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COVID Diaries Pt. 19

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Consequences

Well almost a month has passed again, but we have plenty to talk about.

First, a few weeks ago NASA landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.  It was another amazing feat from the people at NASA, and it was so inspiring to watch the landing.  The amount of work it takes to land a vehicle on another planet is simply staggering, but NASA has proven it can do it again and again.

NASA is also one of the very few places we give money to where those funds actually trickle down.  Innovations designed by NASA have given so much to us and will continue to do so.  Dare Mighty Things indeed.

As you know from my last post, we were covered in snow here in Chicago with cold temps that kept all the snow from melting.  We had nearly 50 inches here, so it was pretty nuts.  But, for the most part everyone was okay.  Power stayed on, roads were cleared, and everything pretty much went on as usual, with mountains of cleared out snow everywhere. In sharp contrast, we have Texas. 

Texas also experienced a storm of epic proportions.  Their power grid failed, and people there went long periods without any power, heat, water and food.  Because they had no power, temperatures inside houses got low enough to freeze pipes, and cause major damage.  People died from exposure.  Everything was shut down.  It was pretty nuts.

Now Texas has their own electrical grid.  This was on purpose to avoid federal regulations and to maximize profits.  Power providers were told for years that they need to winterize their power infrastructure to make sure it kept going in the cold.  Since it seemed something like that could never happen, they chose profits over actually doing the work to winterize.  And when everything went down, they couldn’t get help from the federal power grid because they had isolated themselves.  In addition, to many people who actually still had power, they jacked up the rates in such a manner that people were getting $16K power bills.

We had the ingenuity and drive to land a rover on Mars, but Texas lacked the basic steps to winterize their power gear, because it saved them money.  It’s a pretty stark contrast. 

Next the company behind Mr. Potatohead, rebranded to just Potatohead to be more inclusive.  In addition, the company publishing Dr. Suess books decided to stop selling six books that included racist imagery.

Two companies trying to be more inclusive is a good thing, right?

Not according to conservatives.  They all latched on to this as cancel culture, and had a bunch of “What next?” scenarios.  They tried to get everyone so riled up and outraged over BUSINESSES choosing how they wanted to, you know, DO business.  Even moderate people were on FB thinking this was going too far. 

Are you fucking kidding me?  Seriously, no one “cancelled” Dr. Suess.  They made the decision to remove books that were fucking racist.  They own those books, it’s their right.  I’m so sorry you won’t be able to show racist caricatures to your grandkids.  I mean, what the fuck?  If you were really mad about Dr. Suess, or Potatohead, you are simply a fucking idiot falling for the racist faux outrage at this.   Seriously, there are much more important things going on right now. 

And shut up with your fucking “cancel culture” bullshit.  It’s CONSEQUENCE culture.  Do something shitty and you’ll get called out for it.  If it’s shitty enough, people will stop supporting you.  That’s how life is supposed to work.  How about don’t do the shitty thing, eh?

And also, there are people who bitch about companies being more inclusive.  Potatohead changing their name is a small thing they can do to make some people feel better about their brand.  How is that in any way offensive to you?  You can still buy a fucking Mr. Potatohead.  They still sell it.  How did their company name change affect YOU in ANY way?  The answer is that it doesn’t, but people want you outraged?  Why?  

People that claim inclusivity is dumb are the same people who have always been included.  If you are a cis white male, such as myself, how about you shut the fuck up and sit this one out?

On the vaccine front, Johnson and Johnson was added as another option, and it only requires one dose.  This makes it much easier to get more people vaccinated.

The whole process is a nightmare though, and unless you are on the computer hitting refresh hundreds of times at midnight, it’s hard to come by appointments.  That said, my wife is the vaccine hunter, and my family all has their first shots.  My second is the end of the month, and by mid-April we are all fully vaccinated.

There are a lot of things to still be anxious about, but my family being protected helps alleviate my number one worry.  We still have a ways to go before this pandemic is over, but the prospect of myself or my girls dying from this has subsided. 

I can sleep a little easier at night now.  Here’s hoping you do soon as well.

COVID Diaries Pt. 18

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Of Course...

It’s been awhile since I last wrote, and quite a bit has gone on.  The inauguration went off without a hitch, as Biden and Harris were sworn in.  I had feared violence, but the 25 thousand National Guard troops protecting the Capitol dissuaded that.

Speaking of the Capitol, many of the main assholes we saw storming the place have been arrested because it was so damn easy to figure out who they were.  It appears many of them are going to do serious time.   Hopefully that helps hinder that movement by taking some of the worst out of circulation, while those consequences will hopefully prevent others from following suit.

I also think they’ve been quiet because all of those lying, inciting violence, and posting about Q have been banned from many media platforms.  That lack of amplification of absolute bullshit conspiracy theories will hopefully help so that fewer people fall for the nonsense.

Let’s get to the guy who incited the riot.  He was impeached by the House for a second time, and then it went to the Senate.  We figured that not enough Republicans would have enough of a spine to get the votes needed.  Still, I had a sliver of hope that the evidence presented in the trial might just be too much for some to bear.  HA!  Yeah, not a chance.  The prosecution provided a TON of evidence, and the defense lawyers were SO laughably bad. But of course, they acquitted him anyway.

I mean it wasn’t like these Senators, who are impartial jurors, did anything like meet with the defense team.  What?  They did?  Wow, that’s pretty brazen.   If you or I were in a jury and we met with the defense lawyers to strategize how to get the defendant off, what do you think would happen to us?

Then Mitch McTurtle came out and voted to acquit, and immediately came out afterwards saying that the defendant was guilty and law enforcement should investigate.  He said he didn’t believe that you could try an ex-President when he was out of office, even though McConnell was IN CHARGE OF THE SENATE when the President SHOULD have been tried.  It’s so fucking transparent that it literally hurts my head.  These people will NOT compromise and will do everything they possibly can to stay in power, no matter how it hurts this country. No consequences for the man who incited a mob who could have killed them.  It’s pretty pathetic.

So, that’s all over and we’ll see what law enforcement does, but for now it will hopefully be quiet.  The Q weirdos still think Trump is going to be inaugurated March 4th, so I can’t wait for it to come and go so they can move the goal posts again.  Since absolutely none of the predictions have ever come true, I don’t know how these people keep getting duped.  If I fake throw a stick for a dog too many times, even they wise up.

In some good news, vaccinations are starting to pick up a bit and the current administration purchased an additional 200 million doses, which is a good thing.  One of my best friends has been vaccinated as has my mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law.  Hoping my parents can get it soon too.  I’ll wait my turn, but I’ll get it the second someone will give it to me.

In local news we’ve gotten a couple feet of snow over the last couple weeks.  Temps have been absolutely frigid with below zero temps being common.  As such, none of the snow has melted.  And every day a bit more has been falling.  We’re supposed to get another three to five inches tonight after two to three last night.  Chicago itself might even get a foot.   So yeah, been pretty cooped up and can’t even take our dog Pepper for a walk.  Looking forward to winter being over, but the solid groundhog science says we have awhile to go. 

Time to bundle up and look at a screen… just like the entire last year.  Keep hanging in there folks.

COVID Diaries Pt. 17

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What the actual fuck?

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty

After my last post, the next milestone I was waiting for before I wrote again was the Georgia Senate runoffs and the US House and Senate confirmation of Joe Biden as our next president.  I figured after those milestones I could breathe a little easier again.  Well after some initial joy that the Democrats won both Senate seats in Georgia, it turned ugly as MAGA supporters stormed the capitol building during the confirmation votes.

I wasn’t surprised at all at what happened.  If you looked around online, you could see his supporters threatening violence.  It was everywhere, on Twitter, on now-defunct Parler (Nazi-Twitter) Facebook and elsewhere.  I knew those threats were not veiled.  I’ve seen the hatred and horrible rhetoric from these people firsthand.  I know these people are as hateful as they seem.

In actuality, I had been kind of in a depression spell leading up to the confirmation vote.  I thought it would go down like this, and I was dreading those two days.  The more I saw online leading up to that day, the worse I felt.

And then it happened.  The Stop the Steal bullshit rally did what I expected them to, and what they broadcasted they would.  They stormed the capitol building.

I expected that when they got there they would be met with force.  After months of seeing officers beat the shit out of protesters at BLM rallies, with tear gas, and rubber bullets, and batons, surely the same was going to happen to the rally goers.  

But it didn’t.

The capitol was woefully unprepared and understaffed.  There were some clashes with police, including where the “Blue Lives Matter” people actually TOOK a blue life.  For the most part, the crowd just flowed right on into the capitol.  They broke windows and busted down doors to get in.  Another woman lost her life after being shot by Secret Service trying to breach a window.  These people vandalized offices, stole, and even shit and pissed all over the capitol.  Men in tactical gear were in the Senate chambers with zip-tie handcuffs.  What do you think those were for?  Or the gallows outside with a noose?  What was that for?  Oh, what was that? People actually said out loud and on camera to hang the Vice President?  Really?  Well shit…

I watched from the beginning of coverage and late into the night.  I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I thought they would get to the capitol and have to be dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets like we had seen in the summer.  I didn’t think they would actually make it in.  It’s the capitol, surely it would be locked up tight.  Well, THAT was wrong.

Apparently, the powers that be don’t have the internet, or perhaps they would have seen it coming.  Or maybe some people allowed this to happen.  They wanted this to happen.  They wanted to overturn the results of a free and fair election where the loser lost by over seven million votes.  I’m sure a lot will come out about this in the coming months, and we’ll find out who was in on the inside job.   Officers have been arrested, suspended, and one even committed suicide.  There was coordination here, and that frightens me even more.

Now after this seditious act of Insurrection at the capitol, our lawmakers went back to finish the job of validating the election.   And this is where people like Cruz and Hawley still voted against the results.  They had been cowering in offices and tunnels in the capitol just hours earlier, but they STILL perpetuated the lie that the election was stolen.   These people should wear a scarlet letter forever.

They, along with the Orange In Chief and anyone else who was continually lying about election results, are complicit in what happened in the capitol.  Five people lost their lives, one of them a police officer. Everyone that had a part should be held accountable.

It finally took this, and all the lies, to get Mr. Velveeta kicked off of Twitter for inciting violence.  It came WAY too late, but it was warranted.  He basically lost access on all social media.  In addition, the alt-right Parler app was removed from app stores because they wouldn’t remove posts that were calling for murder of elected officials and liberals.  Parler later shut down when Amazon kicked them off their platform for the same thing.  That cesspool might never come back. 

Now of course that crowd is saying that it infringes on free speech.  This is because they are idiots and don’t understand the first amendment.  The government can’t prevent you from saying anything, but companies certainly can.  Especially if you won’t take down posts advocating murder.  All those people can fuck right off and go back to civics class.

This is the thing; I can’t wrap my head around how dumb those in the base truly are.  I honestly mean this; I just don’t get it at all.  They believe every lie and conspiracy theory, they don’t understand our Constitution AT ALL, and they refused to wear masks while committing insurrection.  DC probably is one of the most surveilled places in America.  You are always on camera.   So hey, don’t wear a mask, and parade right into the capitol.  And in case the cameras didn’t catch them, they helped out by posting pictures of themselves committing the crimes on social media.  I mean holy shit.  Right now, it’s socially acceptable to wear a mask in public, and they refuse even when they are committing seditious acts.  It’s truly, astonishingly insane to me.  Every single one of them needs to be arrested and pay the price.  You could tell that they didn’t expect to be arrested, in case you need some examples of white privilege.

So, what happens now?  Well first, as I’m writing this the House has impeached that vile man for the second time.  It will go to the Senate after the inauguration for a trial there, after the Democrats take control.  In the meantime, we have another week until Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in.   That same crowd is planning protests at all 50 state capitols, and the US Capitol as well.  There is a lot of chatter of much worse violence being planned.  This time around, however there will be twenty thousand National Guard troops protecting the transfer of power.  That should prevent another storming of the halls, but I fear for what next week brings.  It won’t end there.  We will see violence for some time to come. 

By the way, COVID is the worst it’s ever been and is killing over 4000 Americans daily.

Looks like I get to stay depressed for a while longer…

COVID Diaries Pt. 16

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We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in

Well, it’s been around five weeks since I last checked in, and this entire time 45 has been lying about the election being stolen.  His team has lost over 50 lawsuits including stuff that the Supreme Court nipped in the bud as well.  Mobs have gathered outside electors’ homes, there have been countless “Stop the Steal” rallies while Texas even sued other states to overturn their results.

The number of people trying to overturn a fair democratic election is terrifying to say the least.  That said, we passed another milestone in the last few days where the electoral college officially certified the results.  It took until now for many Republicans to acknowledge Biden as President Elect.  Seriously, we knew at the time of my last post that Biden was our next president, yet here we are, finally getting some (but not all) to admit the rightful outcome over a month later.

Rudy Giuliani continued his unhinged attacks. In one case, he had a seemingly drunk psychotic “witness” for one of his coup attempts.  He farted audibly on camera, had his hair dye run down the side of his face, lost every court case, and wrapped it up in a neat little bow by contracting COVID.  Who could have imagined that not wearing masks and meeting so closely together could cause you to catch the virus?  Imagine my shocked face.

There still hasn’t been a second round of stimulus despite the House having passed more all the way back in May.  People are suffering and it’s not good.  Apparently both sides are close to some more which include $300 a week additional unemployment benefits and $600 checks to most Americans.  It’s not nearly enough, but McConnell doesn’t care about you at all.  Quite frankly, the ONLY reason he’s doing it right now is to hopefully help the Senate races in Georgia.  If both Democrats win, then they control the house, and McConnell really doesn’t want that to happen.

Recently someone tried to claim unemployment as me.  My work and I caught it and let the state know it was fraud, but before it was all resolved I got the paperwork in the mail that showed me what unemployment would pay out for me normally.  It was just enough to cover my mortgage, nothing more.   That $300 will be a huge lifeline for a lot of people but would be much better if it went back to $600.  That won’t happen although the rich still get their PPP grants.  I mean Tom Brady’s company got one, and he even got to buy a yacht this year.  Good for him, I knew he was struggling.

The other news of the day is that vaccines are starting to roll out.  Doses are going to be given to front line healthcare workers and then nursing homes.  After that, we’ll see how it goes.  It couldn’t happen soon enough because our numbers are the highest they’ve ever been.  More people have been dying daily in the last week than the total number lost on 9/11.   Yet, people still bitch about masks, still say they have to dine indoors, etc. etc. selfish bullshit etc.

It will likely be the summer before your average citizen will be able to get the vaccine, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  45 is gone on January 20th too, so another great light to be looking forward to.

Just hope these lights aren’t freight trains…

COVID Diaries Pt. 15

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A Sigh Of Relief

After a contentious election where 45 and his supporters simultaneously tried to stop voting in states they were winning and keep voting in places they were losing, Joe Biden was finally declared President Elect over the weekend.

Places everywhere erupted in celebration.  Not just in the US, but around the entire world.  It was a pretty amazing thing to see.  For a moment, we were all able to take a breath, and the anxiety of four years evaporated.

That doesn’t mean it’s all over.  Far from it.  There are still runoff elections in Georgia to determine the Senate which is huge.  And let’s speak about Georgia.  It was a reliably red state that barely flipped blue during this election.   This is due to Stacy Abrams who got out the vote in that state like no one has ever seen.  She was amazing, and delivering Georgia was unexpected and very welcome.

In addition, we have our first female Vice President Elect in Kamala Harris.  She broke that glass ceiling for all females, white and black.   It was a pretty momentous thing.  Black females got out and voted in record numbers, and I cannot thank them enough.

Even with that good news, we have to remember that 70 million people still voted for the Orange Lawn & Garden enthusiast (more on that later.) After four years of constant lies and deplorable behavior and policies, 70 million people still said, “That’s our guy.”   That’s incredibly troubling for me.  Those people might not be fascist, racist, homophobic, or xenophobes, but their vote basically said they were okay with a guy that was.  That sucks for America, and sucks for my opinion of fellow Americans.

That said, I still have a very high opinion of our election workers and getting the counts correct.  My wife, as well as close friends all volunteered as election officials during a pandemic, and I couldn’t be prouder of people stepping up to make sure this was a fair election, and everyone could vote.

Now due to the pandemic, a lot of people voted early or voted by mail.  Because of this, early results favored 45, but that’s only because they hadn’t counted the mail-in votes.  45 had told his supporters not to vote by mail, so the mail ballots were overwhelmingly in Biden’s favor, and as the counts went on, President Elect Joe Biden overtook Trump in enough states to win the electoral college.  He’ll also have won by more than five million in the popular vote.

Because it looked like counting votes in Pennsylvania would allow Biden to overtake 45, he wanted them to stop counting there.  The campaign sent Rudy Guiliani to Philadelphia to have a news conference to denounce the counting of votes.  The “I could not make this up in a 100 years” moment came when instead of booking the Four Seasons hotel to have this press conference, they booked Four Seasons Landscaping.   Instead of admitting their mistake and going elsewhere, they pretended they meant to do it the entire time and actually held the press conference there.  Right in between a sex toy shop and a crematorium.   Seriously.  That happened.

And some Republicans still can’t understand why I think this administration is unqualified.  It baffles intelligent minds.

As of this moment, 45 still insists he won, and that Democrats stole the election.  There will be lawsuits, posturing, and shit disputing this election until we drag him kicking and screaming out of the White House.

Today, via Tweet, 45 fired the Secretary of Defense.  I’m sure he’ll continue whacking anyone that he thinks has slighted him.  Also, they haven’t released funds for Biden to use for his transition, so he’s impeding that.  I’m sure we’re in for a couple months of that manbaby’s temper tantrums.  Hopefully he doesn’t do too much damage to our Democracy before then.

Today we also had really promising news on a vaccine trial from Pfizer.  Trials look extremely good and they could actually have up to 50 million doses ready before the end of the year.  This is awesome, and hopefully things keep trending the right way there.

The funny thing is, the current VP has claimed that it’s all because of Operation Warp Speed, the initiative by the current administration to fast track a vaccine.  Pfizer came out and said that they never took any government money and were never a part of that initiative.  So, just another lie by the current administration.  We’re pretty used to it by now.  Either way, it’s good that things are moving forward.  It needs to because numbers right now are pretty dire.

In the last week we’ve seen record numbers of cases, hitting well above 100,000 positives a day.  It’s a pretty grim milestone, and going into the winter, it’s going to get worse.  Funny how it’s not a hoax that magically went away after election day, as so many truly stupid people were thinking.

Anyway, we still have until January 20th for 45 to spread his crazy, all in the middle of this pandemic, so let’s see where it takes us.

But…

For the first time in a long time, I feel hopeful, happy, and can truly breathe. I’m going to savor it.

COVID Diaries Pt. 14

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Nifty

Last week I turned 50 years old.  A shitty milestone to hit during a 50buttonpandemic for sure.  Didn’t really celebrate much, when if it were any other year, we would have been enjoying Las Vegas.  This year, I did one thing on my birthday that mattered most: I voted.

Turing 50 isn’t really a big deal to me.  I don’t feel any different, while simultaneously feeling the oldest I’ve ever felt.  That’s due to the world, not turning 50. 

So, what has the world thrown at us since the last post?   The second presidential debate for one.  A mute button was at the ready, so things were much more civil, but still the lies were repeated over and over by 45.  It was pretty standard fare, which is a travesty for this country.

Trump also held a rally where his supporters were stranded in sub-zero temperatures and several had to be treated at the scene for hypothermia.  Then after that, he had a Florida rally that was too hot, and supporters fainted.  In both instances, there was nothing from 45.  He literally does not care about his supporters.  He NEEDS them to stay in power, he does NOT care about them at all. The fact that they cannot see that even when it happens to them in person just scares me about the cult of personality surrounding this man.

The one thing that gives me hope is the amount of people who have early voted.  More people have voted in Texas early than voted for the entire 2016 election.  I hope this means people are mobilized and hellbent on getting this guy out of office, but I’m afraid that he can still win.

There are only a couple more days until the election, so I guess we’ll know soon.  But whether he wins or loses, the US is going to be a shit show until January.  I’m really frightened at how bad it might get.

The virus numbers are through the roof everywhere right now, and restaurants even in my town are defying orders to not have indoor dining, and idiots are applauding them.  Me, I’ll never set foot in their establishments again.  Many people will though, and the numbers are going to be insane this winter.

This is going to cause more hardships for people, more job loss, more businesses going under, and the Senate adjourned until after the election without helping out the average American.

Why you ask?  Well they got what they wanted out of 45, they got another Supreme Court justice as Barrett was confirmed.   The only Supreme Court justice to not have at least one vote from the opposing party in history.  She’s not qualified enough, and she’s has an extreme religious background that will sway her views.  They jammed her through, after an election already started, to stack the court in their favor.  It doesn’t bode well for lawsuits about the election results, Roe v. Wade, gay marriage, and the Affordable Care Act.  All of these things are now at risk.

So yeah, the world will definitely change next Tuesday.  Let’s hope it’s for the better.

COVID Diaries Pt. 13

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Master Debaters

Fly holding Biden Harris Sign
Fly holding Biden Harris Sign

Once again, a lot has happened since my last post.

First was the initial Presidential debate.  It was a complete shit show.  Dolt 45 wouldn’t shut up, kept talking over Biden, lying incessantly and trying to derail everything.  It got to the point where Biden simply said, “Will you shut up man?”

It was pretty much the most unpresidential debate in history.  Then, two days later Velvetta Voldemort tested positive for COVID.  Yes, the president had it, and was taken to Walter Reed hospital, pumped full of steroids and experimental treatments. 

He appears to have come out the other side, but they still won’t say if he’s tested negative yet. His talking points after this have been deplorable.  Basically, saying he was happy he got it, and old people shouldn’t worry, and he’s going to make the treatment free for everyone.   That is utter bullshit and he knows it.   The Regeneron treatment he received costs $100K alone and right now they only have a stockpile of about 50 thousand treatments.   A little bit short of the 300 million Americans who live here, or even the seven million who have already contracted the virus.

And where did 45 get the virus you ask?  Well it appears that it was an event the Sunday before the debate where they announced their Supreme Court nomination.  Of course, they are trying to push it through, we knew they would because they are all hypocrites.  We have every single one of them on video during the Merrick Garland nomination saying you couldn’t do it during an election year.   Now people are already voting, it’s less than a month until the election, and the hearings are starting today.

Well over a dozen attendees of that announcement have tested positive.  Many others aren’t willing to say if they have it now.  The event was outside (good) but everyone was packed in (bad) and people weren’t wearing masks (idiocy). This administration basically proved that anyone can get it and not wearing masks and gathering in large groups is fucking stupid.   None of those people needed to get sick, but here we are.

So, then there was the VP debate.  This was a little more civil, but Pence talked over his amount every single time, and went off topic over and over.  The moderator did do a good job of bringing Harris back to talk, so at the end both VP candidates had similar amounts of time. 

VP debates never turn the tide, but I think both sides got their points represented well and avoided topics neither wanted to admit to.  And then there was the fly that landed on Pence’s head.  It stayed there forever and as soon as it happened, I knew there would be memes and twitter accounts surrounding it.  I was NOT disappointed. 

After that, 45 declined to participate in the next presidential debate over video conference because “they can cut you off whenever they want.”  Yes. Yes, we could.  And it would be glorious.  But he cannot be a bully, so he’s not going to debate.   Fine by me, nothing good would come of it anyway.  If people aren’t decided by now, something is extremely wrong with that person.

Lastly, today begins the fight to get Amy Coney Barrett onto the Supreme Court.  They can do it; they have the votes.   But the hypocrisy is fully on display.  People who swore you could never do it during an election year during the Obama term are just fine with 45 doing it within a month of the election.  Of course they are.  They are assholes who never keep their word and play dirty at every turn.  Frankly, I hope the Senate puts up a fight and doesn’t confirm anyone who isn’t nominated by the next elected president.

Ahhhh hope.  It was nice to have once…

COVID Diaries Pt. 12

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Notoriously Worried

Seventeen years ago, today, I posted my first public blog post.  I had been Notorious RBGdoing it for a year privately kind of as a diary for myself, but then decided to go public.  I had been fairly prolific for quite some time but fell off in recent years due to social media and the like.  Well, at least COVID has prompted me to blog more often again, but frankly it feels like I’m documenting the fall of our country.

Last Friday, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG, passed away at the age of 87. She had been a progressive voice on the Supreme Court who championed equality and feminism throughout her career.  She was a liberal beacon for all of us, and her insights, wisdom, and fight will be sorely missed.   And the worst thing about it, is that the Republicans and the president are going to try to push through her successor so they can stack the court in their favor.

Never mind that when Scalia died during Barack Obama’s last year in office, a full nine months before the election, the Republicans blocked that appointment, stating that the judge should be appointed by whomever won the upcoming election.  All of big names like Lindsay Graham and walking turtle Mitch McConnell all vehemently argued that the appointment should not happen.   So, they blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland. 

Now guess what?  With less than 50 days until the election, with early voting for President already going on, the Republicans are going to try to push through their nominee.  All of the hypocrites on the Republican side are going back on their statements like it doesn’t matter.  I’m not surprised.  All they care about is power and winning and they will use every dirty trick in the book to make that happen.  It’s disgraceful.  One set of rules for them, and one set of rules for everyone else.

But that’s not the only fresh hell thrust upon us recently.

The verdict came in yesterday that did not charge anyone with Breonna Taylor’s death.  Breonna was shot and killed in Louisville, Kentucky after a botched no-knock warrant where the cops went to the wrong house.  She was an EMT working the front lines of the pandemic when the police burst into her house where she was sleeping in the middle of the night and shot her.

One cop was charged with wanton endangerment.  This means he was charged with a crime because he shot through walls into other apartments, NOT because he killed Breonna.   No one was charged with any crime in her death.   A sleeping EMT, who committed no crime, was gunned down in her own home, and apparently no one is to blame.

Of course, this meant more protests and violence.  Two officers were shot in Louisville last night, although as it’s been the case lately, protests are getting less and less media coverage.  They are still going on, but apparently this isn’t good news anymore.  It really sucks, because people have been protesting this whole time.

There need to be reforms.  I don’t care if you are a full back the blue type of person.  What happened here was wrong, and there is no justice.   If police burst down your door in the middle of the night and killed a family member of yours, how would YOU feel.  Would you think that no one should be blamed?  Just a “fuck it, that’s life” type mentality?  NO, you would fight hard for justice.   You should be fighting now too.

That’s the thing with the Supreme Court pick as well.   What we need on the court is empathy, not blind loyalty to a political party.   If Velvetta Voldemort gets his pick, that means another person on the court who may not back police reform, or see the racism in our country, or think that people need health insurance, or who will vote to allow this President to stay in power if the election results are close.  That’s all in addition to Roe v. Wade.

Another thing that barely made the radar, which should be huge news is that ICE Immigration has been sterilizing immigrants who are currently in custody.   Seriously, in THIS country, government goons gave hysterectomies to women who didn’t need them and didn’t know they were being sterilized.  This is some eugenics bullshit, and everyone should be fucking aghast.  These are crimes against humanity.  Things we hear about being done in dictatorships. Nazi-esque shit.   Seriously, how can anyone be okay with this?  How is this not a huge scandal?  It’s just another day in orange America and it’s so deeply, irrevocably wrong.   There are so many fucked up things about this administration that war crimes don’t even cause a blip.

This election can only go one way and have this country survive.  You need to vote, and make sure your friends vote, and let’s get these fuckers out of office so we can actually make America the place our founding fathers envisioned.

If we don’t, I’m truly worried.  Don’t let RBG’s fight be in vain. 

COVID Diaries Pt. 11

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Let Them Eat War

I didn’t really want to write this post, but I felt the need to document more of the shit that has gone down during this time.

Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Blake had some previous issues with the law and was currently charged, but not yet convicted, in the sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend who is mother to his three kids.   The kids were in the car as their Dad was shot seven times opening the front door to the vehicle.

It’s obvious that Blake was black.  White guys doing what he was on video are never shot seven times in the back.  The “law and order” crowd still find it justified.  “He should have listened to the cops”.  Yeah, you are right, he should have.  That doesn’t mean he deserved to be shot, much less seven times in the back.   He has survived but will probably be paralyzed from the waist down.

After this, predictably, protests erupted in Kenosha.  They then turned into riots and looting.

It’s the typical cycle.  A cycle that would stop if A. Police would stop shooting unarmed black men or B. Police would be held accountable for actually shooting unarmed black men.   That’s what it takes for protests to end.  It doesn’t take militarized police, or the national guard, or unmarked jackbooted thugs to come and squash it.  It also doesn’t take armed militia members.

Which brings us to a 17-year-old from Antioch, IL.  He was just over the border from Kenosha, so his Mom drove him across state lines to Kenosha where he was going to protect businesses with his AR-15.  Of course, when things got dicey (with both sides armed) he shot and killed two protesters and wounded another.   A TEENAGER with a rifle that was illegal for him to own took to vigilante justice.   Afterwards he walked towards police with his hands up and they drove right by him.  He actually went home and wasn’t arrested until the next day.

Before the murders, he got water bottles from the police and they thanked him for being there.

Think about that.  The local police were just fine with an armed, underage, vigilante with his gun there on the streets of a tense situation.  Then after he killed other human beings, and people were yelling to the police that he had done so, they just let him go.

If a black gentleman was walking down the middle of the street with a gun and people yelled that he had killed someone, he probably wouldn’t be alive to tell about it.  Now this kid is having money raised for him, and right-wing talking heads are praising him.  HE IS A MURDERER, who had no business being there to “protect property.”  If this kid gets off, it will take protests to a whole new level.

Next, far-right nationalist groups held a rally outside of Portland, Oregon and then turned it into a makeshift parade to drive right through downtown.  These assholes in their trucks were shooting paintballs and pepper spray into protestors.  This is assault.  They should have been arrested, but no, the police escorted them.

Then one of these assholes got shot and killed by a protestor. 

This protester should also be arrested and also charged with murder.  He murdered someone; he should go to jail.   But the police found him and killed him too.  He’s also a white guy, but he’s from the wrong side, so he gets shot to death while the teenager on the other side got to go home for the evening before being peacefully arrested.

They said he threatened them with a gun, but they didn’t think there was any body cam footage.  How convenient.   This man had given an interview to VICE and told them that his friend and him were threatened with a knife and that’s why he shot.  He was in fear that his friend was going to be injured or killed, so he shot the assailant.

He was wrong.  He shouldn’t have shot.  Just like the kid in Kenosha.   Both of them are claiming self-defense, but both should have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law.   Only now, one is dead and the other has had hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for him.

This is going to bring me to my most valuable point.   The fucking guns are the problem.  Nobody should be armed at a protest, on either side.   It’s too easy to take a life, and too easy for things to escalate.  People like to think a gun will keep them safe in those circumstances, but it only rachets up the danger.  The right always have guns at these things, but now those on the left are doing the same, and it’s leading to more death, and takes the focus off of the police brutality we see going on.

The thing is, this is what the White House wants.  It is ramping up the law and order rhetoric and painting all protesters as rioters and looters.  It doesn’t condemn the Kenosha kid, but the violent antifa are a problem.   He WANTS this conflict.  Every clash and every murder help him.  It riles up his base and scares the suburbs.  More death and destruction help his cause and help him seem like the badass that can prevent it, even though this is going on right now on his watch.   It’s throwing gas on the fire when the country could use a real leader.  It is evil.

Not to mention that a couple other unarmed black men have been killed since Blake.  Like I said before, STOP KILLING UNARMED BLACK PEOPLE OR AT LEAST FACE CONSEQUENCES FOR DOING SO.  It’s THAT fucking simple.  That happens, protests stop.  Seems pretty fucking simple doesn’t it.

But it’s not, and cops will still get off.  This teenager probably will too, and this cycle will keep repeating itself. 

Let’s break the cycle.

COVID Diaries Pt. 9

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Perspective

Well today the county I am in went backwards in re-opening phases because our positive rate of infection was too high.  So now restaurants and bars can no longer have indoor service for the next two weeks.  If things get better by then, we re-open, if not, another two weeks.

Once again, a lot of this comes down to masks.  If people would just wear them and distance these things wouldn’t keep going up.  But they don’t and this is what happens.  It’s maddening for those of us doing the right things.

That said, I’ve also seen a ton of people lamenting the fact that their kids have to learn remotely, or people are stir crazy sitting at home.  I get it, but damn, people don’t have any perspective on this.

My youngest is full time e-learning at a local community college right now.  She is 16.  I think back to when I was 16 and I compare what it would have been like then, to now.

Back then, you had to pay for long-distance phone calls.  My school encompassed a large rural area so most of my friends and girlfriends were all long-distance calls which were expensive.

No one had cell phones.  You had to use land lines.   So, you didn’t know where your kid was, you had no way to contact anyone if you had an accident, and guess what?  Texting didn’t exist.  Hell, email didn’t exist for almost anyone either.

The town I was in had a bar that had some household supplies, but to get groceries we would have to drive 30 minutes to the next largest town.  You couldn’t just order stuff online and have it shipped to you.  Now, I’m getting Amazon packages nearly every day.

There was no online.  No internet at least.  Not even AOL dialup at that point.

Only books I had were ones I had already bought.  Same for music.   Now I can pull up an app and pretty much listen to every bit of music ever created.  Or fire up the Kindle and buy a book to read.

How about TV?  We had three stations.  ABC, NBC, CBS.   That was it.  Fox wasn’t even really a thing then.   And if you wanted to record something, it was with a VCR.  If you had one.  Now I have access to so many streaming services that I’ll never run out of things to watch.

There are also video games with live chat, so you can put on a headset, hang out with your friends and play games. You can even play games with your friends on your phone!

I don’t know what the schools would have done back then.  You really shouldn’t be in person, especially for a district where kids sometimes had to have a packed hour bus ride just to GET to school.  I was one of those.  Although at 16 I had a car, so I would have driven.

I guess what I’m trying to get at is that for a pandemic to happen, there is no better time for US than now.  We have supercomputers in our pockets, internet access, streaming services, food and grocery delivery, video conferencing to see friends, the ability to call and talk to anyone.  There are so many things we have right now to make staying at home comfortable.  If everyone would just do that as much as possible, things would get back to normal.

No, instead people protest to get a haircut or have brunch.  Others have no qualms throwing their kids into danger, others flat out refuse to wear a mask.  It’s selfish.  Something hasn’t happened to them or someone they know, so it doesn’t matter.   And people defending it in the name of “freedom” are the worst of the worst.

Remember a couple posts ago when I talked about anti-masking gaming buddies?   Well he continued shit on my Facebook posts, so I deleted it and gave him an ultimatum.  We could be friends and game and not talk politics, or we were done.  I got blocked shortly after.

I actually feel really good about it, because I don’t want to be friends with people who are that selfish and only care about themselves.

That brings me to the next point.   Not everyone is as lucky as I am.  I have a job and am still working and making money.  There are many in poverty that don’t have all the luxuries above, and they are dealing with this like we would have had to when I was 16.   I feel for them, because it is so much worse for them than it is for the Karens complaining on Facebook.

Internet should be a regulated utility.  Low-income people should all have access.  We should have funded schools to do everything remotely, including buying necessary equipment for all students.  Food assistance should be available for those that need it. 

And damn it, not one of those fucking senators could live on $600 a week guaranteed, so them complaining about giving that to the unemployed while simultaneously giving money to private jet companies, golf courses and wineries should infuriate everyone.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the Catholic Church getting money.  No one really knows the full total because the administration has hidden some of that data, but they got between 1.4 and 3.5 BILLION dollars.  I’m an atheist, but grew up Catholic.  I have nothing against people who worship and that’s fine, but there is no way that money should have gone to them for one simple reason, they don’t pay taxes.

Those billions are OUR tax dollars.  If you paid in, it’s fine that you get something out.  But if you’ve never paid a dime, and we give you BILLIONS?  It’s absolute bullshit.

Now, perhaps the church was going to use that money to help the poor right?  Like Jesus?  Nope, a lot of it went to parishes to help them after they paid off people WHO WERE RAPED BY PRIESTS.   Don’t sugarcoat it any other way, what priests did to young kids was rape.  No two ways about it.  And now those parishes who helped protect those priests get a fucking payday. It’s disgusting and our lawmakers should be ashamed.

But they aren’t.  The stock market is fine, so fuck it.  The masses can suffer.  And since the masses appear to be pretty stupid and selfish, the suffering will continue.

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