 |
| Death on a Pale Horse Benjamin West |
It would be nice if we could put the genie back in the bottle. Violence amongst the members of our species is here to stay. When Cain slew Abel, all bets were off. As long as some folks think they can just help themselves to somebody else's stuff, there will be violence. We are, by nature, a violent species.
There is a certain group of politicians (with Ds and Rs and Is and other initials after their names) who will tell their base what they want to hear. That gets their foot in the door (name on a ballot actually) but it doesn't get them the office they want. Unless of course the office they are running for has a constituency with the collective brainpower of a walnut. Which helps to explain the makeup of Congress these days.
California is under the rule of an insane, and quite possibly criminal, regime. As there seems to be no possible way for Californians to vote themselves out of the ridiculous position their big city elites have placed them in, martial law seems a reasonable response to the goings-on in the Golden State. Just sayin'...
Not all politicians are evil, those who have spent more than two terms in office probably are, or perhaps they are just too lazy to get a real job.
How is it possible for someone to get rich (millions of dollars) on a salary of $174,000.00 a year? Especially when you work less than 180 days a year. Sweet gig if you can get it.
While I don't really go to a lot of movies, once or twice a year, maybe, I do enjoy a good tale, well acted and well filmed. (Which has a lot to do with the guy directing it I have heard.) But if the "bad guys" win in the film, odds are pretty good that I will not like that film, odds are also pretty good that I will avoid that actor's/director's work in the future. If I want reality, I'll watch the nightly news. (Though that's a crap shoot in and of itself.)
Everyone has their opinions on things, I won't burden you with the old saw which accompanies that thought (you know the one I mean) but, unless I ask for it, keep it to yourself. In other words, just shut up and act/sing/play/make my coffee etc. I know you have your causes, your grievances, your pain, but hey, we all have our crosses to bear.
What is the endgame that some of these idiots running for office are working towards? I doubt they themselves really know. It's a scramble to get into office then cash in and try to stay in office. Somewhere there's a puppet master funding this idiocy, my feeling is that once his dark goal is attained, he'll have no more use for the dancing monkeys.
Don't relax now, the fight is just beginning. Stay frosty.
The endgame is just power. And chaos. Not sure there's any other way to describe it. Ever read the comic Pearls Before Swine? Last Sunday's strip was especially pointed. https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2019/09/08?ct=v&cti=536456 Ok, so it's greed as well. The chaos is just a result of their ineffectual leadership. They lie, tell us what we want to hear, do nothing that was promised, use our emotions to shore up their weak-minded voter base, and stay in power until the problems grow too large to fix, then someone else comes in with the same chaotic agenda.
ReplyDeleteYeah, pretty dark and gloomy in my state (sleepless, frustrated, and California). Not sure how that will change though.
DeletePower and greed pretty much sums it up.
DeleteChange in California? I don't think it will come from Sacramento, that's for sure.
DeleteWe'll declare bankruptcy as a state long before then, and a million or 10 state pensioners will revolt. Maybe though we'll get so sick of the trash heaps, the homeless fecal epidemic, and the burgeoning state debt that we'll throw down our masters and vote in a Trump-like figure to clean it up.
DeleteIt has to be grass roots, it has to come from the Californians who are sick of the evil being done to that oh so beautiful state,
DeleteI weep knowing that the wonderful state of my youth ('65-70) and the sleepy town of Porterville where my grandmother lived for so long hasn't just changed over time, it's been basically destroyed by aliens. Actually, aliens would probably do a nicer job of destroying it.
DeleteLeprosy. Check
Typhoid. Check
Various Poxes running rampant. Check
Poop in the streets. Check
Crimes aren't crimes anymore. Check
Farmers being driven off their lands. Check
Once fertile land is now barren because of Government. Check
So when did Mugabe or Amin take over California again?
I love California, I can't believe that the progs are destroying it bit by bit. A pox on them and all their generations.
DeleteHumanity is flawed. Our system of government needs a citizenry that fears God and is self regulating. The outliers would be dealt with quickly. But now that the First Amendment is read as freedom FROM religion, it's right back to Genesis: "Every man did what was right in his own eyes." That statement doesn't have a bottom.....
ReplyDeleteWe pound into our children's heads they are descendants of animals, that the world will end in their lifetimes. Then we are baffled when they act like animals and need drugs to cope with their hopelessness and despair. Reading the fine print on their medication we find that a vanishingly small percentage (of untold millions) of teenage to early twenties males will become rage monsters on these drugs and suffer from "ideation" of self-harm and murder. Some others will exhibit "risk taking behavior" (like, a teacher getting intimate with her students perhaps??)...
Well done, intelligentsia, we are the captains of our souls, and the author of our own destruction.
The drift away from God is the problem, the "elites" have much to answer for, maybe not in this life...
DeleteThe several points already posted are all too true and a bit depressing to contemplate. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. Since it's still early in the month I'll have to make another visit (courtesy of the InterNets) to my favorite purveyor of precious metals (steel, brass and lead) from that state just to the north of you juvat. One has to watch the budget. Today's topic is one, for me, of preparation rather than discussion.
ReplyDeleteCopy that.
DeleteI'm sure I mentioned before the that after living our entire lives there, we escaped Kalifornia for Texas in 2015. I could launch into a Tasmanian Devil force rant (think Merry Melodies) but it would just be a repeat of points already well said. Instead I'm gonna go with Nylon12 on preps.
ReplyDeleteI like Nikon rifle scopes. IMHO, the quality of the glass you get for the money is very hard to beat. I have had one of these--
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/100937890?pid=524878
--paired with my Winchester M-70 26-in heavy barrel varmint rifle for a couple of decades. Having recently built a 308, I was in the market for another scope. If Nikon still made the one above, I would have just bought another and been done. Alas, they don't. It had been quite some time since I had actually shopped for a scope, so I was a bit taken aback that things had (ahem) changed. My list of wants became a list of don't wants--
Don't want--
--a Buck Rogers reticle.
--an illuminated reticle.
--first focal plane reticle.
--huge objective lens moon scope.
--take out a loan to finance.
You get the idea. Then a few days ago, this deal arrives in my inbox--
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1018513637?pid=619628&utm_medium=email&utm_source=service&utm_campaign=shipping-confirmation&utm_content=product-shipped-today-product-description-link
Yeah, it has a 50mm Objective, but I can live with that. Will report back once I get it up and running.
Technical note--First focal plane (FFP) means the reticle AND target both get bigger when you crank up the magnification. The advantage is that your ranging scale is accurate at any magnification because the ratio is maintained. I don't care for it because the reticle is really small and hard to read at the low end. Or, I could be just a crotchity old fart set in his ways.
Second focal plane is what most of us old farts are used to. Image gets bigger, reticle stays the same. Ranging is only accurate (without additional math) at one magnification setting, usually at max.
The right hardware is important.
DeleteJust got a set of nite eyes for old ugly. We seem to have ever more foot traffic around my little empire of dirt.
DeleteMy son ran into the three amigos from south of Mexico the other night. They worked hard to get between him and his vehicle. He spent time on the sharp end, he reacted and got the fat right out before he learned of their tender mercies. I'm not impressed at all with our "leadership" class.
We are on our own. I sure wonder if there will be a call at some point: "every man to his tent."
We are sorely lacking in the leadership department at all levels of government.
DeleteThe current crop of desperadoes need to remember what Black Jack Pershing did back in the day.
DeleteOur current crop of leadership also need to remember why Black Jack Pershing did what he did back in the day.
Yup.
DeleteVoting Rubric
ReplyDelete1) No Democrat
2) No Incumbent
3) No Unopposed.
Copy.
DeleteI keep hearing " drifted away from God" about the USA. But remember why we formed communities in the good old. Freedom from God. The king said he was God, the pope said he was the living God, and every ruler said you had to believe in their version of a god, and each was different. Different rules, down to what you had to do to survive. If you didn't like that rule, you likely didn't survive.it equates to, freedom from religion, the ability to believe differently from your neighbors. And they differently than you. And be safe in your protected belief. That's what some people are working against. BIRCHERS anyone?
ReplyDeleteI'll give you freedom from any specific religion but freedom from God? I'll agree to disagree.
DeleteNo, we didn't set up for Freedom from God. What we set up was to not have the current ruler shove his version of God down our throats (our founding fathers were all just 100 years or so away from the 30 Years War and the English Civil War, both wars which destroyed the various countries involved, and both were about shoving whatever branch of Christianity the current ruler of one faction was following down everyone's throat. (Especially in Germany, where a prince could be Catholic, so everyone under his control was Catholic (by law) and when he died and his Lutheran heir took over, everyone under his control had to switch to Lutheranism (by law.) A simplification of a very complex issue, but there it is.
DeleteThe Puritans escaped persecution by all sides in England, went to Holland, and then to America, as an attempt to quit being hassled by other Christians for the Puritans wanting to practice their version of Christianity.
Nowhere was this country set up to accept with open arms Devil Worshipers and openly Wiccan practicioners. Considering the Salem witch trials were about, well, DWs and WPs, supposedly...
We were wholely founded as a Christian nation. Thus the Rights granted by our Creator thingy. And all the 'One Nation Under God' stuff.
Our founding fathers (and mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles and that weird relative no-one was sure of, but, hey, he's part of the family, we think) would have freaked out if the Speaker of the House had brought in a muslim 'chaplain'. Considering the first war we fought after the Constitution was signed was with the Barbary pirates, whom we, with a small Navy and smaller Marine Corps, beat like a rented punching bag and still the whole area didn't quite get the message, still...
Ach, long story, but we were founded in order to allow no government intrusion into how we worshiped God. Not to be free from God, but to celebrate God as we liked it. (And not to celebrate the Devil, Moloch or Bael (some certain organizations do...) or any particular earth 'deity.'
Some of the Founders were Deists, the Christian aspect of the nation's founding is debated hotly in some circles. It's the "no state religion" thing which the Bill of Rights gives us, no Church of England, etc., etc.
DeleteThe Puritans practised the very thing they fled from: intolerance.
They were also God-full communists (not god-less communists, see?) who practiced communism before it was cool, and almost died from it. The radical acceptance of capitalism and merchantilism by the New Englanders was a reaction to almost dying from communism.
DeleteAnd, yeah, they pretty much hated every other Christian sect. My Mayflower ancestors are probably a bit peeved at my mom converting to Catholicism... Oh well, they're dead, doesn't matter anymore.
Mayflower ancestors? Y'all got here early!
DeleteAnd on Dad's side, Acadian French. So my families have been here since, well, long time. Though the last name comes from a disgruntled Kraut wanting to escape the craziness of the German unification and all the silliness that went with that.
DeleteWhat's really funny is that my mom's father's side of the family was in New Orleans at the same time as Dad's father's side of the family, MF's side in transition from a post in Cuba (Marine Corps) to drop the family off in Columbus, Ohio on the way to a posting at the embassy compound in... Peking. (Saw action in Spanish American War, posted with family in Cuba, then posted without family in Peking just in time for the... Boxer Rebellion. Yikes!) While DF's grand-father was in New Orleans raising 7 kids and getting ready to die from Cholera (bad choice moving from Germany (unified) to New Orleans, but I resulted, so, maybe not that bad after all.)
Well, it was a good move for The Chant. I'm sure that's what he was thinking...
DeleteThere’s no leadership in Sacramento ...very little in any of the communities.
ReplyDeleteAll I hear is a giant sucking sound.
I barely recognize my home state any more.
About the only state agency that seems to be functioning as it should is the department of forestry and fire protectio n (CalFire) ...Thank God!
They’re setting a good example, unlike their federal counterparts, whose attitude is let’s watch this and see if it becomes dangerous.
At least, so far, it hasn’t reached the same level as last year.
But I digress.
What seems to have happened, at least on two of the coasts, is we’ve progressed from a desire for self-sufficiency to accumulation of wealth with the expectation that someone else will provide that wealth.
CalFire seems to be a well ordered organization, I'm surprised the pols haven't destroyed it by now.
DeleteSomeone told the low-information voters that they could have it all if only someone would give it to them. The big city dwellers believed. So far the heartland isn't buying that crap.
More and more, hiding in that underground bunker, only coming out to restock food and Diet Dr. Pepper, maybe some ammo and a book or two or 50 or so... looks good. Looks really good.
ReplyDeleteNow if I only had a couple million to buy a missile silo or com bunker and get it rebuilt to my specs and and and... I'd invite you all to come visit, maybe... grumble grumble....
More and more, the weirdness and stupidity of the top candidates for the Dem presidency are sounding just barking mad. I fear that this is the prep work for the ascendancy of Michelle I, who will sweep out of left field to 'rescue' the DNC with Oprah's help from the fruitcakes currently running. I've got a bad feeling about this. Have had for over a year and when I tell people my suspicion of what's going on, they look at me like I'm crazy. But... the last 5 final candidates from the DNC all had the top selling 'biographies' the year they announced, and, oh, look, the Mooch's hagiography, I mean biography, was at the top way above everyone elses' bios...
And the California curse is entering all the good states. Look at what is happening in Austin, or Broward County, or even Arizona or Nevada... The evil rot is happening everywhere. Sad, so sad, no way to stop it except fire... which is sad, so sad...
An underground bunker won't save you, fleeing to the mountains won't save you, the preppers with their bug-out bags are fooling themselves. To survive a post-Apocalyptic thing will require a group of like-minded folks, well-armed and well-supplied, to fight off the ravening hordes from the urban areas. I suppose if you go deep enough into the mountains and you survive Mother Nature (and the locals who may not cotton to some fellow who "ain't from around here") then you might have a chance.
DeleteThe best way is to stop the rot in its tracks. Everything else is a crap shoot.
Well, the underground bunker more because it's energy efficient and it protects my delicate skin from the glowing orb of pain. I really don't like the outside world, too bright, too shiny, hurts, it hurtsss soooo badddddd (hssssssssss...)
DeleteAnd, yes, the time for sloshing them with Martinis is either now or close. We'll see with the upcoming election.
At least Bolton is gone, so his constant warmongering is no more. That's two 'War, war, always war' advisers gone (first Mattis, who was a definite disappointment as secdef.
Ah yes, the coolness which is in your average subterranean bunker, very nice.
DeletePlus all those FEET between me and glowing orb of Ultra-Violet Pain. Sol is only indirectly my friend. I have become a night crawler as I can develop a nice tan after 5 minutes and start smoking and burning after 10.
DeleteAny ancestors in the Carpathians? (Asking for a friend...)
DeleteIf you want to see their heads explode if the government is STUPID enough to pay off all college debt. Then the US Government owns the degree and the person who went to school for free does NOT get to use that degree for anything. Not for Job Qualification or anything else a degree would be good for except for toilet paper. If they want to use the degree then they pay back the tax payers in FULL. Then they can use it until then NO
ReplyDeleteAh, so we (the government) buy the degree, by paying off their college debt. Then the degree is not recognized because, well, you guessed it, it ain't paid for! I like it.
DeleteYa wanna your degree paid for? Well, there's this 6 year service program where Uncle Sam provides uniforms, housing and food and a small stipend while you work off your debt.
DeleteNo, not the Military. The new CCC. Lots of garbage to pick up, lots of trails to be rebuilt, forests to be cleaned up of flammable stuff, bazillion tons of metal to be separated and sorted, lots of crops to pick, even lots of glowing glass chunks to clean up in Nevada...
Yes indeed. Lots to do if you want a free degree.
DeleteOh Wow!! Beans and I could be related!! We both had ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, and survived that first winter when most of the folks died due to starvation and general communism. Pretty cool!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I agree with RHT447, Nylon12 and Beans...I am stocking up on all sorts of stuff, if for no other reason than that I can afford it now, and who knows what prices will do in the next 5-10 years. So far as Cali is concerned, I truly think it is a case of be careful what ya wish for, you just might get it.
On the annual beach trip where I sleep under the same roof as both of my sisters, and their spouses, and a niece and her boyfriend, my Mom and Dad there are a few rules. One is J does most of the cooking, shopping, and menu planning. L does some cooking, so we eat VERY HEALTHY, and I do the dishes (there is a dishwasher!!!) and we all work on cleaning the cottage that last day. Place is usually cleaner than when we arrive.
The second rule is Dad pays for the groceries. Submit all receipts. Mom pays the rent for the week. The rest of us are responsible for getting ourselves there.
The third rule is NO DISCUSSION ABOUT POLITICS!!! Period. NONE. NADA. Zip. Zero!!! Because we are all there to enjoy each other's company as a family. Do we disagree on stuff--You Betcha!! My sisters and families have been SoCal residents for over 25 years now. I live in the Midwest. And our roots are granite solid NorthEastern New England. We are all pretty tight with the buck, but there are some liberal tendencies going on in there.
Having said all that, my parents who are not living in a (VERY NICE) senior community have discovered that many peoples kids do not agree to disagree, and have quit talking or coming to see parents, and just generally having big family schisms. It is very hard to stop beating your brother or sister over the head because they don't see reason YOUR way...which is of course, the BEST way. My folks have told us how happy they are that although we three gals might disagree between ourselves, we don't let it affect everyone's vacation. We know in less than 7 days time we will be scattered to the 4 corners of the country, not to have to live together for another year. And we do keep coming back to do it again, this year was 4 years, and we are making plans for next year.
I just wish we could do that with the rest of the country. More states rights, less Uncle Sam telling ya where to go and how to get there. And if they cancel student loan debt, why stop there...how about canceling all behind school lunches, all behind power and heat bills. All the credit card bills. Where would you stop? Nope. You were the one that thought a degree in African Basketweaving would bring in enough income to pay the rent and buy groceries. So learn to live on that salary or...radical concept...get some training in a career that people will pay you for. Like, electrician, or plumber, or car mechanic, or welder, or HVAC or how to roof a house. My son, who managed to flunk himself out of college after 2 years had a mean mom who told him he needed to get a job in the next 30 days because on day 31 I expected some rent money. For him, joining the military was out due to his health issues. So he went to work with the fellow next door and learned the roofing business. Two years into it, he was pulling in about $45,000 due to some overtime. Four years after that the company was sending him for more training, they promoted him to estimator, and jumped his salary to $65,000. Now, about 5-6 years later he is pulling in about 80K, has no student debt, has a house, a wife and new baby, and a job he is good at which keeps others working. He is dealing with million dollar projects on a routine basis. Better still, he has a job he enjoys.
Sometimes it's all about keeping one's yap shut and agreeing to disagree, then moving along to work together.
DeleteSounds like your tribe has more than enough common sense to make it all work.
Scene on the Mayflower:
S: So we're going to the New World, what are your dreams B?
B: Grow crops, raise a family and someday, maybe, just maybe, have a descendant who writes for a blog.
S: What is a blog, pray tell?
B: I have not the faintest idea, but it sounds interesting.
S: Well yes, yes it does. Oh Captain Jones? A word if you please...
It is a shame that trade schools are not pushed as a viable alternative.
DeleteLast Christmas, I was shopping at JoAnne's for some sort of Christmas stuff, and the cashier was whining about her student debts, but she was sure she would be able to pay them off once she got out of school with a Master's in Opera singing.
I suggested with her small frame she should take up welding and the petrochemical industry would snap her up in a second for pipeline welding and close confinement welding, be able to pay off her trade school debt and her Opera Singing debt in 3-5 years as she would be making $125k or more for close confinement welding.
She was not amused. Her cow-orker seemed... intrigued.
A master's in opera singing? An interesting field of study, but financially not very useful.
DeleteRe the kollidge debt thingy, ya'll are looking at it all wrong. Go ahead and forgive the debt, but also bill the kollidges for the 90 percent crap degrees they sell, that'll break them overnight. Obviously no more government "aid" (swindle) to students seeking advanced education. The kollidges will have no choice but to trim all the deadwood, and when that bloodbath is finished they'll be optimally sized to sell a good education to those who are willing to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteConcur!
DeleteA brilliant idea.