Done. And done. #Kamala2024

Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball

This happened in Miami (of course). Ohtani hit the ball into the stands. And people fought over it. And now the ball is up for auction, but the ownership is headed to a jury. 

While this one is actually about money, let's be honest here. I've seen people fight about balls that get hit in the stands - even a foul ball in a meaningless at bat. 

But I prefer this story to any of the general stupidity and hate we have in the world today. 

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/19/g-s1-29064/dodgers-baseball-shohei-ohtani-auction

https://youtu.be/X8XclxJ1iQQ?si=qI8xY2eiLf__mdP5

Just so dumb…

Disney’s new money making schemes are annoying

Disney announced that DVC members can purchase additional perks through a program called Membership Magic Beyond.  This is a "yearly enhanced benefits package" offered for the low price of $99 in addition to the annual dues to DVC.

The program allows for purchasers to have access to som discounted tickets, entry into a special lounge, and some other assorted activities. 

It feels like the things that used to be included are all now add-ons. 

Oh but that's not all! 

The company announced a new special lighting lane add on that has a variable price point starting at $400 per day, per person that allows you to have lighting lane / priority access to all attractions in that park for the day. So you pay the $150 or so for park entry and then you pay more to be able to do what the free fastpass used to give you. 

That just sticks in my craw. 

It's sad that it's become a rich persons park and it's all about squeezing as much money from you as possible. 

Can you go in and not pay the extras and still enjoy yourself? Yes. But it's unlikely you'll be able to get to everything you want to do in a day. As Bob Chapek said at one point, the system is designed for you to get to one or maybe two headliner attractions in a day.  

Its money being (probably) illegally spent

I've seen two different clips of Trump walking into a grocery store for some stupid photo op, and then walking over to the register and handing a customer a $100 bill and saying "vote for me" - which may seem folksy to some, but is, in fact, illegal.  

Of course no one wants to hold him to account for BREAKING THE LAW again.  Because why would they?

Then there's the stories about Elon Musk being a big donor to his campaign.  And make no mistake the man who is close to being the worlds first trillionaire - that's just unconscionable when we have people working two jobs to meet ends meet, or living in their cars - will get there with ease if Trump wins.  He will get every single advantage to run amok and not have to worry about pesky rules holding him back.

The stories are that he has a sort of ground operation where his donations are being used to pay campaign workers to canvas.  That is you can make a quick buck by working for the Trump campaign by asking people to vote for Trump.

But the kicker *appears to be* that in at least some cases, these workers are offering cash (on the order of around $100) to voters who pledge to vote for Trump.  

Again, let me state that this is 100% illegal.  And for the moment, it remains unverified and unsubstantiated.  But there are people telling us they either got or gave the money, so there must be a little something to it.

But again, who's going to do anything about it?  If he wins, then they all get away with it and democracy is essentially dead.  And if he doesn't, will anyone follow up and prosecute him?  Probably not.  He is teflon man after all.

This is what "we the people" who see the shadowy things he is doing and overt things he surely will do if he gets back into office can thwart by simply voting Kamala.  

The grift is real!

Donald Trump's campaign seems to be all about the grift.  He pleads for donations, then spends that money on himself for only marginally campaign-related things (or not at all in some cases). like gifts and items for staffers, and of course his own legal bills.  He has staff stay at Trump-related properties while on the campaign trail, and has them billing the rooms to the campaign.

And of course he goes into states he won't win and talks about how terrible they are! And the reason for holding a rally there?  It appeases his big donors in those states.  They give him money for simply showing up.

But the most egregious acts are selling items, as a part of the campaign, but pocketing 100% of the proceeds.

The two most odious examples are his limited-edition, "swiss made," $100,000 watches that are actually made in Wyoming and its unclear who owns the company that makes them.  Because of course it has to be a big secret. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-watch-maker-investigation-wyoming-b2631311.html

And his bibles. With his name emblazoned on the front (because he was sent from god, apparently?) that were made in China.  Because its cheaper there, in spite of his insistence that they are ripping us off!

And yet the christian right eats this up.  I believe there is a commandment about "not putting false gods before me' - but its possible he left that line out of course.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/thousands-of-trump-bibles-were-printed-in-china-as-he-campaigned-against-trade-practices

Reminder: election related videos

 Same on both platforms

https://www.tiktok.com/@lostandfoundwdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3oqLLQjcQ&list=PL2P9RQmz1CVMXc3gilWwaKJfSGzyYjTl3

Feel free to watch, share, or ignore (if that's your thing!) 

About abortion access

I know this is an issue in this country. But for the life of me, I can't understand why.  Most developed nations don't even consider this as a talking point.  Abortion is legal almost everywhere in the world where you might consider it a 1st world nation (and even in some developing nations!).  A woman's right to choose, while getting quality advice and health care from a doctor, makes this a human right.  

But here, we have a hodge podge approach to it, with no uniformity and courts ruling differently across the country based on "states rights"... and of course the Supreme Court (which started us down this path, with no case before it, in simply overturning Roe v Wade for "reasons") won't wade into this at all.

And so we have lots of heated arguments that just fan the flames of division with no real meaningful discussion on the topic. (aside: I find it weird that the most ardent pro-life advocates are the ones that want to leave it up to politicians to decide are the same people who talked about "death panels" when talking about general healthcare.  They really can play both sides when it benefits them)

And before us, we have two candidates who have differing views on how to solve this.  On the one side you have Kamala who believes we should live in the 21st century, and women should have a right to choose. She would like to make it a uniform, national standard. 

On the other side, you have the orange menace, who clearly has no real opinion because it doesn't affect him, personally.  But, the authors of "project 2025" have made clear that they have an opinion and HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN an executive order for Trump to sign early in his tenure in office - and the authors have gone on record as saying they know he will sign over 100 such orders that are already written, in those early days.

When Trump tells you that he wouldn't sign any legislation that outlaws abortion, he might be telling the truth.  This is NOT legislation.  This is him acting as a king in doing the bidding of a small group that fundamentally wants to shape the nation without consulting the legislature or the courts (so much for checks and balances!) 

The way they plan to do this is to essentially enforce the Comstock Act of 1873.  The act lists out obscene materials and abortion-related items, and specifically says they can not be mailed. They are saying that the shipping of items related to abortion is covered under the mail provision.  And enforcement means that no equipment used for abortion may be sent to any clinic or hospital.

Of course, they are operating with a broadsword, and some equipment used for abortion is also used for general women's health.  So... the outcome will be that women won't have access to medical devices and procedures unrelated to abortion that could be used in healthcare and/or to save their lives.  You've heard about women dying in parking lots in states where abortion is outlawed.  Get ready for it to happen everywhere and extend beyond pregnancy.

And oh, by the way, the prohibition would also include many contraceptives as well.  So unwanted pregnancies will go up.  And women who need hormonal control to treat other issues may simply be out of luck.

It seems to me that the way to avoid nonsense related to this is to simply vote for Kamala.  But what do I know?

And in return, you'll also avoid another 100 things that would be started through executive action - surely some of which will impact your life.