Even though Donald Trump's Presidency doesn't hit the 100 day mark until Saturday, April 29th, it was a major talking point in the news media this weekend. This is primarily because the people who claim to be journalists these days just love big dumb stories about big dumb round numbers, and offering their worthless opinions rather than doing anything even remotely like reportage.
So we'll do it too!
As you'll recall unless you drink as much as we do, Barack Obama spent the entirety of his first 100 days being fellated by the press, bowing to foreign potentates, making a famous "apology tour" to explain to foreigners how much our nation has always sucked, labeling military veterans as "potential terrorists," incinerating taxpayer dollars with preposterous "stimulus programs" that only stimulated ACORN and other liberal evildoers and, most importantly, did all of these things while simultaneously being historically black. In stark contrast, Donald Trump has actually tried to accomplish things while being orange. But how has he fared?
All in all, pretty well. For one thing, he hasn't destroyed the Earth in an insane, orgiastic display of nuclear button pushing - so count the pundits wrong on that worry. Similarly, we've noticed no particular increase in "pussy grabbing," other than among feminists (or should we call them fetishists?) who have taken to wearing giant vagina costumes. A trend which, sadly, appears to have driven former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly mad with lust.
Trump has been great for the stock market, which we wish we would have foreseen before selling a crapload of securities under the assumption that one of Trump's nutty 3 a.m. tweets would quickly crash the market. We stand corrected (note: stock market humor).
Trump has also been good at reestablishing the military significance of "red lines" including those drawn (and withdrawn) by previous presidents. And hey, any President who introduces ISIS to the "Mother of All Bombs" deserves extra style points in our book.
Perhaps most significantly, President Trump presided over Neil Gorsuch's ascendancy to the Supreme Court - a fact which would cause us to hang a triumphant "Mission Accomplished" banner over his presidency even if he spends the next four years golfing and hosting pep rallies.
Of course, some of Trump's campaign promises have yet to be realized. Obamacare is still a cancer on our nation's health system, the Border Wall hasn't been funded yet, and - most tragically - Hillary Clinton still isn't in prison.
Then again, who knows what Trump can get done by Saturday?
BONUS: THE OTHER 100 DAZE
Want the original Hope n' Change "First 100 Daze" PDF ebook to remind you of just how godawful Barack F. Obama was from the very beginning? Just click this link and download it for free (note: it's about 12 MB owing to all the graphics).
AND FINALLY: IT'S ALIVE - ALIVE!!!
After several days of panic, misery, and extremely theatrical suffering (sorry, Mrs. J!) we've got our computer up and running again. And by "running," we mean limping, covered in stitches, and with electrodes sticking out of its neck.
There's no way to make computer repair stories interesting, so we'll keep this short and say that it was scary to realize how truly screwed we'd be if we couldn't put the pieces back together again. We couldn't just buy a new computer, because our tangled web of programs will only run on an old computer with an outdated operating system.
So why not just update everything? Because we're not as young as we used to be, and no longer have a sufficient quantity of marbles to mentally adapt to the new tech. Seriously, the Obama years took a toll.
We do, however, want to thank the many readers who sent good wishes, condolences, wisecracks (we particularly liked "those Commodore computers don't last forever"), repair suggestions, and even the offer of a free laptop.
The one and only reason we got through this is because we were good about backing things up (using Time Machine and an external hard drive on a Mac). Please make sure you're doing the same - you won't regret it.
31 comments:
@ Stilton, I feel your pain. Last month I took my high end five year old laptop to a local shop to replace the cooling fan. (I had the part) They said that it’s an old computer and I’d be better off buying a new one. But they did the job anyway. After I got it home I found that two or my USB ports were not functioning so back it went. They had it a week and were unable to fix the problem, they claimed it is a software issue, but not anything they did. I should just get a new one. I found a bad driver, but even the replacement driver faults, so now I think it’s a hardware issue. I also found the software corrupted. When an item in “control panel” fails to open, there’s a problem. Anyway, I backed up my important files and did a fresh install of windows and all of my third party software, some of which I updated. Took me about two weeks.
When someone says that the item I want repaired “isn’t worth the cost” what they are saying is simply they don’t want the job. So that shop will not be seeing any more work from me. I will do it myself for as long as I can find parts.
You mean there's hope for my Tandy TRS80? Oh, finally!!!! And it has two, count 'em two 180 kilobyte floppy drives. I can hardly wait. Actually, I have a laptop with a 750 gig hard drive. I'm using a one terabyte external hard drive for backup plus the cloud backup. It's worth the 60 bucks a year for the peace of mind.
One of the things I like about President Trump (I love hearing that) is that he doesn't advertise his next strike. One of the things we learned in the Corps is that when you are going to attack someone you don't send a notice first. And you don't leave half your ammo home. And, most important, you do not micromanage. Especially when the COC (obammy) hasn't a clue about how to run a boy scout troop let alone a military operation. President Trump just says "sic 'em Mad Dog".
Doc for some reason starting a few days ago I been getting adds for vacuum cleaners--Not sure if it's NSA or FBI who could not figure out your joke.
I am in terror of what adds will come from "fellated by the press" plus red lines and back up hard drives.
Congratulations on your success Stilt, that gives me hope for my 80/88 with 2M bytes.
It is scary what would happen with an EMP attack. Last week or so, we just lost all power in Forney for 3-4 hours and the whole town practically shut down. The good news is there are lots of things to do in the dark. The bad news is we needed to be a lot younger. Anyways, I had faith in your perseverance. Onward and upward, especially our fine President whom will not be attending the Correspondence dinner. That's a riot.
And I thought Mac "Classic" meant it would be good for the ages; that was quite a few machines ago. It's in the "portable" zipper bag somewhere; but my back says it's no longer portable. Should go to Renaissance Festival and make pictures of people with it for $5 a shot.
Everyone forgets Obama's very first idea, which he put forth less than a month after taking office: To save the VA half a billion dollars a year by forcing wounded veterans to pay for their care with their own private insurance. Remember that one? Of course, the outcry shot it down immediately, and it played right into his hands: If government health care is good enough for our veterans, why isn't it good enough for the rest of us?
I did not vote for Trump, but am not unpleased with his performance thus far.
As far as computers go; being an electronic technician; I have repaired them, programmed them, and networked them. However, the last one I owned actually was a Commodore 64!
I find my high end smartphone, with an unlimited data plan, does everything I need in computing. The only thing really lacking is storage space, and that's where the cloud comes in. Plus, I can surf the web while sitting in the middle of the woods - which is exactly where I am right now.
I just downloaded the file for the first 100 days and it took less than two seconds. But it was 14+ megabytes so that maybe why it took so long. There is something to be said for the modern tech.
Ah, Stilton, I'm so happy you persevered, even though Mac may be limping a bit (that usually occurs after major surgery, anyway!).
RE: President Trump. Though I live in 'Chicago', I did vote for him. Just had this strong feeling he would win, and for some reason, I felt a great amount of trust in him. I am five weeks older than he, yet I cannot rise to anywhere near his energy level. He is learning that solutions are more difficult as president, yet he continues to move forward, sometimes at the speed of light, making clearly-thought out decisions right and left. He's still having a lot of fun, too...as will you, when Mac is fully 'healed'.
Won't go into my computer problems, but an external hard drive bought yesterday doesn't seem to want to load its software. I, too, shall have to persevere!!!
glad to have you back. the really important question that you are skipping over, though, is "did you get your coffee maker fixed?" (i got mine working again)
i agree that The Donald is doing pretty well. need to get control of the borders, but things there are improving even without the wall, or so i read. don't sell The Donald short. (yes, attempted stock market humor)
Like the song, Gene Autry used to sing..., Back in the Saddle Again!
Withdrawal symptoms were beginning for Stiltoncain. It's truly habit forming
for some of us older farts! :-)))
Tried three times to download the "First 100 Daze" file, but it won't work either under Firefox or Win10's Edge. Any other way to snag it? (...whine...)
Hooray for Mr MAC fixit!
Jim Lane, I just got it in FFox, no issue... just saying.
I actually have two computers at my desk; the "current, up-to-date" one and the "old" one. The old one runs the software and old hardware that I like. I don't feel compelled to spend thousands of dollars on updated software and to replace perfectly good hardware that does what I need just because device drivers aren't available on the latest PCs. The landfills are full enough without planned obsolescence contributing.
Nobody regrets having made backups.
1st Hundred Daze: That Trump's media and political experience should differ from the love fest that was Obama's is hardly a surprise, just as Bush 43's was demonstrably different than Clinton's. For decades, I've argued that the GOP needs to get over the unfairness of it all and just assume it.
So, O'Reilly is out. Personally, I don't care so much since I always considered him more populist blowhard than an actual conservative. But it's certainly a blow to people I know who watched him with more religious fever than they had for church. Now I see they're targeting Hannity. I've never been a Hannity fan either, but know enough of him to be highly skeptical of such accusations. I guess they think that if they can't beat Fox in the ratings, they'll just target their talent until there's nothing left.
Meanwhile, as the feminist social justice warriors hollow out the Fox News Channel, this goes on with little notice:
U.N. Elects Saudi Arabia to Women’s Rights Commission, For 2018-2022 Term
“Saudi discrimination against women is gross and systematic in law and in practice. Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death. Saudi Arabia bans women from driving cars. Why did the U.N. choose the world’s leading promoter of gender inequality to sit on its gender equality commission?”
Again, just who is it conducting this "War on Women" I keep hearing about? Apparently, it's still white Christian American males if the dystopian future depicted by Hollywood is to be believed:
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Creates a Chilling Man’s World
"“The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel, is a cautionary tale, a story of resistance and a work of impeccable world-building. It is unflinching, vital and scary as hell... Gilead is a tyranny of nostalgia, a rape culture that denounces the previous society — ours — for degrading women with pornography. It controls women by elevating them, fetishizing motherhood, praising femininity, but defining it in terms of service to men and children."
Hmmmm. With the possible exception of "elevating" and "praising femininity", which emerging ideology today does this most resemble?
Seems to me that elevating the Saudis as international champions of "women's rights" represents a real step towards this world misogynistic dystopia than anything white male Christians have in mind these days. My question is can such agitprop succeed in a world where the reality is so glaringly obvious?
@Old 1811 said "Everyone forgets Obama's very first idea... to save the VA half a billion dollars a year by forcing wounded veterans to pay for their care with their own private insurance."
Oh, I never forgot that. And I always wondered why he floated such an obviously absurd and un-just idea until you said "If government health care is good enough for our veterans, why isn't it good enough for the rest of us?"
Interesting take. Except considering how simply awful the VA actually is, what I don't get is why anyone would want government "take a number and die" health care.
Stilton,
Glad you got up and running so quickly. I was already for a disappointing Monday without my favorite website, but lo and behold, there's a new post!
Us old geezers grew up with the mindset that you fix something when it's broken. Your typical techie at the computer shop can't comprehend anyone who wouldn't just throw away their ancient computer. Sir, this machine was built waaaay back in 2014; we don't support old stuff like this!" All six of my grandsons barely have a phone for a year before they are nagging their parents for a new one. "But it's only $700! All my friends have an iPhone 27 already, and this phone will only hold 9,000 photos! How am I supposed to live like that?!"
Anyway... congrats for holding your ground and sticking with that stone age, 10 year old computer.
Trump's first 100... I'm ecstatic that he got Gorsuch on the bench, and even more ecstatic that it sounds like one of the old farts on SCOTUS (likely Darth Vader Ginsberg) is going to hang it up, and the Dumbo-crats shot their wad trying to block Gorsuch. Dropping 18,700 pounds of explosives on ISIS' heads, and bombing the shit our of Assad's air field are icing on the cake. That sent a yuuuuge statement to the dirtbags of the world, "Don't F**K with us!"
Illegal border crossings are way down; businesses are investing and moving back.
But best of all, we don't have the screeching witch advancing O'Liar's agenda exponentially.
Oh.... and I made more in my 401k last quarter than I made all last year. Hell, I might actually be able to (gasp!) RETIRE in a year or two!!
Stilton, check into an external RAID0 or RAID1 array - there's lots (cheap!) of smaller-capacity HDDs out there, and the external RAID means never having to say you're sorry...
But, still, welcome back!!
I have some old 286, 386, 486, and Pentium II motherboards downstairs in my hoard, as well as a Mac SE30 (fully functional!). If worse gets to worse(er), you can get the SE30 from me...
And an Atari 2600, 400 (heavily modified by me), 800, and a Commodore 2500. Even have a Sinclair ZX80. Can my pack-rattery be fixed?
(I *did* get rid of my Kaypro 10 a decade ago...)
Very good description of President Trump's first 100, but I must point out one grievous mistake you have made. Although its the Affordable Care Act or ACA, the mnemonic of this oxymoron, you refereed to this brilliant piece of incredibly obtuse legislation as "ObamaCare". This is not quite accurate as everyone knows it is really called "ObamaScare". You are most welcome for the correction.
It's very difficult to find paper tape for my Western Electric 110 baud teletype...
Rem: feeling stalked by ads? That's because you are. Try this:
http://optout.aboutads.info/#/
@Joseph ET- I called a local shop to ask what they'd charge to crack open my iMac and drop in a new drive. "$460," said the chipper young man. "Well THAT ain't gonna happen," I mused aloud.
Although my computer works with an external drive at the moment, a friend and I will probably install a newer/cooler (hybrid? SSD?) drive for a fraction of that price.
@Fred Ciampi- You've given me fond memories of my first real computer, a Kaypro that used the CP/M operating system. And yes, I've got cloud backup and a variety of hard drives doing backup. And now I'm going to have even MORE of those things!
Regarding Trump, I'm also enjoying his tendency to say "you shouldn't have done that" with weaponry rather than telegraphing possible action. And how can one not love "Mad Dog?"
@REM1875- Now we're BOTH going to get ads about being fellated by vacuum cleaners. See - there's one popping up now, for the cordless Black & Dicker "LustBuster."
@Judi King- I voted for Trump with no enthusiasm (other than keeping Hillary out), but I'll say "so far, so good."
@James Daily- Few things worry me as much as an EMP attack, and I hope that Trump will actually harden our grid while there's still time. That should be a real priority - especially since a solar flare could also knock us back a couple of centuries.
And like you, I'm enjoying the fact that Trump is not only skipping the correspondents dinner, but staging his OWN event at the same time.
@Rod- I remember when "small" computers were called "luggables" because it only took one grown man to move them. I've still got working laptops around here with screen displays of only 4 shades of gray (by design).
@Old 1811- I definitely didn't forget that! There's a Hope n' Change cartoon in the archives, but I got tired of looking for it. Still, Obama was still pushing the same anti-veteran crap a few years later, as I documented here. The rat bastard.
@Geoff King- Oh sure, smartphones are great and you can use them in the woods - but at least I'M not getting bitten by mosquitoes! Seriously, you're right - these days there's not much that a desktop computer can do that a smartphone can't. Not that I actually own a smartphone; I've got a cheap flip-phone that includes a Tetris game. Whee.
@burgess schnitzius- I'll admit that fast data transmission is a good thing. I think my Internet provider is supplying 150 mbps for upload and download. That's even faster than I can type!
@RP Free Speech- Good luck with the computer stuff. It's all a blessing and a curse.
Regarding Trump, I'm amazed at his energy level, and I actually believe that he's sincere about his goals for our nation. It's refreshing to see his patriotism and his enthusiasm for cops, troops, and working people.
@jlw- The coffee maker is NOT fixed, but we had a crappy backup in the attic. It works, but when you pull out the carafe to fill your cup, it drizzles liquid all over the hot plate and makes a mess. Not so much of a mess, however, as to make me stop drinking coffee.
And it is impressive that illegal border crossings are already way down under Trump. I'm looking forward to the boom being lowered on sanctuary cities, too.
@Walter L Stafford- As habits go, hopefully I'm a pretty benign one. And I love the song "Back in the Saddle Again." I could sing it at this very moment, only it's late and Mrs. J would emerge from the bedroom to give me the hairy eyeball.
@Jim Lane- It SHOULD download using pretty much any browser. You basically click on the link, and you should get a pop-up window saying "where do you want to save the file?"
Of course, you can always drop by the Hope n' Change archives and just read the first 100 cartoons!
@Pete (Detroit)- Good to hear. Although this adds credibility to the theory that the NSA is blocking Jim's computer...
@John the Econ- I, too, have two computers on my desk. My old one, and my really old one. I need functionality above all - and when I eventually upgrade, it will almost certainly be to another used computer.
First 100 Daze: You're right that we need to accept the bias of the press as something which isn't going to change. It does seem to me, though, that the press has almost completely fallen apart now. There is almost no "news" anymore - just "product" intended to titillate, mislead, and compete for eyeballs rather than IQ's.
O'Reilly: I never much cared for him or Sean, though I'm against derailing a career unless the charges are both accurate and really substantial. The final blow against O'Reilly is that he made a "grunting sound" in the presence of a woman, and once referred to her as "hot chocolate." Coarse and annoying? Sure. Capable of causing "trauma" and deserving of a million dollar payoff for the victim? Hardly. And now we're going to see lawsuits and accusations against every high-profile male conservative who's ever uttered a flirtatious word or glanced at some readily-on-display cleavage. The Left loves their lawyers.
Women's Rights Commission: Another example of why we should throw the U.N. out of the United States. And isn't it interesting (as you point out) that the Left doesn't seem to care.
Handmade's Tale: I'm looking forward to not watching it.
VA Healthcare: Actually, Obama was offering the worst of both worlds to vets: a crap healthcare system, or onerously expensive insurance. A lose-lose scenario for our service members, which - by definition - would be seen as a win by Obama.
@Colby Muenster- I agree that there's a complete communication gap between geezers who fix things and younger folks who not only dispose of fixable items, but also toss them just because there's something newer and shinier available. Good for commerce, perhaps, but bad for self-sufficiency and the environment.
As far as your stock going up, I'm pleased for you and many others. I wasn't kidding about selling off some good stock (Apple, ironically) over fears that they were going to be the bargaining chip between Trump and China. I think the stock has gone up 20% since then. Who knew?
@Anonymous- I've got some old and preposterous tech around the house, but you've got me beat!
@Paul D Garber- Good point, and thank you for the semantic clarification.
@TheOldMan- Wasn't their slogan "Baud to the Bone?"
@MAX Redline- Interesting info. And I really dislike being stalked by ads, although they serve as a useful warning that we're more connected and observed than we think at all times and should click accordingly.
We were taught in numerous annual "Sensitivity Training" sessions which, by policy, were both mandatory for every supervisor & higher that in addition to the supposedly questionable behavior or comments there are two key factors in harassment cases. The harassment has to be "unwanted and repeated" behavior. Pressing it when a "victim " has clearly stated their objection is of the essence.
The "safe" result was people would not even compliment a person of opposite gender when they were dressed nicely for work; like on birthday or anniversary, or to make a presentation. Not trying to show their stuff, just looking sharp as opposed to many who came to work in rough clothes, logo tee shirt, and open toes sandals or flip-flops. Normal folks enjoy an occasional compliment.
I doubt many of these current-news high-profile female "victims" who come forward years later did much complaining back when. Some play the game until they want to change the story much later.
I'm a fan of used computers. Unless you're into video production or "gaming", any off-the-shelf computer made over the better part of the last decade will do what you need to do.
But it's usually only economical if you have a certain level of geek aptitude, because if it's going to take hours of some professional's time to make work, you might as well buy new. Under normal conditions solid-state electronics last a very long time, and if they survive the warranty period are likely to run indefinitely. It's generally the mechanical parts of computers that age and fail at regular intervals. These are mostly hard disks and fans in my experience; both easily replaceable. Power supplies are probably the next most common component to fail, largely because they often tend to be cheap and are subject to abuse coming in from the power line through surges. (They're designed to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the computer)
No nooze: You are so right that the media has fallen apart. They flushed what little of what was left of their objective credibility last year when they openly aimed for Trump, ironically a phenomenon they themselves created. Now that their monster is lose, they just don't know what to do with themselves other than doubling down on stupid.
For decades now, we've accepted that "sexual harassment" is as much a weapon of the left than it is about protecting vulnerable women. (It's a shame that O'Reilly wasn't a Muslim threatening those women with Female Genital Mutilation, because it seems that they'd be okay with that)
I have little doubt that much of what O'Reilly has been accused of is largely BS. But it doesn't matter. As conservatives, we need to accept that we need to live up to a higher standard. It doesn't matter that Bill Clinton can rape co-workers, get blown by interns, "dick bimbos" at Chappaqua or vacation with underage girls on "Orgy Island". If you are a conservative in a high profile position, you just have to assume that saying anything the least bit sexual is going to come back at you. It's the reality. Not fair, but I do say we should let the Democrats be the ones that enthusiastically own the sewer.
Stilt, not only did it download, I ran through it quickly...
Thank goodness Nancy Pelosi is no longer a topic so often. It was a bit odd to realize how many topics became memes - VA, bowing, "transparancy" - hell, there was even a Trump joke!
Also still topical - Supreme Court, North Korea... sigh...
Kinda miss the slightly creepy 'high pants' bear, as well as chicken boy, and had totally forgotten ducks...
Thanks for the memory "stimulus"
@REM1875 and Stilton,
Careful what you buy in the vacuum department. Steer clear of the Black and Decker Pecker Wrecker model!
Fred
You still have a Trash 80?
I got on for my son 35 years ago. No ran! No disk!
Old Rod
Old Rod, No, I gave it to my grand daughter about 30 years ago when I got a laptop with two 3.5 inch floppies. Woo hoo. Wish I had saved all of the computers that I have had through the years. I would need another 500 square feet of space just to house them.
The 100 Days cartoon was FB feed worthy! Great job, Stilton.
If only we could hitch a ride on the Way Back Machine to get back ups! Thanks for the reminder. I need to do some puter maintenance ... defragging and "bupping" etc.
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