The truth can change

There are things which are true that you (and I) don't want to be true.

The pragmatist just says "Oh, well. That's how it is", but smart people see it as an opportunity to change what is true. Change it for the better.

It was once true that humans were denied the experience of powered flight. That's not true anymore (although the nasty TSA tries as hard as they can to make it true again).

It is true that I currently have a piece of metal (accidentally) superglued to my right index finger, making it harder to type. I'm hoping this truth will change in the next few days.

Maybe it's true that humans always impose political governments on themselves and others. If so, work to change that truth into something healthier.

Truth shouldn't be a prison. If there's a truth you don't like, do what you can to make a new truth. Make the old truth a lie going into the future.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Flag news (shipping rate increase imminent)

Just a heads up that I was informed by the flag manufacturer that the USPS is increasing their shipping rates on Monday (January 25, 2021) so the shipping cost per flag will go up an additional 60 cents. Not a big deal, but if you want to avoid the price increase, order before then.

I guess the USPS is doing such a great job they decided to give themselves a raise.

It seems that my profit margin will also decrease by a dollar, but I'll see how that goes. I already know I'm not going to get rich off of this. Maybe it won't be a big deal.

Recycled criminals

It seems to me that each new administration's government is largely composed of nasty government criminals recycled from previous administrations, plus some new blood to train to be nasty government criminals for future administrations to pick from for recycling.

I admit I may be cynical about the whole nasty circus.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Covid wrap-up

Even the bushes are scared of The Corona

Now that it's the era of Bad'un-- you know, the "Bungle Backward Badly" guy-- the coronavirus is either effectively gone (since it has served its purpose) or it's such a big deal we'll all be ordered to wear masks all the time for 100 days (or much longer) and there'll be lockdowns for everyone. Depending on which of the random nonsensical paths is taken.

Here's my current thinking on the subject of Covid-19.

Yes, the virus probably exists. I have no way to know for sure since I don't have the equipment to see/isolate it; I'm forced to take someone else's word about it. I still think it's somewhat more likely that it is a real virus-- at least of some sort-- than that the virus doesn't even exist.

So there probably is a pandemic... in the same way that there's a pandemic of E. coli. It's probably widespread, but not a real problem except in a small percentage of cases. How much concern and tyranny is appropriate for something that is everywhere but not usually a big deal? I choose none.

I trust the science, but I do not trust politicized science interpreters. Nor do I trust their numbers even a little bit. When you count every death where the virus was present as a death caused by the virus, the numbers are going to look scarier than they really are. But it's good propaganda. Scared people are compliant people.

Instead of people questioning whether they should be scared or whether government should be controlling them, they debate how scared "we" should be and how much government should be controlling us. They ask if mask mandates and lockdowns and economic shutdowns "work" instead of realizing that no one has the right or the imaginary "authority" to be imposing them.

I still believe the government response to Covid harmed vastly more people than the virus did. Emotionally, physically, psychologically, socially, and more. Without even factoring in the economic harm.

I just can't cooperate with such people. If truth is illegal, I'll still be an outlaw.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Variety bag special offer

I have a variety bag for one lucky reader.

I mentioned that I was sent a replacement item from Wazoo Survival Gear-- after the USPS fumbled the delivery-- but then eventually received the original order. Well, I paid for it and now I'm selling the extra. 

It is a Wazoo bushcraft necklace.

The grab bag includes the necklace plus 2 Time's Up patches and 2 original-style Time's Up stickers (for indoor use only, and not available elsewhere anymore). 

$30.00 (Paypal or Bitcoin) for all-- free shipping to the "lower 48" (elsewhere, we'll work it out).

Just contact me-- first one to tell me they want it gets it.

-

Don't forget to buy a Time's Up flag while they are available!

Gun stuff

This was a bad year to be broke. It makes me almost wish I had been on the "stimulus" list because if I had, I know what I'd be spending the magic money on. As it is, I've been stretching and contorting my budget in uncomfortable ways.

What I've been doing is trying to get some gun-related stuff. While I still can-- while it is still available and "legal". 

I made one Big Purchase (with Bitcoin!), which will be seen later-- maybe in a month or so (but you'll have to be paying attention because I won't be specifically talking about it).

But mostly I've been trying to get extra standard-capacity magazines, in preparation for a 10-round limit. I still have an old Ruger magazine from the Cigar Willie years; crippled by an oversized "floor plate" to hold only 10 rounds. It's an abomination.

I did get one 10-round magazine, though. To return a rifle to its original configuration. This magazine was at a really cool western junk (and guns) store I like to browse, and I got it for $5. Awesome! There was another magazine in their parts bin, but I can't tell for sure if it fits my Ruger-- it looks like it might. I might ask the price anyway next time I go to town.

Now there's just one thing I really lack. I would like to get more ammo, but I haven't been able to. It's not readily available, and really expensive when I do find it. I feel I need more 9mm-- especially a box or two of self-defense rounds. And more .45 ACP.

I'm always wanting more .32-40 and .45 Long Colt "cowboy loads", too, but those aren't as critical. Another couple of cans of FFg black powder wouldn't be bad, either.

Is there anything of this nature you are stocking up on? You don't have to answer that rhetorical question; it is only asked to give you something to think about.

-

Don't forget to buy a Time's Up flag (so I can afford ammo) while they are available!

Speaking up-- or not

There are times, places, and situations where speaking up is fine. And safe.

Then there are times, places, and situations where your gut is going to tell you this isn't the time, place, or situation to do so. That was the case when I was at the gun counter the other day.

I think you should listen to your gut (unless your head overrules it).

Your gut might be wrong. Maybe you should have spoken up but you missed the chance, or maybe you shouldn't have when you did.

I would rather live in a society where people feel free to say what they think, even if others don't like it. Including "hate speech" [sic]. I've never encountered a good argument for restricting speech of any kind.

But there is a cost. Both for staying silent and for speaking out. I've paid (and still pay) the price for both at various times. I'm not going to heap criticism on someone for taking either path when I would have made the opposite choice. My criticism is on anyone advocating (or committing) archation.

Most of the time, in most situations, I don't hesitate to speak up when my comment is relevant. But, there are times I choose not to for whatever reason. Sometimes the reason is simply that I don't feel like getting into a debate right now. Even in that case, I still might speak up in support of someone being criticized for a reasonable opinion.

How do you handle such situations?

-

Don't forget to buy a Time's Up flag while they are available!

Gun control doesn't stop shooters

  (My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 16, 2020)

A couple of weeks ago I was in Lubbock for a while. Before heading home I stopped by a Lubbock Walmart so I could grab a few items without being herded like a cow through a chute. As it happens, I missed the fatal shooting there by moments. I was almost surely still in the parking lot when the tragic crime occurred.

Crimes-- real crimes against life, liberty, and property-- infuriate me. There is simply no excuse. There is also no excuse for enabling such crimes with ignorant policies which help the bad guys by putting the good people at a disadvantage.

What do I mean by this?.

I mean, once again, a place with a "No guns" sign by the door was the scene of a shooting. Will wonders never cease?

Very little makes me sicker than a "No guns" sign at a business. Bad guys will never obey such signs. You might as well roll out the red carpet for those set on murder. You've offered the rest of your customers to them on a silver platter with your compliments.

A "no guns" sign has never in the entire history of the world stopped a criminal from bringing in a gun and shooting someone if it's what he's set on doing.

If someone could be stopped by a sign, he could also be stopped by someone looking him in the eye and saying "No!" In fact, that would probably be more likely to work than a sign posted by the door. At least this is personal and he knows he has been noticed and called out for his behavior.

Instead, those signs, and those who enforce them, only keep out the people who are prepared to defend the employees and customers from such criminals.

It's the polar opposite of being helpful. It's a cheap political stance-- political theater-- prioritizing feelings over reality in the name of imaginary safety.

I never want someone intent on harm to be able to pull out a gun, a knife, a stick, or a fist without being stopped cold where he stands. Not even once. Some might believe that's a little harsh, but he made a choice. When police get in the way of this result, they've done more harm than good.

I don't support criminals or those who side with them by making up or enforcing victim disarmament rules. As if there's a difference.

-

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Check out my prepper community on locals

Holding your tongue at the gun counter

A couple of days ago I was at the gun counter in a national sporting goods chain. A customer told the counter guy he was just looking, but then commented that he noticed that they seemed to have sold a lot of scopes in the past week. Counter guy said, "We are selling a lot of everything!" He said people are even coming in to buy .22 long guns for home defense. I knew the reasons behind that.

Another counter guy and customer were talking, and I overheard that customer expressing his opinion that Trump had been the defender of liberty, and that Biden would basically be the end of America. 

I bit my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that while Biden is openly an anti-gun bigot with big plans for your guns, Trump was sneakier about it. He pretended to be on your side while violating your rights the first opportunity he got. Trump is no friend of gun owners; unfortunately, Biden-- with the help of a majority of anti-liberty congressvermin-- will probably be much worse.

But, yeah, I said nothing. I just stood there looking complacent and oblivious. It's the best I can do in such situations.

Long ago, I decided it is best to not comment on politics while in a gun store. Other than my favorite gun store back in Colorado, but that was different (...I believe).

During my time in Pennsylvania I had visited a gun store in my first couple of days there, and as I was leaving-- on foot-- it began to rain hard enough to drown frogs. Another customer who was also leaving noticed I was on foot and offered me a ride back to my motel. On the way, he warned me that the gun shop owner was a former cop and that many of its customers were current and former cops. He told me to watch what I said in there to avoid problems. (I hadn't said anything to anyone, so I was safe.) I thanked him for the warning.

You never know when there might be a snake in the grass. Yes, the popular (with cops) thug-rug haircut can be a dead giveaway but don't rely on it.

And anyone might be Stasi.

There's a time to speak up and a time to observe and collect data. Wisdom is knowing which time it is.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Pride

It bothers me that the word "pride" is misused for things like the various sexualities. (I am told this makes me "-phobic"; another word misuse that annoys me.) 

"Pride" is for accomplishments. There is no accomplishment in being gay, straight, white, black, American, or anything else like that. Those are very dumb things to feel "pride" over.

To be clear, it would be just as dumb to be ashamed of those things.

However, there is another meaning of the word "pride" that actually could apply. A pride is a social group-- a family group-- of lions. A tribe.

In that case, "pride" fits perfectly.

There can be a gay pride, a white pride, a male pride, a liberty pride-- pride associated with any group which wants to express its identity. Every pride can have their own flag if they want. And many do

The Time's Up flag is my pride flag. Cops' pride flag is the Blue Line abomination. The US flag, Nazi flag, POW/MIA flag, Confederate flag, and all the other flags that express a tribal identity are pride flags.

So, even if that's not how they are using the word "pride", I'm going to give them the benefit of a doubt and pretend it is. Just because it's smarter.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Want a laugh?

 Check out the updates on the most recent blog post for a laugh.

.

USPS is failing me

Right after Christmas, I ordered a couple of items with Christmas money. And I'm still waiting for them to arrive. 

Both were sent United [sic] States Postal Service. Both have tracking numbers, but...

One apparently disappeared into the USPS system immediately after leaving the Denver distribution center, and the other has been criss-crossing the country, coast to coast, ever since it shipped. It got as close as Dallas twice, but then passed me by and ended up on the other side of the country again. Seriously, it doesn't stop going one direction until it bounces off the coastline, when it just changes direction like a very slow game of Pong. (Update: 1-15-2021-- It is back in Dallas again. Third time now. Where will it go next?)

Neither case seems to be the seller's fault in any way. 

In fact, one (Wazoo Survival Gear- not a paid link) was nice enough to ship out a replacement after I gave them a head's up that their package seems to have disappeared somewhere between Denver and here. I wasn't expecting them to do that, I just wanted to let them know there might be a problem. (Update: 1-15-2021-- The original shipment arrived today, and I immediately emailed to let them know and offer to pay for the replacement if it's too late to cancel it.)

So I don't blame the sellers. I blame the USPS.

Yes, I understand "Covid blah blah blah...". Delays, unprecedented volume, etc. But this isn't a delay, it is incompetence. Stuff is staying in the system far longer than necessary, taking up more of their employees' limited time. No real business could be this incompetent and stay in business. 

The local USPS employees are nice and helpful, but the USPS as a system is everything wrong with a big (semi)government bureaucracy. No real accountability being one big problem.

The holsters I have reviewed come from Slovakia and arrive faster, but they are shipped by a non-government business. And I got something else that was shipped through FedEx and it got here in 2 days. What a difference being a real business makes.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

"Unity"

The incoming Parasitic Political Figurehead (PPF)* spent a lot of breath after the recent selection ritual calling for "unity". (Funny, he didn't want "unity" before the ritual, only afterward.)

This was before the Expedition to Congress-- after which the mask slipped a bit with his people. Now they are frothing at the mouth to punish-- literally-- anyone who isn't "of The Body". 

They sure were quick to drop the "unity" mantra.

I'm OK with that.

I have no intention of uniting with him and his gang. Not a chance.

Why would I ever sink so low as to unite with those who believe it's OK to violate others-- to use the political means? I haven't done so in the past and I'm not about to start now. Unity with bad guys isn't anything to advocate or to be proud of. Nope. They are on their own.

-

*PPF Uncle Joe Bad'un has clearly indicated he is planning to declare war on gun owners when he ascends to power, and his gang is positioned to waste no time in doing so. Hopefully, their absurd, pointless vendetta against Trump will distract them for a while to give us a little more time to prepare. But I'm not counting on it. So if I seem more hostile toward him than you believe is reasonable, that's why. He has set his sights on ME. (Although, I don't have to wait to be targeted personally to oppose legislation-- I oppose it all automatically.)

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring merch shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

You can always try to make papyrus...

If you were in a small town a couple hundred years ago and wanted to get your message out, you could have letters published in the local paper.

If the paper decided it didn't want your message to get out, maybe because a powerful local politician didn't want your idea out in society so the paper got "influenced" and stopped publishing your letters, you could probably go to another paper-- hopefully, a paper owned by a different individual. Even if it were in the next town over, your message can still be read where it can make a difference. 

What happens if, in fact, all the papers available to you in a real-world sense are owned by the cronies of that powerful politician, or politicians who share his agenda? He doesn't want your message to get out, and his friends help him so to it that it doesn't. Not effectively, anyway.

If no one would publish you, you could start your own paper, even if you had to write each copy by hand. So you decide to print your own flyers. 

But no one will sell you paper for the same reason-- all the paper sellers are buddies with the political enemy. All the ink sellers, too. 

If you point out the problem, some people might say all those businesses have a right to refuse to do business with you. Even if it means your message goes unheard. After all, you have a right to speak and write; no one is obligated to let you do so using their medium. 

You could learn to make papyrus and ink, or start inscribing clay tablets. And your message's reach gets smaller and smaller.

And you can still stand in your living room and speak as freely as you want, 24 hours per day. (in that era, anyway, maybe not today.) Your words can neither help nor hurt anyone this way, but you can speak them.

You still have your freedom of speech... right?

Not really.

No, the local paper is not the government, but what if it were owned by the local politician's best friend? Or a political crony of some sort? Someone who isn't technically an agent of government but acts in that capacity anyway.

And, it's not "censorship" to stifle your freedom of speech as long as it's not being stifled by government through legislation. But that's who is stifling it, due to conflicts of interest. The politician doesn't want his buddies to allow you to have a platform, so they don't. Or, maybe the people who can keep your message hidden just have their own agenda that meshes nicely with that of the politician.

Others may claim you still have freedom of speech, and that you aren't being censored by government, but what's the reality of your situation?

About the same situation with regard to your freedom of speech as is going on today.

No, Twitter, Facebook, and Google are not "private businesses"-- they are corporations run by government-supremacist cronies of (almost exclusively) Left-Statist politicians, or who coincidentally share the same government-supremacist agenda with those political parasites. 

Even if they were "private businesses", it's not OK to violate people just because they accepted an invitation to your yard and you only violate them while they are there and because they are using your property.

I would never do that to someone, and I can't respect anyone who does.

Just because you aren't a "conservative", don't think you aren't going to be targeted. If you are anyone other than a w0ke Left-statist, you are in the crosshairs. Maybe you think by saying the correct, supportive things they'll eat you last. Maybe.

This isn't a good situation. It is dangerous to stifle speech, even if you can dishonestly, but with technical accuracy, claim it isn't censorship and that people still have freedom of speech, just not where it can make a difference. I hope those who are trying to stomp out free speech in this purge suffer the consequences. Hard.

-

A little note on Section 230 or whatever. You know the thing...

I'm opposed to legislation. ALL legislation. As I understand it, that particular legislation protected social media platforms from being held accountable for what their users said-- as long as the platforms didn't edit those comments (becoming the publisher of said comments in the process). Once they started editing what their users said, the legislation no longer applied to them anyway because they had become, essentially, the writers, not just the platform.
I'm probably wrong about all of that, but it seems to me to be a moot point either way.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring merch shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Take back your own responsibility

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 9, 2020)

Like it or not, everyone has the responsibility to make their own decisions. If they decide to wear a mask because they believe it will keep them (or others) safe, they are free to do so. They are violating their responsibility when they threaten to use government violence to force others to wear a mask.

People have the responsibility to run their business without intentionally causing harm. Customers have the responsibility to choose which businesses to use. Anyone who dictates how other people's businesses must be run is violating their responsibility to not harm others.

Responsibility is hard, and it's uncomfortable for a lot of people. They'll listen to, and obey, politicians instead of doing what is responsible and right.

You are responsible for your body, your actions, and your property. Your main responsibility is to not violate the life, liberty, or property of any other person. Responsibility can be scary. It seems most people would rather shift their responsibility to government, and government would be happy to take it.

Except, you can't give your responsibilities to others. You can only pretend to do so. You are still responsible for anything done on your behalf.

Responsibility is power. You can decide whether to use this power or ignore it, but loaning your power to others isn't wise. When your power is used by others to harm people, the responsibility is still yours. Letting government borrow your responsibility is like loaning a gun to someone who has a history of robbing banks and admits he plans to do so again. It's unethical and irresponsible to loan your power to any such person or group of people.

If you abdicate your responsibility anyway, government will claim it. Then, they will pervert it. They will misuse your responsibility-- your power-- to violate the rights of others. When you consent to what is being done, the responsibility is on your shoulders. Stop consenting for your power to be used against others in harmful ways.

Take back your responsibility and hang on to it like the treasure it is.

Realistically, it isn't safe to take your power back from those who want it. They'll threaten and punish you. Your neighbors will probably stand against you. The brainwashing is strong, and after 12 or more years of indoctrination in government schools-- or government-friendly schools-- most people simply can't overcome it.

Do it anyway. It's the right thing.

-
Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com 

Check out my prepper community on locals

Want a Time's Up flag?

If you want a Time's Up flag of your very own, I am selling them on eBay.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Hey, statism-- Time's Up!

In the past month or two-- basically since November 3rd's political ritual-- my Time's Up design has been getting a lot of attention again.

After the Expedition to Congress on January 6th, the attention ramped up even more.

I would like to pretend this means people are getting smart (or ethical) and rejecting politics, which is the main message of "Time's Up", but realistically I know it's probably mostly "conservatives" who are upset at the generally reported results of November 3rd's political ritual. If things had gone their way they wouldn't be noticing my design so much.

I never try to hide or water down the message. I'm glad for the sales of patches (I wish it would translate into sales of TeeSpring products, too) but it is not a statist design-- not for any faction of statism. The eBay listing says as much for all to read. And I never pretend otherwise. Not even for more sales. 

Statism is being shown for what it is for anyone to see if they look. It has been running on borrowed time. 

Time's Up for statism; for all forms of political government and those who support such a barbaric, uncivilized, antisocial abomination.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

Break it into millions of pieces

I think it's dangerous to allow Trump supporters to be treated the way they are being treated by almost everyone who isn't them.

Yes, they are wrong to support police, the Constitution, "borders", and statism in general (Trump isn't even their biggest flaw).

But the difference in how they are treated versus how the toxic statists of the other side [sic], who are just as wrong on just as many issues, are treated-- by "social" media platforms, the national mainstream media, and the dominant congressvermin-- is shocking. And it's purely because those entities opposing the "Right-statists" have sided with the "Left-statists". As if Biden isn't just as bad! They only care that he isn't Trump-- a stupid position to stake out.

I'm sick of it all.

It's long past time for multiple secession initiatives to get serious. There isn't "a United States". There's no longer even "these united States". It's over and done and people need to face it. It's not coming back. It's down to peaceful secession or violent breakups.

Yeah, I know all the arguments against it. I don't care.

Now, people may calm down after a while, and they may put on an act in public so they can keep pretending for a few more years. But the issue is going to fester under the surface from now on.

Interesting times are here, and they may well get even more interesting soon.

Are you prepared?

- 

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

On violence

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Violence isn't inherently wrong. Violence can be the right response to aggression. Violence can be the right response to threats to your life, liberty, and property. Violence can be the right response to archation. Violence is not the fundamental problem, archation is.

If you don't want violence, don't start it. Don't back your victims into a corner. Don't attack them or their property. Don't make them feel they are left with no choice; with nothing to lose.

If you are someone who makes a habit of violating others, and violence comes to your door, don't whine when it happens. You earned it good and hard.

Feel free to cower and snivel and posture, pretending you have the moral high ground, but you are the bad guy. That's right. You are the bad guy. I have no compassion for you whatsoever. Seeing you cower in fear under your chair makes me happy.

Yes, I know you'll retaliate in a way you believe keeps you separate from the violence. You'll send other bad guys to kill and die in your place. But I know what you are.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!

I want great things to happen for you

A couple of days ago I shared how happy it makes me when others have good fortune, and one of my favorite "friend stories" is along those lines. I don't know how many times I asked him to tell me about it, just because it made me happy to hear.

A few years before I met him, he and his wife bought an old house. The previous owner had died and it had been on the market for a while. It needed a bit of cleaning and renovation, but they moved in and worked on it. 

Months later, they decided to replace the old rusted wood stove in the basement and as they were carrying it out, the firebricks fell out of place, revealing cash. There was $41,000 hidden behind the fire bricks inside the wood stove.

I just loved hearing him tell about that. Because I like it when good things happen to people I like.

And I want good things to happen to-- and for-- you, too.

Feel free to tell me of any time something really good happened to you or someone you know.

- 

Thank you for helping support KentforLiberty.com

Browse my TeeSpring shop

Check out my prepper community on locals!