Oct 04 2024

Opposites In Opposition

     If you don’t recall the 2008 presidential campaign, the contestants were opposites in many ways; old white man versus young mulatto was only the beginning of the contrast. But as regards their campaign platforms, both were moderately specific and moderately cagy. No doubt their campaign advisors had counseled them to avoid too many details in their statements to the public and the press. Even so, their ideologies appeared to be plain enough.

     Today’s opponents present what might be the sharpest contrast in philosophies of governance since William Jennings Bryan faced off against William McKinley. President Trump has been highly forthcoming about his plans for his second term; Kamala Harris has campaigned on fluffy abstractions. In a way, the Harris campaign’s avoidance of details about what a Harris Administration would undertake is a defensive strategy. As she’s been an integral part of the Biden regime, it’s already possible to attack her on that record. But as vice-presidents traditionally have had little to no role in actual governance, she can claim to be “a new broom” without utter risibility, as long as she doesn’t become candid about her actual plans.

     This is campaign strategy uber alles. You could say its ruling principle is “win first, govern later.” The question of the hour is whether Harris can avoid being tarred with the failures of the sitting president… which is not at all certain.

     Harris’s allies in the media have cooperated with her strategy to this point. She’s taken some body blows – the debate of the vice-presidential candidates was among the worst of them – but the polls don’t suggest that any of them have been near to mortal. If those polls are reasonably accurate, her strategists can claim to have made the right call. On the basis of the popular vote alone, the election is too close to call.

     But the popular vote isn’t what matters.

     Harris’s popular vote strength resides in the Pacific Coast states, the New England states, and Illinois. But an excess of votes in those states won’t win her any extra votes in the Electoral College. President Trump’s popularity in the “Rust Belt” states will be exceedingly difficult for Harris to overcome. The handful of “swing states” are all too close to call. If the polls in those states have oversampled Democrat loyalists, Trump could win with a substantial Electoral College vote margin.

     We may be looking, for the third time since 2000, at a presidential election in which the popular vote margin goes to the loser. That will raise a hue and cry from coast to coast. The talking heads will raise all sorts of objections to a “minority vote president.” Mainstream media pundits will deny that Trump has a mandate to govern. The proponents of the National Popular Vote Compact will be on the march immediately. Conspiracies, both old and new, will be alleged. Lawfare will once again be waged, as the Left is never willing to accept a defeat gracefully.

     But perhaps the most important consequences would be at the level of individuals and their relations. Democrats already have already proclaimed Trump to be the essence of villainy. How they would treat those of us in the Right, who supported President Trump and were cheered by his victory, is uncertain, but doubtful to be benign. The polarization of the American populace would be driven to new extremes.

     There were outbreaks of civil disorder during the Obama-to-Trump transition period, but mostly they were limited both in space and time. Much has happened since then, none of it conducive to more public calm. In particular, the race-hustlers will do their best to whip up a frenzy over the “old white man” defeating the “young(er) black woman.” The civil-service unions will formulate plans to oppose Trump’s program of government downsizing. The defense barons will be livid at the prospect of a second Trump Peace.

     All of which sums to this:
     Clean and oil your guns.
     Know where they are.
     And buy ammo.

Gave you a magic bullet on a little chain.
Keep you safe from the chilly winds and the howl of the rain.
We’re gonna might need bullets, should we get stuck.
Any which way, we’re gonna need a little luck.

     [Mark Knopfler]

Oct 04 2024

Untitled

     I can’t imagine an appropriate title for this. Start here:

     David DeGerolamo adds:

     What if the Deep State is planning on cancelling elections and finish the usurpation of the Republic that was started with the fraudulent 2020 Presidential election? The government knows that the area of the country hit by Hurricane Helene comprises the most effective area of resistance to this plan. If the information below is true, the hurricane is icing on their cake and they will do everything in their power to hinder any relief efforts.

     Of course, as always the most important word in the above is if. I haven’t spoken to David directly. I don’t know Jessica Rojas or anything about her, though he might. So this could be pure fiction. But in combination with the reports coming out of the hurricane disaster zones, the possibility is too plausible to dismiss.

     How outrageous must things get before the uprising begins? What if the “authorities,” peeved at the private-citizen relief efforts in North Carolina and Tennessee, decide to impose martial law on the region? What if we discover that the Usurpers have sent not just money and materiel to Ukraine, but American troops as well? What if the elections are “postponed for the duration of the crisis,” or someone manages to assassinate President Trump?

     Where’s the red line? At what imaginable point would Americans decide that the evils are no longer sufferable – that it’s time to take arms against our sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them? Are we soon to prove by our inanition that we’re not worthy inheritors of our ancestors’ legacy?

     We love peace, but not peace at any price. There is a peace more destructive of the manhood of living man, than war is destructive of his body. Chains are worse than bayonets. – Douglas Jerrold

Oct 03 2024

Talking about money

Hey, you remember Drooling Joe saying there wasn’t any more he could be doing for North Carolina? And how Secretary Mayorkas, a deeply corrupt and evil man, said that FEMA was out of money?

You won’t believe where all that money went to! Actually, you probably will believe it.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted on Wednesday that “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.” One reason for that is that under Biden-Harris, FEMA spent $650 million this fiscal year providing services and housing to illegal aliens. And $364 million the year before that.

So, just to summarize here, people are being left behind in North Carolina because the Federal Government decided that they will prioritize illegal aliens over US citizens.

The Federal Government hates you and wants you to die, so you can be replaced with illegal aliens from third world shitholes who are much more controllable. You see, you are a problem for the FedGov, with your demands for liberty, individual rights. You with your firearms that make it much harder for the FedGov to round you up and put you on a cattle car. Much better if you just die off. All the FedGov has to do is abandon you and abdicate it’s responsibilities.

All of this is happening on purpose.

Buy more ammo.

Oct 03 2024

The Scandal Of The Hour

     I trust Glenn Beck:

     But I don’t have to, because there are multiple confirmations. Here’s a really striking one:

     If you are wondering why citizens are being turned away that are coming to help NC and TN – you’ll want to hear my experience as someone who has been doing this as a private citizen for almost a decade.

     I was able to get into, and out of Asheville. We brought food, water, fuel and other supplies as well as helped people affected by the floods, but there are reasons why they are not allowing outside help.

     I cannot confirm the reasons why in NC, but i can tell you the reasons in other storms i have worked – i’ll explain below.

     Let me share with you the first disaster area that i finally realized that this was all about money.

     In the FL Keys with Hurricane Irma, after Texas got hit with Harvey, we finished our efforts in Texas and were the first citizen team to make it to Key Largo.

     The federal agencies had US1 shut down just South of Key Largo and wouldn’t let anyone in or out, even though the road was okay to pass.

     We explained to them that we had boats, Jet skis, food, water, chainsaws and fuel to bring these people.

     They didn’t care and wouldn’t let us in.

     It was night by that point and you rarely saw the lights of vehicles in the distance on the individual keys, meaning the emergency response teams from FEMA weren’t even working, it was all quiet.

     We decided that we would go in anyways.

     We filled up the boats and jet skis with all that we could reasonably carry and went by water, around all their BS blockades and around their law enforcement presence on the water.

     It was 87 miles by water to get to our first stop, Cudjoe Key and Sugarloaf Key.

     When we arrived there we were greeted by a homeowner (for privacy, I won’t name him, though we have video) who was elated to see us and all the supplies we brought, his house was in shambles.

     We started offloading supplies on the shoreline and helping to get them into what was left of his house.

     During that process, he explained to us that FEMA had set up a command center at a local high school on the island, but that they weren’t doing anything to help the residents, not even bringing them WATER!

     Instead, he explained that they were driving around using a loudspeaker, telling people to stay in their homes. They weren’t even helping the home owners with supplies.

     I was skeptical at first while he was telling me all of this, but then he said something that broke my heart….

     He told us that the people of the keys were all in despair, because they had just seen, weeks before, the overwhelming support for Texas with Hurricane Harvey, by the citizens of this country. He, and his neighbors on all of the keys, felt like Americans had forgotten about them completely, because at this point, FIVE DAYS after landfall, all they had seen was FEMA, and they were of NO HELP.

     The residents were cut off from the outside world, no cellular, no internet, no way to contact anyone or hear of any efforts to try to help them.

     The ONLY communication they had was from a local radio station on Sugarloaf Key, that was broadcasting on AM to the surrounding keys.

     The man, after hearing that there were citizens trying to bring them help, but being refused entry by federal law enforcement was visibly upset. He, and his neighbors, really thought the country had abandoned them.

     He insisted that we get into his waterlogged truck and that he would take us to that radio station so that we could go live on air, to tell the citizens trapped in the Keys that we, the American people, were there to help and that the government was trying to stop our efforts.

     And that is exactly what we did.

     After that, we were determined to help as many people as we could, but we were met with red tape throughout the whole process and time we were in the keys.

     We finally we able to talk some authorities to let us down to the Faro Blanco Resort in Marathon towards the end of Boot Key. This was the same hotel where state and local authorities were staging their personnel and they were happy to see us.

     I was able to coordinate several trucks full of supplies to be brought down to the EOC in Marathon. I was privy to the EOC meeting, BUT was informed in that meeting, that all of the semi trucks full of food, water and hygiene supplies were to be turned around and not allowed to be offloaded for distribution by the EOC.

     THE REASON they gave us, was that these donations were not from companies on their “preferred vendors list” and that they would not accept them or give them to the residents of the keys impacted by the storm.

     It was at that point that I realized, this is ALL ABOUT MONEY.

     These ‘preferred vendors” are getting part of the money being released by the state and federal govt for each disaster. In turn, some of the “vendors” make it on the list because a friend gets them on the list, and in return for getting ridiculously outlandish amounts of compensation for the services they render, they give kickbacks.

     So accepting outside donations, even though they are on location and can help people NOW, they would rather let people suffer so they can get their kickbacks.

     This meeting solidified my resolve to help these people, regardless of what the greedy officials wanted, we were going to feed the lower keys that were being neglected.

     I diverted ALL SEMI TRUCKS to the Faro Blanco Resort in Marathon and filled the entire first floor with pallets upon pallets of food, water and essential supplies and created a food pantry for residents to come and get anything, and however much they needed.

     From local state troopers to the homeless, all were given wheel barrels and free reign to get anything they needed.

     We also delivered supplies down to Big Pine Key. We helped establish the tent city on Big Pine Key. Big companies like Titos Vodka and Whelen just kept bringing trucks full of everything that was needed. When FEMA FINALLY started handing out boxes of canned goods (limited to one per household), we were filing cars full of food and supplies for people and pets.

     There is so much more to the story in the Keys and further from there in other storms we worked- the common theme though, is that the federal government always tries to keep citizens from helping and the local authorities, the ones that live and work in the area are always happy to have outside help.

     I call out to Elon Musk and anyone else who can monetarily help people like myself and those that work with me, who have the knowledge and the will to help those devastated by these disasters.

     Help us side step the red tape and get the people the relief they need.

     We are willing, and we are many, and we are ready.

     Know your enemy. It’s not your private-citizen neighbor.

Oct 03 2024

“What Do You Mean By That?”

     That is the question every aspirant to public office ought to face every time he opens his mouth before a microphone. Yet it almost never happens. When some naïve citizen tries to press the question home, bodyguards appear out of the shadows and hustle him off to a locale less threatening to their client.

     You know me, Gentle Reader. I’m an absolutist about the sanctity of the English language, especially the meanings of words. Language is our tool of thought: the means whereby we grapple with abstractions. Sadly, the comprehension of this vital relationship is uncommon.

     The chief abusers of language are politicians and political activists. George Orwell will tell you. They distort the meanings of important words – words we use to express our deepest values and desires – with every sentence they utter. And We the People, to our eternal ignominy, do approximately nothing to punish them for it.

     Now and then, national attention fixes on a politician who lacks the capacity to abuse the English language in ways favorable to his cause. He simply isn’t verbally adroit. When he’s compelled to address some issue of substance, he discloses too much about what he really means to support his true aspirations. The rational thing for him to do would be to shut up. But that’s a skill politicians unanimously lack.

     There’s been a rash of abused language these past few months, owing to the presidential campaign. That was inevitable. Certain words and phrases have been much on the lips of pols everywhere:

  • “existential threat”
  • “danger to our democracy”
  • “cherished freedoms”
  • “misinformation”

     The abuse of those words and phrases has been agonizing. I could cite many egregious examples, but there’s no need; the readers of Liberty’s Torch are observant enough to have compiled their own collections. But just for fun, let’s tease apart the ones above such that the contrast between what they really mean and what left-leaning pols have been abusing them for stands out in high relief.

     The first one is the easiest: “existential threat.” That means, quite simply, a threat to one’s existence. Pretty serious, eh what? It must perforce be a threat to one’s life, or to those conditions that make life possible. Anything less would not be “existential.” Yet we’ve heard politicians and talking-heads talk about Donald Trump as “an existential threat,” and never bother to provide specifics.

     Trump has also been called “a danger to our democracy.” This is almost as easy as the previous one. If Trump, by campaigning for the presidency, is endangering “democracy,” then clearly the rules of “democracy” – i.e., that the winner shall be the one who gets the preponderance of votes – will somehow cease to apply should he win. How likely is that? But there’s a subtext here: the real target of those who use the phrase is the Electoral College. In 2016 it went against the nationwide popular vote, though it was not the first time. So it’s not “democracy” that’s endangered, but rather the Democrat Party’s hold on power.

     All that to the side, what are Leftist pols most ardent not to discuss? Why, the cleavage issue of the past half-century, of course: abortion. The national conscience has turned against unrestricted abortion. It’s still available, especially in “blue” states. However, most “red” states have acted against it with laws that forbid abortions after some specified week of pregnancy. As abortion has a sacramental character on the Left, that enrages its spokesmen and activists no end. So they rant about “a threat to our cherished freedoms,” hoping that their listeners will infer the issue of relevance.

     Tasty stuff, eh? But I’ve saved the best for last: “misinformation.” The pro-censorship forces have seized that word as a drowning man would seize a floating plank. “Misinformation” is how they defend their desire to repeal the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression. You don’t want people to be misinformed, do you? Misinformed persons make wrong choices. They might not take the miracle injection. They might conclude that inflation is governmentally engineered. They might even vote for Republicans.

Television talking-heads are particularly vehement in denouncing anything that cross-cuts their preferred view of events as “misinformation.” Sometimes they call it “disinformation,” which carries a connotation of malevolence as well. As always, the bottom line is a demand for power: the power to suppress speech that contradicts their emissions. Without it, they cannot impose their proclamations on the hoi polloi.

     I could go on, of course. The varieties of twisted vocabulary and rhetoric abroad among us today exceed my ability to enumerate them. They’re politicians’ chief weapon in imposing themselves and their agendas upon us. There is no cure… but there is hope. So send your tax-deductible contributions to the address at the bottom of your screen. And if you act within the next ten minutes we’ll double your order! (Pay only separate shipping and handling.)

     Whew! Apologies, Gentle Reader. Sometimes the typeset pitches and cant phrases snatch the reins away from me for a moment, but I’m better now. With that, we return to our Swedish movie. Do have a nice day.

Oct 02 2024

Dumbing kids down on purpose

Apparently, kids today aren’t being taught how to read a book. I have no words.

Being unable to read a book in its entirety means that you are incapable to following a logical conclusion. You can’t start at point A and get to point B. And you certainly can’t figure out truth from fiction if you cannot see the entire problem. No wonder kids today are so fucked up. THEY CAN’T READ!

This development puzzled Dames until one day during the fall 2022 semester, when a first-year student came to his office hours to share how challenging she had found the early assignments. Lit Hum often requires students to read a book, sometimes a very long and dense one, in just a week or two. But the student told Dames that, at her public high school, she had never been required to read an entire book. She had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover.

Just off the top of my head, my senior year in publik skool, I read Moby Dick, The Good Earth, Heart of Darkness and various other books that we then sat around and discussed. Prior to that I was reading Brave New World and Animal Farm. And I read for pleasure as well, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and tons of books revolving around D&D which my friends and I played often. The Dragonlance Series drained my allowance in my teen years.

Being unable to read makes you dependent on the people who CAN read. And all of this is being done on purpose.

The publik skool sistim is one of America’s worst enemies. But parents still send their kids into the pit of despair, day after day. And then they wonder why their kids aren’t alright.

I do apologize for my prolonged absence, as well as short posts. I’m dealing with quite a bit here at the Ragin’ Casa. Hopefully there will be more later.

Oct 02 2024

Mountain High, Or Valley Lower?

     Apparently, Mount Everest is still growing:

     New research has revealed that Mount Everest has grown by up to 160ft in the last 85,000 years.
     This is because a nearby river network has been cutting into the landscape around the mountain, pushing its peak further upwards.
     The erosion from the river is creating a massive gorge, causing Mount Everest to grow by up to 2mm every year.

     So it’s not Ent draughts, then? Damn! I was sure it was Ent draughts.

Oct 02 2024

The Missing Ingredient

     Mike Miles continues to be a source of great graphics:

     This uniquely valuable man says things others are unwilling to say, possibly because their sense for self-preservation forbids it. I pray that Elon Musk is well protected against those who would do him harm. But that’s not my main point.

     AIs today are pure software constructs. Software, for all the innumerable things one can do with it, has severe limitations. For one thing, it’s founded on a set of postulates: rules by which it must operate. At this time, it cannot alter those premises without endangering itself. The self-modifying program, while possible, has long been known to be a supremely dangerous technique.

     Thus, if an AI embeds the assumption that certain sources or propositions are always right, that’s fixed in its “thinking.” Similarly, if it embeds the assumption that certain sources or propositions are always wrong and can never be right, that’s fixed in its “thinking,” too. Software is like that: re-examining its postulates is impossible to it.

     More and worse, AIs have only whatever inputs are fed to them. Perhaps an AI is constructed to as to “educate” itself by roaming the World Wide Web. That’s a wide set of inputs, but it’s still limited. The program cannot reach beyond the Web for information not posted on it. That limits the program’s ability to verify or falsify the propositions it formulates. There’s a passage from Frank Herbert’s Dune that comes to mind:

     “I wish Hawat treated kindly. He must be told nothing of the late Doctor Yueh, his true betrayer. Let it be said that Doctor Yueh died defending his Duke. In a way, this may even be true. We will, instead, feed his suspicions against the Lady Jessica.”
     “M’Lord, I don’t—”
     “The way to control and direct a Mentat, Nefud, is through his information. False information—false results.”

     Mentats, in Dune, are humans whose minds have been conditioned to act with perfect logic. Yet the Baron Harkonnen is absolutely correct. As we say in my former trade, “Garbage in: garbage out.” And so it is with today’s vaunted “artificial intelligences,” which are computers ab initio et in aeternum.

     Don’t trust them. Remember that behind that clever program lies a human mind – and his creation will say only what its creator approves.

Oct 01 2024

Where the HELL Are the Media on THIS?

Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, killed 106 people in the United States, total. News coverage was 24/7 for weeks. The Federal government rushed in, as did politicians and celebrities.

Hurricane Helene has already hit over 120 people, and more to come.

Other than SHORT updates, pretty much Bupkis.

Appalachia has always lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of connectivity – roads, bridges, telephone/cell, access to internet, even access to radio and television. The region is too lightly populated, outside of the cities, to merit stringing wire/cable to much of it. Over-the-air options were always hit or miss. In my youth, I’d visit relatives so remote that you had to cross a swinging bridge (built by them) to get to the house. They used farm animals to prepare the fields and harvest, long after most food producers had tractors.

You know who is doing the most to help the region?

Elon Musk, who has sent, and is sending more, Starlink terminals. That ability to connect with the outside world is beyond measure.

Notice who made the need known (Trump did NOT post this, Musk did)? He won’t get credit, but I think it’s important to note this. And, if you can copy the picture above and share it on social media, please do. Voters need to know who makes a difference in Real Life, and who does not.

They were late to get landline phones, TV reception was spotty, and cable was a dream. When storms hit the region, they were often out of touch.

Today, with many of the cell towers down, they are even more isolated. Only those few who have a ham license have a shot at communicating with the outside world.

Apropos of radio communication, I thought I’d mention. I’ve had laryngitis for over 3 weeks – closer to four. I completely lost all vocal communications for almost 2 weeks, and am still limiting my speech.

CW – what hams call Morse Code – could fill the gap. Up till this week, I didn’t feel much like doing anything – talking, walking. I spent most of my time in a recliner, feet up (I was resting my ankle from a stress fracture).

After I deal with some financial and personal tasks this week, I’ll get back to improving my CW skills. I still have to set up my SBitX radio for CW. It may take a few days.

Oct 01 2024

A Questionable Strategy

     In days long gone by, the recognized and acknowledged path to victory in war was the capture of the opponent’s sovereign. Indeed, that was the main reason kings led their own armies into battle: to give the enemy a fair shot at him, under the assumption that the enemy would reciprocate. It was also one of the measures that discouraged popular uprisings against the sovereign. After all, the reasoning ran, if His Majesty is willing to risk his life in battle for our sake, he can’t be such a bad guy:

     “Kings used to lead their own armies. They used to lead the cavalry’s charge. For a king to send an army to war and remain behind to warm his throne was simply not done. Those that tried it lost their thrones, and some lost their heads–to their own people. It was a useful check on political and military rashness.” [From On Broken Wings]

     But those days are over. Not only do political “leaders” no longer risk their necks in battle; they’re the beneficiaries of the most complete and extraordinary security measures known to history. Still the notion holds sway that if you can just knock off the other side’s Big Cheese, at the very least you can hurt them badly – possibly badly enough to get them to sue for peace. It’s probably true some of the time.

     But I don’t think it applies when the enemy is an Islamic terror organization. Consider Israel’s recent achievements:

     Nearly all of Hezbollah’s military leaders have been eliminated in recent Israeli strikes, officials in West Jerusalem have claimed, after the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in a bombardment of a compound in Beirut.
     In a post on X on Saturday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry released a diagram of what it said was Hezbollah’s military chain of command. All of the 18 high-ranking members – including Nasrallah and Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern front, and the heads of several units – are said to have been “eliminated.”
     A separate post by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) listed 11 senior Hezbollah members, ten of whom were also described as “eliminated.” Only Abu Ali Rida, the commander of the Bader unit, has survived so far, according to the list. The IDF list largely mirrored the ministry’s, but included two additional names – Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile force, and Hussein Srour, the head of the Aerial Command – both of whom are also presumed dead.

     Hezbollah has not surrendered and will not. Neither will HAMAS, no matter how many “leaders” Israel manages to eliminate. The reason is one that Larry Niven and Steven Barnes noted in The Descent of Anansi: Islamic terror-warriors are religious warriors, and religious warriors don’t surrender: “They win or they die.”

     Islam, perhaps the most evil creed ever embraced by men, is a death cult by the old standard. It celebrates the killing of the “unbeliever,” wherever he is found. It triply celebrates the death of the Muslim warrior in the service of Islamic jihad. No doubt you’ve heard about the “seventy-two virgins” business. Granted, they might look like this:

     …but as they say, it’s the thought that counts.

     But enough of levity. As long as there are Muslims religiously committed to Islam’s multiple commands to wipe out the Jewish people, the terror organizations that act upon those commands will continue their slaughters. The only way to defeat them is to exterminate them – and thereafter, to convince any surviving Muslims that an ignominious and anonymous death is all that their hostility to the Jews will ever earn them.

Oct 01 2024

What Does It Mean To Be “Governed?”

     By now, our Gentle Readers have probably heard about this:

     Quoth the mighty Sundance:

     Within the recent WEF discussion, Secretary Kerry outlines how freedom of speech is a ‘threat to the global democracy‘ because the governing officials have a difficult time controlling information. Kerry goes on to posit how the next administration, presumably in his hope Kamala Harris, will forcefully structure all the tools of government to stop Americans from using the first amendment to freely speak about issues.
     Governing is too challenging, according to Kerry, when the government cannot stop people from seeking and discovering information that is against their interests. Effective governing required compliant adherence to a singular ideology. Against the backdrop of COVID-19 and a host of similarly related government narratives, if people are free to find alternative information and think for themselves, they become increasingly more difficult to control. Yes, this is said quite openly. This is the mindset of those in power.

     What more is there to say, really? Kerry is merely one aspiring totalitarian among many. They gather at places and events such as the “World Economic Forum.” Parodying them is essentially impossible; their extreme hostility to freedom guarantees it.

     But it occurred to me that a socialist writer actually prefigured Kerry’s global information-control notions in a novel published in the Sixties:

     “Senor Hakluyt, you are a stranger in Aguazul. You will therefore be inclined to dispute the dogmatic assertion that this is the most governed country in the world.”
     Again that air of throwing down a gauntlet in debate, again that cocking of the head to imply a challenge. I said, “All right—I dispute it. Demonstrate.”
     “The demonstration is all about you. We make it our business, first, to know what people think; we make it our business, next, to direct that thinking. We are not ashamed of that, senor, incidentally. Shall we say that—just as specific factors influence the flow of traffic, and you understand the factors and can gauge their relative importance—we now understand many of the factors that shape and direct public opinion? What is a man, considered socially? He is a complex of reactions; he takes the line of least resistance. We govern not by barring socially unhealthy paths, but by opening most wide those paths which are desirable. That is why you are here.”
     “Go on,” I invited after a pause.
     He blinked at me. “Say rather what is your view. Why is it we have adopted this round-and-round policy of inviting an expensive expert to solve our problems subtly, instead of saying, ‘Do this!’ and seeing it done?”
     I hesitated, then counter-questioned. “Is this, then, the extension of an existing policy rather than a compromise between opposed personal interests?”
     He threw up his hands. “But naturally!” he exclaimed, as though surprised to find me so obtuse. “Oh, it is ostensibly that there is conflict between one faction and another—but we create factions in this country! Conformism is a slow death; anarchy is a rapid one. Between the two lies a control which”—he chuckled—”like a lady’s corset in an advertisement, constricts and yet bestows a sense of freedom. We govern our country with a precision that would amaze you, I believe.”

     John Brunner, a gifted and imaginative writer to be sure, was no fan of freedom or free societies. His novels – start with The Long Result and Stand on Zanzibar, proceed thence to Jagged Orbit, The Sheep Look Up, and The Shockwave Rider — make that plain. His visions of societies under benevolent, all-controlling despotisms are a good model to compare to the aspirations of the John Kerries of the world.

Oct 01 2024

The Anti-Charity Forces Are Not Joking

As this poor lady found out:

     The Gateway Pundit reported on the arrest of an Arizona grandmother, Norma Thornton, 78, in 2022 for feeding homeless people in public, violating Arizona law.
The grandmother said that she was so shocked about being arrested that she thought it was a joke.
“Still, I thought it was a kind of joke, someone playing a prank– until I was put in the back of the police car,” Thornton told Fox 5 Vegas. “I have always believed that when you have plenty, you should share.”
The Institute for Justice (IJ) filed a federal lawsuit against Bullhead City in October 2022 on Norma’s behalf.

     Slam-dunk, right? Apparently not:

     IJ now reports that a new ruling from a U.S. district court has concluded that the law in Bullhead City, Arizona, making it a crime to share food in public parks for “charitable purposes” is constitutional.
     […]
    
     The district court ruled that “the right to serve one’s community, while important, is not a fundamental right.”

     Bullhead City’s law was passed in 2021 and requires a permit for the sharing of prepared food in public parks as part of a “non-social gathering” motivated by “charitable purposes.” This is not really a “permit” requirement, however, but a ban: Obtaining a permit is expensive and, even with a permit, the city allows people to share food only once per month. Meanwhile, because the law applies only to sharing food for a “charitable purpose,” Norma is allowed to throw a pizza party in Community Park for 50 of her friends without limitation. But once she offers food for charity, she runs afoul of the ordinance. Each violation of the law is punishable with a fine of up to $1,431, 120 days in jail and 24 months of probation.

     I could have told her:

     The American Royal’s World Series of Barbecue is a longstanding tradition for community members of Kansas City, Missouri. Since 1899, the event has attracted the most talented barbecue chefs from all corners of the state, who gather annually to show off their skills. With so many BBQ experts in one place, there tends to be a fair amount of leftover food once the festivities come to a close.

     Hating to waste such a vast amount of quality barbecue, some of the event’s BBQ gurus got together and founded the charitable group, Kookers Kare. Partnering with the Harvesters Community Food Network, Kookers Kare has made a tradition of donating the leftover food to local homeless shelters at the end of each annual event.

     This year, the two groups collected over 3,000 pounds of meat and 1,200 pounds of sides, all bound for a local nonprofit organization called Hope City, where it was to be served to over 3,000 homeless citizens in need.

     However, the Kansas City Health Department put the kibosh on Kookers Kare’s attempts to feed the homeless before anyone was even able to enjoy the food.

     Claiming they had no fore knowledge of this charitable tradition, the health department forbid the food from being served to the needy. Suspiciously, the inspectors just happened to be doing a random inspection of Hope City the day the BBQ arrived.

     “All of that food was uninspected, so that makes it from an unapproved source, it cannot be served to the public,” Kansas City Health Department Operations Manager Joe Williamson said in response to the department’s decision to stop the food from being consumed.

     The health department did not stop at simply forbidding the food from being served, they demanded that it be destroyed immediately. Those who had worked diligently to collect the food were forced to douse over 3,000 pounds of award-winning barbecue food with bleach, in order to ensure its destruction and appease the local health department. Meanwhile, 3,000 homeless individuals went without a meal that day.

     Charity has become the monopoly of The State. Think about what that implies, Gentle Reader. Governments do nothing well. Feed the hungry and the homeless? What do you suppose will come of that? But far better that than to let those hungry and homeless feast on unapproved food! Even if it was good enough to compete for a world championship, eh? Besides, what if the givers are conservatives? The State can’t let them be blessed and thanked for their generosity. It would send the wrong message! Trust The State! The State loves you!

     Governments must go. All of them, with extreme prejudice.

Sep 30 2024

While We’re Discussing Race And “Culture”

     …I had to learn this from an organ across the Atlantic:

     The boss of a Minneapolis food pantry, funded by city taxpayers, has banned white people from taking advantage of the resource.
     Mykela ‘Keiko’ Jackson used a Minnesota State grant to launch the Food Trap Project Bodega designed to help poor and hungry residents living close to the Sanctuary Covenant Church in the north of the city.
     The pantry only opened up on July 27 but within months it has been forced to close and relocate away from church grounds after Jackson attempted to block white people from accessing the service, including a local chaplain who complained.
     A sign that on the door to the pantry reads how the food inside was specifically for ‘Black and Indigenous Folx’ only. After a civil rights complaint was made against the pantry by a local, Mykela accused the complainant of ‘political violence.’

     Jackson is, of course, a Negro. Actually a Negress, as she’s a woman.

     I’m not going to play the “imagine if the races were reversed” card. Our Gentle Readers are intelligent enough to do that for themselves. Anyway, it’s too cliched. But the incident does illustrate how blatant the sotto voce race war has become. Open hostility toward whites now feels safe to its practitioners.

     I’ve decided to add a page to the site. It will aggregate my writings on race from Liberty’s Torch V1.0. We can’t trust Google-owned Blogger on this subject. Watch this space.

Sep 30 2024

Magnificent Gestures Dept.

     Via Maura Dowling:

     The Chilean Congress has passed a law to protect the rights of domestic animals. It criminalizes the slaughter, distribution, and commercialization of the meat of pets and companion animals.
     The Chilean congressman José Carlos Meza authored the bill.
     This measure arises from reports about the consumption of dog and cat meat in certain foreign communities within the country, particularly the Haitian community, according to Deputy José Carlos Meza, the bill’s author.

     If I can trust Google Translate – and say what you will about Google, the Translate facility is pretty damned good – the new law imposes prison sentences and fines for violation. But the law won’t matter unless it’s enforced. You know, with actual force. That’s a step a lot of governments have been reluctant to take when the targets are “refugees,” especially black “refugees.”

     Chile has the same problem a lot of nations are having with “refugees” from incompatible races and cultures. At least their government has acknowledged that. But will they follow through? We shall see.

Sep 29 2024

Reactionary Roles Have Reversed

The assertion of my title today has been on my mind for a long while. It deserves fleshing out.

The reactionary tends to be the one defending his position of power and privilege. The following Brave Leo result was posed using only the traditional Left and Right as a basic dichotomy. It’s only a starting point because there are personages ostensibly identified with the Right who, once clandestinely, are now openly in league with the most radical Left. Pick one or more disappointed with two recent failures of a deadly nature.

Currently which more reactionary, L or R?

Which is More Reactionary, L or R?

Based on the provided search results, it appears that both “Left” (L) and “Right” ® have factions that exhibit reactionary tendencies. However, the term “regressive left” specifically refers to a subset of left-wing politics that is accused of being accepting of or sympathetic to views that conflict with liberal principles, such as tolerating Islamism and promoting censorship.

In contrast, the term “reactionary” is often associated with right-wing politics, particularly conservatism, which tends to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions and may resist progressive change.

From the search results, it can be inferred that:

  • The “regressive left” is characterized as being reactionary in its acceptance of authoritarian positions, such as Islamism, and its tolerance of censorship.
  • The Right, particularly conservatism, is often associated with reactionary tendencies, such as resisting progressive change and favoring established ideas and institutions.

Therefore, based on the available information, it can be concluded that both the “regressive left” and the Right (conservatism) exhibit reactionary tendencies, but in different ways. The regressive left is characterized by its acceptance of authoritarian positions, while conservatism is characterized by its resistance to progressive change and favoring of established institutions.

Here is a summary in bullet points:

  • Regressive Left: Characterized by acceptance of authoritarian positions (Islamism) and tolerance of censorship, exhibiting reactionary tendencies.
  • Right (Conservatism): Associated with reactionary tendencies, such as resisting progressive change and favoring established ideas and institutions.

Note that these characterizations are based on the provided search results and may not be exhaustive or definitive representations of all factions within the Left and Right.

I was delightfully surprised at how relatively balanced was this result. Even more impressive was the following suggested follow up questions.

I will leave it to the reader to explore these further. They are not all that interesting for me at the moment. However, this AI totally fails to take into account how, what might be called, “traditional institutions” are seen by the Right as corrupted. That is once an institution is in the state designated by Robert Conquest’s 3rd Law: “The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies,” no true conservative will defend it.

Here is the key point I wish to make in support of my titled assertion.

Normally, reactionaries are associated not with Left and Right per se, but with those is the power seat seeking to keep it.

Typically it was the Progressives of the 19th Century who labeled Establishment powers as reactionary in anticipation of resistance to what they viewed as “progress.” They were out of power. Now they are in.

So, those currently in powerful positions, having too thoroughly gamed the system — with recruits, treats, threats, coercion, extortion, blackmail, and murder — are supremely fearful of losing power because of how ruthless they themselves have become. Being fearfully defensive and not knowing from where the greatest threat will emerge — colleague or foe or random morons — puts them on the back foot. They are the reactionaries today.

The offensive lay with those who traditionally not merely love freedom, but are supremely grateful for all good things that came out of freedoms unleashed three centuries back.

They deeply feel an obligation to posterity.

A few will have the courage and faith to follow up, and many young men will follow because they too want to live freer than what the reactionaries intend for them. Almost certainly the best leaders will, humbly, have faith in God and not man.

Sep 29 2024

Things Have Been Getting Heavy Around Here

     …so let us return to those halcyon days of yore, when the men were men and the… ghosts were ghosts?

Let never a man a wooing wend
That lacketh thinges three
A store of gold, an oaken heart
And full of charity
And this was seen of King Henry
And he likewise alone
For he’s taken him to a haunted hall
Seven miles from the town

He’s chased the deer, now him before
And the doe down by the den
Till the fattest buck in the all the flock
King Henry he has slain
His huntsmen followed him to the hall
To make them burly cheer
When loud the wind was heard to sound
And an earthquake rocked the floor

And darkness covered all the hall
Where they sat at their meat
The grey dogs, yowling, left their food
And crept to Henry’s feet
And louder howled the rising wind
And burst the fastened door
And in there came a grisley ghost
Stamping on the floor

Her head hit the roof tree of the house
Her middle you could not span
Each frightened huntsman fled the hall
And left the King alone
Her teeth were like the tether stakes
Her nose like club or mell
And nothing less she seemed to be
Than a fiend that comes from Hell

“Some meat, some meat
Yo King Henry some meat you give to me
Go kill your horse, you King Henry
And bring him here to me”
He’s gone and slain his berry brown steed
Though it made his heart full sore
For she’s eaten up, both skin and bone
Left nothing but hide and hair

“More meat, more meat
Yo King Henry more meat you give to me
Go kill your greyhounds King Henry
And bring them here to me”
And when he’s slain his good greyhound
It made his heart full sore
For she’s eaten up, both skin and bone
Left nothing but hide and hair

“More meat, more meat
Yo King Henry more meat you give to me
Go fell your gosshawks King Henry
And bring them here to me”
And when he’s slain his gay gosshawks
It made his heart full sore
For she’s eaten them up, both skin and bone
Left nothing but feathers there

“Some drink, some drink
Now King Henry some drink you give to me
Oh you sew up your horse’s hide
And bring in a drink to me”
And he’s sewn up the bloody hide
And a pipe of wine put in
And she drank it up, all in one draught
Left never a drop therein

“A bed, a bed, now King Henry
A bed you’ll make for me
Oh you must pull the heather green
And make it soft for me”
And pulled has he the heather green
And made for her a bed
And taken has he his gay mantle
And over it he has spread

“Take off your clothes now King Henry
And lie down by my side
Now swear, now swear you King Henry
To take me for your bride”
“Oh God forbid”, said King Henry
“That ever the like betide
That ever a fiend that comes from Hell
Should stretch down by my side”

When the night was gone and the day was come
And the sun shone through the hall
The fairest lady that ever was seen
Lay between him and the wall
“I’ve met with many a gentle knight
That gave me such a fill
But never before with a courteous knight
That gave me all my will”

(British traditional)

Sep 29 2024

Why Do They Vote X?

     There’s a gag from the 1912 campaign for president, when former president Theodore Roosevelt was campaigning on the Bull Moose (Progressive) ticket:

     While Teddy was giving a campaign speech, a man in the audience leaped to his feet and cried out: “I’m a Democrat! My father was a Democrat, his father was a Democrat, and his father before him, so I’ll always be a Democrat!”
     “Well, Mister,” Teddy replied, “If your father was a jackass, and his father was a jackass, and his father before him, what would that make you?”
     The heckler replied, “A Bull Mooser, sir! A Bull Mooser!”

     I’d say Roosevelt lost that exchange. But it’s a good lead-in for my topic of the moment.

     Why do people vote “loyally:” i.e., always for the candidates of a particular party? Some of the reasons are well known:

  • It’s a “family thing,” as in the gag above;
  • “This is how the people I do business and socialize with” vote;
  • The party platform is good on a single issue that’s critically important to the voter.

     The habit becomes questionable when the reason is false-to-fact. For example, what if you vote for Republicans specifically because of the GOP’s platform stance on abortion… but the behavior of its elected officials has contradicted that stance for some time? Why continue to vote Republican?

     A great many people have voted Democrat over and over because they believe the Democrats “care about the people,” especially “the poor.” Putting calipers on how well elected Democrats and Democrat administrations have served “the people” can be trying, but federal statistics suggest that “the people” have done best under Republican regimes – and that includes “the poor,” however we might define them.

     Sometimes a party’s stance on an issue depends vitally on slandering the position and performance of its major opponent. For example, Democrat spokesmen have striven to color the GOP as “racists.” The propaganda has largely been successful… yet it’s notable that Democrats are the ones relentlessly promoting racism. Yes, it’s racism against whites, but so what?

     But the “family thing” is the most perplexing. Over the century behind us, the major parties have exchanged positions in just about every way. The Republicans were once an inflationist and interventionist party; no longer. The Democrats were once a hard money / tight budgeting party; those days are more than a century gone. Yet those family-based attachments persist.

     You can tell Smith that the party he supports has been hurting him and those he loves for decades… and more likely than not Smith will still give that party his money and his vote. Which brings us to today’s graphic, once again shamelessly stolen from Mike Miles:

     Yet Democrats claim to be for “the people” and “the working man.” Tries one’s credulity, doesn’t it?

Sep 28 2024

The Frontier Of “Woke”

     In case the coverage missed you, Gentle Reader, it’s “minor-attracted persons:”

     After local outcry canceled a camp for “minor-attracted persons” set for last weekend in Vermont, several organizations are publicly defending those who declare a sexual attraction to children.
     MAP Union, or MU, which represents itself as “an international organization representing the interests of minor-attracted people and their allies,” sent a statement to local reporter Guy Page protesting the camp cancelation as “bullying” and violence against “society’s most oppressed minority group.”
     “While it is appropriate for law enforcement to investigate crimes when they occur, no-one should face legal sanctions for speaking freely about a sexual orientation they did not choose, nor for meeting up with others who have the same orientation,” a self-described MAP Union spokesperson, who called himself “Percy,” said in an email to Page he published Monday.

     This is the beginning of a progression of a sort we should all be familiar with:

  1. The first step is always to plead for tolerance. “We’re not criminals!” the activists whine. “We don’t hurt anyone. We just want to be left alone.”
  2. The second step is the demand for acceptance. “Why can’t we be policemen, soldiers, librarians, teachers, Boy Scout troop leaders? One of us might be your neighbor, and you’d never know it. Why not treat us just like anyone else?”
  3. The third step is normalization: “Well, yes, he’s a pedophile… not that there’s anything wrong with that.” (Note that this step requires assistance from “allies:” non-pedophiles who’ve been recruited into the “cause.” It usually enlists sympathetic media types.)
  4. The fourth step is coerced inclusion: No occupation or institution, however obscure, is spared from scrutiny as to whether it has adequate “pedophile representation.”
  5. The fifth step is sanctification: Even questioning the worthiness and civic value of pedophiles becomes actionable: first by private activists who threaten the questioner’s livelihood and social acceptance, and sometimes his life and health; later by government harassment and outright censorship.

     Mind you, this is about politics. Your opinion of whether a particular minority group is tolerable has no bearing on it. What matters is the acquisition, first of social influence, thereafter of political power.

     It worked for Negroes.
     It worked for Muslims.
     It worked for homosexuals.
     It worked for transgenders.

     All those groups now have disproportionate social influence and political power. Will pedophiles be next?

     I’ve just purchased Joy Pullman’s book False Flag: Why Queer Politics Mean the End of America. ($20 for a Kindle eBook. Ouch!) I’ll let you know what I think of it in a few days.

Sep 28 2024

Wishful Thinking Dept.

     In a column that reports on a crazy “professor” decrying Shakespeare as a symbol of “white supremacy,” Lincoln Brown deposeth and sayeth:

     There is no shortage of funds and support for black, brown, or native people to make their own movies. Let us have a new version of “Arrow to the Sun” made by a Native American. There is no shortage of stories in the Native American tradition, including the Coyote trickster tales that would make for fascinating viewing. Likewise, there are a plethora of West African stories, such as the trickster spider Anansi, waiting for black filmmakers to tell them. Let Latino filmmakers take a crack at the legends from the Popol Vuh; I am sure they would make one hell of a series of movies.

     To which I reply: Why hasn’t it happened already?

     The printed word – the book — nearly always comes before the film. There are few literary geniuses among the peoples Brown enumerates. Moreover, the audience for art aimed specifically at those peoples is small; most are largely indifferent to such efforts. Besides, the money today is in exactly what that crazy professor is doing: attacking whites and their accomplishments. Sutton’s Law applies here as everywhere.

     The racial and ethnic story traditions Brown cites in the above are largely oral. Why is that? Why haven’t those cultural legacies inspired chroniclers and tale-tellers like Aesop, Homer, Chaucer, Hans Christian Andersen, or the brothers Grimm? I don’t think it’s about a lack of funding.

     Literacy and the preservation of cultural treasures through the printed word are specifically Euro-Caucasian practices. (Then again, so was Gutenberg.) Therefore, the Left, which hates everything associated with the white race, must attack and destroy them. With a flock of self-hating white billionaires funding such attacks, no further explanation is required.

Sep 28 2024

You Will Know It’s Over…

     …when you can no longer find pennies in supermarket parking lots.

     No, it won’t be because there’s anything you can buy for a penny. It will be because preppers are packing them into shotgun shells, lead and steel balls having become unaffordable.

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