State Employee Walkout Looms, Dec. 5

The Times- Standard reports unionized state employees up here are planning a job walkout on December 5. This, in an attempt to influence ongoing wage negotiations. Well, goody for them but I doubt the vast majority of us will notice or care.

A Trumpster Wins French Conservative Primay?

The Killeen Daily Herald reports a candidate sharing some of Donald Trump's campaign positions won the conservative primary in France's presidential primary:

 "Francois Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary Sunday after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism,...."

That crackdown on Islamic extremism should go over better in France where terrorism is a bit closer to home. Keep in mind this is just a primary election. With Fidel Castro's death, this is a bad year for lefties indeed, especially should Fillon win the general election. I can see why they're so pissed off.

On Sex Offenders

John Chiv looks at the story of four lesbians in Texas accused of molesting two young girls. One of the girls recanted and the court declared the four innocent. 

Along that same line, Reason magazine looks at some who look at sex offenders and think they're not the life long threat many think:

"Take the claim that sex offenders are incorrigible even after being punished—that most can't or won't control themselves, and they inevitably re-offend. Sometimes they do. But a raft of research, including studies by both the U.S. and Canadian governments, have shown that adjudicated sex offenders have a very low recidivism rate. The U.S. study found that rates for first-time offenders are as low as five percent during the first three years after release. That's the lowest rate for any violent crime except murder."

Tim Martin On The Trump Presidency

I enjoyed Tim Martin's objective look at the election of Donald Trump in his Times- Standard column today, especially since, unlike most lefties, he doesn't see it as the end of the world:

"Despite what the low-informed “I live to be offended” protesters insists, these are not end times. The sky is not falling. Trump is not Hitler personified. Snap out of it, people."

Nicely done. I hope to see more from him.

Our Continuing TV Adventures

We became unhappy paying for Suddenlink. High prices compared to what channels we got. The wife noticed Dish Network, which we'd been with before Suddenlink, had some teaser deal of something like $39.00 a month for a two year contract. Hadn't we done this before? I think we had and quit Dish when they kept raising their monthly rate. But, she seemed interested in trying it again so...here we go.

I set up installation using the Dish Network web site. They told us the guy would be out Saturday between noon and 4pm to hook us up. I made sure to tell them we still had our old satellite dish up on the side of the house. I figured that might help speed things along unless that dish was considered obsolete.

We were notified Saturday, both by phone call and e-mail, the technician would be later than planned. They mentioned in the e-mail you could see what the installer looked like by going to their web site where there was a picture of him. I tried it and it worked. Good idea when there's so many people going around posing as service reps just to get into your house.

He showed up and said our existing dish should be fine but he had to see how well we received the signal with it. It worked fine which saved him some work and us some time.

I was surprised at how small their translator box was. That's what turns the satellite signal into a TV picture. Less than half the size our old Suddenlink box. They call that their "Wally" unit and have one that's even smaller but we didn't sign up for that.

He got us connected pretty quick but then it seem to take forever for the Wally, the remote and the satellite to connect with each other. Probably a half hour as we watched the whole thing take place on the TV screen. Interesting at first, but boring after not too long.

He finally finished up and left after giving the wife instructions on the remote control which I suggested as she usually does the channel controls. That thing makes me nervous, anyway, as the last time I managed to lose our satellite signal the day after installation by changing the TV channel and thus losing the input source. The tech guy didn't seem concerned and gave instructions on how to get out of any bad moves with the remote. I'm still uneasy about it.

It worked fine for the most part with only one problem, although it wasn't a big one: Their TV Guide that shows up on the screen is harder to read for me and it was hard for us to tell just what channels we had available. At last look last night it seemed as if we weren't getting MeTV, which in most circumstances would be a deal breaker, but in this case we do get TVLand which is another oldie network. That might be an acceptable trade off.

Now we'll see how long we can handle Dish Network, for the second time, before getting pissed off and quitting it...again, but seems ok so far.

A Libertarian View of the Trump Presidency

Another one of those fun links I find on Facebook. A libertarian blogger looks ahead to a Trump presidency:

"If you ask a Republican, they believe that Trump is going to save America from becoming a third world nation, he’s going to bring jobs back and end bad trade deals and “Make America Great Again” If you ask a Liberal Democrat he is going to pass homophobic, racist, Islamophobic, xenophobic legislation, he will cause the US to drive off the proverbial cliff while dictating like Hitler or Mussolini."

 "The actual truth is the most divisive President we have ever had will really make little to no difference. What can we expect from a Trump presidency? Probably what we got in an Obama presidency and  a Bush presidency."

I think he's got it pretty much right.

Rifleman Trivia

I try and watch old episodes of the old western The Rifleman whenever I can. I've been wondering what caliber rifle he used and finally found the answer on The Rifleman's web site: His 1892 Winchester used the old 44.40 round, as I'd guessed. That site also pointed out a continuity problem with the show: His rifle, manufactured in 1892, was actually made after the show's supposed period of time of 1880.

I'd love to be able to see those old rifles. One was supposedly given to the late Arnold Palmer. The other was sold to former Secretary of the Treasury, Bill Simon. Fun stuff to know, huh?

Water On Mars

First I've heard of this but, in my inbox from Earth/Sky News, is word that water has supposedly been found on Mars. Not an above ground lake. It's underground and supposedly found using ground penetrating radar from an orbiter above Mars.

Pretty cool, as this has implications for future Mars exploration.

Castro Dead

I was surprised to wake up to the news that commie icon, Fidel Castro, had died. I'm tempted to drive to Arcata today to see if there's any flags at half staff. 

The Sacramento Bee has the history of Castro from start to finish. An interesting, albeit lengthy, read. I knew very little about him.

Don't Eat Those Crab

Seems like it was just yesterday I pointed us to the Times- Standard's report that crab season would be open. We also saw the spreadsheet with the testing results that showed areas down south having relatively safe crab populations.

Leave it to the Sacramento Bee to report some areas of the coast are being closed to crab fishing again. They seem to have found more crab with domoic acid in them:

" ...the indefinite closure of a 120-mile coastal stretch that was supposed to open Dec. 1. The stretch runs from Point Reyes to Humboldt Bay."

Isn't that roughly the same area prior tests showed low risk of poisoning? Bummer. Those of you that ran out and threw your crab traps out yesterday best take those crab and toss them back into the bay.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/article117012563.html#storylink=cpy

A New Pot Web Site and Newspaper

The Ukiah Daily Journal tells us of a new news web site dedicated to marijuana:

 "As California’s Proposition 64 expands the legal use of marijuana, we’re launching a new website to tell this remarkable story and answer the many questions we all have.
To do this, we’re pulling together journalists in 25 newsrooms from Eureka to Riverside who have been covering it all along."

I'll bookmark cannifornian.com but won't be checking it all the time as I do other news sites. I get tired of reading of cannabis this, cannabis that. Yes, I know I write about pot on occasion, but usually just when it's in other news.

Who Are These Gals?

I just finished taking one of those Facebook quizzes where you looked at a recent picture and tried to guess who the actor, actress or singer was. My wife is what's known as a super recognizer- thus being able to recognize people she's seen years ago easily and she couldn't guess some of them. Below are two that pretty much blew me away, particularly the top picture. Can you guess who they are? No cheating now...:

Hating The Holidays

I've made no secret here of my hatred for holidays. Anything that screws up my nice, boring life is to be hated. I hope you'll all support me by joining the Facebook I Hate Thanksgiving group:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=i%20hate%20thanksgiving&hc_location=ufi

and the I Hate Christmas group:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=i%20hate%20christmas

Help spread the hate!

Trump's Deportation Machine

The Sacramento Bee tells us fears of Donald Trump's promises to deport large number of illegal aliens comes a little late. One Mexican immigrant thinks Obama has been tough enough: "Obama told us the right things, but he did the wrong things.-" Viridiana Martinez, Alerta Migratoria NC

We don't read of it in the papers normally, but Obama's been no slouch when it comes to immigration enforcement: 
"During Obama’s years in office, the number of Border Patrol agents surpassed 20,000 for the first time. Nearly 700 miles of border fencing were completed."

Fencing? Who'da thunk? 

The bottom line is there likely won't be any real significant change in things with Trump in the White House. The fears so many have voiced have already happened.

The Demise of Obamacare

A writer over at City Journal takes a look at claims that repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is going to be a disaster. He points out that part of Obamacare enrollment was people signing on to Medicaid and over 70% of those enrollees already qualified for Medicaid before Obamacare and they should remain qualified. Still, he points out "...Medicaid programs are burdening the federal government and driving states to the financial brink.". That seems to me unlikely to change.

As far as the subsidies to buy private insurance goes, he notices those programs seem to be falling apart on their own with no help from Donald Trump: " Insurers are abandoning the exchanges, leaving 68 percent of U.S. counties with two or fewer insurers to choose from"- this being caused, I would think in large part, by insurance companies covering those they normally wouldn't.

He closes with a largely negative, seems to me, view of Obamacare: "Trump and the Republican Congress should ignore ACA bogeymen. Repealing most of the ACA, retaining a few provisions, and replacing programs in 2018 will rid the country of one the most contentious, complex, and wasteful pieces of social engineering ever enacted—and set the stage for a more efficient, consumer-centered health-care system."

To be honest, I've been fairly content with my Obamacare plan, aside from my local doctor not accepting it. Not sure what I'd do if I was ruled ineligible for my plan.

Crab Test Spreadsheet

The Times- Standard has a story on domoic acid levels in local dungeness crab. I rarely eat crab but I was still a bit leery of claims the crab are safe now. After all, how many crab do they sample to determine domoic acid levels? Just one or two crabs tested wouldn't make me feel comfortable eating them. 

Kudos to the Times- Standard for providing a link to a spreadsheet (pdf file) showing number of crabs tested per area and their levels of domoic acid. It looks like Eureka area crab are ok with 20 tested and no domoic acid detectable. The southern waters are of concern with 24 of the crab near Fort Bragg tested and a number of them, but not all, exceeding safe levels. The same looks true for Bodega and Half Moon bays. 

You'll hopefully be able to know the origin of whatever crab you buy and we should keep in mind most crab from Bodega and Half Moon bays are ok. They just have a larger percentage of crab with excessive levels- the problem being you won't be able to tell which crabs have excessive levels by looking at them.

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I've been wondering who figured out crabs could be toxic and why? I'm sure indians ate crab back in the day before testing. I wonder if they had a tradition of not eating crab during certain times of year, with prior experience of illness. Or did they know the illness was from crab?  At what point did we figure the relationship between eating crab and poisoning and thus start testing?

I always wonder about the historical origins of stuff like this. Another question was brought up by a nurse installng a PICC line in me at UCSF: Who and how did someone figure out artichokes were good to eat? You wouldn't know it by looking at them.

The Case Against Jeff Sessions

Jacob Sullum gives Trump Attorney General- select, Jeff Sessions, a well deserved slamming. His selection is one that to me shows a step backward in the recent election. Let's hope there aren't any others as bad.

Pension Costs Going UP

Calwatchdog reports pension costs are likely to increase even more:

"Although no action has been taken, it’s clear the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, might again lower its expected rate of returns on investments. That means cities and other member agencies would have to pay more to make up the shortfall."

That makes it likely our recent tax increases weren't the end of it.

Science and the Left

Lengthy but fun read in City Journal that looks at the differences between the Left and Right in regards science. He deals with confirmation bias and other such stuff that can sway scientific opinion:
 
"My liberal friends sometimes ask me why I don’t devote more of my science journalism to the sins of the Right. It’s fine to expose pseudoscience on the left, they say, but why aren’t you an equal-opportunity debunker? Why not write about conservatives’ threat to science?
My friends don’t like my answer: because there isn’t much to write about. Conservatives just don’t have that much impact on science."

Humboldt County Pension Obligations

The Humboldt Consequential looks at our county pension obligations today and finds the average county resident owes $4.702 towards those pensions. There's no question that most of the recently passed tax increases were in large part due to budget shortages created by those pension obligations. The down side is most county employees, and particularly their unions, will tell us this shouldn't be, or isn't, a problem, despite having to pay more and more for pensions rather than for the government services so many expect.

I must have missed the Times- Standard's article by Will Houston on this issue. Good to see them covering a hot button issue in state and local politics that so many want us to ignore.

Anger Over Candidates

Wonder Woman Question Answered

Any other fans of the Wonder Woman TV show here? I love the show and especially Lynda Carter who plays Wonder Woman. I've heard it time and again on the show but never knew what IADC meant. That's the government agency she supposedly works for. Last night I wrote a note so I'd remember to check on it. 
The answer is IADC stands for Inter-Agency Defense Command. So now you know. Maybe you'll feel more comfortable watching Wonder Woman now that you're up to speed?

All the world is waiting for you
and the power you possess
In your satin tights
fighting for your rights
And the old red white and blue - from the Wonder Woman theme song

Richard Rider: IRV Would Have Given Trump a Majority

Past Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate, Richard Rider, looks back at the election and compares the results versus how it might have worked had we had Instant Runoff Voting, also known as Ranked Choice Voting. For those unfamiliar with IRV, it's where you vote by ranking candidates in order of preference. It's used in some Bay Area cities for municipal elections. Rider thinks, had we used IRV in the recent presidential election, Donald Trump would have won a majority of the vote rather than a plurality:

"Looking at the votes for the Libertarian and Green candidates (the LP candidate got over double the Green/Socialist candidate's vote), it's apparent that under ranked voting, Trump would have won with a majority of the votes, as he would have been a more likely second choice than Hillary."

I'm somewhat surprised at that idea, thinking at first it must be another libertarian fantasy dream of the power of the libertarian vote. It actually doesn't have anything to do with that. As he points out, it has more to do with who would have been most people's second choice, and he may be right.

I've often said (mostly in libertarian circles) that Republicans would generally choose a Democrat over a Libertarian if they had to make that choice. I suspect the reverse might be true with Democrats, most of them wanting to vote as close as possible to maintaining the status quo.

In normal elections I'd say that's the way it would work, but this time we had two candidates who were generally very strongly disliked- Trump and Clinton. Whether so many Democrats would make Trump their second choice despite their hatred for him, I'm not sure. If the situation were reversed, and we'd used IRV, would most Republicans had chosen the highly disliked Clinton over the LP candidate? I have no idea.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

I just received in my inbox a severe thunderstorm warning from the Weather Channel. It reads as it mostly applies to southern Humboldt at this time. I see no indication of it on doppler radar. Still, best batten down the hatches:

US SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FROM 4:10PM PST SAT UNTIL 4:45PM PST SAT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EUREKA CALIFORNIA HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHWESTERN HUMBOLDT COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA... * UNTIL 445 PM PST * AT 409 PM PST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM NEAR HONEYDEW TO 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PETROLIA...AND MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... HONEYDEW...GRIZZLY CREEK REDWOODS STATE PARK...RIO DELL...SCOTIA... PEPPERWOOD...CARLOTTA...BULL CREEK...SHIVELY AND HYDESVILLE. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL... DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. &&

Update: Yet another false alarm it seems. I kinda figured as doppler radar didn't look like thunder and lightening activity to me. I did think I heard thunder off in the distance a few times last night, but think it might have been my imagination.

Wedding Cake Redux

Reason magazine looks at efforts by fashion designers to boycott Melania Trump:

"As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom, and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady," wrote fashion designer Sophie Theallet in an open letter this week."

Shouldn't they be forced to serve the Trumps, or penalized in some way for not doing so? How is this different than not baking a wedding cake for gay couples?

What If The Sun Stops Burning

I've always wondered what would happen if the sun just stopped burning, and what's to say it couldn't? Earth/ Sky News tells us what it would be like if the sun just disappeared. Suffice it to say, it would get pretty cold. I'm not looking forward to it. Just something else to worry about.

I had to ask Earth/Sky what might it be like when the sun goes nova? You can bet that would hurt...for a second or two.

That Electoral College Thing

I used to also think presidents should be decided by popular vote, decades ago. Since then, I've realized the popular vote isn't all that great a thing, either, and I kinda like the idea of the states electing the president, despite how clunky the current system is. I say clunky because I couldn't exactly explain to the wife how it worked last month.

Reason magazine's David Harsanyi seems to feel the same way and takes a critical look at calls to abolish the electoral college.

To be sure, if the situation was reversed with Trump eeking out a slight majority of the popular vote, we wouldn't hear a word from the Democrats about abolishing the Electoral College.

Knapp Suggests Secession

I was surprised to see my internet buddy, Tom Knapp, making the case for an "amicable divorce" in this country. He makes a good one:

"Maybe it’s time to try this secession thing again, minus the four years of war and the million dead. Activists in California and Oregon certainly think so — they’re already cranking up ballot initiatives to take their states out of the union.
And why not? America never has really been one country in a cultural sense. Not in 1776, not in 1860, not today."

I still don't think it could happen without civil war. There's too much at stake for many. Besides, war is an American tradition, isn't it?

S.F. Chronicle On Post Prop 64 Growing

Humboldt County is the center of this article on growing pot after the passage of Prop 64 in the San Francisco Chronicle. Some uncertainty is expressed, but one grower points out as I have in the past that there will likely always be a market for premium crop:

“The only way I can compete is with a boutique brand,” said LeClair, who this year grew 100 plants on two properties,"

Port of Humboldt Bustling With Activity

To hear it from our very own Harbor Commission- dude, Richard Marks, the Port of Humboldt is bustling with activity- ships coming and going- a 61% increase in activity since 1991. You could have fooled me. Then again, despite being able to see the bay from Trinity Street, on the south side of our house, I don't pay much attention to it nowadays.

When I used to fish the north jetty, I saw regular incoming and outgoing ships, of course, but not anymore.

I've wrote here before of being skeptical regarding plans for an east/west railroad as I don't think our bay is big and deep enough to handle enough traffic to make a rail line economically feasible. Maybe I'm wrong about that with traffic in and out of the bay increasing with current harbor infrastructure and no rail line?

Sad thing is, many from The Left up here see increased commerce as a bad thing. You have to wonder if it becomes known commerce is picking up, some of them might try to stop it?

Trump; Evers For Sec. of Education?

Rumor has it President- elect Trump is considering a former Libertarian Party congressional candidate for appointment as Secretary of Education. No info on how Williamson Evers caught Trump's attention, but it will be nice if true. You won't catch me criticizing that appointment and, yes, there are some libertarians I'm acquainted with that I would criticize if an appointment was in the works. I have no source for this information other than the blog I linked to.

Administrative Notice (or warning?)

When I clicked on my previous post to post it here, the following notice appeared. I"m not sure what to make of it. Are viewers of the blog also being given a similar notice?

"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies.

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

Your HTTPS settings have changed. All visitors are now able to view your blog over an encrypted connection by visiting https://humboldtlib.blogspot.com. Existing links and bookmarks to your blog will continue to work. Learn more."

North Coast Journal Does The Election

This week the North Coast Journal has guest writers looking at the recent election and what it means. It should be no surprise that it's pretty much Democrat-centric, as its publisher has made no bones about her political leanings in the past, going so far just before the first Obama election to dedicate a cover story to him with an essay by Tom Hayden telling us why Obama is a "transformational leader". I thought that shameless at the time, and wrote just that here.

Even past county deputy district attorney, Alan Dollison, writes a column with his usual admiration of all things government and military. He wrote, "the second time that transition occurred while I was deployed in a war zone. Even with protests, America should be profoundly proud that is our heritage.". I can only guess that we managed to have him in a war zone twice is a heritage that is something to be proud of? Yes, he probably would think that.

Media Maven, Marcy Burstiner, seems to think the only reason Trump won was because not enough people paid attention to her and the rest of the media, at least that's the way I read it.

*********

Perhaps someone can enlighten me: I'm getting more than a little tired of hearing Trump and his supporters referred to as racist, a suggestion that permeates this edition of North Coast Journal as well as just about any left- wing publication. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I'm not sure I've ever heard Trump say anything racist. I'm assuming he must have referred to someone as a "negro" or "colored" as I know I've been accused here of being racist for using the term negro. Is that all it is?

Anyway, head up the The Journal, get all touchy-feely with the almost can't we all get along writing up there, then come back here to argue once your tears have dried.

John Bolton For Sec of State?

Media is abuzz over speculation over who president- elect Trump will choose for his cabinet positions. John Bolton's name came to the forefront yesterday as a possible appointment to Secretary of State. Let's hope not. I understand he has a long history of supporting just about any U.S. military intervention. Senator Rand Paul seems to agree.

No way of knowing why people voted for Trump, but I would think at least a fair amount of them did so in hopes of a less aggressive foreign policy. John Bolton is not the man for that. Appointment of John Bolton to Secretary of State would not only be a betrayal of voters, but a strong sign that nothing will change despite a Trump presidency.

Reason magazine also covered Rand Paul's feelings about Bolton.

Looking For A Bright Side

Bill Merritt, over at Liberty Unbound takes a playful...ok... sarcastic look at the election from the viewpoint of Democrats:


"Never mind that the Democrat elite engineered the nomination of probably the only person in the country who could lose the presidency to a game-show host with a personality disorder . . . and outspend him two-to-one while doing it. Never mind that the same people saw to it that their party lost control of the House of Representatives for, maybe, ever; assured a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for what could be generations; ensured that their party would be denied power in most state houses and governorships, and be reduced to a level not seen since 1928. Never mind that they didn’t even notice they were losing. Never mind that they have set up the party itself for an internal catfight it might never recover from."

That first sentence is what cracks me up the most: Clinton losing to of all people, Trump. You just know that's totally humiliating for the self- centered egotistical beech that she is. I really do hope she's hating it. But not to worry, Hillary fans, I'm sure she'll be running for office again, although whether she'll feel comfortable running for president again amidst fears she'd be humiliated like this is hard to predict. I do feel she has a thirst for power that won't be quenched until she actually wins. We probably haven't heard the last of her. 

He then takes a look at one Democrat victory- the election of Catherine Masto to the U.S. Senate. They're looking at it as a win for diversity as Masto is considered latino in some circles. As Merrit points out:

 " She’s a third-generation American born right here in the good ole US of A. Never mind that this makes her practically Mayflower material, compared to Antonin Scalia. Never mind that she grew up in Nevada and graduated from Gonzaga, that her roots and her law degree, and her life experiences, pretty much clone those of almost every other member of the Senate. Never mind that the politically correct Democrat elite can’t even bring themselves to call her an American."

Funny that I have to admit I'd never heard of Masto until reading that article.

Signatures Needed For AIM

Earth/ Sky News tells us of a project to study near Earth objects with the hope we'll be able to divert them from a collision with Earth. I'll admit my deep down skepticism of so- called science took hold, except there's no question in my mind asteroids and such in space pose a threat to our very existence.

You can read more and sign the petition here. Scroll down to sign the petition at the bottom of the page, as I did. No harm done.

One concern I have is if they do come up with some sort of kinetic energy application to push an asteroid to a safe path, what if they try it, get it wrong and end  up pushing it into a more direct path toward Earth? Yikes!

Cascadia?

The Ozy e-mail list looks at ways people on the West Coast might avoid a President Trump. One movement that seems to be gaining steam is a secession movement where parts of Northern California, all of Oregon and Washington and some of western Canada would form their own country, called Cascadia, and secede from the United States.

Easier said than done, to be sure. The biggest problem likely being financial dependence of California and the West Coast on Washington D.C. People won't willingly give up all their government benefits no matter what is promised in return. Then again, being a separate country, Cascadia could just print money to pay for everything just as Washington D.C. does now.

It might also require civil war as some, even in California, suffer from blind nationalism that would never let them willingly leave the U.S. The thought of civil war doesn't bother me much. I've long felt we're past the point where our political differences can be settled peacefully. The problem from a libertarian standpoint would be deciding who to side with, although I suspect the lefty Cascadia types don't own much in the way of guns.

As for me, if this effort ever came to fruition, it would likely compel me to leave the west for the east. It's bad enough living in California, which probably has the largest concentration of stupid people on the planet, if not the world. I can't imagine being stuck in a whole country full of Californians although, secession or not, those people will still be here.

That Supermoon

I was underwhelmed. I didn't even bother looking this morning when it was closest. I saw it last night and no big deal. Figured it wasn't worth walking into the living room this morning to see more of that.

But, we did have a 3.2 earthquake out by Ferndale this morning roughly an hour before the Moon got its closest, and the 7.8 quake in New Zealand yesterday. Maybe there's something to that thing about the Moon contributing to earthquakes?

Democrats: Fearing Presidential Power

Glenn Greenwald looks at the power of the presidency and fears Democrats have now that the presidency belongs to another party. He reminds us the Democrats gave the presidency much of that power:

"Blinded by the belief that Obama was too benevolent and benign to abuse his office, and drowning in partisan loyalties at the expense of political principles, Democrats consecrated this framework with their acquiescence and, often, their explicit approval. This is the unrestrained set of powers Trump will inherit. The president-elect frightens them, so they are now alarmed. But if they want to know whom to blame, they should look in the mirror."

As I wrote before, and as Goldwater said, "When you give the government the power to give you everything you want, you also give it the power to take it all away". Democrats are finally figuring that out.

Reminder: Supermoon

Earth/ Sky News reminds us we'll be able to see the supermoon tonight, or is it tomorrow night? Kind of confusing to me as they seem to say both times but, since it will be closest to the Earth tomorrow morning at 5:52am. I guess tonight could also be considered tomorrow morning. That's good because I'm usually up by then. Best catch it this time.

I'm not so sure it will be all that noticeably bigger than usual. The page I linked to has some comparison photos of normal vs. supermoon. And I know it won't be anything like the giant moon I saw many years ago.

When I was around 13 years old some friends and I went backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas. We started out from Yosemite and made our way to Mammoth lakes. The second night was spent at Little Yosemite Valley and the third at what I believe was Ireland Lake- up higher and to the east of Little Yosemite.

The first night at Ireland Lake seemed magical. It was warm and the moon rose over the mountains so big I'd swear we could have seen people walking on it had they been there. Not sure how to describe its size, but I figure I could extend a loot long ruler out in front of me and that moon might have touched both ends up it. Fish were jumping up from the lake, maybe cause the light from the moon had the bugs up and flying around.

I don't know if that was a supermoon. I've always attributed it to an illusion created by atmospheric conditions. I haven't seen the moon that big ever since. The one tonight will be nothing compared to that but I'll try and step outside to take a look tomorrow morning. It won't be this close again for another 18 years.

The Third Party Vote

Pretty much true, but good for a chuckle if nothing else. I don't recall getting much of the "wasted vote" lecture this time around, but have heard from others that did, and I am reading where people are blaming Johnson's measly vote totals for giving the win to Trump.

Don't Give Trump Credit

A nice commentary on a blog here dealing with something that I'd noticed but wasn't sure how to address. It has to do with all the gloom and doom over Trump's win and predictions of catastrophe under his presidency. If nothing else, I felt they're giving the office of The President way too much power. Yep, the presidency does have a lot of power, but much of that power has been given him by the same people complaining about it now. As I pointed out yesterday, when you give the government power to give you everything you want, you also give it the power to take it all away.

That blogger takes a slightly different approach to it:

 There’s anguished cries of, ‘How will my children grow up knowing not to discriminate?’ or, ‘How can I look my daughter in the eye and tell her she has purpose?’  Really?  Really, America?  You have given Donald Trump, a mere mortal man, far more credit than he deserves, especially considering the man hasn’t even taken office yet.  Trump does not have the power to mold our families, that is our flat-out our responsibility. Your children will learn to love or hate, be respectful or disrespectful, wise or foolish, not by the character of the family in the White House, but by the family in their house.  May I submit to you that your sons and daughters will be far, far more influenced by their teachers, coaches, 4-H, FFA, Scouts or church group leaders than they will a man on TV.  

Good point. He won't have too much effect on your personal life unless you want him to, so relax, the world won't come to and end, at least not right away.

Why Trump Won

I read a commentary from City Journal yesterday where the writer attributed Trump's victory to any number of issues, all of them somewhat obscure. Obscure only because I don't think Joe and Jill Sixpack voted for Trump because of relative minor policy issues they disagreed with. It was a larger discontent than that.

Robby Soave over at Reason magazine, seems more on target. He thinks Trump won because, "
"....because he convinced a great number of Americans that he would destroy political correctness."
He probably has a point. If I ever liked anything about Trump it was his willingness to say things that pissed people off. I've met other non- Trump voters that felt the same way.

Some of us- maybe more than you think- get awfully tired of trying not to offend someone. Soave admits political correctness is difficult to define, but I'd suggest enough people had had enough of it to elect Donald Trump. 

Holiday Boutique

Announcing the Cruz family's traditional holiday boutique where they sell all sorts of handcrafted items.

Today, Friday November 11 from 11am to 4pm

Tomorrow, Saturday November 12 from 9am to 3pm

and Saturday December 3 from 9am to 3pm

Here's a link to the Craigslist ad which is more specific as to what's being sold once the ad shows up.

4937 Lundblade Drive, Eureka (in Lunbar Hills above the Eureka Muni golf course) There will be a map on the Craigslist ad once it shows up.

Bring a friend. Be there or be square. 

Election Notes

I was out of town until yesterday afternoon. I'm sure you all eagerly awaited my comments on the election results so sorry for being so late. I can't really post here using my tablet or cell phone from elsewhere.

I was surprised to have the wife turn on the TV while we were at the Villa Inn in San Rafael and tune in incoming election returns. That wouldn't have been my choice but if that's what she wants to watch, she was more than welcome. I couldn't help but pay some attention, although I wasn't really all that interested in the presidential race, at least as the night went on. I only wanted final results.

I hadn't expected it but was happy to see Trump win, with one exception. That exception being it will be hard to avoid watching him for he next for years. I was overjoyed to see Clinton lose, especially to Trump. That must be a real blow to her ego to lose to a candidate like Trump. Clinton is all about herself so I'm sure her pride suffered immensely. I normally don't like to see people's feelings hurt but, in her case, it's a good thing since I hate her guts.

Then there's the Clinton/ Obama worshippers like Bill over at Dreaming Up Daily whose focus on Clinton and President Obama each day amounts to idolatry. He's not the only one, but I take some pleasure in seeing them all pissed off. I know I should be more sympathetic, but their heroes have been turning this country into a totalitarian state for close to eight years. Now it's time for paybacks, huh?

All the gnashing of teeth and forecasts of the end of civilization as we know it because of a Trump win? I heard big wig dumb shit Michael Moore giving that line on the Democracy Now radio show the other day.

I might not like the results of an imperial presidency, either, but at least I oppose it from both sides. Those on The Left should take heed of what a wise man said years ago: When you give government the power to give you everything you want, you also give it the power to take it all away. Yep, now all that government power doesn't seem so great, does it? You best keep that in mind the next time you have the power.

And what about the down ticket races? Hard to find results in the Bay Area except for the pot legalization and death penalty initiatives. When I got home it wasn't much better. I picked up our newspaper last night and was disappointed, not surprised, to see the Times- Standard's sketchy return info which didn't help at all.

Leave to the North Coast Journal to point me to the link I should have found myself. The Secretary of State's web site shows Libertarian Party candidate, Ken Anton, finishing up with over 25% of the vote. I had no expectation of him winning but that's pretty good for a third party candidate, albeit in a two way race. Had there been another third party running in that race it would historically result in him getting half that many votes. 

That was my main interest, aside from wondering how Gary Johnson might do in his run for the presidency. I appreciated CNN showing his returns on their coverage on election night. His vote totals were disappointing as usual, but at least that puts me in the position of the wise old sage who has been there and done this before. There were some on Johnson's Facebook page who seemed to really think he'd win. I'd stir the pot saying we'd likely be disappointed as I have been in every such race since '92 since I joined the LP.

Johnson got a hair over 3%, which was two points below my most optimistic projection. Oh well, I'm used to that. At least he beat the Green Party's Jill Stein in California. 

Then there's the statewide ballot initiatives. I was surprised to see them announcing Prop 64- that legal pot initiative- passing the first night. Very disappointed repeal of the death penalty failed, but not really surprised. A Left state like California is full of people that have no problem killing so long as they can feel there's no blood on their hands.


But, overall, the world didn't collapse for me Tuesday night. It will be business as usual for the next four years most likely. We'll wait and see how The Left tries to spin Trump's business as usual to be different than Obama's. 

Addendum: At least one lefty over at The Left's Spiked Online sees his fellow lefties blowing the Trump victory out of proportion:

 "... as Trump’s victory shocks the world, or at least that portion of it that lives in its own echo chamber, who is it that’s exhibiting ‘untrammelled emotion’? Who’s conjuring up ‘vivid images’ and ‘intense emotions’, particularly with regard to security? It isn’t Trump’s supporters, most of whom went from the ballot box back to their everyday lives. It’s the anti-Trump set. It’s those who spent months claiming Trump supporters lack the mental and moral equipment necessary for ‘reasoned deliberation’. Many of these rather elitist politicos and observers are behaving in a way that makes even the most hot-headed Trump cheerer look perfectly rational in comparison."
 

Big Moon Coming

Earth/ Sky News tells us a big moon is on the way for November 14. It will be a full moon and the closest to Moon has come to the Earth since January 1948. Probably no need to mark your calendars as it might be hard to miss this one. I haven't checked the tide tables but I wonder if this could cause flooding problems in the King Salmon and Fields Landing areas?

I guess there's a good chance of that. According to Earth/ Sky News:

"Supermoons bring the highest, and lowest, tides of all.

If you live along a coastline, watch for high tides caused by the November 14 supermoon for a period of several days after November 14. These tides tend to follow the date of full moon by a day or two."

George Will Asks Election Questions

I told myself no election posts today but couldn't pass this one up. Over at the Santa Rosa Press- Democrat, Washington Post columnist, George Will, ponders how the election will go. Some questions include:

"Will Trump’s louche lifestyle cost him culturally conservative Utah, which last voted Democratic in 1964, and which since then has voted Republican by an average of 36.1 points?

— The only Democrat to carry Arizona since 1948 was Bill Clinton in 1996. If his wife duplicates that feat, will this be because the state’s Mormon community recoiled from Trump?"

You can comment on the story by scrolling down that page, those of you that like to discuss such things.

Pot Smuggling Changes Direction

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the usual smuggling of marijuana into California from Mexico has reversed course. Now it's being smuggled into Mexico, in part the Chronicle reports, due to legalization efforts in California:

" As the flow of cartel brick weed into the U.S. dwindles to due further legalization measures, the phenomenon of smuggling California pot southbound to Mexico has arisen.
The abundance of high-quality legal marijuana in California has created a demand in Mexico that local cartels can’t supply with their own homegrown product,"


This seems to make the point I've made here and elsewhere that smaller growers with more high quality product will always find a market for their goods, that the larger grows can't provide. How long that lasts is anyone's guess. 

Vote Yes on Prop 64.

Hat tip to the Rational Review News Digest for the link to the story.

Another Johnson Endorsement

I don't know where the Post and Courier newspapr hails from, but they just added another endorsement to Gary Johnson's list:

"it’s grimly obvious that a record number of voters are thoroughly dismayed by what they justifiably see as their lack of a positive White House choice in either the Democratic or the Republican nominee.
And if you’re among that vast group, register your displeasure loudly and clearly by voting for neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump on Tuesday. Instead, vote for Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson."

Heed their words! If nothing else, do it because The Freddy said so.

Humboldt's Election Day Central

I was just made aware of this site through the Nextdoor Neighborhood e-mail list. You can go there for info on all things electoral: polling places, results and such. Might be nice to use since local news election coverage is often incomplete.

Vote None Of The Above

Liberty Unbound finishes up their 2016 election recommendations with Andrew Ferguson making a case for not voting. I generally get a bit hot under the collar when libertarians suggest other libertarians don't vote, especially when there are libertarian candidates or issues to vote for, but his argument makes a fun read with some of the more polite put- downs of candidates I've read this time around. On Trump, for example:

 "As for that buffoon: Donald Trump is a lifelong conman with a history of false dealing and shoddy investments. When individuals have stood in the way of his gaudy real estate projects, he has always turned to the power of the state to get his way. He is the callow oaf-king of a shabby empire, a man who blusters constantly about others’ perceived weaknesses but then bitches to anyone in earshot whenever someone gets the best of him — something which happens alarmingly often for someone with designs on becoming Commander-in-Chief. Though it was fun to watch him rip into the puffy nobodies on the Republican primary stage, he embarrassed himself rising to Clinton’s bait every time out: one can only imagine how an actually capable world leader — Angela Merkel, for sure, but also Xi Jinping, or Putin himself, for that matter — would twist President Trump around their fingers."

More on your choices at Liberty Unbound. I already voted for Gary Johnson and urge everyone to do the same. And don't forget to vote Ken Anton for state assembly. As his campaign signs say: Protect Freedom/ Spend Wisely- something we should probably all agree on.

Update On Spain's Anarchy

I posted a while back about Spain's loss of government. Their most recent election ended up creating a political deadlock with neither party having enough numbers to "get things done". It seems that's good for them, according to Forbes magazine that reports Spain's economy growing and unemployment dropping:

" Spain has not really had a government for the past 10 months and yet it is expected to be one of the fastest-growing eurozone economies this year. And as a result the unemployment rate has just fallen to 18.9%. So much for the necessity of activist management of the economy"

I've said and written before that political gridlock is generally good. We're often better off if government doesn't get things done. 

Vote NO On Measure P

Our TV Experiment Continues

You'll recall a while back I wrote of wanting to dump cable TV and trying that external antenna I bought, the idea being we could probably get enough TV broadcast signals to keep us entertained at night. As I wrote earlier, that didn't work. My guess is that we just didn't have the TV set right to receive broadcast signals. I gave up on that.

Some time ago the wife was surprised to find we were paying $74.00 and change per month for cable TV. She felt we couldn't afford that. I agreed but, when she suggested taking our cable box back even before we'd come up with an alternative, I objected...strongly. That seemed an assinine suggestion to me. I had to ask her: What are we gonna do at night with no TV...tallk? I don't think so.

As a compromise, I called Suddenlink and tried to switch to a lower cost plan, assuming they had one. I know I signed up for one years ago where you got something like 12 channels for $16.00 or some such, but the cost of that one increased quickly enough that it wasn't even a year before it was over $20.00, if memory serves me. The twelve channels seemed ok for me, though, and I thought maybe I'd get used to it again.

I first tried the Suddenlink web site which doesn't seem set up to change plans. I finally had to call one of their reps and she didn't seem all that adept at switching me to a lower priced plan, either. She finally seemed to get the gist of what I wanted and suggested a plan that would cost $75.00 a month, except I couldn't hear her well. She did say we wouldn't get BBC or MeTV anymore and those are my favorites. I went ahead and told her to switch us...hey, there but for the grace of God go I.

The next day the wife spotted some Suddenlink worker in our yard. I didn't bother going to talk to him but was surprised as it seemed to me they could switch plans at their office and nothing need be done at our house.

Then the bewitching hour came and we had to see what channels we'd be able to see. The first "problem", if you want to call it that was Suddenelink's"Guide"- the television schedule you see on the TV- didn't seem any different. It still doesn't, but maybe that doesn't change or, maybe they leave it up so you see what channels you're missing- a little sales pitch, so to speak.

That drives me nuts because you see a show you might want to watch and click on it only to get a black screen. But, we do get MeTV, although no BBC so no Star Trek, at least for now. it wold be nice if they marked the channels on the Guide so you could see which channels you actually get, but that might be the idea of doing it they way they do it. It's working with me.

Not much has changed as far as TV goes, at least earlier in the evening. I'm still able to watch the channel 3 news when I flop down on the couch around 5:30ish in the afternoon. And we still stay with channel 3 until after the Who wants To Be A Millionaire game show. After that it's MeTV and it does kinda bug me we're stuck with MeTV- hey, I like Andy of Mayberry but how many of those reruns do I want to watch? Despite it being one of my favorites, it bugs me knowing I can't go elsewhere, such as the History Channel or what not.

After I post this I'm gonna go to the Suddenlink web site and see if I can find out how much we're paying for this new TV plan. Wouldn't it be something if it does cost more than we were already paying? I won't be surprised, but then what do I do?