Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The Gish gallop is a rhetorical technique that involves overwhelming your opponent with as many arguments as possible, with no regard for the accuracy, validity, or relevance of those arguments. For example, a person using the Gish gallop might attempt to support their stance by bringing up, in rapid succession, a large number of vague claims, anecdotal statements, misinterpreted facts, and irrelevant comments.

I know this is completely random but once again it fits into the title of this Blog ‘Esoteric Meanderings’. I want to discuss this technique because many have never heard of it and  have no idea what it is.

In recent history the republican party enthusiastically uses this practice to spew so many random claims at an opponent that their opponent, either a democrat or the press, that a cogent response is impossible. If their adversary can only respond to one or two of the unfounded claims the underinformed public will assume that everything not responded to must be factual.

Here is an example for Trump using this from ‘The Atlantic’.

 Let’s take as an example the first televised presidential debate of the 2020 election campaign. The Fox News host Chris Wallace invited Trump to deliver a two-minute statement. And he was off:

“So, when I listen to Joe [Biden] talking about a transition, there has been no transition from when I won. I won that election. And if you look at crooked Hillary Clinton, if you look at all of the different people, there was no transition, because they came after me trying to do a coup. They came after me spying on my campaign … We’ve got it all on tape. We’ve caught ’em all. And by the way, you gave the idea for the Logan Act against General Flynn. You better take a look at that, because we caught you in a sense, and President Obama was sitting in the office. He knew about it, too. So don’t tell me about a free transition. As far as the ballots are concerned, it’s a disaster. A solicited ballot, okay, solicited, is okay. You’re soliciting. You’re asking. They send it back. You send it back. I did that. If you have an unsolicited—they’re sending millions of ballots all over the country. There’s fraud. They found ’em in creeks …”

You can see that there are so many anti-factual claims made in that rant it nearly impossible to rebuff everything and even when the moderator tries the multitude of invalid statements continue to be hurled.

If you study debate techniques, they advise that you point out that a great number of constructs had been thrown out and then try to efficiently rebuff  or disprove that one particular item. While this is great in theory in an actual debate it is rather inefficient when trying to counter lies being hurled in rapid succession with little or no time to respond much less wrap your head around every twisted ‘fact’ that has been vomited.

I would probably use a John Stewart styled response and throw their crap right back at them and wait for their inevitable implosion from the mistruths that they just uttered. It always fun to watch someone crumble under their own argument.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/03/21/trump-warns-arrest-calls-protest-but-online-support-muted/11511264002/

Donald is finally looking down the barrel of indictments for his history of unlawful actions and I hope that they keep coming.

I understand historically that previous office holders, i.e., the Presidency, haven’t been held account for their actions that any average citizen would be. It started with Nixon being pardoned by Ford and now for nearly 50 years only one President has been accused of illegal conduct, actually Clinton wasn’t impeached for illegal conduct but for bending the facts about an affair with Ms. Lewinsky. To be honest I really don’t care where Donny dumbass put is private parts but the fact that in order the keep his indiscretion quite he paid off Ms. Daniels through his then attorney and repaid that via accounting malfeasance basically hiding what is considered a campaign contribution. Small potatoes I know but what got Capone was tax evasion not the countless mob hits everyone knew he ordered.

The campaign financing and PAC money is an entirely different rant but the campaign financing laws as it stands requires that the candidate disclose all money that is related to his or her campaign.

Donald had been walking through the rain drops his entire adult life and the fact that he willingly ran for office and was elected put his actions under a microscope. He could have lived out his day in relative anonymity but his narcissism would not allow that and now the piper is calling. His charisma, such as it is, has carried him and pulled the wool over a great number of people’s eyes, I am hoping that the fog is starting to lift.

Sadly there are diehard sycophants of Donald that insist and carrying his banner and now he is calling on them again to rise up and protect him from his own shit. Donald decries that “we have to take our country back”. He has never gave a lick about this country, this is just another grift to keep his inflated ego in the lime light and to pour money into his gaudy lifestyle. A man that was born with a gold plated spoon in his mouth has somehow convinced people that he is one of them. The unfortunate truth is that the individuals that idolize him he wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire.

He is announcing his imminent arrest in hopes that it will result in another Jan. 6 event. I believe that he really wants to come across as a martyr so that the Trump banners will fly high, and the unwashed masses will rise up and smite his accusers and lift him back up to the position that he believes he is entitled. Yes, I said entitled, this megalomaniac truly believes that he is, as in the King Arthur tales,  the once and true King. I honestly believe that Donald would love to be known as the last American President and its first King, that is how far I believe is psychosis goes. I am hoping that enough of the people that voted for him, that previously were fence sitters, have come out from under the ether and will not go back to sleep returning to the mongol hordes that tried to dismantle our democracy. The past two plus years have enlightened some and hardened other it is just my wish that the enlightened outnumber the rest.      

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/taxes/2023/02/21/how-do-rich-people-avoid-taxes/11308215002/

This is a time of year most of us do not look forward to because in a few short weeks everyone’s taxes are due. Even if you don’t owe anything the copious amount of paperwork needs to be submitted so that the tax man doesn’t come a callin’.

I learned something new this morning and it how CEOs, CFOs, the ultra-wealthy manage to pay little of no tax by exploiting the current tax law. They are honestly not breaking any laws they have just found a giant hole that only people of extraordinary wealth are able to step through.

I never understood how CEO’s of large companies, with a straight face, that their salary is equal to or less than a median income employee of the same company. Well because they are paid in stock options. The question remains if they aren’t paid “more” how is it that they can live such extravagant lifestyles. Here is the loop hole, they acquire low interest loan to subsidize their lifestyle using their stock options as collateral… wait, what? I had the same response.

I am not an accountant but this is how I understood how the process works. A COE gets, let’s say, $90k annual salary but on top of that he gets $5million annually in stock options. Now for the big pull the wool over that world’s eyes moment. They have a lifestyle that requires $1.5 to $2 million, well they take out a loan at very low interest rate to support that lifestyle and when tax time comes the stock options are not taxable because the options are assets not income. Ok but the $90k salary is still taxable right? Yes it is but the interest on the million dollar loan is deductible and literally offsets the meager salary. Wala the IRS gets a big fat zero and Mr. Fat Cat gets to play the same game next year. He gets to fly on a private jet while all the employees get to pay taxes so that his executive airport can function and the roads his driver takes him there in are paved. Thank you to the working person so that your COEs and CFOs can continue to live their lavish lifestyles.

System is broken there needs to be an asset tax, anyone who owns a house pays property taxes. Guess what folks that is an asset tax, registering your car, asset tax, even if you don’t fully own it.

Now that I have completely saddened or enraged you… have a good time doing your taxes.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   Everywhere you turn be it TV news or newspaper or internet it is the same crying baby saying they are being treated badly.

   The Jan 6 individuals are sitting in jail in DC and whining about the food, conditions and how they would be better off at Guantanamo because conditions are better there. We want the trials moved out of the DC area, we don’t have any paid for judges in DC so we can not get a fair trial. A veteran that breaks ranks with his oath to defend the Constitution has had his VA benefits taken away. What a shame, he has the right to have an opinion, out of uniform he has a right to state that opinion, but he should have sense enough not to be involved in an insurrection. 

   We had one bank that over extended themselves and ended up having to sell out to pay the people that trusted them their deposits. We did not have a government bail out and have the bank’s stupidity become a taxpayer responsibility.

   There was a train wreck and chemicals were spilled and people had to leave their homes, and somehow this was chalked up to a government problem and the fact that the President did not go there immediately was called a real f’up. The fact that the 44th President had put restrictions on railways and the 45th President had removed them was not in the news.

   The rail companies convinced dear Don that it was just too expensive a requirement and cut into the profits, and if there is one thing Don likes it profits. So remove those pesky regulations and let the free market take its course. Then when this happened you show up with old bottled water and point fingers at number 46.

    We have heard this story since 2015 when you know who said that if he lost the election it was because the whole thing is rigged. Then he went on to bad mouth every candidate in his own party as well as the opposition. Once he was in office we thought perhaps he would shut up and attempt to act like an adult and that did  not happen as he kept on bad mouthing others and keeping the pot stirred while he went about arranging things for him and his family to make money.

    Frequent trips to Florida, the Secret Service had to stay at his hotel, our bill. Meetings and big events in his hotel in DC. Endless flights to fundraise and no one asked where all the money goes, it is quite obvious that the American people are paying the bill and getting nothing in return. Now it seems that he left the WH with a lot of stuff that was acquired through contact with foreign powers, conveniently kept out of the public and congressional view and now his stacked house of the Supreme Court says it is mute and we can do nothing about it.

    We are still complaining about how we are persecuted and harassed. No one believes me and I am just the nicest person you ever hope to meet,, not to mention the greatest person that has ever lived. It has worked so well for him that all the people that have worshiped him are using the same tactic to try and beat the system. One of these days someone will bring the KoolAid and all will be right with the world, maybe its McDonalds shakes.

   The beat goes on as now he is being indicted in New York and once again is calling on his loyal followers to bring their guns and protest this injustice. He again is seeking office and again will no doubt claim that things were rigged if he does not get elected. He has to be given the go ahead by the GOP first by since the talking heads seem to be lacking any kind of brain or spine it is likely he will get the nod.

  Once again the nation will be put through the wringer while we hear all the crap that can be dreamed up and thrown around for the sake of one man’s ego. In the meanwhile we will have forces outside our nation looking for the moment that may give them the opportunity to see what kind of damage they are able to inflict on us. If he wins the race, hopefully not, then be prepared to have the nation turned over to whatever despot pays him the biggest compliment and offers him the seat for life. 

   To some this may sound like a very bad dream and yet if you will take the time to revisit the remarks and adorations paid to some of the world’s worst leaders during his stay in office it is not far stretch to see him embrace the path that serves him best.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-expected-sign-new-executive-order-gun-control/

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/05/politics/pete-buttigieg-ohio-train-derailment/index.html

These could really be three sperate posts, but the title was just too perfect to pass up.

Guns

President Biden is signing an executive order call for more stringent background check on all firearm sales in the monumental amount of mass shooting and gun related homicides. Already there are cries from the gun activists saying that in this day of unprecedented violence restricting the purchase of firearms is only going to embolden the criminals.

It’s my right to own a gun has been the NRAs rallying chant from years since they support the gun manufactures and seem to have zero interest in public safety, which is counterintuitive considering they were established in the 40s as a gun safety and training organization. The NRAs lobbying PACT spends millions influencing members of the government and in recent history has gotten their way.

I don’t think that the executive order goes far enough, call for restricting large capacity magazines, full ban bump-stocks, make 3D and ghost guns illegal, hell I would stop future sales of AR style assault weapons. We banned assault weapons before and mass shooting went down, but no one wants to acknowledge that miniscule fact.

So good for you Joe for doing your job and protecting the public. 

Trains

Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg has come out admitting that he did not visit the site of the Ohio train derailment soon enough and other law makers, republicans of course, are calling for resignation or termination. These same politicians neglect to inform their constituents at in 2018 alone, 1,376 derailments occurred under Trump and neither or his Transportation Secretary Eline Chow visited a single one or that it was (45)s deregulation of the railways that has was a contributing factor. Not to mention that for 4 years we were told it was Infrastructure Week that could have invested in improving the nations rail system but the master builder and deal maker never pulled that off.

So, Sec. Pete you are doing a phenomenal job with the shit show you were handed keep it up. And please continue to show up on Fox and make their mouth pieces look like idiots.

Abortion Pills

A Texas Judge (of course Texas) is hearing a case that could ban the use and sale of mifepristone an early abortifacient once again restricting a women right to control her own body.

Texas already has some the most restrictive abortion laws that they implemented after the overturning of Roe. One is the “heartbeat” law that bans abortion after 6 weeks. I don’t believe it is a coincidence the mifepristone is only effective if taken between the moment of conception and 6 weeks and just stops implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterine wall. Not a baby not even a fetus a fertilized egg. So, in affect Texas wants to control a women’s body from the moment she encounters an erect penis.

I have another issue with this Texas Judge trying a challenge the FDA on the drug that has been in use for more than 20 years with the objective of a nationwide ban of the medication. How is it the that one Trump appointed, Heritage Foundation Judge in Texas, believes that his narrow minded opinion has dominion over 167.5 million women’s bodies nationwide. Now that is arrogance of a colossal scale.

Here is a quote from Planes , Trains and Automobiles that seem to fit the republican party.

“YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY… YOU ARE GOING TO KILL SOMEBODY!!!” 

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

I am not that old, but I do remember when you could trust news as being factual and a Sargent Friday on Dragnet used to say, “Just the facts”. Now we have one so called new broadcast that doesn’t seem to tell its viewer anything substantively factual, in fact one of there talking heads used the defense in court that no one believes the crap he spews.

https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/greedy-associates/tucker-carlson-successfully-argues-nobody-really-believes-tucker-carlson-is-reporting-facts/

I have embedded the article who think I am just pretending I am a Fox host and talking out of my ass.

Fox and the Sinclair Networks have no predilection of broadcasting actual facts on the programs so how is it that we continue to let themselves be identified as News.

Walter Cronkite signed off my nightly broadcasts for nearly two decades with a simple statement: ‘And that’s the way it is. ‘ That portrays the newsman’s highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue. When will that again be the standard? Actual news reports the story and if, for whatever reason, the facts were incorrect journalistic ethics requires a retraction and/or a correction of unverified material presented.

This to me is what New was and should be, consolidation of News into a limited number of outlets has lead us down the past of nonsensical BS being disseminated. I mentioned a quote in a previous post, “A lie can circle the globe twice before the truth can get it’s pants on.” I honestly believe that is the playbook of the propaganda ‘news’ stations because once the lie is out there it will be repeated. So, instead of facts being facts the true story has to disprove the lie and that is 1000x more difficult than just stating the facts in the first place.

The best thing in my opinion is to stop venerating Fox and Sinclair as news and just refer to them by their corporate name that way there is not presumed position of factual information. Stop saying Fox News it is just Fox, stop referring to their talking heads as news casters, they are opinion, propaganda host and nothing more. MSNBC host Joy Reid, Ari Melber, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell  and others in their line up have regularly came back with retractions on stories because when they reported them they didn’t have all the pertinent facts and their jobs and journalistic ethic required that they set the record straight. I have not seen Carson, Hannity, Ingraham, or O’Reilly ever correct a story they incorrectly reported, but I suppose in their defense they are not identified as journalist on the Fox page only as personalities. That fact should tell anyone that they aren’t reporting news.

So agree to go back to the Walter Cronkite news cast were to report the facts as the reporter sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/10/1162531885/arkansas-child-labor-law-under-16-years-old-sarah-huckabee-sanders

The link provided is about how Arkansas is rolling back child labor laws allowing 14 year old to work with any permitting.

With historic unemployment at 3.6% Sara Huckabee-Sanders has signed a bill that lifts the restriction on child labor.

I know I am conflating the unemployment with a ridiculous law in Arkansas but it is to prove a point. Why in the world would any state have to lower the working age if , as a nation, we are nearly at full employment. Is it so that large corporations can pay underaged workers less? I don’t know but it is a valid question. My other question is why would a 14 year old want to work unless they are from disadvantaged home life or in state run orphanages.

I titled this Welcome Back to 1900 because I am guessing that most of us didn’t know that in 1900 18% of the workforce was under the age of 16. Is this the dystopian hellscape that we want to go back to? The argument from the perpetrators of these laws are that they are over a 100 years old and then it was because the goal was to keep children in school. Well that make sense because the group that is pushing these laws also appears to want to roll back education as well. The goal, it appears, it that an uneducated or at least under educated populous won’t have the will or the wherewithal to fight back against corporate rule.

The overlords wish to have a disadvantaged class that are only suited for labor or military service, this definitely sound like throw back to the days of the Robber Barens.

MORE THAN 100 CHILDREN ILLEGALLY EMPLOYED IN HAZARDOUS JOBS, FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FINDS; FOOD SANITATION CONTRACTOR PAYS $1.5M IN PENALTIES

Packers Sanitation Services Inc. employed minors to use caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws, other high-risk equipment at 13 meat processing facilities in 8 states.

These are headline from 2023… absolutely appalling.

Children worked during the Gilded Age because of the poverty of many families. In order to survive and afford basic necessities, families had no choice but to send their children to work. Business owners also preferred to hire child workers due to children being able to do the same job as adult workers for less pay (or in some cases no pay). This was the time between the Civil War 1860 and WWI 1914.

I thought as nation we had progressed past this world when families has to exploit their children in order to survive. I had a paper route when I was 12 but it wasn’t to help support my family in the 1970’s it was because I personally wanted fun money. I have read reports about teenagers falling asleep in class and being reprimanded for it but the reason they are falling asleep is because they are working in meat packing plants, cleaning equipment, at night.

I ask again, Is this the dystopian hellscape that we want to go back to?

I personally don’t want to go back to a time that we had Lords and Surfs… to a time of the Charles Dickens tails of extreme poverty juxtaposed with abhorrent wealth. I don’t know that any of us want that, that is unless you are already obnoxiously wealthy.

The world where corporations have unlimited power cannot come back. Capitalism is fine but when the COEs and Corporate Overlords put profit over people the Government that is of and by the people has to impose regulations. The first of these is to not allow, wanna be laboratory states of fascism, to roll back child labor laws.  

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

March 17^th and here we are its St. Patrick’s Day just another excuse to drink… on this hallowed day everyone is Irish so lets partake in the social stereotype that all the Irish do is drink and fight.

I am pretty sure that not many know a damn thing about Bonnie St. Patrick, so first let’s dispel some of the myths about the Saint and the Holiday that is celebrated in his name.

Among the legends associated with St. Patrick is that he stood atop an Irish hillside and banished snakes from Ireland, prompting all serpents to slither away into the sea. .…buzz… that is false. In fact, research suggests snakes never occupied the Emerald Isle in the first place. There are no signs of snakes in the country’s fossil record.

The shamrock, a three-leaf clover, has been linked with Ireland for centuries. It was historically called “seamroy” by the Celts and was considered a sacred plant that symbolized the arrival of spring. According to legend, St. Patrick used the plant as a visual guide when explaining the Holy Trinity. There is not historical evidence that this is factual but it’s fun to consider. Now a four-leaf clover is supposed to symbolize luck. (Not an Irish thing, just wanted to through it in.)

In Celtic folklore, leprechauns were cantankerous souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic mythology, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their legendary pots of gold. Leprechauns have their own holiday on May 13, but are also celebrated on St. Patrick’s, with many dressing up as the wily elves.

You’ll be invisible to leprechauns if you wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. The Irish countryside may be many shades of green, but knights in the Order of St. Patrick wore a color known as St. Patrick’s blue. So the tradition of wearing green I am assuming is an American bacterization, green beer, dying the river green were just fun things to do.

The meal that became a St. Patrick’s Day staple across the country—corned beef and cabbage—is an American innovation. While ham and cabbage were eaten in Ireland, corned beef offered a cheaper substitute for impoverished immigrants. Irish-Americans living in the slums of lower Manhattan in the late 19th century and early 20th, purchased leftover corned beef from ships returning from the tea trade in China. The Irish would boil the beef three times—the last time with cabbage—to remove some of the brine. The Americanized version with corned beef surely has more flavor than the historical boiled beef that would have been served in Ol’ Ireland.

So those are the fun, although not historically accurate storied, is there a real truth about the Drunkin’ Holiday?

Historians generally believe that St. Patrick was born in Britain, not Ireland, near the end of the 4th century. At age 16 he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold as a slave to a Celtic priest in Northern Ireland. After laboring for six years as a shepherd, he escaped back to Britain. He eventually returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity’s most widely known figures. But for all of his prevalence in culture—namely the holiday held on the day of his death that bears his name—his life remains somewhat of a mystery.

Every saint has a lore about what they protect the faithful from St. Patrick protects, against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of women and smiths (blacksmith/metal workers) and wizards, against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Wow it doesn’t seem like his protection is working. It is insane that a Saint that is the protector from idolatry (extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone), spells of women, and knowledge the corrupts the body and soul has been relegated to a drunkin’ carnival of a holiday. Now that I have soundly destroyed your version of the day, we all feel the need to wear GREEN…go have a pint of Ale and kiss the Blarney Stone find a redheaded lass and celebrate

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

   We have through the maximum stupidity of people to believe a disreputable individual, been saddled with the most f’d up supreme court we could possibly imagine. 

   Let’s look at the credentials of this group and I believe we will find not a single veteran among them. Most likely they have not had a member of their family serve in quite some time if ever. So then we have someone, a veteran, taking a case to them asking for a literal pie in the sky, and probably hoping for something more than crumbs on the plate, and what happens they, these ever so conservative unpatriotic individuals decide that a one year window is all you can have to make a claim after separation from active duty.

   The Pac Act was just brought to the table last year and it covers all the way back to the beginning of the VietNam conflict. People are still allowed to claim, are encouraged to claim that far back, but now the court says that those efforts will be denied because their sorry asses say so. Can we get that kind of limitation on any other issue?

   Lets see if the courts are willing to forget a charge if for some reason it has not made it into a courtroom within one year. Person was badly injured and could not appear. Or if a debt has not been repaid in a year can we forget those kinds of things. How about cancer, if it has had a year to mess up your life but hasn’t taken you yet can we get it to go away. Might be a bit far out on that one but the idea is a year is not necessarily a long enough period of time for an illness to appear after exposure. Sometimes it takes something else to make it happen.

   If you have had cancer and done chemo then you should know that you traded whatever type you had for leukemia as the treatment destroyed your immune system. Now chances are if you catch a cold it will kill you at least by the age of 70.

   One year should be the maximum time we allow a judge to be on the Supreme Court. After that year they must leave and go back to private practice without compensation for time served. Having a panel made up of pro religious individuals has a negative effect on the rest of us. How are they going to rule if someone other than a Christian comes before them and tries to use their religious belief to support their claim? 

   The business of prayer and public school has been resolved by saying if you choose to pray go ahead and do it on your own, so having a coach pray on a ball field in front of the stands full of people is now putting an entire community of people in an uncomfortable position. This happened and the school fired the coach and he took the matter to the supreme court and they found in his favor and now the school has to pay his legal fees.

   Personal rights should be protected but there are limitations to that expression of rights. It is illegal to burn the flag, it is illegal to piss in public, having sex where others can view is considered unacceptable so why is this disruptive behavior condoned? The reason is simple and that is because this court can not and will not separate the law from their faith which makes them unacceptable for the positions they hold.

   The more religion enters the political agenda of a nation the more rigid the laws become especially if there is a conflict between the scriptures and the law. The tendency is for the scripture to win and more rights being taken away. Being a biblical scholar is not my forte so the parts that I do recall seem to begin with “Thou Shall Not” and that is carried to the extreme by those that want to keep men in total control, keep women from having any rights and creating an atmosphere of distrust by encouraging neighbors to spy on and report on their neighbors. As an example look at the law enacted in Texas about abortion. No need to go much further than to say the state is not spying on you, they are rewarding others for doing for them, and once you are reported the state is more than happy to prosecute.