I’ll be away for a few. Please don’t burn the place down while I’m gone. I leave you a blank canvas to express yourselves in any constructive way. I should be back around by the end of next week. I may blog a little from the road.
Monday, April 28 – A Big Day in Canada
The race to form Canada’s next government is now tighter than ever as the federal election campaign enters its final week, a new poll suggests. The latest Ipsos poll, conducted exclusively for Global News, found that the Liberals remain in the lead, but are now just three points ahead of the Conservatives, who continue to gain momentum in the home stretch. The results of the poll, conducted after last week’s televised leaders’ debates, show 41 per cent of surveyed Canadians would vote for the Liberals, down one point from last week, while 38 per cent said they would choose the Conservatives, who gained two points.
Although the Canadian and US Mainstream Media groups are not portraying it that way, the results of the national election have a significant impact on whether Alberta and other provinces remain in Canada or forge their destinies. A liberal win will almost certainly trigger a referendum.
From the Mail Bag
Baseball – A few of you know that I have a grandson in his sophomore year of high school baseball, who is being scouted by college teams and the MLB. He has a cousin who is two years older and plays for the Athletics (formerly the Oakland Athletics), currently playing in Sacramento this year, and in Vegas when the stadium is complete. That cousin was a 5th-round draft pick. Another cousin who is graduating from high school this year is expected to be an MLB first-round draft pick. (cousins on his father’s side) The MLB is not allowed to offer them anything until they graduate, and colleges cannot provide them with scholarships until they begin their junior year, which is this August. There are some exceptions where scouts sponsor players to participate in closed games, and my grandson falls into one of those categories. He’s hitting home runs from pitchers throwing at 95 mph or more, who are bound for the minor leagues upon graduation. And the scouts show up, watch, and take notes. So, he’s dealing with an MLB team scout, has an agent, and is sixteen years old. If the MLB drafts them, the team routinely buys out any scholarship they have, and after they leave major league baseball, they have a few years to take advantage of the MLB version of the GI bill.
I have no idea what the future holds for the boy. He’s a straight-A student in STEM subjects, so the world is his oyster.
Two other grandsons, who are younger, are playing Little League and travel ball.
Retirement Income – I have no idea how much you need. I’m not a financial management and planning specialist. When you factor inflation into your plans, it will look dismal. A lot depends on how you plan to live and how long you will live and/or linger. I’m not retired, but my feeling is that it will cost you as much to live “retired” as it did when you were working. When you factor in inflation, it could easily be more over the years. Adult children could return home to the nest, and other things could happen. Plan for 150% of your income at retirement, and you should be okay.
Bullet Points:
** Hunting for enemy submarines with Old NFO.
** Free speech is in a free fall in Europe, with ever-expanding speech regulations and criminal prosecutions, including for having “toxic ideologies.” For globalists, the late Tip O’Neill’s rule that “all politics is local” is anathema. The European Union is intended to transcend national identities and priorities in favor of an inspired transnational government managed by an expert elite. The message was clear. The new world order would be based on European, not American, values. To rally the faithful to the cause, the organizers called upon two of the patron saints of the global elite: Bill and Hillary Clinton. President Slick Willy Clinton was even given an award as “leader of the century.”
The Clintons were clearly in their element. Speaker after speaker denounced Trump and the rise of what they called “autocrats” and “oligarchs.” The irony was crushing. The European Union is based on the oligarchy of a ruling elite. The World Forum even took time to celebrate billionaires from Bill Gates to George Soros for funding “open societies” and greater transnational powers.
The discussions focused on mitigating the rise of far-right parties and curbing the spread of “disinformation” that fuels such dissent.
** The Halls of Power attract certain flawed personalities.
** As the Justice Department pursues a historic racketeering indictment against drug cartels and gangs, President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor is suggesting such organizations could face military action and should be treated more like ISIS than the Cosa Nostra. In a novel use of the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the DOJ targeted Tren de Aragua and one of its offshoots for murders, sex trafficking, robberies, extortion, and drug dealing. Trump’s National Security Advisor says the administration could go even further, claiming Tren de Aragua and other groups like it are more akin to the dangerous, jihadist terror group ISIS than organized crime.
A cautionary note to those who jump on the bandwagon. Recall the post-9/11 pursuit of Middle Eastern terrorists, where Congress cheered on the effort, only to turn on those who were at the tip of the spear when terrorists came back into favor somewhat under the Obama regime. Some of us, white-haired types who have lived through the flip-flops, know that one day’s American hero can be transformed into an American villain. The US Government does not have a good track record in this regard. Witness the democrat party’s infatuation with MS-13.
** To find out who rules you, you need to determine who you’re not allowed to criticize. – Voltaire
** Calling President Trump, Hitler – Really?
**BRM had a discussion about at-risk inner-city youths on his blog. It reminded me of a scene in Gran Torino – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhjkY45ztH0. Peace through superior firepower.
***
Current Events and Past Events
Amid the boredom of a non-Christian pope’s death and the media’s obsession with the Signal messaging app, I found myself reading about Pearl Harbor this week. It seems that as hell rained down, Marines, sailors, firemen, and civilians grabbed their guns and began firing wildly in the sky at the Japanese planes.
AND NONE OF THOSE PILOTS WAS GIVEN “DUE PROCESS”.
The traditional history of Pearl Harbor is all wrong. It’s not about a sneak attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The real story is that there was ZERO due process. Americans just shot at the pilots on the theory that they were enemy aliens, but with no proof, indeed no proof that would satisfy a New York Times editor.
Not only that, but none of the Japanese pilots were given a lawyer, and there were no hearings whatsoever and no official adjudication of their guilt. I’m sure one or two of those pilots were “Maryland Man,” “Tennessee Man,” or “Ohio Man.”
Where’s the ACLU? They’ve been asleep at the switch for decades on this denial of constitutional rights. Let me tell you, if Chris Van Hollen had been alive, he would have raised bloody hell.
December 7, 1941 – That was the day democracy died.
At least we can count on Harvard University to stand on its constitutional rights. As President Trump revs up a fleet of Brinks trucks to seize all of Harvard’s assets, I came across some documents that prove the Framers anticipated the exact situation Harvard is currently facing.
It’s blindingly clear that both James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were insistent that if an educational institution with a $50 billion endowment, teaching anti-white history and being led by a beclowned plagiarist tranny president, asks for multiple millions of taxpayer dollars, that request shall not be denied.
The accidentally deleted 11 1/2th Amendment would have read: “Harvard University shall be given as much money as it wants,” and be colloquially known as the “Unf-ngbelievable Entitlement” clause.
Debate over the 11 1/2th Amendment led to some of the biggest brawls in Philadelphia (until the Eagles won their first Super Bowl), with Hamilton arguing that such a provision would be the dictionary definition of “chutzpah.” Madison countering that Harvard would be so steeped in Jew-hating that it wouldn’t know what the word meant.
This is precisely the argument Harvard has made in its brief. Not merely that they are insisting on our money, but that they have a “constitutional” right to it, referring to the college’s “defense of its constitutional freedoms,” and accusing the government of “punishing Harvard for protecting its constitutional rights.”
Yes, exactly. It’s right there in the 11 1/2th Amendment.
The “Unf-ngbelievable Entitlement” clause doesn’t spell it out, but, as I know (and Harvard knows), under no circumstances does it apply to Christian colleges, such as Bob Jones University—only to committed anti-white universities, like Harvard. Because of Bob Jones’ appalling, fundamentalist reading of the Bible and the Tower of Babel to prohibit interracial dating, the school was stripped of its tax-exempt status in 1970, and the IRS’s ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court, 8-1.
The court found that, “underlying all relevant parts of the [IRS] Code, is the intent that entitlement to tax exemption depends on meeting certain common law standards of charity — namely, that an institution seeking tax-exempt status must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to established public policy.”
Meaning, of course, that Harvard may openly discriminate against whites, promote mediocrities based on their not being white, hire incompetents and reject qualified applicants, entirely on the criterion: “white or not-white?” — and none of that is contrary to established public policy. Please do not bore me with citations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. Inapposite! We’re talking about Harvard.
Identify the Aircraft
1 & 2 (RAAF)
3
4
Prototype Options
Identify the Armor
5
PARTING SHOT
End
1 is C17 Globemaster 111. They fly over my house every week or so.
2 is British Aerospace Hawk Mk.127 Lead-In Fighter. They are based about 550 miles south of us so not a usual sight.
3 is Boring 707 previously used for transport. Used 1979 to 2008. Did only one trip in one usually in Hercs or Caribous
#3 – consider a refueling aircraft…
3 probably KC-30A based near us but used further away for safety reasons. So we don’t see them much.
The thief who snatched DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse has been ARRESTED, and is in the country ILLEGALLY, per DC US Attorney Ed Martin This dude just bought himself a one-way ticket to El Salvador. Very few people will experience the level of FAFO this guy is in for.
“PURSE MAN” (what The Dems and MSM will call him) requires due process!!! …..duly processed straight out of the country and directly processed into an El Salvadoran cell next to the Tat Boyz, see how well he does.
👍
Consistent with being a known Hate Speecher, I said on 23APR2025, “But back to Kristi Noem: thank goodness it was a white man who stole her purse” because the SS said it was a white man who stole her purse. Now we find that it’s a 49-yo illegal called Mario Bustamante Leiva, apparently from Chile. It’s above my pay grade to determine whether Bustamante Leiva is white or not, but I’m pretty sure that were any of his three children to apply for college or a job in the FUSA, they’d claim Hispanic privilege.
—
So. Was this just bad luck and poor protection of their principal? Or was some sort of message being sent? Such as “No one is untouchable, so watch yourself, [expletive].”
Nice theory expository…NOTHING we hear is truthful, except when PDJT and his A-Team speak, so no surprise whenthe facts start trickling in.
Ha, white man. Probably actually an actual NAZI who was frozen in some Aryan masterworks regarding time travel and such. Blond haired, blue eyed, speaks with a German accent, his NSDAP issued passport was just a tad out of date.
That video clip of floor dancing during a firefight reminded me of a guy I worked with for a while who had been on an anti-terrorist squad. He had tried paintball after mustering out and decided it was not something he would pursue. During that one time he was paired up by someone who had seen too many movies and watched too much TV. He let the floor dancer go into a room first and, while floor dancer was in the process of changing color, stepped in and tagged everyone in the room who were on the opposing team.
IDA-
1. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
2. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Hawk-127.
3. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Airbus A330-200 / KC-30A (MRTT) A39-001.
4. Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor
Republic took a nice looking plane, the F-84 series, and turned it into a major abortion. Not as bad as the Thundershreak, known to actually cause people to poop their pants when it was taxiing, but still…
IDARMOR-
5. USMC LVTP-5
I Hoped you’d get this one.
An Open Mike Question: Does anyone have any specific writings or court decisions that are available online concerning:
-That “We the people” also includes the individual not just the collective population
-Oath of office is a sacred contract
-Use of public office to attack Christians is unconstitutional
-Elected officials may not organize and participate in protests against Christians
Many Thanks for your thoughts.
Great questions Dave. No thoughts. Data, nada. Going down for an eyelid inspection. Will check back later to see if any ” Sunday newspaper ” readers come up with anything here on V.M.
Thanks GFW2. It is a shot in the dark and LL was polite enough to give an open mike.
I’m not looking for legal advice, just pointers to the articles.
I wonder if you’d find some over at chicagoboyz who’ve tackled those issues. It seems like something along the lines of their discussion threads.
Thanks Frank.
If they are interested in an idea you can get a lot of good information. If not…I’ve dropped a couple ideas in threads only to have them left lying there like week-old dead fish :) I don’t comment there often, so I cannot say what what you might end up getting.
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
2. BAe Hawk 128
3. Airbus KC-30A
4. Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor
Identify the Armor:
5. LVTP-5
Retirement income… My dad paid for his parents apt in Oakland Calif until Grandma died in 1964 (grandpa had been gone for awhile at that point).
Retirement income usually sucks, unless you’re a State of California senior worker. But…
–
Factor in things like not having to drive to and fro every day. That saves a lot of cash right there. Especially if you retire with a relatively new vehicle in good shape.
–
Factor in not having to buy lunches out or buy coffee or other things all day long. That saves a ton right there also.
–
Factor in the lack of dress code… You can now dress as you like. And if you do like dressing up, you are still putting less wear and tear on your clothes. That’s a savings also.
–
Sure, medical sucks, but thanks to EvilTrumpOverlord, med prices are down and most deductibles are lower than they used to be.
–
Key is getting all your toys in the row before you retire. Get that ‘final’ vehicle. Get that ‘final’ big electronics purchase. Get that ‘final’ pallet of ammo and stuff before you start living on a reduced income.
Congratulations to your grandson and his abilities. He could start making income right now with some Universities under the NCAA “Name, Image, Likeness” program.
https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/7/9/name-image-likeness.aspx
The money flooding into the University is mind boggling!
“A cautionary note to those who jump on the bandwagon”. A line in a movie about working for .gov, IIRC delivered by actor Steven Seagal:
——
“Your master is insane. And he is ungrateful”.
X2
We are just mercenaries serving a king. As in, we’re the ones thrown into the thick and nasty, and when it comes time to pay us the king cuts us off or tries to kill us.
–
Think I’m exaggerating? Look at how many many many ways The Man (faceless bureaucracy) has to get to you. Are you possibly late or underpaid on your taxes? Did you spill a container of motor oil on your driveway? (I know someone who got jacked up by fedgov for this, no, really.) Find any Native American artifacts on your land? (Oh, this one will really screw you over. Trust me. Got a friend who almost went to federal pound-you-in-the-buttocks prison because he was witnessed by a neighbor who hated him because he was doing the yard and uncovered an arrowhead. That’s a fed violation in most places, really.) Water rights? Waterways? Ponds? Roofing? Cleaned your yard of habitat for endangered ground squirrels? (Yes, this is a real one, no I don’t know anyone personally but it was used against people who cleared their property of ground cover in California…) And so on and so forth. The Man can find a thousand ways every day to destroy you. Just look at the J6 victims.
Have those in bloated overreach agencies started to feel the pinch pressure that their jobs are on the line? Funny how with some post disaster relief work…say, a bridge collapse like I95 from that tanker…our “merciful” government somehow, magically, miraculously, incredibly, removes all regulatory requirements so the rebuild can happen toot suite. Is it really necessary to demand a homeowner get a permit to build a shed that’s larger than 120 sqft, as if 121 sqft is instantly a problem child structure.
Just look at the J6 victims.
I just spoke with Stewart Rhodes. Talk about a railroad job. And he gets a commute instead of a pardon. Something fishy there.
Retirement Income
I want to put this very carefully (so as not to offend too many):
I retired from dentistry (endodontics) 16 years ago at the beginning of this past month (April Fools Day). at the time I was in full command of all my faculties (or so I like to believe; though I could no longer do three sets of 10 doubleclap pushups without turning red in the face or dance the k’zakska for hours at a wedding or bar mitzvah) and had accumulated what I believed to be sufficient geetis to last my wife (11 years my junior) ’til she reached the venerable age of 100 , living not too parsimoniously; she is, when all is said and done, a JAP (the acronym, not the offensive term for the people living east of the coast of China).
Was I ever wrong!!!
I did not count on the creatures/leeches inhabiting the power centers (there are more than the one in DC) who feed off those who’ve been elected to watch over and direct the weal of our great country.
I did not count on these elected creatures being retarded idiots in the field of finance.
If it takes one dollar bill to purchase a pound of butter in 2000 and they run the printing presses to double the number of one dollar bills in circulation in one year, it then takes two such one dollar bills to purchase that same pound of butter in 2001: the value of the pound of butter hasn’t changed, it just costs twice as much to buy it (and I’m just a dentist)
With the retarded idiots who’ve been running the country (into the ground) over the past 50 years (Bernie is the most outstanding example that readily comes to mind), 150% is a ridiculously low figure: 1000% is closer to the truth.
Looking back, I think the best way to retire is to set up a company (anything you’re good at and have been trained to do), get it running very well, sell 80-90 shares (per 100) while retaining the ability to have a forensic accountant examine the books annually.
IOW, have a constant income flow after you’ve ceased working-working.
BTW: the stock market, no matter how good you think you are, just doesn’t hack it (the number of people I know who do consistently well in the market I can count on one hand) and gold is a great emergency backup, but please recall EO 6102 and the Gold REserve Act of ’34.
X2…slightly older brother in years (but much older than myself in mindset) has a daily tagline he sends to us “boys”: “Stay Independent & Keep Earning” ™, to which I add : “Nobody is going to pay your mortgage for you.”, which is literal and a metaphor.
BTW, when Federal, State, and Local government thieves tax you to the hilt as a retired person, some right out of their houses…that’s a clue. The unfeeling redistribution of our earnings and holdings should be a crime and met with the “Falling Down” approach. It has gotten so bad that some have lost everything from overtaxation, and not one government thief gives a rip, instead, like clockwork, they pile on.
x2
I didn’t want to discuss taxation of retirement income (including social security payments) which, to my mind is beyond belief
this is LL’s blog and besides which, there’s not enough space
I don’t intend to retire.
I retired from the work away from home, but not “retired”…next chapter will be interesting.
“Interesting”.
That’s a synonym for “scary”, right?
Thankfully not in this instance, more like wholesale adjustments to the daily while looking towards some sort of meaningful “work”.
for those who are concerned about misinformation generated from AI:
I requested an answer to the following “chikanobu ‘Ataru Inu no Kyogen Zukushi'” and received the following as an answer from Google:
(BTW: Yoshu Chikanobu is/was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the late 19th-early 20th Century)
“‘Ataru Inu no Kyogen Zukushi” (犬猿図, “Monkey-Dog Picture”) is a well-known Japanese proverb, not a specific artwork title by Yōshū Chikanobu. Chikanobu was a prolific Meiji era print artist known for his ukiyo-e and other genres, but he didn’t create a specific print or series titled “Ataru Inu no Kyogen Zukushi’. …
While Chikanobu’s prints explore a wide range of subjects, including themes related to societal changes and traditional Japanese life, the proverb “Ataru Inu no Kyogen Zukushi” is not a subject depicted in his work.”
Any who are interested may view this print series:
當ル戌の狂言尽し – ataru inu no kyōgen zukushi
https://chikanobu.com/atainurefer.asp
so much for looking things up on Google!
On April 7, 2025 at 6:44 in virtualmirage.org/65562-2 Beans wrote:
.
> You can have protectionism and free/fair trade at the same time.
.
No you can’t, those are contradictions. Protectionism means central planning; free trade means no central planning. Fair trade has no definition, it’s handwaving.
.
> Protectionism by bringing manufacturing home works because once everything has no tariffs coming in or going out, it will be cheaper and easier to build stuff here. Especially once you factor in travel time and materials costs.
.
You are incorrectly assuming every geographic planning unit has the capacity to manufacture every product at the same cost. For instance, if CONUS doesn’t have enough Gallium, similar results can’t be achieved, and taxation will not geographically rearrange the Gallium deposits to make that possible.
.
There already exists a system to accommodate that the Gallium is distributed unequally, which is price tags in a system of free trade. But central planning moves those price decisions away from a distributed computational model which has better data and less perverse incentives. Like Charlie Brown kicking the football, conservatives are forever surprised that central planning is run for the benefit of the planners, not the planned.
Free Trade only works between Free People.
Slave labor screws it up.
That is not how the economics works. Slavery is bad for slaves, and slaves should stop complying. But, when free people trade with slaveowners, the trade always benefits the free people. Otherwise, the free people wouldn’t make the trade.
China is offering you a gadget cheaper than the government you elect permits you to make it. China is not the problem here. You should buy the cheap gadget, and direct your anger towards the officials you’ve elected. Adding a sales tax (tariff) for your officials to spend inventing ways to raise your costs just makes your situation worse.
China uses slave labor
We should compete with that?
Government regulation has nothing to do with it
The free people need the work.
> China uses slave labor
> We should compete with that?
.
Yes, free people should compete with slave labor, but without the “free” peoples’ government tying one arm behind their back. Until the collapse of the USSR, liberals were convinced the slavery of Communism produced a superior lifestyle, but it still doesn’t. Today liberals want to build an iron curtain around the USA to cut off trade, just like the USSR did.
.
> The free people need the work.
.
Humans don’t need work, they need material lifestyle. The economic purpose of being free is being able to use your brain to invent labor-saving devices to manufacture more lifestyle with less work. If extraterrestrials gave us a Star Trek food replicator, able to immediately end world hunger, self-loathing liberals would complain humans were sinful because they were no longer suffering.
No. That’s the fallacy of your position.
Men need meaningful rewarding work.
Not handouts or eloi like existence.
X2 Ed, it’s built into our male DNA…and I have discovered that modern suburbia kills that “meaningful work” drive in far too many. Yes, we will do what is necessary to provide, but in the past 40 years the alpha male has been under attack instead of held up.
You’ve changed the subject from ‘should or how can free people compete economically against slaves elsewhere’ to ‘humans need meaningful work to be happy’. Let’s conclude the previous subject by agreeing the track record is free people outcompete slaves, so there is no problem competing with China, and tariffs are not helpful.
.
I agree humans need meaningful work to be happy. But makework produced by the banning of labor-saving devices is not meaningful. Whereas all the frontier you could want is only 100 miles away from everywhere, straight up.
No jaberwokey from me today. Do have a boat ( ship ) for the I.D. gentlemen who I much appreciate sparking my interest to research details after they name them. The unidentified vessel in the news link article was 15 miles of Oregon Coast, had a crew member sick and a USCG dolphin was called out 9 a.m. on 4/20/25. No, I have not a clue as to be able to tell what type of craft this one could be. https://www.wildcoastcompass.com/coast-guard-air-station-north-bend-medevacs-individual-15-miles-off-coos-bay/
The article notes the ship as the M/V National Geographic Venture. Was there another vessel involved?
Sorry Surly,
–
No other vessel that I read of.
I had a bad night after a long week of work… should have drank more coffee this morning to NOT miss that essential in the article. I’ll try to be more accurate in the future. Thanks for your reply, sir.
Food for thought as heard earlier on Sirius/XM 40’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUOPvtVZwo8
I was able to get the link to work NFO
1942…”Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition”…who knew. Today the song would be banned as a hate crime promoting those deadly guns. Me, loved it because I understand the sentiment, as do 80% of Americans.
Heh…the link didn’t come up, so it works ‘about’ as well as we did…LOL
Retirement? What is that? My first paying job was when I was five yeas old. Now 80, I’m still working. The only problem is the body wants to retire and the mind doesn’t. Which one will prevail?
if the lede(?) artwork is AI generated, the hands, fingers, veins, and tendons are excellent to well-depicted;
BTW: the left hand third finger – is that a ring worn on the knuckle?
It is a great picture. Was thinking it invoked Wyatt Earp in his latter years (not truly but seemed like it could be him).
Lord High Executioner Beans wrote: We are just mercenaries serving a king. As in, we’re the ones thrown into the thick and nasty, and when it comes time to pay us the king cuts us off or tries to kill us.
.
That’s precisely how I’ve viewed my employment throughout my life. Usually, that’s how it works. Sometimes not, and when it doesn’t go like that, I’m always surprised and a little pleased.
I’ve always been a mercenary. I just haven’t always been employed to kill.
Amen.
LL, you are a solutions provider.
Everybody is telling me that I need to take Ms. HogsbreathSS to go see the movie,”Last Breath”. I don’t believe it’s in theaters anymore but we’re not big movie theater people anyway. I’ve read the real story on which the movie is based, and it seems to be nothing short of a miracle that that diver lived to tell his story after not breathing for twenty-six minutes. Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts and reviews. P.S. I miss boating with EdB.
-⚡STA Lethal⚡-
(6) Days left. Would love you’re support, click link below-
https://rafflecreator.com/pages/90636/2025-m40a5-rifle-raffle
Since we’re still on Open Mic…it appears that despite years of insanity and direct oppression, Canadians have elected the same type of dooshbag they kept electing before. They certainly like their open cell door captivity. Can’t fix warped mental indoctrination in adults (similar to the nutjobs here advocating to bring MS-13 Illegal Criminals BACK into the USA or think Luigi is an urban hero).
What will Alberta do now that the gauntlet has been thrown?
Petition to become a US Territory, they have to be ticked…like the rural Illinois farmer who spoke with Stigall yesterday saying how Cook County is destroying the State and forcing them out of tjeir legacy farms.
Circling back to the ‘slavery-free market’ topic:
At what point do ‘principles’ enter into it?
If a company employs business practices I don’t like or represents something I’m against I don’t buy their product. (Apple and Nike come to mind)
The problem I have with unrestricted free-market libertarians is that they can justify almost anything. If you buy products made with slave labor, then you are in fact supporting that slavery.
Now let me end with one of my favorite scenes from Babylon 5 : https://youtu.be/lqutYLX2urk?si=Nn3T2JmorgwOUU8l
You’re generous, Jack. The problem I have with unrestricted free-market libertarians is that 95% of them are spergy weirdos who have no more understanding of human nature (individually or in the aggregate — which are NOT the same thing) than a raccoon does of plate tectonics. The sad thing is that they don’t act like condescending assholes because they are mean or evil, they’re just that damn weird. It’s sad because they don’t understand “why” the rejection and sometimes flat-out hate they get. Instead, they tell themselves (and worse, Keep Telling Us, fricking incessantly) it’s because normal humans are stupid, or foolish, and have failed to throw off their “innate tribal primate programming” (or some similar high-IQ idiocy) to make themselves feel better. God forbid they acquire some insight and ability for self-reflection.
—
Here’s some food for thought: If you’re going to be a dick (like I’m doing now [1]) then at least you should be doing it on purpose.
[1] This is an example of self awareness. I highly recommend trying it. The irony is that nearly everyone reading this will know what I mean, and the person who needs to hear this won’t get it.
—
PS It’s the fault of the slaves. If only they had the insight to withdraw consent. If only the Korean “comfort women” (sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese military, forced to serve in military brothels) had thought of withdrawing consent. If only Mengele’s victims had thought to say “I’m not signing that informed consent document, Herr Doctor!” If only the Cambodians had said to Pol Pot, “we’re not consenting to go into that field.” Lieber Gott, how much human misery might have been averted?
—
PPS The only principle is “Yes, but is it good for me?” All human decisions should be made “rationally” on a cost/benefit basis. There is no such thing as love, or patriotism, or esprit de corps, or faith. There is no such thing as tribe, or folk. In fact, the very idea of Folk is bad. Wrong. Dumb. Ook-ook monkey-brane thinking. All humans are atomized, entirely fungible economic units. Why should I hire my fellow American for $30 an hour if I can pay some illegal $10 to do the same thing. Okay, not the same thing (since poor English, shitty skills, no shared values, destruction of community, etc etc etc) but hey, saved $20 per hour.
Actually, I feel the same way. I kept it mild because this isn’t my blog and LL is out of town. I don’t want to light the house on fire while the owner is gone.
I have libertarian leanings, but every time I think they finally got their act together they go and soil the bedsheets.
Ever hear the saying about Ron Paul? In the opposite of even a broken clock is right twice a day…. Ron Paul has lot’s of good ideas, and just about when you start to think “Gee. Maybe this guy isn’t so bad.” He jumps up on a table, puts a lampshade on his head, and starts lighting his farts on fire.
Of course, today we have Rand Paul threatening to block Trumps tariffs…. When your actions begin to align with those of the other side, it’s time to reexamine your world view.
The root word of ‘Libertarian’ is ‘Liberal’…. and if you scratch a libertarian deep enough they bleed Liberal talking points.
And Sheridan prevailed.
With a little other worldly help.
Well said.
On retirement taxes, you need to understand the required min dist on 401k impact on your tax rate at age 73. I retired at 67 due to health. I have until I am 73 to convert $35k above pension and SS a year in the 12% bracket. After that the required min dist puts me in the 22% bracket. The rough number is if you have a mil, your future savings should be in Roth IRA. Death and taxes …
At 62 I quit the race (so to speak), started SSA January the following year…did the calc’s…figured I could croak tomorrow so the tradeoff in payBACK of my earned income taken from 15 years old on, against hanging in until the Grifter IRS’ recommendation was a wash (that age threshold has increased as the Swamp Thieves stole the SS money right out of the bank). Bottom line for me: These bums should not be taxing retired people on existing holdings or SSA payBACK. Period. You sell a property, Ok. But this taxing every dang thing has got to stop, it’s not a bottomless well. [Read that some UK moronic Gal-in-Charge wants to tax milkshakes to fight…kid you not…obesity. Heck they already tried taxing the air we breath.]
But that’s wishful thinking…altho, PDJT says tariffs will eliminate the IRS and Federal Income tax on citizens, like ti did moons ago before the Grifters decided to ‘takings’ was for them to do at will without penalty.
Property tax needs to go.
For everyone.
The power to tax is the power to confiscate.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (Property).
X2