Ruminations – 30may18 (updated 5jun18)

George Rebane

Politically incorrect and nationally syndicated economist Dr Walter Williams offers his thoughts on ‘Why Capitalism is Morally Superior to Socialism’.  The short essay is worth a read, as are some of its leftwing comments. 

The US poverty level has been a political football for years.  The Left keeps upping it regularly in order to bolster their agenda for increased taxation and regulation based on the narrative that America is the leader in wealth and income inequality.  For example, today I just heard from a KVMR regular that “40% of Americans are poor”; the statement passed without challenge as if it came down from the mountain on stone tablets.  For a new data-backed analysis of this issue, take a read of Cato’s Policy Analysis #839 ‘Reassessing the Facts about Inequality, Poverty, and Redistribution’.  From its executive summary we read –

Many U.S. politicians are promoting policies to reduce income inequality and poverty by increasing taxes and transferring more income to lower-income households. These proposals rest in part on claims that income inequality in the United States is greater than that in other Western democracies and is growing, and that poverty persists at high levels. … The usual statistics invoked to support those claims, however, are misleading. Those statistics exclude about $1 trillion in annual transfer payments to lower-income households and do not account for the effects of taxes. When those transfers and tax effects are included, income inequality in the United States is lower than that in many Western democracies and has grown at rates similar to income inequality in other nations. Improved estimates of poverty show that only about 2 percent of today’s population lives in poverty, well below the 11 percent to 15 percent that has been reported during the past five decades.

[31may18 update] TBS’ Samantha Bee called First Daughter Ivanka Trump a “feckless cunt” for posting a picture of herself hugging her toddler son, blaming her for the fallacious reports that “the Office of Refugee Resettlement lost track of 1,500 immigrant children in the last three months of 2017.” (here)  Ms Bee is unscathed, but imagine what would have happened had a conservative media person so labeled an Obama or Clinton daughter.  The progressives do indeed live in a privileged world of their own.

AI encounters problems in being adopted by the medical industry which kills over 200,000 patients annually through medical mistakes.  For example, deep learning algos are daily discovering new, effective, and super-human diagnostic methods for early detection of diseases.  But their adoption is being stymied by authorities who reject them because their workings cannot be explained to humans – they just work and save lives.  The EU is doing a double dummy in this when it “implemented a regulation requiring all algorithms to be “explainable” by human engineers”, something that is impossible for most deeply learned algorithms from large datasets.  Again, government is guilty until proven innocent. (more here)

[1jun18 update] Hilary Hodge as a county supervisor??!!  From all available evidence, the woman has nothing in her record to recommend her for the position, especially when it comes to promoting business and economic development.  To my knowledge she has never even held a job that required someone to take money out of his own pocket to pay her – the concept of for-profit enterprise is foreign to her.  And a perusal of her political provenance and promoters predicts that the lady will attempt to ‘help’ the county by enthusiastically amplifying the regulatory, tax, and fee burdens that come down to us from Sacramento.

[5jun18 update]  Barabara Ross, Nevada Joint Union High School District Scholarship Coordinator, is retiring.  Since the news is now public, I want to express my gratitude for all the work over the years she has done, in addition to her other NJUHSD duties, as the Academic Chair of SESF’s TechTest.  She has administered the annual TechTest, coordinated the pre-test seminars, supervised the grading of the tests, and awarded the scholarship checks at the annual awards ceremonies.  In the 2007-18 running of TechTest, SESF has awarded more than $150,000 in merit scholarships to Nevada County’s brightest STEM-bound graduates.  I have had the pleasure of working with Ms Ross all these years, and we will miss her greatly as she heads out of state for greener pastures with her husband for a well-deserved retirement.  Thank you Barbara!

Comments

[M]

Lies, damn lies and statistics!!!

So, you haven't noticed any homeless around, or seen pictures of large camps in Sacramento, LA, etc.?
I don't remember this many homeless folks around,,,

The former rule of thumb used to be housing costs should be 25% of your monthly wages, then it was 30%, and I don't know what the current ratio is.

When wages in Cali and elsewhere are 4X what the rent is people won't be '''poor'''.

[George Rebane]

M 256pm - Do California's tons of regulations and added fees involved in the development of housing units enter into your considerations of our state's housing costs viz those experienced elsewhere? And then we can discuss who are the politicians at all levels of government who claim to champion the poor and then do everything they can to keep the poor on the streets or on the plantation.

[George Rebane]

Speaking of KVMR, I listened to the interviews with sheriff candidates Foster and Smethers, conducted in part by our own Paul Emery, who did a good job. I believe those two will face each other in November.

[fish]

Posted by: M | 30 May 2018 at 02:56 PM

When wages in Cali and elsewhere are 4X what the rent is people won't be '''poor'''.

Well don’t let your Depends fill waiting for this multiplier Keach! It’s not going to happen!

[fish]

Crap!

[Account Deleted]

"When wages in Cali and elsewhere are 4X what the rent is people won't be '''poor'''.
Got to hand it to the lefties. It's so freaking obvious. When some one flipping burgers makes 50 bucks an hour, the sun will shine on us all.
Of course, the price of a Happy Meal might have to be adjusted upwards just a smidge.
And when M says 'people' won't be poor - that means the few that still have jobs. The other 60 or 70 per cent will be very poor.
Not sure why it has to be Cali and elsewhere. Why not just Cali? $50 an hour min wage would bring in the smartest dang burger flippers you ever seen. And since it's such a great idea and would work so well the whole rest of the nation would soon fall in line. Right?

[Bill Tozer]

Good Doc. Broken link to Walter E Williams. Try this

https://patriotpost.us/opinion/56199-capitalism-vs-socialism

[George Rebane]

BillT 840pm - Fixed; thanks Mr Tozer.

[Bill Tozer]

Good Doc, it’s a miracle. Your link is back up. Now I don’t have to hear M bellyache about the Patriot Post. If he wants to attack Dr. Williams, he can be my guest. :)

Well, this should cover the political football topic quite nicely: Perception.

https://patriotpost.us/memes/56220-perception

[Bonnie McGuire]

It's getting more difficult to read opinions even though I normally like to because they're voices relating their understanding based on personal experience. My personal experiences over a lifetime have been remarkable regarding the basic things that determine prosperity. Freedom for those ambitious individuals who produce and distribute everything we have and need. Not only that, but the realization that most of us, as individuals, chose what we want to be...Idiots try to make responsible people feel guilty for the condition of irresponsible individuals. If it weren't for the hard working responsible people there would be no hope for the homeless, nor those irresponsible gov entities who demand excessive pay and perks. If you want to help the poor start at the top with those who make the rules and collect taxes mainly for themselves. After watching this political corrupt junk for 70 years it's pretty obvious. Our government had better stop punishing those who produce the wealth that keeps it going. It needs to show some appreciation or there won't be anything for anyone. Same ol story of the rise and fall of civilization's. I hope President Trump is sincere. He definitely understands what it takes to run a business compared to most of the ignorant parasites that have run our economy into the ground.

[Russ]

President Trump announced early Thursday that he would be pardoning conservative author Dinesh D’Souza later in the afternoon.

"Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!" Trump wrote on Twitter

It is about time D’Souza got some justice after the Obama persecution.

[scenes]

BonnieM: " Freedom for those ambitious individuals who produce and distribute everything we have and need."

This made me consider a thing I had been mulling over this morning.

A returning 'feature' of the free market is the opportunity for individual pricing. Between the internet and the general opportunities for tracking people, there's no reason (aside from cultural norms) to charge everyone the same amount.

Health care already works that way to some extent, but why not gas stations? The pump could detect your financial well-being and perhaps even make a good guess at how badly you needed more fuel. A new price is presented.

I seem to remember that Amazon made a shot at this for a while but the uproar made them stop.

So, does a free marketplace imply fixed prices for everyone? or the opportunity for the seller to generate a price, usually with some bargaining involved?

[George Rebane]

scenes 714am - 'dynamic and differential pricing' comes up now and again, and for good reason. The fairness component of such a strategy usually depends on the symmetry of information the seller and buyer have about each other - the more asymmetric, the more a one-price-fits-all policy is used. Well almost, since such differential pricing has long been the norm in money lending markets for openers. The web has made possible fast and reliable bargaining practices as those enjoyed in bazaars for millennia.

Today we can have apps that allow a customer to see 'all' nearby merchants of a similar product, and lock in a price from a remote location (including a competitor's store). My approach to this would be an algo that lets an online customer buy an option to purchase at a given price within a given time interval. The option would be easily paid for by an outfit like PayPal.

[jon smith]

Bonnie-
"My personal experiences over a lifetime"

Educated at NU like Todd?

scenes-
I think Amazon still prices items at what they think you will pay. Identical skues frequently feature different prices when I use my computer on an open network or I clear cookies and go through a VPN.

[George Boardman]

The only excuse for Samantha Bee's conduct is that she was following the example of Ivanka's father, who in 2004 told Howard Stern it was okay to refer to Ivanka as "a nice piece of ass." Classy.

[Todd Juvinall]

Glad to see Boardman defends porn stars and porn mouths and gives them applause. What a sick bastard.

Hillary Hodge is using her employment at Sierra Commons as some sort of example that qualifies her on jobs, business acumen and business. Well she is there, at 15 hours per week and the budget under fifty thousand. I think she is inflating the importance of her knowledge.

http://990finder.foundationcenter.org/990results.aspx?990_type=&fn=Sierra+Commons&st=CA&zp=&ei=&fy=&action=Search

[George Rebane]

GeorgeB 158pm - It's hard for me to believe you wrote that comment Mr Boardman. Could you please revive my faith in you with the citation from which you drew your "only excuse"?

[scenes]

GeorgeR: "the more asymmetric, the more a one-price-fits-all policy is used. "

I don't know why asymmetry would imply a pricing policy. Hospital bills are probably a pure play in an imbalance in information, and they are the furthest thing from one-price-fits-all.

If anything, my bet is that the future of single pricing will depending on culture. 'Unfairness' hits people at a basic human level (especially old men) and paying more for something is outrageous even if the amount is trivial. The thing is, it's obviously easier to providing bidding or algorithmic-based prices than it was in the past.

I'm just banging on this because I like the idea of a gas station which knows that you are desperate for gas. Perhaps an AI could detect it from driving habits (or detecting an empty tank) as you pull in.

[scenes]

as an aside, before we go down that path too much, I'm aware of differential pricing on places like Amazon (which I believe they decided to stop), and to some extent the various types of bidding strategies.

I'm more interested in that type of thing bubbling down to everyday retail transactions and the effects on everyday life.

[Paul Emery]

Todd

Trump is the one who supports porn stars by bonking them while his wife has a baby in the bath and then paying them off to keep their mouth shut.

[George Rebane]

scenes 314pm - Good catch of my ambiguity Mr scenes. The asymmetry I addressed was that of the customer knowing what all the vendors charged for the same product/service, and the vendors knowing nothing/little of the customer. An example of this is the cost of gasoline in a tight region like a small town; every filling station charges essentially the same prices.

PaulE 333pm - Does one infraction paint you for life as a habitual practitioner? Or do you have evidence of Trump doing that as a common practice?

[Paul Emery]

George

Thanks for listening to the interviews of Smethers and Foster. For anyone who is interested they can be accessed as a podcast from our archives by going to our website archives and searching for Wednesday 1PM. It starts about 10 minutes after 1. Go to this link and find Wednesdays 1PM Archive

http://archive.kvmr.org/

[George Boardman]

Dr. R, a tape of Stern's on-air interview with Trump exists, and it resurfaced when the "pussy grabbing" audio was revealed. I don't have to make this stuff up.

[Todd Juvinall]

Oh yes you do. And it cracks me up that if a liberal says these things GeorgeB and his pals are all about forgiving without consequences. When a conservative or a R do it as humor the libs take it as a serious thing. Yes you do make this stuff up and then misinterpret it all. Morons all.

[Russell]

Re-AI Update

As a nation, we are ill prepared for the digital age.

"Oh my God. This is an embarrassment." That's how Sen. Warner described his reaction to recent congressional hearings with Mark Zuckerberg — characterized by odd, off-topic and ill-informed questions by lawmakers. He added: "Obviously some of my colleagues didn't know how social media works, or what the business model is.”

Social media is a lot easier to explain than AI algorithms, and our lawmakers are about to make some highly uninformed policy decisions, first on use of social media and then AI, which is critical to medical diagnostics, self-driving vehicles, and future big data predictions. How do you explain an algorithm the machine just invented to solve your problem?

Professor Erik P.M. Vermeulen:

Politicians at all levels of government — local, national and international — all struggle to adapt to the digital challenges. Rapid technological change makes it difficult to identify and agree on an appropriate regulatory framework. The result is that regulations often prohibit, or otherwise limit, the development of new technologies.

And as disruptive technologies facilitate new forms of “doing business,” debates around such regulatory constraints become more pressing. The recent Facebook hearings clearly show this. In the United States, the digital “knowledge gap” between politicians and business leaders became painfully apparent.

Our political “leaders” are blatantly ill-equipped to deal with the “new world” that is being created.

https://hackernoon.com/technology-is-changing-us-e3c6bf7f9888

We are all going to be the victims of these digital idiots as they try to legislate something they do not understand.

[George Rebane]

GeorgeB 349pm - I have not seen the tape nor do I have the link to it, so we'll have to take your word for it and proceed.

[Bill Tozer]

Todd @ 2:38 pm

If I read the forms correctly, looks like Hilary is working for peanuts. Maybe 2017 was a better year, but I fail to see any compensation in 2016. Rent is 28k a year, ouch. That’s 3/5 of the budget just to keep the doors open and lights on. Non profit is correct. The accounting firm is a good reputable firm, so no reason to doubt Scott Robinson’s work.

15 hour’s a week, no compensation....how in the heck did she buy a house? Maybe her wife is the breadwinner and wears the adult pants. Most couples have the hard working nerd that does the budget and books, and the other half is the free spirit one who does....other things.

Anyway, being Executive Director of Sierra Commons and writing those articles in the Union about how this area needs to get the tech thing going.....well, Litton and GVG showed us how it’s done....unlike Sierra Commons. No wonder she’s running for Supervisor. Government is the employer of last resort. :).

But then again, I could be wrong. Heck, she probably has a part time job at the convience store or something. Gotta crack that monthly mortgage nut and pull her weight. Two mouths to feed and all that Jazz.

[scenes]

re: SierraCommons.

Looking at the site, there doesn't appear to be much there there. Last blog from over a year ago, no events.

My guess is that it's a few people who feel the social need to hear other people breathe while they type. Typing at home or in a coffee shop while working on your struggling web marketing consultancy just doesn't cut it.

I think I should become a tech editorial writer for the area. WE NEED MORE BROADBAND AND PEOPLE WITH A PASSION FOR THE COMPUTER AGE FOR OUR CHANGING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AND OUR TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE. THANK YOU.

[Gregory]

Last event to make the calendar was in August '16. A hopping place, crackling with energy.

http://sierracommons.org/events

[Todd Juvinall]

My email to the race hustler Eugen Robinson a black "journalist" commenter of the WAPO. On Rosanne and his attempts to blame Trump.

Read your screed about Rosanne this morning in the SacBee and got quite the laugh. I am a conservative R and denounce her attack on Jarret. Not good. But for you to tie her to Trump is another overreach you libs can't resist. I say keep it up. Have you ever listened to the black comedians on that cable channel? They are profane and attack "white" people with name-calling and vulgarity yet I have never seen or read your condemnation. So that tells me you are a hypocrite and a "victim" mentality person.

Americans need to stop this blame game. Blacks in charge of the culture should be using their forums to get on the capitalist train and stop the whining about 1859. The people I know who are not white are also fed up. You portray them as victims while they think of themselves as simply Americans. No hyphen. But your constant whining is now over the top about the country and Trump. Here you have the ability to prosper and go as far as your desires take you but you don't. I watched Tyson on CSPAN debating the other day. He turned a debate on PC into a personal attack on a Canadian professor who happened to be white. That is how you have allowed yourselves to be viewed. Whining and victims.

Trump has not responded to the Rosanne fiasco and rightly so. No matter how he responds you liberals will attack him and keep her stupid words alive. So Trump is outsmarting you and your pals and you can't hack it. Why don't you start writing about the black success stories. There are plenty. Or all those Latino success stories? You won't as that will undermine your victimology. You are a pathetic whiner and now I see how brave a Ben Carson is as he had to overcome true racism and your claims he is a "Uncle Tom" to become a success. Same with Clarence Thomas and Thomas Sowell.

It would be refreshing to read your condemnation of the Samantha Bee and Kimmel and Maher for their attacks, but you won't. You are a wuss.

[Todd Juvinall]

Regarding Sierra Commons, it shows that a person can stretch the truth pretty far until the facts come out. She really has no experience in job creation. She doesn't even have one herself!

[rl crabb]

Here's Donny and Howard... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kikTv0I8XVw

[Gregory]

Wow, RL, 849am. Too bad that wasn't known before November '16.

Oh, wait... it was.

Other news for Dems... the generic congressional ballot... they're up 3.2% over the GOP! but... that's down from the 13% spread from last December when the Blue Wave excitement was oozing from every broadcast medium (and from the great Ernie Kovacs, we know it's a medium because it's neither rare nor well done) in anticipation.

[scenes]

re: RLCr@8:49AM

lol. Thanks. That's hilarious. Trump sounds like a good guy.

[Todd Juvinall]

Thanks RL that clip shows me the humor of the man you all despise. He is a totally fuuny man and he gets tongue in cheek. Thanks again!

[Walt]

When wages in Cali and elsewhere are 4X what the rent is people won't be '''poor'''.
The price of a #1 at Mc"D"'s used to be about six bucks not long ago. Today, it's at 10 bucks. (Big mac, frys and a coke.)
Over at A&W (never going there again!) 20 min. at the drive through, and FIFTEEN DOLLARS later for crapper chow.
Did they hire some homeless guy? We sure ain't getting what we pay for with the burger flipper pay raises.

[scenes]

Walt@12:13PM

The pure play for California pricing is the cost of gasoline. It's a mixture of taxes, price inflation due to wages, crazy blends, rules for refineries, and the state's ability to push pollution causing industries to other states or countries.

This last one always cracks me up. There's nothing quite like the self back-patting an electric car driver or solar panel owner can do when they make some creek in China more deadly.

[Gregory]

Best of Hilary Hodge

Here's Hilary before the election, reminding everyone that on Nov 9 '16, everyone will still have to get along:
https://www.theunion.com/opinion/hilary-hodge-remember-come-nov-9-were-all-still-in-this-together/

Ooops... scratch that last one:
https://www.theunion.com/opinion/hilary-hodge-this-election-was-not-about-winning-or-losing/

Poor thing crying for a week after the Nov '16 election disaster.

Here's the reason she could afford to move here and live in Nirvana County... her partner had been commuting up the hill to a job here and Ms. Hodge's job with some social services group was getting cut:
https://www.theunion.com/opinion/hilary-hodge-housing-in-nevada-county-part-1-relocating/

Here she is, waiting to close escrow on the house... less than a year ago.
https://www.theunion.com/opinion/hilary-hodge-housing-in-nevada-county-part-3-buying/

And here's the paydirt...
https://www.theunion.com/opinion/hilary-hodge-being-an-adult-a-lot-harder-than-it-looks/

"I wish I were the type of person who unfalteringly pays the bills on time, who regularly reads the books she checks out from the library, who regularly sees the dentist, and who never forgets a friend's birthday. I am not that person. I'm the type of person who is four or five days behind on reading the newspaper. I owe the local video store at least $10 in previously accrued late fees. Recently, and for no explainable reason, I have started to leave the new roll of toilet paper on top of the empty roll rather than change it out... When I was a teenager, I couldn't wait to be an adult. It looked like so much fun. I couldn't wait to get a job, have my own place, pay my bills, etc. It looked so easy. Being an adult is a lot of hard work. Being an adult and doing all the things required of adulthood is near impossible. I'm glad that sometimes, on the hardest days, I can just eat ice cream for dinner."

Hilary for Supervisor?

[M]

,,,what about the rest of the story not being reported in the trumpski echo chambers?

https://www.inquisitr.com/4922454/trump-slams-samantha-bee-for-calling-ivanka-ct-but-invited-ted-nugent-to-w-h-after-he-called-hillary-ct/

[Bill Tozer]

Gregory....nice

“This year was the first year that I've ever owed money on my taxes. The bill was unexpected and beyond what I had in my savings. My wife and I had to make some adjustments and cancel a few plans in order to make it work. The process of moving money around and making corrections wasn't fun. Unplanned bills feel awful and the panicked floundering against finances always makes me feel as though I'm failing at adulthood”

Owes the video store ten bucks and confesses “Being an adult and doing all the things required of adulthood is near impossible.”

That is what is running for Supervisor in this county? She will be handling multi-million dollar budgets???? A bag of Rocky Mountain Road Oysters would be more qualified. Light it on fire, ring the doorbell, and let our fellow tax payers stomp it out...and clean up that mess. Thank goodness her wife wears the adult pants in that family or she would still be living at Mom’s....or in Mom’s garage.

And that’s Latinx niece, not Latina.

[Bill Tozer]

Help Jeff, they are attacking me!

Hilary Hodge
11 hrs ·
I am begging my community: If you care about progressive voices—in local newspapers, on websites, anywhere–start commenting with YOUR progressive voices. Be loud. Be frequent. Drown out the hate. Check the aggression. Every time you read something you like, fill the comments section with love and herald the person who wrote it. The trolls may be few but they are loud and they are mean. Do not ignore this.Do not turn away. Combat this. Start reviewing the comments via our newspapers, websites etc and click through. (In my case, go to the The Union’s webpage, find articles like mine and click on the “join the conversation” button and say real things.) Please please please say something-anything! Every single thing said in response to my column is derogatory and mean. Usually, there is no voice sticking up for me and for writers who share my views. Progressive writers put themselves on the front lines of bullying to say something meaningful and real in this fucked up world. Please please please don’t expect us to stand alone. Never let bullying go unchecked. Never let a strong voice go without support. Now more than ever, be vocal and be fierce. Every time. Every single moment. Do not miss an opportunity to be the voice of reason and to lift someone up. Now, more than ever, SAY SOMETHING!

https://sierrafoothillsreport.com/2016/12/29/ms-hodge-and-others-are-going-to-stand-up-to-our-local-deplorables-in-2017/

Say something? Ok, something.

[Gregory]

Ooooh, here's another Hilary Hodge quote:
"When it comes to managing all the things that are important for succeeding as an adult, I am failing miserably. I mostly pay my bills on time. I usually eat a healthy breakfast. I try to go to bed at a reasonable hour and usually fall asleep sometime between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. I don't read any of the magazines I subscribe to. Almost all of my furniture is from IKEA. Last week, after work, I fell asleep in a chair because one of my cats crawled onto my lap and I didn't want to wake him up."

I am speechless. Is this whole Supervisor campaign a plot by her wife to get HH out of the house and into a paying job with benefits?

[Walt]

Holy crap! That's what's running for Sup? If she gets elected, things are worse that I thought.(and will be for sure.)

[M]

,,,BillT,,,welcome to the trumpski tax breaks,,,how’s that workin’ for ya?

[Bill Tozer]

“To get along with progressivism’ is ‘to surrender constitutionalism...The Constitution has firewalls. Progressivism does not.”—Mark Levin

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wpsH8Yqq9go

[Russ]

M | 02 June 2018 at 06:45 PM

Are you refering to his quote on Bill T's comment?

“This year was the first year that I've ever owed money on my taxes. The bill was unexpected and beyond what I had in my savings. My wife and I had to make some adjustments and cancel a few plans in order to make it work.

Not Bill's taxes, it was written by Hillary Hodge in an article. There are reading comprehension classes that you can take to improve your reading skills.

[Bill Tozer]

M, my taxes were much better this year, thank you for asking. Now, if I can get CA in line with the even wacky Seattle and drop the retirement taxes on money earned in CA, then I might think of staying. Not even Washington State does that to us po folk.

HH 88 wrote: “the panicked floundering against finances always makes me feel as though I'm failing at adulthood”

Well, maybe some mentor can explain to her what being a Supervisor is and how much time is involved with floundering against finances that always makes her feel like the she is one big failure at adulthood. Hmmm. Kinda like that 30 year old Syracuse man who just evictted from his parents house and is unable to pay $25/month child support.

Yes, Gregory nailed it. Her wife wants HH88 to get a job, lol.

[Bill Tozer]

Hillary did not have a good 2016:
As Puncy would say, “It was a dark speech. Very dark.” Hey, that’s exactly what the script said.

Animal advocates mourn death of Blossom Animal Rescue founder in Smartsville

Nevada County Farm Bureau endorses Glenn Jennings for district attorney

No single year of my life has done more to assault that value system than 2016.

2016 destroyed the last vestiges of my cultural childhood from claiming the life of David Bowie, the Goblin King from Labyrinth, my favorite childhood movie, to silencing the prophetic and angelic poetry of my favorite writer, Leonard Cohen. We lost so many heroes this year.

“Beyond literature and pop culture, I feel as though I am living at a time when the world has lost its mind or, at the very least, its sense of human decency.

This year has awoken so many of us to the attitudes of injustice that still plague our culture. From the mainstreaming of racism in America, to the ongoing struggle at Standing Rock for clean water, environmental protection and honoring native treaties, to electing Donald Trump, a volatile demagogue with no record or reputation for having the interests of America above his own, America has learned we have a lot of work to do.

Even beyond our borders, we see attitudes shifting towards modern populism and isolationism pitting cultures and countries against one another. We saw this with Brexit and the recent rejection of a constitutional referendum that was held in Italy. First-world countries, which have so long benefitted from plundering the resources of neighboring countries is now looking toward cultural insulation as a solution to modern economic problems. Distrust of government is manifesting in leadership as cross-cultural apathy. The world watched as Aleppo fell, the screams of children airing through social media and falling on the mostly deaf ears of world leaders.”

https://www.theunion.com/news/hilary-hodge-2016-the-end-of-innocence/

[Bill Tozer]

Moi.....Opps. Start with...

“No single year of my life has done more to assault that value system than 2016.

2016 destroyed blah, blah, blah, Brexit, blah, blah, blah,

[fish]

Posted by: Bill Tozer | 02 June 2018 at 08:06 PM

Wow.....you and Todd really stuck the firecracker in the ant 🐜 hole on that Union comment thread!

So much triggering!

[scenes]

BillT sez: "HH 88"

lol. Brutal.

HH 88 sez: "Even beyond our borders, we see attitudes shifting towards modern populism and isolationism pitting cultures and countries against one another. "

You know, the funny thing is that if our Lord and Masters hadn't decided that mass third world immigration was a wondrous idea, in both the USA and Europe, most of this would have simply simmered down into mild arguments about things like health care and taxes.

Dunno why the political 'Left' ( a very different creature than the Left from 30 years ago) has made immigration and open borders their primary policy point. It really is an odd thing and it's worth considering why that is. It must involve the same neurons as the deification of Men in Dresses.

It would be nice if potential supervisors spent their limited resources thinking about local transportation, library systems, policing, Master Plans and the like rather than world politics and chemtrails, but there's no reason to imagine that their abilities outstrip your typical city councilman.

[Bill Tozer]

Your typical Nevada City councilman already has world politics and chemtrails covered, so I reckon a county supervisor, while not as flashy, is best suited for those mundane things like keeping both feet on the ground and one’s head out of the clouds, and holding a real job. But, what do I know?

I sometimes forget that there are people out there that really do need a hug after such a devastating shock to their system.

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.254420818025296.63999.217926015008110/1326232970844070/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/Rowdier2/photos/a.1499270640284886.1073741828.1406258846252733/1955484881330124/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1324988294301871/?type=3&theater

[George Rebane]

scenes 946pm - "Dunno why the political 'Left' ( a very different creature than the Left from 30 years ago) has made immigration and open borders their primary policy point. " For consistency and coherency, I would again offer the observation that such a policy point again correlates perfectly with A21 objectives.

[Walt]

Now if this happened here........
http://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2018/06/03/liberal-outrage-over-replica-machine-gun-in-parade/
I might have to run for office just to pull the same stunt. TOO good.

[Bill Tozer]

Oh Walt.

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1326248587509175/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.254420818025296.63999.217926015008110/1327859794014721/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/1061172170699671/?type=3&theater

[scenes]

GeorgeR@8:22AM

I don't doubt that, but the Open Borders religion hits a lot of people at a gut level. I can understand not caring or being some sort of nationalist, but welcoming the world strikes me as a peculiar concept that is new to the last couple of decades.

Heck, even the big backers of legislation that helped out, like T. Kennedy, never really made public statements like that. The average progressive schlub could give a rip about Agenda 21, but they are four square for packing them into Europe and the US.

[scenes]

Walt@5:23PM

re: The machine gun outrage.

What I really like is the rubber stamped verbiage you see in this kind of thing. The evil non-progressive is always 'vile' or 'disgusting' or something similar. It's a step towards dehumanization of the enemy and works pretty well. If you are trying to wind yourself up for something more serious, it's a good move.

[Don Bessee]

Can we get one in time for the forth of July parade?? ;-)

[Bill Tozer]

scenes 946pm - "Dunno why the political 'Left' ( a very different creature than the Left from 30 years ago) has made immigration and open borders their primary policy point. " For consistency and coherency, I would again offer the observation that such a policy point again correlates perfectly with A21 objectives.

Posted by: George Rebane | 03 June 2018 at 08:22 AM

I, too, am perplexed why. Could it be as simple as Dr. Rebane has previously pointed out that it is all about new voters, i.e.....power? Is that a short term goal,a tactic if you will? Or, is it all to be found in Alisky’s playbook? Deliberately overload the safety net, civil unrest and massive rioting on the streets results, burn baby burn, extreme measures are called for, and out of the ashes arises something totally new? Something that flies in the face of the Constitution? Something that will still be called America, but not the United States? Why, why, why?

https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/1060557957427759/?type=3&theater

[Walt]

Done,, someone could mock one up with a plywood box and a closet pole,, and the gun haters would never know the diff. Just hold up a picture and they will nut up.

[Bill Tozer]

Back on topic, I would add “and the C word” to the list. Is there nothing Trump cannot do?

https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/1058797037603851/?type=3&theater

[Bill Tozer]

Samatha Bee the D lister, Rosie, and the orchestra:

I am shocked, shocked I tell ya.

https://patriotpost.us/cartoons/26207

https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/1061698020647086/?type=3&theater

Isn’t about time someone recycles the “He mocked a disabled reporter!” narrative? Hit it maestro. And a one, and a two.....

[Bill Tozer]

More Starbucks sensitivity training. There are now 8,000 more public restrooms across the fruited plains.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/56319-humor-video-starbucks-sensitivity-training