Permacredits

What happens when you combine the convenience of a premier cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, the crowd funding of Kickstarter, and the democratic aspects of Reddit?

You get Permacredits.

Distributed technologies like this are changing our society and the face of the planet. In good ways I hope. But that is up to us. If you don't like what you see, and want to change it, I encourage you to educate yourself on these tools, use them, and support those who are out doing the work.

For once in human history, average people of little to modest means have the ability to make truly sweeping changes in a non-violent way. I certainly prefer that to the other way of altering the social order, don't you?

Prejudice

Nighttime Sky

The Devil's Advocate; An Appeal to Chrisitans

"In common parlance, a devil's advocate is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further. In taking this position, the individual taking on the devil's advocate role seeks to engage others in an argumentative discussion process. The purpose of such a process is typically to test the quality of the original argument and identify weaknesses in its structure, and to use such information to either improve or abandon the original, opposing position. It can also refer to someone who takes a stance that is seen as unpopular or unconventional, but is actually another way of arguing a much more conventional stance."--Wikipedia

This definition is close to where I am going with this. Mostly the last sentence above, but what I am arguing here is purely unconventional, and I believe it to be so.

Last weekend, my sister and brother-in-law were in town, and part of what is developing tradition is that we go play poker at his parents house. Lots of fun with the sweetest people ever. We really should do that more often.

At some point during the evening the sad state of affairs of our country and the world at large came up.  You know, the corruption, economic malaise, moral degeneracy, geopolitical tensions, and just general ugliness. In some ways these sure aren't good times.

Now, my brother-in-law's father is a Christian man, so he started aligning some of these events and goings on to end times prophecy. Book of Revelations and all that. Easy case to make.

That was about where the conversation stopped because my sister was more in the mood for lighter conversation and ours had definitely taken a heavy turn. Weirdly enough, it did end there; because he and I both are of the sort to really dig into something like that. I really wish I could have spoken my bit on this then to see what he would think. I sadly don't know him as well as I wish but he strikes me as a very thoughtful and open minded man.

So, before I start this I want to make it clear that I am not setting out to deliberately offend anyone. I don't mean to be hurtful. Please understand this, because some of what I am about to say can be construed as blasphemy, at least as most Christians define it. I don't know what is right or wrong and this is just something I have considered after much study of religion, politics, and history. The three are inseparable after all, because the story of humanity and how we treat each other is in the combination.

Ok, here we go...

What if the book of Revelation is not the revealed word of God but a (possibly self-fulfilling) prophecy organized by a group of power hungry and evil men? Or...



All kidding aside, who or what is Satan? And how would he exert influence in this world, if he exists?

I would think not through animals, as they do not seem to have conscious thought. They act upon instinct and therefore follow God's plan exclusively. It is coded in their DNA. They have no free will.

We on the other hand do. We can choose to suppress or succumb to our desires, act out of self-interest, or be purely altruistic. Often times this altruism would seem to be contrary to instinct. But perhaps not, given the social and tribal nature of people. (More on tribalism in an upcoming post.) Point being, we have choice. We can do good or evil, as it were.

Now, let's look at the book of Revelation and what it claims will come to pass. I'm not going to list everything here but some events include: tyrannical global government, war, famine, plague, general destruction of the planet, ect, ect. Horrible stuff. Misery and despair, hither and yon.

Sadly, it certainly appears to be playing out. 

Most Christians tend to believe in a loving God. One that cares for us and wants to see us happy and healthy. So, why would an omnipotent and loving deity pour (or allow to be poured) so much destruction on what appears to be a mighty fine creation? An act of tough love to punish us? Seems a bit extreme. And what of animals, that are by all accounts innocent? Certainly they don't deserve this sort of treatment.

I find that illogical, abhorrent, and I reject it. I propose something different. What if the book of Revelation, is just a pack of lies? What if evil men infiltrated the Church and pushed forward lies to steer humanity toward a path of evil? What if they used the Church to facilitate control over humanity? And what if they implanted a story of destruction that could be enacted right when they were going to lose control over humanity?



So, I ask you, what do you find more likely and believable? That God let some lies slip into his Holy Book? Or that he would let the earth turn into a Hell?

How much more likely is it that something will come to pass if you believe it? How about billions of people? I propose that all of this comes down to choice. We choose what we want. If we go on believing that this is inevitable we will continue allowing things to happen that make it so. Like to keep permitting evil scum bags to rule the world, chiefly. Because allowing them to do so gives them the power to take us there. And they certainly seem to be doing so.



I choose not to believe that this is inevitable. We can have a better world with out going through Hell to get there.

I started this post claiming to play the role of Devil's advocate.

 Now I contend that to continue to believe in the Book of Revelation and its inevitability, is to truly be just that; the Devil's advocate.

Good interview

If you are like me and have been wondering what has been going on with Cody Wilson and Defense Distributed, wonder no more.

Happy Patriots Day

I'd like to do a nice post on Lexington Green and the parallels with continuing events at the Bundy Ranch but life is calling and I don't have time.

Those couple links will get you started down the rabbit hole should you desire.

Is the status quo worth more than free will?

Last weekend I was having a conversation with some of my family on the reason why I became an anarchist. This Reason article lays it out nicely--

"When the government takes away our free will, the government steals a gift from God; it violates the natural law; it prevents us from having and utilizing the means to the truth. The moral ability to exercise free will to seek the truth is a natural right that all humans possess, and the government may only morally interfere with the exercise of that right when one affirmatively has given it away by using fraud or force to interfere with the exercise of someone else's natural rights."-- Judge Napolitano

While I don't agree with the Judge on everything, I largely do. What man has a right to take away your choice? And do your neighbors have a right to pick that man for you? Important questions you should consider.

Non-state solutions to social problems

Here is Amanda Billyrock's latest video.



I don't know about you, but these ideas sound preferable to our current institutions to me.

Take your blood pressure meds...

before you read this. This long, but excellent piece has been making the rounds in the liberty-loving shooters' blogosphere. This cab driver sums our state of affairs up nicely.

If you are pretty well informed, this stuff isn't news. But it is a great piece of writing to send on to someone just waking up to bring them up to speed.

The Pig Trap

Rediscovery

I was looking through some old CD books last night and came across some forgotten goodness, old 80's punk in the form of Black Flag and Dead Kennedy's. So, I have been digging on that as of late.

Riot....man.....That song makes me want to rip some stuff up. Put in the ear buds, take the next plane to Ukraine, taxi on to the Maidan, wade right in, and start cracking some statist skulls.

For liberty!  For anarchy!

Funny thing, or maybe not so funny, is how applicable the social critiques of Biafra and Rollins still are.

In this video, from the early 80's, the Kennedy's are ripping on Governor Jerry Brown.
Yes. That one.
And no, these cat's aren't prophetic. We just keep electing the same a**clowns.
 Little wonder that little has changed.

So while I rediscover some early 80's punk, California can rediscover a**clown Jerry Brown.

Kiss the moose!

Looking forward to this burger. I am past due. And the porter certainly doesn't suck either.

Good video on the Nevada situation

Storm Clouds Gathering usually comes out with some good content and this video is no exception. Do check it out, as well as his other material. It is worth your time.

The galley is open again

After a bit of a hiatus for traveling and just being plain too busy I opened up the kitchen again. i hadn't cooked at home in quite a while so the results weren't chef approved but were quite delicious all the same.

I seem to have an unending supply of game meats so I grabbed a hog tenderloin and some garden grown sweet potatoes out of the freezer.

I saw a recipe a while back for a sweet potato casserole that called for bourbon. Sounded good, but I sure couldn't recall where it was last seen so I just took stab at something.

I mixed a bit of the above in a sauce pan and warmed them enough to combine. The results I poured over a heated casserole dish full of smashed sweet potatoes. I broiled it down to a semi-soupy glaze on top.

The loin receive a dry rub and a semi-slow cook over charcoal and pecan chips. The result was pretty good but a touch dry inside with a touch too much char outside. I think I overestimated the cooling effect of soaked chips. First grill of the season and all, I was fairly pleased with results as they were still quite good. But I can do better.

I think both recipes need a little work but were still pretty tasty. I think I will be be accepting guests pretty soon, though.

Oh yeah, I whipped up enough bread dough to keep me in business through the week, even including a couple loaves to give away. Looking forward to some of that too.

Nevada updates, via WRSA

http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/witness-to-history/

http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/lessons-learned-from-bundyranch/

WRSA's coverage and congregating of info on the Bundy Ranch Standoff has been most excellent.

Keep up the great work, Pete. And thank you for it, sir.

One foot in the ether

I just finished reading The Great Shark Hunt by that wonderful mad man, Hunter S. Thompson. This prompted a little research to fill in some blanks on the man and his story. I found a few interesting facts that I'd like to share.

1. He began his professional writing career only a couple hours drive from my hometown, working as sports editor for Eglin Airforce Base's The Command Courier.
2. He stole elk antlers from Ernest Hemingway's cabin while doing research for a story on his suicide.
3. "In 1970, Thompson ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado, as part of a group of citizens running for local offices on the "Freak Power" ticket. The platform included promoting the decriminalization of drugs (for personal use only, not trafficking, as he disapproved of profiteering), tearing up the streets and turning them into grassy pedestrian malls, banning any building so tall as to obscure the view of the mountains, and renaming Aspen "Fat City" to deter investors. Thompson, having shaved his head, referred to the Republican candidate as "my long-haired opponent", as he wore a crew cut."-- from the Wikipedia article
4. He planned his funeral himself and it proceeded according to his wishes; it was funded by his friend, Johnny Depp, and climaxed in his ashes being shot from a canon placed on top a tower with a picture of a double thumbed fist holding a peyote button(he used this graphic in his run for mayor) while Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine played.

The man had a wild, crazy, and surrealistic life. His writing is hilarious even while he highlighted many aspects to be critical of in American culture.

I would have loved to have had a chance to party and play with firearms with him.....maybe we can at the big party in the sky.

Good questions

This is the kind of stuff that would be nice to find out. As much as we should be exploring outer space we should be doing so with our inner ones. But a number of those avenues are blocked with different forms of prohibitions.

It's almost like those who live at our expense are afraid that if we come to find truth we may realize how unnecessary they are.

Certainly can't let that become common knowledge. 

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/04/10-questions-about-the-pineal-gland-that-add-to-the-mystery-of-spirituality-2936592.html

Nevada

So for today, a two-for. Seems fair, as I have been slacking on the posting lately.

Firstly, a little Railroad Earth. This song has been stuck in my head lately and might make some good background music for the further reading. If not, it is at least about a place in Nevada. So dig on some Elko.

Second, it seems that there is a flat out show down shaping up at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada. Perfect time for a militia muster. More info on that in the following links as they explain far better than I can. Something to pay attention to for sure.

WRSA link fest

Timebomb

Follow up on "Black Hats"

The other day I posted  an article on NSA surveillance techniques and some new revelations on their capabilities. I said I would do some research and get back on some ways to possibly secure you data.  I sadly haven't had much time to research but, I will throw up some links for you to check on some tools and techniques that can help.

Epic.org

Prism Break

And here is Borepatch's primer on data security and steganography.  That blog post is most excellent, as is much of his content. Recommended.

It's probably best you figure this out for yourself depending on your hardware, software, and current updates on what has been compromised or not. More and more folks are adopting these techniques and encouraging others to as well, so help can likely be found in your close circle of friends. If not be the first and share the knowledge.

American Life