Guard Dog

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7858201/US-led-military-coalition-says-WITHDRAW-Iraq-parliament-voted-troops-leave.html Jesus this administration is a s--t show

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government only when it deserves it" Samuel Clemens "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." Teddy Roosevelt

Recent changes at work has me seriously thinking about my life and career. To say that it (my career) did not go as planned would be the mildest of understatements. Some up, some down. Some successes, lots of setbacks. But the latest one has me contemplating how we all get where we end up. How every step we take seems right and well considered in the moment but the errors so glaring in retrospect. That is how life is I guess. You get the test first and the lesson after.

I stick with my initial prediction. There will be a lot of noise and press and hoopla over this but in the end nothing will come of it.

Supposedly Iran has offered a $80M bounty on Trump's head. Meanwhile Kathy Griffin is wondering if they will give her a few bucks for the one she has.

The US military really does not have a lot of trouble meeting it's recruiting goals. They offer some really nice incentives. But it is NOT for everyone. In fact at times it can be a real bitch. And it can be dangerous. If people decide the cons outweigh the pros who can blame them if they do something else. But this draft business if blatant political fear mongering aimed at those people. It is no different that Trump and his ilk stirring up fear of immigrants. I hate if for two reasons. First off it is literally slavery. Just because it's not forever does not make it not slavery. Second it is the equivalent of sabotaging the military. Life in the service is not easy. You have to want to be there. A demoralized force is not one that will perform well.

Yeah I figured there was more behind the scenes than on camera. There will be saber rattling and some folks will get nervous but in the end nothing comes of it.

Oh for crying out loud not this s--t again? https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Could-the-strike-on-an-Iranian-general-trigger-a-14950144.php https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/politics/military-draft-selective-service-site-crash-trnd/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/us/military-draft-world-war-3.html It never fails. No there is not going to be a draft. Unless China or Russia actually declare war. And even there won't be because there won't be anyone left. Conscription is one of the worst things you can do to a military service. Every time a Republican (or whatever Trump is) starts some s--t overseas here comes the draft scare. Not because it might happen but to scare 18-25 year olds into voting Democrat. When Obama stuck our nose into Syria, Libya, etc... nada.

Glad to see you are OK what with everything going on.

Now... THIS s--t is funny!

I can't remember if this has been posted here or not. Just in case...

This one too!

The story of my life in a meme

This is a very smart, sober, and enlightening analysis of the US political situation. Frankly I surprised it came from the Atlantic. But, credit where credit is due: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/two-party-system-broke-constitution/604213/ One of my biggest worries is that one political faction or the other actually achieves a real and enduring majority. With so much animosity and so many actions taken for no reason other than petty attempts to infuriate the other side and actual armed civil war absolutely could happen. The worst part of it is people in general follow the better angels of their nature and don't automatically hate each other. But the political class needs that anger to drive their electoral ambitions so they gleefully stoke it.

They do that by offering a slightly different study program that awards a different degree. After I finished MDCC I found FAU to be a problem because the CoE offered very few night classes. So I was looking at an online only school, Grantham University. They are accredited regionally and nationally (at that time, not sure about now) and had programs in several engineering disciplines. But the devil is in the details. In the state of LA (and all the others for that matter) require lab hours for a BSEE. So Gratham's program was for a BSEET, Electronics Engineering Technology. Basically all the classroom work with no labs. The degree is not worthless. It's not nothing. But it's not worth the cost per hour when a BSEE costs less on in-state tuition. And it's definitely not going to be as well received in interviews. As a candidate you are definitely less prepared than someone who had their lab time and completed their projects. It would be like bringing a cinnamon babka to a party and finding out the couple before you brought a chocolate one.

Booker is still in.

Julian Castro has dropped out: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/julián-castro-drops-out-of-presidential-race/ar-BBYxV1z?ocid=spartandhp

Another annoying thing is if someone has a 20 year body of work in their field where they attended school should be little more that a brief conversation point.

You already can. Self education is totally a real thing. The only thing you "need" from the university you are paying so much to attend is to affirm you passed their tests and fulfilled the requirements set by that state to receive that degree. Just as an example it took me seven years to complete my degree going part time. I attended less than half my classes and logged the barest minimum of lab hours because I had a full time job. Most of what I know I leaned on my own. Sure, better instructors, better facilities, I get that. But the coefficient of static friction is still higher than kinetic friction in Boca Raton just as it is in Cambridge.

If you are interviewing a candidate or employee for a position and you care about where they went to school (one college or university being superior to another in your mind) then please do me a favor. Put down your phone, close your laptop, proceed to the nearest train track, site down between the rails and await further instructions. It does not make a goddamned bit of difference if you earned an engineering from MIT or Northwestern Polytechnic (total enrollment 52), or wherever. If they are accredited, real universities they teach the same things. A degree from one is exactly the same as a degree from the other. They don't teach the "real math" at MIT or Cal Tech. A teacher from the Bennett College for Women is just as qualified as one from f-----g Vanderbilt. And probably a hell of a lot less in debt. Thinking otherwise makes for a first class snob and you should immediately follow my previous instructions. Had to get that off my chest.

First day back at work in three weeks. Also the day I meet my new boss.

In all seriousness I do get a kick out of comrade Bernie. He is a multi-millionaire who owns three houses, one of which is that ultimate wealthy elite trophy: the luxury vacation home. Not bad for a man how has never worked a day in his life outside of political office. A millionaire who give speeches about how immoral it is to be a millionaire! And people eat it up. Of course like all good socialists he is exempting himself from any upcoming purges he might have in mind.

"By the English" was a pretty important detail in that sentence. Just because Davis bumped into it does not mean no ones knew they were there.