Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 39

• There's a reason why it's called groupthink and not teamthink-- coaches or good leaders acknowledges member's skills and knowledge to accomplish a goal.
• Superdelegates sends a signal to the voters that we don’t trust you to make the right decision.
• Government creates private sector jobs. Everytime new regulations come out or a new regulatary agency appears a business gets created to help make other businesses compliant with the new regulations.
• If the GOP is going to have open primaries they should only allow independents,  Conservative Party members, Constitution Party members, libertarians, etc. People who are conservative by nature. Yes, I know this isn’t purely open but close enough.
• You can’t change the status quo if you are part of the status quo because you benefit from the status quo. It takes someone completely outside the status quo to change it.
• A politician can be a conservative problem solver. When you hold positions of power you either believe gov’t is the answer to most problems or you put your trust in the people to solve their own problems.
• The only wars the Left wants to win are political ones.
• Hillary Clintons slogan is: Fighting for us. My question is who is the “us?” Wall Street? Women and minorities? Americans? Illegal aliens? Her and Bill? Kind of vague. It would be a better and personal if the slogan said “Fighting for you.”
• All lives matter. – God.
• Don’t anyone put a server with classified information in your bathroom. Only Hillary Clinton can do that.

New Study Shows Marijuana Can Alter DNA, Create Mutations

From News Max.com (May 24):

Smoking marijuana can change users' DNA — and the mutations are then passed on to their children, new research shows.

In the study published in the journal Mutation Research – Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis, researchers assert they've been able to show for the first time how marijuana can be linked to serious illnesses and the implications for future generations, the International Business Times in Australia reports.

"Through our research we found that cancers and illnesses were likely caused by cell mutations resulting from cannabis properties having a chemical interaction with a person's DNA," researcher Stuart Reece of the University of Western Australia said in a news release, the IBT Australia reports. [read more]

So, smoking marijana causes mutations? Hmmm. I wonder if this is how the zombie apocalypse gets started. Or maybe turning people into Abbies (human genetic abhorations) like in the TV series Wayward Pines.

In other marijana news:

• July 22: Colorado Town’s Water May Be Tainted With Marijuana Chemical.

Islamic State duped by ‘dark web’ mafia site offering murder, mayhem for Bitcoins

From The Washington Times.com (June 29):

The Islamic State terror group is steering followers to a “dark web” mafia site that offers murder and other mayhem for hire at a price of thousands of dollars in Bitcoins, the online currency.

The problem for the world’s most vicious terrorist army is that hackers in recent weeks have exposed the “Besa Mafia” destination as an elaborate fraud. It is likely run not by the real-life Besa Albania Mafia and its criminal networks in Europe and the United States, but by a guy living in Romania.

This means the Islamic State, also known as ISIL and ISIS, is sending its followers on a money-wasting venture that is not likely to get anybody killed.

The Islamic State’s endorsement of the Besa Mafia site was discovered by the Middle East Media Research Institute. MEMRI, which monitors jihadi traffic, found Islamic State’s June 14 message on the channel Cyber Kahilafah, which is carried on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

Telegram is its own story. Invented by an exiled Russian technocrat as a way for dissidents to escape the wrath of Vladimir Putin, Telegram has become the go-to platform for jihadis’ planning and commanding terrorist attacks, according to its detractors. [read more]

Serves the stupid camel-humping thugs right. Morons.

How Congress Mysteriously Became a ‘Small Business’ to Qualify for Obamacare Subsidies

From The Daily Signal.com (May 11):

It seems that federal officials have worked overtime to undermine public trust. Benghazi, the IRS abuses, the “fast and furious” gun-running fiasco, the solar power boondoggles, and the seemingly endless implementation problems of the Affordable Care Act—all these scandals have common themes: arrogant and abusive bureaucracy, double dealing, lame excuses, and legal hairsplitting.

The outrages listed above can be placed squarely at the doorstep of the White House. But one scandal is truly bipartisan: How key administration and congressional officials connived to create, under cover of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, special health insurance subsidies for members of Congress.

Here’s how it went down.

Rushing to enact the giant Obamacare bill in March 2010, Congress voted itself out of its own employer-sponsored health insurance coverage—the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Section 1312(d)(3)(D) required members of Congress and staff to enroll in the new health insurance exchange system. But in pulling out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, they also cut themselves off from their employer-based insurance contributions.

(It should be noted that, before final passage, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, offered an amendment that would have provided Federal Employees Health Benefits Program subsidies for congressional enrollees in Obamacare, but Senate Democrats defeated it on a procedural vote, 56-43.)

Obamacare’s insurance subsidies for ordinary Americans are generous, but capped by income. No one with an annual income over $47,080 gets a subsidy. That’s well below typical Capitol Hill salaries. Members of Congress make $174,000 annually, and many on their staff have impressive, upper-middle-class paychecks.

………………….

So, let’s follow the thickening plot:

1. Act One—Congress Has a Panic Attack. Realizing what they had done, congressional leaders sought desperately to get fatter taxpayer subsidies in the Obamacare exchange system. In a nutshell, they wanted special funding unavailable to other Americans. The standard excuse was that, without a special “sweetener,” a Capitol Hill “brain drain” would ensue; the best and brightest would flee to the private sector to get more affordable employment-based coverage.
2. Act Two—Congress Gets Taxpayers’ Money Without Appropriating It. Anticipating an attempted “end run” around the law, on Aug. 2, 2013, The Heritage Foundation published a detailed paper outlining the legislative history of the controversy. The analysis concluded that neither the Affordable Care Act nor Chapter 89 of Title V (the law governing the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program) authorized the transfer of monies in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program trust fund for use in health plans outside of the program.
3. Act Three—Congress Magically Becomes a Small Business. In a second iteration of its rule-making, the Office of Personnel Management declared that Congress and staff were eligible to enroll in the Washington, D.C., “SHOP” Exchange, a health insurance exchange reserved for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The exchange offers special insurance subsidies to participating small businesses.
4. Act Four—Congressional Bureaucrats File False Paperwork. In filing to get the special insurance subsidies for enrolling lawmakers and their staff members in the D.C. “SHOP” Exchange, congressional officials claimed that the Senate and House each had only 45 employees. That false information allowed both chambers to meet the magic number requirement.

[read more]

The author goes on to say that Congress has options to rectify the scam (my term) the Congress perputuated on the taxpayers like admitting it’s not a small business. Then again this the age where a white woman can believe she’s black or a Native American. “Identity” is the rule. Reality doesn’t count anymore. Down the rabbit hole we go.

The moral of this story is The Ruling Class has their own laws that nobody else has. Power does corrupt. Congress thinks they are special. I am thinking it is more and more the social system of Congress that needs to be changed. If you are elected to Congress and are a good person but aren’t a strong person you will be corrupted or you will be called an “outsider” or a “trouble-maker” if you don’t conform.

The Contested Convention of 1924

If you think the 2016 GOP primary was nuts, then you probably haven’t heard about the Democratic convention in 1924. It has been called the wildest convention in history — and with good reason. It’s also been called the Klanbake. In 1924, the clan heavily influenced the Democratic party.

Former Democratic President Woodrow Wilson, a renowned racist himself, had reignited interest in the Klan in 1915 when he hosted and attended a special screening at the White House of Birth of a Nation, a movie where the Klan are the heroes and blacks are the villains. It’s based on a novel written by Wilson’s friend, Thomas Dixon which was based on a history book written by Wilson himself.

One of the front runners of the Democratic nomination was Wilson’s former cabinet member, William G. McAdoo, who was supported by the Klan. So prevalent was the KKK within the party that there were no black delegates at all at the convention. The other front runner at this hotly contested convention was New York governor Al Smith, who opposed the Klan.

It was a raucous convention, described by silent movie star Diana Serra Cary as filled with “rough people who were drunk and disorderly.”

As the convention wore on, it became so contentious that the violence broke out when the delegates from Missouri and Colorado attacked each other. Police had to restore order and quell the rioting multiple times.

Source: The Contested Convention Part II: 1924 (Democrats).

The Dems in the convention had a vote to condemn the KKK. The vote failed 546 to 542. Well, I guess it was a close vote. There were two other contested conventions which I didn’t write about.

Al Qaeda urges lone wolves to target whites, to avoid 'hate crime' label

From Fox News.com (June 27):

Lone wolf jihadists should target white Americans so no one mistakes their terror attacks for hate crimes unrelated to the cause of radical Islam, Al Qaeda writes in the latest edition of its online magazine.

In an article first reported by The Foreign Desk, Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) called for more self-directed Muslim terrorists to kill in America. But the article, titled “Inspire guide: Orlando operation,” tells terrorists to “avoid targeting places and crowds where minorities are generally found” because if gays or Latinos appear to be the targets, “the federal government will be the one taking full responsibility.” [read more]

Wait a second. How would the Islamic slime balls know if the target is homosexual or not just by looks? If the cowardice thugs is just murdering white people then the thugs might end up murdering a minority anyway because homosexuals are white people too. And avoiding gay bars is not a solution either because the homosexuals shop in stores, go to games, etc. Are the Islamic pig-fornicators going to ask a white person if he/she is gay before deciding in killing the person? Also, a light-skinned black may look like a white person.

This is what happens when authorities don’t define the problem correctly.

For those in the drive-by-media it is possible for a terrorist to have personal reasons and be a crazy Jihadist. You can murder a group of people for personal and religous reasons. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive. If anything they could reinforce one another.

Seven Ways School Has Imprisoned Your Mind

From the FEE.org:

The impediments to our freedom are not limited to the guns, handcuffs, and prison cells that threaten us with violence if we disobey the powers that be. We are also burdened with spiritual chains. These bonds are the self-limiting habits of mind and false presumptions that weigh us down throughout life. They were fastened on our minds through compulsory schooling: by the state monopolizing most of our waking hours throughout our most formative years. The mindset installed by schooling makes things much easier for the government, which can rely on us to largely police ourselves. We have virtually been deputized as our own spiritual prison wardens.

So the first step to self-emancipation is what Zak Slayback, author of The End of School, calls “deschooling.” But this involves not just unlearning disinformation, but unlearning attitudes. Even if you have already shaken off the indoctrination, you may still be burdened with the conditioning you were subjected to at school. And that may be holding you back in your career and your life in general.

The good news is that these mental shackles can be unlocked, once you are aware of them. And doing so requires no political campaigning or confrontation with the authorities. This liberation is yours for the taking.

Here are seven horizon-limiting mindsets that almost everybody has picked up from their schooling to some extent.

1. The Conveyor Belt Mindset. “The conveyor belt does all the work. You just have to sit still and get moved to the next station. Everyone moves in the same direction. Everyone makes progress at the same pace, based on external factors like age.”
2. The Permission Mindset. “Raise your hand and wait to be called upon. Get in single file lines. Even your basic biological needs cannot be met without permission. You get a hall pass to go to the bathroom. You eat only when scheduled.”
3. The Student Mindset. “You are a student. Your task is to memorize what teachers tell you. This phase in life is for absorbing information through books and lectures. You study. You cannot try things in the real world until you theorize about them for a few decades.” “The student is not a practitioner. The student can’t put ideas into motion until passing a test. Everything is pass/fail, not open exploration and experimentation. Everything has a grade. Students don’t play. They don’t work. They study.”
4. The Teacher Mindset. “You’ve graduated from studenthood. Your job is to have the answers and provide the structure. You must know everything and be the expert. Everyone’s fate is in your hands. You must train them to do what they couldn’t if left alone. You must grade them. They either pass or fail.”
5. The Worker Mindset. “Work is for survival. It sucks. You must be coaxed into doing it. You studied to be able to work and now you work to be able to live. You do exactly what the boss wants you to do and no more. You get a specific job with a specific title and that defines not only your activities but your personality.”
6. The Recess Mindset. “Play is an escape. It’s irresponsible in excess. It must be limited. If you study and work hard enough you can earn some tiny shred of play.”
7. The Major Mindset. “What do you want to be?”  “What’s your major?” “Your interests must be career-ified and tracked. Everything must be given a title and every action must be a step in a clear path to that one thing that will define you.”

[read more]

Interesting article. Like the authors say: You are not a student. You’re a lifelong learner.

 

 

 

The Contested Convention of 1860

The year was 1860. It was the GOP’s second nominating convention — and also its first contested election. The fledgling anti-slavery party — the Republican Party — had lost its first general election in 1856, but gained a lot of sympathy and momentum. And it believed their nominee, this time, would go on to win the presidency.

The Republican Party is a big tent fusion party. It is not the GOP, the Grand Old Party. It is the BNP, the brand-new party. And the problem with the brand-new party is that its elements, its makeup were people that were politically opposed to each other just a few years before. The Republican Party consisted of old Democrats and old Whigs and old free-soilers and old American and know-nothing elements. These were people that are politically opposed to each other, and they still hated each other.

The only thing they agreed on was the main principle of the Republican Party — not to extend slavery into the territorial region of the United States, what will eventually become the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, of course, and part of Colorado and Utah, which was a real threat when Stephen A. Douglas passed the Kansas-Nebraska act in 1854.

……………

Heading into the convention, the presumptive favorite was a very confident senator William Seward who brought 19 train cars full of supporters with him to Chicago. Lincoln, however, used his home state advantage well. His supporters went to work, printing up counterfeit tickets they handed out to those friendly to their cause, loading the convention with supporters and causing many of Seward’s supporters to stand outside the convention. For those who did make it inside, Lincoln’s people maneuvered them into an area where they would be isolated from those who might sway their opinion.

Source: Contested Convention Part I: 1860 (Republicans)

7 Ways US Can Prevent Another Orlando Attack

From The Daily Signal.com (June 17):

In the wake of the Orlando terrorist attack, the Obama administration has been quick to blame gun control laws. This is because the administration refuses to admit its policies to defeat the Islamic State have failed.

Islamist terror attacks within the U.S. have dramatically increased within the past year—with Orlando being the 22nd instance of Islamist terrorism in the U.S. since 2015. This is out of 86 plots since 2001.

Gun control will not stop this rise in Islamist terror attacks, and the president is wrong to suggest so. To stop these attacks and defeat radical Islamism, the U.S. needs to defend the U.S. homeland and combat terrorism abroad.

We must maintain essential counterterrorism tools to help law enforcement and intelligence agencies find and stop terrorists before they attack.

Here are seven policies that will help prevent another Orlando:

1. Combat Terrorism Abroad and Deny ISIS Territorial Gains. Rolling back—and defeating—ISIS requires a global approach in which the U.S. leads a multipronged, multination effort that seeks to deny ISIS the ability to hold territory. This will disrupt its recruitment of foreign fighters, and will counter its destructive ideology.
2. Shut Down the Foreign Fighter Pipeline. In order to defeat terrorism abroad, the U.S. must lead an international effort to deny ISIS territorial gains and shut down the foreign fighter pipeline. While military victory would undermine ISIS’ legitimacy, the U.S. must also improve intelligence capabilities to identify potential recruits and preempt Islamist violence.
3. Ensure That the FBI Regularly Shares Information. The FBI must share information with state and local law enforcement—treating state and local partners as critical actors in the fight against terrorism.
4. Expand Active Shooter Threat Training Across the Country.
5. Community Outreach Remains a Vital Tool.
6. Maintain Essential Counterterrorism Tools.
7. Counter Islamist Ideology.

[read more]

Good ideas although the last way might be trickier to do. First Obama has to name the problem: Islamic radical terrorism. Or if you prefer militant Jihadism or something along the same lines. Glenn Beck thinks calling them “radicals” is a mysnomer. He says the radicals are the ones in the Middle East (and in Ameria) that are trying to reform the religion. He has a point. America should support the reformers. The ones causing all the violence are the devout fundamentalists—not the moderates and traditionalists. Mr. Beck confuses the tradional Muslims (the Sufi) with the fundamentalists (ISIS and Al Queda). The Sufi are persecuted too. Anyway, Donald Trump is the only presidential candidate willingly naming the problem. Hillary Clinton had to be shamed into it.

Miscellaneous Thoughts Part 38

• Never vote on emotion alone especially anger. Politicians know how to exploit emotions. Vote with logic and facts about the candidates like his/her character, positions on the issues, his/her belief system/principles. Vote instead who will do best for the country and respects the Constitution.
• Don’t vote on just a single issue like illegal immigration. Other issues are important too like the debt and the economy.
• The way to convert an atheist to a Christian is to first convert him or her to an agnostic. Might be hard to do.
• Astronaut Buzz Aldrin wants America to go to Mars. I sometimes think the Left is already there.
• What the Left calls inequality, the Right calls individual differences. The Left sees people in one-dimension only.
• The survival of the country is more important than the survival any political party. Political parties come and go. But there is only one America. Once America is gone, she might not come back again. And there probably won’t be political parties anymore if that happens.
• I think psychic mediums should do their best to get spirits to cross over especially if the spirit is seeing a portal to heaven.
• Too much federal regulations decreases the caveat emptor instinct.
• If a person running for office acts like a politician (eg using polls to base his stance on issues) then by all means he/she is a politician. Doesn’t matter if was never in office before. It’s a mindset.
• My Supreme Court litmus test: A judge must be a strict constructionalist who believes in negative rights only.

Startup Promotes Chatting With the Dead

From NewsMax.com (June 22):

Your body can't go on forever, but your memories and personality can – at least in digital form, stored in a library of "people instead of books," a new startup promises.

The Silicon Valley company, Eternime, aims to feed the digital data into "chatbots" that let you speak from the grave.

"Become virtually immortal," the website beckons. "Eternime collects your thoughts, stories and memories, curates them and creates an intelligent avatar that looks like you. This avatar will live forever and allow other people in the future to access your memories."

An illustration shows a bearded man's head smiling from a computer screen. [read more]

Interesting and yet kind of creepy. It’s too bad the company doesn’t show a demo on their website. Not that I’m interested but to any prospective consumer who would like to get an idea of their product. I am guessing that since this is a chatbot it doesn’t use the deceased’s voice during the conversation—which would be a nice feature. Also, since chatbot shows the deceased’s head, does the head move when the person talks? Another nice feature if not already implemented.

What would really be creepy is if this chatbot was part of the deceased’s headstone. Then any relative or anyone else for that matter could talk with the person. You never know. Maybe someone would like to talk to the famous. Possibly motion activated (which could scare some people especially at night) or just touch screen activated. In the future, a hologram of the person could be projected from the tombstone and talk to you when you touch the screen. On second thought, maybe that adds too much to the creepy factor.

Happy Birthday, America!

Ronald Reagan on America

The true meaning of America, you ask? It's in a Texas rodeo, in a policeman's badge, in the sound of laughing children, in a political rally, in a newspaper... In all these things, and many more, you'll find America. In all these things, you'll find freedom. And freedom is what America means to the world. And to me.  -- Audie Murphy

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. -- Mark Twain

Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. – Calvin Coolidge

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. – Thomas Paine

The five habits of liberty that have been crucial to sustaining American Exceptionalism:

1. faith and family
2. work
3. civil society
4. rule of law
5. safety and peace

Ten thing you can do to help America's future be as exceptional as its past:

1. Learn about American history, exceptional Americans, and America's founding principles.
2. Speak out. Once you feel confident in your knowledge, start speaking out in favor of American Exceptionalism.
3. Question governmental authority at every turn.
4. Teach the children around you.
5. Insist on schools that teach responsibility and the fundamentals of American citizenship.
6. Defeat and replace bad judges.
7. Reestablish the work ethic.
8. Celebrate American holidays: Memorial Day; Veterans Day; the Fourth of July; Thanksgiving.
9. Volunteer in your community.
10. Run for office. Your country needs you.

Source: A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters (2011) by Newt Gingrich.

The Declaration of Independence is the soul of the nation.

Some patriotic links:

• Signers of the Declaration of Independence (video)
• American Exceptionalism by James Q. Wilson
• Three Reasons America Is Exceptional by Jill Burcham
• Why is America Exceptional? by Matthew Spaulding, Ph.D.