51F and 96%RH cool and clear.
Well, the world certainly seems to want war. If I were reading a history book about the start of the Third World War, I don’t know what would be different than what we’re seeing in the news.
Convoluted proxy war in the middle East getting hotter every day. One mistake or provocation too many and you’ve got another Tonkin Gulf.
Economic war between superpowers, one of whom has been doing their level best to degrade their military forces, and one who has been relentlessly building theirs, seems to be heating up and possibly going physical….
A resurgence of nationalism world wide, coupled with the (perhaps just a bit premature) rising of the covertly inserted shock troops of islam, giving people distraction and focus at home, while the leviathans move in the deep.
Couple that all with a economic shenanigans that have been falling apart for half a decade, and all we’re waiting for is the spark.
Think about how YOU’D write the beginnings of WW3 for history, and see if you’d discount any of those things. I’m sure I missed something. The actual trigger will come from somewhere no one is looking….
So, what would that mean for us here in our island fortress? Well, if the flow of cheap consumer crap was cut off, and the flow of cheap imported food was cut off, and the flow of cheap building and industrial materials was cut off, and the flow of rare earth minerals was disrupted, and the flow of integrated circuits, ram, and other chips was cut off what sort of climate would we see domestically? Politically? Add in the islam insurgency and the BLM/antifa/commie left insurgency. Add in the right reaction to the sort of fascist .gov controls that always get imposed during a war…
Think about those things this fine day. What would it mean for you personally?
Got preps?
nick
I forgot to mention, rule of law is dead. Attorney/client privilege is a cornerstone of our legal system. Attacking it is attacking the 5th.
So the 1A, 2A, 4A, 5A are all under concerted attack.
10A is long gone.
3A will be after the shooting starts
6A has been under attack, FISA court, secret accusers, unlimited detentions
7A doesn’t seem too important, other than we’ve long ago given up protection against double jeopardy when you can be prosecuted both civilly and criminally.
8A will be violated by simply not setting bail, and summary execution by LEO
and the 9A has already been flipped on its head by the mass indoctrination of the citizenry.
Funny how the ones down the list have been gone for a while and no one seemed to notice…..
n
And to think it all began with a tax on tea.
This came across my RSS Reader this morning and is relevant to current discussions related to jobs to have/consider:
9 Old-School Jobs That Are Making a Comeback
Well, somebody wants war. I was just thinking this, while watching the news about the recent chlorine attack in Syria. Assad isn’t stupid, he has zero reason to do something like that. But it’s been done in such a way that he is the obvious suspect.
The result is to further heighten tensions between Russia and the West. Then there is the whole Mueller investigation and Russia-Russia conspiracy theories. And the death of the Russian ex-spy in the UK, using a Russian nerve agent, which might be Russia and might be yet another false flag.
Who is ratcheting up the tension, and why?
As Mr. OFD is fond of saying: The Constitution became birdcage liner long ago. And, the Commies took over without firing a shot. As I’m fond of saying: all those cheering Libturdians will be the first ones “squeeing” when they get a car axle up the butt. Their gated homes and armed guard won’t help.
Well, somebody wants war.
A lot of people want war for many different reasons. There is a ton of money to be made in war but more importantly war is a way to make large wholesale changes to the fabric of society. Compare US or Europe pre and post WWII. Or pre and post cold war.
There are people out there who want to completely dismantle every institution, sever all ties with the past, and rebuild anew in their vision.
And don’t forget, repudiate debt!
n
Good grief Mr. Nick. OFD used to be the optimist and now you seem to have taken over quite nicely.
I personally don’t think things are going to get that bad. The world is much different than 76 years ago when WWII started. Communications, technology, supply improvements may help. People’s attitudes who knows.
I do know that if a major conflict starting involving the US those sniffling condom snort tide pod eaters would be drafted. The mindset of that crowd is markedly different than the brave men, and women, of the 1940’s conflict. I suspect most would cower in a corner coloring their feelings in a coloring book or posting selfies on FaceBook.
I think most of them would be in the streets “marching” for us to unilaterally surrender to someone, anyone, to “just make it stop.”
n
I do know that if a major conflict starting involving the US those sniffling condom snort tide pod eaters would be drafted. The mindset of that crowd is markedly different than the brave men, and women, of the 1940’s conflict. I suspect most would cower in a corner coloring their feelings in a coloring book or posting selfies on FaceBook.
During my stint in academia, I saw enough competent 19 year olds coming through my classes that I don’t worry about the Millennials not stepping up to deal with a genuine national security issue (as oppsed to what we’ve been doing for 16 years) if it came to that. Plus the military has very effective educators, both in a formal sense (teachers) and indirectly (Mr. Drill Sargent).
Even the cheaters in my classes were well organized and clever at hiding what they were up to.
For NCOs, draft 30-ish women who dress like the cover of the Athleta catalog. They were always the cheating ringleaders in my experience, and they knew how to enforce discipline among the 19 year-olds under their command -er- study group.
Honestly, after living around the pervy, alcoholic REMFs, active duty and retiree contractors, that staff the freak show commands at MacDill, I’d be more worried about the “leadership” in a real conflict against a competent adversary than I would about the draftee quality. Something has been wrong in Tampa for most of the last two decades, easily since Schwarzkopf and his peers retired.
There are people out there who want to completely dismantle every institution, sever all ties with the past, and rebuild anew in their vision.
Yes, they are sure that the changes implemented in the Soviet Union and Venezuela can be made to work in the USA. And, who needs a Constitution, it is just old piece of paper that can be easily burned away.
The Limits of American Patience
“But once more what cannot go on, won’t go on. As interest costs rise and the debt grows, do not expect a big bang.
“Rather, we will see a whimper. Insidiously what was deemed untouchable, will turn out to be rather easily unfunded—whether it is a new bomber program, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, or social services for illegal aliens. It is not set in stone that half the country shall always pay no income tax. Because the country is exhausted at the lying and conceit, it will simply shrug and get on with the downsizing, as in “stuff happens.” (Even in relatively small areas of expenditures, does the United States care whether there is no more money for the Gaza strip, or remittances to Mexico shrink to a $1 billion a year, or Germany fumes that it has to devote 2 percent of its GNP on defense?)”
“Holographic data storage could cram 1,000 DVDs onto a 4-in square film”
https://newatlas.com/holographic-data-storage-film/54117/
So, 8.5 TB on a holographic device ?
I think that I have heard this song before.
Yep, and fusion power is only 10 years away…..
n
It is not set in stone that half the country shall always pay no income tax.
I’ve mentioned this before. All citizens and residents of the USA should pay 10% of their gross income as a tax to the federal government. No more, no less. No deductions, no tax credits.
And, the federal government is obviously out of control. “US government says its budget deficit will PERMANENTLY exceed $1 trillion”
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/us-government-says-its-budget-deficit-will-permanently-exceed-1-trillion-23288/
“For the past several decades, the government has spent FAR more than its tax revenue in almost every single year. This is a very, very long-term trend.”
Five to fifteen years until the collapse of the Dollar. What will a financial collapse of the USA look like ? For one thing, the middle class will collapse almost immediately. Anyone holding a lot of dollars will be broke. The banking system will take a very long holiday. Yes, that sound that you hear is the band warming up on the deck of the Titanic.
I’m not sure how to think about this.
Dreamhost sent a renewal bill for my domain registration. That’s included in my plan. Ok, a bug in the billing software. They adjusted my account.
Then I see they charged me $34.94 leaving my Rewards balance at $39.39. More back and forth…
“”If we do not receive the necessary tax or payment information from you
within ninety (90) days of a qualifying referral sale that would
otherwise trigger a Reward, such Reward shall not accrue and no resulting
Reward will be owed with respect to such sale.”
This policy was recently enforced last month. However, I can reclaim
these forfeited rewards for you as a one time courtesy. In order to do
this, you will need to set up your Affiliate account with your PayPal
account for payout. Once you’ve set up your PayPal account with your
account, please write back in so I can confirm.”
Yeah, they send a monthly newsletter and I /never/ saw a word about a policy change.
I don’t want my Rewards going to my PayPal account. I clicked the wrong button there years ago and I’m a merchant now. If my brother sends me $25 out of the blue for my birthday, PayPal takes a cut. It is what it is.
I punched in my credit card info, wrote another e-mail and found the $34.94 charge is an unpaid balance due from 2008. How it managed to slide for 10 years is a mystery. Another e-mail to thank her for the help and uh, well… he “reclaimed” my forfeited rewards for me and said to go apply my rewards to my account ASAP.
After paying the $34.94 I had a balance of $38 or so. I went to apply the balance and oh, I had $304 sitting there.
Ok, I need to remember to go apply rewards every couple of months or link my PayPal and take a hit there. It’s always something. …
My domain is now paid up for almost three years. It’s just not an automatic process anymore.
All citizens and residents of the USA should pay 10% of their gross income as a tax to the federal government. No more, no less. No deductions, no tax credits.
I’m almost cool with that.
“social services for illegal aliens” “no more money for the Gaza strip” “Germany fumes that it has to devote 2 percent of its GNP on defense”
Why are we paying for any of this? They’re illegal? Deport them. Gaza strip? Why should I care? Poor poor Germany…. whatever. I don’t remember any of this being put up for a vote.
Get rid of this stuff and more and hey, I don’t need to pay 10%. More like 3%. If that.
Better yet, no INCOME tax, only a federal sales tax, capped at 10% with ANYTHING edible exempted. NO other exemptions. Local/state/and special sales taxes capped at 10% total.
This has the benefit of applying to everyone, captures the “dark economy” money when spent, and doesn’t need a massive bureaucracy to enforce. Then do like China does to encourage compliance, and run a lottery with the receipt number codes. everyone asks for a receipt because there is a real chance of winning the lottery.
Want to pay less tax? spend less and save more.
n
Medical and medicine should also be exempted. Everything else is fair game. A consumption tax, you buy it, you pay tax. Fast food or any meals eaten out should also be taxed including take home, you bake, pizza.
If we get a federal sales tax, the federal income tax will not go away. They will promise that the federal income tax is going away but it will not happen. There will be some emergency that requires a “short” extension of the federal income tax.
What would all those poor IRS agents do? We couldn’t make them go find productive work, could we?
Oh – and what Lynn says. In spades.
Edit 2 – seems PA got the income tax after the sales tax. It was a temporary measure to meet an emergency. We still have it.
”
If we get a federal sales tax, the federal income tax will not go away.”
well, that is what I fear, so I don’t actually advocate for it, and strongly reject attempts to get a VAT tax here….
n
(after all, federal income tax was a temporary wartime measure anyway.)
They were ALL temporary measures.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 76 times, I still won’t get it.
Your problem is that you don’t know the meaning of temporary. You are measuring against your life span. Relative to age of the universe the federal income tax is still temporary and will be for a few hundred more years. Once the economy collapses, no one has any money, the federal income tax will be gone and thus lived up to it’s temporary promise.
It’s all about perspective.
BTW, Rush Limbaugh wants Trump to pardon everyone in sight that Mueller is going after. I am ok with this. “You Could Pardon Everybody, Mr. President”
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2018/04/10/pardon-everybody-mr-president/
“RUSH: Remember, my friends, as you digest every new bit of news, every update on this story, remember its purpose. The objective of all of this is to get rid of Donald Trump. If Trump really wanted to tick these people off, he would start issuing pardons today for Michael Flynn, for Carter Page, for Paul Manafort, for Michael Cohen, and for good measure, Trump could pardon himself. He could pardon Stormy Daniels. He could pardon Karen McDougal.”
Let’s send AlGore so that he can stop the tire burning before it causes 56% more global warming.
“If we get a federal sales tax, the federal income tax will not go away.”
well, that is what I fear, so I don’t actually advocate for it, and strongly reject attempts to get a VAT tax here….
Gotta pay for those $70 million high school football stadiums.
Round Rock ISD (Austin suburbs) will try again for a special bond election in early 2019. A new stadium and performing arts center for Round Rock High School will probably be on the ballot again.
took almost 200 pounds of scrap out of the driveway today. did 3 loads of laundry. took ebay shipping to the post office. cleaned the kitchen. FOLDED laundry. put all the stuff back in the master closet. sent my dad a birthday gift (smoked salmon from costco, on the shelf blow out price, $9 for a POUND.)
have our HOA quarterly meeting tonight. meatspace. hoorah.
n
Well that was interesting. We’ve got a new 800 home development going in a mile from the house, so there’s lots to keep aware of. Also met our new HPD watch captain, and our new Deputy Constable in charge of our area. Had a good chat with both. Meatspace baby!
n
Hmm, 80m ham band is busy tonight. a bit noisy but I’m hearing NM, NC, TX, LA, OH, and some others.
n
Well that was interesting. We’ve got a new 800 home development going in a mile from the house, so there’s lots to keep aware of. Also met our new HPD watch captain, and our new Deputy Constable in charge of our area. Had a good chat with both. Meatspace baby!
That’s a big development regardless of density, but my guess is they’re squeezing ’em in 4-5 per acre.
Dunno about Houston, but part of Austin’s traffic problem is that Indians and Chinese don’t like to buy used houses if they can avoid it, even if that means being able to touch their neighbor’s house from their kitchen window. Neighborhoods ~20 years old north of downtown along 35 up through Pflugerville are already deteriorating while the exurbs spread up to I-14.
” they’re squeezing ’em in 4-5 per acre.”
according to the developer rep, houston allows 27/ac and they currently plan for 8. if they don’t get approval for their MUD, they are threatening [politely and vaguely of course] to cut the lakes and parks, replace them with code minimum concrete ditches, and increase the housing density with fewer models to choose from.
Asians in general don’t like to buy used, so that is why every single cord and booklet in modern electronics comes in its own protective plastic bag-that way the buyer is sure no one’s filthy hands touched it.
n
Neighborhoods ~20 years old north of downtown along 35 up through Pflugerville are already deteriorating while the exurbs spread up to I-14.
So, are they now marking the new I-14 north of Austin now ? Any actual construction ?
I am hoping that I-14 removes 100,000 cars and trucks a day from I-10 going through Houston.
https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-014.html
When I lived in Austin, I had a house in a pleasant 1950s neighborhood within easy biking distance of downtown. Sure, the houses looked a bit like “Beaver Cleaver”, but it was an absolutely pleasant place to live.
Of course, the houses weren’t new, and they weren’t pretentious McMansions. Classic 3 bedroom, 2 bath, probably around 1800 square feet. Plenty for for a couple with up to 2 kids. But then, I’ve never seen the attraction of huge houses. Just more to maintain, more to clean, and more space to make a mess.