Sleepless in Midland

Kaepernick looking for job -- should try out for Cuba National Baseball Team

Colin Kaepernick declined a contract extension with the 49ers, and according to an item at dailywire.com -- Kaepernick Refused To Stand With The National Anthem. Now That He's Jobless, He's Changed His Mind. And this:

After his refusal to stand was noticed during a preseason game, Kaepernick told NFL.com why he was protesting the anthem. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he said. "To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Yeah, paid leave is a real killer.

Americans are very forgiving, especially if they like the person seeking forgiveness. Unfortunately for Kaepernick, he has the bad luck of being unlikable. Furthermore, he isn't seeking forgiveness.

For a team in a regime more to his liking, he might consider switching to baseball and trying out for the Cuba National Baseball Team. Raul would probably welcome him with open arms.

Happy Constitution Day -- September 17

Today, September 17, is Constitution Day.

It was on this day in 1787, that our founding fathers met for the last time to sign the Constitution. And we should be greatly indebted to them for what they were able to accomplish. And we should be grateful the document has maintained the respect among the people that it has.

There are people among us who would like to scrap it. And there are people who think a benevolent dictator would be a better government than what we've got. Their lack of a few classes in world history left them clueless on how that typically ends. So it's a constant fight to maintain that precious document and what it stands for.

Anyway, for those of us who still care, happy Constitution Day!

Attention old Texans -- vote absentee if you don't trust the electronic voting system

We've heard enough about attempts to hack election software to put everyone on edge. The old paper ballots could be hacked, too -- the story of Lyndon Johnson stealing a Senate seat is a Texas legend -- but it took some effort.

These days to use a paper ballot in Texas the voter has to vote absentee. And even then not everyone qualifies to do that. Here's what the Texas Secretary of State's office says:

Can anybody vote early by mail (also referred to as “absentee voting”)?
Only specific reasons entitle a registered voter to vote early by mail (no longer called absentee voting). You may request a ballot by mail if you:

-will be away from your county on Election Day and during the hours that early voting is conducted;
-are sick or disabled;
-are 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
-are confined in jail.

Request an application online here.

Or download the application here.

The voter is asked to use a #2 pencil to mark the ballot. That tells us it will get read into a machine. And that machine will undoubtedly feed it to the same program that collects the votes cast at the machines in the voting booth. So it might be all for naught. But it's worth a try.

The value of the expensive Epipen is convenience -- patients just need to learn to give themselves the shot

Most of us had not heard of the Epipen until the news readers proclaimed that a greedy drug company began charging a small fortune for it. The horrors of the free market!

Turns out that all Epipen is is a delivery device that dispenses a single dose of a hormone called Epinephrine which turns out to be non-patentable. Thomas Lifson explains something important in EpiPen too expensive? You can get the same dose for ten bucks.

Simply buy the Epinephrine and a syringe, learn how to use it, and save hundreds of dollars. Do-it-your-selfers will jump on this. Others -- those who lean toward the cradle to grave nanny state -- will insist on a government regulation mandating a cheap price for the Epipen.

When I was a kid my mom gave me allergy shots once a week. Tuesdays, as I recall. She would boil the needle and the syringe -- yeah we used the same one over and over. Then I would get a shot in the arm. Of course I hated it. But I lived to tell about.

And I got more than a temporary immunity to rag weed. I'm immune to the whining from those people complaining about having to pay for the convenience of the Epipen because they're too wimpy to get a real shot.

Mom's please don't waste a bunch of people's time while you can teach your snowflake a lesson

So I'm in a store checkout line. Directly in front of me is a cute kid (blond girl) buying some toy at a discount. Mom is standing by watching. Aw, how sweet.

The kid hears the price, a dollar plus change, then she starts digging in her cute little purse for coins.

She counts them out until she arrives at the correct coinage. Then she's told the price includes all those coins plus one dollar. So she digs around some more for a dollar bill. Finally! The whole transaction took several minutes.

Anyway, it's all well and good for the kid to learn how to count money. But one lesson she didn't get was that she was holding up a line of people which included at least one curmudgeon steaming about the wasted time.

So moms, please be aware that not everyone loves your precious flower as much as you do. Maybe that's a lesson the flower should learn, too.

My own transaction took about half a minute.

P.S. There's got to be a blond joke in there somewhere. But the punchline has eluded me so far.

P.P.S OH OH OH! I've got one! Robo-ed:

How many blonds does it take to count out $1.63?

Two. One to count out the dollars. One to count out the cents. And one to add the dollars to the cents.

Wait. That's three.

You never said there would be any math.

The Rino and the elephant have become indistinguishable -- One of the reasons for Trump's success

If Dennis Prager is right, this really is scary. The title is The Scariest Reason Trump Won, and after citing a few of the much discussed explanations for Donald Trump's success in the primaries, he provides this sobering assessment:

But the biggest reason is this: The majority of Republicans are not conservative.

Conservatives who opposed Trump kept arguing — indeed provided unassailable proof – that Donald Trump is not a conservative and has never been one. But the argument meant little or nothing to two types of Republicans: the majority of Trump voters who don’t care whether he is a conservative, and the smaller number of Trump voters who are conservative but care about illegal immigration more than all other issues, including Trump’s many and obvious failings.

So, then, what happened to the majority of Republicans? Why aren’t they conservative?

The answer lies in America’s biggest – and scariest – problem: Most Americans no longer know what America stands for. For them, America has become just another country, a place located between Canada and Mexico.

He blames the influence of left-wing ideas in our schools. And he's probably right.

With a whole generation of left leaning voters out there, it's a wonder that even someone calling himself a "Republican" can win an election. But now being a Republican means something different than it did when conservatives thought they dominated the party. The "Rino" and the elephant have become indistinguishable.

Choose from six different gender classifications

There was a time when a simple question on a form asking what's your sex had two choices, male or female. I'm so old I can remember a time when the thought of a third option -- "Other" -- would have consumed an entire Johnny Carson monologue.

Not now. For one, the word "sex" is a verb, and your sex classification is now "gender." But that's old news. See California college will now ask students to pick from 6 genders. Excerpt:

The new form will ask students to pick one gender from six different choices. Prospective students will be asked to choose between male, female, trans male, trans female, gender queer/gender non-conforming and different identity.

What I wonder is this: If you change your mind, can you change your selection or are you stuck with the first choice? That would be important to an applicant tempted to fudge on the form to gain an edge on acceptance to the school.

Meanwhile, I'm nostalgic for "Other."

Lifelock's promises and hacked Jeeps -- the future is going to be so exciting

A few years ago I received a phone call from a credit card company explaining that my card number had experienced some suspicious transactions. She told me of some recent charges, and I responded that those weren't mine. I don't know what else happened after that, but I did not have to pay for those charges. It was a big relief to know that the credit card company was so conscientious. They are the ones with the most to lose with identity theft, so it makes sense that they try to protect themselves as well as their customers.

In spite of that, companies like Lifelock advertise relentlessly for customers to buy their protection service. Maybe it's worth the expense. However the FTC is suspicious. They've accused Lifelock of failing to live up to the promises it made. Lifelock denies it, and maybe the charges are unfounded.

Anyway, here's an article about that at WaPo titled: LifeLock shares tank after FTC says it doesn’t protect consumers data as it claimed.

(I picked up the link at Lucianne.com and upon seeing the words, "Lifelock shares tank," I had an image of Lifelock in a water tank with some other entity. Turns out they're talking about the price of a share of stock in the corporation. Doh!)

Meanwhile, in the world of hacking, they've figured out a way to drive a Jeep into a ditch through the vehicle's internet connection. Not exactly the off road experience an owner might expect.

It's only a matter of time until someone has manipulated those computerized voting machines to get people elected to office who wouldn't have otherwise won. This internet connected world we're headed into will have us all in a ditch before it's all over.

new disabled parking signs -- who pays for them?

There's an Ad Council radio spot that plays in the early AM on a radio station here in Midland, Texas. It features disability advocate Joni Eareckson Tada telling about how great the newly designed handicapped parking signs are that are about to go up in the state of New York. The new wheelchair image will be more action oriented instead of the old stick figure on the old signs.

That's the old one on the left, new one on the right. Source: Cuomo signs law approving new handicapped signs where Cuomo is quoted from a press release, as follows:

“This bill is an important step toward correcting society’s understanding of accessibility and eliminating a stigma for more than one million New Yorkers, and I am proud to sign it into law today.”

If there's a stigma it isn't for the handicap, it's for the parking lot privilege and the ridiculously high fine for the ticket. (In Texas it's $500.)

But the thing that struck me was Ms. Tada's statement that "It will not cost taxpayers a cent." How can that be? Nothing is free. Someone has to pay for it. It could be that the government plans to say that the funds came from fines paid by parkers who got tickets for using the handicap spots without the proper permit. Call it whatever you want, it's still a tax. Chief Justice John Roberts taught us that in his Obamacare ruling.

By the way, that new stick figure? It looks like he's about to get up out of his chair and walk away. The folks who leave posts about abuse of the handicap parking privilege at handicappedfraud.org may be onto something. No one wants to see someone with a handicap placard take the best parking spot then go skipping up to the store door.

Would you rent your car to a total stranger?

Here's an interesting concept aimed at young drivers: Car rentals by the hour from private owners.

Many young people are saddled with a huge college debt, and in this economy they may have to work menial jobs to make ends meet. A new car is not at the top of their wish list. So what they're calling a peer-to-peer rental program might draw some interest. The Washington Post tells us about Ford's program. Take out:

The car-sharing program, running now through November, will cover cars, trucks and SUVs in six of America's younger cities: Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland, Chicago and Washington. The Ford-financed vehicles are rented to pre-screened drivers through Getaround, an Airbnb for cars, for anywhere between $5 and $9 an hour.

Getaround takes a 40 percent cut, but Ford gets a few perks, too: The car owners get more money to pay off loans, and the renters take a test drive that could persuade them to buy a Ford, if they ever buy a car at all.

How many people would want to rent out their vehicles? There's an auto insurance company currently running a TV commercial featuring a lady looking me in the eye telling me I named my car "Brad" and that I love Brad. Somehow that doesn't really square with the idea of allowing a stranger to handle Brad out on the road. Insurance notwithstanding, renters generally don't treat rented property as they would their own.

But what do I know? I've got a vehicle I've owned for 27 years, and it's part of the family.

In any event, if you want to put your car in the pool go sign it up. Maybe Brad needs a change of pace.

Anthony Kennedy's lonely heart's club band

There is a character who appears frequently on a TV commercial. He's the smarmy old guy who consoles the attractive but lonely damsel. She has had such bad luck finding a decent man. Sigh. If only she would join his dating site she could find Mr. Right. I couldn't help think of that commercial after seeing this quote in a blog:

Marriage responds to the universal fear that a lonely person might call out only to find no one there.

That wasn't a dating club commercial. That was Anthony Kennedy in the gay marriage case (Obergefell v. Hodges). Who knew the constitution covered that? Our founding fathers have probably spun over in their graves so many times they've drilled horizontal wells into the next county.

In any event, Kennedy's judicial assessment of the lovelorn is a rather remarkable observation, especially now that marriage rates seem to be declining and out of wedlock births seem to be increasing.

Maybe he should start a Dear Anthony advice column to stave off the next big movement: an onslaught of gay divorces.

Meanwhile, how about those of us who wake up in the night, don't want to cuddle, don't call out, just want to go back to sleep, but can't? Got anything for us, Doc Kennedy?

P.S. I don't mean to be to tough on the whole issue. There must be millions of people out there whose lives are hollow without the right to marry someone of the same sex. Now, as a famous guy keeps telling us about another issue, it's the law of the land. Besides, it's a universal truth that when that old love bug bites, there's just nothing you can do about it.

Joan Rivers unapologetic about calling Obama gay -- good for her

It was three weeks ago. Joan Rivers responded to some reporter's question about whether the country was ready for a gay president with a remark that we already had one. Barack Obama is gay and Michelle Obama is transgender. See the video here.

First there was the expected outrage, but it died quickly as soon as the grievance squad stopped to think about it. After all, what exactly is wrong with calling someone gay? Gay and transgender are categories protected with great zeal by the PC police. It can't be an insult to identify someone with a politically powerful group. They were reduced to whining about the use of the word "tranny." Yawn.

But the best part is that Joan Rivers didn't apologize. According to the above linked article she explained that it was a joke and moved on. Contrast that with the groveling Steve Martin did recently after some joke about ethnic spelling. The poor lefty, always having to walk that tight rope between humorous observation and perceived racist remark.

Gay, transgender -- not that there's anything wrong with that. Keep on trucking Joan. May we all be as productive when we're 81.

Quick tip -- advice for victims of the gay rights stampede

Gay marriage is here, not that there's anything wrong with that. But you know, it wasn't too long ago that it was still OK to joke about being gay -- see Seinfeld reruns. Now the subject of homosexuality is OK only so long as one speaks approvingly of it. Got a problem with gay marriage? If so, look out. The purveyors of political correctness will blow you over.

The gay rights movement is in such a stampede that it is trying to trample everything in its path. Even our president seems more interested in promoting world wide gay rights than genuine freedom.

Is a bully any less of a bully because he's pushing a cause that the majority views as correct? Watch out, there's a slippery patch up there on that high moral ground.

So here's the tip. As the community organizer in chief once said, "punch back twice as hard." So instead of trying to stop gay marriages, let them get married but don't let them get divorced. I don't know how to go about doing that, but oh, the humanity!

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Editor's note: "Will blow you over"? Geez! Might as well say they're trying to cram it down our throats! -- Robo-ed.

The last curmudgeon standing - on electronic car keys

Don Boudreaux is brilliant. Insightful. Articulate. And no doubt he's an engaging teacher. It's a pleasure to read the letters he sends to newspapers in response to some wrong headed article, letters he dutifully reproduces at his blog.

But here's where I part with him. At the otherwise excellent blog Cafe Hayek he posted praise for the keyless car key -- the little fob that locks and unlocks new car doors and trunks. The one shown in his photograph looks like it belongs to a vehicle from the Toyota family. Oh yeah, they're convenient, all right. But it's just one more thing that can go wrong. Will a big solar flare lock us out of our cars? Will these things still work in 20 years, or in 2032 will replacing broken electronic gadgets in an old car eventually exceed it's resale value?

There was a time when people bought a car, worked on it themselves, and kept it a very long time. Now with all the computer controlled devices a car out of warranty is a ticking time bomb of expensive repairs.

The highlight of my own experience with the electric car fob was when I lost one of the two that came with the car. First, the replacement fob had to be ordered. Then once it arrived, the locks, the new fob and the spare fob had to be reprogrammed so that they all worked together. The lost fob would no longer work on that car, so anyone finding it would have a useless piece of plastic. As it happened, I'm the one who found the lost fob which is currently a useless piece of plastic.

new fob	$208.68
new key	$75.90
freight	$14.00
sales tax	$23.48
reprograming	$110.00
Total bill	$432.06

This is so I don't have to use a brass key or flip a button to manually unlock a vehicle door. Brass keys for the old cars could be duplicated at a nominal cost at any of a number of key duplicating shops and kiosks that used to be everywhere.

We really must be living in a prosperous era if people are employed to invent and manufacture devices so car owners can avoid lifting an arm or twisting a wrist. I suppose that was Mr. Boudreaux's point, but it would seem to say we are getting lazy, too, if we had rather pay extra for an electric motor and a circuit board so that we don't have to move a finger.

So am I the last curmudgeon standing?

Back in my day a guy named Dana Carvey had a popular news commentary where he always made a mighty fine point. And they had the audacity to call him "the grumpy old man." Watch him here and here. Talk about insight, that guy nailed it.

Why, in my day we didn't wear seat belts. When we had a wreck we went sailing through the front windshield, and we liked it!