Politics | Piss and Moan

A lesson from Hong Kong

Posted on July 8, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Jimmy Chan on Pexels.com

Wanna know what happens if the progressives and liberals ever win back all the branches of the government in the United States? Too dramatic? Overly cautionary? Hyper-political?

Pay attention to what is happening in Hong Kong.

Am I overreacting? Am I being alarmist? Am I blowing things out of proportion? No, of course it won’t be exactly like that. It will be a slower march towards Communism, but similar nonetheless.

China and their Communist government has designs on domination and they don’t care what freedoms and guarantees they made to the international community over Hong Kong. The freedom that the people who live there is all but about gone, and China is warning the international community to not interfere.

With current trends in progressive and liberal politics, the march towards socialism becomes a greater threat. As the march towards socialism gets stronger, cancel culture, censorship, and the expectation that everyone fall in line with their ideology increases too.

Dissent? Don’t speak out or you will get a mob of unfriendlies descending upon you to ruin your career, life, relationships, and demonize you until you apologize (doesn’t matter if you do, they still blacklist you) or disappear from the public (either from your doing it or from them doing it).

Don’t think it’s possible? When England handed over Hong Kong back to China in 1999, no one really thought it would ever happen there either. “Communist take over of Hong Kong? Nah, it’s enjoyed too much freedom for too long, plus it’s an international hub for the world’s businesses. It’ll never happen!” So much for that thought, right?

The slow march in the US is a lot like a frog in a pot. You don’t know you’re cooked until it is too late. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in the pot who are not paying close enough attention to what is going on.

China is a threat. Russia is a threat. Not from weapons, at least not yet, but from ideology.

There will be a day when we wake up and the state of the States will be piss poor and many were too blinded by the agenda to see it coming.

Rockstar

Posted on July 7, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Vijay Putra on Pexels.com

Why is this song so popular?

Sure it has a great beat. Sure it a some catchy phrases in it. BUT, it wasn’t until I looked up the lyrics that I really understood what the song was about. It’s really kind of disgusting and shouldn’t be popular. It should actually make people angry, and there apparently isn’t any. Where is the outrage over this stuff?

Violence? Check. N-word? Check. Gangsta persona? Check.

“Rockstar” by DaBaby and Roddy Ricch is perpetuating exactly what is wrong in rap music. That music translates to what plays out in the communities that listen to it. Glorifying exactly what went on in major cities all over the country.

Over the holiday weekend, more violence. Could this song be a contributor? Hard to say for sure, obviously, but you can bet there are people out there listening to it and romanticizing the violence and behavior it talks about.

Why do radio stations place this stuff? Why aren’t people holding them accountable for playing music that glorifies violence, murder, drugs, gangsters, etc.? Better yet, why aren’t artists holding other artists accountable for writing about and singing about this stuff?

Perhaps the artists and their music really isn’t about building up a community, or a culture, so much as it is about exploiting it. Perhaps the artists don’t really care about the message that has been played over and over in the media. Just as long as they get theirs and can take it to the bank, right?

That’s irresponsible. That’s hypocrisy. That’s exploitation.

July 4

Posted on July 6, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by john paul tyrone fernandez on Pexels.com

No, today isn’t July 4. Sorry if that threw you off for a moment. Hopefully you don’t tell time by the calendar of my blogging.

It was an interesting holiday, wasn’t it?

People can’t even celebrate with fireworks anymore. Governments are trying to kill that tradition with regulations (though the people in my community have done their best to try and do it anyway).

People locked down. People being mandated to wear masks. People being told they can’t gather. Celebrations cancelled. People not able to do the things they have done in the past because of fear generated by a pandemic.

People aren’t feeling so free these days. Freedom didn’t seem to ring quite as loudly this year. Freedom has had quite the damper on it from the government…kind of like back in the day, when July 4 was the culmination of people having it up their eyeballs with government interference on their daily lives. Weird.

Oh, and then there is the “woke” crowd and their “cancel culture” who need a bit of a history lesson.

Colin Kaepernick apparently needs a history lesson or three. He said he (and apparently other “woke” people) wasn’t going to celebrate the 4th of July holiday because it was a “celebration of white supremacy.” You apparently can catch that twit/tweet/whatever you call it on Twitter.

Hey, Colin, Independence Day isn’t about celebrating a race of any kind. It’s about celebrating the separation of the colonies (eventually the United States) from England. It’s about a national celebration, not a racial celebration. To add to your history lesson, there was a time when an African-American, or Black, did have a gripe about celebrating freedom because not all in the United States were free. Frederick Douglass, when he wrote and delivered “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, was protesting slavery and the lack of political freedom for Blacks. It seems those two issues have been solved.

Is America perfect? Nope. Have people made mistakes? Yep. But to say that Independence Day is a holiday about white supremacy is just plain stupid. Should celebrating the holiday negate ALL progress made since that day? Nope. Again, plain stupidity.

America is still the best place to live and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, but I am not going to stop you if you would like to go somewhere else. Feel free to explore other places in the world.

That’s the thing about freedom, you can move anywhere you like.

Ain’t no one stopping you…well, except governments (and media) who have everyone locked down in fear.

God Bless America!

Blinded by agenda

Posted on July 3, 2020 by backuphill

So, are we going to continue to pretend that the protests that happened over the last several weeks had no demonstrable effect on the increase of cases now?

Do they really think that the demonstrations they encouraged, or at the very least didn’t discourage, did’t contribute to what we are seeing now?

Doesn’t the virus have a two week(ish) incubation period?

I don’t think we can overlook the fact that the trend was headed downward until the protests took place. States and economies were already open and the trend was still going down.

But as soon as we see uncontrolled protests and riots, a spike? C’mon! Any rational person can put two and two together. Don’t need to be special smart for this. It’s plain as can see.

Unless, of course, you are blinded by your agenda.

Take down

Posted on July 2, 2020 by backuphill

woman in black long sleeve shirt and black pants sitting on brown wooden armchair

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I did something yesterday I thought I would never do, and I don’t know how I feel about it. It seemed necessary but I still question whether it was the right thing to do. I suppose it can be undone, but I am not sure how to do it so the same thing doesn’t happen.

I took down (as in deleted) a post I wrote on my other blog.

It was a pretty good post, at least I thought it was.

Apparently, other people thought so too, except for the wrong reasons.

It got some traffic after I wrote it two years ago, but not much. But I started noticing a lot of traffic to this particular post late last year. It was getting between 15-30 hits per month. I thought maybe it was because of the image. I could have been. I thought maybe it was because people were starting to make some logical sense of the topic, or maybe they just appreciated my take on the topic.

The last two months have had over a 100 and over 150 respectively. Hmmmm….

So, I Googled the title. It was third on the list of search results. Usually this would be a great thing and most of the time we would be flattered to be ranked so highly in a Google search because it means our writing is getting exposure. But…

That’s when I discovered that maybe the increase in traffic was because it had suddenly become the flash point, rallying cry, support, ammunition, (whatever you want to call it) for a group I have no association with, nor do I want to have. I don’t want to have something I have written be co-opted and used as propaganda to their “cause.”

I debated what I should do. How do I get it to NOT show up as part of the search for this group? Do I change the title? Would that help? Do I rewrite it so the phraseology changes the search algorithm? Do I remove the image or change it? Do I just put a disclaimer on it saying that I am in no way associated with or want to be associated with the group in the search results?

I finally decided to change the title first, but couldn’t come up with an equally good title. But, I did it anyway. I then updated and published it. Yeah, that didn’t/doesn’t seem to make a difference. It still shows up in the search results with the old title. It’s just when you click on the link that it takes you to the newly edited post. Doesn’t appear as though that would work.

So, I deleted it.

I searched again. Still there in the search results. Only now when you click on the title, it gives you a 404 error message…but if you click on the cached link, it still takes you to the post. UGH. Now what? I am not sure how long it will be there (or if it will ever go away).

I hate censoring myself in this manner, but I also don’t want something I wrote about historical matters to be used in the wrong way or by a group I don’t want to be associated with. Know what I mean?

Anyone have advice on this?

Protection?

Posted on June 29, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Anyone tired of this face condom thing yet?

Scoff? That’s not what it is…you say…

If I understand the science (that is still all over the place on actual effectiveness) I am being told, then that’s exactly what wearing a mask essentially is – a face condom.

So, according to widely spread, not supportable, social media statistics, if two people wear masks there is a 1.5% chance of a healthy person contracting Covid-19 from a sick person. Now, the CDC won’t confirm those numbers because they have no idea of the accuracy, but the claim is always followed up with “it’s just good to be safe and watch out for others.”

OK, so the CDC won’t give stats on this particular issue.

Interestingly, they also don’t give stats (at least I can’t find any) on their website about the effectiveness of condom use. It can be found in other places though. 98% is the number.

That means (roughly) that condoms and masks work (mostly) with the same effectiveness (if you believe the mainstream narrative) from keeping someone from getting something they don’t want.

Thus, 2020 is the Year of the Face Condom.

You’re welcome.

Want to?

Posted on June 26, 2020 by backuphill

Head in Hands

No, actually I don’t want to.

Adulting.

Being required to do things we don’t want to sucks.

No, I don’t want to wear a mask every fricking place I go.

No, I don’t want to follow stupid city and country rules about how to use my own property.

No, I don’t want to go your stupid trainings.

No, I don’t want to help the constantly needy and irresponsible kids, again.

No, I don’t want to mow the lawn.

No, I don’t want to pay stupid taxes so my money can be used by stupid people for stupid things.

No, I am not answering your stupid question(s).

No, I don’t want to pull weeds.

No, I am not going to do your job for you.

No, I don’t want to go to work.

No, I don’t want to share my food.

No, I don’t want to make you food.

No, I don’t want to exercise.

No, I don’t want to eat something other than pizza and burgers. And ice cream. And chocolate chip cookies. And popcorn.

No, I don’t want to see people. Or talk to them.

No, I don’t want to stop rolling my eyes every time you say something.

No, I don’t want to stop pointing out every time you do something stupid and then it bites you in the ass.

No, I don’t want to listen to your ideas.

No. I don’t want to.

No.

I just don’t want to.

Anyone else feeling this way? Anyone agree with anything listed above? Got a “No, don’t want to…” to add?

Tell me what you think or add another in the comments!

Masks

Posted on June 24, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Ashutosh Sonwani on Pexels.com

My idiot governor has now “mandated” the use of masks statewide.

I hate the idea. Many, many, many people hate the idea.

The science is all over the place and if there was no need to do it previously (remember, they told us not to…because they were afraid there would be a shortage but now any old piece of fabric supposedly works) than what is the need now?

Power.

Government officials feel their power slipping away. In this state’s case, its likely an ego stroking for the governor too.

So, here we go.

To mask, or not to mask? That is the question.

To sheep or not to sheep? Also a question.

Twitter twits

Posted on June 18, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I don’t use Twitter.

I’ll make that clear from the start, so I am not completely sure how exactly it works but familiar enough that it’s function and purpose are pretty clear. I have no desire to use Twitter (except maybe to complain about service from companies I have been a customer of since that seems to generate a response).

What I have seen as of late, because everyone who seems to use Twitter also has their other social media connected to it, is that Twitter is used to proffer a lot of unsubstantiated claims about a whole spectrum of subjects (yes, I am aware the President is also guilty of this too).

120 people have been killed by police since George Floyd. 20 days, 120 people.

Now, obviously the unsubstantiated statement above is going to trigger lots of people, considering the climate in the country right now.

That claim has been spread widely on social media. I have seen Twitter messages (shared via Instagram) and Instagram messages propagate this claim. It obviously fans the flames for fear or outright disdain, dare I say “hatred,” for law enforcement. It is meant to be inflammatory. A lot of things these days are purposefully being shared because it fits the narrative they want to believe.

This, of course, is unfortunate.

I am not a Twitter Twit.

I am not one to take something as fact without evaluating the information and it’s source. When I saw this shared by dozens of people I follow on Instagram my first thought wasn’t, “OMG! The police are outta control. Bastards. We should get rid of them all because they’re all bad!” Nope. Not even close. My first thought was, “What is the source of this claim? Where did they get this info? Is this true?”

I looked. I investigated.

Not a single person who shared this claim offered any sort of proof, source, data, etc. It was shared based on emotion and agenda – “Truth be damned!”

So I dug.

As it turns out, I could only find one article checking the accuracy of this claim. Conclusion of the article? It might be accurate, I might not be accurate. As usual, it depends on how you interpret the data…data that is incomplete and not “official,” and data that might be inaccurate or biased. Oh, and I would like to point out the site’s “About” page does offer a glimpse into WHO is doing the fact checking, but as all fact checking sites do, it claims to be bias free. Take that as a grain of salt, as the WHO have also been involved with traditionally liberal journalistic organizations.

Anyway, Twitter is filled with lots of twits who care nothing for the truth. Just that it generates a lot of likes and retweets, likes and shares, etc. etc. etc.

Conclusion: Twitter is mostly useless.

Tweet that, twits!

Hey, Siri!

Posted on June 17, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Tracy Le Blanc on Pexels.com

Get clicks.

Promote the fear of law enforcement to support an agenda.

Encourage illegal behavior for the sake of making money.

“Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over.”

Interesting thing…it’s illegal to record someone without their knowledge (this article takes you to WA, specifically, but you can scroll to the top and see all states) and none of these articles mention that fact at all. They don’t even recommend to check local laws to find out what is legal and what isn’t.

Looking at all the articles, they even read very similarly, like they are written as a press release and the authors just changed some words around and hit publish.

Only one article cautioned about using a third party app (this is not an official app or feature from Apple) but only in passing. So, they are promoting an app or feature that is developed by a third party and there is almost nothing about the data the feature may collect. Lack of concern is interesting. What are they getting for their promotion?

This stuff is irritating because it is playing into and promoting the narrative that we need to fear the police, which is incorrect. Plain and simple fear-mongering to justify clicks.