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Notes From The Epicenter: Election 2024
David Reavill
 November 06 2024 at 02:33 pm
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I live in eastern Pennsl-tucky, that rural stretch between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It's the beginning of Flyover Country, that great expanse of the country that has more farms than shopping centers and more land than people. Yesterday, I made my two-mile trek to the local Community Church to cast my ballot. I've been following this routine since I moved here many years ago. After all these years, I know what to expect, and I like that. The Democrats, with their familiar umbrellas, welcomed everyone who walked by. The Republicans also offered donuts and coffee from Dunkin Donuts if you cared to indulge. Both campaign groups were the prescribed distance from the actual poll so as not to violate Pennsylvania Law. But as I walked to the poll, I could already tell that this year, something was different. Oh, the usual neighbor greeting neighbor is always there: people who haven't seen each other catching up: "How's the family?" "Did you see the Jones' new horse barn?" That sort of thing. But there was also an earnestness that I hadn't seen before. People wanted to ensure that everything was copacetic - that this election did not have any of the skulduggery of 2020. The people of Pennsl-Tucky were well aware of the scandals surrounding Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. While many of those accusations of vote fraud were never proven, people in this part of the state would ensure that this election was above reproach. So everyone was on their toes, and you could almost feel it in the atmosphere. Everyone concentrated on doing their very best. This was especially true for the young mother ahead of me in line. With her three small children in tow, she got last-minute instructions from the poll watcher on how to fill out the ballot. "Now, fill in each "bubble" completely, or the machine won't read your ballot. Oh, and you cannot just vote on a party line. You must vote for each candidate individually." She thanked him, picked up her daughter, and headed to the main room. Tension seemed to increase as people silently picked up their ballots and headed across the room to mark them. The young mom leaned over to the poll monitor. " It's my first time voting," she said."Oh, today's the first time for many people," said the poll worker. "We just had a couple in their 80s vote for the first time ever." That was my first indication that the Amish and the Mennonite communities were coming to vote. I grew up in a religious tradition that thought "worldly" pursuits, like voting, should be avoided. But here was vivid proof that tradition was being overcome. The Pennsylvania religious communities saw that the stakes in this election were too high to ignore. They were voting to bring America back on track, a track that included fundamental Christian values. Increasingly, it felt like the entire national election was playing out here, in a few small miles of Pennsylvania. The day before the election, Donald Trump held his last campaign rally at Santander Arena, just a short drive away in Reading. With fewer than 100,000 residents, Reading may be the nation's smallest "big" city. Its population represents almost all of the country's minority communities: Black, Hispanic, Arab, and Asian. Many of the big brands of consumer products come to Reading to test-market their latest offerings. So, it was no accident that President Trump chose Reading for his final campaign stop. As I'm writing this article, the Pennsylvania Election website shows Trump winning Berks Country (Reading's home) with 56% of the vote. An overwhelming victory. And one powered by Pennsl-tucky's urban voters. Twenty-seven years ago, I moved from California to this part of the country. It's rural yet close to many of the major urban centers. It's an area that's easy to overlook, flyover country. And yet, I've found that this is the home for a proud people, steeped in tradition and anxious to leave a lasting legacy of freedom. The past four years have been difficult ones for Pennsl-tucky. Money has been hard to come by, as rising prices have impacted all the local small businesses and farmers. Their core values have been denigrated. The long arm of government regulation is an ever-present threat. By nature, these are quiet people. You'll not see them on social media or speaking at the local service club. They stay to themselves and never, never proselytize. They only seek the freedom to live as they choose. That's why Pennsl-Tucky came out to vote.
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The Election Of Trump
Numapepi
 November 06 2024 at 03:23 pm
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The Election Of Trump Posted on November 6, 2024 by john Dear Friends, It seems to me, with the evident election of Trump, the deep state is conniving a way to get rid of him. A plan that will eviscerate his ability to change anything for the better. Like they did before. The real problem with Trump, for the elite, is that he’s a patriot who loves America and the American way. Which is the antithesis of the way the elites feel. They loathe America and the American way. But most of all, they hate you and I. They hate our culture.. our freedom to speak up, our liberty to carry weapons, and our Right to privacy. All of which infuriate the elites. Because they see the US as the single biggest stumbling stone to their new world order. A globalist state where we will own nothing and be happy. Even as they own everything and will remain perpetually angry. Control of the administrative state gives the unelected elites great power to do evil in the world. An ability they use to great effect. Trump’s election threatens that monopoly on power. Unlimited in scope, reach and law, the bureaucracy is the real force behind the throne. The administrative state is our version of the Praetorian Guard. They choose who will take the figurehead position. Now their choice has fallen, they’ll be livid. Power is the single goal of those in the oligarchy, that is the bureaucracy, otherwise called… the administrative state, or deep state. The ultimate destination for them is more power and on a global scale. Trump stands in the way of that dark vision for humanity. As you read this the unelected powers that be will connive to undermine him and get rid of him. The elite will try to trick him into abandoning the people and policies that got him elected… like last time. They managed to get Trump to shunt to the side people like Newt Gingrich, in favor of deep state actors, who undermined Trump’s first presidency from start to finish. The message will be clear, RFK and those like him, are a danger to our republic. Because of their “radical” ideas. Trump will be inundated with demands to hire backstabbers like Amy Comey Barrett. Since folks like her are reliable elitist scum. Any choice like Rand Paul will be met with outrage in the Senate. Even a republican controlled senate. Because most of the republicans are controlled by the deep state. As Chucky Schemer said… “The intelligence community has six ways to Sunday to get you.” Expect another frame job. A frame they hope to stick Trump in this time. By the time I finish this article the progressive faction will be brainstorming ways to destroy him. With the backing of the traitorous media, the unelected elites will have an unobstructed path to build it. Who knows what they’ll come up with this time. It may be difficult to claim foreign interference though… what with the Iranian, CCP, British and other foreign governments openly backing Harris, with money, intelligence, propaganda and election workers. The hypocrisy maybe a bit much even for the hypocrites that run the world. Then again… maybe their void of self awareness will win out. So I expect the frame job to have something to do with his campaign, businesses or personal relationships. There will be violence. The progressive faction will burn down DC during the inauguration… again. In an act of blind rage. Which is perfectly acceptable since the progressive faction is above the law. In fact, they see law as a means to power, not a way to enhance personal safety, facilitate economic actions or smooth interactions between men. So, without past consequences, the left will riot in the streets. Perhaps some drug dealer will OD again, that they can somehow pin on Trump… then they’ll use it to justify more violence. Expect the left to use the same playbook they used before. Because it’s the only one they have. Lie, cheat, and beat downs are the progressive globalist play. Hopefully Trump has been inoculated by his last term so is wiser this time. I pray he has. For all of our sake’s. Sincerely, John Pepin
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Wokeness just got cancelled
Florin Dragos Minculescu
 November 06 2024 at 04:51 pm
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I know that “thinkspot is an online refuge for serious thinkers and quality discourse”, but I believe that what just happened in the past 24 hours in the USA, has a deeper meaning than the title may offer, and the issue must be addressed as such. First of all, it should be mentioned that a definitive and irrevocable rupture has been highlighted between the purpose and role that the mass media should have in society and the society to which it is addressed and whose interests it should protect, and this situation is a fact present not only in the USA, it is a global phenomenon. Thank God, this place has been filled by the positive side of technology, because people need information and social media platforms have proven their efficiency once again. Another aspect that is worth mentioning is that related to the existence of a social dimension that is not ideologically involved in political life and that seemed to no longer exist. I think they are wrongly called undecided, because there is a distinction between having left-wing orientations and being socialist, just as there is a distinction between having right-wing orientations and being ideologically committed in this sense. Finally, I want to highlight a clear recalibration of the value system that society is moving towards - God, family, and quality of life ( peace and wellbeing ) have once again become the focus of political discourse and it is likely that this aspect will be reflected in all of our lives. God bless us! P. S. Thank you America!
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The Hazelnut: Russia Introduces Its Most...
David Reavill
 November 24 2024 at 02:49 pm
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The world changed last Thursday. That's the day Russia launched a missile they call the Oreshnik, the "Hazelnut." Utilizing never-before-seen technology, the "Hazelnut" can reach speeds of Mach 11, which is 8,370 mph. The missile contains six multiple independent warheads, each warhead containing six sub-munitions, for a total delivery of 36 explosions on target. On Thursday, the Oreshnik took out one of Ukraine's principal missile and rocket production facilities, the PA Pivdenmash. This plant has operated since 1954, when it was one of the Soviet Union's chief makers of rockets and missiles. Russia believes that Ukraine is preparing to domestically produce short—and intermediate-range missiles analogous to the American ATACMS missiles, which recently struck Russia directly. The purpose of this strike was threefold: first, to retaliate against the American ATACMS missile strike of the week before; second, to eliminate any future Ukrainian missile production; and third, to demonstrate Russia's latest missile technology. On Thursday, US Defense Department Spokesperson, Sabrina Singh, reported: "I can confirm that Russia did launch an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile...This IRBM was based on Russia's RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile model. In terms of notifications to the United States, the United States was prenotified, briefly, before the launch, through nuclear risk reduction channels." She went on to say:"It could be refitted to certainly carry different types of ... conventional or nuclear warheads." https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3975321/russians-launch-new-missile-at-dnipro-us-provides-ukraine-with-new-tactical-wea/ Perhaps revealing more than she realized, let's unpack these comments. First, Ms. Singh indicates that Russia "prenotified" the United States that the missile was being fired. Other reports are that the US and Ukraine had a half-hour lead time. Yet, even after being placed on notice, US and Ukrainian anti-air systems were unable to intercept the Oreshnik. Later that same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said flatly in a televised address that the Oreshnik could not be intercepted by any existing anti-missile systems. Russia vividly demonstrated that point when, in spite of a half-an-hour warning, the missile struck its target. Finally, and perhaps most concerning, Ms. Singh points out that the Oreshnik was developed from the Russian RU-26, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of striking the United States. We can assume then that while the Oreshnik represents a direct threat to Europe, the RU-26 would threaten the American heartland. Both likely possess the speed and maneuverability that makes them impossible for current Western anti-missile systems to intercept. Perhaps most regrettable is that all of this was anticipated by the leaders of the two nuclear superpowers 37 years ago. In December 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev of the then Soviet Union and Ronald Reagan of the United States signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which effectively outlawed just the type of missile that the Oreshnik represents. For 32 years, the production of any Intermediate-Range missile by either country violated the Treaty. That all came to an end in 2019, during President Donald Trump's first term in office. Then, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper reported that the United States was withdrawing from the Treaty. "This withdrawal is a direct result of Russia's sustained and repeated violations of the treaty over many years and multiple presidential administrations." https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1924779/us-withdraws-from-intermediate-range-nuclear-forces-treaty/ Whether Russia failed to comply with the Treaty is a matter of continuing debate. But one thing remains: the US withdrawal has put us in a nearly untenable position today. Although America, and for that matter Europe, would prefer that Russia not build such devastating weapons, the current reality is that there is no international provision to prohibit such a missile as the Oreshnik. Today, the Russian Federation has raised a "Sword of Damocles" above the heads of both Europe and the United States. For Europe, the Oreshnik could devastate many of its major cities within a 15-minute flight time. For the United States, much of the East Coast could be in ruin within an hour. Let us pray that the American and Russian leaders will have the good sense to return to the negotiation table we left five years ago.
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Trump Is Doing More Than Appoint A Cabinet:...
David Reavill
 November 17 2024 at 02:43 pm
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It was a cold, drizzly morning at LaGuardia Airport. My plane had just been pushed back in preparation for our short ride to Washington, D.C. Just then, beside us on the Taxi Way, appeared a white, shiny plane emblazoned in big red letters with the name Trump. It’s my first memory of a man who has become central to the history of our country. Just days before Donald J. Trump managed to carve out one of the few profitable parts of a failing Eastern Airlines: the New York to Washington Shuttle. It was quite a coup for the young businessman, who proved he was much more than a real estate developer. There was a New York Financier who could ink one of the most significant transactions of the day, and The Art of the Deal was born. To many, President-Elect Donald J. Trump personifies the brash New Yorker. He is often outrageous, and controversy surrounds him like a cloud. And yet, Trump is a collection of seeming contradictions. While it’s true that Trump is brash, he is certainly not loud. His soft-spoken style belies a thoughtful person behind all the bravado. Having spent much of my career on Wall Street, I’ve known my share of brash New Yorkers, yet I’ve rarely met anyone with Trump’s talent. While the Eastern Airlines deal was a business coup, the bold Trump branding stood out. It wasn’t ego that made Trump paint those planes so distinctively; it was the recognition that his new airline needed to be distinctive from all the rest if he wanted to gain market share. Trump’s ability to point us in one direction, only to introduce us to an entirely new “Trump-centric” reality. In building the Trump Shuttle, he created a new brand to compete with the existing airlines. I remember the buzz in the office when people I worked with took their first flight on Trump’s Airline. As Trump’s new airline delivered, what appeared to be Trump’s pure ego became an all-new Shuttle experience. The Trump Shuttle was more comfortable and dramatically cleaner than the competition. Trump is using the same playbook that he used 35 years ago in building the Trump Shuttle: He points people in seemingly one direction, only to have them reach a new destination when all is said and done. Trump is not afraid to appear to be one thing while he’s actually playing from a very different script. Today, Washington denizens and political commentators are up in arms about Trump’s Cabinet nominations. They assume that Trump is using a conventional strategy of appointing conventional bureaucrats to head the Federal Government’s vast Administrative State. But, if you’ve followed Trump, you recognize that’s not what’s occurring. Trump is setting the stage to reveal just what the Administrative State and our political leaders really are. Remember, above all, Trump is a showman. His “reality television” program was one of the most popular of its time because Trump understands how to put on a show. The “show” he is putting on now will be the US Senate Confirmation Hearings and the debate leading up to them. The Trump Cabinet appointments take on an entirely different perspective when viewed in this light. If Trump is to be taken at his word, he believes that the US Military is troubled and that recently imposed “woke” policies have jeopardized our nation’s defense. So, Trump appointed Pete Hegseth, the Fox News commentator and the country’s most vociferous wake critic, Secretary of Defense. Trump is now in the driver’s seat. Should Hegseth be confirmed, he will undoubtedly implement the anti-woke policies that Trump seeks. On the other hand, should Hegseth be rejected by the Senate, it will only be after Senators have revealed themselves to be just the sort of “pro-woke” politicians that Trump has railed against. Moreover, Hegseth is an extremely capable public speaker who will provide a juicy “sound bite” that will play well on the nightly news. Trump will win again by exposing the policies that he opposes. We’ve already seen Trump’s strategy at work in the nomination of Tom Homan as the new “border czar.” Homan has been the past head of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Videos of Mr. Homan’s past testimony before Congress are going viral on the internet, as he promoted Trump’s vision of border control. Before the Confirmation Hearings began, Homan was already playing his role. Trump wins. We can expect the same sort of high drama and thus highly visible reactions to the appointments of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services and Max Gaetz for Attorney General. RFK Jr. will battle against the politically entrenched Pharmaceutical and Ag Industries, while Gaetz, himself the victim of what Trump likely sees as “law-fare,” will be tasked with making the case against an overreaching administrative state. Perhaps the most vivid example of Trump’s advocacy appointments is Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In his 2022 Campaign for Governor of New York, Zeldin proposed allowing fracking in upstate, which would turn the EPA upside down. For 50 years, the EPA has prioritized protecting the environment. Trump proposes a new Secretary who would prioritize energy production, albeit within existing environmental constraints, as the agency’s top priority. This is in line with Trump’s promotion of economic growth. We can expect major fireworks surrounding this nomination. In each of Trump’s nominations, we see the dual role of the conventional Cabinet appointment and the advocate for critical Trump Policies. Gone are the all-star bureaucrats who will go their own way. Instead, Trump introduced a new group of Cabinet Secretaries assigned to promote a specific Trump plan. They will undoubtedly be carefully coached and prepared for their Confirmation Hearing. Whether their role will continue beyond using the Senate Forum to make Trump’s case remains to be seen. The Senate may reject some of Trump’s nominees, and their roles will end in just weeks. However, most will, no doubt, be confirmed. It doesn’t matter what each nominee’s fate will be. Trump will have carefully prepared each nominee to perform their designated role precisely, one that will promote the new President’s policy positions. Whether confirmed or not, Trump will have changed the nation’s debate, a true win to begin his second term. **
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Trump Effect - The Case of Romania
Florin Dragos Minculescu
 November 26 2024 at 12:20 pm
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On November 24th, presidential elections were held in Romania. The main political parties in Romania are PSD, PNL, AUR, and USR.PSD is a left-wing party with Euro-Atlantic views. PNL represents the right-wing party which also has Euro-Atlantic views. AUR Party is a newly emerged party with Euro-Atlantic views but strong nationalist accents, being a left-wing party as well. USR is the party with Euro-Atlantic views but is the party of progressive left-wing ideologies. Another party that must be mentioned is UDMR, which represents the interests of minorities. In the elections held last Sunday, each party had its representatives, and the legacy media supported each of them according to their own interests. Mainstream media is not much different from that in the USA, with the vast majority of journalists not doing journalism but propaganda. The president in Romania is elected in two rounds, with the first two ranked candidates in the first round fighting in the second round.Independents also participated in the elections, and opinion polls showed a safe qualification for the second round for the PSD representative, with the battle being between representatives of other political parties, and an independent, Mircea Geoană, who until recently held the position of NATO Deputy Secretary General. Well, on Sunday, out of nowhere, like a meteorite, the first candidate ranked for eligibility for the second round was an independent, Mr. Călin Georgescu, with the second place being occupied by Ms. Lasconi, representative of the progressive USR party. About Mr. Georgescu, I admit that I did not know much, and he was not part of my predictions regarding qualification for the second round, simply because I am generally a social media hermit. Mr. Georgescu has a conservative discourse, very similar to that of Mr. Trump, and is supported online by many admirers of Mr. Peterson, some of whom participated in the ARC conference. He rose rapidly following a very powerful campaign made on various social media platforms, participating in various podcasts. Mr. Georgescu's presence on television shows was very small, and news sites almost completely ignored his candidacy. On December 8th, the second round of elections will take place, and it seems that Mr. Călin Georgescu will be the next president of Romania, continuing to campaign only in the online environment. It is worth mentioning that he is currently accused by the legacy media of having pro-Russian views and right-wing extremist tendencies, with a group of about 200 young people protesting against Mr. Georgescu with slogans like "My body, my choice" I love my life!
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Wolves Mismanaged
Nancy Churchill
 November 27 2024 at 05:58 pm
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Washington Ranchers face mounting losses The debate over wolf conservation and livestock protection shouldn’t be framed as an either-or issue. Rural residents who work the land are usually staunch conservationists. Their livelihoods depend on a deep understanding of the environment and maintaining nature’s delicate balance. Washington can—and should—support both wolves and livestock through proper balance. However, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is falling short. Bureaucrats, activists, and lawmakers must prioritize input from those directly affected—farmers, ranchers and hunters—and account for real-life losses to ungulate herds and livestock. This requires relying on accurate wolf population data and permitting more effective deterrence measures for managing problem wolf packs. Wolves Return with the Snow Kathy McKay, the owner of K-Diamond-K Guest Ranch in Republic, faces significant challenges due to wolf predation on her livestock. Non-lethal deterrence measures often require livestock producers or range riders to brave snow, sub-zero temperatures and rugged terrain in the middle of the night to attempt to “scare” the dangerous and clever apex predators. In addition to range riders, other non-lethal measures include fladry and guard dogs. Unfortunately, wolves don’t scare easily when their stomachs are empty, the snow is deep, and ungulate herds are already thinned out by too many wolves concentrated in a small area. In a recent facebook post, McKay noted her most recent livestock losses: “two sleepless nights in a row, one dead Scottish Highlander and a missing calf. Wolves have returned, haunting us and always hungry. Game cameras leading into the ranch from every trail and this is what I wake to at 2:30 a.m. both nights. It's dark, snowing and just plain dangerous to be out in this weather. If the wolves don't kill me it will be the elements associated with them.” Sleepless nights and the ongoing loss of livestock will be a fact of life for the rest of the winter and into the late spring for McKay and other eastern Washington cattlemen. A producer must lose multiple animals to proven wolf predation before WDFW will consider action to cull members of a problem pack. Fladry is a non-lethal method used to deter wolves and other predators from entering specific areas, such as pastures or livestock grazing zones. It consists of a line of rope or wire with strips of brightly colored flags or fabric attached at regular intervals. The fladry line is strung around the perimeter of the area to be protected. In theory, the fluttering flags and unfamiliar motion create a psychological barrier for wolves, which are naturally cautious animals. However, wolves are very smart, and can become habituated to fladry over time. Fladry is laborious to set up and requires regular upkeep to ensure it remains functional and intact. It is most effective in protecting smaller areas, as maintaining it over large grazing lands is challenging. It’s simply not affordable or effective when the stock is scattered over thousands of acres. Background on Wolf Recovery Unfortunately, a significant concentration of wolf packs reside in northeastern Washington. Dangerous Rhetoric documented this in “The Successful Recovery of Washington Wolves." Gray wolves, once eradicated from Washington by the 1930s, have made a notable comeback since 2008. At the end of 2022, WDFW reported a minimum of 216 wolves in 37 packs, with at least 26 successful breeding pairs. The gray wolves play an important role in ecological balance. As apex predators, wolves help regulate prey populations, which in turn supports the health of various plant and animal communities. Their presence contributes to the overall stability and diversity of Washington's ecosystems. In a Feb. 1, 2023 work session for the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, WDFW presented a map illustrating 22 of the state's 33 wolf packs were located in this region. "If you look at the density of wolves in northeast Washington compared to the rest of the state, you can see we have enough wolves in just a few counties to meet the statewide delisting criteria," said Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda. Losses Mounting for Producers An article on Capital Press titled “Washington ranchers: Process too hazy for clear decisions on wolf removal,” documented the complaints of ranchers who attended a recent meeting of the WDFW Wolf Advisory Group held in Colville Nov. 19. At the meeting, Asotin County rancher Samee Charriere said “she lost 17% of her calves this year to wolves. Fish and Wildlife stated ranchers in her area had not done enough to prevent the attacks to warrant lethal control, without elaborating on the shortcomings. ‘I want all of you to take 17% of your wages and burn them,’ Charriere said. ‘That's the effect I'm feeling.’” The lack of good communication between WDFW and the ranchers highlights the need for balanced solutions that consider the realities faced by ranchers like McKay, Charriere and others. “[Scott] Neilson, who organizes the Cattle Producers of Washington range-riding program, said greater weight should be given to the department employee who works with ranchers to prevent conflicts and sees the carnage. ‘Our relationship with our conflict specialists is extremely important,’ he said. ‘That relationship between the producer and the conflict specialist needs to rule the day.’” Washington residents who support better wolf management and fair compensation for livestock producers should follow the Wolf Advisory Group. Plan to attend future meetings and submit public comments at those meetings. Questions and respectful comments could also be submitted to the contact provided for the group, Subhadeep (Shubh) Bhattacharjee, Wolf and grizzly bear policy lead, at Subhadeep.Bhattacharjee@dfw.wa.gov. Nancy Churchill is a writer and educator in rural eastern Washington State, and the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own. Dangerous Rhetoric is available on thinkspot, Rumble and Substack. SOURCES: 1) The Successful Recovery of Washington Wolves, Dangerous Rhetoric, 2-7-23, https://bit.ly/4fHVRLV 2) No Peace in the Pasture, Kathy McKay, 11-22-2024, https://bit.ly/3Z82orU 3) Washington ranchers: Process too hazy for clear decisions on wolf removal, The Capital Press, 11-20-24, https://bit.ly/3Os2GVT 4) WDFW Wolf Advisory Group, https://bit.ly/4hXmrSR Dangerous Rhetoric articles on wolves in Washington State: The Successful Recovery of Washington Wolves, 2-7-23, https://nancydchurchill.substack.com/p/the-successful-recovery-of-washington Unsustainable Wolves, 6-8-23, https://nancydchurchill.substack.com/p/unsustainable-wolves Are Wolves Endangered in Washington? 2-15-24, https://nancydchurchill.substack.com/p/are-wolves-endangered-in-washington
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Some surprising opposition to England’s...
angelobottone
 November 29 2024 at 08:35 am
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Today the UK House of Commons will vote on a bill by a Labour MP to introduce assisted suicide in England and Wales. Some interesting opposition to it has emerged. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said a whip would not apply and Labour party members could “vote their conscience”, but some important members of his Cabinet and also other Labour MPs have expressed concerns. The most prominent opponent is the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said that the early loss of his daughter Jennifer, who lived only eleven days, taught him that the focus should be on the improvement of palliative care. “An assisted dying law, however well intended, would alter society’s attitude towards elderly, seriously ill and disabled people, even if only subliminally, and I also fear the caring professions would lose something irreplaceable – their position as exclusively caregivers”, he wrote in an opinion piece for the Guardian. The bill pertains only England and Wales, while Scotland is considering its own legislation. Brown is Scottish. At least five cabinet ministers will vote against the proposed bill, including the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Ryner, who has opposed similar legislation in the past. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has raised concerns that the bill could pressure terminally ill patients to end their lives to save NHS resources, potentially leading to a “chilling” scenario where financial considerations influence patient choices. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has also indicated her opposition. “I feel that once you cross that line, you’ve crossed it forever. If it just becomes the norm that at a certain age or with certain diseases, you are now a bit of a burden… that’s a really dangerous position to be in”, she said. Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, suggested there were not enough safeguards in the Bill. Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, has also stated his opposition to the proposed legislation. “Constituents will know in the past I have always voted against proposals to change the law in this way. This is mainly because I have profound concerns about how vulnerable people could be protected should this happen”, Reynolds wrote on Facebook. As of today, eight members of the UK Cabinet have publicly declared their intention to vote in favour of the assisted suicide bill. Another leading Labour figure to come out against the bill is the major of London, Sadiq Khan. The Conservative Party’s leadership has also permitted a free vote on the bill, enabling MPs to decide based on their individual convictions. This approach reflects the deeply personal nature of the issue and acknowledges the diverse opinions within the party. Three former Conservative Prime Ministers – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Theresa May – have stated they will vote against the proposal. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has actively campaigned against the bill. In 2024, Cardinal Vincent Nichols issued a pastoral letter urging Catholics to oppose the legislation, warning that it could shift medical duty from care to the facilitation of death.
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A Response to an Article on Affordable...
LadyVal
 November 06 2024 at 11:13 pm
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Few people know that the time-honored words in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” was originally written as “Life, liberty and property.” It was changed, it is thought because it lacked the inspirational note desired in a document intended to obtain the support of European nations for America’s efforts to throw off the yoke of British colonial rule. And yet, of all the matters engaged in this small phrase, property was probably the most “revolutionary” concept extant! Life and liberty were understood but the concept of property in the hands of ordinary people was unique for the time. The era of the serf whose labor was bound to the land – and therefore to the owner of that land – was over. But even so, only the most wealthy or important (not necessarily the same thing!) had actual legal attachments to the land. As precious few in the American colonies could look to the “mother country” for titled holdings, the concept of any person having the means to obtain and gain title to not only land, but what was built thereon, was novel to the extreme at that time in history! Going back to Jefferson’s Declaration and all that followed, by the late 1700s, the country conceived in 1776 had come into being albeit in a rather confused state. Efforts to bind together the original thirteen “colonies” – now “states” – in individual governing structures and not part of an overarching “nation,” was not faring well. Attempts were made first with the Articles of Association framed by the Continental Congress in 1774 and later by the Articles of Confederation, adopted on March 1st, 1781, to “govern” the disparate former colonies. But as the matter stood at the time, there were simply too many areas of dispute for the ill-assorted consortium to go forward in any sort of reasonable order. Hence, a convention called in 1787 to “amend” the Articles became, instead, a means to create an entirely new document called the Constitution of the United States of America that was eventually adopted (ratified) in 1789 Of course, the Constitution dealt with many things, but the concept of private property was paramount in its considerations. Indeed, the Founders believed that property rights were the basis of all freedoms that were to be guaranteed by that Constitution! Thus, the common law, state law and the Constitution itself protected property rights – the right of people to acquire, use and dispose of property freely. The Constitution protects property rights through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clauses and, more directly, through the Fifth Amendment’s “Takings” clause: “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation;” that is the legal matter described as eminent domain. One of the manifestations of constitutional expression is the fact that the Founders understood that there was no way any document could define everything that was permitted under that document. Instead, they chose to at least try to define what was not permitted, a far easier task! That is why secession is not mentioned in the Constitution, and neither is slavery. These were ongoing, acceptable situations and thus considered unnecessary to address. Yet, the Founders did try to circumvent, where possible, undesired interpretations as can be seen in the Tenth Amendment of the Bill of Rights that states: The powers not delegated to the United States [that is, the federal government] by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People. This was hoped – and intended – to prevent wholesale misinterpretations of the Constitution to the detriment of the People’s rights including their rights to own property. Alas, as in everything else, the slow deterioration of the spirit of the Constitution as the nation grew, began to affect a great many things, the concept of the sanctity of the holding of private property included. But first and foremost, it must be remembered that the Constitution as created by the Founders actually died with the election of Abraham Lincoln and his unconstitutional war to prevent the constitutionally guaranteed right of secession by the Cotton States and most of the rest of the South. As noted, the so-called “Civil War” – it was no such thing! – resulted in a “national government” (as Lincoln himself called it) and no longer a federal government acting with the consent of the governed. From 1865 on, the Constitution became a dead letter that had as its “memorials” those “Amendments” that only enlarged the power of the central government while reducing the liberties, rights and powers of the citizenry, private property being one such. The idea, whether well intentioned or not, was to make the government not just a part of every American’s life, but the ruling part! That is, the part that had the power to maintain the illusion of freedom or stifle it beyond all hope of resurrection. In the beginning, actions by the government – at all levels – were presented as helpful and needful during times of distress. America’s ongoing years of warfare beginning with the Revolutionary War and still going strong down to today, has given immense opportunities for the government to increase in power and strengthen its hold over the citizenry in the name of patriotism or giving aid and comfort to “the people” in their distress – distress usually created by that same government. The late Ronald Reagan put it best when he said that the most frightening words in the English language were, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help!” In the new millennium, the true desire of our government – indeed all governments – is that all power should reside in the hands of government; that is, the era of personal freedom and all that that entails – including the concept of “private property” – must end! In his article “Social Justice, Affordable Housing, and Government Tyranny” to which I am responding, author Tom DeWeese makes the following point: “Eventually – and very soon – the only source of housing will be from government. Take a good look at the destroyed neighborhoods now under government control and see your future. Property rights and personal ownership is an equal opportunity for everyone to build wealth and freedom. It’s how the United States quickly became so prosperous. Government destroys personal choice, incentive and the wealth created from it.” Actually, government didn’t get into the “housing” business until the late 1930s during the Great Depression. The “Federal Reserve” created in 1913 was supposed to prevent such crises but actually helped create the world-wide depression that initiated the next link in the chain leading to the New World Order, World War II. Of course, Social Security, Medicare and other government schemes were presented to the American public as “limited” efforts to succor a very few “at risk” populations such as the elderly, widows, orphans and a whole list of cultural rarities who would “benefit” from, we were told, the relatively small amount spent by government to “do the right thing.” Yet, if the only people to benefit from “government housing” were one-eyed albino lepers, the cost would still be prohibitive and the results disastrous. For as with every other “government program,” there is no “brake” much less any restitution of the monies stolen from the People to fund this supposed government largesse. But the worst thing is, government housing is our future. We have been told by the elites of the New World Order, that soon, we will own nothing! Everything we think we have will be on loan from Big Brother to be removed if and when we fail in obedience and homage. You would suppose, given the obvious results of public housing, that Americans would revolt against being forced into a life that is, frankly, not worth living, but apparently, such is not the case. Perhaps too many believe that better people forced to live in these “ghettos” will lead to better conditions. Not so albeit, there undoubtedly is a certain class of people who make a slum out of anything once they are ensconced. Yet, Mr. DeWeese points out: “Here’s what it’s like to actually live in those government projects. In many cites these neighborhoods are drastically rundown in disrepair as lights, air conditioning, and appliances fail to work. The roof leaks, windows are broken, and the plumbing backs up. Trash around the grounds is in ever-growing piles, is rarely, if ever cleaned and hauled away. Don’t even think about any kind of yard work to create a place for the children to play. Worse, the residents live in fear of gang elements like MS-13 that have taken over the neighborhoods to rule as their territory. Pimps, pedophiles, and drug-dealers prey on the children. And no matter how many times residents may ask for repairs, it never happens. “Why are the conditions so bad in this government-controlled housing? Government is a monopoly that has no incentive to be efficient. The taxpayers are forced to pay and the money rolls in so the politicians can puff out their chests over how generous THEY are in helping the less fortunate. Meanwhile, the management of these properties is by government bureaucrats with no personal stake in the projects. Their paychecks keep rolling in, no matter what happens to the properties they manage. Only private owners care about the condition of their property.” And while much of the destruction and devastation in public housing as noted above comes from the behavior of the residents involved, once everyone – other than our ruling elites – find themselves so domiciled, one doubts that the conditions will greatly improve. But whether they do or not, the freedom that our Founders understood resulted from a man’s right to own his own property, will be as dead as the Founders themselves and their Constitution. The article Social Justice, Affordable Housing, and Government Tyranny appears on the website News with Views. The author is Tom DeWeese and All Rights are Reserved
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Journalism -a commentary
Florin Dragos Minculescu
 November 13 2024 at 03:00 pm
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The role of journalism in society is fundamental and, despite the current situation, should not be trivialized or, worse, to consider that it should not exist anymore. When societies did not have mass media, so called legacy media, gossip was the means of information, and even then gossip was also a possible weapon, because you could launch rumors to influence people's lives for personal purposes, but these were rare cases and the price paid by those proven guilty was quite high. Unfortunately, this has become the norm, and this is because there are no real consequences, journalism has become a system of disseminating information that simply does not reflect reality but only reflects what certain people want reality to be. Journalism should be about how the world is, and not just about how you want it to be. The fact that the role of the media has been taken over by podcasts is not necessarily a positive thing, because on the one hand there is a lack of specialization, since the host of a podcast is not necessarily a journalist who understands its role as such and, also there are no regulations, and the purpose of majority of podcasts is entertainment, and economic and socio- political problems should not be treated as a form of entertainment. Society as a whole should continue to amend the derailment from the purpose and meaning of journalism, but should also be aware of the fundamental role that a journalist plays in society and vice versa, because media broadcasters should also be selective in the people they hire. In most cases, being a journalist means reading the news that a few press agencies emit and possibly making a translation with Google Translator and publishing without a minimum of verification, so the texts contain unacceptable translation and adaptation errors. Probably the eyes should be also turned towards the academic environment from which journalists come and which, instead of creating specialists capable of highlighting the problems of society, generates propaganda tools. The principle of the separation of powers in the state has been diluted, becoming almost non-existent, and thus journalism has become a mere extension of the political, resulting in various forms of censorship in the name of anti-censorship - the thieves cry "stop the thieves" - and that's communism.
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Running Away
Marithi
 November 15 2024 at 12:22 pm
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For several years conservative, traditional and Christian dialog has been suppressedi. In fact, I have several Mormon friends who were drummed out of their jobs by activists who simply wanted to facilitate the elimination of their potential conservative influence in universities, government, media and the like. It was a scorched earth policy by these activists and the result is that it worked. Many of them ended up going ‘underground’. They started businesses and solopreneurships and began to leverage alternative media. They ran to Rumble and Bitchute in the hopes that they might safely find other members of their tribe or a new tribe that would accept them. What they found is that all of the radicals had preceded them. This wasn’t all bad because here, at least, they weren’t being called names or being doxxed. They found pockets of Libertarians that wanted to “End the Fed” and doctors who were compiling risk information on vaccines. There were statisticians and psychologists that helped them see that our country’s leadership had us on a vector to a very dark place. They found the tribe, unmolested by the propaganda that had made them pariah. Naturally, they were now exposed to a different kind of propaganda, but it was fresh. The left is now experiencing this for themselves since the election of Trump. No, that is not quite accurate. They FEEL as though they are experiencing doxxing, hate and suppression. In response, they are running away from what they see as an overwhelming presence of racists and misogynistsii. DEI departments are being eliminated, even FEMA employees are losing their jobs due to their political positions. In social media they are leaving X for Bluesky and Threads to get away from the conspiracy theories and offensiveness; in a way, going underground. Now, it’s not really underground or secretive, but it is a self-segregation similar to the right’s earlier migration. What happened when the conservatives went underground? They discovered that they were legion. Their opinions about the craziness in popular culture were not as radical as they had been told! They discovered that they were not Nazis and the men found that they liked women! They found their tribe and it reinforced their place in the world. They were not alone or fringe and they were tired of being called names in the public square. Even while this was happening, the left gained confidence and escalated the anti-male, anti-white rhetoric. However, their net of denigration did not stop at the edge of whites, it scooped up hard working blue collar people of every race and persuasion. They continued to castigate the ‘establishment’ as evil even as they became the establishment. They began to absorb all of the worst of the pro-war ideology and seemed to be supportive of gross negligence with regard to aiding illegal immigration. Don’t forget, if you were not supportive of changing the sex of childreniii, then you were evil. What was happening is that as the left fractionated their tribe, they offended and chased away more and more people with each successive attack on the traditional and commonplace. Will the left proceed through a similar revival experience that the right enjoyed as it finds it’s safe space? I am of the opinion that it will not because the left seems have a base belief system that treats the world as a list of objective facts and human interaction as power based narratives. This world view is not gracious or appreciative, nor will it pay homage to it’s ancestors. They value rationality above all and fail to recognize that their belief systems are spiritual and religious. This is why I feel that their path leads into nihilism and anger without the needed reconciliation with reality. However, there is a bright side. The left will begin to find the less radical members of their tribe to be an overwhelming majority. This may result in a purging of the more radical elements from their team and in turn make them palatable again. Only then, will they have a return. i Tucille, J. D. (2023, January 1). Twitter files reveal politicians, officials evading the Constitution’s restrictions. Reason.com. https://reason.com/2023/01/02/twitter-files-reveal-politicians-officials-evading-the-constitutions-restrictions/ ii Milmo, D. (2024, November 13). Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/13/the-guardian-no-longer-post-on-x-twitter-elon-musk iii Neus, N. (2024, July 17). Biden administration clarifies stance on surgeries for trans minors after backlash. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/17/biden-administration-transgender-surgeries-minors
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With Friends Like These . . .
LadyVal
 November 15 2024 at 01:55 pm
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In his article The Future for Whites in a Post-Trump America, Arthur Kemp alludes to the 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan with quite a lot of criticism for his apparent “failures,” especially the “immigration” law passed during his presidency. Frankly, I am sick to death of conservatives damning Reagan without including even the faint praise that at least used to be part of the narrative. Indeed, as the years have gone by, Reagan – eternally despised by the Left – has also been dismissed by his own political comrades as an “amiable dunce,” pointing to the tragedy of Alzheimer’s that overtook him as a consequence of a serious head injury he sustained after he left office – an injury that required brain surgery. This post-presidential condition has been used as a convenient means of dismissing anything and everything Reagan did not only by liberals but even by those whom he respected and at whose behest he served. How sad it is to see a good man decried and debunked by those “unworthy to loose his sandals” as John the Baptist once declared of himself when speaking of his cousin, Jesus. I daresay, Mr. Kemp and his fellow “true” conservatives would have applauded Reagan’s refusal to sign such “progressive” laws even if that futile gesture had cost us the cold war without actually preventing the Democrats’ desired strategy. After all, according to purist conservatives, it’s the intention that counts, not the reality of the situation! Better to lose all than to at least attempt to make a gain if it is at the cost of “purity” – or so many conservatives reason if you can call it that – and I cannot! I was 39 years old when Ronald Reagan took office but apparently few remember the situation extant or the man’s own efforts to secure “his” party’s nomination or serve in the office he twice overwhelmingly won. Therefore, I believe it behooves me to bring both to the fore at least superficially. Let’s begin with his efforts to secure the nomination. After Vice President Spiro Agnew had been forced to resign on a charge that could have been laid to most of those serving in government at the time, President Richard Nixon, knowing what was to come, appointed Gerald Ford to that office to prevent a vacant presidency when he, too, was ultimately forced out of office. Thus, Ford became the nation’s first “appointed” President. As the election of 1976 approached, Ford assured his party and the American people that he would not seek the nomination as the sitting President given his unique situation. That “promise” lasted only until Ronald Reagan, former Republican governor of California, sought the nomination himself. Reagan was immensely popular with most conservatives. Furthermore, he had none of the baggage that would prove problematic after Nixon. Of course, the GOP understood that any hope of retaining the presidency required a candidate who could not be tarred with the Nixon brush of scandal and disgrace! Under those circumstances, Reagan should have been the perfect candidate to field – but it was soon apparent that such was not the case. When the convention was held for the purpose of choosing a nominee, it became obvious that the Party leadership did not want Reagan! As a result, Gerald Ford reneged on his promise and the battle between the two men for the nomination began. In the end, as a result of what has been claimed to be considerable chicanery, Ford prevailed. But Reagan’s supporters, believing that they had been cheated, made noises about deserting the party. To prevent this, Reagan asked to appear on the last night of the convention and gave a most gracious speech (as only he could) in which he pleaded with the faithful to support the Republican party and Ford for the greater good of the nation. At the end of the speech, one Ford supporter was heard to say, “I think we chose the wrong candidate!” In any event, the result of the Republican “leadership’s” rejection of Reagan was the election of Jimmy Carter – and all that followed in consequence. Four years later, Reagan prepared again to seek the nomination. This time, the Party elites knew that they had no chance to defeat him and although they did produce a host of other candidates, when Reagan prevailed, they grudgingly went along. They were, however, able to foist establishment figure George H. W. Bush – who had also run for the nomination – onto the ticket as Vice President. Now, few perhaps remember this country under Jimmy Carter! Interest and inflation rates were 21% and 18% respectively and there were long lines at the gas station and many other shortages! America had become a global joke while Carter allowed the military to deteriorate to the point at which there weren’t enough spare parts to fix our war planes! Meanwhile, the Soviet Union moved from strength to strength around the world! In the midst of this situation, Carter spoke of a “national malaise” blaming the people for his own failures. But then, out of the West, along came happy, strong, confident, optimistic Ronald Reagan, a man who believed Americans could do anything! Of course, he was elected in a landslide! He also came into office with a Republican Congress something that led the pundits to predict he would get all that he wanted as president! This should have been everything that the GOP wanted – but it was not. Why? Because Ronald Reagan was not the choice of his own party! (Sound familiar?) When Mr. Kemp speaks of Reagan’s immigration policy, he neglects to mention that the President’s most immediate concern was the rebuilding of the military that Carter had allowed to degenerate and so end the victorious march of the Soviet Union across the globe. To Reagan, nothing else was so important although he was able to lower the tax rates and resuscitate the economy, something for which he receives insufficient credit to my mind. Of course, many today openly wonder why Reagan didn’t do more! He was exceptionally popular; his party had the Congress and he was feared by the Soviets – so why were his triumphs not greater? Well, just as with Trump, Reagan’s own party despised him! The liberal “Rockefeller wing” of the GOP – today called RINOS – preferred Tip O’Neal to Ronald Reagan. Indeed, had it not been for the so-called “blue dog” Democrats (formerly the Dixiecrats) like Phil Graham of Texas, Reagan would have been pretty much stymied in Congress. In fact, it took an unsuccessful assassination attempt to force the Democrats to give to him everything that they did give to him! In the end, he had to sign such legislation as tax increases and flawed immigration bills – always with a promise from the Democrats that they would cut spending and not ask for anything else – to get what he needed to rebuild the military and stop the Soviets. Of course, the Democrats lied and did not do as they promised, but that wasn’t Reagan’s fault! He would have been blamed if the military remained weak and the Soviets strong while the Democrats – with the help of the GOP as Congress’s “loyal opposition” – would have gotten their pork and social programs anyway! Yet, today apparently, it was all Reagan’s fault! By the way, those who don’t believe that the GOP was anti-Reagan should look at the 1988 campaign of his former Vice President, George H. W. Bush. From the beginning Bush’s campaign was more anti-Reagan than anti-Democrat! It wasn’t until sinking poll numbers showed that Reagan remained popular with Americans that Bush toned it down and ran on instead of against Reagan’s record. Bush won, but only because he changed his tactics. However, when his administration proved to be a return to politics as usual, four years later he was replaced by the first of the openly questionable modern presidents, Bill Clinton. The treatment of Ronald Reagan by conservatives even while he was in the White House brought again to my attention a problem that I still have with those on “our side” of these issues. A month or so after Reagan was elected, I was perusing a conservative publication when I came upon an article written about the man. The well-meaning writer was calling for him to be tarred and feathered and literally ridden out of Washington on a rail! Why? Because Reagan hadn’t immediately overcome the years of big government policies he had inherited! For several minutes I thought I was reading a political parody, but no, the writer was quite serious! For unlike liberals, conservatives demand perfection from fellow conservatives. Liberals will “lie down” with anyone in pursuit of their cause. Muslims reach out to gays and feminists, Jews embrace blacks and so forth. Of course, once they prevail, each group will turn on the others to destroy them, but as long as the battle rages, they will remain close allies. Conservatives? Ah, not so much. Years ago, my mother had a small, framed motto that, to me, sums up the conservative mindset. Two Puritans were pictured in their quaint garb with long faces filled with disdain. Above them appeared the sentiment: “No one is perfect but me and thee – and I’m not so sure about thee!” That, alas, is the conservative movement in a nutshell! If a fellow conservative isn’t “pure,” he is a worse than Josef Stalin! And in order to avoid giving “aid and comfort” to such a traitor, conservatives will either go with the other side or simply leave the field. Anyone who has watched our movement succeed only to fail over the years understands this recurring scenario. And although they are not conservatives, per se, much the same actions with regard to “unacceptable allies” is seen in the present Republican Party. For as with Reagan, the “Republican Party” hated Donald Trump and cared not what he wanted to do – or even what he succeeded in doing! – preferring to lie down with the Pelosis and the Schumers and the rest of the Communist left! Of course, as with Reagan, they were more than happy to use him to raise funds for their own political aspirations that are, from what I have seen, little (if any) different than those of the Democrats! As well, Mr. Kemp blamed both Trump and Reagan for failing to “support whites.” To begin with, Trump even more than Reagan was already condemned and vilified by the media which today is far worse than in Reagan’s day – and that’s saying something! Both Presidents had to be very careful what they said and did to avoid being destroyed by those who lurked around them wishing nothing more than to bring about their destruction. For instance, Reagan did not believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. deserved a day of recognition. But he also knew that to object to such a “day” would hurt not King, but himself – and therefore he decided it was not “a hill to die on.” Yet conservatives did – and do – look upon his actions in this matter not as a judicious determination of what was important, but as bowing to leftist blacks! It was the same with Donald Trump! Trump has been called a Nazi and a white supremacist without ever openly supporting whites as Mr. Kemp gleefully points out! On the other hand, Trump, as did Reagan, supported decent and good Americans, their race notwithstanding and as a result, both men were supported by decent and good Americans of all races. I firmly believe that the defense of the white race, Western Civilization and Christianity – all of which I acknowledge are under violent attack – requires more than the open support of popular leaders like Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. It requires that today’s conservatives stop passing judgement onfellowconservatives, and put aside those differences that perennially exist within any group, standing together to fight for our survival! Anything else will assure that the race that brought man from the cave to the stars will suffer the fate of the dinosaur – extinction.
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Political Associations
Numapepi
 November 15 2024 at 03:54 pm
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Political Associations Posted on November 15, 2024 by john Dear Friends, It seems to me, political associations exist for the benefit of the associates, and for no other reason. If a political association then stops benefiting one or more of the associates, then it’s no longer legitimate. The illegitimacy is doubled when a political association actually harms an associate. In that case the political association must be disintegrated. Because it no longer serves the interests of the associates. If the conditions are such that it benefits the associates to reintegrate the association, then so be it, but under a different paradigm. A system that protects the interests of all the associates. The only way a political association can be maintained, that harms it’s associates… is by force. Which redefines an association, as a bad association, while those that benefit are good associations. A political association must be between equals. Any other association can’t be political it must be something else. Only equals can reach an agreement that benefits all associates. An association where one party has all the power, like Britain, is one where the parties are not equal, nor is the system fair, or just. Because the result will always benefit the strong at cost to the weak. Making it not so much an association as the epitome of Thrasymachus’ philosophy of injustice as justice. Any association however can be subverted by one or a few parties to their own benefit. At cost to the rest. In fact, I might argue, that is the normal evolution of political associations. They start fair, then the stronger party gains strength, and the weaker party becomes weaker, until the system becomes a sewer. A lopsided association is one that drains the wealth, rights and humanity from the weak, giving it to the strong. Clearly, a political association that benefits only one associate and harms the rest isn’t fair. It could be called just in the Thrasymachian sense though. Where justice exists only as a means to theft. Theft of rights, property and persons. A political association that abets theft isn’t one anyone on the losing end wants to be associated with. Moreover, a political association can’t be based on force, that’s a master slave relationship, not a free association of equals. Which allows us to identify a political association from a master slave contract. Are the parties equal, is the system fair, or does it benefit one party at cost to the rest? Moreover, is it enforced by force, or mutual consent? A political association can be a national government, an international agency, a faction, a fraternal organization, all the way down to a local D&D club. They exist to serve a need of the members. Such associations pop into and out of existence more often than do virtual particles in quantum physics. While most are ad hoc, many are long term, and degenerate to be enforced by violence. Often called the state’s monopoly on violence. In these associations the equality of the participants is mitigated by force. The greater the political inequality, and the greater the harm, the more illegitimate the association becomes. This paradigm usually evolves, until it becomes intolerable, and some of the associates violently dissolve the association. Because equals hate becoming slaves. Are all the political associations your in legitimate? The EU harms its associates. Italy has been banned from sending migrants to Albania, and then back home, should it be deemed safe. Instead, the absurd standard for foreign nations is, safety in every corner. While in Europe, no one’s safe anywhere. Is the PRC, North Korea or even the US a free association of equals? Can you leave your country and drop your citizenship? Do you have suffrage, or is there so much propaganda, election fraud and or intimidation, elections are for show? Are the laws equally administered? Does the association benefit or harm you? These are the fundamental questions we need to ask ourselves. If the answers aren’t to our liking, it’s up to us to change the paradigm… as equal associates in a political association. Sincerely, John Pepin
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Things Are Seldom What They Seem . . .
LadyVal
 November 16 2024 at 03:59 pm
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Entertainment frequently presents hidden truths if we are but alert enough to recognize them. In the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, Pinafore, there is a song sung by two of the protagonists entitled, Things Are Seldom What They Seem. In the song, one character is trying to tell the other that what he believes true is, in fact, wrong and that when he recognizes that fact, it will change his life – and not for the better! In the first verse, one can see the thrust of the attempt being made: Things are seldom what they seem; Skim milk masquerades as cream; Highlows* pass as patent leathers, Jackdaws** strut in peacock’s feathers. . . *“Highlows” were cheap ankle boots worn by Victorian women and definitely not made with expensive patent leather! **This reference is to Aesop’s fable The Vain Jackdaw in which a jackdaw – a bird with dull black plumage – decks himself out in the cast-off feathers of a peacock in hopes of raising his standing in the bird kingdom! As we can see from its use in the lyrics, the bird’s attempt to make “more” of itself through this subterfuge fails! In this (apparently) light verse, is revealed a very keen understanding of reality, an understanding that was true in the 1880s and even more so now in the new Millennium. So very much of what we believe real and true are but ugly lies many of which are devised for our undoing. Indeed, the problem today is finding any place, event or situation that is at least partially true! Almost everything is a lie and the bigger the lie the easier it is believed and the more grave the outcome of its acceptance for ordinary people. Of course, to most of us, it seems unbelievable that a relatively small cadre of elites are about to bring about the destruction of the white race, Western Civilization and Christianity not to mention the takeover of everything else on the globe – but the facts are there for all to see, always assuming that we care to see them! Alas, most don’t want to know and hence, many people went around talking about “COVID” as if it were another black plague so lethal it required that the whole damned world be shut down – never to reopen as ordinary people understood that concept! The first thing that got my attention during the “pandemic” was the way that suddenly, the whole world cooperated in that shut down! Such a unified response to any crisis is virtually unknown and speaks strongly of premeditation! If that wasn’t a “warning bell” to the general public, then nothing was! I certainly considered so and I am hardly a genius about such things. Furthermore, I didn’t like the fact that suddenly, everywhere, penny-ante politicians were speaking as did Zeus from Olympus complete with “mandates” they had no right to impose and, with all the needed armed might that made their imposition possible! Who would have thought that all of our civil liberties could – and would! – disappear as does ice in a furnace! As well, along with that reality, our governmental “safety valve” – the courts – became invisible at best and complicit at worst while our liberties were being illegally stripped from us in the name of public safety! Entire governmental structures in “free” countries like the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia became as totalitarian as the regimes in China, Cuba and the old Soviet Union! Worse, we quickly discovered that far too many of our “law enforcement” agencies took like ducks to water in carrying out these new authoritarian policies while ANTIFA and BLM thugs “hired” by New World Order elites were more than happy to destroy our cities and citizens as a means of enforcing the fear that now directed our culture! In other words, in a matter of months, the world we had known for generations was as gone as last winter’s snows and with apparently no recourse available to us as “free men” to get it back! Finally, very quickly we discovered that the usual hope on the part of the “free” people in the West – that is “the next election” that we believed would enable us to elect candidates that would “bring back normalcy” had been destroyed and where such candidates existed and were able (miraculously!) to obtain office, the entire structure of the Deep State was turned against such “unwelcome” office holders. So, rather than “fixing” anything, good candidates who were elected spent their time fighting off the illegal, indeed criminal acts of those who wanted them gone from their office! Anyone who doubts that need only ask the “almost” 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump whose term in office before being removed by fraud, deceit and force was a constant battle with the forces of the Deep State and our criminal politicians, judges and alphabet agencies! God knows what Mr. Trump might have been able to accomplish had he actually been allowed to be President instead of merely living in the White House! But, of course, that is exactly what the so-called Deep Stated didn’t want to happen and as a result, while the outward manifestations of the Trump presidency continued in such a way as to comfort Americans that “nothing really had (much) changed,” we soon learned that, as in pretty much everything today, “things are seldom what they seem.” Post Scriptum: Apparently, Divine Providence is giving us ordinary folks (a/k/a “deplorables”) another chance as Mr. Trump has been rather spectacularly re-elected after four years of, well, you know. Now, what that will mean as the Deep State is still with us – and all that that means! – I don’t know. But, of course, we can hope that this time, things will actually be as they seem!
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Calling Nostradamus
LadyVal
 November 17 2024 at 07:28 pm
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In 1898, English author Morgan Robertson wrote a novella centered on the social mores among the wealthy upper classes in Britain and America entitled Futility. The setting was a luxury ocean liner on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York and filled with the cream of English and American society. In the course of the story, the liner — considered “unsinkable” — on a calm April night hits an iceberg and (of course!) sinks! Fourteen years later, another “unsinkable” luxury liner — the White Star Line’s Titanic, filled with the cream of England and America’s wealthy and making her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on a calm April night also hit an iceberg and sank. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Robertson’s fiction and the reality that followed was the fact that Robertson’s ship was 800 feet long while the Titanic was 882 feet long and, both the Titanic and Robertson’s vessel had an inordinate amount of other similarities in size and accoutrements including an insufficient number of lifeboats available to rescue those aboard the doomed liner. But most astounding was the name Morgan Robertson chose for his ill-fated vessel: The Titan. In 1981, American novelist Dean Koontz wrote a paperback thriller entitled The Eyes of Darkness. On page 312, the author wrote: “In around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.” Koontz “virus” is the product of Chinese experiments in germ warfare and he goes on to write sometime later “They call the stuff ‘Wuhan-400’ because it was developed at their RDNA labs outside of the city of Wuhan, and it was the four-hundredth viable strain of man-made microorganisms created at that research center. ‘Wuhan-400’ is a perfect weapon.” Of course, the Coronavirus we recently dealt with is not Mr. Koontz’ weaponized creation but apparently is just another garden variety flu that appears annually, usually in the spring. Yet it is interesting to realize that there are authors out there who — without having any intention of being a modern Nostradamus have managed a rather good job of it. But the real question is this: why does any of this matter? And the answer is rather simple: it matters because what is fiction today can be fact tomorrow or, conversely, what is fiction today can be used as fact to stampede an ignorant and gullible public. We have seen this during the “Coronavirus” panic that almost crashed the stock market and resulted in a type of madness that hasn’t been seen in this country in a long, long time! Of course, the reason it happened now and not during the H1N1 (Swine) flu epidemic under Obama was that Donald Trump — an “outsider” — was in the White House and since the ongoing Deep State coup that started before the man was even elected failed to dislodge him, this “epidemic” seemed an opportunity not to be missed! And so we had the gullible, indeed rather stupid American public stampeded into obedience when their government at virtually every level ordered us to “obey!” “OBEY!! “OBEY!!!” — and sure enough, we did! Anybody who thinks that we are still a free country should wake up and feel the shackles.
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Transparency, Accountability and Consequences
Numapepi
 November 22 2024 at 05:00 pm
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Transparency, Accountability and Consequences Posted on November 22, 2024 by john Dear Friends, It seems to me, a novel concept of governance is, to increase transparency, accountability and consequences on people, depending on their ability to harm the nation, society and the culture. While at the same time lowering surveillance on people with low ability to harm. Which is the opposite of the way things are done today. The elite argue that they need total surveillance to protect us from each other. While they don’t need any oversight or limitation. Because they’re such great people. So the paradigm we live under is, the more power to harm, the less surveillance, accountability and consequences applied, while the smaller someone is, the greater the surveillance, accountability and consequences for actions. The jack boot that kicks the little guy… protects the big guy’s foot. “Above the law,” isn’t a saying, as much as a way of life for the elite. One could fill tomes with examples of the elite getting away with things that little people are spending decades in prison for. How many people are in prison for cocaine? Even as it’s freely passed around the Biden White house. When Hillary was let off Scot free for an illegal email server, with top secret information on it, that she destroyed, a measly sailor went to prison, for emailing a picture to his girlfriend of himself, onboard a nuclear submarine. He may still be in prison. Who could forget the tsunami of lies from the mouths of bureaucrats, even as those same functionaries demanded General Flynn, Roger Stone and Scooter Libby go to prison for a decade on a perjury frame? Then there’s the Epstein cover up. Being above the law is abetted by working in the dark. The lack of transparency is claimed due to “national security,” to protect the elite that are undermining our security, is a handy tool. Allowing anyone to see what their government is doing, on their behalf, is a clear danger to national security. Since the security of the elite depends on us not knowing the crimes they’re up to. The freedom of information act was a needed reform, but the default should be transparency. Rather than requiring reams of paperwork to get access to what the government is doing. Moreover, many governments don’t even have a freedom of information law. Keeping the workings of those governments black boxes. The only thing that grows in darkness, is corruption… and we have a bumper crop of that. Transparency needs to be the default. If we’re paying for government in taxes, inflation and lost opportunity due to regulation, then we’re entitled to know what’s going on. Everything government does has to be transparent, else it’s underhanded. Because people are people. If a bank teller, on dozens of cameras and computers monitoring their drawers, can’t be trusted… how much less people who work in the dark, and are above the law when caught? When a congressperson is getting a kickback from a corporation we should know about it. If a representative is using inside information, to make insider trades, that’s proof we need transparency… to eliminate inside information. Moreover, the quality of laws and regulations would improve, if those making them were accountable for the results. The solution is transparency, accountability and consequences. If everything government does is transparent, there will be no insider information to trade on. Nor will there be back room deals for cronies. People used to working in the dark will recoil at the light. It’ll blind their eyes, burn their skin, and sere their mouths. Add accountability to that torture and the elite will scream, “unfair!” Add to that, holding them to their own laws, will make any elite consider getting a real job. Until they realize real jobs have inescapable accountability, transparency and consequences. So, despite the elite calling us ruthless, vindictive and haters, for holding them to their own laws, we have to do it. Not only for our own good, the good of our loved ones, and our nations, but for the elite’s own eternal good as well. Sincerely, John Pepin
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How A Lame Duck President Brought Us To The...
David Reavill
 November 23 2024 at 12:58 pm
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Generally, the period between a Presidential Election and the Inauguration is a quiet time. It is a time when offices are packed up, the transition to a new Administration begins, and old friends are bid farewell. However, we would be mistaken if we thought that would be true with the nation's 46th President, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. The most consequential decision of his entire term happened last week. At first blush, it seemed like little more than an announcement of the latest weapons system to be sent to Ukraine. In fact, the Biden Administration has downplayed the announcement that the President would send ATACMS Missiles to Kyiv. ATACMS is a medium-range missile that can be used to strike into the heart of Russia. It's a weapon that President Volodymyr Zelensky has been requesting for weeks. Zelensky claims that these missiles will help "even the playing field" between Ukrainian and Russian forces. That President Biden finally relented and sent these sophisticated missile systems to Ukraine isn't really news. Biden has reluctantly sent the latest and most advanced armaments to Ukraine for months. From our most advanced battle tank, the M1A1 Abram Tank, to the 300 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the 3,000 Humvee, 3 million NATO Standard 155mm artillery shells, the Patriot Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems (exact number classified), and most recently the F16 Fighter Jets (exact number classified). The United States has sent so many weapons, munitions, and equipment to Ukraine that our own stores have been depleted. But this time was different, and to understand just what made the difference, we must return to last summer. These were heady times in Ukraine. A massive counter-offensive was underway, which saw the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) recapture 14 villages and an estimated 300 square kilometers. It would prove to be the high point for Ukraine. Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country was modifying its Nuclear Doctrine, the circumstances under which Russia would use Nuclear Weapons. Although this was a significant change by the world's number one nuclear country, it drew almost no attention in the West. Most of the American Press saw this as little more than a minor Russian adjustment. Little did they know that this minor "adjustment" could lead to a direct confrontation between the World's Two Nuclear superpowers. By Autumn, the Ukraine Counter-Offensive was fading, and the Russians were again assuming the dominant position on the battlefield. At about the same time, the new Russian Nuclear Doctrine was completed. Under this new Doctrine, Russia announced that it would consider any attack on its homeland by a nuclear power or an ally of nuclear power to justify a nuclear response by Russia. It seemed aimed directly at the United States (a nuclear power) and its ally, Ukraine. Should Ukraine attack the Russian heartland, Russia's new Doctrine would call for a counter-attack against the US. Curiously, President Putin sat on this new Document, choosing not to sign it. It was as if he were placing it on his desk, hoping against hope that he would never have to institute such a devastating Document. That's when the aging American President, Joe Biden, inexplicably decided to act. As if to call Putin's bluff, Biden elected to allow ATACM Missiles to be launched directly into Russia. Biden chose to confront the world's largest nuclear arsenal directly. And this time, there could be no confusion between nuclear power and allies because the missiles themselves, the technicians used to launch them, and all the guidance provided was all American. Although the launch space was in Ukraine, all the rest was "made in the U.S.A."Within a day, Putin reacted by signing the new Russian Nuclear Doctrine. Now, there would be no doubt that any continued attack upon Russian soil could be met with a nuclear response, not just to Ukraine but also to the United States. Last week, six ATACMS were used in the first attack on Russia. Reports are that the US has supplied 44 ATACMS to the UAF. Although the battle plans for the Ukrainians are not known, it is likely that these, too, will be aimed at the Russian homeland. In little more than eight weeks, Joe Biden's career in Washington will end. For over half a century, the voters in Delaware have elected him first to County Council, then to US Senator, Vice President, and recently President. As Senator and Vice President, Biden built a reputation as a proponent of diplomacy and negotiation, both of which have been missing throughout the Ukraine War. This latest strategy of using ATACMS against Russia brings into question his reputation as a diplomat. Was he a man of peace or conflict? Will Joe Biden's legacy be to add one more endless war to America's history?

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