Predictions are hard, especially about the future.

The Democrats dropped $25 mil into the Georgia special election.  The Republicans dropped $30 mil, which is more money than has ever been spent running for a US rep's seat.  Looks like both national parties have plenty of cash, which is a little surprising what with an expensive presidential election just last November.  You would  think they would still be paying off loans taken out for Hillary and the Donald.
   The Republican (a chick I'd never heard of before) won, 53 to 47 percent which is decent, better margin than Trump got in that district.  Way I look at it, anything better than 1% is decent, anything better than 10% is a landslide.  NHPR called the margin of victory "thin" and "close" but they are just democrats with bylines. 
  Naturally, this win, and the win in North Carolina, delighted Republicans and disheartened Democrats.  But I don't think it predicts anything about 2018.  In a year anything can happen.  If Trump gets health care and tax reform thru Congress the Republicans will be in decent shape.  If he fails, Democrats will capture control of one or both houses of Congress. 
   The msm keep saying that the Republicans control both houses of Congress.  But they have a lot of RINO's in both houses, who are OK with tax-and-spend and fear to rock the boat.  And who may not vote the party line.  Republicans also have a lot of super conservative crazies who don't under stand about compromise and that half a loaf is better than no loaf, and who will vote against anything on the slightest pretext.  And there is always a pretext on any bill, no bill ever satisfies every one all the way, there are always things they want and didn't get, or things that they don't like, and are in the bill.  Look at the Chinese fire drill in the House over health care.  Ryan had to withdraw the Republican bill and rewrite it before he could get enough Republicans on board to vote it thru. 
  Republicans have a lot of work to do if they want to retain control of Congress in 2018.

Some questions about druggies

With deaths from drug overdoses at a record high we have calls to do something about it.  Good idea, but what should we do?  Before I can get on board some one's magic cure, there are a few things I need to know about.  Such as:
1.  Every young person ought to know that anything harder than pot will ruin their lives and/or kill them.  Have we gotten this word out to this year's young people?  Do they believe it?
2.  Are all the institutions and media on board with getting the message out about the dangers of drugs?  Schools, churches, parents, radio and TV, Facebook and its competitors, video games, movies, the music business, and others that might come to mind? 
3. Why do people  get into drugs?  Is it just the pleasure of the high?  Especially as a lot of drugs need injection, sticking a needle in your arm, an event I have detested ever since injections of penicillin as a small child.  For me personally, doesn't matter how great the high is, I won't stick a needle in my arm because it hurts.  If it isn't just the pleasure of the high, then what is it that makes the druggie keep doing it? Are there things in the druggie's life that we could change to get him/her off the stuff?  If so, what might they be?
4.  Does drug rehab really work?  How many people have entered drug rehab and how many of them actually get off and stay off drugs?
5.  What are the generally accepted medical guidelines for prescribing the stronger opioids like  Oxycontin. Do these guidelines make sense?  I know that Oxycontin is so dangerous that many pharmacies refuse to stock it.   How many current druggies got hooked on prescription opioids?
6.  Does methadone work?  Working means getting the druggie off the really ruinous drugs and stabilize things enough that the druggie can hold a job.
7.  What happens to druggies over time?  Do they eventually get off the stuff? Or does it kill them? Or what?
 

A hero's reward, from the msm

Everyone at that terrible Congressional shooting scene praised the bravery of the two Capitol Police officers on duty.  All the Congressmen under fire say they would have been shot dead except for the bravery of the two officers who moved toward the sound of the guns. 
   As a reward for her bravery, the msm (Fox News no less) outed the female officer as lesbian.  I didn't need to know that.  It probably hurt the poor officer.  A harsh reward for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.
   Good work msm.   

Kiss your Navy career good bye.

Skipper of USS Fitzgerald, which collided with a container ship off Japan.  How that happened is hard to understand.  A destroyer is far faster, and much more maneuverable than a big container ship.   Destroyers have all kinds of state of the art radar which should have no trouble detecting a big, clunky container ship from 50 miles away.  Plus he ignored Admiral Dan Gallery's advice concerning right of way at sea.  "Steer well clear of any merchie, lest he decide to liven up your day by ramming you."   Gallery is a WWII US Navy skipper, he is the guy that captured a German U-boat and towed it home as a prize. Which shows him as a man of imagination and superb seamanship.   U505 has been an exhibit at the Chicago science museum ever since the war. 

A few security measures Congress ought to take

They ought to arrange for Capitol Police security at any event with a number of Congressmen in attendance.  For that matter, Congressmen ought to ask local law enforcement to detail a couple of officers to any townhalls the Congressman might be giving.  It's routine for law enforcement to detail some officers to cover high school ball games, they ought to be able to handle an occasional town hall.
   Congress ought to straighten out the concealed carry situation in DC.  They have jurisdiction.  They should require DC authorities to issue a conceal carry permit to anyone over 18 who is not a convicted felon or a committed nut case.  And require DC to honor conceal carry permits from any state.  And provide jail sentences for any official who fails to issue the permit within two weeks of the applicant submitting his paperwork. 
   We ought to discourage politicians and newsies from calling opponents names, such as racist, feminazi, and the like.  The name calling contributes nothing to the political debate and just inflames feelings.  Publish objections to the opponents policies, not their persons.  We cannot forbid name calling by law, but we could do a lot to mobilize public opinion against it. 
   And strengthen our mental health system.  Nut cases ought to be detected early and committed to mental hospitals, not allowed to run around loose.  There are no free beds in the mental hospitals.  Cases where the individual volunteers to enter treatment have failed because there are no empty beds to put them in. 

7.62 = 30 caliber

A Fox newsie was talking about the rifle used in the Congressional shooting.  He described it as "7.62 big enough to kill an elephant."  Let me enlighten a clueless newsie.  7.62 mm is the same as .30 caliber, the standard caliber for rifles since 1898.  The US  adopted the 30-06 rifle round back in 1906.  It remained standard issue to US soldiers for WWI, WWII, and Korea. It is still in production.  It was replaced by the 7.62 NATO round  (otherwise known as 308 Winchester) in the 1950's.  It's not an unusual round for rifles.  Serious hunters carry 30-06 rifles today.  Not so serious hunters carry the older and less powerful 30-30 rifle or the newer and less powerful 223 rifle.
   The newsie was attempting to convince his audience that the Congressional shooter was carrying an unusually powerful rifle.  Not true.  The Congressional shooter was using an ordinary hunting rifle, chambered for ordinary .30 caliber ammunition. 

5000 Fools (tourists) visit North Korea every year.

Who wants to visit a communist dictatorship where they can arrest you, jail you, and even execute you  just because they can?  You would think Otto Warmbier's story, which has been in the news for better than a year, would discourage all but the most foolish tourist.  They released Warmbier the other day, but he is in bad shape now.  The medics didn't seem to know just what happened to him or how to treat him.  They talked about loss of brain tissue, which doesn't sound good. 
   The Journal says that about 5000 fools from the West visit North Korea as tourists every year.  Of which 1000 are Americans.  And what is there to see in North Korea, other than a population being abused and starved?  Creepy, I would pay money to avoid seeing that.  I suppose some of the American tourists are of Korean decent, who might be visiting family members stuck in the communist hellhole.  That's understandable.  Other than that, it's hard to understand visiting North Korea.  Especially as you can visit South Korea, a free, modern, decent, and successful country without risking your life.