Bundy Jumping

One of the big reasons for controlling who wins the US presidential elections is being sure the new guy won't put the old guy in jail.  You will notice that no matter how rancorous the campaign rhetoric, once in office, new presidents never prosecute old presidents for crimes against humanity.

The Big Unspoken Fear in this year's US elections is that Donald Trump won't follow the Unspoken Rule and, at a very minimum, will go after the Clinton Crime Syndicate.  Given actions in the past, he may also go after Obama for not being native-born, among other things.  If it were proved that Obama did not legally hold the office, all the laws, EOs, PDs and other actions taken by him over the past 8 years would be vacated.  It would also undermine the pardon he is very likely to grant Hillary Clinton before leaving office if Trump wins.

Basically, the Gates of Hell would open with a Trump win.  All the war crimes and corruption of every administration from Bush the First would be fair game for prosecution, and there would be some very solid cases to make for throwing the whole lot of them in prison, if not goose-stepping them to the gallows, as Hillary has noted.

For those who don't remember, back in 2006, Bush the Younger bought a 300,000-acre ranch down in Paraguay, which conveniently has an extradition treaty with the US that provides plenty of weasel room.  Sounds like enough room for all the cast and crew of the past 30 years of Washington politics.  If Trump is smart, the first thing he will do as president is cancel all of their passports.  They will probably still have alternate passports, but at least that little secret would be out of the bag, too.

Rich despots always have back-up getaways, since they know their crimes will one day catch up to them and/or their progeny and cronies.  We know from Napoleon Bonaparte's experience that some countries even provide island getaways, as needed.  Oh sure, Bush might want to corner the market on fresh water in South America, but makes more sense to have a good supply of water for that city of criminals you are thinking of setting up down there.

What brings all this to mind is the recent acquittal of the Bundy brothers, who for our foreign readers, were part of a rancher group who took over a government land-management office in Oregon a while back to protest the government's policies and regulations that are running private farmers and ranchers out of business to aid and abet the corporate take-over of food production.  One of the members of this group was gunned down in cold blood on video.  This case may have further ramifications in the Clive Bundy (father) case involving an earlier stand-off.

I cannot stress the significance of this development.  This is the first time that the government has ever been publicly rebuked in a Federal District court by a jury siding with armed protesters, a right guaranteed by the US Constitution's infamous Second Amendment.  This is akin to the Branch Davidians, the Republic of Texas or Randy Weaver, or even Timothy McVey winning court cases.

The US government has a habit of picking fights with "radical" groups in order to hold them up for public ridicule, and more importantly, show the futility of fighting the System.  These highly-publicized "stand-offs" are held out as a form of psychological reinforcement of the notion that the US government is far too powerful to fight against, and you nasty little citizens should just knuckle under and take your medicine.

The significance of the Bundys being acquitted is that it represents a very high-profile defeat for the federal government in one of their psy-op campaigns.  This tells me that the mind control of the past 70 years is quickly wearing off and people are realizing that folks such as the Bundys are the canaries in the coal mine.  Jury nullification is one of the most powerful tools in the Liberty Toolbox, and seeing it get dusted off again is a sign that something fundamental has changed, at least in parts of the US.

While the media and most of the US citizenry were focused on the re-opening of the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton and her obvious treason, the real shot at Washington that is having profound effect in the halls of power, and probably one of the real reasons for James Comey's actions last Friday.  The Bundy acquittal has genuinely shocked the System into realizing the revolution is at hand.

If I am right, then we can soon expect a major change in the status of the Cliven Bundy case.  The government may reduce or drop charges, rather than risk another empowering moment for armed protest in open court.

More important would be the status of various cases involving income taxes.  The one thing the government cannot risk is for a wave of acquittals to hit their precious fear-inducing control lever.  The obvious extension of the Bundy case would be to extend jury nullification to cases where people refused to file taxes as a protest against government tyranny and empire.  That would be a very slippery slope for those who enjoy the mental chains installed on the psyches of the citizenry.  While the income tax has nothing to do with funding government - money can be printed and borrowed into existence at will - it has everything to do with psychological control and subjugation.

The significance of the Bundy case, in concert with the Trump Phenomenon and the Global Revolution currently underway, is hard to overstate.  Its power is further proven by the steadfast lack of media analysis and the somewhat subtle effort to sweep it under the proverbial rug.  In fact, one could also view the FBI action in the email investigation as being a grand effort to steal focus from the Bundy case and keep people focused away from real victories against government hegemony.

Furthermore, we should see an increase in prosecutions of public figures, such as Hillary Clinton, and greater pressure brought to bear on such cases to get convictions.

As I have stated repeatedly, Donald Trump is not a leader of any group.  He is a catalyst for a much broader movement against centralized power and global governance.  He has dared to say, from a very public and political platform, what many people have felt for a long time.  This has empowered a great many of the disaffected masses who have felt sidelined for far too long with no one on Olympus giving them voice.

As history continues to be written, we will see an exponential increase in cases like the Bundys and in criminal prosecutions of people like the Clintons.  The world is changing fast and tyrannical governments of the world are starting to feel the heat.  As Thomas Jefferson so rightly noted, lo these many years ago:

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

It's Revolting!

It really helps me get a grasp on reality once in a while to listen to Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage.  It often takes a healthy dose of non sequitur to reboot after reading the "news."  This world has gone completely off its rockers.

Here's how you know things are changing at a very profound and meaningful way: remember those Bundy brothers who took over a government office in Oregon, and one of the members was shot dead in a field in cold blood?  Well, they've been acquitted of all charges.  A few years ago, juries would have bought the government rubbish and sentenced these guys to life in prison.  Now, they aren't even spanked.  FULL ACQUITTAL.

This one case shows a profound change in the political sea-state of the USSA.  People aren't buying the party line and are turning against the government in nearly every possible way.  When folks start shooting back at cops, anti-government activists get full acquittals and broadcast network ratings are falling 10% to 20% year-over-year, there is a deep and unstoppable change coming, folks.

Maybe the fluoride in the water is weaker, or folks are buying good filters?  Maybe the anti-depressant craze is waning?  Maybe so many folks have been so shat upon that nutters like me are starting to make sense?  Whatever the reason, all the things that have been assumed for at least a few generations are no longer valid.

Remember the days when the Republican party represented the corporate bosses and landed gentry, and the Democratic party was the blue-collar, working man's champion?  Have you looked around America lately?  If you haven't heard Trump's Gettysburg Address, then you are missing one of the most significant landmarks in the American Revolution 2.0.  If you missed Michael Moore -yes, THAT Michael Moore - stumping for Trump, then you have not witnessed one of the most significant about-faces in American culture in decades.

What so many people are missing, because they are focused on Trump and the election, is the fact that a real, true revolution is underway.

I grew up with a grandfather and father who both told me the revolution was coming.  My father, the politician and historian, fed me full of triggers to watch for, so that I would recognize it when it arrived.  I have spent a fair amount of my life watching and waiting for those signs to appear.

They have appeared.

Not only have the corporate, political, religious and media self-appointed elites run themselves up on the rocks, but a man like Donald Trump has become a catalyst for a vast ground-swell of discontent.  Regardless of who wins the election, the tide has turned and it won't stop until it has run its course.  Even if Hillary's cabal succeeds and rigging every possible outlet and gets herself installed, she won't be able to take a breath without millions running to plug the holes in her head.

What is so unique and fascinating to me, though, is that the revolution is NOT local, regional or even national - it is GLOBAL.  This is an historic moment when the people of Earth - and not their enslavers - are coming together as the HUMAN race.  And the thing is, now that the masses have had small tastes of victory, they want a LOT more.

Brexit was a major victory.  Despite all the dire warnings, such as we are hearing regarding a Trump election, the Brits voted to opt out of globalism, and they economy is thriving because of it.

Here in Jakarta, an ethnic-Chinese Christian governor was elected a couple of years ago and started reforming government and eradicating/punishing corruption.  It's working so well that the Old Guard Islamic power-brokers are mounting national protests against a governor, and its having the opposite effect and the masses are rallying to protect the one person finally standing up to the entrenched powers.

The Philippines just told the US to go jump in the ocean.  If you don't have an historical concept of the bombshell that was dropped, go back and read about the Spanish-American War and why the US has been in the Philippines for the past century or so.

The Ukraine "revolution" was a complete washout.  The Russian "hack" attack was spotted instantly as a fraud.  The Trump "touchy-feely" scandal flopped.  The Icelandic Pirate Party is winning.  The EU is crumbling.  The BRICSA are creating their own financial system.  The International Banking cabal is on the run in nearly every country they have controlled for decades.

Everywhere you look, the Decrepit World Order is crumbling into dust, just like Daddy Bush and Henry Kissinger.

Win or lose, Trump doesn't matter.  His job is done.  He has rallied forces that will not stop now, short of a massive ET invasion - which I understand is in the works.

The revolution is upon us.  Quick!  Get the popcorn and picnic lunches ready.  Make sure the beer is chilled.  The next couple of years are going to be fun, no matter how you slice it.

Independence Day: Redux

Remember the Norway Spiral?  OK, hold on to that thought.

Whew!  Made it through this damn flu thing.  Strangest one I've ever had.  Symptoms came on like time-released waves, with cough followed by sneezing followed by fever by sinus goo by fever again by lung goo.  Lasted a full week, with residuals like stuffy nose and hack.  I've been swallowing vitamin tabs like Tic-Tacs and they've given me the energy to plow though getting some work done before collapsing in bed for 10 or 12 hours at a time.  Nasty.  Anyway...

I am so freakin' happy I don't live in the States anymore.  The election this year is just...um, INSANE.  I can't think of a better word to describe what I'm reading over here in the relative safety of the Java Sea, south of the equatorial convergence zone (a.k.a. the Doldrums).

If you are a Hillary fan, then you don't want to hear that, at least outside the country and influence of the US media, Trump is running away with the election.  Trump has mass rallies with thousands of people, Hillary has "invitation only" events with hundreds.  She hasn't held any mass rallies in a while now because it is really obvious no one is taking her seriously at this point.

When you have someone like Hillary, who is so manically ambitious and actually believes she deserves the office for having been fired from the Watergate investigation team, with a career that goes quickly downhill after that, what you have is a wild beast in a corner who is ready and willing to pull out all the stops to win.

Behind her is a political establishment that is in the same position.  They never expected someone like Trump would mess up their best-laid plans.  Presidents are all carefully selected.  Elections are normally rigged by having hand-picked candidates on both sides of the "choice" spectrum.  If you remember waaaaay back to June of 2015, when this circus started, it was going to be another Bush/Clinton battle.  Didn't matter a whit who won, because the same people controlled both candidates.  Not this time.

According to any trustworthy polls I can find, Jill Stein is out-polling Hillary by at least single digits, while Trump is running away with 77% or better.

What with all the WikiLeaks fun, the national revulsion against the Democrats and the Clinton Crime Family and just the general disgust with the whole campaign season, one can easily imagine that Hillary is on the ropes and desperate to do anything to sink her claws into the Oval Chair.  Her life-long ambition is slipping away, and from the looks of things, she won't be around for yet another campaign.

So what I start reading about Operation Firesign, I am rather inclined to believe every word of it.

What?  Haven't heard of Operation Firesign?  Oh, you are missing some genuinely delicious conspiracy theories then.

If you aren't familiar with Project Bluebeam, then you missed one of the biggest conspiracy theories of the 1980s.  It posited that, using toys from Ronald Reagan's SDI "Star Wars" program, the Masters of the Universe would project holographic images of gods and UFOs into the skies of Earth to terrify people into submission.  You really should read up on it if you don't know about it.

Buried in the avalanche of WikiLeaks revelations are the musings of DNC insiders speculating on ways to finally steal the election they can't possibly win.  Plans include release of Cobalt-60 as dirty bombs, Islamic terrorists scaring people away from the polls, Black Lives Matter riots to keep people home, and release of the new improved Zika Virus 2.0.  Of the various options, the only one deemed to be effective at this late date was Operation Firesign, which would utilize the Bluebeam infrastructure to create an ET invasion on the scale and scope of the movie Independence Day.

The idea is that folks would be terrified, the election would be cancelled, Hillary would be installed for "continuity of leadership," and she would manage to repel the "invasion," thus becoming a global hero, as well as p-resident.

The whole thing seems really outlandish until you think about the scale and scope of what the globalists stand to lose.  Suddenly, it becomes quite plausible that those bastards would pull a stunt of this magnitude to ensure they maintain their increasingly tenuous grasp on the reins of power.  They have spent the better part of two centuries trying to perfect their evil plan to rule the world, and there is one big damn monkey-wrench called Donald Trump standing in their path on the final dash to the goal line.  All the other masks have been stripped away, what with the absolute melt-down of the mass media.  It stands to reason this kind of tactic seems quite plausible.



In an election year that has not only been the most bizarre in anyone's memory, but also captured the world's attention for the amazing crash and burn of US internal politics and decorum, who's to say something like Operation Firesign is actually being tossed around the halls of Olympus?  Only big problem now is the word is out, which means the last remaining option is to nuke the US and start a process that may likely destroy the entire Earth.

Hillary and the Globalists are quite obviously desperate.  What they are capable of doing is anyone's guess, but it stands to reason they will try just about anything in their power at this point to complete their take-over.  If not Operation Firesign, there is still ten more days of fun and games where anything can and probably will happen.  They can't kill Trump, because the only thing more powerful than one man is a martyr.  Trump is basically Obi Wan Kenobi at this point.

So hang on folks.  If you think this roller-coaster has been fun up to now, it's about to get a whole lot more so.  The big Loop-the-Loop is just ahead and the brakes are burnt out.  From here on, all bets are off.

We Can Be Heroes

I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it is invariably a whopper.  This weekend has been marked by a particularly nasty flu.  It started with lung goo, then sneezing fits, then high fever and body aches, then sinus nastiness.  Hopefully, I've reached the other side now, but it was not fun.  What was most interesting to me was the way each phase of the bug was so distinct and seemed to be following a schedule.  There was hardly any overlap, just one part stopped and the next part started.

All of which naturally led me to think about superheroes.  You expected that, right?

Anyway, I've been pondering superheroes while laying in bed moaning in pain and misery.  I've never been a comic book reader and had very little interest in superheroes as a kid, though I've always had a fondness for Batman, because he was human - no super powers, just intellect and a bottomless budget.

The current superhero craze began with Sam Ramey's Spiderman, which came out in 2002, one year after 9/11.  Since then, it has reached a fever pitch with Marvel and DC battling it out at the box office, with Marvel apparently kicking a good bit of ass in that regard.  The fact that the superhero craze started post-9/11 will become important in a moment.

Basically, superheroes are part of a very long tradition of human storytelling that includes the Indian Greek, and Norse myths.  Humans apparently need to believe in god-like creatures that are both protagonists and antagonists.  Humans generally feel so helpless in the face of Universe that we need superhuman beings to explain why bad things happen, and to protect us from the worst of Nature and ourselves.

What I find most disturbing with the current craze is the fact that a great number of the characters are created by the government/military, and that nearly all of them work for the government.  In a subtle way, we are being told that government is so powerful that it is capable of taming even demi-gods.  The message is also that we little people are so helpless that we can only cower in the corner and let the government agents take care of us.

This creates an image of dependency.  Very subtly, we are told that we are incapable of handing our own affairs.  We must submit to the greater wisdom of government and trust that it has everything under control, including all the mutants and demi-gods needed to handle the problems.

The two superheroes I can tolerate, Batman and Ironman, are genius-level humans who are insanely rich.  So far, I am down with it, but then both are portrayed as having become insanely rich via government contracts, developing technology us little people are incapable of handling.  Furthermore, both characters have their government "handlers," such as Commissioner Gordon and Colonel Rhodes.

Why not characters like Dick Tracey, who used a network of street kids to feed him information or set up traps for the bad guys?  Suppose Batman or Ironman empowered these forgotten parts of society by putting them to work and giving them purpose.  Why is government the only "safe" way to utilize superheroes?

The answer is obvious.  We are being programmed to submit to government as being the all-powerful entity that keeps us safe and secure by utilizing its control over superheroes.

I do strange things - which is likely a shock to readers here - like watch superhero movies just to see how the masses behave.  All those extras in the background tell a whole story in themselves.  They are always screaming and panicking and don't have the sense to duck when necessary.  They are all basically helpless sheep that are absolutely dependent on government and superheroes (one and the same really) to save them from just about everything.

So, this is a rather jumbled set of thoughts, which closely follows the state of my brain at the moment.  In any case, if you like superheroes and want to see the origin of many of them, go read the Mahabharata.  My person favorite is Gatotkaca, who is basically the Incredible Hulk, with blue skin and the ability to change size, and who - unlike Superman - gets his power at night rather than during the day.

I apologize for the ramblings.  Hard to think straight at the moment.  Take these thoughts as you will and next time you queue up to see the new Avengers  or X-Men flick, realize that superheroes are very old in our collective culture, but that the current direction is actually training you to turn over your personal power to the all-wise, all-knowing government.  Might change you experience a bit.

Now back to bed.

By the way, the best superhero movie I've ever seen is M. Night Shamalamadingdong's Unbreakable.  It is also the only movie he ever made that is worth sitting through the entire thing.

Fear And Loathing In The Jungle

OK, folks.  Looks like we need a little remedial class in Terrorism 101.

FACT #1: Terrorism is ALWAYS sponsored by the ruling elite.
FACT #2: Popular movements don't get popular by attacking the populace.

In any REAL revolution, the opposing side will ALWAYS attack the people and symbols of the ruling elite.  The reasoning is simple:

A revolutionary wants the masses on his side.  If he attacks the masses, they will - by default - turn to the ruling elite for protection, thus empowering the elite the revolutionary is fighting.  In other words, if you are trying to overthrow the government, you don't do things that make the government look good.

Conversely, if you are the ruling elite, it serves your purpose to manufacture and unleash enemies who APPEAR to be revolutionaries.  When they attack the masses, the masses will turn to the ruling elite for protection.  The elite can then dictate the terms of the protection and the masses will follow out of fear/terror.

I know.  A lot of people out there didn't read Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince, or Sun Tsu's The Art of War.  (read for free-no excuse now)  You should.  You would be amazed at how much of today's headlines start to make sense when you see the strategies behind them.

Fear is a powerful weapon.  People don't act rationally when they are afraid and will do pretty much anything to remove the object of their fear.  Think about the last time you panicked.  You probably did more damage in the panic than the perceived object of fear did.  It's like stampedes at concerts and football games, there's usually nothing that starts it but one or two startled people who panic.  Once the first person does it, the rest will follow.  It's like a disease that spreads incredibly fast.

Take, for example, the Great Hurricane Panic of 2005.  Hurricane Rita followed within weeks of the storm Katrina that chewed up New Orleans.  When Rita appeared to be heading for Houston, thousands - maybe millions - of people panicked and caused what is probably still the longest traffic jam ever recorded (350 km) trying to run from a storm that ended up knocking down some trees.  It was an unbelievable sight: people fleeing from a perceived threat and causing more problems than the threat ever did.  Oh, and Katrina was a completely man-made disaster, as well, brought on by official incompetence and mass panic.

Every one of those panicked people was listening to the government-controlled media and government "authorities" who were hyping the fear and purposely giving false information.  But hey, they got more toys and funding out of the deal, and I got hours of entertainment as I drove around taking photos and video of the lunacy.

It is a long-established fact that governments love terrorism, which is closely related to false-flag operations.  When the masses get panicked, their first instinct (at insofar as we've been trained) is to turn to "authorities" and "officials" for information and protection.  It's a primitive reflex and one that an individual has to work at to deprogram, but it is possible.

The next step is for the "authorities" and "officials" to offer solutions, and the solutions almost always involve surrendering some amount of self-dependence and rights to the same people who started the panic.

It's a vicious and deplorable act to use people's natural reflexes like that, but it is a tactic used for thousands of years...and it always seems to work.  By the time the masses wake up from their fear-induced stupor, it's too late and the shackles are already in place.

In the American Old West and into the Dust Bowl Period, the masses idolized outlaws.  This would not be the case if the outlaws were going around attacking everyday people.  Instead, they robbed banks and trains and post offices - symbols of power and control - and openly or not, the masses admired them for standing up to the "authorities" and "officials."

Conversely, after 9/11 and the subsequent "attacks," there has been a global push to give up more and more rights and to submit to the most heinous violations of individual privacy all in the name of stopping the "terrorists."  Now ask yourself, who/what has benefitted the most from those attacks?  Was it the terrorists, against whom the armies of the most powerful nations on Earth have rallied?  Or the governments and institutions of control that are enslaving the masses?  If you guessed the latter, then you would be right.

Do you think Osama bin Laden or al-Bagdadi or any of the other "terrorist" leaders feel successful in their graves?  Do you think the NSA, CIA, FBI, GCHQ, et al. ad nauseum feel successful?  Could there be a reason that it has taken 16 years and counting to rout out a handful of cave-dwellers?

Now the problem is, when people start to wake up and realize they've been played like a cheap piano, they get angry, and to protect themselves and their egos, they continue to submit to the "authorities" to make it seem as if it was a good idea all along.  They fool themselves into accepting the onerous iron rule of the elite, because to do otherwise would be to admit that they are dumb, panicky animals.

It truly is amazing to watch, if you are able to keep an emotional distance and not buy into all the "terror."  To see huge numbers of people panic and gaze hopefully up at the Olympian Heights for a savior just boggles the mind.  It is virtually impossible to snap people out of it, too.  They are either in a complete fear coma, or they are in profound denial to protect their egos.

In the end, though, it is painfully obvious who are the true revolutionaries and who are the terrorists.  The revolutionaries are the ones attacking the power structure, not empowering it.

As an exercise, start replacing the word "terrorist" with "authority" in your mind.

A couple of years of that and you'll be on your way to free thinking!

Spectators At The Apocalypse

Did you miss me?  Sorry for the day and a half off.  I do occasionally work at productive, paying jobs, and as a freelancer, I have to do a little selling in between to keep the work flow going.

At any rate, I was having a little conversation with Roy over on our Farcebook page about the stunning media melt-down this past year and a half.

As a career media guy who has worked in local news departments for Fox affiliates, large daily newspapers in the Rockies and the film industry, I know for a fact that everything you see on TeeVee is a complete fraud.  It is why I often rant on about turning off your media streams.

Once upon a time, we were still biased, but we were subtle.  We gave better lighting, more favorable camera angles and a few extra seconds of air time to the "preferred" candidates.  Often, we would lead with the "good guy" or focus a bit more on the "bad guy's" foibles.

Now, however, you can practically see them cashing the Hillary for Prez checks.  The late-night "comedy" shows have practically forgotten there are five candidates.  If you watch them regularly, there is only one and he is completely nuts, according to the near-incessant lambasting Trump gets.  If Hillary gets any attention at all, it is more or less an "oh yeah" mention at the end of a five-minute monologue on the evils of Trump.

The "news" organizations might as well just come out and give us a list of all the things they aren't going to cover.  It's that obvious.  I make a habit of reading news sources from all over the world on a daily basis, including a number of "alt" sites that I consider relatively trustworthy.  Frankly, if I didn't, I would have no idea what was really going on.  The Western media, and especially the US, have just gone off their rockers over this election.  Many of the media pie-holes has already blatantly admitted that they are protecting and promoting Hillary.  Since Americans, for the most part, don't believe anything until someone in authority tells them in simple English, we can safely say that the "conspiracy theories" have been put to rest.

What astounds me the most, though, is the bum's rush to demonize Russia.  Having watched several hours of MOS (man-on-the-street) interviews with "average" Americans, it is no wonder this particular piece of brainwashing is working so well.  In fact, most people have no clue about Russia, why it is being railroaded, or the very real and imminent danger that "poking the bear" brings.  The rhetoric is beyond even the more dire and propagandistic things I remember from the Cold War.

If the anti-Russian rhetoric proves anything, it is that Hillary has absolutely zero problems with starting wars and killing thousands, if not millions of people to hide her corruption.  Can you imagine the depravity of a mind that can conceive of such things, much less act on them on a global scale?  Though I cannot in good conscience bring myself to vote for any of the candidates, it is quite clear that Hillary should not even be considered a serious contender at this point.  Anyone who can proudly say they are voting for her has got to be under the most exigent spells ever witnessed.

In yet another layer of amazement, one has to wonder what these people think they will get in exchange for selling their profession and their souls to the devil.

Is there some well-hidden pot of gold waiting somewhere enticing these balloon-headed hair-spray catchers into destroying any semblance of professionalism?  Of course, at this point Hillary must win, because there is no other exit than to have the gratitude of the queen.  Any other outcome will leave these padded wallets in the cold with no credibility and only the most brain-dead audiences.  They have literally cashed in centuries of media development on this election.

The only real winners that I can see are the alt media.  As the depraved Hillary implodes on stage, it will become increasingly obvious, even to the most fried of couch potatoes, that the alt media were the only ones accurately reporting the news.  On way or the other, we are witnessing the greatest shift in power since the fall of Rome.

I have no love lost for the alt media.  For the most part, they are illiterate slime diggers, but folks like Julian Assange get my greatest respect.  He is literate and he has quite literally put his life on the line to let all the poisons in the mud hatch out.  He is a journalist in the great tradition, and a patriot of rare constitution.

Regardless of how all this shakes out in the near term, we are witnessing one of the most profound moments in history.  The repercussions from Election 2016 will touch nearly every life on the planet, and I do not resort to hyperbole in saying this.  If Hillary wins, the resulting destruction of Western civilization will shake the world for the next 100 years.  If Trump wins, the collapse of the media and whatever follows from his administration will have equally earthshaking consequences.

I admit that I have prepared for, and in many ways hoped for this moment, but now that it is upon us, I can hardly comprehend the way it has come about.  It is one thing to image such historic moments, but another entirely to witness it.  I cannot say that I am sorry, because my disgust with the political and media establishments is acute.  What is regretable, though, is the numbers of people that will suffer because it has gone this far, having built up for well over a century now.  However painful it will get - and it looks as if it will hurt quite a bit - we must all take responsibility for having allowed ourselves to be led so far down the garden path.

The collapse of the media is only the most visible and remarkable of the changes occurring, but certainly not the only one.  We can be sure that at every level of the establishment, the ground is heaving and the sky is falling.  They have painted themselves into a very tight corner from which there is only one escape, and that is to put Hillary in the White House in order to complete the take-over.

The blow-dried nincompoops have bought the promise of great power and wealth if they jump onto the establishment lap like a good dog.  What they apparently fail to realize is that either way, they have already lost everything, it's only a matter of gallows or guns as to how they are dispatched.  At some level, I feel sorry for them, because they bought the same siren song that we all did, they just had better seats and the feeling that they were part of the inner circle.

As for the rest of us, the best thing we can do to save our sanity at this point, is to become dispassionate and remove ourselves as far as we can from the emotional destruction that is heading our way like a light-speed freight train.  Panic is self-defeating and fear prevents clarity.  This has been inevitable since it began.  Nothing lasts forever, even the best laid plans of mice and men.  We can choose to be victims, or take control of the situation and, as the Chinese say, find the opportunity in the chaos.

The rather amazing run of relative stability we've enjoyed since WW2 is at an end, and the scale of the collapse ensures that at least the next three generations will find the world little resembles what they were told to expect.  Ultimately, this is a good thing, but like a good roller coaster, there will be many hair-raising moments getting to the other side.

Turn off the TeeVee, tune in reality and prepare yourself to witness something that will be the stuff of legends long after we are gone.

On Crystal Balls And Monkeys

15 October 2016 - For publication on 18 October 2016

With mere days left in US Election 2016, we here at Far Side Global Headquarters (FSGHQ) are prepared to issue our predictions for the coming month and beyond.  Brace yourself...it ain't pretty unless you are a political atheist who enjoys watching people's illusions melt in the hands, not in their mouths.

Imagine the 2000 election on steroids.

First of all, Hillary will be taken out of the race in a very public and unequivocal way due to health problems.  This may occur around the final debate or soon after, so that it is quite visible and no one can deny it.

The Party Apparatchiks will quickly replace her with a new candidate.  We don't think it will be Kaine, but rather someone out of left field.  This will cause a rash of problems as the Dark Forces scramble to update all the infrastructure they've put in place to steal the election, including millions of voting machines and the networks that control them.

In part due to Hillary being taken out, and part to Trump already commanding a sizable number of folks, he will win the election on November 8th; however, it ain't over till the corpulent female yodels.  The mess with the voting machines and networks will expose the vast corruption behind the scenes.  The PTB will try to claim that the results are not valid, due to some kind of "interruption" of the voting process and the fact that it wasn't fair for the Democrats to run a campaign less than a week long.

On the other hand, the Trumpians and folks who believe the election is what it is will argue loud and long that "they paid their money and took their chances," and despite the obvious election rigging in favor of Hillary, a win is a win.

But that's not all!

Due to the Trump win, the Globalnuts will immediately start collapsing the economy like spoilt children who don't get their way.  Massive economic disruptions will start within days of the election and continue through the end of the year, at least.  They will also start riots around the country and promote "civil unrest" to show their displeasure with the American electorate.

All of this will cause an almost revolutionary call to dismantle the Federal Reserve and the banking system, but the fever will take on new highs when the election is declared invalid and/or some procedure is invoked to install Hillary in spite of the outcome.

At this point, New Hampshire, Texas, Alaska and Hawaii - and probably a few other states - will begin procedures to secede from the Union.  Texas, already having an independent power grid and large economy of its own with substantial gold and oil reserves, will call for independent-minded folks to move in and help out with the effort.

The media, beginning this week, will be in complete melt-down.  All their cafeful plots and plans will fly right out the window and things will only get worse from there.  During the ensuing chaos, they will try desperately to regain their positions as thought-leaders and gate-keepers, but the masses will simply tune them out.  They will be having complete conniption fits on-air as they try anything to get people's attention, but will find they squandered any respectability and influence in the past year.  For those who like to see pretentious, self-important grown-ups cry, this will be an absolute hay-day!

All power structure at the federal level will collapse.  The Obama administration and Congress will have no power, since the passing of the election will leave them marking time until new folks are sworn in in January.  In addition, the various agencies will polarize, seeing the chaos as an opportunity to express anger over the politicization of jobs they thought were honorable (e.g. - FBI, DOJ, NSA, etc.).  In short, the normal power structure will be unable to respond with either force or coercion, further eroding the image of fear they use to maintain power and control.

There will be a blatant attempt to seat the Democratic candidate as president in January, but this will only enhance the collapse, rather than quell the chaos.  Even die-hard Democrats will not support this person, because the corruption will be so obvious.

Meantime, the economic melt-down will continue apace, in part as punishment for electing Trump, and part because it was the plan all along once the elections had passed.  At some point, it becomes self-sustaining and no one will be able to stop the melt-down, kind of like a Fukashima reactor writ large.

Due to both its internal dynamics, and the extreme forces from outside, the Western banking system will shut down.  Having no weapons left to manipulate with, and having nearly the entire world hammering at it like Visigoths at the gates of Rome, banking corporations will start going toes-up in a domino effect up to and including the Federal Reserve, which will be blamed for most of the problems, economic or not.  Hordes of banksters and financial types will flee the country, while mobs of angry citizens surround their homes and offices demanding justice.

And that's about as far as we can see, since the damn monkey just ran through the hut and stole our crystal ball - cheeky bastard.

At any rate, probably not a bad idea to buckle up and get ready for the ride of a generation or two.  If you are the prepper type, forget it.  If you can't carry it without Atlas Van Lines, you'll just have to leave it.  Work on your brain instead, since no matter how much information you stuff in it, it never gets heavier, and you are highly unlikely to lose it unless you run into ISIS, but at that point, not much of anything will matter.  We prefer good back-packs with a camp shovel, a hammer, a saw, and one of each kind of screwdriver.  If you can't do something with those tools, then it ain't worth doing.  Don't forget your SpaceBlanket (tm) too.

From deep in the jungles of Borneo, this is your faithful correspondent bidding you good luck from the FSGHQ.

The Greater Of Two Choices

I love this idea that voting for anything but the two officially sanctioned parties is a "wasted" vote.  The sheer stupidity exhibited by people who subscribe to this theory shows the utter lack of independent thought, and the profundity of indoctrination, apparent in this person spouting this rubbish.

Let's begin with the very simple deduction that, according to the "wasted vote" theory, even if you vote for the 'loser' of the two official parties, you have wasted your vote.  The theory clearly implies that any vote that is not for a winner is wasted, therefore a voter must discern which of the two offcial choices will win, and then vote for that candidate, so as not to waste a vote.  It further implies that any opinion that is not held by the majority is not valid.

The Wasted Vote Theory tells us that opinions can be "winners" or "losers," and of course everyone wants to be a "winner."  Thus opinions, rather than being closely held and logically defensible positions on any given set of ideas, are instead runners in a race in which only one can cross the line first.

This concept is an extension of the Calvinist idea that only people and ideas that are blessed by God can win any given contest.  It was the underlying philosophy of duels, in which God would strike down the lying bastard through the auspices of the morally just dueler through Divine Guidance of the sword or bullet.  In this view, too, winners of wars are seen to be morally superior, even though there are truckloads of examples where this theory falls flat.

In polemics and philosophy, this view is called Moral Equivalency, and can be rather quickly dismissed with any number of actual and hypothetical situations.  This is the common view that justifies any action by the United States since the established "end" of the Cold War, since the US is widely seen to be morally superior to the Soviet Union by virtue of not having collapsed first.

Moral Equivalency is also the ruling paradigm behind most allowable cancer treatments, in that it is assumed that healthy cells are stronger and will last longer in a poisonous environment than "sick" cancer cells.  Therefore, the patient is brought to the brink of death in the hopes that the morally inferior cancer cells will die first.  The insanity of this concept should be readily apparent to anyone with half a thought.

But let's take a simpler example.

Let's assume there is an online poll about Spaghetti:
Do you like spaghetti?

• (a) Yes
• (b) No
• (c) Don't know/Never tried it 

Some percentage will choose (a), (b) or (c), with (c) likely being the smallest subset of people taking the poll.  Let's assume that (a) represents Party A, (b) represents Party B, and (c) represents all the other choices available.

The most statistically likely outcome is that one of the three choices will have at least one more vote that the other two, so a dead tie is unlikely.  Most people taking the poll will likely have an opinion, and will thus choose (a) or (b).  Some number of people who would choose (c) will not want to "waste" their vote, so they change it to one of the first two, depending on which they perceive to be the "winner."  We can also assume that some subset of (a) or (b) voters will do the same, since psychologically they want to feel part of the "winning" group.

Since spaghetti is a widely available food enjoyed by a great number of people, there is an increased likelihood that it will "win" the poll.  We can further assume   We can further assume that a number of people who chose (a) will have done so because they have a need to feel included in the "herd," and to have their "choice" validated by the greatest number of people.  Thus, even though they hate spaghetti, or have never tried it, they still feel included in the YES group because they selected based on their need to be a part of the majority.

There is no way, then, to have a true and fair poll, especially in a system where there are only two dominant choices.  I have only explored a couple of the many complex reasons why people make selections in polls, but it is plain to see that at least some part of those being polled are not making selections based on their real opinions, but rather on perceptions and desires with regard to feeling included and justified for their selections, regardless of how much or little they actually believe what they have expressed.

In the end, we can safely assume that some number of people casting a vote are doing so, not because they believe in the opinion they are expressing, but because they are gambling on which choice will give them the greatest sense of being on the side of the majority/winner, and thus morally justified, even though they don't actually believe in the "winning" opinion.

The person who chooses not to vote at all is therefore not "wasting" a vote.  They are, in fact, showing the integrity of their opinion in that they do not believe that any of the choices are correct and will not select one just because they want to feel included in some group or another.  It is often not a popular choice, since most people are of the opinion that having a right to vote means that it must be exercised only in the voting booth, and is meaningless if a check mark is not recorded in one column or another.

The prevailing attitude that one must select the lesser of two evils, when one is presented with two bad choices presents a moral hazard.  Since both choices are evil and will lead to bad outcomes, one becomes personally and morally responsible for those outcomes no matter which choice is taken, since one participated in the process in any way.

The person who refuses to vote, therefore, has expressed the opinion that all of the choices are wrong and he or she does not want the moral and ethical responsibility of choosing one side or another, or even participating in the process in the first place.

Clearly, if the vast majority refused to vote, none of the choices could claim victory and the outcome would be just as decisive and victorious as if they had actually placed a tick mark on the ballot.  Therefore, the Null Choice is just as valid and equally expressive of an opinion as any other.

The combined effect of expediency, lack of integrity and moral equivalency is precisely what has led the world to the point of self-annihilation and mass stupidity.  Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil and the only moral alternative is to make no choice at all.

People like Adolf Hitler have risen to great power because of the principles of Lesser of Two Evils and Moral Equivalency.  When confronted with nothing but bad choices, one is bound by morality and integrity not to make a choice at all.

In other words, don't vote, it just encourages the bastards.

Tweety Bird Of Paradise

Sometimes I think insanity is a viable lifestyle choice.  Think about it.  You can say and do anything you like, you can wear pajamas round the clock and no one is trying to convince you that you don't already live in an asylum.  And don't forget the free buzz anytime you throw a tantrum.

When you are considered "sane," there are so many expectations put on you.

You have to show up to appointments on time, prepared for whatever the topic is, and dressed in reasonably expensive clothes that reflect your status and profession.  That's a hell of a lot of pressure to put on a person.  Just consider all the algebra involved in being somewhere on time.  You have to calculate variables such as weather, traffic, idiocy, public services competency, riots and political demonstrations, and so many other things.  A miscalculation on any of those variables will make you late, and then everyone sits around clucking and shaking their heads and asking you where the hell the donuts are, since you are last to arrive.

As for the topic, well damn!  If you thought calculating variables was a nightmare, how about all the damn homework, last minute printing and binding, updates and revisions, and unexpected changes to the agenda?  Have you ever been called to an important meeting the night before and told that you had to have six month's worth of research not only assimilated and collated, but memorized and ready to present in a coherent manner when you've only had three hours of sleep and one cup of coffee?  And 9 times out of 10, the chairman of the meeting greets you just before going into the meeting room and completely changes all the parameters that he told you the night before during a panicked phone call.

Then there's the whole clothes thing.  If I had my druthers, I'd spend my life in plaid cotton shorts with elastic waistbands and three-day-old T-shirts with a danish in one hand and coffee in a cup that hasn't been washed since the dawn of Creation in the other.  Oh wait...I already do that.  Well, I would certainly never wear those damn monkey suits that way too hot for the climate with a noose tied around my neck.  It's inhuman!

What's worse is the damn monkey suit has to be cut and fitted to whatever shape Nature saw fit to give you, use the finest cloth, and God help you if the label inside doesn't say Armani, because all the social sniffers will look when you take your jacket off after 10 grueling hours in a meeting.

Frankly, by comparison, life in an insane asylum seems quite humane.  You have people waiting on you hand and foot, and if you don't, just run around naked for a few minutes.  You can write on the walls with Crayons.  You have no responsibilities and no one expects you to do anything productive.  And if you are like me and like to cuss a lot, they just call it Tourette's Syndrome and give you a pass.  I mean...Hallelujah!

As a lunatic, I would be able to speak any opinion and people would simply brush it off as the rantings of a madman.  Oh wait!  They already do that.  OK, so as a lunatic, I could get the finest pharmaceutical buzzes available, and all for free, as a ward of the State.

I could even sit around all day feverishly banging out ludicrous ideas that required vast amounts of money to realize to feed people's insatiable appetite for being entertained!

Oops, I already do that too.

Of course, as a lunatic, I wouldn't be able to go anywhere or do anything fun when I wanted to.  Aw, shucks, I already do that too, only I call it profound lack of funds in the bank.

Well, damn!  Here I thought this insanity plea was going to be a nice skate from reality, but it turns out that most of my life is already inside an insane asylum.  Even the whole monkey suit thing is just a matter of tailor and materials.

Perhaps the world is truly an insane asylum and we are all inmates running it.  Perhaps the people in the asylums are the ones who chose to see the reality of it all.  Such a fine world we have built for ourselves.

But you know, there's something comforting in knowing that we are all insane.

Male Of The Species

I was raised, like most civilized males, to respect social mores and keep certain talk to certain places.  I should be clear that certain talk was not forbidden, as it is a fundamental part of being male, but that the proper places and occasions for such talk were limited so as not to offend more delicate ears.

Despite decades of effort on the part of the PC (politically correct) Police, males - thankfully - are still males.  It is a function of the Y-chromosome and no amount of whining and ear-plugging will ever change that.  Gender roles are as much a function of genetics as environment.

When I was growing up, I was taught by other men that certain conversations were to be had only around other men and only in certain places, such as the locker room, the golf course, hunting trips, and bars (in proper society women were escorted to "lounges" never bars).  I will catch all kinds of crap from the feminists and PC Police, but I see nothing wrong with Standard Male Bragging (SMB), in the proper context.

I am painfully aware that there has been a multi-decadal war on males.  Ritalin (the drug) is primarily used to control male behavior, since kids aren't allowed to play real games anymore, and have a metric tonne of energy to blow off one way or another.  Males and male behavior have been consistently demeaned and belittled, and any signs of it have been drugged and castigated until most males now are just sick to death of it.

If you have any questions why Donald Trump has risen so fast in the political arena, it is because he is unapologetically male.  He speaks directly.  He likes attractive women on his arm.  He knows wealth and power are aphrodisiacs.  His only mistake was apologizing for the Trump Tapes.  It is the traitorous weasel who recorded that conversation and saved it for 11 years that ought to be castrated and hung out to dry.  Trump was well within his male rights to speak the way he did among other males in the locker room context.  That is what we males are all taught.

Women and children have the right to demand that men keep their baser behavior controlled and contained, but no one can demand that we deny our very nature.  Nature created men to amass wealth and power so as to attract the most desirable mates, just as it created women to primp and preen and seek out the wealthy and powerful men.  There is no apology for expressing our Natures, so long as it appropriate to the time and place, and the locker room is definitely the time and place for men to be men.

It strikes me as rather conspicuous that the number of wars in process or about to start are a direct consequence of denying men the right and ability to "blow off steam."  And frankly, doing things like allowing transvestites into the military and striking the word "man" off of all the ranks and titles is even further pushing men into a fight.  Furthermore, blasting men-talk all over Creation that was said in the appropriate time and place is yet another sick and depraved attack on all men, not just one or two.

To my admittedly and unapologetically male mind, Trump is not wrong, the media are.  They knew the context of the talk.  They knew full well that they do the same thing.  They knowingly and hypocritically violated a social trust in a way that deserves the most vile reprehension possible.

What's really strange about all of this is that the popular media (TeeVee, Moovies, etc.) are absolutely awash with foul language and chest-beating males - reference any Marvel Moovie - yet the minute a male gets off the couch or leaves the cinema, he is battered and bashed from all sides for daring to imitate the behavior he just witnessed those "cultural heroes" performing.  It's no wonder males are acting out in so many inappropriate ways; they are receiving severely disconnected messages from society and the cognitive dissonance is driving them batty.

Even I experience massive amounts of cognitive dissonance.  On the one hand, my Inner Male cheers when people like Trump ignore the Whining Class and act like a real male.  If for no other reason, I secretly hope he gets elected, even though my Inner Intellectual is reviled by his complete lack of historical context.  Plainly, you can see my dilemma.  My mental and physical selves are in constant battle over whether love the guy or run in horror.

I truly wish that America could produce a figure like Putin, and it's no wonder he is admired around the world.  He is a Man's Man: intelligent, mannered, witty, wily, erudite, and is a formidable verbal sparring partner.  In the real world outside the molly-coddled nanny states of US and EU, real men still exist and still admire other real men.  In fact, I suspect that Hillary et al. vilify him for this very reason - he is a fine expression of the Real Man.

If Trump has had one major victory, it is on the PC front.  He has put a large dent in the effort to destroy the male.  He is unabashed and proudly male, and for that I salute him.  In the darkest recesses of my inner-most thoughts, I secretly hope he wins, if for no other reason than to put a sock in the mouth of Political Correctness.

I fear it is too little too late, though.  The damage has been done and there are generations of Western males who will never recover, and it will take generations again to repair the damage done by the Progressives and Feminists.

But I can celebrate small victories, and having the Trump Tapes fly back in the face of the PC Police is one of them.  I imagine that Trump and his sons are in the locker room now, clapping each other on the back and laughing at the silly hypocrites in LaLaLand.

And honestly, I'm willing to bet that Real Women admire Real Men, and thus the species goes on.

In the immortal words of Blue Swede, "Ugga chacka, ugga ugga ugga chacka!"

Ode To A Nation

I told myself that I was going to stay as far away from the US presidential campaign as I could, but damn it!  Partly for sheer entertainment purposes, and partly because it is a universal human trait to slow down and look at horrific car wrecks, I just can't stop myself.

Yes, I admit it.  For the second time in probably 20 years, I watched the "debate" Monday morning (we're way ahead over here).  I am admittedly motivated by morbid curiosity.  I want to see people's guts get splattered all over the cameras...and I wasn't disappointed.

My first comment is, who changed the job description of a "moderator?"  And are they really necessary in a situation where their only function is to help one side attack the other?  I was in the debate club in school.  I have watched some great debates in my time (just dial up Christopher Hitchens on YouTube).  I have never seen "moderators" behave like they have in the past two "debates."  Nuff said.

The next issue to address is probably the "Trump Tapes."  By now, even the shiest hermit troglodyte knows about the Trump Tapes.  In fact, I understand that a live webcam in Missouri caught two Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) discussing the story just Saturday morning.  If what Trump said was so shocking or unusual, then why didn't Billy Bush faint dead away?  And what about similar comments Obama has made on the golf course?  Is it OK for him since he is (bow your heads in reverence) a minority?  By the way, you have to use alternate search engines to find these clips, since every Google search points to Trump.

Frankly, I would be shocked if a rich, powerful man didn't brag about the way women throw themselves at him.  Sorry girls, but having a number of very close friendships with women, I know how y'all talk off-camera, and it would make Trump blush.  I gotta laugh, folks.  The same culture that bought millions of copies of 50 Shades of Gray, made Ann Rice's Beauty series an underground hit, and flocked to the film Indecent Proposal is incapable of being truly shocked by the comments on the Trump Tapes.  Fact of life.  Face it.  I know just about every woman in America at this point has closely examined the size of Trump's hands, and probably his feet, too (big feet, big...well, you know).

To put it quite plainly, Trump showed up to a press conference with three women that have for years accused Bill Clinton of all-out rape and abuse, and who have been further abused by Hillary Clinton - in public and on the record - which made rather conspicuous the complete lack of women lining up to accuse Trump of similar abuse.

Does this excuse Trump's words?  No.  However, so far it is just a couple of boys bragging with no one stepping forward to say they were wrongly treated.  On the other side, Bill Clinton finally admitted that he abused his power and position with Monica Lewinsky, and was impeached and disbarred for lying about it under oath, and thee women have been dogging him (Jones, Willey, Broadderick) for decades about real abuse that Hillary has obviously condoned with her defense of her husband and the fact that she has pressed him into campaigning for her.  Clearly, abuse of women is not an issue that Hillary cares much about, at least off stage.

As for the rest of the event, what can I say?  It was a game of Battleship with both sides landing punches.  One thing I do like about Trump is that he doesn't mince words, he calls things like he sees them.  He doesn't use the passive voice and talk around things.  One thing I deeply despise about politicians is the way they talk in third-person passive and use un-words like un-truth and lots of weasel qualifiers.  I can respect people, even when I truly dislike them, when they have the moxy to speak directly and clearly.

All that being said, there was nothing in this or the previous "debate" that inspired me. I am more convinced that ever that I will not vote (again).  I left the US nine years ago because I could no longer be a part of a system that killed and destroyed with impunity, and I haven't seen anything in the two approved candidates that encourages me to think that things will change.  You can have chocolate or vanilla, but in the end, the only choice is ice cream.  Hmmm...maybe that is too delicious a metaphor.  The more apt metaphor would probably be solid or liquid, it's still shit.  I'll let the dear reader choose who is which - and I did note the big fly that landed on Clinton.

What I have taken away from not only this "debate," but the entire election cycle, is that the US is FUBAR.

When I get lambasted by the Clintonites for mysogeny, hate and abuse (honestly...), I have to wonder what it must be like to live inside their brains.  Can anyone truly ignore the reams of evidence pointing to decades of criminal activity and just sheer hatred of people?  Are they so indoctrinated into party politics that they would elect Charles Manson is the DNC selected him?  In my humble opinion, the only difference between Hillary and Manson is that she hasn't been convicted (yet).

On the other hand, the Trumpians castigate me for my lack of patriotism and tell me how he is the last best hope for America. My only thought is, has it really come to this?  Can someone with so obvious a lack of education and diplomacy truly be the last great hope of a country like the US?  If I found myself thinking that, I would forsake all hope and immediately begin working on secession (which I did, by the way, nearly 30 years ago), or just leave the whole mess behind (which I did 9 years ago).

Either one of these people alone would be an indictment of the moral and ethical decay in America, but both together as the primary choices for president in 2016, is proof-positive that the US has gone completely around the bend.  Had Ron Paul even been nominated, much less elected president, I might have held out hope for the System and the people subservient to it.  But honestly, that Trump and Clinton are the two best choices the System can offer is a clear sign that the US is somewhere between Caligula and Claudius in the Rome Collapse-O-Meter.

We are currently replaying the scene where HAL-9000 convinces Poole and Bowman to replace the AE-35 unit and let it fail to see where the fault it.  In the end, the System will win the election at the cost of its own existence, and perhaps in the Big Picture, that is what the world needs.  I dearly love my home, my family and my friends, but every now and then, you gotta clean the gutters.  Many of my friends realize this, but many more do not, because...well, gosh, it's easy to read about history, but damn difficult to live it.

At this point, it is well worth the time to watch Being There again, or better yet, READ the book.  Jerzy Kosinski lived through the collapse of a country and saw the same signals in American culture, and as I have said often, once a system derails, it is virtually impossible to right it again and it must completely collapse in order to make way for fresh ideas.

The founding concepts behind the US, and the Enlightenment philosophy behind them, have already changed the world. But the country has gone so far off course that perhaps its usefulness has faded into history now, as demonstrated by the two people standing for the country's highest office.

Sad?  Yes.  Painful?  Very much so.  Necessary?  What does one do with a gangrenous limb?  Nothing lasts forever, nor should it.  Nature, in its infinite wisdom, has seen to it that all things die so that new life can take hold.

The one abiding thought that I had as I watched the debate is that when someone we dearly love passes on, we must bury the body, but take the fond memories with us as we move forward, and celebrate the good things they did to change the world.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, I bid a fond farewell to America and celebrate the good it has done for all humans.  It is time, though, to remove the life support and accept that the genius that was America is but a fond memory now and it is time to quickly bury the corpse.

The Reed That Bends

At one time, academia was a "safe zone" where thinkers and researchers could speak truth to authority in the sacred pursuit of Truth.  Today, universities are setting up "safe zones" where students are protected from the Truth, and the trend is to turn entire campuses into these "zones of ignorance."

It is not so much the willful stupidity behind this calcification of higher education - anyone who wants a real education can find the books easily enough - but that it implies the imminent collapse of society.

Any structural engineer can tell you that the more rigid a building is, the more likely it is to collapse due to earthquake or strong winds.  Throughout history and within the context of the natural sciences, those groups and species that were the most rigidly locked to their environment were the ones least likely to survive a catastrophe.  Whether it is a single construct, society or an entire phylum, the more rigid it is, the more susceptible it is to extinction.

We have seen corporations, empires and civilizations vanish almost overnight because they could not adapt to new realities.  The phenomenon is related to the old proverb that 'the tighter you squeeze, the more sand slips through your fingers.'

This near-certainty of collapse is why people who study history don't really worry about such things as political or social systems.  Those that become overly rigid and authoritarian are doomed to fail for the simple reason that they can't adapt.  The one thing that is certain in this Universe is that things change - environments, circumstances, events.  There are forces beyond the control of even the most powerful systems.  No system or organization can control every variable, and at key points in history, even the smallest factors can lead to major shifts, a tautology known as the "butterfly effect."

While it is frustrating, even dangerous, to live through the rise and fall of rigid systems, it is a fact that they will fail.  It is the hubris of those running the systems that make them blind to their own doom.

In nature, we see entire species that become so finely adapted to their environment that even the slightest change can wipe them out.  Unable to cope with change fast enough, the new variables overwhelm the species and they vanish.  We can see this plainly in the Younger Dryas epoch.  In the space of 500 years, the climate went from glacial to tropical worldwide.  Almost instantly, in geological terms, half the megafauna of Earth were wiped out, due entirely to their inability to adapt to whatever changes caused such a major change.  This is the rule, not the exception.

These types of examples apply at both the micro and macro levels.  Whether we are talking about mom-and-pop businesses, or Lehman Brothers, it is not the size but the rigidity in the system that causes collapse.

What we are witnessing today is the calcification of many of society's institutions.  The more control that is exerted over the way people think and act, the more likely the system is to collapse.  It may seem tediously slow when one is in the middle of these types of changes, but in historic terms, it will seem amazingly fast, much as the fall of Roman or Mongol empires seems to students of history now.

Some time back, we wrote about the inherent mistake in the thinking of "preppers."  They almost universally tend to lay in vast amounts of supplies and expect to be able to ride out massive changes in the environment in their homes.  Yet, we recently saw the error in this thinking when Hurricane Matthew came along.  If one is running from an oncoming storm, it is impractical, if not impossible, to carry all those supplies.  Thus, most of the effort and expense of prepping was wasted due to rigidity of thinking.

Everything comes to an end, and the less flexible something is, the more likely and swift will be the collapse.  The massive efforts to surveil and control large populations, and to narrow their thinking through social institutions are doomed to fail.  It is the very rigidity with which these systems seek to control humanity that is the seed of their destruction.  The more rigid they become, the easier they are to topple.

Since the earliest records of civilization, we see that the human condition and nature has barely changed, despite massive leaps in philosophy and technology.  We are pretty much the same creatures our distant ancestors were.  Therefore, all these systems that deny the very nature of humanity can never succeed, because nature always overcomes or it dies because of its failure to adapt.  Those who survive are the ones most open to all possibilities and do not artificially limit their thinking to imposed sets of rules.

We are in a time of great change at every level.  All of the institutions that are doomed to fail are reacting by becoming more rigid, since that is the only response of which they can conceive.  In 50 years, we today will hardly recognize what the world has become.  Those who will survive are the ones least locked into dogmatic thinking.

Think of the difference between when your body is stiff and achy, versus when you are limber and flexible.  In which shape would you prefer to be if a wild animal is running straight for you?

It applies to the mind, as well.

Looney Toon Friday

Today's soundtrack is provided by Celtic Punks Flogging Molly, singing "Worst Day Since Yesterday."

The dear reader may be forgiven for thinking we take things a bit seriously around here.  In fact, we don't, and should the feeling creep up on us, we immediately stock the bar and drink heavily until it passes.  It's a part of our Irish-Texan gene pool that being serious lasts only as long as the walk to the pub.

Frankly, the world is so screwed up that it has long since entered the realm of Theatre of the Absurd.  Most folks can no longer see the forest through the trees, and so panic because they think they are lost.  The remarkable thing about forests, though, is that if you walk long enough in any direction, you eventually come to the edge.  Nothing lasts forever.

Take, for instance, the story about what we affectionately call Petrified Woodstock.  Yes, that 3-day...er, 6 day concert event has brought together all the surviving counter-culture geezers for one last wheezer.  Turns out the scalpers have taken a bath on the tickets, though.  They forgot that all those radicals are now on fixed incomes and more worried about access to toilets than backstage passes.  If that's not funny, well...

How about those "headless" Ubers in Singapore and Pittsburg?  Yes, that vaunted technology that was to help usher in the Golden Age of Robots apparently ignore street signs and crash into stuff a lot.  All of this despite having a human in the driver's seat "for emergencies."  Hell, take away the Geritol and glasses, and those rock geezers could achieve the same results without the hype.

Still not laughing hard enough?

How about those vaccines?  Rappaport tells us the CDC police will start arresting the unvaccinated to "protect public health."  But wait a minute...aren't vaccines supposed to make folks immune?  So what are they afraid of?  Cue the Scooby Doo catch phrases.

More?

OK,get this: The US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the top law enforcement agencies in the country, have destroyed evidence, colluded with potential witnesses, tampered with witnesses, and willfully failed to enforce the law.  Why is this funny?  Because the majority of Americans STILL think they live in a free country where law is supreme, the coming election will be a fair poll, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.  This is either a case of the most amazing self-delusion or the most incredible mind-control ever.  Poor folks need to get out more often.

Har har har!  Ooh, it hurts, stop!  But wait!

"President" Obama of the US just signed over control of the ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers), which is a private non-profit company, to the UN, where it will be under the direct control of IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) and the upcoming TPP and TTIP treaties that give corporations control of international law.  So now, those vested interests can control all information on weather, business, markets, criticism and dissent, and the ability to link to other information as references.  Fox guarding the henhouse!

Har Ho Ho!  This is just too rich!  But WAIT!  There's more!

Hillary Clinton, whose husband was impeached for lying about extra-marital affairs and has been accused of multiple rapes and sexual predation, and whose social circle includes convicted child molesters, and who successfully defended a child rapist, calls Trump a misogynist!  That's like Medusa calling Perseus "hard-headed."

Har, har, snorkle, coff, sputter.  We can barely see through the tears in our eyes!

Yes, how can anyone be serious when the Three Stooges run the world?  Or should we say "woild?"  We've got bruises from slapping ourselves on the forehead, and just when you think it can't possibly get much sillier, the next day's headlines are right over the top.  We're expecting any moment some public official will step up and say that at least Hurricane Matthew will get rid of the Zika mosquitoes in Miami.  Just wait...

That's right, folks!  Who needs Hollywood comedies when all you need to do is open the morning paper, or flow the bits, or whatever you do for news.

If laughter is the best medicine, then we should all be pert near the pink of health by now!

To Serve Blindly

I have been very lucky in my life to have developed a number of very close and long-lasting friendships.  The wonderful thing about many of my friends is that we have radically different thoughts and beliefs on a number of normally hot topics, and occasionally tempers have flared, but we have managed to push on past our differences.  It does make for some rather interesting arguments (in the Aristotelian sense).

One good friend in particular is very pro-military and thinks everyone should support the troops.  We get into long passionate debates because I hold that every US soldier since WW2 has violated their oath and does not deserve my support, no matter what they have given "for their country."  For the non-Americans out there, US public servants (military included) takes an oath to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  That Constitution specifically states that Congress cannot fund a standing army more than two years (Art.I, Sec.8, Sub.12), and that the President becomes the Commander in Chief only when Congress passes a Declaration of War and authorizes the funding to raise an army (Art.I, Sec.8, Sub.11 and Art.II, Sec.2).

Apparently, none of the individuals who swore to protect and defend the Constitution ever read it.

At any rate, my friend posted a graphic on Farcebook the other day stating that the US should require/conscript young people into the armed services or some public service for a period of time, as many countries do.  Well this set off a debate (again), since I pointed out that the power to conscript people into some public service implies that the State owns the citizen and can force one to sacrifice for the betterment of the State.

My friend's reasoning was emotional.  He decried the lack of investment young people had in the country and thought that forcing them into the military or public service would give them a feeling of ownership in the country, as well as instill a little discipline.

I understand his reasoning and his frustration.  Many people lament the lack of patriotism and volunteerism in many of the country's youth now.  There is a diminishing feeling of solidarity and the Kennedy-inspired concept of asking "what you can do for your country" has all but evaporated.  I argued that this was the wrong way to go about recapturing that spirit.

In the first place, it is rather difficult for a country to call itself free if the State can conscript men and resources at will.  This is a form of servitude that bears a significant resemblance to slavery.  I do not think any State has any interest in or right to any life or property that is not freely given.  Forced volunteerism is a complete oxymoron.  It is like a "voluntary" tax system that is enforced with grievous bodily harm.

I have no problem with community service, so long as it is truly voluntary and does not benefit the State, but rather the communities and culture directly, though I have no implicit problem with the State administering the systems and processes needed to guide and focus the efforts.

Among other things, a standing army and forced conscription are hallmarks of fascism.  Raising and maintaining an army gives the State the power to make war at will, either on foreign powers or its own people.  That the money to pay for the army comes from money commandeered from the citizenry makes for a deadly loop where the army is an implied threat to backup the confiscation of wealth.

Had the US government not had a standing army, it would have been significantly more difficult to prosecute wars in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.  There are few people who could, in good conscience, argue that any of those wars were for pure and righteous reasons.  That all were fought against "enemies" who had never attacked the US, nor did they have the means to, further condemns them as little more than mercantile protectionism.  Obviously, when the powers and resources of the State are put into service of the corporate and financial interests, you have - by definition - fascism.

That corporations have invaded nearly every aspect of daily life, from birth to death, it is reasonable to assume that a forced public service would quickly be turned to slave labor on behalf of those interests, increasing their profits at the expense of the public freedom and welfare.

Even the most idealistic programs, when supported by a fascist State, are often turned to the benefit of the corporate interests.  Prime examples are the increasingly powerful corporations that have virtually taken over the education system, from kindergarten to university.  That the State sanctions, protects and requires things like standardized testing and "Common Core," this is exactly fascism in practice.

It has been said many times that American fascism would come with red, white and blue boots stamping on the People's faces, and indeed it has.  For someone as smart and thoughtful as my friend, the fact that he can seriously support such a fascist effort means that the indoctrination is complete.  People are not even aware of the profound contradictions in what they say and believe.  They can, with a straight face, claim to be free people, and yet propose and promote corporate slavery through the auspices of the State.

I pick on the one friend, but I have others that are pure socialists, but will vehemently deny it even in the face of hard evidence.  On the one hand, these friends will crow long and loud about how free and wonderful America is, and then turn right around and advocate fascist/socialist programs and laws.  It is truly amazing to see, and the fire - even anger - with which they will deny the facts and adhere to their errors shows the pervasive and profound depths of the indoctrination.  These educated and intelligent people cannot comprehend the contradictions.

It should be noted that the difference between fascism and socialism are so subtle as to be almost meaningless.  It is an argument of hues in the same palette.  Whether the State acts as the protectionist arm of corporate interests, or is the sole beneficiary of the nation's output hardly makes much difference at the level of the individual.  In either case, the labor and wealth of the individual are stolen and distributed to others.  The only difference is who constitutes "the others."

I agree that citizens are responsible for the defense of their property.  If every citizen were armed and trained on a regular basis as part of a social requirement enforced by the community and one's family, there would be no need for a standing army, police or any of the other trappings of force owned by the State.

If Dad told Junior that college assistance depended on Junior training once a month with the local mitia or guard, no harm no foul.  Having armed agents forcefully take your money and your children through conscription, though, is nothing more than slavery to the State, dressed up in patriotism and flags.

It seems that thinking people should take inventory and begin questioning their assumptions and beliefs, especially in these rather turbulent times.  Blind patriotism, no matter how well intended, is a potent weapon in the hands of a corrupt State.  It is also necessary for thinking people to begin analyzing the reasons they believe certain things, and to reason out the inevitable results.  It is not enough to spout feel-good rhetoric any more.  The world is changing and we need to be precise about the kind of world we wish to build going forward.

Will we be free?  Or will we continue to serve the State and vested interests?

One can't change the world if one is not sure what is being changed, and to what it will be changed.