Over the past month or two, I've noticed a couple of 'blue' states which have worked up draft laws (and passing them), which would require you (as a Presidential candidate) to release your tax submissions to the IRS. No release? No path to the state nomination process for President.
Legal? Well, it'll be challenged, and the chie problem I see is that they made this feature ONLY for people running for President. If they'd said everyone (from dog-catcher to city councilman) would have to do the same.....it might withstand legal issues. I think the big court folks will just laugh and throw this out.
But somewhere along the way, some state (maybe Alabama) will get into this game, and add blue-state-like tactics as well.
For example: mandate that you have to be five-foot six inches tall to run for President and show up to be measured by the State Attorney General.
For example: provide all social media commentary for three years, if running for President.
For example: provide evidence of a driver's license being current, if running for President.
For example: provide your shoe size, preferred breakfast menu, and a photo of your favorite teacher....if you want to run for President.
It's silly but we are evolving into a silly society.
Saturday, 4 May 2019
Wednesday, 1 May 2019
If the Census Avoids Counting Illegals?
In general, two states (California and Texas) will likely (based on various statistical displays) will lose two representatives and districts. Florida, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey stand to lose one district/representative. Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona would be on the list but those have some gains in number population, and might survive this.
The real pain here? Redrawing the districts, and the amount of suffering that the Supreme Court has to go through over the next decade.
In the case of Texas, with enough GOP in the state house....the redrawing would eliminate two Democratic districts (my suspicion). In the case of California, they'd work to eliminate two GOP districts.
The gainers? There are differing views on this. Most believe that the illegals will be counted, and that California, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, and Oregon will be the gainers. If you subtract out the illegals....zero gain for California, Florida and Texas (perhaps one less). But all of this assumes some numbers in the California population (if these people haven't packed up and left).
This idea by Senator Jones of Alabama to go ahead and count illegals in Alabama? Well, based on a count in 2014, the state has at best....around 65,000 illegals. Some will dispute that number and suggest it's more (closer to 100,000) and others will say down to around 30,000. That's the problem with this whole game of counting.
And the international students in various Alabama colleges? Well, no one has brought that up. Most universities in the state will not advertise their number or publicly announce the trend. My humble guess is that more than 15,000 foreign students exist in the state. Those kids are on a visa, and probably should be counted.
The real pain here? Redrawing the districts, and the amount of suffering that the Supreme Court has to go through over the next decade.
In the case of Texas, with enough GOP in the state house....the redrawing would eliminate two Democratic districts (my suspicion). In the case of California, they'd work to eliminate two GOP districts.
The gainers? There are differing views on this. Most believe that the illegals will be counted, and that California, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, and Oregon will be the gainers. If you subtract out the illegals....zero gain for California, Florida and Texas (perhaps one less). But all of this assumes some numbers in the California population (if these people haven't packed up and left).
This idea by Senator Jones of Alabama to go ahead and count illegals in Alabama? Well, based on a count in 2014, the state has at best....around 65,000 illegals. Some will dispute that number and suggest it's more (closer to 100,000) and others will say down to around 30,000. That's the problem with this whole game of counting.
And the international students in various Alabama colleges? Well, no one has brought that up. Most universities in the state will not advertise their number or publicly announce the trend. My humble guess is that more than 15,000 foreign students exist in the state. Those kids are on a visa, and probably should be counted.
Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Smart Story
I noticed in car news today....that Smart (the sub-brand off Mercedes) was ending sales in the US at the end of 2019.
Chief reason? Well....when they started US sales in 2008....they sold a fair number of the vehicles (in the 25k range). It'd been drifting downward for five or six years, and last year.....they went with only the battery version. That was a total failure....barely selling 1,200 Smarts. The range of that battery Smart? 108 miles on one charge.....dismal.
I owned a Smart for three years....all of 51 hp.
It was a death-trap. No spare-tire. Hot as heck in the summer with the marginal AC unit, and the glass roof. The thing had no real suspension. If you pumped the gas hard, you might get up to around 65 mph. The gas tank barely held four gallons of fuel.
The list went on and on. I think at one point toward the end, I had forty issues with the car. Just changing a lightbulb on the front.....I required the services of a 8-year old kid with small hands. Changing the oil was next to impossible because it had to be 'sucked' out (there was no drain plug).
It made sense if you were just living in a small town, and wanted something to haul groceries, or get your dog to the vet. Oh, and the mpg situation was terrific, but since you had only room for four gallons, you still had to refuel about every five days.
Chief reason? Well....when they started US sales in 2008....they sold a fair number of the vehicles (in the 25k range). It'd been drifting downward for five or six years, and last year.....they went with only the battery version. That was a total failure....barely selling 1,200 Smarts. The range of that battery Smart? 108 miles on one charge.....dismal.
I owned a Smart for three years....all of 51 hp.
It was a death-trap. No spare-tire. Hot as heck in the summer with the marginal AC unit, and the glass roof. The thing had no real suspension. If you pumped the gas hard, you might get up to around 65 mph. The gas tank barely held four gallons of fuel.
The list went on and on. I think at one point toward the end, I had forty issues with the car. Just changing a lightbulb on the front.....I required the services of a 8-year old kid with small hands. Changing the oil was next to impossible because it had to be 'sucked' out (there was no drain plug).
It made sense if you were just living in a small town, and wanted something to haul groceries, or get your dog to the vet. Oh, and the mpg situation was terrific, but since you had only room for four gallons, you still had to refuel about every five days.
Fumbling Around on Sundays
With all this church shooting business from the last couple of years (especially recently).....folks are now reaching the point of talking over the idea of taking a gun into a Sunday service. I sat and pondered over this, and remember the Baptist church environment as a kid in rural Alabama.
Typically, that long hour on Sundays (11 AM to noon)....was the most unbelievably boring period that you could imagine. This was before the smart-phone era, and you could gaze around the rear of the church, and note at least two or three of the older guys nodding off to sleep.
Some kids would have pens and would be doodling around or doing artistic pieces. You'd occasionally notice some women fumbling their pursues (perhaps counting change).
If the current environment continued on and guys started to tote a pistol into service.....I could imagine some guy sitting there and removing the magazine to the PPK pistol, or tripling-checking (every five minutes) the safety....to make sure it was absolutely safe. Some would quietly be pulling their pistol out to show their associate, and gun trades might even occur in the midst of a minister chat about Japheth (son of Noah) and how he didn't get much attention because he was a 'slacker'.
In simple terms, all of this would lead to poor gun handling practices, and one day.....some idiot would flip it accidentally off safety, and let loose one round. Someone would interpret this as the first shot of some terrorist, and then a dozen rounds would be fired toward the backdoor of the church. It'd be one of those events that would kinda end services for the day, and be talked over for months.
Typically, that long hour on Sundays (11 AM to noon)....was the most unbelievably boring period that you could imagine. This was before the smart-phone era, and you could gaze around the rear of the church, and note at least two or three of the older guys nodding off to sleep.
Some kids would have pens and would be doodling around or doing artistic pieces. You'd occasionally notice some women fumbling their pursues (perhaps counting change).
If the current environment continued on and guys started to tote a pistol into service.....I could imagine some guy sitting there and removing the magazine to the PPK pistol, or tripling-checking (every five minutes) the safety....to make sure it was absolutely safe. Some would quietly be pulling their pistol out to show their associate, and gun trades might even occur in the midst of a minister chat about Japheth (son of Noah) and how he didn't get much attention because he was a 'slacker'.
In simple terms, all of this would lead to poor gun handling practices, and one day.....some idiot would flip it accidentally off safety, and let loose one round. Someone would interpret this as the first shot of some terrorist, and then a dozen rounds would be fired toward the backdoor of the church. It'd be one of those events that would kinda end services for the day, and be talked over for months.
What's Done?
Since January, and the arrival of all these House Democrats....what's the achievement tally?
Well....it's short.
They did have some impeachment stuff discussed in January, but ever since Mueller turned in his report.....that seemed to just go away.
They did fight off Trump's budget discussion, but that really didn't get any public interest.
AOC? There's not a single day that some network or news media group hasn't hyped up her chatter or political discussion. But is that something that you'd consider an achievement?
We are around 90 days from summer vacation for Congress, and unless something really arrive soon.....we will be in the October period, with zero accomplishments for 2019.
If we arrive at this same time period in 2020.....with zero accomplishments, what does that do for the House election cycle in the fall of 2020? In blunt terms, something of some public significance really needs to be put on the board, and accomplished this year....or a hundred of these guys disappear toward the end of 2020.
Well....it's short.
They did have some impeachment stuff discussed in January, but ever since Mueller turned in his report.....that seemed to just go away.
They did fight off Trump's budget discussion, but that really didn't get any public interest.
AOC? There's not a single day that some network or news media group hasn't hyped up her chatter or political discussion. But is that something that you'd consider an achievement?
We are around 90 days from summer vacation for Congress, and unless something really arrive soon.....we will be in the October period, with zero accomplishments for 2019.
If we arrive at this same time period in 2020.....with zero accomplishments, what does that do for the House election cycle in the fall of 2020? In blunt terms, something of some public significance really needs to be put on the board, and accomplished this year....or a hundred of these guys disappear toward the end of 2020.
Monday, 29 April 2019
Just a Moment of Discussion Over Indians
I often view college students (and even professors) in some video dialog where they want to talk about the great evil where Europeans settling America.....did a something terrible, and owe the land back to 'THE' Indians.
There's a historical problem when you go and discuss 'THE' Indians....because they split off into not just dozens of tribes but literally hundreds of tribes (if you consider Canada, Mexico, the US, and Central America). At various times.....x-tribes had control of x-land, and later, a y-tribe came along to conquer that group, and then later, a z-tribe came along to conquer that group.
Does it sound somewhat like African tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
Does it sound somewhat like Asian tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
Does it sound like European tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
You can go over to the Creek Indians and find that they had various wars with other tribes, and killed a fair sum of non-Creek Indians over the past couple hundred years.
There's a historical problem when you go and discuss 'THE' Indians....because they split off into not just dozens of tribes but literally hundreds of tribes (if you consider Canada, Mexico, the US, and Central America). At various times.....x-tribes had control of x-land, and later, a y-tribe came along to conquer that group, and then later, a z-tribe came along to conquer that group.
Does it sound somewhat like African tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
Does it sound somewhat like Asian tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
Does it sound like European tribal warfare? Yes, it's identical.
You can go over to the Creek Indians and find that they had various wars with other tribes, and killed a fair sum of non-Creek Indians over the past couple hundred years.
Sunday, 28 April 2019
Mock Stuff
I noticed this in the news today....that Oxford University (the big-boy's university, for hefty intellectual types).... has discovered that young naive kids attending their college are a bit worried (filled with anxiety) over tests (who would figure that).
So, they found this remedy. The month prior to the real test.....they intend to stage a practice-test (a mock test). A full three hours....of fake-testing, to get you around to the point where you won't worry.
I sat and debated this idea.
If this is such a good idea, why don't we have two practice-elections during presidential election years, say in the month of October, and just get everyone up to the level of accepting that their presidential candidate (maybe Hillary).....might lose. Then maybe after the second practice-election....you'd reach a point where you realize it's best to just accept this situation, and just not get all freaked-out.
In fact, we could do the same way with employees being fired, by having a mock-firing the day prior....to get you around to the level of just accepting this.
We could even go and have mock NCAA football games.....where a practice game was played between team A and B, and the loss in the practice game would get you to the point of accepting that as being 'OK'.
So, they found this remedy. The month prior to the real test.....they intend to stage a practice-test (a mock test). A full three hours....of fake-testing, to get you around to the point where you won't worry.
I sat and debated this idea.
If this is such a good idea, why don't we have two practice-elections during presidential election years, say in the month of October, and just get everyone up to the level of accepting that their presidential candidate (maybe Hillary).....might lose. Then maybe after the second practice-election....you'd reach a point where you realize it's best to just accept this situation, and just not get all freaked-out.
In fact, we could do the same way with employees being fired, by having a mock-firing the day prior....to get you around to the level of just accepting this.
We could even go and have mock NCAA football games.....where a practice game was played between team A and B, and the loss in the practice game would get you to the point of accepting that as being 'OK'.
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