If The Worst Happens

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

When I was little, living where I lived, we notionally had electrical power.

Notionally because it was often more in default than not. Meaning that the electrical power was almost exclusively used for light, and that the light as such we would now here, and probably there, consider grossly inadequate (sixty watt naked light bulb in the middle of a huge room,for instance) and it went down all the time, on the regular.

It particularly went down during summer, not because of air conditioning — I think the first time I encountered air conditioning I was 17? It was a dress shop in Porto and they advertised air conditioning on the door. — but because people stayed up later/kept lights on longer, and also might run a fan or two.

So we were prepared. As in, it wasn’t a matter of “shoot, the light went down” but just going to the kitchen cabinet and getting the candles or oil lamps, etc. and lighting them up. In a deranged way, I learned to enjoy when the light went down. For one, the family would go for long walks. (Took me years to figure out that was because my parents didn’t trust me around candles, mostly because I really, really liked them. And was very clumsy.) For another, well, I could take a candle to a corner and read, and it excused me from socializing.

So, why do I bring this up? Well, first of all because there’s enough socialism in the air, and we all know what socialists used before candles. But for another because everyone I know is really, really scared.

It’s not that we think the American people want or would vote for communism. It’s that we’re seeing the fact the socialists/commies are again running a potemkin campaign, and you only do that when you know you have got it all sewn up.

Sure we hope and pray — boy do we pray — they fail, but …. you know?

And we saw the big steal go through once. And it’s reasonable to fear it will happen again. And, boy, oh boy, is their program pure communism straight up, guaranteed to immiserate everyone.

So, some hope is more that their program has been failing to take hold for four years — not for lack of trying — and that “push harder” is not likely to work any better. Some hope is that they are truly, truly stupid and some of their attempts will mar their other attempts. Like, no the invaders they enticed in won’t stay in as spiral deeper and deeper into depression.

But that is bitter hope, in both cases, and it’s impossible not to feel scared/out of it/panicked as the election draws near.

First of all, prepare. Just prepare. As much as you can. And I do realize some of us are preparing on a severely injured budget. But try anyway. And it might be stuff like “Gardening supplies and seeds for next spring” because honestly even if Trump pulls a miracle, we will go through hard hard times before things straighten out. It’s already baked in.

Second, remember you’re not alone.

I figure that second is my function. To remind you you’re not alone. Because being alone with the bad thing, in the dark, is the worst thing ever.

I promise I’ll keep the lights on in this blog as long as I’m not forcibly prevented from doing so. And even if I’m forcibly prevented from being on the net, I know several of you are keeping address lists of commenters. I’ll get those somehow, and you might get this blog once a month, on mimeographed sheets (are there still mimeographs?) or more likely printed in a 3d printed guttenbergish press, stapled together, like old style fanzines. (I figure it’s the only way to continue selling fiction too, if everything collapses.)

And if I go silent, if the really worst worst possible happens, I hope someone will pick up the pen and continue.

Because, yes, more needs to be done than talking about it. We all know that. And for Fed the Fred, I’m not even talking violence. For instance some people here have been working with TrueTheVote for years. (Though Fed, honey, you should consider how hard we’re being pushed, and incentives.)

BUT all forms of resistance, even passive, start with knowing you’re not alone.

You’re not alone. There are other people out there feeling the same. I suspect we’re the majority.

If the worst happens, keep the lights on.

Likely the light will be seen through the night and inspire others into lighting their own light. Even if it’s a little candle, or an oil lamp, it reduces the darkness overall.

And if the worst of the worst happen, the light we keep on as long as possible will be seen through the dark times to inspire generations still unborn.

Be not afraid.

Light a candle.

252 thoughts on “If The Worst Happens”

  1. Better to light a candle than to curse the socialists.

    Even better to turn on a reliable electric light and toss the socialists from helicopters.

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            2. Nelson Mandela and his followers modernized that as the “Mandela necklace” an old car tire jammed over the shoulderss and some gasoline.

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            1. Max: “How do I get inside?”

              Auntie: “It’s a factory. Ask for work.”

              Max: “I don’t know anything about producing methane.”

              Auntie: “You can shovel shit can’t you?”

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  2. Which is why articles like this are so worrying. And enraging.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/3131217/most-swamp-managers-say-voters-dont-matter/

    Washington’s bureaucracy, expanded and emboldened by the Biden-Harris administration, feels so secure that most managers would impose new regulations even if voters “overwhelmingly” rejected their plans.

    In the latest sign of the disconnect between Washington’s “swamp” and the rest of the country, 54% of federal government managers would defy voters to do what they want, according to a new Napolitan Institute survey conducted by Scott Rasmussen and shared with Secrets.

    In a survey of 500 federal managers, Rasmussen asked: “Imagine that you work for a government agency and have the ability to draft new regulations. After carefully researching an important issue, you determine that a new regulation is needed. If voters overwhelmingly oppose that regulation, what should you do?”

    Just 35% would follow the wishes of voters and trash their regulation while 54% would “follow your research and issue the regulation.” The rest were unsure.

    Napolitan, which has been surveying “elites” and federal managers, said that the survey was reinforced by other recent polls revealing the arrogance of the swamp. In another, for example, 51% of federal managers believe that people have “too much individual freedom.” Just 31% said they have “too little.”

    The really scary thing is that they have no fear of saying this.

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      1. “Just get in the helicopter, sir, and we’ll get you to where you need to be.”

        And for those who remember WKRP:

        “As God is my witness, I thought managers could fly!”

        :twisted:

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  4. I’ve an old 100# propane tank that was starting to leak, that I am currently turning into a solar powered air dryer for food stuffs. Potentially turning it into a smoker as well (difference being if there is a fire or sunlight to heat the interior)

    Its not that I need it, ‘right now’, but that I think we are going to be hitting rough spots with sudden spurts of ‘maybe enough’,,, I intend on having a way of turning large batches of meat into long-term storage stuff. Nothing wrong with dried/smoked beef and beef jerky, or venison jerky, or dried fish,,,,

    No doomer prose here; I think, as you, that the steal is already written, but I honestly feel that the aftermath of it won’t be as ‘calm’ as they are planning. And there is a 50/50 chance they are planning(hoping) on it going kinetic,,, I just don’t think it will play out how they think it will. We AmeriCAN’s don’t play by Euro-rules.

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  5. Thank you. I’ve lit my candle and have a couple of blogs on Substack. I’m also ditching FB and Instagram. [in process] and thus spending more time talking to people on the phone, skype or in person. Life is better this way.

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  6. I’m reminded of The Christopher’s, whose motto is

    It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
    Yes, it may, for a time, get very dark. we cannot control that, anymore than we can stop the sunset. Both are beyond our capabilities.

    what can we do?

    if they are candles, light them. If there are none, then hold each other in the dark, and give your presence. Be optimistic. Do the daily tasks without complaint.
    Sing. Dance. Whistle. Make silly jokes. Do what you can to keep your spirits up, and those of others around you. Tell the stories of all the brave men and women that stood up against the forces of evil. Tell them so well that future people will think the stories were pure myths.

    Pray. Give thanks. Thanks that the sun rises in the morning. That you are still breathing. Thanks for the efforts of so many towards stopping the juggernaut were expended.

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    1. The candle light now trembles
      In the growing gloom.
      The hand that holds it wavers
      It shows so little of the room.

      Yet other voices whisper
      Both with hope and fear
      And the candle is still burning
      Showing what is there.

      Some voices come eager
      And crowd into the light
      And speak hope into the darkness
      And so defy the night.

      Some voices hide in shadows
      Afraid to be made known
      And huddle close together:
      Another strength is shown.

      Where e’re the light is falling,
      The darkness cannot stay
      The bitter winds are calling
      But night must give way.

      Another candle sharpens
      And brings another glow
      And brings courage in the darkness
      Where some voice fear to go.

      And so the voices raising
      Up into the night
      And the darkness cannot stand
      As they walk into the light.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. I suppose I should write a post on candles, candle lanterns and Old School oil lamps. Such as things like this:

        That’s a small pan to hold any spills, a ceramic ‘spoon rest’, a bit of cotton string, and some olive oil. Improvised with what was handy. Not super bright, but it gives light.

        Liked by 1 person

        2. There’s a Laurel who teaches a class on oil lamps at Pennsic, with tips on improvisation. (Cotton mopheads as a source of wicks, for example). I have the handout.

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        3. During the last three multi-day power outages I had a box of 100-hour candles on hand. They are just tiny oil lamps filled with liquid parafin. One in the bathroom and one in the kitchen as nightlights. Worked great.

          I bought the box (of 12) about 15 years ago and last used one 2 weeks ago. Still have 9 left.

          Liked by 1 person

        1. Not at the current time. I’m putting new ones up mostly regularly on my substack (and full disclosure playing with their subscribe feature. At a rate of 3 free/2 paid per week.)

          My previous method had been write as I write and collect into books. But I’d never thought my poetry would be what I was publishing so I’m somewhat fumbling through on the best way to get it out there.

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        2. It occurs to me, I’m mirroring the freebies on my website (dreaminginplot.com) It’s got a few of the older ones as well, but I’ve only recently started getting consistent with posts.

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  8. I’ve lit my candle and have a couple blogs on Substack. The garden is doing pretty well this year and I should be canning tomatoes this fall. The dehydrator has been running, and the banking is as under control as I can get it. [Which is pretty good.] I kept some stuff stored even before covid, it’s just that I have more TP now…

    I’m also divesting myself of various social media platforms, which is definitely a thing with people on Substack. I got started the deletion process for at least one Instagram account and am planning a FB exit as of Oct 1, maybe sooner if I’m sure I’ve got everything I want.

    This was really nice to read. Thank you.

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    1. I hear that acetone is a good thing to clean out those bottles, and packing peanuts/styrofoam are good to protect the bottles from inadvertent impacts.

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    2. The full moon may be waning, but the crazy is hanging around. The Fargo-Moorhead area has had about a shooting and/or murder a day over the last two weeks. Sometimes we get lucky and it just results in houses with some extra ventilation holes, sometimes it’s defensive, and sometimes it’s gang/drug related. But until 2020 such things happened only a dozen or so times a year. It’s crazy.

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      1. Down here likewise. A lot of it is, ahem, “Intracommunity disputes,” sometimes over a girl. And some is gang stuff. There’s a LOT more tagging, in places that have never, ever been touched by the taggers.

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  10. The Reader remembers ‘irregular’ electricity from his time in southern Spain as a child. We were fortunate in that the base my father was working at as a field engineer installing a transmitter for the Navy had its own 20 Mw diesel generators and spare refrigeration to store things in. The Reader’s experience was the same as yours – there was no rhyme or reason to when the power was on or off.

    The Reader hopes we do not reach the ‘radio silence’ point on the internet but recognizes that you have a point. Guess the Reader needs to lay in a cheap laser printer as part of his preps.

    The Reader adds an additional point. While the ‘what did socialists use before candle’ is a great meme, the likelihood that socialists could actually make candles (or lamps such as Orvan illuminated for us) is pretty small. Same problem as with pencils. I suspect they’ll end up writing with the charcoal from the fires they used for light.

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    2. I remember frequent power outages, as well as brown-outs, when a child in the outskirts of Sacramento in the 1960s.

      My parents moved to the rural South, and the only time power was interrupted was when there was when they were working on the power lines.

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  11. Just as a note, every year, C and I celebrate Earth Day by going around the apartment and turning on all the lights. We read about it somewhere many years ago and thought it was a perfect symbol. You might say it shows that we’re South Korea and not North Korea . . . In any event, it adds a little to our morale.

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      1. The walk-in closet in our master bedroom (the one we actually sleep in, instead of storing books in!) is the only one with a light, but we certainly turn it on.

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      2. “We control the lightning” is a powerful, powerful sentence; and I explicitly set aside any pun-nish sense of that.

        (For those Not in the Know, it’s from Niven and Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer, about a comet strike on the Earth — and about a decision on whether to keep on doing that, regardless.)

        Today it is Earth Day. Soon, it will be Mars Day…

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  12. I have a fantasy that if the fed go full Communist, at least some of the state governors will say “thanks but no, so we’ll keep our residents’ taxes and you can keep your federal funding”.

    I would be more encouraged in this fantasy if I knew any state governors were doing audits of state agencies, figuring out what is funded by the feds and by how much, figuring out what useful to-the-state functions go away without federal funding, and figuring out how much they actually need to keep the lights and power on for critical functions.

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    1. You’re definitely onto something. The weremate and I have prepared by fleeing the People’s Republic of New York and gone to ground in his ancestral home of South Florida. From the way elections are conducted here (cleanly and efficiently), the tight rein our magnificent Governor keeps on the state agencies, the relative weakness of government-employee unions, and a few other factors, one could almost think the country in general was still sort of normal. We do keep food and water stored in advance of possible hurricanes, but it should come in handy in a less natural, more human catastrophe. Stand by …

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    2. I hope so, as well – that at least a few state governors will do a hard survey of their agencies and figure out how to make it all work independent of federal funding (AKA federal bribes.)

      During the Covidiocy, when the feds made a big play about “closing all the national parks” and forcing us all to hide at home, I was charmed to discover that Texas had only one big national park – and that Texas otherwise is paved with state parks, which remained open.

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      1. I also have fantasies that the state eminent-domains all of the federal land in the state, including the parks, on the grounds that the Feds are incompetent to manage it and don’t make any kind of proper use of any of it.

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        1. One of the few things the Canadian constitution got right was to make all public lands property of the provinces – including whatever mines and minerals lie beneath them.

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    3. And it might be interesting if the Feds try to Federalize the state National Guard units, and get told to go pound sand. I suspect that the NGs of the “non-compliant” states would outnumber the US Army and AF by a bit, especially with the current enlistment shortfalls (I could be mistaken; the available info is a bit opaque and refers mainly to “authorized strength”). And I would guess the Navy to be essentially irrelevant in that scenario.

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      1. And I would guess the Navy to be essentially irrelevant in that scenario.

        SSBN is always relevant, if you have people with the correct politics / mindset in the right places. Wouldn’t even have to be the whole crew.

        They’re arrogant / crazy enough to try it, whether it works or not.

        Remember, most of the Founders weren’t concerned with a Federal Government Navy because they knew that the ships couldn’t seize or damage enough to break the country.

        I suggest that condition no longer applies.

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        2. Yep, that’s why the Army had/has to be re-appropriated for every year, but the Navy didn’t/doesn’t.

          Regardimg SSBNs, that’s correct, but if they want to simply destroy the nation (other than by the way they’re doing now) you don’t need SSBNs; nukes are truck-transportable, and enough are “missing” that getting them to where they’ll do the most bad wouldn’t be as difficult as suborning a sub; that was the plot of the late “Jericho” series.

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          1. Don’t really have to mess with the SSBN. The 4 converted SSGN of the Ohio have over 600 conventional warhead cruise missiles. Would the SSBN/SSGN crews launch? Don’t know, it is not clear that the coordinates provided in the firing command are exposed such that the officers with the keys can tell. My understanding is the various data for the war plans is on board the SSBN, although I think you can provide changed targeting data. If you gaslighted the SSBN with false war news they might even be coaxed to launch thinking they were defending the US. Question is how much outside data have they got? Are things like BBC still out there on short wave and do they check?

            Uggh this is like some Kurt Schlicter nightmare.

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            1. Given the number of missiles, etc., that have been used in the forever wars of the last 20 years, Trumps 4 years excepted, and given the cuts in making new ones, how many of missiles, artillery rounds, etc., are actually really available for use at this point. I suspect it is a lot less than most people realize and while that may help limit the ability of our own military to use them against us, our foreign enemies know that they are not available to defend against them, either.

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              1. And I suspect one could figure out the most politically reliable commanders by looking at who’s getting what.

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              2. I suspect the SSGN are close to fully stocked although some of those cruise missiles are likely old tercom only ones (5-10M accuracy vs likely 1M with tercom+GPS). We haven’t used a lot of Cruise missiles since Gulf War II, they’re kind of expensive and because there were once nuclear armed versions they are somewhat ambigous and can lead to over response. Not sure there are good tercom templates other than to get to say White Sands for the US.

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                1. Given what Kurt Schlicter has been writing over at TownHall, the old tercom ones might work better since GPS is getting jammed.

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            2. According to John Ringo the first four ships to be outfitted were the Ohio, the Michigan, the Florida, and the Georgia. The admiral in charge wanted to call them the OMFG class until someone pointed out the alternate meaning of the acronym. So they renamed the clas, but the original interpretation stuck.

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              1. Reminds me of the official (gov’t-mandated) group at Giant Defense Contractor where I worked. The relevant program manager named it the Failure Analysis Review Team; every time the gov’t rep and my engineering co-worker met in the hall it would be (from both) a wet raspberry followed by “F-a-a-a-a-rt!”. Damn near laughed myself sick the first time I saw that…🤣🤣🤣

                They never even fixed it after the official report forms came in, with F.A.R.T. prominently in the header. Probably too embarrassed, but I suspect that when the program completed it all went quietly into a deep hole.

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                2. J.A. Jance’s Beaumont series. Beaumont is a detective for State Homicide Investigation Team, S.H.I.T.

                  I remember another series where there was someone in charge of overseeing naming of initiatives and groups. Their job were to prevent FART, SHIT, etc.

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              2. I worked for a while in a busy office. It was important that when a phone call came through and the individual who would normally take it was on another call, their current call should not be interrupted.

                We were instructed at one point to write out a note and put it on the individual’s desk. No details, just an acronym. I can’t even remember what the words were, I just remember the acronym was “WTF.”

                I tried to point out to the office manager that this acronym had another meaning. It didn’t work.

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              3. That’s the four. They were “downrated” from SSBN to SSGN. We had previously had SSG designated boats as converted members of the Gato and Balao classes that could fire (nuclear armed) Regulus missiles. So I suspect said Admiral was being playful, he knew they would be SSGN. Although I do like the OMFG type.

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      2. Army Reserve tends towards combst support and service support units while National Guard tends towards Combat Arms (Infantry, Armor, Artillery).

        On opening day of Deer Season in Pennsylvania, there are more armed men field there, in that one state, than there are Infantry in the US Army.

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        1. Yep, I’ve been there on opening day; “Why are the woods suddenly glowing blaze orange?” 😉😃😃

          While, as someone put it (riffing on the familiar quote about the Russian Army), “quality has a quantity all its own”, and the quality and lethality of Army equipment exceeds significantly that available to civilians, I believe that the combination of red-state NG units and armed civilians (specifically including a fairly large number of veterans who remember their training) would make the leftists’ expected “walk in the park” more like “Jurassic Park”. And that’s even if most of the Army and Marine Corps agrees to break their oaths, something I’m far from certain they would; I suspect there would be quite a few intra-and-inter-unit firefights when the orders came down.

          We’ll just have to see how it shakes out.

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          1. In 20 years of hard try, we never pacified Afghanistan or Iraq.

            USA is gigantic compared to those. And there would be no safe rear areas.

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            1. “Hard try” was never an option. “Hard try” involves using everything at your disposal; we preferred to waste the lives of our troops rather than the lives of the enemy. The “fight with one arm tied behind your back, wearing a blindfold” technique, in which size and power are essentially irrelevant.

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              1. And for our daily dose of irony, it’s “conservatives,” who tend to go for, “Make the rubble bounce!” techniques. It’s going to be a terrible shock for some folks if the Left does that to its enemies.

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                1. It’s a bit difficult to effectively nuke a well-dispersed enemy, at least without making large areas uninhabitable for years to decades. The left, OTOH, tends to exist in compact enclaves, sometimes referred to as “target-rich environments”; that goes especially for the self-proclaimed “elite”. And no, I’m advocating nothing of the sort; just noting relative vulnerabilities.

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            2. If it ACTUALLY came down to “Gov’t Bolsheviks vs. US Citizens” on our soil, I suspect more than a third of all fratricide (I mean the accidents, not just the fragging of misbegotten rascals and turncoats) would be in and around DC and Arlington, as EVERY second unit or platoon or fire team of the “insurrectionists” would find they have Personal Business to finish next to the Potomac.

              And the smarter denizens of the bureaucracies would be fleeing their underground office spaces for the crackhouses and Projects on the dingy sides of town, hoping they’ll be safer and just out a bit of Rolex and maybe a kidney.

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      3. I believe the Federal call up is non-optional. Eisenhower used such during desecration after Brown. State NGs called up to block integration were federalized and ordered to stand down and disperse. Then the Federal troops deployed as escorts.

        Eisenhower went to great lengths to avoid NG/Army interactions.

        The 2022 appropriations act ensured coverage of Navy/USMC, Air Force, and Space Force. Coast Guard isn’t covered, but lacks any meaningful manpower.

        Now, if the president invokes “Insurrection” PC doesn’t apply.

        And that gets spicy, I think

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        1. oh crap.

          “de seg re ga tion”

          not

          “desecration”.

          (HONK!)ing spell check is fighting this one tooth and claw. Racist (HONK!). Reap rust.

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        2. I believe the Federal call up is non-optional. 

          Every order for an unconstitutional purpose is optional.

          Which weighs more, the oath or the pension?

          We keep saying that people should keep their heads down. Don’t be surprised when they do.

          Lois Lerner didn’t need the active participation of the whole IRS. She just needed a few crooks…. as long as everyone else kept their heads down. The examples in the last 15 years are legion.

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        4. Rudy Perpich, Governor of MN v Department of Defense, 1990 has the discussion on who wins, legally, when the Governor does not want his/her state’s National Guard activated.

          Short answer: FedGov. (long answer too long for here)

          Skipping over that may require a Fort Sumter moment.

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          1. If the Feds are implementing a process authorized in the Constitution, that is valid. But when the issue is illegal orders and “rules” not passed by Congress, the legality of state response is not a consideration. And no, it doesn’t take a decision by the USSC to determine whether something violates the Constitution; it was written in such a way that it’s usually quite clear; “shall not be infringed” is a good example, no matter what leftist lawyers might contend. “Emanations of penumbras” is leftist idiocy.

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          2. I bet that if you have a State Guard, rather than a State National Guard, that doesn’t apply.

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            1. The only two states I’m aware of that have s State Guard are TX and FL; in both of them. the State Guard is a separate body from the National Guard. How much personnel overlap there is, I don’t know.

              In TX, “The Texas Military is commanded by The Adjutant General of Texas, the state’s senior military official appointed by the governor, and is comprised of the Texas Military Department, the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG), the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG) and the Texas State Guard (TXSG).”

              https://tmd.texas.gov/about-us

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  13. I rather think Biden ran a Potemkin campaign in 2020 because, even then, he wasn’t capable of anything better. Of course he was <i>nominated</i> because the Dems could describe him as a moderate to the public without blatantly lying, but if he’d been capable of facing the public they’d have had him doing so … if only to add verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.

    Harris IMO is in the same boat as Biden, as a campaigner – she’s notoriously unable to persuade anyone to vote for her, even the most fervent Dem partisans. The only reason she’s the nominee is that Biden insisted on running for reelection through all the primaries, and then demonstrated his mental collapse beyond all doubt to the entire country. There was literally no one among the Dems with enough public support to run a campaign against the sitting VP.

    So Harris’s running a Potemkin campaign doesn’t mean “the fix is in”; it means she isn’t capable of campaigning properly, and her advisors know it. Only fraud can save her, but fraud may not be enough. She wasn’t chosen for an ability to present herself as a blank slate for the voters to project their aspirations onto, as Obama was. Nor is she, as Biden was, a quiet apparatchik doing nothing in office but feathering her own nest. She’s like Hilary Clinton, an ideologue who got into office on the coattails of more persuasive politicians; and we all remember how well Hilary did in <i>her</i> presidential campaign.

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    1. THIS. Thisthisthisthisthis, please dear G-d, this. I want you to be right more than almost anything else right now. Thank you.

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      2. I concur. This is the idea I like.

        Though I do have enough friends/acquaintances who believe the “Trump = fascism” deal enough to be thoroughly for her campaign, unironically. (I live where I am either the most conservative or the most liberal in the room. FWIW.)

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        1. I’m hoping for the best, and anticipating mischief. And even greater counter-mischief, because so many more people know what to watch for. (The Supreme Court ruling this week makes me a tiny bit more hopeful.)

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          1. Mischief? In this election cycle? Heh. There’s no way that it will be without mischief. They simply cannot fathom any other way to be. They are utterly unable to stay in power without it.

            And without power, where would they be? The private sector? Ye gobs, you have to actually work there. They demand results. Surely you cannot expect the high and mighty button pushers and paperwork enjoyers to sweat for a living!

            /s as if there was any doubt.

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              1. And that’s the whole point of 2024. Make it so obvious that it can’t be ducked.

                What happens after that, God knows. But Patrick Henry’s choice will be made obvious again.

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                    1. Like Patrick Henry, he chose to fight for liberty. Unlike Patrick Henry, he got the second option when he was tried and hanged.

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            1. 5-4 to allow enforcement of an AZ law requiring proof of US citizenship to vote in national elections. It’s being appealed to the 9th Circuit at the moment, but the (R) asked that the citizenship check be kept active until the 9th hears the case at least. It would affect 41K people who can vote in state and local elections, but not in national elections, since they did not have proof of US citizenship.

              The usual suspects are decrying the law, saying it will disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and young voters who might not have a birth certificate, passport, or other proof of US citizenship. (And resident legal and non-legal aliens, but they don’t say that part out loud.)

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              2. “young voters who might not have a birth certificate, passport, or other proof of US citizenship”

                ………………

                I call BS. I had to send away for my birth certificate, and SS#, at age 14 to get my learner’s permit. We were issued son’s SS before we were out of the hospital and we had multiple copies of his birth certificate by the time we were home (C-section so 3 nights in the hospital).

                Liked by 2 people

                2. In November 2021 we moved from AZ to a flyover state. When I went to apply for my new driver’s license, I was informed that I had to request a certified copy of my first marriage license from CT, even tho I had the divorce decree from three years later, and my birth certificate, and my current marriage license, and my court-issued change of name certificate, and my SS number that was issued when I was 16. They insisted I needed a decades-old don’t-remind-me-of-that-bas***d document to prove I was still really me. Ticked me off a bit. It also delayed my getting the driver’s license for a month past the stated deadline but they did not charge me for that, at least. ;-)

                  On the other hand, we still have go to the polling place on Election Day and mark your paper ballot voting. After showing said license as proof of ID and right to vote. 

                  Liked by 2 people

                  1. When they initially instituted “real id” in Oregon, I sent away for my certified marriage certificate (copy of the one file, stamped “certified”), which I got (we were married in Dechutes county but got the marriage certificates originally in Benton county, certified one is filed at where you took it out, at least in Oregon, sigh).

                    One of the reasons Oregon backtracked the required implementation date, and even now one has a choice, because of people like my grandmother. Her “certified” marriage certificate is buried somewhere in Montana (if it has survived). Mom’s is the same way (Douglas County) but the paper itself is fragile. Mom at least can use her passport. So can I, now that I have a passport. But then I needed the certified marriage certificate to get my passport.

                    My poor niece. She has to take in her birth certificate, issued on her adoption. Her first marriage certificate and divorce papers, her new marriage certificate. Her oldest daughter, when she gets her first driver’s license, will have to have her birth certificate, her legal name change (once they finalize step-dad #2 adoption, if they get it done, they have some issues holding it up, might end up with legal name change at *18), and SS issued. Which will be in 4 years.

                    (*) What cousin’s boys had to do. Ex-dad skipped the country to home country (naturalized, but skipped home to parents). Not willing to parent, paid no child support. Would not sign over parental rights so step-dad could adopt. Apparently abandonment wasn’t enough. Papers were signed the day each turned 18. Great-niece has a different issue. While they have $*%^& signature for prior step-dad to adopt (started but he choose to not continue on the divorce, pissed off his parents FYI), niece really wants $*%^& to forget about them. I guess the fact that $*%^& parental rights to great-niece has been court severed (he is in prison for raping his older daughters, half siblings) isn’t good enough. Great-niece does not have his name on her birth certificate. He has been in prison since great-niece was 3 months old.

                    Point. Could be worse.

                    Like

        2. That, and the reason they felt comfortable running Biden again and engaging in the perpetual cover-up of his mental infirmity is because they feel the fix is already in. It’s the same reason they declare policies that they know a large majority of the citizenry hates, and implement them anyway while publicly telling the populace it is stupid for not knowing how good those policies really are. Only people who are confident that they don’t have to face a genuine election are that arrogant.

          Liked by 1 person

    2. Agreed. The Dems have been *very* aggressive this year in using lawfare to keep others off of the ballot. It’s been publicized to an extent when the Kennedy campaign was the target. But Jill Stein has been complaining about it, as well.

      That doesn’t sound like a party that’s confident in its ability to secure the election.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. No – but it sounds, alas, like a party perfectly confident in their ability to wholesale fraud a victory.

        I think the most galling thing about this is that they will look us all in the eye, and say, “Yeah?And what are you all going to do about it?”

        Like

        1. Take not any guidance from how they interview with their neutered media pets. Whether they are confident in victory of fully aware 100% of defeat, any of the pro pols would still present as perfectly confident.

          It is known for an absolute fact that the H! Team internal polling was not showing her winning – it showed her close and there might be a miracle polling error, so all of them were full of “woohoo break the glass ceiling!” baloney right up to the point she was too plastered to concede, leaving all the faithful to twist slowly in the wind that night.

          They might outfraud the vote, and they might not, but their demeanor is inconsequential to the outcome.

          Like

        3. There’s a reason why I used the word “secure” instead of “win”. Yes, it’s likely that there are plans for a lot of fraud. But the Dems are acting as if they’re very worried about 3rd Parties splitting the Dem vote. As I said, Stein has mentioned it, whereas in the past the Dems just would have ignored her (as in 2016). She complained about it in a post on X. And Shanahan (Kennedy’s VP candidate) agreed that the Dems were spending a ridiculous amount of energy on legal actions to keep third party candidates out.

          That suggests to me that the Dems are concerned with the amount of fraud that might be required to win this election year.

          Like

        5. Everything in this article still applies:

          https://pjmedia.com/athena-thorne/2022/01/17/is-this-how-democrats-will-steal-the-midterm-elections-n1550302

          There are tens of millions of illegal immigrants now in the United States, and it will be virtually impossible to get rid of them. The democrats wanted them here; they didn’t have the authority or support to bring them here or keep them here, but they did it anyway.

          And that’s how the trick works. When they are stymied by laws that have been properly passed by the people’s representatives, Democrats simply proceed with their plans. Sometimes they get away with it indefinitely and sometimes the courts rein them back in, but by then they’ve already gotten their way. (Obama’s DACA beneficiaries are still here, and many have children of their own now, who are native-born U.S. citizens.)

          This Leftist tactic — just going ahead and doing whatever they want even if they don’t have the authority — was widely used to circumvent election laws, especially in swing states, during the 2020 general election. I reported on an example just yesterday when a judge finally ruled that election officials had illegally overruled the laws already on the books when they created a whole bunch of new ways to vote.

          Like

        6. The most galling thing would be the number of genuinely honest moderates/conservatives saying, “Of course it was fair, you just chose the worst possible candidate. That he lost fair and square is completely plausible. You need to let this go and work to do better next time.”

          I have another, “Agree with him a lot, but not on everything,” pundit who’s voting Trump because the alternative is worse, but at the same time saying, “It’s just an election. If Harris wins it will be very bad, but we’ll have our chance in four years. All you boomers who keep saying there won’t be another election need to get off line and seek medical help.”

          When it’s not so much, “there will be no elections,” as, “Every four years the Party will present the candidate, who will win 90% of the vote, world without end.” That idea has never entered his mind.

          Liked by 2 people

          2. And the current Orange Scare (or the last one I heard) was that Trump Really Said That there’d be no need to ever vote again if he was elected. And apparently the Party Faithful actually believe he did. To me, it sounds like an Alinsky projection and the weirder sort of fearmongering,, but this IS the same set that pretends Roxanne Boyland was a Violent Insurgent and Ruby Freeman ran an honest vote count.

            Like

            1. What he said that was people who don’t usually vote, should vote. This is a critical election. Afterwards, no, you don’t have to vote again.

              Liked by 2 people

              1. That actually makes sense, and is advocating ONE VOTE PER PERSON for the sake of first-time voters who didn’t know how. Of course the Narrativites turned it into an Assurance That He’d Take Office For Life, as though anybody would buy (but some apparently did, for the Oppos) that he was abolishing elections altogether and permanently.

                It’s like taking Jehu’s challenge at Jezebel’s window (“Who’s on my side?”, in 2 Kings 9:32) as the Words Of Christ in red, adding Matthew 27:5 about Judas’ death, and adding the second half of Luke 10:37 where the Lord says “Go and do likewise.” Narrower scope and less damnable implications, but the same sort of lying-by-collage-quotes.

                Like

              1. I’d have to get a look at the ACTUAL event record…. MiniTru wants to make out that whomever it was are the primary MAGA base.

                With a little more sense they’d be as smart as half of a rutabaga.

                Like

      2. The Donks could have had RFKjr as candidate for pres or veep. Instead he supports Trump.

        Oops.

        …

        (Busts up laughing, loudly. Miz Kitty hides.)

        Liked by 1 person

    4. The fact that Harris hasn’t even given interviews to her own lapdog media, and has flat-out refused to debate on a possibly hostile network, suggests to me that you are right. She can’t campaign, and her handlers know it. But she had to stay on the ticket to keep the campaign funds already raised for Biden-Harris, and on top of that, Biden himself endorsed her.

      I am strongly persuaded by those who say that endorsing Harris was Biden’s final F.U. to the people who kicked him to the curb.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. October surprise:

        “Someone” leaks some really devastating info on Harris and maybe Walz. Like “life in fed prison” level stuff.

        (grin)

        Like

      1. The discharge paperwork was simple. And straightforward. There is always the post hospital instructions, medication, doctor followup. Just finished reviewing all those guidances. Always a to-do list LOL.

        Now back to the problems and blessings of everyday life. Which at the moment isn’t everyday. Arson on our house (uninsured) before I went in had its blessings (everyone’s out safe – my hospitalization totally unrelated). And a lot to work through with blessings hidden within. Don’t want to hijack the comments here, but always willing to share more in the proper venue.

        Through it all we have seen the GOODNESS OF GOD.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. On lights, I’m a huge fan of Eneloop rechargeable batteries. Basically AA batteries that have a 2000mh, retain 70% of full charge after 10y, no memory and about 2000 cycles. Absolutely awesome for everything battery powered.

    There are other brands now. Generally look up “low self-discharge nimh batteries” I think Toshiba makes them now using the same process Sanyo did before Panasonic bought them.

    Second, I’ve been digging around in low power lights. It looks like there are LED 150 lum (10w equivalent) that can run for 20h on three AA batteries.

    Just seems like a better option than candles. Because we will get some electricity, and you can stick them over the toilet for midnight runs too.

    Like

    1. For 12v devices I’m going with LiFePo4 batteries. MUCH lighter than sealed lead acid, many more charge/discharge cycles, low self discharge, and maintain voltage until almost exhausted. And they don’t have the thermal runaway issues of Li batteries.

      I have a 55aH for my CPAP, and a 15aH for amateur radio use, but has cables to charge cell phones etc. in the battery box I designed for it. Plans for more in the future.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I have been very happy with a ~100aH LiFePo4 12v battery for my homebuilt camper. It powers lights, fans, cell phone chargers, and DC refrigerators with ease. I have only had it fully discharge once – after mistakenly leaving a light or fan on for several weeks after parking the camper at home and not plugging in to shore power.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Another huge fan of Eneloop rechargeable AA batteries. Yes, awesome for practically everything that uses AA or AAA batteries – you can get AAA Eneloops too. I haven’t been able to find C or D sizes, but I do use the AA as C cells, in one or two places, via a plastic enclosure to bulk them up.

      On the larger issues, I keep thinking of the quote attributed to Churchill “The Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.”

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I have a couple d-cell lanterns (and other things), and spent a few minutes researching what people seem to like.

        Tenergy rechargeable D cells are well-regarded; presuming they are not contrefait, the Bezos-Borg has a good price today.

        Like

      2. You know, I sort of suspect trying all the wrong things is how we find that right thing.

        Because it’s rarely obvious which thread really is the right one before they’ve been tested.

        Like

      2. Hope they are homemade candles with materials that are stashed away, because the Green Leap Forward is going to ban burning candles, wood, etc., because of “carbon pollution”, i.e. essential for life CO2.

        Like

  16. I keep trying. Outdoor kitchen is the next major project, including a built-in solar oven and a solar dehydrator. No money in the “major project” budget at the moment, so gathering materials a bit at a time. (Thanks for the idea of a smoker. I had mostly planned on salting.)

    Dehydrator is running, whatever produce I can pick up cheap. I have my chickens, so protein and fat. The greenhouse is mostly reclaimed materials or leftovers from other projects, I only had to buy the greenhouse panels (and those have doubled in price in the last year, which is why the new greenhouse isn’t finished yet).

    I don’t have money or energy, but I do have time and a drill.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. All hope is not yet lost. A federal judge in Kansas has declared a law banning machine guns unconstitutional. Predictable outcry from Leftroids, hysterical repetition of the same tired old anti-gun lies, yada yada yada.

    For those ignorant of history, ‘arms’ as described in the Constitution implicitly included contemporary ‘weapons of war’ including cannons, grenades and armed ships. Most of the cannons used in the Revolutionary War were privately owned, and only after the war turned in our favor were they supplemented with captured British cannons. After the war, most of the cannons were taken home by soldiers mustering out. Good thing, too; we needed them for the British encore in 1812.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. If it comes down to it, “light ’em up” isn’t necessarily going to be referring to candles.

    A couple of folks here know how to contact me using methods not involving the internet

    Like

    1. Please remind me, was it a short puff of smoke for the comma, or is that the period?

      I get so confused by all the smoke-signal dialects.

      Like

  20. RFK Jr. Has dropped out and endorsed Trump, saying the Dems have carried out a palace coup. And treated him like dirt, though he’s too polite to say that.

    I know,the guy’s a leftist on almost every subject other than WuFlu, but still interesting to see.

    (Meanwhile, thinking of WuFlu, one of our team is isolating because despite having been properly vaccinated, guess what he/she has?)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Despite? Because-of? It’s a fine line, sometimes.

      To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to, let’s call the whole thing off…

      Like

      1. Despite, I think. Being fair, most of the team will never see 70 again (I may be the baby at 69) and the crap does hit older people harder. Or did. The team member came out last night, keeping her distance, but has lost the fever and hopes to go back to work Monday. So a thankfully light case.

        Liked by 1 person

  21. Not necessarily me, and speaking totally in Minecraft, but there are quiet folks here and there on the side of light of whom the darkness should be quite afraid.

    We are not only not alone, we are far from helpless.

    Like

      1. Does that mean that, if I comment, you get a copy of my email address? I see a place to enter it, with the comment that it is never made public. If so, please add me to your list.

        Like

  23. It’s that we’re seeing the fact the socialists/commies are again running a potemkin campaign, and you only do that when you know you have got it all sewn up.

    I don’t fully agree with this. Or, rather, I think there is another level that is giving people who grok it some comfort.

    Kindly recall, Hillary!™ and Her Media were certain they had it all sewn up.

    And then there is this: Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, in public and on record, does not believe the jobs report numbers because Donald Trump repeated them.

    https://nypost.com/2024/08/22/us-news/commerce-sec-doesnt-believe-news-of-grim-job-revisions-because-trump-said-it-im-not-familiar-with-that/

    Again, that’s the Secretary of Commerce. She doesn’t know the jobs report numbers that her own department released, because they don’t matter to her. Reality is not a concept. Only the Holy Narrative, in which Orange Man Bad, and Orange Man Bad Is Always Wrong.

    Yes, they think they have it sewn up. But they’re living in a platonic, numinous world totally disconnected from reality. And even the ones who have some grasp of the fact that reality is objective and not malleable by Narrative persuasion don’t understand the electoral tidal wave that’s coming their way.

    The only real threat at this particular moment is that last night, Kamala revealed that she’s not just a cackling moron, she actually has a level of charisma greater than Hillary!™’s. Which is disturbing, particularly as it never surfaced before, but I very much doubt that it’s enough to overcome inflation, immigration, public schools being weaponized against families, and everything else.

    She already had the box wine cat lady vote sewn up, but working America and rural America are at the stage were Don Lemon can interview random black people on the street in New Jersey, and get told they’re all voting for Trump, because of the economy.

    Like

      1. I’m talking about Kamala’s actual stage presence and demeanor. The transformation from “you’ll see the moon with your actual eyes, I’m telling you!” was scary. I found her phonier than a three dollar bill, but that’s no benchmark. Again, she was far better than Hillary.

        Like

            1. If we’re talking Limbo rather than hurdles or pole vault, Hillary would set an extremely high bar for Que Mala, probably one you could ride a horse under. Or an elephant. She wouldn’t even need knee pads… :twisted:

              Liked by 1 person

    2. And it likely doesn’t matter as NJ is now one of the states with fraud by mail, and “ballot drop boxes” that police are forbidden to be be close enough to in order to see if their is fraud going on, and this election they mail ballots are now allowed to be opened and counted BEFORE ELECTION DAY, so they can “save time”. The county clerks and election officials who count those ballots are in theory not supposed to divulge the results, but since they are elected partisan party officials, it is pretty much guaranteed the ballot counts go straight to the party bosses so they know how many they need to ensure victory.

      Like

      1. If you think it does not matter that black Americans in a deep blue state are no longer afraid to voice public support of a non-Democrat who has been demonized as a racist Nazi for a decade, you are either a sweet summer child, or being deliberately obtuse and myopically focusing on the negative, while ignoring the larger context of what that means.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Wrong on both counts. What i am saying is that no many how many such people vote for Trump, the Democrats can fraud their way to victory, regardless of the voters actually desire in states that facilitate fraud.

          Is there any doubt that Detroit, Philly, Milwaukee, Fulton County Georgia, Maricopa County Arizona, won’t have the same shenanigans as 2020 and 2022, and that states like NJ won’t be joining them?

          One of the reason aside from the economy the people in Atlantic City said they support Trump is precisely because they are tired of the fix being in; the problem is that the fix is still in.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. And what you are saying is still ignoring a sea-change preference cascade that will make a handful of fraud centers irrelevant. And also ignoring that a few of those places have actually made fraud more difficult.

            The cultural shift of the black vote away from lockstep is significant, no matter how you try to dismiss it.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. New Jersey is one off the ones that made it easier, not harder. Outside of Georgia, none of the key states have done anything meaningful to combat election fraud. Even before NJ had fully implemented fraud by mail with early counting, NJ Democrats reinstalled Bob ‘Gold Bar” Menendez back in office, even after plain evidence of corruption.

              Also, I have no problem if you disagree, but the personal digs/insults/nastiness are not needed. I don’t like it and just like the Hulk, you will REALLY NOT LIKE IT if I i get angry.

              Like

            2. IT DOES NOT MATTER. The number of legitimate voters is finite. Limited. The fraud the Democrats can gin up is not limited. They can always ‘count’ more ‘votes’ if they don’t have enough. They will just keep cranking the fraud machine until they ‘win’. Even if that takes more votes than there are men, women, children, cats, dogs and parakeets in America.

              Like

              1. The fraud the Democrats can gin up is not limited.

                False. The number of locations they control well enough to fraud, and the number of means by which they can fraud, are both limited by real world factors.

                Liked by 2 people

                1. I’d point out that no matter how many fraudulent votes are manufactured in deep-blue states it won’t change the number of electors those states field; since they were going to be Dem anyway not even 100 million votes there will change the outcome one iota. Only swing states matter in this; that is where to concentrate the oversight so we don’t have any more “locked out” poll monitors, if necessary using NG units to ensure access. And after the 2020 shenanigans it should be obvious what’s needed.

                  Liked by 2 people

                    1. https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/new-usps-policies-could-delay-deliveries-to-rural-areas-5712200

                      Under the proposal, people who live closer to the agency’s processing facilities could end up receiving their mail faster.

                      In contrast, those who live further away, including in rural areas, could experience delayed mail delivery. Lawmakers had earlier raised concerns that slower mail in rural regions could negatively affect key services such as drug deliveries.

                      But they pinky swear it won’t start until after the election…..

                      Liked by 1 person

                  1. Again, that’s not everywhere, and they have to control so many parts of the jurisdiction to ensure it gets by that, realistically, it’s only a few blue states. The one state that it might make a difference in is Michigan, where the working class population and the minority population might peel off and vote for Trump in numbers that would make a difference without shennanigans, but, for example, in Arizona this time, and Georgia this time, and… at least one other swing state, the mechanisms are now in place that frauding isn’t going to be so easy.

                    And the preference cascade is such that, even where they get it by legally… well, there may be a Romanian Christmas anyway.

                    Like

                    2. There is certainly cause for worry, no argument on that. But, again, the preference cascade we are witnessing is astounding.

                      And their ability to fraud? Is limited, either by opportunity or plausibility. Why do you think they tried to kill Trump, and Elon?

                      Like

                    3. “Tried to kill Trump & Elon.”

                      ………….

                      Um. Know about the attempt on Trump. But the attempt on Elon?

                      Like

                    4. Not much is known, except that Elon said there have been two attempts in the past… six months, I think. Maybe past year. Beyond that, nothing in the news.

                      But if you think he’s lying, let me point out that more than one Euro government has threatened to arrest him for failing to comply with censorship requirements, and they have arrested one of the founders of Telegram for same. If they can’t make him stop defending free speech one way, they have to get him to stop another. That’s the nature of the Empire Of Lies. Truth is destructive to their power.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    5. Oh. Do not think Elon is lying. Would not surprise someone hasn’t tried. Just as you said “If they can’t make him stop defending free speech one way, they have to get him to stop another. That’s the nature of the Empire Of Lies. Truth is destructive to their power.”

                      Like secret service isn’t acknowledging that President Trump has not only had threats but real attempts. Just not as public as the one on TV (that they can’t hide). Would not surprise me if there have been some additional ones, just able to hide them, again. Because despite “turning down the rhetoric” that the democRATS have “demanded”, they haven’t.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    7. “They’re trying to hide the public one.”

                      ………….

                      I know.

                      Six weeks to suspend the SAC, the people who are stationed in the state, and one detail SS patsy, er agent.

                      Fox News/Nation is keeping it alive. Or has been.

                      Like

                    11. Which is why I say they’re stupid enough to wreck everything. Dude has better and more reliable weapon capable hardware than they do; witness that he’s rescuing Woeing form their idiocy.

                      They assume an infinite supply of patience and goodwill…. which is the stupidest assumption you can make.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    12. I look at it this way. I can worry myself into being ill, probably really ill, knowing my luck. Or take the “don’t worry. We’ll prevail, one way or another.” Easier said than done.

                      Liked by 1 person

        3. Jason, all that matters is WHO COUNTS THE VOTES. And unless you are re-enacting Athens TN, that WILL NOT BE YOU.

          That’s not true in ALL states, perhaps; in NJ, it’s a dead certainty.

          Like

          1. sigh

            The point I was making is that the black community in a state so blue that fraud is inevitable are, EVEN IN SPITE OF THAT, openly and publicly saying what they’re saying.

            So, yes. It fucking DOES matter, even if, more than likely, it does not matter in NJ.

            Preference cascades tend to be culture-wide. Just ask Ceausescu.

            New Jersey is not relevant to my point other than to illustrate how strong the preference cascade appears to be.

            The preference cascade is the point.

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Yep. And like some other things, it goes “slowly, then very very quickly”, once a particular polity sees the wind changing.

              Liked by 1 person

    3. The Raimondo thing kind of gets me because she used to have a reputation as being reasonably competent as governor of Rhode Island. Also as being willing to at least talk about spending cuts and the responsible use of taxpayer funds. I guess promotion required the mandatory lobotomy.

      Like

  24. I’ll get those somehow, and you might get this blog once a month, on mimeographed sheets (are there still mimeographs?) or more likely printed in a 3d printed guttenbergish press, stapled together, like old style fanzines. (I figure it’s the only way to continue selling fiction too, if everything collapses.)

    There seems to be an implication that USPS and such delivery services will remain operating. I’m not sure that is well supported. Either indifference, incompetence, or Enemy Action would seem likely to degrade the results, at least for those of us out here on the a**-end of nowhere.

    Perhaps time for an implementation of The Postman (movie) and David Brin book.

    That kind of location bids fair to evade a number of other problems, though.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I’m very cheerful about the future. Meanwhile, I’m furiously harvesting and canning everything in sight. I asked around my new town and found a lovely elderly lady who doesn’t have the energy to harvest her chokecherry bushes. So I did, and delivered a pint of chokecherry jam as a thank you. The rest went into my stores.

    There’s apple trees around town and they’re dropping their fruit. Applesauce it is, if I can find more kindly neighbors who don’t want to harvest this. Son number one is gearing up for a bow hunt for deer.

    I’m completely optimistic. But I am getting ready, just in case.

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Now the ‘Harris Victory Fund’ is advertising ‘Win a trip to meet Kamela Harris and Tim Walz’ for a donation.

    Sounds like the old joke. First prize is dinner with Harris & Walz. Second prize is two dinners…? :-P

    Liked by 1 person

  28. “on mimeographed sheets (are there still mimeographs?) or more likely printed in a 3d printed guttenbergish press, stapled together, like old style fanzines.

    This made me laugh … I belonged to a “many-to-many” zine back in the day which had no theme, it was whatever the members felt like adding and sending on … Todd Rundgren’s mother coordinated it, of all people. A fascinating variety of topics … nowadays it’s hard to remember when most people didn’t measure everything in absolutely political units … I kinda miss it.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. May Karma take it’s revenge upon the Democrat Deep State in its full glory for all to see from sea to shining sea.

    Like

  30. Don’t know what I can do to prep at the moment besides try not to spend unneeded money, finish a book draft, and hopefully find another job. But I’ll see if I can think of something.

    We can get through this. I refuse to have gone through so much in my life and not get through this, too.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. When you go grocery shopping, buy one of whatever is under $1. One can of beans, one can of tuna, one box of salt. Set aside another dollar (or your change if you have any) and when you have $5 set aside buy one $5 item.

      It doesn’t add up quickly, but by having just a weeks worth of extra food you’re better off than 95% of the US.

      Don’t buy premade mixes like Hamburger helper. Monetarily, you’re better off buying the ingredients in bulk.

      Think about water. A single 5 gallon jug will help. If you live in a house, your water heater holds between 50 and 80 gallons. Consider that a resource.

      Look around your hoise and neighborhood and evaluate the existing resources. Do you have old clothes that could be cut up for water filters? Do you have raingutters on your house or a nearby stream? Old cement blocks that could be used for an oven or a water tank?

      You probably already have resources that you haven’t thought of. It doesn’t take money to analyze your current situation.

      When you’ve looked at your house, move out to the neighborhood, or the town. It may feel odd at first to ask a construction company if you can go through their dumpsters. It may feel odd to go to a neighbor and ask if you can harvest their trees. But these are resources. Maybe not resources that you can use right now, but in an emergency it might be worth your life to know that this house has peach trees, and that neighbor has chickens, and a small stream runs through thst vacant lot part of the year.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. All good advice, and I do what I can in that line. I get rice in large bags, and other nonperishables on sale when I can. Unfortunately beans are off the list and I have to be careful about tuna, because I cannot have soy (or most legumes).

        …Because if things really go downhill, I can’t afford to have serious allergic reactions on top of everything else!

        I live in a hurricane area, so yes, there’s generally a lot of 5-gallon bottles of water on hand all the time. Easier to just keep and rotate them than deal with most people’s Mad Last-Minute Rush.

        One thing I want to do is find more recipes for chicken, etc. than what I’ve currently got. That in itself could lower the grocery bill some. Making note to look at the library recipe books…. : )

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Yep, was looking at canned tuna at the food bank and discovered it was, “tuna with textured soy protein.” Ick!

          (For those interested, the brand was Duchess).

          Liked by 3 people

          1. I just looked at a can of Bumblebee tuna. Not specifically on the ingredients list, but the allergens list has soy. Weird

            I don’t like fish all that much, but when the cans are less than 50 cents (haven’t been for a while) I stock up as a protein supplement for my chickens.

            Liked by 1 person

              1. Nope. I suspect it’s the “vegetable broth” although why they would add an ingredient when they could just use water, I have no idea.

                Ingredients list says tuna, vegetable broth, salt. Allergen list says tuna, soy.

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        2. Those are just examples. It’s the idea. There is always something you can do.

          Skills can be acquired, often at no cost. Practicing them gets more complicated.

          I always think it’s negatively entertaining that the idiots push fake meat when so many people are allergic to either legumes or chitin. If they eliminate real meat as they want to, a good quarter of the population would end up in the hospital or dead.

          I had that conversation with a woman at a drive-through. I don’t have any allergies, but I have a strong aversion to eating unnamed chemicals and bugs.

          I asked her if their meat was real beef and she assured me that it was. “Of course it’s real. It’s Beyond Meat.”

          She seemed hurt that I took the chicken.

          Can’t even eat the chicken now.

          Liked by 1 person

          2. Ah, but I strongly suspect that’s part of the point. By our existence, we prove that their Grand Plan doesn’t work.

            If they force us to eat what kills us, we’re no longer around to disprove the Plan. And they didn’t kill us directly, so in their twisted morality, It Doesn’t Count.

            Pfui.

            Liked by 1 person

        3. There are a huge number of online recipe collections; We recently got a new air fryer, and I’ve looked up some recipes for that.

          Liked by 1 person

  31. I just reread De Camp’s “A Gun For Dinosaur”. I am twisted enough to think it applies to who we support politically.

    Not about firearms. About who can stand and deliver what is needed.

    Anyway, have a blessed weekend, y’all.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. @snelson

    “They assume an infinite supply of patience and goodwill…. which is the stupidest assumption you can make.”

    They think they control the anger and violence dial. Whether the two are linked is a matter of opinion, but they think they cab turn it on and off at will.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yep. It’s been noted several times, here and elsewhere, that they think its a volume control when it’s actually a switch. And I’d add, a switch that locks “ON” when thrown, and only resets when the situation that caused it to be thrown is resolved.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Many of their violent types are *employed by them* (Union thugs, BLM craigslist ad hires, etc) and can be controlled. On our side, it is purely independents whose primary desire is to not have to freaking deal with this crap twice.

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