When it fails, it fails big.
Although, sometimes the way it works is worse than if it hadn't worked at all.
Government was supposed to protect the rights of the people, yet it became the primary threat to those rights. No freelance serial killer or mass murderer could even come close to government's body count. No cruel slavemaster in history approached the indifferent cruelty of government toward those it acts as though it owns.
Government makes up rules it claims will protect people from criminals, but those rules make people powerless against criminals.
It says it is protecting the environment, but remains the worst despoiler of the natural world that the world has ever seen.
It "protects" private property from crooks by stealing a percentage of our private property- and ALL of our property if we fail to pay the entire amount of the extortion.
It makes up rules to "protect" children; rules which hand them over to their worst enemies to do with as they please.
It "protects" us by making sure there's nothing left to protect.
We would all be better off without this sort of "help".
As with all such examples, a comprehensive list would be endless.
Government is literally the WORST. No one needs it except the criminals who are too cowardly to go freelance.
They were never really stranded or abandoned; their plans changed.
They were rolled into "Crew 9" months ago and are being replaced by "Crew 10"-- to come home soon-- as has been scheduled for months now.
I have very little (if any) respect for NASA and the MIC clods of Boeing. But this "stranded" and "rescued" business is just dumb.
Now, it's possible there were some off-the-record discussions-- and probably some sneakiness and politics (but I repeat myself)-- but you and I will never hear the truth about all that. None of this is the breaking news it is being framed as.
Nothing new is happening that wasn't planned for and publicly discussed months ago. Only people who don't keep up with such things-- such as the media-- could think otherwise.
In my family, the TDS sufferers have mostly withdrawn into their own pod, probably due to how emboldened the Trumpies in the family have become.
The Trumpies are even trying to "gotcha" me with things that don't apply to me- "straw men".
I still try to mind my own business.
DemoCRAPublicans are right when they are right and wrong the rest of the time. It doesn't matter which government-supremacist pod they belong to. When they are on the side of individual rights and liberty, they are on the good side, no matter their other beliefs.
Remind me again why I don't live in a cave in the wilderness. Because this youthful wish of mine keeps looking like it would have been the wiser choice. Even though I would be dead if not for modern medical procedures.
I guess I need to find a wilderness cave to retreat to occasionally. Or dig my own.
I had some of those methanol food warmers and went to use one to heat some water and discovered they were all dry. No biggie-- I stuffed one with cotton, filled it with 91% rubbing alcohol... and discovered it had a leak in the bottom from a tiny hole. I switched the alcohol-soaked cotton to a second one that was also dry, but didn't seem to have a hole, and got a kettle of water boiling with it in seven and a half minutes.
Of course, I also discovered that the improvised stand I place over the warmers to set cups or pans on is missing, so I had to make another. No clue where it went since I always keep it with the warmers and candles. It just wasn't there. I suspect that someone else in the house didn't know what it was for and moved it or got rid of it.
Everything else worked as I wanted. It's good to have a "prepper's drill" from time to time. My daughter found out she can survive without electronics-- but she doesn't enjoy it.
I would have been content to have the power stay off a while longer.
During the height of the storm, I ventured forth into the brown, gravelly wind to get the mail and check on my parents-- we also had no cell service. While I was there, a trampoline came over a fence into the alley. It later disappeared without ending up in my parents' yard.
There's plenty of damage around town. I had to chain a neighbor's gate in place before the wind beat it to pieces (it had already destroyed the latch)-- and I notice her shed roof is ripping off. My parents lost a section of rain gutter. I saw a trailer house that was losing its siding, exposing the insulation and studs. And a car port roof that broke apart and fell on the car parked under it. I saw a lot more damage.
I'm hoping I don't have any roof damage. (I'm not seeing any, but it's hard to see with the sand blowing in my eyes.)
The wind is still howling as I write this Friday evening. The house is creaking and the cats are upset- one keeps throwing up and I think it's from nerves. This isn't the worst wind we've gone through here, though.
I've seen 3 people reporting on X that they've been "swatted" in just the past couple of days. All of them on the "conservative" side.
Since their side is more likely to be licking the jackboots of the cops who do the swatting, it's tempting to say they shouldn't complain. But they do, and I don't blame them a bit. You don't do that to anyone. Not ever.
Calling the cops on someone means you're OK with them being murdered. Whether it's a "Swatting" or a "wellness check". Ignorance or desperation often leads to wellness check tragedies, but intentional evil leads to "Swattings".
Yes, "conservatives" are also doing evil things and encouraging evil policies. They are also sending legislation enforcers after people, risking their lives. Two wrongs don't make a right, and "swatting" someone is evil in the extreme. Politics makes people stupid, and often evil as well.
If you think it's a good idea to "SWAT" someone, it means you know you can't win as long as those on the other side are alive and free to speak. It's an admission of your failure as a human being. It's an admission of the failure of the ideas you espouse. It's the act of embracing evil.
"Swatting" someone-- attempting to have them murdered-- also means they have the right to defend themselves from the credible threat you pose to their life, liberty, and property. If you then reap the consequences of your actions, no one will grieve.
Advice on how to fix things is usually appreciated. You are trying to replace a defective whatchamacallit on your widget, and you're stuck. Online videos haven't helped. So, you reach out and people offer suggestions on how to fix it. Either it works, or it doesn't. It's either within your ability, or you know to pay a more experienced person to do it for you.
But, when things are messed up in your life, most of the advice isn't that helpful, even when well-meaning. Unlike a widget- the exact specs of which are known, or accessible, to many- there are circumstances about your life you haven't made public. What works for one person in a different situation may be impossible for you to do under your individual circumstances.
I think this is one difference in how statists see libertarian solutions.
We know the solutions will work if put into play. Repecting liberty always works. We are offering advice on how to fix a broken widget (a system).
Statists believe we are telling them how to fix themselves.
Sometimes this is because they are so invested in the broken widget that they feel it is a part of themselves. They want a government to work because they identify with it. "Our country", "my president", "our government", and other not-so-subtle hints will expose this feeling they have.
It's hard to get someone like this to admit there's a deeper problem than just having the wrong politicians in power today. They feel like you're telling them there's a problem with themselves.
Yes, I know they are ugly-- to me, that's part of the appeal: the Mad Max factor.
I also know politically addled stupid people are attacking Cybertrucks around the country. I don't think anyone around here would do so. I think it would be a mistake on their part to mess with anyone's vehicles of any type in this region during daylight, with cameras rolling. I think they would be cured of their stupidity real quick. It could be interesting, though.
I've heard people say Cybertrucks seem cheaply made. Is this real, or just an anti-Elon hoax? I'd say it's likely to be true. But if I had that much money, I would buy one to try anyway.
Mostly, I'm very curious about their durability, with regards to zombie hordes. It seems the opportunity to test them has now presented itself, and they seem to be holding up well, from what I've seen. Plus, the Brandon Herrera modification appeals to me very much.
I also have gotten to the point where it doesn't matter to me whether that individual said that exact thing or not. If it's true and smart, someone either said it or wrote it, because I'm reading it. It doesn't matter to me who that someone was.
Whether it's the alleged quote from a Japanese admiral about the impossibility of invading America because there would be a "rifle behind every blade of grass", which has been fact-checked to death as not a real quote, or Lincoln's quoted warning to not believe everything you read on the internet, which is obviously real.
Truth is truth, wherever it comes from. Wisdom is wise whoever says it. Keep the truth and wisdom; put less weight on where it came from. Because that part doesn't even matter.
It's completely true, and the faster you learn it, the faster you can avoid problems. Those caused by others or yourself.
No matter the topic, the people trying the hardest to make it political are invariably the ones who are most incorrect. And they are almost always advocating evil.
So, it you want to have the worst possible take on any subject, or if you want to seem like a supervillain, make it political and you'll be most of the way there.
Government needs to experience even more RUDs. If it is to be successful, that’s what DOGE will do- help government RUD.
It is essential for humans to become multiplanetary if the species is to survive. For that to happen, government must be stopped from having the power to keep us trapped on earth.
If anyone feels led to help with the expense, I would appreciate it. If not, that's fine.
Thanks.
UPDATE: She’s having dental surgery on Thursday. They gave her long lasting antibiotic and steroid shots. Her age makes anesthesia more dangerous, but it’s worth the risk to fix her mouth.
UPDATE 2: She's home and feeling pretty good. She was very happy to see us when we picked her up this afternoon. She had 6 teeth left; 4 of those were removed. She only has her top canines left-- and I kind of wish they'd removed those, too. just to prevent future problems. She has another dose of transdermal pain medication for tomorrow afternoon.
The aborted insult of "You're just a communist because you don't support my political party", when thrown my way by someone literally talking about "my country" or "our government" while advocating for government power, is too funny for me to feel insulted.
Then they claim I'm wanting Utopia while telling me "we" can only be saved by v*ting for their preferred political criminals.
These people have zero self-awareness.
I had one the other day ask what problems his party had caused in the past 150 years. So I gave him the first example I could think of. He then said it was really the fault of the other party's policies.
So I gave him a third example. He claimed it only became a problem once the other party was in power and started abusing it.
Then he started repeatedly demanding I give him specific examples to back my claims-- studiously pretending I hadn't already given multiple specific examples. And, of course, saying I'm a statist and a communist because if I don't v*te for his party I'm guaranteeing the other party will gain power.
He can't see that both "sides" work together against the people. This is just how it works.
I told him I've had the exact same conversation with people in his opposition party. Over and over again. And it was no more convincing when they did it. So he called me a communist again.
I muted the conversation at that point. Not playing pigeon chess with him any more.
Zero self awareness whatsoever.
These things are beyond your control, and none is better than any other. Praising (or rewarding) anyone for something like that is dumb.
Also, what you do with your genitalia is not something to be praised, as long as you aren't violating anyone else with what you do.
This brings up what is worthy of praise-- not violating the rights of others. When you don't stand in the way of their liberty. Regardless of the excuse you use, including if you use "race" or sex as your justification. This is usually better than "helping" them.
You can still speak out when you think (or know) they are doing something that will result in them hurting themselves. You can tell them, ridicule them, or beg them. Those things are within your rights, even if they don't like it. You simply have no right to initiate force to stop them. "Force" includes legislation; the threat to kill them with government.
I’m glad for that.
If I had thought about “legality” I might have hesitated. I might have acted guilty.
As it was, I understood that “concealed” meant "don’t talk about it" as much as it meant don’t flash it to people. So I didn’t. It just became a part of getting dressed and starting my day.
Now the rules have changed, but the ethics of it haven’t. I’ll be forever grateful to the people who encouraged me to begin carrying but didn’t take political criminals’ opinions into account.
It’s how I always try to approach liberty. As I say, “Assume liberty”, don’t assume you’re government property.
My assumption, for decades, has been that either there's no gold there or any gold within is whatever amount it takes to fool anyone who walks through and looks.
I would have to take a random sample bar, test its weight to volume against real gold, cut it in half to see what's in the middle, and then do the same for other random bars before I would be convinced that there may be actual gold bars in Fort Knox.
Or maybe it holds gold-foil-wrapped chocolate bars.
I would probably never be fully convinced it holds as much gold as the feral government claims. I don't trust government, or anyone acting on behalf of government, to tell the truth. Why would I?
Personally, speaking only for myself, I am more comfortable in a "conservative" territory than in a "liberal" place.
This doesn't mean I don't get angry at the stupid anti-liberty nonsense that is imposed in "conservative" places-- I do, and I speak out-- but those things don't generally affect me on a personal level. It's still enemy territory, but it's slightly more tolerable for me.
I don't use Cannabis, I'm not gay. I'm not an immigrant. Legislation that violates the rights of those affected is abhorrent to me, but it doesn't really impact my day-to-day life. I'm lucky in that way.
Oh, and I'm not looking for an abortion, either.
The one thing that makes the biggest difference in my own life is that my natural human right to own and to carry a weapon not be violated. Of course, it is violated everywhere to some extent, but not as badly here, now, as in other places I've lived at other times.
I loved Colorado, but I'm glad I no longer live there. The local sheriff was a flaming turd, but I never had a run-in with him. The bigger issue is that their current anti-gun rules are simply too oppressive. Even guns I bought when I lived there would probably be illegal to buy now. The place where I lived was pretty good about ignoring Denver's bad rules when I lived there, but from what I've heard, even they have drifted far left since. I don't think I could live there anymore, and I'd even be hesitant to visit now (even if I avoid the authoritarian slime pit of Denver).
Pennsylvanians seemed to love guns, but they also were eager to lick jackboots and prove they were worthy to own them. And the local sheriff once threatened me with arrest if he ever caught me carrying a gun outside my door. Which was illegal for him to do, but I guess he was accustomed to getting away with it.
So I feel more free, and safer in exercising the rights I normally exercise, here than in other places I've lived. Especially now.
I realize that this is only my experience. Others who have different priorities would choose differently. That's okay. As people who value liberty in a world that hates and fears it, we have to figure out what works for us. At least, for now. I look forward to the day when we don't have to choose which flavor of tyranny we can tolerate.
Wednesday, after access to my X account was restored ($%@#!!) I watched as statists drooled over the news that the Epstein List would be released.
My thought was that if it did happen, nothing of any consequence would be released. Can't endanger the politically powerful! Plus, anything important would have been erased by now.
Thursday, I watched statists be disappointed that the list wasn't actually released; with great fanfare, they were given a substitute that didn't have any new information. Many of them acted surprised at this development. A few pretended this was what they were waiting for, but they were widely ridiculed for this delusion.
But it's always the same. Statists get their hopes up because they believe professional liars, they have the rug pulled out from under them, then they believe the next set of lies.
It keeps them v*ting.
This seems like it would be exhausting and difficult to keep believing after all this time.
But, maybe I've been wrong all along and in the time between writing this post and you reading it, the REAL list has been released, without redaction, and all the names are known. I'm not holding my breath, nor does it really matter. Archators are archators, and the flavor of their particular archation isn't terribly important to the calculations.
It's an odd idea I hear from both "sides"; from those who hate natural human rights and want more violations to occur, and from those calling for rights violations to be curtailed and rights to be respected. Both say "... rights are being expanded" but this is complete nonsense.
Rights are rights. They can neither be added to or taken away. They can either be respected or violated.
If the feral government is, for example, forced to stop violating the right to own and to carry weapons, or to scale back the violations, "gun rights" are not being expanded; they are being violated a little less in some specific way. Nothing new is being created.
It's the same for any other right.
If a new "law" says your neighbor has the right to fight back and kill you if you try to kill him in his home, his property rights have not been expanded. It was always within his rights, whether government recognized it or not.
If a new "law" says you have the right to kill someone because he got within 12" of your property line, your property rights haven't been expanded. A counterfeit rule has been invented that gives you "legal" protection for doing something you had no right to do.
Even if you wear a badge, and instead of stepping "too close" to your property, government said he was ingesting "illegal" substances or owned a weapon they claimed he wasn't allowed to own and sent you to rob and kidnap him.
Rights don't change with the times or the circumstances-- or with who we're referring to. They can't be expanded or abolished. Rights are immutable. Only the beliefs about them change, and those beliefs are often wrong.
Distrust of government never fails to be the best choice.
Isn't it odd how it always works out that way?
What do they say about people being unable to "read the room"?
I want ALL federal employees to be unemployed-- unless they can find a helpful, productive job in the market rather than a harmful, destructive "job" like the one they've previously held. If they are (or were) a federal employee, I'm going to assume they don't have any useful skills-- it's up to them to prove me wrong. I hope they are able to add to society once they are freed from living off politics. That would benefit us all!
Then, I want all state and local government employees to find themselves in the same situation.
I don't care if it's DOGE or someone else eliminating those "jobs". Just delete them and find more to delete. Keep it going. Bring the chainsaw!
Yes, this will cause problems for the economy. I don't care. I never asked for those "jobs" to be created and filled. Just the opposite. Tolerating government "jobs" was inevitably going to cause problems (beyond those useless and damaging "jobs" being performed) eventually. We might as well deal with it now instead of five years from now.
Doing the right thing is not always pain-free. If you haven't figured this out, you haven't done the right thing enough times yet.
How about you?
Supporting the political Left or Right gets boring. At least, they bore me. I get tired of listening to those people. There are no surprises-- they are always going to fawn over political "authority". And it's always going to be the authoritarian who they believe is on "their side".
However, supporters of liberty can surprise you. Sometimes they'll see an angle you were missing. It may convince you or it may not, but it will nearly always make you think.
So if you enjoy thinking and being challenged you belong on the side of liberty. It's just more interesting here.
I posted the above comment in reply to Elon Musk saying the Cybertruck is "Apocalypse-Level safe".
My reply was a joke- one I think Musk would have agreed with and appreciated if he had ever seen it (as far as I know he's never seen one of my posts, which seems normal).
That reply got me locked out of X for 7 days. Immediately, as soon as I hit "post". I had even censored myself by replacing the "o"s with zeros to avoid this very problem.
I noticed that when they sent me a copy of the offending tweet it looks like they put "o"s back in.
Now I'm angry that I censored myself at all. Ever.
As Orwell pointed out, you can control what people are able to think by controlling the language. Modern institutions and individuals are becoming so weak and pathetic they "need" to be protected from words that might make people think. Because you know it's not really government/corporations doing this without being pressured by weaklings to do it. You see it everywhere. It's automatic.
I rarely cuss-- I've told those around me that if I start cussing, they'd better start running the other direction. I do say things others find offensive. Pretty often. More offensive than mere cussing, apparently.
And when I say those things, it's often because I think they need to be said. Truth hurts. Censoring truth hurts worse.
It really is amazing if you think about it. Or it ought to be.
I will never stop being grateful and appreciating the modern conveniences. Mainly because I've spent significant time without those things. I don't need them, but they make things easier and more comfortable.
If, every time you want light or heat, you must first make a fire-- especially if you don't have modern fire-starting equipment (including ferro rods)-- you appreciate those things more.
If thirst means you must find water and either filter and sterilize it, or hope it's "clean enough" and take your chances, you'll be grateful for tap water. A lot of cooking also requires added water. Even sanitation is made easier by having water available by turning a handle.
Electricity is amazing. It makes so many things easier or possible. I hear people even have electric snow shovels and box cutters!
There are other conveniences I could mention. Some I use, others I don't. I'm glad they are there for those who need them.
In the same vein, I've been told I should accept government because without it, civilization wouldn't have been able to come up with these things. That's bunk, of course. The market provides; government prevents innovation and places obstacles. Even if that weren't the case, I'm not thankful for the existence of a criminal gang, no matter what may come of it.
They'll abandon their morals while pretending they aren't doing so. They'll change their opinions as soon as "their side" is doing something they've always said was wrong when "the other side" did it.
They'll put aside their (other) religious beliefs to keep faithful to The State when the two clash.
They'll redefine (or misdefine) words. Or they'll deny words mean anything at all.
They'll support destructive legislation, sometimes even if it hurts them, because they fear liberty and don't trust anyone. Everything not forbidden must be mandatory!
They'll advocate anything they think will help "their side" of the statist monster gain power over "the other side" of the same monster.
They'll hate when the right thing is done, or love when the wrong thing is done, based upon who's doing the doing, rather than what they are doing. It's about the teams, not the actions.
They'll see different political sides where it's not political. They believe "everything is political" only because they make everything political.
But, mostly, they'll do whatever it takes to avoid admitting they are doing any of those things. Because, deep down, they believe the state is legitimate; they imagine that governing others is a legitimate human endeavor. They'll do anything to be able to keep believing this. It looks to me as though it scares them to let go of this anchor.
