I oppose "capital punishment" and everything associated with it

The Ukrainian invasion-- and what is likely to await surviving defenders if they lose-- got me thinking of another governmental crime besides war: executions or "capital punishment".

Capital punishment is industrialized, sanitized, clinical premeditated murder. 

The person being killed is not currently violating anyone. They are no longer a threat. So it's not a defensive killing, but a revenge killing. It's not ethical and makes the killers just as bad as the one they kill-- possibly even worse.

It's not much different than chasing down and shooting someone who tried to attack you but who ran away when resisted. "The law" forbids this kind of killing for everyone but legislation enforcers. At least such a killing happens in the heat of the moment, immediately after the threat has passed. I make allowances for emotional turmoil resulting in the death of the attacker during and immediately after an attack. It's a risk the attacker chose.

Murder in the name of "justice" is a cleansing ritual. It's human sacrifice, but rather than to "ensure" a good harvest, it's intended to purge evil from society-- by committing evil. It's really no better than the human sacrifices of the Aztecs or ancient Mesopotamians. Equally ignorant, primitive, and useless.

The ONLY ethical death penalty is carried out at the time and place of the attack, by the intended victim or a rescuer. I never grieve for a bad guy killed in this way.

A murder carried out later, by government employees paid to kill, is a murder-for-hire. I still may not grieve for the person being killed (if I'm convinced they did it and it wasn't an ethical act), but I certainly don't support the murderers who are murdering a bound, outgunned, and outnumbered person in a clinical setting. Or up against a brick wall.

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Stray cats

Cheeto and MommyCat

Does anyone want to pledge a monthly donation to help me feed the stray cats on my porch? I've been feeding them for years, but I may have to stop soon. 

There are three regulars-- "Pants" (short for "the Cat With Pants"), MommyCat, and the youngster, Cheeto--with transient visitors who come and go.  

I've tried to find a local rescue group to take them, but that hasn't panned out.

If this is something anyone would be able to help with, just subscribe through Paypal and mark it with a note that says "cats" and that's where it will go. If not, that's understandable. Cats aren't everyone's cup of tea-- I didn't always like them, myself.

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Our local paper had a note about some prisoners trying to escape from jail.
Excuse me, but I think it's a prisoner's obligation to try to escape, no matter what. Regardless of the rules applied to them, or why they are a prisoner. I don't fault them for that even a little, nor would I add a single day to their sentence for it. You aren't rational if you punish people for expressing human nature. In fact, I feel contempt for prisoners who simply accept their fate.

Hate governments, not people

I refuse to let government or the media make me hate Russians for the acts of the Russian government. (Or Ukrainians for the acts of the Ukrainian government, for that matter.)

I hate the Russian government, just like I hate all political government and political criminals (including the militaries of those governments and political criminals). But I don't mistake people for the political government that pretends to act on their behalf. I never have. Just as I wouldn't want people to judge me by the behavior of the political criminals who "run" America and send its military all over the world.

Sure, the majority of Russians may "support" that government. I understand that most Russian people don't realize they have the option of not supporting ANY government or political faction. Just like most Americans don't realize the same. So they may end up "supporting" a state because they don't know it's a choice.

If I hated them for that I'd have to hate nearly everyone everywhere.

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Invasions and tyrants

Just to be clear...

I'm always against military invasion. I'm against the Russian military invading Ukraine in the same way I was (am) against the US military invasions of various Middle Eastern territories. I want the invader to lose in every case, and be driven out in shame, regardless of the events that provoked the invasion. Being an invader needs to be an expensive mistake.

All politicians are either tyrants or proto-tyrants. They are your enemy either now, or if/when they get enough power. When I suggest a solution to this problem, even if I mention one politician by name because he's the current low-hanging fruit and doing so will be overlooked by the censors, don't imagine I'm only talking about that one political criminal. The point holds true across time and space.

Sometimes things need to be phrased in such a way to confuse the censors, but unfortunately, this can also confuse readers. I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

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Dredging up old failures to make them fresh again

Earlier a new comment notification popped up on an old post from another blog. Why people bother posting a comment on an old, forgotten blog post that hasn't seen any action in years confuses me, but whatever.

I responded because the person was ridiculing an old comment of mine saying that people can (and do) get killed over "taxation".

What is it with these people who refuse to see things that actually happen as they really are, just because they approve? 

Well, this commenter approved of theft if it is called "taxation" and if it is claimed to be for "the common good". Therefore "nobody ever dies for refusing to cooperate with taxation!" Not counting, I suppose, all the people who have been killed over "taxation".

An earlier comment directed at me, to drive home this point, had been about Person A being given a magical alien device that cured everything, and keeping it to himself. The commenter claimed that Person B would be justified in going to Person A's house and taking the device-- killing Person A if that's what it took-- for the good of society. I disagreed.

Because I disagreed, he said I confuse disagreement with resistance. Which to me doesn't even make sense. The commenter deleted this comment so it wouldn't show up, but I got the notification and read it anyway.

I just hope this guy doesn't imagine he's on the side of liberty (it was an anti-libertarian post, so probably not).

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Obedience isn't the ethical choice

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 2, 2022)

Here's something you probably don't hear every day: I dislike obedience. Obedience is not something to be encouraged or celebrated; it's one of the most dangerous human traits there is. Obedient people have caused far more problems than rebels. It's not even close.

The Holocaust can be laid directly at the feet of obedient people-- including people who weren't otherwise bad, but who were obedient. It wasn't only the Nazis and those who enabled them, their victims were also too obedient.

You may think that's a rare case; surely obedience is usually better than disobedience. You'd be wrong. It may seem safe to obey someone today, but their next order might be evil. If you get in the habit of obeying you may not stop to think before you obey the wrong order.

The tendency to follow orders is still a source of trouble, especially among government employees who ought to know better than to obey orders which are unethical and in many cases, prohibited by the Constitution. Yet, obedient employees lack the backbone to refuse when their paychecks, or even their freedom, depend on obeying bad policies.

It takes courage to disobey, especially when the one giving orders has the power to hurt you. Obedience is the cowardly course, but it could be seen as pragmatic when you believe there's no alternative.

Refusing to obey is dangerous in direct proportion to how evil the one giving the orders is. Even in this case, obeying will probably be worse for everyone in the long run. Doing the right thing when ordered to do otherwise might cost you. It's worth it even if you don't see it yet.

I have no respect for anyone who is automatically obedient and great respect for those who disobey bad orders. I can even respect those who disobey and choose to do the wrong thing. They'll face consequences, and I wouldn't save them from themselves, but at least they weren't automatically obedient.

Don't demand obedience in the people you have power over. If you have a good argument for why someone should do what you want, make it. A threat to use violence against someone for not obeying you isn't an argument. It exposes you as an authoritarian. Demanding obedience usually means your argument is weak... if you have one at all.

As government gets more authoritarian, obedience to it becomes less ethical. Don't obey the bad guys.

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The Ford's Theater Solution could help Russians and Ukrainians

It's time for the Russian people to pursue The Ford's Theater Solution. That's never an unethical thing to do, even though it's forbidden by those who don't want to suffer the consequences for their evil actions.

Even some other high-level politicians are now suggesting this course of action, not quite understanding which side of the divide they are actually on.

Of course, once the solution has been successfully implemented, the Russian people would need to make sure some other political criminal doesn't take the office, or they'll be back in the same position again. Learn the lesson!

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Stop fawning over your enemies

Gun owners-- or anyone who values liberty-- supporting the police is exactly like Jews in the cattle cars supporting the death camp guards. 

It makes me cringe to hear gun-owners' rights advocates go out of their way to express support for the only gang that will physically steal their guns and kill them if they resist.

Do what you want, but you're just helping your enemy enslave you (and me). By siding with the bad guys, or a specific subset of them anyway, you're standing against me.

Are you for natural human rights and liberty, or do you support the Ancestral Enemy's stormtroopers? You've already chosen your side.

(Why "defund the police" efforts are doomed to fail, as currently tried: Carefully crafted failure)

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Rebooting their brains

The next time I hear a "Constitutionalist" demanding border/"immigration" control from the feds, I'm going to use their go-to spiel against them.

They always say they are "not against immigration, just illegal immigration; immigrants need to do it legally, in accordance with the law".

OK.
So I'm going to say "I'm not against immigration control, just illegal immigration control; if they do it, they need to do it legally, in accordance with the Constitution-- they have to follow the process and pass a constitutional amendment making immigration control legal so they aren't breaking the law when they try to control the border and regulate immigration".

The same tactic could be used against anti-gun legislation, prohibition, or the existence of any of the "Alphabet soup" agencies. You want it, shut it down immediately-- within the hour-- then try to pass a constitutional amendment making it legal (to take effect in six months or a year after ratification, like they do with any liberty-enhancing legislation); one issue/agency per amendment, no blanket "all the agencies we have been operating up until now" nonsense-- or dissolve it permanently and give away any related agency's assets to the people it has harmed.

Of course, I actually am against "immigration" control and government borders and documents that establish a state and don't expire once all the original consenting parties are dead. I'm just trying to illustrate the silliness of their argument.

You can decide for yourself whether you feel it was wise or foolish to not include the power of "immigration"/border control in the Constitution, but that doesn't change the fact that it isn't allowed by the document. 

I'm also against government punishing people for defending their private property from trespassers of any kind-- including legislation enforcers and migrants. That includes the use of armed patrols, drones, and booby traps (all at the property owner's expense, of course). 

It's fun to watch the Constitutionalists' brains reboot-- something I've caused more than once over the years (even though the virus of statism always manages to reassert itself and erase any memory of the reboot-- it's like they have a "restore point" in their brains so as to avoid any new settings).

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Stop making excuses for your abuser

All political governments are evil. I don't support any of them. My sympathy is with the people who suffer because of things government does. 

One of the things government does is invade other lands and break stuff and kill people. This is evil

Yes, sometimes they claim it is in retaliation for some previous act or to prevent a future act, but I don't care. Don't ever invade ... anywhere. The previous act was probably retaliation for something done by the "victim" government, anyway. And stop antagonizing other people with your interference and control and maybe they won't have a reason to invade later.

All governments are my enemy and they can all go straight to the center of the Sun.

All of my sympathy is reserved for their victims-- on every side. The Russian people are suffering from the evil being committed by the Russian government just like the Ukrainian people are suffering from it, but the Ukrainian people also have the Ukrainian government to blame for getting them into this mess. Along with other governments and government organizations around the globe. Yes, including the US government.

Governments are a real problem.

My sympathy for some of the victims, however, is tempered by the realization that they tolerate government. Even work hard to keep it around or mold it into something they can use to saddle others. Where do they imagine this will lead? Wise up and leave your abuser, or be written off as a hopeless case.
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When your "advocate" is your worst enemy

You have the right to feel however you feel. Regardless of reality. You never have the right to bully others into going along with you, especially not through the threat of government violence.

I have the right to cosplay as a Klingon. I have the right to believe this is the true me. No one has the right (or the unlimited ability) to control someone else's mind.

However, I have no right to force you to address me as a Klingon or to force you to behave as though I really am one. Compelled speech is a forced lie.

A wise and kind person would advise me against having surgery or drug therapy in order to try to pass as Klingon since it wouldn't make it real.

If you feel you are "really" supposed to be the opposite sex (the incorrect-- but recently dictionary-approved-- use of the word "gender" in this context is intended to muddle the issue to keep people from thinking clearly about it) from what your biology is, a credible doctor who is on your side would try to help you heal by making your feelings align better with biological reality.

As an aside, I'll mention here that the adult men who say they feel they are women-- and have usually felt this way since their earliest childhood thoughts-- are a separate issue from the middle school girls who fall prey to the social contagion of declaring they are "trans". The same word is being used for two completely different phenomena. That's not the topic of this post but may be a topic for a different discussion.

If there's a biochemical reason that your feelings don't match your physical body, a good doctor would address that by helping your mind align with your body by correcting the imbalance as much as possible. A charlatan would encourage drug misuse and mutilation to try to make the body match the feelings, instead. Encouraging drugs and cutting to intensify the problem! This is going to fail most-- if not all-- of the time.

If you come to believe your healthy arm isn't really yours-- doesn't represent the "real you"-- no ethical doctor is going to cut it off. 

Just like a person suffering from anorexia, the problem is with the mind, not the body. If the mind is not treated correctly, and soon enough, the problem will cause irreversible damage to the body. Problems caused by "medical" intervention, in this case.

If you go to the doctor with a simple greenstick fracture and this doctor suggests fixing it requires making it into a compound fracture, you're dealing with a charlatan, Get away as fast as you can. Real friends would help you escape that doctor's influence, not encourage you to follow the "doctor's" advice, even if it sounds like what you want to hear. That's what a doctor who suggests drug misuse and body mutilation as a remedy for misaligned feelings and biology is. A charlatan. Not on your side, but your enemy. Even if that is what you want to hear.

Most of the affected girls still act in completely "girlish" ways in the way they try to act more like they think boys would act, even while claiming offense at their (incorrect) pronouns not being respected. This phenomenon is a very female thing, even as they fight against being female. 

It's not even so much that many of them want to be boys, they just don't want to be girls-- and especially don't want to be women. How has this happened? I have hypotheses relating to the blanket condemnation of "sexualizing" women, but that's just my suspicion-- I may be wrong.

Whatever caused it, it is what it is. How to help them? Not through the encouragement of drug misuse and deep "cutting" resulting in mutilation.

If a friend is suffering from anorexia, you don't cheer for every pound lost. A friend won't encourage someone suffering from "cutting" to continue to express themselves by putting knife to skin. And yet, "advocates" do encourage young girls to harm themselves if they "feel" they are "really" boys. I don't hate the victims, but I do hate these dangerous "advocates". They are sick.

Because no matter what drugs these girls are put on, or what mutilation they endure, every cell of their body will forever scream "Female!", causing them more problems. Problems only heightened by the drug misuse and mutilation they sought help to find. You don't fix a simple greenstick fracture by making it into a compound fracture.

This post will be called "hate" or "transphobia" by some people. That's as ridiculous as it is predictable. 

If I hated them, I would tell them what they want to hear and encourage them to act on these feelings. Like their "advocates" do. That I'm willing to speak up in spite of the hate this kind of honest speech attracts shows the depth of my love and concern. I am not their enemy; their "advocates" are.

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As in almost every case, in every country, the ruler is the enemy of the people and a threat to their well-being. The first step to recovery is always to neutralize the threat. If the Russian people get smart and take out Putin for self-preservation, then withdraw every invader from Ukraine, they should be allowed to go on with life and try to rebuild their country and economy without interference. 

"Civilian" = "Anyone not in our special club; lesser beings". "You people"/"Those people".
It didn't mean that in earlier times.

Common enough to be immune from bans

If everyone, every household at least, in the 1920s and '30s had owned a full-auto Tommy Gun or something similar, would government have still banned them? Or tried? (I know, technically it wasn't a "ban", just a prohibitive "tax" and harsh penalties.) I doubt it would have had the guts (or the guns) to do so.

I think there's a point where a thing is just too common for government to try to ban. It would affect too much of the population and just make people mad and non-compliant. Which might spread to other things.

Eighty-percent receivers and pistol braces and lightning links aren't common enough, and that's a shame. It emboldens the political criminals because who's going to stand up for that minority?

If I could afford to get one of each, just to have them, I'd do it. Just because.

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COVID-19 not worth shutting down over

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for January 26, 2022)

As I write this I am wrapping up my own adventure with Covid-19. It didn't feel good, but it was nothing worth destroying the economy over. It was not worth any mandates, shutdowns, or other government overreaches.

When I think back on the worst illnesses or injuries in my life, this doesn't even make the top 100 list. Even those experiences in the top ten wouldn't convince me to violate your liberty in the tiniest degree to avoid them. If they could even be avoided by violating you, which is unlikely.

Your liberty and your natural rights matter more to me than comfort or convenience. They matter more to me than the risk of death.

Your experience might differ and you might disagree. It's a matter of values and priorities. Liberty is my priority. I'm willing to suffer and fight for your liberty, even if you don't appreciate it.

Now that the pandemic is over and Covid is endemic, it's just one of the various coronaviruses people will get regularly, regardless of any vaccines. Everyone will catch this, and new variants will arise constantly so you can catch it again. No one in the public will care what name is given to each new variant. For that matter, I doubt anyone outside scientific specialties or the fear industry will continue to care whether their cold is Covid, some other coronavirus, or a rhinovirus. You'll get sick, push through, and get on with life. This is simply how these things work.

Or, it's how it used to work before government decided to see what it could get away with and what people would tolerate. We tried this new way, and it was a circus of destruction. Time to toss it, and the political criminals who pushed it, on the garbage heap of mistakes never to be repeated.

Life can never be without risk. Trying to remove all the risk from life is too risky. The smarter plan is to figure out how to live with the risk.

Imagine if we allowed government to shut down our lives over every cold or flu virus. We'd soon sink into a new Dark Age. Some people would apparently like this to happen. Most of us wouldn't. It's time to stop listening to the fearmongers and authoritarian monsters. It's long past time to end the mandates they pretend can change the reality of common illnesses. It's time to get on with life.

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I am opposed to government trying to control "immigration".
I am opposed to government importing refugees.
I am opposed to government punishing people for defending their property, including by shooting trespassers.

Independent American States of the future

When Texas secedes, it will still be completely American, just no longer part of the United States of America. 

At that point, there will be The United States of America and The Independent American State of Texas, even if it's officially The Republic of Texas or something. 

Both would be "America" (with Texas arguably being the more American of the two) but no longer united under one political government.

This could still be the case if every state seceded but one. Imagine if only New Jersey and Maryland (to pick two examples of stubborn statist regions) remained in the United States of America (the two united states) with every other state being an independent state of America. 

Obviously, I'm opposed to states of any sort, but I'm still in favor of secession every time (including Ukraine). Right down to the level of the individual. Thoughts of secession make me smile and I hate unification.

  

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Sue the pants off the liars, Kyle

I'm glad Kyle Rittenhouse plans to sue the media corporations who lied about him. I hope he wins. Did I also see he plans to sue political criminals who did the same? I hope that was correct and that he wins those, too. Political criminals need to be sued frequently and they need to lose every time they are in the wrong.

I believe in freedom of speech. That doesn't mean I believe there should be no consequences for lying. I'd much rather see the target of the lies sue than trust the liars of government to penalize media liars. Suing liars protects freedom of speech in a way that government is unable and unwilling to do. It's just a shame we are still saddled with non-credible government courts for such suits. Corporate media, including the fakenews industry, and political government are more likely to cover for each other's crimes than not.

The corporate media and political criminals did lie about Rittenhouse and the events that evening. Over and over again. I read many of those lies and knew they were lies as I read them. Other lies I probably didn't recognize as lies. But the target knows.

The w0ke will never accept the truth, even if Kyle wins his suits and even if the corporate fakenews reports the facts straight. But there needs to be a price for being professional liars and causing harm to the targets of those lies.

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Disguised as one of "them"

There's a good argument for being the "gray man" in any TSHTF situation. You don't want to attract raiders or authoritarian attention. 

Personally, I've never been able to blend in-- never at any point in my life, even when I tried really hard and even when I disguised myself to look like everyone else. Apparently, I can't act like the crowd and I always end up saying or doing something that makes people suddenly stop and stare. I speak from experience. (I accidentally stumbled across something that did work-- maybe I'll discuss that another time.)

But, I agree that being the "gray man" is better. I even have a "gray man" costume set aside for such emergencies. 

This train of thought brought a distasteful question to my mind: When TSHTF should you get in line for government food handouts to avoid drawing attention to your preps and so your preps will outlast those relying only on handouts? 

If people notice you aren't going for handouts, will they put two and two together and raid you? Of course, it's harder to notice the person who isn't there when "everyone" else is, but don't count on no one noticing.

Also, the handouts will run out at some point, and you don't want that to be around the same time that your stockpile runs out. If you can just outlast the xombie hordes your chances improve a lot.

If you also accept the handouts, once they stop you'll still have all your stockpile to live on.

This assumes the handouts aren't drugged, don't come with (other) non-negotiable strings attached, or that you won't let yourself become dependent. Those are all risks you'd have to weigh in your decision.

I'm not recommending this tactic. I probably wouldn't do it even if I thought it was smarter than the alternative. It's just something to think about and another piece of the survival puzzle.

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It's only government overreach if the people do something substantive about it. Otherwise, it's just the new normal.

The unintended consequence of penalties

Many years ago (in a comment on a website) I pointed out that if the penalty for "getting caught" with a semi-automatic rifle was similar to the penalty for "getting caught" with a full-auto, then more people are going to just go ahead and own (and use) the full-auto weapons. Other than the price of ammo, what's the downside?

Years later, someone I respect wrote and told me how my observation had changed his perspective on the topic.

Well, we're there again.

If the penalty for disagreeing with government is similar to the penalty for actually fighting for liberty (the political criminals will call it "terrorism") then why participate in peaceful, civilized protests? Why not just start decorating lampposts? 

Canadians just missed their opportunity to show the world the way. I wish they had matched the escalation of the tyrannical Canadian government. But that's easy for me, who's not in Canada, to say. I'm not the one who'd have to live with the consequences. It's still a bit disappointing. 

If it's not time, it may already be too late.

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Learnin' stuff

I guess the experiment worked. I learned something, anyway.

It appears GFM doesn't care about little crowdfunding campaigns that get no donations, so they didn't delete my ambiguously worded gun-funding campaign. I kind of figured they'd still notice anyway, but they must not have. I wonder what the donation threshold is before they notice-- I can safely assume it's somewhere between zero and $9 million.

And GiveSendGo didn't delete the one on their site, either. Not even after I edited to more clearly say it is for a gun purchase. Again, since it didn't get any donations, maybe it never came up on their radar. I'm more surprised that one didn't get any donations since I thought a more conservative audience might be sympathetic to the cause. But if they don't see it, they can't care and won't donate.

Of course, I also didn't push them as hard as I push campaigns for actual needs.

I haven't decided whether or not to leave them up. It's not hurting anything, so there's no rush to delete them as long as they haven't been flagged. I may share each one on FB one more time to see if anything happens, but after that just forget about them. It seems that's not a way to raise money for a gun. I suppose GFM (and Micheal Bloomberg) would be happy about that.

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The Wall is strong in this one

Have you ever noticed that you can point something out to someone and a few days later it's as though you said nothing?

I'm not talking about them just disagreeing with you-- that's normal-- but acting as though the conversation never even happened.

I see this a lot when talking with statists.

The one example that comes to mind is pointing out that the Constitution doesn't allow immigration control, and the statist seeming to hear and understand, but a couple of days later, hearing them talking again about "illegal aliens" in the same breath as criticizing the politicians they don't like for violating the Constitution on some other issue. I've experienced this more times than I can keep track of, including discussions about the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs and anti-gun legislation. It's bewildering to me. 

But I guess it depends on how badly they hate and/or fear the thing they want government to break the law to go after.

What to do? I could either say, again, that immigration control is unconstitutional (and therefore illegal) so that they can wipe it from their mind quickly again, or I can just take note of the phenomenon and put it in my brain's database for future reference. Which one I choose depends on how I feel at the moment.

On other issues or topics, political or personal, I do the same. I can either waste time and effort saying my piece again and again, or I can just move on. Eventually, I always move on since words and logic just don't break through the barrier.

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Idea: Photograph a 20 (50, or 100) dollar bill, give it a unique serial number prefix, do this multiple times and then sell each version for face value (if you can) as an NFT. Currency rules (not law) might encourage the FedRes vermin to harm you for doing so, unless you can do it within their guidelines. So, be careful. (This would honor Dead Presidents Day, right?)

"Let them eat cake."

I'm completely in favor of killing the bad guy who is after you.
I'm not in favor of premeditated conspiracy to commit murder-- "capital punishment". Not against anyone for any reason ever.

It makes no difference whether it's the BATFEces thug at your door, the freelance rapist, or even Hillary Clinton. 

So, no, I wouldn't support large-scale beheadings after/during a revolution to free ourselves of rulers and their thugs. The revolutionaries who do this are just as bad, in my opinion, as the political criminals they are killing. It's just revenge. 

There are better, ethical, ways of dealing with people like that. Smart people can think of some of them.

Happy Dead Presidents Day. (That's my favorite kind of president!)

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Fun-raiser competition: GFM vs. GiveSendGo... Both still live; tied at $0.

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Pay attention; it's your responsibility

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for January 19, 2022)

There's almost no one more dangerous than a driver who refuses to yield because they have the right-of-way. I've known people who got into accidents because the other person was supposed to move over or slow down, and didn't, and they weren't going to let the other guy "win".

When two drivers of this sort encounter one another, have your camera recording.

Personally, I think it's more important to avoid an accident than to be "in the right".

I've tried to teach my kids that their safety is always their responsibility. Responsibility isn't fun. It means you must pay attention and do what others won't.

When I'm walking or on my bike, I watch out for cars. I assume they don't see me, and I expect them to do their best to run over me. I'm grateful when they don't but I always make it my responsibility to avoid being hit.

When I'm driving, I still take the responsibility to avoid hitting anyone or anything and to avoid being hit by other cars. One trick I use is pretending that every vehicle I see is driverless, moving at random without anyone behind the wheel to control it. This usually works out well for me.

The responsibility is always one-hundred percent mine, whether I'm driving or navigating the world of cars. That can get tiresome, and I'm not claiming I pull it off perfectly. I have been in accidents when I failed to do what I know it is my responsibility to do.

Sure, the other people are also one-hundred percent responsible, but how are you going to make them accept it? Can you make them pay attention? You can only control yourself, no one else-- regardless of what politicians might believe. So which way will have better results for you?

It's also possible for a car to do something completely unexpected and hit you no matter how closely you're paying attention. Sometimes you just can't move fast enough, in the right direction, to get out of the way. Accidents will never be eliminated, but they can be minimized if you don't wait for other people to save you.

I don't care what traffic "law" dictates you to do; get out of the way even if you have the right-of-way if that's what it takes to avoid an accident. Always pay attention to your surroundings. Your life depends on it.

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Flying a US Federal flag-- Holy Pole Quilt-- in Texas, alongside a Texas flag, is like flying a Nazi flag in Israel, alongside an Israel flag. Kinda bizarre.

Should bans be banned?

Whenever ANYONE says something should be banned, they've lost my support, and often, my respect. 

If you don't like something, don't own it. But otherwise, it's not your business. 

Many political criminals say "ghost guns" should be banned. (A ban will fail to eliminate them.) Much of the public, being ignorant and afraid, go along with it.

I recently saw another guy saying to ban expandable batons, but what he was actually talking about was forbidding their use by government's aggression goons while on the "job". The problem solves itself if you fire all the goons-- or at least allow people to opt out of paying them if they (like me) don't have any use for the parasites. Let the tool either succeed or fail to defend, and let people choose.

I feel the same about drugs, cars, Crocs, Pit bulls, and whatever else someone might suggest banning. If someone misuses something, defend yourself (and others) but don't call for a ban-- the ban would just empower your Ancestral Enemies because they would be the ones enforcing it. 

Banning is just so stupid.

Stop forcing me to subsidize other people's choices and I don't care what you have.

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Don't forget about the fundraiser comparison, 

It's still nothing to nothing, but neither has been flagged. Yet.

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The crowdfunding test, part 2

Now, for comparison, I've started a GiveSendGo campaign. Exact same wording and everything-- I started to give more details (to say specifically it's to help me buy a gun), but decided that wouldn't be a fair test. I didn't even try to inspire tribe competitiveness by mentioning the GFM campaign and asking them to beat it.

I did raise the amount by a little because I am giving GiveSendGo a percentage (it was voluntary!) and to cover the percentage charged by the donation processor.

Now I'll watch and see.

Again-- this is not a critical need. It is just a frivolous fun thing I'd like. Don't stretch your finances thin by donating. I'd rather get lots of small donations than just a few big ones anyway.

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You do you

I don't have to like anything someone else likes. Me not liking it doesn't-- or shouldn't-- affect your enjoyment in the slightest.

So why do so many people act as though it does?

If I don't like something another person likes I'm not going to try to stop them from having/doing it. This obviously excludes if someone likes to rape or steal-- anything that violates others I have the right to stop them from doing.

But if I don't like your hairstyle or hair color? Or the clothes you wear? Who cares? It's none of my business anyway. Don't ask my opinion if you don't want to hear the truth.

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Taiwan is China's Confederacy. They left the abusive "Union", but the political criminals of that former union refuse to accept the divorce and will probably end up killing a huge number of their own kin to overthrow the results of that election and force them back in. I imagine that's how the US will react once Texas leaves.

Choose!

"If you could only have one X, which would you choose?" One what? 

This is a question I see posed a lot about a wide variety of topics and things, from knives and guns to shoes and vehicles.

I don't let myself get painted into such corners very often. I understand that it would always depend on the specific situation. 

Where in the world do I find myself when this choice is forced on me?
What are the circumstances?
How much warning will there be?

What is available, both for me to choose from and in the world outside?
What season of the year is it?

How long is the situation likely to last? Days, months, or forever?  
What physical condition am I in?

All of those factors will affect my choice on everything.

This is why my bugout bag is too heavy. Depending on the specific circumstances I intend to discard things I'm not likely to need this time; caching them for later, if possible.

It's also why I EDC. If I don't have the opportunity to choose my "only one", I am at least carrying something useful for any situation I find thrust upon me. And I also know skills beat stuff.

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Don't forget the fundraiser for the rotating, cylindrical liberty pill dispenser. Share it widely and let's see what happens.

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I really, truly appreciate it!

It's possible I just dreamed up the most evil superpower imaginable: The Unhealing Touch.
One touch from someone with this power would make any old scar open back up, becoming a fresh wound again (imagine if the victim had survived open-heart surgery). Any broken bone returns to its freshly broken condition; any internal injuries sustained over the course of a life return. At a minimum, their belly button would start bleeding. And it all happens at once.
Come to think of it, I know people with this superpower... if you're talking about emotional wounds.

Wait... what was his "job"?

The upcoming local primary election I had previously mentioned as splitting along ethnic lines seems to have seen those lines blur a little recently. Not a lot, but some.

The non-Hispanic candidate for the judgeship is the former sheriff who was forced to retire-- due to some rule that was on the books-- when he started running for county judge. (His parents were friends with my grandparents, but I don't know him personally.)

His campaign signs declare his "Integrity, Honesty, Experience". Really?

People of integrity and honesty don't go into legislation enforcement. If they do, any integrity and honesty will be quickly sacrificed in order to keep the parasitic "job", paid with stolen money. But it's the "experience" part that I find most disturbing.

He was the sheriff, not a judge. I see no claim that he has ever been a judge. Is he saying he acted as a judge in his position of sheriff? How? Did he decide which counterfeit "laws" to enforce and which ones to ignore? I know he frequently enforced prohibition and anti-gun legislation and "speeding" rules-- it was in the newspaper's weekly "Sheriff's Report". Or did he hand out punishment to those he captured? I don't think either of those things is a sheriff's "job", and if he did them anyway it discredits the "Integrity, Honesty" claim.

Not that I think the other guy is any better. His slogan is something about it being time for a change. Yes, it is always time for some changes. But there are positive changes and negative changes. You don't make negative changes just because you want to change something. Maybe it's time to abolish the position of county judge. That could be a positive change that removes one more political criminal from a position of power.

I don't need either of them.

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Don't forget the fundraiser for the rotating, cylindrical liberty pill dispenser. Share it widely and let's see what happens.

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(Not exactly) Just a test

I went ahead and opened the GoFu**Me campaign to see if
1) I can raise the money for the Liberty Pill Dispenser or
2) They'll figure out what it's for and remove the campaign and
3) How long until the campaign is removed.

At least, history suggests they'll refund any donations if the campaign is removed. And, on the off-chance it all goes through (and anyone donates), maybe I'll get to buy something non-essential, but fun.

On with the experiment. Here's the link again: https://gofund.me/d02d93b3

Added: So far, it's still up. But also has zero engagement. How's that for staying under the radar?

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A product of government schooling educates me

On a "social" media platform, someone responded to my statement, "My appreciation for education explains my opposition to schooling. Especially government schooling" with this gem: "so you rather have religious indoctrination. You should read a history book" (all grammatical and spelling errors as in the originals).

I replied, "False dichotomy. Plus, government is the primary religion of our time,"

So this genius, "gayuncle2", struck back with, "I don't think you understand how dichotomy works religion is the biggest danger to our society and democracy now [...] Read a hustory book there is a reason tgey called it the dark ages"

So, he doesn't understand what a false dichotomy is and is trying to cover for that shortcoming. A product of the schools he thinks educated him, no doubt.

I responded again: "Government is the biggest religion. And, yes, it is a threat to society, as is democracy (mob rule).  Government indoctrination is why you believe otherwise."

Not sure I'll bother to respond again, but it is educational to interact with these people on occasion if only to see why society is in such trouble. "The more you know..."

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GoFu**Me is a cheater

Like many people, I was recently disappointed by the revelation of GoFu**Me's dishonest business practices. Disappointed, but not particularly surprised in these w0ke times.

I've used their service 4 times in the past-- once just to get some operating funds, twice for cats in need of medical help, and once to help someone else in the family after a tragedy. It worked well for those situations since they had no political overtones. I've donated through them many more times than that, and I am under the impression the money went where I wanted it to go.

Not sure I'll ever use them for myself again, though; not if I can find someone else I trust more. Someone not infected with Left-Statism-- I'd prefer no Statism whatsoever, but that may be unrealistic in these Statist times.

Most people say they don't want anyone to be able to raise money for terrorists, so they make allowances for such dishonest practices, even if it occasionally harms someone they might like. Making rules (and exceptions) for extreme situations makes for bad rules. Besides, who gets to define "terrorist"? The worse terrorists.

Yes, I realize the Ancestral Enemies enforce rules against sending money to those they don't like. No point in having more stringent rules than they do, though. I'd be pushing the envelope the other direction.

Me, I say you do what you want with your money-- donate to Biden, ISIS, or anyone else, no matter how bad they are, if that's what you want to do. It's your money.

If a company is going to allow funds to be donated, but then later say they'll decide if it'll be sent to the intended recipient or not, they've lost my trust. That's what they did with the donations to the Canadian Truckers (that should link to the better option). To me, they lost their say in that part of the process when they collected the first donation for that cause. After that, if they don't like where it's heading, they can change their rules for next time. But don't cheat by changing (or adding) rules in midstream.

When GFM's first choice was to send all the money-- 9+ million dollars of it-- to someone they approved of instead of the intended recipients, that was just about unforgivable. At least they reversed that stupid decision and said they'd refund all the donations. That wasn't enough, but it was better than outright stealing the money as was their first inclination.

As a protest, I thought briefly about setting up a GFM fundraiser for a "rotating cylindrical liberty pill dispenser" I've been wanting, to do a review on it just for fun. To see if I could word things ambiguously in such a way that it wouldn't be immediately flagged and removed before I got the money to purchase the item to review. But, worded in such a way that the donors knew exactly what I was talking about-- no fraud on my end. Who knows, I still might do that in the near future just to see what happens. But one thing I won't count on is actually getting any money that is collected. Not with them controlling the payout and getting to judge whether it is worthy or not.

Otherwise, I'll be waiting to see where all this goes, and who comes out of this looking better than GFM. It wouldn't take a lot.

Update: Nothing. Which isn't too surprising since I haven't put much effort into promoting this. But now I've started a campaign with a non-w0ke competitor, just to see what, if anything, happens. Again, yes, I would like to get the money to buy this gun, but this is not a critical situation. Don't put yourself out to donate. Plus, I'd rather get a lot of small donations than a few big ones. But do share it if you don't mind.

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Modern life not from government

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for January 12, 2022)

The conveniences of the modern world are all around us all the time, but I don't think I'll ever take them for granted.

One of my grandmothers grew up in this area during the Dust Bowl days. Her big family was crowded into a two-room, dirt-floored shack without indoor plumbing or electricity. They traveled by horse-drawn wagon and their water was dipped from a cistern; they didn't even have a windmill. They picked cotton by hand, dragging the heavy sacks behind them. She grew up living basically the same life as someone born in this region a hundred years earlier could have lived.

The Great Depression probably didn't even affect her family, at least it never figured into any of the stories she told about growing up.

When I was a kid, the old shack was still standing and I visited it with her a couple of times.

Their life wasn't easy, but it was good enough.

So maybe it's understandable that I can still marvel at things like indoor plumbing with running water and flush toilets and at electricity.

It's not as though I've ever had to live without those things, but I realize how few of the people who have ever been alive had them.

Anything which has been around such a short time can go away easier than you suppose. There's little chance they'll go away in our lifetime, but over the long term, the chances are fairly high.  If something happens and these modern conveniences go away, the radical socialists who use the environment as their excuse would quickly realize how bad this would be for the environment. Truthfully, I think they already know, they just don't care as long as it kills off most humans.

I'm not content to be dependent on modern conveniences. I enjoy making fire without lighters or matches, but the ability to make fire with primitive methods makes me value the ease of using a lighter even more highly. It's the same with every skill.

I'm grateful to all the researchers, experimenters, and workers who have given us the good things of the modern world. Some others would also like credit.

Government would like you to believe it brought about this modern world's peace, prosperity, and safety. Yet the truth is, when these things are the norm it's in spite of political government, not because of it. Appreciate the heroes, not the freeloaders.

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Covid wrap-up

Covid is a coronavirus, which means it is a cold virus. This is why it's not the flu (which is caused by influenza viruses, not coronaviruses). Arguing that Covid is or is not "like the regular flu" makes as much sense as arguing over whether a whale is or is not like a regular elephant. It's silly and makes the arguers look ignorant.

I doubt Covid was created and released intentionally (but it might have been) even though I consider it plausible-- even likely-- that it came from a government lab. 

I don't believe there was ever any meeting of all the ruling political criminals of the planet where they plotted together to use this as an excuse to grip the populations tighter and ratchet up the tyranny and authoritarianism. I think they just seize any opportunity that they can, without even thinking about it and without needing to discuss it among themselves. It's their nature as political criminals, no conspiracy needed.

Mandates-- beyond the mandator's private property-- are never within anyone's rights to impose. No emergency can justify them. Liberty matters more to me than safety (protection of life). I oppose anything that violates liberty.

The politicized experts lied. Over and over again. As usual.

I lost almost all confidence in doctors and health experts over the past couple of years. I lost respect for many others, too. From scientists and skeptics to celebrities I had previously thought were smart. The government-supremacism that some harbor came bubbling to the surface, then overflowed during this time. If you decry the "anti-science" and "conspiracy theories" of the other side without acknowledging your own, well... too bad for you.

Masks do cause a decrease in oxygen-- I did the tests on myself. Whether or not they reduce disease transmission is irrelevant to the question as to whether it's OK to impose a mask mandate. It's not. Wear one if it makes you feel better, but leave others alone to wear them or not. If you're scared to be around maskless (or "unvaccinated") people, you have the right to stay home.

The Covid shots seem unnecessary and not particularly effective, regardless of whether or not they are safe. That's the same thing I think about the yearly flu shots, and why I have never gotten one. Just not worth it to me. If you want to get a shot that you hope will make you safer, go ahead, that's your business. Just don't try to force others to take the shot, too. And don't impose or support segregation based on whether someone has the shot or not.

After going through Covid myself, I know-- for me-- it was worse than any other cold I've had... for about 6 hours on the second day, during which time it felt like a bad flu. The rest of the time it felt like a cold but without the nasal congestion and leakage, which to me is the worst part of having a cold. Even though those 6 hours were bad, with the flu I feel that bad for 3 days straight. So, it was better than the flu, by far. (I haven't actually had the flu in a decade or more, but I used to get it every year without fail.) The cough lasted a few weeks, but eventually faded away. It's mostly gone now, and hasn't bothered me for the past week or so. It was NOT worth the shutdowns and lockdowns and economic devastation to try to avoid catching (or spreading) this illness. It was not worth the fearmongering and the mental anguish that was triggered by government and the corporate media in the less-resilient members of the population.

"Long (-Haul) Covid" seems to me to merely be confirmation bias. You'll see what you're looking for. If you're a generally sickly person who has a history of health problems, after Covid you'll be diagnosed with Long Covid when nothing has really changed (you and the doctors will just have a label to put on it now). You might undergo more tests which could discover "new" (or previously undiscovered) problems which can be blamed on Covid. If you're generally a healthy person, you'll probably have the same experience with Covid that you do with other respiratory illnesses. When I've caught the flu, it usually takes me a couple of months to feel normal again-- I recovered from Covid in less than half that time.

Yes, there will probably be new variants for us to catch from now to eternity, until a real cure for coronaviruses is found. But what does it matter? That's the case with other colds and flus, and probably lots of other illnesses as well. Life goes on if you let it.

There's only one local business that asked me to put on a mask (about 6 months ago, maybe more). I didn't put one on but immediately left instead, and I haven't been back. And I probably won't go back. I'm done with the Covid stupidity, and have been for a long time.

There's no credible justification for any lockdowns, mandates, or segregation. Stop tolerating it, or ignore the "rules". Refuse to comply with the control freaks and political criminals. They are not on your side.

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