  That was the first I heard of that idea, and I never heard of it again until two years ago.

The 1980 version of UBI that I heard about was everyone getting a guaranteed minimum income.  It wasn't stated in the lecture that the "rich" would be ineligible for it, but it was implied that they wouldn't get a payout.  If for some reason your income fell below a certain threshold, that the government would send you a check to bring you up to that minimum level that would somehow be what you needed to survive.  If you couldn't find work, or didn't want to find work, you would be brought up to that level.

Now today's version of UBI isn't quite that way, which begs the question of why this is called "Universal", but I'm sure of the reason for this.  For this idea to gain mainstream acceptance, it's brought in incrementally.  Baby steps at first.  Find 1000 families that are about to get their electricity cut off or something like that, come to their rescue, and manufacture some success stories.  Those at the edge of skepticism will climb on board for the idea, after which the proponents then look to run the number up to 5000 families......10,000 families.....keep expanding it until it's too big to be legislated out of existence.

So what do we have here, really?  First of all, it's a vote-buying scheme.  You get a monthly check, no questions asked, and you vote back in the politician who helped legislate this for  you.  In other words, that politician is trying to bribe some folks into voting for him while simultaneously guilting the more well-off constituents into voting for him too.

Second, it's a means of dividing people.  If you create a welfare class that's separate from the working class, you have driven that wedge between them.  The welfare class will think they're entitled to what the working class earns, and the working class resents the welfare class.  The elite class who created that wedge remains in power, fostering dependency and division in order to remain in power.

This suggests that an equilibrium of sorts is reached, and it is, but that point of equilibrium doesn't remain fixed.  It floats.  The welfare class will incrementally expand.  The working class will incrementally contract.  Eventually a tipping point is reached.  The tax users will outnumber the tax payers, and then there isn't enough money to go around.  Sure, the elite class can manufacture money out of thin air, but that inflates the currency.  You get more money that is worth less and you're no better off.

It can be surmised that I am extremely critical of this idea.  Yes, I know of the "tax the rich" argument, but if you tax the rich in your city more they're going to get up and leave.  Yes, I know that the State of Alaska pays residents revenue of oil money, but that's intended to keep people in the state, and the money is coming out of the ground.  I think if implemented, it will fail if it doesn't destroy society first.

That said, in one way, I want to see Chicago do this.  Let's go ahead and have that experiment.  My prediction is that the proponents will within a year or so will say that it's working, but we need to expand this to work out the bugs in the system.  At that point Chicago starts losing corporations and rich folks, and they'll have to abandon it.

I sure would rather have it happen there than here in Tucson.

Maxine Waters and The Red Hen

The Red Hen is a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia.  Like most of you, I had never heard of them before, until recently.  I have visited Virginia a few times, and once lived there while I was in high school.  There weren't any Red Hens where I lived and I'm not sure if it's a local chain.  Google search results are focussing on what happened there this past weekend and are not geared towards facilitating research to find out what they are really all about.

Anyway, they are in the news......and bigly, I might add.  President Trump's press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was told to get the hell out and to not come back by one of the owners....or the owner (I'm not clear on that fine detail).  So Sarah got up and left.  When someone doesn't want your business, then don't give it to them.

As can be expected, this is all over talk radio today.  In addition to this, we have discussion on Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi being bullied at a movie theater over the weekend, and we some very vocal activists calling for more of this behavior.  As I am sometimes wont to do, I will ask you to hold that thought, because I am not done with The Red Hen yet, and I haven't even gotten to that most lovable Maxine Waters.

Now what I'm about to say may surprise you.  As far as I know I'm going in a different direction than you might expect of me from someone who resides where I do in the political spectrum.  I might even be diverging from what talk radio is saying about this.

I think The Red Hen had every right to demand Sarah Sanders to leave.  I'm also glad that they did just that.......not because I think it was the right thing to do, which I don't.  I have my own reasons for this and I ask that they be given more consideration than The Red Hen gave to Sarah Sanders.

I think a business owner has the right to refuse service for any reason they so choose.  A business is a private enterprise.  If a business chooses to discriminate, it's their right to discriminate.  If they make a business decision that a certain part of their clientele is not welcome, then they should execute that decision.

If they do that, they had better not damn well complain about any repercussions encountered if they make that decision.  An upscale eating establishment isn't going to want a bunch of tattooed bikers in there (not that tattooed bikers would want to go there in the first place).  Some establishments don't want noisy children on their premises.  Many of them didn't want smokers in there (before the state involved itself into the matter of smoking in restaurants).

The Red Hen is already experiencing repercussions.  There's an online civil war going on about this on their Yelp page.  They have made their decision to discriminate against Trump administration officials.  And I want them to go further.

I want them to establish a policy of not serving Republicans.  I will even help pay for a sign reading "REPUBLICANS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE".  So if any of you Red Hen people end up reading this, please contact me, and advise me of how much this sign would cost.  I'll pay for half of it; you pay for the other half.  I don't think Republicans will want to eat there anyway, but I will help you let them know that you don't like them.

Now we will move on to Maxine Waters, the honorable member of Congress from southern California.  Maxine Waters has called upon her supporters to continue to harass Trump staffers.  That really is of no surprise.  A member of Congress, who on MLK day praises his nonviolence approach, is agitating her supporters into bullying.  That may, or may not, lead to violence.  I think the potential for violence is very much there.

There is one thing for her supporters, and for the modern day Brownshirts, to consider.  Their targets are those who support the Second Amendment.  They may have concealed weapon permits.  They may be carrying.  Will she call on her supporters to martyr themselves, so that more federal gun control can be enacted?  Or will it be one of her supporters to fire the first shot?  Is it a matter of if some violence of the gun type happening, or a matter of when?

That said, I have one more thought on Maxine Waters to pass along.

I want the Democrats to appoint Maxine Waters as their spokesperson.  I want the major networks to give Maxine Waters thirty minutes of airtime on the eve of the midterm election.  I do not want the major networks to allow equal time for a Republican response.  Let Maxine Waters address the nation on the eve of the election.  She can ask us if we're better off than we were two years ago, or she can lecture us about how the Trump tax cuts are hurting us.  Hell, she can even say that Trump should have left things with North Korea well alone, and criticize the efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.  I don't care.  Just get her on the air, and let her speak for thirty minutes.

Did I say thirty minutes?

Maybe I meant sixty.

Either way, I don't care.  As long as she spends most of the time calling Trump and his supporters a bunch of Nazi thugs, especially while his supporters are bullied at restaurants and movie theaters.

Judge Roy Moore

A few weeks ago the national news was overrun with the allegations that Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore had some 40 years ago engaged in improprieties with those females who shall we say, were under the age of consent.  Immediately he was guilty in the court of Organized Media.  Establishment Republican Mitch McConnell emphatically stated that Moore would not be admitted to the Senate if he won.  Jeff Snake said he would vote for a Democrat, and there was this cacophony of outrage over the whole thing.....some of it of which I'm not convinced is sincere.  One of the accusers produced a yearbook alleged to have been signed by Moore, but curiously is refusing to allow forensic testing on it to see if the signing was "recent".

Then a few days later, we had photographic evidence of Senator Al Franken of Minnesota groping a sleeping journalist and smililing like the Cheshire Cat about it.  I don't know why or how that one broke, but more accusations against more people have followed, and Organized Media is trying to convince the masses that maybe they should have believed Bill Clinton's accusers.

Meanwhile, it appears that Judge Moore is going to win the election, and Mitch McConnell now seems to be walking back his earlier statement that he would see to it that Judge Moore is not seated.  Oh, there was also speculation that the Alabama Republican Party would through some obscure rule nullify the outcome and have the election done over again.

I could point out that Roy Moore's accusers waited a long time before coming forward.  Now I can understand a victim remaining silent about something like that (I once dated such a victim), but hasn't the atmosphere gotten more comfortable about coming forward?  I'm not talking about the attacks on Bill Clinton's accusers, which certainly would have stymied victims from speaking out, but that was over 20 years ago, and things have changed.  A victim can now come forward and her accusation will be treated under Napoleonic rules.......the accused is guilty until proven innocent, though I'm going to add that some people would never accept proof of innocence.

Now this isn't to say that all of Judge Moore's accusers are lying.  I don't personally think the lady with the signed yearbook is telling the truth, else we would have had the forensics done by now, and if true then Moore would have been forced out of the race by now.  The others I can't speak for.  In the case of Al Franken, well he's apologized (he had to because of that photo).

But let's get back to the Judge.

The voters of Alabama will decide whether or not he is going to the Senate.  It isn't for me to tell them which way to go on this.  I am not a citizen of Alabama.  I do have a desired outcome for this, and I'll get to that.

My desired outcome is this:  Judge Moore wins, and Mitch McConnell denies him a Senate seat.  It isn't that I want guys like Moore away from the Senate.....very much to the contrary.  We need 65 of him in the Senate.

It's that I want the Republican Establishment to be exposed as for who they really are:  a bunch of elitists who are not going to keep the promises they made to their voters; promises that they never had any intention of keeping in the first place.  They don't want to repeal Obamacare.  They don't want to build the Wall.  They don't tax cuts for the middle class.  What they want is power.

Another reason is that if Mitch McConnell really does keep Roy Moore out of the Senate, then his next primary challenger just might win.

Yes, that will kick that can over to another Establishment Republican.  And when that happens, we take that guy out too.  And the one after him.  And the next one.  We keep doing this until we get statesmen, and not a bunch of useless fatass politicians.

There's an Opportunity Here......

The pending retirement of Senator Jeff Flake has set off a flurry of speculation as to whose hands the seat will wind up in.  Governor Doug Ducey already ruled out running as that he'd rather be a governor than a Senator.  There's some talk that my own Congresswoman, Martha McSally, will make a run for it.  McSally is a favorite of the Establishment, and I'm thinking......if they really want her in there, then why are they failing to make use of an opportunity before them?

In other words, why doesn't Jeff Snake (oops!) step down right now, and allow Governor Ducey to appoint a replacement?  He could name Martha McSally to the seat, and the Establishment could entrench her there and better position her against any potential primary challengers.

There are a number of reasons for this.

One.  The governor doesn't want to get involved in national politics at this time.  He's very likely going to sit back and let the primary process sort itself out.

Two.  The Establishment doesn't yet know whether to keep McSally where she is for a while, and then have her run for McCain's seat.

Three.  Martha McSally may feel the need to stay where she is to keep her seat in Establishment hands.  She narrowly defeated Ron Barber to get the seat in the first place, and she might stay where she is as that eventually McCain's seat will open up.

Four.  The Establishment is waiting to see what the Trump faction is going to do.  Right now I'm sure most of the Trumpites will be supporting Kelli Ward for this.  The thinking is that she would have gotten 53% of the primary vote in a matchup against Jeff Snake, (dang it, another typographical error!), but now that that is out the window the latest poll suggests she's not going to get that percentage against other candidates.

Five.  Jeff Flake (this time I got it right) hasn't yet gotten his next job lined up.  I'm sure he'd like to go work for CNN or MSNBC, but the catch here is that they have to make him an offer and until they do he might as well continue basking in his power.  This gives him more time to weigh his options.  I wouldn't suggest a book deal as that I'm not sure he sold more than 2000 copies of his book, and it doesn't look good for him if he can't outsell Hillary.

I think in this case, there is a rationale for this wait and see mentality, if that's what they're really doing here.

But I can't help but wonder why, though I think donor money has a lot to do with it right now, and the big donors themselves haven't yet figured out where to go from here.

Good Riddance, Senator Flake

Senator Jeff Flake, as of this writing, is Arizona's junior Senator.  He hails from a rural part of eastern Arizona, where a lot of good Americans live.  When he ran for, and won a seat in, Congress, he pledged he would only serve three terms and then step down.  Of course he went on to break that promise, ran for two more terms, and then ran for Senator in 2012 and won.

Senator Flake immediately got in good with the Republican Establishment.  Among his first actions was to join Senator Benedict McCain in the so-called "Gang of Eight" to force a largely unwanted piece of immigration legislation down our throats.  I didn't vote for him for Senate because I didn't trust him, and so it wasn't a situation where I personally was suffering from buyer's remorse here.  However, some others did.

Phoenix-area radio talk show host Bruce Jacobs, who is heard here in Tucson when Garret Lewis goes on vacation, immediately took to calling him "Jeff Snake" (it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?).  Bruce Jacobs went on so far to say this summer that if "Jeff Snake" won the primary, then he would vote for his Democrat opponent........even though "Jeff Snake" would win.

There was every indication that Jeff Flake would run for re-election.  He started getting himself on national TV more often.  He wrote a book, shamelessly lifting the title from one of Barry Goldwater's books.  Garret Lewis and his gang would give us daily morning updates as to how many copies of his book were being sold..........the numbers weren't pretty.  Polls started showing that he was in trouble....which I guess would be good if you could trust them, which I don't.  I personally thought Arizona had elected a career politician for a lifetime in office, who would have had the longevity of Fidel Castro.

But then something happened.  His book wasn't selling.  His approval rating plummeted down to 17%.  His only announced primary challenger, Dr. Kelli Ward, was gaining traction.  "Jeff Snake" doubled down on his attacks on President Trump.  Then this week, he announced he would be retiring from the Senate.

My first reaction to his announcement was that this was the greatest news I've heard in six months.  But I found myself disgusted at the parting shots he took on the Senate floor, and I'm thinking, we've still got a year and a half of his "I know what you want but here's what you need" attitude towards us.  I'm not buying his phony argument that he's doing this out of honor.  I can tell exactly why he is leaving, and that's because he had reliable intelligence that there was no way he was going to win re-election.

Now on those occasions of a fatass politician finding himself sailing on that kind of boat, what are your options?

One:  you can do what Arlen Specter did.  You can jump over to the Democrats and join them.  Arlen Specter did exactly that when he learned he was going to be defeated by his primary challenger.  He went over to the Democrats, and then found that the Democrats don't exactly like turncoats either.  He was no longer a committee chairman or a ranking member.  He went down to the lowest possible seniority in the Democratic heirarchy.  Harry Reid would not permit him to occupy a higher position.  An up and coming Democratic candidate was bumped off the ballot in Pennsylvania to make room for Arlen Specter.  And Arlen Specter still lost.

Two: "Jeff Snake", upon seeing what happened to Arlen Specter, isn't going to jump ship.  He's not quite the level of backstabber that the senior Senator from Arizona is, but he's a backstabber nonetheless.  He's "Jeff Snake" after all.  He's got a primary challenger.  Now he could run in the primary, but what does that make you look like if you lose?  He saw what happened to Richard Lugar.  The Arlen Specter option is out.  And now the Richard Lugar option doesn't look good either.

Three:  you do what Bob Corker is doing.  You say you've had enough, your party has been hijacked, you don't fit in anymore (which you don't, Senator), and you have your temper tantrum designed to elicit the maximum amount of praise from Organized Media.  This option is preferable since you get to do damage to your voters who are too stupid to realize that they need your mastery over them.

There is the fourth, and that's to resign outright, and go home.  That would be the honorable way to go, but I'm not going to even jokingly suggest that your average fatass politician is capable of this kind of honor. 

The bottom line:  the base has been emboldened by last year's victory of The Donald.  We're mad as hell at the long list of broken promises.  We're not sending you, Senator, to Washington so that you can play "Let's Make A Deal".  We want Obamacare overturned, The Great Wall of Trump, tax reform, and domestic job creation as opposed to "free trade".

In short Senator, we don't want the Republicans to be the party that they defeated in 1994.

Now please have the decency to resign.