Really? Again? in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Another work day. But all of my hearings were continued until March. So another work day where I’m kind of sitting around thinking, “Huh. Okay then.” One of the big (important) reasons to
(1) Have your government attorneys on full time status
(2) Have your government attorneys on salary.

Because otherwise? Most attorneys wouldn’t spend a second’s thought on the Government Work. Most attorneys, if they have Private Practices and Government Work, would say “I can be at the Government Office where I have 2 hours of work to do; or I can be at the Private Office and stir up 7 hours of billable work.” So that is the Full Time element (Government Attorneys with full time status are not allowed to maintain a Private Practice). The salary issue? That is part of it, too. Some days, I have 0 hours worth of work to do. Some days, I have 36 hours worth of work to do. It just depends on the cases, the complexity, the other attorney, the judge… a lot of pieces that one can’t predict. And frankly, it is cheaper to keep an attorney on Salary then it is to try to hire someone when you need them. Because, yeah… paying me for the days where I have 0 hours? May seem silly. But attorneys demand between 200 and 500 dollars per hour. So the days where I have 36 hours? You’re looking at between $7200 and $18000 dollars… imagine if you had to do that per case?! So… yeah… Full Time Salaried Government Attorney saves money and creates efficiency. Even on days like this where there is little to do.

The following is a bit of a long read; but a fairly good BBC article on potential Historical Perspective on the current US President. It does a good job of highlighting accomplishments and problems so as to be a more authentic approach than a simple partisan political piece.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46895634

In other news, Michael Cohen has claimed that the President directed him to lie to Congress. IF this claim can in any way be substantiated; then no more grounds would be necessary to impeach the 45th President. Suborning perjury is a serious matter. Suborning perjury to conceal a “special relationship” with Russia, a hostile foreign power proven to have interfered in the 2016 election is an even more serious matter. The biggest problem is the practical reality. Again IF the claim can be substantiated… there are Senators who would not vote to convict based on nothing more than partisan grounds. There are Americans who would be absolutely livid at an impeachment proceeding even if there was substantial evidence of High Crimes and Misdemeanors. And that concerns me more than anything. That we live in a country where Government and Citizens could very likely completely ignore criminal actions from the Highest Office.

Here’s a fun complete tonal shift. Last night, I tried to make a move on my wife in a way that would likely have worked in other scenarios (I assume).

Wife was laying on the couch and I came over to tell her something. She looked up at me in a certain way, and I bent down and kissed her on the lips. She smiled and kissed back. The kiss ended, and she kind of held my face for a minute saying, “With the mustache trimmed a bit, that is better.” Then she pulled my head to hers again for another kiss. (Note: kiss means lip to lip contact.) I put my arm under her back to support her, hoping to push the kiss a little further (even if just longer closed mouth lip to lip kiss). Then the kiss ended and she went back to watching television. I told her that the kissing was nice and, if we wanted to, we could pursue that further. She said she wanted to continue to watch her program. Cool. No worries. I never expect anything anyway. Just being kissed is a very nice and very welcome start.

Then later, I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. with more prominent morning tumescence than I am normally given. Shortly after waking, Wife woke to go to the bathroom. As she pulled the covers down to leave the bed, she noted the erection and merely said, “Yeah, yeah, I see it.” No further discussion was had. She went to the bathroom, came back to the bed, and fell back to sleep. I on the other hand needed to wake and felt that, as my alone time for personal relief is getting more difficult to carve out of my schedule… this would be a proper opportunity. Scrolled up a video of different redheaded adult actresses testing Sybian and Tremor machines and took care of the problem.

Likely more information than you would want or be interested in but… my sex life is non-existent, even the sex-life I have with myself, so when anything happens… noteworthy.

As this section is On Weather, a time stamp is needed. Because if in 3 hours, there is a very different world, I should admit that. WRITTEN: 10:52 a.m.

There is a mood in the air today that is… interesting. News reports have been blasting “Snow Doom” set to hit so the schools cancelled in preparation. I’m planning on going to Ames tonight and Cedar Falls tomorrow and everyone is already saying “Nope. You’re not gonna make it.” I can’t distinguish any overt noticeable shifts in the air, so I get a sense it isn’t going to be as bad as people think. Even the weather radar that I’m watching looks like the storm front in question is going to touch the northern most part of the state and be a much larger issue for Minnesota and Wisconsin. No moving cells shifting from the west as far as the maps show. So unless something shows up or spontaneously creates itself, I’m just not seeing aggressive accumulation in the near future. The temperature prediction is confirmed. The sudden shift from 30s and 40s down to below freezing amplified by a strong north, northwest wind will absolutely make the Air Temperature “brutal” as has been predicted. I wouldn’t be surprised to see -10 Air Temps this afternoon into the evening. But the “The Sky Is Falling” just… honestly doesn’t look confirmed. THAT BEING SAID the government shutdown has effected weather reports and weather RADAR as NOA and other federally funded environment organizations are shut down. So the once reliable information I typically use may just be piss poor and outdated.

Noon Thirty: No snow yet.

Bossman just came back from a long court morning. We have a dude… serious criminal steals heavy machinery, eludes the cops, long history of felonious activity. Starts crying during his plea deal to say his Mother is dead and that’s why he can’t get his life straight. (Trust me, I’ve heard this a LOT before… I realize losing a parent is a very difficult thing. But if you are an adult when your parent dies; you are required to handle it like an adult. Not go on a multi-county crime spree. Judge bought it. Released the guy to the public. Set a hearing for sentencing to allow the guy “the opportunity to process his grief.” Not “make arrangements”; she’s not newly dead. Bossman is not happy. I don’t blame him. But that is the system we have.

Then we’ve got two more “fun issues”. The law.

There is a guy that got pulled over for Drunk Driving. He clearly indicated by behavior and word that he was drunk. He was given the Standard Field Sobriety Tests and was arrested.
He was taken to the Police Station for processing. The officer left him in the holding area and went to prime the Beathalyzer Computer in expectation of the defendant providing a sample.
The defendant took the opportunity to go to the box of non-alcoholic wet wipes and began to sqeeze their moisture out, then drink the “moisture.” He took a selfie of this action. This would make sense IF he gave a sample. He could then “prove” (or attempt to prove) that the sample could not be relied upon due to his previous interference. Instead, he refused to give a sample. So… he did all of that, took a record of it for evidence, and then… ????? I don’t know what he was hoping to do!

Next is yet another tough fucking case involving alcohol and sex. But this one gets really fucked up. 1 girl. 5 guys. An agreement to “run a train.” She’s okay with the first 4 guys… but after 4, she wants a break and number 5 says he didn’t wait his turn to be denied. So she claims that she was raped. And legally, technically, by all definitions of the word: She was raped. Any party to a sexual encounter can rescind consent at which time any further sexual activity is, by definition, not consensual and is rape. If a woman is giving two hand jobs while getting rammed in the ass and a fourth guy comes in to force his dick in her mouth… if she says, “No. I don’t want to do that.” If he sticks his dick in her mouth, that is rape. Thus it is legally and technically possible (in that scenario) to be engaged in a consensual sexual activity with three men simultaneously while being raped by a fourth. OR … you can hang a sign on your door that says “Wanna fuck, come on in” but if you enter and the woman says, “Sorry. I’m really tired. We can fuck later, but I need a rest.” You can’t claim the “Come on in” sign is consent; because the individual rescinded that consent. SO YES… if this girl told Boy Number 5 “I don’t want to have sex with you” or told him “I don’t want to have sex right now” or even just said, “No. Stop it.” It was rape. BUT… you would be hard pressed to find a Victim or a Prosecutor who would want to take that case to Jury Trial. First, Victim would need to explain the evening. How she agreed to be part of a train, consented to four relative strangers having sex with her, then told the fifth that she “wasn’t into it anymore”. Then she would have to detail how the fifth, whose pants had been down anyway, just “slipped it in” despite her having rescinded consent. NOW with a logical, intelligent, attentive jury… none of this should be a problem. Guilty. Easy. Do you think any lawyer expects or relies upon a randomly selected group of 13 to 16 people to all be logical, intelligent, and attentive? Especially deep here in Steve King Country?

Ugh. Trump “bros” are getting stupider. Just saw someone try to launch a whole argument based on “The United States gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants and only a measly $12,000 to struggling farmers! Shame on liberals for these backwards priorities!”

I didn’t get suckered in to the fight. Not in a real way. But certainly in an emotional way. And then I did do something about it. I tried my damnedest to track the information. Yes, it is true that due to Donald Trump’s failed and disastrous tariffs Trump offered ‘around $12,000 to each farmer impacted.’ As many farmers around here say, “I don’t want government money. I want to sell my crops!” But what is this hundreds of thousands of dollars just being given to illegal immigrants?!?! What possible statistic even comes close to supporting that statement?! The only thing I could find that was factual (meaning, not speculation or hyperbole) was money given to Refugee Associations and Organizations. In other words, large groups of United States Citizens in NPO status attempting to save lives. Not that I’m surprised, of course, that this would be so characterized to support a Trump Position. “American Charity Receives Moderate Government Funds to Assist Refugees” just isn’t as… Donald Trump as “United States gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to illegal immigrants.” Y’know… while one is accurate, not inflammatory, and standard practice… the other just has that je n’ais se quoi Trump flavor that screams “Simple, inflammatory, and inaccurate.” Not to mention another classic Trumpian Dog Whistle move. Reference one of Trump’s failures but offset it by trying to stir up anger at “Foreigners” and lay policy blame with the “Enemies.” A much more accurate way of doing things would be:

Trump’s Tariffs screwed American Farmers. He offered to give them money to relieve the burden he caused them. But with the Government Shut Down not reaching an end due to a President who says “Give me everything I want now!” those very payments are on hold. A Trump Problem impacting a Trump Solution to a Trump Problem.

But don’t tell his supporters that. They’ll get up in arms and demand that (as He said) “Trade Wars are easy to win. Trump is a great negotiator. Everything is the fault of Democrats and people of color!”

It honestly feels like they’re getting more panicked. And maybe they should since genuinely the President’s Criminal Scandals keep piling up. But I’m seeing Trump Propaganda in places where… it just makes no sense.

Yesterday was a HUGE day for Mortal Kombat fans. Big live event, game play trailers, some character confirmations, a story prologue share, news of Styles and Customization. LOTS of news. And as a member of a huge Mortal Kombat Facebook Fan Page… it was really cool to see the reactions (once I had finally seen the videos myself). And then… smack in the middle of all of it… not removed by a moderator even still after 15 hours… a photo of Trump that someone tried to make look sexy with a caption “Build The Wall”. The poster was also the only one who commented on it and he commented on his own post with “Eggplant Emoji Forever” and “100 Would Do”. Now… just… why. Other than to be a dickburger troll… why interrupt everyone’s Mortal Kombat joy on a Mortal Kombat page with Trump bullshit? Seriously.

Fun Work Stuff

I’ve decided to not call back Overinvolved Mom. Technically… she called during a mostly busy week (today would have been busy but for continuances). Knowing her, she’ll call again. She always does.

Looking more closely at the RADAR images, it now looks like the cell brushing the north may stir up enough activity that a connecting cell just kind of appears over Iowa sometime between 3:50 and 4:50 p.m. and just kind of sits on us for a few hours. So… there may be traffic concerns on my drive to and from Ames. But we’ll see. If I write nothing in the next 5 days, assume the worst.