Voter shaming at its best - from 'liberals'.

While reading up on the 2018 US Mid-term elections, I came across a blog with an entry by one 'Don Smith' via a site called 'Washington Liberals'.

I won't bother with the link - you can search and find it yourself.

Anyways, 'Don' had this interesting comments -

Voting for Stein accomplished nothing useful at all. It didn’t “send a message” to the Democrats other than “We Nader and Stein supporters are fools. Ignore us."

What fucking stupidity.

First off, no politician is entitled to my or anybody else's vote. My vote must be earned.  You know why? Because 40 plus years on this planet has taught me that the lesser of two evils voting which the captured US Political system has brainwashed 'Don' into, simply hasn't made things better for voters.

• Have the wars stopped? No.
• Are we any closer for solving for and stopping global warming? No.
• Do we have single-payer health coverage for all Americans? No.
• How about ending tax breaks for and increasing tax rates for corporations to pay their fair share? No.
• How about eliminating warrant-less-spying by our governments and law enforcement? No.
• Is the government being seen more and more as a tool of the rich and establishment? Yes.

I see both the Democratic and Republican Parties as nothing more than the establishment's two brands, as both parties are essentially captured by special interests, lobbyists, and corporations. So no 'Don', don't think your Democratic Party is entitled to my vote (because yes, that is really who you represent).

Frankly I hope more people vote Green so that the numbers increase such that the Democratic Party is either forced to change their corporate ways and start implementing the above, or simply become no longer relevant.

Secondly, instead of shaming people because such people refused to go for either of the establishment's brands, why not instead question why neither party is able to attract close to half the population of eligible voters?

Case in point - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections#Turnout_statistics

Year	Eligible Voters	Turnout	%Turnout	Did Not Vote	% Did Not Vote
2000	209,787,000	105,594,000	50.30%	104,193,000	49.67%
2004	219,553,000	122,349,000	55.70%	97,204,000	44.27%
2008	229,945,000	131,407,000	58.20%	98,538,000	42.85%
2012	235,248,000	129,235,000	54.90%	106,013,000	45.06%
2016	250,056,000	138,847,000	55.50%	111,209,000	44.47%

In both 2000, and 2016, more than 100 million eligible voters chose not to vote. Why do you think that is? You think it might have something to do with the notion that maybe some of those folks didn't like either establishment brand? Perhaps if some of those people HAD held their nose and voted your way 'Don', you wouldn't be complaining now?

And finally ... if you are so concerned about smaller parties siphoning off votes, why not advocate for Rank-Choice Voting then? Perhaps because in doing so, it would mean creating more choices for voters, thus removing any monopoly both establishment brands have on our captured electoral system? Funny how neither the Democratic Party, nor the Republican Party seem to advocate for such.

Democrats take control of Congressional House.

I'll say it right now -

If it's anything like 2006 with Nancy Pelosi as the speaker, I expect nothing good will come out of this result.

Wikileaks - treatment of it and Assange is a metaphor for how the Internet is slowing being stripped of its potential to really reach people.

How so, you may ask? https://theantimedia.com/julian-assange-political-prisoner/

Permissionless free speech that has been distributed across the Internet offered ordinary people a non-violent democratic weapon to combat against the patronage network that tries to control people through deception and secrecy. An invention of an online anonymous secure drop box made it possible for people anywhere in the world, regardless of their jurisdiction, to expose governments’ wrongdoing and corruption of institutions, without fear of political retaliation. They then could stop violence and mitigate the harm inflicted by those in power.

So in a sense, by restricting/stopping Wikileaks and even trying to  restrict people from learning the truths about their's and other's societies'. Instead, the Internet is slowing becoming modern day version of television.

That doesn't bode well in dealing with you know, real issues that impact us all like say, oh I don't know, Global Warming.

As Nozomi summeries -

When the justice system is controlled in the hands of oppressors, justice of this founder of the publisher of last resort relies on the court of public opinion. As Julian Assange’s plight for freedom intensifies, we can remain silent, allowing tragedy brought upon all those legendary peacemakers to repeat itself. Or, we can act with moral courage to end oppression and change the course of history. Will humanity find strength to claim its own dignity to open democracy? Or, will crudeness and barbarianism take over, bringing a society into despotism? Future of civilization rests on each individual’s ability to seek in love to unite with those who struggle for the rights of ordinary people. Now it is up to us to carry out this great work of justice and realize the truth of liberty and equality for all people.

A real winner.

And only needed 4 parking stalls. What a maroon!

Tell me Google ..

What the fuck does this date have to do with me?

How's all that test automation working out? A thinking human being would've caught this bug.

A priceless comment from my investment firm that gambles on my retirement at the casino racket known as the stock market ...

"We have a few ways to help increase your retirement score, like working for a few more years."

Dialled in - the art of irritatiton.

When one travels in public on a regular basis, it's not uncommon to encounter the same sets of people.

A lot of times, how one's personality ticks, can dictate how one acts and reacts to said people.

And then there are times where you run into people in such circumstances who just do things to irritate the fuck out of you and enjoy doing so.

Case in point -

I ride the Sounder trains. And occasionally in the AM, and almost always in the PM, I run into lots of the same people on a regular basis. One person in particular seems to take pleasure in bugging me. Or so I'm convinced.

She's an older white woman with a face that's been beaten down by life; close to her sixties, with light blonde highlights in her otherwise dark blonde hair.

She sits in the same train car as me, rides the same bus as I, and apparently lives in the same neighborhood as I.

And, every time I get up to leave the Sounder when my stop arrives, she's always there to try and butt in front of me. When we get off the train, we're supposed to tap our ORCA cards before heading to our bus (because ORCA cards are meant to be tapped before and after the Sounder trip). This woman never does, because she always tries to make a beeline to our bus. And not just so she can get in front of me in line no; it's so she can sit in a specific seat on the bus whereby when we get to our neighborhood, she can get to the bus exit before I do.

In effect, she cheats to get in front of me - just to irritate me.

Just the other day before our bus made its final turn to our stop in out neighborhood, she decided to get up earlier and get to the back exit. I swear she would've spat on me had I bothered to stare at her (fortunately I decide to exit at the front, and hence still get out before her).

Am I making too much of all this? Maybe I should seriously just start letting go of such shit and just get on with my life? After all, what does it matter if this person gets in first or last? I don't work with her; heck I don't even really know her. To be honest I don't want to know her, but that's not the point.

I think it's that - to me - her actions demonstrate a repeated contempt for me, and that's something that's always bugged me, especially being a male who's not white.

But really - it's best to really let it go and move on.