Rebane's Ruminations

Sandbox - 14mar19

[“USC, Yale University among colleges sued by Stanford students amid college admissions scandal” (more here and here)  Boys and girls, this is going to get big, real big.  gjr]

Sandbox - 8mar19

Sandbox - 3mar19

[No more swallows on RR.  gjr]

Sandbox - 26feb19

[The NCAA now allows transgender females to compete in women's track events, and soon other sports.  The big concern that needs to be addressed is not that the transgenders are setting new records for women, but that this makes no never mind to the officials now fashioning this new sports world, “Focusing on performance advantage is largely irrelevant because this is a rights issue. We shouldn’t be worried about trans people taking over the Olympics. We should be worried about their fairness and human rights instead.” (more here)  gjr] 

Sandbox - 13feb19

[Would El Chapo's billions paying for border infrastructure satisfy Trump's "... and Mexico will pay for it."??

... and by their fruits shall they be known.  gjr]

Sandbox - 6feb19

[Our leftwing commenters keep reporting that all of our border problems are nothing but rightwing propaganda, so why have the national news been reporting illegal entry numbers surging, caravans at the border trying to get in, and more caravans on the way from central America?  And how come Dems keep saying that walls don't work, and the border security authorities keep testifying and presenting data that they do?  gjr]

Sandbox - 2feb19

[Our favorite cartoonist RL 'Bob' Crabb and I share thoughts on the US benefitting from a multi-party (four or more) political smorgasbord.  Bob offered this good rendition, filched from the 2feb19 Union, of Howard Schultz's presidential ambitions.  There should be a lot more to say about that.  gjr]

Sandbox - 28jan19

[... and I would also draw your kind attention to the 28jan19 update of the last Ruminations.  gjr]

Sandbox - 21jan19

[Does anyone know what leverage would Trump have to get Dems to agree to border security funding were he to agree on first giving them all they want on illegal aliens in a bill that would also terminate the shutdown?  gjr]

Sandbox - 14jan19

[Why would the president's AG nominee William Barr telegraph the preposterous statement that he will tell the Senate judiciary committee that he would unconditionally allow Mueller to finish whatever he's been doing in the attempt to bring down the administration?  gjr]

Sandbox - 8jan19

[Get ready for President Trump's speech from the Oval Office tonight in which he'll try to convince us that there is national security crisis on our southern border, and that spending money to reduce border porosity is now a national priority which the Constitution allows, nay, requires him to exercise executive powers to defend America against an unending influx of poor, ignorant, and destitute foreigners who are told they have the right to illegally enter the country and establish a new life in America.  gjr]

Sandbox - 3jan19

[A little while back I asked for feedback on the notion of moderating RR comments in the effort to cut out a lot of the naked ad hominem interpersonal crappola comments that contribute nothing to the discussion of ideas, issues, or events.  The plan would be to quit moderating again as soon as the ad hominems were promoted to at least high school, if not churchillian, levels.  The response from all you worthies was a massive yawn.  Silence is also feedback, so I take that as apparently no one cares.  Thank you. gjr]

Sandbox - 28dec18

[So, does a president's responsibility to keep the nation secure, in this case via increasing border security (aka reducing border porosity), constitute a sufficiently important issue to warrant standing firm on his request for a minimal amount of funding ($5B or less) to increase that security and plug our very porous border, which the assaulting migrants are now pouring through at historically high rates?  gjr]

Sandbox - 23dec18

[Another hectic week has passed in the Trump administration.  Even FN is aping MSNBC and CNN with gotcha questions to their talking heads, questions like, ‘Now that no person experienced in military affairs would consider serving under a nationalist president like Trump, how is he going get someone qualified to fill the SecDef position?’  To those afflicted with TDS, this question is raw meat, and they will make the most of it describing a hopeless situation that will now compromise US national security.  On the other hand, none of those not so afflicted have brains to say, ‘Whoa!  To begin, I don’t accept your preamble to that question.  You need to make that case before you ask anyone to accept your question.'  Instead, the best these innocent snuffies are able to gurgle up is something like, ‘Well yes, it is a difficult situation and we hope that someone qualified will step up to the job.’  gjr]

Sandbox - 19dec18

[Well, does Mueller have anything on Trump and the Russians, or are he and his boys just continuing to manufacture crimes so that in the end they can point to some accomplishments, while hoping to distract all from the charter that gave rise to their commission?  Sure would like to see what he would have escrowed when I first suggested it.  gjr]

Sandbox - 14dec18

[The Travails of Trump continue morning, noon, and night.  He and his family is daily indicted, convicted, and condemned without any evidence presented to the public save the constant repetitious ravings of progressive pundits who never retract anything, leaving their TDS audience believing that their offal is gospel.  gjr] 

Sandbox - 8dec18

[The commenting problem has been fixed.  Apologies for the inconvenience.  gjr]

Sandbox - 5dec18

[Watching President GHW Bush’s funeral pageant this morning brings to mind that now and then we still have occasions in America that bring us all together.  But such occasions can only happen in sovereign nation-states like America still is today, a unique country where we Americans can find common values and shared lives upon which we are then called to reflect and reveal the things that still unite us.  gjr]

Sandbox - 29nov18

[For those interested in an expansion of how we use words today, as promised, I have addended the 'Fake News Defined' commentary that opens with a retort to Mr Steven Frisch's most recent contribution to these pages. gjr]

Sandbox - 23nov18

["Policy makers should view the problem from the starting point of today, and resolve to take action on every front. America must restore the norm of gainful employment for all who are mentally and physically able and are not working in the home. The private and public sectors must share responsibility for equipping every American, college-bound or not, with marketable 21st-century skills. Congress and state legislatures should restructure public benefit programs to encourage work and ensure that workers earn a living wage. Finally, the nation must enact public policies that sustain the labor market through downturns, making it possible for every able worker to find a job."  From the dreams of disconnected policy pundits.  (more here) ]

Sandbox - 19nov18

[Apologies for letting the last sandbox get overfilled.  I guess time flies while you're having fun ;-)  Please continue adding to the recent topics on the fires, etc as appropriate. gjr]

Sandbox – 11nov18

[CA fires continue to kill, destroy thousands of homes, and cost billions to contain. In the meantime prescription burns to reduce fuel loads are proscribed because of the potential of litigation costs from accidental or claimed damages from such burns. And police point out that mass shootings invariably occur in ‘gun-free zones’ where legal guns that could prevent/reduce deaths are banned. And the state’s housing shortage and high cost continue to be maintained by regulations and codes that cater to liberal governance dominated by the ecology epidemic. Insanity running rampant and on the rise. gjr]

Sandbox - 2nov18

[In the last sandbox Bro Gregory cites a WaPo story that brings up the notion that large, violent caravans heading north for the US border might become the norm.  My strong belief is that they will indeed become the norm if President Trump is not able to either get Mexico to disperse them before reaching the border, or that our border security fails (due to political pressures from our anti-American Left) and thousands of illegal new migrants suddenly find themselves successfully on American soil.  gjr]

Sandbox - 28oct18

[Apologies for the last sandbox getting a little rancid there.  We just returned from travel and I let things get away from me.  Well, now with all the additional stuff that's happened, there is a lot of catching up to do.  This morning NPR did a couple of hit pieces on President Trump, nimbly circling their innuendo wagons to blame him and the Republicans for all the current tragedies - happened and impending - while wondering why the other side doesn't stop "their hateful rhetoric" that is causing all this.  Of course, constantly pointing this out, their hands somehow remain clean.  gjr]

Sandbox - 19oct18

[WASHINGTON—President Trump is elevating the issue of immigration, which drove his 2016 campaign, with the aim of animating Republican voters in a midterm election that threatens to derail his agenda if Democrats retake the House.  Mr. Trump’s latest comments came Thursday as he warned about an “onslaught” of migrants reaching the southern U.S. border with Mexico and threatened to deploy the military if the caravan isn’t stopped.]