Opus 2023-260: It’s for Your Own Good

Safety equipment comes in many shapes and sizes.  Some is optional and others are required.  Take your average combination of driver and automobile.

The first level of protection is an example of both optional and universal.  It is called providence.  Whether you admit it or not, God has His eye on you as you drive down the road.  For a while I kept a list of the times that a few seconds or a few inches would have caused serious injury or death.  Then I realized I had no idea how many times I had really been shielded from a malicious virus or a drunk driver.  The best protection is the kind you don’t know about.  In a sense there is little you can do to influence providence, or as some would call it, luck.

The second level is how you drive.  This is a big factor.  We have all seen people on motorcycles that seem to be hurrying to their next accident.  Our actions in life are a major influence on what happens on the other levels.  In the recent panic over the Chinese virus it was no surprise how often the people who died “from” covid already had their left foot in the grave because of obesity,  a liver eaten up by alcohol, a mind dulled by recreational drugs and lungs ruined by smoking.  In addition they often were balanced on the edge with severe diabetes and if you looked further you might find they were people who had not been taking their medication as directed.  Behavior produces results.

Only then does your seat belt come into play.  Usually seat belts save lives, with one caveat:  You have to wear them for them to work.  We live in a society that keeps trying to build in safeguards to take the thrill out of life.  I remember going Christmas caroling with the back of my dad’s dump truck full of my church friends.  We could never get away with that today.  Would we be safer?  Yes.  Would we build as many memories?  No way.

You make your choices and you live with the results.  Enjoy what liberty you have left.  Live dangerous, don’t wash your fruit or boil your water.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-212: Dependable Methodology

One of the facts that keeps emerging about our recent overkill on the virus front is that the CDC has been doing a lot of shuffling and lying in order to get the panic they wanted.  In this case it was to undermine Donald Trump and gain power for the administrative state.  As I was browsing through my reading notes I came across some interesting statements by David Harsanyi in Nanny State.

On page 19 he said that in March of 2004 the CDC announced 400,000 deaths because of overeating.  That seems a bit extreme but they are the experts, right?  Evidently the the AMA did not get the message because “The Journal of the American Medical Association said 25,000, April 2005", page 22.

Evidently Fauci, the NIH and the CDC do not have an exclusive on fraud.  Do you remember all the noise about second hand smoke and the deaths it caused?  The EPA reported certain numbers in 1992 and declared second hand smoke a class A carcinogen.  In 1998 that was thrown out.

    “The judge found that the EPA had manipulated the agency’s ‘standard scientific methodology’ and acted in ‘complete disregard of statutory procedures.’  In addition, they had cherry-picked data, evaded review by outside experts, and altered methodology during the course of study.”  pp. 118-119

In other words the EPA used the exact same strategies of corrupting data that they have used in the China Virus fiasco.  

There is a reason that thinking Americans are either part of the problem in government or are leaning not to trust the government in any area of life.

Stay off the radar.  They may come for you next.

Harsanyi, David.  Nanny State.  New York:  Broadway Books, 2007.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-075: Watch Out for Zack

One of the sites I visit fairly regularly is The Next Chapter.  I have been reading what Zack has to say for years.  I got started with some of the reviews he did about firearms that were not on the Newest and Coolest list.  Imagine my shock when I clicked the other day and Big Brother warned me that I was heading into a place that might be outside of my safe space.

I never knew that Zack was so dangerous to my feelings.

It was called a “Sensitive Content Warning”.  I felt warm fuzzies all over as I realized that Google cared about me and my feelings.  Since I am usually not confused with a person who is “sensitive” I need warnings like this to teach me how to live.  It is for my own good.

If you have strong character, not too sensitive, and would like to check out some great reviews I offer this up as a suggestion.

I wonder if I will ever have them care about you enough to warn you off of my site.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-075: Y2K and C-19

I have seen several references to the scare over Y2K.  For those with short memories that was the fear that when the calendars in the computer innards rolled over to the year 2000 they would reset at 0 and throw everything in our culture in the blender. 

Obviously there was nothing noticeable that happened.  Up to that point we are agreed but I am seeing more and more people acting like it was not a real problem, just hype, and then they compare it to the Chinavirus panic. 

I am of the opinion that there was a problem based in Y2K.  It did have the potential to wreak a lot of havoc.  When the concern was acknowledged the geeks got to work looking for a fix.  We will never know how much of a problem we might have had but I think we would have had one.  So don’t put Y2K in the same box with the virus scares.

On the other hand, when this is done we need to find the balance between accepting that we were brought to a slow boil by the media and that some of the things done did help to contain the spread of the disease.  The big, unanswerable question will be, “Was it worth the price?”

If you are on the government dole already and comfortable in your cocoon, you give it all a two thumbs up.  If you work for a living, manage to keep it together, the economy recovers and life become normalized we will say, “Maybe.”  If the damage is enough to bring us to our knees and strip us of our liberty and potential for prosperity, then, “No.”

Remember, even when we are over the hump it is a good idea to wash your hands.  That goes double if you are in a state with a lot of Democrats.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-065: Headlines: The Stimulus that Kills

The headlines are full of reference to a Trillion (with a T) dollar stimulus package that both sides seem to be excited about.  It seems like all they are arguing about is how to structure it so that their buddies get the most benefit.  Like most government programs, very little will get to the people in genuine need.  Government officials and their stock brokers will make out like bandits.  Social workers and government administrators will line their pockets.  A big chunk will just disappear.  And the people who could take care of themselves will be pushed one step closer to becoming dead-beat dads and welfare queens.

The only stimulus package America needs is for the government to back off, stop feeling so important and let Americans get on with life.  If the budget was already in the deep red then where are we going to get another trillion dollars?  The obvious answer is to print it and there goes inflation.  People are throwing around the D word and if the government doesn’t stop playing God then the America hating Progressives* will get what they want.

Of course stopping the stimulus will be hard to do with so many closet snowflakes wanting the CDC to produce a magic elixir that removes all risk from life.  There are a large number of Americans who talk the language of free enterprise but are really government goodies socialists at heart.  They don’t seem to understand that for them to get a $1,000 check the government will need to spend for or five thousand dollars and all of that will be paid back in their taxes.

Sometimes I think our only hope is that there is so much selfishness that they will never agree on how to distribute the compassion that they think will keep us obedient.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-063: Geezer Alert

The elderly are the new children.

You have noticed if you are paying attention that the way the Progressives* get things done is to claim that “it is for the children”.  Now we have a cause that does not seem to touch the children so they are calling for the same types of government intervention only this time it is “for the elderly”.  I can see some legislation called “No Geezer Left Behind”. 

Keep in mind that these same people were okay with the death panels of Obamacare and withholding medical treatment for those who no longer make a contribution.  Now that group must be preserved at all costs.  We hear about the frail and helpless people in nursing homes.  The sobs are almost heart breaking.  We are closing our schools.  Is it to protect the children?  No, they don’t seem to be at risk in the current panic unless they get caught in a toilet paper stampede.  We are closing our schools to protect the elderly who populate the good paying jobs associated with being a teacher or professor.  It might make more sense at the college level to force the students to stay in the dorm and not go home.  That way their parents and grandparents would be safe and the only ones at risk would be the left-wing mind warpers running the mediocrity mills. 

So get ready for a lot of laws you would never imagined.  Picture speed limits around nursing homes and cars carrying anyone over 65 to have special blinking warning lights.  Perhaps we could have social worker visits and licenses required for anyone keeping their parents at home.  My mind boggles at the potential for new invasions of our liberty.

But keep in mind, it is for the elderly.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-026: Divine Rights of Presidents

To the Progressives* Donald Trump has become Jehovah God.

They blame everything on (H)im.  I could live with that except they only blame the bad stuff.

I remember reading a post by a man who was hurting.  He had lost a grandchild and was bitter about it.  He stated that he could never believe in a God who would allow something like that to happen.  Emotionally I can only pretend to understand because I have not had that kind of loss.  Intellectually I see his train of logic.  Like too many people he tends to see things through his pain and with himself in the center.  I hope he will work his way through it.

For Progressives* I don’t have such hope.  In order to live in their little bubbles of cause and effect they need to work overtime to isolate themselves from reality.  They are surrounded by so much information that they need to make conscious decisions to deny reality.  They are the people who believe that the world is going to end because of global warming.  They somehow cling to the nonsense that only white people are capable of being racist.  They think unborn babies are nothing but blobs of tissue.  They think welfare helps people.  They think more money will solve the problems in education.

And the only thing keeping these dreams from fulfillment is Donald Trump.  If only he would stop tweeting.  And just like life in the real world, not believing in God will get you nowhere.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-021: Yes, in My Back Yard

My wife tells me that we got a slight increase in our Social Security but that the increase in cost for the prescription plan D leveled the field again.  She then expressed hopes that Trump would be able to do something about it.

I am not sure that I want him to “do something about it”.  Usually what we mean when we want a political leader to “do something about it” is to give us free stuff.  We are all happy to talk about reforming Medicare and getting a handle on the federal deficit.  Conservatives are quick to mock the Democrats campaigning for president about their offers of free stuff.  We are not so happy when we are faced with being part of the solution.  We would prefer to be part of the problem.

Some of the solutions could be achieved if we just had honest government.  Yes, I know.  Oxymoron.  Social Security is not in trouble because it is a bad idea.  It is in trouble because it became a political foot ball and sugar daddy.  Politicians have been raiding social security to balance the budget and pay for their dream programs ever since it started.  They have been adding people to the payout that never paid in.  They have expanded coverage in totally irresponsible ways.  As a result they talk about it becoming insolvent at some date in the future.  The solution is easy.  Pay back what the Feds borrowed with honest interest.  Cut off people who never made a fair contribution.  Invest funds that come in.  Things would get workable fast.

Medicare is a bit of a different animal.  We need to look at it as insurance not as a bribe to seniors.  We also need to get over the idea that Cadillac health care is a right.  Like anything else in life, health care costs money.  Doctors, nurses and lab techs don’t volunteer their time after they get off their day job at McDonald’s.  Someone needs to pay.  We seniors want someone else to do the paying.  I remember when my mother went through expensive cancer treatment with a lot of medications.  I asked the pharmacist how she was able to afford all the cutting edge drugs.  He said she had bought the supplemental coverage.  In other words, she paid for it.  And she did it on very limited income.  Of course she did not take cruises or buy fancy jewelry.  She lived frugally, but she lived well enough to have the family over for holidays and still have everything she needed. 

For us Medicare has worked well so far.  We may hit a wall someday but when we set up our coverage my wife paid for what she wanted.  I think we pay more.  We do that so we get more.  It is called insurance, not welfare.  Will costs go up?  Probably.  That will be double true if we continue to give people what they have not been willing to pay for.

We can have a basic safety net.  I would say that anything that can be provided at your average urgent care is within the realm of a right.  We are a wealthy country and we can afford to take care of people with general illnesses.  What would not be a right would be things like I have, a pacemaker or the expensive blood thinning drug I am taking.  I could get an old fashioned blood thinner for a lot less but it would be less convenient.  You should not have to pay for my convenience.

In time, once the stupidity is worked out of the system, we might be able to expand the basic services.  Will people suffer?  I am sure they will but society cannot make up for people who have made repeated bad decisions. 

We all agree that something must be done.  Each of us needs to accept our share of the doing.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-018: The Prophet’s Hat: Thermostats

The day will come when the progressives begin to require Save the Whales Thermostats.  The name is nonsense but so are most things that come from the progressives.

These Thermostats will only have two settings on them:  Heat and Cool.  The temperature will be preset at the factory.  If you want it to heat the temp will be 68º.  If you want A/C it will only cool to 74º.  These will be smart thermostats so that the governing VAC Czar can radio changes if he is having a bad day at the office.

This does not require much of a gift of prophecy.  People with smart meters and cutting edge thermostats already have the tools in place.  All it needs is someone who is bored and has access to the central controls. 

If you have been following the moves by Democrats in Virginia to disarm the population you have read about threats to turn off people’s utilities to force compliance.  I don’t know if that is from a satire site or real reporting but it can be done overnight, with no danger to the utility employees, to anyone with a smart meter.

When I look at Republicans like Mitt Romney I don’t know if they are the answer but I know that Democrats are the problem.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-108: Kicking the Can, part 2 of 2

We still have a lot of problems in our country today.  Many will admit them but few are willing to take the steps to make it happen.

Think of the federal deficit.  It is out of control.  It keeps getting bigger.  Logic and common sense tells us that we need to do something about it.  There is a limit to how high you can raise taxes without destroying the economy.  The big missing piece of the puzzle is cutting spending.  The question that no one wants to answer is “Where?”

Most people will admit we need to cut spending but they always want it to be on someone else’s dime.  The reason they are not willing to do anything is because it might hurt them.  Think about all the ways that many of us are on the public dole.  I was a public school teacher.  Because I worked for the government in a government controlled system I made about twice what teachers in private schools made and had an awesome health care package.  How many teachers do you know who are willing to cut back on education?  After all, it is for the kids, right?  And don’t look at the man behind the curtain making a lot of money.  And have you seen the obscene amounts of money university people make? 

How about all the tax loopholes we have.  I bought a home and had a mortgage.  I was allowed to write off the interest.  I accept the fact that some tax deductions make sense.  The cost of new equipment is an expense that should be deducted but board of directors meetings in resort areas?  You can get the same business done at the local school cafeteria. 

For me and millions of other elderly it would have to do with Medicare.  We want the cost of our drugs reduced.  There are a lot of crony capitalism things that could be changed but in reality we just want the cost to go down.  It doesn’t matter if those still working pay more or the government has to borrow the money, I want relief.  See the way it works?  And this at a time when the elderly are the ones who have most of the disposable income.  I still can’t figure out why I get a discount when the working stiff with three kids pays full price.

We need to start voting for people who will pledge to cut spending even if it means I have to give up going out to eat.  Eventually when someone goes to kick the can down the road they will find it has a giant rock behind it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-083: Headlines: How Dare You

When you travel you pass through points of broadcast but don’t always get the whole story.  Since it is questionable that the Fake News and Semi-Fake news outlets ever had the whole story you can imagine how little we really know.

Most of us have heard about the fire at Notre Dame cathedral.  You may have heard about how the pledges and donations are pouring in to the tune of a billion dollars.  I find that encouraging.  There are people in the world who are willing to do what they can to restore a world, historical and spiritual landmark. 

Then things get murky.  It seems that the “yellow vests” of Paris are not happy about all this generosity.  They seem to be upset that people are giving their own money to support their own concerns and none of it is being syphoned off by the government to the people in yellow vests.  Here is where it gets into the Land of the Fake.  How much of what we are hearing is true or even half-truth? 

I have not taken a position on the yellow vest protestors.  It is a French thing.  I do know I have expressed the point that people who protest this way are not so much against high taxes as they are against any kind of demand that they pay their way.  I would say that if they are really angry that people are giving to rebuild the church then they are simply snowflakes in yellow vests.  We know that we are to be leery of yellow snow.  Maybe the same goes for yellow vests. 

Why do people want to donate to rebuild the cathedral?  There could be many reasons but a big one for a Frenchman is insurance.  Keep in mind that the French are culturally and historically Roman Catholic but they don’t go to church much.  They like to have it there in case there is an emergency.  They make big donations because they believe it will make a difference.  Historically we would call them indulgences.  When I was young it was demonstrated in a movie called Lilies of the Field.  The main character played by Sidney Poitier was asking a businessman why he had donated a big item in rebuilding the local church.  The business man had already said he did not believe the religious stuff.  His reason, “Insurance”.  If you believe in hell you could call it fire insurance.

I hope they get the damage repaired without any tax money involved.  I won’t be donating but I wish them well.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-028: Shame Factor

Should people feel any shame when they use an EBT card or apply for disabled veteran license plates?  The answer is easy:  Yes and no.

A little bit of shame or embarrassment can go a long way to controlling abuse of programs that should be helping those in genuine need.  Why do I refrain from taking the last slice of pizza?  Because my friends will laugh at me and mock me.  It works to make me a healthier person even if I am not really a better person.  If I were close to starving and someone offered me the left over pizza I wouldn’t even hesitate. 

Do you really need the government to take care of you?  Some may be there.  I have been close a few times but either the church or my family have been there for me.  Why were they there for me?  Because they knew me and my need.  Even more because they knew I deserved a bit of help, and because they knew all those things they could tailor there “welfare programs” to make sure that I was strengthened and not destroyed.

If you are paying attention you will recognize that most government programs tend to destroy the people they are supposed to help.  People get used to getting something for nothing.  Their motivation is sapped.  Their good pride is ground up.  They become expectant instead of energized. 

When I was teaching I had to face the annual end of my welfare season.  It came when school started.  I had to go back to work.  Believe me that is hard after kicking back for three months.  If it was hard for me with my well developed sense of responsibility and a record of a solid work ethic, how hard must it be for someone who has had the government hand out checks with no accountability all their lives?

Did I feel a bit of shame when I had to move into my parents home with a pregnant wife?  You bet I did.  I also knew that if I didn’t get my act together I would be out on the street after a time.  It was a great motivator.  Maybe our dependent classes need a dose of that motivation.

It can be done humanely but it can’t be done painlessly.  It must be done.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-218: Headlines: It Ain’t 1776

At this point I am not impressed with the “revolt against socialism” in Venezuela.  Socialism is an addictive form of welfare.  It is a conscience drug.  People begin to believe that they deserve something.  When they revolt, I am not so sure it is against socialism as much as it is that they don’t think they are getting their share.

Revolutions as a whole don’t always make things better.  One of the things about the United States is that it’s revolution was led by people who were genuinely interested in liberty.  They wanted it for themselves, yes, but they also wanted it for their fellow citizens.  The final words of the Declaration of Independence should be taken literally.  I have quoted it before, I offer it again.

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

They believed in “Providence”.  That means they bought into the Christian understanding of God, what He expects and how He works.  They were fenced in by that.  It meant that George Washington refused to be made king and that a succession of presidents turned loose of power when they left office.  I think we were unique in history because of those leaders.  I wish we had more like them today.

I am not sure the revolutionaries in Venezuela understand it that way.  I would hope I am wrong but the history of revolutions is that when the dust settles, those with the biggest dust pans start becoming the tyrants they replaced.  I am afraid that those marching are simply looking for someone else to step up and promise to make life better with bigger handouts.

I could be totally wrong.  I hope so.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-011: Shot or Hung

One of my recent posts on my other blog was “Pick a Side”.  Before I proof read it my mind jumped to the experience of restaurants.  When we get a steak we are told we can pick two sides.  I began to think that maybe I should approach this the way many approach politics, let the server pick for me.

I hope you aren’t saying, “That sounds like a good idea”.  We already have too many people telling us what our choices will be.  I have no plans on buying a new car.  One reason is the cost.  Another reason is that new cars want to make the choices for me.  It drives me crazy when I am in a rental car and it locks the doors for me or, even worse, unlocks the doors when I put the car in park.  What genius assumes that I want to unlock my doors in a strange part of town just because I stop the car?

Then there are the “choices” which I label “Do You Want to Be Shot or Hung” choices.  We used to get those all the time when I was teaching.  We were always being given two bad choices and told that was all we could do.  I remember one bit of software we were supposed to work with in one of our faculty meetings.  The problem was that in order to use it you needed to check the box saying you gave the software developer permission to use all of your personal information.

Give me real choices.  Don’t tell me you will do it for me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-006: Joining the Masses

For years we were spoiled by having a Cadillac health insurance plan.  We knew it but knowing and experiencing the difference are two different things.  As a teacher I was forced to be a union member and if there is any group that has the government in its pockets, it is the teachers’ unions.  We were taken care of.  For instance, dental insurance.  I think we paid $10.00 in a co-pay the first year and nothing for the next 29.  Now we pay cash.

Then I finally retired and moved to Medicare, Plan D and supplemental policies.  It has taken us a time to start hitting the bumps.  We have found that the specialists that we have seen are on top of things and give excellent care.  Since my wife wants the best we signed up for the best and bought the top supplemental plan.  The GP and the Medicare “Wellness checks” I have written about already. 

She is in the hospital again.  We have had not problem getting into emergency rooms, getting in to see the specialist she wanted and scheduled for surgery. 

Then we come to the prescriptions.  We already found out the difference between private insurance and the government when my cost for a 30 day supply went from $20 to $400+.  When I went in to fill her latest, an antibiotic cream, it cost me $117 and the other prescription, if it had been in stock, would have cost us $600. 

We will make it.  We will not starve, go naked or freeze to death.  At least, not yet.  I don’t consider the pharmaceutical companies to be the enemy.  They are entitled to a return on their investment.  I understand that in extreme cases they have plans to help the genuine poor.  What frustrates me is the crony capitalism, socialism, that stifles competition and keeps costs high.  I don’t want a government program to subsidize my medications.  I want the government to get out of the way and let the free market generate the kind of competition that makes companies more efficient and leaner.  I know how to price shop but I can’t do that if the government colludes with the drug makers to limit my choices. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-287: Since They Can’t Tax Flatulence, an Additional Thought

When I went to post about a meat tax I realized that I was not giving the elites all the credit that they have due.  It is entirely possible that they will find a way to tax flatulence.  We are battling smart meters for our electricity.  We really don’t need the government being able to control every appliance in our house.  My new I-Pad has an ap that will let me set it up to run everything.  I guess the millennials have no sense of privacy and are trained to let Mommy take care of them.  It doesn’t take much of a jump to believe that there could be a required chip in new toilets that would measure the amount of gas being released.  Then we could have a government program to retrofit toilets.  Only friends of congress need apply for a permit or perhaps they would be reserved for preferred minorities.  We are now required to install fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.  Some are required to have radon sensors in their basements.  Why not a methane detector.  Think of all the lives it would save.  Think about how we could rest easier at night.  Ultimately it is for the children, right?

This would be a special problem for older people.  We would be targeted and become pariahs in society.  We would set off alarms in public places and make the neighbors install huge fans.  We might be required to erect airtight tents over our houses.

My mind boggles at the possibilities.  I find comfort in knowing it will be for my own good, and of course for the children.  I am also wondering if I am getting enough sleep.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-197: Social Security Is Watching You

I went in for my first annual physical since going on Social Security.  The first thing I learned was that it is no longer an annual physical.  It in now an annual “wellness check”.  My wife was informed that the doctor would not touch us.  After a life time of being poked and prodded it seems that we have reached the level where none of that is necessary any more.  I was also told that they did not do the blood test for prostrate cancer anymore.  I can only assume that they hope we will just keel over and die.

Although the doctor did not have the time to check for hernia or swollen liver or any of the other things he could have looked at in a couple of minutes he did have a long list of questions to ask.  He started of by explaining, “Don’t get mad.  I am required to ask these questions.”  At the first one I had to laugh, “Do you know what year this is?”  I laughed because when I had signed the form at the front desk I had written 2017 instead of 2018.  It is a good thing I caught it and changed it.  He then went on to wonder if I had felt depressed or had a lack of interest in things.  He wanted to know if I had throw rugs in my house.  The last question was about having smoke detectors in my house.

This is your government in action.  They want to trap you into seeming to be crazy.  I wonder what would have happened if I did not know the county I was in or the state I lived in.  Would I have gone on a list that the government keeps to try and restrict my other freedoms because I was not competent?  Perhaps this is the first level of the death panels that will later decide who gets treatment and who doesn’t.

I am more worried about a hernia.  I guess I will know when my intestines start to stick out past my belly button.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-158: Headlines: Deadly Desk Job

The recent shooting in Annapolis was a tragedy waiting to happen.  Hindsight is always better than the risk of a lawsuit but this guy had “trouble” written all over him.  You can read his long history of rejection and harassment but that is not what hit me as I was reading the reports.

I came across a jarring statement.  If you have never fired a shotgun it might not have stood out to you but it shows how ignorance can cost lives.  One if the reporters wrote this,

'There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.'

The key point is this, the killer had to stop and reload.  That is a process that can be slow and difficult in a shotgun.  Most shotguns carry three or five rounds and after that you need to force the new shells through a hole on the side.  It does not always go well.  Perhaps this guy had his shotgun well broken in and it went like clock-work.  The key is that at that moment the people hiding under the desks waiting for the police to arrive had a chance to deal with the problem.  They didn’t.  They stayed in hiding hoping that the next person shot would not be them.

Think back to the guy who shot up the Wafflehouse.  He was taken down by an unarmed man who went for him while he was reloading.  Lives were saved by someone with a little bit of courage.  Okay, someone with a lot of courage.  He did not huddle down while the killer prepared for the next round of mayhem.  This could probably be said of most mass shootings.

By all reports the police were on this very quickly.  They did their job and I have read no reports of them hiding behind their cars while the shooting continued like happened in Florida.  It still wasn’t fast enough to save any lives.  I don’t want to be too harsh on the guys under their desks.  Who knows.  I might have been one of them.  What we need to learn is that it is not always the safest place to be when a killer is intent of killing.

I hope I never need to demonstrate the courage needed in this event but I hope the lesson comes home if I ever face such a threat.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-087: Type A Conspiracy

I am getting tired of reading books written by people who are Type A personalities.  Such authors are aggressive, ambitious and generally very sure of themselves.  They tend to not stop to think of other people.  They also tend to write a lot of books telling people who are not Type A how to get the job done.  I remember all the books my wife tried to get me to read about being the perfect husband.  The anecdotes that were given usually showed a young man who was very self centered and insensitive.  The one that sticks in my mind was a guy who went out to play basketball with the guys on their first wedding anniversary and left his wife sitting alone at home with a romantic candlelight dinner prepared.  Really?

Maybe we need some kind of Government Personality Label like the nutrition labels on my soup.  It would be good to know if an author is Type A, a liberal, schizophrenic or married with children.  I would like to know what I am taking into my mind as much as I need to know what I take into my body.  I already have filters like this when it comes to sources of news.  If it is from the New York Times, the L.A. Times or the Washington Post I prepare my baloney filters and keep purging them as I read.  Usually I just don’t bother to read.  It is a little harder to discern if it is a book about marriage, gardening or raising children.

I don’t expect it to happen.  The kind of people that would need to write the regulations are all Type A and would put it at the bottom of their list.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-077: The Arsenic of Politics

Arsenic is to the body as socialism is to the country. 

Small amounts of arsenic are not a real problem.  It is often a natural part of the water we drink.  The Nanny State people have made it a bigger issue than it needs to be as a part of the fear campaign to limit our liberty and control our lives.  I believe that one of the last things Bill Clinton did when he left office was to radically raise the “danger level” of arsenic in drinking water requiring perfectly safe water to be treated more extensively.  It is all about control.  Of course if you get too much arsenic it can kill you but keep in mind the same thing is true about oxygen.

Socialism is much the same.  A little bit of sharing does not destroy a culture.  We can survive having the government in charge of the roads although history has had times of privately operated toll roads and it worked just fine.  The problem is that you have a series of politicians who want to increase the involvement of the government in our lives and thus limit our choices and it is all for our own good.  Seat belts are a good example.  By government mandate we have gone from no seat belts to being pulled over and fined if we are not wearing one.  It comes one little step at a time.  Look at the label of a can of soup and consider all of the government regulations that are involved in printing it.  How many times has the nutrition information been revised and made more complicated?  Do the acronyms OSHA, ADA and EPA mean anything to you?  Each one has the purpose of making your world safer and more equal.  Each one seriously limits the choices you are free to make.  Each one carries heavy penalties if you step out of line.

Like arsenic, socialism reaches a point where it kills.  It kills the prosperity of a country.  It kills the progress of a society.  It ends up killing people.  And of course it is all done with the best of intentions.  It is for your own good.  If you want the most recent example look at Venezuela.  This country is incredibly rich in natural resources and at one point had a vigorous working class with good educations.  Now it is a hole where the masses are digging in trash heaps looking for something to eat while the elites live in splendor. 

Stay alert.  It is happening here.  Always vote to keep out people who want to do things for you because ultimately they end up doing for themselves.

homo unius libri