Category: Current Events

Death May Have Its Advantages

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Back in the 1960s and 1970s many post-apocalyptic science fiction stories included nuclear fallout causing widespread mutations in humans and other lifeforms.  And that made for all kinds of fun monsters with two heads and three eyes and other bizarre anomalies but in real life these mutations no longer seem very likely or dangerous.

But one thing that modern research into modifying the genome of humans and other living things has shown is that modifying lifeforms is well within our present scientific capabilities.  And with the advances being made in artificial intelligence it seems reasonable that at some point in the future we might be able to engineer creatures with traits and characteristics that have never heretofore been seen or even imagined.  Suppose we developed dogs with the intelligence of humans, possibly with the ability to speak.  Would that be a wonder or an abomination?  What if we could design insects who single-mindedly did nothing but hunt and eat ticks?  What if we could domesticate dolphins to patrol along beaches in the summer attacking sharks who intrude into the space where swimmers are?  All these things seem very possible.

But the supreme imperative has always been to improve man.  Currently you hear about tech billionaires chasing after the fountain of youth.  They search for diets, supplements and health regimens to extend their lives and youth.  But all of these things are illusory.  Maybe a sixty-year-old can look forty.  Maybe.  But the reality is the human animal reaches a point where even with hormone supplements and corrective surgeries it slides into senescence.  We age and fade and eventually die.

But it may be the case that advances in biological knowledge of human physiology may reach a point where we know which gene tells us when to die.  And when that happens, it will be the case, regardless of what laws there are against it, that very rich men will have scientists experiment with this knowledge and then it will be used to make long-lived humans.  What if it turns out there is a Methusaleh gene?  What if humans could remain young for a thousand years?  What would happen?  Would it make this a paradise on Earth or a hell?

What if you had a thousand years to accomplish everything you wanted in this life?  Would it be a blessing or a curse?  What if you could know your descendants for twenty or more generations?  Would you want to?  Would they want you?

So, all of these questions are speculative.  But someday they may be urgent considerations.  And what if the billionaires keep the fountain of youth just for their heirs?  Robert Heinlein toyed with this idea in his book “Methusaleh’s Children.”  In the story, the short-lived majority were enraged against their long-lived brethren and wanted to torture the secret of long life from them.  This was despite the fact that their secret was just their natural genetics.  Of course, in the future everyone may have the opportunity to have their children’s genomes tweaked using CRISPR gene-editing technology.  The only question might be whether after a few generations we might want to escape from eternal life.  We may find that death has its advantages.

Can It Happen Here?

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Do you ever get the sense that human civilization is a juggernaut that basically has no one steering?  Our activities have become this unstoppable force that tramples anything that gets in its way but basically has no idea where it’s headed.  Now there are lots of people and their leaders who try to direct things but most of them seem to be idiots or so completely selfish that they only recognize their own priorities or even if they seem to exhibit some altruism, they’re completely mistaken in their beliefs about what are the important problems or at least what are the right things to do about them.

And now that humanity has increased to more than eight billion souls and with our capabilities to destroy enormous numbers of people with weapons of mass destruction, we seem to be constantly on the brink of blowing the whole furiously spinning human enterprise to smithereens.

I am aware that this is hardly anything new.  Going back to 1945 and Hiroshima we have been living in the shadow of Armageddon now for eighty years.  And going back to 1914 we have for well over a century been living in the seeming collapse of European Renaissance civilization.  But it does seem to have reached a breaking point.  With the current trends we have seen concerning population decline and apparent rampant psychiatric collapse of a sizable percentage of young people we must be reaching the point where either someone or some group rallies a core of people to step back from the brink of collapse or this whole civilization will break down into a dark age; something like what happened during the so-called late bronze age collapse.

In general, it looks like there needs to be a sanity check on what we value.  The current social media environment is so dysfunctional that if someone proposed destroying the internet he might become the next prophet; whether you want to compare him to Mohammed or Martin Luther.  But whatever the solutions that are selected there is no doubt at all that our present trajectory is disastrous.  And I have named religious reformers because it is obvious that the primary problem is not economic or technological.  It is spiritual, or if you prefer, psychological.  We have allowed nihilistic concepts and other harmful ideas to percolate into young minds through teachers who shouldn’t be allowed to interact with children.  And it’s having dire effects.  For this reason, it will require a reset of what we teach children.  I’ve begun to hear that some states and localities are purging the trans-gender subject matter and teachers from their schools.  But it’s going to take a much more systematic approach to get a handle on this poisonous influence on children.  And I fear that places like California it’s already too late to fix.  People will have to flee to save their kids.

The real question in my mind is, “Is it too late?”  At a certain point if a society can no longer provide the basic services and protections for its people, they will flee in search of a refuge.  It happened in the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean.  Can it happen here?  I think so.

You Pays Your Money and You Takes Your Choice

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So, I learned some stuff today about publishing a book.

  • There’s no such thing as an objective authoritative critic who can tell you whether your book is good, bad or indifferent. In other words, “You pays your money and you takes your choice.”  If you believe your book is good then you take your chances.  So that puts the onus back on me.  Do I believe in my book or not?
  • After you write it and put a cover on it and edit it, then you have to get influencers to tout it and reviewers to praise it. But after all that you have to advertise it on Amazon to the tune of thousands of dollars.  Otherwise, no one will know it’s there.

Well, now I’ll have to search my soul and decide just how much I want to get my book out in the world.  Do I put my money where my mouth is?  I guess I’ll find out.  Now, all this is still preliminary.  I have to get a cover and get an editor to tell me about all my typos and inelegant grammatical constructions.  And get a marketer to “alert the media.”  And for the next month I’m going to be buried under a project that will prevent me from concentrating on anything important.  But by the third week in November, I’ll be available (other than a Thursday where I’ll be buried under cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie).

Well, it was definitely a clarifying experience.  There’s no way to pass the buck on a thing like this.  The author has to search his soul and use the wisdom of Solomon to make the correct decision.  Well, so what?  What’s Solomon got that I ain’t got, in spades?  Darned right!

So, if you drive through Dunwich and you see a disheveled geezer picking up bottles and cans on the side of the road, it may be me trying to raise enough capital for the project.  With any luck I’ll strike oil in the north forty and I can start on the gold leaf hardcover edition that all of us “real authors” like so much.

Okay, so enough moaning and groaning.  The journey is the reward they say.  So, I’ll just follow my nose and see where all this ends up.  Of course, if I get too enthusiastic Camera Girl will wonder why the checking account has gotten so anemic.  And that could trigger all kinds of hazardous situations.  After all she has complete control over my food supply and knows my sleeping habits.  But I won’t allow artistic decisions to be influenced by cowardly and pedestrian concerns. “Ars gratia artis,” you know.

Well, back to something comical; the government shutdown!  I hear Trump is going to permanently terminate “hundreds of thousands” of federal employees to get back at the Democrats for shutting down the government.  That’s a pretty bold move.  I’m starting to believe there are no limits to what he plans to do to the federal government.  He seems to be borrowing Obama’s statement that he would “fundamentally transform the United States.”  And at this rate maybe Trump will actually do it!

MA Sanctuary Activist Springs into Action (and Rolls Into Pond)

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Upton MA is a suburban town in Central Massachusetts with a good sized pond within the town limits.  It must also have some illegal aliens and some sanctuary activists within the the town too.

“An anti-ICE protester failed to pump the brakes as she jumped out of her car to confront agents at work.

The unidentified motorist’s failure to put her car in park sent the SUV rolling into Pratt Pond next to the cemetery in Upton, police said.

“That sucks,” an ICE officer can be heard saying on the video.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were actively arresting a suspect that day, Sept. 8, as part of Operation Patriot 2.0, the Trump Administration’s name for their newest surge in immigration enforcement in the Bay State.

Upton police said the driver saw two ICE vehicles stopping an illegal immigrant, and she pulled her SUV over, jumped out without putting it in gear.

The fire department had to tow it out, police added, and she was cited for unsafe operation of a vehicle. Upton police have yet to release the driver’s name.

The video shows her car mostly submerged after rolling down an embankment into a pond located at Lakeview Cemetery.

I guess everyone learned some kind of lesson that day.  Even the fish in the pond.

No More Dudes in Dresses

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Pete Hegseth gave “the speech.”

And it was a thing of beauty.  He said everybody had to get in shape including generals and admirals.  And he said women will have to pass the male physical fitness standards.

That was remarkable.

Then he said unless they were in special forces, men would have to shave.  That was pretty good.

Then he declared the end of DEI, dudes in dresses and all the rest of the woke nonsense.  And he said that there would be no more exceptions to the rules so that racial and gender “firsts” could be celebrated.

Music to my ears.

He justified all this by saying that every parent in America whose sons (or daughters) were joining the military should know that their children will be surrounded by Americans that were completely qualified to perform the mission and maximize the prospects for success and returning home alive and safe.

Wow!

So, I’ve been waiting for decades for someone to finally say these things.  Clinton and Bush and Obama and Biden all “celebrated” the freak show that the woke military became.  Pushing weak, unqualified women into combat positions and promoting people just to be the first woman or minority or gay or transgender individual to reach some rank or responsibility.

But does this mean we won’t be getting anymore “Admiral Rachel Levines” going forward?

But more importantly what happens to all those women in combat roles when they fail their PT exams?  Where will they end up?  And will there be any useful work for them to do in non-combat roles?  These are important questions.  Our federal government is a bloated bureaucracy and the military is part of that.  There isn’t room for the military to be some kind of make-work organization for people who can’t find a place in civilian life.  We want strong, smart, dedicated and hard-working people defending this country.  And most importantly we can’t afford to make it a work program for men who think they’re women and women who think they’re men.  I’ll have to say, of all Donald Trump’s many exciting and innovative policy initiatives, straightening out the military may be my favorite.  To my mind the corruption of the warrior role in our society is the most dangerous and disgusting aspect of the woke agenda.  For that reason, this initiative of Hegseth’s is extremely timely and barely in time.

I’m curious to see if this speech, all on its own, results in any resignations or retirements among the upper brass that were represented in that audience.  Specifically, I wonder how many really obese generals will just give up and retire rather than lose the hundred pounds they’d need to shed to conform to the height to weight requirements of the military.

I want to follow up on this incident going forward and try to identify whether his dictates are being faithfully obeyed and what tangible results they produce.  To that effect if any of you guys who were military know of any sources for information on how the military is changing (or staying the same) please put information in the comments and I’ll try to follow up on this post with updates.

A Respite.  What’s Not to Love?

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Another day, another mass killing in a church.  Okay we need a break today.  Need something that won’t push me over the edge into catatonia.  Let’s see.

So, Camera Girl and I went to a gathering of my weekly zoom-call buddies.  It was a rescheduled Labor Day party that was cancelled because of weather, I think.  Our host had a pork roast in a smoker and other delicacies.  Camera Girl baked a ricotta cheesecake and some other stuff and we relaxed around a giant fire pit in a cauldron hung from a heavy chain attached to a tripod.  We ate and socialized.  There was a lot of talk about music.  Our host is a musician.  He’s a singer and guitar player and after dinner he set up a band and played country favorites and some eclectic tunes along with songs of his own.  The audience was very appreciative as well they should have been.  It was very enjoyable.

Afterward there was some political discussion amongst a few of us but my heart wasn’t into it.  It was much more enjoyable to discuss the merits of and differences between Hank Williams Senior, Junior and the III.  And talk about who really played the instruments on the Beach Boys, “Pet Sounds” (apparently studio musicians called, “The Wrecking Crew”).  Sure, we did talk a little about Charlie Kirk’s murder, but I much preferred spending time talking about the old days and some of the characters who we worked with but hadn’t thought about in a long time.  Reminiscing actually is a lot of fun.  And there were people there I hadn’t seen in a long time.  And everyone got along great.  And I did hear some very good health news about someone who had had a terrible accident.  So, all in all, it was an excellent night.

But all too soon Camera Girl reminded me I needed to head home and we said our goodbyes.  But when I got home, I was inspired by the musical nature of the night to dig out a bunch of CDs that I had bought but never ripped onto my computer and put on some thumb drives to listen to in my car and around the house.  You see I’ve never gone in for streaming.  I don’t use a cell phone at all (well, I have a flip phone that I charge up if I have to go out of town).  So, my music is based on my CD collection.  Well, I had about ten albums that I hadn’t heard in a few years so I added them to the playlist and damn!  All of a sudden, my music was light years better than it’s been in forever.  So, ignoring the present apocalypse has been very pleasant.  Sure, I’ll have to come up for air soon and the horror is just waiting for me to come back to the surface but for a short exciting moment I was living in a happier world without trans-psycho-killers, Antifa losers and government shutdowns.  What’s not to love?

Guest Contributor – Tregonsee – 28SEP2025 – Dem’s Scylla and Charybdis

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Milo’s analogy reminds me of a situation I saw. There was a pear tree on land near my home that was unclear if it was on my property or the neighbors. It was in a bad way as where it had been planted was rocky quick draining soil so it was often starved for moisture. After a couple dry summers and cold snowless winters it was on its last legs. I got out my pruning saw and was ready to do some major clean up removing some of the branches which were clearly damaged or diseased. The neighbor came out and said it was his tree and I was not to touch it. In the interest of neighborhood peace I didn’t even argue. withing 2 years the pear tree was dead and he had to have someone come in and remove it.

Like that tree the US has some damaged sections. Radical pruning is called for to solve (or at least mitigate issues) now. But the Democrats see this as our tree don’t you touch it! In my case the tree had been planted by the previous owners so I had little interest and just walked away. We can’t do that we depend on this tree and honestly, it feels like the USA is the last flowering tree of the Scottish Enlightenment. The UK, Australia and Canada (and little New Zealand) have all fallen to the modernist tilt.

I think Trump has carefully wedged the Democrat leadership between Scylla and Charybdis and is enjoying watching them squirm. Because the language the Trump Administration proposes is such that the removed positions are not layoffs or furloughs the positions cease to exist. Because of the language (unfunded positions) the removals essentially go around the civil service protections. In general, this hurts primarily Blue voters in areas so blue that they are bound both by representation and electoral votes to the Democrat party. Schumer can’t let this happen as hordes of his supporters will be unemployed. But neither can he give in as other parts of his base would be enraged. I suspect he chooses the former, hoping that the enraged unemployed Democrats vent their anger at the Administration. The one downside of this for the Republican party is this probably wipes out any Chance Winsome-Sears had of winning the Virginia Gubernatorial election if this falls out like I suspect. That’s a shame. Ms. Winsome-Sears is an impressive lady but not being native born she is not eligible for Vice president or president. A ticket with Vance/Winsome-Sears in 2028 would have made the Democrats heads explode.

Tom’s World – 28SEP2025 – Rename Them “Fa”???

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TomD

It may not be delicious irony but it is surely irony defined when an organization named anitfa(scist) didn’t go to the trouble to research exactly what a fascist means and then adopts methods used by the 1930’s German fascists.

The rampages of the Brown Shirts during the late 1930’s around Kristallnacht weren’t inherent to Fascism but it was inherent in Naziism.

Fascism was the child of Socialism first envisioned by Benito Mussolini who was then a high party official of the Italian Socialist Party.

Rose City Antifa is about to Get Visitors

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So, Donald Trump is sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon.  Okay, what can we expect?  Well, Portland is the epicenter of Antifa fanaticism.  It is the land of fruits and nuts, dialed up to eleven.  There will be so many short, fat women dressed in black that you will think you’re at the 6:30 am Mass in a 1950s Italian parish in Brooklyn.  And there will also be a goodly contingent of “trans-women,” meaning hulking men dressed as women and boiling over with cross-hormonal rage.

So how will this play out?  No one really knows at the moment.  I’ve heard that Antifa has called for reinforcements from other cities; Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.  Allegedly, they want to make this a full-scale war with the feds.  I’m not sure I believe that.  It seems kind of risky for an army of freaks and weirdos with umbrellas and bricks as their weapons to array themselves against trained soldiers.  I’ve always assumed that Antifa only goes on the offense when they are protected by a local friendly government that can protect them from losses by shielding them from prosecution.  So even if some of their members are arrested, they are immediately released and no charges are ever filed against them.  If the National Guard is called in and interference is deemed a federal offense then Portland can’t protect those arrested from felony prosecution.

Of course, this is assuming the DOJ is taking off the gloves and arrests anyone who breaks the law.  That would be a break with the past.  For the most part these National Guard operations haven’t netted hundreds of arrests other than the illegal aliens that form the reason for the protests.  So, I would be pleasantly surprised to hear about a roundup of the Antifa army in Portland.  In fact, I’d be thrilled.  Because that is exactly what needs to happen.  If Antifa is foolish enough to send in an army of crazies to battle the National Guard, then arresting and possibly shooting some of these people would have a salutary effect on the protests across the country.  If some core of the leadership of the Portland gang were prosecuted and handed ten-year sentences, I think it would stop Antifa in its tracks.  The very craziest wouldn’t be deterred but the army of morbidly obese, blue-haired, septum-ring wearing, women would be.  They can’t afford to go to prison for ten years.  Their cats would starve to death.  They’re in it for the cheap thrills.  They’re not martyr material.

I wonder how long it will take to know which way this will go?  I heard confrontations between ICE and Antifa are not expected to start over the weekend.  So maybe Monday or Tuesday will be D-Day.  My fondest hope will be that Trump himself will go to his Truth Social page and brag about the scalps he collected in Portland.  I’m all for that.  I’d love to see the names and photos of these people reported along with the crimes they were arrested for.  Alright, I’m starting to get ahead of myself.  To be continued.