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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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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