Looking Forward to November When I Can Say...
Donald Trump, You're Fired
I just finished watching some Faux News clips of Hannity and others complaining about Dr. Fauci. They just became aware that he's not an elected official. Shocking! Of course, the buffoon they support is the guys who kind of put him up front. Remember back when it was candidate Trump? He knew all the best people. We were going to have the best administration with the best minds. Obviously, that didn't happen as the doors in the West Wing are now revolving. How many of those best people have been indicted? I stopped counting after six. Everyone he's hired is a great American. Top of their field. Until they disagree or contradict the Don, then suddenly their IQ drops a hundred points and Trumps says "I've heard some very bad things about him/her." He sure doesn't seem to do a very good job vetting people. Explains a lot about his business background, failed Universities, lack of understanding of macroeconomics, strategy, monetary and fiscal policy, rudimentary physics, basic math and last, but most certainly not least, geography. (Hint Don, Colorado shares a border with New Mexico not Mexico and Kansas City is in Missouri.)
Don, you are so fired after this November. I just wonder that if and when you do lose if you will give up power or if you and Mitch McConnel will call on your base to stage a coup and claim that the election has been rigged. I can already see you are working on laying the ground work for that on Twitter already. Putin must be so proud of you. As a reward, maybe he'll find you a nice, younger, Russian bride.
Another Semester Down
Another semester is in the rearview mirror now. I have one final left to take in Macroeconomics, but I've studied for it and I feel prepared. So far I have all A's in my other classes and as long as I don't score below a 40 on this last exam I should manage another 4.0 semester.
Looking forward there is a short break before summer classes begin and I have quite a lot on my plate to accomplish. Replacing the carpet with laminate flooring for a start, and there are some areas around the house that are due for re-caulking and repainting. Perhaps I will find the time to learn my new photo editing software, brush up on C# so I'm ready for that course, and maybe even get a few more words written in the ongoing story of the Witch Queen of Perrenland. Hence the inspiration and the meaning behind the Snoopy cartoon posted here.
Congratulations Class of 2020
To all those who have missed out on one of the most special moments of their lives, I just want to say congratulations on your graduation and your accomplishments. The future is in your hands. Please don't screw it up and worse than team Trump already has. Sorry that you're going to inherit such a mess.
Garbage Math
An xkcd Mathematical Explanation of Twitter and Trump
I can't stand to read Twitter feeds right now. Especially anything coming from the White House. Of course many other feeds right now are also starting to contain a lot of noise. Seems every little thing has to be made into a huge issue.
Here is what bothers me the most. For decades both Republicans and Democrats have disagreed on courses of action and especially where social programs and expanded government come into play. Republicans have typically been more individual and states rights, hawkish on Russia and China, and more limited government. They have been fiercely protective of our democracy and opposed expanded power of the executive branch. Often, they were highly critical of communist regimes and pointed to the unanimous victories of the leaders as proof that the elections were rigged or only for show. So I find it ironic (I consider myself a Reagan Republican) that today's Republican party seems to have no issues with a president who has claimed total authority, stated he is the law of the land, that whatever he needs to do to be re-elected is in the best interest of the country, and threatened that there would be "riots in the streets" if he's not re-elected has not raised any red flags or set off alarm bells. In fact, quite the opposite. Many people seem to be just fine with that. That doesn't even address his disdain and mistrust of our intelligence services and accepting of Russia's, China's, and North Korea's. His supporters claim he's draining the swamp. I say he's just changing the water.
I expect that at the end of the year Don will win a second term. During which time he will focus on abolishing term limits so he can serve until death. The KGB plan outlined in New Lies for Old seems to be much closer to being realized now than in 1989. I'm glad Ronald Reagan isn't around to see the destruction of the nation he and so many others fought to build. A nation that I dedicated twenty-six years of my life in the cause of defending its constitution and way of life, which Trump, Cruz, McConnel and others have subverted and turned into the very thing we fought to prevent it from becoming; a totalitarian state where the Party (now the Republican party) is the State and only official news from the Supreme Leader is through State media (Fox).
The sad thing is there was a time when something like this virus would have pulled us all together not as Republicans and Democrats but as Americans. Not any more. Trump has taken Bush's "You're either with us or against us" and turned it inward and used it to divide and tear a country apart.
All for what I wonder?
Registration
Managed to get registered for yet another semester of school. Several, actually. Taking courses all year so I managed to get Visual Programming lined up for the summer sessions. The fall schedule isn't ideal as it means having to drive to San Marcos every single day. I should have had this degree done, but with all the extra requirements, because this is a BBA degree and not a BS like it was with University of Maryland University College, I've ended up with almost having taken another three years of courses. It's a good thing that I like Texas State and I miss being on campus. I hope that this pandemic is more or less through by the time the Fall semester starts. Doing all this work online, and from home where I am constantly interrupted, isn't very much fun.
Covid-19
On extended break from University right now. I'm trying to go back over everything I have studied up until this point to keep it fresh in my mind. At my age, you tend to forget new information rather quickly if you don't use it or do something to retain it. I'm hoping that the weather forecast is right and that the rain will move out after today so I can at least get some morning bike rides in. Maybe I will somehow manage to make my 2020 miles for 2020 after all. Inn the meantime, I hope that everyone remains safe and healthy and at least 2 meters away.
2020
The Final Year of the Decade
Well, we are finally at the end of a decade, not the start of one. At least if you are following the Gregorian calendar. If you don't believe me then check the article by Farmer's Almanac. You can also check the U.S. Naval Observatory as well. They addressed the issue back in 1999 when everyone believed that the year 2000 was the start of the next millenium rather than the end of one.
XKCD
By Far My Favorite Comic for Years
I have been reading XKCD since al least 2004, perhaps a little longer. To really get the entire comic you need to hover the mouse over the comic and wait for the mouse-over text to appear. It helps if you are a fast reader. The author used to have a really cool tag line with a rather condescending reference to liberal arts majors.
In any case, here is to another year of XKCD. By the way, the decade isn't over until