Two Choices

Well, here’s confirmation of something we’ve all been suspecting for a while:

Our government is preparing to monitor every word Americans say on the internet—the speech of journalists, politicians, religious organizations, advocacy groups, and even private citizens. Should those conversations conflict with the government’s viewpoint about what is in the best interests of our country and her citizens, that speech will be silenced.

Research by The Federalist reveals our tax dollars are funding the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) technology that will allow the government to easily discover “problematic” speech and track Americans reading or partaking in such conversations.

Then, in partnership with Big Tech, Big Business, and media outlets, the government will ensure the speech is censored, under the guise of combatting “misinformation” and “disinformation.”

Originally used as a marketing tool for businesses to track discussions about their brands and products and to track competitors, the DOD and other federal agencies are now paying for-profit public relations and communications firms to convert their technology into tools for the government to monitor speech on the internet.

The areas of the internet the companies monitor differ somewhat, and each business offers its own unique AI and ML proprietary technology, but the underlying approach and goals remain identical: The technology under development will “mine” large portions of the internet and identify conversations deemed indicative of an emerging harmful narrative, to allow the government to track those “threats” and adopt countermeasures before the messages go viral.

One would hope, of course, that this gross breach of the First Amendment would not pass judicial muster, but in true fascist form, the State has simply farmed its bastardy out to the private sector, thus creating a Clinton-like “technicality” that creates plausible deniability.

I also have no faith — none — that the Supreme Court will act in the Constitution’s best interests.  (Okay, maybe a couple of the conservative  justices may throw a hissy fit, but let’s just say that I wouldn’t put money on a full court decision because the Communist bloc will never vote against the socialist government, and the chief justice is a craven little fart who seems to caste his vote according to the New York fucking Times  editorial opinion.)

The two choices one faces in confronting this looming catastrophe are therefore:

  1. Try to go “underground” (e.g. using the Soviet-era samizdat  method) and hope that one can go undetected by the feral ferrets, or
  2. Stand astride the barricades, shouting “FUCK YOU!” at the top of your voice, at every opportunity.

The first choice is probably doomed to failure, if The Federalist is to be believed, because these bastards have already the tools to do what they want to do.  Remember, the power of samizdat lay on the fact that it used actual paper — hidden printing presses and such — to spread the counter-State “disinformation”.  Consider that your Epson or Brother printer already records everything you print and can therefore point a finger right at you, if you are judged to have written doubleplusungood crimethink, and the paper option disappears pretty quickly.

Longtime Readers will know that I’m far more likely to take the second choice, simply because that’s the path I’ve always chosen.  Yes, it’s most likely a stupid, futile gesture just like the Delta frat’s destruction of the Animal House town parade;  but always remember that in such a situation the Niedermayer character — the State — won’t be the only one carrying live ammunition.

And as I’ve said several times in the past that when it comes to dying I’d prefer to die in my wife’s arms;  but spitting and cursing at the State from the barricades surrounded by expended brass doesn’t hold much terror, either.

I’m speaking figuratively, of course, in the latter scenario — but unfortunately for the State apparatchiks, I took an oath when I became a U.S. citizen, and I take that oath really seriously.  My allegiance is not to the State — in whatever flavor it comes — but to the ideals and promises contained in the Constitution.

And I don’t need the fucking lawyers on the Supreme Court to interpret them for me.

The Kissinger Statement

I haven’t had much to say about the whole Russia / Ukraine thing because I’m somewhat ambivalent about the whole business.

On the one hand, yes, Vladimir Putin is a megalomaniac Russian bastard like so many of his political predecessors (Lenin, Stalin, Peter the Great etc.), and Russians themselves are a bunch of assholes (see:  Russian oligarchs, Russian mafia, Russian hackers, Russian corruption etc.).

Unfortunately, the Ukrainians are not exactly little angels themselves.  While they lack the global power of Russia, Ukraine is just as corrupt as their next-door neighbor, as shown with their dealings with our very own Biden criminal enterprise, to name but one example of their bastardy.

In other words, if Russia is the #1 Asshole in this area of the world, Ukraine is very definitely #1a.

Hence the Kissinger Statement, first spoken about the Iran / Iraq War of the 1980s:  “It’s a pity there has to be a winner.”

I’m not saying that the Ukrainians shouldn’t resist Putin’s invasion with might and main and kill as many Russians as possible;  I’m just saying that we should reserve our sympathy for Russia’s next target, e.g. the Finns, who definitively do not deserve the Ukrainian treatment.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: H&H SxS 12ga Pair

Longtime Readers will know that when it comes to shotgun calibers, I am of the 20-gauge persuasion simply because I’m leery of getting my shoulder separated etc.  (I know, I know:  your 5’1″ 110lb wife can handle a 12ga all day blah blah blah whatever.)

THAT SAID:  I could be tempted into this matched pair of Hollands because reasons.  (All pics can be enlarged via the usual methods.)

You may say they’re not worth the money, but all I can think of is that choir of angels singing hallelujah every time I open the safe door.

Now where did I leave that winning lottery ticket…?

Two-Wheeled Taliban

The Greatest Living Englishman sounds off about bicyclists, and one has to sympathize with his take.  However, it should be said that the reason that there’s so much friction twixt the two-wheeled and four-wheeled sets is simply that Britishland roads, whether in- or out of town are just too damn small and narrow to accommodate both.

Over Here, we don’t have much of a problem with cyclists, largely because our roads are much wider (certainly here in north Texas, anyway), and even if one encounters a group (gaggle? mob? idiocy?) of cyclists taking up a full lane, there’s lots of room to go round them, all while shaking one’s head at the lunacy of riding a bike in the searing midsummer Texas heat.  Also, we have large pickup trucks and people with guns in them, hence the relative politeness of American cyclists compared to their Brit counterparts.


By the way, if you scroll further down the linked article, you’ll see that Clarkson’s take on the proposed Ford Capri redux  is exactly the same as mine.

GMTA, and all that.

News Roundup

Brought to you by:

Let’s pour that stuff on our hotdogs… wait, did I say wieners?


West Hollywood and Greenwich Village are on lockdown, just in case.


they’re gonna need them all when Russia invades their country, you see.


...it’s not the wangers that will offend them, but the hurricane of farts.


thus making German street signs doubleplus unreadable, e.g.:

Still in Euroland:


...sometimes, I envy the French.


...ah, for the proper treatment of these woke asshole lawyers, see the next item:


...looks like Britishland might as well import these Muslim customs, seeing as they’re allowing all the others.


...”urging”:  no;  “scourging”:  oh hell yes.  We could start that process Over Here, if the Brits need any guidelines.

From the Dept. of Global Warming Climate Cooling Change:


...hell, New Yorkers can’t even use garbage disposal units.  Gas stoves are nothing.


...no whistling, got it.  Straight to rape, then?

And INSIGNIFICA reports:

     

...which is all very well — until Lizzo wears them at her next concertAssuming, that is, that there’s enough denim in the world.

Finally:


...I think the legal term for this is “asking for trouble”.

I was going to post pics of the above event, but no.  Just… no.  Instead, here’s a pic of Shania Twain, who’s never going to have oral sex on stage:

And that’s all the news worth summarizing… sheesh.

In Memoriam

I see that John Linebaugh — founder of the “Never Mind The Recoil, See The Dead Elephant Over There” school of large-bore handgun cartridges — has fired off his last round and gone to join JM Browning and Paul Mauser at Vulcan’s knee.

And what better way to commemorate the man than by showing what he was all about, with this Magnum Research monster in .500 Linebaugh?

Just looking at that bad boy BFR makes my wrist ache… but I gotta tell you, unless you’re hunting blue whales or Tiger tanks, you are not going to be undergunned.

R.I.P. John, gone too soon.