The Left Can't Find Nazis? They'll Provide Their OWN!

The bizarre sight of Biden going all Demagogue Hitler on a dark, red-light stage has to rank as one of the strangest events of the year. And, it's been a VERY strange year.

The Left is ready - nay, EAGER - to fight 'The Nazis/Fascists' among us. They don't let the fact that there are only a miniscule number of Americans who are even SLIGHTLY attracted to that philosophy stop them from smearing the entire group of American Dissidents.

So, they keep trying, harder and harder, to take out those Dissidents who they have chosen as Example Fascists, and throwing all the power of an overstuffed government on 'those people'.

To no avail.

What they don't realize is that the Dissidents are largely self-organized and use shared leadership structures that divide the power and responsibility among its members.

Ultimately, we - individually - are responsible for the continuance of the Constitutional Republic. We need to push back from within our communities, and stop the Power Overreach.

The 'Sleepers' Among Us

I'm referring to this new twist on RINOs - the people who are flat-out NOT a Republican, but is lying about their past - with the copious assistance of social media 'scrubbers'.

Now, I'd planned on putting this post on Liberty's Torch. However, difficulties with loading the dashboard led me to put this here. I'm hoping that the issues will be resolved soon.

But, back to the issue - what do we do about this takeover of the GOP apparatus?

Third party always SOUNDS good - but, as we've seen in the past, that's a high barrier to success. The rules for getting on the ballot in every state have deliberately made very unfriendly for those attempting to accomplish that goal.

We've TRIED to reform the GOP. A lot of good that's done us. With the timeline so short for the midterms, we're probably stuck with the GOP, for now.

But, there is time before 2024.

There are, to my knowledge, no third party organizations that appear on all 50 states - with the exception of the Libertarian party.

The actual votes for that party, in local, state, and national elections, is quite low. The hard-core members are NOT on board with the mainstream GOP. I expect that any attempt to do to them what the RINOs/sleepers have done to the GOP are doomed.

And, for me, that's OK.

I don't want to co-opt them.

I want to affiliate with them.

I want to establish a working relationship with them; we'll put up our most electable candidates under their umbrella, with their agreement, and, in return, we'll work out a platform that allows BOTH groups to get the top 5 of their most urgent concerns, RELATED TO NON-SOCIAL/CULTURAL ISSUES, addressed after 2024. This can be a time-limited affiliation.

I think it's likely that the hard-core GOP members for whom social/cultural issues are paramount will resist. I would expect getting their cooperation would be a hard-sell.

However, there are many unaffiliated voters Leaning Libertarian, who could be persuaded.

Do I think keeping the Dobbs status is worth fighting for? Sure. It's a workable decision that returns those laws to the states. And, to be fair, it would probably be worth it for Libertarians as well, as it allows local organizations to have a larger impact - although, for many of them, completely getting government out of the process is better.

I do believe that most of the LP would agree with that plan. In that, perhaps I'm optimistic, but I have to believe that working out a way to have a larger influence on national affairs would appeal to the members of the LP.

Whatever the answer, it's clear that the GOP is - or should be - dead to us. Their record is black with betrayal of principle.

Some Random Things That Caught My Eye

The Nazi efforts to neuter the genuine voice of the Christian church.

Funny how the Not-Left gets accused of unlawful insurrection, but the Actual-Left engages in that regularly, without any notice by the Media (I'm using the Capitalism to denote the "Official Media").

I just checked, and NO MEDIA, other than the Dissident Media, has this story.

From MSNBC, a search for Austin:

Narrowing the search to Austin City Hall:

From FoxNews (same search):

At least the Fox search acknowledges that the police department has had their budget cut. But, nothing about the takeover of the area around City Hall (an autonomous zone, so to speak).

CNN? Nada. On and on.

I do watch (a little, as my husband starts every morning with tv, and always has the evening news on - generally, the channel with the best-looking female newscasters). I've seen nothing about the Austin City Hall 'insurrection'.

Funny - you would THINK that would be news, wouldn't you?

That "NIH Funded the Wuhan Lab" story?

It's complicated. What happens is, the original provider of grants funds another entity, which acts as a slush fund for those organizations the original provider WANTED to fund, but wasn't legally able, or didn't want to have that grant on record.

The intermediary entity is the one that does the funding (sometimes, taking it through yet another NGO in between, before passing it onto the intended organization). Yes, this does increase the cost - if nothing else, in accounting for the moving donation in paperwork. However, even the Mafia, when they move their dirty money through subsequent organizations to launder the cash, expects to pay a price. And, for the 'cleaners', it is quite lucrative.

Now, you know why so many organizations are cropping up - many of them were designed to be bland 'pass-through' entities for the eventual recipients.

That brief introduction I had to accounting and business practices in Cuyahoga Community College? It's been priceless in understanding the strategies of the Core Left.

Funny, This - I Was Just Starting a Re-Read of The Gulag Archipelago

This essay explains how we are more similar to the Russian Dissidents, and not the American Revolutionaries.

It also has some suggestions for acting in this very different, and oppressive, environment we have found ourselves in.

Don't Listen to What They SAY, Look for the 'Tells'

Good advice from Nitzakhon, over at Liberty's Torch.

I have to agree. There are so many out there who are flat-out lying/attempting to deceive - in business, in government, in the media. You just can't trust them to not use their access to push their agenda - and, that agenda is usually hidden.

Update on the Voting Investigations

In Milwaukee, the coordination and collusion with the Far-Left groups was unbelievable. Personal meetings, daily reports on ballots received and where they originated, push by the Left to get actual data files - it's hard to imagine that the election officials didn't realize that this was open election fraud.

The mayors of the five largest Wisconsin mayors were holding virtual meetings on the election in May and June of last year. They coordinated their efforts to apply for millions from the Zuckerberg-funded CTCL.

Just what is that Zuckerberg organization?

It's actually a pair of organizations designed to throw ALL elections to the Dems (at least as long as they reliably vote the way that the Tech Oligarchy wants them to).

One part is the CTCL - Center for Tech and Civic Life; that's the part that funnels money to election boards, in the form of grants. Those grants are administered by the EII - Election Infrastructure Initiative. That last organization is not to be confused with the Government agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Check out the agency's website - it's an eye-opener.

Although, that is is, may be the whole point.

The other part is CSME - the Center for Secure and Modern Elections.

Now, who could be against that?

Me. Because the name, although seemingly bland and harmless, doesn't convey the actual scope of the organization - or its Dark Money funding.

The report on the Amistead Project is here - just click to download (and, prepare to be shocked).

“This report paints a clear picture of a cabal of billionaires and activists using their wealth to subvert, control, and fundamentally alter the electoral system itself,” Kline added. “We must act now to prevent such privatized elections in the future. The American public deserves transparent and fair elections, not lawless elections directed by powerful private interests.”

In addition to Zuckerberg, the main foundations funding the effort to subvert the electoral system were The Democracy Fund, New Venture Fund, Skoll Foundation, and Knight Foundation, according to the report. Key nonprofits involved in distributing the money include CTCL, the Center for [Election] Innovation Research, the Center for Civic Design, the National Vote at Home Institute, the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, and Rock the Vote.

The report demonstrates that funding from nonprofits was especially unnecessary in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as the federal government had already provided sufficient funding through both the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the CARES Act.

Now, one question that may be concerning you is:

Why all of these organizations with similar goals?

Several reasons:

• Some of them are set up so/ that ordinary people will confuse innocent organizations (similarly named, but with other purposes, or that are government agencies), with these Leftist NGOs.
• Some of it is to give competitive people a leadership position, paid for with money that is tax deductible. Essentially, as it is a tax-exempt organization, the donor is getting that employee at 1/2 price.
• Some of it is to siphon off the energy and ambition that would otherwise hamper the parent organizations. Divide the leaders up, and they will spend their time trying to impress "Papa Organization", rather than plotting the leadership's downfall.
• It offers a testing ground for leaders.
• Who is able?
• Who is good at directing/controlling their troops?
• Who focuses on the bottom line - defeating the official enemy - and not getting sidetracked in empire-building?
• Who is ruthless at stamping out dissent?
• It allows the opportunity to exercise limited authority in a confined space, and therefore is useful for developing leadership skills.
• Many of them are women, who can be bought off cheaply with a title, some discretionary money, and some minions.
• The interlocking nature of the structures are confusing, and thereby escape the notice of the dimwits in the Media.

It Always STARTS as an "Option"

When a "compromise" is reached, those who started the whole fight, and continue to dissent NEVER lose. Instead, the Will-Not-Be-Appeased agree - grudgingly, and only after a lot of drama, hurling of Hate Words (Hater, Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, Transphobic, etc.), and publicity that puts THEM in the position of Officially Injured Party - to be given a Separate (but Equal?) organization.

Paid for, BTW, with the same funds that only official organizations have access to.

That's just the first step in the long fight.

You see, they have now gotten the funds, and official recognition, to fuel their continued Long March. That phrase, BTW, is taken from the story of Chinese Communists, when, after defeat on the field, the rebellious forces retreated to their new headquarters, from whence they began to plan their final takeover.

The New Long March, through the institutions of the opposing side, has been ongoing for a long time. The person who came up with the slogan was influenced by the Italian Communist, Gramsci, (see my work on explaining Gramsci, Part I, and Part II).

 a slogan coined by Communist student activist Rudi Dutschke around 1967 to describe his strategy for establishing the conditions for revolution: subverting society by infiltrating institutions such as the professions. The phrase "long march" is a reference to the prolonged struggle of the Chinese communists, which included a physical Long March of their army across China.^[1]

 Dutschke also got support from Marcuse:

Herbert Marcuse corresponded with Dutschke in 1971 to agree with this strategy, "Let me tell you this: that I regard your notion of the 'long march through the institutions' as the only effective way..."^[4]

 And, as I said, a major part of the grab for public funds is intentional subversion, and eventual control, of those institutions.

The long march includes the concerted effort to build up counterinstitutions. They have long been an aim of the movement, but the lack of funds was greatly responsible for their weakness and their inferior quality. They must be made competitive. This is especially important for the development of radical, "free" media. The fact that the radical Left has no equal access to the great chains of information and indoctrination is largely responsible for its isolation.

Now, how will this happen at UT?

Note that the Left has pressured the university to set up an Alternative Power Center - the "alternative" band.

From that publicly-funded power base, the students - and their Leftist leaders - will grow in size. They will do that through a variety of ways:

• They will suggest different insignia on their uniforms - a badge, an armband, a scarf - and conspicuously wear it in performances. They will also use it to try to gain 'allies'
• Allies are those who aren't ready to commit to directly working with the organization, or who actually have no interest in their aims. But, by asking for a small commitment, such as wearing the same color, periodically, or putting a button/sticker on (it doesn't matter that it's not on the official band uniform, it matters because, once they buckle on one little matter, they are on the slippery slope).
• They will join with other organizations to provide public support, and further marginalize the UT band.
• Eventually, the band members will find themselves shunned by other UT students. Particularly for the women, this is a profoundly uncomfortable position. Some will cave.
• Eventually, the pressure will mount for a joint performance - "in the interests of Unity". Funny, that unity never involves THEIR making compromises - they are obdurate. All change must come from the other side. Their only assent to Unity will be their "gracious" acceptance of the other side's words of "Unity". Unity, my A$$.
• This may well be a multi-year project. It doesn't matter how long it takes, it just matters that the Left never give up.

And, speaking of Never Giving Up, I understand the the Dodder-in-Chief was able to stay awake long enough to deliver a speech to Congress.

I didn't watch it. Forcing that kind of torture on an old lady is some kind of Human Rights violation, I'm told.

For those who care, here's a synopsis of the speech.

It's worth reading the report from Fox News, that mentions a telling phrase that relates to the tactics I mentioned at the start of this post.

 He got a rather icy response from Republicans when he pushed for bipartisan negotiations on his "American Jobs Plan," a spending plan the White House is selling as an infrastructure effort. 

"I'd like to meet with those who have ideas that are different, they think are better. I welcome those ideas," Biden said. "But the rest of the world is not waiting for us. I just want to be clear, from my perspective, doing nothing is not an option."

In other words, we are Fine with Compromise, as long as you accept that the line is moving - in OUR direction.

Little by little, like a horny teen edging his hand further and further into the Forbidden Zone.

Until - SUCCESS! 

There is a Reason that Free Speech is in the FIRST Amendment

And, a good place to start learning out why, and how that right is under threat, is here.

Threats against those using that right to say things you oppose is just ONE of the actions that is designed to make sure that, even if the Right to Speak Freely is not officially stricken from the Constitution, it is neutered.

I strongly suggest that you view the actual video of the event. It has so often been reported to be a White Supremacist, Nazi-supporting speech, that the truth will astound you.

The fact that the leadership of this Cancel Culture is female is deeply painful to me. We have come a long way - down a very dark and dangerous road - from the days when women seeking to empower themselves sang "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar".

For Modern Women, it is "I am a TERF (But Don't Hate Me Because of That), Hear me Whimper".

The Dems are Making the American People into Frogs in Boiling Water

That is, they have removed the ability of many Americans to work for a living, and hooked them on the "free" money of the COVID handouts.

It's a process:

• Whip up fear of contagion. Initiate the first Lockdowns, just to slow the growth.
• Continue it, as the alleged numbers rise. Supply the media with pictures, interviews with health care workers, and videos of the pandemic. Make sure that they, and the people in authority that are on camera, speak with one voice - and that voice better be frightened of the coming catastrophe, but reassuring about the public's chances of continued survival, as long as they scrupulously follow every OCD recommendation.
• Ridicule the opposition. Demonize them. Threaten any dissenters with financial ruin and even jail time.
• Keep the carrot extended - FREE money if ONLY you will stay home.
• "Luckily", and Completely Coincidentally, Zoom and other teleconference services become widely available - for FREE!!!! I'll keep to myself my darker suspicions about the oversight of Big Brother (even as I do take advantage of it for business and family contacts).
• The lackluster performance of Biden/Harris is negated by the scripted appearances and previously recorded interviews and speeches. The compliant media is given opportunities to be a part of the media circus that surrounds the campaign, as long as they never mention the Potemkin Foundations of the Joe/Hoe campaign.
• What you read/view becomes a part of you. The gloom and doom televised COVID updates, both semi-reassuring (you PROBABLY won't die, as long as you stay home), and horrifying (the numbers, the numbers!!!). Has anyone else noticed that, as one year bled into the next, there was never a scorecard re-set, as is customary with seasonal infections? Instead, all reporting is cumulative.
• The talk shows threw themselves into this, full time, featuring:
• COVID coping strategies
• Online buying - LOTS of buying!!!
• Wine
• More Wine
• Crafts for the homebound
• Ways for the women of the house to pamper themselves (the men were generally working)
• Mask patterns
• Women who labored to cover the world in masks
• Women who made money making masks (not as sainted as the above)
• Women who sacrificed - nurses, mothers, caring for aging parents, teachers - ALL who are Truly Suffering, unlike the trucker who does the same without making a line dance of it all
• Younger patients with COVID - all with co-morbidities, most often Major Obesity
• The occasional death of an under-60 - again, all with co-morbidities. Almost every one not only overweight, but FAT (I am FAT. I can call it what it is)
• The rise of the Screaming Karens!!!!! People tisk-tisk at that, and suggest that GENTLE reminders - accompanied with stern, VERY disapproving looks - are more appropriate

What's next?

Well, we know what's next. Withdrawal of the financial subsidies, coupled with regulations still limiting restaurants and bars - two of the businesses most likely to have jobs for the less-educated, making unemployment in the underclasses a perma-problem.

Followed by the onset of Spring/Summer riot season. Helpfully designed to destroy whatever remains of Free Enterprise in the cities. As well as to "teach" the vulnerable young how to make themselves unemployable.

For a colorful and engaging introduction to the future, don't forget to visit Wilder, Wealthy, Wise every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

And, So It Begins

Actually, it started a long time ago, with the fringe monthlies that didn't kowtow to the Established Thinking.  There have always been those, largely mimeographed sheets of paper staples together, circulated by the convicted.

Don't know what a mimeograph is?  Ask your granny - maybe your great-grandpappy.

Or, just Google it.

The Samizdats did it, even earlier, with their revolutionary documents re-typed, from one to another.  Think of the work it would take to reproduce a book by re-typing it, or copying the book into longhand.

I teach American kids for whom cut-and-paste is too much work.

The trend accelerated with the introduction of fax machines.  What, they're lame technology?  Tell that to the Chinese youth that spearheaded the Tiananmen Square revolution.  They did that armed largely with fax machines to spread the word.

Oh, sorry, you probably CAN'T tell them - they are dead, in prison, or cowed into submission.  A few are still under house arrest or living abroad.

Fast-forward to recent times.

Today's kids use their cell phones to organize their social and political activity.  There is a downside to their method.  It is ephermal - lasting but a short time, and with no quick way to archive the conversation.

However, the videos/Vimeo/Snapchat means they most like to use have been mastered, and used to spread the memes of the Left.

Where does this leave blogs?

You are unlikely to make a financial killing with political blogs.  Sorry, that's just the way it is.  If money is your prime motivator, get a sales job.

The real effect of the political/cultural blogs is to Spread the Learning.  To provoke thought, to educate younger people about historical events that they have MIS-learned, and to build coalitions.

Alternative Ways to Spread the Learning:

• Pass on videos - on Facebook, on Google+, on your and others' blogs.  They should be SHORT, memorable, and educate the viewer.  Think of Andrew Klavan, Bill Whittle, and other Conservatives who currently dominate the media.  You could try producing your own, if you are inclined.  If so, send me a message, and I'll respond.


• Circulate static media - someecards, LiberalLogic101, photos with captions, etc.  To the above places to circulate, try SnapChat - the under 21 crowd ALL use it.  Your objective is simply to provide an alternative voice/meme for people to pass on.  Remember, the goal is to Spread the Learning.


• Read HARD copies of political/cultural books, and pass them on to your friends/library/school.  By doing so, you will maximize the effect of your buying dollar.


• Continue to educate yourself.  Read, discuss, take notes.  Try meeting with others in a book club, if you can.  If that's not possible, try the Ace of Spades online book club.  It's primarily for fiction, but you can also look around to find a like-minded group of readers for political/cultural discussions.  Try Joining Conservative Mentors, or another group - they exist in a wide range of philosophies.  I've also joined the Bible-a-Thon, which is set up to complete reading the entire Old and New Testament in a year.


• Right now, Facebook is experiencing a pushback from those on the Right who are concerned about its evident Leftist bias.  But, let's get real - Conservatives skew older, and FB serves to keep up with the kids and grandkids.  There have been rumblings about an alternative FB, but I haven't seen it happening yet.  There are some things we could try:
  
  
  
  • Migrate to Google+
  
  
  • Try to set up a No Facebook Day - pick a date at least 2 months in the future, and publicize it via - I love this - Facebook.  For 24 hours, set your picture to the logo, and refuse to use FB.
  
  
  • If successful, try setting one day a week - Sunday would be appropriate - to NOT use FB.  Again, make your reason clear with a picture logo, and a statement about your decision.
  
  
  
  

Feel free to add any further idea to this list.

Saturday Randomness

I was reading Fred on Everything (he is interesting - an ex-cop with a jaundiced view of some of them, an expatriate living in Mexico, who contradicts many of the stereotypes about Mexicans, etc.), and he posted on a hot topic - police presence in Black neighborhoods.  His take is - refreshing.

Another column of his that is worth reading is his analysis of how America is already in the dumps - BEFORE Trump.  We've already been taken over by special interests, and no longer live in a democracy (or republic).

If, like me, you want to return to a time of more freedom, pre-Federal-government-runs-everything, we might want to start planning how to take the Feds down - NOT with warfare, but with resistance, tactical refusal to give them our money, and state-by-state resistance.  I'm NOT talking revolution - that's a dead idea.  Instead, let's work incrementally, to chip away at Leftist strongholds.

Some starting points:

• Stop sending them money.  Find work that can be done under-the-table.  No taxes, no Social Security.  That last part would be difficult, but COULD be made up by the local authorities, who could collect at that level what is needed by people with no other resources.  The fact is, most people have other resources (and, when they don't have to pay Federal taxes, they have more).  Stick your extra money under the mattress - you don't want to leave it in banks, where it is vulnerable to being confiscated.


• Refuse to give ONE penny to any college for worthless degrees.  Tell your kids - "I'll pay for you to get a trade".  That's likely to be the best thing you'll ever do for that kid - it's a way of earning a living that is less likely to be outsourced.


• Maine is one of the states that reduced its welfare rolls by insisting on able-bodied people actually looking for work, enrolling in job programs, or working at part-time unpaid activities.  Surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle would say - almost all said, "Not worth it", and dropped off the rolls.  Other states could do this.


• Return the Federal lands to the people.  In several states, this could be a new Settlement Rush.  If there are FEMA-type trailers stored in the state, let them be re-purposed (NO complaints about their condition - the receivers fix them up themselves, and Caveat Emptor).


• Take back the schools - clear out much of the administration, turn them over to local organizations, who are responsible for finding the funding.  Except in the poorest sections of town, schools should be fully funded by the LOCAL neighborhood.  Yes, I'm talking breaking up the big city schools.  With the administration gone, costs should drop, while STILL allowing the teachers to get paid reasonably.  Replace the assistant principals with recently retired military - the AP's are mostly used for muscle to control the students, so let's get in people who know how to keep people in line.  Actually TEACH reading - anyone who cannot read at grade level should spend 1/2 their day in disciplined phonics-based reading programs - reading content-rich practical text, or NON-dystopian literature.  Anyone who cannot do math at grade level should be spending the class time on old-fashioned programs, like Saxon Math.  What little time remains should be spend on civics education that actually teaches about the Constitution and other foundational documents and principles, and practical science.

This is a link to a VERY pessimistic column.  I'm not so sure they are right - while the young seem to embrace the Socialist Revolution, at this point, it's theoretical, and their "enlightened" attitudes don't cost them.  Once the impact of the price exacted comes home, I doubt they will continue their "yeah, let's spread money around" thinking.

One MAJOR reason that the country has changed is that there are a whole lot of women who are supported by government, whether directly, with welfare or government employment, or indirectly, in nonprofits and niches like Human Resources, which are required to be so bloated because of governmental regulations.  Take away the regs, and many women in these staff positions will find themselves on the street.  At that point, they MAY come to their senses.  Either way, citizens will no longer be funding their hectoring.

I'm thinking divide & conquer:

• Use legal means to reduce government.  Fewer regulations, liberation of federal lands (with encouragement to settle on them, we might reduce the numbers in the cities), reduction of administrative bloat in government.


• Write GOOD curriculum for all ages, to explain what good government looks like, and what limitations on the federal government already exist.  Offer it, free, to schools, along with e-books telling stories that reinforce those ideas.

Lastly, here is a link to someone who, like me, supported Cruz.  Now, she has to decide which candidate will do the LEAST damage to the USA.

I've been getting rosy economic stories from Liberal/Progressive friends.  Apparently, thinking that Obama's disastrous economic policies have created a hollowed-out economy is blatant racism.

Mea culpa.

Of course, there is this, and this.  BTW, that last stat?  Straight from the Labor Dept.



 

Apparently, no matter how you massage numbers, the damned things just keep adding up to the same conclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRO-Western Civ

Isn't it funny that such a statement makes me stand out?  I'll make it more pointed:

I am devoutly, unashamedly in favor of teaching ALL students who are on track to be high school graduates, the Foundations of Civilization, from the perspective of Western History.

This DOESN'T mean that students shouldn't learn about other cultures, just that we shouldn't glamorize them at the expense of their own culture:

• Learn about Japan, including its history of rule by military, its current political and economic structure, and, by the way, Japan's complete exclusion of other races/ethnic groups from full participation in that culture.  They are quite racist, as well.


• China - its colonization of other countries, including the country of Tibet.  Its shaky economic structure, its refusal to allow Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, and its use of political prisoners as slave labor.


• France - its interlocking elitist governance, its abandonment of elderly people to die, its colonizing past (which, when they left Vietnam, did nothing to restore the country and led the condemnation against America for stepping into the breach), and it willingness to cooperate with vile dictators, while villifying Israel.

I could go on and on.  We need leaders whose first impulse is not to apologize for our country, our culture, and our history.  We need students to learn about the GOOD our country, and the whole of Western peoples have done.  We need proud defenders of democracy, freedom, and Western culture.

Read more here.

LOST Again

UPDATE:  Almost forgot to credit Bastion of Liberty, who first alerted me to this.

The Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST, for short) never did get ratified, despite SERIOUS efforts by the various Progressive/Liberal/Leftist/Socialist/Etc. groups.  What is LOST?  (Admittedly, the source at the link REALLY doesn't like the treaty, but it is a fair summary of it, and its potential consequences).

The Law of the Sea Treaty calls for technology transfers and wealth transfers from developed to undeveloped nations.  It also requires parties to the treaty to adopt regulations and laws to control pollution of the marine environment.  Such provisions were among the reasons President Ronald Reagan rejected the treaty in 1982.  As Edwin Meese, U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan, explained, "...it was out of step with the concepts of economic liberty and free enterprise that Ronald Reagan was to inspire throughout the world."

In additional to the economic provisions, the treaty also establishes specific jurisdictional limits on the ocean area that countries may claim, including a 12-mile territorial sea limit and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone limit.

Well, the LOST-pushers - um, LOST.  But, like any good vampire, the backers don't give up - they rise from their coffins, and again attack!

This time, they're using the high-minded Protection of the Environment angle.  (Link is to the UN resolution).

an international legally binding instrument under theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea1 on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

The parts about resource-sharing (i.e., those that DIDN'T spend a dime obtaining those resources still have a claim to the $$$$$), technology-sharing (oh, how WELL other countries share with us; unfortunately, much of our "sharing" is involuntary).

But, will it pass?

Not to worry, as the British used to say!  The Obama administration won't let pesky things like Separation of Powers stop them from implementing their Very Good Ideas (VGIs).  For example:

The Administration has already anted up domestically on some of the big-ticket possibilities under discussion, with, among other things, its huge expansion by executive order in September 2014 of the Remote Pacific Islands National Marine Monument in the central Pacific Ocean into a half-million-square-mile oceans preserve.

U.S. environmental groups are lobbying now for additional marine monument areas off the coast of New England, site of some of the U.S.’s most important Atlantic fisheries.

Such preserves—known as marine protected areas or MPAs, in Law of the Sea jargon—are a major focus of attention for the U.S.-based Pew Charitable Trusts, which has been lobbying governments around the world for years to create them.

In other words - you silly states and commonwealths, you think you control the areas given to you?  Na-nah.  Big Daddy Fed is in charge of it ALL.

Elitist Snobbery - And What It Means for America

America, we are told by Progressives, is FILLED with those icky people who are not comfortable with those that differ from them ethnically, culturally, or religiously.

Progressives, on the other hand, PRIDE themselves on their carefree ability to associate with - well, just about ANYONE (because they are so cosmopolitan and worldly).

This is shown by their patting themselves on the back for having a passport, and using it, preferably in out-of-the-way places.  They sneer at those who travel by group; it shows their discomfort with cultures and places that are not familiar.

There is one ethnic group, and culture, that the Elites are afraid of, suspicious of, and nearly totally ignorant of - the White American.

Oh, the Elites will tell you exactly what the White American believes, thinks, does, and IS.  They KNOW.  Without any attempt to actually spend any time with "Those People".

Such ignorance, combined with disdain, is what Elites accuse "Those People" of (Yes, I do know that I am ending my sentences with a preposition.  That's what we Ohioans do.  Get over it.).

Muffin top on White Americans?  Evidence of their inability to control their appetites.

Muffin top on an Elite?  A relaxed attitude towards media-imposed conventions.

Drug use in White Americans?  Evidence of their laziness, criminal tendencies, and poor self-control.

Drug use in Black Americans?  Evidence of the oppression of them by White Americans.

Drug use in Elites?  Oh, come on!  EVERYBODY does it - totally unimportant.

Removing White American children from public schools, due to concerns about academic quality and poor cultural influences?  Evidence of Racism, a whole lot of -Phobias, and anti-intellectualism.

Removing Elite children from public schools, due to concerns about academic quality and poor cultural influences?  Just protecting their own - Totally justified (after all, the Clintons and Obamas did it).

White American not making the grade in school?  They're just stupid - probably a result of all that inbreeding.

Black American not making the grade in school?  Oppression by White Americans.

Elite not making the grade in school?  Child is (pick one or more): Learning Disabled, Autistic, Brilliant, but not understood by those mediocre teachers, Learns by a Different Modality (and, the teacher BETTER completely accommodate that difference - or ELSE).

Whatever the problem, Elites are excused from responsibility - unlike White Americans.

 

 

A New Term for an Old Concept

Anarcho-Tyranny

I was introduced to this idea by Francis Porretto of Bastion of Liberty (and Outlaw Bloggers).

It perfectly explains why the government is so obsessed with micro-managing the Libertarian impulses of the American people, but refuses to deal with ACTUAL crimes.

In short,

Sam Francis's most enduring, as well as trenchant, political insight may have been his perception of what he caustically described as "the unique achievement of the political genius of the modern era." Francis dubbed this "anarcho-tyranny"-"a kind of Hegelian synthesis of two opposites," he explained, in which the failure of the state to enforce protective law is coupled with the enforcement of oppressive law by the state to tyrannical ends. Under anarcho-tyranny, the underclass-rampaging blacks, illegal aliens invading from south of the border-is by and large tolerated or ignored in its behavior, while the law-abiding middle classes and that part of the upper class that is not directly incorporated into the ruling elite is criminalized through unfair taxation, social engineering, anti-gun legislation, "hate crime" statutes, and other forms of legislative and judicial harassment. Anarcho-tyranny is the strategy by which a dictatorially-minded ruling class exploits the lower orders for the purpose of grinding the middling majority between upper and nether millstones.

Bold text defined by me.

This is one concept that Conservatives and Libertarians need to become familiar with.  We also need to develop strategies to deal with it.

What Education Has Become

I'm a teacher. The "Progressive/Social Justice" model was just beginning when I was certified.  I gotta be honest, at that time, I was all in on that approach.

Fast Forward 30 years:

Now, the SJW (Social Justice Warrior) model is the ONLY one. Those not toeing the line have been tossed out/retired/hounded by the RE-gressive Mob. As a result, the ONLY teaching model the younger teachers have been exposed to is SJW.

What has happened to education?

It's NOT a pretty sight.

Something to Think About - A LONG March for Conservatives

Bookworm's Link - you need to read it.

In some respects, our current situation with the nomination is our own fault - for too long, Conservatives have been narrowly focused on POLITICAL solutions:

• Passing legislation to stop Obamacare, keep the status quo regarding man-woman marriage, stop abortion clinics from exploiting women, etc.


• Suing in courts to enforce Constitutionally-guaranteed rights


• Electing reliably Conservative politicians

After all that effort, we find ourselves watching a NON-Conservative wanna-be candidate taking over "our" party, and being unable to stop that juggernaut, despite the Republican party having a RICH trove of potential candidates standing by.  One by one, they have been savaged in the media, until, we are down to 2 top choices - either Trump, or a man that - although I support him - is not exactly Mr. Charismatic.

Folks, we need to focus more of our attention on the CULTURAL hegemony.

What is "hegemony"?

Progressive/Liberals/Leftists have imposed THEIR Cultural Hegemony on the rest of us - the majority - to the extent that it can be worth your life, your livelihood, and your reputation to challenge that Belief System.  From Wikipedia:

In Marxist philosophy, the term cultural hegemony describes the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that society — the beliefs, explanations,perceptions, values, and mores — so that their ruling-class worldview becomes the worldview that is imposed and accepted as the cultural norm; as the universally valid dominant ideologythat justifies the social, political, and economic status quo as natural, inevitable, perpetual and beneficial for everyone, rather than as artificial social constructs that benefit only the ruling class.

As Saul Alinsky said, "Make them live up to their rules."  Make the Progressive Rulers live up to their cultural norms - force them to accept alternative viewpoints by challenging them in their own words.

 

Conventional Wisdom

One major aspect that is wrong with American Life is that minority viewpoints use our basic desire to compromise as a way of "pushing the camel's nose into the tent".  What is that?  Here is one example of the story:

One day an Arab and his camel were crossing the desert. Night came and the temperature became colder. The Arab put up his tent and tied the camel to it. The Arab went to sleep.

The temperature became slightly colder and the camel asked the Arab if he (camel) could just put his nose in the tent to warm up. The Arab agreed that the camel could just put his nose in, because the tent was small and there was no room for 2. So the camel's nose became warm and after a while the temperature went down even more.

The camel asked the Arab again, if he (camel) could just put his fore legs in because they were very cold. The Arab reluctantly agreed that the camel could only put his fore legs in and no more. So the camel moved in his fore legs and they became warm. After sometime the camel asked the Arab again that he had to put in his hind legs or else he won't be able to make the journey the next morning with frozen legs. So the Arab agreed and once the camel moved his hind legs in, there was no more room in the tent for the Arab and the Arab was kicked out.

The concept of conventional wisdom is always defeated by an entity determined to get its way, first asking for a "harmless" concession of a tired opponent, then, incrementally, continuing to push to achieve its long-term goal.  Just keep that in mind next time you're asked to make ONE TINY compromise.

Hold firm.

In other news:

P. J. O'Rourke has gone out of his mind.

He is foaming at the mouth about Ted Cruz.  Yes, TED - Blanking - CRUZ.  According to P. J., having Cruz as the Republican candidate would be THE Ultimate Worst Thing (I assume that he is patenting the phrase).

Why?

Because Ted is not fervently in favor of SSM (Same Sex Marriage) and legalized marijuana.

Really.

That's it?  One of the most qualified Republicans - one that ACTUALLY held the line when the Dems tried to push their agenda on the Senate - and the problem he has with Ted is that he thinks we ought to not upset a socially-recognized marriage tradition that has lasted for all of recorded history.  Oh, and, that, absent GOOD - not anecdotal - scientific evidence that pot is worth legalizing, we shouldn't change its status.

Really.

Now, many disagree about the SSM thing.  I do understand that.  From my perspective, I'd rather the government get the Blank out of the marriage endorsement altogether, and just institute Civil Unions.  Those who WANT to get married, can - assuming that they can find a minister, Internet-ordained person, Cultic Leader, or other person that can persuade a religious/spiritual/frankly-nutty-offbeat-organization to handle the ceremony.

No - absolutely NO - pressure on churches/temples/mosques to marry people against their principles.

Got few problems with that.

Oh, and, if someone has a preferred title - Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Supreme Leader, whatever - let's accept that addressing them by that title is optional, not mandatory.  Most people will go along.  Some will have objections.

Let's just decide that "Citizen" is the acceptable alternative for those with philosophical objections.  As in, Citizen Cruz.  Citizen Clinton (either).  And, Citizen O'Rourke.

And, the pot thing?

Listen, I've taught for many years.  Before that, I often encountered people under the influence of Wacky Weed.  Including one of my roommates, and her friends.

I can assure you, with absolute confidence, NOT ONE of those so impaired was in any way smarter, more rational, or having razor-sharp reflexes.

In fact, there was little to distinguish them from someone born Lazy, Mentally Slow-Processing, and, to be honest, Dumb as Dirt.

NOT what I want to see as the norm for American Citizens.  Nor, for that matter, those under the age of 18.

Oh, but, legalization will only affect those OVER 18.

Right.

Sure.

Of course, the fact that buying or using pot by a minor will be against the law will TOTALLY stop them from doing it.

Just like the fact that it's illegal now stops them.

/sarc

According to Hoyt

She has the neatest blog - politics, culture, and, of course, fantasy and sci-fy (she is an author, having been published both IRL by Baen and in digital form).

One of the best things is the way she analyzes America from the standpoint of an outsider, which she was, initially.  Sarah was born and raised in Portugal, and retains the ability to see us at a distance.

"The Long March" is 2 days old, but worth the time reading it.

Probably  the most crucial part?

There is strife.  Strife means the old blood and the new don’t agree.  Another way to look at it is renewal.

Problem is advocates of liberty are about as good at coordinated action as a bunch of cats

It's true, the Left outflanks us at unified action.  Gone are the days when Democrats proudly proclaimed, "I'm not a member of a political organization - we're not organized at all".

Mao and his ilk would be bursting his jacket-buttons at the way modern American Leftists have managed to corral ordinary American citizens into lockstep.  They've done it by the time-honored manner used by so many Leftists - enforcement of cultural norms and social shaming, pressure on their peers to banishment the non-conformers, and threats - threatened and actual - against employment.

Who could have predicted that the Woodstock Generation would turn to methods they ridiculed when they were the outsiders?

What is Dumber Than a NYT Columnist?

The answer is:

Nothing.

Nothing is dumber than a NYT Columnist.

A perfect example of that is the mindless regurgitating of an academic study that explores why some people, in extreme situations, freeze in place.  The brain activity that causes it, the possible alternative ways to keep that from affecting peoples' survival in crisis situations, and all of that other academic hedging is explained.

Why?

Because the academic has explored bold new territory?  Come up with novel solutions?

No.

Towards the end, only a hint of POSSIBLE ways to fight the freeze are given.  No doubt, this "conclusion" will be used to argue for more money to study the problem further.

Whereas any "uneducated" Redneck could tell you the solution to the problem.

Join the military - particularly the Marines.  I guaran-damn-tee you that your "hard-wired" tendency to freeze will completely disappear.  It will be replaced by practiced, rote training that overrides your instinctual freeze.

Funding agencies, please contact me for information about where to send the check.