Bad Cat, how fast can you copyright this: "....if you trust the government, then go find your history teacher and ask for a refund." Very true is that.
I've set my own rules to live by. The first one is: 'Never believe ANYthing the government says.'
George Carlin A couple of things come quickly to mind: Agent Orange won't hurt you, it's only to kill vegetation. And of course, the Covid Hysteria. "The [COVID-19] vaccine is one of the greatest achievements of mankind," Trump
I trust the government, as much as I trust a hippo's ass not to poop on me after a long protracted meal. We could make a variety of shirts...some not as safe for work.
Unfortunately guys the most critical time to speak out is before free speech becomes "penalized".
We mostly missed that opportunity. It sucks being stuck between a "live and let live" and "leave me the eff alone" mentality. If the later is not the case then the former will only make the later worse.
So now we are stuck with the second most important time to speak out:
When free speech is penalized, but before you have to build your own gulags.
Make no mistake that's where it ends.
It smells like a 30's re-run...because...well...that's exactly what's happening.
As Frederick Douglass pointed out over a century ago, civil rights depend on (in order) three boxes: The ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box. The ballot box seems completely corrupted. We have seen the last three years of lawfare destroy the jury box. There is only one box left, sadly.
Uncle Joe knew: It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes. Joseph Stalin And Uncle Joe's Man: Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.
"only ideas which cannot win hearts and minds in open and honest discourse resort to gaslighting, propaganda, and suppression of dissent." Exactly. Just look at what they are suppressing, and what they are advocating, and particularly, what they are accusing US of wanting to or actually doing, and you will see precisely what the rose-colored glasses of the left are supposed to prevent you from seeing. The world is teetering on the crumbling edge of a precipice overlooking a New Dark Age that will make the one centuries ago look like a golden age. Those engineering the new descent into the modern Heart of Darkness are NOT the brightest lights on the string and have over and under estimated a number of factors. Once loosed, the Hounds of Hell will be uncontrollable and everyone and everything will be fair game, victims until none are left to victimize, nothing left but a dead planet spinning empty through eternity...or not. Organize. Connect. Mobilize. Prepare. And most of all, define, clearly, the individuals and institutions who comprise the Enemy. Last chance, folks. Me-OOOOW!
"Those engineering the new descent into the modern Heart of Darkness are NOT the brightest lights on the string and have over and under estimated a number of factors. Once loosed, the Hounds of Hell will be uncontrollable and everyone and everything will be fair game, victims until none are left to victimize, nothing left but a dead planet spinning empty through eternity"
The need to speak out is an indicator that it is a critical time. I was quiet for years, and could very well be because I was unaware, or the offenses being done were not up close and personal. I should have realized back then...and I bet if we looked at points in history, we could keep pointing back further and further until we are at the chrysalis of our republic.
When is the critical time to speak out? The eight ball has a sticker on over it's "window" into wisdom and upon it is written "NOW." So regardless of the question as to when and why and how much cost. The answer is "NOW."
The ideas of the Constitution was predicated upon, the ability to dissent. And I imagine there have been zeniths and troughs in the times it was critical to speak up.
And what were the consequences of free speech then as opposed to now?
The problem now is we are seeing a global metastization of the cancer of tyranny.
"silence like a cancer grows." ~Simon and Garfunkel
As we also know, things can turn on a dime. Tech companies can change hands, people can be convinced to lock their doors and hide inside. What if...what if...the inverse could also be true.
It's not going to be easy. I foresee more cost, more penalties, more bad times. But to roll over and just let it happen without at least saying "hey, no bueno" Sorry, but no bueno. And i agree with you, reality will collide with these people, and it is. Their whole ideology is predicated on division. Where as, ironically, the idea of decentralization is predicated on the unity of individual autonomy. Not only do I support "you do you" I encourage it. I want a world where people be who they are, because becoming serfs of the state is no fun...and about as exciting as lukewarm water.
OK so this past weekend I found myself in conversation with a polite, friendly, and apparently well-educated, shall we say, European of the usual urban "normie" persuasions. He started saying how he was terribly concerned these days about misinformation, most especially misinformation on social media, and that what we really need now is a committee of authorities to determine what is information, so that the misinformation can be kept out of the public realm. I said, rather mildly, well, you might not like the conclusions of the authorities should one day the other party, the one you don't like, win the national elections and then appoint their own authorities to said committee. I could have cut the shock in the air with a plastic knife. I do believe that this obviously obvious obviousness had not ocurred to him. I then directed the conversation towards more pleasant and less cognitively challenging subjects, such as housepets. Meow.
Maybe the winning strategy would be to whisper ominously, “you know, soon the Orange Satan may get to decide what’s ‘information’…” But remember how all the pundits decried the ‘Trump’ vaccine? “Oh, who would take it? You’d be crazy…lalala “ then a very very short time later “anyone who doesn’t take it is insane!” In that moment it was evident that a crazy train was barreling down, unstoppable. Actual reasoning ability itself was just…gone. Usually there’s more of a time lag between flip flopping, and more effort to finesse the lies. It’s rather scary when the message is “none of this has to make even an iota of sense”. Quite frankly, the absurdity makes me question the very nature of reality.
Well if the masks worked we wouldn't have needed the vaccines, and if the vaccines worked we wouldn't have needed the masks, and if the vaccines worked there'd be no point to having the vax passports, and if the vaccines didn't work (and in fact they don't work) there'd be no point to having the vax passports. I know the camps are there. It's very ominous. I don't think the excuse to herd us in there has to make logical, human sense, it just has to work.
Stay at home because you don't want to be the bad guy who spreads this deadly virus to granny, unless you need to protest for something the regime approves of, in which case, well, just forget what I said two seconds earlier.
It simply does not seem to occur to them that "the other guys" might, or actually WILL, at some point, be driving the bus. And will be applying the same restrictions on speech, or thought control - in a manner they will find most inconvenient.
This failure, (or inability), to consider reality is one of the many symptoms of the loathsome disease we label 'socialism'.
"you might not like the conclusions of the authorities should one day the other party, the one you don't like"
There are levels of support for fascism that include at least "But I'm one of the Good Guys!" down through the belief that they'll be The One Holding the Whip.
I tend to think most Misinformation Malefactors tend toward the latter.
Would it be fair to summarize your thesis as “bad things happen when liberty is interpreted to mean license”?
There can be no liberty without self-restraint. And self-restraint must ultimately spring from morality — the sense of duty. And morality has a super-material origin that can’t be a matter of simply selecting the right governing “-ism”.
"And morality has a super-material origin that can’t be a matter of simply selecting the right governing '-ism'."
Exactly. Take it away, Voltaire: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him."
Not enough credit/blame for this dystopian world is given to the New Atheists, who took a hacksaw to the central pillar of Western Civilization. At least Dawkins realizes his error and is trying to make nice now, labeling himself a "cultural Christian." Nice sentiment; ain't gonna work. Can't find the quote now, but Nietzsche stated that Christian morality without Christianity would fail. There is nothing self-evident about it.
Here's Nietzsche's quote: "If you give up Christian faith, you pull the right to Christian morality out from under your feet. This morality is simply not self-evident: one has to bring this point home again and again to the English dimwits."
The fact is we do not have a democracy. Never have. We have a fascist marriage of global corporations and government, that cares not one iota about the people. The ones claiming to be protecting democracy are well aware of this, But they know the masses have been indoctrinated to believe this myth.
Yep, we are a Constitutional Republic. I actually went to school in a time that they taught civics. As Benjamin Franklin said it's a republic if you can keep it.
You hit on so many important issues but I’d like to focus on one, the coddling of criminals, especially the young ones.
I was a big troublemaker during my teens over 50 years ago. Living in NYC, my wrist was slapped more than a few times. At age 16, I finally came before a wise judge who sent me away for 3 years for a crime, joyriding in a car I didn’t own, that would almost certainly get a wrist slap today. I thank God for that judge every day! He started me on a path to change my life. It didn’t happen immediately but, within a year of being released, I was drug free and sober! This HS dropout recently retired near the top of my chosen field in IT.
I believe that allowing the young criminals to skate does them no favors. Coddled young criminals often escalate to become hardened criminals with a much more difficult path to success in life.
In other words, “Spare the rod, spoil the man-child.” I suppose these days I should add woman-child but I’m just not that woke!
The judge inspired in you a need to "try sobriety." Good judge.
I've long said every judge should say to the perp, "The reason you stand in front of me today is because you very likely have the disease of alcohol/other-drug addiction. That means you biologically process the drug in such a way as to cause you to act badly some of the time. So today, you have a choice: stay sober and I will give you clemency/early release/parole/lowered fine. We will test you randomly and regularly for years. Should you fail a test--just once--and all the favors I grant you today will be forever rescinded. I hope you make the right choice and that you never have to see me again." If they said this, there would be far more sober alcoholics and much lower crime, because addicts commit 80%+ of felonies.
However, something I learned from the last four years is a simple extrapolation: if they said this, 80% of the criminal "justice" system would simply go away. Just as the medical industrial complex does not want to see cures, neither does the criminal justice system. They profit--which should be a beautiful word, but when people without integrity are involved, it turns to an ugly one--from the revolving door. (So does the rehab system, since all that's really needed is motivation and a buck a day for a meeting a day, but I digress.)
Good for you, thanking that judge. He did you, those you care about, those who love you and the rest of the world with which you come into contact every day a great favor.
I also should mention that I constantly run into people who entered into recovery only after they were held accountable for their actions. I also know people who died, including one of my sons, after not being held accountable then continuing on with their reckless ways.
During my research I found that sobriety was always preceded by being held accountable, with consequences or credible threats of same. Always. Dig deep enough and you will find there are no exceptions.
It’s my opinion that self-concept rules the world. You become what you see yourself as. That judge envisioned a different version of you- and made it serious- with the consequences. I think “discipline” means “to teach”? Maybe he taught you (helped you to remember) that a different version of you was possible. He SAW you as a person needing re-routing to get to the real you. So what the hell does allowing this lower behavior tell young people? “Yeah, steal, etc… “ thats how I see you anyway.
I suppose you are right and there is a little more to the story.
The police and my lawyer were shocked by the sentence, they expected probation. The only person in the courtroom who wasn’t surprised was my Mother. I suspect she had something to do with it, probably told the DA or the judge that I wouldn’t live long on my present path. Thanks, Mom!
After getting out 3 years later, I stayed sober for a woman who I fell in love with. When that affair ended, I started back in again then, on and off, went to AA. During an off time, I assaulted someone then stopped drinking again. It was then that I met a second wise judge. I told him that I was going to AA and he kept postponing my case and would ask me each time if I was still going. He kept that up for a year then dismissed my charges. Fortunately, I learned that time and finally straightened out for good.
Canada is lost and an example of "you get the government you vote for... "
Driving speech out of the public square is on the surface short-sighted but in the longer run it is very dangerous... When we stop engaging each other with speech (even "hate" speech) there's no other way for either side to get their point across but with violence...
And government has been trying to squelch speech since the Whiskey Rebellion so don't expect anything new from them...
One of my favorite Mencken quotes along with “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
Well bad cat... every once in a while you let fur fly in a rant that does indeed assure me of the validity of my quote from a couple of years ago :
You are our times Thomas Paine.
Ok , fellow toxoplasmosis infected- spread this and defend it against all comers, with tooth, claw, and hellacious yowls...because Ryan is right too: we're at "that place right before they make us build our own gulags".
Omg Hogan’s Heroes came to mind when watching videos of German police whacking citizens with sticks in public to make sure they were 6 feet apart! Reminded me of when I was a kid and didn’t have any say what we watched on TV- so I was stuck watching this satire, which I hated because I didn’t understand it and I wanted “The Magic Garden” or Mister Rogers. So, 50 years later, turn on the TV- what the hell is this? Hogan’s Heroes is back?! And I still don’t understand what the hell I’m watching, and I just want it to go away 🤣
It's intentional chaos. Out of chaos eventually comes order.
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater."
-Frank Zappa
"Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government."
James Damore, a former Google software engineer, wrote and published a memo entitled Google's Ideological Echo Chamber about the silencing of opposing opinions after being forced to endure Googles endless DIE training. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/James_Damore
He laid out his argument very clearly and made a lot of sense and is a very interesting read. His position boiled down to what he says in the "Suggestions" portion:
"I hope it’s clear that I'm not saying that diversity is bad, that Google or society is 100% fair, that
we shouldn't try to correct for existing biases, or that minorities have the same experience of
those in the majority. My larger point is that we have an intolerance for ideas and evidence that
don’t fit a certain ideology. I’m also not saying that we should restrict people to certain gender
roles; I’m advocating for quite the opposite: treat people as individuals, not as just another
member of their group."
James Damore wrote his memo in July 2017.
In Google's public response, Google's VP of Diversity, Danielle Brown wrote:
"Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions."
As much as I'd love to ski Banff one more time, I won't go. I'm afraid I will not be able to hold back talking about the fascism that is all-encompassing. I would surely be arrested.
"once you surrender even one case, your right is gone. it's no longer yours, it's theirs."
"and it's time we remembered this and started drawing the line and fighting for the first inch rather than the center of the slippery slope."
Different topic, but the same principle: If you fancy yourself as pro-life, but are willing to settle for the various "center(s) of the slippery slope" like 6 weeks, 15 weeks, rape and incest exceptions, etc. remember these two lines. Because if you believe in the right to life, there are no exceptions. Rights belong to everyone, or to no one.
Bad Cat, how fast can you copyright this: "....if you trust the government, then go find your history teacher and ask for a refund." Very true is that.
I needs a t-shirt. In gorgeous pink with white writing please.
Yes. I would buy that.
I've set my own rules to live by. The first one is: 'Never believe ANYthing the government says.'
George Carlin A couple of things come quickly to mind: Agent Orange won't hurt you, it's only to kill vegetation. And of course, the Covid Hysteria. "The [COVID-19] vaccine is one of the greatest achievements of mankind," Trump
I trust the government, as much as I trust a hippo's ass not to poop on me after a long protracted meal. We could make a variety of shirts...some not as safe for work.
Unfortunately guys the most critical time to speak out is before free speech becomes "penalized".
We mostly missed that opportunity. It sucks being stuck between a "live and let live" and "leave me the eff alone" mentality. If the later is not the case then the former will only make the later worse.
So now we are stuck with the second most important time to speak out:
When free speech is penalized, but before you have to build your own gulags.
Make no mistake that's where it ends.
It smells like a 30's re-run...because...well...that's exactly what's happening.
And now you know why there's a _2nd_ Amendment.
Never thought about guns until 4 years ago. Locked and loaded now.
I like to tell people that I'm a Recovering Democrat.
These are not Democrats, they have usurped the title! These are Jacobins! Andrew Jackson, FDR, HST, JFK those were Democrats.
Never was a Democrat, how horrible that recovery must be! I can't imagine 😢
It's better than still being one.
Damn! You're my hero !
* non spitty fist bump*
As Frederick Douglass pointed out over a century ago, civil rights depend on (in order) three boxes: The ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box. The ballot box seems completely corrupted. We have seen the last three years of lawfare destroy the jury box. There is only one box left, sadly.
Uncle Joe knew: It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes. Joseph Stalin And Uncle Joe's Man: Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.
Lavrentiy Beria
yes, My mother said this is exactly how it started in The Netherlands in the 1930's
You do not trust or speak to your neighbors
Keep your mouth shut and your eyes down
"only ideas which cannot win hearts and minds in open and honest discourse resort to gaslighting, propaganda, and suppression of dissent." Exactly. Just look at what they are suppressing, and what they are advocating, and particularly, what they are accusing US of wanting to or actually doing, and you will see precisely what the rose-colored glasses of the left are supposed to prevent you from seeing. The world is teetering on the crumbling edge of a precipice overlooking a New Dark Age that will make the one centuries ago look like a golden age. Those engineering the new descent into the modern Heart of Darkness are NOT the brightest lights on the string and have over and under estimated a number of factors. Once loosed, the Hounds of Hell will be uncontrollable and everyone and everything will be fair game, victims until none are left to victimize, nothing left but a dead planet spinning empty through eternity...or not. Organize. Connect. Mobilize. Prepare. And most of all, define, clearly, the individuals and institutions who comprise the Enemy. Last chance, folks. Me-OOOOW!
"Those engineering the new descent into the modern Heart of Darkness are NOT the brightest lights on the string and have over and under estimated a number of factors. Once loosed, the Hounds of Hell will be uncontrollable and everyone and everything will be fair game, victims until none are left to victimize, nothing left but a dead planet spinning empty through eternity"
*Wholly Schamokes, Yeats stomps into the chat*
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold"
- The Second Coming
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming
if we could just start with the bureaucrats the whole damn thing might implode on itself.
Looks like a call for DAGPOPS is in order, Ryan..... and that would be: Dads Against Greedy Politicians and Obnoxious Public Servants!
Love it
I was thinking the exact same.
You are in good company: The right most valued by all civilized men is the right to be left alone.
Louis D. Brandeis
That's a keeper! Thank you
Is there an opportune time to speak out?
The need to speak out is an indicator that it is a critical time. I was quiet for years, and could very well be because I was unaware, or the offenses being done were not up close and personal. I should have realized back then...and I bet if we looked at points in history, we could keep pointing back further and further until we are at the chrysalis of our republic.
When is the critical time to speak out? The eight ball has a sticker on over it's "window" into wisdom and upon it is written "NOW." So regardless of the question as to when and why and how much cost. The answer is "NOW."
The ideas of the Constitution was predicated upon, the ability to dissent. And I imagine there have been zeniths and troughs in the times it was critical to speak up.
Slavery, Immigration, Gun Rights, Women's Suffrage, Segregation, Foreign Wars, Entitlement Programs, Daytime Talk Shows.
And what were the consequences of free speech then as opposed to now?
The problem now is we are seeing a global metastization of the cancer of tyranny.
"silence like a cancer grows." ~Simon and Garfunkel
As we also know, things can turn on a dime. Tech companies can change hands, people can be convinced to lock their doors and hide inside. What if...what if...the inverse could also be true.
Well if we didn't believe it could change then we'd be wasting our time.
I think we "win" because these people's world view will eventually collide with reality.
It's not going to be easy. I foresee more cost, more penalties, more bad times. But to roll over and just let it happen without at least saying "hey, no bueno" Sorry, but no bueno. And i agree with you, reality will collide with these people, and it is. Their whole ideology is predicated on division. Where as, ironically, the idea of decentralization is predicated on the unity of individual autonomy. Not only do I support "you do you" I encourage it. I want a world where people be who they are, because becoming serfs of the state is no fun...and about as exciting as lukewarm water.
Man I couldn't agree more in all aspects of what you're saying
OK so this past weekend I found myself in conversation with a polite, friendly, and apparently well-educated, shall we say, European of the usual urban "normie" persuasions. He started saying how he was terribly concerned these days about misinformation, most especially misinformation on social media, and that what we really need now is a committee of authorities to determine what is information, so that the misinformation can be kept out of the public realm. I said, rather mildly, well, you might not like the conclusions of the authorities should one day the other party, the one you don't like, win the national elections and then appoint their own authorities to said committee. I could have cut the shock in the air with a plastic knife. I do believe that this obviously obvious obviousness had not ocurred to him. I then directed the conversation towards more pleasant and less cognitively challenging subjects, such as housepets. Meow.
Maybe the winning strategy would be to whisper ominously, “you know, soon the Orange Satan may get to decide what’s ‘information’…” But remember how all the pundits decried the ‘Trump’ vaccine? “Oh, who would take it? You’d be crazy…lalala “ then a very very short time later “anyone who doesn’t take it is insane!” In that moment it was evident that a crazy train was barreling down, unstoppable. Actual reasoning ability itself was just…gone. Usually there’s more of a time lag between flip flopping, and more effort to finesse the lies. It’s rather scary when the message is “none of this has to make even an iota of sense”. Quite frankly, the absurdity makes me question the very nature of reality.
I'll tell you what would've been terrifying is if the masks and the vaccine actually worked.
we'd be in the camps
Well if the masks worked we wouldn't have needed the vaccines, and if the vaccines worked we wouldn't have needed the masks, and if the vaccines worked there'd be no point to having the vax passports, and if the vaccines didn't work (and in fact they don't work) there'd be no point to having the vax passports. I know the camps are there. It's very ominous. I don't think the excuse to herd us in there has to make logical, human sense, it just has to work.
Boy that is haunting...."it just has to work".
True
Stay at home because you don't want to be the bad guy who spreads this deadly virus to granny, unless you need to protest for something the regime approves of, in which case, well, just forget what I said two seconds earlier.
I’m still waiting for an answer on this one myself. None of the vaxxholes have a word to say.
It simply does not seem to occur to them that "the other guys" might, or actually WILL, at some point, be driving the bus. And will be applying the same restrictions on speech, or thought control - in a manner they will find most inconvenient.
This failure, (or inability), to consider reality is one of the many symptoms of the loathsome disease we label 'socialism'.
Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!
"you might not like the conclusions of the authorities should one day the other party, the one you don't like"
There are levels of support for fascism that include at least "But I'm one of the Good Guys!" down through the belief that they'll be The One Holding the Whip.
I tend to think most Misinformation Malefactors tend toward the latter.
Good gambit. But would you speculate amoung friends that a Trump presidency will defund much of the Federal censorship efforts, or just refocus?
Would it be fair to summarize your thesis as “bad things happen when liberty is interpreted to mean license”?
There can be no liberty without self-restraint. And self-restraint must ultimately spring from morality — the sense of duty. And morality has a super-material origin that can’t be a matter of simply selecting the right governing “-ism”.
"And morality has a super-material origin that can’t be a matter of simply selecting the right governing '-ism'."
Exactly. Take it away, Voltaire: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him."
Not enough credit/blame for this dystopian world is given to the New Atheists, who took a hacksaw to the central pillar of Western Civilization. At least Dawkins realizes his error and is trying to make nice now, labeling himself a "cultural Christian." Nice sentiment; ain't gonna work. Can't find the quote now, but Nietzsche stated that Christian morality without Christianity would fail. There is nothing self-evident about it.
Here's Nietzsche's quote: "If you give up Christian faith, you pull the right to Christian morality out from under your feet. This morality is simply not self-evident: one has to bring this point home again and again to the English dimwits."
Amen and Amen.
If they can shut us up all bets are off.
“Live not by lies.”
Spot on. Their excuses are sickening: "protecting our democracy", "too much free speech", "discouraging alternative ideologies". May they rot in hell!
Every time I hear them shout "protecting our democracy" what I actually hear is "protecting our Democrat's"
What I actually hear is "arrogant slimeballism" your kilometerage may vary
The fact is we do not have a democracy. Never have. We have a fascist marriage of global corporations and government, that cares not one iota about the people. The ones claiming to be protecting democracy are well aware of this, But they know the masses have been indoctrinated to believe this myth.
Yep, we are a Constitutional Republic. I actually went to school in a time that they taught civics. As Benjamin Franklin said it's a republic if you can keep it.
Sadly, we couldn’t.
"too much free speech"
WTactualF?!
Instead of Chesterton's fence, we have Civilizational Jenga (as Glenn Reynolds calls it).
"for those in the back who seem ill at ease with shape rotation, the “fence” is what is called “a metaphor” "
Like... a metaphor in a metaphor...
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😉
You hit on so many important issues but I’d like to focus on one, the coddling of criminals, especially the young ones.
I was a big troublemaker during my teens over 50 years ago. Living in NYC, my wrist was slapped more than a few times. At age 16, I finally came before a wise judge who sent me away for 3 years for a crime, joyriding in a car I didn’t own, that would almost certainly get a wrist slap today. I thank God for that judge every day! He started me on a path to change my life. It didn’t happen immediately but, within a year of being released, I was drug free and sober! This HS dropout recently retired near the top of my chosen field in IT.
I believe that allowing the young criminals to skate does them no favors. Coddled young criminals often escalate to become hardened criminals with a much more difficult path to success in life.
In other words, “Spare the rod, spoil the man-child.” I suppose these days I should add woman-child but I’m just not that woke!
The judge inspired in you a need to "try sobriety." Good judge.
I've long said every judge should say to the perp, "The reason you stand in front of me today is because you very likely have the disease of alcohol/other-drug addiction. That means you biologically process the drug in such a way as to cause you to act badly some of the time. So today, you have a choice: stay sober and I will give you clemency/early release/parole/lowered fine. We will test you randomly and regularly for years. Should you fail a test--just once--and all the favors I grant you today will be forever rescinded. I hope you make the right choice and that you never have to see me again." If they said this, there would be far more sober alcoholics and much lower crime, because addicts commit 80%+ of felonies.
However, something I learned from the last four years is a simple extrapolation: if they said this, 80% of the criminal "justice" system would simply go away. Just as the medical industrial complex does not want to see cures, neither does the criminal justice system. They profit--which should be a beautiful word, but when people without integrity are involved, it turns to an ugly one--from the revolving door. (So does the rehab system, since all that's really needed is motivation and a buck a day for a meeting a day, but I digress.)
Good for you, thanking that judge. He did you, those you care about, those who love you and the rest of the world with which you come into contact every day a great favor.
I can’t say I disagree with anything you’ve said.
I also should mention that I constantly run into people who entered into recovery only after they were held accountable for their actions. I also know people who died, including one of my sons, after not being held accountable then continuing on with their reckless ways.
During my research I found that sobriety was always preceded by being held accountable, with consequences or credible threats of same. Always. Dig deep enough and you will find there are no exceptions.
One of the first comments someone made today at a meeting was that handcuffs changed his life for the better!
I chimed in on my last night of drinking that also ended with handcuffs.
They serve their purpose when applied appropriately!
They sure do!
It’s my opinion that self-concept rules the world. You become what you see yourself as. That judge envisioned a different version of you- and made it serious- with the consequences. I think “discipline” means “to teach”? Maybe he taught you (helped you to remember) that a different version of you was possible. He SAW you as a person needing re-routing to get to the real you. So what the hell does allowing this lower behavior tell young people? “Yeah, steal, etc… “ thats how I see you anyway.
I suppose you are right and there is a little more to the story.
The police and my lawyer were shocked by the sentence, they expected probation. The only person in the courtroom who wasn’t surprised was my Mother. I suspect she had something to do with it, probably told the DA or the judge that I wouldn’t live long on my present path. Thanks, Mom!
After getting out 3 years later, I stayed sober for a woman who I fell in love with. When that affair ended, I started back in again then, on and off, went to AA. During an off time, I assaulted someone then stopped drinking again. It was then that I met a second wise judge. I told him that I was going to AA and he kept postponing my case and would ask me each time if I was still going. He kept that up for a year then dismissed my charges. Fortunately, I learned that time and finally straightened out for good.
Off topic, but on a happy note....I see that Javier Millei has fired 24k gov't workers in Argentina. What do we call that? A good start.
Canada is lost and an example of "you get the government you vote for... "
Driving speech out of the public square is on the surface short-sighted but in the longer run it is very dangerous... When we stop engaging each other with speech (even "hate" speech) there's no other way for either side to get their point across but with violence...
And government has been trying to squelch speech since the Whiskey Rebellion so don't expect anything new from them...
"you get the government you vote for... "
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
- H. L. Mencken
One of my favorite Mencken quotes along with “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
Love that one.
*spitty fist bump*
arggh...thar she blows!
put me in coach
Mencken rules!
More like you get the government who gets to count the votes
Well bad cat... every once in a while you let fur fly in a rant that does indeed assure me of the validity of my quote from a couple of years ago :
You are our times Thomas Paine.
Ok , fellow toxoplasmosis infected- spread this and defend it against all comers, with tooth, claw, and hellacious yowls...because Ryan is right too: we're at "that place right before they make us build our own gulags".
"that place right before they make us build our own gulags"
So you're saying we're going to need a couple Boeing Techs on our side?
I know nuthhhhink!!
( man...do Millennials or Zs even understand the world if they can't reference Hogan's Heros or Gilligan's Island?!)
Omg Hogan’s Heroes came to mind when watching videos of German police whacking citizens with sticks in public to make sure they were 6 feet apart! Reminded me of when I was a kid and didn’t have any say what we watched on TV- so I was stuck watching this satire, which I hated because I didn’t understand it and I wanted “The Magic Garden” or Mister Rogers. So, 50 years later, turn on the TV- what the hell is this? Hogan’s Heroes is back?! And I still don’t understand what the hell I’m watching, and I just want it to go away 🤣
The comic genius of the Shoe Phone is completely lost on them.
Get off my lawn!
And pull up those pants!
Gawd, Yes.
It's intentional chaos. Out of chaos eventually comes order.
"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater."
-Frank Zappa
"Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government."
- Henry A. Kissinger
I did not see a Zappa/Kissinger two-fer coming.
My ex-friends are perfect examples of those who would relinquish both theirs and my rights. And did during Covid mania.
James Damore, a former Google software engineer, wrote and published a memo entitled Google's Ideological Echo Chamber about the silencing of opposing opinions after being forced to endure Googles endless DIE training. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/James_Damore
He laid out his argument very clearly and made a lot of sense and is a very interesting read. His position boiled down to what he says in the "Suggestions" portion:
"I hope it’s clear that I'm not saying that diversity is bad, that Google or society is 100% fair, that
we shouldn't try to correct for existing biases, or that minorities have the same experience of
those in the majority. My larger point is that we have an intolerance for ideas and evidence that
don’t fit a certain ideology. I’m also not saying that we should restrict people to certain gender
roles; I’m advocating for quite the opposite: treat people as individuals, not as just another
member of their group."
James Damore wrote his memo in July 2017.
In Google's public response, Google's VP of Diversity, Danielle Brown wrote:
"Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions."
James Damore was fired on August 7, 2017.
How lost is Canada, eh?
I now hesitate even to book short trips or vacations up there to visit friends and family.
As much as I'd love to ski Banff one more time, I won't go. I'm afraid I will not be able to hold back talking about the fascism that is all-encompassing. I would surely be arrested.
I refuse to go there...
"once you surrender even one case, your right is gone. it's no longer yours, it's theirs."
"and it's time we remembered this and started drawing the line and fighting for the first inch rather than the center of the slippery slope."
Different topic, but the same principle: If you fancy yourself as pro-life, but are willing to settle for the various "center(s) of the slippery slope" like 6 weeks, 15 weeks, rape and incest exceptions, etc. remember these two lines. Because if you believe in the right to life, there are no exceptions. Rights belong to everyone, or to no one.
Agreed. Thank you.