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Do most Americans recognize the name Judy Schienlin? … I did not.
If I asked who was the highest paid woman on television, my guess would be that the vast majority would not know that answer either.
The answer to both of the above questions is … Judge Judy.
Just about everybody knows who Judge Judy is. She was a real judge who transitioned to a TV judge, and was known for her no-nonsense approach and tough legal advice. Although I pay zero attention to what Hollywood movie stars say, I would pay attention to what Judge Judy had to say.
Unbeknownst to me Judy Schienlin lives in Manhattan, and does indeed have opinions on what is happening in NYC.
From the Daily Caller:
Television star Judge Judy Sheindlin on Friday, 6/21 harshly criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for prosecuting former President Donald Trump over what she considers “nonsense.
Sheindlin told host Chris Wallace in an episode of Max’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” that Bragg should be focused on prosecuting criminals who make New York unsafe rather than the former president, who she said the district attorney targeted for personal reasons.
“I would be happier, as someone who owns property in Manhattan, if the district attorney of New York County would take care of criminals who were making it impossible for citizens to walk in the streets and use the subway, to use his efforts to keep those people off the street, than to spend $5 million or $10 million of taxpayers’ money trying Donald Trump on this nonsense,” Sheindlin said. “That’s my view. But I, as a taxpayer in this country, resent using the system for your own personal self-aggrandizement.”
[As an aside, I do not think I have ever heard either a judge or a TV-star use a 14 letter word correctly in a sentence, but Judge Judy just did!]
Just like on her TV show her opinion is well respected, and she did not hold back on this issue. Her no-nonsense approach hasn’t disappeared! Judge Judy is right on target concerning D.A. Alvin Bragg.

7/18/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

The FBI is writing off the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump as the work of a lone gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks. This indeed may turn out to be the case, but certain things bother me, and it turns out that I am not alone.

First is the picture of “the ladder” which was pulled from Jeff Childers’ Coffee and Covid.

The picture shows a ladder leaning against the building from which the shots were fired. Is this a valid photo? When was it taken? If this is a valid photo, could it imply that Thomas Matthew Crooks had an accomplice?
Second:
There is now of plethora of reports indicating that the gunman was seen up on that roof minutes before the shots rang out.
From the New York Post:
“More than 120 excruciating seconds pass between rallygoers first spotting Crooks on the roof and the moment he fires his rifle. Perhaps most disturbingly, the people who saw the would-be assassin repeatedly tried to alert law enforcement patrolling nearby.”
If all of these individuals saw the gunman on the roof, how did the Secret Service not see him?

Also the FBI’s quick proclamation that the gunman acted alone is now being questioned by experts who should know.
From BlazeMedia:
Dallas Alexander is a veteran Canadian special forces sniper who’s worked VIP protection at the highest levels and who happens to hold the world record for the longest-range confirmed sniper kill. According to him, Trump’s would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had help from the inside.
“This isn’t me pointing a finger at anyone in particular or a party or an agency, but someone within the ‘inside’ had to have helped with this,” he says. “You can’t walk through layers of security like that and then climb up a ladder to the most obvious shooting position and then take a shot at the former president.”
“There had to be someone that helped with that,” Dallas reiterated.

Similarly from the NY Post:
“Matthew Murphy, a retired Green Beret and a sniper trained to the most elite level, also dismissed the suggestion that ‘some 20-year-old kid that looks like he played Dungeons and Dragons in his mom’s basement’ was able to put Trump in his sights.
‘You’re gonna tell me that that kid went through all those levels of security, somehow got into the closest building to the president and accessed the rooftop, then had the time to unpack his rifle, lay down and then take five to eight well-aimed shots at the president before he was decisively engaged?” There’s absolutely no way possible that kid was able to get up there and take those shots at the president without a lot of internal help,’ he said.”

And then more doubt to the lone gunman postulate as on Monday, 7/17/24, CNN briefly ran a shocking shooter story, then quickly deleted it:
“Audio forensics suggest that shots from at least three weapons were fired at ex-US President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, CNN reports, citing experts.
According to Catalin Grigoras and Cole Whitecotton from the National Center for Media Forensics at the University of Colorado in Denver, “the first three shots were consistent with alleged weapon A, the next five were consistent with alleged weapon B, and the final ‘acoustic impulse’ was emitted by a
possible weapon C,” the media outlet notes.”

Hmmm!
7/17/24
californiacontrarian.com

NATO, on its 75th anniversary, has just published a Climate Change and Security Impact Assessment, which includes the following statement about the Greenland ice cap … “The Greenland ice cap is losing an average of 30 tonnes of ice an hour, which is 20% more than previously thought.”
To someone who is not familiar with the Greenland ice cap this sounds disastrous … if true! It is possible that this assessment is an exaggeration or perhaps even a falsification of what is happening with the Greenland ice cap?

From a wattsupwiththat article on 7/10/24 by Christopher Monckton of Brenchley in response to this NATO assessment:
“Well, 30 tonnes of ice an hour is little more than 250,000 tons a year, which is negligible, and well within natural variability. It is also probably untrue, because ice has been accumulating on the high Greenland Plateau: so much so that the old DEW-line ICBM detection stations from the Cold War are no longer on the surface of the ice but 20-30 feet below it. There has been some loss of ice on the coastal plain and in the surrounding sea, but evidence from old whaling records and from the early history of Greenland’s settlement by Leif Eriksen shows there was less ice in Greenland during the medieval warm period than there is today. For instance, the Viking burial-ground near Hvalsey is under permafrost today, but it was not under permafrost when the Vikings buried their dead.”

It certainly seems that the Greenland ice cap is increasing and not decreasing. Who to believe?
Hmmm!
7/16/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

“Apparent Assassination Attempt Targets Trump” was the headline in my local “newspaper” on 7/14/24 – which was the day following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. “Apparent!”?? There was nothing “apparent” about it, as it WAS an assassination attempt!

A few of my thoughts on this assassination attempt:
First of all the initial statement by Donald Trump was one praising the actions of the Secret Service and the local police, when in actuality it was because of the failures of the Secret Service and local police that the attempted assassination occurred at all. I would guess that much more will come out concerning how this could have even happened in broad daylight.
Second: What this does, is to further point out how important the choice of a vice-president can be. If this were to happen to the President, then in a blink of an eye, his vice-president would now be the President of the U.S. As we are awaiting for Trump to divulge his choice, think about what a disaster it would be if Kamala had to move up.
Third: To me this further points out that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump need to be cautious in their use of words.
“We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” Biden said on a recent call.
What both candidates have to realize is that all the crazies out there hear these statements, and some will inevitably choose to act on what was intended to be a metaphor.

7/15/24

On Sundays I write about individuals that make a difference … individuals who we can look up to and praise. Sheldon Theragood is such an individual.
From Epoch Bright:
In his youth he was a good basketball player in fact he was such a good dribbler that neighborhood kids would come to watch him play. Because of hip pain, he had to stop playing basketball, and got hired as a youth detention officer in Harris County, Texas.
A bit later he said, “Working there, I was going to be around teenagers who had made life mistakes. I felt like that was going to be a great place for me to help teenagers.”
Mr. Theragood spent time mentoring the youth, listening to them, and helping them build a plan for when they would be released. However, after working there for four years, he was discouraged to see some of the youth get re-detained. He decided that becoming a police officer was the best way he could help. “I thought that was the only position for me; the whole deal for me was to save the kids’ lives out on the streets, and to do whatever it takes—that’s my motto—to make a difference.”
Mr. Theragood then realized that he could teach teens valuable lessons through introducing them to the homeless men and women he met. “I brought them so that they could understand that nobody’s born like this,” he said. “This is just choices. Hey man, this could be you. Sometimes you have to be realistic with them and give them that little scare so they start thinking, ‘I want to change my life.’”

So in 2010, Mr. Theragood got the inspiration to start TheraGood Deeds, a nonprofit to involve children of all ages and backgrounds in community service.
After he got support from a community center to introduce kids to his program, his nonprofit took off, with children ages 4 to 16 doing at least one community outreach project per month. Activities range from serving in soup kitchens to hosting a Christmas toy drive and organizing celebration events for the homeless.
Over the years, some of the teens who joined TheraGood Deeds have grown up and gone to college, and thanks to donations from local sponsors like the Ashley Jadine Foundation, the nonprofit is able to provide them with scholarships.”

Sheldon Theragood was on a mission to help teens, and he found a unique way to do that in Houston. Kudos to him!

7/14/24

As I was reading about the recent Joe Biden Parkinson’s kerfuffle, two questions crossed my mind:
Does he or doesn’t he?
&
If he does have it, does it matter?

When I practiced medicine, I did not have a lot of patients with that diagnosis, and so I do not consider myself to be an expert on Parkinson’s disease. However, Joe Biden does have the one manifestation that is the sine-qua-non for that diagnosis, namely ‘bradykinesis.’ When I watched the recent debate, it was obvious that Joe Biden was afflicted with something from the very beginning. Biden’s entry on to the stage demonstrated a slow and shuffling gait, which is a Parkinson’s symptom. Also with his entry the movement of his right arm was significantly less than the movement of his left arm. Selective bradykinesis (slow movement) is likewise a symptom of Parkinsonism. Similarly, during the debate I noticed that he did not blink a lot, another possible sign of Parkinson’s disease. I also noticed that his right eye was smaller than his left eye … not the pupils, but rather the eye opening. However, as far as I am aware, this is not a sign of Parkinson’s disease.
These were my non-neurologist observations, but what do real neurologists say?
An emeritus professor of neurology told The Free Press that he believes Biden has “Parkinsonism,” as demonstrated by his “masked face, reduced blinking, stiff and slow gait, hunched posture, low-volume voice, imbalance, freezing, mild cognitive disturbance, and difficulty turning.”
Another neurologist agreed, reportedly stating:
“All the disturbing symptoms we all see are called Parkinsonism. . . . In fact in medical school we watch videos of patients with Parkinsonism like Biden to illustrate to the students how this manifests.”

My second question … If he does have it, does it matter?
Is it possible to have a competent President who has Parkinsonism? My answer to that would be a qualified, “yes.” Qualified, because there is a form of dementia that can go along with Parkinson’s … Lewy body dementia.
Lewy body dementia (LBD) is a common type of dementia that happens when clumps of proteins called Lewy bodies build up in one’s brain. They damage parts of the brain that affect cognition, behavior, movement and sleep. LBD is a progressive condition, meaning it gets worse over time.
Could this be what those who are behind Joe Biden are worried about? Is this why everything about Joe Biden’s health is so hush-hush, and does it matter? Since LBD is slowly progressive, at some point, if a diagnosis of Parkinson’s was made public, there would always be a continuing concern that Biden’s mental state had progressed to the point that he was not able to carry out the duties of his office any more. Thus, for the good of the country, it does matter. It would not be prudent to have a President with Parkinsonism.

7/14/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

Granted, I am not a big fan of trite sayings, but for some, “the end justifies the means!” Let me be more specific – for some Democrats, “the end justifies the means!” Let me try to even be more specific – for a lot of Democrat politicians, “the end justifies the means!”
Again with the risk of being repetitive – for almost all of the Democrats in the U.S House of Representatives, “the end justifies the means!” How else could anyone justify all but five Democrats in the House voting against the SAVE Act.
From the Daily Signal:
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the “motor voter law,” to require that states obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship from someone before he or she may register to vote.
Five Democrats voted for the legislation, but 198 Democrats voted against it.”

One might naively ask, “Why would anyone vote against having only American citizens vote in American elections?” Obviously, because to these Dems the end of having more illegal individuals vote for Democrats justifies the means.
Keep in mind that this question has been posed to the American citizens, who this support this common sense concept by 81% to 87%.
Hopefully, these “the end justifies the means” House Democrats will have to defend their position to the American people when they run for re-election this November.
A similar bill that came up for a vote in the Senate, and was defeated in the Democratic Senate. For those who are running for re-election a vote against what 81 – 87% of Americans think will be interesting and perhaps telling.
For those House Dems and those Senate Dems who voted against the SAVE Act, hopefully this will be the end for them!
7/12/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

On 6/4/2022 I wrote the following in my blog:
“In general, it is always easier to preemptively do something to avoid a problem rather that trying to fix that same problem once it it already on the scene and picking up steam.”
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on which side of the bed you get up on in the morning … right vs. left, the Dems do not read my blogs, and so they now have a “Houston, we’ve got a problem” problem.
Here I am referring to that “Joe Biden problem.” Like with the hurricane, Beryl, the storm surge got worse and worse for Biden’s candidacy, as an increasing number of Democrats are bailing on poor J.B. (Even Adam Schiff on Sunday’s Meet The Press said that Joe Biden and Donald Trump should both take a cognitive test. If I were Trump, I would agree to this, but only after both conventions !)
Now, even Hollywood is turning against Joe! Lifelong Democrat and mega-donor, George Clooney, on 7/10/24 penned an op-ed in the NYT, saying that J.B. cannot win.
However, at this point Biden is not amenable either to dropping out of the race or to resigning from the presidency. Resigning now would give Kamala better odds against Trump as she would then be running as the incumbent in the November election. However, this will not happen, as practically speaking if Joe resigns, effective immediately, then how is he going to pardon his son, Hunter? It would be better for Joe and for Hunter if Joe just decides to step aside and not run for another term. By doing this he can delay Hunter Biden’s pardon until the last minute, just prior to the official end of his present term. Let’s be clear here, Joe’s promise not to pardon his son will hold up about as well as an old helium balloon.
My prediction is that Joe will soon decide not to run “for the good of the country.” If he decides not to run then the sticky problem of how to deal with the thousands of delegates that Biden won in the primaries will be resolved prior to the convention.
Not to pat myself on the back, but in my blog of 6/26/24 I wrote that the reason for the extremely early date, 6/27/24, for the first debate was to give the Dems seven weeks figure what to do if Biden did not do well in that debate. And despite the fact that a decreasing number of Dems are saying that J.B. is still their candidate, the dam is starting to crumble. What they didn’t count on was the stubbornness of both Joe and Jill!

7/11/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

I am going to assume that the vast majority of my readers do not own Electric Vehicles (EVs) for a variety of different reasons. However, then let’s assume that you can afford to buy an EV, but do not have solar panels to charge your own EV, what then will be the main problem for you and your EV?
From BlazeMedia:
Electric vehicles require charging stations. Unless Americans are to be confined to 15-minute cities, there needs to be a juiced network of such stations.
The infrastructure is not in place, however, thanks in part to the Biden administration’s bungling of its promised national rollout of EV charging stations. The Democratic administration has established fewer than a dozen of the promised 500,000 charging stations across the country.
Even if there was a satisfactory number of active stations, there is no guarantee they would be useful on account of power supply issues.

Last month, the California-based software company Xendee released the results of its survey of leaders “involved in the development, operation, and commercial use of EV charging infrastructure.”
75% of respondents said electric grid limitations were a “significant roadblock to the rollout of EV charging infrastructure for commercial EV usage.

Princeton University recently projected that the U.S. will need 3,360% more electricity on hand to satisfy the Biden administration’s EV goals, reported the Daily Mail.
“Right now, our infrastructure is likely ‘OK’ for the slow trickle of EV adoption,” Robby DeGraff, the manager of product and consumer insights at AutoPacific, told the Mail. Increased demand shaped by government mandates will, however, mean that “the grid will certainly need to be revamped.

Many of Xendee’s clients have apparently opted to install fossil-fuel-powered generators to power their charging stations. So in effect, there’s a good chance that EV drivers
who manage to find charging stations, will find those that are powered by the same energy source the EV is supposed to have made redundant — if not by a generator on-site, then by a predominantly gas-powered grid.
Circular reasoning at its worst!
Hmmm!

7/9/24
www.californiacontrarian.com

So just like millions of others I watched the entire recent presidential debate. Prior to watching it I had hoped that Joe Biden would do a belly-flop, but did not expect him to be flailing from the high diving board, and thus make a huge disastrous splash. Most of the diving judges gave him a score of a 1 or a 2, whereas the Main Stream Media judge said that because of a “cold,” he could not accurately comment on Joe’s performance.
Be that as it may, one thing did come out of Joe’s huge belly-flop. Because he lied at least twice during his debate debacle, it allowed us to review the past numerous lies that J.B. has told during his presidency. While I had forgotten some of Biden’s past mendacities, I just read a review of his whoppers in a piece written by Larry Elder and published on Townhall on 7/4/24.
From Townhall:
“As to Biden’s lies, they include, but are not limited to: how, why and where his son Beau contracted brain cancer; that Biden desegregated movie theaters and restaurants; that he finished in the top half of his law school class; that he got arrested trying to visit Nelson Mandela during apartheid; was “raised in the black church”; played football for the University of Delaware; claimed the driver who accidentally struck and killed his first wife and daughter was drunk; intentionally misstating what Trump said about Charlottesville; that Trump said to drink/inject bleach; that Biden didn’t pressure Ukraine to fire the prosecutor investigating Burisma; that Biden never discussed son Hunter’s business dealings; that a small kitchen fire “almost killed” his wife; that he was “shot at” in Iraq; that inflation was “9%” when he became president; the Border Patrol endorses him; the NAACP endorsed him in “all” of his elections; World War II’s Uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals; that “no one” advised him the Afghan government would quickly collapse and the Taliban would return if he abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan; that Trump referred to World War I American vets who lost their lives as “suckers and losers”; that Trump praised Hitler; among others.”
While Donald Trump is indeed prone to exaggeration, Joe Biden is the primo-prevaricator … the antithesis of George Washington.

7/8/24
www.californiacontrarian.com