Our constant hysterical political climate disgusts me. Trump’s constant braggadocio, petty attacks and rambling , fact-free word salads disgust me. The Democrats and media hysterical spin about Trump disgusts me. As far as political commentary or analysis goes, the various smart takes in 2016 remain the same in 2019, as our American political hamster wheel spins round and round.
For the most part lately, I’ve gotten off the daily habit of tracking the partisan spin throughout the day. Perhaps if something interesting or new happens, I’ll write about it, but fair warning, the rest of this post will be another detour about my efforts to make peace between our consumerist culture and the myriad counter-cultural efforts to combat our wasteful American lifestyle.
Last night I watched a short CNN video on Twitter about a fashion designer, zero waste daniel, who started a clothing design business using only scrap fabric waste. His approach of sewing together small scraps of fabric to create larger pieces of fabric, from which to construct his clothing designs, while being a trendy environmental-mindful concept, does highlight our society’s love affair with consumer goods, where most of us acquire way more than we consume and live totally unconcerned about our wastefulness.
There’s a common mindset among more conservative Americans and the political right to dismiss everything coming from the liberal environmentalist echo chamber, but perhaps we should all try to be a little more open to listening and considering the merits of ideas, before making snap partisan political judgments.
Many aspects of our environmentally conscious activism do stem from the political left, then take hold in American businesses, who react to the political activism. Many businesses respond to and embrace the latest politicized framing of appropriate environmentally conscious policies. This type of political pressure infuriates many on the right.
On the merits, though, pushing all of the politics aside, being less wasteful, using less disposable packaging and taking a more mindful approach to our consumer habits seem like very traditional, conservative American thrifty values, that would even have appealed to Benjamin Franklin and most of our American founders. The less wasteful approaches definitely were ingrained habits to my parents and grandparents.
Moving to a crafting/needlework blog post, explains why I haven’t been blogging much lately… I have been stitching away… using all stuff that’s been sitting here for many years.
I struggle with my consumerist mindset and am working to rethink my relationship with purchasing many items, that clutter up my home, and often have never been used. However, moving to a zero waste lifestyle takes way more commitment and effort than I will expend, so it’s small steps in my life.
For decades, I purchased loads of craft and needlework supplies, without much concern or thought about the possibility of having too much stuff. Yet, the thought of parting with my craft and needlework stuff just isn’t happening yet, but I now strive not to buy more, unless it’s some basic supply that I really need.
A few years ago, I began an effort to make projects using only stuff I already have and that’s what that hummingbird cross-stitch picture above is. I bought a bunch of small Spring-themed counted cross-stitch kits (and some not so small ones too) on clearance at Walmart, over the many years that I worked there. I stitched a couple of these a few years ago and posted a photo, but never fear, I have more to go:
I have a hard time seeing to stitch on 18-count, so I used 14 Aida cloth from my supplies for the hummingbird and a bunny kit last weekend. I bought two of the bunny kits, for no logical reason…:
I did finish that Diane Graebner Amish design (out of the hoop and needs pressing):
Learning more about finishing my needlework into some useful or decorative item leads me to read a lot of cross-stitch blogs and browse Pinterest frequently. That habit leads me to want… more new cross stitch stuff, especially the nicer linens and evenweave fabrics and threads. It takes a constant effort to remind myself that, while stitching on plain old Aida cloth isn’t as nice as stitching on expensive fabrics, these kits and Aida projects still look nice, I think.
Yesterday afternoon, I was torturing myself looking at the blog of a very talented cross stitch designer, Brenda Gervais. All of her patterns scream, “I want to stitch that!”. Gervais wrote a short background story to her 2017 series, Summer Schoolhouse ~ Lessons in Abecedarian. She relates how she found a small children’s book while hunting for antiques, but it wasn’t just any old book. It was a copy of the oldest children’s book in the Library of Congress and it’s considered to be the oldest children’s book in print. This book contains the first documented use of the word, baseball. In the process of browsing cross stitch blogs, I learned a new word: abecedarian and a bit of historical trivia too.
To fill my fix for something new, there are lots of free patterns online. I stitched this free St.Patrick’s Day cats piece, by Lynn B., twice. I am going to make them into little decorative pillows or perhaps frame them, but one is for a family member and then I liked these black cats so much, I stitched one for me too:
Yesterday, was another free pattern start, Russian Dolls, this one from DMC:
Plus, I have a bigger cross stitch project of a Liberty Bell, that’s in progress, but that one deserves a fancier Belfast white linen, not plain old Aida cloth. Just started this, so it’s only the top of Independence Hall and some of the lettering:
Of course, still working on plastic canvas too:
Not sure what I’ll do with this house picture, but it’s a design that I like, so I stitched it…
It’s very hard for me to concentrate on writing lately, but I’ll try to get back to politics soon.
libertybelle diaries 
I wrote some accompanying text just a second ago to preface this but it seemed to go ‘poof’ –
https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2020/03/on-of-glenn-reynolds-commenters-posted.html
You know here in my small town, JK – people just go about their business without a lot of hysteria. I suffered a pang of distress when my son told me Hobby Lobby is closed, but at least I have enough craft and sewing stuff stockpiled to last me 2 lifetimes.
I had quickly gotten used to the home hospice help a half-hour to an hour several days a week (3 CNA visits and 3 RN visits), but now that’s one RN home visit a week, 2 phone call visits and I opted to drop the CNA visits, because I want to limit the number of people coming in and out. I know Tom is going to die sooner rather later probably, just watching his decline, but I do everything I can to keep him going here at home and comfortable. I have diabetes, atrial fib and CHF, so I need to stay away from a lot of people too. Our one son has been living here with us and he has to go to work, so we can’t live completely isolated. There are some cases in our area now – one in Liberty County and on Fort Stewart.
I have been on Twitter, more than I should – but also doing a lot of stuff around the house. This home hospice care creates a lot of laundry. Hope Sharon stays well – diabetes sucks. I am on Metformin, Januvia and another med – trying to stave off going on insulin. My problem is stress eating – if I got that under control and lost weight, I’d do much better, for sure.
On the federalism – I am convinced that might be what serves us best through this.
This may, may not post as I’m hoping it does. It’s a ‘karambit’ blade at any rate:
Very worthwhile here LB, but you’ll have to do whatever you do to keep focused – you’ll have to read subtitles/text as this was apparently produced with a Korean audience in mind – for myself I usually have a pen in hand as if I intend to take notes (oddly enough I don’t actually have to take notes, just have the pen in hand and a pad in front of me):
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2020/03/leading-covid-19-expert-from-south-korea.html
Thanks for this JK. It’s very interesting. I just saw some WaPo reporter tweet this story out, but have no idea if it’s true and I know nothing about the reliability of this website: http://shanghaiist.com/2020/03/27/urns-in-wuhan-far-exceed-death-toll-raising-more-questions-about-chinas-tally/
Saw that too LB, but rather like the situation in Iran …
JK, Have you seen the stories of the Chinese humanitarian aid propaganda effort to Europeans being equipment that doesn’t work and faulty test strips?
Something is very off with the internal Chinese situation as reported by the Chinese government and the real situation on the ground. There is no way they would deliberately send faulty goods, because that completely blew-up their propaganda messaging, especially how China was going to replace the US as the global leader.
China reported that Hubei province, with a population of 58.5 million had a death count of 3,182 since this started, which is very odd compared to the US having 2,191 already and we are in the beginning of this. Iran reports a total of 2,640 with a population of 81.16 million people and a totally inadequate medical system.
I have my doubts that China has this contained and also that it’s factories in Hubei province are up and running. The NYT pushes out straight Chinese propaganda, so this NYT story says Chines authorities blame counterfeit operations for making the faulty supplies, but I wonder if Chinese controlled factories are floundering or struggling and that a huge death count, draconian crackdown measures to contain the spread and endless govt lies has led to problems controlling the people in Hubei.
Recently I read a news report that the factory officials in some Hubei factories were feeding bogus information to Chines officials about production. All that seems obvious is that the official party line coming out of China is total bs.
National Review has this piece on Senator Cotton and his efforts pushing for Trump to respond to the the corona virus threat back in January.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/the-senator-who-saw-the-coronavirus-coming/
I’ve seen quite a bit written about Tom of late, even Politico being quite nice. I’d written him (well email) back on the 26th relating a conversation I’d had with two of my county’s Dem committee that frankly came as a shock to me (not touting myself or anything like that mind you but *everybody in the county who follows government – not the same as politics to me but whether many people feel similarly … – anyway people know I communicate with our representatives. Too they know I’m a registered Independent).
Anyway the one fellow says to me, “JK, the next time you speak to Senator Cotton give him my thanks for everything he’s tried to do and tell him to not get discouraged” … the other fellow with him saying, “Same comes from me.”
Luckily the date of my email coming as it did pre-articles-publish-dates (the ones I’ve seen at any rate) I’m hoping communicates to Tom a sense of sincerity.
***
Here’s what I stopped by for (looking around as I’ve been doing since I saw your wondering of the 29th – as the blog author’s put it “FWIW”:
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2020/04/its-here-were-dealing-with-it-is-this.html
Thanks for the link, JK. I’ve been hoping to be able to focus on writing blog posts, but my days are very tiring with taking care of my husband, doing housework and there’s a lot more laundry with him being bed bound. I’ve tweeted some, but getting tired of that too.
I’m convinced that no matter how much medical aid and ventilators got to NY, Dems are still going to be spinning that Trump isn’t helping them. I can’t stand Trump, but listening to the massive mobilization efforts and amounts of stuff shipped out, while also understanding that massive mobilizations are always chaotic, even in the best-ordered organizations, I am amazed at the scope of this effort.
Schumer was saying a military person needs to be the “czar” handling the supply, so today Trump had the admiral in charge of all the logistics with this and still the Dem media whiners ignored all that and in fact, most of them aren’t even paying attention to these briefings.
“Schumer was saying a military person needs to be the “czar” handling the supply, so today Trump had the admiral in charge of all the logistics with this and still the Dem media whiners ignored all that and in fact, most of them aren’t even paying attention to these briefings.”
I’d stopped by about an hour ago but couldn’t “usefully comment” (well perhaps I should have commiserated with you some on your personal trials) But frankly I haven’t been watching/reading what passes for ‘the news’ much, if at all lately, so was totally unaware of whatever Schumer felt compelled to put his two cents toward. But just now I ran across this:
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2020/04/ohhhh-snap.html
As I’m confident you understand my perspective on all this mess is I’m preferring to get basically all my information as locally-sourced as possible – well I am listening to my state’s governor’s daily brief – because I can’t see anything whatsoever from the federal level being of any utility to me at all. Love him or hate him (or be neutral about) the guy does have a way of creating a situation (*entertainment) whatever he does or does not.
An e-pal mailed me something I’d completely forgot about LB (if it actually registered I don’t recall).
You’re always hearing, I suppose, that this Wuhan Flu was totally unrecognized by the administration?
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1893049
Madam Speaker’s tearing her copy of the speech up I absolutely recall seeing as how that was what the media would have us believe was the most important ‘item on display’ that evening.
Thanks JK, Pelosi and Schumer spin antics are as disgusting as anything Trump spouts, but the media hails Pelosi as some sort of saint. It’s all so phony. Sick to death of politicians.
Yesterday, I started sewing fabric face masks. Printed patterns for child-size and adult-size ones, so I can get some sewed and mailed to my oldest daughter, so the grandkids have them if they have to go out anywhere. Have 10 child-size ones finished, so I started working on cutting out adult size ones now.
Everything is tiring – this home hospice stuff is very tiring. This morning I left my son here with my husband and went to the Walmart Neighborhood Market. They had started some new rules – limiting how many customers can go in the store at a time. Then the other customers had to wait outside, spaced 6′ apart and as a customer left the store, another customer could enter. The registers were much the same, with the cashier cleaning the belt and keypad for debit cards between customers. There were a lot of out of stock items, but I found just about everything on my list. Of course, people are going to panic buy, because they don’t trust what government officials are telling them and they aren’t sure how chaotic things will get. When the rules keep changing constantly, it doesn’t instill much confidence in any of these politicians.
Honestly, I think the spread in NY was way out of control before any measures were taken and that led to spread in a lot of other states. I also don’t have much confidence in this “flattening the curve” effort, so paint me a pessimist at this point. I tried to listen to Trump’s briefing today, but fell asleep very quickly. Woke up for the last 15 minutes or so. He’s boring as hell and trying to use these daily briefings as a substitute for his bs rally sideshows, I think. I find his bizarre antics and comments exasperating and just handing endless spin ammo to his enemies. Frankly, ordinary people aren’t going to be watching these boring briefings and as their everyday life becomes endless bullshit, they’re going to get fed-up with all politicians – their local ones, the governors and all their “orders” and especially with Trump. Maybe, I’m just being a pessimist, because I am sick to death of hearing the same warnings over and over.
Well you know how I was over the Sunday shows, emphasis on was. Last week I tried but yup, I’m getting mighty tired too.
Tomorrow my plan is to just outright skip ’em. Missouri’s got a ‘stay at home’ order going into effect at midnight tomorrow night so I reckon I’ll drive the nine miles up there and get myself some beers. (Recall my saying I live in a ‘dry county’?) Probably lay in a big bag of dogfood too. My pal who owns the beer store (we went all through K-12 together) tells me because of some of the grains most petfoods contain as a base are being diverted to use in some of the longer shelf life human foods there may be some shortages for awhile. fyi.
Reckon I’ll be staying away from Walmarts – nearest one to me is also in Missouri so I’d maybe be wasting my fuel anyway. Funny you mention starting yesterday with the face masks, Sharon (my girlfriend’s name) did too.
Thanks for the heads up on dog food, JK. I bought another bag today, so I won’t have to run to Walmart for a while. They built a Walmart Neighborhood Market right at the top of my street by the main highway through this town 5 or 6 years ago.. It’s probably not even a 1/2 mile away. but for a few years now I can’t leave my husband home alone – falls too much, gets confused and can’t remember stuff from one minute to the next – so I’ve had to wait until my son is home from work to go anywhere. I’m used to being at home all the time.
All the rabid partisan spin chaos has worried me for America writ large for years, but in this crisis, with the kneejerk decision-making in so many areas of the country and the ease with which so many COVID-19 lock-everything-down zealots embrace surveillance state tactics, blithely toss aside civil rights and frankly in their hysteria want to turn the country into a country of snitches, well, I am alarmed at some of the craziness. I noticed it on Twitter right away with photos and videos of crowds and the #Resist crowd want to have everyone identified, publicly shamed and some want law enforcement to arrest them. The reaction was so over-the-top, and these people are high-profile people who appear on cable and network news.
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/louisville-placing-ankle-monitors-residents-exposed-coronavirus-who#.XokwjPE-EKs.twitter
This one is extreme:
Indulge me LB, give it a listen:
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2020/04/this-is-quite-interesting-12-minute.html
JK, this is as kooky as a dear friend of mine shared some highlighted excerpt that is supposedly from a 1981 Dean Koontz novel predicting this coronavirus on facebook. CNN has a piece on this: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/us/dean-koontz-novel-coronavirus-debunk-trnd/index.html
I’ve never been much on these CIA/global organizations out to take over the world themed conspiracy theories, JK. This investigative reporter asserts “this is how THEY do this or that” repeatedly, but he never offers a single shred of evidence of who THEY are.. I am open to this virus being an accidental leak from a Chinese virology lab in Wuhan or the wet market possibility, but I am not open to some nefarious NWO or CIA plotters conjuring up this pandemic.
Far as the book goes, as it happens, my local library has a copy of the edition Koontz re-issued bearing his own name (as originally published the authorship was a pseudonym) … At any rate the CNN article is “erroneous.” Not that that means anything whatsoever – you’ll recall the old saw, “ten thousand(?) monkeys typing randomly will, inevitably, reproduce the entirety of Shakespeare” … or the Bible or whatever the axiom claimed – it’s been awhile since I (heard/read) was introduced to the postulate.
But there’s no reasoned doubt our IC, in combination with other nations’ ICs did not undertake a purposeful effort to “swing an election.”
And on that count at least I am, personally, totally confident The Five-Eyes collaborated/conspired toward an effect. And the only thing stopped that was that the independent states’ control of their own elections systems interfered with that ‘inevitable.’ … Now whether ‘Russia Interference’ could’ve been co-opted is doubtful but then again with the DoJ motion for dropping that case “with prejudice” means, implicitly and explicitly, we’ll never know with any assurance exactly what was the agency of that effort.
(In Christianity ‘God’ as well as ‘The Holy Ghost’ can be/are recognized ‘agency’ thus agency does not effectively imply tinfoil CIA.)
But the fact remains – there is a scorched earth strategy in active effect whatever its “motive.”
JK, I just read this thread on Twitter – guy says he’s an epidemiologist and he poses a lot of scary concerns I hadn’t even thought about: https://twitter.com/lilienfeld1/status/1251335135909122049
Glad I saw something prodding me to drop by this post, I’ll check that out soon as I place this – with thoughts.
We’ve been wondering about Iran’s numbers but didn’t (at least I didn’t) think to where an obvious vector for making determinations might lay, If what’s on this has veracity we should, fairly soon I’d imagine, expect to see/hear Jocelynn and Roggio (perhaps on a John Batchelor interview) make note of the events. What’s written about the Afghan being SA’s ‘first exposure’ a person I consider reliable already emailed me of – don’t think I’ve seen it in any media reporting:
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-coronavirus-comes-to-afghanistan.html
I haven’t been checking in on The Long War Journal for quite awhile – there may well already be posts mentioning “changes/divergences from *normal Taliban activity” – if there’s notably fewer attacks into provincial *population centers* I’d tend to think confirmation enough.
I’ll drop by again probably sometime tomorrow. Reading your linked now.
This was a very interesting blog post, JK. Greenfield’s main takeaways made me think about all the efforts military and geopolitical strategists have invested in figuring out ways to upend terrorist networks and destroy their system, all to little effect and with a very heavy monetary and human cost. Along come a virus that readily travels along with jihadists and wreaks havoc on their entire network along the way and that puts their system under greater peril than anything great strategic minds came up with:
“These secret networks have proven resilient in the War on Terror, but are vulnerable to the coronavirus where every contact potentially compromises everyone whom he comes into contact with ad infinitum.
The network’s very circuitousness, its dependency on human contact across different countries, makes it the best ally of the pandemic. It’s no wonder that the Taliban, ISIS, and other Islamic terrorists are worried. Even as their political Islamist allies dismiss the threat, the Jihadists understand that the pandemic risks destroying the global infrastructure that makes Islamic terrorism an international threat.
Islamic terrorism is dependent on a handful of ‘backer’ countries, on couriers and training camps, and the coronavirus risks making the entire network of Islamic terrorism into a pandemic vector.”
The digital peeps learned to mimic viral replications with their computer viruses and other malignant attacks, but somehow in military and geopolitical strategy, the tendency is to stick to studying military strategy and history. Perhaps, military strategists might be able to learn something from studying viral spreads.
JK, I read the two links in your comment today and I left it unpublished, due to the personal info you included in that comment. It will be interesting to find out how early COVID-19 actually arrived in the US and how far it spread before all the testing began.
Actually figured you’d do that Friend.
I’ll speak to the two guys as opportunity presents – the AnP (Nurse Practitioner) can’t avoid me … well he can in a sense I suppose but our state hasn’t ever been like some other states ie ‘locked-down’ – the “retired VA doc” very likely will be able to (should he have been “on a mission”) which, at this point – unless I can “inquire of” the both of them – I’m not prepared to put on a blog comment. [‘JK’ is not so anonymous as others – certainly not you and I might imagine. “They”, pretty much know what is my internet activity – I mean it’s not like I try to actively hide much – sure I come onto this old post but this’s mostly so we can “talk”
Anyway the regularly scheduled appointment was certainly … well it seemed to me even then, not that the staff made it seem but rather all the pee I had to pee, the nine vials – I can say the ‘lab’ explained in their (normal practice is I always get a letter/results) in a *normal tone they’d “drug-tested” but always before that only took the one pee, and always they could do that with the normal blood-draw.
Anyway in hindsight it seemed off.
But then again, indisputably, I was very personally up-close-and-personal with a real life housefire which I can hardly argue against them being maybe Sincerely Concerned about. *The one thing seemingly against that hypothesis is my never (and we all live, basically, although this county is rural in the extreme – meaning we all … well except for Mom, her house is in town … anyway I never seen the two medicos in the same place at the same time. Certainly never, and definitely not my pharmacist friend, in the same truck at the same time. For goddamn sure not in my Mom’s driveway picking me up to make a trip to the beer store. My pharmacist friend I’m aware they both knew/know but that would be expected as the pharmacist friend is the only one’s business is VA authorized but again and I reiterate – I have never seen any of them even saying “Hello” to any of theirselves at the very few times I’ve seen any two of them at the same time at the post office.
*Aside from druggies or otherwise “conflicted” persons, everybody talks to me at the post office – just because.
Anyway last Saturday’s trip o the beer store had way too much homework put into it before it happened.
I think.
I will admit we’re living in odd times.
” had way too much homework put into it before it happened.”
That’s been the story of my life since 1998 – lots of strange things have happened. And as you know, JK, it’s always best to trust those initial spidey senses that catch your attention that something isn’t quite right.
Btw, the efforts coming from within Dem circles to takeout Biden came out into the open now. I still believe the Clinton machine will orchestrate some drama where Hillary will prance in to “save” the party. https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/1254047496655065088
Pretty sure you’re right. Additionally the thought occurs, it will most probably (now there’s real certainty doncha think ‘most probably’?) mean any replacement will almost certainly (there I go again!) have to be a female. Or a minority male – which I don’t see.
So we ask ourselves – Who might *the *public consider “qualified”?
So there’s the rub.
JK, I restored your May 8th comment – accidentally bumped the “trash” button. I hate all this clicking on stuff online.
Well, JK, here’s a take that says what I’ve been wondering about for a while: https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2020/04/26/the-second-wave-of-wuhan-that-everyone-is-terrified-of-may-already-be-here/
Hope ‘all is well’ with you and yours LB.
I’m guessing at the Flynn home (that is if he still owns his own home) it’s like Thanksgiving and Christmas and the Fourth of July all rolled into one:
Click to access michaelflynn_gov_motion_dismiss.pdf
(Maybe he can get James Comey and the 7th floor gang [retired & fired alike] plus Rod Rosenstein to pitch in and provide him a replacement – gratis and all future homeowner’s insurance and tax fees paid.)
Well JK, Obama himself came out trying to spin this as an assault on The Constitution, so you know the panic is spreading that Barr/Durham might expose all of their #Resist corruption. The mainstream media still is propping up the #Resist spin narrative and Dems only way to bury this is to win the WH in November. The “by any means necessary” ruthless politics will accelerate rapidly now.
I haven’t been following this Flynn stuff as closely as the COVID-19 stuff, because this full-time caregiver stuff is wearing me out. I’m still tweeting some pointing out the spin attacks, even though it likely doesn’t matter a happy damned. The mainstream media is totally corrupt and most of them are really just Dem spin operatives – who rely on Dem pols and officials as their “trusted sources.” It’s been a sight to behold to watch the media turn Andrew Cuomo into the star of COVID-19 and shower his actions in NY with praise, while trashing DeSantis and other Repub governors, even though NY is a total nightmare. Cuomo ordered nursing homes to take those COVID19 patients from hospitals and he refused to provide them PPE.
Unfortunately, Trump lives in delusion land believing this virus will be like that SARS outbreak years ago and just burn out. He latches onto wishful thinking solutions repeatedly. It’s just like he believed that drug would be the magic cure. Coupled with that, this lockdown effort comes with massive negative consequences, it’s not sustainable and I don’t see any real proof that it’s working. The nursing home situation around the world is where a large portion of the people are dying and if this virus spreads so rapidly and is so hard to contain even in locked down facilities, then I don’t see how these “social distancing” or massive testing can work as well as the experts say they will in a country of hundreds of millions of people. Even in the WH, where they’re testing constantly and the Secret Service is trying to keep Trump protected – two cases in the past couple days – a sailor working in the WH and a Pence staffer tested positive. I kind of think they will end up just trying to keep continual outbreaks around the country from spiraling out of control.
Trump and many of his followers want to just walk away from this COVID-19 problem and actually believe everything will just go back to normal quickly, whereas I think we’re in for a long painful challenge dealing with COVID-19 for quite a while, especially if we get another wave in the fall.
Just now came back here LB (been gardening long and hard today because well, it’s Mother’s Day or at least it still is in my timezone. I’ll get back sometime tomorrow to read your response.
Haven’t actually read this post either, well I have read it just not digested it:
https://havechanged.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-forrest-gump-of-campaigns.html
Excellent post here – I’ve got a dental appointment at 3 (4 your time) so I better hop to getting ready:
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2020/05/thinking-for-ourselves-rather-than.html
Now that I think about it, listen to both Krystal’s and Saajar’s ‘radars’ … basically the same thing – except the former’s written the latter two spoken:
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/497063-rising-may-11-2020
2nd and 3rd segments
Finally getting around to responding, JK. A few years back I wrote a blog post about his much effort goes into my effort to glean facts from news reporting and that often I look up the bio of the writer and look at their work history, to get a feel for their political leanings or connections. Our news media are more political activists/operatives than objective reporters.
I’ve been lecturing my kids for many years about the demise of critical thinking skills and frankly we both know that’s a rare skill these days, but honestly, JK, it’s exhausting having to wade through so much deliberate misinformation and disinformation disguised as “news’ reporting. Besides the fact-checking of the “information” presented, it’s now imperative to do a bio search of the journalist/author, to try to glean the partisan agendas likely stealthily masked behind the supposedly “objective reporting.” Another annoying aspect of news reporting now is so often the partisan agendas lead the stories and the who, what, when, where and why are buried on paragraph 13. It often feels like they hope most people only read the first paragraph and run with the sensationalized partisan take.
Thanks for these JK, I read them and read the links in the first one – I’ll respond more tomorrow – too tired right now. Long day here.
“Our news media are more political activists/operatives than objective reporters.”
And perhaps more operatives than activists – most times with activists they’re on the (publicly) front lines:
https://havechanged.blogspot.com/2020/05/53-transcripts-inventing-stories.html
*** I guess Mark’s reading the transcripts in order of appearance – I’ve been skipping around some and, as you’ll maybe recall I linked to Larry Johnson’s disputing that it actually was ‘The Russians’ who er, hacked the election which not very unimportantly got echo-chambered by the FBI even though the FBI depended on Crowdstrike rather than inspect the actual servers:
Click to access sh21.pdf
(And … if memory serves – but I could be wrong on this specifically – I think it was ‘some people’ later associated with Crowdstrike did “the investigation” of Hillary’s email server. Dear God was that only [about] five years ago?)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-mccarthy-report/episode-82-what-is-unmasking/
Ninth segment:
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/497931-rising-may-15-2020
That amazing timing of that “technical difficulty”is a sight to behold, JK. It’s obvious that at the highest levels of the Obama administration they decided to destroy Trump’s ability to govern. The whole “Russian collusion” was a massive spin operation, where they corrupted the FBI, highest levels of US intelligence, the powers of the presidency – all to launch this massive #Resist effort in the waning days of the Obama presidency. This appears to have been deliberate and orchestrated. It wasn’t just top FBI agents run amok – this was orchestrated within the inner-Obama circle, coordinating with top Clinton/Dem operatives. I suspect Bill Clinton had emissaries (like Eric Holder) coordinating directly with the Obama administration.
If anyone becomes the fall guys for this – it will Comey and the FBI. The Obama/Clinton peeps will protect John Brennan and probably Clapper too. And the mainstream media will do massive damage control and spin it all away.
” I suspect Bill Clinton had emissaries (like Eric Holder) coordinating directly with the Obama administration.”
From what I’m just reading you may be onto something:
“Another thing they would do is take targeted names from a certain database – I cannot name, but you can guess – and they were going over to an unclassified database and they were running those names in the unclassified database,” she said.”
“This ruse was to get around using classified resources to surveil Americans, she said. Once the Treasury personnel had enough information about someone they were targeting from the black box, they would go to the white box for faster and more informed search.”
https://theohiostar.com/2020/05/18/exclusive-the-treasury-department-spied-on-flynn-manafort-and-the-trump-family-says-whistleblower/
Myself I can only claim to “being very busy”
(Well I am running all of the errands and stuff for everybody except for the ‘beauty appointments’ that kinda stuff – Really LB I promise I really am busy with Very Important Stuff (and you couldn’t possibly/reasonably make me list all of the very important stuff I’ve been constantly at now could you LB – especially seeing as we is friends …)
I do have another excuse or two but I expect you’ll not ask “Why haven’t you JK already finished the transcripts when Mark obviously has?” I mean you surely will not will you LB, my friend?
https://havechanged.blogspot.com/2020/05/53-transcripts-flynn-flam.html
Lol JK, well, I confess that I haven’t been reading reports or transcripts much lately. After years of following this Dem/mainstream media #Resist effort to destroy Trump and the Trump counterattacks, while Congressional Republicans serve as the “More hearings!” chorus in the background, we’re no closer to an end of this than we were before the election in 2016.
It seemed a reasonable assumption that the election in 2016 would serve as an end to the nuclear-level spin war attacks, since it was in the heat of a presidential election. Yet here we are in 2020 still rehashing the same political battles daily, using the same lame spin war strategy that is no closer to having a victor as it was in 2016. The news media, both pro-Trump and the pro-Dem mainstream media, now spend more time “reporting” on each other’s news coverage than they do reporting actual news. The partisans run through the same moves, over and over and over. One side screams we need an investigation or demands more hearings and none of them lead anywhere. Trump’s addicted to hijacking spin cycles by engaging in petty skirmishes with hostile media minions.
Yes, it appears the Obama administration broke all the rules to take down Flynn, but rather than buying into this reflexive binary bullshit, I think Flynn’s behavior taking payment from RT and Turkey demonstrate appallingly poor judgment and he should never have been considered for NSA.. I certainly don’t think he should be back working in the administration, but that’s Trump – the spin clown for you, saying he’d consider it.
All these Congressional hearings go nowhere, regardless which side is holding them and they’re just the most boring part of the spin war.
All the info gathered on Flynn was being gathered to be used for a media smear campaign (ammunition in the scorched earth spin war). The Obama crowd and FBI , Clapper and Brennan were compiling information to leak to the media – just part of the spin war.
The goal was (and still remains) to spin up media hysteria to ram through political action, citing polls and creating a “crisis” atmosphere.
None of those Obama/FBI/intel efforts was really about any real investigative or judicial process. It was about gathering dirt to leak to the media as part of spin smear operations to create a media-generated “crisis.” Over and over and over.
Even if Durham attempts pursuing criminal charges, I suspect it will quickly be hobbled by relentless spin war efforts and corrupt legal maneuvers, which will further erode our judicial system. Until America either destroys itself with this scorched earth spin war or finds some way back to saner political behavior, none of these investigations, Congressional hearings or as we’re finding with Judge Sullivan’s latest gambit to thwart the DOJ, our constitutional system has been completely superseded by this insane spin war.
Your friend places China our #1 adversary. I disagree. Our #1 adversary is our own constitutional system being subsumed by corrupt spin information warfare. Our own partisans engage in more destructive agitation propaganda, designed to fuel extreme factionalization than China or Russia could ever dream of orchestrating.
“Your friend places China our #1 adversary. I disagree. Our #1 adversary is our own constitutional system being subsumed …”
Well you know how the oath has it, “foreign and domestic” not, foreign or domestic so I’d argue you’re both correct.
However yours is sadder.
“The goal was (and still remains) to spin up media hysteria to ram through political action, citing polls and creating a “crisis” atmosphere.”
Yes that too but in addition, I’d have to say that, just as important there was this:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/russiagate-obama-iran
Has the ring of accuracy to my mind if not the entire story.
Well, JK, this would explain why Rhodes, Rice, Kerry, Brennan, Power and other high-level Obama officials have made propelling the Russian collusion narrative and defending the Iran deal almost full time jobs (especially on Twitter).
I suspect that Obama and his inner-circle will set this up so the FBI takes the fall, so that they are protected.
Hope you’re well LB, fine around here.
Mark’s got some earlier [related] posts up but I figured to wait until … well a certain point. He did better’n me I got tired and couldn’t manage more that the nine transcripts I was most interested in. Anyway:
https://havechanged.blogspot.com/2020/05/53-transcripts-different-worlds-part-2_30.html
Hanging in there JK. Husband is doing worse. I honestly haven’t read any transcripts, but am following this protest/riot mess/Twitter spin war. Hope Barr puts the feds onto investigating if there are connections between the organizers of this nationwide protest effort and the Antifa/violent BLM elements who are lighting up the nights. Hope they’re looking for communications between these elements and funding – because it feels to me like the two are connected. Of course, there’s lots of random thugs/criminals jumping into the looting and mayhem too, but it feels like a lot of orchestrated street action going on to escalate this into total pandemonium.
Susan Rice was trying to blame Russians today and other Dems and the media are insisting those Antifa terrorists are white supremacists. if white supremacist crazies do show up in large numbers, I fear for our country.
As it happens LB I’ve found myself ‘called in’ … and just like the military at certain times can’t say ‘where I are’ – But at least I did get assigned to a very nice desk pretty close to where Judge Parker’s once was. Yes comms are being closely monitored but the financing part is not in my jurisdiction (matter of fact that stuff’s reserved for the “active duty” personnel if you catch my drift). Far as the white supremacist crowd looks to me *they recognized early on (for the most part) to try, pretty hard, to stay the heck away because they figured so long as there was so much hell going on anyway why help. And so far as I can tell I don’t see the reported numbers of “outsiders” getting arrested matching up with what the local pols are claiming. By a long shot.
Hate to hear about your husband LB, I’ll pray.
Figure can get back maybe in about 10 days. *Hope nobody raises any hell with me for visiting because I won’t raise a stink if I get fired.
“Hope they’re looking for communications between these elements and funding – because it feels to me like the two are connected.”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2020/06/organizing-riots-fake-news-and-other.html
JK, this is what I have thought all along – the violence is coordinated as part of the protests . At first I was thinking Antifa hijacked their protests, but I believe Antifa and BLM radicals are big players in organizing all of it. Also interesting how these international protests crop up to support the American Left street theater. That Women’s March after Trump was elected was the same thing. There’s an entire international network and funding, I suspect.
Back during Charlottesville there were reports floating around of bused in protesters who were paid to march and protest for white nationalists and the anti-fascists. Way back during 2016, I remember that Trump had scheduled a Chicago rally and then cancelled it because of threats of violent protests. Later there were reports that several Soros-funded groups had paid for protesters for that street theater performance too. Something crazy going on, that’s for sure.
Along with the organized leftist protest/rioting, I suspect that months of lockdowns with this Great Social Distancing Experiment have led a lot of young people to go crazy in the streets looting and such.
I’ve been tweeting a lot – still doing my small part to try to disrupt the Spin Information War, even though that seems like a lost cause. I don’t believe either partisan side can hold our country together – it’s going to take some totally unique effort. At this point, what worries me the most is I don’t know if the center will hold. Millions of people will start to realize this lockdown stuff wasn’t science at all, but what I am calling it from now on – the Great Social Distancing Experiment. I wanted to believe there was science to this idea, but now I am convinced it was leftist academia theories and political power grabs. The woke media/pundit takes on large crowds that protests for a left-sanctioned cause isn’t a health threat, but all the anti-lockdown protesters were evil, selfish people spreading COVID-19 has me royally pissed off. Now there are even “health experts” championing these large protests as no health threat at all and I feel like this entire social distancing experiment was all total bullshit.
There are still crowd restrictions on outdoor activities all around the country (especially in large cities) so kids can’t play in playgrounds, but thousands of protesters are no problem. DC is still under crowd restrictions and there was Pelosi, Madame “Trust the Science” joining the DC protest. She is the COVID-19 street theater grand dame for the Left – began it with walking in Chinatown and urging people to “Come to Chinatown!” Hypocrisy pisses me off, but when there is fundamental unfairness in rules and infringing on some people’s civil rights is okay and other people get a free pass from the same rules – well, we are no longer a constitutional republic.
Enough venting, lol. Stay safe!
“I wanted to believe there was science to this idea, but now I am convinced it was leftist academia theories and political power grabs.”
Probably better to wait to see where this “investigation” winds up but:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/06/wuhan-virus-watch-data-used-to-suspend-who-hydroxychloroquine-trials-now-under-intense-scrutiny/#more-320161
I’m fairly certain where we are we’re perfectly safe. And where you are – near well-you-know – y’all should be mostly safe. Do be alert though which probably goes without saying.
The one concern I’ll admit to having run through my mind was traveling through some of the areas near college towns I had to go through to get here but as my state enjoys a rather sizeable conservative government – and we never had put on us what we might call “a really enforced lockdown” which I think is the largest contributing factor to creating the environmental conditions (comms, organizing) necessary to pull of what’s happening – anyway the drive didn’t turn out near as bad as it could’ve.
You probably realize *who at least a few of Peter’s LE contacts might be lol.
Just a general FYI LB.
Some of us got to watch a little tv earlier this evening and listened to some BS about the current President is, or has, been “threatening” to use/invoke an ol’ timey law called ‘The Insurrection Act’ meanwhile forgetting (or ignoring) the previous administration’s hopes to use another of those two centuries old laws – in that case the ‘Alien & Sedition Act’ which we, given what’s been going on these last three or so years (Russiagate & Etc) we find kinda weird.
Noticed alot of references to ‘Posse Comitatus’ and how that forbids active mil from getting involved – which incidentally I think ought to be the way that it remains – however … the media seems extremely forgetful lately.
Back during GW Bush’s term he caused to be enacted what’s most commonly known as The Patriot Act – which got some of its authorities via this act:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aid_Highway_Act_of_1956
You’ll note another name it went by being the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act?
Anyway the Patriot Act assumed additional powers in 2006 and then during the subsequent administration those authorities grew even more until now current law is actually these:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/252
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/253
Some *worry Trump “is really Hitler” but the fact is GW is mostly responsible for overthrowing almost 200 years of precedent about not using active mil when not even Lincoln invoked the Insurrection Act and then later during the subsequent to GW’s term the laws authorizing military on US soil got strengthened.
Kinda funny now hearing (some quarters of) the media worrying over all the stuff they ignored back when it mighta done some good writing our DC representatives to vote against such notions.
[audio src="https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/recordings/recordings2019.nsf/52121F3109D95B458525857B00560CF9/$file/20-5056.mp3" /]
You might LB, get a kick outta listening to that. Doesn’t have to be in a single sitting, easy enough to just note the time of your pause and then carry on at your leisure.
Thanks for that link JK. I’ll try to listen to that when I have time to concentrate on the email saga again.
I read this NRO piece on BLM by Jack Fowler, that explains the larger strategy and ends with this warning: “: BLM has as much if not more to do with Petrograd as it does with Selma.” https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/black-lives-matters-a-thing-of-the-left-anchored-on-a-cop-hate-strategy/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=featured-content-trending&utm_term=first
Fowler links to a 2016 Frontier Center report by Anne Sorock. This report is 44 pages long and it’s #1 on my reading list at the moment:
Click to access Black%2BLives%2BMatter%2BReport.pdf
Well perhaps before you take on those 44 pages LB you’ll partake of listening to the hour and eleven some odd minutes of what I’m about to drop – it’ll restore your faith in your fellow man – at least mine’s restored. Do note the date though, May 28th.
I’m thinking LB that might even give you material for a post.
Just a thought.
I hope to get back to writing blog posts, JK, but haven’t had the energy for that in quite a while. My husband has been completely bed bound since late January, can’t even stand on his feet. He’s getting a lot weaker in recent weeks, barely eating, can’t even pull himself into a sitting position. Got a lot of things on my mind, but I did listen to that video and I did read the 44 pages, while my husband was sleeping today.
https://www.courthousenews.com/dc-circuit-orders-judge-to-drop-flynn-prosecution/
I’d rather actually doubted that would happen. Nice surprise I have to say tho’.
Well JK, I’m wondering what other corrupt antics Judge Sullivan will try. These people just make up the law as they go along.
My days are really tiring now, so even though I’ve started several blog posts, I just never seem to get them finished. Watching this statue mayhem and the BLM movement stuff, I pulled up Robert Bork’s book, Slouching Toward Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline, which I’ve had on my kindle for years. I had read some of it before, but hadn’t finished it. In Chapter Two, Bork wrote about the sacking of the universities and it’s like we’re living in a flashback to that time. He was a law professor at Yale. He wrote about how the radicalism and violence evolved, the Black Power groups and even about how he and his wife had their kids in the backyard, trying to keep them calm, when the hockey rink was blown-up. That was when Back Panthers were on trial and thousands of protesters and radical from other groups poured in. He wrote that the president of Yale, with no evidence whatsoever, blithely declared far-right radicals did it, even though Yale was flooded with leftist radicals.
Here’s a quote about how it spread:
“When the first demonstrations broke out at Yale, a visiting professor pointed out that it was organized by a transfer student from Berkeley. At every university, he said, the first eruptions could be traced to a radical who had “come down the Ho Chi Minh Trail from Berkeley.” Yale had for years been politically liberal, no department more so than the law school.”
Bork also pointed out that the activists had their way because the administration caved to them and the students:
“The activists had their way at Yale, as at every other university, the moderate students did not organize. “Moderation” is not a cry that packs auditoriums or brings throngs into the streets. The moderates kept quiet and tried to live through it with as little discomfort as possible.”
Bork had some really interesting insights into the radical left and identified political correctness before it even had a name.
Best Fourth your way LB.
And by the way I bought Bork’s book – thanks.
Same to you JK! I saw Andrew McCarthy recommend a book by Amity Shlaes, Great Society and when I looked at her Twitter, she recommended a Roger Kimball book: The Long March: How the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s Changed America. I found the Shlaes book on my Hoopla, so I can read that for free, but I bought the Kimball kindle version at amazon. Trying to refresh my memory and fill in gaps of my understanding of the American far-left radical history from the last century to today, but also have some things from the French Revolution and 19th century I want to do some reading on too.
It’s very frustrating to me that Trump’s speech while throwing down the gauntlet about the left’s culture war, his single big idea is a gimmick – that Garden of Heroes of “statues,” which has about as much chance of materializing as his “Great Wall of Trump.” The Left’s statue burning is for show, but the real action is politically and pushing cancel culture to the nth degree, where people begin to self-police their language and conform to the ever-increasing leftist thought police dictates. The insidious push of insisting all white people denounce their “white privilege” poses more of a threat than the mobs in the streets tearing down statues.
Anyone who has even an iota of awareness about how it goes with constructing national memorial sites in America knows that Trump’s Garden of Heroes idea will go about like his “build the wall.”
His administration really needs a comprehensive strategy and people engaged in a lot of historical research on far-left movements, their strategies and tactics and working to come up with ways to combat their culture war, while still propping up The Constitution and constitutional norms, every step of the way. Trump is clueless on anything beyond the most simplistic sideshow antics and impulsive reactions. He’s even more reactionary than the Left and I didn’t think that was possible.
http://malcolmpollack.com/2020/07/14/the-nyt-eats-its-own/
I saw this drama at the NYT unfold on Twitter yesterday, JK. At Malcolm’s site I read the comments and yes, the Jacobins have arrived early and like you, I too wondered what’s a Slack Channel. it’s like on Twitter all these terms and “proper Twitter etiquette” stuff leave me perplexed.
I am presently trying to absorb this leftist “white privilege” indoctrination, which turns positive cultural values, like hard work, individualism, strong nuclear families in America into a symptom of racism: https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/whiteness
I’d intended to visit LB anyway just to drop the first two links your way but the thought occurred maybe I ought visit your current post[s] first on the offchance you’d already made mention – then, after reading your “prepper’s progress” (lol – kinda) figured I may as well shoot you some info.
https://babylonbee.com/news/dozens-gather-in-maga-hats-in-hopes-washington-post-will-defame-them-so-they-can-become-millionaires/
https://nypost.com/2020/07/24/washington-post-settles-250m-suit-with-covington-teen-nick-sandmann/
***
Now with that outta the way … I remember y’alls being at Fort Leonard Wood so I reckon you’re aware how lucky I am to be where I am where water’s concerned – this first being a mere 12 miles north of me may give you some indication of just how plentifully my area of the Ozarks is blessed with springs – the wiki link’s ‘only limitation’ being it really doesn’t convey, meaningfully, just how big this spring actually is. Let me just say, Nine million gallons per minute!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Spring
And then there’s probably in the neighborhood of at least several dozens of smaller springs just in the direct distance between Mammoth and me – several hundreds if I include the whole county.
Here’s a good informative article you might find of use:
https://www.wideners.com/blog/water-filter-tests-for-survival/
Personally – everyone of our (3) vehicles has a H2O Survival Travel Straw in it and, the “Get Home Bag” I carry in my pickup’s got another one in it along with a quart stainless steel sealable jug (plus some other ‘goodies’ I’d prefer not to explicitly list on a publicly accessible blog!). Well maybe that there’s quite strong twine plus a smallish diameter rope, some basic first aid, a few tins of sardines, a signalling mirror, a whistle, and a good rugged knife. Couple other things but really just the basics because the whole purpose is if the truck gets stuck/disabled I got to be able to carry the thing!
Oh and I carry always in my toolbox a pair of boots and a tarp plus, there’s a range of stuff as you might imagine in the toolbox which, because of whatever weather conditions I may have been ‘blessed with’ whenever/ifever I do get so inconvenienced I always leave a couple pockets of my “Get Home Bag” empty. Oh and I carry tick/mosquito repellent. Extra socks. A regular boy scout I am.
One thing I’d personally recommend where obtaining a water purifying device is concerned is don’t get it off some place like amazon (fear of counterfeits) get it at some reputable retail place – Bass Pro got its start less than 90 minutes from me and as you might imagine because of all the lakes and national/state forests around me there’s beau coup ‘gear’ Mom & Pop operations close to hand.
And did I at least sometime mention hillbillies been doing this sort of thing for quite a spell? What, I didn’t mention me taking care of all my non-hillbilly neighbors during a ice storm?!!!
Thanks for the water purification kit idea, JK.
There are also a lot of mountain springs where I grew up in PA, but here in the coastal GA swamps, geesh, I am afraid of what you might find, lol
I saw that WaPo settlement with the Covington kid story (hooray) and you’d think the news media would learn to start verifying their anti-Trump stories, ’cause CNN settled with that kid too. However, the media has gotten more reckless running these endless Dem spin/smear operations and their totally bonkers TDS.. Very weird to watch how many NeverTrumpers inside the Beltway still trust these mainstream media news outlets. I distrust all of them and FOX and conservative media too. Almost all of them are deeply invested in running spin war rather than providing verified information.
It’s an amazing thing to watch how totally false spin information builds upon more and more false spin information, to the point many Dem retired generals, former intel bigwigs and other DC insiders just buy into all these insane TDS stories – like the “Battle of Lafayette Park, Dems and the media cooked up – not a single protester was hospitalized for injuries or killed, yet over 60 park police and a couple NG were injured. One NG soldier suffered a concussion from a brick thrown at his head, Esper testified under oath – but there are retired generals out there ranting about Trump ordering attacks on “peaceful” protesters. Dem operatives created and fed this spin narrative to the media. Now in Portland and Seattle, it’s Dem operatives and the media are rerunning that same Lafayette Park spin narrative. Pelosi is a national disgrace – calling those federal agents “stormtroopers.”
Eventually, the far-left mob will turn on Pelosi, Schumer and many other Dems too. That’s the way it always goes with mobs gaining power.
Wweeeelll LB even as I say we gots alot of “fresh water springs” because we gots too, lots of wildlife and livestock, running around I ain’t “exactly saying” I’d trust Arkansas’ springs anymore’d I would Georgia’s. Hence all the H2O Survival Straws!
Yes I’ve drank from alot of ’em directly but when I did I had the advantage of a eight to about seventeen year old’s immune system and, very likely, pure de ol’ dumb luck.
It really saddens me LB that as you’ve typed “Dem retired generals” I didn’t bat an eye at that as, I think maybe even fifteen or so years ago I would probably have argued “Our military is not political!” but we have come to this. Alot I think, maybe more than alot, is probably due to the 20 years of Afghanistan and contractor services – both military and *nominally* civilian – performing stuff that, in the centuries before it’d been privates and seaman recruits doing the grunt work and where the generalling and the admiralling was necessary to get done it was genuine up-the-ranks generals and admirals doing that too. Nowadays nobody’s batting an eye that a general or admiral as part of his “normal” retirement planning the biggest part is deciding which of the cable networks he’s, or she’s, gonna go to work for.
I don’t think I even have to bring up which way the IC folks is definitely going with – it’s a sad state of affairs if you ask me.
And don’t get me going on our (elected) public servants. And especially don’t get me going on our (unelected) public servants.
Yeah Pelosi’s “stormtroopers” is a disgrace but I think maybe one specific cable news network’s calling ’em “secret police” ala something outta either Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia – Some ‘secret’ when each and everyone of ’em has in big bold letters on numerous patches all over their uniforms “POLICE” … but then I suppose what I’ve been hearing about how our recent college students can’t read anymore it ought to (but doesn’t) make me feel better.
Thank God I live where I do. And thank God I’m in my 60s rather than in my teens.
Don’t know whether you’ve ever heard LB of The Warrior Poet Society?
What, you don’t figure me to be a warrior or (especially lol) a poet?!!
Good info there.
Didnt go into it LB but Sharon had to be in the hospital a few days and so my internet time got restricted – “nothing serious” (LOL) just dehydration and exhaustion mainly this time but ‘minorly’ featured was low blood sugar and likewise bp too. She’s better now but I’m doing all the garden (really all outside labor now I’ve *forbid her – yeah like that’s gonna fly for the duration)
Anyway I see Peter linked to something you might find of help – even tho’ its women doing the commenting mostly it has helped me too. Reminds me I didn’t take my latest bi-focals prescription into walmart to get new ones!
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/what-preppers-learned-during-lockdown/
Thanks for this link, JK. The comments really provide a lot of useful information. I came across several preppers on YouTube, besides The Provident Prepper, who provide a lot of practical and useful information.
With the temporary food shortage situation, we never ran out of anything, not even toilet paper. However, I became much more aware of shopping ahead, long before we are close to running out of anything.
My other huge food storage failure has been lack of organization, because I will organize stuff and then let it slide for months, until it’s a huge mess. Then I’ll tell myself, I need to do something about this mess, yet there I am… still cramming new groceries in front of and on top of older stuff. So, I am working at trying to keep my food storage better organized all of the time and paying much closer attention to what we have.
One thing about reading prepper sites and watching a lot of prepper/homesteading videos is that although there’s a lot of impractical and extreme doomsday crap, there’s also a lot of very useful information too .
Glad you pointed out that eyeglasses comment, because I’m overdue for an eye exam and a need to get some new glasses soon.
Oh. I bookmarked that Provident Prepper site. Thanks for calling attention to it.
I’m just started that nurse video link you sent, JK. On Twitter a while back, I tweeted that everything pertaining to COVID-19 “mitigation efforts” stopped being “science” the minute politicians began running the lab.
Btw, you can tell who the Left fears by who they devote their efforts to smearing. Your Senator Cotton has come under quite a lot of fire, lol. Last night I noticed on Twitter there was another deliberate, massive spin effort to misconstrue his words on the Founding Fathers, by asserting Cotton believes slavery was a “necessary institution.” He’s a prime target of Dems and the mainstream media.
I know you’ve mentioned you father was a doctor, JK, well, my mother was a RN, but I had kin on both sides of my family who were more inclined towards using folk/homemade remedies than trusting modern medicine. I’ve come across videos like “how to make sugardine to treat wounds and foraging for wild plants to make medicinal teas, tonics, and tinctures, lol. This subject has fascinated since I was a kid and my great-grandmother showed me some wild plant to go gather for her, because she was too old to go gather it herself. My mother constantly lectured me not to drink my great-grandmother’s teas or use her home remedies, lol. I was game to sip all of her teas and open to listening to her explain how she made her remedies. Wish I had written down her recipe for her homemade pine drawing salve. She sent me to gather knots off of pine trees, but told me they had to be gathered at only a certain time of the year.
Interestingly, guess, “pine” remedies were popular in your neck of the woods too, JK:
https://www.ozarkhealing.com/pine.html
Good Morning LB! Cooler (and possibly some rain) this fine day here hope you get some of it too.
Now to why I was prompted to be here. Give this a listen and then, let’s sit back and see whether this guy’s onto something – if the media will indeed as I put it the other day ‘turn on a dime’ yet again:
https://dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/2020/07/tim-pool-rocks-it.html
Another narrative shift coming?
Put your headphones on LB and make sure you un-mute for this first oh, two minutes mebbe[?] clip put on by this Ryan Long character I never heard of.
“Supposedly” that’s comedy but I think it may, accidentally perhaps, be the actual God’s honest, truth!
My son sent me a link to another of this guy’s recent tweets: https://twitter.com/ryanlongcomedy/status/1285208497517473793
Wonderful post you got up LB.
One of my favorite bits was your fortune cookie #2’s basic “Allow your mind …”
You know of course that’s hard more for some of us than others (me being in the ‘some’ group lol but I’ve improved some).
Thanks JK. I’m pretty set in my ways, so I have to work hard on doing more listening and thinking about stuff I read, rather than assume I know more. I am not nearly as prepared as I should be and am definitely not as organized as I should be. I can clutter up any area I’m working at in minutes and too often I move stacks of paperwork and miscellaneous stuff around rather than file/throw away the paperwork and find a real home for stuff. Then there’s my wicker baskets, plastic boxes and containers, cute canvas totes, etc. I end up filling up all of these with stuff, but that just means I have way too many containers full of junk, lol.
Sort of a take off of your observations around GDP
https://borepatch.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-fall-of-rome-podcast.html
I din’t write that – and I’m not familiar with the podcast.
Very interesting post there, JK. I’ve been telling my son, who scoffs at me, that what’s going on isn’t only about Washington and who wins the election in November. The very pillars (systems) that keep America writ large a functioning republic are facing multiple major stresses and small cracks are beginning to be discernible. If these crises worsen, well, it could be a, umm, major SHTF event. Hopefully, things will calm down and life will meander back to some semblance of normal, but like my Pop always told me, “Look, and you will see the signs,” when he would say rain was coming and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He’d point out the trees where the leaves start turning up before a storm.
https://www.wdtv.com/content/news/Can-leaves-predict-the-rain-422213604.html#:~:text=The%20leaves%20of%20these%20certain,wind%20to%20flip%20them%20over.
Had to do a few edits on that comment, lol.
I’m very concerned LB that as the song put it (and in the very early 60s too appropriately enough)
“Something’s happening here, what it is, ain’t exactly clear” (Buffalo Springfield I think .. had that what I’d call a ‘mysterious air’ to the opening guitar bit to set the mood for what was to come – and we all remember what came with the end of the 60s).
Lemme see …
***
Now if I’ve spoiled the mood for why I came here in the first place sorry about that.
Lately I’ve taken to checking in on your mainpage to see whether you’ve got anything new up so was gratified your creative juices seem to be in better shape lately. But that isn’t why I’m here either.
We’ve spoken about before what’s led me here today and motivated me to drive by and drop this here:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/
Yeah it’s an old post but because I use the Firefox browser they’re always having to search for stuff they think interests me so I will click on it for whatever reason it is they have to get me to click on it.
You’re gonna find LB, your jaw dropping in absolute surprise at the conclusions drawn from this study:
https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/326226550
Or maybe not …
Well JK, on Twitter I’ve been doing my own “experiment” of sorts for a few years now. I follow close to a thousand journos and political elites and observe the ebb and flow of spin cycles. Especially with the mainstream media and Dems working in tandem, it’s more an elaborate game of that campfire game, Telephone, that kids play. Someone tweets a new “report” and within minutes other journos and Dem pols are retweeting that “report” … along with tens of thousands of other people who trust that these people are tweeting independently verified news, as per their stated news orgs standards. That’s how the Covington story and Jussie Smollett stories spun out and it’s even how the false report that Kim Jong Un had died raced through Twitter. That one was reported by top reporters at MSNBC and CNN. There’s zero accountability, except the Covington kid has got himself a good lawyer and is raking in some cold hard cash in settlements for the media’s reckless reporting.
Interestingly, the mainstream media refuses to report that the Steele dossier was total bs. Too many careers (and political fortunes) are invested in propping that lie up.
Just so’s you know LB, I haven’t watched any (televised) news in … oh I dunno, maybe six months?
Anyway it was whenever “covid” took over whatever the last preceding Take Out Trump narrative was whatever it was.
Sometimes I watch the locally interested weather broadcasts when those may be interesting and I can’t get a full (being an amateur meteorological … well you know technology is so much enhanced since I got “trained” to do that sort of stuff) at any rate about all I watch on tv is the weather forecasts.
Don’t tell the *journalists* on twitter I’m not paying any attention to ’em other than what I’m reading on your site will you?
Well JK, on Twitter this morning I came across this video and although this man in the video is describing their latest protest effort, his explanation explains the entire #Resist effort, which is to cripple the Trump administration from functioning. This leftist dubs it “refuse fascsim.” All along I’ve said this “Resist” movement is the most corrupt, anti-constitutional effort I’ve ever seen. The Dems even threw a hissyfit about a NYT headline, which was positive about Trump and within 24 hours the NYT changed that headline.
https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1293174480878133249
Here’s the whole shebang. Haven’t read it myself so …
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305120926639
Not gonna put this on the post that’s most related LB. & Some background but I figure you can likely get that from the blogpage itself on the ‘About’ and the ‘Rules’ on the sidebar.
My experience (briefly) went something like this – A nephew who reads there noted me being cited on some paper (policy recommendation) and the *general consensus was something like ‘who is this guy, why wasn’t he paid attention to, etc etc?’ so I figured to tootle over there and lurk around then, if I felt the urge maybe drop a comment. That last didn’t turn out so well, didn’t get exactly banned but I got the distinct impression the welcome mat wasn’t exactly out for ‘the babyboomer generation’ – plus the folks who hang around here are definitely waaaay more tech savvy (and younger as you might well imagine) than the sorts of folks I’m most likely to hang out around.
But still … I kinda enjoy, find interesting, find useful, what *the youth perspective is so without further adieu
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2020/08/no-one-wants-to-go-down-with-creepy-joe.html
I think LB you’ll find the comments interesting
https://hmstypicallydefiant.blogspot.com/2020/08/this-makes-me-laugh.html
LOL, JK, she’s a piece of work, that’s for sure,
Hopeful sign or wasted effort?
https://www.arianapekary.net/post/personal-news-why-i-m-now-leaving-msnbc
Probably a wasted effort, JK, because the corrupt media will move past this and bury it down the ‘ol memory hole
third segment LB:
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/512275-rising-august-17-2020
maybe some others but that’s where I got
This seems to be it, but the Clintons aren’t going to just go away quietly. Hillary will make some demands, if she can’t unseat Biden this late in the game. I expect Hillary to angle for Sec. of Defense, so she can at least be the 1st woman to hold that position, if she can’t be 1st female POTUS.
Just sent an email winging its way toward an Arkansas Senator LB and I’d like your judgement on whether I’ve fully attended to what you’ve gathered during our communications as to ‘what I mean to say’:
Senator ______,
After careful and deliberate consideration I’ve come to the conclusion the time is very near that Director Wray’s gold watch commemorating and thanking him for his service should be placed on order from the US Mint and that the order for processing said watch should be communicated to some appropriate media person – perhaps Michael Isikoff?
Incidentally – is that FBI lawyer Clinesmith still in government service and if not is he enjoying the full benefits package federal employees expect (at taxpayer expense)? Is his legal representation being likewise similarly provided? I realize and fully appreciate his lawyerly skills because that “admission of guilt” he gave in Judge Boasberg’s court (chambers?) read like something Anton Chekov might well have dreamed up.
Speaking of Chekov I think we all better be praying for the reelection of President Trump because if the alternate universe the Democrats promises us comes to pass I fear the peaceful protestors blocking traffic will probably begin to fan out. I’m concerned even in my small town the peaceful protestors will maybe be blocking me from going the two blocks to check my mail – with my bladder problems I do not think I would handle that as courteously as the peaceful protestors seem to believe I ought.
***
That about cover it?
JK, Wray has mostly been running FBI damage control operations and covering for his former peers at the FBI.
I’m still perplexed about his testimony to Senate Judiciary last year about the dramatic increase in “far-right extremism” with no actual data backing up that assessment ever provided. Totally absent was any concern about far-left extremism, like Antifa. This FBI fixation on right-wing militias since OKC has left them totally ignoring far-left wing radicals and of course, they have bent over backwards to avoid calling out Islamic-linked violent activities in America too.
With the Clinesmith thing it’s all about damage control and the short straw has been drawn for Comey, who will be the fall-guy, if they need one.
You may get some unexpected traffic LB, I linked to you on Duff & Nonsense.
Concern about David not posting recently is, given his age (82), not inappropriate however I’m in email contact with his son Lawrence (Loz, SoD [Son of David, Son of Duff either/or) weekly and I’m thinking David’s “just tired” – based you understand as my being, solely, a MD’s son, and faraway.
I think you’re right about what’s likely for Comey. The more extreme elements (wishing I could in good conscience employ the word ‘fervent’ but – well see the included link – still ‘extreme’ I think is over the top. note the author on the link is including Sens. Cotton & Hawley in his opinion piece)
Now where was I? Oh yeah, the more extreme of my conservative leaning people on my “side” are demanding somebody’s/anybody’s from the top echelon of those who set “Russiagate &” into motion and kept it going head on a pike. And Comey’s – and really is there any real doubt that had Hillary won after what Comey did (announce the re-opening of the investigation) she would have done the same thing – firing sets him up as the perfect symbol of ‘top echelon’ to fill in as representative.
(I may be going out a little too far on this limb, seeming to “know” nationally what’s just as likely to be a local phenomena but – in the neighborhood of 80% of people I’m in some acquaintance with [very deliberatively not saying ‘friends’] have dropped any and all Party Affiliation and now register as Independents. … I’m sorely tempted to conjecture that if it was possible pols could get elected without being party affiliated the two senators I’ve mentioned – possibly a few more – would describe themselves similarly in effect: Independents. That said it probably is a bridge too far.)
Here’s that link I mentioned – personally, I have problems accepting this guy’s premise:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-there-are-so-few-moderate-republicans-left/
Now if he’d put it; ‘Why there are so few moderates of either party left’ I think I could come closer to accepting.
JK, the Democratic Party moved far-left long ago, alienating moderates. Heck, by today’s standards the Obama of 2008 would be considered too conservative.
Yup LB, I do think if 08 Obama even himself was campaigning in 2020 I’d rate his chances at zilch.
Then again, imagining the chances of oh, I reckon of any of the “recent” past Republicans only, perhaps Bob Dole could have made it through Super Tuesday. Now that I think about it I kinda wish Bob was around today.
By the way, you get any of the traffic I noted to ya?
I saw duff in the “referrer” list, but with the WordPress stats it lists countries where views came from and none of the my blog views have been from the UK in weeks. My blog gets very little traffic, since I hardly get any blog posts written these days. Which reminds me that on Twitter, I remain unpopular as ever, lol – 60 followers.
I’ll try to write more, it’s just hard doing full-time home hospice care like this. My husband has been bed bound since January, but he is still eating and his vitals are steady. He can’t walk at all, is very frail and the dementia has gotten a lot worse, but I have no idea how long he’ll last in this condition. He can still bark out orders like a drill sergeant… although most of them make no sense whatsoever. It’s very exhausting dealing with this, that’s for sure.
You feature prominently in my prayers LB.
So I take it you’re not the “influencer” I was sitting here thinking you had to be?
Comey might have a little competition:
Of course it’s difficult to imagine a military affairs guy would have much to do with all this of the last few years but it was, I think, an ‘all hands on deck’ sort of thing. As you can get from this Andy piece if you haven’t read all of it anyway:
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/responding-to-charlie-savage-on-my-clinesmith-series/
Pretty sure you can link back to the 3-parter
JK, I don’t know how much of an “influence” I have, since I don’t care about acquiring followers at all, my strategy deals with targeting my tweets and retweets to very specific high-profile media and political targets, lol. I suspect some of my efforts have had some impact.
And my actual goal isn’t a partisan one, it’s to try to expose and disrupt the scorched earth spin information war, which both sides and the media are committed to.
Just got started into that Guy Benson linked piece so I’m totally unqualified to speak to whatever conclusions the linked arrives at – but from everything I’ve studied (and I’ve looked at it nearly as extensively as I did that most recent Texas church shooting episode, but very preliminarily and, basing a bunch on how the Kenosha incident[s] appears; basically what conclusions I have been able to reach is that, what the Wisconsin authorities seem to have done in their charging documents – which make a conviction virtually impossible – is to have “offered” the kid protective custody. How it’ll turn out eventually in the end my guess is, no conviction.
But the politics make “fairness” at this point, impossible. Especially given how close we are at a presidential election cycle.
Those two links are quite long LB but it can’t be helped.
“But the politics make “fairness” at this point, impossible. Especially given how close we are at a presidential election cycle.”
JK, There’s such a rush to plant Dem false narrative in the liberal media, while that same media laments about the terrible disinformation on FOX News. The news media across the board is more spin, which is orchestrated disinformation really.
I will look at the links you sent. Andrew McCarthy commented on this piece, so I read it:
https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/31/why-kenosha-police-officers-use-of-force-on-jacob-blake-was-justified/
I am taking a break from Twitter for a bit and from following the spin crap so closely every day. I want to get back to my needlework and crafts. I also want to try to get more blog posts written about various things.
I’ve seen stills (from video) showing plainly the guy had what’s known as a ‘karambit’ (not your Grandpa’s switchblade) in his left hand as he was traversing from the passenger side of the car past the grill and soon to turn to his left to access the driver’s side door – the officer who was soon to fire the shots “close” on his [the perp’s] heels.
If you’re unfamiliar with what a karambit blade is:
https://www.karambit.com/what-is-a-karambit/
The difference between that shown and what was plainly visible in the perp’s hand was that the one carried at that instance was it had a very visible serrated edge – very nasty effectiveness had it been brought to bear.
Reports ALLEGE there was a handgun on the floormat immediately to the front of the driver’s seat – those reports I can not confirm or care to comment on the veracity thereof except to speculate there must have been a compelling reason for the perp to have SEEMED to want to supplement his offensive capability. *A pet theory of mine is he may well have intended harm to his (reported) children in the vehicle’s rear seat – which may *explain the officer’s subsequent actions HOWEVER I cannot mind-read.
Whatever turns out something led that officer to believe deadly harm was imminent. On that I have little doubt.
JK, I know nothing about knives, except I remember reading about a Roman gladius, which was effective as a stabbing sword and something about no blood runnels in the design… Never cared to learn more about knives and swords, lol, as the gladius info was more than I really wanted to know. Never heard of a karambit and the other link didn’t post, btw.
This information of the man resisting arrest and trying to enter that car with 3 kids inside had all the makings of a hostage type situation, where he harmed the kids or threatened to harm them, to try to get away. The Dems and mainstream media spun him up into father of the year material, plastering a photo of him with his kids across mass media, while covering up the details of what was really happening in this situation.. That’s what’s it all about dominating mass media with the preferred false narratives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
Below what the author of that link has in “Failure 3C: Into the breach” is pretty stupid. I hope when I reach the end of this I don’t find the author ever found himself (as a serving active duty military branch in an actual firefight) to have come to the analysis he (she) has.
Had to look up the definition of ‘LARP’ – That that acronym was ever used after such a display of ‘trigger discipline’ strikes me as highly inappropriate.