Sleepless in Midland

Fox Friday 1-31-20 -- foxes always on high alert

They live amongst us, but they roam at night, stay out of sight, and remain on alert at all times. The are indeed wild animals.

That wariness is a genetic trait, and it's unlikely they'll ever change. There's a book out there titled, "How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog)" which is quite good. It took several generations of breeding the calmest foxes at a Russian fox farm to produce animals that had a loving-dog attitude. So it's unlikely that the urban foxes in the photos that appear here will ever become tame no matter how much food is fed them by humans.

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2:44 PM 1/30/2020

Democrats want to raise our taxes

Our government spends too much money, and the only glimmer of hope is that a growing economy can eventually reduce the debt. But if any of the leading Democrats win the presidency in November, we'll have to say goodbye to that economic boom we've been experiencing.

This chart appeared in the Wall Street Journal the other day showing how each much Biden, Buttigieg, Sanders, and Warren will raise taxes. It's frightening.

Perhaps we can hope voters will react to it the same way voters did when Walter Mondale announced taxes would go up if he became president.

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1:17 PM 1/28/2020

the dog that didn't bark -- Dems haven't passed any laws making what Trump did illegal

The impeachment theater has been going on so long the audience has either tuned out or passed out.

Nonetheless, it's now raging in the Senate.

But here's the dog that didn't bark. If Democrats are truly bothered by what Trump is alleged to have done in Ukraine, then why haven't they passed a bill that would outlaw the conduct that has so outraged them so that it won't happen again?

The answer is actually quite simple. They don't want to put laws in place that would likely be used against a future Democrat president. (Also, such a law could be unconstitutional.)

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2:40 PM 1/26/2020

Heritage poll tells how Trump can win in 2020

The Heritage Foundation conducted a poll last year to try to find out what voters were focusing on. The impeachment show is the current focus, but that will likely pass. And while it may be an issue in the November election, there are other issues out there. Tim Chapman provides a useful summary in The GOP’s Challenge in 2020? Don’t Make It About Trump. Here are some of the key survey points Mr. Chapman highlights:

- Illegal immigration.  Most of those who are concerned about it focus on abuses of our health care system, schools and welfare programs.

- Political correctness. Most Republicans and over half of the general voting public think Democrats are becoming culturally extreme, mainly because of Democrats’ leftward shift on social issues.

- The economy. Their poll results show that voters worry about their kids and grandkids not having the economic opportunities needed to be as well off as their parents and grandparents. While reduced regulations and lower taxes have helped, they only go so far. Republican sponsored apprenticeships, vocational training could help alleviate that worry.

- Economic fairness. On that issue, Democrats have some really bad plans. It shouldn't take much work pointing out how much harm they would do.

Links:
The GOP’s Challenge in 2020? Don’t Make It About Trump;
Project 2020: The Conservative Agenda for 2020 and Beyond;
Heritage Action Unveils A Winning Conservative Agenda for 2020;
Survey results.

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3:39 PM 1/25/2020

Schiff Chia Head -- an appropriate memento of Trump's impeachment victory

Nancy Pelosi made a celebratory moment of the impeachment articles signing with her commemorative pens. But in spite of the hortatory zeal of the House Managers, it appears unlikely that the Senate will go along with impeachment.

The Obama Chia Head was pulled from the market before it got launched. After all, in an era in which a rodeo clown with an Obama mask could get fired, who in the MSM could tolerate such a thing?

That era has passed, and President Trump needs a cheap memento for the upcoming impeachment victory. And here's a free idea: A Schiff Chia Head. Yeah!

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Star gazing celebrity worshipers: ‘American Hero’: Hollywood Sold On ‘Rockstar’ Schiff’s Impeachment Screenplay

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2:23 PM 1/24/2020

Fox Friday 1-24-20 -- fog lights

Notice those eyeballs watching the fox from the bushes.

Fox on full alert.

Fog lights?

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1:14 PM 1/23/2020

Should we be worried about 2020 election interference?

Andy Kroll tells us in Rolling Stone that Hackers Are Coming for the 2020 Election — And We’re Not Ready.

Mr. Kroll cites a major cyber hack in 2016 conducted by Russian operative brought the internet to a halt. Then he goes on to a Russian group with a modest expenditure of "$15 million to $20 million and wreaked havoc on the psyche of the American voter creating the impression that behind every Twitter avatar or Facebook profile was a Russian troll."

Actually, that havoc on the psyche of the American voter was more likely the result a ploy by Hillary Clinton to deflect blame for her election loss and the Comey gang's efforts to criminalize Trump.

But never mind. The Russian are still busy bears. And regardless of any bias in Mr. Kroll's analysis, he makes a good case for caution going forward.

Most of us knew that already, though. For example, Wahingtontimes.com tells us 4 in 10 voters say U.S. ill-prepared to secure 2020 elections. Unfortunately, there's little any one individual can do, especially when many local election agencies are not that well equipped to deal with normal election safeguards. E.g., Hundreds of non-citizens registered to vote in Illinois due to technical glitch. Will they vote responsibly? We can hope.

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10:14 AM 1/22/2020

Quote of the Week -- we're a nation of civic ignoramuses

We have a right to vote but also an obligation to know what the government is authorized to do. Henry Racette hints that we are run by civic ignoramuses who vote. And the quote of the week comes from his article at Ricochet.com titled We the People Are Failing Our Government.

He makes an analogy of an aircraft manufacturer granting hiring authority to people with no aeronautical knowledge. So it goes with our elections where the voters have no knowledge of how the government works or what it's limitations are.

Mr. Racette gives us our quote of the week:

We are failing to provide a competent civics education to our children, and have been for generations. We have a population ignorant of the most basic aspects of government but which we nonetheless exhort to vote, as if merely standing in the booth were the totality of civic duty. A large proportion of the electorate has the legal right to vote but lacks the moral standing to do so because it knows nothing about the thing for which it has a sacred duty of stewardship.

We can not blame the children for the failures of their teachers, who themselves know next to nothing about the nature of our government. I don’t know what it will take to trigger a rebirth of pride and interest in our nation’s history and in the framework on which it was built and the ideas behind it. But if we reach the point where we’re analyzing the wreckage following the crash, it will be too late.

Good point. As mobs deface statues and try to erase important historic events, we really do need more voters who actually know what the heck they're doing.

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3:03 PM 1/21/2020

Martin Luther King Day today

For many of us over a certain age Martin Luther King was a epochal person.

Judge persons by the content of their character not the color of their skin -- he opened a lot of eyes and minds with those ordinary words with such an extraordinary meaning. Today, after several decades, those words seem quaint and old fashioned. Now we have identity politics permeating practically everything.

I, too, have a dream. I dream of a day when we can go back to judging people by the content of their character and not some ancillary characteristic.

For more on this see For MLK Day: Thomas Sowell reflects on the legacy of Rev. King and his famous speech.

Meanwhile, happy MLK day!

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3:14 PM 1/20/2020

Advertisers complain that Google Chrome's new cookie policy will prevent them from tracking everything we do on the net -- boo hoo

Google announced plans to phase out support for third party cookies on the Chrome browser within two years.

As for just what third party cookies do, WSJ provides an explanation in Marketers and Ad Agencies Ask Google Not to Kill Cookies Too Soon:

Cookies are a way to gather information on internet activity. Websites use first-party cookies to collect data on their own visitors. Third-party cookies, in contrast, track consumers’ activity across the internet. They generate information that is useful for ad targeting and other purposes, but have raised privacy concerns over the years.

Privacy concerns indeed.

Is there anyone whose paycheck isn't dependent on it really that sad about advertisers and others not being able to track us everywhere we go on the internet?

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2:11 PM 1/18/2020

Learning to avoid phishing attacks

Politico informs us that Moody’s credit rating agency is warning against Iranian hackers. And while they don't mention the method, we should be aware that phishing is the most common way a hacker breaches the target's system.

Most of us are already on alert for phishing emails, and on this subject, Paul Ducklin provides some helpful info in 5 tips to avoid spear-phishing attacks. Here are his bullet points:

1. Don’t be swayed just because a correspondent seems to know a lot about you.

2. Don’t rush to send out data just because the other person tells you it’s urgent.

3. Don’t rely on details provided by the sender when you check up on them.

4. Don’t follow instructions on how to view an email that appear inside the email itself.

5. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion.

Go to the article for more details on these five points and to also see tips for the IT department.

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3:37 PM 1/17/2020

Fox Friday 1-17-20 fox chased away by cat

The little foxes that frequent the Fox Cam feeding station don't like to tangle with cats. The foxes have longer legs and bigger teeth. But cats have those claws that can reach out and cause painful wounds.

So in this sequence of photos we see a fox looking in the direction of the approaching cat, then crouch in apprehension.

 

Finally, we see the fox atop the fence staring down at that ferocious feline.

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1:16 PM 1/16/2020

Misinformation campaigns by leftists very similar to foreign misinformation campaigns

The fact that Russia may have propagated fake news to Americans is old news. Hopefully, news consumers are smart enough to detect it without help.

But Russians aren't the only ones doing it.

The New York Times and Washington Post have published plenty of Chinese propaganda pieces disguised as news. There's also Iran's efforts to influence people with fake news.

Not to be outdone, the American left has gotten in on the act. Noah Rothman in Propaganda, Inc. tells us that progressive Courier Newsroom has set up websites disguised as local news organs which will deliver news with a very leftist slant.

For an example of some of their propaganda, see Organizers “Hope” This Gun Rally To Become The Next Charlottesville. A reader has to read all the way to the end to determine there is zero evidence that such a "hope" exists.

News consumers need to use critical thinking before believing any source.

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3:40 PM 1/15/2020

Busy bears -- Russians are hacking Burisma

News sources are making this into a political event, and they could be right. But the bottom line is that Russian actors have been actively trying to hack into places where they don't belong.

Thepatrioteagle.com describes how it was done in Russians Hacked Ukrainian Gas Company at Center of Impeachment:

The Russian tactics are strikingly similar to what American intelligence agencies say was Russia’s hacking of emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign. In that case, once they had the emails, the Russians used trolls to spread and spin the material, and built an echo chamber to widen its effect.

Then, as now, the Russian hackers from a military intelligence unit known formerly as the G.R.U., and to private researchers by the alias “Fancy Bear,” used so-called phishing emails that appear designed to steal usernames and passwords, according to Area1, the Silicon Valley security firm that detected the hacking. In this instance, the hackers set up fake websites that mimicked sign-in pages of Burisma subsidiaries, and have been blasting Burisma employees with emails meant to look like they are coming from inside the company.

The hackers fooled some of them into handing over their login credentials, and managed to get inside one of Burisma’s servers, Area1 said.

So why would Russia want to hack Burisma? For information harmful to Joe Biden? If so, it's doubtful they wanted to help Trump. As one of the Democrat star impeachment witnesses said, Russians wasn't really trying to get Trump elected. They wanted to sow discord among our citizens and generate disgust with our governmental system. Whatever role Russia played, they got what they sought.

Any information they obtained that could hurt Biden would more likely be used against him should he become president.

Meanwhile, this sort of thing happens so frequently it seems negligent for any company not to have built in protection from phishing emails.

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Topic originally found at POLITICO Playbook: The Democratic primary just got real.

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1:45 PM 1/14/2020

Harry and Meghan step out of the limelight and into the spotlight

The royal family lives in a bubble. They maintain a carefully crafted public image in spite of a few bad apples. So now Harry and Meghan are making noises about stepping out of that bubble. That's a big step.

Someone once observed that a celebrity has three images. There's the one they play on screen, the one that's portrayed by their publicists for their public image, and the one that few see -- their own, closely guarded, real self.

These days with all the muck racking that feeds the desire of the non-famous to bring the famous down a few notches, it's harder for celebs to hide their real selves. Exposure will bring us a closer look at Harry and Meghan.

Kyle Smith paints the picture in Why Harry and Meghan will find life even harder as non-royals:

As if! Within the royal embrace, media coverage is bubble-wrapped. Out there in the cold cruel world of ordinary celebrity, it’s anything goes. No “Royal Rota” agreement applies in Hollywood. It’s every paparazzo out for himself, every time you go out for a coffee, and when you’re on your own property you have to pay for your own security to keep them at bay instead of sending the bill to the taxpayer. The Royals, because of the circumstances of Princess Diana’s death and because of the institutional respect commanded by the Crown, are just about the only celebs west of Vladimir Putin who can enforce any limits whatsoever over their coverage.

Besides, if H & M ever were to break completely free of the Firm (unlikely), a big chunk of their mystique would be gone. They’ll soon find themselves being mocked for pimping out their new Sussex Royal brand. Hoodies, T-shirts, socks, ball caps and pencils — really? They’re going to leverage a thousand years of dignity and tradition for a bunch of cheesy crapola that’s going to wind up at the Dollar Tree? The whole point of being royal is to float above and beyond ordinary existence, to make ordinary mortals fantasize about what it’s like to be you. Once you’re doing interviews with E! or hawking Christmas ornaments on the Home Shopping Network, you’re just two schmucks getting torn apart by the late-night comics.

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Prince Harry will get the respect he shows the crowds.

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1:38 PM 1/12/2020

We all know why Trump didn't reveal more secrets about the Soleimani hit

Nick Arama tells us what we already knew. In short, there was too much of a possibility that the Democrat representatives would leak it to the media who would in turn expose it to our enemies. There was too much at stake to reveal security secrets. Mo Brooks Identifies Reason He Thinks Officials Had to Hold Back During Congressional Briefing, It’s Not Good.

Quoting another article, Arama says this:

“[It’s] also consistent with that concern is what you just got done seeing with Adam Schiff’s Intelligence Committee during the impeachment proceedings wherein that information that was collected in a SCIF was invariably leaked to the news media,” Brooks continued. “So if you just had that experience where members of Congress are quite clearly leaking information that was collected in a SCIF environment, how can you trust them not to leak classified information regarding Iran that could lead to the deaths of our intelligence sources, or empower terrorist organizations to avoid American retribution for the killing that they have done?”

It's very easy to suspect that some, although not all, Democrats are so dedicated to defeating Trump that they would tolerate putting American lives at risk to accomplish that goal.

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2:18 PM 1/11/2020

Fox Friday 1-10-19

The tail posture is one of the few ways to distinguish the foxes.

This one has a very straight tail. Long, too.

 

This one has a curved tail. Hey, he's playing the circle game with his tail!

 

Finally, here's a shot of both of them in one frame.

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1:31 PM 1/9/2020

Texas state and local officials on alert for Iranian cyber attacks

Iranians are trying. And hopefully state, county, and municipal agencies are on full alert.

Texas Governor Abbott has noticed:

None of the attempted attacks — which probed for weaknesses that would let hackers gather data, deny access to a website or post messages on a site — tracked by state officials were successful, said Abbott and Amanda Crawford, head of the Texas Department of Information Resources.

However, the Texas Department of Agriculture website was briefly defaced Tuesday with a photo of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general who was killed Friday in a U.S. drone strike, by a self-described “Iranian Hacker.” Similar attacks were reported in other states.

Hardly a week goes by in which we don't hear about some entity -- a company, government agency, municipality, hospital, etc. -- getting hacked or subjected to malware, ransomware, or something else. We all need to keep out software up to date and protected. Oh, and we should keep our fingers crossed just in case that particular gesture actually works.

Links:
Texas facing 10,000 potential cybersecurity attacks from Iran per minute, Abbott says;
Governor Greg Abbott Reports Rise In Attempted Cyber Attacks On Texas;
Abbott: Cyberattacks increase from inside Iran;
Morning Greatness: Iran Launches Hype Missile Attack on U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.

P.S. It would be nice if the U.S. could put some malware of its own in the Iranian government computers.

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11:35 AM 1/8/2020

Joe Lieberman on dems' response to the Soleimani hit

Objective observers might be wondering why Democrats are condemning the killing of a known terrorist now when they either cheered or were silent when the previous president did the same thing. Could it really be just partisan politics?

Joe Lieberman sees through the dust cloud. He even provides a warning to Democrats:

If enough voters decide that Democrats can’t be trusted to keep America safe, Mr. Trump won’t have much trouble winning a second term in November. That’s one more reason Democrats should leave partisan politics at “the water’s edge” and, whatever their opinion of President Trump on other matters, stand together against Iran and dangerous leaders like Qasem Soleimani.

Found at The Democrats and Iran. Also here: Joe Lieberman Rebukes Democrats For Senseless Partisan Extremism.

Well, for the longest time Americans knew that Republicans would most likely defend the country, and the best they could hope for was that Democrats might defend the country.

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3:43 PM 1/7/2020

Paging Cindy Sheehan -- Democrats need a mascot

Time will tell whether the action to take out Qassem Soleimani was a good strategic move.

But the left wasted no time in condemning President Trump's decision. Never mind how much deliberation went into it.

Republicans and Democrats have staked out their sides in the debate, and their sides are very predictable. Beginning when Trump announced he was running for president as a Republican, Democrats have been against anything Donald Trump says or does.

Next up will be a symbol for the left --Thomas Sowell called them Mascots Of the Anointed, and they appear out of nowhere in practically every political dispute.

Remember Cindy Sheehan? She was a gold star mom who radically opposed the war in Iraq during the Bush administration. The main stream media gave her enormous amounts of air time. But after Obama got elected, she had as much value to their cause as an obsolete cell phone. They dumped her cold.

So let's keep out eye out for the next mascot.

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10:45 AM 1/5/2020

New firearm transaction form has checkbox for non-binary sex

Is this a sign of the times? Times certainly are a'changin.

The new (proposed) firearm transaction form has a checkbox for male, female, or non-binary for the buyer's sex. You've come a long way (non-binary) baby.

Links: old form, and
proposed form.

Found at Texas Scorecard.

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2:40 PM 1/4/2020

Quote of the week -- Daniel Henninger on the roaring '20s

Daniel Henninger makes some interesting parallels while comparing the 1920s with the 2020s in Will the ’20s Roar Again?. He notes that the tax rate in 1920 was 77%. However, tax cuts in 1921, 1924, and 1926 brought the top rate down to 25% which fueled a booming economy. Likewise, Trump's tax cuts fueled a booming economy.

Then the Smoot Hawley tariffs helped put the world economy in a spin. So currently we have Trump's tariffs. And it's easy to try to make a comparison. But, it may not be so bad as Trump is already reducing those tariffs.

This is a long introduction to the quote of the week, which is Henninger's final paragraph:

If there is one valid correspondence with the first Roaring ’20s, it is that the earlier decade produced a wave of new thinking about everything. We are overdue today for another wave of creative thought—about politics, culture, education and morality. This time, hold the roaring.

Yeah, bring on that new thinking.

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3:18 PM 1/3/2020

Fox Friday 1-3-20 Happy New Year addition

Ringing in the roaring 20s with pairs.

Two foxes.

Fox and cat.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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2:16 PM 1/2/2020

Mickey Kaus -- Dems will come unhinged if Trump wins reelection

Um, it won't take much more evidence to believe the left is already unhinged.

Mickey Kaus made an interesting observation in The Flight 94 Election? where he says the left will become even more unhinged if Trump gets reelected. Excerpt:

The problem isn't anything specific Trump's done. It's a simple social fact: If Trump wins in 2020, the country will be ripped apart. If Trump loses, that's unlikely to happen. ...

Serial hopes for Trump's premature departure have now been serially dashed, but surely the 2020 election will restore the rightful order, yes? Yes?

If it doesn't, the frustration for the Resistance will be near unbearable. Does anyone think the Left will react to a Trump win — and the prospect of another four endless years (more endless now that attention spans have shrunk)— by saying, "Well, guess we have to organize harder"? Or that, as Adam Serwer implausibly predicts, "the devastation of the defeat will lead the Democrats to court conservative white people." (Come back, Democratic Leadership Council! All is forgiven.) ...

I'm not saying Resisters will resort to violence -- though almost certainly some will,.(Think antifa X 50.) But a large group may well launch the sort of disruptive protests that would make the 60s look like an Aspen Ideas Festival. (Think Yellow Vests X 10.) You can take to the bank a secession movement in one-party California. It will fail -- but will also further strain ties to the mainland across the Mojave. Whatever lingering public respect blue states paid to voters in the South and Midwest will be tossed aside, replaced by references to "hicks," "yahoos," and worse. Blue-state businesses whose owners favor Trump will be routinely, and effectively, boycotted, if not trashed.** The enlightened vanguard of history doesn't live by old rules.

That's a sobering thought. He goes on to suggest that a desire to prevent the chaos to come if Trump wins might be enough to persuade some Trump voters to stay home on election day. Could that actually happen? Seems doubtful, but Kaus is too smart to dismiss.

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3:17 PM 12/31/2019