Words of the Weasel Part 50

"gun violence".  The proper word is murder, an old English word, understood by all.  People use "gun violence" to stir up political support to outlaw private ownership of firearms.  Calling the hateful act murder stirs up support for punishing the murderer. 

The British are Coming Rick Atkinson 2019

It's new.  I had the Village Bookstore order it for me.  Only took a couple of days to come in.  Atkinson is writing military history,  little to no discussion of politics, diplomacy, homefront morale, and all the other things that happen in a country at war.  He opens his history with Lexington and Concord, and takes the story up to Trenton and Princeton.  Two more volumes are planned to finish up the Revolutionary War.  He writes about the American army, its maneuvers, its battles, victories and defeats, morale, leadership, Washington and his generals.  Atkinson quotes extensively from soldier's letters, giving his work a fine authenticity.   He writes of the high points (victories) and the low points (defeats, prison camps, looting of civilians, casualties).  The British came close to winning in 1776 at New York.  Washington started with 30,000 troops defending New York from a British force of roughly the same size, backed up by total naval supremacy, important in a well watered place like New York, where everything is close to the water.   Sailing ships could move faster than troops could march, allowing the British to land forces anywhere they chose.  By the end of the battle Washington's forces had been whittled down to 5000 men, close to annihilation.  Had those survivors given up hope and gone home, the British could have won.  They didn't, they stuck around long enough to fight Trenton and Princeton that winter.  Washington managed to  throw superior forces across the Delaware River against unwary British detachments and wipe them out.  As you might expect, these victories did great things for American army morale.    
   A good read.   

Jericho Lake ATV Festival

I attended the annual Jericho ATV festival today.  It is held in the Jericho Lake state park, a bit north of Berlin.  State route 110 from Berlin took me right there.  It’s big.  Roads were crowded with ATV’s for miles around Berlin.  At Jericho Lake they had tents selling ATV’s, ATV parts and accessories, NH Fish and Game, and food and drink.  They were holding mud races between ATVs and an ATV jumping contest.  The jumpers could soar 30 feet in the air, do some acrobatics, and land safely.  Quite a show.  I didn’t get an attendance count, but I figure there must have been at least a thousand ATVs, and four or five times that number of people.  Weather was perfect, sunny and nice.  Everyone looked happy and enjoying the show.  They had big ATVs that could seat 4 (driver and three passengers) and medium (two seaters) and small ones (single seaters), plus off road motorcycles. 

Justice delayed is justice denied; and lawyers bill more hours

The Garner story, from New York, an over weight and out of shape black man, arrested by NYC cops  for selling loosies, (single cigarettes) who died during the arrest, crying " I can't breath" as cops put him in a choke hold.  The case has been enraging NY citizens and paying  lawyers billable hours for FIVE YEARS.  That  is outrageous.  The NYC law against selling loosies which gave to cops the excuse to hassle and then kill Garner is outrageous.  They are just cigarettes, it isn't like Garner was selling heroin or even pot.  The law against selling loosies was pushed by the brick and mortar merchants who did not want street vendors competing with them.
  As of right now, the NY courts have FINALLY rendered a verdict against the cop.  The NY police commissioner has a chance to confirm or overturn the court's verdict.  This is outrageous too.  The cop should have been charged with murder, and the verdict of the court should be final.  Allowing an employee of the city government to overrule a court verdict is ridiculous.
   Note to NH.  We don't want to do anything the way New York does it.   

Democratic Presidential Debate, late July version

I watched both nights.  Fell asleep during the second night.  First night, Warren and the Bern, was amusing to watch, but I don't think any of 'em said anything that will win them votes.   And they all said a lot of things that turn voters like me off.  Government run health care, higher taxes, the Hiawatha life style (Green New Deal) open borders. 

Democrats want to kill American's health care

Most Americans get their health care thru their company or thru their union.  It's provided by private insurance companies.  It's good stuff.  I had company health care for better than 40 years.  It paid to deliver my three children, paid for the wife's back problems, paid for yearly physicals.  I am still in decent health in my seventies.  Most US citizens feel the same way.
   Last night we had the Democrats calling to abolish this decent health care system and throw us all onto the tender mercies of a government health plan.  Do we want to give up very decent private health insurance for the likes of the VA, or Obamacare?  I think not.

Massive leak of customer data caused by "mis configurated firewall"???

Hmm.  Capitol One?  Firewall?  Did they have their customer database machine[s] on the internet??  Exposed to every hacker in the entire world?   Did they flunk computer security 101?  Can the American surplus of unemployed lawyers sue them down to their socks?
Basic rule.  Machines holding critical data should never be connected to the internet. Or the phone network, or anything else.   They should be kept in a locked room, with the number of key holders restricted as much as possible.  Three is about right.  They must be backed up to optical disk once a week, and the backups stored off site, in case of fire.  (or flood, had that happen once)  Windows machines are swiss cheese, important data should be kept on anything more secure, and every thing ever manufactured is more secure than Windows.  Use Apple, use Linux use anything but Windows. Know that bad guys can stick a flash drive into a USB port and download every byte off the hard drive[s] onto the flash drive in a few minutes.  Hands off too.
  I hope these yo-yos get sued into oblivion.