Continued Procrastination for Today in Book Seven: Reconstruction 2020

So… I did get a mutual right swipe on Tinder last night. From a girl whose message was “My band and I are touring and our van keeps breaking down. I can send you pics for money!”
So… again… not that I’m in a position to date or anything like that… but let’s hear it for the modern world, eh?

I admit I could be wrong about this… but this isn’t exactly something that one would encounter in the dating world pre-app. I can’t imagine walking up to a woman in a bar and asking to buy her a drink and she turns around saying, “No drink, thanks but I’ll take the money for the drink. I’ll sell you a picture of me for my band.”

It’s just weird and… again, I’m not “with it” anymore but… it feels tacky.

Well, here’s an interesting bit of deja vu with a repeated irony.

When Donald Trump was running his 2016 election, I heard from a lot of Trump supporters about “Fuck Hollywood, Fuck Celebrities, Fuck what those elitist out of touch actors think!!” Which I always found as somewhat ridiculous… Trump was so desperate to be considered a celebrity that he would often ask or demand that film and television productions in New York give him a cameo. I truly found it ridiculous that people were so angry and aggressive to go after people like Natalie Portman but thought that (quite literally) Trump could do no wrong.

Fast forward to today and a… very strange… thing.

So… I’m a news-watching, news-reading, law studying kind of adult. I know what is going on in the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Venezuela, the UK, and North America. I spend my time trying to understand THE LAW and its application. I don’t spend my time obsessing over celebrities.

Which, as it happens, is another irony. I did not watch the Golden Globes. I no longer find Award Shoes valid, relevant, or important. I don’t have the time or good fortune to spend my life watching “all of the latest films”. In fact, the Oscar Nominations were announced Monday and of the films nominated for Best Picture… I’ve seen none of them. I can tell you about The Constitution… I can tell you who Devin Nunes is and why I don’t like him… I can tell you a little bit about 18 U.S. Code § 1030. And while I’m not bad mouthing people who don’t spend as much time in law and politics as me… I can certainly be upset with people making up their minds about things like Impeachment without hearing Witnesses.

AND YET… while the Trump Administration is “working with” Barr and McConnell on corrupting the Impeachment process… while the Trump Administration is assassinating foreign leaders without briefing Congress… while the Trump Administration is “making a deal with China to help farmers” that explicitly LACKS a timeline or deadline… while all of that is going on........ guess what my (now) 13 Trump Supporter friends have been talking about all week.

Celebrities. Y’know… the people that they hate and despise because nobody needs to hear from a bunch of liberal hacks! At least, that’s what they are saying until they agree with the celebrity, apparently.

Ricky Gervais… known more for his “piss everyone off” style of comedy than a political message… became a Conservative Media Darling with his speech at the Golden Globes. I read the transcript and then watched the speech. There was nothing inherently “Conservative” about his message. His message was mostly “don’t be hypocrites, don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back, and don’t think you’re good people if you’ve been terrible people out of the spotlight.” BUT because Gervais was lambasting Hollywood Fox News and American Conservatives rallied around “their new British hero” to celebrate “a strong right-wing perspective being showcased.” In response, I’ll echo Mr. Gervais’ comments: How can mocking some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the world be considered right wing? Personally, I’ll go a step further. ALL of you conservatives who were celebrating Gervais’ “right wing take down of hollywood”… go watch the movie “The Invention of Lying.” Go. Do it. Right now. After watching it, ye party of Moral Superiority and Evangelical Christianity… what do you say now? Your “Right Wing Celebrity Darling” is a militant atheist who wrote, directed, and starred in a movie whose core premise was that religion is a lie. But no no… he made fun of Hollywood and told people to shut up and accept their awards… so even though he himself says he isn’t right wing; you go ahead and tell him he’s wrong.

And now all day today, I’ve been hearing about Michelle Williams (as evil) and Vince Vaughn (as good) but why the way “Liberals” are responding to them is absolute proof of hypocrisy and godlessness in Liberal America. So… again… having NO IDEA why my Trump Supporting friends are talking Michelle Williams and Vince Vaughn (especially in the midst of Impeachments, Iran, and other actual government issues) I look it up.

Conservative Media is running stories all over about “Michelle Williams aborted a child so she could be famous.”
Conservative Media is running stories all over about “Vince Vaughn being blacklisted for shaking President’s hand.”

And it reminds me… everybody shut up!
First of all.. Conservatives… I’m sick to death of you painting women who get abortions as evil, selfish, or deficient. If you were authentic, we could have a genuine discussion. But the same press and people screaming “Abortion Evil” are the ones that have been screaming “Less Funding for Schools” and “Government not responsible for sexual assaults in child detention at the border”. Either you give a shit about the life and well-being of Children or you don’t. ONLY caring about fetal children is convenient to the point of ludicrous because a fetal child doesn’t NEED anything from you OTHER than to be judgmental and potentially cruel to the expecting-mother. Caring about another living person is too difficult, so spend all of your energy being mean to other people in the name of an incipient person.
Second of all… Liberals… stop taking four second news clips and basing personal judgments on them. Ellen at a ball game with Bush? Fuck it, he’s not in power anymore. BUT CONSERVATIVES… stop pretending that you hate celebrities when you bloody celebrate every time one hangs out with or shakes hands with Trump. You can’t say “Fuck Joy Behar” then turn around and praise James Woods. Further, to BOTH Liberals and Conservatives… Vince Vaughn shaking hands with Trump isn’t the “surprise indicator” of his opinions. Vaughn has been open about his support for more conservative politics in the last 4 years. So Liberals being mad at him? Makes sense. Conservatives supporting him? Makes sense. But you should all be ashamed if this hand shake is what convinced you of your current opinion.
Lastly to my friends that are using this stories as “comparison pieces”… I am so embarrassed for you. Liberals supporting someone who chose to get an abortion does NOT make them hypocrites for not supporting someone who chose to shake someone’s hand. And you, OF ALL PEOPLE, should see how wildly dissimilar those two activities are. If you have to potentially agonize and consider for a lifetime the decision to shake someone’s hand… your social anxiety would be so crippling that you would never have gone into the public eye. If your argument is that abortion is “serious business that makes an impact”… let’s keep the focus there. Some people are going to support the woman getting an abortion due to realizing what “serious business and impact” that will have on her. Some people are going to NOT support the woman getting an abortion due to realizing what “serious business and impact” that will have on her aborted child. As opposed to Vince Vaughn’s bloody handshake! An actor who had already been having a fairly lack luster last decade… deciding to shake hands with a poetical figure. Significant difference. Oh, but something that should be mentioned… this isn’t like Ellen and Bush. Ellen can’t go to the White House and meet Bush to discuss whether Ellen can become Ambassador to Barbados because Bush no longer makes policy. Trump is still in power and CAN make policy. Which makes friendly gestures more important both good and bad.

Things seem fairly quite out there in the Internet world for the most part today. PB isn’t exploding with notes and unread bookmarks; Facebook isn’t erupting into wild controversies (besides what I’ve already discussed). What with the snow and weather here, it’s almost like “the stillness of winter” extended even into the digital realm. That being said, today is (allegedly) the day for the State of the Court speech by our acting Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. Which in itself is somewhat interesting. Last year, our Chief Justice (Justice Cady) passed away suddenly and without notice. This week, Acting Chief Justice Wiggins announced that he would be retiring this year. So no sooner do we finalize the hiring of the late-Cady’s replacement, we have to gear up to select Wiggins replacement! Interestingly, both Cady and Wiggins are democrats on the bench and will assuredly be replaced with Republicans. Prosecutors will see this as a positive as traditionally Republicans are more “prosecutor friendly”… at least when it comes (exclusively) to “regular crime.” Pathetically it seems that White Collar and Political Corruption don’t get the same “prosecutor friendliness.” My concern is how a much more heavily Republican Supreme Court Bench will handle things like Abortion Rights, Gun Rights, and Civil Rights. As the record there is a little less… neutral.

Oh holy fuck, Horse People! There are… several… people in this area that could definitively be declared “Horse People.” My town has (as judged by impartial standards) “one of the best equestrian centers in the country.” So, there are a lot of very horse dedicated people… and psychoses.

One such? Everyone is always screaming that someone is stealing their horses. Partially because nobody is willing to accept how expensive boarding horses can be! A painfully common experience we run into? “I boarded my horses with X Stable until I couldn’t pay them anymore. I left my horses at their stable and left town for a few months. When I came back, my horses were gone!! I want you to arrest the stable owner for theft.” Ma’am, at best this is a civil case. Without hearing more facts of the case, what you’ve told me is that you were notified that you owed money to someone and skipped town. The property that individual had of yours was then considered abandoned. They sold that property to recoup the amount of money accrued by leaving them stabled without payment. It could be wrongdoing but it doesn’t sound criminal.
We get shit like that all the time. Largely? Because Animals are considered Property and Horses are considered Livestock. SO… as much as this animal may or may not be a part of your family… and mean more to you than mere property… and your horse is unique and CAN’T be simply replaced by another horse… the state of Iowa legally disagrees.

It is even worse when it comes to the animal abuse though. Also my docket. Honestly, I don’t get the selfishness of some of these people! Defendant is adamant, fervent that her horses are her entire world. EXCEPT… she couldn’t afford to stable them anymore and allowed them to “graze through someone else’s farm.” SUPER illegal. Then she tied them to a tree for two days. Two days. No food, no water… one horse had struggled with the ties so much that he could no longer move… he was too tangled. One horse had an injury on their leg so bad that the veterinarian has declared the horse officially lame. Obviously, especially with these offenses being back to back for the same horses, the State had to step in for the safety of the horses. WELL… defendant is threatening the shelter where the horses are. Because these horses are (her) whole world! And frankly… I know you can’t argue intelligently with someone who is being irrational… but if you can’t stable your horses, if you can’t take care of your horses, if you can’t feed/water your horses… it is in THEIR best interest to be somewhere that they can be stabled, fed, and watered. But then, that exposes the fatal flaw in the logic. It isn’t so much that “the horses are her whole world.” It is that her whole world is the horses. Difference in focus. If the horses were her whole world… the horses would come first. Their needs, their safety, their health. That isn’t the case here. What we have here is someone for whom her whole world is these horses. Which is to say… she comes first. Her needs, her wants, her feelings. Which means that since SHE wants the horses, it doesn’t MATTER if the horses are stabled, fed, watered, or healthy. And frankly… that kind of things really bothers me. Being selfish in general is a massive pet peeve for me… but when selfishness creates negative outcomes for vulnerable creatures? That bugs me even more.

I have prepped my Thursday calendar and come to many important decisions regarding the plea decisions I need to make. I have also read Anime scripts and read brain teasers. I’m constantly returning phone calls and e-mails. But… barring any massive catastrophe… it is 2:32 p.m. Central Standard time and… the next two hours look to be particularly calm to boring. So I suppose… expect the remainder of this rambling, chaotic, nonsensical entry to continue to be rambling, chaotic, and nonsensical.

People are, rightfully, giving Jeff Bezos a lot of shit. And I mean… I get it, you’re allowed to do with your money what you want ultimately… but shit sake! DID YOU KNOW that according to BusinessInsider, the amount of Jeff Bezos “Australia Donation” is what he made EVERY THIRTY MINUTES last year. I mean… think about that. That would be like… I don’t know… like me giving a charity twelve bucks than acting like I deserve to be recognized for my generosity! For shit sake! The man is literally the wealthiest person on earth… you couldn’t, I don’t know, part with a fucking week’s worth of wealth?!?! For a giant crisis?? I mean… if you are making 2 million (Australian) per hour… you didn’t think that MAYBE (especially if you were going to try to get publicity for it) a very affordable for you amount of say 80 million (Australian) would be a more appropriate gesture? I mean… honestly… comedians and webcam models have donated more than you, fucker!

And it made me think… what conditions would I need met in order to think, “I’ll give everything to charity up to THIS point.” Because for Bezos… it certainly seems like he is one of the too many multi-billionaires who got where they are by earnestly believing “One can never have enough money!” And I was… honestly surprised by my response! My gut reaction was “7 to 10 million dollars. After that, it can all go to charity” but then I caught myself and really asked myself… what would you do with money if you had “lots” of it?? I’d invest in The Bronze Business that I’ve wanted to try. I’d pay off the house and start a small savings account expressly for home repairs and renovations. I would immediately start two renovations to the house… one that would allow Nala to be in the house warm, safe, fed, and watered but allow her access to the yard for potty… without giving her access to the rest of the house to chew everything up (reno 1) and I would convert part of the massive basement guest room into a workout room (reno 2). I’d pay off Martha so that she would feel “secure” and not sue me for divorce to take everything from me. I would hire a proper gardener to make my landscape vision come to life. I would hire a personal trainer and dietitian to help me get to the Level of Sexy I want. And the more I thought about everything… including having money to survive and retire on… the more I realized how quickly things add up. NOW… I admit my ambitions are far smaller than someone like Bezos… but to make certain that I would be financially secure while also investing in the things I’d want? The amount of money I would want to have secure before I gave everything over that amount to charity?? Actually probably somewhere between 15 and 25 million dollars. So… even if I’m wrong. Even if a wiser estimate would be 50 million dollars…lets take that and say Bezos’ ambitions are insanely higher than mine so his number would rationally be 50 billion dollars.... if that were the case… then he could afford to part with over 60 BILLION DOLLARS TO CHARITY. As opposed to the, you know, $690,000 (American) he donated.

Here’s a Winter Weather Iowa Concern:

Last weekend, the weather reports were “Chicken Little.” The sky is falling, massive blizzard en route, winter weather advisory, VERY concerning! And uh… that really wasn’t the case for us. Oh, it was in other places. Ames got hit a bit, other places in other states, sure. But… for the two days of worry, we didn’t even get snow. Then the next two days we got a little bit of snow. NOW they are back in hyper ultra Chicken Little mode. HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS FOR REALLY REAL WE’RE GOING TO HAVE MASSIVE ICE AND SNOW AND DANGEROUSLY COLD WEATHER AND I’M SUPER SERIAL YOU GUYS! Now, the only reason that I take note of this… is I am driving to visit my friend on Friday. So there is significant reason to be concerned if I am to be, say, driving into some kind of snow-pocalypse. But at the same time… I’m not sure if I can trust these reports as they have been sketchy and unreliable previously. That being said… these guys aren’t fucking around. They aren’t saying “High likelihood of snow” they straight up said “100% chance of snow”. So… we’ll see how bad the roads are. Might end up playing this one by ear.