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POLITICS: 90-DEGREE TURN

As we close out 2018, the GOP under the leadership of President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, is chaotic and in disarray. The progressives and their mainstream media propaganda machine have sowed chaos and confusion among the people.

It appears that the traditional political spectrum is morphing from a broad range of subjects along traditional lines …

to a 90-degree shift to a single economic issue of have and have-nots. Where votes will be purchased on the strength of entitlements and give-always and the traditional GOP line about “fiscal prudence” has been proven to be an outright lie under Presidents Bush 41 and 43, and now Donald Trump. Even with a measure of tax reform and the slashing of regulations, spending has increased and promises to go even higher.

The new model is a 90-degree narrow-band based on economic interests…

Bottom line…

It is increasingly hard to go along with a GOP who shuns broad-based individual support in favor of billionaire mega-donors and big-money bundlers.

It is increasingly hard to go along with a party that preaches fiscal restraint but seems to vote with the progressive socialist democrats in expanding the spending and to continue funding non-essentials in a time of fiscal crisis.

It is increasingly hard to go along with a party that shuns constitutional conservatives but embraces those who want to impose religion-based restrictions via the law.

It is increasingly hard to go along with a party that claims to support law and order but is clearly afraid to investigate and prosecute those who have clearly broken the law and engaged in unconstitutional and criminal activities.

It is increasingly hard to go along with a party that refuses to use all of the legislative and executive tools at their command to fight against the progressive socialist democrats. And, for those who claim President Trump is a fighter, a counter-puncher, and someone who is not afraid of the media – look again. All of his fights are with and in the media. As he has said in the past, he welcomes negative stories because anything that provides him with the media attention and the ability for more recognition is fine by him.

For 2019, it is apparent that the party must define a platform, get out of the abortion business, uphold our national sovereignty, and exert party discipline on those who refuse to support the platform. As yourself how someone like Maxine Waters or Adam Schiff can rise to positions of power. Both are bat-shit crazy and hyper-political, yet they won their offices fair and square.

We are in deep trouble when an aisle-hopping RINO (Republican In Name Only) like Lindsey Graham is the public face of the party and the apparent voice of reason.

We are still on the precipice of losing our country, and Donald Trump is not the answer. He may be a delaying tactic, but he has proven he is ignorant on most issues, refuses to study the briefing books, and mostly wings it on his gut feelings. One can easily imagine our foreign policy being destroyed on the day he awakes with constipation. For those who do not believe this, remember it took only one telephone call to Erdoğan, the Turkish President, for Trump to tweet out a new military order without consulting his Secretary of Defense (who resigned) or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is scheduled to leave office in September 30, 2019.

We are screwed unless something changes. And, I do not see a GOP leader on the horizon that isn’t an establishment hack or a RINO. The idea of continuing under President Trump, Vice President Pence, John Kasich, or any of the 2016 retreads is appalling. Fun speculation: James Mattis and Nikki Haley.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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A REMINDER OF LIFE'S FRAGILITY IN AN UNCERTAIN WORLD

It is with much sadness that I announce the passing of an OCS friend, the beautiful and talented writer/pundit Bre Payton, 26, from the complications of the H1N1 Flu and Meningitis. Bre was a staff writer at The Federalist, the conservative publication founded by Ben Domenech and was a frequent guest commentator on various news shows. She was 26 years old. There is no doubt in my mind that she will be missed, but firmly embedded in the hearts of everyone who knew her.

This is a reminder of the fragility of life and that bad things can happen to anyone at any time. Rest in Peace Bre. Our prayers are with her family, friends, and especially her boyfriend Ryan.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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IS CVS PLANNING TO RATION THEIR CUSTOMER'S HEALTHCARE AND DRUG AVAILABILITY?

It is one thing to have a national debate over the progressive’s intentions to institute government limitations of healthcare, but it quite another thing to have a private organization unilaterally implement such progressive healthcare restrictions on the large customer base.

Unfortunately, you cannot even rely on senior-friendly organizations like AARP due to their progressive agenda and willingness to sell out their membership to implement Obamacare. Let us not forget the AARP earns a substantial portion of its revenue, not from its membership but from licensing its name to the very insurance company that helped write the Obamacare statute; and whose IT subsidiary developed the unsecure healthcare.gov.

Is this the canary in the coal mine?

CVS Makes Plans To Ration Customers’ Health Care

A health rationing organization’s opinion about so-called quality of life value will soon determine whether CVS customers can receive new prescription drugs and treatments.

CVS Caremark customers throughout America recently received bad news as the retail pharmaceutical chain officially closed on its $69 billion acquisition of Aetna. This is bad news because CVS is now working with a nonprofit “health” advisor that may ration customers’ health care choices.

[OCS: Caveat: There is no indication that this so-called nonprofit health advisor will play a significant part in the operation of the CVS pharmacy chain.

However, it does appear that CVS has previously [08/03/2016] crowed about making billions of dollars by implementing restrictive policies.

“On the company’s earnings conference call, CVS Health CEO Larry J. Merlo credited the company’s pharmacy benefits manager, or PBM with the “gross wins” from its drug rationing efforts.

Perhaps the biggest news from the company this week: its plan — for the first time — to block cancer patients’ access to brand-name cancer drugs. CVS Health spokeswoman Carolyn Castel admitted that “it’s the first time that brand-name cancer drugs have been taken off CVS’s standard formulary.”

CVS Health will no longer cover treatments for leukemia and prostate cancer in 2017 — part of a 36 percent increase in the number of life-saving treatments not covered by the company. In 2017, CVS Health will ban three dozen more treatments, bringing the total number of excluded drugs to 131.

This is wrong. However, profit-seeking companies have every right not to carry these medications as they see fit and you, the consumer, have every right to take your business elsewhere. And if you are stuck with CVS Caremark because of your insurance plan and you need any of these medications — you have every right to change your insurance.”]

In August, CVS announced a partnership with the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a nonprofit group that bills itself as a medical review board. But its leadership team and the far-left billionaires footing its bill paint a troubling picture.

Under ICER’s direction, CVS has set a “threshold of $100,000 per QALY, or quality-of-life years, a benchmark that measures both the quantity and quality of life generated by providing a treatment or some other health care intervention.” In practice, that means ICER’s opinion about the so-called quality of life value will determine whether CVS customers can receive new prescription drugs and treatments.

[OCS: How many people remember Obamacare’s guru, Ezekiel “EZ-Kill” Emanuel who led the team to quantify the quality of life in order to reduce the costs incurred when treatments did not have favorable impacts on the quality of life? In essence, avoiding expensive experimental drugs because extending one’s life for a few month’s just wasn’t worth it to the “collective” community. Since the most expensive healthcare comes as seniors age or face end-of-life medical issues, this is tantamount to handing out the not-so-mythical suicide pill.]

This means that even if a doctor prescribes a drug for a patient, that individual may find that CVS doesn’t carry that medication if it doesn’t fit ICER’s parameters. Think of it as socialized health care without the socialistic government regime.

[OCS: Once again the progressive masterminds believe they know what is scientifically best and that your physician needs to be constrained for the good of the system. The one question few seem to ask is: Under a single-payer healthcare system, are doctors considered simple servants who much work for wages determined by the system? This is a dangerous scheme.]

Recall that the debate over health-care rationing was a primary reason so many folks objected to ObamaCare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). IPAB was to be a 15-person panel deciding which treatments should be allowed under what circumstances for government-run programs.

The idea of a panel deciding who gets what kind of care and when seemed Orwellian from the start, and Americans by and large opposed the entire concept. In February, Congress did away with IPAB.

[OCS: With fewer restrictions on private organizations, corporations rather than the government are large enough to implement progressive policies without significant public input. This is a scary trend that appears to be developing, especially with large companies controlling the majority of information flow on the social media platforms.]

CVS is now instituting its own form of IPAB with ICER. Rationing, by any other name, is just as insidious. So who is funding this far-left push? The Laura and John Arnold Foundation has donated more than $19 million to ICER since 2015. These big-money liberals appear to have goals of moving beyond ObamaCare to a full-blown single-payer system.

[OCS: Perhaps it is time to check CVS’s efforts by taking your business elsewhere and demanding more competition in pharmaceutical pricing.]

In addition to funding ICER, the Arnolds have teamed up with George Soros to bankroll Patients for Affordable Drugs (P4AD), an advocacy group claiming to be bipartisan yet comprised largely of former Obama and Clinton staffers. P4AD’s political actions during this past election cycle put the truth to the lie of bipartisanship.

During the Obama administration, CVS teamed up with the White House to promote the Affordable Care Act in its stores. Now it is working with far-left actors to revive a version of ObamaCare’s rationing board. CVS customers and investors deserve better.

There is little or no doubt in my mind that the progressive socialist democrats want to collapse our healthcare system to bring about a single-payer system that forces everyone but the wealthy and those “waivered” out of the system to depend on the government for their life or death. Using a panel of central planners to determine whether or not something is reimbursable by the government payment system and literally whether you will live or die.

The political agenda is to collapse our system in such a manner as to move from capitalism to socialism as individuals who have been severely impacted by the present system “demand” a government solution – even if it means sacrificing the constitution and our capitalist system.

A dangerous plan for rationing essential prescription drugs

This past summer, Rhode Island-based CVS Caremark, the biggest pharmacy benefit manager (the intermediary between drug manufacturers and insurers), announced that it would allow its insurer clients to exclude from their plans any drugs priced greater than $100,000 per QALY. The CVS decision allows insurers to forbid access to prescription drugs that cost more than $100,000 per extra year lived in perfect health or per extra few years lived in mediocre health.

[OCS: Perhaps it is time to demand a law like Glass-Steagall which separated investment and commercial banking activities. In this case, pharmacies and insurance companies would be prohibited from owning, controlling, or having an interest in pharmacy benefit managers. Better yet, disintermediate pharmacy benefit managers and let the pharmacies and institutions buy directly from the drug manufacturer or a simple distributorship that cannot mark-up prices and issue kickbacks in the form of rebates.]

The problem with QALY is that it is a crude instrument that attempts to measure the impossible: the value of an extra year of life. Putting an objective monetary value on life — especially lived at different qualities — is a fool’s errand. Patients with chronic diseases, for instance, may agree that their quality of life would be improved if they were healthy, but they wouldn’t agree with the QALY proclamation that their lives therefore have less inherent value.

Adherence to cost/QALY tests disregards the doctor-patient perspective, replacing personal and individual health care decisions with an Excel spreadsheet that doesn’t reflect the fact that different drugs work differently on different patients and populations.

This move by CVS, and similar ones by other private and government payers, threatens vulnerable patients — especially those with chronic or rare diseases — the most, because they depend on their prescription drugs for their lives and livelihoods. It may save money but it’s unethical.

A recent report found that about three-quarters of Medicare Part B patients treated for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lung cancer or multiple myeloma would face barriers to access if the government program used such cost-benefit frameworks to set coverage. It would also reduce cutting-edge research into breakthrough therapies and potential cures because investors couldn’t be sure they’d be able to recoup their investments.

Congress passed a law forbidding using QALY as a benchmark for access for Medicare. Lawmakers should follow suit and put it off limits to other private and government payers as well. Then we can get back to evaluating the many other quality proposals to lower prescription drug prices. <Source>

Of course, the progressives who are pushing this ideology are exempt from its consequences, much like being able to have private security to ensure their protection when they advocate releasing criminals back into the community. For those who want hard proof of the dangers of so-called government-managed healthcare, one need look no farther than England or Canada – or locally at the Veteran’s Administration or the American Indian Healthcare Service.

This is the payment and healthcare availability scheme under the progressive socialist democrats and progressive private companies…

If you fall outside the socialist’s ideas about “norms,” your life and healthcare are a crapshoot that is dependent on your wealth, your connection to politics, or your membership in an exempt group like a progressive union. The idea that healthcare can be quantified in this manner is ludicrous given the vagaries of human physiology and the number of simultaneous medical issues.

Bottom line…

Perhaps it is now time to rework the regulations that prevent pharmacies and institutions from buying pharmaceuticals directly from the manufacturer and doing away with the so-called middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers who exist solely to inflate prices and create artificial scarcities. Are we going to sit idly by as the progressives co-opt the leadership of billion-dollar private organizations to implement socialist-like rules and regulations from which there can be little or no appeal? How many people have died waiting for the courts to rule on the necessity of care issue and whether specific care is covered?

Insurance is supposed to cover catastrophic illness and disease – not kill you off as a non-productive member of society. In the real world, our values greatly influence our choices. However, in the socialist world, they limit our choices in order to dictate our values.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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WHY IS McCLATCHY RESURRECTING AND RECYCLING FAKE NEWS?

Why am I skeptical …

One, I have no faith in McClatchy as a reliable, non-partisan source of information.

Two, we are speaking of electronic signals that can be spoofed with relative ease using commercially available equipment.

Three, foreign intelligence services were involved.

Four, the deep state, including the CIA, NSA, DNI, DOJ, FBI all have vested interests in creating and maintaining “official” fictions that absolve them of criminal activity, wrongdoing, malfeasance, and would like to see any investigation that invites closer scrutiny to vanish. Especially with the cooperation of progressive socialist democrats who also have a vested interest in thwarting the Trump Administration and damaging President Trump.

Five, this will not be the first time authorities screwed up on a very common name.

Six, Michael Cohen has said in published reports that during the time the report places him in Prague, he was actually with his son visiting USC and meeting with the baseball coach. A USC baseball source confirmed Tuesday night that Cohen and his son had visited USC on August 29th. [OCS: If there is any fault here, it is Michael Cohen visiting the University of Second Choice instead of UCLA. ]

Seven, the two reporters who wrote the original McClatchy story are behind this latest effort to recycle “old news” in which they have a vested interest in proving their reporting to be correct.

Recycling the story?

Michael Cohen’s cell phone detected near Prague in 2016 | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting

A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

[OCS: If Michael Cohen had the ability and resources to enter a European country without detection, why would he take his trackable mobile phone and power it up briefly? Where is the metadata showing date, time, tower information, device information, call origin, destination number, call duration, and location? What is the chain of custody of this information? And why is there a lack of specificity in the date?]

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

[OCS: Can you trust any foreign intelligence service that may owe favors to various U.S. agencies? Who are these Russians and why were they being surveilled? And, why the vague date?]]

The phone and surveillance data, which have not previously been disclosed, lend new credence to a key part of a former British spy’s dossier of Kremlin intelligence describing purported coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia’s election meddling operation.

[OCS: Like the dossier, this could be manufactured and stage-managed fiction by foreign intelligence sources.]

The dossier, which Trump has dismissed as “a pile of garbage,” said Cohen and one or more Kremlin officials huddled in or around the Czech capital to plot ways to limit discovery of the close “liaison” between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The new information regarding the recovery of Cohen’s cell phone location doesn’t explain why he was apparently there or who he was meeting with, if anyone. But it adds to evidence that Cohen was in or near Prague around the time of the supposed meeting.

[OCS: Unless it can be examined, vetted, and challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction, it is not evidence of anything, and it does not lend credibility to any fiction created by the Russians, or for that matter, by Team Clinton.]

Both of the newly surfaced foreign electronic intelligence intercepts were shared with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, people familiar with the matter said. Mueller is investigating Russia’s 2016 election interference and whether Trump’s campaign colluded in the scheme. Mueller also is examining whether Trump has obstructed the sweeping inquiry.

[OCS: Anonymous sources – themselves being under suspicion for leaking classified information to the media on behalf of third parties yet unknown.]

McClatchy reported in April 2018 that Mueller had obtained evidence Cohen traveled to Prague from Germany in late August or early September of 2016, but it could not be learned how that information was gleaned.

[OCS: One, you can’t trust McClatchy; and two, characterizing something as “evidence” does not mean it is evidence or is even valid.]

Cohen has been cooperating with Mueller’s investigation since he pleaded guilty on Aug. 21 to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations. He later pleaded guilty to one count of lying to Congress, and was sentenced in early December to three years in prison.

[OCS: Nothing Cohen may say should be given any weight because it was coerced testimony by Mueller and his team. Like any other compromised confidential informant who wants to save his butt from a lengthy jail term, Cohen appears to have even confessed to a non-crime, that of violating campaign finance laws.]

If the foreign intelligence intercepts are accurate, the big questions now are whether Cohen has acknowledged to investigators that a meeting in Prague occurred, informed them what transpired and revealed what, if anything, he told Trump about it.

[The BIG “If” and plausible deniability.]

Four people spoke with McClatchy on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of information shared by their foreign intelligence connections. Each obtained their information independently from foreign intelligence connections.

[OCS: Right – just like Bob telling the investigator to call John, and John telling the investigator to call Rob, and Rob telling the investigator to call Bruce – all having links to a single bad actor who is stage-managing the disclosures. Sort of like Fusion GPS planting information in two places and using them to confirm each other’s information.]

Allegations are not evidence, even when anonymously reported and attributed to an “official’ source…

Now there are reports that Trump’s personal lawyer and fix-it man, Michael Cohen, may have met in Prague during the 2016 election campaign to confer with a Russian official. Such a meeting was one of the items in the “dossier” that former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele compiled from sources in Russia. This month the McClatchy newspaper chain reports that the Justice Department’s special counsel has information confirming that Cohen did travel secretly to Prague in late summer 2016. Let us do what Cheney failed to do, which is to stay carefully within the limits of available reporting. All that we, the public, have so far are the Steele dossier and the McClatchy report. At this point a meeting between Cohen and a Russian in the Czech capital should be considered only an allegation. <Source>

Cohen reaffirms his denial…

Bottom line…

This is not news, it is a hit job by two journalists recycling old allegations based on anonymous sources – many of whom have been proven to be wrong when the official documents are released, Why media sources do not release the names of the information sources after they have been burned – and keep using the same people – is little more than yellow journalism.

We are so screwed when much of our media lacks basic journalistic ethics and is highly partisan.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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GUN CONTROL: ANOTHER SCHEME FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

Once again, the New York progressive socialist democrats have cooked up a scheme to implement gun registration and control through the back door…

In an article titled “How Banks Unwittingly Finance Mass Shootings,” New York Times author Andrew Ross Sorkin goes off the deep end and confuses correlation with causation. His ignorant assumption is that because some individuals purchase weapons with a credit card and these weapons and supplies are used in a mass shooting, this justifies the creation of an early warning system by tracking the purchase of guns and ammunition via credit card.

There are more than a few problems with this scheme…

(1) It defies common sense: criminals, crazies, and terrorists do not respect or obey the law. Most weapons are acquired by theft or third-party “on the street” purchases. Some even stolen out of police vehicles or sold by police for extra cash. And, speaking of cash -- the use of cash to purchase a weapon would become the preferred method of payment and that would falsify the entire scheme.

(2) It inconveniences and criminalizes the behavior of millions of law-abiding citizens who are now being surveilled by the government for a lawful purchase and engaging in a lawful activity.

(3) It puts the credit card companies and credit repositories in the position of acting as agents of the government, much in the same manner banks are legally required to report suspicious transactions to detect money laundering.

(4) It puts law-abiding citizens at greater risk for weapons-flagged “potential felony stops” by increasing the awareness of the officer to the point where a simple mistake turns into a tragedy.

(5) It opens the door to gun registration and potential confiscation in the near future; with a more likely scenario seeing weapons heavily taxed, possibly on a retroactive basis.

(6) It discourages gun purchases by law-abiding citizens and thus enlarges the victim pool which must depend on law enforcement officials who have no duty under the law to protect individuals.

(7) It creates a list of potential theft targets should the list of names and addresses be compromised by the government or a third-party.

(8) It establishes a specificity requirement to differentiate between items purchased at stores adding to transactional costs.

(9) Unlike the registration of vehicles, owning a gun is not a privilege it is a constitutional right under the Second Amendment. An Amendment which does not limit the types of weapons purchased.

(10) Women and others who are seeking protection from abusive spouses or others would enter the system and be subject to tracking and compromise.

(11) Current privacy laws often prevent mental health professionals from reporting their findings to the authorities to prohibit mentally-ill or disturbed individuals from purchasing weapons.

(12) Any law, rule or regulation would be discriminatory as it might disadvantage minorities without credit cards from owning weapons.

(13) The progressive socialist democrats continue to push gun control while releasing criminals into our communities and downgrading gun-related offenses with plea deals.

Bottom line…

Sorkin and his enablers at the New York Times will use anything to promote their un-American gun control agenda to disarm America like some third-world banana republic. Mexico has some of the most stringent gun controls in the world and yet is awash in the murders of men, women, and children. Only the corrupt police and criminals are armed – citizens don’t have a chance.

And, in the case of former President Obama’s “Fast and Furious” scheme, many times with weapons knowingly supplied to the Mexican drug cartels by the U.S. government to allow the Obama Administration to impose even greater gun control sanctions on America. Come to think of it, what were the outcomes of the FBI investigation and DOJ prosecution of those who executed Fast and Furious when it was implicated in killing an American Border Patrol officer?

What about Chicago and the inner cities? If one were to simply follow Sorkin’s advice on schemes to keep guns out of the hands of evildoers – why not preclude minorities from owning weapons since one can make a case that minorities disproportionately kill or maim individuals. Talk about disparate impact.

And, who is holding the mainstream media accountable for their glorification, promotion, and reporting of violence on a 24/7/basis?

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HOLDING INDIVIDUALS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS?

We are so screwed.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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BARACK H. OBAMA HIGHWAY: THE ROAD TO IRANIAN HELL

Another salute to the man who did more to divide our nation, sow discord in every quarter of the population, and who provided aid and comfort to our enemies in a time of war…

California Freeway Stretch Named ‘President Barack H. Obama Highway’

A resolution designating the new name paid tribute to the former president and his “decades of dedicated public service.”

[OCS: Public service? You mean giving billions to a rogue terrorist regime that shouts “Death to America” in the highest levels of government? You mean like releasing known terrorist leaders in exchange for an American traitor? You mean honoring the man associated with the biggest political scandals of our time?

I am still waiting to find out what Obama did for California other than to return a minuscule portion of taxpayer money that should have never been collected in the first place.]

A section of a California freeway between Glendale and Pasadena has been named after former President Barack Obama.

Officials unveiled signs named “President Barack H. Obama Highway” in a portion of the Los Angeles-area freeway, State Route 134, on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino introduced the resolution, which was filed in September 2017, to designate a portion of the freeway to be renamed. It spans between State Route 2 and Interstate 210, The Pasadena Star-News reported.

“In recognition of President Barack Hussein Obama’s more than two decades of dedicated public service to the citizens of the United States and the State of California, it is fitting to designate a portion of State Route 134 in his honor,” the resolution read in part. <Source>

Exploiting a prominent former Chicago politician for Chicago politics…

Obama Expressway suggestion stirs resentment: 'You don't change something just to change it'

A member of a prominent Chicago political family running for mayor suggested that an expressway on the city’s South Side be renamed after former President Barack Obama, but the family of the man it’s currently named after isn’t happy.

The Dan Ryan Expressway, also designated as Interstate 90/94, is named for an ex-Cook County board president and his grandson, Daniel B. Ryan III, is hurt that Bill Daley would suggest a name switch without checking with the Ryan family first, the Chicago Sun-Times reported this week.

“Why would you take an honor away from one man to honor another?” asked Ryan III, 69. “Our family has been honored by this for 56 years, and we’d like to keep it that way.”

[OCS: There was no doubt that Dan Ryan was a member of the corrupt Chicago Democratic Machine that ruled with an iron first. However, unlike some Chicago politicians Ryan was not ruthless and would listen to reason. Perhaps why there were no major scandals associated with his service.]

Daley has said renaming the roadway would be an appropriate honor for Obama, whose political career started as a South Side community organizer.

[OCS: On the other hand, the name Daley is synonymous with Chicago corruption and ruthless, heavy-handed practices. The idea that a Daly would suggest the re-naming of a road to honor Barack Obama smacks of disingenuous political manipulation from a candidate representing a party defined by corruption.

And, let us not forget that Obama kicked-off his political career in the house of an unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and his terrorist wife Bernadine Dohrn – both avid Marxists who want to destroy America from within.]

Daley is the brother of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the son of former Mayor Richard J. Daley. The Sun-Times said Dan Ryan was considered by many to be the second most powerful official next the mayor for much of the 1950s and early ‘60s.

Dan Ryan and Richard J. Daley were friends when they were at the height of their political power and the two had teamed up to make the expressway a reality, Ryan III said. It was opened in 1962, the year after Dan Ryan died.

Ryan III, retired after a career in the insurance industry, said he suspects the suggestion by Bill Daley was meant to pull in votes from Obama supporters in his campaign to become the next Chicago mayor. And Ryan III added that he, too, he is a fan of the 44th president.

“But you don’t change something just to change it,” Ryan III said. <Source>

Bottom line…

I am against the waste of time, effort, and money that goes into ego-naming taxpayer-funded infrastructure for politicians or special interests. The exception, of course, are historic monuments.

But, more importantly, I am against naming or re-naming anything for former President Barack Obama whom I regard as an American Benedict Arnold who traitorously gave aid and comfort to an enemy in a time of war. Namely, providing billions of dollars to the most prominent sponsor of state-directed terrorism on the globe, Iran. A nation that has openly aided in the killing of American soldiers and promoting anti-America sentiment around the world. Not only did Barack Obama save Iran’s economy from collapse after being stringently sanction, he provided a pathway to nuclearization without once addressing the development of ballistic missiles that could be mated with future nuclear devices for delivery to the continental United States. Obama did everything in his power to disadvantage and disparage America’s allies while conveying advantages to our enemies, namely those who were pro-Islam, anti-America, and anti-Israel.

I am all for avoiding the naming of new taxpayer infrastructure and the costs associated with signage changes that occur with each incoming administration. I am also for de-naming all existing government-owned or managed infrastructure after a period of twenty-five years. And, immediately de-naming anything associated with a political scandal. If one wants to name something after a politician, let them wait 25 to 50 years after their death and let history be the judge of their worthiness.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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ONE CITIZEN SPEAKING WISHES EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS (2018)

Wishing you and yours a safe and fulfilling holiday season …

If this video does not appear in the email version of the post, it can be found here.

[email protected]

To my readers:

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones the very best for the coming Holiday Season.

Let us, for a moment, forget the political and financial catastrophes which has befallen our nation and concentrate on family and friends.

Do not forget our troops who are serving abroad, putting their lives on the line to maintain your freedom and your right to protest.

And let us never forget that it is America that ensures our God-given freedom and liberty in this dangerous and that makes us an exceptional nation.

May you and yours have a very Merry Christmas ... and may Peace and safety be with you.

It is now up to you how you will complete the final days of this year.

All my best,

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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CHRISTMAS EVE 2018

Wishing you and yours a safe and fulfilling holiday season …

If this video does not appear in the email version of the post, it can be found here.

[email protected]

Let us, for a moment, forget the political and financial catastrophes which has befallen our nation and concentrate on family and friends.

All my best,

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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A LITTLE LIGHTNESS IN A CHAOTIC WORLD

Fatigued by a mainstream media afflicted by Trump Derangement Syndrome, consider the following:

Liberal logic as interpreted by a cartoonist…

Math can expose a greater politically incorrect truth…

An explanation for Natalie…

(1) the equation is arbitrary and the variables meaningless.
(2) to remove the denominator – equals multiplied by equals yield results that are equal
(3) to remove the logarithmic form, express the logarithm in its equivalent exponential form
(4) decompose the square by knowing a square is defined as a value multiplied by itself
(5) caveat: this works unless the natural logarithmic expression equates to zero or a negative value because the logarithm would be undefined. (You can never get zero by raising anything to the power of anything else) and the natural logarithm function log_e(x) is defined only for x>0.

Bottom line…

Ignore the mainstream media and concentrate on that which you known to be true and makes you feel good this holiday season.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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BILLIONAIRES AND BULL-PUCKY

Imagine that … A former Indianapolis 500 professional racecar driver manually drove a Tesla Model X in an approximately 1.14 mile tunnel with zero traffic and no traffic lights and reached a top speed of 53 miles per hour. The trip through Elon Musk’s tunnel took 2 minutes which is an average speed of approximately 30 miles per hour. Whoop-de-do!

What was promised was an autonomous self-driving vehicle traveling at speeds up to 150 miles per hour. And, of course, the excuse was this is a prototype and used for testing the tunneling technology, not the actual end-to-end process which will require massive government subsidies, government bond sales, property usage rights and acquisitions, never-ending environmental and engineering reports, mufti-jurisdictional permits, and unionized workers. So why blow this test run into a full-blown media event?

Because that is Musk’s nature – to juggle balls, companies, and financing – while publicizing the hell out of himself and his projects. He is not so much a visionary as a financial genius able to think big and create a reality distortion field somewhat similar to the late Steve Jobs at Apple.

I am not writing this to rag-on Musk, but to point to the similarity of Musk’s project to California Governor Jerry Brown’s high-speed, medium-speed, not-so-fast train to nowhere. Which requires the same amount of governmental interference and infrastructure.

These projects will never pay for themselves and will decay over time like our aging freeways. And, truth-be-told, the distance has to be sufficient and the time-savings significantly important to make a difference in consumer behavior. Unfortunately, under the progressive socialist democrats that means authoritarian mandates, restrictions on older technology, or their old-standby” incentivize the desired behavior by taxing the bejesus out of the less desirable behavior. The hell with the U.S. Constitutions and its guarantees of freedom.

I am reminded of Rory Sutherland, the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy in the UK, and co-founder of the ad agency’s behavioral science practice. One of his most iconic stories is about train travel in Europe.

There is this train, which goes from London to Paris.

The question was given to a bunch of engineers about 15 years ago. How do we make the journey to Paris better?

And they came up with a very good engineering solution, which was to spend 6 billion pounds building completely new tracks from London to the coast and knocking about 40 minutes off a three and a half hour journey time.

Now, call me Mr. Picky. I'm just an ad man. But it strikes me as an unimaginative way of improving a train journey merely to make it shorter. Now, what is the hedonic opportunity cost of spending 6 billion pounds on those railway tracks?

Here's my naive advertising man suggestion. What you should in fact do is employ all the world's top male and female supermodels, pay them to walk the length of the train handing out free Chateau Petrus for the entire duration of the journey.

You'll still have about 3 billion pounds left in change and people will ask for the trains to be slowed down.

[OCS: SPOILER ALERT -- But that’s not the real solution.]

I mean, my more serious suggestion, by the way, was that they simply spend, perhaps, not quite 1 percent of that money installing Wi-Fi on the train.

[OCS: Which obviously changes an individual’s perception of time and discomfort that would be apparent without a suitable distraction.]

So, you know, it is interesting that, you know, one technology [wi-fi] should sensibly change the metrics [perceived time and discomfort] by altering another technology [rail transportation].

Given the security considerations of flying: check-in time, the continual shrinking of leg-room, and the add-on costs for luggage and amenities, train travel started to look better. Now that security is being imposed on trains, how long will it be before train travel becomes a hassle. And, you can imagine that cars going through tunnels will eventually be searched and any time advantage erased? The very police state envisioned by the progressive socialist democrats in which to implement their new socialist vision.

Not to mention routine maintenance which can see certain destinations closed for significant periods of time. Or, heaven forbid, the type of transit workers’ strike that periodically cripples New York until the commuters and taxpayers give in to extortion.

Bottom line…

As someone who commutes using California Freeways (5, 405, 101, 118, 126, 23) I am no fan of traffic. But there are other solutions to the traffic nightmare imposed on Californian’s by the progressive socialist democrats who want to turn California into New York – central high-rise living, mass transit, and of course, easily manipulated disarmed citizens who will follow instructions. Ask yourself where the billions that were earmarked for repair, replacement, and build-out of our freeway system have gone? Why is their a state IOU in the cashbox? How can we afford a trillion dollar train to nowhere while our electric, water, and gas distribution systems languish. Reducing the use of fossil fuels to reduce pollution is an admirable goal – but it will not affect the planet’s climate over long time periods. Want to make a difference? Go nuclear and ignore the communist-infiltrated anti-nuke peaceniks.

If someone needs to commute a fair distance in order to afford housing, the solution is more affordable housing nearer to employment opportunities. California is not New York or the East Coast where many people simply do not drive – and garage their vehicles blocks from the home. Even better, telecommuting centers with large-screen meeting video displays.

It does not matter whether it is a tunnel or a train track, California is a seismically active area that could turn these billion-dollar investments into rubble in seconds. And, until you can provide better and safer engineering, I think I will pass. Use our tax money to repair, replace, and build-out useful infrastructure instead of importing low-productivity illegal aliens with their illiteracy, poverty, disease, and crime.

We are so screwed.

-- steve

“Nullius in verba.”-- take nobody's word for it!

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw

“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”

“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS

"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell

“Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar

“Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS

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