Think Before You Choose Your Candidate

Your candidate should be a person you trust to represent your values and will seek to fulfill your needs whether you are a CEO, a small business owner, or a blue-collar worker.

These are just three questions I consider before choosing a candidate for any elected office.

  1. Will they ensure access to high-quality affordable health insurance for all (regardless of employment)?
  2. Will they guarantee a high-quality affordable (if not free) public education for me, my children, and my grandchildren? To clarify, I’m talking about prekindergarten through college education.
  3. Will they provide protection when I need it (and leave me alone when I don’t)?

Preemptive note about socialism. Every American benefits from aspects of socialism in the roads we drive on and the fire and police protection we enjoy. Everyone contributes and everyone benefits, so don’t start shouting about the evils of socialism before you think.

One More Thing to Consider

From an interview titled “I will always be on the side of the libraries”: A Conversation with Neil Gaiman.

Question to Neil Gaiman: You’re an author of many books that have been challenged and banned throughout the years. What does it feel like to experience that?

Gaiman’s Answer (in part): As far as I’m concerned, if you really can’t figure out which political party or which politician to vote for, just ask if they’re on the side of libraries. Are they voting to fund their libraries? Are they voting to keep them free? Then vote for those guys. They’re probably the good guys. And by the same token, the book burners, the book banners, they’re probably the bad guys. It’s a good way to bet.

The Sweep and Force of Section Three by William Baude, Michael Stokes Paulsen :: SSRN

I want to promulgate this paper written by members of the Federalist Society.

The Sweep and Force of Section Three by William Baude, Michael Stokes Paulsen :: SSRN:

Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids holding office by former office holders who then participate in insurrection or rebellion. Because of a range of misperceptions and mistaken assumptions, Section Three’s full legal consequences have not been appreciated or enforced. This article corrects those mistakes by setting forth the full sweep and force of Section Three.

First, Section Three remains an enforceable part of the Constitution, not limited to the Civil War, and not effectively repealed by nineteenth century amnesty legislation. Second, Section Three is self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress. It can and should be enforced by every official, state or federal, who judges qualifications. Third, to the extent of any conflict with prior constitutional rules, Section Three repeals, supersedes, or simply satisfies them. This includes the rules against bills of attainder or ex post facto laws, the Due Process Clause, and even the free speech principles of the First Amendment. Fourth, Section Three covers a broad range of conduct against the authority of the constitutional order, including many instances of indirect participation or support as “aid or comfort.” It covers a broad range of former offices, including the Presidency. And in particular, it disqualifies former President Donald Trump, and potentially many others, because of their participation in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 presidential election.

Hit the link to download the entire paper.

Rx for Insurance?

The nonsensical application of insurance of any kind always sparks fury in me and a recent trip to the pharmacy rekindled that rage.

My doctor prescribed a new medicine. The pharmacy wouldn’t fill it because it needed “preauthorization,” a word too many people have learned these days. Basically, the insurance company tells the pharmacy to call the doctor so they can call the insurance company to send a form to the doctor who sends it back to the pharmacy.

First off, why isn’t the prescription itself not enough authorization. It’s not like I wandered in off the street and ordered a round of Xanax with Oxy chasers. My primary care physician said, “My patient needs this medicine.” That should be enough. Without insurance, the medicine runs about $400.

So, the pharmacy wasn’t going to fill it without this hall pass from the insurance principal. I started to leave when my wife reminded me to check Good Rx, a free coupon app. I opened the app, which I didn’t even have to log into if I didn’t want to (and I didn’t), and found a coupon code to get my $400 prescription for $24 without insurance.

So I bought it.

That leads me to my next brain-numbing question. If I can do basically nothing and get it for $24, why isn’t it priced at $24?!

That is all. I don’t want to go on a full tirade, but I just get so angry knowing there are likely thousands of Americans filing bankruptcy daily because of medical bills and insurance snags so hundreds of people can stay obscenely wealthy.

My Father’s Death in 7 Gigabytes | WIRED

My Father’s Death in 7 Gigabytes | WIRED:

My father’s last decade was one of relentless downsizing, from apartment to assisted living to nursing home, shedding belongings, throwing away clothes and furniture. And at the end: Two boxes and a tiny green urn. The ultimate zip file. After I parsed and processed and batched his digital legacy, it came to 7,382 files and around 7 gigabytes.

In closing, he says:

My father needed a great deal of space, but now he takes up almost none. Almost. Death is a lossy process, but something always remains.

I’ll read anything Paul Ford writes. I’m also an early member of tilde.club.

Nelson’s Weblog: culture / apis-for-content-sites-must-be-free

Nelson’s Weblog: culture / apis-for-content-sites-must-be-free:

Social media businesses should not charge* for APIs. If a company like Reddit or Twitter derives most of its value from content that users write for free then it must provide APIs for anyone to download and manipulate that content.

He continues later.

The key thing here is social media sites don’t produce content. They merely host it. Millions of users create the content expecting it will be widely available. Locking down an API breaks that social contract.

To quote much more is to simply repost it, but I agree with Nelson. It’s a quick read and worth your time.

Where Oh Where Should I Write?

What app should I use when I want to write.

This is a recurring thought (and topic on this blog) that continues to baffle me. For now, I’m writing this post in MarsEdit, which is the app most of my blogs flow through to publication on Carrying Stones. Writing apps? I have plenty. These are the main ones right now.

  • BBEdit
  • Ulysses
  • Drafts
  • Scrivener
  • Word Processor (Word, Mellel, Pages, etc.), which aren’t really an option for this type of writing

I tried creating a BBEdit project, but file management got a little weird for me. I enjoy Ulysses for focusing on writing in full-screen mode, but it still doesn’t quite do it for me. Drafts seems perfect for starting text docs, but I still struggle to build it into my workflow. I feel like Scrivener is meant for sprawling projects; novels and what-not. Word processors are overkill for so many reasons.

What do you people do? Any bloggers out there using macOS with a perfect solution? Email me!

Kiss My Grass!

IMG 2720
You may be high if you think this grass is high!

Expecting a package, I eagerly trotted to answer a knock at the door where a county codes enforcement officer greeted me.

It turns out, we have a nosy “Karen” in the neighborhood who complained about several yards in the neighborhood with so-called high grass.

The enforcement officer seemed a little embarrassed to tell me about the report and quickly affirmed I was in no violation of county ordinance.

Mind your own business Karen!