MaxRedline

Spooky - And It's Not Halloween

In two days, Obama plans to turn oversight of the internet over to the capable despots of the U.N. His reason:

"the U.S. has sought to unwind its influence from the Web’s architecture, arguing that experts from the international community — and not governments, including Washington — should oversee its day-to-day operation"

Um. Barry, America built the internet. We let everybody use it, but oversight belongs to us. And if the US doesn't want governments controlling the internet, then why hand it over to a governmental organization? Why not just let tech companies in the US handle it?

It seems, unfortunately, that this is simply yet another effort to achieve "fundamental transformation" of America by attempting an end-run around our Constitution: because the US Constitution doesn't let the US government censor the internet, but other governments can. Fortunately, four attorneys general have filed suit in federal court to block the handover, arguing that it would violate our Constitution.

“Trusting authoritarian regimes to ensure the continued freedom of the internet is lunacy,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement. “The president does not have the authority to simply give away America’s pioneering role in ensuring that the internet remains a place where free expression can flourish.”

And Paxton is exactly right. Time and again, we have seen such regimes limit internet access to their citizens, or shut it off completely. They routinely censor websites as well; this very blogsite has been banned in China, presumably because it's considered somehow dangerous.

While we may take our fundamental right to freedom of speech for granted, many people in many countries are denied that right. And it appears that Obama has planned to ensure that our fundamental right - at least insofar as internet communications go - can be restricted at any time.

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Today Is "National Coffee Day"

Score free coffee and a free glazed doughnut just by showing up at a Krispy Kreme store.

Other shops are offering discounts on coffee today as well, but not Starbucks; they have a different thing going:

Starbucks will donate a coffee tree for every cup of brewed Mexico Chiapas cup of coffee in the U.S. or Mexico.

That's because a fungal blight, coffee rust, has been decimating coffee trees across southern Mexico and Latin America. Thus far, the company has donated 10 million trees for the farmers to replant.

Trainwreck In Hoboken

At least three are dead and over 100 injured, some critically, when a packed commuter train slammed at full speed into and through a bumper at the end of the line. The station also incurred significant damage.

Nancy Bido, a passenger on the train, told WNBC-TV in New York that the train didn't slow as it pulled into the station. "It just never stopped. It was going really fast, and the terminal was basically the brake for the train," she said.

Approximately 250 passengers were aboard, as the incident occurred during their east-coast rush hour.

A similar event - though not nearly as bad - occurred here a couple of years ago when a light rail train crashed through a bumper at the end of the "yellow" line. Fortunately, the cars were unoccupied, apart from the operator, who sustained minor injuries.

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Getting Out The Vote!

Oh, and as noted here previously, it's not just dead people voting for Democratics; the non-citizen from Turkey who murdered five people in a Washington shopping mall also voted.

 

Busted, Broke Tri-Met

The former Portland-area transit agency has cut back on services in order to help defray operational costs for their fixed-rail stuff, and they continue to build rail because they can get grants for that. Because it's Green&Sustainable™.

But the fact of the matter is that due to their unfunded liabilities, the development agency will be completely out of other people's money in 14 years, at which point they will have no choice but to cut service levels even more.

At latest report, it actually spends about 50 percent more on benefits than on pay, and is the only major transit agency in the country to spend more on benefits than pay. This doesn’t count the unfunded health care liabilities; by 2030, TriMet health care benefits alone are projected to be more than its payroll.

Of course, the managers there are still bringing down salaries of as much as a quarter of a million dollars a year. And ridership has decreased to approximately 3% of the population. A greater percentage (nearly double Tri-Met ridership) commute by bicycle today, yet the agency wants to spend another $2.5 billion to build a light rail line from downtown Portland to the Bridgeport shopping mall in suburban Tualatin.

In 14 years, they won't have the funds to operate their precious rail lines, let alone provide bus services.

Your tax dollars at "work".

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Your "Carbon Footprint" Matters. Mine Doesn't.

That seems to be the message from Democratics to us "little people" as they burn jet fuel, using private planes to travel here and there.

After her two events in Greenville, Clinton was scheduled to attend a “clean energy roundtable” in Asheville, which is about a 5-hour drive away. But instead of driving or flying on a commercial plane, Clinton opted to a take a private jet. The NTK Network posted a tracking video that shows Clinton boarding the private jet on Wednesday.

The Clinton campaign pledged last year they would be carbon neutral on the trail and that they would be “offsetting the carbon footprint of the campaign and that includes travel.” The Clinton team has yet to fulfill this promise, however, as the campaign is using private jets to travel to events.

It's always about what you need to do to Save The Planet™. They can carry on as always.

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Blowback's A Bitch

As Portland Democratics continue to enact rules that adversely impact businesses both in the city and around the state, this will doubtless outrage the heck out of them:

Vancouver is taking a bite out of the Portland food scene as some of its successful restaurateurs are crossing the river and moving into The Mill, a shopping center on East Mill Plain Boulevard.

Costs are skyrocketing, as are fees and other taxes, and the Democratics here keep adding on, demanding that businesses pay a $15 minimum wage, a minimum of one week of paid time off, and coming up in the next legislative session: mandatory work scheduling rules.

Increasingly, people are moving across the Columbia River into Clark County, Washington - and restaurants, who are most impacted by the Oregon Democrat mandates, are following suit; the idiotic rules and mandates imposed by Willamette Valley Democratics in Oregon don't apply in Clark County. Turn out the lights, the party's over.

More On Washington Murderer

The Cascade Mall shooting suspect, Arcan Cetin, may face an additional investigation related to his voting record and citizenship status.

Federal sources confirm to KING 5 that Cetin was not a U.S. citizen, meaning legally he cannot vote. However, state records show Cetin registered to vote in 2014 and participated in three election cycles, including the May presidential primary.

But how could this be? Democratics assure us that voter fraud is not possible!

The Turkish immigrant has only a green card, but successfully registered and voted in our elections. By the way, he claimed in social media that he planned to vote for Pantsuit in the coming election, until he got all shooty in the mall.

Pit Bull Ban Enacted

This is why it's so important to maintain control of your dog, as in on a leash when in public and ensuring that fencing around your house is secure. Never let it run free in the neighborhood or other public areas; it's irresponsible no matter how sure you are that Poopsie would never harm a fly, and as was mentioned here last week here in Portland, Poopsie just may find herself on the receiving end of a bullet. Irresponsible dog "owners" are a hazard to others and in many cases, to their own dogs. And the latest example comes from Montreal, where starting in five days, ownership of certain kinds of dogs becomes illegal:

The city announced that the new rules, including the ban on new ownership of pit bull or pit bull-type dogs, will go into effect across all 19 Montreal boroughs starting Oct. 3.

This follows the mauling death of a 55 year-old Montreal woman about three months ago by a dog that was described as a pit bull. As noted here previously, there really is no such thing as a pit bull per se; they are bulldogs crossed with terriers, combining the strength and tenacity of the bulldog with the agility, speed, and hyperactivity of the terrier. Thus, their new ban attempts to define what, exactly, a pit bull actually is:

The new bylaw will apply to all 19 boroughs and will define pit bulls as:

• Staffordshire bull terriers.
• American pit bull terriers.
• American Staffordshire terriers.
• Any mix with these breeds.
• Any dog that presents characteristics of one of those breeds.

Those who now own a dog of those breeds and already live in Montreal will have to acquire a special permit in order to keep their pet by Dec. 31, 2016.

The American pit bull terrier is labeled "pit bull" primarily in order to distinguish it from the British Staffordshire terriers. Note the common denominator, however: all carry that manic terrier characteristic.

Although the Montreal ban is doubtless done with the best of intentions as a means of protecting the public from the sort of death so gruesomely suffered weeks ago by the woman, it has aroused indignation and protest in a number of quarters, and there are plans in the works to initiate a legal challenge to the ban. Everybody who has a Poopsie loves their Poopsie, so this act strikes far more emotionally than, say, having their car towed. Poopsie is a member of the family (albeit a potentially lethal one).

In my view, the ban will be next to impossible to enforce, due to the nebulous definition of "pit bull or pit bull-like" dogs.

It would be more effective for all dog owners to be required to be licensed after demonstrating that they possess the means and the ability to properly care for - and control - the dog. That sort of tool would also afford a means for pursuing damages against the owner, which would likely provide an impetus for the owner to secure the animal's quarters, leash-condition it, and so on.

However, if I were a Montreal resident with a dog of any kind - and especially one of the terrier mixes listed - it would behoove me to ensure that my dog is muzzle-conditioned as well.

As I see it, the problem is less with the breed of dog than with owners who lack any knowledge of behavior and conditioning.

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Losses Cut By 80%

Flat-screen televisions have many great features, as Dutch bicycle maker VanMoof discovered: a lot of their bikes were being damaged during shipment, and that was costing them. So they printed a television on their shipping cartons.

“No matter who was doing the shipping, too many of our bikes arrived looking like they’d been through a metal-munching combine harvester. It was getting expensive for us, and bloody annoying for our customers,” creative director Bex Rad wrote on the company blog. “Earlier this year our co-founder Ties had a flash of genius. Our boxes are about the same size as a (really really reaaaally massive) flatscreen television. Flatscreen televisions always arrive in perfect condition. What if we just printed a flatscreen television on the side of our boxes?”

Genius. Losses from damage dropped by 80%.

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