More Random Bits of News

I'd really like everyone who reads this to share the link - https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/08/the-alarming-ideological-capture-of-our-scientific-institutions/

Just one point makes it clear that the stats on how many so-called Intersex individuals there are. That percentage has been WAY overstated, according to Leonard Sax, writing his response in the National Institute for Health's website.

Anne Fausto-Sterling s suggestion that the prevalence of intersex might be as high as 1.7% has attracted wide attention in both the scholarly press and the popular media. Many reviewers are not aware that this figure includes conditions which most clinicians do not recognize as intersex, such as Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, and late-onset adrenal hyperplasia. If the term intersex is to retain any meaning, the term should be restricted to those conditions in which chromosomal sex is inconsistent with phenotypic sex, or in which the phenotype is not classifiable as either male or female. Applying this more precise definition, the true prevalence of intersex is seen to be about 0.018%, almost 100 times lower than Fausto-Sterling s estimate of 1.7%.

The MAL Raid story just gets weirder and weirder. Now that the affidavit has been released, it seems that the basis for the raid was, at the most charitable, not up to the level of "Probable Cause".

That's a nicer way to phrase it - Pure B$ is, however, closer to the truth.

Look. I'm not one that support everything former President Trump does. He can fail to live up to all of his promises, engage in bombastic self-praise, and be SLIGHTLY shading the truth. That's all in the nature of someone who is NOT a lawyer nor a politician, but, at heart, a salesman and promoter.

That's OK with me. I take what he says with a healthy dose of caution, and have learned not to expect hair-splitting, cautious statements from him. It doesn't make him a criminal, nor should his every word be parsed for exact meaning. Sometimes, he even jokes, and - if those words were taken literally, as the Left thinks they should - he might be prosecuted for a crime.

But, come ON!

I have, many times in my life, said "I'm going to kill ------". That doesn't mean that I should be arrested for 1st degree, premeditated murder.

It means that I'm mega-pi$$ed off at someone (whether for good reason, or because I got a hair up my hiney). I'm not actually planning to do it. And, no one other than an actual enemy of mine would ever take those words - or PRETEND to take those words - as indicating intent.

That's what so frustrating about interacting with the We Hate Trump crowd (WHT, for short). They leap on every report from the media as Gospel Truth, and begin the Let's-Take-Our-Torches-to-the-Castle March, eager to FINALLY bring down the Evil Orange Man (EOM).

Hey, Toots, I put up with 8 years of Obama without ONCE clamoring for his arrest, let alone his execution. That's despite his un-Constitutional 'Power of the Pen' Executive Orders, blatant use of the DOJ, FBI, and IRS to cow his opponents and destroy their sources of income, their reputations, and their entire lives, and planting of his Deep State operatives in the Civil Service caves.

So, I think 4 years of Trump, interspersed with lawsuits, weaponized government leaks, flat-out lying in government hearings, and judicial overreach by District Court judges, is something the WHT can live with.

Most of us have found family members and friends with whom it is impossible to have a conversation, without their fulminating about EOM, gloating about his imagined arrest - any minute, just any minute!, and feeling free to say anything they please about any topic, while ordering me and other Non-WHT people to Shut Up!

Now!

Not that such a determinedly 'non-political' mandate stops THEM from commentary - Oh, NO!

THEIR comments aren't political. Just Common Sense. You know, Middle of the Road, EVERYONE-Knows-the-Truth, and Anyone Who Disagrees is a H8r, a Nazi/Fascist, and an Insurrectionist.

What? How do they know that?

It's Obvious! So, don't ask for their reasoning, just let them fume.

So, that's why I blog. At least, it's why I've continued to do so. It's not about all the people I influence, or how many people follow me (few), or how much money I make (surely you jest!).

I do it because it's the only way I have to let off the pressure of being censored by the Karens of the Left, who have no clue about what constitutes an actual argument, how to debate a topic, or even how to answer simple questions. Questions such as:

• Is it censorship to object to elementary children being exposed to explicit graphic books in public libraries/school libraries, showing oral sex between a minor and another person (either another minor or an adult)?
• Is it unreasonable to object to the DOJ and local prosecutors having different standards for arrest/bail/conviction, depending on political inclination/race/immigration status?
• While I do agree that the student loan programs were abused - by the schools and lenders, as well as some students, I'm against yet another give-away program, that takes money from people who didn't take out the loan, and gives it to those that did. Why not, instead, reform the program by:
• For all those who had high-interest loans, and are paying on them, use of taxpayers' money to lower the interest rates for a defined period of time - NOT to be extended without further legislation. That, along with those debtors continuing the same payment, should clear up most of the loans in short order.
• The colleges should be liable for some of those loans, for those who did not graduate, but carry a heavy debt (heavily skewed towards minorities). If those students were admitted without the academic readiness to be able to graduate, the schools should have to pay for 1/2 the debt - and, have their current operating frozen/cut until they pay in full. If they have endowments, they must dip into those funds to pay the money back.
• Last, the whole program needs to be re-vamped. The emphasis needs to be on matching the students' interests AND academic skill levels. Much of the problem for those students not completing a degree is that they were often WAY underprepared for the rigor of the experience. Their foundational skills were under par. And, to be fair, more than a few weren't prepared to take the experience seriously enough. If parent(s) want to send their not-ready-for-college kid to a pricey school, THEY should pay for it with their OWN money - NOT loans.

If it's not clear, I do think that college is not for everyone. It's not meant to be a place to explore 'social or political activism', nor to search for True Love, nor to hang out and get wasted. College should be for mature students with clear goals AND the skills to benefit from it.

For the rest, there are choices:

• Work - it's not a dirty word. The jobs are, at present, plentiful. Pay is higher for the unskilled than it has ever been, although likely not possible to move out of the family home, unless they take a lot of roommates, or work more than 40-50 hours a week.
• Military - this is one that I don't recommend at present, due to changing culture of the services. But, there are kids scoring high enough on the ASVAB to benefit from the training in useful skills, on Uncle Sam's dime (and being paid to do so - Win-Win!).
• A combination of work and volunteer work in their desired field. Or, for some fields, paid work - day care, teacher's assistant, special ed aide, nursing assistant, hospital/nursing home cleaner. Generally, the more desirable the job/work, the less it pays. Sucks, doesn't it?
• Entrepreneurship - run a home day care, start up a lawn care business, moving company, or other idea. This is where parents can provide free housing for a specified time period, knowing that they will pay less than if their kid went to college, and will likely be less inclined to engage in debauchery.

Some Interesting Ideas That Caught My Eye

I've long believed that a standing military - one filled with careerists, REMFs, and Pentagon weenies - is not the best use of our defense dollars. Here is a link to a different organization of our current mlitary. And, I might add my own idea to the Guard units. There should only be a SMALL portion of them that can be called up nationally, without the EXPLICIT consent of the governor/legislators of the individual states. That might go a long way to stopping these endless "Not-Exactly-a-War-But-the-Carnage-Sure-Resembles-it" actions.

About rising energy costs:

We've been damn fortunate lately. In the North, we've had relatively mild winters since Doofus Biden took office. That, and the lessened traffic for the last couple of years has helped keep energy costs from breaking the bank.

That's not gonna continue. The price of energy - gasoline, heating fuels (oil, gas, and electric), and lighting and other electricity needs - will inevitably skyrocket. That's the plan. To both diminish savings, AND to accustom the public to rationing, a process that both forces people to use less energy, and also puts them in their place - no mouthing off for YOU, Peasant!

Bayou Renaissance Man has a long post on the Energy Crisis (well, it's a manmade crisis, but it IS a crisis). I have no solutions, other than to retrofit your living spaces to manage with using less energy (tightening up heat escaping, reducing the number of rooms you do use, having alternative ways to manage cooking, transportation, and use of electric appliances). It's likely to be an uncomfortable time period, before it's over. I've been through it before, early in my marriage. We were forced to resort to THESE.

And, finally, the New Campaign to Persuade Americans to Embrace Serfdom!

There were (unacknowledged) serfs in America before this:

• The miners who worked in Company Towns, and shopped at the Company Store
• Sharecroppers
• Many of the migrant workers of the 20th century

The ideal in America was to own your own home, car, and possessions. Many people, seduced by the lure of Payment Plans, descended into a quasi-serfdom of Debt Slave. Much of the Consumer Protection industry - Truth in Lending, national and state Consumer Agencies, and the fight to end Payday Loans - stems from concerns about people getting into debt that is not able to be paid back before the merchandise that was financed wears out.

It's actually worse today. We have many people who lease their cars. That's a choice that does make some sense - IF you own a business, and use those cars for business purposes. It makes no sense if you're an average person, and could pay off the car within 4-6 years. Most cars on the road today can easily be driven 10-15 years before needing to be replaced (a lot of that need is difficulty getting parts to fix those cars).

Other commonly rented items include furniture, computers, cellphones, and various TV/cable service equipment. Your streaming services - video, movies, games, music - all amount to a rental, not a purchase. The poor are more likely to get into these "deals", leading them to an unsustainable lifestyle level. One interruption to their income, or a sudden 3 or 4 figure bill, and the house of cards collapses.

Inflation cuts people off from being able to afford home ownership, due both to the rise in the price of housing, and the increased cost of mortgage intereest. Such a double whammy was the cause of our continued rental, well into our 30s. We finally managed to squeak out a home purchase thanks to a mortgage broker (he probably finagled with the paperwork to make it possible - I didn't care, we were buying a house that was well within our budget, and we were both working).

Down Time

I'm still working sporadically on my insurance recertifications. And, gradually reducing my heavy involvement in day to day family issues. My sister is healing - she can even put her foot on the ground - gingerly - and will be doing PT exercises for many weeks. My grandson FINALLY got enrolled and registered in his new school - Kindergarten. On his first day, he made some friends, so that's good. There will be ups and downs, but having friends by his side will help.

I've not been sleeping well lately, so am reading in bed at night. I've picked up some old books on Kindle - Helen MacInnes spy stories. Very entertaining, and they could have been ripped from the headlines today. We've been fighting the forces of We-Know-Better-Than-You-How-You-Should-Live, a group that is prepared to impose their rule by force - for Our Own Good.

MacInnes is mostly concerned about the Reds and the Anarchists, and her concern is Western Civilization. In her time, it was experiencing a considerable amount of stress.

Today's book is The Hidden Target, filled with young revolutionaries and bombings, and willingness to use others to achieve their nefarious goals. I'm less than 20% into the book, and I simply cannot put it down.

I have things to do, but really don't want to just now. I'm horribly spoiled about discipline just now.

In my spare time, I've been passing along memes. Here's one that caught my fancy.

Gloom, Despair, and Agony

 To quote from the song played on Hee-Haw. Below is a roundup of stories that have caught my eye.

Despite the persistent criticism of the GOP as being the party of The Rich, the Dems own that title.

The raid on Trump’s home, Mar-A-Lago, cannot be explained any way except as a blatant stunt to force prosecution on him, and thereby disqualify him from any elected office. At least, that’s the general consensus on the blogs.

From Legal Insurrection, an opinion that is backed by by legal expertise. Dark times, indeed.

Also from LI, this caution about not falling into a trap. Even if all convictions are overturned, the people involved will have lost years of their lives, and be in debt for a majority of their lives. They can never regain their reputation.

Hard to imagine that 30 years have passed since the Ruby Ridge executions - victims included an unarmed mother holding her infant, and a 14-year old boy. The Clinton callousness and defense of the incompetent Janet Reno are among the MANY failures of the last popular Democratic president.

Truth in the News Game - now you see it, now you don’t. Pity that an accidental commission of actual news reporting is wiped from the record.

This Trojan Horse, like the original, was brought in by feckless citizens. For the record, I do not trust China. They are relentless in their ambition to subjugate the USA.

If THIS Isn't Evidence of Fraud, NOTHING Is

The numbers (provided by the Secretary of State) are here - you can check them out. I'm just going to focus on the graphs, for now.

Now, I'm NOT a statistician. I'm just a regular person, but one that had long experience with stats, both as a working teacher who had to wade through more than one budget or communique from TPTB. I taught science, and had some realistic idea of the average person's familiarity with anything involving numbers.

Which is pretty much nil.

As an undergrad, I was a History major with an unofficial minor in Science. I gravitated towards focusing on the quantitative analysis of historical data. So, I think I can follow some basic numbers relating to the recent KS election.

And, the numbers stink. Like month's old, yards high piles of skunk and rotting corpses.

Massively unlikely, come-from-behind victories are rare. When it's OUR team, we believe - we WANT to believe.

I would feel like that, should this year's Cleveland Guardians team make the playoffs, and - by an eyelash and every decision just magically turning in their favor, get back to the World Series - WIN!!!!!

Games where the OTHER team made game-turning errors. Games where the opposing team's stars had an unexpectedly bad day, attributed to food poisoning or other happenstance. And, those events happened, again and again.

Until the Guardians were whooping it up on the field, and the fireworks were going off, and the fans were screaming, "Did you SEE that? I can't believe it!"

I would REALLY want to believe.

But, I'm a realist. No matter how much I would like them to take it all, before I die, given their performance record this year, I just can't. Should that unlikely scenario take place, I would be the first to cry, "Fix!".

[I'm having connections issues right now, so I'm posting when possible, and will update to keep from having to write this again and again].

Well, that's what the recent vote in KS was - a FIX from start to finish.

Look at the data (for those who are SURE that I ONLY get my news from Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists, this is from the KS Sec. of State official website).

The first graph shows the relative numbers of voters in the 2020 primary election.

The numbers for the 2020 Primary were relatively normal - probably a little higher than they would be historically, but, considering the percent turnout, not out of line with what you might expect.

The 2020 General election was less in line with expectations - an almost 71% turnout would be unprecedented. In 2008, Obama's candidacy only managed to bring out 61%. Are we to believe that the bland and tepid support for Biden GALVANIZED the voters?

So, historically, there were reasons to suspect that KS had experienced some issues with the validity of their voting.

Primary for Governor (Dem party):         282,124

Primary for Governor (GOP party):         455,949

Total voting for candidate (Governor):    738,073

Total voting on Amendment:                    922,321

Almost 200,000 MORE voting for the Abortion Amendment? Is that even likely?

Folks, I understand wanting to win. But, to accept this as a FAIR COUNT makes the process a parody. A joke. To say that "You just have to accept the vote. To do otherwise makes you a conspiracy theorist and a traitor," is a move that will NOT quiet dissent. It will only increase mistrust of the government, AND those that would provide cover for their illegal activities by looking the other way on voter integrity.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good - I'm making good process this week on my AHIP Medicare Recertification course. I'm (crossing my fingers) planning to finish by mid-August. That will leave me time to individually certify for all the carriers I represent, order my materials, and get ready for the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP).

That's escpecially Good, because I'd been deflected from finishing earlier by life and family issues (and, to be honest, a little lethargy/depression).

The Bad - I'm still more than a little overwhelmed by work on the houses (both), physical rehab of my shoulder and knee, poor radio reception issues (the same issues have also affected over-the-air TV reception as well), and the fact that I haven't been able to shed the weight I've gained since injuring my shoulder.

The Ugly - I seem to be lurching from one family crisis/problem to another. My sister's ankle is still keeping her from putting weight on it. It was a VERY bad break, necessitating surgery, and the time she has spent relatively immobile is driving her nuts. 

I was helping out yesterday and allowing my brother-in-law to catch up on sleep - very important, as he has been carrying the load by himself for most of this time. We're all hoping that my sister gets the go-ahead to put some weight down on her ankle sometime in the next month or so. She needs to return to her normal levels of activity ASAP.

On the positive side, this accident has forced her to re-evaluate her current housing situation, and decide on a move to more senior-friendly housing as soon as she can put some weight on the ankle. That means, one floor plans, in a quieter neighborhood, with (hopefully) some yard space in the back, for her garden and her dog. I plan to provide some of the driving for that search.

I really need to have some of these issues settled by AEP. That's an intensive period of work, and I won't have a lot of time to run around the state on errands of mercy.

I'm going to have to make some time to exercise regularly - I really cannot afford to add physical issues to the rest of this.

The Smoking Gun

Well, if you ever wondered what would happen if evidence - HARD evidence - surfaced about Hunter Biden, and his associates connection to Ukraine corruption, wonder no more.

This was first released by Tucker Carlson on a national program. It makes the case, convincingly, for MANY of Hunter Biden's family and friends havng been hip deep into the scandal.

And, now, again, the Truth is OUT There. So, what do we get?

This is not an accident. This is intentional. It is a CONSPIRACY to bury news that is unfavorable to politically favored Leftists and their allies.