Really Right – Page 54 – Religion, Politics, and Culture: Explained and Defined

Christianity Today v Billy Graham

Orson Scott Card wrote a book many years ago called Speaker for the Dead and yesterday Christianity Today decided to do just that claiming that Billy Graham himself would have opposed the Orange Man and support his removal via impeachment. Today I wish to unpack this controversy and the Graham family’s response.

Christianity Today (CT) Editorial

First here is a look at the Christianity Today editorial Trump Should Be Removed from Office.

In our founding documents, Billy Graham explains that Christianity Today will help evangelical Christians interpret the news in a manner that reflects their faith. The impeachment of Donald Trump is a significant event in the story of our republic. It requires comment.

The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible.

That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love.

So here’s the setup. We (Christianity Today) have a charter granted to us from Billy Graham to speak to actions in the public square. Thus Christianity Today is “the voice” of evangelical Christianity. So dear readers, listen up.

Let’s grant this to the president: The Democrats have had it out for him from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. This has led many to suspect not only motives but facts in these recent impeachment hearings. And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.

Then the editor of Christianity Today says we know the Democrats have it in for Trump and we have only heard from one side in this impeachment thing but…

But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.

So literally without any evidence presented, we at CT know that Trump is guilty as sin. Why? Because we don’t like his Twitter posts.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.

That Trump fired guys that were later convicted as criminals—many in a failed effort to take him out—and yet despite Mueller’s Report, he is still there. Oh, and he admitted that he likes women and has done business in New York (immoral actions in business?).

Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment. That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.

Trump broke the Ten Commandments so for God’s sake he must be removed.

To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?

How can you be a Christian and support Trump? If abortion is an important issue for you then remove Trump and give us a pro-abortion Democrat so sanity can return to American politics.

So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump.

We have done our best to put up with you Trump supporters but it’s time for you to throw him under the bus otherwise he will be reelected and God help us if he is.

Rebuttal

Billy Graham voted for Trump

On social media, Franklin Graham wrote, “Christianity Today released an editorial stating that President Trump should be removed from office – and they invoked my father’s name (I suppose to try to bring legitimacy to their statements), so I feel it is important for me to respond.

“Yes, my father Billy Graham founded Christianity Today; but no, he would not agree with their opinion piece. In fact, he would be very disappointed. I have not previously shared who my father voted for in the past election, but because of this article, I feel it is necessary to share it now. My father knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump. He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation,” he said.

“For Christianity Today to side with the Democrat Party in a totally partisan attack on the president of the United States is unfathomable. Christianity Today failed to acknowledge that not one single Republican voted with the Democrats to impeach the president. I know a number of Republicans in Congress, and many of them are strong Christians. If the president were guilty of what the Democrats claimed, these Republicans would have joined with the Democrats to impeach him. But the Democrats were not even unanimous – two voted against impeachment and one voted present. This impeachment was politically motivated, 100% partisan. Why would Christianity Today choose to take the side of the Democrat left whose only goal is to discredit and smear the name of a sitting president? They want readers to believe the Democrat leadership rather than believe the president of the United States,” Franklin Graham wrote.
Franklin Graham: Dad voted for Trump

CT says Trump proved guilty

Christianity Today ignores the Bible when trying to tell us what to believe about impeachment. In fact, what they said in this editorial is so unbiblical as to be nothing but sins of omission. What does the Bible say about rules of evidence?

1 Democrats have never produced one witness with firsthand knowledge of anything let alone two or three.

One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Deuteronomy 19:15

“Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
2 Corinthians 13:1-2

In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.
John 8:17

2 Do not decide a matter without first hearing both sides

“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.” Proverbs 18:17

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
Proverbs 18:13

Trump a notorious sinner and so are you

Is President Trump guilty of sin? Of course he is, as were all past presidents and as each one of us are, including myself. Therefore, let’s pray for the president as he continues to lead the affairs of our nation. – Franklin Graham

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law
Romans 2:12

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:10

Trump’s Character

Christianity Today attacks Trump’s character with ad hominem claims “He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women.” The claim is used as a factual statement without any proof or foundation and is used to buttress their assertion of his guilt in the impeachment accusations.

President Trump has been married more than once, as was Ronald Reagan whom I regard as the greatest President of the 20th Century. Trump surrounds himself with beautiful women but does not have a reputation of having intercourse with them in the Oval Office as has been the practice of other Presidents. Divorce is a sin in most circumstances but this has not been an issue in Evangelical circles for many decades. Was this a shot at Stormy Daniels?

Most of those who formerly worked for Trump and are headed for jail were convicted of offenses prior to being on Trump’s payroll. We have previously documented on this blog that Trump’s pool of campaign staff was not top tier, especially early in the campaign. Trump got last pick of those that remained after Bush, Rubio, Cuz, etc. had hired their staffs. Any people not in this category were never found guilty but entrapped. They had the choice of fighting prosecutors with unlimited budgets or saving their personal assets and taking a plea deal. This was not a criminal issue but an economic one. In light of recent revelations by the government, some are trying to undo their plea bargains and be cleared.

Hitting Trump with the argument that we don’t like what you say on Twitter is not relevant to the impeachment issue either. On Twitter, Trump is typically defending himself in real time or touting his accomplishments; neither of which the media is willing to report. In a world with 24/7 news coverage in which almost 100 percent of everything about Trump is presented negatively, what do you expect him to do? Trump, like Saint Nicholas, hits heretics right between the eyes.

CT concludes by saying Evangelicals should flee Trump

My question is why? I can rebut their assertion in several ways. Here’s three quick ones.

“You can’t beat something with nothing.”

“You go to war with the army you have not the one you want.”

Oh, and Trump is president because it is God’s will.

Conclusion

CT asks something that deserves comment. “Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior.”

My response is this, if we continued down the road Obama put us on, it would be illegal for us to have any public witness for our Lord and Savior. All religious institutions were being subjugated to the State by the State’s use of the sword and mandated to accept homosexuality and other perversions, compromise on abortion, and the core claims of Christianity such as Jesus being the only way to God. We as Christians were staring into the abyss. We were in danger of having our children removed from us by the State, our institutions outlawed, and other retributions visited on us for being practicing Christians. (This is always the experience of Christians in socialist societies.) Trump stopped this momentum and is reversing this danger to the very fabric of our existence. Trump is our Constantine. Whether he is one of us or not, he has never said but his policies are exactly what Christianity needs to be legal and free in this country. The fact that Christianity Today is willing to throw us under the bus to score cheap political points is all you need to know. They are not on the side of light.

The final tell in their editorial is, “we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due…” No. They are tired of us sticking to this man in spite of all hell being loosed on him and him being unscathed. Folks all this impeachment stuff has done is insure the Donald Trump will spend the rest of his days fighting for this country and for us. The days of ex-Presidents sitting silently on the national sidelines are over. Trump will remake the Republican Party just as I’ve been saying for many years. To NeverTrumpers and Democrats, look out, the Orange Man cometh in wrath and vengeance.

Microsoft sadly proves war on Christmas is real

I was looking at a few of the tech websites that I regularly visited when I came across this article by an author that I think is Hindu and even he finally gets it.

The perceived wisdom is that the “War on Christmas” is merely a right-wing delusion and in general companies themselves are deciding to be more inclusive in celebrating the holidays rather than responding to complaints from anti-religious people who are offended by Christmas decorations.

It turns out Microsoft has proven that this was not the case, after responding to a complaint about adding a small Santa hat to VSCode, Microsoft’s open-source IDE.
Microsoft sadly proves war on Christmas is real

Due to one complaint by an anonymous guy on the internet, the offending Santa hat was banished.

Here’s the complaint.

The Santa Hat on vscode insiders and pushing of religion is very offensive to me, additionally xmas has cost millions of Jews their lives over the centuries, yet even if that was not the case, pushing religious symbols as part of a product update is completely unacceptable. Please remove it immediately and make it your top priority. To me this is almost equally offensive as a swastika.

Christian-Schiffer referred to an article on Sefaria listing the sins associated with Christmas which include:

Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, a Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.”
At its origin, Christmas is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.
December 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured, and murdered.
Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of some extremely offensive and violent rituals

Microsoft responded to the complaint by saying:
@Christian-Schiffer we’re sorry we hurt your and other’s feelings. We’ll remote the Santa Hat.

The author of the article concludes:

In short, the war on Christmas appears to be very real.

Folks, I’m glad whenever other people agree with us—especially, that there really is a war on Christmas. The logical fallacies in the article cited as the reasons to oppose Christmas are frankly ill-informed, inaccurate, and just dumb.

First, the swastika is a Hindu religious symbol and is not the exclusive property or emblem of the Nazi Party as constituted in Germany. Hindus and others have used the swastika symbol for thousands of years before Hitler was born.

Second, a Santa hat is a winter symbol not a Christian one and people really wear similar hats in certain cultures. Oh, and there is zero proof that the real Saint Nicholas ever wore said hat.

Third, any holiday—Christian or not—can be celebrated by tradition and the real meaning can be forgotten. For example, in the United Stated we celebrate our Independence Day on July Fourth, but do you really believe that our people shun tyranny as a result? No. We have forgotten the reason and lessons of the Revolution. Our current government is much more tyrannical and oppressive than the British rule of the 1770’s. Our tax rates are way higher than those of the Stamp Act and tea taxes imposed by King George back in the day.

Jesus came to rescue mankind from the curse of sin not the Torah. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Torah and perfectly kept the Law. He ever said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17.

Christmas is a 24 hour declaration of nothing anti-Jewish. Where does that come from? Christmas is a 12 day celebration in the Church’s liturgical calendar beginning on December 25th and going thru January 6th. Twelve days of Christmas anyone? Messiah has come, first to the Jews—angels declare peace on earth and goodwill to all men on December 25th and January 6th—known as Epiphany—celebrates salvation coming to the Gentiles, as symbolized by the arrival of the wise men. Jesus was probably not really born in December although the 25th day of a month is mentioned in some early Christian literature. Since we don’t use the same calendar as they did back then, this discussion can’t go much beyond what I have just stated.

Evil doesn’t take a holiday and not all Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th so what does the fact that someone of a certain faith might be killed on a particular date? I’m sure I could find examples of people from almost any faith group that were killed on December 25; especially, over a span of over 2,000 plus years. I don’t deny that Christians have persecuted Jews at certain points in history but it’s not a teaching of the New Testament or tenant of our faith. In fact, persecution of Jews is the opposite of Christianity properly understood. There’s that pesky command to love our neighbor thing that gets in the way of such behavior.

The claim that popular Christmas customs are all the result of offensive and violent rituals is silly. We give gifts to others as a symbol of peace on earth and goodwill towards men—we keep circling back to this phrase—because God gave us His greatest gift in the form of sending His son to become a man and fulfill the requirements of the Law (Torah) and be the once and for all time sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Santa Claus is a composite of many traditions but Saint Nicholas was a real man that was best known for two things, giving gifts to the poor in the name of Christ and hitting a heretic (Arius) at the Council of Nicaea in about 325 AD. This was the first recorded time that any Christian decked someone in the halls.

Folks, the fact that one anonymous complaint can force a trillion dollar company to change something as trivial and innocuous as a Santa hat should really bother you and I hope it does. Especially when the same company is perfectly willing to repeatedly attack my Christian beliefs on issues of marriage and family and doesn’t care what I think.

Has Technology Doomed Tech Stores?

A few weeks ago, local media reported something that I had heard from my wife several weeks ago; namely, the shelves were bare at the local Fry’s Electronics store. Mrs. ReallyRight reported that she was assured by Fry’s employees that there was a glitch in their supply chain but that they weren’t going anywhere, the business was here to stay.

Here’s the report:

The parking lot was nearly empty, a sign on the door said “now hiring full-time merchandisers” and inside the store the shelves were largely bare.

On a Saturday afternoon just over two weeks before Christmas, the Toy Land at Fry’s Electronics in Roseville was deserted. There were no customers, there were no toys. One of the few salespeople on the floor said the Fry’s store in Natomas looked the same. He said staff had been told the company was “restructuring.”

Online reports show the same thing is happening at other Fry’s stores around the country and suggest the company is switching to a consignment business model, where shelves are stocked with products that Fry’s doesn’t have to pay for until they are sold.

A Fry’s spokesman told the Dallas Morning News the company is not liquidating or planning to close any stores. Spokesman Manuel Valerio told the Dallas newspaper the company’s 34 stores in nine states will have product again “over the next several weeks,” but that report was published Nov. 15.
Why Are Fry’s Store Shelves Empty Two Weeks Before Christmas?

Empty shelves @ Fry’s Electronics photo from KOVR-TV

Sounds to me like they are adopting the Best Buy/grocery store model of selling shelf space to others and just running the cash registers.

So how is this working for Best Buy? In my opinion not that well. I went into Best Buy over the weekend to get an item that I need for a Christmas gift. Much to my surprise, I was the line. There was one cash register open and I was the only one waiting. The good news is that I waited less than a minute. My thought was black what? Nobody is earning money tonight. The store was a ghost town. The employee to customer ratio was about one to one.

Let me know how your retail experience went but based on this, color me concerned about the future of brick and mortar technology stores. Will the rest go the way of the Good Guys and Incredible Universe in 2020?

Real Estate Mysteries

My wife and I are planning to exit California in about four more years. This is our plan but we know that it is contingent on a few different things, some of which are out of our control. At this point, we are just watching housing prices in our neighborhood. Watching housing prices is like watching the value of the stocks in your long-term investment portfolio. The ups and downs are about enough to get you seasick if you take your eyes off the horizon.

Flip House

Sitting on the sidelines and watching real estate prices is not a sport for the weak. The problem with watching real estate prices on Zillow and other places is that much of the numbers are nonsense. The posterchild for this is the “flip house” around the corner from me.

About two years ago, Zillow said a house around the corner from us was worth about $450K. (Note: Zillow does not know that said house sat empty for the previous two years and treated it as comparable to others occupied homes in the neighborhood.)

One day, I was walking the “blog dog” and noticed some intense work happening at this particular house. Over the course of about two weeks, the house was renovated inside and out. The house was then staged with furniture, photographed, and put up for sale at $150K above the Zillow price. Folks, the workmanship of the flip was really sketchy (no way there were any permits pulled) but the online photos made the house look great. After one false start, the house had an offer and sold at $590K. How does a house go from abandoned and empty for two years to the highest per square foot in the neighborhood on the basis of a shoddy flip? You literally could see defects just from standing on the sidewalk. A year later, the new owners renovated the house—probably due to poor workmanship.

Other Prices

I get regular solicitations from some local realtors claiming my house is worth X, or Y, or Z but I don’t get where the numbers come from. My next door neighbor’s house was comparable to ours on Zillow but after they redid their front yard, getting rid of about half their lawn and the beautiful tree that once stood there, Zillow awarded the homeowner by boosting the home’s value by $75K in one month. I would guess they spent all of about $12K on their front yard. Again, go figure?

I know our place needs some work but trying to figure how to get the most bang for our dollar and avoid substandard work sometimes looks like a daunting task. Nevertheless, it’s a chore that will probably begin picking up momentum in 2020. As we get closer to our departure date, I think we need to consult a real estate oracle to help us get the most bang for our home improvement bucks.

Lastly, per Zillow, today the flip house is now $42K above the purchase price.

Sacramento Bee Nukes Itself

By Chief

I flame broiled the Sacramento Bee parent group McClatchy so bad the other week that Burger King got jealous and sent William a cease and desist letter for using their patented flame broil technology. Fear not friend of the blog, our law firm, Dewey, Screwem and Howe, was there to fend off this challenge. We had a comment by “Anchovy” who fired a tomahawk missile at McClatchy (we love comments here) and I felt slightly bad for this merry band of idiots. Following my last post about them, the Bee literally decided to yell “Allahu Akbar” and kill itself off.

The Bee, in what is likely to be their parting shot to the citizens of Sacramento, has taken on one last jab at what once was their subscriber base. Sadly, what you are about to read is no joke. The Bee has decided to get in the S.A.C. with Black Lives (sometimes) Matter. S.A.C. is not an abbreviation for Sacramento but for Stephon A. Clark. McClatchy is paying for a weekend of tribute to Clark by hosting a documentary about Saint Stephon called S.A.C.

Yep, the criminal that ran from the police after several 911 calls about him breaking into cars/etc., who tried to break into his grandparent’s house, and subsequently assumed room temperature afterwards at the hands of Sacramento’s finest has been honored with a documentary praising his impact on the community. Below is a sample of the legacy of Saint Stephon.

Clark, on probation from two domestic violence convictions and one conviction of assault with a deadly weapon, evaded police in the days leading up to the shooting, while trying to get ahold of his girlfriend. Clark’s phone records showed that he had called her 76 times leading up to the shooting, causing Manni to block his phone number. Clark also attempted to get ahold of his probation officer in the 48 hours after he was reported for domestic violence, but was unable to do so.

The two did exchange several text messages leading up to the shooting, with Manni telling Clark that he would be sent back to prison for the domestic incident and that he would not see his children for a long time. Clark also texted other ex-girlfriends seeking drugs, as well as texting Manni that he was going to commit suicide.
Shooting of Stephon Clark

A toxicology report found that Clark had substances including codeine, marijuana and cocaine in his system when he died. But Reiber noted that those results “are not considered directly germane to the cause of death.”
Official Autopsy Of Stephon Clark, Killed By Police, Contradicts Family Autopsy

(The above quote on the autopsy is technically true only because Stephon died of acute lead poisoning. The cocktail of chemicals in his body would have taken longer—Editor.)

The video being shown at Sophia Tsakopoulos (hell if I know how to spell that correctly but I’m sure the editor will fix it for me) Center of the Arts in downtown had 150 people attend this blessed event. Hell, the CRA can turn out that many people once in a blue moon.

Over 150 people gathered Thursday night at the Sofia Tsakopoulos Center for the Arts to view the premiere of “S.A.C.,” a documentary on the 2018 police shooting of Stephon Clark and its impact on the Clark family and Sacramento community.
Stephon Clark documentary debuts; Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn faces heated Q&A

Attendees were treated to the martyr Stephon’s brother Stevante and chief of police Daniel Hahn doing a Q&A afterwards. Stevante is most known for telling pantywaist Darrell Steinberg (mayor) to “F**k off” during a council meeting, the pantywaist did as he was told. Steinberg also made sure the Clark family won the lottery settling for quite a few million. Hanh was interrogated by the viewers of said documentary and we here feel he is a good man who deserved better. My sources at Sac PD tell me Hanh was questioned about how he “let his race down” (he is black) by not firing Mercadel and Robinette the 2 police officers that responded.

He added if he fired them, they would have been reinstated since the DA and Atty General found no wrongdoing.

“Am I justified? Technically, legally, yeah,” Hahn answered. “There’s really no other choice that I had, because if I had fired them, they would have gotten their jobs back.”

Let us remind you the Atty General here is Xavier (pronounced Javier) Beccera literally hates both police and Donald Trump mind you. Our local DA is an independent, but she has changed parties about as often as Bruce Jenner has changed sexes in last couple years.

Point being, the Bee sponsored and is literally promoting an event that no one either cares about or will result in more cancelled subscriptions. I just don’t get why you would promote this. As far as about 90% of the public is concerned, that little punk got what he deserved, and as far as Steinberg goes, I have a feeling he is a pink Victoria’s Secret Thong guy because he always seems to be pulling out a wedgie.

Back to the Bee. I cannot see how this grows your subscriber base, nor your advertisement base, keep in mind Michael Jordan (yes that one) when it came to selling shoes, is famous for the quote “Republicans buy shoes too.” The folks at McClatchy could stand to learn a lot from such a concept. Attacking the Sac PD, and the Sac Sheriff is a wild move, because what if an “active shooter” happens at your location? Like it matters? I feel you could fire a cannon in each direction on the reporter floor at the Bee and not hit anyone.

If for some reason you feel compelled to read this trash, find a local CVS as they will let you take their copies of the Bee and not even charge you. They are just glad to be rid of them. I suggest this because the “free Bee” with the Sunday paper in Elk Grove is gone too. I can only imagine what that will do for their circulation numbers? Sadly, the jig is up, and they know it. Given their current financial state, I am not sure why they would bet their future on Stephon Clark.

From my observation watching the trailer online, I highly doubt any of the attendees will be buying a paper.

The Bee will be just as extinct as Stephon very soon. They are blaming AB 5, but interestingly they ignore which party overwhelmingly controls the entire state legislative process! Or that they have activity promoted this Party for longer that I’ve been alive. They will hammer President Trump for any and everything, yet ignore the party who passed AB 5 essentially killing their business model? They made a fatal mistake. They are not the auto workers or service employees’ international workers, and as outlined earlier, the paper is a dying business. The Clark documentary will be met with more cancellations, and advertisement rates are based off circulation numbers. Killing the Saturday edition and the “free Sunday Bee” won’t do them any favors either.

The Bee only has a few groups of readers remaining: folks on a liquid diet, folks with 4 inch thick glasses, folks who don’t know which pronoun to refer to themselves with, and heavy Kool Aid drinkers like Aaron Park. See pictorial proof below.

The Chief

Pre-Christmas Tech Update

Here are a few things worth a look as you ponder getting new tech toys for Christmas giving.

1 Ring in the New Year with Santa and his creepy friends.

Only four days after installing it, her 8-year-old daughter, Alyssa, heard music and a banging noise coming from the room where the camera was installed.

Alyssa says that when she began looking for the source of the noise, she heard a voice saying, “I’m Santa Claus, don’t you want to be my best friend?”

Lemay says the voice taunted Alyssa and encouraged her to mess up her room and break her TV before her dad came into the room and shut the camera off.
Ring security camera hacks see homeowners subjected to racial abuse, ransom demands

2 Lest you think Amazon is the only guys watching whether you are naughty or nice; Facebook is too, but only if you use a smartphone made by Tim Cook.

The glitch affects iPhone owners, who said their camera suddenly switched itself on while they were scrolling through their feed, watching videos or looking at photos.

When people turned the video to full-screen mode and then switched back to Facebook’s normal view, they could see a little open space on the left and the camera app in the background.
Several people have tweeted about the bug and it has been replicated by tech journalists.

Daryl Lasafin, a creative director, tweeted: ‘Facebook app on iOS 13.2.2 opens my phone’s rear camera when I open a profile photo swipe down to return (look at the little slit on the left of the video). Is this an app bug or an iOS bug??’

Joshua Maddox, a web designer and digital strategist, tweeted: ‘Found a Facebook security & privacy issue. When the app is open it actively uses the camera. I found a bug in the app that lets you see the camera open behind your feed.’
The Facebook app has been quietly turning on people’s cameras and freaking them out

3 However, if you thought Android devices were safer, you’d be very wrong.

The security research team at Checkmarx has made something of a habit of uncovering alarming vulnerabilities, with past disclosures covering Amazon’s Alexa and Tinder. However, a discovery of vulnerabilities affecting Google and Samsung smartphones, with the potential to impact hundreds of millions of Android users, is the biggest to date. What did the researchers discover? Oh, only a way for an attacker to take control of smartphone camera apps and remotely take photos, record video, spy on your conversations by recording them as you lift the phone to your ear, identify your location, and more. All of this performed silently, in the background, with the user none the wiser.

The vulnerabilities themselves (CVE-2019-2234) allowed a rogue application to grab input from the camera, microphone as well as GPS location data, all remotely.

Once the app is installed and started, it would create a persistent connection to that command and control server and then sit and wait for instructions. Closing the app did not close that server connection. What instructions could be sent by the attacker, resulting in what actions? I hope you are sitting down as it’s a lengthy and worrying list.
Google Confirms Android Camera Security Threat: ‘Hundreds Of Millions’ Of Users Affected

Take a photo using the smartphone camera and upload it to the command server.
Record video using the smartphone camera and upload it to the command server.
Wait for a voice call to start, by monitoring the smartphone proximity sensor to determine when the phone is held to the ear and record the audio from both sides of the conversation.
During those monitored calls, the attacker could also record video of the user at the same time as capturing audio.
Capture GPS tags from all photos taken and use these to locate the owner on a global map.
Access and copy stored photo and video information, as well as the images captured during an attack.
Operate stealthily by silencing the smartphone while taking photos and recording videos, so no camera shutter sounds to alert the user.
The photo and video recording activity could be initiated regardless of whether the smartphone was unlocked.

Since the whole world is watch you anyway, “you’d better be good for goodness sake…”

4 In other news, Tim Cook not only knows whether you’re good or bad but where you are (or have been too).

Apple has admitted that the company still collects location data of iPhones even when the user has turned off location settings. This comes just after a security researcher found that iPhone 11 Pro was collecting data after the location settings were turned off.

KrebsOnSecurity identified the issue and published a video showcasing the location data collection after the user had selected ‘never’ for all individual system services and apps. The researcher then forwarded the issue to Apple who gave a generic reply stating that some services require location data and they continue to collect it even when the user has turned off location settings.

Krebs noted that the statement contradicts with Apple’s claim that users get granular control over sharing their location. Apple hasn’t discussed more about the issue but for now, the company has confirmed that it indeed allow apps to collect location data even when the user has specifically blocked the app from doing so.
Apple admits that iPhone collects location data even when the user has turned off location settings

5 On Christmas, there is a tradition that if you find yourself under the mistletoe with a beautiful woman that you are obligated to kiss her; however, there might be repercussions; especially if you are equipped with a Fitbit.

There’s no ideal way to find out that your partner is cheating on you, but thanks to modern technology, there are at least more ways to learn the truth. This week, NFL Network correspondent Jane Slater has shared the story of how she discovered her boyfriend was being unfaithful after his Fitbit data exposed him.

The couple had both previously synced their Fitbit devices, so when Slater didn’t know where her boyfriend was at 4 o’clock in the morning, she checked her Fitbit account. Let’s just say, he was getting in some exercise.
NFL Network Reporter Jane Slater Caught Her Boyfriend Cheating Due to His Fitbit Activity

6 Fitbit was just recently purchased by Google although some regulators aren’t sure they want Google to be exposed to Fitbit data.

By next year, the health data Fitbit has on its users today will become Google’s data – a valuable acquisition for Google, undoubtedly, but one that I predict could make consumers uncomfortable.
Fitbit snapped up by Google in $2.1bn deal

7 Meanwhile, Microsoft discovers that computer users tend to reuse passwords for different accounts. Like no duh. I have an active list of at least forty different online accounts that I frequently use. Its somewhere between inconvenience and impossible to remember them all. I use technology to track my technology access. Microsoft has one password to access all their products on any platform. I guess they decided to look at their users and got a surprise.

Microsoft performed a threat assessment of their services and the users between January and March of this year and the results are shocking. According to the Microsoft threat research team, millions of users are reusing their passwords on Microsoft’s services.

As a part of the threat assessment, Microsoft checked over 3 billion credentials, out of which 44 million Microsoft services and Azure AD accounts matched indicating that the aforementioned accounts were reusing credentials. Microsoft also noted that out of the 3 billion credentials, many were leaked online and the company forced a password reset to ensure the accounts aren’t abused.

Furthermore, Microsoft said that 30% of the reused or modified passwords can be cracked within just 10 guesses.
Microsoft says millions of users are reusing their passwords

8 Finally, another Tim Cook story, this one from Germany where Apple has been ordered to allow other vendors to use NFC capabilities of the iPhone for pay services other than Apple’s.

We reported in October that Apple was drawing attention from the European Competition Commission over their monopoly over the NFC reader on the iPhone which prevented other payment companies such as banks from supporting contact-less payments directly on the handset.

Instead, banks had to subscribe to Apple Pay and pay Apple a percentage for the privilege. This is in contrast to Android, where users are able to set up any app as their contact-less payment provider.

Today Reuters report that last night a German parliamentary committee voted to force Apple to open up the payment platform on the iPhone.
The legislation, which does not name Apple directly, was added as an amendment to an anti-money laundering law.
German legislators vote to force Apple to open up Apple Pay and contact-less payments on the iPhone

So that’s it for Friday the 13th. Be careful out there ‘cause lots of tech companies are depending on you so they can monetize your data, fill their coffers, and keep their Asia workforce employed for another year.

Thoughts on Impeachment

Folks I just don’t get it. Why will the House vote to impeach President Trump? There is no hope of getting a conviction in the Senate. The House effort has zero Republican support and has been predetermined before Democrats even created “charges” to make against the President.

CRA motivational flyer as seen at Stop Trump call center

Oh, yes I fully expect that Mitt Romney—whom I once voted for—will throw Trump under the political bus if he gets the chance but I’m hoping he resists his baser instincts to pile-on. I think the Senate Democrats running for President must recuse themselves. This, action alone will make getting a 2/3 vote to convict in the Senate an impossibility.

Is this really the 2020 Presidential campaign? Sadly, I think it’s all they have because they certainly don’t have a worthy opponent to Trump. Furthermore, Democrats have already said that they will impeach Trump again and again. Folks, such an attitude is shredding the Constitution—Ok, what little of it remains—and turn us into a banana republic. The political games being played now cannot be walked back.

I agree with the Sith Lord that the Republic will fracture into different nation-states—a possibility that he has discussed for many years—but it’s painful to see. I feel like I’m in ancient Israel right before the masses were carted-off into captivity by Babylon and Egypt.

I’m going to state something that is only superficially true but has some merit. Trump is like Jesus in a few ways. First, with him there is no neutrality. Second, his trial is one of false accusations and conflicting accounts which are not corroborated by any evidence. Third, his enemies want to crucify him. Fourth, he is like a fulcrum, he is dividing the sheep from the goats. Trump will go down in history as the most divisive figure in the White House since Lincoln. Fifth, Trump is triumphing over his enemies because the traps they laid for him are in reality their doom.

Johnnie Does: Gorditos

I’m back after a short hiatus and am doing restaurant reviews again. The promised chicken sandwich review is coming soon. In the meantime, last Thursday I visited a place not too far from my office. The review came about as I was going to visit Freebird’s (it’s a fast casual Chipotle style place) the Monday prior to Thanksgiving.

As I approached the store, a man was standing in front saying they were closed for remodeling and would re-open after Thanksgiving…odd. So I returned, and I noticed not much difference…the sign was gone, replaced by a hanging banner “Gorditos.”

I assumed this was a name change. An “open” neon sign was lit, apparently saying the shop was open for commerce. I entered the business and was shocked, chairs and tables stacked in a corner, and all Freebird’s signage gone. Actually it was somewhat eerie, no music, no signs, no vibe at all. Ambiance 0/5.

I was stunned to know they had been open a week already, there were 2 employees both clad in shirts saying “Gorditos” but you never would have known if they were seasoned employees or folks off the street.

Food: it’s the same as a Chipotle, but on steroids. They have several additional toppings, and at Freebird’s they made everything in house (more on this in a bit). They serve burritos, burrito bowls, nachos, tacos and quesadillas. I pushed my way down the line, and peered into the kitchen…everything is from a can! Literally, everything…from a can. The brand was First Street, a store brand sold by Smart and Final…I won’t knock this but most foodservice is handled by Sysco or US Foods, it just looked/felt forced; like a business whose franchisee walks away and a couple loyal workers were trying hard to keep things going. That being said my nachos were quite tasty, so 3.1/5.

Overall: A few things going on now here and we will kind of grade on a curve. The place had the ambiance of a morgue, and seemed thrown together. The story was the company was bought out and sold to a new investor. Makes sense because the name change seems odd. The prices were absolutely out of whack; $12.50 for a burrito is nuts, my nachos were $9 so it’s on the very high end for a lunch with no drink included. Those prices will not be well received. The place was empty and it’s very much a work in progress. Overall I give it 1.7/5, but I may do a follow up review in a few months.

Johnnie Does

Sacramento County is Voting on a Sales Tax in 2020

By Chief

Well folks Measure B was defeated in 2016, by the slimmest of margins—talking fractions of a percent here people! So, we were spared from a county-wide sales tax increase, which actually resulted in a decrease believe it or not. Sales tax measures here at the Sacramento County level require a 2/3 vote of all voters to go into effect, I believe it may be different for just local governments.

Editor’s note: the percentage needed for passage of sales taxes depends on whether funds are dedicated which needs 2/3 voter approval or just going to the general fund which requires a simple majority.
Legislative Analyst’s Office

Politicians hate tax decreases, it’s actually one of few bi-partisan things both parties can agree on. William has explained this better than I ever could but in essence: say there is a fund for a new overpass for 20 million. Money has already been set aside, but the general fund is running low due to lower than expected holiday shopping, so a tax hike is proposed to “pay for road condition improvements.” It passes and the government gets more tax revenue. The voter approved money goes into the transportation fund as promised, but since transportation is now fully funded by dedicated funds, other money that was being spent on transportation, is now freed-up and re-directed into the general fund to pay for pet projects. The net result of the tax hike is often that no additional funding increase—in real dollars—ever happened for transportation; money just got freed-up to be spent for other purposes. This bait and switch is a bi-partisan approach because everyone can find a project in their district to direct monies to, and when it’s completed, the elected can nominate himself for sainthood and give voters a reason to re-elect him/her/it. The City of Sacramento actually just did this saying the funds were needed for additional police/fire but re-directed it saying they had a “surplus.” Cities never have surpluses, trust me, it’s called creative accounting.

But I digress. There is a task force, the Sacramento Transportation Authority, made up of 16 elected members of this county (all 5 supervisors) (5 Sac City Councilmembers) (1 member from Folsom, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Galt/Isleton) and (2 members from Elk Grove). So, in essence, your tax dollars are funding a committee of your electeds to find ways to tax you even more on a countywide basis. To be clear, I have no problem with the mix of elected officials on a board, as they were elected by us the voters; however, I do have a problem with obvious conflicts of interest. Here is a glaring one: Sacramento’s Regional Transit (RT) is the local bus/light rail service in the county and of these “members” look how many reside on the RT board as well: Kennedy/Serna/Nottoli all Sac County Supervisors, Hume (Elk Grove), Howell (Folsom), Miller (Citrus Heights), Hansen/Harris/Schneier (Sac City).

Nine of 16 members sit on both boards. Thus, the Sacramento Transportation Authority has a vested interest in raising the local sales taxes and directing the money to RT which will be given a large slice of this new tax money. While you cannot do much about the supervisors, I find it hard to believe the other cities couldn’t find other city councilmembers to replace them due to a conflict of interest. RT is slated to receive a very large split of this money, I’ve been told upwards of 30%!!! No wonder Regional Transit took over/bought out Transit in Elk Grove and Citrus Heights last year, now they have a monopoly over the transit monies from this tax!

City and county leaders in Sacramento are in the midst of debating a sales tax measure for the November 2020 ballot that would fund a long list of projects transportation projects, from freeway interchanges and bridges to sidewalks near schools.
Measure A could raise more than $8 billion through a half-cent sales tax over the next 40 years.
The decision to place a measure on the ballot will be made next year by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, if the project list is approved in coming weeks by the Sacramento Transportation Authority board. The STA board is made up of council members from cities around the county as well as members of the county board of supervisors.
Here’s what your community will get if you vote for Sacramento’s transportation sales tax

There is a whole list of projects this additional money will go towards, and while some of it seems like worthwhile ventures; widening bridges, replacing old ones, repaving roads, it’s also chock full of waste. Expanding bike lanes, creating one way streets downtown, making bus only lanes, making Interstate 5 add carpool lanes (this is occurring already by the way), walking trails, and creating a four lane mini-connector highway from Elk Grove to Folsom! It includes a slew of wasteful transit spending, everything from newer hybrid electric buses to expanding light rail to Elk Grove in the south county and the airport in the north county. Basically, the money is divvied up proportionally and the projects are already in the planning stages. Of course, it’s California so combating climate change even worked its way into the conversation.

I call these projects “wasteful” because we as a county have not maintained these assets since they were constructed. I call it the “plug the holes and pretend all is well plan.” I drive a couple roads to get from my house to my job, the roads are horrifically maintained. When a pothole appears, the City tosses some asphalt in it, hammers it down with a shovel and moves on; only for said pothole to reappear a couple days later. When a re-seal or re-pavement should be done, we put it off in the name of saving money. Same goes for our bridges and overpasses, we ignore them entirely. I know this for a fact as a former Cal-Trans engineer told me no one even inspects them anymore, and if they do its more of a drive-by affair. This is not called a needed tax, it’s called fixing a bureaucratic time bomb waiting to blow up. Also what irks me is these planned “traffic easements” are total bunk, that mini-highway on Grant Line is only being proposed and funded because Folsom is building 10,000 new houses not far from there. Ditto with the new highway on ramp at Whitlock Road in Elk Grove. We are adding a casino and about another 8,000 homes there. I have heard rumors of a paid toll road on the 80, I thought toll roads paid for themselves? This wild looking bridge we are replacing at “I” Street seems necessary, but how come West Sacramento isn’t sharing in the cost? The street enhancements for autonomous cars seems very forward thinking but shouldn’t we wait until this becomes a bigger thing in the Bay Area…like you know, where all this tech seems to originate from?

I’m down on the transit funding for a couple reasons. First, I already fund transit whilst filling my vehicle with gasoline. The truth is that the Legislature is diverting money from gas, diesel, and other transportation taxes for use in other areas. Instead of fighting this diversion of funds, local government is trying to establish their own revenue stream to replace money diverted from them at the state level. Second, transit is required to recover so much of their operating costs at the fare box, and it seems like every year they are cutting stops, consolidating routes and raising fares, the business model seems very un-user friendly. Third, public transit just seems to constantly miss the mark. There is rampant fare-evasion, crime (including; violent, sexual, and petty), and in general people do not feel safe.

For example, look at the newly completed light rail extension to CRC junior college in my hometown. If I wanted to ride RT’s light rail to the Kings game, I must drive my car 20 minutes to the RT station, leave my car in a questionable area, and ride the train through quite a few downright rough parts of town on my way to the game and back. RT services are predicated on the expectation of leaving my car at a lot where everyone knows my vehicle will be unattended for many hours. RT just expects me to put my trust in the good citizens lurking in and around their parking lot.

Since I have lived, here everyone has talked about RT going to the airport. (I remember Joe Serna talking about light rail going to the airport back in the 1980’s when I was at Sac State—editor.) At one point they started work on the green line…but due to low ridership it was halted, now they want to use this tax hike to revive the idea yet again. Furthermore, they want to expand RT further south into Elk Grove. That seems all good and well, but land will be at a premium as much of that Bruceville Road route is built up already. This idea just seems like a boatload of waste. In addition, this light rail expansion…. completely skipped over our shiny new upscale mall built out at Delta Shores…just saying.

The task could be tough: Sacramento County transportation officials would have to persuade voters to agree to what would be a third ongoing transportation tax. The county already collects a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects, approved by voters in 2004 and set to last 30 years. Meanwhile, California state officials raised the gas tax in 2018 to provide more money for state and local transportation projects.
A 40-year sales tax to tackle climate change is likely headed to Sacramento’s November ballot

I predict a very close ballot box result next November, but don’t be shocked to see ballots “found” after counting ends.

Chief

Myth of Electric Utopia

Folks, I know I keep harping on Elon Musk and the utopian dream of all electric homes, cars, and life in general but as Clint Eastwood once famously said in one of his many Dirty Harry movies, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

Now

Tesla has hardly any market penetration in the United States but is gaining in popularity in California but not without consequences. As I keep saying, charging these cars is a big deal. Look at the ridiculous lines over the Thanksgiving vacation just to keep Elon’s fleet on the road. Drivers waited up to an hour to get to a charger and then a decent charge takes 45 minutes.

Footage out of Kettleman City, the location of one of the largest supercharging sites boasting up to 40 chargers, shows drivers queued up back-to-back in a line about a half mile long.

Testy drivers attempting to juice up after Black Friday sounded off on social media, claiming the wait time was anywhere from thirty minutes to well over an hour.
Video: Tesla Drivers Wait Up to an Hour to Charge Electric Vehicles

In a few years…

Predictions of the future are worse. If 10 percent of California households owned a Tesla and try to charge them overnight, the resulting electric demand would crash the electric grid and that’s assuming PG&E and Southern Cal Edison are maintaining their gear.

As we have previously documented on this blog, given current rates of worldwide mineral production and demand, Great Britain cannot achieve its goal of an all-electric fleet of vehicles by 2040—this calculation is assuming that nobody else in the world like maybe California is simultaneously trying to do the same thing.

Long-term

Worse yet, another battery (pun intended) of reports has even more dire warnings about our dependence on technology. At current rates of production, six vital minerals used in high tech devices like self-driving cars and smartphones will be gone within 100 years.

Besides the raw waste, mobile devices contain “conflict elements” like gold, toxic elements such as arsenic and rare elements like indium, the Royal Society of Chemistry said. “Natural sources of six of the elements found in mobile phones are set to run out within the next 100 years,” it added.
Electronic waste pileup sparks warnings

Another concern over the recycling of unused devices is that they often contain what are known as “conflict elements” such as tin, gold, tungsten and tantalum, which are mined in areas where battles and child labour are often a routine part of their mining.
40 million unused gadgets in UK homes

“There are about 30 different elements just in a smartphone,” said Elisabeth Ratcliffe from the Royal Society of Chemistry, “and many of them are very rare.”

The metal indium, she explained, is used in a unique compound called indium tin oxide, which is vital for touch screens, because it conducts electricity and is transparent. “It’s also used in solar panels, so we’re going to need a lot of it in the future.

“There’s not a lot of it in the Earth and you need a kilo of ore to extract just a few milligrams of indium.”

Most of us will not have heard of tantalum, but it’s a highly corrosion-resistant metal that is “perfect for small electronic devices like our phones”, explained Ms Ratcliffe. “But it’s also perfect for hearing aids and pace-makers,” she told BBC News.

Scientists estimate that indium and tantalum mines, among others, could run out within a century. Meanwhile, our demand for new technology continues to increase.

“Even the copper in all that wire is not endlessly abundant,” added Ms Ratcliffe.

Elements in smart phones that could run out within the next 100 years
Millions of old gadgets ‘stockpiled in drawers’

Gallium: Used in medical thermometers, LEDs, solar panels, telescopes and has possible anti-cancer properties;
Arsenic: Used in fireworks, as a wood preserver;
Silver: Used in mirrors, reactive lenses that darken in sunlight, antibacterial clothing and gloves for use with touch-screens;
Indium: Used in transistors, microchips, fire-sprinkler systems, as a coating for ball-bearings in Formula One cars and solar panels;
Yttrium: Used in white LED lights, camera lenses and can be used to treat some cancers;
Tantalum: Used in surgical implants, electrodes for neon lights, turbine blades, rocket nozzles and nose caps for supersonic aircraft, hearing aids and pacemakers.

Before this series of articles, I’d never heard the term “conflict elements.” I guess folks were successful with turning “conflict diamonds” into “blood diamonds” so I guess now we can call things “blood Teslas” or “blood iPhones” or “blood solar panels”, the possibilities are seemingly endless. Oh, and child/slave labor also gets a shout-out in these articles too.

Conclusion

It seems that Liberals are torn between telling you to recycle your old gizmos and guilt tripping folks that love technology. Maybe they’ll try doing both. Folks look for this pending shortage to be a way to raise even more taxes on recycling when you buy new stuff—even if it really ends up in the landfill. And if the predictions start to pan-out as being true, look for Elon Musk to propose mining asteroids, the Moon, or some other astronomical body to keep our stuff in production.

Bottom-line: Government planners and technology manufacturers seem to be on a collision course with reality. Mineral production is far less than long term demand and nothing will change that anytime soon.

Lastly, look for this as a future way to weaponize a movement against technology for the masses.