Archive for December, 2021

Kyrie gets the last Laugh

Posted: December 18, 2021 by datechguy in covid, nba, Sports, vaccine mandates
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I really cracked up when I read this story:

It’s kind of hard to argue that the unvaccinated Kyrie is a danger to the team when all over the NBA, NHL & NFL games are being delayed and postponed by COVID breakouts among fully vaccinated players but I give yahoo sports credit they give it their best shot:

Players of all levels are testing positive, so what’s the harm in bringing in a healthy body for road games, to help out the overworked Kevin Durant even in a pinch?

The harm, aside from common sense, science and everything believed to be true about teams with championship aspirations, consistent standards and chemistry concerns, seems to open a sliding door that may never be closed again, as Irving will be allowed to play in road games — except for Toronto.

Alas both common sense and science suggests that it’s Kyrie and not those who banned him that were right.

Now this doesn’t change the fact that Kyrie brings the same non-covid baggage that he always carried before there was such a thing as a pandemic and the fact that he almost immediately ended up in the COVID protocols means a delay in the Nets getting him on the floor.

But the bottom line is that Kyrie’s return is a blow to the narrative that has been pushed by the various sports teams in solidarity with the Biden Administration on the vaccine but reality doesn’t care about the narrative and the reality of the cost of cancelled games in cash is starting to have an effect to the point where leagues are reconsidering rewriting the rules concerning COVID protocols.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association continue to discuss changes to their COVID-19 protocols that could ease the burden on vaccinated individuals, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The two sides are working to test vaccinated players less frequently and address player concerns about the number of vaccinated, asymptomatic players who are being forced to miss games because of positive tests.

The real losers in all of this are the players who took the jab and feel like chumps who’ve been played:

The NFLPA has been under pressure in recent weeks from players who are upset because they feel they were effectively forced to get vaccinated (because of the far stricter rules that apply this year to unvaccinated individuals) and as a result of the proliferation of COVID-19 variants are now testing positive and missing games anyway. This has led to player dissatisfaction with other of the league’s COVID-19 mitigation strategies, such as mask wearing and physical distancing in team facilities. 

Now as I’ve said repeatedly I have no problem with people getting the vaccine if they feel the cost benefit analysis works for them and I’m sure there are plenty of players in the all the major sports who took the vaccine and thought it was the right move for them.

Kyrie didn’t think so and in the long run it’s worked out for him, and if nothing else he will always be one up on those who took the vaccine unwillingly to play and now feel like chumps.

The NDAA…still a joke, just 25 Billion dollars less funny

Posted: December 18, 2021 by ng36b in Uncategorized
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The National Defense Authorization Act for FY22 just passed this week. While there are some nice changes, like a 2.7% pay increase (sadly offset by rampant inflation) and some additional baby leave, there is a lot that is left to be desired.

Now, given looming war with China and Russia, our gaps in hypersonic technology, space, bioweapons, and cyber, and our poorly maintained “battle” fleet that seems to barely limp along from extended deployment to extended deployment, you would think anyone writing the executive summary of this bill would want to reassure the public that its going to make us stronger and ready for war with the hopes of deterring it to make peace.

And well, you’d be wrong. Here’s the highlighted portion of page one of the summary:

The FY22 NDAA builds on previous attempts to close the pay gap by authorizing support for a 2.7 percent pay increase for our service men and women in uniform, makes historic and sweeping
changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to combat sexual assault in the military,
authorizes record funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, contains
measures to ensure our military is diverse and inclusive, and makes key investments to
address the threat of climate change and bolster energy resiliency across the Department
of Defense, and takes full advantage of our diverse talent pool to meet the complex national
security challenges of today and tomorrow.

House Armed Service Committee NDAA FY22 executive summary

What the heck is this? HBCUs? Diversity? Climate Change? Seriously?

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have got to be laughing at this.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about getting research money to HBCUs to support weapons and tactics development. Why not? It would be awesome to see an HBCU open a cyber center, or contribute to space warfare, or some other highly technical area. That would have long reaching benefits, encouraging young black kids to aspire to be great engineers and scientists. There is a lot to love with ideas like that, and its a win-win for the Department of Defense.

But how is that the highlight? Defense is about combating our enemies and helping our policy makers negotiate peace from the best possible position. Think about World War 2. Could we have negotiated a lasting peace with Hitler or the Japanese Emperor without being in a position of strength? I’d argue that half of the reason Hitler rose to power in the first place was that he saw weakness and pushed against it. The same could be said for Putin today as he gazes at Ukraine, challenging the US and its NATO allies to do something.

Nothing in those opening paragraphs radiate strength. As you dig through the document, the increases in equipment are buried, but they are paltry. We’re getting 13 additional ships, if they can be built on time. We really need another actual shipyard, yet that piece of vital infrastructure isn’t in the bill, since it would compete with companies that already have a lock on shipbuilding (and the Congress-people on their payroll to prove it). If you need proof of how bad it is, just check our CDR Salamander’s blog.

From CDR Salamander

But most disingenuous is that military personnel are going down in numbers. Yup. Hidden away in the actual text is a decrease in manpower:

With regard to military end strength, the number of Army soldiers would drop by 900 (to 485,000) compared to this year’s levels and the Marine Corps would cut its troop numbers by 2,700 (to 178,500). That’s in line with White House end strength plans. The Navy’s end strength total would drop by about 900 (to 346,920), about 700 more sailors than the White House requested. The Air Force would see a decrease of about 4,200 personnel (to 329,220), about 1,000 more airmen than the administration requested.

From Military Times

If we’re already not doing a good enough job keeping up with China, how on earth will we do that with less people, specifically less people in the Navy and Air Force, the services that will take the brunt of any Pacific conflict?

This year’s NDAA is a joke. It’s laser locked on social justice issues while missing all the important items needed for any future conflict. Sadly, it’ll likely take a war where we lose thousands of service members before Congress will shelve the pet programs and get serious about winning.

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency. If you liked this article, please consider supporting the author by buying his book on Amazon, also available as an audiobook on Audible.

My Suggested Anti Racism Plan for Doctors to get the Biden Admin’s Extra Medicare Money

Posted: December 17, 2021 by datechguy in opinion/news
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I saw this report at Twitchy concerning the Biden Admin’s play to fight racism in medical care with $

Given that doctors and hospitals et/all are so busy these days I thought I’d save everyone some time by coming up with a simple anti-racism plan for them to follow:

DaTechGuy’s Official Medical Anti-Racism Plan

  1. Treat patents based on their aliments and symptoms rather than race

In the interest in helping the greatest number of medical professionals I hereby give permission for any physician, medical facility or nursing hone or extended care facility to appropriate this plan at no charge.

However tip jar hits will be graciously accepted

Happy 230th Birthday to the Bill of Rights

Posted: December 16, 2021 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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Wednesday December 15th marked the 230th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.  Unfortunately the original meaning and purpose of that document has been so distorted that few of us are aware that the modern understanding is the exact opposite of the original meaning.  Progressives and other proponents of big government and collectivism have constructed many myths and outright lies about the Bill of Rights.  They have used these mistruths to actually strip away and trample on the rights the Bill of Rights was meant to protect.

I thought I would celebrate the anniversary of the ratification by busting some of the most outrageous and harmful lies about the Bill of Rights.

The most common myth about the Bill of Rights is that that document grants us our rights.  That if false.  All of our rights are granted to each and every individual by God.  All of our rights are God-given Natural Rights.  This most famous line by Thomas Jefferson from the Declaration of Independence states this fundamental principle so eloquently:

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

The Bill of Rights does not in any way restrain state governments.  I know that that fact may even seem controversial to Conservatives and others on the political right.  That only serves to illustrate just how badly distorted the original meaning of the Bill of Rights has been.  The government created by the United States Constitution is a bottom up distributed federal republic rather than a top down consolidated national government. 

The States are mostly independent nations held together by a weak central government.   Each state constitution has a bill of rights to protect the rights of the people of that state from encroachments by the state governments.  From this exchange that took place during the drafting of the Bill of Rights you can see that James Madison attempted to extend the Bill Rights down to the states and was defeated. 

Over the past 100 years the Supreme Court has allowed the federal government to extend the Bill of Rights down to the states, in direct violation of the Constitution.  This has led to a consolidated top down national government where the states have become mere appendages of the federal government. This has done tremendous harm including Roe V Wade.

It has been maintained by the Supreme Court that the 14th Amendment incorporated the Bill of Rights down to the state level.  They only accomplished this by distorting the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment.  I discuss this in great detail in this article.

The separation of church and state is not found in any clause of the Bill Rights, nor any other part of the Constitution.  That blatantly unconstitutional doctrine was created by distorting the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  The proponents of the separation and state completely ignore the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment. The two clause together state:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Those two clauses prohibit the federal government from establishing an official national religion and prohibit the federal government from interfering with the free exercise of religion of every individual’  Thanks to the doctrines of the incorporation of the Bill of Rights and the separation of church and state, religion has almost been extinguished from the public square.  Nativity scenes in town halls, prayers by students at graduations, even candy canes, and so mush more has been banned,

The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect the rights of every individual by preventing the federal government from interfering with them in any way.  The Bill of Rights is a hands off for the federal government.  Period. End of story.

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