Category: Current Events

Flim-Flam Man Runs Out of Other People’s Money

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For years people have been trying to explain to me exactly what function crypto-currency performs.  And for the life of me I still don’t get it.  And I’m not a hundred percent sure they know either.  The only answer I can remember is “block chain.”

So when I read about a crypto-exchange company called FTX that scammed it’s depositors for something like eight billion dollars I wasn’t in any way shocked.  Instead, I was gratified to hear that it seems to have specialized in Democrat investors.  So that cheered me up a little.  I read that Larry David and Katy Perry were fans of the company and its founder, the improbably named Sam Bankman-Fried, was the second largest donor to the Democrat Party during the mid-terms, behind only George Soros in total dollars.  And I thought, “Is there no end to the greed?”

The scam worked by siphoning off the funds in the depositors’ accounts into a separate company called Alameda while keeping two sets of books.  The money in Alameda was used to fund a cryptocurrency of Bankman-Fried’s design.  But when the crypto-bubble burst and FTX customers tried to remove their funds there wasn’t anything left in Alameda to transfer back to FTX and the whole thing was exposed.

And now I hear that maybe FTX was also some kind of money laundering outfit for the Ukrainians.  Well, at a certain point you run out of outrage.  Eventually we’ll learn that Hunter Biden collected his billion dollars somewhere along the line.

So, what’s my point.  Maybe there isn’t one.  But it definitely reinforces the idea that the people in charge are in cahoots with crooks that steal money on an industrial scale.  And the feeding frenzy seems to be reaching a crescendo.  Possibly they know they’ve crashed the system and they want to syphon off everything they can before the collapse absorbs whatever’s left.

What I haven’t read about yet is Bankman-Fried being arrested or indicted for such a massive fraud.  Maybe his friends on the Left haven’t figured out whether they’ll be implicated in this trainwreck.  What I have heard is some of the larger depositors complaining that lawmakers who were recipients of campaign contributions by FTX should return them as a partial recompense to the depositors who’ve lost everything.  I’m guessing that that’s not going to happen.  Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer really need that money.  It would be grossly unfair to punish them for someone else’s crimes.

So, let’s call FTX just another example of selective justice.  January 6th defendants are rotting in prison cells for misdemeanors and felons who steal billions of dollars are allowed to keep their spoils and not even have to show up in court.  Seems about right.

Can I find anything positive out of this whole thing?  Yes.  Pretty soon even the toadies of the elites will discover that there isn’t enough pie to go around even for them.  When the ladder is pulled up, they will be left down here with us, in the cold, eating bugs.  It should be very educational for them.  I hope they’ve managed to avoid making too many enemies among the dirt people.  They’re not good enemies to have.

19NOV2022 – OCF Update

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Today I escape from The Compound and bond with the old grandsons.  We’ll watch pathetic superheroes skitter around the big screen and eat some popcorn and then hang out at my local steakhouse and talk about their latest adventures.

It’s a source of wonder and joy that they actually like me.  Reliable sources inform me that’s not a typical result.  So we’ll spend some time and absorb some calories and maybe fifty or sixty years from now when I’m just a headstone in a field one of them will have a stray thought about me and maybe smile.  That would be perfect.

So things will be a little slow starting out today.  Enjoy your Saturday.

Garland Appoints Special Counsel to Take Down Trump

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Everyone has been waiting for this moment.  The Biden administration has activated the plan to stop Donald Trump from running in 2024.  They’ve selected a hatchet man to put together a rigged investigation.  Then comes the Washington DC located kangaroo court and jury to convict him.  That should teach anyone who still has any doubts about whether justice still exists in these United States.  Should be interesting to see what comes of the investigation into Hunter Biden.  Probably nothing.  After all, it’s the DOJ that prosecutes people not the Congress.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/politics/justice-department-trump-special-counsel/index.html

 

Guest Contributor – NostraDumbass – 18NOV2022 – What If the Deep State Wins

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Question:

Chemist:

I’m curious: How are you prepared for the swamp to win?

If the swamp wins our savings are worthless, the boarder is no more, voting is the same here as in North Korea, energy costs will skyrocket, medical care will be rationed, lawlessness rules the land.

Other than building a bunker, how do you prepare for that?

 

NostraDumbass:

You prepare for the results.  In this case the DC swamp is similar in nearly all aspects to fascism.

The swamp has disdain for the recognition of human rights.  Because the swamp’s fear of enemies, the need for its own security is primary, so the regime will persuade that human rights can be ignored in certain situations because of this need.  Most of the sheep will look the other way, or even approve of torture, executions, assassinations and long incarcerations of political dissidents.  Change your party registration to Democrat as a safety measure as there is no longer a “real” vote anyway.

The swamp will then begin identifying the enemies of the America that they rule.  They will attempt to rally a patriotic frenzy over a need to eliminate the common foe: MAGA in this case.  Limit discussions with those around you to those you trust, show yourself as a blank screen to all others. Do not proselytize.  The result of Martyrdom is still death.  Guerrilla games are played in the shadows and are more effective.

The swamp already controls mass media, either by government regulation or the sympathetic media spokesman.  Censorship will begin in earnest, even more so than today.  Find other safe outlets for voice, start with secure VPN on the internet, use search engines that do not track.  Find the dark web, much useful information to be found there.  Don’t go to the hedonistic or hack sites, as more than likely these sites will either attempt to defraud or gain leverage over you.

The Swamp is obsessed with its own security.  How many times was it said that MAGA is a threat to “our democracy”? The game plan is obvious: The Swamp is “democracy” and MAGA is the “threat.”  If the DC Swamp wins, MAGA is going down.  The so-called “Patriot Act” allows the government in charge of DC to monitor every aspect of the American citizen, from geolocation on your phone, your “smart” car, even the little light that indicates one of your tires is low comes from a device inside the rim of the tire that emits a signal.  Drive and maintain a pre-smart car, leave your phone at home when travelling locally.  Leave as little in the open as possible.

Corporate power is protected by the swamp. The industrial and business aristocracy of the fascist swamp often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.  Think WEF and G20.  Do not bend to foreign control of your government.

The swamp is rife with rampant cronyism and corruption.  The swamp regime is governed by groups of friends and associations who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.  I see this as where the swamp finally overplays its hand. A destitute population (armed at that) either goes full revolution or anarchy, either way the writing will be on the wall.

This is where the tide changes, this is what will lead to the new America.

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose”.

So yes, I am prepared if in fact the DC swamp is victorious. I am also prepared if we are able to overcome the swamp in the next election only in a far different direction than what I stated above.

Douglas Macgregor Gives a Detailed Discussion of the Ukraine Situation

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Douglas Macgregor goes through the situation in Ukraine.  He outlines how the Russians have prosecuted the war so far and what their troop buildup foreshadows.  He then goes through the fallout that can be expected for the Europeans.as the winter without Russian natural gas cripples German industry and spikes the heating bills for families there.  It’s about 45 minutes long but a very interesting talk.

To paraphrase his discussion, the Americans now realize that they’ve painted the Ukrainians into a corner and the Russian offensive is going to be incredibly damaging to their army but also to the infrastructure of their country.  Without access to electricity and fuel the people living in Kiev are going to be in desperate straits this winter.  That is why General Milley leaked his recommendations to Biden about convincing the Ukrainians to come to terms before the offensive begins.  The only problem is that this will seem very strange to people in Ukraine who have been told that the Ukrainian army is running amok killing tens of thousands of Russians every day.  If suddenly they have to sign a peace treaty that demilitarizes their country and cedes the Donbass and maybe even more it will anger the populace.  Zelensky may have to run for the hills.

Guest Contributor – NostraDumbass – 17NOV2022 – On Trump

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“What do you think? Agree or disagree? Some other point to make?”

First, an observation of “Trump Tactics” …

It seems that Trump had to learn the ropes of the New York business climate in order to make any headway for his business. What he learned allowed him to move his company forward. It seems that for the most part, these tactics include using the pre-existing NY power structure to obtain results that he needed to survive and prosper. Being a “democrat” was a requirement. Donations to the right candidate at the

right time was also necessary. In doing so, Trump built a knowledge base of what worked, whether the actions were moral or not.

 

“What do you think?”

Once elected, I think that Trump was over-whelmed with the power structures built into the DC swamp. While his focus was on improving what he knew to be wrong with the way America was heading, he was less focused on the DC swamp as it began machinations that would protect itself from anything Trump could do to lessen its power. Make no mistake, the majority of elected congress at the time was “Republican”, but the real majority was the DC swamp. Trump kept his foot on the pedal to set America on the right path, but did not have a reliable team to protect him from the what the swamp was able to array. Trump was in charge, but his team consisted of who he was left to default to after the swamp removed the team members that he could rely on. From that point on, he had a two-front battle. I was left impressed by his ability to wage offensive tactics and still maintain his popularity with the American voters. He also produced three conservative supreme court justices, in spite of the DC swamp. I think at this point, even Trump knew that despite his popularity and the most weak candidate the DC swamp could muster against him for the re-election campaign, he would need to rely on individual states to protect the sanctity of the vote. When that did not happen, he relied on the individual citizen to rally against the fraud. DC swamp was not only prepared for this, but also had plans to attack Trump yet again. It would be a mistake to believe that Trump did not learn from this.

 

“Agree or Disagree?”

I do agree that Trump has the advantage to become the nominee for the Republican party. I also believe that the media is desperate to drive a wedge between Trump and any other MAGA popular republicans. This is probably to keep the vice-presidential nominee someone other than a one of these. Not that the media won’t turn on those same MAGA republicans in a New York minute. While Trump is assembling what he knows he will need during this next election, he is also more secretive than ever. I think this is defensive. The swamp won’t be blindsided, but what they can’t know is what Trump is preparing, only what he allows them to know. I think this makes it exciting.

 

“Some other point to make?”

I do not think there are many Americans that believe that the results of the last round of mid-terms was not stolen. The fact that the DC swamp critters on the red team are not raising any issues regarding this, just points out who is not for the US citizen. The border is wide open, the treasury is printing money, inflating away the savings Americans had been able to make. Now that they are running short of options, they will attempt to control everyone’s retirement accounts. I guess my point to make is that no matter what happens, one side is going to emerge victorious, either the DC swamp or the individual US citizen. I am prepared for either.

How Does Trump Plan to Win?

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Yesterday Donald Trump announced his entry into the 2024 presidential race.  I guess not too many people were surprised or hopefully not too surprised.  So, all the usual suspects are encouraging a war between Trump and DeSantis and all the usual NeverTrumpers are reiterating the list of Trump’s many “crimes.”   Blah, blah, blah.

Really, my only question is this.  Does Donald Trump have a plan to stop or at least match the ballot harvesting operations by the Democrats?  Because if not I can predict the outcome in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.  His opponent will win in those states.  And based on that his opponent will win the electoral college count.  It’s as simple as that.

Now he has two years.  But has he begun the process of rounding up the bodies on the ground and the infrastructure to call and visit that many people who don’t usually vote but can be persuaded to.  Has he studied the way the Democrats are currently doing it.  Does he know where he’ll run into trouble?  Does he have the lawyers on the ground to handle the challenges?  And does he just plain have the money to make something like this happen?

I won’t assume that just because the Republicans did nothing in 2022 about what happened in 2020 that Donald Trump will be equally helpless.  You would think that in places like Arizona where they had just seen the 2020 catastrophe that they would have been working behind the scenes to fix things or at least put together their own ballot harvesting initiative.  Instead, they did nothing.  I’d like to believe that Trump is a smart operator and he’ll contact the Republican organizations in each of these states and work with them to build a machine to get this done.  But no one is talking about it.

Look, no one wishes more than I do for a Republican party that is functional and agile.  Politicians are supposed to be the ultimate pragmatists.  They are supposed to be the masters of the backroom deal where coalitions are built by greasing the palms of the power brokers.  But long painful experience has taught me that the Stupid Party is a strange combination of corrupt and inept.  They combine the worst features of self-serving satraps and clueless rubes.  They feather their own nests but forget that they’re supposed to also advance their constituency’s agenda.  Stupid Party just doesn’t capture all of the Republicans’ qualities.  I think Useless Party is closer to the mark.

And unless Trump is going to build an organization from the ground up, he will have to use the existing Republican apparatus.  This is what makes me think that preparing to win 2024 by fighting ballot harvesting with ballot harvesting will not work.  It’s like pitting the Keystone Cops against the Three Stooges.  Sure, the Keystone Cops are pathetic and stupid but compared to the Stooges they’re like Navy Seals.

So that’s my thoughts.  If Donald Trump is already working to put together a ballot harvesting plan to beat the Democrats, then fine.  Or if he has some kind of challenge in the courts to eliminate harvesting that he is pretty confident will succeed then, also fine.  But if all he is going to do is run against Biden’s admittedly horrible record then he will lose exactly as the Republicans lost in 2020 and 2022.

So that’s my take on Trump’s run.  He’ll get the nomination.  But unless he changes his tactics he’ll end up with the same result as 2020.

What do you think?  Agree or disagree?  Some other point to make?

And the Wisdom to Know the Difference

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The new schedule has begun.  Yesterday I spent the morning on fiction writing.  That was fun.  After that I wrote my post.  Today I headed off to the office for my first normal workday.  That was interesting.

I am under the weather.  Camera Girl and by extension Princess Sack of Potatoes gifted me some kind of cold-flu-virus-thingamajig involving sinuses, nose and throat suffering but mercifully no lung torture.  I’m doped up on over-the-counter marvelous miracle drugs that actually seem to abate most of the misery.  But I’m still only firing on seven cylinders which means this post may be a little off.

But all-in-all I’m feeling relatively upbeat about my new perspective on US politics.  I no longer have to agonize over whether Herschel Walker or Dr. Oz is going to squirm through the Democrat ballot harvesting dragnet.  It’s no longer my problem anymore.  I live in a country that has a single-party political system and it isn’t a party that’s going to favor me or my family.  All I have to worry about is whether I’m doing everything I can to produce a space where people like me can flourish.

And since I’ve just started this phase of my life, I’m cutting myself some slack.  I don’t have to solve all the problems of living in New England overnight.  But what I must do is begin thinking in this new way and continuously test and improve my assumptions about what can be done and what can’t.

So, for instance, my town is one of the few towns in my state that is measurably Republican in voting record.  So, we can elect Republican selectmen and school board members and a Republican state representative and state senator.  But we can’t elect a Republican US representative or senator.  So, that tells me that we can have quite a bit of influence in the local laws that are written and a little influence on state laws but basically no impact at the national level.

So that should be my basis for evaluating the future.  The state and federal government are the main threats to me.  They can increase my taxes, curtail my freedoms and poison the minds of my children and grandchildren with warped lies and dangerous fantasies about life.  Each of these threats require an evaluation to decide what preventative actions can be taken to protect against these problems.  And these actions have to be evaluated to see if there is a net positive or negative from having to implement them.

For instance, moving to a different state or a different country might protect me from losing certain freedoms or eliminate indoctrination of my children.  But what other things go along with that?  Would I have to sacrifice economic opportunities.  Or would I be forced to become a stranger in a strange land, someone who would always be thought of as an outsider?

So that’s why I’m going to cut myself a lot of slack.  Big changes like emigrating are not something you do lightly or quickly.  For now, I’ll concentrate on the small things like participating in local government.  And since I’ve made that move, I’m patting myself on the back and awarding myself all kinds of bonus points and participation trophies.

And that’s why I’m feeling so upbeat amid the wreckage and ruin of the mid-terms.  I don’t want to walk in the footsteps of the social justice types but I will quote one of their favorite messages, the Serenity Prayer, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.  I’m going to do what I can and stop stressing about things that just don’t seem to be happening.

If someone appears who can get things done, I’ll support him.  If my small efforts put me into a position to accomplish some change on my own, I’ll do it.  And if all else fails I’ll keep my eyes open to know when and where to jump to avoid disaster.  That’s as much as I can think of.  And that’s what I’ll write about when I’m not writing stories or taking photos.

Eulogy for the Stupid Party

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I had my regular Monday zoom call with the guys from my old job.  I told them about my adventures at the election last week and we caught up on plans for the Thanksgiving holiday coming up.  When I was asked about what I thought about the outcome of the elections I said from my point of view, the Democrats have figured out how to use mail in ballots to effectively guarantee their success in states that allow its use.  And until something is done to change things in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona we won’t be winning anymore national elections.

There were some objections to this statement.  Some felt that things could be done to make this problem go away.  My opinion was that the Republicans have already had two years to fix this.  They didn’t and from my point of view they probably won’t.

I guess the question is will this affect the grift that Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham and the rest of the losers that inhabit the Stupid Party act out.  Can they just go on sitting there accomplishing nothing and soaking up millions of dollars in kickbacks while pretending to “fight” the Democrats?  I wonder?  Is it possible that too many people have awakened to the reality of the racket that these “leaders” are running on us?  I’d like to think that’s the case.  I heard even Marco Rubio is talking about holding off on the leadership election until the dust settles on the mid-term fiasco and then see if there are enough senators with backbones to vote out Mitch McConnell and put someone in who actually cares whether the Republicans accomplish anything of their alleged agenda.

I guess that’s a fair test to watch for.  But what’s the good of changing the leadership in a party that can’t win national elections anymore.  And who can fix that except the state Republican parties.  How does a place like Arizona allow the Democrats to change the election laws to allow ballot harvesting and blatant fraud?  These are things that people with even a modicum of intelligence can challenge and resist.

But I see no sign of those things happening.  And because of that, the Stupid Party is consigned to perpetual loser status.  Well, at the very least it is some consolation that some of the worst offenders like McConnell and Romney may be given the heave-ho in the not-too-distant future.  I’ll take special joy if the voters of Utah come to their senses in 2024 and send Mitt packing back to Massachusetts to celebrate his declining years as the extremely conservative trans-woman we all know he wants to be.  As for McConnell, Kentuckians really need to wake up and decide whether having their senator be the minority leader is worth tolerating that weaselly excuse for a man.

It’s possible, I guess, that at some time in the future there could be a refurbishment of the Republican Party such that intelligent men could be put in charge of restoring it to some semblance of a functional organization capable of affecting conservative legislation at the state and national levels.  But for now, I consider it a lost cause.  At the local level, even in blue states, leaders appear to help accomplish some good for their constituents.  And in places like Florida a strong governor and legislature can enact conservative measures to protect their people from the chaos that has descended on this country.

But as a national organization someone should drive a stake through the heart of this undead beast and put it and us out of our misery.

Rest in peace.

Per Un Barbiere di Qualità!

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Princess Sack-of-Potatoes’ birthday party was a great success.  My daughter’s in-laws were very congenial and we all good-naturedly performed all the kids’ party rituals.  We dutifully sang off key to ‘Happy Birthday” and applauded the blowing out of the four candles.  We watched as the cake was cut and the opening of the presents and even a spirited game of pin the tail on the donkey.  Only for some unknown reason it was tape the nose on the clown.  This particular clown looked like some kind of nightmarish psychopath which I found quite disturbing but the kids were unperturbed.

When we had all eaten enough burgers and potato salad and cake and ice cream and all the presents were opened the parents gathered up their kids and headed home.  Camera Girl agreed that the event was a great success and we began some of the clean-up.

But I was in the mood for something interesting.  Lately I have been watching YouTube videos of the operatic aria “Largo al factotum” from the Barber of Seville.  It’s the song that everyone remembers from various classic cartoons of the 1940s that has the famous stanza, “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ipb9xbXSAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJIpVj_YkNo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDXr_fimQ8

I watched about a dozen different versions, some going back to the 1920s.  And it occurred to me, “What an interesting character Figaro is!”  Here is the swaggering braggart.  He is a big fish in a little pond.  In his own mind he is a hero, a Hercules of a thousand great labors.  He is always in demand and always acclaimed by the crowd.

And of course, he is merely a legend in his own mind.  His actual trades are barber, dentist, wig maker and a sort of go-between for couples in love.  He passes love notes and such things.  So, he really is a nothing.

But he has a quick wit, the gift of gab, a way with women and enormous self-confidence.  And putting those things together creates a formidable character.  Some people may recognize someone like this.  I knew someone of exactly the type.  They always have a treasure trove of amazing personal stories.  And their personal lives tend to be an awful mess.  They combine recklessness, selfishness and even a bit of cruelty along with their natural abilities as a clown, a skirt chaser and a leader of the riff-raff.  In many ways they are fascinating personalities but they leave a trail of angry women in their wake and never seem to grow up.

And it occurred to me that is why I enjoy the aria.  I recognize the type that Figaro is the symbol of.  And the scene captures that reality splendidly.  And the music is wonderful.

And what a great character he would be to put in a story!  Somehow, I’ve got to have a swaggering braggart in one of my stories.  It would just be too great a thing to ignore.  And in fact, I need him to be a recurring character in a “world” that I make.  It will be a sort of an homage to an old friend that I knew long, long ago in a place far, far away.

Ah, bravo Figaro! Bravo, bravissimo!  Fortunatissimo per verità!