Murder By Any Other Name

 “…in a just society, the moral strictures that apply to the individual must also extend to the collective. Immoral acts that are forbidden severally cannot be sanctioned collectively. If the citizen must not murder; neither should The State, any state.”

— Ilana Mercer, from an article recently posted at the Unz Review.

To which I say, “Amen, sister! Absolutely right!”

One of the problems about human nature which I find especially irritating is the propensity to engage in and make excuses for actions that are off limits and forbidden to the individual but completely accepted if taken by the collective. Murder, for instance. Individuals are not allowed to kill other individuals unilaterally and, if they do, the full weight of society, government, and the State is applied to punish them in some way. However, given sufficient numbers, that prohibition can be cancelled to the effect that IF society and/or the government approves, then murder is accepted. At least, it is accepted by those who are not on the receiving end of the stick.

War is the most obvious example of this. People who would recoil in horror at the suggestion or thought of personally killing their “neighbors” often clamor and bay for the opportunity to kill them collectively under the auspices of and with the encouragement of the State. Even those who have been raised and rigorously trained in the tradition of “Thou shalt not kill” are susceptible to the attitude. Remember what it was like in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when virtually the entire country bought into and voiced the bloodlust of revenge, including many of those whose lives and faith were built on the Ten Commandments.

At what point does killing become morally acceptable? How many people, thinking and acting collectively, does it take to justify the taking of someone’s life? Where is the dividing line which determines whether killing is murder or legally and socially legitimate? Does adding one more person’s assent to the mix countenance the action? Why?

Where is it written that a large multitude numbering in the hundreds of millions can inflict immense damage and horror on a city with a nuclear bomb or overwhelming, lopsided force? Can a lynch mob of twenty take “justice” into its hands and administer it by “stringing him up”? Is not the nation or the mob made up of individual persons and, as individuals, if they are not allowed to commit these actions, then how do they conclude that such actions are justifiable because a “consensus” was reached among them? Does might really make right? Where does the “might” originate? Majority rule? Raw power? The willingness to cause great harm to others? The willingness of quiet society to go along and say nothing?

If I conclude that I cannot personally kill another human being unjustifiably, then to remain consistent with my beliefs, I must also arrive at the understanding that I should not join, encourage, support, or endorse killing by a group or proxy, regardless of the number of persons involved. Where, how, and why is my “collective” thinking off kilter and what must I adjust in order to more closely align with my core belief?

If I change the way I think, then I will change the way I act. Repentance, in other words.

Have We Learned Anything? Will We?

A little more than four years ago, Covid burst upon the world unannounced (some will argue with that) and changed the world, not necessarily for the better. Eight years ago, Donald Trump did the same thing, coming from seemingly out of nowhere to capture the White House and run amok until he was ousted in the “election” of 2020 and the subsequent “transfer of power”. Because of these two “coincidental” events, it can be surmised that Covid and Trump are not that dissimilar.

Today, Covid has not disappeared but it has been relegated to a back-seat position from which it still makes a lot of noise. There is talk about a new disease, Disease X, about which we know nothing except that it will kill twenty times more people than Covid ever was supposed to be capable of. Also, even though we know nothing about Disease X, “vaccines” are being developed so that, when the Dreaded Destroyer does appear, they can be rushed into service immediately (or sooner) to stand as The Bulwark, The Protector of First Resort, of the people, for the people.

Notice the emphasis. Notice also that I did not include, “by the people”, because this will be an action of TPTB, the powers that be, in their continuous drive to subjugate everyone to their rule. The people serve only as guinea pigs and slaves.

This way, folks. Step right up. Get your ticket for the show. And get your booster on the way in.

Have we learned anything from the catastrophe foisted upon an unwitting world? It is fairly evident now that the whole episode was a contrived hoax, designed to frighten people into quivering submission to a coordinated order, which might have succeeded except that there were people in sufficient numbers who were diligent in presenting an alternative to the official narrative. Yet, the face masks are still seen, the Jabs (boosters) are still being pushed, the arrows on floors dictating the flow of traffic in grocery stores have not been removed. (On occasion, I ask store owners or managers why the floor stickers have not been removed since they are meaningless. To date, I have never gotten a straight answer. It is almost as if they would prefer not to think about it.)

More importantly, the people (perps) who orchestrated the event have not been charged with criminal activity and prosecuted nor deterred in any real way. Anthony Fauci, the public face in America of the farce, has simply retired from his lucrative government position into relative obscurity at Georgetown University, where he enjoys a full professorship (and can talk all he wants to without an adoring media hanging on every word). Pfizer, Moderna, the FDA, the CDC, and many other like-minded entities carry on as before, continuing with the party line, stonewalling wherever they can to avoid information leaking into the public debate. Where are the politicians who are calling them to account on behalf of the people who elected them and who took the brunt of the punishment from ill-advised policies? Where are the harsh spotlights being shown on them? When will we see some real heat being imposed on them? Will we see that at all, other than in a token way?

Highly doubtful. Don’t hold your breath.

Instead, since 2024 is an “election” year, we are being treated to a slow-moving, train-wreck election in which one candidate for president, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., could have made a difference in the minds of the general populace IF he had pounded relentlessly on the issue of Covid and the dangers of The Experiment which has, so far, killed more people than the disease itself. Instead, he read the tea leaves, raised his finger to determine the direction the wind was blowing, and decided to kiss the feet of the Israeli lobby and the ass of Benjamin Netanyahu. In addition, he picked Nicole Shanahan, the once-and-former spouse of Sergei Bryn (co-founder of Google) to act as his running-mate. I lost interest in him completely when he chose money and power over the health interests of humanity. So much potential, so little to show for it.

We are also witnessing the Second Coming of The Messiah in the form of Captain Warp Speed himself, Mr. Donald Trump, who cannot resist the temptation to play savior to a worshipping, salivating throng which, like a pack of ravenous dogs, looks to him for chunks of red meat. According to the polls, the man who brags constantly about creating The Jab in record time is a shoo-in to be president again, after a hiatus of four years during which his opposition threw everything at him which wasn’t nailed down in the hopes of destroying his chances. In his phoenix-like resurrection from the ashes, it seems that he simply cannot be denied the power to save the people from themselves. The only question at this time is the direction his new, improved wrecking ball will swing and how much damage it will do.

Finally, we have the sitting president, Mr. Joe Biden, who has been deemed by his own “Justice” Department to be unfit for prosecution of criminal behavior due to his diminished mental capacity, yet is considered healthy enough to carry the nuclear football and diplomacy on behalf of the West against “our adversaries”, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Despite his antagonistic attitude towards Trump, he expanded on the Covid protocol: lockdowns, mandatory shots, business closures, economic wreckage on a vast scale, then threw in literally trillions of dollars created out of thin air to make up the difference. Under his watch, we are being inundated with a flood of illegal immigrants numbering in the tens of millions, which even the Democrats are finally becoming upset about. Throw in the ongoing debacle in Ukraine and it is evident that Biden is NOT working for the “health and general welfare” of the American nation and deserves to be turned out on his ear.

In spite of all this, Americans in large numbers continue to cheer on the Warfare/Welfare State as if it was the only game in town. The phrase, “Better the devil we know than the one we don’t”, resonates throughout the land. Identity politics seems to have a firm grip on the nation’s soul as we harden our stance based on division: us against them, Red vs. Blue, conservative vs. liberal vs. progressive, fascist vs. communist, gender vs. “gender”, poor vs. rich, black vs. white, etc., and every other form of tribalism that amounts to anything–all fanned hotter and hotter by those who have an agenda and the ability to effect change toward that goal. And, all the while, the deficits continue their meteoric rise as the world ratchets toward WWIII.

When will it end? Will it ever end?

Ah, yes, it will…someday. What cannot be continued forever will end. Eventually, this, too, shall pass, and out of the wreckage and destruction of our way of life will be born a new world–radically different to the one we exist in now, maybe better, maybe worse, but it will not be the same. Whether we like it or not, we (our children, our grandchildren) will be forced, by circumstances, to adjust and adapt to it.

Best to start preparing for it now by getting your own personal affairs, including but especially your spirit, in order.

Looking Back to the Future

Four years ago, at Easter time, in the early stages of the ramping up process of the Covid pan(dem)ic crisis, I wrote and posted the article linked in which I castigated Christian churches for kowtowing to government edicts “advice” about closing their doors–all in the name of “safety” and the “general health and welfare”, you know. Needless to say that my advice and remonstrations went unheeded.

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2020/04/06/corona-churches-and-easter

Four years on, has anything changed in the relationship between the State and the Church? From where I sit, I would have to say “No.” If anything, it is cozier than ever, especially in the large mainline denominations which are pushing hard on the progressive agenda. Pope Francis and the higher levels of the Catholic church are openly showing themselves to be true statists. The smaller denominations and independent assemblies are simply not heard from (or about) to any substantial degree, but because of this it can be assumed that they are NOT raising their voices in response to the tyranny imposed on them.

If the institutional church refuses to counter the State, is actively intimate with it in running roughshod over the rights and freedoms of the average, common man, or teaches that it is futile to resist the evil among us and the only hope is Rescue from on High, then we are in for serious trouble. “I see the bad moon a’rising. I see trouble on the way.” Creedance Clearwater Revival put it quite succinctly and I cannot improve on the sentiment.

Covid was a warm-up exercise. What is coming will be orders of magnitude worse and we are not prepared for it. Trouble on the way.

Come, D’Artagnan! We’re Saving the King! Er, I mean, Country.

The 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the US:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…except when it concerns the rights of American citizens to access and use (speak freely) a media platform (press) such as TikTok.


China bad. Steve Mnuchin good. Or so the schtick goes in the escalating conflict between the erstwhile dominant Hegemon (US) and the upstart rival (China).

“I think the legislation should pass and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC‘s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” he added…”This should be owned by U.S. businesses. There’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China,” Mnuchin said…

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-mnuchin-says-he-wants-buy-tiktok

“It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” says Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “The issue is all about the technology. This needs to be controlled by U.S. businesses.” 

pic.twitter.com/6yoLoL5bay— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) March 14, 2024

For those who are not aware, the legislation mentioned is a bill passed by the US House of Representatives only a few days ago and sent to the Senate, where it is almost certain to meet overwhelming approval, to be sent to Joe Biden, who has already promised to sign it into law. This bill is officially titled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (H.R.7521), more easily known as The TikTok Divestment bill. The introduction is sufficient to tell you what this is all about.

A BILL
To protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd.

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20240311/HR%207521%20Updated.pdf

Yesssss!!! Now the truth is coming out. ByteDance Ltd. is the real enemy which we have to conquer. In order to protect the “national security of the United States”, ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese-owned company MUST be forced to sell its American branch of TikTok to someone like Steve Mnuchin, one of the “elite, uber-wealthy, 1%-ers, who will then use it to enhance the “national security of the United States”, because it is “just not right” that ByteDance, China should be gathering all that information on its client users, even though they voluntarily give it up themselves. No, no, all that information really ought to be funneled to the US government, which, alone in the world except for Israel (I really didn’t say that), is righteous and concerned only with the “general welfare” of its citizens. Those dastardly Chinks, anyway! There ought to be a law!!

Well, according to Joe Biden, there will be shortly and then we will begin to see the repercussions.

It is a known fact that millions upon millions of Americans use TikTok regularly, including many who have built successful, thriving businesses on the app, and if this bill passes, they would find themselves unable to access it. Even those who only use it to communicate with their friends and acquaintances would be shut out, that is, unless a consortium of “patriotic Americans” (Steve Mnuchin, et al.) was to buy it, slap an American label on it, and sell the service to their own “captive audience”. If that happened, then everything would be right with the world. Again.

Nevertheless, drilling down into this issue, I conclude there is more here than meets the eye. This is a matter of free speech, as codified in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, which Congress is rapidly infringing upon and abridging, contrary to the oath sworn to uphold the Constitution. Banning TikTok (and ByteDance) from serving their clients would have the effect of shutting down the free speech of countless people in America. This is where the rubber meets the road. The issue is all about control of the populace at large and the power to enforce what is said. Totalitarians everywhere, at all times, have always tried to control the conversation between people, outlawing “subversive” speech, banning the free exchange of ideas, forcing everyone to parrot the narrative, and have resorted to force and violence to make sure that no one gets out of line.

Disclaimer: I do not use TikTok. Except for a very few times when I viewed a video on TikTok which someone linked to, I have no experience with the platform. However, I am adamant about my resistance to those who would censor it or shut it off for whatever reason. Whenever someone, anyone, tells me that I CANNOT see and read, or hear and listen to anything which I want to, then I will view that as an attempt to control me. Whenever someone, anyone, tells me that I CANNOT communicate with anyone else that I want to, then there is going to be trouble.

TikTok may be a socially reprehensible vehicle. It may be used by one government against another. There may be other equally justifiable reasons to get rid of it. These “truths” may be self-evident, but they are irrelevant to my argument. I have the right, the absolute right, to manage my own affairs AND to go to Hell in my own way–if I desire to. Furthermore, since I believe in the principle of loving my neighbor as I do myself (even though I fail at times), I have to allow my neighbor that same right and freedom.

I will never relent. I will never back down.


Afterword: read for yourself.

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/19/montana-the-new-state-of-censorship

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/23/tiktok-round-2

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/26/tiktok-round-3

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/05/22/the-end-of-the-world-and-tiktok

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/12/01/the-saga-of-tiktok-montana-continues

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/12/12/and-the-beat-goes-on

Democracy Cancelled: We Have to Save It!

It is less than eight months to the November elections in the U.S. and I am already looking forward to the day after. At least we will not be subject to non-stop posturing by candidates pleading for your vote. At least not for a few days. That is, if an election is even held at all, the cancellation of which cannot be discounted.

Given the present state of American politics, both home and abroad, and economics, it would not be unreasonable to think that something will happen between now and November 5 which would be the catalyst for the government to announce that, “An election at this time is too risky and therefore it will be postponed until a more propitious moment sometime in the future. Democracy is at stake and must be protected.” Which means that all elections in the (murky, unforeseeable) future will be held at the behest of those who are in control of the government. Which means Soviet-style on an ad-hoc basis, depending on whether it is deemed advantageous to the ruling party or not.

Ah, yes! We will have to suspend democracy for its own good. Sounds like that old saw from the Viet Nam era about destroying the village to save it.

What could precipitate such a drastic event? Look at the big picture, first.

Donald Trump is on a roll and Joe Biden is visibly sinking in the polls. If the current momentum continued, Trump would gain somewhere north of 60% of the popular vote and a huge majority of the Electoral Count. Obviously, his “enemies” are not happy about this and will do whatever they can (feverishly) to derail the juggernaut. Assassination is not out of the question, although if this happened, the mood of his disciples would turn downright ugly and the tension would ratchet up steeply. As in hockey stick style with no discernible end to the destruction sure to follow.

The American economy is running on fumes and fraudulent finances. The debt added by the Federal government has reached $1 trillion every 100 days, which means that, at the current rate, almost $2.5 trillion in new debt will be incurred by the date of the election in November. Inflation, despite continual reassurances, is not under control as anyone of modest means could tell you after a trip to the grocery store. Commercial real estate is taking a nose-dive and many banks which are exposed to this will probably go belly-up and be absorbed by the Too Big To Fail mega-banks, which will probably be taken over by The Bank, i.e., the Federal Reserve in a desperate attempt to keep things together. A financial crisis many times greater than the one which occurred in 2008 could certainly happen at any time and would, almost certainly, cause the “authorities” to take drastic measures.

America foreign policy is on the ropes, as can be seen in the debacle in Ukraine and the mass genocide of the Palestinians by the state of Israel. War clouds in Europe and the Middle East are growing darker by the day and there seems to be little effort to tone down the rhetoric in official circles. All the while, the West (US and its minions) are being shoved to the side by the rest of the world as it goes about conducting business.

As to the election, all that it would take to put this on hold would be for something, anything, to happen which the ruling authorities could use to justify a complete power grab. It does not matter what the event is as long as it can be pitched to persuade the American electorate of the necessity. The crisis is all that counts, or, as Rahm Emmanuel advised years ago, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Since the average person cooperates with the “dictates from on high” and has been conditioned to go along with “our” government, it is almost 100% certain that, while there may be some grumbling and complaining, nothing of real substance will be done to counteract or invalidate the pronouncement.

Now, as to when, where, and how this happens is beyond my ability to know. Speculation is useless and a waste of valuable time. I do know that something momentous is going to happen. I do know that things (the situation on the ground, the status quo) are going to change drastically and dramatically. I do know that I am going to do my best to simply ride the wave until it crashes, hoping to keep my head above water, and pick up the pieces when it crashes.

As I am certain it will.

Hot Air, Climate Change, and Bicycles

I hate low-profile (skinny) tires. Those tiny, thin bands of fake rubber which wrap around the rims of the wheels on which my car rides as I travel down the road.

Time was that a person could look at a tire and determine that it needed more air because it appeared to be a little squatty. No more! Today, it requires a sensor in every tire and an idiot light on the dashboard to tell you that “Low Tire Pressure”. Of course, the message (at least in my car) does not tell me which tire is low, which means that I have to check every one whenever the “warning” is displayed.

Now, I ask you, with all of the technological advances made in the last 100 years or so, does it not seem reasonable that my car could tell me exactly where it needs attention? Y’know, like when I go to the doctor and tell her (there are no more male practitioners) that I have a pain and have to describe it in excruciating detail.

But I digress! Reality is that low-profile (skinny) tires are really beneficial after all. Because they are produced from synthetic rubber, not the real stuff, rubber trees in remote Borneo (or wherever they are) escape being exploited. And, more to the point, because the tires are smaller and take less air to produce the correct pressure, they act as a bulwark against “global warming”, a.k.a., “climate change”.

How is this possible, you ask? Simple physics. Because air heats up under pressure, the less air necessary to pump up a tire, the less heat is produced. The less heat produced, the lower the overall, aggregate heat in the atmosphere. Imagine the impact this makes when multiplied by millions or billions of tires. Which simply means that if we all were to adopt bicycles with really skinny tires and a really low amount of “hot air” necessary, the climate change advocates, who are also full of hot air, would have to shut up and go home. Or, more likely, they would congratulate themselves on the success of their mission–while flying off in their own personal jet to another conference somewhere halfway around the world.

Too bad E.T. is not here to show them how to fly a bicycle.

God Does Not Forget

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

For context, you should read this article first.

https://amgreatness.com/2023/11/08/abortion-not-trump-is-the-gops-albatross/

So…if we paid attention to the “advice” which Matthew Boose (author of the article) dispenses, the only reason why Donald Trump is rolling over the opposition in the Republican Party primaries and (probably) in the general election, is that he is willing to compromise his stance on the issue of abortion. According to Boose, the people want legal access to the “right” to kill their unborn children and will not be denied, therefore, it behooves the Republican Party to stop being stupid about this issue and give them what they demand. Otherwise, when November comes and the mail-in ballots are counted, well, surprise, surprise! The Democrats will have emerged victorious yet again. All because America cannot shake its commitment to its assault on the youngest and most vulnerable among us and the politicians who desire to “lead” ought to be aware of that and act correspondingly.

Whatever happened to principle and standing firm on what you believe to be true, regardless of the cost? The indiscretions, mistakes, and sins of Martin Luther King, Jr., should not distract nor discount from the truth that he stated as seen in the comment above. But, then, he was only repeating what he had heard about someone else who lived and died two thousand years earlier, in part due to an intransigent, determined, and dedicated refusal to compromise with the evil so rampant in Judea at that time.

Abortions on demand have been legal across the entire United States since the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, handed down January 22nd, 1973. That ended with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022 when the issue was kicked back to the individual states and, much to the dismay of the left side of democracy, many of the states started putting real restrictions on the practice. Note that it took more than forty-nine years of massive blood-letting before the Supreme Court recognized that it had misread the Constitution and changed its course.

But, then, what are we to expect from a people who believe that they are God and try to act like it?

Today, and until the end of this election cycle, it is not likely that Donald Trump will say anything about abortion on demand and, if he does, it will be some mealy-mouth squealing about not interfering in a woman’s personal health care. If he does, you can bet your bottom dollar that he will not be forthright and thunderously call for an immediate end to the slaughter. If he defied the “political wisdom” and made such a ringing declaration, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Matthew Boose’s of the world would instantly jump on him roughshod and call him out as a destructive force in the Republican Party. Not that they do not already see him that way, but as the pre-eminent standard-bearer of the conservative Right, he has them in a fix and there is not much they can do about it.

Abortion on demand, widespread throughout society, is suicidal. It literally kills the future. If there is one legitimate reason why America needs to import millions upon millions of young, military-age men from foreign countries, it is because we have killed our own, in the womb, before they were ever born. Social Security, soon to be Social Insecurity, is going to run out of money within the next ten years, partly because we have destroyed at least 60 million potential workers and payees into the system. Oh, yes, actions have consequences. This one is catching up fast and America is being destroyed before our eyes.

What will the Republicans do this year? What will Trump do? My expectation is that they and he will do nothing to rock the boat. In the interest of gaining power, there will be nothing said nor done which will alienate any potential support, particularly on such a divisive topic. After all, winning is everything, right? And if we have to throw a few sacrificial lambs into the maw of Moloch, well, it is better that they go quietly and without too much fuss. The important thing is not to speak the truth and stand firmly for it, but to beat the Democrats and get Joe Biden out of the White House.

All’s well that ends well, right? But America is not ending well and our fixation on keeping abortion legal is part of our collective, mortal sickness.

We may be able to ignore the carnage and drown out the cries through our noisy, busy lives, but God does not forget. God does not forget.

Making Mistakes and Learning Lessons

I learn best by making mistakes and then taking corrective action.

Life, and life’s experiences, have taught me many things. I can (and often do) look back and realize how differently I might have acted in specific circumstances if I had the opportunity to relive them. Of course, it is not possible to relive those events, so the best I can do is to make sure that I respond in a different manner if a similar situation should arise.

All this leads me to certain conclusions.

  1. If it were not for the grace of God, I would either have been killed or imprisoned and destroyed early on about the time I began to break free of my parent’s restraining influence.
  2. I am far more forgiving of someone else’s indiscretions than I would be if I had not experienced similar (or worse) things myself.

That being said, let me bare my soul with something intensely personal. I married a woman who had three young children from a previous marriage. I had immense trouble asserting authority over this immediate family addition and responded in an authoritarian, often brutal, manner, which did nothing at all to persuade them (any of them) that they should follow my advice or orders. Instead, they responded with the attitude that my actions spoke so loudly that they couldn’t hear what I was saying.

Needless to say, it was not an easy time. The mistakes made were many and they happened rapidly. Before the lesson was learned from one, another had been made and it was only with the passage of time and separation that understanding (wisdom) began to appear. Life begins at forty, the saying goes and probably because, after forty years, a person starts to realize he does not know much and is willing to learn. In my case, it didn’t happen until I had hit at least my fiftieth birthday, maybe later, but, what a transformation it has made.

Today, if I had to do it over again, instead of trying to make my wife and (acquired) children behave as I wanted, I would simply talk with them, laying out the good and the bad possible, and then turn them loose to make their own decisions AND to live with the consequences of their actions.

Is this not what God does with us? It can be said that God does not force us to behave properly. It can be said that He warns us that IF we behave improperly, then we WILL experience certain (and logically following) repercussions. Yet, from a position of absolute knowledge of the future and knowing the hardships (or blessings) that will accompany our actions, God does not interfere with our choices nor attempt to overrule them. Instead, He allows us to go our own way and experience the consequences of our choices, either good or bad.

How do we approach the problems in society? We see something which is bad (from our viewpoint) and want to fix it by imposing our will and orders on others. If you would just behave the way I tell you to, then everything would work out best. You will be good, dammit, or else! We call this government and we spend unknown amounts of time, energy, and resources to make sure that we are the ones calling the shots, making sure that everyone else is behaving in the way that we want them to. As long as everything is going the way we want it to, life is good. If it deviates from that, then we have to assert our authority and power to force “positive” change on those who simply refuse to obey.

For their own good, of course.

With the passage of years and the understanding that comes from relentless self-examination, I have now arrived at the conclusion that it would be better for society-at-large to simply be warned of the dangers of certain actions rather than any attempts to “lead” it, forcibly, away from the hazards lurking around the corner. Personal peace has arrived at the realization that I am only required to advise people to take the right path instead of trying to prevent them from turning into the wrong one. It is not necessary for me to stop someone from going down the wrong road, but I will be held accountable if I do not warn them of the consequences of doing so.

This, I think, is the difference between government and love. Think about it.

A View with Room to Grow

This was meant originally to be a comment on an article, When Lying is a Virtue, but after repeated attempts to post it and being turned down by Blogger (a Google-owned platform), I gave up, revamped it somewhat, and posted it here. Understanding the current climate of de-platforming, censorship, mis-information, and the general frowning upon dissension from The Narrative, it would not be out of line to suspect that someone(s) does not want my viewpoint heard. But, I persist, and maybe I am shouting into the wind.


“This is why I’ve become disillusioned with where the libertarian movement has wound up. This is the essence of what Pete Quinones and I discussed in the recent podcast we did. It doesn’t mean I reject the philosophy or even the use of many libertarian critiques of central planning as useful filters, it means the philosophy isn’t enough to move the Overton Window in any practical political sense.”

Tom Luongo

I will not discuss Quinones here. I want to focus on the underlying theme that Luongo is bringing out, which compares favorably with Bionic Mosquito’s contention that strict adherence to libertarian principles is simply not enough to bring about a world of liberty and freedom. There must be a moral framework (ethical code) and there must be cooperation with others (groupings and institutions).

Libertarianism only promotes what it is against–rule by others. It is negative in nature and needs something positive and just as compelling to balance the scales, which I identify as self-control in a spirit of love toward others. Individualism, in and of itself, will not produce the goods. As a rule, people will not work at something in which they cannot see the benefits to themselves or the society around them.

Basically, this means that, in order to get where we want to go, we have to stop the infighting between ourselves over trivial matters and start working toward the common goal. The problem is that we have trouble agreeing on the goal and we are reluctant to put our own petty differences aside in pursuit of that. I will admit, I am no better than anyone else and may actually be more obstinate. Nevertheless, it has to happen and I recognize the need for personal change.

God help us all.

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones…

This article was first published as a comment (#43) at the Unz Review in an essay written shortly after Hamas had initiated their October 7 attack on Israel during which some 1200 persons were killed and hundreds more kidnapped and removed to Gaza. To date, the Israeli reprisal has resulted in upwards of 25, 000 Palestinians dead and the entire population uprooted and displaced, many of them on the brink of starvation.

Please note that my comment focuses on the free-speech issue which is under concerted assault today. It does not address the “Jewish question” nor should it be read as “anti-Semitic” in any way. If you find anything which I said to be offensive, then you are trying to be offended. Your problem, my pity.

Slight, grammatical corrections have been made from the original.


“To the main point here: Should calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard University’s code of conduct?

If that was what the student protestors were calling for, the answer has to be yes. “Genocide” means killing an entire race of people. If you want to do that, you are a homicidal psychopath. In a civilized society there should be no institution whose code of conduct validates homicidal psychopathology.”

https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/give-em-an-inch-they-take-a-harvard-yard/

Well, along with Ms. Gay, I would say, “That depends.”

In a civilized society SHOULD THERE BE an institution whose code of conduct validates homicidal psychopathology? Well, no, of course not, any more than there should be a movie theater which would tolerate someone shouting, “Fire!” during a very crowded session. However, this misses the point of free speech. It is called FREE speech, after all.

In a civilized society where free speech is encouraged and allowed, there should be no limits placed on what is said. Anyone should be able to speak his mind about anything.  Any institution should be able to support and allow any speech it wishes, even if it is detrimental (and it would be) to the institution itself.  Offense taken because of words spoken is a personal issue and should be addressed as such. However, in today’s society, the emphasis is placed on the “offense taken” and the only remedy which is prescribed for it is to outlaw and prohibit, not the offense nor the reaction, but the words which caused it.

“You cannot say that. Someone might be hurt.”

All of society, civilized or not, is geared around one thing–conformity to the established norm. Anyone who deviates from that automatically becomes uncivilized, a pariah, one of the hairy, unwashed, deplorables who deserves to be eradicated or thrown out of the group. It does not matter what the issue is or how flagrant the violation is–any violation is cause for alarm and voices which speak freely generate the greatest concern and response.

It is not the speakers themselves who are the real threat, rather the response by others who hear the words and are motivated to action because of them. Jim Jones and Adolf Hitler would have been nothing more than abrasive loudmouths IF the people who heard them refused to act on what they heard. Those who scream, “Kill all the Jews!”, would make no progress at all if everyone within earshot simply ignored them and went about living as if they had not heard them. No one would ever be trampled to death in a crowded theater if everyone would simply sit still for two or three seconds and rationally assess the situation before stampeding.

The problem is, they don’t. People react, from emotion, according to what they hear and listen to–whether it is right and true or not. Therefore, we have laws prohibiting the FREE exercise of speech and substituting some truncated version of it, a limited form of it, somewhat less than free speech–all of it conditioned on and by the level of “civilization” we have reached.

If we are ever to be free, truly free, then the right to say anything, anything at all, must become sacred within the society. Otherwise, we labor under the shackles of someone else’s opinion and feelings, all of which are meant to “protect” from “harm”. Until we learn, as individuals and as a cohesive group of individuals, that we are NOT harmed by the words and, therefore, have no need to react, we will never be free. We will always be under the control of someone else who will decide for us how we MUST respond. In other words, there oughta’ be a law against that sort of stuff.

“I may not agree with what you are saying, but I will defend your right to say it.” ought to be our operating mantra, but it is not. Instead, we have arrived at the conclusion that because I disagree with and do not like what you are saying, you cannot say it. End of story. Sit down, shut up, and do as you are told.

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” This old nursery rhyme has now been transformed into one which might read, “If you call me a name, I will pick up a stick and attempt to break your bones.”

I’m Going to Live…Until I Die!

The last two years, I went out on a limb and posted my predictions (here and here) about what would happen in the following year. I have to admit that my track record is not good. Seeing the future and calling it correctly is not my forte. I can make guesses, some educated, some wild, but that is about it. Therefore, I am discontinuing the practice this year and will not waste any more of my time trying to make it look like I have some window into the unknown and unseen.

However, I think it is quite safe to say that 2024 appears to be on a rough path and we will probably stub our toes often and may lose our footing during it. National governments everywhere seem to be struggling frantically to hold fractious pieces together and the US is no exception. Between politics, economy, inflation, immigration, the never-ending threat of war, and the very distinct odor of financial collapse, there is more than enough to keep us alert and on edge. Throw in the quadrennial circus of the “presidential” (s)election and the possibility that the country might irreconcilably split over the results just adds more uncertainty to the mix. “May you live in interesting times!”, as the ancient Chinese curse is purported to say.

I am going to give in to temptation here and make a comparison. I tend to view living in interesting times akin to driving a powerful sports car on a winding, mountain road which I have never seen before, not knowing what lies ahead around the next curve or rise, and going as fast as I dare, using the gas and brake to maximum effect. The exhilaration! The rush of adrenalin!! Sometimes, I have to pull over and spend a few minutes gathering my composure, getting my nerve back after a near collision or close call, yet everything is forgotten once the road is flying backwards under the weight of the tires and my foot on the accelerator. Of course, there is always the chance of an unrecoverable miscalculation which results in an unpleasant end to an exciting, adrenalin-filled drive…but we won’t talk about that right now.

Toad!

Most people, however, do not have what it takes to live that way. Instead, they prefer to back the grocery-getter out of the driveway, accelerate gently up to the speed limit (well, maybe only a little bit above it), and travel along with everyone else on a straight, wide, smooth boulevard or freeway. Calm, sedate, predictable, at least until someone else barrels through a red light and collides with another. We never think about it, though, and always expect that we will get to our destination safely and back home again without incident. Yet, in the back of our minds is the understanding that someone, somewhere, could wreak havoc on our own best laid plans and schedule regardless as to how safely we motor down the highway.

This is life. An existence of getting up every morning and getting through the day without incident. The more adventurous of us take risks the majority would blanch at and they are often soon gone. The controllers are constantly watching for violations of the “rules of the road” and waiting to take us to task because we didn’t “drive” the way we were supposed to. Most of us simply shrug our shoulders, fasten our seat belt, and hope to live through the journey, prosperously and peacefully, without ever thinking about it. Which is fine as long as traffic flows smoothly, but then something unexpected happens and our world is thrown into a state of chaos, confusion, and calamity.

And something always happens, especially in those societies which refuse to pay attention to the signs warning of danger ahead. Today, those signs are not simple black and white posters stuck on a post informing of the speed limit. They are huge digitized billboards, constantly flashing brightly lit messages which cannot be missed by anyone, yet we ignore them and drive on heedlessly. All that matters is the next pay raise, the next profitable contract, the next election, the next Super Bowl, the next war. Who cares what tomorrow brings? Eat, drink, and be merry! Build bigger barns because the harvest last summer was great! Expect to do better next year!! Until it all ends in a crash which destroys all the hopes and dreams lived for.

We are living in interesting times. I have no doubt about that. Nevertheless, I intend to carry on, without fear, knowing that the consequences of extremely bad living will catch up someday. Death, not only for myself, but also for the society we live in, is coming closer–one day at a time and there is nothing I can do except to accept it as reality and hope that I die peacefully at home with my family and friends around me. It may happen that way, may not. It does not matter.

Life, interesting or bland, is meant to be lived to the fullest. Drive on!

What is Terrorism?

On August 06, 2012, I was listening to NPR’s “All Things Considered”, concerning the shooting spree the morning before at the Sikh Temple near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where seven people, including the suspected murderer, were shot and killed.

During this segment of the show, the commentator mentioned that the authorities had not yet called this an act of “domestic terrorism”, since it wasn’t clear what the motive of the shooter was. The speaker stated that the accepted description of domestic terrorism is violence with a political motive. Apparently, it hadn’t been determined that the shooter had any political agenda he was pursuing.

This started me thinking. If domestic terrorism is violence with a political motive, then domestic terrorism which crosses national boundaries must logically become international terrorism. If this is the case, then anyone who acts violently in the pursuit of a political agenda must be either a domestic or an international terrorist. (See here for a further discussion of the meaning of terrorism.)

What does the above description say about men (or women) who wear business suits, work in offices in Washington, D.C., and order drone strikes, covert operations, and overt military action (all of which are violent acts for political gain) against other people? Should they be exempt from the label “terrorist, domestic or international”? Why?

There is no doubt that the American State uses violent means for political ends, both domestic and international. So does the British, French, Russian, Chinese, Indonesian, Cuban, Venezuelan, Colombian, Brazilian, Indian, and South African, among other states too numerous to mention. Are all these terrorist organizations or are they something different? Why?

Draw your own conclusion. I want you to think about this. I have presented here a logical argument. If terrorism is defined as violence which is used to advance a political agenda, then logically everyone who uses violence to advance his or her own political agenda is a terrorist. Does it really matter that a terrorist might act as an individual, a large part of a very small group, or a small part of a very large group?  By definition, any violent act perpetrated against anyone for a specific political reason is a terrorist act, regardless as to whether it is State sanctioned or not.

Obviously, this creates a problem for people who want to believe that “our” system of violence for political reasons does not constitute terrorism. In America today, we want to believe that terrorism is brown-skinned, speaks Arabic, and is Middle-Eastern and Muslim in origin. Self-congratulations are in order as we loudly proclaim that “we” are not like “them”, thank God. Sometimes we admit that a Timothy McVeigh might emerge from our own ranks, but in the next breath condemn him and his ilk as aberrant, un-American, extreme, demented, etc.

At the same time, we applaud someone who kicks in a door to a home in Afghanistan in the middle of the night, opens fire, and kills or wounds many, many persons, some of which are children and/or old men and women. In fact, we call them “heroes” and “freedom fighters”, as if the occupants of a mud hut in the middle of Afghanistan actually presented a viable threat to our health and well-being. For the soldier who follows orders, there are accolades, pomp and circumstance, ticker-tape parades, honors, medals, etc. We thank them for their service. Of course, the occasional lone wolf might go bonkers and do the same thing without official orders, but he is then thrown into the same class as McVeigh, and we pat ourselves on the back with the consolation that, generally speaking, the rest of the soldiers are not like that.

The label doesn’t stop there, though. What about the chain of command? What about the generals who are overseeing the entire operation? The colonels who give the orders on the ground? The captains who lead the attack? The sergeant who directs his men to shoot anything that moves? The private or corporal who actually pulls the trigger? What are their political motives? Why do they wish to inflict violence on someone else they don’t know and may have never seen before? What should these men/women rightly be called?

If the military personnel are culpable, then consider the Congresspersons or President who initiated the operation in the first place? What should we call them? They are the ones who gave approval to use violent means to advance their political agendas, whatever those might be. Should they be deemed “terrorist” as well as the person doing the actual bombing, shooting, and killing? Let’s go further, however.

Consider the average American citizen who voted for any specific Congressperson who then voted to authorize, say, the Afghan war. What about the average person who advocates that war be visited on some miscellaneous foreign country, like Iraq, Syria, Libya, or Iran? By extension, logically, that person might very well be called a terrorist. After all, someone will die violently so that his own political agenda can be advanced.

Wow! This hits pretty close to home, doesn’t it? Most people would automatically disavow this argument, since they would never personally commit the action of terrorism. This is really an irresponsible position and a refusal to be consistent with one’s own philosophy, because there are multiple millions of people who would not physically pull the trigger, but desire and encourage others to do the job for them. Generally, people do not call themselves “terrorist”, yet they are more than willing to let someone else perform the acts of violence. So long as they themselves do not suffer adversely in the process, they are OK with it.  

Jesus Christ said that anyone who lusted after a woman in his heart had committed adultery with her, even though no physical intercourse took place. He also said that hatred for one’s fellow man was equivalent to murder. We can extrapolate that he would condemn even the wishful thinking of violence done for the reason of political gain, otherwise known as terrorism. It is entirely plausible that many, many Christians in America today are actively working against the will of the Prince of Peace, Who beats swords into plowshares, thereby ensuring their own destruction as the world-system we know is taken apart and rearranged.  

Prospering from the Rituals of Democracy

“Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.”

H. L. Mencken

Over the last few months, I have been reading Notes on Democracy by H.L. Mencken. I find it difficult to absorb in large doses and have consigned myself to reading one chapter through, then throwing the book down for an indeterminate length of time, eventually picking it up again for another go-round. In any case, virtually every case, there is some sort of “insight” which pops off the page and smacks me between the eyes, as does the following gem.

“In boom times, indeed, democracy is always very impatient of what used to be called natural rights. The typical democrat is quite willing to exchange any of the theoretical boons of freedom for something that he can use. In most cases, perhaps, he is averse to selling his vote for cash in hand, but that is mainly because the price offered is usually too low. He will sell it very willingly for a good job or for some advantage in his business. Offering him such bribes, in fact, is the chief occupation of all political parties under democracy, and of all professional politicians.”

Note that Mencken refers to the typical democrat (believer in democracy) as opposed to Democrat (member of a certain particular political party). This includes every person of every political stripe who believes that his opinion is the only one which counts for anything and who votes in every election because it is his “duty” to do so. The plain and simple truth is that those who vote do so with the expectation of receiving something back which they think will benefit them personally and which is always gained at the expense of someone else whom they do not even know nor will probably ever meet. Those people, sensing that our intrepid voter is attempting to take something, anything, from them, are adamant about “defending” themselves and they attempt to do this by also voting, thereby hoping that they, too, will receive their own personal piece of the pie, always ladled out and served to them by “leaders” who do not hesitate to scoop out “benefits” from other sections of the pie, thus guaranteeing that another’s piece is commensurately smaller. In response to this, he will ramp up his efforts, voice, and action to get what he deserves, his “rightful share”.

(When I was growing up and we were divvying up a pie at the dinner table, each of us watched diligently to make sure that none of this occurred. We called it excavating and it was strictly outlawed. A sharp eye was needed especially when the pie filling had not set up firmly and would ooze from its proper place.)

In this sense, voting is not a great amount different than the mindset shown in the phrase, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, which can easily be paraphrased into modern language as, “Vote myself rich and let others pay for it”. Everyone understands it and most people voluntarily participate in it. Of course, the proper answer for this is that soon the entire world will be blind and toothless and any democracy which enables its citizens to steal legally from each other will not long survive and prosper.

In today’s world, taking what belongs to someone else through the filter of democracy does not even register as a blip on the screen of moral conscience. The attitude of “getting what one deserves” clearly has a considerable amount of influence, even if no conscious thought is put into it and one might recoil at the suggestion that he deserves anything at all. Which he does not, unless he has earned it, and filling out a ballot to determine how much his neighbor will be robbed for his own comfort does not constitute an “earning” worthy of reward. Yet, on and on we go, year after year, election after election, until the entire treasury has been milked and stripped so that it is unsustainable and the whole system collapses. At that point, another is voted in to take its place, beginning the whole process over. After all, it is our duty.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. Get on your knees and pray…

And the Beat Goes On…

TikTok, TikTok, winding down our freedom’s clock…

This could easily be the Grinch’s refrain if he was as concerned about protecting people’s rights as he was about destroying them. If you’ve seen the movie as many times as I have, you will recognize the tune.

I have just become aware that TikTok, presumably at the behest of the Grinch, er, I mean, US government, has just permanently banned one of the world’s most famous journalists, Glenn Greenwald, for posting videos which “violated the community standards”. That is to say, Greenwald posted videos critical of the government’s incessant attack on this little matter of free speech and subsequently had his account shut down. Forever. Without recourse. Permanently. Such is the very real threat which every journalist has to consider when he posts anything which might be frowned upon by those who do not want to see it come to light and exposed.

Read this article for more information.

Ever since the State of Montana became the first in the country to outlaw TikTok within its borders (supposedly to protect the weak, stupid, and gutless citizens who were addicted to it and could not refrain from using it, you understand), I have been pounding the issue. I came out forcefully against the State’s action from the beginning and have not altered my stance. This is not a question of “protection” of the common person from the depredations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is, and has always been, about control of the flow of information which is available to the average prole.

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/19/montana-the-new-state-of-censorship/

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/23/tiktok-round-2/

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/04/26/tiktok-round-3/

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/05/22/the-end-of-the-world-and-tiktok/

https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2023/12/01/the-saga-of-tiktok-montana-continues/

Commenting on Greenwald’s ban, Adam Dick writes this.

“Five years back, technology companies were hitting their stride with cracking down on alternative voices. That crackdown has continued over the ensuing years. Further, evidence has increasingly been revealed that fills out the story of how United States government agents have behind the scenes been pushing the crackdown.”

“Given this context, one is wise to be skeptical of politicians and bureaucrats of the US government, along with their media allies, clamoring that TikTok needs to be banned because it is spreading propaganda for the government of China. It sure sounds like a fox guarding the henhouse sort of situation. Is the US taking a break from its censorship fixation to defend Americans from censorship here? Isn’t a more likely explanation for this talk of banning TikTok that making this threat is part of an effort to further bring this social media company into the US propagandizing operation — that the US government is seeking to advance its own interests, not to protect users of the company’s social media platform?”

https://ronpaulinstitute.org/glenn-greenwald-explains-how-threats-to-ban-tiktok-are-part-of-the-effort-to-expand-us-censorship-through-tech-companies/

Did you get that? TikTok needs to be banned because it is spreading propaganda for the government of China. In Montana, the overriding reason was not so much that it was spreading propaganda as it was that the EVIL CCP was scooping up information about TikTok users and compiling a database to be used against them, eventually, at some undetermined time in the future. At least, that was the official story line, the narrative. Presumably, a male teenager from Havre, Wisdom, or Big Timber, who only has sex, drugs, and Grand Theft Auto on his mind is in grave danger because he also views content on TikTok whenever he is bored and has nothing else to do, which is most of the time.

Naaaahhhhh! I agree with Greenwald and Dick. TikTok is being folded into the mix of government coercion and censorship, eventually to be as compromised as Google, YouTube, Facebook, et al., all of which are more than willing to toe the government line, so long as they are allowed to stay in business. Of course, in that respect, TikTok is no different and it will inevitably cave and grovel under the statist boot because of it. Greenwald comments,

“…they care about profit. These are capitalists. They don’t care about giving the US government control over content moderation. They are happy to do it if that’s the condition they have to meet in order to keep access to the very lucrative US market.”

All of which goes to prove that there really is nothing new under the sun. The love of money IS the root of all evil.

It’s All About Service

“…certain angels could not accept serving God if it entailed serving a lower species—namely the human species. One third of the angels fell and became demons.”

Interesting theory. The angels were created to serve God. As we know from Scripture, one aspect of serving God is to serve humanity. Does this service only apply to humans or are the angels under the same requirement? Did 1/3 of the angels balk at serving humanity?

This idea sheds some light on the subject. Why would 1/3 of the angels follow Satan’s lead in rebelling against God? What was in it for them? Following this line of reasoning leads me to believe that they refused to serve humanity because it would have meant that they themselves would NOT be served BY humanity. In other words, they wanted to be rulers over men instead of servants of men.

So God threw them out and consigned them to eternal frustration and disappointment.

If this is true (I suspect that it is), then what does that say to us when the very words of Christ command us to serve other people rather than trying to rule them? Those who believe in the application of power, force, and violence to make others behave and live as desired will have a hard time with this concept. The most evil people, those with the least interest in serving, rise to the top of the political heap because they are spiritual copies of Satan, who has NO interest in service, but instead seeks total and complete control.

If God rejected the angels who refused to serve, then the people who travel that same road are in some serious trouble. It would benefit us personally to cut the ties and distance ourselves from such people.

The Saga of TikTok Montana Continues

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/federal-judge-blocks-montana-tiktok-ban_n_65695c32e4b07b937ff4381a#

As I expected.

When this issue erupted last spring, I posted four articles in rapid succession to my blog on the topic. Start here and follow the links for those previously posted.

Normally, I would not agree with the ACLU and other leftist-oriented groups, but here I came down hard against the “conservative” Republican statist effort to control my freedom to look at what I want, my own right of freedom of speech. Today, the ban is on hold. Again, normally I would not agree with Fed judge Donald Molloy, but I think he made the right call in this instance.

I will continue to champion the free speech rights of people over and against the “interests” of the State. The political leanings do not matter one bit to me as I am far more concerned with advancing freedom and liberty than with which side wins. This attitude allows me to go up against anyone regardless who they are or what they stand for.

Oh, by the way, if you live in Montanan, you are involuntarily paying for these illegitimate shenanigans. Just thought I’d bring that to your attention.

Making the Most of “Our” Time

Time for a change. A time change, that is.

Tomorrow morning, Nov. 5, at 2:00 a.m., America will revert back to Standard time and move the hands on the clock back one hour. This will (supposedly) give everyone an extra hour of sleep, although in my case, it will not matter. I go to sleep when I am tired and get up when I wake up–a pattern which is not driven by the clock.

For some history on the subject and “justification” for the practice, see here, here, and here.

For the next few months, Standard time will be the norm until Daylight Saving Time is resurrected again in the spring. The ritual is repeated over and over again, year after year, with some attempts made to end it and no real expectation that it will be. This is nonsense and foolishness on a grand scale as there is no good and compelling reason for its continuation. In fact, there is only bureaucratic inertia, as Federal regulations forbid individual states to maintain Daylight Saving Time (DST) year-round, and everyone knows (or should) that when a regulation is entered into the Federal Register, it never comes out.

Sort of like the Hotel California. “You can grumble and complain all you like, but you can never leave.”

The main problem with making the shift to a uniform time, regular or DST, is that when anything is proposed, some special interest group will squawk and ramp up their efforts to persuade the politicians according to their own “lights”. Pardon the pun. Such is life under democracy, but ultimately, this shifts the power of decision-making to the bureaucracy which will never, ever rock the boat until and unless overwhelming power and influence is brought against them. Career bureaucrats simply do not change unless forced, therefore, the way we measure time will not change either.

My personal preference is that DST is maintained year-round, giving us more daylight in the evening. Of course, this means that I would have to drive to work during the winter months in darkened conditions, often wet and/or icy, with whitetail deer crossing the road in total disregard of oncoming traffic. (It is my observation that mule deer are not prone to this suicidal habit, only the whitetails, but I am not a Scientist and, therefore, have not done any “controlled, replicable experiments” on the theory. That has no bearing on the subject. I just threw it in as a bonus. Value added, you know.)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has introduced legislation numerous times to make DST permanent…and failed every time. While I disagree with the man on many, many, many issues, in this he and I are in lockstep.

“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid. Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support. This Congress, I hope that we can finally get this done,” Rubio said in a press release on March 2.

https://time.com/6261629/daylight-savings-time-2023/

There are multiple arguments put forth in favor of DST and just as many against it. I will not elaborate here. You can easily find them online. However, I have a theory which, as far as I know, has never been mentioned by anyone else. This is not to say that I am the originator, but I have never heard it from another source. Perhaps you have and can send me a link. Perhaps I am just being overly suspicious.

My theory is that the government, all-powerful in its own eyes, simply cannot resist the temptation to tinker with and control time. Considering that DST in America began with Woodrow Wilson, that despicable progressive piece of humanity, and considering that DST has now become a Fixture of American Life, it is not far-fetched to think that there are those in power who actually believe they have the authority to change time itself. Obviously, they cannot change the way the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, but they can alter the means we use to measure the amount of daylight we experience.

One thing will not change, however. Midnight and midday, those natural occurrences which designate the points halfway between sunrise and sunset will never be altered. No matter how much we, in our perceived arrogance, seek to obfuscate and confuse the issue, midnight and midday will always be with us…exactly as they have been from the very beginning. Considering my obstinate insistence on accuracy, probably I will have to change my own attitude and start advocating for reality, otherwise known as Not Daylight Saving Time.

It really will not matter to me whichever way it goes. I just want to have one set time and stop having to make the requisite bi-annual adjustments on my clocks.

Won’t Get Fooled Again! Or Will We?

“There remained the problem of converting reluctant acquiescence into enthusiasm. It was solved, as always, by manufacturing new fears. The history of the process remains to be written by competent hands; it will be a contribution to the literature of mob psychology of the highest importance. But the main outlines are familiar enough. The whole power of the government was concentrated upon throwing the plain people into a panic. All sense was heaved overboard, and there ensued a chase of bugaboos on a truly epic scale. Nothing like it had ever been seen in the world before…”

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, Ch. 4

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? In fact, we can point to the just recently passed (thankfully) Covid years as the most recent example of shenanigans of this type, because it is obvious now (as it was from the beginning to anyone who wasn’t afraid to see things clearly), that the governments around the world threw everything they had into whipping the people into a froth of panic and hysteria.

But the quote above didn’t arise from that episode. Instead it originated after the four-year murderous orgy known as WWI. Mencken eloquently describes the reluctance of the American public to enter the war and the full-court press used to turn the tide of opinion in favor of it. The tactics used to persuade the masses to abandon their good sense and independence were exactly the same as those used in 2020 and 2021 to convince the public that they (or their grandmothers, or someone else’s grandmother) were in imminent danger of succumbing to a hideous malady (common flu), unless they immediately adopted the nonsensical practice of face-masking, shopping in one direction only, driving alone with the windows fully closed, staying in their house with all the windows double-barred and the doors triple-locked, abandoning the ritual of church attendance on Sunday morning (most especially Easter Sunday), and, above all, lining up and baring arms to receive the one and only thing which could save them from complete destruction–a newly developed (unproven) serum pitched as a miracle drug by pharmaceutical companies–the mRNA shot, which, by the way, just happened to be highly profitable for those (Pfizer, Moderna) which happened to be conveniently and politically connected to those highly placed officials who “called the shots”.

What is next? What new monster will be created to gin up rabid, irrational fear across the public swathe for the purpose of padding someone’s bank account or garnering more power? Nuclear war? Space aliens? Another contrived pandemic? A world-wide financial breakdown on a scope greater than 2008 ever was? Who knows? It is virtually certain, however, that something will be brought out and tried and we will be given another chance at being fooled again.

Because we never learn.

“I’ll get on my knees and pray…we don’t get fooled again.” — The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

If We Don’t End the Wars…

Consider this a blast on my trumpet.

Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning, his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, his is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

Ezekiel 33:1-6 (NKJV)

The attacks on Israel by Hamas occurred almost three weeks ago and since then it has been a continuously escalating situation in the region. More and more nations and groups are being drawn into the conflict and, unless something is done to defuse the tension and resolve the issue, it may explode into a very dangerous, potentially nuclear, possibly world-ending battle between not just the small regional players, but the major powers as well–the US (which is already engaging), NATO, Russia, and China.

I do not support any of the belligerents. None of them. Not one. They are all part of the same problem–power-hungry men and women who view violence and force as a means of gaining control over their compatriots and, by extension, neighboring peoples up to and including the entire world. Every one of the nations and groups involved in the current struggle, those struggles already past, and those yet to come, are all cut from the same cloth. The war-wagers are all guilty.

Unfortunately, in many of these countries, the citizenry down to the average man on the street, also salivates at the prospect of “going to war” against another group, society, culture, or nation not his own. As soon as the first shot is fired, the first rocket is launched, or the first aircraft carrier is sunk, the fever strikes and from then on, nothing can dissuade the population from “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, until, as Tevye said in Fiddler on the Roof, “…the whole world is blind and toothless.” Or, as we saw at the end of WWII, entire nations (Germany, Japan) are beaten down and destroyed until they have no will nor means to resist and simply give up, taking whatever punishment is handed to them.

How will this current episode play out? I have no idea, but I am certain that it will not be good for an enormous number of people. Already, thousands on both sides have lost their lives. Thousands more, perhaps millions, will before this ends. It could easily escalate to the point of nuclear war in which billions perish. We have the potential to end all life on Earth, that is, entirely, turning the planet into a radioactive cinder endlessly circling the sun. Considering human nature and its propensity to produce the worst possible scenario in the name of profit and power, I have no doubt that someone, somewhere, would push the button if he thought he could benefit from it.

We need to get over it. We need to make an adjustment in our mindset. We need to learn to live peacefully with our neighbors. We need to stop the power tripping. We need to end the wars before the wars end us.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Mask Up!

Finally! After all these millennia, scientists have discovered that the REAL reason people get sick in the fall and winter is due to…colder temperatures.

Well, duh!! Anyone could have seen that obvious conclusion, but it took a taxpayer-funded study to confirm it. After all, when the thermometer goes lower in the fall, the number of flu cases rises, seemingly in lockstep. The colder the temperature, the more flu. And, since CNN produced this, it has to be true. Right? Of course, right.

Contrary to popular myth, correlation DOES equal causation.

Now that you know, you can minimize your chances of catching the flu by doing one simple thing–wear a mask. According to Dr. Benjamin Bleier, who worked in the study, it is beneficial to “suit up”.

“Not only do masks protect you from the direct inhalation of viruses, but it’s also like wearing a sweater on your nose,”…

Well, there you have it from an Expert, an Esteemed Member of the Hallowed Discipline of the Holy Church of Undisputable and Settled Science. There are so many questions this POS raises, but I will only ask one. If a mask works like a sweater to keep our noses warm, why aren’t we encouraged to simply wear full face ski masks? That ought to do the trick.

Yeah, I am fully convinced. So convinced, in fact, that I’m going to rush out and buy up as many ski masks as possible to hoard them for the oncoming demand.

Logically speaking, if we can avoid the flu by keeping our noses warm, then it ought to be realistic and sensible to assume that a warmer Earth would alleviate untold misery by billions of people every year. Climate Change to the rescue! Viva Global Warming!! Combat the Flu by heating up the environment!!!

It’s all for the cause, dear.

It’s hilarious that an article pushing such a ludicrous position (masking will keep you safe) would actually lead someone like myself to make all kinds of exaggerated claims based on the assertions made in it. Honestly, though, I have barely scratched the surface and could, if I put myself to it, produce untold numbers of highly sarcastic comments about this.

But, hey! Why do I have to do all the work? Create your own.

Love of Control and the Antidote

This article was first posted at https://westernmt.news/voices/.

“Governments of every stripe are nothing more than gangs of terrorists. All government is organized crime, and relies on force and propaganda in order to subdue the human herd. The criminals at the top care nothing about any of you, and will always find the common man to be expendable, especially those who stand in the way of the State’s efforts to achieve totalitarian rule.” — Gary Barnett

Don’t let anyone fool you. Don’t fool yourself. Government which relies on force and violence to achieve its ends CANNOT be reformed and made into something which it is not. This is why the appeals to “conservatism”, “going back to the Constitution”, and “small(er) government”, always fail. The goal is NEVER to eliminate forceful, violent government, instead, it is about gaining control and power over everyone else at the expense of anyone–no matter who they are. Voting for a proxy government is nothing more than a way of exercising your own personal, deep-seated desire for control.

The main argument of government apologists everywhere can be reduced to one common theme, i.e., “If they disagree with me, then they need to be controlled.” Unfortunately for this attitude, those who seek to control others usually end up being controlled. Only a very few, all fabulously wealthy and extremely powerful, can escape this control in any measurable fashion, but they trade that privilege for their own peculiar set of problems, all of which have costs imposed and exacted.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” — Luke 6:38 (KJV)

This passage of Scripture, spoken by Jesus, especially the emphasized part, applies equally across the board. You want control? You will be controlled. The alternative, the cure for this mindset, also spoken by Jesus, is this:

“Love your neighbor as you do yourself.” — Mark 12:31

Living this way requires a complete abandonment of the Status Quo and the adoption of a new way of life. Few there be that find it.

Those Who Refuse to Learn…

It has been two years since the US pulled its troops out of Afghanistan in one of the most humiliating withdrawals the country has ever experienced. An event of this nature has not happened since the days of the Viet Nam war, when hordes of panic-stricken people crowded onto the roof of the American embassy in Saigon, all of them hoping to catch a ride out on a helicopter to escape the wrath of the approaching Viet Cong army. See here for a comparison between then and now.

The retreat from Kabul, Afghanistan, was a disastrous, uncoordinated, debacle which saw thirteen young American servicemen and women killed during the last days. Not only that, but the US military left behind billions of dollars worth of intact war machinery–weapons, vehicles, airplanes, etc., which the Taliban promptly seized. This catastrophe showed the world in vivid detail that the US military had cut and run like a scared rabbit with no regard for anyone left behind–including thirteen young American servicemen and women.

We have not learned. America (the West, NATO) is now bogged down in Ukraine, throwing money at the conflict like it was a bottomless pit, constantly ratcheting up the rhetoric, always edging closer and closer to actual conflict with Russia, never pausing to think about the consequences. Or, as Admiral David Farragut exclaimed, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Sometimes extreme risk-taking can pay off, as Farragut’s gamble proved, but the consequences, if he had failed, would have been a few ships and men lost, whereas, if active, hot war with Russia erupts as a result of America’s provocative foolishness, it (theoretically, at least) could mean the literal end of the world via unlimited nuclear “bombs bursting in air”. Is it worth the risk just to show how tough we are or to maintain the status quo? I think not. Prudence and common sense would dictate a pullback to a more secure position.

If it should happen that the West is able to disentangle itself from Ukraine (with “honor”, no less), there is always the Taiwan issue, the next hurdle to be overcome in the quest to achieve world dominance through overwhelming force. Anyone who is awake and aware can see that the pivot to this new theater of war is already well underway. The propaganda machine is already cranking up the rhetoric, conditioning the masses for a new engagement on a different front. China, it is said, is the main adversary of the American way of life and the implacable foe of “freedom”, therefore, she must be taken down a peg or two.

And the move to total global war ratchets forward another notch. Eventually, unless we experience a genuine sea-change in public opinion, it will hit home, close to home, perhaps even personally. America is not immune to destruction and, in what will be surprising to many, that destruction can happen virtually, even literally, overnight–with little to no warning.

Except for one small thing. We have been warned and we have not learned. It appears that we will not learn until we have to–the hard way.

Fear is a Harsh Mistress

This article was inspired by a conversation with an acquaintance and encouraged by this recent quote from Gary Barnett:

“…the truth hurts, but without acceptance of truth, what is left is a deceitful lie…”

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/08/gary-d-barnett/the-only-national-defense-needed-in-this-country-is-defense-against-the-real-enemy-the-ruling-class-and-the-u-s-government/

The title of the article is adapted from Robert Heinlein’s novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I have reason to believe that Heinlein would not be offended by my use of it.


There are only two reasons to believe that government is necessary, neither one of them positive nor uplifting:

1. A personal desire for power and control over other people, with the purpose of getting what one wants via the use of force, and/or,

2. A deep-seated, irrational desire for protection against imagined events which might, but are not guaranteed to, happen.

It is accurate to say that those who use government at any level from the very top to the very bottom seek control of others via the proxy known as government for personal, selfish desires, i.e., to get what someone else has OR as a bulwark against loss, i.e, to keep what they already possess. Neither of these are Christian attributes. Both are grounded in one basic emotion–fear. Both use force, either implicitly or explicitly to attain their goals. Both are a violation of the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.”

Everything which is negative in life can be boiled down to fear. Fear was the very first emotion expressed in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve ate the apple, causing them to cover themselves with fig leaves out of shame for their nakedness. Fear of being found wanting caused them to try to hide from God, resulting in their being driven away from and deprived of the right to live forever. This assumes that the Genesis account is accurate. Whether it is or not, the principle is the same.

Fear, all-encompassing, unreasoning fear, consumes us as individuals and societies. It conjures up imaginations deep within our souls which, if allowed to come to pass, might cause enormous pain, suffering, and deprivation, perhaps even death, which is usually resisted to the very end with all the strength we can muster because we are afraid of dying. Fear causes us to develop tactics and strategies to overcome these imaginations, which, being rooted in irrationality, exacerbate the fear and drive us to greater effort in devising new methods to overcome it. It is a repetitive cycle, a doom-loop, which never ends within our minds–unless it is broken completely and thoroughly discarded as a way of life.

In all of this, it is understandable why people first banded together to oppose enemies, whether they had two legs or four. When violent death via saber-toothed cats was a constant threat, they learned quickly that there was safety in numbers. When marauding Stone Age bands from different tribes appeared on the horizon, it was necessary to follow the leader to repel the threat. What evolved out of these situations was a system in which some people learned that existential threats were good for their status within the community and they began to devise ways to manufacture fear to keep their subjects in a continual panic-driven state of mind. Government became the norm as it became more and more evident that the populace could be manipulated into submission and subjection due to a perceived, existent threat. We have now progressed to the point where the threat does not have to be existent, i.e., Covid, Climate Change, or Russia!, Russia!, Russia!, but is only perceived to be. We are constantly bombarded with propaganda which serves the purpose of maintaining and consolidating the false narrative–which is designed to keep us in a perpetual state of fear.

Bad things do happen to good people. This is true. It is a fact of human life. Into every life a little rain must fall. However, this does not justify giving up our human liberty to an external government in the hope that somehow, perhaps, just maybe, the threat will not materialize or, if it does, that the government will defeat it before it strikes us, keeping us safe and our way of life secure. We do not need to live this way.

We do need to be aware of the potential dangers around us. Yellowstone might blow. Kim Jong-Un might unleash an EMP attack in the airspace above Nebraska. A respiratory disease might kill half the population, including myself and/or those close to me. Aliens might invade. A meteorite might strike the world. The economy might collapse tomorrow. And on, and on, and on…infinitum. [Note: the present economy will collapse someday and another will take its place. This much is certain. All the others mentioned are purely conjectural. Of these, there is no guarantee that they will occur.]

Yes, there are dangers and threats, but we do not have to be afraid. We can conquer the fear within our own individual lives to the point that every potential threat remains just that…only a potential threat and refuse to allow it to gain control over us. We can choose to live fearlessly, unafraid of what the future might bring.

“You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free…” (John 8:32) were the words spoken two thousand years ago and they ring true today. This brings up the question, however. What are we set free from? Obviously, wars, diseases, and earthquakes still happen. Auto accidents occur. Marital infidelities abound. Crime is rampant. Any of these, et al., might happen to us at any time. Therefore, we cannot say that the truth will automatically preserve us from these nor from any other specific negative event. What we can say, however, is that the truth sets us free from being controlled mentally and spiritually by fear. The truth sets us free from one thing and only one thing–fear. If we are free from fear, then there is nothing which can stop us from achieving our destiny in this life. If we are free from fear, we become uncontrollable by other people and are accountable only to the truth–that we are children of God, responsible only to Him, and, as such, can live freely.

As people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we should understand that the greatest enemy we face is not an external one, but the one which resides within us. It should be our goal to overcome this enemy so completely that it is rendered perfectly impotent. We are, as the Scripture says, more than conquerors (Romans 8:37). Instead of giving in to the fear which we are all prone to, we ought to recognize that God, not a government nor any impersonal event, holds our future and that nothing, absolutely nothing, can happen to us unless He allows it.

“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.” — Hebrews 11:6

I do not need government. I am not a threat to anyone and I am not afraid of what life might bring. I am confident in my faith in the Sovereign God Who is my provision and my protection.

Why would I have need to fear?

Social Security and the Iceberg Dead Ahead

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/seniors-told-brace-far-lower-social-security-payment-boost-2024

Coming–the end of the largest Ponzi scheme America (probably the world) has ever seen.

This is justice. For too long, America’s “senior citizens” have milked the system to live high on the hog while demanding that everyone younger than they support their profligate spending habits. Of course, not every single individual is guilty of this charge, but as a corporate group, it is undeniable that old people have built their future on the backs of their children who are buckling under the load.

“I’m a senior citizen AND I vote.” is the mantra and it is exercised vigorously every time an election occurs. It is a verifiable fact that old people vote far more regularly than do the younger generations and, invariably, they vote to maintain the current system even though they know that it is on the verge of collapse.

Parents of young children should be responsible for those children until they are old enough to take care of themselves. Mature children (adults) should be responsible for their aging parents until those parents leave this world through death’s door. In many cases, mature children (adults) are responsible both for young children and aging parents, which creates an immense burden on them financially, emotionally, and socially.

This is the natural way of life. It is Christian. However, we have swapped that for the Lie that submission to governmental systems, ordered by power-hungry tyrants, administered by bureaucrats, and financed by taxpayers is a much better way to live. We have given up the idea that children are a blessing from the Lord, that honor is to be given to parents, that love for those around us is to be the basis of our relationships. We have traded our birthright for a bowl of lentil soup (Genesis 25: 29-34), a mess of pottage. Or what might be called a Pot of Message.

Social Security, like every other government program conceived, birthed, and nurtured through early life into adulthood, is growing ancient and is becoming more and more decrepit and weaker every year. It has progressed beyond our capability to maintain it as a viable system and is rapidly approaching the end. At some point in the near future, it will die and all those who are dependent on it for their survival will die also.

This is justice. It is inevitable. Plan accordingly.

It’s Going to Get Rough: Keep Your Head

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/keeping-your-head-amidst-debt-blind-madness

Contrary to the current political posturings, inflation is not being brought under control nor will it be any time in the near future. Instead, we are going to experience a massive wave, a tsunami, of unbacked, fiat-money, inflation crashing down on us, perhaps without even realizing it is coming.

Actions have consequences. The common idea that we can prosper under debt-based living, i.e., borrowing money today for consumption on the expectation of paying the loan back tomorrow, is a fraudulent premise which will eventually destroy and dismantle everything that we have built up over generations.

The best thing to do is to bring personal expenditures into line with income. In other words, live within your means. Get your debts paid down as much as possible. Quit borrowing for frivolous stuff. If you do this, when the wave hits, instead of paying interest on loans, you will have the means to trade all those increasingly worthless dollars for hard goods and services which will benefit you in the long run.

The financial reality of America and the world is that our present system, based on nothing more than faith that we can have what we want when we want it, is going to collapse and disappear. Those who have their wits about them will be able to use the situation to their own advantage AND begin to build a future civilization which is secured by wisdom, common sense, and faith in God, a society diametrically opposed to the one in which we live.

Keep your head.

The Delusion of False Hope

Read this first to get the context of what I am writing. You will not understand if you don’t.

https://daringaub.substack.com/p/sudden-sovereign-spirit

There is a quote smack-dab in the middle of this which sums up everything about the condition we are in today. At least that is the way I see it. Many will disagree.

“Asleep, the folks will vote for who will send

The largest grift, and programs without end…”

R. Baker Hughes

It is quite easy to blame the evil that others do for the trouble that the world is in today and to profess faith that God will sort it all out…eventually, but that does not excuse anyone from doing what they should be to correct the situation.

I know plenty of people who call themselves Christian, some of them quite close to me. They read their Bibles, they pray, they go to church regularly, they believe God is going to come through for them…and they worship at the altar of a false god as do most others, taking in the benefits which arise from the Statist System which we are mired in, all the while holding out their hand for more. They cannot see the contradiction between what they profess to believe and the worship of the State which they act out in their daily lives.

The Bible warns about swapping the sovereign God for a human ruler. It pulls no punches about what will happen when people place their trust in political power. And, at the end it states in no uncertain terms that God will simply turn a deaf ear to the cries of those affected.

“And you will cry out in that day because of your king WHOM YOU HAVE CHOSEN FOR YOURSELVES, and the Lord will NOT HEAR you in that day.” (emphasis mine.)

1 Samuel 8:18

On the other hand, the cure for this can be seen in one of the most memorized verses in the entire Bible.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (Again, emphasis mine.)

2 Chronicles 7:14

There you have it. You can endorse and support the king (political system) you have chosen for yourself (democracy, voting for the lesser of the evils, pledging allegiance to the flag, etc.) and God will continue to ignore your pleas, OR you can turn from your wicked ways and throw yourself completely on His mercy without recourse to the promises of a false god.

Your choice.

The Reason We Work

“We’re dealing with a psychological problem, not an intellectual problem. Therefore, the situation is not really open to solution from reason and factual arguments. Recognize that the only reason to try to change things is not because you will succeed—that’s unlikely—but because it’s right.”

“The direction of society has a life of its own. You should work to reverse bad trends simply because it’s good karma and, personally, psychologically gratifying.”

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/06/doug-casey/how-the-war-on-farmers-could-trigger-a-famine/

Yeah, I can agree with that.

Unfortunately, I wasted many years, much energy, and countless resources trying to succeed at changing things and making a name for myself. However, with the onset of advanced years comes the gift of learned wisdom and I am slowly leaving that behind as a lost cause and a fruitless endeavor. I am still tempted (and often give in) to check on the number of views any given post or comment I write has received and whether comments were made by others about it. Nevertheless, someday I might reach a point where I can simply post my thoughts for the world to see without ever being concerned with the impact they might have. Miracles do happen, you know, even to people who do not deserve them.

The Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, had to learn this as well. Chapter 6 of the book which bears his name records the conversation which I interpret liberally. When the call went out for volunteers to spread the message of the LORD to His people, Isaiah jumped at the opportunity. “Look at me! I’ll do it!”, upon which he was told, “Yes, indeed, you will go, but understand that the people you preach at and talk to will not listen to you nor will they change their ways despite what you say to them. In other words, you will speak and nobody will pay any attention at all to what you are saying–and, no, you do not have a choice about it. Now, get to work!”

What a comedown! A hard lesson in the learning of humility. It does not matter that what you are saying is right and good, they will disregard everything and go their own way–stubbornly and blindly–and there is nothing you can do except to keep warning them. There is no reward in your work, no perceivable reward anyway, but you must and will keep pounding on the same theme, incessantly, year after year, until the day when it all finally falls apart and collapses.

Albert Jay Nock wrote about this almost a century ago, producing the essay known as Isaiah’s Job. It has become a classic explanation of why we work, who we work for, and what we can expect from it. It is worth the time it takes to read it and, far more importantly, the time it takes to contemplate, understand, and take it to heart.

“…[I]n any given society the Remnant are always so largely an unknown quantity. You do not know, and will never know, more than two things about them. You can be sure of those — dead sure, as our phrase is — but you will never be able to make even a respectable guess at anything else. You do not know, and will never know, who the Remnant are, nor what they are doing or will do. Two things you do know, and no more: First, that they exist; second, that they will find you. Except for these two certainties, working for the Remnant means working in impenetrable darkness; and this, I should say, is just the condition calculated most effectively to pique the interest of any prophet who is properly gifted with the imagination, insight and intellectual curiosity necessary to a successful pursuit of his trade.”

Albert Jay Nock

Of course, Isaiah was not alone in this. Elijah (my favorite Biblical character because I can relate to him) went through the same class. He had just destroyed 400 prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel by calling down fire from Heaven to determine which god was really in charge, received a death threat from Jezebel, the queen of Israel, and ran for his life like a scared rabbit until he found a hole in the ground he could crawl into. When YHWH (Jehovah) came to him and asked him why he was there, his plaintive response was that he was all alone, no one would listen, and they all wanted to kill him. However, in a very gentle, kind, and compassionate remonstrance, YHWH set him straight. “Who do you think you are? I have 7000 men all over Israel working for me that you know nothing about. You are nothing more than an insignificant, little pipsqueak. Now, get out of here and get back to your job.”

Or maybe YHWH ripped that out in a burst of uproarious laughter, which I am inclined to think is more likely. But, then, that is only my opinion based on what I think would happen to me if I were in that situation.

Nevertheless, whether Isaiah, Elijah, Jeremiah (who tried to convince his people not to go to Egypt), myself, or yourself, this truth remains: the great majority of people, the masses, will not listen, nor pay attention to, and probably will oppose the message we speak, but it does not matter. We have to speak it anyway. With respect to that, we are like the prophets of old. We do not have a choice nor are we allowed to water down the message to make it more palatable. Views, Likes, Forwards, and Links are irrelevant and a distraction. The fact that we are not able to see any impact from our work is unimportant. We are to press on anyway, knowing that our ultimate reward comes when we hear these words:

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” — Jesus Christ, Matthew 25:23

The End of the World…and TikTok

Against my advice and counsel, Greg Gianforte, the governor of the State of Montana, signed the TikTok bill sent to him a few weeks ago by the Montana legislature. TikTok is now officially verboten within the boundaries of the state and as of Jan. 01, 2024, any app store (or the company itself) caught downloading the app to any device in Montana will be subject to onerous penalties, up to $10, 000/download, with every day of continuation considered a separate offense.

Section 1.Prohibition — penalty — enforcement — definitions. (1) Tiktok may not operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana. An entity violates this prohibition when any of the following occurs within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana:

(a)        the operation of tiktok by the company or users; or

(b)        the option to download the tiktok mobile application by a mobile application store.

(2)        An entity that violates a provision of this section is liable in the amount of $10,000 for each discrete violation and is liable for an additional $10,000 each day thereafter that the violation continues.

(3)        It is an affirmative defense to this section if the violating entity could not have reasonably known that the violation occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana.

(4)        Penalties under this section do not apply to law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, security research activities, or essential government uses permitted by the governor on the information technology system of the state.

(5)        Penalties in this section do not apply to users of tiktok.

https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/billhtml/SB0419.htm

[Note: It is interesting that Subsection (1a) says that a violation occurs when a user operates the app, yet the user is not liable for penalization, Subsection (5). Only TikTok or the app provider is, which tells me that this is all about money. The typical user probably has very little money and is not worth going after, but TikTok is fabulously wealthy.]

See here, here, and here for previously posted articles on this subject


I made the following comment on Western Montana News in response to an article by Breitbart which had been posted earlier. I do not retract anything.

Yes, Montana has become the First State of Censorship on the issue of determining what “free” citizens may or may not download from, upload to, view, share, and generally participate in. Montana, where censorship is hated if it is imposed ON conservative “values” and opinions, but welcomed with open arms if imposed BY those same conservative values. How hypocritical!

More to the point, how is Montana going to enforce this edict? Will it build an electronic “fence” around the border, supposedly capable of keeping TikTok out? How will this be done? If TikTok does not have a physical presence in Montana, then what can the state do to impose fines and penalties on it? If TikTok cannot operate legally, then why should it even attempt to do so, which means that it will operate illegally.

We have had generations of history showing that prohibitions of particular products do not work, i.e., alcohol, drugs, guns, etc. The banning of TikTok will not work either, but will create new and unforeseen consequences which will manifest themselves as time goes on, generating the inevitable “need” for government to find a “solution” for the problem it created the last time it imposed its will.

Greg Gianforte cited the need to “protect” Montanans from the depredations of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). My question is this. Why do I need to have GG watching out for me? Am I not capable of taking care of myself? If I want to download TikTok onto my smart phone and use it to entertain myself, then who is anyone to tell me that I am not allowed to do that? Am I responsible for myself, or not? Am I a free person, or not? Apparently not, according to the governor who thinks that he must interject himself into my life and impose his will on me, for my own protection, of course. In principle, this is no different than the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, telling everyone that they have to give up their guns and drive electric cars because of climate change and global warming.

Now that the state can ban entities from operating because of the potential for invasion of privacy, who is next? Pre-Mom?


The TikTok ban in Montana is a done deal…for now, that is. Considering the lawsuits that will (probably) erupt over this issue, it is quite possible that a court will find the state has overstepped its authority and strike down the bill, forcing the state to drop the bill or appeal it to a higher court in the hopes that the judgement can be overturned. Either way, the taxpayers will foot the bill.

What is more important, however, are the unseen consequences. TikTok is owned by ByteDance (a Chinese company presumably with powerful connections in the CCP), which is said to be funneling personal information and data to the CCP. More than likely, any attempt to shut TikTok down will be met with retaliation in some tit-for-tat fashion. What is to prevent the Chinese government from barring Facebook or another American social media platform from operating in any particular region within the country? What if the CCP decided to throttle back Google with the pronouncement that it was “stealing” the personal data of Chinese citizens and transferring that data to the US government? This could very easily be done under the guise of “protecting citizen’s rights”. Since the US considers China to be an adversary, an event of this nature would be seen negatively, inspiring calls to “punish” the CCP, thus ratcheting up the tensions between the two nations. Who knows? Perhaps the US government will decide to turn up the heat by sending more warships through the Taiwan Strait to enforce freedom of navigation rules. All in the name of defending the “free world”, of course.

If you think I have a few screws loose, then consider this.

“In retaliation over a sweeping US ban on selling advanced chip-making technology to China, Beijing is now banning major Chinese firms from doing business with Micron Technology, claiming that its products pose a ‘major national-security risk,’ the Wall Street Journal reports.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/china-bans-micron-over-major-national-security-risk

Actions have reactions. While they may not follow Newton’s Third Law exactly, there can be no doubt that what happens today will lead to events tomorrow. This is true everywhere and applies to everything. Adversarial relations which constantly push the envelope of provocation eventually end up in confrontation, very often violent. In today’s political climate, whether East or West, this confrontation might go nuclear and condemn all of us to a miserable future.

Or radioactive, incinerating, agonizing death from which there is no escape.

Will He Ever Shut Up?

https://brownstone.org/articles/faucis-never-ending-victory-tour/

Considering that the entire Covid-19 spectacle is rapidly turning into a debacle, it seems that Anthony Fauci has made a Faustian bargain from which he will not be released. Nor will we, until this megalomaniacal liar and power-drunk Establishment shill has criminal charges filed against him and is severely punished in a court of law.

When Fauci, the Mouth of the Beast, and his cohorts were riding tall in the saddle, he was able to say anything he wanted (and dictate policies) regardless of the damage created. It did not matter that his words were untrue nor that he knew he was lying. The only thing of any importance was that the agenda be advanced and the populace be terrified into complete submission, a virtual state of quaking, fearful pudding. There was then no question about what came out of his mouth, everything was designed to push the narrative that someone’s 93 year-old grandmother in Omaha was going to die unless everyone adhered to the protocol of social distancing, masking, incessant hand-washing, acceptance of The Jab, becoming Karen, etc. We were all going to die from this new, dread virus which had totally displaced the seasonal flu (the usual, annual Grim Reaper which somehow failed to show up). All faith had to be placed in the pronouncements of “The Science” and anything which fell short of total compliance was immediately dispatched to the nether regions of irrelevance and obscurity.

But…God works in mysterious ways.

Today, Fauci is making the circuit of talk shows, speeches, and public (mis)information trying to explain how he really did not have that much to do with the deadly circus which transpired. It was not really his fault that lockdowns were put in place. He did not order them. He did not order that so-called “vaccine” mandates be put into place, forcing multitudes to choose between taking a shot of an unknown, potentially dangerous substance or losing their job. He did not perform the “gain-of-function” manipulation of this virus at all. That “honor” belonged to someone else who acted on his own against all controls and protections. He was not the one who encouraged and prodded Donald Trump, Captain Warp Speed, to endorse and facilitate the development and production of the “clot-shot” produced by arch-criminal corporations, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Astra-Zeneca, and others. No, no, Fauci was really and truly only trying to do what was best for everyone in the name of Public Health, because, as the highest-paid Federal employee, it was primarily his responsibility to ensure that America remained strong, resilient, and safe in the face of the latest salvo fired by the Chinese government (CCP), with whom we are at war.

Right. Just like George W. Bush did not kill a million plus Iraqi citizens in his zeal to wage war on “terrorism”.

However, the tide has turned and Fauci’s life history is being swept out to sea under a tsunami of criticism. He knows it and is trying desperately to salvage his image and respectability. Shifting blame when caught in the act is a time-tested way of deflecting responsibility and accountability, and he is proving to be a master at it, just as much as he was a master at promoting The Big Lie when it served his purposes. Unfortunately for him (and others connected with this fraud), there are too many people who are aware of the machinations which happened and who will not be silent in their opinion about what needs to be done with these perpetrators, all of them either outright snake-oil salesmen or complicit in the scheme by posing as experts in the governmental/pharmaceutical/medical triangle, who pushed and pushed the narrative despite all the evidence against it. The number of those who are waking up from the deceit of this corner of Utopia is increasing rapidly, the weight of public opinion has gone negative, and Anthony Fauci is living his own nightmare from which he is not likely to escape, even though he may never be brought before a legal inquisition of justice. The court of public opinion may have to do the job.

Bargains with the devil always come with strings attached and sooner or later, the bill is presented. The best thing Fauci could do for himself would be to come clean, confess his sins publicly and loudly, beg forgiveness from those harmed (nearly everyone), and make conscious, concerted efforts to correct the wrongs done. I do not expect this to happen. Instead, my guess is that he will go to his grave denying that he did anything wrong. We will have to endure his shrill protestations of “innocent unless proven guilty” until the day he can no longer speak.

Will he ever shut up? That’ll be the day.

TikTok, Round 3

“The biggest fear-mongers were American conservatives. They lived in deep fear of the Reds during the entire 45 years of the Cold War racket. In fact, they were convinced that the communist invasion had already started. That’s why they went after Martin Luther King. They were convinced that he was a Red agent. The same holds true for leftists working in Hollywood. They went after them with a vengeance. Some right-wingers even believed that President Eisenhower was an agent of the Reds as well.”

“There was actually a humorous dimension to this deep right-wing fear. Throughout the Cold War, conservatives argued that socialism was doomed to fail. It was an inherently defective economic system, they pointed out. Socialism would inevitably impoverish countries that embraced this philosophy, such as Russia. Right-wingers would quote free-market economists like Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Milton Friedman to make their case.”

“Yet, despite that insight about socialism, conservatives continued to maintain that Russia was an all-powerful nation that was going to take down America. To this day, I don’t think right-wingers are able to recognize their internal contradiction.”

Jacob Hornberger

In Montana: The New State of Censorship, I dissected a legislative bill which would forcibly prevent any app provider from downloading TikTok onto any digital device within the state of Montana. I found it wanting and advised the Governor, Greg Gianforte, to refuse his signature as it was an infringement on the right of Montana citizens to access information they wanted. In other words, SB0419 was a mandated limitation on free speech.

In TikTok, Round 2, I explained that TikTok was, in essence, no different than any other medium of communication and, therefore, could not be banned without the understanding that any other medium (or all of them) were also at risk of being shut down because they might disseminate a hated or feared narrative. It all depends on personal perspective. One man’s censorship is another man’s safety measure–all of it neatly provided and buttressed by government’s forceful action.

Respective to this issue, as in so many other instances, inconsistency of thought is a major driver of the effort to outlaw and prohibit anything which we find odious and distasteful. The possibility that it might be dangerous or harmful only adds fuel to the fire. Jacob Hornberger mentioned this in the quote seen above. The conservative right-wingers of that era were terrified that the communists were going to take over and replace them even though they understood that Communism was a defective, destructive system which would eventually fail under its own contradictory, self-defeating principles. They responded reactively in spite of the knowledge that their fears were groundless. It was inevitable that communism would fall eventually under its own weight, yet lives, careers, and liberties were destroyed in the effort to eliminate the threat it represented.

Enter TikTok, the latest iteration in the everlasting battle between evil and good. The current struggle to legislate “protection” in Montana is fundamentally no different than was the struggle between Senator Joseph McCarthy and those he opposed. Along with Hornberger, I find it humorous that so many people, mainly conservatives and right-wing, recognize the inherent self-destructiveness of TikTok, but they are not willing to allow it to die a natural death. Instead, they want to kill it along with anything else which promotes “illicit and immoral” behavior. They want to impose restrictions and limits on everyone (even those who do not use the app) in the vain attempt to prevent damage to any single individual and society. Or more truthfully, to control the flow of information which they deem is not desirable nor necessary. In a comparable analogy, everyone must be forced to wear a seat belt while motoring on the highways because someone might be hurt or killed as a result of not wearing the belt. They can see the harm done because of the non-use of a restraining device, therefore they conclude that everyone MUST be restrained…no matter what. Freedom of choice by consenting adults does not enter into the picture.

It is inevitable that the cosmic battle of Evil vs. Good will produce casualties. Some of them will hit close to home. Some will be extremely personal. That much is true and I accept it. It is what it is. It is part of life. The main question, though, is how far can we go in preventing evil from happening? The Apostle Paul put it this way:

“Shall we do evil so that good may come?” –Romans 3:8

Of course, some will argue that we are not doing evil in the effort to outlaw evil. Our actions are righteous, God bless us! This argument, however, is faulty since it hinges on the prohibition of the inherent, natural right of free people to live without undue interference from others. To tell someone that they are not allowed to possess anything, irrespective of what it is, because harm might come from their possession of it, is to tell them that they cannot be held responsible nor liable for their own actions. They cannot be trusted to do the right thing, therefore, governmental control is required. In fact, if you want to go far enough, it can be claimed that prohibiting anyone’s ability to acquire anything which they wish to have is a form of theft. Legally sanctioned, no doubt, but theft just the same. This is most especially true in the case of a person who has reached the age of legal consent.

(Rabbit Trail: Who decided that the State has the authority to determine when and at what age anyone can be considered adult? This question should more properly be determined by the amount of personal maturity a person exhibits. The hypocrisy and inconsistency in this is that young men can legally kill and destroy “foreigners” in the name of the State at age 18, but they are not allowed to purchase alcohol or tobacco until they are 21.)

Obviously, this brings up the question of what is “right”, the extended answer of which must be deferred to a later article. The short, snappy response is that Might makes Right and that whoever is in power at any given time determines the “rightness” of any action.

Hence, politics, which is nothing more than a socially accepted form of control. This has been ongoing from the very beginning.