A long time ago, a certain Theodore Roosevelt – you may have heard of him – owned a cattle ranch. At that time, this incident occurred: During his time as a rancher, Theodore Roosevelt and one of his cowpunchers lassoed a maverick steer, lit a fire, and prepared the branding irons. The part …
Category: trust
Sep 14 2024
Can You Believe It?
No one knows any longer – for any value of “It.” “What do we really know of the time of our greatness? A few names of worlds and heroes, a ragtag of facts we’ve tried to patch into a history. The Shing law forbids killing, but they killed knowledge, they burned books, and …
Jun 27 2024
The Message Is Plain Part 2
I know, I know: I’m supposed to be off-line while my hand heals up. But this piece has been getting a fair amount of attention, so I thought I’d try to “complete the syllogism” before that has a chance to wane. Please be tolerant of any typos. Just this morning, a gentleman at …
Apr 14 2024
“Where Is Everybody?”
Have you ever watched one of those end-of-the-world movies, wherein a lone survivor awakens to a world that seems to have been depopulated while he slept? There have been a few, and some of them have been pretty good. I have 28 Days Later and I Am Legend in mind as I write this. …
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 …
Nov 28 2023
“That Can’t Be!”
Dave: Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know. Dad: Well, now you know. [From Breaking Away.] Have you become more skeptical as you’ve aged, or less? There’s an awful lot of utter nonsense being purveyed by the extended media, these days. By “extended,” I mean to subsume all providers of information, not just the …
Aug 26 2023
The Downside Of Deceit
“A thousand truths do not mark a man as a truth-teller, but a single lie marks him as a damned liar….Lying to other people is your business, but I tell you this: once a man gets a reputation as a liar, he might as well be struck dumb, for people do not listen to …
Aug 08 2023
The Chronicle of the DC: 7Aug23 Tainting Blood
Red Cross ends blood-donation restrictions that singled out gay and bisexual men Well, why not? After all, they got away with accepting blood from those who took the clot-shots. Since HIV takes so much longer to achieve the cults’ goals, this decision ought to raise not a ripple now.
Aug 04 2023
Warning: Transition In Progress
The most dangerous time for the people of a country transitioning from freedom to tyranny is the period of transition itself. The events of the transition period are invariably bloody. However, those events are also educational. Once the opposition has been destroyed, the survivors are aware of what it will take to remain survivors. …
Jul 30 2023
On Deceit
A huge number of people are running around who are determined to deceive others about something. It’s not news to any Gentle Reader of Liberty’s Torch that systematic deceit has become the hallmark of our politics. What’s on my mind this morning is the pervasiveness of deceit in ordinary life. Spouses lie to …
Jul 27 2023
Decline And Fall, Informational Edition
Every institution arises to serve a purpose. If the purpose is accorded good and worthy, and if the institution serves it well, it will flourish. But that’s not a permanent state of grace. An institution that ceases to serve its intended purpose, no matter how well it may have done so in the past, …
Jun 29 2023
They Call It Anarchy, But It’s Actually Hell
Heard the name of Gonzalo Lira lately? If you have, it’s probably because the Zelensky regime in Ukraine has thrown him into prison him for writing stuff Zelensky doesn’t like. But at one time, Lira was better known for this essay, which embeds this critical observation: When the backbone of a country starts …
Jun 07 2023
Call The CSI Macro!
What’s that, Gentle Reader? You don’t remember that one? Oh, it’s simple. Just four little words: “People lie; evidence doesn’t.” I should add, for completeness, that “people” also: Are frequently mistaken; Can be deceived about what they saw or heard; Come with agendas and priorities of their own; Can be “bought.” The …
Jun 03 2023
The Low-Trust Society: A Case Study
I snagged the graphic below from Ace of Spades HQ. The story it tells, though four and a half years old, is an important one. It’s easy merely to allow yourself to be appalled and then pass on to other things. In today’s sociopolitical environment, that’s no longer wise. Anyone could be caught in …
Jun 02 2023
Sociopolitical Impossibilities
Many years ago, a wise man named Rev. William J. H. Boetcker wrote these lines: You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You …
Apr 10 2023
Untrustworthy
The C.S.O. and I recently watched and greatly enjoyed Mark Wahlberg’s star-vehicle Shooter, about a master sniper who’s used as the frame-up pigeon in an assassination conspiracy. It’s a high-body-count action movie and replete with entertainment throughout, but one particular bit will remain in my memory for a long time to come. Sniper Bob …
Feb 21 2023
When Your Lie Is Found Out…
…shout it even more loudly: FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf has spent the last year warning that growing “distortions and half-truths” surrounding vaccines and other medical products are now “a leading cause of death in America.” “Almost no one should be dying of COVID in the U.S. today,” Califf told The Associated …
Feb 11 2023
Prescience Or Naivete?
The following was written in 1972: A fiercely combative system characterized by a high degree of tension must eventually overload and collapse. There are only so many put-ons that man can sustain before his entire system of interrelationships becomes ambiguous and, ultimately, meaningless. Twenty years ago, the need for a book probing the …
Feb 10 2023
Day From Hell Alert
The C.S.O. has another procedure scheduled for later this morning. Once again it will involve a long drive, a lot of cutting (for her) and a lot of waiting (for me), a long drive back, and then postoperative care most of which will fall on my shoulders. When we get back there will be …
Feb 02 2023
The New Standard For Guilt
Amendment V: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any …
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