Open Thread - Friday, August 30, 2019

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The whole value of solitude depends upon one's self; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.
- John Lubbock -

Greetings from the banana republic of funkin' North Carolina.

Coming up on three weeks of no DSL, nor land line! It's a funkin' strange world out there.

I figured out how to use my cell phone with the desk top. In the mean time the phone company is a cluster funk and the fiber optic is not up a running yet.

I intend to change ISP provider. There is a certain allure to abandoning a portion of my digital footprint. I doubt it will take big brother long to re-associate me with my digital profile.

I am down to about fifteen minutes of Internet per day.

Have a great weekend! The thread is OPEN.

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lotlizard's picture

Periodic reminder to everyone regarding the value, or lack thereof, of involving oneself with the Democrats’ candidate selection process:

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/08/reminder-dnc-lawyers-to-court-we...

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@lotlizard

Our federal courts, the ones that our tax dollars support, agreed with the DNC.

The original concept is that a private organization is, well, a private organization: The government has to treat everyone equally. However, we (the government) are not going to force a private citizen, such as you, to hang out with people with whom you don't want to hang out. A balance between equal protection and individual rights, even an individual Ninth and Tenth Amendment right for private citizens to be a bigoted asshole and keep everyone but white people outside of your home, tree house, reading group or whatever.

Next, comes to the SCOTUS a bunch of hippy singles living together in what I assume was a large home. The zoning law limited how many unrelated people could share a home. The Warren Court said, "Hey, people have freedom of association, which means they can live together, if they wish. Your zoning law, being a form of government action, is unconstitutional. Ok. There may have been some legit reasons for that zoning law, but I guess a town could set a limit on number of people per square foot of living quarters, provided the limit were a reasonable health and safety regulation and not intended to keep poor people out of a town.

But to rely on precedents like the ones described above to hold that the process for choosing one of two people who has a realistic shot of being elected POTUS is a purely private matter, like a home or a reading group or a local dart club and therefore does not need to be fair is insane to a flaming level. JMO.

I don't know if any of the DNC lawsuits got to the Supremes and, if not, how the Supremes would have ruled.

Anywayyyyy, as it now stands, the Democratic Party brassily thumbed its nose at its own voters and one or more federal courts put a Constitutional imprimatur on the exact spot where the thumb met said nose.

Please don't start about amending the Constitution to overrule the Court: Neither Republicans nor Democrats in Congress will ever vote for such an amendment and a Constitutional Convention is too damn dangerous, especially now that the Obama era put so many Republicans in control of so many states. The danger is no doubt why there has been no Constitutonal Convention since the one that wrote the Constitution.

So think about the DNC and the federal courts not only during every voting season, but also whenever you pay a federal tax or fee. Maybe even whenever you obey (or disobey) any federal law.

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Raggedy Ann's picture

Happy Friday! The start of a much needed three-day weekend for those of us still toiling outside the home.

With t-mobile, we haven't needed an Internet provider at home. We are now in need of an Internet provider for an old computer we just got working again. I can use my hotspot for our newest computer, but not the older one, sigh. I have no idea what is out there. Anyone got suggestions? We live in a rural area, so.....

Have a fun day and weekend, folks! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

@Raggedy Ann

If your older computer has a USB port you could look into USB-WiFi adapters.

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@Reverend Jane Ignatowski
Many thanks! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Lookout's picture

has really improved my DSL (ADSL2+ model- whatever that means). Of course my ISP made it difficult as possible. They wanted to rent me one for $8/month. I bought one for $32. However they don't let you know what settings to use...so after more than an hour on the phone with them, I finally got the parameters to set it up. And sure enough it really improved my service. Wishing you better service too!

Several folks around here have been pleased with their viasat service. Seems a little pricey, but might be of interest to some of you in remote areas.
https://www.viasatprovider.com/plans-pricing/
I pay $60/mo to my phone company for internet service...$2/day.

Have a great weekend. Those of you in Florida please take care as Dorian bears down.
https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-08-29-hurricane-dorian-wh...

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

ggersh's picture

@Lookout could be a direct hit to Mar a Lago, damn all the
relief money will go to rebuild a biggest, bestest most
fantastic Mar a Lago ever, oh and he won't pay the
builders for doing it.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Raggedy Ann's picture

@ggersh
We, the taxpayer, will have to pay for Maralago to be rebuilt! Sounds fair to me! Herrr Drumpf is so very deserving. Bad

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

earthling1's picture

@Raggedy Ann
separating climate deniers from Federal Disaster relief.
This would be right up the Libertarians alley.
Hell, even the smaller gov Republicans should be all over it.
After all, if CC is a hoax, nothing lost nothing gained.
But.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

orlbucfan's picture

@ggersh about his dimwitted 'drop a nuke' in it. And, of course, Mar-A-Lago getting hit with the storm surge, yadda, yadda, yadda. POX on it! Rec'd, Biker Tim.

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

I think the cost is down to about $60 / month.

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@jbob

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lotlizard's picture

about the REVOLUTIONARY NEW ECOLOGICAL —”

https://comixjoint.com/mothersoats2-sample1.html

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Lookout's picture

...but while I'm here I'll say the comic Lottie posted reminds me of the old zap comics.

And if you've not seen this comic you might enjoy it's historical approach...
http://www.addictedtowar.com/atw1a.html

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

lotlizard's picture

@Lookout  
Wise admonition now: beware of “woke capitalists (and militarists and imperialists)”.

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enhydra lutris's picture

lousy sleep. Recently read where they once quantified effects of sleep deprivation and determined that it doesn't take too much to render one the equivalent of drunk. I think I'm there, heh. ! sleepless night = drunk, ten days of 6 hrs per night also = drunk as does 3 days at only 4 hrs. Of course, on the way there, there are a lot of ways to get 1/2 drunk. All the cognitive impairment with none of the buzz, exactly ass-backwards from what we really need today. (By Claire Maldarelli April 11, 2017 (Pop Sci) : https://www.popsci.com/how-many-hours-sleep-do-you-actually-need/?utm_so...) Dunno if that link works for others, might be too drunk to know Smile

Food for thought - how many of us are drunk how often and how much of the time?

So Tim, no good advice here, maybe drag phone or laptop to some locale with free wifi? Locally Kaiser hospitals have same, go sit in the lab waiting area and who would know. Heh. We, getting out and about as we are wont to do face that issue a lot and haven't really solved it yet. Can't see paying extra money to add option of SSS (shitty sat. service) when traveling and/or having other service go down at home.

Everybody have a good one.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

not good

The candidate would not have to be a saint, but would have to pass minimal tests such as not having spread bigoted conspiracy theories himself.

Walsh by his own admission cannot pass that test: He repeatedly and falsely claimed that President Barack Obama was a Muslim, and treated it as a mark against him. He has repudiated those remarks, which is laudable. It would also be laudable if he confined himself to a supporting role in any campaign against Trump.

Sanford is a closer case. His infidelity to his former wife should not by itself be disqualifying, I think, especially against Trump. It does, however, undermine his ability to critique Trump. Perhaps more important, he seems inclined to run a campaign based on entitlement reform: a good and important cause, but not the top issue for most Trump opponents or any other large number of voters.

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