IS THE MARK OF THE BEAST IN YOUR WALLET?

As a cab driver my hatred for plastic payment is well known. As I say, we cabbies need to buy gasoline and lunch, etc TODAY NOT TOMORROW OR NEXT WEEK. It really irks me that a bunch of politicians have mandated that people can expect a cab driver they hail off the street will accept their piece of crap plastic in payment. Flag my hack, and I want CASH you moron. 

However just the other day I was reading in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John, and a chill ran through me. It was the part where was said that the Beast caused all people to receive a mark in their right hands or foreheads, and without that mark no one could buy or sell. 

For years now there has been an ongoing attempt to get everyone to use plastic to pay for every damn thing they buy. "Cash back" (actually electronic credits) offers, extended "frequent flier miles", and other goodies are used to ensure that you mindlessly stick a damn plastic rectangle in the face of every waiter, clerk and cabdriver you pay. 

(For a while they tried to sell us front-line service providers on accepting plastic since people tend to tip more than when they actually see the money leaving their hands, but most of us didn't buy it, so they worked on governments and employers to FORCE US to.)

The ultimate objective is to have a "cashless economy" which would benefit society by making it impossible to use cash for wrong or "immoral" purposes; and to make attempting a robbery pointless. How wonderful. 

How wonderful, until you realize that once we reach that point, it paves the way for limitless inflation where - unlike the Wiemar Republic in post-WWI Germany where people pushed wheelbarrows full of currency to the store to buy a loaf of bread; or in present day Venezuela where paper money is weighed instead of counted (one dozen eggs for 35 pounds of peso notes) - even if one thousand dollars is worth one penny, a million dollars will still be easily stored and countable on the little magnetic strip. Sure people will still bitch, but they'll bitch less if it isn't inconvenient. Money won't have to be printed, just authorized. And the more divorced from reality the general public is, the easier it will be for corrupt politicians to sway them. 

How wonderful, until people find out (after it's too late) that at a minimum in a "cashless economy" a PERMANENT RECORD is made every time you make any kind of purchase; detailing AT A MINIMUM how much you spent and who you paid and when and where. And as a bonus, what you were spending it on. 

The point of a "cashless economy" is NOT to make things more convenient for YOU. It is to make life easier for the banks, who can use the money your card accesses to loan out at interest; to make things easier for the blowholes who send you junk mail based on your purchasing habits; and ultimately to prevent YOU from spending money on things the "authorities" deem improper; among other things. 

A CASHLESS ECONOMY IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE TOTAL STATE CONTROL OF YOU.  Now imagine:

Some day soon, the problems of identity and card theft will be addressed by some joker who decides that what we need is a "card-free" economy. What gets proposed is that a unique bar code or the equivalent accessing any individual's financial and personal information be tattooed onto the hand or forehead of that individual. Biometrics will be included to preclude a thief lopping off a hand or head to get access. Once that happens, no one will be able to have a yard sale or buy a  gallon of  milk without the government knowing about it. 

What do you wanna bet the last three digits of that code will be "666"?

Stop bowing down to the Beast, you fools. PAY IN CASH and refuse this sinister trend.

FIDEL CASTRO DIES, NOTHING CHANGES

The blood-soaked Communist tyrant who took over Cuba in 1959 and ruled it with an iron hand for more than 50 years finally went to meet his Maker (and explain why he didn't believe He existed, among other things they had to discuss, we are sure) sometime yesterday. 

This announcement was met with joyous celebration from America's ex-pat Cuban community. Why this is, we understand; these people fled that beautiful island because Castro had turned it into a place where it was and is impossible to get ahead in life. Castro believed in the Marxist/Alinskyite false dichotomy between the "haves" and the "have nots". 

The Communist way of resolving this has always been a quest for "social equality".  Unfortunately, the result of such a quest has always been the making of everyone equally miserable. Everyone except the leadership, of course. 

To speak one's mind in disagreement with any aspect of Castro's regime - to say nothing of outright opposition, even if only by speech or writing - was to risk imprisonment or worse, with sanctions upon one's innocent family as well. 

(Once a few years ago - during the Administration of George W. Bush - we met a young man from Sweden who called the United States a "proto-fascist regime". In response, we asked him to accompany me to the White House. There, we walked up to a Secret Service policeman and told him to observe carefully what we were about to do. Then we faced the White House and flipped it the bird, Italian style (forearm slammed into the crook of the arm for emphasis). Then we asked the SS guy if he was going to arrest me. He shrugged and said: "Why? That's your right."  Then we asked the young Swede if he could do what we had just done in his country. He was stunned. But we digress...)

The cheering and the celebration among the ex-pat Cubans is therefore understandable. But the situation in North Korea remains just as miserable as it was under Kim Il-Sung, and arguably became worse under his son Kim Jong-Il, and is no better under Kim Whatzizname, the present leader. 

Similarly, Cuba remains a Communist dictatorship under the rule of Fidel Castro's brother Raul. It's the same old dynasty of despots as North Korea. 

Kim, Kim, Kim; Castro, Castro, Castro.

Same-o same-o same-o.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We are sorry we did not do a commemorative post yesterday, but when the wi-fi goes down, it's down; and with every tavern and coffeehouse closed, it was just impossible to do a post. So we are sorry if anyone felt slighted. 

Of course there is much to thank God for this year, starting with the fact that the eight-year effort of the American Statist Progressives to clinch their control of these United States for good has been brought to a screeching halt with the election of Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton. (of course the ASPs are going nuts about this, and are trying like mad to subvert the Electoral College or, barring that, cripple the Trump Administration before it is even formed. Predictable.)

Also, we are very grateful that we did not die early last Monday morning when a loose electrical connection occasioned the failure of our charging system in our taxicab along I-95 in the middle of the pitch-black night just beyond the Thornburg,VA exit. We must say, way out there you can see all the stars very well, but it's hard to appreciate that with fully loaded 18-wheelers pounding past mere feet from where one is sitting with NO LIGHTS WHATSOEVER. So thanks be to God for the Virginia Safety Patrol guy who came along with a flashlight and a battery jumper box so I could tighten up the connections and get started again. 

I also thank God for showing me to the inexpensive motel I am now ensconced in and writing this from the free wi-fi provided. It's not really much more expensive than a studio apartment in a decent neighborhood. I am thankful that I lost the fight with the Resident Manager of the crummy Old Town rooming house I had lived in for almost nine years and had to seek this place out  as temporary shelter. After just a few weeks of having my own shower, certain skin conditions I had are clearing up. 

The blessings of God are too many to be counted. Indeed, as the Bible says: "All things work together for good, to those who love God and put their trust in Him". 

Indeed. A very happy (albeit belated) Thanksgiving to all of our three readers.

THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Comes now the inevitable pack of morons with their utterly predictable bitching about Hillary Clinton having been "cheated" out of the Presidency by the "antiquated" "outmoded" "un-democratic" Electoral College. This, in the face of the fact that Clinton's alleged "popular majority" was smaller than the margin of error contained in our vote-tallying methods and technology.

There are many false assumptions about the Electoral College. In 2000, when everyone knew the Bush vs. Gore vote was going to be close, the Washington Post newspaper's "Kids' Post" section told its young readers that the Electoral College existed to cancel out the votes of those who elected an "unacceptable" choice of the voters. But when Bush won the College but not - and by the way by the same inside-the-margin-of-error amount as this time - the popular nationwide vote, the "Kids' Post" was quick to explain that the Electoral College was an antiquated and obsolete method of choosing a President. 

Actually, the Electoral College was designed so that candidates for President would have to woo more than just the residents of the largest population centers of the nation. The College is made up of the number of members of the House and the Senate from each state, plus three each from the District of Columbia and some other American territories and possessions. Thus, you cannot take Ohio just by getting votes in Cleveland, you also must convince Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Akron, and even itty-bitty Chilicotthe and Vandalia. Because of the Electoral College, every four years "flyover country" becomes VERY important. Without it, one party would have only to clench the vote in four or five major population centers, and to hell what the people in "flyover country" want or need. Their votes would be a mere formality for appearances sake. 

Now there is a petition circulating demanding that the Electors change their assigned votes when they meet to formally elect the President. The riots in the streets right now are part and parcel of an effort to intimidate them into doing just that. Not bloody likely, in our opinion, because most states have laws on the books to make breaking faith as an assigned Elector a felony offense. 

But these riots against President-Elect Trump only serve to show that without the Electoral College, we would be reduced to a direct democracy, which in the end is nothing but mob rule. Which is why the Founders put the College in place: to prevent the U.S. from becoming what Venezuela is today. Thank God for that.

THE DEPRAVED, DELUDED LEFT GOES BANANAS AFTER TRUMP VICTORY

Gentle Readers, just look at the nuts rioting in the street and you will realize why Trump won. These morons are who Hillary Clinton was depending on to hand her the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Consider:

Mobs carrying signs reading "LOVE TRUMPS HATE" attacking Trump voters and throwing rocks at the cops, etc. 

A protester smashing at a utility box with a baseball bat, hitting it so hard that the door flies open and strikes another protester in the face; whereupon the second protester attacks the first one; whereupon further both protesters' friends join in and a general melee ensues. 

Protesters wearing diaper pins in their lapels or elsewhere, symbolic of their "need to feel safe" ("safety pins", get it?) now that the big bad Trump is poised to take The Oath in 68 days. 

These people are seriously deranged. And dangerous. Several Trump voters have been attacked and beaten.  And one woman, enraged that her 6 year old son had "voted" for Trump IN A "PRETEND ELECTION" AT THE CHILD'S SCHOOL packed a suitcase with the child's things, put it by the door and ordered the terrified innocent tot to leave her house, cursing the boy and ignoring his tears, screams and pleas. And not only this, THE BITCH TAPED IT AND PUT IT ON YOU TUBE!! You can look it up. 

Not even your Beloved Editor has been spared the wrath of the moronic cry-baby sore losers. This past Thursday afternoon, I was informed by the management of the cab company I am contracted with that I would no longer be eligible to handle the City paratransit account, one of our most lucrative. The reason was a huge raft of complaints against me in the last couple of days. All of these were from disabled paratransit riders, most of whom are government-dependent to some - many great - extent. I make no secret either of my conservatism, my nationalism, or my support for Donald Trump and disdain for Hillary Clinton. These folks no doubt were trying to get back at me for supporting and voting for Donald Trump, whom they doubtless view as being poised to cut off their free stuff. If I don't get that contract back, I may file a lawsuit. 

These are the people the Democrat Party caters to. As Chris Plante has said many times: The Left is a violent mob. With Trump's election, these United States just missed their undoing and transformation into a mobocracy.

AMERICAN STATIST PROGRESSIVES (ASPs): THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, AND THEY SAID FUCK YOU

You poor treasonous lice. Thought your little plan to make everyone else in America dependent on Government largesse (to be doled out by you who think you know what's best for the rest of us) was about to be cemented, did you?

Thought you'd pack the Supreme Court with Justices who would disarm us and leave us with no defense against you who would dictate every aspect of our lives to us, eh? Justices who would allow the abrogation of our freedom of speech and association if we spoke or organized against your plans for us. Justices who would let you decide what a word or a clause in the Constitution meant, according to your (ever-flexible) definition of it was, huh?

Thought you'd finally bamboozled enough of us that you could complete your dream of dictating every aspect of our lives to us, bit by bit until by the time we realized it we would be left with no means to resist or rebel? Tough shit, assholes. 

Despite every filthy trick you tried, despite all your toadies in the media, despite every attempt at the political mathematics of ambition, distraction, mortification, and derision; you made one fatal error. 

You chose a candidate who is (despite the statements of the FBI director) a lying criminal bitch. You thought that just the fact that she is a well-known female who would be the first woman to occupy the Oval Office would be sufficient to propel her to victory (never mind the fact that she carried enough baggage to put a couple hundred SkyCaps' kids through graduate school). 

Boy, were you assholes wrong.

Abraham Lincoln's axiom of "You can't fool all the people all the time" has been for decades circumvented by you by using the fact that all you need to do is fool enough of the people enough of the time. Well, last night time was up. 

Your agenda has been brought to a screeching halt. We know you are going to keep fighting tooth and nail, but you are going to lose. Hillary Clinton is NOT going to be able to pack the Supreme Court to the point of the Federal Bench becoming an extra-Parliamentary legislature.

That ability was the main prize in the late contest. Well, you blowholes blew it. Our Constitution and our Republic are now safe from you assholes. 

Because the People have spoken. And they said FUCK YOU!

WHY IN HELL WOULD ANYONE VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON NOW??

We had wondered whether the latest twist in this damned election campaign was worth writing another post about. At first it was just the FBI re-opening the e-mail investigation because new e-mails had been discovered. 

However, it turns out that the new e-mails were discovered during a probe of top Clinton aide Umma Abedin's estranged husband Anthony Weiner for "inappropriate" communications with an underage female; and on a laptop shared by Umma and her pervo hubby at that. 

Not only this, but it turns out that Clinton people who had been given immunity to force them to answer questions LIED despite having been given said immunity. 

You may think Donald Trump is rude, crude, and socially undesirable. But he is much preferable to having Hillary Clinton - who respects nothing but that which enriches her and gives her more power - in the White House. A Trump presidency might be a disaster. With Hillary Clinton in the White House, disaster is a certainty.