These Crazy Days of 2020

Just for the record, I have done a little indulging in conspiracy theories, on a few different topics.  And I shall do so again. This time about politics. Some observations and some speculation.

First, there's an interesting date for just 2020. Repeating numbers in the year only happens once a century. What was going to happen this century? 

Second, a virus that turned into a pandemic, then race riots and BLM and Antifa. The virus are separate incidences from the riots, BLM and Antifa. 

The virus outbreak could not be helped. Viruses do things like that, breakout at inconvenient times, sickening most, and killing some. 

The thing that puzzles me though, is the police brutality, especially against blacks. Now there is so much video coverage of these incidences, why do it again and again? It doesn't make sense, it's careless and stupid. Do they not care that much? Or are these situations set up to justify the riots and the ensuing destruction? Why? Is it a distraction from something else? Or to make Trump look bad so Biden can win in the fall?

In the midst of all this I did see a few interesting headlines, briefly. One was about Hillary Clinton losing an appeal and having to testify. Another was about how Antifa are hard-core Marxists, wanting to tear the country down and rebuild it. Rebuild it into what, a Marxist utopia? How will it be any different than attempts in the past? We won't know until we get there and by then it will be too late.

About Hillary; how much does she not want to testify. Since I only saw a headline, I don't what she'll be asked to testify about. Could it be her years in the state department? Could it lead to questions about things pertaining to what was known as Pizza-gate? Bill was associated with Jeffery Epstein on the Lolita Express. 

Will justice be found in the midst of a pandemic and race riots?

Changing Tides

I have been a republican all of my voting life. The philosophy of the party has made sense to me more than the democrat side. For a  while, I was an evangelical and more conservative, listening to Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio. I believed in the "cause" more than ever. Liberals were an obvious threat to the American way of life and had to be stopped. It seemed a common-sense no brainer and for the time being, liberalism seemed to be held at bay. There was the Clinton administration, it had its issues. But George W. Bush was going to set us right again. Unfortunately, it took 9/11 to rally the troops, Washington seemed to pull together for a while and stand against a common threat.

Time passed. Our involvement in the middle east became "normal" after we invaded Iraq. In  2005-6 our family left our evangelical church. I found myself having to rethink my outlook on life, my 'moral compass' and what was really important to me apart from what evangelicalism said. What am I by myself? What matters to me? What do I care about?

It took me a while, I began to figure out that I could exist by myself and realize what mattered to me apart from a religious organization. For a while, it was terrifying, being alone, and having to figure this all out on your own.  Some things I knew and some I didn't. But after a while, I found a balance. At least one that worked for me.

Barak Obama's presidency reminded me I was still basically conservative. I would listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch fox news from time to time just to keep up. I was finding my appetite for political things was becoming limited. All the talk and fretting was wearisome, I had to get away more and more.

When the 2016 election came I couldn't believe the choice we had, two of the worst people to run for president. I could not vote for either candidate, and I didn't. I, like a lot of other people, thought H was going to win and that'd be that. But D won, to my surprise and dismay. Since then, it has been four years of disbelief, day by day. 

I am tempted to vote democratic just to get D out of office. But when my annoyance about him gets to the level of hatred, I stop and think that all politicians are prone to corruption. Basically, when I hear about the bad things that D does as a republican, the democrats have their own version of it too. The devil you know vs the devil you don't doesn't apply. They're both devils and "buyers remorse" is built-in. Why bother voting any more. What's the point?

So that's where I'm at right now. 

Hi Again! I'm still here. Time keeps flying by. So much to catch up on and keep you up on. Like a lot of other blogs, vlogs and things, my timeliness is lacking. My possible excise could be ADD and age. I get distracted by so many things and forget to come back. The forgetting seems like more of a problem, not dangerous yet. I think I've learned so much, I have more stuff to forget, haha. Oh well.

The big changes in my life of late are that my dad died in 1/17, I became a granddad, then turned 60! Dad was a fairly peaceful transition, he was 94 and had a good life. March 13th my grandson was born. I'm a grandfather? In June I retired from working as a chauffeur after 9.5 years. So many stories. Then in July I turned 60. That hit me the hardest. How did I get here? What do I do now?

It began to dawn on me and my wife that now, we were the patriarch and matriarch of the family. I am an only child, she has two siblings and four nieces and nephews. Both of her siblings are disabled, we are not. It has been a very strange transition for me. I have always looked up to my dad, now, in a way, I am my dad. I didn't think too much about being here. Now I have to take care of all the things that were his and my mom's. That is another strange thing. All the things, possessions that they had, now I have to decide what to do with. A lot of things were sold. Some things were shipped to me and we are now holding them. So many memories. I never imagined this day would come. Now it's here. Life can change so much, for me, especially towards the end.

And about the end. Now that I'm here and looking down that hallway, what the hell do I do? I feel like I'm making it up as I go along. But I've done that all my life. Plans didn't work like I thought they would, so you improvise. Plan B, C, D... Somehow you make it. Keep things going for the next generation. Raise your kids as happy healthy individuals and pray. Then...?

Other things have changed as well. When I was younger I was very concerned about religious/conservative things. Now I look at our country and shake my head. The energy I had for that, if even in my own head, has changed. More and more, I notice that with the way things are going politically, I care less and less. Things are going in a more and more polarized way. That bothers me, and I have no tolerance for it. When I listen to the radio or watch the news I care less and less, or have less and less patience for either sides rhetoric. Just leave me alone. Being Amish seems like a good idea.

I have some other ideas I want to share with you, creative ideas. As far as I know, maybe two people keep track of this blog, haha. I don't know. One of my ideas has been regarding my photography. I'm trying to start a business. I'm also playing the Sims...Sims4. That is interesting. I'm trying to come up with a storyline, I've recently added vampires to see what happens.

As for my business, I want to sell my photos, somehow. Trouble is, I'm not a business person, even though I have a major in economics, go figure, haha.

Okay, time to go. I think I can use this blog to my advantage. If you look at it, read it, check it from time to time, let me know. I'll do my best to get back to you. Be patient.

Thanks and Take Care

Digital Privacy

Lately, I have become more interested in privacy in regards to this digital life we live. Truth be told, we don't have privacy anymore, not if we carry a device, particularly a cell phone.

For me, at work, I use a GPS almost all the time, and the work phones are trackable all the time, that works well in ground transportation. But otherwise, having an android phone that is always keeping track of you and asking if you have been here or there, it gets a little creepy. It's one thing to geotag a photo now and then when you post to social media, but to have your phone ask you where you've been?

Some people are very sensitive to this and fall off the grid, deliberately, others want the convenience and their privacy. And others don't care at all saying they have nothing to hide. I'm in the latter camp. If I wanted to hide something or didn't want to be seen, I think there are ways to get things done without being tracked.

I didn't realize that I hadn't been to this blog in over a year. Wow, how time flies. so much has happened too. I'll fill you in later.

Political Anxiety

I wanted to throw some more posts in here. I thought about it. We had a trip to see family which went well. The problem was my wife during a layover in Baltimore broke her arm while helping someone. We made it home the next day but my mind was far from blogging. She's much better now, about two weeks from freedom from all cast-like support. Her Occupational Therapist says she's doing much better than other people in her situation.

During this time and since I have been watching all the goings on with the news coverage of the election campaign, and it has been giving me a noticeable amount of anxiety.
In the past, I was decidedly conservative and Republican. The choices were fairly easy and acceptable. This time is different and I don't like it. In my mind, our option as republicans is not easy or acceptable. I may have said this before, both candidates are awful at the very least.  I am so frustrated that our system has allowed these people to become our choice. One legitimate and one not, Hillary was chosen to be the candidate before the election began by powers beyond the process.
Trump became the nominee because we let the system work and people voted him there because they were angry at the status quo and wanted change. He said things that they were thinking and feeling, they liked it and voted for him. Hillary was chosen before the campaign started, it was her for the taking, it was her turn. She became the nominee because the democrats wanted her there and were going to put her there. Only Bernie got in the way but didn't have a chance. It was later revealed that he didn't have the chance he thought he did.

Watching the debates made me nuts. I only really watched the first one, and I didn't like his performance. I thought he was rude and inconsiderate, and self-centered talking about his businesses etc. He's all wrong on several levels. I sort of "caught up" with after debate broadcasts by both conservative and liberal media sources. I can't choose him, he's just wrong for the presidency of this country. Plus, I don't see him fitting in with Washington. It is set up to run a certain way and that's not his way. Hillary is a better "fit" for Washington, but she and her husband and some very powerful backers, have corrupted so much of Washington, the democracy is ruined, even the idea of it.

I have read some things people have posted that we are no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy. The industrial-corporate complex really controls things, with special interests controlling the politicians. America has lost its way.
I am disappointed that the country I grew up in has changed so drastically. Then I think that what I thought the country was all about was not true, it was all a facade. Something else was going on behind the scenes that we the people knew little if nothing about. I knew little about it until these last 10 years when I really began looking, researching. Are the conspiracies just theories? Some are deep, complex and crazy, others less so.
I will either come back and amend this entry to include some of the theories or try and cover some of them in another post.

I'm trying to monetize this blog, so you'll see some ads. I have to fine tune the placement of them, so bear with me. Take care, stay saine

Is This Really Happening?

One of the things I have noticed recently is that the Clinton campaign is using all the technology available to it, and why not? I would think the Trump campaign is too.  As I have been studying this political cycle I have noticed a difference between the two camps. The democrats will cheat, and the republicans will play by the rules, maybe thinking the democrats will too. If that is the case, it’s naive of the republicans. Not that they should cheat too, but expect it and be ready to counter it. The thing is, how?

Do you try and expose your opponent’s cheating? Nowadays so much can be done electronically. How do you prove it, especially when the media is a big supporter of the Clinton campaign and will help them any way they can. This year there has been a lot of attention to Hillary’s time as secretary of state and how she handled her emails. It was on her own server, and her cell phone was unsecured. So it was outside of the government's jurisdiction.

During the DNC in Philadelphia, there were reports of hacks on the DNCs systems and leaks of embarrassing emails by democrat officials, resulting in the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz from the DNC chair post. And still there is talk of whether the Russians had anything to do with it. The thought being that they wanted Trump to win instead of Hillary.

Now there is a story of Trump’s campaign manager working for an undisclosed foreign lobbying interest. Pick your story: https://www.google.com/search?q=manafort+lobbying&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS599US599&oq=manafort++lobbying&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.12335j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

As bad as Hillary is, can Trump have things look any worse? Can it be said he’s trying to throw the election for Hillary? I wonder. And we’ve still got about 80 days to go. This is the strangest election ever.

Hacked! I hack, you hack, we all hack for data!

I have been following the Hillary Clinton email/server/hacking saga in some form or another since it first broke in early 2016. I had heard about it when the server became an issue and then it was speculation that the Clinton server was hacked because it was unprotected.

Now, it seems, everybody has a copy of everything that was on that server, the FBI, the NSA,  the GOP Prosecutor, WikiLeaks, Guccifer, the Russians. The only ones who haven't said anything are the Chinese and the North Koreans, I think.

I read an article tonight about how Hillary and company were worried that Guccifer got into the server because it was found out that Sydney Blumenthal's emails were compromised or something and there was a discussion about it in the Clinton camp while she was Secretary of State. http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/08/clinton-emails-guccifer-hack-mills-226878 I cannot imagine being in her position, knowing what she knows and doing what she did, wondering who was going to find out about it. Or did she even care?

One of my theories about her running all over the world with unsecured electronics is that she did it that way so she could give away pertinent information. Why? Maybe it's a plot to undermine the USA. I am pretty persuaded that Barak Obama has little or no love for this country. I don't think he cared that she probably compromised national security. The question now is, who will own us?

Update: 6/2/18 - Shock of shocks, Donald Trump is now the president. Been so for over a year. regarding my previous comments about Hillary Clinton, a lot of people were in a froth about "digital security". However, President Trump poses a new threat; tweeting from an unsecured cell phone?  

I have read a few articles about his tweeting habits and what he uses. (This scenario boggles my mind, more on that later). Well, we know he likes to tweet. He thinks it's the only way he can get his ideas to the American people because the media is so biased. There is something to that, but... it has been reported that he did use an unsecured Samsung Galaxy S3, at least before becoming president and maybe shortly after. 

More recently I've seen that he's been persuaded to use an iPhone and some sort of secured cell phone. Here's to progress. But still, giving your cell phone number to other world leaders impromptu doesn't seem like a good idea in light of what's been discussed previously. I've also read that Mr. Trump has reluctantly given up his personal cell phones for more secured ones. A seemingly good thing. 

Digital security has become such a concern lately, we've been attacked so many times, companies and financial databases etc. Lifelock and scanning the dark web are becoming a thing. I hope they manage to get Mr. Trump under control.