Rebane's Ruminations

Sandbox – 7aug20

[What no one talks about is the blatant fact that Joe Biden is now America’s Manchurian candidate as his platform has migrated from ‘bipartisan civility’ to hard left socialism.  That ol’ Bumblebrain is the ‘safe alternative’ to Trump and will bring the country back on even keel is perhaps the biggest lie that the Dems and their lamestream are foisting on Americans.  Joe has made a bait and switch pact with the devil, and is now our proto-communist candidate a la Bernie and AOC, having publicly accepted and promised to implement their respective policy prescriptions.  And no one knows or even cares about it, as the Hate Trump campaign outshouts all else.  (more here) gjr]

Sandbox - 27jul20

[Does everyone know what Nevada County Supes are planning to vote on tomorrow?  Heidi Hall (District1) plans to introduce Urgency Ordinance Measure 37 that would impose draconian fines on local residents for not wearing a mask, even while social distancing.  This is the latest of the power-mad disease infecting political pinheads across the country.  Write your supervisor or be there.  gjr]

Sandbox – 11jul20

[Given this week’s SCOTUS ruling on Indian lands in Oklahoma (here and here), the future of all 19^th century abrogated treaties with our indigenous Americans will come up for review.  All this will create chaos in the governmental jurisdictions involved, not the least being the status of non-Indians and their property rights.  gjr]

Sandbox - 3jul20

[Alex Berenson on the real skinny behind Covid-19 reporting.  Short book and very much worth a read if you’re interested in debating the pandemic, how it’s reported, and various response policies (here).  Apologies for letting the last sandbox languish a bit too long; we're working through a family medical emergency here.  gjr]

Sandbox - 24jun20

[In the intro to the last Sandbox, my invitation to readers to discuss the dollar-value of human life went over like a turd in a punchbowl.  It appears that the best approach to discussing the value of human lives is just to bloviate with a lot of virtue signalling thrown in.  That's supposed to divert the reader from discovering that the writer has no idea what he's talking about.  Public policies are supposed to be made with some regard to a broadly agreed on dollar-value of a human life, but only, I guess, if the public gives a damn.  Oh well.  gjr]

Sandbox - 18jun20

[The value of anything is highly subjective, always determined by a 'seller' and 'buyer' when they strike a deal.  Therefore the value of any given 'thing', e.g. human life, varies according to who is the human and who is the 'buyer'.  Any values set by third parties with no skin in the game are arbitrary and quickly circumvented by/in markets.  So consider the back window yellow diamond sign that reads 'Drive carefully, Baby inside', and another one reading 'Drive carefully, young PhD in neuro-science inside', or even one that reads 'Drive carefully, Community organizer inside'.  How would you rate the implied value of these lives?  to you? to society? gjr]

Sandbox - 12jun20

[The dollar value of human lives was touched on in the last Sandbox.  I predict that this topic will be quickly forgotten by our leftwing readers, since it will be a debate to which they must needs arrive unarmed.  gjr]

Sandbox – 4jun20

[Apologies for letting the 2jun20 Sandbox get out of hand with all of its misplaced comments that I should have deleted as they appeared.  Here I’m talking about the pandemic and George Floyd response comments that had homes under my other topical commentaries.  I’ll try to do a much better job in this sandbox to delete all misplaced comments immediately before they become lengthy discussion threads.  And thanks for your support.  gjr]

Sandbox - 2jun20

[It's now established that we have a full-service House Speaker in Nancy Pelosi.  She has donned the additional mantle of Congressional Spiritual Adviser.  And as her first task in that new responsibility, she has taken the President under her wing with pointed counsel directing his scriptural pursuits.  We already know of her as a woman of manifold talents and a multitude of concerns - her capacity to care knows no bounds.  However, pursuant to this new expansion of duties, were I the current House Chaplain, Fr. Patrick J. Conroy, S.J., I would be very worried.  The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.  gjr]

Sandbox -26may20

[What remains the point of debates which are empty of citations that are commonly accepted by the debating parties?  As I have pontificated here for some years, and am now joined by my betters like Victor Davis Hanson among others, we are so polarized that we no longer share any cognitive common ground.  In other words, we arrive at venues like RR, not only with our own opinions, but also with our own unique ‘facts’ (thereby giving lie to Sen Moynihan’s dictum).  The ensuing melee is then composed of nothing but ejecta of hot air flung at the other which make no lasting impact, let alone changing anyone’s beliefs.  And yet, … and yet we continue to regularly assemble on both sides of this arena to dance our ferocious dances, making threatening sounds while shaking our spears and shields at the other side, like the natives of primitive tribes or beasts of the jungle that learned to wage faux ‘wars’ without really harming each other.  Realizing this, perhaps we can all join in the attempt to discover the point of it all.  gjr]

Sandbox - 20may20

[Apologies for the delay in getting new sand.  In future sandboxes I'll try to notify readers of topics I cover in subsequent commentaries so that their topical comments can find the appropriate comment stream.  gjr]

Sandbox - 10may20

[It's remarkable how well these C19 utility functions perform in their ability to predict the statements - ranging from policies to pabulum - of the three cohorts today exhorting us to do this vs that.

For those comfortable with such models of the realworld, they compress a whole lot of explanatory power about the debate to loosen the lockdown. (more here).  gjr]

Sandbox - 5may20

[Feliz Cinco de Mayo compadres!  And re Corona beer about which you've all heard the story?  You haven't?  Well, they had a big international beer judging competition in Munich to which all the major and wannabe brewers sent their various brews for judging and receiving the prestigious awards.  The Corona folks also sent their finest.  A couple of weeks passed and when the award ceremonies were over, the Corona folks had heard nothing, not even an email acknowledging their entry.  So they inquired, and the next day they got a reply from a German vet in Munich that read 'I was forwarded the specimen you submitted, and am sorry to inform you that your horse has diabetes.' ;-)  gjr]

Sandbox - 28apr20

[Autocracy rising, even more.  Two California docs dared cross the hallowed political divide of rope-selling capitalists at Google’s YouTube and give a reasoned criticism of California’s C19 lockdown diktat.  It made it on to YouTube, and then was promptly taken down by its corporatist toadies. (more here)  Meanwhile, Gov Nuisance appears to start seeing a difference between rural and urban counties in his promised new look at how to release the state from its insane economic self-immolation.  gjr]

Sandbox – 21apr20

[We will now witness the latest tsunami of lies from the demonic Dems as the country begins to loosen its C19 quarantine restrictions state by state, and region by region.  The lamestream’s central theme will be the amplification of ‘profits before people’ that will be carried out by rightwing gun nuts and bible thumpers according to the dictates of Wall Street and its evil corporations.  gjr]

Sandbox - 14apr20

[While I'm much in favor of opening up the economy sooner than later, I can't understand the Trump/Cuomo pissing match now going on (here).  The President is all wet in asserting that it is only he who gets "to call the shots" on opening up the country.  The country was not 'closed' on the basis of some federal imperative, and so it does not stand that it awaits the President's removal of such a non-existent imperative.  In the meanwhile, the governors are in charge of lawful public intercourse in their states.  As usual, Trump is burning  up political capital better put to use elsewhere, and the lamestream is eating it up.  gjr]

Sandbox - 8apr20

[I again remind readers that the Sandbox is for opinions, insights, and issues not covered in my other recent topical commentaries and posts.  Now isn't this blog a pain in the ass?  gjr]

Sandbox - 29mar20

[Now that we're back to mudball fights, we should take them to a fresh sandbox.  I'm constantly amused by our lefty readers not refuting/citing the facts but simply dismissing them on the basis of their dislike of the publisher or broadcaster.  Haven't seen rightwinger dismiss what came out of Maddow simply because it came out of Maddow, who can report verifiable facts as well as the next talking head.  But some of us do take Maddow et al with a dim view when they offer their opinions and interpretations as being something more than the views from their respective perches.  gjr]

Sandbox - 15mar20

[As one reader echoed the warning to Julius - 'Beware the Ides of March!'  Lot is happening in these trying times.  I have posted 'Testing, testing, testing, ...' for the continuing discussion of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Please deposit your topical good thoughts there.  gjr]

Sandbox - 7mar20

[Just happened to visit Nevada County Voices, an info website run by our favorite climate catastrophe czarina, Dr Anna Haynes.  It appears that since the passing of Russ Steele, RR remains as the sole active 'rightwing' website in these parts.  On her resourceful site we are properly relegated to the extreme right column that is off-page, so it will not surprise and offend the more sensitive eyes of her polite company visitors (a trigger warning pointer is provided).  I continue to note over the years that Dr Haynes' political spectrum remains one-winged.  Nowhere are her voluminous lists of left-leaning sites so identified.  I suppose all of those are like our self-proclaimed centrists Bob Crabb and George Boardman - politically vanilla, untinged and untrammeled by any shade of partisanship.  We are properly put in our place.  gjr]

Sandbox - 1mar20

[Is everyone ready for Biden in the stretch run, or the coronavirus' continuing impact on the securities markets?  All of it the fault of President Trump.  gjr]

Sandbox - 18feb20

[Well, my proposal in the 12feb20 Scattershots for a new Dem candidate reader participation contest heading into the convention went over like a fart in church.  It would have been fun to see how the perceived fortunes of Super-Tuesday's survivors changed over the next few months.  Oh well, ... sigh.  gjr]

Sandbox - 13feb20

[When the smoke clears after Super-Tuesday, I wonder how many of the Dems will still be running for president - both Biden and Warren are candidates for the dear departed.  Whoulda thought?  And how will Team Pelosi put a bullet in Bernie's candidacy?  gjr]

Sandbox - 2feb20

[Lots and lots to talk about as the Dems start their post-acquittal assault on President Trump.  Go for it, I have my usual $100 bet with my east coast pal, so I'm gonna watch the Super Bowl.  gjr]

Sandbox - 23jan20

[Sure would like to hear some candidate preferences from our leftwing readers.  Seems that no one here actually has a favorite whose creds they would put on display and defend.  Probably the safest route to avoid embarrassment ;-)  gjr]