US Army Retired

US Army Retired

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

“Rat infested” is now racist, Trump plastic straws, The Secret History of Washing Machines, The Banana Trick Self-Checkout Thievery, Too Many Canadian Geese, and lots of President Trump for July 30, 2019


The Left’s Attacks on the Electoral College Are All About Political Power
It’s a well-funded all out attack on YOUR vote.
Our Founders were wise. They realized that democracy was nothing but mob rule. They thus established a system unique to America that allowed individuals in their communities to gather to make their votes count.
One has to remember that the President and Senators were never meant to be elected directly by the people. State legislatures elected Senators and members of Congress selected who was to be the president and vice president. Once the two chief executives were selected, it was a combination of Senators and Representatives who would decide which were elected. Thus protecting the sanctity of communal votes. A Representative Republic.
And the Left hates it.
The system is somewhat skewed in favor of small states, as the total number of Electoral College votes of each state is dependent on the size of a state’s Senate and House delegation.
Since every state has two senators, small states have that edge, though not so much that the large states aren’t still far more important to win.
The implications of this are twofold. Small states collectively can check the power of large ones, and more importantly, presidential candidates must appeal to states as states, not to the nation as a giant, undifferentiated mass.
I really like the following:
In that sense, the Electoral College is “undemocratic,” as is much of our political system. The Bill of Rights, for instance, is highly undemocratic. Certain individual rights have been protected from majoritarian rule.

The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery
They’re springing up everywhere and it doesn’t surprise me one bit that people have figured out a way to scam them. If you can’t stick it inside your shirt or blouse, why not fool the machine to make off with it?
Self-checkout theft has become so widespread that a whole lingo has sprung up to describe its tactics. Ringing up a T-bone ($13.99/lb) with a code for a cheap ($0.49/lb) variety of produce is “the banana trick.” If a can of Illy espresso leaves the conveyor belt without being scanned, that’s called “the pass around.” “The switcheroo” is more labor-intensive: Peel the sticker off something inexpensive and place it over the bar code of something pricey. Just make sure both items are about the same weight, to avoid triggering that pesky “unexpected item” alert in the bagging area.
How common are self-scanning scams? If anonymous online questionnaires are any indication, very common. When Voucher Codes Pro, a company that offers coupons to internet shoppers, surveyed 2,634 people, nearly 20 percent admitted to having stolen at the self-checkout in the past. More than half of those people said they gamed the system because detection by store security was unlikely. A 2015 study of self-checkouts with handheld scanners, conducted by criminologists at the University of Leicester, also found evidence of widespread theft. After auditing 1 million self-checkout transactions over the course of a year, totaling $21 million in sales, they found that nearly $850,000 worth of goods left the store without being scanned and paid for.

Conservatives conned out of $10 million
It was set up to oppose Obama. Surprise. Instead of going to the Conservative Majority Fund PAC, it ended up in the pockets of the founder.
But it has made just $48,400 in political contributions to candidates and committees. Public records indicate its main beneficiaries are the operative Kelley Rogers, who has a history of disputes over allegedly unethical fundraising, and one of the largest conservative fundraising companies, InfoCision Management Corp., which charged millions of dollars in fundraising fees.
And, after a very lengthy article, there is no word of what is being done to stop such scams. Or if anyone is going after the scammers.

Too Many Canadian Geese – Eat ‘em!
With cities and town providing ideal feeding grounds all year long, a lot of them no longer migrate.
Geese are an annoyance, sometimes. They poop a lot, which has been linked to contamination of some water sources. There’s also the possibility that geese can transmit disease, though that seems to be a relatively minor concern. Mostly, for parks administrators, the birds are extremely annoying. They poop everywhere, and don’t scare easily. They can also be very aggressive, especially around their nests.
I remember playing golf at Lake Tahoe one time. The damned geese were so aggressive that it took forever to play the round. Some golfers complained that the birds would scoop of their golf balls and stick them in their nests; No way you were going to get them out.
Culling is a common solution. But the city of Denver announced that its cull of urban geese—2,200 in total—will be processed and donated to the hungry. This strategy has been used with other overpopulated species as well, like white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania. But is Canada goose any good to eat?
Cook ‘em right and they can be delicious.
Wonder why other cities aren’t doing this.

The President pushes back.
With all the investigations into him and his finances, seems our good president has a few of his own up his sleeve.
You’ve got to watch this video.
Trump just now in the Oval Office:
– Subpoena all of Obama's records.
– Subpoena all of the records having to do with Hillary Clinton.
– Subpoena the Clinton Foundation.
– Look into the book deal that President Obama made.
– GOP will hold House, Senate & White House. pic.twitter.com/blRLP1k6fI
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 26, 2019

“Rat infested” is now racist
That’s what Pelosi claimed when President Trump told Super Hypocrit Cummings to spend more time in his “disgusting, rat and rodent infested” district than going after the Border Patrol.
Kimberly Klacik, a black woman on the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee, responded to the critics of President Trump, saying:
I can’t believe people are upset I went to West Baltimore and filmed all of the trash. Hopefully this attention forces the city to clean up the mess & treat residents better. Enjoy your Saturday
And she provided this video:
And then comes these Tweets from people living in the district.
West Baltimore’s violent crime rate is approximately 3,500 per 100k people. The national violent crime rate is 394 per 100k.
It’s one of the most violent places in one of the country’s most violent and dangerous cities. https://t.co/buThbI3PIx
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) July 27, 2019

I invite Bill to walk the streets of West Baltimore at night with no security. Let’s go for a stroll bruh https://t.co/1fTYcVCUHZ
— Jeffrey Sykes (@J_Sykes2016) July 27, 2019
So far, no response from Cummings or Pelosi
The Left Eats Their Words After Claiming “Infested” is “Racist” Because Trump Said it About Elijah Cummings’ West Baltimore @ https://100percentfedup.com/video-the-left-eats-their-words-after-claiming-infested-is-racist-because-trump-said-it-about-elijah-cummings-west-baltimore/

TRUMP Says He’s Considering Declaring “Gutless, Radical, Left Wack Job” ANTIFA And “MS-13” Gang TERROR Groups
Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019
Can’t come soon enough.

New Trump campaign video about The Squad
 He’s really going after the Harridans.
You might be able to get $125 from Equifax
There is at long last a silver lining for the 144 million of us who had our personal data leaked in the gigantic 2017 Equifax data breach: cash money.
Under the terms of its settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Equifax established a fund of at least $300 million to compensate individuals who had their data compromised.
You, the individual, get to choose which claim to file: up to 10 free years of credit monitoring service, or a $125 check.
Additionally, you may also be eligible to claim up to $500 in compensation for time you spent dealing with the fallout of the breach, and up to another $20,000 if you suffered identity theft you can tie back to it.
The article then goes on to explain how to chose and what you need to prove your claim @ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/you-can-go-claim-at-least-125-from-the-equifax-settlement-right-now/

Snopes Rolls Out New Opinion Check Feature
And you can rely on it without question. No slant whatsoever.
Riiiiiiight.

Snopes Publishes Helpful Fact Check On 1996 Basketball Documentary 'Space Jam'
 U.S.—If you want to know if something's true, the first place you should go is Snopes.com. Snopes has an impeccable record, never having gotten any facts wrong and definitely not showing any bias when it comes to fact-checking fake news, hoaxes, and satire.
So it was really helpful when Snopes recently published a fact check on a 1996 basketball documentary that confused a lot of people: Space Jam. The movie was supposed to be an accurate depiction of Michael Jordan's career when he quit to play baseball, but apparently, it got some key facts wrong.

Babylon Bee
Joe Biden Challenges Trump To Water Aerobics Contest @ https://babylonbee.com/news/joe-biden-challenges-trump-to-water-aerobics-contest
Elizabeth Warren Changes Twitter Profile To Include Authentic Indian Name @ https://babylonbee.com/news/elizabeth-warren-changes-twitter-profile-to-include-authentic-indian-name
'I'm Still Sharp As A Tack,' Insists Mueller Moments Before Taking Phone Call On A Banana @ https://babylonbee.com/news/i-am-still-sharp-as-a-tack-protests-mueller-moments-before-taking-phone-call-on-a-banana


U.S. and Israel test missile defense system in Alaska
The Arrow 3 or Hetz 3 is an exoatmospheric hypersonic anti-ballistic missile.
An Israeli firm and Boeing have put this to the test where there’s a lot of open air space. They claim the tests were successful.
Israel wants it to protect from missile attacks from Iran. The US obvious wants it for simple defense from whomever.
This is a huge technological achievement. The Arrow 3 is the most sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in the world.
Senior Israeli defense officials said the test proves that Israel is several years ahead of the Iranians when it comes to missile technology.
Which means the US now has an outstanding missile defense.

A returning U.S. citizen's rights at the border
Anyone who routine travels outside of the USA knows the situation faced upon returning. Here’s something I bet very few know:
The 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, but it doesn't apply at the U.S. border, says Georgetown law professor M. Tia Johnson, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
Got that? You can’t refuse to let one of the screeners go through your things – including your electronic devices.
And, if you do refuse:
There is no limit on how long CBP officials can hold a U.S. citizen, but they usually don't hold people for more than several hours or overnight because courts may look upon the detention as unreasonable, per Cope.
I know this is going to seem stupid but the bottom line is – don’t try to bring anything back with you that you shouldn’t.

One week of the not-normal presidency
Okay, Axios is not exactly MSM. But, it does provide a wide range of news and doesn’t seem to be too biased. Media Bias/Fact Check says it’s slightly left of center.
Here’s their list:
1 He heckled Robert Mueller, both before the former special counsel’s testimony (tweeting “why didn’t Robert Mueller investigate the investigators?”) and afterwards (“Robert Mueller did a horrible job”).
2 He attacked reporters who asked him to respond to Mueller’s testimony, calling one “fake news” and another “untruthful.”
3 He infuriated the leaders of Afghanistan after noting that “if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth.” Afghanistan officials demanded a clarification.
4 India denied his claim that Modi asked him to mediate the conflict over Kashmir.
5 He suggested investigating Barack Obama's book deal: "Let's look into Obama the way they've looked at me ... Let's subpoena all of his records."
6 He kept attacking four Democratic congresswomen of color, tweeting that the group was “a very Racist group of troublemakers.”
7 He denied a Washington Post report that he had talking points on the lawmakers, even though there’s a photo of them.
8 He attacked the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, calling her “horrible,” “a horror show” and “grossly incompetent.”
9 He claimed with no evidence that undocumented immigrants “vote many times, not just twice, not just three times.” He’s made similar claims before, even though Trump’s own commission found no widespread evidence of voter fraud.
10 He claimed that Article 2 of the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as President.” (It doesn’t.)
11 He accused the news media of inventing sources: “There are no seven sources. They make them up.” (We don’t.)
12 He charged that social media companies “censor opinions” and “decide what information citizens are going to be given,” and claimed his supporters have told him “they make it so hard to follow you.” (Go to Twitter, look up @realDonaldTrump, and see if it’s hard to follow him.)
Ya gotta admit that he sure manages to get his name in the news a lot.

Cape Town, South Africa – 8 people killed every day
Cape Town is a well-known tourist hotspot, but also one of the most divided and dangerous cities in the world.
It has seen an average of eight murders a day, for the first six months of this year.
In one weekend in July, 43 people were killed.
The South African Army has now been deployed to help stop the violence. In some cases, residents are forming vigilante groups.
The BBC's Vauldi Carelse and cameraman Christian Parkinson spent a weekend on the streets of the city with both the police and the army, as well as the families of those killed.
They kill white farmers. Now they’re killing their own.

South Africa presidential panel backs limited land seizures
Take a little now – take it all later.
Those opposed to land expropriation point to Zimbabwe where a similar policy by former President Robert Mugabe wrecked the economy and scared away investors.
At least the farmers living there have lots of options with many countries opening their arms to them.

Trump plastic straws - $15 per pack of 10
Expects to sell $500k worth in a week. The first batch of 200k has already sold out.
The bright-red straws, laser-engraved with the word Trump, are being marketed as reusable and recyclable, with the message: "Liberal paper straws don't work. Stand with President Trump and buy your recyclable straws today."
The left is going nuts over them, claiming President Trump is just trolling them.
He manages to get under their skin every single day.

Arctic Wildfires
Wildfires are ravaging the Arctic, with areas of northern Siberia, northern Scandinavia, Alaska and Greenland engulfed in flames.
And, of course, they’re all because of man-made climate change.
And they aren’t all that easy to fight.
The article does say this;
Arctic fires are common between May and October and wildfires are a natural part of an ecosystem, offering some benefits for the environment, according to the Alaska Centers website.
The Russians aren’t fighting them and Alaskan officials indicate that fighting them is more damaging than the fire.

President Trump now going after Al Shapton
You gotta say that the president is a equal opportunity troll. He not only goes after Elijah Cummings but tax-cheat Sharpton.
Who next?
Jessie Jackson?
I have known Al for 25 years. Went to fights with him & Don King, always got along well. He “loved Trump!” He would ask me for favors often. Al is a con man, a troublemaker, always looking for a score. Just doing his thing. Must have intimidated Comcast/NBC. Hates Whites & Cops! https://t.co/ZwPZa0FWfN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2019
That’ll teach Al to try to defend Cummings.
FACT CHECK: Al Sharpton’s History of Racism, Antisemitism, Anti-Police Rhetoric @ https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/07/29/fact-check-al-sharpton-history-of-racism-antisemitism-anti-police/
CNN’s Ryan on Trump: ‘He Says He Is Not Racist but the Racists Believe He’s a Racist’ @ https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/07/29/cnns-ryan-on-trump-he-says-he-is-not-racist-but-the-racists-believe-hes-a-racist/
PBS Aired ‘Rat Film’ Documentary About Baltimore’s Rodent Problem in 2018 @ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/07/28/pbs-aired-rat-film-documentary-about-baltimores-rodent-problem-in-2018/
Baltimore Sun Op-ed, 2016: Trump’s Right: Declare Baltimore a ‘Disaster’ and Rebuild It @ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/07/28/baltimore-sun-op-ed-2016-trumps-right-declare-baltimore-a-disaster-and-rebuild-it/

Gilroy Garlic Festival Prohibited ‘Weapons of Any Kind’
Yeah. A gun-free zone. A safe place to gather and have fun.
So, let’s pass more gun control laws and regulations. That should make everything just fine.
The festival was held in Christmas Hill Park where the possession of “pocketknives and weapons of any kind” are clearly prohibited. Moreover, a perusal of the city of Gilroy’s “Park Rules and Regulations” unambiguously states that “guns, slingshots, or fireworks” are prohibited.
That didn’t prohibit some whacko from cutting through a fence and, in plain sight of police officers, offing 3 innocents and sending 12 others to the hospital.
Of course the Dims are calling for more laws.

80,000 California Students Lose Financial Aid
– Thanks to Teachers’ Union, State Government
I bet they’ll blame President Trump
Last week, the department issued a notice that California “does not have a process to manage complaints for out-of-state public or non-profit institutions serving students at a distance in the State. Further, the State of California does not participate in a State authorization reciprocity agreement which addresses the issue.”
State officials scrambled, the Times notes: “California officials indicated that the financial aid suspension could be short-lived.” They claim to have “set up a complaint system that would meet the department’s requirements,” which “will go live on Monday.”

Celebrating 30 Years of Weird Al Yankovic
He’s hilarious.
And then there’s this:
There are so many there’s no way one can even start in a post like this.
Do you have a favorite?

The Secret History of Washing Machines
You gotta be kidding. This guy has a collection of 1,600 of them.
You won’t believe this one:
A hand-cranked drum from 1782.
He’s getting old and is looking for someone to either take over the museum or find a new home for them.



Posted by Dale Day at 4:13 AM 0 comments
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Friday, July 26, 2019

Democrats’ 2020;‘You Americans Are Terrible,’ Opening Day at Disneyland; Photos, Feds to execute inmates, Appalachia – The White Ghetto, 13 states that never were, and lots about Mueller for July 26, 2019


CNN Admits Mueller Testimony a Victory For Trump
Absolutely!
A home run!
It was clear from the beginning that Mueller wasn’t prepared to deal with specific. It was also clear that his only connection with the report was having his name on it.
The Dims showed they were there only to find “dirt” on the president to give them ammo for further impeachment actions. Their overt hatred was obvious.
The GOP reps tore Mueller and his report a new one. They made it clear he’s a Dim hack and failed to follow standard guidelines for any prosecutor.
CNN’s White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins appeared to concede that former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony represented a victory for President Trump.
“White House officials and the President’s Republican allies are walking away from this morning’s hearing and viewing it as a success,” said Collins, adding that Mueller’s testimony failed to produce effective soundbites for Democrats to use against Trump.
She then appeared to agree with that conclusion, remarking, “You saw the former special counsel there even hesitant to utter the word impeachment.”
CNN admits Mueller testimony is a victory for Republicans 😂 pic.twitter.com/BXJf4ZRDvy
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) July 24, 2019
Michael Moore: Dems Were “Lame” For Putting Faith in “Frail Old Man” Robert Mueller @ https://www.prisonplanet.com/michael-moore-dems-were-lame-for-putting-faith-in-frail-old-man-robert-mueller.html
Mueller’s sluggish testimony turns out to be ‘disaster’ for disappointed Democrats @ https://www.rt.com/usa/464982-mueller-testimony-democrats-disaster/

You managed to violate every principle!’ – Republican Rep. unloads on Mueller @ https://www.rt.com/usa/464955-mueller-ratcliffe-exonerated-innocence/
He tore him a new anus. It was awesome.
Rep. Ratcliffe asks Mueller if DOJ has any policy at all that allows an official to say an American who is not charged is "not exonerated," and whether anyone other than Donald Trump has been so tarred. Mueller is unable to name a policy or think of such an example.
And
“It’s not in special counsel regulations...it’s not in the principles of federal prosecution,” Ratcliffe said, “because, respectfully, it was not the special counsel’s job to conclusively determine Donald Trump’s innocence or exonerate him.”
“It clearly says ‘write a report about decisions reached.’ Nowhere in here does it say ‘write a report about decisions that weren’t reached,’” Ratcliffe thundered. “You wrote 180 pages about decisions that weren’t reached, about potential crimes that weren’t charged or decided!”

What next after Mueller testimony? Investigations, lawsuits and more
They just won’t – or can’t – let it go. TDS at its utmost
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mueller's appearance was "a crossing of a threshold," raising public awareness of what Mueller found. And Democrats after the hearing said they had clearly laid out the facts about the Mueller report, which did not find a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia but detailed extensive Russian intervention in the 2016 election. Mueller also said in the report that he couldn't clear President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice.
So, what can we expect?
The House intelligence and financial services committees are probing Trump's finances, an area that Mueller appears to have avoided. And the intelligence panel is investigating Trump's negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the campaign.
To obtain the testimony from McGahn and others, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Wednesday that his panel will file lawsuits this week.
Almost 90 House Democrats have called for an impeachment inquiry, and more are certain to do so after Mueller's testimony. Those who support opening proceedings say it would bolster Democrats' court cases and show the American people they are moving decisively to challenge what they see as Trump's egregious behavior.
Congress is due to take a 5-week break in August. But some reps will return to DC is witnesses are available.
Democrats in both the House and the Senate want to move forward with legislation to make elections more secure after Mueller extensively detailed Russian interference.
There are two ongoing reviews into the origins of the Russia probe that Mueller eventually took over — one being conducted by the Justice Department's inspector general and another by U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was appointed by Attorney General William Barr to examine surveillance methods used by the Justice Department.
But the Goops say it’s over.

Robert Mueller and the Tyranny of ‘Optics’
I love this summary:
How did he look? (Old, halting, at times confused).
What did he say? (Not enough).
How did he say it? (Monosyllabically, whenever possible).
“DAZED AND CONFUSED” was the Drudge Report’s blaring headline. But the Twitter verdict of NBC’s sober-sided Chuck Todd was almost as severe: “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted,” Todd wrote. “But on optics, this was a disaster.”
When the Leftist-driven media goes after one of their own, you know it was a massive flop.

All the Non-Mueller News That Broke While Mueller Testified
Going through Feedly, there’s actually a lot more but this is a good start.
Boris Johnson Officially Becomes Prime Minister of the U.K.
The U.S. Sues Facebook
Federal Judge Allows Trump’s Asylum Restrictions to Proceed
Suicide Bombing in Somalia
Meek Mill’s Conviction is Overturned
Rutger Hauer Passes Away
And not included:
Epstein found seriously injured in his jail cell.

Guess who he’s moving in with
Americans are
 C’mon, we all know who he is. He just got out of the clink for texting a 16-year-old girl.
Anthony Weiner of course.
So, who’s he moving in with?
Hillary’s bosom buddy!

The Democrats’ 2020 Campaign Theme Is ‘You Americans Are Terrible.’
Every once in a while, I run across a piece that’s not only right on topic but funny. This is one of them.
The Democrats’ 2020 theme is that you are terrible and the party’s slogan will be “Americans suck, vote for us.” The precise candidate who will employ it is not important because they all embrace the notion that punishing the essential moral failure of you and me and every other Normal American is the key goal of the Donkey Party. That goes equally for the Handsey Old Prospector, the Socialist Squaw, Crusty the Commie, Spartacus Sharpton, Starchild, the Furry, Not Ms. Willie Brown, the Unfabulous Gay Guy, and the many Unfabulous Ungay Guys.
They all agree that you are terrible because you don’t know your place, which is behind a rock pushing it endlessly uphill for the benefit of people who hate you.
Remember Animal Farm from back when you were in school and they taught it as a chilling warning about socialism instead of as a how-to manual? Remember the horse who got worked nearly to death then got sent to the glue farm?
Guess what? You’re the horse.
“Handsey Old Prospector”
“Crusty the Commie”
“Not Ms. Willie Brown”
I don’t know where he came up with them, but I think they’re hilarious.

Media Matters of America uncovered
This is supposed to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that purports to document supposed conservative media bias.
Get that?
Conservative media.
A found 17 articles from today (Jul 23) to Jul 21, every one of them heavily anti-FoxNews. And I mean heavily against.
Here are just 3 of the headlines:
Fox & Friends hosts say there's no need to raise the tipped minimum wage
Alleged QAnon-inspired murderer was obsessed with Fox News
Fox & Friends attacks Sunday news shows for covering Trump rally "send her back" chant
So why am I posting this?
Simple. To alert you to the extreme bias of this site so you will be aware when people try to use it for unbiased sources.
MMIA gets millions from the NEA and other labor organizations. And of course Soros game them $1 million in Oct 2010. It in turn gave $200k to Van Jones. They even hired private investigators to track down FoxNews employees.
Want to know more?

Canadian salmon can’t get upstream to spawn
So, what’s going on?

Canada is airlifting thousands of salmon upstream after a rockslide blocked the path of the migrating fish, triggering concerns of a permanent loss of fish populations, government officials said.
Why the fuss?
No spawning, no future fish. A massive hit to a major income source for our neighbors to the north.

This is western Argentina
A major snow resort that almost no Americans know about. At least those who aren’t avid skiers.
The intense fall of snow and bad weather had led the city along the province of Rio Negro's Andes to halt all transport services, including the commercial flights. At least six services were canceled, others were delayed and three aircraft already airborne had to be diverted to other air terminals that were still operational. A total 41 commercial flights were scheduled to operate Saturday.
It must be very popular with someone for such heavy air traffic.

Everyday life in North Korea
Tough to get pictures out as the regime doesn’t want the world to know just how bad things there are.
A typical village
Public housing looks to be in poor condition
Traffic jam.

Appalachia – The White Ghetto
This article comes from 2013 but I doubt anything’s changed in the 6 years since.
A truly dark review of a large part of America that the media and politicians do their best to ignore.
For TV viewers, you might’s got a taste of what it’s like from the series, “Justified.”
(I really enjoyed that series.)
Booneville, Kentucky is an example.
It’s not like he has a lot of appealing options, though. There used to be two movie theaters here — a regular cinema and a drive-in. Both are long gone. The nearest Walmart is nearly an hour away. There’s no bookstore, the nearest Barnes & Noble being 55 miles away and the main source of reading matter being the horrifying/hilarious crime blotter in the local weekly newspaper. Within living memory, this town had three grocery stores, a Western Auto and a Napa Auto Parts, a feed store, a lumber store, a clothing shop, a Chrysler dealership, a used-car dealership, a skating rink — even a discotheque, back in the 1970s. Today there is one grocery store, and the rest is as dead as disco. If you want a newsstand or a dinner at Applebee’s, gas up the car. Amazon may help, but delivery can be tricky — the nearest UPS drop-box is 17 miles away, the nearest FedEx office 34 miles away.
Lots of drugs – mostly oxy – and prostitution to get the drugs.
Check this out:
Chief Logsdon thinks I may be talking to the wrong people. “Maybe that’s all they see, because that’s all they know. Ask somebody else and they’ll tell you a different story.” He then gives me a half-joking — but only half — list of people not to talk to: Not the shiftless fellows milling about in the hallways on various government-related errands, not the guy circling the block on a moped. Instead, there’s the lifelong banker whose brother is the head of the school board. There’s the mayor, a sharp nonagenarian who has been in office since the Eisenhower administration.
What the hell can be done about it?
One can do a search to learn not a whole lot more has been done in the 6 years since this was written. We hear about millions of new jobs and I wonder how many, if any, have popped up around there.

$12,075 on paella and 32 other wacky things the candidates bought
I wonder who spends the time to go through all these forms? And I’m certain these are onlt the tip of the iceberg. Wonder what it costs to rent a bus?
Here’s the list to give you all a good chuckle:
Joe Biden: $102,353 for the launch ad that never was
Kirsten Gillibrand: $350,000 on a digital firm that the campaign ditched
10 campaigns: $4.1 million in direct payments to Facebook for ads
Tulsi Gabbard: $100,198 on billboards
Bernie Sanders: $751,068 on swag = T-shirts, buttons, hats and bumper stickers
Joe Biden: $256,798 on private jet travel
Pete Buttigieg: $299,066 on private jet travel
Joe Biden: $12,075 on paella = Spanish seafood and rice dish
Pete Buttigieg: $64,000 to two event spaces in NYC, Fenway Park
Marianne Williamson: $2,011 to self-help movie company Streaming for the Soul
Seven candidates: $652,517 to powerhouse Democratic law firm Perkins Coie
Jay Inslee: $30,226 to the mysterious, ingeniously named fundraising firm Banana Stand LLC
Joe Biden: $3.5 million on digital advertising
Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders: $16,497 and $13,634, respectively, on Airbnb
Cory Booker: $1,500 to rent out space in a private club in Philadelphia
Elizabeth Warren: $9,295 to a PAC helping her bid
Seth Moulton: $1,109 on Harvard Clubs
Kamala Harris: $4,943 at upscale hotels = can’t have her sleeping in seedy motels
Pete Buttigieg: $112,890 on lodging during the Democratic National Committee’s first debate
Beto O’Rourke: $328 on minor league baseball
Kamala Harris: $500,000 for new online donors = buying contact lists of possible donors
Amy Klobuchar: $324 on a Minneapolis Star-Tribune subscription
Eric Swalwell and Seth Moulton: $9,066 and $12,400, respectively, for coworking spaces
Pete Buttigieg: $153,048 on security
Seth Moulton: $116,300 on primary state research
Pete Buttigieg: $1,133,151 on merch
Michael Bennet: $550 on books at Barnes and Noble
Andrew Yang: $377 on a karaoke event space
Amy Klobuchar: $65,000 on office set-up services
John Delaney: $699 on cake
Now you know where just a tiny bit of all those campaign donations go.

Why Do We Gesture When We Talk?
Lord above. More $$$ spent on some arcane study that really has no viability in the real world. Who uses their hands when they speak? Not a lot with English. Loads with Spanish and Italian.
Was that included in the study?
Gesture researchers have spent the past 40 years uncovering how movements (like a cupped hand rotating in space or a finger tracing a path through the air) are intimately tied to speech. Regardless of their spoken language or culture, humans gesture when they talk. They gesture even if they have never seen gestures before—people who have been blind since birth do it—and they gesture even if they’re talking to someone on the phone and know no one can see them. When speech is disrupted—by stuttering, for example—so is gesture.
Yes. It does speak of the differences in the language being spoken.

13 states that never were
The state of Superior?
It’s not spelled out in the article but does give a link to good ole Wikipedia @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_partition_proposals
There were over 200 proposals to break up California. Too bad some of them didn’t happen.
The original article, “How 13 Rejected States Would Have Changed The Electoral College” is @ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/electoral-college-new-states-2016-election/

The 4 questions to ask your doctor before receiving treatment
How often do we just sit there and let the doctor do his thing? We should speak up.
Is this really necessary?
What are the risks?
Are there other options?
What happens if I don’t do anything?

A Spirit Of Lawlessness Has Descended Upon The Streets Of America
This headline hit home to me. As the author points out, we are bombarded with videos showing lawlessness by youth all across the nation. Not just the horrid attack on NYC police but mobs in stores and malls.
He says: We have raised an entire generation of Americans that have no respect for the law, and now we are reaping what we have sown.
At home and in the schools, we no longer see adults teaching young people responsibility and respect for rules. If it feels good, they are encouraged to do it.
What the hell happened that the police officers didn’t turn on those thugs, put them on the ground, and slap the cuffs on?
Someone comes in to rob a store and employees are fired for confronting them.
And without a doubt, our nation is on the brink of great chaos.  Just consider these numbers…
After a week that saw President Trump and his foes toss toxic words at each other, there is now a warning that the next phase could be “violence.”
Nearly 8 of 10 Americans told the Pew Research Center that supporters for both sides could “act” on the politically charged rhetoric with violence. It was higher for Democrats, 91%, than Republicans, 61%.
It is not going to take much of a spark at all to set off the kind of civil unrest that I have been repeatedly warning about.
Day after day, the mainstream media is stirring up more anger, frustration, strife, discord and division.  I have never seen more hatred in America than I see right now, and it is exceedingly difficult to imagine how all of this could possibly end well.

Country diary: this ancient yew should live forever
1,500 years old and still going
And there are probably some older yews in Britain.

This embryo-inspired bandage is 17 times stickier than a Band-Aid
And it contains silver nanoparticles to kill harmful microbes.
The gels are also relatively cheap compared with many alternatives. The raw materials to create the gel cost about $0.14 per bandage. To make a similar-size piece of Apligraf, a commercially available wound healing treatment made of living cells, the materials cost about $154.

15,000 White Farmers Flee South Africa for Russia: 'It’s Life or Death'
Russian government welcomes South African farmers fleeing over fear of being murdered
Many of the families have been there for over 4 centuries.
The new South African government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has pledged to return the lands owned by White farmers since the 1600s to the Black citizens of the country. The government said it is planning to put an end to what it calls the legacy of apartheid, where most of South Africa’s land is still in the hands of its minority white population.
Russia has 43 million hectares of unused farmland and has recently begun giving out free land to Russian citizens to cultivate farming. The land giveaway program, which began in 2014, has been a huge success.
They work hard and know what they’re doing.

Federal government will execute inmates for first time since 2003
It says 5 will be juiced to death starting in December. But, it doesn’t say who they are.
"Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people's representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President," Attorney General William Barr said in a news release. "The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."

Opening Day at Disneyland: Photos From 1955
I was hoping to see a picture of myself, but this was the closest I could find. Way back in the background is the train station and my choir was on risers there. I remember we were standing under the tower to the left of the building.
Walt wandered all over the park, savoring the joy of everyone who was there.
Not on that day, but I do remember seeing Fess Parker signing autographs there.
This was Walt’s favorite. He took the engineer’s seat at least once every day.
What a wondrous place it used to be.

43 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make
I’m not about to post all 43. But, there are some so common that it won’t hurt to give you all a taste.
Irregardless – ain’t a word.
Shoe-in.
Baited breath
Boldface lie
Throws of passion
Sneak peak


Posted by Dale Day at 9:13 AM 0 comments
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