Have you seen the video of Katie Porter “directing expletives” at a staffer? Porter seems to be recording an interview when a staffer walks into the shot, prompting Porter to say, “Get out of my f*cking shot.” (Apparently, that asterisk leaves you completely mystified about what word was used…) The staffer in question wasn’t phased.

She didn’t retreat, feeling rebuked. She delivered information Porter needed in the moment for that conversation. I think what that video actually showed was that Porter uses the “F” word. Those of us who do, often just shove it into sentences rather haphazardly. My own observation about the use of that word is that it makes the speaker sound angry, even if they’re not. That seems to be the issue with Porter.

Katie Porter is a policy wonk and I honestly think she would do a good job as governor. She would be my first choice except for that video. I don’t care about it, but it works beautifully to smear her as unstable and an angry woman. As of this writing, she’s sitting at 8% and I really don’t think she’s going to be the choice. There was a time when I would have voted for her anyway, because that’s how democracy is supposed to work. I can’t do that anymore.

Now it’s all strategy. Who can win, what might we lose? The front-runner right now is a British talk show host who wants to trump California. I genuinely do not understand why cons continue to think talk show hosts are qualified to be in government but we can’t seem to shake that belief and now Steve Hilton is a real threat.

Who is in second place? Well, that depends on which poll you look at. It’s either Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, or Chad Bianco. Bianco is an “Are we sure that election was fair?” guy so MAGA just loves him. Steyer, of course, is a billionaire who insists he’s a class traitor who will only work for the little guy and not for the billionaires. I’ve heard that promise before. Didn’t the Drumpfster take that position? It hasn’t worked out that way, has it? Worse, can you tell me when it ever has?

I think I have to vote Becerra, like it or not. Sadly, I’m FAR closer to “not” than “like,” but we, the people, don’t really get to choose anymore, if we ever did. Our constitutional republic is in a shameful, embarrassing state…

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“Oh, supply chain problems. Haven’t you hear about the Strait of Hormuz? We’re forced to raise prices at the pump to maintain profitability.” Uh-huh. Quarterly earnings reports are out. Gas companies are reporting record profits. Not “maintained profitability.” Record profits. That means, by definition, that those companies started charging increased prices the minute they had an excuse – Donny’s Dumbass War – and long before they actually needed to.

47 is just helping the oil companies extract money from you while making lots and lots of money for himself via “prediction” markets. (It’s not much of a “prediction” when you know what’s about to happen, like announcing progress in talks.) At this point, it’s pretty much a full-on grifter economy…

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So, when hackers get into your Amazon account, the hackers tend to buy gift cards. Amazon knows this. This is an ongoing problem and it’s been “ongoing” for years now. Amazon isn’t much help. I’m speaking from experience, here. Recently, hackers got into my Amazon account. I was asleep. In the morning my email inbox was full of “purchased” and “here’s the redemption code you need.”

I’m not sure how the hackers get the redemption code when it comes to me but this has been going on for a long time and they keep doing it so there’s value to them somewhere in this process. Anyway, the first thing I did was go remove all the payment methods on my Amazon account, effectively stopping the scam. So, I did what we do, right? I contacted the people who I need to contact, replaced vulnerable cards, changed passwords, upped my security, all the while wishing harm and evil on the pricks who rained this darkness into my world for no reason other than their own greed.

But I keep getting messages from Amazon. “Update your payment method so we can finish this transaction.” Um, no. There are orders pending on gift cards. If I put in a payment method, Amazon takes my money for something I never ordered, never received, and don’t want. Easy, right? Just go click on the ‘Cancel Order’ button. Hey, guess what? On gift cards, there IS no ‘Cancel Order’ button.

I feel an urgency, here. I want those transactions stopped and I can’t do that from my own account. The obvious solution? Contact Amazon and get them to cancel the orders. Yeah, good luck with that. Have you ever tried to contact Amazon? I’ve tried to find a way. It MUST be possible, but it ain’t easy. I challenged one of the purchases, intending to challenge the rest, but they do that one at a time that way. You can do a day at a time, but this assault crossed days as the clock passed midnight.

I used to read a blog called ‘Bartcop.’ The guy who wrote it, not named ‘Bart’ and not a cop, had a rule of thumb: when a person or entity makes a “mistake” that puts money in their pocket, expect them to make that “mistake” over and over again. It’s a solid rule. So what happens if we apply it to Amazon’s failure to correct this “problem?”

Is it really outrageous to wonder if Amazon knows about this scam but does nothing to stop it because it’s a (possibly) substantial revenue stream for Amazon? All they have to do is stop delivering gift card electronically or require verification for each new purchase from the main account holder. A pain in the neck? Yes. A protection for consumers? Hell yes. Will Amazon risk a revenue stream? It doesn’t appear so.

So THEN I find myself wondering if Amazon works with hackers in India to get into accounts and order gift cards. (One feels vulnerable after such an encounter.) Certainly, they make little to no effort to actually stop the practice. In law, there’s a rule, “Silence is consent.” Maybe in retail, “inaction is permission.” If I CAN stop hackers from stealing from customers, but I don’t, maybe I’m not bothered enough by the practice to try. Maybe there’s something in it for me.

Yeah, I recognize that sounds crazy, and it likely is, but this is exactly the kind of question one asks, gets attacked as paranoid, then gets exposed in a New York Times investigative report as actually what happens…