Repost: Stop Pardoning Turkeys! It Is Time to Pardon Edward Snowden

***This post is brought to you by Robert J Bentley, courtesy of The Liberty                   Herald***

Stop Pardoning Turkeys! It Is Time to   Pardon Edward Snowden

BY ROBERT J. BENTLEY  November 24, 2020

President Donald Trump, in one of his last acts of President, took part in the annual turkey pardon before Thanksgiving. But there are many of us that are waiting for real Presidential action, especially as Trump is preparing to depart for good.

It is time to act and sign some real pardons.

Edward Snowden is a 31 year old US citizen, former Intelligence Community officer and whistleblower. The documents he revealed provided a vital public window into the NSA and its international intelligence partners’ secret mass surveillance programs and capabilities. These revelations generated unprecedented attention around the world on privacy intrusions and digital security, leading to a global debate on the issue.

Snowden worked in various roles within the US Intelligence Community, including serving undercover for the CIA overseas. He most recently worked as an infrastructure analyst at the NSA, through a Booz Allen Hamilton contract, when he left his home and family in Hawaii to blow the whistle in May 2013. After travelling to Hong Kong, Snowden revealed documents to the American public on the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, which were shown to be operating without any public oversight and outside the limits of the US Constitution. The US government has charged Snowden with theft of government property, and two further charges under the 1917 Espionage Act. Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Snowden is a real patriot that has been hunted by the United States Government for showcasing the the gross misconduct of the NSA to spy on its citizens. The breach of privacy by the United States into the lives of its citizens has been the topic of conversation for some time.

Snowden is a true American hero and patriot. Donald Trump has the ability to act in his last weeks by pardoning Snowden and ensuring his return to the United States.

I criticize Trump to the largest degree, but if he were to do this than my admiration for him would more than double. The time is now Mr. President!

Stop Pardoning Turkeys! It Is Time to Pardon Edward Snowden

The Church of The Secular Tyrant

I had found myself stewing over the lack of notable commercial airline crashes that happened in the month of November and the sadness in that I found myself lacking in busy work this week. I didn’t see that many lesson worthy historical events to type about. But for once, I was impacted by a program that I had stopped listening to but picked up again after a few months.

               Free Talk Live is a strange program. It is “home” to a mish mash of “libertarianesque” people that many libertarians wouldn’t claim. This could be an insult or a compliment. Often I hear things that don’t ring home to me. Sometimes I hear something “juicy” or newsworthy. It might have been a caller that inspired me this time.

               I personally know of a few people that hold elected and non elected governmental officials in high esteem. They often use these people’s names as if they were an immoveable body (or even an infallible religious figure). I know of people that think that the governor of our state is the be all and end all. This mentality is to their detriment, among ours.

               We are guilty of letting this happen. We put up miniature shrines to these leaders. Some of us have bumper stickers, chotchkes, and those stupid collectibles that supposedly make us feel whole. (The truth is that we are left just as empty as we started).

               These people can’t make us healthy, wealthy, or wise. At best, they have to change their pitch and focus our short attention spans to something else.

               In the mean time, we choose to cede parts of our lives over to them. Some of us don’t feed ourselves, shelter ourselves, or make any decisions.

               In the Shrine of Learned Helplessness, lies The Church of The Secular Tyrant. Instead of values to push us to live responsible lives and have some basis for structure, we are sheep at best. We pray to the false gods of “someone has to do something” and “isn’t that what tax money is for”. The saints never set good examples of the statist religion. They often are never remembered for going against their own religion. The “bringers of light” are never remembered for their steering away from the face of the creators. We are left feeling damned every few years, but we never meet the savior.

               Don’t worry, I am not that Savior. Politically speaking, we will never find them. You will continue to put your faith in tyrant and tyrant lite alike. But when you feel like changing churches…

https://www.freetalklive.com/

lrn.fm

You Can’t Win Them All Over, But You Can Be Better For Them

I learned decades ago that I was an acquired taste. The vast majority of the people that everyone “loved” didn’t end up fans of mine. On the contrary, I had people that didn’t like me at all. These people would work with me for years and then spend the first time speaking to me saying something abrupt (or like an asshole). Yes, it almost came to fisticuffs a few times. I learned a lot about myself after this. I learned that the adage that “you can’t win them all” was true. And it was especially true when it came to people.

               I might have mentioned a former co-worker that went through a nasty divorce and eventually got remarried to someone I knew. The guy, which I will call “Hockeyman”, was a polite and manly man. He was quiet but funny when he wanted to be. Our fellow co-workers loved working with him. I always thought of him as a gentleman. Our fellow coworkers seem to have a great relationship with him, cracking jokes and being generally close. But the strange thing is that he always seemed a little cold towards me.

               Hockeyman would always talk about not having friends. When we were in private, I mentioned that his house was two streets over from me. (A short walk). He seemed to try to duck the conversation. Another time I saw his marriage license application notice in the paper, I congratulated him. He didn’t have a clue on how I would know. I explained it. He walked away confused. His wife was cordial and friendly, we discussed the family and pleasantries. (The wife, Mrs Hockeyman, worked at my gym). I tried to talk to him again about trying to get the family together for a cookout, he mumbled and ducked me again. You can see a pattern. But he would always talk about not having people around.

               He had invited our workcenter (verbally) to the wedding. A few people were able to make it. I wasn’t given an exact time (or a proper paper invitation) but I was told the place. When I went to congratulate him and put down a small gift, he seemed a little surprised to see me. (Mrs Hockeyman was always smiling and happy). I left after having a drink, (the irony is that Mrs Hockeyman told me to get the drink). (The Mrs happened to know that I struggled with people/public situations).

               After another strange blow off situation at his house, (where I had made a delivery at), I decided that this more or less had run its course. (Mrs Hockeyman was kind as usual). I thought about this as of lately.

               Hockeyman is a great person who went through a lot. He is a quiet person that internalized a lot of shitty things. I couldn’t win him over but I can try my best to be someone better in his life. He may not like me but I can always wish him well. I never like any of those “Ghandi-esque” quotes but I can be the change I want in the world. Like SETI, I can reach out and do my best to be there.

Hockeyman, I give a shit about you. I want you to be happy and I think you are an important part of our community.

What I’m Reading, Listening to, And Concerned About

Reading:

Heck, I took a bite. Rainbow Albrecht was on to something. Maybe just because they have money doesn’t mean that they know what they are talking about.

https://rainbowalbrecht.wordpress.com/2020/11/22/who-do-bill-gates-and-the-other-talking-heads-think-they-are/

Listening:

The Family Alpha w/ guest Mr. Shadeed tells us to take power over money or it will run you ragged. Learn more about finances and more in this podcast.

Additional Reading:

Our friends @ Whiskey Tango Texas reminds us to be aware of the government and their shenanigans. Read more in this meme supported article.

Lesson In How To Resist Brown Shirts

Additional Listening:

Our buddy at Charliedelto takes a moment to question and talk about the rise of the right. I found it interesting and thought it would be a good diversion from the usual.

Concerned:

Don’t celebrate being a victim. Celebrate when you actually win, no lose. I must quote John Mason (Sean Connery) from The Rock: “Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f*** the prom queen!”

FreeMatt in Review: 11-16 to 11-20

There may be more sun than darkness and it may be the reverse. Things do change. In the meantime, check out this week’s FreeMatt in Review.

Can We Hold Off On This?

I take a departure from the normal to ask you to re-think your actions. Very few things are that pressing. Ask yourself, can we hold off on this?

https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2020/11/20/can-we-hold-off-on-this/

Another Battle Another Chance At Peace

Two big things: Take advantage of the change of conditions, proverbial or not. Also, may your conflicts be in pursuit of peace and purpose. Read more in this posting.

https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2020/11/19/another-battle-another-chance-at-peace/

The Matters w/ Matt: My Startless Love

A woman wonders why her daughter hasn’t heard an audible love from a loved one. The Matters w/ Matt sets her straight.

https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/the-matters-w-matt-my-startless-love/

Morons Who Count For A Living Can’t Be Counted On

Some economists have a purpose and do decent things, (H/T to Bunk Strutts @ https://tackyraccoons.com/). But plenty are a waste of air, like the one I speak about in this less than stellar posting.

https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2020/11/17/morons-who-count-for-a-living-cant-be-counted-on/

The Religious On “Religion”

It took deep thought to figure out my own thoughts in regard to my religion. I had to think on what it took to be a practitioner and what it meant to me. Learn more in this brief piece.

https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2020/11/16/the-religious-on-religion/

Don’t listen to the elites that do one thing and ask another from you. Be the moral voice in another’s life, ignore those that lead you astray. And as always, have a “good one”.

Can We Hold Off On This?

I took a timeout to bring up something that I would have asked myself years ago:

Can we hold off on this?

I have to ask people this now. Although I have made an argument on how “Tha’ Rona” wasn’t mathematically that bad of a thing (Yes, it has killed people but it isn’t as bad as heart disease, which most of you have no problem killing your relatives), why in the f*ck are you people on top of each other at EDM shows and some sporting events? If this is as bad as a problem for “MeeMaw”, why is your coughing ass at the gym?

The news, which is usually covering stupid news like Ivanka farting and blaming it on other people, reported that a huge sorority party featuring 600 people was cancelled the other day.

It surprised me that they went to those links, considering very few people actually act like they care. The Appalachian-Americans among me will stand behind you in line and cough on you, then wonder why you choose to wear a mask. These are the same low grade morons who suck each others farts. Yes, this is a real thing.

I stick with what I say about this. Can we not hold off on half of the shit we are doing? Do we need to all pile into Walmart right now? Can we not stay the f*ck home?

Folks, I dont like big government and I really dont want their help for most things. When they keep out of our business and leave us alone, it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves.

But some of you are too damn stupid, you deserve this shit. You need to hold off on the stupidity for a little bit. Quit being a bunch of knuckledraggers. Before the government starts handing out helmets and taking you to camps.

(I apologize to my readers. Im burned out on real lessons and historical examples. Live your own lives, feeds yourselves. No one else can).

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8961865/Ivanka-Trump-blamed-fart-classmates-bratty-teenager.html

https://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/2020/11/ua-sorority-cancels-600-person-outdoor-party-after-getting-city-council-approval.html

Another Battle Another Chance At Peace

Although peace was in short supply in our western civilization’s history, it does pale in comparison to our modern times. We may not have “war” in the traditional sense but we have armed conflict around the world. We see the perfect storm in places where the western world clashes with what a few would call the barbaric east. I was a touch blind to this until I was shuffling my notes looking for something to stimulate an article out of.

Near this date in history in 1700, Sweden lined up for battle against Peter the Great’s poorly trained forces at Narva (current day Estonia). In a repeated theme, Sweden found themselves shorthanded behind two military greats; Charles XII and C.G. Rehnskiöld.

Looking past the inner workings of the battle; I wanted to reflect on something that was said and happened before the battle commenced. The Swedish forces had finished their battle prep/setups. The afternoon was near. Officers had turned to Charles XII and asked to hold off on their attack on the larger forces, due to an oncoming storm that saw wintery weather blow onto the opposing forces. Charles XII seized the upper hand and the Swedish forces were able to embarrass the Russian troops.

There were two takeaways, somewhat related:

• Often there is a huge opening like a proverbial storm that is your time to succeed and win. The winter storm aiding the Swedish was a great example. (A lesser known fictional and proverbial example was the Jenny 1’s survival of Hurricane Carmen in the movie Forest Gump).

• “I have resolved never to start an unjust war, but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies”. An argument could be made that Charles XII was foolhardy because he never found the right time to sue for peace but the environment for conflict had always been upon his shoulders. The territory that was Sweden’s at its height was not in his hands in the end. The Swedish Kingdom had enemies upon enemies.

 Although this seems like a mish mash, I did not mean it to be. We have a perfect storm that we should always take advantage of. The ensuing battle should be in the pursuit of peace and not in thirst for blood.

The Matters w/ Matt: My Startless Love

Every Wednesday: I never fail to be disgusted with advice columns. I am unsure why they still get paid to do what they do. As always, I am in awe when it comes to awful examples like Dear Prudence and Dear Abby. The columnists seem to get rewarded for giving you bad advice. I think that people get terrible advice from them. I don’t blame anyone that calls advice column responses garbage. I use my postings to correct these responses and help society by being an utmost asshole, (as always, a hat tip to Aaron Clarey at Asshole Consulting).

Consider this piece from Ask Amy’s column (courtesy of ArcaMax)from November 4, 2020:

(Dear Matt): ——————————————

My 28-year-old daughter has been in a relationship for over a year with a lovely single father, “Randall.”

Randall is everything I ever wanted for my kind, intelligent, beautiful daughter. He is thoughtful, polite, intelligent, has a good job, and — most importantly — is a patient and remarkable parent.

I am 59 and have rarely seen a father display such common sense and loving, patient parenting skills toward his young, kindergarten-aged child. I’ve never seen my daughter so happy or so well-matched with a partner.

One concern surfaces: My daughter confided to me that Randall has never said, “I love you.” She says it to him and his son (who tells her, “I love you, too”) but Randall doesn’t say it back. He has told her that he would rather show her how he feels, than say words with no meaning.

She said he frequently tells his son he loves him, so it’s not that he’s adverse to the phrase. His relationship with his past partner ended very badly, (hence his sole custody of their child), and I don’t believe he is close to either of his parents, who also divorced when he was young.

Randall treats our daughter beautifully and is extremely kind to us.

My advice to her has been to be patient and not push him, but as the days and weeks roll by, I worry that I’ve advised her poorly. What do you think?

— Hoping for Happily Ever After

Dear Hoping:

               You and your daughter both share the ability to overlook some obvious issues. You had mentioned that Randall’s past relationship had tanked and left him with sole custody of his child. On top of this, you had mentioned that Randall might not be too close to his parents. His parents divorced when he was young.

Here is what you missed: He has seen a large amounts of disappointment when it came to relationships. His love was answered with hurt. He doesn’t want to talk about “love”. He is distancing himself from it. Randall is showing a level of exposure that he is comfortable with.

The love that he shows to his children should not be confused with the potential love that he could show a woman. Please don’t combine these two. I love butterscotch pudding but it doesn’t mean that I love shoes. See what I did there?

You would be amazingly obtuse if you advise her to push this guy for answers. Neither one of you are looking for answers, you both want to feel validated. I strongly doubt that you care about how this guy feels. You want your daughter to feel “right” and you want to feel like the superior adult by sticking your nose in their business.

I hope that I helped you look at this situation beyond your nose. Focus on your own issues and start improving things in your own life. There is always room for improvement.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

I don’t imagine that I will have a shortage of emails to answer. I would love to start doing this for anyone that sends me an email. If this is you; email us at freemattpodcast@gmail.com

If you hate advice columns; I don’t blame you. If it isn’t soft people giving advice; it is someone trying to justify acting like an insensitive asshole. Till next week.

https://www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/lifeadvice/askamy/s-2434865

Morons Who Count For A Living Can’t Be Counted On

Economists seem to get a hard time from many people around me. (And when I say people, I specifically mean a wise creature known as Captain Capitalism aka Aaron Clarey). I was willing to give them a benefit of a doubt. I enjoyed taking economics and law classes when I was seeking my degree, although the common complaint from Appalachian-Americans rang true: “Why did I need this when I am getting a technical degree?” Taking my slackjawed brothers questions to heart; I learned how worthless some of these economists are.

They really don’t have anything better to do besides take exorbitant risks and expect money from the government when they should go bankrupt, like a feminist coffeehouse. They love some socialism when they claim to be capitalists. (The irony is that Occupy Wall Street weren’t educated enough to say that they wanted to end cronyism or soft socialism).

And in true fashion, I found out that I could count on some of my favorite desk dwelling punching bags to give me reasons to want to punch them in their easy target heads. Try some dbags at Deutsche Bank and their idea of taxing remote workers. Their justification is beyond stupid. It takes all sorts of assholes to dream things up.

These Deutsche-bags missed the idea of less people being on the road, so there is less chance of me having road rage. There is less chance of some moron redneck hitting the guard rail and tying up traffic until the boo boo bus takes him to the hospital. Remote workers, specifically HR and bean counters, staying home means better parking. That and I don’t have to deal with those tards at a gas pump. They are saving us money. They were endangering my health by bringing their crotchfruit borne diseases into my barely peaceful cubical farm.

If our Germanically challenged Euro socialists really wanted to save 5%, they easily could have gotten a real job or figured out why everyone hates banks. The real job is more feasible. Plenty of men can get hired on as a welder these days. Its not too late for you, Gunther! As for me and Martin Monti, we will cut away with some GWAR. Until later, losers!

https://thepostmillennial.com/deutsche-bank-proposes-stay-at-home-tax-on-remote-workers

The Religious On “Religion”

Feeling blessed to have stumbled on Rob (from Rob Says)’s piece Religion a few days ago, I was catapulted to a few memories tucked in my recesses. At one time in my life, I would criticize a non-religious person’s comments about religion. But Rob’s words rang true.

               I am not a practitioner of my faith because it is what I knew.  In regard to religion in my life, I fumbled about and have seen the good/bad/ugly of it.  I had to ask myself the same questions that Rob asked himself. I have seen where faith could have given structure to good people, but it didn’t. I ended up making the argument that many of the followers of my religion were better off “not bothering”.

               The irony is that I am not exactly the most pious knight in the fold. (I enjoyed an indiscriminate time frame of frivolity marked by the sting of the essence of life; alcohol, and dopamine rewards contained in the beauty of women). But I learned much about other religions and have felt that the best of those gave me inspiration. I found out where my struggle began. I learned more about my own spirituality, in spite of many around me growing up that just put on the motions.

               My faith meant more to me after I met people like Rob. Yes, people like Rob. The kind of people that had been in religions completely different than mine. But the difference is that Rob has been contemplative and learned enough about himself. The traditions and tenets were not for him, even though it worked for some.  I admired those that have left and those that embraced (for the right reason) further, on the same plane. Within the challenging thought is where I found what my beliefs meant.

               The process that Rob went through showed signs of intellectual honesty and a part of mental health. I feel that people that can’t “think things through” are doing themselves a disservice and eventually are doing people around them harm. Staying in a religion for the wrong reason is bad. Staying in the wrong religion for you is bad. (I can go on).

               I never considered myself a religious free agent but I was smart enough to know my religion’s shortfalls. (And yes, there are more than a few). I learned about other religion’s downsides and their good sides. But it was a journey which I think every man should undertake.

               I took a non-religious man to remind me of the importance of being honest about my religion.

H/T to our friend Rob @ Rob Says.

https://redpillawaremale.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/religion/