You realize they’re stealing from you don’t you?

I’m not just talking about the government. They’re ALWAYS stealing from you.

I’m talking about the criminals running rampant throughout society. The hooligans running around smashing and grabbing. The thieves waving guns in folks faces and in barely intelligible speech saying “Rolex, Rolex, Rolex” then scampering off on foot or scooter.

I’m talking about the squatters, and entitled illegals, the muslims who refuse to eat food graciously given to them by people who can barely feed themselves.

Attachment Doug Ibendahl Facebook.jpg.

I’m speaking of the animals knocking people onto subway tracks, and the assholes punching women & children on the street because they know there will be no punishment.

I’m talking about the people with no common sense, civility, or decorum who will suddenly start brawling in a restaurant.

Carjacked robbed.Even if you haven’t been directly affected, beaten, robbed, or disturbed, I submit that you’ve been stolen from.

They’ve stolen from you, every time you’ve chosen to take your beater car to the store, instead of your nice car because you’re worried about being carjacked.  

Every time you’ve left your nice jewelry or Rolex in the safe instead of wearing it out on the town for a night, you’ve been stolen from.

NJ sneaker store robbery img.

Every time you’ve triple checked your door locks and security system before you left your home for a few days, or you’ve cut your vacation short because you didn’t want to have your home vacant, you’ve lost some of your freedom.

In short, any and every change you’ve made in your life to accommodate the possibility, or in some cases the probability that you’ll come to harm, has been theft.

Your peace of mind and security have been stolen from you.

While yes, the criminals are at fault for the crime. There is an overarching fault, or source of this theft.

Look to your left, look to your right, now look in the mirror.

Black lives matter protest nyc.

In at least one of those directions you’ll see someone who said defund the police and voted for such.

You’ll see someone who said smash and grab crime is “Victimless” because the insurance companies will pay for the loss.

You’ll see someone who consistently supported lax criminal prosecution because there were too many of this or that kind of person in prison. You’ll see someone who took it on faith that the border would sort itself out.

You’ll see a person who disarmed you because they were afraid to protect themselves and imposed their fear and their will upon you unbidden.

You’ll see a person who believed that their cruelty was kindness, who knew they were “right” and that their “rightness” should apply to all. Any and all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.

That person or persons, exercised their will by voting (usually), or by protesting for some cause that they were only obliquely aware of.

Not out of belief or commitment, but to brag about to their colleagues on Monday morning at work. They wanted to be able to answer their coworker’s question, “What did you do this weekend?” With something supremely virtuous.

Only very rarely did one of these people actually investigate, analyze, evaluate the end point, or unintended consequences, of what they were supporting by protesting.

They needed the social credit with their coworkers, and instagram likes.

So they stole from the rest of us. Maybe they didn’t realize that’s what they were doing at the time. But they did it nonetheless, using authoritarian intimidation tactics and “consensus”. 

Bear in mind these people are often the “Karens” in our society. These people were the people saying the unvaccinated should be put in camps. These are the people who demand mask wearing for their protection not yours, and tried to implement vaccine IDs to enter venues.

They’re the ones who supported mandatory vaccinations, while at the same time screaming about abortion rights and how important a woman’s bodily autonomy is.

These are the people who will gasp and cry at female genital mutilation, saying it’s abhorrent. But will strap their infant son to a board to be circumcised.

These people are profoundly confused when they’re mugged, their homes are burglarized, or their neighborhood vandalized.

They somehow think their “Virtue” should make them immune from such things and that their virtue should be obviously visible to would be criminals.

They’re outraged that the police didn’t show up until several hours after their 911 call. Yet instead of admitting that the police are necessary and require more funding, they’ll suggest less police funding. Then they’ll demand a social services person address non violent issues.

They’ll quietly hire private security for their perfectly planned HOA community. Doing so allows them to continue virtue signaling, and blame the private security firm for mishandling a situation if someone gets hurt.

Any logical thinking person, regardless of political affiliation or even closely held beliefs, can see objectively that we’re swirling around the maelstrom.

There’s still time to escape, time to right the ship and choose a better course.

Florida Sheriff Tells Residents To Shoot Home Intruders And save Taxpayers Money 60555 1.The trouble is, the deeper into this particular maelstrom we go, the more brutal the corrective action must be.

We’re past the point of simply hiring more police. We may be at the point now where the police must become everything the liberal progressives feared they would become.

It’s quite possible that police will have to shoot first and hope the criminal survives to be tried in court.

That too will make us all less safe, and once again we as a society have something stolen from us. That intangible thing, is our safety out in public.

High speed chases are supposedly limited in California because of the excessive collateral damage these chases inevitably cause. What happens when police by necessity are quick on the draw, exchanging gunfire with criminals? What does that collateral damage look like?

Soft enforcement of the law, does not make things better. It creates more lawlessness.

The trouble with enforcing the law, is that often the lower classes in society bear the brunt of enforcement. To truly make things better, to pull us back from the brink, law enforcement must be equal and perhaps draconian for a time across all levels of society.

Meaning that from The President, to his family, to members of Congress and their families, not one single person is above the law, ever. Our Society must insure that no-one can buy their way out of prosecution or punishment regardless of who they are, how much money they have, or to some extent even their mental capacity. 

Equal justice under the law is a precept of this nation. It’s time to get back to making examples of people that break the law by punishing those people. Corruption in high office or amongst those charged with enforcing the law is, in my mind, a high crime. Corrupt prosecutors, judges, lawyers, politicians, or police should be the most harshly punished.

In cases where a corrupt prosecutor obtained a false conviction, they should have to serve time for their corruption and the sentence from the false conviction(s). For example, the George Floyd case. Floyd died from an overdose, not from Derek Chauvin pinning him to the ground.

False accusations of crime should be harshly punished as well. This is especially true in cases where the false accusation resulted in imprisonment or excessive fines & compensatory damages. For example, the E Jean Carrol case, and the Trump real estate case in New York.

I also ask why Jon Stewart has not been indicted for falsely estimating the worth of his New York property.

There is the appearance that Leticia James and Alvin Bragg have used the law to obtain their desired results, NOT justice. I would very much like to see their allegations and evidence of guilt against Trump & have them explain their lack of concern about Stewart. I want their entire process exposed to full public inquiry.

I say this is not in defense of Trump. It’s in defense of one of the foundational concepts of our nation.

I’ve written this because the lawlessness has pissed me off. I see no end to it, only escalation. I refuse to live in fear but at the same time, unconsciously have been making decisions which result in self limitation while exercising my freedoms because I’m adapting to avoid the problems.

In that I’m as guilty of capitulating to the criminals as the stores which unlock their doors only when you ask to be allowed in.

We’re told this behavior is based in safety for the employees and the customers. In reality it’s based in fear. Fear that self defense isn’t permitted. Fear that a customer will be injured in a crime and subsequently sue for damages, Fear that the criminal may be injured and also be able to sue even though they were injured in the commission of a crime.

Even my choice to drive the beater vehicle is based in fear. Fear that my nice vehicle will be carjacked, fear that the insurance company will never pay me enough to replace the nice vehicle.

I’ve experienced that already. An illegal totaled my paid for, well maintained vehicle. The insurance company paid off less than the cost of a comparable used vehicle & I ended up with another car loan that I didn’t want. That illegal with no drivers license, or insurance, took something from me and I got to pick up the difference. She stole from me personally, and from everyone else paying for car insurance in Southern California.

Had the immigration laws been enforced, she wouldn’t have been in the country. So once again lack of enforcement of the law resulted in tangible harm being visited upon an innocent victim.

These are the hidden costs of not enforcing the law. 

Closed mall.I find that I feel no pity for neighborhoods where fast food restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, and other necessary stores, are closing due to crime.

I know that the shopping centers closest to me are probably looking at closing. If not the entire shopping center, then stores within the center. I’m expecting to loose the nearby Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald’s, and probably a number of smaller independent restaurants, due to the new minimum wage in California, the criminal element, and too few customers in a day. 

Lincoln mall 1 min.I suspect that the shopping centers will follow suit. I’ve seen it before. There was a shopping mall in San Bernardino years ago.

I worked right across the street from it. I shopped there on my lunch hour, and did my Christmas shopping after work. That mall wasn’t where you’d find top of the line things, but for a sweater, or a shirt, or a pair of socks it was perfect and convenient.  

I remember at some point walking through the place with my other half and commenting that the clientele was getting kind of low class. Then on another occasion we witnessed petty shoplifting and reported it to the employees of the store.

They shrugged and said there wasn’t anything they could do. By the time the police would show up, the criminals would be gone.

Within a few years all the major stores had vacated. What was left, was a strange collection of stores mostly involved in the wig, weave, and cheap cosmetics industries.

None of that was of any interest to us so we stopped going to that mall entirely. A few years after that, the mall was closed.

The last few times I’ve been to the local malls, and even the newest outdoor shopping plaza, I’ve noticed the same pattern and signs. Boarded up stores, “For Lease” signs, a more shady element in the clientele, the feeling that too many eyes were looking for opportunity, and once again I’ve seen petty theft brazenly happening. 

I thought a year or two ago, these were residual effects from the COVID lockdowns. Indeed that may have been the start, but the damage is taking a long time to correct.

I’m thinking now that the years of lawlessness, “mostly peacful” protests followed by looting and general destruction have contributed to the damage.

Uncertainty about what will be done to enforce the law, & loss of clientele due to their concerns for safety, may well end the era of some shopping centers in my local area.

Ironically, the thieves end up stealing from themselves. They’re just not smart enough to see it. 

Few people think about what happens when the cost to open a business’s doors go up. 

There’s a finite cost just to open a store every day. Power, employees, insurance, merchandise, just to name a few things. If these cost more, then the cost of merchandise to the consumer will go up. This reduces the consumer’s buying power and as I understand it, is called inflation. If the consumer’s salary doesn’t keep up, then they’ll buy less, forego purchases altogether,  or find cheaper alternatives. 

Eventually there’s a point where the business cannot remain in business because the cost to open is greater than the profit to be had from selling merchandise. If the business is also dealing with shoplifting, that point is reached faster. A smart business owner will sell off everything, then find greener pastures.

California is a perfect petrie dish demonstrating these concepts.

Since it’s essentially legal to steal $900 a day from a store. Plus in some areas there are multiple thieves or gangs of thieves the losses rapidly add up.

Cost of mitigation to slow the theft down may exceed the profitability of the store in a particular location, so logic dictates the store must close to protect the shareholders. 

We’ve seen this in San Francisco, & Oakland. Fast food restaurants are closing because of increasing violence toward their employees and robberies. (A.K.A. Increased liability.) Retail stores have or are closing because the theft has exceeded the profitability of the store and the cost of insurance + limitations on coverage make the policy no longer affordable.

Lawlessness, & failure to enforce laws are directly responsible for the resulting “Food Deserts” and lack of neighborhood stores and services.

It doesn’t take long.

Aside from the loss of jobs, the loss of services, loss of pharmacies, loss of grocery stores, and the loss of places to eat… What happens to the people left in these “No go zones?” One could conclude that Ghettos are a result of lawlessness.

Perhaps the conclusion could be reached that said, Black Lives Matter and the Defund the police movement have done far worse things to African Americans and other minorities than the police or racism ever could.

Once again, a whole group of people has been stolen from. This time by people claiming to help. In this case these folks may have had their futures stolen too.

This is shit that goes through my mind often. I think to myself I can’t be the only one who sees it.

I’ve written this long assed post because this rattling around my brain is like a splinter. I really needed to dig it out of my head and put it in yours!

You’re Welcome!

Is it just me? Or do other people argue with Siri?

I wasn’t even trying to argue with Siri. I didn’t ask Siri for anything!

Suddenly Siri answered a question that I hadn’t asked.

I was talking to the dog Jesse and apparently Siri thought “Jesse “ sounded enough like Siri that it needed to respond.

I told Siri to shut the fuck up. Then Siri got mouthy with me saying “I wont respond to that.”

Excuse me??? Dumb shit, you DID just respond to that! Gee Siri you’re not too bright for a computer are you?

Siri: “I found some results on that, I can display them for you if you ask from your iPhone.”

Okay, Now I’m curious. I pick up my iPhone I ask Siri to display the results

The little Siri indicator on my iPhone was moving like it does when it’s listening so obviously Siri knew I was using the iPhone.

BUT and this is a serious BUG as far as I’m concerned. The HomePod also heard what I said and told me again it could display the result if I asked using my iPhone.

WTF????

I pressed the side button on my iPhone which manually activates Siri and asked again. Again the HomePod responds and tells me to ask from my iPhone.

Do you notice the endless loop here?

I try again, this time whispering to my iPhone like Creepy Joe Biden trying to sound threatening. Again the HomePod responds.

I leave the living room and go into the bathroom once again pressing the button on the iPhone and whispering my request.

The HomePod minis in the bedroom hear me and tell me to ask from my iPhone

FUCK!!!!!

Now I’m pissed and call Siri a piece of shit. I ask what happened to Siri automatically showing results on my nearest devices with displays, like the iPad and iPhone? It used to do that without question.

Siri: “Oh you’ve lost your iPad let me make it make a sound.”
Me: No! Stop! Don’t make a sound on my iPad!

Siri completely ignores me and OH, just to be EXTRA helpful Siri plays the sound on the iPad and keeps playing it. I pressed the power button and both the volume buttons. The iPad even with physical confirmation that the unit was in the hands of a human KEEPS making an annoyingly loud sound.

I force restarted the damn machine!

Is this what we have to look forward to? Is this our future? Will I be subjected to Siri misbehaving and refusing to comply with command directives?

I know Siri is just a clever approximation of AI. I don’t really like “Intelligent” assistants, on my phone or when I’m “ON the Phone” talking to a corporation to get assistance with their product or service.

I’d love to know why I, an adult male, who speaks English natively can’t get these systems to respond in any helpful way. It begs the question for me; am I the only person who has trouble with these bits of software? Is it that I speak English with little to no accent? If I spoke with a heavy accent would I get better response?

If I’m not the only person having problems with these systems, the why are they ubiquitous?

Siri does often work for me. But when Siri screws the pooch it’s major. The most recent iteration of Siri also has a defect in its responses.

If you’re using the Siri American voice 1, and you say “Siri stop playing music in 2 hours,” Siri responds “Stopping in two hours.” But unlike in the past, it now finishes the word “Hours” as though it’s asking a question. It used to sound proper, but the latest HomePod update has done something bad to the Voice responses.

Not to bash on Apple, but I do expect that testing would be done to make sure that the software works when that software interfaces with an actual Human.

As I age…

As I age I notice an accumulation of stupidity and everyone else either ignores it, or flat out doesn’t see it.

I wish I could ignore things and remain blissfully ignorant. 

Some examples:

Tail lights. I’ve recently seen at least two different cars, with all three tail lights flashing at different intervals from each other. There are warnings in movies about flashing light sequences affecting photosensitive individuals. In a movie the person is sitting in a chair. On the road, a photosensitive person might be in the driver’s seat of 2 thousand pounds of vehicle and can do considerably more damage if they react poorly or have a seizure.

F-hN5LJWgAQ59Xq.jpegI’ve noticed the irony of college protestors demanding an Israeli cease fire, but being perfectly happy to beat the living shit out of a Jew with a different opinion. Which is it? Peace or War? 

The Washington Post Censored the Cartoon at right, even though it is a perfect description of truth. WP didn’t want to offend? How does truth offend? WTF?

We literally censored people from the internet who spread “mis-information” about elections, COVID, Vaccines, etc. When Rashida Tlaib spreads mis-information on the steps of the Capital using her position in Congress to magnify her importance and therefore her voice, nobody says shit about it, until the House passes a vote to Censure her. What is said after the Censure vote is in condemnation of the Censure.  That for me is a complete WTF moment. Personally, I think Tlaib should be taken from the capital in chains and tried for Treason. Oh, for the college educated… Censure is very different from Censor. You idiots might want to open a dictionary.

Evidence suggests Joe Biden has apparently lied about his involvement with Hunter’s businesses, and the “Biden Family Business” to the tune of millions of dollars, at minimum it looks like influence pedaling. Nothing much is said or done about it. Donald Trump inflates the values of his properties a tad, gets loans from banks, pays off those loans, making everyone money and harming no-one. Yet he’s in court on fraud charges?

Warner Brothers has decided not to release a completed movie as a tax write off. Let me get this straight, if I build a house and never move into it. I just lock the doors, and never use it, rent it, or sell it. I can write off the entirety of the house on my taxes? How about nobody gets tax write-offs on completed projects until the project actually loses money. That seems a lot more logical doesn’t it? Oh and shouldn’t Warner Brothers executive be sitting in court alongside Trump for fraud? It’s a cinch that they borrowed money to produce that movie. 

The entirety of the UAW strike and its resolution. WTF? I understand wanting higher wages and benefits. But you do realize that a nicely equipped FORD costs almost as much as a top of the line BMW luxury car. A GMC Truck costs more than some models of fully equipped BMW SUVs. So tell me again UAW how you’re going to preserve your jobs building your current line, or when everyone transitions to electric vehicles with fewer parts and higher purchase prices. If I have a choice, I’m going to pick the cheaper vehicle with longer range. Toyota? Kia? Nissan, hello paging common sense, is common sense in the building? There’s no incentive to buy FORD, CHEVY, GMC or Tesla at the prices they’re currently charging. Even if you wanted to buy one of these brands, you can’t order the vehicle exactly to your specification. Go on, try to build one on their websites. You’ll find you can’t have certain engine / trim combinations. For example I found I couldn’t have a truck with nice seats, no chrome,  a V-6 engine, 4×4 transmission in a 2 door with 6 foot bed configuration. They make what I want with a 4 cylinder 2×4 transmission but swap in a V-6 4×4 and NO! You get 4 doors and a 4.5 foot bed. Sorry, that just doesn’t work, I want to carry a full sheet of drywall flat in the bed of a pickup, and be able to drive uphill. This is especially true when the prices are at $40 – $60,000 before options.

Loyalty Reward programs. This is a bit hypocritical of me because I use these programs. Not using them in protest which I should be doing, is punishing myself, not the companies. Why do we need these Loyalty cards? Why not simply sell the goods or services at the discounted a.k.a “REAL” price to everyone all the time regardless of their loyalty? Why is it that on a recent grocery store run I was able to save $45 off the bill, but only had one .50 manufacturers coupon? Is it that the grocery store inflates the price so much they can afford to discount everyone’s bill by 1/4? How about gas stations? Why not give everyone a break on the price and speed up the refueling process along the way, instead of having folks enter loyalty numbers and selecting options of payment and 50 other questions?

Medical Costs. Same generic RX for years. Sometimes it’s $120 other times it’s $90, still other times it’s $50. I’d really like to know, how much does this shit really cost? Perhaps a better question is, “How much on average does it really cost to get medical treatment?” Maybe we should base insurance costs on the average, not how much can we get for removing a splinter in Beverly Hills.  Why can I negotiate 2/3 off on a medical bill? It’s not even negotiation. All I had to do was ask… That suggests that the actual cost of doing business is 1/3 less than advertised.

A better overall question is this;

Why do we put up with these clearly irrational things, and why are these things accepted as “Normal”?