Politics Slowing the Raul Saga?

No clear evidence that the world of current events and the skullduggery of The MAN are at play, but I suspect so.

Raul left an early morning message which I didn't receive until later in the day. The reception is so sketchy on ballistic mountain, that I often get messages from the night before or the morning only when I drive down the hill.

So, Raul said he's going to Arizona this weekend. Hmmm. With all the hooplah I wonder if he's going there to join the protest. I also wonder if he, or any of his colleagues, have read the law with an open mind. Have they tried to understand what made people of AZ react in this way? Can they not see the side that feels the negligence of the federal government in enforcing its laws and preventing drug cartel and gang spill over has forced them to find better ways to protect life, limb, property, and tranquility?

It is a real tragedy that people have made something out to be an indictment of Mexicans in general. Anyone who knows me probably knows I am extraordinarily fond of Mexico, Mexicans, their culture, etc. This stuff breaks my heart a little.

I keep hearing the news characterize the law as one which mandates that cops request papers from anyone they think might be here illegally. That is not what the law says. It says they do that only if they have stopped or detained a person for some other offense. Even though I am not for requiring police to ask any more than they currently do, I can see that the law does not give wholesale excuse to harass a certain group.

The problem is that bad elements are running rampant in some places and it is because our government has been complicit in enabling drug cartels and the resultant criminal elements to do business and mischief in the US. They are cloaking that issue in the smokescreen of those who are hard working and desperate to escape the poverty which the Mexican government furthers with its policies and corruption.

Whatever Raul is up to, I hope he has a safe trip and doesn't get too wound up in the racial war aspect which so many are promoting. Believe me, bad cops harass based on perceived power, not race. And cities in which the white devil is in the minority are rampant with discrimination against every group but their own. Open discrimination. It was not remotely hidden in Miami, or even memphis. Except in Miami they did not generally play victim. "Just the way it is" was more their motto.

I experienced some real strange things in Miami due to that sort of tribalism, but did not overly resent it. In the most clear cut case, it was not on racial but based on gender. What shocked me most and somehow pleased me was that the people who came out of the woodwork to back me up openly were black. If anyone thinks white devils will protect their own from such things, he is sadly mistaken. Leave the Klan out of it. They represent no one. The people who started and promoted that were all democrats.

Mostly I wish people in the US would simply be Americans and get over the idea that specific group based on genetics and sexual orientation, or even which sex you are, ought to somehow be a political thing. If you run things on principle and equal status under the law then those things are irrelevant.

I wish both sides of this immigration thing would look at reality, that the Mexican government would shut up since they preach one thing then do another, and that our own national government would quit allowing and creating hate and chaos to further their political power.

Freedom ought to be taught, understood, and worked toward. That is not what is happening.

I wish Raul the best and I am glad he's here. Maybe he's legal, maybe not. I don't care. he is not a burden to society, and I have selfish reasons for wanting him to be here, healthy, happy, and back in town soon.

On Hold and Baseball

Raul did call this morning. He couldn't make it today but thinks he can Monday. He has assured me that once he tests his super secret stuff, he'll let me know everything I have to do. The fact that he called shows he's willing to help me turn this bad situation to good, so the stress of it has dissipated some.

Things that stress people vary in nature. Feeling like I had done something really stupid which left a problem I did not know how to fix stressed me more than injuries I've had and many other things that ought to bother me more. I'm not sure how that works.

Anyway, my guitar player/singer friend called and said he won ball game tickets from a radio station this morning. It turns out he knew that that new merit badge the Boy Scouts can earn is for playing video games. That is bizarre no matter how you slice it.

Padres vs Brewers. The seats were a couple of sections up just left of home plate. Apparently the uppity section. The people were not the type to cheer or even clap more than an occasional golf clap.

The sections to either side and way up high were much more animated. No worry about people spilling beer or getting rowdy where we were. Very good seats, for sure. But it was kind of interesting. The wave was going all around the stands but when it came to our area everyone just sat stone faced. I made a slight gesture with my hands. In this group that was rowdy.

Padres won. Shut them out, but only scored maybe 3? I should know. One home run was hit.

That is the only major league baseball game I've ever attended. At least I think so. There are a few years in the past when anything may have happened but that period is a blur at best.

It was a great time. K, the guitar player is a funny guy. At one point we were doing sort of a Thurston Howell routine discussing the family of certain players and it somehow cracked me up. Then I realized how we were acting like kids, and we are far from that. Way far. I may not have grown up yet.

Maybe this is real life; even stopped and visited my coastal friends before the game. I ate all their snacks then we left. It must be the relief of knowing I;ll learn how to make that job right. Before I found out what was on there I was at a loss because no one knew what was up and I'd run totally out of go-to people and resources. In my relief I think I was bouncing around like a pogo stick, eating snacks laughing and discussing the lineage of the Hedley fellow slumming it with the team.

It was a good enough, long day. I had some work early this morning which at least put a dollar or two in the bank. Nothing which required any substance process or thought.

Plenty of perplexity in certain areas, but what the heck, I often prefer obvious euphemisms rather than going hard core with expletives. It gives a different tone and timbre.