Reinke Faces Life

The FBI has become, along with other “deep state”agencies like the IRS, a political Praetorian Guard. I have read the constitution and find no authority for the Federal Gooferment to have this, and many other, private armies. DJT45, who for the wrong reasons, may be correct to disband the FBI. Let the States do their job of “police work”.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:
 By Hugh James Latimer | January 5, 2018 |   

*** begin quote ***            

A public that can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction is left to interpret reality through illusion. Random facts or obscure bits of data and trivia are used to bolster illusion and give it credibility or are discarded if they interfere with the message. The worse reality becomes—the more, for example, foreclosures and unemployment skyrocket—the more people seek refuge and comfort in illusions. When opinions cannot be distinguished from facts, when there is no universal standard to determine truth in law, in science, in scholarship, or in reporting the events of the day, when the most valued skill is the ability to entertain, the world becomes a place where lies become true, where people can believe what they want to believe. This is the real danger of pseudo-events and why pseudo-events are far more pernicious than stereotypes. They do not explain reality, as stereotypes attempt to, but replace reality. Pseudo-events redefine reality by the parameters set by their creators. These creators, who make massive profits peddling these illusions, have a vested interest in maintaining the power structures they control. – From: Chris Hedges “Empire of Illusion”

*** end quote ***

Like the lemmings that follow the leader over the cliff to their death.

We need to rid our society of these Judas goats who are leading us.

Argh!

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FROM AN EMAIL EXCHANGE

http://ncc-1776.org/tle2017/tle954-20171231-02.html

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Which brings me to my principal reason for opposing open immigration. Everywhere these newcomers go, encouraged by the likes of the politicians I have named, they change the culture, rather than become a part of it. I’m not entirely opposed to new elements of culture, and not every Mexican or South American is a robber or a rapist or a violent drug dealer, it’s true, but enough are to endanger the cultural home that our ancestors made for us, and damn few believe in the Constitution or the Rule of Law. Not every immigrant from the Middle East is a jihadist, but too many bring with them the unconstitutional mindset of Sharia Law, “honor” killings, death to homosexuals, and so forth. I have come to like the culture I live in, and the values it promotes. I don’t want to see it changed, especially to accommodate hostile strangers

*** end quote ***

Two choices offered — build a wall OR end welfare — neither is very good but that’s all we are left with.

Argh!

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AND MY LUDDITE FRIEND REPLIED:

*** begin quote ***

Wait a minute….they’re both bad? Do you agree with the guy that says there shouldn’t be a wall at all, that it’s infringing on people’s liberties? Just use a smidgen of your imagination, to envision our country without a wall. We’ve had a small taste of it already with the wall not being complete nor totally effective, and you like those results? Like I say, just imagine with even less control on the border, it would end life in America as we have known it. And none of us would like it.

As for “ending” welfare, that is not bad….it depends on what you mean by “ending” it? To me, ending welfare means stopping women from walking in with 14 children behind them that they recruited from the neighborhood to claim as their own, and ripping us off. At one point in NYC, there were more children on the welfare rolls than there were in the recorded child population levels! I think the solution for welfare and healthcare is really quite simple. First, you take the government out of the healthcare business with one exception…..you create a fund that is used in extreme cases where people are sick and need care that have no other means to help themselves. They have to “apply” for support, and a board reviews their request for approval…case by case basis. For the rest of us, we shop healthcare from the various healthcare providers and select the best plan for us. Initially it would be difficult for many, but like the great free enterprise system over time the cream would rise to the top, competition would create great healthcare solutions at affordable prices. The corrupt, cheaters, non-skilled, etc etc would be uncovered and run out of business.

*** end quote ***

AND I CONCLUDED: 

My concern with the “wall” is I remember the Berlin Wall. That which prevents ingress can also prevent egress. I don’t trust the Gooferment remember.

My concern with “welfare” is that I remember the destruction of the black family due to “welfare rules” about the father living at home. I don’t trust the Gooferment remember.

To elaborate on welfare, the Gooferment can’t “do charity” morally (i.e., it has to steal wealth from victims to redistribute), efficiently (i.e., the administrative costs are worse than any of the corrupt Big Charities), or effectively (i.e., I’ve been told and show evidence that the Gooferment perversely does NOT want people to get off welfare). 

Not that I am NOT just against fraud and abuse but the whole concept. It’s a killer. Being poor should be painful to get folks to save themselves from the Gooferment “plantation”. TO be effective, and efficient, charity must be private and personal. (IMHO) I formed this opinion years ago from http://www.acton.org/public-policy/effective-compassion/seven-principles-century-ago which really struck a chord.

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And, from what I have seen, Gooferment “welfare” gives you enough to starve. Argh!

Your comments are welcome if you can change my mind. 

p.s, yelling or name calling is unlikely to do that.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5198925/Rosie-offered-2m-Flake-Collins-vote-no-taxes.html

Rosie O’Donnell ILLEGALLY offered $2million each to Senators Flake and Collins if they would vote no on Trump’s tax bill

• Rosie O’Donnell offered Senators Flake and Collins $2m each to vote no on taxes 
• She offered the money over Twitter late Tuesday night just before it was passed
• Neither senator listened to her though, as both voted ‘Yes’ early Wednesday
• Vote was along strict party lines; Only GOP Sen. John McCain was absent
• It is a felony to offer money to a politician to influence acts like voting on a billBy Abigail Miller For Dailymail.com

PUBLISHED: 11:27 EST, 20 December 2017 | UPDATED: 11:46 EST, 20 December 2017

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Seems like she should be indicted.

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https://lifehacker.com/why-real-christmas-trees-are-better-than-fake-ones-1821354742

Why Real Christmas Trees Are Better Than Fake Ones
Jaime Green Today 3:00pm

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Choosing between real and artificial Christmas trees largely comes down to personal preference: do you want that cozy pine smell and hellacious clean-up, or built-in lights with no personal touch but nary a needle on the floor? Personal preference aside, though, there’s someone else who probably cares: Mother Earth.

*** end quote ***

More than anything, why don’t all us “modern Druids” forget about the whole concept of trees.

Didn’t the early Christians steal the concept of a Christmas from the pagans to get them in their movement?

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I was thinking … … and awoke with a realization.

“Priests, politicians and bureaucrats are the parasites of human society. Celebrities and professional “athletes” are the equivalent of court jesters. “Taking heads” on TV are marionettes. “Academics” are not smarter than the average person; perhaps except in their specific discipline. At least, used car salesmen serve a useful purpose in society.”

I am going to keep this in mind from now on. Hope you the reader will to.

Argh!

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2017-Nov-27

Sorry FIOS but you need to up your game. 

More than once this “season”, an NFL game over ran it’s TV Guide time slot. 

Now I don’t care about 60 MINUTES which has long ago jumped the shark, but I do care about WISDOM OF CROWDS endings being lost.

Argh!

As a fat old white guy retired injineer who’s a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income, this seems like an easy fix. 

Hire me and I’ll fix it for you.

Argh!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HipTO_7mUOw

Slaughterbots
Future of Life Institute
Published on Nov 13, 2017

If this isn’t what you want, please take action at: http://autonomousweapons.org

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Pretty scary stuff. On the horizon.

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http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2017/11/18/the-pernicious-doctrine-of-accusation-equals-guilt/

The Pernicious Doctrine of “Accusation Equals Guilt”
by Ted Galen Carpenter, CATO Institute

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Equating mere allegations of misconduct with definitive evidence is a growing habit in the United States.  That tendency is most prevalent regarding national security matters, and the trend has been building since the onset of the so-called war on terror following the 9-11 attacks.  

Conservatives are especially prone to assert that “terrorists” are not entitled to constitutional rights, even if they are American citizens.  The obvious problem with that argument is that until a fair and impartial trial is held, the individuals in question are merely accused terrorists.  The whole point of due process is to determine whether a defendant is guilty or not.

Alarmingly, George W. Bush’s administration asserted the authority to jail suspected terrorists without trial or even a hearing before an independent tribunal.  In the case of Jose Padilla, an American citizen apprehended at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the government designated him an “enemy combatant” and held him (as well as inflicted torture) for nearly four years at a military prison in South Carolina before bringing charges to a grand jury.  Even then, the administration’s belated application of due process occurred only in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s prodding.

*** end quote ***

Us little L libertarians should be constantly nagging about “our process”, “innocent until proven guilty”, and ‘limited government”.

We can go through a list of liberty impairing actions:

• “no fly” list
• “civil asset forfeiture”
• gun laws
• IRS abuses
• Marijuana prohibition
• “free speech zones”
• Congressional corruption
• farm subsidies
• “welfare / warfare” state
• the “deep state”

and on and on ad nauseam!

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I don’t think that anyone is fairly or correctly assessing the lowering of the corporate tax rate.

It’s generally acknowledged that “corporations don’t pay taxes; only real people do”. By taxing corporations, “We, The Sheeple” don’t “see” exactly how much tax they are paying on a can of beans.

When you consider the effect of corporate taxes on capital goods (i.e., the truck to deliver the can of beans) or intermediates (i.e., the gas to power the truck to deliver the can of beans), it’s impossible to calculate the true cost of taxes “buried” in the can of beans.

By lowering the corporate tax rate, perhaps that insight will be brought from “behind the curtain”.

Like moving tax day to the day before election day lowering the corporate tax rates is important, I’d like to see more people “see” just how much they are taxed.

Just my humble opinion from a fat old white guy retired injineer who’s now a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income and no expert on “ekky-nomics”.

But I know I’m getting screwed.

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https://youtu.be/8WiCG7oRze0?t=14m55s

Very dangerous realization.

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2017-Oct-30 2227 

Sorry but it’s not like watching on TV.

Argh!

# – # – # – # – #  2017-Oct-30 @ 22:27  

2017-Oct-23

Got DMV renewal for caddie. Put all my info in, got part way, and system barfed. Argh! Now I have to wait 30 minutes to try again. Stupid Gooferment!

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Amazon Breaks Up With FTL!

Amazon apparently didn’t like us telling you that shopping through the links at shop.freetalklive.com helped Free Talk Live, so last week they dumped us. Seems like a pretty lame excuse to end an agreement that had lasted for more than a decade, but that’s what happened! (To be clear, we’ve only been dumped by Amazon US. The affiliate links for the UK and Canada Amazons are still working.)

If you want to do online shopping with Free Talk Live, go ahead and bookmark our Walmart link: walmart.freetalklive.com

Also, you can still use cryptocurrency like bitcoin to get deep discounts on everything you buy at Amazon and a small part of your purchases at SaveatPurse.com do benefit FTL.

So, even without Amazon US, there are still plenty of ways for you to buy and benefit Free Talk Live. Thanks for helping us while helping yourself to the stuff you need and want!

Also, thanks for listening to Free Talk Live,
Ian

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I’m upset with Amazon. Maybe if I complain?

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/twitter-suspends-rose-mcgowans-account-1048018

Twitter Suspends Rose McGowan’s Account
11:00 PM PDT 10/11/2017 by Abid Rahman , Jackie Strause

The actress, who has emerged as a Hollywood voice in the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal, revealed the news on her Instagram and Facebook accounts.

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Seems like twitter is afraid to offend the Hollywood establishment?

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https://reason.com/blog/2017/09/28/bogus-stoned-driving-arrests-highlight-t

Bogus Stoned Driving Arrests Highlight Dubious Methods of ‘Drug Recognition Experts’
A lawsuit by three sober drivers who were busted for DUI questions the pot-detecting abilities of DREs.
Jacob Sullum|Sep. 28, 2017 3:40 pm

*** begin quote ***

To the untrained eye, Katelyn Ebner seems completely sober during her 28-minute roadside encounter with Cobb County, Georgia, police officer Tracy Carroll, who has pulled the 23-year-old waitress over for ailing to maintain her lane as she made a left turn. But Carroll, who was designated a “drug recognition expert” (DRE) after undergoing 160 hours of special training, perceives “numerous indicators” that Ebner is under the influence of marijuana. Ebner repeatedly assures him she does not “smoke weed” or “do any of that stuff” and volunteers to prove it by taking a drug test. “You’re going to jail, ma’am,” he replies. “I don’t have a magical drug test that I can give you right now.”

Carroll does not need a magical drug test, because he is a magical drug test—or so the Cobb County Police Department would have you believe. But the experiences of innocent motorists like Ebner, who were arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana based on Carroll’s hunch, only to be cleared by negative blood tests, suggest otherwise. This week three of them, including Ebner, filed a federal lawsuit that casts doubt on the drug-detecting abilities of DREs like Carroll.

*** and ***

The lawsuit argues that Ebner and her two co-plaintiffs, Princess Mbamara and Ayokunle Oriyomi, both college students, felt they had no choice but to submit to drug tests, especially after Carroll told them that state law required them to do so and that their driver’s licenses would be suspended if they refused. Under the circumstances, the complaint says, the consent was not genuine, and since there was no warrant the blood tests violated the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. Ebner, Mbamara, and Oriyomi also argue that Carroll had no “justifiable basis” for subjecting them to sobriety tests and no probable cause to arrest them.

“Defendant Carroll’s pattern and practice of enforcing DUI-drug infractions,” the complaint says, “was to arrest an individual based on nothing more than a hunch, which would be invariably ratified by the results of an ad hoc smattering of tests he administered, which were divorced from any rigorous methodology and were without the foundational underpinning necessary to amount to legal justification to arrest….The way that Cobb County Police Officers such as Defendant Carroll are taught to and do administer their testing for the detection of impairment by drugs is designed to make innocent behavior appear incriminating and to make exculpatory behavior appear irrelevant.” The ACLU argues that the Cobb County Police Department licensed, endorsed, and encouraged such pseudoscientific methods, “allowing officers artificially knighted with ‘Drug Recognition Expert’ status to falsely believe that they have a special and unique ability to detect marijuana use.”

Even after blood tests confirmed that Ebner, Mbamara, and Oriyomi were telling the truth when they denied being under the influence of marijuana, the Cobb County Police Department defended Carroll’s methods. Amazingly, the complaint notes, his superiors “continued to state that even if Defendant Carroll had known of the negative results of Plaintiff Ebner’s blood test at the time she was arrested, nonetheless there would have been probable cause for her arrest.”

Who are you going to believe? Some fancy lab test or Officer Carroll’s gut?

*** end quote ***

Yet another reason to end the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” and restrain the police in their pursuit of “revenue”.

I’ll take their federal suit one step further. I’d restrain the police action to only case where there is property damage or personal injury. After all, where is the “victim” in touching or going over a line painted by a Gooferment bureaucrat?

Argh!

When I pass on maybe I’ll finally understand, but as of now I just don’t see it.

Even when I see an idiot speeding down the road and cutting in and out — never a cop around then; to busy sleeping or collecting revenue like highwaymen of old — I never get upset because I ask myself “where’s the victim”. Now if the impolite jerk causes an accident, then they should throw the book at him. (It IS usually a “him” based on my unstatistical observations.)

Sigh!

When, if ever, will the Sheeple aka Clovers ever wake up?

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FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “The 10-Point”

Responding to yesterday’s question on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denying longstanding rumors about his possible resignation, Allan Muns of Texas wrote: “Why does the press continue to speculate that Mr. Tillerson called the president a moron? And if he did, who cares? Mr. Tillerson can either do his job or resign. Full stop. The president has an excellent candidate for secretary of state currently minding the United Nations for our country: Nikki Haley.” Robert Hugins of South Carolina said: “Mr. Tillerson’s toughest diplomatic challenge doubtless is his mercurial boss. Good luck with that. Regarding the questionable ‘moron’ news story, are staffers inside the State Department and on the Hill who oppose the secretary’s departmental reforms fanning this account?” And John Davis of Pennsylvania commented: “This whole kerfuffle has no more credence than the tabloids in the supermarket checkout line. Mr. Tillerson should have said as much.”

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Who cares? 

I’ve called a boss “Hitler” to his face when he voiced an intrusive stupid idea. He often called me a “good pia”.

Strong individuals should disagree. 

Not every idea that DJT45 has is a good one. 

A President needs the privacy to be told off by his trusted advisors without it becoming a political football.

Argh!

Didn’t Harry Truman’s personal aide “censor” his “rants”? When the fellow died, his replacement didn’t realize this role and hence we heard HST rant about a reported criticizing his daughter’s singing. 

Argh!

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2017-Oct-02 1058

The LV tragedy is not the time for politics when the dead are unburied.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/10/02/democrats-immediately-call-for-gun-control-after-las-vegas-shooting/

*** begin quote ***

Congressional Democrats chose not to wait for all the facts to come in before immediately pushing for increased gun control measures following the Las Vegas shooting Sunday night that left 50 people dead and more than 400 injured.

*** and ***

Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attacked the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“Our grief isn’t enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again,” Clinton wrote.

*** end quote ***

ALSO

The media is reporting it was “machine guns”. But I’m not sure that is accurate.

Argh!

At least it was not a “ISIS attack”. If that’s any saving grace.

I wonder if this was some type of “false flag” event. The guy they are naming as the shooter has no reported gun background, hunting, and|or no military training. That’s odd. Very very strange. 

Argh!

Dona Nobis Pacem

# – # – # – # – #  2017-Oct-02 @ 11:09  

https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/airplane-mode

Airplane Mode
Elbow-to-elbow seating, oversized comfort pets, midcabin standoffs — and passengers armed with their smartphones. A new era in air travel has some Americans tweeting mad.
By JAMES RAINEY SEP 26, 2017

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WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME someone told you they loved flying? Or even said they liked it? Or that they couldn’t wait to get back in the air?

In the spring and summer of America’s flying discontent, it’s likely your anxiety began to mount long before reaching the jetway. You felt nickeled and dimed by charges for everything: extra leg room, a snack, a thin blanket, an advance seat assignment. If you weren’t blindsided by a tumultuous curbside check-in, you might have stumbled over new complexities at a security checkpoint (Coming soon: mandatory screening, in separate security bins, of almost ALL electronic devices!) or arrived at your gate to find there was nowhere to sit.

*** end quote ***

This story struck a chord with me.

The last time I flew for pleasure I went first class. I figured it was my last trip to Las Vegas. Who knew it would be my last airplane trip.

I saw the “great unwashed” in the back of the plane and the sheer discomfort they were in.

From time to time, I read the horror stories. 

No way I’d do that again.

I’d like to visit friends, but it has to be by car.

I think of John Madden, who never flew, as a new “patron saint”.

Ahh, the good old days. Gone for good.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-dont-want-or-need-a-tax-cut-2017-09-27

Opinion: This tax cut isn’t for the middle class, which only pays 2.5% now
Published: Sept 28, 2017 10:15 a.m. ET

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Shouldn’t EVERYONE pay something?

Argh!

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*** begin quote ***

What are your thoughts on NFL players protesting during the national anthem? Send your comments, which we may edit before publication, to 10point@wsj.com

*** end quote ***

Quite frankly, it appears childish showboating.

These are MP4B = “Millionaires Playing For Billionaires”. And, they have no connection to the people they are supposedly protesting for.

What have they done to fix the problem. They are just not that important.

The head of the Salvation Army does more every day than these prima donnas do in a lifetime fmpov. And, it’s divisive and counterproductive. For example, it distracts from the serious problems of the day  — Puerto Rico and its finances; flood relief and the long term solutions; and our economic timebombs.

BTW this criticism goes to DJT45; he should be focused on, as Ronald Reagan said, the two or three things a President can get done.

Argh! A plague on all their houses.

I feel for the Gold Star Moms, the widows and orphans, and the boys and girls in harm’s way.

Let’s bring all the girls, boys, women, and men home now! We have so many politicians and bureaucrats to send in their place if it’s really needed! 

f. j. reinke

— 
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” —Reinhold Niebuhr

—-Ferdinand John Reinke…

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https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/

*** begin quote ***

The company offered free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection to all U.S. consumers, regardless of whether they were definitively impacted.TrustedID Premier includes 3-Bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports; copies of Equifax credit reports; the ability to lock and unlock Equifax credit reports; identity theft insurance; and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers.

*** end quote ***

How?

Question unanswered.

Argh!

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