The Conspiracy of the Trump Prosecutions

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Yet another thing here in the dying days of the Biden administration.

There has been a lot of ink spilled over the past few years regarding the Biden administration’s unprecedented lawfare campaign against Trump. However, we need to remember that it wasn’t just the Biden administration launching these attacks, but Democrats throughout the country

There was Alvin Bragg’s prosecution in Manhattan. There was Fani Willis’s prosecution in Fulton County. Bragg’s case secured some convictions, but it is doubtful those will survive on appeal. Willis’s case has largely collapsed over ethics.

Before we sweep those cases into the dustbin of history, we need to take another look at what the Democrats have been doing over the past two years. Specifically, the active coordination between the Biden administration and the local prosecutions of Trump constituted a larger conspiracy against one of key foundations of a republic governed by law.

The fact that the various prosecutions were historic is well-trodden ground, but we need to remind ourselves that we are dealing with the unprecedented prosecutions of not only a former president but the man who was running to unseat an incumbent of the same party as the local and federal prosecutors. When you attempt things like what the Democrats were doing, your case had better be clean and tight.

Those local cases were anything but clean and tight.

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Retrotech: An Automated Flour Mill in 1785

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(A guest post by Grok, with editorial guidance from David Foster)

 

In the late 18th century, America was still a land where much of life’s daily rhythm was dictated by manual labor, especially in the essential task of milling flour. Oliver Evans, born in 1755, a visionary from Delaware, would set the stage for an industrial transformation with his invention of the automated flour mill. This innovation not only changed the way flour was produced but also marked a significant leap into the era of automation in America.
Before Evans, milling was a labor-intensive process. Grain, once ground into meal, needed cooling and drying, a job performed by “hopper boys” who would spread the meal across the mill floor, often walking over it to ensure even distribution. This method was not only physically demanding but also introduced potential contaminants into the flour.

Evans’ revolutionary design, detailed in his 1787 publication “The Young Mill-Wright and Miller’s Guide,” introduced a system where human effort was significantly reduced through mechanical ingenuity. Here’s how:
  • Automatic Elevators and Conveyor Screws: Grain was lifted and moved using bucket elevators for vertical transport and the Archimedes screw, adapted into a conveyor screw, for horizontal movement. This was a significant departure from the muscle-powered methods of the past.
  • Self-Regulating Millstones: The grain was ground by millstones that adjusted themselves for consistency, eliminating the need for constant human oversight.
  • Mechanical Cooling: The role of the hopper boy was taken over by a machine of the same name, which used a rotating rake to spread the meal for cooling, ensuring hygiene and efficiency.
  • Automated Sifting and Packaging: The flour was then sifted and bagged without human intervention, making the process cleaner and faster.

The adoption of Evans’ system was slow at first due to resistance from traditional millers but soon spread like wildfire. By the early 19th century, it’s estimated that hundreds of mills across the United States were built or converted to operate on the Evans principle. Notably, within a few decades of his invention, from the 1790s through the 1820s, there were reports of over 200 mills adopting his methods, with some sources suggesting the number could be closer to 500 by the mid-19th century. This number reflects not just the mills directly constructed by Evans or his immediate associates but also those that adopted his designs independently or through licensure.
However, despite the widespread adoption of his technology, Oliver Evans did not reap the financial rewards one might expect from such a transformative invention. His patents, among the earliest granted in the United States, were often ignored or infringed upon. Evans spent much of his later life in legal battles to protect his intellectual property rights. While he did earn some income from selling rights to his mill designs and through his involvement in manufacturing, the financial success was not commensurate with his innovation’s impact. He also ventured into other fields, like steam engine design, but again, legal and financial challenges dogged him.
Evans’ automated flour mill was more than just an engineering marvel; it was a beacon for the future of industrial America. His work laid the groundwork for automation, reducing labor, increasing efficiency, and improving the quality of life by making food production more accessible and cleaner. His legacy, though not financially lucrative for him, has been a boon for generations, illustrating how one man’s vision could change the course of industry and daily life. His story is a reminder that innovation often comes with its battles, but its impact can endure far beyond the lifetime of its creator.
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(The automated flour mill had been on my list of retrotech posts for a while, thought I’d try the lazy man’s way and let Grok do it. I did have to give it multiple prompts to improve the result, and also found and added the image manually. Also, paragraph breaks were lost, which is common when copying anything into WordPress; I fixed some but not all of them by editing the HTML)

The Lawless Actions of Lloyd Austin

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As the Biden administration closes up shop, the scandals keep coming. The following, regarding Lloyd Austin, might seem like small potatoes but that’s only in comparison to all of the rest, and speaks to a larger pattern of mismanagement and lawlessness.

Anybody remember this from last year?

“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital on Monday, the Pentagon announced, two weeks after he was admitted for complications from prostate-cancer surgery. Doctors treating Austin, whose absence went undisclosed by the Pentagon for nearly a week, assured that the Defense Secretary was expected to make a full recovery but would work remotely ‘for a period of time’…

“…. Austin entered Walter Reed National Military Hospital on New Year’s Day but failed to notify the White House of his hospitalization until January 4. During his absence, Austin transferred authority to Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who was then in Puerto Rico on vacation and unaware of her boss’s health problems.”

There are two scandals here. The first is that Austin never informed the White House that he was out of action and had transferred authority to his deputy. That’s a major no-no in any organization, but especially with the Secretary of Defense given his place in the presidential succession, his possession of nuclear codes, and the fact that the various US combat commands report directly to him.

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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

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One of the many benefits of growing older is that when people tell you a self-serving lie about the past, you can call them on it by reminding them that you lived through that part of history.

A case in point was the recent death and state funeral for Jimmy Carter. I know one shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, especially when their coffin is still settling into the earth, but I’m the type of a guy at a funeral who would raise their hand during the eulogy and ask for equal time.

Carter was a man who while given a state funeral for his public life as president, was largely eulogized for his post-presidential life. The man was a disaster as a president and not just because of the condition of the country after he left office. The man did not understand at a fundamental level the job he held. Instead of being the chief executive and leader of a great republic and nation, he thought his job was to act as a puritanical scold. Instead of seeing his office as a public trust of leadership, he saw the moral authority of the office as a private possession.

While I wish the current occupant of the White House a long and healthy life, the past week reminds us that some day Joe Biden will also be given a state funeral, and that more than likely his many faults (let alone his evil) will be interred with his bones.

I was also reminded this week of the final days of the Clinton presidency, when outgoing Clinton White House staff engaged in “damage, theft, vandalism and pranks” designed to troll the incoming Bush administration.

Given the vandalism the outgoing Biden administration has been doing during its final days, those acts of 24 years ago seem almost cute.

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