I posted too soon. TV still talking George Floyd trial.

 We have the Feds declaring an investigation of the Minneapolis police department.  That's a new one on me.  I thought city police were the city's responsibility, but never mind.  We have BLM people threatening more riots. We have Alan Dershowitz calling for the George Floyd trial to be appealed/overturned/Supremecourted/something.  And we have a another terrible incident, teen aged black girl with a knife shot dead by police.  

George Floyd trial is over, Thank Goodness

We have a verdict (guilty) and everything.   We have a lot of odd remarks by national pols.  Nancy Pelosi said the the Floyd family ought to proud of George.  I don't understand that.  George got himself in trouble with the cops and wound up dead.  Nancy is trying to say that the publicity brought on by George's death is a good thing and worth George's life.  That's a horrible thing to say.  Publicity that advances your narrative is never worth a person's life.  And then we had Biden come on TV and say a few words, actually quite a few words.  I didn't bother to listen.  And then we had Maxine Waters calling for more rioting unless the verdict comes out guilty.  It did come out guilty, and I like to think that happened because of testimony in court, not fear of Maxine.   

Anyone know who is running the United States??

 Joe Biden probably is not.  I think he signs the papers put in front of him and reads the speeches someone writes off the teleprompter.  Who is writing the papers for signature and the speeches for delivery?  Jill Biden?  Kamala Harris?  Some congresscritter?  nameless White House staffers?  Who ever it is, they are really left wing. 

Vote for HB 544. Critical Race Theory is evil

Critical Race Theory says "race" is the same as skin color, white, brown, black, yellow, polka dot, whatever.  I don't believe that, I believe that all men are created equal, no matter what the color of their skin.   Critical Race Theory blames all the inequities of modern life upon racism.  And it blames whitey for all the badness in the world.  I don't believe that either.  We fought the civil war, we did the emancipation proclamation, we did the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  We probably have more things to do, but we have made a good start. We should not be teaching Critical Race Theory in the NH public schools and HB 544 will prevent that.  Vote for it. This is not censorship, it is selecting the curriculum to be taught in our schools. 

Night Line Legal

Great name that.  As good as Midnight Auto.  They are still around, running ads on Fox News.  This ad was urging people to step up and sue over Round Up weed killer.  

Let's not give Biden four new Supreme Court appointments

The Democrats are pushing "court reform" by which they mean adding four more justices to the Supreme court, and incidentally allowing Biden to appoint those four new justices.  Biden will of course appoint lefty judges who believe in a "living constitution", the notion that times change, and the court ought to change the Constitution to keep up.  I abhor this view point.  If change in the law of the land is needed, it is the duty of the popularly elected legislature, not the courts, to change it.  The three justices that Trump appointed hold the proper viewpoint that they should enforce existing law, not make new law from the bench. 

China is talking about invading Taiwan

 That will be quite a trick.  The Taiwan strait is 120 miles wide.  It is blue water, deep enough to float aircraft carriers.  The Chinese will have to put the their troops into ships and landing craft.  It will take maybe ten hours to steam across the strait.  We have a navy and we have pledged to support Taiwan.  Which means the US Navy must steam into the Taiwan Strait and sink all the troop ships.  The Chinese Navy will defend their troop ships and landing craft.  I hear the Chinese navy has more ships than the US Navy.  They have aircraft carriers, not as many or a good as ours, but they are working on that. The Chinese have plenty of aircraft and missiles with which to potshot US Navy vessels operating in the strait.  Taiwan has a respectable air force as well.  

The crossing will be made at night, so the landing force hits the beaches in Taiwan at daybreak.  An after dark engagement at sea wants good IFF on every ship and aircraft to prevent fratricide.  We have that, the Chinese ought to, the technology has been around since WWII.  

It is traditional to do a landing on a rising tide, so that landing craft that go aground will be floated off as the tide comes in. We can check the tide tables, the days with a rising tide in the early morning are the days they will invade.  

I would expect the Chinese navy to do some practice maneuvers, too big to conceal, before  D-Day. So far all I have heard of is some aircraft flying into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone.  They gotta do more than that before I will believe they are really coming, touching off a war with the United States. The last Pacific power to try that got nuked for their trouble.

We ought to make a point of building as many ships for our navy as the Chinese have in theirs.  And they ought to carry enough SAMs to fend off the inevitable Chinese air strikes.

I emailed this to many New Hampshire state senators yesterday.

 

HB 544 will forbid the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" in the public schools.  Critical Race Theory says that everything that is wrong is caused by racial discrimination and it is all whitey's fault.  Critical Race Theory denies that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among there are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.  HB 544 is not censorship, it is a decision upon the appropriate curriculum for our public schools.  We ought to pass HB544. 

Quigley Down Under 1990

 Good adventure flick.  Tom Selleck plays Mathew Quigley. American tough guy from the Wild West who goes to Australia to show the natives how things are done.  He is tougher, faster on the draw, a better shot, and cooler than any of the Australian locals.  Wonderful score.  Alan Rickman plays the villain ranch owner Marston.  He does a great job, looks mean and nasty all the way thru.  Laura San Giacomo plays Crazy Cora, who starts out just causing trouble for Quigley but by the end of the movie they are in love and engaged.  She does good too.  Wonderful scenes of a big three masted schooner with a good wind in her sails and a bone in her teeth headed into Adelaide.  Other good scenes on the way out to Marston's ranch of an eight ox team pulling a huge wagon past really dramatic scenery.  

   A good watch.  It's been a long time since Hollywood made a flick this cool. 

CDC calls racism a public health matter

 Racism is a problem, no doubt about it. It is an unpleasant way of looking at things, a belief that your race is better than other races, and you are entitled to special treatment, and those other races can be dumped on.  

CDC was on TV today calling racism a public health matter.  I don't go along with that.  Racism is not something that medical science can cure.  No vaccination, no clever drugs, no surgery can deal with it.  Racism is a moral problem, and/or a political problem.  It is a failure of our deepest beliefs such as "all men are created equal" .  

CDC ought to concentrate on curing disease.  Dealing with racism is a matter for our religious communities, and our politicians.  

Sorry to hear of Prince Phillip's death at 99

 He married into the British royal family.  He supported Britain all the way.  He supported the family he married into all the way.  As royal consort he attended innumerable functions, he visited all over the world, he worked hard.  We ought to admire the British royal family for the support and good feeling they have drawn out of us Americans.  For example, during the Falklands crisis, when the Americans did not want to offend every Spaniard in all of South America, the Brits were able to get air to air refueling support, satellite intel, and a general helpful attitude from the Yankees, partly, perhaps largely, because of the glamour and pizzaz shown by the Royals.  Stuff like that is worth the relatively minor expense of operating the royal family.  The royals cost less than an aircraft carrier or an infantry division and they can be very effective.  

   Phillip did his duty, all the way, and we will miss him. 

Biden on Gun Control

 Biden was on TV this morning pushing his gun control ideas.  He opened by talking about "ghost guns" by which we think he means home made guns that lack serial numbers.  The makers have not filled out the pounds and pounds of paperwork imposed upon gun manufacturers.  I don't think this is a serious issue.  I never heard of anyone having a home made gun and using it for crime.  This will be a PITA for the few hobbyists that actually make guns as a hobby, but I cannot imagine it doing anything to reduce "gun violence".  

   Then he went on to a measure to outlaw pistols with add on stocks.  He would reclassify these as "short barreled rifles", and regulate them as harshly as machine guns, in effect banning them.  

Finally he is publishing a model "red flag" law which states could adopt if they cared to.  "Red Flag" laws allow anyone, wives, ex-wives, live in girl friends, and just about anyone else to petition a judge to have the cops confiscate someone' guns because he might be a danger to himself or to others.  I am not in favor.  If  we really believe someone is a danger to himself or to others, we ought to involuntarily commit them to a mental hospital for treatment. 

George Floyd Trial

 A lotta talk about just what Floyd died of.  He had been doing fentanyl.  Had a history of heart problems.  The Chauvin defense is claiming that one or more of these killed Floyd.  And Chauvin's putting his boot to Floyd's neck, while Floyd was handcuffed, flat on the ground, underneath a police cruiser, had nothing to do with it.  I think that treatment would terrify me, or any other sentient being.  And terror makes the adrenaline come quicker, the heart beat faster.  Could have aggravated any one of those other conditions to the point of death.  

Another way of looking at the case.  If someone dies when your client has his boot on the victim's throat,  your client is guilty of killing the victim.  Lawyers can pull down billable hours quibbling over whether it was man slaughter, or some brand of murder up to murder 1, but the plain fact is, Chauvin killed Floyd.

The Untouchables 1987

 Chicago of Al Capone’s time.  Gung ho Treasury agent, Elliot Ness. played by Keviin Costner,  sent to Chicago to take out Capone,  and Malone, old Chicago beat cop, played by Sean Connery.  After a failed raid, Malone straightens Ness out and they begin to score against Capone.  Cool scene where a shipment (many truckloads) of Canadian booze is met by Capone’s people, driving nice limousines and bringing money, meet at the Canadian border.  Elliot and Malone’s people shoot down Capone’s people so hard core than a Canadian officer calls them out on it.  To which Ness replies, “We are from Chicago.”.  The 1930’s interiors, wood trim, wall paper, kitchen stoves, and other stuff looked just like it did in my childhood.  Some good lines like “Bring a knife to a gun fight” from Malone as he pulls a sawed off 12 gauge out of his Victrola to take down a Capone assassin.   Robert De Niro plays a nasty and murderous Al Capone.  A good watch.

 

Craig Valdez is running for US House of Representatives.

 

Voting, the right and the wrong.

Ideally everyone would vote on election day, at the polls in their town.  The poll workers get to see a real live person carrying a real photo ID.  They can check to see if the photo ID matches the smiling face in front of them.  You can't do that with a mail in ballot.  If this creates a backup at the polls, open more polling places.  

    We don't want to support early voting because last minute changes in a candidate's position can make voters bitterly regret the vote the cast some days before.  We want to limit voting to real live people, people who live in the town they are voting in. We do this by insisting that voters register in person, at town hall BEFORE election day and show some documentation to the election officials.  To be a real New Hampshire resident, you have to have a New Hampshire driver's license and New Hampshire plates on the car.  If you carry some outta-state license and have outta-state plates, you are a resident from outta-state and you need to vote there, not in New Hampshire.  

   We need an absentee ballot procedure for people who simply cannot make it to the polls on election day, such as members of the armed forces stationed overseas.  We have that, although I have never used it and don't know just how it works.  We should never mail out ballots to people who have not requested them.  Absentee ballots should only be issued to people who have a good reason to need them.  Fear of catching Corona virus at the polls is not a good reason.  Going to vote is no more likely to infect one than going to the grocery store, and everyone still goes to the grocery store.  Absentee ballots must arrive by US mail, with a cancelled stamp, and must be in before the end of election day.  After the polls close on election day no more absentee ballots will be accepted. 

Border Patrol rescued the two little girls

 The two little girls that coyotes dropped over the 14 foot high border fence onto a stony desert.  I like little girls and I hate seeing them hurt.  The Border Patrol picked the girls up from the desert and brought them to a shelter.  For News showed a heart warming picture of the two of them, uninjured and OK after their ordeal which could very easily have broken their limbs. 

Too bad Capitol police shot today's attacker dead

 I would have liked to question him.  I understand he didn't have a gun, just a knife.  You would think trained police officers could get the knife away from him and cuff him, alive.  Well maybe not, he killed one officer which shows he was very dangerous.  Some questions: Like what organizations do you really belong too?  Do you expect us to believe you did this all by your lonesome? Who put you up to it?  How crazy are you, really?  What drugs were you using today?  Anyhow that is water under the bridge now.  Too bad.  

MLB moves big game because they don't like new Georgia election law

 Big Game will be played elsewhere, just because of new Georgia election law, or at least that's what they are saying.  Gotta wonder about that.  I would have thought the mission of MLB was to make money for owners and players. Which means appealing to fans to go to the game and buy tickets.  I don't think baseball fans are all that interested in the new Georgia election law.  It doesn't seem to bear upon professional baseball.   I hear Biden is rooting for the change of venue.  Since when is the US president concerned about where a baseball game is played?  Surely there are a bunch of things the president ought to be doing before he starts refereeing major league baseball.   

   This seems to be part of the "the-feds-will-take-care-of-everything" fad that has popped up really strong since Democrats gained control of the federal government, lock, stock, and barrel. 

Masks, need for

 Now that I have had my vaccination, both shots, I probaby don't need to wear a mask.  If you believe the TV, the vaccination is 92% effective, which means I have real good odds of not catching the corona virus.  And also if you believe the TV, once vaccinated you cannot infect others by sneezing.  

   But, everyone up here is still wearing masks in public. All the stores have signs requiring mask wearing.  I think my wearing a mask makes everyone else, sales clerks, waiters, barbers, mechanics, everyone, feel better about things.  So I wear a mask.  Just to reassure people. 

AOC is bloviating on Fox this morning

 She thinks calling the southern border catastrophe a "surge" or an "invasion" is beyond the pale. Racist she called it.  This is important?  Well maybe it matters to Democrats since it doesn't seem to matter to us regular Americans. 

Will a high lunar tide float the Ever Given??

Huge container ship that ran aground in the Suez canal, blocking traffic in both directions since Tuesday.  Rots a Ruck.  Tide in the Mediterranean is wimpy wimpy.  Around here (New England) we get a nine foot lunar tide.  The Egyptians report expecting a 1.5 foot lunar tide in the canal tonight.  Eyeballing the pictures of one huge container ship, I don't think 1.5 foot tide is going to get her off.  Maybe if they have every tug boat for 500 miles around tugging on her ???  Rots a Ruck.

"Infrastructure" spending and new taxes

 The Democrats want to spend another $3 Trillion on "infrastructure".  Used to be "infrastructure" was concrete things like Interstate Highways, dams, bridges, levees, stuff you could see and touch and was anchored in concrete, not liable to moving to another state.  Apparently this "infrastruction" bill has serious money for a bunch of stuff that is not really "infrastructure".  And to pay for this extravagance the Democrats were proposing new taxes on cars and mileage.  The Democrat advocating the new taxes said that the traditional federal gas tax was obsolete.  Presumably he believed that battery cars were running on the public roads tax free because they don't use gasoline.  That's a stretch, actually fake news.  Most of the cars on the road today still run on gasoline or diesel.  In all my days I have only seen (and ridden in) just ONE battery car.  It was owned by an old high school classmate, something of a gadget freak, named David Biddle.  Biddle's idea of an afternoon's entertainment was to take his battery car down to the local mall, where they had a free 440 volt charging station.  While the car sucked up juice we walked around the mall and spent money.  

   So, I don't believe we need to replace the gas tax just to nail the very very few battery cars on the road.

The Professionals, Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin 1966

 One of the finest westerns.  Texas millionaire hires four tough guys to ride into Mexico and rescue his wife who have been kidnapped by banditos.  In addition to Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin we also have Robert Ryan and Woody Strode on the posse.  Everybody is tough.  All sorts of firearms, Colt revolvers, 1911 automatics. Lewis guns, Winchesters, 1903 Springfield rifles, machine guns, shotguns.  Lot's of good one liners.  "Hey Gringo, where did the bullet bit you?  In the ass."  "You bastard.  With me an accident of birth, but you sir are a self made man."  Claudia Cardinale plays the very sexy kidnapped wife.  I first saw it down at Keesler AFB when I first joined the Air Force right out of college in 1964.  The troops loved it. 

Generic Nasal Spray as good as Afrin

 For stuffy nose, common in the winter, I have been using Afrin nasal spray for many years now.  Trouble is, it has become ridiculously expensive, like $9 for a 1/2 ounce bottle.  I found a generic version at Rite Aid, $6 for a full 1 ounce bottle.  And it works just as good as Afrin.

We need nutcase control more than gun control

 The two recent atrocious mass murders have brought Democrats out in full cry for gun control, by which they mean taking everyone's guns away.  If not all a once, chip way at gun ownership bit my bit.  While we allow homicidal maniacs to run around loose.  In most of these horrible cases, the killer was well known as a nut case to friends and family, teachers, police, and others long before he flipped out and killed a lot of innocent people.  

   And yet we let these dangerous men run around loose.  What we should do in these cases is bring the nutcase before a psychological panel which would determine if the subject was truly dangerous.  Insane potential homicidal maniacs would be involuntarily confined in a state mental hospital.  We used to do this, back before the civil rights movement of the 1960's put an end to involuntary confinement. 

Picking your college major.

 OK, you have decided to go to college and you think you have the stick-to-it-tivness to graduate.  Second big important choice is choosing your major.  Most companies only hire people who majored in something they need.  After graduation you have to go out and make a living for yourself.  You will spend a lot of your time for the rest of your life making a living.  Life will be better if you like what you do to make a living. 

   At this stage in your life you may not have a clue as to what you want to do after graduation.  I didn’t.  But you need to work on it.  Talk to family, talk to anyone you know who is holding down a job.  Read some biographies of people you admire to see what they did for a living.  Read the Wall St Journal to see what industries are growing and what industries are shrinking (dying?).  

   You have to pick your major in freshman year.  Not that the college demands it (they should but don’t) but your major influences your choice of classes to take.  For example if you decide to major in a STEM subject, you need to take calculus as soon as possible, first semester freshman year is best.

   College offers three general categories of majors, totally useless, liberal arts, and STEM.  Totally useless are any kind of studies, gender studies, black studies, ethnic studies and more.  Anything with studies in the name should be avoided.  Nobody will hire someone who majored in “studies”.  Also art history, sociology, political science, underwater basket weaving, archeology, nobody hires anyone who majored in any of this stuff. 

   The seven liberal arts are/were English, history, foreign languages, music, art, philosophy, and theology.  English and history will teach you how to write and writers are instantly employable.  English is limited to the works of a few hundred English authors.  History is broader, covering everywhere in the world going back to the invention of writing several thousand years ago. Any company doing business overseas is always glad to hire an American who can speak the language “over there”.  They trust Americans more than they do foreign nationals.  Music is good if you have any musical talent and you plan to perform.  If you don’t have any talent, music won’t do anything good for you.  Likewise art, you have to have some artistic talent for it to do you any good.  Philosophy is fun but the only job it leads to a teaching it.  Theology is pretty much obsolete now a days.

   And STEM.  Physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, programming, mathematics, business, and more.  There are a lotta jobs for STEM majors.  The best STEM subject is engineering.  It is fun to do, and engineers are always in demand.  The STEM field demands calculus, the text books do things in calculus and lacking calculus the homework will be meaningless to you.  You want to sign up for calculus freshman year.  Calculus requires that you already have algebra and trigonometry from high school.  Note to high school students, you want to take algebra and trig unless you want to lock your self out of a STEM major in college. 

Getting my Corona virus vaccination

 Today I got my second shot of Moderna vaccine.  It was a strange deal.  Right after NH announced we could register for a vaccine shot, I logged into the "VAMS" website, answered all the silly questions and received an email promising an appointment email in a few days.  Well the appointment email never arrived.  I logged into "VAMS" again. answered all the question ans again "VAMS" promised my an appointment email within a few days.  It never arrived.  So I tried "VAMS" for a third time.  This time I was able to obtain an appointment in May.  Some time later the phone rang, it was a new vaccination site starting up in North Haverill, only a couple of  towns over from Franconia.  " Would you like an appointment with us?" they asked.  "If you can get me anything before May I will be right there" I replied.  They came thru, I had my first shot two weeks ago and my booster shot today.  Give me a couple of weeks for the shots to settle down and I will be as Corona proof as possible.