Year end stuff

Humor:  The ObamaCare website is fixed- go sign up now. (It's safe)

Truth: Don't Become a Libertarian.

Survival skills: An alternative weapon- the Bolas

If you celebrate, please survive to celebrate again.  If you don't celebrate, please celebrate somehow anyway.  2013 was an "interesting year".  I wonder what's in store and what I'll be saying about 2014 a year from now.

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Personality type pondering

I don't know for certain what value there is in knowing what "personality type" you are.  Everyone is an individual, after all.  You may decide there is no value in it for you at all.  However, I have learned a few things that help me understand how I approach the world, and the ways my approach is lacking, by applying the knowledge gained by taking the tests and reading about the results.

I am an "INTP".  Also known as the "rational architect".  As usual, I am a rare type of critter.

Mostly, my personality type has served me well.  I really enjoy thinking and plotting- um, "planning".  I can hardly imagine being some other way, although I do feel the past several years have allowed me to stretch my boundaries a little.  And shown me where I need to change.

I need a little more of whatever trait it is that would help me make money.  All my life that has been the toughest thing for me.  If I enjoy it and I'm good at it, it's practically guaranteed to not be popular enough to lead to financial success (and by "success" I don't mean "get rich", I mean "allows me to make enough to eat and pay some basic bills").

My other difficulty has been maintaining intimate relationships.  I'm not "cold", I'm just difficult and different.  (And the lack of money has always been a stumbling block in that area, too.)  I'm hoping I am softening up where I need to and becoming more approachable and "relatable" now.

Understanding the INTP traits has allowed me to see how I interact with others in all aspects of life, and shows where I need to focus some attention and put forth some effort.  I am trying to accentuate the positive traits and minimize the negative ones.

I also wonder if it might be part of the reason I have always been drawn to "rules, not Rulers".  After all, one of those pages above states "Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. "  You've got that right.  Expertise impresses me, position is meaningless without it.  And, if your expertise is in coercing the innocent, you don't "impress me" in a good way- but you do make an impression.  You expose yourself as someone to watch when TSHTF, in case self defense (and defense of the innocent) becomes a more critical necessity.

But, then, I also feel pity for those cursed with a personality type (along with other traits they may have no control over) which draws them toward coercive "jobs".  What if that were me?

(Writing this post, and doing what I always do when I write, amused me this time as I struggled to make certain each and every word was just the exact word I meant to use.  Just as the INTP profile says "rational architects" are wont to do.  Which is also why the editing of my newspaper columns gives me heartburn.)

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Be careful what you ask for- or how you ask, anyway

My dad got an e-reader for Christmas.  He's the least technologically capable person I know.  I'm not that much better, but I was setting it up so that he could use it.  He saw that it had voice recognition capabilities and wanted to try it out.

I got everything ready and handed it to him.

We discuss Bitcoin a fair amount so when he tried his first search he said "search Bitcoin".

He immediately got thousands of results for "Best porn".

My twisted sense of humor will forever be amused that whatever else happens that will always be his very first "search".

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Fix your roof and insulate your walls

My favorite desert hermit posted a really good blog that I think you'd enjoy.  One wise point he makes is this:

The only person who is actively doing destructive things to me is me, and I’m welcome to stop. Hating on the great omnipotent “they” – and calling that a struggle for freedom – has never gotten me anywhere. It’s like bitching about the weather: Great fun, but not as useful as fixing my own roof and insulating my own walls. The weather itself won’t change just to suit me.

Read the rest of it here: My own kind of freedom: I try not to bother being “anti.”

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Cops and robbers

Cops and robbers.  Why do people act as though they are opposites?  Like the Dallas Cowboys and some other football team (I can't think of others at the moment), you are talking about different, interchangeable teams playing the same sport.  You may cheer for one and boo the other, but pretending you are talking about something as different as a football team and a bakery is ignoring reality.

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(Too hard on cops?)

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Merry Christmas

See you tomorrow.

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Remove perks that enable Police

Remove perks that enable Police

My Clovis News Journal column for November 22, 2013.

This one was heavily edited, with a lot of "allegedly" added by the newspaper. And some other things I will point out.

After you read my column at the link above, please come back and read this post, then read the column as I originally wrote it at the bottom.

I disagree most vigorously with the addition of the words "alleged" and "allegedly" in the editing of my column.  I completely understand that the editor needs to protect the interests of the newspaper, so I didn't fight him on that.

The word "allegedly" has a place when it is one person's word against another's- one who denies the accusation.  After all, you and I weren't (usually) there to see what happened- we are taking someone's word for it, and everyone has an agenda.  People want to win their lawsuits, or keep their job, or make the other guy look bad, or whatever.  So, since the facts aren't known for certain, the word "allegedly" makes that point clear.

But, nowhere are the facts of these cases I am writing about in dispute.  Neither the cops, nor their gang's official spokescritters, nor either hospital's staff, dispute that the events happened as described in the lawsuits- the only dispute is that the cops and copsuckers and other "authority" worshipers see the acts as justified and "allowed by law" in pursuit of the stupid and evil War on Politically Incorrect Drugs.  That is total BS, and anyone with any morals or ethics knows it.  Rape is rape, and wearing a badge while you rape doesn't change that fact.  Nor does raping in pursuit of some goal you hallucinate to be "noble".

The newspaper also has to appease the local puppeticians and cops by bending over backwards when discussing even non-local cops and puppeticians in order to look "fair" to these people- to the point of being unfair to those of us who aren't gang members- and I also understand that.  The newspaper needs to keep access to these people, or they'll be shut out and denied access to news releases and whatnot.  That would damage their ability to function as a newspaper.  However, over time this appeasement creates other problems, by not exposing corruption as thoroughly as it deserves to be exposed.  Trying to appear "fair" to a known bad guy makes one lose credibility in the eyes of those who are observing from the side.

These cops really did do what they are accused of- they don't even deny it.  So let's not tiptoe around the facts- let's call them what they know they are: rapists.

At the end of the "30 day exclusivity" I will post the column as I originally wrote it, below.  Come back then and compare the two versions.

Here it is, as originally written, with parenthetical comments and an important link added:

The recently publicized examples of assault by police officers, while supposedly looking for drugs, are much more than "simple assault"; they are acts of aggressive penetration. If you or I did anything similar we would rightfully be called rapists.

Is bodily penetration becoming a weapon of choice in the stupid and evil War on Politically Incorrect Drugs? Texas police began this tactic a few years ago with their road-side syringe assaults to steal blood from drivers- penetrating the body of those they wished to incriminate.

Now New Mexico cops have overshadowed their Texas brethren, getting caught in multiple acts of medically assisted gang rape against drivers who weren't yet sufficiently terrorized, and justified by the 21st Century equivalent of the witch trial: a false "alert" by a drug-sniffing dog- a scam as scientifically invalid as "polygraph tests" and astrology. (The newspaper objected to this characterization, and edited it out, saying that dogs can be trained to sniff out all sorts of substances- yes, they can, but that's not the point. Dogs want to please their handlers and learn how to do so by "alerting" falsely. Also, a dog's alert is only as good as the word of its handler- if he lies to justify a rape, the dog can't come back and testify against him. And, we all know cops lie. If using dogs to find "drugs" were scientific, it wouldn't result in so many false positives. It's a scam.)

No individual involved in these rapes should ever again have any "authority" over anyone. I would never hire them, nor knowingly do business with anyone who did.

I salute the hospital whose staff wisely recognized that compliance with the police demand was wrong, and refused.

The medical staff at the other hospital, who assisted in these rapes in violation of their medical oaths, should all lose their "licenses" and be fired.

Each attacker needs to be paying the victims out of his own pocket for the rest of his life. There is no excuse for letting them get away with this, nor for forcing the "taxpayers" to pay the restitution.

Leo, the "drug dog" who alerted on command for his handler (and whose certification expired years ago, by the way- "according to media reports" the newspaper adds), needs to be retired and rescued from being employed in this vulgar manner.

It's not enough to make these rapists face justice; it's long past time to end that which makes their crimes possible. Abolishing prohibition, which has become the excuse for just about any violation of individual rights you can imagine, is essential. It was never an ethical endeavor, but has become downright vile. It's not a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater- that's not bathwater, it's sewage, and those lumps are not a baby.

Next, dismantle the domestic US police state. Return cops to their only legitimate position- one of servitude- and remove all the perks and "officer safety" protection which has emboldened them over the past several decades. Or end the disastrous experiment in policing, altogether.

The people who will say I am going too far are the same ones who call for freelance rapists to be castrated or executed. I am reasonable by comparison. (The newspaper thought this last paragraph was confusing and deleted it.)
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Where do you want to be?

There is a continuum from good to bad when you talk about how to attempt to live among other humans- what people call "politics".

To me, when keeping the discussion limited to where I currently find myself living, it goes something like this: anarchy to minarchy to the Articles of Confederation to "local government" to the "states" to the Constitution to whatever it is the individuals in America stagger under now.  Of course, there can always be something worse.

Your particular manner of arranging them from good to bad may differ from mine, but I'll bet you do still have a preferred order.

I'd be happy for any move toward the good and away from the bad, but I won't be satisfied anywhere along the continuum except anarchy.  How much liberty is enough for you?

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Cops are a cult

Someone shared with me a very good blog post which he had written, wherein he makes the observation that cops are a cult.  His analysis is spot on.

Read it here:  On Cops as a Cult, by Dreamwanderer

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Afraid of cops?

Cops.  Yes, I hate them.  Do I also fear them?  You bet.

Not that I go around scared to make a move, afraid that a cop will see me.  I don't alter my behavior just because I know our society is crawling with cops of various kinds, all hungry to make a score at any cost.  I don't look over my shoulder afraid a cop is following me.

It's only when I have occasion to be noticed by one (or more) and they start speaking at me that I become afraid.  Only an idiot would refuse to recognize the danger in that situation.  Just like if you notice a rabid fox in your house.

Cops are cowardly, paranoid, sociopathic, potential murderers.  Any interaction with one is a life and death situation.  Sure, you could claim anyone and everyone is a "potential murderer", but some "jobs"- such as a mafia hitman, a drug cartel lord, or a cop- have a much higher potential to lead to you committing murders than other, more ethical, life choices.

If you are aware of reality, dealing with anyone of that sort will get your adrenaline flowing.  I try to do nothing to make those twitchy parasites any more dangerous than they already are, if I have to speak to them.  I don't believe in magic incantations that will make them change their "mind" and let me go on my way if they have decided to molest me further.  So, I try to be polite while being glad they can't read my mind.

But, yes, I am nervous around them.

I don't do anything wrong that warrants an intervention by cops.  I don't steal or initiate force.  Any problem anyone has with me can be dealt with in a civilized manner- which NEVER involves inviting a cop into the mix.  Once you bring a cop in, my cooperation ceases because you have asked someone to point a gun at me on your behalf.  So any contact by a cop is illegitimate from the beginning.

You may not have a healthy fear of cops.  Good for you.  I hope your lack of fear proves to be the right choice.

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Consequences, pain, and growth

Ten years ago today every bad thing I have ever done, and every bad decision I ever made, came back to bite me.  Hard.  Tore my world apart, in fact.  Caused me to lose everything I really cared about.  And I knew I had no one to blame but myself.

In a lot of ways the person I was before died on that day.  Many times since then I have felt that every day since has been a sort of "freebie".

I still have the emotional and psychological scars, and I always will.

But I also believe the experience made me a better person.  At least, I sure hope so.

My pain immediately caused me to get active and begin to write more than the occasional letter to the editor.  Having nothing else to lose took away a lot of the fear I had before- fear of silly things.  Yeah, it's true: "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".

I would have never started speaking out before that day.  I would never have decided to run for president, which means I would have never started writing this blog, and I would have never written my books or made my videos.

It took a while, and I now have things to lose again, but most of the fear never came back.

But, I still wish I could fix things.

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"No weapons"

When I see or hear "No weapons" I know I am in a backwards place populated by backwards minds.

Not a civilized place at all.

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Let’s just outlaw feeling pleasure

Let’s just outlaw feeling pleasure

(My Clovis News Journal column for November 15, 2013.  But most of the activity is on the Portales News-Tribune site this time.)

I think I have come up with the winning strategy in the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs.

The problem is, each time a new substance is criminalized, independent innovators come up with something new which isn't yet illegal. Marijuana is illegal most places, therefore "synthetic marijuana" (which is actually dangerous, unlike the innocuous plant whose effect it mimics) was invented. The synthetic marijuana is then outlawed by "do somethingers", so a new substance will be created. It's an unending battle of unintended consequences.

And each new volley fired at society by either side hurts more people than the original problem ever did.

As opposed as I am to the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs, I see the only solution is to cut to the root and address the reason humans desire to use drugs.

The substances themselves are not the most critical piece of the puzzle. The drugs are just a means to an end; just the delivery system. You've got to address the feelings they produce. The goal is the feeling of pleasure- or at least a temporary reduction in misery- people get from using the substances.

The Prohibitionists need to stop focusing on the delivery system and focus on the feeling. They must write a "law" forbidding anyone from feeling any pleasure- that way all drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, would be outlawed. Just what the Prohibitionists have always craved.

One problem this would create for the State is the loss of income from the pleasures that are currently legal and "taxed".

It's not only chemical substances that cause the scourge of pleasure. Activities and hobbies do too. People get pleasure from football, religion, hobbies, cars, food, friends, romance, and more. Will those be exempt? Wouldn't that be a dangerous precedent which could create pleasure loopholes?

I suppose that can be dealt with when it becomes too much of a problem and distracts people from their primary purposes of producing "tax revenues" and being enthusiastic cannon fodder for The State.

Another problem would be finding a way to manufacture the exceptions the anti-pleasure advocates would demand for their own pleasures. After all, "my pleasures are acceptable; yours are shameful and wrong". Or, at least that seems to be what the anti-pleasure nannies have been saying with their advocacy. Obviously, the thrills the anti-pleasure nannies get from criminalizing other people's joy can't ever be subject to limits. That would never fly. It would expose the hypocrisy of the whole prohibition movement to even acknowledge that pleasure exists. I never said my solution would be perfect.
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Blind hate fueled by ignorance, and more than a little stupidity

Anti-liberty bigots are just insane.  There's no other explanation for things like this: link

I posted the following comment:

How sad that you blame objects and not acts. I suppose in your mind it is better to be murdered by a thug using a fist, a knife, or a rock than by a thug with a gun.
No tool in the history of the world has made it more possible for a smaller, weaker victim to fight back against a stronger, determined aggressor with less chance of being harmed in their resistance. It’s not a magic talisman- you still need to know what you are doing. But this stupid and, quite honestly, evil objection you express toward gun safety training would be like you demanding that kids not be taught to swim or even touch water, and then acting surprised when kids drown needlessly.

Feel free to join in.  David Codrea's "The War on Guns" pointed me to the post.

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"Gifted with such advantages..."

I'm currently reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" and really enjoying it.  I decided to read it after my most recent viewing of "V for Vendetta" (on November 5th, of course).

I was quite amused by one little bit, which isn't pivotal to the story, but that I enjoyed for obvious reasons.  Edmond Dantes goes to a barber to get "cleaned up" after his escape from the dungeon:

"At this period it was not the fashion to wear so large a beard and hair so long; now a barber would only be surprised if a man gifted with such advantages should consent voluntarily to deprive himself of them."

"Gifted with such advantages..."  I like the sound of that, although I'm not sure that has been my experience so far.  Maybe I need the beard, too, in order to get the advantages, but my whiskers are sparse and pathetic due to my genes.  I can grow the hair, though (if the new cat doesn't keep chewing it off while I sleep).

Mostly I like my long hair because it just feels better to me, but I also like that it is so different from the short hair of so many State enthusiasts and enforcers, especially those with the silly little scalp rug so in fashion among the cops and military.

I just enjoy seeing the "olde tyme" references to long hair.

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Time's Up cap

Here's someone offering a slightly different version of the Time's Up design on a cap.  I get a little money from any sales.

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Waylaid by wildlife thieves

The armed and badged New Mexico wildlife thieves (backed up by other gangs of LEOs) were setting up checkpoints yesterday, to try to catch folks who dared take "wild" food without their permission.  I had the unfortunate experience of having to pass through their Nazi-esque checkpoint as I crossed the state line.  I hadn't been hunting or fishing, and I think it was obvious I hadn't been, so I didn't have much extra trouble, besides being delayed and having to speak to the tax addicts, but I hate talking to these parasites.

All over something as imaginary as "poaching", or harvesting the "wrong" game, I suppose.

A thief claims property that is not his to claim, and in many cases backs that claim with the threat (or the actuality) of violence.  It's what is behind most cases of theft-by-state-employee.  They let you do the work to get the property, then they take it at gunpoint- claiming it was theirs all along.  And rob you of your tools and money, as well.  And possibly kidnap you.  And murder you if you resist.

The wildlife doesn't belong to anyone in "government", nor to some nebulous "public".  There is no such thing as "poaching" unless you are trespassing on private property and taking the game that is there.  Even in that case your offense doesn't involve "the state" in any way; only the property owner you have violated.  Let him deal with you as he sees fit.

I should never be put in a position to "need" to speak to an enforcer- unless, perhaps, I am attacking or stealing.  In fact, peaceable individuals should be able to live their entire lives without ever having to see or speak to a government employee at all- without ever even being aware these people exist, in fact.  I am absolutely sick to death of being put in the position of having to be civil to people who are a mortal threat to me and my daughter.  Every time a cop stops a peaceable person, the cop deserves to be shot and killed.  Every single time.  Think I'm being overly sensitive?  Consider: every interaction between an enforcer and you is a gamble that you are on the losing side of.  The "house" always has the advantage at this point in history, and if you keep playing you WILL lose.  As the police state ramps up, more and more things will be excuses to stop and search and kidnap and rob.  And "officer safety" will excuse your murder as long as the cowardly cops say you scared them.

The lack of effective resistance thus far just emboldens these vermin.

I'm not saying killing every cop that stops you is a smart thing to do at this point in time- it's not, because they have a bigger gang and still have most people brainwashed into believing they are the "good guys"- but it wouldn't be wrong.  Not anymore.  It is self defense, plain and simple.  That's the sad reality of the unfortunate times and the police state I find myself living in.  The cops should change their ways before the risks of civil interactions outweigh the risks of violent resistance for the average person.  Because it IS heading that direction quickly.

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"... and with $100 you get this $2 totebag..."

Except that you don't actually get a totebag in this case.

I could use at least $10 if anyone is feeling so inclined today.  If not, that's perfectly understandable.  As always, your family comes first and I would never want anyone to have any hardship because of donating to me.

Thanks.

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American facts approved by the US government

I was laughing at the "facts" about North Korea that the North Korean "government" morons promote- and then, in the midst of the laughter I started thinking about the "facts" the US "government" morons promote.  You know, stuff like:

"The USA is the freest country in the world."

"Soldiers give you your freedom."

"The Civil War was fought over slavery."

"Cops are heroes."

"Taxes are necessary and refusing to pay makes you a criminal."

"Without government schools you would be illiterate and ignorant."

"Government created the internet."

"The US troops in all those other countries are there to help the people there be safe and free."

"Voting matters and is important."

"Rights come from the Constitution and are all subject to reasonable restrictions, and can be cancelled in emergencies."

"Respect the office, if not the man."

"Without government, no one could stop you from murdering or being murdered."

"Prohibition is good and necessary."

...and balderdash of that sort.  I guess every criminal gang has its own ideas it tries to brainwash into others.

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Politics or reality?

"More guns" isn't a political thing- it's a sensible, safety thing.

Getting (or "requiring") permits for those guns, now that's a political thing.  One I find disturbing.

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Disarm the military!

Yes, seriously.

You and I know the Second Amendment was intended to be a protection from a tyrannical US government.  Yes, as uncomfortable as the truth makes some people, that means shooting and killing politicians and "troops" (including, now, cops) when they become a threat to rightful liberty* (as they all are now), and when they refuse to stand down when facing "citizens" and free individuals (as they do every day).

But the anti-liberty bigots like to say that even if this were the case, you and I, with our hunting rifles, shotguns, Glocks, and 1911s could never defeat the US military with its fully-automatic weaponry, missiles, bombs, jets, helicopters and unlimited amounts of ammunition.

Maybe... although it only takes one well-placed .22 round to make that superior weaponry change ownership... correction: to liberate it from the thief's agent and give it back to the true owner who paid for it in the first place.

Anyway, assuming the claim that "resistance is futile" is true, it means the Second Amendment has a subtext that has been ignored and needs to be rediscovered.

It means the military must be disarmed until they are no longer a threat to individuals intent on restoring liberty.  They must be rendered technologically inferior to deer hunters and farmers and inner city gangbangers.  All the weaponry which has made the military a superior fighting force must be distributed among the people who paid for it.

This would end the empire-building and make you and me safer by ending the ongoing terrorist recruitment campaigns; the US military actions around the planet.  And, if a real external threat ever cropped up again- as unlikely as that is- I'd gladly either take up arms myself or hand my "military weapons" over to someone who would.
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*"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." ~ Thomas Jefferson

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"Guaranteed minimum income"?

If there were a "guaranteed minimum income" it would quickly become the new zero.

Then, someone would demand the minimum be increased.  Again and again.

Why are "smart" people too dumb to see this?

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Wage hikes feel good, solve little

Wage hikes feel good, solve little

(My Clovis News Journal column for November 8, 2013)

I have seen many well-meaning people calling for an increase in the "minimum wage" as a way to fight poverty. If only it were that simple. How much do you raise it? To $100 per hour? More?

Unfortunately, economics doesn't work that way. The higher you raise the minimum wage, the fewer people a business can afford to employ. Many people will be priced out of a job altogether.

A higher minimum wage increases the cost of doing business, which means prices will have to go up or businesses will close. Employees getting the new minimum wage will soon be facing proportionally higher prices for everything they buy- completely negating any benefit they thought they were getting, thus creating a vicious cycle.

The economy isn't a pie; it's a pie that can grow exponentially. A dollar someone else pockets doesn't necessarily take a dollar out of your pocket, unless that dollar is gained through theft or coercion.

Many CEOs are paid a ridiculously inflated amount, but the solution isn't to raise the "minimum wage", it's to eliminate the fiction of the corporation, and get government OUT of the "business" of controlling business. That includes completely eliminating "minimum wages". When businesses are privately owned, but are told by government how they can operate, what they must pay, how much they can charge for their services, and are forced to pay a percentage to the State, that is the socialist economic system properly called "fascism".

But what if the "minimum wage" had simply kept up with the cost of living? Wouldn't that solve everything?

If the minimum wage had "kept up" with the cost of living, unemployment and inflation would have been proportionally higher all along. The reason the cost of living keeps rising is the devaluation- the counterfeiting- of the dollar by the Federal Reserve. Strike at the root of the problem, not the side effects.

Even a minimum wage of $100 per hour or more wouldn't make everyone happy. If the average person brought home the same amount as a vastly overpaid CEO, or what the average plastic surgeon makes, it wouldn't be long before everything cost many times what it costs now. That's just a basic law of economics- supply and demand, and the ability to produce enough to meet demand without a free market. The same number of items will always be out of reach of the average person, no matter how high you make the minimum (or average) wage.

Don't fall for the feel-good solutions which solve nothing.

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Which would you be?

Warlords and Protectors.

That is what many guys naturally tend toward.  They are just opposite sides of the same coin, I think.

Every statist seems to worry that everyone inclined in this way will become a Warlord if the State collapses, but wouldn't more people choose to become Protectors when freed of the silly notion that "that's government's responsibility"?

If that's the kind of person I was, I would certainly get more satisfaction out of coming to the rescue than I would subjugating others to my will.

Or, is this another area where I'm just oblivious to how different I am from "the average"?

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Josie the Outlaw

Nice!

I'm sure you have probably already discovered her videos... but if you are one of the unfortunates who has somehow missed out, check her out.  And share her videos with statists who might just want to see a hot anarchist.

Her website is here: JosieTheOutlaw.com/

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Christmas colors: Red and Bluish Yellow

"Bluish yellow? You mean 'green'?"
"Oh, I don't like labels."

Labels exist for good reason.  They can help people communicate when used correctly.  They can also prevent communication when used incorrectly.  If you call green "blue" your message is getting muddled.

If you call a conservative or a socialist "libertarian" you are not communicating, you are confusing.  Yet major "news" sources are doing this all the time.  So much, in fact, that it is probably intentional.

Be annoying.  Correct them relentlessly.

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Things left unsaid...

Any subject I address- for my CNJ columns in particular- ends up being necessarily abbreviated.  I am limited  to "around 400 words".  Take my recent column, on people being forced to work on Thanksgiving, for example.

I had to stick with a narrow peek at one aspect of all the possible things that are related in some way to the topic.  I couldn't really go into the nationalization of the holiday by Lincoln.  I couldn't go into whether a day set aside for being thankful really makes sense, or whether it is necessary to believe in the supernatural to feel a sense of thankfulness.

I didn't address whether holidays are silly collectivist nonsense, or a necessary diversion for humans.

I didn't have time to address every detail of whether it makes a difference if you work for a corporation or a small family business.

I didn't go into the whole load of myth and misinformation that has grown up around "The First Thanksgiving Day" and pilgrims and "indians", or "the evils of industrial farming techniques", or whether eating meat is ethical or healthy, or... well, lots of other things that certain individuals out there feel are important to tackle every time the issue of "Thanksgiving Day" is discussed.  And that's just on the Thanksgiving side of it.  Anything anyone writes on a subject is going to ignore more than it addresses.  That's just reality.

As hard as it is for me- and it really is difficult- I have to focus on a tiny part of all the potential tangents I could explore anytime I write on anything.

And it seems that some people always manage to mention what I didn't address rather than focus on what I did.  Which is fine.  More can always be discussed in the comments.  Right?

But, maybe that's not enough.  Blogs are free to set up.  Whatever you feel is not being addressed by others may be calling to YOU to address it.  Start writing.  If I can do it, you can, too.

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"Hit and Run"- wrong but understandable

A strange question entered my mind after hearing about a friend who was hit in a "hit and run" accident recently.

Were there as many hit and runs before cops started making every accident into a criminal case?

I would bet there were not.  I might be wrong, but I can see why people might now flee after an accident.  Maybe there are some residual substances which the authoriturds criminalize in their bloodstream.  Perhaps some mandated papers are missing or expired.  Perhaps the driver or a passenger is "in the system" for some other infraction and an encounter with enforcers would be too costly.

And, that's besides the fact that now, in every accident, the enforcers will find a way to turn it into a "crime" and extort money from someone.  Not money for the injured party as in restitution, but for their leash-holders of The State.  It's what they show up for.

Sometimes accidents are just accidents.  Tragedies don't need to be used to prop up the flailing police state.  If I have an accident, I feel awful enough (just like when I dropped my mom's whole chocolate pie on the floor the other day).  I don't need anyone to inflict extra pain on me in order to "teach me a lesson", or to finance the cowardly enforcers' retirement fund.  Nor do I want enforcers doing that to other people on my behalf.  Get a clue- people who don't feel bad for causing an accident don't magically change for the better because you turn them into criminals and steal some of their property for the State.

Go away, enforcer.  Society can't afford to support you any more.

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Dreaming of riches

The weird dreams I sometimes have... the ones I can mention in nice company (or even among outlaws like myself), I mean.

A few days ago I dreamed Bitcoin was at $2077 and someone donated 20 of them to me.  Of course, in my dream, my mathematical abilities were on par with my waking mathematical ability, and I figured it totaled million$.

Yes, in the past I have also dreamed of cash, precious metals, and other treasures falling into my lap, so this is just a new version of the same old dream.

But, speaking of Bitcoin... I really am amused at the people having conniptions over other people choosing to use Bitcoin.  Personally, I will use FRNs, silver, gold, Bitcoin, or trade goods to get what I want or need.  And I have used each and every one of those forms of "money" at various times.  I won't accept payment I don't want, and I would never expect anyone else to, either.

I don't totally understand how Bitcoins are mined or created, because that involves math and programming- 2 things I am not great at and don't have the ambition (or time) to really practice.  But, I am not an expert on gold mining and refining and minting, either.  That doesn't make me scared of gold.  Yes, I wish I had bought a bunch of gold when it was really cheap, but I'm not going to insult people who own gold simply because they have more than I do.

I was highly amused when the story broke where the expert was calling Bitcoin a "Ponzi scheme".  By making that association he is lending a lot of undeserved legitimacy to actual Ponzi schemes (even the "participate at gunpoint" Ponzi scheme called "Social Security").

I never started accepting Bitcoin in order to get rich.  Or even to profit from having them.  I did it to have another monetary option available to myself.  It has worked and I am satisfied with that option.

If you don't like Bitcoin, I have a link on the side that will allow you to get rid of the ones you might have.

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Never confuse theft with charity

Never confuse theft with charity

 (My Clovis News Journal column for November 1, 2013 -in the Portales News-Tribune this time)

I'm as far from being a Republican as I am from being a Democrat: as far as east is from west. But when I see misguided criticisms and flawed comparisons aimed at the wrong target, I feel the need to address it.

Recently I witnessed someone scolding Republicans for their "opposition to socialism", as demonstrated by their use of the ObamaCare boondoggle for political theatrics. "Opposed to socialism"? Republicans are enthusiastic socialists in most everything they advocate- but their favorite programs differ from those of the Democrats, therein dwells the friction.

This particular Democrat was claiming that Jesus was a socialist, as evidenced by his handing out free medical care, food, and other such necessities, therefore Republicans shouldn't be so hostile to socialism. But there's a gaping hole in this comparison, overlooked by the commenter.

Socialists' "generosity" comes through giving away things that didn't belong to them to begin with, and were not voluntarily given to be handed out. In other words, socialists steal from others and then feel superior when they distribute the stolen property. Never confuse theft with charity. You can't be generous with other people's money, time, or labor, but only with your own. When you try to do so, you are just a common thief.

Any way you look at it, that's not nice.

If theft was one of the virtues advocated by Jesus, I must have missed that part.

Anytime you take something that doesn't belong to you, against the wishes of its rightful owner, you are stealing. Even if you promise to use that property for good. Even if you say the victim of your theft is getting some necessity in return. Even if you make the claim that the person has implicitly consented through some non-voluntary "social contract". It doesn't matter if your uses for that property are "progressive" or "conservative". Once again, it comes down to the difference between sharing and being robbed.

Go ahead and advocate whatever policies or programs you like, but don't pretend those you look up to would have supported whichever Big Government welfare program you happen to love, in an attempt to make your position seem moral.

That applies to those who would claim he would have supported the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs, the War on Terror, torture, immigration control, government schools, police checkpoints, NSA spying, or anti-gun laws. In this case you are clearly misrepresenting everything he stood for. What was that about "bearing false witness"?

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Nice cops

Everytime I speak the truth about cops, someone will object and tell me "there are good cops!"

No.  There are not.

As I saw someone say a while back- and I wish I could remember where I saw it and who said it- there are "nice cops", but no "good cops".

A "nice cop" is one who treats you in a non-cop manner.  Who holds the door for women, stops to help a stranded traveler, gives a thirsty dog a drink.  Things any of us would do if we are decent people.  He is nice because of who he is, and what he is doing at the moment, not because of what his job might be.

But, that same "nice cop", as soon as he enforces ONE counterfeit "law" is no longer a good person.  He is being a cop.  He might still do "nice" things while on the job, but the overwhelming majority of that "job" is inflicting evil upon people.

Most bad guys can't spend all their time being evil.  It's too much work and would cripple their ability to live among friends and family- if they could even keep friends and family.  They have to be nice to those around them most of the time, no matter what they do when they target those they consider to be "other" or "less-human".  Because of this fact, you can have nice mobsters, nice muggers, and nice rapists, but none of them can be "good".

And neither can any cop.  The "job" eliminates that possibility completely.

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Don't add what you don't need

A week or so ago an online friend (you know who you are) was relating a conversation he had with someone else- trying to explain that refrigeration systems don't "make cold", they remove heat, and then he mentioned that this is similar to what liberty is.

It isn't so much "something" as a lack of something: liberty is the lack of tyranny, or coercion, or whatever you want to call it.

Why on earth would anyone want "Life, now with added tyranny!"?

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Can't blame a thug for trying

You can have opposing sides in an encounter both be right- even if one is otherwise wrong.

An extreme example: imagine you lived during or just before WWII in Germany, and you happened to be present as Hitler was issuing orders to kill some innocent person.  You would have been right to shoot Hitler, if you'd gotten the chance at that moment, and he would have been right to violently defend himself from your attempt.  I would hope you came out victorious, but I wouldn't blame Hitler for shooting you in self defense.  It would be silly to fault a person for that.

No one is obligated to just sit there and be killed.  No one can "lose" a right, such as the right to defend yourself.  Not even by violating the same right in others.

It seems odd to me when that's what I think people are advocating.  It's why "resisting arrest" is such a stupid concept for a "crime".  It's why I would like to see the next death row inmate who is being lead to his execution lash out and kill a few of the prison employees before being shot to death in the hallway.  If you're going to die, die like a man.

Sure, I always prefer the bad guy to be the one who loses, and if I'm involved in a violent attack I'd probably rather my attacker let me shoot him without fighting back, but I could never blame him for trying.

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