January 26, 2017

How about we load up Air Force One with all Trump's Cabinet and staff...

...and put Donald in the cockpit. I mean, he's the best pilot. He's so intelligent and talented. He'd fly AF1 better than it's ever been flown before!

Right?

January 24, 2017

My letter to NY senators Schumer and Gillibrand

Like many Americans, I waited for Donald Trump to take on the duties of the presidency with great apprehension. I wasn't reassured by his handling of the transition.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump's performance has fallen far short of my very low expectations. I have become increasingly convinced that he has mental deficits that make it impossible for him to carry on as President of the United States, no matter what ideology anyone finds acceptable.

My wife's Aunt Anna was a charming and personable woman who suffered from a form of dementia late in life that was never successfully diagnosed. She remained charming and personable. You could have an enjoyable conversation with her – as long as the conversation wasn't about anything that had occurred in the last five years. It would become clear that she remembered nothing about those years and was even unaware of the passage of time. In her mind, children that were kindergartners were still infants, married couples were still just courting, and people who had passed away were just about to walk into the room.

This is what Mr. Trump reminds me of. He's someone who lives in his own reality. He can make a stirring speech, but when interacting with people in the real world, he flounders. If he was just somebody's Aunt Anna, his shortcomings would have been apparent long ago, but he's surrounded by enablers and supporters who are either in deep denial or cynically turn a blind eye because they think Mr. Trump can get them what they want.

I don't know if my Aunt Anna ever had a moment when she perceived her own failings. I don't think so. Does Mr. Trump even grasp that it's wildly implausible that he was deprived of a popular-vote victory because millions of Hillary Clinton votes were secretly fraudulent? I don't think he does.

It's time to reach out to your Republican colleagues and steer the conversation toward what many already know in their hearts but are afraid to say: none of us is safe while that mentally debilitated man holds the nuclear launch codes. We need to make serious moves toward invoking the 25th amendment.

This isn't about some sort of backdoor coup to get Hillary Clinton into the Oval Office. It's about the survival of the nation...and the world.

January 18, 2017

As of Friday, no more fake news from the press, only the truth.

You know. Pravda.

January 18, 2017

I feel like I'm watching the Hindenburg approaching that mooring mast in Lakehurst.

This is going to be bad. Not sure exactly how -- but bad.

January 17, 2017

Ever wonder who the real power in the Trump camp is?

Seems like everyone we know about (including the Drumpster himself) has the maturity of a six-year-old overdue for a nap, with the possible exception of Reince Priebus, who's looks to be moving up from his position at the DMV.

If Putin isn't the one who actually calls the shots on a day-to-day basis -- who is?

January 16, 2017

Preparing for American samizdat.

Samizdat

A system in the U.S.S.R. and countries within its orbit by which government-suppressed literature was clandestinely printed and distributed; also : such literature.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samizdat

"We're losing a lot of people because of the Internet. We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way. Somebody will say, 'Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people." -- Donald Trump.

Donald Trump doesn't like to be criticized or contradicted. Donald Trump has no respect for American democratic traditions, the Constitution, or as far as we know, any law. He clearly expects to be obeyed unconditionally.

Censorship is inevitable. Who knows how far it will go, but I believe that we as technically skilled people have an obligation to use our abilities to ensure that information continues to flow freely through our society in the face of efforts to block it.

We have a great advantage over the dissidents in the former USSR. Unlike them, our society is permeated with information handling gadgets. Imagine using those gadgets in a milieu where possessing and promulgating some kinds of information has become a crime. I have a few ideas and I hope people others will feel free to add their own.

* Don't expect what's here today to be here tomorrow. Remember what happened to DU.

* Stock up soon. We can't predict the future. Who knows, maybe recordable CDs and USB thumb drives will become contraband some day.

* Get smart about encryption.

* Consider alternatives to the Internet. All eyes are going to be on the Net and it's likely that every communication will be recorded.

* Learn how to create products without "fingerprints" (or literal fingerprints, for that matter). Get smart about the hidden information that's frequently embedded in data files. remember that Adam Savage of "Mythbusters" fame inadvertently gave up the location of his home embedded in an image.

* Remember that older, less sophisticated technology may be more appropriate at times. Even ink on paper may be the best choice sometime.

* Use open-source stuff without industry-embedded backdoors. It's a well-known fact that Windows 10, for instance, surveills its users, even without censorship issues.

* Pay cash. Buy old stuff at flea markets. Your purchases are much less likely to end up in a database somewhere.

* Be on the lookout for attempts to choke off the free flow of information and increase surveillance. In a Trump government, don't be surprised if people in your local community suddenly get in high dudgeon that PCs in the local library are being used to view pornography and access must be restricted and monitored.

January 11, 2017

Is it technically possible for Trump to be arrested before inauguration?

I mean, you know, for cause. That seems to be more and more plausible these days. What would happen then?

January 6, 2017

Hey Donald, want to go down in history as a truly great man?

Then publicly call for new elections.

Otherwise, the history books will write you up as Putin's toady.

Your call.