Terminal Conditions

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

One of you recently came up with the idea that we have ten percent parasites, and therefore society can’t endure and “it’s over man.”

Honestly, I don’t know who is promulgating this kind of insanity. I know someone is, because these completely unrooted and frankly crazy ideas show up everywhere at once, and whoever it is a) understands very little of the immense abundance in US society, still, despite everything that’s been done to us. b) is very dogmatic and pulls numbers from ass on the regular. c) must be one hell of a persuasive writer, because he bypasses smart people’s pshaw reflex, which should kick up at such absurdities.

Absurdities? Do I maintain we don’t have 10% parasites? Bah. We have far, far more than that. I mean, Pierre Delecto is an idiot, because not paying taxes isn’t the same as being a free loader, but the amount of welfare that flows from Uncle Sugar’s teat is far more than 10%. And a lot of those people aren’t even American. And a lot of them aren’t even here. (But a large number are.)

So it’s absurd to come up with 10% and it’s irrational to say that’s the “terminal condition” of our society. Hell, even if those 10% were all violent and organized. Why? Because we’re all armed to the teeth, frankly. I can see — in fact, I expect — a dozen 10/7s happening across the county, if I’m right on a given, clear-sky day just before Easter next year, but I also expect only one will succeed and not to the same extent, not even close.

Look, there is a reason no other airplanes have been highjacked and flown at high buildings which, if you remember, we all expected on the regular 12 years ago. It wasn’t because our Homeland Security and airport theater are super-effective. And it’s not because it hasn’t been tried. It’s because we’re a pack, not a herd, and anyone trying the same shit would get — has gotten — beaten within an inch of their lives and stuffed in a luggage compartment. Hell, people, before 9/11 was done, the last plane missed the mark the terrorists had designated for it, and went (from their perspective) tragically wrong. Because we’re Americans. And they’d plotted it for people like them.

Something like what happened in Israel, would have to be a lot bigger to make a dent here, and I doubt they can make it as big before someone shoots all their faces in. Even in towns where gun ownership is technically forbidden. As one of my friends in one of those enclaves told me during the summer of love of 20 “Better be tried by 12 than carried by 6.” (No, not ragging on Israel, but hoping they get out of their European mind set on guns.)

So, a 10% determined, organized minority who came out to do attacks? They might succeed …. once. And it would be very bad. But after that– Well. We wouldn’t have 10%.

Beyond all that, though, while Pierre Delecto is not right in 47% parasites, or whatever the hell it was, we do carry a lot of dead freight. A lot more than 10%. Off the top of my head, I’d say 25% counting only human beings, real and imaginary, and not college programs, grants for the arts, and whatever crazy sh*t our “betters” use to give our money away. As I like to say all the taxes I’ve paid and I’m likely to pay the rest of my life, were given to the Taliban.

Are we going deep in debt? Yes, we are. And the current maladministration is too stupid to inflate it away. But it is fiat debt. And while it’s not as if it doesn’t count, it’s also not precisely all it seems to be. For one, China owns a lot of it, which it bought with play money of their own, and which it can’t really collect on.

So the situation with the debt is horrible, but not serious. By definition, since we’re obviously using play money.

Will the bill come due? Certainly. But I expect it will be blood not money. And after that…. who knows? In the end reality prevails, because it exists when we ignore it.

Look, I’m not saying we’re not in trouble. Part of the trouble we’re in are institutions and an establishment (including the financial portion) completely disconnected from reality and the nation and the country. So the decisions it makes, and the thing it does have not even tangential contact with what needs to be done. And often, like opening the borders, they’re trying to fix a problem they tell us doesn’t exist (population dearth) by the stupidest means (that assumes people are widgets) and thereby making everything worse.

But in real wealth, in the way we live? We might be feeding a lot of parasites, and our government is certainly trying to kill us/destroy us. But we’re still wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice.

Groceries are swallowing up a lot more of our paychecks than we thought. And we’re trying to help the kids, who are just starting out, of course. And their rents are crazy. To compensate for the lockdowns, they’ve gone crazy everywhere (and that’s not counting properties bought by foreign nationals for reasons of their own brain parasites.)

We’re trying to save a little to buy canned and non-perishable to donate to various charities. And we try to help friends who fall on hard times, which has been happening way faster and more often. Because writers (and musicians, and artists and even small time craftsmen) have no insurance when the bad times come, and we’re often the first ones hit. And it is the duty of every decent human being to help as we’d hope to be helped. It’s sort of what we owe our own humanity. I think. (I don’t require you to believe it.)

But the newspaper headline saying 25% of Americans were threatened by famine made me giggle. We’re so far from famine that the fat geese infesting city parks are considered a nuisance, and deer are an hazard to road navigation in Fall. I wondered if that “journalist” was an AI and maybe Chinese.

Look, when I was little, having parasites was normal. No, seriously. We had intestinal worms, and fleas, and well, mom kept my long, scrupulously clean hair free of parasites and never had to shave my head. This was a bit of an achievement, since at any time in school a little girl or another had a shaved head because it was the only way to get rid of lice.

And some of the poorer kids were probably a lot leaner than they would otherwise be. But no one was starved out.

Sometimes we’d hear of a kitten or a puppy dying due to an excess of parasite, but no humans. As tight as we were on money and food, compared to the US, it wasn’t so much that it killed us.

It’s sort of like that. I’m sure that 10% number being a “terminal condition” was true for some societies, at some time. Heck, even right now, I very much doubt China or Russia could lose 10% of those actually productive and survive. (The thing being that a lot of their population is not allowed to be productive, but that’s different. Same as here, but more so.)

In the Middle Ages, I doubt we could have 10% of people who did nothing. Even among the nobility, there was a lot of work that had to be and got done. They were only “well off” and “idle” in the eyes of historians who don’t understand much. People who actually ONLY consumed and did nothing, in a society that close to the bone, would have sank it. Other people would starve to keep them going.

Though it wouldn’t be that fast, and it depends on the situation and the time. They could afford fighters who did not produce food or consumables directly. And they certainly could afford to set crops on fire, not once but as a routine of war. And the society didn’t dissolve usually, or starve to death, usually. (The whole idea that bankruptcy equals revolution, or even famine equals revolution is quite literally a-historical.)

And in caveman times, where I think our back brain was formed, well, the band that kept 10% of their members utterly idle, would probably die, unless in extremely fertile land. (But we do know they didn’t in fact kill the lamed, the children and the elderly, because the remains we’ve found don’t show that kind of society. However, they’d be weakened, and might all die next hard times.)

But now? Bah. We carry way more than that. And in the US? Well, we’re still pouring money out. And no, not even the Ukraine thing, where we do have an interest in not letting Russia get back to its aggressive paranoiac ways. But we give money to oh, Afghanistan, for transgender causes. (It’s not the only one, or the craziest thing.) We pour taxpayer money out on the craziest shit that a) doesn’t get used for that b) benefits no one. In fact, we should count other countries corruptocrats as our pensioners. Part of that parasite load.

And while the shoe is pinching, and a lot of us are worried about our kids making it in these times, the condition is more annoying than terminal.

Even with the parasite load, what’s hurting our kids is not that, but stupid regulations and ideas designed to hurt us, like open borders, and “environmental” insanity. Stop those, and the economy will roar to life, because we’re very productive gun nuts…. (Two of our best traits.) We’re also inventive and infinitely innovating.

Rumors of our demise are grossly exaggerated.

I don’t know who in hell is pulling numbers from ass, but to believe those numbers requires shutting your eyes to who we are, and how we are.

We’re Americans. The current occupiers have chained us and are beating us. But like an abused wife, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with us that getting rid of the bastards wouldn’t fix.

And they’re not close to killing us. Just bruising us. Badly. And getting in our heads and making us feel beaten and helpless.

That’s the ultimate tell, you know. All these “Abandon all hope. We’re done” wouldn’t be needed, if it were patently and obviously true. In fact no one would be reading them, as we’d each be scrabbling for our daily gruel, and to defend our tiny little patch to sleep in.

But that’s not true. And when you hear this what you should ask is “Who and what wants us to give up? And why? Who would this serve?”

Not our best interests, and not our survival.

Yes, righting this mess is going to suck, and suck badly. And I suspect the debt is going to be paid in blood, not money.

But our situation is not terminal. It might be grave, but it’s not terminal.

Nowhere close to it. And we’ll come back, provided we want to.

Get the parasites out of your head first, before you get them out of our body politic.

And be not afraid.

174 thoughts on “Terminal Conditions”

  1. I do believe there will be some attempts at a mass terrorist event, likely around Christmas/holiday season, likely at a public event like a parade, community fair – like the Waukesha killings, when a resentful nutcase crashed his car into participants in a community parade. Don’t know if it will be in a red, purple or blue state – but if it happens in a red state like Texas, the number of locals who are armed will be very high, and any terrorists sticking around will have a very unhappy time of it.
    If you tossed my own suburban neighborhood for weapons, I think there would be enough to arm a small European military…

    Liked by 2 people

    2. K, had an amusing train of thought.

      Started with “if you tossed my own suburban neighborhood for weapons” and made the obvious joke of “you wouldn’t live long.”
      Then went to trying to find a way that folks would bring all their weapons out.

      Which then morphed into a parody of the Stone Soup story, but for weapons!

      Liked by 2 people

        1. I don’t think I can get the tone right– probably have to start with attempted gun confiscation, and then have “Everybody Know” tehre’s no guns, then have something important come up so Ian Michael David, the Stone Soup maker, goes out with just a rock.

          And then you start with the whole Cajun Navy style stuff, and Operation BBQ, and the hay convoys….

          If anybody wants to go for it, please, I think this could be a really ADORABLE story paying honor to all the volunteering spirit that Americans have.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Responding to riots in BlueLeftroidBurg, the folks in RedPatriodTown form a real, minuteman-style millitia, government sponsored, sheriff deputized and everything, so totally legit.

            Karl-Heinz the WW2 vet shows up with a Springfield he brought back from the Phillipines. Kowalski the Korea vet has a Garand. The kids of the retired GWOT Marine all have custom AR-15s. That weird college kid turns up with a Winchester High-Wall 1885 single-shot in .45-70. And of course the WBTS re-enactors have their smokepoles and revolvers. Betty Sue has her AK “burglar gun” and takes charge of the “kitchen commandos” who are gonna feed the wannabee-Infantry. There are some male/female role-reversals, where Pierre the Chef would rather cook and medic and some of the ladies, especailly verteran ones, prefer rifle squad duty.

            Eventually it shakes out into three unequal platoons, 5.56/.223, .7.62/.308, and “other”, plus a very large support platoon of cooks, medics, mecahincs and others who would prefer to support than shoot. Some “other calibers or talents” get distribued into the “pure” platoons as marksman/support.

            No one could agree on uniforms, so to keep it legal folsk pooled funds and bought a crapload of green ballcaps with the sheriffs logo and “MILITIA” in big letters.

            First target prctice day at the Sheriff’s range is amusing in what winds up working and what doesn’t. Some folks swap around for more standard arms and the platoons swap around.

            First day of “patrolling” is also amusing as folks learn that “ounces are pounds and pounds are pain.” And shitty boots are agony. More shuffling.

            And long before anyone would call this mob “ready”, the damfool BlueLeftroids decided to “make an example of flyover-fascists”. Tina at the bus depot tipped the Millita that hell was coming to breakfast. Thus there was a greeting party waiting, out of sight, as the BlueLeftroids un-bussed and formed up to “march” on the town government.

            Then ol Bernard and Cletus, in their blue and gray uniforms and spiffy ballcaps, pushed the Gatling gun out of the lawncare van. “Odd” squads popped around corners and out of buldings. “Hi folks!” The two heavy platoons were a few blocks over, forming up for a movement to contact as needed. The Sherriff bullhorned. The fire department pressurized the hoses.

            It looked like the BlueLeftroids were going to quit and withdraw before anyone got hurt, but one of their loons had a pair of real homemade grenades to throw, and things went sideways….

            Like

              1. The Leftroids were also armed. The above scenario is a bloodbath. Everyone involved assumed the “Other Side” would roll over and quit once strongly confronted. Neither did.

                “Gatling Gun”

                “Grenades”

                Assuming 1 in 10 Leftroids has a Glock or other modern handgun, and some late off the bus had Modern Sporting Rifles, how bloody does it get? (Especially when Bernard and Cletus start cranking that Gat. )

                The American “left” is -American-. Some of them, nowadays, are as well armed as any other American. “John Brown Gun Club” for example. Their ranks include veterans.

                How willing is another story. Ritenhouse, all by himself violating every rule of smart, should have been easily dispatched by 3+ competent opponents. He was very lucky, and kept -moving- which very much made a big difference. Note his attacker tried to beat him wtht a skateboard. He got close enough to beat him with a skateboard. That Leftroid had balls and attitude, but lacked some brains. If he had a .32 pocket gun and a touch more sense, Rittenhouse was -toast-.

                Folks, be prepared, mentally, for the hardcore left. They go “gun” just like everywhere else on earth. They are not pacifist nor anti-gun. And they have had several years now to adjust their game. The Fools from Auntie now routinely post “observers” way back and up in positions that would make good sniper positions. Do you really beleive they have only cameras? Note also that the -cadre-, the command and control, are -not- wearing “black block”. Nor are the “overwatch” in many cases.

                When the fight comes, it -wont- be nice, or quick, or one-sided. it also wont follow any “rules of war”. We will have to fight like everloving bastards.

                Meanwhile, be of good cheer. The left cant really make anything but messes, so we win any long term fight we dont quit.

                Dont quit.

                Like

                1. When the fight comes, it -wont- be nice, or quick, or one-sided. it also wont follow any “rules of war”. We will have to fight like everloving bastards.
                  ……………………..

                  I repeat: ST:TOS

                  The Savage Curtain: “concludes that there is nothing different between good and evil because the methods used to fight each other are the same. Kirk explains that the similar methods of how the two fight each other does not define them as the same since Yarnek set the conditions. What defines them is the things for which each of them fight – Kirk and Spock were fighting for the survival of the Enterprise; the others fought only for power.”
                  …………………

                  I will argue the above is not 100% true. Between combatants, it is. Where non-combatants are concerned, it isn’t. Oct-7-2023 proved this. Evil does not distinguish. Good does.

                  It will get ugly.

                  Liked by 1 person

                3. True, hard core leftoids are trained and dangerous, and their diversity hires accustomed to violence. Antifa, BLM and the Anarchists didn’t go away after the Moslty Peacefulness, ther are biding their time.

                  Liked by 1 person

          2. And that’s “obvious weapons”. The number of people I know who don’t process kitchen and hobby knives (do do process hunting knives), screwdrivers, etc as obvious weapons bothers me.

            Even without going full bore “any tool held properly is a weapon” a knife doesn’t stop being a weapon by have “chef’s” in front of knife.

            Liked by 1 person

              1. Shovels and rakes and implements of destruction! :-D

                Axes and hatchets, pitchforks and hoes, hammers and large wrenches too. How about a 3/4″ breaker bar? A steel bar with a 3/4″ socket drive on one end, that just happens to be two feet long and weigh about 4 pounds. Or a cordless chainsaw, now that ‘ud leave a mark.

                Not many people have sickles and scythes any more, but you can always just take a tree branch and shave one end down to a point.

                Improvised weapons are everywhere, as the British are finding out after The Great Knife Ban.
                ———————————
                Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!

                Like

                1. Oh, oh, see if I can find the maglight again…

                  AKA, “I am barely even PRETENDING it’s not a bat.”

                  Actually, now I want an aluminum bat that has a light on the end and can hold the 6-8 D batteries that will fit….

                  Like

                  1. That reminds me, I need to put fresh batteries in my MagLite…

                    It’s amazing how long modern D cells will go, I think these have been in it almost since we got it 10yrs back

                    Liked by 1 person

                    1. I lost a 2 cell light when the Duracells in it sprang a leak. Seems those lights are hard to take apart and I need to make a tool to get it back together. Less hassle to swap the vehicle flashlight batteries every couple of years.

                      (AA and AAA cells are the worst for leakage, but Ds can create massive problems when they go south.)

                      Like

                    2. If the light is stored for roadside emergencies, leave the batteries in the packaging and with a chemlight. Crack a chemlight for immediate light,then put the batteries in the flashlignt and throw the chemlignt in the road as a flare.

                      Like

                  2. I no longer use the 4 cell Maglight, but I always thought of it as weapons grade. Missed out on the LED modules when Maglight was starting its shift from incandescents.

                    (Makes mental note to check the ‘zon for modules.)

                    Liked by 2 people

                    1. I have a cute little one, I’d probably have to actually modify a bat… and then write something like CARRY THIS FOR FERAL DOGS on the side.

                      Like

                3. Shovels… I once took a hit from a shovel that took 36 stitches to close up. Right in the face, too; I very clearly remember the clang! as the edge of it bounced off the bone. And it had been used on the previous day to scrape cat poop off the garage floor. (Antibiotics and plastic surgery for the win!)

                  Weren’t the Indian troops in that border dustup with China a few years ago armed only with digging tools? Not sure what the Chinese had, but being the attackers, I’d bet they considered themselves better armed, and they got their asses handed to them anyway. The Indians did take more casualties, iirc, but they won. With shovels.

                  It’d be far from my first choice, but I’m not one to dismiss the lowly shovel.

                  Like

                4. Dog leash chain, wiht the clip attached to the ring at the base of the hand loop.

                  I used one once. Worked.

                  It is a good idea to practice striking things like a log, old tire and/or heavy bag, first, so you learn how to swat through without getting hit by your own bounceback. (note – especailly true for nunchucks)

                  Liked by 1 person

              2. If you’re hand to hand, anything with reach is good.

                Hell, use the broom and the kitchen knife…the broom to keep them away and the knife to punish them for closing.

                That’s why you brush with your off hand.

                Liked by 1 person

              3. Once can sharpen a shovel with an ordinary file. And they dig better if not compeltely dull.

                Give it the machete grind, one single bevel not two that meet.

                Liked by 1 person

              1. I don’t disagree, but the number of people who just don’t think that way blows my mind.

                My father taught me that around 5th or 6th grade. I just assumed everyone’s parents did until I was in my 20s.

                Like

            3. Fairly easy to make a quick sheath for a kitchen knife using the carboard back of a writing tablet, and some packing or duct tape.

              Street thugs often just fold a piece of scrap cardboard around a kitchen knife and tuck it in the belt. No hard to explain empty sheath when they get grabbed after dumping the weapon.

              Note, if a cop catches you with an empty holster, they -will- find the gun you threw away. They -know- its there to be found.

              And yes, every place you can think of to hide/lose it, they know to search.

              So any would-be freedom figher needs to know how to carry without a holster, or make an improvised holster that can get thrown away as easily as the gun.

              You -cannot- explain away anything weapon related.

              Like

      2. (After turning away Fools from Auntie and Ham-Asslings)

        “I figured you for an AR-15, not a Garand. And the bayonet is just over the top.”

        “Old school fascist remover still works best.”

        Liked by 2 people

          1. You must choose which rifle to take. Two is unwise.

            30 rounds, but kinda light on effect. Do your job right and the bayonet is just barrel ballast.

            versus

            .30M2 Ball is shockingly noisy when fired near folks, and when impacting tends to put folks down decisively, while continuning through with enough to take down Thing #2 behind #1. It also will do in almost any motor, or pierce vehicle bodywork or glass, should your opponents mount up. (and .30M2 AP “black tip” is even more so.) But you are gonna use that bayonet. But its a good rifle for using one. Real good.

            Like

            1. I don’t need to choose. I have a wife. AR is her choice, M1 is mine (easier for me to pick up an AR than for her to run the M1 though). I have both ball and AP for it.

              Like

    3. If it was done by terrorists from outside the country, then Times Square on one of the holidays would be the most obvious target. It’s NYC – which as our hostess frequently points out gets more weight in the rest of the world than it does inside the US – and there are often big, publicly televised events on the holidays.

      Something done by home-growns is a different matter, though.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. I’ll be on the watch starting next week.

      I think hitting Black Friday sales will appeal to Hamas and other Islamist types as they can claim they are exceptional examples of the decayed west.

      And in general the Christmas shopping season starting a week from tomorrow (or are places still doing opening Thanksgiving evening?) through New Years (after Christmas sales and gift cards in that last week) would be perfect symbolic attack time. Plus, it’s one they’ve used in Europe a few times.

      Like

      1. Back in the days shortly after 9/11 (and the weird anthrax letters) I was figuring that if someone wanted to finish things up and leave the US in a total state of confusion a rational terrorist (I know oxymoron) would have arranged for a follow up and an attack on the malls on Black Friday seemed like the perfect as with the populace already leery that would mangle Xmas purchases and do some real economic damage. Luckily for us Bin Laden and his buddies for all their education in the West didn’t fully comprehend the West. That was because of their bizarre fantasy ideology combined with the strange Islamic eschatology to which they hold. These days if you bombed a mall the developers would probably thank you as they could collect the insurance money and get out of the business. The Hamas and Hamas adjacent types are trying to immanentize their eschaton by starting the final war between Islam and the khafir. Given that as their goal, I would definitely avoid busy celebrations ESPECIALLY in NYC. Thanksgiving Day Parade, New Years Eve, anything televised and likely to have lots of real time viewers anything like that would be a tempting target. Certainly enough folks have flowed across the borders in the last few years to provide cannon fodder to try it, whether any of them have the ability to coordinate and plan at that level is a hard call. And NYC is a nice target because its gun laws are SO restrictive that you’ll be able to do more damage than you might in redder portions of the US.

        Like

  2. The wildings of 2020 were in areas populated by and run by Leftroids.

    Thus riot by “permissive environment” hothouse flowers.

    Tofu-Tantrums

    And even then, there were occasional Patrioid pushbacks, such as the Rittenhouse “Kenosha Hat Trick”

    (The man has a disarming smile…)

    The above comment on hijackings is correct. It’s “game on like Donkey Kong” in the skies. Any serious jacking effort is just a noisy way to stain airline carpet.

    A pilot buddy told me the big worry is not the jihadis. It’s angry passengers trying to open a door to chuck them off.

    Eeeek. Let the ground crew do their jobs folks.

    They wanna be terrorists? Well “I was in terror” covers quite a bit of defensive mayhem. So, be thorough and quick.

    (Grin)

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I saw the article about that. Seems the Circuit Attorney (DA equivalent, looks like) is heading into serious(? Maybe) legal trouble herself. Seems blowing off court dates because she’s going for RN training isn’t considered a good thing…

        Like

    3. I happened to see a male comedian talking about post-9/11. And he was joking about catching the eyes of the other men on the planes he was flying on, and exchanging “We got this!” nods with all of them in the event some hijackers tried something. There were a few instances of people trying stupid things post-9/11 (remember the shoe bomber?), and the airplane passengers dealing with it.

      As for 2020, while there were some riots in Los Angeles, they were fairly restrained, and I didn’t hear much about them. The rumour that reached me was that the gangs had seen what was going on in other cities, and made it clear that BLM-tifa would not be permitted to pull similar nonsense in LA.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I always wondered why BLM tried to come to Dayton fairly early on. It turned out that one of the mansion people had a relative in Dayton, and the relative apparently thought a march on Beavercreek would be awesome.

        Well, the relatives of the deceased cause celebre from two years before, did not agree. Most of the target demographic in the area did not agree. Almost the only people at the march were out of towners. And the march/riot attempt got less and less impressive as it went, and sort of dissolved away.

        Like

        1. The feds are well aware of who was organizing the charter-bussing of nincompoops aroung the country. That they allowed it speaks volumes.

          Like

          1. Not just charter-bussing, but groups supporting via logistics and the like. While Trump was still in the White House, I remember reading an article about a “church” that suddenly had the Feds descend upon it since they had been donating and transporting food and similar supplies for Antifa.

            Like

          2. There were several groups that got arrested– thing is, unless there’s evidence of terror organization, you have to wait for them to be dumb enough to do something else that’s illegal. (I don’t especially want them to be able to say “yes, bussing these guys to a protest is support of terror,” either. These guys freaked out because a teen boy had an uncomfortable smile while multiple adult men were yelling at him.)

            The ones I’m familiar with were hauling drugs and dealing in stolen goods as well as actively supporting the “protests,” and were arrested for the same. The only place that reported they were involved in the “protests” were the protesters themselves who insisted it was persecution… which is part of why I realized a lot of folks are more interested in spreading doom and gloom than in reporting information.

            Like

            1. Forty combative idiots on a bus crossing a state line? At least one is breaking a federal felony. Guaranteed. Weapon, dope, illicit picture of his underage boyfriend/girlfriend, whatever. Slam-dunk guaranteed “federal felony”.

              Then the rest are “conspiracy to…”

              They can -arrest- you because the want to. One idiot singing the right tune justifies the rest.

              Ugly, but how it works.

              Like

              1. Except that unless they can give probable cause to pull them over, and then to figure out who is doing what, that doesn’t stick.

                And there is a serious chance that the 40 combative idiots can and will physically attack any cop who pulls them over, which means you need to be REALLY organized– the rule of thumb is you want to outnumber by at least three to one to beat the monkey brain that’s left in the high and combative, four or five to one is better. Because if it’s only two to one, folks can and will attack, and you are almost certain to have fatalities if they do.

                And the goblins had a TON of funding, including sitting congresskritters openly fundraising for them.

                Like

        2. Yeah, rioting in the hometown of the Governor’s grandkids is an exceptionally bad way to ensure “limited official response.” Few things would have pushed DeWine into “active mode,” but that would.

          Like

      2. In my NE LA Hispanic neighborhood the BLM supporters lined the streets to intimidate everybody, marched down the the war memorial and had a Hooray For Us fest. Next three days they mounted convoys to elsewhere, presumably more lootable.

        Like

    4. My mental plan, in case of a hijacking, was to beat the perp to d4ath with my camera (Canon SLR), then pass the hat to collect cash for a replacement. 😃

      Like

      1. A couple of well-sharpened #2 lead pencils in your carry-on bag will pass through security just fine. And are versatile enough to be used for other things besides writing.

        Like

  3. Which then lead to having an image of the different neighbor’s one upping each other on bringing out more and more ridiculous weaponry, stacking it all up, (Think bigger version of the LOTR scene with everyone disarming before going to see the Rohan king), until finally the last guy goes “I have Bolo”, and the domed greenhouse turns around and points the Bang end at the folks demanding all the weapons.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. There was an incident in Seattle where some gang-bangers attacked the home of some off-post Rangers from 2/75. Epic.

        It was like four decades ago, so not quite the massacre it would have been today. But still, just how freaking stupid…

        Liked by 3 people

      2. My Grandmother had a saying “There are NO ugly butterflies, kittens or little girls.” In my experience this generally holds true.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks. Needed that. Just a lot of stuff going open loop around here and getting to me.

    Project at the office feels like it’s about to go full death march mode, not because of its technical complexity (high) or unreasonable schedule (short) but because of the wave after wave of external requirements being levied on it (Byzantine and changing daily).

    And that’s not the only thing that’s going slowly loony around here.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. That’s because they are cute and fluffy and happy.

        And sort of explains why out cat (10 year old) has been very much a Pet me! Pet me now! cat lately. Still not comfortable enough with the girls to let them pet him, but he will actually come out and settle in for rubs when they’re up and about.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Project at the office feels like it’s about to go full death march mode, not because of its technical complexity (high) or unreasonable schedule (short) but because of the wave after wave of external requirements being levied on it (Byzantine and changing daily).
          ………………………

          Software?

          This is new? How?

          Like

          1. No, these are not the normal ‘we over promised and under budgeted / staffed’ problems. We’ve had those too. These are bizzare infrastructure problems that just come out of nowhere.

            This is not the usual Sales running around with dollar signs in their eyes. This is like some completely parallel part of the org chain is making major process and regulatory changes while main-lining the extra strength shrooms.

            We’re at that point where if one morning Facilities came by and collected up everyone’s power cables, I wouldn’t be surprised. Wondering if I should just turn around and go home for the day (week, month)? Yes, but not surprised.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. We’re at that point where if one morning Facilities came by and collected up everyone’s power cables, I wouldn’t be surprised.
              ……………….

              Oh. The “Security Scare”, equivalent, because someone in manufacturing clicked on something infecting manufacturing and the network. So all company computers could not install any executable files. Including Engineering. The ones who make the them. Which apparently the 8 of us (one was plastics/models, the other manager) only did once, when we were ready to finalize whatever we were doing.

              Not only happened once, but happened twice. Okay, not the same IT department. But the second IT department got warned by the prior IT department. (Ending with rhetorical “It is your funeral”.) Not that the new IT department listened. Plus they weren’t only dealing with our engineering, but their engineering department too. Difference was, their engineering department was located at their site. We were across town, at the time this went down. Granted, this was 1999, it only took a day each time to fix the problem.

              Like

              1. Sort of, just now imagine it without the security scare and they’re collecting up only the computer power cords, not the ones from the thing that draws enough power to actually set the wall on fire if we screwed it up.

                And it isn’t that they read the write up the electrical guys did to show it wouldn’t light things on fire when turned on, but rather because it’s completely unrelated to that, and they have no idea what it is anyway.

                It just feels random.

                Like

  5. I’d like to believe that they made a strategic miscalculation by waiting so long after October 7th to continue the jihad. I’m sure they needed to guage the response to some extent. But we citizens are also gauging the response and have largely decided that we are on our own. People are watchful now.

    I have read that 230,000+ Israelis have applied for gun permits. One hopes they are not waiting for the paperwork to get their self defense devices, but that does seem to suggest they realize the need for personal preparations.

    These particular terrorists seem to like to attack during religious holidays so on any dates like that one should be very careful and probably stay out of crowds. But I would also consider avoiding large concert or sporting events at any time for now. These venues have somewhat better security than the TSA, but still, a stadium of unarmed victims would be a juicy target I would think.

    And stadiums in locales with large populations of people who support jihad are particularly vulnerable I’d guess.

    Right now Americans are seemingly supporting half the world in one way or another, particularly places that are hostile to us. What can’t go on, won’t go on but it’s hard to say what will grind it to a halt. Neither one of our parties have any interest in turning the spigots off, so we’ll see.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Waiting? There was really nothing further that they could do. The only possibility that Hamas has is winning tactical victories against surprised Israelis, and hoping that the IDF doesn’t retaliate. Once Hamas had launched it’s attacks, further surprise was impossible. A watchful IDF would have nipped any further incursions before they could get going.

      The civilians still need guns, though, as eventually the military operation will come to an end, and the IDF will gradually slip into a more relaxed (though still wary) state.

      Like

      1. Not Hamas waiting but the supposed global jihad that the rest of the jihadi types were allegedly going to kick off.

        Could be that things went badly enough for Hamas that the rest of them backed down, but we can’t be sure. So people are watching and waiting.

        It could also be that global razing of non-believers wasn’t the plan after all and this was a one off. Only time will tell.

        Like

        1. Was just reading Berenson’s observations on that. One thing he brings up is they’re basically trying to do what ISIS did. However ISIS killed a lot of Arab Muslims in extremely horrific ways, and broadcast it to world.

          It is possible that the average Arab has decided that they’d rather not have a brand new ISIS next door doing their ‘thing’.

          It’s also possible that they just aren’t especially keen on backing an Iranian proxy and are totally happy to let Israel take the casualties for clearing them out.

          Like

          1. There is a Koranic duty to form a Caliphate, and thus declare a Caliph (The place of peace Dar Es Salaam. Everywhere esle is the place of war/jihad). Islamic State decided to create the “state” then coerce/inspire obedience thus hopefully proving “Caliph”. Hamas appears to have decided to try it the other way around. Pull some inspiring victory out of Israel’s ass and then declare “See? We are the Caliphate! Follow the plunder party! Obey!”

            The example of the recent late unlamented caliphate getting squashed like a large scurrying roach is instructive. I suspect the Jihadiots Global Consensus is “Not for all the oil under Arabia and not for all the gold under Switzerland are we going to inspire the Americans to put Trump back in office, thus to unshackle the Jews thus a pair of nuclear swords on our necks. No. We are not -quite- that crazy. No. Nuh uh. And shutup you 12th Imam types. Wait.”

            LOL. Too late, I think.

            Liked by 1 person

    2. juicy target I would think.

      And stadiums in locales with large populations of people who support jihad are particularly vulnerable I’d guess.

      Rather fortunate that Harvard isn’t a football powerhouse… /sarc

      OTOH, attending a football game in MA might not be a good idea.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Given the way the Patriots have been playing of late a Harvard game might be preferable. I was going to say MIT as they used to be club only and pretty sad but seem to have gone NCAA division III somewhere along the way and beat my alma mater on 11/11 this year (feh).

        Like

    3. I get ever so slightly nervous now on football weekends. For a big game, 80,000+ in the stands.
      Hmmm….if terrorists paraglided over the field, would people assume it was part of the festivities?
      Meanwhile, on our way home from the Left Coast we did our best to avoid big cities. Other than Salt Lake (camped in the military famcamp) and St Louis (drove through as fast as we could, missed a turn, got out with much less angina than expected).

      Like

      1. The people who are actually allowed to have weapons inside a stadium – i.e. security – would immediately know that something was wrong if unscheduled paragliders suddenly showed up.

        Like

        1. But would they do anything about it?

          “Hey, Joe, look at that.”
          “I wasn’t told about anyone parachuting onto the field, were you?”
          “No, but it’s probably fine; let the boss deal with it.”
          …
          “They’re firing guns! Get into the tunnels!”

          Like

          1. Security at games is generally very prompt, as you’ll see if someone runs out onto the field during the game.

            Like

        2. I’d replace “would” with “should”. And respond with what? In the mid-70s, my boss described a trip to Seoul, and the rooftop Korean, Korean Army units along the flightpath were quite serious. According to him, they had anti-aircraft emplacements up there.

          It’s a three-pipe problem, Watson.

          Like

  6. I keep in mind Adam Smith’s comment that “There is a great deal of ruin in a nation” (meaning a nation can take many major hits without going down). And I do recognize that America is the most stupendously wealthy nation ever to exist on this earth. I do worry, however, that we can still exceed the limits that would hold the nation TOGETHER, and there certainly seem to be a whole lot of people apparently determined to push us past those limits.

    Like

  7. Shall I count the calibers, or just my favorites, still looking for a .308 to go along with my 30-06, army guys carry .308 so I figure I can get ammo off them, 30-06 might be a bit of a scrounge problem. Also need a gun smith to adapt my Garand for a twenty shot magazine. So then you fire eight and throw down the clip and when they rush out after the ping. Oh wait, they probably ain’t that smart. Never mind.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. At least here in Flyover County, 30-’06 isn’t that hard to get. Still wish I had kept the Garand (and other bangsticks), but financial reality was biting me in the ass. OTOH, bolt actions work.

      Like

    2. Still looking for 25-35 ……

      As RcPete said “30-’06, easy in Flyover county”, and Oregon in general (even Eugene). Popular hunting round. Even 30-30 rounds fairly easy. Although if stores don’t have them, BIL can make them. Ammunition has gotten a lot easier to find on shelves over the late summer and fall, you know for those firearms that got lost in the boat accident on the pond.

      Like

      1. Ammunition might have gotten easier to find over the summer, but unfortunately it appears that’s coming to an end. I’m reading that there’s been a big spike in demand for it, apparently within the last month or so.

        Hmm… Did anything important happen in early October?

        /smh

        Like

    4. You might just look for an AR-10 pattern that takes the type of 0.308 magazine you prefer.

      The AR-10/15 got an early bad rep for unreliablity partly because it was advertised as a direct impingment action, when it is really a short stroke gas piston, with the gas piston inside the bolt carrier. But when you take care of the gas seals and the piston, it handles mud and junk and weird loading a better than the Garand.

      Like

      1. Not to mention beating the action to death using the wrong powder. Eugene Stoner designed it around slow-burning stick powder, and some idiot made the early ammo with fast-burning flake powder.

        Like

    5. 10mm. 45-70. .303 British. Some new, some old, but they get the job done. And let’s not forget the 12ga, the hate/love combination that comes with shooting slugs.

      Well, the last is the easiest to feed, to be quite honest. Price of ammunition remains rather high. Especially for the odder and older calibers.

      There’s always the old 30-30 though. As long as the target is within a couple hundred yards or so, it’s the handiest, smoothest shooting bangstick.

      At least it was before the unfortunate river disaster.

      Bayonet? Bah. If such were warranted, I’d have kept the Krag.

      Like

    6. There was an Italian version of the Garand with a box mag, the Beretta BM-59. Dont bother trying to gunsmith a Garand into a BM-59. Way more expensive than just buying a repro BM-59, or civvy M14/M1A in .308.

      Now, there are also civvy/semi-only replcias of Browning Automatic Rifles, which is definitely a box-mag .30-06. Hope you liek to work out, becasue its a beast.

      A box-mag .308 does everything the .30-06 will do. BTW, you can obtain new-made Grarands in .308, which solves a logistic need for the rifle aficianado.

      Now if you absolutely have to gunsmith a Garand, a now-retired ‘smith was rebuilding Garands, I kid you not, in .458 Winchester Magnum, which is a low end elephant gun round and suitable for any large/dangerous critter that currently walks the earth. (and probably ok for light to medium dinousaur.) Perfect for that Niven “Footfall” scenario when one might find oneself hunting the Traveling Fithip. Or an invading Kzinti warband.

      Hmm. Better stop before I go spend stupid money on one….

      Like

  8. Its the moral rot that is the real danger, and the lefts use of the institutions to spread that moral rot, that is the greatest danger. It is no accident that when teachers’ unions and school systems promote phony history that turns Jews native to Israel for over three millennia into “white European settler colonists”, and pushes a system of oppression Olympics, you get far too many young people who act according to the propaganda that has been shoved down their throats.

    This is how you have mobs stealing UPS trucks, looting Fed Ex trucks, attacking firefighters responding to accidents, and engaging in marches denouncing Jews right of 1930s Germany, with chants of “gas the Jews”, as just happened in the Seattle area:

    https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2023/11/15/seattle-nazis-have-screeched-for-jewish-blood-in-the-streets-but-sure-this-guys-shirt-is-the-problem-n4923929

    Of course there is the entire culture of greed, envy and death that the Democratic Party has been pushing for decades

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Also worth noting: The Klan are not ‘Right-Wing Extremists’, they’re Democrats disgruntled over the Republicans setting their slaves free and working tirelessly to ensure they have equal rights.

      White men did their best to end 300,000 years of universal slavery.
      ———————————
      ‘Progressives’ will do the wrong thing just because the people they hate do the right thing.

      Like

      1. :points at history:

        They’re upset at blacks or other minorities that go off the plantation, they don’t like folks having guns, and they don’t like practicing Catholics.

        Oh, and they tend to go absolutely psycho about homeschooling.

        Not seeing a lot of change in the last century or so….

        Like

          1. Which makes it freakin’ hilarious when various left-wing groups attack eachother, like the “the modern Jews are pretenders” black israelities trying to join a pro-hamass protest and getting attacked because it SAYS Israel on their signs, so they fought back…..

            Like

            1. And the Hamasshole-adjacent nincompoop that vehicle-attacked a “Black Israelite” school.

              Black Unraelite?

              Like

              1. Cracks, crumbling, and a clutching of knives, between different groups of democrat scoundrels, each calling the other the worst Nazi, White Supremacist, evil, douche bag of the moment. For Every Thing Else There’s MasterCard.

                Like

                  2. To some degree they’re already doing that. The Squad are running their mouths off and rest of the democrats are saying “SHHHH, you’re saying the quiet part out loud you *&^$ing idiots”. The other evening the DNC headquarters were essentially besieged by Hamassholes. I have only comment

                    Popcorn get yer popcorn here fresh popcorn…

                    Liked by 1 person

              4. Would those be the same RRRAAACISSST!!! police the Democrats have been busily ‘defunding’ for the last 3 years?

                Just askin’…
                ———————————
                When police arrest violent criminals to protect innocent people, they are condemned as Jackbooted Fascist Stormtroopers.

                When police arrest innocent people at the behest of corrupt politicians, they are hailed as National Heroes.

                Like

        3. And Jews. Don’t forget Jews. The Klan used to publish lists of Jewish and Catholic owned businesses to facilitate boycotts.

          Like

  9. I remember having my hair “fine combed” every Sunday. Hated every moment of it. Never actually knew why they were doing it.

    My older two picked up head lice when they were day students at an English boarding school. The wife found out the life cycle of the louse and combed the damned things out of them. Took a couple of weeks. Beat the h-ll out of dousing their heads with pesticides, especially as the lice are resistant.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. The thing I have to keep reminding myself of is the unique aspect of Americans and huge size of America and the vast open areas. The old Isoroku Yamamoto quote of a rifle behind every blade of grass is a bit over the top but… Any non-American would be totally gob-smacked by the amount of firepower a community can muster.

    My very nice Italian neighbor who works for a multi-national company (HQ in Italy) went with me to a local gun show and was totally blown away by what was available and what everybody there thought was “normal” and expected. His work friends took him to the range and he got to bang off a bunch of rounds through a bunch of stuff – again, totally amazed at what the average Joe or Jill had. This guy also grew up (Northern Italy) in an area where they hunted and his father-in-law is a big time hunter so firearms were not strange but what Americans had and the amount/volume of it totally blew him away (pun intended).

    The above example is one I think a lot of the “left” types in America have – that is a very “European” outlook on arms and citizens and they just don’t realize what the very real world is actually like. Within their isolated blue-hive bubbles they think what they see and experience is the only reality – yeah… not so much. Spend a couple of weeks on a working cattle ranch, dairy farm, steel mill, or other “blue” collar workplace and get back to me. This is why I agree with this post and think some hard times are coming and hard decisions will be necessary too. I firmly believe America and Americans will win out and preserver. It will take work and sacrifice but we will win in the end.

    Like

    1. My wife is French and when we meet her French friends inevitably the conversation gets too guns and America … my wife has come to accept guns as a part of life in America … but when her friends finally ask me,”So how many guns do you have ?” its always interesting to see the look on their faces when I do the old “eyes up and too the right” thinking thing and answer 8 … 3 rifles/shotguns and 5 pistols/revolvers … of course they immediately ask “Why do you need so many guns ?” … I usually start of by saying “first off, 8 is not alot of guns and second I like to have some guns to practice with cheaply so I have some 22 caliber” … when I get the “What are yo practicin for ? question I like to say a gun is a very DANGEROUS tool that one should be familiar AND comfortable using so I practice and its fun too shoot … plus if I ever needed a gun for protection not being good with it can be as dangerous as not having one …

      Like

      1. The actual number is more like 600 million. Or higher. And we’ve been buying another million-plus a month ever since Biden-und-Harris ‘won’ the 2020 election. Gun and ammunition manufacturers are still struggling to catch up with demand.

        And those are just the guns that have been bought since the reporting laws were put in place. Nobody knows how many guns we already owned before 1968.

        There are, what, 10,000 ‘gun violence’ deaths per year? Even if every one of those involved a different gun, that would be only 0.00167% of the guns we own. Cars kill more people, and there are only 170 million of those.

        Of course, the Leftroids are trying to ban our cars, too, they’re just being sneakier about it.
        ———————————
        The Democrats trust violent criminals and terrorists with guns more than they trust you.

        Like

        1. Half or nearly half of those gun deaths are suicides, alas. If they think gun deaths are high now just think what it will be like if the Marxies win all the marbles.

          Like

        2. Half or nearly half of those gun deaths are suicides, alas. If they think gun deaths are high now just think what it will be like if the Marxies win all the marbles. Plus it never hurts to under promise and over deliver.

          Like

  11. in the words of the immortal Jose Wales …

    “Now remember, things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.”

    Liked by 1 person

  12. One thing that does concern me about all the rhetoric about parasites is that I’m going to file for Social Security in a few months. I’ve paid into the system for 50 years, so I don’t feel guilty about getting a small amount of it back. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks in the US who really don’t like boomers and just want us to die out sooner rather than later.

    Like

    1. file for Social Security in a few months. I’ve paid into the system for 50 years, so I don’t feel guilty about getting a small amount of it back.
      …………………….

      100% Most boomers won’t realize more than what they paid in, let alone what they paid in and any gains they could have accumulated. It is the non-SS programs (I’m including survivor benefits as part of SS) that are the culprits.

      Medicare benefits? Not only is there a separate line from SS on the paycheck hit, we pay part of our SS for it. Medicare Advantage? We pay $0 for what we have. The Medicare portion that is deducted from our SS is paid to the insurance carrier we chose. Our benefits are almost (don’t get OBGY benefits for pregnancies, well baby care, etc.) as good as what we had with employer paid insurance, and a whole lot better than what son gets.

      Unemployment is another benefit neither of us had any problem with. We taught our son the same. Would prefer never had to use. But put in the right circumstances where any one of us qualified? It was a required part of the employment package. Better believed it was used. Milked? Heck no. Definitely used. Looking for work is harder than actually working. Milking the system is even harder work. I am allergic to working that hard.

      Like

      1. How much is Medicare supposed to cost? I applied in September, just got a bill for $660. Is that for real? After being robbed for 45 years, do I have to pay another $660 a month to actually ‘receive benefits’? That’s almost as much as my mortgage payment! How are all those ‘impoverished senior citizens on fixed income’ supposed to cough up $660 a month? What if they can’t?
        ———————————
        The government can mandate stupidity, but they can’t make it not be stupid.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Just regular medicare, yes, sucks. This is why there are all these Medicare Advantage ads on TV. And if you are on medicare already, or approaching it, get ready to be inundated with mail fliers (every dang year Oct through Dec 7, because you are not stuck with same plan year-to-year). Medicare Advantage needs to be researched. Make sure your doctor, hospitals, and medications, are on your plan, and what level class (medications).

            Our Medicare Advantage insurance: Is it as good as hubby’s union insurance, before retirement? No. Is it as good as hubby’s union retirement insurance? Yes. In fact it is better. Note, it is a whole lot better than the medical insurance I had at work, except dental and that is only because our dentist (who we’ve been with since 1985) isn’t on the insurance network. Note, two things. 1) Same insurance company we’ve had through hubby’s work since 1979, through retirement, just Medicare Advantage, now. 2) Additional monthly premiums (over medicare deduction costs)? $0

            How does this work? Private insurance gets the medicare premiums, plus any extra (there are those options) you pay. I attribute it to the principle that private enterprise can do more (a lot more) for the same dollars as government.

            Like

              1. We went to a Medicare Advantage specialist. Or rather had one come to us.

                Ours was trickier, as hubby was switching when I was, and not Jan. Hubby was on the Medicare Advantage version of the retiree’s insurance, while I was on the regular retiree insurance. If he dropped off, I lost that insurance (could keep it if I was a widow, but not otherwise). So he had to wait until I qualified for SS. Since me starting medicare, then my birthday month triggered a “qualifying event” for him too. Granted, as it turned out, we just changed divisions within the same insurance company. But it would have worked either way.

                Yes, I can recommend Regence Medicare Advantage, but you have to be in the proper service area. Service area is Vancover, WA down I-5 through the Willamette Valley, I think Cottage Grove. Not sure about the coast. Does not cover eastern Oregon.

                Near as I can tell they are dang near the same.

                Oh, if you pick wrong, you get a one time “do over” after the first of the year. Not that we’ve used it.

                Note, I messed up with vision. Costco optical (glasses/lenses) took Regence insurance, I asked. What the didn’t do was take Regence Medicare Advantage (same company, different program). Didn’t need new glasses. Still would have gone through Costco, even paying in full out of pocket (less expensive by far than anywhere that took the insurance). That was changed for 2023. Finally got new glasses AND new sunglasses for a decent cost. $220 out of pocket total for standard progressives in same frame style, one photosensitive, the other sunglasses.

                freaking pile of the damn things
                ……………………

                We turned it into a joke. Oh, and fire starter.

                Not so bad this year and last year, but starting about July 2021, we were inundated. I turned 65, Oct 2021.

                Like

              1. I’d say “4 years away”. But the inundation of paper information to your mailboxes starts a few months before you are eligible. Unless your birthdays are within the same quarter, expect entire year 64 to be a deluge of paper. That doesn’t count the fall/early winter TV ads, we are getting now.

                Like I said in another post, we just tossed/recycled everything that came in. We got a Medicare Advantage specialist to provide the best options in our area (actually two, for reasons). We talked to others on who they talked to (i.e. hubby’s golf buddies, mom & her friends). We kept cards of the second person we talked to, to pass around to anyone who asks.

                Of coarse in medicare years, 4 years is a long time away. Who knows what things will be like then?

                Liked by 1 person

        2. Well, my mother who’s on Medicare just got notified that the ~$550 she was paying per month was ~$490-too-much, so you might want to look into that. It definitely should not be that expensive.
          Also, the nice lady at the bank notified her that multiple people have been having money withdrawn from their accounts after getting set up for Social Security rather than getting their money, so keep an eye on your bank statements, ’cause the SS admins may be doing something squirrely there.
          As for me, I fully expect that I will work ’til I die, being in my late 20s and watching the slow collapse of our society. Ah well.

          Like

          1. Yeah, $165 a month was the number I heard; another reason the $660 pissed me off.

            As for Socialist Stupidity, I canceled my application after finding out that 65 is ‘early retirement’ and the age for ‘full retirement’ is 66 + 8 months. So, come May 2025 I re-apply, and give them the number of a savings account I use for depositing dead-tree checks, and then transfer everything out except the minimum balance to avoid fees. Raiding that account won’t get them much.

            Like

            1. Yes. For most of us 66 + 8 months is full SS. But still must sign up for medicare, and pay medicare premiums. Huge penalties if you don’t. Even if you have employer paid insurance. Between then and age 62, it is “early” retirement.

              Liked by 1 person

        3. much is Medicare supposed to cost?
          …………….

          $660 bill for medicare? Blink. Paid quarterly? If you are not taking SS at age 65? $660/4 = $165

          It is expected to go up Jan/2024. (What percentage? IDK SS is going up 3.2%.)

          Right now our medicare deduction is $165, each. When I started at age 62, 4 years ago, it was $145. When hubby started, also age 62, it was $90, 12 years ago.

          Note, our medical insurance, regular for me, medicare advantage, under hubby’s retirement insurance was $490/month + the medicare insurance deduction $145. Net increase Oct 2018, was $345 (dropped some Jan 2019 because of increases, but still a net plus).

          This year, if medicare deduction is the same percentage increase (+3.2%) as SS then: Hubby’s SS increase will be net ~+$57. My SS will be a net ~+$53. (~ = about).

          Had this all type up before I did the quarterly math (sometimes I have to free flow to get a “better answer”). Still applies as a warning:

          Did you not sign up for medicare at age 65? There is a penalty if you don’t. Hits a couple of ways. 1) Flat penalty. Plus 2) the monthly medicare rate is higher, than if you’d signed up when suppose to, that rate is ongoing, will never go down, and is the basis of the compounding medicare increases year-to-year.
          …………………….

          I’d still ask for an explanation, since the billing isn’t clear.

          Like

          1. Actually, a quarter is 3 months, so $660 / 3 = $220. Doesn’t match. And it was actually $659 and some cents. No rhyme or reason to the number that I can see.
            ———————————
            If you always expect the government to do the stupidest things you can imagine, you will rarely be disappointed. Indeed, from time to time the government will exceed your expectations and do unimaginably stupid things.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Starting December 2022 my Monthly Medicare premium is 164.90. I don’t know what it will be starting this coming December. Of course, this is for a single person (currently 69).

              Like

              1. $164.90 is what is taken out of each of ours, mom’s, sister’s (I rounded up for the example). There is no family discount.

                The SS increase for next year has been announced/published: 3.2%

                (Bit of disappointment after last year.)

                Medicare premium increase hasn’t been announced yet, other than it will be “minimal”. Even if it is the “same” 3.2% we are each looking at a net increase. Not much. But not nothing either.

                Like

        1. Then the $660 makes sense. You said September. So the billed for the last quarter + September.

          FYI the 66 + 8 months has been on the books for almost 10 years, sliding scale. Hubby’s was at 65 + X months. Mine was full 66 + 8 months. Mumbling of modifying that to age 70. Can you hear the screaming? Not just from those thinking they were actually retiring, but the generations behind them? I hear a lot of mumbling, not just politics, of old people taking jobs away from younger. Cries of “it’s our turn!”

          FYI. Anyone relying on just SS is either nuts, or have been extremely unlucky. I have no sympathy for those who cry poverty when they spent their working years spending to the max and not building another financial leg (401k, IRA, ROTH) for the later years. Should be a tripod, but PTB pulled that when pensions disappeared.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I am trying to figure out how to live on less than my Social Security and save my IRA accounts and money from the sale of my house for larger expenses such as getting my battery replaced or when my valve wears out. My plan is to die with a few hundred thousand in the bank, it is far more appealing than dying because I have nothing in the bank.

            Like

            1. figure out how to live on less than my Social Security and save my IRA accounts and money from the sale of my house.
              ……………….

              Eventually the IRA accounts have to have minimum distributions.

              We do the same. Was hitting the mark until Bidenomics raised it’s ugly claws. We *”budget” (quoted because comes under “not really”). Live on what we have coming in for SS and pensions (for all that mine is $121/month, no did not drop a zero). Then only pull what is needed to cover shortfall. Hubby is still a year from being required to take distribution from IRA, and they keep pushing that number back. Right now our draws are covering house maintenance (not delayed, just unlucky timing this time).

              One part of the financial footstool I wish we had was a post tax account (non-IRA, SS, or pensions) to keep taxable income down. Those accounts fell victim to the 2002 – 2004 (unemployed), and 2008 – 2011, financial crises. Not sacrificed in vain. Got son through college with no debt.

              Like

          2. I hear ya. The reason I have to wait until ‘full retirement’ is because I have ‘too much‘ money saved and invested. Enough to get by without SS. If I had squandered it all and had nothing left, I would ‘qualify’ for a lot more ‘help’.

            Which is why I say the government rewards failure and punishes success.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. wait until ‘full retirement’ is because I have ‘too much‘ money saved and invested.
              ………………………

              This was our plan too. Until full retirement was pushed back so far. Then we started making money on our investments. So we shifted gears. Keep the account funds growing. Did we make the right choice? IDK Personally I don’t think there is a wrong choice. It is whatever anyone can live with based on their personal assessments.

              We never had planned on working until full retirement age. For either of us. Hubby actually planned on 55, but didn’t until age 60 (few months before). But then his job was a lot more physical and outdoors. Mine was indoors and chair based. I was never retiring when he did, being younger, but “sometime before 65” vague. That I retired at 59, was not planned. I’ve related the story before on the blog. Initially not happy about the circumstances and timing (I liked what I did. Things were touchy at the work place for another couple of years, even tho the individual was “banned” from the work place, until the boss, the father, sold. Not willing to be a workplace casualty). Appreciated hubby’s support (“Quit. Quit Now.”). Adjusted.

              Like

      1. The funny part about that is they require you to sign up.

        You can’t opt out of SS when your time comes.

        Like

        1. Correct. You must sign up, and pay out of pocket, for Medicare at age 65, even if you don’t take SS at age 65. Which for most on this list, not already on SS, isn’t full SS until age 68. Age 70 you get SS whether you want it or not, unless in a certain work categories (because never paid in, because exempt), even if you are working. No discount for any dollars earned while taking SS. Before age 70 the salaried/hourly dollar earned to SS dollar lost isn’t quite 1 to 1. Investments do not count. Neither do self employment book earnings. They just count against income and how much the SS is taxed. (We might have researched this, a lot. Before and after the rules were changed. Boy did they spike our original plan. Changed from each waiting to age 70 to take SS, even if neither of us worked that long, to taking the discounted amounts at age 62. We’ve already made more money in investments than the extra we’d have gotten if we’d have waited. Hubby is > 70. I am not.)

          Like

      2. Our plan was “We don’t want to have to work until *death. But we don’t believe SS will be there when it is time to cut loose required employment income.” We were wrong about second half. We each took our SS at age 62, to extend out our own savings. The plan is to leave something to the kid even if both of us, in particularly me (because family histories says that is most probably what will happen) another 40 years. Even that we’ve taught our kid that “would be nice, but don’t figure it into your plans.”

        So they can cut us off all they want. We all 3 have a pair of middle fingers to show them. Granted, at this point, I might have problems getting the one on my right hand to stand straight up. But by golly I’ll try.

        ((*)) If I’d been a writer with stories fighting to get out. Is it work? Even if getting paid? Crafts? Once I was getting paid, it wasn’t fun anymore, so work. Programming? Even getting paid, it was fun. When I did retire, and give it up, didn’t think really was giving it up. Just not salaried anymore. I could say “Sorry. Too busy.” Never thought I’d be absolutely okay that they didn’t call. It was their idea that they’d call. Not mine.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I wish I could work. The job market has been complete crap. While the statistics show that there are “new” jobs being created, the labor force participation numbers have been dropping. So, fewer people are working, but more people are working 2 or more jobs.

        Like

  13. Apparently not every Israeli believed in gun control, as some of the survivor stories seem to include, “And then my neighbor turned out to have rifles and shotguns, and the baddies decided to leave….”

    Not enough of them, I guess, but a nonzero number.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Certain Israeli civilians were legally allowed to own guns. And many of them did. The first change to the gun control laws in Israel post 10/7 was to greatly reduce the time it took for people who were authorized to apply for gun permits to get through the process.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. They started out as socialists (the kibbutzes were communes), and still have many elements of it. They also have no formal constitution, and a notoriously leftist and activist Supreme Court that is allowed to block any new members it doesn’t like.

          Efforts to reform that court were a big distraction immediately before the Hamas attacks, and the intelligence services were apparently actively siding with the court against the elected officials.

          Like

        3. From what I’ve read, they’re desperately in need of an actual constitution and a bill of rights, in general.

          Like

          1. They do. The lack of one has encouraged the activist court. But they also need a way to get rid of the high court’s ability to nix the appointment of any individual judge that the court members don’t like. Imagine if the members of the (until then) Burger Court had been allowed to block the nomination of Justice Rehnquist, and you’ve got a basic idea of one of the problems with the Israeli high court.

            Like

  14. Rando anecdatum.

    I’ve done a lot of different things for pay over the years. I get around. Get to see the inside bits of things that your average folks don’t.

    One upon a time, I was working in one of those big box everything stores in a podunk little town a smidge South of Home. Wandering through the back room, chasing data lines and IDing snags, signal drops, and the like.

    Came upon the loading dock while this nice little Asian lady was working, loading a box truck with box after box of… stuff. Food.

    Cans, canned milk, fresh-ish veggies, cornmeal, candy bars, cheese, soda, bread, all sorts of stuff. Nosying about, come to find out they are giving it away.

    It wasn’t gone bad or out of date. Still had like a week before “recommended” day to be used. Spoiler, the recommendation is a bit of a fudge. But all given away to a certain charity. Completely free.

    And they did that every. Single. Day.

    This was not a large community. It was also during the tail end of the Covidiocy, with people coming back to work and all. The amount of food would be enough to feed a couple hundred people and feed them pretty dang well. I know this. I’ve catered, cleaned up, cooked for, and attended appropriately sized gatherings to get an accurate idea of what it takes to feed that many people.

    We ain’t gonna have no apocalypse any time soon, folks. The Idiots In Charge may have borked the economy and royally screwed up the supply chain. Heck, they darned well have for truth. But we still don’t know what it’ll take to break this nation, because that didn’t do it.

    If Podunk Place at the arse end of a loo-o-ong supply chain can afford to keep a big box store open
    (and seriously profitable, by what I know of it) in the midst of all that and still give away enough food every darned day to feed a decent sized neighborhood (or a couple dozen growing teenagers, depending), I think we’re going to be okay, folks.

    Make what preparations make sense for you and yours. But, like as not, you’re still going to be going to work and buying milk and eggs for the foreseeable future. Local scarcity and natural disasters, sure. Those things happen.

    But mobs of purple haired bandits are going to be concentrated in the usual spaces, if I had to make a prediction. Speck, Appalachia will weather the future pretty okay, more or less. InnerCity megalopolis might have some sharpish moments. Wouldn’t want to live there.

    It ain’t game over for the Red White and Blue, folks. We’ve weathered worse as a country.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Denial of food is an old and effective weapon. If things get sporty again in the USA, the food supply -will- be targeted. probably by all sides. -That- is when things may get lean. Thus, a buffer is prudent.

      And folks, it is -essential- that you have a pre-plan and pre-practice in hiding the garbage from your food stash. Folks -will- be scrounding the rubbish for edibles, and finding a set of Mountain House freeze-dried chow bags, or a bunch of empty soup cans, is going to tempt the starving idiots to come calling. The trash is also how the neighborhood grasshopper nazis will detect “hoarding”. That, and your lack of skin-n-bones appearance.

      Ditto “gun” trash. Leave it at the range dumpster (sans address labels), not in your curb bin.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Meh, I’m not overly worried about my (quickly growing but still kind-of-rural) valley. We’re still primarily agricultural, so even if things go sideways, enough people know how to grow and process food and do necessary repairs on important equipment that we’ll be okay – if the Californians would just stop comin’ in and building on good farmland.
      Besides, I live smack-dab in the midst of the OG preppers as a descendant of Mormon pioneers in a (slightly) majority LDS community. Sure, most of my neighbors no longer subscribe to the cultural norm of keeping a personal food storage, but there are a lot of people 20-30-ish and starting their own households who are increasingly interested in resurrecting said cultural norms.

      Like

  15. Quoting the 10% number (or maybe just making it up) makes me think of the social research touched on in Nassim Taleb’s book ‘Skin in the Game’. Apparently, if somewhere between 3 – 5% of a society are fanatics (about anything), eventually the society will adopt whatever the fanatics are demanding – that the normals just get tired of saying ‘no’ to the very small majority that will never, ever, change what they want. (It’s one of the irritating things about Taleb’s book is that he doesn’t show his actual references). I’ve seen it in my own life, in the change of how drunk driving is viewed today, compared to 50 years ago when I started driving myself.
    IMO, that’s one of the things that make the social divide today pretty-well impregnable. We have small minorities of fanatics of both ends of the spectrum, who should cancel each other out but are instead are pulling us into two incompatible groups living in the same house. Yes, it’s likely to take blood and money to sort out.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. My late cousin, the former naval attache, told us around 2002 that the govt thwarted at least 50 attacks in the months after 9/11. His comment was a variant on, “We have to catch them all. They only have to get lucky once.” I suspect the stress of his work probably contributed to his relatively early death.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’d believe it– and that’s not even counting the stuff that was the equivalent of “good guy with a gun thwarted attempted attack, no shots fired” where it was a test probe.

      Even at McChord we had several amazingly coincidental “accidents” that “happened” to hit the unguarded, locked gates, about a decade after 9/11. (They didn’t result in all of the security arriving at the site, and they weren’t ignored, so nothing followed and if I hadn’t driven past some of the responses and listened on base, I wouldn’t know they existed.)

      Like

  17. I notice that China is selling off large chunks of their dollars. Desperate for cash or prepping for the Taiwan attack embargo?

    Green Charter, MI recently voted out its entire local government over authorizing a Chinese battery maker to build a factory there. It wasn’t just the factory itself, it was the subsidies and the terms of the deal. Clearly these people were firmly ensconced in their positions yet they had their legs cut out from under them.

    Here’s a little insight into how it was done. Rinse and repeat.
    https://rumble.com/v3w17q2-november-15-2023.html?mref=6zof&mrefc=3

    Like

  18. I love the “head nod” comment after 9/11. If some dirtbag wants to make “something happen to some people”, we’ve got this.

    We’re going through a similar head nod moment right now. They’re in our country, by invitation, and we need to be prepared. Christmas markets, parades, football games, and shopping centers. My family has a plan for the next 4th of July parade if something happens. The Oct 7th massacre was a reminder to stay ready. As our hostess reminds us, keep your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.