Bump's Stump

I dle thoughts.         After reading and reading again about the Watergate mess, I've revised my memory. Is that possible? I think now that Mr. Nixon was over-killed. In a way, he was the victim of his advisers - and the nation's judicial system. With time passing the scenario is changing from the one our media presented at the time. Nixon, a strong, driven, and opinionated man, was also intelligent, experienced, and in many respects, a capable politician. He recognized the danger of the rapid spreading of communism at the time. It was influenced after World War II by Stalin of Russia who represented a danger to the future of the United States. Nixon had diplomatic skills and the vision to judge future world developments. There is no question that He viewed Communism as a current and future threat in the dynamic of nations. The American political left (Liberal Progressives) hated him for his opposition.        If I understand correctly, Ni...

My monthly book club just adjourned. As usual there was not a consensus about the book reviewed. Instead, the conversation wandered from immigration to President Obama to Mr. Trump. The discussion invaded and overwhelmed the latter half of our meeting. Obama was praised for his many good contributions , and particularly the 17 million newly insured. With one or two exceptions, the club members favor the Liberal/Progressive agenda. I am the only Conservative voice. No one else at the table seems wants to discuss the consequences or side-effects of that agenda. Nearly all of the club members do not  consider the  consequences to be a problem.  Within the blink of an eye our current leader became an arrogant, ego driven zealot determined to advance his private agenda no matter what. How this characteristic was overlooked before his first election will someday be the subject of countless history books. Even after his personality problems were learned, he was elected again....

Controlling computers is necessary for successful operation. It has also become a frustrating requirement.  Why? It's become necessary to safeguard the information  a person inputs - or suffer the danger of losing it to computer thieves (or hackers).  I've don't know an explanation for the term "hacker", but it's used  to describe a person with the ability to invade another somebody elses  computer. The computer industry reaction has been to erect barriers to prevent information thievery. To do this it is necessary to make several changes.  Now there are:  number codes, passwords, and PIN numbers,  fictional and non-fictional identification words (or numbers),  user names, e-mail numbers and ip addresses,  and more that I'm not familiar with.   These are used to protect even the simplest programs. For a while all of these "barriers" were stored in a persons memory. This eventually strained a normal person's memory - and c...

San Bernardino has had a recent  Islamic Terrorist attack. 14 innocent adults and children were murdered by a Muslim couple living in a nearby suburban condominium with their infant daughter. No one suspected a link to terror - though the husband was a member of a nearby (peaceful) Muslim mosque.  By all reports the husband was a friendly person. He seems to have put up a good front but actually he was a terrorist, radicalized a few years ago in the middle east. There is less known about his wife who apparently was purchased (?) in the middle east and then radicalized more than two years ago. Then she came to America. These two deranged individuals left their baby with Grandma (who lives not far away in San Bernardino), then loaded their car (SUV) with explosives, guns, and bombs, and set out to kill people.  Specifically, people where he worked. They told Grandma that they were going shopping. They went from Grandma's to a local rent-a-car agency and obtained an ...

It's December and cold days have returned and make an appropriate counterpoint to the Climate Change Conference being held in Europe. Most nations have representatives at the conference who, in turn, are advised experts on the subject. Interestingly, they are all  avoiding a few specific facts in order to promote the urgency of Climate Change.  1.   Why do they so carefully avoid saying that there is no consensus that anything unusual is happening? 2.   Many meteorologists (and other scientists) believe our planet may not be warming (or cooling) any faster than it has during it's entire known history.   3.    Human beings, with their industries and synthetic chemicals probably influence our climate to some degree but most informed people question the amount.  4.    A ntarctica is getting cooler, not warmer.  5.    Western Antarctica ice  is melting - but is offset by the cooling of ice on the Eastern s...

Greed has always been around and we are no different in this respect than people in any other country.  How this has affected governments has come to interest me. I've tended to be increasingly curious and have begun to question what I've learned about the Founding Fathers. Were all of these guys so brilliant, perfect, and without greed?  I doubt it.  In our  carefully drawn government I find that political greed is especially noxious. Think about it.  Certainly our taxes are not being spent the way the Founding Fathers intended. Why? Is Free Market Capitalism really the best way to go? Our Federal Government is supposed to certain expenses important to all of the states. This would include expenses that are beyond the state's ability to handle - and all expenses that applied to another state or states. (I think of intrastate highways and  bridges, intrastate power transmission lines, care and protection of rivers, and so forth). The Federal Governm...

It's time for tough talk. Everyday there is a grinding and bloody crash on the freeway. It's  usually the result of rider stupidity, and more rarely caused by another vehicle.  Bikes these days have so much power that it takes an experienced rider with good judgement to control them. So what do we do? Any person can take an ability test on a 250cc or 350cc (small) motorcycle and obtain a Motorcycle Safety certificate attesting to his or her riding ability.  The next step in the (California) process is for the individual to take the certificate to the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) and present it, then take a  short written test on motorcycle law.  Once the written test is passed the individual 16 YEARS AND OLDER is qualified to sit on a THOUSAND HORSEPOWER bike and drive the on turnpikes, suburban roads, and major highways at legal speeds.  This is definitely not smart. Note that in California a motorcycle rider can also pass between...