tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.comments2024-03-18T19:39:32.100-06:00Gus Van HornGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger12933125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-58110973002177272082024-02-26T12:21:53.559-06:002024-02-26T12:21:53.559-06:00Dinwar,
Thanks for mentioning that.
I'll sto...Dinwar,<br /><br />Thanks for mentioning that.<br /><br />I'll stop by there the next time I'm curious about those goings-on.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-74928171346775513542024-02-26T11:25:57.637-06:002024-02-26T11:25:57.637-06:00Regarding Trump's trials: The YouTube channel ...Regarding Trump's trials: The YouTube channel "Legal Eagle" has been pretty good at providing the legal aspects of those trials. He doesn't fully keep his politics out of the discussion, but at least he's diligent about differentiating personal opinion from his opinion as a lawyer and from facts about the legal process. Well worth taking a look at if you have some time and are interested in a behind-the-curtain look at the trial (the lawyer is not involved, merely commenting, but he IS a trial lawyer so has an expert's perspective). Dinwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06138006602385020048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-91610710304957366372024-02-15T07:07:35.473-06:002024-02-15T07:07:35.473-06:00Dinwar,
I do know about that!
We considered Mob...Dinwar,<br /><br />I do know about that! <br /><br />We considered Mobile for relocation and learned about their Mardi Gras that way.<br /><br />And yes, part of what I like about Mardi Gras is its focus on the here and now.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-56231682696069034932024-02-14T16:46:57.868-06:002024-02-14T16:46:57.868-06:00As a Bama resident, I am obliged to point out that...As a Bama resident, I am obliged to point out that New Orleans stole the idea from Alabama. ;) (I grew up in the North, so I can't quite say "from us") <br /><br />I think Mardi Gras is more of an anti-religious holiday. Lent is a period of privation, and people started celebrating in spite of that. I know at least two of the priests around where I grew up hated the celebration because they viewed it as contrary to the intent of Lent. It's sort of like how some people started drinking on principle during Prohibition, though. One cannot help but admire the spirit that says "If I must suffer, I'm damn well going to enjoy myself until then!" Dinwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06138006602385020048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-68364985370681404642024-02-07T09:08:07.371-06:002024-02-07T09:08:07.371-06:00That is true, and I agree that drugs should be leg...That is true, and I agree that drugs should be legalized.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-3611046895846002382024-02-06T16:41:00.182-06:002024-02-06T16:41:00.182-06:00Decriminalize too IS prohibition. Under both it is...Decriminalize too IS prohibition. Under both it is legal to use that which is illegal to obtain. Decriminalization is a step forward but not from prohibition. At least use is legal.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15311305913265741194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-39530998839190371542024-01-30T12:27:07.329-06:002024-01-30T12:27:07.329-06:00Thanks!Thanks!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-7185546869248491052024-01-30T11:51:54.180-06:002024-01-30T11:51:54.180-06:00"If the Constitution does not restrain the go..."If the Constitution does not restrain the governments of the individual states as much as it does the federal government, it is useless as a protection of our individual rights."<br /><br />Amen! Well said!John Shepardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424458889560274756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-55094143077862408512024-01-20T04:29:25.273-06:002024-01-20T04:29:25.273-06:00Shea,
I agree, and thank you for pointing out the...Shea,<br /><br />I agree, and thank you for pointing out the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2023/12/23/is-new-york-forcing-all-chick-fil-as-to-open-sunday-not-exactly-what-to-know-as-lindsey-graham-declares-war/" rel="nofollow"><i>Forbes</i> piece</a>.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-19702258625232759192024-01-18T16:40:02.432-06:002024-01-18T16:40:02.432-06:00Dinwar and C.,
You both give good examples of whe...Dinwar and C.,<br /><br />You both give good examples of when it <i>does</i> make sense to park front-out: Emergency responders do indeed nee fast egress and some types of vehicles are unsuited for backing out compared to regular cars or small trucks. It's a shame that the one time C. relaxed his guard, he got dinged (figuatively, by the guy who purposely got dinged, literally).<br /><br />I do agree with Dinwar that it is a foolish policy to treat EVERY situation like an emergency.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-37837549339252918332024-01-18T16:31:43.048-06:002024-01-18T16:31:43.048-06:00That is nuts. At the very least, citizens should b...That is nuts. At the very least, citizens should be off the hook when the agency going after them SAID WHAT THEY DID is fine.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-50088382300967428372024-01-18T15:35:07.978-06:002024-01-18T15:35:07.978-06:00Hi Gus,
A friend of mine whose family deals with ...Hi Gus,<br /><br />A friend of mine whose family deals with commercial real estate had donated a large building to a charitable cause and because of the cost of the building and the write-off involved, they had gone to IRS for confirmation that what they had done and how they had written it off was in accord with IRS practices. <br /><br />Fast forward 20 years. <br /><br />The IRS disallowed the deduction despite their paperwork indicating that it conformed with standard IRS practices and charged the company for back taxes that had been offset by the charitable donation, plus penalties and interest for the ensuing 20 years. <br /><br />Back in the 1980s, Solzhenitsyn said that the IRS was the closest thing that the United States had to the KGB BECAUSE of their complete lack of accountability. <br /><br />I'm of the opinion that one of the ways we could best defend liberty is to remove the idea of immunity from government actors. Because they are never held to account by the system of which they are a part, there should be room for civil action against malefactors hiding behind a gov't position. <br /><br />c andrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-16195217412517910562024-01-18T15:25:20.138-06:002024-01-18T15:25:20.138-06:00Hi Gus,
I'm a delivery driver with a fixed ro...Hi Gus,<br /><br />I'm a delivery driver with a fixed route and nearly always back into a parking space if I can't drive forward through two of them to face outwards. <br /><br />On one occasion, I did pull into a parking space facing forward as there was a vehicle behind me that I did not want to inconvenience. I made the delivery, and as I was leaving I realized that the mid-morning sun reflecting off of my back window so brightly that I could not see anything thru my rear view mirror. <br /><br />I got out of the truck, walked around behind the vehicle, verified that no one was behind, got back in my truck and used my two side view mirrors to commence backing out. <br /><br />Crunch!<br /><br />By the time that I had walked the 5 feet back to my door, I had a fellow who had parked in a thoroughfare directly behind me where I couldn't see him with my side view mirrors. I believe that it was a deliberate act as the only damage I did was to his rear door handle and he tried to hold up my insurance company for thousands in damage. Fortunately, the insurance company refused the extortion and only replaced his door. <br /><br />I make it a policy to back into parking spaces if I can't pull through and am willing to wait for traffic to clear in order to do so. <br /><br />c andrew<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-44922073965680665872024-01-18T10:13:14.818-06:002024-01-18T10:13:14.818-06:00I've had safety officers on jobsites require u...I've had safety officers on jobsites require us to do this as a safety precaution. It's faster to pull out of a space forward than it is to back out of a space, and if there's an emergency you need to save time however you can. After a while it becomes a habit, which is the intent--any safety procedure you do by habit is one you won't have to be reminded of should an emergency arise. <br /><br />That said, the trend of treating every situation as if it were an emergency or could immediately become one is in and of itself troubling. It's one thing to plan for emergencies on a hazardous waste cleanup site that's subject to regularly emergency evacuations; it's a whole other thing to treat a trip to Walmart as a potential emergency that you need to take extraordinary precautions for. In the former case it's reasonable to expect emergencies to arise, both because of the nature of the work (they don't put you in SCBAs for nothing!) and because the history of the site demonstrates such precautions are a good idea. In the latter, it's every-day life, and while emergencies CAN happen, there's something fundamentally wrong with the psychology of someone who lives every day waiting for the bullet to hit the bone. Dinwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06138006602385020048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-22568196992358269412024-01-13T06:27:15.957-06:002024-01-13T06:27:15.957-06:00C.,
Even open source software sometimes succumbs ...C.,<br /><br />Even open source software sometimes succumbs to "cool programming" and high-handed "development" that alienates users of all descriptions. The Gnome desktop in Linux is a prime example. Lots of people, myself included, switched to other desktop managers after a major redesign premised on who knows what claim to know what's best for everyone else ruined what had been a good thing.<br /><br />Aside from my <a href="https://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2015/04/notes-on-choosing-new-web-browser.html" rel="nofollow">usual criteria</a> for most software, I am a big fan of virtualization, with which I <a href="https://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2023/03/beer-linux-laughs-and-oxford-comma.html#2" rel="nofollow">saved an excellent scanner</a> from the "obsolescence" trash heap and made 25-year-old software for which I bought a "permanent" license <a href="https://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2022/01/friday-hodgepodge_28.html#4" rel="nofollow">usable again</a>.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-66930229046599850072024-01-12T19:00:36.635-06:002024-01-12T19:00:36.635-06:00Hi Gus,
I also like to stay with the tried and tr...Hi Gus,<br /><br />I also like to stay with the tried and true. I have a compaq laptop that I bought in 1992 that still acts as my primary forms generator for my business, using Lotus 123 wysiwyg. My primary creative software is a free form database named ASKSAM that went out of business a decade and more ago and lies in software purgatory courtesy of some German company. And when Microsoft decertified Window 7 - Having seen the previous abomination of Vista and numbered abominations subsequent to 7, I decided to get off of the MS treadmill and went to Linux Mint, Cinnamon GUI. It's as like Windows 7 as may be, and I may not be a power user, but at least the features stay in the same place. <br /><br />An acquaintance of mine advised a software services company that produced an application for transportation - where winning a bid sometimes hinged on mere seconds - and they had taken that most important button from the top level menu and put it 3 menu layers down. They had lost 30% of their customer base and couldn't figure out why. <br /><br />The consultant pointed out that moving the primary button down 3 menu levels wasn't helping their customers win bids. The reply from the IT guy? "Then they (the customers) are just stupid if they can't see how this optimizes things." Yeah, right!<br /><br />Clearly a case of if it works, we're gonna break it in the name of 'cool programming'. <br /><br />Sheesh.<br /><br />c andrewAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-38866858476459131522023-11-27T08:25:39.621-06:002023-11-27T08:25:39.621-06:00I wish I'd have thought of that!I wish I'd have thought of that!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-58946918506304134312023-11-26T13:45:38.848-06:002023-11-26T13:45:38.848-06:00'So what? They censor it.'
Which means th...'So what? They censor it.'<br /><br />Which means the time it takes the information to get to you is infinite. That's not fast at all. SteveDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02293013458202819071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-10938239721891989682023-11-17T08:10:47.971-06:002023-11-17T08:10:47.971-06:00BB,
Interesting. IIRC, Taiwanese officials have a...BB,<br /><br />Interesting. IIRC, Taiwanese officials have a similar policy to yours regarding the reliability of Chinese government pronouncements.<br /><br />It bothers me that Xi is suddenly cozying up to Biden. He HAS to want something and sees some kind of opportunity.<br /><br />Happy Thanksgiving to you, too.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-16960442667035152222023-11-14T07:35:38.844-06:002023-11-14T07:35:38.844-06:00Exactly.Exactly.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-73206589059995803622023-11-13T13:07:58.060-06:002023-11-13T13:07:58.060-06:00Or you could use that old fashioned technology, th...Or you could use that old fashioned technology, the telephone, and speak to him directly.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15311305913265741194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-17119223759437457282023-11-10T08:01:00.151-06:002023-11-10T08:01:00.151-06:00John,
I could have elaborated more on the nature ...John,<br /><br />I could have elaborated more on the nature of any relief: Most Americans are closer to (or receptive to) the correct position on abortion than not, if we take the overall election results at face value.<br /><br />The battle for reproductive freedom is only beginning, but at least the issue seems to be one on which people would be happy to hear solid moral arguments in support of what they might intuit or incompletely understand is the correct (and truly life-affirming) position.<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-89899233267352603172023-11-10T07:56:22.355-06:002023-11-10T07:56:22.355-06:00John,
You are right to indicate this problem with...John,<br /><br />You are right to indicate this problem with Haley -- and this is despite her being the <i>least bad</i> among the GOP candidates on that issue. (She kicks the can down the road by acknowledging that the kind of legislation the GOP wants isn't going to get passed any time soon.)<br /><br />GusGus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-69639042146019261012023-11-10T03:24:26.886-06:002023-11-10T03:24:26.886-06:00"Sane Democrats and other proponents of repro..."Sane Democrats and other proponents of reproductive freedom can breathe a sigh of relief after yesterday."<br /><br />But for how long? The anti-life "pro-life" movement is on a moral crusade first, then a political crusade, and it should be obvious to all that intend to get a national ban on abortions. That would make moot any of the state victories.<br /><br />Overturning Roe was step 1, as Onkar Ghate explained in 2022. Step 2, as he also explained, a step telegraphed by the Dobbs decision itself, will come when a case is brought before the Court and it rules that the fetus is a person with rights. The states will then have to protect the "rights" of the "unborn" and that will be the end of the farcical claim that abortion policy should be set by the states. The anti-life side never truly held that view, because, again, they are on a moral crusade and they hold that the "unborn" is a human being with rights and that abortion is murder.<br />_______________<br /><br />"Dismantling Roe" (2022); Talk: ~ 45 min; Q&A: ~ 38 min<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esz5RCSVuqc John Shepardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424458889560274756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-19807173877906229002023-11-10T02:58:10.502-06:002023-11-10T02:58:10.502-06:00If Vance stays wrong on abortion, what about Haley...If Vance stays wrong on abortion, what about Haley?<br /><br />"The pro-life movement is alive and well in America and the overturning of Roe v. Wade is proof of the power or our voices." — Nikki Haley (Twitter; January 23, 2023):<br /><br />https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1617213685486977025John Shepardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424458889560274756noreply@blogger.com