Cancel Culture and Society

After reading so many articles over controversy of former MMA fighter and actress Gina Carano I have been further convinced that cancel culture is a cancer on society.

Is it not okay to have a different point of view even if it may be wrong? The whole point of being han is to be different from other people and have different views and opinions than others. Is it wrong to support your own personal opinions? Is it wrong for there to be debate and discussion? Is it okay for there to be intolerance and blatant animosity towards people who view things differently?

The answer resoundingly is no to all those questions. I believe actions speak louder than words and Gina Carano is a great actress and deserves to be respected for her skills on screen not her posts on social media.

As someone who has been a freelance IT technician for over a decade I strongly disagree with making social media companies liable for posts made by users. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are designed to be a medium for friends and family to share points of view and have productive conversation.

The day that ends is truly the day our first amendment rights vanish. Sites like Parler deserve to be shut down because Facebook and Twitter have clear posting policies and any post that violates those policies get removed. Conservatives who claim censorship on either platform are wrong because I have seen posts from friends that depict Nancy Pelosi as a Nazi. Is that okay? No. Nazis were total fascists and tried wiping out anyone who was blond haired and blue eyed.

The days of cancel culture need to end and real debate and discussion needs to begin before we judge our celebrities for silly posts on social media let’s take a look at their performance on screen first.

Economics Realized

I want to start out by saying that economists around the world have been overly skeptical about bottom up economics. But I have to say this argument doesn’t have much merit.

In construction you can’t build the roof without a foundation or framework built to support it. In a top down economic view the wealthy get tax cuts and hopefully the benefits trickle down to workers but that disincentivises the wealthy from giving pay raises or bonuses or what have you.

Let’s take a look at what a bottom up economy would have the potential to do. First by supporting workers first over the wealthy they spend their paychecks on food, entertainment, consumer goods, and many other categories. In a short period that translates into revenue for corporations. That revenue then translates to much more stable market valuations enabling a much more stable stock market.

I personally, from an economic standpoint see Democrats policies as more worker friendly even when at times it doesn’t get implemented correctly. I strongly believe that the government needs to back workers and not corporations to stabilize the economy even in recessions like now. It’s the working class that is the foundation of our economy. Around the world the working class is what supports the corporations and small businesses.

Trump’s tax cuts for corporations did nothing for workers. This it was meaningless. The wealthy took those tax cuts and pocketed the money. Corporate tax cuts and the marginal tax rate is not effective economic development.

Corporate taxes are needed to fund many programs such as the Pell Grant. And by making federal income taxes a marginal system where income is taxes differently at different income thresholds also makes no economic sense. In reality you could make millions and pay less taxes than a working citizen. Which is not fair. Our tax code needs revised to get rid of the marginal income tax brackets. It amounts to suppressing working class citizens while the rich get away with effectively paying no taxes.

For a better and more fair system my idea is to eliminate the marginal tax rates and if you make up to a certain amount you pay a static tax rate on all your income. For example if you were making over $500,000 annually you currently only pay 37% on a small portion of that income. You start at 10% for income up to $9,875.

Income above that is taxed at 12% up to $40,125. This continues until you hit the highest tax rate possible of 37%.

This tax scheme is unfair to workers and favors the wealthy the most. It needs to be changed.

Stimulus checks vs 2017 tax cuts

   I want to begin by saying that the US government is a bunch of monkeys throwing shit at each other.

   I have been doing lots of research about stimulus packages around the world in allied counties and they provided better arrangements. In the majority of cases they provided monthly checks to those affected by the coronavirus.

   The US government was like “Oh $1200 can last you a while.” Well according to numerous economists around the world the US needs around $10 trillion in economic stimulus overall to get back on track.

    I hate to say it but Trump is right about the $600 stimulus checks being too small. Average rent nationally is a little over $1400 per month according to rental reports across the nation. If that’s the national average $1200 was still too little. $2000 can go much further than either $600 or $1200 can and it would be enough to pay for food and shelter at the very least.

   The saddest part of these statistics is that Republican congressmen and women are too blind or out of touch with reality. And the even saddest part is the Republican Party claims to be all about religious freedom all while trying to curb other religions that they don’t agree with.

   Historical facts show that the United States of America were founded on Christian principles however the Founding Father’s only could plan for the foreseeable future. They didn’t plan for all the religions that make up the US culture today. Which is why the wrote in the clause for the free practice of religion period.

   Other things wrong with political parties is too often one side is so entrenched in their ideologies that they don’t want to compromise. Namely the Republican Party. The things they have done to our government is all about suppression in various ways. The governor of Texas made it so there was only one ballot drop location per county to “prevent fraud.” Various other Republican groups and politicians have tried numerous times to eliminate laws that prohibit discriminatory laws regarding voting and also those same states on the surface the existing laws look good but in reality are designed to suppress minority groups from voting.

George Washington wrote in a letter to his successor a warning against forming political parties quoting the Bible verse “A house divided amongst itself cannot stand.” Those words have rang true over the last four years under Trump as our country squabbles over legislation our enemies are eyeing us like a juicy steak.

I know some of this post hasn’t been directly related to the title of the post however it is interconnected in ways that many would miss. One example is the division of our government in political parties. That division is the cause of so much pain for working families during the pandemic. Second example of how all this ties together is the behavior of the Republican Party. They have a tendency to look out for their own pockets than the people they are elected to represent. All while claiming to be morally right as “upstanding Christians.” It is all a joke. The Bible is clear on the duties of the church and one of those duties is to take care of the poor, orphaned, and widowed.

Republicans blocking legislation that could help the poor goes against everything the Bible teaches. While the Democratic Party is trying to do what the bible commands. As it stands now the Democratic Party is doing the job of the Republican Party while the Republican Party is lining their pockets.

That’s the reality of today and I hope I can get more followers on this blog because I want to reach more people with the truth. If you have any comments or suggestions or any constructive feedback feel free to let me know. I want to remain objective and truthful as close as possible.

H1N1 “Swine Flu” vs Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

I decided to go digging into the H1N1 pandemic to find out the death toll of that influenza virus. The data is in stark contrast with the current data of the novel coronavirus.

In 2009 and 2010 the world experienced the H1N1 pandemic which killed an estimated 12,469 Americans. If you take that number the current death toll of COVID-19 is approximately twenty times the H1N1.

Trump keeps saying that Obama did a terrible job at containing the pandemic of 2009 but the data comparison is striking when taken into context. Overall Obama had a significantly lower death toll than Trump.

Anyone who says Trump is doing a good job with the COVID-19 pandemic I urge you to take a look at the data and don’t take my word for it.

My sources for this post have been John Hopkins, CDC, and UW Medical data compiled during the 2009 pandemic and the current pandemic.

US History and Donald J. Trump

Before I go into the politics of this post I am going to reiterate I am ALWAYS going to be controversial regardless of who is president. However today I must focus on who is president currently. Donald J. Trump. I know this is going to garner lots of hatred but I want to educate my fellow Americans be you Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian. The history of the US was built on RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. However it was assumed the whole country would be Christian. What the Founding Fathers did not account for was the diverse nature our beautiful constitutional republic would become with such a vast number of world religions. I myself being a believer in Jesus Christ (Not labeling myself Christian anymore due to the negativity attached to that word), believe in the Bible. But as an intellectual I have to be more open minded and I believe other believers need to be too. This closed mindedness is what is, based on statistics, driving an increase in atheism today and other religions.

Today we have many people claiming to be Christian yet fueling hatred based on race and other factors. All this based on President Trump race baiting with his comments like “invade your suburbs” and ” decrease your property value”. All in reference to African Americans.

I can go down the list of federal crimes he committed before his election in 2016 to present. Least of which was him soliciting reelection aid by trying to extort Ukraine by withholding military aid. Trump has also committed tax fraud during his campaign by routing rent payments from his campaign out of New York City. This crime, according to tax experts can lead to federal felony charges. This information also comes from the FEC (Federal Elections Commission).

Our wonderful country was built to be a place where rule of law took precedence over religious values. The national anthem was written as a sign of strength and unity. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to symbolize the open arms of America and to be a beacon of hope to the world. Under Trump the US has become the laughingstock of the world. Even our closest Allies want nothing to do with us.

The coronavirus has shown what an incompetent leader he is and his claims are scientifically disproven on many fronts. His primary supporters are sycophants who thinks he is doing the country good.

I am going to leave this here and say good bye for now.

Internet as a Public Utility or a Service

I write this post based on an article I recently read. In an age where we are digitally connected throughout our daily lives do we need to reconsider Internet as a luxury or as a public utility?

Let’s start with some basic facts about internet access. When internet first became mainstream it was highly cost restrictive. On top of that it was tied directly to the DSL lines that we operated our landlines through. This made using the phone and the internet simultaneously impossible.

Now let’s take a look at our digital lives today. I ask who doesn’t own a smartphone these days? Be it an iPhone or any Android phone, everyone has one with maybe one percent of Americans having a flip phone. We have computers and tablets so powerful they make the things we thought were so awesome back in the 90s look like kids toys.

We also have game consoles on the level of a low to mid range gaming PC. There are cars that have 4G LTE buit into them. Landlines are using technology called VoIP(Voice Over Internet Protocol) even. Seeing technology today we should start looking at internet access differently than we did over 20 years ago.

As a kid I grew up with emerging technologies such as 3D game design and cell phones as we know them today. Anyone who is in my age group or older should be able to remember PDAs. Our smartphones today have the same capabilities as those original devices. Computers continue to advance albeit at a slower pace now since we have hit a plateau of a sort.

Our lives are drastically different now that we have all this technology. I have operated as a freelance IT professional for over 10 years now and I believe the bare minimum internet should be considered a public utility is 25 Megabits per second Download and 25 Upload. That would provide internet access for the most basic of functions including WFH (Work From Home). I also believe that if you want higher speeds it then becomes considered a luxury.

The base argument I have is we should start considering making it a requirement that every house built gets a minimum of 25 Mbps with the option to upgrade to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) if you so choose. The digital divide will shrink drastically while the cost is shared between the government and the ISPs to operate public internet access to each household. We have the technology and the infrastructure to do so. There is no reason we cannot accomplish this.

Stay at Home Orders Vs. The US Constitution

I keep hearing people complain that stay at home orders are a violation of civil rights. I am actually going to explain why Stay at Home Orders are not.

As per the US Constitution, each state is allowed to take discretionary powers over federal laws. This is even more compounded in the midst of an emergency. The Constitution frames it so the federal government is not the end all be all. The defacto law that states have to follow.

For example, why is marijuana illegal by federal law yet is legal in almost every state? Why does federal law not take precedence? It’s because US states can decide what laws are fit for enforcement. Federal laws are only a framework that states can go off of in the governance of the state. Each state is entitled by the Constitution to discretionary powers and the ability to interpret federal law as they see fit.

The Stay at Home orders are not infringing on your rights on the basis of fact that states can do as they please to protect their citizens during a crisis as per the US Constitution. The emergency powers are only until the end of a crisis. I also submit that your rights do not supercede the health and safety of the state as a whole. The Constitution does allow for extenuating circumstances where your rights are not to supercede an emergency. However I argue that while these stay at home orders have been in place for some time I have not seen movement severely restricted, your freedom of speech is not restricted. None of your Constitutional rights have actually been violated. You can still go grocery shopping. You just can’t currently go hang out at the bar with some friends over the weekend. So what?

It’s a small price to pay for your own health and safety which is allowed under the Constitution and it cannot be superceded by a Supreme Court lawsuit because there is no violation of your rights.

Faith in a Crisis

I know not all people who may read my blog are Christian or religious in any way. But I want to touch on the topic of faith in this post.

A good friend of mine put forth the question if it is wise to reopen churches amidst the coronavirus pandemic. I believe that no matter where you are the church is still there. Church isn’t about a building, it is not about the singing, it’s not about communion, it’s not about hearing a preacher speak. It’s about faith. As a Christian myself, I believe in what Jesus said to the woman at the well. That there will be a time when followers of Christ won’t worship in special specific places.

We live an age where the Bible, Qur’an, Torah, and every other religious texts are available online. We live in an age where fellowship doesn’t need to be in person. We can communicate instantaneously with someone on the other side of the world. Technology has made this world so much smaller. And every day a new thing emerges.

I ask: Is it really necessary to even have religious buildings? Is it necessary at all? Was it even necessary as technology progressed? I believe the answer to that is no. There is no need for a building to worship in.

I strongly urge religious leaders to look out for there congregations and protect the vulnerable to this virus. Religious leaders are supposed to be the standard of what Christ would do. This is also the reason Christians get lumped into one group because of idiotic leaders creating problems that shouldn’t exist.

Back to the main point though. Religious services can still be held regardless of whether or not you sit in a pew or you are at home in your pajamas eating pancakes as your preacher goes through his or her sermon. The basis of any religious beliefs is faith. Even in a crisis faith doesn’t go away just because you can’t go to a church service in a building. They material and will die with this world as everything else.

Trumpism Vs. The US Constitution

I have been hearing all over the place that Trump is the best president ever. I beg to differ on the basis of Constitutional fact versus Trump’s fantasy version of America. I am breaking down a few sections of the Constitution that are highly applicable to Trump and his administration.

The Impoundment Control Act

I am certain many people have not heard of the Impoundment Control Act. As it pertains to the unlawful activities of this administration it applies to the Ukraine scandal where Trump withheld Congressionally appropriated funds earmarked for Ukraine military aid in exchange for an investigation into Hunter Biden.

Under this law the administration has 48 hours to notify Congress of the withholding and the reason for it as Congress has the power of the purse. The president is not authorized under this law to unilaterally withhold any funding appropriated by Congress. The Executive branch is not above Congress and Congress is not above the Executive branch. They are equal branches of government. The Treasury is under the Executive however reports to Congress equally.

According to the Government Accountability Office has already stated that Trump’s withholding of said funding was illegal and worthy of impeachment. Republicans have failed to uphold their duty to the American people and remove Trump for his criminal act of violating this law.

The Emoluments Clause

This clause in the Constitution says that any sitting president may not benefit from gifts and other things from foreign dignitaries while in office.

To put this into perspective, Trump’s trips and hosting foreign leaders at his Mar-A-Lago resort is a violation of this clause because he is profiting from the foreign dignitaries expenditures at said resort.

By law Trump is removable from office on these grounds as well. The cases to obtain his tax returns is all about trying to figure out if he officially violated this law and to find out if hush money was paid to the numerous women accusing him of sexual assault.

The King Trump Defense

This idea that a sitting president is immune to prosecution while in office by many legal standards is absolutely absurd. Under federal law the statute of limitations is, on the majority of crimes, five years. To put it simply, if a president was elected, committed a crime, and was immune while in office it would be four years before prosecution could proceed. However this temporary immunity has a major flaw.

That major flaw is that if a sitting president is reelected then by the time he could be prosecuted the statute of limitations would have run its course and would no longer be able to be prosecuted.

The United States of America is not a monarchy. Nor should corporate interests dictate the law and regulations. In other words Trump is not a king. He is not above the law. He has violated two Constitutional laws that warrant his removal. The Republican party does not stand with the American people any more. They stand for what makes them the most money.

This is all derived from factual evidence from Congressional records, fellow independent media, and left and right wing media. Please feel free to double check my information and research this yourself. I wish to inform my fellow Americans with truth

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