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This site is full of ideas. Some of them might make you cringe. They may not align with your worldview, perspectives, or experiences. That’s a great thing.

From the museum of false premises

We don’t send people off to war to die. We send people off to war, only reluctantly, and when provoked, to win the war. We do our best to equip them with the skill and tools necessary to win the war with as few casualties as possible. We do our best to keep them safe and out of harms way. People do die in war. Civilians. Soldiers. People die. But the goal is to win as quickly and cleanly as possible. Those who use the phrase “send people off to die,” are trying to set the narrative away from…

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Change lanes with purpose

It’s a staple of Seattle driving. As normal as breathing. You’re on a two or three lane highway. In front of you is one lane with about 10 or 12 cars all going exactly the speed limit or a little under. Next to it (on either side, because people in Seattle don’t know about the whole “slow traffic keep right” thing), is a lane that is wide open. The only car you can see is past the lead car of the line of cars. If you’re an experienced Pacific Northwest driver, you hit the gas and try to get…

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If only we could elect our billionaires

I just saw a story about Melinda Gates pledging to spend $1 billion toward gender equity in the next 10 years. That’s a lot of money. Think of what could be done with that money. Of course, it’s her money, and she’s welcome to do with it as she pleases. But the problem is that you never know who’s going to end up a billionaire, and what they’ll do with their money if they get there. The ability to pledge one billion dollars toward anything you want is a very powerful thing. You can definitely affect real change with…

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You just took 3 minutes off my life… and that’s a good thing

I just gave a good friend of mine a brownie. It was a good brownie. And after eating it, he said, “well, that probably took about three minutes off of my life.” I couldn’t help but think, “what if that’s a good thing?” What if, at the two minute and thirty second mark of that three minutes, he would have accidentally walked into a helicopter blade and had his head severed? It may have been a good thing to die three minutes earlier – especially by brownie. It was a good brownie.

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Gender and science: who’s anti-science?

Professional Democrats label Republicans anti-science every chance they get. This is usually in the context of climate change, where “the debate is over,” but it bleeds into other policy areas, as well. They say that a stubborn faith in God gets in their way of understanding, valuing, or even believing what science tells us. Naturally, for marketing purposes, it’s an oversimplified attack, creating the impression that Republicans don’t believe the sun revolves around the earth because, well, God. (Democrats are, and have proven to be, superior marketers to Republicans in every way, shape and form. And it helps that…

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Trump & Ukraine: Same set of facts, two totally different interpretations

President Trump had one call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Things were discussed. There’s a transcript. And here we are, months later, with two wildly different interpretations of what happened. [Background: In case you missed it, a “whistleblower” came forward to say that Trump offered a quid pro quo to President Zelensky: that the U.S. would provide aide if Zelensky looked into an investigation of Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to see if he was really receiving money from a Ukraine company because Joe Biden was holding up aide if they didn’t. (This is a simplified summary, but essentially…

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Adversity is temporary

During the recession of 2008, millions of people across America were losing their jobs. We weren’t all losing our jobs, but listening to the media sure made you feel like you could be next. I’ve been fired once and laid off twice, so I know that losing your job is uncomfortable, scary and demoralizing. It makes you question yourself and your circumstances. It causes tension in your family and tests your strength. So, people were losing their jobs. Did this mean they would all be hungry and homeless tomorrow? Probably not, in normal circumstances, and if they’d been responsible…

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At least Adam Schiff is a consistent fool

Adam Schiff, known for his deft handling of the constant pursuit of President Trump, is not just a one-trick pony. He’s quite formidable in other areas, as well. I just came across this tweet of his from Sept 3rd: Not surprisingly, he points out the flaw in his own plan, and then ignores it. What he basically pointed out is that the background checks worked, so the shooter had to go underground to get a gun. So more background checks would accomplish what? Drive these people further underground? The fact is that reducing the way for upstanding and responsible…

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The unintended consequences of public policy

There’s an on-ramp to the Seattle I-5 express lanes on the South end of the City. For many workers in that area, it would take them only a few minutes to get their cars from their parking spots to the highway, if I were allowed to use it. Unfortunately, the City of Seattle decided that the express lane on-ramp on 5th and Columbia is only for HOVs (high occupancy vehicles), or car pool cars. On the surface, I understand the rationale. They want to incentivize people to ride together. They want to cut down on traffic in the downtown…

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