Dec 28 2024

I’ve been chewing on this for a while

Teens are doing less homework and earning higher grades.

Teens’ homework time fell significantly in the pandemic era, writes Jean M. Twenge on Generation Tech. new data from 2022 and 2023 shows the average time spent on homework fell 24 percent for 10th-graders — from an hour to about 45 minutes — and 17 percent for eighth-graders.

Furthermore, the percentage of students saying they do no homework “spiked,” she writes. In 2021, 6 percent of high school sophomores did no homework. That’s up to 10.3 percent. Eleven percent of eighth-graders said they did no work at home in 2021. Now it’s 15.2 percent.

The decline started before ChatGPT was available, Twenge notes.

Now, those who have read me for a while know that my opinion of the publik skool sistim is that it should be burned to the ground, leveled, and the area where it once stood salted so that nothing will grow for a thousands years, followed by the public execution of the leadership of every single teacher’s union, starting with Randi Weingarten.

I also think that the concept of homework is absolute bullshit. I can remember the exact moment I had this realization. I was in the third grade, and I had homework assigned to me regarding multiplication, specifically multiplying by zero. What is anything times zero, dear readers?

One full page of multiplying by zero. Tell me again why kids suck at math these days? Why kids hate learning math, and thus are hobbled by their own mathematical ignorance later in life? I did not need to waste my afternoon, after sitting in the hellhole of public school for hours, spending my precious time repeating the same boring, mind-numbing crap that I sat through previously. Kim du Toit once saw a study that said kids could start from 1+1=2, and move into trigonometry within SIX MONTHS if they were taught properly. I barely got through Algebra 2 in high school. Actually, scratch that, because after I asked what a logarithm was, and how I could use it in the real world, and the response back was “shut up and just learn the process”. I essentially shut my brain down and said that I have zero fucks to give. I loved Geometry. I loved Algebra, but as I was learning both of them I was using them at home. And that was due to my father, who ensured I had a far better education outside of publik skool than I ever got inside of it.

So to get back round to the point: The reason kids are doing less homework is two-fold: One, the work they’re being assigned is absolute bullshit. When my father was in high school the were taught Latin, Greek and Calculus. Nowadays, they’re teaching Algebra 1 and remedial English IN COLLEGE. Kids today can blast through the garbage that the publik skool sistim gives them and then rightly go have fun, or work, or spend their time far more productively after school.

Two: After the plandemic shutdown for the Kung Flu, the kids who had been in school but were then kept home saw just how worthless and pathetic the publik skool sistim is, and they’re not buying in. Classes obviously weren’t all that important for politics sake, so why should these kids suddenly by in again after they’ve been shown by the schools themselves that the classes are essentially worthless, little more than government babysitting camps?

Anyways, here’s to hoping that Trump keeps his promise to destroy the Department of Education. It’s done nothing of any real good since it’s inception, and it deserves to be destroyed. Return education back to the states where it should have been. Get the federal government out of the kid’s way, and I’m pretty damn sure the kids will be alright.

Dec 28 2024

A Great Returning?

     Quoth Chris Queen:

     We’ve heard a prevailing narrative that Americans are drifting away from faith in general and Christianity more specifically. For a long time, we’ve seen interviews with celebrities who grew up in Christian homes but now consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Surveys make a big deal out of how many Americans consider themselves “nones.”
     […]
     Noted atheists like Russell Brand and Ayaan Hirsi Ali have become Christians, and other non-religious people like Richard Dawkins and the UK’s Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch publicly speak of the value of Christianity to the culture. Does that mean that the tide is changing?

     The possibility that the West is rediscovering its Christian roots is more than interesting; it’s heartening and exciting. Not only is there immense value for individuals in the Christian faith – both its mythos and its ethos — it’s also an indispensable suit of civilizational and cultural armor. Without it, we have grown all too penetrable by creeds and ideologies hostile to what makes America uniquely great. As those invading creeds and ideologies are inherently imperialist, our values – spiritual, cultural, and legal – have taken a number of body blows.

     There are some hazards to be avoided, of course. An aggressive, imperialist Christianity in response to imperialist alien faiths would be dangerous to the whole world. Christians must not seek to convert the rest of Mankind by force; that’s the aim that makes Islam evil. Nor should we aspire to “establish” Christianity, in the British sense, nor strive to impose it on others willy-nilly. Not only is that forbidden by the First Amendment; it would be counterproductive. True faith must always be a matter of free individual choice.

     But for Americans to return to Christianity would be of enormous benefit to us. Non-Christians tend to be deficient in optimism: weak in hope, if you will. Christianity is explicitly an optimistic, forward-looking creed. The core of the thing is that God is benevolent, and that He has a Plan for each of us. It fosters hope in those who sincerely believe, and makes it durable.

     What a beautiful possibility to entertain at this time of year!

     I’ve had a few conversations with others in recent years that bear on this subject. It seems that there are many who want to believe but can’t quite get there. The “leap of faith” – the decision to believe without conclusive proof – isn’t like any other act of the mind. Not only does it require what seems a non-logical inference; it’s powerfully opposed by a number of forces that have grown strong since World War I. I have two in mind that strike me as the most important of the lot.

     First is the ultra vires phenomenon: that is, the attempts by men to yoke their personal preferences to the authority of Christ. Simply because a man has been ordained as a priest or minister does not make him an infallible authority on what God wants of us. The source material – the Gospels of Jesus Christ – must be treated as the empowering documents for any doctrinal assertion. In other words, if He didn’t say anything that applies to a particular topic, then Man is free on that topic, subject only to the dictates of conscience. I had a character declaim on this in In Vino:

     “There are people who would regard a Mustang with a V8 engine as wasteful and irresponsible,” Ray said. “Obviously I don’t. Judgment call. Here’s another: there are people who consider the breeding, slaughtering, and eating of animals a terrible act of disrespect to the animals, their Creator, or both. As my favorite meal in the entire universe is a juicy bacon cheeseburger broiled the way Costigan’s does them, clearly they and I see things differently. Judgment call. Even material acts of charity can have some controversial aspects. Suppose you give some money to a charitable organization, which promises to use it to help others in need…but you find out later that the money actually made things worse for the supposed beneficiaries? Did you really commit a charitable act, or should you do penance for the harm that was done with your money? Judgment call. I could think of lots more.”
     Fountain, who had been silent practically from the start of the session, spoke up at last.
     “Is that why we are told to listen to our consciences, Father?”
     Ray chuckled. “Thank you, Fountain. It is. The word ‘conscience’ means ‘knowing with.’ But knowing with whom? As we can’t read one another’s consciences, or transmit into them, it can only be God. Conscience is the channel God uses to help us make our judgment calls—which does not mean that if you and I make a particular one differently, then one of us is ‘wrong.’ You can never know what another person’s conscience has told him…or whether he’s really paid attention to it as he should.”
     “‘Judge not, that ye be not judged,’” Larry said.
     “Exactly,” Ray said. He pointed upward. “Do what you can with yourself, and leave the rest to Him.”
     “Glory be to God,” Domenico Monti whispered.

     Second is the attack on Christianity that’s founded on a perversion of intellectualism. This is one against which many have brushed, as it’s both aggressive and self-satisfied. Those attributes make it both dangerous and vulnerable.

     The core of this attack is an appeal to vanity: “You’re too smart to believe all that crap.” I wrote a little about this yesterday, but the tactic deserves wider and deeper reflection.

     Christianity is a miracle faith. He who cannot believe in miracles cannot accept Christianity, for Christianity requires that he accept a miracle – the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – as a historical fact. C. S. Lewis put it thus:

     No nation, and few individuals, are really brought into [Christianity] by the historical study of the biography of Jesus, simply as biography. Indeed materials for a full biography have been withheld from men. The earliest converts were converted by a single historical fact (the Resurrection) and a single theological doctrine (the Redemption) operating on a sense of sin which they already had — and sin, not against some new fancy-dress law produced as a novelty by a “great man”, but against the old, platitudinous, universal moral law which they had been taught by their nurses and mothers.

     But it’s the easiest thing in the world to reject a miracle… at least, if you weren’t there to see it. Indeed, some have rejected personally witnessed miracles simply by insisting to themselves that “That couldn’t have happened.” They who attack Christianity on this basis perform a bit of conceptual sleight-of-hand. To harness vanity, they speak of intellect – “you’re too smart” – but in point of fact are appealing to natural skepticism about fantastic events that cannot be reproduced by mortal man.

     In the face of those two opposing forces, a true resurgence of Christian faith in our time would be even more significant than Chris Queen thinks. For faith that arises despite powerful opposition must be tough. It must have muscles. And have no doubt of it: the opposition is strong, determined, and relentless.

     I wrote recently about the hostility of those who pose as authorities toward other sources of moral guidance:

     All secular power is threatened by alternative sources of authority and moral guidance. The powers that be hate Christianity above all other creeds, for it proclaims Man to be free.

     A resurgent Christianity would face not just the opponents I mentioned in the previous segment, but also the enmity of secular “authorities,” who have profited greatly by Christianity’s decline and who would lose stature and influence in the face of its renewal. We’ve known for a while that nearly all the members of our ruling class are moral degenerates; the evidence could hardly be plainer or more copious. How, then, would we expect them to react to a newly energized Christianity, grown bold enough to point at their depravities and condemn?

     And with that, I leave the matter for my Gentle Readers to ponder.

Dec 27 2024

Winter Wonderings

     No, not “winter wonders.” This will not be a rhapsody about the splendor of the white-mantled hills, the frosty sparkle of snow-covered dogs, or the power of frozen car batteries to awaken us to the glory of Nature. I have another subject in mind.

     At this time of year, especially in the run-up to Christmas, we see a surge in activity from our friends, the militant atheists. It seems that Christmas, when we commemorate the birth of the Son of God in mortal flesh, irritates them more than any other Christian celebration. At any rate, they’re close to silent on Easter Sunday. Make of that what you will.

     But in matters of faith, there’s a phenomenon akin to Newton’s Third Law. A thrust against religious belief will predictably evoke a reaction equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The reaction usually takes the form of personal reflection on the core premise of all faith: whether one can believe, without violating rationality, that a Supreme Being exists and takes an interest in the affairs of men.

     The great majority of Mankind, as far back as our racial memory reaches, have believed in a supernatural layer of existence. Granted, most such beliefs have embedded notions that either contradict observable facts or clash with one another to some degree. One of my characters addressed a fundamental objection to God this way:

     “What makes it hard for most people,” Ray said, “is that we tend to think of God as just a very powerful temporal entity, like some sort of super-magician. But He’s not. He created time. He looks down on it from above, the way you or I would read a map. He knows the path we follow because He knows all the paths we might follow, and what might flow from every one of them.” [From Shadow of a Sword.]

     That came from an exchange between a genius-level intellect and a passionate, much better than average priest. The genius was troubled over the matter of divine omniscience, as are many who approach the matter superficially. It does take extra reflection to penetrate to the necessary attribute of the Creator: His position outside and above Time. There aren’t many persons who can reason their way to that requirement without assistance.

     But let’s set all that aside for the moment. What occurred to me earlier this morning is the power of this annual celebration to get skeptics wondering. Not convinced, mind you; just willing to entertain theistic possibilities a wee bit more than is their wont.

     Perhaps it’s the celebratory mood in the air. Yes, it’s been somewhat corrupted by the commercialization of the Christmas season. Still, a great many Americans and Europeans still believe, to some un-plumbable depth. It might be more precise to say that they still want to believe, for open, heartfelt acknowledgements of the Christian faith as true and vital have become uncommon in the West. The forces that inhibit them are many, and have more power than one might suspect.

     Perhaps it’s the enduring power of the great Christmas movies. Alastair Sim’s Scrooge, Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey, and Edmund Gwenn’s Kris Kringle can envelop anyone in a spirit of hope and joy. (And let’s not omit Charlie Brown’s bravura performance in his Christmas special! Yes, Lucy is still peeved that she didn’t get top billing, but what of that?) More than one agnostic has grinned uncontrollably at those tales, whether or not their premise eludes them.

     Or perhaps it’s something else… something subtle and private. God still speaks to us, you know. He whispers along a channel that’s tuned exclusively to Him. And He chooses His moments with care. They’re the ones during which the rest of reality is silent, such as the days between Christmas and the New Year.

     To those unbelievers who’ve allowed their minds to open, even if just a wee crack: I applaud you. Perhaps your moment is upon you; perhaps it’s not. But even to admit consideration of the premise is laudable, especially against the chorus of so many supposedly self-assured atheists telling you that “you’re too smart to believe all that crap.”

     Winter wonderings over matters of faith are a gift from God, quite as much as was the gift of His Son. For the rest of the Christmas Octave and throughout the year to come, may He bless and keep you all.

Dec 26 2024

Missing The Point

     I try to retain respect for other commentators, even when they write things I completely reject. But I do expect people who take a hand in guiding popular opinion to ask the right questions and demand that they be fully and honestly answered. Intelligent people must not allow themselves to be spoon-fed an erroneous or incomplete version of events. That way leads madness and worse than madness.

     Just a few minutes ago I encountered this, at Ace’s place:

     I watched “Oppenheimer” last night, and the ridiculousness of its presentation of communism was embarrassing. The fixation on the ultimate evil of atomic weapons and the arms race and the cold war was equally ridiculous, and carefully linked to the non-communists! I have written in the past that the atomic weapons used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 was the greatest humanitarian act in history. Their use saved possibly 1,000,000 Allied military lives and probably millions of Japanese, yet their use was presented as at best a murky ethical issue, and at worst the beginning of the end of humanity.

     The ethical scenario commentator CBD presents in the above is seriously incomplete. A critical consideration is missing from President Truman’s decision to A-bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If you, Gentle Reader, know the history of World War II, especially the Pacific War, give it a few moments of hard thought before continuing on. You’ll feel better for finding it yourself than for reading it here.

     I’ll wait here.

     Okay, that should be long enough. Let’s proceed.

     The decision to A-bomb those two Japanese cities has been presented to the world as a calculation: so many Japanese casualties versus so many American casualties. And if we omit the considerations surrounding that decision, the calculation seems to stand alone, untethered to any larger question. But there is a larger question. It arises from the politics of the War.

     The choice as CBD presents it, and which colors the debate about the ethics involved, is either-or. Either we drop the Bomb or we mount the largest ground invasion in the history of warfare. But why was it necessary to adopt one or the other course? What prior condition precluded other possible actions – or inactions?

     The answer is both simple and terrible: The Roosevelt / Truman insistence upon a Japanese unconditional surrender.

     As of August 1, 1945, Japan’s warmaking capacity was essentially zero. Its ground and naval forces had been reduced to stubs. Its air power could not even prevent the saturation bombing of Tokyo. Yes, the Tojo regime strained to mobilize the entire nation of Japan to resist a ground onslaught. And indeed, had an American ground campaign been mounted, it’s highly likely that the casualties would have greatly outnumbered that from the A-bombings.

     That presses a question upon us: why was obtaining an unconditional surrender so important?

     I don’t have the answer. Perhaps there were considerations of which no one who wasn’t involved in the decision will ever know. But it’s tragic that the possibility that a conditional surrender would have been acceptable is never addressed. In point of fact, the Japanese did insist on one condition: that the Emperor not be touched and the sovereignty of the Imperial succession be left as it is. Washington agreed to that condition, though it’s seldom spoken of today.

     Japan had offered to surrender on somewhat more generous terms before the bombing of Nagasaki. Ironically, the principal barrier to that surrender was the territorial desire of the Soviet Union:

     It was not known at the time that the enemy [Japan] was trying to surrender. A new government, under premier Suzuki, had approached Soviet Russia as early as May with a request that Russia mediate the conflict. However, the Japanese insisted upon surrendering upon terms, and the Russians had their own designs for eastern Asia, which did not include a premature end to the war before the Russians got what they wanted, so the hesitant attempts came to nothing. On August 8, the Russians declared war on Japan, and Red Army troops poured over the Manchurian border and began a rapid occupation of territory. The next day the Americans dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki….
     That was enough. The Japanese government, at the urging of the Emperor – the army was determined to fight on—offered on the 10th to surrender, its only condition that the person of the Emperor and the Imperial throne remain inviolate: the Allies responded positively, and on August 14 the Japanese accepted the terms and surrendered.

     [James L. Stokesbury, A Short History of World War II.]

     Those details are seldom mentioned when the A-bombings are discussed in an ethical context. They should be.

     We of Liberty’s Torch hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season.

Dec 26 2024

The X Travesty

679 Mount Sinai – Coram Road
Mount Sinai, NY 11766
December 26, 2024

X Corp.
865 FM 1209 Building 2
Bastrop, TX 78602

Dear Sirs and Mesdames:

     On December 23 of this year, you suspended my fully paid-for Premium-Plus X account. The email announcing that suspension gave as the reason “Inauthentic accounts.” Yet I have only one X account, and have used it only in a manner consistent with good taste and good manners. Since that date, I have written to your Support team three times, through the Support web page, to make an appeal and request clarification. I have received no follow-up communication, whether by email or telephone.

     I have asked friends who have X accounts to use whatever mechanisms may exist to petition for your attention. So far there has been no change.

     Thus, at this point I’m out over $180.00 (sales taxes included) for that Premium-Plus account, without even the ability to reply to another user’s tweet, much less the ability to post tweets of my own, or to post articles. And I still have no idea why you regard me as “inauthentic.” This is a travesty: a miscarriage of whatever passes for justice in these dark days. It amounts to petty larceny.

     I’m not pursuing this matter through the courts because it would cost me more than I can afford… and yes, far more than the $180.00 you might conceivably refund me. Nevertheless, I write this day to tell you that you should be ashamed of yourselves for hiding behind an automated system that lacks judgment and discretion, rather than having a human being contact me, if only to tell me why you regard me as “inauthentic.” It’s behavior unworthy of your owner, who has my unqualified admiration for his achievements.

     I intend that this entire matter be made as public as I can make it. Reply or not as you prefer.

Sincerely,
Francis W. Porretto

     The above went into the U.S. Mail this morning. Now we shall see.

Dec 26 2024

A Thought For The New Year

     If you haven’t yet read The Alpha Strategy, John Pugsley’s excellent treatise on shielding yourself against the ravages of inflation, please do so. However, for the moment I have a snippet from that fine tome for your consideration. In it, he uses as a demonstrator a fictional island occupied by two and only two persons: you, and an economist named Maynard. (Never mind how the two of you got there.) Maynard has some “modern” ideas about how to structure an economy. It makes illuminating reading.

     Very near the end of the book, Pugsley addresses the political problem at the base of contemporary economic irrationality:

     Pretend for a moment that you have cultivated a cabbage patch on your island, and Maynard has some goats. Every night Maynard opens your gate and lets his goats into your yard, and each night they feast on your cabbages. You decide to approach the problem by appealing to reason. You put together your arguments about how this is ruining your garden, stifling your incentive to grow cabbages, and will hurt the whole neighborhood in the end. You then walk out of your house, march down to your garden, and have a heart-to-heart talk with his goats.

     Pretty silly, eh what? But the moral is sharply pointed: The goats are not the root of your problem. Yes, they are the proximate cause, but not the efficient cause. The goats didn’t let themselves into your cabbage patch, now did they?

     The moving force here is Maynard. It is he who empowers those goats to raid your garden – and it is plain that he’s entirely willing to sacrifice both your immediate interests and the larger, long-term interests of the local economy to feed his goats at zero cost to himself. He must be dealt with.

     “But how?” I hear you cry. You know perfectly well how. You must strike at his interests: whatever is of value to him that you can threaten. That would give you influence over his actions: a deterrent, if you will, against further bad behavior. If he has nothing of sufficient value, you must threaten him: his life.

     Now let’s talk politics, specifically the Congressman currently serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives: recently revealed Democrat-marionette Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

     The Speaker of the House has considerable power. With certain exceptions, he decides what bills will be brought to the House floor and be voted upon. His position also equips him to act as a negotiator to facilitate the passage of bills he favors. But where does his power come from? (Hint: It’s not the position of Speaker that I have in mind just now.)

     YES!! Got it in one, you brilliant Gentle Reader, you! The Speaker is elected by a majority of his fellow Congressmen: in this case, Mike Johnson’s fellow Republicans. On January 3, 2025, a new election for Speaker will be held. How, then, do we persuade the majority caucus of the House to put the clamps on Johnson – or failing that, to elect someone less inclined to placate the Democrats and more amenable to the MAGA agenda?

     That’s right: the same way we “persuaded” the House to drop that atrocious “Continuing Resolution” to bankrupt the country. Tell the House GOP loud and clear: Comply or face a primary challenge.

     And as it’s still early on Boxing Day 2024, I shall leave you to contemplate your next moves. Have a nice day.

Dec 25 2024

A Christmas Present I’d Like To Return

     X has done it to me again:

     Twice in less than a month – and whatever their “careful review” might consist of, if the above is literal, then I’m out over $180 for the Premium-Plus access I’ve already paid for.

     What’s their reason for this bit of larceny?

     And it’s apparently impossible to reach a human being about this travesty.

     Pray for me, Gentle Reader. I feel an unwholesome fury, and today is most certainly not an appropriate day for it.

     Enjoy your Christmas.

Dec 25 2024

About 2024 Years Ago

     And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
     And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
     And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
     And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
     And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
     And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
     But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
     And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

     [Luke 2:1-20]

     And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. [John 1:14]

     Have a Merry and blessed Christmas, Gentle Reader. May the joy of His Nativity be yours as well.

Dec 24 2024

Crafting Permission

     I cannot over-praise this Clarice Feldman article at American Thinker. Please read it all.

     For some time now, the principal aim of the strategists and kingmakers of the political Establishment has been to engineer the appearance of popular assent to government policies which, in point of fact, are severely detrimental to the fortunes of Americans and the nation. Those policies have been aimed at reducing Americans’ rights while transferring gigantic amounts of money from the general populace to the Establishment’s favored ones. Sane persons able to find and communicate freely with one another would never have agreed to such schemes. Yet they were imposed upon us by our supposed representatives against only token opposition.

     It’s the story of the century: a nonviolent coup of such magnitude as to be incomprehensible to the average onlooker. How did it come about?

     Feldman captures the essence of it in a neat phrase: a “hallucinatory permission structure.” By coordinating the statements of political personages, their spokesmen, the legacy media, and above all the captive social media, the Establishment crafted an appearance of both popular assent and inevitability. Thus it neutered effective opposition to its agenda.

     But the permission structure machinery could not function effectively without a single, critical cog: Twitter. Most Americans, including even enthusiastic Twitter users, had no idea of the power of that medium. The greater part of sociopolitical interchange was taking place there as early as 2009. Since then if not earlier, he who controls the Twittersphere is the paramount force in such interplay.

     Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was widely derided as an expression of his personal vanity at the time. But the reality of the matter was better expressed by the attempts, both inside and outside the corridors of power, to prevent that purchase. Failing that, the Establishment would strive to destroy or domesticate Musk and preserve Establishment dominance over the channel.

     If it had worked, Donald Trump would have been halted at the palace gates. Kamala Harris would be president-elect. The Brobdingnagian “continuing resolution” would have been passed. The engineered appearance of grudging popular assent to the Establishment’s program for smothering Americans’ rights and invalidating our values would have persisted. The elites’ agenda for our subjugation would have rolled on as if it was “business as usual” – which it was.

     But it didn’t work.

     Yes, go ahead: breathe a sigh of relief. But also draw the moral. The social media were an ideal instrument for creating the appearance of popular acquiescence to the Establishment’s agenda. They herded the great majority of Americans into corrals where we could be force-fed Establishment propaganda, while dissenting voices were marginalized and censored. They neutered the freedom of expression we once saw in the emergence of the two-way World Wide Web.

     One man saw it more clearly than the rest, and resolved to act on it. If the Republic is to be saved, the greatest share of the credit belongs to Elon Musk.

     Merry Christmas, Elon. You are a present we never expected to find under our national tree. Thank you, most sincerely.

Dec 24 2024

Just in Time for Christmas!

Dec 23 2024

How Can Men Of Decency Not Be Angry Beyond Measure?

Yes, I’m still fuming of over the commutations of death penalty in the name of the President of these United States. And in the process, those in authority had the audacity to claim it was in keeping with religious faith as if they themselves wouldn’t like to kill off so many more of us today.

To those who are responsible, I cannot come up with any words that adequately describes how low in human qualities you have chosen to inflict on your souls. I could list so many scatological words to describe you, but you’d shrug and sneer back — “and So? What?” You are so beyond shame there’s nothing I could say that would get you to repent that any of us would believe.

You are beyond redemption.

But that’s just my opinion. I do not know what the Lord has in store for you. Our greatest hope is that you have gone so low that nobody could possibly go lower, and that even the worst of the rest of us will repent of our sins simply because they DO NOT WANT TO BE CONSIDERED MEMBERS OF THE SUB-RACE THAT INCLUDES YOU.

Dec 23 2024

Chronicle of the DC, 23Dec24: Preserving Agents of Murder

The puppet of the 3rd term of the Obama Regime just commuted the death sentences of some of the country’s most notorious murderers. It makes sense for a regime that is totally committed to reducing human lives. Being criminal themselves, perhaps they expect they’ll never be held account either to the level they deserve.

It’s not enough that its Department of “Justice” persecutes and imprisons grandmas who pray too close to abortion mills.

It’s not enough that the regime goes out of its way to claim to be keeping legitimate religions out of politics — except when it can be used to hide its preservation of the nation’s most demonic criminals.

The only legitimate reason for government at all is to keep the peace and protect innocent human lives from the worst predators. This regime has it ack-basswards because it fits their DC agenda.

When the founders decided upon making the District of Columbia the seat of the central government, not a man ever imagined that its initials could wind up representing the cult that its most prominent denizens would be its not so secret leaders.

I’m sorry if you don’t like the way I call it as I see it. For the sake of all the weakest amongst us, you should speak up at least a bit more often.

UPDATE:

Calling out you atrocities who are running the 3rd Obama term for the monsters you are. You would have enjoyed doing the following yourselves except for how messy the events were and the fact you can entice others (agents) to do it for you. And let’s not forget — you’re all cowards, hiding behind an old, demented, thieving shadow of humanity to pull off all you’ve done.

Among the convicts Biden has spared from the accountability sought by judges and juries is Jorge Avila-Torrez, a “serial killer of the highest degree” who kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered two little girls, Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9, in 2005. The beneficiary of Biden’s commutation not only subjected the girls to nightmarish sexual torture but stabbed them repeatedly — Hobbs 20 times, including in her eyes, and Tobias 11 times.

Avila-Torrez also murdered 20-year-old U.S. Navy Petty Officer Amanda Jean Snell in 2009 and raped and nearly killed another woman in 2009.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-commutes-sentence-of-serial-killer-who-raped-and-murdered-two-little-girls-along-with-36-other-death-row-killers

Dec 23 2024

Leadership, 21st Century Edition

     “To lead people, walk beside them … As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate … When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!'” – Lao Tzu

     I’m tired today, for reasons not germane to this piece. But the subject of leadership and the related subject of what makes a man great have been much on my mind. Perhaps unfinished thoughts from this piece have been haunting me.

     My personal inclinations are neither to lead nor to follow: to be a man apart, so that I can think my own thoughts and pursue my own priorities. There are others of similar inclination. I’ve known a couple and have esteemed them highly, though you may never hear their names praised from a tall tower.

     But the opposite inclination is far more common. Virtually everyone would love to have the glory of leadership. Of course, it’s a mantle not many can wear at any given time. Few will lead; most will follow. A scattering of others like myself will watch from a distance, and occasionally grunt a comment or two.

     I wrote about leadership from two opposed perspectives in the novels of the Realm of Essences pentalogy. The more conventional kind was a major motif in Polymath:

     “All divisions among men start in the mind. If you strain to be one of them but they see you as a man apart, you’ll be rebuffed. If they think you’re one of them but you believe otherwise, you’ll give offense. You can only bridge the gap with their cooperation, and you can’t have that unless you truly believe yourself to belong with them.”
     “But how?”
     “Go where they go in their leisure hours. Do what they do when in public. Eat and drink what they do. Talk of the same things, in the same tone and with the same emphases. When you find yourself compelled to disagree with one of them, you must couch it as ‘just another guy’s opinion,’ rather than a judgment handed down from on high. And above all, be sincere about all of it.”
     “How can you be sincere about that sort of conscious imitation?”
     “By not imitating them. By valuing them, emulating them, treating them as models worthy of study, potential sources of instruction.” Loughlin cocked an eyebrow. “What’s my next sentence?”
     It became clear with the suddenness of a lightning stroke. “Become one of them. Be one of them.”
     Loughlin nodded. “Exactly.”

     But in On Broken Wings I presented a much different perspective:

     “Chris, whatever it is you’re working on, is it worth all this?”
     She chuckled again. “Malcolm, you’ve got me fixed so that’s the first and last question I ask about everything. Yes, it’s worth it. Not for itself, but because justice is involved.”
     His face began to darken. “Are you taking on a sideline, now? Great Deeds For Hire?” She could hear him pronounce the capitals. “I thought Louis taught you to program computers, not to go out and right wrongs, assuming you could recognize them.”
     What the hell–?
     Stay calm, Christine.
     You know, Nag, that’s the only thing you’ve had to say for about a month.
     Maybe it’s the only thing you’ve needed to hear.
     Why should he be upset about what I said?
     Why should he be? Or why is he?
     All right, why is he?
     He’s worried for you.
     What?
     He’s worried for you, Christine. Ask him!
     “Malcolm,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “are you concerned that I’m about to hurt myself?”
     “In a sense, yes.”
     “What sense?”
     He drew a deep breath.
     “To make justice is to make enemies, Chris. If that’s what you’re really doing.”
     Jesus Christ, Nag, you were right.
     Thank you, Christine.
     At least the invisible advisor didn’t rub it in.
     “It’s what I’m doing, Malcolm.” She tried to keep her speech soft and measured. “And yes, I’ll have at least one enemy afterward, but I think I can cope with him.” She hesitated. “Is there anything I could tell you that would help lay your worries to rest?”
     The muscles in his face drew tight.
     “Yes. That you won’t do it again.”
     “Ah. I can’t promise that.”
     “I know.” He rose, tucked the book under his arm, and headed for his bedroom.
     “Malcolm.”
     “Yes?” He stopped halfway up the stairs and turned toward her.
     “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
     He shook his head, his habitual grim visage restored. “No. You can’t promise that either.”

     My original title for that novel was No Great Deeds. Make of that what you will.

     Leadership is replete with opportunities for worldly greatness, but it’s busy and noisy. To stand apart offers far fewer such opportunities, but it promises a quiet life. We have a high regard for the leader, but when confronted with the price, most of us would prefer the sort of life lived by the man apart… which probably accounts for the genius’s preference for privacy and the lesser man’s yearning for celebrity.

     If ours is an era for great men, as I suspect, there will be pressure to follow a leader figure – if you’re not a leader yourself, of course. But following means sacrificing some, at least, of one’s own priorities to make room for those of the leader and his “movement.” Remember always that a third path exists. You can stand apart. You can admire a leader yet maintain a detached perspective: that is, without becoming one of his followers. The choice is real. Like all real things, it has real consequences, so beware.

Dec 23 2024

Miscellaneous Stuff

Here’s a link to some worthy quotes, many of which I had not seen before.

It’s been a strange Christmas season, so far. At Thanksgiving, my grandson (taking a semester in Iowa) was diagnosed with pneumonia. The campus was one day away from shutting down, and that included dining services. We all rushed around, sending gift cards for food to be delivered; fortunately, an Aldi’s was near, and they delivered for free with a set minimum purchase. So, not only could he access hot food, but also stock up on staples.

He survived, and went on to finish the semester – until, right before finals, he got Covid. I don’t know how yet how he managed the testing (I assume they had an online option). His mother took off a few days early for Christmas break, and drove out and back, with all his stuff. Unfortunately, they still have a few days of quarantine, so won’t be hosting Christmas dinner this year. My son’s house is too small, so my husband and I, and my kid brother, are on our own. I decided to find out what restaurants were open, and we found one nearby. So, this year, we’re taking it the easy way for dinner.

Best part, no cleanup.

We will celebrate after the holidays, on Dec. 29. That’s assuming no other disaster in the meantime

I’ll be off for a quick trip to Chicago after Christmas Day – my eldest daughter has a pneumonia variant that sent her to the hospital in Milwaukee. The house she lives in has all the other sisters out of town with family, so she left for Chicago yesterday, with one of the sisters, to spend the rest of her convalescence in a home the order owns. They have many sisters with health problems, and will be competent to manage until she is recovered.

We haven’t even put a tree up yet. But we’re nearly finished with shopping. And, we’re not hip-deep in snow, so that’s good.

I found some fun quotes on the blog Nobody Asked Me.

Life is good – so far, no one is shooting at me. I hope to keep that status quo.

I cannot complain a bit about ‘bad luck’ – this is just a superstorm of illness, but all are expected to recover fully.

Dec 22 2024

The Courage Of The Women

     Welcome to the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the last such before we celebrate the Nativity of Christ (a.k.a. Christmas). On this day, the Gospel reading concerns not one but two surprise pregnancies, and the coming-together of the women who bore them:

     And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
     And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

     [Luke 1:39-45]

     Both conceptions were miraculous: Elizabeth’s, because of her age, which seemed to preclude it; and Mary’s, because she was a virgin who had “not known a man.”

     Each miracle served as a validation of the other. Yes, Mary’s was the more significant of the two, but overlooking Elizabeth’s child-to-be would be an error. That child was to become John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus Christ. John’s preaching and baptizing would inspire multitudes. Among other things, these words are from him:

     In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [Matthew 3:1-3]

     In this, John continued the prophesy of Isaiah:

     The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. [Isaiah 40:3-5]

     The story of the Visitation is familiar to anyone conversant with the Gospels. What is overlooked about it is the commonality of courage between Elizabeth and Mary, and the parallel between their meeting as expectant mothers and the later meeting of John with Jesus. Elizabeth’s unborn child recognized the unborn Christ Child upon the latter’s approach. Similarly, John recognized Jesus as the Savior and Redeemer, “the thongs of whose sandals I am unworthy to loosen,” when the latter approached him at the river Jordan to be baptized.

     Both John and Jesus would die at the hands of the secular authorities, in yet another striking parallel.

     It was a risky thing, back then, to “preach without a permit.” For the religious authorities of the region were jealous of their positions – and as was usually the case, they had the assistance of the secular authorities in maintaining their primacy. But the first risks were the ones taken by Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth was destined to bear a child at an extreme age, in an era when even for a young woman childbearing was often fatal. Mary accepted the burden offered to her by the Archangel Gabriel without first marrying, an offense against Judaic law that usually resulted in being stoned to death.

     Their courage deserves to be remembered and honored. For in this they were forerunners of the sons they bore.

     One final observation: All secular power is threatened by alternative sources of authority and moral guidance. The powers that be hate Christianity above all other creeds, for it proclaims Man to be free. Thus, the risks of Elizabeth, Mary, and their sons are mirrored down the centuries onto Christians of the present day. And while it is not much discussed, there is no creed whose adherents are as widely and brutally persecuted as are the allegiants of the Son of God made Flesh.

     Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Gentle Readers:


May God the Father empower you,
God the Son embolden you,
and God the Holy Spirit illuminate your path…

     …throughout the Christmas season and the year to come.

Dec 21 2024

Chronicle of the DC, 21Dec24: Inviting In Lethal “Viruses”

Richard Fernandez posted the following short pair of observations on FB.

Inspired by

While he did not specifically call this out as a Death Cult operation, the effects of multicultural policy adopted throughout the Western World have been unmistakable.

For added insight, Wretchard speculated on the Catch 22 that legitimate refugees face after escaping to the West.

Dec 21 2024

Day Off

     It’s the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year – and I’m feeling a bit low. With regard to the Saudi Arabian automobile attack on the Christmas Market in Magdeburg, Germany, please review this old essay. As painful as it is to admit, it remains relevant. Otherwise, have a nice day.

Dec 20 2024

Now We Know

     Apparently, a “Trump-endorsed” Continuing Resolution was introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives late yesterday. From the reports, it was skeletal, at least when compared to the 1500-page monstrosity that Speaker Johnson yanked before that. It funded the federal government through March, provided aid to hurricane-stricken areas, and some aid to farmers. Nothing more.

     It was voted down.

     Only 2 Democrats voted for that CR. That’s not too surprising, as the previous, giveaway-packed abortion was their sugarplum-laden dream bill, and they will have nothing less. But it seems that 38 Republicans voted against it, too.

     I’m sure they had their reasons… just as we now have our reasons to primary them into retirement.

     This is “our” “federal” “government,” folks. It started out small and restrained. But we couldn’t keep it that way. It’s absorbed the whole of American life and a huge fraction of American production, and it wants more.

     Imagine a community of anarchists – maybe this one? — learning about American history since the Revolution for the very first time. Scratch that; L. Neil Smith has done the imagining for us:

     They deposited a half-ounce silver disk on the counter one midnight, reached with carefully sterilized tongs through the newly widened Broach, remembering the wisdom of Poor Richard before he’d gone Federalist. They learned a great deal, none of it encouraging: the Revolution; the Whiskey Rebellion; a War of 1812?; Mexico; and, horror of horrors, a civil war-three-quarters of a million dead. Financial crises alternated with war, and no one seemed to notice the pattern. World War I; the Great Depression; World War II and the atomic bomb; Korea; Vietnam. And towering above it all, power politics: a state growing larger, more demanding every year, swallowing lives, fortunes, destroying sacred honor, screaming in its bloatedness for more, capable of any deed—no matter how corrupt and repulsive, swollen, crazed—staggering toward extinction.

     This is what we have permitted. This is what we suffer. And until we resolve to make an end to it, the suffering will worsen.

     Where the Hell is that planetoid?

Dec 20 2024

Choosing The Lesser Evil

     With governments, everything is a matter of choosing the lesser evil. (Until you resolve to abolish them, that is.) Consider the following statistics:

     Charlie Kirk is generally reliable, so I’m disposed to accept his numbers. His point is obvious: the great majority of federal “workers” are not working, by the standards that would apply to employees in the private sector. But here’s where the lesser-evil question arises.

     Would we want them to be working?

     Yes, it’s bad enough that they draw their salaries from our pockets. But to compound that by having them exercise the power of the federal government over us would not be an improvement.

     I know, I know: put ‘em all on welfare! It would be a neat trick. Probably more palatable than lining them up against a wall, handing each a blindfold, and murmuring “Any last words?” But for the moment, let’s stick to the thinkable.

     The Department of Government Efficiency has its work cut out for it. A refreshing change from the usual sort of federal bureaucracy, eh? Let’s just watch out that it doesn’t get domesticated and institutionalized into an American “Ministry of Administrative Affairs!”

Dec 19 2024

Let me add on to what our gracious host has posted.

Dear back-stabbing, two-faced GOP squishes:

Perhaps now is a good time to remind you that the people who put Trump back into the White House, and who gave the Senate back to the Republicans, did so because they were TRUMP voters and not Republican voters. So when you try to play the same silly games that we’ve been screaming at for years and years, we simply do not accept that any more.

No more $800,000 for a gay senior home. No more $400,000 for college tuition in other countries. No more millions for the Center for Diverse Arts in D.C. No more money for government censorship. No more giving millions and billions of dollars away to some deviant cause that some corrupt congresscritter supports halfway across the world where they visit in order to get their rocks off. We’re done. Do you understand? That crap will not fly, and quite frankly the people pushing it should be behind bars because that level of corruption is criminal.

Oh but we’ll shut down the government? Good. And I say this as a military retiree who might not get his retirement check if the government shuts down. I don’t care. Fuck the government. Fuck every corrupt piece of shit who’s trying to stuff even MORE pork into a bill that will keep pushing this country further into debt and expand the government powers even more than they already are.

I hate the Democrats because they’re anti-American communists. But I hate the Republicans because they’re even worse. They’re traitors. They only get votes because the Democrats are so far out in left field that normies instinctively shy away from them. Oh, you wanna vote for the gay pedophile who’s walking around naked with his pubes died in a rainbow? Nah, I didn’t think so. So normies vote for the other guy, at least in areas where there ARE normies. Scat Fransicko doesn’t apply to that statement. But normies voting against the gay pedos doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re Republicans. They’re just voting against insanity.

We saw what the GOP did in 2016: A complete and utter surrender to the Democrats. Even though the GOP held the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House, there wasn’t a single piece of legislation for Trump to sign on January 20th. Because Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are/were too corrupt and too converged to actually do what they had promised for years that they would do if only voters would give them the reins. And then we watched as the GOP sat idle while the Democrats wrecked this country for the past four years. The levels of rage out here in real America are high enough to feel, like heat emanating from a stove. The GOP’s stupid little fuck-fuck games will not be tolerated. I’ve contacted my congresscritters and notified them that should they push back against nominees like Pete Hegseth or RFK Jr, I will spend my own time and money walking the streets for their primary opponent. There is no other option. The people of America have spoken, and they want their country back. Anyone who opposes us is the enemy, and they will be treated accordingly.

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