Month: October 2024

My Bags are Packed. I’m ready to Go

by earlthepearl137

If he is elected President, Donald J. Trump promised to deport people who disagree with him a.k.a. “the enemy within.”  I’m sure that can’t mean all 80 million people who will be voting for Kamala Harris, but it must include the people who openly mocked him on TV, radio, websites, and social media. That would include most of my favorite late-night comedians, especially Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon. Colin Jost and Michael Che would have to be included, too.  The list is too long to mention, but just about every comedian, with the possible exception of Dennis Miller, would probably be sent to a gulag, while they awaited deportation to someplace else in the world. Tony Hinchcliffe, a.k.a. Kill Tony, the comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally might be spared, too.

Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O’Donnell, Alex Wagner, Ari Melber, Joy Reid, Stephanie Ruhle, Al Sharpton, Ayman Mohyeldin, Jonathan Lemire, and just about everybody else at MSNBC would probably be on the list, too.  I’m sure that plenty of people at CNN, CBS, NBC, and ABC would be deported, too, especially anyone who was a moderator in any of the debates, such as Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, David Muir and Linsey Davis, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.  Of course, anyone who works as a fact-checker would go to the head of the list.

Those of us who have mocked Trump on websites and social media, but are lesser known, might have trouble getting seats on the deportation boats.  Complete unknowns like myself, might not even get steerage tickets on the early boats.  If Donald Trump is elected, I would much prefer being deported than remaining in a comedian-deprived country where the majority of its citizens would voluntarily elect a twice impeached, convicted felon and sexual predator, who not only tried to rig a Presidential election, but who, when that didn’t work, led a failed coup attempt to overthrow the government.  So, I want to plead my case for a seat on the deportation boats by offering just some of the anti-Trump cartoons I’ve circulated in recent months.

At a rally, Tucker Carlson creepily  compared Donald Trump to a stern father who would instill good behavior in his “bad girl” daughter by vigorously spanking her.  Instead of being disgusted by this image, the MAGA morons in the audience welcomed Trump to the stage with chants of “Daddy Don.”

By calling Donald Trump, Grandpa Poopie Pants, I was, of course, referring to the time the Donald shit his pants on the golf course.

I have also made fun of him for being the stooge for various dictators around the world.

At his rallies, when he’s not droning on about windmills killing whales, birds, and everything else, he drones on about sharks attacking electric boats.  Now, he’s come up with a new story about how Arnold Palmer was well hung.  So, I countered:

Political cartoonists were soon joining in.

I made fun of his McDonald’s photo op:

The “Stable genius” obviously didn’t know that Hitler’s generals tried to assassinate him.

His court cases and guilty verdicts on 34 felony charges were also worth poking fun at.

He said that nobody leaves his rallies early and proved it by stranding his cult members in the desert.

Hundreds of Trump supporters also found themselves stranded, but this time in prison, after they gleefully accepted Trump’s advocation to storm the Capital and fight like hell.

FILE PHOTO: Tear gas is released into a crowd of protesters, with one wielding a Confederate battle flag that reads “Come and Take It,” during clashes with Capitol police at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

Trump’s teachers were not very impressed by his intellect.

Neither was Nancy Pelosi.

We all know that he has tacky taste.

But decorating his guest bathroom with stolen classified documents was too much.

So, Ol’ Bone Spurs wants to be the Commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed forces again.

But hundreds of people who worked in his administration have spoken out against him ever being anywhere near the Oval Office again.  I know that his former V.P. Mike Pence won’t be voting for him.

The only thing he is good at is branding.  He managed to squeeze a fortune out of his cult followers with Mug shot merchandise.

But now it’s time to see which way the wind blows on Election Day.

Will I wind up being deported, or will he wind up going to jail?

Peace and Love, and all of the above,

Earl

The Way of Gratitude*

by earlthepearl137

Maya stretched lazily in her garden hammock after returning from the morning’s Star Circle gathering. The community center’s dome-shaped ceiling had been especially beautiful today, its smart-glass panels shifting to show a real-time view of the cosmic particles constantly passing through Earth – a reminder of humanity’s connection to the cosmos that never failed to fill her with wonder.

At forty-six, she was entering her third “retirement,” and this transition felt different from the others. When the medical diagnostic AI had perfected its ability to spot cellular anomalies, ending her career as a pathologist, she’d discovered the Way of Cosmic Wonder. The community had helped her see her career transition not just as an economic shift, but as part of humanity’s greater evolution.

Her first retirement check – society’s way of saying thank you for maintaining that position until automation could take over – had coincided with her first Wonder Ceremony. Standing before the community, she’d presented her understanding of how the same atomic elements that made up her cells had been forged in ancient stars. The parallel between her own transformation and the cosmic cycles of change had brought tears to her eyes.

The automated delivery drone buzzing overhead reminded her of her second career transition. She’d spent eight fascinating years helping design empathy protocols for caregiving robots, until those too had evolved beyond the need for human input. Another partial salary was added to her monthly income, and this time, she’d marked the transition with a Legacy Celebration – not of life’s end, but of a career well-served. The community had gathered in the garden amphitheater, sharing stories of how human empathy had guided machine learning to be more compassionate.

Her neighbor Tom waved from his front porch where he was tending to an elaborate hydroponic garden – his passion project since the automated vertical farms had taken over most food production. He’d been one of the first to benefit from the Automation Gratitude Act of 2042, back when he was a truck driver. Now he supplied half the neighborhood with heirloom tomatoes and taught gardening classes at the community center’s seasonal celebrations. His Winter Solstice workshops on indoor growing had become a beloved tradition.

The transition hadn’t always been smooth. Maya remembered the heated debates in the 2030s when the first wave of AI had begun displacing workers. But then something remarkable happened: the Way of Cosmic Wonder had emerged alongside the economic changes, helping people see automation not as a threat, but as part of humanity’s evolution toward higher purposes. The movement’s emphasis on evidence-based understanding had helped people embrace the change while maintaining their sense of human value and community connection.

The corporate world had transformed too. Companies still competed fiercely, but now within the ethical framework of the Cosmic Wonder principles. The most successful enterprises were those that had mastered both “graceful automation” and community integration. Many had built their own Star Circles, where employees and AI systems collaborated while contemplating humanity’s place in the universe.

Maya smiled as she watched a group of teenagers heading to the neighborhood maker space, wearing the spiral symbols of the Way on their recycled fabric clothes. They would never know the old anxiety about choosing the “right” career that would last a lifetime. Instead, they grew up understanding that their lives would be a series of contributions and transitions, each valued and rewarded by society, each a step in humanity’s collective growth.

Her AI assistant gently reminded her about the community council meeting that evening. They were voting on proposals for using the neighborhood’s automation dividend – the excess wealth generated by the AI systems that now did most of the traditional work. Maya had an exciting proposal: combining the community’s gratitude payments to fund a new kind of art center, where humans and AIs would collaborate to create works expressing the wonder of existence.

As she prepared for the meeting, she noticed the blue dot symbol on her tablet – the community’s reminder of Earth’s precious uniqueness. The economic security provided by the Gratitude Economy had allowed the Way of Cosmic Wonder to flourish, giving people time to contemplate their place in the universe and contribute to humanity’s growth in meaningful ways.

The council meeting would begin, as always, with a moment of cosmic meditation – contemplating the vast scales of space and time that had led to this moment. Maya thought about how different this was from the dystopian futures people had feared. Instead of machines taking everything, humanity had found a way to combine technological progress with spiritual growth, creating a society where both material needs and deeper human yearnings could be fulfilled.

The evening’s discussion would include the latest initiative: integrating the Gratitude Economy’s retirement ceremonies with the Way’s traditional rites of passage. Maya’s own next transition would be marked not just by a new income stream, but by a Union Celebration – a commitment to use her growing financial security to serve the community’s highest goals.

As the sun set, painting the sky in colors that even the most advanced AI still couldn’t fully appreciate, Maya felt profoundly grateful. This, she thought, was the true gift of their age – not just freedom from want, but the opportunity to wonder, to grow, and to contribute to humanity’s journey among the stars.

End of Chapter one.

* Many futuristic stories I read are about dystopian societies. I asked Claude3, my AI assistant to work with me on writing a positive story of the future where people get a pension when automation takes over their job. They move to another job where they are encouraged to find ways to automate that job using AI, and are then rewarded with an additional pension when they achieve success. So, instead of AI taking away a person’s livelihood, it provides an ever increasing income stream as they go from job to job, making the world a better place, where AI does most of the work providing income and more leisure time for people to enjoy themselves and follow their dreams.

As John Lennon said, “Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.”

Peace & Love and all of the above,

Earl

No Tax on Tips – Misdirection Part II

by earlthepearl137

In my last article, I wrote about how Donald Trump is promising “No taxes on tips” as a means to gain votes and ultimately as an excuse to fire the new IRS auditors who were hired to investigate multi-millionaires and large corporations.

That’s just one of the reasons billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk are campaigning for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. Peter Thiel is also in favor of tearing up the Constitution, which Donald Trump is in favor of doing. So, a Trump victory would be a double victory for him. Musk already is one of the richest people in the world, but he also stands to increase his wealth by getting government contracts. So his giving away $1,000,000 a day to people who sign his petition and support Trump is just a misdirection to hide the many billions of dollars he expects Trump to bestow upon him through Government contracts.

I said before that Donald Trump doesn’t care about tip employees.  He’s only working on a plan to make the rich richer.  I did a little more research and found that it’s even worse than I thought.  In 2017, while he was President, the Trump administration proposed a rule that would allow employers to legally take workers’ tips if those workers earned at least minimum wage.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reported in 2017 that, if Trump’s proposal became law, Employers would pocket $5.8 billion in tips annually.  The rule would affect not just restaurant workers but all tipped workers (nail salon workers, casino dealers, barbers, etc.) So, under Trump, tipped workers would actually lose $5.8 billion in tips annually. That number could actually be much higher as tips are often under-reported.

Trump wants tipped employees to think he is putting money in their pockets, while, in reality, he would be picking their pockets. He disguises it to look like he cares for others. He really doesn’t.

Don’t let Donald Trump pick your pocket. Make the rich pay their fair share of taxes.

Vote Harris/Walz this November.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl

The Magic of Misdirection

by earlthepearl137

There’s an old joke that goes like this:

Juan comes up to the U.S./Mexican border on his bicycle. He has two very large bags over his shoulders. The American guard stops him and says, “What’s in the bags?”

“Just sand,” answered Juan.

The guard says, “We’ll just see about that. Get off the bike.” The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags. The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man’s shoulders, and lets him cross the border.

A day later, the same thing happens. The guard asks, “What have you got?”

“More sand,” says Juan.

The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.

This sequence of events is repeated every day for three years. Finally, one day, Juan doesn’t show up.  It also happens, that this day turns out to be the guard’s last day of work before he retires.  He is frustrated that he never solved this case, and he just has to know what Juan’s been doing all these years, so, after work, he goes to a few bars in Mexico until he finally finds Juan.

“Hey, Buddy,” says the guard, “I retired today, so I won’t do anything to you, but I just know you were smuggling something these last three years. It’s driving me crazy. It’s all I can think about….. I can’t sleep, and I’d like to retire with some peace of mind. Just between you and me, please tell me what you were smuggling.”

Juan took a sip of his beer and casually said, “Bicycles.”

The sandbags in the joke were used for misdirection.  It wasn’t so much smuggling that Juan was doing.  It was magic through misdirection.

Recently, Donald Trump has been running a lot of ads where he pronounces that if he becomes President again, he will eliminate all taxes on tips.  This is good news for waiters, waitresses, barmen, barmaid, bellhops, cabbies, and everyone else who works for low wages and depends upon tips.  I had to ask myself, though, “Why is Trump making so much of this?”  He’s a man who only thinks of himself.  So, what’s in it for him?  I saw the trick, but what was the magic involved?  Where was the misdirection, and, especially, where was his trademark fear?

Trump focuses his campaign on fear.  He says that if Harris wins, there will be World War III, there will be a 1929-style depression, and illegal immigrants will kill you and your family, eat your dog, and take your home and your jobs.  He said the same things would happen if Biden was elected in 2020.  He plays on fear, and fear of non-white immigrants is his specialty.  He got elected in 2016, by promising to build a wall across the entire southern border.  It worked then.  It got him elected, and, since he never actually built the wall, he is still able to campaign on the same issue.  He will say or do anything to make his base fear immigrants.  “They’re eating your pets,” he tells them, and he, and only he, can and will be their protector. 

Where was the “fear factor” in declaring that he will stop taxing tips, though?  It was actually such a popular “concept” that Kamala Harris quickly supported the idea herself, and said her Administration would not tax tips, either.

So, let me play Penn & Teller, who had a television program where they showed you how magic tricks were performed, and I’ll explain the magic trick.

In 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to pass a bill that, in part, gave money to the Internal Revenue Service.

Speaking in Las Vegas, Trump told his followers: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new I.R.S. agents to go after your tip income.”  Two days later, Trump ran an ad that said, “Harris and Biden have literally unleashed the I.R.S. to harass workers who receive tips.”

Frequently during his rallies, especially when talking about one of his court cases, he tells the audience, “They are coming for YOU, but I am in their way.”  He, and only he, can and will be the great protector for his followers against the evil “Them.”  There’s the fear factor.  He told the multitude of people in Las Vegas, who work for tips, that Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote to bolster the I.R.S. and now the I.R.S. is coming after all those workers who haven’t been declaring all their tips for tax purposes.  He is the only one standing up for his followers against “Them.”  Kamala even wants to increase the number of I.R.S. agents.  If Trump wins the election, he promises to drastically reduce the number of I.R.S. agents.

Ah, there’s the rub. That’s the misdirection.

In 2023, the I.R.S. did use money from the Inflation Reduction Act to pay for 13,661 positions, including 495 for enforcement.  From 2024 to 2030, the agency expects to hire about 32,500 more for enforcement.

That seems to prove Trump’s point.  Magically prove it.  But here’s the tricky part.

The I.R.S. has been focusing on enforcement against large corporations and wealthy taxpayers.  Since the law passed in 2022, the I.R.S. has collected more than $1 billion from high-wealth taxpayers.  They are not targeting the chump change in your tip jar.  They are going after the big bucks, the ultra-rich corporations and the people who refuse to pay their fair share of taxes.  They are not coming after you.  They ARE coming after Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, the chief contributor to J.D. Vance, Rupert Murdock, and the Fortune 500 companies which pay lower income tax rates than the average high-school teacher.

Donald Trump is not your protector.  He is certainly not standing between your tip jar and the I.R.S.  He is trying to get you to protect him.  Vote for him and he will fire half the I.R.S. agents on Day One.  He’ll be glad to do it.  The only thing that will make him happier on Day One is pardoning himself for any and all the crimes he’s committed.

According to the U.S. Constitution, billionaires like Pay Pal founders Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Rupert Murdoch can’t become President, because they were not born in the United States.  Musk was born in South Africa. Thiel was born in Germany, and Murdoch was born in Australia.  They can, however, use their vast media enterprises, social networks, and resources to try to buy the election for a not-so-smart aging white guy who can easily be flattered into tearing up that Constitution and happily cutting taxes for the rich and the restless once again.

We, the People of the United States, need to protect our Constitution and our country.  We need to keep Donald Trump and his ilk as far away from the Oval Office as possible.  We need to elect Harris/Walz in November.

Peace & Love, and all of the above,

Earl