Monday, December 11, 2017

An Essay on "Critical Mass" and Illegal Immigration, Part Deux...

So like the very good 'Murican patriot that you are, you suffered through my previous essay of the same title.  Like a true warrior.  Minus the "Part Deux" part, of course.

You managed to explore my thinking on this tricky and peril-fraught subject.  You managed to read both my summation of the problem and why we have to figure out a solution post-haste.  But first, for those who were so dilatory as to have not actually read, understood and inculcated the extraordinarily valuable and insightful commentary I puked forth a few days back (FOR SHAME!), here's the abridged ("Reader's Digest") version:

1.  We have millions and millions of illegal aliens here in America.  They come from other countries, and are not therefore citizens of this one.  They are here illegally.  They are not "undocumented, uninvited but uber-welcome guests," no matter what the Dems or the Lap Dog Media choose to call them.  They either hiked up their pantalones and waded across the Rio Grande, or their parents brought them here, illegally, before they had achieved the age of maturity and could decide for themselves whether they would choose to break into this, or perhaps another country.  And the Lefties in the U.S.A. are going all Medieval on the Dems in  Congress trying to get at least the DACA's (the 8 million alien "kids" who are now average age of 26) forgiven and issued brand-spanking-new citizenship papers. And maybe a good used car to boot.  And a nice gift certificate to Starbucks.  And an apology for being, well, us...

2. Conservatives in America do not believe that the proper response to an invasion of illegal aliens is to thank them for coming, issue them some Welcome Wagon gifts, and immediately place them on the welfare rolls.  Oh, and profess complete agreement with the idea that "their" uneducated, unskilled and uninvited labor is superior to "our" own unemployed, and should be accorded entry-level jobs ahead of America's own.  We know for a fact that our laws have been broken and that the law-breakers should be made to pay for their transgressions against our citizens before we start talking about much of anything else.  

In other words, the sheer number of lawbreakers in a particular class, like bank robbers/check kiters/drunk drivers, etc., should have no effect on whether, or how, we choose to punish them.  However, when they're more of them than people who live in North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Kansas, you'd better believe that punishing them will be a real chore.

This, boys and girls, and others, if you live in Taxifornia, is what they call an "impasse."  Kind of like a real "Mexican Standoff."  They (Democrats) want to buy new voters with our tax money, and we (Republicans) want to expel them.  Now.  Nice...

Sooooooooooo, I, the Chuckmeister, your loyal scribe without-papers, has ruminated upon this weighty subject and have conjured up a potentially workable solution.  And here it is:

Crimes have occurred.  And the criminals must be, MUST BE identified, charged, tried and punished for those crimes, and then have that punishment meted out by the citizens of this Country which they dishonored.  For if they are not, then our laws mean nothing.  NOTHING!

Orrrrrrrr, my preferred outcome, the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" beneficiaries should be given the opportunity to name their lawbreaking parents as the lawbreakers they are for having broken into America, and broken our laws, and then they should help us round up and deport their mommies and daddies to help pay their debts to the country they broke into.  

In other words, "an eye for an eye."  Their parents broke our laws, and either they, or their children, should be made to pay the price.  Take your pick.  I suggest the dads and moms would be a better choice to round up and export, as we paid via our taxes to educate their children, all the way up to and including college.  They might, MIGHT prove to be a net-plus for our society, even though we didn't invite them here.  Their parents have already proven by way of their actions that they do not value our laws and thus have got to go.  

In short, my friends, our laws must mean something.  And without laws, our country might wind up like Mexico...  

Oh yeah, in closing, I suggest that we conduct this whole proceeding out in the open, in public, in some sort of ceremony paying homage to the chariot scene in "Hunger Games, Part 2."  And we could possibly sell the TV distribution rights to a pay-for-view outfit.  Can't you see it?  Mass deportation of gardeners and maids and housekeepers, or a mass deportation of "kids" who shouldn't be here in the first place, broadcast live all over the world.    

God, how I love the smell of irony in the morning...

Friday, December 8, 2017

An Essay on "Critical Mass" and Illegal Immigration, Part 1.

There's a reality in physics (and in life) known as "critical mass."  By definition, it is the amount of a material (such as plutonium) that is large enough in size or in volume to allow a nuclear reaction to occur.  Better put, it's generally the amount of something necessary or sufficient to have a significant effect, or to achieve a desired result; a critical mass of popular support, for instance.  

In life, it is sometimes better known as "the tipping point." That is a volume of a thing below which a given result can be avoided, and beyond which that result, desired or not, will most assuredly occur, regardless of any effort to forestall it.  

"Well, Mr. Chuckmeister, what does that have to do with anything?"   I hear you ask that, Grasshopper, and here is the answer:

If you have only a few bank robbers, or pedophiles, or check kiters, or "flashers" in the park, or even habitual drunk drivers, you can fashion laws against that sort of behavior, hunt down the violators, arrest them, try them and convict them in a court of law, after which you toss them into the nearest prison.  Shame on them, shame on their families. But that activity depends upon the fact that there must be a sufficient number of prison cells available into which they can be stacked up like cord wood. 

Taxifornia just discovered the fallacy of that reality when it passed Prop. 57, which emptied our prisons of felons, up to and including murderers, because "we had insufficient jail cells to house them."  Or so our uber-liberal judges dictated.  Hmmm.

In fact, they, the pride of Obama and his ilk, said, we were running (or crawling?) at 200% of maximum human volume in our state prisons here.  That's not good, except for the fact that they're criminals and any discomfort which can be visited upon them is just fine with me. 

Oh yeah, and it also depends upon the fact that there aren't so many of those scofflaws that they overwhelm the society bent upon meting out punishment.  Now hold that thought for a just a minute... 

What would happen, I ask rhetorically, if the sheer number of those law breakers was so great, so voluminous, so enormous, so overwhelming, that there was no place of sufficient size to put them?  What would happen if the number of such violators was so great that we as a society could no longer prosecute them?  No longer mete out the punishment that, according our system of laws, is so richly deserved?  So great that society's norms had to bend to accept their version of how reality must unfold?  So very great that society must change its laws to accommodate the lawbreakers' behavior? 

Think back to the sixties.  And the seventies.  And even the eighties and nineties.  We arrested, prosecuted and jailed those who were caught smoking that Devil weed known as maryjowanna.  Lots of them.  Texas jailed several caught with felony-weight weed for the rest of their natural lives!  

But slowly, surely, the sheer number of dope smokers grew. And grew. And GREW!  They increased so much that our societal norms had to be arm wrestled into fitting their illegal activity.  That's true particularly in states where the majority of citizens are of, ahem, shall we say, Leftist persuasion.  Like Oregon.  And Washington State.  And Taxifornia.  And Colorado.  And Maryland.  Etc., etc., etc. Think about that. We had to conform to what they were doing. And so it appears we have.

And that's not a new reality.  Think back to Prohibition.  The Gummint dictated that we peons should just stop drinking alcohol.  We didn't think that was such a great idea.  We kept drinking.  And a decade or so after the 18th Amendment was passed, it was subsequently "un" passed.  The Feds turned tail and skulked off, soundly whipped up on by 'Muricans who just love to get wasted.

Now, even though illegal in all 50 states, Federally speaking, there are 31 states that allow, or openly condone, or frankly applaud, the growing, and smoking, and recreational using, of grass. Taxifornia anoints grass with full-blown legality come New Years Day!  What a change!  Me thinks a big chunk of that change of opinion state-wise has to do with the $Billions of dollars in brand-new taxes which are flowing into their coffers since their change of perspective (CO expects $One Billion Dollars in new tax receipts this year!).

Now overlay that reality on top of illegal immigration.  You know, the activity of illegally crossing the border between us and a couple of other neighboring countries, and then setting up shop and commencing to conduct business as if they belonged here.  Right out in the open! Constructing houses and mowing lawns and washing cars and wet-nursing kids. Millions have.  Presumably millions more will.  So far there's nothing to stop them.  They are wading across the Rio Grande as I write this.  In fact, they are now here in such overwhelming numbers, some would opine as many as twenty million of them, but no one knows for sure just how many, that we are now forced to embrace their illegal activity by somehow making it retroactively legal.

Some wag even did a little math awhile back on the subject and opined that it would take 500 buses running 24 hours a day for 20 years to deport them all.  So, this guy's suggestion was, since you can't punish them, simply grant them amnesty.  Hmmmmm, again. 

Kinda' reminds me of the advice going around when I was coming up:  "When rape's inevitable, just lay back and enjoy it."  I can almost see the feminists among you retching uncontrollably at having just read that.  You can probably also tell it's been quite a long time since I was "coming up."

And lemme tell ya,' Pilgrim, if you live in what used to be the Golden State, and you're...perish the thought...white, then you are officially in the minority here, and have been for more than a decade.  Lost Angeles County is about 78% Lateeeeeeno.  And parts of that once-Great City are approaching 100%.  In my opinion, it looks for all the world as if they brought nasty, smelly, dirty and dangerous Tiajowanna with them when they invaded L.A.  They keep asking if we know what it's like to be a second-class citizen.  Yes, we do.  Yes, we actually do...

Now, in an ideal world, in which we surely do not live, this would not happen.  An alarm would sound if and when the degree of civil disobedience grew to such a cacophonous barrage on our eardrums that we would say, "Stop!  Cease and desist!"  But did that happen when the fatcat backers of our more conservative lawmakers discovered you could hire illegal aliens to build your buildings and pick your fruit and wash your cars for less than the going labor rate?  Ummmm, nooooooooooooo!

And did it happen when our Liberal weenie legislators grew to know that you could look the other way when illegals started illegally voting, because they would reliably vote for their go-to Democrat water carriers?  Noooooooooo again!  Some cities in reliably Blue Pennsylvania enjoyed a turn-out during the 2016 General Election of 140% of those registered to vote.  

So, now we have too many illegals to round up and deport. At least that's what we're told.  So what's to do?  I've got it! We'll just make them legal! Yeah, that's the ticket!  Legalize 'em!  And so that's what the Lefties among us have set about doing.  Oh yeah, the conservatives are fussing and fuming and pounding their well-manicured fists on the table. But behind the scenes, they're doing the bidding of their masters as well.

And that brings us up to DACA.  That stands for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals".  That means that those children who were brought here, illegally, before the age of 16, and who have not committed any "major" crimes, whatever that means, and who sign up on a Federal website, can be granted deferral from deportation for a five year period. And then, thinking that this Executive Order would have been extended, and extended again, indefinitely, to the point that such a "deferral" would have become permanent. After all, it was a Federal giveaway, and we all know that it's damn near impossible to take back anything once Uncle Sugar first starts handing it out.   

For better or worse, that's Obama's legacy.  He told us on 21 separate occasions that he did not have the authority to grant such a deferral.  He said he was a President, not a king.  He said it would be unconstitutional for him to wave his hand and permit these "kids" to stay here.  He said it was simply against the law.  

And then he went ahead and did it anyway, making sure that the renewal period would fall well within his successor's reign, well after he'd vacated the Presidency and begun playing golf full time.  

Sort of like leaving a grenade, pin pulled, on a shiny hall table on his way out of the White House, doncha' know.

Now let's review, children.  DACA was according to B. Hussein Obama, a "temporary fix."  One that would have to be "passed into law by the Congress" to be permanent.  It was just another one of those Executive Orders that Obama used to come up with to avoid having to actually stoop so low as to deal with those lowly Congresspeople.  Republicans screamed when he took this action.  They knew it was unconstitutional, and he knew they knew.  And they knew he knew they knew.  But the Lap Dog Media loved it.  So did every single left-wing weenie lawmaker in D.C.  And every Big Blue City that's run by Democrats.  You know, like Chicago, and Detroit, and New York, and Baltimore, and Lost Angeles, and San Francisco, and Seattle, and Portland, and, and, and...

And so Trump is elected.  You know, that guy who campaigned in Black churches and Black cities everywhere. A guy who campaigned in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. BTW, Hillary didn't.  A guy who won 8% of the Black vote (twice Romney's total!), and one in three Latino votes. He crossed over. He stated, openly, that he was for a "pathway to legalization" for the so-called "Dreamers" in their quest to be legalized. After all, he said he "loved them."  We love them to.  We just luuuuuuuuuuuv them!  I just feel sure that we'd love them more if their parents hadn't brought them  here illegally.  

But they did.

And now we, the 'Murican people, are faced with a choice between negatives:  try and deport people who are here illegally and incur the wrath of legislators who are depending upon their votes to continue supping at the public trough; or open our collective arms and embrace them as "new-found neighbors and "citizens," with all rights and privileges appurtenant thereto." 

Of course, if we try to deport them, states like CA, the one in which I unfortunately still reside, will just pass a bunch more laws attempting to secede from the Union.  And making it illegal for any State school or hospital or pizza parlor to make nice with the Feds.  After all, they're "just kids" (average age, now 26).

Now, just in case you think The Chuckmeister has no heart, let me remind you that this could well be a slippery slope. We all know that illegals get better treatment here than legal citizens.  They don't pay income taxes, or property taxes, and they get free schooling, and heath care, and many received food stamps, and rental subsidies.  Me thinks we should investigate where we can sign up to turn in our citizen cards and opt for illegal status.

And don't let the Lefties hornswoggle you into believing that all these "kids" are working or in school or in the military. According to the Department of Defense, there are a grand total of 800 illegal alien "dreamers" now serving in the military.  Out of a total of 800,000, that means 0.01% are wearing the uniform.  That's not enough to roll up and stick in your eye...

And then we will face the inevitability of "chain migration." That means that the moms and dads of "dreamers" who are granted legal status will be granted legality as well.  And then grandparents, and aunts and uncles, and cousins.  So, from 20 million we'll go to...who knows?

We, my friends, we may have passed critical mass.  The tipping point. There's so many illegals here there may not be a damn thing we can do about it.  So what's next?  Just "...lay back and enjoy it?"  What's to prevent other "voting" blocs of criminals banding together and begin demanding their own bit of strong arm justice.  Bank robbers?  DUI recipients?  Bad check artists?  Identity thieves?  All they have to do is get that force-in-numbers thing going and start lobbying left-wing Congressweenies, agreeing to vote as a bloc, and they'll soon be our next "Social Justice Experiment." 

Of course, then again, I, the Chuckmeister, your faithful and hard-working scribe without portfolio, may have the solution.  And I'll be writing about that in the coming days.  In the meantime, please contemplate the awfulness of this awful situation and how we hired the very most qualified professionals to (mis)manage this whole thing into this awful quagmire in which we now find ourselves.  

Stay tuned...

Monday, December 4, 2017

Paraprosdokians.

There may be one or two of you who aren't as yet aware that I just luuuuuuuuuuv to play with words!  Yes I really do!  I like to put them together in ways that evoke thought, or anger, or displeasure, or laughter, or even higher learning.  And having spent a lifetime fine-tuning this proclivity, I'll step right up and admit I'm pretty darn good at it.  And so, when I come across a new category of word play, I just had to bring it to your attention.  And that new category is...PARAPROSDOKIANS!

Whhaaaattt dat?  These are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and is frequently humorous.  So, being the really good guy I am, and I reeeeely am, I put together a listing of such playthings for your reading enjoyment.  Go gather up your own and keep the whole set.  So, here we go:

-  Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

-  The very last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list.

-  Since light travels faster than sound, some people sound really bright until you hear them speak.

-  War does not determine who is right, only who is left.

-  knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

-  To steal an idea from one person is plagiarism.  To steal from many is research.

-  When filling out an application asking who to call... "in case of an emergency, I always put down, '"A doctor."'

-  You do not need a parachute to skydive.  Only to skydive twice.

-  I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

-  How is it that it takes only one match to start a forest fire, but an entire box to start a campfire?

-  Some people are like Slinkies.  Not much good for anything, but it's still enjoyable to watch them tumble downstairs.

-  Dolphins are so smart that within a week or so of their captivity they can train people to stand at the edge of their pool and throw them fish.

-  Hospitality:  Making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were.

-  Always borrow money from a pessimist.  He won't expect it back.

-  Why do we choose from only two people to be President, but 50 to become Miss America?

-  I want to die peacefully like my grandfather.  Not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car.

-  There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.

-  To be absolutely sure of hitting a target, shoot first and then move the target.

-  Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

-  You're never old to learn something stupid.

-  I'm told to respect my elders.  It's just getting harder and harder to find one.

-  Some cause happiness wherever they go.  Others whenever they go.

-  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

-  A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you're after it as when you are in it.

-  Change is inevitable.  Except from a vending machine.

And perhaps my favorite...

-  If you're supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Thanksgiving, and Winning the World's Lottery...

Unless you've just arrived here from Guadalajara and have yet to unpack your duffel and prepare for your life of relative ease here in beautiful downtown America, you know that you, meaning you and me, have already hit the World's Lottery.

That means that you and me were either among the 5% of the Earth's population that were born in the United States of America, or wisely chose to come here, legally or otherwise.  The other 95% were consigned, as an accident of birth, to be relegated to a life in many cases devoid of simple human needs.  Needs like enough to eat, or enough clean water to drink, or a safe, secure place to lay your head down each night.  Think of it:  You could have been born in North Korea, or Cuba, or communist China, or Zimbabwe, for God's sake!

So, while much of the rest of the world is scrambling for a crust of bread to placate its gnawing, debilitating hunger, you and I are arguing about tax rates, and sexual harassment, and not-so-nice possible, but so far unproven meddling by Russia in our election process.

Those complaints sort of pale in importance, doncha' think? Just yesterday NoKo soldiers assassinated one of their own at the DMZ.  He was caught trying to defect, and they tried, unsuccessfully, to kill him for doing so.  Remember, the wall there in the Korean Peninsula, and the one famously torn down a couple of decades ago in East Berlin, were there to keep their citizenry in, not the Visigoths (enemy) out. 

I suggest that we all just take a step back, and a deep breath, and come to realize that we are all God's children, that we all cherish freedom and hope and love and a full tummy, and that not so very long into the future we'll all be pushing up daisies and none of this will matter at all.  And then give the very next carbon-based life form you bump into a nice, warm hug.  He (or she) deserves it.  And you'll feel better for having given it.*

So, take a moment during your feast today and lift your eyes skyward, and whisper a silent prayer of thanks to God for having graced you at the moment of your birth with a starting spot at the front of the pack...

*  Be careful.  Hug too firmly or for too long, and you'll be charged with groping...

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

"There Are Two Types of People."

There are only two types of people here in this Grand Experiment known as the United States of America:

Those who divide people into two types, and those who don't...

That was a joke, people!  Laugh, okay?

Now that you've wiped your eyes and blown your nose and recovered your composure from your uncontrollable belly-laughing guffaws, let me tell you about another "two types" worthy of our focus and discussion.

Based upon what I've learned over the past month or so, I'd say there's only two types of people in Hollywood and the District of Columbia:  1),Those who've been caught groping and raping and harassing and sexually abusing poor, under-aged, stars-in-their-eyes, wayward waifs; and 2), those who haven't.  Yet.

We awakened one morning just about a month ago to discover that MiraMax-Head Honcho Harvey Weinstein, an ugly, unshaven, balding, fatuous lout with a mouth full of bad teeth and a libido apparently larger even than his gargantuan ego, had been accused of attempting to convince some poor wannabe celebrity to engage in all sorts of bizarre sexual antics.  Like watching good ol' Harv shower, doncha' know.  Don't know about you, but that's one of the very last things on my bucket list...

And then dozens and dozens of doyennes came forth to puke out their own recollections of Harv's nefarious exploits to a salivating Mainstream Media of having been abused, harassed, hassled, manipulated, groped, or even outright raped by Weinstein, and then threatened into silence.  And it didn't stop with ol' Harv.  No siree Bob!  

Oh wait.  Bob's his brother.  And as you'll learn below, he's got his own problems.

Within days the floodgates opened.  Another bunch of Hollywood-types found themselves all over the cover of the "The Hollywood Reporter."   It seems that there's almost no successful female actress who got that way without being forced by some evil producer or director or actor to take their "casting couch" for a test drive.  

And don't think that politicians got off easy, either.  No, my friends, as soon as the Tinseltown accusations started to surface, so did those in what Trump likes to call "The Swamp."  (BTW, the "Swamp" is called the "Swamp, because 250 years ago, what is now Washington, D.C., was just a tidewater basin off the back bay area in western Maryland.  Turning it into the Federal City started with reclaiming all that land from what was once a swamp.).

We know that Billy Jeff "Blue Dress" Clinton engaged in some other-than-acceptable activity with a young female intern in the early 90's (he got his knob polished).  He was impeached as a result, and fined $600,000 for lying about it ("I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky"), and had his law license forcibly extricated from his bottomless pocket for committing a bald-faced perjury.  And that was then, this is now.  

Let me state that again:  William Jefferson Clinton was, and still is, the only U.S. President to have been found guilty of perjury in a court of law.  That's a felony, by the way.  Does the Dem-friendly media ever remind you of that fact?  No?

So, in addition to the 90 or so Hollywood "stars" who have been accused of all manner of nasty sexual antics lately, another few dozen of D.C.'s movers and shakers have seen their faces plastered all across the front pages of salacious publications after having been "outed" by those who've managed somehow to keep their lips sealed about them for lo, these many years.  Stars like Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. and Ben Affleck.  

Within days of Harv's Fall From Grace, the Heavens opened up with accusations against elected politicians. It seems that old saying, "Politics is Hollywood for ugly people," has gone full circle.  Now we have both camps vying for which is the biggest bunch of Neanderthal sleezebags.  And it's looking like Tinseltown has the edge, so far, at least in total numbers.  But who really knows?  Don't count out those slimy pocket-pickers from Inside The Beltway.  They've actually had more practice being felons-in-training that those wannabe's in Hollywood, even if for no other reason then they've been at it longer.

NOTE:  A FOIA lawsuit just forced the Feds to release a previously secreted bit of data yesterday indicating that we, you and me, have paid out more than $17 Million Dollars in hush money awards, from our tax dollars, to 246 recipients, because our elected leaders in Congress can't keep their lizards in their trousers.

So, in the interest of keeping you, my loyal readers, up to date, here's a far-from-complete but representative sampling of those in 90210 who have been "outed" as grimy, nasty, dirty old men, probably without the raincoats, as of November 15, 2017 (but if they had raincoats, they'd probably be made by Burberry.)

Terry Richardson:  Celebrity photographer.  Accused of sexual harassment.

Roman Polanski:  Famed, Oscar-winning director.  Accused of, and plead guilty to, rape of an under-aged female.  Four other young girls claim this guy assaulted them as minors. Roundly hailed as an auteur and artiste by his contemporaries.  Received standing ovation from his "peers" when given an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.  Hmmm.

Oliver Stone:  Oscar-winning director.  Accused of groping a woman at a party.  Just another star came out today blasting Stone for all manner of past transgressions.

Harvey Weinstein:  Oscar-winning producer (is there something about "Oscar-winning" that makes one more likely to commit heinous sex crimes?).  Removed from the Board of Directors of the company he co-founded due to dozens of accusations of sexual harassment, groping and rape.  More than 100 accusers at present.  No doubt more to come.  Word has it that they are shutting down the company as it's too damaged to continue.

Bob Weinstein:  Oscar-winning producer.  Good ol' Harv's brother.  And apparently his co-conspirator.  Over 200 sexual harassment allegations.  Looks like Harv was emulating his older brother.

Harvey Knowles:  Founder of "Ain't it Cool" news.  Don't worry, I've never heard of it either.  Stepped down due to allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment and groping.

Devin Faraci:  Movie writer at "Birth.Death.Movies:"  Ditto the above.

Roy Price:  Ex-head of Amazon Studios.  Resigned due to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Twiggy Ramirez:  Bass player for Marilyn Manson.  Accused of raping former girlfriend.

Tyler Graham:  Talent agent.  Resigned due to allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment of his male, underage clients.

Netflix:  One of the most powerful names in entertainment.  Paid $1.5 Million claim filed by heterosexual male executive who claimed he'd been sexually harassed by both male and female superiors.  Is it hard to get that good looking?

Lockhart Steele:  Media director at Vox.  Fired over allegations of sexual harassment.

Andy Signore:  Creator of "Honest Trailers."  Fired due to numerous allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct.

David Blaine:  Superstar magician.  Accused of drugging and raping a 21 year-old model.  Couldn't he have just used magic?

John Besh:  Celebrity chef.  Accused of sexual assault and harassment.  I'm told the restaurant bizzzz comes in at a close third in terms of industry-wide sexual harassment.

Shadie Elnashai:  Cinefamily executive.  Resigned over allegations of sexual harassment.

Hadrian Belove:  Cinefamily executive.  Resigned over allegations of sexual harassment.  (Maybe somebody should check out this Cinefamily bunch...might be in the water)

Woody Allen:  Oscar-winning screenwriter and director.  Accusations of child molestations.  More than accusations.  He married the target of his molestation.  Maybe to prevent her from testifying?

Stevan Seagal:  Actor.  Allegations of sexual harassment. Rumor has it he might have gained some weight over the years.

Chris Savino:  Creator Nickelodian's "Loud House."  Fired over allegations of sexual harassment.

Bill Cosby:  Dozens of accusations of drugging and raping women.  This man has made a second career out of defending himself in courts all over the Northeast.

Mark Halperin:  Journalist.  TV producer.  Fired over multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and harassment.

David O. Russell:  Oscar-nominated director.  Accused of groping, on-set verbal and physical abuse.

Ben Affleck:  Actor, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter.  Multiple allegations of groping, one of which he apologized for.  I guess he's not sorry for all the others.

Kirt Webster:  CEO Country music firm, Webster PR.  Multiple allegations of sexual harassment, assaulting and drugging clients.

Ryan Ly:  CAA agent.  Fired over multiple allegations from female staffers, including groping.

Erik Horine:  ICM agent.  Fired for "inappropriate behavior."

John Grissom:  Writer, actor.  Accused of molesting Corey Feldman.

Danny Masterson:  Actor.  Four accusations of rape.

David Corn:  Reporter, actor.  Accusations of sexual touching of female staffers, rape jokes.

Brett Ratner:  Director, producer behind RatPac Entertainment.  Multiple accusations of sexual assault, harassment. Gal Gadot, his female lead in "Wonder Woman," just stated she will not do a sequel if he's involved in the production. 

Dustin Hoffman:  Oscar-winning actor.  Accused of sexual misconduct, groping of 17 year-old actress.

In closing, it would seem that those with a proclivity toward groping, abusing, molesting and raping might well look into careers as talent agents, movie producers/directors/actors or elected politicians. They would seem to have greater access to prospective victims in those professions.  

In closing, Number Two, it would seem that you'd have to be completely aware that those standing between you and "stardom" might well require some "fresh meat" as the price of entry.  And those possessing some of that "fresh meat" might have to accept the fact that sharing it could well be the price of admission.  And I guess we're now learning which ones elected to keep quiet back then when opening up could have saved a lot of their fellow Americans a lot of future pain and suffering.

In closing, Number Three, I'm wondering just how these people get anything done when it's apparent there's only one thing on their minds, and it's not their hair.

In closing, Number Four, it seems to me this sexual deviancy thing is rampant in both the entertainment industry and politics.  And given this, why, exactly, do you think we've not heard about it before now?  

Answer:  Maybe it's because the Media's corrupt and complicit?

Friday, November 3, 2017

Paying Your "Fair Share!"

Trump just dropped his long-awaited plans for how to get figurative blood out of our collective turnip.

Not happy with our current tax plan (but then again, who is?), Trump's brand-spanking New One, unveiled yesterday with mucho fanfare, will take the existing 7 brackets, extorting from us way, way, way too much, to three, which will still be way, way too much, however will serve to reduce the already too-high rates a little bit, but not, in my humble opinion, by nearly enough.  

Like that sentence?  Knew that you would.

So, fellow taxpayers and tax-avoiders, we're in for several months of knock-down, drag-out, bare-knuckle fights in the Halls of Congress over this proposal.  And in the TV studios, where carefully-coiffed talking heads will tell us, condescendingly, that Trump's proposal is nothing but a gift to the rich, especially him.  Apparently they have too-soon forgotten that he is working as POTUS for free, and thus I would suggest you might want to cut him some slack over just how greedy he might actually be.

The Republicans will hesitatingly accept it, with a sniff and a scowl, nose upturned, upset that it doesn't go far enough, and the Democrats will howl in pain!  They will flagellate themselves in an effort to prove to their constituents that they are the Party of the "little guy," and that Trump's new Tax Plan is nothing but a thinly-veiled attempt to wrest the food from their babies' mouths and platinum-spoon it directly into Warren Buffett's gaping maw.

They will waste no time in proclaiming, "Make the rich pay their fair share!"  And God knows, we all want everybody to pay their "fair share," right?  Sure we do.  And everybody knows that the rich are misers who pay not nearly enough, right?  And we're bigly pissed!  I mean, they have too much money, right?  How did they get all that money, anyway?  They probably stole it from some poor Black Arkansas farmer, who's on disability from pancreatic cancer due to Agent Orange, and who just wants to be left alone to scratch out his meager existence from his tiny hardscrabble dirt patch.  And so these rich dudes ought to be willing to "pay a little bit more" so that the rest of us can have a plate of rice and beans for dinner.  It's only "fair," right?  I mean, we all know that if Bill Gates gets richer, then some of us must be made poorer, right?  I mean, there's only so many slices in a pizza, right?  

Of course, none of that is true.  If it were, then Steve Jobs would have stolen all the money from all the cancer-ridden Black Arkansas farmers with the advent of his cute little I-Phone.  Or, perhaps his invention served to create new wealth.  Like Gates did with Microsoft and Elon Musk did with Tesla.  Considering that I am a graduate economist and entrepreneur, who actually knows, in this one rare instance at least, what I'm talking about, me thinks so...

In other words, the pizza has an infinite number of slices if you make it out of ever-expanding dough.

So, in the interest of learning the truth, let's explore together just "who" pays "what" in our society.  Let's take a moment and look at the most recent year the U. S. Treasury will make data available and compare just who paid what, and to whom. Okay?

-  In 2014 there were 139.6 Million income tax filers, "contributing" more than $1.37 Trillion in taxes to the Federal Treasury.  That's an all time record for Federal tax receipts.  Yet, apparently not nearly enough, as we routinely spend another $500 Billion or so as a country more than we take in each and every year.  Year after year.

-  The top 1% of income tax filers earned 20.6% of all income, but paid 39.5% of all taxes!  

-  The top 50% of all income tax filers paid 97.3% of all taxes!  The bottom 50% paid only 2.7%!

-  Put another way, the top 1% of all income earners paid more taxes as a share of their income than did the bottom 90%!

-  And let's take a look at the various lesser categories, shall we kiddies?  The top 5% paid 41.96% of all taxes!  The top 10% paid 47.21% of all taxes!  The top 25% paid 68.91% of every tax dollar we collected!  

And here's a question for you.  Why, exactly, are those who espouse a Leftist persuasion so dead-set on preventing the "rich" from getting even a modest reduction in their taxes, given that they pay nearly all of the taxes we're fighting over.  Class warfare?  Me thinks so...

So let's review, shall we?  The "rich" (that's Liberal-speak for anyone who makes more money than you do) pay virtually all the income taxes collected by the U. S. Treasury.  Yet, the raging Left-wing loons want to force them to pay more.  I'm wondering, what's enough?  90%?  100%?  110%?  Why don't we just confiscate every single penny they earn?  And their beach houses?  And their Manhattan penthouse apartments?  And their Ferraris?  

And, oh yeah, their lumber yards and 7-11's and used car lots and pharmacies and family farms and Italian restaurants where they serve ever-expanding pizzas? 

Or better yet, how about we just hunt them down and frog-march them right into the Gray Bar Hotel for daring, daring to become successful!  Class envy and jealousy and identity politics is what the Democrats deal in.  And the American People should learn to get their collective arms around that little factoid.

And lest we forget, poor people don't hire anyone.  Put another way, it might be a good idea to leave the wealth producers with a few dollars so they can create some more jobs to help get us out of the economic malaise we've been in for at least a decade.  

So, as the debate rages on, and Senate Minority Leader Chuckie Schumer and House Rep." San Fran Nan" Pelosi proceed to try and hipmotizzzzze you with their incessant bleatings about Republicans taking money from the Treasury that is so desperately needed by the "poor and downtrodden," just remember that:

-  The Federal Government has no money of its own.  Lemme' repeat that again:  The Federal Government has no money of its own!  Before the Gummint can give something to somebody, it has to first confiscate that something from somebody!  In essence, it has to stick its massive mitt into our collective pockets and extract what it wants under threat of criminal prosecution so it can redistribute that booty to others to curry favor and win votes.  And remember, this Great Country got along just fine for 150 years without a Federal Income Tax of any kind!

-  If we strangle the Treasury's income by reducing taxes, we're not taking its money.  That money was never the Gummint's in the first place.  It belongs to the people who earned it, and no doubt could do a much better job of spending it then can Uncle Sugar.  And any shortfall due to tax reductions does not have to be "paid for" prior to passage.  Just spend less, O' Government of ours!  Spend less!

-  Obama (mis)managed to take our Federal Debt from just over $9 Trillion Dollars at the time of his inauguration to $20 Trillion Dollars by the time he was dragged kicking and screaming from the White House.  That works out to about $100 Billion Dollars a Month for every month he was in office.  Remember when he called George W. Bush "unpatriotic" for running the FedDebt up by $2 Trillion to $9 Trillion during his presidency?  Did I miss his apology for having lied through his nicotine-stained teeth? 

-  Obama (mis)managed to be the only U. S. President in history to serve two full terms with not one of his eight years showing a growth in Gross Domestic Product as high as 3%.  In other words, eight stagnant, barely chugging-along years of an economy that could not grow itself into prosperity due to the imposition of Obama's socialist policies and procedures.  Oh yeah, Trump's economy is performing quite nicely, I'd say.  The stock market's up more than 5,000 points since his inauguration and we've enjoyed two consecutive quarters with GDP growth of more than 3%!  That's the first time that's happened in more than 8 years, doncha' know...

-  For comparison, all of Reagan's years after he got his tax reductions through with the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1986 grew at 4% or more, with one of those years at an astounding 7.8%!  In other words, that's not an incidental factoid.  No, it's proof that lowering taxes creates an incentive to work harder and create more and invest for your future.  It's called "enlightened self-interest."  

-  Continuing, each increase of 1% in the Gross Domestic product corresponds to an increase of approximately $One and One-Half Trillion Dollars in tax receipts to the U. S. Treasury!  So, the $1.5 Trillion Dollars "lost" by the new tax plan over the next decade which the Democrats have been hollering about would be easily replaced by a single 1% increase in the Gross Domestic Product. And were the GDP to grow at 4% or 5%, just think of the flood of new tax dollars that would be flowing to The Swamp.  Got it?  Knew you would...  

And so, kiddies, here's the takeaway from this little essay.  Don't believe the Pablum that the Alphabet Media shovels your way.  When Obama was deficit spending more of our tax money than all previous U. S. Presidents combined, the Dinosaur Media said not a word.  Not a peep.  Not even a whisper.  They cared not a whit over our increased indebtedness.  Now?  They're breaking out in a rash over the mere thought of any increase in our Federal Debt.  Media bias?  Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm, yes...

So every year that States like California jack up the taxes on their "rich," some of those self same "rich folks" are heading to the nearest airport to board a nice, shiny new Gulfstream 550 with their saddle bag full of cash, and head off to more friendly climes. Like Panama, say, or Belize, or Costa Rica, countries that appreciate those who create and spend and buy and build and hire and produce by not filleting them with onerous tax burdens.  And who could really blame these people for making their exit?  You work hard, you invest your money, you build companies, you hire and train and pay two-thirds of the workers in this Country, taking huge risks all along the way, and then get lambasted by the corrupt redistributionist politicians and weenie media-types for not "paying your fair share."  And remember, whatever you pay, it will never be enough.

Makes me want to puke.  How about you?

Saturday, October 21, 2017

"DACA"

Unless you've been living in a dumpster behind the nearest Wal-Mart, you're no doubt aware that President Trump just poked a hole in the "DACA" drama.  

DACA, as you know, stands for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals."  That's a really smarmy, plain vanilla way of saying it was an effort to legalize the approximately 850,000 "kids" that were brought here, illegally, by their illegal alien parents.  In other words, these "kids," many of whom are now 25 or over, were dragged here by their moms and dads as they crossed the border into America without first asking for permission.  As in "illegally." And "illegally" here in America, is, ummm, ILLEGAL!

I'm reminded of what then-Representative Sonny Bono had to say when asked what he thought of illegal immigration.  His answer: "Well, it's illegal, isn't it?"  Succinct.  To the point.  Brilliantly so.

So there's this big kerfuffle between the Republicans and Conservatives who believe that illegal means illegal, and that those who break the law should be made to pay for having done so.  And then there's the Democrats and "Progressive" Liberals, who don't seem to give a damn about that whole illegal thing and just want to ignore their crime and grant them some sort of official dispensation.  Kind of like it's a "no big deal" sort of thing. They want to get past all this unpleasantness so their new arrivals can get on with that whole voting thing, doncha' know.

Well, there are those of us who don't believe two wrongs make a right.  (Or if you're Chinese, two Wongs don't make a White.  Heh heh).  Their parents broke the law.  And their offspring are breaking the law by just being here.  The Righties will be mightily pissed if these "kids" and their illegal parents are given a pass for this.  And the Lefties will be mightily pissed if their future voters, assuming they're not already voting, will be made to pay ANY price at all for their transgressions.  They want them given a free ticket to the front of the line while all those other fools who actually played the immigration game by the rules laid out by canonized law and who are paying their fees and are waiting for up to ten years to be given approval to emigrate here legally.  Poor dummies...

So the question must be asked, what are we, the 'Murican people, to do with these nearly one million "kids?"  It wouldn't be fair to send them back to a place they don't know or even remember, to be sure.  It also wouldn't be fair to simply grant them a pass and issue them their citizenship papers, would it?  Ummm, no.  

So I, The Chuckmeister, have a suggested solution to this perplexing problem.  I suggest that we give each of these "kids" a choice:  Either go home yourself, back to Guadalajara, where you've probably never been and might not even speak the language, or send your parents back to where they started and choose to undo the crime they committed way back when.  

So, here's the deal.  Simple solution.  Stay here and be prosecuted, or send mommy and daddy back to Chapultepec and avoid them having to stand before the judge.  Some will take this option, and some won't.  But we, the American people, will see justice done.  We'll hold wrongdoer's feet to the fire, whether they wish to see justice done, or not. 

Or we won't.  And this whole sordid scenario will play out as just one more nail in the coffin of America's effort to establish a true representative republic.  Just one more piece of evidence that our Great Experiment has, after more than 200 years, crashed and burned.  Conservatives will wring their hands and wonder how this was permitted to happen, while uttering over and over, "Woe is me, woe is me." 

And Progressives will jump up and down with glee, clapping each other on the back in joy after having proved victorious in successfully removing one more "Right" we Americans used to enjoy.  They should be ashamed of themselves for having taken us one step closer to all out socialist control of our once-Great Country.  If they had any shame, that is... 

Fairness is that for which we all strive.  Or at least those of us who believe in fairness.  I guess we'll learn as this whole mess unfolds just exactly who among our elected representatives in D.C. shares our quest for that elusive fairness thing...

Sunday, October 15, 2017

"The Shortest Measurable Unit of Time."


It used the be that the shortest measurable unit of time was called a "Planck."  The scientists tell us that a "Planck" is the amount of time it takes for light to travel a "Planck's length" across one "Fermi," which is just about the size of a nucleon, in a vacuum.

That's like one millionth of a second.  Or something.  And a nucleon is, ummm, like really, really small!  Thank God for scientists.  Otherwise, who would make up this stuff?

Quicker than that, even, I, your loyal scribe, the graying Yoda you look to for inside information about esoteric effluvia, the flotsam and jetsam of modern life so important to those who actually care about such stuff, now report to you, is called the "Taxi."  That's the time it takes for the taxi behind you at a stop light in mid-town Manhattan to blow its horn once the traffic light in front of you has changed.  We're talking the blink of the proverbial eye here, folks! 

By the way, I just made that up.  Don't thank me.  It's why God put me here.  But hey, it makes sense, doesn't it?

But far and away the absolute quickest measurement of time these days is now called a "Gunny."  I know, because I just made that up as well.  That's the time it takes for some Left-wing jackass in Congress (a little less than half of them), or a late-night "comic" on TV (aren't they supposed to be funny?), or perhaps a room temperature-I.Q. actor or actress (isn't that just about all of them?) who fires up his/her/its Twitter-er-er thingie and proceeds to make a complete fool of him/her/itself following a tragic shooting.  

We have to add the "itself" here in California as so very many of my fellow residents are of confused sexuality.

So here's the scenario.  Some deranged bozo, looking to go out in a blaze of glory, and take a lot of innocent folks with him, or some jihadist Muslim deranged thug killer, looking to score those mythical 72 virgins, shoots up some place, kills far too many, and leaves lots of blood and carnage in his wake.  And usually he either kills himself when the cops burst through the door, or forces the cops to shoot him instead.  That last solution is called "suicide by cop," by the way.

And then, while the acrid smell of gunpowder and smoke is still hanging in the air like a hovering evil specter, the echo of the shots that just rang out still reverberating around the place like BB's in a boxcar, some Lefty TV talking head, or hipppmotizzzed Hollyweird actor, or an "inside the Beltway" lobbyist, or Democrat pol looking to whip up the crowd of fawning sycophants to help fan his reelection flames, will run, not walk, to the nearest microphone and begin babbling some incoherent condemnation of guns, gun owners, ammunition, country music-lovers, flags, pickup trucks, hot dogs, fireworks, anthems, beer and Republicans.  Oh yeah, and Global Warming. 

Yes, I know, another long sentence.  But hey, you understood what I was trying to say, didn't you?  And it's my blog so I can do anything I want, right?  If I like long sentences I can use them, right?  All you have to do is read it, right?  And you can't beat the price, right?

They will rail, they will shout, they will blame, they will shake their fists in anger, they will jump up and down.  They will demand, demand that we "do something, do anything" about the "lax" gun laws so as to prevent a recurrence of the latest tragedy.  Of course, if you ask them exactly which new law they would propose that would prevent another such shooting, they routinely come up short.  Their eyes glaze over.  They begin to mumble incoherently.  They can't name a single one.  Not a law can they come up with to prevent what this crazy fool in Vegas did recently.  And, with exception of Islamic religious killings, none of the other mass shootings we've been forced to live through of late, either.

Need proof?  Check out what Sen. Lady "Di" Feinstein had to say on "Face the Nation"last Sunday.  She, the woman who came up with the term "assault rifle" back in 1992 when she and her boss Billy Jeff "Blue Dress" Clinton were looking to ban all those black, evil-looking military-style but completely safe civilian rifles.  She, when asked if there was a prospective law that would have made the Vegas Massacre not happen, calmly said, "No!"  

So what do they want?  They demand GUN CONTROL!  Lots of it!  Gimme' some more of that GUN CONTROL, they shout!  Impose "Universal Background Checks!" (Hello Democrats!  We've had Federal background checks for all gun purchases since 1998!).  And close the so-called "Gun Show Loophole!" (No such thing!  All guns purchased legally, no matter where, including at a gun show, must be preceded by a Federal background check!).   And make the waiting period before citizens can buy a gun much, much longer! (You might be wishing to murder your probably abused wife so we can't let you have that gun you just purchased for a week or so!).  And declare the National Rifle Association, the oldest public-benefit charitable organization in the entire U.S., with more than 5 million dues-paying citizens like you and me, or at least, me, as a "terrorist organization" (thank you Keith Olbermann...you were, are, and always will be a world-class, totally worthless, boil-on-the-butt-of-humanity, jerk).  

But when reminded that Chicago, which has the very most stringent gun laws in the entire Untied States, and that they lose an average of about the same number of victims to gun crimes every month as died during that fateful concert in Las Vegas, they usually change the subject, or begin waving their arms and shouting in anger, or start to stutter uncontrollably, or accuse the questioner of being a "tool of the NRA," or a bloodthirsty Republican who doesn't care who dies at the barrel of a gun.  

But to sidestep the almost overwhelming urge to pontificate endlessly on this topic about which I know so very, very much, I will close with this:  If you're a Liberal Democrat Progressive-type, gun-hating, politically-correct, Social Justice Warrior, you'll advocate for total disarmament of the 'Murican people at the earliest possible occasion.  And if you're a red-blooded, God-fearing, bourbon-swilling, flag-waving, self-reliant, patriotic Son of Liberty, you'll wish all the panty-waisted, limp-wristed weenies to leave you and your guns alone, today, tomorrow and forever.  Strong letter to follow...

Moral of the Story If even 5% of ducks were armed, do you think anyone would go duck hunting?