Not Too Personal

Waterboy writes:

Not to get too personal, but I hope all is OK?

Long story short, my post of 4/5 is related to a much longer tale which unfortunately involves my employer.  My employer has strict social media policy about sharing information either formally or informally in a way that may disrupt their business interests.  So I'm not posting any identifying details here, or any place else.  If anyone wants to call me, that's another story.

I ended up in emergency surgery yesterday.  I am out of the hospital today and expected to be out of work at least through the end of the week.  I don't know how any of this is going to play out.  The police and the courts are involved and are providing a small degree of protection and support.

I'm very much between a rock and a hard place with the job situation.  My physical safety and that of my family is being threated.  The two people involved in this clearly have issues.  Unless I can get another job I'm stuck with the situation.  Prayers are appreciated.

Say What?

File this under "Things I never thought I'd say".

Today I was talking on the phone to my wife.  She was asking me about the ER doctor I was seeing.  That's when I heard the following come out of my mouth; "I don't remember his name but he seems like a nice kid".

Doctors are by definition people who should be older than me, and have some gray hair.  It doesn't have to be all gray, but a little bit of gray would help.  Don't get me wrong, he did a good job.  He seemed to know what he was doing and he got me in and out quickly.  All in all I was happy with his work.  He just looked like he should be busing tables or surfing or on a PlayStation instead of a doctor.

In college I used to take my great grandmother to her doctor appointments.  Sometimes she'd complain about the "kid" who was seeing her.  That's to be expected, after 80 you've probably out lived all your doctors.  I thought it was weird because the "kid" was clearly over 50 and what hair he had left was white as snow.  The dude was ancient by my standards.

Fortunately my two regular doctors are over 60 and one is over 70.  Oh jeez, I have two doctors.  How did get so old?

Of Free Trade

We are hearing a lot on free trade in the election rhetoric.  The more astute commentators have pointed out that free trade is essentially anti-national on several different levels.  The less astute, or more likely, those being paid to push a certain narrative, have the opposite POV.

We also have another issue, mass migration from poorer countries.  Mostly we think of this as Mexicans, but they come from any number of countries with a poorer standard of living.  These topics are closely linked in the Republican party.  The Republican Elite have a vested interest in keeping input costs down for the business interests they represent.

Both the Democrats and Republican Elite have the same perspective on these issues.  More mass migration.  More jobs sent overseas to countries with lower labor production costs.  The free flow of labor and cheaply produced products is universally recognized good.

The Detroit Free Press ran this story, 6 Reasons Ford Picked Mexico for a New Plant, this week.  Of course they covered the three most obvious reasons: Free Trade, Cheap Logistics, and Cheap Labor.  They threw in 2 other "reasons" to make the list longer and then a talking point to pretend that things are still good in the USA.

I want to know: "How many American's are able to migrate to Mexico to work in the new Ford plant?".  If someone currently working for Ford is willing to go to Mexico and work at the new, lower wage, can they?  Will Ford transfer them in their job?  Will the Mexican government let the gringos move in and live as they please?  Will the Mexican government start giving tax rebates to the new comers?  Will they suddenly publish their paperwork and signs in English?  Exactly how far will the Mexicans go to assimilate white folks into their country?

I think we all know the answer.

BJW Practical Jokes

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

I'm going to pose a series of questions.  My regular readers and friends who stop by will probably see this exercise as very odd, even odder than my normal esoteric ramblings.  I very much want to see what responses you all have on this topic and appreciate you taking the time to respond in the comments.  My main objective is to see if anyone has meaningful insight into my last question.

Do you believe in creatures/beings called "demons"?

Why and/or how do you know they are real?

In what ways do they interact with humans?

Do you think it is possible for a demon to interact with one human in order to harm a different human?

If you answered in the affirmative to any of the above, how do you tell the difference between demonic influence and mental illness apart from a medical condition caused by normal physical phenomena?

Any other thoughts you may have along these lines are appreciated too.

Conference Call

I just got off a conference call with Vox, Nate, Gregg and Bane.  They've convinced me that the only way to save America is to do something radical.  I agree with them.

I just switched my voter registration preference to Democrat so I could vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries.  With out a doubt she is the best man running and we need her to beat Trump!