December 26, 2021

FOX News goes nuts over Satanic Xmas display

In the Illinois State Capital a Satanic Temple installed a Baby Baphomet scene next to a Nativity scene. FOX News goes predictably nuts over it. They interviewed Franklin Graham who quickly declared it was Satans war against Christmas. I’m not a supporter of Satanic Temple stuff but as an American who supports the Freedom of Religion I’m happy to support their right to worship as they please. It seems to me these folks who are screaming about the war on Christmas and religion are the same ones who want to deny other religions their rights. Hypocrites.

Some news articles about it.

https://abc7chicago.com/satanic-temple-of-illinois-display-baphomet-statue/11370430/

https://religionnews.com/2021/12/21/catholic-bishop-criticizes-satanic-temple-holiday-display-at-illinois-statehouse/

Reminds me of the Great Spaghetti Monster religion uproar a few years back.

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

Hysterical.

December 24, 2021

This Should Be A Training Video For Police

With all the anti-police sentiment I’m detecting in some quarters I decided to spend the morning watching YouTube videos of good cops. After all there are over 697,000 peace officers in America, all of them aren’t bad. I found this video from 2018 that really moved me.

I’m not sure why the driver was stopped in the first place, but it turns out his license was suspended, and there were drugs in the car, but there is so much more going on. The guy was on his way home from work, to earn money to get his license back. It was his brothers car. He didn’t try to hide the bag of weed in the open (one officer says later that he was waiting for him to hide it). The driver was very polite and honest and the officers were too. He was in a program to get his life together and the officers were familiar with it.

The officers ended up having to arrest him… but they didn’t have a choice. But they didn’t charge him with the drugs, went out of their way to help him when they could’ve just arrested him and dragged him to jail. The officers set it up so he could get bonded out, go to work the next day, get on with his life.

I wish it could always be like this. I ended up feeling sorry for the driver in the end and was impressed by the officers. The YouTube comments are also very supportive of both the drivers efforts to restore his life and the officers humanity.

There are many other YouTube videos like this out there. There are bad apples in any profession… there are also good ones.

December 24, 2021

Defense Budget 2022 - Good Article

A good article from Vox about the 2022 defense budget. The article mentions how congress isn’t listening to the military and instead dumps billions to contractors for outdated legacy projects. Both parties are guilty here.

https://www.vox.com/22840615/us-defense-spending-increase-afghanistan-withdrawal

December 1, 2021

I Got BANNED from posting at FoxNews.com!

I had an account there and enjoyed posting in the comments after articles. I'm a numbers guy so I always backed up my postings with actual data. It was always fun to refute some idiot Trumpite with actual numbers. I even posted a timeline of his Covid comments from the pandemics start (that was really fun). Anyway I logged in today and found I was no longer able to post anything. I was signed in on the website but anytime I tried to post it would say I was logged out. I emailed and got a reply back pretty quickly stating my posting was no longer permitted. Considering all the whining the right wing has done about "censorship" by companies like Facebook and Twitter I was very amused by this. They like to dish it out but they sure can't take it.

I think the post that got me banned was one in which I replied to a posting about how great Trump was with the reply he was an "unqualified, failed businessman with four bankruptcies, a history not paying his working class vendors, whose only claim to fame was his ability to self promote himself and being a reality TV star". Ouch.

November 20, 2021

VA Gov Youngkin under attack...

… from Republicans. Apparently he has an LGBTQ staffer. A capital crime for religious totalitarian conservatives.

https://news.yahoo.com/wingers-turn-glenn-youngkin-over-212716065.html

November 16, 2021

Real American History

One of the great shames of America is the treatment of Native Americans. I read this article today about a "federal Indian school" in Nebraska where over 100 students dies. The article notes how the students were separated from their families to remove "tribal influence", how they were given "white names", how they were forbidden to speak anything other than English, and how they were forced to covert to Christianity.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/15/nebraska-native-american-boarding-school-students-died

While they're teaching about the American Revolution in school history class and about leaders like George Washington I think they also need to teach the other "real history" of America too. Don't call it "systemic racism" or "CRT" or anything like that. Just call it real American history.

November 7, 2021

Saving Social Security - A Winning Idea for Dems

I was thinking about things that could boost the Dems chances in the mid-terms. One thing kept coming to mind. SOCIAL SECURITY. It’s estimated by 2034 if nothing is done Social Security will only be able to pay out 78% of promised benefits. In 2020 the SS program had an $11b surplus but 2021 is the first year the program will pay out more than it takes in. Added to this is the fact the money is pooled in the general treasury where it can be used for anything. Remember the “Lock Box” idea?

I think the Dems next proposed bill should be called “THE SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY BILL”. I’ve been reading a lot of proposals for how to accomplish returning to a solvent trust fund. I think a combination of raising the payroll tax, raising the annual cap above the $142k amount (maybe not raising that but taxing any amount over say $400k a year with a two-tier structure), and raising the retirement age to 68 are all possible solutions. One article I read online (Motley Fool I think) mentioned a SS tax increase of 3.54% would do it alone. Divide that by two to see what the employee and employer would pay.

Social Security is the third rail of politics. If the Dems go all out to “SAVE IT” and publicize the fact they’re working to help Americans, they will find some extra votes and supporters. I also believe that you would see some moderate Republicans also support something like this just as a few supported the BIF. TV commercials, print adds, mailers to citizens in congressional districts, flooding the news with the plan. As an added benefit any Republican who opposes it could be said to be wanting to “eliminate Social Security” or “privatize it”. I remember years ago those arguments being made and how unpopular they were with the general public.

I also think part of this could be to increase the benefit for some citizens. Right now, someone who works until age 66 and two months (current age for full retirement) would receive a check of between $897 and $3148. I’d like to see the amount increased for lower earning beneficiaries. $897 is NOT enough to live on. The same goes for SSI (Supplemental Security Income) where the minimum benefit is $794 for a disabled person without enough work credits to qualify for SSDI. I read forums like Reddit and see people who are in their early 20’s with major health issues who are approved for SSI posting about their struggles. Years long waiting lists for housing, no money for food or utilities, needing medications that Medicaid won’t cover, things like that.

Anyone voting against it would be very unpopular come reelection time. I can even think of some “funny” TV commercials to run against the Republicans if they vote against it like Grandma dumpster diving for cans to buy food. Or maybe showing a future where someone gets a SS check that is cut by 25% because they didn't do anything. A Blitzkrieg campaign of publicity to trumpet a plan to SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY could be a WINNER.