Scattered Thoughts

     It’s that sort of morning, I fear.

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     Our long national nightmare – i.e., the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama – is almost over...but not quite. Obama’s entire agenda was to “fundamentally transform” the Land of the Free. He has a little less than six months more to do so. With six months, the powers of the presidency, no need to run for a third term, and only a gaggle of Republican milksops to “oppose” him, the prospects for further “transformation” are troubling.

     Among other things, Obama’s vanity will not permit him to allow the Clintons, whom he despises, to exceed his “achievements.” With Bill behind him and the possibility of Hillary to follow him, what sort of deviltry will he concoct to ensure that his name stands above theirs in the annals of political villainy?

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     The C.S.O. usually does the grocery shopping. Now and then I fill in, as I’m home during the day and have no objections to a shopping trip if she realizes there’s some item she’s forgotten and will need to prepare the evening’s repast. However, she usually reserves the “bulk” shopping for herself.

     Tuesday was an exception: she asked me to go to CostCo for a few items we prefer to buy in quantity. It was a “learning experience,” to say the least. Here’s the complete shopping list:

• 2 bales of paper towels;
• 1 bale of facial tissues;
• Large paper plates;
• Small paper plates;
• Mouthwash;
• Dishwasher detergent.

     The bill was $110. Granted the quantities involved were considerable, but $110??

     Buy gold and silver, Gentle Readers. Add a few copper rounds to your hoard, as well. Now, before the run commences.

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     We had an interesting chat about slavery and its preconditions yester eve. I advanced the proposition that a slave might be more amenable toward his condition if he were allowed to choose his own master – from a constrained set of choices, of course. The C.S.O. was uncertain, but allowed the possibility. (It was a motif I was exploring for use in a novel-in-progress.)

     Just this morning, in thinking about the heavily rigged and preconditioned electoral system we endure, the parallels struck me with special force. The last time a president came from a third party was 1860. Today the likelihood of that is effectively zero, yet national discontent with the major parties is rising swiftly. Might the major parties’ kingmakers be thinking about increasing the seeming probability of a third-party president, that we might be more amenable to our special form of enslavement?

     “A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years.” – Lysander Spooner.

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     According to a source I trust, there is no significant difference between the rate at which police shoot black criminals and suspects and the rate at which they shoot white criminals and suspects, in proportion to their percentages of the American population. However, there is a very significant statistical difference between the rates of black-perpetrated crimes and white-perpetrated crimes, especially crimes of violence: in the U.S., the perpetrator of a violent crime is eight times as likely to be black than white. Doesn’t that imply that the police are far more reluctant to shoot a black suspect than a white one?

     It’s a question the rabble-rousers of Black Lives Matter would prefer not to face.

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     I spent a pleasant hour yesterday enjoying this Youtube video channel. Blaire White has a unique approach to the presentation of her views, something like a cross between Michael Loftus and a generic Valley Girl. I found it curiously refreshing. Recommended!

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     A friend has strongly recommended the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 foldable rifle to me. It’s a remarkable design, capable of being folded -- legally -- to a length suitable for storage in a typical backpack (un-fireable in that condition, of course). However, dealers who carry the gun are rare; does anyone know of one in New York who carries it chambered in 9 mm?

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     The July sale at Smashwords will soon be over. If you haven’t indulged yourself in any of my tripe, you still have today and the weekend. After that, everything returns to its normal price, so dally not. And remember to write reviews!

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     I think that’s all for today, Gentle Readers. I plan to spend the rest of the day on fiction. For me, that’s a bit like weightlifting for the brain: I desperately want what it promises to bring me, but the effort involved has become ever more daunting. However, though it’s the severest of my trials, it’s also the surest way of deflecting my attention from politics and current events...and that’s something I could surely use.

     Wish me well.