You Are Not A Unique Snowflake

A few videos that you should review. Consider this social programming. I want you to be well but I do not think I should kiss your ass like you want other people to.

GG Allin wanted you to be free. Freedom of expression, etc. RIP 1956-1993

You aren’t screwed but you need to let go. Let go of the idiocy and the care for what isn’t important.

Mark Manson mentioned about giving the appropriate level of f*cks about various things.

You shouldn’t give a f*ck about that. Repentless, let it ride.

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A Libertarian’s Football Bat

I originally started this website to be the libertarian that makes fun of libertarians. I think that many libertarians deserve to have a joke or three thrown at them.

One of my favorite libertarian “foot ball bats” is immigration.

My libertarian “peoples” waffle with the following:

(1) They wouldn’t come unless their was a need for labor/skills. No issue with open borders. Supply and demand would govern how many would show up.

(In a weird way; I didn’t have a huge disagreement with the idea but it is one of those “caveated” statements).

(2) When responding to many conservative and blue collar liberals concerns of stress on America’s safety net (or welfare system); many libertarian’s chime in with a response that brings to mind eliminating the government welfare system.

(Libertarians drop the ball on this one too. They largely ignore the cost of navigating the leviathan of government. They also ignore the optics involved with doing this. Feels are more marketable than the vast majority of ideas brought together by logic and reason).

I am always stunned when I hear arguments that combine a version of statements (1) and (2). I have labeled this a Sisyphean circle cycle of hell. It never ends.

Libertarians, if you want to actually allay peoples’ fears. Present a solution that conservatives and liberals can understand.

(That and make an effort to do something instead of kicking it downfield for four years)

 

The Highlight of Tech “Sensorship”

Folks; I enjoy reading viewpoints from many different types of people. Even people that I don’t always agree with. I wanted to highlight a website of someone that I read material from that I didn’t always agree with but his website disappeared one day.  I wanted to highlight this “disappearance” of a website on WordPress.

I had always heard about tech giants doing away with viewpoints that they didn’t quite agree with. I had seen a few well notable names pop up. I knew many of them from my reading. But it never hit close to home until they “hit” Chateau Heartiste.

In true Fight Club spirit; His name was James C. Weidmann. In death; he has a name.

I feel that WordPress was wrong to excise his work. I believe that they folded him due to unfounded wailing from someone that had a difference of opinion, specifically someone that had a more SJW outlook. Perhaps someone that had their feelings hurt.

I know that Chateau Heartiste wasn’t the most appealing to many people’s senses but his site was not worthy of being taken away to the 1984 memory hole.

In the event that WordPress continues to wipe us out; I left comments on a WordPress diversity posting that popped up on my reader.

Thanks for coming out.

The Lonely World of the Achieving

I had always been disturbed by the fact that I haven’t been able “to make a run at (x) career”.

I have been in the military. (Promoted to E-5 while watching other people get booted for high year tenure among other issues). I left, finding the work unappealing with no future specialization available that could justify my staying in.

I spent 6 years in operations with a major petrochemical operation; engaging in various disciplines in regards to safety, fire/rescue, and cost saving/efficiency. It got old when I failed to make a dent. I wasn’t a good fit for a promotion or one of the coveted “up front” positions that seemed to fall into the laps of the lesser achieving colleagues. Although I had certifications and a college degree; I found myself moved into an unappealing job. I became a casualty of my own creation.

I found myself in the chopping block area due to budget cuts and circumstance when it came to a aerospace position that many guys were able to ride for 30 years. You can’t buck the numbers. I made an attempt of sorts to find a development program but budget cuts hit those too. It was a good experience but I found it hard to punch in like our guys did. I was always wanting to learn and study something, (noted that during our down time I was able to finish my college education). I still remember my coworker calling me “college boy” and “book learnin'”.

I never had seemed to make a connection with management although I always thrilled a hiring manager/HR person at an interview.

It wasn’t them. It was me. I am one of those people. I am an “okay” employee but I have the problem that I am always wanting more. I want to “own” my labor. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to create. I didn’t want to just make money and go home, (rinse and repeat).

I just glad that I wasn’t the only one.

Taken from Captain Capitalism (or as many call him; Aaron Clarey):

Teamless

With no team to fight for, no tribe whose members ALL are willing to put in the work, truly exceptional men have to ask themselves “what’s the point of pursuing excellence if nobody else is there?”  Truly exceptional men (and you guys know who you are) may argue that the pursuit of excellence is the reward unto itself (and I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, as it may be the ONLY thing to pursue), but until you’ve “Wandered the Desert of Excellence” for enough years, this loneliness and peerlessness will grow on you, even depress you as you not only suffer the normal psychological toll of loneliness, but a larger philosophical depression/realization of “Why the fuck aren’t more people pursuing excellence??”  It goes well beyond a mere treatise on observations of intelligence on a bell distribution curve, becoming more of a damning and depressing testament to the human race.  It becomes doubly depressing when you realize just how few and genuine peers you actually have in life to make it worth living.  And it becomes TRIPLY depressing when those people who you thought were on “Team Excellence” turn out to be posers, frauds, theoreticians, or just plain normies too lazy to take action and execute excellence into their lives.

You yourself may be an excellent man or woman.  And you may be thoroughly enjoying your life, finally enjoying the fruits of your labor.  But I cannot emphasize this enough.  The time will come you will have wandered “The Desert of Excellence” enough and get mighty bored with the lack of peers in it.  And if I were to make a bold prediction, it is going to be the single largest problem truly exceptional people will face.

(https://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-crushing-and-depressing-reality-of.html)

Memphis Needs a Libertarian Invasion

Contrary to what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has told you, not only does Memphis not need socialism, they need a libertarian invasion.

I came to this idea after seeing the news of riots after a drug dealer was “clipped” by a US Marshal led search group of law enforcement personnel.

Here is my “piece”:

Memphis needs less licensing and zoning debacles that only benefit wealthy. The market economy and self ownership of labor can help lift the poor out of poverty.

Instead of rewarding bad behaviors with handouts; let people interact with each other through voluntary relationships, and then their actions can be seen through the lens of enterprise.

There is more to labor than selling, (specifically selling drugs). Many of the neighborhoods need native born/living plumbers. They need physical laborers. They need brickmasons.

And they need what other more successful neighborhoods have. Self accountability and responsibility. The chance to fail and fail hard. They do not need to be infantilized. They need to be a community instead of a loose based tribe of survivors.

I don’t believe that liberal babysitting or conservative grandstanding will help them. Leaving them alone makes more sense. Grown men and women can thrive when you don’t change their diapers.

I’m not heartless. I believe in what many Christians say about “teaching a man to fish”. I believe in treating men like men. I am game for lunch once but I am a lot more generous when it comes to treating a man like what men should be.

I heard the sob stories from an idiot a**hole I knew from Baltimore that had the “t*ttybaby” syndrome, (that he learned from his single mother). He was a victim of his own making. He did have a bad environment but he never asked anyone to teach him to fish. He always thought there would be someone to do everything for him. He needed the chance to fail instead. He might have a hunger but he was never encouraged to use it. I see this in a handful of the Memphis folks too.

I wish we could airdrop Marcus A Brown, Aaron Clarey, and a few others to set them straight. We could teach folks to fish instead of eat from a trough.

Life sucks but a libertarian set of ideas might help these communities.

(Check out Aaron Clarey at https://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/)

(Check out Marcus A Brown at http://www.TheMABExperience.com)

 

A “Run-In” With a Neighbor

I had a family that lived a few doors down from me leave within a short frame of time. (The family had apparently short sold their house, moving due to a combination of geographical and legal need. They were friendly people that I enjoyed having as neighbors).

The house sat vacant for a short time. I had seen weeds grow and a realty sign go up, then torn down. Someone might stop by for a short time. I had seen someone looking around. Then one day I saw someone trashing cabinets and fixtures. (and yes, the sign wasn’t up but it haven’t been up for a few days).

Don’t worry. I am not one of those folks that gets in the way of progress. I came back when he wasn’t doing anything. I introduced myself. I found out that he was a co-worker of someone that I knew from my personal life. Hard working dude that puts in some hours. His father was also a very personable fellow. Now for the weird part…

I was anxious to stop by and introduce myself. I had told him this because I had thought my neighbors had probably been bothering him just saying hello and introducing themselves. What he told me was the funny part; I am the only person to stop by and he had been there for a few weeks.

Your lesson. Even “friendly” Southerners have forgotten how to be friendly. I have made note of this before that the vast majority of Appalachian-Americans I run into just give you a blank look when you say something to them. We need to make changes in our lives. We can start by being people again.

Three things to be thankful for:

(1)  Medicine:

Although it is never perfected; it is always practiced. It has helped my life for the better. It is a good and a service. It is an important part of the free market. It is not a right but it is a good thing to pay to have access to.

(2) Struggle:

I had learned that when I achieved my goals, I had found myself disappointed. I feel greater when I am in the process of the struggle. Undertaking the mission to get there means more than the finish line. The ups and downs are okay. They give me meaning.

(3) Familiars:

I run into various folks in my life at times. They encourage me to do better and not be a sorry ass fool. Their drive to be better makes them brothers. Because a brother wouldn’t want you to be sorry but they would want you to be better. I used the term “familiars” because friend is too close to fiend. They might fiend for success but not for self-abuse. They will be at the finish line with me.

That’s it.

Do. Be. Love one another as you would want to be loved. Blessings.

Inhumane Resources: A Few Misses

I had a few memorable experiences that I wanted to share with you. I was hoping to help a company or even help HR folks focus on what matters.

(1) HR was unaware that contract management underbid contract; HR overbids “value”:

I had the honor of interviewing with a well-known technology contractor with contracts in aerospace and the defense industry. (The position was at a defense contractor). To be honest with you; I had previously worked in the building where I would be working out of. The project was interesting and I knew the guys I would be working with.

Well before any discussion about compensation, the downside came out when I asked the HR manager about the contract. I found out that I could be doing the same work as the other technicians but not only I didn’t work for their company, I was a contractor under another contractor. You less simple minded folks might call that a subcontractor.

(I had a bit of experience with both defense and aerospace contractors. I also worked with various government employees in my experience).

This came at a shock because the vast majority of these big projects don’t normally structure their contracts this way. People know their co-workers and people know their bosses, and most people like it this way. Accountability and responsibility aren’t a guessing game.

I was surprised that a company that was this well established would get into something this “Mickey Moused”.

The HR “misses” came after I asked legitimate questions about contract length, supervisor structure, and various workplace issues. (I want to know where I work at and if I need to look for another job on my off time). After my questions, she (HR) would try and sell me on how great the job was. (For example; “Yes, this is a subcontractor position..bbbut you will get to do some great work!!!!”).

When we were done with my tough questions; she blatantly pitched an offer. I was extremely honest with her that the figure offered was a large amount less than comparable positions. I even gave her multiple examples of these comparable positions. She had mentioned that the contract did not allow for any wiggle room when it came to salary. After she answered an additional question about OT availability not being mentioned in a contract description; she countered with “I think that the benefits the company offer are competitive”.

I took the bait. I was interested so I gave her the “benefit” of a doubt. I wanted to see if the benefits could outweigh the lack of monetary compensation. I asked about tuition reimbursement: “No”. Training opportunities: “No”. Working on other contracts: “No”. But the kicker was asking about health insurance; I asked if our health insurance could beat (x) a month. She told me “it is competitive”. I had to ask her again the same question. She side stepped me. I also asked her if I was being offered the same insurance that the company offered her. I don’t recollect her saying anything. I hung it up on this issue.

The sad part of this was that she was still trying to sell me on the position even as I was honest and told her that I don’t think that this position was right for me.

You might ask what this has to do with human resources. I will put it into several statements.

(1)   She was ill prepared. She needed to look over the contract and what it allowed. She needed to sit down with the administration and look over if hiring someone would be possible, given our local employment market conditions.

(2)  She might want to voice her concerns about what the company is asking for. She was the main HR POC for this branch of the company. She is one of the main people that has to deal with the aftermath of hiring the wrong people. She also had to deal with benefits issues.

(3)  Desperation doesn’t make a company look better. When dealing with people in the technology and science realm; numbers matter. People take the best offer. Your offer wasn’t the best. Emotions and feelings can’t beat the numbers. Wiggle room helps but the company made the error in taking this type of contract to begin with.

Folks; HR serves many purposes for a company. HR can be a great asset. It really depends on how HR can tackle things, (like hiring, etc).

You Are Only Killing Yourselves???

I have a limited level of sympathy in my life. I have high hopes for my fellow man. But I will preface any further commentary with the warning that I am hesitant to stop my adversaries from destroying themselves. It doesn’t matter if it is behaviors or substance abuse.

I did want to reach out to those in my life that are within my realm. Your impact on other people is quite often something that you may not see. (Or at least your narcissism prevents that). You aren’t just killing yourselves.

When you eat your fatass to death; you set a shitty example

The broken record quote (Jim Rohn) of “we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with” reigns true. If you surround yourself with fit people, you most likely to focus on achieving a healthier level of existence. But if you are hitting the scale at 500 lbs, you might be showing other people that it is okay to slowly kill themselves.

It isn’t just a little “hair-on”; you are spreading disease and misery

I was one of those assholes that said I would never indulge in drugs or alcohol. I thought most people that I knew that got into them were losers. But I easily found myself around them. Although I never got into anything “heavy”; I hit the booze. And I pushed it as a solution to other people. I wasn’t only killing myself; I was making other people miserable. My actions were erratic and my inability to focus wasn’t what made me the best co-worker in the world.

(I knew a handful of vein candy addicts that offered to get me high with them if I would spring for “some shit”)(I also knew some bottle brothers that were always game to get wrecked after work if I could spring for some dollars). I looked past the hep and HIV exposure but I am sure that other people learned this the hard way.

You aren’t just killing yourselves. You impact bystanders around you. You also impact people that you should care about.

Take the gun out of your mouth and get back to living.

 

My Lack of Faith In Stupid Rednecks

In the 21st Century; I hope that Appalachian-Americans could join us in society. It is one thing that they had a rough start. They came over poor as hell. They picked a terrible, rough place to live. They lost a war and sometimes paid with their lives. Life wasn’t easy.

But it is their responsibility to not only survive but to thrive. It is their responsibility to fight stereotypes and use their resources to the best of their ability. I don’t give an inch. They can figure it out after well over 200 years of being in this country.

I have lost the little amount of faith I had in rednecks. I see that they make excuses for themselves. They act stupid instead of adopting new skills, (please note: I hear the “my grandpappy didn’t have no book learnin'” story from half of our neighboring county). They reinforce stereotypes by spending their savings on “sports cars”, (Mustangs, Camaros, etc). They cry when “the plant” closes because they didn’t plan two steps ahead. Their 18 & 19 year old men start resembling cattle rustlers of old when they make the arrest column after stealing tractor parts.  They make shame to their three collective last names, kind of like an ass-backwards aristocracy.

I hate dealing with their cries for pity. I don’t like running into them at the gas station. And I sure as hell hate seeing the same last names in the arrest column everyday.

I always hope that WWIII would need cannon fodder. (Although some of these idiots are too stupid to sit the right way on a toilet seat). I think that they would find a way to weasel their way out of it, then we would discover that new trailer parks would be built with their un-diluted genetic material quickly filling those said parks. Then the cycle would continue.

I wanted to close with a snapshot of why my faith in the Appalachian-American is waning.

Borrowed from : (https://www.decaturdaily.com/news/morgan_county/deputies-resisting-arrest-charges-follow-assault-i–pursuit/article_f08a47c1-8911-5be0-a814-0c8e6eefd3f9.html)

“Lonnie Ray Laningham, who was driving a 2018 Toyota Camry, was initially pulled over Wednesday at 1:21 a.m. when a deputy witnessed him driving around the lowered arms of the railroad crossing in downtown Hartselle near Alabama 36 and Railroad Street Northwest, according to the traffic ticket“.

(Please note that I left out his fighting a deputy and resisting arrest. It is one thing that he is an idiot that went through a railroad crossing with lowered arms. It is debatable that this guy has a death wish or he is a complete idiot).

Stick To Your “Guns”, There’s No Disgrace.

I had seen a “clickbaity” type article on Yahoo about a “weatherman” getting fired after he objected to the station’s use of an over expressive alert system.

I had several things that stuck in my craw regarding this.

(1) The over exaggeration of weather reports where I live caused people to not take things seriously when an actual storm system went through our area. The damage was regionally severe. Statewide we had nearly two hundred deaths.

(2) Most people where I live get better weather reporting from people with bad shoulders and knees. Most of the weather reporters are ignored unless they have a nice rack or a cute face. The science of statistics and “numbers game” is jibber jabber to the “working man”.

My ultimate takeaway is that this guy got fired over calling them out and he should have thanked them. He didn’t need to work there. His bosses were idiots that wanted to run their workplace and business into the ground. No grown-ass man needs that. His talent can be used elsewhere. This applies to you too.

Grow a pair. Only a ch*ckenshit won’t stick up for what he believes in.

To quote the metal band Lizzy Borden, in their song Hell is For Heroes: Stick to your guns, there’s no disgrace.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/veteran-meteorologist-fired-after-objecting-to-stations-code-red-weather-alert-onair-220019708.html