tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15097608391178691652024-03-08T03:34:21.666-08:00Pork Brains with Milk GravyThe views in this blog are not those of people who can't think for themselves and rely on others to think for them. For that matter, the views expressed here may not be those of people who CAN think for themselves, but it comes extremely close.Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.comBlogger1027125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-57889125325482721192024-01-26T08:44:00.000-08:002024-01-26T08:44:15.762-08:00A teacher in name only<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A while back, I had a discussion with a man who claims to be a teacher.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">Reality says he is a teacher. So, like it or not, I have to accept the fact he is a teacher. I do not like it.</p><p style="text-align: left;">To explain -</p><p style="text-align: left;">Someone else suggested this man read a book. A book. Words on a page.</p><p style="text-align: left;">"No. That's not going to happen," this man replied.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I was quite surprised and immediately my level of respect for this man plummeted. The more I listened to him speak, the lower my respect dropped.</p><p style="text-align: left;">His comments displayed a level of deliberate ignorance that was shocking for someone who claims to be a teacher, has the formal education to be a teacher and even works as a teacher. Sadly, his way of doing things is becoming ever more entrenched.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As he spoke, he got things wrong. When corrected, he acted surprised.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If he would simply read that one book, he would learn so much and his incorrect views on those particular matters would get corrected.</p><p style="text-align: left;">No, was the response again.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I asked why he would not read the book. He said a different man told him he should not read the book.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Whoa. If someone sincerely tells me I should not read a book, I am teleporting to the Library to see if they have it in stock. I may even buy a copy. I will read that book.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Just read the book. No one asked him to assimilate or grok the information in the book. Just read it. He did not have to agree or even like the book and the information therein.</p><p style="text-align: left;">No, again.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I wonder what he is afraid of.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As a teacher, he should embrace knowledge from any and every source. Those sources may well confirm and reaffirm his own views. Those source may be in direct opposition to his views.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Those sources may be evil, may be wrong, may be contradictory. Those sources may be totally accurate, factual and represent reality.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Those sources may challenge his views.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Ahhhhh, I may be onto something there.</p><p style="text-align: left;">If he would read the book, he would have information. He would have a better understanding.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> Understanding of what? Does not matter. It would grow his understanding.</p><p style="text-align: left;">No, again.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I am in contact with this man and we trade emails each week. Each week I ask him a question. He answers.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Unlike him, I want to understand more. That is the only reason I continue to have a conversation with him. He continues in his deliberate ignorance, which boggles my mind.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Why does a teacher refuse to learn?</p><p style="text-align: left;">With each question answered, my respect for him drops a little more. It is obvious he does not wish to expand his knowledge base.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I simply do not get that. I said as much. He gave me a non-reply to the effect that it is a decision he has made. I am welcome to question it, but the answer will not change.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The idea that this man claims to be a teacher and actually teaches other people to think the exact same way he does is literally terrifying to me. He is teaching other people to close their minds and reject information out of hand.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This man is walking the road of totalitarianism, control and eliminating freedom. When other people tell you what you can and cannot read, they are directly trying to control you. Yes, they are. Every dictator government in the world shuts down freedom of communication as one of the 2 primary steps to controlling the people.</p><p style="text-align: left;">So to him I reply, "No. That's not going to happen."</p><p style="text-align: left;">I will read. I will read banned books. I will encourage other people to read banned books. I will learn. I hope they learn.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I may learn things I do not want to know. So be it. I may learn harmful things. So be it. I may learn things that disturb me. So be it.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I will learn.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I do not have to act upon these things I learn. I do not have to believe these things I learn. I do not have to accept the challenges presented in the things I learn.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I will learn.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Some of you want to know what book he refuses to read. I will only say it is banned in some places.<br /><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-align: inherit;"><b>COMMENTS ON THIS POST FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; text-align: inherit;">1) Eh, that's assuming the book you speak of isn't utterly garbage.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem;">My reply: Irrelevant. If you wish to understand other people, you need to understand them. One man's garbage is another man's treasure. T</span><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem;">o dismiss something out of hand, without attempting to understand it or know about it is prejudice, bigotry and empirical evidence of a closed mind.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">2) I knew this Baptist minister once. Tall fella, really big, had red hair and delivered a really convincing fire & brimstone sermon like no one else I'd ever listened to. He had a bookshelf in his office. One of the shelves had the bible prominently </span><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-size: 15px;" tabindex="-1"></a><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">placed in the middle. Surrounding it were other religious text such as the Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon, Qu'ran, The Tao and others. All the books other than the bible had a red sticker on their spine with the word "poison" on it. Always thought he was brave to read books which he thought were poisonous.</span><br /><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">My reply: That is a person interested in learning.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9375rem;">3) Wow. I am a teacher and realize exactly what I don't know daily.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">One of the best quotes I have read was from a 92 year old person, who said, "I have learned I have a lot more to learn."</p><p style="text-align: left;">One day, I will have more knowledge and understanding. I need to be a more effective teacher than I am.<br /><br />(I did not offer a reply to this)</p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="x168nmei x13lgxp2 x30kzoy x9jhf4c x6ikm8r x10wlt62" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 8px 8px; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x1pi30zi x1swvt13 x1n2onr6" style="font-family: inherit; padding-left: 16px; padding-right: 16px; position: relative;"><div class="x1gslohp" style="font-family: inherit; margin-top: 4px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="x169t7cy x19f6ikt" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: -16px; margin-right: -16px;"><div class="x1n2onr6" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div aria-label="Comment by Bryan Baker 3 hours ago" class="x1n2onr6 x1swvt13 x1iorvi4 x78zum5 x1q0g3np x1a2a7pz" role="article" style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; outline: none; padding-left: 16px; padding-top: 4px; position: relative;" tabindex="-1"><div class="x1r8uery x1iyjqo2 x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1pi30zi" style="flex-basis: 0px; flex-grow: 1; font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; padding-right: 16px;"><div style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="xv55zj0 x1vvkbs x1rg5ohu xxymvpz" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 26px); overflow-wrap: break-word; vertical-align: middle;"><div class="xmjcpbm x1tlxs6b x1g8br2z x1gn5b1j x230xth x9f619 xzsf02u x1rg5ohu xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x193iq5w x1mzt3pk x1n2onr6 xeaf4i8 x13faqbe" style="background-color: var(--comment-background); border-radius: 18px; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--primary-text); display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; position: relative; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x1y1aw1k xn6708d xwib8y2 x1ye3gou" style="font-family: inherit; padding: 8px 12px;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="font-family: inherit; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 4px;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1xmvt09 x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en" style="color: var(--primary-text); display: block; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.9375rem; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-87284378111510052442023-07-11T12:20:00.001-07:002023-07-13T12:58:42.638-07:00Stopping and knockdown power<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In the gun community, there is an idea that stopping power and knockdown power are a myth.<br /><br />SCIENCE!, yanno, the stuff that actually involves real research, study, lots of maths, empirical evidence and so forth disagrees.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5;">SCIENCE!</span></span></h3></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/stopping-power">https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/stopping-power<br /></a><br />Just scale it up.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /><a href="http://karllippard.com/military/docs/Calculations-of-Bullet-Stopping-Power.pdf">http://karllippard.com/military/docs/Calculations-of-Bullet-Stopping-Power.pdf</a><br /><a href="https://www.nrafamily.org/content/terminal-ballistics-stopping-power/"><br />https://www.nrafamily.org/content/terminal-ballistics-stopping-power/</a><br /><br /><a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA078233.pdf">https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA078233.pdf</a></span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s" style="margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">These links will not convince any of the gun nerds (Hi fam!) otherwise. Cool. And in other news some people refuse to accept, the earth is a sphere, not flat.<br /><br />EDIT: Me bud Mike Moore passes along this article by a real expert who did real research. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/an-alternate-look-at-handgun-stopping-power">https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/an-alternate-look-at-handgun-stopping-power</a><br /><br />But lets take a look at the two ideas in a way some people will understand.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">STOPPING POWER</span></h3><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">What is stopping power? This is the problem. Ask 10 gun nerds and you can get anywhere from 2 to several dozen opinions.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To me, stopping power is <strike>the ability of a projectile to interrupt</strike> how fast a bullet stops what I shoot. Period.<br /><br />Just for the record, two elephants were killed with a 22 Long Rifle, considered one of the weakest cartridges you can get. A very few are even weaker. These pachyderms were shot behind the front leg and the bullet nicked an artery. The critters bled to death.<br /><br />That is pretty weak stopping power. In this case, Dumbo and Jumbo had plenty of time to turn around and stomp the shooter into a bloody hole.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dangerous game guns are capable of dropping an elephant, rhino or Cape buffalo in its tracks. That is stopping power. These bullets penetrate very tough hide, thick and very dense bone and still manage to deliver enough wallop to disable the shot critter. Lulu and Ellie collapse without taking another step.<br /><br />Stopping power.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bah. If you still think stopping power is a myth, here is another example.<br /><br />If you shoot an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II"><span style="background-color: white;">A</span><span style="background-color: white;">-10 Thunderbol</span><span style="background-color: white;">t</span></a><span style="background-color: white;"> with a 22 LR, the pilot will likely never notice. Shoot a Warthog with a Sidewinder missile and the pilot will certainly know, if he survives. The Sidewinder stops the plane.</span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">KNOCKDOWN POWER</span></span></h3><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Is knockdown power real? Absolutely. <br /><br />Knockdown power, to me, is the ability of a projectile (bullet) to knock down, flip, etc. the target. In other words, will it make a target move, as in fall down move? Will the bullet knock a target backward? It is almost the same thing as stopping power. You need a fine measuring device to see the difference.<br /><br />This does has something to do with how sturdy the target is. Shoot a piece of paper not attached to anything and it will move. Shoot it with a BB gun and the paper will move. Shoot the same paper mounted to a frame and it does not move.</span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Go back to the two elephants above. A 22 LR has almost no stopping power where they are concerned.</span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">Don't take my word for it. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">Shoot some ballistic gel and find out. Again, take that 22 LR and shoot a block of gelatin and it barely moves.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br />My friend Scott at Kentucky Ballistics should put the idea that knockdown power does not exist to rest. He proves it pretty thoroughly by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA9bOldHoeY&t=713s">shooting a 4 Bore rifle into gel blocks</a>.<br /><br />If knockdown power is a myth, then why do gel blocks react like that?<br /><br /></span></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">BULLET DESIGN</span></span></h3></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;">At some point, a gun nerd is going to bring up bullet design. Good. Bullet design does affect stopping power and knockdown power. Scott's 4 Bore video demonstrates that pretty well. Witness the flat point v. the round nose. MAJOR difference.</span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bullet design is intrinsic to knockdown and stopping power. Anyone who shoots enough to know the difference between hardball and JHP should be able to see that.<br /><br /></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">SEMANTICS</span></h3></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The real issue here is a matter of semantics, language. Some in the gun community are hidebound to hard and fast and never-changing definitions of certain words. Language does not work that way.<br /><br />The myth folks are stuck to their definitions like stink on a roadkill skunk. Other folks are willing to adapt to the changes.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />A great example of this in the gun community is the difference between clip and magazine. The general public does not see or care about any difference. Gun nerds do. </span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: georgia;">An even more esoteric gun nerd difference is handgun v. pistol. A pistol is a handgun, always, but a handgun is not always a pistol. <a href="https://onlinetexasltc.com/differences-between-handguns-and-pistols/">Really</a>.<br /><br />Wanna spin your head a little more? In the US under ATF regulations, we have <a href="https://www.atf.gov/firearms/properly-identify-firearm-purpose-tracing">pistols, revolvers</a>. Under actual US law, we have <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=definition+of+terrorism&f=treesort&num=161">handguns</a>. That last link may or may not work. For some reason, it has "terrorism" as a key term and I did not use terrorism to find </span><span style="color: #32434f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700;">18 USC 921</span><span style="color: #32434f; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.4px; font-weight: 700;">: Definitions.</span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #32434f; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>WHEE!</h2></div>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-43296167628961419782023-06-06T13:40:00.005-07:002023-06-06T13:40:35.691-07:00Surviving the alien invasion<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red;">Good news for the folks in the Peach State! According to a study done by a bunch of casinos - I am not kidding - Georgia ranks No. 2 in the nation in our ability to survive an alien invasion.<br /><br />Nevada, home to Area 51, a variety of aliens from many places, crashed spacecraft, nuclear testing grounds, strips shows on every corner, legal houses of ill repute and casino conglomerates that did not pay for this study, comes in dead last. Well now. Guess that whole "secret military base in the desert" thing didn't work out so well after all.<br /><br />For your further edification, here is the report:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsJvwKDOJPOmvLhxCgrq1tZ3hWjz_6DR5dIZJN7QpG0KiSo2zWdLUu4YI_S12EuM_A1rl7NPbcg5L6jiB3MICx30PfDRCwDiTGlBvTsre0Uj1ilgKFt9R0Ahedf8Ok85JTuOtUsiiFNHirH35HT6cnGpLbQfU01e87HTqWhwRQaFNuAqAoHLO215AfA/s1400/Most-Likely-US-States-Alien-Invasion.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="900" height="967" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsJvwKDOJPOmvLhxCgrq1tZ3hWjz_6DR5dIZJN7QpG0KiSo2zWdLUu4YI_S12EuM_A1rl7NPbcg5L6jiB3MICx30PfDRCwDiTGlBvTsre0Uj1ilgKFt9R0Ahedf8Ok85JTuOtUsiiFNHirH35HT6cnGpLbQfU01e87HTqWhwRQaFNuAqAoHLO215AfA/w605-h967/Most-Likely-US-States-Alien-Invasion.png" width="605" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Amid reports that the Pentagon is investigating more than 650 potential UFO sightings — and following NASA’s first-ever public meeting on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena — renewed interest in alien activity has risen sharply with search volume for “UFOs” in America soaring by 85.7%.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And with almost 3 in 10 (29%) believing that there will be an apocalyptic disaster in their lifetime — and two-thirds (65%) believing in aliens — it has never been more important to consider. Intrigued by this, (a casino conglomerate) were keen to discover the US states most likely to survive an alien invasion.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The experts created a points-based index system that assesses a variety of factors that are considered to have an impact on survivability in an alien invasion. The metrics included population density, UFO sightings, landscape (caves, forest, bodies of water), defense (military and law enforcement), science (scientists and engineers), medical (healthcare professionals), and food manufacturing data — to reveal the US states best equipped for an alien invasion. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuXFNVTuIVyb6cekOrLGHwJjqFaL0S_qrIbaJx9tczSnmAnSOxnnGWLmReKfl32dKnoiHNd957k5CossOc2pcdT4n66GCLbF11pzdpJj5PJ-0X4RHBfzRLeywg3e25VXJ0_OSBwe8nUREHHN91HFw45Kwauuo7jDx42K20kA5UHTcN7AXgkEwT2VhCw/s1016/graphic%202.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1016" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUuXFNVTuIVyb6cekOrLGHwJjqFaL0S_qrIbaJx9tczSnmAnSOxnnGWLmReKfl32dKnoiHNd957k5CossOc2pcdT4n66GCLbF11pzdpJj5PJ-0X4RHBfzRLeywg3e25VXJ0_OSBwe8nUREHHN91HFw45Kwauuo7jDx42K20kA5UHTcN7AXgkEwT2VhCw/w594-h444/graphic%202.png" width="594" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The full dataset used throughout this study — with all metrics included — is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vlpeuqnAd6UFw35qNy7lP2onALm88o1f/edit#gid=882094557</span><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: times;">Look up your state and see how you will come out if/when the aliens decide to reveal themselves and officially take over. I for one am ready for the Reptiloids to shuck their masks and show us Star Trek was telling the truth when Capt. Kirk fought that Gorn.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(a casino conglomerate)</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> can reveal that Georgia is in second place with an overall alien survival score of 7.95/10. Georgia has the second-lowest reported UFO sightings in the top ten, with just 2.35 sightings per 100,000 people. This is 48% more than in the bordering state of Florida where there have been 3.50 UFO sightings per capita. The state also benefits from a high number of food and beverage manufacturing companies (849), 46% higher than in Tennessee (581), which would play a crucial role in an alien invasion scenario. Not only this, but Georgia has a high volume of caves (12) in comparison to its neighbors, such as in South Carolina where there are zero.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A spokesperson from </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(a casino conglomerate)</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> comments on why these metrics are important in an alien invasion scenario:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“In the event of an alien invasion, disruptions to transportation and logistics networks could make it challenging to import food from other regions or countries. States with a higher number of food and beverage companies would have a greater capacity to produce and distribute food locally, ensuring a more reliable food supply for their population.” </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Virginia is the US state best equipped for an alien invasion</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Virginia is the US state best equipped for an alien invasion, with an overall alien survival score of 8.04/10. Just 2.91 UFOs per 100,000 people have been spotted in Virginia, which is almost three times fewer alien sightings than in Washington, where there have been as many as 8.61 per capita. Not only this, but Virginia has the largest military force per capita in the top ten, with 17.97 army personnel per 100,000 people — as well as a high volume of law enforcement officials per capita (600.49), which is almost double that of Kentucky (392.12). The state also benefits from a high number of caves (29), the second-highest in the top ten, which can be beneficial for concealment and camouflage as well as providing protection from aerial attacks.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“The presence of a larger military force per capita means that Virginia is well-equipped to defend and protect its territory against extraterrestrial threats and enables a faster response time to an alien invasion, meaning the state can mobilize and deploy troops more quickly. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only this, but a greater number of military personnel ensures a larger pool of trained individuals with combat skills and experience who can handle critical support functions such as intelligence gathering, communication networks, medical support, supply chains, and transportation.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In third place is Massachusetts, scoring 7.85/10 for alien invasion survivability. Massachusetts has 35.07 healthcare professionals per capita, which is the highest in the top ten and would assist where there may be an increased need for medical response and emergency care. The state has had just 3.57 UFO sightings per 100,000 people, 60% fewer than in the bordering state Vermont, where there have been 9.01 per capita. Not only this, but Massachusetts has the highest percentage of land covered by water (0.26%) in the top 10, which would facilitate access to fresh water for drinking, agriculture, and industrial needs.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBmsj3s0F66aFCD6ukI-HofC2ospbHjGIEngolb5ushAo2Dng67LK0n-ZTJYDJx3BvHdy0zWT7BqcMTGZojWnayh2E0vJ5AhJyVLMd3iCEffA7WXh0JBx4WobHcxpNVTKI3ScpdVY8JD4AkZnkz7nr7v_yvJdJ_i14crklh4A55Rjb9TD0c3ut12EiA/s1013/graphic%201.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1013" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBmsj3s0F66aFCD6ukI-HofC2ospbHjGIEngolb5ushAo2Dng67LK0n-ZTJYDJx3BvHdy0zWT7BqcMTGZojWnayh2E0vJ5AhJyVLMd3iCEffA7WXh0JBx4WobHcxpNVTKI3ScpdVY8JD4AkZnkz7nr7v_yvJdJ_i14crklh4A55Rjb9TD0c3ut12EiA/w612-h346/graphic%201.png" width="612" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(a casino conglomerate)</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> can reveal that Nevada is the US state least equipped for an alien invasion, with an overall alien survival score of 4.53/10. Unfortunately, the state lacks in areas that would protect it in an invasion scenario such as its high volume of UFO sightings per 100,000 people (5.03), lack of caves (0), and low forest cover (0.16%), as well as a low number of food and beverage manufacturing companies (280). </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Amid the recent spike in UFO sightings across the USA, former Ministry of Defence UFO investigator, Nick Pope, has commented: </span><span style="color: red; font-family: times;">You can tell Mr. Pope is from Great Britain because he cannot spell defense. Also, being from Great Britain he has no obligation to tell us ungrateful colonials anything that could remotely be true. Or not. The Brits are good at mind games. Their national currency is the Pound, but they refuse to say a pound of what. They also have king and a prime minister instead of a <strike>dictator</strike> president like normal countries.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Gone are the days when it was regarded as part fringe, part-science fiction, and part conspiracy theory. UFOs are now being treated as a defense and national security issue, discussed in the United States Congress, and attracting attention from the Head of NASA.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">"It's difficult to tell whether we're seeing a genuine spike in UFO sightings - and if so, what this means - or whether what's happening is that a higher proportion of sightings is being reported, as a result of the current mainstream media coverage of this subject.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The subject has come out of the fringe and into the mainstream, which has led to lots more people speaking out about their own sightings and encounters. Regardless of the truth about these various incidents, it focuses on the fact that UFO sightings - whatever their cause - have serious and profound defense, national security, and air safety issues.”</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: times;">Here is a numbered list from the press release. In the interest of <strike>full disclosure</strike> <strike>misinformation</strike> <strike>bowing to the corporate overlords</strike> sharing the entire press release, I am passing it along.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> (a casino conglomerate)</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> were keen to discover which US states are most likely to survive an alien invasion.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2. To do so, the number of UFO sightings and the average duration of ‘UFO visits’ was scraped from NUOFC (the National UFO Reporting Centre Database) and was aggregated per state in the US. As the number of sightings could suggest that aliens have been circling and planning the invasion, the higher number of sightings = a higher chance of the invasion starting there.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">3. To aid survival, one of the first strategies is to hide. States with lower population density may have an advantage during an invasion, as it can provide more space for individuals to hide, evacuate, or organize resistance movements. Rural areas or states with large uninhabited regions might have an edge over densely populated urban centers. The population density for all states was sourced from WorldPopulationReview.com.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The number of caves was scraped from <a href="http://sop-inia.fr">sop-inia.fr</a> and forests (% of area covered) per state were sourced from WorldPopulationReview.com as a measure of potential hiding spots, with a larger number improving the survivability score.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">5. As access to water and food sources is important for long-term survival, the % of area covered with bodies of water per state was obtained and ranked from usgs.gov data. To estimate accessibility to food sources the number of food and beverage manufacturing establishments in each state was sourced from the US Department of Agriculture data. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6. States with a strong military presence and robust defense capabilities may be better equipped to respond to an alien invasion. Hence, the total military force (active and reserve) per state in addition to law enforcement employees per capita was included.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Medical and healthcare professionals will be key for treating the wounded and the sick and maintaining long-term survival. Additionally, scientific and technical expertise will be crucial for maintaining a defense against an invasion and survival. The number of employees across Life Science and Physical Sciences, Engineers, and Medical and Healthcare practitioners per capita for each state was sourced from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">8. A percentrank across all factors was calculated to score and then rank which US state has the hig chance of surviving an alien invasion.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">9. All data was collected in May 2023 and is correct as of then.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: times;">If you are like me (gads we hope not) you are wondering why a bunch of casinos would fund such a study. The first reason is to generate publicity for the casinos. They are hoping people will click the link to learn more about said casinos.<br /><br />I killed the links and identifying info. They want links, I want money.<br /><br />The second reason, which is <strike>far more disturbing to me</strike> just as likely as trying to get free publicity, the casinos are taking odds on who will make it and who will not make it.<br /><br />May be a third reason. Possibly many more reasons. I don't care any more.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Note to editors:</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">[1] <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/19/politics/us-government-ufo-reports/index.html">edition.cnn.com/2023/04/19/politics/us-government-ufo-reports/index.html</a></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">[2] Google Trends shows that search volume for “UFOs” in the United States has risen by 85.7% between the 5th and 12th of February 2023.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">[3]<a href="http://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2020/03/18/apocalypse-climate-change-pandemic-coronavirus">today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2020/03/18/apocalypse-climate-change-pandemic-coronavirus</a></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: 40px; outline: none !important; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">[4]<a href="http://pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/30/most-americans-believe-in-intelligent-life-beyond-earth-few-see-ufos-as-a-major-national-security-threat/">pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/30/most-americans-believe-in-intelligent-life-beyond-earth-few-see-ufos-as-a-major-national-security-threat/</a></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-27541792034843596552023-04-04T08:11:00.001-07:002023-04-04T08:11:23.743-07:00Rocking that White Privilege<p> A friend and brother-in-ink recently posted a list of schools where "mass shootings" have taken place. He also points out gun deaths are the leading cause of child fatalities in the US and uses this to call for an "assault weapon" ban. Seriously rocking that White Privilege.</p><p>He got the list from somewhere else. He's also on the left, but a person's politics has never bothered me much when it comes to people I consider friends.</p><p>What is torquing my spark plug enough to strip it, is the sheer amount of stunning White Privilege he's slamming on the table hard enough to crack the foundation.</p><p>You read that right - White Privilege. Me writing bud in this case is of recent European descent. He's rocking that White Privilege harder than Motley Crue in 1984.</p><p>So, do I have your attention yet? Ready to rip my head off yet? Ready to whine yet?</p><p>Keep reading.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">JUST THE FACTS, MAN</h2><p>Why am I so certain of my statement? Because there is so much left out of what he posted that it's just... gaaaah, I have no words. So here are just the facts, man, facts which my friend did not bother to post.</p><p>1) School shootings account for a tiny fraction of child deaths by gunfire. <span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The vast majority of child and teen gun homicide deaths and unintentional shooting deaths and injuries occur in the home."<br /></span></span><a href="https://everytownresearch.org/issue/child-teen-safety/">https://everytownresearch.org/issue/child-teen-safety/</a><br /><a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Photocopy/152551NCJRS.pdf">https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Photocopy/152551NCJRS.pdf</a></p><p>2) Suicide is a sizeable percentage of these deaths by firearm. "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In the U.S., in 2020, 30% of child and teen deaths by firearm were ruled suicides, and 5% were unintentional or undetermined accidents. However, the most common type of child and teen firearm death is due to violent assault (65% of all child and teen firearm deaths are assault)."</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #393d40; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br /><a href="https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/">https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/</a><br /><a href="https://www.cwla.org/increased-suicide-rates-among-children-aged-5-to-11-years-in-the-u-s/">https://www.cwla.org/increased-suicide-rates-among-children-aged-5-to-11-years-in-the-u-s/</a><br /><br />3) Most of the kids being killed by getting shot are in "urban areas" and are shot by other kids. <i>See links above.</i> These studies do not define "urban area," at least not that I saw.<br /><br />4) Handguns, which the US Supreme Court has already twice ruled are legal to own, account for most of shooting-related murders. Unknown gun types are No. 2 and rifles, which is what people like my bud call "assault rifles" are a very small fraction.<br />https://www.criminalattorneycolumbus.com/which-weapons-are-most-commonly-used-for-homicides/</p><p>5) And here is the really telling information that proves white privilege is running wide-ass open and not just by my friend but by anyone who screams about school shootings and is silent about the other shooting deaths. A disproportionate amount of shooting deaths, including those of children, are committed by one ethnic demographic against that same demographic.<br /><a href="https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-2.xls">https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-2.xls</a><br /><br />6) While I have not run a demographic report on the kids killed in schools, I am willing to give you great odds that most of those kids are of a different demographic than I reference in Point 5. You are smart enough to figure this one out; if nothing else, look at the title of this blog.<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?</h2><p></p><p>So where is the outrage over these children dying at the hands of each other in our nation's homes and streets? <even the crickets are quiet> People can fill the streets over children dying in a school, but when they die in the street or at home, these same protestors have something more important to do. <br /></p><p>It's not even national news anymore and fell off that radar a long time ago.</p><p>Must be nice to be able to pick and choose like that. Me? I've been howling about kids killing kids in the streets for decades.<br /><br />As much as I dislike the Rev. Jesse Jackson, I do admire him for railing against the kind of violence that sees so many young people of that certain demographic dead, wounded and imprisoned. Of course, Jesse can't use White Privilege.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">RICOCHETS</h2><p>So while I'm here, lemme chase a few ricochets.</p><p><b>1) Most of these people enraged over school shootings in the US are totally silent about the use of true assault weapons used to kill kids and so many other people.<br /><br />Before going further, I 100% support our troops and our veterans.</b> We do not do enough to support our vets when they get home. I just cannot support an administration that sends our troops into harm's way needlessly.</p><p>Afghanistan Fatalities Total: 3590<br /><a href="http://icasualties.org/App/AfghanFatalities">http://icasualties.org/App/AfghanFatalities</a></p><p>Iraq Fatalities Total: 4902<br /><a href="http://icasualties.org/App/Fatalities">http://icasualties.org/App/Fatalities</a></p><p>The low estimate of death is "between 280,771-315,190 ... Many civilians have also been injured."<br /><a href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/iraqi">https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/iraqi</a></p><p>The real killer here is the US government. Don't hear a lot of people screaming about this. More White Privilege. </p><p>WHAT? you scream.</p><p>You read it right. Foreigners dying at the hands of US troops are not our kids. </p><p>The US government is a leading murderer, going back to the Revolution and the founding of the country. Ask some Native Americans about their history. Ask people whose ancestors came here as slaves.<br /></p><p>Gotta say a BIG THANK YOU to Stumblin' Joe Biden for getting our troops OUT of Afghanistan in a hurry. Previous ReDamnobooicratican presidents refused to do so. You may be one who whines about the rapid departure and how much equipment was left behind. I may make an exception to my policy about blocking people over political differences for you. Fact is, Biden got our troops out. Period. End of discussion.</p><p><b>2) The Second Amendment is clear. We have a right to own guns.</b> I've written extensively about this and even wrote a book on it. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/truth-behind-gun-control-rational/dp/1717220118">https://www.amazon.com/truth-behind-gun-control-rational/dp/1717220118</a> Nuf said for the time being.</p><p><b>3) SCOTUS said owning guns is legal.</b> This is the law of the land and SCOTUS decision are something I've written a lot about. As another bud is fond of telling me when we disagree, "This is our social contract." The people who whine, yes whine, that SCOTUS is wrong and it needs to change that decision, cool. Just do not whine when SCOTUS changes direction in ways you do not like on other issues. (Gonna get yelled at about that one. Hey. If the truth hurts, yer living wrong.)<br /><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">YOUR THOUGHTS</h2><p></p><p>To pull a phrase from another guy who headbutts controversy, if I am wrong, "Change my mind." Just stick to the narrative and leave personal attacks in your head. If you come after anyone personally, me or someone else who comments, it'll be Bye Felicia!</p><p><br /></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-19753464826499588622023-01-09T11:11:00.002-08:002023-01-09T11:11:58.301-08:00Rights to the matter<p>If animals have rights, this means they must be held accountable for their actions. Rights = accountability. Rights are NOT the same as reasonable welfare, which is a different post for another day.</p><a href="http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/pets/leopard-steals-lion-cub/ar-AA15XRIP">www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/pets/leopard-steals-lion-cub/ar-AA15XRIP</a><br /><br />This leopard killed a lion cub. Jumped into the bushes and came out with a cub. Hauled it up into a tree and ate it.<br /><br />Under the idea that those with rights must bear the consequences of their actions, I ask what should be the consequences.<div><br /></div><div>Let's get into some of the Devilish matters;<br /><br /><b>Cats are obligate carnivores.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>They HAVE to eat meat to survive.<a href="https://rawznaturalpetfood.com/obligate-carnivore-cats/"> https://rawznaturalpetfood.com/obligate-carnivore-cats/</a> That means something has to die. Leopards do not normally prey on lion cubs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Walking down this road a step further, male lions take over a pride and kill cubs, making the lionesses come into heat so they breed.</div><div><br /></div><div>If we are sticking to this whole obligate carnivore thing, wellllll, cats could be like buzzards. Wait for something to die naturally and eat the carcass. Carrion eaters do this.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>It is natural.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ma Nature is not harsh. Ma Nature does not care. Big difference. Kinda like the Cthulhu from HG Wells. The Old One is not evil, it is just that humanity is so far below its notice it treats people like we treat microbes. Cats kill and eat because it is natural.</div><div><br />Yanno what else is natural? People killing animals to eat them. Argue the point all you want, but people eating meat is natural. Once the ability to kill and eat animals is achieved that too becomes natural. The aforementioned buzzards will kills and eat critters. Killing something to eat it is faster and more efficient than waiting for something to die and then trying to find the carcass while it is still safe to eat.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is natural.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Defense</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Defending one's territory is also natural. I am not aware of any animal that willingly cedes territory to another of the same species. Sometimes, that defense requires a lethal interaction. If so, hey, there's a pile of meat.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Limited intellect</b></div><div><br /></div><div>At some point, someone is going to say animals lack the ability to reason like humans. Never mind the growing mountains of scientific evidence that say otherwise. Let's take that statement as it stands.</div><div><br /></div><div>What do humans do with another human that kills people but lacks the capacity to understand the gravity of their actions? We remove that person from society so they can no longer harm anyone else. These people are kept in mental institutions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yanno what is the animal world equivalent of a mental institution? A zoo. In case you don't wonder, I abhor zoos. Let the animals live in their natural habitat and go there to see 'em. I understand zoos and captive breeding programs are necessary to save some species because humans are stupid, but that's another post.<br /><br /><b>Baby got rights</b><br /><br />So if we are to believe that animals have rights, then that baby lion had rights. It had the right to live, which was abruptly ended by a leopard. If the leopard lacks the ability to understand the gravity of its actions, then it has to be removed from its version of society to prevent it from doing the same thing again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lock that leopard up.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Blue whales, congress and celery</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Realizing logic and reason and animal rights activists have as much in common as a stalk of celery and a member of congress - hang on, bad analogy. Ummm, as much in common as a stalk of celery and a blue whale, then what are we left with?<br /><br />Nothing useful.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dot to dot</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The problem is people are not willing to connect dots in the proper order. That results in a very different picture. If we all connect the dots in whatever order we like best, then everyone has a different picture. Everyone has a different view and in today's world, each view must be equal to all the others. More nonsense, but things do appear to be swinging back to reality.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take a page from the animal rights playbook and head coach Ingrid Newkirk who said, "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." In other words. Ms. Newkirk believes that a rat should have the same set of rights as a human child. Talk about making your own picture from dots.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Gettin' equal</b><br /><br /></div><div>Equal rights does not mean equal treatment of unequal individuals. We ain't all created equal, albeit Samuel Colt did flatten that curve a lot. We do not hold a child to the same standards as we do an adult. </div><div><br /></div><div>We can be fair. So if someone intends to call me a murderer (and they have) because I shoot animals, then what shall we do about animals that kill other animals and eat them? Better yet, what shall we do with animals that kill other animals just for fun, looking at otters in particular here.</div><div><br /></div><div>Going back to our spotted cat in Africa, being fair in this case means taking that leopard and removing it from African savannah so it cannot kill any more lion cubs.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But those who accuse me of murder are not interested in being fair. They connect dots that do not exist. They are not truly interested in rights. </div>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-61676537314217689942022-12-05T12:40:00.001-08:002022-12-05T12:42:52.855-08:00Pokin' in the eye<p> Color me amused.</p><p><br /></p><p>In today's news comes the story of a Colorado website designer who does not want to make wedding websites for same-gender couples. She is worried the Colorado state law will compel her to do this.</p><p><br /></p><p>The US Supreme Court is taking up the case based on 1A grounds.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's ya links</p><p><br /></p><p>Leftist - <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-whether-website-designer-can-refuse-service-to-lgbtq-customers">https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/12/supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-whether-website-designer-can-refuse-service-to-lgbtq-customers</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Rightist - <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/5/christian-bakers-artists-rally-colorado-website-de/">https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/dec/5/christian-bakers-artists-rally-colorado-website-de/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>1A - <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/">https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As should surprise none of you, I side with the website maker. Building a website is a creative endeavor. It involves writing, possible creation of graphics and editorial decisions on how and where to place information as well as what information should be presented. Pretty solid 1A ground here to me.</p><p><br /></p><p>So why am I amused?<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Because I own three business and have a vocation that exempts me from government oversight. Lemme restate that -<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I can, have, will and do refuse service to people. Government cannot do a thing about it. This amuses me. Potential customers cannot do anything except complain and go elsewhere. More amusement.</p><p><br /></p><p>In case yer not wondering, in Business 1, I refuse service from a time or two a week to dozens of times in a week. In Business 2, I refused service once, so far, and the FBI later called me and said I couldn't do business with that person anyway (I have proof.). Business 3, I have refused service, 2-3 times in total. In the vocation, I have never refused service, but I laid down conditions that sent fewer than 5 people looking for someone else.</p><p><br /></p><p>You may continue to wonder what the businesses and the vocation are. I do have government permits for 2 of the businesses and official sanction from the government for 2 businesses and for the vocation.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don't even need to give a reason for refusing service. I just get to say "No" and that's the end of it. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Do people complain? Betcha. Have I been threatened with lawsuits? Yup. Those wanting to involve lawyers quickly found out they have no case. </p><p><br /></p><p>I am further amused because this is a poke in the eye to people who think government should be able tell people what they can and cannot do.</p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-91950738508443204302022-10-31T18:22:00.006-07:002022-10-31T18:28:20.236-07:00The good therein<p> Lessons learned today and thanks to lessons from the past, hey!, all is good.<br /><br />The food bank crew borrowed my truck to use as part of a caravan to head out and bring back as much food as possible. Good enough,</p><p>I do state here I had misgivings. Perhaps it was God speaking to me. Perhaps it was general unease. Perhaps it was a combination of factors based on my years of experience in this thing we call life. I had a solid hunch my truck was not coming back all the way.<br /><br />Yep.</p><p>They made it back. Without my truck.<br /><br />I walked down to the FB, did not see my truck. I inquired as to where it was.</p><p>On the side of the road about 15 miles away. Transmission blew a seal.</p><p>They got back to the food bank, unloaded a truck and went back to get the trailer hooked to my truck. Or, they called someone to get that trailer and pull it in. Not clear on what exactly happened there. It does not matter.</p><p>I am clear that my truck was left on the side of a very rural road. I was not told about this either. This does not matter.</p><p>I had the foresight, this morning, to remove some of the items I had in it. The others I left, expecting to unload them this evening. What the items are, is irrelevant. </p><p>A few years ago, I would have exploded. I'd have stormed off swearing. I'da left many hurt feelings in my considerable wake.</p><p>This time, I was upset. I did swear, but kept that to myself. I kept hoping someone would ask me about the truck so I could explain a few things. No one did, so I wound up volunteering some information.<br /><br />That was a mistake. No one needed to know what I said. The information solved no problem. It did not establish any grounds for improving the future. </p><p>As anxiety wore at me, I quit unloading stuff and called for a ride to get to my truck. A stop at the auto parts place. My emotions continued to roil and rule and as a result, I wound up buying a jug of antifreeze instead of transmission fluid.</p><p>I caught the mistake after an ounce or two went in. My ride returned to town to get actual transmission fluid. No worries, It leaked out fast enough. Also, I needed to top off the radiator anyway so it was also good.</p><p>I sat on the tailgate waiting for the return. Of all the people who passed me - the hood on the truck was up, a universal sign of vehicle distress - only one person stopped to help. He even pointed to his house just up the road and said if I needed help, come get him.</p><p>The world needs more people like that. I am trying to be that person.</p><p>I fiddled with my phone and thought on the lessons from the Stoics. Their words were already running through me. As we rode out to my waiting truck, I said several times, "There is good in this. I just have to find it." I meant that. I mean that. I will continue to believe it.</p><p>I staggered the truck back to the house. It will be collected in the morning by the repair shop.</p><p>I have learned some lessons and had some reinforced. To enumerate in no particular order-<br /><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Getting PO'd solves little and often makes matters worse.</li><li>What is done is in the past and cannot be changed.</li><li>Learn from what happened and try to not let it happen again.</li><li>Pay attention to that small, quiet voice that speaks to what <strike>may</strike> will happen.</li><li>What you seek, you will absolutely find. Look for the good.</li></ul></blockquote><p>One lesson learned, not loaning my truck out any more except to a very select few people. Understand I do not fault anyone in the caravan. The transmission likely would have gone out even if I was driving. What makes the situation different is me and only me. I'da stayed with the truck until it was brought back, the owner contacted and he advised what to do or he arrived. This is me and no one else. I should not expect others to act as I do nor should I hold any ill will because they do not.<br /><br />And, I do not. What happened is in the past. To move forward is what matters. </p><p><b>That which cannot be avoided must be endured.</b></p><p>Likely the transmission is fried to a crisp. So be it. I am without a vehicle, uncertain how to pay for the transmission work and so forth. This is good. It has to be.</p><p>I shall find the good therein.</p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-55776977800146004682022-10-11T14:21:00.004-07:002022-10-11T14:21:37.351-07:00Success<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How do you define success?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Lemme help you with that.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You are already as successful as you want to be.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Some of you will not like hearing that. Here are a few non-comprehensive reasons excuses you have for not liking hearing it -</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I have not achieved the goals I set.</strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Ok. Are you working on them? Actively working. What do you do when you get home from work (assuming you work). Are you putting effort into achieving your goals? Or, are you flopping down on a chair and moaning about being exhausted?</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Some goals require an investment of time. It takes a few years to get an advanced college degree, for instance. If you are devoting ALL the needed resources to getting that degree, then you are successful right now.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I need to unwind</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Far be it from me to tell you the amount of leisure is needed in your life. But if you are serious about reaching a goal, the effort needed to get there IS the leisure you need. If not, then re-evaluate whether or not that goal is truly worth achieving.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I do not have the time</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">How much time do you need? You have 24 hours in a day. How are you using those hours? Do this for the next 48 hours. Carry a small notebook. Every 15 minutes, jot down what you did in those 15 minutes. You may record time napping or sleeping as one block of time. Don't wake up to make the notes. At the end of 48 hours, see how much time you devoted to being successful.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I am being held back</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">,</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Yes, you are. By yourself. Here is an example. Got kids? That was 100% a choice, unless you were raped. Regardless, you opted to have the kids when you had other viable alternatives. If you chose to have and raise children and are doing so then you are a success because you are achieving the goal you set for yourself.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">You are the only person holding you back. Actions have consequences. Every action you take has a consequence. When you act, you choose to do that. Therefore, that is a success and the consequences are your reward for that. If you say </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I never expected these consequences</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> then you are still a success. You devoted exactly enough resources to carry out the action and achieve the success you now experience.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Whatever example excuse of being held back you chose to use, I can absolutely point to decisions you made and make that you claim are holding you back.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I never asked for this</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">That may be. No one asks to be struck with various diseases. How you react to those problems defines your success. </span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">I just can't</strong><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">.</span></p><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Then don't. A person in a wheelchair cannot play major league baseball. A person in a wheelchair may want to play major league baseball, but that is a choice the person made. Pursuing imaginary goals is also success because you know you can never do it and you are absolutely bound to fall short. When you fall short, you have achieved the true goal you set for yourself.</span></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background: transparent; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">As JMSIII said,"You can have anything you want." The problem is what say you want is not what you truly want.<br /><br />Where you are right now is success because this is what you have devoted all your resources toward achieving. Again, you may not like this. Reality does not care what you think.</span></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-90324897795693513662022-08-10T13:42:00.006-07:002022-08-10T17:59:26.430-07:00SCIENCE! and one rotten apple<p>In what should be no surprise to anyone who is remotely paying attention, people trust SCIENCE! about as much as they trust politicians, televangelists, used car salesmen and journalists. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/">https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/</a></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>SCIENCE!</b></h2><p>Before I continue, lemme 'splain that word SCIENCE! I spell it that way with the exclamation point to draw a ludicrous amount of attention to the word and to ridicule it as well. SCIENCE!, when used that way, means I am referring to the body of work by people who get paid to study things and find answers. Sometimes.</p><p>Sometimes these same people are paid to come to a predetermined conclusion.</p><p>It also means, "how can I trust what SCIENTISTS! are saying when not long ago they said the exact opposite?"</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">EXAMPLES</h2><p>Just within my lifetime, SCIENCE! was saying there is no life at the very deepest part of the ocean because the pressure is too great, there's no oxygen, etc.<br /><br />Ahem.</p><p>Then, SCIENCE! said fish cannot exist in the deepest part of the oceans because the pressure is too great.<br /><br />Ahem.</p><p><a href="https://now.northropgrumman.com/the-next-frontier-exploring-the-bottom-of-the-sea/">https://now.northropgrumman.com/the-next-frontier-exploring-the-bottom-of-the-sea/</a></p><p>Need more? Eggs are good for you. No they are not. Yes they are. No they are not. Yes they are. Factory made formula is as good for babies as breast milk. Breast milk is the best for babies. Life cannot exist in temperatures above X degrees. Holly sheep dip, lookit those critters in blistering hot water on black smokers!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">BELIEVE THIS</h2><p>Any time I bring up SCIENCE! and my plausible and <i>empirically backed doubts</i> about SCIENCE! the SCIENTISTS! and wanna be scientists cop attitude with me. That is ok. I pull a rule from their own playbook and they probably get even madder, but they also stop haranguing me.</p><p>"The science is never settled."</p><p>I can get behind that, but I still ask "why should I trust what you are saying now?"<br /><br />If I get a reply, it is along the lines of "well, this is the best evidence we have now and it is universally accepted by everyone in the field."<br /></p><p>No. No to both qualifiers. It is NOT the best evidence. It is the evidence we have now, evidence that is even now disputed. It is NOT universally accepted.</p><p>Pick a scientific topic and an idea expressed by SCIENCE! or even science. I call it an idea instead of a hypothesis or theory because The Science Is Never Settled.</p><p>Your choice of topic. Pick one</p><p>Gimme just a few minutes and I will find a SCIENTIST! with a polar opposite view.</p><p>Here's a good one for you - I was once told evolution of humanity is a universally accepted fact by all biologists. Try again. <a href="https://creation.com/scientists-alive-today-who-accept-the-biblical-account-of-creation">https://creation.com/scientists-alive-today-who-accept-the-biblical-account-of-creation</a> In addition to that, I know plenty of people with advanced degrees in various "hard" sciences who believe in creation. </p><p>"Yeah, well, they are wrong," many people will say.</p><p>The science is never settled.</p><p>Lemme pick a topic for you. 2+2 = 4. Maybe. You see, The. Science. Is. Never. Settled.</p><p><a href="http://virgil.azwestern.edu/~dag/lol/TwoPlusTwo.html">http://virgil.azwestern.edu/~dag/lol/TwoPlusTwo.html</a></p><p>Try this one - <a href="https://www.purplemath.com/modules/howcan1.htm">https://www.purplemath.com/modules/howcan1.htm</a> .</p><p>Furthermore...</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS</h2><p>I have watched, seen and read SCIENTISTS! regress into kindergarten students when "discussing" each others <strike>theories</strike> ideas. Rather than stick to the issues, they insult each other.</p><p><a href="https://ipscell.com/2012/06/insults-2-0-more-even-nastier-ways-scientists-skewer-roast-each-other-over-the-coals/">https://ipscell.com/2012/06/insults-2-0-more-even-nastier-ways-scientists-skewer-roast-each-other-over-the-coals/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-art-of-the-scientific-insult/">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-art-of-the-scientific-insult/</a></p><p><a href="https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/a-call-to-change-sciences-culture-of-shaming">https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/a-call-to-change-sciences-culture-of-shaming</a></p><p>I'm supposed to believe these people?</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">PREDETERMINED</h2><p>What about all those predetermined outcome studies? I refer you here to SCIENTIFIC! and scientific studies published in the world's most reputable journals. </p><p>Sugar. What about all those studies funded by Big Sugar? <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat">https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/13/493739074/50-years-ago-sugar-industry-quietly-paid-scientists-to-point-blame-at-fat</a> What about recent research? <a href="https://www.newhallhospital.co.uk/news/is-sugar-more-addictive-than-cocaine">https://www.newhallhospital.co.uk/news/is-sugar-more-addictive-than-cocaine</a>. Tobacco? Prescription painkillers?</p><p>Get some - <a href="https://retractionwatch.com">https://retractionwatch.com</a></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">SHUNNING</h2><p></p><p>It's not just shouting people down or taking money to monkey the results. It is also taking a page from Ayn Rand and outright shunning people with unpopular ideas. <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2022/aug/09/anti-big-bang-theory-scientists-face-censorship-by-international-journals-2485604.html">https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2022/aug/09/anti-big-bang-theory-scientists-face-censorship-by-international-journals-2485604.html</a></p><p>It's not just all the above either. It is also about threatening the people doing the research. <a href="https://www.history.com/news/galileo-copernicus-earth-sun-heresy-church">https://www.history.com/news/galileo-copernicus-earth-sun-heresy-church</a></p><p>"Oh, but that was Galileo; we don't do that any more."<br /><br />We who?</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/scientists-abused-and-threatened-for-discussing-covid-global-survey-finds">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/scientists-abused-and-threatened-for-discussing-covid-global-survey-finds</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/unilateral-sanctions-threaten-scientific-research-and-academic-freedom-un">https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/unilateral-sanctions-threaten-scientific-research-and-academic-freedom-un</a></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">I'M A BELIEVER</h2><p>Someone is going to accuse me of being a science denier. You are wrong. If science was not a real, palpable and actionable thing, I'd not be here. I'da died infancy or many other times during this 55 year journey. I am a believer.<br /></p><p>I just ain't a member of the Church Of SCIENCE! like so many other people I know. I doubt. I question. I refuse to accept.</p><p>One rotten apple is all it takes. SCIENCE! and unfortunately science both have plenty of degenerating fruit in the container.</p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-66073775858652291922022-06-28T11:17:00.016-07:002022-06-28T19:15:13.636-07:00Coach K and his prayer<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">EDIT- I have quit trying to format this thing. It WILL NOT COOPERATE. Read at yer own risk.<br /><br />Nor does anyone question that, in forbidding Mr. Kennedy's brief prayer, the District failed to act pursuant to a neutral and generally applicable rule. A government policy will not qualify as neutral if it is "specifically directed at . . . religious practice." </span>So said the majority decision of the US Supreme Court on the recent decision on prayer and school.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Those two sentences are gonna cause splodey heads. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Satanists have already </span><a href="https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/satanists-hold-invocation-at-football-game-people-protest">shown up once</a>. <span style="font-family: times;">They are gonna do it again. Under the SCOTUS decision, they have the right to do that. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">If you want prayer in school, you have it. That the prayer horrifies you is your problem. This is, literally, what you asked for if you support this ruling. Disagree if you like</span>. <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/press/constitutional-expert-on-separation-of-church-and-state-framers-said-nothing-wrong-with-religion-in-culture/">Read this</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">A public school system or District is government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Lemme put this in Supreme Court language, which I will immediately explain afterward. Do not grow vociferous in your call for rejection of the comestible when you are the one who applied sufficient torque to dislodge the containment system seal which heretofore restricted the annelids. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In plain English - Do not complain about the sandwich when you open the can of worms.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">ABOUT THAT DECISION</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">So, about that decision on the coach and praying...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Read <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf">the decision</a> for yourself. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">And read this</span> -<span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances</span>. <span style="font-family: times;">That's 1A</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">While we are at it, read the</span> <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiv ">14th Amendment</a> - <span style="font-family: times;">14A, as currently interpreted sort of, makes the rest of the Constitution also apply to the states. Sort of, because given the current state of the Supreme Court, this could change before you get done reading this sentence.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Here is what the Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision says in plainer language than the judges used: Coach K can pray, the WAY he tried to do it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The Supremes wrote: </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal; the Constitution neither mandates nor permits the government to suppress such religious expression.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In plain English - Practice your religion as you see fit unless you are harming someone. Government can't stop you. Wanna dance naked under an oak tree? Cue up the Flashdance soundtrack and have at it. At the same time, government cannot make you dance naked under an oak tree.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">This covers all religions, including the Church of the Latter Day Dude, Jediism, Satanism, Jainism, Pastafarian and other religious beliefs you have never heard of. It also covers agnostics and atheists.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: times;">Aside: That guy who ended a prayer with "Amen and Awomen" has a profound misunderstanding of language.</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In school terms, this means teachers cannot lead students in prayer. Student-lead prayer is acceptable. Teachers can pray; they just cannot require students to join them. This. Is. Critical.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">NOT LEADING PRAYER</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Everyone in this case agrees Coach Kennedy did not require anyone to join him in prayer. He said that. The school district said that. The lawyers for both sides said that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In the opening remarks, the decision says </span>- <span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here, no one questions that Mr. Kennedy seeks to engage in a sincerely motivated religious exercise involving giving "thanks through prayer" briefly "on the playing field" at the conclusion of each game he coaches. App. 168, 171. The contested exercise here does not involve leading prayers with the team;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I point out the opening remarks are NOT the decision. It is a recap of the case. A statement of the facts, in other words. The majority decision and the dissent follows.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In short, the School District fired him because they were afraid his prayer could be considered approved by the School System.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">MAJORITY</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The majority ruled for Coach K. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The exercise in question involves, as Mr. Kennedy has put it, giving thanks through prayer" briefly and by himself "on the playing field" at the conclusion of each game he coaches. Mr. Kennedy has indicated repeatedly that he is wlling to "wai[t] until the game is over and the players have left the field" to "wal[k] to mid-field to say [his] short, private, personal prayer." </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">During the postgame period when these prayers occurred, coaches were free to attend briefly to personal matters—everything from checking sports scores on their phones to greeting friends and family in the stands. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">With that reading, Coach K is 100% legal and Constitutional.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The majority decision says, </span>I<span style="font-family: helvetica;">nitially, Mr. Kennedy prayed on his own. But over time, some players asked whether they could pray alongside him. 991 F. 3d 1004, 1010 (CA9 2021); App. 169. Mr. Kennedy responded by saying, "'This is a free country. You can do what you want.'" Ibid. The number of players who joined Mr. Kennedy eventually grew to include most of the team, at least after some games. Sometimes team members invited opposing players to join. Other times Mr. Kennedy still prayed alone.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Pretty clear. Students asked to join him. He did not say yes; he did not say no. He said students could do as they wanted.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Absolutely NOT government ordered religion under a plain reading of the coach's comments.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The majority's words go on to add some of the kids prayed before and after a game and that started before Coach K got there. Coach K led this, which is wrong. After getting a complaint, he stopped doing that. The kids were welcome to pray as they wished.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Further, Coach K said he would do his postgame prayer after the students left the field. Solidly OK. The school system waffled on this one saying sorta no and sorta yes at different times. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When it comes to Mr. Kennedy's free speech claim, our precedents remind us that the First Amendment's protections extend to "teachers and students," neither of whom "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21">Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist</a>., 393 U. S. 503, 506 (1969); see also <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/13-483">Lane v. Franks</a>, 573 U. S. 228, 231 (2014).</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">DISSENT</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Writing for the dissent, Judge Sonia Sotomayor says,</span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">The record reveals that Kennedy had a longstanding practice of conducting demonstrative prayers on the 50-yard line of the football field. Kennedy consistently invited others to join his prayers and for years led student athletes in prayer at the same time and location.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Judge Sotomayor added,</span> <span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Court also ignores the severe disruption to school events caused by Kennedy's conduct.</span> <span style="font-family: times;">Dunno where she is from, but it ain't the South I come from. After the fooball game, the field is swamped by people from all around the stadium. A coach and a few folks taking a knee to pray after the game is not a disruption. May be different up in Washington State where this case comes from. Coach K. prayed after the game.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Point of order. The Court did not ignore anything. Again, from the opening statement, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The timing and circumstances of Mr. Kennedy's prayers—during the postgame period when coaches were free to attend briefly to personal matters and students were engaged in other activities—confirms that Mr. Kennedy did not offer his prayers while acting within the scope of his duties as a coach.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In plain English, Coach K was not being a coach when he took a knee after the game. He was doing his own thing, which is clearly permitted.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">COACH IS COACH IS COACH</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Now, lemme monkey wrench these gears. Coach is Coach is Coach.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">[T]he Ninth Circuit stressed that, as a coach, Mr. Kennedy served as a role model "clothed with the mantle of one who imparts knowledge and wisdom."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Yep. In this case, that has to figure into the decision. Well, it should anyway. It does not mean that everything a coach says and does is authorized or even acceptable to the school where he is employed. But Coach is Coach is Coach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Page 3, still in the opening remarks, says, </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> It is not dispositive that Coach Kennedy served as a role model and remained on duty after games. To hold otherwise is to posit an "excessively broad job descriptio[n]" by treating everything teachers and coaches say in the workplace as government speech subject to government control.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Yeah. I had to look up the word "dispositive" and after writing this, I will immediately forget what it means.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The Court says here that a coach is also a person with a life beyond being a coach. Everything he (or she) does is not related to being a coach. True. The Court says Coach K's after-game prayer is not part of him being a coach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I say they sorta got this one wrong. Here is why.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">1) Coach K repeatedly said his after-game prayer is done win or lose. He said, repeatedly, the prayer is part of an agreement he has with his God regarding the game. In that view, his prayer is part of being a coach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">2) Coach is Coach is Coach. What I mean by that is, a coach is always and forever a coach to the people he instructed. Anything and everything that coach does, it is seen as "Coach (whatever) did that. Coach (whatever) said that." A coach is a coach 24/7/365 to the people who know him. I know coaches who are retired for decades. They are still called "Coach." I coached T-Ball when my kids were little. The kids (now adults) who remember still call me Coach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">3) Very few people ever generate the respect a coach has. This respect puts the coach and his actions and words on a higher level than anyone else including law enforcement, elected officials and others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">4) It is easier to leave a motorcycle gang than to stop being Coach. If you ever had a coach or are a coach, you get that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">5) A coach is a role model 24/7/365. Anything he does is seen as an example, a way to do something. The players he coaches at that time will watch everything he does and they will try to do it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">6) He is never NOT a coach. He is always a figure of authority no matter how old his former players get or how long ago they played for him. As the school system argued,<span> </span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Mr. Kennedy "wielded enormous authority and influence over the students," and students might have felt compelled to pray alongside him.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Yep.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Taking all 6 points I list here, when Coach K took a knee after the game, he was setting an example. He was, literally, teaching these kids to pray. Certainly, he never told the kids they had to join him, but some kids saw it and many joined him just because it was a coach praying. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">He was the coach. He was teaching the kids. He was leading them in prayer. At the same time, he never said they had to do that to be on the team. In fact, both sides agree Coach K said he was willing to do his prayer AFTER the kids left the field. This is why the decision is also sorta right.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Peer pressure is a significant factor too. Some of the parents report their children said as much. Football is a game of cooperation and teamwork. Outsiders simply don't work well in football. It is natural that team members would join the prayer, just to continue to be part of the team, whether they wanted to pray or not.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The flip side of that is something called personal responsibility. If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you go too?</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">NOW SOME SAND</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Here is some sand in those gears in case the monkey wrench did not work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">That prayer is voluntary. Players who did not join him were not punished or denied the opportunity to play. If Coach K took action against the players who did not join him, that would be flat wrong.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">This way, arg. Does Coach K or any other coach have the right to pray? Absolutely. See 1A above. Can he pray on the football field? Yep. See 1A above. He just cannot require anyone to join him. Everyone agrees he did not require students or anyone else top join him. Can he pray at other times? Yep.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Still, he is coach and if the players see him do something they see as connected to the game, they will feel obligated to participate.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A SAND MONKEY WRENCH</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I am now making this worse with a sand monkey wrench. Every school system I have ever covered says the coach is NOT off duty until the last player leaves the campus. As long as one player is at school, the coach is on duty and a school system employee.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">At the same time, school system employees MUST be allowed some personal time and space. Bathroom breaks are necessary.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">arg.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A CONSTITUTIONAL CONFLICT </h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the end, the District's case hinges on the need to generate conflict between an individual's rights under the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses and its own Establishment Clause duties—and then develop some explanation why one of these Clauses in the First Amendment should "'trum[p]'" the other two. ... . In truth, there is no conflict between the constitutional commands before us. There is only the "mere shadow" of a conflict, a false choice premised on a misconstruction of the Establishment Clause.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic—whether those expressions take place in a sanctuary or on a field, and whether they manifest through the spoken word or a bowed head. </span></p><p><br /></p><p>In other words, Coach K can pray. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">ALL OR NOTHING</h2><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Based on all this, what we have is an all-or-nothing approach. Let everyone or let no one. If the school district shut down Coach K but allowed other teachers to pray, then the school district was clearly splitting the difference. Betcha other teachers prayed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Under the District's reasoning, a teacher in the cafeteria could not bow to say grace before eating. As long as the teacher is not being loud or demanding others to participate, anyone with sense would say this is permitted. The Constitution sees no difference between saying grace and a Muslim person declining a ham sandwich in the lunch line.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">In other words, that barn door was ripped off the hinges and burned. Everybody can come in, provided they do so without demanding others follow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">I do not like this decision. However, I believe it is the right one. I also do not like watermelon, very bright lights, ReDamnoboobicraticans and hot weather. Other people do enjoy these things and I shall not stand in their way as long as they do not force me to join them. Let Coach K pray. If you do not like it, show up and you too can have your quiet, non-forced say after the game is over.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2015/08/daffodils-new-meaning-for-old-word.html">Daffodils much?</a></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-15728083242607850382022-06-27T16:15:00.129-07:002022-06-28T14:16:51.227-07:00You are not your own<span style="font-family: times;"><p>With the country in a near meltdown over recent Supreme Court decisions, a few things need to be said.</p><p>These musings will not settle any issue. Like as not, they will also not convince anyone to even consider changing their mind.</p><p>Eh. I have to write it out because that is what I do. I can lead you to reason, but I can not and will not make you think.<br /><br /></p><p><b></b></p></span><span style="font-size: large;">You Are Not Your Own</span><p><span style="font-family: times;">While it may appear I am borrowing a page from the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement">Sovereign Citizen</a> movement, I am not. One thing these people and I do have in common is we believe You Are Not Your Own according to the government. In other words, you are not allowed to control your own body. The government controls your body, if you believe the current government is legitimate. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">Dobbs decision</a> is just a drop in an oil tanker.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Some of you are shaking your heads and calling me an idiot now. <br /><br />Here is your proof.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MEDICAL</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You do not have the right to decide what medical procedures you go through. Two Supreme Court decisions from Jan. 2022 make this clear.</span></p><p><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"The rule mandates COVID-19 vaccination, absent a medical or religious exemption, for all health care workers in institutions that receive federal funding for patients enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid," says</span></span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #404042;"> <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20220303.102051/">Health Affairs</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">That was <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a240_d18e.pdf">Biden v. Missouri</a> in case you wanna look it up.<br /><br />The other was <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21a244_hgci.pdf">NFIB v. OSHA</a>. That one said, OSHA overreached its authority.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">OSHA has never
before imposed such a mandate. Nor has Congress. Indeed,
although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here</span>, </span><span style="font-family: times;">the decision says.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Neither ruling overturned a <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/">1905 decision</a>. </span></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;">That one says in part, </span><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px;">A state may enact a compulsory vaccination law, since the legislature has the discretion to decide whether vaccination is the best wa</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 16px;">y to prevent smallpox and protect public health. The legislature may exempt children from the law without violating the equal protection rights of adults if the law applies equally among adults.</span></span></span><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i style="background-color: white;">An aside: this is the same line of reasoning (at least where legislative action is concerned) that SCOTUS used in the most recent gun decision and the abortion decision. These matters are left to state legislatures and voters.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">Can you get medical care from someone who is not trained nor certified? Yes. Most of us had a mom or dad who put a Band-Aid on us. If you are old like me, you also got dosed with <a href="https://www.newmoa.org/prevention/mercury/projects/legacy/personalcare.cfm">Mercurochrome</a> too. Practicing medicine withou</span><span style="background-color: white;">t </span><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/433733" style="background-color: white;">a license</a><span style="background-color: white;"> is illegal, but the person doing the work gets charged, not you.</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/07/469478098/the-supreme-court-ruling-that-led-to-70-000-forced-sterilizations">Buck v. Bell</a> was overturned. That one can be reversed yet again. While rare, we just saw SCOTUS did, can and will flip previous decisions. I've been saying for years <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/stare_decisis">Stari Decisis</a> is a convenient legal fiction. This statement annoys people, particularly lawyers, but the <a href="https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/scotus-verify/supreme-court-has-overturned-precedent/536-0a0c7e3e-4c25-4fb6-a8bf-9c80450bf170">empirical evidence</a> is on my side.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Buck, in case you wonder, <a href="https://timeline.com/supreme-court-forced-sterilization-763f8bfefe48">was overturned in 1978</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">SCOTUS says rejecting food and water is a decision a person can legally make, except when <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/detainee-hunger-strike-describes-being-force-fed-three-times-day-n966306">government says otherwise</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">If this has not made my point on medical matters, then anything else I add will not make a difference.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">SEX DISCRIMINATION</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: times;">A lot of people are yelling that the abortion decision only affects women. Well, more accurately in that line of reasoning, it affects pregnant women who seek abortion. Owing to the reality of biology, men cannot have an abortion so saying this is biological sex discrimination is technically accurate, but bloody stupid at the same time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">However, sex discrimination is intentionally, deliberately and specifically built into federal law without any solid reason behind it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.sss.gov">Selective Service</a> - Exclusively male. Women are not required to sign up and have never, in the US, been subject to the draft. Repeated court cases over this one have left this mandatory registration for armed services duty if needed intact. Court cases have also repeatedly declared leaving it male-only is acceptable.<br /><br />It was only recently women were allowed to <a href="https://www.cnas.org/publications/commentary/women-in-combat-five-year-status-update">intentionally be in combat roles</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You, men anyway, are not your own.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">VICTIMLESS CRIMES</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Lemme bend your metaphorical ear for a moment about <a href="https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/criminal-defense/what-are-some-examples-of-victimless-crimes.html">victimless crimes</a>. In short, victimless means no one is harmed, except for someone's feelings. Yes. Feelings. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">...most offenses against <b>morals</b> such as gambling, which are not designed for the protection of a particular vulnerable class, should be viewed as having no real "victim"...</span> </span><span style="color: #171e24; font-family: times;">(emphasis mine) says the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-683-victimless-crimes">DOJ</a>.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;">In other words, you think it is wrong so no one should be able to do it. That kinda thinking invites other people to tell you the exact same thing and stop you from doing the things you want to do. Lemme slap you with some <span style="color: #01ffff;"><a href="http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2015/08/daffodils-new-meaning-for-old-word.html">daffodils</a>.</span><br /><br />If you can prove physical or financial harm, then making the activity illegal bears discussion. Ripping a reputation to shreds has affected people's ability to earn money, so economic harm is there. Getting your feelings hurt, despite what the cantservative and liarberal crowd believe, should not be something for the law to deal with. If your feelings get hurt, put on your adult britches and move along.<br /><br />While I have opinions regarding items in the list below, I am not sharing my opinion, except for one. I'm just telling you these are crimes of a moral nature. Moral = feelings in this case.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Prostitution - Except for parts of Nevada, being a hooker of any gender is illegal. Hiring a hooker is illegal most places. Prostitution is illegal in Clark County, NV, home of Las Vegas. Being a hooker is legal in most of the state. <br /><br />Drugs - Can you go out and buy heroin just because you want to? Yes. However, buying it is illegal. Some drugs you can buy over the counter, some require a prescription and some others require the prescribing doc to have a Drug Enforcement Agency permit in addition to all the other licenses required to be a legally practicing doctor. Speaking of drugs, a here is a just-in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1410_1an2.pdf">unanimous decision on prescribing drugs</a>.You certainly can buy alcohol, legally if you are at least 21. Why the difference? You can buy tobacco products legally if you are at least 21. Do you know how old you have to be to legally work in a tobacco field? Dunno about your state, but here in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)">Jawja</a>, we have <a href="https://www.minimum-wage.org/georgia/agriculture-child-labor-laws">no minimum age at all</a> for farm workers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Contraband - What is contraband and what is not varies widely and depends on the place and the time. Step across a state line and what was legal where you were is now illegal where you are. Imagine standing in one place with something in your pocket. 3/4s of you is breaking the law. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Corners">It can happen.</a> </span><span style="font-family: times;">In this vein, you do not have the right to own anything. You can lease it from the government in the form of taxes. You also pay taxes for the privilege to work. If you have to pay to do it, it is not a right but a privilege. If government wants to take it away from you, just have to <a href="https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/bump-stocks">declare possession illegal</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Public drunk - This is not drunk driving, which is rightly illegal on public roads. If you get plastered and want to walk home, you can be arrested.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span>Assisted suicide - <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/suicide">This is illegal</a>. </span><span>Doctor assisted suicide is legal in a few places. (See link). Some states say attempted suicide is illegal, which is bizarre when you think about it. Illegal to try, but if you succeed, it is not a crime. Kinda hard to prosecute someone who is dead, of course. I</span><span>n other words, you cannot end your own life without government permission beforehand. </span><span>Paradoxically, t</span><span>he government can grant itself permission to end your life. Capital punishment is legal in most states and is federally legal. Add to this, sometimes just sentencing someone to prison is</span><span> </span><a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/06/08/prison_mortality/">increasingly a death sentence</a><span>. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Gambling - Unless you live in Nevada, Atlantic City or have a however-tenuous connection to Native American tribes, as in standing in one of their casinos, you cannot legally gamble in person. I know places that have poker every weekend. It is illegal. Why? Gambling online? <a href="https://www.letsgambleusa.com/online-gambling/">May be</a> illegal. I<span style="background-color: white;">f it is your money, shouldn't you be allowed to spend it as you see fit when you do not hurt anyone?</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: times;">Public nudity - Set aside the fact most of us should <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgd9hitEAE">NEVER appear naked in public</a>. The question is, aside from needing eye bleach (he wrote sarcastically), who gets hurt when some walks around in public in nothing but their birthday suit? The idea of protecting ANYONE from seeing a nude person who is just going about their day, albeit without clothes, is in direct contradiction to all kinds of art like statues, paintings and even live displays.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">Homelessness - Yes, it is</span> <a href="https://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/crimreport/meanest.html">illegal in many places</a> to be homeless. Why? Justifications like stopping people from <a href="https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/la-residents-complain-poop-streets-more-public-toilets-fix">pooping on the sidewalk</a> may be aimed at homeless people, but these laws also affect people who have homes. Besides which, those laws are environmental safety issues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Trespassing - According to some, this is a "victimless" crime. According to others, me being one, it is not. I maintain property for hunting. When people walk through, it can and does disturb the hunting programs I have in place, not to mention the dangers to the person doing the trespassing during hunting season. Further, I should be able to control who comes into my house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Raw Milk - As of this year, Georgia joins the ranks of states where you can buy raw milk. Still <a href="https://milk.procon.org/raw-milk-laws-state-by-state/">illegal in most states.</a> I looked up a list of other banned in the US foods, but every one I checked listed some stuff banned when it is legal. F'r'instance, <a href="https://horseracingsense.com/why-dont-we-eat-horse-meat">horse meat</a> is legal in the US for human consumption. Beluga caviar is legal, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-26/where-to-buy-legal-beluga-caviar-in-usa-sturgeon-aquafarms-huso">sort of</a>. Despite them growing wild, "magic mushrooms" are<a href="https://drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/are-psilocybin-mushrooms-illegal"> pretty much illegal</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You can vote if you are 18. Why the difference, is something people wiser than I often ask. If you have "body autonomy" then what you put in it is your business and yours alone. When you become an adult, it should be government hands off.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MARRIAGE</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Sooner or later, someone is gonna point to the Obergefell decision on marriage, the one that said two ladies, two gents or two humans of whatever gender-of-the-moment they want to be have the right to marry each other. This decision does say:</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: helvetica;">The first premise of this Court’s relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Pay attention. That's the first premise, there is more:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">Finally, this Court’s cases and the Nation’s traditions make clear that marriage is a keystone of the Nation’s social order. See Maynard v. Hill, 125 U. S. 190, 211. States have contributed to the fundamental character of marriage by placing it at the center of many facets of the legal and social order</span>. </span><span style="font-family: times;">Lotta "general welfare" going on here. Lotta hypocrisy too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">What we have here is the High Court being hypocrites, in addition to saying marriage is matter of legal and social order. In the abortion and gun decisions, the dissent (who was in the majority on the marriage decision) says the historical record is not valid. Here, it is valid. Pick one and stick with it, wudjaplease. But that's another blog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Anyway, one more from the Obergefell decision, which overruled the 1972 case of Baker v. Nelson, the first same-sex marriage case to hit the High Court after Loving v. Virginia.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: helvetica;">The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Didja read that? REQUIRES. That is a stand-alone, one-line paragraph. SCOTUS decisions are carefully worded, carefully phrased, edited, revised, stomped flat, brushed off, refined in fire and so on before being publicly issued. Making this a single-line paragraph is not an accident. The judges wanted it to stand out. Someone will say also it says between 2 people of the same sex. That only means states cannot restrict licenses to a man and a woman. Do it for John and Jane, gotta do it for John and John or Jane and Jane or J and J.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Wanna get married, better ask Big Brother. Obergefell is not only about love, it is about government control over you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Amusingly enough, the same decision also says children are better raised by married couples, not unmarried parents. Don't believe it. It's in the decision and this time I ain't doing your homework.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">GAME OVER</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: times;">Some people are still going to argue about body autonomy. Read this and see Game Over.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;">We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">That, luddites and geraniums, is the opening statement of the US Constitution, ONE of the bodies of work the US Supreme Court, the various legislatures from City Councils up to Congress and the executive branches of government use to govern. I say "one of" because laws and various court decisions reference a lot more than just the US Constitution, but that's another blog.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Four words "promote the general welfare" mean you are not your own person. The Constitution even says as much. Slaves were 3/5ths of a person. At the time those words were written, women had whatever rights their fathers/brothers or husbands chose to let them have. Native Americans, yeah, well books are written about that too Yes, the Constitution changed, but that original intent is still very much a part of the current laws and various court decisions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You may not care what the Founding Fathers said or meant. Reality also does not care what you say, mean, intend or think. The current reality is what I'm dealing with and that is you are not your own.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Furthermore, lots of people debate what those four simple words mean. Debate all you like. As it stands right now, only 5 opinions matter and those are the opinions of 5 Supreme Court justices, which is a majority.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: helvetica;">No federal court has struck down a spending program on the ground that it failed to promote the general welfare. However, federal spending programs have been struck down on other constitutional grounds,</span><span style="font-family: times;"> says the <a href="https://law.jrank.org/pages/7116/General-Welfare.html">Law Library</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">So have the Supremes ever decided what the "general welfare" covers? Regularly and routinely. Most of the SCOTUS decisions have covered general welfare and spending. An excellent example of this is <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2005/04-1477">Jones v. Flowers</a>. The entire court agreed property taxes are legal and necessary. They only split on minutiae in the case.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">What about where it concerns body autonomy? See the Medical Decision cases and the list of banned stuff above. More? Okay</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-840_6jfm.pdf">forced to have </a>health insurance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You do have the right to refuse medical treatment, <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt5_4_5_2_5_1/">sort of</a>. People who are legally not allowed to decide the issue for themselves can have medical treatment done even if it is against their wishes. (Got a <a href="https://www.findlaw.com/state/georgia-law/georgia-living-wills-laws.html">living will</a> yet?) If the person later objects (living will yet?), think a Jehovah Witness unconscious and getting a blood transfusion, oh well. Sorry about that. (Living will yet?) In the absence of a living will, other people decide for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Here are a <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/amaone/ama-litigation-center-supreme-court-cases">few cases</a> the American Medical Association focuses on. As you eyeball these, bear in mind these are wins for the AMA. You have to search the archives to find cases they lost.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The debate over that "general welfare" clause is old, as in the people who wrote the Constitution<a href="https://individualrightsgovernmentwrongs.com/founding-fathers/the-founders-and-the-general-welfare/"> argued about it old</a>. States have specifically expanded general welfare in their own constitutions to cover matters of health and more.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Narrow this a bit more and focus on the word general. As much as it grinds my libertarian soul into subatomic particles, attorney <a href="https://lawliberty.org/thinking-about-general-welfare-in-the-preamble">James Rogers</a> is spot on.</span></p><p><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: helvetica;">First, promoting the “general welfare” stands in relation to its antonym, that of promoting a particular or limited welfare. Promoting the general welfare certainly rules out promoting the welfare of particular individuals or factions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Thus sayeth the Supreme Court, including the minority in the recent Big 3 cases and in so many more decisions than just the Big 3 causing so much heartburn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">dammitdammitdammitdammit Game over.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You may not like this. However, as a great friend of mine says when I object to things he supports, "This is our social contract."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></p><style left="" text-align:=""><span style="font-family: times; font-size: normal; font-weight: normal;">You can vote if you are 18. Why the difference, is something people wiser than I often ask. If you have "body autonomy" then what you put in it is your business and yours alone. When you become an adult, it should be government hands off.</span><br></br><div>You are not your own.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><h2 span style="font-family: times;">MARRIAGE</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: times;">Sooner or later, someone is gonna point to the <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">Obergefell decision on marriag</a>e, the one that said two ladies, two gents or two humans of whatever gender-of-the-moment they want to be have the right to marry each other. This decision does say:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The first premise of this Court’s relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;">Pay attention. That's the first premise, there is more:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Finally, this Court’s cases and the Nation’s traditions make clear
that marriage is a keystone of the Nation’s social order. See
<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/125/190/">Maynard v. Hill</a>, 125 U. S. 190, 211. States have contributed to the
fundamental character of marriage by placing it at the center of
many facets of the legal and social order.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-weight: normal;">What we have here is the High Court being hypocrites, in addition to saying marriage is matter of legal and social order. </span><span style="font-family: times;">In the abortion and gun decisions, the dissent (who was in the majority on the marriage decision) says the historical record is not valid. Here, it is valid. Pick one and stick with it, wudjaplease. But that's another blog</span><span style="font-family: times;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-weight: normal;">Anyway, one more from the Obergefell decision, which overruled the 1972 case of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_v._Nelson">Baker v. Nelson</a>, the first same-sex marriage case to hit the High Court after <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1966/395">Loving v. Virginia</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Didja read that? REQUIRES. That is a stand-alone, one-line paragraph. SCOTUS decisions are carefully worded, carefully phrased, edited, revised, stomped flat, brushed off, refined in fire and so on before being publicly issued. Making this a single-line paragraph is not an accident. The judges wanted it to stand out. Someone will say also it says between 2 people of the same sex. That only means states cannot restrict licenses to a man and a woman. Do it for John and Jane, gotta do it for John and John or Jane and Jane or J and J.<br /><br />Wanna get married, better ask Big Brother. Obergefell is not only about love, it is about government control over you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Amusingly enough, the same decision also says children are better raised by married couples, not unmarried parents. Don't believe it. It's in the decision and this time I ain't doing your homework.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: times;">GAME OVER</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: times;">Some people are still going to argue about body autonomy. Read this and see Game Over.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Source Sans Pro", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 19.2px; font-weight: 700;"><span style="color: #800180;">We the People</span></span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 19.2px;"><span style="color: #800180;"> of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.</span><br /></span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-size: 19.2px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;">That, luddites and geraniums, is the opening statement of the US Constitution, ONE of the bodies of work the US Supreme Court, the various legislatures from City Councils up to Congress and the executive branches of government use to govern. I say "one of" because laws and various court decisions reference a lot more than just the US Constitution, but that's another blog.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;">Four words "promote the general welfare" mean you are not your own person. The Constitution even says as much. Slaves were 3/5ths of a person. At the time those words were written, women had whatever rights their fathers/brothers or husbands chose to let them have. Native Americans, yeah, well books are written about that too Yes, the Constitution changed, but that original intent is still very much a part of the current laws and various court decisions.<br /><br />You may not care what the Founding Fathers said or meant. Reality also does not care what you say, mean, intend or think. The current reality is what I'm dealing with and that is you are not your own.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;">Furthermore, lots of people debate what those four simple words mean. Debate all you like. As it stands right now, only 4 opinions matter and those are the opinions of 4 Supreme Court justices, which is a majority.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Droid Serif", serif; font-size: 21px;">No federal court has struck down a spending program on the ground that it failed to promote the general welfare. However, federal spending programs have been struck down on other constitutional grounds, </span><span style="font-family: times;">says the </span><a href="https://law.jrank.org/pages/7116/General-Welfare.html" style="font-family: times;">Law Library</a><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">So have the Supremes ever decided what the "general welfare" covers? Regularly and routinely. Most of the SCOTUS decisions have covered general welfare and spending. An excellent example of this is</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"> <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2005/04-1477">Jones v. Flowers</a>. </span><span style="font-family: times;">The entire court agreed property taxes are legal and necessary. They only split on minutiae in the case.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">What about where it concerns body autonomy? See the Medical Decision cases and the list of banned stuff above. More? Okay</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">You are</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"> <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/supreme-court-upholds-health-care-law-5-4-decision">forced to have health insurance</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">You do have the</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10107437/">right to refuse medical treatment</a>, s</span><span style="font-family: times;">ort of. People who are legally not allowed to decide the issue for themselves can have medical treatment done even if it is against their wishes. (Got a <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/living-wills/art-20046303">living will</a> yet?) If the person later objects (living will yet?), think a Jehovah Witness unconscious and getting a blood transfusion, oh well. Sorry about that. (Living will yet?) In the absence of a living will, other people decide for you.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Here are a</span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: times;"> <a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/amaone/ama-litigation-center-supreme-court-cases">few cases</a> </span><span style="font-family: times;">the American Medical Association focuses on. As you eyeball these, bear in mind these are wins for the AMA. You have to search the archives to find cases they lost.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">The <a href="https://www.heritage.org/the-constitution/report/enough-enough-why-general-welfare-limits-spending">debate</a> over that "general welfare" clause is old, as in the people who wrote the Constitution <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-i/clauses/755">argued about it old</a>. States have specifically expanded general welfare in their own constitutions to cover <a href="https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/to-promote-the-general-welfare/">matters of health and more</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">Narrow this a bit more and focus on the word general. As much as it grinds my libertarian soul into subatomic particles, attorney <a href="https://lawliberty.org/thinking-about-general-welfare-in-the-preamble/ ">James Rogers</a> is spot on.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="eskorte-latin, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 20px;">First, promoting the “general welfare” stands in relation to its antonym, that of promoting a particular or limited welfare. Promoting the general welfare certainly rules out promoting the welfare of particular individuals or factions.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: times;">Thus sayeth the Supreme Court, <b>including the minority</b> in the recent Big 3 cases and in so many more decisions than just the Big 3 causing so much heartburn.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="eskorte-latin, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.2px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">dammitdammitdammitdammit Game over.<br /><br />You are not your own.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times;">You are not your own.</span></div></style>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-80250821617172814722022-06-27T07:25:00.000-07:002022-06-27T07:25:13.189-07:00Saying no<p>It is great running three different businesses in which I can say No to anyone at any time and I do not need a reason.</p><p><br /></p><p>You read that correctly. With the businesses I run, I can refuse service to anyone, anytime and I do not need a reason.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have said no. I will say no in the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>This infuriates some people, be they on the right or the left. Their ire and anger amuses me.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regular readers of my musings know that I believe a private business can refuse service to anyone, any time for any reason. I also believe you don't need to supply a reason.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you own the business, you should be able to decide who your customers are. Dude walks in with green hair and you don't like it, you have the right to refuse service. Whether I like it or not is beside the point.</p><p><br /></p><p>The other side of this coin means I can refuse to do business with a company that has policies I do not like. In fact I refuse to do business with some companies because of this. You can do the same.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am very glad I get to decide who my customers are.</p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-60181869388104783122022-05-06T09:35:00.003-07:002022-05-06T09:35:39.185-07:00The wrong reasons<p> Tokens</p><p><br /></p><p>A friend put this so well.</p><p><br /></p><p>"Wouldn’t it be nice to be honoring the newly selected and qualified Supreme Court Justice who happened to be a black woman? Instead we have cheated her that great honor because she was initially selected on qualities that she had no control over and didn’t work hard to earn. I am sure intentions were good, but a disservice has been done to the honorable Judge Jackson. I have confidence she will rise above the racist selection. She is a better person by far."</p><p><br /></p><p>It was also incredibly well said by someone else.</p><p><br /></p><p>“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.</p><p><br /></p><p>I do not know if the newest member of SCOTUS is the most qualified person to hold that job. I do believe appointing anyone to any job based strictly on things outside their control is wrong.</p><p><br /></p><p>Those who demand an end to race-based decisions and also applaud this choice mystify me. </p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-37437574636160200732022-05-06T09:35:00.001-07:002022-05-06T09:35:04.019-07:00Getting all stoic on you<p> I have, in drafts, a pretty lengthy piece on SCOTUS, guns and abortion in light of the leaked SCOTUS decision signed by 3 of the justices.</p><p><br /></p><p>The more I think on it, the more I intend for it to stay a draft. </p><p><br /></p><p>My opinion is not needed. The decision does not affect me. The Stoics tell me when those two criteria are met, I need to keep my mouth shut and turn my attention to matters wherein my opinion is needed and matters do affect me.<br /><br />Nuf said.</p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-64165303377901199022022-05-03T06:04:00.006-07:002022-05-03T17:52:08.164-07:00Christians to suffer splodey heads again<p>In a unanimous ruling, the US Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that will shortly infuriate Christians in the United States.</p><p><a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/20-1800.pdf">Shurtleff v. the City of Boston</a> saw all 9 justices say religious groups can fly their flag on a flagpole outside City Hall. The City denied a request from a Christian group to fly the Christian flag.</p><p>Here's a brief right from the link above: <i>Boston usually flies the city’s own flag from the third pole. But Boston has, for years, allowed groups to hold ceremonies on the plaza during which participants may hoist a flag of their choosing on the third pole in place of the city’s flag. Between 2005 and 2017, Boston approved the raising of about 50 unique flags for 284 such ceremonies. Most of these flags were other countries’, but some were associated with groups or causes, such as the Pride Flag, a banner honoring emergency medical service workers, and others. In 2017, Harold Shurtleff, the director of an organization called Camp Constitution, asked to hold an event on the plaza to celebrate the civic and social contributions of the Christian community; as part of that ceremony, he wished to raise what he described as the “Christian flag.”</i></p><p>The High Court ruled 9-0 that Boston set a precedent of allowing other groups to fly their flags. The Justices said denying Mr. Shurtleff's request violated the First Amendment.</p><p>"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." 1A</p><p>In this case, the key part of 1A is "abridging the freedom of speech." As the decision says,<i> "We agreed to decide whether the flags Boston allows groups to fly express government speech, and whether Boston could, consistent with the Free Speech Clause, deny petitioners’ flag-raising request."</i> At the end of the majority decision opinion, the Court said, <i>"As a result, the city’s refusal to let Shurtleff and Camp Constitution fly their flag based on its religious viewpoint violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment."</i></p><p>Do you see where this will cause splodey heads among fundamentalist Christians?</p><p>Because of Mr. Shurtleff, who had support from the ACLU and other liberal organizations, other religions can fly their flags. Like who? <a href="https://www.flagandbanner.com/flags/religious-flags.asp">Any group that has a flag</a>.</p><p>Satanist. Muslim. Buddhist. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Church of the Latter Day Dude. Mormon. Hindu. Voodoo. Jewish. Sikh. </p><p>I hear splodey heads now, especially among some of my fundamentalist Baptist kin.<b> "THAT'S NOT WHAT WE MEANT! YOU CAN'T LET SATANISTS FLY THEIR FLAG. THAT'S AGAINST THE BIBLE," </b>they will scream.</p><p>Well, yeah, it is what the Supreme Court meant. It is what the Found Fathers meant. No? Yes! “(O)ur civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions.," so wrote <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jeffersons-vision-of-american-islam-matters-today-97915">Thomas Jefferson</a>. He also wrote in his autobiography that 1A was written " “to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan [Muslim], the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.”</p><p>Freedom, as defined in the Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court and the founders of this nation, is available to all regardless of faith or lack thereof. If this causes you a splodey head, then<b><u> you are the reason 1A was created in the first place.</u></b></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-61184716662385020672022-03-31T19:15:00.004-07:002022-04-01T11:04:22.963-07:00Severances<p>Just spent a long time on the phone with one of my oldest friends on the planet. He also happens to be a first cousin, once removed, and shares this chronological distinction with another first cousin once removed and another more distance cousin.</p><p>Three people I have known and stayed in touch with longer than anyone else on the planet.</p><p>The 1st cousin mentioned here is one of the few people I know I can count on. He called when Momma died. To my eternal chagrin, I did not reciprocate under the same circumstances. Few others called. I am sorry for my failing.</p><p>In our discussion, a mutual cousin was mentioned.</p><p>1st Cousin has been talking to her for about a year now, sometimes even on the phone. T'other cousin ... yeah.</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>Just for the record, I consider both as blood kin. They are quick to point out they were adopted. Irrelevant. They are blood kin. 1st Cousin even moreso.</p><p>T'other cousin, well...</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>1st Cousin wanted details after I said I was wary about renewing a relationship with t'other Cousin. 1st Cousin is aware of part of the reasons.</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>That's a part of my existence I have not discussed with anyone. I probably need to. I ain't gonna and even writing this blog post is questionable. Were it not for some of Kentucky's finest, I'd probably not even be posting this. However, as remarked repeatedly in various literatures, the fruit of the vine (or grain) will loosen the tongue and brain. <br /><br />Eh. I may. But only in the memoirs I am writing, which may only be published with permission of people mentioned therein or after my demise. That is, if I ever get finished with them. Yet another person (closer than blood) is beta reading and wants me to finish. Mebbe...</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>T'other cousin ... yeah. Time has a way of ameliorating certain circumstances. In other words, time heals all wounds. More time may be needed in this case.<br /><br />Or, maybe not.</p><p>No, more time is needed. That was a significant issue. You want details, even as 1st Cousin sought them tonight. 1st Cousin at least was willing to accept the statement "I will explain when we meet again in person." And so I shall, should he bring the matter up because I said so. Some things are thicker than even blood and a word, a promise, a guarantee to one such as 1st Cousin is that.</p><p>I also note, that on this night another person received a distinctive accolade. This person lied to me thrice from a position of high authority. But that's another post. This is naught but a a straw man, a diversion, an attempt to draw your attention away from the real matter at hand which I dance about, trying to avoid a direct confrontation that has been simmering for far too many decades and yet may continue to simmer until one or both of us carry this to our graves where it will be forgotten by all but us.</p><p>This assumes t'other cousin is even cognizant of matter. Of this, no gaurantees.</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>What do I write? How do I write it? What words are adequate?<br /><br />I am nearly overwhelmed by the not quite betrayal but neither a momentary slight. The words get in the way. I need a broader palette. I need to paint the sky and the earth to express these thoughts that ravage me, these thoughts which I once thought (erroneously) were buried. Long healed scars can either be dead or painful. Apparently this is painful.</p><p>Ah so.</p><p>Some wounds.</p><p>And now, with the distillate affecting my ability to properly transcribe these thoughts (as if lack thereof would make this easier), I beg your leave. The morrow brings new challenges which I must face. This evening... This evening I fear will resurrect the ghosts of times past to haunt my nocturnal slumbers to jolt me to consciousness because of this conversation with 1st Cousin. Attribute no blame to 1st Cousin, I beg of you, no matter who you are reading this. Any fault my rest squarely upon my Atlas shoulders, even though I be unable to bear the weight. T'other Cousin and 1st Cousin must in no way share any of the blame.</p><p>Peace unto you, albeit it shall not come unto me.</p><p><br /></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-19997564890177936272021-04-22T17:04:00.003-07:002021-04-22T17:06:37.115-07:00The problem with elves and blood<p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px;">I warn you now, this is NOT for everyone. It involves <b>maths</b>, elves, iron, snakes, peanuts and allergies. I’ll warn you when the maths start so you can skip to the next maths-free paragraph.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This is one of those things that makes me an ubernerd and sometimes keeps me awake at night.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A while back, I noted that a lot of the mythology about elves says they are highly allergic to iron. I wondered, if elves are so allergic or iron, then how do they manage to fight human beings and not die from human blood exposure.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I was told by some fellow nerds, the amount of iron in human blood is not sufficient to cause an allergic reaction. I doubted that, but could not think of a way to challenge it.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I figured it out this evening.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Compare it to peanut allergies in people. Peanuts are a serious allergy and can kill people.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I also thought, while writing this, of doing various venoms, which take a far, far smaller amount to kill people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Peanut proteins are what cause allergic reactions and kill people. Venoms are also proteins.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Someone is gonna point out elf and human physiology are not the same. No, but they are close, hence the half-elf, which has a parent from both species. With that kind of genetic closeness and the reaction of elves to intoxicants same as humans, I think it is safe to posit a lot more similarities.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I am not gonna get into how a species that is allergic to the blood of the other can successfully reproduce with each other. At least not now.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dammit. Now I have something else to occupy my brain.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><h3 style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">VENOM</h3><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MINOR MATHS! </b>So, venom - "Australian Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis ), Australia. One 1/14,000 of an ounce of this venom is enough to kill a person."</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/stoneley/strength.htm">http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/stoneley/strength.htm</a></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MINOR MATHS!</b> An ounce has 28.3495 grams.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Given those numbers (you can do the maths), it is now highly likely one drop of human blood is enough to kill an elf, especially since even a flesh wound with cold iron is enough to kill an elf. Even touching an iron sword causes immediate blisters, according to some of the literature.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Prove it? Sure.</p><h3 style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />BLOOD</h3><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MATHS!</b> Two thirds of body iron is present in circulating red blood cells as hemoglobin. Each gram of hemoglobin contains 3.47 mg of iron; thus, each mL of blood lost from the body (hemoglobin 15 g/dL) results in a loss of 0.5 mg of iron.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.medscape.com/answers/202333-153125/how-much-iron-is-in-hemoglobin">https://www.medscape.com/answers/202333-153125/how-much-iron-is-in-hemoglobin</a></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MINOR MATHS! </b>A drop of water is roughly equal to .050 grams.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MINOR MATHS! </b>1 gram is 1,000 milligrams.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MINOR MATHS!</b> 1 gram is 1 milliliter, roughly.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Running the information through my head says that a drop of blood contains more iron, by weight, than the amount of brown snake venom needed to kill a person.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Now, if you look at how fast iron-poisoning kills an elf, in most of the literature, v. how fast brown snake venom kills a person, well, elves are WAY more reactive to iron than a human to snake venom.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><h3 style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">PEANUTS</h3><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Back to the peanuts, which are far less lethal than a brown snake bite.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>MATHS! "</b>The dose calculated to elicit an allergic reaction in 1% of patients with peanut allergies was 0.052 milligrams of peanut protein, about the weight of a single grain of salt, says Haber. The eliciting dose for 5% of patients was calculated to be 0.49 milligrams of peanut protein, or about the weight of a single grain of sugar, says Haber."</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2021/03/uc-researcher-says-eliciting-dose-may-help-some-individuals-determine-how-much-peanut-is-too-much.html">https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2021/03/uc-researcher-says-eliciting-dose-may-help-some-individuals-determine-how-much-peanut-is-too-much.html</a></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;">Even highly allergic people can hold a peanut for a minute or so with no ill effects. Ingestion or absorption is where the problem happens. Elves touch iron and have a reaction.<br /><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Running these numbers, this also shows a drop of blood contains a LOT of iron. Given the peanut allergy numbers, that drop of human blood has plenty of iron to induce at least some allergic reaction in an elf.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">More than a drop? Dead elf.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Imagine an elf already having an allergic reaction, even mild, on the field of battle. With each spot of blood, he gets a little more reaction.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In short order, in a really nasty fight, he is a goner.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><h3 style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">BATTLE</h3><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In a pitched battle blood goes EVERYWHERE. I’ve never been in a pitch battle with swords, but I’ve butchered more animals than I want to count. Blood gets everywhere. I do not care how careful you are, you are going to get blood on you. Open wounds will get the critter’s blood in you.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">That’s under controlled conditions where precision, patience and exacting work are found.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A battle is chaos.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Elves in battle are going to get blood on them and in them either through wounds, in the eye or mouth.<br /><br />Dead elf. Every time.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><h3 style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><b>CONCLUSION</b></h3><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Short of magic as a barrier to keep human blood away, in a real swords & spears battle with humans, elves are going to be in trouble unless they have seriously overwhelming numbers.</p><gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br /> or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase_big-circle"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn" id="ginger__floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn">Rephrase</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip_rephrase">Rephrase current sentence</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga><span class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes-count"></span></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">×</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br /> or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase_big-circle"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn" id="ginger__floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn">Rephrase</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip_rephrase">Rephrase current sentence</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga><span class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes-count"></span></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">×</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-9311037873199368912021-04-13T16:51:00.007-07:002021-04-13T16:57:56.617-07:00Not a religious discussion - Water into wine<p>This is not a religious discussion. It is a discussion about a chemical/biological process and culture.</p><p>In my studies of the Bible, I have often wondered about the wine mention in that book.<br /><br />What was it? How strong was it? Was it consumed straight or diluted?</p><p>This guy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6FVh-etEtw&ab_channel=ReligionForBreakfast">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6FVh-etEtw&ab_channel=ReligionForBreakfast</a> addresses some of these questions, but not all.<br /><br />On the first question, it pretty clearly was fermented juice. Grapes probably, but could be other fruits as well. As the gent in the video notes, the ancient Jews probably added other fruits to change the taste of whatever they were drinking.</p><p>It had to be fermented. Don't believe me? Buy a bottle of your favorite juice. Open it. Leave it on a counter for a day. Close it the next day. Fermentation IS gonna happen.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">POTENT</h3><br />How strong was it? Ahhh, now here's where we get into something.<p></p><p>Most Bibles I have use the word "strong drink" to refer to potent brews. The Holman Christian Standard Bible puts the word "beer" in that place. To date, I have not been able to learn why the translators chose beer. As the HCSB is mostly developed by Baptists, I have some strong suspicions about that translation.<br /><br />I seriously doubt the translators are aware of something called ice distilling. More below. I reason this because academics, such as those translating the Bible, are highly specialized and not very conversant with matters outside their speciality. I can provide plenty of examples where extremely respected intellectuals are just flat wrong about things outside their area of concentration.<br /><br />Is beer stronger than wine? Smoke this'n. <a href="http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/dining/15-beer-and-wine-facts-that-may-surprise-you-b99117052z1-227119841.html">http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/dining/15-beer-and-wine-facts-that-may-surprise-you-b99117052z1-227119841.html</a></p><p>I hear the arguments now. "But they had different yeast than we do now."<br /><br />Yeah. The same yeast was used to make wine and beer. Stands to reason that the wine back then would still be stronger than the beer back then, given the same yeast. Grape juice has more sugars to ferment than the grains going into beer, despite the fact that part of the grains had to convert to sugars to ferment.<br /><br />Arguments about the sugar content of grapes v. now are equally applied to the starch (which converts to sugar) content of grains back then v. now. Let's compare apple home brew to apple home brew here, please.</p><p>If you bothered to watch the video, you'll see a test run doing wine the same way (we think) it was done back then delivered a brew of 12 percent alcohol, or 24 proof. More than enough to get you knackered. By way of comparison, today's "fortified wines" like Mad Dog 20/20 and some others kick it at 26-34 proof.<br /><br />I've made home brew using bread yeast, not the high potency stuff used by brewers today. I made some undistilled brew that would flatten you if you drank enough.<br /><br />At the same time, as the video guys notes, one of the ancient historians BEFORE the time of Christ references a wine that would catch fire. Anything 40 percent or 80 proof will ignite. <a href="https://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive_300/303_how-and-why-to-set-drinks-on-fire.html">https://www.askmen.com/fine_living/wine_dine_archive_300/303_how-and-why-to-set-drinks-on-fire.html</a></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">ICE BREW</h3><p>As best we know the ancients didn't have access to Grandpa's still. Also, alcohol above a certain percent kills the yeast that make it. How'd they manage to crank the proof? <br /><br />Ice distilling. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UbnHw0qIzo&ab_channel=Whats4Chow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UbnHw0qIzo&ab_channel=Whats4Chow</a></p><p>Northern Italy has mountains where the temps drop low enough to make me want to move to the equator. Ice distilling is certainly possible there. While the temps in the region Jesus hung out are not generally low enough to ice distill, traders could certainly bring the high proof stuff south.</p><p>Generally is not specific. Getting specific, they didn't have to go to northern Italy. <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/golan-sees-record-low-temperatures-during-storm/">https://www.timesofisrael.com/golan-sees-record-low-temperatures-during-storm/</a> That's plenty cold enough for ice distilling.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">DILUTED OR NOT</h3><p>So was the brew diluted?</p><p>We. Don't. Know.</p><p>A couple of Bibical sources mention diluting wine. </p><p>Parts of the non-Protestant Bible (a whole 'nother discussion) mention mixing wine to dilute it.</p><p>Isaiah 1:22 says, "Your silver has become dross. Your best wine mixed with water." The reference to Jews who degraded their culture and religion is clear in context. If Isaiah says degrading the culture is bad, why would he use a wine reference to make clear, if diluting wine was not a bad thing.<br /><br />More in the video.<br /><br />At the wedding, when Jesus DID NOT turn the water into Tang, the wedding party said the host saved the best for last. Hrm.<br /><br />An argument surely presented is: the historical documentation on hand says the Romans diluted their wine.</p><p>The Jews were Roman citizens, but were not Romans. As much as they were allowed to, the Jews of the time (at least the observant ones) did not follow Roman custom. Jewish writings well after the time of the Christ, almost certainly written by Hellenized Jews, speak to diluting wine.</p><p>Two verses in Proverbs specifically say, "You need to get that dude so drunk he passes out." Other Proverbs discuss the problem with drinking alcohol to access.</p><p>Diluted wine? Certainly in some cases. Straight wine? Equally certain in other cases. How do we know which is which? Gotta judge that by the when that section of the Bible was written.<br /><br />Me? I'm on the side of a brew strong enough to make the average person wobbly after a cup or three.</p><gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br /> or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase_big-circle"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn" id="ginger__floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn">Rephrase</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip_rephrase">Rephrase current sentence</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga><span class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes-count"></span></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">×</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br /> or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase_big-circle"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn" id="ginger__floatingG-bar-tool-rephrase__btn">Rephrase</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip_rephrase">Rephrase current sentence</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga><span class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes-count"></span></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">×</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-91657668051882068052021-03-30T17:57:00.003-07:002021-03-30T18:37:51.495-07:00Georgia's new election law - what other media is not telling you<p> A news analysis<br /><br />Before I jump into this, a few things.<br /><br />1) Everything in quotes without attribution comes from SB 202.<br /><br />2) You may not like what the law says. It is the law and flaming me over the law will only get you blocked.<br /><br />3) My opinion is clearly my opinion. You may debate my opinion. Attack me or anyone else in the threads, you will be blocked. Stick to the subject.<br /><br />4) A SERIOUS lot of what I read online from media outlets is not telling the whole story. Reasons behind the Legislature's decision, as explained in the law, are left out.<br /></p><p>This is a long post. I tried to summarize what the public believes are important. The whole law is 96 pages.<br /><br />What does the new Georgia elections law actually say? <br /><br />Some parts of the new law appear to increase the chances to vote. Other parts appear to restrict voting.<br /><br />State law calls a voter an "elector." Why? Because legislators and the court system do not have to make sense.<br /><br />Here's a breakdown of the major parts of the law. Read the new law here <a href="https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59827">https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/59827</a> .<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">STATE LEVEL</h3><p><br />SB 202 sets up a process to appoint and remove members of a new state election board. This board has some powers that appear significant at first, but really amounts to very little.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">INTIMIDATION HOTLINE</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />It creates a "voter intimidation and illegal election activities hotline." In other words, if someone is being harassed or sees illegal activities, they can call the hotline.<br /><br />This is a good idea, but. Given the effectiveness of other state "hotlines" operated by the Attorney General and other state departments, this is not going to work. On election day, the hotline will be overwhelmed. The AG's office is not very responsive to requests for help anyway.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">CANDIDATE DEATH</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />If a nonpartisan candidate dies before the election, the new law sets up procedures to handle that.<br /><br />Of all the provisions of this law, this one is the most stupid.<br /><br />"[S]uch candidate's name shall remain on the ballot and all votes cast for such candidate shall be counted. If the deceased candidate receives the requisite number of votes to be elected, such contest shall be handled as a failure to fill the office." The same applies to a runoff.<br /><br />Our General Assembly is, point blank, STUPID on this one. If the person dies before the election, votes for that person should not count! While this kinda thing does not happen very often, it does and can. This creates unnecessary expense.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">MAJORITY VOTE</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Any candidate has to get majority of the votes cast for that office to take office, unless the law says otherwise. In other words, a candidate has to get 50% of the vote plus one vote to take office. Not precisely sure why this needed to be in the new law. An exception is granted for plurality elections. <br /><br />Many small towns have plurality elections. Everyone runs on the same ballot. Districts are not used. The top vote-getters take office and no majority vote is needed. Ashburn, Rebecca and Sycamore operate this way.<br /><br />The law is also specific about this. "If the municipal charter or ordinances of a municipality as now existing or as amended subsequent to September 1, 1968, provide that a candidate may be nominated or elected by a plurality of the votes cast to fill such nomination or public office, such provision shall prevail."<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">MULTI STATE REGISTRATION ROLLS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Georgia will now participate in a multi-state voter registration system. This is aimed at reducing duplicate registration and removing dead voters from the voting list.<br /><br />"Secretary of State shall obtain regular information from such entity regarding electors who may have moved to another state, died, or otherwise become ineligible to vote in Georgia."<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Makes sense.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">VOTER CHALLENGE</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />The ways someone can challenge a person's right to run for office and vote are changed.<br /><br />"There shall not be a limit on the number of persons whose qualifications such elector may challenge."<br /><br />The law requires a hearing within 10 days of the written challenge handed in. The new law also spells out the challenger has to prove his case.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">SAFETY PAPER</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Printed ballots now have to be on "safety paper" whatever that is. Making copies of ballots apparently is a problem.<br /><br />"[B]allots shall be printed on security paper that incorporates features which can be used to authenticate the ballot as an official ballot but which do not make the ballot identifiable to a particular elector."<br /><br />Again, this law does not say what the security paper is.<br /><br />"Ballot duplication for provisional ballots and other purposes places a heavy burden on election officials. The number of duplicated ballots has continued to rise dramatically from 2016 through 2020."<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">PROVISIONAL BALLOTS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Provisional ballots are also addressed. Among other things, voters now are told to vote in their precinct instead of whatever polling place they show up to.<br /><br />"Electors voting out of precinct add to the burden on election officials and lines for other electors because of the length of time it takes to process a provisional ballot in a precinct."<br /><br />If they cannot get to their precinct, they can vote a provisional ballot "after 5:00 P.M. and before the regular time for the closing of the polls on the day of the primary, election, or runoff."<br /><br />For some reason, this law uses the word "runoff" and sometimes "run-off." I imagine someone had a valid reason for this, but I'm not researching that part.<br /><br />Election officials reifying provisional ballots can also use "but are not limited to, information from the Department of Driver Services, Department of Family and Children Services, Department of Natural Resources, public libraries, or any other agency of government including, but not limited to, other county election and registration offices."<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">ABSENTEE BALLOTS (a whole lotta info!)</h3><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;">Changes are made to the way people can ask for absentee ballots and how the ballots are handled.<br /><br />"[T]he enthusiasm of some outside groups in sending multiple absentee ballot applications in 2020, often with incorrectly filled-in voter information, led to significant confusion by electors."<br /><br />In other words, some people got multiple letters about absentee ballots. This created confusion. Some people thought they had to request an absentee ballot. Others thought they were getting an absentee ballot automatically.<br /><a href="https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/absentee-ballot-applications-private-groups-causing-confusion/ZSEWON2WUVGS5BK2ZHDSRZURBI/">https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/absentee-ballot-applications-private-groups-causing-confusion/ZSEWON2WUVGS5BK2ZHDSRZURBI/</a><br /><br />Also, "The lengthy absentee ballot process also led to elector confusion, including electors who were told they had already voted when they arrived to vote in person." This happened.<br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/politics/georgia-double-voting.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/politics/georgia-double-voting.html</a><br /><br />Who can request a ballot has changed. <br /><br />"In the case of an elector residing temporarily out of the county or municipality or a physically disabled elector residing within the county or municipality, the application for the elector's absentee ballot may, upon satisfactory proof of relationship, be made by such elector's mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of the age of 18 or over."<br /><br />Applications for the absentee ballot has to be done "on the form made available by the Secretary of State. In order to confirm the identity of the voter, such form shall require the elector to provide his or her name, date of birth, address as registered, address where the elector wishes the ballot to be mailed, and the number of his or her Georgia driver's license or identification card issued."<br /><br />An exception is granted for people who do not have a state driver's license or DMV ID card.<br /><br />"If such elector does not have a Georgia driver's license or identification card issued pursuant to Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 40, the elector shall affirm this fact in the manner prescribed in the application and the elector shall provide a copy of a form of identification listed in subsection (c) of Code Section 21-2-417."<br /><br />Read that code section - <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-21/chapter-2/article-11/part-1/21-2-417/">https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-21/chapter-2/article-11/part-1/21-2-417/</a><br /><br />Other forms of ID are:<br /><br />• US passport<br />• Military ID card<br />• Tribal ID card<br /><br />If the voter can't do any of that, he can vote a provisional ballot. "Such provisional ballot shall only be counted if the registrars are able to verify current and valid identification of the elector as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section within the time period for verifying provisional ballots."<br /><br />A lot of people object to the voter ID law. ID is required to do many other things, at least two of which are also Constitutional rights:<br /><br />• Buy a gun.<br />• Buy alcohol. The 21st Amendment makes alcohol a right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution<br /><br />While not a Constutional right, a valid ID is needed to fly.<br /><br />Identification laws are very controversial.<br /><br />The application for an absentee ballot will be posted online.<br /><br />Other groups who send out absentee ballot must use the official form for the voter to apply for the ballot. Their mailing must include this phrase:<br /><br />"This is NOT an official government publication and was NOT provided to you by any governmental entity and this is NOT a ballot. It is being distributed by [insert name and address of person, organization, or other entity distributing such document or material]."<br /><br />This part of the new law also has requirements for how the notice must appear.<br /><br />With exceptions for handicapped folks or those in jail or prison, an absentee ballot must be mailed to the permanent address on record at the elections office. Exceptions are also made for folks under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. Ballots, except as noted, cannot be mailed to temporary addresses or out-of-county addresses.<br /><br />Only one absentee ballot will be mailed.<br /><br />NPR reports Georgia had at least 1,000 cases of people voting twice.<br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910653086/georgia-reveals-double-voting-cases-but-no-evidence-of-malign-intentions">https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910653086/georgia-reveals-double-voting-cases-but-no-evidence-of-malign-intentions</a><br /><br />A lawsuit filed in December claims people from out of state came here to vote in the US Senate runoff.<br /><a href="https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2020/12/18/lawsuit-claims-out-staters-coming-ga-vote-senate-runoff-ossoff-warnock-perdue-loeffler-lin-wood/3961950001/">https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2020/12/18/lawsuit-claims-out-staters-coming-ga-vote-senate-runoff-ossoff-warnock-perdue-loeffler-lin-wood/3961950001/</a><br /><br />If the application is incomplete or filled out wrong, the elections people "should promptly write contact the elector in writing to request the necessary additional information and a signed copy of the oath."<br /><br />The new law sets a defined period for absentee voting in hopes of ending this confusion.<br /><br />"[M]any absentee ballots issued in the last few days before the election were not successfully voted or were returned late."<br /><br />Absentee voting, with some exceptions, can start 78 days before the election day. Absentee ballots have to at the elections office at least 11 days before the election day. Some exceptions are allowed.<br /><br />Absentee ballots can be counted early. This should speed up the vote count process.<br /><br />Absentee ballots can be mailed or delivered to other offices if the election superintendent sets up such places. Advance voting can also be allowed at places other than the elections board office. <br /><br />"[P]rovided that any such site is a building that is a branch of the county courthouse, a courthouse annex, a government service center providing general government services, another government building generally accessible to the public, or a location building that is used as an election day polling place, notwithstanding that such location building is not a government building."<br /><br />Drop boxes to collect absentee votes are allowed. Absentee ballots must be collected each day during advance voting.<br /><br />If information on the absentee ballot doesn't match voter's information on file, "the registrar or clerk shall write across the face of the envelope 'Rejected,' giving the reason therefor." The voter must be told and has until the end of provisional vote counting to provide the needed information.<br /><br />The requirement to match signatures is removed from the law. This makes sense. Even handwriting experts with years of experience can have problems verifying signatures.<br /><br />Opening and counting absentee ballots must be done so the public can watch. "The proceedings set forth in this paragraph shall be open to the view of the public, but no person except one employed and designated by the superintendent shall touch any ballot or ballot container."<br /><br /> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">ADVANCE VOTING</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Advance voting times and procedures are changed.<br /><br />"More than 100 counties have never offered voting on Sunday and many counties offered only a single day of weekend voting. Requiring two Saturday 88 voting days and two optional Sunday voting days will dramatically increase the total voting hours for voters across the State of Georgia, and all electors in Georgia will have access 90 to multiple opportunities to vote in person on the weekend for the first time."<br /><br />Advance voting begins: "On the fourth Monday immediately prior to each primary or election; and as soon as possible prior to a runoff from any other general primary or election but no later than the second Monday immediately prior to such runoff and shall end on the Friday immediately prior to each primary, election, or runoff."<br /><br />Advance voting is 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, except on official holidays and the 3rd Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the elections superintendent's option, advance voting can be 7 a.m.-7 pm. weekdays. The superintendent can set advance voting on the 2nd and/or 3rd Sunday prior to the election. The elections superintendent sets the Sunday hours, but it cannot be longer than 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Exceptions are made for official holidays.<br /><br />"The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and 120 electors."<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">POLL MONITORS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Poll monitors from the various parties are allowed. Republican, Democrat and Libertarian parties are the most common. If the only item on the ballot is a referendum, the chief judge of the Superior Court must appoint two monitors. Must. Not optional.<br /><br />Poll watchers are also allowed. "No person shall be eligible to serve as a poll watcher unless he or she has completed training provided by the political party, political body, or candidate designating the poll watcher." The Secretary of State will provide training materials.<br /><br /> </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">POLL HOURS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />If needed, the hours at a specific polling location can be extended by order of a superior court judge for the county.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">BAD BALLOTS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Handling defective (bad) ballot now has a set procedure.<br /><br />"If it appears that a ballot is so torn, bent, or otherwise defective that it cannot be processed by the tabulating machine, the superintendent, in his or her discretion, may order the proper election official at the tabulating center or precinct a duplication panel to prepare a true duplicate copy for processing with the ballots of the same polling place, which shall be verified in the presence of a witness. In a partisan election, the duplication panel shall be composed of the election superintendent or a designee thereof and one person appointed by the county executive committee of each political party having candidates whose names appear on the ballot for such election, provided that, if there is no organized county executive committee for a political party, the person shall be appointed by the state executive committee of the political party. In a nonpartisan election or an election involving only the presentation of a question to the electors, the duplication panel shall be composed of the election superintendent or a designee thereof and two electors of the county or municipality." <br /><br />This section of the law continues to cover multi-county elections, but says the same thing.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">COUNTS AFTER THE ELECTION</h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Recounting the ballots after the election must be done in public. Candidates attending this count are allowed to keep their own records of the count.<br /><br />"The superintendent shall arrange for the computation and canvassing of the returns of votes cast at each primary and election at his or her office or at some other convenient public place at the county seat or municipality following the close of the polls on the day of such primary or election with accommodations for those present insofar as space permits. An interested candidate or his or her representative shall be permitted to keep or check his or her own computation of the votes cast in the several precincts."<br /><br /><br />Runoff elections have some changes. If a person in a runoff dies before the runoff, the other two top vote-getters go into the runoff.<br /><br />This makes sense.<br /><br />In a local race, a runoff election "must be held on the twenty-eighth day after the day of holding the first primary or election, unless such run-off date is postponed by court order." <br /><br />In this case, it appears any court can order a postponement. This also makes sense.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">FILLING OFFICES</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />When the governor can appoint someone to fill a vacated office, a new set of rules is in place. This is probably a direct result of the US Senate seat held by Johnny Isakson, filled by Kelly Loeffler and then won by Raphael Warnock. I say probably because there's little way of telling how the General Assembly thinks, when the members bother to think at all.<br /><br />"At least 29 days shall intervene between the call of a special primary and the holding of same, and at least 29 days shall intervene between the call of a special election and the holding of same."<br /><br />In other words, the special primary and election campaign season has to be at least 29 days long. Qualifying for the election has to be at least 2.5 days.<br /><br />If the special primary or special election falls at the same time as a general primary or general election, the campaign season has to start at least 90 days before the election.<br /><br />Special primaries and elections can only be held: <br /><br />Odd numbered years - (i) The third Tuesday in March;<br />(ii) The third Tuesday in June;<br />(iii) The third Tuesday in September; or<br />(iv) The Tuesday after the first Monday in November; and<br /><br />Even numbered years - <br />"(i) 3rd Tuesday in March," except in a presidential preference primary year when the special election is held on that day.<br />(ii) During the General Primary<br />(iii)The Tuesday after the first Monday in November.<br /><br />The idea that all this is based on the Isakson-Loeffler-Warnock election is borne out in Section 45. "Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the representation of this state in the Senate of the United States…"<br /><br />This section of the law also spells out when that Senate election can be held.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">SCANNING BALLOTS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />A pilot program to scan and publish ballots is in the law. The Secretary of State is in charge of this, but no details are given.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">BALLOT INSPECTIONS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;">Inspecting and copying original ballots by certain people after the election is now allowed.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">MACHINE SETUP</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />The public is allowed to see voter machine setup and the counting process. Machines have to be tested and the public told about the testing so they can attend.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">VOTER PRIVACY</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Voters must be allowed to vote so that no one can see how they vote. Taking pictures of ballots is illegal.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">VOTING OVERSIGHT</h3><p style="text-align: left;">"Elections in Georgia are administered by counties, but that can lead to problems for voters in counties with dysfunctional election systems. Counties with long-term problems of lines, problems with processing of absentee ballots, and other challenges in administration need accountability, but state officials are limited in what they are able to do to address those problems."</p><p style="text-align: left;">In other words, counties with voting problems are now subject to state oversight.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">ABOUT THAT FREE WATER</h3><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;">What other people can give voters standing in line is limited. This is part of a far-reaching effort to protect voters.<br /><br />"The sanctity of the precinct was also brought into sharp focus in 2020, with many groups approaching electors while they waited in line. Protecting electors from improper interference, political pressure, or intimidation while waiting in line to vote is of paramount importance to protecting the election system and ensuring elector confidence."<br /><br />This is called "line warming." <br /><br />"The secretary of state referred to the practice as 'line warming' - i.e., warming up the people in line to your position as you give them free pizza, for example," reported an Atlanta TV station.<br /><a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/georgia-elections-officials-line-warming-crackdown/85-afb28fc8-f0aa-4cab-800d-443bc58ddca8">https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/georgia-elections-officials-line-warming-crackdown/85-afb28fc8-f0aa-4cab-800d-443bc58ddca8</a><br /><br />"No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast, (1) Within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building within which a polling place is established; (2) Within any polling place; or (3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place."<br /><br />The polling location can have self-service water stations set up.<br /><br />If you think line warning does not exist, you've likely never hung around the polls all day as observer.<br /><br />I am not saying I support this provision of the law. Neither am I saying I oppose it. Rather, those of you who object to this, please tell me how you will stop line warming. Make it illegal? Already federal law.<br /><br />"Rewarding voters with discounts or food quid pro quo is illegal when federal candidates are on the ballot. Accordingly, generally, these kinds of freebies are advertised as being for everyone in the general vicinity, whether or not they cast a ballot."<br /><a href="https://www.eater.com/21536548/feeding-voters-food-at-the-polls-election-day-voting">https://www.eater.com/21536548/feeding-voters-food-at-the-polls-election-day-voting</a><br /><br />Federal law is also specific. Campaign materials, this includes signs and wearing shirts, and campaigning are not allowed with 150 feet of the building where the voting happens. In other words, if you show up to vote wearing a T-shirt that clearly supports a person, a party or an agenda, you are breaking federal law. If you have signs on your vehicle and you drive within 150 feet of the polling location, you are breaking federal law.<br /><br />So tell me how you will stop line warming.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">POSTPONED ELECTIONS</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />State and/or local elections can be postponed up to 120 days in case of an emergency. The State House of Representatives or the Senate Committees on Judiciary can overrule a postponing order.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">LOCAL LEVEL</h1><p style="text-align: left;"><br />The bill allows the state to do a performance review of local election officials. The state or local elected boards can request the review.<br /><br />It sets up a process for the state elections board to remove and appoint an elections superintendent and a board of elections. Before the bill, the local elections board and superintendent were generally under the County Commission's control.<br /><br />This sounds like a major matter. It is not really. Given the scrutiny applied to Georgia's voting, existing laws and what SB 202 does, replacing the election superintendent has no effect on the ability of people to vote. As poll workers also have to be trained, before the election, replacing an elections superintendent during an election means the same people will continue to man the polls. Elections board members also need training to serve.<br /><br />With the amount of public oversight and observation now allowed, an election superintendent has very little chance to do something really bad.<br /><br />Further, the state can only take action against four election superintendents. If a 5th problem comes up, the state board has to abandon one of the four it is working on.<br /><br />An elections superintendent has to:<br /><br />• Commit at least three violations within 2 elections or 2 years <br /><br />• Not correct those violations.<br /><br />State Elections Board deliberations are held in secret. The vote and testimony must be done in a public meeting.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">PROBATE OVERSIGHT</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />In some counties, the probate court oversees the elections. If the probate judge is not able to do the job, then the chief judge from the superior court circuit can appoint an elections superintendent and set the pay for the job.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">REDUCE PRECINCT SIZE</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Some precincts can be made smaller. The idea here is to speed up voting.<br /><br />"If …a precinct contained more than 2,000 electors (voters) and if all those electors desiring to vote had not completed voting one hour following the closing of the polls, the superintendent shall either reduce the size of said precinct so that it shall contain not more than 2,000 electors." <br /><br />More poll workers and more voting machines is another solution to the long lines.<br /><br />The law puts this under the election superintendent's discretion. In other words, if the superintendent says it needs to happen, the city or county has to do it.<br /><br />Polling places can also be changed. <br /><br />"The superintendent of a county or the governing authority of a municipality shall select and fix the polling place within each precinct and may, either on his, her, or its own motion or on petition of ten electors of a precinct, change the polling place within any precinct."<br /><br />The public must be told when a polling place is moved. A notice has to be published in the local legal organ (newspaper) and signs posted around the polling place.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">MOBILE POLLING PLACES</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Limits are put on mobile polling places, such as buses. <br /><br />In selecting polling places and advance voting locations, the superintendent of a county or the governing authority of a municipality shall select, wherever practicable … schoolhouses, municipal buildings or rooms, or other public buildings for that purpose."<br /><br />Mobile polling locations are only allowed in emergencies as declared by the governor.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">BALLOT INFO</h3><p style="text-align: left;">The precinct name and designation (whatever that is) must appear on the ballot.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">OPTICAL SCANNING & VOTING BOOTHS</h3><p style="text-align: left;">If the election uses "optical scanning voting systems", a computer that reads the ballot, in a state-wide general election each polling place must have one voting booth for each 250 voters. <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />This one doesn't make a lot of sense to me in light of the other ways the law tries to reduce time spent waiting in line. Gonna be a huge waste of money.<br /><br />Fortunately, an exception is granted. The elections superintendent can set the number of voting booths to accommodate voters.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">NO PRIVATE $</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Local elections boards cannot accept private money.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />"Some counties in 2020 received significant infusions of grant funding for election operations, while other counties received no such funds. Promoting uniformity in the distribution of funds to election operations will boost voter confidence and ensure that there is no political advantage conferred by preferring certain counties over others in the distribution of funds."<br /><br />In other words, taxpayer dollars have to pay for the election. Cities must foot the bill for city elections. Counties have to pay for county elections.<br /><br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">POLL WORKERS</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Poll workers can come from other counties. In other words, someone living in Colquitt County could be a poll worker in Tift County and vice versa.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />"Poll officers appointed pursuant to Code Sections 21-2-90 and 21-2-91 shall be judicious, intelligent, and upright citizens of the United States, residents of or otherwise employed by the county in which they are appointed." An exception is granted.<br /><br />If needed, a poll worker can come from an adjacent county, if that person is otherwise qualified and the election has a need for more workers than it has locally.<br /><br /><br />Home rule is changed. Now in places with districts, changing those districts has to wait until the Census is complete.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">RESULTS POSTING</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><br />Results have to be posted by 10 p.m. on election night. The law has no provision for extending this deadline. <br /><br />I'm just guessing - with the state legislature that is always a very serious risk - if the power goes out, Internet goes out, printer and computers die, the deadline will extend. The problem is the 10 p.m. deadline is absolute. In plenty of other places in SB 202, exceptions are granted and explained.<br /><br />No word on what will happen if the Elections Office doesn't meet the 10 p.m. deadline.<br /><br />Another case of the elected reps in Atlanta not bothering to think something through.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">REFERENDUMS</h3><p><br />Local referendums can only be held:<br /><br />"In odd-numbered years, any such special election shall only be held on the third Tuesday in March or on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November."<br /><br />"In even-numbered years, any such special election shall only be held on:<br />i) The date of and in conjunction with the presidential preference primary if one is held that year;<br />(ii) The date of the general primary; or<br />(iii) The Tuesday after the first Monday in November."<br /><br />Recall elections continue to be governed by laws created in 1989.<br /><br />The referendum must have at least 29 days between the call of the election and the election date.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">MAGISTRATE COURT</h3><p><br />If a magistrate court judge dies, retires or resigns while in office, the governor appoints a replacement. That appointment is good until the next general election and when the new judge is sworn in Jan. 1.<br /><br /></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-81890581071863327212021-02-22T15:02:00.011-08:002021-02-22T15:10:45.642-08:00Don't do it<p> Seems like prit near every company around has a Box of the Month.<br /><br />Yes friends and neighbors, for the low, low price of just about exactly what you can afford to throw away every month, you to can get a box of junk no one really wants and companies could not sell.</p><p>Yeah. I did. Yeah.<br /><br />Bespoke. Boxes for men. Customized boxes that are tailored to fit a man's lifestyle. I'd been seeing this for a while. Then one of the boxes offered a knife. I signed up.<br /></p><p>Before I could get the knife, I had to fill out a profile. I picked the outdoors profile. That had the knife. I use knives, a lot. I also break and lose knives a lot. </p><p>Much to the chagrin of knife purists everywhere, I also use a plain old metal file to sharpen my knives. Fast edge, good edge. Makes me miss the cabbage knives we used when I grew up. Cheap steel, took an edge in a few strokes and I could cut a wagon load of cabbage.</p><p>Anyway, the knife arrived today.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.bespokepost.com/store/barebones-ultimate-tool">https://www.bespokepost.com/store/barebones-ultimate-tool</a><br /><br />It is the best $10 gardening trowel you can buy for $50.</p><p>1/8th inch thick steel. The plain knife side is sharpened, and not very much, on one side only at one seriously steep angle. You will need a file to re-edge this thing. Or a bench grinder.<br /><br />Opposite side is a serrated knife which is exactly the wrong size (too big) for being the perfect steak knife and exactly the wrong size (too small) for any useful sawing needs.</p><p>It has a bottle opener at the hilt, which is probably exactly wrong too. I've not tried to open a bottle yet.<br /><br />The whole blade is curved like a gardening trowel. It has depth marks on one side in case you need to know how deep you are poking into the dirt. Not sure exactly how far part the marks are.<br /><br />The hilt is chunks of bamboo glued together. Not even thin laminate, which is strong stuff. The bamboo will probably swell and split at the joins if it spends too much time in water.<br /><br />The handguard is simply HUGE, dang near a club. It has a cut one side of the blade guard. That, at least, is handy as it gives you a place to rest your thumb. Well, rest your thumb provided you are right handed and want to use the blade only or left handed and want to use the serrated only.<br /><br />The pommel appears to be a healthy hunk of the same steel the blade is made from. It looks tough enough to stand up to serious pounding. Except it's held in place with screw which will quickly deform under hammering.<br /></p><p>The steel is supposed to be heat treated stainless steel.</p><p>The promotional info says it is in "This Old House's top 100 new outdoor living tools for 2015."<br /><br />The folks running This Old House apparently think outdoor living is gardening.<br /></p>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-33120421980357040122020-09-11T10:20:00.000-07:002020-09-11T10:20:00.772-07:00Bulldozing the bullwarks<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have really scaled back my attempts at firing up the bulldozer to wade through the bullwarks of hypocrisy people keep throwing up, around, down and every which way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I refer you here to the attacks on #45, two specifically.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) He lied.<br /><br />Yep. He sure did. So did #44, #43, #42, #41 and on down the line.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They lied.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Totally copacetic with you and anyone else calling out the lies. Truly am.<br /><br />I just want you to do the same thing to the other presidents. Be fair. If you call out one, call out all of 'em. I do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) Deaths.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much hullabaloo is being made over the C-19, or Kung Flu deaths and how #45 is handling the matter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<span style="line-height: 24px;">A total of <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2017-01-17/obamas-covert-drone-war-in-numbers-ten-times-more-strikes-than-bush">563 strikes</a>, largely by drones, targeted Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during Obama’s two terms, compared to 57 strikes under Bush. Between 384 and 807 civilians were killed in those countries, according to reports logged by the Bureau."</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I still hear no bitching about this. I heard little when it was going on and absolutely ZERO complaints from #44 fans. They sure raised hell when #43 was doing it. When #44 expanded the war, his supporters were so silent it was like the room went to Absolute Zero.<br /><br />Which is more horrific? The deaths in the US from Kung Flu or the civilian deaths in other countries from #44's drone strikes.<br /><br />How much control does #45 have over Kung Flu? None. Despite flat out orders around the nation for people to wear masks, social distance and etc, Kung Flu deaths happened. How is this #45's fault? People made the decision, one by one, to ignore the advice, instructions and orders from their elected leaders.<br /><br />For those who do not know:<br /><br />• My momma died from Kung Flu.<br />• I do not wear a mask, unless I have to go into a private location which requires masks. If I can avoid the place, I do.<br /><br />How much choice did the civilians under #44 have when the drones came a'bombing?<br /><br />I have never banned someone because of their political views. I have stopped injecting myself into these arguments online. My sanity requires it.<br /><br />If you are one that rips into any president while putting on </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.12px;">Joo Janta 200</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.12px;"> Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses to examine another president's record, then know this:<br /><br />I am judging you. I am calling you a hypocrite. I am putting you in the same category as liars, politicians, lawyers, despots, tyrants. You sadden me. You are part of the problem. You are one who creates discord despite pleaing for harmony. You are a disgrace.<br /><br />If you are one of the few who calls all of them out, who looks at all the records the exact same way, you I salute. You are honest, fair, forthright and you are actually trying to forge ahead and make a better world. Keep it up.</span></span><br />
<gdiv></gdiv>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-91976320401519210822020-09-08T07:57:00.004-07:002020-09-08T08:19:59.860-07:00Just the facts, ma – OH HELL NO THAT'S A LIESome people cannot stand facts. Some people will not accept the truth. Some people reject anything that contradicts their perception of reality.<br />
<br />
These people are easy to identify.
They explode with vitriol when corrected. They get mad as hell when shown the truth. They lose all objectivity. They result to insults, pejoratives, ad hominem and other emotionally laden invective.<br />
<br />
Eliminate these people from your life, both in-person and online. They <a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-are-hardwired-to-dismiss-facts-that-dont-fit-their-worldview-127168">choose to live a lie</a> and you should not.<br />
<br />
<h3>
FACT CHECKERS </h3>
<br />
The Internet has many different fact checkers these days. You can easily <a href="https://middlebury.libguides.com/internet/fact-checking">find the top ones</a>. The granddaddy is <a href="https://www.snopes.com/">Snopes</a>.<br />
<br />
As I'm seeing it, those on the ends of the spectrum call fact checking sites "fake news," "liars," "<a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/01/10/144974110/political-fact-checking-under-fire">biased</a>," agenda-driven and so forth. The far right is more incensed, from what I see, than the left, but that could just be my perception.
The attackers swear the fact checkers are not correct and make up stuff and get it wrong.<br />
<br />
You can tell if one fact checker is correct by comparing that report to the report of all the other fact checking sites. When they all agree, then you are guaranteed to have the facts in front of you.<br />
<br />
Some people will still reject reality, preferring to <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-say-they-ve-figured-out-why-people-reject-science-and-it-s-not-ignorance">cocoon themselves in a comforting lie</a>.<br />
<br />
Eliminate these people from your life, both in-person and online. They <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denialism">choose to live a lie</a> and you should not.<br />
<br />
<h3>
I'M FROM MISSOURI </h3>
<br />
Not really, I am from South Georgia, but the colloquialism remains. Show the mistakes. Show me the error. Show me the bias. Show me where they intentionally distorted the record.<br />
<br />
I'm not gonna wait. You (you being the fact-check haters) can't do it because <a href="https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/c.php?g=620677&p=4333407">it does not exist</a>. Of course, the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/19/1/2/463780">haters will say</a> even my links proving my point cannot be trusted.<br />
<br />
Some point to a mistake Snopes made some years back. The error was quickly corrected. Since then, no problem.<br />
<br />
Someone usually then points out the Snopes founders got a messy divorce. Exactly how does that affect the website's ability to find and report facts? It doesn't. It is a communist baitfish (red herring) whose only purpose is to be a straw man to deflect the argument away from what is at hand.<br />
<br />
Eliminate these people from your life, both in-person and online. They choose to live a lie and you should not.<br />
<br />
<h3>
LIARS ABOUND </h3>
<br />
Be certain, liars abound. <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/our-long-history-of-presidential-lies/">Every president</a> (the right-leaning link proving this) I can personally remember <a href="https://progressive.org/dispatches/lies-more-lies-presidential-history-lueders-200810/">has lied</a> (the left-leaning link proving this) to the American public. Pick one. You got it coming from both directions.<br />
<br />
He lied.<br />
<br />
#44? He lied.<br />
<br />
#45? He lies.<br />
<br />
#46? The two main contenders to take office in January 2021 are both proven liars. Their record of lies is easy to find.<br />
<br />
Of course, the supporters of these and other presidents deny this. Never mind the live and recorded video, live and recorded audio, transcripts and news stories that prove they lied. The supporters categorically reject this as media manipulation.<br />
<br />
Even more amusing to me is how so many of these supporters at one time gleefully shouted "liar!" as they supported someone else.<br />
<br />
Bernie Sanders is a great example of this two-faced, hypocritical showmanship. When running for pres, Bernie said<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WZgjrJmoqk"> his opponents should not be entrusted with the job of the leader of the free world</a>. Now, that same opponent who months ago was not fit for the job is now the savior of the human race.<br />
<br />
Who ya gonna believe?<br />
<br />
Eliminate these people from your life, both in-person and online. They choose to live a lie and you should not.<br />
<br />
<h3>
CHECK YOUR FACT</h3>
<br />
FB has again launched <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/2593586717571940">a program to tag lies</a>. When so tagged, a post will have a variety of fact-checking websites pointing out the truth.
This is driving some people <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/study-shows-possible-downside-of-fact-checking-on-facebook.html">incoherent with rage</a>.<br />
<br />
Eliminate these people from your life, both in-person and online. They choose to live a lie and you should not.<br />
<br />
<h3>
DO YOUR RESEARCH</h3>
<br />
Hey, don't believe the fact checking websites. Do your own research. I do. Fact checking is what I do. I've done it for so long that it is now just a part of who I am.<br />
<br />
A great example is the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/03/fact-check-california-law-does-not-decriminalize-sex-minors/3456171001/">sex offender registry in California</a>. So many people are saying this legalizes child molesting.<br />
<br />
FULL STOP – Before I go any further, I tell you child molesters should be scraped with a cheese grater, taken offshore and trolled behind the boat in hopes of catching sharks. I'll buy the cheese grater, the rope, the boat, the gas and oil to make this happen.<br />
<br />
Resuming - I went and <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB145">read the law</a>. Everyone claiming it legalizes child molesting has either not read the law or read it and chose to misinterpret the law. Again, I read the law. It says judges have discretion on whether or not to put SOME offenders on the sexual offender registry. If convicted, the person still faces all the rest of the penalties outlined in California law. I personally think the law is too broad. Regardless, child molesting is still illegal in California, at least right now.<br />
<br />
Go. Read. Research.<br />
<br />
When you do all this, then accept what you have learned as fact, whether you agree with it or not.
Facts remain. Your opinion of the fact will not change it.<br />
<br />
If you can accept the fact, regardless of your opinion, excellent. This is the way. If the fact, such as the California sex registry law, is something you do not like and can change, then do so.<br />
<br />
This is the way.
If you cannot accept the fact and instead must lie about it, then you are a problem and should be avoided.<br /><br />If the truth hurts, yer living wrong. Accept the truth and it cannot hurt you any longer.Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-52646917272081047672020-08-14T07:23:00.001-07:002020-08-14T07:27:13.067-07:00Of racism and emailsCrost my email desk several times a week are messages from various racist organizations.
I did not sign up for these. I did not request them. I get 'em because I run a newspaper.
I could mark them as spam and they'd get dumped in the trash folder before I ever see 'em.
I do not do this.
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>SELF JUSTIFIED </b><br />
<br />
Before I go any further, lemme tell you this. These groups say they are not racist. Instead, they self-promote as heritage, rights, justice and a whole bunch other jingoist adjectives aimed at rallying the troops. This is how they self-justify. They are still racist. Any group that seeks to promote one group of humans OVER another is racist.<br />
<br />
Also, some of these groups are separatists. A separatist can be racist, but does not have to be a racist. A separatist says "we should be apart." Some say "We should be apart because we are better than the others." That's racist. Some say, "We should be apart, but we are not better than anyone else, we just want to be a distinct group." Not racist.
<br />
<br />
<b>BUT WHY?</b><br />
<br />
So why do I let these pejorative missives continue to come in?<br />
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“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”</h1>
― <span class="authorOrTitle" style="color: #333333; font-family: "lato" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Sun Tzu, </span><span id="quote_book_link_10534"><a class="authorOrTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3200649" style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Art of War</a></span></div>
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<br />
I can learn about these people. I can learn their tactics, what they try to do and how they think. In learning about them, I also learn how to counter them.<br />
<br />
Here's another Bakerism for you - If you listen long enough, people will tell you everything they do not want you to know.<br />
<br />
<b>TRUTH</b><br />
<br />
Every once in a while, my curiosity gets the better of me and I read one of the emails. It confirms, at least to me, these people just do not get it.<br />
<br />
More to the point, they do not want the truth. They want to hide behind lies.
If the truth hurts, yer living wrong.
These folks are going to extreme measures in an effort to avoid pain. In doing so, they bring more pain on themselves.<br />
<br />
<b>HATERS GONNA BE IDIOTS</b><br />
<br />
It's easy to say they are misguided and some may be. It's more accurate to say these people are consumed by hate. By letting their hate rule them, they also let those they hate guide their thoughts. The haters are actually managed by the people they hate. Haters gonna be idiots.<br />
<br />
"No," you say? Then you tell me.<br />
<br />
If these racists are so consumed with thoughts of how they are being mistreated by another group, where is their focus? If their attention is so riveted on the people they hate, then where is their energy directed? If they devote so much of their time and resources to building their hate, their cause and attacking the other people, then how much time do they have to pursue other activities?<br />
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<b>AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT</b><br />
<br />
I read the emails from these people. I sadly shake my head and delete the email. I shove their information into a mental file, drop that in a mental filing cabinet in a mental closet. Then I turn off the light and lock the door as I walk away. The information is there, if I need it to counter them later, but it is NOT going to occupy my thoughts.
Ain't nobody but fools got time for hate.<br />
<br />
I'm not smart enough to hate anybody. I don't have the mental acumen to be a racist. I can't understand their lines of reasoning and thought. Frankly, I'm not investing the effort to understand them on that level.<br />
<br />
For me, it's enough to know that reason, logic and real science is enough to disprove them.
I'll keep getting their emails. Most of the time, I'll click the little box to left and hit delete.<br />
<br />
Every now and then, I'll read one just to confirm to myself they continue to be idiots.Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-22564306564861093092020-07-24T16:05:00.000-07:002020-07-24T16:05:31.232-07:00Th-th-th-th-that's all folksDone. Finished. Ended. No more.<br />
<br />
Afore any of y'all continue reading this diatribe, lemme tell you this is about my chosen career, avocation, love, source of income, frustration, joy and a central focus of my existence - writing. Mo' specifically, it is about me offering writing advice in public forums to beginning writers.<br />
<br />
I'm done.<br />
<br />
A bit of factual information first. It may sound like bragging and to some degree it is, but it needs to be said. For more than 30 years, I have made 100 percent of my income as wordsmith, a prose slanger, a verbal prostitute; I write you long time. Thanks to this career of mangling the English language, I have:<br /><br />Crossed the nation four times.<br /><br />Bought real estate.<br /><br />Bought vehicles.<br />
<br />
Met a bunch of celebrities.<br />
<br />
Taken free vacations all across the South. (Yes, free).<br /><br />Gotten into concerts, amusement parks and etc for free.<br /><br />Written books and contributed to a whole lot more books.<br /><br />Racked up 100+ awards for my work in communications, including one national award presented to one and only one person/outlet per year.<br /><br />Met a whole lotta truly awesome, wonderful, incredible and amazing people.<br /><br />Edified, torqued, annoyed, delighted and otherwise instilled just about any emotion you can think of in people around the planet.<br /><br />Otherwise paid my bills for existing in this life.<br /><br />Based on this, you'd think I have some idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to writing.<br /><br />But every time I try offer advice to beginning writers, someone who has to write in their spare time and prays to get paid pops off and says I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Hrm. On one had, a person who makes a living writing. On t'other hand, a person who tries to squeeze in writing amidst working a 9-5 job.<br /><br />Who you gonna believe?<br />
<br />
So yeah, I'm done with the public advice. I will still try to help, but it's gonna be private messages or otherwise outside of a public forum.<br /><br />I do not have the time, patience nor inclination to deal with fools. If I try to engage them, they just drag me down to their level and beat me with experience. There's also the issue of arguing with a fool. Can you tell which one is the fool?<br /><br />I freely admit what has worked for me may not work for others. A very real case of Yer Mileage May Vary (YMMV). I tell folks this.<br /><br />So I'm done with being publicly shredded over something I absolutely can control.<br /><br />If you are a beginning writer and, for some reason, want to hear rambling advice from a professional curmudgeon, editor, writer and arthritis sufferer, then contact me privately.Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509760839117869165.post-36992363786067805822020-06-23T10:22:00.000-07:002020-06-23T10:25:32.689-07:00Scars Mike Simms and I were talking. He was driving a new (to him) truck with Florida plates. Drove it for a while.<br />
<br />
I asked if he was moving to Florida.<br />
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Nope. Truck used to belong to his brother. Their dad gave Mike the truck when his brother died.<br />
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Mike said it matter-of-factly. Just a fact. Tossed out there to give context.<br />
<br />
Whoa.<br />
<br />
How could he do that, I asked myself periodically over the next few years. His brother died and now it's just a conversational bullet point. No emotional investment. How?<br />
<br />
I've marveled at other people who could do this.<br />
<br />
Now, I know. Mom is gone now, over a month. Her ashes still sit beside my bed waiting for a trip to St. Augustine to be scattered.<br />
<br />
Now I can tell people, she's gone. The Kung Flu and Kung Flu-driven pneumonia, compounded by the injuries in the wreck, killed her. I can say it now without inflection or emotion.<br />
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Yeah, it still hurts. Yeah, I still cry when I think about it. Yeah, it's gonna hurt for the rest of my life, I'm sure.<br />
<br />
Time scars the wound over. The violent slash through my being is closed over slowly. As the healing moves through, it leaves behind that scar, similar to the other scars I wear. Sometimes when the weather is particularly rough, some of those spots will ache. Most of the time, they don't. Many have faded and are barely visible now.<br />
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That part of me that was torn asunder so violently, it never will completely return to what it once was.<br />
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It will be stronger. When something living is broken and heals, the broken place is stronger than the original. <br />
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But it is not the same. Scar tissue is dense and tough. It covers a wound with extra protection.<br />
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The damage is still there, just somewhat hidden.<br />
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Some people see scars as something beautiful. Some see scars as marks of shame, something to be hidden, Others, like me, see scars as evidence of a life lived.<br />
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This scar is certainly the mark of a life. It is a reminder that she lived and I live.<br />
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As the years go by, my Mom scar will quietly fade as well. But it will always be there. When conditions are right, the old wound will make itself known. The pain will come roaring back.<br />
<gdiv></gdiv>Ben Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17807488850925842222noreply@blogger.com0