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Wasting YOUR money is what the government does best.

At a previous point in our history (say, when I was a child), kids learned a lot in school. Why don’t we return to the way we did it back then?

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All told, the cost of nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan will amount to more than $2 trillion. Was the money well spent?

There is little to show for it. The Taliban control much of the country. Afghanistan remains one of the world’s largest sources of refugees and migrants. More than 2,400 American soldiers and more than 38,000 Afghan civilians have died.

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I know a man – a proxy for tens of millions – who came from a foreign country, threw down $500 per night at a New York hotel, and was astonished to find himself plunging the toilet within the hour of checking in. Not surprising. Not unusual. American toilets don’t work right. This is why there are plungers next to every toilet.

This didn’t use to be the case. In the day’s past, plungers were for technicians in the emergency. Now they are part of everyday life. It’s nuts.

Mine all have. For good reason.

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Presumably he wants to provide everybody with computers as well, since Internet service is rather useless eithout one.

He’s just full of ideas for spending other people’s money, isn’t he?

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Miami police and other officers appear to have used surrounding bystanders as “human shields” when they responded to the the hijacked UPS truck following an armed heist of a jewelry store Thursday. After suspects led police on a two-county rush-hour chase through Miami which ended in a hail of gunfire in the middle of crowded traffic on Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road, hundreds of police bullets from 19 officers firing on the truck brought it to an end.

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Cue outrage from the Usual Suspects.

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A very good reason to avoid Philadelphia.

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The California DMV has been selling the personal information of registered drivers to the tune of $50 million per year, according to a DMV document obtained by Motherboard.

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I guess if a Democrat does it, it doesn’t count.

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VA Secretary blasts top federal union for culture of harassment that ignored workers’ complaints.

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A few years ago, I was standing in a South Korean field, knee deep in mud, incredulously asking one of my maintenance Marines to tell me again why he couldn’t fix a broken generator. We needed the generator to support training with the United States Army and South Korean military, and I was generally unaccustomed to hearing anyone in the Marine Corps give excuses for not effectively getting a job done. I was stunned when his frustrated reply was, “Because of the warranty, ma’am.”

At the time, I hadn’t heard of “right-to-repair” and didn’t know that a civilian concept could affect my job in the military. The idea behind right-to-repair is that you (or a third-party you choose) should be able to repair something you own, instead of being forced to rely on the company that originally sold it. This could involve not repairing something (like an iPhone) because doing so would void a warranty; repairs which require specialized tools, diagnostic equipment, data or schematics not reasonably available to consumers; or products that are deliberately designed to prevent an end user from fixing them.

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Well, that’s what happens when Democrats run your city. After all, they invented the corrupt political machine.

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And now, for something completely different….

Eric Swalwell is apparently Scott Adams’ Congressman. Ponder that for a bit.

Ponder also the fact that Congress is increasingly the recipient of truly embarrassing people, an overwhelming number of whom are Democrats — start with Alcee Hastings and Sheila Jackson Lee and take the tour.

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“I’m really struggling with how is that theft,” said Justice Steven David during recent oral arguments.

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Sure! Open up the borders! Let ’em all in! What could go wrong?

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Massachusetts Judge Shelley Joseph allegedly helped an illegal alien avoid ICE apprehension by directing him to leave through a back door in April 2018, prompting federal prosecutors to charge her with obstruction of justice.
Some in the immigrant activist community are not standing by Joseph, noting that she went so far as to turn off a recording of her conversation with lawyers while conspiring to help the illegal alien, which violated courtroom policy.
Joseph is refusing to take a plea deal and is instead choosing to fight the charges. The court case could take years to reach its conclusion.

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Hastings was impeached and removed from his position as a Federal judge for corruption. So he got elected to Congress where he could be corrupt all day long. He’s pretty much the poster child for Corrupt Black Politician.

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The government is not hour friend.

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The deadline of yet another, and perhaps the most insidious, element of the post-9/11 initiatives (a partial list of which includes the establishment of the Transportation Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and a never-ending international war against a nebulously-defined, noncorporeal enemy, “terror”) is less than one year from coming to fruition. Beginning no later than October 1, 2020, citizens of all US states and territories will be required to have a Real ID compliant card or US passport to board a commercial plane or enter a Federal government facility. Pundits citing the inevitability of what amounts to a national ID card have, regrettably, been vindicated.

Personally, I welcome this gilt-edged excuse to avoid getting on a plane or entering a Federal government building.

The Antiplanner peeks behind the curtain.

Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in America, and the city of Austin and Austin’s transit agency, Capital Metro, have a plan for dealing with all of the traffic that will be generated by that growth: assume that a third of the people who now drive alone to work will switch to transit, bicycling, walking, or telecommuting by 2039. That’s right up there with planning for dinner by assuming that food will magically appear on the table the same way it does in Hogwarts.

Austin, like most urban areas in Texas, is a Blue pustule on the otherwise rosy-Red cheek of a great state. Presumably concentrating all of the crazy in certain locations allows the rest of us to go about our business in peace.

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Since the passage of the infamous Prop 47 five years ago, then marketed by California Democrats as the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” theft has increased across the state, as organized crime rings have transformed ordinary shoplifting into a lucrative and sophisticated operation. It’s likely no coincidence that San Francisco now has the highest rate of property crime of America’s twenty largest cities.

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The U.S. Navy has encountered still more delays in getting the first of three new DDG-1000 class stealth destroyers into service. The current date for being fully operational is September 2021. The delays stem from continued efforts to deal with a list of 320 “serious deficiencies” compiled after the navy completed sea trials in early 2016. All this increases costs and those costs for completing the ship have risen for 11 years in a row. Those unanticipated (but not unexpected) increased costs have totaled $4 billion since 2010. At this point the total cost for the DDG-1000 program will be over $23 billion, meaning each of the three DDG-1000s to enter service will cost about $8 billion. This includes $10 billion in research development, which was to be spread over 32 DDG-1000s. Even so that would have been $312 million per ship. Among its many failures the most notable one was the inability to get its two 155mm guns operational. The DDG-1000 was designed mainly to provide gunfire support for marines but technology passed the DDG-1000 by in that department. That, plus cost overruns means the DDG-1000s will enter service with the two 155mm guns still there but not operational. Sad but very symbolic of the DDG-1000 project and U.S. Navy ship building efforts since the 1980s.

Put this with the ongoing problems with the Ford class aircraft carriers and the Navy is looking pretty shabby.

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Read it.  And admire the flow-chart.

It’s that magical time of year again: time for the annual SRA (Security Risk Assessment)!!! Medical offices across this great land look forward to this all year long. As you no doubt are aware, the SRA was developed by the ONC in collaboration with HHS OCR, and is required by CMS to be sure that your EMR complies with HIPAA. It is far too complex to be understood by mere doctors, so I pay a consulting firm to submit the proper regulatory paperwork to the proper TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms) on my behalf. A cynic might think that it’s not that it’s complex, but rather that it was designed to require third party consultants, to help the government control healthcare. But that would be very, very cynical. So never mind.

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How San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center went from the Grand Central of the West to a $2.2 billion construction debacle.’

California is becoming our own little North Korea right before our very eyes.

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Under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Special One-Time Assistance Program,” (SOTA) local homeless families are given a full year’s worth of rent – which has cost NYC taxpayers $89 million on rent alone since August 2017 – before exporting some 5,074 homeless families (12,482 individuals) to cities as far as the South Pacific, according to the New York Post, citing data from the Department of Homeless Services (DHS).

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That’s what happens when Democrats run your city.

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When the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman missed a planned deployment last month after suffering major electrical problems, the only East Coast-based carrier currently capable of deploying was forced to head back to the dock.

As the Navy scrambles to get the Truman out to sea, it is pulling material and work crews from two other carriers undergoing their own long-planned refit and repair availabilities, though Navy officials say they don’t expect the Truman’s problems to affect those other repair efforts. As it sits pier-side in Norfolk, the Truman has plenty of company, joining an already crowded Norfolk waterfront where six of the Navy’s 11 carriers are currently tied up. At the time we’re going to print that means not one of the six carriers based in Norfolk are ready to be deployed.

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My, what a surprise. Aren’t you surprised? I’m sure surprised.

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General Michael Flynn still awaits sentencing. Meanwhile his new lawyer, Sidney Powell, is tormenting the prosecutors and the FBI, uncovering corruption in the FBI and the Department of Justice that, she credibly alleges, included the framing of General Flynn.

UPDATE: FBI Entrapped Flynn With Manipulated Evidence As Clapper Allegedly Issued ‘Kill Shot’ Order: Court Docs

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The Seattle public schools have developed a new “ethnic studies” curriculum that tells students that mathematics is a tool of oppression. Sure, some of us thought that back in junior high school, especially when we didn’t get around to doing our homework. But to have this view endorsed by the schools is remarkable.

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Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened possible legal action against oil companies in a Tuesday tweet complaining about the high cost of gas in his state.

“CA drivers have paid an average of 30 cents more per gallon. There’s no identifiable evidence to justify that. I’m demanding an investigation. If oil companies are engaging in false advertising or price fixing — legal action should be taken,” Newsom tweeted.

Clueless in Sacramento.

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Well, actually, they just stood outside and pouted, but still.

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As you might expect, it did not go well.

I doubt that Maxine Waters could balance her own checkbook, much less grasp digital currencies.

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The pedestrian bridge that collapsed over a busy Miami street last year, killing six people, was doomed by a fatal design flaw, federal authorities concluded in a scathing review on Tuesday. The errors led to unusually severe cracking in the concrete that should have worried engineers and prompted the closure of the roadway below for safety.

Instead, Southwest Eighth Street, an eight-lane thoroughfare adjacent to Florida International University, remained open. The $14 million bridge, which was under construction by the university to connect students to the neighboring city of Sweetwater, fell on top of motorists waiting at a red light, crushing their cars under 950 tons of concrete and metal.

“The bridge was talking to them,” Robert L. Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said with evident exasperation at a board meeting in Washington. “It wasn’t just talking — it was screaming that there was something definitely wrong with this bridge. Yet no one was listening.”

I know, let’s put these people in charge of our health care.

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Democrat Daniel J. Hunt (whose last name was surely a playground favorite) introduced “An Act regarding the use of offensive words,” which would fine individuals $150 for a first offense, while repeat offenders would face a $200 fine, up to six months’ imprisonment, or both.

Problems? What problems?

Cambridge civil rights attorney Harvey Silvergate says Hunt’s bill isn’t legal.

“If it’s challenged in court, it will take minutes for a judge to see through it,” said Silvergate. “It doesn’t have a prayer of surviving, so why should the Legislature even burden us — the citizens, the press and the courts — why would they burden us with this nonsense? Surely they must have more important things to do.”

More important than Democrat virtue-signaling? I think NOT.

UPDATE: Twitter Mentions Of State Rep. Who Wants To Outlaw The Word ‘Bitch’ Predictably Filled With People Calling Him A Bitch

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I guess these people just can’t read, or perhaps they believe that they can just wish the First Amendment away.

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The Seattle Public Schools Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee (ESAC) released a rough draft of notes for its Math Ethnic Studies framework in late September, which attempts to connects math to a history of oppression.

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Prediction: Nobody will get fired, nobody will go to jail.

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Chicago teachers are striking for the third time in seven years. The Chicago Teachers Union has rejected what Mayor Lori Lightfoot says is “the most lucrative CTU package in its history.” The union shunned 5-year, 24 percent teacher raises and continues to demand more, including thousands in new hires and additional benefits like affordable housing.

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Two U.S. jet fighters bombed an American military base in Syria Wednesday to keep Turkey from taking control of the facility, the U.S. military said.

The decision to conduct a pre-planned airstrike on the base formerly used to train U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters — LaFarge Cement Factory — came after Turkish fighters began to move in on the facility, according to Col. Myles Caggins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State.

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Too extreme for the ACLU? Whoa.

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Demonstrating once again her laser-like focus on representing the interests of her constituents in Queens, AOC flew to Denmark recently on an airplane that burned an enormous amount of fossil fuels. This no doubt thrilled those who live in her congressional district, who have plenty of time to follow their congressperson’s heroic exploits closely because they don’t work at an Amazon distribution center. AOC believes that it’s all about her constituents – it’s not about her, as you can tell from her statements to those assembled in Copenhagen….

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In its 92-year history, the Strand, a New York institution and one of the world’s largest independent bookstores, has endured everything from the Great Depression to the explosion of Amazon.

It is a cruel irony, then, that having survived against the odds, the latest potential threat to the third-generation family business comes from an organisation whose purpose is supposed to be to protect.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced in June that it had granted the Strand’s home – an 11-storey building between Manhattan’s Greenwich and East Villages – landmark status, despite vocal opposition from its owner who warned it would “destroy” the popular store.

‘Landmark status’ is a favorite proglodyte tool for confiscating somebody’s property without the compensation required by the 5th Amendment. It is quintessentially fascist.

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So the victim, an illegal alien from Honduras, wants a green card, but is surprised that the judge set his/“her” attacker free? Oh, and the United States can’t even enforce our own border — because that would be racist — but yet we’re supposed to be enforcing “hate crime” laws?

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Local authorities arrested Antonio Ulises Perez, a 38-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador, in Oklahoma County in September on the suspicion that he raped a woman. However, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office did not honor a detainer request ICE lodged and allowed him to be released Wednesday, according to a Thursday ICE press release. Ulises Perez then immediately traveled to the woman’s house, ICE said.

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Not really news, but a useful reminder.

There is nothing about being a government employee that makes you either smarter or more ethical then some random homeless guy. Those who work to give more power to the government always ignore that simple fact.

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Drip… drip… drip….

The Unmasking continues.

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Oops.

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All told, the U.S. government spends $20 billion annually on farm subsidies, with approximately 39 percent of all farms receiving some sort of subsidy. For comparison, the oil industry gets about $4.6 billion annually and annual housing subsidies total another $15 billion. A significant portion of this $20 billion goes not to your local family farm, but to Big Aggie.

(Note that this $20 billion annual farm subsidy figure doesn’t take into account the 30+ years of ethanol subsidies to the corn industry nor export subsidies to U.S. farmers issued by the USDA.)

The government never properly explains why this is. Certainly small farmers are growing their crops at enormous risk. However, it’s not clear that agriculture is any different than other high-risk industries – especially because the United States is blessed with some of the most fertile farmland in the world, and a highly skilled labor force.