Opuscula Christians want to unseat anti-Semite

WHILE THE INTENT is appreciated, the reality is that

a.  It cannot be done and
b.  It should NOT be done

at least on a national fiat.

The PROCLAIMING JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS (PJTN) organization’s Laurie Cardoza-Moore, head of the Franklin, Tennessee-based group, is calling for Americans across the country to demand the ouster of Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the U.S. House of Representatives, or — at a minimum — her removal from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Omar also was assigned to the House Education & Labor Committee.)

If Ms. Cardoza-Moore wants Americans from coast-to-coast to protest decisions by Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority leader, to appoint Ms. Omar to sensitive committees, that’s one thing and is acceptable.

On the other hand, if Ms. Cardoza-Moore and friends want Ms. Omar removed from office, THAT is not acceptable.

Ms. Omar was elected by voters in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. (She is the second Muslim elected to the U.S. House from that district.)

The power to recall an elected official belongs to the voters who put the person into office; in Ms. Omar’s case, that is the voters of Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.

An elected official can be impeached — no easy task — and banished from office, but there is nothing stopping the voters from returning the politician to office. Indeed, this may be a likely scenario if the voters deem the politicians who cast out their candidate did so for questionable reasons.

 

TO BE FAIR

Most of the criticism of Ms. Omar and her fellow Muslims in the House focuses on their close association with organizations linked to Muslim terrorist activity. Anti-Semitism comes into play and that worries observant Jews — albeit it seems not to disturb non-observant (liberal, leftist) Jews — but a look at Ms. Omar’s web presence (Facebook, etc.) shows one of her chief targets is Saudi Arabia and its treatment of women. (Why only Saudi Arabia and not her own Somalia or Libya or Iran or name almost any Muslim-dominated country. She also avoids tackling several Latin American countries infamous for what Americans consider civil rights violations.)

Her state, Minnesota, has long had socialist leanings; former Vice President Herbert Horatio Humphrey — fantastic orator, by the way — was a Democrat-Socialist.

 

BOTTOM LINE

As much as this scrivener dislikes Ms. Omar’s attacks on Israel — especially since she obviously gets her information from people who nave no first hand knowledge of Israel or the region — given these uncivilized times, it is no wonder that she and others of her ilk are empowered by like-minded or like-unminded peers.

I doubt Ms. Omar and her fellow new members of the House have any concept of civility or any idea that nothing, especially in politics, is “black and white” (assuming that — “black and white” — it not too politically incorrect).

Whatever I think about Ms. Omar, she is NOT my representative to the U.S. House who, in my opinion, is worse than Ms. Omar. Likewise, the House’s majority leadership was elected from districts other than mine, so I have no right to call for its recall.

Write a letter to Nancy Pelosi. It will be wasted effort.

Write a letter to your representative. Likewise, wasted effort. Some, like mine, probably will applaud her behavior.

Too bad getting all the facts is not a requirement for public pronouncements, especially for politicians.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Ilhan Omar

Opuscula Love Linux Ubuntu But use Windows To access the ‘Net

I HEARTILY DISLIKE Microsoft because of its heavy handedness, arrogance, and the constant changes to the user interface (UI).

I like Linux and have been using the Ubuntu version. I also use LibreOffice to do everything Microsoft Office does — and then some.

SO, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, why am I using MS Windows 10 (and LibreOffice Writer) to compose this?

Because, for the second time within the span of a few months I am unable to access the modem/router from Ubuntu.

The problem, it seems, is the RealTek driver for Linux.

The driver is not included with the Ubuntu release (as are other utilities).

It is downloaded separately.

The first time the RealTek driver failed it followed a Ubuntu upgrade. Unlike Microsoft, that to its credit assures compatibility with the operating system (OS), Linux integration testing is less rigorous than Microsoft.

I’m not certain why the driver failed again. I do know that I was unable to restore the driver — to be fair, I am NOT a computer guru; I depend on my Second Born for that. I am strictly “shrink wrap.”

When I whined to my Second Born about the RealTek problem for the second time. his two word response was “Use Windows.”

I foolishly thought if I could get Windows to “see” the modem/router with the Windows’ OS it might “prime the pump” for the RealTek driver on Ubuntu.

It did not.

Windows does see the modem/router — which is how this was uploaded to the blog.

I still like Linux, even the Ubuntu “flavor,” but if I can’t depend on it and its drivers I am “stuck” with Microsoft in a “dual boot” world.

There are some Microsoft applications I really like: MS Outlook is far better than anything I’ve seen on Linux, and that includes Evolution, an Outlook “almost” look alike. The “snipping tool” on Windows is great. Linux has some really powerful graphic applications, but MS Picture Manager does 90% of everything this scrivener needs.

While I can convert forms to fillable PDFs with both Windows and Linux, it is easier for me to use Cute’s PDF Writer on Windows than LibreOffice’s Draw on the Linux OS. (LibreOffice works identically on all platforms: Linux, Mac, and Windows.)

One thing that LibreOffice does much better than MS Office is offer Save options. This file could be saved in its “native” *.odt format as well as MS Office Word (multiple releases), RTF, xml, html, as well as txt, and PDF. LibreOffice can open MS Office files, but Microsoft can’t deal with LibreOffice native formats.

 

Image above shows partial list of file formats available to LibreOffice Writer

 

LibreOffice also opens files saved in the formats shown in the screen capture above.

Again, LibreOffice — and other Open Office suites — run politely on all three major platforms. MS Office runs on Mac and Windows machines. (There IS a way to access MS Office from Linux, but by all accounts it has several handicaps.)

Earlier I groused about Microsoft’s all-too-frequent UI changes.

LibreOffice — on all platforms — has had several updates but none seriously impacted the UI.

 

Above: LibreOffice Writer V 6.1.3.2 ribbon

 

My bottom line, at least today, is to use LibreOffice on the Windows OS.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Linux vs. Windows

Opuscula Some Dems object To anti-Semitec words; Others are silent

THERE WAS AN INTERESTIING ARTICLE headlined Rep. Ilhan Omar apologizes for controversial tweets on Israel lobby after backlash from Democratic leaders .¹

The headline writer made it sound as if the Democrats were embarrassed by Omar’s continuing anti-Semitic slurs.

Apparently only a few Democrats were bothered by the woman’s remarks.

INTERESTINGLY, one of the representative’s fellow representaives — a Jew — apparently does not find her words offensive.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (right), disgraced and fired as DNC chair, was NOT among the Democrats listed as chastising Ms. Omar.

Wasserman-Schultz was elected to represent a heavily Jewish district that, while having a large observant (read “Orthodox”) population, is mostly leftist Reform and Conservative.

Perhaps Rep. Wasserman-Schultz agrees with Ms. Omar.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (right), a congressional neighbor of Wasserman-Schultz, name also was absent from the list of Democrats suggesting that Ms. Omar was out of line.

Rep. Ted Deutch (right) from a neighboring congressional district agreed with the “Democratic leaders” that Ms. Omar needs to curb her tongue.

Although neither a Democrat or representative, Sen. Marco (I’m always running for president) Rubio DID agree with the leaders.

Dade County (FL) representatives also were noticeably absent. Between Dade and Broward counties, only New York has a greater concentration of Jews — observant and otherwise.

The silence was — is — deafening.

 

They’re undecided now, so what are they gon’na do?²

Rep. Omar and her ilk know they can (and they do) say anything, no matter who is offended.

They know that the day after, they can say “Sorry ‘bout that” or “I was misquoted” and the fools they insulted yesterday will accept their crocodile tears today.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Certainly Ms. Omar has freedom of speech, here if not in her native Somalia.

But with that freedom goes responsibility, especially from an elected official. Ms. Omar & Friends have exercised the first part — freedom of speech — but seem to ignore the responsibility part.

The nation already is politically polarized; the words of the far left Democrats only serve to widen the chasm.

The nation never has been of one mind, but I don’t recall the nation ever being so divided since the War for Southern Independence, a/k/a the American Civil War. I suppose, seeing all the demonstrations against anything and everything “Confederate,” the war continues to this day; never mind the totality of history.

Oh well, America had a good run. It once was a respected power.

Now we, Americans, are tearing it apart.

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Sources

1. https://tinyurl.com/y3wkgls9

2. https://tinyurl.com/y2r39ovy

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Omar’s flip-flops

Opuscula Pol’s ignorance Shows when She bashes Israel

THE ROMANS had a god, Janus¹, who had two faces. Many of today’s politicians must pray to that god, for they, too, have two faces.

Newly elected Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) have, in their short stay in government, managed to make anti-Semitic statements with one breath and then “apologize” in the next breath.

Janus would be proud.

I WOULD NOT OBJECT to the Democrat representatives’ comments about Israel IF EITHER HAD EVER BEEN TO ISRAEL and had first hand knowledge of what happens in Israel.

I DO object to anti-Semitic remarks, but I also think too many Jews are too quick to brand ANY comment about Israel or Jews that is less than flattering as “anti-Semitism.”

I lived in Israel (1975-79).

My daughter and my grandchildren live in Israel.

I have other relatives in Israel.

I visit Israel more or less regularly.

I KNOW all non-Jews have the same

Freedom of religion as Jews

Freedom to travel as Jews

Right to vote as Jews

Right to travel on Israel’s buses and trains as Jews

Right to education at all levels, from pre-K to university

I have seen obviously Muslim families pass through Israel’s main international airport with less hindrance than some Jews.

I have seen an obviously Muslim family stroll on the beach near Haifa while their fellow Muslims were raining rockets on Haifa — no one, repeat NO ONE bothered them or obstructed their stroll or yelled anti-Muslim comments.

What non-Jews in Israel don’t have is a military obligation. They may perform community service, normally within their own communities.

Muslims from the PLO-occupied territories come into Israel on a daily basis to work for higher wages than they can get at home.

Rami Levy, a major supermarket chain, makes a point of employing Muslims along side Jews. Salaries for the same job are the same for Jew and Muslim.

Before BDS drove it out, SodaStream bused Muslims from the PLO territories to work in its factory alongside Jews; again, same pay for same job. BDS put the Muslims out of work, but SodaStream, which moved south now employs Druze along side Jews.

Haifa University’s student population is dominated by Muslims.

Israeli and PLO Muslims train at hospitals throughout Israel, although it seems primarily at Hadassah in Jerusalem — as has been the case since before 1948.

The idea that Muslims are a mistreated minority in Israel is a fallacy.

Pure, unmitigated bovine excrement.

There IS discrimination in Israel — just as there is everywhere.

Discrimination based on behavior.

Discrimination based on education, of lack thereof.

Discrimination on who or what a person knows.

Israel is NOT a perfect society.

Neither is any other society in which more than two people exist.

Muslims in the U.S. congress?

Big deal.

There have been — and remain — Muslims in Israel’s parliament from the beginning, some actively working against the government they were elected to serve. That so far has not happened in America.

 

For the record, former Rep. Keith Ellison was the first Muslim elected to congress.² A Democrat, he was replaced by Omar. The new Muslim members of congress are joined by Andre Carson (D-IN).³

 

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Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison

3. http://www.pewforum.org/2019/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-116/

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on (Ignorant pols

Opuscula Decision to ban guns Puts businesses twixt Hammer and anvil

I SEE SIGNS IN AREA BUSINESSES that state “No weapons allowed.” Some show images of guns and knives to make the point.

Aside from some places where the government bans weapons — bars, schools, certain areas in airports — it generally is the business owner’s prerogative to allow or prohibit weapons inside the business.

CAVEAT: I have a concealed weapons permit and a weapon that can be concealed. I am NOT a member of the NRA or any militant organization; I carry the weapon as a stop gap measure until the local constabulary can arrive. My First Born is a cop.

 

Let us assume that a hospital puts up a “No weapons” sign at all the entrances.

Let us also assume that someone had a fight with his or her spouse, parent, or significant other and has “gone off the deep end.”

If you’ll use your favorite search engine — Google and Dogpile are two I use — you will find the situation unfolding here is not hypothetical.

OK, angry ex-lover grabs a gun — often not legally obtained — and charges into the hospital looking for his or her former domestic partner or parent.

Does the sign on the door dissuade the person with the weapon?

Not on your tintype.

The armed person, in his or her anger, may not even see the sign.

Now, let’s continue to assume that our angry person perceives someone between the person and his target is in the way — so the angry person shoots and either maims or kills the innocent bystander.

What happens?

The facility is sued by everyone who is injured — physically or even emotionally — since the facility failed to protect others on the property.

Had the facility allowed legally concealed weapons inside, perhaps — maybe — the attacks could have been stopped and the number of injured or murdered reduced.

Nothing, of course, is guaranteed.

It’s obvious, at least to this scrivener, that signs do NOT prevent a would-be killer from bringing a weapon into a facility.

Guns and knives have been brought into hospitals. Guns have have been brought into schools — even with armed guards at the door. Guns and knives have been brought into bars. Guns and knives have been brought into businesses. (I worked at such a place.)

As my First Born told me: Don’t depend on the police arriving in a second; there are not enough cops.

I understand that business owners want to avoid shootouts a la the OK Corral, but those rarely happen inside a business. Usually it is a single shooter entering a building with a specific target (or targets) in mind.

If a person armed with a concealed weapon has the opportunity to eliminate the threat and save lives without endangering others, forget the signs on the doors.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Dilemma

Opuscula Roadblocks To the market For new PCP

I AM LOOKING FOR A NEW PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN (PCP).

I need a PCP who can, and will, refer to to a specific specialist, one with whom I have experience.

I thought my current PCP could make the referral but he can’t/won’t.

It’s all about “capitation.”

I thought I asked and was told that “Yes, we refer to the specialist you want.”

It is a he said/she said situation and I’ll assume the blame for the situation. I didn’t ask the question in writing and I didn’t insist on a written response. I should know better.

The problem is “capitation.” No, not DEcapitation, although sometimes I think it should be. Capitation is when a doctor agrees to refer to only a limited number of specialists on an insurer’s Providers’ List. My carrier has hundreds of local doctors in all fields, but the PCP I selected can refer to tens — not hundreds — of doctors on the carrier’s Providers’ List. Capitation is the “norm” for most (all?) Medicare Advantage plans in my area. It's all about money.

To prevent a recurrence of the miscommunication, I put together a short note in memo form.

TO: Referral Manager or Office Manager From was my name and email. Does your practice refer to Doctor A? Yes [ ] No [ ] Does your practice refer to Doctor B? Yes [ ] No [ ] If your practice refers to Dr. A or Drs. A AND B
please contact me via email (and I gave my email for the second time).

I’ve been a paid writer — reporter, PR flack, and both commercial and mil-spec technical writer — for more than 50 years (my first reporting job was in 1967; you do the math).

 

Memo given to PCPs

 

I dropped off my memo at two potential PCP’s offices.

In both case, the person receiving the memo’s response was “What’ this?” (Apparently no one at either practice can comprehend simple English; days later and I still have no response.)

My reaction, which I barely kept to myself, was Read the text, dummy!

I don’t know how to make the request simpler.

I used simple words — English was long ago supplanted by Spanish as the primary language in my area, but neither Spanish nor Creole — which rapidly is gaining on Spanish — are my languages.

 

Dumb and Dumber

I walked into yet another office and announced I was looking for a new PCP.

"Are you a patient of ours?"

If I was a patient of this PCP, WHY would I be standing at the counter telling the clerk I was looking for a new PCP? Logically — logic: an unknown concept to these objectionable people — I would be contracting other PCPs, not one with whom I was unhappy.

Is "dumb" contagious? It seems epidemic among medical office clerks.

I DID encounter an intelligent woman at one PCP’s office who received the memo as an email. Sans additional explanation from the memo’s originator, yours truly, she understood the question and responded appropriately. Although her practice can only refer me to one of the two specialists I named — the more critical of the two — I probably will sign up with her office.

Now, if we could just DO something, ANYTHING about the way people drive here — fellow next to me made a left turn from the right-turn lane, right in front of my fliver. Caught it on camera.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on PCP roadblocks

Opuscula Two ways to view The same situation

I LIKE THE COMICS. I visit gocomics.com to get my daily dose. I like my comics to be funny or thoughtful, as long as they are free of politics. (There are many editorial cartoons available if I want politics with my corn flakes.)

One that aught my attention was Shoe for February 4, 2019 (below).

 

 

Shoe, editor of the the Treetop’s Tattler and curmudgeon par excellence, gave Roz, the owner, cook/chief bottle washer at Roz’ Roost, a medical alert bracelet for her birthday.

Roz, in the cartoon, looks more than a little unhappy with Shoe’s gift.

Cosmo, the Tattler’s sole reporter, notes this and asks his boss why Roz’ feathers are ruffled.

Apparently, Show, replies, because he gave her the medical bracelet.

 

Insult or concern?

Assuming — something every good reporter knows never to do — that Roz is upset because of Shoe’s gift is just one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin is that Shoe’s gift was intended to keep Roz safe if she had a medical emergency, viz. she ate her own food. (It can’t be that bad, she seems to have lots of repeat customers.)

A sharp-eyed hawk of course immediately would wonder how — despite HIPAA’s best efforts — Shoe got a look at Roz’ medical records to “gift” her with an appropriate bracelet, but if it is “the thought that counts” (and maybe in this case it doesn’t), then Shoe’s gift deserves a second look.

After all, in Treetop’s world, Roz has the only hash house; sans Roz’ Roost, where could Shoe and the other feathered characters dine — and rankle Roz? (Roz usually gives as good as she gets.)

 

No Pollyanna, but . . . 

I’m no Pollyanna, but sometimes I can see two sides to the same coin.

Perhaps Shoe’s gift was intended to needle Roz — it is her birthday if the editor is to be believed, and why not? That’s akin to giving a cane to a person on his 40th birthday. (I did that to a “publisher” once.)

Perhaps Roz was right to be upset with Shoe, but perhaps she could have looked at it as a gesture of friendship. Only Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly, the cartoon’s current creators, know for sure.

I confess I don’t always look for other ways to accept things and, in truth, at possible ways my gift might be seen by the recipient.

Funny what we can learn from cartoons.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Shoe’s gift