immigration

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Thursday, January 23, 2025
January 23, 2025

Friend or Foe?

photo of German Waffen SS officers relabled to represent the FBI, CIA, ICA, and Homeland Security

The conversation with Tipper this morning, as she got ready to leave for school, was one that I never imagined needing to have. “If you see anyone coming into your classroom or anywhere else at the school and removing students, I want you to text me immediately.” I didn’t have to tell her why. She’s already well aware of the ICE raids going on around town. She and her classmates have been discussing them and sharing their fears with each other all week.

“It’s more likely to happen on the bus than at school, I think,” Tipper said. “They’ve already been doing that. My friends have seen it. I’ll call you if I see anything.”

“No, text me, don’t call. Don’t do anything that would draw attention to yourself,” I warned her. “Putting your phone up to your ear could be seen as an aggressive action.”

The fact is, she’s concerned. Sure, she’s trying to blow it off and knows that she’s not likely to be at the top of anyone’s list, but there’s that lingering doubt. Tipper knows she can no longer trust some authority figures. She wants to be defiant and protect her friends but she also knows she can’t really fight back against armed adults.

Why the concern? Tipper wasn’t born in the US. Kat and her bio-dad were stationed at the Marine base in Okinawa when she was born. Both US and Japanese birth certificates were issued. Both of her parents are US citizens. Yet, as Felonious Punk wages war against the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, there’s room to question whether she might potentially be caught up in the new detention of immigrants. I’ve tried easing her concerns, she knows her risks are slim, but she’s also aware that situations like these are unpredictable and that innocent people can be caught up.

Making matters worse is the knowledge that the DOJ is investigating any local police who don’t go along with the immigration round-up. This page, straight out of the Waffen SS playbook, makes it impossible to know which police officers can be trusted to uphold the Constitution and which can’t. Crime never stops, but if you can’t trust local police to do the right thing, what happens next? Is it still safe to call 911 if you only speak Spanish? What if you have an ‘accent’ of some kind? Are 911 operators going to send ICE along with emergency services if they think the caller might be an immigrant?

I’m watching to see if there are any mass resignations from the Department of Justice in light of these new presidential orders. I’m not expecting it, at least not yet, but that is what needs to happen. One of the most critical things coming out of the Nuremberg Trials is the legal concept that ‘following orders’ is not an excuse for actions that violate human rights. Nazi soldiers who served as guards at concentration camps were imprisoned and some were put to death for carrying out orders that resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and other imprisoned people. Officials with the FBI, CIA, ICE, and Homeland Security could potentially be prosecuted in the same way if they carry out Punk’s orders. Better for them that they find jobs in the private sector rather than be found complicit with evil.

There is a lot of evil in this administration. Felonious Punk set us back 60 years yesterday when his orders rescinded the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and other long-standing civil rights protections. So far, only COSTCO is standing up and defying the administration. Publicly traded companies are running scared of potential legal costs if white, straight men start claiming that DEI or EEOC policies discriminate against them. You and I both know that such a claim is absolute bullshit, but the legal costs of being involved in such a suit could dramatically affect a company’s bottom line regardless of the outcome. The fact is that anyone who’s not a straight, white male is likely in for a rough time in the employment arena, especially if they work for a publicly traded company. The rights you thought you had have been eliminated.

Congress is complicit in this evil and they’re actively preparing to bring more hardship to your door. Republicans in the House are passing around a proposed list of ways to pay for the Punk’s tax cut and immigration crackdown. Click the link and you can read the whole thing for free. Some of the more aggregious items on the list include but are not limited to the following:

  • Limit Federal Health Program Eligibility Based on Citizenship Status. This policy would remove specified categories of non-citizens from eligibility for federal health care programs.
  • Repeal Title I of IRA (Excluding: 45Q Carbon Sequestration, 45U Nuclear Power, 45Z Clean Fuels, and EV Tax Credit).
  • Repeal Green Energy Tax Credits.
  • End Employee Retention Tax Credit
  • Repeal SALT Deduction. This option would eliminate both the individual and business State and Local Tax deduction.
  • Eliminate Nonprofit Status for Hospitals. Because healthcare isn’t expensive enough already.
  • Eliminate Head of Household Filing Status. The Head of Household filing status provides a larger standard deduction for unmarried individuals who have children.
  • Eliminate Credit for Child and Dependent Care.
  • Eliminate Deduction of Interest on Student Loans.

I’ll stop there because if I included everything on this list that’s alarming it would be over 100 points long. Read the whole thing, please. Descriptions of Republican’s reasoning for these actions are included with most of the items.

The Punk’s recent actions put almost everyone I know at some form of risk. The administration is hoping that you’ll just roll over and take it. I’m sure that a lot of people will. The truth is, we can and should fight back, loudly, ferociously, and using every option available to us. I don’t think we have time for suits to make their way through the court system, especially then the Punk is pushing the DOJ to support his policies. We have to take a more immediate and physical stand. Yes, that may put some of us at greater risk, but we’re already at severe risk just from all the bullshit that Punk has dumped on us this week. I’d rather go out fighting than whimpering in a ditch.

This is the battle against tyranny and fascism that your grandparents and great-grandparents fought in wars to avoid. They didn’t want you to be subject to this type of government. They believed that the United States is better than this. They would all be severely disappointed, if not downright angry, to see where we are now.

Scream. Shout. Disobey. Resist. Dissent. If a 14-year-old can do it, so can you.

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Wednesday, January 22, 2025
January 22, 2025

What Would Batman Do?

AI photo of tractor with plow attachment moving across bloody ground with bones scattered.

For a long time, there have been people, almost smart individuals, who are convinced that we live in either a computer simulation or some other type of alternative reality. Most days, I roll my eyes at such ideas. How can we discern a fake reality when we don’t have a grip on true reality? But then, I started looking through the news this morning and I have to admit that something feels off. There’s snow on the water tower at Pensacola Beach. New Orleans’ Bourbon Street is covered in a white powder that didn’t come from Mexico. The first headline I see? ‘[Felonious Punk] pardons founder of Silk Road website.’ Just down the page from that was ‘Punk fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard and guts key aviation safety advisory committee.’

I think I have it figured out: we’re not in a simulation or alternative reality, we’re in a DC Comics’ Batman episode. The Penguin has managed to become president of Gotham, which is not just a city now but an entire country and his first act was to pardon all the other criminals sitting in Arkham. He then gets rid of law enforcement officials so that he and his friends can’t be arrested again. Drugs and weapons can freely enter the country and can even be ordered directly through the dark web! He sits on his throne and refers to this as the ‘Golden Age of Evil’ while dangerously playing with the Sword of Damocles.

Just like in the hit spinoff series, ‘The Penguin,’ Batman is nowhere to be found. Disappointing, isn’t it? We grew up thinking that a rich heir to his billionaire daddy’s fortune would become the dark-winged vigilante that brought justice to the world. Instead, the billionaires are all over in Davos slapping each other on the back. Has DC Comics been lying to us this entire time or did they just hire a new set of writers?

In this episode, the Felonious Punk Penguin, like any comic book villain, is testing his powers to see how much he can get away with. He starts by removing the Constitution and other founding documents as well as information about preceding presidents from the White House website. A handful of people grumble online, but not enough to bother him. Next, he eliminates traditional places of sanctuary such as churches and schools, opening the door to anyone being arrested anywhere. His administration directs all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion staff to be put on leave, making sure marginalized people stay marginalized. Police investigate whether foreign actors are paying for antisemitic crimes in Australia. Could this be the work of the Felon’s henchmen?

The truth is that no billionaire is coming to save us. Billionaires are how Felonious Punk made this rise to power in the first place. There’s no Alfred pulling strings down in the Batcave. Lucious Fox isn’t tinkering around with interesting gadgets that manage to stun but not kill anyone. If we’re going to get out of this mess, we have to do it ourselves and we can’t expect the police, the Justice Department, or anyone else in government to help us. This is all up to you and me. The gloves have to come off. There are no rules.

One of the first questions we have to ask ourselves is, “Who’s going to save Anne Frank?” White America has been fascinated with the story of the Jewish family hidden by friends and ultimately murdered by Nazis for nearly a century. What we’ve never dealt with, however, is how we would respond to a similar situation. It’s time to have that conversation. If ICE comes into your church building, are you going to stand in their way? If they come to your child’s school and interrupt their class to take away their best friend, will you intervene? If your next-door neighbors are targeted, will you hide them?

If you say you would help the Frank family but won’t lift a finger for an immigrant family now, you’re a fucking hypocrite and a bad person. I don’t want to know you. I don’t want to see you. Go away. Do we not have a moral responsibility to humanity to protect those prosecuted by evil? Or are we too fucking blind to see the evil standing right before us?

Dear citizens of Gotham, the time has come to write your part. What are you going to do? Are you going to linger in the shadows, a faceless part of the crowd? Are you going to huddle around your fire and deny access to anyone else who’s shivering in the cold? Or are you going to help those who are targeted, give voice to the marginalized, and do what you can to foil the plans of Felonious Punk and his henchmen?

Temps are cold enough this morning that the kids’ school has declared this an e-learning day. The whole concept of e-learning is that you don’t have to be physically present to learn and do something positive. Dear US citizens: this is your e-learning day. Login. Take a good look at the assignment, and then get it done. You already have everything you need.

And if you need one, coffee is the universal antidote for everything.

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Monday, January 20, 2025
January 20, 2025

Hell Freezes Over.

Today begins a different reality. Today, Democracy takes a back seat to Oligarchy. Today, people celebrate evil intentions. Today, one’s skin color can get them arrested. Today, science and education are the enemies of higher stock prices. Today, Americans reject the qualities that once made the country great. Today, the media makes a hard pivot to prevent becoming the target of retribution. Today, one has to do the fact-checking for themselves. Today, we stop being the country our forefathers envisioned. Therefore, it is appropriate that this morning much of the continental US wakes up to polar temperatures and life-threatening windchill. We elected to go to hell and it has frozen over.

When I took the dogs out at 7:00 this morning, the air temperature was -1F. The wind blew from the North across frozen snow, creating a windchill of -11F. I could feel my mustache freezing on my face. The dogs, who had snuggled closely all night, were quick to take care of business and quite happy to come back inside. There were no birds singing this morning. As our blue-collar neighbors left for work, no one had their music turned up loud, no one was speeding through the intersection, and no one bothered to wave. The tight grip of the polar vortex leaves everyone looking for warmth and struggling to find it.

Already this morning, President Biden has made the unprecedented move of issuing preemptive pardons to retired Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and Adam Schiff to protect them against retribution from the incoming administration. This isn’t normal. In a peaceful transition of power, there’s no reason to worry about becoming a political target for legal action. Only in a country preparing to yield to a dictator are such pardons necessary.

The country we face this morning is not one our children want handed down to them. In the midst of yesterday’s temporary TikTok outage, Tipper came to me with a video excerpted from last year’s Congressional hearings into the social media app. In it, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton ‘grills’ TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi. Here’s the clip:

Now, people who’ve been watching for a time understand that the entire Arkansas congressional delegation is like a herd of orange cats: they share a single brain cell and Senator Cotton never gets a turn at using it. This was Tipper’s first introduction to the nonsense, however, and as we watched the clip together she asked, “Who the fuck elected this idiot that doesn’t even know Singapore is not in China?” Our 14-year-old, who enabled a VPN on her own yesterday, understands that what is happening is bad news for the future of the US and she’s expecting those of us old enough to vote to do something about it. “You need to find a solution,” she warned.

After all the noise and protesting, few people in the US are paying any attention as prisoners are being released in Gaza and Israel. Instead, we’re all bracing for the impact of the Felonious Punk’s sweeping executive orders, which he says he’ll issue this afternoon. Believe it or not, there was a time when executive orders were rare. Prior to President Grant’s administration, executive orders were rarely used and only for limited White House purposes. While FDR holds the record at 3,721 (most related to WWII), President Biden has issued comparatively few, less than anyone since Grover Cleveland’s second term. The idea of coming into the office ready to issue 100 orders or more deliberately and maliciously demonstrates the president’s desire to bypass the role of Congress in establishing laws.

Here’s the thing: while federal employees are bound to follow executive orders as if they are law, the rest of us don’t. Executive orders are limited by the Constitutional reach of the Executive Branch. States can defy them. Cities can defy them. You and I can, and should, defy them. We do not have to be complicit in this rush toward dictatorship. We have choices and we are duty-bound as citizens to exercise them.

As chaos unfolds in DC, the rest of the world’s rich and powerful are gathering in Davos, Switzerland for their annual conference on how to run the world. According to Oxfam, billionaires’ wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before. The wealthier billionaires become the more poverty the rest of us experience. With poverty comes disease and hunger. Along with the poverty comes a feeling of helplessness.

The good news: there are more of us than there are of them. We hold more power than any of us realize. All it takes is one nationwide strike to bring the powerful to their knees. We’ve been loathe to do that for fear that our 401Ks would suffer, but my friends, your 401Ks are meaningless if we allow the creation of an economy that won’t let you retire. We’re almost at that point already. There is absolutely no reason to not kick the stilts out from under the economy and take the country, and the world, back for people who are in the true majority.

I, for one, refuse to cooperate with the incoming administration. I’m not watching anything to do with the inauguration. I won’t cooperate with any executive orders. I won’t ‘turn in’ neighbors whose citizenship might be questionable. I won’t out people who fall anywhere on the LGBTQIA spectrum. I will support the use of alternative fuels. I will encourage those who defy this government. I will resist, dissent, and deny any unreasonable use of power by any government agency.

What about you? Are you willing to take a stand or will you roll over and play dead?

What the world needs now are more badgers and fewer possums.

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Personal
Friday, January 17, 2025
January 17, 2025

Brace For Impact.

Catch This [2012]

Despite over two years of constant chemotherapy treatment, I feel more like a cancer patient this morning than I have in several months. Perhaps it is the cold weather that has my chest feeling tight, the draw of each breath a careful ‘in through the nose, out through the mouth’ thought. Maybe it’s the multiple nights of restless sleep. I suppose it could be an excess amount of caffeine in my system (not bloody likely). Knowledge that this could be our last weekend of freedom is also a concern. From any perspective, this morning presents a rare struggle to complete a simple sentence. I type a few words, stop to take deliberate breaths, and then take another drink of coffee.

Cancer numbers are up, which surprises no one that I know. Anecdotally, I could have told you that the many forms of cancer are skewing toward younger females just by surveying the women who befriend me on social media. Cancer isn’t waiting until people hit the age of 50 or older before it strikes. Black and Native Americans are dying at rates two to three times higher than white patients even as more cancers become treatable. We look for someplace to lay the blame. Our diets? Yes. Our lifestyles? Yes. Genetics? Yes. Just plain old bad luck? Absolutely.

Researchers are quick to say that we have a lot of control in mitigating the risks of getting cancer, but once it latches onto us, what then? Take a look at all the medicine bottles lined up on my desk. The biggest bottle, of course, is the chemo that I take each morning right after breakfast. There are two medications to address my sugar levels. But then, there are also meds to protect my kidney because the diabetes meds mistreat it a bit. There are also meds to keep nausea at bay. Lipitor keeps my cholesterol in check. Other meds attempt to control my mood and anxiety, though I’m not sure how well they’re working. All in all, it takes fifteen minutes every morning to get all my meds down, and that’s after I’ve gone on a scavenger hunt to see where the cats hid the bottles.

I’ll admit to being a little jealous of those who go through six to eight rounds of chemo and then get to ring a bell. I still have two months to go, and after that, there’s a chance that my situation could get worse. After all, two years is a long time for one’s body to adjust to the poison it’s being fed. There are days, like today, and yesterday, and pretty much all this week, when it feels as if this suffering is never going to end. I keep asking Kat to shoot me. She continually refuses to do so.

In through the nose, out through the mouth. We can do this, right? RIGHT?

Making matters worse, hell quite literally freezes over on Monday. The current forecasts show Monday morning’s low to be an icy -4F. Tuesday could be as low as -7. Fortunately, the kids don’t have school on Monday. The collision of complete ideological opposites on the 20th is something I don’t think has gotten enough attention.

On one hand, we got this email from the school yesterday:

Dear Parents and Students,

This is a reminder that there will be no school on Monday, January 20, 2025, in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

We encourage everyone to take this time to reflect on the values of equality, justice, and service that Dr. King dedicated his life to promoting.

At the same time, though, we’re re-inaugurating what the Associated Press refers to as ‘American Carnage.‘ While checks and balances put a practical limit on what Felonius Punk can do on Day 1, there is no question that the nation is bracing for impact as the oligarchs take a hammer and chisel to our country. Yes, the use of those words is intentional.

Somehow, we’re supposed to juxtapose those opposites even as our brains and bodies are freezing. I’m pretty sure Dr. King and associates would be up in arms to see what is happening, but there are no big marches planned this year. Lawsuits are the weapon of choice this time around. They’ll take longer, cost more money, and will have questionable outcomes, but then, so did the marches of four years ago. Personally, I’m kind of with Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in the movie ‘Apocalypse Now,’ when he said,  “There’s nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning.” Especially if it’s DC that’s burning.

Oh, I’ve added to my social media spread. You can now find me on BlueSky Social at @ciletbetter.bsky.social. I’m not expecting it to take the place of anything else, but, in the words of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ “I want to be where the people are.”

I think I’m done for this morning. Pinball (cat #9) wants to snuggle. He’s not giving me a choice.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

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Saturday Morning Update: 12/21/24
December 21, 2024

For you [2010 long exposure]

I almost dropped my coffee mug. That’s how today’s going. My left hand is so weak that I can’t lift the full mug with one hand. This is my third consecutive winter holiday season while on chemo. While the blood tests show the cancer in remission, there’s still the need to make sure it stays that way. So, for another year, I’m on the sidelines. No parties. No get-togethers. Hell, I haven’t even been able to get Kat a gift. I feel somewhat like I’m sitting inside a well-refrigerated snow globe, watching the holidays pass around me. They look like fun, but they’re not part of my reality.

The holidays are hitting differently, and by the way, for you ‘war-on-Christmas’ types, Hannukah and Christmas are on the same day this year. If you’re only saying ‘Merry Christmas,’ you’re being rude, possibly anti-Semitic. That being said, how does one gift-wrap a latke? I have potatoes, maybe I’ll give Kat food.

I’m not really in the mood to cook, though. Holiday baking is out of the question. Holiday treats take time, care, and patience. I have none of those traits at the moment. I also don’t have the ingredients. Not enough recipes come with sugar-free options and as much as I’m tempted to say, “It’s the holidays, fuck it,” my sugar levels haven’t been level so over-indulging probably isn’t the smartest move. Still, I’m really jonesing for some good, old-fashioned fudge—all the flavors. And Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy, Talk about a handbreaker! I remember helping Mother make this, it was always my favorite. The amount of work it takes, though, is enormous and if I can’t hold a coffee mug I damn sure don’t need to be messing with a cast iron skillet.

There are silver linings if one chooses to mine them. For example, there’s absolutely zero chance I’m going to be hurt or killed by a vehicle driving into a holiday bazaar. I won’t pull a hamstring while out running in a min-marathon somewhere. I’m not adversely affected by the sudden rise in egg prices. Life could be, and has been, much harder than it is.

Still, if what we’re looking for in this season is Peace on Earth, we’re not likely to find it around here. Get a load of the headlines this morning:

With headlines like that, you know there are too many tears being shed for anyone to have a ‘happy’ holiday. If you are someplace warm, you are fortunate. If you have food, you are well off. If you have clean clothes, you are privileged. If you have coffee, you are comparatively rich.

The plight of immigrants working dangerous food service jobs should probably be getting more attention than it is. We are so woefully ignorant of the millions of jobs filled by immigrants. If we begin deporting them, as the president-elect plans to do, the empty jobs will still be there. Who’s going to fill them? How much are you willing to pay for frozen pizza? People in Oregon are getting letters telling them to snitch on neighbors who ‘might’ be illegal. No, they’re not from any government organization. Snitching on immigrants is lower than cheating on a spouse, in my opinion.

Perhaps some form of holiday spirit will arrive without necessitating a visit from historical specters. I have cats aggressively reminding me that petting them lowers my blood pressure. The dogs are advocating for more naps. Can you wrap a nap? I could be a professional napper at this point. Need a nap? Don’t worry, I’ll take one for you!

Oh, with both Big Lots and Party City announcing that they’re closing, make sure you stock up on the cheap stuff if you can. I have a bad feeling about the future of ‘discount’ stores.

I think that’s enough for today. I hear there are football games running around here and there. Maybe I’ll find one.

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Tuesday Morning Update: 11/12/24
November 12, 2024

Hanging on by a leaf [2024]

This Tuesday morning starts with a pretty decent frost outside. When I took the dogs out at 5:45, the air temperature was 36 degrees (Fahrenheit), cold enough to don gloves and remind myself that a hat is never a bad idea. Some of the neighbors’ trees are completely bare while ours still stubbornly holds on, waiting for a sub-freezing frost. This is the type of November I remember, the kind that makes me comfortable as the heater kicks on, reminding me of how privileged I am to not be out chopping wood. I’m not good at chopping wood. We would surely freeze to death if we relied on such.

Neither child said anything about school yesterday beyond, “It was okay.” We all remember those days when it seemed as though we weren’t learning anything, don’t we? Yet, at least for some of us, more information leaked into our brains than we realized. I’m assuming the same still happens on even the most boring of days.

Being a Girl Dad is still baffling me, though. Tipper came in, barely spoke, and then disappeared for the rest of the day. I didn’t see her again until this morning. She was dressed and on her way out the door, fifteen minutes earlier than necessary, when I stopped her and reminded her that we love her. The result was an eye roll and a half-hearted, “Love you, too,” as she headed for the door. I worry that there’s an eating disorder at play, but I have no way yet of proving it. The fridge is full of leftovers so the kids were free to choose whatever they wanted for dinner. I’m not sure Tipper ever came out of her room. Everything I read tells me this is a difficult and tumultuous time for teenage girls, but I’m not getting any usable advice. I love this child more than she can imagine. And I worry.

Kat did go to the salon for a little while. She took clients that weren’t especially difficult, and even that proved taxing. By the time she got back home, everything about her demeanor showed complete exhaustion. She’ll take today off, thankfully. I worry about Kat more than I do Tipper. She pushes herself too hard. She’s done that since she was 16. I don’t think she knows how to exist without pushing herself hard. I’m trusting that she’s listening more carefully to her body right now,

Fuck. An alert from my bank just informed me that an annual renewal I’d forgotten just came out. $104, gone, just like that, leaving a deficit of -$28. I can probably move things around and cover this one, but there are still $96 and $45 bills that can’t be avoided coming up before my check hits. Fortunately, the fridge and freezer are full of food. We’re doing okay there. The utilities are caught up. G’s birthday is this month, though, and the holidays are looking quite lean. Something else to worry about.

There’s a guest opinion piece in this morning’s New York Times with the title, “If You’re Sure How the Next Four Years Will Play Out, I Promise: You’re Wrong.” The author’s primary thesis is that we cannot predict the future with all its twists and turns. We all have to admit that he’s correct in such a statement. However, the issue I would take is that there are markers that indicate what is most likely to happen next. Those markers are what fuel our worries about the future. We’re not just guessing in the dark.

What are some of those markers? Let’s start with California Gov. Gavin Newsom will spend part of the week in DC as he tries to Trump-proof state policies. Gov. Newsom remembers the issues California faced the last time this felon was president. He’s rushing to see if there is any protection to be found in federal law. The problem is that any “help” the state receives now is most likely to be rolled back quickly by the new administration. They did this last time and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t happen again.

Round 2 in the Trump-vs-Mexico matchup looks ominous for Mexico. Relationships with our Southern neighbor didn’t go well under the first administration. This time around, however, Mexico has a new leftist president, The felon doesn’t have a good record when it comes to dealing with people who are too progressive for his taste. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has proven to be a tough, stand-your-ground stalwart, especially as she moved to completely upset that country’s court system. With the felon’s promise of mass deportations, the two leaders are likely to bump heads early and the outcome is not likely to be pretty.

Next up: Economics. A headline in this morning’s Times reads Europe Braces for Trump: ‘Worst Economic Nightmare Has Come True’. Think this is just fear-mongering? Already this morning, Global shares mostly declined, shrugging off Wall Street’s rally. Don’t trust what you see happening on Wall Street at the moment. The increases there are fueled by promises of tax breaks for the rich. The rest of the world, however, is not so enthused. The felon’s promises of severe tariffs, for which US citizens ultimately pay, thus setting off another round of inflation, have the rest of the world concerned about a global financial meltdown, similar to what we saw in 2008, thanks to Bush’s failed economic policies. Again, this could happen quite quickly once numbnuts is in office. Economies are global.

Then, there’s the immigration issue. Again, referencing this morning’s Times, which seems to have a better handle on domestic issues than other sources at the moment, Michelle Goldberg warns “If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious, Look at His First Appointments.” She points toward the same issues brought up in another article, “Trump Hires Show His Intent To Carry Out Immigration Crackdown.” What it all comes down to is Tom Holman and Stephen Miller, both of whom have a deep-seated hatred for immigrants. Holman has already said that “No one’s off the table in the next administration,” and yesterday confirmed that workplace raids would resume. Miller has said that Trump would cancel the temporary protected status of thousands of Afghans who fled here after the Taliban’s takeover. This is also the jackass who is in favor of using the National Guard to arrest migrants en masse. Want to see our national economy crumble? Take away all immigrants. The effect will be immediate.

With markers like that, how can we not worry? And to make matters worse, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is warning that the presidential transition team “is already breaking the law.” Sen. Warren would know because she wrote the applicable law! If there were any sign of the incoming corruption, this is it, written in neon and flashing brightly against a dark sky.

So, while we may not be able to accurately predict the exact events of the coming administration, we can predict the effects of those events and it is not going to be good. Even the people who voted for him, many thinking that his campaign rhetoric was hyperbole, are going to suffer. There’s no escaping the negative results of his plans. Our only hope is that the idiot suffers a heart attack or stroke that renders him ‘unable to fulfill the duties of his office.’ Perhaps a President Vance would gut current appointments and replace them with a more moderate selection. Or not. Again, we can’t see the future.

Not everything in the world is negative. I’m thrilled to report that 13 monkeys are still on the loose in South Carolina. Researchers have only been able to capture the majority because they were still in groups. The remaining escapees are more likely to be venturing out on their own. I wish them (the monkeys) the best.

Beyoncé and her legacy will be the subject of a new course at Yale. Of course, to take the class you have to actually be admitted as a student to Yale. Good luck with that. Still, the fact that the class exists is enough to rile right-wing nut jobs and that makes me happy.

Oh, this is fun: The UK has a deer problem. The current estimated deer population now tops two million. That’s a problem for a relatively small island nation. Complicating matters is that gun ownership in the country is extremely rare and difficult to obtain. While the government’s “solution” is to try and convince the people who eat the most bland food in the world that venison is good, no one has said who’s going to actually hunt down all those deer. Trust me, once a few are killed, the rest will go into hiding.

Oh, the big news locally is the conviction of Richard Allen on all counts related to the murders of two teenage girls. This conviction has taken forever as both the prosecution and defense have fucked around with evidence and judges for too many years before ever going to trial. Will there be an appeal? Oh yeah. Allen’s wife was heard saying on her way out of the courthouse, “This is far from over.” With all the pre-trial stupidity that went on, there’s plenty of likely ground for it to be overturned, and if that happens the prosecution is almost certain to appeal the appeal. I’ll probably be dead before a final verdict is ever reached.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light display in Manhattan is changing up this season. One of the seasonal thrills of living in New York this time of year, besides the big tree at Rockefeller Center, is “window shopping” the holidays at Manhattan’s biggest stores. Saks is celebrating its 100th anniversary by lighting the whole building, not just the windows. Unfortunately, my broke ass can’t be there to take pictures. Perhaps someone (looking at you, Joe Lombardo), can slip over and take some photos for us. I’m sure it is a marvelous sight to behold.

Is that enough to distract us from the horrors that are about to unfold? Momentarily, perhaps, but reality still lingers in the back of our minds no matter how much colorful joy we try to put upfront. For now, I’ll eat breakfast and take my meds like a good boy, then probably take a nap because that’s what I do best now. I slept from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM yesterday. I even missed my 2:00 alarm. I don’t enjoy this cancerous existence at all.

But hey, the coffee’s hot.

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Morning Update: 10/15/24
October 15, 2024

Pelican Squad Alpha, Reporting For Duty [2024]

Yesterday was full of surprises, the biggest of which was PELICANS at Eagle Creek! Jen and I were out again, along with her daughter Ali, to see if we could catch some larger birds than we had the last time out. There was the usual collection of smaller birds floating on the water, and we caught a handful of blue herons and egrets wading around the shoreline. We first saw a couple of pelicans out in the middle of the lake and considered it unusual, but they were too far away for either of our cameras to get a good shot. But then, as we came around the North side of the land bridge, the first group flew in right over our heads, the shot above. Over the next several minutes, more came in groups of three, five, or seven. In total, nearly forty pelicans were taking a breather along the shallow water.

Why is this a surprise? Because pelicans don’t belong in Indiana! Sure, one might occasionally find one up around Lake Michigan during the summer, but we’re too far inland for them to be interested in hanging out here. More often, they prefer the warmer climates of Southern California and … Florida. Our best guess is that Helene’s winds blew the sea birds up here and now they’re trying to get back home before frost hits tomorrow night. I’ll share more pictures in a separate post later this morning.

Then, I came home, took a nap, and went outside to find that it rained? Not a lot, nothing more than a brief shower, just enough to leave droplets on top of the trash bin and make the road wet. But, there wasn’t any rain in the forecast yesterday morning! Conditions with the advancing cold front were just right to generate spotting showers around the region. More could pop up today. The cloud cover prevents air tempts from dropping too low. Only when the skies clear Wednesday night will we see frost.

Solaris wants you to know that he thinks human life is silly and that we should spend more time napping in the sunlight and cleaning ourselves. In fact, he’s decided that if a human touches him, he needs to clean the filthy area immediately. I gave him pets as I sat down and now he’s ferociously attempting to remove the stink from his body. Too bad that desire for cleanliness doesn’t extend to things like cleaning up his vomit from the floor.

Other news? It’s concerning that the UN is concerned about the safety of their peacekeepers. This is a sign that no one is playing fair and none of the leaders can be trusted. None of them. Just toss the Geneva Convention out of the window. War crimes are being committed daily and no one is doing a damn thing about them. I have ideas, but they’re probably too extreme.

North Korea is throwing a hissy fit, blowing up roads and rail yards in its own country. Those with multiple children will recognize this tactic of throwing toys all over the room while yelling and screaming in frustration. Why? Who the fuck knows. Perhaps the tomato slipped out from their cheeseburger. Maybe their wearing the red outfit when they want to wear the dirty brown one. Possibly a sibling walked past without saying anything. North Korea has a brain deficiency that doesn’t allow them to progress and grow. And their diaper stinks.

Oh, if you’re one of those selfish people who thinks that the US needs to seriously crack down on immigration, I hope you’re ready to pay more for milk. You see, the price of milk has long been regarded as a bellwether for families with children. When milk prices rise, family health declines. Dairy farms rely on migrant labor because lazy Americans don’t want to work seven days a week. Most milk cows have to be milked twice a day, every day. No exceptions. Take away the migrant labor and… you see where this is going, don’t you? A hard line on immigration almost immediately relates to higher prices on the most basic necessities. Perhaps we need to rethink our approach.

I know October is a spooky scary month, but most people prefer their horrors to be pretend. Russia, however, is making them real. As the trial in the death of a British woman in 2018 began yesterday, we found out that the vial containing the poison that killed her had enough to kill thousands of people. That only one person was killed was not Russia’s intended outcome. Let that sit and simmer in your nightmares for a while.

FEMA workers change some hurricane-recovery efforts in North Carolina after receiving threats. You would think that people would welcome those trying to help them. That doesn’t seem to be the case in the backwaters of North Carolina where apparently Fox News is the only television station anyone watches. One person was arrested yesterday for apparently attempting to carry out violence against federal aid workers. Maybe next time we let them drown.

I know, that statement is cold, harsh, and inhumane. I’m over all the stupidity, though. When people are trying to kill those who want to help, we’re no longer in a position to offer them humane support. The election is getting tighter as we move closer to November 5 and whether or not the election is peaceful is a serious concern! Who the fuck have we become? Last week, Australia sentenced a man to prison for giving a nazi salute in public. There’s no tolerance there for the kinds of stupidity that lead to people being killed. The problem with the US taking that approach at this juncture is that we’d have to jail a quarter of the population! We have become too tolerant of the type of speech and behaviors that lead to violence. We have become too tolerant of rhetoric that marginalizes immigrants, LGBTQIA+ populations, and women. Continuing down this path inevitably leads to a fall that makes what happened to the Roman Empire look like a child’s birthday party by comparison. We must vote better. We must scream louder. We dare not sit silent.

I’m glad I’m old and probably won’t live to see Mad Max become a reality. There’s little question in my mind that the US, and perhaps the world, is headed in that direction.

Don’t mind me, though. I’m just going to sit over here and drink coffee and take pictures of birds.

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Morning Update: 08/18/24
August 18, 2024

Friends In Chains [2024]

After a night filled with rain, we’re slowly getting around this morning. The kids came in from the PowWow earlier than I expected, which isn’t a bad thing, but both went straight to bed and only reappeared briefly for a snack. Even the dogs were restless last night, and at least one of the cats decided that the litter box was too far away to bother finding it. I’m not sure what this means for the rest of the day. I’m inclined to let the kids chill. While I had planned on doing yard work this morning, it’s far too wet. I’m beginning to wonder if we’ve been underestimating the toll that their long school day takes on them.

I do need some help with the yard, though, especially along the fence line. The problem isn’t so much the weeds, but the trees growing there, their branches intertwined with the fencing. Last Sunday, a young man coming through the neighborhood offered to clear the fenceline for $20, but it was too late in the day for him to start. I told him to come back on Wednesday, but he never showed up. With at least six more weeks before the first chance of a heavy frost, we need to clean it up now.

Both kids enjoyed the PowWow in different ways. G took advantage of the raffles, winning three times. I’m not sure what he’s going to do with the shawl, but all the items are rather nice. Tipper, being the furry that she is, was drawn to the various pelts. She convinced Kat to buy her a new tail since her existing one had broken after being yanked too many times. She explained to the person running the booth how her tail was treated by people at school. As she was walking away, the man came over to Kat and handed her a pair of heart-shaped earrings to give to Tipper so that she would know “Not everyone is mean.”

There are too many people who are mean, though, and the fact that one of those people is running for president is bothersome. The Orange Felon went completely off the rails yesterday, resorting to calling Vice President Harris names and throwing insults. He also complained, again, about the Olympic Boxers, vowing to “keep men out of women’s sports.” This is more than mean, it’s insane. Why are we giving such a poor example of humanity any kind of stage to spread such filth? His continued presence at the top of the political dung heap boggles my mind.

Meanness grabs eyeballs, though. It always has. A New York Times reading group has been taken with Emily Wilson’s 2023 translation of the Iliad, the epic poem attributed to Homer. War, wickedness, and revenge are strong themes throughout the work that keep readers coming back generation after generation. While there is ostensibly something to be said for learning from war, I wonder if too often we’re taking in the wrong lessons. Instead of learning how to avoid the foolishness of war, we seem to be paying more attention to the tricks and strategies used to win one.

I’m bothered by the fact that Vietnam’s new leader, To Lam, chose China as his first international visit. There’s no question that we botched that war in every way possible. Did the thousands of US troops who died there do so in vain? Looking at the mean side of that equation, it’s reasonable to make the argument that US leaders were less concerned about Communists taking over the small Southeast Asian country and used the war as a way to stop the uprising of the common people that was taking place. While war protests were loud and strong, the fact is that forced military service took away thousands of young men from lower- and middle-class neighborhoods that could have forever changed the direction of American politics. We’ll never know for sure, will we? But using a foreign war sure was a mean cover, wasn’t it?

Some people enjoy being mean. A Chechen warlord invited Elon Musk to Russia after he was filmed driving a machine-gun-mounted Cybertruck. As Ukraine takes advantage of its unexpected incursion into Russia, Russian officials are resorting to increasingly mean tactics in an attempt to regain the upper hand. They’ve bombed schools, children’s hospitals, and residential neighborhoods, much in the same way that Israel has continued to bombard Gaza in that senseless war. Both wars should have been over months ago and could have been, but leaders on all sides have their heads too far up their asses. They equate peace with weakness. In their view, being mean is a strength.

We are crazy if we think that our children, especially teens, aren’t paying attention and noting the actions we condone. We spent all their formative years telling them to be nice and to play well with others, but then they see the adults around them supporting leaders who are anything but nice and certainly don’t know how to play well with anyone. What lesson do you think they’re taking away from that?

I find it interesting that today is the anniversary of women in the US gaining the right to vote. So much of the mean rhetoric coming from right-wing conservatives is directed at women. In fact, the New York Times has a piece this morning on how “masculinity is on the ballot.” What is defining that masculinity? How men treat women. How women vote this November will be a voice for whether they want men to still dominate and abuse them or move toward a more equitable and just society.

The amount of misinformation and outright conspiracy theories regarding migrants is still a problem as well. Do you want to truth? Migrants are not the reason wages have stagnated. Migrants are not taking anyone’s jobs. And, when one balances the number of migrants coming in with the number leaving, total immigration is actually going down. Ask farmers in the West and Southwest, and they may tell you that the problem with immigration is that we don’t have enough migrants. Economically, we are dependent on migrant labor and without it, the economy collapses. So, why are we treating them so mean?

Our Indigenous brothers and sisters have long been a voice of reason against the seemingly inbred hate of the white man. Their society was built on caring for each other, respecting people regardless of gender, and preferring peace over conflict. That was what the kids saw in action as they attended the PowWow yesterday. I hope it is a lesson they take to heart because so much of the rest of the world is only showing them hate.

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Morning Update: 06/13/24
June 13, 2024

Coming Together [2007 original with AI background]

Feeling okay and doing well are two separate things. I felt fine yesterday when the day started. Tipper and I took a walk to the store, though, and I found myself running short of breath before we got there. I only needed olive oil and freezer bags, but when we got to the register, I forgot the sequence of the numbers in my PIN. I remember which numbers are involved, just not the order. Tipper was able to handle the olive oil for me, but not the freezer bags. I still need freezer bags.

I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home without having to stop and rest. The round trip is only three miles, a trip that we’ve taken often without any problem. It easily fulfills the 6000-step recommendation for the day’s activities. Yesterday, for reasons I can’t explain, my body wasn’t having it. I came home, went to bed, and pretty much stayed there. There was lunch in there somewhere, G made stew for dinner, which was really good. Still, it wasn’t all that late when I made all the cats scoot over and make room so I could go to bed for the night.

Today may be more of the same. I don’t feel rested. I need a shower and should do a load of laundry or two, but sitting here this morning I’m not convinced that any of it is actually going to happen. I wish it were easier to know which disease is causing which problem. If I did, I could contact the appropriate doctor and perhaps we could make some adjustments in medication. As it is, I just have to put up with what I hope are mere side effects to the overall situation.

I don’t know if you saw last night’s rant about the stupid things people are doing, but looking through the headlines this morning, and that’s all I’ve had time to do, I’m beginning to wonder if stupidity is part of our DNA. I’m not sure how science would prove such a concept. There would have to be a specific stupidity marker at the very least, or possibly even a stupidity gene that is handed down from generation to generation. I think the matter is worth the investigation. Let me tell you why.

2000-year-old DNA from skeletal remains found at Chichen Itza show a pattern of child sacrifice as part of religious ceremonies long before there was any European influence. They were all boys, often siblings, sometimes twins. We already know that ancient Phoenicians, Canaanites, Assyrians, and some branches of post-Abrahamic Israelites (Yahwists) all committed child sacrifice. For me, this makes an argument that void of any scientific understanding of the world or the universe, people make incredibly stupid decisions in the hope that those decisions might somehow change whatever is being experienced. Who/where they are doesn’t seem to make any difference. Stupid was there in the beginning.

Today, we sacrifice our children in different ways. Sometimes we call it war. Sometimes we call it religious rights. Sometimes we can call it safety and security. No matter what we call it or how it is achieved, the results are exactly the same: dead children offered up to appease some unknown and unknowable force in hopes that the world will get better. We blindly think that if we can just dominate this group, if we can overpower that country, if we can force this opinion over the whole populace, that things are going to get better, and if our children have to die in the process, then so be it.

Think about that for a minute. How does what we’re doing today make us any different than the ancient Assyrians, Yahwists, Phoenicians, or Mayans? Are we supposed to be comforted by the fact that we dress them up in smart uniforms and arm them with weapons that allow them to kill and be killed by enemies they never see?

This morning, there are Russian warships in Havanna Harbor. Remember what happened 60 years ago when that was just a threat? I was still little, but the memory of the fear my parents felt is still present. This morning, G7 leaders decided to use the interest from seized Russian assets to pay for Ukraine’s defense against the invading bully. Despite the UN’s demand for a cease-fire, Israel pushes deeper into Rafah and Hamas leaders say proposed amendments to the cease-fire are “insignificant.”

It’s been 1,000 Days since the Taliban barred girls from secondary education. Pro-Trump influencers fire up fears of migrant ‘invasion’ and the people they’re using don’t even know they’re being involved. Denmark recalls some Buldak spicy noodles as social media dares spread because that stupid gene apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree. Democrats are forcing a vote on women’s right to IVF in an election-year push on reproductive care. Oklahoma Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit of last Tulsa Race Massacre survivors seeking reparations because even our justices don’t really believe in Justice.

So please, dear geneticists around the world, would you mind looking for a DNA-level sign that we humans are inherently stupid? It would explain a lot of our behavior, both historic and current, and if we can identify what’s causing the problem, perhaps we can do something to curb it, if not eliminate it entirely.

Please. I’m starting to wonder how much longer we can survive ourselves.

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Current Issues  /  Holidays  /  News & Comment  /  Social Commentary
Stupid Things Xians Say
March 31, 2024

Don’t Wander [AI creation based on original 2010 photo]

Christianity is getting a lot of attention today (and all this past week) because of it being Holy Week. However, as they so often do, some pseudo-Xians just don’t seem to understand the whole concept of peace, love, and inclusion. They prove this by opening their mouths and saying some really inappropriate and ignorant things.

Take for instance, please, that time this week when the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said, “If you don’t like our religion [xianity], then we don’t want you in our country.” What this part-time Bible salesman is saying is that he’s more than willing to implement a religion litmus test for anyone wanting to come into the country. Now, where that gets interesting is trying to narrow down what he means by “our religion.” Obviously, he doesn’t like Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or Buddhists. However, he links religion to politics when he says that a Jewish person who votes Democratic (and most do), “hates their religion” and “everything about Israel.” So… are Jews getting in or not? Now, any reasonably-minded person knows that such a litmus test is a violation of the First Amendment. However, let’s just go crazy for a moment and assume he could get away with it. How long would it be before he tries to deport, round up, or terrorize anyone who doesn’t fit without his narrow (and farcical) religious expectations?

Then, there was all that hullabaloo today over the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Somehow, pseudo-Xians just noticed this year that religious themes are not allowed on the decorated eggs used for the roll. Cue right-wing outrage because they’re an ignorant bunch of people who don’t seem to realize that the ban has existed since 1978. Take another look at that. 1978. Over 40 years ago. And they’re just now realizing it. And all this over a fictional rabbit that allegedly places eggs all over the yard. Apparently, these pseudo-Xians are also ignorant of the fact that Easter Eggs are a pagan tradition that predates xianity. Seriously, do these people ever pull their heads out of their asses and take a look at the world around them?

Taking the ugly lamb-shaped Easter cake is SBC megachurch pastor Josh Howerton who told his Dallas-based Lakepointe Church congregation that, on their wedding night (actually, he specifically emphasized “his” wedding night), the women should:  “Stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do.” Incredulous, isn’t it? You would think, especially after all the abuse and marital cheating scandals the SBC has endured, that such misogyny would, at the very least, be kept on the down-low. Nope. Here it is, right out in the open. We even have it on video.

Dismantling this statement a bit, first, let’s realize that, by most accounts, fewer than 30% of people, male or female, are virgins on their wedding night. Most sane people realize that sexual experience is a good thing; find out what you like and what you don’t, take away the mythology of losing virginity, and hopefully avoid the pain and mess of your first sexual experience. If 70% of men are not virgins (and the real number is likely higher), then they have not necessarily been planning for their wedding night their entire lives.

Second, this is putting wayyyyyy too much pressure on the wedding night for it to be pleasurable. Weddings are a big deal and by the time the happy couple gets away from the reception and all the people and checked into the hotel for the night, they’re fucking exhausted! Why put all that pressure on the wedding night? It’s insane to create those kinds of expectations that are almost certainly going to lead to disappointment.

Third, and perhaps most important, if your spouse is telling you where to stand, what to wear, and what to do and this isn’t a sex game to which you’ve both agreed, then you’ve married a misogynist and need to get out of this marriage as soon as possible! Abuse, emotional and physical, is right around the corner. Nothing good comes from being in a relationship with a misogynistic person. Nothing. Get the fuck out while you can. PLEASE. A chocolate bunny would make a better partner.

If it seems like I’m picking on pseudo-Xians it’s only because they’re making so much noise as they show us how incredibly ignorant, thoughtless, and cruel they actually are. There’s no true spirit of love here. There’s no intention to bring peace. There’s no desire for inclusion. Everything they’re doing is fake and they’re loud enough with their actions to make sure we don’t miss them. As long as they keep doing and saying stupid things, I’ll keep calling them out for it.

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Art  /  Politics  /  studio nudes
Celebrating The Wrong Things
March 15, 2024

One With The Night [original 2008 modified with neural filters]
One With The Night [original 2008 modified with neural filters]

We survived the Ides of March without any Roman emperors being assassinated. To me, that sounds like a wasted opportunity. If we’re going to recognize the day, we should do so with parades and parties where the stabbing of politicians is the main event. This would take a lot of pressure off the electoral process and give those in elected office the incentive to behave in such a manner that they need not fear a group of people, particularly close friends, heading toward them with knives.

For the first time in several years, it looks as though we’re not having corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day. The meat has gotten too expensive for anyone who is not a politician to consume. Politicians and corned beef have a lot in common. Both contain a lot of fat, are greasy to the touch, and are best when a knife is stuck in them. I wonder how many people would attend a party where the corned beef was labeled as Roast Republican?

We will have potatoes in some form on St. Patrick’s Day. We won’t have dug them ourselves, though. We’ll have paid immigrants to do that. You know, like we did the Irish in the 1840s. During that decade, Irish people, both documented and undocumented, made up over half of all immigrants to the US. They were given only the toughest jobs to do and then told to go fight the Mexicans. Nothing’s changed.

Funny, I haven’t heard a thing about today’s St. Pat’s parade in downtown Indy. They moved it to today so that it wouldn’t interfere with the hangover mass on Sunday. This is a special mass because the incense smells like corned beef and cabbage. They do this so you can’t tell which priest was brawling at the bar all night.

Perhaps leprechauns were the original social services gatekeepers: they both sit on a pot of gold and don’t want to share with anyone.

As a person of indigenous heritage, I don’t necessarily hate immigrants of European heritage. I simply think they need to be reminded that they stole the land, the jobs, and the economy long before those coming over the Southern border did. Perhaps we should have electrified the Atlantic Ocean or something in the 16th century.

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#ADayWIthoutImmigants
February 16, 2017
charles i. letbetter - #ADayWithoutImmigrants

Protest aim to emphasize how dependent America is on immigrant labor

 

charles i. letbetter - #ADayWithoutImmigrants

The Short Version

Major protests are planned in Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, and Chicago to bring attention to the amount of immigrant labor in the U.S. Several restaurants are closing for the day and demonstrations are planned in an effort to bring attention to what are considered unfair and potentially illegal actions on the part of the 45th president’s administration.

A Bit More Detail

The messages started appearing in my social media feeds around noon yesterday. “Carry ID,” they warned. “Everyone riding the red line who looking Latino or Middle Eastern is being stopped. Know your rights.”

The warnings were directed toward immigrants living and working in and around Chicago. Rumors are swirling that immigration officials are conducting or planning to conducts raids across that city this week with a goal of rounding up some 20,000 illegal immigrants. Immigration officials, of course, don’t speak regarding any plans they might have for raids and such. They’d hate to ruin their own surprise.

Naturally, once again, the immigrant community is scared. Anytime immigration officials start casting broad nets like this, they end up violation the rights of people who are here legally and have often been accused of mistreatment toward those whom they plan to deport. The frequency and brutality of those raids has increased since the new president was sworn in three weeks ago.

This issue is real and more than immigrants are paying attention. A survey of over 100,000 people found that millennial women are especially plugged into the immigration debate, moving the importance of that issue up from 8th place to 3rd in just three weeks. Among women 22-35, the immigration issue is so important that they have altered their shopping patterns based on a brand’s perceived stand toward immigration.

#ADayWithoutImmigrants has organized well and in many cases includes the support of employers who depend on a significant number of immigrants to keep their business running. The Washington Post has a running list of restaurants that will be closed today in support of the protest. Other cities as diverse as Minneapolis and Austin are participating in the protests. The overall effect could be considerably disruptive, especially as the loss of sales tax revenue for the day is likely to be considerable.

What this all comes down to is the fact that we are a nation of immigrants built on the back of immigrants and dependent upon the hard work and labor of immigrants. At the same time, as a country, we have fought this battle before. Groups we now consider mainstream, such as the Irish and German populations common across the North, were once given the same abusive treatment as Latino and Middle Eastern immigrants are now experiencing. We seem to have difficulty learning from our past mistakes.

Whether the protests are effective remains to be seen. There has been some concern that those participating any kind of immigrant rally could become targets for immigration authorities. Already, rumors that immigration officers could be staking out churches and public schools has frightened a number of immigrants, including those who are here legally, into hiding. Churches in Colorado and Chicago are already taking a stand, allowing undocumented people facing deportation to claim asylum within their walls. However, doing so comes with some risks. Courts have disagreed as to whether church pastors and staff can be charged with aiding a fugitive when they provide asylum.

While the protests may not keep ICE from making raids in Chicago or elsewhere this weekend, they do have the effect of bringing the topic to the forefront of the national conversation, making the topic of immigration one that is impossible to ignore.

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Advertising  /  Current Issues
Making A Statement
February 6, 2017
charles i. letbetter - making a statement

Some Super Bowl ads mean more than others

 

charles i. letbetter - making a statement

The Short Version

We all know that Super Bowl ads are special. They’d better be. At $5 million a pop for a 30-second ad, those commercials have to deliver a significant return on investment or they company won’t be back next year. A lot of advertisers find that value not by directly emphasizing their product, but by making a statement. This year, eight such ads ran during the big game. They came from It’s A 10 haircare products, AirBnB, Donate Life, FurKids, Audi, 84 Lumber, Budweiser, and Land O’Lakes.

Why Message Ads Work

Super Bowl advertising is so important that some brands have separate creative teams just for that one spot. The production takes thousands of hours over several months. They are tested on focus groups, modified, and then tested again. Everything has to be as close to perfect as possible. Even then, there are no guarantees. Not every ad works.

One of the biggest challenges to creating a Super Bowl ad is making it stand out. Viewers are not always paying attention. By half-time, interest is starting to wane and a fair portion of viewers are intoxicated. If the game’s not close, the second half can be a dead zone (obviously not the case with this year’s game). Getting viewers to stop and pay attention is challenging. A message ad works by interrupting the flow and getting viewers to think for a few seconds.

A significant difference this year, however, was the sensitivity viewers had to ads with a message.  Regional ad spots, which don’t factor in national comparisons, tended to be more political than others and every region had them. That put viewers on edge so that their reactions tended to be more extreme whether viewers were for or against the message.

However, any controversy associated with an ad only helps brand recognition. That is why brands are willing to step into that dangerous territory of making a statement. Sometimes stirring the pot is a good thing. Several companies have had success with such ads, so there’s a reasonable precedent for doing something that is not product-centric.

The Video, Please

Going through this year’s ads, we found eight that stand out because of the message they share. Some are funny. Some are serious. All manage to make a point.

It’s A 10

When the ad says we’re in for “four years of awful hair,” we know to whom they’re referring. The ad then goes on to celebrate people whose hair style are … unique.

 

AirBnB

The company that uses people’s homes as hotel rooms has raised a lot of ire in places where regular hotels worry about losing business and neighbors worry about “undesirables” coming to visit. AirBNB takes on the controversy of the president’s travel ban head on, though, with an ad directed toward a specific audience.

https://youtu.be/5qUTYHnLz2g

 

Donate Life

I have to admit, when I first saw this ad I really didn’t understand where they were going until the last 15 seconds. This one might have been more effective in a 30-second format. Still, the whole concept that even an asshole can do something good offers everyone a chance for some level of redemption.

https://youtu.be/JPNNi7KKmQs

 

FurKids

People have a soft spot for animals, especially kittens. Yet, animals shelters across the nation are still overwhelmed with the number of cats and kittens available for adoption. FurKids is a chain of animal shelters and, as such, have some who think they charge too much and question how their animals are treated. I can’t speak to those allegations. However, as an ad that makes a point about the need to adopt these animals, they’re spot on. Again, though, it could have been just as effective in a shorter version.

https://youtu.be/pfJJKUNrY7o

 

Audi

Wage equality is a significant issue and Audi waded into that topic head-on with an ad titled “Daughter.” While the ad features a father talking about how to explain wage inequality to his daughter, the ad is targeting the politically active group of feminist involved in the issue. The ad is extremely well done and drives its point home with clarity.

https://youtu.be/G6u10YPk_34

 

84 Lumber

You wouldn’t necessarily think that a lumber company would be into political controversy unless it was maybe about deforestation or some other environmental cause. 84 Lumber took on the entire immigration debate, though, with a poignant and moving ad that has anti-immigrant groups all kinds of upset. Note: this ad is a revision of the first run that actually showed a wall. The NFL nixed that one as being too political. Go figure. So, what we’re showing you here is the full short film, including the part with the wall.

 

Budweiser

The self-proclaimed “King of Beers” has produced some memorable Super Bowl ads over the years, especially those involving their trademarked Clydesdales. They didn’t go that direction this year, though. Instead, they went with the presumptive story of the beer’s founder, a German immigrant who suffered the stigma of being an immigrant at another time in our nation’s history when immigrants weren’t cool. The ad was produced and already in the can long before the current immigration issue even came up, but its poignancy can’t be missed. So much so that when the full ad was released last week, the hashtag #BoycottBudweiser came up. There is no indication that the hashtag had any effect on sales, but the commercial certainly has.

 

Land O’Lakes

Again, a dairy company doesn’t seem like it would be the likely source for a commercial as serious as “The Farmer.” We tend to expect something softer—with cows. However, Land O’Lakes is actually a farmer-owned co-op, so the ability of smaller, independent farmers to survive in an atmosphere where corporations seem about to consume the entire industry is a bit of a big deal. They don’t even mention a specific product, just the brand. Chances are, though, you’ll remember this ad the next time you’re wandering down the dairy aisle at your local grocery. Here’s the full version of the ad. The poem, by the way, is by Amelia E. Barr.

 

As for the rest …

Sure, there were plenty of ads that were loud and entertaining. A number of lists are ranking the Wix ad with Jason Statham and Gal Gadot as the best of the lot, and it certainly is an exciting 79 seconds. There were a couple of nostalgia pieces as well, with Bud Light bringing back the ghost of Spuds McKenzie and Xerox updating it’s “Miracle” spot with Brother Dominic from 40 years ago. There were plenty of entertaining ads to be had.

Still, these are the eight that carry the most weight and are likely to make the most difference. Who cares what size Big Mac® you get? Sometimes, how we respond to humanity matters more.

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News & Comment
Remember The Bowling Green Massacre
February 3, 2017
charles i. letbetter - remember the bowling green massacre

 Don’t worry, it didn’t actually happen

 charles i. letbetter - remember the bowling green massacre

The Short Version

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was defending the president’s travel ban to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Thursday evening when she referenced the Bowling Green Massacre as having been caused by two Iraqi refugees. The biggest problem with her statement?  There never has been a Bowling Green Massacre and the Internet was swift to respond.

Let’s Go To The Video

We wouldn’t want our ridicule to be taken out of context

https://youtu.be/aBC5Qv2HR7E

Run That By Me Again?

Bowling Green Massacre. As in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the sleepy little home of Fruit of the Loom underwear, the National Corvette Museum, and Bowling Green University. The year she cites is 2011.  She uses the word “massacre.”

If that’s leaving you scratching your head, it’s because no such thing ever happened. Even the folks in Bowling Green agree, nothing happened there in 2011. Nothing ever happens in Bowling Green. Conway, the mother of “alternative facts,” made the whole thing up.

Completely false.

No one is surprised, though. Apparently, this kind of misinformation is going to be a standard for this administration.

Where She Got Confused

What might have gotten mixed up in Ms. Conway’s addled brain is the fact that, in 2011, two Iraqi citizens who happened to be living in Bowling Green were arrested for attempting to send weapons and money to al-Qaeda for the purpose of killing US soldiers. That is confirmable and was widely reported at the time. The two were eventually sentenced.  MohanadShareef Hammadi was sentenced to life in federal prison and Waad Ramadan Alwan was sentenced to 31-40 years.

Ms. Conway’s information is still wrong, though. The Obama administration did not stop or ban Iraqi resettlement.  What actually happened, and this is confirmable in multiple federal records from the State Department and other agencies, is that thObama administration imposed more extensive background checks on Iraqi refugees resulting in a slowdown in visa approvals. That was it. No ban.

There was a drop in refugee arrivals from Iraq in 2011. The numbers look like this:

  • 2010: 18,251
  • 2011: 6,339
  • 2012: 16,369

The rate of visa approval in 2011 was dramatically slowed under the new rules, creating a bottleneck of sorts in the system. However, there was NO BAN under the Obama administration during that time.

The Internet Responds

If there’s one thing the Internet is great at doing, it’s catching other people’s mistakes and holding them accountable. Twitter users were quick to step up to the plate and #BowlingGreenMassacre has been trending ever since. Here are some of our favorites:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, with all that nonsense behind us, let’s be clear that such an obvious attempt at gaslighting by a senior White House official is absolutely unforgivable. Ms. Conway didn’t just “misspeak.” The press didn’t “misinterpret her words.” No, she lied. She made up shit that never happened and tried to pass it off as fact.

And while we’re at it, can we call MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on the carpet for letting get away with that ridiculous comment? C’mon, Chris, you knew damn good and well there was no Bowling Green Massacre, yet you just let it blow right past you as you went to the next question. Ya’ need to grow a pair if you’re going to interview anyone from this administration.

And that’s where we end this story. No one should be interviewing Ms. Conway and her “alternative facts” in the first place. She needs to be sidelined by the media and totally ignored. This story stands as a perfect example of why.

We don’t need four years of this nonsense.

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Current Issues  /  News & Comment
Resistance & Fallout
January 31, 2017
charles i. letbetter - resistance and fallout

The world begins to push back

 

charles i. letbetter - resistance and fallout

The Short Version

With the chaos and confusion caused by the ban on refugees, a number of people around the world are beginning to visibly and loudly push back against the ban and against the immigration policies of the 45th president’s administration. At the same time, the ban has also created a level of uncertainty caused global stock markets to decline.

A Little More Detail

By now, the chaos resulting from Friday’s presidential order banning the immigration of refugees as well as anyone traveling from seven predominantly Muslim countries is well known. We’ve all seen the pictures and the videos of protests that are ongoing at airports across the country. We’re angered by the firing of Sally Yates, the acting attorney general. But what is anyone doing about it?

A lot, actually. Let’s start with the Washington state attorney general, Bob Ferguson filing a lawsuit against the administration. “It’s my responsibility as attorney general to defend the rule of law, to uphold the Constitution on behalf of the people of this state. And that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

That lawsuit is likely to be enjoined by other state’s Attorneys General. This is a familiar move that was used frequently by Republican-dominated states during the Obama administration. It tends to be effective.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is providing cities in his state with the legislation templates they need in order to declare their cities as Sanctuary Cities in direct defiance of the President and the ban.

On Sunday, 17 Democratic attorneys general signed a letter vowing to “use all of the tools of our offices to fight this unconstitutional order.” One might think that all those would come from states where the president lost the electoral vote. That thinking would be wrong. The attorneys general from Iowa and Pennsylvania, which voted for the president, and Maine, where the vote was split, were among those signing the letter.

That level of resistance is important because states attorneys general tend to know the law at a rather detailed level that most of the rest of us don’t have. They can get down to the nitty-gritty of a matter and speak to legal documents in a legal way that actually has some impact.

They’re not the only ones pushing back hard, though. If the president thought he would have the support of the corporate community, he is wrong. CEOs who normally are quiet have been speaking up in defiance and condemning the ban. The following companies are among those who are actively taking steps to support their employees and speaking up in opposition:

  • Coca-Cola
  • Goldman Sachs
  • Apple
  • Microsoft
  • Google
  • Ford
  • GM
  • Lyft
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • Etsy
  • General Electric
  • Merk & Co.
  • Ikea
  • Starbucks

In some ways, the industrial sector’s push back may be stronger than that of the attorneys general because they can leverage their entire company’s workforce and capital should they decide to do so. While the means of resistance have, so far, been largely financial, such as Lyft donating to the American Civil Liberties Union or Starbucks hiring 10,000 refugees, should the ban continue to impact corporations in a negative manner, their response is likely to become stronger as well.

The ban isn’t doing good things for global markets, either. Not only did US markets close down yesterday in response to the ban, markets in India and Asia are both down this morning.

Oh, and did I mention that the ban received harsh condemnation from Britain’s members of Parliament yesterday, with several members taking to the floor to denounce the policy. Several are even going so far as proposing a state visit to the UK by the US president be canceled.

This is in addition to legal actions by the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center that were initiated yesterday.

Resistance against the ban is strong and the fallout looks to be severe. However, the administration is holding on to its out-of-touch views and illegal policies. This may well just be the beginning of a long battle.

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Fashion  /  Photography
Sunday Gallery: Moments Of Beauty
January 29, 2017
charles i. letbetter - moments of beauty

We need to find the beauty in an ugly world

 

charles i. letbetter - moments of beauty

[dropcap]I found it difficult to curate a gallery for this week. My heart just wasn’t in it. Our eyes have been glued to news reports and wire feeds as thousands of people have been stranded, detained, and/or deported at our nation’s airports. They are victims, innocent victims of the president’s illegal immigration order the excludes people from seven countries from entering the US. Never mind that these people have legal work visas and green cards. Never mind that they have family members here who are relying upon them, waiting for them. Never mind they have employers who need them. The president’s order was a giant “fuck you” to all of them without regard, and a “fuck you” to the entire country.[/dropcap]

With all that going on, trying to find pictures along any kind of theme for this morning was impossible. I gave serious consideration to skipping this week’s gallery altogether. But no, when in moments of crisis, we need things that are beautiful. We need to see the beauty in our fellow human beings.

I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of anyone from the countries directly banned by the president. People in that situation rarely make it in front of anyone’s camera. They prefer to live quiet, unassuming lives with their families. They don’t take any chances.

So, for this week, we chose what I call “second glance” images, those pictures I probably didn’t choose on my first pass through a set, but have come to like for some reason or another. I hope they will bring a moment of beauty into your day, perhaps your life. Enjoy.

 

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”9846″ layout=”contain” columns=”3″]

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Current Issues  /  Long Read  /  Photography
Extreme Vetting
January 28, 2017
charles i. letbetter - Extreme Vetting

What if photographers vetted models like the president proposes vetting immigrants?

 

charles i. letbetter - Extreme Vetting

Is this really necessary

The United States already has one of the most stringent and difficult vetting processes for people who are wanting to immigrate to our country. In some cases, depending on where one is from, it can take over three years for the vetting process to be completed. When the president signed orders yesterday that completely halts the flow of immigration he also ordered “extreme” vetting for those who still have a chance of getting in.

We disagree with the president and his policies on immigration. We not only find them unnecessary, we find them, in many cases, inhumane and possibly cruel. The new policies turn away refugees desperately in need of an escape from unfathomably cruel and hostile treatment in their own country. While there are millions of refugees worldwide, only a handful ask to come to the US. Even under existing law, a significant number are still turned away.

As Americans, we already have blood on our hands dating back to World War II. We repeatedly turned away and refused requests for asylum from jews who were under persecution from the Nazi regime. We even turned away Anne Frank’s family and well all know how horribly that turned out.

While we understand the need to keep our country safe and protect terrorists from gaining access and doing harm, we are largely certain that goal can be achieved while still addressing the humane need to provide a safe haven for refugees and other immigrants. Already, very few actual terrorists make it through our challenging system. It is far more likely that someone who is already here becomes radicalized after witnessing and/or experiencing the process through which we subject would-be immigrants. The president’s new policies are almost certainly going to result in a significant loss of life as refugees, once again, are turned away. Once again, their blood is on our hands.

So absurd it’s funny

To highlight the absurdity of extreme vetting, we wondered what it might be like if photographers subjected their models to the same level of intense questioning given to would-be immigrants. Certainly, there would be a lot fewer pictures being taken, and quite possibly the problem of people canceling for stupid reasons or just not showing up at all might be eliminated. We gave the matter considerable thought (we even slept on it) and imagine that the initial intake interview might look something like the following conversation. P is the photographer. M is the would-be model. Just for fun, let’s assume the photographer in this scenario is large, bald, sporting an unkempt goatee, and smelling of salami.

The model is ushered into a bare, dimly lit room that contains nothing more than a single gray metal table and two matching chairs. On the side of the table facing the door sits the photographer holding a manilla folder containing the girl’s model application. On one side of the table sits a half-full cup of coffee that has already left a couple of brown rings on the table. On the other side sits an unopened bottle of water.

Glancing up from the folder, the photographer begins:

P: Have a seat, Miss … ?

M: Hornswaggle. Periwinkle Hornswaggle.

P: (Scoffing) That’s quite a mouthful of a name you have there, Miss Hornswaggle. You don’t actually expect to make it as a model with a horrible name like that, do you?

M: Well, I don’t know, I hadn’t given it much tho…

P: You’ll have to change it, but we can talk about that later. You have a lot of other steps to complete before you’ll get to that little detail. A lot of steps. You may not make it. In fact, I have to say, the majority of young women I see in here don’t make it. They give up. They go home. They end up having babies and doing drugs. Are you sure you’re up to being a model?

M: I … I guess so …

P: You GUESS so? You mean you aren’t sure?

M: I mean, yes. Yes, sir. I’m definitely up to being a model. I’ve dreamed of this my entire …

P:  Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before. Everyone has a dream. Only about one percent of those dreams ever come true, though. This is going to be a very challenging process. I hope you came prepared.

M: Well, I think so. I mean, yes, I’ve brought everything that is required, as well as some additional documentation and letters of reference that I hope will help.

P: That’s good. You’ll need all the positive references you can get. We don’t just let anyone model for us, you know. We can’t run any risks. We only accept those who are really committed to our work and to making our photographs great. The greatest, actually. The best in the whole world. Period.

M: I’m ready to do everything I possibly can. You know, I even …

P: Now, the first matter, Miss Hornswaggle, is are you sure that you are human?

M: Human?

P: Yes, Human. We need to be quite sure that we aren’t allowing any aliens in front of our camera. Bad things happen when aliens get in front of cameras. A light flashes and their little slitted eyes don’t know how to respond and we get pictures that look just absolutely horrid, not to mention the whole tentacle problem.

M: Tentacle problem?

P: Tentacle problem. Aliens have them, you know. Tentacles. Long. Slimy. Reaching for things. Just ruins the equipment. Absolutely ruins it.

M: Well, yes, I’m human.

P: Can you prove that assertion, Miss Hornswaggle?

M: Prove? I’m not sure I understand what you mean. You’re looking at me. Can’t you tell that I’m human?

p: Visual appearance isn’t enough. Those aliens are tricky, you know. Always disguising themselves. I had one a few years ago that disguised herself as a floor lamp. She was bright as hell, too., Very bright. The brightest. Then we took her to the studio and she showed her true form. Scary. Very scary. And sad.

M: What kind of proof would you like?

p: We’ll need to do blood test unless you have a certificate from your doctor confirming that you are human.

M: Uhm,  well, I brought my medical records as you requested (she hands him an inch-thick file).

P: (leafing through the papers in the file) Okay, we’ll have to confirm all of these, of course, but they seem to be sufficient for now. Are you hiding anything?

M: Hiding anything?

P: Hiding anything. You know, like drugs, alcohol, weapons, bobby pins, alternate hair colors, wigs, alternate gender replacement pieces, toe rings, anything that might ruin a photograph.

M: How do bobby pins ruin a …

P: That’s not a detail we need to get into, young lady. Now, are you hiding anything or not?

M: No, I’m not hiding anything at all.

P: Are you sure?

M: Yes!

P: (leaning forward) Are you VERY sure? I can have someone do a body cavity search, you know.

M: Yes! I’m positive! I’m not hiding anything!

P: Fine then. If we find out later that you’re lying you’ll be tossed out of here on your butt. Do you understand?

M: (looking frightened) Y-y-y-yes, sir.

P: How many parents do you have?

M: Uhm, two?

P: You seem a little unsure about that.

M: No, I’m certain I only have two, my mom and my dad.

P: And they’re both still living?

M: Yes.

P: How’s their health? How old are they? Neither of them are about to die, are they?

M: (confused) Uh, no, they’re both fine and healthy. I mean, my dad still smokes some when he thinks mom’s not looking, but …

P: So, he has cancer.

M: No! At least, not that anyone knows.

P: He’s keeping his cancer a secret?

M: He doesn’t have cancer!

P: What about contagious disease? Does your dad have any contagious diseases?

M: No, neither of my parents are contagious.

P: Do you live with them?

M: Who? My parents?

P: No, a herd of elephants. Of course, your parents.

M: No, I have an apartment with my boyfriend.

P: Oh, you have an undeclared boyfriend? What manner of worthless bum is he?

M: He’s not undeclared. I put his information on the form they gave me outside. And he’s not a bum. He works construction with his dad.

P: Okay, so you’re mooching off his old man.

M: No! We both work and we pay our own bills. We’re not mooching off anyone.

P: (Scoffs) Right. Does this boyfriend of yours have his own car?

M: Yes, we each have our own car.

P: What piece of junk do you drive?

M: A three-year-old Ford Escort.

P: Three years old, huh? That’s just about the time things start breaking on a car. Do you make enough to cover the repairs?

M: (uncertain) I-I suppose. I keep my oil changed and my tires rotated. You know, all the routine maintenance.

P: Yes, but what happens if you go out and your battery is dead? Would you be stuck?

M: I have jumper cables.

P: Do you know how to use them without blowing something up?

M: Yes.

P: (snorts) Sure. That’d be a first. What about a cell phone. Do you have a cell phone that actually works?

M: Yes (pulls phone from purse). Right here.

P: Is your service all paid up and active?

M: Yes, always.

P: Do you always keep it fully charged?

M: I do my best. I carry a mobile charger with me just in case.

P: You don’t have any annoying ringtones on that thing, do you?

M: I guess that depends on what you mean by annoying. I have some that are music, but …

P: They’ll have to go. I can’t tolerate anything but the normal ringtones. And I’d better not catch you sending text messages, either. I hate those things. They’re nothing but distractions. If you’re going to be a model you’ll have to be totally focused on the photoshoot at all times. No distractions of any kind. How many grandparents did you say you have?

M: You hadn’t asked, but I have three left.

P: (stands up and leans over the table) Don’t you be giving me any sass, young lady! I’ll toss you out of here so fast your hair will braid itself. Do you understand?

M: (backing away) Y-y-yes, sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect.

P: You need to watch that mouth of yours. (huffs, then sits down and picks up the folder again) Now, how many grandparents do you have living?

M: Three. My grandpa on my mother’s side died before I was born.

P: Are they in good health? None of them are about to die, are they?

M: Well, my one grandma, my mom’s mom, is in a nursing home. She’s 96, so …

P: She could croak at any minute. Got it. What about the other two?

M: Yeah, uhm … (feeling emotional) They live in Florida. We don’t see them often. I guess they’re doing okay.

P: Florida? How lame. That’s just sad. Very sad. I suppose you’ll be going down there when one of them kicks the bucket.

M: (choking back tears) Well, yeah. Wouldn’t you?

P: Of course not! Why would I go to your grandparent’s funeral? I don’t even know them. They probably smell of lotion and ointment, anyway. I can’t stand people who smell of lotion and ointment. By the way, who normally cuts your hair?

M: (caught off guard by the sudden change of topic) Uhm, Allison at Topix Salon. Why does that matter?

P: Are you giving me sass again, young lady?

M: (shuddering) I’m sorry, no. I apologize.

P: What about tattoos? Do you have any tattoos?

M: Just one. I have my brother’s initials on my wrist. He was killed in a car accident last year. (She extends her arm to show him the tattoo)

P: Initials, huh? Are you sure that’s not part of some gang sign or terrorist code?

M: What? No! DNH. Donahue Notwithstanding Hornswaggle.

P: God, your family has stupid names. Okay, I’m ready for you to take your clothes off.

M: Excuse me? I didn’t think that was part of …

P: Look, I’ve got to know exactly what we’re dealing with, here. I don’t know what kind of mess you might be hiding under the clothes. We’ve had people try to sneak all kinds of propaganda into their shots. They think I don’t notice, but there’s nothing that gets past me. Stretch marks, c-section scars, boob jobs, hidden tattoos, nipple piercings—there’s none of it getting past me.

M: I’m not sure I’m comfortable …

P: I really don’t give two shits about whether you’re comfortable. Just strip and let’s get it over with. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Just get to it.

M: I didn’t think you were allowed to …

P: I’m allowed to do whatever the fuck I want, young lady, and if you really want to be a model you’d better take those clothes off right now. I’m not letting you get any further in this interview until I see you naked.

M: (standing up and gathering her things) I’m sorry, that’s just too much. I … I don’t think I want to be a model anymore. (she begins to move toward the door)

P: Hold it right there, you little brat. I didn’t give you permission to leave. You walk out that door and there’s absolutely no chance of you ever being a model. I’ll blackball your ass. Doesn’t matter if you come back ten years from now and talk to a different photographer. They won’t let you through. You leaving now just proves what a horrible person you are. I’ve had my suspicions about you from the moment you walked in here. You don’t have what it takes to be a model! You can’t handle being a model! No other photographer is going to take you, either. I’m the greatest photographer in this town. No one else is as great as I am. I am the greatest and  I don’t let just anyone model for me. You leave now and you’re pathetic. Just absolutely pathetic. Sad, even. Very sad.

M: (leaving) Yeah, I think being a fashion editor is easier than this bullshit. (door shuts behind her)

P: (Pulls out phone and starts tweeting) “Just turned away another pathetic wanna-be model. Didn’t have what it takes.  Sad. She should have attended my workshop. #ExtremeVetting #MakePhotographyGreatAgain”

Now, if extreme vetting seems stupid in that situation, imagine just how much more ridiculous it would be stretched out over years of investigation. This is not making America great again. This is a disaster.

#Resist

#StayAngry

#WriteYourCongressperson

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Current Issues  /  News & Comment
Mexico Says No
January 26, 2017
charles i. letbetter - mexico says no

Not everyone wants the wall and no one wants to pay for it

 

charles i. letbetter - mexico says no

Update

4:37 PM EST: Following the president’s remarks at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the president would look to impose a 20% tax on all imports from Mexico in order to pay for the wall. Such a tax would require approval from Congress.

There is some consideration, however, as to whether such a tax would be effective in achieving its goal. Mexico’s primary export is manufactured products, which seems like a rather large category. However, a significant portion of those products are pieces used in the assembly of larger products, such as car parts and cell phone pieces. Direct imports to the US would result in higher prices to consumers and, most importantly, American businesses reliant on those parts. The increased cost would result in lower profits, inhibiting growth of American manufacturing.

The second largest export from Mexico is oil and oil products. Any tax here would require a separate act of Congress from the one taxing manufactured products. This would not only result in higher prices at gas pumps, but would significantly impact the profitability of American companies.

Finally, agricultural exports from Mexico are a critical area for US grocers as the demand for fresh fruit and vegetables year-round has become a dominant part of their business. Additional taxes on agricultural imports would significantly raise food prices and make some foods that are grown almost exclusively in Mexico unavailable to large parts of the US market.

There is almost no way to impose a tax on Mexican goods imported into the United States that doesn’t have the US taxpayer ultimately paying for that tax. The fact that the money might pass through the hands of the Mexican government somewhere along the way is irrelevant. We still end up paying for the wall out of our pocket.

12:00 PM EST: Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto has said he will not attend the working meeting scheduled for Washington next Tuesday. This seems to have come in response to a tweet from the US president that said, “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

Response across Mexico has been strong. “I think that, in general, diplomacy is not conducted via Twitter,” Finance Secretary Jose Antonio Meade told Radio Formula. Mexico’s best-known opposition politician, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tweeted:  “in the face of Trump’s latest outburst, don’t go to the meeting, and submit an urgent complaint to the U.N. for human rights violations.”

Both sides say that communication lines between the two countries are still open, but pressure is increasing on president Pena Nieto within Mexico to refuse any talks with the US until the wall is removed from the agenda.

The Short Version

Mexico’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, said yesterday that Mexico will not pay for any form of a barrier along the US/Mexico border. This comes just hours after the US president signed orders to begin construction planning on the wall. Immigration and refugee activists have long decried the very idea of a wall and funding for the wall still faces strong opposition in the US Congress.

(more…)

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Current Issues  /  News & Comment
Reasons To Protest
January 25, 2017
charlesi. letbetter - reasons to protest

From pipelines to walls, the reasons to protest keep coming

charlesi. letbetter - reasons to protest

The Short Version

Yesterday, the 45th president invited those behind the Keystone XL pipeline to resubmit a bid for the controversial construction blocked by the Obama administration. He then signed a directive for the US Army Corp of Engineers to expedite studies related to the Dakota Access Pipeline effectively stopped by protestors last year. Today, he will sign orders paving the way for the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico as well as limiting immigration from seven countries. Everywhere we look, the new administration is providing us ample reason to protest.

Down & Dirty Details

Remember all those protests that took place up in  North Dakota last year? Thousands of people took part in a standoff between the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and the government over the Dakota Access Pipeline. While momentum was initially slow to build and media attention often waned, protestors stuck it out until President Obama intervened and instructed the US Army Corp of Engineers to consider alternative routes for the pipeline.

No one was dumb enough to think that the matter was settled, though. A new president had already been elected and had gone on record as favoring more domestic oil and gas drilling in addition to the construction of pipelines from the North. Any victory won back in December was only going to be temporary. Sure enough, the president signed a memo to the Secretary of the Army instructing the Corp of Engineers to:

  1. … review and approve in an expedited manner, to the extent permitted by law and as warranted, and with such conditions as are necessary or appropriate, requests for approvals to construct and operate the DAPL …
  2.  … consider … whether to rescind or modify the memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works dated December 4, 2016
  3. consider … prior reviews and determinations, including the Environmental Assessment issued in July of 2016 2 for the DAPL, as satisfying all applicable requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
  4. review and grant …requests for waivers of notice periods arising from or related to USACE real estate policies and regulations
  5. issue … any approved easements or rights-of-way immediately after notice is provided to the Congress

The full text of the memo can be found here.

Again, no one is surprised; this is exactly what was expected from the new administration. However, the memo is like a wake-up alarm going off for all those who were unsure when their protests might be needed again.

Within the same document-signing session, the president also signed a document inviting the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline to resubmit a proposal. The Keystone XL project had been fully blocked by the Obama administration back in 2014. This move opens the door for the project to be reconsidered. The memo, which is largely full of legal jargon that comes with anything composed in Washington, not only invites TransCanada to resubmit their bid, but authorizes the Secretary of State to approve the bid and the US Army Corp of Engineers to facilitate the construction. The full text of the order can be found here.

Obviously, we’ve not yet seen the orders regarding immigration, but we do know some of the following matters are to be addressed in the signing at the Department of Homeland Security today.

  • An order to ban the entry of refugees into the United States, except for religious minorities escaping persecution, until more aggressive vetting is in place. This is intentionally directed at the number of Syrian refugees previously approved by the Obama administration.
  • An order to block visas being issued to anyone from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
  • An order directing the construction of a border wall with Mexico.

While there is a reasonable chance not all the orders regarding border security and immigration will be ready for signing today, they are almost certainly to be signed at some point this week.

Why Protests Are Necessary

Every last one of these issues establishes an anti-humanitarian foundation for the entire administration. As pipelines have a proven propensity for leaking, they endanger the health and welfare of anyone who lives downstream. Immigration is a necessary humanitarian need for innocent people driven from countries at war as well as those simply looking for a better way of life. The president is so anti-humanitarian that he has even threatened to deny federal funding to the more than 200 Sanctuary Cities scattered across the US. [A current list of the Sanctuary Cities can be found here.]

This is a case of silence yielding consent. When the people of the United States do not speak up on a matter, when we stay in our comfortable chairs and warm houses and do absolutely nothing regarding an issue, Washington then proceeds to do whatever the hell they want. While protests are not always successful, they do at least remind members of Congress that they are answerable to their constituents in the next election. We can replace every last one of them if necessary.

While regular communication with your members of Congress is good, protests emphasize to them just how important an issue is to the American people. Sitting in Washington, D.C. day after day can be numbing. Members of Congress not only lose touch with their direct constiuents, they lose touch with the realities of the nation they represent. They need us to remind them that we’re not only paying attention, but that we actually care about specific issues.

Choose What You Can Do

I know not everyone can do every thing. No one can be at every march. Some of us can’t march at all. The number of issues we care about is larger than we have time to address. A friend posted a link to this article on Medium.com regarding how to #StayOutraged. There is a lot of good advice in that article. It’s going to be a long four years and issue fatigue is going to set in quickly.

Consider what you care about. Find an effective form of protest that works for you. Then, make your opinions known. Loudly. Forcefully.

Let us constantly remind this administration that they do not have a mandate. Despite what the president claims, they lost the popular vote soundly. There is no legitimate evidence of fraud. We need to prove just how strong we are in our opposition to his presidency and, especially, his policies.

Resist.

Dissent.

#StayOutraged

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Current Issues  /  Social Commentary
The Nightmare Of Being An Immigrant
November 29, 2016

Being an immigrant is never easy and fears within that community have never been higher

 

charles i. letbetter - the nightmare of immigration

The kids arrived home from school last night all abuzz about seeing their friends. They actually enjoy school most days. However, Inside their backpacks was a note that I found rather chilling. They attend a very diverse, multi-cultural city school. If the administration felt it necessary to send home the following letter, they are obviously responding to a real fear among the parents of our children’s classmates. Here’s the text of the letter:

What to Do Next to Protect Immigrant Communities

As America faces challenges in our long fight to uphold our founding values of liberty and justice for all, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) stands firmly with the immigrant communities who make our country strong. Though the president has the discretion to unilaterally alter some immigration policies, he cannot change the law itself. We will advocate strongly with the new Congress to retail protections for all immigrants.

In the meantime, here are four important things to know right now:

  • We do not recommend filing an initial application for DACA at this time. If you are considering filing a DACA renewal, first  speak with qualified legal counsel, like NIJC, about the potential risks.
  • If you have a DACA, do not apply for advance parole. If you already have approved advance parole, return to the United States before January 20, 2017.
  • Make an appointment for a legal consultation with a qualified legal service provider like NIJC as soon as possible to see if you are eligible for a permanent form of relief.
  • If you have been a permanent resident for three or more years, consult with a legal service provider about preparing to apply for U. S. citizenship. If you have ever had an encounter with the police, do not apply unless you have consulted with an attorney.

[contact information for the NIJC is provided at the end]

 

A few things for those outside the immigrant community

charles i. letbetter - the nightmare of immigration

First off, few of you are actually outside the immigrant community. Unless you are part of an indigenous North American tribal people, you’re part of the immigrant community so don’t go getting all huffy about immigrants. Someone in your family has been exactly where immigrants today are and they likely were just as scared. Being an immigrant in a new place, even if that place holds tremendous promise, is still frightening.

Beyond that, however, there are some other things we should all consider:

  • Not all Latino, Middle Eastern, Asian, or Indian people you meet are immigrants. Millions are natural born citizens exactly the same as you. Don’t insult them and their entire race by assuming that they all are immigrants.
  • The vast majority of immigrants currently in the United States are here legally, have been through the appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) background checks, and are probably more conscientious about upholding the law than most of their neighbors.
  • Many of the immigrants currently in the United States were asked to come here by American-owned companies who needed their talents, especially in high-tech industries. Holders of these special visas, which also come with special limitations on travel, are critical  to the U.S. economy. Should they all be required to leave, as some have suggested, it would immediately plunge the U.S. into recession.
  • Immigrants do not “take” anyone’s jobs. Rather, they fill a huge gap in work sectors that Americans are either not sufficiently skilled or not sufficiently humble enough to take. There always have been more than enough jobs for those willing to take them.

 

Where This Gets Personal

charles i. letbetter - the nightmare of immigration

We live in a very multicultural neighborhood. Many are immigrants, including the darling little five-year-old who catches the bus with the kids. Her parents only recently moved to Indianapolis from New York because opportunities here were better. Yet, the day after the election, her mother confided to me that they’ve been warned to stay packed and ready in the event they might have to leave again. They are afraid to even unpack all the children’s clothes.

There are immigrants all around us. Indianapolis has been a very open and welcoming city despite the efforts of many in our statehouse to turn them all away. We rely on them for the services they provide and they equally rely on us to provide them with a safe and accepting community in which to raise their families.

Sure, there are a few bad apples. Ya’ know what, there would still be a criminal element without them. Every society on the planet is contaminated with those who would rather exist outside the law, so blaming immigrants is rather ridiculous and insincere.

Just as we have been quick to support women and our LGBTQ friends, we need to do the same for immigrants in our country. They’re scared. They have no idea what to expect from January 20 onward. Even worse, there are more than a few people out there who are willing to take advantage of that fear. Our immigrant population needs to know that we have their backs.

That the atmosphere has reached a point where letters such as this one need to come home is truly sad. This is our fault. We need to fix it. Please, support your local immigrant community however you can.

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Current Issues  /  PotD
Trying To Make Sense Of The World
April 5, 2016
charles i. letbetter - trying to make sense of the world

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. —Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

charles i. letbetter - trying to make sense of the world

There are so many events that fail to make a lick of sense, one has difficulty trying to not go crazy

Yesterday had more than it’s fair share of challenges. Some were part and parcel of just having kids and trying to take care of them. Others, though, hit deeper. We found out yesterday that the owner of a popular Northside bar & grill that Kat and I occasionally enjoy committed suicide over the weekend. Beyond the immediate tragedy of one feeling so desperate, the move also puts in jeopardy the livelihood of his employees who may now be without a job.

Last evening, an estranged couple, who were under a no-contact order, met in a parking lot in Camby, a small town just East of Indianapolis. The conversation grew heated and in an apparent act of frustration, the man shot his estranged wife in the leg and then the head before exiting the car and killing himself. She’s in stable condition, but be sure that every aspect of her life has been turned upside down.

The world is crazy.

The Tennessee State Legislature passed a bill yesterday making the Bible the state book. Governor Haslam has said he opposes the bill, but there is still some speculation as to whether he may sign it and, if he doesn’t, whether the legislature can override the veto. So much for the separation of church and state. Merely by passing the bill the state legislature has marginalized millions of Tennessee residents who don’t identify as Christian.

The world is insane.

An ex-wife, the one named Ivana, of a leading presidential candidate said yesterday that she supports immigration because, get this,  “Who’s going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don’t like to do that.” Never mind that she, herself, is an immigrant and I dare say has never so much as touched a vacuum cleaner in her overly-advantaged life. Such statements make it clear that 54% of the United States would be marginalized should her ex be elected president.

The world has gone nuts.

Someone hacked the entire citizenship database for the country of Turkey, population 49,611,709, and published all the details online. Everything. Full name, parents’ names, date and place of birth, current address, etc. Everything one would need to completely obsfucate Turkish identities for decades. This potentially places everything related to identity in question. Imagine if the US Social Security records were to be hacked in similar fashion. The website hints that the new US president had better know what he’s doing or we could face a similar attack.

The world has turned on itself.

Reuters is reporting that Daesh militants are using rockets filled with mustard gas in their fight to take over a Syrian military airport. Never mind that the use of chemical weapons violates the Geneva convention. We can’t expect Daesh to abide by any laws, including their own. Such an act demonstrates a complete and total disregard for human life and we should take note that this isn’t the first time the terrorist organization has used the nerve gas. These people are vile, yet France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls says Islamic extremists are winning the propaganda war. Could we be facing an event worse than anything Hitler could have imagined?

What do we do when the world seems to have literally turned itself upside down?

We could worry. We could fret. The truth is, though, there’s not a hell of a lot we can do to actively change the actions of others. We can look forward to voting in November, but then it’s what, 12 to 18 months after that before we could start to see any significant difference that actually effects global actions?

I’m beginning to think that Sally Bowles had it right when she sang:

What good´s permitting some prophet of doom?
To wipe every smile away
Life is a cabaret , old chum!
So come to the cabaret!

What else makes sense? If we cannot create immediate change over such outlandish behavior and events, then we do best to go on with our lives and make the best of them we can. Two friends brought beautiful young lives into the world this weekend (both boys, interestingly enough). We should celebrate. There are advances being made in the fight against Alzheimer’s. We should be encouraged. There was an electrical fire at the Internal Revenue Service. We should be hopeful.

Star by admitting
From cradle to tomb
It isn’t that long a stay
Life is a cabaret, old chum!
It´s only a cabaret, old chum!
And I love a cabaret!

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Music  /  PotD  /  Social Commentary
Primal Scream Friday
January 8, 2016
charles i. letbetter - primal scream friday

All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.—George Orwell

charles i. letbetter - primal scream friday

Go ahead, just let it all out

Just to be very clear, we’re not talking this morning about Primal Scream the movie, nor Primal Scream the Scottish band. I will reference the album of the same name by the late trumpeter and bandleader Maynard Ferguson, but central to my premise this cold, wet, weary Friday morning is the psychotherapy method developed by Dr. Arthur Janov. Dr. Janov’s theory is that, from the very moment we are born, we begin repressing traumatic events in our lives, sealing them away from memory. Who remembers the actual birth experience, for example? None of us, of course. Neither do we experience the trauma of thinking that our parents have left us when actually they’ve only gone into the other room. Janov’s practice is to help us deal with those traumas, which he is sure is responsible for all our depression and anxiety, by bringing back those painful memories and then quite literally screaming at them.

I’m guessing Dr. Janov has trouble keeping neighbors.

While I’m not going to vouch for the efficacy of Dr. Janov’s methods, I do think it is valuable for us to occasionally list the things that are upsetting us, write them down perhaps, and then give them, collectively, a giant middle finger. With social media having become so prevalent in most our lives, we are now inundated with more information than ever, and a lot of that information is something less than positive. Our response tends to fall in the direction of two extremes: we either bitch and gripe about everything, constantly, trolling comments and insulting people we don’t know; or attempting to ignore everything in the hopes it will all go away. Neither of those approaches are exactly healthy.

So, what we’re going to do this morning is list the five things from this week that have pissed me off the most and then turn on the title track from Maynard Ferguson’s 1976 album and scream at them, letting the music provide a counter-weight to our bellowing. One big primal scream. Once we are done, we set those issues aside and try to not mess with them again. Feel free to join me. Create your own list. Let’s move into the weekend emotionally free of the frustrations that beset us. Ready? Here we go:

  • Gun reform. I fail to understand why anyone with a sound mind objects to background checks for deadly weapons and I certainly don’t see where anyone gets off claiming that such precautions somehow interfere with their right to keep and bear arms. Remember, the Constitution only gives that right in order to maintain “a well-regulated militia,” and part of being well-regulated almost certainly means taking steps to ensure that the wrong people aren’t getting their hands on guns. What’s even more infuriating is the degree to which the GOP has completely acquiesced to the National Rifle Association on the topic, despite the fact that the United States continues to have more handgun related deaths, by far, than any other industrialized nation in the world.  The argument is ridiculous to the point of insanity and really makes me want to scream.
  • Protests in Burns, Oregon. A week ago, a group of gun-toting cry babies led by the seriously delirious Ammon Bundy took over a federal wildlife refuge to protest something that didn’t deserve to be protested in the first place. This has to be one of the worst-planned sieges ever. While the group claims they are planning to occupy the little building just outside Burns for several years, they failed to bring enough food. By Monday, they were asking for people to send them snacks. That they’ve not been set upon by angry birders or scalped by native Paiute, who actually have a legitimate claim to their ancestral land, is actually disappointing.  Were these idiots not a bunch of white guys, they would have been on the receiving end of a massive military operation already. The government has cut off power and water to the facility and is waiting them out. Meanwhile, the world laughs.
  • The global economy. Uhm, hello? Haven’t we been here before? The fact that stock trading in China had to be halted twice  this week and is, once again today, taking another roller coaster ride sets off similar sell-offs in both the European and US markets that should have everyone worried. In fact, if you’re not at least a little bit scared you’re crazy. Super-investor George Soros says the situation resembles the 2008 crisis, and this time around we don’t have a Congress that’s willing to do anything about the situation. This could end up very, very bad for the entire world, and it could happen before Spring gets here.
  • Worsening immigration situation. There hasn’t been a worse time to be an immigrant since World War II. The influx of refugees across Europe continues to grow and as more arrive in the United States, where they should be welcome and where we have plenty of resources to help, our response continues to be about as wrong as possible. Compounding matters, there is yet another article in this morning’s New York Times regarding the plight of families fleeing escalating violence in Central America. I wonder if an uprising of native tribes would be sufficient to remind Americans that this entire country is founded upon immigration, taking in those who were not wanted nor welcome elsewhere. We need to get over our selfishness and put an end to this problem.
  • Earthquakes in Oklahoma. 70. That is how many earthquakes have hit the state of Oklahoma in the past week. Fortunately, none of them have been terribly large. The largest this week registered 4.8 on the Richter scale, which typically is enough to rattle windows and upset cattle in the area, but seldom causes any substantial damage. The problem is that these earthquakes appear to be the result of fracking across the state and Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, who is in line to be one of the worst governors in the country and certainly Oklahoma’s worst since David Hall in the 1970s, refuses to do anything to reign in the controversial activity pending further study. The unanswerable question is at what point these quakes stop being a nuisance and turn into something critical. We’ve seen the strength of the quakes grow from the 2.6 to 3.8 range to frequently over 4.0 in the past year. This week’s 4.8 quake comes frightening close to the point at which significant property damage begins to occur. Gov. Fallin needs to halt all fracking activity in the state immediately, but she’s far too stubborn and closed-minded to bother.

There’s my list. How’s yours? Once we get these out of our system, the deal is that we don’t keep revisiting them over and over. We let them go in one long, loud, guttural primal scream that comes up from out gut and frightens all animals into hiding. To prevent alarming the neighbors, I strongly suggest clicking the link below and turning up the volume on your computer or mobile device as loud as possible before you begin your primal scream. That way, people will just think you’re trying to sing along to a song that has no words and leave you alone the rest of the day.

Now, go and enjoy your weekend.

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