Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Forbidding the Donald?

A number of weeks ago....candidate Donald Trump made a comment or two, which peeved a few Brits who were enthusiasts of multicultural situations (mostly around Muslims).

They petitioned Parliament to discuss the matter, and apparently.....the British Parliament will have a debate of sorts, and possibly a vote on whether Donald Trump will be forbidden entry into the UK.

Over the weekend.....Trump apparently noted the unfolding episode and make the comment that he's kinda prepared to take on the entire United Kingdom if necessary....."counterpunching" if necessary.  Then he ended the comment that a stupid decision would have consequences.

I'm of the mind that the British parliament is loaded with more than enough wise men who will carry on a proper debate and conclude that Trump gets the same deal as ninety-nine percent of all Americans.

However, should they be foolish enough to cross Trump off on the entry-list....I'm of the mind that the great consequence in question would be a President Trump who takes office on day one, and declares US troops in the United Kingdom are no longer necessary.....removing them within a one-year period.

The French might might the see the British kicked around a bit.  Putin would be amused and send some letter letting Trump know that it took 'balls' to make a decision like that.

I think somewhere in this little debate before Parliament....someone is going to deliver a Shakespeare quote on seizing opportunities: "There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures."  (from Julius Caesar, IV).

It'll be some vivid moment where you need some Churchill-like inspiration and the crowd will stand and applaud there within Parliament.....noting Trump is a friend of the British empire.

If that fails?  The Queen might stand and say that Donald is exempt from such stupidity.

Just a Few Questions

This morning.....I was sitting and reading a Saint Louis newspaper, and came to this one state news item.

For roughly fifteen years....the cops in Missouri have been required by state law to note the ethnicity of drivers that they stop on state roads and interstates.  This was done to be used to defend the state and cops against the problem of racial profiling.

No one said much about this, and the truth is....most cops just looked at the guy and did an X on whatever column he felt that the guy, Hispanic, Asian, white, etc.  It really didn't have to be a question....and folks didn't say much because it wasn't forced on them to answer.

Well....a new requirement has been drafted up and is being pressed toward a law (has yet to pass).  This would require cops to expand their data collection.....noting 'perceived' sexual orientation, religion, disability, and "English language proficiency".  It's called the Fair and Impartial Policing Act (supported by both a Republican and Democrat in the state legislature).

Now, most folks....from Bama....would pause over this and feel a need to be amused.

The cop would ask about your orientation, and you'd respond that you were only into relations with alien women who wore nylons and talked in some foreign language.  The cop would stand there shaking their head because they really don't want to know the guy's personal orientation.

Then the religion thing would come up and the Bama guy would note that he was mostly a Druid (into the tree Gods), but had handled some rattlesnakes over in Sand Mountain territory with some primitive Baptist folks.  Then he'd hint that he just didn't believe much of anything in the New Testament, and he'd start to recite quotes from Revelation.  The Missouri cop would be a bit uneasy at this point.

Then the disability thing would come up.  The Bama guy would note that he's got some disability in right foot....from a fishing accident in '88, and that he can't do "it" with the wife unless she's got on the camouflaged nightie that he bought her from Wal-Mart.  The Missouri cop would grit his teeth a bit.....trying to figure out how he'd write this down.

Then finally, the "English language proficiency" thing would come up.  The Bama guy would let the cop know that he'd been doin’ some type of spearmint (experiment) in school and got all whooped up by Ms. Jones siance (science) class.  The Missouri cop would debate for several minutes about this and eventually say the guy more or less.....understood English.

The sad thing is that some Bama guy.....just going up to some cattle or tractor auction in Missouri....would end up in a Missouri database, with some data that might not be totally correct or right.

In fact....he might get stopped on the return trip to Bama in two days.....asked the same questions, and give totally different answers.....which most engineer folks would automatically say that it disrupts vital statistics and gives you a fraudulent database.

All of this would simply open up the door.....for more questions.

In five years, they'd start to ask about your dog or cat situation.  Maybe they'd collect data on your NCAA team, or what bumper-stickers appear on your truck.  Maybe they'd ask you about your perception of Bigfoot or UFOs.  Maybe they'd ask you about your favorite critter to hunt.  Maybe they'd ask about your preference for women (husky, BBW, Latino, crazy, or fire-ball aggressive).  Maybe they'd ask about favorite characters on the zombie show Walking Dead.  Maybe they'd ask about your clothing style, your haircut preference, or your favorite condiments for a burger.  Maybe they'd even ask if you preferred filtered or unfiltered cigarettes, or preferred mowing weekly or bi-weekly.

The thing is.....once you start a database.....folks usually want to build onto it.  They get this feeling that the more knowledge on you....the more value of the database.

In Bama.....folks have tended to learn after a's best to know only a limited amount of knowledge about folks you work with or hang out with.  You'd rather not admit that you voted for Clinton twice, or like Auburn football over Alabama football, or you had a one-night stand in Guntersville with some minister's wife.

I suspect that most people who get stopped by Missouri cops in the future (if this passes).....will just grin and refuse to answer the questions.  Cops will take as a confrontational attitude and things will go negative from the public perception.

The more that Democracy develops.....the further away from reality that it goes.