Thursday, November 05, 2020

 I think it's safe to say that Californians ruined Nevada. Georgia and Arizona.

On the flip side..... California voting was the most rational I've ever seen it. They voted down rent control and affirmative action. And when I say "they" of course I vote but what I think doesn't matter. Obvi. 

On the whole I was shocked those didn't pass. But glad. Again Obvi.

4 comments:

  1. Capital of Texas RefugeeFriday, November 06, 2020 1:28:00 AM

    Florida got $15/hour, which was a surprise.

    This will be problematic for some retirees in Florida who had figured out a way how to make the numbers work just barely between retirement benefits and no state income taxes.

    I'm already living with the equivalent here -- average yearly income is around 120k CHF and the minimum is something like 34k CHF.

    But I'm betting those McDonald's ordering kiosks in Florida are gonna be yuge.

    Maybe McDonald's can try out the pilot program in Palm Beach County. :-)

    What an incredible clusterfuck the election in the US has been.

    But it's not bad news here, even though there's some potentially bad news.

    Something that I'd been trying (and failing) to get done by the end of 2020 through a specific process was done instead by an administrative decision.

    This was a surprise, but not a complete surprise.

    While that could be bad for several reasons, possibly including future travel restrictions, it's actually good for one thing in particular.

    I'm out.

    I have the paperwork that says I'm out.

    "My name is Capital of Texas Refugee. I used to be an American, until ..."

    "We got a Burn Notice on you, you're blacklisted."

    This seems appropriate since "Burn Notice" was filmed in Miami near where I used to live. :-)

    This doesn't affect my ability to stay where I am now, although the steps toward the next type of long-term visa could mean I'm stuck in this canton for a while.

    I didn't realize that my current visa type was contingent on staying in a specific canton, and so there's no buying a place in Jura in the near future.

    That was going to be a stretch anyway because my French is much better than my German.

    But this is a nice town, I'm getting used to it, and I can afford to buy a place here.

    Life goes on.

    The blonde's not coming over, which is great because the new brunette is a lot more interesting.

    She doesn't have two very annoying habits with regard to money: she doesn't assume I'm always picking up the tab and she doesn't make racing for her wallet before mine comes out into a competitive sport.

    And so it's looking like I can cope.

    As far as this administrative stuff goes, at least I didn't get exiled with nearly no warning at an airport like what could have happened to Snowden, so there's also that.

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  2. "What an incredible clusterfuck the election in the US has been."

    Yeah. I'm frustrated. And I don't really get why Trump didn't confront the virus head on and say - it's a serious virus but thankfully it's manageable. Wear a mask, keep your distance and hand sanitize. So everyone could vote in person.

    ""We got a Burn Notice on you, you're blacklisted."

    What now? Every time you share it feels more and more like you are running from the law. Just sayin.

    I didn't think the blonde would move. Men move for us. We don't move for them. Sad it didn't work out though. But as I said... you'll be back anyway. Eventually. Europeans tend to hide all the crappy things about their countries and you get to discover all of them.

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  3. Capital of Texas RefugeeFriday, November 06, 2020 2:54:00 PM

    "Every time you share it feels more and more like you are running from the law ..."

    That's pretty rich this week, don't you think?

    MURKIN' BALLOT PRINTER GOES BRRRRRRRRRRR :-)

    The short version: a line was crossed, but since I self-deported and the ends were compatible with American policy, the only question was whether I'd committed a "disqualifying act".

    The fact that it was rubbed in the bureaucracy's face like a soiled diaper by my lawyer probably made it easier for a bureaucrat to decide that I'm the asshole.

    Although there's no "criminality" involved, the punishment for doing this is permanent loss of citizenship.

    But that's what I wanted -- that was the entire purpose of that meeting I'd missed, so I could go through the process, and now that's not necessary.

    As for how I'll travel, it's pretty easy now with three passports, none of which will give me problems in Israel or the Middle East, and one of them already gave me visa-free access to the EU.

    Japan is now problematic, however, because I will have to apply for a visa and file an itinerary for a visit.

    Not that this is a serious issue right now, of course.

    "... you'll be back anyway."

    Can't. This is permanent.

    Technically speaking, I also "overstayed" my time in the US, and although one of my passports gives me visa-free travel to the US, the technical violation probably means a five year ban anyway.

    So I'm not even thinking about showing up or even taking a flight that requires me to "transit the country" or even fly over it.

    Just as long as I file my 2020 final year's taxes, there's nothing actionable by the US, and arrangements were already made to stay off the IRC 877 list.

    So I'm really, really out.

    This isn't some John McAfee story where he keeps popping back up in the news because he stopped paying his taxes as an American citizen and won't properly expatriate.

    That's just fucking stupid.

    Besides, there were several countries that would have given him a passport if he'd have put up the cash for it.

    Want a backup citizenship?

    Try Antigua and Barbuda for around $125k for the two of you. In the event of a future American Civil War 2.0, of course, which isn't totally unthinkable now.

    But what now?

    Now I can open new accounts at a bank that refused to deal with me before.

    Now I have more investment opportunities that were previously closed off.

    This is progress.

    "I didn't think the blonde would move."

    I have to admit it was a bit of a shit test: I was considering marrying the blonde, but only if she'd make the move.

    Marrying a Swiss citizen would have its benefits though.

    "So everyone could vote in person ..."

    Swiss Federal and cantonal elections are never in question.

    The Swiss would never accept the situation that's going on in the US right now, and they're shocked by it.

    Most Swiss "support" Biden except when they have the situation explained to them, after which they understand that Trump has done more for Americans despite the Eurocrats not liking that.

    And so I will not be taking any shit about being one of the Dukes of Hazzard doing "more than the law will allow" while the US needs United Nations peace keepers to observe the voting process. :-)

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  4. Well.... that is some real bridge burning shit right there.

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