Culturalism · Federal Government

The Saudi Wall Collapses

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Saudi Arabia is the poster child of draconians. Across the world, it serves as the perfect example of extreme traditionalist order – either good or bad – depending on who is speaking. Regardless though, the pummeling desert regime appears invincible and assured.

But times are changing. Recent data suggests Saudi divorces spiked by 30 percent during the Coronavirus pandemic as wives began discovering the hidden spouses kept by their husbands. While Saudi numbers remain low when compared to the West, the shift is remarkable if we account for its harsh and restrictive laws impacting women.

Of course this is nothing new. Observers noted long ago that Saudi Arabia has a large and burgeoning homosexual population, a fact confirmed by Osama bin Laden’s relative in her book. What’s especially interesting about that piece is how she describes women who are assumed to be conservative and submissive Muslims actually sparking relationships with members of both sexes—even while maintaining the illusions of marriage.

This leads us to an obvious conclusion: the behavior is probably more widespread in Saudi Arabia, and their legal strictures are really about satisfying radicals instead of ensuring female social order. There is also the gender ratio problem, with around 57 percent being men, an imbalance that implies women can afford to be highly entitled – and men will dance the jig, even if that means sharing her with other dudes, or even girlfriends.

Consider too that Crown Prince MBS is hardly a prime ascetic himself, reportedly cavorting with prostitutes and cocaine while governing the gigantic sand nation.  If anything, the religious veneer must be a limited application useful for propaganda as others gaze in, but not an indication of the truth. When you tie this to the extremely high foreign worker population in the kingdom, many of whom are not of Muslim origin cultures, the overall strength and durability of the regime becomes doubtful, presenting a dire conclusion.  

The fat sheikh has no clothes.   

#VanLife · Culturalism · Federal Government

Can You Even Survive?

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Throughout my life I’ve heard people on the Internet and in-person speculate about an apocalyptic future. They’ll speak in lurid terms of how things will go down, the number of rounds they have stacked, and which battle lines shall be drawn. It usually ends up as some variation of patriots vs. fascists/communists, Christians vs. Muslims, or one race against the other. Everything appears settled, and they employ a princely authority in making these fixed conclusions about the days to come.

Yet something typically gets left out: how long will they actually live under such circumstances? It is easy enough to talk tough, but the realities of such an event suggest far less stringent lines being drawn. Just for starters, does the expectant “freedom fighter” have the following:

  • Reliable transportation that is not too much of a gas guzzler, especially if supplies get cut off.
  • Ability to grow food and pump water without ready access to supermarkets or public utilities.
  • Secure lodgings that are actually defensible (not most apartments or townhomes).
  • Practical hand tool skills to help with fortifications.
  • Knowledge of compasses and maps, in case GPS service is unavailable.
  • Not only a supply of defensive hardware, but at least respectable training with them.

The last point is worth honing in on where the “I’ve got 5000 rounds stored up” fellers are concerned. Despite what Hollywood makes us believe, the typical “gunfight” is short and conservative in nature. People are not spitting off hundreds of rounds while crouching behind cover, Gears of War style, unless they happen to be poorly-trained. Proper education emphasizes the importance of trigger discipline and sight picture, not Rambo mayhem, because it is easier to miss than do justice.

Individual readiness matters because the average joe is liable to be on his own, at least for a while. Apart from family or close friends, the notion that you will quickly enlist in some organized group led by military tacticians who proceed to do all the hard work is fantastically low. Such nodes are likely to be haphazard and nonuniform in nature, while also potentially hostile to the existence of our patriotic liberty-monger.

In short, any dramatic occurrence of that fashion (and God forbid it ever materializes), would very probably weed out the most determined jockstraps in the mix, plus a lot more. Sure, being a Gadsen-toting activist with empowered bumper stickers and opinions might feel great, but when a mob of the historically oppressed and butthurt is bearing down on your location, waving around an oversized piece of equipment in panic will close those curtains quick.

To be fair, I guess everyone just wants to go down like Custer in their own head, even if the reality is quite different.   

#VanLife · Personal Finance · Self-Improvement

Restoring Goldberg Manor: Part II

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Things are coming along smoothly enough. This past week has been a lot of electrical work, plus some other aesthetic improvements. I also have a larger paint job lined up for the next several weeks, one of two major changes planned, the other being Central Air, which will likely be a fall project.

Painting Walls In the Sunroom Plus Electrical Additions

Before:

After:

Two of these installed. You’ll note how the ground is on top, which is the correct way to install them, although the popular style in the U.S. is to invert the receptacle.

New motion activated light:

Scraped and Painted Pump

Before:

After:

This will probably get a second coat, along with the chains and buckets to make it functional.

Culturalism · Federal Government

Of Masks and Men

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Perhaps the most amusing aspect to the coronavirus panic has been the complete chaos in messaging around masks, varying from the fiercest concerns to passive indifference, at least until a change occurs. The government refers to it as “science-based evolution,” but we know better. Now masks are being required to enter public places, as if things suddenly shifted in that direction.

What makes it so fascinating is how authorities adapt and weave to escape responsibility. You might recall that I pointed out back on February 11th how a suspicious number of Chinese were being spotted wearing safety masks in public in response to the Rona. The normal reaction was to claim it was due to their experience with SARS, or simply a sense of precaution.

In the United States, our Surgeon General actually made the following tweet on February 29th:

https://twitter.com/surgeon_general/status/1233725785283932160?lang=en

Adams’ rage can be explained by considering the projected supply shortage, yet at the same time American firms were shipping MILLIONS of masks to China to help with their response. Of course it only took about a month for our man Jerome to produce this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPx1yqvJgf4

Oh so now masks are more effective, or per chance he just wanted to demonstrate his mad KonMari skills with cloth origami. Around the same time, the CDC updated their own guidelines in support of wearing masks, I suppose because production might have picked up by that point.

Now that all is well in the world, we can go out, only face masks have become a requirement at most stores, because science. The same science that had no evidence before, but now does, because the government decided it exists. Maybe the next advisory will recommend wearing Trojans over the tongue to prevent ingestion of particles from a TikTok celeb.

Do you still trust science?

Federal Government · investing · Personal Finance

That Kind of Hertz

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In an eleventh hour weekend move, the car rental company Hertz filed for bankruptcy, sending its shares for a lovely ride:

“Give you a lift?”

I’m curious what stands to follow, especially as many states continue their draconian frighten in place orders despite the economic bleeding. The travel industry and airlines might raise particular concern, but even some restaurants could hit the chopping block due to their brick and mortar ways. And that’s all excluding oil, which has a lot of livelihoods attached to it throughout various parts of the U.S.

If nothing else, this crisis should inform politicians of how fragile the financial web remains in our country. Sending over thirty million to the welfare rolls in order to save them from the invisible enemy strikes the mind as nanny state idiocracy, which we surely don’t have in America. After all, this is the greatest country on earth.

Right?

#VanLife · Personal Finance · Self-Improvement

Restoring Goldberg Manor: Part I

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As many of you know, I have ventured out into the great boomer unknown and purchased a house. My goal with this series of posts is to give a sense of the improvements and changes which the building has (and will) suffer through in the name of preservation and stability. In certain cases I didn’t take a picture before changes occurred, so we’ll have to employ our active imaginations.

New Water Heater Plus Drain Pan:

Floors Sanded and Coated:

Before:

Moi foot

After:

(Note the paint change too, done to enhance lighting)

Culturalism · Relations and Dating

Why Men Seek Love

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Yesterday I stumbled across a very touching video by The Enlightened Kiwi, one of the few genuine MGTOW sources out there. As he recounted his experiences of loss and a collapsed marriage, it made me wonder why exactly we as men chase the conception of love with a woman. It is undeniably true that we are acculturated into the mindset from a young age, with true love in matrimony established as a milestone for “normal people” to reach, or otherwise face social distancing from polite society. At the same time, the results are frequently poor, filled by more heartache than sheer pleasure.

Perhaps the answer is that we have no choice. Biologically, psychologically, or socially, the drive for companionship (even if it is often confused with lust) frustrates the most dour skeptics of romance. Men regularly sacrifice their whole dignity for the chance to keep a woman, and even grumpy fellows who swear off marriage can be found softly hoping that an alternative, no matter how imperfect, exists.

Are most of us miserable melancholics, hoping to one day leave the anonymous meetings for good? Very possible is the correct answer. As Anna Snitkina described her interaction with the widowed Fyodor Dostoevsky before their marriage:

“So you think I can marry again?” he asked. “That someone might consent to become my wife? What kind of wife shall I choose then — an intelligent one or a kind one?”
“An intelligent one, of course.”
“Well, no… if I have the choice, I’ll pick a kind one, so that she’ll take pity on me and love me.”
While we were on the theme of marriage, he asked me why I didn’t marry myself. I answered that I had two suitors, both splendid people and that I respected them both very much but did not love them — and that I wanted to marry for love.
“For love, without fail,” he seconded me heartily. “Respect alone isn’t enough for a happy marriage!”

Those bold sections are particularly telling. Granted, Fyodor was struggling financially at this point in his life, but notice the emphasis on his need to be loved. He embodies the eternal struggle of men against a world that expects us to do things right, land on our feet, not show emotion, and be able to absorb the fiercest blows. And if for but a moment we lean on someone else, or admit to the pain stirring inside, the world will pounce like a pack of ravenous wolves.

Maybe that is why we want to be loved.

investing · Personal Finance · Self-Improvement

Are Beggars Beating The System?

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When I was younger, I recall watching the Sherlock Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. While not always equal to the Basil Rathbone version, it delivered thrills aplenty, bringing to life countless tales by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A particularly poignant example is “The Man With The Twisted Lip,” which focuses on a wealthy but debt-troubled man who mysteriously vanishes, only to be discovered playacting as a beggar to help service his liabilities. It’s possible that the tale was written with assumptions of upper-class snobbery towards the poor, but that should not jettison the social value, particularly in today’s early retirement and money-scrounging culture.

I thought back to the show over the last two weeks, as I handed out cash to several panhandlers between my work shifts. Of course they might well be down on their luck, but what if they aren’t? What if homeless beggars are more like our friend in the show, a clever masquerader seeking to avoid the wages of tax?

From what data is available, a panhandler might draw $100-$300 dollars a day in an American city,  This doesn’t sound especially great, but remember that the funds are tax-free. To put it into perspective, when I worked retail some years ago, an eight-hour shift gave me $80.00 in gross income. After taxes, paying for boomer retirement, and Berniecare, I was sitting closer to sixty-five bucks. From any standpoint, that’s a yuuuge difference.

We should further understand that homeless people have access to soup kitchens and shelters, two helping hands that absorb other daily expenses. Should the person be masquerading of course, they might live with a family member or pay minimalist rent off the books to avoid added scrutiny. Meanwhile, Clarence Goodman has to cough it up for housing, food, gas, and Trojans, all to ensure semi-regular affection from his wow, man.

Now you might say, “Sure, but they don’t get all those great benefits!” As it turns out, that depends. Disabled folks can claim SSDI up to a certain level, and the general homeless population is eligible for Medicaid, with some regional variances. To be sure though, they miss out on subsidizing the retirement of the elderly, which does rather sting.

There are some downsides, to be clear. Any pretender to the homeless throne would have to deal with rough weather, lack of consistent sanitation, low money haul days, and the usual social stigma. In addition, whenever they chose to “clock out” of the streets, their behavior would have to carefully avoid attracting suspicion from the empowered and governmental.

Still, it’s a thought.

Culturalism · Relations and Dating

How a Man Becomes Eclipsed

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Some months back I noted how Meghan Markle had brilliantly outperformed in the category of economic dating. She beat the manosphere’s fantastical “wall,” established herself in a secure financial position, and had a child with the doting Prince Harry. More than all that, she has continued to demonstrate her absolute dominance over the second-hand royal, to the point where he practically doesn’t exist.  

The most recent example of such supremacy comes in a report from the Daily Mail:

Hold on a second. Right here we have a fellow who is looks and status-wise in the top five percent worldwide. For years he was on lists of the most eligible bachelors, getting royally (lol) fawned over by millions of different women. And now, like any depressed suburban dad bod, he is forced to give up whole swaths of his identity to maintain the “happy wife.”

Sure, it could just be angry royal gossip, but her previous influence on the man suggests otherwise. The prevailing question would be what further concessions she might manage to extract in his desperate quest to “keep the peace,” and ensure that love spigot is unleashed at least once a month. Maybe a sex-change operation?

Harry should be a lesson to anyone engaged with a serious relationship, male or female. While some bad habits are worth kicking, giving up your whole personality and character simply to please a mate is recipe for the subservient life of an invisible creature. A total eclipse of the heart.

Culturalism

The Power of a Picture

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I generally avoid commenting on these outrage stories because we never have adequate information until weeks or months later, at which point everyone has more or less cemented their version of what happened. Looking at the “chilling” video that social media has been circulating, it strikes me as a classic case of self-defense, only mitigated at this junction by public fury. What I’m more interested in is the way media outlets shape narratives using the wonderful tool of pictures.

Some of you will recall how in 2013 the press kept circulating the following picture of Trayvon Martin, making him appear like a little baby who was attacked by an older man:

In reality, a more accurate description of his personality was encompassed by the following images:

Now you might say, what difference does it make? Well, perhaps you failed to notice, but your brain did. The current case has a similar flair to it. Media outlets began by circulating the following picture:

Seems like a real nice guy, who was just victimized by evil people who were jealous of his running ability. A few days later, an even more gratuitously self-anointing picture was introduced:

Wow. He really looks like a perfect angel. Probably a gym teacher or school counselor. What could anyone possible have against him? But then, if we dig deep enough, this version comes out, from a previous arrest:

BIG difference. Again, there will be shilling and cucking about how it doesn’t matter, yet if you notice, the media didn’t trot out any happy, sympathetic pics of the McMichaels:

Are we not Willie Hortoning the McMichaels just to feel better about ourselves? And keep in mind, the flow of outrageous stories about black on black or black on white violence ceases to halt, but this is the only one that seems to matter.