Really Right

Author: William

  • Movie Review: Targeted

    Movie Review: Targeted

    My wife thought my previous version of this review was too harsh so I’ve rewritten this blog to reflect her critique.

    Last night there was a nationwide screening of the documentary Targeted: Exposing the Gun Control Agenda.
    Link: Targeted The Movie
    The film was made by Jesse Winton and his father Randy . This is the Winton’s second film. Their first was on the subject of adoption.

    I saw the movie at a theater in Folsom, CA. Jesse and Randy were both in attendance.  I have known them for several years. Also in attendance was the sheriff of El Dorado County—John D’Agostini—who is featured in the film and Paul Shaver—who portrayed the gun maker in the film.

    Targeted is the story of 20 year old Jesse Winton as he explores gun control and the Second Amendment. The story was believable and compelling. It reflected the Winton’s family values without being “in your face” about it. It was logically presented. The movie makes an historical case for the linkage of bearing arms and freedom. It begins in the present and explores the background of where the Second Amendment originated. It presents a logical case for how the Founding Fathers built upon the work of others and asserted that the Declaration of Independence was an expression of existing beliefs about the relationship of a sovereign to his people. The film was about an hour long plus the panel discussion that follows.

    The film is a challenge to the American people to embrace their heritage. Winton reminds us that Rights come from God not government; therefore, government has no right to deprive people of Liberty; especially with false promises of security.

    There will be another showing October 5th. I recommend that you get a few friends to go see the movie. However, please be careful how you invite people. If you mention the title of the movie on Facebook, know that your post and account will be subject to censorship or worse.

    Other Thoughts

    Please sir, can I have some more?

    The thing I really wanted to see more of was politicians calling for gun control that had no idea what they were talking about. These video clips were presented in a staccato fashion and the moment passed too quickly.

    I know this project took about three years to get from concept to cinema. I also know that there is lots of great footage that literally didn’t make the final cut. I hope they add a feature on the DVD to give us a look at some of this material. My recollection is that they have some great footage of Diane Feinstein saying some outrageous things about guns (probably on more than one occasion).

    Comments on Production Quality
    Production and editing were good; especially considering the shoestring budget that was used to make the film. Photography was good but a few spots were too dark or a little off on the exposure settings. Some shots using magnification were slightly pixelated—most of these were outdoor shots of scenery. (That’s the risk you take when you need to get something on the first take.) The film’s audio was well done; however, the panel discussion following the film had some audio issues but I’m not sure if it was from emulating stereo sound or just the challenges of miking five people simultaneously during a live production.

    The most difficult thing to watch in the film was the television clips at the beginning. Several were hard on my eyes because the video quality was poor. It seemed like they were made with a camera in front of a television set or lifted from low quality YouTube uploads. Perhaps it’s one of those things where it looks great on a monitor but when magnified to the proportions of a movie theater screen, it just shows all the blemishes that seemed minor on a television.

  • HD Antenna

    HD Antenna

    The HD antenna that I deployed when our family “cut the cord” was really marginal. The antenna was located in our attic but many local channels were downright unwatchable. All we were able to get on some stations was pixels that changed every four or five seconds and highly fragmented audio. To watch many shows, I had to catch them on Hulu the following day. Watching the evening news was impossible on many stations and ditto for live sports.

    Just in time for the new television season—such as it is—I went to Frys and bought a new antenna. (Assembly required) I then got up the nerve to get on the roof to install it. Our ladder is too short to reach the roof and standing on the top step is a dicey proposition—especially when working by yourself. Thankfully, my eleven year old is willing to help his old dad by holding the ladder.

    I removed the DirecTV dish and replaced it with the new antenna. I used the same mast but had to exclude some parts from the clamp assembly to get it to fit.

    It may not reach the advertised 70 miles but we do get more channels and at a much better quality. After filtering out the Spanish language and home shopping stations, we still have a fairly good variety of over-the-air stuff to choose from.

  • Trump v Clinton: Debate 1

    Trump v Clinton: Debate 1

    At the insistence of my wife, I had to sit thru the presidential debate last night.

    My first impression was that Lester Holt is a dolt. He was so in the tank for Hillary—yes, unlike Democrats, I can spell her name correctly.

    Lester was not evenhanded in his treatment of the candidates and intervened whenever Trump starting pressing Clinton on issues. Whenever the audience would applaud Trump, he would scold them but said nothing when Clinton supporters became vocal or would applaud. His questions were heavily slanted to the Left and never probed into Clinton’s failures. Trump had two opponents on the stage last night.

    I was disappointed that Trump did not press Clinton on Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation, and all the foreign money that she is taking from the Islamic world.  Trump also did not press the fact that one in five households has no one working and there are 95 million people out of the workforce under the economy of Obama.

    What I must remember is that Trump was not there for my benefit, he was there to “look presidential” to the low information voters in a few swing states.  If he can win the hearts and minds of these people that haven’t paid attention to politics until now, then he just might win.

    If I was to score the debate on points, Trump won but not outright. Holt largely kept away from Clinton’s weaknesses and kept attacking Trump using her talking points.

    I hope that next time Trump will better explain his economic ideas. His target audience is a bunch of economic illiterates that don’t understand that “the rich” pay most of the taxes in this country and our tax policies are punitive toward success and risk taking. Trump let Clinton get away with repeating the myth that that government creates jobs—no she didn’t use those exact words but if you look at the definition of what she said, that is what it means.

    Debating Clinton presents so many potential targets that it’s understandable that Trump let some opportunities get past him. Trump was solid on the race trap that Holt tried to set and did well explaining his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Trump also did well deflecting the Media Matters type attacks that Clinton tried to hit him with towards the end. Trump does use satire and exaggeration and when Clinton tries to take him literally and hit him with it, she looks stupid.

    I think Clinton blew her wad last night and is out of ammo for the next round but Trump is just warming-up. Voting in many states will be underway before the next debate and Trump has momentum.

  • It’s Official: Wells Fargo Customers to Get No Restitution

    It’s Official: Wells Fargo Customers to Get No Restitution

    The headline says it all
    Wells Fargo Customers May Never See Their Day in Court, Experts Say
    Link: NBC Business

    The reason is simple; Wells Fargo employed the law firm of Dewey, Screwum, and Howe. These slick guys inserted a mandatory arbitration clause deep in the bowels of the bank’s fine print and weasel words so in order to open an account with the stagecoach bank you agree to “…mandatory arbitration contract clauses that protect banks from class-action suits.”

    The short version is as a bank customer,” you have the right to remain silent…” because by opening an account you waive all your rights to legal protection.

    Oh, lest you think this unique, go read your Internet service agreement or other consumer contracts. The software I’m using to write this blog is not mine even though hundreds of dollars were paid to acquire it. I don’t own the software, just a license to use it. It still belongs to Microsoft.

    Like home ownership, much that you pay good money for is not really yours; you just use it at the pleasure of the King and his agents.

  • SEIU Back to the Table

    SEIU Back to the Table

    Veggie Tales has a movie called “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” That is what I thought of when I read the latest message from the SEIU to it’s members:

    On Oct.10, our bargaining team will return to the table. Our members have demonstrated their support of the bargaining team each week by staying visible; showing solidarity and committing themselves to continuing the fight.

    Link: SEIU 09-21-2016

    SEIU has done nothing of substance to improve their position in negotiating with the State but they seem ready to declare victor—if they can get anything from the Brown Administration. Are they the Union that doesn’t do anything?

  • Placer County Measure M

    Placer County Measure M

    I received an email yesterday that concerns Measure M in Placer County. Coincidently, it is also a sales tax increase to fund transportation just like the one in Sacramento County.  The old saying about following the money appears validated again.

    I have analyzed the financial support for Measure M with Placer County so far and found the following from the main committee filings.  Numbers are below.  This leads me to the conclusion that developers have great hope of being subsidized by this tax increase.  When some groups have put out $40-49k this early in the election, how many millions in tax breaks are they expecting, if this is approved?  There are zero individual, concerned citizens who have donated to this measure.  93% of the donations are from the development industry and the rest are from the Roseville Chamber PAC, which arguably has a significant number of developers in it.  In addition, Uhler’s phony League of Placer County Taxpayers (more developers) has been involved with robocall surveys to neighbors to support the measure.  How is a tax increase in the interest of taxpayers!!!????  We need to get the word out to the community about who really supports this and why:
    Heavenly Valley LLC——————$1k
    Blackburn Consulting—————-$3k
    Roseville Chamber PAC———-$10k
    Westpark MPC5 LLC—————-$49k
    Placer Vineyards———————$40k
    Richland Developers—————$40k
    Y & C Transportation—————-$2.5k
    Total Contributions =  $145.5k

    The contents of the email appear to be spot-on in their analysis.

    See campaign financial disclosure for measure M
    Link: campaign Financial Disclosure forms

    Ballot arguments can be found here
    Link: Ballot Arguments

  • SEIU and Rights

    SEIU and Rights

    This week’s message from the SEIU to state workers is stand strong.

    Throughout California, Local 1000 members are purpling up and standing shoulder-to-shoulder to show the state we’re committed to fight for a contract we can all be proud of. We’re telling the state their current contract offer does not value or respect the services we provide and we won’t stop until we win a contract we can all be proud of.
    Link: Weekly update Sep 14th

    Besides the obligatory slap at management this week, the item that really caught my attention is the section on rights. I get told what my rights are as someone involuntarily represented by SEIU but it got me to wondering. Let’s change the context slightly and see if I really have the rights SEIU is claiming.

    I’m a Christian so do I have these rights too?

    Support our God
    You have the right to support our God and to express pro-Christian opinions to other employees and to management.

    Wear our Christian colors
    You have the right to wear buttons and stickers and to wear Christian clothing.

    Display our Christian materials
    You have the right to post and display Christian materials inside your workspace.

    Distribute our Christian materials
    You have the right to distribute Christian materials during non-work time.

    Post our Christian materials
    You have the right to display Christian materials on appropriate bulletin boards.

    Attend our Christian meetings
    You have the right to attend Christian meetings on nonwork time.

    Somehow I think this is a one-way street.

    If I were to offend someone with talk of Christ, I would get a stern talking to by my supervisor and told to cut it out.

    If I involuntarily took money from my coworker’s desk it would be called theft but in government it is called a “fair share” payment to SEIU (“Fair Share” is 99.5 percent of what union dues cost.)

    If I display too much Christian stuff and offend someone I would have to take it down but if I want to advocate socialism and statism then it’s my right; nay, my duty to do so.

    So is working for the state a “hostile work environment”?

     

  • Hill’s Health

    Hill’s Health

    Here is a syllogism that should be in play in public discourse now and the fact that it’s not should worry some folks.

    Given #1: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the most transformative President of the 20th Century. He expanded government more than any President in history. He is the modern idol of Liberal Democrats and Socialists in America.

    Given #2: FDR was a man who suffered a debilitating disease and persevered to lead America thru the Great Depression and The Big War. Liberals often hold him up as a role model for handicapped people—except folks with Downs Syndrome which they universally wish to abort as soon as the amniocentesis test results are in.

    Given #3: Hillary Clinton has some sort of disease that is making people think she can’t be President.

    Given these three facts, why don’t we hear: Roosevelt was the greatest president and was battling the ravages of disease and Hillary is battling a ravaging disease and can be a great president too.

    FDR from Wikipedia

    Oh, wait. Nobody is making this claim.

    Given the Democrat’s universal reverence for FDR and his legacy, why isn’t Clinton embracing her health issues and claiming that she is the female Roosevelt?

    Why doesn’t she come clean about her health issues and say that despite her challenges she can lead America into eight more years of socialist paradise?

    Instead we have the usual Clinton spin, misdirection, and disinformation. Anything but the truth seems to be their credo.

    My conclusion is “be afraid, be very afraid”.

  • California’s Pending Computer Mandate

    California’s Pending Computer Mandate

    Many years ago, Bill Bright wrote the gospel tract, The Four Spiritual Laws. In this booklet he states “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

    The secular version of this is “Government owns you and has a plan to run every aspect of your life.”

    The interesting thing about the ruling Elites, is that they seem to find a way to exempt themselves from the rules they impose on everyone else or at the very least, refuse to lead by example.

    Here’s another case in point. The California Energy Commission is trying to roll-out energy efficiency standards on computers. Why, because of the myth of Global Warming.

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California regulators moved a step closer on Friday to the first mandatory U.S. energy efficiency standards for computers and monitors, gadgets that account for 3 percent of home electric bills and 7 percent of commercial power costs in the state.

    The latest draft standards issued by the California Energy Commission, marking the second revision of rules first proposed in March 2015, would save consumers an estimated $373 million annually when fully implemented, the agency said.
    Link: California Energy saving rules on Computers

    The practical effect California enacting these regulations is that it will impose a national energy standard on the entire United States. So what happened to the beloved Interstate Commerce Clause of the US Constitution?

    The latest rules could set a new standard for computer manufacturers everywhere by virtue of California’s size as a consumer market.

    Here is another unelected body making law with no accountability to the people. I find it ironic that government wants to tell everyone else what to do when they are doing the exact opposite.

    Please note that at the agency where I work—the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation—that we are instructed to leave our computers on during nights and weekends in case the IT department wishes to push out updates to our PCs. Also, please note that this rarely happens and the only thing keeping our network secure is an extensive array of firewalls because the desktop machines here rarely get security patches. For example, many users are running Internet Explorer 9, Java 6, and Adobe Acrobat 9. None of these programs is supported by their software companies because they are too old. All are riddled with known security flaws that could allow people to gain complete access to individual computers and possibly our network as well.

    Just once it would be nice if government would lead by example instead of have one rule for themselves and a different one for everybody else.

  • 97 Reasons to Like Chick-fil-A

    97 Reasons to Like Chick-fil-A

    As happens about every two years, the drain in the kitchen sink is plugged-up. As a result, cooking and washing dishes is all but impossible at the moment. The plumber can’t be here until tomorrow.

    Please note that this is a good thing. If you need a guy to do work on your house and he can start immediately you should not employ them. Those with skills are in demand and those without are anxious to start now. Hiring second tier people in construction trades usually ends badly. They have your money and you have a partially completed project.

    Since the kitchen is out of order, Mrs. ReallyRight said, I don’t want to cook so let’s go out. I agreed and suggested Chick-fil-A. Four of us trekked over to our local Chick-fil-A.

    Here was our dine-in order:
    • Chick-fil-A Sandwich
    • Deluxe Chick-fil-A Sandwich
    • Harvest Kale Salad
    • Spicy Southwestern Salad
    • Three large waffle fries
    • Large Diet Coke
    • Large Sprite
    • Large Dr. Pepper
    • Medium Diet Lemonade

    Total Price $0.97

    Yeah ninety-seven cents.

    Every few months we get a cheap date by “going to see the cow”.

    So how did I do it? Simple
    • Three Calendar cards –this month is free large waffle fries and large drink
    • Two Chick-fil-A customer surveys—each good for free entrée
    • One free entrée card due to slow service on a previous visit
    • Plus $1.29 remaining on my McAfee rebate card

    This company rewards their regular customers and I’m glad they can help a family on a budget.