A man who worked at a fire hydrant factory was always late for work.
When confronted by his boss the man explained, "You can't park anywhere near this place!"
*.*
Tom: "If your girlfriend and your best friend were drowning, who would you save?"
Hardy: "I don't know, that's a tough one."
Tom: "Why is that?"
Hardy: "Well, what were they doing together in the first place?"
*.*
One of our clients brought in his massive Doberman pinscher to be spayed. As a veterinary assistant, I escort the patient into the doctor's office.
Before taking this dog's leash, I glimpsed those large teeth of hers and asked the owner, "Is she friendly?"
"Friendly?" said the man. "Friendly? She's had five litters! How much 'friendlier' than that can she get?"
*.*
Just reading that there's a small Island off the coast of Italy with 5 million Sicilian people.
That's the biggest number I've ever heard.
*.*
Peruvian owls are always hunting in pairs.
It's because they're Inca hoots!
Quote of the Times;
"To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." - Proverbs 8:13
Link of the Times;
Huge Rise in Hate Crimes Against American Churches — and Crickets in the Media:
https://pjmedia.com/columns/raymond-ibrahim/2023/05/04/huge-rise-in-hate-crimes-against-american-churches-and-crickets-in-the-media-n1692629
Issue of the Times;
Keeping Us Confused by Don Surber
Tranny rights. Black lives matter. Support Ukraine. It seems every day leftist fascists are throwing something new at us. Their latest cause is Youth Attracted People — pedophiles. The left puts real Americans constantly on the defensive. We are forever back on our heels in the battle between right and wrong. This is deliberate, for as Sun Tzu said in The Art of War 2,500 years ago, “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
I call this fascism because that is what it is, the use by the government of business to control the people. That the media is in bed with the government — which is run by unelected and unfireable Civil Service lifers — is unassailable.
The media sells this. The largest media conglomerate in the world — Disney — is run by the Gay Mafia in Hollywood. I don’t mean the CEO is gay, I just mean he bends over for them, as it were, and does their bidding. He is suing Florida because gays hate the state. They killed Anita Bryant’s career 40 years ago. Now they seek to destroy Ron DeSantis and the entire state.
As Saul Alinsky observed, “Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.” Gays have used fear excellently to multiply their power through intimidation and exaggeration.
If you were surprised that Murdoch fired Tucker Carlson, then you have not paid attention. When he sold most of Fox to Disney four years ago, he became its largest individual shareholder. I don’t know if that is still true, but I do know he has made nary a protest against Disney supporting transgender teachers grooming children as young as 5.
The corruption of Western media is not limited to the USA.
Consider this fact-check from AFP Canada: “A flag for pedophiles? It exists, but it is not a push for inclusion in the LGBT community.”
How does AFP know the intent? Well, it said, “However, no evidence suggests a concerted effort to push for the inclusion of MAPs in the LGBT community with the use of the flag.”
MAPs are minor-attracted people, a term that is giving way to youth-attracted people because the word minors reminds people it is illegal to have sex with them.
However, there is evidence of pedos seeking to join LGBT. Isiah Carey presented it on his show on Channel 26 in Houston. His report was better sourced than Russiagate coverage that won Pulitzers for the New York Times and Washington Jeff Bezos Post.
Every one of these sexual deviancies has a flag. The Human Rights Campaign’s list includes the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, the Queer Pride Flag, the Pansexual Pride Flag, the Polyamory Polygamy Pride Flag, and the Transgender Pride Flag. And yes, there is an incest flag.
Currently the push for incest is for adults who can no longer have children. That age barrier eventually will drop to 2. And yes, the cretins are using gay marriage to leverage acceptance. The New York Post reported, “Consensual incest advocates are rooting for an anonymous New York parent who wants to marry their own adult child.
“Australian Richard Morris, who is pushing to change incest laws in about 60 countries, said he supports the legal push in a Manhattan federal court and that such behavior between consenting adults ‘should not be criminalized.’”
Pedophiles are on the LGBT waiting list. It is like Ukraine joining NATO. For all intents and purposes, the Big P is a member but everyone awaits official approval.
The bestiality flag is on back-order the sheepdippers await their euphemism. Canine-attracted humans? Transspeciesists? Poly-wanna-crackers? I suggest petophiles.
The push is not for sexual freedom but for government control of the masses by drastically changing their beliefs. No one 10 years ago would have thought it right to give a 12-year-old transsexual surgery, and yet here we are.
The problem goes well beyond sex. National Review reported, “California Approves Regulation to Phase Out Diesel Trucks by 2036.”
This is not about saving the planet from carbon dioxide. This is about the government shutting down independent truck drivers because they are self-reliant. The government wants to control everyone all the time. A fellow who does not need the government is an existential threat to the deep state.
The media is great at pushing government control. Americans today like to believe they are too smart to fall for it. After all, we defeated Hitler and won the Cold War. But with a few exceptions, the people who won World War II are dead. The youngest veteran from that war would be at least 95.
As for the Cold War, President Bush 41 and Gorbachev formed the New World Order three months before the Soviet Union collapsed.
Covid massacred our rights just by killing 1/2 of 1% of the populace. My gosh, in the name of not spreading covid, California arrested a lone surfer for going alone in the ocean. Who was going to infect him? Charlie the Tuna?
By arresting him, government officials broke their own unscientific social distancing rules, proving the mandates and restrictions had nothing to do with covid and everything to do about power.
The danger of covid was exaggerated by the government and spoon fed to the masses by an unquestioning media, which deified government officials — Fauci, Birx, Lysenko and the rest — as people with journalism degrees lectured the public to follow the science.
If these two ever came back, Isaac Newton would hold the quack medicine men up while Einstein kicked them in the parts that hurt.
The media deemed calling it the Wuhan Virus was strictly racist, even though that is where it originated. The media swore it stemmed from something called a “wet market” where people bought bats to eat, and not from the biological warfare laboratory across the street.
But how dangerous was a virus after it traveled halfway across the world? I never saw anyone in a moon suit to protect themselves from this virus. But the government seemed to do everything in its power to keep the pandemic panic alive.
If that were not discombobulating enough, that summer the media and government-approved protesters turned a junkie’s overdose death while in police custody into a murder that somehow justified riots in city after city. The media openly lied by calling the carnage mostly peaceful protests.
The media’s biggest lie was black lives matter. They don’t. Fox — which still occasionally indulges in journalism — reported, “BLM silent when confronted with data showing massive 2020 spike in black murder victims
“Black murders spiked by 32% in 2020 compared to 2019, and by 43% that year compared to the 10-year average.”
Black men killing black men bothers no one else in America it seems.
But microaggressions do bother liberals. Dead black men don’t bother them but hurt feelings do. Examples of Racial Microaggressions include saying:
“When I look at you, I don’t see color.”
“America is a melting pot.”
“There is only one race, the human race.”
“I believe the most qualified person should get the job.”
“Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough.”
Dingbats is too kind a word to describe the fools who promote this junk food for the brain. But it empowers them and protects that power, so who is the real fool?
They are now after our kids, which is an irony as so many of them aborted theirs.
Fox reported, “Two Democratic lawmakers in Virginia were caught on hot mic last week mocking parental rights as garbage, crap and stupid, according to two recordings posted on social media by the Republican State Leadership Committee.
“On the recordings, which were taken at a Friday meet-and-greet at Christopher Newport University, state Sen. Monty Mason and state Del. Shelly Simonds can be heard ripping Republicans over S.B. 1515, a bill that required pornography websites to verify a user's age to be at least 18 before allowing access to its content.”
In the Walt Disney version of Pinocchio in 1940, villains create Pleasure Island to lure boys in and turn them into donkeys. 70 years later, life imitates a cartoon by Democrats demanding we allow kids to access porn.
New York state may ban gas stoves. Actor James Woods tweeted, “In very recent memory the socialists were touting natural gas as ‘clean energy.’ Buses were festooned with slogans pushing this incredible planet-saving resource.
“Now electricity is the rage because it allows the government to monitor EVERYTHING you do.”
Liberals pretend to change the world but all they do is increase their power. They do not move the goal posts; they change the game. One minute they are feminists who are slamming the stereotypes of women. The next minute they are trannies who claim that acting like a stereotypical woman makes you a woman.
It is exhausting as well as confusing.
Which is their strategy.
News of the Times;
FBI Staring Down Additional Troubling Accusations:
https://therecorddaily.com/fbi-staring-down-additional-troubling-accusations/
Democrats are threatening to remove security funding for Supreme Court:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/05/03/democrats-are-threatening-to-remove-security-funding-for-supreme-court-n547972
Tucker Carlson crosses the 9/11 Rubicon:
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/84621/tucker-carlson-crosses-the-911.html
Why these boycotts are working:
https://donsurber.substack.com/p/why-these-boycotts-are-working
Oklahoma governor signs ban on transgender mutilation of children: ‘We must protect our kids’:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/oklahoma-governor-signs-ban-on-transgender-mutilation-of-children-we-must-protect-our-kids/
Physicians? Y'all better heal your ownselves:
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/05/02/physicians-yall-better-heal-your-ownselves-n547906
What China Is Really Playing at in Ukraine:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/05/no_author/what-china-is-really-playing-at-in-ukraine/
Secret Plans for Britain’s New Nuclear Submarine Found in Pub’s Toilet:
https://www.oddee.com/secret-plans-for-britains-new-nuclear-submarine-found-in-pubs-toilet-66576/
Biden Regime to Change Definition of ‘Lawful Presence’ to Give Illegals Welfare:
https://nationalfile.com/biden-regime-to-change-definition-of-lawful-presence-to-give-illegals-welfare/
The Banking Collapse Of 2023 Is Now Officially Bigger Than The Banking Collapse Of 2008 Was:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-banking-collapse-of-2023-is-now-officially-bigger-than-the-banking-collapse-of-2008-was/
Top Democrat's transgender daughter sentenced to probation for assaulting police officer:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-democrats-transgender-daughter-sentenced-probation-assaulting-police-officer
Court Rules 4-Year-Old Can Be Forced to Join LGBTQ Pride Parade:
https://www2.cbn.com/news/world/court-rules-4-year-old-can-be-forced-join-lgbtq-pride-parade
IMF issues grim warning about global economy:
https://www.rt.com/business/575772-imf-world-split-rival-blocs/
Biden regime official says forcing Americans into poverty by getting rid of jobs is a GOOD thing to save planet from “climate change”:
https://dcdirtylaundry.com/biden-regime-official-says-forcing-americans-into-poverty-by-getting-rid-of-jobs-is-a-good-thing-to-save-planet-from-climate-change/
Riders on the subway deserve to have a ride where they don’t feel threatened:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2023/05/riders-on-subway-deserve-to-have-ride.html
Keeping?
Dole?
Some people are saying that Tony Danza was a bit condescending when interviewed on the red carpet last week at the Broadway premiere of "New York, New York."
I don't know, if I ever got a chance to meet him, I would expect Tony to show me who's the boss.
*.*
Yesterday the Police arrested me for unsolicited Spooning.
I wasn't charged, they just held me over night.
Which I loved, by the way.
*.*
Customer: "How much are these tomatoes?"
Owner: "Ninety-nine cents a pound."
Customer: "What? The stand down the road only charges seventy-nine cents a pound!"
Owner: "Then why don't you shop there?"
Customer: "They don't have any today."
Owner: "Well, when I don't have any I charge seventy-nine cents, too!"
*.*
Someone once told me, “GO FOR BROKE!”
I’m happy to report that I succeeded.
*.*
Matt: "It's times like this that I wish I'd listened to what my Dad always said."
Jake: "What did he say?"
"I don't know, I wasn't listening."
Quote of the Times;
Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever? - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.
Link of the Times;
People Can Now Carry Guns Without A License In Half Of America's States:
https://news.yahoo.com/people-now-carry-guns-without-104501617.html
Issue of the Times;
It pays not to work in Biden’s America — and here’s the proof by Steve Moore
Most Americans believe, as we do, in a reliable government safety net in America, so that when people fall on tough times or lose their jobs, their families will not go hungry, lose their homes or suffer deprivation. But most Americans also believe that government assistance should be short-term and aimed at quickly getting people back on their feet, into a job and on the road to being financially self-sufficient and a contributor to our economy.
Today’s welfare programs are failing to accomplish that goal.
Did you know that families earning half a million dollars a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies? Or that in some states, unemployment insurance benefits can be equivalent to a job with annual pay of $100,000?
It’s shocking but true, and it might explain why so many businesses can’t get workers back on the job almost three years after COVID-19 hit these shores. Today there are still at least 3 million fewer Americans working than there were in 2019.
Middle class last
There are many reasons for the worker shortage, but one is that in many states, welfare pays more than or nearly as much as respectable middle-class jobs.
Under Presidents Barack Obama and Biden, many of the highly effective work requirements, which were instituted in the historic 1996 bipartisan welfare reforms, have been eviscerated. Often limits for public benefits have also disappeared while Congress and states have made benefits more generous.
In some states families can earn over six figures annually in unemployment benefits.
Many programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (a k a food stamps), are means tested, so that only low-income people qualify for them. But other handouts are not — including unemployment insurance and ObamaCare subsidies.
The value of these benefits can be staggering — much higher, in fact, than many blue-collar professions. In our new study with the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, we found the following:
In 24 states, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for a family of four with no one working are the annualized equivalent of at least the national median household.
A family making almost a quarter of a million dollars annually still qualifies for ObamaCare subsidies in every state.
In a dozen states, the value of unemployment benefits and Obama¬Care subsidies exceeds the salary and benefits of the average teacher, construction worker, electrician, firefighter, truck driver, machinist or retail associate.
In New Jersey, a family of four can receive benefits equal to an annualized earned income of $108,000 with no one working. In Connecticut and New Jersey, a family earning $300,000 a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies
New Jersey is a state where a family can earn the equivalent of $100,000 a year if both parents are collecting unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for health care. In Connecticut the benefits can reach $80,000.
To be clear, unemployment insurance is at least time-limited to six months in most states. But while Americans are receiving those benefits, the financial incentive to jump into the job market is low.
In addition, people move in and out of the unemployment system — working enough months until they again qualify for benefits.
Our numbers also don’t include the rampant fraud payments that exceed $100 billion a year. This means families that are not technically eligible for food stamps or continued unemployment benefits are still receiving them.
Dem donors profit
It is particularly troubling that these programs, which were purportedly put in place as a safety net for lower-income families, have been expanded to the point that their greatest benefits go to upper-income earners, including households earning half a million dollars in annual incomes in some states.
The Biden administration’s expansion of ObamaCare has been a handout to the wealthy donor class of the Democratic Party, while doing nothing to help those who are truly poor.
The expansion of the welfare state has created situations where work often doesn’t pay. In many states, working a $20-an-hour job for 40 hours a week would mean a reduction in income compared to two parents receiving their unemployment benefits and health care subsidies. Until the unemployment runs out, there is very little incentive to go back to work, especially when the family is receiving more than their blue-collar counterparts who are on the job.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider that the median household’s annual income and benefits are worth about $93,000. In New Jersey, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies alone are worth an annualized $122,000 — that’s 30% more for not working in most occupations.
Government dole
But even the median value of annualized state unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies across the country is relatively high at $69,000. That’s more than the income and benefits of the median firefighter, truck driver, machinist or retail associate.
This also raises basic fairness questions. Is it fair that, in most states, a family can earn about as much as or even more than a construction worker, a security guard or a dental assistant?
We do not believe that these programs that discourage work are to the benefit of the families that receive the welfare program assistance. Most studies conclude that work is associated with happiness, more financial security over time and better health with a longer life expectancy.
The whole idea of welfare — when many of these programs were started 50 years ago during the Great Society — was to get Americans back into the workforce. President Lyndon B. Johnson famously declared that “the day of the dole are numbered.” In the 1990s, Congress aimed to “end welfare as we know it.” None of these goals has been achieved. In many ways, welfare is more generous than ever.
Our goal is to achieve a just and productive society and make America a place that rewards work — not welfare. But the left has adopted a strategy of a “national guaranteed income” for Americans whether they work or not. The result is a record-low labor-force participation rate — meaning fewer Americans working and higher taxes for those who do work.
News of the Times;
Epstein's Private Calendar Emerges:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-cia-chief-goldman-top-lawyer-and-noam-chomsky-knew-met-jeffrey-epstein
How To Save Europe From Mass Immigration—The Australian Solution:
https://vdare.com/articles/how-to-save-europe-from-mass-immigration-the-australian-solution
Virginia Dems Keep Stepping in It as Hot Mic Moments Capture Them Demonizing Parents:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/04/29/parental-garbage-virginia-democrats-keep-stepping-in-it-n2622560
China ramps up coal power despite carbon neutral pledges:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/china-ramps-up-coal-power-despite-carbon-neutral-pledges
Robot Food Runners Show Why America Doesn’t Need Cheap Foreign Labor:
https://vdare.com/articles/in-new-england-robot-food-runners-show-why-america-doesn-t-need-cheap-foreign-labor
San Francisco Ends Costly Boycott of Conservative States:
https://www.thepoliticalglobe.com/san-francisco-ends-costly-boycott-of-conservative-states/
More about the closure of that Whole Foods in San Francisco:
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/05/02/more-about-the-closure-of-that-whole-foods-in-san-francisco-plus-nordstrom-closes-two-sf-stores-n547864
The High School Class So Popular Kids Sit In on It so They Can LEARN Stuff:
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2023/05/01/impossible-the-high-school-class-so-popular-kids-sit-in-on-it-so-they-can-learn-stuff-n1691805
Three Times Deported Mexican Who Shot Neighbors Described by Media As “Texas Man”:
https://summit.news/2023/05/01/three-times-deported-mexican-who-shot-neighbors-described-by-media-as-texas-man/
Californian Learns Brutal Lesson About EVs:
https://ijr.com/californian-learns-brutal-lesson-evs-stranded-truck-hauled
Violent Left-Wing Insurrectionists Invade Texas State Capitol and Shut Down Proceedings:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/violent-left-wing-insurrectionists-invade-texas-state-capitol-and-shut-down-proceedings-on-bill-banning-child-sex-surgeries-state-police-end-the-commotion-in-epic-style-video/
Random north Tulsa killings were racially motivated, prosecutors say:
https://www.krmg.com/news/local/random-north-tulsa-killings-were-racially-motivated-prosecutors-say/POWNSFZJZ5FMNCZ3G32G22CWD4/
Universal Health Care Ends With The Government Telling You To Kill Yourself:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/30/universal-health-care-ends-with-the-government-telling-you-to-kill-yourself/
Bill would allow homeless camps to terrorize communities:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/furious-portland-residents-democrat-backed-bill-allow-homeless-camps-terrorize-communities
Man beaten to bloody pulp by masked thugs angry he confronted their dangerous intersection takeover:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/horrific-video-man-beaten-to-bloody-pulp-by-masked-thugs-angry-he-confronted-their-dangerous-intersection-takeover
I don't know, if I ever got a chance to meet him, I would expect Tony to show me who's the boss.
*.*
Yesterday the Police arrested me for unsolicited Spooning.
I wasn't charged, they just held me over night.
Which I loved, by the way.
*.*
Customer: "How much are these tomatoes?"
Owner: "Ninety-nine cents a pound."
Customer: "What? The stand down the road only charges seventy-nine cents a pound!"
Owner: "Then why don't you shop there?"
Customer: "They don't have any today."
Owner: "Well, when I don't have any I charge seventy-nine cents, too!"
*.*
Someone once told me, “GO FOR BROKE!”
I’m happy to report that I succeeded.
*.*
Matt: "It's times like this that I wish I'd listened to what my Dad always said."
Jake: "What did he say?"
"I don't know, I wasn't listening."
Quote of the Times;
Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever? - 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.
Link of the Times;
People Can Now Carry Guns Without A License In Half Of America's States:
https://news.yahoo.com/people-now-carry-guns-without-104501617.html
Issue of the Times;
It pays not to work in Biden’s America — and here’s the proof by Steve Moore
Most Americans believe, as we do, in a reliable government safety net in America, so that when people fall on tough times or lose their jobs, their families will not go hungry, lose their homes or suffer deprivation. But most Americans also believe that government assistance should be short-term and aimed at quickly getting people back on their feet, into a job and on the road to being financially self-sufficient and a contributor to our economy.
Today’s welfare programs are failing to accomplish that goal.
Did you know that families earning half a million dollars a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies? Or that in some states, unemployment insurance benefits can be equivalent to a job with annual pay of $100,000?
It’s shocking but true, and it might explain why so many businesses can’t get workers back on the job almost three years after COVID-19 hit these shores. Today there are still at least 3 million fewer Americans working than there were in 2019.
Middle class last
There are many reasons for the worker shortage, but one is that in many states, welfare pays more than or nearly as much as respectable middle-class jobs.
Under Presidents Barack Obama and Biden, many of the highly effective work requirements, which were instituted in the historic 1996 bipartisan welfare reforms, have been eviscerated. Often limits for public benefits have also disappeared while Congress and states have made benefits more generous.
In some states families can earn over six figures annually in unemployment benefits.
Many programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (a k a food stamps), are means tested, so that only low-income people qualify for them. But other handouts are not — including unemployment insurance and ObamaCare subsidies.
The value of these benefits can be staggering — much higher, in fact, than many blue-collar professions. In our new study with the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, we found the following:
In 24 states, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for a family of four with no one working are the annualized equivalent of at least the national median household.
A family making almost a quarter of a million dollars annually still qualifies for ObamaCare subsidies in every state.
In a dozen states, the value of unemployment benefits and Obama¬Care subsidies exceeds the salary and benefits of the average teacher, construction worker, electrician, firefighter, truck driver, machinist or retail associate.
In New Jersey, a family of four can receive benefits equal to an annualized earned income of $108,000 with no one working. In Connecticut and New Jersey, a family earning $300,000 a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies
New Jersey is a state where a family can earn the equivalent of $100,000 a year if both parents are collecting unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for health care. In Connecticut the benefits can reach $80,000.
To be clear, unemployment insurance is at least time-limited to six months in most states. But while Americans are receiving those benefits, the financial incentive to jump into the job market is low.
In addition, people move in and out of the unemployment system — working enough months until they again qualify for benefits.
Our numbers also don’t include the rampant fraud payments that exceed $100 billion a year. This means families that are not technically eligible for food stamps or continued unemployment benefits are still receiving them.
Dem donors profit
It is particularly troubling that these programs, which were purportedly put in place as a safety net for lower-income families, have been expanded to the point that their greatest benefits go to upper-income earners, including households earning half a million dollars in annual incomes in some states.
The Biden administration’s expansion of ObamaCare has been a handout to the wealthy donor class of the Democratic Party, while doing nothing to help those who are truly poor.
The expansion of the welfare state has created situations where work often doesn’t pay. In many states, working a $20-an-hour job for 40 hours a week would mean a reduction in income compared to two parents receiving their unemployment benefits and health care subsidies. Until the unemployment runs out, there is very little incentive to go back to work, especially when the family is receiving more than their blue-collar counterparts who are on the job.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider that the median household’s annual income and benefits are worth about $93,000. In New Jersey, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies alone are worth an annualized $122,000 — that’s 30% more for not working in most occupations.
Government dole
But even the median value of annualized state unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies across the country is relatively high at $69,000. That’s more than the income and benefits of the median firefighter, truck driver, machinist or retail associate.
This also raises basic fairness questions. Is it fair that, in most states, a family can earn about as much as or even more than a construction worker, a security guard or a dental assistant?
We do not believe that these programs that discourage work are to the benefit of the families that receive the welfare program assistance. Most studies conclude that work is associated with happiness, more financial security over time and better health with a longer life expectancy.
The whole idea of welfare — when many of these programs were started 50 years ago during the Great Society — was to get Americans back into the workforce. President Lyndon B. Johnson famously declared that “the day of the dole are numbered.” In the 1990s, Congress aimed to “end welfare as we know it.” None of these goals has been achieved. In many ways, welfare is more generous than ever.
Our goal is to achieve a just and productive society and make America a place that rewards work — not welfare. But the left has adopted a strategy of a “national guaranteed income” for Americans whether they work or not. The result is a record-low labor-force participation rate — meaning fewer Americans working and higher taxes for those who do work.
News of the Times;
Epstein's Private Calendar Emerges:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-cia-chief-goldman-top-lawyer-and-noam-chomsky-knew-met-jeffrey-epstein
How To Save Europe From Mass Immigration—The Australian Solution:
https://vdare.com/articles/how-to-save-europe-from-mass-immigration-the-australian-solution
Virginia Dems Keep Stepping in It as Hot Mic Moments Capture Them Demonizing Parents:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/04/29/parental-garbage-virginia-democrats-keep-stepping-in-it-n2622560
China ramps up coal power despite carbon neutral pledges:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/china-ramps-up-coal-power-despite-carbon-neutral-pledges
Robot Food Runners Show Why America Doesn’t Need Cheap Foreign Labor:
https://vdare.com/articles/in-new-england-robot-food-runners-show-why-america-doesn-t-need-cheap-foreign-labor
San Francisco Ends Costly Boycott of Conservative States:
https://www.thepoliticalglobe.com/san-francisco-ends-costly-boycott-of-conservative-states/
More about the closure of that Whole Foods in San Francisco:
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/05/02/more-about-the-closure-of-that-whole-foods-in-san-francisco-plus-nordstrom-closes-two-sf-stores-n547864
The High School Class So Popular Kids Sit In on It so They Can LEARN Stuff:
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2023/05/01/impossible-the-high-school-class-so-popular-kids-sit-in-on-it-so-they-can-learn-stuff-n1691805
Three Times Deported Mexican Who Shot Neighbors Described by Media As “Texas Man”:
https://summit.news/2023/05/01/three-times-deported-mexican-who-shot-neighbors-described-by-media-as-texas-man/
Californian Learns Brutal Lesson About EVs:
https://ijr.com/californian-learns-brutal-lesson-evs-stranded-truck-hauled
Violent Left-Wing Insurrectionists Invade Texas State Capitol and Shut Down Proceedings:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/violent-left-wing-insurrectionists-invade-texas-state-capitol-and-shut-down-proceedings-on-bill-banning-child-sex-surgeries-state-police-end-the-commotion-in-epic-style-video/
Random north Tulsa killings were racially motivated, prosecutors say:
https://www.krmg.com/news/local/random-north-tulsa-killings-were-racially-motivated-prosecutors-say/POWNSFZJZ5FMNCZ3G32G22CWD4/
Universal Health Care Ends With The Government Telling You To Kill Yourself:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/30/universal-health-care-ends-with-the-government-telling-you-to-kill-yourself/
Bill would allow homeless camps to terrorize communities:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/furious-portland-residents-democrat-backed-bill-allow-homeless-camps-terrorize-communities
Man beaten to bloody pulp by masked thugs angry he confronted their dangerous intersection takeover:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/horrific-video-man-beaten-to-bloody-pulp-by-masked-thugs-angry-he-confronted-their-dangerous-intersection-takeover
Worriers?
Everyone has an annoying friend.
If you don't, then it's probably you.
*.*
Judge, "on what grounds do you want a divorce?"
Husband "my wife is out all night, every night! From bar to bar, visits all the bars and pubs in town every fucking day!"
Judge "You mean to say she's severely Alcoholic and cheats on you everyday?"
Husband "No, She's out looking for Me!!"
*.*
Oneliners:
Turbo Tax is, by far, the worst computer game ever!
The trouble with being punctual is that no one cares.
Nothing hurts more than you go to unfriend someone but find they have beaten you to it.
Does running away from problems count as a workout?
Every rule has an exception, especially this one.
Tip of the week: When going through airport customs and the TSA agent asks, "Do you have any firearms with you?" do not reply, "What do you need?"
Smonday: When the joy of Sunday fades away and you start dreading Monday.
I always regret the plans I make when I'm in one of my 5-minute extrovert moods.
Go ahead and get that tattoo, your family is already disappointed.
My half-brother and I aren't allowed to play with chainsaws anymore.
*.*
A patron in a Montreal restaurant turned on a tap in the washroom and got scalded.
"This is an outrage," he complained. "The faucet marked 'C' gave me boiling water."
"But, Monsieur, 'C' stands for chaud – French for hot. You should know that if you live in Montreal."
"Wait a minute," roared the patron. "The other tap is also marked 'C'."
"Of course," said the manager. "It stands for cold. After all, Montreal is a bilingual city."
*.*
Elvis Costello and Abba are going to tour together this summer, but we don't know who the headliner is.
So, we'll have to wait to see who's on first.
Quote of the Times;
"A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom." - Friedman
Link of the Times;
Pfizer and FDA Knew in Early 2021 That Pfizer mRNA COVID “Vaccine” Caused Dire Fetal and Infant Risks:
https://dailyclout.io/bombshell-pfizer-and-the-fda-knew-in-early-2021-that-the-pfizer-mrna-covid-vaccine-caused-dire-fetal-and-infant-risks-they-began-an-aggressive-campaign-to-vaccinate-pregnant-women-anyway/
Issue of the Times;
Women As Worriers Who Exclude by Robin Hanson
In Warriors and Worriers, psychologist Joyce Benenson presents a new theory of sex differences, based on thirty years of research with young children and primates around the world. … boys and men deter their enemies, while girls and women find assistants to aid them in coping with vulnerable children and elders. … Human males form cooperative groups that compete against out-groups, while human females exclude other females in their quest to find mates, female family members to invest in their children, and keep their own hearts ticking. In the process, Benenson turns upside down the familiar wisdom that women are more sociable than men and that men are more competitive than women.
Especially interesting is her discussion of how central social exclusion is to female behavior:
How does a woman compete while minimizing the risk of retaliation? I suggest that women use a few simple strategies. Strategy 1 is that a woman does not ever let anyone else know that she is competing with them. … She preaches the mantra of equality for all, and sincerely believes it. …Unaware of her own competitive instincts, she tries to get as much as she can for herself, while insisting that everyone else share equally. If strategy 1 is not working out well enough, then a woman may switch to strategy 2, which requires employing social exclusion. She must ally with other females to run their target out of town. That way, they retain more resources, status, allies, babysitters, and high-quality mates for themselves. The virtue of social exclusion is that it allows overt competition but reduces the risk of retalitation because the target is outnumbered. Should strategy 2 fail, the final fallback is strategy 3, which is reserved for emergencies. It entails a direct hit on a competitor, a physical or verbal assault. If a woman must use strategy 3, she has failed. She is no longer nice; she is mean. … She will be abandoned by former allies. Not only that, but she risks retaliation from her target. …
Strategy 2 comes into play when one female stands out. She may stand out because she obviously tries to outdo everyone else. She may stand out because she is new, extremely talented, or simply has the resources or relationships that others want. She may even stand out simply because she is an easy target and has nothing going for her. She has no allies. It would cost little to be rid of her, leaving more for everyone else. In any of these circumstances, it might be worth using a more direct competitive strategy. However, any form of individual, direct competition leaves open the possibility of retaliation and potential harm. One way of minimizing this is for several girls or women to gang up on a single target. This way, there is little chance of any one of the group suffering harm. Social exclusion accomplishes just that. …
Barring imminent death of herself or her child, nothing strikes more fear into the heart of a girl or woman than the thought that she will be excluded. In one recent study, my students and I asked women and men simply to read about being socially excluded by a friend. Women’s heart rates increased much more than men’s heart rates did. In contrast, women’s and men’s heart rates increased equally when they imagined being physically assaulted by a friend. …
Social exclusion is primarily a female strategy. … Girls practice it from early childhood. It has been used by females across diverse cultures in middle childhood and adolescence and adulthood … An experimenter brought two 6-year-olds, either girls or boys, to a room … One week later, the same two children returned to the room and … a third child of the same sex was brought to the room after the pair had been playing for a while. … pairs of girls were more likely than pairs of boys to exclude the newcomer. … Girls took more than three times as long as boys to speak to the newcomer. … In 4 of the 15 girls’ groups, the girls never spoke a single word to the newcomer. …
In interviews conducted in Adelaide, Australia, middle-class girls in Catholic schools reported many instances of temporary and permanent exclusion of former friends, new girls, vulnerable girls with few friends or little self-confidence, or geeky girls. … At one … school, two or three cases occurred per year in which the exclusion was so severe that a girl had to transfer to another school. Unfortunately, nothing is worse than entering a new school. These transfer girls often found themselves excluded again. … Several studies show that [women] dislike moving more than men do. …
We asked groups of five 10-year-olds from schools in Plymouth, England, if they would produce a short play. … Every group worked hard. No adults were present. … The seven boys’ plays consisted primarily of skits based either on a popular television show or on football (soccer) matches between two well-known teams. … All of the boys took part equally in these plays. No one was singled out. In contrast, six of the seven girls’ plays involved social exclusion of a target girl. … girls more frequently formed a coalition whose members synchronously directed behavior toward one lone girl. Second, the girls varied more in the amount of time each girl got on stage. The girl who was excluded got a lot less air time …
We mentioned that if a participant played alone, then the two opponents would be able to get together to exclude them. Even though this did not affect the participant’s chances of winning, women immediately switched strategies. Instead of playing alone, they chose to ally with one player and exclude the other one. Men were completely unaffected. …
When we asked young adults to describe any occasions in the past year when they had been socially excluded by same-sex friends, women listed more occasions than men.
This all suggests to me that “cancel culture” can be seen as a straightforward extension of a common relatively-female strategy, upped in part by #MeToo.
That is, many orgs are now willing to break association with anyone who enough others say they don’t like. Some sort of accusation is often required, but details or supporting concrete evidence are less often required. I guess this change is part of the overall feminization of culture, though it must also have other causes. (What?)
The above descriptions don’t give me much confidence that the excluded are typically guilty of justly-punishable offenses. Expect to see a lot more of this, unless we re-establish prior norms that discouraged it.
News of the Times;
Dutch legalise euthanasia for primary school-age children:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/dutch-legalise-euthanasia-for-primary-school-age-children/
Head of Pontifical Academy for Life Endorses Assisted Suicide:
https://www.lifenews.com/2023/04/24/head-of-pontifical-academy-for-life-endorses-assisted-suicide-violating-catholic-church-teaching/
Alabama Governor Forces Out Childhood Education Secretary:
https://www.westernjournal.com/alabama-governor-forces-childhood-education-secretary-seeing-taught-4-year-olds/
Elementary school assistant sentenced to less than a year in prison for 11 felony child sex crimes:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/drag-mom-drag-queen-child-sex-crimes
Men's penises are half-an-inch SMALLER if they are exposed to high levels of chemicals:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6462775/Mens-penises-half-inch-smaller-chemicals-non-stick-frying-pans.html
Mayor Adams Takes Shot at Biden, Claims NYC is Being ‘Destroyed’ by Fed Gov’t:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/watch-mayor-adams-takes-shot-biden-claims-nyc-destroyed-fed-govt/
The United Nations Says Minors Can Consent to Sex:
https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/04/18/un-report-says-minors-consent-sex-adults/
National Media Silent on Black Mass Shooting in Alabama:
https://nationalfile.com/national-media-silent-on-black-mass-shooting-in-alabama/
These brave women were told they couldn't sue their sorority for its transgender policy:
https://notthebee.com/article/these-brave-women-were-told-they-couldnt-sue-their-sorority-for-its-transgender-policy-unless-they-put-their-names-on-it-so-they-did
North Dakota Governor Signs Bill to Ban Abortions on Babies With Beating Hearts:
https://www.lifenews.com/2023/04/25/north-dakota-governor-signs-bill-to-ban-abortions-on-babies-with-beating-hearts/
Whistleblower: U.S. Govt. is ‘Middleman’ in Massive Migrant Child Trafficking Ring:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/26/whistleblower-u-s-govt-is-middleman-in-massive-migrant-child-trafficking-ring/
Macron Forced to Travel With Generator Truck as Unions Literally Cut Off His Power:
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/04/26/running-on-fumes-macron-forced-to-travel-with-generator-truck-as-unions-literally-cut-off-his-power/
Jury Finds Obama Received Illegal Campaign Donations Originating from Foreign Financier:
https://www.westernjournal.com/ap-jury-finds-obama-received-illegal-campaign-donations-originating-foreign-financier/
Another Lockdown Authoritarian Tries To Weasel Out Of Responsibility:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/another-lockdown-authoritarian-tries-weasel-out-responsibility-role-during-pandemic
Middle-school principals in blue city plead for help to manage student behavior problems:
https://www.wnd.com/2023/04/middle-school-principals-blue-city-plead-help-manage-student-behavior-problems/
If you don't, then it's probably you.
*.*
Judge, "on what grounds do you want a divorce?"
Husband "my wife is out all night, every night! From bar to bar, visits all the bars and pubs in town every fucking day!"
Judge "You mean to say she's severely Alcoholic and cheats on you everyday?"
Husband "No, She's out looking for Me!!"
*.*
Oneliners:
Turbo Tax is, by far, the worst computer game ever!
The trouble with being punctual is that no one cares.
Nothing hurts more than you go to unfriend someone but find they have beaten you to it.
Does running away from problems count as a workout?
Every rule has an exception, especially this one.
Tip of the week: When going through airport customs and the TSA agent asks, "Do you have any firearms with you?" do not reply, "What do you need?"
Smonday: When the joy of Sunday fades away and you start dreading Monday.
I always regret the plans I make when I'm in one of my 5-minute extrovert moods.
Go ahead and get that tattoo, your family is already disappointed.
My half-brother and I aren't allowed to play with chainsaws anymore.
*.*
A patron in a Montreal restaurant turned on a tap in the washroom and got scalded.
"This is an outrage," he complained. "The faucet marked 'C' gave me boiling water."
"But, Monsieur, 'C' stands for chaud – French for hot. You should know that if you live in Montreal."
"Wait a minute," roared the patron. "The other tap is also marked 'C'."
"Of course," said the manager. "It stands for cold. After all, Montreal is a bilingual city."
*.*
Elvis Costello and Abba are going to tour together this summer, but we don't know who the headliner is.
So, we'll have to wait to see who's on first.
Quote of the Times;
"A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom." - Friedman
Link of the Times;
Pfizer and FDA Knew in Early 2021 That Pfizer mRNA COVID “Vaccine” Caused Dire Fetal and Infant Risks:
https://dailyclout.io/bombshell-pfizer-and-the-fda-knew-in-early-2021-that-the-pfizer-mrna-covid-vaccine-caused-dire-fetal-and-infant-risks-they-began-an-aggressive-campaign-to-vaccinate-pregnant-women-anyway/
Issue of the Times;
Women As Worriers Who Exclude by Robin Hanson
In Warriors and Worriers, psychologist Joyce Benenson presents a new theory of sex differences, based on thirty years of research with young children and primates around the world. … boys and men deter their enemies, while girls and women find assistants to aid them in coping with vulnerable children and elders. … Human males form cooperative groups that compete against out-groups, while human females exclude other females in their quest to find mates, female family members to invest in their children, and keep their own hearts ticking. In the process, Benenson turns upside down the familiar wisdom that women are more sociable than men and that men are more competitive than women.
Especially interesting is her discussion of how central social exclusion is to female behavior:
How does a woman compete while minimizing the risk of retaliation? I suggest that women use a few simple strategies. Strategy 1 is that a woman does not ever let anyone else know that she is competing with them. … She preaches the mantra of equality for all, and sincerely believes it. …Unaware of her own competitive instincts, she tries to get as much as she can for herself, while insisting that everyone else share equally. If strategy 1 is not working out well enough, then a woman may switch to strategy 2, which requires employing social exclusion. She must ally with other females to run their target out of town. That way, they retain more resources, status, allies, babysitters, and high-quality mates for themselves. The virtue of social exclusion is that it allows overt competition but reduces the risk of retalitation because the target is outnumbered. Should strategy 2 fail, the final fallback is strategy 3, which is reserved for emergencies. It entails a direct hit on a competitor, a physical or verbal assault. If a woman must use strategy 3, she has failed. She is no longer nice; she is mean. … She will be abandoned by former allies. Not only that, but she risks retaliation from her target. …
Strategy 2 comes into play when one female stands out. She may stand out because she obviously tries to outdo everyone else. She may stand out because she is new, extremely talented, or simply has the resources or relationships that others want. She may even stand out simply because she is an easy target and has nothing going for her. She has no allies. It would cost little to be rid of her, leaving more for everyone else. In any of these circumstances, it might be worth using a more direct competitive strategy. However, any form of individual, direct competition leaves open the possibility of retaliation and potential harm. One way of minimizing this is for several girls or women to gang up on a single target. This way, there is little chance of any one of the group suffering harm. Social exclusion accomplishes just that. …
Barring imminent death of herself or her child, nothing strikes more fear into the heart of a girl or woman than the thought that she will be excluded. In one recent study, my students and I asked women and men simply to read about being socially excluded by a friend. Women’s heart rates increased much more than men’s heart rates did. In contrast, women’s and men’s heart rates increased equally when they imagined being physically assaulted by a friend. …
Social exclusion is primarily a female strategy. … Girls practice it from early childhood. It has been used by females across diverse cultures in middle childhood and adolescence and adulthood … An experimenter brought two 6-year-olds, either girls or boys, to a room … One week later, the same two children returned to the room and … a third child of the same sex was brought to the room after the pair had been playing for a while. … pairs of girls were more likely than pairs of boys to exclude the newcomer. … Girls took more than three times as long as boys to speak to the newcomer. … In 4 of the 15 girls’ groups, the girls never spoke a single word to the newcomer. …
In interviews conducted in Adelaide, Australia, middle-class girls in Catholic schools reported many instances of temporary and permanent exclusion of former friends, new girls, vulnerable girls with few friends or little self-confidence, or geeky girls. … At one … school, two or three cases occurred per year in which the exclusion was so severe that a girl had to transfer to another school. Unfortunately, nothing is worse than entering a new school. These transfer girls often found themselves excluded again. … Several studies show that [women] dislike moving more than men do. …
We asked groups of five 10-year-olds from schools in Plymouth, England, if they would produce a short play. … Every group worked hard. No adults were present. … The seven boys’ plays consisted primarily of skits based either on a popular television show or on football (soccer) matches between two well-known teams. … All of the boys took part equally in these plays. No one was singled out. In contrast, six of the seven girls’ plays involved social exclusion of a target girl. … girls more frequently formed a coalition whose members synchronously directed behavior toward one lone girl. Second, the girls varied more in the amount of time each girl got on stage. The girl who was excluded got a lot less air time …
We mentioned that if a participant played alone, then the two opponents would be able to get together to exclude them. Even though this did not affect the participant’s chances of winning, women immediately switched strategies. Instead of playing alone, they chose to ally with one player and exclude the other one. Men were completely unaffected. …
When we asked young adults to describe any occasions in the past year when they had been socially excluded by same-sex friends, women listed more occasions than men.
This all suggests to me that “cancel culture” can be seen as a straightforward extension of a common relatively-female strategy, upped in part by #MeToo.
That is, many orgs are now willing to break association with anyone who enough others say they don’t like. Some sort of accusation is often required, but details or supporting concrete evidence are less often required. I guess this change is part of the overall feminization of culture, though it must also have other causes. (What?)
The above descriptions don’t give me much confidence that the excluded are typically guilty of justly-punishable offenses. Expect to see a lot more of this, unless we re-establish prior norms that discouraged it.
News of the Times;
Dutch legalise euthanasia for primary school-age children:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/dutch-legalise-euthanasia-for-primary-school-age-children/
Head of Pontifical Academy for Life Endorses Assisted Suicide:
https://www.lifenews.com/2023/04/24/head-of-pontifical-academy-for-life-endorses-assisted-suicide-violating-catholic-church-teaching/
Alabama Governor Forces Out Childhood Education Secretary:
https://www.westernjournal.com/alabama-governor-forces-childhood-education-secretary-seeing-taught-4-year-olds/
Elementary school assistant sentenced to less than a year in prison for 11 felony child sex crimes:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/drag-mom-drag-queen-child-sex-crimes
Men's penises are half-an-inch SMALLER if they are exposed to high levels of chemicals:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6462775/Mens-penises-half-inch-smaller-chemicals-non-stick-frying-pans.html
Mayor Adams Takes Shot at Biden, Claims NYC is Being ‘Destroyed’ by Fed Gov’t:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/watch-mayor-adams-takes-shot-biden-claims-nyc-destroyed-fed-govt/
The United Nations Says Minors Can Consent to Sex:
https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/04/18/un-report-says-minors-consent-sex-adults/
National Media Silent on Black Mass Shooting in Alabama:
https://nationalfile.com/national-media-silent-on-black-mass-shooting-in-alabama/
These brave women were told they couldn't sue their sorority for its transgender policy:
https://notthebee.com/article/these-brave-women-were-told-they-couldnt-sue-their-sorority-for-its-transgender-policy-unless-they-put-their-names-on-it-so-they-did
North Dakota Governor Signs Bill to Ban Abortions on Babies With Beating Hearts:
https://www.lifenews.com/2023/04/25/north-dakota-governor-signs-bill-to-ban-abortions-on-babies-with-beating-hearts/
Whistleblower: U.S. Govt. is ‘Middleman’ in Massive Migrant Child Trafficking Ring:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/26/whistleblower-u-s-govt-is-middleman-in-massive-migrant-child-trafficking-ring/
Macron Forced to Travel With Generator Truck as Unions Literally Cut Off His Power:
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/04/26/running-on-fumes-macron-forced-to-travel-with-generator-truck-as-unions-literally-cut-off-his-power/
Jury Finds Obama Received Illegal Campaign Donations Originating from Foreign Financier:
https://www.westernjournal.com/ap-jury-finds-obama-received-illegal-campaign-donations-originating-foreign-financier/
Another Lockdown Authoritarian Tries To Weasel Out Of Responsibility:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/another-lockdown-authoritarian-tries-weasel-out-responsibility-role-during-pandemic
Middle-school principals in blue city plead for help to manage student behavior problems:
https://www.wnd.com/2023/04/middle-school-principals-blue-city-plead-help-manage-student-behavior-problems/
Contract?
Be careful what you do in the garden.
The potatoes have eyes, the corn has ears and the beanstalk.
*.*
Why did Elon Musk choose SpaceX to land on Mars?
Because if he chose SpaceY, he'd land on 14 year old boys.
Or Uranus.
By the way, if you're curious, the SpaceX rocket's pronouns are "was/were".
*.*
My wife couldn't believe it when I got arrested for masturbating in a public place.
"What on earth were you thinking of!?!" she screamed.
“Not you, that's for sure!”
*.*
I just got a pet termite.
I'm going to call him Clint.
Clint Eats Wood.
*.*
Condoms don't guarantee safe sex.
I had a friend that was wearing one and he was shot by the woman's husband.
Quote of the Times;
“How isn't this the biggest story in America? The former deputy director of the CIA told Jim Jordan under oath that he orchestrated the Hunter Biden 'Russian disinfo letter' after he spoke to the Biden Campaign and that the letter's purpose was to help Joe Biden win the election.” - Miltimore
Link of the Times;
Remember that nice British chimpanzee lady? I think she wants us dead:
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/01/03/remember-that-nice-british-chimpanzee-lady-i-think-she-wants-us-dead-n521212
Issue of the Times;
America's Social Contract Is Broken by Charles Hugh Smith
I do not claim any expertise in social contract theory, but in broad brush we can delineate two implicit contracts: one between the citizenry and the state (government) and another between citizens.
We can distinguish between the two by considering a rural county fair. Most of the labor to stage the fair is volunteered by the citizenry for the good of their community and fellow citizens; they are not coerced to do so by the government, nor does the government levy taxes to pay its employees or contractors to stage the fair.
The social contract between citizens implicitly binds people to obeying traffic laws as a public good all benefit from, not because a police officer is on every street corner enforcing the letter of the law.
The social contract between the citizens and the state binds the government to maintaining civil liberties, equal enforcement of the rule of law, defending the nation, and in the 20th century, providing social welfare for the disadvantaged, disabled and low-income elderly.
Critiques of "trickle down economics" focus on income inequality as a key metric of the Social Contract: rising income inequality is de facto evidence that the Social Contract is broken.
I think this misses the key distinction in the Social Contract between citizens and the state, which is the legitimacy of the process of wealth creation and the fairness of the playing field and the referees, i.e. that no one is above the law.
Few people begrudge legitimately earned wealth, for example, the top athlete, the pop star, the tech innovator, the canny entrepreneur, the best-selling author, etc. The source of these individual's wealth is transparent, and any citizen can decline to support this wealth creation by not paying money to see the athlete, not buying the author's books, not shopping at the entrepreneur's stores, etc.
The Social Contract is broken not just by wealth inequality per se but by the illegitimate process of wealth acquisition, i.e. the state has tipped the scales in favor of the few behind closed doors and routinely ignores or bypasses the intent of the law even as the state claims to be following the narrower letter of the law.
By this definition, the Social Contract in America has been completely smashed. One sector after another is dominated by cartel-state partnerships that are forged and enforced in obscure legislation written by lobbyists. Once the laws have been riddled with loopholes and the regulators have been corrupted, "no one is above the law" has lost all meaning.
Those who violate the intent of the law while managing to conjure an apparent compliance with the letter of the law are shysters, scammers and thieves who exploit the intricate loopholes of the system, all the while parading their compliance as evidence the system is fair and just. In this way, the judicial system becomes part of the illegitimate process of wealth accumulation.
In America, political and financial Elites are above the intent of the law. Is bribery of politicos illegal? Supposedly it is, but in practice it is entirely and openly legal.
This is the norm in banana republics, whose ledgers are loaded with thousands of codes and regulations that are routinely ignored by those in power. In the Banana Republic of America, financial crimes go uninvestigated, unindicted and unpunished: banks and their management are essentially immune to prosecution because the crimes are complex (tsk, tsk, it's really too much trouble to investigate) and they're "too big to prosecute."
The rot has seeped from the financial-political Aristocracy to the lower reaches of the social order. The fury of those still working legitimate jobs and paying their taxes is grounded in a simple, obvious truth: America is now dominated by scammers, cheaters, grifters and those gaming the system, large and small, to increase their share of the swag.
The honest taxpayer is a chump, a mark who foolishly ponies up the swag that's looted by the smart operators. Everyone knows that the vast majority of wealth accumulation in America flows not from transparent effort on a level playing field, but from persuading the Central State (the Federal government and the Federal Reserve) to enforce cartels and grant monopolistic favors such as tax shelters designed for a handful of firms and unlimited credit to private banks.
When scammers large and small live better than those creating value in the real economy, the Social Contract has ceased to exist. When the illegitimate process of wealth acquisition--a rigged playing field, a bought-off referee, and an Elite that's above the law by every practical measure--dominates the economy and the political structure, the Social Contract has been shattered, regardless of how much welfare largesse is distributed to buy the complicity of state dependents.
Once the chumps and marks realize there is no way they can ever escape their exploited banana-republic status as neofeudal debt-serfs, the scammers, cheats and grifters large and small will be at risk of losing their perquisites. The fantasy in America is that legitimate wealth creation is still possible despite the visible dominance of a corrupt, venal, self-absorbed, parasitic, predatory Aristocracy. Once that fantasy dies, so will the marks' support of the Aristocracy.
As Voltaire observed, "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible": every claim, every game of the system, every political favor purchased is "fair and legal," of course. This is precisely how empires collapse.
In broad brush, we can trace the transition from feudalism to capitalism to the present financialized, globalized cartel-state neofeudalism and next, to a synthesis built on the opposite of neofeudalism, which is decentralization, transparency, accountability, legitimacy and the adaptive churn of competing ideas and proposals.
News of the Times;
Tucker Carlson Keynote Address :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebG2POkoHgU
Bill Maher Slams “Intellectual Cowardice” Of Those Who “Just Fall In Line” With Woke Madness:
https://summit.news/2023/04/21/video-bill-maher-slams-intellectual-cowardice-of-those-who-just-fall-in-line-with-woke-madness/
Little girl, parents shot after basketball rolls into gunman’s yard:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/little-girl-parents-shot-after-basketball-rolls-into-gunman-s-yard-in-gastonia-suspect-sought-police/ar-AA1a4Szx
Man Kidnaps & Rapes DoorDash Delivery Driver:
https://floridajolt.com/man-kidnaps-rapes-doordash-delivery-driver-fires-shots-at-her-family-when-they-come-to-rescue/
Biden’s ‘Racial Equity’ Order Threatens The Meritocracy That Makes Our Military Great:
https://armedforces.press/bidens-racial-equity-order-threatens-the-meritocracy-that-makes-our-military-great/
Louisville Shooter's Manifesto Details His Intent To Push Gun Control:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/louisville-shooters-manifesto-details-his-intent-push-gun-control
Obama, Bush and Clinton have started an NGO to fly migrants into the US:
https://justthenews.com/events/obama-bush-and-clinton-start-non-governmental-organization-fly-migrants-across-us
Bangladesh Pays Nuclear Plant Loan to Russia in Chinese Yuan in Latest Example of US Dollar Failing:
https://watcher.guru/news/brics-bangladesh-pays-nuclear-plant-loan-to-russia-in-chinese-yuan-in-latest-example-of-us-dollar-failing
Transgender woman arrested for alleged sexual assault at women's shelter in Ontario:
https://nationalpost.com/news/local-news/suspect-arrested-after-report-of-sexual-assault-at-windsor-womens-shelter/wcm/b1bf33b9-aeab-43ca-9095-34866e9aa662
China’s 19.6% youth unemployment rate is nearing a record-high:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-19-6-youth-unemployment-052736290.html
Biden signs order prioritizing ‘environmental justice’:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-environmental-justice-pollution-white-house-0e7be502f530b2eed4f45d6bd28b19fa
Wind turbine fire in rural Western New York caused contamination to family, livestock, and land:
https://wellsvillesun.com/blog/2023/04/17/farmer-wind-turbine-fire-in-rural-western-new-york-caused-contamination-to-family-livestock-and-land/
Biden Pledges $1 Billion to UN Climate Fund That Funnels Millions to China:
https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-pledges-1-billion-to-un-climate-fund-that-funnels-millions-to-china/
Climate Change Terror Wrecks Gen Z's Already-Fragile Psychology:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/benbartee/2023/04/20/climate-change-terror-wrecks-gen-zs-already-fragile-psychology-n1688923
How Americans have taken a pay cut every month since Biden took office:
https://nypost.com/2023/04/19/americans-have-taken-pay-cuts-each-month-since-biden-took-office/
The potatoes have eyes, the corn has ears and the beanstalk.
*.*
Why did Elon Musk choose SpaceX to land on Mars?
Because if he chose SpaceY, he'd land on 14 year old boys.
Or Uranus.
By the way, if you're curious, the SpaceX rocket's pronouns are "was/were".
*.*
My wife couldn't believe it when I got arrested for masturbating in a public place.
"What on earth were you thinking of!?!" she screamed.
“Not you, that's for sure!”
*.*
I just got a pet termite.
I'm going to call him Clint.
Clint Eats Wood.
*.*
Condoms don't guarantee safe sex.
I had a friend that was wearing one and he was shot by the woman's husband.
Quote of the Times;
“How isn't this the biggest story in America? The former deputy director of the CIA told Jim Jordan under oath that he orchestrated the Hunter Biden 'Russian disinfo letter' after he spoke to the Biden Campaign and that the letter's purpose was to help Joe Biden win the election.” - Miltimore
Link of the Times;
Remember that nice British chimpanzee lady? I think she wants us dead:
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/01/03/remember-that-nice-british-chimpanzee-lady-i-think-she-wants-us-dead-n521212
Issue of the Times;
America's Social Contract Is Broken by Charles Hugh Smith
I do not claim any expertise in social contract theory, but in broad brush we can delineate two implicit contracts: one between the citizenry and the state (government) and another between citizens.
We can distinguish between the two by considering a rural county fair. Most of the labor to stage the fair is volunteered by the citizenry for the good of their community and fellow citizens; they are not coerced to do so by the government, nor does the government levy taxes to pay its employees or contractors to stage the fair.
The social contract between citizens implicitly binds people to obeying traffic laws as a public good all benefit from, not because a police officer is on every street corner enforcing the letter of the law.
The social contract between the citizens and the state binds the government to maintaining civil liberties, equal enforcement of the rule of law, defending the nation, and in the 20th century, providing social welfare for the disadvantaged, disabled and low-income elderly.
Critiques of "trickle down economics" focus on income inequality as a key metric of the Social Contract: rising income inequality is de facto evidence that the Social Contract is broken.
I think this misses the key distinction in the Social Contract between citizens and the state, which is the legitimacy of the process of wealth creation and the fairness of the playing field and the referees, i.e. that no one is above the law.
Few people begrudge legitimately earned wealth, for example, the top athlete, the pop star, the tech innovator, the canny entrepreneur, the best-selling author, etc. The source of these individual's wealth is transparent, and any citizen can decline to support this wealth creation by not paying money to see the athlete, not buying the author's books, not shopping at the entrepreneur's stores, etc.
The Social Contract is broken not just by wealth inequality per se but by the illegitimate process of wealth acquisition, i.e. the state has tipped the scales in favor of the few behind closed doors and routinely ignores or bypasses the intent of the law even as the state claims to be following the narrower letter of the law.
By this definition, the Social Contract in America has been completely smashed. One sector after another is dominated by cartel-state partnerships that are forged and enforced in obscure legislation written by lobbyists. Once the laws have been riddled with loopholes and the regulators have been corrupted, "no one is above the law" has lost all meaning.
Those who violate the intent of the law while managing to conjure an apparent compliance with the letter of the law are shysters, scammers and thieves who exploit the intricate loopholes of the system, all the while parading their compliance as evidence the system is fair and just. In this way, the judicial system becomes part of the illegitimate process of wealth accumulation.
In America, political and financial Elites are above the intent of the law. Is bribery of politicos illegal? Supposedly it is, but in practice it is entirely and openly legal.
This is the norm in banana republics, whose ledgers are loaded with thousands of codes and regulations that are routinely ignored by those in power. In the Banana Republic of America, financial crimes go uninvestigated, unindicted and unpunished: banks and their management are essentially immune to prosecution because the crimes are complex (tsk, tsk, it's really too much trouble to investigate) and they're "too big to prosecute."
The rot has seeped from the financial-political Aristocracy to the lower reaches of the social order. The fury of those still working legitimate jobs and paying their taxes is grounded in a simple, obvious truth: America is now dominated by scammers, cheaters, grifters and those gaming the system, large and small, to increase their share of the swag.
The honest taxpayer is a chump, a mark who foolishly ponies up the swag that's looted by the smart operators. Everyone knows that the vast majority of wealth accumulation in America flows not from transparent effort on a level playing field, but from persuading the Central State (the Federal government and the Federal Reserve) to enforce cartels and grant monopolistic favors such as tax shelters designed for a handful of firms and unlimited credit to private banks.
When scammers large and small live better than those creating value in the real economy, the Social Contract has ceased to exist. When the illegitimate process of wealth acquisition--a rigged playing field, a bought-off referee, and an Elite that's above the law by every practical measure--dominates the economy and the political structure, the Social Contract has been shattered, regardless of how much welfare largesse is distributed to buy the complicity of state dependents.
Once the chumps and marks realize there is no way they can ever escape their exploited banana-republic status as neofeudal debt-serfs, the scammers, cheats and grifters large and small will be at risk of losing their perquisites. The fantasy in America is that legitimate wealth creation is still possible despite the visible dominance of a corrupt, venal, self-absorbed, parasitic, predatory Aristocracy. Once that fantasy dies, so will the marks' support of the Aristocracy.
As Voltaire observed, "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible": every claim, every game of the system, every political favor purchased is "fair and legal," of course. This is precisely how empires collapse.
In broad brush, we can trace the transition from feudalism to capitalism to the present financialized, globalized cartel-state neofeudalism and next, to a synthesis built on the opposite of neofeudalism, which is decentralization, transparency, accountability, legitimacy and the adaptive churn of competing ideas and proposals.
News of the Times;
Tucker Carlson Keynote Address :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebG2POkoHgU
Bill Maher Slams “Intellectual Cowardice” Of Those Who “Just Fall In Line” With Woke Madness:
https://summit.news/2023/04/21/video-bill-maher-slams-intellectual-cowardice-of-those-who-just-fall-in-line-with-woke-madness/
Little girl, parents shot after basketball rolls into gunman’s yard:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/little-girl-parents-shot-after-basketball-rolls-into-gunman-s-yard-in-gastonia-suspect-sought-police/ar-AA1a4Szx
Man Kidnaps & Rapes DoorDash Delivery Driver:
https://floridajolt.com/man-kidnaps-rapes-doordash-delivery-driver-fires-shots-at-her-family-when-they-come-to-rescue/
Biden’s ‘Racial Equity’ Order Threatens The Meritocracy That Makes Our Military Great:
https://armedforces.press/bidens-racial-equity-order-threatens-the-meritocracy-that-makes-our-military-great/
Louisville Shooter's Manifesto Details His Intent To Push Gun Control:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/louisville-shooters-manifesto-details-his-intent-push-gun-control
Obama, Bush and Clinton have started an NGO to fly migrants into the US:
https://justthenews.com/events/obama-bush-and-clinton-start-non-governmental-organization-fly-migrants-across-us
Bangladesh Pays Nuclear Plant Loan to Russia in Chinese Yuan in Latest Example of US Dollar Failing:
https://watcher.guru/news/brics-bangladesh-pays-nuclear-plant-loan-to-russia-in-chinese-yuan-in-latest-example-of-us-dollar-failing
Transgender woman arrested for alleged sexual assault at women's shelter in Ontario:
https://nationalpost.com/news/local-news/suspect-arrested-after-report-of-sexual-assault-at-windsor-womens-shelter/wcm/b1bf33b9-aeab-43ca-9095-34866e9aa662
China’s 19.6% youth unemployment rate is nearing a record-high:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-19-6-youth-unemployment-052736290.html
Biden signs order prioritizing ‘environmental justice’:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-environmental-justice-pollution-white-house-0e7be502f530b2eed4f45d6bd28b19fa
Wind turbine fire in rural Western New York caused contamination to family, livestock, and land:
https://wellsvillesun.com/blog/2023/04/17/farmer-wind-turbine-fire-in-rural-western-new-york-caused-contamination-to-family-livestock-and-land/
Biden Pledges $1 Billion to UN Climate Fund That Funnels Millions to China:
https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-pledges-1-billion-to-un-climate-fund-that-funnels-millions-to-china/
Climate Change Terror Wrecks Gen Z's Already-Fragile Psychology:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/benbartee/2023/04/20/climate-change-terror-wrecks-gen-zs-already-fragile-psychology-n1688923
How Americans have taken a pay cut every month since Biden took office:
https://nypost.com/2023/04/19/americans-have-taken-pay-cuts-each-month-since-biden-took-office/
Tea?
9 out of 10 husbands agree their wives are always right.
That 10th guy hasn't been seen since.
*.*
"You want us to do WHAT?"
- Ancient Chinese wall engineer.
*.*
Oneliners:
Be yourself; everyone else is taken.
At times, waking up every morning seems excessive.
Why does life keep teaching me lessons I have no desire to learn?
The 'back' in horseback riding is probably unnecessary.
Hermits have no peer pressure.
Line dancing was started by women waiting in line to use the restroom.
I have my own built-in alarm clock; it's called a bladder.
On the application, there was the question, "Who do we contact in case of an emergency?" and I wrote, "Doctor."
I'm not here to judge; just to point out all the mistakes you're making.
I came, I saw, I decided to order take out.
*.*
A doctor and his wife were having a big argument at breakfast.
"You aren't so good in bed either!" he shouted and stormed off to work.
By mid-morning, he decided he'd better make amends and called home.
"What took you so long to answer?"
"I was in bed," his wife said.
"What were you doing in bed this late?" he asked.
She replied, "Getting a second opinion."
*.*
Roses are red, and Facebook is blue.
We have no mutual friends; then who the hell are you?
Quote of the Times;
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath—a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. – Grossman
Link of the Times;
The Definitive Guide to Helping People Trapped in a Cult:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-mind/202104/the-definitive-guide-helping-people-trapped-in-cult
Issue of the Times;
Why the Boston Tea Party Was Such a Great Event by Jay Cost
It was audacious, and it struck at British cronyism.
In a country with a story as long and colorful as ours, there is hardly a date on the calendar that was not — at some point — an important day in American history. It would be tedious to comment on all of them, yet I cannot help but note one of my favorite events in American history, the Boston Tea Party.
There are two reasons I like the Boston Tea Party so much — one “low” and one “high.” The low reason is that it is a good reminder that the Founding generation was not all about highfalutin philosophy and earnest debate about first principles of government. Far from it! There was a lot of mob-like activity during the eleven years between the end of the War of 1765 and the Declaration of Independence. There was also, to be blunt about it, quite a lot of booze consumed by said mobs.
And yet, the Boston Tea Party stands out for its sheer criminality. Basically, a group of revolutionary radicals and tea merchants conspired to destroy thousands of pounds’ worth of India’s finest. That is hardly an act consistent with a revolution that would be premised in part upon the protection of private property. And for their part, colonists throughout the rest of the continent were frankly embarrassed by this. Benjamin Franklin encouraged the city of Boston to pay for the damages. A 23-year-old James Madison wrote to his college friend William Bradford, “I wish Boston may conduct matters with as much discretion as they seem to do boldness.” The Boston Tea Party became a galvanizing issue only when the government of Prime Minister Lord North overreacted, passing the so-called “Intolerable Acts,” placing Massachusetts under martial law. The rest of the colonies came to appreciate that, if Great Britain was prepared to revoke God-given rights and ancient governments from Bostonians, it was prepared to do it to anybody else in North America, too.
There is also a higher lesson to be drawn from the Boston Tea Party. The attitude among many progressives these days is that the Founding story is of little use because it happened so long ago, and its main characters were racist, sexist, homophobes. As Vox’s editor-at-large, Ezra Klein, noted a few years ago, the Constitution is “confusing” because it was “written more than 100 years ago.” Call me old-fashioned, but I think that with some careful application of the gray matter, confusion can give way to clarity. And so it is with the Boston Tea Party.
The origins of the Boston Tea Party were in the Tea Act of 1773. In the spring of 1773, North was in a bind, due to the declining fortunes of the British East India Company. The East India Company was suffering under a sizeable surplus of tea and was in financial jeopardy. In a free-market system, that would not have been a problem for His Majesty’s government, but that was not how the East India Company operated. Publicly chartered in 1603, it had a monopoly over English trade with India — which had made many Englishmen, including many members of Parliament, fantastically rich. The government could not afford to let the East India Company go under. So, North’s government exerted more control over the East India Company, but also offered it a quasi-bailout in the form of the Tea Act. The East India Company would be allowed to sell its tea directly to North America, hopefully eliminating the illegal tea trade and cutting out North American tea merchants. The reduced costs for the colonists would, North hoped, make them amenable to paying the Townshend Duties on tea, thereby validating Parliament’s right to tax them.
This maneuver was too clever by half. The Sons of Liberty — the radical vanguard of Bostonian politics — joined with disgruntled tea merchants in an act of protest on Dec. 16, 1773. The rest, they say, is history.
The lesson for contemporary readers might be styled cronyism and its discontents. Lord North was particularly solicitous of the East India Company’s fortunes because the government was all tangled up with this private business. As for the North American tea merchants who were more or less ruined by this act of favoritism, well, too bad for them.
The Boston Tea Party, in other words, is an illustration of the dangers of government favoritism. In the Anglo-American understanding of government, there is a broad expectation for equal treatment under the law. When the government ignores that, when it plays favorites to the well-connected and the wealthy, when it leaves other people on the outside looking in, it runs the risk of a popular uprising — a populist movement, if you will. And in many instances, the populist response to government inequity is not reasonable or high-minded because, to put it plainly, people are ticked off.
The British East India Company was a product of the mercantilist mindset that dominated British economic policy during the early modern age. That theory of political economy has mostly been done away with, thank goodness. But governments today are still stubbornly insistent on micromanaging the economy, which inevitably entangles them with private interests. It is rare indeed to see the government create losers like Lord North did to the Boston tea merchants, but our government still likes to pick winners and losers in our economy and society.
I think it is worth asking, whether that is really a good idea.
News of the Times;
A Few Disturbing Thoughts About How Every Major Technology Company is Really Financed:
https://charlesjohnson.substack.com/p/a-few-disturbing-thoughts-about-how
Elon Musk Says US Government Had Access to Private Twitter DMs:
https://summit.news/2023/04/17/elon-musk-says-us-government-had-access-to-private-twitter-dms/
FBI and Secret Service behind covert agreement stripping citizen's gun rights:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fbi-secret-service-plea-agreement-stripping-defendant-of-gun-rights-secretly
DOJ Arrests 4 Black Leftists for Spreading Pro-Russia “Propaganda” in Memes, Articles and Speeches:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/it-begins-doj-arrests-4-black-leftists-for-spreading-pro-russia-propaganda-in-memes-articles-and-speeches/
More Non-Whites Die In Roadway Fatalities Because The ROADS Are Racist:
https://vdare.com/posts/pete-buttigieg-more-non-whites-die-in-roadway-fatalities-because-the-roads-are-racist
Thug Who Shot 6yo Girl And Family in North Carolina Was Freed on Bond:
https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63718
NYT Lies About Snowden To Peddle 'Evil-Leaker' Propaganda, Then Stealth-Edits When Caught:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nyt-lies-about-snowden-peddle-evil-leaker-propaganda-stealth-edits-when-caught
The war on food continues:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/04/18/the-war-on-food-continues-n544645
NYC will track carbon footprint of residents’ food purchases:
https://www.rt.com/news/575026-adams-nyc-monitor-food-consumption/
Biden willing to damage US economy to counter China:
https://www.rt.com/news/575100-china-sanctions-impact-us-economy-yellen/
A Record 30% Of San Francisco Office Space Is Vacant:
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/salesforce-ditches-last-san-francisco-office-commercial-vacancy-rate-hits-all-time-high
Downtown SF Whole Foods Made Weekly Emergency Calls Ahead of Closure:
https://sfstandard.com/public-health/first-responder-data-paints-grim-reality-at-shuttered-downtown-san-francisco-whole-foods/
Minneapolis Becomes America’s First Major City to Allow Muslim Prayer Call 5 Times a Day:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/obamas-dream-minneapolis-becomes-americas-first-major-city-to-allow-muslim-prayer-call-5-times-a-day/
Democrats advance seven Biden judicial nominees with GOP support in Feinstein’s absence:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-advance-seven-biden-judicial-nominees-gop-support-feinstein-rcna80527
Biden to hike payments for good-credit homebuyers:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/18/joe-biden-hike-payments-good-credit-homebuyers-sub/
That 10th guy hasn't been seen since.
*.*
"You want us to do WHAT?"
- Ancient Chinese wall engineer.
*.*
Oneliners:
Be yourself; everyone else is taken.
At times, waking up every morning seems excessive.
Why does life keep teaching me lessons I have no desire to learn?
The 'back' in horseback riding is probably unnecessary.
Hermits have no peer pressure.
Line dancing was started by women waiting in line to use the restroom.
I have my own built-in alarm clock; it's called a bladder.
On the application, there was the question, "Who do we contact in case of an emergency?" and I wrote, "Doctor."
I'm not here to judge; just to point out all the mistakes you're making.
I came, I saw, I decided to order take out.
*.*
A doctor and his wife were having a big argument at breakfast.
"You aren't so good in bed either!" he shouted and stormed off to work.
By mid-morning, he decided he'd better make amends and called home.
"What took you so long to answer?"
"I was in bed," his wife said.
"What were you doing in bed this late?" he asked.
She replied, "Getting a second opinion."
*.*
Roses are red, and Facebook is blue.
We have no mutual friends; then who the hell are you?
Quote of the Times;
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath—a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. – Grossman
Link of the Times;
The Definitive Guide to Helping People Trapped in a Cult:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-mind/202104/the-definitive-guide-helping-people-trapped-in-cult
Issue of the Times;
Why the Boston Tea Party Was Such a Great Event by Jay Cost
It was audacious, and it struck at British cronyism.
In a country with a story as long and colorful as ours, there is hardly a date on the calendar that was not — at some point — an important day in American history. It would be tedious to comment on all of them, yet I cannot help but note one of my favorite events in American history, the Boston Tea Party.
There are two reasons I like the Boston Tea Party so much — one “low” and one “high.” The low reason is that it is a good reminder that the Founding generation was not all about highfalutin philosophy and earnest debate about first principles of government. Far from it! There was a lot of mob-like activity during the eleven years between the end of the War of 1765 and the Declaration of Independence. There was also, to be blunt about it, quite a lot of booze consumed by said mobs.
And yet, the Boston Tea Party stands out for its sheer criminality. Basically, a group of revolutionary radicals and tea merchants conspired to destroy thousands of pounds’ worth of India’s finest. That is hardly an act consistent with a revolution that would be premised in part upon the protection of private property. And for their part, colonists throughout the rest of the continent were frankly embarrassed by this. Benjamin Franklin encouraged the city of Boston to pay for the damages. A 23-year-old James Madison wrote to his college friend William Bradford, “I wish Boston may conduct matters with as much discretion as they seem to do boldness.” The Boston Tea Party became a galvanizing issue only when the government of Prime Minister Lord North overreacted, passing the so-called “Intolerable Acts,” placing Massachusetts under martial law. The rest of the colonies came to appreciate that, if Great Britain was prepared to revoke God-given rights and ancient governments from Bostonians, it was prepared to do it to anybody else in North America, too.
There is also a higher lesson to be drawn from the Boston Tea Party. The attitude among many progressives these days is that the Founding story is of little use because it happened so long ago, and its main characters were racist, sexist, homophobes. As Vox’s editor-at-large, Ezra Klein, noted a few years ago, the Constitution is “confusing” because it was “written more than 100 years ago.” Call me old-fashioned, but I think that with some careful application of the gray matter, confusion can give way to clarity. And so it is with the Boston Tea Party.
The origins of the Boston Tea Party were in the Tea Act of 1773. In the spring of 1773, North was in a bind, due to the declining fortunes of the British East India Company. The East India Company was suffering under a sizeable surplus of tea and was in financial jeopardy. In a free-market system, that would not have been a problem for His Majesty’s government, but that was not how the East India Company operated. Publicly chartered in 1603, it had a monopoly over English trade with India — which had made many Englishmen, including many members of Parliament, fantastically rich. The government could not afford to let the East India Company go under. So, North’s government exerted more control over the East India Company, but also offered it a quasi-bailout in the form of the Tea Act. The East India Company would be allowed to sell its tea directly to North America, hopefully eliminating the illegal tea trade and cutting out North American tea merchants. The reduced costs for the colonists would, North hoped, make them amenable to paying the Townshend Duties on tea, thereby validating Parliament’s right to tax them.
This maneuver was too clever by half. The Sons of Liberty — the radical vanguard of Bostonian politics — joined with disgruntled tea merchants in an act of protest on Dec. 16, 1773. The rest, they say, is history.
The lesson for contemporary readers might be styled cronyism and its discontents. Lord North was particularly solicitous of the East India Company’s fortunes because the government was all tangled up with this private business. As for the North American tea merchants who were more or less ruined by this act of favoritism, well, too bad for them.
The Boston Tea Party, in other words, is an illustration of the dangers of government favoritism. In the Anglo-American understanding of government, there is a broad expectation for equal treatment under the law. When the government ignores that, when it plays favorites to the well-connected and the wealthy, when it leaves other people on the outside looking in, it runs the risk of a popular uprising — a populist movement, if you will. And in many instances, the populist response to government inequity is not reasonable or high-minded because, to put it plainly, people are ticked off.
The British East India Company was a product of the mercantilist mindset that dominated British economic policy during the early modern age. That theory of political economy has mostly been done away with, thank goodness. But governments today are still stubbornly insistent on micromanaging the economy, which inevitably entangles them with private interests. It is rare indeed to see the government create losers like Lord North did to the Boston tea merchants, but our government still likes to pick winners and losers in our economy and society.
I think it is worth asking, whether that is really a good idea.
News of the Times;
A Few Disturbing Thoughts About How Every Major Technology Company is Really Financed:
https://charlesjohnson.substack.com/p/a-few-disturbing-thoughts-about-how
Elon Musk Says US Government Had Access to Private Twitter DMs:
https://summit.news/2023/04/17/elon-musk-says-us-government-had-access-to-private-twitter-dms/
FBI and Secret Service behind covert agreement stripping citizen's gun rights:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/fbi-secret-service-plea-agreement-stripping-defendant-of-gun-rights-secretly
DOJ Arrests 4 Black Leftists for Spreading Pro-Russia “Propaganda” in Memes, Articles and Speeches:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/it-begins-doj-arrests-4-black-leftists-for-spreading-pro-russia-propaganda-in-memes-articles-and-speeches/
More Non-Whites Die In Roadway Fatalities Because The ROADS Are Racist:
https://vdare.com/posts/pete-buttigieg-more-non-whites-die-in-roadway-fatalities-because-the-roads-are-racist
Thug Who Shot 6yo Girl And Family in North Carolina Was Freed on Bond:
https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63718
NYT Lies About Snowden To Peddle 'Evil-Leaker' Propaganda, Then Stealth-Edits When Caught:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nyt-lies-about-snowden-peddle-evil-leaker-propaganda-stealth-edits-when-caught
The war on food continues:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/04/18/the-war-on-food-continues-n544645
NYC will track carbon footprint of residents’ food purchases:
https://www.rt.com/news/575026-adams-nyc-monitor-food-consumption/
Biden willing to damage US economy to counter China:
https://www.rt.com/news/575100-china-sanctions-impact-us-economy-yellen/
A Record 30% Of San Francisco Office Space Is Vacant:
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/salesforce-ditches-last-san-francisco-office-commercial-vacancy-rate-hits-all-time-high
Downtown SF Whole Foods Made Weekly Emergency Calls Ahead of Closure:
https://sfstandard.com/public-health/first-responder-data-paints-grim-reality-at-shuttered-downtown-san-francisco-whole-foods/
Minneapolis Becomes America’s First Major City to Allow Muslim Prayer Call 5 Times a Day:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/obamas-dream-minneapolis-becomes-americas-first-major-city-to-allow-muslim-prayer-call-5-times-a-day/
Democrats advance seven Biden judicial nominees with GOP support in Feinstein’s absence:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democrats-advance-seven-biden-judicial-nominees-gop-support-feinstein-rcna80527
Biden to hike payments for good-credit homebuyers:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/18/joe-biden-hike-payments-good-credit-homebuyers-sub/
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And someone shot a duck.
An Images & Ideas, Inc. Service.
No Vegans were harmed in the making of this site. We're looking for a new provider.