Category: Government

Daily Life, Government, woke

Now What?

Susan looked down at the desk. Three different color highlight markers were lined up precisely on the right hand corner. The book was centered on the desk, propped up at a slight angle. She had a notebook just to the side for jotting down important things to reference later. Susan loved studying in the library. The quiet. The purposefulness of being there. Her roommates were too loud and not always the most studious, so the library was her refuge. In truth, she’d always been a good student and spent more time in the library than with friends or playing sports. She didn’t mind. This was where she was comfortable.

Feeling the light haptic buzz on the wrist from her smartwatch, she glanced down at it. She saw the partial title from the new email and breathed in a quick involuntary gasp. “From: Columbia School….” This was it. She’d been waiting for this moment ever since pushing the application submit button yesterday. Well, truthfully ever since starting high school she’d wanted to be a journalist. She worked with singleminded focus ever since. Joining a few carefully selected clubs. Writing for the school paper. An internship at a human rights organization. She been very careful with social media from the beginning. Always adding a like to the important social issues of the moment. Making sure to have the correct flags and symbols in her profile at all times. She prided herself in properly honoring peoples pronouns when emailing them. While she didn’t have many friends, she did have several acquaintances who were people of color. She’d made sure her photos with them were prominent on her social media feed.

Susan pulled out her phone to read the message. Her hands trembled as she opened up the email. “Thank you for your interest in The Columbia School of Journalism. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a spot in the next cohort. Our Admissions Team found several things in your record that did not meet Columbia’s high standards of admission…”

She felt the hot tears starting to fall down her cheeks. How could this be? She’d done everything right. She’d sacrificed. She had straight A’s. She’d stayed off social media other than the carefully curated time she planned out so she’d have the exact right online presence. Only to have her fate decided by an AI engine in less than a day. An AI engine that took her name and national ID number, which is all the “application” consisted of, and instantly scanned her entire on-line history. An algorithm designed to evaluate if she fit the current DEI profile Columbia needed in order to maintain their federal journalism license.

The wave of despair she felt was paralyzing. Now what? She hadn’t applied anywhere else. It wouldn’t matter at this point. A rejection is now in the system and no other school was going to take her with that on her record. The reality of a lifetime of blue collar work began to set in. She struggled to catch her breath.

Matt’s finger hovered over the submit button. Was this going to work? His parents had been smart, purchasing a second ID as soon as he’d been born. His entire life, he used that ID to surf the internet, log into online games, and shit post on X and various counter culture forums. His real ID had been cultivated like a rare flower. Even though it was illegal to use one of the dark web ID coaches, his parents thought it was worth the risk. Everything his real ID did online was carefully calculated for maximum effect. His online self was a perfect being.

Like Susan, Matt didn’t apply anywhere else. A few years ago he’d briefly thought about simply applying to one of the merit based schools, but those were mostly in the midwest flyover part of the country. Graduating with a bunch of deplorables only to be some sort of materials engineer wasn’t going to make his parents happy. It had been important to them from the moment he was born that he be a lawyer and part of the East Coast establishment. That was only real path to power and money.

The second ID had been a risk for sure. The AI engines were smart and able to collate and cross-reference millions of online interactions he or his parents had and look for irregularities. Even with spoofed IP addresses, was there a chance the fake ID could be somehow linked to him? Matt hoped not. His parents had paid a lot of money over the years to the ID coaches to ensure his real persona was squeaky clean.

Like Susan, he didn’t have a backup plan if he didn’t get accepted. The thought of having no other options other than being a blue collar drone or autonomous vehicle operator was not something he wanted to think about.

His finger hovered over the submit button a little longer before he pushed it.

Daily Life, Government, Solving the wrong problem

The Future Is Information Mining

Way back in the horse and buggy days when I went to school, the focus was still on the three “R’s”. Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. The learning methodology was still based upon the Prussian public school system. Be quiet and obedient. Listen to the lesson. Do the homework. Rote memorization. Take a test to prove you’ve memorized the material. I don’t think we’ve evolved much beyond that. Oh sure there’s been technological advances and challenges, but that’s nothing new. I’m old enough to remember when the pocket calculator became affordable. Teachers were petrified that students would “cheat” by using a calculator. We were admonished to not use one at home because you won’t really learn and you won’t get to use one for the test.

Smart phones and the internet brought new challenges for teachers. The answers to everything are a click away. How do you keep kids from cheating? A number of years ago I went back to school and had a number of online classes. The teachers solution to test taking in that environment was to have timed tests. You were given just enough time to answer all the questions, assuming you understood the material. If you tried to look things up you’d run out of time.

And now we have AI, smart watches, and the new Apple Vision Pro spatial computer. The challenge for teachers today to ensure the student is learning and not cheating is almost insurmountable. The question is, should they even bother any more? Is rote memorization still the appropriate way to teach and learn?

With the entirety of human knowledge a click away, why do I need to memorize the times tables or what the names of the generals in the civil war were? I can get an AI-generated summary of any subject or question I might have, instantly. I can find a video to teach anything I might want to know for free. There’s entire catalogs of free courses on just about anything. I learned more from the online Khan Academy videos teaching chemistry than the college professor I paid $$$ to sit in front of for months. What role does school play now that all knowledge is instantly available to everyone?

I’d argue that the future is not learning information – it’s learning how to find information. And perhaps more importantly, how to evaluate and present information. As we saw with Google’s disastrous Gemini image generation roll-out, machine learning is still influenced by humans with bias. Teaching kids to evaluate and think about what they see is probably the most valuable skill we could give them. And we’re failing miserably at it.

If you weren’t already aware, the CIA and NSA have been conducting massive disinformation campaigns here in the US, as well as across the world. The monitor every word written in social media and build machine learning heat maps of trending topics and words. They work with the big social media companies to suppress topics they don’t want to give voice to. They then plant stories with news agencies and bot farms to trend more favorable topics.

The vast majority of the public is not terribly tech savvy and we seem to have lost the ability to think critically. We simply consume whatever information is in front of us and take it as the gospel truth. We mindlessly scroll through our social media, taking our “knowledge” in one or two sentence chunks. Our TV news consists of 30 second “hits” crafted to fit the bias of whatever your cable news channel of choice is. I don’t think most people really understand how curated the information they consume has become. The days of watching Walter Cronkite tell us what happened in the world today are long gone.

Perhaps scarier is our loss of attention span. There’s a reason Facebook/Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts are the most popular formats out there. It’s like crack. 10-20 second videos designed to keep you scrolling like a zombie. How many of you know that that Facebook/Instagram tracks exactly how long you spend looking at a post? They know how fast or slow you’re scrolling through the feed and serve up the content that you linger the longest over. The algorithm is constantly learning how best to keep feeding you content that keeps you scrolling.

The things you like, the products you buy, and the political views you have are all now driven by machine learning artificial intelligence. The older generation, the byproducts of traditional learning, are simply not equipped to evaluate the information they consume in a critical way. If we’re to survive the AI revolution, we need a new generation of kids who are taught how to navigate information warfare. Young adults who know how to find information, think critically, and navigate the brave new world without becoming digital slaves.

Right now our tech overlords are winning. Our school system is hopelessly outdated and is being kept that way on purpose. A new generation of kids with 15 second attention spans, incapable of human conversation and lacking any curiosity or sense of adventure are the future. They have no sense of history and assume whatever MSNBC tells them is true. DEI ensures that mediocrity is the norm. The CIA/NSA/Facebook/Google/Media cabal are shaping them into whatever they want. They are being turned into obedient little soldiers who will become the future leaders of the country. It’s pretty bleak if you think about it.

I’m not sure what the answer is. We need more Elon Musks in the world. Twitter/X is one of the last bastions of free speech and we need to ensure it survives. We need someone to create a school system/curriculum that teaches kids how to think, not what to think. A system that teaches them how to mine for information and fight back against the establishment.

Rather than the old Prussian system, perhaps we’ll call it… The Contrarian School. A nationwide group of homeschools, networked and sharing a common set of values towards learning. I can already see the conversation. Two moms at a playground. One mom asks the other, “So which school does your child go to?” The other mom replies, “Well, we’re Contrarians so we homeschool.” The first mom gathers up her kids and tells them to stay away from the Contrarian kids. They’re dangerous.

Hmmm. That has the makings of a novel. If only people still read books. Sigh.

Government, Politics

I’ll Take Chaos For $200, Alex

I don’t know what the next couple of years will look like exactly, but I am sure of one thing. It’s going to be a bit… spicy. When the Deep State and DNC managed to secure the win during the last presidential election I was disappointed. Yes, I voted for the bad orange man over the dementia patient in the basement. What’s funny is that although I preferred team elephant, I honestly didn’t think it would make that much difference. It’s a uni-party after all. I figured a bit more spending on climate change, maybe a tax hike here and there. Bad, but not the end of the world. Never in a million years would I have thought things would go downhill so fast. We’re now a bit more than half a year away from the next election purchasing event and it feels like this one is going to be a doozy.

We are going to see some serious chaos no matter what the outcome is. At the moment the bad orange man looks to be the RNC nominee. That’s not a guarantee however – he has some serious fundraising and legal issues to overcome between now and then. If he’s taken out by some Trumped up charge (see what I did there?), expect the MAGA crowd to lose their mind. Nothing healthy for the country will come out of that.

Over on team donkey, the basement dwelling dementia patient now has full blow Alzheimer’s. It’s weekend at Bernies every day. I’m sure team Obama thought they’d be able to keep him propped up for another four years, but that looks unlikely now. So now the DNC needs to figure out how to replace him and not piss off the woke progressive crowd when they bypass Kamala. That ain’t gunna be pretty.

On November 6th, when the dust settles and the lawyers and consultants have all been paid off, we’ll see who was able to purchase the most votes. Regardless of who wins, 2025 is going to be challenging. If Trump wins, whoooo boy hold on to your hat. Trump was a walking, talking chaos factory his first term. The left hates him with the power of a thousand suns. Lest you not forget, there were riots in the streets when he won the first time. Women in pussy hats marched and Madonna talked about blowing up the White House. How do you think it’s going to go this time? You think the left was apoplectic when Trump asked why more people from “shithole countries” should be allowed into the U.S… just wait until he starts talking about mass deportations.

And if the left wins, MAGA going to be big time mad. I’m not sure they’ll take it very well this time ’round. The DNC will control the House, Senate, and the executive office. With slick Gavin Newsom as president (or better yet, Michelle), you’re going to see team Obama’s strategy for destroying America on steroids. I predict job one will be to pull a Jeffery Epstein on Elon and X in the name of preserving our democracy. The Bureau of Misinformation will be out in full force, ready to shut down the bank accounts of any of you silly rednecks who post unflattering comments about the regime.

And if all that wasn’t adventure enough, the experts and adults in the room have managed to foster a level of global instability that’s downright frightening. The odds of a world wide shooting war seem to go up daily. For reasons known only to the Military Industrial Complex, we seem hellbent on provoking a nuclear exchange with Russia. China is sitting by, licking its chops as it waits to see what stupidity we can demonstrate. Meanwhile, the Middle East is poised for even more instability (if that’s even possible). Fun times!

I’m not sure we’re in a position to step back from all this even if we wanted to. I’m not sure a presidential candidate exists that could mollify both the left and the right, while simultaneously being able to fight back against the Deep State and the war mongers. We find ourselves in a pickle. A sticky wicket. A circular firing squad of our own making.

It feels like the crisis portion of the Fourth Turning is going to come to a head next year one way or another.

So what to do about it? I’m inclined to say nothing. Get some popcorn, sit back, and wait for the fireworks. At this point the mechanisms are in motion and the train has left the station. Shit is going down one way or another. The Deep State. The Military Industrial Complex. The Enterprise. Whatever you want to call it, they’re in the drivers seat. You and I are just along for the ride.

Personally, I’d like to see President Orange Man along with VP Vivek doing some serious battle against the forces of evil. Trump is kinda of hilarious and if we’re going to witness Ragnarök, we might as well have some humor.

Only one thing is guaranteed… it’s going to get spicy.

Government, Motivation

A Look Back At How It Started

Just like the ‘shot heard around the world’ that ostensibly kicked off the revolutionary war on a bridge just outside of Concord, nobody is sure who fired the first shot. Some say it was a Texas National Guard MP. There’s even speculation that it came from across the border. Regardless, the dozen Border Patrol agents and four US marshals quickly returned fire. Six national guard solders were killed and several more wounded. The dead and wounded soldiers were all unarmed – members of an engineering group installing fencing, who attempted to stop the Border Patrol group from entering their staging area.

The Major overseeing the local deployment of the Texas Tactical Border Force assumed from the panicked radio chatter that a large armed force was attacking his troopers. He quickly surged all available MP’s and Texas state troopers to the area. Word passed down that the soldiers killed were unarmed, fueling revenge and anger.

When the first humvees rolled into the staging area and saw the carnage… the Border Patrol agents and Marshals milling about never stood a chance. They made the fatal mistake of pointing service weapons at the rage filled incoming troops. All Border Patrol agents and Marshals were killed almost immediately.

Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20. Most pundits claim that the decision by Texas governor Abbot to secure the scene and declare Texas jurisdiction was the gasoline that sparked the fire. Abbot sealed off a roughly ten mile area and refused to allow any federal officials into the vicinity. By not allowing federal officials to participate in the incident investigation, he sparked a flurry of state sovereignty vs federal power discussions throughout DHS and the White House. Both sides immediately appealed to the Supreme Court.

Chief of the Border Patrol, Jason Owens, was furious. After fuming for days at not being allowed access to the crime scene and his dead agents, he made a fateful decision. He directed several BORTAC teams to infiltrate and secure the staging area that had been initial point of battle. He authorized use of deadly force to reclaim what felt was a federal government controlled area of operation.

BORTAC teams are elite, SWAT-like units, that rival military special forces in their selection process, training, and skills. The BORTAC teams infiltrated under cover of darkness. Unfortunately no amount of skill or training can overcome overwhelming numbers without air support. Texas national guard, state troopers, even Texas Rangers, all took part in the multi-day battle that ensued.

The BORTAC teams were cut off by hundreds of soldiers, unable to retreat. They fought valiantly, but were no match for the rage-fueled Guard units. Memories of Sam Houston and ‘Remember the Alamo’ revenge are still a very real thing in Texas. In all, 48 BORTAC agents were killed, along with 7 Guard soldiers, and 2 state troopers.

So that’s how we got to this sorry state of affairs. Texas has seceded. The fifteen Texas military bases continue to be a mess of Federal and State battle for control. New Mexico is vowing to stay neutral. With the cartels now locked out of Texas, they began surging drug and human trafficking to Arizona. In response Arizona was forced to take control of their border, pushing out Federal units, similar to Texas. The Western Forces states are now beginning to coalesce around the idea that they will be eventually attacked by the remaining loyalist states.

History will tell if this new President can pull the nation back together. Will he be a Lincoln, or something else? Ultimately, the wise Benjamin Franklin’s words have come back to haunt us.

His response after the September 17th, 1787 constitutional convention, in reply to Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

“A republic, if you can keep it.”

Government

Are You Paying Attention?

I hate to say I told you so… but I did warn you. Let’s see, what’s that old saying? “It’s not a Conspiracy Theory if it comes true”. I’ve been babbling about social credit scores and government domestic spying for quite some time. Here’s yet another example of where we’re headed. It came out yesterday that the FBI has been encouraging banks and credit card companies to flag transactions with terms like MAGA or Trump. You also got flagged if you shopped at sporting goods stores or purchased religious materials. Uhm, yeah. This is not ok.

Germany had the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers, or the SS as its intelligence service to spy on its citizens. East Germany in the Cold War had the Stasi. Russia had the KGB. And thanks to the Patriot Act, we now have the FBI.

In the name of security and terrorism, the FBI is now a full fledged state security agency tasked with spying on the citizens. Are you ok with that? I’m not. I don’t think the agency can be saved at this point. It needs to be disbanded. But that won’t happen and we all know it. So what do we do?

I’m not sure what can be done. A rogue agency like that exists because we no longer have a press interested in asking questions. There are a handful of members of congress that will attempt to hold a hearing here and there, but nothing will come of it. If it wasn’t for Elon Musk and twitter, you’d never even hear of the FBI’s misdeeds. How do you hold an agency accountable when the watchdogs either don’t care or actively support their actions?

When the FBI is flagging transactions because you fit the profile of an evil white nationalist on the basis that you support Trump and shop at Cabelas… it’s over. We’re rapidly sliding into Orwell’s 1984 territory. When you’re guilty of wrongspeak, you’re going to have trouble finding a job, getting credit, or renting a car or hotel room. Is it really all that crazy to think that’s where we’re rapidly headed?

The DOJ has an entire web page dedicated to their pursuit of J6 evil doers. They’ve arrested 1,265 people so far and the FBI continues to show up at peoples houses daily. Grandmas and people wandering around taking selfies. Antifa burned cities across the country for an entire summer… where’s their DOJ dedicated page and mass arrests? Crickets.

The people don’t have the power to resist or complain. Say or do something and your life will be ruined. You’ll spend your life savings in lawyer fees trying to defend yourself. This is not who we were supposed to be as a country. The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves.

The scariest part is that the only hope we have rests on one person. The President of the United States is the only one with the power to effect actual change. The odds of our electing someone with the courage to do something is very low. I’d go so far as to say impossible. The deep state will ensure someone with that level of commitment to do the right thing never gets close to the office.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the only candidate who at least voiced the right answers and seemed to have an actual plan to make changes. I guess all we can do at this point is hope he can whisper in Trumps ear enough to convince him to do something. That is assuming he can win, which is far from a guarantee at this point.

But even if he does win, Trump has already said he wants to build the FBI a magnificent, shiny, new building in D.C. (with his son-in-law Jared already bidding for the construction contract). Trump kept Comey and then gave us Wray, so I don’t have high hopes for a complete shift in thinking.

Parents, it’s time to educate your kids on how to stay safe and away from the watchful eye of the state security service. Just like in East Germany with the Stasi, be careful of what you say and who you talk to. Don’t post anything controversial. Be wary of that new friend who encourages you to go to a rally or join a protest group. Go along to get along. Like only pictures of puppy dogs and recipes on Facebook.

It’s the new normal.

“Surveillance breeds conformity”
– Glenn Greenwald

Government, Politics, Solving the wrong problem

Is It Omertà Or Something Else?

I know, I know, it’s a broken record. Millions of people a year streaming across our border. Tens of thousands a day. Politicians, governors, and mayors all shouting at each other and pointing fingers. Meanwhile, nothing changes. Texas finally got mad, put the national guard at a popular crossing spot and have prevented the border patrol from entering. Naturally the Biden admin and DHS have issued a cease and desist order and are threatening to take it to the DOJ. Among all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the issue, what’s the one thing you never hear? Any criticism of Mexico.

Doesn’t that seem odd? An actual national emergency and crisis at the border and nobody seems to be mad or critical of the country where the problem originates. If Canada suddenly decided to start driving across the border to dump raw sewage and nuclear waste in our northern forests, I’m pretty sure someone would say something. I’d go so far as to say that we’d probably start threatening trade status if they didn’t knock it off. But a humanitarian and national security crisis on the southern border… crickets.

I get it – Mexico isn’t actually capable of stopping the influx. The government is too corrupt and the cartels are too powerful. But at least they could pretend they’re doing something. Put some troops on the borders. Throw out a few rows of razor wire. Place some warning signs. Something. Anything.

But they don’t even try. And we say nothing. Why is that? Why won’t a single politician, left or right, call out and/or threaten Mexico? The only politician I can think of to say something was Trump while campaigning. You remember – “I’m going to build that big, beautiful, wall and make Mexico pay for it”. The president of Mexico just laughed and said no. And Trump and congress did… nothing.

Well, that’s not true. Trump threatened sanctions against Mexican imports. He then suspended his threats and signed the new USMCA trade deal. Boy, we really showed them didn’t we?

What exactly is the hold Mexico has over us? Why are we afraid to say or do anything to the country that’s invading us by proxy? I don’t get it.

It’s almost like all the players in this drama know the real reasons behind this game, but won’t say.

Omerta.

Government, Politics

Does Iowa Even Matter?

I’m happy I don’t live in Iowa right now. I can’t imagine having 24×7 campaign crap going on for months. Non-stop door knockers, rallies, photo ops, and every commercial a political ad. No thanks. And the funny thing is… in the last twenty years, whomever Iowa chose as their candidate in the primary did not go on to become the actual GOP nominee. They chose Ted Cruz in ’16. Rick Santorum in ’12 and Mike Huckabee in ’08. Even the polling has been wrong. All polls indicated Trump would win the caucus nomination in ’16. So if Iowa is wrong every single time, why is such a big deal made of it?

I also live in a state that, for different reasons, does not matter in presidential elections. I suppose fortunately we barely exist politically, so we see a tiny fraction of the campaigning other states experience. We are a red state and will remain solidly so – at least for a while longer. The tide is turning and I can see us turning purple in the next ten years or so. Trump never bothered to visit in ’16 (actually I don’t think he’s ever been here). Ted Cruz visited and had a resounding primary win over Trump. Clearly it didn’t matter in the end.

So Iowa is wrong every time and the polling about Iowa is wrong every time. Meanwhile the press, as usual, has vehemently declared the ascendency and demise of every candidate in the running at some point. It’s all pretty silly.

Politics are in a weird place right now. Nothing seems normal.

Trump is the apparent favorite for the nomination, yet he doesn’t debate, answer questions, or interact with voters. He only holds mega rallies for fawning fans and spews one-liners for applause.

DeSantis was the favorite and then dropped off the press radar despite knocking on more doors and holding more events than any other candidate. Did he really fizzle with the population, or did only the press declare him dead?

Haley is the new media darling. She’s clearly the deep state choice. There’s even a big push for democrats to switch and vote for her in an apparent attempt to block Trump. She’s definitely Jeb! in high heels.

Vivek is hands down the most interesting candidate. The smartest, most articulate, and the only one with actual plans rather than campaign slogans. He also has zero chance. He is so dangerous to the establishment, there is no possibility they’d let him get anywhere near the nomination. They’d Bobby Kennedy him long before he got near the win.

And Biden… I don’t even know what to say about him. He campaigned in ’20 on Zoom from his basement. At this point they’re simply trying to keep him from falling off stairs or getting lost. I’m honestly shocked he’s still running. I was sure they’d have him drop out by now.

So conventional wisdom and polling says that Trump will be the eventual GOP nominee. Will that hold up? I think it’s a coin toss at this point. Reading the tea leaves, what the Enterprise/deep state is trying to engineer is a Haley v Biden or Newsom match up. They win no matter what in that scenario.

Anyhoo, Iowa will be the talk of the town – for about 72 more hours, before once again sliding into obscurity. Last day before ’24 voting officially starts… cards on the table, what’s your prediction as to how this all plays out on November 5th?

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Government

Would You Say Something?

You see the images on TV every day. Border Patrol agents waving illegal immigrants through holes in the border fence, directing them to massive processing areas. Cutting razor wire put there by Texas state troopers and National Guard. Basically being as helpful as possible to the massive flood of immigrants coming across the border every day, day in and day out. This seems to fly in the face of their stated mission statement. From the Border Patrol web site: “…its primary mission remains unchanged: to detect and prevent the illegal entry of individuals into the United States“.

The behavior of the Border Patrol that I see with my own eyes clearly contradicts the mission statement. So what gives?

Now I get it, the Border Patrol doesn’t set policy. The agents are acting on the orders passed down from their superiors, which was passed down from the Secretary of Homeland Security, who gets his orders from the White House. So those poor schmucks on the front line are left simply enforcing whatever edict they were given. It’s not their fault. Or is it?

Because I’m a dork, I went and found the Border Patrol’s ’22-’26 Strategy document. My first thought is that it’s the most useless corporate propaganda I’ve read in a while. A waste of (virtual) trees. My second observation is that in the entire 26 page document (with dramatic pictures!), there is one, ONE, sentence related to the 10,000+ immigrants streaming across the border a day. (2021 migrant encounters hit a record at the time, so yes it was an issue when the doc was put together)

So the current administration, the decision makers, and senior management intentionally decide to ignore the actual purpose and mission of the Border Patrol. Here’s the thing though… every single one of those agents swore an oath to US constitution. Who’s standing up and saying, wait a minute this isn’t right? There wasn’t a single agent who previewed this document and pushed back on the total lack of focus on the actual crisis right in front of them? Obviously a bunch of sycophant agents all clapping like seals to please the chief.

I get it. You have a mortgage. A family. A baby on the way. A new truck payment. You’ve got your eye on that new boat. While you may not entirely agree with management, those decisions are above your pay grade.

I’m just doing my job.

And that, my friends, is how we got officials filling in skate parks with sand and arresting solo surfers on the beach. It’s Covid man, I’m just following orders. It’s how we have FBI agents conducting SWAT raids on J6 grandmothers. It’s how we got Ruby Ridge. It’s how we have police officers standing by and letting protestors take over highways. It’s how the holocaust happened. People just doing their job.

I have lost all respect for the agents of the Border Patrol. While the border is literally collapsing in front of them and they’ve turned into nothing more than a concierge and transportation agency for the customs and immigration service… there isn’t a single agent who’s willing to stand up and say this isn’t right?

To effect change, it’s going to take a revolt from the Border Patrol rank and file. Masses of them speaking out to the press. Ignoring orders and helping Texas officers put in more razor wire. Going to Washington and speaking out against their management and the decisions being made.

Think that will ever happen?

The answer is no. You gotta go along to get along. Would you risk your career to say something? Almost nobody would. It’s human nature. The rare individual who does say something will be ostracized immediately and working for Walmart by the end of the year. So the status quo remains.

Food for thought when society begins to break down. When President Newsom decides to implement some draconian rule in the name of safety and security, don’t expect those first line responders to push back. Do you really think law enforcement will be the good guys standing up for the rights of citizens? When the police and FBI arrive at your door because you’ve been posting subversive messaging and disinformation… it’s not those officers fault.

They were just doing their job.

Government, Motivation, woke

Who Controls the Narrative?

With every passing day I’m more in awe of how prescient George Orwell was with his novel 1984. It’s even more impressive when you realize it was first published in 1949. One could go on and on with analysis of how accurate it is today, but there’s one concept from the book that seems strikingly true now:

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

The current progressive, woke culture mob is doing everything possible to erase the past. Removing statues. Remaking films with appropriate ratios of all persons of color and identity. Changing past temperature history to match the global warming narrative. Everywhere you look past culture is being erased. This is on purpose. Kids growing up today will have zero sense of our history. The very fabric of what made this country great has been vilified. The youth of today will arrive at adulthood believing that everything about this nation was profoundly immoral and wicked, and a new set of values must be set forth.

The great reset is succeeding. Why? It’s not because it’s a great battle of ideas happened and the right one won. No, it’s because of violence. The quote that captures it best is:

“He who controls the violence, controls the narrative”

I wish I remember where I got that quote from, because it’s so true. The BLM/Antifa riots of 2020 had members of congress, the FBI, and police on their literal knees in solidarity. People were falling all over themselves to post their support of BLM on social media in fear that someone might mistakenly think they supported evil white men. Law enforcement did virtually nothing to stop the violence for fear it might provoke more destruction.

During the Trump years, the left happily got in the faces of innocent people at restaurants and chanted Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump slogans. Progressive members of congress encouraged people to get in the face of Trump supporters and tell them they weren’t welcome. Congress launched a nonstop barrage of investigations, accusations, and impeachment hearings the moment Trump was elected. There were riots in the street after the inauguration, with half of Hollywood threatening to leave the country. The left doesn’t hesitate to employ violent or disruptive tactics to drive their agenda.

Today the favorite tactic seems to be “swatting”. Call the police and say you’re at the address of a conservative person and claim some sort of shooting or assault. Naturally the police descend upon the address with guns drawn, not knowing that it’s a hoax. The hope, obviously, is that with emotions running high someone gets shot or at least arrested.

The other fun tactic today is the “protest” that shuts down streets and highways. Whether it’s about climate change, BLM, or pro Palestinian/Hamas – the goal is to disrupt normal people as much as possible. If they can provoke an outburst from a frustrated driver or the police, even better. It’ll be on camera and posted all over social media in a nanosecond. Police stand by, paralyzed with fear of lawsuits and negative social media.

What do all these actives have in common? Violence. City councils and police departments are loath to stand up to calls to remove a statue because they know it will start protests which costs money in police services and damage cleanup. It’s easier to just remove the statue than fight it. You better not dare to question the trans activist activities because you’ll instantly be labeled all sorts of racist, intolerant names. Your business and social media will be targeted. You’ll be arrested and removed from school board meetings. It’s much easier to go along to get along.

This has been true from the beginning of time. If you control the violence you get to dictate what the narrative is.

Good luck disparaging the past regimes of the Mongols, Vikings, the Catholic Church, Russia, North Korea, etc… Go against the status quo of those rulers and you’ll be disappeared, or historically, your head would simply be put on a pike.

What’s interesting today is the mob is the one controlling the violence. Government is afraid of the mob. The progressive horde is slowing taking over government. Orwells 1984 becomes more of a reality every day. He saw it coming. Maybe it’s just the natural progression of a society run by benevolent rulers?

What was once an unruly mob, is slowly becoming the status quo. The big question is – will there be a new mob that forms to fight against this current woke regime and its new direction? Human history is remarkably consistent. Unfortunately, what’s consistent is that change only happens one way.

He who controls the violence, controls the narrative.

I’m not sure the woke regime appreciates the volatility of the tinderbox they’ve created. Then again, I’m not sure the anti-woke forces have the spine to employ the same tactics the progressive crowd used to take over. It’s going to be an interesting battle.

Daily Life, Government, Solving the wrong problem

Should I Care?

Last night Mrs Troutdog and I watched a two hour discussion with Vivek Ramaswamy on the Shawn Ryan show. I HIGHLY recommend watching it, regardless of your political beliefs. The dude is scary smart and has seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Even if you disagree with his political views, you have to admit – there is no other candidate would could conduct this type of long-form discussion with his level of candor. None. (maybe JFK Jr) Why aren’t we, as a population, demanding this level of candidate to represent us? Never mind, don’t answer that.

So we’re watching this interview and I’m getting myself spun up about politics and the state of the country, and Mrs Troutdog shared some insightful wisdom. She said, “I don’t care. All I care about is that the market stays healthy, our money stays secure, and we can enjoy retirement”.

She’s right.

In the big picture, none of the nonsense these meat puppets running for office are babbling about is really going to affect me. Of course there could always be some sort of cataclysmic change and civil war or zombies in the street. But in the next twenty years… probably not. Could we suddenly become Venezuela and need wheelbarrows of cash to pay for our mocha lattes at Starbucks? Sure, but not likely.

Things will get a bit more expensive. Random silly rules will get passed. I might not be able to replace my gas stove. There will be more cricket meal inserted in the food. But that’s about it. We’ll still be able to travel and see the countries largest ball of string and the museum of socket wrenches. I’ll still be able to buy and read books. Pretty sure there won’t be any restrictions on hiking, mountain biking, skiing, or riding the motorcycle. Fly fishing will always be an option.

So as usual, she’s right. There’s no point to getting my panties all in a bunch over the latest political outrage. I was equally outraged at the last four or five elections and somehow we survived. I’m pretty sure the next four will be about the same.

Don’t get me wrong, the country is heading in a bad direction. Fortunately for us, the car crash will happen long after we’re gone. Is that selfish? Yeah, a bit. But you know what? The younger generations have by and large voted for all this crap. So, you reap what you sow.

It makes me sad to see where we’re headed. Don’t worry, I’ll still be getting on my soapbox and ranting about whatever the latest outrage is like an old man shouting ‘get off my lawn’. But it’s all for show.

Behind the scenes, I love the beauty and adventure this country still offers and that’s where my head is at most of the time. You should do the same. Unless you’re young and just starting out. In that case… I’d be worried about what your future holds. You younger folks may want to really think about where we’re headed and decide if that’s really what you want.

But that’s not me. I’ll be sitting on the back porch, drinking a beer and looking out over the lake. Fondly remembering what used to be, and happy it’s not my war to fight.

Content, knowing that I’m well armed, and have plenty of food, water, and survival gear. I may be past the age of getting all worked up about politics…

But I’m not a complete idiot.