#ICouldHaveBeenARepublicanBut – but not trying to compensate for my tiny penis by starting wars or having a big gun
jimmy streich (@streicher187)
Tweeted on February 5, 2013
[It's another Markley’s Law Monday!—Joe]
This has been passed around for a while now, and it’s fascinating.
A certain cyber spook who shall remain nameless at this juncture told me about this sort of data analysis many years ago. It was just one or two little sentences along the lines of, “You would be AMAZED at the sort of things “they” can find out about you.” As I say; that was many years ago, and orders of magnitude in increased capability have been achieved since. As a merchant having done installment sales for more than a decade at that time, I had a database of my own, consisting of thousands of accounts, and immediately could see the power of what on the surface would seem like rather mundane and mostly useless points of information.
BUT, when you ask the right questions, and can sort by multiple data fields, WOW! We used it to make buying decisions, which were extremely important and had to done months in advance of peak selling seasons, and so it involved recent history and long term trends. It was also extremely useful in predicting patterns and indicators of contract violations. If I told you half of that stuff I’d be branded a scumbag, a bigot and a general son of a bitch. Its one and only purpose though was to avoid going bankrupt– You make the wrong decisions and you’re stuck with major inventory you can’t pay for, or you get it out the door and don’t get paid for it, and so you can’t pay for it.
So yes; we profiled in a very big way, you could say. At one time the default rate was so bad that we required a credit check of every prospective customer, but with analysis of a large enough database were able to do far better by asking for only a few simple bits of information.
Learning important things doesn’t need to come from positive data either. That is to say, what isn’t there can be as useful as what is there, when forming the kinds of association tables in the link, or plotting behavior patterns. For example; knowing those times when someone is unaccounted for (enter the Smart Grid, to know when someone is not at home), when compared to certain events, over time, can tell you a whole lot.
So I now wonder what a look at the metadata in the time and place of Jesus (arguably one of the most influential people in human civilization) would show. How about Bedford Falls of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (thoughbeit a fictional town)? In that story, you could say that Clarence showed George Bailey where he fit in the metadata analysis.
The Soviets, using infiltrators, both of the overt and the covert kind, were able to come up with their various arrest and kill lists in much the same manner.
That brings us to another issue, that being the concept of the inception i.e. a planted idea– The tiny seed of an idea that can germinate in the minds of people, multiply and grow into something large. The looks into associations in the link are all very interesting, but being able to predict or pinpoint inception sources is also very interesting.
Reading about the various groups and group associations in the link got me to thinking about the modern version of the 1700s pub. You’re looking at it. Sort of, but it’s much more open to the world.
I was also struck by the modern lack of such clubs and associations. We’re a much more fragmented society. We don’t meet with our neighbors much at all anymore, whereas it used to be common. We often don’t know anything about them.
But your government sure as hell can find out.
And I submit that this is by design. It’s either by the design of mere mindsets, which will reflexively respond in predictable ways, or by some mastermind scheme. I say it’s a combination of both, each nourished by the other.
Call it a leap into Crazyland if you like (I’ll be quick to say I told you so, later) but looking at the data points over my lifetime, things make a lot more sense if one assumes that our government is in a full-on war against the ideals and principles, the foundation of the U.S. and has been for decades. When other people are saying “W. T. F.!???” and getting all exasperated and confused, I’m saying, “Well sure. It fits perfectly don’t you know.”
Try it. Ask yourself what institutions, traditions and associations would be under attack or already under control if our own government were at war against the American founding principles and the American economy. What groups would be funded worldwide, which ones given a pass, and what groups would be targeted for degradation, intimidation or destruction. What industries would be targeted for nationalization? Yup. Gotcha. On all counts.
So accept it. Then you won’t be surprised or confused anymore. The specific organization of this war isn’t so important, not so much as that you realize it’s a war. And we’re losing, mainly because we’ve not been willing to face up to it’s full import. It’s too crazy. Too horrible. We can’t go there. We’re cowards. Look and listen to the pundits. Any of them, no matter how great you think they are. They’re giving you data points that they themselves are unwilling to connect. We’re all afraid and so we’re very easy to distract. Oh look! Gays!
This interview took place in 1984. He explains his relationships as a KGB officer with the Useful Idiots, and how those Useful Idiots were often “squashed like a cockroach” after their usefulness had played out. Once the shock hit them, at the time of revolution, of what they’d done they could very well become the most staunch anti-communists, and so they were snuffed out before that could happen. “When the military boot hits their flabby butt..” the shock of seeing what they’ve helped create can turn them against the glorious idology of “Social Justice”. In other words, they’re targeted for destruction before they have a chance to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s typical, small scale gang behavior brought to the wholesale level.
But not, 29 years later, it’s much worse. There likely won’t be a military boot in the Useful idiots’ flabby butts, because we’re in such a state of degradation that we’re asking for “normalization” (of communism). We’re not fighting back.
This is about an hour and a half. Grab a cup of coffee or what have you, and listen to the whole thing .
This is a companion to Joe’s QOTD post here.
For further study, here is a domonstration of how it’s done. There is religious language in this one, but if you want to go straight to the mind control part, start at around 8 minutes.
In short, if someone knows how, they can tell you up front exactly what they’re going to do to you, they can then do it right then and there, openly, and some people will still be totally controlled by it, AND they’ll defend the utterly insane things they do as a result of being controlled. THEY are the more aware and YOU are “just too stubborn” to see what is clearly reality.
This demonstrates the biggest problem with Liberals isn’t KNOWING what the evidence shows. Instead, the problem is that their vested interest in a false vision compels Liberals to discount each and every fact that would destroy that vision.
Brian Cates
June 4, 2013
Why Evidence Doesn’t Matter to Liberals Enchanted by a Vision
[I’ve run into this sort of thing with numerous people. Many people simply cannot be reached with evidence.
I’ve literally had people tell me, “I don’t believe your facts.” That the facts were from the FBI UCR and there was no contrary evidence did not matter. He did not even have an interest is supplying “his facts”. He was just right and I was wrong. This was a college professor. That he was an admitted Marxist teaching in the school of business made me realize we did not have a common basis for communication. I’m pretty sure we don’t even share the same reality.
Some people have unshakable faith in things that are demonstrably false. When these type of people are encountered as individuals it can be a source of amusement, frustration, or make your job miserable. When these people are in positions of governmental power they burden you with stupid regulations, destroy economies, and commit genocide.
The Second Amendment was designed and put in place to protect us from Liberals enchanted by a vision.—Joe]
With the IRS being used as a political tool and the FBI and NSA having access to all phone records and who knows how much other private data I have to wonder how many legislative votes, court decisions, and even executive branch actions were influenced. We know that J. Edgar Hoover used the FBI for political purposes for decades. Why should we think it stopped when he died? Why should we think it was only him that wielded such power?
If nearly every government officials has been subject to blackmail for decades could that be part of the explanation for the abandonment of Constitutional principles?
Power corrupts. It corrupts those that have the power and it corrupts those who are subject to that power.
Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand that this isn’t brand new. It’s been going on for some seven years.
Harry Reid
U.S. Senate Majority Leader
June 6, 2013
Reid on reaction to furor over phone records: ‘Just calm down’
[If this was your spouse telling you to “calm down, this isn’t brand new…” that they had been fooling around with someone else for seven years would that make it okay?
Maybe that is an extreme example. Let’s try some others:
Hmm… I’m thinking Senator Reid has a severe case of rectal cranium inversion. Too bad it not so debilitating that it necessitates immediate retirement and exile.
I also think it is very telling that in Paul Barrett Business Week article he restructured the quote in such a way that it changes the meaning. Barrett rephrases it as:
“Everybody should just calm down,” the Nevada Democrat said at a press conference in Washington. “It’s a program that’s worked to prevent not all terrorism, but certainly a vast majority of it.”
If that is the measure of success and such success is sufficient justification then one should not be surprised to soon see some “common sense” restrictions on the First Amendment. I expect Senator Reid and Mr. Barrett can surely agree our government needs to pass legislation for the following:
They should then give enforcement powers to the ATF and rename the organization Firearms, Alcohol, Religion, and Tobacco (FART).
It’s just common sense, for the children, to prevent terrorism.—Joe]
Found on Drudge. And “this is just the beginning” they say. Of what? I ask.
For some reason I’m reminded of the “Hunter-Seekers” (or were they “Hunter-Killers”? It’s been several decades since I read the series) of Frank Herbert’s Dune. They were tiny, silent, flying assassination drones that could get into your house or pretty much anywhere else. I wonder if the IRS is looking into drone technology, but then; who isn’t?
These Repubs need to learn to differentiate between their guns and their Dick S. Serious. Too much of their identities is wrapped up in this. It’s silly.
Siara
February 4, 2013
Comment to Assault Weapons Ban Likely To Die So That Broader Gun Policy Legislation Can Live
[It's another Markley’s Law Monday!—Joe]
The Chicago contingent is in a predicament that would be uncomfortable and embarrassing for lawmakers in any state west of the Mississippi, considering the homicide rate their city suffers … under the current regime. But they are the Chicago contingent, and they seem immune to embarrassment and discomfort while the bodies pile up.
Dave Workman
May 29, 2013
Clock ticking on Illinois carry effort
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Whatever the case some kind of concealed carry will come to Illinois. Some believed it would never happen. Many of our good members have passed away waiting for concealed carry to come to Illinois. I was thinking about them today. I could see their faces but I have to tell you I could not remember all their names. We should all be grateful for their efforts and remember that freedom comes at a dear price. In any case, I hope they are looking down on us and see that concealed carry come to Illinois. I also wonder, not just today, but often, how many lives were wasted because we did not have concealed carry in Illinois. I hope those people are looking down on us and are comforted by knowing many lives will be saved and others will not have to suffer the untimely death they suffered. I also remember the endless string of enemies we have faced in our quest for concealed carry and our seemingly endless efforts to preserve the Second Amendment in Illinois. Many of those enemies will see Illinois get concealed carry first hand. Many of our enemies have passed away also. I hope they are looking up and see concealed carry come to Illinois.
Richard Pearson
May 30, 2013
ISRA Thursday Bulletin
[H/T to Michael B. via email.—Joe]
The theory of collectivism relies on the unsteady moral conscience of leadership. Capitalism rests only on the material desire for more. The former requiring more virtue than the latter, it would be wiser to put one’s faith in that which does not demand the all-knowing hubris of central planners.
James E. Miller
May 27, 2013
Government and Collapsed Bridges
[I have nothing to add.--Joe]
The video posted here reminded me of something important.
This lept out at me like a cat with firecrackers exploding at its feet;
“The question is…how do we prevent people from committing crimes in the first place.”
No it isn’t. NO IT ISN’T!
The question IS; how do we protect liberty and dispense justice equally and reliably? The concept of crime prevention doesn’t even belong in the conversation, that is, if we’re talking about legislation, which we are.
How many people understand this? It’s there in that pledge, thingy; “…with liberty and justice for all.” Note the absence of any mention of crime prevention in the Pledge. You don’t find it in the declaration of Independence either, unless by “crime” we mean government overreach (in THAT case it’s in there, and I’m all ears if we’re having a conversation about preventing government overreach).
You can in theory have liberty and justice, OR you can have “crime prevention” legislation, but they cannot exist simultaneously. They’re mutually exclusive. The former defines a free state and the latter a police state.
The term “liberty and justice for all” takes crime as a given, a fact of life (if there’s no crime, there’s no need for a justice system). It’s an acknowledgement of the obvious – that people can do bad things. Because people can do bad things, we need our liberty protected and we demand justice. The term enshrines our right to self defense, free speech and all the rest, and promises a system of correct, organized, consistent and predictable retaliation (justice) for criminal acts.
I don’t think this is widely understood anymore. It certainly isn’t taught, and yet it is at the core of American Principle. Liberty and justice are two sides of the same coin. Crime prevention legislation is an entirely different coin, of a currency we want nothing to do with. I could say this a thousand different ways, but who gets it?
No, Little Grasshopper; crime prevention is the excuse of every police state. Having your rights respected and protected and having a proper justice system is the best condition of government you could ever ask. The prevention part is a combination of individual self defense and moral leadership, and neither of those are government business. That’s your job as a citizen. Crime prevention is your job. If it could be done with government force, (and all the worst places you can think of) would be crime free.
Via Guns Save Life we have this poll result from England:
Vote now: which bill would you like to see introduced in the Commons?
Total Votes: 9,726
It would be nice to have a scientific poll on the topic. Certain events can and do rapidly change the political climate. It could be the mindset of the subjects have changed because of the brutal murder of a soldier while bystanders watched and took pictures. You would have thought the steady rise in crimes committed with guns in England and Wales (from 2009) would have been sufficient:
The latest Government figures show that the total number of firearm offences in England and Wales has increased from 5,209 in 1998/99 to 9,865 last year - a rise of 89 per cent.
In some parts of the country, the number of offences has increased more than five-fold.
In eighteen police areas, gun crime at least doubled.
…
Only four police forces – Cleveland-Humberside, Cambridgeshire and Sussex – recorded falls in gun crime.
But clearly it wasn’t. We should encourage them and provide examples of how to develop a healthy gun culture. Perhaps we can speed up the recovery of their sick culture which disarms and punishes victims and enables predators.
Sometimes people take a long time to grasp reality but that doesn’t mean reality doesn’t grasp them immediately.
The National Rifle Association’s position and concerns will be made very clear when we file our lawsuit.
Alexa Fritts
Spokeswoman for the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action
May 15, 2013
Signing of Md. gun control bill to launch new legal battles, fight for public support
[This same quote is also attributed to “Jacqueline Otto”. It is possible that it was written by someone else or even a committee. But still, I like it.—Joe]
Is it true that a man who needs an assault weapon to feel like a man is just compensating for the lack of something else? You know what I mean guys.
deeambro
February 4, 2013
Comment to Assault Weapons Ban Likely To Die So That Broader Gun Policy Legislation Can Live
[It's another Markley’s Law Monday!—Joe]
…and of mass killings, and most wars.
It has been the thesis on this blog that disarmament has lead to more death by violence than any other single factor. I submit that such an assertion misses a critical point.
This is hard to put into words. Criminals, evil, exists everywhere and in all times. What separates times of relative peace from times of chaos and mass death then? I submit that it is resolve. A state of mind.
Tam recently spoke of a seeming dichotomy between Europe’s tendency toward docility or complacency and Her capacity for mass killing on a grand scale. I say that they are the same thing.
The willingness to go along to get along, the fear of making waves, the unwillingness to stand up and draw a line in the sand, and more importantly the lack of understanding or embracing of basic principles…together, THAT is the cause of chaos and mass death. Disarmament, while critical to the end of mass killing, and being a virtual guarantee of it, is but a symptom of that cause. The criminal element need but wait for the time to strike, meanwhile preaching peace at the cost of freedom. That includes the criminal element that always lurks in the halls and offices of government.
How else do you explain a thousand Jews guarded by a pathetic few Germans, while no one organizes a rush against the guards to easily overpower them? It wasn’t merely the lack of arms, but the lack of hutzpah THAT RESULTED iN the lack of arms. This is currently the state of all of Europe, the UK, and it’s becoming the case in the U.S.
I recently heard a phrase that will stay with me for the rest of my life. “The most powerful weapon of the oppressor is the the mind of the oppressed.” — David Masters quoting Stephen Banta
Intimidation is in the mind of the intimidated, not in the mind or the hands of the bully. Guns are only a factor in the hands of those who aren’t easily intimidated. For the easily intimidated, guns are pretty well worthless. Discuss.
Later we can talk about who’s the more easily intimidated, the self sufficient individual or the desk jokey politician with a team of interns.
The measure would repeal Chicago’s assault weapons ban and put public safety at risk.
Brooke Anderson
Spokesman for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.
May 23, 2013
Quinn skeptical of Ill. House concealed-carry plan
[So tell me where is the murder rate higher? Is it in cities that don’t have a “assault weapons” ban like Seattle, Dallas, or Miami? Or is in Chicago?
I suppose it does depend upon your definition of “public”. My guess is that Anderson and Quinn are concerned with the safety of their primary constituents—the criminal elements of Chicago. And that includes those holding government office.—Joe]
It’s obvious that classic American liberalism is dead. It has morphed into a radical leftism which has found its standard bearer in Barack Hussein Obama, a rigid, cold-blooded leftist whose end-game is the complete dominance of American politics by a single political party. This is to be achieved using classic Socialist* tactics: making a majority of citizens dependent upon the state, either through jobs (shuffling paper, torturing fellow citizens with endless rules and regulations) or through welfare (redefined as a human right).
The revelations of political repression by the IRS against Conservatives should send chills up the spines of every American. For this is how tyrannies gain traction.
And under Obamacare, the IRS will have even more power.
…
*Socialist: noun \ˈsō-sh(ə-)list\— a Communist who has not yet picked up an AK47.
Robert J. Avrech
May 13, 2013
It Can’t Happen Here
[Not only can it happen here. It is happening here. People who have lived in “those other places” are experiencing déjà vu and we need to undo the damage done.—Joe]
The President and his advisors are behind calculated and concerted efforts to use the power of the Executive Branch to intimidate and silence their political opponents. Or the Federal Government is populated with rogue civil servants who abuse their authority coincidentally in support of the President and his Party’s agenda and the President and his advisors are powerless to stop them.
sandbagger
May 16, 2013
Comment to Words That Should Not Be Strung Together In America, “IRS Building Largest Government Database”
[I suppose there is at least one third option; the Executive Branch quietly rewards those that do it’s dirty work while maintaining plausible deniability.
In any case I can’t think of any options that are very flattering to the integrity of the Obama administration.
There are more than one way to deal with this as someone opposed to the current administration. One is to let them remain in power and exploit their weakness like what Sebastian is saying. Another would be to try and remove them from power. I’m not sure which would be best. “President Biden” does not have a pleasant ring to it but having Obama impeached would be satisfying. I’m just not sure the rewards are worth the effort. A “radioactive” Obama may be better long term than “cleaning house” when you can’t purge the site of the entire toxic waste pit until 2016 anyway.—Joe]
There seems to be some surprise and indignation at the idea that the IRS would be used as a weapon against political opponents. I don’t understand.
First; what did you expect from a communist administration? Really. Can you say, “DUUUH!”? Second; the entire tax code is a weapon of political power. Always has been. It is designed to nudge you into behaviors you’d not be engaged in if you were left to your own devices, and to nudge you out of other behaviors. The very concept of a progressive tax is a political weapon, designed to substantially reduce wealth creation and accumulation. Raising revenue is far down the list, or it is only an ancillary function of the tax code and the IRS. I could on and on, but you should have gotten the point by the time you received your very first paycheck.
The specific targeting of individuals and groups is nothing new at all either. The Clintons were famous for it. Rush Limbaugh has been getting audited every year for many years. The list is longer than this whole blog since its beginning.
A “Gosh, we’re sorry” will change nothing. The only solution, assuming anyone wants one, is to abolish the tax code, abolish the IRS and go to a single digit flat tax. Otherwise quit your bitching– this is exactly what you’ve been asking for. Begging for, actually. Don’t bother pretending to be surprised– it makes you look even more stupid.