Archive for the ‘culture’ Category

Summing up the Transgender Nonsense Succinctly

Posted: January 2, 2023 by datechguy in culture, Vive L'Empereur
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Mr Shelhammer: But… but maybe he’s only a little crazy like painters or composers or… or some of those men in Washington.

…

Dr Pierce: Thousands of people have similar delusions living perfectly normal lives in every other respect. A famous example is that fellow…I can’t think of his name. For years, he’s insisted he’s a Russian prince. There’s been much evidence to prove him wrong…but nothing has shaken his story. Is he in an institution? No. He owns a famous restaurant in Hollywood and is a highly respected citizen.

Miracle on 34th street 1947

As we close the new year let me as a person who has worked with, carpooled with, gone to church with and attended political events on the same side with Transgender people explain the position I have concerning the matter a position which I suspect is shared by the vast majority of people.

If an adult person thinks they are Napoleon. Dress like Napoleon, Walks like Napoleon, Talks like Napoleon, and has himself surgically altered to resemble Napoleon even to the point of losing height and weight. That’s they’re business. I can work with him, eat with him, have conversations with him on various matters, even live next to him without incident, because it’s his problem and delusion and not my business. Of course if he asks me, I’ll tell him he’s not Napoleon and suggest he get help. If he’s a friend considering cutting off bits of himself to look more like Napoleon I’ll quietly and privately suggest that it’s a bad and drastic idea and advise against it because that’s what a friend does, but if he goes ahead, I’ll let it go because ultimately it’s his decision and if he wants to live with the consequences, so be it.

BUT

If that same adult person who thinks they are Napoleon not only insists that he’s Napoleon but insists that I refer to him as such then he becomes my problem and someone to be scorned ignored and avoided. If he works to amend the laws of the land to compel me and others to say “Vive L’Empereur!” then he must be fought and opposed publicly

Furthermore if he and like minded people convinces teachers in schools or public servants to encourage schools to convince other people’s minor children that they are Ney, Murat, Jourdan or Masséna or any other officer or soldier in Le Grande Armee, and having them act out the same even to the point of encouraging surgery so they can resemble an 18th or 19th century solider pf the French republic or empire without the consent and knowledge of their parents then they become society’s problem and a united effort must be made to expose them, publicly condemn them and expel any such teacher or public servant aiding and abetting such actions from their positions

Frankly the real villains here are not the people with these delusions. Mental illness is, by definition an illness and to a degree limits culpability of one who has such an illness for actions associated with said illness. Of course limited culpability doesn’t give the right of anyone to injure others or force us to not prevent it.

The people who are actually evil here are those who, knowing and recognizing this illness for what it is see such folks as a path to profit, power and position and encourage their delusions for the sake of those goals. Even to the point of traumatic physical and psychological harm to them and others.

Those folks have a lot to answer for. Pray for them.

Don’t be a weak follower like John Blumenthal 

Posted: December 29, 2022 by datechguy in culture, Uncategorized
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Anona: The source is re activating Kwundaar must have control!

Hyrca: No, merciful Kwundaar forgive us

Foster: The guards the guards are dying!

Hyrca: Kwundaar is getting his morals? Then I renounce Kwundaar! I renounce, no wait, Kwundaar I bow to your mercy I prostrate myself.

Doctor Who Big Finish Primeval 2001

I must confess I was at a loss as to what to write for today’s lead post and even said so to DaWife when I spotted this piece via Lucianne.com by John Blumenthal and that problem was solved instantly.

He finds himself in a panic over the Tesla he owns:

I don’t know whether to sell, but I do know that I’m just not as comfortable driving it anymore.

You see the problem is that he bought the car because of liberal guilt and to impress his liberal fellows

My environmental activist friends were not impressed by my assiduous urban composting, LED bulb installations and energy-saving appliances. I needed to do more to diminish my carbon footprint. The icebergs were melting, my friends said, and at least one polar bear was wandering around homeless and hungry because of me.

Many insisted that Teslas were the best for the environment. Pricey but worth it. So I said goodbye to my gas guzzler and made the leap.

So you made a major purchase, and more than that a pricy major purchase because your friends were not impressed enough by your steps to save the world? Because they thought you weren’t woke enough? Seriously

Ah but now the wheels have turned:

Because of the recent revelation of Elon Musk’s political views — all of which I abhor — I’m starting to worry about what sort of political statement the car is making.

You mean a car is about making a political statement and not about getting from one place to another? I wonder what kind of statement my 99 Buick LeSabre makes?

Will people see me as a symbol of right-wing environmentalism, a living oxymoron?

Oh no somebody might disapprove of me! I’m in crisis again:

It’s a beautifully designed car with no carbon emission, and initially, I was proud of owning it and being seen driving a vehicle that displayed my concern for the environment. But I’m a liberal, and if Musk’s politics don’t change radically for the better, driving a Tesla will become, at least for me, as hypocritical and untenable as driving a gas guzzler was.

So now after getting rid of the car he had which had sentimental value to him in order to impress his liberal friends and feel good about himself, he spends a small fortune on a Tesla and now finds himself worrying about what those same liberal friends will think and puts himself in a guilt trip over his current car.

The irony? This weak willed follower is an example of elite opinion of today. The person who doesn’t think for themselves and acts only for the approval of the person next to him. If I wanted to create the stereotypical image of the Pajama boy liberal, I couldn’t have done better than this. He’s the point and laugh poster boy.

Men, don’t be like this, ladies if this type of guy asks you out, run, fast!

Under the Fedora Thoughts Mac can’t win, Missing an Opportunity, The Bodies are Piling up, What a difference less than 20 years makes, Missing the Biggest lede of the year

Posted: December 28, 2022 by datechguy in baseball, Blame Biden Administration, covid, culture, nfl, official oppression, war
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Mac Jones can’t win.

Last week he was pilloried by Patriots greats on the air for not doing all he could to stop Las Vegas (had to stop myself from typing “Oakland”) from scoring on that last play that cost New England a game they should have won.

Now a week late he makes a desperate attempt to stop Germaine Pratt from scoring a touchdown on a recovered fumble that if not for the Dolphins falling apart might have ended their playoff hopes and he’s attacked for it and fined by the NFL.

It may or may not be fair but I think that Mac is in a no-win position. He can’t be Brady and will never be Brady.

At least the Redsox Went from the greatest hitter of all time (Williams), to an all time great HOF (Yaz) to a power hitting Hall of Famer (Rice) to a pretty good outfielder (Greenwell) over 25 years easing the blow. No such luck for spoiled Pats fans.

There was a time before Tom Brady when the Redsox ruled this town. Even in the days of Russell, Havlicek and Bird it was a baseball town. Tom Brady made the difference and while David Ortiz kept the flame alive Brady’s timeless success wrenched the city away from the bats and balls and delivered it to the pigskin.

Right now the Patriots are in the lowest point that they’ve been and if the Red Sox ownership was smart they would take this moment to invest heavily to grab back the hearts of the fans from the gridiron and back to the diamond.

The current strategy may be penny wise but it’s pound foolish. The Pats are giving the Sox a huge opening which a wise ownership should drive right through.

However I suspect they are not all that wise.

Just four years ago you didn’t have stories of people “dying suddenly” at young ages. Now it’s so common that if a week passes without such an event it’s a miracle.

The worst of it is that now we have more studies from every inhabited continent that show Ivermectin (.02 a pill) to be effective against COVID. as noted “100% of these have shown positive results.” at the same time the Twitter files have revealed a concerted effort to suppress information and/or opinions from medical experts contrary to the sanctioned positions of the Biden Administration.

These people and those who submitted to their will have a lot of bodies to answer for and they are very lucky that it is no longer considered fashionable for those who have had husbands ,wives, children and parents die from their despicable acts to take personal revenge. It it was, none of those bastards would last a week.

It has been less than twenty years since the Massachusetts Supreme Court by a 4-3 vote legalized gay marriage in the state and then governor Mitt Romney did all he could to keep it off the ballot in order to advance his presidential ambitions.

Now twenty years later we see the results as summarized in a single tweet

All this is by design, the next generation of Jeffrey Epstien’s and the next generation of Prince Andrews and the like who they will serve need to get their fodder from somewhere.

Incidentally I suspect there are more than a few Epsteins out there still serving the same customer base that Ms. Maxwell keeps in her head. Jeffrey just happens to be the one that was caught which makes him the exception.

Finally the single most significant story of the day is likely this one. The drone war in Ukraine and Russia:

In interviews in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, a range of intelligence, military and national security officials have described an expanding U.S. program that aims to choke off Iran’s ability to manufacture the drones, make it harder for the Russians to launch the unmanned “kamikaze” aircraft and — if all else fails — to provide the Ukrainians with the defenses necessary to shoot them out of the sky.

The shift to drones by both sides is a incredibly significant change to the war. The story continues

In fact, one of the Iranian companies named by Britain, France and Germany as a key manufacturer of one of the two types of drones being bought by the Russians, Qods Aviation, has appeared for years on the United Nations’ lists of suppliers to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. The company, which is owned by Iran’s military, has expanded its line of drones despite waves of sanctions.

The administration’s scramble to deal with the Iranian-supplied drones comes at a significant moment in the war, just as Ukraine is using its own drones to strike deep into Russia, including an attack this week on a base housing some of the country’s strategic bombers.

The widespread use of drones in warfare and the Islamic state of Iran’s ability to produce “Kamikaze” drones should be of great worry to us as that is likely going to be the next tool of international terrorism and it goes without saying the next phase of warfare in general. After all consider the cost of maintaining a single destroyer vs the cost of a drone that can be programed to hit a specific geographical location.

If that doesn’t put a shudder in your spine nothing will.

Christmas musings from an alienated “bah humbug” conservative in a Blue State

Posted: December 25, 2022 by John Ruberry in Blame Trump, blogs, culture, doctor who, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics, Uncomfortable Truths
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Blogger on the right with a friend near Augusta, Georgia in 2021

By John Ruberry

Last week my wife was invited to a party hosted by one of my daughter’s friends. 

Who wasn’t? Me.

There was some-and-forth, but my daughter explained that the host, who has been to my home and whose mother I’ve known for years through an old job, didn’t think I’d be “comfortable” there. After some probing, it became clear that it was my conservative political views that were the problem for them. 

I pressed my daughter, “What kind of ogre do they think I am?” Well, I muscled my way into an invite–after all, I’ve lived all of my life in the Chicago area, so I know all about muscling–and do you know what? I showed up to the party. The guests found me whimsical and charming. In other words–I was lovable myself. 

Over on Facebook I’ve been unfriended by many old friends–now unfriends–and at least one relative over my posts there. 

In addition to my Sunday blog entries on this site I have my own blog, Marathon Pundit. The rollicking comment threads on my Facebook page–or more accurately, argument threads–bring traffic to my blog, and sometimes, here at Da Tech Guy. Friends–in the flesh ones that is–as well as co-workers, look forward to the next tiff on my Facebook page. I’m reminded of that constantly. And as I am now in my sixth decade, my real career, parts of which involve writing, is winding down. Moreso than ever, as William Shakespeare said to the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, “Words are my trade.” Well, maybe not completely, but I do earn money blogging and I hope to earn more. 

Hey, I gotta eat.

And I absolutely do believe in what I write. And I voted for Donald J. Trump four times–twice in the Illinois Republican Primary and twice in the general election. I’m proud of those votes and I’m still 80/20 in regard to the former president. 

About those old friends: Many of them are carrying on without me. Sadly, but I suspect they see me as someone who has transformed himself into an SNL caricature of a conservative, a cross between the Muppets’ Sam Eagle and Archie Bunker, but sans the bigotry on the last one. 

I have long ears–and because of the blog–a long tongue. Oh, I stole that last line from Lawrence of Arabia. 

The invitations to get-togethers have stopped coming from most of them. I’ve been cancelled.

Bah humbug.

Oh, please don’t worry about me. I have a wife a daughter who love me. And many new friends. And I’m still in touch with some of those old friends. During my most recent vacations, in Alaska and Georgia, I re-connected with two of them–and I met a third friend in Texas, who I met through my blogging. That’s me up there on the right last year, with a high school friend who lives near Augusta, Georgia, who I hadn’t seen since we graduated so many years ago. That moment is my favorite of the current decade. 

A new friend–we met through Twitter–invited me for coffee when he visited Illinois this spring.

Even if I was really even partially Sam Eagle/Archie Bunker, your humble blogger is so much more. I work in an industry, automotive, that utterly fascinates people and I have numerous tips in regard to buying a car–without being ripped off. Your Marathon Pundit, currently nursing an injured hip, is really a runner. I’ve run 33 marathons. In addition to the blogging, I have another side hustle, stock photography. On the job, my real one, I’ve showed clients my portfolio, a couple of them are now selling pics online too.

I’m not a one trick eagle. 

Yet it is only Sam Eagle/Archie Bunker the liberals only see. Perhaps that is all they want to see. Such is life as a conservative in Deep Blue Illinois. 

Maybe I am the bad guy. On the flipside, I don’t believe so. According to a couple of polls, one here and another one here, it is the denizens of the left who are more likely to unfriend someone on social media than conservatives over politics. Oh yeah, liberals. The ones who so often have “Coexist” bumper stickers on their cars and “Hate Has No Home Here” signs on their lawn. 

Everyone is welcome in their world. Except for folks who don’t share their political beliefs. As for myself, I’ve never unfriended anyone on social media because of their political views.

Well, this is not the Christmas message you are accustomed to, but please let me reiterate, I am fine–please don’t tell Mrs. Marathon Pundit to hide the sharp objects. 

Christmas is a time for welcoming others. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge’s nephew always invited the miser to his home for Christmas dinner. 

Next Sunday is New Year’s Day. As Robert Burns wrote, “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon.”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

And God bless us, everyone.

Never forget.

Now it’s time for me to get dressed in my finest and head over to my sister’s home for a Christmas feast.

A special thanks goes to that friend in Georgia for permission to use the above photograph for this blog entry.

John Ruberry regularly blogs from the Chicago area at Marathon Pundit.

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