Not That I think Any of my usual Readers come here anymroe

But I am speechless.  The manners and ways in which President Trump demeans us and shows himself unworthy of being in office is too numerous in number to list here.  And the fact that the Republicans support him is beyond any words I can put to it.

A Drug that Could Help Alzheimer's Patients

There is some drug out there that is being advertised for Bi-Polar disease.  In the fast paced small print at the end, they say not to be used to treat Alzheimer's patients because it might cause an early death.

I have dealt with an Alzheimer's parent.

If there is a drug out there that could improve an Alzheimer's quality of life, only to shorten it, I would want to be treated with it.  The extra longevity with a better quality of life would in all likelihood outweigh the shortened life, which without it, is not a high quality of life.  The end of life for an Alzheimer's patient is most likely a life with zero quality.

Why wouldn't they test the drug for Alzheimer's?

NRA = A Terrorist Supporting Organization and

you know what the alt-right would be saying if such an organization existed in the following manner espousing the same policies the NRA supports.

An organization is formed saying all American Citizens who support Radical Islamism should buy AR-15's and other useful weapons and give them to people willing to use them in support of Radical Islamism somewhere in the world.  This is protected by the 2nd Amendment even if the guns are used in the U.S., although the perpetrators of such acts would be committing crimes in the U.S.  But if all the guns were provided to ISIS and Al Qaeda and used in the chaos of the Middle East, it would likely be all protected by the 2nd Amendment with no crimes committed.  This is why most of the guns in the hands of Mexican Drug Lords and their armies come from the U.S.  Now suppose this new organization also uses its member dues to provide financial support to politicians who support an unconstrained by any laws 2nd Amendment.

Now suppose such an organization which is would mirror NRA.  Would the Alt-right media be supportive of that?  No, because it is sponsoring Islamic Terrorism.

But that logic means the NRA is sponsoring Domestic Terrorism. Why doesn't the Alt-right media come out forcefully against the NRA?  After all, the greatest threat to America is Terrorism of all forms and that is where the Alt-Right and I agree.

Musings Before I Disappear to Ski Out West

No one wins a trade war.  Comparative Advantage is a basic truth of economics.  There is much about economics that is not predictable, because variables change.  But there are tenants that run true regardless of the variables.  Comparative Advantage is one of those.

Comparative advantage says if every country produces what it does so at a lower cost than other countries, then all countries will benefit from a higher standard of living.  And the market is what determines the clearing price, the profit that can be gained from the clearing price by each potential producer who has their own cost profile, and the result is a global production pattern that maximizes profit and consumption.

If you disrupt that process with tariffs, you will lower consumption by increasing profits in your own country and if everyone responds with various tariffs, every country will have higher inflation and a lower standard of living.

It is hard to believe our President studied economics, since he believes economics is a zero sum game.

Meanwhile, this is just one element of the chaos in public policy and we can only hope that 2018 elections bring us to a better place in 12 months.

OK, 2nd Amendment Repeal is a bit too Ambitious, But

there are some things that I think common ground can be found by all who are appalled by the terrorist carnage that our insufficient gun regulation allows.

Universal Background checks and gun registry for semi-automatic weapons that are not otherwise outlawed.  If you want to own a military style weapon, you have to be willing to be called up on quick notice with your weapon to defend the United States and the United States must be knowledgable about that willingness.  And no one under 21 would be allowed such a weapon and if they possess such a weapon, the parents are legally responsible for any and all legal ramifications of anything that transpires.

A effective mandatory process for getting the mentally ill and violent people with restraining orders against them into a database that supports the Background checks.

Make any mechanism that turns a gun into a more automatic weapon illegal.

People who are on terrorist watch lists should not have any rights to weapons.

People should not be allowed to purchase more that one gun a year.

There are 300 million guns in America and only 15% of the population owns all of them.  That is an average of 6.2 guns per gun owner.  How many more do they need to purchase in any one year?

I would also like to see no legal ownership of any gun more powerful and rapid than what any policeman carries.  A policeman should not be outgunned.

Repeal the 2nd Amendment

This is actually Bret Stephen's, a conservative columnist, idea.  I happen to like it.  It is simple.  It is democratic.  And it will relieve the Supreme Court of bizarre contortions that states and Congress don't have the right to regulate things that in the absence of regulation cause public harm.

Bret's Stephen's Original column


It will not be quick, but it could be a winning campaign strategy for 2018 and 2020 for the Democrats.  The Congress would have the ability to set national policy and States would have the right to set their local policy within that national framework.  Hunters will still have hunting rifles and people afraid for their personal safety can have their handguns in their homes and on their property.  A tourist in NYC doesn't need a hidden weapon.  There are amble police everywhere tourists go.

This Blog will Be Becoming Inactive After this one

Most of my reader hits are from Italy and I don't believe that many Italians love my writing even though I love Italian food, wine and visiting Italy.  Instead, I think those hits from Italy are Russian botts trying to accomplish heaven knows what.

But for those of you who are not Russian botts, I leave you with this thought.

I recently saw a historical review of Birth of a Nation.  This film made about 100 years ago revealed how widespread racism was in America.  Even President Wilson, who I always thought of as a liberal leader, believed in racist separation and Jim Crow laws.  I think he thought of Separate but Equal as being a good state of affairs even if there was no equality in such a state.

But reviewing the controversy surrounding the movie, the widespread support and viewership of the movie in the countryside, there can be no doubt that racism was widespread in white America.  The KKK had even been put to rest prior to the movie and the movie revived the KKK and made it more popular than ever for the next 30 to 40 years.

And I believe Donald Trump knows about his history because his campaign playbook is right out of it.  He panders to racists in the same manner the movie did.  And just as the movie revived the KKK, so shall Donald Trump's words revive racist action.  Donald Trump can protest that he is not a racist, but if you pander to racists, you are guilty of pandering to racists which will get you accused of being a racist.  I happen to think Donald Trump is an economic racist.  If you are not rich, you are not worthy.  If you are not working to support him personally, you are not worthy.  He can only care about those who care about and pander to him.  That is narcism and that is what Trump is.

So racism is alive and well in the U.S.  And it must be fought so it has no political standing.  Not every Trump supporter is a racist, but if they don't disown Trump's racist actions, like him they will be subject to accusation of being a racist.  I know the GOP wants to free people who they believe the welfare system is holding back by creating a culture of dependency.

But I ask you, how are so many Medicaid people who don't work able-bodied and not looking for work.  I have never met such a person, although I do not doubt that a small number might fit this profile, it is a large country.  But a small number should not determine how we fund a necessary support scheme for public health care.

And, as my final parting, I repeat what I have written before.  Fear drives much use of guns.  And the widespread availability of guns makes the police legitimately afraid, but there can still be no forgiveness for a police officer who lets fear generate the killing of an innocent human being.  That is why I do not understand why police across this nation are not speaking out for sensible gun control.

A Coherent Explanation of Why the Nunes's Memo Doesn't Destroy the Investigation

I will admit I had trouble reading the memo because it is a bunch of gobbledygook.  Then this morning I read how it was written by a staffer who went to a foreign law school and then couldn't pass the bar exam so he went to work as a Congressional staffer.  Talk about hiring the best and brightest!

Anyway, Bret Stephens explains coherently why this memo is worth the paper it is written on from a legal perspectives.  It is just a political rant.  Why the GOP insist on protecting Trump when they have a perfect foil for their political goals in the Vice President baffles me.

Link to "NothingBurger"

And from the WaPo.

From the memo
“The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok,”

From the WaPo
That timing is significant, given the FBI did not seek authorization to conduct surveillance on Page until three months later, on Oct. 21, 2016.


So the lier in Chief, our President, is wrong when he says the investigation is finding nothing.  If it was finding nothing, why have two people from the Trump campaign pleaded guilty.

And why doesn't everybody want to see Trump's tax returns?

72% of Republicans Believe Trump is a Good Moral Leader

1st, let me say that I do not agree with that.  Trump violates so many of the 10 Commandments that the only real lesson here is that white Evangelical Christians do not believe in the 10 Commandments, rather they believe you can do what you want and then ask for forgiveness from Jesus, and everything is OK.

In the last two weeks, Trump has been caught lying again about wanting to fire the Special Prosecutor investigating his ties to Russia.  He has been caught committing adultery with a Porn star and then paying her hush money.  Hush money is bribery.  He has American troops caught between Turkey and the Kurds and he is reducing funding to the PLO, which in turn will reduce their ability to offer hope, and likely lead to increased terrorism.  I have no doubt that somewhere in his past, Donald Trump hired someone to be a hit man for him and get rid of a troublesome individual.  And that is just the stuff Trump does that violates the 10 Commandments.

Every day is a violation of the Constitution Emoluments Clause.

If a Democrat were doing this, I guarantee you the GOP would be having a fit.  But no Democrat has ever stooped this low, and the GOP is accepting Trump's definition of morality as their own.

All Donald Trump cares about is his personal financial condition.  He cares about nothing else.

And I wish there was a decertification process for news organizations because clearly Fox News does not research anything and should no longer be allowed to call themselves a News Organization.  What Fox, Breitbart, NewsMax, and Drudge do would make the KGB and Gestapo proud of the effort if they had done it.

I wish I could move to another country, but RSL would never do it.  So I will stay here and just be in the Resistance and hope things improve in November.

meanwhile, I will be shocked if the House passes anything that helps the Dreamers. Not because there would fail to be sufficient votes on a bi-partisan basis, but because leadership will not bring it to a vote to appease the Freedom Caucus.

GOP Redefines Morality

And google SNL last Saturday and watch their take on how none of this matters anymore.  They are right, only it is not funny, Trump can do anything and the GOP will not hold him responsible for moral leadership.

The Upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk

We never had to do this with our Bouvier's, but our current dog is not as big and she occasionally cannot get her schedule right for we humans, or should I say me; as there is no way RSL is going to get up and go out at 3:15 a.m.

The unfortunate part of all this is that once I am up and had some exercise walking, I don't go right back to sleep.  So I listen to the BBC.

This morning on Hard Talk, the interviewer, who has a real talent for pushing people (thus the show called Hard Talk), interviewed Michael Steele, an African American, who is the former head of the Republican National Committee.  He is also a Never Trump'er and did not vote for him.

He explained coherently why GOP Congressman and many Senators will not go against Trump.  While Trump is supported by only 36% of the Electorate nationwide, within Republican geographies, 60% of Republicans support Trump.  While Steele felt Jeff Flake and Bob Corker should have taken the risk of a primary to make the case against Trump to the GOP base in their states, he stated that is why GOP Congressman take Trump's bad as a cost of achieving their policy goals.

And don't forget, Trump is making excellent progress for GOP policy goals.  Tax cuts are done, the individual mandate to buy health insurance is ended, regulations are being rolled back, Federal land is being reduced and opened to mining and logging, and conservative judges are being confirmed.

So, that is the reality and winning elections is the only way to reverse this.

And gaining understandings like that from Hard Talk is the upside to a 3:15 a.m. dog walk.

How Low Can We Go

We are pretty low right now and seemingly heading lower.  I know we are better than this, but the President sets the tone, words matter as any child is taught and knows, and this is where we are.

this guy says it better than me

Why I have not written anything lately.

1st, it has been the holidays.  2nd, nothing has changed.  The GOP Congress kneels over and kisses Trump's hand.

Nothing the GOP legislators do or do not do surprises me. While they are not necessarily racists, they condone racism, bigotry, and fail to govern on behalf of everybody preferring to be slaves to supply side economics and alt-right social policies favored by the NRA and social conservatives.