Earlier today, I put forth a provocative proposition. Candidly, it was so provocative that it deserved large font: The State and God are enemies. That probably upset a few folks excessively devoted to the opinions of Saint Paul: Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power …
Category: government
Apr 15 2024
Good Guys And Bad Guys
“The first casualty when war comes is truth and whenever an individual nation seeks to coerce by force of arms another, it always acts, and insists that it acts in self-defense” – Locomotive Engineers Journal, February 1929 In high school, I had an American History teacher who opened his class on the subject …
Apr 10 2024
Another wind-up toy hits close to home
Aloha Snackbar! CNN reported Tuesday that Mercurio “planned to attack churches in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on Sunday ‘using weapons, including knives, firearms, and fire,’ according to court documents cited by the Justice Department.” He is accused of writing out his plan: “Stop close by the church, equip the weapon(s) and storm the temple, kill as many people as possible …
Mar 22 2024
Inversions
The C.S.O. does most of our grocery shopping, which insulates me against certain data that would otherwise arrive regularly in my awareness. However, now and then we go together to a “warehouse” style discount store for items we know to be available there in bulk, usually less expensively than at a commonplace supermarket. On …
Mar 01 2024
Longshots
Some longshots entice the bettor with misty visions of grandeur and glory. Others attempt to seduce with an emotional pitch. Still others are frank about the odds against them, but they appeal to the common desire to see oneself as a visionary or an adventurer. Their sole commonality is that a payoff is, in …
Jan 27 2024
Truth At 200 Proof
I heard some time ago that Javier Milei is staunchly pro-freedom – according to some reports, he’s openly styled himself an anarcho-capitalist – but I hadn’t expected that an individual who sincerely espouses libertarian views could become the head of state in a significant nation. Well, there he is, the freshly elected President of …
Jan 19 2024
It Might Not Have Started That Way…
…but in our time: Besides, how else could all those autocrats and tyrants in Third World hellholes get so rich? Did you know that infamous “Palestinian” terrorist Yasser Arafat had accumulated a personal fortune of over $1 billion before he died? Where do you suppose it came from, considering that the man never …
Jan 10 2024
Look Sharp: Narrative Engineering In Progress!
Beware the narrative engineers in government and the media, the ones who craft fear and suspicion from quite ordinary things. Have an example: In December of 2021, the Pentagon furthered the ‘white rage’ narrative, warning that ‘extremism’ within the ranks was on the rise, which would require ‘detailed new rules’ to prohibit service …
Jan 03 2024
Lies, damned lies, and statistics
The Kung Flu Plandemic by the numbers. A.K.A. you were lied to, repeatedly. As we can see, Covid-19 presented no more threat of death than flu to those aged under 75. In point of fact, there is a greater risk to the young in falling over and breaking their necks than dying from Covid-19. Conclusion: …
Dec 28 2023
“What Works” Versus “What Sounds Good”
Thomas Sowell has many pithy sayings to his credit, but the one that resonates most powerfully with our current maladies is this one: The more I study the history of intellectuals, the more they seem like a wrecking crew, dismantling civilization bit by bit — replacing what works with what sounds good. …
Dec 27 2023
Declining Temperatures
No, this isn’t about “climate change.” The temperatures I have in mind measure the warmth of other countries’ regimes toward Americans. Apparently, Americans who dare to leave the increasingly questionable security of these United States to pursue activities in other nations are in danger of being kidnapped – by those nations’ governments: …
Sep 20 2023
A Matter Of Units And Standards
When it comes to individuals’ Constitutionally guaranteed rights, the lines are sharp and clear. The understanding of a right would not be possible otherwise, for a right divides the universe of actions into permissible and impermissible. Thus, it’s always possible to know when an individual’s right to his life, his liberty, or his honestly …
Aug 30 2023
The Need For Clarity, Part 1
As attached as I am to it, I must nevertheless allow that Curmudgeonry is not enough. There must be clarity. We must say what we mean distinctly, openly, and fearlessly. I try to be as clear as possible…but others devote their efforts to muddying the waters, and it’s unclear which way the battle is …
Aug 18 2023
What Is Seen And What Is Not Seen
If memory serves, Frederic Bastiat was first to use that phrase. He employed it in a discussion of what’s usually called the “broken window fallacy,” an important example of how choosing not to look at some of the consequences of an event or a decision can fatally warp one’s perception of economic reality. Henry …
May 01 2023
Apropos Of “Homelands”
The following comes from The Man With the Miraculous Hands, the story of super-masseur Dr. Felix Kersten and his experiences in ministering to Heinrich Himmler during the years of the Third Reich: “Listen, listen to how brilliant it is,” [Himmler] cried. “We have taken Poland, but the Poles hate us. We need real …
Mar 25 2023
Money Today And Tomorrow
Good evening, and welcome to the Money Programme. Tonight on the money programme, we’re going to look at money–lots of it, on film and in the studio. Some of it in nice piles, Others in lovely clanky bits of loose change. Some of it neatly counted into fat little hundreds…delicate fivers stuffed into bulging …
Feb 08 2023
First Thought Of The Day
In Eric Drexler’s seminal Engines of Creation, the first book for laymen about the promise and perils of nanotechnology, he writes: States have needed people as workers because human labor has been the necessary foundation of power. What is more, genocide has been expensive and troublesome to organize and execute. Yet, in this …
Jan 20 2023
I First Saw This A Long Time Ago
…and I’ve only just found it again: It’s a brilliant visual encapsulation of a famous Lysander Spooner quote: The secret ballot is fundamentally wrong. Two elections in a row have demonstrated its perniciousness – and that’s for people who continue to think there’s anything good about government. Now consider that anyone …
Jan 02 2023
“Why” Is The Hardest, But “How” Runs A Close Second
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom I generally like and admire, recently Gabbed thus: Here we are in the land of “How?” And a most challenging land it is. The “How?” question is at the base of many of the evils embedded in federal taxation, spending, and policy. It’s thorniest when …
Dec 31 2022
Refunds
Long, long ago, though in this galaxy, I had as a friend a bright and enterprising fellow who enjoyed science fiction as much as did (and do) I. We parted company upon graduating high school and went our separate ways: I into the hard sciences, he into other sorts of studies and undertakings. Time …
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