Taming The Black Dog

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

So…. this time line. This wretched, depressing, aching time line… Or perhaps just this time, where we must confront the death of our ancestors illusions.

I’m not going to apologize for the Cassandra moment, yesterday. Yes, I know, Cassandra didn’t get half the kicking around she deserved. And yet I guarantee to you the worst thing of all was to watch folly unroll twice: the one she’d seen inside her head and then the one before her eyes.

It is a curse to be able to look ahead, and see the most likely path, and then not be able to stop people if that path is absolutely suicidal and stupid.

Having seen the left build the narrative to hide the coming theft, (and the staggering scale of that theft) I don’t know what to do. Nothing, I suppose, just like I could do nothing when I saw how stupid the lockdowns were.

(And don’t get me started on those of you who seem to think being ruled by decree by unelected persons is really better than throwing it to your representatives, even when the decree is nonsensical and made up out of whole cloth.

Did I die and wake up in the 11th century, or something? Yes, I know your representatives are idiots. And you think the perfumed, princely judges aren’t? What? they’re Good Men, made to rule? Give me a break. Think. No, this isn’t about that vote, but hearing libertarians defend ex nihilo decrees of unelected officials turns my stomach and makes me think this really is the stupidest timeline.

Yes, solid interpretations of law might stand, but bullshit that is even flimsier than Roe will eventually be overturned. And then what? Are you going to threaten to kill judges? Is that the idea?

Leave alone my beliefs on this. Or your beliefs on this. They are nothing to the matter. Look at what you’d prefer: a real and clear law, written by representatives you can toss out; or the drunken word-spinning of a toking judge granting you things because it’s what he likes?
I have often argued against things I believe right, because the process matters. And these days, taking processes out of the hands of those we can’t punish is EVERYTHING.
But perhaps I’m alone in this. May the yoke be light on your neck.)

This morning, the black dog isn’t tamed. But he is quieter.

I’ve always said that communism would have to die here. The virus came here, even as it destroyed its structures in other countries and took the host with it. Here it hid in our universities, our arts, our intellectual life. And we’ve been strong enough and rich enough to live with it, as a sort of chronic condition.

However, the only way to kill it is to see it. To have it break free of containment and try to kill us as it killed others. Only then can we target it, kill it, remove the malware from the human system for a while.

So it has to die here. And it’s not going to die peacefully. Oh, perhaps there will be no war as such — who knows? — but hunger teaches very sharp lessons nonetheless.

Already, whatever the left thinks, our trust in our system is gone. They didn’t need that barbed wire this time, but as they tighten the screws and more of the system collapses they will need it. And it won’t avail them.

Already people are ignoring them, or doing things to rub their faces in their own stupidity — busing illegal aliens to DC and NYC is a chef’s kiss of wonderful, let them choke on the shit they spew on the rest of us — and ignoring their decrees in myriad way. All their vaunted rulings come apart in their hands like rotted cloth.

Perhaps we have to experience the full measure of misery plus some. It is certain the elections won’t be cleaned up without it, nor the true bankruptcy of Marxist thought exposed.

Cults usually have to die out by having their prophecies disproved over and over and over again.

Yes, millions will die for the fantasies of the lords of internationalism. But the stench of corpses will wake up those that remain.

It is not what I wanted, but it is what it is, and humans — as is said of Americans — only do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else.

Perhaps it has to get worse before it gets better.

I was vouchsafed, long before all of this started, a certainty the republic would survive this. That it would return and endure. Now, I don’t require you to believe that. I don’t believe it half the time (I really hate woo woo stuff.) And I don’t know if this will be in time, or in the future. But it doesn’t matter, does it? The Republic will survive. That’s all I really need to know. Whether it coincides with my mortal and limited life is immaterial. I believe in verities that stand eternal, and it is their survival and manifestation in this world that matter.

Meanwhile…. well, as grandma said… we’ll eat the bread the devil kneaded.

But even devil’s bread will keep you alive. It just makes you angry and bitter and determined.

Listen to Steve’s suggestions on what to do now, to try to clean up the vote. And if that doesn’t work, stand by to fight another day. Because some things are worth fighting for.

The truth is, there will be a lot of unnecessary suffering and pain, because like the fictional puppet masters, these people are too stupid to keep slaves.

It’s acquired stupidity, dinned into their skulls early and often, but it is stupidity.

In the end, we win, they lose.

Put a leash on that black dog. Take him for a walk. I’m going to clean up the list of names to thank, and then start assembling the collection of USAian stories. I’m also going to finish setting up DSR to reissue and work on BOR.

Life goes on. Life went on in bombed out Beirut, and it goes on for us.

We are fortunate to be in a country where the deaths — even if it takes five or ten or fifteen years to get rid of the Puppet Masters — of famine and deprivation are likely to be minimal. We are a feisty people, with resources. We’ll manage.

And we’ll learn.

The burnt hand teaches best. This one will need to burn to the bone, I think. But we’ll learn.

May the Author in his mercy not make us taste the full cup of evil, even if we deserve it.

Now leash that dog. Take it for a walk. And be as bright and productive as you can be. Only that will cushion the fall. And perhaps avoid some deaths. And get us ready to build again.

Me, I’m going to sling words. It’s all I’m good for. And sometimes it’s enough.

261 thoughts on “Taming The Black Dog”

    1. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his mercy endures forever.
      Let Israel say: his mercy endures forever.
      Let the house of Aaron say, his mercy endures forever.
      Let those who fear the LORD say, his mercy endures forever.

      In danger I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.
      The LORD is with me; I am not afraid; what can mortals do against me?
      The LORD is with me as my helper; I shall look in triumph on my foes.
      Better to take refuge in the LORD than to put one’s trust in mortals.
      Better to take refuge in the LORD than to put one’s trust in princes.

      All the nations surrounded me; in the LORD’s name I cut them off.
      They surrounded me on every side; in the LORD’s name I cut them off.
      They surrounded me like bees; they burned up like fire among thorns; in the LORD’s name I cut them off.
      I was hard pressed and falling, but the LORD came to my help.
      The LORD, my strength and might, has become my savior.

      The joyful shout of deliverance is heard in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand works valiantly;
      the LORD’s right hand is raised; the LORD’s right hand works valiantly.”
      I shall not die but live and declare the deeds of the LORD.
      The LORD chastised me harshly, but did not hand me over to death.

      Open the gates of righteousness; I will enter and thank the LORD.
      This is the LORD’s own gate, through it the righteous enter.
      I thank you for you answered me; you have been my savior.
      The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
      By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.
      This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.
      LORD, grant salvation! LORD, grant good fortune!

      Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.
      The LORD is God and has enlightened us. Join in procession with leafy branches up to the horns of the altar.

      You are my God, I give you thanks; my God, I offer you praise.
      Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, his mercy endures forever

      2. 1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
        who trains my hands for war,
        my fingers for battle.
        2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
        my stronghold and my deliverer,
        my shield, in whom I take refuge,
        who subdues peoples[a] under me.

        3 Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
        mere mortals that you think of them?
        4 They are like a breath;
        their days are like a fleeting shadow.

        5 Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
        touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
        6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
        shoot your arrows and rout them.
        7 Reach down your hand from on high;
        deliver me and rescue me
        from the mighty waters,
        from the hands of foreigners
        8 whose mouths are full of lies,
        whose right hands are deceitful.

      1. The system that we have in place has failed to protect Americans from the disastrous concentration of power in criminal/marxist hands, specifically DC and the banking cabal…As John Adams prophetically said, the Constitution was written for a serious and Christian population, it would never work for others…So the present system has to be burned to the ground and, optimistically, replaced by something like the Articles of Confederation, or not so optimistically by 10 or 12 separate groupings of States with similar populations and interests, with citizens fleeing to States that represent their cultures….

  2. Sometimes that Black Dog needs to be beaten with a very Big Stick.

    But not that cute little black puppy. 😆

  3. I shoulda done more writing yesterday, instead of noodling about on the internets. Thus today will require more time in the word mines, chipping out plot chunks and smelting them into story bits.

  4. Bit found on Tumblr, I’ll sum up – What Cassandra needed was Odysseus in her corner.

    Cassandra: “I’m cursed to tell the truth but nobody believes me!”
    Odysseus (sidles up): “I’m Nobody. Spill.”

          2. Not for some time!

            I’m still trying to finish the simple short story that I started a year to two back, which is currently at about 150 thousand words.

            Since I’m actually getting the dang scenes to match up, and the characters to show development, etc, I don’t want to stop before the whatever the heck is done!

  5. A thought.

    Urge your retired friends and others who have time available – particularly military and first responder veterans – be involved in get out the vote and voter integrity efforts this year.

    2. Already ahead of you. A group of us have been doing this for awhile. Database tables are ready and servers are quivering in anticipation of new data.

      But we also need to get rid of a few more local RINOs in 2024. Unless there is a collapse beforehand, then they may end up on same the “Do Not Assist” list of those that voted communist in the primaries.

  6. We ain’t defeated unless we surrender. And we ain’t surrendering. Even if it looks like it, there’s doing EXACTLY what is asked/demanded and letting the bastages deal with that.

    I recall a story of Occupied Europe and the bit one newspaper did “Anyone finding these papers [that Allied planes dropped] must turn them in. To aid in that, we are publishing an example so you know what to look out for.” Obeying the LETTER of the demand, and utterly defeating it.

  7. DC will never need barbed wire fences, because if things go south, it won’t be invaded; it has nothing to loot save books and paper. Few people are going to brave the place just to recover the Wright-Patterson engine test reports from 1918-1962.

    If things do go south, DC will be cut off and left to its own resources instead. Lining the place with barbed wire isn’t going to be especially useful in that context.

    1. cutting off the head of the beast is the way to kill it. I think barbed wire around maybe five or six US cities would do the job. DC, NYC, Chicago, San Fran, and Portland or Seattle

      1. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord. And drawing nigh he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked? If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein? Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.

          3. I am very blessed to be in a place other people are trying to get to start over. And since we’ve been here for decades and hubby is the sort to collect friends we have a massive support group. Not due to any work on my part other than marrying the right guy at age 19. And recently I’ve come to realize my job will be different than I would have expected since I’m hermit adjacent.

            We have been coming up alongside the newcomers that fall into our path and helping them get situated. Hubby finds the people and we help them acclimatize, get jobs, find services they need, etc. (Or the people find him) And I have met more new people in the last few months than I have for years even though I am more homebound than ever. But everyone has needed something we could provide.

            So be thinking about what you can do to help others in need too. Even if you aren’t a people person, if you are open to helping, people will come your way.

            Just knowing that I can be of service has helped keep that canine outside the fence where he belongs.

            1. That’s part of why I put up world and character-building bits on my blog, and reviews of Awesome Stuff. I figure if there’s enough neat bits out there, someone might say, “Hey, I think I could do that” or “hey, this sounds like just what I need to get out of a slump….”

              I’ve been told it helps. 🙂

        2. Abraham bargained Him down to ten righteous. One of the origins of needing ten for public prayer in Judaism. Alas, ten righteous could not be found and the city was destroyed. I have written a short story, “The Nine Righteous Men of Sodom”. The only fiction I’ve ever written. Nine righteous individuals who refused to become a community, never expanded their righteousness beyond themselves, and paid a great price.

          1. I’ve written one about Isaac’s averted sacrifice, but didn’t know what to do with it. There’s no market. I was trying to get across, that He did this, because the burned hand teaches best.

            1. Although every rabbi I have talked to disagrees, I have always felt it was a “put up job”. Abraham knew he would not be required to actually sacrifice Isaac.
              1. He came to the defense of the innocent in Sodom. Would he meekly not defend his son?
              2. When Isaac asks where the sacrifice is, he replies “The Lord will provide.” Future tense.
              3. The angel that stops him says “Harm not the lad.”. The word the is a Hebrew “particle” which could also mean “a* as easily as “the”. IAW, don’t do child sacrifice. BTW, traditionally Isaac was an adult at the time.
              4. Also traditionally, the ram caught in the thicket was placed there and then at the creation of the world.
              The point of the exercise was to emphasize NO HUMAN SACRIFICE.

              1. I don’t think so. I think it was a lesson about “don’t sacrifice humans” the only way it would stick.
                Every other culture fell into human sacrifice in stress, including the sainted Greeks.

                1. Every other culture fell into human sacrifice in stress, including the sainted Greeks.

                  Including ours. That’s what abortion is all about.

                  Stressed about your situation? Offer infant up and all your troubles will be magically ended.

                  It’s a lie like every other human sacrifice has always been.

              2. And after
                1. That
                2. the passing over of the first born in Egypt
                3. its being prohibited in the Law
                4. every firstborn being redeemed

                STILL Micah got asked.

                Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my crime, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
                You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.

              3. Re: Point one. There’s a rabbinical gloss on God’s commandment to Abraham that suggests the repetition is the shortening of a conversation in which Abraham did argue with God.

                “Take your son.”
                “Which son? I have two.”
                “Your only son.”
                “I only have one son by Hagar, and one son by Sarah.”
                “The son whom you love.”
                “I love both my sons.”
                “Issac!”

        3. Well, remember why the Capitol Steps did comedy instead of the Christmas Pageant they were supposed to do: they couldn’t find three wise men OR a virgin in DC.

        4. I always imagine that scene with Yahweh ending it with a Look and saying “FINE. Ten men. Are you done? May I go now?”

      2. At least metaphorical barbed wire.

        Where is John Galt? Don’t know , but he’s nowhere near DC, NYC, Chicago, San Fran, and Portland or Seattle!

        1. This just reminded me… A “Who is John Galt?” sticker showed up in a coworker’s cubicle a few weeks ago — and this in a very nonpolitical workplace. We’re not quite so outnumbered as some would have us believe.

          1. “Well boys, we’ve got three engines out, we’ve got more holes in us than a horse trader’s mule, the radio’s gone and we’re leaking fuel and if we was flying any lower, why we’d need sleigh bells on this thing… But we’ve got one thing on those Ruskies… At this height, why they might harpoon us, but they dang sure ain’t gonna spot us on no radar…”

      3. If I had to pick but one California city, would it be LA or San Fran? Craziness peaks higher in San Fran (higher per-capita crazy) but LA has such a large population the total amount of craziness is higher.

              1. Escape from New York was a far better movie. Of course it has turned out to be have pretty much been a spoiler.

        2. LA has more people, so yes more crazy people. But it also has more rational people. And not just because there are more people here.

          Things are changing. We don’t know where the world will be in ten years. As just one example, for decades now the left has been attempting to “wake up” the Asian vote in California. And given two elections in San Francisco within the last year, it might finally have succeeded. But given the outcome of those votes, and the active discrimination against Asians by many on the left, the left might regret this “waking up” pretty quick. That doesn’t mean that the Asian vote will automatically gravitate toward the right. It’s entirely possible that most of those Asians will stay with the Democrats… but simultaneously make over the state party in unexpected ways that forcibly inject some sanity into it.

          We have no idea what things will look like in ten years.

      6. One kills the beast by starving it. Cut off the head and more grow to take its place.

        Napalm also works….

      1. I definitely remember.

        I’m just saying they’ll never do them any good, because an actual assault would not have any reason to even want to enter DC. What is in there that anyone would want to carry off?

          1. Hmm definitely a very tough cheap cut for most of congress. Although some like the Speaker is pre-marinated, in fact cooking that over an open flame might be dangerous as she’s probably 80 proof +

          3. Yes, but that meat it is not fit for human consumption.

            On the other hand, the entire SE US has a major problem with feral hogs…

            1. Maybe not, but Sarah seems to be agitating for the Kilkenny Cats solution — let them eat each other.

              Hope there’s not a popcorn shortage…
              ———————————
              Natural selection — making the world a better place, one idiot at a time.

        2. The point wouldn’t be to carry something off. The point is that DC is symbolic.

          People need symbols. Having the capitol is a symbol. It lends an unconscious air of authority to the group that has it.

          1. People do indeed need symbols. But symbols don’t necessarily invoke “good”; the swastika and the hammer-and-sickle are both symbols. I’d argue that DC, along with most major cities, has already flipped in that direction in the minds of the sane and rational.

            (BTW, for some reason I initially read that as “shambolic”, and was just starting to nod when I continued reading and saw my error. 🙂 )

      2. I’m thinking a much larger wire fence than that where THEY are kept inside. Lol. Not sure LA will need a fence since the desert will suffice.

        1. Concertina atop an electrified fence should do nicely…no need for directionality. 😉

    4. No problem, they’re all scanned in and on a NASA server somewhere in ‘the cloud.’ And the Royal Air Force cloned it and has it hosted at the Cranston web site.

      2. Meh, system are all but one line of my post.

        Basically I’m looking for pretty much the whole of NASM.XXXX.1183.B

        If they’ve got it in digital copy, I will absolutely mail them a blank SSD to load it all up on too, if that’s what it takes. I wants it my precious….

        1. Good news lots of the fun stuff is out by the airport at Udvar Hazy annex. And much wwII + stuff is duplicated (or unique, E.g. XB-70) at USAF Museum at Wright Pat.

          1. There a way to get at it currently, or get it in digital copy? Or is everything still under lock down?

            I pinged the Smithsonian about some specific documents I was looking for a year or so ago, but haven’t heard much back from them after the original email exchange.

            I’d of like the entire pile, especially if I can get it on disk, instead of straight photo copy.

      3. Just because it’s in the cloud doesn’t mean it won’t disappear in 60 seconds….. as authors overseas are finding out:

        https://thisiscommonsense.org/2022/08/08/china-leads-the-way/

        “A novelist lost access to the novel she was working on. Though almost finished, she had placed her draft in “the cloud” . . . and her Internet service decided to lock her out.
        Suddenly, her million words were no longer hers.

        That should be a lesson to us all about cloud storage (keep local, off-line back-ups of precious data!), but it’s especially a lesson about China.”

        1. There are still people unaware that clouds evaporate?
          ———————————
          They say I can’t be a nonconformist because I’m not like the other nonconformists.

            1. The usual conversation is usually:

              “Do you have an off site backup?”

              “No, that’s the cloud operator’s problem.”

              1. …for definitions of “the cloud operator’s problem” reducing to “Well, I’m screwed”. I’ve never used the cloud for anything, and I never will.

        2. I liked the description one of Ace’s commenters used: the cloud is nothing more than someone else’s computer.

  8. “And is there anything cheerful about that?” Fernald asked frostily. “I’ll say there is!” Morgan’s big face assumed a sneering smile, an expression never seen by any voter. “This chart deals only with living, legally registered, bona-fide voters. Now if we can come that close to winning an absolutely honest election, how do you figure we can possibly lose the kind this one is going to be? We’re in power, you know. We’ve got this machine and we know how to use it.” “Oh, yes, I remember—vaguely. You told me about North American politics once, a few years ago. Dead men, ringers, repeaters, ballot-box stuffing, and so on, you said?” “‘And so on’ is right, Chief!” Morgan assured him, heartily. “Everything goes, this time. It’ll be one of the biggest landslides in North American history.” “I will, then, defer any action until after the election.”

    E. E. Smith, First Lensman, 1952

    1. Sadly the Patrol is not at our disposal in this timeline, although that is the onl;y strategy that might work.

      1. And the Lens aren’t around to keep a would be Patrol incorruptible.

        1. More’s the pity. Turn a couple of Lensmen loose on DC…with charged DeLameters. Judge, jury…and executioner.

      2. Don’t be so sure. Youngkin’s campaign in Virginia flooded the polls with observers…all of whom had attorneys on speed-dial. Much harder to cheat that way.

      1. I don’t know. I haven’t cast any yet and my intended purpose shouldn’t require machining (although it does involve making a substitute for spent casings, just not for reloading).

      2. Since I can’t leave comments on The Phantom Soapbox, I’ll drop one here about your latest rant.

        We’re not ‘homophobic’, or ‘transphobic’ or any of the other pejoratives they throw at us. We don’t have an overwhelming irrational fear of people with…unusual ideas about genders. We’re just not interested. We don’t care enough to hate them, either. We find them tedious and tiresome. All we really want is for them to go do their thing and leave us alone to do ours.

        Why does that stir them to screaming frenzy?
        ———————————
        As long as sex and money exist, they will be exchanged.

        1. Sometimes the comments at The Soapbox get lost by Google. Sorry about that.

          So other will know what we’re talking about: https://phantomsoapbox.blogspot.com/2022/08/justice-is-served-axe-falls-at-dc-comics.html

          I generally, when posting rants like that, include the “of course there’s nothing -wrong- with XYZ as long as you keep it off my lawn” boilerplate, but over the years I’ve noticed it doesn’t do a lick of good. They’re not inclined to leave us alone, it doesn’t matter what we say or do.

          Hilariously, I am what used to be called a classical Liberal. A hippie, even. I’m quite devoted to the idea of people being allowed to let their freak-flag fly. I rarely judge. If somebody wants to pretend they are a dog and dress up in doggie costumes with their friends, have doggie orgies in their back yard, go nuts. Not my thing, I’m not a fan, but not worth tut-tutting about. I don’t care have a nice day.

          But am I going to sit still for Weirdo McDoggieMan to be the Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition Deputy at the Department of Energy in charge of the USA’s nuclear waste? No. Now you’re getting your weird crud on my lawn. That’s no good.

          So, can there be weird/wrong/EW! movies available on Netflix? Sure. I don’t care. Is it okay that EVERY SINGLE MOVIE -must- include all the weird/wrong shit that I’m not a fan of? No. Now you’re on my lawn.

          For saying “GET OFF MY LAWN!” there are endless throngs of sock-puppets all set to scream Nazi at you and me on social media. Same ones that screamed Nazi at Sarah and Larry for Sad Puppies. “How DARE you participate!”

          There are probably less than 1,000 of these ridiculous screamer people. They look bigger on-line because sock-puppets. You can tell by the way Netflix and Warner just cancelled all the stuff they say they like.

          Reality is five @ssh0les with an inflatable Cthulhu blimp threatening us. It all goes their way until the wind picks up. Breeze just picked up.

            1. And the funny thing is that I’m exactly like the Phantom. “Don’t do it on the street, don’t scare the horses.” BUT THEY WON’T LEAVE US ALONE. WE MUST WATCH AND APPROVE.

    2. Interesting. I’ve been doing a lot of aluminum smelting/casting (Lost foam, like lost wax but leave the Styrofoam in the mold and it vaporizes.). Might have to do some experimenting with copper aluminum alloys.

      1. Lots of YouTubers running Gingery or similar furnaces do lot of aluminum/copper alloys.

        I have something that calls for spent casings and I’d I’d like to see if cast aluminum/copper alloys will substitute as brass is a specific form of bronze.

        I thought of just using copper tubing, but I suspect the strong and brittle nature is needed.

        Also, a lot of interesting casings could be made of bronze.

        1. Just a note: Brass and bronze are both alloys of copper, but neither is a form of the other and they have different characteristics. Also, your post wasn’t clear on your intended usage, but be very careful if you intend to form usable cartridge brass; the requirements, as to both material and heat treatment, are pretty strict if you don’t want unfortunate results. 😉

        2. Spent casings. Remember Herter’s Catalog?

          I’ve a brass beer mug , made in Korea, on my self that I bought from Herter’s that was cast from 105 howitzer casings.

          No, I don’t know if that’s actually true or not, but considering the source, the location and the era, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! grin

            1. Yeah. Man, I miss Herter’s. Started my fly-tying hobby direct from their catalog. Lost the Guide Knife in one of my many moves to/from overseas. 😦

  10. And Morgan was actually as confident as he had appeared. His charts were actual and factual. He knew the power of money and the effectiveness of pressure; he knew the capabilities of the various units of his machine. He did not, however, know two things: Jill Samms’ insidious, deeply-hidden Voters’ Protective League and the bright flame of loyalty pervading the Galactic Patrol. Thus, between times of bellowing and screaming his carefully-prepared, rabble-rousing speeches, he watched calmly and contentedly the devious workings of his smooth and efficient organization. Until the day before election, that is. Then hordes of young men and young women went suddenly and briefly to work; at least four in every precinct of the entire nation. They visited, it seemed, every residence and every dwelling unit, everywhere. They asked questions, and took notes, and vanished; and the machine’s operatives, after the alarm was given, could not find man or girl or notebook.

    First Lensman

      1. And ballot drop of boxes that make the ballot stuffing that used to go for the MLB all-star game minor league.

    2. Today I learned that I have been confusing Lensman with Perry Rhodan for decades. Sigh. I always wondered why people were endlessly praising terrible serialized space opera.

  11. Election Day dawned clear, bright, and cool; auguring a record turn-out. Voting was early and extraordinarily heavy; the polls were crowded. There was, however, very little disorder. Surprisingly little, in view of the fact that the Cosmocratic watchers, instead of being the venal wights of custom, were cold-eyed, unreachable men and women who seemed to know by sight every voter in the precinct. At least they spotted on sight and challenged without hesitation every ringer, every dead one, every repeater, and every imposter who claimed the right to vote. And those challenges, being borne out in every case by the carefully-checked registration lists, were in every case upheld.

    First Lensman

    1. Thus nothing happened; thus the invisible but nevertheless terrific tension did not erupt into open battle; and thus, for the first time in North America’s long history, a presidential election was ninety nine and ninety nine one-hundredths percent pure!

      First Lensman

      1. But couldn’t the voters tell easily enough which side was on the offensive and which on the defensive? Which pressed for action and which insisted on postponement and delay? They could have, easily enough, if they had cared enough about the basic issues involved to make the necessary mental effort, but almost everyone was too busy doing something else. And it was so much easier to take somebody else’s word for it. And finally, thinking is an exercise to which all too few brains are accustomed.

        First Lensman

    2. Except that in 2020, the election officials simply ignored those checks and threw the watchers out… and we didn’t have Galactic Patrolmen “armed with the latest word in blasters — the Lewiston Mark XVII” standing outside the polling place ready to back up the watchers with instant lethal force.

      “You have to shoot your way out.”

  12. The black dog can and will be defeated as long as WE don’t give up. Get up every day and pick your battle for the day, be it x number of words on paper, getting things you need for the long term, or ‘other’… EVERY day!

  13. One thing we can do is get their flunkies fired from their jobs. A call from someone saying that they offered a special deal if he’d let them diddle their kids ought to do it.

    1. Remember Atlas Shrugged and how everything just fell apart by the end? All that is needed is a few spanners in the works, a few cables and wires, some oil slicks on highways, a transformer station here or there and That’s All Folks! Looney tunes!

      1. Which is precisely why we aren’t doing that unless we have no other option.

        It wasn’t Wesley Mouch who was left sobbing in front of an immobile train in the middle of nowhere.

        1. I agree that we are not at that point yet but we are close. But as Sarah Connor said at the end of Terminator movie when the man said to her “there’s a storm coming” and she replied, “ I know.”

    2. As a very good friend of mine once said…

      RIGHT TWO ZERO – ADD FOUR HUNDRED – FIRE FOR EFFECT

      Yes… all caps is yelling – that’s how ya do it. I’m thinking it should be ‘willy pete’ that’s sent.

  15. Two years of masks for no reason and no one hung the governor of Nevada. My black dog is much bigger than yours.

    2. While it is a great pity how many politicians are never hanged, do consider the survival of a civil society requires we hold back now and then.
      Rejoice instead in the fact that “funny only once” won’t work again.

    3. In response to the occasional loon advocating for monkeypox masking, some folks are planning to affix a mask on the outside of their pants. If one really wanted to be less subtle, you could take part of a Trojan box…

      1. Two guys, both with masks on the front of their pants, walking down the street holding hands. Subtle enough? 😉

  16. The dog deserves some doggerel,
    Mumble, mumble muse abuse:

    Big black dog with a heart of lead,
    Claws like saws jumped into my bed.
    Only thing to do if it happens to you,
    Clip his claws or shoot him in the head.

    1. We shouldn’t relinquish any of it. My heart still aches for giving up Colorado. Again, if it weren’t for the health thing on top of everything else….

      1. I hear you Sarah and don’t really disagree.

        However, there’s a nasty piece of my mind that wants Chicago completely destroyed. 👿

        1. “For the first time in my adult life, I was proud to be an American ashamed to have been from Chicago.” FIFY, Moochelle

        2. We could do like Detroit, and just let it destroy itself. Chicago is well on its way.

          1. Yep, in the spirit of “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.”

    2. I am a born Clevelander (recently moved back from SC – currently living in Lorain, to the west of the city). The problems mostly stem from the central/inner parts – that is, both the violence and the indolence. West, after you get out of the inner ring, is mostly law-abiding.
      I’d dump almost all of the employees of the city and school district that do not provide DIRECT services to the public. Get rid of HR and other make-work jobs. Outsource necessary payroll and benefit functions. Force them into:
      – Honest work
      – Leaving the city for greener pastures
      What would be left, would be a government that would not only cost less, but be more efficient. And, not spend most of their time hustling for fake votes.

      1. That part of Ohio is fortunate that the Cleveland suburbs had the foresight to incorporate as separate cities early on instead of letting themselves be absorbed into Cleveland. Local control limits the spread of the looney left decay.

      2. The problems mostly stem from the central/inner parts – that is, both the violence and the indolence. West, after you get out of the inner ring, is mostly law-abiding.

        I’ve read that if you don’t count the [some small percentage] worst counties, the US is the most law-abiding, least violent country in the developed world. I rather suspect that if you broke it down by census districts, it would be an even smaller percentage.

  18. Over and over I have had the sequence of “Notice new to me element. See disturbing implication. Having forgotten the last analysis of the whole, panic at the possibility that everything is horrible. Redo the analysis of the whole. Settle down, again, to ‘it will be all right’. Get focused on something else entirely.”

  19. I find myself going back and forth… we MUST do x! Wait. We’re okay right now, keep doing one thing each day. No! Must do all the things TODAY! Quietly freak out. Rinse and repeat. But, I find that the more I tell myself to just keep moving forward to the best of my ability, and to keep track of family and friends, I can handle things.

    I’m gonna go write.

    3. “Must do all the things TODAY!” Are you my long-lost twin?! Seriously, I suspect one reason I haven’t been dealing with my own black dog for some time is that I’m more focused on building what I have now that I’m in the new place.

    1. I gave myself the day off from setting the gate posts to the chicken run-to-be. Very low back pain combined with sciatica. Acetaminophen helps, and the back + sciatica + knee exercises help. Usually. Some.

      1. My problem is I did something to the muscles in my back about 35 years ago when I was in the AF. They haven’t been right since. Usually once or twice a year I have them go into spasms over really innocuous crap, like shoveling dirt or tying my shoes; and it takes a couple of weeks to damp down to normal. Really need to remember to report that to the VA and see if I can get a partial medical exemption on taxes.

        1. Hubby & I both have the “I blinked wrong and now my back is in spasm.” I remember when the doctor diagnosed it “Is this where it hurts?” as he poked me lower middle back between spine and side. When I finally came down off the ceiling … okay, only jumped and swore, managed to say a weak “yes”. No diagnoses for years, even after getting scanned. (“Hold still” … I was holding still, my back OTOH. Also, who knew I was claustrophobic. Not immediately, but take long enough, and yep, sure enough.) Finally had the problem properly diagnosed by a chiropractor. (Cross fingers) I seem to have the problem under control, but hubby has to go to the chiropractor couple times a year. Note, when he first started he was going 3 days a week, 2 times a day. Mine, when triggered, was once and done, each incident. But his had been going not diagnosed so long the problem kept reoccurring. Two weeks is about right without the chiropractor intervening,

        2. Yeah, add a decade and that was when back troubles showed up. Seems lifting double sheets of sheetrock ($FRIEND liked the 12 footers, sigh) did a number on discs and muscles. The worst flares are rare, though usually construction related. Right now, it’s fencing. I’ve already given up 80 pound bags of concrete, and the current festivities use 50 pound fence-post mix. Still, various parts of the back will object.

          OTOH, this is lower in the back than normal, and couldn’t possibly have anything to do with driving a tractor over rutted and critter-holed ground. Nah. Suspensions? Like springs and things? Not on these guys…

          1. After the initial discovery (pulling on a sock when everything went “&$^#@!!!!!!!”), a hard jar, like missing a step or curb while stepping down onto stone/cement, will cause spasms and my sciatic nerve screams. If I do exercises to keep everything around the spine strong, then it’s not so bad, just stiff. I inherited something from the maternal line, alas, so it wasn’t really something I could prevent developing.

    3. I know I’m supposed to be horrified by this and declare that it is the final proof of the total fall of civilization…….

      Why wasn’t this done years ago when women were first allowed in combat roles?

      1. Because women go and rampage thru changing rooms, trying on all the sportsbras, until we find the one style that fits right.

        Then we complain bitterly when it’s discontinued.

        Then repeat.

        That is to say, the problem was solved decades ago on an individual level.

        And the Official Version isn’t going to fit anyone right, so the old solution will continue. How do I know this? Because there is NO style that fits everyone, and the harder they try the worse it fits.

          1. Everything in the Army is Size Too — Too Big or Too Small.
            ———————————
            Sanity is like most things — best practiced in moderation.

              1. 4D chess.

                While the Army is pretending that it has engineered a viable standardized bra, women can be disciplined for not wearing it.

                And, the VA can refuse to provide services for injuries if someone was not wearing the official bra.

                It is a misogynist conspiracy to drive women out of the Army. Trust the plan.

                /sarcasm

                Well, I hope sarcasm.

                  1. As with conspiracy-theory-to-reality, the time has been decreasing steadily for a few years; it started at 6-12 months, and is now down to about 2 weeks. And I’m only about 10% kidding… 😦

          2. Sometimes the armed services, by accident, procure something that is exactly correct.

            This may require require a situation with no actual human beings anywhere near anything.

            1. Intervention by the Fairy Godmother Department. 😀
              ———————————
              “Oh, no. You can’t-a fool me. There ain’t-a no Sanity Clause!”

        2. Amen! I’m at the point where I find something that works and then I buy three or four if I can, because when I need a replacement? A cheerful Young Thing says, “Oh, they discontinued that four months ago. Have you tried the latest and greatest in shiny stuff that was never meant to enter a real gym?”

          1. New “fun” thing– they stealth change it.

            The replacements I just got are, supposedly, identical– but the design of the strap-hooks are different enough that they pop of if I shrug wrong, and the band is shorter and narrower. (I’d assumed stretching, before that– if it was that I’d stretched the old ones, it would be the same, or wider. Not narrower.)

            1. I get the feeling that the hell with a better mousetrap Design and sell better feeling/fitting Lingerie (Particularly brassieres) and you’ll Make Bezos and Musk look like pikers. Particularly for even modestly endowed women. Used to be a company around here called Lady Grace. there was an outlet where all the older fitters and sales women seemed to end their careers. My wife and daughters would walk in and with some measuring and judicious trying on as suggested by these ancient ladies, voila it fits even for odd needs (e.g. Strapless long line to go with a brides maid dress cut quite low in the back). They finally closed up the retail stores and that outlet and that wisdom is now lost to the ages.

            2. And wait till you’re my age. No, seriously.
              Some mornings my fingers won’t BEND to do up the hooks.
              So, they have to front-closing. (It’s embarrassing to chase your husband all over the house to fasten your bra. Besides he swears his vows said he’d ONLY unfasten it.)
              Finding decent front closing bras that aren’t $400 is proving interesting.

              1. We look forward to seeing before and after pictures of him on the boiled hay diet…. 😎

              2. Just got two at Victoria’s Secret. Not perfect but they do the job.
                Except, now we’re at Pennsic, one of them is missing. How do you lose a bra in an RV?

                  1. Keep an eye on the cats. We had one that thought they were really neat and would head off with one in his mouth like a leopard carrying off an antelope. He was stashing them in the back of the closet making a nest to rest in. Can’t imagine the underwires made for comfortable sleeping.

                  2. If as you say the designs get progressively worse over time, that may be the only way the poor time travelers can get usable ones… 🙂

          2. I just bought 6 of the same type. Using all of them. Last longer if rotated. Washed in a bag. Hang to dry.

      2. Having shot a firearm or two, with the shoulder bruises to go with, I can only imagine the absolute devastation that would be wrought upon sensitive soft tissues behind such a weapon.

        Yeah. No thanks. I’ll stick to reloading someone else’s weapons.

        1. A great deal depends on stock fit, and how firmly it’s pulled into the shoulder. Give a rifle or shotgun the room to build up momentum, and it will belt you hard. Pull it tightly into the shoulder, and it’s far more managable.

          1. Absolutely. The recoil should impact you and the rifle as a single unit so it’s more of sharp shove than a hard punch to the shoulder. I have seen tiny women that were able to manage the recoil better with good grip and control than several young bucks without the sense to listen to their trainers.

            That said, 12 gauge slug still kicks like a bad tempered mule. Depending on size and strength, some folks just can’t handle the bigger cartridges as well. But nearly anyone can handle .22LR. Good training to be found in that size, and you can work on accuracy, breath control, and most of the basics with it. You can work up to the kind of gun and caliber you’re comfortable with.

            So long as you can shoot accurately with the gun you’ve chosen, that’s the most important thing. I’d recommend training for speed, drawing, and judgement if you’re going to carry concealed for self defense, though.

            1. Even with good cheek/shoulder weld, enough shotgunning can make for a very bad day. Worst in my experience was the day the other plant attendant and I had to shoot down a BIG clinker out of the boiler in the power plant. Three cases plus (over 750 rounds) of #4 buckshot. Yikes!

        2. I understand, but there’s great benefit in learning the skill and the tools required to perform it.

          Firearms are nothing more than energy transfer machines, converting the potential chemical energy in gunpowder into the kinetic energy of a moving projectile(s). The more energy you want delivered to the target downrange, the more must be generated uprange at the gun; shotguns in particular are recoil intensive because of the large amount of delivered energy they create and Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Shotguns are very good at what they do but they’re not the best answer for everyone.

          I’ve had female students of all sizes and without exception, they have all gotten very good with either an AR-15 or a .30 caliber M-1 Carbine. ARs are – usually – the better bet because they are more easily adjustable for body fit, the control and sight options are not quite infinite but nearly so, parts and other accessories are very readily available and in the native caliber – 5.56X45 – recoil isn’t very much more than a lightweight rifle firing the 22 Long Rifle cartridge. ARs have pretty much become the “belly button of guns” because, like Glock 19s, everybody has one.

          The .30 Caliber M-1 Carbine is in the same class, weight- and recoil-wise; “originals” – those made during WWII and the Korean War – are now collector’s items commanding a high price, but new manufacture from name brand companies is available. The M-1 Carbine doesn’t have the wide range of accessories the AR-15 does, and magazines are harder to find (both 15 and 30 round) but are available.

          And don’t rule out the less common long guns; lever action rifles may not offer the ammunition capacity, the range of accessories or the rapid reloading of ARs or .30 Carbines but there’s nothing one can do at 150-200 yards with an AR or .30 Carbine that cannot be done with a lever rifle in .30-30, and inside 100-125 yards a 10-round lever rifle in 357 Magnum is a very effective tool.

          In any case, I’d suggest at least developing the skill and gaining experience with several different firearms. One never knows when that knowledge and skill may come in handy or be required.

          1. Concur with all of the above, and I’d add that AK or AR-pattern in 7.62×39, or AR-pattern in .300 Blackout, is also a good choice for defense, with low recoil. The various 6.5mms are also low-recoil, but they usually appear in precision long-range rifles; fun, but not exactly the best for close defense.

  23. Every day the comparison of the Green Leap Forward to Mao’s Great Leap Forward becomes more and more apt, as today’s leftists are driving towards the mass starvation and deaths that the original Great Leap Forward caused.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/08/the-coming-war-on-agriculture.php

    The good news is that people are fighting back. The bad news is that the elites here in the USA are going to push forward with the same insanity notwithstanding the pushback. After all, the horrific results of such policies are a feature rather than a bug for them.

  24. WOW- one of the most profound, incredibly deep and meaning=laden works you have done yet in my humble (but always correct) opinion!!! And from the first portion of your post, I could not help but think of one of the lyrics from the master word crafter, Bob Dylan- (yes, as a septuagenarian, I grew up with him-

    “Well, my baby went to Illinois with some bad-talkin’ boy she could destroy
    A real suicide case, but there was nothin’ I could do to stop it
    I don’t care about economy
    I don’t care about astronomy
    But it sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets
    and
    There’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend

  25. We discussed a while back that Americans, like the Jews, are a Chosen People. Mine Hostess, you corrected pointed out that the American People were chosen to lead humanity to the stars. Speaking as both an American and a Jew, I tell you that once chosen, HaShem will not allow you to fail. Look at Jewish history. We are headed into a transformative event, like the Babylonian exile was for the Jews. I don’t know what things will look like on the other side, but the American People will still be the American People, and we will still have the task of leading humanity to the stars.

  26. Hoyt-tor, and the Black Dog! Prepare for battle!

    (Lots of Rush guitar/bass riffs and percussion)

    Hoyt-tor… is Victorious! The stories of the Fictionworld … are saved again!

      2. 😀 Awesome.

        Also, all this talk of black dogs…I really want a pupper. Real doggos are pretty good at keeping the figuratively black ones away.

        1. I don’t know my void cat seems to serve to keep the black dog away. Of course like any void cat he views himself as a black panther (say Bagheera) large, fierce and wise. Fierce I’ll give him Large meh, 13 lbs, Wise, get serious if I didn’t know better I’d think he had orange fur and the brain cell was permanently swapped out. It’s that goofball personality that seems to help the most. any creature so serious but yet makes Steve Martin look like a Shakespearean actor can’t help lifting your spirits.

          1. Cats are also very good at it, true. We’ve got three, and the youngest, he’s Mah Boy. Love that guy.

            Brown tabby that looks like he’s got a little Maine Coon in him (tufty ears and paws, all that). He was one of our foster cats, the smallest of his litter, and is now 13 pounds of concentrated muscle and mischief. (I’d pay money to see his larger siblings, a couple of whom outweighed him by 40 percent; they must be practically bobcats.) Gets in fights outside — I’ve seen him make a fox run away in fear — begs for belly rubs inside, and does his best to talk our ears off. We think that in a former life, he was a Very Good Dog that only really wanted more sleep but never got it, so stepping up a notch to feline badass/spoiled housecat was his reward.

            Anyway…I haven’t had a doggo since I was a kid, and I’ve been feeling drawn to them lately. Cats are wonderful creatures, but they don’t provide the same kind of companionship that a dog can offer. Dogs are a lot of work, though, and I’m lazy. Plus I’m not sure our house can really handle 3-4 people, 3 cats, AND a dog. Still, every time I see a little pupper like the guy at the end of this post…

            1. Yeah the Maine Coons and some of the Similar pure breeds ( Norwegian Forest Cats, Siberian) are darned impressive. When elder daughter was little we went to a cat show that I’d seen advertised. She and I stood watching a male Maine Coon be judged. I bet 25 lbs if he was an ounce, gorgeos deep red/orange tabby coat Huge and not just because of the fluff. He would have been terrifying if he’d been aggressive, but he was an absolute love bunny, rolling and showing the judges his tummy. And purring, with this deep rumbling purr. And then he meowed with this tiny sweet kitten meow and my 3 yr old daughter broke up in gales of laughter. It was like Arnold Schwazenager having Minnie Mouse’s voice.

              I had dogs as a kid (Chow Chow, Doberman Pinscher), they were lovely animals, but a lot of work. As for attachment cats can be as attached and affectionate as their canine counterparts but they do show it in a different way, and you really have to be the special person they choose. In 50 years of cats on and off I’ve had 3 cats select me as their person, and it is quite the honor.

  27. Life went on in London, during the worst of the Blitz. It went on in Singapore, during the Japanese overrun of Malaya. Life even went on for ordinary citizens of Western Europe during the long centuries of the collapse of Roman authority there. Life does go on, even just as a means of defying the.
    Because – life. Every celebration of life, every home-cooked meal, every little success – is a triumph.

    1. And there was “That One Dude.” I was reading about the first Viking raid on Lindesfarne, and the letter sent from someone on the mainland who said, in essence, “Oh that’s terrible! What did you do to tick off G-d? Maybe you shouldn’t have allowed the regicide suicide to be buried there. Then the Vikings would have left you along, perhaps.”

  28. Yesterday I wrote a little, blogged, tied a personal best on the bench press (haven’t lifted that much since February 2020), went to supper with friends. Today I worked on school stuff and had a rehearsal of the very demanding musical thing for later this month. And survived. Tomorrow? Blog, teach, sing, maybe go to a pop-culture con, read, write. One book is ready for beta readers, one is due back from the editor around the 18th.

    Build, build, dig, dig.

  29. A single spark of light
    Held gently in the hands
    Against the dark of night
    And terror in the lands.

    A single spark of light
    Gleaming in the dark
    Waging battle bright
    With a single spark.

    A single spark of light
    Shining to the eye
    Sending out its might
    To the empty sky.

    A single spark of light
    Held in every heart
    Spreads throughout the night
    And never will depart.

  30. Art, cooking, teaching the children. Not sure of the order, but those feel like the productivities I have. I can do that.

    I messed up two dishes in a row, and even that feels like productive; nothing like a screwups to teach you how something actually works XD

    …

    I’m in print now, and maybe a day (or two; I frequently won’t work Sundays) from submitting the final image on another big project. Another waiting behind. I really have to thank you for this. I wouldn’t have thought of it without you, and I think it’s gonna shape my future.

    That’s enough of a newspaper for the black dog for now. 🙂

  31. “There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.”
    — Admiral William Halsey

    2. Some meet the challenges, and succeed. Some fail. And some wail in terror and run away.
      ———————————
      Some folks can be taught. Others can learn by example. The rest have to piss on the electric fence for themselves.

      2. And some go haring off after a feigned retreat and nearly lose the entire battle. Hmph.

  32. The black Dog is no joke. It kills.

    Try hearing your young son call at 3 AM (our time) from Japan. The Black Dog has entered him. He is an ocean away. I know how dangerous the Black Dog is.

    You try to be a lifeline to your child. You listen. You reach out. It was terrifying. Is this the last time I will hear my son? I know how dangerous the Black Dog is.

    My mother died of depression. Her system just shut down. She was in a hospital. Nothing they could do. I was only 11. I know how dangerous the Black Dog truly is.

    1. Presbypoet,

      May a host of angels surround you and your son and build a hedge of protection against all evil, bring you peace and guard you from every dark thought and emotion. Let angel armies protect you and your loved ones in Jesus’ name.

      1. There is an ironic twist to our story. Our son survived the Black Dog, and lived decades longer, then just before the Wuhan panic struck, cancer killed him. After a 6 month battle, he died, the cancer drugs seemed to work, but side effects forced them to stop treatment.

        Having an intimate relationship with God, I offered my grief to God at the start of the 6 month journey. During that time, Divine appointments filled our lives. He does not promise easy. He asks, as he asked Abraham, do you trust Me?

        July 17th, this year, I wrote/heard this poem:
        TRUST
        Will you trust Me
        When I don’t answer
        the way you want?

        Will you trust Me
        when I send you
        into deep water?

        Will you be obedient
        when My perfect plan
        seems impossible?

        This is what sustains me in these threatening times. I know the black dog. I know there is evil. I know there is danger. I know the one who walks with me.

        1. Hugs. I came closer to that than I liked, and I fear more for them than for me.
          Part of this blog is answering that “Will you go if I send you?” You’d be amazed how many of my posts weren’t meant to be, but I have to write them.
          I will go if he sends me. Even if it terrorizes me and all I want to do is hide and write fiction.
          I will go. And as I said, I was vouchsafed that it would come out okay. maybe not in my lifetime.

          1. I tell people I just take dictation. What is weird is when I write a conversation with God. Like the time in the hospital with internal bleeding. If you want quick attention at the emergency room, tell them you have internal bleeding. .
            They wanted me to drink cups of the awful fluid to clean me out. I wrote God a question, he answered. My hands wrote both sides of the conversation, but His clearly was a response to my question.

            In the morning, after an awful night, with a woman in another room yelling almost constantly, and a nurse who tried to sample my blood, and failed miserably. I had a Divine appointment with the guy sent to clean up the bathroom I had worked very hard to ruin. After our conversation, we agreed that he had been sent so I could bless him. Talk about weird. Being sent to clean a bathroom that ends up being a blessing. Perhaps a metaphor for our current situation.

      1. So much we don’t know. We know so much more, but still don’t know enough. The brain is a very mysterious place.

          1. Or demonic.

            Or if you just tried harder. Get up from that bed. There is nothing wrong with you.

            There are chemical imbalances.

            Brain pathways that get stuck.

            Times you are overwhelmed with stress.
            This is a way that depression could be useful. We all break under stress. Heart attacks, strokes, other ways stress breaks things in the body. If you need to stop, depression stops you. Is it your subconscious telling you I can’t take it anymore. You need to stop. We live in a more stressful environment than any in history. More noise. Less greenery. Less chance to stop and do nothing. Hard on introverts.

    3. Both the boys get it from me. I spotted it in the older son and could teach him to cope, but the younger is so introverted I missed it. And yeah.
      I pray a lot.

  33. I’m rereading Unintended Consequences by John Ross again. Seems that the other folks are using that as a play book instead of a warning.

    The problem today, IMO, is that one side believes the others to be wrong… but the other side believes the others (us) to be evil.

    There is no reconciliation between wrong and evil.

    They will continue to attack and advance their agenda until we understand that they desire to destroy totally every trace of the society we need to continue our comfortable and free lives.

    There is only one reason to desire to disarm a nation of law abiding men and women… so that they can impose things we would never accept as a free and powerful people.

    Since we are considered evil, the true believers will use any means necessary to carry out their plans.

    Until we UNDERSTAND that this is a religious thing, no logic, no reason, but a belief as firm as any fundamental believer in any of the world’s other religions, we will try to tolerate, defer, and act politely as they burn our history, achievements and infrastructure to the ground.

    As a pundit and comic said, the only answer to the complaint “I’M OFFENDED” is “Good for you!”

    We need to become rude, crude, and resolute in not accepting their silly rules for behavior, their fantasies of becoming this or that by wishing, and their ‘settled science’ by committee reasoning (using the term ‘reasoning’ very loosely) used to destroy our modern life.

    At 3:55 am I can put this together in my mind even if there is little I can do personally.

    Hopefully enough of us wake up and see the direction of the current administration’s goals in time to redirect the course of events back toward freedom.

    It’s gonna be harder to take back freedom after it’s gone then to dig in our heels and continue
    to reclaim it, as we’ve reclaimed so much of our 2nd Amendment right recently.

    Rust never sleeps, nor does evil.

    They have no power that we don’t allow them, there is no possibility of them winning fairly, and only Good People nodding to one another politely as they are loaded into the railroad cars will allow them the win.

    Keep your powder dry, just in case.

    1. I agree to stand when it is time. However, We can all display subtle resistance and defiance along the way. Sometimes a simple act rudeness could wake someone up if it’s even possible. I may be evil for doing it sometimes, but if it shakes up one person, that’s one who might become unwoke. Like the time walking down the aisle at Costco in Florida where almost no one wears masks anymore. I passed a beautiful woman still wearing a mask and whispered as as I walked past and didn’t even look at her, “ you look pretty stupid still wearing a mask” On the next aisle I passed her again and she she “did you say something to me?” I whispered a reply without looking at her “nothing you would listen to” and just ignored her and kept walking. Rude? Yes. Non polite? Yes. However it was necessary I believe. I always talk to cashiers who no longer wear masks and ask “isn’t it nice to not have to wear those masks anymore. they didn’t work anyway” and the person behind in line wearing a mask just cringes, especially when the cashier agrees.

  34. Pingback: so simple its stupid, but,,, | Dio's Workshop

  35. “verities that stand eternal” — truth and objective reality will triumph but not before we go down the bumpy road that the loons and the deceivers have set before us.

    1. Yep, and the Democrats just rammed it through 51-50. In addition to the IRS provisions, the so-called “climate” provisions enable the Feds to essentially end local land use and planning under the rubric of “environmental justice” and for Sri Lanka style restrictions on agricultural practices.

      1. And for some strange reason (“But it’s us! We can’t possibly lose!”) they seem ignorant of both Romanian Christmas Presents and Sri Lankan block parties, and the implications of both…

  37. A trick that I find useful, in taming the black dog– ask yourself, has the voice that the dog hears predicted 99 of the last three problems?

  38. So yesterday afternoon, the day of the post, I was kicking a dog, but that’s because it was a vicious beast who shot towards me like a rocket while I was out walking, and was trying to bite me. The usual trick of looking big and shouting did nothing to dissuade him. Two kicks and one flailing arm as I slipped and went down on the grass, and he backed off and ran away. I think the only reason he didn’t get any effective bites in was the lampshade thing around his neck. People need to keep their damned pets under control or fenced in.

    1. There are some bad dogs out there, mostly because of bad humans. I am glad you were able to defend yourself, and that might have taught the dog some sense.

      Not a good bet, but a bet.

      1. Yeah, most bad dogs are so because of humans or because they’re feral – but this one was clearly not feral, given the lampshade collar thing. I hope this dog does learn a lesson, or his owners do a better job at least keeping him in their house/yard and not wandering loose.

        1. Sounds like the same training as the yip-dog that almost got itself kicked into the street as it bit my ankles (thanks be for heavy twill pants.) The owner stayed on her porch and wailed, “Dooohg! Come back, Dohg. Bauhd dooohg, come back!” It ignored her.

          The unlamented attack Chihuahua was another one. The owners thought it was fun to watch the dog drive kids into the street (state highway/traffic bypass). I loaded a water gun with half water and half vinegar. One zap to the face and it left me alone. When it was found run over, no one saw a thing or knew what might possibly have happened.

    3. My only Bad Dog encounter (other than some irritating but not dangerous yap dogs) was at about age 10. I was walking down the alley behind our house toward a friend’s (nobody walked on the street because, dumpster diving), and a dog suddenly came over the fence, found me in its way, and took defensive action.
      Not much blood or pain, fortunately; scratches rather than bites – for some reason my folks didn’t worry about rabies, because it was a neighbor, donchaknow.
      I didn’t hold it against that dog or any others, because the Owners were setting off fireworks in its yard.

  39. We lived on the very edge of a small town when I was in kindergarten. There was a pack of feral dogs in the neighborhood that terrorized us kids. Mom said she thought they were pets that had been dropped off in the country so they could live on some farm.

    On my way to school one morning I was jumped by the pack. They had me down and were tearing me up when a neighbor who was uncharacteristically late for work heard me screaming. He ran the dogs off and carried me home. I still remember his shirt being covered with blood, my blood, when he handed me to Mom.

    I have been afraid of dogs ever since. And it’s their owner’s fault. But still I can’t bring myself to trust any dog since that day.

    1. In Manitou I had to stand in front of my infant’s pram when two very bad rotties jumped the fence. Fortunately the owner heard them and came running.
      Turns out they were making child porn in that house, as we found out months late.
      But hey, I learned I wasn’t the world’s worst mom. I stepped in front of #2 son like a PRO

      1. I would like to think I would have been able to defend my child like that from a pair of dogs. But I honestly can’t say I would have. Mountain lion, black bear, alligator, for sure. But dog, I dunno. Luckily I never was put to the test.

    2. Yeah, ‘Let’s drop Fido off in the country. Some kind farmer will take care of him’ Um, no. Kinder for everyone if you just shoot him in the head. And saves the farmer on ammo . . .

      1. Our house cats are of that stock.

        What pisses the folks off is that we don’t want “good cats” to be sterilized.

        …no mistyping. I want to propagate good genetics in cats.

        You don’t like that, GO BITE ME.

              1. We’ve got an orange and white boy, who was dumped in our ‘hood. A sweet boy, an obviously indoors cat, who was traumatized by being left on the street. My daughter says that if he falls head over heels with you, then she will consider letting you have him…

  41. I’m considering that the time is near the point that we can tell our congressmen we can all see the unclothed Emperor in the room.

    Any math guys out there who can explain simply enough for a lunkhead layman to understand:
    where inflation comes from
    what it does to your paycheck
    government spent your retirement

    1. The congresscritters are naked and standing around talking of how the fully clothed emperor is naked.

      Their ignorance is affected.

Comments are closed.