I have a problem…

…with people using the civil court system to silence those with whom they diagree – even if those being silenced are racist, misogynistic bastards.

Jury finds rally organizers liable for the violence that broke out in Charlottesville

As this story points out, the lower standard for civil court judgements allows people to vote their emotions instead of the facts. Such lawsuits have a chilling effect on speech, and is very concerning to me. After all, I want these people to speak – how else will we identify them?

in any event, these people were not the cause of the violence at Charleston. Only the people who actually committed violence (that was not in self-defense) should have been charged or sued. Suing these other people – for money they don’t have, BTW – is solely for the purpose of stifling free speech. You would be wise to recognize it as such; after all, next time it might be you or your opinions that are silenced.

I also find it interesting that BLM organizers have not been similarly sued for damages caused during BLM protests (pronounced “riots”). Go figure.

“It’s not fair – they’re better than we are!”

I wonder how this complaint would go over in the Superbowl?

Texas youth football team booted from league over dominance: ‘Too good for a rec-level team’

The solution is not to drag everyone down to the same level – it’s instead to pull everyone up. But that’s not likely to happen when you eliminate the most competitive team for – you know – being “too good”.

Yeah – that’s how it works in the real-world,  too…

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Are you kidding me?

The U.S. emergency oil stash is in the spotlight as gas prices surge. What to know

OK; so let’s see if I have this correct: Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline, ostensibly as a means to force people to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Now he is considering  releasing oil from the strategic reserve because – well – we didn’t reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and now we’re in a pickle.

So riddle me this, Batman – does it really matter whether we’re burning oil from the strategic reserve or oil supplied by a strategic partner via a pipeline? After all, we’re still burning oil. And why not build the pipeline while working to reduce consumer demand instead of killing it entirely? At least then we’d have a friendly source of oil if our efforts fell short, and at no cost to the American people.

Dumb ass.

When your life revolves around slogans

This is, in my opinion, one of those “stupid”people referred to by Bonhoeffer as being used by others:

Illinois Democrat ties Waukesha tragedy to Rittenhouse case in mocking posts: ‘Probably just self-defense’

Let me ask you this: How many of the parade goers chased after the driver before the incident and tried to attack them? How many tried to hit the driver with a skateboard, or stomp their head prior to his murderous joy ride? How many pointed a gun at the driver? Remember, Rittenhouse only used force against those attempting to use force against him; he did not attack innocent bystanders, as the driver is alleged to have done here. How again are these two events related?

Just because you are unhappy with the Rittenhouse verdict – a verdict reached by the requisite jury of his peers – doesn’t mean you can or should portray this horrific but independent attack on our people as “payback”. And as for the fine citizens of Kenosha WI: they are tired of you and your ilk. In finding Rittenhouse not guilty they are re-affirming his natural right to self defense – and preserving it for themselves going forward.

Your callousness in the wake of this attack wreaks of cowardice. It’s not about using this tragedy to increase your twitter following; it’s about finding a way to stop extremists on either side of the argument.

UPDATE: The person involved resigned. Good riddance.

The problem…

… isn’t that people like Rittenhouse are Nazis; it’s that the far left Antifa rioters – the real Nazis – can’t act like Nazis any more in Kenosha, WI. At least not without being shot, anyway.

Founder of Human Flourishing Co. on Rittenhouse Verdict: America’s Sunk into Nazism, A Holocaust is Coming

Think about it: who is the real “Nazi” in this scenario?

The Nazis singled out Jews as the cause of their ills; the far left have chosen whites. The Nazis used protest groups – the “Brownshirts” or SA – for violent intimidation; the far left uses Antifa. The Nazis used media as a propaganda machine; the far left has done the same, using media (and social media) to quash unfavorable information (Hunter Biden’s laptop) while promulgating false criticism of their opposition (the Steele dossier). Finally, the Nazis disarmed their victims; the far left meanwhile have attempted to use the Rittenhouse trial to justify their demands for disarming law-abiding citizens.

All Kyle Rittenhouse did was defend himself from far left thugs. What really pisses the far left off about the Rittenhouse verdict is that they are now on notice the citizens of Kenosha WI will no longer tolerate attacks on their property, businesses, or people. It means that their Nazi “Brownshirt” tactics will no longer work; they are no longer free to terrorize the citizens of Kenosha: they will fight back.

Is it any wonder there were no significant or violent protests in Kenosha, WI following the verdict? Or that there were in the Antifa stronghold of Portland, where Rittenhouse would surely have been wrongly convicted?

Interesting read

Review this article from NPR carefully and you’ll see that Kyle Rittenhouse’ attackers were troubled souls. They are exactly the type of people I’d expect to be looking for a place to belong, a cause to accept them – a master by whom to be manipulated.

One of Rittenhouse’ attackers is alleged to have recently been released from the hospital “…following a suicide attempt”; been subject to a no contact order by his fiancee for having “…knocked her down and bloodied her mouth”;  had been in prison “…for sexual conduct with five preteen boys”; and was without his medication because the pharmacy had closed early because of the unrest.

Another attacker also allegedly had as history of mental problems, and spent time in prison related to incidents involving violence. A third appeared to have become a professional protester, having “…attended close to 100 protests…” that summer. This third person was also armed with a concealed firearm – even though “…his permit for carrying a concealed firearm had expired.”

Oh; and all four – Rittenhouse and his three attackers –  were white. This was not a racial issue, no matter what the press and pundits proclaim.

If you’ve read my earlier post regarding the Theory of Stupidity you might recognize these people as those described by Bonhoeffer – people who’s lives have been reduced to political slogans and who hold illogical but unassailable beliefs. And while it’s a shame that lives were lost, the truth is that Kyle Rittenhouse was not the cause. The masters of these puppets – the extremist leaders who continue to fan the flames of dissent for their own enrichment and power – these are the true villains of this story.

Rittenhouse verdict

The Rittenhouse verdict – not guilty on all counts – was the right verdict under the circumstances. We should be free to defend ourselves against those who wish to do us harm – including “peaceful” protestors.

I think the message the verdict sends is not that we want teenagers carrying rifles in public, but rather that we’re fed up with the lawlessness of left-wing protests. If you want to attack people or their property, be forewarned – people can and will defend themselves. I also think it sends the message that firearms are a suitable means of defense against gangs of violent thugs – as it should be. Firearms allow the weak or few to defend themselves against the strong or many. It’s no wonder they have been referred to as “the great equalizer“.

The reaction by the far-left was as expected – they protested (who’d have thought?).

Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity

I saw an interesting video on YouTube today concerning what is known as “Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity” (Yes – as much as I despise Google, YouTube is still the preferred distribution venue for too many videos for it to be completely shunned). It makes a rather common-sense deduction: stupid people are more dangerous than evil people. Evil can be resisted and argued against, but stupid – in the words of comedian Ron White: “You can’t fix stupid.”

Unfortunately, stupid people are easily controlled and used by those seeking to do evil. For a modern-day example you need only look at the so-called anti-racist protestors. Is their entire movement not boiled down to slogans wielded as pseudo-facts with which one may not argue, as suggested by Bonhoeffer? But I think we are ignoring the most important question: Who is pulling their strings? Who is actually benefiting – via an accumulation of power or wealth – by the actions of the stupid people they control?

In reality Bonhoeffer goes further in hi analysis by identifying a solution (“…the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…”), but the video makes no mention of Bonhoeffer’s religious bent. It’s not relevant to his basic theory so I’ll ignore it here, too.

It’s an interesting video if you have a moment. But I’m not interested in promulgating his solution; instead, I’m interested in developing a solution that doesn’t require religion. There must be a way to break the mob mentality and restore independence to the mind without requiring a new dependence on religion.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcome. But watch the video first so that we’re all on the same page.

One more reason to despise Google

Like many, I’ve been following the Rittenhouse trial. I recently came across an article alleging that prosecutors withheld a vital piece of information in the form of surveillance drone video (the defense received a low-resolution version, but the prosecutors had a much higher resolution version available for themselves). Naturally, how the low resolution version came into existence at all is an interesting question.

One internet-based news source claims that video evidence shows video compression software installed on the prosecutor’s laptop – software that could have been used to produce the low-res version of the drone video provided to the defense. Supposedly, it shows the Windows desktop of the prosecutor’s laptop. Unfortunately, the video of the prosecutor’s laptop has been placed on YouTube – and YouTube has decided that this is age-restricted content only available to registered and identified users.

Now, what in the hell could be age-restricted in a video of the prosecutor’s laptop? Pornography, maybe? I think not – that would be an even bigger story than withholding evidence from the defense. No, the only reason I can think of to make content age restricted – that is clearly not obscene or violent – is so that Google can force people to identify themselves.

Google’s willingness to “censor” speech in furtherance of their political agenda and social engineering goals under the guise of quashing “misinformation” (pronounced “information we don’t want you to know”) makes me extremely nervous. Tagging politically charged videos as “age restricted” (for no legitimate reason) enables Google to track who’s interested in specific issues – like gun control – so that that they can use their propaganda machine to then change their position (think targeted ads and suggested videos). This scares the hell out of me. It also pisses me off.

Google’s attempts to force people to identify themselves before viewing videos that could expose their political or ideological beliefs is disturbing to me – and should be to you, too. But, alas, people are stupid…