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I used to fly a lot on business trips.  Without the commentary about doing the biz trips (No, not glamorous and not “touristy” that many think it is), I had piled up a lot of frequent flier miles.  While most of them were earned (and used) on United, I do/did have a smattering of miles on different airline left over – just not enough to use for an actual trip.  So, I get offers to turn in some of the miles for magazine subscriptions.

Sidenote: capitalism at its best – I voluntarily trade something that has little worth to me for something that holds much more value in the form of reading materials.  A win-win situation!

Well, this time I decided to try out Real Simple.  Now, I know it is a “womens magazine” having never read it before the first issue made it to my mailbox – I won’t try it again (I don’t fit their demographic, obviously) and will know not to spend my time reading it.  The other reason was when I read the Editor’s Note which made clear the obvious philosophical difference:

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“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small,but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”

– President Barack Obama, Inauguration, 1/20/09

“Taxpayers trust, and expect, that IRS employees, as a whole, will safeguard their most sensitive personal information“

And the story:

Federal officials today announced arrests and charges in a stolen identity tax-refund scheme believed to involve more than $1 million in false claims and run by an IRS employee who was supposed to be assisting taxpayers experiencing problems resulting from identity theft.

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And that, pretty much, sums up most government programs that some person, sometimes of a good heart but lately of a political ideology, demand that others have to pay for (financially or otherwise) to make them feel good.  Because they have influenced politicians or bureaucrats “to do something” instead of doing the hard work of the actual doing themselves, I brand them hypocrites.  But that’s what we’ve gone to, this land called America; instead of the Can-Do people, it’s getting all but a done deal of “Get-Others-To-Do-It-For-Me” slackers.  What, ME go out and do the work of getting others to donate to or join me in the work?  That, that, that…..that’s too hard (er, “you mean *I* have to do it myself??”).

From Cafe Hayek in this same vein on minimum wage consequences (emphasis mine):

This minimum wage stuff is a head-fake; silly diversions so that political do-gooders can think highly about themselves, safe from any of the consequences.

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At the head end of this Primary, the Establishment was all but crowning Jeb Bush as the Republican nominee.  Heavy weights (and heavy wallets) all came to him and much was made that NO one could withstand the latest scion of the Bush Dynastic Family reputation or money machine.  Yeah, this is why we play the game – and thus far, we can tell who is playing the better game

Snot Shot – Jeb: “You’re never going to be president of the United States by insulting your way to the presidency”

Reality Chaser – Trump: “Let’s see I’m at 42 and you’re at 3”

And now:

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TANSTAFFL – There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.  No matter what it is, SOMEone has to pay when some service or product is consumed.  The only question is who will get the bill.  That said, it seems like the Republican elected officials want us to either:

• Not watch their hands while they play the Political 3-card Monte shill game on us
• Actually want us to believe that they are most able to suspend this most basic Law of Economics.

Or both.  I grow weary of the political charades by which Republican elected officials tell us things, contrary to any kind of common-sense, basic language skills, logical reasoning and the Platform, and in which we know is deliberately false.  Not only that, but for journalists that don’t bother to challenge them on these falsehoods to the point that I don’t know who is whose lapdog and sycophant.

Like this nitwittery of the Kabuki Republican Theater (reformatted, emphasis mine):

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“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small,but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”

– President Barack Obama, Inauguration, 1/20/09

Nope, still ain’t workin’. That would be one justice system for us little people and another one for Government workers within the Obama Administration. To wit:

Justice Dept. declines to prosecute VA fraudsters

A pair of Department of Veterans Affairs officials who defrauded the VA for $400,000 will not face any criminal charges, despite an inspector general’s request that they both face a criminal investigation.  In an inspector general report made public in September, Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves were both accused of manipulating a VA program meant to ease the strain of moving agency employees between cities. The watchdog referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a criminal inquiry.

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Cultural Appropriation – what a nonsense idea!  It’s all the rage with the PC college campi and Social Justice Warrior jihadists in that one culture (generally white because RACISM!) decides to seriously or lightheartedly take some aspect of an oppressed (generally non-white because RACISM!) culture (oops, I just appropriated “jihad” from a culture that is not my own).  Like simply using their language (“putz”) or some other artifact (eg. that college president that threw a Mexican party where attendees donned sombreros, wore fake mustaches, and probably sang “Ay yay yay yay, I am the Frito Bandito”) – oh, the absolute horror of it all!

Well, in this light, I thought this was just grand, in the lane of “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” (reformatted, emphasis mine):

 Speaking of cultural appropriation, keep your mitts off mine. OK, fair is fair. As a white Christian, I won’t eat halal. I won’t eat Thai. I’ll even give up General Tso, which is something I actually do eat.  Now give me back the polio vaccine. It is part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It was developed by Jews (there are two vaccines).

Also, give back pasteurized milk.

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That would be former DNC Chair, Clintonista bundler and current Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) who ran on putting in place severe gun control and restrictions.  Well, he did get elected but the Republican Legislature denied him that action but did do some Executive Orders a la “Obama’s pen and phone”.  So, in a pique, his Attorney General (D) unilaterally decided that he would sever almost all reciprocity agreements concerning firearm carry laws.

This has not set well with the Republican Legislature – along the lines of if McAuliffe doesn’t like people having guns and has gone out of his way to deny them best he can, well (reformatted, emphasis mine):

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This caught my eye over at Big Government:

On January 1, California residents will have to accustom themselves to a number of new laws that will be implemented in the state. These are some the laws that will likely have the most profound effect:

SB 172: High school seniors will receive their diploma whether or not they pass or even take an exit exam; the law also applies retroactively to students who have graduated since 2004;

And I thought it was bad enough when former NH Governor John Lynch decided to turn around our high school dropout rate simply by redefining the age at which students could drop out of school.  I blogged about

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