Category: BullShit

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Just a random thought about Twitter.

I’ve noticed that more and more politicians are claiming that Twitter is becoming more bigoted.

I’m looking at you Adam Schiff!

Adam schiff

What I wondered is this;

What would happen if people just randomly sent a tweet to people like Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, John Fetterman, Katie Hobbs, Nancy Pelosi, and whoever else popped to mind saying, “I Don’t like you.”

Nothing more than that. I realize that my list is all Democrats but hey why not give every politician the same treatment equally?

What would happen on Twitter? It’s not hate speech, it’s not a threat, it’s not a call for violence, or any of the other “banned” interactions. It’s simply telling the person in question unequivocally that you, as a person don’t like them. 

This could be for any reason, you don’t like their politics, you don’t like their stance on gun control, you don’t think they’re doing a good job, whatever the reason, a simple generic, “I don’t like you,” shouldn’t be banned, it’s not bigoted, and it leaves the interpretation of your message open to the recipient.

Given that so many of these people seem to live for the adulation of the press, and attention from the public. I’ve wondered what receiving thousands or millions of generic messages like this would do to their collective psyches.

These people claim to want to protect democracy, how would they react to a completely egalitarian registration of people simply not liking them? What would they do if a preponderance of “I Don’t Like You” messages was all they received via their Twitter feed? I wonder if they’d get the message.

In the case of Adam Schiff who is claiming that he’s getting more bigoted remarks in the wake of Elon Musk taking the helm of Twitter, I think that perhaps Mr. Schiff is missing the point. Perhaps it’s not bigoted, perhaps the negative comments have nothing to do with his religion or appearance, but instead have to do with him personally. 

I find Mr. Schiff to be a thoroughly unlikable person. Every time I’ve seen him giving speeches or appearing on chat shows he simply comes across as a nasty piece of work. So I don’t like him. Politically, he’s milquetoast except in his rabid hatred of all things Trump. To see him whining on CNN about bigotry on Twitter does nothing more than than confirm to me he’s a weak individual struggling to hold onto power.

Most of the rest of the Twitterati, (of which I was one,) have lived under draconian, arbitrary, capriciously enforced “rules”. Twitter users could say, “I wish Trump was dead,” or “All infidels in Synagog X should be killed.” But other Twitter users couldn’t say The Transgender agenda is more far reaching than has been said and I think they’re after our kids. A Twitter user who said something negative about transgenders would be banned instantly.

Now that censorship is not protecting Adam Schiff from real people that don’t like him, his feelings are hurt and he views people speaking their mind as an affront.

I think Adam Schiff should grow a pair, and perhaps should grow some thicker skin too. If he actually believes in what he’s doing and is committed to his position, then it doesn’t matter what people say about him.

That’s what I mean by saying he’s proving to me, with every single appearance where he’s bitching and whining about bad things being said about him or to him on Twitter, that he’s a terribly weak individual with weak commitment to his values. He’s changeable as the wind, last month he liked Twitter, because he was protected from the slings and arrows of the American Public. This month Twitter is bad, for no other reason than he gets to see what people really think.

Politicians getting direct engagement from their constituents could be a good thing. If for no other reason than politicians would have a less filtered and isolated view of what is important to the people they govern.

I suppose this was why I was thinking about a simple concise message, “I don’t like you,” might be useful. It’s up to the politician to reach out and ask why. If they choose not to engage, then the American People would have another valuable data point for the next election.

On the other hand, if a politician chose to ask why 900,000 people sent him or her, “I don’t like you,” on a particular day and found that their position of a particular issue had been misreported. They would have the opportunity to explain themselves and perhaps get a message back from the American People that said, “Okay I get it. Thank you for the clarification.” They may not win everyone over, but at least they’d be in contact with the people and not acting as if they lived in a bubble.

If we’re really all about democracy then let’s be democratic.

It is things like this thought that make me almost ready to engage in Twitter again. I just can’t quite decide if it’s worth my time or effort yet.

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My God I’m embarrassed to be an American!

Don’t worry, I’m not likely to want to move to China. The CCP and I would simply not get along!

I have on more than one occasion wondered if moving to Russia might be okay. At least there, I’d know what I was signing up for.

Learning Russian though might be a super tough hurdle so it’s not likely. At least Russia has laws and seems to enforce them.

This whole Brittany Griner thing is humiliating.

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First of all, she’s a basketball player. So what? She won an olympic medal or two, big fucking deal! She broke the sovereign law of another country and it’s just my opinion, I’d bet she thought her “Fame” would allow her to be above the law in Russia just as she thinks she’s above the law in the USA. When the news first broke I was like, “Brittany Who?”

I was happy to see her privileged ass behind bars and applaud the Russian legal system for following their law.

That she was arrested, found guilty, and imprisoned is 100% ON HER. She’s not a victim, and not a hero, she committed a crime, and guess fucking what? There are consequences to committing crimes, at least in some places in the world.

It blows my mind that apparently Russians take the law more seriously than the United States or most of the EU.

Hmmm. I wonder if Romania would allow me to retire quietly if I asked nicely to immigrate? Maybe that would be worth checking out. The language thing would still be a hurdle, but probably worth it if I could have a small home and a little plot of land where I could grow vegetables in the summer. I don’t need much and wouldn’t be any trouble. I would want to excise myself completely from the insanity of America, and become a citizen.

It’s not that I don’t love this country. I’m just tired of being humiliated again and again by the powers that be.

Biden says Griner, “Represents the Best of America”

Excuse ME? If she’s the best of America we’ve got some serious problems. I can’t help wondering if any other nations are taking the old moron seriously. If so, then all Americans traveling abroad can legitimately be viewed with suspicion. If Griner is the best we’ve got to show the world, then all Americans must therefore be liars, and stupid shitheads. I’d suspect that most countries would add thief, corrupt, deviant, to the list of descriptions regarding Americans.

Brittany Griner is the poster child for what not to do when you’re traveling. I hope she is on posters all over the world that read, “Don’t be a Brittany! Check your baggage for illegal substances.”

I’d have preferred to see her fucking rot in a Russian prison. The Russians don’t mollycoddle their prisoners like America does. (A notable exception being the prison where the DNC is holding Jan 6th Prisoners until they break.) Prison in most other countries is punishment.

Then we have another instance of Sam Brinton, the over educated MIT graduate who can’t seem to decide what the fuck he (she/it/they/them/zem/zer… whatever the fuck,) is. He’s a boy, She’s a girl, They’re a dog, or something else entirely.

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In addition to all Sam’s other fuckedupness this dumb ass also appears to have a luggage fetish.

There’s a report that Sam has been charged with stealing some other woman’s luggage in Nevada. Really Sam? Once could be a mistake, Twice says you’re the problem!

Most people don’t have a problem identifying their luggage. Have you tried a pretty pink bow on the handle of your shit? Perhaps you should consider investing in an AirTag!

My question is this, when are the US Marshalls going to roll up and arrest this fucker? When is Sam going to be fired from his cushy government job? When will Sam get to hold fetish demonstrations in a prison shower? After all, he’s got himself some dick sucking lips.

Can we assume that according to the Biden Administration that this jackass is, “The Best of America,”?

I think not! Do you think we could get Putin to put little Sam in a Russian prison? I’m sure Sam would be a favorite of Russian prisoners and bored Russian guards.

I know that’s horrible for me to say. As an American Sam is an embarrassment, as a member of the LGB community, Sam is a humiliating gender fuck drag performer that belongs on a San Francisco “Pride” float from 1980.

Hey Sam, just do the time warp again and go back to the parade. As an aside, you don’t have nearly the class that Dr Frankenfurter had.

Update: 12/12/2022 Looks like the DOE has fired Sam Brinton. All it took was two felony charges of grand theft. He is relatively low level in the grand scheme of the government. I suppose that it would take 6 or more felonies to get to some of the more corrupt elements but it’s a start.

Then we have the continuing saga of Mad Maxine Waters. She’s apparently been caught with her hand in the cookie jar again! The Federal Election Commission has disclosed that Mad Maxine has been paying her daughter’s company a shit ton of election donations to do shit to keep Mad Maxine in office.

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This is a woman who doesn’t even live in the district she supposedly represents. That’s been known for years and I’ll bet she was sweating the recent California redistricting. If the lines had been drawn a little differently, I’d bet she would have ended up in the rich white people’s district (where she actually lives) and then she’d be out of congress on her ass.

Because I’m a suspicious fucker, I have to wonder if there was some payment to the redistricting commission to make sure that the lines didn’t change too much in her area.

The shitty part of this is that her constituents are typically low income and they’re donating their hard earned money to her campaign. Hey Mad Maxine, how many hungry children does it take to keep you warming that seat in congress? Just asking for a friend…

I honestly have a hard time keeping up with or processing the changes I’ve seen in this country over my 60 years or so on this planet.

This isn’t the America I said the pledge to every morning in elementary school. This isn’t the America my father served in The Navy to protect. This isn’t the America my brother served in The Army to protect, and it sure as hell isn’t the America so many of my close friends who were Marines fought to protect.

This version of America is a flaming shit show, of incompetence, corruption, and blatant stupidity.

I don’t know what it will take to bring us back. Sadly I think there may be no coming back.

Perhaps I’m just cranky because my back is still locked up and reading about the excesses of a certain class of people pisses me off.

I’m still waiting for my white privilege to be delivered. I guess FedEx “lost” that package too!

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My GOD! I hate Bureaucratic little despots!

The saga of the solar panel installation may be coming to an end.

That’s a good thing. I’m really kinda over it. As in losing my ability to give a shit!

This morning, the final inspection is supposed to take place. The representative from the panel installation company has been out. He’s doing some final tweaks which is a good thing.

But first thing this morning he hands me a clipboard with a a county form on it asking me to sign to attest that I have smoke a CO2 sensors in my house. The paperwork also wanted to verify that the water heater is grounded. It’s natural gas, and the pipes in the house are copper going to ground. So uh yeah! The water heater is freaking grounded!

I ask him what any of this has to do with the dang solar panels on the roof.

He’s not sure, it’s just something The County requires.

I look at the form and tell him I’m going to get my glasses to be able to throughly read the document he’s handing me, so that I know what I’m actually signing.

When I come back, the first thing I notice is that the documents have someone else’s name and address on them. So I ain’t signing shit.

But it got me to thinking.

The invasiveness of regulations has been a royal pain in my ass since this house was rebuilt, and even before then.

When I bought this house, there was a fire suppression system installed. This was mandated by the County when the house was originally built in 1992. For 15 years or so, I paid $300.00 every year to have someone come out and inspect the system. This was to prevent the antifreeze from draining out of the suppression system back into the main water lines.

When the house burned, the fire alarms worked, the fire suppression system didn’t. One of the inspectors had left the dang valves closed so that fancy assed fire suppression system was offline. (That’s what comes from constantly fiddling with something. The possibility of mistakes increases.)

When we rebuilt the house, the county mandated that he have 6 CFB fixtures built into the ceiling of the house (This was more lights than we had total in the house prior to it burning.) Supposedly this was to make the house more energy efficient. I asked the building inspector how having more lights in the house made the house more energy efficient. Those lights still pulled, (at the time 40W). 

Five years later someone in the State of California noticed that compact fluorescent bulbs contained mercury vapor. Fluorescent lights have always contained mercury vapor. That’s how they work. OMG! These bulbs if improperly disposed of can be environmentally dangerous! 

A few years after that, someone else realized that as these bulbs age they can emit high levels of UV, which might be hazardous. Again, DUH! It’s not rocket science. Pass a current at a specific frequency through mercury vapor and it emits UV light, coat the inside of a glass tube with a fluorescent material that glows when exposed to UV light and you get visible light.

It’s simple science. Pity we apparently don’t teach Science anymore.

At the time I was laughing because it was another case of unintended consequences due to petty bureaucrats deciding they had a good idea with absolutely zero knowledge of the underpinning science and therefore no understanding of the potential consequences. I also had a good laugh at the sudden plethora of UV sensors that hit the market to make sure you were safe from the evil older CFBs the State demanded you put in your house.

My sensor, was my glasses. Yeah, my Photo-chromic eyeglasses. See, they darken due to UV light so if I suspected that a CFB was aging or the fluorescent coating was getting flaky, I’d hold my eyeglasses near the bulb. If they got dark, I knew it was time to change the bulb.

Again, if you know how things work at a basic level, you can save yourself $29.95! Unfortunately, retrofitting the fixtures to LED costs a lot of money. Although, all of the other lights in the house with standard A26 screw in sockets have been updated to LED and if those lights are on full blast they use less power than the fluorescent fixtures. 

Move forward a couple of years and the County comes through telling us that we have to remove plants at the very edge of our property line from our landscaping because these plants can burn. Uh yeah sure, but the plants in question have been in that position on the property for 20 years. Oh and they survived the actual house fire that burned the house to the ground. Not to mention that ALL plants can burn!

Another expense, due to bureaucrats. I just know one day these morons are going to figure out that native Pine Trees can burn and demand the removal of trees from my property.

FYI, some of these trees have been here since before the house was. I also water them regularly because I happen to like trees. That’s becoming more difficult due to water restrictions in California, however I’ve adapted.

In Winter, I pile the snow up around the trees and in my yard in general. It doesn’t last the whole summer, but the trees are watered by this process throughout the spring and into early summer.

Again, not rocket science, just using the natural elements and conditions to my, (and the trees,) advantage.

It’s really common sense. 

Move forward 10 years after the house was rebuilt, and the fire suppression system FAILS, flooding my living room. Oh, we’d been having it inspected every year like usual. Guess what? While the specialized Fire Suppression contractor was repairing the system, they discovered that the system had been installed incorrectly in the first place and the petty bureaucrat of a building inspector has missed the fault. At this point in time however, I got to pay for the repair and fight with the insurance company about it.

Ahhh, my tax dollars at work!

I probably wouldn’t be so annoyed except that county inspectors kept blowing off their appointments when the house was being rebuilt. It was so frequent that about 3 months got added onto the building cycle and not one of them ever thought to apologize about missing appointments.

So here we are, trying to get the solar panels finished. Once again I’m being held up because of a country inspector who probably doesn’t have a clue about the actual power going through the cables or how the system works in detail. This is the building equivalent of TSA bag checks, or the masking controversy with COVID or half a dozen other examples of hand waving without actually doing something functional.

That’s the sad part of this, we’re trying to “Go Green,” after all. Isn’t that what gruesome Newsome & Sniffy Joe want us to do?  Note the panels have been on the roof since June 2022.

Today the solar panel company sent their guy out and he arrived on time, we’re still waiting for the County Inspector to show up. At this point that county jackass is two hours late after specifying a two hour window. The difference between a business, and bureaucrats feeding on the tax payer dime is striking!

I doubt that the panels will be operational today, and it might not be until Spring of 2023 at this point. I could still be surprised, but I’m not foolish enough to hold my breath.

I’m debating about giving the county jackass a dressing down when they get here. If you’re going to make an appointment, you keep it. If you’re going to be late, you call. It’s just common courtesy.

On the one hand that might prevent me from getting the panels online, and could subject me to a bunch more County bullshit. On the other hand, if no-one calls jackasses out for being jackasses, they’ll never change except to get worse.

The County person arrived. She was late but didn’t bother to apologize. I kept my mouth shut and went back inside the house. 

A half hour later, the solar guy says the inspection is good, and that the panels are online. 

I guess I could have held my breath! I’m calling this a good day.

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Do you ever read Police Blotters, or Law Enforcement sites?

I do. I suppose some would say it’s morbid curiosity. Others might infer that I’m “Looking for trouble”.

I don’t look at it that way. I use this information to keep myself informed about the myriad ways that criminals work.

I’ve been interested in carjackings, follow home robberies, and street crime that I’m likely to encounter in cities.

Living near a large metropolitan area like Los Angeles, and knowing that we’re going to have a lot of Winter tourists in the small town I live in from that area, I just want to have a slightly heightened awareness of the possibilities.

After all criminals like to play in the snow too, don’t they? Some criminals might prefer to operate in an area full of visitors taking advantage of the chaos and confusion to steal from the unwary.

Some of the things that have caught my interest are “Bump & Rob”, “Follow Home Robberies”, and the clever ways criminals are inciting altercations as cover for theft.

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There’s an article in Law Enforcement Today about a rise in Bump & Rob/Carjack accidents in MN. The article is here It’s interesting. The criminals bump into a victims car, then get out while the victim driver is collecting their wits. In the momentary confusion, the criminals point a gun at the victim and then steal his or her car with all the contents.

There have been similar incidents in Los Angeles. The MN police have gone so far as to issue public warnings. I doubt that Los Angelino’s will see warnings. The LAPD and City council seem to be far more interested in sweeping rising crime under the carpet.

“Follow Home Robberies have been reported in LA and the surrounding communities. Some of the more high profile follow home robberies have involved celebrities and people in wealthier neighborhoods around Los Angeles.

Recently, there was a rather shocking smash and grab in Cucamonga. That one got my attention because it was relatively close to my home. 

Reading about the methods of both, and some of the precursor behavior I feel, makes me a little better equipped to avoid the situation before I become a victim. That’s not a guarantee but at least I’m more aware of shady behaviors that might be leading up to something.

A follow home situation is unlikely given where I live. I doubt criminals will want to follow me to where Jesus lot his other sandal, and given the rural nature of my community, criminals might think twice, assuming that rural people would be well armed and more likely to give them lead poisoning. (Generally True!)

Smash and grab might also be less likely even during the Winter because avenues of escape are few and choked with traffic. Home robberies on the other hand might become more of an issue. It’s not uncommon to see strange vehicles in my neighborhood because of lost people looking for snow play areas or the ski resort. 

In Winter there are so many strange vehicles and people occupying rental properties it’s become difficult to determine who belongs where.

The point I’m making is be aware, keep an eye on your surroundings, and report shady stuff to the police. Depending on where you live, you might have quick response or as in my case, the police are at minimum 15 minutes away. If you know or suspect your’e being followed, don’t go home. Find a police station. In the case of bump & rob, keep your eye on the occupants of the other car until you determine they’re not armed. If you see a weapon and your vehicle is drivable, I’d say  leave. You other choice it to comply (as the MN officer suggested).

I’m gonna leave! I’ll call 911 as I’m exiting and ask where the nearest police station is. Yeah my car is covered by insurance, but lets face it, the insurance company is gonna try to put you in a roughly used gardening truck with what they pay out if your car is totaled.

If I didn’t live in California, I’d be more likely to greet a carjacker with a weapon of my own. Oh, to live in a constitutional carry state!

That’s another story…

This holiday season, keep your head on a swivel and be very careful out there.

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I’m still on the fence about Twitter

I was on Twitter for a number of years. I kept the twitter account long after I blew away the Facebook account.

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I don’t remember when I finally got tired of increasing censorship on Twitter, but at some point (Perhaps in 2019 or 2020?) I closed my account and walked away from social media altogether.

At first I really missed the burning bag of shit delivered to my phone all the time, but after 4 weeks or so I didn’t miss it anymore.

Thinking about it now, I didn’t miss the worry. Every time I thought about responding to a post I worried that I would be put in Twitter Jail or banned outright. 

Those of you who’ve read a number of posts in this blog and who are also on Twitter or Facebook can probably see why that would be. I may be wrong in what I post but it’s wrong in innocence, not out of malice. Twitter wasn’t making that subtle distinction so eventually I simply stopped tweeting at all.

There was no speaking out against things that The Majority agreed with, (Even if it was incorrect on its face). Mis-information seemed to become subjective. When people asked about why something was deemed mis-information often they were ignored. 

Some people like Jordan Peterson had their accounts suspended for speaking a simple truth regarding Ellen/Elliot Page. He was told that if he recanted his statement and apologized for speaking the truth, he would be permitted to return to the platform. Peterson categorically refused. He pick this hill to die on, He publicly said, “I would rather die than apologize for speaking truth.”

While I don’t always agree with Peterson, I respected his stance on this issue. Truth is truth!

Since Elon Musk has assumed control of Twitter, there have been changes. Most publicly, there have been Hollywood Types  bailing on the platform. On balance, the actual number of users of Twitter has increased.

Twitter’s moderation seems to be changing a bit. People are saying things that less than a year ago would have gotten them banned. (I’ve been skimming the Twitter website without an account,) some of what I’ve been reading is much like the dumpster fire that Twitter had become prior to Musk’s takeover. Liberals are still able to say horrific things and suffer no penalties. Conservatives are still being fact checked but they’re not being banned as they were.

For me the question is, “has Twitter changed enough?”

I don’t think the changes are sufficient for me to create a new account. 

Frankly, I don’t really want to allow every village idiot from the entire world to spill their bullshit across my phone screen.