Quote of the day—Adam Kredo

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The ATF maintained in its response to the 2021 investigation that the “sole purpose” of its database and ongoing efforts to digitize out-of-business records “is to trace firearms used in crimes.”

More than half-a-million traces were performed in 2021, according to the ATF, and just under half a million in 2020. The ATF, however, says it does not have the ability to determine if the database actually helps solve crimes. The ATF’s National Tracing Center “has no ability to determine the successful prosecution of hundreds of thousands of crime gun traces it completes annually, nor does it have any way to link a trace for a specific prosecution for a particular year,” the agency informed Congress.

Adam Kredo
January 31, 2022
Biden Admin Has Records on Nearly One Billion Gun Sales
[There are number of things of interest in this:

  1. One billion gun sales!
  2. The ATF says they can’t even tell us if there has ever been a single crime solved via the tracing of a gun.
  3. Yet they continue to do a half million gun traces per year – to what purpose?

If the nearly sole purpose was to return stolen property to its rightful owner and they were successful most of the time I would wouldn’t complain too loudly.

If they were instrumental in solving hundreds of thousands of violent and/or property crimes every year I wouldn’t complain too loudly.

Neither of those two scenarios are true.. All evidence indicates the ATF are the criminals.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

Quote of the day—AspiringProle @Pamduckling

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So obviously got a little dick then.

AspiringProle @Pamduckling
Tweeted on January 16, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday it’s another science denier!

Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Congress of the United States

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We would urge that you consider rescinding the proposed regulation that would require FFLs to preserve firearm records older than 20 years. Indeed, the evidence provided by ATF thus far demonstrates that such records likely have little utility in prosecuting crime, yet raise serious concerns about whether ATF is creating a prohibited national gun registry.

Congress of the United States
Signed by 36 members of Congress
Letter from Congress to the ATF
[See also:

We live in interesting times. Prepare accordingly.—Joe]

Quote of the day—John R. Lott

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With violent crime increasing over the last two years, Americans want a solution. But President Joe Biden constantly frames violent crime as only a gun problem. Again, it was the sole focus of Biden’s speech in New York City on Thursday. Even when he mentions police or prosecutors, it was in terms of enforcing gun control laws.

But this “guns first” approach ignores a basic fact – over 92% of violent crimes in America do not involve firearms. And while Biden blames guns for the increase in violent crime, the latest data show that gun crimes fell dramatically.

John R. Lott
February 4, 2022
Biden’s ‘guns first’ approach to violent crime ignores basic facts
[I’m reminded of the television news several decades ago. When they would report on crime an symbol of a handgun would appear in the corner of the screen during the crime report. It didn’t matter if was burglary, a stabbing, or shoplifting and no gun was involved. They were attempting to make guns synonymous with crime.

The democrats defund the police, fail to prosecute criminals, and then tell us they are going to increase restrictions on firearms. This isn’t stupidity or ignorance. This is evil. As I have said before, this the communist way.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated

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I run across these sort of things from time to time:

Joe Huffman Obituary

Here is Joe Huffman’s obituary. Please accept Echovita’s sincere condolences.

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Joe Huffman of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, who passed away on February 3, 2022, at the age of 84, leaving to mourn family and friends. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family.

He was predeceased by : his parents, Earl Thomas and Martha Cisco Eller Huffman; his wife Linda Adelaide Ellis Huffman; and his siblings, Patty Sue Wingler and Shelmer Blackburn, Sr..

He is survived by : his children, Patricia Huffman Shacklette (Peter) of Roanoke Rapids and Keith Huffman (Barbara) of Wilkesboro; his grandchildren, Ellis Shacklette, Brad Calloway and Brittany Hemric (Logan); and his great grandchild Mila Hemric.

Visitation will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church (239 Champion Mt Pleasant Rd, Wilkesboro, NC 28697). A funeral service will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 at 2:00 PM at the same location. A burial will be held on Monday, February 7th 2022 at the same location.

No known relation. But Huffman’s have been in North America since before the Revolutionary War. I also have a ancestor on my dad’s maternal side which was known to have fought in the Revolutionary War.

That was Captain Jesse Gray. He was born in North Carolina. He fought and was captured at the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780. He later fled to Nova Scotia where he was granted land for his service to the Crown. His great grandson, Frank Carey Sr. was born on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of King’s Mountain. Frank came to America when he was sixteen years old and eventually homesteaded on South Road in 1895.

Boomershoot Mecca, where we manufacture the targets, has a great view of the site of Frank Carey’s 1895 homestead on South Road. This picture is from January 17th of this year: Boomershoot Mecca is just behind the camera. South Road is at the near horizon this side of the trees.

image

Three of Frank’s daughters purchased the 40 acre field where Boomershoot is now held. One of those daughters was my grandmother. I inherited that 40 acre field.

Quote of the day—Alan Gottlieb

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Proponents of these laws, and especially the gun control initiatives passed in recent years, sold the public a bill of goods, and now everybody knows it. Voters were told in 2014 that Initiative 594 would reduce gun-related violence, and today’s data proves they were misled. Four years later, the Seattle-based gun prohibition lobby promised Initiative 1639 would prevent gun-related homicides, and they lied again. In Olympia, anti-gun politicians are pushing more gun restrictions right now, with the same promises.

The billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby and their allies in Olympia claim that so-called ‘gun violence’ is an epidemic. Frankly, the intellectual dishonesty of the gun control crowd is the real public health crisis.

Alan Gottlieb
CCRKBA Chairman
January 31, 2022
CCRKBA: KING COUNTY, WA GUN MURDERS, SHOOTINGS PROVE ANTI-GUNNERS LIED
[Hmmm… I’m not sure this is true. Can evil people be a “public health crisis”? It’s at least a little bit twisted in the mixing of metaphors, so to speak.

At the higher levels the anti-gun people know restrictions on access to firearms won’t make the general public safer. You can go back for at least 25 years and listen carefully to the speeches by President Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Diana Feinstein, and the media releases by Handgun Control Inc, The Brady Campaign, etc., etc. Typically they word things very carefully such that they usually don’t actually lie with statements about increased restrictions on firearm ownership and use being a net win for public safety. They knew then and they know now that the real reason for the increased restrictions has nothing to do with public safety. They will imply public safety is the reason but they almost never say it.

There have even been cases where they come right out and say they know it. In his book Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy page 107. Dennis A. Henigan wrote:

I am not arguing here that higher rates of gun ownership cause higher rates of crime, violent crime, or homicide. Such causation is difficult to show because so many other factors bear on the incidence of crime. For instance, simple cross-national comparisons of gun availability and crime do not control for the degree to which various countries impose legal restrictions on firearms. It also is difficult to sort out whether high levels of gun ownership lead to high crime rates or whether high crime rates lead to high levels of gun ownership.

Henigan was a HCI and/or Brady Campaign lawyer for years. And he was even acting president for a while. He admits gun ownership rates appear to be uncorrelated with crime rates.

Most of these people are not ignorant or stupid. They are evil.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Andrew Kerr

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The state of Washington told Black Lives Matter in early January that it must “immediately cease” fundraising in the state because of the charity’s lack of financial transparency, but it has ignored the order, according to records obtained by the Washington Examiner .

The Washington Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Division notified BLM in a Jan. 5 letter that it could face fines up to $2,000 for each donation it solicits and receives from Washington residents until it submits records detailing its financial activities . Despite the notice, BLM has continued to accept contributions from the state’s residents as recently as Monday evening.

Andrew Kerr
February 1, 2022
BLM fundraises in Washington despite order to ‘immediately cease’
[If the Governor Inslee administration fails to hold BLM responsible for these violations it will make their allegiance with evil clear to everyone. As it is the democrat voters give their own politicians a lot of slack. I don’t think they will do that for BLM on this issue.—Joe]

Update: I wrote the above on February 2nd before finding this article early on February 3rd:

Black Lives Matter shut down all of its online fundraising streams late Wednesday afternoon, just days after California threatened to hold the charity’s leaders personally liable over its lack of financial transparency.

…

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita previously said BLM’s refusal to answer basic questions about its finances and operations fits a common and disturbing pattern.

“It appears that the house of cards may be falling, and this happens eventually with nearly every scam, scheme, or illegal enterprise,” Rokita, a Republican, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “I see patterns that scams kind of universally take: failure to provide board members, failure to provide even executive directors, failure to make your filings available. It all leads to suspicion.”

I did not expect that. I expected BLM would continue fundraising until people were actually arrested.

Quote of the day—Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue

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What started as a temporary means to protect the community from unknown risks of a virus has turned into a circus of mandates that no longer make sense to any rational person. Enough is enough. People all over our great State who live, work, and worship in New Orleans are united in this effort to take back control of their lives and families.

Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue
February 1, 2022
New Orleans Mayor Sued Over COVID-19 Vaccine Passports
[I’m interested to see the result of this. The entire State of Washington has a mask mandate, could such a lawsuit be successful in Washington?

Here is the legal basis in Rodrigue’s lawsuit:

This is an action for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging Defendants’ issuance and enforcement of mandates for vaccination and mask usage in the City of New Orleans in violation of individual constitutional liberties and the separation of powers. First, the vaccinate-or-test mandate violates La. Const. art, I, § 5 by infringing on the fundamental right to privacy with overly broad restricts lacking no accommodation for religious objections, personal or philosophical choice, natural immunity, medical contraindications, or the wide range of factors influencing the severity of the disease process. Second, the vaccinate-or-test mandate denies equal protection under La. Const. art. 1, § 3 by classifying persons based on vaccination status and threatening to punish the exercise of a fundamental right in order to coerce compliance. Third, the mask mandate is unconstitutionally vague and overly broad, and thus fails due process under La. Const. art. 1, § 2. Fourth the third-party enforcement provisions offend due process under La. Const. art. 1, § 2 by unlawfully conscripting private persons into the role of public enforcement officers under the threat of criminal and regulatory sanctions and the denial of municipal services. Finally, the Mayor’s emergency orders violate the separation of powers under the State constitution and the City Charter by purporting to enact law without legislative authorization.

I found this interesting and may mean such a lawsuit in other jurisdictions would fail even if this one succeeds:

Louisiana’s constitutional right to privacy “is one of the most conspicuous instances in which our citizens have chosen a higher standard of individual liberty than that afforded by the jurisprudence interpreting the federal constitution.”

…

The right to privacy under Article I, § 5 includes “the right to decide whether to obtain or reject medical treatment.”

And, of course, the city will drag their feet for months or years and try to make the case moot before it can be decided.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Downtown Seattle Association

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For far too long our city has essentially ceded Third and Pike to criminal enterprises and it’s time to put these people out of business. We need urgent action to get rid of the illegal activity in this area before more people are hurt and more lives are impacted.

Downtown Seattle Association
January 19, 2022
Notorious Seattle intersection in spotlight after recent shootings
[This is on what Barb and I call “Mug Me Street”.

On Second Street just south of Pike, a little over a block away, is a Target store. The shoplifters hit them multiple times a day and the local communists admire the thieves:

John Ray Lomack is a prolific shoplifter who is charged with brazenly stealing a 70″ television from Target. It was all caught on video surveillance. Kreig thought it was pretty cool.

“You gotta admire the boldness of walking out with a box the size of a smart car,” Kreig wrote.

After learning Lomack was released on his own personal recognizance, despite his nearly four-decades worth of criminal behavior, Kreig offered to buy light-on-crime Judge Kuljinder Dhillon a drink. Then she implies low-income and poor people are criminals and that Target will survive, so it’s no big deal.

We are going through the same transformation as was witnessed in the Soviet Union and elsewhere.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

Labradar update

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As I mentioned a month ago I and many others have have problems with the Labradar smart phone app connecting to their chronograph.

My old phone worked with the app. That phone died and my new phone, a Galaxy S21 5G, would not make the Bluetooth connection. I purchased a few relatively cheap ($30->$90.00) phones for testing. The Nokia 2.1 – Android 9.0 Pie (Go Edition) actually worked most of the time. I have no plans to put a SIM card in it and use it as a real phone. It’s just an remote control accessory for the chronograph.

Last Thursday I received an email from Labradar:announcing (highlighting added):

The new Labradar App for iPhones/iPads and Androids is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store*. New features include.

  • Improved Bluetooth connectivity
  • Create notes for each shot and series
  • Add weather conditions
  • Create custom names for each series
  • Ke can be displayed in Joules and Ft.lb
  • Export files via email in CSV format
  • Create a custom name for your LabRadar
  • Quick entry of bullet weight for Power Factor calculations

Great. I’ll bet I wasted my money on the phone as a remote control, right?

Wrong. My Galaxy S21 still won’t connect. To be fair, they did say, “improved”, not “fully functional”. The Nokia 2.1 now works all the time instead of just most of the time. It is an improvement.

Quote of the day—LJ Buccieri @LjBuccieri

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Image

LJ Buccieri @LjBuccieri
Tweeted on January 18, 2022
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday!

I find it very telling she went straight to the insult rather than even attempting a rational and/or factual argument. Once you accept that then the obliviousness of women carrying guns is entirely consistent with the assessment of “totally clueless”.

H/T to In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]

Statistics experiment results

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As I requested last weekend people gave me some numbers regarding how many people they knew in the following categories:

  1. Had a reaction to a mRNA “vaccine” which resulted in an ER visit and/or hospitalization.
  2. Had a reaction to a mRNA “vaccine” which resulted in long term (two or more months) adverse effects.
  3. Had a reaction to a mRNA “vaccine” which resulted in death.
  4. Had COVID-19 which which resulted in an ER visit and/or hospitalization.
  5. Had COVID-19 which resulted in long term (two or more months) adverse effects.
  6. Had COVID-19 which resulted in death.

The raw numbers and simple statistics are:

Question 1 2 3 4 5 6
Vaccine COVID-19
ER/Hosp | Long Term | Death | ER/Hosp | Long Term | Death
1 0 0 1 1 1
0 0 0 1 1 0
  0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 1 0 0
1 2 0 1 3 0
0 0 0 0 2 0
  0 1 0 1 0 2
0 0 0 0 0 1
60 0 4 1 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
3 0 2 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 1 0 1
2 2 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 1
0 0 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 0 2
1 5 0 2 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 1 0 0
Total 71 14 7 17 16 16
Mean 2.54 0.50 0.25 0.61 0.57 0.57
Std Dev 11.29 1.11 0.84 0.74 0.84 0.74

We have an outlier in row 9. A 60 when the mean is 2.54 (including the outlier!). This is nearly 5.1 standard deviations above the mean. If this sample were part of the same population as the rest of the samples the odds of that happening by chance are about 1 in 5.6 million. I considered keeping this row anyway and ascribe the greater numbers to a much greater set of people known. But the ratios are nowhere close to another other samples. So, for the following discussion I’m going exclude that row. You can easily modify any conclusions on your own if you want to include that row.

This gives us the following simple statistics:

Totals: 11 14 3 16 14 16
Mean 0.41 0.52 0.11 0.59 0.52 0.59
Std Dev 0.80 1.12 0.42 0.75 0.80 0.75

There is still one “vaccine” death report with a 4.46 standard deviation which one could argue is an outlier but I’m leaving it in. The numbers we are dealing with are just so small that things may look odd when they really aren’t.

At least 76% of the U.S. population, just under 250,000,000 people, has had at least one dose of one of the vaccines.

Our sample is 27 people. A rough rule of thumb is that people knows about 600 people. I think that is a bit high but let’s go for it since it is based on some evidence as opposed to my gut feel from a collection of other sources (sociological issues develop when the groups get larger than about 200). But knowing 600 is different than having a tribe of 600.

With this information our 27 reports represents about 16,200 people.

This means that the odds of dying from COVID-19 is about 16 / 16,200 or 0.099%. This is not the odds of dying once you were infected. This is the odds of dying after living through two years of the pandemic and taking whatever precautions, including vaccinations, these people engaged in.

The odds of dying from the “vaccine” is about 3 / 12,312 or 0.024%. This set of people deliberately exposed themselves to this risk which is about 1/5 the risk of dying if they were to continuing using whatever precautions to avoid being infected and dying of COVID. But these numbers are too small to have much reliability. A difference of just one less or one more changes the odds to 0.016% or 0.032%. Even the higher number is less than one third the risk of a COVID death.

This does not take into account the apparent higher risk of vaccination for young people and the higher risk of COVID death for old people and other risk factors such as obesity, etc. At some point on the curves we are likely to see the tradeoffs cross over. It is easy to imagine that a young healthy person has a higher risk of death from the vaccine than from taking some precautions and risking a COVID infection and death. Also not taken into account is the probable higher vaccination rate in those with higher risk factors.

For the long term adverse effects the odds are worse for the “vaccine” than COVID. They are 14 / 16,200 versus 14 / 12,312 or 0.086% versus 0.113%. The same caveats as in the death rates apply.

The ER/hospitalization rates are 16 / 16,200 and 11 / 12,312 or 0.099% and 0.089%. Or for our sample size, essentially the same.

My conclusions from this is that the average risk of death from COVID is significantly greater than the average risk of death from the “vaccines”. The average long term adverse effects (known at this time) are a little higher.

I have had the two Moderna shots early last year and the booster shot 10 days ago. The side effects for the first two shots were a sore arm for several days, and chills, fever and low energy for one day. The booster effect were a slightly sore arm and slightly lower energy for one day. Barb’s experience with Pfizer were essentially the same for the first two and somewhat greater than mine for the booster a couple months ago. I’m confident we made the right decisions for us. Our risk of death is now much lower and we escaped the known adverse effects of the shots.

Make the best decision you can for yourself.

Of course is it California

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This was in the package with a recent purchase I made:

image

One might be inclined to give someone a pass on this if it were a label on something like a household cleaner with a pleasant smell. Or maybe even your gun oil. But I don’t think you would arrive at the actual produce even with a game of twenty questions.

It is a cell phone holster:

image

How many trees will be cut down, how much electricity will be used in the creation of those paper inserts, how much landfill space will be used, to save zero people from consuming the cell phone holster and causing a birth defect or have other reproductive harm? Anyone stupid enough to eat that piece of plastic is going to be too stupid to read and remember what the warning was about.

Of course it is California. It is not about saving lives. It is about exerting control and demoralizing the populace.

Getting woke?

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This is interesting:

Voters overwhelmingly believe “fake news” is a problem, and a majority agree with former President Donald Trump that the media have become “the enemy of the people.”

A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat agree that the media are “truly the enemy of the people,” including 34% who Strongly Agree. Thirty-six percent (36%) don’t agree, including 23% who Strongly Disagree. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Is this a different type of “woke” spreading across the nation?

We live in interesting times.

Simplistic thinking

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When I read stuff like this it is like I’m reading something written by an eight grader:

It’s Time for a Guaranteed Basic Income in Washington State

With basic incomes, more people are able to afford food and housing, pay off debt, get full-time jobs, save for emergencies, and get the physical and mental health support they need. Cash payments dramatically improve the lives of our neighbors and communities. That’s a source of hope. Unfortunately, the very need for GBI also reveals just how many of us are close to losing everything; even people working multiple jobs that offer little security for workers.

There is no hint of appreciation for the glaring problems of costs, fraud, and demotivation. I was reminded of what I posted about The Communist Manifesto:

Assumptions critical to the reasoning which followed were unsupported and, at least to my present day perspective, either blatantly wrong or highly suspect. Even conceding the authors their assumptions without contest the conclusions reached with such confidence were as unstable as any house of cards.

And yet, these people, with such simplistic thinking, are making progress.

No thank you

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Via email from Gerald F.:

‘Morality pills’ may be the US’s best shot at ending the coronavirus pandemic, according to one ethicist

It seems that the U.S. is not currently equipped to cooperatively lower the risk confronting us. Many are instead pinning their hopes on the rapid development and distribution of an enhancement to the immune system – a vaccine.

But I believe society may be better off, both in the short term as well as the long, by boosting not the body’s ability to fight off disease but the brain’s ability to cooperate with others. What if researchers developed and delivered a moral enhancer rather than an immunity enhancer?

Moral enhancement is the use of substances to make you more moral. The psychoactive substances act on your ability to reason about what the right thing to do is, or your ability to be empathetic or altruistic or cooperative.

And what is the morality of forcing others to adhere to a version of morality different than their firmly held belief?

And of course some (most?) would refuse which the author suggests isn’t that big of an obstacle (apparently oblivious to the practical problems of dosage, secrecy, and costs with this sort of scale):

administer it secretly, perhaps via the water supply

And if you follow the link you will discover the “moral reasoning” of the author is somewhat twisted (highlighting added):

My argument for this is that if moral bioenhancement ought to be compulsory, then its administration is a matter of public health, and for this reason should be governed by public health ethics. I argue that the covert administration of a compulsory moral bioenhancement program better conforms to public health ethics than does an overt compulsory program. In particular, a covert compulsory program promotes values such as liberty, utility, equality, and autonomy better than an overt program does. Thus, a covert compulsory moral bioenhancement program is morally preferable to an overt moral bioenhancement program.

I find it very telling the author values “utility” and “equality”. And dares to suggest a covert program of forced “bioenhancement” is consistent with “liberty” and “autonomy”.

No thank you.

I want an underground bunker in Idaho.

Quote of the day—dittybopper

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The only real difference between Communism and Naziism is that when you point out the millions who were killed by the Nazis, no one ever says “Well, real Naziism has never been tried”.

dittybopper
January 29, 2022
Comment to Quote of the day—The Socialist Party @OfficialSPGB
[There are many other differences of interest to historians, sociologists, and psychologists. But in terms of what you need to know to make appropriate decisions in response to them this is correct.—Joe]

Quote of the day—The Socialist Party @OfficialSPGB

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There have been no “failures”. To fail it must first exist. Which country’s population has managed to free themselves and create a class-free society where the PEOPLE collectively owned the natural resources, industries etc? Most people don’t know what socialism / communism is.

The Socialist Party @OfficialSPGB
Tweeted on January 21, 2022
[If it has never existed then all the millions of people who died in the failed attempts surely must be considered “a clue”. But that they persist tells us one, or both, of two things:

  1. They are totally without a clue.
  2. Killing tens or hundreds of millions of people is intentional.

Therefore, if they persist, we should just say, “No!” until we run out of ammo, then affix bayonets and continue with hand-to-hand.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Brandon Smith

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The political left is now the side that is most appealing to narcissists, sociopaths, the emotionally unstable, etc., and this attraction is forming a mob that can be easily exploited by the establishment.

Brandon Smith
January 13, 2022
For Leftists, Your Freedom Is Their Misery – Your Slavery Is Their Joy
[There is more than a little truth in this.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Justice Sonia Sotomayor

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the issue is [in] no other constitutional right do we condition on permitting different jurisdictions to pass different regulations…

Justice Sonia Sotomayor
November 3, 2021
What Will the U.S. Supreme Court Decide?
[With Justice Sotomayor pointing out the error of their ways it is no wonder New York is taking defensive action.—Joe]