Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
A few days ago the Trump administration argued in court that they do not mistreat children after they are separated from their family at the border and they had not violated the safe and sanitary conditions required for minors in custody. A previous court decision had found that the conditions under which children were held was in violation of the required standards.
Continue reading “Mistreat children in custody (not safe and sanitary)”
#TheMinistryOfTruth is a book for our times. The full title is The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s 1984 by Dorian Lynskey
Shortly after the Trump administration told us their lies were just alternative facts, I decided I needed to re-read 1984. I don’t think George Orwell ever talked about alternative facts, but it seemed to me it was just a step or 2 from “alternative facts” about crowd size to “alternative facts” about bigger issues. Continue reading “#TheMinistryOfTruth: Orwell and 1984”
The Distant Echo by Val McDermid is her first novel in the Karen Pirie series.. Detective Perie is not the central character in this book. As I remember, she does not even make her first appearance until the second half of The Distant Echo. But I am getting a bit ahead of myself so I’ll just begin at the beginning.
I had read Val McDermit’s Broken Ground a few months ago. It was the 5th and most recent book in her Karen Pirie series. I liked the book and thought it might be interesting to read the series from the beginning. The first in the series was available in my local public library. Continue reading “The Distant Echo by Val McDermid”
The Culverhouse gift has been returned. What is the best response?
Hugh Culverhouse Jr. pledged a 26.5 million dollar gift to the University of Alabama Law School. So far 21.5 million of that has been paid to the university and the Law School had been renamed in his honor Last week the university gave it back and removed his name from its law school.
The why is in dispute. Continue reading “Culverhouse gift returned and the best response.”
Broken Ground by Val McDermid is a great Scottish crime mystery. This book came out last year but my favorite librarian suggested it to me few months ago. This is a wonderful book and I completely enjoyed it .
Continue reading “Broken Ground by Val McDermid”
The title is The Trust: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson. This is a really good book and I’ll be sure to check out other titles by the author.
Liam Taggart’s last visit to Northern Ireland ended badly. Very badly. Continue reading “The Trust: A Novel by Ronald H. Balson”
There is quite a bit of bad information out there about Congressional pensions and benefits. Several times I’ve corrected those who think Congressional retirees get a full salary for life after one term or less in Congress. Or a lavish free healthcare plan or some other benefit as detailed in the latest email.
So I decided it was time to make a post of it.
Continue reading “Myths about Congressional pensions and more”
On January 7, 2017 a declassified intelligence report on Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election was released by the U.S top intelligence officials. The report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment. The declassified report’s conclusions are identical to the highly classified assessment. They were confident then. Here is part of the declassified intelligence report:
Continue reading “Secure our elections”
Those who say “yes, abolish the Electoral College” will remind us that in 2 of the last 5 Presidential elections the winner was not the candidate with the most votes. Those who want to keep the Electoral College will say it was put in the Constitution by the founders and we should not question their wisdom.
I come down on the side of those who would abolish the Electoral College. I think it would be unconstitutional if it wasn’t in the Constitution. All votes should count the same in my opinion. The candidate with the most votes wins.
Continue reading “Should we abolish the Electoral College?”
The full title is “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America“. The author is Nancy MacLean, a professor of history and public policy at Duke University. So you can be certain that the author knows her history. In addition, there are extensive notes and a bibliography.
Continue reading “Democracy in Chains – why and how”
Now is the time to put country before party. Congress has blocked President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border that is clearly not an emergency. Just an abuse of the power of his office.
In declaring the “emergency” President Trump said: “I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster, I just want to get it done faster, that’s all.”
Continue reading “Put country before party”
The Democrats have introduced the Save the Internet Act. Maybe net neutrality will be back.
But maybe not. The bill could pass the Democrat controlled House but it might not make it through the Republican controlled Senate. And then President Trump might not sign it. So there is quite a way to go on this.
Keep watching the situation and express your opinion as you think best.
President Trump today gave the GOP members of Congress a second chance to oppose his power grab disguised as a national emergency.
His veto of congressional resolution to rescinded his national emergency declaration at the Mexican border gives those GOP members who did not vote for this resolution (and only a minority did) a chance to vote to override President Trump’s veto and show they have some respect for the Constitution and sepatation of powers.
It is not often that you get a second chance. Make the most of it.
I thinking about the Bad Boy Greers of New York city, such an interesting bunch.
The older one, Horace Greer is having a birthday this week. Happy Birthday Horace. Horace A. Greer is best known for Hollywood scandal in the 1920s involving a leading actress of the time, Mabel Normand.
I noticed that the birthday of my grandmother Isabel MacKenzie is coming up soon. The name is spelled McKenzie in many records. And there are actually a number of other spellings but none are seen as consistently as Mac and McKenzie.
My second great grandfather Alexander McKenzie came from Gairloch, Scotland and settled in Middle River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada and married Isabella McGregor. Their son Malcolm move from Cape Breton and settled in New York City.
Continue reading “McKenzie MacKenzie Cape Breton to New York City genealogy”