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stargazersmith

@[email protected]

Computer scientist and aerospace engineer (retired). Also worked in astronomy. Taught in USAF and community college.

Our two sons keep me engaged on microprocessor projects and astronomy discussions.

Currently participating with spouse of 50+ years in spoiling preschool granddaughter. Making progress.

The header image is an #etx90 image of #Tycho crater. I love that little telescope.

Interests:
#astronomy
#telescopes
#amateurastronomy
#scifi
#software
#perl
#forth
#linux
#GnuOctave

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

rbreich , to Random
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My Take on the Debate | Robert Reich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FievfSDoLYk&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
I believe that the circus the media debates now present combined with the total non-compliant and dishonest character of Trump totally nullifies the point of having national debates at all.

The idea is to help the public know about the candidates. A program that covers the contestants' records before a panel perhaps would be a better device. Their records tell you who they are, but much of the public is unaware of their records.

rbreich , to Random
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Why are we talking about whether paying fast food workers a better wage will drive up the cost of a Big Mac instead of asking how much McDonald's CEO's $19.2 million salary is driving up the cost? Hello?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
I think this "cut to the chase" method of exposing misdirected arguments should be known as:

"Reich's razor" , because Robert Reich is so adept at it.

rbreich , to Random
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Who’s the real elite in America? https://robertreich.substack.com/p/whos-the-real-elite-in-america?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
Great article, but you left out engineers.

Just kidding.

rbreich , to Random
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Settle a bet for me. Which of these terrible things Trump did is worst?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
I guess from having worked years in and for the military, I think easily the theft and at best casual handling of Top Secret material is the worst.

rbreich , to Random
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Rich donors are paying as much as $300,000 per person to attend a Trump fundraiser in San Francisco today. What do they expect in return for their money?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
Explain me this.

Why would anyone anticipate making a deal with a person having ran a fraudulent foundation, being found a fraud by NY, and convicted of fraud relating to his first presidential run?

rbreich , to Random
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Trump had been involved in 4,000+ lawsuits before he ever rode down that escalator in 2015. He's not in legal trouble because he's running for president. He's running for president to escape his legal trouble.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
I'm surprised he hasn't left the country.

rbreich , to Random
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Trump asked Big Oil to give him $1 billion for his campaign last month.

He promised lower taxes and to gut environmental regulations in return.

Big Oil CEOs already appear to be taking him up on the offer, inviting Trump to a fundraiser in Houston yesterday.

Be warned.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
Does it not amaze you that billionaires, perceived as exceedingly perceptive businessmen, are gullible enough to make a deal, any kind of deal, with a man with Trump's fraudulent business past?

rbreich , to Random
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Every day the Supreme Court fails to make a decision in Trump’s immunity case is effectively a decision in his favor.

They're acting like an arm of Trump's campaign by letting him run out the clock on his prosecution.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
It's a precarious gamble. If Trump losses, which odds on he will, he is severely sunk. And likely the walls will come tumbling down around a couple Justices as well.

If/when a former president is convicted of a felony, convicting Justices won't seem a big deal.

rbreich , to Random
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Each of Trump's 34 criminal counts of false business filings in the New York case carries a penalty of up to four years in prison.

If Trump is convicted, what should the sentence be?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
As much as the law allows.

rbreich , to Random
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Reminder that Trump is floating cuts to Social Security and Medicare — supposedly to address the debt — yet supports extending his tax cuts for the rich, adding $4.6 trillion to the deficit.

This isn't about the debt.

It’s about doing the bidding of his wealthy donors.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
So we have a habitual lier with multiple bankruptcies in his business background, multiple lawyers and workers who complain he never paid them, and

??? Anyone trusts TFG enough to make a deal with him? Isn't that much like having a pet rattlesnake?

georgetakei , to Random
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Welp, did not have that on my 2024 bingo card. https://www.comicsands.com/rfk-jr-dead-worm-brain-2668201876.html?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

stargazersmith ,
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@georgetakei
I should get a few points, I was guessing brain tumor.

rbreich , to Random
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Call me crazy, but maybe presidents who get themselves indicted shouldn't have their criminal trials presided over by judges they themselves appointed.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
It seems like all of the words I've read and examples I've been given about conflict of interest, often imposed harshly to civil service employees and banking employees, don't matter a hoot to the the upper level government employees -- where I'd think they would most apply.

The behavior of our esteemed judges are showing either how hollow our "society of laws" or how hollow they are. Our image in the world is severely tarnished.

rbreich , to Random
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You know something has gone terribly wrong when 94% of teachers have to dip into their own pockets to buy school supplies while the average Wall Street employee gets a bonus of $176,500. Hello?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
So we have a choice. The best educational and medical systems in the world, or we can have billionaires.

That seems like an easy choice, how are we getting it wrong?

georgetakei , to Random
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Now this is genius.

stargazersmith ,
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@georgetakei
Like my 4 year old granddaughter labeled her small trampoline a jumpoline.

georgetakei , to Random
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Each time he opens his mouth is more embarrassing than the last. https://www.comicsands.com/aaron-rogers-conspiracy-fauci-hiv-2667813825.html?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

stargazersmith ,
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@georgetakei
In Rogers' defense, as QB he has been hit in the head a number of times.

rbreich , to Random
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FYI: What the Cluck? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C08VNdODU-c&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
That kind of sounds like a catch 22. Tyson must raise their prices to cover the penalties for raising their prices.

rbreich , to Random
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I still hear people arguing that prosecuting a former president sets a “dangerous precedent.”

The truly dangerous precedent would be to establish that presidents are above the law.

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
If we can't prosecute a former President for crimes , what next -- former Senators, former Congressmen, former CEOs?

rbreich , to Random
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Oligarchy is America's billionaires now being worth a record $5.7 trillion while the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. Hello?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
Our trouble isn't entirely that billionaires have too much money.

It's that they have more money than our politicians and judges have integrity.

I often notice highway and road workers and and admire how hard they work and that we trust in and drive on roads they construct, without a thought.

Wouldn't it be great if we could have half the confidence in our Congress and SC.

georgetakei , to Random
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Ok, I definitely did a double-take 🤣

stargazersmith ,
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@georgetakei
Triple take here, but then again I can't be expected to compete with a starship commander.

rbreich , to Random
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Ever notice how forgiving loans is suddenly a big problem when students get much-needed relief, but nobody blinks an eye when billionaires get their PPP loans forgiven? Or when corporations are handed billions in subsidies?

stargazersmith ,
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@rbreich
I really feel for the youngsters today with big school debt. I went to school so long ago (the 60s), that just by working in the summer, doing a little work for the school while attending, and a small amount of help from my Dad with his lower middle class income, I graduated debt free.

Impossible now for a lower middle class family.

georgetakei , to Random
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Wishing her a speedy recovery! https://www.comicsands.com/anna-paquin-cane-health-problems-2667716948.html?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram

stargazersmith ,
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@georgetakei
Sorry to hear Anna Paquin is having health problems.

Wasn't it her that appeared in some early Internet ads where she said "Soon there will no longer be here, and there. There will only be here."

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