The Laughing Wolf – Page 76 – Commentary, Punditry, and More

Posting Later?

There is a LOT going on, and it would not surprise me to see Belarus cross the border this week. Could be next week, but pretty sure it is going to happen. Meantime, I have to go visit a doctor this morning for what I hope is strictly routine. Hoping to be posting later, will see what happens.

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If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Into The Light: Denny Wilson

Bleep. When he made it home, I had hoped he was on the mend. Sadly, it was not to be. Denny (Dennis) Wilson, aka the Grouchy Old Cripple, was one of the early bloggers and he stayed with it until the end.

His “Asshole of the Week” and “Saturday Boobage” posts on Saturday could overshadow his musical posts on Sunday in some ways, but the latter presented an amazing array of talent and musical ability that always entertained and usually had me in awe of the musicians. He had a way with words and his posts were indeed entertaining.

At a blogger meetup in Atlanta, he was, I think, amused at how fast everyone said he was picking the wine to go with the dinner. Not that bloggers were or are ever a cantankerous bunch who rarely agreed on anything… Fact was, Denny was a member of the Sommelier Guild of Atlanta (hobby, after the Navy he worked with computers at IBM) and his choices weren’t just good but amazing.

Godspeed! You are missed already.

PayPal

Yes, PayPal is gone and I am in search of another service for donations. I want one that actually is focused on providing service, not servicing people with politics and totalitarianism. As soon as I find such, I will put a link up in The Bard’s Jar.

I suppose it could be argued that deliberation and patience are in order, given that using PayPal has helped me survive financially after getting hit by lightning. Many of you have shown me the extraordinary kindness of sending me gifts via PayPal that have allowed me to eat, pay bills, move my hosting, and more. I am now limited to just the fundraiser, until I can find a replacement. So be it. I would rather risk missing a bill than to continue to use them. I would rather live in my car under an underpass somewhere than give those authoritarian goons a single dime more.

By the way, if you sincerely believe the statement they have issued walking back their draconian policy: Do I Have A Deal For You! Bridge. Guaranteed moneymaker. Cash Only.

The only reason they have backed down is the lights being shined on them and the number of people closing their accounts. More need to cancel. More lights need to be shined. Because unless that happens, anyone want to start a pool on how long it is before they try this crap again? Social credit systems are all the rage in China and with the WEF crowd, but have place in a free society. Anyone pushing such is in desperate need of a tar and feather spa day.

And, that is exactly what PayPal was doing: trying to bring a social credit system to the United States. I’m doing what I can by closing my account, a process they apparently have decided to make as difficult as they can. I hope others join me, as until PayPal is in the grave with a wooden stake through it’s heart and a sharp blade over its neck like that “vampire” corpse they just found in Europe, the danger remains. As I said above, they will try this crap again.

So, let them know what you think with your wallet. Take your business elsewhere. Shine a light and be sure to note the regulatory environment they have. The more of us who do that, the better. For it is time to raze and salt the ground so they nor anyone else is foolish enough to try to do this ever again.

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A Rant On Behalf Of A Friend

Warning: This rant may contain foul or objectionable language and is rated I for Infantry. There are likely to be frank discussions about parentage, probable offspring, and sexual preferences of those under discussion. I would say it is intended for mature audiences, but the fact that I am writing it to CNN management at all levels rules that out. I will try to use small words so as not to tax their lack of intellect.

I got up this morning fully expecting to write my first major story at the new host on Armageddon Joe (stealing a line from Twitter: He grew up in Nagasaki you know…) and the nuclear follies. There is plenty of time for that I suspect, and while it needs discussion I need to lower my blood pressure and vent some ire.

If you are with CNN, I ask you to read this as if my greying muzzle is parked about three inches in front of your eyes and I’ve recently eaten pickled eggs. I’m going to start with the more in sorrow than anger tone, but it’s not going to last.

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I’m not even going to ask you what your fecking major malfunction is, as it is obvious to anyone who has observed your actions over the years. It is writ upon everything you do, everything you have done, and barring a very direct and powerful deus ex machina painfully visited upon you, it will be writ upon everything you ever do. You are cowards led by cowards. Honor, integrity, and professionalism are words you have to look up in the dictionary as they are not a part of your life.

There isn’t a murderous tyrant on this Earth that you haven’t felched. You’ve admitted more than once to not running stories about them because if you did you would lose the ability to “interview” them, run their propaganda, and be able to claim that you had an office or bureau in their country.

Your commitment to journalistic ethics and honesty are such that Duranty is shaking his head in disgust at you. In that zoo you call a newsroom you had Toobins, Taters, Lemons, and a host of others who wouldn’t know real and honest journalism if it came up and bit them or you on your fat asses! You were and are a laughingstock, and you had one person, ONE, who showcased honor, professionalism, and integrity. AND YOU DID THIS TO HER???

Just consider everything from here on to be in all caps

You festering pustules on the anus of humanity! You products of a sperm bank for the mentally deficient! It’s no wonder you can only have sex with your partner on top as all you can do is fuck up! You do not know how to do anything else!

I don’t care that the cowardly fucking simp that was Zucker is gone. How many of you knew about this disgusting display of abject cowardice and toxic lack of professionalism and said and did nothing? Did any of you say or do anything, or did you just lie back to either enjoy or rejoice that it wasn’t happening to you?

There is not the first one of you who has any idea about real journalism or professionalism in any form. Got news for you sweethearts, this is not how it is done. It is not how real people, real managers, or real anything work. Real people step up, have discussions, listen, counsel at need, and everybody learns and grows. The level of cowardice you have displayed is beyond comprehension and better suited to a kindergarten playground than an alleged professional organization.

I don’t know what she thinks of me, but I consider her a friend and a professional that I highly respect. Respect that has been earned, something you fucktards don’t have the first clue about. She was the ONLY reason I watched CNN at all in the last few years as if I saw her on I would stop and watch for as long as she was on. I deeply regret letting two people pressure me into a decision years back that I regard as one of the worst mistakes of my life. MK is the personification of all the things you mental midgets will never have: personal and professional ethics, honor, integrity, fortitude, and class. I don’t think I can find any of her many positive attributes in any of you even if I used a fucking electron microscope.

I’m not sure that between the lot of you that there are two neurons to form a synapse, or a complete set of reproductive organs. Unlike you, she has a brain and uses it; and, hers are big, brass, and clank when she walks even though they are inside her. She has taken hits in life no one should have to face, and has rebuilt her life and apparently achieved personal happiness on a level that warms the cockles of this old wolf’s black flabby heart.

And you do this to her! You defective miserable pieces of shit! The best part of your daddies clearly dribbled down your momma’s leg. You are disgusting cowards that make slime molds seem elevated.

You owe her an apology, at the least. A real one, not a typical corporate or political non-apology. If any of you have any inkling of honor or integrity it will be made on your knees. As much time as the lot of you spend on them anyway, it shouldn’t be too hard to get on your knees to apologize. Personally, I hope she never darkens your doorway again, as she can do a hell of a lot better than the sewer that is CNN.

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If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, feel free to hit the tip jar in the upper right or the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo. Getting hit by lightning is not fun, and it is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Full Power Restored?

Well, the impulse engines are online at least. Time will tell about the mains and hitting warp speed. The number 4 shield is still iffy, but it’s not covering a critical area so we will limp along with it.

I will say this, I was pleasantly surprised by one thing in regards Nexcess: they did indeed honor their 30-day guarantee. I really didn’t expect them to do so given how hard they push the upsell. But, they ended service and refunded my money in a couple of hours as it worked out. PayPal already has the funds and they are working their way back to my account. If their service and customer service had been as advertised, it would have been a very different situation.

Waiting a bit before I say anything about the new host as I don’t want to jinx it. I also want to see how they handle an Instalanche or two as well. I’m fully expecting to have to do some upgrading or additional payments, but that’s not because of anything they have said. Rather, it is because even with the plan I opted for, an Instalanche may tax the resources a bit. Besides, I’m also willing to pay for help in/on some of the behind the scenes work dealing with various things that were not a factor 20 years ago when blogging was new.

We have power. We are back in operation. More soon.

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Testing, Again

Going to see how things go, and if all goes well back to regular blogging soon.

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Brace — Again

With your kind help, and if all goes to plan, I will start the process of moving to a new hosting provider on Monday. Once that is complete, I will see if Nexcess honors their guarantee and try to get my money back.

Meantime, I may not be posting much here until the move is complete. I will be snarking, er, commenting and sharing a bit on twitter as LaughingWolfOne. I’m hoping that things will stay calm for a bit, and really don’t expect much in regards Vladimir until after the Duma votes.

For everyone who is helping, via the tip jar, fundraiser, and prayers, THANK YOU! Your gifts have kept me going and are very, very much appreciated!

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Well, Shit

NOTE: Welcome Instapundit Readers and others. Apologies for the slow loading and such, but “new” host has issues too. As fast as I can come up with an additional $175, am switching to a different provider. And, yes, plan to get my money back from the “new” provider and use it to upgrade the new new provider. Thank you for your patience, and your gifts!

Just finished watching Vladimir’s rambling speech. A few things, other than rambling and what appear to be some interesting word choices/phrasing, pop out immediately.

First, it was a recitation of the justifications for Russkiy Mir, how everyone has been mean to Russia, done it bad, and otherwise behaved like a guy in a Crystal Gayle song towards the Rodina throughout its history. For all that the US was the focus of his bitching, Great Britain comes in for a lot of oblique criticism too. In fact, it might could be argued that more was directed at them than most may realize — it depends on how well one knows Russian history and Russian culture.

Two, it was — as expected — staking a position that any attempt to liberate/assault/etc. any of the territories they were claiming was an attack on Russia. That any attack on Russia would be responded to with overwhelming force including special weapons/nuclear weapons at need. I really want to go back and listen to him on this point, as I think the translation may have missed a bit. Again, as with another recent statement, it seemed to push special (chemical) ahead of nuclear but with some of the rambling…

Three, he pretty much accused the US of attacking the Nordstream pipelines, and in the process effectively denied that Russia had deliberately sabotaged them. Given some interesting info that is coming out from those knowledgeable, one has to wonder if Russian incompetence may have resulted in the explosions, which makes the wording used by Vladimir potentially very interesting.

Four, his attack on Western values including references to transitioning children and other hot-button topics in the West (including family values which may have included an indirect swipe at the new Italian PM) was IMO a touch of brilliance that reflects the old Vladimir rather than the current. I expect to see any attempt to go after such efforts in the West now resulting in accusations of being a Russian stooge/proxy/agent/etc. Yet more Gramscian damage to the West. Well played.

Five, I really want to go back and re-listen to his words and phrasing, but I believe Vladimir may have just repudiated every arms treaty, strategic or otherwise, in effect. That Russia would not be bound by efforts to reduce her defense by other powers who were already in violation of said treaties and using them to keep the Rodina down. Huge, and I suspect this is going to get overlooked in the short term. Oh, it was also the reason for my “Oh. Shit.” twitter post.

Six, in his rambling, Vladimir made plain that Russia was great; Russian culture was far superior to Western (or Eastern) culture; Russia would resume its proper place on the world stage; and that all true Russian people would flock to Russia’s banner. Again, Russkiy Mir.

The stage is set. Now, we wait to see what happens.

For those interested, the best way to prevent the use of nukes and escalation is to emphasize preparedness. Not on the Federal level, but to show that State and local governments have taken steps to ensure continuity of government and services. That individuals have taken steps and are prepared to deal with what comes. That works, and yes there are substantive reasons for saying this. Along with other preparations, a remarkable amount of deterence can be achieved.

Final note: cut the sound off and watch him. In fact, do it several times and each time focus on a different area: head, right arm, left arm, torso, feet. Then, watch the reactions in the audience. Some of them are quite interesting. Then, cut the sound on and listen just to him, no translators or talking heads, while watching him and the audience. Yes, I’m thinking there are some things you might should be catching. Far more than just the rambling and stumbling.

While we wait, prepare. Now’s the time, make the most of it.

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Preparedness: BugOut!

In the ideal situation, before projection onto the wall of Plato’s cave, we would all live in areas removed from potential disturbance. Our homes would be our castles ready to stand against all of nature and man at need. All our preparations would be at hand, our stocks updated as we used things in day-to-day life, and we would have not a care in the world.

For all that I find it pretty good, and in fact in some ways much better than deserved, the fact is that life is not ideal. Storms can and will hit. The earth will rock upon occasion (even in areas not normally known for that). Trains can and will derail, even as trucks will crash. Politicians will do stupid things and we bear the brunt of it.

The net result is that you need to be prepared to do the bugout boogie at need. The enemy may be in greater numbers than expected; the water is coming in higher than expected; the train that derailed not far from your home was carrying nasty stuff; and, any number of other things make your best option that of leaving your well-prepared abode.

You really should have bugout bags ready to go, though few seem to truly do so. Even my own bugout bags right now could stand some updating, I admit. These bags should have everything you need to get by for a while: clothing, gear, supplies, and yes weapons. At least two of my bags are packed so I can literally sweep my medicines and supplements into one of them, get one or both to the car, and take off in about five minutes time. Give me ten minutes, and I’m even better off.

Your main (and any secondary) bugout bags should all have copies (in waterproof containers) of your driver’s license, important papers, etc. These need to be kept updated (I need to check mine as my medical has oddly updated a few times since getting hit by lightning). I also recommend keeping originals on you, again in waterproof wrappings.

Any cash is distributed and hidden, and where I can I have some redundancy in my packing. I include a fair bit of camping gear in my bugout prep: shelters can be interesting and in some cases governments have taken/tried to take food and more away from those coming in. There may not be shelters set up for the emergency, and motels may or may not be an option. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Thus, I have my camping gear either ready to go or in some cases parts of it in the car already.

Things, generally, are not worth your life. If there is time and if there is room, I would grab a photo album or two, and any other small extremely sentimental items and take with me. They would also be one of the first things I leave behind if I have to stage down.

Staging is the part of bugout that far too many seem to miss. As I’ve noted before, I want to start out motorized if it all possible. That said, you may find roads blocked or impassable, something may happen to the vehicle, etc. The best staging I’ve ever heard about (think I’ve discussed this before) involved an RV towing a car that had off road motorcycles on a trailer behind it. There were bicycles attached to the RV as well. The idea was to take the RV as far as possible (hopefully all the way to safety). If there were issues, drop to the car and tow the motorcycles, bicycles, and max supplies. Car can’t get anywhere, use the motorcycles and have one of them tow the trailer with the bikes and other supplies pulled from the RV. If problems came up with the motorcycles, drop to the bikes. Last resort is always shanks mare.

The thing is, every time you stage down, you are losing mobility and supplies. You plan for it, but you also try to keep from having to stage down if at all possible. Keep the maximum options open to you.

Watching Ian, and thinking about a couple of situations here, I need to step up my own bugout plans. While the ideal is to stay in place, that may not be an option in any number of circumstances. So, I’m going to be working on that as I can in the coming days. The last thing you want to be doing is trying to prepare to bugout as the disaster is hitting.

Just a quick thought for the morning.

BTW, before I forget: kudos to the disaster preparedness people in Florida! From the reports I’m getting the county offices really hit the ground running, did what they could, asked for what they needed, pre-positioned what they could, and otherwise were as set as they could be for Ian. In turn, the state-level operations responded to requests quickly, efficiently, and otherwise made sure yet more people and supplies were in pre-po for the aftermath. Real problem is going to be that you can’t plan for everything, and it is quite likely some who should have bugged out didn’t for any number of reasons. One being economics and just not even able to afford the gas to get out. Meantime, with what I have right now, it looks like one heck of an effort led by the counties — which is how it should be done. Pay attention, as good or bad there are going to be a LOT of lessons for learning courtesy of Ian.

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Ian

If you were told to evacuate, I hope you did. Being prepared to bugout is a cornerstone of practical preparedness. In this case, a cornerstone of being smart enough to live.

For those who did not face evacuation, but will be riding it out, my prayers are out for you. May your preparations be good, tasty, and secure.

Just please take care of yourselves, as those I follow who are experts are all saying it is going to be a bad one. When all of them agree on anything, I pay attention. I hope you have done so as well.

Hang in, hang on, and God bless!

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