Saturday, August 6, 2016

Basic Concepts Summarized

It is rather early in the morning, as I woke up, and couldn't go back to sleep.  I started to think, and since I was thinking, I decided to try to put it down into a post. 

It is too easy to become distracted, so staying on topic and in focus may be a challenge.  But I will do my best.

The ideas here are a summary of many ideas expressed on this blog.  I will keep to the script that I prepared so that I can write it up. 

One of the ideas is to use examples from movies in order to illustrate a point.  But it doesn't have to be a movie.  Let's just say that I draw from other sources in order to help me illustrate a point, with movies being one of the sources.

An example is the movie Last Action Hero, in which a boy obtains a magic ticket which transports him into the movie, so that he become a part of the movie itself.   Like the boy, I try to imagine myself transported into a movie scene so as to understand better the point in which I am trying to make, and to be able to show it to my readers.  In so doing, I hope to convince you that my viewport is correct.

The most fundamental viewpoint underlying all of this discussion, and has been consistent throughout all of this blog, is that there's something wrong.  It isn't just my opinion.  Opinion polls have shown this consistently- that Americans believe that their country is on the wrong track.  I draw upon that source, which can be easily obtained. There shouldn't be much problem in convincing most people who could be reading this that something is wrong.  That happy song and dance routine at the Democrat convention may be akin to whistling past the graveyard.  Our country could be literally dying right in front of our faces.  Now is not the time to deny the truth.

A second movie using an example for illustration of a point is from the movie Deliverance.  There was a scene in which the character Lewis says that the "machines will fail, the system will fail."  Now the point here is that we may be too reliant upon machines and systems.  Machines and systems have their uses, but they aren't a substitute for people, and human judgment.  Computing systems have become so sophisticated and capable that it becomes much too easy to become too dependent upon them.  Once that happens, people lose skills that they may need if the machines do indeed fail, for whatever reason.  The character Lewis was a survivalist.  We may need to have a lot of such people in our society, and most, if not all people, should have some basic survival skills.  For, if we lose power for an extended period of time, we won't be able to use our machines anymore, and we might well die as a society.  That is sobering, but no amount of denial is going to feed and shelter you if the lights go out.

Another concept is the love of money.  An overdependence upon money is a system that can fail, especially if the lights go out.  When the lights go out, no amount of dollar bills can sustain you.  You can't eat money, you can only buy food with it.  If there's no food to buy, you will starve.  Something like that is happening in Venezuela right now.  The system is failing in Venezuela.  People there are going to have to learn in an environment that will result when the system fails.   Can it happen here?  Why would anybody believe that this country has immunity?

[long pause as I went to work and made my quota for the week--- barely ]

In keeping with the focus here, I picked up a book about the aftermath of a nuclear war.  It is called Alas, Babylon.  This book was written in the late fifties.  We are much further down the road, so to speak, from that time.  Nuclear war didn't happen, but the bombs are still out there.  It could still happen.  Many of the points made in the above paragraph were written about in that book.  Nothing new, then.

Why write about it then?  You know what?  The idea occurred to me not to publish this post.  But I will anyway.  Another source:  the Bible.  In it, it is said: "there's nothing new under the sun.  All is vanity."  But if religion ain't your bag, then it was also said that history repeats itself.  I think the person who said that was Karl Marx.

Why bother?  If life on this earth doesn't matter, then what's the use of trying?  All you can do is try. 

I can try to tell you.  That doesn't mean that anyone will listen.  But I must try anyway.

And so it goes...



Friday, August 5, 2016

Financial palooza

Not really.  I can't back that up.

But everyone has talked this economy to death and it makes no difference, it seems.

But here goes again.  ( my version )  Here's the inescapable fact:  the Federal Reserve and the US Government is trapped in a low interest rate scenario.  They cannot raise interest rates.  The excuse will always be that the economy is too weak.  Sure, it is weak.  Bad policy makes it so.  But, that is repeating oneself.

If the Fed raises rates, and the rest of the bond market follows, which seems likely, then interest payments on the debt will begin to become unserviceable.

They can grow the economy, but when they do, they have to normalize rates.  But this time they can't.

Eventually the facts on the ground could force a raise in rates.  It doesn't seem likely that they can keep all their fingers in the dyke forever.  Something has to give, it is just a matter of time.

The economic statistics are part of the political propaganda that is holding this rotgut globalist regime in power.  Those statistics are being fudged.  Those statistics are the metaphorical finger in the dyke.  You can only manipulate these numbers for a limited time.

But that may be all this country's enemies need in order to finish it off.  By the time we come out of the ether, it will be too late.




Some time on my hands here

Well, it's Friday, and it is getting off to a slow start.  It is actually something else too.  But I won't go into that.

Just scanned the news.  It looks like wall-to-wall negativity on Trump.  He may get smothered with the negativity. 

You probably can't begin to understand the power of these people who are in charge of this country.  Both Bush presidencies enjoyed very high approval at some point, but were brought down.  The negativity in those instances was relentless and this instance reminds me of those times.  At this point, all you can ask is this: " Do you think things are fine the way they are?"  If you are okay with the way things are going, then do the same things you are doing.  In doing so, you are likely to get what you are getting now.  But if you don't think things are going all that well, they you may want to consider making a change.

As for me, I have made myself clear.  I don't things are going very well, and some changes need to be made.  Maybe a lot of changes.

[... interruption as business began to pick up, you might say...]

Now that I am back, by design, and not by accident:

The thing that prompted me to write this post was a story about Trump and Ivanka being named in his cabinet, or some such thing.  They are literally grasping at each and every thing and making it into something.  That is what I mean.  Besides, maybe Trump is tweaking them and not the other way around.  Trump doesn't talk about this kind of thing this early in the campaign, unless he is quite confident.

The so-called right and so-called conservatives are claiming that Trump doesn't pick his battles very well.  Maybe, maybe not.  But they don't fight at all themselves.  Something attributed to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War comes to mind:  Lincoln was asked about General Grant's drinking, and Lincoln was said to have said that he couldn't spare this man--- he fights.  Besides, Grant's drinking was under control, and if that wasn't so, that Lincoln would find out what Grant was drinking and give all his generals a barrel of it.  If Trump does nothing else, perhaps he can encourage our timid political class to be a bit more assertive.  If it takes a barrel of whiskey, then give 'em a barrel.













Thursday, August 4, 2016

Home again, home again

Jiggedy jig.

Haven't done a post quite like this for some time now.  That's because today, I spent the whole day out there on the road.  The usual thing has been to stop early, because I don't want to push my luck.

Somehow, even though business is slow, I made my quota.

But I may pay for it tomorrow.

It's good to get away from this stupid political stuff.

Update:

After reading the news, I wished I had stayed on the road!  Sickening.

This country has really gone batshit crazy.




This latest move bugged me, but I am over it now

Yes, it does look like the Establishment wing of the alleged GOP party ( none other than Joe Biden said the same ) can bring down the Donald.  I accept that.  This is what makes it bearable to me.  Otherwise, I am bugged completely by this.

Nope, I won't tear myself up inside being angry at these pukes.  They are what they are.

It will be hard for the Donald to win.  Acknowledged.  He is running against a faction of the alleged so called party known as the GOP, the Democrats, and the whole government establishment which is rotten to the core.

Not only that, he has to fight against decades of entrenched indoctrination perpetrated against those he needs to convince, and who are likely to continue to believe these same people who are the ones ruining their lives, and this country.  This will be extremely difficult.  I am thinking though that it will not be impossible.  You have to be optimistic that a victory is possible.  This latest gambit of theirs may be intended to throw the Trumpists into despair.

Acknowledged that it will be hard.  But the fight must go on.  A bit of advice for the Donald, if there's anyone out there who has his ear, and may if they see this, find it useful to tell him:  he must pull out all the stops.  He is going to have to fund this to his limit of what he can afford to spend.  He may have to do some things, like going to "war" against these guys.  They must be defeated for the good of us all.




Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Perhaps an alternate take of the situation

The left and the media believe that the Donald's campaign is on the ropes.

Maybe it is, or maybe it isn't.

One thing is clear:  if the current situation doesn't clear up, he will definitely lose.

You can't win with an internal feud within the party.

The Democrats have tried a gambit to fracture the party.  To me, it is like chess.  A gambit in chess is a risky move.  It can backfire.  The purpose of a gambit is to gain an advantage that may prove decisive.  But if there's a miscalculation, it can lose quickly.

I think the risk to the dems is to expose this Khan character.  If anybody asks questions about him, it can quickly turn into a loser for them.  They desperately want to keep Trump quiet on the Muslim Brotherhood front.  If Hillary gets tied to that, I think she cannot win.  ( but I could be wrong)

The opportunity for Trump is to tie her to the Muslim Brotherhood.  It could be a game changer.  In fact, I think it is a game changer.

It is not the time to go wobbly...  But here's a different take.

None of this makes sense unless you realize that absolutely none of this has anything to do with what they say it is about.  It isn't about Trump being a bad person.  That is so lame that I don't know if it should even be seriously discussed. 

What is it about then?  MONEY.

People are worried about their rice bowls.

Trump seems to be threatening the thing they care about more than anything else.  They aren't saying that because they can't.

So they bring up the straw man arguments.  None of these arguments seem to have any merit.  They cannot mean what they appear to mean.  It has to be something else.  Therefore, it has to be about the money.  What the hell else could it be?

So they want Trump to talk economics.  Trouble is, he can't talk economics in a way that will satisfy them.  This will not stop the wobblies in the ranks.

Basically we are going to hear their straw man arguments because they don't want to talk turkey.  The turkey is the economy.  That's a pun by the way.

The trouble is that the economic policies of Hillary and the GOP/Rino clique are not that far apart.

The truth is those policies are failing.  The solution isn't going to be pleasant for a lot of people.  They know that.  I think that is what is making them nervous about The Donald.  It's going to hurt and they know it.

What they don't believe is that anything is really wrong.  But that flies in the face of the opinion polls.

People know something is wrong.  But getting rid of the other party won't work.  It hasn't worked before in history.  One party states will fail.

Therefore the argument that all we need to do is get rid of those other guys, and things will be fine, is a non starter.

It isn't working now.  It won't work in the future either.

Trump's theme is to make America great again.  If it is great now, why are so many people unhappy?

Trump's challenge is to remain firm, but be reassuring at the same time.  The test of the man is going to come pretty soon, I suspect.  If he cannot end this rebellion in the party, he cannot win.

That may be impossible, by the way.  The critics do say "never Trump".  Trump can't stop being Trump.  He can't be what they want him to be.  I don't think he wants to go away.  You may not have a solution for this.

Truth may be hard and painful, but denying it will never get you anywhere.

The truth is that if he doesn't go away, and if his critics won't accept him, the GOP is going to lose, and probably pretty badly.

If they succeed in castrating him, he won't be any good anymore.  Trump can't stop being Trump.  There is no good solution for the never Trump crowd.  If they think that a huge defeat will enable them to pick up the pieces, I think they are kidding themselves.

Trump can make some moves to reassure them, but the other side has to make their own moves to be more supportive.

The Gold Star flap is nonsense.  It is about MONEY.

We'll see how it plays out.




Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Khan!

I can visualize Captain Kirk's line in the Wrath of Khan.  Khan speaks and Trump yells Khan!!!

Yup.  Khan!!!

The dude ain't on the up and up, ya'll.

Too bad that there are too many in the GOP without the gonies to stand firm on this one.

This one may disappear down the memory hole if the Dems can't exploit it.  But the GOP, being the cowards that they are, continue giving hope to the Dems when they wither and crumple in the face of PC.

Khan!!!





The Socialist leader in France isn't acting PC these days

Because of the terrorist attacks, France closed its borders.  Now it has shut down radical mosques.

Next thing you know, they'll be banning Muslim immigration.

What a bunch of bigoted islamophobes. / sarc

Hey, Trump is just a white trash phenomenon

That seems to be the drift of this article by the New York Times.

No worries, they seem to be saying to themselves. 

What about that question, then?  I will try to answer it.

For one thing, it isn't about what they say it is about.  Never is.  The Democrats say it is about race.  If it was a "racist" thing, then why are white "educated" types willing to vote for Hillary?  My thought is that education doesn't necessarily equate with intelligence.  The "white trash" are just dumb and bigoted, they seem to say.  Dumb and bigoted is just so yesterday.  So, it is more of a class thing.  Those of the so called upper crust can look down on the ignorant white rednecks and say "tut tut".

Also, I note the big money punditry tended to keep mum on the Gold Star flap.  But why?  It isn't because of the facts of the matter.  But the facts don't matter either.  The facts of the matter is that the Khan fellow wrote about Sharia.  Even the left wing pundits admit to that.  Okay, then why can't we discuss that?  Oh, but you cannot criticize the Gold Star parents, even though the Democrats do.  Heck, when did the Democrats begin to care so much about vets?  When they spat upon Vietnam Vets?  No, it isn't about facts. 

If the pundits are all quiet on the Sharia front, then why are they keeping quiet?  I have a theory.  MONEY. If they support Trump, then they lose money.  Money matters more to them than their own country.  It isn't about vets.  It isn't about facts.  It is isn't about race.  It's all about the money.

I support Trump and oppose his critics because basically Trump's critics are full of shit.

But I guess that's my redneck white trash side talking.


Lol. Trump calls Hillary "the Devil"

I think Satan would not be pleased.

This is likely to draw the usual round of groans from the never Trumpers.  Calling her the devil???!  How gauche.  How unseemly.  Why presidential candidates don't do that.

Obviously, I have a different take.  If there's is going to be a kabuki theater, then let the Democrats wear the black hat for a change.

That's change that you can believe in.


Obligatory, 8.2.16

Business is real slow today.  Not only that, I lost an opportunity due to something that was not my fault.  Cost of doing business kind of thing.  That's the way the old cookie crumbles sometimes...

While I have this time on my hands, I just want to say that this business slowdown seems to be happening a lot lately.  Just sayin', folks.  This isn't exactly a high dollar operation.  If people can't afford this, money must be getting tight...

A little further thinking on this might be in order.  The current crop of so-called leaders like to take credit for what they like to call the "economic recovery".  It has been said that we avoided another Great Depression.  Yeah?  What if we didn't?  What if this was just the front end of one?  Just askin', folks.

As I wrote many times before, this current crop of so-called leaders haven't solved any problem at all.  If anything, they have just kicked the can down the road.

It has occurred to me that we've been doing this for the last eighty years.  FDR was said to have beaten the Great Depression.  If he did, then why would we have another?  Just askin', folks.

I am asking and saying things because there may come a time when I won't be allowed to do it anymore.  Just sayin', folks.



Monday, August 1, 2016

Repost from 9/12/12 ( the day after Benghazi ): Pure political spin

I'm reposting this because the advice that Trump is getting sounds pretty familiar.  In fact, it sounds like how Romney was pounded for criticizing the administration's response to Benghazi.

Romney went bean bag, and lost the election.  Trump should learn that politics ain't bean bag.


I've  been trying to understand the left's line of reasoning for criticizing Romney.  There are all agog that Romney spoke before events completely unfolded.  That's implying something that really isn't plausible.  For example, is Romney's criticism exploiting deaths that he doesn't know about yet, or what?  Or is it that Romney's criticism actually caused anything to happen?  Or, are they mad that this reflects badly upon Obama, and Romney's criticism isn't fair?

Let's look at this quote from Reuters:
He said it was "disgraceful" to be seen to be apologizing for American values of free speech. Obama's campaign accused Romney of scoring political points at a time of national tragedy.

The "national tragedy" hadn't happened yet when Romney criticized the Egyptian Embassy's pre-emptive apology for the so-called offending video--- a video that nobody knows about because it is so bad.  But the left is so agog that Romney jumped the gun to score political points for something that hadn't happened yet.  I suppose their position was that he should have known that it was going to happen, so he shouldn't have said anything in the first place.  As if by saying nothing, that the ambassador would still be alive?  Or is Obama and his cohorts mad that Romney's criticism scored points because it was true?

I think that this is spin control and the media is in on it.  Big time.

Double checking Muslim Brotherhood thing

The Khan guy is said to be Muslim Brotherhood.  Okay, why can't we discuss that?  Just because his son died in a war, the guy is off limits.

Look, he stepped on the playing field.  If he was attacked without cause, then yeah.  But he inserted himself into the fray.  He's fair game.

The supposed Gold Star rule didn't stop the dems from attacking a Gold Star Mom.  That rule only applies to Republicans, but only if they let it stick.  The most disappointing thing is to have George Will go on the attack.  Many of the GOP side cannot bring themselves to support Trump.

I double checked the Muslim Brotherhood story.   There's something there.  It avails little to give up on it now.  Keep pounding Hillary on it.  They expect the GOP to wither and cringe before them with these kind of attacks.  If I had Trump's ear, I'd say: "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!"


GOP "leadership" an oxymoron

All they are doing is rubber stamping whatever the left has to say on the issue.

They should support their nominee, not undermine him.  ( But he is NOT their nominee, which I think is the main point.)  This only confirms the falsehoods that the left is propagating.

If the GOP thinks that this helps with the rank and file voter, and if they are right, I'd be VERY surprised.  As for me, it only confirms me that they are lower than slime.

Yeah, it looks like they are ready to wave the white flag as usual.  The typical cowardice in the face of enemy.

They are determined to make this a kabuki theater at all costs.



The "sacrifice" flap could backfire on the globalists

From this article, courtesy of a Free Republic post, Walid Shoebat reveals that the dad who "sacrificed" his son, and made such a dramatic spectacle of himself at the Democrat convention, of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The alleged grieving father wrote a paper in favor of Shariah, for crying out loud.  He was attempting to get warriors to fight for jihad.

Keep in mind that Osama bin Laden said that the Muslims love death, while we love life.  They are portraying themselves as grieving parents.  For what do they grieve?  That their son gave his life in defense of a infidel country?

We are now fighting a highly symbolic war in which the meanings of words are being twisted, for grief is not sacrifice.  Indeed, the jihadists celebrate death.

If this story is true, then Clinton may have really stepped into it.




Sunday, July 31, 2016

Trump v. Stephanopolous

Yeah, the former Clinton Administration flunkie tried his best to get Trump's goat.  Trump did okay, but it might have been better.

The one part that he could have done better with is the "sacrifices" part.  Stephie asked Trump if he made any sacrifices.  This is in comparison with the Muslim dad who lost a son, and made a big dramatic scene out of it at the DNC. 

The Muslim dad didn't sacrifice his son.  He lost his son, but that is not the same thing as sacrifice.  Sacrifice means to give up something for a greater good.  How did the Muslim dad do a sacrifice of his son?  His son was a grown man and he made his own decision to go fight.  While the Muslim dad did lose his son, he could not force his son to go fight.  Not unless it is under Sharia, and his son must obey his father, even if the son is old enough to make his own decisions.  Perhaps Sharia has no such requirement, but why use the word if it doesn't?

Any other comparison is not apt.  Why even bring it up, unless you are creating another straw man argument?

Update:

These look like the same kind of accusations flung at Trump by his primary opponents.  They are non-factual and incorrect.  If his opponents are so head and shoulders above him, then why do they have to resort to such dishonesty?  Because they know no other way.  Competence will "Trump" dishonesty, because at the base of dishonesty is a fundamental incompetency issue.  That is what I always have believed.

Update:

I don't know how the public will take all this, but the New York Times is claiming that Trump is "reeling" from the "confrontation", and that his rhetoric was "harsh and defensive". 

This characterization seems outlandish to me.  If anyone is being harsh, it is Trump's critics.  He hasn't said anything harsh, if so, what exactly was so harsh about it?

Once again, the word "sacrifice" is being used.  Who sacrificed, but the son.  The father may have been opposed to his son's sacrifice. 
"Mr. Khan made the ultimate sacrifice in his family, didn’t he?” Mrs. Clinton said. “And what has he heard from Donald Trump? Nothing but insults, degrading comments about Muslims, a total misunderstanding of what made our country great.”
Who is Mrs. Clinton referring to, the father or the son?  What insults?  What degrading comments?

Totally bizarre.



Pope Francis: "The world is at war because it has lost peace."

The Globalist Pope has admitted failure.

It is the Globalists who wanted this Pope, and now he says that the peace is lost.  If peace was lost, who lost it?  Who's in charge of affairs these days if it isn't the Globalists?

What is Globalism but the notion that you can bring peace to the world by removing national boundaries?  Humanity gets reduced to the lowest common denominator.  All people are the same, all religions are the same, all nations are the same- so let's join hands and become one world!

One big problem with this utopian appeal is that it isn't grounded in truth.

People aren't the same.  Religions aren't the same.  Nations aren't the same.

Peace on Earth might be possible, but not without a respect for truth.  Globalists are failing.  If they were on the side of truth, they would admit their error.  Such is not the case here.



Chelsea Clinton: She’s No Ivanka Trump

Dick Morris



comment:



The comparisons are devastating.  Like Mom, like daughter.  She's an empty pant suit.