Tag Archives: YouTube personalities

Duggars, law, mental health, money, narcissists, Reality TV, YouTube

No amount of money is worth your dignity and self-respect…

Happy hump day, y’all. I wasn’t planning to write about the Duggars again today, but I saw Katie Joy’s recent video about fallout in the Duggar Family over Jill Duggar’s book. You can read my review of Counting the Cost by clicking here. I wanted to add a few of my own thoughts about what allegedly went down in the Duggar compound regarding Jill’s “bombshell” book. But first, here’s a link to Katie Joy’s video, from her channel, Without a Crystal Ball.

I don’t know how much of this information is 100 percent accurate, although based on Jim Bob’s long established behaviors, I have a feeling there’s probably a lot of truth to this report…

Jim Bob Duggar has gone through quite a tough few years. Less than a decade ago, he was seemingly on top of the world, with a successful reality TV show and huge brood of camera ready children who were ripe for marriage and starting their own families. Yes, people criticized him, and his way of life. But he was making a lot of money on the show and the many rental properties it enabled him to buy, rent out, or fix up and sell.

Of course, it turned out Jim Bob’s seemingly squeaky clean Christian kingdom was built on a swamp full of the worst kinds of sins and lies. Once the stench from the swamp leaked out from under his Tinkertoy Mansion in Tontitown, the kingdom started to crumble. With every passing year since that day in May 2015, when the world learned about what Josh did in 2002, things seem to have gotten worse for Jim Bob. And now, if we’re to believe Katie Joy’s reporting– which I know some people don’t– it looks like Jim Bob is starting to panic. He’s allegedly resorting to threats and harassment to keep his massive family in line.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think Jim Bob is much of a Christian. I say that, even as I admit that I’m also not much of a Christian. Everything I ever learned about Christ painted him as an endlessly kind, humane, loving, gentle, decent, and service oriented person. Jesus Christ was not the type of person who aspired to be rich, powerful, or in control of anyone. He preached goodness, service, and kindness. And everything I’ve seen and read about Jim Bob makes me think that when he does do anything for anyone, it comes with many strings attached. Most of the “Christian” behavior I see from him is very much about image. It’s all surface oriented stuff designed to deceive.

I don’t know how accurate Katie Joy’s comments are regarding Jim Bob’s reactions to Jill’s book. However, based on what Jill wrote in her book– and I do believe her— I have a feeling that Jim Bob has threatened his children. According to Katie Joy’s video, posted above, Jim Bob has told his children that if any of them comment about Jill’s book or support it, he will disinherit them. And since Jill’s book dropped, there have been a couple of videos put out by Jessa Seewald and Joy Anna Forsyth, seemingly to distract the public from their sister’s book. They address some of the things Jill claimed in the book, such as the ban on dancing, the focus on the IBLP, and Jim Bob’s hoarding of monetary resources.

In the most recent videos by Joy Anna, her daughter, Evelyn, is shown dancing with joy with her brother, Gideon. She also said that she and her husband, and their children, are out of the IBLP. I don’t know if they are or not, although the IBLP is more of a belief system than a specific church. I also notice that they use music that has a drum beat. This was something Jill stated that was not allowed in their house when they were growing up. I see she has her kids in swimming lessons, and the older boy, Gideon, is swimming in normal trunks rather than “Wholesome Wear”. I like Joy Anna. She has a beautiful family, and she’s always seemed pretty normal to me, as Duggars go.

The day before Jill’s book came out, Jessa and Ben announced their fifth child is on the way. I like Jessa, too… She also has a beautiful family. At the end of their most recent video, they are shown on vacation in Florida, as they leave their kids with Michelle for a few days. I see Jessa and Jana are wearing pants, and Jessa is on the beach, not wearing a regular bathing suit, but not wearing Wholesome Wear, as they famously did when the reality show was on television.

So all of this seems to be making it seem like the Duggars are more “normal” now, and Jill’s book was exaggerating how things were when they were growing up. Except there’s a literal video history of how the Duggars did things. Yes, it was well edited, scripted, and whitewashed, but it’s still out there. And we’ve seen how Jim Bob acted when Josh was in court. He actually had the audacity to try to tell the judge what to do when he was testifying. According to the link:

According to People, when Jim Bob was asked to read the police report, he called it “tabloid information” and said to Judge Timothy L. Brooks, “I’m not going to allow it, are you going to allow for that?”

Apparently, the judge didn’t take too kindly to that, because he replied, “If there is [an] objection to be made, someone will make it but it won’t be you.”

That’s just one relatively recent example of Jim Bob trying to be in charge when it wasn’t appropriate for him to try to be in charge. And it’s pretty common knowledge that it comes to his children and grandchildren, Jim Bob believes that he is the Grand Poobah of all things. The idea of disinheriting one’s adult children when they behave in a displeasing way is certainly nothing new. I used to read a lot of “exMormon lit” and I’ve followed the Recovery from Mormonism message board for many years. I’ve read countless stories of people disinheriting and/or disowning their children over their decisions to leave the religion or do something that isn’t pleasing to their parents. So it certainly is within the realm of possibility that Jim Bob has told his children they’d better stay in line, or he’ll cut them off financially and disown them.

In fact, Jill even brings this up in her book:

Yes, we allotted, at different times, amounts to our children, for tax purposes, because each one of our children were benefiting from having all of their needs met (food, clothing, shelter, utilities, music lessons, education, travel, instruments, vehicles, phones, medical insurance, medical bills, etc.). Here are some low numbers of what was approximately spent on Jill in the last few years:

Apartment rate rent $750 x 24 months=$18,000

Utilities discounted $600 x 36=$21,600

Midwife education $5,000

Honda Pilot $9,000

Harp $15,000

Furniture $5,000 (If you don’t want the furniture, we will buy it back after 4 years of use for $3,000.)

Cell phone @ $50 x 120 months=$6,000

Car insurance $50 per month x 8 years=$4,800

Vehicle fuel (8 years) x $50/month= $4,800

Eating out $100/month with family debit card for 8 years=$9,600

Clothes & Goodwill on family debit cards $1,000 per year x 8 years=$8,000

Eating at home $3 per day x 12 years=$13,140

Gift to Dillard Family Ministries $10,000 (You paid yourself a salary from this, stated there was only $1,200 left when you closed it out, so you must have eventually received it. You can refund this ministry gift, and we will give it to you directly if you want us to.)

$129,940 is just the beginning of Jill’s expenses paid by Duggar family over the last several years. Most of this was made and spent on Jill before you two were married. Also, taking into account many other ways that we have spent money to help you all, for example, installing the AC in your home to El Salvador, the stove, the washing machine, etc. The total on Jill’s tax returns was $130,250. We would be willing to write a check for $20,000 to settle this once and for all.

Jill, when Mom and I pass on, you are set to receive 1/19th of everything we own that is set up in a trust for you kids.

If you attack us, probably your inheritance will be lowered significantly.

I love you, but I am grieved by the disrespect and the accusations that continue.

I have asked for forgiveness, and I hope that you will also, you have deeply offended your mother and I.

We love you and forgive you for the things you have said & done.

$20,000 is a one-time offer, take it or leave it, please let me know by Monday night, or the amount will be zero.

Love, Daddy Duggar

Duggar, Jill. Counting the Cost (pp. 218-219). Gallery Books. Kindle Edition.

The above passage is regarding Jill’s and Derick’s questions about the $130,000 Jim Bob reported that they were paid for being the reality show. They never saw any of that money, but it was reported to the IRS. So Jim Bob justifies what he did by saying that he paid for things on Jill’s behalf… including things that he was responsible for paying, since she was a minor at the time. Then he threatens to disown her, claiming that she’s been disrespectful to him and has “deeply offended” him and Michelle. Never once is it mentioned that Jill presented Jim Bob with a bill for all of the chores she did, to include practically raising several of her siblings, helping to build Jim Bob and Michelle’s house, cooking and cleaning, and the actual labor of being on a reality TV show.

This was when Jill and Derick hired a lawyer to represent their interests. That’s when the shit hit the fan:

Pops went ballistic.

First, he hit the phone. There were texts and voicemails and calls every day, but in none of them did he give the answers we requested. Instead he was calling for us to get things resolved, to move on and work things out. We told him that we wanted to do that too, and that all he had to do was communicate through our attorney, with the information requested.

He didn’t.

Then came the next wave, a consolidated effort from several of my siblings. They hit the phones, sending voicemails and texts all day long, each one pleading with us to get this resolved. When that didn’t work, some of my siblings started visiting. They’d want to spend hours talking it through, trying to figure out what our problem was and why we weren’t doing what Pops wanted. I felt obligated to at least hear them out and show them we cared by listening. I could just about cope with the daytime visits, but when they wanted to stay up until midnight talking with Derick and me, when Derick had law school exams the next day, we finally told them no.

“What? How come you won’t talk?” they’d say. “This is way more important than law school.”

Duggar, Jill. Counting the Cost (pp. 220-221). Gallery Books. Kindle Edition.

What I’d like to tell the Duggar children, though, is that no amount of money is worth your dignity and self-respect. Especially if you’re claiming to be a Christian and trying to influence other people to follow your example. Christ wasn’t about money at all.

Moreover, Jim Bob’s wealth is certainly not what it once was. The younger Duggars and their spouses are probably better off focusing on building their own wealth, rather than “counting on” (see what I did there?) inheriting a lot of money from “Daddy Duggar”. By the time he dies, there may not be much left. There are lots of legal bills to be paid, and not so many people are interested in hearing Ma and Pa Duggar speak anymore.

I think inheritances can be a real burden, anyway. I’m kind of glad I was born into a family where there isn’t a lot of money to go around. I’ve never felt like I had to live my life according to my parents’ wishes, at least not once I became an adult. Once I got married and established my own household, they mostly left me alone. Or, at least my mom did. I don’t have any expectation of inheriting anything, so I don’t feel burdened to try to kiss anyone’s ass. I’d much rather be free to do what I want to do with my life.

I guess the bigger deal, besides the money, is the prospect of being disowned. I realize that’s not an easy thing to ponder, either. My husband was temporarily disowned by one of his daughters, and has apparently been permanently disowned by his older daughter. As a result of their behaviors when Bill went to war in Iraq (in 2007), they are not currently named in our wills. When we eventually update the wills, younger daughter probably will inherit whatever we have. She has a relationship with us. Older daughter can inherit whatever Ex and #3 leave for her and her other siblings. But I don’t expect it to be a big deal anyway, because Bill and I don’t have a lot of money or property, and I don’t see that changing much.

Younger daughter has her own family and her own money. We don’t tell her how to live her life, and she doesn’t condemn us for her father’s divorce from her mother and his decision to leave Mormonism. She also understands that the divorce was absolutely necessary; I wasn’t the cause of it; and Bill never had any intention of being out of her life for so many years. The “disowning” was solely her mother’s idea. Jim Bob Duggar and Ex have a lot in common, actually… right down to controlling their children with threats, other family members, religion, and money. Trump is kind of the same way, too… I imagine the only reason Melania is still hanging around him is because she’s been threatened into compliance. This is a very common thing among narcissistic, hyper-controlling types. Once you’ve experienced it and escaped, it’s very easy to spot.

Bill and I can speak from vast personal experience that shitcanning toxic, controlling, narcissistic people is a pathway to peace and joy. We’ve been broke before, thanks to Ex. Eventually the broke time in our lives passed. She grows ever more pathetic, while we thrive and enjoy living lives on our own terms. It’s a beautiful thing!

What would happen if the Duggar adult kids en masse simply decided to REFUSE to comply? Would Jim Bob cut all of them off? Would he sue them all? What would that do to his image? I think Jim Bob needs his children much more than they need him. And while I certainly don’t cheer for family strife, I do applaud anyone who manages to break free from narcissistic abuse and control freakery and lives their lives on their own terms.

I’m sure Jim Bob is scared. He’s getting older and that kingdom he built is falling apart. A natural part of getting older is loss, and I sense that he fears losing… everything from money, influence, power, and even his own life or Michelle’s. So he’s trying hard to hang on to his power by threatening his children with disowning and disinheritance. It’s nasty, and not Christ-like behavior at all! So I am rooting for the children– at least the ones with a clue– to rebel and get out of that cult. Life is much better when you’re free to live it the way YOU want to live it. And that goes for anyone reading this.

/sermon is now over. 😀

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music, politics, Virginia, YouTube

Rich Men North of Richmond… a sad song about a guy’s sorry life in the South…

Yesterday, just after I recorded three new old jazz songs on YouTube, I read about yet another right wing anthem taking the United States by storm. I took notice when I heard the title… “Rich Men North of Richmond.” I grew up in Virginia and was born south of Richmond myself. Not far south of there, mind you… but I think I still count as a southerner.

I learned more about the song, written by a guy named Oliver Anthony who comes from Farmville, Virginia, the very same town where I went to college. People say he’s singing the truth. I caught a snippet of his performance, noting his bushy red beard and the instrument he plays. It looks like a resonator, which is basically a combination of a guitar and a dobro.

I’m reminded a little of Sandy Cheeks’ Texas blues when I listen to Oliver Anthony’s song about his sad life in America…

The reactions to Anthony’s song have been mixed. Lots of people like it, because they’re conservatives, and they think the politicians of the Republican Party are the answer to fixing America. Other people think it’s yet another “dog whistle” to rile up working class people who think rich elites are causing all their problems… along with fat people on welfare. What I can’t understand, though, is why people like Oliver Anthony think people like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and the rest of that gang are going to help him or his ilk. Donald Trump is the POSTER CHILD for rich wealthy men from north of Richmond. Why is Trump better than Joe Biden?

I might have been much more sympathetic to Anthony’s song if he hadn’t included those cheap, insulting lines about obese people on welfare. Even if obese people, living in a food desert, are eating “fudge rounds” on tax dollars, it’s not their fault the working poor are having trouble getting ahead.

I don’t think people like Donald Trump have any true empathy for guys like Oliver… Trump just wants to be in power and he wants to get rid of taxes so that he and his buddies can stay as wealthy as possible. But sorry, Oliver and friends, taxes are required to pay for things like infrastructure, roads and bridges, police and fire protection, teachers in public schools, and those folks who work in government entities and keep things running.

If American people think taxes are high in the United States, they should try living in Europe. In spite of the higher taxes, though, I can tell you, living in Europe has its advantages, because people here don’t have to worry about being bankrupted when they get sick, and they don’t start their young lives hamstrung by shitloads of student loans at extortionate interest rates. I have also seen firsthand how taxes provide people over here with some pretty nice things, including plenty of maternity and paternity leave, paid time off for vacations, and social safety nets that help people when they need it (though not indefinitely).

No, Europe is not a perfect place to be, and the taxes are a burden, but it’s pretty fucking nice… and having experienced it firsthand, I can’t say that I’m eager to go back to the United States, and listen to ignorant people like Oliver Anthony whining in songs that have only three or four chords in them, as their redneck friends and fans cheer them on. I can relate to working hard for low pay. I’ve done it myself. And I can relate to being frustrated by wealthy elites who don’t care and just want to get richer. I actually think Oliver was on the right path, until he threw people on welfare under the bus.

I really do think Oliver’s song would be much better if he took out the part about welfare… because it’s ignorant and offensive, and it simplifies a complex problem. People on welfare are really NOT the reason why people like him are being “kept down”. In spite of the many anecdotal legends of welfare queens out there, it’s actually not so easy for people to qualify for welfare, and people who get it have to prove they need it. It’s also a time limited benefit, and has been for a few decades now.

It’s true that a lot of poor people are fat. But a lot of them get fat because good food– at least in the United States– is expensive to buy, takes time and energy to prepare, and often requires more than a microwave. Good food spoils quickly and often needs to be refrigerated. Refrigerators cost money; electricity costs money; and it costs money to rent a place to keep the fridge. And out there in rural America, it can take awhile for a person without transportation to get themselves to a decent supermarket.

Or, hell, people in inner cities can’t necessarily get to a good market with affordable prices, because that requires transportation… so, they end up buying burritos at convenience stores, or whatever. Like I said, it’s a complicated problem. Obesity, in and of itself, is a medical problem, often caused by potentially serious psychiatric issues like clinical depression, eating disorders, and anxiety.

Sometimes people overeat when they are enduring a history of abuse (including sexual), and subconsciously trying to make themselves less sexually attractive to other people. Just like Oliver “drowns his troubles” after a hard day’s work, many people eat to soothe themselves. For some folks, eating those “tax supported fudge rounds” are the one bright spot in a series of difficult days. If it were easy for people to lose weight, many more people would do it. Being fat is no fun.

Incidentally, I notice that just before he complains about fat people on welfare eating tax purchased fudge rounds, Mr. Anthony sings about coming home from work and “drowning” his troubles away. Sounds like he might have a drinking problem. Should we shit all over him for that? Because if he wasn’t buying booze, he’d have more money to make a better life for himself, right? But pointing that out might make me sound “controlling”… as if I don’t know what that feels like, ever since right wingers decided that females can’t decide for themselves about whether or not they want to be pregnant. Besides, alcoholism and other addictions are legitimate diseases, not simply moral failings of “bad people” who choose not to control themselves.

If Oliver does have a drinking problem, he should be able to seek out competent medical help for it, shouldn’t he? But he probably can’t or won’t, because it would cost money he doesn’t have… or, more likely, he doesn’t want someone else telling him what to do, or trying to limit his “right” to get loaded on liquor he probably bought at a state run ABC store. Because he lives in the “land of the free”… what a total crock of shit.

What good is freedom if you can’t enjoy it? What good is freedom when the water and air are dirty, people are unhealthy and uneducated, and every minor setback leads to more time spent at the bottom of society? What good is freedom when you have to work all the time, even when you’re sick? What good is freedom if you can’t get affordable medical care when you need it, so you can function at your best and enjoy your life to the fullest?

Oliver also laments that people care more about “minors” on an island than miners… BUT… conservatives want to force people to gestate, which will result in many more minors, some of whom will then be at risk of being exploited by people like Jeffrey Epstein… and his friend, Donald Trump (who visited that island Oliver Anthony alludes to). Yes, miners should be looked after, as all citizens should, but mining is an industry that destroys the planet for everyone. It’s time we evolved beyond mining, so that we don’t go extinct sooner, rather than later.

It’s interesting that Oliver Anthony is singing this song of lament about life in America, but he probably identifies with flag waving guys like Jason Aldean. I’m sure he never misses the chance to sing along with anthems like “God Bless the USA”. I don’t think Democrats are Oliver Anthony’s enemy. I think people who vote against their own interests are their own worst enemies. And I think Oliver and his pals should take a few minutes to educate themselves before they start whinging about high taxes and obese people on welfare.

To me, it just comes across as a lot of ignorance and a complete lack of empathy or self-awareness. And it reminds me that a lot of Americans never look beyond what’s about five feet in front of them. The pandemic has been a GLOBAL problem, and it’s caused issues for people all over the world, from high gas prices to shortages on basic goods. So yes, inflation is a problem in the USA, but it’s also a problem everywhere else. People outside of rural America suffered through lockdowns, too… and in some places, the lockdowns were WAY worse. Try looking at what happened in China.

I do get why people have responded to Oliver Anthony’s simple song of frustration. Things have been difficult for these past few years. The pandemic didn’t help, nor did the global shortage of labor and goods, which– again– has caused inflation all over the world, not just in the USA. I just don’t think most people think for very long about the real causes of these issues, or the fact that other people in the world suffer, just as they do. They just support the person who sounds like they speak to them, present what sounds like easy solutions to very complex problems, and make promises that they can’t or won’t keep. Trump says things that spin them up… but then he doesn’t do jack shit that helps them. He’s a malignant narcissist, and narcissists have no honor. Instead, Trump lines his own pockets and those of his powerful buddies… many of whom are rich men from south of Richmond.

I will say this, though… Oliver Anthony certainly isn’t a bad singer, and he can play his instrument. He looks like Beau of the Fifth Column, too. Maybe he should watch some of Beau’s videos on YouTube and get an actual clue, then write another song that is a little more in touch with reality.

Below are the lyrics for “Rich Men North of Richmond”…

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay
So I can sit out here and waste my life away
Drag back home and drown my troubles away

It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat
And the obese milkin’ welfare

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down

Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t shit and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay

Yeah, I hear you, Oliver. But complaining about it in a song isn’t going to help you in the long run. Wising up and voting accordingly will. And that doesn’t even necessarily mean voting blue. It means voting for decent people who actually give a shit about something other than themselves and what’s in their bank accounts. I will admit, though, that those people seem few and far between in our country. Too many people have bought into the personality cult championed by the MAGA crowd. They are going to be on the wrong side of history, at best… or dead or in prison at worst. I hope Oliver decides to be part of the solution instead of spreading more negativity to the masses through his formidable musical talent.

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communication, law, mental health, Police, true crime, YouTube

I’m ORDERING you to RELAX right NOW!!!

It’s Friday, and that means it’s PARTY time! Well… not really. Bill and I aren’t big partiers. But there will be a special fest in our little village this weekend. It starts tonight and will consist of live music, a wine stand, AND a beer stand! There will also be a food truck. Hopefully, it will stop raining, so we can enjoy the fun and stay dry.

This week, I’ve been watching more cop videos on YouTube. The ones that end up on YouTube are usually somewhat interesting on some level. Like, the uploaders aren’t going to just put up a video of someone getting a speeding ticket without complaint. Most of the videos that make it to YouTube involve some misbehavior or attitude of some sort.

I have a few favorite body cam channels. I like the ones where there’s a good narrator, even if the narrator is AI. If the AI isn’t super obvious, I don’t mind it that much. I just like a good story, although some of the stories are tragic. Code Blue Cam usually has good body cam videos and a compelling storyline. Their most recent upload is quite the doozy. Just a warning… this video is definitely NSFW, mainly due to the extremely profane language the woman uses as she’s being busted for DUI. I’d share it here, but it’s age restricted.

One of Code Blue Cams less “adult” videos… I offer it just for the sake of an example.

The below video comes from Real World Police, which is another one of my favorite YouTube body cam channels. As I was watching it, I had to pause and ponder…

This dude is very profane, and it’s clear the cops aren’t on his side. They order him to “calm down”.

In the above video, the older man is very upset as he’s speaking to the police officers. He uses a lot of foul language. One of the cops says, “Calm down!” And it occurred to me, when I’m upset and someone orders me to “calm down”, it usually has the opposite effect. I asked my friends on Facebook if they are ever able to calm down when someone orders them to calm down. Almost everyone responded with a resounding “NO!”, including my former shrink– a psychologist with over 50 years of experience. He said, “It doesn’t work for anyone.”

Please note… I’m not talking about speaking to someone calmly and encouraging them to calm down. I’m talking about ORDERING them to calm down. I see this all the time in the cop videos. The police are wrestling someone to the ground, screaming at them to “stop resisting”, “calm down”, “don’t pull away”, and my personal favorite, “RELAX!” Yeah, I’m gonna relax with guys in uniforms with guns, tasers, pepper spray, and handcuffs are screaming at me and my adrenaline is pumping. Not.

I liken the order to “relax” and “calm down” by police as the same as a gynecologist telling someone to relax while they have their fingers in one of their patients’ orifices. I’m sorry if that’s shocking to some readers, but in all seriousness. One of the main reasons I’ve only had two exams done in my 51 years of life is because when I had my first “female” exam, the doctor was awful and ordered me to relax as she was hurting me. When she hurt me, I cried out, and almost fainted. She basically told me to shut up, or she wouldn’t finish the exam. I needed the exam to join the Peace Corps, so I gritted my teeth.

Then, when the OB-GYN from Hell finished the exam, she said “Well, everything looked okay, but I didn’t get the world’s best exam, because you weren’t relaxed.” Duh… I wasn’t sexually active; it was my first time getting an exam; and she was hurting me in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. And then to add insult to injury, she fat shamed me, too. 😉 How relaxing! NOT. As you can see, that experience really had a traumatic effect on me.

Dang… this one was filmed in Fayetteville, Georgia. Bill and I lived there for about sixteen months after our last Germany stint ended in 2009. I liked that town. The house we lived in was on 8 acres and it was super private! The house in this video is owned by Rick Ross, the rapper. There are many mansions in Fayetteville, Georgia.

The woman in the above video– name of Precious– is completely out of touch with reality. She asks the cops to let her walk “sexy” as she’s wearing handcuffs. She claims she’s pregnant with Rick Ross’s twins and is his wife. She also says she’s a model. This video is pretty funny, too, because as I mentioned in the above caption, I used to live in Fayetteville, Georgia, where this video was taken. This brings back some good memories for me. I did enjoy living in Fayetteville, but that was before Trump fucked up small town America.

Anyway, the woman in the video isn’t relaxed, but I give kudos to the Fayetteville Police for handling her professionally. We only had one interaction with them. It was when we brought my now 14 year old Mini Cooper– then brand new– to be inspected by the police before we could register it with Fayette County and get new tags. The cop who dealt with us was very efficient and pleasant. I can see from the many cop videos on YouTube that they aren’t always that good.

Last night, for instance, I saw a video Ring of Fire did about MAGA supporter and former Obama and Trump White House physician, Ronny Jackson, who is an actual emergency room doctor, being cussed at, thrown to the ground, and cuffed. Why? Because he was trying to help a teenaged girl in medical distress at a rodeo. I’ve seen many videos where cops have seemingly endless patience and compassion. And I’ve seen other videos where they aren’t much better than the people they arrest, and in some cases, they’re even worse! I’m not saying I like Ronny Jackson is the greatest doctor, but he’s certainly qualified to help a teenager with hypoglycemia. He shouldn’t be thrown to the ground and cuffed for helping someone.

WHAT?!! Those cops need firing, now!
“You pull away from me, you’re gonna hit the tub!” How relaxing. Then the cops yells at her, while she’s hysterical. Not saying she isn’t deserving of being arrested, but the cop shouldn’t be screaming and cursing at her. It’s understandable, but not helpful.

The above video is also a good example of why our mental health system in the United States needs a complete overhaul. That woman is in need of psychiatric care. It sounds like another cop is being more gentle with her. I can understand that dealing with someone like that is very frustrating, but screaming at people doesn’t calm them down. When they arrive at the police station, you can hear the one cop screaming at her to “calm the fuck down”… but it’s really not effective at all. People who are that “amped up” are not in the frame of mind to calm down. The best you can do is put them in a safe, quiet place and wait for them to simmer down. Barring that, Ativan works pretty well… but again, you kinda need a medical person for that.

It always fascinates me to see people ordering people to relax and calm down. That sort of defies logic, doesn’t it? When people yell at me, it makes me want to respond in kind. I never calm down when someone demands it of me. All that does is piss me off anew. When I was younger, I used to get really upset and hysterical, even to the point of hyperventilating. I haven’t had a good, full-blown anxiety attack in years, though… thank God. It’s not a nice feeling. The woman in the above video, especially, needs some compassion, even though she’s clearly broken the law and needs to answer for that. I suspect she’s mentally ill, and needs care.

One of the cops in this video says she used to be a mental health counselor. I can tell. She handles panicky Ellie very compassionately (at around the 11 minutes mark), although in her case, it didn’t work out too well. She had to get “wrapped” like a burrito.

But I also know that the police, especially in the United States, have a difficult and dangerous, yet very necessary, job. It’s not work that always attracts the best and brightest, nor is the training that great, especially in some areas. It seems like cops are trained to be very authoritative, instead of de-escalating situations. One thing I have noticed over here in Europe is that cops are more interested in non-violent interactions, and they work hard to keep things peaceful, as they also keep the peace. It helps that there aren’t so many guns, here.

I’ll leave you with this old video by Beau (Justin), of Beau of the Fifth Column, who used to train law enforcement. He makes a lot of sense, and the video isn’t distressing or violent. If you watch any of the videos in this post, I highly suggest watching this one, simply because he brings up the state of mind of the person being arrested, which is an important key point that I think a lot of people miss.

Beau (aka Justin King), once again, making a lot of sense.

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rants, scams, technology, true crime, videos, YouTube

Trust me– nobody really cares if I’m looking at porn!

Today’s post has a lot more profanity in it than usual. Proceed with caution.

It’s an unusually happy Monday morning for me. You see, in just a few days, Bill and I will be taking our first flight together since November 2019. We will be jetting off to Oslo to start our long awaited and much needed vacation. I love Germany, but sometimes I long for a change of scenery. And while Scandinavia is probably not the prettiest place I’ve ever seen so far, I do know that there will be parts of this upcoming trip that will probably stun the daylights out of me. I look forward to capturing new images for my photo stream, at the very least.

But that all starts on Friday, and I still have to get through the rest of the week. Bill is teleworking for a couple of hours this morning, because he has to go see our dentist in Stuttgart and get a new crown placed. I’ve spent the first hours of my day eating breakfast, laughing about a CNN story about the war in Ukraine (not because of the actual news story, but because of the delivery of the translator), and putting together a new “cocktail” playlist, inspired by Saturday night’s dinner at a charming restaurant in a nearby wine town.

Just before I started writing today’s blog post, I had a look at the spam filter in my Outlook mailbox. And there it was… yet another “hacker” claiming that they’d targeted and infected my computer, and caught me looking at porn. I’ve seen variations of this scam many times before. I’ve even written about it.

The scam emails that have me inspired this morning aren’t the same as the one I wrote about on my original blog, nor are they just like the one that I wrote about in 2019. The first email I got from “Elton” several years ago actually got my attention because the subject line included an old password of mine that I hadn’t used in many years. None of the spammy scam emails I’ve been getting lately have included any passwords, old or otherwise.

Still, I can’t help but shake my head at the audacity of these low life scumbags who think they can extort money by threatening to expose my masturbation habits to friends, family, and colleagues. Because folks, I know that none of those people care if I look at porn. And even if they did care about that, I wouldn’t care. I’m just a housewife. I’m sure some people might even expect me to be looking at porn during my boring afternoons. That’s if they think about me for more than ten seconds at a time. Hell, if there were any videos, I might even make some money.

Below is a screenshot that is very similar to the emails I’ve been getting lately…

This email irritates the hell out of me, but it doesn’t scare me in the least. However, I will concede that maybe people in my address book might be scared by seeing me jerk off.

Just the tone of this scam email pisses me off. When I read “let me break it down for you”, I want to respond, “let me break your face with a swift kick to your nostrils!” The way that email is written is offensive, obnoxious, condescending, and just plain stupid. What’s especially sad, though, is that some people actually believe that bullshit and fall for the scam. Otherwise, why would they be doing this?

I’ve probably gotten a half dozen of those emails in the past week or so, all of which are written in pretty much the same way, and coming from different email addresses. They all end up in my spam folder and, no, I don’t take them seriously. BUT– seeing the subject line, I must admit, really annoys me. Because who do those fuckers think they are?!

Somebody had to come up with that email. Some lowlife had to come up with the idea to blackmail people, compose the text of the extortion email, and procure email addresses of people, before they sent out this missive to millions of people around the world. Why doesn’t that person, and his or her dishonest ilk, get a real job instead of trying to rip off people?

As I write about this phenomenon today, I’m reminded of the YouTube videos I’ve seen about porch pirates. Mark Rober has an excellent channel in which he shows how he designs special boxes designed to teach package thieves a valuable lesson. It’s VERY satisfying to watch as these fuckers steal boxes they think contain expensive and valuable electronics, only to open the packages and get assaulted by glitter and fart spray, all of which is recorded on the phones in the package! It’s even better when they get busted by the cops! FUCK THEM!!!!

One of the most recent videos about Mark Rober’s exploding glitter bombs…

However, even these very satisfying and entertaining videos ultimately piss me off, because the thieves often have the nerve to be angry when they get glitterbombed after committing theft! In one video, there were even kids involved. In one scene, I could tell that a boy’s parents were raising him to be a thieving little shit. I could hear the kid encouraging his folks to steal what he thought was an expensive gaming system. When they opened the box and the bomb exploded, he started cursing Mark Rober, calling him a scammer! Cuz how dare Mark Rober come up with an ingenious idea to thwart criminals like him and his parents! The audacious little shit!

At both the 8 and 9 minute marks, you can hear kids complaining about being glitterbombed and saying they were “scammed.” The whole thing would have been avoided if their parents weren’t thieves! One kid even says, “Fuck you, YouTubers!” Obviously, he’s being raised to be just as “classy” as his lowlife parents are.

And the videos capture the thieves smashing people’s car windows just so they can steal the bogus boxes. Back in 2003, some thieving shithead broke into my car, when we lived in a scuzzy apartment complex. Someone broke my window in an attempt to steal my CD player– which I bought at a big box store. They couldn’t steal the CD player, because I drove a Toyota, and it was impossible to pull out the CD player without completely fucking up the dashboard… which they proceeded to do. And they STILL didn’t manage to steal anything, so all they ended up doing was vandalizing my car.

It’s great that Mark Rober has come up with these cool glitter bombs to get back at bottom feeding criminals. However, it’s also very disheartening to see how dishonest people are, and how so few of them have any shame whatsoever. The fact that they are pissed off that they got “scammed”, when they are actually STEALING from people, just shows how completely devoid of scruples some people are. And they’re raising their kids to be just as reprehensible.

Even as I write this, though, I realize that I write from a place of privilege. I have pretty much everything I need, or could ever want, so I don’t need to steal. I guess what makes me especially sad is that these people have no remorse and, in fact, some of them feel entitled to steal, and think of it as their “job”. So many of these people– kids even– are taking advantage of vulnerable people, like the elderly. What a world we live in!

This video makes you want to abandon your phone!

Here’s another channel called Scammer Payback. Below is a video the Scammer Payback guy, Pierogi, being screamed at by a scammer, who thinks he’s owed the right to steal from innocent people! What’s especially gross is when the scammer is screaming at someone he thinks is an elderly woman.

This idiot needs to be arrested and sent to PRISON.
This one, too… PayPal scammers are the worst.

Anyway… I hadn’t meant to write such a lengthy rant about scammers, especially since I haven’t yet been a victim myself. I just can’t believe the nerve of some people. The guy in the above video is hilarious, as he tries to lecture Scammer Payback/Pierogi about his “manners” as he believes he’s ripping off the elderly! He reasons that stealing from vulnerable people is his way of making a living, as he shames the channel owner for monetizing his videos on YouTube. All I can do is shake my damned head.

Well… I suppose it’s time to close this post and walk Noyzi. I’m expecting a package today, so I want to be home when it arrives. Here in Germany, the delivery drivers don’t typically leave people’s boxes on their porches without permission, so porch pirating is pretty rare here. And just as I wrote this, my package arrived… So, hope you have a good Monday, devoid of thieving creeps!

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Duggars, religion, videos, YouTube

Fundie Fridays dishes on Shiny Happy People…

Happy Saturday, y’all. I started today off by writing a new post for the travel blog, washing a load of laundry, and watching Jen on Fundie Fridays’ latest video on YouTube. For those who don’t know, Jen is a great YouTuber who makes videos about Christian fundamentalists while she does her makeup. She’s hilarious, adorable, smart, and compassionate, even when the fundies clap back at her for snarking on them with her boyfriend, James.

Jen was featured on the Amazon docuseries Shiny, Happy People, so she is in a unique position to add some insight into the making of that very popular program. I enjoyed listening to her talk about it… and yes, I was just listening this time, because I was also writing a blog post at the same time. I think you should watch too, if you’re interested. Apparently, Jen found being involved in that series very special and fulfilling. She even comes to tears in her latest video, as she talks about how happy she was that she got to be part of making Shiny Happy People.

Worth watching, if you have the time and inclination!

I’ve been watching old episodes of the Duggars’ defunct reality show this week. I always thought it was kind of a boring show when it was still airing, and now it’s so obvious that Jim Bob was cashing in on his huge family. Like, for instance, there are some obvious product placements in the old episodes. Swiffer products were quite obviously and prominently displayed in one episode about cleaning the house.

I watched one episode yesterday that featured Jim Bob and his older sons making what they called a “redneck water slide/Slip n’ Slide”. They ran a huge piece of sheeting down a hillside, dug a hole, and ran water and dish soap on the sheeting to make it slick. Then, the gaggle of younger boys in rash guards and Joy Anna in her Wholesome Wear burka slide down the hill. I have to admit, it did look like a lot of fun, even when Jim Bob slid down fully clothed. But it also seemed like a waste of water. Oh well… at least they didn’t swim in a water drainage ditch, like the Duggar wannabe family, the Rodrigues family, did. On the redneck slide episode, the Duggars announced that they were expecting “tiny, precious Josie”, who barely survived her birth, due to her being born very prematurely. Otherwise, Ma Duggar, Michelle, would have been sliding down the hill with each of the children she delivered (excepting the smallest ones).

Jen has extensively covered the Rodrigues family, too… Yes, I’ve written about that, too, but just because she’s so funny, I’ll also share those posts.

I wish I were this entertaining…
Cue the crazy!
This video includes the Rodrigues performance of the infamous anti-gay song, “Come On Down the Farm”… At the 20 minute mark, you can see the kids play in the water drainage ditch.
And finally, part four, which is even more about how weird this family is… and more water drainage ditch swimming at about the 27 minute mark.

So yeah, I am a devoted fan of Jen’s channel, Fundie Fridays, and I’m happy to plug it. If you have some time to kill and want to laugh a lot as you learn new things about the bizarre world of Christian fundamentalism, I recommend tuning in. I think it’s awesome that Jen and James have been able to parlay their creativity into careers on YouTube, and I’m happy to help them out by plugging their channel. I don’t know how much help I’ll be… but then, sometimes my posts take off, too.

I suppose I could also write more about what’s been going on in the horrifying world of American politics, but I don’t really feel like it, today. It’s Saturday; Bill’s home; and we have plans for the evening. So, I think I’ll keep today’s post short and sweet.

Catch you later…

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