Ruminations – 20sep20 (updated 24sep20)

George Rebane

‘Why the Abraham Accords Happened’ is another reason so many Americans focus on President Trump’s walk and not his talk, and another reason they (I included) will vote for his second term.  I cannot believe the incompetence, let alone the socialist cynicism, that will descend on the White House and country if the Harris/Biden administration is installed.

[21sep20 update]  Here are some (non-exhaustive) bullet points that summarize why I favor the re-election of President Trump –

1. Experienced and accomplished businessman who understands the role and function of the private sector v the government in a nation’s economy.
2. Demonstrated accomplishments in revamping America’s foreign policy in international relations and trade.
3. Demonstrated accomplishments in growing America’s economy, managing the C19 pandemic, and has plans for more of the same.
4. Understands the role of a strong military in maintaining America’s hegemony.
5. Understands the role of secure borders in maintaining America’s sovereignty.
6. First president in generations to help blacks start shedding their plantation mentality.
7. Understands the correct way to maintain energy independence and integrate green energy into our economy.
8. Speaks his mind directly to the public without embellishments, but with some unfortunate braggadocio which detracts from his more substantive message and methods.
9. Understands and opposes the evils of collectivist governance and the history of collectivist governments.
10. Is a demonstrated constitutionalist, understands and opposes the Left’s efforts to fundamentally transform America into a socialist cum communist state.

Here are some (non-exhaustive) bullet points that summarize why I oppose the election of former VP Biden –

1. A dismally unaccomplished political hack with almost half-century of undistinguished service in Congress – no one has served longer and done less.
2. A record of uniformly wrong calls on foreign policy issues and decisions.
3. Understands nothing demonstrable about the operation of a nation’s economy – an economic imbecile as witnessed by his endorsement of the 2020 Democratic platform.
4. Opposes the maintenance of a strong military in favor of expanding vote-buying social programs.
5. Opposes the maintenance of secure borders and does not understand their function in preserving a nation’s culture, cohesion, and sovereignty.
6. Long history of supporting programs which destroyed black families and shrank their middle class. Intends to maintain and amplify our minorities’ sense of victimhood and dependence on transfer payments – a naturally divisive politician.
7. Has no discernible understanding of science or how it communicates and advances, which includes his support of devastating programs to prematurely mandate the nation’s abandoning fossil fuels and conversion to renewable energy sources.
8. Has a long history of two-faced speech and lying to comply with the political winds du jour from the Left. Is now sufficiently senile (possible dementia?) and in poor health as to make a farce of executing the office of the president – clearly would not complete first term if elected.
9. Strongly supports collectivism in all its forms as confirmed by his embrace of the 2020 Democrat platform (especially the provisions of the Green New Deal).  Strongly supports widening the voting franchise to include incarcerated criminals, non-citizens, and malleably ignorant teenagers.
10. Is a demonstrated constitutional revisionist who believes the Constitution is a ‘living document’ that is badly outdated and in need of major overhaul. Wholeheartedly supports the nation’s fundamental transformation into a socialist state.

[22sep20 update]  Recently read a piece by a retired teacher who lamented the absence of critical thought by our young because of the paucity of their knowledge base, which he charmingly relabeled as “stuff”.  He recounted that as a student he went to school to learn stuff, because in those days teachers taught stuff that was useful and needed for when you grew up.  And when he was a teacher, he taught his students all kinds of stuff that they would need.  But today in our schools teachers no longer know much stuff, and, for mainly political reasons, they most certainly teach very little useful stuff to our kids.  (I like ‘stuff’, and will be using it a lot when talking about knowledge bases and repositiories.)

UV light as a disinfectant.  Given the debate about how Covid spreads through exhaled aerosols, I keep wondering why stores, restaurants, and other closed volume venues don’t install UV lights to reduce the concentration of all kinds of nano- and micro-level critters that can do us harm.

An example of radical leftwing propaganda can always be found on the proto-communist truthout.com.  ‘Trump Fuels March Towards Fascism With “Anarchist Jurisdictions” Edict’ is an example of the typical fare its readers consume on a daily basis.  It’s always worth a read now and then to update yourself on their ideological temperature.  Our leftwing commenters’ contributions read as if they all regularly digest such a ration of rage.

‘The Military's Secret to Fighting COVID-19’  Here’s something to frost your external plumbing.  Check out the stats from the military on how their C19 response policy is working  out.  Out of 1.3M active duty personnel, they have had about 38,500 cases, and (seatbelts please) only ONE death.  You have to digest this with the fact that “the vast majority of those men and women serving in our armed forces are between the ages of 17 and 40”, while, of course, the vast majority of C19 deaths have occurred in the comorbid elderly.  Now what does this little piece, so well covered up by our lamestream, tell us about continuing our current patchwork of restrictive civilian response policies?  (H/T to reader)

[24sep20 update] Florida passes anti-riot and anti-mob law.  Gov Desantis gives an excellent summary of the law in this video.  H/T to the 22sep20 Sandbox commenter who posted this link and asked why no Dem governor is promoting such legislation to bring safe communities back to their state.

Neo-Marxist BLM has blanketed the nation with more lies about the Breonna Taylor’s death at the hands of the Louisville police who did NOT execute a ‘no-knock warrant’, loudly announced their presence, and opened fire after Breonna’s drug-suspect boyfriend shot one of the police.  Sadly, the grand jury returned an indictment against one of the officers for nothing more than poor marksmanship during a tense and chaotic exchange of fire.  Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron explained the facts of the encounter to the nation (here), but that made no never mind to the lied to and organized BLM mobs rioting in various cities across our land – evil afoot.

Comments

[paul emery]

George

I cannot imagine more incompetence than what the Trump administration exhibited during the Pandemic. 200,000 death and climbing later is evidence enough.

[Gregory]

Yes, Punchy, so... you now think Trump should have sent troops into New York and New Jersey to reverse their push to put patients with active infections into long term care facilities?

There would be many fewer Americans dead had Dem governors used common sense.

[Don Bessee]

It was cuomo culling the republican herd in nursing homes. Hell even the professors are in on the game -

"I’m sorry, but that’s so frustrating — just — I don’t know what else to do. You can’t argue with them, you can’t talk sense with them. I said to somebody yesterday I hope they all die before the election."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-trump-professors-coronavirus-wish-for-presidents-supporters-gets-her-suspended

[Bill Tozer]

Oh Paul Emery, Paul Emery. Just in the last two weeks our CDC announced that 9,000 something (under 10k) Americans have died solely because of SARS- COVID 19. The other cases of death (95%) were directly due to people with pre-exiting conditions such as morbid obesity, COPD, diabetics, chronic heart problems, respiratory problems and being over 80.

I thought you should know that being a news director and all.

Also, how is it going now for the ‘Greaser’ Grease Ball’ ‘Slim Ball’ for his after his nfamous Trump Tower meeting? Let’s take a peek, shall we Paul Emery? Glad you asked.

‘Mideast experts aren’t laughing at Jared Kushner anymore’

“The critics took great umbrage at Kushner’s admonishing the Palestinian leadership, not realizing that they were beholden to out-of-date conventional wisdom. The tectonic plates were shifting such that the only path to peace no longer ran through the Palestinians, if it ever did. The frustration that Kushner was expressing was shared by Arab leaders.

Of course, since Kushner had been intensely engaged in the region, he understood this when most of the journalists and advocates portraying him as a hopeless ignoramus had no idea. He knew what he was talking about when they, by and large, didn’t.

Trump’s fans call him a disrupter, too often simply to excuse anything he does. But in the case of the Middle East, he overturned the policy he inherited, did things no other president would (especially the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem) and then was in a position to capitalize when something shook loose.

This is an undeniable achievement and one that was intelligently conceived. With honorable exceptions, very few Trump critics have been willing to give credit where it’s due.

For them, as ever, it’s on to the next thing, but the record will show who got this one right and who marinated in their own self-righteous disdain.”

https://nypost.com/2020/09/17/mideast-experts-arent-laughing-at-jared-kushner-anymore/

Amazing. Probably all my life the Middle East has been a quagmire. The 6 Day War, the hostilities breaking out in 72-73 with Kissinger stepping in to save Egypt from decimation, the Suez Canal, Carter standing with Yasser Arafat (who received the Nobel Peace Prize) and Yitzhak Rabin (who was later assassinated) and on and on it goes...until the Kush gave it a push.

Be it far from me to tell you, Paul Emery the News Director, what to do. That’s for control freaks to tell people what to do. But, a little bit of advice you may find helpful:

Stop believing Michael Cohen. He’s the one that came up with the fake story about what happened in Trump Tower. E-mails and documents and eye witnesses and Mueller’s scores of investigators digging in to it showed a different much different story. Just sayin and just wasting (biden’) my time trying to help an off track brother out.

Now, with the niceties out of the way, the Middle East peace story is as big as the Berlin Wall coming down in many aspects. Wow, just wow. To see a glimpse of hope in my lifetime is incredible.
A word of caution. if all the Biden voters get their way, we will be back in the Mullah Mullah deal, giving the terrorist state of Iran money and nukes. Oh boy. “Death to America! Death to America!” That’s sounds exactly like all the Antifa and BLM and educated white progressive Biden voters chant. The Squad is most unhappy, having that anti-Semitic streak that is so prevalent on the Left.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 332pm - You live in a much simpler and much more cynical world than most Americans. There is neither basis nor evidence for blaming Trump for the dubious 200K deaths attributed to C19. But then we again are reminded that for you and yours an allegation is a perfect proxy for evidence and subsequent indictment. Stalin ran such a system in the 1930s as a preamble for executing most of his military's command staff.

[paul emery]

Bill can you show me a link to sustain your claim that "CDC announced that 9,000 something (under 10k) Americans have died solely because of SARS- COVID 19."

[George Rebane]

PaulE 449pm - A little journalistic research brings up the following -
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm

[Don Bessee]

You mean this oh great pony tail of ignorance -

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report late last week showing that just 9,683 Americans, or 6%, died with only COVID-19 listed on their death certificates, leading to a social media trending topic on the issue.

The other 94% of deaths were listed as having at least one additional medical condition linked to their death

https://www.newsmax.com/us/coronavirus-covid-twitter/2020/08/30/id/984567/

https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/cdc-6-percent-covid-deaths

;-)

[Bill Tozer]

Paul the New Director and Don.

Lol. A quick google of the topic I raised for the Punch Drunk One’s benefit has a list of False, Debunk, Fact Checker says Fakenews links. So, I found a link that is neither Radical Right Wing or unhinged extremist far Leftist media. Something for everybody.

‘What the CDC Means By Describing COVID As the 'Only Cause' of 6 Percent of Patient Deaths
It doesn't mean that only 9,200 Americans have died from coronavirus infections’

https://thedispatch.com/p/what-the-cdc-means-by-describing

We all remember (hopefully) the dude that drove his car off a cliff on the Coast Hwy and The Plague was listed as COVID-19. And for every cause of death get 40k greenback dollars. Oregon had to reduce its death count by 200 months ago, along with state after state. PA, Michigan, FL, Georgia down listed their COVID death numbers in their states and counties as data gathering were too much on the high side. But, that ain’t the issue is it? Either way, there is the blood of 200,000 innocent souls on Trumps hands and he say it “was finger licking good”—-twice!

Look at it like this, Paul Emery. Granny is an full blown alcoholic. She one day falls down and breaks her hip and they find granny body a few days later. Cause of death may be internal bleeding, failed liver, blunt force trauma, heart failure.....Anything put alcoholism.

[Don Bessee]

Well that's one way to suppress the vote. -

https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-postal-workers-threaten-to-stop-delivering-mail-after-multiple-employees-shot-on-the-job

;-)

[paul emery]

George

I am referring to Trumps leadership in this crisis. Trump said this is a war and he is Commander in Chief. Are you satisfied with his leadership in that roll?

[paul emery]

So Bill to simplify the conversation you contend that there were far less than 200,000 souls who died from the virus.

[paul emery]

And continuing the simplification of the issues do you believe that Trump did a good job as Commander in Chief of the troops in the war agaisnt the virus?

[Scott O]

Paul - we've been through this and have already answered your question.
If Biden had been pres, 1/2 the nation would be dead.

[Bill Tozer]

Paul Emery the New Director:

And what the Sam Hill does American COVID-19 deaths have to do with the Abraham Accords? Hmmm? Anything?

I smell the TDS swamp gas trying to distract from the topic at hand. Again and again. Dilution is the solutuon, apparently.

Do you feel nervous about the Abramham Accords, local News Director? If so, are in good company with the lamestream news directors. They said it makes them feel "nervous" about knowing what little they know about the topic at hand. Another topic that does not interest you, Paul the News Director? I know, you don't care about that kind of stuff. Who cares?

Thanks in advance for agreeing with me.

Talk about (mis)directing the News, oh News Director.

[Todd Juvinall]

Under Biden and Obama, their leadership saw almost five million deaths from heart disease. What the heck?

[paul emery]

So Todd, you are satisfied with Trumps leadership in the Pandemic.

[Scott O]

Paul - "I cannot imagine more incompetence than what the Trump administration exhibited during the Pandemic."
Gee Paul - what (exactly) should Trump have done?
If you can't answer, then you can't complain about what he did do.
If Biden had been in office, it would have been far worse.
We know that.

[walt]

Emery's sanity is as gone as Biden's.
"200,000 million dead"
Back that liar Emery.

Coming home tomorrow
A long time coming.
And 40 pounds lighter
A waight loss program I do not recommend.

[walt]

Here is an easy one Emery, another lib of questionable mental skills wants to use impeachment again.. care to say for just what?

[Bill Tozer]

Yes Paul Emery, yes. Indeed I contend that far far far less, hundreds and thousands times less Americans have died solely from the Wuhan Chinese Virus alone. Absolutely. What was your first clue?

I will gladly continue this conversation under the proper post. There are many on the Kung Flu worldwide pandemic and the lamebrain lamestream Biden voters' reaction to hair salons being closed. Now, thats a real crisis fa sure.

Again I must ask, "And what the Sam Hill does American COVID-19 deaths have to do with the Abraham Accords? Hmmm? Anything?"

Do the Abraham Accords not rise to the occassion of Dr. REBANE dedicating a post on this historic current event? Are you that dense or afflicted with TDS?

If you want to stay off topic that bad, get a dog and tell Fifi the puppy all about it as you put pink curlers and horn rim glasses on her...and, of course, her little leather teddy.

Focus grasshoper, focus.

[Bill Tozer]

TRUMP TO SELECT WOMAN FOR THE SUPREME COURT
President Trump has said he will nominate a woman to take the place of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He joked, “I think [the nominee] should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men.”

Actually, Trump is eliminating men from consideration purely for political considerations. That’s understandable, but it’s comparable to Joe Biden’s irresponsible decision to set aside the vice presidential nomination for a woman.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/trump-to-select-woman-for-the-supreme-court.php

[Scott O]

Walt 7:47 - Home will never look so good. Glad to see you got out of the joint and are on the mend.

[Bill Tozer]

Save me the big pieces, Brother Walt.

[George Rebane]

Gentlemen, this is NOT a Sandbox.

[Paul Emery]

George

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Trumps lies. Was this an intentional lie or " unfortunate braggadocio" as you like to put it. This is the first of many examples I'll send your way. this is from the Washington Post :

“We built the greatest economy in history, not only for our country, but for the world. We were number one, by far.”
Fact Check:

Before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses and sent unemployment soaring, the president could certainly brag about the state of the economy in his first three years as president. But he ran into trouble when he made a play for the history books to say it was the best economy in U.S. history. By just about any important measure, the economy under Trump did not do as well as it did under Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson or Bill Clinton. The gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in 2019, slipping from 2.9 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2017. But in 1997, 1998 and 1999, GDP grew 4.5 percent, 4.5 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively. Yet even that period paled in comparison against the 1950s and 1960s. Growth between 1962 and 1966 ranged from 4.4 percent to 6.6 percent. In postwar 1950 and 1951, it was 8.7 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate reached a low of 3.5 percent under Trump, but it dipped as low as 2.5 percent in 1953. (After the virus tanked the economy, Trump jacked up his claim even more, falsely saying it had been the greatest economy in the history of the world.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1109am - That kind of a 'lie' is a BFD (aka 'no never mind') in my book, and suspect that sentiment is shared by millions across the land. Trump did what he did, and most Americans appreciate it.

[paul emery]

George

Trumps claims were factually incorrect. Do you or do you not consider supporting factually incorrect statements to be a lie? Or perhaps it's ignorance.

[Don Bessee]

Looks like too much truth got out about the marxists in their own words -

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/21/black-lives-matter-drops-call-to-disrupt-nuclear-family-from-website/

;-)

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1215pm - your picayune arguments in such matters indicate that you have me and millions of other Americans confused with someone who cares.

[Scott O]

Paul 12:15 - The economy under Trump did better than Obama had said was even possible. Unemployment for non-whites was lower than ever.
The stock market has grown and that has saved (for now) the butt of the woefully under-funded public pensions. The actual amount of dollars flowing into the treasury was setting records. That's what is important. I don't give a rat's ass what Trump says about it. What he says is not important.
It is telling that you and the other lefties have not one good thing to say about your hero Biden or the pres-in-waiting, Harris. You are openly running away from the Dem party platform. All you can do is sit in the dirt and throw rocks.
Why don't you do something you obviously didn't do when Obama first ran for pres. Why not actually do some research on Biden from some other source than the DNC or one of its many satellite news outlets?
Of course - like an idiot you have boxed yourself into a corner by promising to vote for whomever the Dems ran for pres and now you're stuck with a washed up party hack who can't even talk in complete sentences.
How about that 4 hour debate with Rogan moderating? Wouldn't that be a good way for the nation to really see the 2 candidates?

[Bill Tozer]

Re: excellent update. Trump vs Sleepy Joe

LET THE WINNING CONTINUE!
"Trump famously boasted in 2016 that there’d be so much winning that we’d get tired of all the winning. The last week has seen so much winning that not even the most extravagant NFL end zone celebration can express it"

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/09/let-the-winning-continue.php

[Bill Tozer]

re update; A case against Joe Biden

https://bongino.com/the-case-against-joe-biden

[Scott O]

BT 12:34 - you do realize that none of the lefties that show up here are going to read this? Paul has already stupidly committed himself to voting for Biden no matter what.
The rest of us wouldn't vote for Biden no matter how much money Bloomberg paid us.
Of course - it is amusing for us to see what a twat the Dems are going to vote for on ... what, Oct 3rd to Jan something or other?
Need to scour those car trunks for the necessary missing votes.
No post marks are needed - just count all these freshly printed and marked ballots, damn you.

[George Rebane]

Re BillT 1234pm - What is truly remarkable and sad in our two-party system is that the Dems can neither make a case for Biden, nor make any substantive case against Trump save a constant barrage of empty ad hominems. On the other hand, every rightwinger can and does make a substantive case for Trump, and also an equally substantive case against Biden.

We continue to wonder why none of Biden's supporters come out and burnish his record or platform. The man remains a pathetic empty suit who now shills for his running mate, who has already stepped out of the shadows telling us she is prepared to lead the Harris/Biden ticket.

[scenes]

Come on, this is absolutely brilliant. Lifted from ZH.

"Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg - who has committed at least $100 million in Florida towards electing Joe Biden, has raised another $16 million to pay the court fines and fees of nearly 32,000 Black and Hispanic felons so that they can vote in the November election."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-bloomberg-raises-16-million-to-allow-former-felons-to-vote-in-florida/2020/09/21/6dda787e-fc5a-11ea-8d05-9beaaa91c71f_story.html

[Bill Tozer]

Dr. Rebane @ 8:02 am.

AOC may have said it best. She told her followers that you DO NOT have to agree with Biden, but vote for him because he can be moved to the Left (easily).

WTF? Move Biden to the Left? When Obama picked Senator Biden for VP, Biden was scored as the 4th most liberal in Senate. Obama was scored as #1. We can get Biden to move to the Left. Insert laugh track here.
The Left to AOC must be a lot different that what I consider the Left. More like radical far left extremism to understate the Marxists/Maoist plans they promote with every fiber in their control freak power mad broken thinkers.

Biden can be moved to the Left, roflmao. Yep, another Big Lie is that Biden is a moderate. No matter how the package Creepy Joe, its still putting lipstick on a Lefty pig.

[scenes]

GeorgeR: "Given the debate about how Covid spreads through exhaled aerosols, I keep wondering why stores, restaurants, and other closed volume venues don’t install UV lights to reduce the concentration of all kinds of nano- and micro-level critters that can do us harm."

That's an interesting point. You could make a case for UV'ing dishware, table service, etc. It's not like it would cost much.

Somebody could make an interesting life's work out of tracing just how people get sick through restaurants. The low hanging fruit (refrigerator temps, grill temps, countertop material) has been plucked, but I'll bet there's a lot yet to be learned. Perhaps the server is the vector rather than the kitchen.

Truth is, I'll bet that one of the interesting side effects of The Plague is people discovering how little value a restaurant really is...essentially purely a social meeting. They tend to use cheaper materials than you'll use at home and rarely produce hard-to-make meals for people. I can see where it's a business that shrinks quite a lot going forward. Perhaps everyone rediscovered how to make their own coffee for less than $5 to boot.

Another long-term casualty might be live entertainment. Movies. Live music. With an 8 foot screen at home and decent sound, what's the point? Invite your friends, which reminds me...

What I'd like to see is a resurgence in home entertainment rather than going out. $1.50 / glass wine is not such a bad thing. We could pair that to a move towards jobs that are actually useful.

[George Rebane]

Careful Mr scenes (304pm), a bit too much practical wisdom could tank the old economy before the new one comes online. Remember the old Estonian adage.