Random Shots for Sunday, 22 October 2017

Today in history

COMMENTS I’VE POSTED

1. Posted to Facebook —

   Them too — end the Export-Import Bank, agricultural subsidies, no more tax-funded sports stadiums, no more bailouts for politically-connected companies deemed “too big to fail,” etc., etc., etc.

   Defense procurement should also be streamlined, if we’re going to have the public sector involved in defending us and our neighbors. No more micro-managed development programs like the F-35, the Crusader SPG and such. Put out the technical specifications and requirements of what’s needed, and have potential vendors bring ready-for-testing products to the table for evaluation.

2. Posted to Diaspora*, Ello, Facebook [ here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here ], Google Plus Minds, seen.life, Tea Party Community, and VK —

   And end corporate welfare, too — end the Export-Import Bank, agricultural subsidies, no more tax-funded sports stadiums, no more bailouts for politically-connected companies deemed “too big to fail,” etc., etc., etc.

   Defense procurement should also be streamlined, if we’re going to have the public sector involved in defending us and our neighbors. No more micro-managed development programs like the F-35, the Crusader SPG and such. Put out the technical specifications and requirements of what’s needed, and have potential vendors bring ready-for-testing products to the table for evaluation.

   And if you absolutely, positively have to smoke pot, shoot up with heroin, pop a few oxy pills, snort coke or meth, have a beer or shot of whisky before your shift, here’s a hint — find an employer who’s OK with that.

   Arvin Vohra
   Sunday, October 22, 2017 at 1:48pm

   Paradoxically, while many Americans have no job, we’re simultaneously facing a labor shortage.

   Today, many industries have difficulty finding employees who can meet the bare minimum requirements of work. No, not a degree or diploma. Just the ability to show up at all. Or to be free of intoxicants.

   Those working in industries ranging from retail to healthcare have issues with no-shows employees. In many states, businesses can’t find people who can pass a drug test! https://www.nytimes.com/ . . . /hiring-hurdle-finding-workers-who . . .

   This is a direct consequence of entitlement culture. The culture that says “You need to pay for my kid”, “You need to pay for me to study a hobby in college”, “You need to fund grants that allow me to pursue my hobby,” etc., is exactly the culture that says, “I prefer getting high to working. I’ll work if I want to, and as high as I like.”

   And a person has that right. You have the right to choose weed over work. But you don’t have the right to force people to then pay for your food and medicine when you predictably have no way to support yourself.

   Ending entitlement culture starts with ending entitlements. People have the right to destroy their own lives; they don’t have the right to force others to shoulder the burdens of their counterproductive decisions.

   Let laziness, entitlement, and bad decisionmaking be their own punishments, and to serve as examples to future generations. If elected, I will sponsor legislation to end all welfare, end all federal research and arts grants, fire as many federal “workers” as possible, end all federal tuition assistance, and eliminate all federal support of entitlement culture. Let’s embrace a culture in which hard work and responsibility are rewarded, and laziness and bad decisionmaking are no longer rewarded.

   Arvin Vohra For U.S. Senate

3. Posted to Facebook —

   Wait, “ad hominem” Jack Quesinberry?

4. Posted to Facebook —

   “It’s not ad hominem when it’s true. Wasn’t he the libertarian party chair . . . .”

   Except that he’s not a chair of the National party, nor of any state affiliate, from what I can tell.

   So it’s still an ad hominem on your part.

   “Wasn’t he the libertarian party chair that penned the op-ed about not “infringing on the freedom of speech” of white nationalists? Or was he the one involved with the MRA subreddit?”

   You’re the one who insists that he’s on the side of the Aryan Airheads, do your own work and look for the evidence yourself.

   “It’s so hard to keep the multitude of shitty, shitty petulant man-children associated with your party straight.”

   If that’s the case, you’ll fit right in.

5. Posted to Facebook —

   That’s the Land of Entrapment for you!

6. Posted to Facebook —

   Also consider that we seem to be living in the Age of Universal Plunder — “Everybody steals from everybody else.”

7. Posted to Diaspora*, Ello, Facebook [ here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here ], Minds, seen.life, Tea Party Community, Twitter, VK —

   H/T Danny Bedwell
   https://facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207762348296808&set=a.1035648111580.5464.1836788484&type=3

   

LISTENING / READING / WATCHING

1. Disturbed —
   1. Believe
   2. Ten Thousand Fists
2. Ace Books [Berkley Publishing Group] — Igniting the Reaches by David Drake
3. 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, Vol.34, #3: Autumn 2017 —
   1. pp. 11-12 : “Inseparable: The Intersectionality of Hacking and Politics” by “Josephus”
   2. pp. 13-14 : “Telecom Informer” by “The Prophet”
   3. p. 17 : “How to Get Nearly Free Travel from Scotrail” by “TheGeek”
   4. pp. 23-24 : “How to Hack Your Way to a Guilt-Free, Political Ideology” by “Eyenot”
4. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May / June 2017 —
   1. pp. 130-138 : “The Speed of Faith in Vacuum” by Igor Teper
   2. pp. 144-147 : “Vulture’s Nest” by Marissa Lingen
5. Albuquerque Journal —
   1. Family sues after guard kills man at Whataburger by Katy Barnitz, Journal Staff Writer
   2. NM couple indicted in $50 million investment scheme by Nicole Perez, Journal Staff Writer
6. The New York Times — Hiring Hurdle: Finding Workers Who Can Pass a Drug Test by Jackie Calmes
7. Judas Priest — ’98 Live Meltdown