Archive for January, 2020

Hunter Biden May Hold the Fate of the Democratic Party in His Hands

Posted: January 7, 2020 by julietteochieng in News/opinion, Uncomfortable Truths
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My boss would frown upon publishing any puns I have in mind about the title

by baldilocks

This about more than just a mere deadbeat sperm donor.

The Arkansas woman suing former vice president Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden for child support on Monday accused him of needlessly delaying the trial, according to a new court filing.

Lawyers for Lunden Alexis Roberts are crying foul after Biden declared himself “unable to appear” for a scheduled Tuesday hearing that Biden himself set the date for. The filing asks the court to deny Biden’s motion to reschedule the hearing. (…)

Lawyers for Roberts allege that Biden is avoiding the hearing because he is unwilling to provide financial information for fear it will be made available to the public.

“[Biden] has used his carte blanche need for a protective order as a basis for refusing to disclose basic information about his income or assets,” the filing states. “The defendant has been clear that he will not provide his financial information or basic information about his income until his motion for a protective order is heard by the Court.”

Biden, a former government lobbyist, earned more than $50,000 a month to sit on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma from April 2014 to April 2019. He was also recently revealed to have purchased a home worth $2.5 million in Hollywood Hills, Calif. The Monday filing contends that Biden may have assets in excess of $156 million.

Just what California needs, another rich liberal.

Prediction: Biden will evade this for as long as he can. He has to in order to keep the rickety House of Biden upright.

Prediction 2: if the location and amount of Biden’s money is exposed to the public, it will result in him ending up in jail – and, possibly, his father will have the same destination. And, most certainly, it will end the presidential campaign of Biden the elder.

Prediction 3: moreover, it will take the teeth out of at least one of the articles of impeachment against President Trump. Not that there is any “there” there anyway; let’s not forget about our Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Ukraine.

Think of it: the fortunes of the Democrat Party may hinge on one man’s years ago failure to use a condom in an indiscreet moment.

How appropriate.

Juliette Akinyi Ochieng has been blogging since 2003 as baldilocks. Her older blog is here.  She published her first novel, Tale of the Tigers: Love is Not a Game in 2012.

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Egyptians for Trump

Posted: January 7, 2020 by chrisharper in middle east
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By Christopher Harper

It came as a pleasant surprise when I heard about the widespread support for Donald Trump in Egypt.

“No one wanted Hillary,” said one Egyptian acquaintance. “She and Obama were a disaster.”

I heard this sentiment several times during a two-week stay in Egypt.

Back in 2009, President Obama called for a “new beginning” between the Islamic world and the U.S. during a speech at Cairo University. He promised to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, to pursue Palestinian-Israeli peace, and to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

His promises went nowhere. It’s also worth noting that the president insisted on having a delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood attend the speech, a group that eventually came to power and ushered in two deadly years at the head of Egypt’s government. 

By the end of his presidency, Obama faced a great deal of bitterness from Arabs. That view came across in a variety of Arab countries in a Pew Research Center survey in June 2015. Support for Obama was incredibly low: about a third of the Lebanese, 15 percent of Palestinians, and 14 percent of Jordanians. See https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/06/23/1-americas-global-image/

Although Egypt was not included in the Pew survey, the country got little support from Obama after the 2009 speech.

The Hoover Institution provided an analysis of what Obama did wrong in his relationship with Egypt:

–Obama ignored Egypt’s traditional role as a bridge between Arabs and Israel.

–The president ignored Egypt when taking on Libya and removing its leader.

–The administration failed to lean on the most significant military power in the Arab world during a variety of problems in the region. 

When the Egyptians finally got rid of the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama suspended military aid. 

Ultimately, Obama and Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi only met on the sidelines at the United Nations. That rebuff to a traditional Arab ally left a bad taste in the mouths of many Egyptians.

“For its part, Washington should expect to provide Egypt’s military leaders the political embrace that Obama was always reluctant to offer, but also requests from Egyptians that it would compensate them in the currency that matters most – U.S. regional leadership that would lead to a resumption of Saudi and other Gulf assistance to help Cairo weather crushing economic problems,” a Hoover Institution analysis argued at the beginning of the Trump era. 

Three years later, Trump has accomplished much of what the Hoover Institution suggested. That’s why Egyptians were happy that Trump beat Hillary and remain so today.

Ricky Gervais Does the Impossible

Posted: January 7, 2020 by datechguy in comedy, culture, entertainment, Vive L'Empereur
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I went to the Doctor’s on Monday to get an update on the shoulder (I start therapy later this month, looks like Surgery is off the table for the moment) and something amazing took place as I entered the x-ray room.

The x-ray tech was talking about the golden globes.

Now if you are my age you are old enough to remember when the award shows of Hollywood were a big deal, who can forget that moment when John Wayne finally won an Oscar.

But this century, and particularly over the last decade as Hollywood has become more disdainful of the people who actually buy the tickets interest has dropped to the point where absolutely nobody cares and so politically correct that a ten year old tweet can doom a promising comic.

Then came Ricky Gervais who came on the air Sunday to host the golden globes and gave an opening monologue for the ages.

I’m writing this post at 2:24 PM on Monday afternoon and as of this moment this video has over 2.3 MILLION views.

As you might guess this monologue didn’t please Hollywood, the response of Lorraine Ali of the LA times (via the Washington Examiner) was typical:

Well, you say you’re woke, but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?”

The commentary would have meant far more if Gervais himself had been brave enough to drop the tired agitator shtick and, for once, read the room.

In that critical moment Lorraine Ali revealed that she did not know who the room was.

Lorraine Ali thought his “room” was the assembled talented but self righteous celebrities who gain their wealth and influence by pretending to be what they’re not for the pleasure of the people who actually build and do the things to keep the world going. But that was not his room, nor is it the room of any TV host as I explained the next morning on twitter

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For the first time in decades people are talking about the golden globes both the night of the golden globes and the next day and while I don’t know if the ratings improved as the night went on I suspect more than a few people tuned or streamed in to see if Gervias had more to say, he did:

And in fact in a post show poll over 71% wanted to see him come back next year.

Golden Globes viewers have spoken, and they want Ricky Gervais to host “every year.” A whopping 71% of fans who voted in our recent poll said he did an “amazing” job overseeing the 77th ceremony on NBC. To compare, 9% thought he was “good, but forgettable” while the remaining 20% of haters voted that he was “awful.”

The funniest reaction came from this fellow:

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because NOBODY is more marginalized that Hollywood actors.

Now don’t let anyone be fooled, Gervais is a man of the left, he remains such a man but he was hired to do a job and part of that job is to produce buzz for this show.

If I’m NBC I would have make sure people were talking about if the would be signed next year and then with a month or two before the event sign him and watch the buzz begin and the ratings sour.

Free Speech / Expression explained again

Posted: January 6, 2020 by datechguy in culture, News/opinion
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It’s rather depressing that in 2020 this has to be explained once again so let’s explain freedom one more time:

As anyone who reads this site knows, I am a Fiscal & Social Conservative who follows the Catholic faith. I maintain that society, individuals, our children, our culture our county and the world would be best served if the principles of the Catholic faith and fiscal & social Conservatism were advanced and put into practice both legally and culturally. I furthermore reserve the right not only to act on these beliefs but to make my best case in public for said beliefs in the hopes of convincing others and advancing them both legally and culturally because I’m convinced that people individually and society as a whole will reap the benefits of these beliefs.

I think this would be better for the young, the old, the rich the poor, the black, the white, the gay, the straight, the christian, the Muslim, the jew, the Hindu the atheist and the agnostic and everyone else.

Furthermore I expect to be able to publicly practice these beliefs without fear of arrest by the state or danger of assault, vandalism to my property, injury or threat of violence to myself or my family.

Now here is the flip side.

The number of people in the US who share ALL of my beliefs and opinions are likely very small, quite a few I might even say a majority of share some of them and there are plenty who share few or none of them.

Some instead of believing in conservatism they believe in liberalism, instead of holding a conservative Catholic faith they are liberal Catholics or Protestant, or, Jewish, or Muslim or Hindu or of some other religion or no religion at all. Some are social liberal some are Marxists, or socialists or communists or believers in some other form of government or even haven’t made up their minds yet. Some have opinions & beliefs that I consider nonsense, some have opinions and beliefs that I think are dangerous and some have opinions or beliefs that I consider downright evil.

However as Americans they not only have the same right to hold those beliefs as I have mine but they have the same right as I have to

  • Practice those beliefs/opinions publicly
  • Argue for those beliefs/opinions publicly in person, in print or online
  • Attempt to persuade others that they should follow those beliefs/opinions
  • Attempt to elect people who will advance those beliefs
  • Or choose not to do any of the above

And they should have the expectation of being able to do these things without a threat of bodily harm, or murder, or vandalism to their property or threat of arrest for holding or expressing these beliefs.

That’s how free speech works, everyone has the right (but not the obligation) to make their best case for whatever they wish and let the better argument take the day until people decide differently.

Put simply people have the right to be wrong. Until you acknowledge that freedom for others than frankly you don’t deserve freedom yourself and if you intend to take this freedom away from me and mine, that’s a cause worth fighting for.

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