Icy Balls in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Bollocks, Damn, and Curse My Honor

Yesterday we counted the Holiday as a Holiday and therefore I was not required to attend work. This morning, acknowledging that it was a shortened week for that reason, I was determined to let nothing prevent me from attending work. The weather reports and school cancellations began to pour out of the radio. The entire state, it seemed, would be closed. I scoffed aloud as this is the same panic I saw on Friday. “Weather report is bad, better preemptively cancel the world.” Friday was snowy and the weekend was blowy but nothing too showy. I backed my car out of the driveway, hit the road, and before I had even left town I’d had to stop my car to scrape ice off of my windshield. It was literally raining ice. The roads were slippery, no setting of my car’s heater and windshield wipers provided more than 45% visibility… this was much worse than the driving on Friday. I arrived at the office and the world was still. No hustle and bustle. No scurrying around. Something was up. I get up to the Attorney Level and greet everyone. Bossman tells me that the Judge cancelled court today due to the weather. After which, Bossman said “So, if you feel worried or the weather turns… if you want to leave early today, you go ahead.”

Shit. So… technically speaking (since I had all of my office stuff at home in case of bad weather) I could have worked from home today. Skipping the entire icy drive. Skipping the leaving the house at all part. Damn.

In other news there is a news story going around that I haven’t commented on here or on Prosebox. The Covington Catholic Issue.
WHAT I KNOW:
(1) A group of teenagers in MAGA Hats were chanting “Build the Wall” at a Native American Protest Drummer.
(2) The teenagers were in town to attend the “Right to Life” Demonstration advocating to make all abortions illegal under all circumstances
(3) The teenagers were all white males who attend an expensive and prestigious Catholic High School in Kentucky
(4) A photo was taken with the Native American and the boys that will likely join the annals of history as a “Photo of Particular Significance.”
WHAT HAS HAPPENED:
(1) Over the weekend, the Viral Hate Factories of the Internet churned out story after story targeting the white males stating aggression against the Native American
(2) Several of my white friends were quick to say “Let’s not pre-judge this story before we hear all the facts.”
(3) The white male who is center in the photographic… his parents hired a P.R. firm to contact the media, do Media Coaching with their son, and attempt to shame media outlets that ran stories “suggesting that the child in the photo acted inappropriately“
(4) Many of my white friends who suggested caution have self-congratulated and wagged their fingers saying, “This is exactly what I was talking about.”

MY RESPONSE: Oh, you silly people who don’t understand white privilege in the midst of benefiting from it. Police Officer shoots a black kid; your immediate reaction is “The black kid must have been doing something wrong.” A Migrant Child dies while in the custody of ICE; your immediate reaction is “They shouldn’t have come here to begin with.” Four people are arrested and convicted of criminal charges for placing water jugs on known migrant paths; your immediate reaction is “They knowingly broke the law, I have no sympathy for that.” Here’s the rule of thumb I used as a teenager: If I surround myself with people doing something I disagree with, I cannot be upset when their actions are attributed to me by proximity. In other words, if I’m hanging out with a group of people throwing rocks at cars… if I remain as they hurl rocks, I cannot be upset when people think I was hurling rocks as well. Or in the immediate instance, if I am hanging out with a group of boys from my school (and we’re all wearing the same hats, especially) and those boys begin to berate a Native American; if I remain with them and remain silent (not trying to stop them), I cannot get upset when people think that I was berating the Native American as well. Now… that is just my GENERALIZED statement on the matter. If we wish to look at the photo specifically in question, we can take a few more steps. The photo is below, acting as content break. Now, rushing to judgment and interpretation based on a single photo is irresponsible in a world of constant surveillance. But view the children in this photo. They are having a good time, they are laughing, the child in the red hat (whose parents hired the PR firm) looks smugly at the Native American. The reason the shot resonates with so many is because it is so familiar. This is, in a frame, the history of race relations in our country. White Privileged Wealthy Children mocking and looking smugly at Insert Minority Here; knowing that they will face no consequences for their actions no matter how grim those actions might be. That is the history of race relations in our country.

WHAT HAS COME OUT:
A larger portion of video has surfaced. The new video, another group taunts the students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky with disparaging and vulgar language. The group of black men, who identify as members of the Hebrew Israelites, also shout racist slurs at participants of the Indigenous Peoples Rally and other passersby. The timeline, then, extends the video to (1) Hebrew Israelites slur the MAGA Hat kids; (2) Hewbrew Israelites slur the Native American; (3) Hebrew Israelites slur Black People; (4) The Native American speaks with the Hebrew Israelites; (5) The Hebrew Israelites return to sluring the MAGA Hat kids; (6) MAGA Hat kids start shouting slurs and hate and offense; (7) The Native American speaks with the MAGA Hat kids.

In other words… there was a group of people being hateful. MAGA Kids decided to “counter” that by being hateful in return. MAGA Hat Kids claim they did nothing wrong. THIS is what privilege is. THIS is what is learned by the white wealthy. The statement is not, “We were incited and reacted badly. We should not have participated in shouting back, but we feel it is important to get the context out there. We are not making excuses, but wish for the whole story to be known.” THAT would be the way to handle it. Because for decades white people would incite Black Kids to violence and then use the responding violence as a reason to EXECUTE THE CHILD! SERIOUSLY. Lynchings were all about White Guy called Black Kid every name he could, Black Kid would get mad and respond back, White Mob kills Black Kid. But this is the world built by the White Wealthy. So instead of “We should know better, we apologize.” The rules are, “We did nothing wrong because we have an excuse. As wealthy white people in America, if we have an excuse than we couldn’t have done anything wrong.”

Perhaps you think I’m being harsh. Perhaps. Not every situation fits every mold. But I think you can see it in the eyes. And more? I am very connected to the Wealthy White Communities of St. Louis. Many of those with whom I associate are more liberally inclined, but money speaks money. Even many of the liberal White Wealthy I know would be quick to say, “It’s not my fault if they made me do it.”

In even more late breaking news, a woman that was in D.C. for the woman’s march and was protesting the Right To Life demonstration has stated that the exact MAGA Hat kids being given a pass and a mea culpa by the media were just as vile and hostile towards her without any additional incitement. In other words, her statement is “These boys came to do exactly what they did. Whether the were given a ‘pass’ by feeling attacked or not; these boys came intending to do what they did. The fact that they have a convenient shield now doesn’t detract from their intentional mission to find anti-MAGA and attack them.”

Further investigations into the character and past of the boys and the school demonstrate a history of this Entitled Wealthy White behavior. Harassment of people of color and women, specifically.

Now for some fun Pic/Meme Items
The following is pathetically, frustratingly true. I have many people in my life that, were they not to see what game is being referenced, would state that they share rage and anger at a game where “Half the Characters are Black” and “The strongest character is a woman” however, I feel the Meme Creator didn’t go far enough with the last comment. Many of them would say, “Bullshit. The most powerful character is a woman, and she’s not even hot! Flat, no upskirt mechanic, no eye candy at all! Bullshit.”

In response, but also completely independent of anything else… I want to share two beautiful women that are also incredibly smart… which is the best combination. If you’ve something in your head and something in your heart, you are worth more than all the jewels in the world. If you’ve beauty to match, I’m confounded how you are real!

Meanwhile, this is Rachel Riley. While she is a Presenter of Television Shows and could, wrongly, be said to be little more than a celebrity pretty face… she is a mathematics wizard and passionate advocate for education. She obtained 4 A-Levels in High School then went on to study mathematics at Oxford, gaining an upper second-class honors degree. She also received a post-graduate degree (a Masters Degree) in the field of Mathematics. She has been a television presenter since age 22.

Cracked.com has an article today about how technology is outpacing the law. Anyone who saw the American Congress interview the CEO of Google should be unsurprised by this. The old farts running (or failing to run) this country are still surprised they can’t find Lazer Disc movies at their local Hollywood Video. “How am I going to watch River Phoneix movies now? That kid is on track to be a huge star!”

You can go HERE for the article, but I’ll share the headlines.
5. We Have No Reliable Way To Stop Drone Attacks
4. You Can 3D-Print All Kinds Of Illegal Crap
3. Content Creators Are Being Censored By Dumbass AIs
2. Fraudulent Support Animals Are Getting Out Of Hand
1. Modern Technology Has Made Life Easier … For Stalkers

And frankly… this is just the easily argued “complications.” There are millions of ways the laws are so far behind technology that there should be legitimate worry.

But how do law and tech work together? Let me explain:
Pretend a law is written that says, “No individual shall make contact with another if a valid protective order between the two is in place.”
Now lets say that Sally has a No Contact Order out on Tim. One day as Sally leaves her house, she sees a drone fly towards her. The drone has a camera on it wirelessly feeding the data to the owner’s laptop. Sally uses a program in her phone to intercept the wireless signal and trace it back to its origin, which happens to be Tim’s address. She calls the police, the police arrest Tim and seize his laptop. Forensics turns up evidence that Tim has hours of recordings of Sally all time stamped after the No Contact Order.
According to the law as written, we would have to prove that the drone spying was an unlawful form of contact. Not impossible, but not guaranteed victory.
Now here’s where the REAL problem exists when it comes to law and technology.
Pretend the law is written that says, “No individual shall make contact in person, by phone, or in writing with another if a valid protective order between the two is in place.”
Now lets say that Sally has a No Contact Order out on Tim. One day as Sally leaves her house, she sees a drone fly towards her. The drone has a camera on it wirelessly feeding the data to the owner’s laptop. Sally uses a program in her phone to intercept the wireless signal and trace it back to its origin, which happens to be Tim’s address. She calls the police, the police arrest Tim and seize his laptop. Forensics turns up evidence that Tim has hours of recordings of Sally all time stamped after the No Contact Order.
According to the law as written, in order to get a conviction, I would need to prove that The Drone Recording was equal under the law to an In Person Contact. An argument most defense attorneys would be able to quash.

Sorry, I’m an idiot. There’s a much better example. Current Iowa Law on Stalking
A person commits stalking when all of the following occur
(1) the person purposefully engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened or to fear that the person intends to cause bodily injury to, or the death of, that specific person or a member of the specific person’s immediate family.
(2) the person has knowledge or should have knowledge that a reasonable person would feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened or fear that the person intends to cause bodily injury to, or in the death of, that specific person or a member of the specific person’s immediate family by their course of conduct.

Scenario: Tim and Sally had a rough breakup. Sally is afraid of Tim. Tim doesn’t call her or come over and makes himself scarce for several months, so her fear dissipates. What Sally doesn’t know is that Tim can use the GPS function of her cell phone to track where Sally goes 24 hours a day. Tim has been tracking Sally since they broke up and after several months, he begins to note that she goes to a particular coffee shop every morning before work at the same time. He goes to the same coffee shop ten minutes before she does and “casually bumps into her.” They talk and he mentions that he always goes to this coffee shop now; but usually quite early… so that’s why they haven’t seen each other there.

Now… would a normal person say that he was stalking her? Hell yes. But did his actions constitute any action which caused Sally the required fear? No. Because she didn’t know about it. If this were the “old days”, in order to stalk her… he would need to literally follow her, which would give her more opportunity to “catch him” thus knowing about it, feel that fear, and call the police. Now… the law doesn’t have a great response to Cyber Stalking.

Not that this should shock anyone but the current financial disclosures comparison for Wealth to Population?
26 people in the world now have more wealth than 3.8 billion people. This fact alone shouldn’t create too much concern, one could say, because if we’re looking at people like Bezos and the Waltons… of course they’d have more money then, say, Guerrilla fighters in Ghana. So now take that figure and add in “Dynasty Cultural Wealth Assessment.” A study was conducted in England, China, and Italy about “Wealth through 500 years.” Note: A larger number than the United States has even existed; thus its exclusion from the study. The 6 wealthiest families in 1457… were still the 6 wealthiest families in 2017. So… to all those that say “Bootstraps and Hard Work create wealth”… I give you… generational wealth models observed through practical application. Oh, not to mention… in 2014? The average U.S. worker generated $106.00 of value for the economy. The average U.S. worker earned $24.57. In other words… the average, median U.S. employee through their dedication to “Hard work pays off” generates 4 times more value than they are getting paid. So, while you’re busy breaking your back and feeling unappreciated… rest easy knowing that your labor is providing wealth to the wealthy.


So… 12:14 p.m. I’ve done all the work required of me for today/this week. Got the news that I’m likely headed for some embattled trials but frankly… unless it is something that requires a Jury, that isn’t a terrifying prospect. The roads look just as shitty as they did this morning, no better no worse. Current KCCI RADAR has our entire area clear until the time between 4:57 p.m. and 5:12 p.m. when the weather pattern coming up from the southwest suddenly entirely engulfs the area. Should that remain the case, I may leave the office at 4. Should that chance to again be delayed, it won’t matter if I leave early or not. Though I do think it is interesting that every attorney I’ve e-mailed today is working from home.

I’ll be spending the afternoon catching up on all the prosebox writing folks did over the weekend. And reading the news, as I do so often. And writing here, as is a constant.

Several years ago now I was friends with someone on Prosebox who… well… I’m never quite sure if they were really “okay.”
She was a passionate Ayn Rand thinker who suggested that I go into the CPAC MEME business. Her attorney husband would sometimes be abusive with her and she would vacillate between being genuinely terrified and over the moon in love. It was all… a very strange friendship. However, when she decided that I was “not the person she thought I was” she told me (among other things) that “clearly (I) just can’t handle happy couples or people in love or people enjoying life more than you do!” I, of course, thought it a foolish statement (largely due to the source) and brushed it aside.

But lately, I’ve been considering it again due to my own experiences. Wife and I don’t hang out with other married couples… all of my friends, the ones we see often anyway, are single. The friends I do have that are married all have children and we rarely see them, telling ourselves that it is harder for folks with kids to travel or do something “at a moment’s notice.” Now, while that is technically true… there’s the other side of it.
Humans and Relationships come in the following “flavors”
Single
Single w/Child
Dating
Married
Married w/Child
Divorced
Divorced w/Child.
Almost all of my friends are either Single or Married w/Child. I have no friends Single w/Child, I have maybe 2 or 3 friends Dating. I don’t have any Married no child friends. I don’t have any divorced friends. At least none in the state (let alone more locally). Not that such a statement necessarily means anything specifically… but it is curious.

I do wonder if there are some latent issues or feeling surrounding that.
Then again… I’m shite at making friends, honestly. I’m the Prosecutor. I’m not “the fun guy you invite to your barbecue” to most people. I’m the quiet, intelligent guy that would put you in jail if I knew (fill in the blank). Now, to the people that know me… I’m the lecherous guy making inappropriate jokes, mixing the drinks, seamlessly talking about anything from geopolitics to video games, movies, and comic books while trying to see if people would be more interested in Board Games, Video Games, watching a movie or just staying in the living room catching up. I mean… when I’m a friend/host… I’m a friend/host. But there’s that… “meeting and getting to know” step that seems rough to bridge on both sides. I think especially in a town like IF. In Des Moines… the scene for suits is heavy. Hell, there are darkly lit Martini Bars especially created for the business class environment dotting the streets… I can take you there, I’ve visited most of them. But uh… not a lot of that going on where I am now. WHICH IS FINE, heck… I’m totally okay with a cultural environment outside of Business Class and I celebrate not being in a town with a cultural expectation of Expensive Suits. I’m grateful I can go back to visit whenever I want, but I’m glad I don’t live there. That being said… M through Friday I’m in a suit or sweats. My “jeans and a t-shirt” look is expressly reserved for Saturday and Sunday. So I’m left with the question I often have (and a question my wife needs to ask herself FAR more, as she really has nobody) how do you make friends as an adult? lol.

Just for fun as a wrap up… let us discover how I’m doing on my new year’s resolutions:::

(1) I want to get under 200 lbs. I want to get under 170 lbs. This means I must lose an average of no less than 5 pounds per month in 2019
I started the year at 235. I am presently at 228. I am hoping to end the month around 225 or below, but the losses have significantly slowed

(2) We have the marriage counselor. We have a good job. Wife no longer works at Wal Mart. There are no excuses this time. Either Wife and I get to a point in our marriage where Physical Intimacy exists and is not “the exception” or we begin the process of divorce.
This is, of course, the BIG thing for the year. I have sent my Therapist and Wife the This Is What’s Up description of the problems. If we can’t work on them, make progress, and go forward? I’ll have my answers.

(3) Instead of a vague appeal to maturity; I’ll list specifics. Basement finished by end of year; fence up by end of year. It isn’t even asking that much but it is the important stuff.
End of this week, the Basement Entertainment room will be over 90% complete!

(4) KEEP MY JOB and get better at it.
*Haven’t been fired yet! Hope I’m getting better at it. Should have had better, more concrete wording there than “get better at it.”