Rebane's Ruminations

Scattershots – 30dec24 (updated 3jan25)

George Rebane

Yes, Jimmy Carter was a nice and decent man, but he didn’t cut it as our President.  What no one is pointing out in the media is that President Carter took us to the very brink of WW3.  At the time (1977-80) this precarious situation was a highly classified assessment within our military and intelligence agencies.  Since then, the passage of time and the collapse of the USSR have allowed historians to tell us the albeit little read story, and the media have suppressed it as yesterday’s news and its anti-Left message.  As a member of the DoD’s classified research sector, I was constantly made aware of the goings on behind the Iron Curtain that gave obvious evidence of the Red Army’s preparation to come through the Fulda Gap.  Brezhnev told the Politburo that all the signs advised a ‘now-or-never’ opportunity for global communism – a war-weary US, greatly diminished post-Vietnam defense budgets, depleted US military stores, economy in shambles, low morale in the ranks, and a weak-willed President.  Add that to the USSR coming to the end of the line in its ability to keep funding their outsized military, and it was easy to conclude that the time had come to go to Paris.  Then in 1980 along came Reagan who immediately, and against the advice of the Pentagon, invited the Soviet command staff with their experts to visit the US and take a detailed tour of our R&D and defense plants across the country.  As I have described elsewhere, they were blown away and went back to report that the correct decision was ‘never’ – the US had ample military stores left, and had and was building advanced combat systems (many of which were operational) at historical rates with Reagan’s greatly enlarged defense budgets.  As a response, enter Gorbachev with his glasnost and perestroika, and the rest is history.  Now for the last four years and for the same reasons we’ve had that putz Putin dreaming of those glory days and doing all he can to start moving west again.

Dateline Washington – President-elect Donald Trump endorsed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) for another term, working to tamp down rumblings from some Republicans that the party should seek an alternative leader over complaints about spending.  “Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement.”

From his mouth to God’s ear, let it be so – onward!

[Update 31dec24] And now a Happy 2025 wish for all of the RR readers and commenter crew.  Jo Ann and I wish that you and your families enjoy a healthy, productive, and bountiful new year.

[2jan25 update]  PG&E sends out tree trimming crews to my neighborhood at least once a month.  They’re always a different contractor hired by the utility, and they always find yet another overhanging branch to trim or even cut down a tree.  For the last 20 years they have never finished the job of securing the power lines on my property.  The practice has all the hallmarks of a corrupt scam that contributes to California’s high electricity bills.  There is nothing to prevent the utility from such gratuitous work assignments all in the name of public safety.  The more of these that can be logged per budget cycle the better as far as the PUC and the utility's lawyers are concerned – subsequent rate increases to cover the costs are easily justified.  Of course, nothing prevents kickback monies flowing between the various levels of bureaucrats and tree contractors – for the system it’s a win-win scam as long as the consumer continues to unquestionably pay the bill.

{3jan25 update] "Mike Johnson Wins Speaker Vote on First Ballot After House Drama" - Gott sei Dank!

Sandbox - 30dec24

[Well, the congressional Repubs can really futch up President Trump and the country if they don't settle quickly on selecting a Speaker.  Operational competency of our political parties is in the toilet.  The Dems have historically led the way, but the Repubs are doing their best to now take the title.  gjr]

Christmas - 2024

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. - Matthew 1:23

George Rebane

Another year of healing and growth for our family with two more great-grandkiddies on the way.  Thankfully, we are again celebrating Christ’s birth with our local family.  Jo Ann and I wish all of our readers an equally joyous Christmas (or holidays of choice), followed by a healthy and prosperous new year.

Scattershots – 18dec24

George Rebane

The lopsided lamestream fesses up – not quite.  Those of us not restricted to lamestream media news have always had a more complete picture of what’s going on in the country and the world.  Not so for our leftwing friends.  But now that the election is over and there is nothing to be gained by more lies and omissions that favor the Democrats, the major left-leaning outlets – broadcast, print, online – are starting to fill in their audiences on what has really been going on since 2016.  Led by no less than the NYT, its readers are, for example, finally informed that the millions of illegal aliens who have entered and been loosened in our land has really been due to the border and immigration policies of the Biden/Harris administration.  National columnist Jason Riley fills you in (here) on some more revelations currently being introduced to the dedicated Democrat cadres across the land.  Managed ignorance has always been the forte of socialists worldwide, and in many ways we in America have perfected it.  But don’t hold your breath that this is an enduring epiphany with the lamestream; it’ll be back to business as usual before you know it.

Leftwing universities identified by the Left.  Here’s another awakening going on with our left-leaning thought leaders.  Prominent columnists of the Left like William Galston are writing revelatory essays such as ‘Higher Education Is in Trouble’ in the 18dec24 WSJ, coming right out and saying “schools should curtail DEI and stop taking political sides.”  He admits that “higher education in the U.S. faces a crisis: Its credibility is under attack. The public is increasingly skeptical of university-trained experts and the test-score-based meritocracy that dominates America’s upper middle class.”  But note that he doesn’t specify that only the leftwing upper middle class has been skeptical about testing – the rightwingers of all classes have long been and continue to be supporters of meritocratic metrics.  Galston also has a jaundiced view of the relevant history he claims that led to politicized leftwing universities – the listed faults are all attributable to Republican policy failures.  To his credit, Galston does conclude with three useful prescriptions starting with, “First, they should get their houses in order. They should end mandatory DEI statements for faculty and staff candidates. They should adopt the principle of institutional neutrality … (and) while defending free speech, they should act firmly against activities that impede core academic functions such as teaching, learning and hosting speakers with a range of views.” 

California’s continuing war against privately owned cars advances another notch.  The legislature is pushing through AB413 which will make it illegal to park within 20 feet of a crosswalk.  You’re supposed to believe it’s for “public safety”.  It’s real purpose is to remove thousands of parking spaces from our cities and towns, making an already bad situation worse.  For example, San Francisco will lose 14,000 parking spaces, and about 100,000 statewide.  Californians keep voting for “busybodies (who) want people walking, biking, scooting, or bussing — anything but driving their own cars to their own destinations on their own schedules.”  (more here)

Sandbox - 14dec24

[Union columnist Darrell Berkheimer posted a good piece here in today's (14dec24) edition of the newspaper on 'Our slide toward ignorance' - worth a read.  gjr]

Drones over New Jersey

George Rebane

Kinda reminds you of the classic ‘Moon over Miami’, except hold the romantic part.  The ongoing sightings, now numbering in the hundreds, remain unexplained by our government.  That this has been going on for weeks is unheard of in our nation’s history, yet it is very revealing as to the new attitude that our rulers have for us.  These aircraft are not to be dismissed as something insignificant that we’ll get around to puzzling out some day soon.  All of them are of a size that can carry cameras and munitions – some of the larger ones can carry payloads weighing over 100 lbs, enough for a sizeable nuclear device in addition to some very destructive high explosive warheads.

What is the reason that we have not sent up armed gunships and/or other aircraft that can close with and follow these UAVs to determine their nature, source, and where they will eventually land.  The government mouthpieces dutifully lie to us, a much practiced skill, about not knowing anything about them as they promise to keep “investigating”.  Who among us believes that crap as these things continue to crisscross some of the most critical and densely used airspace in the country?

Why has not a single one of them been shot down yet?  That fact alone makes the whole affair smell to high heaven.  But the larger takeaway from all this is clear – it is the nature of governments in the large to be incompetent, ignorant, and demonstrably evil in the way they treat their citizens.  To their power centers and legions of bureaucrats we are no more than potted plants to be handled and/or dismissed in any way they please.  As always, the solution to this perennial problem of governance is to keep governments small and minimize the amount of money they can collect and spend.  Hopefully the brothers DOGE can push the peanut in that direction.

Great Divide – unclear on the concept (updated)

George Rebane

[Update - A slightly edited version of this post was published here in the 12dec24 online and 13dec24 print editions of The Union.]

The other day I read a newspaper column by a good-hearted commentator who tried to convince readers that there already exists a natural and effective path both sides can travel to heal the historical schism which today separates us and grows wider by the year.  In keeping with the season when families gather to celebrate their holidays, our columnist pointed out that sharing “our love of family and friends and our desire for the best for them” is sufficient common ground to foster a dialogue for healing our nation’s breach.

We have heard such shibboleths for decades now as the country’s ideological factions continue to draw us apart.  My own thoughts on this seeming paradox have led to the realization that it is precisely those shared sentiments we have for family and friends that have driven us apart, and which will continue to do so the more we all are intensely concerned for the future of our loved ones.

Reflecting on the matter, we see it is really the diametrically opposite endpoints of the country’s governance, in which both sides fervently believe and work for, that give rise to the hate and discontent we have with each other.  As a free market capitalist who believes in individual liberties, and who has directly experienced living under their absence, I loathe the thought of all those ignorant yet well-meaning neighbors and fear their cynical political leaders who work day and night to achieve a collectivist autocracy under which all that we hold near and dear about the organization of society will become impossible.  I and people who share my beliefs consider the achievement of such ends, especially under the cloak of perfidy, to be the dominant and overwhelming evil of our times that will endure and prevail unless we address it openly and directly in the public forum.

And the rank and file of such believers in collectivism share the exact opposite views, and of us as the purveyors of programs and policies that will lead to a tyranny reminiscent of Nazism and fascism (although predictably not socialism or communism).  Understandably they want none of that for their families and friends, and see us opposing their ideological desiderata as the nation’s evil ones.  And so the beat goes on, vehemently abetted by disastrously misunderstood shared values where each side is convinced the other side wants to herd them down the road to serfdom.

That we continue to hope for change and rapprochement while beseeching the same laudable social values of hearth, home, family, and friends no doubt qualifies such behavior as another form of mass insanity that guarantees our growing separation.  

Scattershots – 2dec24 (updated)

George Rebane

Trump’s cabinet picks are overwhelmingly on the mark by my lights.  However, there are a couple of them who are arguably inappropriate for their assigned jobs.  Former congress critter Tulsi Gabbard is a nice lady, and no doubt has many talents which do not include the executive experience and required knowledge base to become Director of National Intelligence.  The DNI oversees 18 of nation’s top intelligence agencies and is responsible for summarizing much of what the president sees on a daily basis.  There are many others more suitable for the job.  And Lori Chavez-DeRemer is an abysmally poor choice for SecLabor.  She is on record as the most pro-union Republican and supports the Protecting the Right to Organize Act which is a devious piece of legislation that the unions use to enforce workers to unionize against their will.  Her confirmation in that job puts a fox to guard the hen house.

Speaking of the cosmos and an ontology that has an excellent chance to make sense of it, I offer for your attention a video on some important ongoing research in that field of enquiry.  Dr Michael Levin of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University has recorded a long podcast summarizing the current status of this research – ‘Self-constructing bodies, collective minds: the intersection of CS, cognitive bio, and philosophy’.  To me it was an extremely illuminating cum mind-blowing presentation.  I have long thought that at its primal level the cosmos (i.e. ‘what is’) is really an amalgam of evolving patterns at many levels of intelligence that are variously structured into a universe which is then seen as distinct realities by its countless parts (patterns) observing/seeking their own foundations.  Levin’s work is the first I’ve encountered that puts my hazy mental meanderings on a more solid footing.  The next thing I need to do is take the time to view the whole thing again, and make notes.  More to be said about it later.  For those interested in these concepts and questions, I introduce you to the bleeding edge of such thoughts.

[update]  Joe pardons son Hunter and logs one more gigantic lie to the legion already on his record.  Looking in the rear-view mirror we all should have seen this coming.  The pardon is a required ‘Stay out of Jail’ card for the entire Biden family.  I can hear Hunter telling his pop ‘if I’m going down, you all are going down.’  Hunter knows enough to send a lot of people up the river, and if he is now hauled into court again, you can bet the ranch that he’ll sing like a bird.

Sandbox – 1dec24

[Democrats and their media mouthpieces are having a hell of time figuring out why Kamala lost, having forgotten their own dismal assessments of the cacophonous cackler.  And to add to the comedy of Left, there is still a contingent of progressives who are contemplating various political futures for the woman.  None of them understand how inappropriate she is as a candidate for any elected office.  gjr]