Governments drumming up business…

I recall when I was a city planner in several local governments how effective the Parks and Recreation departments were in promoting their recreation activities and facilities.  Thousands were spent in advertising to promote park and facility usage to “foster a healthy lifestyle.” 

And then when park and facility usage reached a certain level, that justified spending several million on additional park and facilities development.  And the cycle went on. (Note:  I love parks and recreation facilities when someone else pays for them.)

Translation:  Promote use of government facilities so we can justify additional expansion, bigger budgets and more power over others.

****

The CDC is apparently involved in a similar schtick…

CDC Pushes Teachers to Measure Commitment to ‘LGBTQ Inclusivity’ Instruction

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/12/28/cdc-pushes-teachers-to-measure-commitment-to-lgbtq-inclusivity-instruction/

Silly me.  I thought the CDC’s mission was to reduce disease.

So now they’re promoting inclusivity of the the LGBTQ++++ community - why?  To reduce disease?  Wait! What? 

CDC stands for Centers for Disease Control.  Doing what they’re doing, it needs to be renamed to CDS:  Centers for Disease Spread.

Pervert sex increases and spreads disease, it doesn’t reduce it.

In lieu of discouraging pervert behavior – which is now called “homophobic” - if anything, the CDC ought to put LGBTQ+++++ on their "no sex" list – like a “no fly” list. Have them all “self report” their disease-spreading behavior like some would like us to do for not wearing a COVID mask or not taking the jab. 

That would cut down disease A LOT. But looks instead like the CDC’s priority is drumming up business.  Then they can hire a few more Fauci wanna-be’s.

Wars: Support and Opposition, Then and Now

Why are so many conservatives opposed to the US support of Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion and war crimes against Ukraine?

There are a number of reasons:

• Many believe spending 100’s of billions adds to inflation and the national debt;
• Many believe if money is to be spent, a higher priority is securing our own border and solving domestic priorities
• Many believe that Ukraine is as corrupt as Russia and does not deserve our support; they fail to admit to shades of good and evil.
• Many believe the conflict is more akin to a civil war between the Ukraine region as a breakaway province of Russia and should be none of our business
• Many are leery of the US getting involved, spending billions over many years, and then clumsily withdrawing without anything much to show for the effort. This is the most likely outcome in Ukraine, given US policy of the past 70 years.

These concerns boil down to an “America First” preference among most conservatives.

It took the US being attacked at Pearl Harbor for American to become galvanized to the point of officially declaring war, first against Japan on December 8, and then Germany December 11, 1941.

A year prior to declaring war,

the America First Committee (AFC) was the foremost United States isolationist pressure group against American entry into World War II.^[1][2] Launched in September 1940, it surpassed 800,000 members in 450 chapters at its peak.^[3] The AFC principally supported isolationism for its own sake, and its coalition included many Midwesterners, Republicans, conservatives, socialists, students, and leading industrialists, but it was controversial for the anti-Semitic and pro-fascist views of some of its most prominent speakers, leaders, and members.^[4][5][6]

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/America_First_Committee

Today, much the same America First sentiment is common among conservatives and many Republicans. And Democrats and liberals continue to accuse “America First” conservatives of having fascist views.  Not  much has changed.

The Korean War was a UN action after North Korea, along with allies Russia and China, invaded South Korea. The US provided 90% of the military personnel in defense of the south. War was never officially declared by the United States, but at least South Korea prevailed after the attack from the North.

Vietnam was another undeclared war, ending in a hasty retreat, losing to North Vietnam which took over the South, a much worse outcome than the Korean war.

In both the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Democrats (Truman and then Johnson) were involved in the initial troop buildups.

Two things are noteworthy concerning the Vietnam war:

• Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater lost his election bid because he promoted either getting out or being in it to win (an interesting concept that has been ignored for 70 years).  The Democrats accused him of wanting to use nukes to win.
• Leftist groups, not primarily Republicans, were anti-war.   Radicals fostered anti-war protests, many violent, on college campuses throughout the nation.  At the same time many cities burned due to black rioters frustrated by their relative poverty.  Together, these events contributed to a hasty withdrawal that ended in US defeat.

Politicized war policy writers

Conflicts in the Middle East (Iraq and Afghanistan) were initiated as a result of the Islamist attacks of 9-11 during the Bush Republican presidency.  After 20 years, $2 trillion and over 6,000 US service members and US contractors, it too ended in a hasty exit, this time by a Democrat, Joe Biden.  And again, nothing to show for it except a greatly emboldened and strengthen Islamist fighting force.

The US has never lost a “declared” war.  All the other “special operations” (as Russia likes to call their non-declared efforts) have had mostly dismal results. 

In spite of Democrats being most often referred to as “the war party”, Republicans (mostly RINOs?) have had their share of war-mongering.  I suspect much of Republican war motivation is due to influence of the military/industrial lobbyists who join with Democrats in calling America First conservatives “Nazis” because of their desire to build up our own nation rather than meddle in foreign money pits.

Barry Goldwater had it right.  Go in it to win or stay out.

One of my favorite quotes:

“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

Leftists and globalists will continue to attempt to discredit this truth.  Let’s not be “extreme”.  We might win – or even worse, we might offend someone.  Let’s remain “moderate” so we get our ass kicked.

Response to a defender of China…

I received the following comment on my previous “China/Ant” blog from a friend who has been to China many times and believes its culture and form of governance are superior to that in the US.  My reply follows his comment:

Well, the author, having never been to China or lived among the Chinese, has an uneducated view about China in several regards. China’s middle class has continued to grow while ours is shrinking.

The reason is because China does have entrepreneurs just as we do and those that feel more comfortable working in a group have found a home in profitable privately owned enterprises and SOE’s so they aren’t ants. I could easily move to China and get a job as an English teacher, but freedom does not mean I could teach LGBTQ+ sex or how to overthrow the government.

As far as freedom is concerned I’m as free when I have visited and lived in China as I am here so I have no idea what freedom I’m missing.

I will finish by saying people should not comment upon something they have no personal experience with only relying upon the racist words of others, biased media or corrupt politicians.

Yes, China does have a middle class and entrepreneurs - given enough leash by the central government to remain productive - until they have a point of view at odds with the Party.

As to never having been to China, my friend is correct. I have never been to the moon, either, but I understand its atmosphere requires a space suit for human survival.  My comparisons of China with the ant are not out of ignorance of China.

It should be instructive for my friend that among the many issues that breed dissension between the left and right in the US, the same dissension does not exist with regard to China - with the possible exception of the Biden family and his close cohorts who are subject to corrupt Chinese influence peddling.

There is a unifying set of beliefs among both left and right concerning China - to the point of near unanimity - that China is:
* Intolerant of human rights - well known to both sides of our political aisle.
* A top down, authoritarian Communist regime
* Rapidly building its military power and influence in the Pacific to the point of becoming a threat to world shipping in the region and the balance of power in the world
* Growing its trade and economic advantage by relying on espionage or other unethical means of stealing US technology.
* Allied with the "axis of evil" including Iran, North Korea, and supportive of Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

All of these unanimously held concerns - also held by many foreign affairs experts who have spent many years in China - are carried out under the direction of "the Party"; to preserve and enhance the power of the Party - as unified as an ant colony.

Regarding being unaware of “freedoms being missed” in China, it should be obvious that people who for centuries have been immersed in a culture of "group work" and "group think" will obviously "have no idea what freedom [they are] missing."  The occasional visitor or foreign national, likewise, will be made unaware of missed freedoms to help assure the aura of freedom.

The point of the "ant" comparison was not to disparage a people (ants are spoken of quite highly in the Bible) but to highlight the vast distinction between the culture and forms of government of China versus West.

Note the use of the word "racist", by the commenter,  above. This is used in exactly the same manner as the left in the US brandishes the words “racist”, “bigot” or “-phobe” of every sort against anyone who disagrees with their point of view.  Why can’t we discuss differences between cultures and forms of governance without name calling?

Other comparisons might be simpler and less offensive to those who don't appreciate ants:

• China: Top down; US: Varies between "bottom up" and "consensus."
• China: Much more highly controlled and regimented; the US: Much less so.
• China: Appearance of greater unity (real or "managed"?); US: Appearance of disagreement and great differences (much less "managed" characteristics of a democratic Republic allowing free expression well publicized and out in the open. Chinese cheer leaders consider this a liability.)
• China: Intolerant of any religion or ideology that the Party believes may be a threat. US: Tolerant of dissent to a fault – with the recent exception of collusion between big tech and our government to silence conservative discourse or legitimate medical opinion.
  

One current example of China's outsized authoritarian predisposition is their methods of suppressing COVID. The slightest outbreak leads to locked down apartment buildings and whole cities. I could imagine an ant colony doing something similar to a wayward ant or two.

There are many instances my friend will point to where the productivity of the Chinese system is superior. And he is correct. China has demonstrated the organizational skills that enable it to excel at productivity - just like the ant that carries many times its weight in its genetically-infused tasks. That is a compliment/asset of China but is apparently an insult to China fans.

That productivity is the point of my ant analogy: The culture of a nation, like the genetics of an ant, can be a unifying force for producing great things in great quantity while remaining oblivious to the freedoms being missed.

Ant colonies compared to China’s Government and Culture

I propose that ant colonies operate more like communism than a monarchy. And that China’s society works more like an ant colony than a monarchy.

Others disagree.

Alexander Finnegan, a self-described J.D. Law and Marxist dude, believes that if ants were people, they would NOT be communists, but would instead be monarchists.  That’s why the queen is called “the Queen.”

But digging down further into WHY she is a queen while all others appear to be subservient to the queen is the challenge.

WHY is she the queen?  WHY are all others subservient?

In the case of the ant, the reason for the way ants govern is based on millions of years of genetics.

In the case of China, the form of governance is based on thousands of years of culture.

“Genetics” is the macro view of behavior – a much longer time horizon.  “Culture”, by comparison is the micro view – a much shorter, though still long, time horizon.  But they both have the same effect on the form of governance from the perspective of the much shorter generational view of humans.

Genetics (ants) and culture (China) have similar influences on their respective forms of governance.  Both genetics and culture give the queen and the Party their importance and the workers their role in life – serve the queen/Party. 

But are they serving the queen or are they serving the colony? Are they serving Xi or are they serving the Party?  What happens if the queen dies?  The colony ends with the death of the last few worker ants because no new ants are being produced by the queen.

But…

While the colony ends, that is not the end of ants.  If China’s Xi died, that is not the end of China or the Party.  The only thing that happens is that there are no more Xi followers (maybe a few million worshippers for a time).  Another leader arrives on the scene and the Chinese culture continues – just as other ant colonies continue. 

Compare a Chinese leader to an ant colony queen. The queen is essential to the “colony”  but not essential to ants.  Xi is essential to Xi followers, but not essential to the Chinese Communist Party.  Ants go on.  The party goes on.  The driving force – the force that gives both the ant civilization and Chinese civilization their role in life – their innate, visceral (like an organisms sympathetic nervous system) – is either genetics (ants) or culture (China).

The result?  Both ant workers and China workers act as automatons, providing service to the colony (ants) or to the Party (China).  In each scenario, they both create great civilizations, but at the price of individual autonomy, aka personal freedoms. 

They both reflect the near perfection in working together as a unified force to create marvelous works, maybe even better and more efficiently than individual groups with more independent agendas can do.

Many folks today, like the good commie noted at the beginning, offer up the ant and China as the governance goal human society should aspire to.  They believe it is the preferred direction of human evolution.

The rest of us believe that life is much richer and fulfilling with individual interests, skills, and aspirations tugging and pushing one another to achieve common goals.

What do you wanna bet…

What do you want to bet that…

• The leftist politicians, media and judges will have more pity for the assaulting black shoplifter than for the family of the deceased grandpa.  Progressives (should be called “regressives”) believe that blacks are still oppressed by whitey, they deserve a break, should not be subject to the same laws that were established by “white racists”, and should be excused from their crimes.
• In spite of Home Depot’s condolences to the deceased’s family, they will minimize any payout because the employee did not follow employee shoplifter protocol of letting shoplifters do their thing.

NORTH CAROLINA

Published December 4, 2022 8:10pm EST

North Carolina Home Depot worker, 83, dies weeks after being shoved during theft; police searching for suspect

The elderly Home Depot worker approached the suspect as he was allegedly stealing three pressure washers

By Paul Best | Fox News

Video

An elderly Home Depot employee died on Thursday from injuries he sustained in October when a theft suspect shoved him while allegedly stealing three pressure washers.

The suspect was leaving the store’s garden area on the morning of Oct. 18 with a shopping cart full of stolen goods when the employee approached him.

Surveillance video released by the Hillsborough Police Department appears to show the suspect shoving the elderly employee to the ground and hurrying out of the store.

The victim died on Dec. 1 due to complications from injuries he sustained during the incident. A medical examiner ruled that his death was a homicide.

The suspect was allegedly stealing three pressure washers when he shoved the elderly worker while leaving the store.  (Hillsborough Police Department)

The Hillsborough Police Department is now searching for the suspect, described as a Black male about 6 feet tall who fled in a white Hyundai Sonata. A temporary North Carolina tag on the vehicle was obscured.

MISSING SOUTH CAROLINA WOMAN'S FAMILY MAKES RENEWED CALL FOR ANSWERS TWO YEARS LATER

Gary Rasor, the employee, celebrated his 83rd birthday while hospitalized for his injuries.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our associate Gary. He was part of our team for more than 9 years. He was an amazing friend, husband, father and grandfather, always willing to help anyone," a spokesperson for Home Depot told Fox News Digital in a statement.

"Right now, our top concern is supporting his family and our associates during this difficult time."

The elderly worker approached the alleged shoplifted and the suspect shoved him to the ground.  (Hillsborough Police Department)

The victim celebrated his 83rd birthday just weeks before dying from complications with injuries he sustained in the incident.  (Hillsborough Police Department)

His wife previously told WNCN that her husband recognized the suspect.

"He knows the guy is a thief. He’s been there, he’s seen him in the store before," she told the local news outlet. "And what he told me was that sometimes the guy will buy one or two items so he has a receipt, and then he’ll add more stuff to his cart and flash the receipt."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Anyone with information about the suspect can email tips to andrew.jones@hillsboroughnc.gov or call at 919-296-9562.

Tulsa King: How corruption infiltrates and takes over a community

I had high hopes for the Tulsa King tv series with an interesting plot line. It stars Sylvester Stallone a 76 year old New York mobster banished to flyover country in Oklahoma to start a new “enterprise” after a 25 year stint in jail.

I hoped it would focus on comedic struggles of a mobster overwhelmed by the mid-western sensibilities of smallish town America.

But I was wrong.  Instead, it is a graphic lesson of how evil and corruption spreads its tentacles into relatively virgin territory.

Stallone, the ex-prison mobster is banished to Tulsa to do what mobsters need to do to enrich the Don back home in New York.

His first instinct is to seek out the morally marginal business operators, the ones who, due to their tiny moral rudder, will be easy to influence.  He likely considers the tattoo parlors, check cashing stores, and vape shops.  He lands inside a “medical marijuana” business where he flips the staff through violence, attitude, and front money in doing his bidding.

Along the way he finds a clean cut young black dude from a morally upright family to be his chauffer – of course enticing him with an outsized salary paid up front.

By the forth episode, the young man’s dad is also lured into the mobsters corruption to see what his son is up to. By this point the mobster has at least a dozen formerly clean, if marginal, citizens as part of his entourage.

The series has its humorous bits and glimmers of a compassionate attitude from Stallone.  But these tidbits are overwhelmed by the gangster’s smug arrogance, overbearing demeanor, and violence he encourages and dishes out.

The formula:  A famous, popular star, a quirky, sometimes winsome personality, an engaging plot line – and the result is as insidious as the plot the show portrays.

This show is just one of dozens of examples of how not just tv, movies, and “entertainment” gradually corrupt its audience, but how these behaviors, inherited since the stone age, infiltrate and destroy communities and nations.  Human nature on full display.

The very same gradual corruption of our culture by the LGBTQ+++ 3%, enabled by the emotion-driven left, has preempted sexual morality over the past 50 years.

I hoped for the opposite for this show, but was wrong. Silly me.