Coaching

Posted on 13 September 2019 by eehines

Recall then-judge Aaron Persky, the judge who thought a college swimmer’s future well-being was more important than the fate of the unconscious girl he raped. Recall further that he thought the rape was so inconsequential that he functionally condoned it with a slap-on-the-wrist sentence of six whole months in jail—reduced to three months because of the rapist’s “good behavior” in jail.

Persky lost a subsequent recall election, held because of his coddling of the rapist.

This is, also, the same…judge…who tried to freeload off the public, tried to get them to pay the legal costs he incurred from the steady stream of frivolous lawsuits he instigated in an effort to block that recall election from happening.

This is a preview of Coaching. Read the full post (330 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

Regulatory Capture

Posted on 12 September 2019 by eehines

America’s automotive companies want ever stricter emissions standards. Or so says Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund.

This, of course, is nonsense.

If car companies truly want stricter emission standards, they can do so without the cover of a government mandate. Nothing is stopping them from setting and meeting their own stricter standards. This is, after all, a (largely) free market economy, and it’s at the heart of a (largely) free nation. Car companies can make their own decisions without Big Brother’s instruction.

This is a preview of Regulatory Capture. Read the full post (198 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Unions for Socialism

Posted on 12 September 2019 by eehines

That’s the situation in Oregon, the new front-runner for socialism in the US, surpassing even California.

[T]he Oregon AFL-CIO wants voters to limit self-checkout kiosks in grocery stores.

The State’s Attorney General still has to sign off on the union’s ballot measure, ironically titled the Grocery Store Service and Community Protection Act, but that’s a formality in a State that favors Antifa violence over law and order and actual protection of communities.

The union claims—and it’s serious—that

self-service checkouts add “to social isolation and related negative health consequences” for shoppers.

And

…contribute to retail workers feeling devalued….

This is a preview of Unions for Socialism. Read the full post (231 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

A Different Sort of National Security Threat

Posted on 11 September 2019 by eehines

This one demographic; it’s the potential for population collapse in the People’s Republic of China. Most of the nations of the world outside Africa face population declines, but none seem as severe as the PRC’s is looking to be.

In 2016, after the one-child policy was abandoned, there were 17.86 million births. This dropped to 17.2 million in 2017 and 15.2 million in 2018—the third-lowest rate since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

That might be an accelerating drop, although three data points don’t make for a strongly measured trend.

This is a preview of A Different Sort of National Security Threat. Read the full post (481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

“Impartiality Is the Source of a Newspaper’s Credibility”

Posted on 11 September 2019 by eehines

That’s the headline of Walter Hussman’s piece in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. Impartiality certainly is a contributor, but the Critical Item for a newspaper’s credibility—for any journalistic entity—is integrity.

To set themselves on the path back to honesty, and so to believability—not just credibility—members of the journalism industry must address these items:

identify at least some of their sources
if an anonymous source refuses to be identified, show two things

-the source actually exists
-why the source should be believed

if the anonymous source is a whistleblower, show that the source has exhausted all internal whistleblowing channels before deciding to leak

This is a preview of “Impartiality Is the Source of a Newspaper’s Credibility”. Read the full post (236 words, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Another Reason

Posted on 10 September 2019 by eehines

…not to live in New York. Aside from there being no place for folks who disagree with the Progressive-Democrats in charge, there’s this travesty.

A New Jersey resident—resident in every sense of the term—owns a vacation home in New York where he spends a few days each year…vacationing.

A state administrative law judge ruled last month that [the resident] owed $527,000 in back New York state income tax because of his upstate home. With interest and penalties, that is more than twice the $290,000 he paid for the house in 2011.

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

Distractions

Posted on 10 September 2019 by eehines

Recall the hoo-raw the NLMSM is raising because President Donald Trump, in a brief press opportunity, used a dated map of Hurricane Dorian’s path. The map also had been modified with a hand-drawn additional line that forecast Dorian’s progress into lower Alabama.

Howard Kurtz, Fox News‘ journalism critic, was on the case Friday, and as he often does, he exaggerated some and he missed some.

The exaggeration:

Now there’s obviously a legitimate story here. Who wielded the now-infamous Sharpie?

You bet there is. For grocery store tabloids like National Enquirer, Globe, Star.

The miss:

This is a preview of Distractions. Read the full post (200 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

For Cheating on College Admission

Posted on 9 September 2019 by eehines

Prosecutors want a whole month in jail for Felicity Huffman, who’s pled out for trying to buy her daughter’s way into college. That seems light to me, for what amounts to a bribery beef.

On the other hand, her attorneys

pleaded with a Boston federal judge Friday to spare her jail time after she pleaded guilty in connection with the college admissions bribery scandal and instead give her probation, community service and a fine.

This is an even lighter sentence than the prosecutors are requesting. Apparently, what amounts to a crime of bribery is no big deal. Furthermore, the “fine” of $20,000 is an insult. That’s pocket money for someone of Huffman’s means and income.

This is a preview of For Cheating on College Admission. Read the full post (381 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Brexit and Sovereignty

Posted on 9 September 2019 by eehines

This is amazing. And an utter betrayal.

Senior MPs opposing a no-deal Brexit sought assurances from the EU that their bid for a three-month delay would be granted, it has emerged.
European leaders were sounded out before MPs, including the “rebel alliance,” passed a bill…forcing Boris Johnson to ask for an extension.

For the EU to participate in such scruffy deal would seem to be a naked interference in sovereign British domestic politics.

Except that….

On the one hand, this is those MPs selling out British sovereignty.

This is a preview of Brexit and Sovereignty. Read the full post (258 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

In Which Joe Biden Defends Himself re His Gaffes

Posted on 8 September 2019 by eehines

…with a bodacious gaffe. He went on Stephen Colbert’s show and the host asked him about his gaffes. The Progressive-Democratic Party Presidential candidate, in answering, insisted

I don’t get wrong things like, you know, we should lock kids up in cages at the border.

It was his BFF and mentor, ex-President Barack Obama (D) who started locking children in wire cages away from their parents. All while Biden sat meekly by, uttering not a peep in protest.

This is a preview of In Which Joe Biden Defends Himself re His Gaffes. Read the full post (111 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)

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