Freedom vs. Self-restraint; Can vs. Should

There is a line from one of the Celtic Thunder songs that goes like this:

Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free…

Where “fancy is free.”  That is an idiom for “fancy free” where “fancy” means whatever your imagination conjures for you to do.  You are free to do whatever your little cottin’ pickin’ heart desires.  In the context of this song, the motive is pure and good.  Just as the thoughts surrounding the word “gay” were pure and good until a few decades ago.

Freedom is nice.  It is good knowing we are free to do whatever we want.

The producers of the movie “The Interview” were free to do whatever they want.  So they created a movie full of vile, vulgar, and generally tasteless words and behavior, ostensibly to cater to a particular demographic that believes that type of dialogue is cool.  The film made money.  Everyone except the North Koreans were happy.

Is “freedom” being abused?  Absolutely.

The leftist protestors in New York are “fancy free”.  Al Sharpton and Bill deBlasio, too.  They are free to say what they want – even if what they say is based on lies and distortions.  And they do, despite the consequences of their actions.  The end justifies the means.  Their “means” are lies and distortions.  Their end?  Who knows?   Their “freedom” to spout distortions that happen to also be incendiary is more important to them then the truth.  They prefer the consequences of their distortions than the consequences of the truth.

This concern about being “incendiary” or “offensive” is a two edged sword.  Desire for restraint depends on whose ox is being gored.  If I chose to use my freedom to speak out against Islamic ideology because that ideology promotes violence against infidels, and that speech upsets some Muslims, I would not want someone telling me to shut up – just because someone is offended and might go into a psychotic rage.  The truth is more important than offense of the truth.

Speech used to promote lies, distortions, slander (untruthful claims), should not be given the same claim to “freedom” as promoting truth.  Al Sharpton and Bill deBlasio were distorting the truth in their “free speech” to promote their political agenda.  They failed to acknowledge the facts of the cases they used to incite violence.  They abused their rights to “free speech.”

In the case of profane movies and vulgar TV shows and other media, they, too, abuse their right to freedom and free speech.

Islam would not have as much of an attraction in the West – with their perverse version of “morality” - if we in the West treated our freedoms with greater respect.

In fact, we have become so “fancy free” in our culture that we have become immune to knowing what is of value and what is not.  We can no longer distinguish between what we “can” say and what we “should” say.  We use “freedom” as an excuse to turn off our sense of morality and just about any other sense that we have remaining.  “Can” trumps “should.”  Self-restraint?  What’s that?

Lone wolves? Really? Officials unleash a “denial of sanity” attack.

You techies out there have heard of “denial of service” attacks where a computer system is overloaded with incoming trash that clogs up your processing system or network.  Well, we are experiencing a denial of sanity attack where so much bull shit is coming in from our leaders that our sense of sanity is being challenged.

The cop killer in New York?  The Boston Marathon terrorists?  The Hassan Fort Hood Massacre?  Dozens more, reported and unreported?  These are “loan wolves?” 

Lone wolves:  Really?  Saying these are “lone wolves” is a denial of sanity attack by those we have graced with authority and “leadership.”  You get enough lone wolves doing the same sort of things and you have a distributed pack of wolves.  And many among this pack of wolves, not coincidentally, share a common belief system, a common ideology, some call it a common “faith”:  Islam.  Islam, the ancient, barbaric belief system that motivates 95% of all terrorist acts in the world today.

Loan wolves:  All with a common motivation and common purpose.  Islam provides an excuse, a justification, to release their pent up anger and psychotic rage on whatever pisses them off at the moment.

Unfortunately, our “denial of sanity” leaders – Obama, deBlasio, Sharpton, Holder, and dozens of others – add to the motivation of these “loan wolves” with their blame of everyone except the lone wolves and the ideologies that motivate most of them.  They elevate and coddle these scum in the same way a punk in school is rewarded for his behavior by punishing the entire class.  Example:  Instead of profiling Muslims coming to and fro in our airports, we are all subject to invasive, costly, often humiliating searches.  (Note to self:  Always consider Islam more “fascist political ideology” than mere “religion.”)

These deniers of reality claim we have a “race” problem.  Yup, we do now.  They renewed it.   From 1950 through 2004, the “race problem” was fantastically improved to the point where race was not on our list of national problems at all.  Drastic change resulted with the arrival of Obama as president.

Just as Obama complains about the United States when he is speaking in enemy nations, he also complains about the 90% of us who are law abiding citizens and defends or embraces the terrorists, the psychotics, and the scum.  You don’t think it isn’t motivational to these “loan wolves” when the highest leaders of the land excuse their behavior and condemn the rest of us for who knows what? 

Couple this with any predisposition these lone wolf elements have toward ideologies like Islam, Crypts, Nation of Islam, Black Panthers, Communist Party, CAIR, etc. and you generate a whole new cadre of “loan wolves.”  And this is exactly what our leaders are doing.

Pam Geller provides compelling insight in this based on the ongoing New York City fiasco motivated by deBlasio, Sharpton, and Obama HERE.  And Diana West comments on “See No Islam” HERE.

 

Recent encouraging events…

What could possibly go wrong?

It is the season of the year to turn our thoughts from the discouraging events that have occurred throughout the year and focus on some of the positive and encouraging happenings that have recently taken place.

Here is a listing of some of them, along with an open-minded, realistic assessment of how truly “encouraging” these event might really be.

The election: 

Republicans won the Senate.  Whew.  Allelujah!  Finally we can reverse Obamacare, secure our borders, reunite with our allies, pay off the national debt, become energy independent and admit Islam is an evil subversive political ideology.

The reality:   Look at what the Republican House is doing now:  promoting amnesty legislation.  Look at what Romney just said:  “We have to swallow hard” to pass amnesty legislation.  Even when the newly minted republican majority convenes, they cannot overcome either a presidential veto or a senate filibuster.  The choices will be either government gridlock or compromise which is most likely to favor more illegal immigrants, more government spending, more debt, and no oil pipeline and no energy independence. 

Here are a few current Drudge Report headlines on immigration:

SESSIONS: Republicans On Verge Of Breaking Campaign Promises...
LEFT MOCKS: 'War' on Obama's immigration order lasted about 5 minutes...
'Symbolic' Vote on Amnesty...
Gutiérrez presses 'millions' to get documents ready...
Mayors plan summit to implement...
Guatemala paper reports Obama decree has increased illegal immigration to USA...

The result:  Expect more talk but don’t expect very much change.

The Ferguson Grand Jury decision:

No charges were brought against officer Wilson of the Ferguson PD.  Yippee.  Justice is served.

The Reality:  The President invites thugs, rioters and mob members to the White House to discuss the implication of Ferguson.  The media and our federal government continue to distrust and disparage our legal system, rule of law, results of the Ferguson Grand Jury and police departments nationwide.  The punks, racists, and hoodlums are being coddled and celebrated.

The result:  Expect a further breakdown of civility in our cities.

Gas prices:

Gas prices are down to around $2.60 from a high close to $4.00 in the past year.  That is a result of an oversupply due in most part to our burgeoning shale oil industry.  Yippee.  We’re turning the corner on energy independence.

The reality:  Prices are lower because of reduced demand and increased supply.  Demand is lower because of less consumption due to recessions in a number of nations.  Supply remains high because Saudi Arabia does not want to lose market share.  So they are purposely pumping at a steady rate to create an oversupply that lowers prices to a point that will destroy the profitability of our shale industry.  They will do everything in their power to discourage the US from becoming energy independent. 

The result:  Unless the profitability of the US shale oil industry is maintained by subsidizing the difference between the market price and cost of production plus a reasonable profit, that industry will wither and die.

Stock prices:

Stock prices are at record highs.  Things are looking good.

The reality:  Stock prices are at record highs because interest rates are at record lows.  This is a temporary condition that is impossible to perpetuate for two reasons:  The price to earnings ratios do not support the current stock prices and the US dollar cannot long survive record low interest rates.  In fact, the pattern of the market of the past several months is mimicking the pattern leading up to the collapse of 2008.

The result:  Look for a significant collapse of the stock market within the next year.

Unemployment rate:

The unemployment rate is down to below 6% from a high of near 10%.  Wow!  This is great!

The reality:  The Labor Force Participation rate is at its lowest level since 1978.  Most new jobs are part time and lower paying.

The result:  “Despite monthly job growth that has surged well over 200,000 this year [mostly part time/low wage jobs], average annual wage gains remain stuck at 2% — barely enough to keep pace with inflation. Employers' failure to provide bigger raises has crimped consumer spending, which makes up 70% of the economy.”

Source:  USA Today

And finally, Google searches for “economic collapse” increased 152% during this past week.

There you have it.  I have successfully turned what appears to be a variety of silk purses into a number of sows ears.  Sorry about that.  But that is reality.

We Won’t Enforce Civility…

Why was Ferguson burned and looted after the Grand Jury rendered its judgment on the fate of Officer Wilson?  Why was the Missouri National Guard not called in?  Why did neither the St. Louis County nor the Ferguson Police Department fire a single shot to defend the community against looting and burning?

Here is what I predicted two weeks ago:

There will be those who want law enforcement to compromise, to “back off”, to allow a few windows to be smashed, a few businesses to be looted, a few cars to be destroyed, a few cops to be bloodied.  God forbid.  That gives special privilege to jackasses.  It mocks the rule of law.  It’s like creating a special “no-go” zone in our cities for hooligans, just like the Muslim ghettos in Dearborn and many European cities where Islamic law is given the green light to fester and terrorize.

And it has come to pass.  Democratic Governor Jay Nixon, apparently following Obama’s lead, invoked the “back off” strategy so as to not offend the demonstrators, looters, shooters and arsonists.

Well, how did that work out for Ferguson?

Such is the results of the new “no go zone” in one of this nation’s great cities.  I expect we will see a lot more of this type of non-enforcement of our laws and civility.  “We cannot won’t legislate civility” has now replaced “we can’t legislate morality.” 

Muslim and black neighborhoods have similar expectations of “justice”…

We have read of the creation of  Muslim “no go  zones” in several cities in Europe and even places in the US like Dearborn, Michigan.  Native law enforcement and criminal justice systems are not welcomed in these zones.  Established authority – police - avoid these areas.  These are areas with concentrations of Muslims who…

• Refuse to assimilate into the local mainstream culture,
• Have their own legal system and sense of justice (Sharia),
• Have a profound lack of education and are ignorant of civilized behavior and mores, and
• Have a culturally promoted hostility toward civil authority and the prevailing culture in the non-Muslim nations in which they reside.

And I’ll throw this in:  In the US, these Muslim populations are typically Democrats who would probably prefer to be either socialist, communist, or pure Sharia adherents.

Of course, “no alcohol, no gambling, no music or concerts, no porn or prostitution and no drugs or smoking” also means you get a body part cut off for violating any of these Sharia mandates.

To some it up:  These Muslim neighborhoods resent and are openly hostile to outside authority, laws, and criminal justice systems.  They prefer paternalistic and local authoritarian systems, minimizing the need for a sense of personal responsibility.

Moving on to predominantly black neighborhoods in the US, these share similar characteristics.  Using Ferguson as an example, they…

• Refuse to assimilate into the local mainstream culture,
• Have their own legal system and sense of justice,
• Have a profound lack of education and are ignorant of civilized behavior and mores, and
• Have a culturally promoted hostility toward civil authority and the prevailing culture in the larger community in which they reside.

And yes, they tend to be Democrats with a tendency to prefer socialist, Communist, or Sharia forms of governance, all paternalistic and authoritarian, minimizing the need for a sense of personal responsibility.

Whitey not allowed – especially whitey’s criminal justice system.

And here is the greatest tragedy:  We have a president who defends and promotes their separatist preferences.  We have a president who believes that our prevailing form of governance and criminal justice system ought not to apply to them.  He believes they should be immune from our prevailing form of justice and be subject only to their own.  The problem with that is their form of justice is street justice – mob rule justice -  another form of tribal justice. 

Urban black neighborhoods appear to prefer that our constitutionally-based civilized system of justice not apply to them.  They are demanding their own mob rule justice.  And our president agrees with them.

I am not surprised that peddlers of Communism and Islam are making inroads among these ignorant masses.  They are ripe pickins’ for these paternalistic and authoritarian ideologies.  The ignorant and uncivilized require the type of strict societal structure these ideologies are known to provide.  Unfortunately, for those who follow this path, they will be whipsawed between bouts of anarchy and gang/tribal dictatorships.  In the words of Janice Joplin:  “’Freedom’ is just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’” and they will become even more like animals – preferring a culture of infighting and barbarism.

If the president has his way, they may get what they wish for.  And our nation will be much worse for it.

Obama: Inciter-in-Chief

The juxtaposition of Obama’s speech last night with the concurrent outbreak of violence was telling – almost scripted, on que.

While Obama was clearly inferring that the law was applied in a discriminatory fashion in Ferguson, referring to the Grand Jury ruling, buildings were being set on fire and shots were being fired.

Here is one of Obama’s inciteful (not insightful) comments:

“…there are issues in which law too often feels as if it is being applied in a discriminatory fashion.”

Here instead of taking the side of the law and the legal system and the Grand Jury results in Ferguson, he pour gasoline on the situation by taking the side of the hoodlums, mobs, and anarchy.

In another gem:

“…there are Americans who are deeply upset, even angry.  It’s an understandable reaction.” he said in response to the Grand Jury decision.

Understandable to whom?  It is understandable only to the lynch mobs and the chronically ignorant – those who don’t care about the legal system and the rule of law.  He is in a sense excusing the angry who turn violent, and destructive while he double speaks encouragement toward “peaceful protest.” 

He shouldn’t even be encouraging demonstrations and protests of any kind.  Demonstrate why?  Protest against what?  The laws?  Peacefulness?  Against law enforcement’s attempts to protect neighbors from themselves?  Against the legal process?  It appears Obama is encouraging demonstrations against all of these things.

What is the definition of “terrorist?”

“The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.”

These rampaging, destructive mobs are terrorists.  Obama is inciting terrorists in his own nation.  He is a cancer that is promoting the destruction of our nation.  We need to act to get him out of there – out of his office used as a platform to destroy us.  Yet somehow we are intimidated into inaction.

Obama is indeed the America-hating Inciter-in-Chief.

One Long-Term Solution…

Many conservatives feel we are out of options for turning this country around – reversing its inertia leading toward an oppressive bankrupt socialist state.  Why do we feel this way?  Here are a few reasons:

• The proportion of the US electorate that has been coopted by government’s entitlement culture is close to 50%.  Biting the hand that feeds them (aka “voting against the handouts”) is not an option for them.  To them it would be like asking for a pay cut.  It won’t happen no matter how compelling truly conservative candidates may be.
• Many others who may not be among the recipients of government largess feel “white guilt” or “rich guilt” or “survivors guilt” or whatever you want to call it that causes them to believe we ought to require forced redistribution to the less fortunate (who may be addicts, slackers, illegal aliens, or criminals), whether they have earned the government hand out or not.  Most often not.   These misled guilt-ridden do-gooders see generosity and benevolence as the domain of government (the shrinking number of tax payers) and not the free will choice of the individual.
• Others feel the national debt is beyond the tipping point – the point where default is inevitable, whether in 2 days,  2 years or 20 years.   Nothing the government can do with tax policy, quantitative easing or interest rate manipulation can do anything about this inevitability.
• Yet others see our leftist, progressive, and some conservative leader’s obliviousness to Islam being the root cause of terror in the world – an evil ideology that has caused this country to literally spend trillions on defense, national security, and intelligence and suffer the sacrifice and indignities of body searches and loss of privacy.  They call heinous atrocities “work place violence” or “social maladjustment” and refuse to identify obvious acts of Islamic-inspired violence as “Islamic.”
• Increasing numbers of us have lost trust in our government, the greater majority of elected and appointed officials, most media and most of academia.  Honesty and transparency have been replaced by personal agendas, profits, and corruption, either to achieve personal gain or to foist a progressive program on their subjects, a la Obamacare.  The end justifies the means.  Lying and deception are just two of the means among the innumerable immoral means in the leftist/progressive tool chest.
• And finally, there is very little difference in the world view of most Republicans and Democrats.  Most elected officials of both parties belie their political promises and instead strive for bigger government to satisfy their ever grasping, ever demanding, and increasingly government-dependent constituencies.

A number of conservatives have proposed dramatic options to the status quo. 

Mark Levin proposed a series of Constitutional amendments called The Liberty Amendments that would “take our country back.”  The trouble with that is that there are too many Blue States and Blue Congressional Districts (leftist/progressive influences) with too much influence to make such amendments remotely possible.

Another partial solution was proposed by former presidential candidate Herman Cain – his 9-9-9 – a tax reform proposal that would transition us to The Fair Tax.  Cain was not electable.  And there is too much liberal/progressive and business resistance to significant tax reform.

A number of piecemeal secessionist movements in several states, including Texas, California, and Colorado have been simmering.  Piecemeal movements are a start and break the ice to inform us of the possibility and precedent for a geographic solution to the current ideological incompatibility and conflict.  HERE and HERE are links to summaries of the status of several secessionist movements around the nation.  In fact, HERE is a book that describes the Vermont and other secessionist movements.  Take a look at related books on this topic as well as reader reviews.  Very enlightening.

And of course we have our conservative Christians – in declining numbers – who are awaiting the 3rd “Great Awakening” that will save our nation.  Don’t hold your breath on that one.

The problem we face – the obstacle to meaningful reform – is the negative influence of the leftist/progressive segment of our society – and the urban dependents they cater to:  The poor, the yuppies, the corporations.  The leftist/progressives demand conformity of the rest of the nation with their overbearing “don’t shoot your eye out” paternalistic mindset and programs.  They will force their programs upon the rest of us by whatever means possible including lies, half-truths, hand-outs, promises and Pollyannish “hope.”

Where are most of these leftist/progressive influences located?

Conveniently, most are located in specific geographic areas of the nation.  These locations can be defined several ways:

By States – 2012 Presidential Election

This map shows the states that voted for Obama in 2012 in blue.  Note that ALL of the RED states are continuous – a fortunate arrangement.

By States – based on population – 2012 Presidential Election

Don’t get too excited by the amount of Red in the above map.  That map is based on area of states, not population.  The map below on the other hand, shows the same 2012 election results by POPULATION of states.  It paints a much different picture show a significant portion of the population voting Blue – democrat.  But then again, we need to remember we are a REPUBLIC, not a democracy.

By County – 2012 Presidential Election

This map shows the 2012 election by County.  It shows the same general pattern as the state map, above, but with a more refined pattern not dependent on state borders.

By Congressional Districts – 2014 Mid-term Election

Two years later, in 2014, we see the Red spread over 90% of the area of the nation, with the Blue confined to mostly large metropolitan regions and traditional liberal bastions.  The West Coast, a portion of the SW, the Upper Midwest, the Northeast Coastal Urban Corridor, and a sprinkling of districts in the South, primarily larger metropolitan areas.

 

What do these maps tell us?  The leftist/progressive strongholds are concentrated along the West Coast, a portion of a couple of states in the Southwest, the Upper Midwest, the Northeast Coastal Urban Corridor, and large population centers in the Southeast.

What can we do with this information?  We know where they live.  Knowing where they live gives us several options. 

1. We can choose not to live in those areas.  But this still leaves us with the problem of the Blue leftists/progressives controlling the rest of us through their unethical and immoral tactics, even though we don’t live among them.
2. We can serve the greater good and promote the concept of giving each of these competing groups, both Red and Blue, the option to control their own destiny within their own geographic areas.

What if we were able to give each of these groups, the Red and the Blue their own areas to exclusively control?  What if those with Red ideals could govern as we choose, and those with Blue ideals could govern as they choose?  That is the ultimate “freedom of choice” that liberals long for.  Why not give it to them?

Why not begin a conversation about the Red and Blue having exclusive domain – exclusive governing authority - over their existing areas of predominant influence?  Yes, this concept has its problems and challenges, but I can’t believe those would be any greater than the problems and challenges we now face in the great divide we now find ourselves.

Here are several of those challenges:

• More liberal urban areas dot many predominantly Red areas of the nation.  How should these areas be treated?
• Federal lands and facilities dot the nation.  Should these just remain a part of the jurisdiction they are located in?  Why not?
• How would the transition of the power of the existing Federal Government take place?  Would it simply cease jurisdiction in the newly autonomous Red regions?  Or would there be some form of limited confederacy?
• How would defense and commerce be handled?  Through treaties and agreements - the same as any other political jurisdictions.
• How would the process toward this end be initiated?

1. Through conversation with friends and neighbors and radio shows
2. Through conservative web sites, bloggers, writers, internet radio and TV, social internet sites, and publishers
3. Through approaching like-motivated institutions and individuals such as the CATO Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Hillsdale College, Grove City College, Liberty University
4. Publicizing the mutual benefits for both those of Red and Blue ideological preferences.
5. Proposing referenda within predominantly conservative regions of the country
6. And a thousand other steps that are needed to promote interest and flesh out strategies to make it happen

Thanks to Steve Norflus for planting the seed for this out-of-the-box approach to finding an alternative to the present dismal direction our nation is headed. 

Ferguson jihadists

What do Islamic jihadists and Ferguson demonstrators and their fellow instigators have in common?  Oh, and include Obama in that mix, too.

What did Obama offer to the demonstrators, ignoring any potential legal verdict to the contrary?

“Stay on course”

Yes, ignore the rule of law.  Screw “whitey.”  That’s the message.

He and the rest of the leftist racists are above the law and fully justified in their tactics to make their “point” however un-justified their point may be.  And what is their point?  That their uncivilized culture, their habits, their traditions, their tribes, their ‘hoods demand to be treated differently than the greater civil society they are a part of.  They demand special consideration to practice their drug use, their intimidation, their petty thefts, their lying and deceit and most of all, their intolerant lynch mob mentality.  Leftist demonstrators and Islamic jihadists have much in common.  Their sense of “justice” is not the same as our nation’s sense of justice.  Islamists and leftist-inspired demonstrators have very similar value systems.  Case in point:  Remember Bill Ayers, the bomber cum Chicago college professor friend of Obama.

And what are their “tactics?”  Not just non-violent demonstrations.  Not just “civil disobedience.”  Not just the style of Martin Luther King.  They are way beyond that.  They are promoting violent confrontation “to get the attention of the power structure.”  HERE and HERE are links to a few examples.  The Business Insider reports:

"We are in a rebellion at the moment," said Reverend Osagyego Sekou, an activist from Boston. "That means breaking police lines, non-compliance with police orders. It is confrontational but not violent."

How, exactly, do you break police lines without being violent?  And that’s “the Reverend” speaking.  How far will the numerous Bill Ayers-types go, the agitators, the Muslims sensing a crack in our civilized armor?

In fact, CAIR, a prominent Muslim front group in the US, desires to co-opt the “non-violent” Ferguson  demonstrations.  More HERE.

The FBI is warning that infiltrators will incite violence in otherwise “peaceful” demonstrations.

There will be those who want law enforcement to compromise, to “back off”, to allow a few windows to be smashed, a few businesses to be looted, a few cars to be destroyed, a few cops to be bloodied.  God forbid.  That gives special privilege to jackasses.  It mocks the rule of law.  It’s like creating a special “no-go” zone in our cities for hooligans, just like the Muslim ghettos in Dearborn and many European cities where Islamic law is given the green light to fester and terrorize.

Will our rule of law and civilizational ethics be intimidated into submission by activists motivated by leftist radicals and racists, just as the world is intimidated by Muslim activists motivated by Islamic doctrine?  Unfortunately, our national psyche is of mixed mind which does not bode well for our future.

Why I am not ecstatic about election results…

Being the eternal realist, and not quite the eternal pessimist, I do not have high hopes (no high apple pie in the sky hopes) for this election turning our drift toward bigger government, more regulations, and less personal responsibility around.  Go ahead, listen to the YouTube below as you read the rest of this blog…

 

Aside from the decades-old inertia of the liberal/progressive/socialist/communist alliance agenda, here are current examples of why election results enthusiasm is misplaced:

In Florida, Amendment 1 won by a large margin.  This amendment authorized Florida government to spend $1.27 billion dollars over the next 20 years to buy up land north of Lake Okeechobee “to protect the aquifer.”  Protecting the aquifer could have been accomplished via any number of land use management methods besides the government owning 100’s of square miles of land – land removed from the tax roll, removed from agricultural production, and other productive uses.  There are likely dozens of similar liberal conservationist-driven initiatives all over the nation that accomplished similar expansions of governmental land holdings.

Across the nation so-called “conservative” victors are calling for cooperation with democrats to promote more “early childhood education” which is high up on the liberal agenda.  This will just indoctrinate more young kids earlier in life in the liberal public school agenda as well as facilitate reducing parental responsibility to raise and train their own kids.  This furthers the concept of “let government do for us what we are too (pick one) lazy, busy, incapable, inept, disinterested in doing ourselves.”

In spite of clear and substantial majorities in both the House and Senate, Republicans may not be able to overcome presidential vetoes in any legislation Republicans claim they plan to adopt, whether it be repealing Obamacare, getting the oil pipeline pushed through, or recognizing Islam as an evil ideology incompatible with our culture and government.  It just won’t happen.  Obama’s promises to pursue his draconian agenda – including executive decrees to import millions of immigrants from who knows where – cannot be stopped by playing nice with legislation.  And if impeachment or similar draconian measure is tried, there will be many who will say those measures will backfire and help the democrats in 2016.  So, more likely, these Republicans will do nothing – hoping the electorate will suddenly become wise and vote for Republicans in 2016.  High hopes.

There are too many Republicans who are big government socialists at heart – even among those newly elected – to feel a sense of comfort that the conservative agenda will be very long-lived.  Their constituents will demand that they cave to government largess.  That is what the electorate has come to expect, and by golly, that is what they will demand and receive.

This is a lesson in the inertia of public greed 101.

This will make great fodder for an entertaining media over the next couple of years.  We are, after all, all about being entertained.

Phases of trust in society. Where do you stand?

With the advent of multi-culturalism, broken borders, and progressive politics that has little resemblance to our founding principles, many of us are in the process of disengagement from our society as we knew it.

Trust and identity with our society go hand and hand.  We are less likely to trust that which we cannot identify with.  Do you trust government economics?  Do you trust the homosexual agenda?  The “Islam is a religion of peace” crowd, or the “we need to wreck our economy to reverse global warming” academicians?

Here is  a theoretical hierarchy of feelings toward our society as they deteriorate from gung ho patriotism (enthusiasm) down to separation and autonomy.

• Enthusiasm/patriotism
• Contentment
• Concern
• Activism
• Indifference
• Dismay/suspicion
• Alarm/Fear
• Separation/autonomy (retreat, bug out or mutual defense group)
    

Each of these phases contain varying degrees of of other phases.  But the name depicts the predominant feeling – either within an individual or the society at large.

Here is a detailed description of the characteristics of each phase of disengagement from our society:

Enthusiasm/patriotism: 

This phase was most prominent from our nation’s founding through the early sixties (pre-Vietnam).  Flag waving, partiotic parades, frequent patriotic  public service announcements on TV and radio promoting pride in America (Bugs Bunny:  “Any bonds today.”)  American civics was taught in our public schools and Christian prayer was encouraged.  We were a united Christian nation proud of our heritage.  There were elements of passive contentment, indifference, and concern, but those were minority sentiments.

Contentment: 

This is a phase of passive contentment – all is (mostly) well in the world - without being overtly patriotic and while avoiding negative feelings of concern or dismay.  Contentment is a close but more positive cousin of indifference.  US societal contentment was a brief majority view leading to the Vietnam War.  Little activism was in vogue during this phase other than abortion rights and early phases of the civil rights movement.

Concern: 

The concern phase begins with our first notice of events or societal behaviors that we feel may disrupt our sense of contentment.  Concerns arose about the Vietnam war and have grown today over a number of social, moral, and economic issues.

Activism: 

Activism is a phase that we find useful when our concerns become strong enough to motivate us to do something to reverse the threat to our contentment.  This was born during the civil rights movement of the sixties and extends to many disparate activist movements today.  There were and still are segments of minorities within the society who are content or indifferent but activism is the dominant phase of the society.

Indifference: 

This phase occurs among those who sense that activism has become futile.    The things that have become consciously bothersome seem to overwhelm any amount of activism we have the motivation to muster.   A “why bother” attitude begins to take over.  There is a growing sense of concern and dismay that neutralizes positive thoughts about our society.  Today these concerns are the direction of society’s moral or fiscal attributes.

Dismay/suspicion:

Dismay and suspicion begin to occur upon the realization that mega-forces have turned our sense of good and evil, right and wrong on its head and there is little we can do about it.  Things are not the way they were and should be and are not at all likely to change for the better.  Homosexuality used to be wrong. Now it is celebrated.  Even the sanctity of marriage, formally associated with Biblical morality, has been destroyed.  A day after the worst attack since Pearl Harbor (9-11) by Muslims we refuse to identify the ideology behind the attack.   A day later our president declares Islam “a religion of peace.  Three years later we elect a Muslim president.  All the while our nation’s indebtedness goes through the roof.  Politicians and academicians ridicule our heritage and our constitution.  Our trust in government, especially the federal government, plummets. 

There are rare examples of politicians doing the right thing in the world today.  One example is Geert Wilders.  He remains an activist in spite of his dismay with the direction his country has gone regarding Islam (see his recent speech HERE.)

Alarm/fear:  Those who go through the dismay/suspicion phase will develop a healthy dose of alarm and fear.  This may motivate a degree of renewed activism in some.  In others it will motivate a desire for separation and autonomy from the society.  In either case, whether they become a dismayed activist or a separatist off-the grid prepper, they will be seen by the establishment (mainline churches, mainstream media, academia, and government officials) as “radicals.”  Some may remain in the “alarm/fear” phase without taking any action.  As their defense they ignore or bury their fear in a see/hear/speak no evil state of indifference and succumb to mind-numbing, don’t give-a-sh—activities like perpetual golf, drinking, or entertainment.

Fortunately, brave activists willing to be slandered by the ignorant or self-serving majority still abound:  Pamella Geller, Diana West, Allen West, Robert Spencer, Bill Warner and innumerable bloggers.  We need many more.

Separation/autonomy (prepper, retreat, bug out or mutual defense group): 

Those who become alarmed, even fearful of where we are going and what might happen will go in one of three directions:  Born-again activist, mind-numbing defensive indifference and inaction, or active separation/autonomy.  This latter phase is reached when we know we have to do something.  We can either change the “system” (society, culture, politics, government, morality, religion, etc.) or we can protect ourselves from all of those things.  We realize we cannot change those things outside of ourselves because the inertia behind these threats are too great.  Many of us have already tried and felt like we were knocking our heads against the Rock of Gibraltar. 

Once we determine that the only rational course is to do what is best for ourselves and our families, we have several choices of how to proceed.  The Boy Scout motto comes to mind for most:  Be Prepared.   A Mormon Church motto becomes relevant:  “… for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."  2 Nephi 25:23

“After all we can do” is the money quote.  It is different than the typical orthodox Christian “do nothing” belief that we can do nothing apart from God’s grace.  Do nothing is a recipe for disaster in the temporal realm.  The temporal application of that admonition is this:  Doing nothing is not an option.  Too many Christians doing nothing - expecting God and others to do it for them – is an un-Biblical approach and misapplied doctrine.  We are to do “all we can do” to save ourselves before we rely on government (the “god” of many) to save us. 

Some choose establishing a year’s supply of food and other essentials as their measure of prudence.  Others may seek those of like mind to form a “prepper group.”  Others who expect the worst may join a “bug out” group and head for the hills, the farm, the swamps, or nearest national park.

I find myself in a combination of “Dismay” and semi-“Autonomy.”  I am beyond the traditional “activist” stage.  That, to me, is futile and a waste of time and resources at this point in my life.  I need to focus on what I can influence and control:  Myself.   That is enough of a challenge.  This includes preparing for events I see unfolding, especially potential civil unrest and cessation of essential services from an economic meltdown, cultural clashes or other significant event.  While I remain attached to the grid, my objective is to create a mindset and eventual capacity of self-sufficiency in anticipation of events born of a society gone awry.

Refreshing speech about Islam from a politician…

The following is a blog from Geert Wilders,  courtesy of Diana West.  Mr. Wilders is the founder and leader of the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid – PVV) which currently is the fourth-largest party in the Dutch parliament.  He is outspoken about the truth of what Islam really is.

Anyone who wants a sampling of what an honest, forthright politician should sound like concerning Islam should read the following speech by Geert Wilders.  This is a 5 star speech – the kind that gives us hope for civilization…

*****

Wilders: Ten Years Ago Today, My Fellow Countryman Van Gogh Fell as a Martyr of Free Speech

Sunday, November 02, 2014 7:25 AM

Theo van Gogh (1957-2004)

[Introduction by Diana West]

The following is a speech Geert Wilders delivered in Copenhagen today, the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Theo van Gogh on the streets of Amsterdam for criticizing Islam.

Dear friends,

I am happy to be in Copenhagen again.

It is always a pleasure to return to this wonderful city – the home of my good friend and fellow freedom fighter, the Danish hero Lars Hedegaard.

It is always a privilege to be in the capital of the brave Danish people.

And it is always an honor to be a guest of your great organization.

The Danish Free Press Society is a beacon of light. For Denmark, for Scandinavia, for the whole of Europe, and for the entire West. Your staunch defense of civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, serves as an inspiration for many, including myself and my party.

On a moment like this, when the free world is in mortal danger, an organization such as the Danish Free Press Society is needed more than ever.

Exactly ten years ago, today, my fellow countryman Van Gogh fell as a martyr of free speech.

I remember that morning very well. The press came to my office to ask for a reaction, but hardly anyone could believe that what had happened was really true. We all realized that the Netherlands would never be the same again. Unfortunately few lessons have been learned since that horrible day in 2004.

Islam claims that Muhammad was a prophet. But Muhammad was not a prophet; Theo van Gogh was a prophet.

Van Gogh saw what was coming. He spoke out forcefully against the danger of Islamization.

He had also just made a short movie, together with my then colleague Ayaan Hirsi Ali, about the plight of women in Islamic society. The movie was called “Submission.”

That is why he was murdered. His assassination should have been an alarm bell.

Van Gogh warned us in a strong language, as clear as the colors that his great-granduncle Vincent used when painting his landscapes.

He was a brave man. When he realized the danger of Islam, he did not run like a coward.

He would have hated to see how our freedom of speech has been restricted in the ten years since his death.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, the more Islam we get, the less free our societies become. Not only because of the islamization but also because of the weak appeasers who call themselves politicians.

We are no longer allowed to crack jokes or draw cartoons if Islam feels insulted by it.

If you do so, your life is in danger, as Kurt Westergaard and Lars Vilks can testify. You might even get arrested, as happened a few years ago with the Dutch cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot.

Sure, the charges against Nekschot were later dropped. But if you value your life and if you prefer to avoid trouble, it is better not to do anything that might remotely insult Islam.

We are no longer allowed to tell statistical truths, as Lars Hedegaard experienced, when he referred to rape figures in Islamic families.

A murderer came to Lars’s door and the state authorities persecuted him for so-called hate speech. Sure, the Supreme Court eventually acquitted Lars. But if you value your life and if you prefer to avoid trouble, it is better to keep quiet.

We are no longer allowed to refer to scientific and historical research, as my friend, the brave Austrian human rights activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, experienced.

In a seminar on the historical figure of Muhammad, she mentioned that he had a crush on little girls and had sex with a 9-year old. That is the truth.

But Elisabeth was convicted, and her conviction was even upheld by the Appeals court. Once again, it is better to remain silent if you want to avoid trouble.

But Theo van Gogh did not remain silent. And neither did Kurt and Lars and Elisabeth and Robert and the Danish Free Press Society, and my party, the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, and so many other freedom fighters in the West.

We speak out. We will never be silent. Because we love our country. Because we love our freedom. Because we refuse to live in slavery.

Because we believe that without liberty, life is not worth living.

Liberty and human dignity, that is what we stand for.

We are the torchbearers for freedom. We are the torchbearers for democracy.

We are the torchbearers for a civilization that is far superior than any other civilization on earth.

Last Summer, my home town, The Hague, witnessed scenes which brought back memories of the darkest period in our history, the Nazi era.

Sympathizers of the Islamic State paraded in our streets. They carried swastikas, they carried the black flags of ISIS. They shouted “Death to the Jews.”

Instead of rounding up these hatemongers, the authorities did nothing.

When we warn against Islam, the authorities call it hate speech and bring us to court. But when the grim forces of hatred march down our streets, the police look on and do not interfere. It is a disgrace. It is a scandal. It is intolerable.

Islam is waging a war against the free West.

Indeed, we are at war. Only fools can deny it. Islam has declared war on us.

America and its allies are currently bombing the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Excellent.

My party supports this offensive. I am glad that Dutch and Danish F16s participate in it and that our two nations stand shoulder to shoulder in this endeavor. We should liquidate Abu Bakr Al-Bagdadi and the other criminals who are leading the Islamic State.

But we have to do more than that.

Far more important than fighting Islamic State abroad, is the fight to preserve our own security in our own countries, in the Netherlands, in Denmark, in all the other European and Western countries. It is our homes that we must defend.

It is just to bomb the Islamic State in the Middle East. But our first priority must be to protect our own nations, our own freedoms, our own people, our own children, here, at home.

Recently, the Dutch authorities prevented some forty jihadis to leave our country, when they attempted to go to Syria to fight in the ranks of ISIS. Their passports were seized and they were sent home instead of jailed. These criminals now walk our streets and make them unsafe.

You may have heard that the jihadis who recently murdered  soldiers in Canada were also people whom the authorities had previously prevented to leave for Syria and who were not arrested but allowed to go free on the street.

Blocking the exodus of those who want to wage Jihad elsewhere and not detain them is sheer stupidity.

Keeping them here as free people means that they will hit us here.

We must hasten their exit instead of preventing it. But we must never allow them to return. Therefore, we must reinstate national border controls.

Nothing is more important than first protect our own countries from the Jihadis.

Let us restore our liberties, such as freedom of speech.

Let us defend our culture. Let us protect our people.

Let us make our nations free and safe again.

Let us be brave.

That is what we must do; that is our duty.

Let me ask you: Do our authorities actually do this?

Unfortunately not.

They fail to do their duty.

They fail to act accordingly.

They even lie to us.

Everyday, we hear Western leaders repeat the sickening mantra that Islam is a religion of peace.

Whenever an atrocity is committed in the name of Islam, whenever someone is beheaded in Syria or Iraq, Barack Obama, David Cameron, my own Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and many of their colleagues rush to the television cameras to tell the world that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. How stupid can you be.

Fortunately, the eyes of ever more people are opening to this reality.

In my country, a poll last June, showed that 65% of the Dutch are convinced that the Islamic culture does not belong to the Netherlands.

In France, 74% find Islam incompatible with French society.

In Britain, fewer than one in four think that following Islam is compatible with a British way of life. In Germany, over two thirds of the population think negatively about Islam.

Even in the Czech Republic, a country with hardly any Islamic population, almost two-thirds consider Islam a threat to society and 90% are afraid of it. And in Denmark 92% of your citizens believe Muslim immigrants should adopt Danish customs.

With every new terrorist crime, with every new attack, with every new beheading, it becomes clear to ever more people what the true nature of Islam is.

With every Islamic assault on our values, more and more people realize that Islam wants to conquer the world, that it is prepared to kill or enslave anyone who refuses to submit. And that it is ready to commit the biggest atrocities to achieve this goal.

My friends, we are gathered here today, because we are neither prepared to collaborate with evil, nor to appease it.

We say No to Islamic censorship. And No to the politicians who fail us.

During the past ten years, I have been living under constant police protection.

As you know, I am not the only one who has to live through this ordeal. Several people in this room are in the same situation. Our friends Lars and Kurt even came to stand eye to eye with fanatics who tried to slaughter them.

Of course – I repeat it wherever I go – of course, there are many moderate Muslims. I believe in moderate people, but I do not believe in a moderate Islam. There is only one Islam – the Islam of the Koran, the Hadith and the life of Muhammad, who was a terrorist and a warlord.

But even though there are many moderate Muslims, it is wrong to think that the moderates are a majority. They are not. A poll in the Netherlands gave shocking results. It is hard to believe, but almost three quarters of the Muslims in my country say that Dutch Muslims who go and fight in Syria are heroes. Can you believe it? Heroes!

And over two thirds of the Islamic population in the Netherlands consider the religious rules of Islam to be more important than our own democratic laws.

Equally terrifying was an article yesterday in the Dutch press stating that Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Theo van Gogh, is still considered a hero today by hundreds of Dutch Muslims.

A few years ago, I called on Muslims to liberate themselves from the yoke of Islam, to choose for freedom. I wholeheartedly support Muslims who love freedom. So, I told them “Free yourselves. Leave Islam.” I still stand by this appeal. But this does not blind me to the present reality.

You may have heard that I will probably be brought to court again soon.

Three years ago, I was taken to court on hate crime charges. The court case lasted almost two years. Fortunately, I was acquitted.

But now, the Dutch judiciary is going after me again because I asked Dutch voters whether they want more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.

Moroccans are the largest Islamic population group in the Netherlands. In The Netherlands the Moroccan problem is the problem of Islam.

I referred to Moroccans, not because I have anything against Moroccans but because they are overrepresented in the Dutch crime and welfare statistics. They also account for three quarters of all Dutch Muslims who leave for Syria to wage jihad. No-one in the Netherlands wants more Moroccans.

As I said, our leaders still refuse to defend our freedoms because they are either cowards or appeasers. This is why the task of defending freedom has now fallen on us. On you, on me, on ordinary citizens.

To this end, I have established the International Freedom Alliance IFA.

We want IFA to be the shield of all those who refuse to submit to Islamic tyranny.

The mission of IFA is to stop the Islamization of non-Islamic countries and to fight for the preservation of our freedom and democracy.

We want to stand firm. We want to preserve our civilization for our children and grandchildren. Because there is nothing more precious than liberty and freedom. But it has a price. And the price can be high. Sometimes a man must give all he can.

Our political leaders may fail us. But we, my friends, we will not fail.

There is a path we shall never choose, and that is the path of submission.

This is why we say: Yes to freedom! No to tyranny!

IFA aims to be a network of resistance fighters in all the countries threatened by Islam.

Friends,  I have good news from the Netherlands.

Today, the popularity of my party, the Party for Freedom, is at a high. An opinion poll published this morning shows that we have by far become the largest party in the Netherlands, with almost 20 per cent of the vote. 1 out of 5 Dutchmen would vote PVV today.

The policies that we stand for are also getting more popular than ever.

We want to stop all immigration from Islamic countries.

We want to stimulate voluntary re-emigration to Islamic countries.

We want to expel all criminals with dual citizenship and deprive them of their Dutch nationality.

We want to de-islamize our nation.

Dear Friends, there is a lot of work to do. We, the defenders of freedom and security, have an historic duty.

Our generation has been entrusted with a huge task: To oppose Islam and keep the flame of liberty burning.

I say it without exaggeration: the future of human civilization depends on us. Now is a time when everyone in the West must do his duty. We are writing history here.

So, let us do our duty.

Let us stand with a happy heart and a strong spirit.

Let us go forth with courage and save freedom!

Thank you.

Will the real chicken shit please sit down…

I came across this photo of Benjamin Netenyahu (left) and Barack Obama (right) in their younger years.

This is particularly striking since the Obama administration called Netanyahu a “chicken shit” for not having the courage to fight.

The photo shows Netanyahu as Sayeret Matkal commando and a military Colonel while Obama was a …  pothead.

Which one is the genuine chicken shit?

Kaci Hickox: Leftist CDC selfish whiner…

“We’re confident that selfless health workers who were brave enough to care for Ebola patients in a foreign country will be willing to take reasonable steps to protect residents of their own country”

Main Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew

Well, it looks like Kaci Hickox is not a selfless health worker.

What is my opinion of the likes of Kaci Hickox?

She is a caring but dangerously and insensitively naïve woman.  Caring – mostly about her own selfish interests.  Insensitive in that she is far from selfless.  Oh, she believes she is so cool and hip, making her big splash in Africa.  She not only walks the CDC line, but is in full agreement with our president in this:  Protecting other countries is more important than protecting our own.

Here she is, apparently enjoying herself in her chosen location, somewhere in the jungle.

She knows, or should know, that she was involved with a deadly disease.  She has , after all, voluntarily agreed to involve herself with those who are infected.

And still, she comes back home to the US with a fever and expects to immediately mix in with our general population.  Insane!  She doesn’t give a crap about the other people around her over here.  She believes she is above us all.

Then she has the audacity to sue the State of New Jersey over her mandatory quarantine for a few days – a quarantine that makes infinite sense to a large majority of US citizens.

Her balls are bigger than the mega-sunspots.  She is one hell of a self-centered selfish chick.  Oh, she’s giving of herself in Africa.  That is her choice and apparently she grooves on that choice.  That does not relieve her of her idiocy once she is back “home”, a place she apparently respects less than Africa.

This is a picture of her temporary quarantine quarters.  It appears larger than my living room, dining room, and den combined.  It is likely significantly better than the conditions she chose to live in in her beloved Africa.

Her whining prevailed.  She is now back home.  She is fortunate that her fever subsided and she has tested negative for Ebola – so far.

But her arrogance doesn’t stop there.  This uppity nurse refuses voluntary quarantine in Maine, too. And she is frightening her hometown folks there.  From CBS Connecticut:

The news of Hickox’s return to Maine swept across the town of Fort Kent and the university campus, which has 1,400 students.

Faith Morneault, a 19-year-old behavioral science student, said news that Hickox may be headed to Fort Kent had caused “a lot of panic” among students. But she said she understands her desire to go home.

“You can’t freak out in this situation. You have to understand it,” she said.

Another student, 20-year-old behavioral science major Kayla Michaud, said students also are worried because of the potential presence of Hickox’s boyfriend in the school community.

“If she’s in quarantine, is he going to be quarantined, because we don’t all want to be contaminated with the Ebola virus,” she said.

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew had these words of wisdom, the significance of which escape nurse Kratchet:

“We’re confident that selfless health workers who were brave enough to care for Ebola patients in a foreign country will be willing to take reasonable steps to protect residents of their own country. However we are willing to pursue legal authority if necessary to ensure risk is minimized for Mainers.”

The arrogance of Ms. Hickox is attributable to the ideological predisposition of this self-centered Ebola-don’t-give-a-damner.  This from Gotnews.com: 

“The nurse…is an employee for the Centers for Disease Control and a registered Democrat with a history of left-wing advocacy, Gotnews.com has learned.

Kaci Hickox’s ties to the CDC were not disclosed in a controversial anti-quarantine column she wrote for the Dallas Morning News. The CDC opposes quarantines or travel bans from Ebola infected countries.

Initially turned down for Doctors Without Borders, Hickox applied for a position with the Centers for Disease Control’s infectious disease unit. She received that position and began a two-year fellowship in Las Vegas, NV where she currently still works.”

More about this poor excuse for a caring human being HERE.  By the way, miss arrogant priss, Ebola virus can survive up to several weeks on various surfaces.

But that doesn’t matter.  She has the always vigilant bureaucracy of the CDC behind her – as inept as the State Department that hopes to bring Ebola-infected foreigners into the US for treatment.  But that is a story for later.

HERE is another pointed article about sweet, caring Kaci titled “Liberalism Manifested” and subtitled “Me Me Me.”

Treacherous White House Ebola Policy

 

Take a look at these Obama Administration policies in juxtaposition:

October 7th:  If US troops in Africa get Ebola, they’ll get treatment in the US.  (Sounds an awful lot like “if you like your current health insurance, you can keep your current health insurance.)

October 17th:  Obama to Bring Non-American Ebola Victims to US for Treatment (especially since Ebola-stricken countries are mostly Muslim)

And now this one:

October 18th:  US Troops that Contract Ebola Will be Quarantined in Liberia  (really?)

If this isn’t “kick-the-bastard-out-of-the-White House” worthy, nothing is.

He is a damned traitor.  And I don’t usually cuss much on this blog, but this is a special occasion.

This is just another stark example of how the Obama administration is misusing and abusing our military.  More HERE.

Ebola reveals how we turn off our brains and rely on others for common sense…

Ebola, if not good for anything else, is good for demonstrating how our brains and common sense are turned off when faced with a new and stressful situation.

This self-neutering mental capacity is caused by two things:

1. Predisposition toward the “normalcy bias”:  The automatic assumption that Ebola is nothing new and precautions should be just like for any other transmissible illness.  The thinking:  “We’ve done this before; what can possibly go wrong?”
2. Predisposition to believe that our personal decisions of “what to do” in particular situations should be deferred to others at a higher or “more informed level” and therefore we are relieved from applying our own common sense.

This mindlessness has been the reason for a number of failures in the diagnosis and precautions involving Ebola in the US:

• The turning away and sending home the first Ebola victim in the US at the Dallas hospital by nursing staff.
• Belief that “standard” personal protection items used by hospital staff is adequate to protect from Ebola.
• The second nurse relying on CDC personnel for their opinion on her proposed trip to Ohio while she had a low grade fever instead of using her own training and common sense.
• The CDC’s response to the second nurse in using their standard protocol for determining what level of fever allowed then to ignore the travel threat instead of considering all new data associated with Ebola.
• NBC’s medical “expert” Dr. Nancy Snyderman ignoring a voluntary quarantine order and running out to get fast food despite the fact that she accompanied the camera man who has Ebola.
• CDC’s belief that all hospitals can somehow know and effectively practice appropriate Ebola protocol by osmosis rather than through weeks of rigorous hands-on training.
• The off-handed determination by CDC that the man from Nigeria who vomited and died on the flight into JFK did not have Ebola.  See CDC declares dead, vomiting man on plane at JFK from Nigeria “Ebola Free”
• Soldiers Get Just 4 Hours of Virus Training...
• UN admits botching response to Ebola outbreak…
• Our government refusing to close our borders and flights to those coming in from Ebola-stricken nations because we might harm the economies of those nations or retard effective aid to those nations when we have a potential breakout in our own nation.

Here is a relevant comment by someone worth listening to:

Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, predicted last week that the Ebola virus will not be contained in West Africa, and if infected people flee those countries and spread the disease to Central and South America, it could cause “mass migration into the United States” of those seeking treatment.

“If it breaks out, it’s literally, ‘Katie bar the door,’ and there will be mass migration into the United States,” Kelly said in remarks to the National Defense University on Tuesday. “They will run away from Ebola, or if they suspect they are infected, they will try to get to the United States for treatment.

This is a real possibility ignored by the CDC and the Obama administration.

Will we invoke our normalcy bias to ignore or mock these types of real possibilities? 

Bloomberg posted an article that mocked Ebola’s “worst case scenario” and sugar-coated the outcome in the United States.  I posted the following comment.

Wow! I'd get really FAT from that sugar-coating. Given the facts, the spread, and human nature to date, here is what to expect by January:

* Spread to several additional countries in Africa
* Close to 100,000 total cases and over 50,000 total deaths and accelerating
* Cases in several countries in Europe and the Middle East
* Outbreak in Mexico, Central and South America
* Increased influx, aka "torrent" of scared and potentially infected refugees crossing our border from Mexico
* Over 100 cases in the US and growing

Within a few months we will see reductions in travel, forced and voluntary, people avoiding events and activities involving large groups of people, some sectors of the economy heavily impacted: air travel, theaters, sports venues. School attendance will decline.

Until our population sees credible signs of rhetoric matching reality, fears and concerns will outpace what we are being told, whether what we are told is true or not. Circular reasoning, yes. But that is the way it works.

While most comments basically agreed with my assessment, one did not and questioned why I would comment if I was not an epidemiologist. 

Here is my reply:

My basis for these opinions are as follows: 

Just processing recent trends and behaviors, and using common sense and logic - such as is currently absent from the CDC, some hospitals, our president, and others that look to 'big daddy' for direction rather than using their head as if we are mindless minions. It appears that common sense may be more valuable than an epidemiology degree at the moment. Given the errors to date and the unbridled arrogance of our government and many professionals, we have a poor start in the fight and not likely to learn much going forward.

And your basis for criticism is what?

Both the normalcy bias and deferring our use of common sense to those who should know better but don’t is the root of our Ebola angst in the US.

Hospitals and the CDC

These are just a few examples of how “big government” has discouraged us from thinking for ourselves and using common sense.

Related:  “If You Want to Live, Ignore the CDC”  Article by a renowned doctor.