Government-Sponsored Pain

Silverfiddle Rant!

Inflations is not letting up, and we have a global energy crisis.

Frightening economic conditions are crushing ordinary Americans.

All this brought to us by the "leaders" and "experts" who... 

...thought it would be neato to consolidate a majority of the world's critical manufacturing in a communist nation determined to avenge historical humiliations, overpower its main enemy (The United States) and dominate the world.  Yes, educated people saw this even back in the 1980's when Papa Bush was admonishing us to not isolate China.

... doubled down on stupid by panicking in the face of the global covid pandemic.  Leaders and experts fomented hysteria, forcing the shutdown of schools and the main engines of the global economy, despite knowledge that the elderly and those in poor health (unlikely to be in school or the workplace) made up over 90% of deaths.

As if that weren't enough, the geniuses in the bowels of our federal government decided now was a great time to foment a hot war between Ukraine and Russia.  As a result, continued gas flow through the Nordstream pipeline is in doubt, Germany is burning coal again, and Europe is worried about making it through the winter with enough energy to heat homes and power the economy.

Yeah, we need a "Great Reset," but not the kind the rich and powerful have in mind...

Trump's Original Sin...

The rest of the above title: Forget Russiagate, TRUMP CREATED THE COVID VACCINE, Yeah, That's The Ticket.

Worth a few moments of your time:

Well, at least now, perhaps the truth about the dangers of the COVID vaccines will be allowed to come out.  All the law suits that will be flying around will be an outcome, of course.  Get ready for the storm.

Meanwhile, we have this: Silenced healthcare workers speak out publicly for the first time: Here's what silenced healthcare workers from all over the world want you to know and why they aren't able to speak out directly.  Grim read!

Musical Interlude: One Year Ago Today

(For politics, please scroll down)

I was in the midst of the final days of packing up the last family homestead in preparation for an early-September move when Warren and I decided to  get married.

 Warren and I had been planning to go to the justice of the peace. 

 But no! 

 At my cousins' insistence, the farewell party for me became a perfect garden wedding for Warren and me. 

 All I had to do that day was show up with my hair washed and my nice shoes, and step into the wedding dress. Somehow, in the midst of all the packing, Warren and I found time to go shopping for a suit and shirt for him. Everything else for our wedding was taken care of by my cousins, two of whom walked me down the path and gave me away.

Not a dry eye anywhere in the assembly or at the altar when Warren and I took our vows!

PS: One of the aforementioned cousins was in my first wedding as a flower girl—way back in 1972. The second time around, her eight-year-old granddaughter was our flower girl.

.

The very first song that Warren and I ever danced to:

Get it Off Your Chest 8/26/22

 

Open Comments 

Comments from trolls and rants against administrators will still be deleted.

 By Warren     

Thank God for the First Amendment

Silverfiddle Rant!

Much of society is now a hooting nuthouse full of unhinged inmates trampling logic and common sense, and indifferent or even hostile to traditional religious beliefs. This is where the Christian admonition kicks in: Be in the world but not of the world.

The culture war is over - Conservative Christians lost

Traditional western jurisprudence has much of its roots in Biblical morality, but voters, elected representatives, and judges are rejecting those moral foundations, and the change has been rapid.

In 1986, the Supreme Court cited Blackstone to uphold Georgia's anti-sodomy law that outlawed homosexual sex. (Bowers v. Hardwick).  In 1991, the Supreme Court declared anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional.  (Lawrence v. Texas).  Gay marriage followed in 2015. (Obergefell v Hodges) 

Blackstone's compendium of western law explicates a nuanced approach to abortion, as does Jewish teachings.  People who want an absolute abolition of the practice must first acknowledge that they hold an extreme and minority position. I don't mean that as a pejorative.  True Christianity is uncompromising and not for the faint of heart. 

Coercion or Persuasion?

Religious right Republicans could win the House, Senate and White House and launch a farrago of revanchist federal laws including prohibitions on abortions and gay marriage, etc, but they would trigger their own version of one person, one vote, one time.  Voters would throw them out and banish them for a generation while the newly-elected would re-enshrine those rights.  Cramming laws down the throats of people who don't want them is a form of dictatorship.

Politics aside, imagine the torrent of ramifications flowing from such laws, and the impact on society. 

We are living in a neo-pagan age, and Christians are now in the realm of moral persuasion. The Lord's work will not be done in our legislatures and court houses, so roll up your sleeves, hoist high the First Amendment banner, and get to work.

Quote Of The Day

Recently, here at Always On Watch, in frustration with the manifestations of the political and sociological polarization of the 21st Century, team member Silverfiddle commented as follows (lightly edited):

.....I really do wish you would treat each of us here as individuals, not a cartoon cut out.

Anyway continue on with your low IQ red-team, blue-team sports.

Red Baaaaaaaaaasaaaaad!

Such is the state of our nation.  

We scream at — and past — each other when we subscribe to opposing ideologies. 

The discussion goes this way....

"I'm right!" screams one commenter.

"No!  I'm right!" screams the other commenter.

Sheesh.

What grade level are these exchanges?  There are multiple such exchanges to almost every blog post.

Are we Americans losing the ability to think and to engage in reasoned debate?

Musical Interlude

(For politics, please scroll down)

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) has now been dead longer than he was alive. Hard to believe!

The selection below originates from the 1700's French love song "Plaisir d'amour" and was updated by George Weiss and others for the 20th Century.  Elvis first performed "Can't Help Falling in Love" in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii, and his version went on to soar to the top of the Billboard charts and remain there for 20 straight weeks, a record which stood until Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1976).

Even today, over a half century later, Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love" is the most popular piece used by wedding couples for their first dance. 

Note: the above song was the last song [Elvis] performed live, at his [last live] concert in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on 26 June 1977.

Get it Off Your Chest 8/19/22

 

Open Comments 

Comments from trolls and rants against administrators will still be deleted.

 By Warren    

    Any idea what the hell that light is that's floating around?  The above video was taken by a wireless infrared security camera.

Why People Don't Trust The FBI

 By Warren.

As most of you know, I live in Indiana. Several years ago, in Indiana, if you had a license to carry a concealed weapon, you could walk into a gun store and buy a pistol or long gun only having to fill out the required Federal form -- ATF Form 4473 -- and you could walk out with the firearm.

This was normal, and you had already gone through the local police, been fingerprinted, gone through a background check, submitted 3 personal recommendations attesting to character, a State police check, and an FBI background check. At that time, an FBI check meant that they would have to search written records -- if you had a file/record. The process would take -- at the very least --  a month. In my case it took longer.

The reason for that delay?  I had an FBI record, so someone would have to physically find the record and see what was in it. The reason I had a record?  I had a secret security clearance, and my entire life had been researched by the FBI before the clearance was granted. 

Several years later, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was instituted, and I bought a .22 caliber rifle at a gun show. Even though I had a license to carry a concealed weapon, the sale was put on hold for 3 days before I could acquire the rifle. The rule was the FBI had to respond within 3 days or the purchase could go through.

Things in Indiana are different now. I no longer even need a license to carry concealed -- although I have one. Getting a license was the reason I started to become curious about the FBI.

Later on, there were Ruby Ridge, the Branch Davidians, the ruination of Richard Jewell, Clivan Bundy, Dr Steven J Hatill and several other incidents that pointed out the shabbiness and extralegal operations of the FBI.  All that shabbiness and the various extralegal operations of the FBI are why I don't trust the FBI -- or, for that matter, any other agency of the Government.

I came across a series of articles from The Capital Research Center, an investigative think tank that was "established in 1984 to examine how foundations, charities, and other nonprofits spend money and get involved in politics and advocacy, often in ways that donors never intended and would find abhorrent." 

See a culmination of several articles with links to other articles related to the FBI.

Read it or remain ignorant.  

Your choice.

Warren

Musical Interlude

(For politics, please scroll down)

Hard to believe that this film debuted over 47 years ago (June 20, 1975), and I still don't like to swim in the ocean:

The genius of film composer John Williams! 

As one commenter opined at YouTube:

Miss Agent E 

1 year ago

John Williams took just two notes and made generations of people terrified of the ocean.

Get it Off Your Chest 8/12/22

 

Open Comments 

Comments from trolls and rants against administrators will still be deleted.

 By Warren   

Coming: A post on the historical and recent problems in the FBI.

FBI Raids Mar-a-Lago

Silverfiddle Rant!

Here's a timeline from the Washington Examiner.

Timeline of Trump raid: How it all unfolded

What say you?

School Hiring Today?

Is this what we've come to?  Is it any wonder that our schools are failing in their primary task, that of teaching an academic program of studies?  

Social engineering rules the day!

Personal anecdote....

Back in the Stone Age (1973 A.D.), when I was fresh out of college and certified to teach Spanish at the secondary-school level, I interviewed for my first teaching position, a job in the local public-schools system; at that time, the director of personnel interviewed all applicants who had made the first cut. 

I very nearly didn't get the job because I had graduated summa cum laude from the university and had a background as a private-school student. I was told of those two failings in no uncertain terms. I responded, "So, you want to hire teachers who have an inferior knowledge of the subject matter?"

The interview promptly ended.  No job for me.

I went home in angry tears, my mind racing: 

Why had I bothered to work so hard during my four years at the university? 

During my time as a student teacher, why had I bothered to show that I could generate lesson plans which spoke to both the excellent and the below-average? 

How would I ever get a job in my chosen field? 

At that time, no private school in Northern Virginia would hire any new teachers without at least one full year of previous teaching experience, and that experience had to come from having taught in a public-schools system.

I was devastated.

But all's well that ends well.

My mother happened to know the county superintendent of public schools, who had previously been the director at a very prominent private school in Northern Virginia. As such, he had always stood for excellence in education and he continued to do so as the county superintendent of public schools.

Mom made the call. 

He was stunned and infuriated that the director of personnel had taken hiring new teachers to the lowest common denominator! The big push at that time on the part of the county superintendent of public schools was a program called "Commitment to Education," an overall goal promoting both excellence of character and academic achievement.  All in all, it was a good program.

Needless to say, the county superintendent of public schools intervened on my behalf, and I got the job.  I went on to teach for the county for five years.  Why I gave up that position is another story for another time.

All of the above said, I am not in the least bit surprised that today's hiring of teachers has sunk to the lowest common denominator of our day: the hiring of outspoken, proselytizing sexual deviants.

Related reading: NYC taxpayers paying for ‘Drag Story Hour’ for drag queen to interact with children (August 5, 2022).

Musical Interlude

(For politics, please scroll down)

Enjoy the relaxing sound of Ngu Mbandi's "Dancing in the Rain":

Get it Off Your Chest 8/5/22

Open Comments 

Comments from trolls and rants against administrators will still be deleted.

 By Warren  

 

 

 

 

Red-Blue Reality Spectrum

Silverfiddle Rant!

One event, two views.  It all depends on the ideological glasses you filter the event through.

From the Left...

Berkeley Law Professor Expertly Sautées Senator Josh Hawley In Terse Exchange On Trans People

Senator Josh Hawley thought he had a gotcha question for Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges, but he ended up getting got, as her rhetorical savvy left him speechless and embarrassed.

People on the right claim she "melted down."

Please watch the two minute video and tell us, what say you?

Gaslighting

First, the video footage from the annual 2022 Congressional Baseball Game, played for charity:

Democrat Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA) flips off the Republican dug out. Her team got blown out 10-0.pic.twitter.com/CgPOaEsLs4

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 29, 2022

Ms. Sanchez did the job of any batter at the plate: she got onto first base. Then, the team coach put in a pinch runner, at which point Ms. Sanchez trotted back to the Democrat Party dugout amid cheers.  Just another day in baseball.

As Ms. Sanchez trotted past the Republican Party dugout, however, she threw the rude gesture depicted in the video above and was roundly criticized in social media for her unsportsmanlike behavior and divisiveness.

After that, the reality gets muddy and more than once.

From LINDA SANCHEZ CHANGES STORY YET AGAIN, CALLS OUT REPUBLICAN WOMEN:

...Sanchez flipped off the Republican dugout during what was supposed to be a unifying baseball game, claiming a “nerve was struck” after she heard an “offensive and misogynistic comment from the Republican side” on her way back to the dugout.

She then changed her story to basically say, ‘Just kidding, it wasn’t from the actual dugout but from the stands, and it’s the same person every year but I won’t reveal what was said.’

And then, she shifted to bashing Republican women in attendance for not defending her … even though nobody, besides the Congresswomen [sic], has so far heard the alleged comments....

Sheesh.  What a laughable story!

The above insignificant baseball story reminds me of other recent but significant news stories with shifting narratives and shifting definitions.  Two examples: the very definition of the word recession and the lie that the border is secure (when the word secure clearly does not describe the border situation).

What's happening here?  A particular kind of lying known as gaslighting: 

psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.

How successful the Democrat Party's recent multiple perpetrations of gaslighting will be when the 2022 midterm elections roll around remains to be seen.  

After all, gaslighting in politics is often quite successful.  Until the day comes when it isn't.

What other examples of gaslighting, recent or otherwise, can you provide?  Successful or not?