Family Filler: A couple of great leftover weekend photos
Posted By RichC on November 4, 2020
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Election Day: Protect your freedom and liberty, vote GOP
Posted By RichC on November 3, 2020
Today is election day and A LOT is on the line when it comes to the governing and political philosophy of the United States. Back in 2016, the promises then candidate Donald Trump, made when running as a new breed of Republican, had to be taken on face value and his words… something I personally had a hard time doing (knowing his personal and business history – let’s just say I was skeptical). Thankfully the 
Democrats put up a deeply flawed and hated candidate, at least by most conservatives and likely Independents and some moderate Democrats. Hillary Clinton was just a bad choice (but it was her turn) and in my opinion gave Donald Trump the chance to win – as he said to African American and Hispanic voters: “What do you have to lose?” Many of us said a prayer, pinched our noses and concluded Trump was worth the risk.
Now in 2020, things are somewhat different. We know what President Donald Trump is capable of doing and how hard he has selflessly worked for this country. We recognize his desire for law and order, ability to negotiate America-First trade deals, bring peace and shockingly even bring troops home while keeping us out of war (even with his tweets and playground rhetoric). About the only universal disappointment is that we have yet to defeat the Coronavirus – who has? Both his economic and foreign policies have been outstanding for our country and he has, unlike most politicians, actually worked to accomplish the things he promised … even judicial appointments that follow the Constitution and aren’t activist judges.
Whether you like Trump’s policies or not, few presidents has have fought uphill, even through a bogus impeachment, and was still able to check-off the promises made to the American people. It became transparent how entrenched bureaucrats in the Washington DC, Hollywood and Wall Street Democrat party donors and liberal mainstream media … along with their monopolistic big tech friends were, and are, working against the Trump administration.
Fast forward to 2020, there is no longer any doubt as to how President Trump will govern, or if his bold tactics can arouse the once dormmate American spirit and well-defined values in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We Americans are free people … and have chosen to limit the power and encroachment of the Federal government when it comes to infringing on a citizens’ rights. It has never been clearer to me than it is now that the Democrat Party no longer believes in an “individuals freedom from government,” but is now fulling embracing the “collective” and using the power the Federal government to push their radical progressive agenda. There once was a day Democrats baulked at the notion that their party was increasingly Socialist, included Marxist ideals or even had Communist leanings … but now they are embracing it by including people shaping their policies who want a progressive and failed system for our country.
Americans need to unite to combat the utopian dream of free everything supplied, regulated and forced on the populace by the government. So many nations have tried socialism and adopted “the wonderful utopian sounding” Stalin Constitution again and again, but every time it fails. The progressive policies eventually impoverish people and oppress millions of people even as those in-charge grab more power; so as long as they maintain authoritarian rule by threat and force the people to suffer.
There’s no happiness without freedom. Those who read the manifestos and nod that it sounds good are naïve … one only needs to look at where ever nation ends up when they go down the socialist path.
Historian J. Arch Getty concludes:
Many who lauded Stalin’s Soviet Union as the most democratic country on earth lived to regret their words. After all, the Soviet Constitution of 1936 was adopted on the eve of the Great Terror of the late 1930s; the “thoroughly democratic” elections to the first Supreme Soviet permitted only uncontested candidates and took place at the height of the savage violence in 1937. The civil rights, personal freedoms, and democratic forms promised in the Stalin constitution were trampled almost immediately and remained dead letters until long after Stalin’s death.
Do you want to live like they did in the USSR .. or in Cuba, Venezuela, etc? How about China or those flirting with increased government control over the people? Nobody is stopping you from going. Check the history of every country who has gone down this path. Every person under this kind of oppression begs to be free. Nobody wants to live under the heavy hand of bureaucrats which has history proves … is inevitable under big authoritarian governments. People beg to come to the United States … not because we have free stuff … but because the individual is free.
I’ve increasingly gravitated to conservative Mark Levin for rejuvenation. His Life, Liberty and Levin program is a must see each weekend for me as I appreciate the deeper interviews political leaders and shapers, thoughtful commentary and history lessons. Last weekend, there was a promo segment for his show that I just had to listen to again … hear are the two short mp3 audio segments. If you love our country, its history and freedom … vote to protect it.
| Mark Levin on Fox and Friends – Part 1 – 5 min | 11/1/2020 |
| Mark Levin on Fox and Friends – Part 2 – 6 min 17 sec | 11/1/2020 |
Music Monday: The passing of an old favorite – Jerry Jeff Walker
Posted By RichC on November 2, 2020
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Waiting for a Halloween updates from my granddaughters
Posted By RichC on November 1, 2020
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Busy early voting and ballot drop-off at the Butler County Board of Election office for the Nov 3, 2020 presidential election
Posted By RichC on October 31, 2020
Brenda and I were unsure about our travel and work schedule for in-person voting, so over a month ago I requested absentee ballots. Since we were out of town in October when our ballots arrived, I decided not to tempt fate or the USPS in getting them back to the Butler County Board of Elections. Instead, I decided to drop them off in person (like half the county I think).
The traffic back up with blocked off streets and police directing traffic was shocking. The string of early voters, likely due to voter interest and COVID19 this year, was very long. Perhaps that means the polls for “in-person day-of” voting won’t be too bad? Anyway, I made my way through the long line of cars and people crossing in order to put our ballots in the drop box … and watched person after person taking a photo as they dropped in their ballot.
Of course that gets one thinking .. “do I need to be sure my vote made it to the actual BOE?” Who knows, I’ve heard way too much about vote tampering and people setting fires to the boxes containing ballots. Anyway, as a paranoid voter, I popped onto the “Where is my ballot?” website to double check (Internet technology can be helpful). Whew, received … but not yet counted.
Tech Friday: Playing with HUGO, a fast static site generator (SSG)
Posted By RichC on October 30, 2020
While doing some “self” tech-oriented education this past week, I ended up distracted after a friend tweeted and shared some information on “static site generators (SSGs)” .. so off down the “HUGO” rabbit hole I went (thanks A LOT Scott, #sarcasm – LINK to his Hugo powered Bilik.Family website).
I’ve never really worked with any SSGs, but have admired just how efficient websites using them can be. 
I’ve either created basic websites a page at a time or worked with Content Management Systems (CMS) … so found the information interesting. What is particularly attractive is just how fast, security and efficient they are in servings up the static web pages once generated. Coming from the pre-high speed Internet days, I’ve always work to keep coding clean, image sizes down and video compressed. I’ve worked with, and mostly tinkered with, different cache options on my CMS sites … so making pages faster is right up my alley.
Anyway, after installing HUGO on one of my Linux boxes (HugoDemo), I started thinking about how these static sight generators might be one of the better options for a Raspberry Pi as a home-based webserver. No real purpose for customers yet, but for me it is still a geeky kind-of fun.
I’ll admit. Hugo still impresses me. Even on my humble ARM processor laptop, it’s fast and light. It have me a new respect for the Go Language.https://t.co/uWAbDNx1ar
— Scott Bilik ツ (@sbilik) October 28, 2020
The 2020 Presidential Campaign season has been ugly
Posted By RichC on October 29, 2020
After all the hate during the 2016 Trump vs Clinton election, most Americans were relieved the contentious campaigning was finally over … but it was not. The political left, assisted by much of the media, celebrities and activists, continued to encourage elected Democrats to fight on, impeach President Trump on fabricated information and “resist” any and everything the president and his administration wanted to accomplish (amazing the administration was so successful in so many areas). President Trump for his part, didn’t go out of his way to mend hurt egos or repair civility … and stood up to the attacks by continuing the adversarial rhetoric as if the 2016 
campaign battle was continuing.
Fast forward to 2020 and we are in the same, if not more, divisive boat. Half the country wants Trump to continue his agenda for 4 more years and half wants him out by any means necessary. Frankly it does not seem to matter to the left who is running against him? I’m not sure they really even care who is running on the opposing ticket?
In my opinion, former VP Joe Biden isn’t the politician he once was when it comes to his cognitive abilities. He, like many at age 78, is slowing down. His 47 years in politics may give him name recognition, but very few can list his leadership accomplishments with a positive tone. He represents the political class in Washington DC (the swamp) and clearly has shifted his positions based on what voter block he is trying to attract. That does not make he unusual as a politician, but should make all voting for him suspect when it comes to where he actually will stand and govern. I’ve concluded that if you want a bigger, more invasive Federal government requiring higher taxes to fund from citizens … then you’ll likely prefer Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Prepare to give more of your money directly or indirectly to the government as well as more of your individual liberties. It is just a fact, if our country votes to move toward to the political left (the Socialist, Marxist, Communist direction), individual citizens will lose freedom.
I’ve never been an “all or none” kind of guy. Without a doubt I support Republicans over Democrats based on philosophical reasoning … but know both parties have huge flaws. Still, as a believer in a smaller Federal government, whose role as I see it, should primarily oversee the security of our nation from foreign and domestic threats. It should create economic stability for free market capitalism to thrive growing jobs and our economy, balance our country’s budget when possible and give our businesses trade, tax and intellectual property protection from each other and especially from competitors on the global stage. Just as I try in my own business and family budget … run a tight ship and don’t waste money. Wherever possible, let states and local governments compete with each other (laboratories of democracy) and let their voters choose how they want to be taxed and serviced in their own communities. Yet I’m not so naïve to know that this requires oversight; we’re all susceptible to wanting more control, being monopolistic and drifting into prejudicial unconstitutional behavior. History shows that this often happens when groups of people or corporations gain control and impose their ways over others for power or money or both.
Never realized how difficult it would be to find an illustration that best represented how “I see” the political spectrum in the United States … this one comes close.
Let’s hope that whichever party gain more power and control in 2020, that they are believers in this country, free people to do the right thing with a little guidance, stand with Constitution and founding principles of our country. I hope they put America and Americans before their political desire for power or desire to reshape the United States.
LA Dodgers win surreal World Series in 2020 #COVID19
Posted By RichC on October 28, 2020
As one newspaper reported, it has been “the weirdest year in baseball history.” The World Series ended Tuesday night with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2020 MLB season’s in game 6 of the World Series. The Tampa Bay Rays were out played with strong pitching by the Dodgers, and although I had totally checked out of the MLB season early on due to polarization the sport over our flag, anthem and protest movement in support of a Marxist-based political organization, I have paid attention to the scores in the playoffs and World Series (just refused to watch – my wimpy protest regarding injecting politics in sports).
After the 3-1 win, the Dodgers gathered on the field for the trophy presentation, but just when I thought the “unattended games” in a neutral field couldn’t get any weirder, we find out that the Dodgers team—third baseman Justin Turner left the game after the seventh inning because of a positive coronavirus test. No explanation for his deparure had been announced while the game was in progress, but yet he still ended up back on the field for the celebration (supposed to have been in isolation).
How fitting to end the 2020 MLB season on a COVID19 note, but my congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for making it to the end of the season … although as a fan, it was hardly a successful or enjoyable one. Let’s hope for a bit more sanity next year.
Ellerie was dedicated at Waterville Community Church
Posted By RichC on October 27, 2020
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Just how many years do you need to be wrong?
Posted By RichC on October 26, 2020
Generally, I prefer not to spread propaganda and campaign advertising, but Americans do need to vote with their eyes open. Not everyone’s family is getting paid millions by the Chinese like the Bidens.
Played this video at today’s rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania—a must watch! pic.twitter.com/BC2h4oZhQp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2020
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.