Haven't updated in quite a while, have I?
Well, since my last update, life has gone on for me. I got back on with the Census and actually got a whole month's worth of work in, doing "Post-Enumeration Checks." That was where they'd send us out to places that had submitted a Census return a decade ago but hadn't this time, to see WTF was up.
Sometimes, the address in question didn't exist any more. Sometimes, the premises were empty, or at least nobody was home. And, sometimes, the people were home but said they'd sent in a return to the Census. It was all one to me---I got paid for my time either way, and got to see a lot of Iowa I hadn't seen before, mostly in the northeast part of the state where I'd never been. I couldn't believe a lot of the scenery I saw!
October 10, 2020, was when I turned in my gear. My Census bag, my Census smartphone, and my badge. I was kind of sorry to see the job end---I like being employed. I've either been under= or unemployed since graduating college, and believe me, freelance work (when and if I can find that) is very much Not To My Taste.
I did pick up some work helping run the polls for two elections here, in November and March. I was horribly disappointed by the results of the Presidential election, and would like to point out that publicly and loudly blowing off requests for investigation into alleged irregularities does not make suspicion cease. If anything, it exacerbates it. If the election was held honestly, and Biden won fair-and-square, then for pity's sake, show us!
The changes made in the voting rules (thanks to the Dread Disease, the most overhyped event since Comet Kohoutek) did not help. There are questions about their legality. And voting-by-mail is about the stupidest idea I've run across since the one about making love clothed so that the resultant baby won't be born naked. Who came up with that cunning plan...Baldrick?
Were it up to me, I'd abolish mail-in voting entirely. If voting's that important to you, then roust your arse out of the scratcher, get on in, and vote! The polls are open around here from 0700 to 2000 hours (on the 24-hour clock); anybody can make time in their day to get in. I ought to damn well know about those hours---I worked every jack-last one of them! Aye, well---I got paid, at least.
I can think of all sorts of ways to abuse mail-in voting, and I'm sure that professional political workers can think of more. As for the military---they can have precincts set up on their posts, here or overseas (overseas Americans can vote at their local embassy or consulate, AIUI) and have them vote there. After the (Democratic, surprise surprise) shenanigans we saw with military ballots in 2000, we do need to do something about that.
Another thing I'm good and sick and tired of is this endless goddamn rioting. I always thought that people who threatened mob action if an accused person was acquitted were the bad guys. That was how it was in To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as the real life case (the Scottsboro Boys) that it was based on. Not to mention Leo Frank, in Georgia in 1915. Did I, perchance, err?
Not to mention that "peaceful protests" do not include the following:
Arson
Assault
Damage to property
Looting
I wish Abbie Hoffman were alive. While I couldn't be much farther from his POV than I am, I do acknowledge that he got some things right. Like this quote from Steal This Book: "Random violence produces random political results. Why waste even a rock?"