• Politics

    Trump the Dissembler

    Trump misspeaks frequently and takes undeserved credit. I’m only covering a few of the more recent ones here. It’s impossible for one person to keep up with ALL the craziness. It would have to be a full time job! He’s been mentioning the “unfair trade” between this country, and Canada and Mexico. Trump is the one who signed the USMCA. He made a show of it when he did. Canada has ZERO tariffs on imported American dairy and poultry as long as the quota limits aren’t exceeded. Since the quotas haven’t been exceeded since USMCA went into effect, those tariffs haven’t been enacted. Trump has obviously forgotten that he and…

  • Politics

    Tariffs 101

    Many people still aren’t getting it! Some of this post is excerpts I copied from previous posts, and I added some details. I’m trying to make this subject as simple as possible. The reason we’ve been an economic powerhouse is because of our global trade. People laugh when I say that because we have inflation and economic woes, but those people think the USA is the center of the world and don’t understand the global economy and what’s going on in other countries. In the last century or so, as transportation technology has gotten increasingly more sophisticated and efficient, most of the world has enjoyed an unprecedented year around bounty…

  • Politics

    Are MAGAs Christian?

    I spent my entire life having no lasting friendships. I found few people I could connect with; people who shared my passions, and with whom I could have the intellectual conversations I craved. Then I got on the Internet and everything changed. I found several forums that aligned with my interests, met people who were like me in many ways, people who were smarter than me about many things, which I liked, because I could learn from them. Many of the people I became online friends with were pretty wonderful Christians. Then Facebook came along, and I began hanging out there, along with a few hundred people who followed me…

  • Conspiracy Theories,  Politics

    I’m Tired of Debunking MAGA

    I started this blog because I want to post about history and science. I have dozens of text documents with partially written posts and lots of notes about those subjects, and for debunking conspiracy theories and pseudoscience, and other interesting topics. But I can’t concentrate on any of that when my country is crashing and burning around me. So I find myself spending my already limited time trying to discredit Trump’s solipsistic foibles, which are exacerbated by MAGAs repeating everything he says like it’s the gospel truth. From his outright lies to his fundamental misunderstandings of how things work, MAGAs praise him for actions that will destroy this country. I’ll…

  • Conspiracy Theories,  Politics

    The Truth About the Federal Aviation Administration and DEI

    Almost immediately after his inauguration, Trump began essentially dismantling several government agencies which have varying degrees of aviation safety, some more and some less. He fired the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard before their terms are up and eliminated all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. He fired 100 top Federal Aviation Administration security officers and froze the hiring of all Air Traffic Controllers, even though there is already a shortage of tower controllers. The Aviation Security Advisory Committee will technically continue to exist but it won’t have any members to carry out the work of examining safety issues at airlines and airports. TSA…

  • Politics

    The Trump-Canadian War

    It started as bartering. Archaeologists have uncovered undeniable evidence that hunter-gatherer groups met up to trade goods. Hunter-gatherers and nomadic groups that still exist today continue to engage in this practice. Then cities sprang up, ships and writing was invented, and long distance trading commenced. Partnerships and allies formed. Civilizations became prosperous. International trade strengthens the economy for everyone involved. A good example is our steel and cars trade with Canada. We import steel from Canada. We use it to make cars. Canada then buys the cars from us. Trump said we don’t need Canada’s steel because we have our own. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The primary ingredient in making…

  • Politics

    The Trump-Colombia Crisis

    I have to back-track a little to lay the ground work. Here’s how deportations worked under Biden: Per Biden’s agreements with Mexico, Mexico was stopping as many illegals as possible before they crossed the border into the US, and sending them back where they came from. For illegals already in the country, ICE agents would pick them up and transfer them to the nearest detention facility. A judge would determine if an immigrant should be deported, and if so, they were flown either via a chartered commercial plane or by one of ICE’s 10 planes to a staging locations along the southern US border to await deportation. Deportees would then…

  • History,  Politics

    History of Presidential Pardons and Clemencies

    How Pardons Work The plenary power to grant a pardon or a reprieve is granted to the president by Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution; the only limits mentioned in the Constitution are that pardons are limited to federal offenses, and that they cannot affect an impeachment process. The president can issue a full pardon, reversing a criminal conviction as if it never happened. Executive clemency may take several forms, including pardon, conditional pardon, commutation of sentence, conditional commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, respite, reprieve and amnesty. Since 1789, various offices within the federal government have provided the president with administrative support for the…

  • Politics

    Trump’s Troublesome Tariffs (Update Nov 10)

    Rather than make a new tariff post, I’m adding an update to my original post, which you can find below. I’m seeing an incredible amount of confusion, ignorance and misinformation about Trump’s proposed tariffs. He’s saying he wants a 60% tariff on everything imported from China, and 20% on anything imported from any other country. People are not understanding that this will cause higher prices across the board on everything, and I mean everything bought and sold in this country. That includes anything manufactured or grown here. Almost everything manufactured here requires imported components, materials and parts, because we are unable to produce/supply those components, materials and parts, or we…

  • Politics

    Fox News is Fake News [UPDATE OCT 31]

    TWO UPDATES OCT 31. Scroll down. They’re clearly marked. By now you’ve probably seen the meme going around on social media saying someone shouted Jesus is Lord at one of her rallies, and she told them they were at the wrong rally. Maybe you’ve also seen the Fox interview with those two hecklers. I watched the rally in question. I saw the part where the boys started shouting. What I heard was Lies! Lies! and something unintelligible as the crowd erupted. Following is the UNEDITED clip, exactly as I saw it while watching the rally. I don’t know how to get the Fox video on the page, but you can…

  • Conspiracy Theories,  Politics

    Trump’s Hurricane Lies Continue

    This is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe or a hurricane that we’ve ever seen ever. Trump said that. Of course it’s not true. I’ve watched countless press conferences given by both Republican and Democrat leaders in the affected Helene areas. I see a common theme. They are praising the Biden administration for the relief response, they are saying FEMA is doing their job, and they are angry at Trump for his lies about the situation. Yes, the Republican leaders are angry at Trump. The Biden administration announced 100% of reimbursement of local Helene response. This is typical of a presidential administration during a catastrophe, except when…

  • Conspiracy Theories,  Politics

    Hurricane Helene Hoaxes

    I wanted to write a post debunking all the conspiracies but there are so many, it’s impossible. So I’ll just make a few brief points. Authorities are keeping rescuers out of affected areas It is true that restrictions had to be imposed in some of the more accessible towns due to two reasons: [1] They had to run looters out and they are trying to keep those from coming back, and [2] Conditions are dangerous and they’re trying to make sure experienced (and legit) relief teams only are going in.. Helicopter woes: It’s apparently true that a Fire Chief prevented a pilot from his rescue efforts. I haven’t confirmed it,…