Blog
The What About Bobification of America
I love Bill Murray. I enjoy basically every movie he has ever done. One of my favorites is called What About Bob.
No matter how many decades pass, I can’t help but laugh out loud while watching it. In that classic, Bill Murray plays a man named Bob who is scared of everything. He is desperately scared, everywhere he goes, about getting sick. Everyday things are almost impossible for him because of this extreme fear. He can’t open a door without first wiping the knob. He can’t get on a bus with other people. Things like getting into an elevator are monumental tasks for him. In one scene, he holds his breath the whole time while on an elevator with other people. It’s hilarious.
He wants help dealing with this obvious mental condition and seeks out Dr. Leo Marvin. But, even the great Leo Marvin can’t handle the absurd extent of Bob’s phobias. The whole movie is ludicrous and hilarious, as you watch Bob baby step his way through life, scared of everything.
But, alas, times change and the comedy of yesterday has somehow become the reality of today. As I go out to the store, I am surrounded by Bobs. These people are terrified of breathing the same air as people around them. They are terrified of touching something that someone else has touched. They wear gloves and face shields and are scared to get on a bus or into an elevator with others. This kind of irrational behavior was funny in the context of one man in a comedy movie in the ’90s. But, it isn’t so much when everyone acts that way.
I was in Best Buy today, and they are one of the silliest when it comes to the mask wearing and all that stuff. I marched in like I always do, ignoring the people at the front. I found what I needed to but then asked a worker a question. As soon as he saw me, he physically jumped. I went to ask him my question again but he cut me off, saying, “Sir, you need to wear a mask here. I cannot speak to you if you won’t wear a mask.” I chuckled and told him that I am not able to. Another worker showed up with a box of masks. He held out the box of masks toward me as far as he could possibly reach, and turned his head away from me as far as he could so that he was as far from my face as possible. It was incredibly goofy and over the top, yet that is the 2020 norm in many places.
If you had told me a year ago that today the majority of people in public would act like Bob from What About Bob, I wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, here we are.
I don’t know about you, but I am going to continue laughing at What About Bob. I am going to continue living like a normal human being. I am not going to hold my breath in elevators or pretend like a piece of cloth or shield of plastic will protect me from germs. I am a human being, not a mentally-incapacitated panophobe.
We seemingly live in a world of Bobs and it isn’t funny any more. I’m left wondering if death therapy isn’t really that bad. Where’s that giant meteor when you need it?
Originally posted at: https://technoagorist.com/47
TechnoAgorist on LBRY: https://lbry.tv/@TechnoAgorist:8
TechnoAgorist is a production of the MLGA Network. Find more great content at: https://mlganetwork.com
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Proponents OF Forever War In Syria Can’t Answer One Question Why?
Dan DePetris at Responsible Statecraft
Adesnik and Green observe that “U.S. operations in Syria have demonstrated that long-term efforts are sustainable, requiring the commitment of modest military assets deployed in a largely supporting role.” But one has to ask the following-up question: to what end? And how can we be certain that the long-term, “by, with, and through” campaigns they are so idealistic about don’t proliferate into totally different missions far removed from the reason U.S. troops were deployed in the first place?
Unfortunately, Americans are already witnessing this phenomenon play out in Syria. Indeed, if U.S. policy in Syria was really about defeating ISIS — a mission Washington accomplished over a year and a half ago — U.S. troops would already be back with their families to celebrate the holidays. But alas, the Trump administration’s Syria policy is not so much about fighting terrorism as it is about degrading Iran’s influence and pressuring Bashar al-Assad to resign, two objectives that are about as inconceivable as climbing Mt. Everest with a t-shirt and shorts. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to the words of former Syria envoy James Jeffrey, who admitted earlier this month that U.S. Syria policy is nothing but a subsection of its broader maximum pressure policy on Iran.
More here
Economic Warfare – The Collapse Of Yemen’s Economy
Inflation as a weapon of war.
In this Aug. 25, 2018 image made from video, severely malnourished infant Zahra is bathed by her mother, in Aslam, Hajjah, Yemen. Yemen’s civil war has wrecked the impoverished country’s already fragile ability to feed its population. Around 2.9 million women and children are acutely malnourished; another 400,000 children are fighting for their lives only a step away from starvation. (AP Photo/Hammadi Issa)
According to local economists who spoke to MintPress, the reasons behind the collapse of Yemen’s economy and its currency are many and varied but the expansionary monetary policy that has been taken by Saudi Arabia is one of the key drivers of the Yemeni rial’s devaluation.
Local authorities supported by Saudi Arabia have regularly printed new banknotes in order to meet expenses compounded by the purchase of foreign currencies flowing into markets by foreign organizations.
By the end of 2019, the total rial liquidity in circulation in the country was more than three trillion, according to a source in the Aden-based central bank. As of the beginning of 2020, the bank has printed around 300 billion rials in order to address the budget deficit. The government of ousted president Hadi has largely relied on the central bank’s overdraft financing instrument to cover his spending abroad, including rent, travel, and entertainment.
Recently, Saudi’s proxies in southern Yemen have been selling large quantities of newly-printed banknotes in order to purchase foreign currency from the market and replenish their own foreign currency holdings. This has increased downward pressure on the rial’s value and helped drive inflation.
More here
Cop Kills Man
An unarmed man. Shot him right there in broad daylight.
There is a 100% chance the cop will get away with it because he is a government employee.
The US Government is Evil
They are not your security force.
Axios Scoop: Trump Pardons Expected Today
From Axios
President Trump plans to issue a wave of pardons today, moving to expedite acts of clemency before Christmas, according to a source with direct knowledge and advocates who have been briefed on the plans.
What to watch: Trump has been considering pardons for friends and allies, as Axios reported, interrupting conversations with associates to spontaneously suggest he add them to his pardon list. He already pardoned his former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
- It was unclear who will be included in this batch.
- Sen. Rand Paul called on Trump to pardon Edward Snowden in an article for The Federalist on Thursday. A source with direct knowledge of the planning said they did not expect Trump to follow through with a Snowden pardon.
The big picture: Trump has considered several controversial pardons, including for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
- The president has even mulled preemptive pardons for family members, per the New York Times, concerned that President-elect Joe Biden will target them. Biden has said his Justice Department would be apolitical.
- Meanwhile, Trump has taken an intense interest in the federal investigation of Biden’s son, Hunter. His final episode of fury at Attorney General Bill Barr, in the days before Barr resigned, was because Barr had not publicized the Hunter Biden investigation before the election.
By the numbers: Despite his recent eagerness to pardon, Trump’s clemency rate is lower than his predecessors’.
- As of late November, Trump had granted clemency just 44 times — the lowest total of any president since at least William McKinley, according to Pew Research Center.
If People Fear Violence, How Do You Make Them Feel Safe?
This is an ongoing concept in my head so bear with me here. What I want to look at is the most practical reason for, and how the idea of “private property” may be better explained to people.
Often, those who are derogatorily called “propertarians” will make their argument for ownership sound as if it’s coming from a “moral” or “rights” justification. In my mind, to make the “rights” rationale, especially from a “God-given” stance, is to claim some sort of moral high ground over those who espouse views to the contrary (socialists, statists, etc.). When that happens, we end up in the realm of opinions and historically search for an “arbiter” to settle the dispute; whether that be a government, a king or weapons. We even see claims that the land was given to a certain group by God himself. How does one argue against that? Is there a more practical way to look at property that may appeal to a wider range of our fellow humans?
Anyone who knows history should be aware that the majority of wars and violence has been over land disputes (I can hear the anti-religionists screaming but you’re wrong). You can look around the world today and see that some of the unrest between peoples has to do with property. Israel/Palestine is the first that should come to mind. If one is declaring a piece of land that another says they have a claim upon we see tension and potential violence; and often war and oppression.
Violence and savagery are the enemy of peace and order. In the wake of the George Floyd incident, those who finally had their eyes opened to the violence of the State – after witnessing the officer kneeling on his neck for several minutes – started to look at government enforcers as violent and even corrupted. The multiple and random occurrences of looting and fires quickly turned their eyes to an even graver threat – the mob. They immediately sought someone to establish order. People feared for their lives and property and were deprived, in many cases, of ways to protect it themselves (if you like your guns, you can keep them, and use them when the time comes). Many called it chaos.
When appealing to the person who just wants to live their life in safety explaining that private property helps to “keep the peace” may be a better tactic. Sending a direct message that they have the right to use as much violence as necessary to protect it is paramount. The average person has experienced or heard of skirmishes in local neighborhoods over property lines and easements and are most likely unconsciously aware that property norms are what assisted in the resolution of these disputes. Boundaries must be drawn to keep the peace. We just need to point this out to them.
In the grand scheme of things people seek personal peace over all else. A grasp on the concept of private property may be a way for them to achieve a greater level of it.
Podcasts
