Politics | Piss and Moan

Holier than thou

Posted on April 27, 2020 by backuphill

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Alright, I am sure this will likely irritate people. Do I care, really? Nope. Have I ever given that impression?

I am tired of people complaining about other people “violating” the “stay home, stay healthy” mandate, as though they are holier than other people.

The reality of it all – you can only control you.

If someone wants to violate the mandate (which may or may not be Constitutional), that is their prerogative. Right? If people aren’t going to live in fear but have common sense and try to go about their daily lives as much as possible, that’s on them. That isn’t your concern.

If someone chooses to see their children or grandchildren in the front yard of their home with little or no contact, that isn’t your concern. If they decide to let them in the house and give each other hugs, that still isn’t your concern.

If someone decided they want to work on a new deck (or any other home improvement project) and need to go to Home Depot to get supplies, that isn’t your concern.

If someone wants to go for a drive, or for a walk, or go camping, or go fishing, or fly on an airplane, or sit on a park bench by themselves, or go windsurfing/paddleboarding…none of that is your concern.

If someone doesn’t want to wear gloves, or a face mask in public, not your concern.

Stay home. No one is forcing you to have human interaction. You can only control you.

If you are going to live in fear, stay home. If you want to hunker down and not see the light of day or get fresh air, that’s your choice. If you wanna live in the TV news cycle and hear about all the bad new, or whatever, that’s your call. If you wanna isolate yourself from the world, more power to you. BUT, keep it to yourself. You can’t and shouldn’t try to control others.

You are not the social police nor should you act like one. Don’t be hiding behind the curtains and reporting people because you don’t think they are beings “safe.” Not your call to make.

This looks different for everyone and their needs are different than yours.

You do you. You are only responsible for protecting yourself and how you do that is your choice.

You aren’t responsible to protect other people. That is their responsibility and if they choose not to do it the way you do it, then they are doing themselves the way they see fit.

Don’t forget the whole thing about pointing fingers…yeah, you know what I am talking about.

Small minority

Posted on March 27, 2020 by backuphill

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Why should a small minority dictate to the majority what is appropriate and acceptable, or what is not?

Case in point: schools are closed in WA and they are trying to figure out how to go forward as this corona virus thing continues. It was communicated out from OSPI (our state superintendent’s office) that districts couldn’t continue to educate their students if they couldn’t guarantee “equity” for all students it serves. Or, at least, they couldn’t require students to attend because of equity (lack of internet, ELL, SpEd, etc.).

OK, on the surface, that makes sense and it looks great on the PR side of things. However, it doesn’t make sense when you start looking at the numbers. That closer look ends up making the policy a complete “F” in my book.

The closer look:

So, we’re not going to educate 90% of the students because 10% can’t participate because of various challenges?

What if it was 50/50? Is that still too low to continue offering education to those who can participate? You can play with the numbers however you like, but at just about any point you can’t justify depriving a larger group of people from something because of a smaller group. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Do you scuttle the sailboat because there is no wind?

Do you throw out the baby with the bathwater?

Do you cut off your hand because you got a splinter in your little finger?

Do you cut off your foot because you broke a toe?

Do you demolish an entire building because a couple rooms in it aren’t or can’t be occupied?

Catch my drift?

Why do we let small groups of people dictate what happens with the larger groups? Seems a bit backwards, doesn’t it?

Remember the saying, “Greatest good for the greatest number“? Why doesn’t that apply these days? Or any day? How did we get so far away from an idea that mostly works?Sure, I know we have to make sure the “minority” group doesn’t get abused by those who are more powerful or has the most resources, but there is still something true about this thought:

What is the greater good when it comes to educating our students?

Mixed messages

Posted on March 12, 2020 by backuphill

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I know for a fact that I don’t need to stock up on TP. That is already clear.

What I am more concerned about is whether or not there will be a shortage of hazmat suits, thus a significant rise in the zombie population.

I don’t feel like the government is addressing this concern. Can we just get some clarification? Do I need a hazmat suit now, or should I wait for demand to overrun the supply so I can pay a price that is in effect equivalent to price gouging?

I mean, I really have an aversion to having zombies and REALLY have an aversion to having my brains eaten (or other body parts – depends on the type of zombie). I know I can start training now to get in physical shape to outrun some zombies, but I am not sure I can social distance myself from all of them, again it depends on the type of zombie.

The government has really fallen down on it’s recommendation here. I am getting mixed messages….

Is there a danger of a zombie apocalypse or not? Do I need a hazmat suit and to begin training to be in top physical condition or not?

I am just trying to determine my next course of action and the mixed messages aren’t helping.

Fact check

Posted on February 5, 2020 by backuphill

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“Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts.”

The rise of fact checkers has never been more needed. We need to make sure our politicians are being truthful (because we all know their not, no matter what side their on). “The spin” is always in play and, quite frankly, can be rather disgusting when it gets right down to it.

So, I appreciate that we have people and organizations who do some fact checking. BUT, they are not exactly infallible. While they purport to be “unbiased,” they are not. We still need to watch for bias and we still need to be aware of leanings. Sure, they may not be as obvious in their bias as some media outlets, but it is still there. Example: simply by choosing what and what not to fact check and then report it could display bias.

Factcheck.org is one of my go to places for fact checking. It’s comprehensive and it appears to have little bias. However, there is still a problem. I’ll use the 2020 State of the Union Address from last night as a demonstration of what I was saying in the last paragraph. The linked article above only covers issues that the president got wrong or embellished. There is nothing in the article that points to where he was correct or telling the truth.

To me, that isn’t a balanced fact check. If you’re gonna do the job, do the whole job – line by line and tell us what is correct and what isn’t. Support it good research. Fact check it all. Once the speech is published in its entirety, fact check the whole thing. Don’t pick and choose what and what not to check.

So, if you are looking for more info, you can also check other places. Get a well rounded view of what is going on and what happened. Get info from every perspective, including from places deemed to have little bias. You can, again, use the president’s address from last night as an introduction to the site. The site is Allsides.org.

I know I have talked about these websites before. But I can’t help but make sure you have a place (or places) you can go to get information that is tainted as little as possible with bias. With a flood of information from anywhere and everywhere on the internet, you need to make sure that what you are consuming is as accurate as possible.

We can’t afford to be ignorant. We must be well informed.

Do your due diligence.

Becoming rather taxing

Posted on January 31, 2020 by backuphill

accounting analytics balance black and white

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The state I live in, Washington, has no income tax. It’s against the law.

What you’ll read in this article is that our legislature is trying apply a tax on businesses with employees who are paid more than $150k a year. All in the name of battling homelessness.

Sounds great does’t it? Not so fast.

The Seattle City Counsel passed a “head tax” on Seattle business last year (you’ll also read that in the article too). That tax was aimed at large corporations whom they feel are exploiting workers and causing the housing costs to go up. So, they would tax these companies X number of dollars per employee, over a certain number of employees. If I remember correctly, it was $550/per employee for really large corporations and $250/per employee for smaller ones. Small business were exempt, supposedly. The counsel soon rescinded that because they did it illegally by holding secret meetings, behind closed doors, etc etc etc.

Now, instead of the local group trying to unfairly tax corporations, the state legislature is taking up the issue and calling it an “excise tax”. As one person interviewed in the article calls it, “New coat of paint on a bad idea.”

The City of Seattle, King County, and others have tried to pass an income tax on high earners ($400K+) several different times. It has consistently been voted down by citizens and the courts as illegal and against the state constitution.

This new effort by the state legislature is essentially moving the high income earners tax from the earner to the employer. Thus, it is an income tax, they have just prettied of the terminology to try and disguise what it actually is.

Our Democrat friends, who constantly like to have their hands in our pockets are at it again. Our Democrat friends are now also playing a different game at every level of politics – if you don’t like the definition of a word, give it a different one and shame everyone who disagrees with you. (I use the word “friend” very loosely.)

This issue is no different. They want their hands in our pockets again….and they don’t like the definition of “income tax” so they just keep renaming it in the hope that no one is paying attention.

Placation

Posted on January 10, 2020 by backuphill

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I am not sure if that is the right word or not. Generally, I am not at a loss for words but the definition for placation kind of fits but doesn’t at the same time.

The definition means that there is some sort of concession or giving of ground. But what if that isn’t really the case? What if someone has just told you something, like “Let’s discuss this at a later date,” but has not intention of actually following through with their statement. They just said it to shut you up.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, I don’t like being treated that way either. Whatever word is appropriate to be used for that situation. Appeasement? Maybe, but again it implies that something was given up by the other party. Concession? No, that’s not it. Patronize? Yeah, maybe that’s it.

I don’t know. I just know I don’t like being treated like that.

Who needs security?

Posted on January 9, 2020 by backuphill

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Every once in a while (well, probably more like every day), I wonder if the people in charge know what the heck they are doing? In this case, it happens to be those who are in charge of military bases and security.

This article, Chinese caught surveilling same US military base twice in 2 weeks, caught my attention earlier this week and after reading it all I could think was, WTF? Who’s in charge of security?

Yes, its concerning the Chinese are trying to spy on our military bases and apparently doing it right under out noses.

Several things in the article stood out. The first was this:

The guard asked the men for their military IDs, which they did not have. She told Wang and Zhang to turn around and leave the grounds. Instead, they drove straight onto the property.

They drove straight onto the property. So, like, anyone can just drive through the gate unobstructed? There little to no barriers to slow them down? No tire spikes or giant posts rising out of the ground like we see in the movies to stop people from proceeding?

So what happens next? Did the guard chase after them?

The guard, who was not permitted to leave her post, radioed other security personnel with a description of the vehicle.

The guard? As in, there is only one guard at this particular post? There aren’t others there, with weapons or vehicles, as back up? What? This can’t really be how things work, can it? So she radioed other security…because there were no other security guards near by? I can’t believe an entrance to a military base is only guarded by one person. Really?

This is rich. So who actually went after these guys after they breached the under-protected gate at a military base?

After 30 minutes, Navy security forces finally located the two men.

Wait, it took 30 minutes to locate them? WHAT?? So for 30 minutes these intruders were driving around a military base, unhindered, because a single guard at a poorly designed post entrance didn’t have any back up? Seriously?

They allowed the security officers to look at their phones and their Nikon camera.

The officers found photographs taken of the property,…Officers also found video Zhang filmed with one of his devices.

Incredible! Absolutely incredible. 30 minutes of information gathering, which I am sure was sent to somewhere to someone who could use the photos for something. I am sure they weren’t just keeping those images on their devices to upload later. That wouldn’t make sense with the technology available today. So, that means they were at least partially successful in their mission. Good grief.

Nice work, whomever is in charge. Way to put safety and security protocols in place that make sense. This whole things has a Three Stooges, or Keystone Cops, feeling to it. This is how we secure a “sensitive storage site for weapons and ammunition”?

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Opinions – I want none of them

Posted on January 8, 2020 by backuphill

Opinions aren’t news. They should not be represented as news. And they sure as hell don’t belong in a “news feed.” Four of the five articles you are suggesting I read are opinion pieces – editorial, NOT news. This type of journalism doesn’t belong anywhere near the front page of a newspaper, let alone a news feed.

If I wanted someone’s opinion, I would seek it out. I don’t need it fed to me.

Dammit, Google, your “news feed” is really pissing me off, and I don’t mean the Piss & Moan kind of pissed off. That kind of pissed off is just a general, “Yeah, I’m irritated about it but not enough to do anything about it” but this crap right here, this is pushing me over the edge to something more. I’ve talked about problems with Goggle’s news feed before, but this just adds to my displeasure for this news source.

Something more…anyone remember the old Discount Tire commercial?

Yeah, I am starting to get that pissed. I just might walk up to Goggle’s front window and throw their news feed through it.

Anyone have any suggestions about a news feed that has a WIDE variety of sources and a WIDE perspective on the news? You know, like they actually report the news but don’t offer their opinions or commentary on it?

Get on with it

Posted on December 26, 2019 by backuphill

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The news is rather tiring these days. Especially the news about this whole “impeachment” thing. Get on with it already. This whole thing isn’t all that historic, as some media outlets would have you believe. What is historic is the partisan crap the people in Congress are trying to feed Americans.

We all know this whole “impeachment” thing is just the Democratic party posturing and trying to find any way possible to discredit the president, whom they have hated from the beginning, even before he was officially a candidate but especially after he defeated the party “Golden Girl,” Clinton. So, in no surprise to anyone, the vote to “impeach” was totally split down party lines. This “urgency” they claim is just that they want it to happen before the next election, not that it has anything to do with protecting the Constitution and the dignity of the office, as they claim.

We all know the president will not be found guilty in the Senate (even if he might be, like Clinton). This too is a complete sham, but if the Democrats in the House won’t even send the “impeachment articles” to the Republican Senate then there won’t be a “trial” at all.

If the Democrats are afraid to follow the necessary steps to allow the Republicans to complete the process, the impeachment really means nothing. Not that it would mean much if he is acquitted either, for we all know there is not even a shred of legitimacy in the whole process.

Let’s have the trial. Follow the process. Complete the stupidity that both parties are continuing to perpetuate. And then let’s move on.

Do the work of the people, not the party.

Newspaper paywalls

Posted on December 19, 2019 by backuphill

Bad Gateway…as in, “You don’t have a subscription.”

The Washington Post once was a paper that would be trusted to give you the news without commentary. Not so much these days, well to be fair, for quite a while. Commentary is a staple of its reporting, but I wanted to call attention (again) to it’s motto, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” *Sorry, it’s a little hard to read in the screenshot above.*

The story of how the motto was adopted can be found here, if you can get past the paywall. Many believe the motto was presumably adopted in response to Trump’s assertion that the media was an enemy of the people for their inaccurate and slanted reporting. The story refutes that presumption, though some still question the truth on that too.

To some degree, the motto is correct, though journalism and the media isn’t to only keeper of democracy. No, there are lots of sources from which information can be obtained these days. What there is a lack of, is accurate and fair journalism and media. Therein lies the death of democracy.

Media and journalists who report their bias, their slant, their take on the information “to inform” the public is killing democracy. In essence, the Washington Post is killing democracy in several ways all by itself.

First, there is, of course, the slanted and liberal bias the paper produces every day. This is not a debatable conclusion. It is fact. So let’s not quibble about this detail.

I would posit the next reason the “paper” (I say it that way because it isn’t a newspaper in the true sense any longer) is helping democracy die is that it has chosen to put its online content (or most of it) behind a paywall. I understand a paywall generates revenue, but doesn’t advertising do the same thing? The problem with the paywall is that it makes it so that only those who can afford to pay for a subscription have access the “the news.”

Is that really keeping everyone informed? Is that really making sure there is equal access to information? Is it equitable for all?

Access to information and access to sound, unbiased reporting is important. Hiding behind paywalls and having more journalism that is predominantly commentary, rather than facts (or a liberal spin on the facts), isn’t keeping democracy alive. It is actually killing it too.

Democracy certainly dies in darkness, but the darkness here is slanted journalism and a paywall.