Michael Smith · People scoff when indoctrination and reeducation camps are mentioned. "Never happen here," they say (or think). But the fact is, they already exist – they exist in things like the mandatory “anti-racism”/Critical Race Theory programs that are being implemented in businesses, schools, and government agencies, most as a condition of employment. They exist in media outlets like CNN, a cable network focused on nothing but taking Fox News off the air. Progressives are not stupid, they are actually pretty damn innovative and devious. They know that real concentration or reeducation camps would require the internment of a physical body, and any attempt to do that on a mass scale would be met with significant resistance – most likely featuring violence. They know who has the guns and ammo, that’s why Biden and Shelia Jackson Lee are working so hard to take them away from law abiding gun owners. So, what is an aspiring totalitarian to do under those circumstances? They imprison your mind. Most of us of a certain age remember a component the US military used in the process of getting Manuel Noriega to surrender. George H.W. Bush sent our guys to Panama to assist the drug running former dictator in a change of scenery. Ole Manuel holed up in the Vatican embassy in Panama City, and since fragging any embassy is not generally considered good form, fragging the Vatican embassy was especially off limits. Faced with such a problem, the innovative thinkers in the CIA came up with “music torture” – they equipped HUMVEEs with massive speakers and amps and blasted the embassy with the Doors (Riders on the Story), Van Halen (Panama, of course), Barney (I Love You), the Clash (I Fought the Law), U2 (All I Want Is You), Bruce Cockburn (If I Had A Rocket Launcher) and of course, Guns & Roses (Welcome to the Jungle). Our minds are constantly assaulted by similar techniques today. In the same way a bad case of tinnitus bores into a person’s brain, the constant drone from CNN, MSDNC, the major print media, the lefty internet websites and social media drill the “disinformation” narrative into our heads, ironically by using disinformation. You cannot escape it, even if you are not interested in it, the Tinnitus Media never stops because it is interested in penetrating every brain cell you have. Even the wall of troops in Washington (in conjunction with walls of chain link and razor wire) is a form of a remarkably similar psychological torture. Walls have two purposes – the first is to keep something OUT, and the second is to keep something IN. The presence of National Guard in DC is not to protect from an “armed insurrection” because there never was an “armed insurrection”, there was a riot that could have been easily negated with the proper security protocols. The testimony before Congress yesterday proves that – and likely indicates the January 6th riot at the Capitol may well have been allowed to happen, thereby creating a contemporary Reichstag fire moment. The defensive ring is there to keep the fear concentrated inside the wire, to keep the myth of January 6th alive and thereby influence the people INSIDE the perimeter. It has no value otherwise, and it is not intended to discourage those outside – most of whom do not care or simply cannot understand why it is still there or was necessary in the first place. The ring is designed to keep the agitprop concentrated inside the House and Senate, for the express purpose of influencing the Senators and Congresspersons who will vote on the Democrats’ radical agenda. It is a constant reminder of what MIGHT happen, a perpetual and constant representation of an alleged ongoing threat. Imagine what they did to Noriega and add a little “Copacabana” by Barry Manilow, “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem, “Born In The USA” by Bruce “DUI” Springsteen and maybe a little “Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas, crank it up to 11, and you have an idea of what is going on inside the Capitol today. Given those circumstances, you really cannot blame Ted Cruz for heading to Cancun for a little mariachi music. Now add the assault on the Bill of Rights being prosecuted by the Democrats and their allies in the Fascistic Oligarchy and the Tinnitus Media - on top of the fact our public schools have been indoctrination centers for decades - to the constant serenade, and it becomes a little clearer that the imprisonment of minds is the goal. I must give credit where credit is due, and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Alex Jones had it right: there IS a war for your mind.

Michael Smith · If you remove the racial component from these "anti-racism" training programs and only examine the behaviors deemed to be "hurtful", it becomes clear that these programs are not about racism at all, they are little more than excuses for lack of performance and productivity. Corporations and businesses throughout the marketplace have worked for decades upon decades to improve productivity with a focus on product, process, tool and task design, worker satisfaction and safety, even including participation by the workers themselves when the Toyota Production System went mainstream. None of that had anything to do with race, it had to do with achieving an objective. Critical Race Theory negates all of that. "Being less white" equates, in practical terms, to "be less productive", it is a tacit acceptance that black Americans are inferior and for the sake of "equity", whites need to perform at a lesser level than they currently are performing. None of that is true. In my estimation, "anti-racism" programs purportedly designed to help blacks - don't. They hurt everybody, black or white, while also damaging everything.

Michael Smith · With the recent performance (non-performance?) of the US Supreme Court, it would be reasonable for a rational person to conclude that we apparently no longer have a single branch of government that are willing to perform their prescribed constitutional duties and responsibilities and remain within the limits of their enumerated powers. The Legislative branch has abdicated its powers to the other two branches and the Deep State bureaucracy. Congress now expects the Deep State to create administrative law (rules and regulations) to fill in the gaps they left behind. The issue with this process is that duly passed legislation can be perverted and manipulated by unelected bureaucratic rule makers to create a Frankenstein version of the legislation more compliant with ideology than original intent. Congress counts on presidents to tailor enforcement of laws through executive orders, letters and memos and the judicial branch to protect preferred laws. The Executive branch now features the “Unitary Executive”, the process by which the executive steadily increases its scope and power and ignores the other branches. The left decried the creation of what they termed the “unitary executive” under George W. Bush as they saw the executive branch steadily increase its scope and power…but I never trusted that the left was deeply concerned about Bush’s use of executive power, especially given the fact that they sat mute for the eight years of Obama as he things via executive fiat unseen since the days of FDR. It was also during this period when the New York Times began expressing their “China envy”, wishing Obama could be a dictator for a day. Biden’s record-setting executive order performance is little more than Obama on steroids. The biggest disappointment must be the Supreme Court’s apparent lack of interest in doing their job. Since Marbury v. Madison established the SCOTUS as the arbiter of last resort, past courts have addressed controversial and dangerous situations ranging from slavery to abortion. This court seems not to want to touch anything controversial with a twenty-foot pole – but THAT is THEIR role. It is their job to decide the difficult cases that have the most impact on American citizens. I agree with Justices Thomas and Alito, Thomas writing in dissent: “That decision to rewrite the rules seems to have affected too few ballots to change the outcome of any federal election. But that may not be the case in the future,” Thomas argued. “These cases provide us with an ideal opportunity to address just what authority nonlegislative officials have to set election rules, and to do so well before the next election cycle. The refusal to do so is inexplicable.” “Inexplicable” being the operative word – but in reality, Justice Thomas is not being completely honest. He knows it is all too “explicable”. The Supreme Court has been completely politicized to the point it cares and fears the political winds. The Justices on the Court seem to be more concerned about the safety and power of their positions on the court than executing the constitutional role of the court. Clarity, consistency, stability, and predictability are hallmarks of a just system of governance. When government is reduced to such a level of organizational chaos and the number, complexity and arbitrary and capricious enforcement of laws is such the “law” becomes indistinguishable from lawlessness, we must accept the likely reality we are being ruled by a criminal enterprise equivalent to a Columbian drug cartel.

From Bartholomew Chiaroscuro: "Many might wonder why I’m still talking so often about the US election. It was in November, I’m British, it’s a done deal. Biden is serving as President. Why keep on about it? "The reason I’ve become so obsessed with it is not just because I liked Trump and admired his policies. It’s not even because I have US friends who are more directly impacted by it all than me. It’s not even the loathsomeness, fraud and corruption involved, and the outright evil of many of the policies pushed by the Democrats in the US. I consider them the most extreme party to get into power in a major western nation since the Second World War, but that’s not the primary reason I still talk about this. "It is because this is the first time in my life that reality itself has been torn apart by ideological bias. It is the first time that something blindingly, obviously true that happened and that involved millions of people has been universally condemned, in a West with a heritage of logic and reason, as utterly false. It is the distortion of reality on this scale, the obviousness of that distortion, that is terrifying. Because if a lie this big and this obvious can be engaged in without comment and without consequence, anything is possible, no matter how hideous. It sets the precedent that no future election may be trusted, and that there is no democracy in the West. Worse, it establishes that facts do not matter in any way, and that the media can decide who is elected, who is not, who governs, who makes rulings that affect the entire globe, in direct contradiction of the voices of the people. "We have seen propaganda before. We have seen bias. We have seen years of hate masquerade as equality, or progress, or enlightenment. We have seen cancel culture and mainstream figures supporting terrorists. But we have never seen, in supposedly free societies, the media seize hold of reality, grab an entire nation and its political fate, and wrench it physically, boldly, with chillingly uniform intent, into the realm of delusion. We have never seen before, since the end of WWII, a major nation cast into the abyss where anything goes, by the combined efforts of crooked politicians, crooked journalists, and crooked judges. This was no small, marginal fraud in an insignificant nation. This was a massive, coordinated, logically impossible to dispute fraud in the most powerful nation on Earth. It is even a fraud that it’s supporters now openly boast about in the pages of Time magazine. And it ushers in the most radical, destructive, suicidal agenda embarked on by any major nation in almost a century. "The murder of JFK in 1963 was more dramatic, but less seismic than this. Because you don’t have to believe that everyone was in on that, even if you think there was a wider conspiracy than just the madness of a single gunman. But with this we have quite plain evidence now that the FBI was in on it, the Department of Justice was in on it, the Supreme Court refuses to look at the evidence about it, senior Republican figures were in on it, Big Tech billionaires were in on it, social media giants were in on it, other world leaders rushed to endorse it, even the bloody American Chamber of Commerce was in on it. The sole reason the lie has triumphed is that the Swamp is far bigger, and far more real, than even the most cynical of us supposed. It is a lie that is just too big to be allowed to fail, like a bank that has to be propped up with quantative easing. Only this thing is supported with the currency of lies, printed endlessly in every newspaper in the world and cashed in on every TV show news report. The world was horrified when a President was murdered. It should be just as horrified when a winning President doesn’t have to be murdered to be removed, and silenced, and rendered powerless. "The latest cowardly absurdity of Supreme Court judgement confirms all of the above. They are more terrified of the consequences of exposing the theft than they are of the consequences of continuing the lie. They would rather see millions disenfranchised, voting rendered meaningless, and an extreme radical agenda that helps the enemies of the West rolled out, then face the embarrassment of admitting the truth. So they flee from their judicial and constitutional duty, squealing in terror, diving into shadows to avoid the light of truth. It is a revolting spectacle, but another one that will be presented as ‘evidence’ that up is down, evil is good, and stolen is earned. What a lesson for the world that is." - Bartholomew Chiaroscuro

Oh and a new septic.

RSE, we are in flood zone X. Not an issue. The house has a new roof and has the latest hurricane retro fits, so we got a break on the homeowner's. New HVAC, new pool equipment.

So there was this professional assassin that charged $10,000 per bullet. A guy comes up to him in the bar one day and says, "Are you the guy who charges $10,000 a bullet?" "Yup." "What if you miss?" He looks at the man, deadly serious. "I don't miss..." "Okay, we'll I've got $20,000. I just found out my wife is having an affair with my best friend. They're at the motel together right now." "Let's go," the assassin says. So they drive to a store across the street from the motel and climb up on the roof. The assassin takes out his rifle and attaches the scope. "They're in room 21. I want you to shoot her in the head, and I want you to blow his dick off." The assassin looks through his scope. He keeps staring for several minutes, not taking the shot. "Well? What are you waiting for!?" the husband asks. "Hold on a minute. I think I can save you $10,000."

Hey RSE, I was in your neck of the woods this morning for the signing/closing on this house. Glenridge Pt Pkwy. I waved on the way by! One closing down, one to go on Friday. The moving truck arrived on time this morning. Tomorrow is D-Day. We are in a hotel Tuesday and Wed nights here. Then Port Charlotte on Thursday. Whee!

Port Charlotte, a mom.

Country Inn and Suites. We ate at Fisherman's Village last time down at the restaurant at the end Captain's Table??? or something like that. We will be going there probably one night since the daughter is going to be with us. She's flying in to ATL on Wed and flying out of Tampa on Sunday night. She plans on moving down in August when her lease is up in Charlotte. We also found a little mom and pop place for breakfast near the Days Inn. Hometown Diner.

Jane! Name some good places to eat. We're going to be in a hotel from Thursday to probably Sunday or Monday. Furniture is supposed to arrive Friday, but ??? might or might not. I have 2 laborers scheduled to unload us on Saturday, but ???? I trust nothing at this point.

Michael Smith Given what we know, not based on theory, prediction, or opinion, but what has been openly expressed and demonstrated as to what sort of world progressives wish to create/are creating, what does that Brave New World look like? Let us list a few aspects that seem self-evident to anyone paying attention: Chaos: the constantly changing rules of pseudoscience, coupled with social mores based on political objectives, and an ever-evolving set of laws, rules, and regulations, creating constant agitation, uncertainty, and confusion in the populace. Fear: Agitation and confusion of the chaos lead to anxiety and anger, and constant fear of running afoul of the arbitrary and capricious application of voluminous and incomprehensible laws, rules, and regulations. Suppression: the conscious inhibition of any impulse, especially in speech, expression, or action related to anything and everything the state opposes. The legalization of cancel culture and the creation of a surveillance state to enforce it, with neighbor spying on neighbor. Caste system: Identity politics becomes official state policy. The state will award preferences, not just on race, but on whatever best advantages the groups that support the state and disadvantages those who do not. Status within the state becomes the prime motivator, replacing commercial success in the private sector. Autocracy: One party rule, not by Republican or Democrat, but by the party of the state. It will not matter what it is called, it will be the party representing the most powerful entity in the nation, the state. Mussolini’s idea of “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state” reborn. Fascistic Oligarchy: Criminalization of free enterprise and the implementation crony capitalism on steroids, a form of state capitalism (modeled after the policies of the Chinese Communist Party) created by the consummation of a marriage of the state and a few massive multinational corporations, with the corporations filling the role of an enforcer for the desires of the state, a virtual nationalization of industry and the financial sector. Oppression: the exercise of authority or power by the state in pursuit of the inception and maintenance of political and civil order, expressed in a burdensome, cruel, and/or unjust manner. Criminalization of “certain” politics and political parties, the Biden administration and the Democrat party are already defining “domestic terrorism”, not as opposition only to the state, but to opposition to progressive Democrat policies within the state. Politicized science and medicine: Infanticide and eugenics (via abortion) will be deemed more than acceptable; they will become scientific and medical necessities. Scientific inquiry and medical research will be conducted under the purview and watchful eye of the state, and the results will be carefully controlled. Devalued citizenship: Being a citizen becomes meaningless and a disadvantage as non-citizens and illegal aliens are preferred over legal citizens. Citizenship consists of burdens without benefits, the citizen becomes raw material for the state as the state acts to its own benefit, not to the benefit of the citizens. Meaningless elections: Third world elections with predetermined outcomes. Soviet style with voter participation of 97% with the party of the state always winning in a landslide. Complete destruction of federalism: The states lose all Tenth Amendment and constitutional powers and become nothing more than administrative districts, slaves satellites of an all-powerful central government. Death of the Bill of Rights: Individual liberty will be rendered moot as the state breaches the prohibitions enumerated in the Bill of Rights under the guise of “public safety”. Rights guaranteed by the Constitution will be abrogated because free speech, freedom of assembly, free exercise of religion, petitioning the government for redress of grievances, the private ownership of firearms and protections against unreasonable search and seizure – all the first ten amendments - will be deemed risks to “safety and health” and against the maintenance of civil order. If you are against “no knock” warrants, you are going to LOVE “no warrant” searches. Statolatry: Literal worship of the state. Contrary to past experiences with communism, the state will not ban religion, rather it will co-opt “Big Religion” as religion becomes a member of the Fascist Oligarchy. Rather than eliminate God, the state will work with its progressivist allies in the pulpits to redefine the Gospel, the Torah and the Koran into propaganda blessing the state. The state will not eliminate God in America, it will become God. There is tangible evidence of the aforementioned in the agenda of the Democrat party, expressed in their thoughts, words and deeds just since the national elections of November 2020. Far from the delivering the promises freedom, civil cohesion and equality, the pursuit of control and state mandated “equity” will result in exactly the opposite, a dystopian and autocratic civilization far beyond the imaginations of any futurist or science fiction writer. The bleak world of Blade Runner becomes a most likely case scenario. Is it not amazing that the most common attack against people on the political right is that we are neo-Nazis and neo-Fascists when the very things that the Democrat party desperately craves are carbon copies of Mussolini and Hitler’s fascist and Nazi platforms? But all is not lost – not yet. We, the people can stop it. We are not going to do it with people like Ben Sasse, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, or Lisa Murkowski. We are not going to do it with the Jeb Bushes or Adam Kinzingers, but I have confidence that true leaders are the product of difficult times. Steel cannot be forged without fire. Forests are not renewed without being razed by a similar conflagration. Unity cannot exist without common cause. The Greatest Generation would not exist without the Great Depression and WWII would not have been won without their qualities. America and Americans always rise to meet the challenge. I have faith we will do so this time as well.

Michael Smith · Taboo (noun): a prohibition imposed by social custom or as a protective measure. In a civilized society, there are social mores that exist as a form of self-regulation and self-governance. These mores (pronounced as “morays”) are accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group; these are common moral attitudes that are realized internally by everyone as the common recognition of agreed upon rights and wrongs. Then there are taboos - prohibitions action based on the belief that such behavior is too sacred, too accursed, or agreed by society to be too socially damaging for people to undertake. Often taboos are prohibited under threat of supernatural punishment. Today, it seems that there is something in the news every day indicating there are those in our society hell bent on attacking the very social mores that hold American society together by engaging in taboos that subvert the very foundational idea of self-regulation upon which our system of governance is built. Sexual promiscuity, high school teachers having sex with underage students, college coaches and priests molesting children, groups seeking to normalize pedophilia, women turning to making porn movies and terming that “liberating” and “empowering”, the mainstreaming of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyles – even the open advocation of communism are all examples taboos generally considered harmful to society not that many years ago. A particularly troublesome taboo is the current wave of institutionalized American self-hate, specifically the racially tinged self-loathing being taught in the guise of “anti-racism” of Critical Race Theory. It has achieved such a level of conventional wisdom; proud Americans are disrespected and have become reluctant to fight for themselves and the country of their parentage. America is fast becoming a country so lost in illegitimate recriminations of its history, so absorbed in multiculturalism and cancel culture, our people are rapidly losing their confidence and pride (more accurately, having their confidence and pride beaten out of them). As Andrew Breitbart once pointed out, politics follows culture. If we accept this as a fact, then we must also accept that government is also reflection of the culture. If an independent and free society decides that a certain behavior is counter to its best interests, it can self-correct through peer pressure and the transference of learned behaviors from one generation to another. This certainly does not prevent individuals within the society from acting on taboos, it does provide for bulk of the society that disagrees with those actions to opt out voluntarily. A complication is introduced when government, acting on behalf of minorities who engage in such taboos, institutionalize acceptance and protection of those taboos through enshrinement in law. In doing so, the self-correction that would normally be capable by society at large is negated and instead of being marginalized, these behaviors form the basis for the next generation of the society. In line with the Thomas Jefferson quote that a “departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on”, cultures can certainly decay on their own but as they descend the ladder into a pit of corruption, government acts like a one-way lock preventing them from climbing back up the rungs toward the light. Edward Gibbon, the author of “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” wrote: “The five marks of the Roman decaying culture: Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth; Obsession with sex and perversions of sex; Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original; Widening disparity between very rich and very poor; Increased demand to live off the state.” The first volume of Gibbon’s work was published in 1776, the same year of America’s Declaration of Independence, yet the parallels between Rome and the decay of modern western civilizations are undeniable and incontrovertible. History is a cruel mistress, doling out harsh punishment for ignoring her. While we may believe ourselves to be above history, I can assure you this - thousands of years of recorded history prove we are not. Freedom does not mean that we have carte blanche to act on every base desire. While freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, what we seek is liberty or the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views. The design of our country as identified by the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution is the definition of true liberty – and the possibility of future generations to that liberty is being eliminated through the cultural decay of irrationality, decadence, immorality, and amorality. Societies define taboos for reasons of protection. They often are created from a moral basis that protects people from corruption and decay. Edmund Burke once wrote: “Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.” Burke was right. Just ask the ancient Romans.

catsmeat, Not quite. We leave next Thursday for PC. The furniture leaves the day before. We get the keys on Friday and hopefully the furniture Friday, too. Counting days.

New Gnu Knew

Hey Jane and Marlene.... we got the clear to close tonight. We will in PC next Thursday, closing Friday.

Michael Smith · Something to consider - if speech is verbalized thought, then free speech is free thought. To control speech is to control thought. When considered in that perspective, the attack on free speech takes on an entirely new significance. This isn't about banning a post, a tweet or a video, this is about the left giving America a lobotomy to cure a hangnail.

Michael Smith If you close your eyes, every Jen Psaki presser sounds a lot like Cathy Newman interviewing Jordan Peterson.

Wish I could Tom R but typhus pad won't let me post any links or pics. You can find him on mewe and FB, though. That's where I pull them from.

Michael Smith 14m · Are contemporary corporations the canaries in the gold mine? Before we answer that question, allow me to ask another: What do people think the real purpose of a business (i.e., a corporation) is? Is it to: -Provide employment? -Provide social services (i.e., health insurance, child care, etc.)? -Be a good corporate citizen? -Pay taxes? -Support the local economy? To hear progressives talk these days, it would be all of the above – but is it? Like most young leaders and executives negotiating the corporate landscape and managing manufacturing organizations back in the 80’s and 90’s, I discovered and studied a book called “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. I first read this book in 1988 and it revolutionized my views on manufacturing in specific and business overall. The book is an easy read; it is written in novel form and follows the actions of a gentleman named Alex Rogo as he discovers how to save a manufacturing plant, then a company, and the changes that his discoveries effect in his life and career. It is not a dry, technical screed, it is engaging as you get to know Alex and begin to travel his journey with him and his mentor, a former physics professor of his named Jonah. In Chapter One, Alex has chanced across Jonah in an airport and chats him up. After hearing of Alex’s issues, Jonah homes in on the key aspect that Alex must understand before he can navigate a way out of the problems he faces. As he is getting on a plane, Jonah says: “No, that is not your problem,” he says. “Your problem is you don’t know what the goal is. And, by the way, there is only one goal, no matter what the company.” A few weeks later, Alex contacts Jonah via phone and attempts to answer Jonah’s question: “The goal of a manufacturing organization is to make money,” I say to him. “And everything else we do is a means to achieve the goal.” But Jonah doesn’t laugh at me. “Very good, Alex. Very good,” he says quietly. The goal of any manufacturing organization, ergo a corporation, is to make money. Everything else we do is a means to achieve the goal, for without profits from increasing value, there can be no investment, no expansion, no employment, no benefits, no taxes and eventually – no firm. To be sure, corporate leadership has always understood this, and has sided with the cause most profitable for their organizations. For decades, that was the free market and those who championed capitalism. However, over the years, there has been a transformation in corporations as globalism taught American corporations how to partner with the various governments to protect their businesses and better their competitive positions. Corporations came to love the protectionist, managed markets of crony capitalism they saw in China and in Europe, eventually importing that perspective back home. Then came the mortgage bubble crash in 2008 that took the entire global financial system down and impoverished both nations and companies. The lesson corporations learned from that disaster was not “don’t do stupid sh*t”, it was “if you want to survive, be too big to fail”. It is the application of something my first finance professor told the class, “If you borrow small, you are a customer to your bank. If you borrow big, your bank is your partner.” The phoenix that arose from the ash heap of that period became the fascistic oligarchy we witness today. When I asked if the corporations are the canary, I should state it more succinctly: Have corporations foreseen the coming demise of free enterprise, have they decided government will now take control of their markets? The answer to this question is important, for in the entire history of Western Civilization, America being the best example, economic liberty is inexorably linked to individual liberty – to lose the former is to lose the latter.

Michael Smith · Wouldn't it be the pinnacle of irony if I got cancelled for exposing cancel culture? Read on and you will see why I might. As long as cancelling people for their beliefs remains a thing, can we get the Cancelistas to cancel Karl Marx, a grisly, old, European white dude, who was an anti-Semitic, bigoted, and misogynistic racist? Or is that too close to home? The political left has run around for years trying to destroy people and things they THINK are racist but par for the course, they are not. Most who hew to collectivist ideologies do not even know the history of their own views. This may get me a whack with the ban hammer for using the "n" word, but this a direct quote from an 1862 letter from Marx to Engels: “The Jewish nigger Lassalle who, I’m glad to say, is leaving at the end of this week, has happily lost another 5,000 talers in an ill-judged speculation. The chap would sooner throw money down the drain than lend it to a ‘friend,’ even though his interest and capital were guaranteed. … It is now quite plain to me—as the shape of his head and the way his hair grows also testify—that he is descended from the negroes who accompanied Moses’ flight from Egypt (unless his mother or paternal grandmother interbred with a nigger). Now, this blend of Jewishness and Germanness, on the one hand, and basic negroid stock, on the other, must inevitably give rise to a peculiar product. The fellow’s importunity is also nigger-like.” These are Marx's own words - and a twofer - anti-Semitic AND racist at the same time! Where the left imputes racism into a colorblind system like capitalism, it is a built-in feature of communism. For ole Karl, racism wasn’t separate or contradictory from his collectivist ideological views. It should come as no surprise that Marx saw blacks as "backwards", writing to Engels in 1866 that : Tremaux [French ethnologist Pierre Tremaux] “proved that the common Negro type is the degenerate form of a much higher one … a very significant advance over Darwin.” Marx used the "science" of the times to caricature the African community as backward people. Marx believed there would eventually be no need for nations, because the workers of the world could unite without the need for countries - but before that could happen, the "backwards" peoples, including some ethnic groups and nations had to be swallowed up by more powerful groups of the world and join the worldwide revolution for communism - or be eliminated before "progress" could occur. Of course, Marx believed this brand of sociopolitical evolution was inevitable and scientifically proven. So, I guess you could say that it was the "settled science" of the day. So, if the host of "The Bachelor" is getting cancelled for defending a woman for wearing a dress and going to a party three years ago that the Cancelistas determined was problematically "racist", why is Marx still a thing? The fact is that those who cry "racist" the loudest are racists themselves - and not so surprisingly, Marxism is the common thread, their unifying belief system. From the Black Panther Party and the Students for a Democrat Society in the 60's to BLM today, revolutionary Marxism is the base ideology. How curious it is that they have adopted an ideology created by a man who, if alive today, would see them as less than human. But if you are looking for intellectual honesty from the contemporary left, you are out of luck. You have a greater probability of finding a leprechaun's pot-o-gold or an honest person in Washington. Diogenes weeps. Why, it is as if none of this is about racism at all. Perhaps it is just about a wedge or lever the left can use to obtain the power they believe they so richly deserve? If you study Marx's writings, as I have, it becomes pretty clear he has an open disdain for the common people he pretends to champion. His own theory of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" requires a culling of "undesirables" and even then, he acknowledges that such a "total democracy" requires a power structure to create and manage the plans for all aspects of socioeconomic and political life. In perhaps the greatest bait and switch scam in the history of confidence schemes, Marx's brand of communist economic organization is nothing less than a prescription for the concentration of power within a few elites, rather than the promised dissolution and dissemination of power to the people. Paul Kengor's "The Devil and Karl Marx" (and Marx's letters themselves) should be required reading, especially for both the Congressional Progressive and the Congressional Black Caucuses.

Jane, check with the front desk. Many hotels are NOT cleaning rooms due to the Rona. You have to specifically ask. I just request fresh towels from the front desk and trade them for used ones. I never have my room cleaned during my stays.

LONDON, England, February 15, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – People in the U.K. with learning disabilities have been told they will not receive resuscitation if they contract COVID-19, according to learning disability charity Mencap. Last November, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the Health Department’s regulatory body, launched an investigation into “Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic,” following similar concerns about “the blanket application of DNACPR decisions, that is applying them to groups of people rather than on an assessment of each person’s individual circumstances, and about making decisions without involving the person concerned.”

oh and EIGHT days and counting!

Jane, y'all shoulda gone to Naples Bay Resort. ZERO mask requirements there. Shemp was aghast that Naples had supermarkets where the cashiers and customers were non-masked. LOL