Month: February 2022

Check back

Posted on by backuphill

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Yesterday the invasion and subjagation of Ukraine began. The Soviets, er, I mean Russian government is up to it’s old tricks. There was no doubt that it was going to happen. The writing on the wall started well before the last administration. Not to say that the previous administration could have stopped it either, but there shouldn’t have been any surprise that it was only a matter of time.

I listened to Mr. President’s speech and then Q & A after. One thing really stuck out to me.

“Let’s check back in a month and see how the sanctions are working on Russia…” or something to that effect. I can’t remember the exact wording but I was like, “Do you really think the Ukrainian people have a month? This is all going to be over in a month.”

Ukraine is vastly out manned, out gunned, and honestly there are no good options for providing aid to them. We live in a world where the spectre of a nuclear war (if not just a limited, tactical one) hangs over our heads when dealing with Russia or China. But, in this case, Putin is almost sure the Americans will do not much of anything to stop him.

Sanctions aren’t the answer and it can’t be the only answer.

Sanctions take a LONG time to have any effect and almost always it is the people of a country that is harmed by them, not the government or the elite. It’s not like Putin is going to wake up one morning, head to the ATM, and get the “Funds Denied” message so he decides the war with and invasion of Ukraine isn’t worth it. Let’s be real.

I don’t want war, but I am not sure what would convince Putin to stand down. He knows the American people don’t have the stomach for more war (after 20+ years in Afghanistan and the fiasco of a withdrawal there). Most Americans likely will rattle the sabers, talk big, even attend rallies protesting Putin’s actions, but when it comes time to actually get out of their comfort zones and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING or SACRIFICE SOMETHNG they will balk.

So, we are left with “check back in a month”.

I feel sorry for Ukraine and the lack of action that they really needed from the West to keep it from happening.

I feel sorry for my children and grandchildren as we enter a new Cold War era…

Marry Me

Posted on by backuphill

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A movie review. What the heck am I doing while the world burns around us…? I don’t do many of these and I am trying to clean out my “drafts” folder.

I recently watched “Marry Me” on Peacock, because it was free (at least to me). Why not watch a free theatrical release instead of paying too much at the theater? Boy, am I glad I didn’t pay to see it in the theater, not that I would have but you know what I mean.

The movie stars Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson. If you don’t know anything about it, check out the trailer on your preferred search engine. I am not going to do a whole synopsis, but basically it was a Hallmark movie but not on Hallmark. Love, break up, new love, break up, happy ending. Blah blah blah…

What really stuck out to me about this movie wasn’t really the plot line. It was pretty generic and formulaic. What stuck out what the total and complete, blatant, product placement. It was like watching a commercial without watching a commercial!

First and foremost, the movie was basically a two hour music video for JLo’s (latest?) music. She pretty much plays herself, except that she goes by a different name. LOL The glamour, the glitz, the celebrity. All highlighted. Then there was the product placement throughout the movie. It seemed like every 5-10 minutes you were blatantly confronted with a well known product by a company that was using the movie as an advertisement. The characters fawned over the products, played pitch-people for the products on social media, learned about the product from another character, sent or gave products to other characters.

Maybe I’m weird, but I was really distracted by the commercialization in the movie. I kept saying, “There’s another one” and “Wow, that was obvious product placement!” It’s probably a good thing I was watching this at home because the theater likely would have kicked me out because I couldn’t stop talking about how the movie was being used. Obviously, this movie was paid for by a lot of corporate sponsors who all had their brands used directly in the script.

Is the future of movies? Blatant commercials DURING the movie? I have noticed this more and more in TV shows too. We can’t escape any longer.

I hope I didn’t ruin your movie or TV experience by making you more aware of the advertising. I still enjoy both forms of entertainment. This one just struck me with how obscenely obvious it was.

Subtlety has been lost.

Misplaced blame

Posted on by backuphill

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The Sandy Hook and Remington settlement is bad news for gun makers, sets a horrible precedent, and is a total and complete case of misplaced blame by the Left.

Democrats and Progressives have tried to tie gun crimes to guns and gun makers for years and years. In this settlement, they have finally achieved their goal. Demonize the tool and not the criminal. In fact, they have gotten more successful in that direction as a whole.

The Left is decriminalizing all kinds of things that have been crimes in the past because they blame the “system” for failures. This is totally off topic for this post, but of course it isn’t the “system” that has failed – except that they keep making the “system” bigger so the blame could be placed directly in their lap again. Less government, less “system.”

Anyway, the settlement with the gun maker isn’t a solution. The blame should be placed squarely on the individual who committed the crime. The gun (and the gun maker) didn’t commit the crime. The gun is a tool, and when used incorrectly it obviously can have devastating and tragic consequences.

But let’s get realistic though. Are you going to blame a knife and knife maker for a mass stabbing? Are you going to blame a hammer and hammer maker for a mass bludgeoning? A car and car maker for someone who plows through a crowd of people?

You can’t blame the tool or the tool maker. The action comes from the person on the end of the tool causing tool to either fulfill it’s purpose or to misuse it from it’s purpose.

The person is the only person who can take the blame. The person provides the impetus, the motive, the intent, the action. Otherwise, the tool sits there – useless.

The Left needs to think about the true cause of the crime. It isn’t the tool. It’s the person wielding the tool. The heart of the person. The mind of the person. There is the true cause. Until they recognize this and actually do something about making a difference in people’s lives that ACTUALLY makes a difference, they are just addressing the symptom, not the cause.

Stop misplacing the blame and start addressing the heart and mind issues.

New decade

Posted on by backuphill

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It’s a milestone I guess. Or maybe a millstone. Eh, let’s go with milestone.

I am entering a new decade as of today.

50.

Nothing seems different, yet it does. Today is really the same as it was yesterday. I am not sure how I feel about it.

When I turned 40 I didn’t think it was all that big a deal. Now that I am 50, as of today, I would like to think it isn’t that big a deal yet there is something in the back of my head that makes me feel like its a big deal. Guess its hard to explain.

I know that my brain doesn’t feel 50. My brain tells me all the time that I am not old and I can do all kinds of things that I did when I was a lot younger. However, my body keeps telling me something different. My brain says, “Do it! You still got it!” My body says, “Go ahead, punk. Do you feel lucky?”

As an example, this week leading up to the big day there were close calls that made me think this old thing could get really old really fast…I was on a two step stool putting at canvas print on the mantle above the fireplace. I had just balanced it and was starting back down the stool steps and suddenly the canvas tipped and clocked me on the top of the head. Obviously, I wasn’t prepared for this so the surprise of being struck in the head was enough of a distraction that I missed the middle step and landed directly on the floor. Again, this was a surprise on the other end of the body and my knee didn’t like that so it promptly hyper-extended as celebration for finding the floor earlier than expected. I was hobbled for a day or two.

Is this what getting old feels like all the time? Minor aches and pains suddenly become something bigger and more concerning? The aches and pains happen more often and more quickly?

Well, cheers to getting older and hello AARP…

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Shadow banned?

Posted on by backuphill

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Anyone else kinda feel like when they talk about certain topics that they are getting shadow banned? I am starting to get a bit suspicious of WordPress.

For those who don’t know what a “shadow ban” is, you can read more about it in lots of different places. You hear about this taking place on lots of different social media platforms & accounts these days – mostly in regards to topics related to events, facts, data, and personalities of significance over the last 2+ years.

I don’t know if there is a way to really tell on the WP service, but I have noticed that certain topics definitely get fewer clicks/views than other topics. Maybe it’s because people are bored with the topics. Maybe people aren’t stimulated by certain subjects any longer. Maybe people are just to overly apathetic so the disinterest wins out. I don’t know.

Could it be the Categories I am using, or the tags? Is it the actual subject matter? I haven’t a clue. I guess I could try reposting a blog with different tags and categories and see if there is any different response.

Anyone else feel like they don’t get as much interest when it comes to certain “controversial” issues?

Oh Canada…

Posted on by backuphill

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*SIGH*

The once liberal bastion of freedom is anything but that these days.

Oh, and I say liberal in the political sense, not really the “anything goes” sense. It’s actually more progressive that liberal, but you know what I mean. They proclaim one thing, but do another – at least if you are following along with “their” viewpoint. If you don’t, well, they’ll just make you a criminal.

Pastors get arrested for holding religious services. Sure, there is a lockdown and a pandemic, but your religious freedom stops when the State determines that your freedom is risky.

People delivering food and fuel get arrested for supporting “terrorists” in Ottawa because, well, the truckers are causing a disturbance and have made life difficult for those who follow the State’s heavy handed handling of the pandemic and health”care.”

Honk your horn? Yeah, that’ll get you arrested too. Why? Well, again, you and your horn are an inconvenient reminder that freedom and choice are a right and not something to be taken lightly. I guess some would call it “noise pollution.” Never mind that the peace and freedom loving kind of people can’t pollute the silence of blind obedience and compliance, but the State can mandate pollution of your body because it says it can.

Oh Canada…perhaps you should rethink that national anthem. The lyrics don’t fit the situation any longer.

Suddenly sucks

Posted on by backuphill

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Work.

There is too much of it, so I write a blog post about it instead.

Seems fair.

I am actually procrastinating because I don’t really want to dive into the overwhelming list of things that needs to get done. It seems the list continues to grow every day and I am not taking many things off of it.

Work suddenly sucks. I never really thought it would get this way. Don’t get me wrong, I still like what I do and the people I work with, but there is generally a feeling of dread each morning before I go to work…and I am exhausted when I am done with it.

Our normal team of 17 is down to 14. Well, 14 and a quarter.

I say a quarter because we recently hired someone to replace a co-worker that left back in October. But, he thing with this hire is that the management went with someone who has no background, no history, no knowledge of the software at all. The new hire has a lot of technical skill from their time in the military, but no skills that actually help the team at the moment, and likely won’t really contribute to the team in a meaningful sense for probably a year. The new hire will be great once up to speed, but in the meantime it will be painful for the rest of us.

The reason we are so far behind in hiring is that we had two co-workers leave to go to other jobs in the same field at about the same time. One of those people had 18 years of experience and knowledge go with them and the other had about two years of direct knowledge and many years of ancillary knowledge go with them. We have only replaced one of them.

We also had a co-worker die recently from an extended battle with lung cancer. Again, there was many years of experience and knowledge lost as a result. We all felt this loss in different ways and we are all trying to pick up the slack since it happened. The co-worker had actually been working all the way up to two weeks before their death.

So, if you are keeping track, we are down two (basically three) positions and there is also an impending retirement coming up in the next several months. Then we will be down three (basically four) positions. They have just posted the position for one of the jobs…and we’re all hoping for some really outstanding, qualified, and experience candidates. The problem is that they are only going to be replacing one at this point.

I’m just tired. And overwhelmed.

It has to get better soon.