Greybeard's Rants

Out of the fear and panic of Covid, came ESG and DEI.  Arising from Europe’s stakeholder philosophy, brought across the sea by big investors, BlackRock and others.  Enabled by cancel culture forbidding free speech.  Entrenched by big tech, as Facebook and Twitter deplatformed anyone brave enough to speak of these things.  Joined by BLM and Defund the Police, movements dedicated to creating and maintaining racial division.  Exhorted by failed corporate media, longing for the power they once had.

Corporations were suddenly threatened with boycotts if they didn’t toe the ESG and DEI lines.  Compliance offices were opened in corporate headquarters across the nation.   Millions of dollars were wasted on DEI training and ESG priorities, in opposition to investor interests.  BLM badges showed up on corporate websites across the internet.

The US Federal Government, under Joe Biden’s neglect, went all in.  I think it was mostly Jill, wanting to be invited to the best parties with the European socialites.  Who really knows, but under Biden, the USGOV implemented ESG and DEI across the vast bureaucracy. 

Thanks to Elon Musk, freedom of speech was restored on Twitter.  We can finally talk about this garbage, and not be shut down because of it.  Cancel culture got itself canceled.  With great effort, Donald Trump won a 2^nd term, and he started unrolling the Biden era lapse in sanity.  It’s contagious, this newfound sanity… Facebook came along, as did many of the big American company boardrooms. Unfortunately, the big international concerns aren’t joining in on the fun.

Bud Light spotlighted the problem.  Here’s a great American company, with a product that’s as American as apple pie… now owned by a multinational company with roots in Europe.  They still haven’t admitted that what they did was wrong.  As long as Anheuser Bush remains part of InBev, I don’t believe they’ll ever recover the staggering market losses they’ve suffered.

Add Harley Davidson to the mix.  Their German CEO, with his background in sustainability, kicks his American customers in the teeth with his support of ESG and DEI causes, vowing to go ‘all electric’ at HD, and managing to alienate the most brand loyal customers in the nation.  They’ve rolled back some, but never admitted fault.  Zeitz is still there… and as long as he is, their financial troubles will continue. I, for one, won't be buying HD again while Zeitz is around.

As part of ‘Make America Great Again’, bringing manufacturing back to the USA, we need to consider restoring American ownership to great American brands.  I’m not talking about a Tic-Toc sort of ultimatum, just saying that our great US brands will prosper more under US ownership, with US friendly policies and leadership.  

This case is making it look likely that the SCOTUS is going to overturn Chevron Deference.  That puts an end to unelected federal agencies being able to interpret laws to mean whatever these bureaucrats want them to mean, and having the courts defer to agency opinion.  Great. 

Chevron Deference has been used for the last 40 years to regulate every aspect of our lives, without our elected officials having had to actually vote for unpopular changes to the law.  No need, let whatever agency make a rule.  Want to ban pistol braces, but don’t have the votes?  BATFE just makes a new rule, forget what they said last week, you’re all felons now.  Want to regulate who can fly a drone and where?  FAA to the rescue, no need to debate the subject in congress.  Want to ban gas appliances?  FTC can handle that, no need for you, senator, to defend your vote during the next election cycle.

Just theorizing here…. In 1986, William Hughes got a last minute amendment passed that states:

‘Except as provided in P2, it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun.’

‘(2) This subsection does not apply with respect to (a) a transfer to or by, or possession by or under the authority of, the United States or any department or agency thereof”

Many folks thought, at the time… Machineguns have been regulated since 1934, and all legal transfers of machineguns since that date have occurred under the authority of the BATFE.  The new law doesn’t change anything.

Except… that’s not what the BATFE interpreted the new law as. They decided that this ambiguous sentence means no more registration of machineguns.  Under Chevron, nobody can argue with the bureaucrat’s interpretation of the law.  Register closed.  No right to appeal to the courts, they simply defer to the agency.

If Chevron is overturned, could I submit a form 4 and the appropriate tax to the BATFE to register an AR lower, and file a lawsuit when they deny my application?   I’m doing just as the law says, submitting my form to register a new machinegun through the appropriate federal agency, attempting to pay my tax, as legally required

Too late?

I wake this morning, to hear that Hunter Biden’s lawyer called the court, mis-represented himself as a member of the opposing law team, and asked to have all the evidence submitted to the court opposing the plea removed from evidence.

This guy needs to be disbarred, but let’s think this through.  Hunter made a sweetheart deal with the DOJ, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor on what should have been felony charges, and totally dropping a federal firearms felony that would cost anyone else in this country five years in the pen.  A friend of the court motion was submitted, suggesting that the judge might want to review the mountain of evidence against Hunter before accepting the sweetheart deal.  Hunter has his lawyer LIE TO THE COURT, saying that he was on the team that submitted the evidence to the court, and asking that it be scrubbed.

Perjury.  No other way to see it.  Perjury in a federal case usually gets you that five years in the pen.  Judge can’t ignore this, can he?

I don’t know.  Maybe he can.  At this point, in this once great nation… maybe he can. 

At this point, from the left’s point of view, Trump Derangement Syndrome would suggest that anything…

ANYTHING

… that can be done to keep Trump, and Trump’s supporters, out of office is acceptable.

Trump was impeached for requesting that Ukraine investigate Biden’s involvement in shutting down investigation of Burisma.  Remember Biden bragging about withholding a billion dollars unless Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating Burisma?  That was fine… but Trump asking to investigate it resulted in Trump being charged with the same thing that Biden was guilty of, and had bragged about. 

Trump’s home was invaded by gun toting FBI thugs, because he had some classified documents in his home.  Every president leaving office in recent memory has ended up inadvertently taking classified documents home.  Biden has had classified documents in his home since he was a senator.  Bush?  Sure.  Obama? Yup, him too.  None were subjected to a pre-dawn raid by armed feds… but it’s Trump, so that’s OK.

There’s a mountain of evidence that the Biden family has been selling influence to foreign nationals for years.  Bank transactions, multiple shell corporations, eyewitness testimony, computer records… Enough evidence that, were the culprit on the other side, he’d have been charged with a bucket load of felonies long ago.  But it’s Biden.  Can’t charge him… we might end up re-electing Trump. 

Lying, when it’s done to suppress Trump, is fine.  We’ve had several years of interference by the government in our free speech, suppressing the Hunter Biden story, talking about the vaccine, evidence on Wuhan lab… all of these stories were worth discussing, none of it was foreign interference, yet any mention of these things would get you banned from social media.  At the request of the FBI and DOJ… who are prevented by the bill of rights from interfering with freedom of speech.  No problem.  It was done to get Biden elected… had to do something, Trump might have won!

So... lying is fine.  Perjury… which is simply lying to a court… same thing, right?  Having your pet prosecutor stretch the law to charge Trump with a felony for what should have been a misdemeanor, even if he had done it? Sure.  Locking up people who protested on Jan 6?  Of course.  Charging any of the left wing lunatics that quite literally BURNED DOWN OUR CITIES in support of BLM and Antifa?  Of course not.  That was mostly peaceful protests, remember? 

We’ve got corruption spilling out of DC faster than illegals coming across the southern border.

 

From the left’s point of view, it’s all fine.  Nothing to see here.  Media isn’t going to cover it.  It’s all being done to keep Trump in his place, so it’s all fine.  A criminal action, in support of a goal as noble as keeping MAGA down, isn’t really a crime at all. It’s justified.

Are we too late?  Is it even possible to get our country back?  As entrenched as the socialist left is at this point… in the DC swamp, our schools and colleges, DEI in investment and business…. Can it be done?  I just don’t know anymore.

Ok, I see a few things that give me hope.  Many of the recent SCOTUS rulings are positive, 2A rights, free speech, freedom of religion… they finally figured out that the word ‘abortion’ does not appear in the constitution.  Bud Light is now number 14.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care about Dylan Mulvaney, but like most Americans, I don’t want that crap in my face while I’m enjoying the game. DEI seems to be falling out of favor in corporate America.  There’ve been a few other encouraging signs… but it’s a very small minority.

Here's the deal.  I have no doubt that Freedom will win in the end.  I can see it no other way.  Problem is… we may have gone too far to recover without bloodshed. 

I pray that I’m wrong.

There are two sexes.  Male and Female.  Anything biologically inconsistent with that fact are either rare, unfortunate deformity, or mutilation, intentional or not.

Ok, that out of the way?  I can hear the screaming already.  Dislike that fact all you want, it remains a fact.  Note I said sexes, not genders.  You want to make up a dozen or so more genders?  Fine.  Just don’t expect me to support your illusions.

I don’t care what consenting adults do in their own homes.  Don’t care if people of disparate sexual preferences live together, and they should be able to get married… provided they can find someone who doesn’t mind performing such a ceremony.  Freedom of religion and all… forcing some Baptist minister to perform a ceremony abhorrent to his beliefs is wrong, as is forcing a baker to make a cake for the event.

I don’t care if you want to cross dress, but doing so does not make you a woman.  You wanna wear a dress so that you can compete in woman’s sports?  Nope.  Sorry.  You made a choice not to live as your biological reality, fine, but sports, dorm rooms, public rest rooms, and other such places should depend on your current biological sex.  On the cross dressing thing…. Why is it that cross dressers seem to want to share their gender illusions with young children?  Why on earth would I want some queen confusing my 7-year-old about gender at a library?  Why would said queen WANT to read to young children… unless it’s for recruitment purposes. That, I very much disagree with. 

I don’t care that Bud Light supported Dylan Mulvaney, or whatever company made whatever the latest outrageous commercial, or whatnot.  Don’t care.  Also, I don’t want to be preached at by my beer company, or my newscaster, or my sports commentator, about gender dystopia.  Yes, I vote with my dollars.  I don’t buy Bud Light… but I haven’t done so in years.  I like to buy local, or at least American when I can.  I don’t buy InBev, unless I’ve got no choice.  Got nothing to do with Dylan.  If Bud wants to advertise in crossdressers magazine, fine with me.  Want to brag about doing so during a football game commercial?  Deal with the consequences.

You do you.  You want to identify as a fuzzy lizard?  Fine with me.  You want me to use your pronouns?  No, thanks.  Just as you have the right to be you, I have the right to be me.  In no way am I responsible for supporting your illusions.  Going a step further, telling my kids, at elementary school ages, that not supporting your illusions is going to be punished in school?  Worse yet, that perhaps THEY’D like to explore the possibility of identifying as something they’re not…  I’d pull my kids outa public school so fast it’d make your head spin. 

What’s the Durham report really say?  Collusion between the Clinton campaign, the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, social media, and the mainstream media attempted to portray Donald Trump as ‘Hitler’… in an effort to elect Hillary Clinton.  They failed.  Barely.  

What did the Durham report _not_ say?  The efforts of those groups did not end with Trumps election.  They simply shifted focus to undermining his presidency.  Russia this, corruption that, Trump is Hitler, impeachment. Hunter’s Laptop?  Burry it!  Get the CIA to write a letter… 50 agents say the laptop is Russian dis-information.  Biden quoted them during the debate… and got away with it. 

The FBI, CIA, DOJ, IRS, social media, and mainstream media carefully manipulated the information available to voters.  This time, it worked.

 

Time to drain the swamp.

Remember that name, it's going to be a very important for all of us that believe in personal freedom. 

A little background: Back in the 80’s, under Regan, a minor case was decided in error.  Chevron v. National Resources Council.  Prior to that decision, the legislature made the law, the courts interpreted it, and the president carried out those laws.  The concept of Chevron Deference said that unelected, faceless bureaucracy could now re-interpret laws to mean what they want them to mean.  Groups like the EPA, FTC, DHS, AG… and let’s not forget, BATFE.  All their regulatory power relies on reinterpretation of laws made long ago. 

The EPA's ever changing emissions regs for the auto industry?  Their ever evolving wetlands regulations?  Both based on old laws passed by congress, but ever evolving, ever changing, without congress needing to do a thing.  The BATFE banning bump stocks, force reset triggers, pistol braces, etc?  All based on the NFA and GCA.  Laws passed generations ago, but still evolving, under ever changing definitions arbitrarily set by faceless bureaucracy.  No need to make unpopular votes in congress… just let the bureaucracy make the rules.

No more.  Loper Bright Ent v. Raimondo.  In something less than a year, Chevron Deference will be a memory.  Bad law, finally corrected.  Remember Obama saying how he didn't need congress, as long as he had a phone and a pen?  This is what he was referring to.  He didn't need congress to make a law, just call the proper bureaucracy and have them change some rules, presto, new regulations.

The state of Maine, forcing fisherman to pay the salaries of the inspectors forced on them by regulation, is going to put an end to 40 years of bureaucratic overreach.  

I'm not sure... sometimes I think it's hopeless, that we've already lost this once great nation... and then something like this happens.  Renews my sense of optimism.  Gets me to thinking maybe there's still time.

First, short circuit the drama… I’m fine.  No injury, beyond a bit of bruising.  Just a close call.

I built a ‘cap’ for our well house a few years back.  Treated 2x4’s, treated ½” plywood, ridged foam insulation, topped with leftover painted steel from our roof.  Sturdy… and heavy.  Since the day I built it, I’ve struggled moving the thing.  Couple hundred pounds, anyway.

A few weeks ago, I installed a whole house water filter in the well house.  Works great, but now I’ve got another reason to get into that well house regularly.  Since we filled our pool from the well, I drastically shortened the lifespan of the first round of filters.  Bought a new set and was going to install them yesterday.  Also got the bright idea to put some stainless-steel handles on the well cap. Make it a bit easier to move around.

So, I attached the handles, and was moving the well cap aside so I could change out the filters…. Placed my hands, facing down, through the handles.  Directly above, is a 3” drip edge of the steel roofing.  I start sliding the cap towards me, it over balances… and heads for the ground. Pinching my hands between the handles and the edge of the steel roofing, with the weight of the cap behind it. 

I suddenly had visions of pulling up bloody stumps where my hands were.

I basically yanked, pulling my hands free as fast as possible, just before the well cap hit the ground. Deep creases across the back of both hands.  I had to stand there, waiting to see if they were going to start bleeding, or not.  Happily, they didn’t.  A few hours, some cold compresses, and the steel edge marks started to fade.  It’s morning now, hands are bruised, stiff, sore, but in tact.

I think I'm going to build a new well cap next weekend. 2x2 frame, foam board, and a lightweight plastic top.  Ultra-light, no steel guillotine edges.  

Fifteen months, from initial design, to this:

 

I noted when I went to look for it that John Ross's website is offline.  John's written many wonderful things, but one that I simply can't let go is is article on the S&W .500 magnum revolver.  Found it on the wayback machine, and am hosting it here.

 

John, if you see this, and don't want me hosting it, let me know, and I'll take it down.  Otherwise, it'll be here when it's needed :)

 

http://www.midkiff.us/maghist.pdf

As a longtime Trek fan, I wanted to review my thoughts, and writing them out helps me do so.  If anyone actually reads this, well… it’s just my thoughts… feel free to comment.  Or not.  Just FYI:  There isn’t a moment of Star Trek, TV or Movie, that I’ve not seen, several times over.  I’m a fan, not one so engrossed that I dressed my kids up as ST characters for Halloween, but a fan.

On the network:  CBS, beginning this series after a football game, starting late, in an era of DVR… great idea.  Not since the opening of Firefly has a TV premier been so badly screwed up.  Forcing people to watch 15 minutes of Opra talking politics before we can enjoy a brand new SciFi series, and then cutting off the end...  Stupidity?  Or simply a badly designed ploy to get folks to subscribe to CBS All Access? 

Carrying that thought a bit further, making episode 2 available immediately, on said subscription service… That was probably a much better method of attracting attention to your streaming service.  Doesn’t piss people off near as much.  Worked for me… I subscribed, though I still intend to unsubscribe before I get charged.  I doubt I’m going to find enough of interest to me to keep paying $6, or $10… since if I did keep the service, I’d likely take the commercial free option.

Pre-title Klingon sequence… having to read, and read quickly (I missed a few words), every word uttered by a Klingon during this show stinks.  The well-used method of ‘fading’ Klingonese into English works… let’s take advantage of that, please.  Klingon makeup rework… well, it’s not the first time, is it 😊  Not sure if I like it, or not. Heavy enough to make facial expressions impossible to read.  Still, it’s a cool look.  Need some time to decide on this one.

Title sequence:  Awful.  Hate the animated sketch board theme.  Worst effort in a ST series yet (my previous worst was Enterprise’s CGI expose, flybys from every angle they could imagine).  Maybe they intend to change it to past episode scenes as they move along?  We can only hope.

Music:  Pretty good.  Reminiscent of many prior efforts.  Not obtrusive, anyway.  Beat the heck out of Enterprise, with its ‘guaranteed to make you reach for the fast forward button’ theme song.

Characters:  So far so good.  Love the Capitan… you know, the one they’ve killed off already?  I know, the story isn’t about her, but I’m hoping for some flashbacks featuring her in the future.  A seven-foot-tall science officer that appears to be afraid of his own shadow?  Him I won’t miss.  I’m assuming, from what I’ve seen so far, Michael Burnham is about the only character we’ve seen so far that is going to be featured throughout the show.  I wouldn’t have picked Sasha as Trek material, but hey, pretty girl, did a good job in a difficult opener… I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Story:  Klingons making war.  An argument can be made for beating a dead horse, but hey, with substantial changes to the species, some surprises may be in order.  I’m game.  Mutiny.  Not exactly unexplored territory on this one either.  Hasn’t every captain that has yet sat in the chair has tried that one, at some point in their career? Not in episode one, I suppose, and up till now, it’s generally been rapidly forgiven, what with saving the universe and everything, but it seems as if this one is going to follow Michael around for a while.  I’m in on this one too. 

Graphics, direction, writing, special effects, etc:  Right in line with what I was expecting, what with the reboot of Kirk in the movies (which I love, by the way).  Bright shiny reflective surfaces to excess, good use of CGI, storytelling has been excellent, through what, an hour and a half?  Keep it up… and avoid the cliché time traveling and alternate universe storylines… we’ll all thank you.

Looking forward to Episode 3 😊