government

Stimulating mail theft

Posted on by backuphill

The first two rounds of stimulus money was direct deposited into my account because it was based off the 2019 tax return, a return that we got a refund from so the IRS had our bank account info. Unfortunately, the 2020 tax return didn’t see a return, but a payment. As such, the stimulus money was coming a different way…by mail.

OK, it’ll take longer to get (not that it was needed or desired – because, you know, taxes will be where the difference is made up from yet another hand out). I didn’t really think much of the way it would arrive until it arrived.

Mail theft is a VERY real problem.

I don’t know of a specific instance where my mail has been stolen, but I do have a mailbox out on the road and it is something I think about often. Therefore, the mail gets retrieved from the box as quickly as possible on most days.

So, imagine my surprise when the stimulus payment didn’t come in a relatively non-descript envelope, but one that essentially announces what is inside. No guessing needed. I know exactly what is inside just by looking at the envelope! Sometimes the government really is that stupid!

The little flyer inside the envelope (see below the envelope) makes it pretty clear what is inside the envelope, which is good – INSIDE the envelope.

Yes, I have heard the stories of people throwing away their stimulus payments, or their access to the stimulus payments. What I haven’t heard are the stories of people getting them stolen. I am pretty sure it has happened, so why don’t we hear about them?

Anyway, maybe I am just ranting about nothing. Maybe I am on to something. I don’t really know. I was just surprised by how obvious it was to the contents of the envelope.

Highway robbery

Posted on by backuphill

This is my first foray into the prescription drug market in quite some time. I don’t like what I see, or felt, when I went to pick it up.

This all, of course, stems from the ear infection that I have been dealing with since the Apple Airpods Pro 2 decided to tear up my ear canals. Thanks, Apple. I appreciate finding out that I am now allergic to my expensive earphones’ silicone ear tips. You can read all about that at the link above.

So, the day I went to the doc to confirm what I already knew, they prescribed some ear drops to help with the paid and clear up the ear canal. The prescription was sent to the pharmacy and I waited about four hours before going in to pic it up. It is rarely available immediately, so there was no point in rushing in to get it. I waiting in line for 20 minutes only to find out the prescription wasn’t ready and I would have to go back the following afternoon because they “were out of the product.”

I was a little EAR-itated…but I had already been dealing with it for a couple days so no biggie. I waited 24 hours and went back.

It took the gal a little while to get the whole thing ready to go once I presented my info and insurance card. The pharmacist came over took a look and asked if I had any questions (seriously? They are ear drops. I haven’t forgotten where my ears are!).

Finally the gal says, “That’ll be 150.”

I was like, “1 dollar and fifty cents?”

She replied, “No, $150. It’s kind of an expensive co-pay.”

My reply, “Holy crap! Are there gold flecks in the drops? What makes them so expensive?”

She says, “I am not sure, but probably the brand.”

I debated letting my ears just deal with it. I mean, who really needs ears anyway, right?

I forked over the credit card (don’t get all judgy…the credit card is treated like a debit card for the rewards) and waited patiently for the transaction to be done.

When I got out to the car I opened the paperwork that was in the bag. The picture at the top of the blog is what the ACTUAL cost of the eardrops would have been had I not had insurance. My drug co-pay isn’t that great, so I was prepared to pay some dollars, but not this prepared.

I am a little stunned. Well, actually, not really.

You hear about this stuff all the time, but this is the first time I have experienced it. There is literally no reason for the cost of this tiny little vial of liquid other than because the drug companies have absolutely no checks and balance on they way the industry works.

Sure, I am a proponent of the free-market, capitalist society. But we all know there is a serious issue with the way the medical industry works. Scalping? Gouging? Inflation? Unfair practices? Most certainly all of those.

After I am done using the drops in my ear, I might just drink the rest of the liquid – even though it says it isn’t for internal consumption. I sure as hell and going to get every dollars worth of value out of that thing. One way or another.

Frog in a pot

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Chris F on Pexels.com

A frog doesn’t know it is being cooked when the heat inside the pot slowly rises. Instead, it stays in the pot and doesn’t try to escape because it doesn’t recognize the danger it is in until it is too late.

There are a lot of Americans who don’t realize they are frogs in the pot.

The chef in the kitchen are the Democrats and their recipe for destroying America has all the right ingredients at the moment.

Compliant or apathetic people who look to the government to take care of them and solve their problems.

I may be a frog in the pot, but I sure know what the hell is going on and I am doing my best to get out, but those other frogs in the pot just keep pulling me back in.

Are you willing to get boiled, a slow and steady death…of your freedoms?

You better wake up and open those eyes soon. Those people you put in power are going to take your power and there won’t be any looking back.

Own it

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Maria Orlova on Pexels.com

Crisis created by promises made before an election. Promises the American people disagree with, and promises the administration’s rear end can’t cash. Of course, the Biden administration is going to say it isn’t a crisis but the numbers are pretty much the same as they were when the Democrats said there was a crisis under Trump. They probably are worse.

The border is a mess again.

The same as it was during the Obama administration and leading up to a Trump takeover. Why was it bad? Democrats had promised something they couldn’t provide and immigrants were scrambling to get across the border illegally before a new administration took over in Washington, DC.

The Trump administration handled it (maybe not the best way, but it definitely sent a message) and the stabilization of national sovereignty and border integrity was beginning to take shape. Something that is not only necessary, but a requirement for the establishment of law and order.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people coming over the border illegally and even more headed that way because of bad policy and empty promises from the Democrats. There is no one to blame, though the Biden administration is of course blaming Trump, except the Democrats. There was no crisis at the border when Trump left office. This is clearly the result of Biden entering office and immediately reversing all border policies previously in place.

There is no other explanation.

So, Biden (et al.), own it.

Just step up and own it.

Revert back to policies that were working and engage in true immigration reform, rather than giving the impression that the border is open.

Changing time

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Moose Photos on Pexels.com

It’s time to change…the change of time…

It’s time to dump the silly “Fall back” and “Spring forward” nonsense. It was probably useful at a time, but that time has passed and it is time to move on. Time is ticking…can’t waste even a second…no time like the present…

(It is weird that there are so many “time” clichés?)

Anyway, WA state passed the necessary laws it needed a while back to stay on Daylight Savings time, but they can’t go into effect unless Congress acts and makes it a federal thing. Thankfully, it has been reintroduced in Congress and it might actually have enough traction to pass this time, or time to pass, or…well, you get it.

Business people, health people, regular people all have said it is time to go. Everyone hates this ritual and there are lots of reasons for it’s time to pass. Let’s just hope Congress get’s their act together and makes it happen. This could be the very last time we need to do it (for those of us that have had to do it since it was instituted).

It’s time to make this change permanent…this time.

What do you think? How do you feel about this issue?

(How many times did I use the word time in this blog about the time change?)

Loss of freedom

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Paulo Marcelo Martins on Pexels.com

Did everyone really think China was just going to leave Hong Kong alone when the British handed it over 23 years ago? Sure, the agreement said that China would have to keep it’s democracy intact and not limit the freedoms of the people loving there. Ha! With a wink, wink, and a nudge, nudge China said, “Sure, we’ll do that.” But they secretly had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

We have watched the slow-ish erosion of freedoms ever since. Today, the Communists in China effectively eliminated democracy from the one area most hoped would have greater influence on the rest of China. The resistance in Hong Kong has been admirable, but Communism just keeps on rolling. Mao is probably dancing in his grave today.

I feel sad for the people in Hong Kong. Their lives aren’t going to get better. It almost always goes the wrong direction when it comes to this stuff.

That Great Wall of China just got, for all intents and purposes, a little longer.

Rover

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Eva Elijas on Pexels.com

NASA has done it again. They have pulled off a scientific and technological feat that is astounding, really. I watched the thing unfold and the landing appears to have gone flawlessly, even though the actual testing of this event was theoretical and computer modeling.

That’s all pretty cool stuff. But it raises some questions for me.

The first one has to do with the way it is powered.

It isn’t solar this time. It’s basically a small nuclear reactor. So, if there is technology to use this kind of thing in space and if there is technology to use something even bigger on our military naval vessels, why aren’t we using this technology to power our homes? Our schools? Our hospitals, stadiums, cities, our cars, etc? Why not? Wouldn’t it be better than the options we have now?

The second question comes back to the “search for life.”

Proof of life only has to be a single cell microbe of something. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as they can define it as “living.” Of course it would be hailed as an incredible scientific discovery and lauded for all time. It will raise other questions too.

What gets me on this one is that a small single cell microbe will declared as “living” but a human embryos and fetuses are still seen as “not living.” Human, multicellular organisms on earth aren’t considered life by a bunch of people up here on this ball of dirt, thus they don’t see any problem with destroying that life. How wrong and misguided is that? It astounds me.

Anyway, a robot on another planet (again) is pretty cool. I am sure it will help answer some questions, but not all of them.

One man’s…

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

Perspective, or point of view, makes a big difference in how you or others view something. When it really comes down to it, no one perspective is correct because everyone sees things just a little bit differently. Two people can experience the exact same thing, yet have different views about what happened, how it happened, who it happened to, and what happened afterwards.

One man’s patriot is another man’s terrorist.

When I was teaching my history classes and specifically a class on modern terrorism I used to challenge my students’ thought by giving them the phrase above. It is based on the statement, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” I have researched who may have first uttered these words, but I can’t find anything that definitively gives attribution, so I can’t give you that info. But, that isn’t really the point.

Who defines a patriot and a terrorist really comes down to perspective or interpretation. There is no one definition that can truly encompass what the words actually mean. As such, it almost always comes down to who has the power to define the people, the actions, and the result. As Michael Bhatia of Brown University puts it, “…it’s about power, authority, and legitimacy.”

Now, he is talking specifically about international terrorism in general, but I think we can apply the situation and phrase to many different historical events because there are always two sides to take a look at.

  • The leaders in Britain saw the colonists as insurrectionists, terrorists, etc. as the colonists fought to create the United States. But the colonists saw their own people as freedom fighters, patriots, etc. because they were standing up to the tyranny of England.
  • The American military saw Iraqis in Iraq as terrorists when they blew up convoys, attacked bases and outposts, and killed Americans whether they were in the military or not. But the Iraqis saw the American military as an invading occupier and those who fought against the occupier were freedom fighters and patriots.
  • The leadership in South Africa saw the South Africans fighting for their rights and freedoms as insurrectionists and terrorists, but Nelson Mandela and his followers saw themselves as a freedom fighters and patriots.
  • Fidel Castro and his followers viewed themselves as patriots and freedom fighters who liberated their island from the right wing government and imperialist international interests while the government and international community viewed him as an insurrectionist and terrorist.

These are but a few examples. The point is, those in power have the ability to define anything and anyone as they see fit. We can’t let them define situations and people so easily without a little common sense and critical thinking.

What happened at the capitol last week can be viewed in much the same way. Are we going to let the media and those in power dictate who is a patriot and who is a terrorist? The use of either word has strong connotations behind them and if not used carefully, as in just throwing them around to fit a political agenda, it could harm people and ideas, and most importantly freedoms. It could keep people from standing up and fighting for their rights when there is legitimate cause to do so.

We must be careful when defining who is a patriot and who is a terrorist, because if we aren’t then the terms can too easily be manipulated for political purposes, which in turn allows us to be manipulated for political gain.

The Ban

Posted on by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The ban from Twitter heard (or not heard) round the world. An interesting case of “private” versus “public” property, business, and serving the public. Can we trust the ban from tech no matter where or who it is?

Parler, a “conservative” alternative to Facebook, is banned by Apple, Google, and Amazon. The reason, supposedly, is for the fact that there is no “moderation” of the site and the planning of the WA DC riot took place on this venue.

I have seen some of my friends talking about this stuff on social media and saying that such bans don’t violate the 1st Amendment and the Freedom of Speech because the clause specifically refers to protection from oppression of private citizens by the government. That is true.

But over the years, that protection has been expanded beyond just the government oppression of citizens and been used to protect lots of different situations where people were upset with something someone said. Protections was extended to protect what people say because of the “marketplace of ideas” concept.

So there are some real contradictions when you see a private business (whom obviously serves a wider audience than just the public or private citizen, AND us a publicly help corporation) decided who can and who can’t use their service. The issue become rather problematic when you start applying the standards to some, but not others.

A friend posted on Facebook the other day (in regards to Parler), “…They are all privately owned businesses who can do business with whomever they choose. Would you as a business owner,…, like to be ‘forced’ to do business with someone who didn’t match your companies [sic] values?…”

Apparently this justification of “freedom to do business with whomever I please” is appropriate to apply on some situations when it fits the liberal narrative, but not the conservative narrative.

A few situations come to mind:

  • Shall I be forced to create a flower arrangement or bake a cake for a same-sex union if it doesn’t fit with my company’s values?
  • Shall I be forced to pay for abortions or provide health coverage that includes the abortion pill if it doesn’t fit with my company’s values?

In the cases above, the government has forced people and companies to “serve the public” even though the people they were going to be forced to serve were clearly going to go against the company’s values. For all intents and purposes, the lawsuits filed against the owners of these companies were basically told they couldn’t discriminate against people who had different values than they did.

Isn’t that what we have going on here when we talk about banning a service that is used by people who differ in “values?”

Liberals and liberal companies discriminating against conservatives and conservative companies?

Clearly, when violence, threats of violence, or breaking the law is at the heart of the service being provided, then a company should be able to limit those who have violated “community standards.” Did the president do this? Maybe. But, did the vast majority of users on Parler do this? Likely not. We’re talking about a small portion of the community, but the whole community was punished.

The result is you appear to be silencing an entire group of people simply because you don’t agree with their perspective, their opinions, or their beliefs.

There is dangerous precedent in this.

The big deal here is that if it happens here, where else can it happen and who else or what else can they do?