Notes On The Collapse

In RE Iran: “We Killed Yamamoto”

“Fellas, this guy is going to stand trial in a U.S. court, and if we have to stick heroin on his plane to get him there, that’s what we’re going to do.”
– President Jed Bartlet, The West Wing

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was Japan’s top naval commander-in-chief.  A brilliant strategist, a masterful tactician, and a genius at logistics, Yamamoto masterminded Pearl Harbor and had operated the Japanese attack fleet against the Allies in such a way that their materiel disadvantage was more than compensated for by his audacity.

In 1942, the American SIS broke the Japanese naval code (more…)

In Defense Of Billionaires

You know me:  I see a meme like this, I have to quibble.

Sure, it seems plain enough.  There’s people out there who own more money than a thousand families could use in a lifetime, and at the same time there are kids who can’t buy school lunch, homeless veterans on the streets, and did I mention my underwater mortgage and student loans?  The government’s in debt up to its eyeballs, Social Security is going broke, and who’s gonna pay for it?  Not the billionaires.

All of which is fair enough, so far as it goes.  Thing is, though, (more…)

Reimplanting Ectopic Pregnancies

Every time some idiot Congressman tries to introduce the impossible into law, it makes national news.  This time it’s Ohio attempting to mandate the reimplantation of ectopic pregnancies.  As always, there’s a lot of uninformed people out there expressing their opinions, often quite loudly.

In this case, there’s also some well-intentioned experts oversimplifying the issue for mass consumption.  Which is potentially excusable for politics; most politicians are… well, calling them idiots would (more…)

DANGER! Don’t Share That Meme!

I probably just should have kept scrolling; it’s not my business. On the other hand, if you had toilet paper stuck to your shoe, I’d want to be the person who told you.

This is like that.

One of my Facebook friends, a gentleman whose opinion I value enormously, just re-posted one of those insane memes — you know the ones.  This one’s about Fentanyl on a shopping (more…)

Selling Guns To Terrorists

There’s a Jimmy Carter quote floating around the Internet.  At least, it purports to be a quote; I can’t find any source for it, but it’s fairly popular these days.  It goes like this:

We cannot be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of the weapons of war.

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment.  And, since selling guns is the more profitable of the two options, I say we pick that one.  Someone’s got to, after all (more…)

It’s Not A Coup

Both the departure of Evo Morales from the presidency of Bolivia and the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump have been called coups by loyalists.

Lest there be confusion on this point:  I could be talking about either or both of them when (more…)

Raise The Minimum Wage — A Little

It’s time.  The wage hasn’t gone up since 2009, and a dollar is worth a lot less today.  $7.25 an hour in 2009 is $9.50 an hour adjusted for inflation, and add a quarter a year for a while just to stay even.

There’s people who couch their arguments in terms of a living wage.  Some talk of morality, of exploitation, of fairness.  There’s a big political movement out there supporting $15 and hour on these grounds; they’ve had some success in Seattle. (more…)

“But She Lied…”

Good Lord!  I am –so– bloody sick of this.  Senator Warren didn’t lie.  She didn’t use her Native American ancestry to get a job at Harvard.  And it’s insane that anyone needs to defend her on these grounds.

It started in (more…)

Wrong Way With Cuba

Our government needs to normalize relations with Cuba.

We have nothing to fear from Cuba.  Think about it:  The Cold War is over.  There is no more Supreme Soviet; there’s no risk the Socialists are going to come in from overseas to corrupt us.  Truth be told, they’re already here and running for president, and a lot of people think that’s a good thing.

And let’s face it:  Our southern (more…)