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Persecution is now cool!

We are in a time of oppression. Make no mistake. If you publicly express an opinion that the left does not like, it is now considered perfectly reasonable among our smart set to destroy your business, dox your family, threaten your children, and have your very existence cancelled.

It is happening repeatedly now every moment of every day in communities across America. Dare to speak out against the accepted leftist mantras of the moment and you will be crushed.

Consider for example the orthodox Jewish community in New York. That city’s leftist Democratic mayor, Bill De Blasio, has forbidden them to gather at funerals, has shut down their schools, and has now locked nearby playgrounds so that Jewish children cannot play safely, all in the name of supposedly saving them from the Wuhan flu.

At the exact same moment however that same leftist Democratic mayor had no objection to a gathering of tens of thousands in packed street demonstrations in favor of “Black Trans Lives Matters,” a gay racist group that wants to impose its sexual and racist agenda on everyone. For some reason, De Blasio has decided that the Wuhan flu is no threat to that political movement.

Only Jews can get COVID-19, and must be protected from it, even if that protection is against their will.

The Orthodox Jews in New York have been fighting back. They have repeatedly cut the locks that De Blasio’s police thugs have put on the parks, only to have De Blasio order the park gates welded shut.

Now they have gone to court to force this clear double standard to cease.

The unofficial Jewish #RESIST movement against de Blasio’s seeming bigotry escalated even further on Monday with a new civil rights lawsuit, just filed against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with de Blasio in federal court.

The NYC-based Algemeiner reports that the “lawsuit accuses the three top officials of an apparent double standard as it pertains to allowing protesters to exercise their First Amendment [rights] over the death of George Floyd.” With plenty of evidence to back it up, the suit also claims that “Favored businesses, entities and activities, as well as favored mass demonstrations such as those over the death of George Floyd, are totally exempt from the challenged gathering limits.” This, the suit says, “unduly burdens plaintiffs’ sincerely held religious beliefs.”

In a more sane America that honored our Bill of Rights, this court case would be a no-brainer, and these unconstitutional restrictions targeting specific people because of the political and religious beliefs would be stopped immediately.

But no, don’t expect that. First, though the Orthodox Jewish community in New York is one of the most conservative in the city, and votes that way, they are also a tiny minority, surrounded by a vast sea of Democratic voters who approve of De Blasio’s actions and who will vote for him and the Democrats again in November. Witness the size of that “Black Trans Lives Matter” protest. This tells you the size of De Blasio’s support.

Second, I am pessimistic the courts will support the suit. We now have a Supreme Court, led by Trump-appointee Neil Gorsuch, which just decided by 6-3 that the word “sex” has no meaning, that anyone can assign any meaning to that word they wish. If you are born a man and want to compete against women in sports, you now can, and no one can stop you. If you are a man who likes to rape women, but declares you are really a woman who has the right to use the woman’s bathroom, you now can, and no one can stop you.

This is the thinking now in our highest court, even after the appointment by Trump of two so-called conservatives who supposedly believed that it was not the place of the court to legislate.

Thus, I fully expect the courts to back De Blasio. If he wants to declare that leftwing protests are immune from COVID-19 but rightwing activities are not and should thus be banned, it is clearly within his rights. How dare anyone stop him from oppressing those he disagrees with?

And before anyone thinks my conclusion here is insane, be aware that this is exactly what has happened in Oregon. The governor there has, under her Wuhan flu emergency order, forbidden religious gatherings, and has done so even though by the very words of the state’s constitution her emergency order cannot last more than 28 days. When a local judge dismissed her restrictions based on those plain words, the liberal state Supreme Court stepped in to allow her emergency order to remain in force, forever if necessary.

In Democratically controlled America today, leftwing politics always tops freedom and individual rights. Always. Freedom and rule by law is dead. We are in a time of oppression, and we wish to survive, we had better face up to that fact.

What makes this situation even more terrifying is the deep and unshakeable support this political oppression is getting from its Democratic base. For years I have pleaded with ordinary Democrats — sometimes in my writing, sometimes in person — to look honestly at their party. It is no longer the freedom-loving tolerant political movement they once thought. It is now an American-hating authoritarian monolith, striving to destroy American democracy and the Constitution for the sake of its own power.

And for years those ordinary Democrats, many of whom are personal friends or relatives, have refused to listen. Now, when the politicians of that Democratic Party are encouraging riots, looting, and even murder in the name of “Black Lives Matter,” those Democratic voters are not only going along, many are going along with enthusiasm and joy.

Nor am I speaking rhetorically. I am saying this based on some very raw personal experience. Let me give you some recent examples.

In January I was considering doing a post on a cool image of some dunes on Mars. I contacted the scientist who requested the image, Matt Chojnacki of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, to ask him some questions. He had previously been very helpful, and had also been very pleased with my reporting, once published. I had every expectation that he would be glad to help again.

His response? “Go ahead and publish what you want. After reviewing some of the materials/links promoted on your site I am not interested in contributing.” He clearly found he disagreed with my politics, and decided I must be blackballed. He has since refused to answer any emails, and I fear is likely working to get other scientists to blackball me as well.

Less than a week after this incident I received an email from a regular reader, who had for years been corresponding with Carolyn Porco, who for more than a decade had been head of the imaging team for the Cassini mission. For a planetary scientist, you can’t get much higher than this.

The subject of manned space exploration, Elon Musk, and climate change came up. Porco was angered by my reader’s opinion in support of Musk, commercial space, and manned space exploration. She opposed Musk’s effort, and wrote, “I’m thinking about the BIG mess we have all around us and how those $$ are needed now down here on Earth.”

He tried to reason with her. His words:

I work in environmental protection as a professional. If you want clean air and water, build a city on Mars where closed-loop recycling is mandatory. Almost all current treatment systems are open-loop. That technology will not stay rooted on Mars.

Her response? “Go #%*$ yourself, idiot!”

Recently, in my caving community, some high officials in the national organization had hijacked the national organization’s letterhead and listserv to endorse the leftist political movement “Black Lives Matter.” When several ordinary members rightly questioned the misuse of the organization’s facilities, without approval, they were immediately accused of being bigoted racists, with the strong implication that they obviously wanted blacks killed by the police.

The slanders were not subtle, and it was clear that if the accusers, one of which I knew personally to be a loyal liberal Democrat, could have had their opponents kicked out of the organization and even arrested, I think they would have celebrated. How dare anyone challenge the actions or rightness of any leftwing person or political organization?

Last fall I wrote several posts critical of the movie “First Man,” stating that it appeared to trivialize the Apollo 11 achievement while also apparently trying to minimize the role of America in making it happen.

I sent the link to my posts to fellow space authority Keith Cowing, who in the past I have defended when NASA tried to squelch his ability to report on the agency’s bad management. I thought he might find it interesting, even though I figured he’d probably disagree based on my sense of his overall political beliefs.

His response? “Blocking you. Will complain to [my science journalist organization] if you try again.”

With the Wuhan flu panic, I have had people I thought were friends accuse me of being disrespectful and willing to have people die because I do not believe a mask is useful, and in fact can be counterproductive. When I tried to present the data that backs up my position, I was immediately dismissed, and told to basically go to hell. They want nothing more to do with me, and would I think be happy if I was made a non-person.

These are only a small sampling of numerous personal experiences I’ve had over the past thirty years, or have been described to me by numerous other conservatives. Increasingly, the opposition to conservative and pro-American ideals has morphed from mere disagreement to outright hate and violent anger.

I face this reality every day. It is why the bulk of my writing is on this webpage, or self-published as ebooks, because doing things that way insulates me from this oppressive movement. When I have tried to work with others, I have found myself repeatedly stymied. Time after time, I have been told by others what my opinion should be, by them.

Here, they have trouble reaching me, because I am not dependent on their leftwing authoritarian surrogates at Google, Facebook, Twitter and in the editorial offices of publishers.

I also realize that my margin of safety is shrinking steadily. Without a social order that supports freedom, the ability of anyone to express dissent dies.

And while the ordinary Democrats I know personally have not yet transitioned to violence, they are clearly in support of the political movements that have made that transition. They would never commit violence, but they now have surrogates who will, and they are very committed to voting for them. Anything to get Trump out of office.

To them, persecution is now cool. It helps them obtain their political agenda, and that is all that matters. So what if the politicians they vote for run over people and destroy them along the way. They must get what they want, by any means necessary.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

68 comments

  • sippin_bourbon

    First they said our “free speech” was violence as justification for their violence.
    Now they say our “silence” is violence, as they commit more violence.
    The next step will be “failure to submit is violence”. The consequence will be violence.

  • Dave H

    Remember the argument I had with the national caving organization over 20 years ago regarding making an internal organization devoted to “gay cavers”? My crime was asking what being gay had to do with caving, or what special issues gay cavers face that are unique to them. I also asked if a Christian cavers internal organization could also exist. That of course was denied, for the exact reasons that I was questioning about gay cavers. By the time it was over, I was basically run out of the national organization. This problem goes back a long way.

  • Hi Dave!

    I hope life is good back in PA. I have wondered how your neck of the woods has responded to your fascist governor.

  • Dave H

    In PA the legislature passed HR836, which ends the emergency declaration. It requires no signature from Gov Wolf. The Governor of course is taking it to court, who also lack the power to override it. The decision should come later this week. Meanwhile, a movement has started in the legislature, backed by 24 Representatives, to impeach Wolf for his unconstitutional acts.

    The county where I live still has some restrictions, but as you know it’s so rural here that we’re basically under the radar. I don’t even have a mask, and no one has stopped me from doing anything. Many here simply refuse to comply.

    On another note, cave diving resumes on Saturday at the place you helped us map. New passage going in an interesting direction.

  • Dave: Oo, that cave dive sounds interesting. Email me the details!

  • Cotour

    And here is a do as I say governor:

    https://hotair.com/archives/allahpundit/2020/06/03/nj-governor-covid-risk-one-thing-protest-nail-salon-closed-another-protest-police-brutality/

    Phil Murphy, its ok and even suggested and supported to go in the thousands to a righteous protest, but don’t you dare work.

  • Cotour

    And they are all Conservative Republican mayors and governors that run all of these cities and states that have these two standards.

    All will be / is being revealed.

  • Teddy Ballgame

    “Last fall I wrote several posts critical of the movie “Last Man,”

    The movie was “First Man” you nut job.

    “because I do not believe a mask is useful”

    Well, then, if you don’t believe that wearing a mask is useful, that’s all that I need. Despite that 100% of qualified medical personnel dispute this and scientific data refutes your crazy theory.

    And if you continue to spout your crazy conspiracy theories and disjointed views that are completely clouded by your political views (despite how ridiculous and unscientific they make you appear) it is no wonder tons of logical people are blackballing you, and you will continue to sound like a lunatic.

  • Tom Biggar

    After the discussion last week, it’s worth noting that , as reported in the NY Post ( https://nypost.com/2020/06/15/de-blasio-cuomo-sued-by-priests-orthodox-jews-for-banning-service/ ), the suit was filed by 2 Catholic Priests in addition to the 3 Orthodox Jews. They are represented by the Thomas More Society.
    Looks like men of good will reaching out to fight evil.

  • Trent Castanaveras

    Teddy Ballgame: Please cite the studies that support the “100% of qualified medical personnel dispute this and scientific data” statement. I have been searching for exactly that and what i have found suggests that to be false not just for Covid-19, but for any viral disease.

  • Chris

    Teddy- nut job –

    Please send us your DATA on masks! Show us the “100%”

    Mr Z made a simple mistake on the title of a movie. OK mistake.

    And tell me how Blackballing moves a society forward. Blackballing someone is a great way to “win” if you can’t argue in the Arena of Ideas. HINT- you lost. But keep telling yourself you won.

    We in the “blackballed” community will move forward making progress and keeping the country running. Yes, we (the polite and for the most part silent) along with the other overly vocal and sometimes violent will work to move society forward. But our patience is getting thin —- think about that. What happens if all the people you know that are quiet and respectful just stop what they’re doing? We are not going to conform with your demands – we are patient and polite – for now.

  • A. Nonymous

    I’m old enough to remember when “100% of qualified medical personnel” insisted that masks were worthless, and banning flights from China was racist.

  • Alex Andrite

    Wow Mr. Z., good write up.
    “To them, persecution is now cool.”

    And you have been black balled – that is funny.
    Push the ball aside, walk around it, dig under it, fly over it, wait for it to collapse beneath its own ignorance and hate, we will help you as best that we are able, no matter the color of the ball !

    Is there a color to truth and reason ?
    Nope.

    “The Struggle Continues”.
    Sorry, now that cry has been taken up by far left anarchists.
    Originally from the desert Monastics of long ago, struggling for their souls.

  • GaryMike

    2nd Amendment speaks as public discourse.

    If the notion insults your personal safe space, run.

    If you insist that the rest of us have to live your personal psycho-drama, no, we don’t.

    Chill, and you’ve nothing to fear.

  • Patrick Underwood

    Was just watching a YouTube documentary on the B-58 bomber when, a few minutes in, it was interrupted by a Biden campaign ad. And guess what? The “skip ads” button was displayed as usual, but didn’t work.

    Civil society is done. We are in new territory now.

  • Robert Pratt

    Teddy, your willful ignorance is like a neon sign advertising a serious lack of intellect. You know things about masks as well as doctors that simply isn’t so. Even the latest paper in the New England Journal of Medicine on the matter shows you have little to no exposure to the scientific literature on masks related to viruses. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2006372

  • Teddy Ballgame: Well, thanks for letting me know about my stupid typo. It is now fixed.

  • Trent Castanaveras: Do a search for “mask” on Behind the Black. You will find my four to five essays outlining the data.

    At the moment the science trends against mask use, though there is uncertainty. No matter today. We must wear them because people like Teddy Ballgame say so.

  • Edward

    Robert wrote: “We are in a time of oppression. Make no mistake. If you publicly express an opinion that the left does not like, it is now considered perfectly reasonable among our smart set to destroy your business, dox your family, threaten your children, and have your very existence cancelled.

    This is not the America that I grew up in. People keep saying that if things continue like this then we will lose America. We lost America a decade ago when Congress and Obama declared that they could direct us as to how to spend our own money. The Supreme Court finalized that loss when they ruled that as long as there was a tax associated with it, the government could make us spend, do, say, or be anything as they direct.

    In the meantime, my county has just entered its forth month of The Great Oppression, with no end in sight. Tyranny is not far away.

    Trump’s America is the same as Obama’s America: home of the formerly free.

  • wayne

    Patrick Underwood:
    I consume a lot of long-form YouTube video, and I as well noticed bizzaro advert-insertions, an increase in non-skippable ads, and increased difficulty finding stuff I know exists.

    The way around the adverts, in part– (except for the pre-roll burst) is to get some download-software. (Personally, I use Internet Download Manager (IDM).)
    Once you snag the actual stream, you can download the entire file with no inserted ads, and watch it at your leisure.
    (This is especially helpful when they ‘disappear’ material and/or age-restrict it by requiring log in, once you have the physical file, it’s yours.)

    You can also confuse their Search & Advert algorithm, at least a little bit, by never signing-in & cleaning your browser cache constantly.
    (For that I use the free version of CCleaner, constantly.)

    Also– highly recommend the Internet Archive (archive.org) as an ad-free source for long form multi-media downloads.

  • Chris

    Wayne

    If you let too many of your secrets out you’ll lose your “Super” status
    – Think lunch boxes and sleep ware!
    I might even have to take your statue down from the mantle.

  • Cotour

    On the subject of ads and media, I received this surprise message from my sister this morning after I have been pointing out for avery long time that media is not your friend and it in fact is working against your interests:

    “Well.. …I am off media…no joke.. The constant drumbeat of the newest “hot topic”, has put me over the edge!!

    No more!! ”

    My message to her was:

    Excellent! Now you can think for yourself.

    Welcome.

    I have this conversation often, people sit in front of their “Program” or “Their” news program, and that is how they spend their time, having someone “Informing” them as to what to think and why. And it is making them crazy and on a constant edge and depressed. Little by little we make progress.

  • Trent Castanaveras

    Robert Zimmerman:
    Yes, I have read your excellent essays, their source papers and sought out many others, and gone through the CDC and WHO literature as it comes out. The data for Covid-19 is currently sparse, but there have been enough studies on other similar corona viruses to show a distinct pattern. All studies that are based on real world data, without exception, show a frightening lack of effectiveness for surgical and N-95 type masks against viral infections. The particles are simply too small, and the minimum viral load to cause disease infection is also too small to be blocked by anything less than a respirator.

    So, when I ask people like Teddy Ballgame for sources, I am hoping their information will be better than dreck like this irresponsible piece from Arstechnica https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/modeling-the-impact-of-face-masks-on-the-covid-19-pandemic/ relying as it does on “logical thinking” and computer modeling rather than actual data. So far, my questions have gone unanswered.

    Well. Except with the bad news that if we actually were in a truly dangerous pandemic, we’d all be in some serious trouble.

  • Patrick Underwood

    Thanks wayne!

  • Cotour

    THE INSANITY OF THE “PROGRESSIVE” LEFT AND BLACK AND MINORITY ISSUES

    Ah, the “Progressive” Left and the Leftist / Marxist agenda, it is as pandering and poisonous an agenda as has ever been attempted to be foisted on the American society. It is evil, counter productive and insists that no standards are the standard in the name of freedom. Which is a fraudulent, pandering and dangerous proposition.

    Here the leadership in New York City and their exclusively Democrat controlled City Council which leans extremely Left, just like in Seattle, essentially have decided to turn over the streets and the public schools to street gangs and thugs. Just like in Seattle. This is the “Progressive” Democrat agenda, this is the Leftist agenda. This comes after prison reform which essentially emptied the jails of dangerous criminals, and there is no longer the ability to hold a dangerous suspect, they are for the most part immediately released without bail. Just like in Seattle.

    https://nypost.com/2020/06/15/nypd-disbands-anti-crime-unit-after-disproportionate-number-of-shootings/

    All in the name of “protecting” the black and minority youth. And much of the black and minority youth in the country lives without a substantial family structure and most grow up without a father in their home, they have the now culturally famous and sometimes or not at all, “Baby Daddies”. And so they tend to have more problems in school and with the police causing them to have criminal records. Certainly not all, but a significant number of them throughout the country. And so these black and minority youths tend to gravitate to the street / thug / gang life and criminal and violent activities, and that type of life is mirrored and promoted in the rap music they listen to. The long term prospects are not good for anyone concerned in this equation.

    And where does this tendency for these young people to grow up in such a manner come from? It comes directly from the culture of dependency that has been crafted by the Democrat party leadership over the last 50 years who is right now in America being further taken over by the Left and the even Marxist philosophy that grow in number among them. AOC, Socialist / Marxist, Ilhan Ohmar, Socialist / Marxist, the list is growing, and notice many of them are women. Interesting.

    And then we have “Black Lives Matter” the organization, which when you look into it turns out interestingly to be established by three black women who even more interestingly align with the likes of Nicholas Maduro, Marxist, Socialist dictator and president of Venezuela. Go to the “Black Lives Matter” web site and read “About” and they tell you what they are all about in their own words. Lots of subjective feelings and the rejection of the black man.

    Now from my point of view black lives LITERALLY matter, however the organization “Black Lives Matter” is an anti American, anti Capitalism, anti Constitution radical Leftist organization from what I can see, that, along with the likes of ANTIFA which has reasonably been classified as a domestic terror group and who is very organized and very violent. ANTIFA appears to be populated by disenchanted and IMO brain washed lily white 30 something’s who are only half and miss educated ideologues and on an anti American crusade. All once again the product of the 50 year Democrat / Liberal controlled education system from kindergarten to the highest ivy league universities in America. What is the difference between education and indoctrination? In America apparently there is none.

    Are you getting my point here my fellow Americans? There is a theme here, can you figure out what that theme is? Democrat leadership, Seattle, chaos, riots, the CHAZ / CHOP take over of a city, no bail, no family, no religion, living and crapping in the street, legalize dope, defund the police, no police, vilify the police, no law, no order, no history, destroy history, rewrite history, wear your mask, no mask necessary if you are protesting, chaos is our friend.

    These agendas that are currently being foisted upon the American people primarily by those in the Democrat leadership does not bode well for us. Something must be done, and I do not mean to further allow street rat culture to dominate America.

    Do you see the theme here my fellow Americans? Remember, elections have consequences. JGL

  • Kevin R.

    There are now dissidents in America. In America!

    I used to feel so safe here. I would get back to the States after working overseas and practically kiss the ground, safe again.

  • Cotour

    And just like in Seattle criminals have 50, 75, 100 arrests, and are still allowed to be among us.

    https://nypost.com/2020/06/17/brute-accused-of-slugging-elderly-bronx-woman-has-been-arrested-over-100-times/

    When the authorities that be allow such to exist there are fundamental problems with them and they must be removed and replaced and the problem fixed, not choose to make it worse.

    “But he comes from a broken home, he has no father and he has a criminal record because of that” or something like that will justify allowing a dangerous criminal to live among us, and he is empowered by their lack of leadership. When a culture moves towards making less safe for their women and the elderly to walk the streets steps must be taken to remedy that condition.

    If not that, then what?

    This piece of human waste should have been in prison long ago, and for a good long time. But not according to the “Progressive” Democrat agenda where up is down, right is wrong and good is bad. In other words the insane are at the controls of our society.

    Are you hearing me America?

  • Patrick Underwood

    You know, Keith Cowing is always scolding somebody for something. And he is totally confused as to why he keeps getting the cold shoulder from NASA PAO.

  • Patrick Underwood: Hey, you could say that I am also always scolding somebody for something. More times than not Cowing is right in his criticism at NASA. He just shouldn’t be so thin skinned when people disagree with him.

  • Cotour

    Hollywood solves racism in America:

    https://youtu.be/tfJPTf4eQ5c

    Bravo Hollywood.

    (I love OJ’s comment, can not make it up)

  • Richard M

    “I’m thinking about the BIG mess we have all around us and how those $$ are needed now down here on Earth.” – Carolyn Porco

    I mean, does this include all the money that gets spent at JPL for planetary science?

  • wayne

    Patrick–
    You can get a 30 day free trial of Internet Download Manager (“IDM”) to test drive it.
    (It’s like’ $30 to buy a copy and they do regular updates. I’ve used mine for 15+ years.)
    It will fully integrate with almost any browser you use. The only thing it won’t let you do, is to ‘borrow’ ‘protected copywritten files,’ so it won’t work with sites like netflix or amazon prime.

  • Edward

    Richard M noted the classic argument: “I’m thinking about the BIG mess we have all around us and how those $$ are needed now down here on Earth.” – Carolyn Porco

    To add to his comment:
    Compared to what we spend on entertainment, space is a droplet in the bucket. We could shut down Hollywood, sports, and the rest of the entertainment industry and spend those two trillion dollars on the big mess. But then, we would still have a big mess. Another advantage to space spending is the technological improvements, which we don’t get so much of from entertainment spending.

    In these days in which central control and big government are coming to fruition in the U.S., commercial space is demonstrating that central control and big governments are costly and do not provide what We the People desire. When we let government be in charge, all we get is what government wants; when we are in charge, we get what we want.

    These days remind me of how the left were so very critical of the McCarthy Un-American Activities Committee. When it comes to “the end justifies the means” then hypocrisy is not only accepted but encouraged. I know many leftists who are proud hypocrites.

    Oh, and that “big mess we have all around us” comes from Democrats and other leftists, and it exists mainly in Democrat-led cities and states, ironically that tried to clean up their messes by throwing money at them — resulting in even bigger messes.

  • wayne

    Mark Levin recently hammered on De Blasio’s raging anti-Semitism for a complete segment.
    (If I’m not mistaken, last Friday or this Monday’s radio show.

    pivoting–

    This is how you testify to Congress…..

    William Mandel testifies before HUAC
    May 1960
    https://youtu.be/UM8uP565hzI
    1:23

  • wayne

    Chris–
    “lunch boxes?”
    I have a clip for that…..

    Jordan B. Peterson / Akira
    “Lunchbucket”
    2018
    https://youtu.be/n3uYYAdothI
    2:32

    “…can ya’ take a joke?, can you be useful?, can you at least be amusing? Is there something worthwhile about you?,”
    “no?,” “ok, well then, you’re outa here.”
    “Because you never know when we might actually need, to depend upon you…”

  • Jeff

    “I’m thinking about the BIG mess we have all around us and how those $$ are needed now down here on Earth.” – Carolyn Porco

    Being a single planet species, where else CAN we spend all “those $$”?

  • M Puckett

    Gee Jeff,

    I wonder if she wants all those billions of NASA dollars earmarked for NASA planetary probes and landers devoted to the green new deal as well? I can only imagine another admonition to [deleted] myself would be her retort to that query.

    The fact is Starship development will likely come in about what Cassini Hygens cost total would be completely lost on her.

    Or more likely, the planetary protection mafia is upset that their oligarchy as gatekeeper on the cosmos is about to be busted open.

    The though of normies trapping around on their playground terrifies them. They won’t be special anymore.

  • M Puckett: You emailed me to apologize for the obscenity, which I appreciate. Nonetheless, the rules are clear. You are now on prohibition. Do it again and I’ll suspend you for a week. Do it a third time and you are banned.

  • M Puckett

    I wish you had a way to edit comments.

  • M Puckett

    I would have corrected it when I noticed it.

  • M Puckett: The real problem we are faced with today is an unwillingness of people to think. To use an obscenity means you have shut off your brain and turned on your emotions.

    We need to practice making thoughtfulness as our goal, rather than our feelings. Porco illustrated what you shouldn’t do. You sadly copied her here.

    I would hope we can do better.

  • M Puckett

    To apply a standard rigidly to a mistake which I, by your own admission, made a good faith effort to correct in the same manner as a blatant violation does not pass the reasonable man standard of behavior. Especially when one lacks at least a short term method to edit the mistake. Rand Simberg wrote a book railing against the whole zero defect mindset and how it has stymied human space flight for over a generation. This is applying the same mindset to your comment section.

    Robert, I am asking you to, as you requested of me, think and use good judgment and appropriate discretion in application of your rules and not simply deferring to a arbitrary standard. That level of rigidity is not even found in our legal system.

    We shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells to participate in a free discussion of ideas and I posit your response is an arbitrary and capricious over-reaction the totality of circumstances fail to justify

  • Cotour

    THE FRAUD THAT IS THE DEMOCRATS AND THE LEFT

    1. Jesse Lee Petersen, I love this guy. https://youtu.be/MREnHjatoMQ (1:48 min)

    During the “Wall” issue in 2016 a female Latino interviewer wants / needs to turn an interview into a slanted / racist interview to serve the Left / Democrats agenda and purposes. And of course she in the end is the racist, typical. No America, the media is not your friend and as a matter of fact they have become your enemy reporting shaped Leftist / Democrat agenda for the most part. Journalism is dead today in America replaced by Left leaning and even Leftist political agenda and ideology.

    2. Voter ID is racist? Ami Horowitz demonstrably proves otherwise. https://youtu.be/3JGmKHrWKMQ (4:23)

    Do you have an I.D. in your pocket every day? I do. (Do black Americans?) But these elite Left leaning Stanford University types have crafted a reality about the black population that does not exist. Just one more fraud that the Left and the Democrat leadership need to promote. Why? Because in order for them to further acquire and retain power they must create these media pushed memes and lies.

    Up tight? Nervous and fearful related to the current events of the day? What is really going on? Fear not, for what is underway is the revealing of what in reality is and has been going on, lies and political fraud.

    All is being revealed, and the American people will be judging these lies by the Left and the Democrats that they need to be imbedded in the consciousness of Americans so they can continue their assault on freedom and the Constitution, all for control and power.

    MAGA

    (Biden up by 12%. Right, so was Hillary. And we all know how that turned out.)

  • Professor AN

    Time to start persecuting the persecutors.

    There are lawful ways to show them their behaviors are unprofessional and will not be tolerated.

    One way is in putting their names and behaviors up in posts like this, and in others so that Google indexes it well. In future background checks, e.g., in legal matters or hiring opportunities, these issues will come up.

  • Lewin Wickes

    Dave H: I too live in a rural Pennsylvania county. One evening a while back my wife and I drove past the courthouse in the county seat. I saw about a dozen people gathered near the Civil War monument. My first thought was there must be a bake sale for some local cause. My second thought was this must be a protest about the murder of George Floyd, because most of the people were lying in the grass. My third thought was they’ll get tics doing that. That was the extent of civil unrest in my county. Most folk around here donned masks, but life in general was largely unaffected. There is no constituency here leaning toward riot, mayhem, arson, looting, etc. Something like 80% of households are armed. It just wouldn’t end well for the rioters.

    There are a lot of Amish, Mennonites, and conservative Christians in this county. I am starting to think counties like yours and mine will be like the monasteries during the dark ages. We will preserve civilization in the midst of wokey barbarism.

  • G Joubert

    I agree with you on politics 100%, but you are off in fantasyland when it comes to masks. If you don’t think masks work next time you or any member of your family go in for surgery you should demand that all members of the surgical team perform the surgery without masks. See how that works out for you and your loved ones long term as a strategy to live a long and healthy life.

  • Cotour

    G Joubert:

    Really?

    This issue has been beat to death. No masks for surgeons? Bad example, if you are going to be outraged please find a better illustrative scenario.

    Surgeons wear masks to protect the patient, if you are in close proximity to others then pull your mask up to protect them from you. If you are walking in the open air and are not in close proximity to others then you do not need to wear it from what I have been able to gather.

    And I still see people sitting in their own automobiles, alone, wearing a mask. People riding bikes and jogging wearing masks while they are attempting to exercise, sound reasonable to you? Looks and sounds insane to me.

    I asked a lady friend the other day “Why are you wearing your mask outside when you are nowhere near anyone else?”

    She replied : “Because they told me to wear it”. And that I believe is the overarching point on this subject.

    And to be fair the governments around the country, some reasonable and some Nazi like are attempting to instill in the public common sense related to this particular contagion event. Some do a better job than others.

    So, Masks? Sure, when needed in the particular circumstances that you may find yourself that may require them. The further you are away from others the more your personal common sense is employed. You sound like you might be a car driving mask wearing jogger to me.

  • GWB

    Cotour
    June 17, 2020 at 9:29 am
    they must be removed and replaced and the problem fixed

    Also, see:
    But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

  • Cotour

    GWB:

    Please flesh out you point here, a bit more context please.

  • GWB

    Cotour
    June 20, 2020 at 6:55 am

    She replied : “Because they told me to wear it”.
    Yes, that’s one of two fundamental problems with the whole of Wuhan Flu Theatre.

    (The other is the widespread misunderstandings about what you’re doing by wearing a mask, how it actually [assuming you have the virus] reduces viral load, what distance is necessary, etc. Widespread ignorance is not conducive to a free republic.)

  • GWB

    Cotour
    June 20, 2020 at 7:22 am

    Context is here:
    https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

    King George would be green with envy of what our government and other “leaders” get away with in this country.

  • 370H55V

    While the Orthodox Jewish communities in NY/NJ have been voting for GOP presidential candidates for 40 years now, they continue to vote stedfastly Dem at the local level. All the city council members and state legislators for districts with sizeable Orthodox populations are still represented by Dems. Why?

  • Cotour

    Thank you GWB (Is that you Mr. president?)

    Yes, we certainly live in interesting times. But we, through the political warfare that has been structured by those same brilliant Founding men those 244 years ago will move somehow into the future. Its up to the people ultimately.

    And these abuses of power that we are all witness to must serve to inform the people as to just how much change in direction is required to in some measure get us back on a more reasonable track related to personal freedom and individual Rights.

    Its not perfect, never has been, never will be and we will always be just that one election away from disaster. But as long as the Constitution in general survives there is hope that the people will do what must be done. No magic bullet here, just adults taking care of business as proscribed by those Founders and that document that they were able to produce.

    The Constitution over time is the only hope for all humanity IMO.

  • G Joubert: Masks need to be used carefully and properly. Notice in a surgery how the doctors and nurses wash their hands. Once done they touch nothing except their surgical tools and the patient. The mask is also never touched.

    I guarantee that you and no one you know, in ordinary life, does this. I myself see people tugging at their mask repeatedly. Everyone pulls it down or up from the front. And every time your hand touches the mask, it has become useless, an actual pathogen bomb that you breath continually.

    Furthermore, if you have any respiratory issues wearing a mask can seriously worsen them. It deprives you of oxygen while forcing you to rebreathe the carbon dioxide you exhale.

    Also, the mask is worthless at stopping the virus, whose particles are too small for the mask to block. Does your underwear stop the smell when you pass gas? No. The virus is similar.

    Finally, none of this is my opinion. It is the reasoned position of doctors and scientists. See this report from the New England Journal of Medicine. They admit that the universal use of masks is merely symbolic and almost certainly do little to stop the disease.

  • GWB

    Cotour
    June 20, 2020 at 7:56 am
    (Is that you Mr. president?)

    Nope.

  • buddhaha

    M. Joubert.
    The reason a surgery team wears masks is that they are cutting you open. A sneeze or a droplet of saliva from any of them getting into an open wound can be deadly. We’re not even talking about someone with an infection. The amount of bacteria in a normal person’s mouth is amazing, although not serious (except for tooth decay) for the carrier. Note, also that I’m referring to bacteria, particles of which are literally thousands of times bigger than viruses, and therefore easily stopped by a mask.

    Mask wearing in surgery vs mask wearing in public because of a viral disease is an aarvark and oranges comparison.

  • Cotour

    Things in Seattle, at the CHAZ / CHOP developing nicely: One shot dead, and its only Saturday.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/chaz-shooting-leaves-one-dead-inside-leftists-no-cop-utopia-police-investigating

    Keep watching America this is the Democrat “Progressive” agenda being played out in real time and live, soak it all in.

  • Edward

    G Joubert Wrote: “but you are off in fantasyland when it comes to masks. If you don’t think masks work next time you or any member of your family go in for surgery you should demand that all members of the surgical team perform the surgery without masks.

    Surgical masks are to protect an open patient from getting germs directly into the interior of the body, They were never intended for use by doctors to use when examining a patient, which is why before the Great Oppression doctors did not use them for that purpose.

    Even Fauci said that the masks do no good for the purpose we use them, except for making people feel good. In the meantime, we risk other health problems due to their use and we are expending money and resources that would be better used elsewhere.

    The correct way to use masks is to wash your hands before installing them, otherwise they become contaminated and are useless, never touch them while wearing them, otherwise they again become useless, wash your hands again after removing them, otherwise your hands become contaminated, and finally properly dispose of the mask or wash it, if it is a reusable type. Few people follow this, so they abuse their masks into uselessness or into health hazards.

    But, hey, science and facts don’t matter. If someone disagrees with the politically correct position then he should be mocked and persecuted until he caves to the “correct” opinion, which could be different tomorrow.

  • Edward: Well said. But then, let’s all look at the title of my essay. It applies. Persecution is now cool!

  • wayne

    Jordan B. Peterson –
    “They Don’t Love The Poor, They Just Hate The Rich”
    2017
    https://youtu.be/VvWJ1ihinK0
    7:17

  • Cotour

    Fathers Day: Black lives literally matter:

    https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/6/20/21297470/chicago-fathers-day-weekend-shootings-homicide-gun-violence-june-19-22

    But black lives apparently do not matter much to anyone in any of the Democrat run government in Illinois? Where are the massive demonstrations and riots over this on going year over year massacre of the black population by their own?

    Black lives literally matter, but the organization “Black Lives Matter” is a Leftist / Marxist anti American anti Capitalism organization established by three black women who reject black men and align with the likes of Nicholas Maduro, Socialist dictator president of Venezuela.

    BLM: “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”

    You know where we have heard that “It Takes A Village” mantra before, right?

  • sippin bourbon

    I started off this thread by saying”

    “First they said our ‘free speech’ was violence as justification for their violence.
    Now they say our ‘silence” is violence’, as they commit more violence.
    The next step will be ‘failure to submit is violence’. The consequence will be violence.”

    Exhibit A
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=211&v=9hawV-yThN0&feature=emb_logo

  • Cotour

    And of course the Republicans murdered George Floyd:

    https://www.newsmax.com/politics/nancy-pelosi-republicans-murder-police/2020/06/23/id/973799/

    Pelosi in her zeal to politic is the incarnation of Lucifer himself. She plays the game testicles to the wall, why?

    Its all she has got.

    All is being revealed, and all of America is watching.

  • sippin bourbon

    “all of America is watching.”

    No they are not. And that is part of the problem.
    Most are only watching what they want to see, or what the MSM wants them to see.

  • Cotour

    They are all watching, and that is why MSM is doing what they are doing. MSM has chosen their side.

    But many of them, not all, are seeing it all for what it is, fraud and a threat to the country.

    And in the end they have to figure it out and do what they do. And that remains to be seen.

  • Cotour

    Anyone: Can someone in detail explain exactly what this man means when he says:

    “As the interview concluded, Newsome added, “I just want black liberation, and black sovereignty. By any means necessary.”

    What exactly is black sovereignty?

    https://nypost.com/2020/06/25/blm-leader-if-change-doesnt-happen-we-will-burn-down-this-system/

  • Cotour

    OUR SYSTEM IS CHAOS AND POLITICAL WARFARE, BY DESIGN

    And what is the advantage of this kind of system based in a unique individual citizen empowering Constitution, that causes chaos and confrontation and political warfare?

    FREEDOM!

    And that has worked well for the greater part of our American history, but there is now something that threatens it all. Is it Black Lives Matter? Nope. Is it ANTIFA? Nope. Is it Socialists like Bernie Sanders? Nope. Is it “Crazy” presidents like Trump? Nope. Well what the hell is it then?

    Its media in general and Social media specifically and the likes of Google that in fact threaten everyone’s freedom.

    https://youtu.be/uf6I1tjmm3o Google and media practices threatens all free speech and by extension our Constitution and freedom: 25 min.

    The people within most ALL of these Media, social media and Internet giants, from the top to the bottom, that essentially control through computer algorithms and personal bias what is allowed to be seen by the American people. And for the most part these actors lean to the Left and many are extreme Socialists and essentially Leftists by their actions.

    What is it that they do? They selectively and subjectively based in their own personal bias and political belief systems censor the Internet which has become ubiquitous. And these companies are shielded (For the moment) by the Congress from liable law suits. In other words they are suppose to be neutral publishers, but have in real terms become biased content producers and they naturally tend to abuse their power and promote their own subjective political agenda.

    What is the nature of man related to power? Mans (And woman’s) nature is to abuse it, and that is precisely what the Constitution is specifically designed to counter balance. And so now this threat to our fundamental system and all our freedom MUST be dealt with in a proper, objective and measured manner by our Congress, Senate and their solution must be signed into law by our president.

    You like your good life? You like your freedom? Whether you lean Left or Right this situation must be dealt with and it must be dealt with soon, or everything that you know and love will be threatened and will end. And where ever you find yourself on the political spectrum that is just too high a price to pay.

    This chaos and political warfare is our process, it is essential, make sure it is protected and preserved and not second guessed.

  • Cotour

    DOES SOROS REALLY FUND BLACK LIVES MATTER?

    In a word, YES.

    And who traced this all down and is reporting on it? The New York Times? Mediaite? Politico? No.

    Here, Bill O’Reilly, has done some of this work and tells you exactly where all of that green goes that is written to this Marxist and anti American organization both by Soros and his foundation and those who personally write checks to them and support the particular brand of Leftist activism in America.

    https://youtu.be/61do-MF8aw0 5 min.

    North of 70 percent of all the money that flows into Black Lives Matter goes to the people who run it and work for it. Soros himself through his foundation has “Contributed” at least $33 million and how many millions have been raised over and above that? Who knows?

    And having it all funneled through this other foundation, Thousand Currents, its all tax deductible.

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