Month: July 2023

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If you’re gonna lie, make sure the facts aren’t easily verified.

That’s kinda rule number 1 of telling lies.

What brought this to mind was the wailing and gnashing teeth over Jason Aldean’s song, “Try That In A Small Town”

The song itself has been out since May but the music video has gained all kinds of attention in recent days. From what I’ve seen of the video, it incorporates news clips of violent riots, and crimes taking place.

It’s nothing we haven’t all seen in the past two to four years too. (As an aside, the last five words of the previous sentence are why you should know how To, Too, and Two, work. And yes, the “Too” at the end is grammatically incorrect.)

Anyhow, before I digress into some linguistic insanity, I’ll get back on point.

The media, and even other country singers are saying that Aldean’s song is a call for violence and some have gone so far as to say the song is racist and calls from lynchings.

Uhh. NOPE! I’ve personally heard the song. The Lyrics are readily available on the internet.

THE COLONY, TEXAS – MAY 10: Jason Aldean performs at the 2023 ACM Lifting Lives Topgolf Tee-Off And Rock On Fundraiser at Topgolf on May 10, 2023 in The Colony, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Try That In A Small Town

Jason Aldean

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like

Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re tough

Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they’re gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

Full of good ol’ boys, raised up right

If you’re looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
Ooh-ooh
Try that in a small town

Written by: Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy, Kurt Michael Allison

Album: Try That In A Small Town

Released: 2023

I guess it’s okay as far as songs go, were it not for the controversy I’d have missed it entirely. As prose goes, there are a few stanzas that just seem strained. That’s just my opinion, and worth exactly as much as you paid for it.

There are a number of Jason Aldean songs I like a lot, this just isn’t one of them.

The point is, there’s nothing racist in the lyrics. Nowhere is the word lynching used. Nowhere do the lyrics suggest that “Old Black Joe,” should be strung up.

Before you freak out screaming I’m a racist. “Old Black Joe’s still picking cotton,” is a line from a Leonard Cohen song called “Everybody Knows” I wanted to use an actual verifiable lyric that was easily checked.

Everybody Knows should be an anthem for the Biden years!

FYI I prefer the Sigrid performance to the Cohen performance. I think it’s the orchestration.

Before screaming harridans decide to cancel Leonard Cohen, they should know that a) Cohen will not give a fuck because he’s dead, and b) they’ll have to cancel the movie Justice League because “Everybody Knows” is the opening song. If it was good enough just a couple of years ago what’s changed?

I’m just asking…

The problem is that the video clips in Aldean’s music video kind of rub the leftists’ noses in the shitstorm they’ve caused and continue to allow with their stupid policies.

Everybody Knows multiple cities in this once great nation are dumpster fires of crime without consequences. I live 70 miles from one of these festering shitholes. Approximately 400 miles up the interstate is the penultimate example showing where these policies lead.

That city is called San Francisco. But it’s not just the city of San Francisco, you have to include Oakland too. Oakland has always been teetering on the edge. Even 20 years ago, you didn’t want to be on the street after dark in Oakland. Now…

I’m thankful that should I decide to go visit the northern parts of California, Interstate 5 swings well clear of the Bay Area.

It does sort of piss me off. San Francisco was once a breathtakingly beautiful city.

I always enjoyed business trips in that city and while I knew the hotels were way overpriced as was the food, I didn’t mind paying because San Francisco had a happy vibe.

Business trips, or even standing in the Moscone Center all day for a trade show weren’t horrible. I knew in the evening I’d be trying some new food, or seeing something that would put a smile on my face. The last rays of the sun gleaming off the spire of the TransAmerica building for example. The Golden Gate Bridge disappearing artfully into a fog bank.

Chicago, New York, and St Louis, had some interesting sights. But once I’d seen them I was done. For me, there was never the desire to live in any of those cities. San Francisco on the other hand, I always picked up the newspaper for the real estate section.

Property and apartments were always out of my price range. Or more concisely, beyond what I personally would pay. A one bedroom fixer-upper shack of a house with street parking and no yard for 750,000 was simply insanity that I could not and would not buy into.

Now I wouldn’t even think of living in or near San Francisco. I can’t even think of myself visiting the city because I don’t think I could stand the heartbreak.

The racist claim against Jason Aldean is false on its face. In many of the clips shown, you can’t really tell what race the perpetrators are.

The fact that the leftists assume the race of the perpetrators then accuse Aldean of racism says a lot more about the leftists and their view of the world than it does about Aldean.

Leftists have spent the past decade reopening old wounds. They’ve divided us along racial lines, I think their assumption Aldean is racist based on the news clips, means they expect violence to be committed by black and brown people. Even though in Portland, and Seattle the mix of the crowd was about even.

Leftists, if you’re going to lie, at least do it well. You’re not even putting in any effort. You just expect everyone to believe whatever CNN or MSNBC chitter on about.

That may be true and has been for many years, but you should ask yourself how much longer that will last, if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain. You should be constructing at least marginally believable and difficult to disprove lies.

It’s the “marginally believable and difficult to disprove” part that makes CNN’s or MSNBC’s spin work. Without that, the people will simply stop watching the mainstream media and then where will you be?

If you get right to it maybe leftists have been phoning it in for a while.

How many lies have unraveled in just the last two weeks or so?

IRS Whistleblowers having evidence to show that their investigations into Hunter was stymied with intent.

Hunter’s laptop being not only real, but verifying the accounts of corruption and disproving Joe’s lies about talking with Hunter about business dealings and / or receiving bribes. It’s strange to see the laptop corroborating the whistleblowers stories.

Those of you on the left, really do need to step up your game.

I’m sure however, that Jason Aldean appreciates that you and CMT pushed his song to Number one on the iTunes Charts. Keep screaming morons, Aldean and his lovely wife will roll around naked in the additional millions you’re swinging their way.

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Joe, you really need to keep your hands or mouth off children

I couldn’t believe what I saw while Joe Biden was in Finland.

While watching that clip, I felt my gorge rising.

The child was clearly not happy, I think her mother was caught off guard.

What a weird position to find yourself in. The leader of a country, who appears to be a grandfatherly old man is being inappropriate with your child. You don’t want to be offensive and certainly don’t want to cause an international incident.

But your child is clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps the mom should have spun around to protect her daughter’s feelings. If the father stepped between his wife and child and this rude old man it might have made a powerful silent statement.

Unfortunately he couldn’t make any sudden move. He like all the rest of the crowd were held hostage by security. Any sudden move could have resulted in God only knows what.

I’ll bet that the last time those parents go to see any political leader. In fact maybe it’s time for everyone to stop turning out to see The President of the United States. That would solve the groping, sniffing, and inappropriate touching.

Then again people may be turning out to confirm for themselves that, “Yes, the people of the United States did in fact elect this man who is clearly a refugee from a secured old folks home.”

It must be thrilling and at the same time terrifying to see with your own eyes how far the United States has fallen.

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Microsoft, you’re not the only game in town…

I had not meant to get into this today. Unfortunately there was this huge rabbit hole and I couldn’t resist.

It all started out with me making phone calls. I contacted the mortgage folks, which led to them helping me get things set up on their website. Hopefully this will make my interactions a touch easier.

This started because I was looking at my bank account and noticed over the last 2 months the mortgage payment had risen by about 100 bucks.

It turns out this rise is due to two events. One was a change in the way that tax escrow account is handled. The second is our crack feds raising the interest rates. The mortgage folks were very nice and efficient in explaining what’s going on. This is seriously different from the way they treated me when they purchased the mortgage from JP Morgan Chase.

When it came to setting up the web access, that too was efficient and gave me access to a ton of unread documents.

Then I continued the search for someone to inspect the fire suppression systems Backflow valves. This is one of those things that has always annoyed me. The Country and the Water company demand this be done, but offer no help in terms of who to call.

I’ve been striking out on this one for a week.

Anyway I logged onto the Microsoft website to downgrade my Office 365 subscription from a family plan to a personal plan.

Unfortunately, there is no way to do that from their web page. I put a call in to them. The lady who tried to help had some difficulty, (caused by me,) I still had a credit card on the account that I’d actually closed. I didn’t realize it because the number was familiar and the account closure is pretty recent.

When I realized the problem I told the lady.

She told me to enter the new card information on the Microsoft website (Which I did,) then I made the new card the primary and deleted the incorrect card.

When the lady tried to downgrade the subscription, Microsoft’s Systems started rejecting the change. This meant that I’d have to go to a higher level support person who would have to call me back.

“Okay,” I said.

A few minutes later my email chimes, and now Microsoft wants me to type my name, the last 4 digits of the card to be used, the case number and something else into a blank document which is then to be screenshotted and the screen shot is to be uploaded to Microsoft on some weird link.

WHY?

The lady calls me back but has no explanation about why we’re doing this screenshot thing. I point out that they already have the data, but apparently this is the process to speak to a higher level person.

It’s at this point that I tell the lady that I’m considering cancelling the service entirely. I point out that none of this is her fault, but it is the fault of Microsoft who if I recall correctly is a software company and should therefore be bound by rules of logic.

Further I point out that none of this would be necessary if Microsoft provided a mechanism for me (the customer,) to be able to select one each, of the two plans offered for the service I’m attempting to purchase. Instead Microsoft only allows the customer to select the plan they’ve already got.

I tell her that this shouldn’t be such a pain and that the alternative is to simply cancel the subscription, especially since I have applications that are smaller in terms of storage, which work as well or better than the Microsoft versions.

This stuns her. Poor Indian lady, (dot not feather) that she was, this must have blown her mind. The poor dear was probably in Bangalore or Delhi.

I tell her that I’m going to think about proceeding with this renewal process. I hang up the phone.

I did think about it…

I’ve canceled the subscription.

Then I thought about it further, and have deleted my Microsoft account in it’s entirety. Apparently this doesn’t include deleting LinkedIn. Hmm maybe that is next! I could do without another social media service.

During the process, Microsoft went to great lengths on their website to tell me just what all I’d be losing. Including some of the Xbox games that I may have purchased. Hmm, there’s a reason to buy a PlayStation for myself at Christmas! The upshot is I lose access to all sorts of stuff that a) I never used, and b) represent additional access points for hackers to potentially do nasty stuff.

Over the past few months I’ve been getting intermittent notifications from Microsoft saying that my Outlook account was being accessed from Moscow. Well that’s not a problem anymore! There is no Outlook account.

I’m sure that I forgot to update contact email addresses at a couple of companies but lets see if I miss whatever notifications they were sending me. I had no problem flushing ZipRecruiter though. They couldn’t handle me changing the login email address and also uploading an updated resume. Honestly, I’ve found ZipRecruiter to be completely useless.

There are a couple other businesses that I traded with who can’t handle changing the login email address. I’m weighing very carefully if I need to continue to trade with them.

Microsoft assured me that my account would be recoverable for 60 days, but they’ve already screwed around with the subscription to Office 365. The outlook mail account is throwing errors about passwords and such.

I’ve just deleted the Outlook account from my iPad and phone. I’ll check the access on the computer and if it’s screwed up too, I’ll delete it there as well. I’m kinda happy right at the moment. I can delete ALL the Microsoft related passwords from my systems without concern.

All they had to do was let me save $30 a year… But Nooooo! They had to make things annoying and difficult. So now I’ll go on without them, OR just to piss them off I’ll download the same applications from the Apple App Store, use the in app purchase model, and force Microsoft to Pay Apple!

Ain’t I a fucker?

Jeez, Microsoft, (and Apple) have gotten too big for their britches. Both of them are forgetting, or have forgotten, that they’re dependent on customer good will to survive.

Eventually, there will be enough people like me who are tired of being screwed with.