Posts Tagged ‘datechguy's magnificent seven’

Conspiracy Theorist is a colorful euphemism for someone who sees through all of the progressive bovine excrement

Posted: June 3, 2021 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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One of the most pervasive hallmarks of the political left is their chronic distortion of language.  George Orwell highlighted this in great detail when he wrote 1984.  The term he created for this type of behavior is Newspeak. 

Progressives and other leftists have been warping language for well more than a century.  It is the only way they have any hope st winning arguments or convincing those that are uninformed or unknowledgeable.

One of the most common tactics used by leftists is to take a term that has a negative connotation and apply it to those who absolutely do not deserved to be tagged with that label.  The most current example of this is the all too casual way leftists on social media throw around the accusations of someone being a conspiracy theorist. 

All an individual has to do to be tagged on social media as a conspiracy theorist is to make a statement that conflicts with standard leftist orthodoxy.  Liberals and other leftists live in a universe that is divorced from reality, a universe that is ruled by feeling and emotions rather than the truth, facts, science, or other forms of absolute truth.   

Social media giants such as FaceBook and Twitter employ an army of so called fact checkers who all too often label factual posts as false or containing misinformation.  If you share posts that are flagged by these phony fact checkers too often you risk being banned or having the audience your posts reach severely restricted.   I have been banned from Twitter for spreading conspiracies and I am pretty sure FaceBook has severely throttled back my account.

To be labeled a conspiracy theorist by a leftist on social media all you have to do is tell the truth about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from President Trump, mask mandates being ineffectual, lockdowns doing tremendous harm and no good,  the possibility of the Wuhan Virus escaping from a lab, global warming and man caused climate change being a bunch of bunk, and so much more.

It is amazing how frequently us so called conspiracy theorist are later proved to be purveyors of the truth when all of the facts and evidence are carefully examined and weighed.

Review: Season Two of Ragnarok

Posted: June 2, 2021 by John Ruberry in culture, entertainment, media
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By John Ruberry

Late last week Season Two of Ragnarok began streaming on Netflix. The Norwegian series presents a modern telling of the ultimate battle, Ragnarök, between the Norse gods and their enemies, the jötunn, evil deities who are usually called giants in English. It is set in the fictional small fjord town of Edda, which is being poisoned by the town’s largest employer, Jutul Industries. The company is run by Vidar Jutul (Gísli Örn Garðarsson), the head of the jötunn quasi-family. His wife, Ran (Synnøve Macody Lund), is the principal of Edda High School, which Magne Seier (David Stakson) and his brother, Laurits (Jonas Strand Gravli), attend. Also students there are two other Jutuls, Saxa (Theresa Frostad Eggesbø) and Fjor (Herman Tømmeraas).

In Season One, my DTG review is here, teenager Magne suspects he is the rebirth of Thor. Yes, he’s another “chosen one.” In the final episode of that season, while Laurits humiliates Ran in a public address, Magne confronts Vidar in a battle. 

The second season picks up where the first ends. Somewhat diminished this season is the teen love anxiety–while the Norse mythology is elevated. There are few scenes at the high school. So there is a bit less of a Twilight feel this time around.

Laurits is a prankster so if you know a little bit about the Norse gods, you should have suspected in the first season that he is a modern representation of Loki, the mischievous god. Reluctantly and by happenstance, as Jake and Elwood did in The Blues Brothers, Magne is “putting the back back together,” and that includes Wotan Wagner (Bjørn Sundquist), Edda’s Odin, and Harry (Benjamin Helstad) as the militaristic god Týr. Edda is multicultural, so it’s not surprising that an immigrant from Sri Lanka, Iman (Danu Sunth), achieves goddess status as Frigg, a clairvoyant.

The powers–and the alliances–of the gods and the jötunn as told in Norse mythology are complicated–as they are here. So are the romances, particularly the one with Fjor and a human, Gry (Emma Bones).

According to the myths Loki was a shape shifter–that is not shown here–and some of those tales of the trickster god involve gender fluidity. Laurits is unsure of his gender–but more certain of his sexuality. Oh, there is also a brief sensual scene with two women.

All through Season Two the government is investigating the environmental devestatation Jutul Industries brings to Edda–as well as the company’s financial improprieties. 

Magne and Laurits’ mother, Turid (Henriette Steenstrup), does her best in keeping the family together while struggling with poverty and of course, raising two teen sons who are conflicted gods. 

The final episode, the sixth–Season One is also consists just six entries–brings forth another climactic confrontation. The door is open for a third season of Ragnarok and I’ll be back if there is. Although to be honest I probably would have lost interest during Season One has their not been a mythological foundation for the series. As of this writing Ragnarok is a Top Ten series on Netflix.

The streaming service gives viewers the option of watching Ragnarok in dubbed English or in Norwegian with English subtitles. There are also some passages, dubbed of course, in Old Norse. 

Season Two of Ragnarok is rated TV-MA because of foul language (and gasp!) smoking. In reality the series is more like a PG-13 movie in regards to possibly objectionable content. 

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

The right to decide for ourselves is a greatly endangered right

Posted: May 27, 2021 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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There is nothing more American than the right of each and every individual to decide for themselves, no matter how big or small the decision.  That right is at the core of one of our most important God-given Natural Rights. That right is liberty, which is the freedom of every individual to do as they wish as long as they do not hurt others or interfere with the right of others

All levels of government in this country were originally created to protect the right of every individual to decide for themselves since all levels of government were created to protect the liberty of every individual

The freedom of an individual to decide includes the right to make decisions that are bad, or even harmful, to the individual doing deciding.  Smoking or drinking to excess are perfect examples of this.  No one has the right to drive drunk since it is potentially very dangerous to other individuals.  Abortion is most definitely harmful to the unborn child therefore no one has a right to an abortion. 

It has not been proved scientifically or medically that individuals not wearing masks in public, whether indoors or outdoors, are at all harmful to other individuals.  Check out this American Thinker article.  Individuals have every right to decide for themselves whether or not they will wear masks.  Mask mandates violate the liberty of every individual forced to wear them.

Going to church, going for a walk outdoors, going shopping, eating at a restaurant, going to work, exercising in a gym, or the vast majority of ordinary activities has never been proved to be harmful to other individuals during this Coronavirus pandemic.  State and local governments have robed the individuals living in those communities the right to decide for themselves whether or not they will engage in these activities.

Every individual has the exclusive right to make medical decisions for themselves.  Period. End of story.  It is absolutely wrong for any level of government, government agency, school system, private employer, public employer, or retail establishment to force individuals to get a vaccine through any form of mandate,

The federal government has gotten very good an prohibiting individuals from making the decision to purchase items such as incandescent light bulbs, cars with bad gas mileage, and so much more.  All levels of government have made it extremely difficult for individuals to smoke.  I have never smoked anything in my life.  I do respect the right of every individual to smoke if they choose to.

Facebook and other social media outlets have taken away your right to decide what you want to say because of outrageous censorhip.  Any form of censorship, no matter how small or who is doing it, is always wrong.  The same social media outlets have taken away your right to get news and information from whatever source you chose because of their censorship.

The vast army of adherents to political correctness have taken away the right to decide what individuals say, write, read, and listen to through their mob like behavior and blatant censorship.

The only way we get our right to decide for ourselves back is we stand up for that most precious right  Sadly far too few individuals are doing that.  Far too often I feel like I am the only one.

Report from Louisiana: My last four days of working for a living!

Posted: May 24, 2021 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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If you Google “What to do when I retire,” you’ll get lots of lists that include things like teach, garden, visit family, spend time with friends, mentor, buy a motorhome, and join a fitness group.

Excuse me, but I’m retiring, not moving into an assisted living facility.

My list looks a little different.

When my retirement from the classroom begins next week, literally the first thing I’m going to do is drive three hours to south Louisiana and sit in an historically restored Cajun cottage along Bayou Teche. My husband and I go there five times a year and it is our home away from home. I’m going to walk across the street to the grocery store, buy some fancy cheeses, some fresh veggies, and I’m going to spend seven days decompressing and uncoiling from twenty-five years of teaching tenth grade English.

More immediate things on my list include cleaning out closets, drawers, cabinets, and eliminating a whole lot of clutter. Get rid of those work clothes! Why do I have six Pyrex casserole dishes? Do I really need this antique waffle iron with the fraying cord? Those size three jeans in my closet? Yeah, they haven’t fit in fifteen years so it is time for them to go.

I am going to listen to podcasts. Got any suggestions? I listened to S-Town and loved that. So well done. I don’t really listen to podcasts, but I think I might try that while I start a walking regimen. My son listens to some podcast that sound far too much like Beavis and Butthead; I don’t want that. Something good. Help a girl out.

I am going to read that huge stack of books taking over my house; then, I’m going to put them in the Little Free Library on the corner.

Day drink. Why not have a cold beer at noon while I pull some weeds out of the flower bed? Why the hell not?

Stay up as late as I want to.

Finish my second book. I’m close. I need to get it off to my publisher so I can start on my third book.

Narrow down topic for third book.

Learn how to cook alligator. Not everyone can do this well.

Go to Monroeville, Alabama, home of my idol Harper Lee. See the inside of that courthouse.

Re-tile my bathroom. I have no idea how to do this and I think I need tools which I don’t currently own. Saws and things. I can do this. Right?

Spend days and days in the archives at the library doing research. I love this. This was the best part of writing my first book — the research! Love it!

Write. Write. Write.

Drive as much of the original alignment of Route 66 from east to west as possible.

Attend as many minor league baseball games in as many ballparks as I possibly can.

Find some way to move permanently to south Louisiana, to Cajun country, which has my heart and soul.

Brush up my French.

While this little list isn’t exhaustive, I think it is a lot more interesting than some of the suggestions for retirees that I’ve seen. Retirement has proven “boring” for my husband; when he retired six years ago he went back to school and got his BA and then his Masters degree, which was fabulous! But now he’s bored.

I can’t see myself ever getting bored. Maybe this is because I’m technically still working and the reality of retirement has not yet hit me. Maybe after a period of time, I will be restless and aimless.

I doubt it.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and at Medium; she is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.ing

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