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Category: Politics

For politics related items

  • The New Republican Healthcare Plan

    The New Republican Healthcare Plan

    The new republican plans for health care sure sounds like “just die quickly, and quietly” Well, as we expected, once the Republicans captured the White House (well, in 29 days now), their first order of business will be to repeal the ACA.

    They have been talking about repealing it and replacing it for 6 years now, bloviating at every opportunity, and doing fuck-all in the House with 54 attempts to repeal or defund portions of the ACA (or the pejorative “Obamacare”) so this isn’t a surprise.

    However, some of the rhetoric coming out of the Paul Ryan camp is interesting. Suddenly, instead of shutting it down on day 1, they are talking about repealing and delaying for 2 – 3 years until they can devise a “replacement” for it. Yeah, that sounds do-able. (more…)

  • Russian Intervention in the 2016 US election

    Russian Intervention in the 2016 US election

    Yep, the Russians interfered with the election. Of course, the US has done this for over a century, so we shouldn’t be upset. Unlike many opinions flying around about how much outrage that the Russians (and Vladimir Putin) have interfered in the 2016 US presidential election, by hacking both the DNC and RNC servers and email. Of course they only released the goods on the Democrats, thereby putting a finger on the scale for the victor, Donald Trump.

    However, this outrage is a bit mislaid. Of course, a little googling will identify a long history of the US interfering in the affairs of other countries. From interventions to protect the US Fruit Company in Honduras in 1903, to the overthrow and coup d’état that installed the Shah of Iran in 1953, to repeated and long term intervention in Nicaragua, there is plenty of instances of the US government and CIA having their hand in the cookie jar. (more…)

  • The Death of the (insert name here) Party

    The Death of the (insert name here) Party

    In the run up to the 2016 Presidential election, I heard pundit after pundit, and commenter after commenter bleating about how Trump’s candidacy was going to be the end of the Republican party. The fact that they nominated (with a full throated roar) such a terrible candidate, a narcissistic, racial pandering, xenophobic, serial sexual harassing, and in general boorish candidate, surely, this would destroy the Republican party.

    As tempting as it was (being a fairly liberal, mostly Democrat voting person) to back in the impending demise, and hapless wandering in the dark of the Republicans, daring to hope that even gaining the 20 or so seats in the house for a complete Democrat rout, I had to step back. (more…)

  • How Gullible are the Progressives

    How Gullible are the Progressives

    With all the recent focus on “fake” news and how much reinforcement happens in the echo chamber on Facebook, with the heavy bias for the conservative point of view, one would think that the progressives would be a bit more cautious, but alas, that appears to not be the case.

    The past few days, my Facebook timeline has been loaded with bogus stories about how two computer scientists claim that the results in Wisconsin, Michigan (which hasn’t certified yet) and Pennsylvania look anomalous, and that we should inundate the US DoJ to initiate a review, with a phone number. (more…)

  • Backtracking on Campaign Promises

    Backtracking on Campaign Promises

    In my 51 years on this planet, in the US of A, I have become used to the sight of politicians walking back their campaign promises. Hell, it is expected regardless of your ideology, politicians make promises that we know they can’t keep.

    Here we are, 4 days post 2016 presidential election, and the backtracking has begun in earnest. (more…)

  • Protests and consequences

    Protests and consequences

    In the aftermath of the 2016 US Presidential Election, as I watch these protests across the country against the election of Trump.

    I can’t deny the passions and emotions that have driven these protests. A lot of people are upset, and justifiably so. But, having read a lot recently about the rise of the hard right conservatives, I worry that the protests will backfire.

    Alas, the protests that swept across the country in 1968, in the run up to that year’s presidential election, the public sentiment against the war was running high, as the deployments, and casualties were rising rapidly. (more…)

  • Right Wing Talking Point: Solyndra

    Right Wing Talking Point: Solyndra

    One thing I get tired of reading is the abuse piled on the Obama Administration by the Republicans (really, more specifically the Tea Party wing) about how the DoE loan guarantee extended to alternative energy companies was wasteful, and little more than political fluffery to reward a loyal demographic.

    Alas, this story has been debunked over and over, yet the response “What about Solyndra?” is their rallying cry.

    So, what about Solyndra? It was a startup that was taking a unique view of how to build efficient solar power modules. Using a thin film process, known as CIGS, to create efficiency somewhere between the then principal technologies, polycrystaline silicon, and monocrystalline silicon cells. PolySi cells were 15 – 18% efficient, and monoSi cells were 20 – 22%. (more…)

  • Digital Transformation and the GOtV efforts

    Digital Transformation and the GOtV efforts

    As I have been focused on the various roles of digital transformation, researching how it affects individuals across the organization, I stumbled on an interesting article in the NY Times that embodied the phenomenon in a way that hadn’t occurred to me.

    This article was around the ground game of the coming election (2016 US Presidential) in Las Vegas Nevada. Shadowing a doorbell ringer, a person who goes door to door to remind people of the importance of voting in the election. An offhand reference to this doorbell ringer consulting her smartphone to find the next target of her efforts. (more…)