Whither Thou Goest

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

“Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:” – KJ Bible.

Was a choice ever made? Do we ever think about it and go “Yes, I want to change everything about me, and become part of this other people/this other nation/ this other way of living.” Do we even change? Or do we just find the place we want to be, the place that is like us.

I’m not talking here of refugees. They go, poor things, in a rush, often pushing wheel barrows of all their possessions. (This image has been much on my mind recently.) And I’m not talking about economic migrants. They go where they can earn a livin, and most of them return. The ones who don’t…. some at least have found the place they were meant to be. Others stay because the kids now belong to this other place. The “wisdom” in Portugal is to return where the kids are raised, and before they can wife. Not that I ever intended that. Not that there anywhere to go outside America. Probably, strangely there never was.

It has been on my mind, in the way of sad recollections Operation Eagle Claw, when Jimmah sent men to die in a poor planned mission to rescue the Iranian hostages.

I was seventeen then, and my heart broke. Believe it or not all around me people gloated that the Americans had failed and been humiliated (I was in school. Most people at least pretended to be leftists.) And my heart broke. It broke twice: it broke for the people who’d died, and the pain Americans were suffering under an incompetent president. And it broke that I couldn’t be here, to share in the burden.

I think that’s when I knew whatever happened in the world, and in my life, I would end up here, because in my heart I was already one of you. I suffered when you suffered, I triumphed when you triumphed.

Later there were choices. I chose to marry rather than take a job offered because, well, I fell in love. That he was American just made things more convenient. Had I married anyone from any other nationality, I’d have to bring them here, and that might take time.

But those were secondary choices. The choice to become American wasn’t. It needed, even so, a lot of effort, to learn to live here, and adjust my mind to fit in. But you see, there really was no other choice. It was already the home of my heart, and I think the Bible also says wherever your heart is, your body will follow.

I’m one of you now. I wed the country as firmly as I wed my husband. My children are Americans. I’m an American. There is no other choice and nowhere else to go. There probably never was.

Oh, IF America falls — no, I don’t think we will, though I’m telling you it’s going to look a lot like it for a decade or maybe a little less — there still wouldn’t, in practicality, be anywhere else to go.

When America sneezes, the world catches pneumonia. We’re going to have it rough, which means the rest of the world will die in droves.

But of course, in the place of my origin, I have family and connections — strained and frayed, granted, but still there — and people who’d take us in, and it’s highly unlikely my family would ever starve. (They’ve survived anarchist revolutions, and national bankruptcy and…. there are ways, and they find them.)

Even so, it’s not a choice. I could not live there with my heart over here. It’s easier to suffer in the land you love, and with your compatriots than to be secure in a land where people gloat at the misfortunes of America.

I know every time I go over, to visit, I spend the whole time praying that nothing major will happen that will seal me off from coming back home. Because this is where my heart lives.

We’re going to have a rough time. There is no mistaking it. I don’t know when things will explode, but I can guarantee they will. And then…. And then it’s going to get very rough. Very rough. Pray, and stay alert, and keep your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark. Be ready to melt like shadows or stand like men. At times both will be called for.

But at least we’re all together.

Remember you’re Americans. You’re the proud heirs of something the world has never before seen: the common man having a say in their governance, and power to go with it.

Never forget it. And don’t let it slip from you. Pass that flag, with the glorious stars and stripes unstained to your children.

Be not afraid.

None of us got a choice. Not you and not me.

But it is our very great privilege to live in a time when freedom is imperiled. It is our very great duty to protect it.

Our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor. A price that was once paid. And might yet be required of some of us.

And it will not be a choice. And it will be worth it.

In the end, great stories are always about death and blood. Spend yours advisedly.

Stand as Americans. That is also not a choice.

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,

249 thoughts on “Whither Thou Goest”

      1. A lot of changes came out of that disaster. IIRC, the one that was probably the most significant was the establishment of the Joint Special Operations Command.

        1. As I recall, Mr. Peanut had an Air Force General in charge of a commando raid…how could it not fail?

    2. Even a casual skim of the operational plan reveals the soldiers were set up to fail; there were too many “and then a miracle happens” areas, among other things. This isn’t something where you need a degree from West Point or Annapolis to analyze the plan; even the Three Stooges would have questioned it.

      I’m pretty sure the real plan was that most of our guys were to be killed or captured. Who was to benefit from that, other than the Iranians, is not clear to me.

      1. It’s been a while, but I read the autobiography of Col. Charles Beckwith, Plank Owner of Delta Force and the CO during Eagle Claw. If I recall correctly, the initial plan that DELTA came up – that I believe Carter initially approved – with was good: simple, relatively few players, very few moving parts, high probability (per Beckwith) of success.

        Then word of the operation got out to the rest of the Armed Forces, and everybody wanted in on the action, and since Carter wanted to be buddy-buddy with everybody in the military, he allowed them to add whatever pieces and forces they wanted to the plan, and DELTA was forced to go with it. By the time the ultimate plan was approved, everyone in DELTA knew it would take multiple miracles to pull off successfully: WAY too many moving parts and WAY too many players, not one of which answered to the same chain of command.

        Again, it’s been a while, but my memory is that Beckwith genuinely believed that Carter wanted the operation to succeed and was haunted by his failure, but ultimately blames Carter for the disaster because he didn’t have the backbone to tell everyone who insisted on being a part of it, “No, the operation has already been planned and that plan has already been approved.”

        1. My mental summary was something like “giant pissing match between a crud-ton of guys who didn’t have to be anywhere near the pointy end, bunch of spoiled puppies that should’ve been smacked with a shoe, and not a single qualified adult going over the whole thing flagging Obvious Problems in the batch.”

          My initial reaction was “I recognize THAT safety issue, and THAT one, and ooh so that’s where THAT yearly safety stand-down comes from, I see FOUR rules that came from that….”

          1. I read about it in a 1993 book on American military disasters (fittingly titled SNAFU, but the 10 pages devoted to the mess covered the bare bones, and not much on why it was a cluster-fark.

      2. I don’t know about Eagle Claw, but the mission sent to clean up after it *was* set up to fail. As in, no extraction plan. Cui bono indeed…

    3. I watched footage years ago of the C-130 they were testing to try and land on a street in front of the Embassy. 6 or 8 Rato pods (twin rockets per pod) facing Forwards, and even more rearwards, gave it the ability to land and stop within its length and take off in a hair over its length, but the test pilot (female iirc, but ballsy nonetheless) once hit the stoppers a fraction too soon and the plane fell 4 or so feet and broke its back, rendering it unflyable so the idea was scrapped.

  4. Beautifully said. As an immigrant also (from Holland — professional rather than marriage initially, though some years later I married a lovely American lady and we’re still together 40 years later) I second everything you said.

    Apart from all the other considerations, I am happily armed, and considering adding to that. That is one of many rights I did not have in the old country. Nor, as I learned only years after I emigrated, did I have a real Constitution, or rights protected from government depredation. (If you want to see something shocking, look up some time article 120 of the Dutch constitution — it can be found on line both in Dutch and in English.)

    You remember the saying about a country without history having no future? I would apply that to Holland. Teaching of history is sparse indeed — in most of my high school time history was not a topic offered. And even when it is, it comes with shocking gaps. It wasn’t until I had been in the US for 20 years and the Internet started to provide a broad range of information that I learned Holland has its own Declaration of Independence. Stranger still, I learned of it from a Belgian (Flemish, rather nationalist-leaning) website. Not even the existence of that document, let alone its contents, was ever hinted at any time when I was growing up in Holland — neither in elementary nor secondary school.

    Astounding. Could you imagine kids not knowing “When in the course of human events…”? Well, yes of course Sarah can, she wrote about that. But that was a dystopian nightmare scenario and everyone understands only such a scenario could produce such a result.

    1. [goes to look]

      Article 120 (in its entirety)
      The constitutionality of Acts of Parliament and treaties shall not be reviewed by the courts.

      So… no “See here now, that’s not right” check on whatever Parliament wants to do.

      1. Judicial review on constitutional grounds is only a very recent addition to the UK. IIRC most parliamentary systems exercise parliamentary dictatorship.

        1. Yep. Parliament has supreme authority. Because after all, they represent the people…most constitutional democracies do not have judicial review.

          1. While the lack of judicial review pretty well guts any “Constitution” the clear lack of consistency may well have the same effect. Politicization of the judiciary as we have seen over the last several decades have also tended to gut our constitution. Couple that with the absolute lack of representation and there you are.

            Sarah, my family is mongrel in the sense that on my fathers side we go back to the Jamestown colony in 1609 and mom was second generation Greek and Swedish. I was raised to understand and appreciate this country as founded. I feel the same tug of the heart and the ripping of the heart when i see these events and recognize what the long term danger is.

            China sure did not waste any time threatening Taiwan! I predicted ten days until the threats came and only a day passed. Yikes!

            1. Either Zhu Bai Den is well and truly bought, the CCP’s foreign intelligence service has even more impressive kompromat on he and his errant child than I suspect, or they know he’s far more gone than even the consensus here would suggest. The CCP no longer fears the tiger in the cage. I hope we do not get to regret that.

              1. Tiger? But those are orange!

                What we have instead now is …

                … not for me to say, given my current employment. But I think you folks have the general idea.

                1. Hmm I was not referring to the resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave as tiger rather the US and its various forces and peoples. Perhaps Zhu Bai Den is a sea cucumber or nudibranch though in saying that I am likely slandering sea going invertebrates everywhere. Not even sure he belongs in the Animalia kingdom. I have referred to him as a kumquat but even kumquats can be made into jelly with enough sugar. A pile of excrement might be closer but again with a little time to decompose that makes an ok fertilizer. He’s like some kind of radioactive waste with a long half life that you have to bury in seismically stable ground and post warnings good for 10000 years.

      3. Hoe. Lee. Shit.

        142 articles. 30 supplementary articles. A few more ‘in force for the time being’.

        Our Constitution has 7 Articles. If the government could be troubled to follow it, we’d be doing fine in a country more than 230 times their size with 20 times the population.

        1. Yeah.
          A short summary would be (1) Parliament can do anything it wants to, (2) the Constitution might say that you have certain rights but they are “subject to limitations defined by law” and in any case (3) if the Government does something unconstitutional you have no recourse whatsoever.
          The US Constitution may be a piece of paper that has about as much power as other pieces of paper (some wise observer described it as a “Restraining Order on the government”) but to the extent that some few courts occasionally pay attention to the plain English words, at least the intent is right. The Dutch constitution can’t even claim that much.

    2. I did get some history, but as you said, it was not very complete – and I never learned of the Dutch Declaration (Plakkaat van Verlaetinghe) until I studied the history of the American one, much later. But maybe I should add that my Dutch history teacher was a diehard communist who tried to defend the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956, and had a relationship with the school’s prettiest girl, whose life he ruined.

  6. This brought tears to my eyes. It breaks my heart to see what this country—the only one I could ever possibly love and live in—has come to. My direct and not so long-ago ancestors left places they loved to come build this one, and I see it as my duty and privilege to do my best (poor though it is) to defend what they made. There’s no leaving for me. I’ll die first. If not in the America I loved and grew up in, then trying to destroy the motherfuckers who took it away.

    2. Same – and I was thinking that perhaps at my advanced years, crying for what once was could possibly be a result of some hormonal deficiency. Perhaps it’s the beginning stages of mourning for, while not idyllic, a relatively safe environment for growing up. Seeing that slip away, and in some cases, being ripped away is heartbreaking. Still, knowing that this country shines as a beacon for the whole world looking for a “better life” brings some glimmer of hope. I know things are looking bleak, something is coming. Something both dark and dangerous.

      Keeping my bug out bag close!!

  7. Is that a photo of the Sybil Ludington statue, in Carmel, NY? Young woman during the revolution, rode around ala Paul Revere to warn everyone about the British.

      1. Well, that’s what I get for not double-checking HTML tags…

        It’s a miracle the Brownshirts BLM and Antefa haven’t torn it down yet.

  10. I think that’s when I knew whatever happened in the world, and in my life, I would end up here, because in my heart I was already one of you. I suffered when you suffered, I triumphed when you triumphed.

    Reminds me of the most poignant line in “Shards of Honor” by Lois McMaster Bujold. Cordelia, talking about her feelings for Aral: “When he’s cut, I bleed.”

    That, right there, is perhaps the best definition of true love ever written. It’s not all butterflies and rainbows. It’s pain too, more because you hurt when they hurt. So that’s double the chances for getting hurt (more, because there’s the delightful possibility of you hurting each other–as we see in the chronologically next volume Barrayar).

    A person or a nation, to love is much the same at its core I think.

  11. Sarah is like Michael Z. Williamson — a natural born American that happened to be born in the wrong place. I, for one, am glad you found your way home.

  12. We thought we had a choice, didn’t we?
    75 million Americans made a choice and had that choice snatched out from under them
    Our “trusted” media lied, told tall tales of Russia, hid true facts about the Bidens and their little pay for access con game.
    The other side opened up graveyard registration, voted early and often, hacked vote machine software, and manufactured ballots by the box load.
    When challenged in the courts entire states were told they had no standing for a protest or legitimate inquiry as to obvious irregularities.
    Not the first time we’ve been denied our choice, won’t be the last.
    But the inevitable progression has always been, and still is, soap, ballot, jury, cartridge.
    First three have been denied to us. Fourth is impossible because our Fearless Leader says we cannot stand against his nukes and fighter jets. And I am convinced that he is every bit as correct about that as he has been about most everything else for the last seven months.

    2. I won’t start this shootin’ match, this new civil war. But I’ll damn sure finish it. And you probably aren’t going to like my terms. Just be glad I have a greater capacity for mercy than any progressive communist.

      1. This is an increasingly merciless age, even though a favorite word is “compassion.”

  13. We need to renew our passports. This time we will get both the full passport and a border card. Really only need the border card, because we have no intent to go anywhere that a full US passport is required.

    My sister and BIL are off on a river cruise in Europe. Holland to Budapest. I hope they can get home when they are done.

    We have nowhere to go. Not without abandoning family behind. Granted they have to make their own choices. But still. Comes down to it really. There are 3 of us. Whether hubby realizes it or not. We stay where our only child is. That includes his significant other, when/if this happens.

    Although if it comes to it, should our son have a chance, and desire, to migrate outside our atmosphere, but us old folk need not apply, I will stand aside (not without tears, or envy, but will willing let him go) as those before have done. (1600’s parents were left in the old company, 1800’s parents were left on the east coast.)

    Another note. Anyone else noticing items that started showing up are now showing as empty shelves again? Not TP or cleaning products, but more subtle items? Pet supplies have never quite been back in abundance. It is worse than ever now. I’ve started buying out what is in stock, even if more than I need, because it won’t be in stock when I need it. We have animals on very specific diets. One can switch to raw if I have to. The others I can’t.

    3. It’s shipping mostly. Ports are a disaster. Demurrage is off the charts and the “government” is trying to get the railroads to eat the expense. RR told the “government” to go pound sand.

      This has been accelerating every day. Ningbo, which is the third largest port in the world, closed when one worker tested positive for WuFlu. I suspect this has more to do with Kung flu panda trying to be god emperor or some such but that doesn’t change that an awful lot of things are going to be in short supply.

      Something is odder than usual in China. Things are bad there.

      1. The pet supplies/food I’m after are (supposedly) sourced and made in US, maybe Canada (which I’ll have to double check). Canada sourced could be part of the problem, IDK.

        1. I haven’t noticed any empty shelves of pet supplies, though – although the price for the usual order for Friskies through Chewy.com has increased … which is … a wonderment.
          Also – priced beadboard panels for an upcoming room reno, at the Big Box Home supply store – up from $18 a panel to $30.

          And for those of us who find sick, dark humor a refuge in bad times – my daughter forwarded this link to me. I wonder how long it will last on FB, that notoriously humorless and politically-correct creeps.

          https://www.facebook.com/AngryCops/ videos/ 613398450046790

          2. Interesting. Here in Seattle, Home Depot has 2x4x8s at $3.58, down from a peak of just over $9.00.

            3/4 birch plywood remains at its peak level of $67.90, though.

            1. A lot of birch plywood comes from Europe, the Baltic — duh — and Russia, which makes sense since that’s where the birches are. A lot of cOmmon plywood comes from Canada, about which one has only to mention Justin — didn’t his mother have an affair with Castro right around the time he was conceived, looks like him too — Trudeau.

              What’s interesting is that raw lumber futures never went up, only processed lumber. It’s all supply and transportation. the f-cking genius experts have messed it all up royally.

              A good case can be made that the stimulus sugar rush peaked in March and has been receding since. Bank loans are down YOY since and an awful lot of economic indicators (e.g., interest rates) reversed as well. We were heading for recession before WuFlu and WuFlu didn’t make it better. Add all the uncertainty and we may be about to enter some interesting times.

              From the incompetence of credentialed experts, good Lord deliver us.

            2. My last look at OSB in Home Depot showed 7/16″ now around $22 a sheet, down from $64. Other sizes haven’t yet finished dropping tot that relative level, but I suspect they will–same manufacturer.

              On shortages, the restaurant supply store was quite surprising. Frozen seafood had shrimp and breaded cod and a lot of empty shelves. Other areas had empty shelves, too.

              1. Just checked 7/16x4x8 OSB at Menards is down to $14.25 ($12.68 after the 11% rebate). Which is a lot better than it was a month ago.

          3. Already down. What a wonder. Heard news today that Taliban used and are using Whatsap to coordinate. So obviously FB supports the killing of Americans, both troops and civilians. Wow just wow.

        3. Pet supplies were a “future proof” item until I saw an ad in the local farm and ranch supply store. We now have a Kat in the house–12 week old tricolor Border Collie pup, cute as the dickens, and full of the dickens (though not full of the other–she didn’t eat much yesterday when we got her, but she’s making up for it now.

          We’re fatigued, ready with the pee enzyme, and teaching Kat (short for Kathy, but $SPOUSE and I voted on “Cath” vs “Kat”, and the latter won, 1 to 1. Amazing that…

          Commenting will be sketchy. Reading Noah’s Boy when puppy-sitting.

          And yeah, did OK for the dog food. Diamond Natural(?) in beef, per the amateur breeder. Momma and Dad and the pups all looked healthy and happy, so we’re not gonna mess.

            1. Well, the character named my seal point floof after shares his name with a bird (and not one appropriate for his colors) so I personally can’t criticize his choice. >_>

            2. Can’t claim it as “my” choice. 🙂 We named our two previous dogs after characters in crime shows. Sara the lab-aussie got her name from the CSI character, while I rejected Catherine for the border collie in ’07. Angie from “Angela Pearlygates Montenegro”, computer wizard (and daughter of Billy Gibbons, who played himself in appearances on the show). Every once in a while, a “Catherine” would creep in Angie’s name, so Kathy was a fitting choice for $PUPPY. Monosyllabic names are good for BCs (Angie was “Ange”, so we voted on a short version of Kathy. I was outvoted 1 to 1. (I had just gotten a new partial –upper and lower, whee!–so my enunciation of “Kath” sucked that day, so “Kath” would have been spotty. Thin plastic ain’t thin enough, it seems. Not sure how the long-term partials are set; these are needed until extractions are fully dealt with in the bone structure. A year or so, I’m told.)

              I’m trying to convince Kat that the 14 x 20′ covered kennel is the proper doggie bathroom; so far I’ve had success on solids, while we;re keeping her in rug-positive vinyl flooring unless she’s heavily supervised. Thanks Be for pee-removal enzyme.

          2. Yes. Don’t switch quickly. Go with what your veterinarian recommends but switch slowwwwwly.

            Pepper (dog) is on “diet” food. Science Diet Metabolic specifically, but have her on Royal Canine Weight Mgmt for small dogs. Easier to split it into two meals, and fewer calories. Doesn’t matter. Both were missing from the shelves for about 6 weeks. Last Friday she was down to her last can when Petsmart finally had some. Bought all 24, which is 24 days.

            Cats are on a prescription (Science Diet or Royal Canine, I don’t remember which) sensitive stomach kibble because one of them gets the runs and throws up on any other kibble, a lot, … suspect a reaction to dyes but not proven. All 4 get it because kibble is kept available 24/7, at least won’t hurt the other 3. This has been on shelves in quantity lately. What hasn’t been available regularly is what they also get daily: Purina Fancy Feast Appetizers, specifically Salmon, Chicken, and Chicken with Beef (they won’t eat the other flavors, the kitten might). Multiple sources locally, plus Amazon and Chewy. This I’ve been cleaning out local sources when they have it. Amazon and Chewy have increased their prices 5% and limited on quantity that can buy, which triggers shipping costs and increases cost another 10%; when it is available.

            FYI. Our veterinarian has stated she recommends Royal Canine, Science Diet, and Purina, because 1) local (to USA), and 2) more consistent in quality.

            1. Been a Royal Canin fan myself since the cat rescue I used to help out with used it for kittens there. My seal point was still a bit sickly when I brought him in so I went with it for him and I ended up sticking with it for all my kitties when he got older.

            2. We used Royal Canin GI lowfat (canned and kibble) for Sara when her pancreatic issues started, and Hills equivalent when RC canned wasn’t shipping. The tiny-scale BC breeder had the short-haired fmother and a long haired male–both 40 pound range–and bred them, resulting in a litter of 10 pups, 5 of which were sold by Faceborg Marketplace before I saw the ad for the remaining 5 at the farm store. (Much faster response from the farm store ad, too.)

              She was advised of the diet by a pro BC breeder. Kat loves the stuff–it’s an adult food. In the past we used puppy-specific Pro Plan, and we’ll see what the vet says. Kat’s small for her age, but Mama would have had tiny pups at whelping given her size and the litter quantity. I’m not doing Costco runs that often any more, so Kirkland isn’t likely. We’d do a mix of Costco Adult and Mature and Beneful for the dogs before Sara’s problems. It worked well for both a long time. OTOH, it was complicated.

              1. Tell me about complicated. Pup is a picky eater when it comes to pet food. People food OTOH … But people food isn’t necessarily 100% right either.

      2. Xi seems to suddenly be very worried about crafting the contents of the minds of the youth. This is a general concern for communist countries (even modified ones like the PRC), but there’s seemingly been a much stronger push just recently. It’s been forceful enough that Beijing is doing things such as going after companies that specialize in tutoring. The official reasons for going after the companies don’t necessarily have anything to do with the minds of children. But observers have noted that seems to be a common thread among many of the recently targeted companies.

      3. It’s shipping. And the ‘infrastructure’ bill they’re still trying to pass has included in it the pilot program for a mileage tax. So shipping is only going to get worse and more expensive. And if we don’t have trouble with the teamsters in the near future, I’d be very surprised.

    4. Difficult to get is a pretty good clue that it’s imported. (I say that as one who buys dog food by the pallet, and back in the era of feed mills in every town, had it custom-made.) There is nothing magical about pet food; even the specialty brands are just waste products from processing food for human consumption. Read the ingredient list, then build the same diet from what you buy and cook for yourself.

      As to fleeing America… I have roots back to the Mayflower, and there is nowhere to go, even if the idea didn’t make me bristle up and go “Try and make me.”

      And when I hear of folks who are “fleeing” America to places like Hungary or Japan… dandy countries, you’ll love ’em. Until the world goes pear-shaped and you get forcibly reminded that one of America’s more sterling attributes is that we have borders defended by the vastness of =oceans= (Mexico notwithstanding; come to WW3, Mexico is more on our side than not, and same for Canada outside of the government enclaves).

      1. In regards to the last paragraph, at least with Japan my understanding (having never been over there for any extended time period) is that if you’re not a local, you’re not really welcome. They’ll be outwardly polite, but nothing beyond that.

        And that’s before getting into stuff like the lack of an equivalent of the US Constitution’s 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Amendments…

        1. Well, yeah, but most places are at least somewhat insular like that. Plenty of Small Town USA where your grandda was a transplant and you’re still the new folks. (Also, I was being somewhat sarcastic, and only just managed not to add “and don’t let the door hit ya in the ass.”)

          And yes, we have certain unique Constitutional features here in the US of A, to which no other nation can compare (lacking either existence or enforcement).

          .

            1. I have distant relatives living in the house our common ancestors owned in 1790. I have to go back 6 generations to find a direct ancestor who died within 50 miles of where they were born, 4 for dying in the same state/ province/country. On all branches.

              I have a different perspective then the locals anywhere I lived. Until I moved here the longest I ever lived anywhere was 4 years. Been here since 1997. 3 of my 5 already live in different states. The two who live here were born in Virginia and Maine.

        2. There’s a hilarious video out there that has four friends going to eat at a restaurant in Japan. Three of the friends are Westerners who have been living in Japan for a while, and speak excellent Japanese. The fourth is an ethnically Japanese American woman who only speaks English.

          When the waitress comes to take their orders, she only talks to the ethnic Japanese woman – who, as noted, can’t speak Japanese. Whenever the other three friends try to place their orders (in Japanese), the waitress tells them she doesn’t speak English, and goes back to ignoring them.

          The skit ends with the three Japanese speakers telling their ethnic Japanese friend the words that she needs to say (which are nonsensical sounds to her) so that they can place their food orders with the waitress.

          According to a Japanese friend of mine, the video is accurate.

          1. Friend of ours told a story about his cousin. He was a missionaries’ kid in Japan, grew up bilingual. One day he and an American friend were on a train, and were the only westerners in the compartment. The Japanese did a lot of talking about “sour milk,” and other slurs. So this blond, blue-eyed fellow said, in perfect Japanese, “My, it’s surprising how many Koreans are on this train.”
            It got very, very quiet in the compartment.

            4. Heh. Reminds me of a time, just after 9/11 (like, barely a week after) and our taxi driver in Romania was bitching about how the Americans deserved it (my companion, although American, looked and sounded local). After he got to the end of his rant, he glanced at me–who was very obviously (physically) Not From Around Here and asked “So…where are you girls from?” When we answered, a bit coldly, “We’re American” he got very, very quiet… 😀

      2. “Nowhere to go” isn’t thinking of fleeing America. Despite being deep in blue enclave, nowhere else in the US we really want to go.

          1. Between North Korea and Canada there’s a country that matches pretty much any possible point on the Left’s spectrum. We only have America. We cannot go anywhere else without making it America. They think they can keep pushing us and we’ll eventually submit, what they’re really doing is concentrating us on death ground. If they actually knew any history they’d realize what a terrible idea that is. Their ignorance is going to be corrected soon.

        2. I’m moving from Colorado. Whether I would absent auto-immune issues is something else. But I’m also kind of exposed here.
          OTOH leaving the US is not in the cards. EVER>

          1. We’re not exactly known for keeping quiet. Or at least my husband isn’t. OTOH we don’t have the public exposure you do either. We don’t suffer allergies, auto immune issues, or other problems, either.

    5. The shelves have never been fully restocked. What’s changing is that items that affect you directly are currently the ones in short supply, and so you notice their absence. The overall amount of product has been about the same for quite a while now. But the specific items that are in short supply changes over time.

        1. Surprisingly enough, the best selection of Green Giant canned veggies locally has been at The Dollar Tree. Walmart and Wegmans haven’t had them. Not even the Le Sueur upgrades or even Niblets.

        1. On the rumor that the $3.5T Insanity Budget has a “supplements by prescription only” provision hidden in its thousands of pages, I ordered six months of vitamin D, melatonin, and multivitamins. If it’s not there, fine, I just don’t need to reorder for a while.

          1. And now that I know this, I’m doing the same thing.
            There’s been talk of doing this, but this would be a perfect way to sneak around behind us and all of a sudden….
            Like how all the Pharmacists refuse to honor an Ivermectin prescription (unverified locally, hearing about it elsewhere).

            1. Just a thought re Ivermectin. Check with your vet or vet supply. Used for cattle and horses extensively Available in 250ml bottles for roughly 100 bucks. Dont tell anyone i told you.

          2. I can’t find a source for this that doesn’t at some point go through the overpriced-bogus-supplements industry. The kind that make all sorts of nutty health claims, rather than just making up for what your diet lacks like OTC vitamins are intended to do. (Junk supplements is a HUGELY profitable industry, given that… well, here’s a real example: vitamin pack sold by Amway for $89.99. Exact same thing as a generic, and probably from the same factory, $2.25.)

            https://www.nutritruth.org/single-post/while-they-scare-you-with-variants-congress-wants-to-make-dietary-supplements-prescription-only

            So it might be more to the effect of — if you make a medical claim about your supplement, you’re now a medicine and will be regulated accordingly.

            PS. WPDE has a new trick: plopping an avatar not just at the top of the input field, but somewhere randomly in the middle.

            1. ….like the same medical style regulation that says Sarah’s thyroid is broken, she was getting treatment, it was HELPING, and now they say since it’s a non-standard break it doesn’t exist anymore?

              2. or, in the case of my mother’s thyroid medication, the previous med on the market–which worked better for her and didn’t leave her feeling crappy (being the one made from cow thyroid)–are now no longer available because the company that makes the other one bought it and quashed it so they could have a monopoly. Grrr.

                1. None of the Rx natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) are made from cows anymore due to the risk of BSE. AFAIK all are made from pork. (You can get beef-sourced OTC, tho.)

                  Nature-Throid had a recall (very very rare with NDT) about two years ago, and never got back on the market. Armour is the Big Noise but is not as strong per dose, and lately is unavailable. NP is still available (Walmart and Costco both have it) but the quality is …variable. I have not heard of any company buying another. (Nature-Throid and Westhroid have been the same company for a long time.) Erfa in Canada hasn’t been available for a while either. I think it probably has more to do with mechanical processing of carcasses, and more pork carcasses being processed in Chinese-owned plants, than anything to do with monopolies. It’s not a high-profit item. — NP is sourced “from pork in western Europe from proprietary sources” according to the company (I asked) but I’d swear it’s topped off with synthetic T3… very strong mineral oil taste and NONE of the distinctive “tooth decay” taste of NDT, makes me wonder what’s really in it.

                  I also do much better on NDT than on synthetic, but can scrape by on synth T4 if I also get T3; I don’t do well on T4 alone. Usually you have to take a hammer to the doc to get an Rx for T3. It can be found from bodybuilding sites, tho word around is the quality is all over the place. The older someone is, the more likely they can’t convert T4 and need supplemental T3.

                  Side note: all T4 is not the same. I can’t take Synthroid at all; it’s worse than none (and is much more variable than other brands). My mom likewise; she takes Levoxyl. Unithroid is the reference drug and if you can get it (it’s also sold as generic) it’s usually better than the others.

                  65mg (“one grain”) of NDT = 38mcg T4 and 9mcg T3, and has a shelf life measured in decades. There’s probably no reason a person can’t source and make their own, just as was done in the earliest days of thyroid treatment.

              1. Maybe people will start paying attention when they can’t prevent their pets from getting heartworm anymore.

                1. Just got our new pup (5-7 yrs old) a shot, ProHeart 12 Injection, that provides 1 year protection from heartworm. I recommend looking into it. For Sugar (Pug mix, 16 lbs) it was $98.

                  1. Wow $98 is way less than the monthly Flea/Tick/Heartworm option Pepper gets. Or is that just for Heartworm?

                    Heartworm is less of concern locally. But Fleas are horrible. Even Ticks can be in residential backyards but not as bad as points east.

                    1. Yes, it’s just Heartworm. She still has to take Simparica 3pk 11.1-22.0 lbs, once a month, $50 for a 3 pack.

                    2. Ah. Then about the same as Simparica Trifecta (all 3) for the year (with discount for getting years worth for same size pup).

                      We spend $1000 – $1200 / year on Flea/Tick/Heartworm meds / year for 5 animals (1 dog / 4 cats). Worth every penny. We don’t have fleas on animals, in house, or in yard. Fleas can be bad enough that mom and sister, who do not have pets, have to treat their yards for fleas. (Cats are on the topical Revolution).

                    3. Yeah, I wasn’t really thinking in terms of cost so much as “if something happens, at least she’s protected for a while.”

                    4. I have the luxury of living in an area where heartworm isn’t an epidemic. While treatment is recommended, especially if you take your dog to other areas, it isn’t pushed.

                    6. That is what our veterinarian has said. Low risk. But not NO risk. We don’t travel to high risk areas. But the areas we do travel to are, again, Low Risk, not NO risk. Cats are on topical Revolution which for cats is ticks, fleas, and heartworm. Dog is on Trifeca (sp?) Plus pill for heartworm, ticks, and fleas. We can have mosquitoes, but not often. We travel to areas that have mosquitoes but not when they are out in force … I’m allergic to bug bites, so …

    6. We were in Bass Pro Shop yesterday and the place looked like they were trying to stretch their goods so it would look well-stocked. Odd gaps – high-end and low-end binoculars, nothing in between.
      Then found a sign stating due to supply chain issues many items are not in store, check with employees and they will see if they can order your item.
      Then today, took a walk around new area (Southeastern US). This area lives off tourism. But the neighboring mid-level fried chicken chain is only open for drive-through, 6 a.m to 3 p.m. and due to supply chain issues, they don’t have chicken tenders. Given the nearest city is bright electric blue, the next few weeks are going to be interesting.

      1. Chicken has been in short supply all summer around here, especially wings.

        Our local shoe store is short on stock.

        1. I was still able to get Boneless breast for $1,78 a pound at Wal-Mart last week. Sam’s recently raised theirs to $1.83. DFW area and available. I have noticed a wing shortage.

      2. My favorite local hardware store said they can’t get construction related muff-type ear protection.

        The other local hardware store was reasonably well stocked with it – in the firearms section.

        I should probably suggest to my favorite store that they ring up firearms accessory manufacturers as see if they can get stock from there..

  14. Many, many good wishes for the journey. I think you’ll find you’ll set down roots there, in fertile soil. And at a lower altitude, which is a plus. Godspeed.

  15. Welcome home. As the wife likes to say “plenty of room in the basket with the rest of us deplorables.” Or perhaps Franklin “we must all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

  16. Sarah, you’re the reason America is so exceptional. I’m glad you’re my geographical sister.
    The post made me cry. I’m starting to weep now as I write because all this matters so much, and it hurts so much, and it’s so godawful wrong.
    A woman today in San Diego told the school board that since they only governed with her consent, she was removing consent and would no longer recognize their authority.

    “When in the course of human events…” begins the second most beautiful bit of prose ever created. The first is the Holy Bible.

    Stay wary. Stay alert. Aslan is on the move.

  17. It takes grit and luck to find and make a home, more to maintain and defend it.

    Looking back with eight decades of perspective, it’s all well worth it.

  18. It’s a hard day for me. On top of all the political and military crap, and the fear that things are going to go sideways and screw up everything, I had to put my big dumb 17-year-old ragdoll kitty to sleep yesterday. I took today off work, and I keep expecting him to come over and ask to sit on my lap with his squeaky-hinge meow and some claws in my leg.

    Good news is that my boss-of-boss zoomed me to tell me I’m getting a big raise on top of my regular end-of-year raise, and an email that I won’t need to get a different doctor after all.

    But I still miss my kitty.

    4. Condolences from me as well. I had to put the Maine Coon mix queen of the house to sleep in February and the house still feels empty without her (and her brother, who passed on his own in October) so yeah it always hurts.

    6. Virtual Hugs. Sorry I know how hard it is to lose fur babies who have been in your life. Young, Old, doesn’t matter. May the next fur baby drop into your lap when you least expect it. You’ll know one of your prior fur babies put them onto your path.

  19. *Looks at St. Walburga and St. Boniface medals, and St. Michael icon* Build under, build around, bite and hold. We can do this, those of us of good will who are Americans at heart. But it won’t be easy, and it hurts like heck. I had grand hopes for this school year. Those . . . fell apart yesterday. I should have anticipated it, but it still hurts. (Which is probably why I’m trying to veer off task and write the wrong book instead of finishing the WIP.)

    2. It will hurt. Oh, Lord, it will hurt.
      And hon, as soon as I land, I’ll be in touch about a familiar antho. It should help with sales, and vice versa.
      HUGS.

    3. Hugs.

      I’m in a somewhat similar situation. I just finished three conventions in three weeks, and when I set off for the first one, I’d had such high hopes that we were finally going to turn our situation back around. I was upset by the discovery that two of our biggest money-makers had been sold to a new promoter who will probably turn them into autograph mills. But now I’m struggling with a vision of the whole con scene collapsing, our business folding, and me being forced back into the sort of jobs that work against all my weaknesses instead of with my strengths.

      I’m having real trouble focusing on anything long enough to get it accomplished. In some ways this is worse than those first weeks of the pandemic. I’m back to that feeling of “if this is going to kill me, let’s just get it over and done with instead of drawing it out in a slow agony of sick dread.”

        1. I have stuff on eBay. It sells very slowly. So slowly that doing it on any platform that charges a monthly fee would be paying to have items taken off my hands. EBay works because I stay within the number of listings we get free each month, so I pay only the final value fee and the postage to ship the item to the buyer (with more and more buyers balking at a separate shipping fee, I’ve gone to building the cost of shipping into the price and offering “free” shipping).

          There was a time when I made a decent income selling books on Amazon’s Marketplace. That time is long gone. The last time I tried to list books on the Marketplace, I couldn’t even make my monthly fee, and was paying out of pocket for postage. After three months of effectively paying to have items taken off our hands, I pulled the plug.

    4. Thanks all. The emotional crash is probably my fault for being overly optimistic. This too will pass. Like a kidney stone, perhaps, but it will pass.

  20. Also, dunno if it was intentional, but any time this page refreshes, it auto-downloads a copy of the Netherlands constitution….Not sure that’s really what was intended… 😀

    2. Mea Culpa on the Netherlands constitution… Your browser is being extra helpful (mine doesn’t do it, but I also block all scripting not immediately required), but WPDE anyway. Dunno why it does that to some PDF links and not to others. Might have to make a habit of munging PDF links.

  21. It seems like if there really were 90 million of us voters, and I don’t doubt that a teensy bit, then there are very many more of us than there are of them. Of course there are still more fence sitters and apathetic LIV than in either group.

    However, if things get bad as it seems like it will, I expect that people will start to take sides. Our job, in that case, will be to rally the unaffiliated to our side.

    The commies do seem to be working hard to shove people to us because the commies are truly awful people. The cities may be lost, however, this is a grand and glorious country and the rest of us can get by and help each other through this.

    Wolverines!

    2. It’s Reziac’s comment at #comment-796547. Somehow the link to the Dutch constitution is defaulting to a download.

      Sarah, you may need to edit.

  23. We’re all glad you found your way to here as your real home, as messy as things are right now. Still not sure how searching for my actual home within the country is going to go yet and I’m still highly dubious that I’ve got what it takes to survive anything vaguely resembling a collapse but here’s hoping. Hope the rest of the move finishes well and that’s coming from the kitties, too, including the seal point floof who just fell out of my lap a few minutes ago! He can be way too silly for his own good sometimes…

  24. Just when you thought HarrisBiden couldn’t get any more feckless:

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/no-vaccination-against-this-2.php

    In any parliamentary system, they would be gone in a vote of no-confidence. In any non-Western type democracy, they would be gone in a military coup. Yet the very constitutional system that provides for removal either by election or other constitutional grounds (impeachment and 25th Amendment) is utterly hated by them and they seek to dismantle it.

    1. There’s also the little matter that as bad as Joe is, Commie-la would undoubtedly be as bad or WORSE, and even MOAR deliberately malicious. (The only reason Joe isn’t deliberately is ‘cos the dementia. Otherwise it would be completely deliberate.)

      And next in line after that is the Hag…

      1. My bad fantasy is something happens to Harris, then Biden’s troubles become unhideable. Or maybe we get Harris. Anyway, whoever’s in charge nominates a “moderate technocrat,” noone has ever heard of as VP. You know, someone with no ambition, just a caretaker until 2024. Maybe with a title like “former general secretary of the party.”
        And you can write the script from there.

        1. I keep trying to plot out the Year of Five Presidents. So far it requires a nervous breakdown and a stroke just to get past three, though.

          1. I just had an idea.

            We should establish a system of beacons, like the Beacons of Ammon Din in the LotR. You in West Seattle. Me in Edmonds. Others down south and farther.

            “Gondor calls for aid!”
            “And Rohan will answer.”
            “MUSTER THE ROHIRRIM!”

            Keep it on the back burner, just in case.

          2. Dementia, treason, 80-year-old alcoholic liver failure, “suicide”, Trump.

            You’re welcome.

        2. If Harris becomes POTUS because Biden dies or is removed, the Senate has a true 50-50 split without a tiebreaker, meaning that the Republicans could prevent a new VP from being approved (as well as stalling anything else Democrats push). Of course Malignancy might just like that as she then maneuvers to get the other San Francisco commie out of the way so she can be the San Francisco commie who is chief executive.

          1. Someone like Romney or Murkowski will likely vote for the new VP nom for reasons of “collegiality”.

              1. I hear ya. Cheney is mine. (I didn’t vote for her.) I’m really, REALLY hoping that her recent splashy shenanigans finally mean that Wyoming ousts her. I know most of the folks where I am are pissed. I just hope it lasts until election…

              2. I think you mean that ‘Romney is a senator from your state’. Just like Feinkenstein was never MY senator.

  25. Oh, FFS. King Jay has just re-declared an indoor mask mandate for vaccinated AND unvaccinated people, and also required all WA state school employees to be vaccinated on pain of losing their jobs.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/inslee-brings-back-statewide-mask-order-and-mandates-vaccines-for-school-workers/

    Because doing the same thing that didn’t work before makes just so much sense.

    And if the vaccines aren’t working, then insisting that everyone get them ALSO makes just so much sense.

    [insert long string of profanity here]

    Guess I’m not going out dancing next week like I planned.

    1. WA King Jay is a slacker. Queen Brown has had us masked for a week, regardless of vaccination status. Next stop, full lock down, again. Like either has helped at all.

    2. OMFG. OMFFG. Will it never end?

      I was gently confronted at my little local QFC yesterday by the kindest, loveliest store manager a girl could ask for. George. He offered a box of slave muzzles and he and I spoke for a few minutes. I explained that I can’t wear one–it’s the reason I’m on an LOA from work. He said I could come in and he’d never harass me. It broke my heart.

      1. Democrats: People will die in Afghanistan and it can’t be helped.
        Also Democrats: You must be vaccinated with boosters and more boosters, and wear multiple masks and perpetually distance and be locked down because “if it will save just one life”.

        It’s not about about health or safety. It’s about control. There will always be another “dangerous variant” because the commies-fascists who are imposing these diktats seek to keep the power they have and acquire more. They want to be a boot that stamps on our faces forever, to borrow from a famous novel.

          3. And that, my friend, is the thing they hate more than anything else. The idea of leaving someone else alone to live their life as they see fit? Total anathema to them.

          4. To (mis)quote from James Bond, it is getting close to he time for Live and let die.

      1. Oddly enough, when our mayor first put in the mask policy, all the cities around did the same. This time around, only KC is doing the masks, AFAICT.

    4. We actually managed to remove Wolf’s ability to impose mandates about anything on the state. But Kenney, our totally incompetent evil mayor in Philadelphia has reimposed the indoor masking mandate. But it’s not being followed very well.

    5. we’ve been spared here as both Whitless The Wonder Stasi and Evers have been taken down a notch, by courts in Ever’s case ( and WI has performed better than MI and IL as a result) and legislatively in Whitless’ case.

      1. I’m not, because the burden of proof will be on you to prove you’ve been vaccinated according to their “sole source of truth” database. They’d never implement it for voting, but….

  26. “My Country, ’tis of thee” makes a big deal out of being born American, but says nothing about fighting for it, leaving that up to God. Which is fine if you’re a Quaker, but ends up getting a lot of folks killed and disenfranchised. Probably one of the reasons I like the Star Spangled Banner for our anthem.

    1. My country, ’tis of thee,

    Sweet land of liberty,

    Of thee I sing;

    Land where my fathers died,

    Land of the pilgrims’ pride,

    From ev’ry mountainside

    Let freedom ring!

    2. My native country, thee,

    Land of the noble free,

    Thy name I love;

    I love thy rocks and rills,

    Thy woods and templed hills.

    My heart with rapture thrills

    Like that above.

    3. Let music swell the breeze

    And ring from all the trees

    Sweet freedom’s song;

    Let mortal tongues awake;

    Let all that breathe partake;

    Let rocks their silence break,

    The sound prolong.

    4. Our fathers’ God, to thee,

    Author of liberty,

    To thee we sing;

    Long may our land be bright

    With freedom’s holy light.

    Protect us by thy might,

    Great God, our King!

      1. The Battle Hymn is the one I hear in my head when my imagination takes me to next year, and possible events.

        1. Since we are posting lyrics tonight:

          Mine eyes have seen the glory
          Of the coming of the Lord;
          He is trampling out the vintage
          Where the grapes of wrath are stored;
          He hath loosed the fateful lightning
          Of His terrible swift sword;
          His truth is marching on.

          Chorus
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          His truth is marching on.

          I have seen Him in the watchfires
          Of a hundred circling camps
          They have builded Him an altar
          In the evening dews and damps;
          I can read His righteous sentence
          By the dim and flaring lamps;
          His day is marching on.

          Chorus
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          His truth is marching on.

          He has sounded forth the trumpet
          That shall never call retreat;
          He is sifting out the hearts of men
          Before His judgement seat;
          Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him;
          Be jubilant, my feet;
          Our God is marching on.

          Chorus
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          His truth is marching on.

          In the beauty of the lilies
          Christ was born across the sea,
          With a glory in His bosom
          That transfigures you and me;
          As He died to make men holy,
          Let us die to make men free;
          While God is marching on.

          Chorus
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
          His truth is marching on.

          1. God bless you.
            “He has sounded forth the trumpet
            That shall never call retreat;
            He is sifting out the hearts of men
            Before His judgement seat;
            Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him;
            Be jubilant, my feet;
            Our God is marching on.”
            That verse just broke the dam of grief about my country.

            Imma go make some bacon and eggs. That’s all I have room for at this point.

          3. Although I love “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” there is something to be said for the anthem of defiance written by a prisoner after the enemy turned our fort to rubble, burned our capitol and routed our forces. Not triumphalism but, “I still live!” as John Carter would say.

              1. The only national anthem (of which I’m aware) which is not a boast, blood-cry, or paean. It’s a challenge, and a question: Does the flag still fly over the land of the free and the home of the brave?

            2. “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Star-Spangled Banner” both strike me as being too mellow for that sort of thing. If my march to battle is going to have a soundtrack then I consider this to the bare minimum acceptable:

          4. Thank you for posting the complete song- it’s necessary and appropriate. Battle Hymn of the Republic was the song that used to be stuck in my head on endless repeat whenever things were not going well. For some weird reason, it hasn’t been stuck on endless repeat since the world shutdown. It’s concerning as I wonder when the shoe will drop.

            2. There’s an additional verse as well:

              I can read his fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel
              As you deal with my condemners, so with you my Grace shall deal
              Let the hero born of woman crush the serpent ‘neath his heel
              While God is marching on

              is how I remember it, but I’m not sure that’s all of it.

          1. Yes. This, and “Iron,” and “Winged Hussars,” and “Morning Trumpet,” (another Sacred Harp favorite from the 1800s.) “Chester” by William Billings has some merit as well.

            1. It’s not as bad as when I was listening to Break Stuff by Limp Bizket, but:

              … have you ever seen the look on a barely-speaks-English guy’s face when the car across from him is suddenly screaming “JOIN THE SCOTTISH REVOLUTION! FREEDOM MUST BE WON BY BLOOD!” ?

              I made a point of looking very, very fluffy and flutter-y right then.

          3. March of Cambreadth is always lovely. My mother has that as my ringtone on her phone, in fact.

            But there’s an old carol that comes to mind with the following verse:

            We have powder and shot
            to conquer the lot.
            We have cannon and ball
            to conquer them all.

        3. The Battle Hymn has just the right combination of stirring call to arms mixed with righteous fury. It makes you want to take action, but that’s not all it does. It also says, “Our cause is just, and great and terrible things are about to happen in the process of furthering that cause.”

          1. I have always read the “glory” in the chorus, not as ordinary glory in battle, but in the sense of the terrible glory of God that Moses must be protected from seeing in the cleft of the rock.

            2. The rest of the song fits with that general theme. It’s not a nice song. It’s also not a “we’ll make them pay” song or a “standing defiant” song. It’s a song that pretty much only promises great and terrible things will be inflicted on the Earth. It’s perhaps somewhat odd that a song with the lyrics it has would be inspiring. And yet, it is.

            3. I’m pretty sure it does refer to God’s Glory, burning bush, Moses hiding from it, that Glory.

      2. I still like the Red Army’s version of it best, when they performed with the Leningrad Cowboys.

        I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish’d rows of steel
        As ye deal with my condemners so with you my grace shall deal
        Let the hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
        His truth is marching on

    2. I’m descended from the Quakers who broke away from the Arch St. meeting, and others in Philly, to form their own meeting and actually fight on the side of the revolutionaries. That might explain a lot about me…

  27. Second time I’ve seen that quote from Ruth in a week. Different contexts though. Meanwhile, as I type this, I’m listening to “Oh Mary Don’t you Weep,” as sung by Bruce Springsteen!? “God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water but fire next time.”

    I try never to say, “I’m proud to be an American,” rather, “I’m lucky to be an American,” ’cause I was born here. Even in the land of Gov. Nuisance no one is enforcing mask mandates at the stores. Unfortunately I work under the Facade In Chief, so am required to mask at work even alongside the poor souls who got vaccinated and have to do the same and are now being pestered to get yet another shot.

    I no longer need to be here, but “some work of noble note may yet be done,” so we’ll see.

    1. Right, the first two shots didn’t do shit, so another shot of the same stuff will totally cure everybody.

      It’s like they’re not even trying to lie plausibly any more. When are the sheep going to open their eyes? When the guy in the rubber apron steps up with the bolt gun?

      1. Well, to be honest, the shots actually worked about as well as the annual flu shots; which is, not perfectly, approximately 65% +-15%.
        The problem is, we’ve seen that the adverse event rate to the shots picks up fast for the second one (or the first after having actually caught covid.) And for those “boosters” using the same shot, the adverse event rate is reported to be even higher.

        Now add the MIT study showing there is a pathway for the mRNA to ‘accidentally’ get written back into cellular DNA, and that would argue that you probably shouldn’t get the shot unless the fatality rate passes 15 to 20%.

        1. And for those “boosters” using the same shot, the adverse event rate is reported to be even higher.

          Which makes sense, for the declared method of how it works– if the immune response is based off of the spikes, and more spikes makes for a stronger response, the more often you GET those spikes, the stronger your reaction will be.

          And adverse reactions are largely “your immune system reacted like you were really sick.”

    2. Depends on where you are. Shops in LA County are enforcing the mask requirements that the county health department has reestablished.

      1. Yeah, Fascism in action. One really wishes all those “good cops” would refuse to escort the brownshirts sent to close them down.

    2. Battlefield Earth! 😛

      [Running for Carp-proof bunker]

      Like a pun, it’s so bad it’s good.

      A bit more serious, ‘The Course Of Empire’ by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth.

      1. Course Of Empire is one of the choices.

        Follow the Link to vote. 😉

  30. Well, if everyone is already not angry enough, an Obama appointee just effectively eliminated our national borders and enforcement of immigration laws as “racist”:

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/18/obama-appointed-judge-prosecuting-previously-deported-latinx-illegal-aliens-is-unconstitutional-racist/

    The decision is of course absurd. 1) Illegal aliens trying to enter the country are NOT protected by the Constitution; 2) the Constitution gives CONGRESS the right to make immigration law, and that law provides that people re-entering after being deported can be prosecuted as felons.

    This heinous decision is a perfect example of the utter disregard for the Constitution and the law that Democrats are so eager to pack the Supreme Court with.

    The big problem here is that HarrisBiden are unlikely to appeal this and will eagerly implement this leftist loons decision (and if they do appeal it, it is in the 9th Circuit). The law of course prohibits ALL illegal aliens from re-entering, not just those of Spanish descent.

      1. We need to find a way to *graphically* illustrate to the judicial body that they DO NOT LEGISLATE PERIOD. I’m very, very tired of judges legislating from the bench. It’s gone on for too long (and the SC is guilty of it as well), and I’m not sure anything short of a VERY graphic object lesson (I don’t know what, I leave that to those more imaginative than I) will make the required impression.

  31. They’re not even trying to hide it any more.

    What’s so special about the descendants of Spanish and Portugese colonists that makes them better than descendants of British, German, Dutch and French colonists anyway?

    1. They don’t see anything “special” about descendants of Spanish and Portuguese colonists.

      IMO They don’t think about them having Spanish or Portuguese ancestors. They think “refugees” from Latin American as “Browns”. IE Having American Indian Blood.

      1. Like the gents buying glasses when I was getting my latest upgrade last week. I’d guess, based on appearances and language, that the older man was 3/4 Indio, possibly South American rather than Central or Mexico. So he’s “Hispanic” because he’s from a Latin American country, but far more “Native American” than of European ancestry, again based on looks and speech.

    2. Also keep in mind that a lot of people from Africa, asia, and the Middle East are flying to Panama and Columbia and then trekking cross-country to get across the border that way.

  34. Srh, every time you write/talk like this I thank God for you choosing America.

    And I’m somewhat reminded of the ending of the Casablanca movie where Victor Laszlo tells Rick, “Welcome back to the fight. Now I know we’ll win.”

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