Friday, August 7, 2020

Tolls and Polls

 Amazing what we get used to isn't it? Take all this rioting and destruction as an example. Been hearing about it constantly for 56 days now, and for most it has now become, ho hum. The only time it is mentioned is in political debates or talking about race relations. Now the numbers for corona virus are widely broadcast, almost by the hour, the fatalities from the riots and such, not so much. While black people are busying painting murals for George Floyd, renaming streets, and plastering black lives matter everywhere, other black people are busying killing each other in record numbers. And all of that has become just everyday stuff. The congress is bickering among themselves about a stimulus package that also contains legislation having nothing to do with stimulating anything, other than the popularity of their political platform. And, that's just business as usual.
 In Maryland the state allowed the casino's to reopen, at reduced capacity of course. There has been concern for the high rate of unemployment, and now the possibility of losing that extra 600 a week, reduced stimulus money and all of that, yet, the casino's managed to profit 130 million dollars! It was noted that liquor sales were up as well. My guess is people aren't as bad off as we thought, or, people are really more irresponsible than we thought. That will be debated by the talking heads. Along with that Maryland just did away with all cash tolls, everything is now electronic. How many toll takers are now unemployed? Another step toward that cashless society? We'll all be used to that soon enough. Wonder what the cost of mailing out all the notices to those folks that don't have EZ pass? Someone has to print that stuff out, mail it and record that. Maybe that is what the former toll takers are doing now? How many people actually pay the toll when it comes in the mail? Personally I don't care because I have an EZ pass. And with that the state has their " tracing " in place. EZ pass does record time and place where that vehicle was. I expect there is a photograph being snapped as I go throw the toll lane. Might be a problem these days with folks wearing their masks in the car. It wasn't me driving that car! Well, the responsibility falls to the person the car is registered too.
 The latest big push is to defund the police. The official line is that they don't want less police officers , just better training, you know, create a kinder gentler police force. The same thing they have done to parental rights. No more yelling at your children, that's mental abuse. And no more spankings! You are to just talk to your child, explain to them why they can't burn down the shed. Yes, just give them space to " act out " and blow off steam. With the Police, they should be there, immediately when you call for them, but they shouldn't do anything without asking permission first. After all, the "suspect" that is pointing a gun at them is just suspected that he or she might shoot, you can't know that until after it happens! You should wait and see before drawing your own weapon. And if they decide to just run away, you have to let them do that. Yes, the problem isn't people acting in a criminal fashion, it's the police response to those actions. Laws are only the suggested actions you should take, if you feel like it isn't fair or infringes on your rights in some fashion, you certainly shouldn't be questioned, detained or arrested! Especially so if you resist arrest, hey, it's plain enough then, you object to that action! We need to talk about it.
 What about this concept of mail in voting? Yeah the post office has such a great track record of delivering the mail in a timely and efficient manner. Do you know it costs one dollar and ten cents to mail that in? Yes, two stamps required. So what's it gonna be, the government paying the Post Office for handling those ballots, or is the cost on the individual? Wait a minute, I'm a minimum wage worker I can't afford that! It's not fair, only rich people can vote. So, okay it's free for everyone. except it is not free, your tax money has to pay for those stamps. But wait a minute, there are those that pay no taxes at all, not fair I have to pay for them. And then there is the issue of accountability for the ballots. If I wish to mail something with some sense of security what do I do? Registered mail. I send it registered mail, signature required! If I'm going to mail something as important as a ballot, my vote, I want a receipt that it was indeed received. I want a signature and a contact person so I can verify that. Strange I haven't heard of that being proposed. Guess it is the same thing as requiring a valid ID to vote, it is just discriminatory. Funny, when the IRS sends out garnishment letters and such that's how they do it. Hmm, wonder why that is? Hmm, wonder why collections companies mail their notices that way? Could it be security? Nah, it's being discriminatory. So what if your ballot doesn't get delivered, doesn't get counted, you'll get used to that. At least you can tell everyone, I voted! No real need to be inconvenienced with going to an actual polling place, it should be like those toll plaza's, just keep on driving, we'll send you the bill later on. Tolls and Polls, just mail them in.  

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