The Streisand Effect Is Our Friend

On 357 Magnum I found a post called Cops Have No Sense of Humor. Click over and check it out.

I’ve never heard of the rapper called Afroman but the dude’s got the right attitude. The cops kicked down his door (literally), burst in with weapons drawn (literally), rifled through his stuff (literally), found nothing illegal (literally), and took his cash (literally). None of that is exaggeration.

What a bummer! I was born in a nation where such a thing never happened. I live in that nation’s hollow shell where police routinely seize assets (the word is stealing) and our president who got more votes than any other candidate in history keeps political prisoners and periodically circles the White House with concertina wire.

Afroman is a clever fellow. He didn’t freak out. He used the most powerful force on earth against totalitarians; humor.* He wrote a happy little song and added the video from his home security system. It couldn’t be more beautiful. So of course the cops sued him (literally). I find it funny that the home security system did exactly what it was supposed to do (document unwanted home invaders). The uniformed invaders disabled the cameras, just like any other home invaders.

I guess the best that can be said is the cops didn’t kill anyone or shoot a dog. (No word if Afroman has a dog.)

We can learn from Afroman’s mellow song. I would never have heard about some rapper in Ohio. I never would have known that cops were acting like dickheads in his vicinity. Now I have and I’m spreading the fun. Lets make these cops the most well known twerps in their state. The Streisand Effect can be a force for good:

The Streisand effect is the way in which attempts to hide, remove, or censor information can lead to the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of that information. It is named after American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, whose attempt to suppress the California Coastal Records Project’s photograph of her cliff-top residence in Malibu, California, taken to document California coastal erosion, inadvertently drew greater attention to the photograph in 2003.

*I’m serious about humor. The Soviets were evil totalitarian monsters. They were terrified of the slightest mockery. The same applies to modern day totalitarians. Lets go Brandon! 

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Miscellanea

I’ve been quiet. You might think I’ve been inert. Nope! I’ve been doing my own thing. Society is crawling up it’s own ass too deeply. It’s gross. I can’t watch.


Topic #1: What the fuck?

The cure for a world of brainwashed morons deliberately faffing about in a performative chaotic frenzy is to step out of their arena. Reality is the proper locale for a sane human. Remember before social media? That place still exists. I welcome you to join me: the sky is blue, gravity works, physical objects persist (unlike your money’s invisible decay through inflation), beer tastes good, the sun rises in the east, your dog isn’t trying to put on a dress, a tree won’t pretend it’s a goldfish, and I recently saw top notch northern lights.

The water’s fine, come on in!

I do have one question. What the fuck are people thinking?

The mix of bad ideas repeated on a loop and growing weirdness is unstable. The Bidenverse’s inevitable decay has gone to ludicrous speed.

When will we cross the stupid event horizon? Perhaps we already have? Each yeas is dumber than the last. The election cycle in 2016 was dumb and yet it was smarter than 2020. Twenty years ago people were idiots too but that feels like a long lost era of erudite philosopher kings compared to the medically assisted meat zombie we have now. Last week was dumb even by 2023 standards. At what point does it all collapse? I assume it has already collapsed. When will people accept the collapse their eyes are seeing but their mind won’t grasp?

Most things I see on “media” wouldn’t convince gullible houseplants or persuade lawn furniture. The only people who buy it want to believe. They don’t actually buy it either. They just pretend. Even your cat knows it’s bullshit.

The chaos accelerates. In 2023 I can make a ham sandwich that will outlast the shelf life of a news “scoop”. Consider anything that was important a month ago. Ask yourself “what happened to that”?

If you fret over something but forget about its final resolution, all you did was participate in someone else’s performance art. The world is awash in events. What happened to all that shit?

Everything dumb from an month ago has rifted from conspiracy theory to known fact. Yet all issues remain unresolved.

The Hunter laptop is now officially real. As we always knew. What happened with that? What happened to the 51 people who swore on the front page of a newspaper that it was Russian propaganda?

The southern border was open and thronged by illegal crossers. What happened with that? If Trump’s wall sucked, why is this solution better?

Two banks (three if you count Credit Suisse, which I do) have gone tits up. What happened with that? What has been learned from their failures? Did anyone mention the repercussions of extending FDIC insurance to infinity? We all know more banks will follow.

The J6 videos were pried out of the hands of congress-beings and shown on regular TV. You can see for yourself it was tamer than the crowd at a golf tournament. So what happened with that? We have political prisoners in the USA and it’s directly related to the videos. Those videos are exculpatory evidence. Withholding exculpatory evidence is a crime. What about that? Who is Ray Epps? Why are American taxes paying to staff American political operatives on American soil?

Musk blathered the details behind all sorts of hidden (but obvious and suspected) dirty censorship and propaganda. So what happened with that?

The Air Force spent a week ignoring a monster spy balloon and the next week shooting down hobbyist toys over Canada. What resolution has come of that?

In January, there were classified papers coming out of Biden’s garage, old offices, and various other orifices. What happened to that?

Are the plucky Ukranians still just days from total victory? Are they still heroically shooting down Russian jets with deer rifles? Someone blew up the Nordstream pipeline. If it was America, then Americans are the bad guys. What about that?

I’d like to see something that began… finish.


Topic #2: I’ve seen this show before:

When I turned my on computer after only a few days off grid I found out they (whoever “they” might be) spent all week on another Trump hunt. You know the guy who officially hasn’t been president for over two years? The guy who lost to the person who got more votes than any other candidate in history? That guy.

To damaged minds the period from November 2020 to February 2023 never happened. But I have a calendar so I know the truth. For better or worse, Trump is not president; it’s not his war in Ukraine, it’s not his inflation, it’s not his spy balloons, it’s not his southern border, it’s not his propaganda on Twitter.

The people who drove their own car into a ditch are blaming the car’s previous owner. Orange or not, Trump handed over the keys to a functioning society. We had a thriving economy, a secure border, a stable and minimal presence in Afghanistan, and oil independence. All that is gone. Trump is not why it’s  gone.

Some folks died in the election of 2016; Hillary lost and they never recovered. They don’t know they’re zombies but that’s what they are. They haven’t successfully lived since.

Others got exactly what they want in 2020. Biden got more votes than any other candidate in history and if you question it you may be thrown in jail. They got what they want and are miserable. They’re zombies; unhappy and dead. Shuffling around seeking some external force upon which to blame their own failures.

Folks who have accomplished nothing hate to see others thrive. They pursue Orange Man Bad as the avatar of their inner demons. They have nothing about which they can be proud. They’re nothing but the pursuit of and destruction of things others have built. Like him or hate him, Trump did stuff. They hate that.

People who still have their panties in a bundle over the Orange Menace are human train wrecks. (That reminds me… the mushroom cloud of chemicals over a train wreck in Ohio. What happened with that?)

Sane people get over things. I hated the AMC Gremlin, the 55 MPH speed limit, and disco. But they’re all gone now. If I spent my days burning junkyard Gremlins on a stack of disco LPs you’d know I was mentally ill. I don’t. Because I’m sane. To hate others without doing something of merit with one’s own abilities is the mark of someone who has no value. Deep in their heart they know it.

Last week, the perpetually aggrieved were going to indict Trump? Again. Why? The other dozen bullshit attempts didn’t flame out quite stupidly enough? They wanted to bolster his chances in the next run? They won’t feel complete until they’ve made him a martyr? They hope one more bite at the apple will finally heal their wounds? They’re getting old and want one more cycle of power? What good can come from bad intentions?

This round of the story that never ends didn’t even pretend to be solid. A legal non-disclosure agreement with a porn star is… and I know this may seem irrelevant to many… LEGAL.

As far as I can tell the porn star (who admittedly has a righteous rack) has already lost to Trump in court. She owes him (Trump) $300,000 from her ill advised and failed legal attack. Pause and savor the fact that a slut and a real estate showman fucked (allegedly) and the slut winds up owing money. How funny is that?

The slut’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has been convicted of an array of crimes. He’s doing a 14 year sentence. (Possibly more, I get confused trying to tally up his multiple convictions.)

Someone looked at this mess and thought; “The slut went bankrupt and the lawyer is in jail. I want a piece of that action!”

Trump did the right thing. He said, “let’s do it”. That’s all it took. The whole thing evaporated.

The willingness to do the right thing is exactly how American citizens killed power-mad Biden’s vax mandates. Biden freebased power until he decided to force his will on the people he should respect. Remember when Presidents said “my fellow Americans” and didn’t list off “people with whom they’ve lost patience”? Biden intended to put me on a list of people who were forever unemployable. Imagine that! America creating a caste of “the unemployable”! Picture that chapter in future history books. “President Biden who got more votes than any other candidate in history is credited with creating the biggest number of American political prisoners. Then he made a list of over 2 million Americans who could never have a job. His was the first legal apartheid unambiguously targeted to economically ruin his enemies. He’s a true hero of democracy!”

I don’t do victim. I told the bully “fire me if you can, but I will never bow the knee”. To my surprise and relief it ended. Poof! Gone! Just like Trump’s most recent arrest. Me and a couple million others stood up like true citizens and the fever broke. Biden talked big about imaginary Corn Pop but retreated behind concertina wire as soon as people told him they wouldn’t obey his will. Whiny bitches like Biden are bullies that never grew beyond high school.

You gotta’ hand it to Trump, he’s the glasses from They Live. Trumps enemies do shit that show you what they themselves are.


Topic #3: Plowing is a job that doesn’t pay:

Reality (unlike the panic on the media) has been all about plowing snow. I bought some gear (I’ll elaborate later) in anticipation of a happy fun-time summer. This apparently angered the Gods! Every 2-3 days since that optimistic gamble I’ve been in the tractor plowing snow.

I’ve been pushing mountains of snow on top of the towers of snow I’d already amassed. From a practical perspective, it’s like I picked up a part time job for 10-15 hours a week. There’s no pay and all I get out of it is a driveway that’s passable (sometimes).

I know spring will come but it’s dragging its feet!

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Honey Badger: Why Filthie Needs A Dirtbike

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell Filthie to “DO IT!”

In the middle of the lingering snowpack I dragged Honey Badger (my Yamaha TW200 dirtbike) into my shop. I meant to get it ready for the riding season. I need to change the oil and I want to wire in some farkles.

I got plans y’all!

I spent all winter thinking of cool shit to do this summer! Me and Honey Badger will have all the fun I can survive.

Who knows if I’ll do all the cool stuff I dreamed? At least it’s a start. You must dream before you can do.  I’m optimistic because I know that Honey Badger is up for it. That little bike is always ready to go for anything on the trail.

Here’s a picture of my trusty steed. (The photo is a couple years old, the bike has more survival shit bolted to it now.)

Unfortunately, it snowed and my plans for mechanical tinkering were delayed. Then it snowed more. Delays compounded. I wasted a whole tank of propane heating the shop while I was busy plowing snow.

Meanwhile, the author of Filthie’s Thunderbox (a fine blog and ray of Canadian sunshine) mentioned he might someday like a TW200. He did so with a half assed tone indicating he probably won’t go for it. I can’t ignore that!

I implore y’all to go to Filthie’s site and comment. Tell the man “DO IT!”

If there’s anything a cranky woodsman needs it’s a little wheeled mule! It’s amazing the old carbureted thumper is still in production. Anyone with an itch of a molecule of curiosity should embrace the opportunity!

Filthie needs one!

The plucky TW is unlike any other motorcycle on the market today. It’s a slow, obscure, obsolete farm bike from a simpler time. It’s fun, unbreakable, street legal, trail ready, and relentlessly upbeat. It absolutely loves abuse. It has plenty of balls to ride in/through/over/across anything in its path. It’s crude and cheap. It’s cheap to buy (though it does have a cult following in the used market). It’s cheap to insure. It’s cheap to register. It’s cheap to fix what you break and it only needs repair if you did something that you knew was utterly stupid to break it. (Or like me you want to tinker on a dirt simple machine until it’s the ultimate bug out toy.) They’re said to last forever. They get great MPG.

I treat mine like a hammer. I’ve sunk it, hit things, got lost, flogged it, babied it, idled it, used a tree stump to adjust the chain, chased a bear, buried it in mud, run it hot, run it in snow, hammered the skid plate (aftermarket), and it has never skipped a beat.

Despite all that firebreathing bravado, the best part is that it’s silly fun. It’s a hoot even if you’re just sightseeing. I’ll spend all day puttering along forest service roads with a big grin on my face.

I load it with a ton of gear and it never bitches. It’s easy to ride and adapts to most terrain. It’s happy on a forest road, it’s happy when you flog it through a swamp, it’s happy when you wind it through trees, it’s happy when crash through brush, it simply doesn’t care what you do.

It’s (probably) EMP proof. When Putin has had enough of our shit and nukes us back to the stone age, the TW will still run perfectly well.

It’ll go anywhere I’m brave enough to steer. If the terrain is too tough for a TW you’ve made bad decisions in life. You don’t need an off road machine so much as you need a helicopter.

TWs are so uncool they’re cool by accident. A total lack of style and technology lets it cross over and come out the other side. Instead of regular cool, it’s beyond cool. Compared to everything in the market, there’s no bike that simply doesn’t give a shit about appearances like the TW.

When you ride a TW like you ought to, you aren’t a motorcyclist, you’re a moose trapping lost cowboy wolf-being fishing camp-beast that just came off the endless trail. A full dress Harley Road Glide may give an anemic soyboy dentist the aura of cool but it’s just an aura. When I park my muddy TW, even if it’s next to machines that cost five times as much, it’s the TW that gets noticed. It’s simply the cooler object because it’s molecularly incapable of pretention. People think: “What kind of lunatic rides a potato like that? Is the fender covered in moose shit? Is that a shotgun strapped to the back? Why is it loaded with MREs and a hatchet?” There’s only one conclusion; “That dude is bad ass!”

Dentists tremble before my tiny death bike!

The beast horrifies young hip speed demons who rove in packs on single track. (But it can still do single track and I had the bruises to prove it.) A TW will never impress the owner of a BWM R 1250 GS Adventure bike (or rather the owner of the payment plan that comes with a BMW). That’s because the only time I’ve seen a BWM R 1250 GS Adventure bike on a trail is on YouTube. If I encountered a one of those space technology super machines on the trail, the BMW rider would see a geezer like me pick up my fallen TW with one hand. That single easy lift would make the owner of twenty grand in very heavy and expensive ABS enabled fuel injection sorcery weep in envy.

It’s easily as good as any ATV yet it’s street legal in a way ATVs never quite attain. It’s the smallest thing that’s not too small. Women call it cute, kids like the cartoon-sized tires, deer don’t overly mind its sputtering engine, and I’ve used it to drag firewood to camp.

Before the TW, I had (still have) a cruiser. That limited me to half the motorcycle picture. The Sturgis and chrome crowd has a good thing going on but it’s not the only thing. The TW taught me other activities. I coined the term mechanical hiking. Think of a TW as a backpack that carries itself. It’s a mule that never needs hay. It’s a hunting rig and camping toy. It doesn’t mind if to strap fishing poles and chainsaws to it. The lawnmower sized power plant will never let you down. The fat goofy tires will hold traction for anything you’re willing to try.

The only place a TW doesn’t belong is the interstate. Keep your cruiser for the slab where it’s happiest. Get a TW as a little wheeled beast for different things. Its a friendly dog that can’t wait to go camping with you.

If wonder if you want a TW, you do!

Do it!

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Extreme: Rise

Part 1: Just Saying Hi:

I’ve been light posting lately. This isn’t an accident. There are two main reasons.

The first is that winter is kicking my ass. The fact that the calendar says March while I’m still plowing February level snow is proof of that. Lugging yet another jug of diesel across the ice to my tractor so I can plow yet another round of snow that’s drifting like the fucking Sahara of doom really does take it out of you. I’m beat!

The second is more philosophical; I’m trying to post as I wish to be. If it’s merely negative or it’s shit you don’t need it from me. You can get it elsewhere. The internet is doing just fine at hyperventilating without my help. Jumping up and down pointing at the dumpster fire saying “There it is! It sucks!” doesn’t seem necessary.

Y’all know. Y’all just lived through the COVID panic. You either understand or you’re trying hard to not understand. Instead of bitching about the eleventh stupid thing to happen since yesterday I’m wisely checking out until some level sanity returns.

I’ll give you an example that has absolutely nothing to do with our current president who got more votes than any other candidate in American history. I’m interested in economics. I actually like studying it. I used to post about the federal debt. Then I stopped. I didn’t stop last year or last week. I stopped (more or less) when it was a done deal. Sometime in the second Obama administration the largest debt ever amassed in human existence went beyond my own personal event horizon. I can’t remember the exact number (perhaps ten trillion)? I came to the realization that it could not be resolved in a normal non-destructive manner and therefore it would be resolved in a big messy shitstorm. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.

That was probably 10 years ago or more. Frankly I’ve enjoyed these last many years of whistling past the graveyard. I even got a good chuckle out of about three years of booming economy during the post “Hillary wasn’t coronated” shitstorm and pre-plandemic shitstorm. I couldn’t have enjoyed that respite if I’d been too focused on the inevitable doom. Maybe we have a few more years left, maybe we don’t. But I’m not going to fret about it on my blog. The timing is uncertain but the destination is known; so lets talk about sailboats and trees instead.

That’s why two (or is it three now?) banks going tits up didn’t merit much response. Why would it? Why comment on what we all knew that would happen? We all know what will eventually happen. No need for me to bitch about it. It’s not a new concept. I’ll post when I have a ray of sunshine in my heart.

Which brings me to part 2.


Part 2: Play It Loud!

I haven’t paid attention to the band Extreme. I had not the slightest clue that Nuno Bettencourt was a guitar God. But I just heard a song that absolutely set me back on my heels!

I want to share it with you. What a breath of fresh air! In a world where autotune bitch music oozes from the earbuds of empty headed drones en masse, I have found another of the very few who can shred. Hendrix and Satrani and Skwisgaar (and some others) have a new member at the table!

This may be the coolest thing I hear in 2023.

Warning! If you can’t do heavy metal, this may hurt. If you’re Boomerishly incapable of liking anything newer than the Beatles… run! If you think Garth Brooks is the apex of music… bail out! If you think that hippie upstart Bach went overboard with Toccata and Fugue in D minor… hurl your computer out the window. You’ve been warned. If this isn’t for you, that’s fine. Accept there are places you can’t go and leave the path unexplored.

Those of us who aren’t dead yet should take it in like it was meant to be experienced. Do the whole dose! Slam it down! Don’t half-listen while writing up your TPS reports. Do yourself a favor and grant yourself five minutes to a single purpose. Turn off the phone, tell everyone to shut up, crank up your speakers, and listen.

Let this be a reminder of a different level of engagement. The cell phone dancing monkey that can’t sit still for even one single song will miss the blast zone.

It’s four and a half minutes. You aren’t doing anything that important. Experience it properly. Shut out every distraction. Let it happen. When the two phase guitar solo hits you’ll thank me.

The universe has given you a gift. Enjoy it!

 

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Hope And Madness: Thoughts About Motorcycles

Whenever everyone seems to be in the thrall of serial panic attacks I check out. I invite you to do the same. Nothing good comes from following the herd. Allowing oneself to be manipulated or stampeded is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Doubt me? Remember when misplaced classified paperwork started coming out of Joe Biden’s ears? Remember how that very week a giant Chinese spy balloon materialized in Montana? Remember how the balloon teabagged the continental United States for several days? What happened with the paperwork? You forgot about the paperwork didn’t ya’?

Whenever enough people stop to think they begin to discover uncomfortable things. As soon as enough people wonder too much, like maybe whether the CDC was a good faith source of information about masks… oh look! The Ukraine is winning, or losing, or the whole thing is about to go nuclear, or whatever… Stop thinking and look at the shiny thing!

Don’t fall for it. Keep your feet where they belong, on the muddy earth of the real world.


I’m still pinned down in the long winter of the northland but I understand weather cycles like Al Gore doesn’t. Winter won’t last forever. As Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “in the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love motorcycles.

In efforts to reduce my daily dosage of dipshits, and in joyous embrace of nearly forgotten youthful simplicity, I’ve been returning more and more to nature. Spring, fall, and summer are when that’s easiest. While everyone hid from each other over Covid and then rushed to bunch up cheek by jowl in a mosh pit to righteously torch Portland, I was elsewhere.

I’d been rambling aimlessly on Honey Badger, my cheap and delightful Yamaha TW200. (I’ve also done overdue maintenance on my cruiser, a Honda Shadow nearly old enough for classic plates in some states. Unfortunately, the cruiser has been mostly ignored while I bounce over tree stumps on the brash little shitbox of the Yamaha. Who knew a farm bike could be so much fun?)

A TW200 isn’t perfect for all things. It does moderately low highway-ish speeds like a politician tells the truth. It can do 55 MPH but it’s painful and noisy and you can tell the bike would rather be beaten with sticks. To ameliorate this, I got in the habit of trailering the little bike behind my behemoth truck. I’d tank up with diesel (quite expensively given the Bidenverse’s fuel prices) and drag my long suffering utility trailer with it’s small cargo to nowhere important. I’d park and spend my evenings happily camping (enjoying the novelty of bulky, heavy camping gear). During the day I’d zip around the forests more or less for free (the TW gets roughly 80 MPG).

Unfortunately, the utility trailer has had a hard life; not the least of which was me mounting my sailboat on it and driving it into a lake as if it were a boat trailer. It’s pretty shot and I didn’t dare take it far. It will soon find its way to trailer Valhalla. Despite still being trapped in the time of snowdrifts and ice, I’ve been shopping for a new motorcycle trailer. Don’t sweat it, I’ve got a line on one. I’ll post details in due time.

With a good trailer the concern of distance fades. New options appear. I can trailer 100 miles, or 1,000 miles. It’s all the same. From wherever I go I can setup base camp and have Honey Badger adventures. I don’t care if politics drives the world into the dark ages, I’ve got a fun summer planned!

Ahhh but lets indulge in whatever flights of fancy come to mind. A TW200 is small, too small for long multi-day camping trips. But is it? I watched Ed March ride a diminutive C90 from Alaska to Argentina. Stupid or not… it happened.

Ed March's Honda C90 UK to Malaysia bike on ContiGo! | Honda c90, Classic bikes, Honda

Is that a one off? An unlikely product of Ed’s unstoppable moxie? Nope. Angelo Giannie rode a CT125 across the continental United States. Just like Ed March, Angelo documented every step of the trip on YouTube.

Attempting The Trans America Trail On A Honda CT125 - ADV Pulse

I dream. But if I dream of what can actually be done, I can make it happen. What a C90 or a CT125 can do, a TW200 can do. Why not?

But lets step back a bit. I’m a busy guy and there’s a lot of logistics in such an endeavor. Time to take it easy and test the waters slowly. Mostly, I’ve grown attached to my luxurious Dodge carried cot. I love that cot! A TW200 trip will have me sleeping on the dirt again and that’s a thing that one might transition to slowly. Maybe a few mild overnighters.

Be it resolved, I shall trailer to somewhere obscure and try a few mild overnighters.

Also, lest I forget a big inspiration in this direction, TDubsKid has been doing just about anything you’d imagine on his TW200 and that includes camping.

TW200 MotoCamping Adventure - Sleeping Alone in the Forest - YouTube

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.

While happily pondering the ultra-small gear I’d need to ride a pipsqueak farmbike into places most people won’t go (like the middle of some desert or in a swamp), I forgot other options. Thankfully, I stumbled across HerTwoWheels, which reminded me of tamer options for my very reliable and much larger cruiser:

Her Two Wheels YouTube Channel Analytics and Report - NoxInfluencer

A Harley? No shit! Lots of people camp from cruisers (and I’ve done it myself) but for some reason I hadn’t considered such a thing. I’ve been riding Honey Badger in swamps that would eat a Harley and spit out parts… and that gave me blinders to forget there’s a whole world of pavement out there. My Shadow is functionally the same as a basic Harley bagger (I would say better but that’s a discussion for another day). If a Harley can do it then a Shadow can. (Assuming I manage that “sleep on the ground” issue.)

Also, HerTwoWheels makes a point about going solo. I ride solo too. Always. Oddly, modern people (maybe it’s an always thing and not a modern thing?) never do anything solo. Except me, of course. It’s a nice reminder to see HerTwoWheels do the occasional campout on her own. (I should also mention The Emporium Outdoors does his thing with anything from an Argo to a brand new Jeep but he does it accompanied only by his photogenic dog. TDubsKid also rides and camps solo. Ed March is an entirely different critter altogether. He’s his own entire universe of self-reliance and could probably carry his bike on his shoulders if he had to.)

So now, one idea has turned to two; and perhaps many.

What will happen? I’ve no idea. Frankly I hadn’t budgeted for anything too extravagant in 2023. Yet the mind builds ideas that I’ll presumably indulge in due time.

I know what can be done with what I’ve got; and it’s plenty. My logistics look good (this is not by accident). I like to ponder what shenanigans I could cook up with two very different motorcycles, an unstoppable tow rig, and a solid reliable trailer. I’m not sure where this leads but I feel like it’s gonna’ be great!

It’s still winter. Nothing is set in stone. But in a fit of optimism I dug a path to the bikes (which are in cold storage behind a snowdrift). I pushed the little one into my workshop (which is also unheated) so I can start changing the oil and other needful things.

I took a photo. I call this picture “hope”:

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The Stupid Continues On Autopilot

I got an interesting comment:

“Goodness Dude when you say you’re OUT you almost mean it.”

I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks. I inadvertently checked out longer than planned. Was that unwise? Has the preceding demoralizing  progression of stupid events yielded to a more thoughtful current situation?

Ha! Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it!

Everything that happened the last two weeks is exactly what was going to happen. Due to the low caliber of participants, they could do no other.

Aside from more information coming out that proves what we already knew and a mildly funny joke by Woody Harrelson (that freaked out the left), nothing surprising has happened.

No major player has changed tune, learned, grown, or improved. Jerks can’t learn because to learn is to accept your inherent imperfection. All humans occasionally fail, most of us understand that. The current crop believes they’re flawless. (Ask them. They’ll tell ya’ how excellent they are even after a lifetime without evidence they’ve done a single thing right.)

Our current crop of dipshits don’t live in or deal with reality. They follow the story of their internal narrative. They’re never wrong. Every bad thing was caused by an Orange real estate guy from New York. They refuse to accept incoming data.

Can you imagine playing poker against Biden? The minute he says “no joke” or starts that weird whispering thing I’d know he’s bluffing. I’d raise like hell and I’d keep doing it. Biden is utterly incapable of folding. He’s never once said “I tried action A but it didn’t work so I changed to action B”. I’d Corn Pop his ass into bankruptcy.

As for my blog? It’s ok to “check out” right now. Idiots intend to drive into walls and there’s not much point in standing by the wall to witness the mess.

Here goes a summary of two weeks of stupid..


The things everyone knew to be true are turning out to be true:

Evidence is now clear that COVID came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. I welcome new members to the club of “knowledge that the rest of us had in 2020”.

Ivermectin is no longer dangerous horse medicine that’ll kill ya’. Way to get in front of that true fact.

People who wished to subjugate the un-vaxed are still mentioning “forgiveness”. They’re still not getting it. I won’t forgive them because they don’t actually seek forgiveness. “We did nothing wrong but wish you’d forget about it.” People that behaved abominably were “tricked” and want to “put it behind them”. No! What have they done to stop being the kind of person that gets tricked? What has changed that they’re unwilling to commit atrocity in 2023 but you were willing in 2020? They don’t want forgiveness. They want to escape mild, unenforced, and theoretical repercussions of behaving monstrously. The only reason I’m not unemployed, forcibly jabbed, bankrupt, shot, or imprisoned is because they couldn’t pull it off. Anyone who was bleating on social media that they hoped all the bikers in Sturgis would die of COVID is a flat out asshole. They did evil, they wanted it, they enjoyed it, and they will do it again as soon as they can.

Evidence is now clear that masks did nothing. Also the sky is blue.

Even the most deeply entranced Kool-aid drinker are starting to get a picture of the COVID mess. Remember when people who’d had COVID were forced to get the shot and natural immunity was censored as “misinformation”? Everyone now knows natural immunity is just as good as the vax.

Everyone is slowly understanding that Twitter, Facebook, Google, and the rest of social media were manipulated. Welcome to the party folks! Stay tuned while I continue to ignore social media. On a related note, everyone who figures TikTok is spy software is wondering how long it’ll take everyone else to figure it out.

Everyone now accepts that the Hunter Biden laptop is real. Remember the 51 spies who lied about that? Fuckers!

Everyone who doubts recent elections still does. Everyone who doesn’t is feeling queasy and would rather talk about sports. Doubting an election in 2016 was good but doubting one in 2020 is criminal. It wears them out.

January 6th is still the nothingburger it always was. Video is slowly trickling out. America has political prisoners now. I don’t like living in a nation with political prisoners. Every minute of video that trickles out is good.

Inflation continues. Our political leaders deliberately perform actions that cause inflation. The initial cover story was that inflation didn’t exist, then it was transitory, then it was no big deal. By election season inflation be a good thing.

We still have no border enforcement. We spend more money protecting Kiev than El Paso.

Ohio still has a polluted train wreck. It’s funny that Trump got there before Buttigieg. It’s funny that Biden will never show up. It’s also irrelevant. It’s already polluted. I have no idea how bad it will be. I’ve grown suspicious of “it’s so polluted everyone will die”. I suspect everyone will just get used to it a lower quality environment.

The US still bombed the Nordstream pipeline. Evidence is coming out that makes it harder to deny we did it. I especially don’t like this. People who bomb civilian infrastructure of their allies are not the good guys. Committing a crime specifically to reduce the chances of peace negotiations is extra bad. Germany was tempted to settle with Russia to access cheap energy in the winter. Sabotaging peace overtures is flat out evil.

On schedule the balloons/UFOs fad ran out. Once American jets shot down a $30 HAM hobbyist balloon over Canadian airspace the topic was dead. (I wonder why Canada needed an American jet?)

Epstein is still dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is still in jail. One alleged and one convicted of trafficking sex workers… who were victimized by nobody.

That’s my abridged summary of things irretrievably fated to happen.

There are two predictable events I’d like to address in detail:


John Fetterman, was elected while incapable of serving his job duties. He is still incapable of doing his job duties. Just look at that freak! Would you want him as your surgeon or lawyer. Would you let him babysit your kids? Would you leave him alone in your house? Would you take a long road trip with him? Would you go hiking, alone, on a remote trail… with that!?!

John Fetterman

That photo is from before he had a stroke. It’s posed! That’s Fetterman in peak form!

Pennsylvania elected Fetterman after he’d had a stroke:

Now he’s in the hospital. Supposedly he has “depression” but it doesn’t matter what malady put him down. He started out too damn messed up to be a Senator he’s still too messed up. He never belonged in that role.

Depression sucks. Having a stroke sucks. It cuts down what you can do. Whitewater rafting is out. Chess competitions are out. Senator is out. If you’re too addled to figure it out, someone who cares ought to help you understand. Nobody can be a Senator if they’re not intellectually capable of being a truck driver or a tax accountant or a cook. It was cruel to put him in a high stress job. He was stupid to go along with it.

Elect a mess, get a mess. Fetterman’s health is never going to be better than the zombie that campaigned.

Meanwhile, the press says Biden is as fit as a fiddle! (Note: If Biden needs a lift then install one. Nobody cares if the president needs a wheelchair provided his mind works. Then again Biden’s mind ain’t what it once was either. He was fried when he campaigned in abstentia and he’s fried now. Elect a mess, get a mess.)


Everything in Ukraine proceeds exactly as it was going to proceed.

Among the many accomplishments of our record-breaking vote getting, super-popular president, is war in Ukraine. How’s it going?

It wasn’t going well two weeks ago. Today, it’s exactly the same but with more dead people. Check in two weeks from now and it’ll be exactly the same.

Remember the old days when one of two American parties was anti-war? Remember their endless bitching for decades? Between Vietnam and 2008 it never ended. Suddenly the lefty anti-war movement evaporated when George Chimpy McHitler Bush was replaced by Barak God Among Men Obama. No shit! I was there. I saw it. One week it was “no blood for oil” and the next week it was “Obama’s in charge, we’re cool with war now. Shut up and buy an electric car.” I honestly miss genuine peaceniks. (I don’t miss useful idiots who only protest wars that involve the party of R.) Peace protesters might be dumb but they had a moral framework. I live in a world where lefties (of all people!) will keep war going until the last Ukrainian soldier falls.

Since day one the American press has reported Russia is on the verge of collapse. Russia keeps not collapsing. Remember those first few weeks when plucky Ukrainian farmers were picking fighter jets out of the sky with deer rifles? Those news articles were a hoot!

Biden (or whoever is in control) is incapable of reacting based on observation of real world situations. Putin is smarter. When Russia’s early “move quickly” attempts weren’t working, he re-organized and  came up with a new plan. The “slowly, cautiously, grind them to dust” plan appears to be working.

Biden is glad to kill many Ukrainians if it burns off our existing war equipment. Then he gets to manufacture new shit with the usual grift and targeted spending in loyal congressional districts. Speaking of uni-party dipshits Mitch McConnel says any budget should magically have all the armaments we could ever want.

In 2020 doctors left-splained that everyone should stay home because of COVID but it’s totally cool to form a big sweaty moshpit if a “mostly peaceful protest” benefits certain parties. In 2023 Mitch is shit-splaining that a buck spent on highways costs a buck but one spent on tanks is free; a magic unicorn rainbow expense!

As for the war’s tactics, Biden, who knows nothing, has learned nothing, and will never have a new idea, continues to double down. He visited Ukraine to help. How? Is a soldier toting a rifle in a frozen grain field supposed to care, in some unclear ephemeral way, that an American geriatric placeholder is hanging out with the corrupt president that put you in that miserable situation?

The press reports there were air raid sirens. Hilarious! Presidents do not wander about where there’s a risk of air attack. Biden does, however, strut about with audio props that impress the press! “Crank the sirens! America’s animated meat sculpture is totally a risk taker! Give him a gun! He’s ready to fight Corn Pop!”

The Ukraine situation bothers me because America seems like it wants as many people killed as possible and we’re faceplanting as we do it. Russia made overtures to avoid conflict but we insisted that Ukraine join NATO. Things pretty much had to go the way they did. Our sanctions made Russia’s economy stronger and America’s economy weaker. Recently, it has come to light that it was America and not mysterious ocean trolls that bombed the Nordstream pipeline. Biden goes on TV about once every few weeks like he’s doing the fighting himself.

Russia has learned that negotiation is pointless if Biden is involved (and Zelenskyy is no prize either). Russia, logically, withdrew from the New Start nuclear arms treaty. Why wouldn’t they? Biden will pursue war until the last Ukranian is dead and he basically said so. Russia cannot negotiate with him. slowly and cautiously grinding their opponents to paste seems to be working anyway. Russia is dangerous. Cornering it into an unnecessary war was galactically stupid.

I had more to say but y’all have been patient just reading this far. Good luck out there.

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Reading The Press Releases

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I’m Out

Lets state for the record that I’m often fearlessly stupid. I heartily recommend it. Man was not put on this planet to meekly watch TV until the clock runs out. An interesting life of physical and mental exuberance is the place to be (at least some of the time).

However, I’m still alive. I do have limits and (with caveats) observe them well enough.

<Warning: nostalgic memories ensue… all details scrubbed for obvious reasons.>

I remember one night in my long ago youth when shit got too real. I was 95% of the way through a bottle of tequila. If you’ve ever been in a bottle of tequila you know what I’m talking about. (Yes I wrote “in”… at some point you’re “in” the tequila and not the other way around.)

This wasn’t anything new. It was a place I’d been many times. I’ve explored the internal geography of someone who drinks like he’s Thor and doesn’t give a shit what happens next so long as it’s loud. So have many men.

That night was destined for the kind of epic misadventure that involves ER visits and broken furniture. I was young and bulletproof and usually up to live out a good story. It was that magic time in life when a few stitches or a burning car or whatever else happens is just part of the fun.

This time was different. I don’t know why but I didn’t let the story happen as it was written in the stars. At the very last minute, I showed just enough common sense to know I had no common sense. My ego was writing checks my body couldn’t cash and it was time to bail.

There was only an inch left in the bottle and we had plans to do something (I forget what) as soon as I was done. Obviously, the right and proper thing to do in the middle of that already well developed night of unwise decision is to finish the bottle. Upend it like the lunatic you are and ride the burning madness all the way to wherever you end up! Everyone around (who was just as drunk as me) was chanting. “Drink! Drink! Drink!” I was the center of attention. I was in the spotlight. I was having a hell of a night!

We’ve all been there. If you haven’t you’re a wimp. For whatever reason, this time I showed a bit of wisdom.

I’m out.

That’s all I said. I set the bottle down; or rather I tried to and needed assistance to get it settled on the table (which was moving like a ship in a hurricane, as was the floor, and ceiling, and planet). I flagged down someone (I don’t remember who) and instructed them to get me somewhere (I don’t remember where). On the way to wherever I wound up, I vomited on a bush… which was right and proper. Because tequila.

The point is there’s a time when you have to say “I’m out”.

This week, I was out.

The “news” exceeded my physical limits for stupid. The fake and gay propaganda stream that passes for current events was just too fucking dumb. I stopped watching the circus and wandered off… it was time to get some pancakes, drink some water, and sleep it off in the safe refuge of ignorance.

So this is my concise summary of this week and the continuing balloon thing:

I’m out. I can’t go this dumb.


How did this come to be? Last week I ranted about the marvelous massive Chinese spy balloon of mysterious mystery. It demonstrated the First Rule of Clown World*.

* “No matter how fake and gay you think it’s going to be (for any value of “it”), it will always somehow end up being so much faker and gayer.”

I’m not naïve enough to expect ensuing events to be anything other than dumb but I’m only human. Perpetual logarithmic increases in weirdness to infinity (and beyond!) are hard on my more or less sane mind. Some levels of stupidity are physically painful to grok when you are not insane yourself.


Here’s the best I can make of the muddle.

A few days after “America let the Chinese Balloon drag its geopolitical nutsack across America’s face all the way to the coast” I was told that balloons spy on us all the time. Apparently we just sorta’ let it happen. The public was never informed because why would they be? It’s all the fault of Trump or something.

I also learned that an American ICBM had been launched into the Pacific… because “shut up, it’s a thing”. Nukes are a thing?

Yep. I’ve now learned that we (or at least someone) considers it completely normal to launch American blank nukes. A quick search turned up American nuke launches in: 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023.

I did not know that. Let the record show that I was totally unaware that firing blank nukes was commonplace.

Did you know that? Whether you knew or not, it’s true.

Let’s all take time to assimilate this true fact.

America periodically ejaculates a nuke.

That’s a fact. It’s verifiable.

Let us stop here and give this warm steamy nugget of truth the attention it merits. Let it roll around in your head for a few minutes. STOP AVOIDING IT! Quit surfing Tik Tok and scratching your nuts… reflect on the fact that it’s totally normal for America to fire ICBMs into the Pacific because that’s what we fucking do.

Whether it’s based on some logic (testing purposes) or just for shits and giggles doesn’t interest me. Am I the only one sane enough to think that launching nukes is a bad fucking idea?

“Don’t launch nukes” is a good solid rule of thumb that applies everywhere and always. I’m sure there’s a good reason for this and it involves testing equipment and I’m equally sure that launching nukes is still a dumb fucking thing to do. It’s dumb if you’ve got a reason to test the gear. It’s dumb if you think Trump is a spastic orange gibbon who’ll start WW3. It’s dumb if the president that got more votes than any other candidate in history can’t complete a coherent sentence. It’s dumb if Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley is a shitweasel who subverts the chain of command. It’s dumb when NATO is at war with Russia in the Ukraine to defend the Ukrainian border using money from a country that won’t defend its own borders. It’s dumb when we did an act of war. It’s dumb in a house. It’s dumb with a mouse. It’s dumb here or there. It’s dumb anywhere.

I not sure I was ready for that final bit of stupid. Firing blank nukes after a balloon pantsed the continental US seemed fake and gay. So I find out we do it all the time because reasons. We do it all that time? Does doing it all the time make the world more sane?


Then, for no reason I can discern, the Biden administration started shooting down shit all over the place. High altitude objects apparently fly over us all the time and only now we’re hearing about it. And these objects can’t possibly be domestic spying on Americans by Americans because only a tinfoil hat wearing weirdo would ask such a question. And they’re popping up in February but not last November because of course they are. And for some reason this week it’s wise to shoot them down… unlike last week when we waited for thousands of miles. And for some reason Canada asked us to shoot down one of these objects over Canada because apparently Canada doesn’t own airplanes.

And these objects which are shot down are always shot down in places where there’s no wreckage, like Lake Huron. And since nobody can identify them they’re unidentified… even though they’ve been happening all the time and including under Trump but we didn’t know because “shut up”.

And if nobody is willing to identify them, then maybe they’re space aliens… because of course that’s a possibility that normal rational adults consider when they see a balloon.

Oh look, a mushroom cloud over a train track in Ohio.

Smoke billows up from the wreckage of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

I look at all that and say…

I’m out.

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The Fake And Gay / Chinese Spy Balloon Event Horizon

I recently mentioned the First Rule of Clown World (coined at Founding Questions):

“No matter how fake and gay you think it’s going to be (for any value of “it”), it will always somehow end up being so much faker and gayer.”

I ruminated about the Chinese Spy Balloon kerfuffle. I can imagine a reasoned world where America (or any of the few remaining serious nations) would shoot down Xi’s Barroon one inch inside their airspace. I can even imagine a slightly weird but vaguely logical world where America lets the Chinese Balloon drag its geopolitical nutsack across America’s face all the way to the coast… and then let it sail toward some other nation to see if the next nation downwind can react better.

But I could not imagine the fakest and gayest possible situation. America let China teabag half of the continental US and then decided to shoot the balloon down as soon as it’s over hard to retrieve salt water. Thus reacting decisively, but literally doing so only after the very maximum amount of embarrassment/spying had happened.

A serious nation would shut the barn door before the horse gets out. A stupid nation would shut the barn door after the horse gets out. Our monumentally fucked up mess of a nation waited for days until the horse was out, then shot the horse.

Truly, we live in an amazing universe.


But wait… there’s more!

Having completely mis-handled the situation clear from Montana to the Atlantic there’s still a faker and gayer way events could play out.

I hesitate to type it because the new face saving spin is so dumb it’s almost radioactive:

Presidential Spin: “Getting spy ballooned by the Chinese is no big deal. It happened three or four times under Trump.”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “That sounds like bullshit. I never heard of it.”

Presidential Spin: “We kept it secret. The military didn’t even tell Trump.”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “The fuck you say?!?”

Presidential Spin: “Yeah, so getting pantsed by China in 2023 is no big deal because China does this shit all the time.”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.”

Presidential Spin: “Sure! Biden got more votes than any other candidate in history. Yesterday we installed a fence before the president gave a speech. We did that to protect Democracy. We didn’t want to have to take more political prisoners.”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “When you tug you yank!”

So that was it. The story was over. It’s no big deal that we had a ChiCom Balloon floating over the heartland because it happens all the time. The ultimate fake and gay way for the story to play out.

Wrong!


Speaking of “radioactive” there was a faker and gayer option. Something so incandescently moronic I’d never even considered such a thing. America launched an ICBM at the Pacific Ocean.

The Last Few Sane Americans: “WHY ARE YOU FIRING NUKES?!?”

Presidential Spin: “It was a “routine” activity “intended to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and effective…”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “FIRING NUKES IS ROUTINE? ARE YOU FUCKING HIGH?”

Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, Air Force Global Strike Command commander: “A test launch displays the heart of our deterrence mission on the world’s stage, assuring our nation and its allies that our weapons are capable and our Airmen are ready and willing to defend peace across the globe at a moment’s notice…”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “I’m supposed to believe that Chinese Spy Balloons have teabagged the Continental United States several times. But this time, and only this time, Americans saw it. Therefore, you concluded that it was a reasonable and intelligent response to sink the balloon in the Atlantic and fling an ICBM at the Pacific?”

Presidential Spin: “I give you my word as a Biden, the laptop is a nothing-burger.”

The Last Few Sane Americans: “What’s wrong with you? Launching nuclear weapons is dumb. It’s dumb at every scale from planetary to molecular. Have you been copying your homework from North Korea? North Korea is the only place that does that kind of shit and they’re fucking weird. Don’t be North Korea!”

Presidential Spin: “I’m hard core, Jack! Corn Pop was a bad dude.”


I don’t know how fake and gay things can get. I ran out of imagination years ago and I talk to trees!

All I really know is not over. It’s sixth week in the third year of the Bidenverse. An event that came about due to more votes than any other candidate in history appearing at 3:00 AM in specific locations. And that was just the start!

I can’t imagine what will happen but the remaining 46 weeks of the year. They’re going to be mind-blowing!

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The Chinese Spy Balloon Was Seen In 1987

Last week a slow, crude, dumb Chinese balloon flew over a huge portion of the continental United States. The Government and its air force had the capacity to shoot it down. It lacked the decision making capacity to do so. Nor did it express some decisive alternate action. Our military and government did the same thing your geezer neighbor did on F***book; they literally watched it float over domestic airspace for thousands of miles. The people nominally in charge witnessed events but did not drive them; no different than someone watching a sporting event.

After the balloon completed whatever its mission was (assuming it had one) and after it had (presumably) gathered as much data as it possibly could, it was shot it down. It was dispatched where the wreckage would be submerged in salt water and hard to recover.

Nobody thinks the air force is incapable of destroying a balloon. But the people in charge (including the president that got more votes than any other candidate in history) weren’t capable of deciding what to do.

The inability to make decisions and implement swift rational responses to events are the end state of decay. Part of any collapse is the point when nobody knows what to do because nobody knows who’s in charge or even why they show up to work in the morning.

You’ve seen this for yourself. We both experienced the last few years of concentrated panic and chaos. You know it as well as I.

The core purpose of nearly every system in society has been discarded. Are doctors really curing sick people? Is the FBI solving crime or causing it? Why does the Post Office have guns? Does your bank have enough money to pay you back if you make a withdrawal? Will that withdrawal happen if you vote the wrong way or have unpopular opinions? Will the police protect you if someone tries to rob you? Do elementary schools teach reading or racism? Do universities teach anything at all? Does your church try to save your soul or is it doing something else? When was the last time the press told the truth? Do you have freedom of speech? Of the rights written in the constitution; how many can you exercise right now? Who decided you can’t have an incandescent lightbulb or a certain flow showerhead or a gas kitchen stove, and how did they get to be in charge? Why are fences put up periodically in Washington DC? Cuba or Iran might have political prisoners but why does America have them too?

Think of all the things that are done which don’t match the original purpose of the organization doing them. Think of all the things they should be doing. Think about how many things just don’t get done.

Don’t take it from me. I’m just a dipshit blogger. Look with your own eyes. Witness today’s post covid paralysis using whatever common sense God gave you. Watch whatever system interests you to see if it still does what it was created to do.

Some people call it Clown World. I call it the Bidenverse. Whatever vocabulary you use, you know what I’m talking about.


In 1987 an inexperienced German amateur pilot had a fun adventure. He rented a Cessna 172. It was not a particularly powerful plane and he wasn’t some sort of super duper ace pilot. He was a 19 year old weirdo with a starry eyed view of the world and perhaps more initiative than common sense.

Mathias Rust and his rented Cessna flew straight into the heart of the biggest baddest Communist empire in human existence. He flew into their capital city. He landed there. He signed autographs and waited to be arrested; two hours later.

The Soviet Union (USSR) had been a mighty, unstoppable, globally dominant, militarized, superpower but it was in terminal decline. By 1987 it was hollow. Nobody knew what was going on. Nobody knew who was in charge, what their orders were, or if they had the authority to do anything.

The USSR’s fearsome military and government had once been murderously powerful. It fought wars and starved whole regions to death. It could vaporize a Cessna at will and had Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles that could do the same to cities anywhere on earth. A few years before Mathias’ little joyride, the USSR would have shot him down pretty much instantly.

But that’s the point, by 1987 the USSR was just a shell. They couldn’t  figure out what to do about a youth in a simple little airplane and so they did nothing (emphasis added):

“A teenage amateur pilot, he flew from Helsinki, Finland, to Moscow, being tracked several times by Soviet Air Defence Forces and civilian air traffic controllers, as well as Soviet Air Force interceptor aircraft. The Soviet fighters did not receive permission to shoot him down, and his aeroplane was mistaken for a friendly aircraft several times. He landed on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the Soviet Union.”

I’m not saying it would be a great thing if anti-aircraft fire had downed idealistic Mathias and his rental (I wonder if he put down a deposit on the plane?). I’m saying the USSR in 1956 would have blown the plane to bits but the USSR in 1987 was so internally contradictory that it didn’t know what to do.

Here’s a picture from that day:

It was 1987 when the mighty and feared USSR couldn’t figure out what to do with a nutty teenager in a Cessna. Four years later, in 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics completely dissolved. I’m not saying a Chinese balloon last week means America is toast… I’m saying America right now behaves like the USSR did back when the USSR started not meaning anything.

Now here’s the good news. The oppressive and miserable USSR (at least some of it) is now the Soviet Federation. The transition sucked and the ensuing Federation isn’t perfect… but the nation that rose from the ashes is a vast improvement. The Russian Federation is better for its people than the totalitarian shithole it replaced. Collapse was followed by renewal and improvement.

There’s always hope.

Here in the west, politicians and boomers and dipshit “journalists” haven’t yet figured out that cold war USSR is no more. They act like it’s 1973 and Putin is one James Bond plot away from nuking Baltimore. That’s not true.

Whatever is damaging society domestically is based in city, State, or Federal mis-governance (or a combination of all three). Failure is not inflicted externally from Moscow or Beijing. Like the chaotic fading mess of USSR in 1987, whomever is making a mess of Baltimore or Portland in 2023, is failing due to internal contradictions. Locally, governance isn’t assuring domestic tranquility, clean water, stable economies, or the freedom of citizens… and at the national scale it didn’t know what to do about a Chinese balloon. Nationally, the system that can’t handle a three story floating fabric ball has opinions about your kitchen appliances and the contents of your bloodstream and everything else but it can’t do much of anything well.


Today, the leader of one of two nations that couldn’t make a clear decision about a balloon (not Trudeau) will give a speech. This man, who got more votes than any other candidate in history, will give a speech from behind temporary fences, in the city where he imprisons his political prisoners.

You will be given orders. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Toe the line. Forget about the balloon. Eat your bugs, get rid of your gas kitchen stove, line up for the next booster. Don’t say certain sentences and you are required to at least pretend to have certain official beliefs. Do as you’re told. Why? Because you are told to do so.

Will you?

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