… are set for today in Congress. Who gives a rat’s patoot about hearings? They’re just political theater, signifying nothing. But Operation Choke Point has rightly been called “the greatest government overreach that no one is talking about.” (OCP has been called that, in fact, by the guy heading up today’s hearings, Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin.) Why this matters: Because it shows how some obscure, unelected entity, ostensibly having zero to do with firearms, civil rights, business ethics or anything other than insuring bank deposits, can get a bright idea in its head (or have one politically implanted there)…
Author: Claire
Seymour Hersh revisits the ghosts of My Lai. Give a corporation the idea that it’s a government and pretty soon it starts acting like one. (H/T PT) What every well-prepared … um, prepper should have: the world’s first portable, grab-n-go flame thrower. (I really can’t decide how far the tongue is in the cheek on this one.) (Tip o’ hat to MJR) Bovard on the “food security” charade. That whole “food security” business has always grated with me (it’s so blatantly trumped up). But Bovard doesn’t just let it grate. He knows his stuff on this topic. Are we flushing…
Over at The Zelman Partisans Nicki Kenyon describes, far better than I ever could, the contrast between the “new” JPFO and the genuinely new spirit and reality of TZP.
Some very cool things are being worked on behind the TZP scenes and Nicki gives a glimpse of them.
I was going to just write a line or two here about the “new” JPFO here while linking to Nicki. Because Nicki really says all that needs saying. But [roll eyes] my line or two turned into a rant or two. If you want to hear what I have to say, click the “more” link. But above all, see what Nicki has to say.
Part II: implications for the states. I haven’t yet read this thoroughly (dogs are guilt-tripping me about their morning walk). Given that I live in a blue state, but in a local area that is quite a different shade of blue than the big metros, I might weave a few thoughts of my own from Borepatch’s narrative later.
Part 1. Custom made for your weekend reading and your anytime consideration. Part 2 due tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
I just love reading predictions. Economic. Political. Psychic. No matter. It’s amusing (and a good reminder not to get too cocky). ‘Cause they’re always wrong.
Economists have a special talent for being wrong; they’re right up there with psychics for how egregious they can be. (And just like psychics, they like to edit themselves after the fact to show how “right” they were. The guy who got 9 out of 10 predictions wrong will put up advertising banners touting the one he got sort of semi-correct.) But that’s another story.
Today the “everybody’s always wrong” topic is TEOTWAWKI.
Understand, this isn’t to knock anybody. I perfectly well understand why we need to think about future scenarios, even if our best predictions can only end up being approximations. In fact one of the two articles I’m highlighting below is quite well-thought-out.
It’s just that everybody who ever predicts the future is wrong. Period. Whatever happens always happens in a different way than we think it will. The future may “rhyme” with our predictions, but it will never match them — and it rarely, rarely even comes close to what we envision. That’s just life, not anybody’s fault. But the reason that matters is that, whatever happens, we’ll need flexibility to deal with it.
If we think TEOTWAWKI is inevitable (and we’re kinda secretly hopeful it is so we can haul out our Super-Duper Whizzwhacker cannon and start blasting away at zombies), then we may end up wasting a lot of money, energy, and emotion if zombies never come knocking. OTOH, if we’re sunnily convinced that things just aren’t going to get that bad, we may end up so stunned by reality that we stand there numb and dumb while the zombies run over us.
An Agitator who might not want to be named sent me a .pdf pre-publication copy of an upcoming report, “Bulk Collection of Signals Intelligence.” It’s from the wittily named “Committee on Responding to Section 5(d) of Presidential Policy Directive 28: The Feasibility of Software to Provide Alternatives to Bulk Signals Intelligence Collection; Computer Science and Telecommunications Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council ” and its aim is apparently (not their words) to find better ways of targeting everybody rather than just randomly spying on everybody. (It’s a fine distinction, I know. But when you’re well-connected enough…
Chortle. Mexicans (presumably Mexican yuppies) are now importing pot from the U.S. Sigh. I really thought the Buddhists were better than this. Okay, it’s not Buddhists. It’s the gummint of Myanmar, so not exactly the heart of enlightenment. But still people, get a clue. If you have to force others to respect your holy men, it’s clear you don’t actually think your holy men are worthy of respect on their own. The GNU Manifesto turns 30 this year. (H/T jed) Raising up a whole new generation of shooters. Of course, it’s all the fault of the eeeevil gun industry. But…
Summer of the Eagles By Jackie Clay Mason Marshall Press, January 28, 2015 205 pages, trade paperback or Kindle edition From Amazon.com or the publisher (scroll down to buy) When Jess Hazzard rides through the gates of the Wyoming Territorial Prison, he wants only one thing: to get away from people as far and fast as possible and be alone. He’s just served five hellish years for a crime he didn’t commit and is looking only for peace. But first he has to earn money, and here his reputation gets him in trouble. Not only is he known as a…
Last month I blogged about those bootable Knoppix thumb drives containing files of preparedness info. Greylocke, who’s now making the drives (from unopened, buyer-supplied USB sticks), asked me to post a reminder. Seems only a handful of people have so far taken him up on the offer. And it is for a limited time, so if you’re interested, check the instructions, then go for it. He’s hoping somebody else will step up to take the project over from where it was left when his colleague Scott died. He also writes: “I am hoping to bring some more capability to the…