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Twenty-five?
Son: “Dad, did you get the results of the DNA test back?”

Dad: “Call me George.”

*.*

A hunting party is hopelessly lost.

“I thought you said you were the best guide in Maine!” one of the hunters angrily said to their confused leader.

“I am,“ replied the guide. “But I think we’re in Canada now.”

*.*

Officer: "Soldier, do you have change for a dollar?"

Soldier: "Sure thing."

Officer: "That's no way to address an officer! Now let's try it again. Do you have change for a dollar?"

Soldier: "NO, SIR!"

*.*

Did you hear about the contortionist who passed away?

He died in his own arms.

*.*

I should be ashamed of myself.

I'm not.

But I should be.

Quote of the Times;
So does anyone want to talk about how we've had two of our three logistical ships in 5th Fleet AOR run aground over the last few months so we now only have one Lewis and Clarke dry cargo ship (carries 441,000 Gallons DFM and 315,000 Gallons JP5) is somehow supposed to supply the fuel needs for 5 destroyers and the aviation fuel for the Abe Lincoln for probably 2 or 3 weeks. - @Schizointel

Link of the Times;
The Biggest Client for Cartels is the US Government for Sex Slaves:
https://rumble.com/v5eoocq-the-biggest-client-for-cartels-is-the-us-government-for-sex-slaves-under-ka.html

Issue of the Times;
3 Reasons There's Something Sinister With The Big Push For Electric Vehicles by Nick Gimabruno

25 refrigerators.

That’s how much the additional electricity consumption per household would be if the average US home adopted electric vehicles (EVs).

Congressman Thomas Massie - an electrical engineer - revealed this information while discussing with Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, President Biden’s plan to have 50% of cars sold in the US be electric by 2030.

The current and future grid in most places will not be able to support each home running 25 refrigerators—not even close. Just look at California, where the grid is already buckling under the existing load.

Massie claims, correctly, in my view, that the notion of widespread adoption of electric vehicles anytime soon is a dangerous fantasy based on political science, not sound engineering.

Nonetheless, governments, the media, academia, large corporations, and celebrities tout an imminent “transition” to EVs as if it’s preordained from above.

It’s not.

They’re trying to manufacture your consent for a scam of almost unimaginable proportions.

Below are three reasons why something sinister is going on with the big push for EVs.

But first, a necessary clarification.

You no doubt have heard of the term “fossil fuels” before.

When the average person hears “fossil fuels,” they think of a dirty technology that belongs in the 1800s. Many believe they are burning dead dinosaurs to power their cars.

They also think “fossil fuels” will destroy the planet within a decade and run out soon—despite the fact that, after water, oil is the second most abundant liquid on this planet.

None of these ridiculous notions are true, but many people believe them. Using propaganda terms like “fossil fuels” plays a large role.

Orwell was correct when he said that corrupting the language can corrupt people’s thoughts.

I suggest expunging “fossil fuels” from your vocabulary in favor of hydrocarbons—a much better and more precise word.

A hydrocarbon is a molecule made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. These molecules are the building blocks of many different substances, including energy sources like coal, oil, and gas. These energy sources have been the backbone of the global economy for decades, providing power for industries, transportation, and homes.

Now, on to the three reasons EVs are a giant scam at best and possibly something much worse.

Reason #1: EVs Are Not Green

The central premise for EVs is they help to save the planet from carbon because they use electricity instead of gas.

It’s astounding so few think to ask, what generates the electricity that powers EVs?

Hydrocarbons generate over 60% of the electricity in the US. That means there’s an excellent chance that oil, coal, or gas is behind the electricity charging an EV.

It’s important to emphasize carbon is an essential element for life on this planet. It’s what humans exhale and what plants need to survive.

After decades of propaganda, Malthusian hysterics have created a twisted perception in many people’s minds that carbon is a dangerous substance that must be reduced to save the planet.

Let’s entertain this bogus premise momentarily and assume carbon is bad.

Even by this logic, EVs do not really reduce carbon emissions; they just rearrange them.

Further, extracting and processing the exotic materials needed to make EVs requires tremendous power in remote locations, which only hydrocarbons can provide.

Additionally, EVs require an enormous amount of rare elements and metals—like lithium and cobalt—that companies mine in conditions that couldn’t remotely be considered friendly to the environment.

Analysts estimate that each EV requires around one kilogram of rare earth elements. Extracting and processing these rare elements produces a massive amount of toxic waste. That’s why it mainly occurs in China, which doesn’t care much about environmental concerns.

In short, the notion that EVs are green is laughable.

It’s simply the thin patina of propaganda that governments need as a pretext to justify the astronomical taxpayer subsidies for EVs.

Reason #2: EVs Can’t Compete Without Government Support

For many years, governments have heavily subsidized EVs through rebates, sales tax exemptions, loans, grants, tax credits, and other means.

According to the Wall Street Journal, US taxpayers will subsidize EVs by at least $393 billion in the coming years—more than the GDP of Hong Kong.

To put that in perspective, if you earned $1 a second 24/7/365—about $31 million per year—it would take you over 12,677 YEARS to make $393 billion.

And that’s not even considering the immense subsidies and government support that have occurred in the past.

Furthermore, governments impose burdensome regulations and taxes on gasoline vehicles to make EVs seem relatively more attractive.

Even with this enormous government support, EVs can barely compete with gasoline vehicles.

According to J.D. Power, a consumer research firm, the average EV still costs at least 21% more than the average gasoline vehicle.

Without government support, it’s not hard to see how the market for EVs would evaporate as they would become unaffordable for the vast majority of people.

In other words, the EV market is a giant mirage artificially propped up by extensive government intervention.

It begs the question, why are governments going all out to push an obviously uneconomic scam?

While they are undoubtedly corrupt thieves and simply stupid, something more nefarious could also be at play.

Reason #3: EVs Are About Controlling You

EVs are spying machines.

They collect an unimaginable amount of data on you, which governments can access easily.

Analysts estimate that cars generate about 25 gigabytes of data every hour.

Seeing how governments could integrate EVs into a larger high-tech control grid doesn’t take much imagination. The potential for busybodies—or worse—to abuse such a system is obvious.

Consider this.

The last thing any government wants is an incident like what happened with the Canadian truckers rebelling against vaccine mandates.

Had the Canadian truckers’ vehicles been EVs, the government would have been able to stamp out the resistance much easier.

Here’s the bottom line.

The people really in charge do not want the average person to have genuine freedom of movement or access to independent power sources.

They want to know everything, keep you dependent, and have the ability to control everything, just like how a farmer would with his cattle. They think of you in similar terms.

That’s why gasoline vehicles have to go and why they are trying to herd us into EVs.

Conclusion

To summarize, EVs are not green, cannot compete with gas cars without enormous government support, and are probably a crucial piece of the emerging high-tech control grid.

The solution is simple: eliminate all government subsidies and support and let EVs compete on their own merits in a totally free market.

But that’s unlikely to happen.

Instead, it’s only prudent to expect them to push EVs harder and harder.

If EVs were simply government-subsidized status symbols for wealthy liberals who want to virtue signal how they think they’re saving the planet, that would be bad enough.

But chances are, the big push for EVs represents something much worse.

Along with 15-minute cities, carbon credits, CBDCs, digital IDs, phasing out hydrocarbons and meat, vaccine passports, an ESG social credit system, and the war on farmers, EVs are likely an integral part of the Great Reset—the dystopian future the global elite has envisioned for mankind.

In reality, the so-called Great Reset is a high-tech form of feudalism.

Sadly, most of humanity has no idea what is coming.

Worse, many have become unwitting foot soldiers for this agenda because they have been gaslighted into believing they are saving the planet or acting for the greater good.

This trend is already in motion… and the coming weeks will be pivotal.

News of the Times;
Ex-Border Patrol Chief Says He Was Instructed By Biden-Harris Admin To Hide Terrorist Encounters:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cover-ex-border-patrol-chief-says-he-was-instructed-biden-harris-admin-hide-terrorist

Democrat Chair Admits She Supports Abortions Up to Birth:
https://www.lifenews.com/2024/09/17/democrat-chair-admits-she-supports-abortions-up-to-birth-all-the-way-to-the-end/

Man, 42, is jailed for raping 14-year-old girl in alleyway:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13850025/Man-jailed-raping-14-year-old-girl-alleyway-Rotherham-grooming-gangs.html

Pentagon renovates Israeli air base:
https://thecradle.co/articles/pentagon-renovates-israeli-air-base-to-make-room-for-refueling-tanker-aircraft

We Used Terrible Science to Justify Smoking Bans:
https://slate.com/technology/2017/02/secondhand-smoke-isnt-as-bad-as-we-thought.html

Scottish police slammed for letting ‘transgender’ male rapists ‘self-declare’:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/scottish-police-slammed-for-letting-transgender-male-rapists-self-declare-that-they-are-women/

Officer-Involved Shooting On I-49 In Rogers:
https://www.dps.arkansas.gov/news/dash-camera-video-released-from-july-officer-involved-shooting-on-i-49-in-rogers/

The US will become ‘minority white’ in 2045:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-will-become-minority-white-in-2045-census-projects/

ICE Detains Illegal Migrant Accused Of Raping Pre-Teen In Nantucket:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ice-detains-illegal-migrant-accused-raping-pre-teen-childmore-month-after-he-walked-bail

Somali refugee who ran public housing agency admits to stealing millions:
https://thepostmillennial.com/somali-refugee-who-ran-public-housing-agency-admits-to-stealing-millions-in-minneapolis?utm_campaign=64530

Anti-Trumpers Want Him Dead:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/09/18/anti-trumpers-want-him-dead-and-keep-asking-somebody-to-do-it-slyly-n3794635

Teachers say they were told by administrators to give migrant students passing grades:
https://wgnradio.com/news/chicago-public-schools-teachers-say-they-were-told-by-administrators-to-give-migrant-students-passing-grades/

Desperate to Offload Stock:
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/09/15/ev-dealers-are-so-desperate-to-offload-stock-that-theyre-offering-lease-deals-for-20-a-month-n4932528

How 'Israel' Has Lost The North:
https://indi.ca/israel-has-lost-the-north/

Kamala / Tim Walz Phone Call PARODY:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEg7yY_Cv60&ab_channel=MrReagan
Butler?
My nickname at work is, "HR wants to see you".

*.*

It was our great aunt's birthday, so we decided to call her up and sing "Happy Birthday."

Only trouble was we dialed the wrong number.

"Don't let it bother you," said the voice on the other end, "you need all the practice you can get."

*.*

After shopping for most of the day, a couple returns to find their car has been stolen. They go to the police station to make a full report. Then, a detective drives them back to the parking lot to see if any evidence can be found at the scene of the crime. To their amazement, the car has been returned.

There is an envelope on the windshield with a note of apology and two tickets to a music concert. The note reads, "I apologize for taking your car, but my wife was having a baby and I had to hot-wire your ignition to rush her to the hospital. Please forgive the inconvenience. Here are two tickets for tonight's concert of Garth Brooks, the country-and-western music star."

Their faith in humanity restored, the couple attend the concert and return home late. They find their house has been robbed. Valuable goods have been taken from throughout the house. And, there is a note on the door reading, "Well, you still have your car. I have to put my newly born kid through college."

*.*

Is it true Walmart is selling ALF brand dry rub for cats?

Asking for my Haitian friend.

*.*

70% of people who own vehicles also talk to them.

Mine asked me to cut back on the swearing.

Quote of the Times;
“America is a Christian nation. It's time for Christians to stop being stepped on and reclaim it for the glory of God through peaceful noncompliance and peaceful community building. Start local and scale up.” - Andrew Torba

Link of the Times;
Covid Czar ADMITS To INSANE Orgies Despite MANDATING Lockdowns In NYC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9s945VFpF4&ab_channel=Timcast

Issue of the Times;
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Releases Whistleblower Report On First Assassination Attempt On Trump by Ethan Huff

A 21-page whistleblower report about the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Penn., arrived this week from the office of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). The main takeaway is that the U.S. Secret Service is to blame for "failing to prevent it."

Described by Sen. Hawley as "the most stunning breakdown in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan," the first attempt on Trump's life this summer was a "catastrophic failure," he says, of not just Secret Service but also the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility," Hawley's office wrote about how the report came into existence.

"In response, Senator Hawley personally visited the Butler, Pennsylvania rally site to interview whistleblowers, opened up a whistleblower tip line, and encouraged those with relevant information to tell their stories. Since then, many individuals have come forward with information regarding the events of July 13 – from the Secret Service, DHS, and local law enforcement, as well as private citizens."

Secret Service Guilty Of "Negligence, Sloppiness, And Gross Incompetence"

At the heart of why Trump was shot in his right ear while speaking to the crowd in Butler is the total failure of Secret Service to do its job. Hawley says Secret Service is guilty of "negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence" going back many years.

The following is a more detailed breakdown of what Hawley discovered during his probe:

1) Secret Service's Counter Surveillance Division, which is supposed to perform threat assessments at all event sites, failed to do so at Trump's Butler rally, nor was it even present at the site on July 13.

2) Secret Service personnel rejected multiple offers from local law enforcement partners to deploy drone technology, even after it was discovered that the would-be assassin used a drone to survey the rally site just hours before shooting at Trump.

3) Secret Service's Office of Protective Operations – Manpower specifically told agents deployed to protect Trump at the rally to not request additional security resources because any such requests were to be automatically declined.

4) For some unknown reason, law enforcement personnel decided to abandon the rooftop of the American Glass Research (AGR) Building 6, which allowed Thomas Crooks to perch himself there and aim at Trump.

5) The lead Secret Service agent whose specific job was to coordinate all security at the July 13 Trump rally and address all line-of-sight concerns is incompetent, which resulted in the placement of random items like flags around the Butler stage and catwalk, impairing visibility.

6) Supplemental personnel from DHS, including agents responsible for covering child exploitation cases, were ordered to fill in Secret Service shortages on July 13 even though the "training" they received lasted just two hours and was of "poor quality."

Members Of Congress, Media Corroborate Whistleblower Testimony

To be sure that these claims hold weight, Hawley ran his findings by a number of executive branch officials, as well as members of Congress and news outlets. Many of them confirmed or corroborated the claims made in Hawley's report.

Hawley believes that the findings highlight the need for immediate, quick, and aggressive oversight action by not only the president but also both houses of Congress.

"Executive branch agencies so far have not denied any of these allegations," Hawley says. "What is more, on July 30, Senator Hawley directly questioned Acting Director Rowe about whistleblower allegations in a hearing jointly held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee."

Hawley discovered even more details beyond what was publicly reported, it turns out. One such detail is the fact that the lead Secret Service agent responsible for the entire Butler event failed a key examination during his or her federal law enforcement training.

"Secret Service intelligence units – teams of Secret Service agents paired with state and local law enforcement to handle reports of suspicious persons – were absent from the Butler rally," Hawley further notes.

"The hospital site where former President Trump received treatment after the shooting was poorly secured, and the hospital site agent could not answer basic questions about site security."

Secret Service, DHS Remaining Silent About Allegations

If the federal government has anything to say in its defense against these allegations, it is choosing not to do so. Thus far, neither DHS nor Secret Service have answered a single one of Hawley's many questions, which include:

1) Who, within either of these two federal agencies, made the decision to deny counter sniper coverage to the rooftop from which Crooks shot at Trump?

2) When will Secret Service or DHS publicly name the lead site agent for the rally and the lead agent for the Butler visit?

3) Did the Acting Secret Service director ever deny resources to the Trump campaign, or Secret Service counter sniper teams, as was reported by the media?

Hawley is taking the lead as far as demanding accountability on Trump's behalf. He wants former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to officially resign, and he also wants Acting Director Rowe to terminate everyone responsible for the security failures in Butler.

Hawley has spent a lot of time in recent days writing letters to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and others demanding a full investigation into Secret Service's failures to protect Trump.

Whistleblower Claims Pour In

Concerning the rest of the contents of Hawley's report, you will find a full timeline of events that day as well as a map of the Butler rally site. Hawley also included eight different whistleblower allegations and the dates they were made, including the following:

1) July 19: The Butler rally was treated as a "loose" security event.

2) July 22: Law enforcement abandoned the rooftop because it was too hot.

3) July 25: Secret Service declined drone coverage.

4) August 1: Secret Service's counter surveillance division was not present at Butler rally.

5) August 5: Butler rally site agent was known to be incompetent.

6) August 23: Secret Service headquarters denied Trump additional manpower resources.

7) September 3: DHS agents assigned to Butler rally received inadequate training.

As for the eighth "new" whistleblower allegations, Hawley reported the following three revelations in his report:

1) Lead Secret Service agent for entire Butler visit failed a key exam during federal law enforcement training.

2) Secret Service intelligence units, meaning teams of Secret Service agents paired with state and local law enforcement to handle reports of suspicious persons, were completely absent from Butler rally.

3) The hospital where Trump was sent for treatment was poorly secured.

"Two months have now elapsed since former President Donald J. Trump was nearly assassinated. And the American people still know far too little about why this happened," Hawley writes.

"The Secret Service, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security have not been forthcoming with the American people. Far from it: they have closed ranks, refused to confirm or deny whistleblower allegations, and resisted meaningful oversight. In fact, sources with direct knowledge of Secret Service's own internal investigation have alleged to Senator Hawley that the Department of Homeland Security is leaning on Secret Service not to comply with document requests from Congress."

If you are as committed to the cause as Hawley is, or if you are a whistleblower who knows more, Hawley wants you to email him at tips@hawley.senate.gov or call him at (202) 224-6154.

"Whistleblower identities will be protected against disclosure," Hawley says. "All communications are entitled to protection afforded by whistleblower laws."

News of the Times;
'Step-By-Step' How the Left Behaves During ANY Debate on Mass Immigration:
https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/09/13/mass-immigration-how-every-debate-goes-thread-n2400919

Russia Steamrolls Ukraine On The Eastern Front:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qREsStp-jU8&ab_channel=SebastianSas

Reality Of Haitian 'Great Job Replacement':
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-haitian-invasion-charleroi-exposed-resident-shows-great-replacement-us-factory

Harley Davidson is Moving Some Production to Thailand:
https://www.newsbreak.com/share/3589524293193-harley-davidson-is-moving-some-production-to-thailand-in-2025

China Raises Retirement Age For First Time Since 1978:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-raises-retirement-age-first-time-1978-sparking-social-fury

Dodgers Honor 'Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence':
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dodgers-kowtow-teachers-unions-honor-sisters-perpetual-indulgence

Second Gentleman to Jewish leaders:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/second-gentleman-to-jewish-leaders-like-all-jews-i-feel-deep-connection-to-israel/

Emhoff acknowledges affair during first marriage:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/03/politics/doug-emhoff-acknowledges-affair-during-first-marriage/index.html

The Left Wanted Body Cams on Cops, Until They Saw the Truth:
https://pjmedia.com/kevindowneyjr/2021/05/22/the-left-wanted-body-cams-on-cops-until-they-saw-the-truth-n1448816

Haitian migrant killed 71-year-old grandmother:
https://www.newstarget.com/2024-09-16-haitian-migrant-killed-grandmother-in-ohio-town.html

The 9-11 High-Fivers:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/qRrrrSxaURLp

When the Mismanagerial Class Destroys Great Companies:
https://www.palladiummag.com/2024/08/30/when-the-mismanagerial-class-destroys-great-companies/

Washington Commanders Exec Suspended:
https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/09/04/washington-commanders-exec-suspended-after-video-rant-about-homophobic-black-players-alcoholic-fans/

Illegal migrant from Dominican Republic suspected of ‘horrifically’ killing"
https://nypost.com/2024/09/14/us-news/new-york-illegal-migrant-julio-cesar-pimentel-soriano-suspected-of-murdering-irondequoit-family/
Washing?
A new study says that skateboarding can help people in their 40's and 50's who are struggling with depression or just want to boost their mood.

It's also a great way to meet people in the Emergency Room.

*.*

A 44-year-old woman in Greece was arrested after it was discovered that she intentionally starting wildfires because "she enjoyed watching firefighters and flirting with them."

Gives new meaning to the phrase, "Match dot com."

*.*

Oneliners:

Sixth in line to the throne takes on a different meaning when you're not in the royal family but in a dive bar.

It's that wonderful time of year when my seasonal depression turns into just regular depression.

I hope the next big trend in music is talent.

I really think that tossing and turning at night should be considered exercise.

You call it "Blacking Out" I call it a "Surprise Nap"

If I ever go missing someday and there's a big search party out looking for me, you can save a lot of time by not looking at the gym.

Sometimes when I'm feeling lonely, I head on over to Best Buy and pretend to know nothing about my phone.

The zoo is probably the safest place in the world to fart.

My earthquake kit is just a tuxedo because in case of a disaster, I want to look like the most important person to save.

There should be an energy drink named 6 AM child.

*.*

OK, is the song "Black Magic Woman" about a "Black Magic" woman or a Black "Magic Woman?"

Curious minds want to know....

Well, OK, I do.

*.*

The McDonald's $5 value meal is going to stick around at least through December.

At this point, it still appears to be considered as a Christmas dinner possibility.

Quote of the Times;
“Before calling yourself a screwed-up conspiracy theorist. First: Make sure you're not in a world ruled by blood-drinking, child-abusing, Moloch-worshiping psychopaths who'd stab their mothers in the back for a spare nickel.” - Jeff Sekerak

Link of the Times;
33 US Nurses Died Suddenly This Week:
https://deeprootsathome.com/my-sisters-are-dying-33-us-nurses-died-suddenly-this-week/

Issue of the Times;
The Brainwashing of a Nation by Daniel Greenfield

Brainwashing isn’t a secretive event that takes place in hidden rooms. No hypnotists or vials full of chemicals are required. It takes place every day on a massive scale across the United States.

Unlike Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate, brainwashing does not turn people into hypnotized zombies who would be ready to kill a presidential candidate at a command. Instead, it transforms them into the sort of people who would be willing to kill someone for political reasons.

The distinction is why so few people understand the sources of political radicalism and violence.

Brainwashing isn’t magic, but it can look like magic. The sleight of hand that causes us to think so is our firm belief in our reason and free will. It’s easier to believe in changing minds through hypnotism and drugs, than to understand, what the successful practitioners of brainwashing do, that the human mind is more malleable than we like to think, and that the subconscious is more powerful than the conscious.

The human mind, like the human body, adapts to a crisis with a fight-or-flight response. Brainwashing forces the mind into a flight response. Once in flight mode, the mind can rationalize a new belief as a protective behavior that will keep it safe. Even when, as in the case of the suspect, the new belief will actually destroy his life. Fight or flight mode inhibits long term thinking. In panic mode, destructive and suicidal behaviors seem like solutions because they offer an escape from unbearable chemical stresses.

There’s a good biological reason for that. Our minds stop us from thinking too much in a crisis so that we can take urgent action, like running into a fire or at a gunman, that our rational minds might not allow us to do. But that same function can be ‘hacked’ by artificially putting people into fight-or-flight mode to break them down and shortcut their higher reasoning functions. Decisions reached subconsciously in fight-or-flight mode will then be rationalized and internalized after the initial crisis has passed.

When that internalization happens, then the brainwashing is real.

Almost anyone can be compelled to say anything under enough stress. Many can be forced to believe it. The acid test of brainwashing is whether they will retain that belief once fight-or-flight mode passes.

Cults, abusive relationships and totalitarian movements maintain ‘total crisis’, shutting down higher reasoning, creating a permanent state of stress by triggering fight-or-flight responses unpredictably. This leads to Stockholm Syndrome, where the captive tries to control their fate through total emotional identification with their captor, pack behavior, loss of identity and will, and eventually suicide or death.

Total crisis leads to burnout, emotional exhaustion, detachment from friends and family, and violence.

How do you brainwash a nation?

Control the national environment, force a crisis on the country, and tap into their fear and guilt.

Since the Left still lacks total control over the United States, it relies on repetition, itself a form of control and stress, to create fear and panic. It makes up for its lack of physical control by bombarding Americans with messages meant to inspire fear, love, hate and guilt through the media, through the educational system, through entertainment and through every possible messaging channel.

The panic over Trump is a crisis of the sort that leftists detonate in the political opposition, but the fear, anger, terror, stress and violence on display are typical of the crisis mode of fight-or-flight.

The “Resistance” isn’t a political movement. It’s a political cult whose crisis was the opposition. Its irrational belief that Trump is a Russian agent is typical of the conspiratorial mindset of cults. Its inability to understand that its convictions are completely irrational show how brainwashing works.

The 2016 election inflicted on its members a loss of control. Trump became the crisis embodying their loss of control. Their fear, guilt and anger induced stress that altered their behavior and beliefs.

Like drug addiction, the aftermath of brainwashing transforms the mind into a convoluted maze of rationalizations for self-destructive behavior that are guarded by biology and the subconscious. It cannot be escaped without breaking down the defense mechanisms that were put into place to avoid re-experiencing the original trauma, and without examining the emotions behind the mechanisms.

Brainwashing can create new ideas and realities, but it can’t create new emotions. All it can do is amplify them and use them to induce in its subject a new belief in an altered reality. It doesn’t create guilt, shame, fear, love or hate. It amplifies, exploits them and uses them as tools to create stress, force a crisis, and then transform a single belief or an entire identity.

That is why the Left cannot be defeated through policy debates and intellectual abstractions. It is a belief system. Though it traffics in seeming abstractions, these are a language, but not the meaning. The esoteric languages of policy and pop culture in which it speaks are vehicles for a deeper language of primal emotions. Behind the theories and manifestos is a great darkness of fear and terror, of love and hate, of emotional instability and vulnerability on which its lies and propaganda are built.

And it is within that primal darkness out of which all evil is born that the brainwashing does its work.

News of the Times;
Famous TikToker becomes nun:
https://orthochristian.com/163352.html

Assassin Palled Around With Neo-Nazi Azov Brigade In Ukraine:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/would-be-trump-assassin-palled-around-neo-nazi-azov-brigade-ukraine-what-did

Haitians are getting driver’s licenses but can’t actually drive:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/citizen_journalist_pokes_around_the_dmv_in_springfield_oh_and_wonders_how_the_haitians_are_getting_driver_s_licenses_but_can_t_actually_drive.html

California Sheriff Rips Kamala’s ‘Reign Of Terror’ On The Border:
https://www.rvmnews.com/2024/09/california-sheriff-rips-kamalas-reign-of-terror-on-the-border-in-house-testimony-watch/

Architect of Bush Admin’s CIA Torture Program Endorses Kamala Harris:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/former-attorney-general-alberto-gonzales-architect-bush-admins/

Bill Gates' foundation buys Anheuser-Busch stock worth $95 million:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-gates-buys-bud-light-anheuser-busch-stocks/

Massive Iskander Attack Sends Rats Scurrying:
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/massive-iskander-attack-sends-rats

Tim Walz Championed Group That Partnered with Wuhan Lab in China:
https://iotwreport.com/tim-walz-championed-group-that-partnered-with-wuhan-lab-in-china/

National Guard does not know if Walz disclosed DUI arrest:
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/national-guard-does-not-know-if-walz-disclosed-dui-arrest-former

Walz Calls Harris a 'Young Prostitutor' in World's Most Freudian Slip:
https://www.mrctv.org/blog/brittany-m-hughes/walz-calls-harris-young-prostitutor-worlds-most-freudian-slip

‘ABC is disgusting’:
https://www.rsbnetwork.com/news/abc-is-disgusting-trump-unleashes-over-being-cut-off-while-discussing-assassination-attempt/

Climate Indoctrination Accelerates As The Narrative Breaks Down:
https://issuesinsights.com/2024/09/06/climate-indoctrination-accelerates-as-the-narrative-breaks-down/

Hamas Fraternity Recruits College Students Happy to Sign Up to Harass Jews:
https://gellerreport.com/2024/09/watch-hamas-fraternity-recruits-college-students-happy-to-sign-up-to-harass-jews-protest-synagogues-burn-american-flags.html/?lctg=208498558

Eight Babies From Tim Walz’s State “Were Left to Die”:
https://www.lifenews.com/2024/09/12/eight-babies-from-tim-walzs-state-were-left-to-die-after-they-survived-abortions/

Wisconsin Had 200,000 Illegal Ballots in Two Counties Alone:
https://rumble.com/vh99np-wisconsin-had-200000-illegal-ballots-in-two-counties-alone-in-race-decided-.html
Versus?
Where does Peter Pan have lunch?

At Wendy's.

*.*

Did you know that the word 'nothing' is a palindrome?

Backwards it spells 'gnihton', which also means nothing.

*.*

Oneliners:

If you're not supposed to eat at night, why is there a light bulb in the fridge?

Sometimes the first step to forgiveness is understanding that the other person is a complete idiot!

If you hear weird noises in the night, make weirder ones to assert dominance.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

A shout out to my arms for always being at my side.

I am a gentleman, based on the types of clubs I go to...

I miss the good old days when you could slam the phone down.

I'm an only child, and I'm still not the favorite.

The problem with drinking with people from work is they're the ones I bitch about when I'm drunk.

I like birthdays, but I think too many can kill you.

*.*

After enlisting in the 82nd Airborne Division, I eagerly asked my recruiter what I could expect from jump training.

"Well," he said, "it's three weeks long."

"What else?" I asked.

"The first week they separate the men from the boys," he said. "The second week, they separate the men from the fools."

"And the third week?" I asked.

"The third week, the fools jump."

*.*

What did the female dinosaur call her blouse making business?

"Try Sara's Tops!"

Ba Dum Tss…

Quote of the Times;
The US has no functional president and has not had one for months, and it's barely noticeable and barely matters because there's a permanent unelected machine that runs the government. - Glenn Greenwald

Link of the Times;
Great Replacement Job Shock: 1.3 Million Native-Born Americans Just Lost Their Jobs:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/great-replacement-job-shock-13-million-native-born-americans-just-lost-their-jobs-replaced

Issue of the Times;
Trump vs Harris: The Apocalypse Debate by Constantin Von Hoffmeister

In the September 10, 2024 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump spoke with a chilling sense of urgency, portraying America as a once-vibrant body now beset by alien entities. He likened the Democrats to parasitic extraterrestrials, sucking the life from the nation, draining its vitality, and leaving only a hollow, shriveled carcass. Trump warned that under Harris, these bodysnatchers would grow stronger, feeding on the nation’s resources and people until all that remains is a husk, devoid of the might and original blood that once made America great.

Trump warns us of the insidious decay gnawing at the bones of the American nation. “Bad immigration is the worst thing that can happen to our economy,” he declared. He understands what many have long forgotten: that the deactivation of America’s borders is not merely a matter of economics but a symbolic death knell. An evil and ancient monster stirs beneath the surface, inviting anarchy, entropy, and ruin.

Immigration threatens the economic stability of the country and erases the ethnic and cultural cohesion that binds the nation. America, forged by the hands of its Anglo founding stock, once was a paragon of Western ideals, rooted in traditions that upheld the sanctity of borders, law, and civic unity. However, unchecked immigration, particularly from regions where the values and norms vastly differ from the Western tradition, disrupts this fragile balance. The influx of people from other backgrounds, without any expectation of assimilation, dilutes the common culture, creating pockets of foreign influence that undermine what is still the American White majority.

Moreover, Trump argues that this flow of immigration burdens the working-class natives, both White and Black. Wave after wave of cheap labor undercuts wages, making it harder for the native-born to find jobs that provide a living wage. What was once a thriving manufacturing sector — supported by strong, proud workers — is now scorched earth, replaced by underpaid migrant labor willing to accept much less. This imbalance drives down standards for the native workforce, creating economic instability that ripples throughout communities. The native-born, especially those in struggling industries, see their livelihoods dwindle as industries shift toward exploiting cheaper labor pools, facilitated by purposely lax immigration policies.

Trump understands that immigration, left uncontrolled, is the mechanism through which a nation’s spine can be broken. The deep ties to heritage, culture, and tradition weaken as foreign influences reshape once-stable communities. This imposition of “diversity,” which many deluded individuals tout as a strength, in fact serves as a Trojan horse, demolishing the pillars that made America great. Besides the economic strain, it is a matter of identity and survival. The ethos and ethnos of the American experiment are being diluted into oblivion.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people who came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” Trump’s words tell a ghastly tale, one that conjures visions of a land overrun by sinister vampires. As in Dracula, where the Count silently slips into the heart of London, spreading an unseen contagion, here, too, Trump paints a picture of invasion. The newcomers, like the undead legions, have taken root in the once-prosperous towns of America, driving the native people to terror. These invaders consume not only resources but the very soul of the community, leaving havoc in their wake. What should be a peaceful suburb has become a feeding ground, where the pets — the loyal companions of the innocent — are devoured. The nightmare is not just in the act but in what it represents: a loss of order, a descent into primal chaos. Trump, like van Helsing, stands as the lone figure warning the nation, pointing to the dastardly consequences of rampant villainy eroding the foundations of the nation.

The agents of this outfit, led by Kamala Harris, a “Marxist” according to Trump and an acolyte of eldritch horrors according to others, seek to usher in an era of unprecedented devastation. Harris’ rise, like the awakening of Cthulhu from its deathless slumber, threatens to cast the Western world into a maelstrom of madness and poverty. The policies she espouses, veiled in the cloak of “progress,” are but the writhings of the malevolent fishmen, desirous of dismantling the core of Western civilization. The French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution were not isolated eruptions of political unrest. They were deliberate manifestations of a far more menacing design. These upheavals, cloaked in the rhetoric of “liberty and equality,” were in truth orchestrated by well-established forces bent on overthrowing the order that had been painstakingly forged over centuries. The revolutions were harbingers of massacre, unleashed by dark powers intent on erasing the divine architecture of hierarchy, faith, and tradition, leaving only a shattered world in their wake.

For generations, these forces have worked in secret, lurking in the shadows of human history. They are the Swamp, the millennia-old nefarious cabal that Trump has so courageously sought to expose. “When are the people that burned down Minneapolis going to be prosecuted?” Trump asked. The BLM riots, the destruction, the dissolution of societal norms — all are symptoms of a deeper sickness, orchestrated by an elite with no allegiances that seeks nothing less than the obliteration of national sovereignty. Its tactics are clear: deconstruct borders, destabilize elections, and undermine the institutions that have long kept it at bay.

Trump insisted that America “need[s] two things: We have to have borders and good elections.” Without borders, the people are clay, shapeless, and ready to be molded by those who seek to enslave them. And elections? Those are the people’s last weapon. The Swamp wants to rule forever, drowning the people in corruption, making sure no real challenger ever rises. Borders, elections — these are not policies; they are shields against tyranny. Trump knows if the people lose either, they are shackled, the Swamp devouring everything he and his followers fought for. Borders and elections are the fight for freedom itself.

The decline Trump warns of is not just political posturing — it is a brutal reality. “We have a nation in decline. We have a nation that is dying,” he said, each word weighted with the dread of a future he knows all too well. America, once a powerful empire, is on the brink, pushed there by weak, cowardly leadership like Joe Biden’s. The rot is not random; it is orchestrated and deliberate. Every failed policy, every act of betrayal by Biden and his ilk, is a step closer to that doom.

Trump’s remark, “They threw him [Biden] out of a campaign like a dog,” was not an insult; it was a revelation. Even within the ranks of the corrupt establishment, there is no loyalty, no camaraderie. They cannibalize their own, driven by a never-ending hunger for control and power. Biden, a puppet of the Swamp, is their perfect tool — spineless, corruptible, willing to do their bidding as America crumbles. For Trump, the fight is not merely against weak leaders; it is against the entire system of decrepitude threatening to engulf the nation.

“I read where she was not black, that she put out…” Trump’s words, vague yet loaded, drip with insinuation, casting Kamala Harris as a figure who has manipulated her identity and ascended by dubious means, suggesting she may have used more than political skill to climb the ladder of power. Like the veiled cultists in overgrown temples, Harris is presented as a pawn of devious engineers, reshaping her persona to grasp influence. Trump, ever the motivated crusader against these lurking fears, exposes this transformation as emblematic of the Swamp’s deceit, where loyalty to truth and tradition is sacrificed for ambition and opportunism.

“What they’ve done to business and manufacturing in this country is horrible. We have nothing! Biden doesn’t go after people. Between Biden and his son... they get all this money from all these different countries... Why is he so loyal to this one and that one? This is a crooked administration, and they’re selling our country down the tubes.” Trump’s words are a lament for a nation stripped of its industrial might, a country betrayed. In his vision, America’s once-great factories now stand silent, their lifeblood siphoned away by the corruption of the Biden administration. Shadowy foreign interests lurk behind the scenes, exchanging wealth for influence, while the American worker is abandoned to economic ruin. Trump sees Biden and his son as mere puppets, driven not by loyalty to country but by greed and the demands of international power brokers. The administration, under the sway of these globalists, has betrayed the people, leaving the nation in disarray, its greatness sold off piece by piece to the highest bidder. What was once an industrial powerhouse is now a withering invalid, tragic evidence for the power of betrayal.

Trump proclaimed, “We’re gonna end up in a third world war, and it’ll be a war like no other because of nuclear weapons.” And verily, the apocalypse draws near, as foretold in the Revelation of John, where fire from the heavens consumes the earth, and the nations are laid to waste. Yet, there stands a choice: between Trump, the last sentinel against the total reign of liberalism, and the Democratic apocalypse, whose leaders pave the way for destruction, hastening the trumpet call. Only one path leads to salvation, the other to ruin.

News of the Times;
The Haitian cat diet story:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/the_haitian_cat_diet_story_has_produced_an_extraordinary_number_of_memes.html

Migrant arrested in rape of 13-year-old in Queens park:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/migrant-custody-person-interest-rape-13-year-queens/story?id=111213630

Turkish migrant arrested for allegedly raping 15-year-old girl:
https://nypost.com/2024/06/27/us-news/illegal-migrant-arrested-for-allegedly-raping-15-year-old-girl-in-his-car/

Illegal Immigrant Charged With Sickening Crimes Against Young Girl:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/mans-coward-illegal-immigrant-charged-sickening-crimes-young/

Previously Deported Illegal Alien Arrested After Two Young Boys Found Chained Up:
https://iotwreport.com/report-previously-deported-illegal-alien-arrested-after-two-young-boys-found-chained-up-in-apartment/

153 Illegal Immigrants Have Been Arrested For Rape In Baltimore Alone In A Single Year:
https://madmaxworld.tv/watch?id=66dfc13d5ab5a490ce98b4fe

Outraged by illegal immigrant men's shelter opening 1,000 feet from school:
https://lawenforcementtoday.com/brooklyn-families-school-leaders-outraged-by-illegal-immigrant-shelter-opening-1000ft-from-school

Stabbing suspect, 17, is named for the first time charged with murdering three little girls:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13697675/southport-stabbing-suspect-named-appears-court-charged-murder.html

Illegal Alien Arrested After Attacking Tennessee Man with Pickaxe:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/kamala-border-horror-illegal-alien-arrested-after-attacking/

Four Teens Plead Guilty to Fatal Beating:
https://www.thedupreereport.com/2024/09/four-teens-plead-guilty-to-fatal-beating-of-classmate/

Germany notifies the EU it will bring in controls on ALL land borders:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13830071/Germany-EU-border-controls-Islamic-extremism.html

Republican House panel subpoenas Gov. Walz:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-house-panel-subpoenas-gov-walz-investigation-minnesota-non-rcna169436

Gunman Shoots Up Pro-Trump Pastor’s House:
https://wltreport.com/2024/09/04/gunman-shoots-up-pro-trump-pastors-house/

Kamala Harris Will Be Installed as President Before Election:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/kash-patel-believes-kamala-harris-will-be-installed/

Pope finally condemns Olympic Opening Ceremony:
https://genesiustimes.com/pope-finally-condemns-olympic-opening-ceremony-for-not-including-an-abortion-too/
Mystics?
The lady next to me in the elevator told me to press One.

That was the last thing I remembered.

*.*

We visited our newly married daughter, who was preparing her first Thanksgiving dinner. I noticed the turkey thawing in the kitchen sink with a dish drainer inverted over the bird. I asked why a drainer covered the turkey.

Our daughter turned to my wife and said, “Mom, you always did it that way.”

“Yes,” my wife replied, “but you don’t have a cat!”

*.*

The NFL has officially suspended Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker, Harrison Butker, for his failure to meet the league minimum of domestic violence incidents. The league’s decision has sparked outrage and confusion among fans, who are struggling to come to terms with the revelation that their beloved kicker is apparently not living up to the high standards set by the NFL.

“I’m in shock,” said one Chiefs fan, in a statement released through social media. “I always thought Butker was one of the best in the NFL. I just can’t believe he’s not meeting the league minimum.”

The NFL’s decision to suspend Butker comes as a result of an internal investigation, which found that the Chiefs’ kicker has not been involved in a single domestic violence incident during his time in the league, a first among NFL players of his tenure. According to the investigation, Butker’s failure to meet the league minimum of domestic violence incidents has created an uneven playing field for other kickers, who are struggling to compete with the Chiefs’ star player.

“We take domestic violence very seriously in the NFL, it’s who we are,” said Roger Goodell, in a statement released through the league’s official website. “We cannot tolerate a player who is not meeting the league minimum of domestic violence incidents, and we will take swift and decisive action to address the situation.”

As the controversy surrounding Butker’s domestic violence record continues to swirl, many are left wondering what the future holds for the embattled kicker. Will he be able to find a way to increase his domestic violence incidents, or will he be forced to endure the shame and humiliation of being a below-average kicker in the NFL?

*.*

Why do (insert racism) people love fresh air?

Because it's free.

*.*

I hate it when I can't figure out how to operate the iPad and my tech guy is asleep.

He's 5 and it's past his bedtime.

Quote of the Times;
If our inspired optimism pains our enemies, if our relentless conviction burns them, if our Christian faith enrages them, if our intolerance makes them feel bad about themselves, that is only further testimony to the fact that our perspective is essentially beautiful, good, and true. - Vox Day

Link of the Times;
When Critical Race Theory Led to Murder:
https://dailyveracity.substack.com/p/when-critical-race-theory-led-to

Issue of the Times;
The Mystics of Progress by Isaac Young

By the 1960s, progressivism had reached a new ascendancy. Fueled by the unparalleled wealth that came with a modern economy, millions were lifted into new, luxurious lifestyles. Now was the time to put aside the ignorance of religion and finally embrace the freedoms offered by a world liberated from Christianity.

It isn’t hard to understand how so many fell for the deception. Things were getting better and better. Technology was improving, and more importantly, accelerating. The Soviet Union was an existential threat, yes. However, too many had already seen the miracle of science, and it seemed a better horse to back than spiritually weakened priests who were quickly conceding to the liberalism’s demands.

But with any new religion, there has to be a story, and the story science told wasn’t so flattering. Men had gone from sons of God to sons of apes. Salvation was a lie and death was the end. There was no justice in the world, and mercy was just the delusion of fools. Man was a small being in a cold universe. The only thing modern men could be comforted by was his own increasing material comfort.

That’s not a story anyone wants to hear. And it’s certainly not a story anyone wants to tell. While abject nihilism has always had its place in literature, it rightfully has a small audience. Nihilism has nothing that could sustain a city, much less a nation.

Reason and science needed romance. It needed adventure and a destiny. Without these things, it was a boring, uninspiring philosophy. Writers (good ones anyway) instinctively shy away from boring. Better to be dead than boring. If there is a victory, it has to be a glorious triumph. If it is a defeat, it has to be a last stand. And if it is banal, then it has to be the most shuddering and teeth clenching banality of all.

But the Sci-Fi writers of the 1960s and later could do a lot more than banality. They knew how to tell stories, and they (unconsciously or otherwise) slipped that dreaded irrationality and religious ignorance back into their fiction. In doing so, they created the archetypal myths which define the modern world.

We’ll start with what I consider to be the quintessential story of progressivism. 2001: A Space Odyssey was written in 1968 by Arthur C. Clarke. The original novel frames evolution not as random mutation guided by arbitrary natural selection, but rather as a series of stages, with each improving and progressing from the last. Guided by the hands of an intelligence, men are the products of a consciousness far beyond our comprehension.
From a purely scientific standpoint, this is complete hogwash. But from a storyteller’s perspective, this is gold. Men are no longer an accident of cosmic forces. Suddenly we have a destiny again. There’s a conflict of tug and pull. We are going somewhere and we (at least to this incomprehensible intelligence) matter. We may be apes, but we have the potential to be something more. Can we realize this destiny?

You’ll notice that God is back in the equation. Except this God is a surprisingly hollow one compared to the Christian God. This one makes no demands or moral rules upon humanity. This one does not care about the suffering of the life it created. This one wants little to do with humanity except when it achieves a sufficient stage of intelligence.

Make no mistake, this is a despotic and cruel God. But, it is also a God fit for rationalism. Could we be the products of unimaginable forces? Maybe. Nobody wants to believe this was all an accident. And while this God is empty, it is sufficient food for the poets and artists. So long as nobody makes any moral demands beyond the current zeitgeist, it is a harmless idea for scholars to speculate and pine about.

This idea of incorporating evolution into the narrative of progress and a distant, indistinct entity in God’s place is a common thread throughout all of Sci-Fi. And it doesn’t even have to be an indistinct entity. In the movie Contact, this role is occupied by a galactic community that judges humanity worthy to join them after a set time has passed. But do you know the kicker? Humanity is considered at all because we sent out some radio signals. That’s… depressing.

But there is another problem. What of the individual’s place in all of this? We can talk about humanity’s grand destiny all day, but the future of humanity is not something particularly inspiring to the guy working 9-5. Yay, we’re in the transitionary period where everything is still kinda awful, but our descendants will get to enjoy space utopia.

This question is not answered, but sidestepped paradoxically. Another of the Big Three, Isaac Asimov, showcases this bait and switch quite well in his magnum opus Foundation. This epic spans the collapse of a galactic empire. Hari Seldon has devised a new science called psychohistory, which charts the course of societies. He goes to set up a Foundation, which will be a light of science and knowledge in the coming Dark Ages and eventually bring back the empire.

This is a story that spans centuries. Its whole premise is charting the course of history. And psychohistory is not a science kind to individuals. It says what determines the course of history are large-scale incentives and institutional rot. We are but numbers on a spreadsheet encompassing billions of worlds, and the greater part of humanity is accounted for in the margins.

But how did Isaac Asimov write this story? Well, he didn’t, at least not in the way he thought. A third of the first book follows a shrewd politician named Salvor Hardin as he outmaneuvers factions within Foundation. He eventually consolidates their society and neighboring kingdoms into a religious theocracy. Particularly, he accomplishes this through a clever ruse by outfitting enemy fleets with a kill-switch and faking it as divine power.

Fourteen-year-old me put down the book at the moment and asked, “okay, but what if there wasn’t Salvor Hardin?” There is some argument for the Second Foundation and Seldon predicting the rise of great men, but individuals are precisely the antithesis of psychohistory. You’ll find in each section of Isaac Asimov’s magnum opus, there are great men of history. There are people who rise above the paradigm and set the trends of the coming future. And it is not just captains of industry or conniving warlords. Even small people have a huge impact on galactic affairs. The Mule (a mutant with telepathic powers) lost because he fell in love with a normal woman.

Sci-Fi is full of these characters. One moment they are but insignificant specks, the next they are upending everything. In this, you see a paradox which is played whenever the narrative is convenient for it. Humanity is vast, and the individual has no power, or the individual leads the revolution and remakes society.

I’m not saying this is done deliberately (though it probably certainly happened at some stage). However, progress needed a place for the individual, if only because storytellers demanded it so. You cannot tell a good story without people whose actions matter. Stories need heroes and villains, otherwise you have no story at all. It may go completely against the rational point of view, which says people are utterly insignificant, but can’t we just pretend that we are?

The final component of this narrative is a vision of what is trying to be achieved. The stage is set. We have our gods and demons, heroes and villains. For what shall be the contest? Well, the answer varies depending upon who you ask.

Gene Roddenberry’s vision in Star Trek is of a space traveling humanity where all material wants were satisfied. Thankfully, the galaxy was filled with different peoples and aliens to meet. Otherwise, his stories would be fairly boring. Of course, that is the least of his world building troubles. Star Trek does not stand up to even the most cursory scrutiny.

However, I don’t think progress was promising material utopia. At least, that wasn’t what people wanted. Utopia is a nice political aim, but I suspect what really captivated the audience was the prospect of an endless adventure.

What is mankind now fighting for? Ironically, the soldiers of progress want the world to go back as it once was, where the horizon was an unexplored frontier.

In the 16th century, men put themselves on little boats and crossed oceans for adventure. But space is too vast an ocean and our boats too tiny to cross. I have seen many futurists on the internet, and the dream of space travel is admittedly an intoxicating one. It tends to fill your thoughts as you work retail. I know it did for me.

In the imagination of many, humanity was just at its short adolescent stage. Once it stepped into the stars, the fun would begin again. Again, this goes against all science. The galaxy so far has been silent, and I think it’s time we begin to accept that alien life, if it does exist, is so far away as to be inaccessible.

Space is out. But what about computers? Neuromancer by William Gibson was released in 1984. A little later than the 1960s, but it’s still a foundational text. Perhaps the future we’re fighting for is a simulation? Of course, I wouldn’t want to live in the world of Neuromancer, but the dream of uploading your mind is an enticing one. What if your life could be a video game?

Suppose you could do it. Suppose I could turn you into a program and put you in a simulation. Would your life be better than what you have now? For those advocating for this future, most seem to skip that step. Let’s take at the modern day. Are our lives really better with what digitization has already accomplished? Everyone agrees social media is a plague on humanity, yet why are so many pushing to trap themselves on what would be the ultimate social media platform?

You’ll again notice we’ve ditched reason yet again for a digital version of heaven. And our future is so much more enlightened than religious notions of an afterlife. We’ve taken salvation and commercialized it. Your eternal soul will be bought with the US dollar.

But putting all that aside, why do these stories matter? These stories are all fiction. They are nothing to be taken seriously. I can already hear the cry that this all has nothing to do with the actual expectations people had for the future. Had I brought 2001: A Space Odyssey into an academic debate on industrialization, I would’ve been laughed out.

However, people do not tell stories just for mindless amusement. In them are the beliefs of a people. More than just hopes and dreams, stories are a reflection of the world as we see it. And in these stories I have listed, you see the beliefs of the people writing them. You see their Gods and Devils, their Heroes and Villains, and the reality they want to make happen. Stories are a look at where we are and where we are going. And most importantly, stories are a confession of faith.

Did Arthur C. Clarke believe in monoliths that uplifted humanity? No. But he certainly believed in the God that made them.

News of the Times;
Income distribution by religious group:
https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/database/income-distribution/

Cat ‘Hanging from a Branch, Being Carved Up for Food’ by Haitian Migrants:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/update-ohio-resident-reportedly-horrified-after-spotting-missing/

Kamala Harris, Back When She Was Not Afraid to Give Interviews:
https://johnalucas6.substack.com/p/kamala-harris-back-when-she-was-not

Chuck Schumer’s Stupid Grin Disappears When:
https://loudobbs.com/news/watch-chuck-schumers-stupid-grin-disappears-when-he-comes-face-to-face-with-a-constituent-during-parade-and-gets-torn-to-shreds/

‘Sadistic’ NYC urologist Darius Paduch faces 143 more lawsuits:
https://nypost.com/2024/09/03/us-news/sadistic-nyc-urologist-darius-paduch-faces-143-more-lawsuits/

Toronto cop who helped Black officers cheat:
https://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-cop-who-helped-black-officers-cheat-on-promotional-exams-handed-2-year-demotion-1.7017126

Navy Capt. Lenard C. Mitchell was relieved of command:
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-woody-williams-captain/

The New York Times Wonders if the Constitution Is ‘Dangerous':
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/09/01/the-new-york-times-wonders-if-the-constitution-is-dangerous-n4932165

Scholars panel tells radiologists:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/scholars-panel-tells-radiologists-dont-call-first-trimester-babies-living/

42x Increase in Excess Deaths Among Children in Europe:
https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/42x-increase-in-excess-deaths-among-children-in-europe-recorded-since-covid-jab-was-approved-for-children

Blue Cities Feed Citizens’ Private Data To Democrat Vote-Harvesting Outfit:
https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/30/blue-cities-like-philadelphia-feeds-citizens-private-data-to-democrat-vote-harvesting-outfit/

China Is Expanding Its Nuclear Arsenal:
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/china-expanding-its-nuclear-arsenal-faster-any-other-nation

Brazil’s ban on X is a taste of things to come:
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/08/31/brazils-ban-on-x-is-a-taste-of-things-to-come/

It's not just you, Google Search really has gotten worse:
https://mashable.com/article/google-search-low-quality-research

The Unbelievable HORRORS of Dresden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lmIM3RrYJ4&ab_channel=DisturbanHistory
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Several animals were savagely beaten in the making of this page, including but not limited to; kittens, rabbits, zebu, skunks, puppies, and platypus. Also several monkeys where force fed crack to improve their typing skills.

And someone shot a duck.

An Images & Ideas, Inc. Service.

No Vegans were harmed in the making of this site. We're looking for a new provider.