lewrockwell--2020-03-23--COVID-19: All Truth Has Three Stages

COVID-19: All Truth Has Three Stages

First , it is ignored .
Second , it is widely ridiculed .
Third , it is accepted as self-evident .
With COVID-19 , we have now entered Stage 2 .
At first , the media ignored the claims and the analysis that the virus could have originated in the US .
But the spread of information and restatements of evidence from all sides , including in the US itself , has become too intense and now the claims are being openly ridiculed in the Western media .
Briefly , Chinese virologists discovered conclusively that the original source of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , nor the seafood market , but had been traced to the US , a possible scenario being that the virus might have originated at the US Military ’ s bio-weapons lab at Fort Detrick ( which was shut down by the CDC in July , because of outbreaks ) , and brought to China during the World Military Games in October 2019 .
Also , Japanese and Taiwanese virologists arrived independently at the conclusion that the virus could have originated in the US .
ToHa Dust Face MA/sk F ... Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from before the beginning to deflect culpability by crafting tales of bats , snakes , pangolins , the seafood market , the Wuhan University being a bio-weapons facility ( which it is not ) , and the CIA tale leaked through the VOA and Radio Free Asia that the virus leaked from that university .
They stated ( factually ) that Chinese researchers had participated ( 7 years ago ) in similar virus research funded by the US NIH , thus somehow insinuating Chinese culpability , ignoring that the prior research was irrelevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Americans have proven to be very skillful in grabbing the microphone first , to create an “ official ” narrative of a current event while flooding the media with sufficient finger-pointing to preclude a gullible public the time to logically assemble the pieces on their own .
They ignored the very real fact that few nations would either create or release a biological weapon that attacks primarily itself .
They ignored too , the geopolitical likelihood of an ” end game ” – that a virus is a powerful weapon of economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s economy what a trade war could not do .
Casual readers tend to ignore the fact that , in the American mentality , there are many solid geopolitical reasons to attack China , Iran , and Italy , the remaining countries merely constituting unfortunate collateral damage .
Many virus articles containing this and similar information had been published by second-tier internet news sites , some articles gaining enormous readership with hundreds of thousands of downloads and much re-posting .
Many of these articles have been translated into 6 or 7 languages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world .
Simultaneously , many posts were made on Chinese social media speculating on the odd circumstances and long chain of unusual coincidences that led to the virus outbreak in Wuhan .
One of the articles referred to above , was translated and posted on Chinese social media and gathered 76,000 comments in the first 8 hours .
Eventually , the major Chinese media outlets made the same claims – that the virus could have originated in the US and that the Americans were engaging in a massive cover-up .
Then , Zhao @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Foreign Ministry , made the story official , through a number of posts on US social media .
One major media article , this in the NYT , noted that “ Zhao ’ s remarks were spread on China ’ s most prominent social media platform , Weibo .
.
.
[ and ] had been viewed more than 160 million times , along with screenshots of the original Twitter posts .
It seems LiJian ’ s Twitter posts , being essentially an official source that could not easily be ignored , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the US during the Military Games , and demanding an explanation from the US , were receiving too much public attention to be ignored .
All of the above created sufficient political pressure to force the Western media to respond .
And of course they responded by ignoring the facts of the message and trashing the messenger .
On March 12 , the UK Guardian ran a story claiming China was “ pushing propaganda ” about the virus coming from the US .
( 1 ) On March 13 , the New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ China coronavirus conspiracy ” of false claims about the source of the virus .
( 2 ) Then , on March 14 , ABC News ran a story titled “ False claims about sources of coronavirus cause spat between the US , China ” , in which it ridiculed China and the claims of a US-virus .
( 3 ) Indian Personal Health ... Buy New $ 17.98 ( $ 0.36 / Count ) The Seattle Times published a version of the story , stating , “ China is pushing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus : It is an American disease .
.
.
introduced by members of the U.S. Army who visited Wuhan in October .
There is not a shred of evidence to support that , but the notion received an official endorsement from China ’ s Ministry of Foreign Affairs , whose spokesman accused American officials of not coming clean about what they know about the disease.
” ( 4 ) The UK Independent published their own version of “ China ’ s conspiracy theory ” ( 5 ) , as did CNN ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ Assistant Secretary David Stilwell gave [ Chinese ] Ambassador Cui Tiankai a “ very stern representation of the facts , ” claiming Cui was “ very defensive ” in the face of this “ official ” American assault .
The US State Department is quoted as having said , “ We wanted to put the [ Chinese ] government on notice we won ’ t tolerate [ conspiracy theories ] for the good of the Chinese people and the world.
” Following that , the Washington Post , Bloomberg , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media outlets have contacted this author for interviews , eager for an opportunity to trash this ‘ conspiracy theory ’ at its source .
The US Embassy in Beijing also “ reached out ” to the author “ to talk about it ” .
If the public information campaign and the resulting political pressure can continue , we will eventually enter stage three where the media will begin admitting first the possibility , then the likelihood , then the fact , of the US being the source of the “ China ” virus @

First, it is ignored.
Second, it is widely ridiculed.
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
With COVID-19, we have now entered Stage 2. At first, the media ignored the claims and the analysis that the virus could have originated in the US. But the spread of information and restatements of evidence from all sides, including in the US itself, has become too intense and now the claims are being openly ridiculed in the Western media.
Briefly, Chinese virologists discovered conclusively that the original source of the virus was not China, nor Wuhan, nor the seafood market, but had been traced to the US, a possible scenario being that the virus might have originated at the US Military’s bio-weapons lab at Fort Detrick (which was shut down by the CDC in July, because of outbreaks), and brought to China during the World Military Games in October 2019.
Also, Japanese and Taiwanese virologists arrived independently at the conclusion that the virus could have originated in the US. ToHa Dust Face MA/sk F... Buy New $19.99 (as of 02:23 UTC - Details)
The Americans did their best from before the beginning to deflect culpability by crafting tales of bats, snakes, pangolins, the seafood market, the Wuhan University being a bio-weapons facility (which it is not), and the CIA tale leaked through the VOA and Radio Free Asia that the virus leaked from that university. They stated (factually) that Chinese researchers had participated (7 years ago) in similar virus research funded by the US NIH, thus somehow insinuating Chinese culpability, ignoring that the prior research was irrelevant to current events.
I must say the Americans have proven to be very skillful in grabbing the microphone first, to create an “official” narrative of a current event while flooding the media with sufficient finger-pointing to preclude a gullible public the time to logically assemble the pieces on their own.
They ignored the very real fact that few nations would either create or release a biological weapon that attacks primarily itself. They ignored too, the geopolitical likelihood of an ”end game” – that a virus is a powerful weapon of economic warfare, able to do to China’s economy what a trade war could not do.
Casual readers tend to ignore the fact that, in the American mentality, there are many solid geopolitical reasons to attack China, Iran, and Italy, the remaining countries merely constituting unfortunate collateral damage.
Many virus articles containing this and similar information had been published by second-tier internet news sites, some articles gaining enormous readership with hundreds of thousands of downloads and much re-posting. Many of these articles have been translated into 6 or 7 languages and published on websites all around the world. Simultaneously, many posts were made on Chinese social media speculating on the odd circumstances and long chain of unusual coincidences that led to the virus outbreak in Wuhan.
One of the articles referred to above, was translated and posted on Chinese social media and gathered 76,000 comments in the first 8 hours. Eventually, the major Chinese media outlets made the same claims – that the virus could have originated in the US and that the Americans were engaging in a massive cover-up.
Then, Zhao LiJian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, made the story official, through a number of posts on US social media. One major media article, this in the NYT, noted that “Zhao’s remarks were spread on China’s most prominent social media platform, Weibo . . . [and] had been viewed more than 160 million times, along with screenshots of the original Twitter posts.
It seems LiJian’s Twitter posts, being essentially an official source that could not easily be ignored, claiming the virus was brought to China from the US during the Military Games, and demanding an explanation from the US, were receiving too much public attention to be ignored. All of the above created sufficient political pressure to force the Western media to respond. And of course they responded by ignoring the facts of the message and trashing the messenger.
On March 12, the UK Guardian ran a story claiming China was “pushing propaganda” about the virus coming from the US. (1) On March 13, the New York Times ran a similar story of a “China coronavirus conspiracy” of false claims about the source of the virus. (2) Then, on March 14, ABC News ran a story titled “False claims about sources of coronavirus cause spat between the US, China”, in which it ridiculed China and the claims of a US-virus. (3) Indian Personal Health... Buy New $17.98 ($0.36 / Count) (as of 01:00 UTC - Details)
The Seattle Times published a version of the story, stating, “China is pushing a new theory about the origins of the coronavirus: It is an American disease . . . introduced by members of the U.S. Army who visited Wuhan in October. There is not a shred of evidence to support that, but the notion received an official endorsement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose spokesman accused American officials of not coming clean about what they know about the disease.” (4) The UK Independent published their own version of “China’s conspiracy theory” (5), as did CNN (6).
The ABC article claimed that “Assistant Secretary David Stilwell gave [Chinese] Ambassador Cui Tiankai a “very stern representation of the facts,” claiming Cui was “very defensive” in the face of this “official” American assault. The US State Department is quoted as having said, “We wanted to put the [Chinese] government on notice we won’t tolerate [conspiracy theories] for the good of the Chinese people and the world.”
Following that, the Washington Post, Bloomberg, and half a dozen other press wires and media outlets have contacted this author for interviews, eager for an opportunity to trash this ‘conspiracy theory’ at its source. The US Embassy in Beijing also “reached out” to the author “to talk about it”.
If the public information campaign and the resulting political pressure can continue, we will eventually enter stage three where the media will begin admitting first the possibility, then the likelihood, then the fact, of the US being the source of the “China” virus.
Notes
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/12/conspiracy-theory-that-coronavirus-originated-in-us-gaining-traction-in-china
(2) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html
(3) https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/false-claims-sources-coronavirus-spat-us-china/story?id=69580990
(4) https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/china-spins-tale-that-the-u-s-army-started-the-coronavirus-epidemic/
https://www.ccn.com/did-coronavirus-originate-in-america-chinese-media-pushes-conspiracy/
(5) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-start-originate-conspiracy-china-us-wuhan-cdc-robert-redfield-a9398711.html
(6) https://www.ccn.com/did-coronavirus-originate-in-america-chinese-media-pushes-conspiracy/
Reprinted with permission from Global Research.


lewrockwell--2020-03-23--From Quarantine to Tyranny to Rebellion: Where Is the Line in the Sand?

America is in a haze right now .
It seems like half the country is in denial of the danger while the other half is awaking from apathy and frantically trying to prepare .
This is creating a fog of confusion as one side screams “ it ’ s nothing but the flu , stop buying up the grocery store… !
” , and the other side just keeps stocking goods , though in an inexperienced way that prioritizes comfort over practicality .
The other day I went by the grocery store to grab a few peripheral items while they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the first time since the Covid-19 situation began that people in my area actually seemed…different .
The usual carefree obliviousness was gone from their faces and they all had a deer-in-the-headlights look , their eyes wide as saucers as they nervously scrambled around the store .
None of them were absorbed into their cell phones .
All of them were alert as many people huddled over their cart , quickly snatching items from the shelves as if protecting themselves from potential thieves .
It seems that reality is finally hitting the masses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ punch .
Suddenly , the prepper movement doesn ’ t look so “ crazy ” after all , and average people are now turning to prepper forums and websites to ask us for information on how to plan more effectively .
Instead of stacking piles of toilet paper for psychological comfort , they are now buying food supplies .
The people who used to accuse us of being “ chicken littles ” and “ doom mongers ” are eerily silent .
I almost miss them .
At the very least , everyone is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not for different reasons .
This is a far cry from the past two months , when governments around the world as well as the UN ’ s WHO continually downplayed the pandemic threat and offered the public nothing in terms of usable advice .
The establishment consistently kept the public in the dark , not just on the virus and its capabilities but also on the vast weaknesses in the global economy .
Abruptly in the past week they suggest that a threat is ahead and now millions of people are scrambling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latex Free , Glo ... Buy New $ 14.89 ( $ 14.89 / Count ) As I have noted in previous articles , there is a reason why the establishment refused to inform the citizenry of the instabilities inherent in the pandemic scenario ; the more unknowns there are for the public the more panic will set it , chaos ensues , and it is chaos that can be exploited to push forward numerous agendas .
These agendas include global centralization as well as the erasure of constitutional liberties .
Now that a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by many as a legitimate possibility , there is a debate rising as to what measures the government should take , or should be allowed to take .
Those of us in the prepper and liberty movements always knew this day was coming ; a day when the public would start considering trading away an array of freedoms in exchange for promises of security .
Even now , government officials are still trying to tell people that this event will be “ short lived ” .
“ Don ’ t worry ” , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last a couple of weeks.
” Oh , and “ Don ’ t concern yourselves with food shortages , that ’ s not going to happen… ” You can look at these lies in two different ways : 1 ) The government is trying to stave off a “ panic ” by slowly easing people into the reality that the system is breaking .
2 ) The government is trying to keep people passive to the danger so that when the system breaks completely they will be unprepared , desperate and easier to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the most likely given the evidence at hand , but in either case the government is crippling the public response time to the disaster .
They did this for months and they are still trying to do it now .
So , my argument is , why should we suddenly take their advice or take orders from them when the manure hits the fan ?
They have FAILED in their responsibilities to inform and protect the citizenry , and they are about to violate their prime mandate , which is to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worth living in .
Without these freedoms , there is no point to keeping our system intact anyway .
The establishment and its defenders will claim that we all “ have to make sacrifices ” today in order to have freedoms tomorrow , but that ’ s not how the constitution was designed to work .
Our rights are MORE important during times of distress and crisis , for it is in these times that we need to know what we are fighting for , and what we are struggling for .
Survival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tyranny to achieve it .
Once governments see a chance to usurp freedoms from the people , they DO NOT tend to give those freedoms back later unless the people become a viable opponent that could bring the establishment down .
There are some who will say that a forced quarantine is necessary to protect the “ greater good ” of the greater number .
It is true that the Covid-19 virus is a danger , and I think the people who claim it ’ s “ no worse than the flu ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death rate is clearly much higher than the average flu virus .
They will look extremely foolish a few months from now as the virus continues to cycle through the population and the dead continue to increase .
That said , I think I understand why they cling to this crumbling argument .
They think that by arguing that the pandemic is “ all hype ” they can morally justify resistance to the inevitable totalitarian response from governments .
They think it has to be one or the other : Either the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or the virus is real and resistance is unacceptable .
I ask – Why can ’ t it be both ?
The virus is dangerous to many , but a totalitarian response is still unacceptable .
The virus is in fact more destructive than any flu in recent memory – It ’ s not a plague on the level of the Black Death , but if it continues to kill at a rate of 3 % to 5 % as it has been then this puts a large number of human beings at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be taken lightly , and those people that are actively trying to discourage others from preparing for it are truly narcissistic in their ideology .
If you don ’ t think it ’ s a threat , then don ’ t prepare , but don ’ t scream at others for taking precautions just because you desperately want to be right , and don ’ t come around demanding food and supplies from those same people when the ceiling comes crashing down on your head .
Also , understand that Covid-19 is only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis is in the economy itself ; a collapse has been built into the system for years now , and the virus has little to do with it .
Leftist kids are going around calling this pandemic the “ boomer remover ” , almost cheering the assumption that mostly older and conservative Americans will die from this .
I have to break it to them that during the economic collapse that is inevitably coming they will have to wipe the snot from their noses and put on their big-boy diapers otherwise they aren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of them have no discernible skills and no preparations to speak of .
They are essentially useless .
If Covid-19 is a “ boomer remover ” , then the economic crisis is a “ snowflake bake ” , and they are about to get roasted .
As I have noted time and time again over the past few years , the Everything Bubble only needed one major trigger event to fully implode , but the international banks and central banks created that precarious bubble in the first place , and they set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so dangerous .
The virus is not the cause of the crash , it is just very good cover for the banks who are the real perpetrators .
Ignore the virus if you want , but the economic collapse is undeniable .
Accept that the national and global emergency is real ( even if it has been financially engineered ) , and let ’ s move on to a more meaningful debate : Should governments be allowed to implement martial law measures in response ?
In my view there is no excuse for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The majority of the public is more than capable of voluntary quarantine without government enforcement .
Add government intervention into the mix and it will only make people want to do the opposite .
And beyond that , Covid-19 has such a long incubation period that ultimately most people will probably contract it anyway .
Total containment is not achievable ( as we have just seen in South Korea ) .
Quarantines might slow the spread , which is good , but do not expect to avoid this virus indefinitely .
Why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an illusion ?
Then there is the argument of “ herd immunity ” , which is utter nonsense and always has been .
Either a person or group is immune , or they are not , and people who are not immune do not put immune people at risk .
Period .
The claim that the virus might “ mutate ” within non-vaccinated or non-immune people and put vaccinated people at risk is a propaganda argument that ignores science .
Generally , when a virus does mutate , it mutates into a less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more deadly strain .
Viruses are programmed to survive , too .
If they evolved to kill ALL potential hosts then that would be counter to their survival imperative , which is why they usually evolve in the other direction .
In terms of Covid-19 , there is no “ herd immunity ” by the establishment definition anyway , because it is a brand new virus .
There is no vaccine and the vast majority of people have no antibodies .
No one can make the argument that people need to be forcefully @ @ @ @ @ @ @ herd immunity that doesn ’ t exist .
Finally , there is a question of agenda and motive behind the rising call for martial law-like measures over the pandemic .
For example , Champaign , Illinois mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has given herself executive powers in response to the coronavirus infection that are outright dictatorial and Soviet in their violations .
Among other things , she demands the power to enforce curfews , ban public gatherings , ban alcohol , ban or confiscate firearms , as well as confiscate supplies from any citizen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency response ” .
Is this really about protecting the public ?
How does it protect the public to confiscate their only means of defense , or confiscate their food and supplies ?
This type of thing is usually done in communist countries , and it is done to protect government power , not protect the people .
Understand also that the Champaign mayor is not the only official calling for these types of actions .
From New York to LA and beyond , those of us who are paying attention have noticed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are whittling down American freedoms .
Do not expect Donald Trump to operate differently , either .
Expect him to initiate martial law measures ( though he may not call it “ martial law ” ) in the next few months .
Expect him to activate Executive Order 13603 , which was created by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows the federal government to appropriate everything from land to food to firearms in the event of a national emergency .
This is going to happen .
Count on it .
Indian Personal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 0.36 / Count ) The pandemic is not an excuse for tyranny , and I for one will not comply .
I and many I know will self quarantine for a time with the expectation that we will eventually contract the virus , and hopefully our immune systems are strong enough to fight it .
In the meantime , I will not be allowing any government officials to confiscate my supplies or my firearms “ for my own safety ” or “ for the greater good ” .
I will not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how much supplies I have stocked and whether or not I am ill .
I will not sit idle while checkpoints are set up in my county to enforce travel restrictions or demand people test for symptoms .
I will not be signing up for government rations in exchange for my biometric data .
I will not be visiting the local FEMA center for government aid .
And , I will fight anyone that tries to assert martial law tactics in my area .
A message to the government : I know you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you leave people alone and let them self isolate in peace .
Your brand of “ help ” is not the kind of help we need .
You and the financial elites that reside over you created this mess , and we do not trust you to clean it up .
At bottom , this disaster should result in your removal from power .
You should be held accountable and replaced .
The system itself needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and principles of liberty need to return to the forefront @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have caused untold grief and terror to humanity ; this collapse only reinforces the argument that we need to try something different .
They will say that the world was “ not centralized enough ” and that a more global ( totalitarian ) framework is the solution .
But , of course , who really benefits from that in the end ?
The common man , or the elites ?
They can offer any rationalization they want in the name of public safety , but we know what the real play is here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ martial law , I plan to fight .
Not just for me , but for the next generation .
Because if I do not , those children may grow up in the world never knowing what freedom truly is .
There are fates worse than death , and a life of tyranny and slavery is one of them .

America is in a haze right now. It seems like half the country is in denial of the danger while the other half is awaking from apathy and frantically trying to prepare. This is creating a fog of confusion as one side screams “it’s nothing but the flu, stop buying up the grocery store…!”, and the other side just keeps stocking goods, though in an inexperienced way that prioritizes comfort over practicality.
The other day I went by the grocery store to grab a few peripheral items while they still exist on sale, and this was the first time since the Covid-19 situation began that people in my area actually seemed…different. The usual carefree obliviousness was gone from their faces and they all had a deer-in-the-headlights look, their eyes wide as saucers as they nervously scrambled around the store. None of them were absorbed into their cell phones. All of them were alert as many people huddled over their cart, quickly snatching items from the shelves as if protecting themselves from potential thieves. It seems that reality is finally hitting the masses square in the face like a sucker punch.
Suddenly, the prepper movement doesn’t look so “crazy” after all, and average people are now turning to prepper forums and websites to ask us for information on how to plan more effectively. Instead of stacking piles of toilet paper for psychological comfort, they are now buying food supplies. The people who used to accuse us of being “chicken littles” and “doom mongers” are eerily silent. I almost miss them. At the very least, everyone is now concerned about the situation, if not for different reasons.
This is a far cry from the past two months, when governments around the world as well as the UN’s WHO continually downplayed the pandemic threat and offered the public nothing in terms of usable advice. The establishment consistently kept the public in the dark, not just on the virus and its capabilities but also on the vast weaknesses in the global economy. Abruptly in the past week they suggest that a threat is ahead and now millions of people are scrambling to prepare however they can. Gloves Latex Free, Glo... Buy New $14.89 ($14.89 / Count) (as of 11:56 UTC - Details)
As I have noted in previous articles, there is a reason why the establishment refused to inform the citizenry of the instabilities inherent in the pandemic scenario; the more unknowns there are for the public the more panic will set it, chaos ensues, and it is chaos that can be exploited to push forward numerous agendas. These agendas include global centralization as well as the erasure of constitutional liberties.
Now that a national collapse event is slowly being accepted by many as a legitimate possibility, there is a debate rising as to what measures the government should take, or should be allowed to take. Those of us in the prepper and liberty movements always knew this day was coming; a day when the public would start considering trading away an array of freedoms in exchange for promises of security.
Even now, government officials are still trying to tell people that this event will be “short lived”.
“Don’t worry”, they say, “It will only last a couple of weeks.” Oh, and “Don’t concern yourselves with food shortages, that’s not going to happen…” You can look at these lies in two different ways:
1) The government is trying to stave off a “panic” by slowly easing people into the reality that the system is breaking.
2) The government is trying to keep people passive to the danger so that when the system breaks completely they will be unprepared, desperate and easier to manipulate.
I believe the second option is the most likely given the evidence at hand, but in either case the government is crippling the public response time to the disaster. They did this for months and they are still trying to do it now.
So, my argument is, why should we suddenly take their advice or take orders from them when the manure hits the fan? They have FAILED in their responsibilities to inform and protect the citizenry, and they are about to violate their prime mandate, which is to protect the personal liberties that make our society worth living in. Without these freedoms, there is no point to keeping our system intact anyway.
The establishment and its defenders will claim that we all “have to make sacrifices” today in order to have freedoms tomorrow, but that’s not how the constitution was designed to work. Our rights are MORE important during times of distress and crisis, for it is in these times that we need to know what we are fighting for, and what we are struggling for. Survival is meaningless if we have to accept tyranny to achieve it.
Once governments see a chance to usurp freedoms from the people, they DO NOT tend to give those freedoms back later unless the people become a viable opponent that could bring the establishment down.
There are some who will say that a forced quarantine is necessary to protect the “greater good” of the greater number. It is true that the Covid-19 virus is a danger, and I think the people who claim it’s “no worse than the flu” are fighting a losing battle as the death rate is clearly much higher than the average flu virus. They will look extremely foolish a few months from now as the virus continues to cycle through the population and the dead continue to increase. That said, I think I understand why they cling to this crumbling argument.
They think that by arguing that the pandemic is “all hype” they can morally justify resistance to the inevitable totalitarian response from governments. They think it has to be one or the other: Either the virus is hyped and resistance is acceptable, or the virus is real and resistance is unacceptable. I ask – Why can’t it be both? The virus is dangerous to many, but a totalitarian response is still unacceptable.
The virus is in fact more destructive than any flu in recent memory – It’s not a plague on the level of the Black Death, but if it continues to kill at a rate of 3% to 5% as it has been then this puts a large number of human beings at risk. It is not something to be taken lightly, and those people that are actively trying to discourage others from preparing for it are truly narcissistic in their ideology. If you don’t think it’s a threat, then don’t prepare, but don’t scream at others for taking precautions just because you desperately want to be right, and don’t come around demanding food and supplies from those same people when the ceiling comes crashing down on your head.
Also, understand that Covid-19 is only part of the problem. The bigger crisis is in the economy itself; a collapse has been built into the system for years now, and the virus has little to do with it. Leftist kids are going around calling this pandemic the “boomer remover”, almost cheering the assumption that mostly older and conservative Americans will die from this. I have to break it to them that during the economic collapse that is inevitably coming they will have to wipe the snot from their noses and put on their big-boy diapers otherwise they aren’t going to survive either; most of them have no discernible skills and no preparations to speak of. They are essentially useless.
If Covid-19 is a “boomer remover”, then the economic crisis is a “snowflake bake”, and they are about to get roasted.
As I have noted time and time again over the past few years, the Everything Bubble only needed one major trigger event to fully implode, but the international banks and central banks created that precarious bubble in the first place, and they set up all the conditions which made it so dangerous. The virus is not the cause of the crash, it is just very good cover for the banks who are the real perpetrators.
Ignore the virus if you want, but the economic collapse is undeniable. Accept that the national and global emergency is real (even if it has been financially engineered), and let’s move on to a more meaningful debate: Should governments be allowed to implement martial law measures in response?
In my view there is no excuse for tyranny, even during a pandemic event. The majority of the public is more than capable of voluntary quarantine without government enforcement. Add government intervention into the mix and it will only make people want to do the opposite. And beyond that, Covid-19 has such a long incubation period that ultimately most people will probably contract it anyway. Total containment is not achievable (as we have just seen in South Korea). Quarantines might slow the spread, which is good, but do not expect to avoid this virus indefinitely. Why sacrifice your freedoms for safety that is an illusion?
Then there is the argument of “herd immunity”, which is utter nonsense and always has been. Either a person or group is immune, or they are not, and people who are not immune do not put immune people at risk. Period. The claim that the virus might “mutate” within non-vaccinated or non-immune people and put vaccinated people at risk is a propaganda argument that ignores science. Generally, when a virus does mutate, it mutates into a less deadly or infectious strain, not a more deadly strain. Viruses are programmed to survive, too. If they evolved to kill ALL potential hosts then that would be counter to their survival imperative, which is why they usually evolve in the other direction.
In terms of Covid-19, there is no “herd immunity” by the establishment definition anyway, because it is a brand new virus. There is no vaccine and the vast majority of people have no antibodies. No one can make the argument that people need to be forcefully locked down in order to maintain a herd immunity that doesn’t exist.
Finally, there is a question of agenda and motive behind the rising call for martial law-like measures over the pandemic. For example, Champaign, Illinois mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has given herself executive powers in response to the coronavirus infection that are outright dictatorial and Soviet in their violations. Among other things, she demands the power to enforce curfews, ban public gatherings, ban alcohol, ban or confiscate firearms, as well as confiscate supplies from any citizen if those supplies are “needed for emergency response”.
Is this really about protecting the public? How does it protect the public to confiscate their only means of defense, or confiscate their food and supplies? This type of thing is usually done in communist countries, and it is done to protect government power, not protect the people.
Understand also that the Champaign mayor is not the only official calling for these types of actions. From New York to LA and beyond, those of us who are paying attention have noticed a swift and quiet implementation of orders that are whittling down American freedoms. Do not expect Donald Trump to operate differently, either. Expect him to initiate martial law measures (though he may not call it “martial law”) in the next few months. Expect him to activate Executive Order 13603, which was created by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows the federal government to appropriate everything from land to food to firearms in the event of a national emergency. This is going to happen. Count on it. Indian Personal Health... Buy New $17.98 ($0.36 / Count) (as of 01:00 UTC - Details)
The pandemic is not an excuse for tyranny, and I for one will not comply. I and many I know will self quarantine for a time with the expectation that we will eventually contract the virus, and hopefully our immune systems are strong enough to fight it. In the meantime, I will not be allowing any government officials to confiscate my supplies or my firearms “for my own safety” or “for the greater good”.
I will not be cooperating with census takers asking questions about how much supplies I have stocked and whether or not I am ill. I will not sit idle while checkpoints are set up in my county to enforce travel restrictions or demand people test for symptoms. I will not be signing up for government rations in exchange for my biometric data. I will not be visiting the local FEMA center for government aid. And, I will fight anyone that tries to assert martial law tactics in my area.
A message to the government: I know you won’t, but I suggest you leave people alone and let them self isolate in peace. Your brand of “help” is not the kind of help we need. You and the financial elites that reside over you created this mess, and we do not trust you to clean it up. At bottom, this disaster should result in your removal from power. You should be held accountable and replaced.
The system itself needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and principles of liberty need to return to the forefront of our society. Centralization and globalization have caused untold grief and terror to humanity; this collapse only reinforces the argument that we need to try something different. They will say that the world was “not centralized enough” and that a more global (totalitarian) framework is the solution. But, of course, who really benefits from that in the end? The common man, or the elites?
They can offer any rationalization they want in the name of public safety, but we know what the real play is here. If the line is crossed into martial law, I plan to fight. Not just for me, but for the next generation. Because if I do not, those children may grow up in the world never knowing what freedom truly is. There are fates worse than death, and a life of tyranny and slavery is one of them.
Reprinted with permission from Alt-Market.


lewrockwell--2020-03-23--Roger Stone and the Corruption of Justice

You can ’ t make this up .
CNN headlined the story this way : The story begins this way : ( CNN ) — A juror on the Roger Stone trial said she wants to “ stand up ” for the four prosecutors who withdrew from the case in response to their sentencing recommendation being changed by Department of Justice leadership .
Tomeka Hart said she had remained silent about the case for months out of concern for her safety and “ politicizing the matter.
” Stoneu2019s Rules : How ... Roger Stone Best Price : $ 2.32 Buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week led to her to post on her Facebook account that she “ can ’ t keep quiet any longer.
” A copy of the posting was shared with CNN .
Hart confirmed to CNN that she wrote the post but did not want to discuss it further .
“ I want to stand up for Aaron Zelinsky , Adam Jed , Michael Marando , and Jonathan Kravis — the prosecutors on the Roger Stone trial , ” she wrote in the post that was shared with CNN .
“ It pains me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hard work of the prosecutors .
They acted with the utmost intelligence , integrity , and respect for our system of justice.
” Note the phrase that Ms. Hart “ shared ” a copy of her Facebook posting .
What was not shared ?
Her tweets .
Conservative journalist Mike Cernovich quickly posted an archive of Hart ’ s tweets .
He reported that Hart , the Stone jury foreman no less , was not only a Democratic activist and congressional candidate in 2012 ; she had also repeatedly tweeted her contempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and , but of course , Donald Trump .
Fox News headlined the story this way : The story said , in part , this : Hidden History : An Exp ... Donald Jeffries Best Price : $ 9.86 Buy New $ 14.70 Former Memphis City Schools Board President Tomeka Hart revealed Wednesday that she was the foreperson of the jury that convicted former Trump adviser Roger Stone on obstruction charges last year — and soon afterward , her history of Democratic activism and a string of her anti-Trump , left-wing social media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posted specifically about the Stone case before she was selected to sit on the jury , as she retweeted an argument mocking those who considered Stone ’ s dramatic arrest in a predawn raid by a federal tactical team to be excessive force .
She also suggested President Trump and his supporters are racist and praised the investigation conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller , which ultimately led to Stone ’ s prosecution .
Meanwhile , it emerged that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson had denied a defense request to strike a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with admitted anti-Trump views — and whose husband worked at the same Justice Department division that handled the probe leading to Stone ’ s arrest .
And , another Stone juror , Seth Cousins , donated to former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O ’ Rourke and other progressive causes , federal election records reviewed by Fox News show .
Got that ?
Not only was the jury “ foreperson ” a left-wing anti-Trump activist , she was out there tweeting her hatred of Roger Stone before she was picked to sit on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sitting there on that jury with her was an “ Obama-era press official with admitted anti-Trump views — and whose husband worked at the same Justice Department division that handled the probe leading to Stone ’ s arrest.
” Not to mention “ another Stone juror , Seth Cousins , donated to former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O ’ Rourke and other progressive causes .
”

You can’t make this up.
CNN headlined the story this way:
Stone juror says she ‘stands with’ the prosecutors
The story begins this way:
(CNN) — A juror on the Roger Stone trial said she wants to “stand up” for the four prosecutors who withdrew from the case in response to their sentencing recommendation being changed by Department of Justice leadership. Tomeka Hart said she had remained silent about the case for months out of concern for her safety and “politicizing the matter.” Stoneu2019s Rules: How... Roger Stone Best Price: $2.32 Buy New $3.98 (as of 10:20 UTC - Details) But the events this week led to her to post on her Facebook account that she “can’t keep quiet any longer.” A copy of the posting was shared with CNN. Hart confirmed to CNN that she wrote the post but did not want to discuss it further. “I want to stand up for Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed, Michael Marando, and Jonathan Kravis — the prosecutors on the Roger Stone trial,” she wrote in the post that was shared with CNN. “It pains me to see the DOJ now interfere with the hard work of the prosecutors. They acted with the utmost intelligence, integrity, and respect for our system of justice.”
Note the phrase that Ms. Hart “shared” a copy of her Facebook posting. What was not shared? Her tweets.
Conservative journalist Mike Cernovich quickly posted an archive of Hart’s tweets. He reported that Hart, the Stone jury foreman no less, was not only a Democratic activist and congressional candidate in 2012; she had also repeatedly tweeted her contempt for, yes indeed, Roger Stone and, but of course, Donald Trump.
Fox News headlined the story this way:
Roger Stone jury foreperson’s anti-Trump social media posts surface after she defends DOJ prosecutors
The story said, in part, this:
Got that? Not only was the jury “foreperson” a left-wing anti-Trump activist, she was out there tweeting her hatred of Roger Stone before she was picked to sit on the jury judging … Roger Stone. And sitting there on that jury with her was an “Obama-era press official with admitted anti-Trump views — and whose husband worked at the same Justice Department division that handled the probe leading to Stone’s arrest.” Not to mention “another Stone juror, Seth Cousins, donated to former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and other progressive causes.”
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-03-23--This Is Not a Recession

This Is Not a Recession

Economists and Wall Street analysts are using the word recession to describe the looming plunge in output in the US economy .
We ’ ll just make the point early that economists , exhibiting the typical emptiness of their failed science , can ’ t even agree on the definition of recession .
Undeterred by lacking a definition , the geniuses at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere on Wall Street are unrestrained in predicting the imminent arrival of the condition they can ’ t describe .
As is always the case , people understand the condition that economists can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lost jobs and wages , the reduction in activity at the businesses where they work , fewer shifts , fewer hours , a smaller paycheck , or layoffs or furloughs , unemployment and the need to ask the government for handouts to get by and to feed their families , when they ’ d rather be helping themselves .
They understand uncertainty and disruption , they feel the fear of not knowing their own economic future .
Recessions , like all economics , are subjectively experienced in the human mind , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have an understanding of why recessions occur cyclically ( although economists can ’ t agree , of course ) .
Business growth , the opposite of recession , is driven by savings and investment in new capacity , new and more productive machines , new software , new roads , bigger ships , and all the capital that people put to work to produce more goods and services .
Investment is a calculated bet on time : if a business spends this money now on new production that will occur in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return on that investment .
Recessions occur when governments get in the way and distort the calculation .
They issue too much credit at too low a price , and the business calculus misfires .
The low cost of credit entered into the investment calculation gives a false positive .
When the investment is actually undertaken , it fails to deliver the expected profit .
Projects are shut down .
Jobs are lost .
Against the Left : A Ro ... Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times .
The failed investment calculus may apply to dot.com companies ( 2000 ) , home mortgages ( 2008 ) or one or more of many other sectors .
Typically , the malinvestment is quickly shaken out and economic growth resumes .
But wait .
The coming recession in 2020 , so coldly and unfeelingly computed in the cloud by Goldman Sachs , is not like this .
We are about to enter a production slowdown – a collapse , really – not because some businesses miscalculated their investments , but because government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down all businesses .
How did they do that ?
By taking away the freedoms of the people whose energy and application drive economic growth .
Government told them to stay home .
Don ’ t go to work .
Don ’ t go to bars and restaurants and cinemas .
Don ’ t take your kids to school .
Don ’ t build cars or airplanes or computers or houses .
Don ’ t provide hospitality at hotels .
Don ’ t perform the tasks that constitute a growing economy where everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everybody thrives .
Let ’ s leave aside for the moment the monumental error we made in allowing government to do this – to withdraw our economic freedoms with such damaging consequences .
Let us try to understand the thinking and the motivations behind this tsunami of government hubris .
First , it is based on the worst error of government : central planning .
Despite all repeated evidence to the contrary , and despite their endless failures , they believe they can predict and change the direction of the future based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The models are computed using the government experts ’ own assumptions , thereby achieving a self-referential circularity .
They ’ re right because they ’ re right .
In the current case , the government experts input a wide range of unproven assumptions about coronavirus incidence and infection rates , and the exchange of infection between individuals .
They arrive at predictions of infection for the population .
There are wildly fluctuating model outcomes and predictions , so they pick the worst case .
The second step is the giant leap from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fantasy that government action can be taken against real people in order to change the inputs to the model .
Reinfection rates too high ?
Order people to change their behavior to get no closer to each other than 6 feet ( another assumption from some model somewhere ) .
Tell them to stay home and abandon all economic activity .
Lock down the state .
Lock down the country .
Why are they doing this ?
Because they can .
They have not actually given a reason .
To save lives ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ previous flu seasons which are much more deadly ?
To reduce pressure on the healthcare sector ?
Find other ways to do it .
Which one of us has been asked whether we want to sacrifice our livelihood in return for a theoretically reduced probability of a COVID-19 infection ?
They have the models and they have the political power to order us around .
Control and power over individuals is the only justification .
Worse , this escalation in the power of government , reaching the point where they can order us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enforce the order at the point of a gun , will prove to irreversible .
We won ’ t be able to un-remember what they did to us .
It will be indelibly recorded in history .
Governments will point to this instance to justify future , worse instances .
We must start to resist .

Economists and Wall Street analysts are using the word recession to describe the looming plunge in output in the US economy. We’ll just make the point early that economists, exhibiting the typical emptiness of their failed science, can’t even agree on the definition of recession.
Undeterred by lacking a definition, the geniuses at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere on Wall Street are unrestrained in predicting the imminent arrival of the condition they can’t describe.
As is always the case, people understand the condition that economists can’t even describe in theory. They understand the lost jobs and wages, the reduction in activity at the businesses where they work, fewer shifts, fewer hours, a smaller paycheck, or layoffs or furloughs, unemployment and the need to ask the government for handouts to get by and to feed their families, when they’d rather be helping themselves. They understand uncertainty and disruption, they feel the fear of not knowing their own economic future. Recessions, like all economics, are subjectively experienced in the human mind, in individuals, in families, in communities.
We have an understanding of why recessions occur cyclically (although economists can’t agree, of course). Business growth, the opposite of recession, is driven by savings and investment in new capacity, new and more productive machines, new software, new roads, bigger ships, and all the capital that people put to work to produce more goods and services. Investment is a calculated bet on time: if a business spends this money now on new production that will occur in the future, they calculate a positive return on that investment. Recessions occur when governments get in the way and distort the calculation. They issue too much credit at too low a price, and the business calculus misfires. The low cost of credit entered into the investment calculation gives a false positive. When the investment is actually undertaken, it fails to deliver the expected profit. Projects are shut down. Jobs are lost. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
We have seen this cycle many times. The failed investment calculus may apply to dot.com companies (2000), home mortgages (2008) or one or more of many other sectors. Typically, the malinvestment is quickly shaken out and economic growth resumes.
But wait. The coming recession in 2020, so coldly and unfeelingly computed in the cloud by Goldman Sachs, is not like this. We are about to enter a production slowdown – a collapse, really – not because some businesses miscalculated their investments, but because government intervened drastically and without warning to shut down all businesses. How did they do that? By taking away the freedoms of the people whose energy and application drive economic growth. Government told them to stay home. Don’t go to work. Don’t go to bars and restaurants and cinemas. Don’t take your kids to school. Don’t build cars or airplanes or computers or houses. Don’t provide hospitality at hotels. Don’t perform the tasks that constitute a growing economy where everyone who works serves everyone who consumes and everybody thrives.
Let’s leave aside for the moment the monumental error we made in allowing government to do this – to withdraw our economic freedoms with such damaging consequences. Let us try to understand the thinking and the motivations behind this tsunami of government hubris.
First, it is based on the worst error of government: central planning. Despite all repeated evidence to the contrary, and despite their endless failures, they believe they can predict and change the direction of the future based on mathematical modeling of the human condition. The models are computed using the government experts’ own assumptions, thereby achieving a self-referential circularity. They’re right because they’re right.
In the current case, the government experts input a wide range of unproven assumptions about coronavirus incidence and infection rates, and the exchange of infection between individuals. They arrive at predictions of infection for the population. There are wildly fluctuating model outcomes and predictions, so they pick the worst case.
The second step is the giant leap from the theoretical output of the models to the fantasy that government action can be taken against real people in order to change the inputs to the model. Reinfection rates too high? Order people to change their behavior to get no closer to each other than 6 feet (another assumption from some model somewhere). Tell them to stay home and abandon all economic activity. Lock down the state. Lock down the country.
Why are they doing this? Because they can. They have not actually given a reason. To save lives? Whose? Why now and not in previous flu seasons which are much more deadly? To reduce pressure on the healthcare sector? Find other ways to do it. Which one of us has been asked whether we want to sacrifice our livelihood in return for a theoretically reduced probability of a COVID-19 infection? They have the models and they have the political power to order us around. Control and power over individuals is the only justification.
Worse, this escalation in the power of government, reaching the point where they can order us not to leave our homes, and enforce the order at the point of a gun, will prove to irreversible. We won’t be able to un-remember what they did to us. It will be indelibly recorded in history. Governments will point to this instance to justify future, worse instances.
We must start to resist.


lewrockwell--2020-03-23--‘Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste’

“ You never want a serious crisis to go to waste .
And what I mean by that [ is ] it ’ s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not before.
” While there may be shortages of toilet paper in America , Judge Andrew P. Napolitano ’ s column “ Freedom in a Time of Madness ” made perfectly clear that authorities in America are at least metaphorically using the Constitution in its place , tyrannically attacking basic human freedoms and rights in the guise of promoting “ the greater good ” and saving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ write this on March 20 , 2020 show this dreadful loss of liberty is intensifying in America and throughout the world : • CA Governor Issues State-Wide “ Stay At Home ” Order , Warns 56 % Of Residents Will Be Infected : Live Updates • Gov Cuomo Orders “ 100 % Of Workers To Stay Home ” As New York Rolls Out Restrictive New Measures To Combat Outbreak : Live Updates • 14 Million Americans Have Been Laid Off So Far Due To COVID-19 • The Home Lockdown Survival Guide—Staying Healthy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Crisis • In images : effects of COVID-19 on landmarks around the world Caxinthy 50 PCS Dispos ... Buy New $ 16.99 ( $ 0.34 / Count ) Obviously , COVID-19 is changing our lives and not for the better .
Ordinary actions that we ’ d do without thinking are now forbidden .
I am one of those who does not believe that the ruling Oligarchy has the welfare of ordinary people in mind and may be cynically using this illness not only to cull those who are weaker and are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system , but are taking what they consider their wealth but are also using the “ epidemic ” for reasons of control .
As to actually avoiding the illness—among others—frequent readers of LewRockwell.com receive excellent health advice regularly by Bill Sardi including his frequent posts on COVID-19 , most recently in his “ The Coronavirus Is Not Causing Deaths—Weak Immune Systems Are ” but there is a concerted effort to deliberately attack and censor potentially life saving advice like Sardi ’ s .
Recently , Ron Unz posted an overview by Kevin Barrett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concludes based on a preponderance of evidence is the agenda of the globalist oligarchy : Today ’ s coronavirus black swan , like 9/11 , has all the characteristics of a trauma-based mass-mind-control op .
It has already been used to demonize China in the same way 9/11 was used to demonize Islam : Just as we were supposed to hate the crazy suicidal Muslims yearning for harems of afterlife virgins , we are now supposed to feel disgust for Chinese slurpers of bat soup .
And just as we were supposed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muslim-majority nations , now we are told to revile the oppressive censorship-addicted regime in Beijing .
It may be purely coincidental that this wholesale demonization of the world ’ s two greatest classical civilizations , based on two fear-inciting black swan events of suspicious origin , just happened to arrive in the wake of the Bernard Lewis-Samuel Huntington pronouncement that the 21st century would be era of the “ clash of civilizations.
” After all , even the craziest coincidence theories sometimes turn out to be true… Strategic analysts agree that the necessary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a decoupling of the US and Chinese economies .
That decoupling is happening now , thanks to coronavirus .
Once it has passed the point of no return , war becomes far more likely .
Hunkering down for a serious war on China and its allies would also require a momentous psychological and cultural shift on the part of the American people .
Until now , they have been lazy , undisciplined , addicted to consumption without much production , and unwilling to sacrifice themselves ( though quite willing to murder foreigners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ base ) .
Only a profound psychic shock , and some serious deprivation , could retool them as potential soldiers and total war participants in a deadly and dangerous struggle to maintain their rulers ’ global dominance privileges .
Or so the neocons might imagine .
One can get discouraged by what is occurring , and what is planned but we can resist if we choose , although sadly I suspect the majority of Americas will comply with all the draconian edicts issued and forthcoming .
If nothing else we can resist the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the agenda towards war as much as possible .
Yet I for one have hope .
I believe there is more to life than dominance of the weak over the strong , “ the survival of the fittest , ” and thus the dogma of Darwinism .
I believe in hope .
If my faith in my fellow weak and gullible human beings isn ’ t strong , my faith in God is .
Remember Easter is coming .
And for those of us who profess Christianity remember Jesus ’ s words @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we must help : The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 And , behold , a certain lawyer stood up , and tempted him , saying , Master , what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?
26 He said unto him , What is written in the law ?
how readest thou ?
27 And he answering said , Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and with all thy soul , and with all thy strength , and with all thy mind ; and thy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said unto him , Thou hast answered right : this do , and thou shalt live .
29 But he , willing to justify himself , said unto Jesus , And who is my neighbour ?
30 And Jesus answering said , A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho , and fell among thieves , which stripped him of his raiment , and wounded him , and departed , leaving him half dead .
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way : and when he saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other side .
32 And likewise a Levite , when he was at the place , came and looked on him , and passed by on the other side .
33 But a certain Samaritan , as he journeyed , came where he was : and when he saw him , he had compassion on him , 34 And went to him , and bound up his wounds , pouring in oil and wine , and set him on his own beast , and brought him to an inn , and took care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morrow when he departed , he took out two pence , and gave them to the host , and said unto him , Take care of him ; and whatsoever thou spendest more , when I come again , I will repay thee .
36 Which now of these three , thinkest thou , was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves ?
37 And he said , He that shewed mercy on him .
Then said Jesus unto him , Go , and do thou likewise .
Headwear , Head Wrap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our neighbors are those in need , the people we meet every day , and especially now .
As Pastor Jack Wellman has written : Who is our neighbor ?
Whom do you see ?
Whoever you meet or see today is your neighbor , and the Bible doesn ’ t specify that only Christians are our neighbors .
Our neighbor is anyone that we can help .
We have three things to offer…our time , talent , and treasure , so “ if anyone has the world ’ s goods and sees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his heart against him , how does God ’ s love abide in him ” ( 1 John 3:17 ) ?
That ’ s an excellent question , isn ’ t it ?
Perhaps a neighbor , whoever that might be , would reach out for help today .
What would be your and my response ?
“ Well , I will pray for you , ” but if “ one of you says to them , “ Go in peace , be warmed and filled , ” without giving them the things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that ” ( James 2:16 ) ?
That ’ s another fine question .
The best thing we can do for our neighbor is to love them , and the love of God should compel us to share Christ with them .
We need to let them know that God demands perfect righteousness to enter the kingdom , but God provides what He demands through Jesus Christ .
Who else is sinless , perfect , and completely holy ?
There is no reconciliation between us and God without Jesus Christ ( Acts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the most loving thing you could ever do .
What the world needs , and what we are in a unique position to give is love , not the romantic notion of love , which the world promotes , but real Christian love , which is love for God and love for our neighbor .
A love that reflects God ’ s love for us .
The kind of love that was shown by the Good Samaritan .
A love which sees a need in our fellow man and unselfishly responds without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A love which emanates from the love of God and which sees God in all men .
The world has grown cold and has turned love inward .
The world has fallen to the sins of pride and selfishness .
Pride is a bacterium , which infects not only our souls , but also the souls of those around us .
It has infected the whole world causing a great plague .
The symptoms of this sickness are selfishness , anger , hatred and depression .
As a priest , I talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find that a great many people exhibit the symptoms of being infected by pride , and by its offspring , anger .
Anger is especially dangerous because it breeds so many other sins .
It turns us from Christ , causes us to hate our neighbor , to lose control of our actions , and eventually to despair .
Anger is usually aroused when someone has done , or seems to have done , something to us .
Something that blocks what we want , something that offends us or threatens us .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ virtue that we have managed to build in ourselves .
It is very difficult to deal with anger , hatred and depression because the anecdote—humility—is a difficult pill to swallow .
This is especially true today when we are taught that we must love ourselves in order to be complete human beings , and that we must take pride in what we do .
Pride is elevated to the status of a virtue , and being selfish as a key to success .
And , when we don ’ t get what we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eventually turns to depression .
Depression because we somehow have not gotten what we deserve , our future looks bleak , there is no hope for us—only death .
However , a far greater tragedy in all of this is the death of the soul .
In order to strive for what is Godly , in order to love our neighbor , in order to come out of the darkness into the light , and in order to bring others to Christ , we must heal the disease which lingers within us .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is the cure for our enslavement to the passions .
In this is true freedom from passion , and true peace , such as the world can not understand… Christ comes to us everyday in disguises—He walks among us , and we don ’ t recognize Him .
Maybe that ’ s because we ’ re looking for the wrong thing ?
Christ walks among us not as the image that we see in our icons .
He comes to us as an ordinary person , as our brother or sister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our enemy and yes , even as the outcasts of society—the untouchable , the naked , the poor , the sick , the heretic and the atheist all are in need of our assistance .
Real love is exhibited in love for all men , especially for the least of our brethren .
For these too are all born to become members of Christ , living parts of Christ ’ s body ( Eph .
4 & 5 , Cor .
6 : 15 ) .
We are all growing within a living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is Christ .
Therefore , through love , we must help the spiritual growth and progress of one another .
When one part of the body makes progress this is for the good of the whole body .
When one part of the body is sick , the whole body suffers .
Our love for our neighbor serves the health of both our neighbor and ourselves .
Love is health ; hatred is sickness .
Love is salvation ; hatred is damnation .
In truth it can be said that all good that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ love of God and neighbor .
Likewise it can also be said that all the sins that have ever been are sins against love , either for God or for our neighbor .
It can be said to that both heaven and earth depend upon love .
What is happening now is not making me fearful or angry but sorrowful ; yet as a Christian I have been given guidance how to act .
Recently , the site Russian-Faith posted their response to the Coronavirus , which is the balm of sacred music @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anxiety has reached an apex ; debilitating and all-consuming , it paralyses so many of us in fear or hopelessness or anger .
Of course , our descent into chronic anxiety began many decades ago : it fuels our fast-paced lives , our never-ending economic concerns , our desperate avoidance and fear of discomfort and death .
MedPride Powder-Free N ... Buy New $ 16.49 ( $ 16.49 / Count ) “ Music , one of the greatest gifts of God to humanity , has an almost mysterious effect on us .
To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our readers , keep the light of inner peace glowing in this time of distress , we have decided Russian Faith will regularly publish beautiful church music during this crisis .
“ For anxiety is not the way of the Christian.
” Inspired by faith , new , wonderful compositions have been created .
I recently heard for the first time through Russian-Faith a work I ’ d never knew existed before , composed by the head of the Georgian Church , Patriarch Ilya II and performed by Mariam Roinishvili and Trinity Cathedral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words in the chant : ‘ Kyrie Eleison , ’ which in Greek means ‘ Lord , Have Mercy.
’ Perhaps , the simplicity and minimalism of the prayer are what makes it so powerful.
” May all sacred music and faith inspire and give you courage and hope .
The Best of Yvonne Lorenzo

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not before.”
While there may be shortages of toilet paper in America, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano’s column “Freedom in a Time of Madness” made perfectly clear that authorities in America are at least metaphorically using the Constitution in its place, tyrannically attacking basic human freedoms and rights in the guise of promoting “the greater good” and saving lives. And the headlines as I write this on March 20, 2020 show this dreadful loss of liberty is intensifying in America and throughout the world:
Caxinthy 50 PCS Dispos... Buy New $16.99 ($0.34 / Count) (as of 11:56 UTC - Details) Obviously, COVID-19 is changing our lives and not for the better. Ordinary actions that we’d do without thinking are now forbidden. I am one of those who does not believe that the ruling Oligarchy has the welfare of ordinary people in mind and may be cynically using this illness not only to cull those who are weaker and are a “drain” on their corrupt financial system, but are taking what they consider their wealth but are also using the “epidemic” for reasons of control.
As to actually avoiding the illness—among others—frequent readers of LewRockwell.com receive excellent health advice regularly by Bill Sardi including his frequent posts on COVID-19, most recently in his “The Coronavirus Is Not Causing Deaths—Weak Immune Systems Are” but there is a concerted effort to deliberately attack and censor potentially life saving advice like Sardi’s.
Recently, Ron Unz posted an overview by Kevin Barrett, which is chilling in what he concludes based on a preponderance of evidence is the agenda of the globalist oligarchy:
Today’s coronavirus black swan, like 9/11, has all the characteristics of a trauma-based mass-mind-control op. It has already been used to demonize China in the same way 9/11 was used to demonize Islam: Just as we were supposed to hate the crazy suicidal Muslims yearning for harems of afterlife virgins, we are now supposed to feel disgust for Chinese slurpers of bat soup. And just as we were supposed to loathe the brutal and incompetent governments of Muslim-majority nations, now we are told to revile the oppressive censorship-addicted regime in Beijing. It may be purely coincidental that this wholesale demonization of the world’s two greatest classical civilizations, based on two fear-inciting black swan events of suspicious origin, just happened to arrive in the wake of the Bernard Lewis-Samuel Huntington pronouncement that the 21st century would be era of the “clash of civilizations.” After all, even the craziest coincidence theories sometimes turn out to be true… Strategic analysts agree that the necessary prelude to ramped up US-vs.-China warfare would be a decoupling of the US and Chinese economies. That decoupling is happening now, thanks to coronavirus. Once it has passed the point of no return, war becomes far more likely. Hunkering down for a serious war on China and its allies would also require a momentous psychological and cultural shift on the part of the American people. Until now, they have been lazy, undisciplined, addicted to consumption without much production, and unwilling to sacrifice themselves (though quite willing to murder foreigners from the safe distance of a drone base). Only a profound psychic shock, and some serious deprivation, could retool them as potential soldiers and total war participants in a deadly and dangerous struggle to maintain their rulers’ global dominance privileges. Or so the neocons might imagine.
One can get discouraged by what is occurring, and what is planned but we can resist if we choose, although sadly I suspect the majority of Americas will comply with all the draconian edicts issued and forthcoming. If nothing else we can resist the crushing miasma of fear that is fomented and the agenda towards war as much as possible.
Yet I for one have hope. I believe there is more to life than dominance of the weak over the strong, “the survival of the fittest,” and thus the dogma of Darwinism. I believe in hope. If my faith in my fellow weak and gullible human beings isn’t strong, my faith in God is. Remember Easter is coming. And for those of us who profess Christianity remember Jesus’s words, how we can help and how we must help:
The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Headwear, Head Wrap, N... Buy New $13.99 (as of 03:11 UTC - Details) Our neighbors are those in need, the people we meet every day, and especially now. As Pastor Jack Wellman has written:
Who is our neighbor? Whom do you see? Whoever you meet or see today is your neighbor, and the Bible doesn’t specify that only Christians are our neighbors. Our neighbor is anyone that we can help. We have three things to offer…our time, talent, and treasure, so “if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him” (1 John 3:17)? That’s an excellent question, isn’t it? Perhaps a neighbor, whoever that might be, would reach out for help today. What would be your and my response? “Well, I will pray for you,” but if “one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that” (James 2:16)? That’s another fine question. The best thing we can do for our neighbor is to love them, and the love of God should compel us to share Christ with them. We need to let them know that God demands perfect righteousness to enter the kingdom, but God provides what He demands through Jesus Christ. Who else is sinless, perfect, and completely holy? There is no reconciliation between us and God without Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Telling your neighbor that is the most loving thing you could ever do.
Father Martin Swanson has also written:
What the world needs, and what we are in a unique position to give is love, not the romantic notion of love, which the world promotes, but real Christian love, which is love for God and love for our neighbor. A love that reflects God’s love for us. The kind of love that was shown by the Good Samaritan. A love which sees a need in our fellow man and unselfishly responds without being asked and without expectation of reward. A love which emanates from the love of God and which sees God in all men. The world has grown cold and has turned love inward. The world has fallen to the sins of pride and selfishness. Pride is a bacterium, which infects not only our souls, but also the souls of those around us. It has infected the whole world causing a great plague. The symptoms of this sickness are selfishness, anger, hatred and depression. As a priest, I talk to a lot of people and I find that a great many people exhibit the symptoms of being infected by pride, and by its offspring, anger. Anger is especially dangerous because it breeds so many other sins. It turns us from Christ, causes us to hate our neighbor, to lose control of our actions, and eventually to despair. Anger is usually aroused when someone has done, or seems to have done, something to us. Something that blocks what we want, something that offends us or threatens us. Anger dominates the soul and destroys any virtue that we have managed to build in ourselves. It is very difficult to deal with anger, hatred and depression because the anecdote—humility—is a difficult pill to swallow. This is especially true today when we are taught that we must love ourselves in order to be complete human beings, and that we must take pride in what we do. Pride is elevated to the status of a virtue, and being selfish as a key to success. And, when we don’t get what we want, we get angry. Anger eventually turns to depression. Depression because we somehow have not gotten what we deserve, our future looks bleak, there is no hope for us—only death. However, a far greater tragedy in all of this is the death of the soul. In order to strive for what is Godly, in order to love our neighbor, in order to come out of the darkness into the light, and in order to bring others to Christ, we must heal the disease which lingers within us. We must acquire the Spirit of God, which is the cure for our enslavement to the passions. In this is true freedom from passion, and true peace, such as the world cannot understand… Christ comes to us everyday in disguises—He walks among us, and we don’t recognize Him. Maybe that’s because we’re looking for the wrong thing? Christ walks among us not as the image that we see in our icons. He comes to us as an ordinary person, as our brother or sister, our neighbor, our friend and our enemy and yes, even as the outcasts of society—the untouchable, the naked, the poor, the sick, the heretic and the atheist all are in need of our assistance. Real love is exhibited in love for all men, especially for the least of our brethren. For these too are all born to become members of Christ, living parts of Christ’s body (Eph. 4 & 5, Cor. 6: 15). We are all growing within a living organism into the Church, whose head is Christ. Therefore, through love, we must help the spiritual growth and progress of one another. When one part of the body makes progress this is for the good of the whole body. When one part of the body is sick, the whole body suffers. Our love for our neighbor serves the health of both our neighbor and ourselves. Love is health; hatred is sickness. Love is salvation; hatred is damnation. In truth it can be said that all good that we are capable of doing comes from love of God and neighbor. Likewise it can also be said that all the sins that have ever been are sins against love, either for God or for our neighbor. It can be said to that both heaven and earth depend upon love.
What is happening now is not making me fearful or angry but sorrowful; yet as a Christian I have been given guidance how to act. Recently, the site Russian-Faith posted their response to the Coronavirus, which is the balm of sacred music. Vera Reid wrote, “Global anxiety has reached an apex; debilitating and all-consuming, it paralyses so many of us in fear or hopelessness or anger. Of course, our descent into chronic anxiety began many decades ago: it fuels our fast-paced lives, our never-ending economic concerns, our desperate avoidance and fear of discomfort and death. MedPride Powder-Free N... Buy New $16.49 ($16.49 / Count) (as of 11:13 UTC - Details)
“Music, one of the greatest gifts of God to humanity, has an almost mysterious effect on us. To help ourselves, as well as all our readers, keep the light of inner peace glowing in this time of distress, we have decided Russian Faith will regularly publish beautiful church music during this crisis.
“For anxiety is not the way of the Christian.”
Inspired by faith, new, wonderful compositions have been created. I recently heard for the first time through Russian-Faith a work I’d never knew existed before, composed by the head of the Georgian Church, Patriarch Ilya II and performed by Mariam Roinishvili and Trinity Cathedral Choir:
“There are only two words in the chant: ‘Kyrie Eleison,’ which in Greek means ‘Lord, Have Mercy.’ Perhaps, the simplicity and minimalism of the prayer are what makes it so powerful.”
May all sacred music and faith inspire and give you courage and hope.

The Best of Yvonne Lorenzo


lewrockwell--2020-03-23--I Have Seen the Futures!

I Have Seen the Futures!

“ Shut up , ” Jack screamed at the crows , waving his arms wildly .
“ Shut up , shut up !
” Only he really didn ’ t utter a sound .
And he didn ’ t dare flail about either .
But gawd , he hated crows .
And he hated hearing their grating “ caww , caw ” sound twice a week from the vacant lot next to the commissary .
One really didn ’ t dare cause a disturbance in line , Jack knew .
He felt uncomfortable even talking to people , much less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t risk being labeled a “ disrupter , ” especially with a family and kids .
Ever since the “ commissary incidents ” two years ago there were T.O.
’ s — Tranquility Officers — everywhere .
Even if you couldn ’ t see them , you knew they were watching .
So Jack bottled it up and just closed his eyes tightly for a second .
When he opened them , he shot a look of hate across the lot where the crows were perched in the bare tree above the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot .
Maybe he could come back on the weekend .
Maybe it would be sunny .
Jack sure hoped so .
And maybe the crows wouldn ’ t be there reminding him of the endless gray winter .
But then again , maybe they would .
Besides , he thought , he ’ d already been waiting 45 minutes and he was almost at the corner and from there it would only be another half-hour .
Jack pulled his coat a little tighter and kept quiet .
Red and Blue and Broke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5.99 Besides the thought would occasionally occur to Jack while waiting in life ’ s endless succession of lines , that maybe it wasn ’ t really the crows he hated with all his might .
Maybe they were just a convenient focal point , caught in the crossfire of desolation and deprivation .
Maybe it was really the “ groat , ” the government rolled oat bread he hated .
No , there was no maybe about that part .
Cold , tough , stale and flavorless , two loaves twice a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
From time to time he wondered why they couldn ’ t have real bread made out of flour like people used to eat in when he was a kid .
But that ’ s why there was a Food Czar , Jack knew , to figure that stuff out .
He remembered watching the first Food Czar almost twelve years ago explain that sending wheat to rich Asian countries was only for the duration of the crisis , and that it was the patriotic thing to do during these times .
Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patriotic as the next guy , even if he did join in the general discontent a few years ago when it seemed like things just kept getting worse .
But he wasn ’ t a “ disrupter ” or anything like that , although he had a few nervous nights wondering if he had complained too loudly to anybody .
But that was before the new Food Czar .
The new Czar had been a general in the ongoing war and he looked like the kind of guy who could really get stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t taken him any time at all to come up with the Recovery and Economy in Agriculture Plan , REAP , that set aside an additional 20 million acres for oat production .
And he ’ d promised that REAP would really shorten the lines .
Jack sure hoped so .
Besides , there was a presidential election coming up and the all the candidates were saying that if the Food Czar didn ’ t produce results next year heads would roll and they ’ d get somebody in there that could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so .
He was going to start paying more attention to the campaign .
By now Jack had reached the corner .
He dug his hand into his pocket and felt for his plastic ration card .
John checked his text messages as he got close to his neighborhood .
There was one from his wife .
“ PICK UP BREAD.
” Seemed like there was always something , he thought .
In the store , John grabbed a cart just in case and headed for the bakery department .
He knew she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afternoon , but why couldn ’ t she just leave a voice message like most people , he thought with a hint of impatience .
Always text messages .
Wouldn ’ t it have been just as easy to leave a voice message ?
At least then she could have mentioned what kind of bread , or what it was for .
Was it that awful white bread the kids like for sandwiches he wondered , or that tasty sprouted whole wheat that he liked himself ?
No , it couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family would eat it .
As he strolled through the bakery section John caught a whiff of the fresh sourdough coming straight out of the oven .
Irresistible !
Jack knew he couldn ’ t be trusted shopping on his way home at suppertime , that he was the perfect impulse buyer .
But he grabbed a loaf anyway .
It was at that moment he spied the long skinny loaves of French bread and remembered – French bread !
Of course .
She was making that shrimp pasta they ’ d seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It sure had looked wonderful on TV , and she was going to try it out tonight !
And they ’ d served it with French bread so Jack grabbed a loaf , rolled through the wine aisle , picked a couple of bottles of a favorite , and headed to the check-out .
While he waited for his turn in the express lane , John noted the lady two shoppers ahead must have had at least 20 items .
Didn ’ t she see the sign that said 15 items or less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get home a try a slice of the sourdough while it was still hot enough to melt butter .
As he waited , John busied himself reading the tabloid headlines on the rack in front of him .
There was that one really good-looking actress he liked , caught up in some weird love triangle .
Another featured psychic predictions and a headline about a woman who gave birth to an eight-pound Chihuahua .
That would be good .
Another had something about a presidential race .
Some people will read anything , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old people .
They still followed that stuff out of habit .
Ever since the “ Leave Us Alone ” movement , those campaigns have been about as important as choosing the head librarian .
No sooner had he finished the thought than it was his turn .
Took ’ em long enough , John thought , feeling the sourdough loaf to assure himself it was still nice and warm .
He chuckled to himself about the Chihuahua mother story as the cashier finished scanning his purchases and handed her his gold card @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the receipt .
“ Thank you for shopping with us , ” she said with a smile .
John nodded his thanks , grabbed the groceries with one hand and the receipt with the other and headed to the door .
He glanced at the total .
They deducted .4672 grams of gold from his account .
Not bad , he thought to himself , wondering if it was just his imagination or if the same amount of groceries wouldn ’ t have cost him closer to three-quarters of a gram not too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sourdough is going to make me famished by the time I get home , John thought , moving a little quicker .
The Best of Charles Goyette

Future One
“Shut up,” Jack screamed at the crows, waving his arms wildly. “Shut up, shut up!”
Only he really didn’t utter a sound. And he didn’t dare flail about either. But gawd, he hated crows. And he hated hearing their grating “caww, caw” sound twice a week from the vacant lot next to the commissary.
One really didn’t dare cause a disturbance in line, Jack knew. He felt uncomfortable even talking to people, much less screaming at crows. You really can’t risk being labeled a “disrupter,” especially with a family and kids. Ever since the “commissary incidents” two years ago there were T.O.’s — Tranquility Officers — everywhere. Even if you couldn’t see them, you knew they were watching.
So Jack bottled it up and just closed his eyes tightly for a second. When he opened them, he shot a look of hate across the lot where the crows were perched in the bare tree above the frozen patches of ice in the empty lot.
Maybe he could come back on the weekend. Maybe it would be sunny. Jack sure hoped so. And maybe the crows wouldn’t be there reminding him of the endless gray winter. But then again, maybe they would. Besides, he thought, he’d already been waiting 45 minutes and he was almost at the corner and from there it would only be another half-hour. Jack pulled his coat a little tighter and kept quiet. Red and Blue and Broke... Goyette, Charles Buy New $5.99 (as of 02:31 UTC - Details)
Besides the thought would occasionally occur to Jack while waiting in life’s endless succession of lines, that maybe it wasn’t really the crows he hated with all his might. Maybe they were just a convenient focal point, caught in the crossfire of desolation and deprivation. Maybe it was really the “groat,” the government rolled oat bread he hated. No, there was no maybe about that part. Cold, tough, stale and flavorless, two loaves twice a week. Jack knew he hated groat. From time to time he wondered why they couldn’t have real bread made out of flour like people used to eat in when he was a kid.
But that’s why there was a Food Czar, Jack knew, to figure that stuff out. He remembered watching the first Food Czar almost twelve years ago explain that sending wheat to rich Asian countries was only for the duration of the crisis, and that it was the patriotic thing to do during these times.
Well, Jack thought, he was as patriotic as the next guy, even if he did join in the general discontent a few years ago when it seemed like things just kept getting worse. But he wasn’t a “disrupter” or anything like that, although he had a few nervous nights wondering if he had complained too loudly to anybody. But that was before the new Food Czar. The new Czar had been a general in the ongoing war and he looked like the kind of guy who could really get stuff done. After all, it hadn’t taken him any time at all to come up with the Recovery and Economy in Agriculture Plan, REAP, that set aside an additional 20 million acres for oat production. And he’d promised that REAP would really shorten the lines. Jack sure hoped so.
Besides, there was a presidential election coming up and the all the candidates were saying that if the Food Czar didn’t produce results next year heads would roll and they’d get somebody in there that could really take charge. Jack sure hoped so. He was going to start paying more attention to the campaign.
By now Jack had reached the corner. He dug his hand into his pocket and felt for his plastic ration card.
“Gawd almighty,” Jack thought. “I hate crows.”
Future Two
John checked his text messages as he got close to his neighborhood. There was one from his wife. “PICK UP BREAD.” Seemed like there was always something, he thought.
In the store, John grabbed a cart just in case and headed for the bakery department. He knew she was going to be tied up this afternoon, but why couldn’t she just leave a voice message like most people, he thought with a hint of impatience. Always text messages. Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to leave a voice message? At least then she could have mentioned what kind of bread, or what it was for. Was it that awful white bread the kids like for sandwiches he wondered, or that tasty sprouted whole wheat that he liked himself? No, it couldn’t be that since nobody else in the family would eat it.
As he strolled through the bakery section John caught a whiff of the fresh sourdough coming straight out of the oven. Irresistible! Jack knew he couldn’t be trusted shopping on his way home at suppertime, that he was the perfect impulse buyer. But he grabbed a loaf anyway.
It was at that moment he spied the long skinny loaves of French bread and remembered – French bread! Of course. She was making that shrimp pasta they’d seen on the Food Channel last week. It sure had looked wonderful on TV, and she was going to try it out tonight! And they’d served it with French bread so Jack grabbed a loaf, rolled through the wine aisle, picked a couple of bottles of a favorite, and headed to the check-out.
While he waited for his turn in the express lane, John noted the lady two shoppers ahead must have had at least 20 items. Didn’t she see the sign that said 15 items or less, he wondered? He wanted to get home a try a slice of the sourdough while it was still hot enough to melt butter.
As he waited, John busied himself reading the tabloid headlines on the rack in front of him. There was that one really good-looking actress he liked, caught up in some weird love triangle. Another featured psychic predictions and a headline about a woman who gave birth to an eight-pound Chihuahua. That would be good. Another had something about a presidential race. Some people will read anything, John laughed to himself. Especially the old people. They still followed that stuff out of habit. Ever since the “Leave Us Alone” movement, those campaigns have been about as important as choosing the head librarian.
No sooner had he finished the thought than it was his turn. Took ’em long enough, John thought, feeling the sourdough loaf to assure himself it was still nice and warm. He chuckled to himself about the Chihuahua mother story as the cashier finished scanning his purchases and handed her his gold card. She swiped it and gave him the receipt. “Thank you for shopping with us,” she said with a smile.
John nodded his thanks, grabbed the groceries with one hand and the receipt with the other and headed to the door.
He glanced at the total. They deducted .4672 grams of gold from his account. Not bad, he thought to himself, wondering if it was just his imagination or if the same amount of groceries wouldn’t have cost him closer to three-quarters of a gram not too many years ago.
Smelling this fresh sourdough is going to make me famished by the time I get home, John thought, moving a little quicker.
The Best of Charles Goyette