Category Archives: Government

Government, History, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Safety, Trump

JD And DJ Rage

02/28/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

The lady listening to JD and DJ give a master class on narcissist idiocy accidentally gave the world a recap of what the people in the room were witnessing.

Watching the videos of JD and DJ attacking Zelensky made me embarrassed and infuriated. There’s a reason such behavior shocks. Presidents do not behave that way. Raging alcoholics might. Narcissists definitely do, but usually in private.

How anyone versed in history or politics could see this behavior as anything other than a huge red flag baffles me.

It’s not strength. It’s toxicity.

People who demonstrate this type of behavior have no place in politics or government.

JD was already pissed off because the special sofa he asked for was not made available for the meeting.

DJ oozes the type of demeanor and behavior that defines him.

Our previous allies were already on a razor’s edge about the mountain of incredible things that have come out of the mouths of our administration.

Because I follow a lot of international news, I can tell you that while the United States might be feared, this is the equivalent of waiving a gun around in a room. Our previous allies are no longer looking at Trump as a buffoonish distraction. They understand that he is leading our country toward something unrecognizable and as a threat to world stability.

Government, History, Opinion, Politics, Protest, Trump

The United States Of Gilead

02/25/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

In the TV show Handmaid’s Tale, there’s a scene of the traitorous Gilead commanders bragging about the fact that China, Russia, and North Korea backed them to be included in the world economy. The news out of the UN yesterday made me feel like I had shifted to an alternate reality. In part because it’s the first time the United States has openly sided with dictatorial countries.

Ronald Reagan would spin in his grave like a gyroscope.

JD Vance, meanwhile, has his eye on a new LazyBoy recliner.

Elon Musk is so busy saluting these moves that he probably has tennis elbow.

X
.

Behavior, Government, History, Justice, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Psychology, Social Rules

Blessed Be The Fruit

02/20/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Blessed Be The Fruit

People are discussing the complexity of the human capacity for collective evil. Whether one section of the population likes to acknowledge it or not, Germany’s example constantly pops up.

How can so many people stand by and watch the country descend into madness?

The best way to visualize this capacity is to watch the movie The Stanford Experiment. If you’re even slightly interested in the psychology of collective misbehavior, this is the easiest shortcut to benchmark how things go astray so deeply, even with intelligent and otherwise kind people.

The same effect applies to police, the military, or even people making decisions in business.

Anyone who’s never experienced the environment of a production line might not understand it. Each employee is present to earn a living and mostly do a good job. Those who own the production line want to profit while providing a living for those who work there. An interesting thing often happens, especially in poultry and similar industries.

The need for profit puts those in charge of the environment, the efficiency, and the speed of the production line often blurs the line of humanity by increasing the demands on those working it. It becomes hard to perform the job safely over time. People suffer the indignity of sometimes being able to exit the line long enough to take care of their basic bodily needs. For some, it becomes easier to dehumanize those who perform the jobs in order to be profitable and efficient.

The above can’t be explained to someone who hasn’t experienced it.

The same effect applies throughout our society. We justify less than a living wage, even though we know these jobs are necessary and that our collective decision to fail to pay sufficiently to live even a basic life is causing misery. All of this is based on economic concerns rather than the primary focus of human happiness and dignity. It is a them problem rather than an us problem.

We don’t provide universal health insurance, even though doing so would cost less than our current system. But this does not stop us from passively watching as millions of people suffer from a lack of health care or go bankrupt.

We put on our hats of authority and often forget the results of callousness. It’s our job, we think. Society apparently wants it to be that way, or we would have intervened to change it. We make decisions without consideration for how they impact people, or we are put in a position to be powerless to change things.

We marginalize certain groups. Over time, this gives us a silent yet undeniable tendency to view others as lesser. This justifies our collective behavior that often results in denigration or harm to the people in those groups.

My upbringing gave me an unholy understanding of the possibility of violence inside people. Even the pious in my family found ways to justify turning a blind eye toward what can only be called evil. Family who could observe a child being hurt and find ways in their minds, especially based on the societal norms around them, to fail to act to protect them, were they evil? Or were they just the product of their environment? Several of them held dear their holy books – and did not react well when I grew up and became confrontational about the disparity between their alleged message of love and kindness. That message had justified their deliberate choice to do nothing.

People in history are no different from us, even if we want to think they were. This gives us a pass and carte blanche to continue to behave inhumanely, even if we are technically just doing our job or fulfilling our role as citizens.

Love, X

Government, History, Justice, Law, Opinion, Politics, Protest, Security, Social Rules, Trump

Dear Us

02/19/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

*Yes, I know that “goodbye” is misspelled.

I’m not Chicken Little, nor am I crying wolf. The wolf that some of you chose has eaten the chicken and now sits in our living room.

You’re wasting time focusing on daily firings, closings, and executive orders. One of his latest orders indicating that he and the attorney general are the sole arbiters of the law and its application needs no further examination to see how dangerous he is to the concept of democracy and governance.

He and his people have said the goal out loud – and I don’t understand why you’re not acknowledging it.

The federal government is being systematically dismantled.

What will take its place?

Several labels are applicable. Each with Trump in charge, absent accountability, court review, or congressional oversight. This sort of governance is never benign, nor is it accountable to or concerned with the will of its populace.

Your right to religious freedom will be upheld only if it aligns with the predominant one – and only if it’s convenient. They’ve repeatedly told us that the government must be deleted and replaced with political religion. (Their description – not mine.)

Civil rights? Gone. Workplace rights:? Vanished. Freedom of Speech? Eliminated.

You don’t have to guess whether I’m right. Our closest allies are saying it unilaterally. I consume a mountain of foreign news. Every country which stood with us is ringing the bell of alarm.

All the people driving these changes are saying it out loud.

It can happen here. And it is.

There will be no safeguards, protections, or system to stop him.

The only solution is to do as much as possible to remove Trump from office by any legal means available. Sometime in the future, a warning post like this will be deemed treasonous, even though my intent is to preserve our democracy, as flawed as it may be.

Anything short of legally removing him from office is a waste of time and effort. Even his removal will inevitably result in a rift that might still break our union. Continuing on this current path certainly will.

I held out judgment. Not long ago, it crystallized.

Courts can’t stop him. Congress won’t.

The Presidency isn’t about one man.

It’s about our collective system of laws. They mean nothing with someone like Trump in charge.

Those who support him will read this and think I’ve lost my mind. That’s expected. They mostly ingest the superficial explanation for what’s happening. The rest do like most of us and ignore politics.

I am not reading between the lines. His people have said the quiet part out loud, and the incremental dissolution of our federal government as we know it can only be explained through the alignment of their stated goals and the daily reality of what is happening.

When our democracy fails, I will fall silent, as people must do once safeguards and the checks and balances of presidential power have fallen.

I’ll be the obedient and angry citizen of whatever comes next.

It’s almost over.

Behavior, Government, History, Justice, Law, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Social Rules, Trump

Lost

02/17/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

It is the office itself that yields the honor and respect, rather than the person temporarily assuming its duties.

The expectation of someone behaving in a presidential manner is one that’s been shattered. For some, this is a welcome change. For others, it’s a chaotic and devastating reality.

We have demonstratively proven that anyone can become president.

Growing up most of us were superficially exposed to the civil war. Almost all we learned was of dates and places and broad themes. We did not then viscerally understand how a nation could become so irreparably shattered.

We go about our lives because that’s what we can do.

Regardless of your political affiliation, those of us paying attention now unfortunately feel it in our bones. Whether you’re excited about the upheaval recently brought to Washington or you’re onvinced that our government is in jeopardy, I don’t think people will generally deny that this is something much different.

We are united on paper much in the same way that Jefferson’s hollow words about all men being equal applied only to white wealthy men.

The intelligent people I trust are saying the same thing. Countries who were once allies are unilaterally warning one another and the world. People have shouted that the sky is falling and cried wolf before. It feels different this time because it is.

This isn’t Clinton refusing to resign even though he should have. Or Bush demonstrating incompetence.

I will be surprised if the end of February has not brought us to cataclysm.

People need stability, as does the economy, and society in general.

The struggle through the generations to create a reality in which all people, regardless of belief, religion, skin color, or their sexual identity could coexist in peace now resembles a dystopian fantasy.

Power and progress are both unstable. The problem with authority and authoritarianism is that they both fall into chaos.

Chaos is inevitable. Entropy governs the universe.

Those who currently seek to redefine America will learn the lesson.

Government, Justice, Law, Opinion, Protest

Social Security

02/03/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

PSA

The Social Security income threshold is about $176,000. In simpler terms, no income above this amount is subject to Social Security taxes. Anyone fretting about the future of available funds should take note of the billions of dollars we could raise by removing the cap entirely. That there is a threshold cap is one of those things that most people paying into Social Security don’t know about. For most of the people I know, this means you’re paying 6.2% of your total income, compared to those who make a staggering amount more. You’re paying 6.2% of every dollar you earn while the wealthier contributors are not. And of course since I recognize that no system is without complexity, there are issues inherent in raising the threshold. {Such as dropping the additional burden on the employer.} I have this weird feeling that if the average person had this explained to them one on one, their attitudes about the lack of equity regarding Social Security pay-ins would be quite different.

Government, Justice, Law, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Racism and Prejudice, Safety, Security, Social Rules, Trump

Immigration

01/22/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Francisco looked at me before he ran. Had he not, the immigration officials never would have looked twice. He came back to work later under another name. When he came to the United States, he worked hard. He rode a bicycle everywhere. I learned a lot of culture and language from Francisco.

After he ran, I went to the back docks were immigration officials were zip-tying people I knew in a refrigerated trailer. I had left my identification in my locker and diligently tried to be detained with the rest of my coworkers. I demanded in Spanish that the people I knew be moved out of the cold trailer. I refused to identify myself or provide identification. While I was not eloquent, I had to remind immigration that these were people being needlessly scared and put in discomfort for no reason.

I watched some of the agents half-heartedly perform their duties. They knew that the problem wasn’t the immigrants. It was the system and companies that relied on their labor. There were also agents who relished doing their jobs.

Later, I looked out at the back acres adjacent to Bethel Heights. At the work smocks hanging from the fence, left there by human beings fleeing.

It’s impossible to describe the people who didn’t experience it. Or to those who don’t speak the language and understand the need and drive to have a better life.

What a f mess.

I forget these experiences until I am required to remember. Every person rounded up or diminished by political grandstanding is still a person. And needed by the demands of our economy.

I did countless interviews and I-9 forms. The law required me to take a cursory look at identification prior to employment. If their identification was rectangular, it was good enough for me. Because anyone who wanted a job could have one. We constantly had unlimited positions available.

As immigrants become targeted, you can of course nod or applaud. But in so doing, you’re ignoring the bigger problem of economic necessity. Removing workers is a harsh solution that does not address the shadow economy or why we need so many additional workers.

Each time I see raids, I see Francisco. He was a hard-working man brought here by the fact that countless companies need workers. I think of that look of desperation on his face as he stood there zip-tied, knowing he faced a trip to Brownsville.

The raids were pointless. One man came to work with his suitcase. Instead of fleeing from immigration, he came to work ready for a free trip back to Mexico. He understood the economic reality that a job would be waiting for him when he came back across the border. And that it would likely always be this way.

Raids don’t address the problem.

They amplify it.

Companies who need labor anywhere they can get it will continue to do so.

Even if only 10% of undocumented immigrants disappear, it will have a devastating impact to our economy. Even if you’re unconcerned about the fact that these are people just like us, you probably won’t consider it to be an issue until prices rise and the reality of your choices results in discomfort for you.

We are not a nation of laws. We’re a nation of economics. Current events consistently prove this to be true.

Que desgracia.

X
.

Government, History, Justice, Law, Opinion, Politics, Religion, Social Rules, Trump

On Pardons

01/22/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Dumb Things Seen Today:

“Innocent people don’t need a pardon.”

Uhh…

You’re wrong. It should be written this way:
“Innocent people DIDN’T need a pardon.”

When a convicted felon with a penchant for felonious misconduct threatens you, you protect the innocent ones around you. Doubly so if the felon in question actively attempted to violently overthrow the government – and proceed to threaten anyone trying to hold him accountable.

Trump is the embodiment of what’s wrong with politics. He’s broken so many of the expectations and requirements of a President.

He’s the only president who wanted to pardon himself.

But I digress.

Using the logic of the above quote, Trump pardoned 1600+ people. If “innocent people don’t need a pardon,” it follows that these 1600+ people were guilty. Anyone citing the quote suffers from massive cognitive dissonance.

You can’t have it both ways.

Let’s not forget that 47 insists that the Central Park 5 were guilty, even after DNA and a confession freed them. Trump wanted them to be executed. They are suing him for defamation; Trump tells so many lies that it’s hard to hold him accountable for it. These same lies and disinformation erode our collective confidence in our government. It benefits him, but we will suffer the consequences long after he’s gone from the world stage.

Trump himself declares that he’s always innocent. Even though juries, grand juries, and judges said otherwise. Afterward, he argues that although he’s guilty, it was protected behavior.

Trump is a convicted felon with a long history of fraud, bankruptcies, and legal issues – not to mention the issue of sexual misbehavior.

In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined that people would look to him for moral guidance, much less directions to Walmart. That the Bibles he touches don’t burst into flames is sufficient evidence that God is no interventionist.

I don’t have a problem with a convicted felon holding office, as shocking as that may be for some people. I believe felons should retain the right to vote. Even Trump. I do have a serious problem with so many overlooking Trump’s ridiculously long list of misdeeds, both personal and political.

He is an embarrassment and a literal threat to our system of governance.

Assuming our democracy survives this experiment with lunacy, history will not be kind to those who enabled it.

I would ask anyone who agrees with me to raise their hands, but Elon ruined that gesture for all of us.

Innocent people do need preemptive pardons. It’s not been a necessity prior to the arrival of 47.

I’m shaking my head at people defending salutes, insurrection, and rebukes toward people such as Reverend Mariann Budde. She spoke the essence of the message Christians claim to follow. When adorational politics lead people to demonize spiritual voices such as hers, the warning bells should be sounding universally.

Trump is a masterful showman and has played multiple groups to rise to power, none more so that Evangelicals and the lower class.

He’s not a ‘good’ person or one I look to for insight, inspiration, or authority. The bulk of his words reek of threats, bullying, and authoritarianism. It’s particularly telling that he rarely displays a positive attitude, acknowledges his own mistakes, and seeks to use political power to insult, harm, or threaten those who don’t agree with his words or behavior.

That he’s my President is beyond my control.

I, of course, hope that our deomcracy can erase this craziness at some point. I didn’t put in my quarters for this circus.

Our government runs at all is due to power being disbursed among the branches and entities of government. While the system is corrupt, it used to protect us from any group or person from subverting the collective mess of groups and interests within it. Trump has broken this compact we share among ourselves.

Trump is the four-year root canal surgery that the rest of us must endure.

The FAFO stage will affect all of us.

I legitimately have a concern that the Gulf of Mexico won’t be the last large part of our current United States to have a new name.

X
.

Government, Law, Opinion, Politics, Privacy, Safety, Security, Social Media, Technology

United States Of Idiocy

01/19/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

PSA For people who haven’t used TikTok, it has an invaluable feature that the competitors do not. You can separate your information feed to exclusively show content you specifically follow. Bluesky does the same. TikTok also has a STEM feed if you’re interested in the sciences. Can you imagine the difference your Facebook or Instagram experience would be if you saw only content you chose to follow? Community building is also another feature that’s intrinsic to TikTok. It’s one of the features that threatens the competitors. I’ve been a TikTok fan for years. The advantages of its simple tools are incalculable. Not to mention that it provides a means to earn money for your content. The notion that it is a security risk compared to Google, Meta, Truth Social, or other social media platforms is illogical.

Because I have many acquaintances across the world, I get to observe how they perceive our political and economic systems. We are not held in high regard nor as a standard for governance. The consensus is that our political process is corrupt, possibly beyond repair. Inequitable and corrupt forces aligned to target TikTok. Money wins, of course.

Unfortunately for me, I know a considerable amount about the technology and tracking that allows for some companies to data track us all. It’s why it’s not a concern for me. Even if you choose not to use Facebook or a particular company’s services, these companies still maintain an extensive dossier on you and your interests and activities. Most of our phones default to allowing companies to use our private content to make money.

Five major telecoms were infiltrated last year by hackers. These hacks were not limited to a singular app. I’m surprised by the number of people who are unaware that their private conversations across a variety of apps were compromised.

Finally, I’ll add that the ban currently in effect for TikTok has exemptions for certain government officials. While the app is used predominantly for entertainment for the United States populace, it’s interesting that our government specified an exemption for what could only be described as a propaganda outlet. Which is precisely what our misguided leaders accused TikTok of being guilty of.

Meanwhile, more than 13 million Americans downloaded RedNote. You can’t make this lunacy up.