Tag: Musings

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Huh, I just had a kind of epiphany.

Don’t know if I’m right, but I wonder.

Jimmy kimmel 3383259177.I’ve been following with great amusement the Jimmy Kimmel affair.

I personally found the guy unwatchable and unfunny before he got his show.

Jerry & I would sometimes try to watch him if there was a guest of interest on, but we usually didn’t make it through the opening monologue before we’d look at each other and whoever had the remote would turn the TV off.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth, the screaming about freedom of speech, and all the rest of the cacophony from the leftists, and Democrats in Congress has been instructive.

The Democrats in Congress apparently have no idea how the FCC regulations work.

As a HAM Radio licensee there are a LOT of things that I can’t say on air. Saying some things would cost me my license and by the way, if someone were to use my radio to broadcast bad words, lies, damaging rhetoric, or a whole bunch of other things, that’s still on me as the license holder. If someone was offended, and reported it to the FCC, I could lose my license.

That’s in a perfect world… Truth of the matter is the FCC doesn’t have enough resources to put a stop to it. Anyone can buy a radio, licensed or not. There are too many people who have radios that for some reason love to interrupt conversations by holding their transmit button, or put tones on the air tying up repeaters for no reason other than to be a nuisance. 

Technically the FCC is supposed to track these people down and fine them. But they only have the resources to get the worst of the worst.

So maybe I have a slightly different perspective on the FCC.

All that being said, the FCC didn’t need Trump’s direction to threaten ABC’s license. Kimmel, was by any stretch, being horribly offensive.

Moreover, Kimmel’s show was pretty low rated according to Nielsen, He was also a liability because Turning Point USA could have filed a law suit that would have been pretty expensive.

The point is, Freedom of speech is limited on public broadcasts because the “Airwaves” (frequencies,) are owned by the Public, they’re regulated by the FCC. The regulations go way back, and haven’t really changed for 60+years. They were about preventing offensive language from coming into people’s homes.

This is also why you can get pornographic movies on cable, but not over the public airwaves.

If Kimmel had been on a cable only show, he could have been as offensive as he wanted to be. So long as people subscribed.

This opens a can of worms that the FCC and the government still haven’t adequately addressed regarding the internet, subscriptions, sites, etc. That’s why people like me really got bent out of shape when the Biden Administration announced their Department of Misinformation that appeared to be focused on the internet.

Especially since there had already been, as has come out in hearings, censorship directed by the Biden Administration directly aimed at specific individuals and phrases on Facebook, X, and other sites.

If the Trump Administration is doing the same thing, I’m just as opposed.

All this is kind of the background for me not thinking Kimmel has a leg to stand on. He used the public airwaves to be very insensitive and outright offensive. ABC saw him as a liability. His ratings were low. The final nail in his coffin was that he refused ABC’s directive to apologize. So, like any other employee he was fired. It’s as simple as that.

My epiphany was an article this morning talking about Sen. Jon Ossoff’s campaign. The campaign tried to paint Kimmel’s monologue as “Satire”. Yawn, whatever.

Further into the article Ossoff’s campaign painted Trump and his administration as “Authoritarian”.

That’s when it hit me.

The difference between a lot of the career politicians and the rest of us is that they may not have worked in or owned, small companies, ever.

They don’t understand that Trump, and all owners of private companies are authoritarian. It’s the nature of the beast. The company lives or dies not by committee, shareholders, or distributed decision making, but on the decisions of one person. The Owner.

It is therefore not surprising that people who’ve never worked for a solely owned company would view Trump as an authoritarian. It’s also not surprising that Trump would be quite authoritarian in the Presidency.

If, in fact the Biden administration was being run by consensus because Biden was cognitively incapable of executing the duties of The President. Trump would be one hell of a shock to their system.

This could possibly extend to a significant portion of the Democrat base as well. I’m not making excuses for either side, but I can suddenly see how both sides would be at odds.

Most Republicans I know have tried at least once to start and run a company of their own. Myself included.

That’s why the Democrat talking point of “Trump had several failed business that filed bankruptcy,” while clutching their pearls, has zero impact on so many business owners from both sides of the aisle.

It happens. You put together a company, it goes along pretty well, you try to increase business, and if you’re lucky you succeed. If you’re unlucky, the business fails.

(I can personally attest to what happens when you have a business partner that decides they need a new car instead of paying for new brakes, or starts taking cash out of the business instead of paying for supplies the business needs. Bottom line, no more business partnerships for me, ever again. I had the last laugh, though it was a Pyrrhic victory, since I had all the knowledge & technology and my business partner didn’t. The parable of the frog & the scorpion comes to mind. He also didn’t have the ability to adapt to changing conditions. But he got a new vehicle…)

People who have always been in positions where they were employees, have no understanding of why a business owner must by definition be an authoritarian.

Suddenly I understand why for example, California business taxes are so high, and why there are so many fees. Why for example, business income taxes, at least here, have to be prepaid based on an estimate of income. It’s because the people imposing the taxes & fees only see the dollars. They have no clue about good months and bad, nor do they have any idea about formerly good customers suddenly not paying bills.

They see and predicate their actions on the force of government to demand payment. That’s something that the average business owner can’t do. Sometimes, business owners will never get paid for their efforts, but they’ve paid for the materials that they supplied in good faith to their customers, and still have to prepay taxes as if they were getting paid based on their Accounts Receivable.

A business owner will cut a customer off if their bills are 30, 60, 90 days in arrears. That’s harsh but it’s business. No hard feelings, and as an authoritarian business owner you can make a decision to gamble by extending additional credit to honorable people who are going through a rough patch with their businesses.

Government will simply come in and seize assets so they always get their money. Government minions, like corporate employees, have no skin in the game at all. If a government office shuts down or a company closes, then those employees will cry and whine about finding a new job but they’ll never understand the factors that led to the closures. They’ll call it corporate greed or authoritarian policies.

Yes, I’ve complained about upper level executives getting golden parachutes while the rest of the employees got screwed. The problem there is the executives typically aren’t in the trenches doing things to make the products. They’re having long lunches with other corporate executives trying to figure out how to whip the employees to be more productive with less resources.

Translate that to people in Congress especially career politicians, and you understand why even in a bad economy the taxes keep going up. Why Newsom for example, sees no problem increasing the gas tax while his state is in a breathtaking deficit, and he has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

Career politicians don’t see the connections. They literally see a dip in tax revenue and leap to the conclusion that people are cheating on their taxes. That’s why you get laws that say over $600 in payments from an individual or company must be 1099ed. And why tips must be declared.

I’m glad Trump might be a bit of an authoritarian. I’m glad there’s someone at the top that understands what it’s like to have failed businesses and successful ones.

Adobe express file 1 2171750180.I think all our politicians should have those experiences because then maybe they’d be a little more careful with the balance sheets of “We the People” instead of spending money that is not theirs, like drunken sailors on shore leave.

Oh, and I’m really glad Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert are cancelled. It will be interesting to see if the vile women on The View get the message.

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A blip that barely registered with me…

df411490-98de-11ee-95bb-0900ad5d0fe7_800_420-4005220073.jpegStephen Colbert’s Late Show has been cancelled.

Under normal circumstances this would go un-noticed by me, and from his ratings, a shit ton of other people.

But…

Politicians in Washington D.C. decided to make a thing about it. Stephen Colbert’s Late Show was never funny to me. Colbert himself hasn’t told a “joke” for years that made me laugh. In my opinion, he’s just not a funny guy.

His ratings may suggest that I’m not alone. Democrats in Congress jumped to criticize Paramount / CBS cancelling the show and are predictably trying to make it seem like Trump or his administration had something to do with it. Looking at you, Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren. (Can you say State Run Media? Of course that’s what Schiff and Warren are claiming about the Trump administration isn’t it?)

CBS says it’s a business decision.

It’s possible these Senators watch The Late Show. It’s also possible they like or find Colbert funny. Neither of them seem to have a sense of humor. It makes sense their taste in entertainment would be questionable.

I miss the likes of Johnny Carson. He’d make fun of everyone.

Every time I’ve tried to watch Colbert the “jokes” were at the expense of only one party. Or the jokes were pointedly aimed at people that were more conservative or in favor of common sense, and just came off as mean and hateful.

Comedy in my opinion is something that can make people re-evaluate their positions or beliefs, and should do so by making everyone laugh. Even at themselves.

The Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is a “Redneck” and famously makes a living poking fun at Rednecks with his “You might be a redneck if…” line of questions. Yes, we all laughed, but he made rednecks think about having their new truck up on blocks in the front yard. He asked in a funny way where are your priorities, when you’ve purchased a 60K vehicle but live in a leaky trailer and have to use an outhouse?

Bill Engvall another comedian, asked funny questions about people and their behavior leading the listener down a common sense path, then underscored their beliefs inconsistency or hypocrisy with the punch line, “Here’s Your Sign”

Ron White delivers scathing commentary with a smile and a jingle of ice in his scotch glass.

Ron White:

“People are saying that I’m an alcoholic, and that’s not true, because I only drink when I work, and I’m a workaholic.”

“We’re all gay, it’s just to what extent are you gay.”

He says, “That’s bullshit, man, I ain’t gay at all!” I’m like, “Yeah, you are and I’ll prove it.” He goes, “Fine, prove it.” I’m like, “All right, do you like porn?” He says, “Yeah, I love porn, you know that.”

I’m, “Oh, you only watch two women together?” He goes, “No, I’ll watch a man and a woman making love.” I said, “Oh, do you like the guy to have a tiny, half-flaccid penis?” He said, “No, I like big, hard, throbbing co-“

Screen Shot 2022 04 20 at 3.25.14 PM 4061621748.Colbert on the other hand has focused on pretty much only the political arena with a decidedly anti-Republican, anti-Conservative, rhetoric. Even when one of these groups does something right, he’s critical, mean, and pissy about it. 

Perhaps people are just tired of the nastiness. Perhaps CBS is reading the room and finally understanding that “Trump Time” 24/7 is passé. I suspect that a more fundamental truth is that corporate sponsors are trying to break from what has become seen as the loony left.

Corporate sponsors and their advertising dollars are the only thing CBS is interested in. Corporations, no longer burdened by things like DEI, or the necessity to virtue signal with sponsorship of extreme leftist causes, are probably moving back toward the middle road.

Anheuser-Busch learned the hard way that a significant part of America isn’t interested in a cross dressing “influencer’s” opinion, much less having that person as some kind of spokesperson.

Puretalk Wireless is growing significantly by appealing to “Hard Working Americans” who just want reasonable prices, and functional cell service. They’ve recently partnered with Mike Rowe as their spokesman. (As an aside, they use the AT&T cell network and are significantly cheaper. Why pay AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile prices when you can get the same service for less? I’ve seen zero difference in service since I switched about a year ago.)

People are starting to ask serious questions about what qualifies as “Medical Care” these days. 

More people are thinking along these lines. If a child can’t buy cigarettes, alcohol, or get a tattoo, require their parents permission to get their ears pierced, and this is so they don’t make poor decisions that will affect them the rest of their lives, what about hormone treatments that disrupt their natural development?

On demand abortions are billed as medical care, for whom? The mother? But what about the child. You know, the person that’s being killed during the abortion, the child that can’t buy cigarettes, get a tattoo, drink, or undergo hormone treatments?

The dissonance within these “accepted truths” is fucking painful to process.

Yet, we have almost constant trans this, trans that, demonstrations and assurances that grooming a 6 year old to be transitioned is “Life Saving Medical Care”. The suicide data doesn’t appear to be backing up the claims.

The medical profession burned their credibility down in recent years, much like Colbert has done by parroting a narrative and appearing to stand for nothing except doing as they were told. 

Colbert may be another “personality” that ends up on the trash heap of discarded leftist bad ideas. His problem is that he’s made a living being angry at anyone that questioned leftist ideas, and he’s been at the forefront of virtue signaling. 

I think Americans have grown tired of constant outrage performances and are starting to move more toward balance. I may be naive, but it’s my hope at least.

Colbert wasn’t “reading the room”. If he can change or more properly, come up with something new, prior to his last show in May 2026 Colbert might be able to save his career.

I’d say it’s up in the air. He said some really nasty things about those who were vaccine hesitant. Now that more studies and data is coming out about side effects, and those people, he and others, said should be put in concentration camps are being proved right, Colbert may have terminated his career the way Kathy Griffin did.

Why does the left always go to concentration camps? The fear mongers among the LGBTQIA2 blah blah community said, if Trump gets re-elected he’s going to put all the LGBTQIA2 blah blah folks in Camps. The Leftists said put the unvaxed and vaccine hesitant into camps to die. Now they’re saying Trump is going to put all migrants into camps. (Okay, that last one, I’ll admit is a little close to home. On that, I have to ask was “Alligator Alley” the plan, or did it become necessity because judges and leftist Democrats found ways to obstruct deportations?)

ABC is, I suspect considering cancelling The View as well. The harridans on The View refuse to consider the possibility that they could be cancelled, but I think the networks are waking up to a new reality…

America is weary of “rage bait,” and they’re turning off their televisions.

Gunsmoke James Arness as Matt Dillon Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty Russell Ken Curtis as Festus Haggen Buck Taylor as Newly OBrien and Milburn Stone as Doc Adams 202267152.According to the latest Nielsen streaming report, Gunsmoke is one of the top 10 most-watched acquired series across all measured streaming services.

What does that say about American’s mood?

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Off the rails…

I was going to write a long post about how the job search is going. 

The post went completely off the rails and now sits in the “Drafts” bin with other similar posts.

Every once in a while, I’ll go back and dust one of these off, clean it up and post it.

The interesting thing is that some of these posts are still relevant sometimes years after I initially started them.

What does that say about my opinions? Does it say more about the repetitive nature of human behavior, or the cyclic nature of the latest trends?

Maybe it’s me telling myself, don’t get spun up over shit that’s just going to repeat, and that my problem is being impatient with humanity not learning a damn thing no matter how many times the lesson is repeated.

I’m in a mood!

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So I’ve had the Digital Driver’s License for about a year…

Thus far I’ve not been anywhere that had the facilities for me to use my mobile driver’s license.

I’d kind of forgotten it was even on my phone. It’s there in the Apple Wallet, and I’ve gone “familiarity blind to it,” I see it, but don’t see it. Maybe that’s a guy thing?

Anyhoo, I recently got the DL license renewal form. (2 pages) which encouraged me to  use the DMV renewal web portal.

I didn’t. 

I’ve got a little problem with the DMV charging me an extra (and in my opinion excessive,) “convenience fee”. Convenient for who? Me, or California?

I don’t mind writing a check. I know that my choosing to handle stuff like this via paper, and checks is more difficult, and labor intensive a.k.a. inconvenient for California. As an aside, I deal with the Feds, the same way.

It is no more or less convenient for me to write a check and put a stamp on an envelope. 

Maybe they should discount renewals and the like on the DMV website to encourage folks like me to give them our debit card numbers and allow California to collect their cash instantly.

I’m not overly concerned about using technology but I’ll be damned if they’re going to hit me with another fee for making their job easier.

I digress. 

I woke up this morning to the usual notifications from my bank about transactions that had cleared. However this morning, there was an additional notification. This one was from the digital / mobile driver’s license. 

The notification said my license had been updated. “That’s new,” I thought. I tapped on the notification and was informed that the expiration date had changed and my license had a new expiration date.

I logged into the DMV website and confirmed that yes, my license has been renewed and all I’m waiting for now is the hard copy.

Hmmm. That’s kind of neat. 

From what I understand, you’ll get similar notices when you’ve used the digital license at the TSA or other venues for identification. I’m curious to understand more about the digital IDs, much of what I’ve read seems a lot like vapor ware. The use cases and specifications sound a little “over the top”.

As I’ve stated elsewhere, I think digital ID’s have great potential. I also think they have a really dark potential downside.

The upside is that they could be used in places like Doctor’s offices. It would be nice to only transmit the necessary information instead of everything. We’ve all had the office administrator photocopy our license for insurance purposes, then attach it to our file. Going digital would make things a tad more secure, especially since we’ve all received notices or seen on the news that hardcopies of our medical files have been found in dumpsters. 

That’s scary since those files contain our ID, Social Security Number, address, date of birth, and a ton of other personal information.

If the data was only in computers and those computers had a field like “ID verified Yes/No” then in theory, it would close off a pathway for identity theft. As the records stand right now, with either the hard copy or the digital copies, medical records are valuable to criminals because they have everything someone would need to commit ID theft.

I could see using digital IDs for voting. Wave your phone at a reader and get your ballot. That would help cut down on fraudulent votes, and also raise a red flag if someone had used a stolen ID to vote in your place. It probably wouldn’t help in that election, but it would allow you to report the problem to authorities.

The biometric aspect of digital IDs means that in theory only you can use your ID, so there’s better security built in. At least that’s the theory.

If all stores that sold items like liquor, and cigarettes, used digital ID, then you could have a lot of convenience making those purchases. The register could ping the ID for age verification as part of the transaction process and not allow the sale to complete if someone were underage.

Even with in-person banking transactions or at an ATM it’s theoretically possible to do away with the physical debit card, and just use the phone to access the account and verify ID so PIN numbers could be a thing of the past.

I personally prefer using my phone at gas pumps and convenience stores. Why? Because those places are notorious for having card skimmers and the phone option with biometrics cuts that shit right off. At least for the time being. 

If every sales transaction was linked to biometric ID verification on a personal device then theft and fraud could be a thing of the past.

All of this is of course, predicated on a government that can be trusted, and highly secure data.

Unfortunately, neither is true.

Data breaches happen every day all day. Trusting the government? Uh, NOPE!

The dark side of all of this would be the government being able to turn off your digital ID. They wouldn’t have to touch bank accounts, they’d be able to simply not verify your ID. The bank and ATM would then cease to function. As would every other transaction that verified your ID.

In a cashless society that means you have no access to money, food, fuel, or anything else. If the government wanted you they’d know exactly where you are and they’d know you probably weren’t going to get very far away from the last transaction terminal you accessed.

Purchasing guns or ammunition for example suddenly becomes a matter of record and the government could, at a whim make it impossible. PayPal and other Credit processors have already implemented blocks on sales of firearms, firearm accessories, gambling and some items of a sexual nature. It’s written into the agreements.

The government turning off a Digital ID makes verbiage in the credit agreements redundant.

Talk about the ultimate gun control and passive gun registration. An overbearing government could in theory, disarm the entire populace in very short order.

Even if members of the populace had guns, the government could stop sales of ammunition, then all that’s left is stopping the sales of precursor materials.

Think about not being able to buy lead, brass, primers, or gunpowder. (No more reloading.) Then since people are creative and clever, the government could stop sales of materials like carbon, sulfur, potassium, and nitrate materials. Meaning people couldn’t even begin to make gunpowder.

Large quantities of fertilizer are already monitored in the US, after the Oklahoma City bombing.

In the aftermath of January 6 2020 The Bank of America released transaction records to the United States Government on suspects. The FBI knew exactly what those people had for breakfast.

So it’s not much of a stretch.

A bad government could, by turning off an individual’s digital ID prevent them from voting, buying or selling cars, homes, or renting an apartment. That same bad government could turn off access to public assistance and retirement funds. A bad government could control literally anything they didn’t want people to have.

Down that path lies dystopian nightmares.

It’s already happening in China, and honestly the UK isn’t far behind.

Last week, Apple announced that they were going to allow addition of passports to Apple Wallet. 

Hmmm. That might be really cool, especially if the passport in Apple Wallet acts like the Passport card. The Passport Card now allows travel between Canada, Mexico, and some of the Caribbean islands. Imagine the possibilities. Breezing through TSA and later Customs just by waving your phone at a reader.

Sounds neat, or does it?

I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with an all digital ID or cashless future. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love the convenience.

That being said, I’m increasingly concerned about the potential misuse. Especially after COVID, the vaccine passports, COVID digital contact tracing, seeing how quickly people complied, and worse how quickly those in power began to abuse their power.

In an idealized perfect world, I’d love digital IDs and a cashless society.

We don’t live in that world.

My California mobile ID will continue to live in my Apple Wallet. I’ll probably not notice it by next week. Knowing me, If I’m asked for my ID I’ll hand over my new drivers license even if the party asking for ID can read the digital version.

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She Swings, and misses, but opens a whole other train of thought in my mind.

Karen Bass mask Getty 640x480.LA Mayor Karen Bass drew a parallel between the economic damage caused by ICE raids in Los Angeles and the economic damage COVID lockdowns caused.

The article is here

Wow! 

This lady just doesn’t seem to get it. 

She’s right that the COVID lockdowns, especially in California damaged the local economy. She’s also right that ICE raids are affecting the Los Angeles economy.

Where she misses the point entirely is in understanding the root cause of the issue.

Perhaps Los Angeles’s economy shouldn’t rely that much on illegal immigrants in the first place.

Further, Democrat policies have led to Los Angeles having one of the highest percentages of Illegal immigrants in the country.

Regardless of where you stood, or stand, on the COVID-19 response, the most draconian state and city lockdowns of the populace were primarily enforced in Democrat jurisdictions.

They closed parks, and skate parks. They literally created a situation where people couldn’t go anywhere, except for liquor stores, pot dispensaries, Walmart, Target, grocery, and fast food stores.

Recall that in Los Angeles County, their response was to send the police to arrest a lone surfer out in the sun, surfing, by himself, 1000 yards off-shore.

In the process, they exposed 5 or 6 officers to the boogie man of COVID to make an example of a surfer who was literally no threat either to himself or others.

The surfer’s arrest wasn’t about public safety, it was about nothing more than control. The people in power couldn’t have anyone openly defying them and it didn’t matter if they were wrong, what mattered was that everyone under their control never questioned them.

(The same is always true of people in positions of power, it doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat, Republican, Dictators, or Emperors. In this particular case, it was Democrat policies, rules, and regulations.)

As it turns out, sun, fresh air, and physical activity, were some of the best things one could do to combat not only COVID, but also the depression associated with doom and gloom news, and essentially waiting to die in your home.

At the time I wrote a piece about the big fusion reactor in the sky and how it had been known for centuries sunlight could improve health. Even before our technology reached a point of understanding “the why”, our ancestors knew of a relationship between fresh air, sunlight, and our health.

How many people purchased UV sterilizers for their homes? How many people suddenly started taking vitamin D? How many people purchased high end air filtration machines? They could have saved themselves a lot of money just by being allowed to go outside.

At the same time, Democrat policies allowed people to congregate in the streets protesting.

Mayor Bass completely misses the root cause of the problems. I’ll name it for her, Democrat policies.

Not all Democrats or all their policies certainly, but Democrats that walk lockstep with each other, who lack the courage to be introspective, or ability to ask questions.

Los Angeles would not be experiencing an economic downturn due to ICE raids if the policies hadn’t been instituted that made Los Angeles and indeed California a sanctuary.

As someone who’s been trying to get a job for over five years, why is it that I have to answer questions about my national origin, and right to work, and prove my identity.

Yet apparently none of that is necessary if I happen to be someone who crossed the Rio Grande in the dead of night?

I’m certainly not alone. Teenagers, and young adults, have been saying for years that they’re having trouble finding work. Perhaps it’s because they’re trying to find work with the odds stacked against them if they were born in this country.

One need only look at the meat packing plant in Nebraska that was raided by ICE. Within days, their lobby was full of able bodied Americans filling out job applications for the vacant positions. It will be interesting to see how this event changes the local unemployment rate.

Ask yourself why do the taxes and fees in California keep going up, but the quality of life remains the same or goes down? California is definitely not as nice as it once was. $45 to renew a driver’s license? Really? To someone living in poverty working a part time job, that $45 is a weeks worth of lunches if they make them at home.

It’s not because of immigrants, it’s because of the sheer number of illegal immigrants that, if you really think about it have become a slave class.

Yes, it’s slavery. 

The only difference is that instead of the slaves living in slave quarters on a plantation, these slaves accept jobs with no health care, poor wages, and instead of being paid with room and board, they’re being paid with money that is devalued for them, like all the rest of us.

The policy that countenances illegal immigration places these people at a distinct disadvantage and keeps them there.

It’s slavery with extra steps (To borrow a line from Rick & Morty). Except that it’s worse.

These folks can’t afford housing without assistance, they can’t afford doctors because the cost of health care is obscene and they don’t have health insurance. Without health insurance their only choice is to clog urgent cares, and emergency rooms, where they’ll be seen and then the taxpayers pick up the bill.

In desperation, some turn to crime because it pays better than slave wages. All of these factors together increases the burden on law enforcement and subsequently on the tax payer.

How is this system much different from slaves living on a plantation? I’d suggest that sanctuary states and cities are even more cruel. Because they give illegal immigrants the illusion of freedom while entrapping them in an endless cycle of poverty and desperation.

If you expand your view beyond the small details, it becomes obvious that all of the taxpayers are, without their consent, being forced indirectly into being slave holders.

The wealthier taxpayers are akin to the house slaves, they’re treated better and they too derive benefit from the lower rungs of the slave classes. They have housekeepers, gardeners, field workers putting food on their tables, and a cheap labor force available at home improvement centers to paint and maintain their homes.

In the old plantations, the owner held the land, provided housing, reaped the benefits of cheap labor, provided a portion of the crops to the slaves for food, provided health care such as it was, and enforced the peace by punishing those who got out of line.

The difference is that now the owners are the politicians. It’s better for them today because unlike the plantation owner of old, today’s politicians bear no risk whatsoever. If they need more money, they raise taxes. In the plantation days the only way to increase income was to plant larger crops and hope the crops paid off.

The sad irony is that Democrats like Karen Bass don’t see what they’re doing. They are literally incapable of seeing the larger picture. If you view Los Angeles as a plantation, then ICE can be viewed as the Union Army freeing the slaves.

In that view, Los Angeles having an economic downturn is nothing more than being unable to plant or harvest the back forty.

Oh, and don’t misconstrue this to mean Trump is comparable to Lincoln. I don’t think he sees anything more than a balance sheet. At this point in our history, that may not be a bad thing.

What is, and always has been a concern, is that illegal immigration places strain on the society at large, think health, education, and welfare. 

We’ve been told for decades that to say such a thing was racist and that the illegals are only looking for a better life. Tell me, how is being a slave on the lowest rungs of society, with little hope to improve your station, a better life?

Legal Immigrants are seeking a better future and they have opportunities to achieve it. Illegal immigrants not so much. It must also be said, illegal immigrants, actually damage opportunities for legal immigrants, because no-one can be sure of the difference between the two. This uncertainty reduces the number of available positions for legal immigrants.

Aside from the violence and chaos it would cause, perhaps a counter protest should be organized targeting the ICE protests.

Signs saying “Don’t be an unwitting slave owner… Support ICE!“

Then supply plenty of brochures explaining how the system works.

Trouble with that, is the barely restrained violence of the anti ICE people. Los Angeles would be burned to the ground in seconds.

Once again, this is how my very weird brain processes things.