Roads and So Much More (Public Version) in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Roads this morning were sincerely traction problematic. But I got to work anyway. 15 minutes late from usual start time; 45 minutes early for the delayed start the county agreed to.

Here’s something unfortunate and scary that people should know because… well… the systems in place are misunderstood and the less you understand those systems, the more likely they are to screw you.

Phone Call this morning: My son has never been in Iowa but State Y says he can’t get a driver’s license due to outstanding traffic issues in Iowa! Fix it.
Here’s the issue. Two years ago, a traffic ticket was cited. The individual wrote a letter to the judge saying “I’ve never been in Iowa, I shouldn’t have to pay.” The judge said, “A letter claiming a defense is not adequate proof of that defense. Please submit evidence of mistake of fact by DATE SPECIFIED or appear in court on DATE SPECIFIED or judgment shall be levied against you.” As that was two years ago, all dates specified have clearly passed. The 17 year old individual did not submit any evidence to refute the claim that it was he who was driving. The 17 year old individual did not make an appearance at the court hearing. The 17 year old individual did not ask for a continuance. The 17 year old individual did not hire an attorney. The 17 year old individual did nothing after sending in the letter. So now, as a 19 year old individual… he has asked Mommy to call and fix the issue. I share this for all of you who may ever find yourself in this situation: There isn’t anything Mommy can do. There isn’t anything we can do. He was required to submit evidence of his defense to a court of law by a certain date, he did not do that. The judge lawfully ordered a judgment in default. THE ONLY RECOURSE NOW is to hire an attorney to (1) communicate directly with the judge; (2) request the case be re-opened and judgment set aside; (3) provide the missing evidence. THAT IS IF an attorney can succeed in convincing the judge to re-open and set aside… which is no guarantee. Now, some would say “He doesn’t need to hire an attorney. The State should make that request out of fairness.” We cannot. Because if we ask the judge to set aside and re-open; and the boy again does not provide sufficient evidence to prove his defense… that causes numerous problems. Thus why the boy, his mother, or (always better) their legal representation should take the mantle on this and fix the child’s issue.

CONTENT REDACTED: Case Specific Items

YES! Genuine Celebration!! Followed quickly by anxiety and regret.
That Resistance to Suppression Motion I was fretting about at the beginning of the month? Won. Won on all three grounds. Lost on nothing. Which means that the Defense Counsel said “But your honor, none of this case is okay.” And instead of saying, “They’re wrong.” I argued “Your honor, all of this case is okay.” And the judge agreed with me. SO… genuine happy times and celebration in the heart.

But the head? The case itself still sucks. The case itself could still be hated by a jury. And more? Despite literally THE MOST GENEROUS PLEA DEAL OF ALL TIME, the Defendant is so pissed off that he won’t even hear the plea deal. I’m saying… you are a frequent Meth User. I have an enhanceable Meth Offense. I have the ability (honestly) to recommend 10 years of incarceration. I’m offering 2 years of probation, fuckass! TAKE THE FUCKING DEAL. The case is a mess. Both Defense and Prosecution have significant reasons to worry. The case is OLD AS HELL and has been worked on by 6 Different Lawyers. Everyone wants this case to go away… except the Defendant. Because he’s furious that “cops were in his home.” Well… the Judge just said you don’t have a leg to stand on to be upset about that, so shut up, take your EXTREMELY LARGE spoonful of sugar with your TINY MINUSCULE bit of medicine, and let’s all move on!

In political news:
(1) My cousin, the one that is constantly sharing things that would make most respectable people offended.... and is a PRIME example of the logical fallacy of “If the truth offends people, anything offensive must be true.” Since his mother and I are challenging him more and more on his open, overt racism and spreading of absolute fiction in support of the wall… he has changed tack. He is now devoting his time to “explaining” how Venezuela went from Super Rich and Awesome to Impoverished and a Shit Hole. In his simplified, dropped out of High School, the only education I need is Fox News manner, he is saying that the entire problem with Venezuela is “Democratic Socialism”.
Head:Desk
To blame “democratic socialism” as the reason for Venezuela’s fall is the same as saying “capitalism” is the reason for Wal Mart being successful. There’s an argument to be made, but it would be a weak, shallow, and over simplified argument.
The reason for Venezuela’s rapid descent into where it is… is the same reason why any country rapidly descends into poverty and chaos: corruption. Corruption at the highest level corrupts the beast from within. If that corruption lasts long enough, exerts enough power, and stays consistent (or increases)… everything else falls away. I find it ironic and tragic that the MAGA Family Members are pointing to Venezuela saying, “This is why we need Trump 2020”. Because Trump himself has shown that he is one of the most corrupt “leaders” we’ve had in many years. Therefore, to me (due to my deep research on the topic, not because of emotional reasons)… MAGA pointing to Venezuela as an Example of Bad is exactly like an Arsonist pointing to a House Fire as an Example of Bad.

(2) Surprisingly, if his Tweet is serious… and who the hell knows if any of them ever are… we may no longer be saying MAGA. Trump has suggested that his Republican supporters use a new slogan “Build the Wall and Crime will Fall.” Of course, in his tweet the slogan is in all caps because Trump’s inside voice was replaced with Big Macs; but text foolishness aside.
The funny thing is… this “slogan change” is yet another Pure Trump Concept.
(1) It is specifically constructed in a way as to be “easily chanted”. That is big for Trump. He loves hearing chants at his rallies. Even two years later, he celebrates hearing “Lock her up” at his rallies. Lock who up? He’s not going to jail Hillary Clinton. She’s not even on the playing board. But dammit if he doesn’t love a chant.
(2) It is a slogan that involves zero multi-syllable words. He really wanted that for his fist slogan but “Make US Great Again” was being read as U.S. instead of US so he just went with “America.” A simplified “dumbed down” slogan is good as it is easier to remember and easier to sell.

Here’s why any of that is noteworthy. The “easy chant” mono-syllabic slogan? He already had that. He already had people at his rallies chanting “Build the Wall”. Why did he need to add to it?

Because his campaign, for a FIRST, isn’t about his base. He’s now, finally, going after the people who don’t want to support Democrats but feel they can’t support him. He’s trying to convince them that there is no question that the Border Wall is needed for security reasons. By adding onto his Base’s “Build the Wall” he hopes by sheer repetition to overcome such nuisances like “facts” and “statistics” and “common sense.” Because Terrorists aren’t coming from the Southern Border. Because Drugs come through (in order) Shipping, Plane, Tunnels. Because Undocumented Aliens aren’t “border jumpers” but “visa overstayers” and that has been true for almost a decade now. So… according to every expert on the subject… the Border Wall won’t have (direct quote. emphasis added) “any appreciable difference to crime rates or the National Crime Statistics.” In short, Trump wants a wall because his base elected him on the chant of “Build that Wall.” The American People don’t want it. Trump shut down the government over it because, like with “Trade Wars,” his Dunning Kruger effect was on High Alert. Now, like the “Trade Wars,” he’s realizing they aren’t as “easy to win” as he imagined… and he has a sticky situation. His base want the wall. Ann Coulter is questioning his manhood, his leadership, and his ability to negotiate. He shut the government down demanding the Wall. It has been over a month. The press is bad. People are going to Food Shelters and quitting jobs and driving Uber and setting up Go Fund Me Pages. Meanwhile the Republican Response has been “Have a Yard Sale” or Trump himself trying to explain “These are federal workers, they’re paid very well, they have excellent benefits. They’ll be fine. They’re cheering me on.”

I think… with a little over-dramatic flair… we’re doomed. I think the ONLY way to end the Government Shut Down before the end of the month is if 12 Republicans vote for the Democrats’ bill to open the government for TWO WEEKS. That’s where we are right now, folks. Mitch McConnell, who could have called for any vote at any time… is allowing a vote today. Because he is asking the Senate to vote for the “Unconditional Surrender” bill that just says, “Whatever Trump wants, he can have.” But because Turtle Man is finally calling for a vote, the Democrats can put a counter-bill up for vote. Theirs basically says, “Open the Government for 2 Weeks, and we can discuss things more. Get people paychecks and services; then we’ll reassess.” The Democrats will not sign a bill saying “Trump can do whatever he wants with Tax Payer money”. But why won’t Republicans say “Two weeks? Seems ineffectual and stupid, but that alleviates some of the public pressure.” They won’t. Every pundit, representative, and spineless fuck has stated with confidence that the Republicans will ONLY vote for what Trump wants and the Democrats will ONLY vote for something that doesn’t include a Border Wall. So… no compromise, no empathy, no understanding of how the bicameral legislature with the ability to override Vetoes works. And even from an objective and rational approach? I think we have to blame the Republicans for this. The Republicans voted to keep the government open without a border wall. They already made that vote and it got unanimous support. SO… Republicans have already shown that they don’t give a priority fuck about a Border Wall. BUT… Trump refused to sign the bill. Now, since they had a UNANIMOUS victory on the bill, all they had to do was re-vote on the same bill. Vote 100-0 again. This whole thing could have been entirely avoided. But they didn’t. These so-called representative adults said “Trump doesn’t like what we did. No one can challenge him!” And they all ran away with their tails tucked between their legs hoping that Trump wouldn’t notice them. NO. BAD. WRONG. The President is not a king. The President is not allowed (yet) to become a tyrant or dictator. If 100% of the legislature says YES and the President says NO; the Constitution planned for that. But by running away, the Republicans have proven that they don’t care about their constituents, they don’t care about the country, they don’t care about the government. They just “don’t want Trump or his base mad at us.” Pathetic.

Magistrate Court:

There is one attorney that but for his staunch and ardent persistence that his clients are never guilty of anything, we could get along. Like… that is the number one thing with me. I’m not naive. I’m not an idiot. I know that a Defense Counsel must zealously represent their client against the charges of the State. Got it. But I like the Attorneys that understand MY position as well. MY position is that I will not pursue charges that are not warranted.

Example 1: C.S. is an attorney with a client on video stealing something. He represents her. He beat me in his trial because our evidence was insufficient. Fair. But he never stood there telling me that she was innocent. He never stood there saying that no crime was committed. He never questioned my ethics or duty. He simply said “I’m going to have to object to the use of this evidence.” I simply said, “You’ll likely win on that, but I have to go forward. The video shows the crime. I get that the video won’t be accepted by the court, but I’m not dismissing after confirmation of criminal activity.”

That’s good. That’s how it should be. He represents his client, I do my job, whoever wins wins.

Example 2: J.D. is an attorney and apparently to him every client is 100% innocent and he’s never represented a guilty person. Frankly, it is (and he’s said these words) offensive how the state continues to harass and charge people so wildly. THAT crosses the line. I don’t honestly care if you think your clients are innocent. Don’t care. I don’t care if you think your eyewitness is all the proof you need to know your client is innocent. At least trust that I have spoken with my investigators, my arresting officers, and my own witnesses enough to have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred… which is the standard required for charging a crime. Sure, I may not be able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and if I can’t… I lose. That’s on me. But don’t sit there shit talking me for your client thinking that means you’re doing your job.

RANDOM TOPIC OF DISCUSSION:

Since my investigator hasn’t been able to get here yet, let’s debate something important to some, pointless to others, and devastating to even more.

Microtransactions and Day One DLC

If you’re not into video gaming and don’t know anyone who is, this may not interest you. If you would like to participate anyway, awesome! Let me first explain what they are.
Microtansactions are in-game purchases requiring real money. These in-game purchases can be anything from a cosmetic item (like a neat hat) or a substantial item (like a new weapon). Some argue that any in-game purchase requiring real money counts as a Microtransaction; for example Downloadable Levels and New Characters. As some debate this, we’ll acknowledge that debate, but for the purposes of our discussion we’ll accept that those count as Microtransactions as well. We can also discuss “loot boxes” as that is another form of Microtransaction. Day One DLC is an offshoot of Mictoransactions that I think should be discussed separately from it. Day One is in reference to a game’s release. DLC means “Downloadable Content”. Often Day One DLC contains levels or characters that you have to pay extra for but are available on the first day of the game’s release.

First, we’ll discuss Microtransactions; but to prevent writing that over and over, I’ll shorthand the word to MTS. MTS is the way Mobile Games make money. Allegedly, people have spent millions on things like Candy Crush, Angry Birds, and Clash Royale. These are otherwise free mobile games where you can pay for more lives, upgrades, and other items. As a part of Mobile Gaming, this makes a great deal of sense. FREE game MAKES MONEY from advertisements and MTS. In Console Gaming, this becomes less acceptable, I would argue. Console Gaming requires purchase of a console (hundreds of dollars), often a Membership of some kind (PS Network, XBox Network, etc) which costs upwards of $60. And console gaming requires the purchase of an actual game (Prices vary from $20 up to $100 depending on game and edition.) So, on average to play a console game, a financial investment of over $600 has already been made. Thus, attempting to wring more and more money out of someone seems… a little greedy.

HOWEVER, as many argue, a good console game may cost into the tens of millions to produce these days! Covering costs with Release Alone would require selling over 84,000 copies of the game!! Okay.... fair enough point. But then look at Units Sold for some of these games. JUST looking at FIRST WEEK sales of X-Box One Exclusively for Call of Duty Black Ops 3; they sold 1,117,085 units. And that wasn’t even CLOSE to the most popular game of 2018. The Sony Playstation 4 exclusive Spiderman game? 3.3 million copies of Marvel’s “Spider-Man” sold within the first three days of release, setting a new sales record for PS4 game. SO, you need to ship over 100,000 units to pay for AAA game development? A lot of these AAA games are shipping 1 million units. So… some of these AAA games pay off development costs and become profitable quickly without MTS. But the MTS still exist.

My primary concern with MTS isn’t even the unbridled greed, though that is a part that miffs me. No, it is about what was taken away with the inclusion of MTS. Unlockables. Some games still have them, so they aren’t totally gone but it still bothers me. I think (hope) everyone can agree that Pay to Win MTS is bullshit. If I am a skilled gamer that can hit 100% of the shots I make and am considered the best… but an MTS comes out that gives Invincible Armor and Homing Missiles for $60.00… that is bullshit. An obvious extreme example; but there ARE game busting Pay to Win MTS out there, and it disgusts me so much I can’t actually argue about it because I can’t see the other side of the issue. But, originally, I thought “Okay, if MTS is just cosmetic stuff, that’s fine.” But is it? Really? I mean… paying REAL money for a Digital Jacket for a Digital Avatar may seem ridiculous; but isn’t that on the player to decide? THAT is where this notion of unlockables comes in. As a kid, you could pick up a game and you’d read online and in the trade magazines and you’d find out things like “Complete the Pizza Delivery Challenge with exactly 3 seconds left to unlock Uncanny Wolverine Costume”.... “Win first in the Wind Race 3 times to unlock Future Storm Costume.” I hear that Spiderman 2018 has a similar unlockable thing… which is awesome. But that is how “cosmetic items” used to work. And that goes for everything MTS for the most part. (With the exception of DLC Levels). Games were built with secret weapons, secret costumes, secret characters and achieving those characters was part of the fun! You’d be playing a game and find a super hard puzzle that wasn’t required to finish the level… you’d work at it diligently just because you wanted to solve that puzzle… and then Ta DA, you were rewarded with (Epic Weapon/Armor/New Character).

Now, some argue that (in many instances) Unlockables and MTS exist side by side in many games. GOD HELP YOU if you mention Star Wars Battlefront as one of those games; but I make that warning because it (like many games) is actually a direct example of how too many developers claim Unlockables and MTS exist side by side, but clearly they are pushing the MTS money grab. If I can only unlock something by (1) Winning 100 fights AND (2) They have to be Consecutive (3) AND they have to be on the same day (4) AND I can only use grenades AND (5) they all have to be fought without dying… that isn’t so much an Unlockable Challenge as it is a Master Class from an Esport Pro. And if you hide things like “Play as Darth Vader” behind shit of that level? Go fuck yourself. It wasn’t ever intended as an unlockable. Especially when you set up as “You can do this insane challenge that nobody is expected to beat OR just give us 20 bucks.” Then fuck you, mate. That isn’t Unlockables and MTS side by side; that is a developer deliberately fucking with the players.

Just briefly here, I want to discuss loot boxes. Loot Boxes have their own dedicated BLOGS to arguing about them but they should be mentioned. Loot Boxes, if you aren’t familiar, are in-game items that can be purchased with In Game Money or Real World Money. You’re buying THE BOX in the hopes that whatever is IN the box is worthwhile. You don’t KNOW what is in the box. Maybe it is a new dance emote. Maybe it is an advanced gun. Maybe it is something you already have. Korea has already moved to legally consider Loot Boxes to be gambling. The United States has not. Current argument against “loot box is gambling” argument is that Gambling bears with it the possibility of receiving NOTHING; whereas a Loot Box will give you something, even if you consider it “worthless.” Personally, I’m against loot boxes. It is the “Guess Again” of MTS. Because many games do the Battlefront version. You can either play the game for 9 hours a day and get 2 lootboxes that might get you something good… OR… you can pay several hundred dollars of Real World Money to receive 50 lootboxes that might get you something good. Yeah, each has equal opportunity to suck; but if you pay real money you get a MUCH HIGHER chance of something good. Further, it diminishes and condescends the act of Unlockables. Let’s say I do play for 9 hours because I specifically want to get (for instance) a kick ass Holiday Costume for my Main… I can’t just “unlock it” anymore. Now I have to purchase a lootbox and just hope really hard I get the only thing I want. So instead of “beat 50 players with headshots using a pistol to unlock Epic Longshot Costume”; it is “play until you’re bored to unlock a Mystery Box which may simply give you a fart emoji.”

Now briefly onto Day One DLC which, surprisingly, I’m not as against as one might think. Sure, the idea that companies like EA can now sell incomplete games and require you to buy The Game and The Rest of the Game kind of sucks. I think it is particularly unethical when the coding for the DLC is in the disc but you had to buy a DLC to activate it (several companies have been caught doing that). THAT shit is reprehensible. If you built the game, sold the game, and I bought the game… I should have access to the entire game the day I buy it. If other levels are created later as additional material? SURE, I’ll buy that DLC. But on Day 1, I should need to make ONE single purchase “Game” to play Complete Game. I should not, wild example, buy Mutant Revenge 4, put the disc in my console, and be greeted with “Mutant Revenge 4 has DLC; would you like to purchase Cure Ending for $30.00?” Fuck you. If you have an “alternate ending” to the game that is ready on Day One of game’s release… I shouldn’t be required to give you EXTRA money to access that. When I BOUGHT THE GAME, I rather assumed I was buying “everything for the game that was ready for release day!”

The only potentially strong argument I’ve heard for Day One DLC has to do with scheduling, time, and industry practices.

Some games are rushed due to Corporate Pressure. For example, let’s say you are developing a AAA “Rabbit Murders Duck” game but you find out that a competitor is rushing production on their own version “Chinchilla Murders Swan.” You rush to get your game finished to beat them to market. But your favorite level, the one where Rabbit and Duck team up to fight Mutant Jerboa, wasn’t finished in time and wasn’t of strong narrative quality, so it was cut for time. But as the game is getting finished, boxed, shipped to stores, etcetera… you finished coding “Mutant Jerboa’s Island Take Over” and you’re able to release it to the public on Day One so that the game can have that level back in!
OR
Let’s say the game itself isn’t exactly rushed but the reverse. A game people were really excited about gets postponed and delayed which can happen for many reasons. For this, let’s say the company didn’t want their Summer Blockbuster Game competing with Disney-Marvel’s biggest blockbuster movie release weekend. So the game is bumped a few months. In the interim, Corporate asks for more levels or different characters to try to revive the excitement that was originally buzzing for the game. The programmers oblige and create Action Levels 34-50! These are now released as Day One DLC when the game finally drops.

BUT here’s my problem with that… and I articulate this problem both understanding AND agreeing with some of the counter argument… if it is ready on Day One, the first possible opportunity to buy the game? Make it Free DLC like a patch or a bug fix. If you have “more of the game I bought” ready on the FIRST DAY ANYONE could buy the game? You shouldn’t be requiring people to give you MORE money for the rest of the game. Now the counterargument goes back to costs. If developers are creating additional content, the costs grow, programmers need to be paid more, nobody works for free, etcetera. And I agree with that. People should be paid for their work. But also? When I buy a product, I should have the product. If I order a Value Meal at McDonald’s and while I’m paying them money they say “Your burger doesn’t have pickles, mustard, or ketchup but we can add those for 3 dollars more.” I’m not going to think “Awesome, an opportunity to get more on my burger”… I’m going to think “I expected those when I ordered the burger. Why should I pay additional costs for what should already come with the burger?”

CONTENT REDACTED: Case Specific Items

OMG.
I know this is petty and everything but I had to come back here to mention… MAGA Cousin? In all his infinite “Trump Rules, Mainstream Media is the Enemy of America, Fuck Libtards” wisdom… has now gone on a rant about the “failures of the media” and shared a 10 minute clip of a “broadcast” to prove his point.

The broadcast? See if you can pinpoint what the tip off is that it isn’t to be taken seriously. You have a regular news screen, attractive-ish talking heads, a ticker on the bottom, and… that is a strange Network Logo. The NN portion looks like CNN but… that isn’t a C. That’s an Onion! You’re ranting against the Mainstream Media, in honor of Dear Leader Trump, using a broadcast of the Onion News Network! No wonder these MAGA Assholes eat up all that Fox News! They have literally no idea what Real News is! The Onion? REALLY?! You’re 30 years old… not 90. You should fucking know what the Onion is, dude.

Article Entitled: “First came the trade war, then the shutdown, but Iowa farmers still back Trump”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/22/politics/iowa-farmers-government-shutdown-weir/index.html
Leaving this here because it is from my area and I want to read it. Because it is a little confusing how there are still so many, so passionate Trump supporters considering… well… everything he’s doing to Farmers, the Poor, large swaths of America, really.

President Donald Trump’s trade war with China sent soybean prices to 10-year lows just as new steel tariffs drove up the cost of equipment and devoured the year’s profits.

“It’s unbelievable that the farmers in Iowa can still support Trump when it’s costing them thousands every week. I can’t believe that they’re that blind… The die-hards are just dying harder.”

All in all, I’d actually say this was an okay day of work. Spoke with many officers as we discuss Charge Options on things as varied as Sexual Assault to Violating No Contact Order. I had Magistrate Court. I got confirmation of a victory. Struggled with trying to determine appropriate plea offers… trying to thread the needle between accountability, compassion, practicality, and efficiency. Plus, pouring through a violent guy’s Domestic Abuse history. 9 convictions, he’s been charged 15 times; all the same woman. I gave him probation because his victim is what we call “a non-cooperating witness” which significantly decreases the likelihood of getting a conviction. So, honestly… he’s got a history, but he’s got an accomplice. Even despite that, as far as feeling productive and useful in this job? An acceptable day.