I don’t have much to say about this, as its meaning should be quite obvious. I just want to share it. That’s it.
Author Archives: Rick Ladd
About Rick Ladd
Biden’s Path Forward
In the morning of Sunday, November 8, 2020 Jon Cryer (the actor and author) tweeted the following, which I’d like to share with my readers, in case they’re not on Twitter or somehow missed it:
Appoint Hunter Biden as White House advisor, give him security clearance he doesn’t deserve, then put him in charge of coronavirus and peace in the Middle East.
Berate, belittle and insult the Republican leaders and their constituents at every opportunity. And take joy in their unhappiness.
Have foreign countries, companies and lobbyists pay Biden business entities while he makes decisions affecting them.
Golf, golf, golf!
(At Biden owned resorts thus forcing taxpayers to put money directly in his pockets)
Increase the national debt by 36%.
Increase the federal budget deficit by 4 trillion dollars.
Float federal pardons to induce federal employees to break the law.
Float federal pardons to induce co-conspirators to clam up.
Publicly threaten congressional witnesses.
Extort a foreign country into fabricating a smear against his Republican opponent.
Vastly over finance his inauguration and then have millions of the money just “disappear”
Publicly ask a foreign adversary to commit crimes to help his campaign.
Lie to a special prosecutor about it.
Obstruct Justice five times about it.
Lie about the special prosecutor’s report about it.
Objectively and verifiably lie at least 120 times a week.
Have government employees illegally campaign on your behalf on a daily basis.
And I won’t even get into how Republican leaders have been fine with the worse horrors of the Trump presidency. The family separations, the increase in civilian drone deaths, the hundreds of thousands of Americans dead from Covid.
They were okay with all of it.
So anytime they raise an objection to anything, the Biden administration should just ignore what they say and shout “Trump!” In their face.
Cause really, they can STFU
Just like they did when Trump was president.
Originally tweeted by Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) on 8 November 2020.
Another Change of Pace
In my last couple of years in High School I took a lot of photography classes. Back then (this was in 1964 – 1966) there was no such thing as digital photos. Everything was film and darkroom work. I remember enjoying taking pictures at football games, using Kodak Tri-X 400 black & white negative film.
I had to take it into the darkroom and develop both the film and then use the negatives obtained from the film strip to project onto photographic paper, which we then developed ourselves in the darkroom. It involved a lot of banging around in the dark, getting used to working by dim red light, and lots of chemicals to develop, set, and finish the work.
I’ve long enjoyed photography and still enjoy using tools like Photoshop to tweak and improve photos; sometimes to create political memes from them as well. I recently started using the magnification app that came with my iPhone XR and I’ve realized I can produce some interesting photos by zooming way in on subjects that have intricate or visually remarkable patterns.
Several of the ones I’m publishing here should be fairly easily recognizable to most people. At least one of them requires a bit of engineering knowledge and, perhaps, familiarity with space hardware. A couple of them should be easy to discern. Two of them relate to cooking in one way or another. What do you see?
Justice Matters – 10/19/20
Here’s another one of Glenn Kirschner’s wonderful YouTube videos on the state of our Justice system and, especially, the legal machinations of Donald Trump and his lawless administration.
This is a particularly good explanation of why Glenn believes the Supreme Court will finally bring an end to Trump’s attempts to hide his tax returns from the American people. If you aren’t familiar with how the courts work and, especially, what the real role is of the highest court in the land, Glenn does a pretty good job of explaining it.
PS – As of today, there are 13 days left until Election Day. If you haven’t yet voted, please have a plan and . . . git ‘er done!!
Originalism is Bullshit!
Amy Coney Barrett considers herself a “Constitutional Originalist.” What, exactly, does that mean? According to Merriam-Webster, it is “a legal philosophy that the words in documents and especially the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted as they were understood at the time they were written.” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/originalism)
Think about what that means. If we are to interpret the Constitution based on the realities of the day in the late 18th century, then shouldn’t the only people allowed to vote in national elections be white, property-owning men? What do we make of the 3/5 clause of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and how do we reconcile the 14th Amendment (passed in 1868) with the “original” intent of said Article?
In my less than humble opinion, this concept of originalism is as flawed as belief in the Bible being the infallible word of God. Both require one NOT believe in evolution; I don’t here mean biological evolution (which many Bible believers don’t recognize as real) but the natural evolution of society and its economic, political, and general attitudes toward what’s good and just for a people. Our laws, our habits, our customs, our culture, even our morals change over time; sometimes imperceptibly and others rapidly and definitively.
When the Constitution was written, the framers included (Article V) the ability to amend it and, in fact, the first ten amendments—the Bill of Rights—were needed to ensure adoption of the nascent Constitution by some of the States who wanted more guarantees of freedom from unnecessary restrictions on the States and individuals.
Inasmuch as there is a method by which the Constitution can and, in fact, has been amended how can a logical argument be sustained that it must be interpreted in light of the reality of nearly two hundred fifty years ago? This makes absolutely no sense. Two hundred fifty years ago virtually none of the structures, organizations, and technologies we currently enjoy existed. How do we interpret their use and ownership if they weren’t around when the document was written?
Originalism is a sham argument and should be completely ignored. Any jurist taking such a position is, IMLTHO, an intellectually dishonest poseur and should be ignored . . . if not ridiculed. This includes Amy Coney Barrett who, if she had any integrity at all, would not allow this raw power grab and farce of a nomination process to continue.
A Surprise!
As I’ve noted previously, I am working on a couple of memoirs and my autobiography. In doing so, I’ve been conducting a bit of archaeological research on my two current computers’ contents. I have a PC laptop and an iMac. The laptop is going on three years old and the Mac was purchased around June of 2010, right after I retired from Rocketdyne, though it crapped out while it was still under warranty, and the CPU and most of the other components were replaced with those of a newer model.
Something I hadn’t been thinking about much was that I had moved all of my personal files from my years at Rocketdyne, as well as a lot of writing I did while I was there that isn’t worth their energy to call protected IP. At any rate, I’m encountering things I had long forgotten existed and I’d like to share some of them.
This is a press release I’m pretty sure I wrote tongue-in-cheek, but I’m not sure what happened with it. It was, if the file metadata is correct, written in early February of 2006, a little over 14.5 years ago. I can’t recall the last time I read a physical copy of the L.A. Times.
For Immediate Release
In an amazing display of ineptness and communications failure, and for the third time in almost as many weeks, the Los Angeles Times’ home delivery department, Ventura County division, on Sunday, February 5, completely mismanaged the delivery of the Times Sunday edition to the home of a Simi Valley family.
For years, this weekend edition, complete with both the opinion section and numerous advertisements and coupons, has been delivered to the Ladd family double wrapped in plastic and sealed to protect it from being soaked by the sprinkler system which, unfortunately, drains water in the exact location where the paper seems to be most conveniently placed by the L.A. Times’ intrepid delivery person.
Approximately four to five weeks ago, and without any explanation or reason which would be immediately apparent to the Ladds, the paper started being delivered with one, unsealed plastic bag. This difference, however, was not matched by a change in location used to place the paper and, the laws of physics and water being what they are, the paper wicked up enough liquid to add several pounds to its weight. As a side effect, it made reading the articles and advertisements contained in the Times virtually impossible.
Up until the 5th of February, subsequent to calls to the Times’ Customer Service automated telephone number, a new paper has twice been delivered within the promised 90 minutes. The last time brought an apology and a promise to see the paper was sufficiently wrapped and it was, in fact, delivered dry on January 29th. However, the following week, on February 5, the paper was once again single wrapped, and soaking wet by the time it was retrieved.
Richard Ladd immediately called the Times’ Customer Service automated telephone number, once again pressing the button to inform the electronic system that there was, indeed, a delivery problem involving an automatic sprinkler system and a wet newspaper. He then entered his phone number and street address, and was informed a new paper would be delivered within 90 minutes.
As of midnight, at the beginning of a new week, the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times had not been delivered to the Ladd family, causing them to wonder if they shouldn’t just throw in the towel and cancel their subscription, opting instead to read the paper (assuming they even care any longer) on the Internet, and either celebrating or bemoaning (they are currently not quite sure which it should be) the continuing slide of print media into oblivion.
– END –
Justice Matters – 9/29/20
Another episode of former federal prosecutors YouTube videos. This story has been in the news quite a bit, and Glenn’s analysis is, as always , an excellent recap of what happened and what we should be paying attention to. Here’s what was written to accompany this video:
“After Department of Justice lawyers spent hours arguing that Mike Flynn is receiving no special or favorable treatment due to his connections to the president, Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, blows it all up. Judge Sullivan essentially cross-examined Ms.Powell, asking if she had any conversations with the president. At first she said no, then she absurdly tried to invoke ‘executive privilege’ (which only applies to executive branch officials, not private defense attorneys), and then admitted she met with Trump recently to give him ‘an update about Flynn’s case.’ She then said they had discussed a pardon, though she claimed she told Trump she did not want him to pardon Flynn. Fact plainly is stranger than fiction. Here’s what we can expect next in the never-ending saga of the Mike Flynn case.”
Justice Matters – 9/26/20
Here’s today’s “Justice Matters,” from Glenn Kirschner. Glenn lays out the latest Appellate Court ruling involving the Manhattan D.A.’s subpoena for Trump’s tax returns. He points out the judges essentially told Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, that his arguments were “full of shit.” (my words)
Check out the video. It’s a little more than eight minutes. One point worth remembering; it’s virtually impossible at this point we will see these tax returns prior to the election. This is because the subpoena Vance is seeking to enforce is for a Grand Jury proceeding and, unless it results in a criminal indictment against Trump, in which the documents would finally appear as evidence, they will remain secret. So … essentially, this means Trump’s dilatory moves have succeeded … at least to the point that his taxes will not be revealed to the public prior to November 3.
I think it’s important for us to recognize how disrespectful this is to the American people. Time and again Trump makes it clear he has nothing but contempt for democracy or the people of the United States. He professes to love this country; he perversely hugs the Stars and Stripes as if it has something he wants to grab, but he has shown no respect at all for the human beings that make up the vast bulk of the nation’s people. As of this moment, we’re approaching 210,000 deaths from, and nearly 7.3 million people infected with, the Coronavirus, yet there’s still no national testing or contact tracing plan, and precious little else in the way of Federal leadership.
Regardless of what these tax returns end up showing us, and past experience makes it likely—IMO—they will show us how dishonest Trump actually is, we know who the man is. He’s shown us repeatedly how little he cares for anyone save himself and those who praise and support him. We need to throw him out of office, along with as many of the weak-kneed, treacherous sycophants and bootlickers we can muster the votes to remove from their positions.
These are desperate times, and our nation is on the verge of becoming an autocracy, with a deeply flawed person at its helm. We can’t let this happen. We need to show up this election season in numbers like never before.
Older people like me need to recognize that Trump and those who support him would prefer we were dead. Many, like me, are now collecting social security and are on Medicare. We worked and paid for these things. They aren’t entitlements—at least not in the sense the right uses the word—they are earnings that our representatives have not managed well over the years. We’re perceived as a financial drag on the economy.
Younger people, more than ever before, need to show up this election season as well. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Trump and the entire Republican party are science deniers and, as such, they cannot (and will not) accept the science of climate change, nor will they accept the science of epidemiology. The future of our planet and our species is being threatened by these idiots.
!!VOTE THEM ALL OUT!!
Lyin’ Lady G
Thirty-nine days until election day, though we all should know by now that this (and many preceding) election(s) is not being conducted or resolved on November 3, 2020. Nowadays we don’t even refer to election day so much as we talk about “election season.”
I am making the argument that, despite how desperately we want to get rid of Donald Trump, it might be even more important to flip the Senate. Without a compliant Senate, if Trump manages to steal this election, he’ll have a far more difficult time getting anything done without the sycophancy of Moscow Mitch and his merry band of bootlickers and toadies.
In that vein, here’s a great video showing the duplicity and hypocrisy of Senator Lindsey Graham. For the record, I don’t give a rat’s ass what Lindsey’s sexual preferences are; I just have a hard time believing he’s not deeply ensconced in the closet. Regardless, I’m quite sure his hypocrisy and cowardice are genuine.
Of course, the best result would be voting in Joe Biden, flipping the Senate, and retaining control over the House. I think we can be reasonably confident the House will remain in Democratic control but, despite the polls, electing Biden and gaining control over the Senate are not foregone conclusions. We need to keep working making these things happen.
Systems Savvy 