Texas Border Showdown

I am going to make a few predictions about what I think is going to happen between the Border Patrol and the Texas National Guard.

Scenario 1: The Border Patrol is ordered to cut the razor wire. In a last minute effort to maintain peace, the Abbott backs down. The border patrol cuts the razor wire, and the illegal immigrants continue to flood the border. Abbott continues to talk tough, but nothing else really happens. He postures and the whole thing becomes a non-issue.

Scenario 2: Other states, such as New Mexico and California, open up even more, making it less desirable to try an enter the country through Texas. In the end, it doesn’t matter. There’s a few miles of fence, but the flood of immigrants simply goes around them. The conflict goes away, Abbott talks tough, and the press pretends it didn’t happen.

Scenario 3: Other states send their national guard units to the border. Volunteers also stack the border as best they can. A long standoff begins until someone shoots. It won’t matter who started hostilities, the press will blame whomever volunteered to go. The skirmish will kill a few people on all sides, Border Patrol, National Guard, volunteers and illegal immigrants. It will be billed as January 6 Part II, or 9/11 times 1000. DHS, FBI and other alphabet bois trace phones, credit cards, etc, to arrest anyone who was there. More gun control will get proposed.

I don’t know which scenario will happen.

Thank you for reading my post.

Epstein List

I haven’t followed this story as closely as you might have thought. When it was announced that the list would be released, I was quite skeptical at the whole process. Back then, I made several predictions, and we’ll see which ones come true.

1. Trump or some other prominent Republicans will be on the list. This may be because they actually participated, or it may be a way to get Republicans to stop talking about the list entirely. If part of the list is released and even the folks calling for it dismiss it, the whole thing will go away.
   
2. People in power are scrambling to find who is loyal and who they can throw under the bus. Bill Richardson and Steven Hawking are on the list, and both are dead, so there’s no reason to not out them. Who gets protected? Who is important enough to save?
   
3. The announcement of the release was made far enough in advance that plenty of fake lists hit social media. Each fake disguised as a leak brings doubt to the entire process.
   
4. A few people will be killed suicided.
   
5. Nothing will be done about it anyhow. Bill Clinton and Bill Gates could have threewayed a baby while Big Foot rails the Lockness monster in the background, as Obama films the whole thing, and nobody will do jail time. At worst, it will be five second of embarrassment, but then it will all go away.

In the end, this whole story will become a non-issue in about five minutes. Nothing will be solved, the victims will still be victims, and their rapists will still be in power.

I wish I had something positive to say.

Thank you for reading my post.

Not Much To Say Tonight

I found out one of my former students died sometime in the past day or so. I’ve lost a few students over the past few years. This one was likely a suicide, but I can’t say for sure (thankfully, this blog is semi-anonymous) but I knew this student had struggled with mental health issues in the past.

2023 in a nut shell:
1 uncle who passed due to medical error
1 friend ten years younger than me that “died suddenly”
1 uncle in law of unknown causes
1 friend five-ish years younger than me by suicide
2 former students from a car accident while intoxicated
1 former student from likely suicide
1 friend’s father (who I met on several occasions) from heart disease
My Dog-Dog (of old age)

Shooting at a Statue

I’m curious to see the whole truth, which I will probably never see. A man was shot at the new, future location of the Juan de Onate statue in Espanola. Early reports show a crystal clear picture of a man shooting a handgun at some protesters. Early witnesses report the man was wearing a MAGA hat, but it blew off right before the picture was taken.

At least one video on Twitter shows the man jumping a wall and being attacked by a group of protesters, one of which ripped off his MAGA hat. He jumps back over the wall and fires at one protester. We’ll see if the truth ever sees the light of day.

Thank you for reading my post.

The Sub Sinks and the Idiots Rejoice

One of the more disappointing things I’ve seen in the news recently has been the hatred towards the folks that perished in the Titanic exploration submersible. Five people died, and whether or not I agreed with them, the backlash has been ridiculous.

Most of the people who laugh at this fall into one of two camps: they hate the rich or they hate the risk takers.

The ones who hate the rich are scary. “The rich” is an undefined group, typically meaning someone who has more than them. That’s the only justification for hating them. There’s some that hate specific rich people (who they have likely never encountered, and have likely never been wronged by), but then there’s a special group of people who hate the rich just for being rich. They talk of guillotines, beating up landlords and the like. They are the seven year old bully that takes whatever they want. The only saving grace is that they are so concerned about what other people have in comparison to them that none of them will rise to power. At best, they will be an unruly mob.

The ones who hate the risk takers are also scary. In previous human history, they were the ones that shrieked away from the first person who discovered fire. They were the ones that ridiculed the Wright Brothers. They were the ones that joined the fight against the electric light bulb. Joined by their brethren who resist change (such as those who protested against the electric light bulb because it would put candle makers out of business), this second group does sometimes rise to power.

However, none of these people are actually important. They are nothing more than an undefined face in a faceless mob. History will not remember them as anything more than rabble-rousers. Can you name any rioters? Can you name any of the folks picketing in any union strike? They rely entirely on having larger numbers.

Furthermore, they only have any power as long as we give it to them. They are ready to storm the castle under the premise that “you can’t stop us all!” That might be true, but we can stop YOU. Just as the first cavemen wanted to kill the first person to control fire, all he had to do was wave the fire in their faces, and nobody was willing to step up to be burned.

Bottom-line: as you do things that are different, creative, new, risky, or whatever, don’t give into the temptation to tell the mobs that you are at their mercy. They are at yours.

Thank you for reading my post.

Still Annoyed

I am still annoyed with the lack of trustworthy podcasters and the death of the conservative movement. I have only watched Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro a few times over the past few weeks, as everyone is annoying me.

1. Steven Crowder is now going through a divorce and all sorts of things were made public. I hate all sides of it. I hate that divorce is the norm at this point. I hate that the video that was released makes him look like a giant jerk (which he very well may be). I also hate that people are saying “oh his wife is about to cry.” I hate that a very pregnant woman crying is all the proof we need of abuse and an uncaring husband- have any of these people been in a relationship?
   
2. I hate that he supposedly treated Dave Landau, one of my favorite comedians, so poorly, and so…non-competitively. Supposedly, he had a light system installed to warn Dave from talking and overshadowing Steven’s jokes. I don’t have a lot of tolerance for people who are afraid of ability.
   
3. I hate that both Steven Crowder and Ben Shapiro say it is my duty to make as many children as possible. I have no children of my own, I choose not to. My partner had one before we met and we raised him. She didn’t want any more. In terms of using the Bible to justify it, I ask, “What would Jesus do?” Would he dump his wife because she doesn’t want any more children? Its absurd.
   
4. I hate that this was it- these were our champions, the only ones exposing what was going on in the world. Now, we’re done. I might as well vote for Biden, as we don’t have a chance. All his badness will be swept under the rug. Up until all of these fights, I thought of them as being on my side, sort-of, and at least getting well-researched news to the public. Now, I simply can’t trust either of them.

Thank you for reading my post.

Missing: Conservative or Libertarian Podcaster

I used to get excited each week to listen to Steven Crowder on my way to and from my job. When he was banned on YouTube, I listened to him on Rumble. Then, on Fridays, I’d catch up on a week’s worth of Ben Shapiro while I was working at a different job.

There was a falling out at the start of the new year, and I’ve just had no patience for it. I see both sides of it, and now I’m just bitter. Steven Crowder received an offer for $50 million to make shows for Daily Wire (Ben Shapiro and others), for the next four years. However, he loses money if his show gets demonetized on platforms. Daily Wire’s argument is if he’s not getting money from ad revenue, he shouldn’t get paid, and to some extent, that is true. Steven Crowder’s argument is that he shouldn’t sign a contract based on the whims of YouTube or other platforms where he will have to speak carefully. That is true, too.

Steven Crowder claims he has a better way to make money. Great. Then don’t sign the contract, end of discussion. Instead, he isn’t producing any videos or podcasts now, didn’t sign the contract and made a big hoopla about it. To some extent, I understand now wanting to sign the contract.

All of this had led to some depression. We have no voice at this point. I knew things would get ugly coming into the next election with Trump vs. DeSantis, but I felt like there was still a voice among the conservative and libertarian movement. As it turns out, there isn’t. Instead of having a few figureheads that can disagree and have civilized debates among the finer points of the movement, we have infighting. Meanwhile, the statist are more consistent in their arguments. Even if they are immoral, they have less infighting and they are gaining ground. At this point, I think even Biden could honestly beat either candidate, or both if they ran together.

I may just rip up my ballet when I receive it. None of this matters anyhow. I fear the Republic is lost. Maybe Ben Shapiro and Steven Crowder aren’t to blame, but they did give me some false hopes.

Thank you for reading my post.

Speaker of the House

I don’t know if I care about the speaker of the house at this point. I see both sides of this argument and, in the end, it’s all inconsequential.

On one hand, I have disagreed with Kevin McCarthy on a number of things. I get why the hold outs are, well, holding out. They want someone in there who will push for conservative policies and not someone who will cave to political pressure.

Speaking of caving, I do find the last hold-outs honorable for sticking to their principles. However, they aren’t offering any better solutions.

The other side of the coin is that sometimes you have to vote for the more polished turd. As much as I’d like the Ghost of Ayn Rand to run things, it’s not happening. As much as I’d like to see term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and numerous other things, they will none make it through senate anyhow. All we really need is someone to simply tell the democrats “No.”

In the mean time, I’m just as glad to have them all at work, doing nothing, instead of dreaming up new restrictions on freedom.

Thank you for reading my post.

Trump, Voting and Criminal Charges

I can’t seem to get a straight answer as to what happens next. The January 6 Witch Hunt Committee is recommending criminal charges be brought against Trump. The case has been referred to the Department of Justice, who also doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know whether they institute a trial there or what happens next. Nobody seems to say.

I think this will all be a lot of blustering and blow over, but I think I’ve decided that if Trump goes to jail or is barred from running for reelection, I will not vote again.

Voting is a major right, and I’ve heard “If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain” a thousand times. But… would you vote in Iran? Would you vote in Iraq? North Korea? No, probably not. You know the results, you know it’s all staged, and so you would say, “Why bother?”

That’s where I’m at right now. If the party in power can just eliminate potential opponents, we no longer have an actual electoral process. I can’t do much about that, but I won’t help them pretend it is legitimate.

Thank you for reading my post.

Reporting Illegal Guns

Recently, I ran across a proposal in Albuquerque to establish and “illegal” guns reporting hotline. The idea behind this hotline is that you can call to report someone who has an illegal gun, be it because the gun itself is illegal or because they have been forbidden from owning a gun. From there, the police will investigate, and if the tip turns out to be valid, a reward is given to the snitch.

First, there is already such a thing. It’s called the police. You can call the police and leave a tip with them. There is no need to establish a second line that must be staffed 24/7 to collect these tips.

Second, considering the general population has no idea what an illegal gun is versus an illegal gun, this is an absolutely terrible idea. I think most gun owners are confused about what is legal and what is not legal, so all that will really happen is neighbors will report neighbors on what they think is an illegal gun, causing an exaggerated police response.

The whole thing is a feel-good notion that will result in the harassment of innocent, law-abiding gun owners, all at the expense of the tax payer.

Thank you for reading my post.