Author: Jack
I retired in 2008 and so I have more time now to devote to several of my interests The blog here is mainly for my interests in some current events but may have the occasional rant on other subjects. I have also decided to keep my genealogy posts and book reviews here instead of 2 additional blogs (and so simplify my life a little).

Fair vote

Fair vote

About every 10 years in Pennsylvania the majority party in the state legislature comes up with a plan to prevent a fair vote by making as many votes of the opposition party as ineffective as possible. This is called redistricting. The same happens in other states too.

The legislature figures out how to slice and dice the population in a way that protects incumbents of their party by making a challenge by the opposition unlikely to succeed. In other words, if you are unlucky enough to be a a district gerrymandered in favor of one party but prefer the candidate of the other party, your vote is unlikely to help bring about change.

The process is also called gerrymander. It is a way for politicians to prevent a fair vote. This political process is almost as old as the United States. But old and fair are not the same. Can this unfairness be prevented?
Continue reading “Fair vote”

Why doesn’t Trump sue ?

Why doesn’t Trump sue ?

Will Donald Trump sue ?

He has been treated unfairly by the media. The New York Times in particular. But just generally by all those bad media people who report what he says.

He brags on tape about his sexual prowess and sexual assaults. Then dismisses it as mere locker room talk. When women come forth to claim that he has actually done some of these things to them, he threatens to sue. But not now. He’ll file those lawsuits after the election.
Continue reading “Why doesn’t Trump sue ?”

Doors by Daniel Brako, again

Doors by Daniel Brako, again

This is a repeat of my review of Doors by Daniel Brako.

I sometimes review books here. Sometimes it is library books, sometimes a book I bought, sometimes it is a book I borrowed from a friend but most of time it is an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) from Netgalley.

I reviewed this here over 3 years ago and I’m preety sure I told NetGalley about it but this morning they are asking for my review. So here is a repeat –

First, I requested this advanced reading copy for review since the write-up on Netgalley sounded like it might be interesting but I wasn’t sure about that.
Continue reading “Doors by Daniel Brako, again”

Senator decision: Mitch factor

Senator decision: Mitch factor

I am still trying to decide how I will vote in the election for US Senator. In Pennsylvania we have a choice of two major party candidates I do not like. So the Mitch factor may be important.

I would normally think party should not be the deciding factor. We should chose the best candidate or at least the one we think is best.
Continue reading “Senator decision: Mitch factor”

Donald Doubt

Donald Doubt

Should Donald Trump be known as Donald Doubt?

Donald’s birther controversy cast doubt on the legitimacy of Barakh Obama’s presidency. At first he demanded the President show his birth certificate to prove he was born in the USA and therefore eligible to be President. Then when he did show it Donald Doubt cited an ‘extremely credible source’ indicating the birth certificate was a fraud. he changed his mind a few weeks back without ever revealing his ‘extremely credible source’ or giving reasons why he no longer believed the President was born elsewhere.

Now he is calling this presidential election “rigged” and casting doubts on the legitimacy of the winner and our whole electoral system.

Can anyone seriously support Donald Doubt of the trumped-up charges for president?

Our new tea kettle

Our new tea kettle

After reading more reviews then I care to remember, we settled on this tea kettle. We had been using the same kettle for years and it finally broke. We could still boiling water but it was not easy to pour the boiling water. So we started looking.

At first I thought it would be easy just to buy the same model that had served us well for many years. But we read the reviews on Amazon and it seems that what was once a fine tea kettle was now a piece of crap. People reported rusting badly as well as leaking. Since neither sounded good, we decided to expand our search.

We were more inclined to trust the reviews on Amazon (supplemented by other sites and blogs) than trust the opinions of sales people in the kitchen stores at the mall. Besides I hate going to the mall. Since I have Amazon Prime with free 2 day delivery, we thought we could use the old one for a few more days. Continue reading “Our new tea kettle”

Trump evidence

Trump evidence

I wonder if the new evidence suggesting Donald Trump is not a sexual predator will come from the same ‘extremely credible source’ than told him President Obama’s birth certificate was a fraud.

Donald J. Trump Twitter Aug 6 2012:


An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.

Banana Republican

Banana Republican

In the second presidential debate, Donald Trump threatened to put Hillary Clinton in jail if he was elected. This type of thing may happen in a Banana Republic but certainly not in the United States. Is Donald Trump now a Banana Republican?

Is this the future of our country if Trump is elected? Will Banana Republicans dominate what was once considered the party of Lincoln?

Trump’s One Public Service

Trump’s One Public Service

Much has been made of Donald Trump’s lack of knowledge of national and international affairs and a lack of any public service. Rebecca Traister writes about Trump’s One Public Service in New York magazine.

Here it is:

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/trumps-one-service-was-exposing-the-misogyny-of-the-gop.html

Colum McCann

Colum McCann

One of my favorite authors is Colum McCann. I’ve read several of his books (and reviewed two of them here). The books often move in unexpected ways and the author has a gift for the memorable and thought-provoking phrase or sentence.

The illustration is a line from “Thirteen Ways of Looking” which is now in paperback. My other review is of “TransAtlantic”. “TransAtlantic” made such an impression I wrote about it twice.
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Yellow Dog Republicans for Trump

Yellow Dog Republicans for Trump

I’ve talked about Yellow Dog Republicans before. Actually I wrote about both Republicans and Democrats.

There are those with such extreme belief in a political party, they would vote for a yellow dog of their party rather than the best qualified candidate. This election season seems to have sparked a variant of that species known as Yellow Dog Republicans for Trump.

Several prominent Republicans have said they will vote for Donald Trump despite his many problems. Are these Yellow Dog Republicans for Trump or will he eventually say or do something that disgusts them or otherwise convinces them he would not make a good President?

VP debate changed my mind

VP debate changed my mind

I almost did not watch the VP debate last night. Hillary Clinton is so much better than Donald Trump there is no contest about my vote.

I like Senator Tim Kaine so that was an added bonus. In fact, I think I might prefer that he was at the top of the ticket. I disagree with Governor Mike Pence but thought we was a much better choice than Donald Trump to be a the top of the ticket.

Now after seeing Gov Pence in the debate, Continue reading “VP debate changed my mind”

The Last Days of Night – Edison-Westinghouse feud

The Last Days of Night – Edison-Westinghouse feud

Graham Moore certainly starts by getting your attention.  First there is the quote and you wonder how that is related to this story of the Edison-Westinghouse feud.  Then there is the man on fire.  The promise of an interesting read.

I saw The Last Days of Night on Netgalley.  It was set in late 19th century New York City which caught my interest.  And it was about the Edison-Westinghouse feud over the merits of direct current (DC) and  alternating current (AC).  I knew  a little about this AC/DC dispute but I was very fuzzy on the details.   So this historical novel had two points of interest in its favor.

I decided to give The Last Days of Night a try and I’m glad I did.  This review is based on my  Advance Reading Copy (ARC) from Netgalley.  The book will be published on 16 Aug 2016.   .

I did not know that Edison v. Westinghouse was a big lawsuit for patent infringement. Edison was suing Westinghouse for a billion dollars. That is a lot of money. It was even more in the 1880s. The outcome of this would determine the course of the electrical revolution. But if this was so important, why did George Westinghouse pick an inexperienced lawyer?

As mentioned before, Graham Moore gets your attention right off. Then he weaves a wonderful story which both enlightens and entertains.  He takes a story which could have been a rather dry recitation of the technical side of the electrical revolution and the associated legal maneuvering and turns it into a most interesting tale.

In Graham Moore’s  notes at the end he clearly explains that this is a work of historic fiction.   He tells us how he parted from or rearranged some historical facts and why he did it that way.  He talks about the unknown history between the facts and how he filled in those gaps and why he thinks his assumption are reasonable.

I was even more impressed after I finished reading and looked on the Amazon page to get the image of the book and link for this review. I learned that Graham Moore is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and his previous book was a best-seller.

The Last Days of Night  is a  wonderful book and I highly recommend it

Republicans vs military

Republicans vs military

The House Republicans want to prevent the Defense Department from dealing with a national security threat (http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/06/republicans-trying-to-stop-pentagon-climate-plan-000149).

The Defense Department sees that climate change is a threat and wants to prepare for it (http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/471521p.pdf). But many Republicans seem to think it a hoax and those in Congress are so sure of themselves that they think they should stop the military from preparing for this threat.
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Donald, stop digging

Donald, stop digging

When you get yourself in a hole the first thing to do is to stop digging. Donald, stop digging. Apparently Donald Trump has not learned this simple rule.

He has insulted the parents of a soldier who died for his country. Despite the outrage among many Americans he seems intent on continuing this fight. Donald, stop digging. You are in too deep already.

After insulting the parents and probably their religion, he compares his sacrifice to that of a dead soldier or perhaps the soldier’s family. A decent person would have at least mentioned that he was sorry for their loss before bringing up his sacrifice. Maybe even skipped the part about his sacrifice.

And we all know Donald has sacrificed. He built buildings and created jobs. He did add something about being successful. He forgot to mention that he actually paid some of the people who actually did the work. Not all but some.

Does this sacrifice even come close? Donald, stop digging.