Obama is making this big Russian hacking fuss to make Trump's election win seem illegitimate. He is saying that Trump would not have won with out help from Russian scumbags. Obama came out on TV and blamed the Russians for the Democratic National Committee hacks and claimed they tipped the election to Trump. Trump went on TV and pooh-poohed the Russians-did-the-hack theory. And surprise, surprise, the voters believed Trump's story rather than Obama's. Even when Obama claimed the CIA and 17 other intelligence agencies support the Russians-did-it story, the public has real doubts about the intelligence and honesty of CIA and 17 other faceless intelligence agencies.
So Obama declared 35 Russian "diplomats" to be persons non grata and must leave the country ASAP. I'm thinking Obama did that to support the Russians-did-it story rather than to make the Russians smart.
And for a side effect, it might make President Trump's dealing with the Russians harder in the future. That makes it a twofer.
I will grant that the DNC hacks and the Podesta email hack didn't help Hillary, but I won't think they were decisive. The Hillary private server, which was outed by the New York Times, hurt Hillary more.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Happy New Year
Things to be thankful for. The endless election is finally OVER. Maybe in a few more weeks the MSM will figure that out too. And the Republicans won. Hallelujah. And old 2016 may be the year the MSM finally blew it and people no longer believe what they say. And I'm gonna miss Carrie Fisher. She put a lot of life into the Star Wars movies.
Things to hope for. Economic recovery in the US. 1% GNP growth is miserable and just this side of Great Depression. Let's do better in 2017.
Things to hope for. Economic recovery in the US. 1% GNP growth is miserable and just this side of Great Depression. Let's do better in 2017.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Traveling for Christmas
This year, a breakthru in family Christmas tradition. Instead of all the children coming home to my place, I went down to spend the holidays with daughter Karen in DC. Due to the load of Christmas presents, including a cradle for the coming child, dislike for air travel, and desire to have the car with us in DC, we drove down from NH.
Looks to me like the infrastructure between here and DC is a pretty good shape. Even clapped out New York has down some work on the Cross Bronx expressway (I95) and the potholes are filled. Looks like they resurfaced it. Still a lot of medium bad chuckholes between the Connecticut border and the Bronx. New York is still the infrastructure fail in the North East. I'm thinking all the happy infrastructure talk on TV is coming from New Yorkers like Trump, who only see New York roads. And maybe DC roads, DC has a fine herd of chuckholes and waterbars so bad I feared for my suspension. Fortunately the Buick is pretty tough and nothing broke. NJ has finished widening out the NH Turnpike. The twelve lane wide part now is usable all the way to Philadelphia.
And the NJ tolls are fierce. The GW bridge toll is now $15. The NJ Turnpike toll from the bridge to Philadelphia was $11.80. Then with the Del Mem bridge ($4), the Del TP toll ($4), the Maryland TP toll ($4) and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Toll ($8) toll money is getting up closer to gas money.
Noticed a whole bunch of new pricey electric signs flashing harmless platitudes. More infrastructure money at work. And the shiny new mile markers, every 0.2 miles are spreading, like kudzu. Wanna bet each one of those mile markers costs us taxpayers $100 to buy and plant?
Daughter's DC neighbor hood is coming up. New condo's for yuppies under construction. They finally got the trendy H Street trolley car to run. Took 'em five profitable years. Everybody loves it, it's quaint, and it's free since they haven't figured out how to collect fares in cars with front and back doors. At least so says Daughter. The new cars have TWO, not one but TWO hinges in them to allow the car to handle tight curves. That's two hinged sections to leak rainwater. When the Boston T, with the sharpest curves in the nation, bought new cars from Boeing Vertol, they only needed one hinged section. And the hinge has leaked rainwater onto passengers for 20-30 years now. By the Way, the H Street trolley line runs straight as an arrow, no curves at all.
Looks to me like the infrastructure between here and DC is a pretty good shape. Even clapped out New York has down some work on the Cross Bronx expressway (I95) and the potholes are filled. Looks like they resurfaced it. Still a lot of medium bad chuckholes between the Connecticut border and the Bronx. New York is still the infrastructure fail in the North East. I'm thinking all the happy infrastructure talk on TV is coming from New Yorkers like Trump, who only see New York roads. And maybe DC roads, DC has a fine herd of chuckholes and waterbars so bad I feared for my suspension. Fortunately the Buick is pretty tough and nothing broke. NJ has finished widening out the NH Turnpike. The twelve lane wide part now is usable all the way to Philadelphia.
And the NJ tolls are fierce. The GW bridge toll is now $15. The NJ Turnpike toll from the bridge to Philadelphia was $11.80. Then with the Del Mem bridge ($4), the Del TP toll ($4), the Maryland TP toll ($4) and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Toll ($8) toll money is getting up closer to gas money.
Noticed a whole bunch of new pricey electric signs flashing harmless platitudes. More infrastructure money at work. And the shiny new mile markers, every 0.2 miles are spreading, like kudzu. Wanna bet each one of those mile markers costs us taxpayers $100 to buy and plant?
Daughter's DC neighbor hood is coming up. New condo's for yuppies under construction. They finally got the trendy H Street trolley car to run. Took 'em five profitable years. Everybody loves it, it's quaint, and it's free since they haven't figured out how to collect fares in cars with front and back doors. At least so says Daughter. The new cars have TWO, not one but TWO hinges in them to allow the car to handle tight curves. That's two hinged sections to leak rainwater. When the Boston T, with the sharpest curves in the nation, bought new cars from Boeing Vertol, they only needed one hinged section. And the hinge has leaked rainwater onto passengers for 20-30 years now. By the Way, the H Street trolley line runs straight as an arrow, no curves at all.
Monday, December 26, 2016
Rogue One, The New Star Wars movie
Saw it today in the Smithsonian Air & Space museum Imax theater. Nice big screen , good sound system, good seats. It was in an annoying three D, glasses required. This three D system had a terrible depth of field problem. Everything in the foreground or background was really blurry, only the middle ground was sharp. PITA. Camera work was only fair, too many superquick shots, cut too fast. Too many scenes poorly lit.
Other than that, it was a decent flick, Better than the last one, far better than the three followon movies. The story is set before the time of the first Star Wars (A New Hope) and has a whole new set of characters, no reviving of the old traditional cast,except Darth Vader. The story line is the Rebel Alliance obtaining the Death Star plans that Luke and Leia will deliver in A New Hope. We have a dynamic and pretty heroine, Jinn sonething-or-other who has a good role and plays it well. We have a handsome hero, whose name escapes me, (whole flick was weak on names) who has a good role but Jinn has a better one. We have a blind and somewhat crazy Jedi master who is into whacking down Storm Troopers with a staff. We have a big ugly mercenary, with a heart of gold and a taste for heavy weapons. And a big long armed long legged Droid with a sense of humor. Lots of booms amd blasts and space combat and special effects, all nicely done. The flick keeps things moving and isn't too long.
A good Christmas flick.
Other than that, it was a decent flick, Better than the last one, far better than the three followon movies. The story is set before the time of the first Star Wars (A New Hope) and has a whole new set of characters, no reviving of the old traditional cast,except Darth Vader. The story line is the Rebel Alliance obtaining the Death Star plans that Luke and Leia will deliver in A New Hope. We have a dynamic and pretty heroine, Jinn sonething-or-other who has a good role and plays it well. We have a handsome hero, whose name escapes me, (whole flick was weak on names) who has a good role but Jinn has a better one. We have a blind and somewhat crazy Jedi master who is into whacking down Storm Troopers with a staff. We have a big ugly mercenary, with a heart of gold and a taste for heavy weapons. And a big long armed long legged Droid with a sense of humor. Lots of booms amd blasts and space combat and special effects, all nicely done. The flick keeps things moving and isn't too long.
A good Christmas flick.
Friday, December 23, 2016
On the road for Christmas
Posting may be a little thin, perhaps nonexistent for Christmas week. I am going to spend the holidays with my children, and may not get around to posting til I get back.
Rehashing Ancient History on NHPR
Way back in 1953, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were tried, convicted and executed for passing the secret of the atomic bomb to the Russians. As far as the judge and the jury were concerned, the Rosenbergs had given the secret of the ultimate weapon to our mortal enemies. The Left (we called them communists back then) in those days called the Rosenbergs innocent victims of a judicial murder. In later years declassification of the "Venoma Papers", intercepted communications between the Soviet embassy and Moscow, showed the Rosenbergs guilt.
And so, better than 60 years later, NHPR ran a lengthy piece, rehashing the whole affair. Apparently there are two Rosenburg children, still alive, who are petitioning Obama to posthumously pardon Ethel Rosenberg, their mother. They feel she is innocent, and apparently, since they are only asking in her name, they finally think Julius, their father, was guilty as charged.
I'm so glad NHPR brought this bit of ancient history back to life, and as befits NHPR's rather lefty stance, they give the Rosenbergs a very sympathetic treatment.
And so, better than 60 years later, NHPR ran a lengthy piece, rehashing the whole affair. Apparently there are two Rosenburg children, still alive, who are petitioning Obama to posthumously pardon Ethel Rosenberg, their mother. They feel she is innocent, and apparently, since they are only asking in her name, they finally think Julius, their father, was guilty as charged.
I'm so glad NHPR brought this bit of ancient history back to life, and as befits NHPR's rather lefty stance, they give the Rosenbergs a very sympathetic treatment.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Executive Action by Tom Clancy
I wonder if Donald Trump has read it? In this novel, Tom Clancy's hero, Jack Ryan, becomes President of the US. Ryan receives plenty of sage advice on how the Presidency works, and the good guys win in the end. Plenty of US political ideas get tossed around, and in some cases nailed to the carpet. It's a fun read.
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