Category: News

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TX Gov. Abbott busses 130 Migrants to VPs house on Christmas Eve… Democrats Mad

Twits

Another MSNBC report had someone clutching their pearls about the fact that Washington DC temperature was 18° – 22° F when the illegals were dropped off. Apparently, some of these illegals were dressed only in T-Shirts, shorts, and sandals, wrapped in blankets.

These people then almost immediately boarded another bus and were taken to a local church.

The Horror! The inhumanity!

It should be noted that the busses transporting these folks had heaters, and that they were at little risk of frostbite or death by exposure.

The same unfortunately cannot be said for the thousands of illegal immigrants sleeping on the streets of El Paso in 22° F weather.

In comparison, I’d bet these people Abbott bused to Washington DC feel pretty lucky. 

What’s not being said is that El Paso and almost all of the border towns and states no longer have the capacity to house the flood of illegals the Biden Administration policies have encouraged to come to the United States.

What is more cruel? An administration that allows this, or a Governor sending illegals to places that have the capacity to take care of them?

It should also be pointed out that it is far warmer south of the border. It’s even springtime in the Southern Hemisphere.

Just Sayin!

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Oh Boy! Some journalists are super pissed at Elon.

Apparently, Twitter suspended at least six journalists for Doxxing over the past day or two.

Twitter logo 2 1At first the journalists in question said they had no idea why their blue checked accounts had been suspended.

All I thought was, “Yeah, now you know what it feels like.”

It’s later come out that Twitter has updated its user policy forbidding real time Doxxing. This on the surface seems to be related to something Elon Mush hasn’t been happy about for a while. There is or was a site where you could track his private jet’s location in real time.

Elon Musk had at one time offered to buy the site and associated Twitter account from its creator but it’s unclear if they were able to reach an agreement on the price. At the time I thought that Musk’s offer was far too low. But that was just my opinion.

If Musk offered me cash for this site, I’d sell it to him for a reasonable offer. Hey I’m a capitalist! So sue me.

I think that the whole mess went to court but I’m not entirely sure, and don’t know the outcome.

Now the Musk owns Twitter, and has amended the user agreement. He is well within his right to control Doxxing of his information and that of other people.

This too is capitalism Comrade Journalists.

Ultimately I think the move is a good one. It has broader implications than just a handful of journalists being suspended.

For example, Twitter was instrumental in the disruption of Justice Kavenaugh’s meal at a Washington restaurant. Twitter was used during the BLM riots across the nation to coordinate wanton destruction and looting while avoiding the police. 

Musk is right, if a bit heavy handed. There is no reason to broadcast real time information about the location of anyone. Particularly, about people who may have controversial views or opinions, or public figures.

It’s one thing for an entertainer to tweet out information about a concert or event to their fans. It’s quite another to use Twitter to coordinate violence or a “Flash” protest of hundreds. We’ve seen the latter with speakers at various venues from college campuses to rented halls for speaking engagements.

Jordan Peterson, Dave Rubin, Dave Chappell, and Pamela Geller, have all been “mobbed” at speaking engagements, Pamela Geller had two armed gunmen roll up in Garland TX. They miscalculated. They were in TX and were “put down” like rabid dogs.

I just pulled these people off the top of my head. These people and others, were being paid for their appearance, or their appearance had been paid for by ticket sales to rent the venue. Their livelihoods were impacted by a mob using Twitter to coordinate a protest. The people who purchased tickets were placed in danger by the mob, and the venue lost money when the appearance or lecture was shut down. The loss was real and comes in the form of refunding ticket sales, damage done to the building or grounds, and salaries for security and staff.

Many of the Twitterati who showed up for the protests did so because they had nothing better to do that night. Most of them didn’t know about the speaking engagement or where it was being held. 

Having walked through a line of foul mouthed aggressive protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church with my Mother on the way to a performance of The Gay Men’s Chorus. I can tell you that it degraded our enjoyment of the evening. Neither I or my Mother gave two shits about the sexuality of the performers, we were there because this particular chorus was excellent that year. I didn’t appreciate one little bit that we had our evening out tarnished by a bunch of moronic assholes.

We won’t even discuss what one jackass called my Mother, or the tightness of her grip on my arm. You can call a man almost anything, but call his mother a slutty whore to her face in that man’s presence… In elder times that would get you beat to a pulp, shot, or run through.

Truthfully, had my Mom not been so terrified I’d have made that jackass eat his words and then eat the rest of his meals through a straw. He had the right to protest the performance, he didn’t have the right to speak like that to my mother. I’m old school that way.

This event occurred prior to Twitter and cellphones. The number of protestors was relatively small but they were vile nonetheless. 

The ubiquity of Twitter and cellphones has only amplified the reach of jackasses who believe that they have the right not only to free speech, but also the right to prevent someone from expressing an opinion counter to their own. I got news for them, that is not free speech. That is oppression. 

The irony is not lost on me. These people use numbers and mob rule in the guise of free speech to oppress anyone they disagree with. 

Free Speech is a tough thing. You’ve got to be capable of recognizing that people holding a different view have that right just as you do. You’ve got to be responsible with the right of free speech, and mature enough to draw a line between a protest and an out of control  mob.

I wonder if this is, at least in part, the philosophy that Musk is working from. Sure he’s trying to insure his safety and that of his family. I wonder how much of the overarching issue is Musk also committed to?

If he’s applying the new rules in an egalitarian way then I’m totally in.

If Twitter is suspending anyone and everyone who is providing real time information about public figures unilaterally then good. I’ll be interested to see how that works out. 

This has the potential to limit the incitement of violence and collateral damage or disruption to innocent bystanders just going about their business.

Do you or anyone you love want to be trapped in a restaurant by protesters just because Dave Chappell happens to want dinner at the same place?

You’d think that these journalists above all would understand the concept of free speech.

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Election Day!

Happy Election Day!

It’s a cold rainy day here on the mountain. On the plus side, at least I’m not having to walk through snow to the polling place and back. Yes, I’ve done that in past elections. It’s been raining enough here that if it was only a few degrees colder we’d have a foot or more of snow.

If it’s raining where you are, don’t let that stop you from casting your vote!

I don’t buy the hyperbole about voting for the soul of the nation. 

In fact I don’t care what your politics are, or your party preference. 

What I do care about is that you vote. Vote your conscience, vote for candidates that represent your beliefs, vote because it’s your civic duty.

If you can’t be bothered to do this one thing, then you have no voice and I’m not going to listen to you whining about the results after the election.

IVoted

Personally, I’m hoping to see Gavin Newsom tossed out, unfortunately here in California that won’t make much of a difference because there are a lot of bad ideas that have ossified into the dreaded, “We’ve always done it this way,” mindset in this state.

I would enjoy seeing Gavin standing there with his hair blown back in surprise. I know it’s kind of a cheap shot but I’d love to see his smug arrogance take a nice uppercut. For clarity’s sake, I’m not advocating physical violence to Gavin, I’m speaking metaphorically about his attitude and arrogance taking a hit.

There was a time when such disclaimers weren’t necessary, these days though, people seem to be searching for anything they can spin into something it’s not.

I pray that Newsom takes such a drubbing that any presidential aspirations he may have, get flushed down the toilet. The whole country knows what Newsom has done to California. I’m hoping that they remember it in 2024 and decide they don’t want the rest of the country to follow California’s lead. Let the wonder that is Kamala Harris be a warning to everyone.

I’ve been fascinated by the Democrat messaging over the past week or so. (Spending hours on end in a car means you listen to a lot of radio.) The message seems almost like they’re expecting to take a major hit. Some candidates sounded like they just expected to win without really putting in the work.

These candidates seem quite surprised that they’re being challenged strongly by their opponents. When asked why their opponent is doing so well in polls they’re unable to answer. To me that speaks to a profound disconnect between the incumbents and their constituents. In a nutshell, that’s the answer.  Many of them appear to be blindsided that their voters are interested in much more basic issues than special interest stuff. Most of us are really focused on basic necessities.

How can so many candidates have missed or ignored that?

The Republican Party appears to have capitalized on the concerns most Americans have. What remains to be seen is if they were lying to get into office or if the candidates really meant what they said on the campaign trail. 

Time and vote counts will tell.

There was a piece in Politico that says in part, “The 2020 presidential election was rife with allegations of voting machine hacks that were later debunked. Yet there are real risks that hackers could tunnel into voting equipment and other election infrastructure to try to undermine Tuesday’s vote.” 

That one was a head snapper. I thought there was no possibility that the election could be tampered with. Isn’t that what we were told after the 2020 election? So what’s changed?

More from Politico

Wireless modems enabling hacks of voting machines or vote tallies

At least seven states and Washington, D.C., use wireless modems to transmit unofficial election-night results to their central offices. These modems use telecommunications networks that are vulnerable to hackers, and malicious actors could exploit them to tamper with unofficial vote data, corrupt voting machines or compromise the computers used to tally official results.

Really? So are we to assume that since the 2020 election which was “perfect and secure”, that some states have taken steps to make the voting process more vulnerable? If these states haven’t made the process less secure, then can we assume that these states were as vulnerable in 2020 as they are today?

Does that mean that law suits filed by Trump which were dismissed as having no standing should be re-evaluated? 

I’m sorry, but I’m kind of a binary guy. Either something is a problem or it’s not, Politico seems to be playing both sides depending on which party wins. How about we just settle for reporting the actual facts, and let the chips fall where they may? That would seem to be a simpler way to deal with politics and life in general. 

President Biden’s speech may have muddied the voting waters as well. Listening to his speech I couldn’t help but think he was setting us all up for endless challenges about ballot counts and election integrity. As if we haven’t had quite enough of all of that over the past two years. What happens when the Democrats become “Election Deniers”? How does that play out?

If both parties become election deniers, does that mean both groups are domestic terrorists?

I’m looking for a change in this election.

I’d like to see someone tap the brakes on the excessive spending in Washington.

Instead of hiking the interest rates to curb inflation, how about we fix the supply chain issues? More products on the shelves and in the pipeline would also curb inflation.

I hope that our politicians pay more attention to the immediate issues that we’re all facing.

Go Vote, and have a good day!

 

The rain has picked up quite a bit. The normally dry creek bed behind the house is roaring, rocks the size of small cars are tumbling down the mountain. It’s causing the ground to shake almost as if there’s an earthquake.

When I think of all the water rushing down to the desert floor, I’m hoping that it makes it into the ground and replenishes the aquifers a bit.

Before all the streets and rain culverts, water ran down and soaked right in. On old aerial maps a perfect example of an alluvial plain was clearly visible. Today, with all the streets, parking lots, and pavement, localized flooding is becoming more common at the base of the mountain. Builders and City officials literally paved over the alluvial plain and now spend tons of taxpayer’s money combating the flooding. It would have been simpler to take the hint from nature and not allow building there in the first place.

For all our knowledge, humans miss the obvious more often than not.

I’ve often thought there should be wilderness buffer zones between communities. I picture areas that provide habitat for wildlife and access for runoff to soak into the ground. Zones as I envision them, would provide places for walking, hiking and communing with nature. I’m not talking about miles wide buffers, I’m talking about 1/4 of a mile or so green belts.

I guess the problem is that some people would see wilderness areas as places to dump their trash and do bad things.