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Anti-Israel Protesters blocked the Golden Gate Bridge causing a traffic snarl in the Bay area. Google employees who disagreed with their company’s contracts with Israel stormed and occupied the suites of top executives. Other than bringing publicity to their cause, these demonstrations seem largely ineffective at changing minds. The major sentiment for people on the other side of the protest is irritation. Why are these people fucking with my day?

There is this notion, particularly on the left, that these brave souls are sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Take it to the streets and when the people see this massive show of popular sentiment, they will join the fight. That this rarely happens is beside the point. There is always the dream that this time it will work.

Demonstrations, contrary to popular thinking, are anti-democratic. Just because I can get 100,000 people marching for my cause, everyone else who isn’t marching must agree and you must do whatever I ask. The problem is that there was million or more people who failed to show up. What exactly is their position? At best, they might agree but don’t think it is important enough to take it to the streets or, at worst, they disagree and find you an irritation. Their opinion is unknown. The only way, at least in a country with democratic processes, is an election. Until then,why should any government change their position based on a couple thousand people stopping traffic.

The underlying fear in large demonstrations is the threat of violence. There are many people in the streets, some of them might be willing to resort to violence, governments might then decide to pacify the crowd by changing their position. This is an incredibly dangerous precedent for any government, left or right, to take.

For example, January 6. A small number of angry demonstrators occupied the congress because they were disappointed in how the democratic processes turned out. They too felt that their numbers had to be acknowledged, that by showing their numbers to legislators that the government will change its position and give the protesters what they want because if you don’t, there are millions of other Americans just waiting for the word from these patriots and this could mean violence all over the country. Indeed, I think the January 6 rioters actually thought they were going to ignite a revolution and were genuinely surprised when nothing happened. Instead, the vast majority of Americans decided to stay home.

Demonstrations are also exercises in moral superiority. You bastards aren’t listening to me so I am going to annoy you until you change your mind. Yelling at people, I have found, rarely gets people to change their minds. In fact, I would bet, it makes a lot of people stand firm on whatever position they have, particularly if that opinion differs from the demonstrators.

Take to the streets if you like. It is your right but I think a better way to spend your time, energy and money is peacefully changing people’s minds and winning elections. I know it isn’t as satisfying as storming the barricades and being joined by the masses you have inspired but, let’s face it, is much more likely to happen through elections than demonstrations.

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Donald Trump is somebody I enjoy making fun of. He is a pompous buffoon. He says whatever comes to his mind and it is invariably nasty mean-spirited drivel. He deserves every insult that comes his way for those things. But falling asleep during court isn’t one of them. Anyone who has ever been to court knows that the most difficult thing about the whole process is staying awake. It is boring — filled with a lot of instructions, explanations, points of law and other things that are mostly obtuse and uninteresting. Staying awake is a real challenge for any non-legal person.

It is petty to point it out and certainly doesn’t do him any damage with his supporters. In fact, it humanizes a person whose large personality makes him difficult to humanize. The gleeful reception that his opponents greeted his dozing with is out of proportion to the crime committed. Let’s not get sidetracked by minutiae because if you wait long enough, Trump will provide plenty of real fodder for his critics to chew on.

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Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers batting star, was hoodwinked out of about 16 million dollars by his Japanese interpreter. I don’t blame him for being in this mess. His interpreter is a thief and should be punished accordingly.

What also is clear is that until someone brought this to Ohtani’s attention, he was unaware that the 16 million dollars had gone missing.

The whole proposition of this type of capitalism is that the individual is a better steward of the money than the government. But time and again, we see rich people getting ripped off by scoundrels, covering up their crimes, using it on profligate expenditures that help no one including the indulgent individual or, in the best case scenario, putting it away in the bank and collecting interest. We are told that the best way to enrich everyone else is to let the rich spend their money as they wish and a rising tide will lift all boats.

The problem here is that the rich too often are spending money on things that benefit no one other than themselves. Personally, I don’t mind giving a tax break to businesses that reinvest their profits back into the business. There is some hope that this reinvested money will get into the hands of the employees of the company. But, seriously, 16 million gone without noticing it means that the Feds could have taken it in taxation and Ohtani wouldn’t have missed it either. His rich happy life would have continued to be quite happy and still rich.

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Damnit all. I made several mistake on Bad Product Design — Liquid Detergent.

The title should read Liquid Detergent Container instead of Liquid Detergent.

This was not a Costco discount brand. The company’s name is Tide.

The other thing is that it isn’t even liquid detergent. The container houses powdered pellets which may make it somewhat more justifiable to have a container that it is difficult to pour. In my defense, the product was completely new to me and we have been using liquid detergent for something like 20 years. So it is Bob’s fault really. Now that I pinned it on someone else I feel a lot better.

What brought this on was I had difficulty lugging the damn thing from our garage to our landing which is 30 plus steps away for a 66 year old man. That’s right a 66 year old man climbing 30 plus stairs. Just keep that in mind. Its an important part of the emotional vibe I wanted to give to the story. Any way, by the time I reached the landing I was pissed. Someone had to pay for my pain so I decided to go after the Product Designers of this container. I know that this isn’t pretty and you may be just a tad distrustful of someone who lets his emotions run riot like that. I hope that time heals all wounds and I can regain your trust.

I view this as a lesson. I obviously should have done more research on this before putting fingers to keyboard. What’s funny is I was concerned enough to go to the detergent container to test if I remembered correctly about it being difficult to pour. You would think I would have noticed that it wasn’t liquid detergent then but what can’t say I just might not be as keen of an observer as I thought.

I do stand by my criticism that the container is difficult to carry for any distance.

My vow to you, Faithful Reader, is I will probably try harder to research the facts in the future. The key word there is probably. I will try. But I have to be honest with you if it gets too difficult to research, I might risk it especially if I feel particularly perturbed about something. So don’t say I didn’t warn you when you see me groveling like this in a month or so.

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The new container for the discount brand of detergent at Costco much more difficult to use than other containers. Notice there is no traditional handle you can use to carry the container. Instead there are two indentations in the plastic where you are supposed to place your hands, both hands mind you. As I prefer lifting these containers with one hand because it allows me to carry another bag with the other hand. I couldn’t get my hand to stretch across both indentations to carry so I was forced, after several attempts, to use two hands.

Now some people might not quibble about this but it was a hassle for me because my car is parked 30 plus stairs away from the landing where my house is. It means an extra trip to carry this one item that easily could be carried with one hand if it had a proper handle.

It’s not much better for simple pouring into the washing machine. With a proper handle, I can pour with one hand. With this container, I need two hands. It is an awkward process akin to a small child pouring milk into a glass.

I am entertaining the possibility that I don’t know the proper way to hold this container but then isn’t this just another product malfunction. If a customer has to read instructions in order to pick up your product comfortably and without awkwardness then the product has a design problem. Color me unimpressed.

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Aerial flying airplane and sky landscape close-up in China

I have this phobia about air travel. I am pretty certain that one day it will break me and I will end up on one of those videos of air travel meltdowns. Don’t get me wrong, I think these people are behaving like assholes and, by and large, deserve whatever justice was meted out to them. On the other hand, flying is both stressful and uncomfortable. There really is nothing good that can be said about it except that it can be fast if going long distances. I have pretty much given up on it for short distances (1 to 1 1/2hours via a plane) because rarely is enough time saved to warrant the stress endured.

Air travel is an odd combination of urgent deadlines and long stretches of boredom. At first, it is all a rush. Making sure your house is in order (iron turned off, plants watered), checking if you have everything you need (passports, luggage, boarding passes, prescription medicine), then getting transportation to airport in a timely fashion, weighing in traffic and time of day, getting everything out of transportation and into the airport. Rush, rush, rush.

Once you reach airport you still have the flight departure time to worry about so you are still in a rush but you must wait in a series of lines. This leaves you in a state of anxiety because your fellow passengers seem to always have problems that causes every clerk for the airline to huddle around the computer trying to figure out what to do for them. Or these passengers might be looking blankly into the the easy-to-use check-in technology wondering what to do next, trying to get the attention of the clerk who is helping someone else. Leaving you waiting and wondering what could be taking them so long? In the end it doesn’t matter because you have to wait for them no matter what. So your body waits while your mind is rushing on to the next step.

Which is security. You think about all the things that you will need to get through security — ID, boarding pass, have you removed everything that will set off the scanners? You try to be ready, coins out of pockets, technology out of carry-ons, shoes and belts off. Putting my ID and boarding passes in an easy accessible place. Then you wait in a line that resembles cows going to the slaughter. Once you have run the security gauntlet, you then have to then collect everything you put on through the scanner and put them back in the right place for you to retrieve if you need again.

Then it is a race to the gate which is rarely outside of security and almost always a mile hike through a crowded airport full of confused people. It may also require a decision. Is it faster to take the airport tram or is it just easier to walk to the gate. If you take the tram, you wonder is this the right tram? Is the tram going in the right direction? Maybe I should just walk and forget the tram. Whatever you do, you will be wrong and by the time you get to the gate, sweat is dripping off you because you either ran to the gate or you worried so much about the tram getting you there on time.

Then you wait at the gate. Mostly because you arrived at the airport so fucking early because you didn’t want to feel rushed. Now you are bored. So you try to eat and pee because you don’t know when you are going to be able to do either again. Wait some more. When your flight is finally called, you wait in another line to board. Once on board, you have struggle to find overhead space, under the seat space, retrieve any items in your carry-on that might relieve the next hours of endless boredom. Once seated you resign yourself to being crammed, into a space, that lets face it, no human being should have to endure. I don’t really now what configuration of 3 people can sit comfortably in an economy seat in a modern airplane, but I have yet to experience it.

And this is if everything goes right. Throw in flight delays, missed connections, and cancelled flights and the stress becomes even more intense. So while I can’t approve of these people’s meltdown behavior, I can fully appreciate snapping at some point during the air travel experience. Indeed, I am surprised that airport meltdowns aren’t more frequent. All of which to say that I might be persuaded to wear a t-shirt with your company logo on it for a price because when I do breakdown I am fairly certain there will be an internet video involved because if I am going to be banned from air travel for good, I am going to make my rants and raves worthwhile. So even though I will be ranting and raving, I will guarantee that my t-shirt will get the needed attention it deserves. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

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In an incredibly weird tirade, Charlie Kirk, conservative political activist, spoke strongly against the Birth Control Pill. The pill is horrible for single women. It makes them unhappy and unmarriageable. The single woman who uses birth control pill will die lonely and childless. Worst of all, she will be ugly too. He skips trying to persuade young women, I guess they are too frivolous to understand the horrors of the Pill, and goes directly to their parents who should stop their daughters from making this terrible mistake.

Aside from a decidedly low opinion of women’s intelligence and their right to manage their own bodies, I am not sure what Kirk is prattling on about. His focus is single women but married women use birth control as well. Does the Pill make married women the ugly unhappy mess that it does to single women? He seems to be talking just about the Pill, are other means of contraception acceptable or do they have the same terrifying results? What is his endgame here? Does he want to make Birth Control illegal? He never says so but it seems to be the subtext here.

This antagonism towards birth control marries well with another increasingly heard concern for conservatives — the declining birth rate among women. Glenn Reynolds worries that the earth is depopulating because women all over the world are no longer giving birth at replacement levels. This is particularly irksome as these same conservatives oppose pro-environment actions that are based on scientific data that suggests environmental doom in the future. They claim that these scientists are often wrong, that human beings will discover some scientific feat that will address these worries and to far into the future to demand sacrifices based on data that may never come into play.

Well, all right then, why should I worry about scientific speculations about a declining population particularly since the world’s population will still continue to grow and an actual decline in population won’t occur until the end of this century. Just like the scientists predicting environmental disaster, could these baby bust scientists be wrong about their interpretation of the data? Could people decide to have more children as the population declines and this problem will solve itself? But, no, this is an urgent matter for Reynolds and needs to be addressed now before it is too late and no human being is left alive.

What is worrisome about these opinions is that this manufactured crisis is giving some religious zealots a reason to make birth control illegal. Which is all rather perplexing. Women make up over half of the voting population. Most of these women want to have some control over how often they get pregnant. Not to mention their husbands and boyfriends who want to continue having sex without the worry of new children to support. Forcing people to have more children now to prevent a crisis in the 22nd Century seems like political suicide. Why anyone would think this is an attractive political is beyond me.

But it will be fun to watch.

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Griffin Dunne answering the question we have all been asking — who took Carrie Fisher’s virginity. Let me tell you I was way off on my speculations. I would never have guessed Griffin Dunne. It is a relief to be able to move on to different concerns as it has been keeping me up at night. Plus I was able to pass on the hot gossip while seemingly disdaining the mindless interest of people in such a private topic. Win Win.

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Bob and I recently stayed at a hotel in Hollywood. By and large, it was a good experience. The bill, however, was irritating because the rate changed by $100 based on resort fees and parking fees. I understand why the parking fees might be separate as there are some guests who don’t bring a car.

But resort fees are 100% deception. There is no good reason for them. The guest has to pay them regardless if they used the gym or the pool or whatever amenity the hotel decides to put into the resort fee. So whether you used the resort amenities or not, you are on the hook for paying for them. What is the point of causing all this confusion at checkout? Bob remembers standing in a checkout line where the four people that proceeded him were arguing about the resort fees. Why not just include the resort fee in the hotel rate thus avoiding this problem for both guests and staff at the end of the stay?

I really thought the must be a good reason but, as of yet, the only thing I can find is deception. The resort fee hides a portion of the room rate to the customer. The guest thinks that they are paying $200 for their room but when they depart they are actually paying $250 after the resort fee is added. Many customers don’t discover this until they are leaving the hotel. So why do hotels risk pissing off their customers with this silly trick while also taxing their staff with explaining the bill to angry guests? Why not just include it in the rate?

Because it brings in revenue. In 2015, resort fees brought in 2.47 billion dollars. What is worse, as I looked into resort fees, it is even more deceptive than tricky customers into booking at a low rate and charging a higher one at check out. It is also a way to avoid paying taxes. Hotel occupancy taxes are usually higher than the regular sales tax. The quoted rate is charged the occupancy tax while the resort fee is given the lower sales tax. If the hotel is particularly crafty, they then can charge the higher tax on the resort fee while only being charged the sales tax by the government. The hotel then pockets the difference. The guest is screwed and the government is screwed. Who checks their bill for the correct tax being charged? Who would even know that a difference tax should be charged? Who even knows what the local tax rate should be? I wouldn’t until now.

Furthermore, the hotel only has to pay commission to travel professionals who book their hotels on the room rate and not the resort fee. I don’t know what else to say about this. They are ripping off their travel partners. If I were Kayak, Expedia or Priceline, it would make me a little leery of the hotels that use this practice. Where else are they being shifty about? It doesn’t exactly give one confidence in the veracity of the hotel.

The most irritating thing about resort fees is there is no justifiable reason to have them other than deception. Hotels are being deceitful to their guests and to travel professionals. They are making their staff defend a deceptive practice and they might even be engaging in a little tax evasion. Why is such a clearly deceptive practice still legal?

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The people who get into an uproar about things, have a new thing to get into an uproar about. Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein pal and sex trafficker, was transferred to a cushier section of her prison. The concern here is she getting special treatment because she is well-connected and rich. This is probably true and is concerning. Why should rich prisoners get better digs than their poorer cell mates? The story is she is being rewarded for good behavior. Nice. I am assuming that the less heeled inmates have this same opportunity.

Although using her influence to get a leg up is troubling, it isn’t as troubling as the indifference to her fellow inmates safety. The Daily Mail describes her new environment as being similar to what Maxwell “experienced when she attended boarding school as a young girl,” This is much better than her present home which is called the “Snake Pit” because inmates in the Snake Pit have a greater risk of experiencing violence. I get that this is the honor section of the prison and that inmates lucky enough to get in have a bit more freedom and possibly comforts. But this is altogether a different problem here. Personal safety should be about the same throughout the prison. Yes, some prisoners will experience violence, it is inevitable. But, come on, anything called the Snake Pit must have an incredible level of violence. This is inherently unfair to the poor and unconnected.

Defenders of the system will say that it is behavior, and only behavior, that matters. Money or influence has nothing to do with it. I don’t think anyone believes that, but OK a perception of fairness has to be presented so the public will think that some effort was made to be fair. It is difficult to create fair processes when some people come from money. Money always gives people an advantage. These people can have lawyers working for them to get better deals, filling out the proper paper work, and do everything to make sure that their client is getting the best deal possible. Being raised in British boarding schools gives Maxwell insight into the type of behavior that is rewarded and the behavior that is punished. She knows how the game is played and has the resources to play it.

Honestly, if personal safety wasn’t involved, I could live with the perks of the honor system and the questionable selection process that unfairly gives the richer inmate a better chance of rewards than the poorer inmate. It is unfair and wrong but you got to choose your battles and, right now, nobody’s much interested in taking the money advantage away from the rich. But there is a difference between a nicer living accommodation and personal safety. Why should one sexual trafficker get a better chance of surviving prison than another sexual trafficker?

This points to a bigger problem than the rich and powerful getting better treatment. Being beat up or raped or killed is not a part of a person’s sentence nor should it be. But it seems to be largely accepted that violence exists in prisons and that if you wind up in one, you are at risk of experiencing it and, as a society, we are largely OK with that. Indeed, the threat of prison rape for men is seen as a possible determent for young men who might be thinking of straying from the straight and narrow. The general public isn’t particularly interested in stopping it and there is some general benefit seen from the threat of it and, really, who wants to pay additional tax money so that prison inmates are safer. We live in a country where Governors turn down federal money to feed poor school children because they don’t believe in the Welfare State. If poor children can’t get money, you can be sure that it is hopeless for prisoners.

In the meantime, congratulations to Maxwell who is now a little safer from violence. She might be a person who could shed some light on this problem and do some good with the rest of her life. But, somehow, I don’t see that happening.