Archive for June, 2023

Nipping These Trump vs DeSantis things in the Bud

Posted: June 27, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

One of the things I’ve objected to for a while has been the messianic trend that the Trump campaign and it’s surrogates have played. As I said before, I like Trump and consider him in the top 4 presidents of all time based on his previous record in the white house (subject to adjustment if he gets four more years) but I’m electing a president I already have a God and I don’t need people screaming “Blasphemer” if I think a different man would do a better job this time around. To Wit:

Anastasio said: “People may not understand this, but I lived and breathed Trump, so this isn’t something that comes lightly. I took a lot of heat for supporting him in 2016 when no one thought he would win, and I am prepared for heat for not supporting him now, but it is time to look forward, not relive the past.”

“No one owns me,” Anastasio added. “That is the beauty of being in the grassroots.”

However there is one misconception that some who are urging folks to drop Trump seem to have. It’s true that there is an irrational hatred of Trump made more irrational when you compare his four years to the four that followed and it’s also true because it is irrational you can’t argue or reason it away from people.

However it’s NOT true that this irrational hatred is non-transferable to others in the left to wit:

Anyone who thinks that the left will not start playing the “worse than Trump” business on not only DeSantis but any challenger that they consider a threat is deluding themselves. Furthermore since DeSantis was not broadly defined publicly like Trump they will do all they can do define him in this way, helped by a compliant media and alas by a compliant government infrastructure.

There are good reasons to support Trump, There are good reasons to support DeSantis and there are even some good reasons to support most members of the GOP field. But: “If you don’t nominate Trump I’ll go home.” and “The left/media won’t treat DeSantis like they do Trump” are not among them.

On the road again

Posted: June 27, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
Tags: ,

By Christopher Harper

In these deeply divided days of partisan politics, it isn’t easy to raise a chapeau when the other side does something right.

Nevertheless, I acknowledge that local, state, and national leaders—most of them Democrats—performed a significant service to Philadelphia and the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware by getting Interstate 95 up and moving in less than two weeks.

On Sunday, June 11, a tractor-trailer caught fire, killing the driver and burning through an overpass on I-95 just north of central Philadelphia. The accident forced the closure of a highway that sees more than 160,000 travelers daily, including many commuters into Philadelphia.

Most experts thought the highway would be closed through much of the summer. But a full-court press, including workers in shifts around the clock, bought a significant fix—albeit temporary—in only 12 days.

Indeed, other countries have shown it can be done. While every project is different, China replaced a section of a bridge overpass in 43 hours back in 2015. Last year, India built a 46-mile stretch of road in five days. Closer to home, a part of Interstate 85 in Atlanta collapsed because of a fire in 2017. Crews completed the repairs in 44 days.

Seeing city, state, and federal leaders working together after the collapse was a welcome sign. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a disaster declaration for the ruined section of I-95, allowing the state to access federal funds for repairs.

“We’ve gotta get it fixed as soon as humanly possible,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, who convinced federal officials to tour the site.

Travelers will have only six out of the usual eight lanes, but that’s a far cry better than snaking through neighborhoods in Northeast Philly. So far, the repair has cost $7 million.

The importance of the project captured the attention of many residents. In fact, a live stream of the work became a must-see event in bars, sports venues, and homes throughout the region.

The euphoria over the quick success, however, has prompted a serious assessment of what else needs to be accomplished in the city.

In an editorial, the Philadelphia Inquirer provided a list:

–The subway system, which provides transportation to about 170,000 people each weekday, faces many problems with aging vehicles and structures.

–The open-air drug market in the Kensington neighborhood just north of downtown—aka Center City—symbolizes the ineffectiveness of policies on addiction, homelessness, and policing.

–The School District of Philadelphia faces an estimated $9 billion needed for building repairs and updates.

“The fast reopening of I-95 is undoubtedly worth celebrating, but none of us should be satisfied to stop there,” the newspaper wrote. “We must demand more of our leaders. If the measure of a society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members —if a community’s actions reflect its values —then what we value shouldn’t just be measured in mile markers.”

100 Word Fan Fiction: A Job Well Done

Posted: June 26, 2023 by datechguy in fan fiction, fun
Tags:

He was finally free of them all.

A truck would come within a day to take the sly “Ensign” for intense questioning in Berlin, he could leave the “Captain” with Klink, whose pleas for mention in this affair faded as the car pulled away.

And Hogan, Hochstetter didn’t know what was more satisfying, the knowledge that his attempt to grab the fallen glasses led him to the hidden microdot within, his protests that gave the vital clue to the 2nd in Parker’s hat or his dejection as Schultz led him to the cooler.

He had won, his job was done.

Previously A key Moment, Next: A lack of trust

Under the Fedora: I don’t under stand why people are surprised that…

Posted: June 25, 2023 by datechguy in Uncategorized

…folks on the left have no issue with lying to our faces. Once you abandon the idea of Christianity and that false witness is a mortal sin to be worried about all that’s left is utilitarianism. So if a lie is useful it will be used.

…we have reached a point where the federal bureaucracy acts like the Chicago machine. We lionized a cheap Chicago pol and put him in charge and he and his crowd did their best to remake government in their own image to serve their agenda. The big difference is they didn’t advertise their “Make the US Chicago to the world.

…

…pro athletes tend to ease off after the big contract. In the old days when being a pro athlete didn’t mean generational wealth the winners share of an all star game or a championship might be the difference between sending a kid to college or getting ahead of a mortgage or not and if you were dropped you have to go back to a regular job. Generational wealth ends all this. It’s that wealth that is the ends, championships are just gravy.

…

…so many people feel entitled to their own reality along with everything else. What did you expect would happen to a generation that was constantly told they were special, were given participation trophies rather then being told to strive t win, and were brought up by parents who were more interested in being friends and thus never disciplined their kids? Why on earth did you expect them to turn out any other way?

…

…that Disney et/al still don’t care about the bottom line. Once you have generational wealth the incentive to produce profit for your shareholders is less a priority than keeping in the good graces of the “right” people. The affirmation of the smart set, basically the modern version of being “presented at court” is all that matters when that’s what you base your self worth on.

….

….that the “Never Trump” conservatives who once talked boldly about their values suddenly hate DeSantis as much as Trump seems to these day. When they became “nevertrump” the income stream from the right disappeared and the income stream from the left replaced it. Once they realized that the income stream from the right was not coming back suddenly “principled conservatism” became supporting the left, even against conservatives not named Trump.

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