Damn you, Apple!

Damn you, Apple!!! Damn you...damn you!!!

I'm not sure how many of you know, I'm into photography.  My dad has always said I have this natural eye, and my ability to figure things out technical allow me to effortlessly manipulate my beautiful Canon! I don't think I ever shoot in anything but manual...always tinkering with the ISO, shutter speed, the f-stops, etc. as I find the right balance to get the picture I want, without having to go in and edit on the computer (I HATE editing). But, that big bad boy of a camera is not something I carry with me everywhere, all the time...and if something catches that eye that my dad loves, I will pull out my phone and capture it!

Well, I had an iPhone 7...not the Plus...just the regular old 7. I was pretty happy with it....UNTIL...this iPhone 7 Plus that work got me came in. Some of you may know...the 7 has a single camera, the Plus has a double. This allows more depth and such to be captured, and allows for the BEAUTIFUL portrait mode. I had myself convinced the camera couldn't possibly be THAT much better. I was up for an upgrade, but eh...didn't see the iPhone 8 or the iPhone X as worth getting the upgrade, and starting my NEXT payments over. Then, I took a picture of my cat in portrait mode!

I realized, sadly, that I had been wrong! The camera was THAT much better on the Plus! I ended up going down the the store, and getting that new phone...and iPhone 8 Plus! Why not the X? I mean, it is the latest and greatest, right?! I could not justify the extra $200 for 1) facial recognition that I don't quite trust yet, because the technology is too new; 2) portrait mode on the front "selfie" camera, as I prefer to be behind the camera; and 3) an edge to edge screen that is basically not a big deal to me, since I usually get cases that have a "lip" that allows me to put my phone face down and not scratch. Sure, the X is smaller...more like the 7 I'm used to...but the 8 was definitely the better deal. So yeah...I did a thing! First test will be the They Might Be Giants concert I'm going to tomorrow, since my previous phones have only been okay in concert settings.

I always hate those first days!

I've had this extra 10 lbs (I know...shut up) that I can't seem to shake! I want to stop this uptrend in it's tracks. I'm pretty sure it is pre-meno related, but I'm not standing for it!

Started to cut back on calories today, and hitting up the gym Saturday. These first days always kill me!! It's like, when I'm cutting back my food, all I want is food! Can't wait until the work day is over, and I can go distract myself with some weights!

via GIPHY

Your argument is invalid

After last week, the gun debate has come up again. I just got finished reading AGAIN an argument that pointed how many motor vehicle deaths occur each year, and if we use the argument the anti-gun folks use, we should ban all motor vehicles.

Now, I’m not anti-gun...I’m pro-better-regulation. All you need to do is read previous blogs to see what my proposals are.

That said...

Motor vehicles are REQUIRED to be registered by all owners with their respective states, and if you move, you must re-register. In addition, all motor vehicles are REQUIRED to be inspected once a year to determine if they are safe and legal for the road...no illegal mods. Some states have even taken the extra step to require a passing inspection before annual renewal of registration can be completed. Drivers of said motor vehicles are REQUIRED to obtain a license (requiring education and testing) and insurance to operate said motor vehicle. In other words, the state knows who all the licensed drivers are, all the motor vehicles on the road, and who the owners and licensed operators of those motor vehicles are!!

Can the same be said about guns?! The answer is NO, and until guns are as regulated as motor vehicles, your argument is invalid. We all know that gun owners would never agree to such regulations. If such regulations ever are put in place, then we can discuss comparing them to motor vehicles as deadly weapons!

All are to blame!

I do however find it hilarious all the far right folks posting videos and calling out certain Democrats as being hypocrites, because of their stance now on DACA. Here is the thing...on one issue...Democrats have not changed their stance on illegal immigration in general, but they do understand the special circumstances for those previously protected under DACA! They understand that these are not the immigrants we need to be concerned with. Those under DACA protections have come forward, provided all of their information, have been issued social security numbers, pay taxes, work, go to school, know the English language fluently, are not criminals (because this will invalidate their protections...this we know), and some even serve in our military. They get that this group of people contribute AND are deserving of a path to citizenship, which current DACA protections do not offer. Realizing that a sub-set of a group of people is not being hypocritical, but being understanding of special circumstances that arise. Not everything in this world is black and white, cut and dry!

BUT, they do fail to point out the real hypocrite...the "master of the deal" himself. When the government shut down in 2013, Trump was quick to go into interviews and be super critical of Obama...the President at that time. Trump said that in ANY shutdown, ultimately the fault rests in the President. This is because the President is the leader and should be able to get people in a room talking things out. But....where has Trump been this entire weekend? Doesn't seem he has been getting people together, as there is no reports of him calling Republican and Democratic leaders to the White House...in a room...to hash out a deal. Nope...no one has heard from Trump all weekend. Well, we haven't heard from him since he blasted the Democrats for being at fault...deflecting from himself....Saturday morning!! Now, THAT is not a simple change in policy or being enlightened to a special set of circumstances. No...this is someone who is quick to say something to rile up a group of potential supporters, but then when it applies to him, he deflects and blames someone else. In other words, typical narcissistic behavior!

You have to wonder

I find myself wondering, as I read about the POTUS' speech for the anti-abortion rally today...of all the people who are "pro-life" in Washington, how many of them have had their lives and careers saved by at least one woman having an abortion...whether they knew about it or not?! I mean...just sayin'!

Who will fill those jobs?

I have to ask this question...all of these people who scream that these undocumented immigrants drain the economy and steal jobs, need to answer honestly...if by some chance, ALL undocumented immigrants were round up and deported tomorrow, how many of the currently 6.6 million estimated unemployed Americans will immediately step into these jobs?! Keep in mind, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, with an estimated 8.2 million of those in the work force. Before you scream that this leave some nearly 3 million that are contributing nothing and collecting welfare (which I have had to say over and over and over....without a valid SSN, you cannot get welfare), keep in mind that there are many workers who bring their families. In many of these families are multiple children, and often a wife that doesn't work. Also, like even American families, there may be an elderly parent that was brought over, because it wasn't believed they could care for themselves back in their country of origin...so they live with their son or daughter here, while said son or daughter works.

Now, back to the original question...if 8.2 million jobs were vacated tomorrow in mass deportations, how many of the 6.6 million unemployed Americans would jump to fill those positions? Keep in mind we are talking crap jobs!! We are talking people who work in fields manually picking crops that are too delicate to use machines to harvest (such as tomatoes, grapes, etc.) and such. We are talking janitorial and maid jobs that are required to keep businesses clean, or to provide those important maid services in the many, many, many hotels and resorts we have in this country. We are talking ditch diggers who dig miles and miles of total ditch each day to accommodate things such as sewer lines from new home and business construction, or who work with plumbers on existing lines that are having issue (these are the worse, because they have to dig up blocked lines, and thus literally find themselves knee deep in shit). How many of the 6.6. million unemployed would jump at these jobs, even for minimum wage? I mean, minimum wage is better than no wage, right? Or, wait, is it not better than the total of their welfare benefits which would be lowered or dropped if they worked, so they hold out for higher paying jobs? How many of those 6.6 million unemployed Americans view these crap jobs that undocumented immigrants are currently doing as beneath them? Personally, I only estimate that 20% would actually jump to these jobs should all undocumented workers be deported tomorrow! That is only about 1.3 million people. That would leave us a shortage of 6.9 million workers needed to fill all the positions vacated by deported undocumented immigrants! Even IF all 6.6 million unemployed Americans jumped to fill these jobs, that is still a shortage of 1.6 million workers.

Given the numbers above, how do you think this would effect the US economy? If an estimated 1.3 million Americans jump into 8.2 million jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants, what will the shortage of labor do to our economy? These are jobs that most people don't even think about, but depend upon! These crap jobs are things that people don't recognize as being contributions to this country, but they are! "But we need doctors, and scientists, and engineers!" Okay, who maintains the facilities these people work at? I mean, we all demand clean bathrooms and such. We expect someone to empty our desk trash daily, and to clean the break room microwave! We expect the grounds of our work places to be nice and tidy...perfectly landscaped entry and common areas! What about our homes? Do we not expect that water come to our faucets and waste move away from our homes? Chances are it was an immigrant of legal or illegal status who dug the ditches for those lines! Do we not expect our trash to be picked up and carried away? When we go on vacation, isn't one of our measures for where we go how clean the place is? Do we not rate hotels and resorts based on their level of service? Do you not realize that there is a high chance that it was an immigrant who made sure your room was ready for your arrival, and who picked up your towels and cleaned your beard hairs off of the sink while you stayed? An immigrant who comes to unclog your room toilet when all that food you eat on vacation causes you to clog up the toilet?

But people really think that Americans who were raised to believe that they are better than everyone else will stoop as low as to do these crap jobs! Just think about how the people who do those jobs are looked at by most people in this country!!! But yet, they are still jobs that must be done...jobs that we REQUIRE. These are jobs that help make this country the place it is...a place people want to visit...or at least used to before our POTUS started spewing things out of his mouth and on his Twitter! These are the jobs that keep our country from being the "shithole" that our POTUS claims other countries are! But no...the people who do these jobs aren't seen as real contributors! They are often treated like crap!! I know this, because my daughter, A NATURAL BORN AMERICAN, was one of the few who saw this work as work....as being something better than no work at all! She worked two jobs as a maid for years until she could get into a place where she could go to school...not collecting a penny of welfare along the way! This is a person who has a disability...she is hearing impaired...and thus has to work 20x harder than most people to make it in this world. The things she used to tell me when she worked as a maid...it sickened me! I hated seeing my daughter work that kind of job, but at the same time was proud of her, because she didn't see herself so high and mighty to not be willing to do whatever work she could find...even if it wasn't glamorous!  And from the stories she has told...rich people are some nasty people...some of the dirtiest people in this country!! My guess is that they have gotten spoiled always having someone to clean up after them!

Do I believe we have a problem with illegal immigration? Yes. Do I believe this was Obama's fault? Oh hell no! And I'm not saying that as an Obama supporter...I'm saying that as someone who has common sense. When you have undocumented immigrants that have been in this country for 10, 20, 30 years...that shows that this has been a problem across presidencies for some time, because at some point this country stopped enforcing their own immigration laws, and now things are out of control! 40% of undocumented immigrants came here legally on visas, and overstayed said visas? How does that happen? Do we not keep track of people who we let in our country? Do we not require employers to report on people who they bring in on work visas, and force those people to leave when at the point said employers let them go? That also brings to question...why do we have to bring in so many on work visas, when we supposedly have all these Americans needing jobs? Oh wait, that is right...these are jobs that they either don't want to do, or lack the education and skills to do (but again, these jobs were stolen from them)!

Like it or not, immigrants are a big reason that the economy in this country has been on the upswing...be it legal or illegal!  If we shipped out the undocumented immigrants tomorrow, I can promise you that we would see a spike in inflation. Americans are quick to complain about how these employers hire "illegals" because they can pay them crap wages, but it is the payment of those crap wages that keep prices where they are. The moment these same employers have to pay harvesters, janitorial and maid, ditch diggers, and other people doing crap jobs the minimum wage PLUS payroll taxes and workers comp, prices will spike! What will that do to the economy? Add to that the fact that not as much product can get to market in a timely manner due to shortage of people and the fact that these employers would no longer be able to work Americans as slave labor, that will also drive up prices. Am I saying it is right that these undocumented workers are treated as modern-day slaves? NO!! I'm merely pointing out that this is what many of them are...willing modern-day slaves...and I say willing, because they come here of their own accord to do this work, because it is a way to send money...ANY MONEY...home to their hungry families who are being crapped on by their own governments! Yes, it is wrong that these people work for crap wages in terrible conditions! I find it completely ironic that the very people who want these undocumented immigrants gone, are the same people who defend "the South's" use of slaves back in the day!

I feel like I'm just rambling on now, so I'm going to close this out. You want these "illegal" immigrants gone, but I can promise you that you will not like the results if you get your wish!

Gone too soon :(

Would they send a child to jail?

I see all these people screaming that DACA recipients broke the law, and they shouldn't receive protections to stay in this country. How does a child break the law because of the actions of their parents? I'm sure we all remember in our childhood our parents determined where we lived. Some probably lived in the exact same place...house even...their entire childhood, and probably wished at times they could move. Some of us move more than we would have liked to...sometimes being at the completely wrong time...and wish we had had some say in the matter. But truth is, until we were old enough to legally leave the nest, we had no say in the matter. Where our parents lived, we lived...and it didn't matter the reason why.

In the same token, many of us had very little say about what we ate or how we dressed as kids. It was our parents' responsibility to provide for us, and we weren't to question how that was done. Keeping that in mind, think about this scenario. Say a parent...for whatever reason...steals food and clothing for their child. Now, receiving stolen property is also a crime. So are we saying that if the child eats that food or wears those clothes, knowing or not that their parents stole the goods, that the child should also go to jail for the crimes of their parents? Remember, again, that the child is fully dependent on the parent, and really doesn't have any say in how the parent obtains the things the child needs! I think most would agree that the child not be sent to jail for the crimes of the parent. However, that is EXACTLY what people are saying about these DACA recipients!

Did their parents break the law by not going to through proper channels to enter this country? Yes. Should the child who came here against their will, and grew up here knowing only the United States of America as their home be forced to go back to a country they do not know, and may not even know the language? NO! DACA recipients are law-biding citizens...they have to be to retain their status! They have to meet a stricter set of rules to live here than we do, the whole while being denied the many benefits we have access to. They do not qualify for food stamps, medical programs, unemployment programs, social security, etc. They DO have taxes taken out of their pay checks and do not get to take advantage of the many credits citizens can claim come the end of the tax year to get a refund, in essence causing them to pay at a higher rate than most Americans in the same tax bracket. They do not have a path to citizenship...if they did, most would have already taken that path. They speak the language fluently (one of the things people scream that everyone in 'Merica needs to do), they work rather than collect welfare (there are quite a few 'Mericans who cannot say that), and they don't get in trouble with the law. I mean, tell me how these people really are a threat to national security again?

How can anyone with a brain...

How can anyone with a brain even entertain the idea that a border wall is a good idea? Aren't there other things we could be earmarking said money for? I mean, for example...that tax cut for the rich that is going to cost us billions and has certain legislators calling social security an entitlement (IT'S NOT) and not thinking it is a big deal to take money from there to balance the budget? Or what about affordable healthcare?

Newsflash...all that border wall is going to be is an expensive conversation piece, if it is ever built! This isn't the Medieval times of walls and moats. This is the 21st century...the time of underground tunnels (yup, right under that wall), drones, cargo containers on ships, trailers on semi-trucks, paid off border patrol agents, etc. The cartels are laughing at us and our idea of a wall stopping them from pouring drugs into this country. The human traffickers are laughing as they load people into containers to be brought here on ships or in the back of trucks...as they pay off agents to look the other way.

In the mean time, we have POTUS using this wall as a demand for a DACA deal...something that will help some 800,000 people who are CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS OF SOCIETY that were brought here as children without any say in the matter, who know nothing of the country from which they were born. Does he realize that if those 800,000 people pay at least $1000/year in taxes, that is some $800 mil in tax revenue? Yes...because DACA recipients are given social security numbers, pay taxes, and are not eligible for any kind of "entitlement" program. These people cannot get food stamps, cannot sign up for Obamacare insurance, and cannot get unemployment benefits. All the while, because THEIR PARENTS brought them here illegally, they have a very long and expensive process to even be considered for citizenship...a process that often involves them having to go back to their birth country (again, a place they don't even know) for a number of years before MAYBE being granted citizenship!

Don't get me wrong. I can agree we have a problem with undocumented immigrants in this country. People who are capable of making such decision to break the law to come into this country SHOULD be returned back to their country of origin. Immigrants, for the safety of this country, should be fully vetted. An expensive wall is not going to fix the issue!! What happens after this wall is built, and the issue is still there? It isn't like the wall can be returned for a full refund! Those of us with a brain and common sense know that a wall will do NOTHING!