"Thoughts and prayers"

Left-Statists go crazy when any non-Left-Statist offers "thoughts and prayers" after a tragedy or a horrific crime-- particularly after a mass shooting. Yes, I realize "thoughts and prayers" seems empty and doesn't fix anything (but after the event, nothing can).

So what do Left-Statists offer instead of "thoughts and prayers"? Outage and "laws", of course.

And they pretend this is somehow better.

Your "thoughts" don't help the situation. And I don't believe prayers actually do anything physical. But both let me know that someone cares and has me in mind. That's not a bad thing.

On the other hand, outrage not only doesn't help, it can lead to harm. Especially if that outrage is expressed by violating natural human rights with some counterfeit "laws". I understand feeling outrage; I feel it, too. But I don't allow my outrage to justify violating you just to feel I have done "something".

"Do something" is worse than doing nothing if the "something" you do is wrong. Legislation is always wrong.

My own approach is to NOT commit horrors and to commit myself to not standing by if some loser tries to commit a gross violation in my presence. That seems a healthier way to handle such matters, but then I'm not a statist.

Yet still-- Give me "thoughts and prayers" over outrage and "laws" any day!

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Making people... better

Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Serenity): This report is maybe twelve years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried 'til River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear, 'cause there's a universe of folk that are gonna know it too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. 'Cause as sure as I know anything I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground, swept clean. A year from now, ten, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave.

Removing people's tools of defense (self- and other) doesn't make them better people. It doesn't make for a better world. Not on any world.

It makes them dependent, scared, weak, and less safe.

You may believe your society, with more anti-gun "laws", means it is more advanced; better. You'd be wrong.

Yes, statists believe they can ban guns and make people better, or at least make society better. And safer. It's a religious belief on their part. They'll pursue it until they can't anymore. They will try again. Over and over, anywhere they get the chance. Believing they are somehow making people... better. I do not hold to that.

I aim to misbehave.

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Moral thievery

I was listening to a podcast where one of the participants was talking about how "morally advanced" societies take care of people through "taxation" and government "welfare".

He claimed this showed "generosity" on their part.

It doesn't.

I do understand how people get confused, though. Especially if they are blinded by the popular (and evil) religion of Statism.

If government is your god, anything government does is moral, no matter how unethical. So theft is OK if you call it "taxation" and say you're using the booty to help people. Never mind the people you hurt by robbing them.

Charity is always superior to government "welfare" because it is voluntary. And it's better for the recipients, too. Charity doesn't harm society; government "welfare" always does. Even if your society doesn't realize it is being hurt.

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Medicine hypocrisy

Photo by Rick Proctor on Unsplash

I was being told about someone who is suffering with cancer, and the nausea they are experiencing from the chemotherapy. I asked if the person had looked into using Cannabis-- I'm no expert, but I've heard it can help.

The response I got was that the person would never consider that because they are religious.

What?!

If you'll take the chemotherapy but not the Cannabis, you're a hypocrite. One is an actual poison, killing your body a little at a time-- hopefully the cancer dies before you do. The other is medicine-- and a plant.

In response to my reaction, I was asked if one of my own particularly religious relatives would use Cannabis if they were in the same situation. I said I believe she would, maybe not at first, but after I had shown her the senselessness of the "laws" against it, and the possibility it might help without adding bad side-effects. At least I hope I'd be able to convince her.

If your religious beliefs condemn the medicine but not the poison, you are in serious need of better religious beliefs.

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There's always something new to learn

I've been trying primitive (and less-than primitive) fire-starting methods all of my adult life-- actually, since around my mid-teens. I haven't succeeded with all of them-- the hand drill being my most frustrating failure-- but it has been years since I heard of a "new" method I'd never heard of before.

But a couple of weeks ago that's exactly what happened.

I was watching a video about fire-making and the guy used the fire roll. What? Never heard of that! But I've got to try it NOW!

So, I did.

And, unlike some other methods, I made fire the first time I tried it. And then, I made a fire with it more primitively using only yucca fibers from my yard, I've made fires (well, only embers usually) with the fire roll nearly every day since. In fact, during our unseasonably early winter storm last week, that's how I lit my fireplace.

Anyway, that's to say you never know so much about anything that there's nothing more to learn. It doesn't matter how many years you've been studying and pursuing something-- someone out there knows something you don't. The day you find them should be one of the highlights of your life. In every case. Don't let pride stop you from learning. You'd only be cheating yourself.

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There's no magic to make college free

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 25, 2019)

Libertarians have a saying, often represented by the acronym TANSTAAFL, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch". This is a rule of reality as inflexible as any other law of physics, but politicians think they can fool people into believing it's negotiable. Sometimes it seems they are right; people can be fooled-- but reality won't be cheated.

Now New Mexico's politicians are telling the people they can magically make college free for everyone. They can't, and it probably wouldn't even be a good idea were it possible.

Nothing is free. Someone always has to pay. It costs to build and maintain a campus and purchase supplies. Professors, janitors, secretaries, and groundskeepers quite reasonably expect to be paid for their work. After all, they need money to trade for food, housing, and other necessities. Demanding they work without pay so you can have "free college" would be slavery.

Every time a politician says something will be "free" you need to understand you are being lied to. It's the same whether it's "free" college or "free" health care.

What they mean is you'll be taxed more and some percentage of your stolen money will go to pay for something for someone else without them having to pay directly. Politicians also expect you to ignore the cost-- the waste-- inevitable with the additional bureaucracy. You could get a little of your stolen money back if you choose to participate in the program. Isn't this known in legal circles as a kickback?

It's doubtful college is even good for everyone. Yes, if you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a quantum physicist you would probably benefit from a college education. But if your goal is something else you'd probably be better off going to a trade school or training as an apprentice.

Most degrees today, in made-up fields, are like a "participation trophy". They're not awarded for achieving something useful, but are sparkly trinkets to show off. Utterly meaningless except to make someone feel better about themselves without them having to actually contribute anything of value. When this "trophy" costs other people, it's a net negative to society.

Politics seems to require belief in magic, where someone can say special words and change the nature of reality. Hocus pocus, and theft isn't theft because they call it "taxation" and things become free, no matter how expensive they really are, just because they say so. Politics is a hollow religion.

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Evil among us

When I was a teen, an IRS agent lived across the street from my family.

No one said anything to him about it, but everyone looked at him as though he were in the mafia. Which is closer to the truth than I realized at the time. People were a bit suspicious and stand-offish around him. And he didn't really socialize much.

He acted guilty because he was.

Of course, I was just a teen. Perhaps the adults didn't think they were acting that way toward him. It's certainly the vibe I got, though.

This was back before concealed carry "laws" were spreading around the country, and he was the only person I knew of who routinely carried a gun. Honestly, I don't remember whether he open carried, but if he didn't I'm not sure how everyone knew.

I'm in favor of everyone other than government employees carrying weapons. I am not in favor of anyone working a "job" that allows them to do things which are unethical (theft/"taxation") or to do ethical things illegitimately forbidden to the rest of us (carrying weapons).

I knew at the time there was something not quite right about him and his "job". Now I know exactly what it was.

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Oppression Day

From Ammo.com comes an article on the oppressive "USA PATRIOT Act".

As unconvinced as I am about the ethics of being a patriot, I know that legislative hydra is nothing but pure Big Government Evil. Kill it with fire, along with those who conjured it into existence.

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Anti-liberty pro-gunners

I'm a member of a "gun owners' group" on Facebook. I rarely post anything there because the majority of the other members are statist clowns.

Generally, they embrace Right-Statist policies, no matter how anti-liberty those policies are.

Most hypocritically, they support police, even in the comments they make while posting links to stories about cops murdering innocent people. They seem to really believe cops would never enforce anti-gun "laws" even while seeing them enforcing those types of "laws" everywhere every day. It's insane!

When I point this out I get attacked.

Some legislation enforcement goon was puffing out his chest (in comment form), saying he would never participate in gun confiscation, but when I asked about other gang activities I suspect he participates in (prohibition, rules against full-auto weapons, seat belt enforcement, "speeding" tickets, etc.), people lost their minds. I was the bad guy.

They get all dreamy-eyed when a sheriff poses and says no gun confiscation (ala Bob'O O'Rourke) will be allowed to happen in this state (New Mexico). No recognition of the illegal "laws" those same sheriffs help enforce every single day-- including gun confiscations.

I'm surprised they haven't kicked me out of the group yet-- but, like I say, I rarely comment on anything, because of what invariably happens when I do.

Right-Statists are anti-gun, just like Left-Statists are. They just use different excuses and go after guns from a different angle. If you're a statist, you are anti-liberty at your core.

--

P.S.-- Ever feel like the Universe hates you? Well, that's what I'm going through right now. So I've been doing a lot of primitive skills practice over the past few days-- at least the stuff I can do where I live (which isn't much).

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They don't want you to point out the lies

You've got to accept-- or at least not dispute-- a lot of untruths in order to be a fully-integrated member of society.

Which is why I'll probably never be as fully accepted by society as some other people I know. Even though those people archate against others without a second of thought.

That's a strange thing to think about-- the one who harms others on a regular basis being embraced by society. Why? Stockholm Syndrome is only part of it. The religion of Statism is probably the bigger part.

Anyway, it is what it is.

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Law, legislation, or Unholy Writ

Related to, and expanding on, yesterday's ENMN column:

I have less than zero respect for what passes for "laws" these days-- in other words, for legislation.

Law was discovered; legislation is made up.

Law isn't subject to anyone's opinion.
Legislation is nothing but the foul opinions of perverted thugs.

Law doesn't change nor does it get added to.
Legislation changes all the time and continually grows like some sort of alien blob monster.

Law is about recognizing natural human rights-- and respecting them.
Legislation is about finding excuses to violate natural human rights.

If it protects rights, it is law.
If it violates life, liberty, or property, it is legislation.

Laws include: don't murder, don't rape, don't kidnap, don't steal, don't trespass, don't vandalize.
Legislation includes: pay this tax, don't smoke that, don't have consensual sex with that person, don't sell that, don't add on to your house, wear your seat belt, don't park your car on your own property, don't paint your house that color, don't drive faster than this arbitrary speed, don't open a business there, etc.

Legislation is counterfeit "law". It harms individuals and therefore it harms society.

I know law when I see it. I am clueless about most legislation details. That seems to suggest I could reasonably (but not "legally") call myself a "lawyer", but not an attorney. Maybe that's why so few attorneys call themselves "lawyers" anymore. If they are that self-aware...

Cops are "Legislation enforcement officers" who violate law in order to enforce legislation. That makes them bad guys, even when they sometimes do the right thing. They'll go right back to doing the wrong thing at the first opportunity.

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Clashing values

Different people have different values. It's not that anyone's values are necessarily wrong for them, it's that when you impose a "win/lose" system someone is going to be on the losing side.

Just a couple of examples--
Compassion for refugees vs defense of "your culture".
Compassion for LGBTQ vs respecting the rights of those who aren't.
Compassion for rape victims vs compassion for the falsely accused.

Values clash. Or they can seem to if you think it has to be either/or.

But anytime they appear to clash, liberty is the solution. Respect for everyone's life, liberty, rights, and property. It's where the balance lies; how you respect both sides without enslaving either one to the other. Anything less is uncivilized.

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Life and the other thing

I just got back from a funeral. No one I was particularly close to, but my mom was. There were four girl cousins born the same year, so they grew up close. And this was the only relative who has ever actually said she was proud of me for having the courage to write and speak my mind. So, there's that.

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Scott can't weasel out of it

Scott Adams just can't stop saying positive things about anti-gun schemes, even as he says he's not advocating them. I've pointed this out before. It's like some sort of blind spot he suffers from... or maybe it's something else.

I've heard him do this repeatedly, even when it's just a casual mention unrelated to his topic. It's clear he thinks anti-gun "laws" are a good thing because of his approving attitude when he brings up the topic.

It's as if I kept getting excited and speaking as though I approve when I heard people talk about committing genocide, acting as though discussing it in a positive light is progress while pretending I don't actually advocate genocide. You shouldn't buy it in that case and you shouldn't buy it now.

Speaking as though something is desirable IS promoting or advocating that thing. No matter how you try to weasel* out of it.

*Apologies to all the non-human weasels out there.

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Bullying's cure is fighting back

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 18, 2019)

It's as predictable as the equinox: school starts in the fall and bullying catches society's attention anew. It's not as though bullying stops over the summer break, but then it is usually left-over momentum from the previous school year. "Back to school" recharges it.

Schools decry bullying, often getting the community involved. It's a halfhearted effort at best. Schools can't eliminate bullying without undermining their own system since it's based on authoritarianism-- socially accepted bullying.

The dictionary says a bully is anyone who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate someone weaker, usually to force them to do what the bully wants.

Who, other than an insecure person with little self-worth, would behave this way? Whether it's the schoolyard bully, the authoritarian teacher or principal, the politician or the politicians' badged "muscle", if you choose to push others around-- literally or figuratively-- to force them to do what you want, you can't think very highly of yourself. I pity bullies, even as I hope their victims fight back hard enough to make the bully reconsider their poor life choices.

Fighting back is the only cure for bullying. The victims must fight back, and shouldn't be penalized for doing so. Yet this is the solution no one in an official capacity, who claims to oppose bullying, is willing to accept.

Forcing victims to rely on someone else to solve the problem for them is also bullying. It doesn't teach responsibility and won't build confident character for facing life's other struggles. Encourage the victim to stand firm. Back them up if you're concerned about their safety, but don't tolerate anyone who treats fighting back against a bully the same as bullying.

Some bullied kids have gone on to strike out in tragic, angry ways at those who didn't bully them-- themselves or other innocents. I suspect this is because healthy ways of fighting back were forbidden. The frustration must build to intolerable levels, finally snapping in the worst possible way. The victim, because of his lack of competence in dealing with bullies, becomes a bully. Or a mass-murderer. It's no excuse, but it is predictable. You can create a monster by being monstrous to someone. Forbidding self-defense or turning a blind eye to officially sanctioned forms of bullying is monstrous. Society ends up paying the price for official cowardice.

Bullying is a problem. It won't be solved by ignoring the solution or by making the social environment worse for its victims.

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The mainstream media's role in mass shootings

Ammo.com has a good piece about the role played by the mainstream media (and also "social media") in encouraging mass shootings. I recommend it.

You know whenever there's one highly publicized mass shooting, that another will be coming along soon. It happens time after time.

The face and name of the evil loser will be everywhere, his "story" spread far and wide, along with speculation as to why he did it. And some other loser with nothing to live for will see all this and decide he wants some recognition, too. So he'll choose an evil act to get what he feels he deserves.

And then, legislative evil losers will blame those of us who didn't do it, threaten to steal our guns, and lock us in cages. It's the same old song and dance. Refuse to be used by any of the bad guys.

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Brexit is progress

It's interesting to me how Brexit is portrayed by the statist media as a step backwards. Like anyone who is intelligent should understand it's a disaster to pull out of a Big State, and only rubes would want such a thing. And, obviously, it's going to lead to starvation and chaos in the streets.

How ridiculous.

To me, it's secession. Something I'm always in favor of.

Yes, I understand it reeks of "nationalism", which I oppose. But I also oppose globalism when it means ever-bigger government. I'm in favor of "national" (territorial) societies and global societies, and I oppose political governments/states of any size because politics is antisocial.

No, the UK's government isn't better than the EU. It is irredeemably corrupt and evil-- just like any political government. But at least it's smaller than the EU's political government. And Brexit makes the EU a little weaker.

Just as Texit would make the US Empire a bit weaker. That's a good thing.

Break up all governments into smaller and smaller bits until you get to the individual-- the only legitimate government there can ever be.

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Democracy-- the definition

Democracy, when applied to political government, is mob rule.
Democracy is "Might (through superior numbers) makes right".

It is not something to be praised, fetishized, or imposed on others. It is not a good thing. It is as unethical when used to govern others as any other form of political government. At its heart, democracy is no different from any other form of political government.

To say, as I have heard some claim, that "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others" is to lie.

All democracy becomes tyranny, and all republics soon devolve into democracy.

It mght be more honest to call democracy "horde-ocracy".

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No such thing as an "illegal gun"

Don't you get tired of hearing anti-gun bigots cackling about "illegal guns"? I know I do.

And it's even worse when supposed gun rights advocates fall into the trap of using the same phrase.

Because it's an utterly meaningless phrase.

There's no such thing as an "illegal gun" because there's no such thing as a legitimate anti-gun "law". There is anti-gun legislation, so I suppose there are "illegislated" guns. And since ALL legislation is counterfeit "law", I don't give a crap.

There are exactly as many "illegal guns" as there are "good cops". Zero.

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Wallet "bearing block socket"

I'm always looking to improve my EDC ("every day carry"), and I came up with this idea a couple of days ago.

When making a bow/drill fireset, the bearing block you hold in your hand-- containing the socket that lets the top of the spindle spin freely-- is the hardest part to come up with in a survival situation.

If you carry paracord (and you do, right?) you won't have any trouble with cordage. Plus, you can make cordage in a pinch... although it will slow you down a bit. The other parts are just simple wood pieces-- the fireboard, the spindle, and the bow. Leaving the bearing block as the hard part; a part you might want to carry with you. (Yes, you can make a bearing block/socket from wood, too, but I wouldn't except in an emergency for several reasons-- I know from experience.)

I've noticed recently several knives with a built-in socket/divot in the micarta handle to serve as a bearing block socket-- it seems other people are recognizing that it's the hard part to come up with. I would rather not use a knife handle in that way if I don't have to, thinking that's a bit dangerous.

In the past, I carried a small stone-- just big enough to fill the palm of my hand-- that I chipped and ground until I formed a socket in it (I have a few of these around). It worked great but was a bit bulky to carry. I wanted a better solution.

So, what I did was take a brass dog tag blank and put a deep dimple in it to serve as the socket. I made the dimple by laying the tag on a thick piece of leather, placing a ball bearing on it, and hammering the ball bearing until the dimple was deep enough to serve as a socket. Originally, I put this brass socket on a separate piece of leather several months ago. This wasn't ideal and it kept getting in the way.

My better idea was to drill an extra hole in the "bottom" of the tag and rivet it to the flatter side of my wallet. After it was riveted in place, I took some needle-nosed pliers and bent the corners to fit the natural curve of my wallet. You can look at the picture to see what I'm talking about.

The wallet is quite a bit larger than the bearing blocks I'm accustomed to using (it's really thick leather), but I went outside and tried it and it worked great. The brass piece doesn't get in the way of how I carry my wallet, and hardly adds any weight, but it will be there if I need it. This is the kind of solution I love.

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