government | Piss and Moan

Better off?

Posted on October 26, 2021 by backuphill

We’re coming up on an election again – Nov 2. As I look at the ballot sitting on the counter along with the Voter’s Guide, I am forced to stop and think about where we were a year ago. The question that keeps coming up in my mind, am I better off this year than I was last year? Maybe it’s an unfair comparison, maybe it isn’t. How are we to judge our politicians if we don’t look at it through that lens?

There were lots of promises that were made from the Democrats – LOTS of promises about making things better for everyone, if they could just get rid of the evil, orange man in the White House. Well, they were able to swing the vote (one way or another) to get their guy into the office, along with a whole bunch of other offices, with a promise of “Build Back Better” and it’s time to survey the land for improvement.

I don’t see any. None.

We’re coming up on a year and, quite frankly, I am not better off. I am actually noticing a lot of changes that are making life just a little bit more uncomfortable. The changes are slow in most cases, but there are some rather obvious ones that haven’t been slow at all.

I don’t know if you have noticed….of course you have noticed, jeez, you’re not blind…but the cost of EVERYTHING has gone up. Like everything! Automobiles, food, fuel, electronics, you name it. There isn’t a single thing that I have notices where the price has gone down. It’s more expensive to buy anything and everything. Those bills are creeping higher and higher. This wasn’t the case a year ago, so I am not better off there.

The government keeps reaching into my pocket and taking more money. Taxes have gone up on payroll, the ones that already existed before this administration took office (at the national level and the state level). But since then, there have been new taxes (not ones I asked for or voted on) have been added to my paycheck. So, nope, not better off here either.

Here’s something to think about too. About a year ago, most everyone was unvaccinated because the vaccine was just being approved and getting ready for rollout. Hospitalizations were high, but there was no claim that they were overwhelmed at that time. Now, more than 2/3rds of the country is vaccinated and they want to blame everything on the unvaccinated. Supposedly the hospitals are overwhelmed and there is now a mandate for workers to be vaccinated to keep their jobs and businesses want proof of vaccination before you can spend money at their place of business. I am near certain I am not better off now than I was last year at this time.

The media doesn’t report the facts, they report agenda. The “fact checkers” don’t check facts, they check against an agenda. Social media suppresses speech it doesn’t agree with, factual or not. Tolerance, across the board, is at an all time low. Natural rights are being taken away in favor of government granted privileges. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” seems to only apply if you are falling in line with the group-think. Think outside of that, well, you’re a hateful and intolerant bigot and you don’t deserve the same things being claimed all people deserve when they weren’t in charge. Again, I am not better off here either.

The border crisis is at epic proportions. China is flexing it’s muscle across the globe and making things less safe and testing supersonic missiles . There are cyber-spies or hackers under every rock (seemingly) these days. Afghanistan was a freaking disaster, where the Taliban have regained power and a safe haven for terrorists is now open for business again. North Korea is launching more missiles. Iran is doing their own thing with nuclear development, again. The world isn’t getting any safer, so I don’t feel better off on this front either.

Sure, some would argue that the Republicans are blocking everything the Democrats are trying to do to make things better for all
Americans. If they would just let the infrastructure (and other pet projects of the Liberals) bill pass…all I can say to that is that you’re dumb if you think that is the answer. Sure, the infrastructure needs some definite improvement, but you do realize that the money has to come from somewhere, right? The government is either going to reach real deep into your pockets (especially if you’re rich and worked hard for that money or made wise choices to get it) or it will be grabbed from businesses who will pass along the lost revenue due to taxes on to the consumer via higher costs on the goods you buy every day. YOU are going to be paying for that giant price tag, one way or another. So, no, that plan doesn’t really make my life better either.

So, What do you say? Do you like the way things are going so far? Are you truly better off today than you were a year ago?

I’ve decided

Posted on October 11, 2021 by backuphill

I have decided it is most important for me to protect the dental health of others.

Therefore, I am considering a medical procedure that I hope every other person will also consider. Maybe it should even be government mandated to protect others as well, whether the others have teeth or not.

Anyway, I think if I have all my teeth removed it will keep others from getting cavities. It’s simple, really. If I can’t get cavities, then they shouldn’t be able to get them either.

If we all were to get out teeth removed, well, then no one could get cavities! Gosh, this is such a smart way to ensure dental health and it’s completely practical. It likely would lead to other health improvements too.

Don’t come at me with logic. That doesn’t work these days. It’s practically settled. Besides, logic is overrated. Science says, if you have no teeth, you can’t get cavities. Follow the science.

I can’t wait for this to happen!

Status update

Posted on October 6, 2021 by backuphill

I figure it’s time for a status update for the few real people who actually read this blog. Some of you may care, but I am sure most don’t. There was some question about whether or not I would be able to keep my job after the Mandate BS.

The answer, for now, is yes.

I was able to find a way to use one of the exemption options in good conscious so I applied and was at least verbally approved. I haven’t seen anything written or gotten confirmation about the approval, but was told that they really don’t want anyone to lose their job so they were approving them if applied for.

I said “for now” earlier in the post because who knows what the future holds until the mandate of something stupid comes out. The government has crossed the line (and private companies for that matter) and now the flood gates are opened to other things – just a matter of time. Why include the private companies in that statement, well, the government has opened the door to acceptable forms of discrimination “in the name of health.” (Actually, it isn’t the government so much as it is the people and party running the government[s], but that is a whole different discussion).

So, I am employed in the same place for the foreseeable future. It has, however, opened my eyes to making sure the resume is up to date and making sure that I am keeping my feelers out there to look for something that would maybe allow me to work from home full-time. That would really be ideal, so the job search radar hasn’t shut down completely.

How are you all doing now?

Tough conversations

Posted on September 21, 2021 by backuphill

Anyone else tired of having tough conversations?

If you fall into the above category, would you just rather punch people in the throat instead?

Yeah, me too.

If you don’t fall into the above category, would you just rather punch people in the throat than have a conversation?

Yeah, me too.

The truth of the matter is that if you punch someone in the throat, having any conversation is just difficult for them and they just have to listen.

“Conversation had.”

Let’s move on.

Mandate BS

Posted on August 20, 2021 by backuphill

Well, as predicted, the sq ueeze has now trickled down to me. I am just come right out and say it. This is utter bullshit. All of it.

Requiring a person to put something in their body, against their will, is tyranny in it’s purest form.

Governments that force it’s citizens to do anything to their bodies is wrong. Governments that take away an individual’s sovereignty over their body, has no justification whatsoever.

Threatening a person’s livelihood is nothing short of coercion. It is no different than the sidewalk thug putting a gun to a person’s head and telling them to hand over their wallet.

Move On

Sure, there are other jobs out there. But at the rate of government overreach at this point, no job is safe. Who’s to say that changing jobs won’t have the same requirements down the road. There is precedent for it now. Plus, finding a job that is comparable in income and benefits is a difficult task. It’s not simply a matter of going down the street and applying for a new job.

Unemployed

Benefits will be denied. That’s the second bullet in the government’s gun. They aren’t just going to make sure you can’t continue in your current job. They are going to make sure there is no safety net (you know, the one you pay into every month via a payroll tax) should you choose to buck the system. Not only is the gun to your head, but it is cocked and ready to fire.

Comply

This is what they hope will happen. They aren’t banking on people actually standing up for what they believe in. They aren’t counting on the fact that there will be a large number of people who won’t compromise their beliefs in order to keep their jobs. They are assuming that the number will be small and that, while it may be uncomfortable for those who are still working, the loss of a percentage of employees can be covered and replaced in a short period of time. That’s really where the question in this whole thing stands. How many will stand up and say NO? How does this really impact the businesses/organizations/companies that are already facing a shortage (ever heard of the healthcare shortage or the teacher shortage – these aren’t areas where you just go out and hire Joe Blow off the street)?

This is excruciating.

I have to admit, this is a tougher choice than what I thought it would be.

If I make the choice to move on, I leave a career that I enjoy and people (for the most part) that I like. I set in motion a series of decisions that impact not just the immediate status of my life, but also puts at risk the future plans and aspirations I had. What is currently a fairly comfortable existence financially suddenly becomes rather uncomfortable and quite possibly a struggle that sets my financial future back years. It basically feels like starting over.

This is no small decision.

The timeline for making the decision gets shorter with each passing day.

What would you do? Or, if you have been put in a similar situation, what did you do?

Nothing gained

Posted on August 16, 2021 by backuphill

The fall of Afghanistan was inevitable. The long war there was never really tolerated by the American people and winning over the “Graveyard of Empires” was nearly a lost cause before it started. The intention was to get rid of the bad guys and build a new democracy – necessary to start and noble to finish, but a lost cause in the end.

Afghanistan is a 3rd world country and never will be anything more than that. It has little to no industry. It has little to no agriculture. Wait, let me amend that – little to no useful agriculture. It has little to no history of democracy. There really isn’t any political will inside the country to be anything other than a 3rd world country. The people just want to be left alone, they rely on a religious ideology that is stuck in the Stone Age and impedes on modern progress at every turn.

All political power and will is based on local warlords. Thus, those who gain power and increase it do it mostly through violence, coercion, and bribery. The “elected” president (Karzai) , propped up by the US for so long, was essentially a local warlord who ran the country through bribes and special favors. He sought to increase his own wealth all while giving the illusion that he was working for democracy.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise. The cries from the Afghan people about the corruption started the moment he was elected. But, coming from a patriarchal society based on family units/clans, big and small, is no way to begin a democracy.

Unfortunately, as the Taliban continues to take over a country that has been trained and armed by Western allies (but mostly the US) they are essentially now gaining control over modern weapons. Obviously, this is a great upgrade from using Soviet era arms leftover from the Soviet Union retreating from their lost cause in the ’80s. You can train a people and arm a people, but if they have no will to fight or defend their own country from religious zealots.

As a result, the West will return to a higher level of threat than it has known since 9/11. The world isn’t a safer place.

I feel sorry for the Afghan people who truly dreamed there might be change. Who truly dreamed the US would keep it’s promise. I feel sorry for the women who deserve some freedom, rights, and dignity. I feel sorry for the many, many soldiers (from countries all over the world, but especially American service men and women) who fought and were wounded, physically and mentally, or died while trying to help the country out of their 3rd world status. The ultimate sacrifice was made by many but is seems it was a sacrifice for nothing at this point.

The current American administration, Biden, is to blame for this. Abandoning the people, the promises, and the possibilities has so many echoes of Vietnam it is hard to deny. The images and stories coming from Afghanistan are striking with how similar they are. Once again, the ideal of democracy is abandoned by the American government and the American people that wouldn’t support the effort.

It’s just heartbreaking.

The repercussions will echo for many years to come.

History has repeated itself.

Cliché, but true.

Getting squeezed

Posted on August 10, 2021 by backuphill

It seems the proverbial walls are closing in on those who value individual freedoms and bodily autonomy as the cry for forced vacksinations (yeah, gotta spell it wrong these days to avoid the censors – even on WordPress). It is no longer coercion and has transitioned to the sidewalk style hold-up where you have little to no choice in the matter. Soon, it might even transition to the strapped to bed or chair (yeah, go ahead, call it conspiracy but “they” said it would never get to this at the beginning, remember?) and forced to get the shot.

Yesterday, the governor in my state decided that all state workers are now mandated to have the prick (I think there is a bumper sticker slogan in there “Got the prick from the prick!”) by Oct. 18 or face termination. Plain and simple. Get it, or you’re out. If that isn’t a “gun to the head” type coercion I don’t know what is.

I am exempt from that requirement for the moment because I am part of the K-12 educational arena, but it was highly “suggested” that this arena also force workers and students to get the vacksination as soon as possible. The illusion that there is choice left for people is so transparent it isn’t even believable any longer.

So, that essentially leaves three choices for me:

Be unemployed as a result of losing my job.
Find a different job prior to the deadline that won’t require getting stuck.
Give in and compromise my belief in personal choice (not just for me but for all).

Overly dramatic? Don’t think so.

Remember, when this whole thing started we were all told it would never get to this. The goal posts were put out there and then they just kept moving…and still keep moving…and those who have now grabbed control aren’t going to let it go, so prepare for it to be a never ending target. We’re all familiar with the whole “flatten the curve” and “temporary” and other statements made. The governor here has near dictatorial powers and the legislature can’t even question it, unless of course they change the law (which would require bipartisanship and guess who is in control? The Left).

Anyway, what would YOU do? What are you GOING to do?

If the vacksination mandate hasn’t yet come for you, it will. It is only a matter of time and you need to be prepared for it. What’s your plan?

Authoritarian state

Posted on August 4, 2021 by backuphill

Photo by Kris Mu00f8klebust on Pexels.com

“We’re doing this for your own good.”

A statement you’re going to hear a lot in the near future.

Your freedom of choice is going to be taken away from you and this is only the first of many choices that you will no longer have a say in. It’s gonna soon be “my way or the highway” for lots of decisions that we have taken for granted.

I don’t know about you, but I saw little appeal in visiting New York previously but not I can honestly say there will no appeal whatsoever. As the governor of the state continues his over-reach on privacy and private businesses, there will be no reason at all to ever visit the state. (Apparently, he has also be “over-reaching” in his interactions with women too…”

A government official “strongly suggesting” a vaccine-only admissions policy is the first of many cascading steps to the government forcing compliance. We have already seen this with the lockdowns, so it is only a matter of time before we see it come about while simply trying to enjoy freedom as an American.

Sure, they want businesses to feel like they are the ones suggesting it and making it happen but we all know that isn’t the case. This is just so it takes the heat off the government and puts it on private businesses to deal with. It’s coercion and it’s all too common these days.

Of course, businesses big and small are accommodating the government here, there, and everywhere because they don’t want to get shut down themselves…well, because, coercion…

The avalanche has started and it is only going to get bigger. Life as you knew it, won’t be coming back.

Predictable intrusion

Posted on July 19, 2021 by backuphill

You didn’t have to be a fortune teller to see this stuff coming.

Those people who predicted that Animal Farm or 1984 would come true (you know, the ones labeled as conspiracy theorists) apparently weren’t so far off, as the government has, and continues, to be in close contact with social media giants in order to “control narratives,” direct information, kill truth, and thus subjugate the population as it continues it’s bent on thought control. Obviously, the media itself has been in on the whole thing too, but then we already knew that.

The Biden administration confirmed that they are indeed coming after your free thought, the ability to ask questions and be skeptical, and truth in general as they seek to bury anything that doesn’t fit with their narrative. It even doubled down on Friday by saying, essentially, that your freedom of speech and free thought didn’t matter if it didn’t fit with the information they want you to have.

I have seen that the government is exploring the possibility of injecting themselves (see what I did there?) into your private text conversations to also combat misinformation. Though they deny that is really the intention, it can’t be too far off if they are battling people making choices of their own free will to not get the vaccine.

Soon, there will be people showing up at your door (if you aren’t vaccinated) to lecture you on the need to get vaccinated. As the Biden admin and Dr. Fauci state, it’s not the government doing this but “trusted” community activists who will be at your door to harass you. No, they aren’t government goons yet, but that could be down the road when you choose not to follow the silly government restrictions for operating your business or whatever.

I supposed life will continue to get uncomfortable for those who like to think skeptically and for themselves. The effort being put forth to control where you go, what you do, how you do it, and when you do it OR what you say, when you say it, how you say it, and where you say it is totally unprecedented in our history.

If you believe that the government (no matter who is in control) has your best interest in mind, your are sadly mistaken.

Only YOU have your best interest in mind and if you are letting others control what you believe and how to believe it, then you will lose your ability to have your best interest in mind.

You are giving up control and you won’t get it back.

The CDC recommends…

Posted on July 9, 2021 by backuphill

I am sure you are starting to dread what comes next, after those words, “The CDC recommends…”. It seems the recommendations are about as based in science as they are in absurdity.

So, it should come as no surprise that there will be a higher than usual demand for full body condoms and personal breathing apparatuses (after all, it’s hard to breath in a rubber sack).

The CDC has now recommended that everyone over the age of 12 should wear a full body condom while in public, anywhere, all the time. This of course will prevent you from getting or giving the coronavirus, the flu,, and nearly all other transmissible diseases. There. We have finally gotten to the whole “living in a bubble” idea. Besides, it is also much faster to hose yourself down with bleach (or other preferred chemical) when you return home.

I have no idea why the CDC recommends getting the vaccine. It sure doesn’t meet with common sense if people are still recommended to social distance of at least three feet AND where a mask. I mean, is there really a point if you still have to do those things?

Look, people get the flu shot every year and they still have the possibility of getting the flu. If you get the covid vaccine then you still have a chance of getting covid. I get it. But, much like the flu, the severity of symptoms is minimized. That’s why they recommend getting the flu shot. So, the logic behind all of this is completely counter to what has happened in the past.

If someone doesn’t want to get the vaccine, they shouldn’t have to wear the “Scarlet U” of a facemask. Those who are vaccinated are technically protected against covid. Those who remain unvaccinated know the risk they are taking and for those who took an unproven vaccine knew the risks they were taking.

There are lots of things out there the CDC now recommends. If you want a laugh, do a search….or read the headlines. Either way works.