Government madness writ large

Posted on 2023-10-23 by TPOL Nathan

Thank you for your patience. Posting of commentary will be rather sporatic and irregular in the next couple of weeks due to workload and sickness on the part of TPOL staff!

It seems that every day we have yet another (or two, or three) examples of how the craziness, the madness, of government at all levels is growing.

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Environist “science” continues to dominate California

Posted on 2023-10-21 by TPOL Nathan

And boy, does it get confusing.

His imperial majesty Newsom has just signed one bill and given his imperial thumb-down to another, supposedly helping save Californians and their water, soil, and air, from environmental disaster, ill health, death – and pocketbooks that are too heavy. All serious problems in the Golden State, which became wealthy and populous because its people exploited the environment, native Californians, earlier immigrants, and of course, themselves.

(And which today depends on exploiting people from elsewhere – immigrants and border jumpers and people who live in other States and foreign countries.)

What this time? According to the site California Matters, the gov signed off on getting rid of a law that prohibited local governments from banning artificial turf products with PFAS (see below). At the same time, he vetoed a bill that would have banned PFAS in those artificial turf products.

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Democracy’s end? Or just the end of the Union

Posted on 2023-10-19 by TPOL Nathan

Every time someone brings up dividing up the Fifty States – usually into a red faction and a blue one – they are ridiculed. Regardless of what political leaning the person suggesting it has.

But the times, they are a changing.

Maybe.

Pollsters tell us that a third or more of the electorate seem to want a divorce. But in the eyes of DC insiders, the mainstream media, and no doubt others, there is worse. At least a quarter of electors think democracy is toast.

Those who at least somewhat agree that democracy is no longer a viable system say that the country should explore alternative forms of government to ensure stability and progress.

It seems, so this organization claims, that Americans generally are becoming more politically divided despite Uncle Joe’s inauguration promise to unite the country.

Consider these results of a survey of 2,008 voters conducted by the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia:

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Europe continues to massively fund Hamas

Posted on 2023-10-18 by TPOL Nathan

The various members of the European Union (can we really call them nations anymore?) all claim to be supporting Israel after the massive Hamas attack out of Gaza two weeks ago. Even so, they continue to supply massive amounts of support, mostly in the form of money, to Hamas.

What? Yep. Not only is Hamas officially headquartered in Qatar, but Qatar supplies (according to reports) $360-$480 million dollars (US) per year for the last decade to Hamas. Qatar of course gets that money from the profits selling LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) to Asia, Europe, and even the UK. (In large part, the sales to Europe have peaked in the last two years because of the NATO/US-instigated war in Ukraine.) Notice that Qatar is also where the FedGov parked $6 billion that Uncle Joe planned to give to Iran in exchange for releasing a few prisoners. (Usually such deals are called ‘paying ransom for kidnapped victims.’)

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Whipping out the race card in America the Beautiful

Posted on 2023-10-17 by TPOL Nathan

‘There is a constant drumbeat from the so-called left that seeks to whip up racial hatred in the States. Not just racial hatred, but disdain and fear of fundamental human rights – not just human rights for the so-called white supremacists but even for the so-called people of color. (And more and more we hear the claim that not only are Caucasians all white supremacists, but apparently so are most of Asian and AmerInd ancestry: at least those with a Hispanic heritage.)

A recent example of this is found at a “black” news site, with a commentary called “Gun Control: My Fellow Americans – Why I don’t sing ‘America the Beautiful.’

As is usual with hoplophobic, hoploclastic screeds, the article is filled with untruths and exaggerations, and claims obviously false on their face. Of course, Microsoft felt it imperative to promote it by reposting so that anyone using a Microsoft browser has the headline thrown into their face.

Leave aside the claims about “endless mass shooting” across the land and how most Americans (at least those “of color”) fear to go to school, stores, churches, or movie theatres lest they be gunned down. For now. Just the headline.

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“The hit dog barks”

Posted on 2023-10-16 by TPOL Nathan

This is an old Texian saying: when you are throwing rocks at a pack of dogs, it is the dog that is hit that barks the loudest – and maybe the only one to howl.

It applies very much in politics.

Consider a recent series of events in New Jersey. An honest (at least in this matter) but perhaps less than tactful State senator – 3 years ago! – was blunt about the always popular issue of “women’s choice.” As recently reported, this guy Durr wrote “A woman does have a choice! Keep her legs closed,” in a 2020 Facebook post. He opposes abortion – killing babies before (or while) they are born.

Of course, the pro-abortion forces howled loudly then. And now, with more elections looming, they are howling again. That is to be expected.

But the real point is that Republicans in New Jersey are also barking about it. As the story above reports: “Republicans in New Jersey are crying foul, claiming that this is oh, so unfair. State Sen. Vince Polistina, who’s named in the Democratic ads, called them ‘political hack jobs’ and claimed they’re ‘lying to voters.’ Another group of Republicans issued a joint statement saying that Durr’s statements were ‘offensive and unacceptable’ and ‘don’t represent us or what we believe in any way.'”

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Why? (the 2nd Yom Kippur War)

Posted on 2023-10-14 by TPOL Nathan

As we enter the ninth day of the war started by the well-coordinated attack by Hamas out of the Gaza Strip into Israel, there are many questions to ask.

Was the war unprovoked? No, as Caitlin Johnstone pointed out in an excellent analysis, Israel (and frankly, the United States) did much to provoke a massive renewal of violence by so-called Palestinians and the various never-Israel groups. At the same time, the vicious nature of the attacks by Hamas (as we’ve pointed out before) seems designed to escalate the levels of hatred and violence to greater and greater levels. The vicious attacks remind us historically of the evils committed by two sides of our own family in Texas in the 1850s and 1860s. Not the War Between The States, but the constant raids of Comanche war parties on Anglo settlers, and vice versa.

But in that case, the hate resulted from the fighting, the rape and enslavement, the killings. This seems to be the opposite: the hate is what provokes the violence. As a TPOL commenter noted: they all hate one another. But the hate predates the last 80 years of conflict.

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Rumors, rumors, everywhere

Posted on 2023-10-13 by TPOL Nathan

According to the UK’s Daily Star, Vladimir Putin of Russia (who just celebrated his 71st birthday on 8 October) is terminally ill and may die within weeks. But never fear, they have doppelgangers (body doubles) to take over for him, and the evil fascist regime of Russia will continue to serve as the boogeyman of NATO and DC. (Yeah, the Daily Star seems to be the equivalent of the vanishing “checkout tabloids” here in the States, but the Daily Mirror also reports this.)

At the same time, Newsweek and other sources are spreading the story that a member of the Knesset is proposing use of nuclear weapons (carried by the fabled Jericho-3 (YA-4) missile) to deal with Hamas and Gaza. Calling it a “doomsday weapon,” sources say this threatens a Third World War. (Note: TPOL suggested that some in Israel might push for using nuclear weapons against Gaza and Hamas, before any of these stories came up. We still believe that, for bad or good, Israel is unlikely to use them.)

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A tailhair wagging the dog? Montana case study?

Posted on 2023-10-12 by TPOL Nathan

In Montana, a black-robe district judge has ruled that Montana is violating its own constitution by denying its “children” a clean and healthful environment, as reported by Breitbart not long ago.

A quick response to this is to ask the16 plaintiffs ranging in age from five to 22 (not all children, of course, but perhaps childishly immature) to go ahead and give up the fossil fuels condemned in the ruling. We here at TPOL suspect that their environment would rapidly become anything but “clean and healthful.” (We are also curious as to how a five-year-old had standing, but assume that he or she was little more than a living puppet for parents and the representatives.)

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When the balloon goes up… are you prepared?

Posted on 2023-10-11 by TPOL Nathan

Things can go wrong quickly, as we all know. A sudden busted water line, a downed power line or an exploding transformer. A truck accident blocking a highway. The breaking glass of a patio door at 2 AM.

Adults (and many children) know this. True adults prepare, at least somewhat. They depend on themselves, to some degree, at least. Not necessarily on parents (or on adult children) and not on neighbors, and certainly not on government – at any level.

And no, it isn’t always about guns and weapons. Or locked doors and alarm and security systems.

Sometimes it is about how to communicate. We all have gotten lazy with cellphones. Some more than others: Westerners (Great Plains and Rockies) know there are many places that have very poor or no cellular service. But what happens if the service goes down? Or your phone is dead? Do you have alternate means of communication – in both directions?

What about alternative sources of heat – especially if you use electrical heating? Or where to get clean, safe water? These may or may not be matters of survival, but just of comfort. Think about them.

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