The Twisted Thinking of Revolutionaries

In First Things, there is a long article explaining the philosophy of many Russian revolutionaries - and, boy, does it sound a lot like the thinking of the Woke!

If you can call that confused meandering process Thinking.

I'm having a lot of trouble understanding many of the Progressives, and how far many of them seem to be from rational thought. I'm hearing about interests in archaic religions - or, rather, quasi-archaic religious beliefs, such as Wicca (QUITE popular with many younger womyn).

A lot of their social media posts seem designed to create a very emotional connection to others, and provoke a kind of stroking response ("I completely understand - you are too good for those people.") They wear their hysteria like a badge of honor, only somewhat pacified by the validation of their 'feewings'.

I started seeing a pattern in the rise of these ideas - they seem to occur over a hundred or so year-cycle, where overly emotional people, often single, and frequently female, gather together in a group that is self-congratulatory, focused on their inner emotional state, and often violent (in words, certainly, but also, too often, in action).

Their lack of a spouse or other anchor for a stable life is often a factor. While some have children, their main connection seems to be with others who will echo their convictions and angry outcries. Truly, it seems to be a 'girl group' that substitutes the lacking male presence with female bonding. They feed off the frenzied outbursts, and compete to express ever more violent fantasies.

And, too often, act on them.

Most of these adherents of Revolutionary Thought cannot stand the underclasses - they routinely deride them as bigoted, stupid, and with poor moral character.

They preen about their paper credentials, while dismissing skill sets that include competency at managing to earn a decent living as beneath them.

October 1 Update: I was reading Ace of Spades, and found that he's also been following the twisted reporting of the media. In this post, he notes the attempt to lie about Kyle Rittenhouse, his motivations for being in a riot zone with a gun, and the 'connections' that he does NOT have to 'White Supremacists'.

The Official Media has always had an agenda - just as often as the agenda was Left, it was also pro-Right. However, although the Left Media could - and often did - extend to outright Socialist, the Right stopped at GOP. Fascism never got a foothold in the US Media.

Over time, newspapers and TV moved Left. Conservative publications died off when their founders did. They may have survived, in name, at least, but the slant veered decidedly Left.

At this point, the best the Right has, is tepid journals, like National Review, and fearful news networks, like Fox News.

That's it. And, they seldom take a stand, even when the 'opposition' hits them hard with smears and lies.

Allowing Rittenhouse to be accused of being a White Supremacist is a bridge too far. We cannot allow a kid to be smeared publicly, and his family hounded into penury, without pushing back. They need to be sued. They need to have to stand up - in court - and admit that they recklessly LIED about him. And, to face the massive payout that would semi-restore that family's finances, if not their name.

There needs to be a reckoning, and it needs to happen now.

Nick Sandmann was a good start.

Let a thousand Sandmann's bloom!

What Makes the Left Fascist?

 It's not merely their use of thugs to create chaos in the cities - although, yes, the Fascists of Germany and Italy had that practice.

It's not merely their use of symbolic flags, uniforms, and insistence on the public conforming with physical displays of allegiance (kneeling, saluting with closed fist).

It's not merely the acceptance of violence (indeed, the joyous use of it to intimidate and cow non-believers).

But, it's also the melding of a select few of the bigger corporations and extremely wealthy individuals into their scheme to take over. The tech companies and their owners/largest shareholders, the media giants, the biggest universities, the heads of foundations, and many of the Fortune 500 companies' leadership - all have allied with the Left, for the most base reason. That reason is that the restrictions, laws, and rules will not apply to them. Either formally, with exceptions to laws and regulations, or informally, by declining to enforce them against favored groups, they will not have to operate with the same constraints as their competitors.

In the rush to blame the military apparatus of the Fascists, modern historians neglect the part played by the largest companies, who made their deal with the Devil for the advantage it gave them in the market.

Just like is happening with corporations and the Left today.

Charlotte, NC RNC - Local Reporting

 I won't actually be IN the Charlotte area this upcoming week - family business takes precedence.

However, I will be monitoring the news, talking to people, and generally keeping an eye on the situation.

For now, it seems that the 'festivities' have started early. The demonstrators are out, and engaging in their usual polite and congenial interactions with the po-po.

I kid, I kid - the demonstrators have already attacked police not too far from the Convention Center.

Now, I've had the advantage of attending multiple events at the Charlotte site; it's located right downtown, near the south side of the commercial/shopping area. It's a typical modern center - multiple glass doors on different sides of the building. It works, because the place is set up to funnel compliant convention-goers through one entrance, with guards to monitor the attendees, register them, several businesses catering to the crowd nearby (snacks, Starbucks). Once past the guards, registration tables are generally set up just past the shops, and, from there, you move either down very spacious hallways, or take escalators/elevators to meeting rooms.

Large ballrooms are on each floor, followed by hallways leading to multiple meeting rooms, which can be expanded or contracted by folding walls. There are a few places to eat inside; most people leave the premises to find nearby restaurants.

The area just south of the center is freeway, a few businesses (not generally catering to the casual shopper), and some vacant lots. The highway construction has made it kind of a wasteland for pedestrians.

So. The center is relatively defensible (other than those glass doors, which will likely be shattered early). The biggest problem will be if conventioneers want to leave during the day.

I'm going to keep this up for the next week, and add to it, as necessary. I'll put the new stuff at the top.

Why the Pro-Maskers Are SO Ready to Exact Retribution on the "Q-M2" Types

It's a long argument, and requires some patience. It also leans on my understanding of the PMMs (Pro-Mandatory Maskers), and how they reason.

BTW, Q-M2 people are those who Question Mandatory Masks.

First, some assumptions:

• Some of the PMMs work in high-risk fields - Medical/Nursing, Heavy Public Contact, Teaching (those germy little buggers are EVERYWHERE), etc. They wouldn't be human if they weren't concerned, and anxious to reduce their vulnerability.
• Some of the PMMs are in positions where failure to be Pro-Mandatory could cause them to lose their job or risk lawsuits. Really can't argue with looking after your own self.
• Some of the PMMs are anxious to put distance between themselves and famous non-maskers - Trump, for example. They fear that reliance on the actual science involved might put them in jeopardy of being lumped in with Bad Orange Man.
• Some are Karens - those people who yearn to be able to lay down rules for others, particularly when they can claim the high ground. In this case, THEY CARE ABOUT PEOPLE - you are a HEARTLESS KILLER!
• Some are just Drama Queens - not something new, there have always been whose primary way of dealing with the world is to over-dramatize their part in it.
• And, some are just going along with the crowd. Because going along is the easiest thing to do.

Now, the whole issue - to mask or not - is not that simple. It can be divided into:

• Masking around sick people - most, if not all, people would agree with that.
• Masking in crowded situations - most would say "OK" to that.
• Masking outside - there are those who do, but most people can't wait to exit a store or building, as eager to take off the mask as a woman is to shed that push-up bra upon closing the door to her house.And, despite the meme stating that government mandates bras, wearing them is optional (although, if the females do, Thank You!).
• And, MANDATORY masking, a government-imposed requirement, with penalties that may include fines, arrest, and even imprisonment.

That last is what is causing MOST of the problem with me.

Most people will wear masks when necessary. Cases like that celebrity who held a big mask-less party, then toddled off to visit his elderly relative - well, those are rare. Most of us, when it involves close contact with actual sick or immuno-compromised people, will sigh, pull on the covering, and comply with their demands.

Even though it's been recently proven that those without symptoms are generally NOT contagious.

But, others are scared. So...easier to go along - in the short term, for limited times.

What some have a problem with is keeping the mask on for extended periods of time. Yeah, yeah, I know it's the norm in operating rooms.

But, when the doctors and nurses leave, the first thing they do is to take off the mask.

What happens when you can NEVER take off the mask, all day, every day. Even on breaks. Even at lunch. Even when the mask makes it very hard for the hearing impaired to understand you. It's worse in many large offices, where the fad for Open Offices has made distancing yourself just not possible. Worse, Shared Co-Spaces are common in many businesses in the New Economy.

What happens when the police tell you to put on a mask? Even hand you a mask.

And, you still refuse?

Will they wrestle you into the back of the police car?

Will they do it if you're Black? If there is a crowd that is yelling "Police Brutality"?

Or, will all of this just affect the White part of the population?

What about the crazy homeless? Will they be arrested?

Or, just the sane ones?

What if citizens take this into their own hands, and attack the mask-less? Will they face jail time? Or, will their actions be excused, because the mask-less person was CLEARLY trying to kill them?

The ZMan has some important things to say about the prevalence of contagion for most of us. I'd suggest you read it, soon.

Me? I'm busy; I have to complete Medicare Annual Re-certification this week, followed by other work-related stuff, working on Science Lessons with my husband, and - perhaps most important - set up my new laptop, scheduled to be delivered on this Thursday.

So, too busy to spend much more time on this topic for a while. Or, to bother with most Social Media.

A Possible New Solution to NATO

While reading Bookwormroom today, I had an idea - no idea whether it's a new idea, or one that has been looked at, and found wanting.

She was talking about healthcare, and why Europe had, for a time in the mid-century, had extraordinarily good experiences with socialized medicine. From the late 1940s start of NATO, European nations had been relieved from the burden of defending their countries. As countries joined, they found that a significant part of their budget was no longer their problem, but shared with the 'rich' USA.

Trump is one that wants the EU to pay more for their own defense - which, to me, seems only fair. See the chart below, which displays the portion of moneys spent, as a % of the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

That's a relatively reasonable arrangement, that attempts to have richer countries pay more, and those poorer countries pay a percentage of their GDP. However, even with that relative contribution, SOME countries are paying a MUCH higher percentage than others.

NATO has begun trying to level out that shared sacrifice for the good of all in the alliance. Each country is to pay 2% of their GDP.

How's that working?

I found it interesting that Poland is right on target, putting 2% exactly on the line - as she should. Poland is Target ONE in any continental war, and knows that defense is a priority.

The current NATO framework is a Commons - the defense infrastruture being a jointly held asset. Such a structural setup is one that is easily exploited by the unscrupulous, as Garrett Hardin pointed out in his book, The Tragedy of the Commons (VERY hard to find book - a condensed explanation of it is here).

I propose a different method of funding NATO. We should identify those projects/bases near countries that are meeting their funding goals, and prioritize them. For continuing and future defense expenditures, the US should match the spending of a country (perhaps with a multiplier function) of countries that want their defense shored up and improved.

In other words, those countries that have skin in the game are given the most resources.

Here are the countries that would lead the list for priority spending:

Greece, 2.38%. 

Britain, 2.21%. 

Estonia, 2.16%. 

Poland, 2%.

The presence of Greece on the list surprised me. I know of their major debt problems, and I assumed - wrongly - that they had let their guard down, putting defense low on their list of priorities. It would seem that the spirit of Thermopylae still breathes.

Molon Labe!

Weekend Wonder

As in, I WONDER why this is not currently the headline on all media?

Just Kiddin'. I know why.

Perjury. It's not just a charge for Republicans.

I do realize that they are trying to run the clock out on the Statute of Limitations. Kinda' hard when every time you look under a rock, more lies keep popping up.