Cryptocurrencies are a Waste and Fraud

In an era when every trip in the car adds to our collective problem of global warming, these ass-hats are burning fossil fuels to "mine" cryptocurrency. A Chinese monstrosity just opened near the Wenatchee Airport. Most of our local energy comes from hydroelectric dams, but Puget Sound Energy still runs fossil fuelled plants to make up the difference between hydroelectric output and demand.

The most irritating thing about this is, I'm now subsidizing these wasteful, greedy fucks. You see, residential power is way more expensive than commercial power. I don't mind paying a bit extra, so Boeing can afford to build planes in a more economic and environmentally friendly manner. But I bristle at the idea that some foreign fuckwits are going to pollute our air to run their operation, only to have the mined "currency" used in China.

I think, if these greedy fucks want to waste energy like that, they need to use solar energy derived from on-site solar panels.

I may protest outside their offices.

Sinead O'Connor Can Go Fuck Herself

I don't give a fuck what that bitch "identifies as", I'm calling her by Sinead O'Connor, a racist Muslim.

She apparently now hates white people and non-muslims. Fuck that bitch with a stick of dynamite. Fuck her paedophile "prophet" with the other end of said dynamite.

Fuck You, Donald Trump

The People handed Donald Trump a massive defeat, which he's somehow said is a "big win" for him. What a loser.

Now he has the audacity to threaten the representatives of the people, with investigations if they investigate him. Let me be clear: I voted for democrats for the sole purpose of investigating him, and either reigning him in, or impeaching him.

In summary: Donald Trump can fuck himself on a fire hydrant.

Alzheimer's Disease Sucks

I'm a little angry, so please forgive the selfishness of this post.

My Mom (biologically aunt who raised and adopted me) has Alzheimer's Disease. I'm angry for many reasons, mostly to do with the disease itself. But I'm more than a little angry my family seems to have hidden it from me. Apparently, they had a dementia diagnosis 2 years ago, but I only recently found out.

I'm trying very hard to understand. I live 350 miles away, 2 states over. It's entirely possible they all individually thought someone else was keeping me informed. No one did.

It wasn't until I'd booked her a plane ticket to fly here for a visit that I learned the horrible reality. The flight had a connection in Denver, and my stepfather said it wouldn't work because she would get lost and have a panic attack. I said, "she's not an invalid". The response was an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the telephone line. Even then, he didn't tell me she'd been diagnosed with dementia. He said I needed to talk to my sister.

My sister told me what she knew. She was very apologetic, saying she thought our stepfather would have told me. Okay. Understandable. She and I have always had a rocky relationship based on mutual jealousy. She's mom's biological daughter, and was an only child before mom took in me and my younger sister.

I fully accept that no one knew I hadn't been informed. That doesn't change the fact that my mom, the headstrong woman who raised me, is gone. She has been replaced by a giggly teenager. She's very lovable and kind, as she's always been. But she no longer has that fire in her heart that was at her core.

I finally negotiated to meet my stepfather at a midpoint and pick up mom for a visit. I was in for a shock.

Please don't misunderstand. I absolutely adore my mom, even in this diminished state. I just feel like the woman who raised me is gone, and I never got to say goodbye or tell her how much I love her. I never got to tell her how grateful I am that she took in two homeless children and made us feel like we were her own.

I should be grateful she's still here, even in her reduced capacity. I still love her with all my heart. I'll just have to get over this. It hurts, but life goes on. I need to try to enjoy the time I've got left with her. She's still Mom. No disease can take that away.

I also need to stop being angry at my family for not keeping me informed. I know they wouldn't do that on purpose. They really are good people. We disagree on almost everything, but I know they wouldn't do that. It was a misunderstanding. I need to let it go.

My sister and stepfather are her primary caregivers. I know they're in for a difficult time. I need to be supportive and help them any way possible. I must not let old squabbles get in the way of us coming together to take care of our beloved matriarch.

Barbarian Militias Descending on Border with Mexico

According to news reports, right wing militias are descending on the border with Mexico in an attempt to keep out the migrant caravan. What could go wrong? There are reports of the barbarians stealing equipment from the National Guard. Lovely.

I'm not exactly thrilled to have a caravan of people heading here. I suspect there are some bad guys among those fleeing violence. But I suspect most of them are actually fleeing violence. I'd prefer to err on the side of offering asylum, after a thorough vetting.

I'm really unsure how to handle citizenship for those here on asylum. If someone is here illegally, I don't think their kids should be citizens automatically. There should be a path to citizenship. If someone is here on a work visa and has a kid, they should have the option of giving the kid citizenship. But asylum seekers would ideally go home at some point. We don't want a repeat of the disastrous situation with Somali refugees, most of whom never take on American values, and who's children very often become troublemakers who support islamic ideology.

Chimpmania is a racist site

While looking for the "Black Lives Matter" response to the just shooting of Antonio Demond Sanders (and hoping to find nothing), I found results for a website called chimp mania. I'm not linking to it because, let's face it, they're racist, knuckle-dragging, troglodytes.

I spent a few minutes looking through that hateful nonsense, shuddering every time I saw the n-word.

I'm almost a free speech purist, up to the point where the speaker incites violence against others. As a general rule, I like haters to identify themselves, so I know to avoid them.

That website made me sad to share even a shred of DNA with those racist twats. Being white doesn't equate to hate or supremacy. Being white simply means most of my ancestors were melanin-challenged people who originated in Europe.

I may criticize BLM for their tactics and eulogizing really bad dudes lile Michael Brown, but I wholeheartedly support their intention of ending racism in policing. I rail against the generational guilt implied in the reparations movement, but I share their goal of creating a society where a person is judged solely by the content of their character.

I really don't know what to do about this racist website. I really don't trust governments with the power of censorship. I'd rather see this cesspool of racism to exist than trust governments to only shut down racist sites. Anyone who criticizes Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is almost automatically labelled an antisemite, and fabricated claims of racism do happen relatively often. I was accused of racism for refusing to date a girl in middle school. She first spread rumors that we had sex, then accused me of racism against Hispanics. In a way I was signalling a preference. If she'd been a smoking hot latin man, the result would have been very different. The fact is: I'm as gay as a picnic basket. Never had sex with a woman, and don't think I could do it even if I had a gun to my head.

Islamic Barbarians call for woman to be killed

First let me state, yes obviously not all Muslims are barbarians. But enough of them sympathize with these particular barbarians that they felt safe demanding the murder of a woman found innocent of insulting their barbarian prophet.

Muslim barbarians act like baboons, call for murder of a woman found innocent of insulting their barbarian prophet

I cannot respect this "religion". It hates everything I hold dear.

A Good Guy with a Gun Saved Lives

I'm a gun-owner, but I also support "least restrictive means" gun control. I personally don't carry my gun in public, but that's my personal choice.

Masked gunman killed by armed father in McDonald’s shooting identified as Birmingham 24-year-old

I'm not sure what the motivation was for Antonio Demond Sanders, the masked shooter, to enter a McDonald's with a mask and a gun. I'm not sure if it was just a robbery attempt, or if he was genuinely wanting to kill someone in that restaurant. He got what he deserved, either way. If you come in and start pointing a gun at people, you have to expect to die. Witness reports say he started shooting, then was shot by the "good guy". I put "good guy" in quotes because, in this instance, he did a good thing. Whether or not he actually is a "good guy" in the rest of his life has very little to do with his willingness to shoot an armed aggressor. The fact that he was a white, armed man in Alabama certainly calls into question the "good guy" label. I'm sure there are plenty of non-racist white people who carry in Alabama, but I suspect they're a minority.

I'm really sad about the masked man's (Sanders) history. His first brush with the law seems to have been for marijuana possession and carrying a gun without a license. Marijuana shouldn't be illegal in the first place, and simply carrying a gun should also not be a crime. These were victimless crimes, at the very most. Being black is hard enough, with higher unemployment and being unable to walk down the street without being harassed by racist police. After the marijuana and gun charges, it would have been virtually impossible to find a job. The poor kid seems to have been trying, even if it was required by the court.

The armed father was absolutely right to shoot Sanders. He did nothing wrong. I hope the police have the good sense to keep his and his son's identity secret, to avoid them being threatened by unhinged BLM "protestors".

I'm just sad that Mr. Sanders didn't have a real chance at a life of dignity. This is why I support non-profits that alleviate poverty, regardless of race. I firmly believe that, if we address poverty, the majority of the social problems faced by Black America will evaporate. That doesn't mean racism will disappear and suddenly things will be great for our Black brothers and sisters, but it's far easier to assert your rights from a position of stability and dignity.

As you can probably tell, I have very mixed feelings about this. I think our society sets up black people for failure, then punish them for the crimes their upbringing and education disposes them to. We can do better, though I personally think government programs cause more trouble than they solve problems.

Lazy, Apathetic, Coddled Millennials and their excuses for being bad Americans

My head nearly exploded when reading this article:
12 Young People on Why They Probably Won’t Vote

I'm just going to move down the list of stupid, bullshit excuses for being bad Americans.

Samantha, 22, starts out by admitting she was at least a little intelligent. She saw that the only thing standing between Trump and the White House was Hillary, and she supported her. Then, she goes on to complain about the "centrists" in the democratic party. She's actually convinced herself that dems didn't put up a big enough fight to keep Kavanaugh off SCOTUS. I can excuse most of "fight" argument as youthful naivete. But what the hell is she talking about with centrist dems? Would she prefer the democratic party only consist of the extreme left, and always lose elections? Guess what, Samantha? The vast majority of Americans are NOT extreme left or extreme right! The vast majority of us are in the center, just like the "centrists" you're complaining about.

Reese, 23, goes into his history and states that he was "borderline socialist" in high school. After that, it's a hodge podge of discombobulated nonsense. The gist is, he only wants to vote when he's absolutely sure he's right. If there's even a small chance he's wrong, he dithers and hesitates, erring on the side of not voting. This dithering twit claims he's not a "fan of Trump", but couldn't bring himself to do the one thing he could do to stop Trump from being elected: VOTE. One other thing. Reese really seems to sit around waiting for input from others. I'm not sure if that's simple laziness, or if it's the passivity ingrained in millennials. Either way, I hope he'll stop being passive and actually try to learn something useful. For example: history, science, economics. I also hope he'll break out of his coddled cocoon and take an active interest in the real world. Oh, and as far as "helping something that might end up being wrong", welcome to adulthood and life. I'm sorry your parents failed to prepare you for it.

Tim, 27, is just infuriating. My head could actually explode listening to his sniveling about ADHD. He realized that Trump is "so stupid", and "knows less about government than I do", yet that knowledge wasn't enough to motivate him to mail in a fucking form. "Oh, my ADHD, feel bad for me!". Fuck you, you sniveling crybaby! Grow the fuck up! Yes, that was my "judgmental voice". We can't "build a policy" when we have a large group of apathetic crybabies who can't be bothered to mail in a fucking form. You brought us Trump!

Megan, 29, "moves around quite a bit" for work, and she wants all states to have the same rules so it's not confusing to get an absentee ballot. I sympathize. I really do. I understand the rules can be confusing. Let me mansplain this for you. You see, we live in a federal republic. The definition of federalism: the distribution of power in an organization (such as a government) between a central authority and the constituent units. That means, each "constituent unit" (state) has its own system and makes its own rules. There are many drawbacks to such a system, but many strengths as well. Each state can be seen as a laboratory of democracy, and oppressed people can simply move to a friendlier state. Also, the states check the power of the federal government.

Drew, 21, doesn't like that the democratic party doesn't exactly mirror his beliefs "anymore". Guess what, Drew, that's part of living in a democracy. Get over it. Politicians appeal to "older voters" because millennials are unreliable, apathetic, and too lazy to show up at the polls unless they're "inspired".

Laura, 21, seems to understand the importance of voting, but she just "didn't have the time or energy". She appears to have been waiting for mommy and daddy to mail her the forms, perhaps even pre-filled, with a stamp affixed to the return envelope, and the envelope glue pre-moistened. I wonder how long it took for Laura to be able to wipe herself after using the toilet. What the fuck is wrong with these kids? They walk around in adult bodies, but they're clearly not adults based on their attitudes.

Aaron, 25, is a typical disillusioned Bernie boob. He actually did vote for Hillary, but then "felt bad about it for two years". What kind of echo-chamber is this poor kid living in where he "felt bad" for doing the only thing possible to keep Trump out of office? I wan't exactly thrilled with Hillary either, but anyone with a brain could see she was a far better choice than Trump. I do have hope for him though. He needs to understand that politics is theater, but with real consequences. After that, maybe he won't be so upset when his choice pivots from attacking an opponent to supporting her for the good of the country. I get it though. Voting in America is like choosing between two bowls of shit. But at the end of the day, one bowl of shit wants to force women to give birth and reinstate sodomy laws, and is supported by racists. There is no contest for those of us who care about human dignity. Hopefully, with age, he'll see the folly of the socialists. They really are almost as bad a republicans in their lies.

Thomas, 28, is far too interested in government swooping in to solve the world's problems. He also seems sad that the process of voting is anticlimactic. I just can't wrap my head around that kind of thinking. If, instead of looking to government to fix the housing problem in NYC, citizens took $10 from their pockets each month, combined the money together and bought an apartment building for low-cost housing, the working poor would all have homes within a few years. Instead, people like Thomas look to government to fix the problem. It's actually quite sad.

Jocelyn, 27, has a "chronic illness", and she doesn't have stamps to mail in the form. Good! We don't need your baked-out-of-your-mind idiocy clogging up the electorate. Just stay home and get baked. When your stupidity leads to homelessness, don't come crying to me, looking to pick my pockets to pay for your lazy ass! Loser.

Maria, 26, seems to not know that her employer is legally required to allow her the time to vote. The last time she voted was 2012. That means, she's a pro-choice voter, who claims to care a great deal about reproductive choice, but she didn't stand in line to vote to keep a very anti-choice man away from the presidency and the ability to appoint anti-choice justices to SCOTUS. I get it though. She lives in Arkansas. It was pretty much predetermined that her state's electoral votes were going to Donald J. "grab her by the pussy" Trump. It's not easy. I lived in Utah, where my presidential vote was also pretty useless. But you know what votes weren't useless? Local races. You may not be able to keep Lyin' Donny out of the White House, but you certainly can have an impact on local politics. But, you have to actually vote to do that.

Nathan, 28, wants everything handed to him, over social media, on a silver platter. He's 28 years old, and couldn't figure out how to use Google to find information on "how to vote in California". I don't care how you "digest" your information. You're like the sorry fool who is drowning, but when a floating ring is tossed in the water next to him, he continues to flounder in despair. Very sad. The entirety of human knowledge is literally at his fingertips, but he can't be bothered to take a few hours to inform himself. Very sad. 28 years old. That's a decade of allegedly being an adult. Very sad.

This is exactly the reason why our country is so messed up. We have an entire generation that appears to be stunted in their mental, emotional, and civic growth. Only 50 years ago, black people in the south were literally fighting for the right to have their voices heard at the ballot box, and these entitled little fuckers can't be bothered to fill out a form, lick a stamp, or use Google. I hope the next generation is more resilient. I'm not holding out hope though. Their parents are from the coddled generation. We're pretty much fucked.

Megyn Kelly Blacklisted for not being woke

In this world dominated by empty-headed SJWs, it's an unforgivable sin to question if blackface is always wrong, but it's totally fine for black actors to wear whiteface.

Today, on the Skepticrat podcast, they made the questioning ehh sound when analyzing Megyn's claim that whiteface is also wrong.

I personally have nothing against the Wayans Brothers as people. But, if Megyn Kelly's career is ended over questioning a sacred cow of SJWs, their career should be ended over White Chicks. Also, Nick Cannon should be ridiculed and blacklisted for his racist whiteface and racist "white people party music" album.

Free Speech in the Era of Trump

As you're probably aware, I'm pretty much a free speech purist. I draw the line at inciting violence, but anything before that is ok with me.

What I hate is when people use free speech to spread lies. I used to see the birthers, moon landing hoax, and 9/11 conspiracies as the canaries in the coal mine of free speech. They were just nutty enough to be entertaining, but they weren't actually dangerous.

I now realize that conspiracy theory adherents are probably mentally ill, and need help. But how do you tell the difference between a nutty conspiracy theorist, and someone who is genuinely trying to blow the whistle on something nefarious?

I tell the difference based on their being impervious to facts, or if they call me a shill for trying to change their minds. If they move the goal post, switch to a different thread of conspiracy, or claim I'm in on the conspiracy, I suspect they're mentally ill.

The problem is, this is what happens when you say true things about a religious movement. If you point out that Muhammad married a 6 year old when he was in his 50s, you're labelled an islamophobic nut and racist. If you point out that Joseph Smith "translated" the book of mormon with a seer stone in a hat, you're labelled an anti-mormon bigot and apostate.

I'm not sure what the government should do about these hate spewing conspiracy nuts, if anything.

It would be really nice if conservatives would stop stoking fear of the migrant caravan. They need to stop lying about "middle easterners" being among them, trying to paint the lot of them as terrorists.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if nutty racists took it upon themselves to shoot migrants coming across the border. They've been amped up on the lies of repugnicans into thinking everyone in the caravan is a murdering, rapist, terrorist just waiting to kill Americans.

That's how unhinged the conservative movement has become. They've taken to smearing people fleeing violence. They claim to love Jewish people. But if they'd lived in the 19th century, they'd be the racists smearing Jewish refugees fleeing pogroms in Russia.

Pittsburgh Shooter Uses NT Antisemitism to Justify Hate

The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter had a Gab profile that Quotes John 8:44, which in context, has Jesus saying Jewish people descend from the devil.

This is what exists in the "good book",  and the reason so many people turn away from the barbarity of religion.

Sinead O'Connor Takes Up Barbarity - Homophobia Around the Corner

After battling depression and suicide for years, Sinead O'Connor has "converted" to the religion of violence, sexism, racism and homophobia.

Any bets on how long it will take for her to start spewing homophobia? I give it 2 months.

Europe has capitulated to Islam on free speech

Free speech is dead in Europe

It appears the jihadists have won in Europe by destroying a pillar of the Enlightenment: free speech.

I'm sure the court was scared Islamic barbarians would riot if they allowed criticism of their paedophile prophet.

We should have seen this coming. The Saudi barbarians are running the UN Human Rights Commission.

Meanwhile, Sinead O'Connor has converted to the religion of violence, sexism, racism, and homophobia.

Muhammad had a consummated marriage with a child. You can put all the lipstick in the world on that pig, but it won't change the fact that he was a paedophile.

Europe has lost it's way. Perhaps Britain was right to leave.

Lies About WA I-1639

I found this blatherskite on my walk today.

I removed the location data from the image, as I don't want loony leftists to harass these people. I disagree with them, but that doesn't mean they should be mistreated by the regressive left.

Look at the fine print: Top five contributors: National Rifle Association. No others listed. Just the swine at the NRA. The unmitigated gall of these assholes to assert that the campaign was "Paid for by Washingtonians". Such nonsense.

I-1639 does not "criminalize self-defense", as this sign claims. It does say, if you choose to not lock up your guns when they aren't in use, and your gun is used in a crime, you will be charged with a felony. It's a common-sense lock-up requirement.

Sorry, but the safety of children, and the compelling state interest in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals over-rule your right to just keep guns laying around your house. If Nancy Lanza were a responsible gun-owner, and kept her guns locked up, her psychopathic son wouldn't have killed her before taking her guns to Sandy Hook Elementary and killing 20 children.

Suck it up, NRA nuts. I'm a gun-owner, and I wholeheartedly support I-1639. I'm voting YES!

Trump backs away from "terroristizing acts", after running a campaign of terrorism

Lyin' Donny is such a sleaze ball. He ran a campaign which stoked political hatred, and actually order his goons to assault a protester. Now that one of his devotees has instigated deadly violence against Trump's critics, Lyin' Donny suddenly decides he's against political violence.

He actively promoted the birther nonsense, now he acts surprised when one of his devotees mails a bomb to the man about whom Trump spread lies.

I wish someone would "knock the crap" out of Trump. For example: American voters and patriots, at the polls, on November 6th.

Racist Richard Spencer is also a wife beating swine

I'm really not surprised that a racist man is also an abusive husband. Sexism is often part of the racist phenotype.

Wife-beating Racist Richard Spencer

Any man who hits a woman has forfeited his right to live.

Repaired the Front Fender on 2013 Prius

A while back, I scraped a boulder as I was backing out of someone's driveway. It tore and scraped the bumper on the passenger front side. It looked awful.

I finally got around to making the repair. I'm too damned cheap to pay a body shop.

This is how I did it:

1. Cleaned the rip, inside the window well and on the outside. I used mineral spirits from home depot. This meant removing the bplts and plastic tabs holding the plastic cover from the wheel well.

2. Set the rip so it was as flush as possible. Then sealed it on the inside using Gorilla epoxy. I bought a window screen repair kit, and stuck it to the inside before the epoxy dried. I let it dry overnight.

3. Using a wire brush attached to the drill, I roughed up the area, and cleaned out a crevice along the rip.  Cleaned the entire area with mineral spirits.

4. Filled the rip and scratches automotive putty, and let it dry overnight.

5. Removed the big chunks of dried putty using the drill wire brush, leaving only a little putty over the rip and scratches.

6. Sanded down the remaining putty so it was smooth. Cleaned the area with mineral spirits.

7. Sprayed sandable primer, and let it dry overnight after 3 coats. Sanded the dried primer to smooth. Cleaned the entire area with mineral spirits.

8. Sprayed the basecoat to 4 layers, letting it dry 2 hours between coats. Let it dry overnight.

9. Sprayed 3 coats of clear coat, letting it dry for 1 hour between coats.

I still have to wet sand, buff, and wax, it looks really good.

NRA Opposes Lock Up Law

I'm a gun-owner, and generally hostile to the liberal ban trope. However, I wholeheartedly support regulations intended to reduce gun violence, under the "least restrictive means" test.

I lock up my gun to ensure children and burglars can't get hold of it. Why would any rational person oppose keeping guns from being stolen or used by children? If Adam Lanza's gun-enthustiast mother had locked up her guns, she'd still be alive, as would 20 children and 6 adults.

Republicans were beside themselves when a straw-purchased gun was used to kill a border patrol agent. Do they not see the hypocrisy when comparing it to stolen guns being used in murders?

Having guns locked up is absolutely reasonable. Responsible gun owners already do it. Unfortunately, there are lots of gun owners who don't. The government has a compelling interest in reducing gun violence and protecting children. A lock-up requirement certainly seems to be the least restrictive means to fulfill that interest.

Perhaps a better law would be, if your gun is used in the commission of a crime, you are charged as an accessory to the crime. That would not require guns to be locked up, but smart gun owners would take the prudent step by themselves.

People are getting tired of gun violence. The NRA's intransigence will eventually lead to an Australia-style ban. This is why I oppose the NRA.

Police Behaving Badly

In a Florida town, the police were harassing black people, going as far as fabricating affidavits as evidence and throwing them in jail.

Shitty Police

Is it any wonder why black people don't trust law enforcement? I don't agree with BLM snarling up traffic and rioting as "protest", but I do agree that racists need to be systematically purged from law enforcement, and all positions of power. I'd add that, black racists also need to be purged from power.

I've ranted about the scam at the heart of our "justice system", so I won't bore you with it again. We need to scrap the entire thing, and rebuild it to do away with the conflicts of interest, greed, and prejudice 

Brexit Re-do

I'm certainly in favor of more unity in Europe, though I oppose the EU's overreach in laws like GDPR. As an American, I have no dog in this fight.

That being said, it strikes me as odd that the Remain side wants a mulligan on the Brexit vote. London Mayor Khan says nothing is more democratic than letting the people vote. I'd argue that ignoring the previous vote is undemocratic. The British People already spoke, and the decision was leave.

That's how democracy works. Sometimes you lose. I had to cope when my home state voted to enshrine bigotry against me into the state constitution. Sure, it sucked, but that's the price of living in a democracy.

MeToo Clashes with Black Lives Matter

Loony Feminist falsely accused a little boy of assault.

I feel really bad for the kid. I was recently accused by a loony feminist of "staring at her ass", at Target. The fact that I'm queer as a lemon on a peach tree was my only saving grace.

This is what happens when two moral panic movements collide.

FatPeopleHate was a thing

I just don't understand why anyone would hate someone for being fat. I also don't think it should be legal to post an image or video of someone without their permission.

In an ideal world, it wouldn't be a problem. But in a world where this kind of hate exists, we need laws to protect privacy.

Honestly, I'd like to find these allegedly skinny shitstains and smother them with my moobs.

I'm certainly not saying being fat is healthy, or even a good thing. But at the end of the day, fat people aren't hurting anyone but themselves. We fatties certainly don't need scrawny bitches judging us. I'm losing weight to be healthy, not to please anyone else. In fact, I'd love nothing more than to put a curse on these judgemental dickheads where they wake up one day seeing only fat people, and see themselves as fat.

I really fucking hate people.

Fat Strong

Apparently, I'm "fat strong".

This morning, I was leaving Home Depot, when I noticed a middle-aged woman struggling to put big bricks in her trunk. I offered to help, and she said yes. I grabbed a couple bricks and placed them in the truck of her car. She seemed surprised that I was able to lift so many bricks at once, exclaiming: "you're strong, like fat strong".

I resisted the urge to respond by saying, "not everyone can be a weak, malnourished little bitch". Instead, I finished helping and continued to my car.

I don't understand why people think it's ok to judge other people's bodies. I've been trying really hard to lose weight, using the Keto plan. To date, I've lost 9 pounds in 3 weeks.

Oh well. Maybe she was just having a bad day. Or maybe she's autistic or something. I don't think the faux pas even registered for her.

Unfortunately, my reaction was to break ketosis with a small packet of skittles. Not the best choice, but certainly not the worst choice I could make, given my eating disorder. My go-to emotional eating food is ice cream. If I'm upset, I can down an entire carton in one sitting.

Keto is helping. I just need to be more thick-skinned about other people judging me. Their judgemental attitude says more about them than it does about me.

Replaced Garage Door

I spent most of yesterday replacing our old, heavy, ugly garage door with a new, light, nice garage door.

Actually switching out the door was the easy part. The hard part was adapting the frame, tracks, and opener to accommodate the thicker door.

Now, I get to do the other door. Hopefully that will be faster, now that I know what it entails.

Luckily, I'm fairly tenacious. I see obstacles as things to be overcome, not as barriers.

Mansplaining, my opinion

It seems, these days, a man can't open his mouth to alleviate a misunderstanding without being silenced by the label "mansplainer".

I used to consider myself a strong feminist, but I don't any longer. I still advocate for gender equality, but I no longer accept the feminist label.

Social media activists have ruined feminism, turning it into a man-hating circus. Can't they see how their extremism is turning fence sitters away? They've turned big tent feminism into a pup tent. I want nothing to do with with it.

When Roe and Casey are overturned, feminists will have no one to blame but themselves. They drove away allies.

The Meaning of 99 Red Balloons

The 80's hit "99 Luftbaloons" or "99 Red Balloons", has a catchy tune and repetitive lyrics. I first heard the English version on the radio as a child. The lyrics didn't have any meaning for me at the time. I knew nothing of the horrors of nuclear war. I was just a kid. A bad day for me was not being able to ride my bike with my friends.

I don't think I heard the English version again for many years. I recently heard the German version,  and having taken German for 4 years in high school, was able to piece together some of the meaning of the lyrics. I went to Google translate, and got the full gist. It's a story about flying balloons causing a nuclear war, and the aftermath.

I now have much more respect for that song. I had the same response to Guernica, by Picasso. I always thought it was just a nightmare or something. Then, we saw the real thing in Spain. I did more research on the symbolism of Guernica. It depicts, not a nightmare, but an actual historical event. It had a powerful impact on me. I've always been somewhat averse to war, but thought it was sometimes necessary. I now firmly adhere to the non-aggression principle, leaning a bit toward being a pacifist. I still think there are things worth fighting for, like my beloved republic. But I also see, by example of countries like Costa Rica, that you don't need to have a massive army at the ready to ensure your security. I'd argue that having a large military virtually guarantees that diplomacy will be window dressing.

Manspreading is Necessary, But Some Men Go Overboard

Look. I get it. It can be irritating to sit next to a guy who has his legs spread eagle. I don't dispute that some men take it to extremes just to be jerks.

But seriously, ladies, men have testicles, and they get sweaty and sticky. Imagine the worst boob sweat you've ever had, but your boobs are pressed between 2 warm vices. Would you not be eager to release the vices and let your breasts breathe? The fact is, if testicles get too warm, sperm die. That's a verifiable medical fact.

That's exactly what most men are doing when they spread their legs out a bit, especially on a hot or humid day. Some men take it to an extreme just to be jerks. But don't just assume, because a man is spreading his legs, he must be a sexist jerk. Doing so isn't just a micro-aggression, it is actual aggression.

There's an easy way to tell if a man is being a jerk. If you gesture to sit next to him, and he keeps his legs full spread, he's being a jerk. On the other hand, if he pulls them in a bit and invites you to sit, he's being polite. Don't expect him to close his legs completely, but he'll reel them in some for your comfort.

I'm certainly glad women are speaking up about this. I doubt most men even know it's an irritation for women. But I'm concerned that, in their haste to do something, they'll accost men who are genuinely just trying to alleviate their sweaty balls.

Let's all just stop being assholes to each other.

The Outrage Brigade is Ruining First Man

Why am I not surprised that the faux patriots are up in arms about "First Man" not including the "flag planting" scene? The flag is still shown on the moon, having been planted. We got there first, and no one can take that away. Instead of celebrating one of our greatest achievements, the outrage brigade is screaming over this nonsense. What a fucking embarrassment. 

Why a Stock Buyback Strategy Hurts Investors

The main problem I have with companies buying back stock is, it obfuscates the effect of stock options. It's basically a massive wealth transfer from investors to executives and employees.

Question: How does a company come up with the stocks they're granting as options?
Answer: By diluting existing shares. Let's imagine ACME Widget Company is a publicly traded company that offers stock options to their employees. The company has 1 million shares of ownership traded on the stock exchange. If you worked for ACME, and they granted you 10 shares of stock, the moment you exercise that option (buy the stock), the number of shares becomes 1,000,010.00, or 1 million and 10 shares. By doing this, the value of each previously existing shares is decreased. That's what it means when economists talk about share dilution. You, as the mail clerk, are only granted 10 share options. The over-paid, empty suits in the executive suite are usually granted hundreds or thousands of share options. Now you see why this is a massive wealth transfer from investors to executives?

The big reason why companies buy-back their own stock is, they've run out of places to put their cash. Instead of issuing dividends, as any moral human being would do, they churn the money into the pockets of their executives, while temporarily goosing up the stock price. I say "temporarily" because, they're burning up cash, which is an asset on the balance sheet. The next time the company issues their earnings statement and balance sheet, their cash position will be less, or at least not as high as it would have been without the buy-back.

I personally prefer to buy stocks in companies that issue regular, stable, cash dividends. That being said, at the moment, I'm completely out of the market. I consider it massively over-priced. When I do get back in, it will be in the form of low-cost index funds, mixed with a fair amount of municipal, county, and state bonds. I like to keep my earnings as tax-free as possible.

Donald Trump doesn't understand economics

Today, our idiot-in-chief is bitching about the Federal Reserve raising rates, and blaming the Fed for the recent drop in the stock market. What an uninformed asshole. This is why the fed is, thankfully, a public-private partnership, not something Lyin' Donny can manipulate. He keeps claiming Democrats want to turn this country into another Venezuela, which is just another lie. Just look at what he's doing. His bitching about the Fed gives the impression he wants more control over it, which would be an absolute disaster.

Guess what, Donny: your trade policies are responsible for the drop, not the fed raising rates.

In Summary: Our president is a fucking moron!

People watching people play video games

Apparently, there are people out there with so much free time, they actually watch videos of other people playing games. I guess this shouldn't be surprising though, since so many people watch golf on television. Talk about boring!

A number of years back, I had a minor operation. I was laying in a hospital bed, waiting to be wheeled in to the OR. There was a delay, and I ended up waiting a few hours. To my absolute horror, my "roommate" was a geriatric man who insisted on watching Fox News and golf. I spent the next 2 hours suppressing the urge to throw something at the television. I iterated between irritation at the lies on Fox News, and complete boredom watching golf. At least that alleviated my anxiety over the upcoming surgery. I was actually relieved when the nurses came to take me away.

If there's a hell, it's sitting in a room with a geriatric man, being forced to watch fox news and golf, while being too polite to seize the remote and change the channel while telling the old bastard to fuck off.

Saudi Censorship on Facebook

As you may have already guessed, I'm not exactly a friend of the Saudi government. I think they're a barbaric government that brutalizes their people and fund terrorism. I also think their specific brand of Islam (Wahabi Islam), is barbaric and inhumane. I said as much on Facebook a few weeks ago. Within minutes, I was locked out of facebook, and given a "24 hour cooling off period".

The post was a link to the following article (archived on archive.org):
Maldives Police Use Pickaxes To Destroy Artwork Deemed Un-Islamic
The text of my post was this:

Apparently, criticizing Wahabi Islam is now an offense on Facebook. I was locked out of everything. I couldn't message any friends to let them know. I couldn't access any pages I had created. I couldn't engage in any of the my business groups. Nothing. I could basically only see my newsfeed and timeline.

I requested a review on free speech grounds, and it was denied. No message explaining why. The status simply changed to "denied".

As a protest, I downloaded all my Facebook data and closed my account. A friend of mine, who works at Facebook, looked at it and told me it was reported by someone who was not on my friends list. He said he couldn't say who reported it, but he did say the IP address was in Saudi Arabia.

The barbarians struck at the heart of American Liberty by silencing me. I have little doubt they'll report this post as "islamophobic". I don't give a fuck. They can shove their illiberal sensibilities up their asses. Fuck Saudi Arabia!

On a more positive note: I now have more free time to dedicate to my blog and my business. I also find that, without all the drama from the outrage brigade, I'm much happier.

BTW, for those of you who would claim I'm Islamophobic, I disagree entirely. I think there are plenty of Muslims around the world who don't want to throw me off a high building for being gay. Even in Britain, only 18% of Muslims think being gay should be legal. Look at page 596 of the following poll:
ICM/Channel 4 Muslim Opinion Poll
52% of British Muslims think it would be just fine to reinstate sodomy laws and outlaw gay marriage. The study doesn't break it down by country of origin on that question, but I suspect those of Saudi origin are overwhelmingly in the "throw them off a building" camp. The word "Islamophobia" denotes an irrational fear. My fear of Wahabism and the Saudi state is not an irrational fear. They've demonstrated their animosity for LGBT people by beheading us in "chop chop square". They are barbarians, stuck in the 6th century. People like that make me glad I live in America, where at least I have the second amendment, and we know what to do with terrorists.

On the Taylor Swift political snafu

As a general rule, I couldn't care less what a singer or actor has to say about politics. That also applies to Ms. Swift's revelation that she will be supporting Democrats in the coming election.

What I find appalling is the fact that it took a singer posting a "get out the vote" link on social media in order to get some to register to vote. Seriously? Do these idiots not know how to use Google? If someone is that apathetic and lazy, I'm not sure I want them tainting the electorate with their vote. How much can they add to the public discourse if they can't be bothered to google "how to register to vote", without being prodded by a prominent singer.

Don't get me wrong. I'm genuinely hoping that moderate Democrats take over the party and then hand Trump a massive defeat at the polls. What worries me is all these extreme leftists who are as empty in the head as their rhetoric is devoid of credibility.

If I want a political opinion, I'll go to those who make a living thinking. For example: philosophers, writers, authors, science educators, jurists, economists, diplomats, humanitarians, ethicists, skeptics, free-thinkers, and perhaps a few podcasters.

Merch by Amazon Design Review - Really Bad AI

I'm trying to grow my Merch by Amazon business, and I'm struggling with their design review process. I just submitted a design with a cultural reference to "moved cheese", and I included the words "drive by managing", referring to a manager who walks by spewing orders before disappearing back into the hole from which they emerged. Apparently, the idiotic AI they use to accept or reject designs thinks "drive by" is a reference to drive by shootings. They rejected my design, saying it cannot be sold in youth sizes. They gave me the option of resubmitting after removing the youth option. Seriously?

I emailed them asking for an actual human being to review the design. I'll update this post once I hear back.

UPDATE: I never heard back from merch support. So, I edited the description to "walk-by managing", resubmitted, and it was again rejected for youth sizes. Apparently, "drive-by" wasn't the offending language. I don't have time to appeal this, so I just removed the youth sizes from the listing. It was approved within 3 minutes.

Subscribed to NY Times and Washington Post

Despite cash being a bit tight, I decided to subscribe to the NY Times and Washington Post. Why? Mainly because they're offering digital subscriptions for under $10 per month. I've wanted to support them for a while, but I simply could not justify the prices they were asking. I really want newspapers to survive, but it seemed they were being greedy with their pricing.

I'd personally prefer to have a pdf emailed to me daily, instead of being required to log in to their sites every day (I set my system to delete cookies daily).

In the age of Trump, I believe it's vital to have such venerable institutions to expose that man-baby. I'm just glad they came up with more reasonable pricing.

I have not subscribed to my local newspaper (Seattle Times) because they still have greedy pricing. I'm also pissed at them for lending their support to the scheme of giving county taxpayer money to a billionaire, to "maintain" Safeco field. I'm even more pissed that my county councillor aided in the fraud. That's another story though, and I have a FOIA request in working on it.

Amazon Flex Independent Contractor Terms of Service

I tried to find the flex contract Amazon always lords over the heads of drivers, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I finally located it in the Flex app, under "Account" > "View Legal Information" > "Independent Contractor Terms of Service". You can't copy the text from the app to save it for future reference. That seems ethically dodgy, to say the least. (Edit 3/8/2019: It is now possible to copy and paste the text, though Amazon's outsourced reps still refuse to provide it via email, as it says they should in the agreement).

You can see a UK version on the UK Parliament website, but it is quite different from the version for US-based drivers.

It has always bothered me that companies can force you to agree to contracts that are 40 pages of legalese, say they can change it at any time without notice, and make it difficult to get your hands on a hard copy you can reference or have an attorney review.

Oddly enough, the "terms of service" says you can get a copy of the document email to you by simply emailing amazonflex-support@amazon.com. It's section 15 of the document. See the screenshot below:

So, I did just that. I email Flex support, and this is the bollocks I received in response:

Are they using a really bad AI for driver support? I didn't ask WHERE to find it in the app, I asked for a copy to be emailed to me, as set out in the "terms of service". Typical piffle from Amazon. Let's try this again.

I received the exact same response on the third attempt, this time from someone named "Anusha R". I finally emailed Jeff Bezos to let him know that his "support agents" are not following the "terms of service" agreement. I doubt I'll hear back from them, but I think the public has a right to know that Amazon is purposely obfuscating their "terms of service" for Flex drivers. They probably know it's a steaming pile of unenforceable garbage, and they don't want any drivers passing it on to someone with an elementary understanding of contract law.

If you bother to look through the "agreement", here are some interesting things you'll find:

1. A binding arbitration clause, and an Amazon address to request arbitration. If they shut you down, you lose access to the flex app, and the ability to view the "terms of service" steaming pile of garbage. They're counting on drivers just walking away. What the agreement doesn't tell you is: if you happen to get the address to request arbitration, it costs you $200.00. Yep. In Bezosland, they'll deactivate a poor sod for violating an agreement they purposely try to hide, then charge the driver $200.00 to go to an arbitration company THEY CHOOSE. Absolutely disgusting!
2. If you opt out of receiving electronic communications from Flex, they automatically terminate you. If you reply "STOP" to any text message from Flex, they can terminate you.
3. If you lose the phone running the Flex app, you have to notify Amazon "immediately".
4. If Amazon is sued because of your actions or inactions while delivering, you will be on the hook to pay their legal expenses. That's pretty boiler-plate contract language, but it is far more all-encompassing than any contract I've read.
5. Section 10 is very broadly worded. So broadly that one could consider even the agreement itself to be "licensed material".
6. The binding arbitration section strips you of your legal rights to pursue legal relief as a class or "collective". They don't want abused drivers to sue them as a class. They want all the benefits of an at-will employee, without any of the costs or legal obligations. Disgusting.
7. You can opt out of the arbitration clause, but you must do it within 14 days of signing up. Oddly enough, you won't have access to the agreement until they accept your application, which is usually well beyond the 14 days. If you want to opt-out, you have to send an email to amazonflex-support@amazon.com, including your name and "a statement indicating that you are intentionally and knowingly opting out of the arbitration provisions of the Amazon Flex Independent Contractor Terms of Service". The agreement claims you will not be subject to retaliation for opting out. However, since you have yet to be "accepted" into the program, they could simply refuse to accept you. Really sneaky, and probably illegal.
8. The agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Washington. That's pretty standard, but something you should know.
9. Amazon says they will notify you if they change the agreement, but go on to say it is your responsibility to spot any modifications. If they sneak a change by without notice and without you noticing, you agree to be bound by the updated agreement.
10. They require you to deliver packages on-time. They sometimes make exceptions if the warehouse was late, but you have to actively request the exceptions. I've had them load me down with 30 packages only 15 minutes before the end of their delivery window.
11. You have to be nice to everyone, even the useless support, and the rude warehouse workers. I've heard of people being deactivated (given the Amazon cold shoulder) for not being nice to rude warehouse workers. I got a warning myself to thanking a phone agent for being completely useless.
12. You cannot allow another person to access your Flex account. Some drivers try to get family or friends to do the "flex fishing" game, where you constantly hit "refresh" on the app, looking for available blocks. That is against the rules. Don't let anyone use your account.
13. You can have family, friends, or pets in your car when delivering, provided they stay in the car the entire time.
14. Amazon keeps track of everything you do with the app, and your location data. They specifically say they share that information with third-parties. You need to know that your physical location will be known by these "third-parties", potentially even when the app is not running.

That's not all, but I'm exhausted looking through all that mess. The short and skinny is: read the terms of service and all referenced documents. They are important. Amazon will beat you over the head with them. You need to know your rights and obligations under the agreement.

A few good things about the gig.

1. The pay is ok. It isn't enough to rent an apartment in downtown Seattle, even if you manage to get 8 hours per day. BTW, you won't get 8 hours per day except during Q4.
2. The hours are flexible. You can forfeit a block up to 45 minutes before you're supposed to start, and you won't be penalized.
3. Most customers are really nice.

Just beware of dogs. I keep pepper spray on me just in case. There are a number of documented cases where drivers have been attacked by dogs. Amazon couldn't care less. You're a contractor.

Good luck!

How to Reconcile Your Amazon 1099K

If you sell on Amazon, you will receive a form 1099K. Upon first glance, the numbers may seem vastly inflated. FEAR NOT! I will demonstrate to you exactly how they came up with those numbers!

To make any sense of this you'll need to run a report in seller central. Go to: Reports > Payments, then click on the "Date Range Reports" tab. Request a "summary" report for the year in question (1/1 - 12/31). When it completes, open the resulting PDF file.

It will look something like this:

That looks even more confusing than the 1099K! Amazon certainly doesn't make it easy. Let me explain a few things before we get into the calculations.

Things you need to understand:

1. Amazon is technically a "credit card processing" company when it comes to their relationship with your business. If you Google "Form 1099K", you'll find that is the form used by credit card processing companies to report income to the IRS.
2. Since they are reporting as a credit card processing company, they are only reporting transactions where they've charged a customer's credit card. Refunds are not deducted from the total, so you have to account for refunds in your accounting system.
3. You can, and should, ensure the amount reported on 1099K is the properly reflected in your accounting system. It can balance down to the penny if you've done your accounting properly.

Matching 1099-K to the Date Range Summary Report

In order to match the 1099K to your Date Range Summary Report, add up the following:

• Product Sales (non FBA)
• FBA Product Sales
• Shipping Credits
• Gift Wrap Credits
• Sales tax credits (bottom right of the date range summary)

Do not add in anything from the debits column. Those will be handled in the next step. Other things you SHOULD NOT add: FBA Inventory Credits, Amazon Shipping Reimbursements. Why? Because those are internal transactions handled by Amazon. They don't involve charging a credit card, so they aren't reported on 1099-K. You will still need to account for them in your accounting system, but they aren't included in the amounts reported on form 1099K.

Take the total from the addition step above, and subtract the following:

• Promotional Rebates

If you did the calculations properly, the number showing on your calculator should match the amount reported on line 1a of form 1099K.

You can run the date range summary for each month, and run the same calculations to balance each month against the appropriate month amount on form 1099K. That will be helpful in narrowing down errors in the event your accounting system doesn't reflect the amounts reported. It's very unlikely the 1099K is wrong. Before running to Amazon about an incorrect form, make sure you haven't made an entry error somewhere along the way.

Edit 2018: It is now necessary to run the date range report on the "invoiced orders". You'll see a link from your payment summary page, just below the navigation bar. In case you missed it, let me explain the "invoiced orders". Amazon has decided to extend credit to their customers using your inventory. What happens in reality is, Amazon temporarily gives your product to their customer, and waits to pay you until the customer pays them. Don't even get me started. I'm positively livid that Mr. Bozos is leveraging my inventory to line his pockets.

Things to consider when matching the summary report to your accounting system:

• I run a medium-sized Amazon business that is almost exclusively FBA. I've used this formula for 5 years, and it always balances to the penny. Since I very rarely do merchant-fulfilled sales, there could be transactions associated with merchant-fulfilled sales that I will never see. If your numbers don't match using the instructions above, take a close look at any merchant fulfilled items on the summary report.
• It's important to keep your Amazon Payments Account balanced in your accounting system. That's the account where your payout accumulates until payout, when the funds are transferred to your company bank account. Remember: the amounts reflected on 1099K are for all transactions for the year, even those amounts building up in the Amazon Payments Account. It's very likely your Amazon payments account started the year with a balance, and will end the year with a balance. Keep the opening and closing balances in mind when you try to balance the summary against your accounting system. It is best to have a ledger account to hold the funds until payout.
• If you need help, there are some groups on Facebook which can be very helpful. I'm a member of one called "Accounting We Will Go". The group is full of other Amazon sellers who have questions. The group is setup by a CPA named Anna, but most often your questions will be answered by other members. You can also post your questions here, and I'll do my best to help. I'm not a CPA, but I've done outsourced bookkeeping for the last 12 years, and I've been an Amazon seller for the last 6 years.
• It's very important that you have a proper double-entry accounting system. GoDaddy Bookkeeping is NOT a proper double-entry system. It might be ok when you are first getting started, but it won't do once your business is big enough to require credit from a bank. Banks will want to see a balance sheet, which GoDaddy Bookkeeping doesn't provide because it isn't a proper double-entry system. I recommend Quickbooks Online. Most Amazon sellers can easily get by using just the Simple Start, which is the cheapest option. It has some limitations. For example, you can't track Accounts Payable with Simple Start, and you can't track per-item inventory. These issues are easily overcome by tracking your payables using a spreadsheet, and by only tracking the dollar cost of your inventory in a ledger asset account. Seriously. Unless you have employees or lots of bills to track, you don't need anything more than Simple Start. If you follow the Quickbooks Online link above, you will save some money and I'll get a small referral bonus.

If you have any questions, post them in the comments. I'll do my best to answer them. Keep in mind, I moderate comments before they are posted live. Good luck!