Since the beginning of covid, I decided to switch from software to medicine. That means going back to school, of course. Because the situation with in-person classes and campus access was volatile, I spent the past two years picking up a math degree online, which lets me fulfill almost all of my institutional credit requirements (English, Sociology, Calculus, etc.) I recently completed my last math course for the degree, but still have a few, non-math, classes remaining. And I added Geosciences as a second major, since that is as close to a climate degree as was available (I want to be able to legitimately hand out STFUs to people that make bogus climate claims). The extra classes I had to take for that were enough to make sure that I didn't finish up the degree(s) before campus courses stabilized.

That brings me to now, Spring, 2022 - I am starting on-campus courses in the fall as a transfer student majoring in Biology (my path into medicine, although the math background is very useful). The classes I am missing from Geosciences (Chemistry, Physics and Biology, plus labs) I will have to pick up for Biology, anyway, so I can circle back around and finish off both the Math and Geosciences degrees after I wrap up the Biology degree. I took Physics and Chemistry and Biology at the college level previously, but it has been a while. A refresher is probably a good idea, even though I have mostly kept up. However, I will have 12 lab courses in the next two years - Good Times!

At least my years of software development will (and have) come in useful. Knowing something about Python and R, which are go-to skills these days (I programmed in C#, VB, C, C++ and some other languages, and did a lot of DB related stuff, but I dabbled a bit also) is an advantage. I have ended up using LaTeX quite a bit as well.

Although the political landscape has changed a lot since I joined FR lo, these many years ago, my political views have not really done the same. We have made some good strides regarding abortion, and maybe, just maybe, that atrocity will be ended or at least dramatically curtailed in the foreseeable future.

I am extraordinarily concerned with the state of our elections. Biden was clearly cheated into office - there is plenty of evidence across many different states, including quite a few that didn't make the level of changing the actual outcome (such as the overvote in CA, a state likely to go D regardless, but in which the Ds run up the popular vote to make the rest of their shenanigans more plausible). Hopefully the investigations gain traction and we can correct the flaws in our voting system while we still have one. It remains to be seen just how audacious the left will be this time around. Their coup is not yet - quite - complete, and I hope it is not too late.

My politics

• I oppose abortion. I would prefer to have 0 abortions, but, realistically such a stringent ban would never be accepted. So, no abortions after the first trimester, at all. Abortions in the case of rape and incest during the first trimester only. Abortion for the health of the mother only if carrying the child to term would result in the death of the mother, the child, or both. As I said, I would prefer 0 abortions, but I am willing to save the ones I can rather than none at all. There are plenty of alternatives available if you do not wish to become pregnant, including abstenance and contraception, so it is not necessary to engage in this atrocity. We'll see what comes later.

• I believe in low taxes. Our tax system is broken. Liberals claim to want to 'Tax the Rich', but that isn't true. We don't tax the rich. We tax the industrious, the creative and even the lucky. We do not tax on the basis of wealth already in a person's possession, but on attempts to increase wealth. This is what the upper class and the lower class have been tricked into doing to the middle class. Liberal class warfare. For the rich it is a matter of preserving their privileges (by keeping more people from being rich) and for the poor it is a matter of redistribution of wealth (thus making more poor). All taxes do is make more poor when what we should really be doing is making fewer poor by providing more opportunities for people to invest and earn and improve their own lot by leaving them to decide what to do with their own money. I would prefer a flat tax or even a national sales tax instead of the abomination we have now. I believe the 16th Amendment should be repealed.

• I adamantly support the second amendment. The constitution is very direct on this topic and there is plenty of empirical evidence to support the fact that crime decreases when the people are allowed to defend their property and persons.

• I favor a Constitutional Amendment requiring a balanced budget and that fixes the US budget to GDP at about 20%, preferably less.

• I am a vigorous supporter of the military. I am embarrassed that I never served. When I did try I was rejected because of my age, but I should have done it earlier. The military is one of the few things the government should be spending money on.

• Border security. A wall and a military presence to insure that the invasion of our country by illegal aliens ends completely.

• I favor the adoption of English as the official language of the United States by a Constitutional Amendment.

• I favor becoming as energy independent as we can by exploring ALL options. You can have all the electric cars you want as long as we build the nuclear power plants to power them. Domestic and offshore oil. Micro wind and micro solar and a national net metering policy. Coal. Natural gas. Biofuels. All options are on the table. I believe that one of the things that makes this country great is the abundance of energy available to us. More energy equals more freedom. We need to overhaul our grid to support the demands that will be put upon it in the future - the not so distant future - especially if we migrate to electric powered vehicles and micro energy production.

• I am an ardent capitalist. I believe in free trade, and I believe it works both ways. I find it difficult to accept foreign restrictions on our goods in their markets when we do not have the same restrictions on their goods in our markets. I object to the importation of cheap foreign goods from slave economies which undercuts our own domestic industries. We need to end the bailouts. Punish the crooks, not the taxpayers.

• Election reform is crucial. Every candidate needs to account for the source of every single dollar that passes through their campaign. I am tired of foreign nationals, and even foreign governments, interfering in our elections. Every penny needs to be legal and attributed to a legal doner with documentation. The state of elections in this country is ridiculous - almost third world. I support national election standards and very severe penalies for engaging in election fraud. If we can process 150 million complex income tax returns with multiple forms and schedules every year, then we should be able to handle 120 million votes.

• I support a right to privacy for voters, whether it be in a national election or a union organizational vote. Your vote should be secret, but the fact that you voted should be public information.

• Private property rights are fundamental to liberty. We need to end the takings and stop the Federal government from gobbling up more and more land. Over 1/3 of all the territory of the United States is owned by governments and not individuals.

• The War on Terror. I believe in Peace through Strength, and, when necessary, Peace through Victory. We can't always choose the wars we want, but we can win the ones we fight. I have no problem smashing walnuts with a hammer if that is what I have at hand. Overwhelming force is generally a successful tactic, and one I favor. No fooling around, especially when it comes to the general welfare of my country.

• I believe that Anthropogenic Global Warming or Climate Change is a myth. I am highly skeptical that natural climate change exists in a form substantial enough to threaten humanity. While there may be variations from year to year, they are just the normal variations in the cycle. But I believe we should investigate the subject vigorously and put an end to the question as well as any fraud that might be ongoing, with suitable punishments for the perpetrators of such fraud. Lets answer the question once and for all before going off the deep end with measures like the Kyoto Treaty.

• Multiculturalism. Used as a means to disparage US culture means that I have a problem with whom ever is doing the disparaging. US culture is the epitome of multiculturalism: we accept and include all races, religions and cultural practices so long as they do not directly contradict our basic cultural norms. And that is the way it should be. We should not have to accept practices from other cultures that violate our cultural ethics - slavery, sharia law, mutilation, arranged marriage and so on. Should we tolerate human sacrifice just because the Aztecs practiced it? Or cannibalism? No, of course not, that would be ridiculous. Our culture is as good or better than any competing culture that exists today and we should celebrate it and protect it. All the ills in society today can be traced to some deliberate effort to undermine our cultural norms; to deliberately change our culture in opposition to the natural course of its evolution. We already have numerous cultures that are contributing to our own. We examine new ideas and practices as they are brought to us by immigrants and travelers. Some survive and some do not. Some thrive and some fail. That is how we can have sushi, pizza and tacos all in the same food court. That is how we can have a hundred different flavors of Christianity without conflict. It is even why we can have the most effective and dangerous military the world has ever known without being a militaristic society. People bring in new ideas and new customs and we keep the best for everybody.

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On Obama's alleged citizenship...

Definition of natural-born:

Main Entry:	natural-born
Part of Speech:	adj
Definition:	having a specified characteristic or ability from birth; having the legal status of a citizen; having a position or status from birth; native-born; by virtue of one's nature, qualities, or innate talent: a natural-born musician.
Origin:	1575-85

US Code Title 8 Section 1401 list those persons who are considered citizens at birth:

Natural-born citizen (from usconstitution.net)

Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?

The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.

Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

• Anyone born inside the United States
• Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
• Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
• Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
• Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
• A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example.

The statute in effect at the time of Obama's birth:

1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of June 27, 1952, 66 Stat. 163, 235, 8 U.S. Code Section 1401 (b). (Section 301 of the Act).

"Section 301. (a) The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

"(1) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;

"(7) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States, who prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years.

(b) Any person who is a national and citizen of the United States at birth under paragraph (7) of subsection (a), shall lose his nationality and citizenship unless he shall come to the United States prior to attaining the age of twenty-three years and shall immediately following any such coming be continuously physically present in the United State(s) for at least five years: Provided, That such physical presence follows the attainment of the age of fourteen years and precedes the age of twenty-eight years.

(c) Subsection (b) shall apply to a person born abroad subsequent to May 24, 1934: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to alter or affect the citizenship of any person born abroad subsequent to May 24, 1934, who, prior to the effective date of this Act, has taken up a residence in the United States before attaining the age of sixteen years, and thereafter, whether before or after the effective date of this Act, complies or shall comply with the residence requirements for retention of citizenship specified in subsections (g) and (h) of section 201 of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended."

Obama's mother's birthdate:	November 29, 1942
Obama's birthdate:	August 4, 1961
Obama's mother's age when Obama was born:	18 years 8 months 6 days.
Maximum amount of time Obama's Mama could have been resident in the US after the age of 14 and prior to Obama's birth:	4 years 8 months 6 days
Obama's place of birth:	Hawaii or Kenya - DISPUTED

Constitutional requirements to become President:

"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."[Article II, Section 1]

Nowhere in the Constitution is natural-born redefined from the above definition which predates the Constitution by 200 years.

The definition of natural-born, having a specified characteristic or ability from birth, along with others having essentially the same meaning, is clearly the most appropriate and what the Founders meant, there is no other applicable definition.

Donofrio's and Berg's attempts to create a third type of citizen "born a citizen but not natural born" has no basis in the Constitution or in Law. All those might do is to help refine the question and bring the issue to the broader public's attention.

There are two, and only two types of citizen identified in the Constitution: natrural-born (having a specified characteristic or ability from birth) and naturalized (having confered upon (an alien) the rights and privileges of a citizen.)

14th Amendment Considerations:

The 14th Amendment states: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.'

Some points to note:

The 14th clearly indicates two and only two types of citizen: born or naturalized. You must be one or the other. The term 'natural-born' does not appear. The reason it does not appear is that, since it means, literally, 'from birth', it would be redundant. If you are born in the United States you are a natural born citizen of the United States so long as you are 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof'.

The persons who are not subject to United States jurisdiction are limited to:

children of diplomats (by treaty)

children of Indians subject to tribal law (by treaty)

children of hostile occupying aliens (terrestrial or otherwise)

children of persons in transit through United States territorial waters or airspace or like circumstances

"While clearly establishing a national rule on national citizenship and settling a controversy of long standing with regard to the derivation of national citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment did not obliterate the distinction between national and state citizenship, but rather preserved it. The Court has accorded the first sentence of Sec. 1 a construction in accordance with the congressional intentions, holding that a child born in the United States of Chinese parents who themselves were ineligible to be naturalized is nevertheless a citizen of the United States entitled to all the rights and privileges of citizenship. Congress' intent in including the qualifying phrase ''and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'' was apparently to exclude from the reach of the language children born of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state and children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation, both recognized exceptions to the common-law rule of acquired citizenship by birth, as well as children of members of Indian tribes subject to tribal laws. The lower courts have generally held that the citizenship of the parents determines the citizenship of children born on vessels in United States territorial waters or on the high seas." [From Findlaw]

Dual Citizens are subject to the jurisdiction of the US as well as what ever other country they hold citizenship from. It simply does not matter if Obama held British or Kenyan citizenship in addition to his (unproven) US citizenship.

"US Dual Citizenship: The U.S. government allows dual citizenship. United States law recognizes U.S. Dual Citizenship, but the U.S. government does not encourage it is as a matter of policy due to the problems that may arise from it. It is important to understand that a foreign citizen does NOT lose his or her citizenship when becoming a U.S. citizen. An individual that becomes a U.S. citizen through naturalization may keep his or her original citizenship. However, as some countries do not recognize dual citizenship, it is important to consider it carefully before applying for U.S. citizenship." [from here]

The creation of new types classes of citizens will ultimately deprive some citizens of rights which they now hold - maybe you.