Deliberately Ignorant

Posted on 25 February 2020 by eehines

In a Wall Street Journal article about the espionage and intellectual property theft threat posed by the People’s Republic of China, Boston University William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor artificial intelligence researcher H Eugene Stanley said this when his PRC research collaborator—whom he enthusiastically took on—said this when she was arrested for lying on her visa and for potential espionage:

I’m not interested at all in politics. I’m a scientist.

And

If a person anywhere in the world wants to come to my group, and they have the money to come, I say why not?

This is a preview of Deliberately Ignorant. Read the full post (407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Some Thoughts on the Nevada Caucus

Posted on 24 February 2020 by eehines

…based on 60% of the precincts reporting. The Nevada map provided at the link indicates that Sanders won the urban counties, Buttigieg won the rural counties, and Biden’s precinct wins are too scattered to show up.

Biden’s showing here indicates he’s wasting his money and Progressive-Democrat primary votes by staying in. He finished second—likely, only 60% of the results are in as I write—and he’s bragging about what a strong showing that is, but the first place finisher got more than twice as many votes as he did. Given the way this campaign began all those months ago, as much as Sanders won so big in Nevada, so big did Biden lose in Nevada.

This is a preview of Some Thoughts on the Nevada Caucus. Read the full post (326 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Contradictions

Posted on 23 February 2020 by eehines

Howard Kurtz, self-appointed “news media” critic and supporter of the NLMSM as gateway to what we’re permitted to know of the doings in the world, is at it again. This time it’s his piece on Attorney General William Barr’s alleged musings about resigning as AG.

Kurtz opened his piece by doing what today’s journalists do: repeating others’ rumors.

As the Washington Post reported, and others have confirmed, William Barr “has told people close to President Trump—both inside and outside the White House—that he is considering quitting over Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations”—that’s according to three administration officials.

This is a preview of Contradictions. Read the full post (424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Telecommunications and Backdoors

Posted on 15 February 2020 by eehines

It turns out that Huawei has been able to use legislatively mandated backdoors into telecommunications software—backdoors ostensibly for the sole benefit of law enforcement, and then only usable within judicially allowed limits, search warrants duly sworn, in the US, for instance—for years.

But we would never do that, says Huawei in its wide-eyed innocence.

“The use of the lawful interception interface is strictly regulated and can only be accessed by certified personnel of the network operators. No Huawei employee is allowed to access the network without an explicit approval from the network operator,” the [senior Huawei] official said.

This is a preview of Telecommunications and Backdoors. Read the full post (246 words, estimated 59 secs reading time)

Disappointing

Posted on 13 February 2020 by eehines

Senator Joe Manchin (D, WV) is defending his vote to convict President Donald Trump during the impeachment and trial fiasco of the last several weeks. In the course of that defense, Manchin says he wanted to see more information from Trump and his defenders. In the course of that, he tweeted [emphasis added]:

I’ve read the transcripts thoroughly & listened to the witnesses under oath. Where I come from a person accused defends themselves with witnesses and evidence. Where I come from a person accused defends themselves with witnesses and evidence.

This is a preview of Disappointing. Read the full post (157 words, estimated 38 secs reading time)

Leave alone, Jobs, Respect

Posted on 10 February 2020 by eehines

Ex-Chicago Mayor and ex-President Barack Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (D) cried out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this month that Progressive-Democrats are “blowing their chance,” the central theme of which was that the current crop of Progressive-Democrat Presidential candidates seemed to be running against ex-Progressive-Democrat Presidents Bill Clinton and Obama, rather than the current President, Donald Trump.

A Letter to the Editor writer in Friday’s WSJ took issue with Emanuel’s piece; this part in particular drew my attention.

Donald Trump is on the edge of doing more for black Americans than Mr Emanuel’s party has done for decades. He’s leaving them alone, giving them jobs, showing them respect.

This is a preview of Leave alone, Jobs, Respect. Read the full post (320 words, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

Upset

Posted on 10 February 2020 by eehines

Republicans have run a video montage that pairs House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D, CA) SOTU speech rip-up with individual quotes from President Donald Trump’s speech. The Progressive-Democrats have their panties thoroughly twisted over that. Here’s the offending video.

Here’s Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff with a canonical example of the angst:

The latest fake video of Speaker Pelosi is deliberately designed to mislead and lie to the American people, and every day that these platforms refuse to take it down is another reminder that they care more about their shareholders’ interests than the public’s interests[.]

This is a preview of Upset. Read the full post (221 words, estimated 53 secs reading time)

“I Have Seen Dictatorships”

Posted on 8 February 2020 by eehines

Ex-US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, says so. And she insisted, in her op-ed, that she and her colleagues had no obligations to her bosses:

When civil servants in the current administration saw senior officials taking actions they considered deeply wrong in regard to the nation of Ukraine, they refused to take part.

They, and she, also refused to resign. All of them simply presumed to disobedience and to a veto authority over their bosses’ instructions.

She went on:

We need to stand up for our values, defend our institutions, participate in civil society and support a free press.

This is a preview of “I Have Seen Dictatorships”. Read the full post (218 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Bipartisanship and Unity

Posted on 6 February 2020 by eehines

…Progressive-Democrat style.

The leader of the Progressive-Democratic Party in the House—formally and having regained it from a claque of freshman Representatives—demonstrated her willingness to work with Republicans at the beginning and at the end of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.

At the beginning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) walked away from the traditional and protocol introduction of the President of the United States

Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the President of the United States.

She abbreviated her office’s introduction to

This is a preview of Bipartisanship and Unity. Read the full post (173 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)

The Whining and Smearing Will Continue

Posted on 4 February 2020 by eehines

House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes (R, CA) says that after President Donald Trump is acquitted of all impeachment charges, the Progressive-Democrats’ baying won’t let up.

I just can’t imagine that [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff, after three and a half years of this nonsense, and [House Judiciary Committee Chairman] Jerry Nadler are not going to continue this. Right? They are going to go back and subpoena [ex-National Security Adviser] John Bolton.

True, and they’ll do more. They’ll also be subpoenaing their favorite White House denizens, Mick Mulvaney, Mike Pompeo, Robert Blair, Michael Duffey, and anyone else they can think in order to keep the calumnies coming.

This is a preview of The Whining and Smearing Will Continue. Read the full post (465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

A Plebe's Site

Quam bene vivas referre, non quam diu.

Category Archives: ethics