6/3/26:
It seems that I get into these modes of thinking with regards to what seems to be intractable problems. One of these is this negative attitude referred to as oikophobia--which to me is a hatred of the elite for one's own people. Or those who prefer to use hatred of others as justification for their own behavior.
Christianity teaches as a commandment to "love one another". That may be a problem for some folks who think that Christianity is the problem. Well, you can hate something, say Christianity for instance, and still use its ideas if those ideas are good. If you think hatred is a bad thing, why not try this Christian thing?
Ah! But people may not always agree on what "love" is.... Therefore, they could justify horrors by claiming it IS love that drives them to doing what they do.
Or you could just try to find a solution for the problem, whatever it is.
But you cannot please all the people all the time. Some folks are just going to be what they are. You cannot tell them anything...
1/25/13:
First, the term "oikophobia" has to be defined, which can be found here and here.
Basically, that's what I've been writing about. Oikophobia is the hatred of the familiar which, in the case of the nation, it is the hatred of one's own people.
So, why wouldn't an "oik" try to sabotage any effort at truly improving a situation? Why not do the opposite and try to destabilize and destroy the current order since you hate it?
By "current order", I mean the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. By "current order", I mean capitalism. By "current order", I mean the very things that have brought us our wealth and prosperity. By "current order", I mean Western Civilization. The right to self-defense and so on and so forth.
To the left side of the political spectrum, America is bad, and must be changed. But changed how and in what manner? To destroy those things described above as the "current order"?
To the right side, the left is only misguided and not evil. Therefore, at least some on the right will not engage the left and fight them. If you prefer not to fight, might you try some other way?
I've offered my thoughts on the subject of Oikophobia. I suggested finding common ground on which an environment could be fostered so that solutions to problems could be found. But what if the common ground is studiously being avoided? What if the common ground is being avoided for the purposes of furthering the attitude of Oikophobia itself? Perhaps the clang and discord is what is desired and not the clang of hammers which are the sounds of building the new ways and means that will solve our problems.
How far does this phenomenon of Oikophobia go? Some of those on the right presume that it is only the left that has this problem. But if you don't actually seek solutions to problems that your adversary claims to exist, perhaps you would prefer the noise that accompanies the opposition? The noise that confirms you in your disgust with your own people?
Let's not hate people, let's hate bad thinking.
Al Fin: "Cowboy Commentary", aka "Eat your veggies" The Flag banner is posted in order to defy those who would make patriotic symbols illegal or disreputable.
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
New category: "Reaction posts"
If someone clicks on a video, and if I wish to write something additional on the subject, then this label will be attached to the post. History of the blog was attached to the label so as to emphasize that this was a post from the past.
This post may be an exception, as it is a new post. Yet it has the new label.
If you'd like to see posts according to that label, click on the label at the end of each post. I can attach labels to posts already made, so perhaps I will populate the category with the most recent reaction posts.
This is better than including a mention that the post is a reaction to somebody clicking on the post.
This post may be an exception, as it is a new post. Yet it has the new label.
If you'd like to see posts according to that label, click on the label at the end of each post. I can attach labels to posts already made, so perhaps I will populate the category with the most recent reaction posts.
This is better than including a mention that the post is a reaction to somebody clicking on the post.
Why the Right Really Hates Obama
6/3/26:
Ah, a blast from the past... The website is still in business, and the link's still good. It's worth taking another look at this article.
Not much change in my point of view. The political left wants to make it all about race, but that's not what drives what the left calls "the right". It's pure projection on their part.
You can have a color-blind society. There's no "cynicism" in that. You can have equal opportunity, as opposed to the leftist's equal outcomes. There's no cynicism in that either. What the left won't accept is that you cannot guarantee equal outcomes if you rely upon equal opportunity alone. In other words, people aren't equal. But the left knows that this is true. So I just call bullshit on their ideals and claims of equality. Now that may be called cynicism. But I'd rather refer to it as realism. Nobody strives to be equal. People strive to be better than the other guy. Take away all notions of merit, and you take away incentive. If you take away incentive, achievement suffers. It's been shown again and again. But the leftists push this utopianism nonetheless.
5/10/12:
In These Times
The title really says it all. It is all about hate, it says. I can't speak for anyone else, but here's what I said on the subject of hate in this blog. The second part is this business about "right" v "left". Again, I refer to what I wrote previously on the subject, which I paraphrase here--- it's not about right or left, but about freedom or tyranny. In other words, it's not about ideology.
I wrote about ideology too, that it can make you stupid. What's even more shocking and stupid is that those who are conservative claim to be on the right. This is playing right into the hands of the left. It is playing on their turf and it is always the loser. Therefore, just speaking for myself, I am not on the right. I am on the side of freedom. If you are conservative, you stop letting the left box you into their ideology.
By the way, calling them left is appropriate because it is their ideology and evidently they believe in it fervently.
Finally, I remember getting into an argument with some guy on Amazon about conservatism. I would say that this guy may be someone "on the right" as opposed to being someone who favors freedom. If his idea is the prevailing notion of conservatism in this country, then I am not a conservative. But what I think is closer to Reagan than some of what I hear from those who claim to admire Reagan.
I think I understand his success better than some of them do. If these people ever got a clue, Obama wouldn't stand a chance.
Ah, a blast from the past... The website is still in business, and the link's still good. It's worth taking another look at this article.
Not much change in my point of view. The political left wants to make it all about race, but that's not what drives what the left calls "the right". It's pure projection on their part.
You can have a color-blind society. There's no "cynicism" in that. You can have equal opportunity, as opposed to the leftist's equal outcomes. There's no cynicism in that either. What the left won't accept is that you cannot guarantee equal outcomes if you rely upon equal opportunity alone. In other words, people aren't equal. But the left knows that this is true. So I just call bullshit on their ideals and claims of equality. Now that may be called cynicism. But I'd rather refer to it as realism. Nobody strives to be equal. People strive to be better than the other guy. Take away all notions of merit, and you take away incentive. If you take away incentive, achievement suffers. It's been shown again and again. But the leftists push this utopianism nonetheless.
5/10/12:
In These Times
The title really says it all. It is all about hate, it says. I can't speak for anyone else, but here's what I said on the subject of hate in this blog. The second part is this business about "right" v "left". Again, I refer to what I wrote previously on the subject, which I paraphrase here--- it's not about right or left, but about freedom or tyranny. In other words, it's not about ideology.
I wrote about ideology too, that it can make you stupid. What's even more shocking and stupid is that those who are conservative claim to be on the right. This is playing right into the hands of the left. It is playing on their turf and it is always the loser. Therefore, just speaking for myself, I am not on the right. I am on the side of freedom. If you are conservative, you stop letting the left box you into their ideology.
By the way, calling them left is appropriate because it is their ideology and evidently they believe in it fervently.
Finally, I remember getting into an argument with some guy on Amazon about conservatism. I would say that this guy may be someone "on the right" as opposed to being someone who favors freedom. If his idea is the prevailing notion of conservatism in this country, then I am not a conservative. But what I think is closer to Reagan than some of what I hear from those who claim to admire Reagan.
I think I understand his success better than some of them do. If these people ever got a clue, Obama wouldn't stand a chance.
Off-grid post, 4-3-22
6/3/26:
It looks like the basement idea really isn't necessary. The system that the Amish uses for climate control looks like a better implementation of the same idea. It's better because it will take far less excavation in order to get the necessary climate control effect.
With respect to the water, I still like the beaver idea. Beavers could dam up the rainfall and produce some permanent water (maybe). Come to think of it, the dry season lasts too long out there. Maybe the beavers cannot stop water evaporation. If vegetation can give enough shade, evaporation can slow down (maybe).
Help out the beavers? Interesting thought...
I haven't really thought out the beaver idea. You have to get them there. How could that be done? Besides, if the prospects for success aren't good, getting them there could be a problem.
4-3-22:
Yesterday I did an experiment to see how much power could be transmitted via the 12-volt inverter to the 24-volt charger, which charges the power-tote. What I found was that the 12 volt battery could only work (at best) for 30 minutes at a time. At that point, the voltage drop was too great to sustain the inverter, and so it had to be shut down so that it could recharge.
This deficiency might be aided somewhat with some parts that I ordered. The RV battery outside will be hooked up with the inverter, which is an upgrade in power available. The solar panel only puts out about 100 watts, so it cannot keep up either. But it won't drain the battery as quickly, and it won't be necessary to shut down so often, or maybe not at all. ( That might be wishful thinking).
For every 30 minutes of charging, it needed 1 hour of recharging. It got to be rather tedious to keep shutting down and restarting. I wouldn't want to have to do it this way.
In the meantime, I did some water filtration with some rainwater obtained recently. This produced one gallon of fairly clean water. ( not potable though)
This effort was a lot of work, and the economic benefit could be measured in pennies. However, out in the desert, which has no power and no running water; these experiments will give valuable insights into how to make that situation work more smoothly and efficiently. So there's a method behind the madness.
With water, you can sustain yourself. With enough water, you can grow food. Combine that with power, and you can not only do all that, but you can be comfortable as well. Or, perhaps not as uncomfortable.
One way to reduce the power requirements may be to adopt the old ways of yesteryear. Recently, I read about salt pork. It is rather simple to prepare. That means even yours truly could do it. To add to that technique, I googled up a video that shows how to pickle ANYTHING. ( according to that author) With these techniques, the need for refrigeration could be greatly diminished. I was also thinking that it would help to keep the refrigerator in the basement area that I am thinking of building out there. If that is cooler than at grade level, then the fridge doesn't have to work as hard, and that would save energy too.
Of course, all of this may seem insane. But what the heck? Nobody is sane anymore, so I might as well join the party.
Posting may be light for awhile
6/3/26:
Another visit with the doc, and we'll find out more...
5/16/26:
More about the Twilight Zone than what anyone bargained for...
5/15/26:
The term "Twilight Zone" was used in this post (before updating). Perhaps I wasn't clear what the term was supposed to mean. It may have helped if I was more familiar with the TV show from what back then. Maybe it was on the TV when I was little, but I just don't remember it much. What does Twilight Zone mean to me? In a word, "weird". It had that weird music that introduced it. Rod Serling would give his speech. Actually the speech may have come afterward. Either way, it just seemed weird. That's what I meant. It was "weird".
The re-runs are on Tubi, and I watched a few episodes. What seemed weird before does not seem so weird now. It helps to be more familar with the words one uses. After watching a few of these episodes, I don't think I would've used the term "Twilight Zone" this way. Just thought I would mention that. Over and out.
4/29/26:
Did my doctor's visit. My fears were a bit overblown. There's something that needs to be handled, but it is manageable. That's all I got on this. Posting will resume. As Roseann Rosanna Dana would say: "Never mind!"
4/26/26:
There might be something going on medically that I need to attend to.
Don't want to be morbid, but this may not be too good.
Anyway, I am up at an hour in which I am usually asleep. I checked the news (big mistake?), and discover that there was a shooting at the event that POTUS was attending. Another assassination attempt.
Good Lord.
Update:
A doctor's visit has been scheduled, so there's that.
Since I mentioned the incident at an event in DC? ( apparent assassination attempt), I'll add this to this update. Here's something that's going around apparently. (False Flag accusation.)
"May you live in interesting times" seems an appropriate quote right now. This is straight out of the Twilight Zone.
Another visit with the doc, and we'll find out more...
5/16/26:
More about the Twilight Zone than what anyone bargained for...
5/15/26:
The term "Twilight Zone" was used in this post (before updating). Perhaps I wasn't clear what the term was supposed to mean. It may have helped if I was more familiar with the TV show from what back then. Maybe it was on the TV when I was little, but I just don't remember it much. What does Twilight Zone mean to me? In a word, "weird". It had that weird music that introduced it. Rod Serling would give his speech. Actually the speech may have come afterward. Either way, it just seemed weird. That's what I meant. It was "weird".
The re-runs are on Tubi, and I watched a few episodes. What seemed weird before does not seem so weird now. It helps to be more familar with the words one uses. After watching a few of these episodes, I don't think I would've used the term "Twilight Zone" this way. Just thought I would mention that. Over and out.
4/29/26:
Did my doctor's visit. My fears were a bit overblown. There's something that needs to be handled, but it is manageable. That's all I got on this. Posting will resume. As Roseann Rosanna Dana would say: "Never mind!"
4/26/26:
There might be something going on medically that I need to attend to.
Don't want to be morbid, but this may not be too good.
Anyway, I am up at an hour in which I am usually asleep. I checked the news (big mistake?), and discover that there was a shooting at the event that POTUS was attending. Another assassination attempt.
Good Lord.
Update:
A doctor's visit has been scheduled, so there's that.
Since I mentioned the incident at an event in DC? ( apparent assassination attempt), I'll add this to this update. Here's something that's going around apparently. (False Flag accusation.)
You idiots who think Trump is staging assassination attempts. You think he would agree to a plan wherein someone STOPS HIM FROM TROLLING A CAPTIVE ROOM OF THOUSANDS OF JOURNALISTS FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF? This is his dream scenario.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) April 26, 2026
"May you live in interesting times" seems an appropriate quote right now. This is straight out of the Twilight Zone.
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
James Talarico is called "Talafreako"
Can anything be done to discourage these types of attempts by politicians to make themselves appear to be different from what they really are?
Talarico is fake. But it may be possible to fool the public and win an election. Either by fraud or force (phony ballot trickery and the like).
Perhaps a Constitutional Amendment?
If by amendment, then how do you enforce it? If a politician wants to lie his way into office, then how do you stop it?
There is no fail-safe way, but maybe there is a way to discourage it. Perhaps something like a recall election. This doesn't always work, though. California is an example. They did recall one politician, and simply got another fake--Arnold Swartzenegger.
If democracy is to work, the public has to be on guard. That's a problem. As the saying goes: "You can fool most of the people some of the time, and some of the people most of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time". The trouble with elections is that you only need to fool most of the people some of the time. An election campaign isn't constant. It is for a short time.
Let's suppose you had something like a petition to find facts regarding an issue that the public decides is worthy of setting up. A court of inquiry could be mandated by a recall petition. If the recall petition gets enough votes, the court of inquiry would be convened and hold a trial. The results of the trial is definite like a finding of guilty on not guilty. The finding wouldn't remove an official, but it would be finding of fact that could be used in impeachment proceedings, and in electoral campaigns.
The limited nature of this proposition may insure that it is rarely used. After all, you wouldn't get an automatic removal from office even if malfactor is found guilty. But it could lead to removal. If the supporters of a politician found guilty this way refuse to hold the malfactor accountable, the public can take that into consideration the next time an election is held. Indeed, the refusal to act could result in more findings of fact petitions.
It could be messy, but politicians would not necessarily want to go through all this, and may act more reasonably. That's the hope, anyway.
Quick update:
Directly on point here with this tweet:
Update later in the day:
Big ideas from Democrats
If the ideas are so good, why not make it like a contract? If the politicians fail to live up the contract, they can held accountable for it. Make it to where they can in effect be sued for breach of contract, with the relief being a loss of the power of the office the rascal is holding.
The trouble with these "big ideas" is that they aren't explicitly stated. The ideas need to be explicitly stated and put in an enforceable contract with the voters. That is to say, make their office contingent upon being faithful in executing their contract.
This probably makes too much sense, and why it would never be enacted.
Talarico is fake. But it may be possible to fool the public and win an election. Either by fraud or force (phony ballot trickery and the like).
Perhaps a Constitutional Amendment?
If by amendment, then how do you enforce it? If a politician wants to lie his way into office, then how do you stop it?
There is no fail-safe way, but maybe there is a way to discourage it. Perhaps something like a recall election. This doesn't always work, though. California is an example. They did recall one politician, and simply got another fake--Arnold Swartzenegger.
If democracy is to work, the public has to be on guard. That's a problem. As the saying goes: "You can fool most of the people some of the time, and some of the people most of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time". The trouble with elections is that you only need to fool most of the people some of the time. An election campaign isn't constant. It is for a short time.
Let's suppose you had something like a petition to find facts regarding an issue that the public decides is worthy of setting up. A court of inquiry could be mandated by a recall petition. If the recall petition gets enough votes, the court of inquiry would be convened and hold a trial. The results of the trial is definite like a finding of guilty on not guilty. The finding wouldn't remove an official, but it would be finding of fact that could be used in impeachment proceedings, and in electoral campaigns.
The limited nature of this proposition may insure that it is rarely used. After all, you wouldn't get an automatic removal from office even if malfactor is found guilty. But it could lead to removal. If the supporters of a politician found guilty this way refuse to hold the malfactor accountable, the public can take that into consideration the next time an election is held. Indeed, the refusal to act could result in more findings of fact petitions.
It could be messy, but politicians would not necessarily want to go through all this, and may act more reasonably. That's the hope, anyway.
Quick update:
Directly on point here with this tweet:
If Democrats told you what they really believed, they’d never get elected. https://t.co/THGTZDc4MW
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) June 2, 2026
Update later in the day:
Big ideas from Democrats
If the ideas are so good, why not make it like a contract? If the politicians fail to live up the contract, they can held accountable for it. Make it to where they can in effect be sued for breach of contract, with the relief being a loss of the power of the office the rascal is holding.
The trouble with these "big ideas" is that they aren't explicitly stated. The ideas need to be explicitly stated and put in an enforceable contract with the voters. That is to say, make their office contingent upon being faithful in executing their contract.
This probably makes too much sense, and why it would never be enacted.
Made a audio track with Gemini Ai
6/2/26:
Not happy with this subscription. Not only that, but Google seems to make a mystery out of cancelling the service. Nope, not happy at all. Mystery solved: service is cancelled. No video will be made with Gemini AI.
5/25/26:
They couldn't make a video using the video I supplied and adding an audio track to it. So it produced an audio track instead.
Here's a link they provided for to be shared. I can take what they provided, and try to add it to a video, but I'm not sure how to do that yet using ClipChamp.
Not happy with this subscription. Not only that, but Google seems to make a mystery out of cancelling the service. Nope, not happy at all. Mystery solved: service is cancelled. No video will be made with Gemini AI.
5/25/26:
Here's a link they provided for to be shared. I can take what they provided, and try to add it to a video, but I'm not sure how to do that yet using ClipChamp.
 |
| AI produced still from my video. But the rocket is on the wrong side of the river! |
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