Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Calls for Murder of Christian Children

“Okrahead!” you may scream, “that’s not really what happened! You can’t say that!”

Well, yes it is, and yes I can. Follow along.

As everyone now knows, on Monday a female terrorist of the transgender suicide cult attacked a small Christian school in Nashville, TN, killing three nine year old children and three staff members before she was in turn killed by responding police officers. The Nashville PD has the murderess’ manifesto, but for all too likely reasons has not yet released its contents. Be that as it may, the shooter left enough of a social media trail to know why she did what she did. She hated Christians, she hated normal people and she hated that school for not “affirming” her in her mental illness.

Hours after the killing… several hours… Josselyn Berry put out a tweet with a picture of a woman holding a revolver in each hand, apparently pointed at an unseen adversary, with the caption, “Us when we see transphobes.” As with all communications, to be fully understood it must be understood in context. Let’s talk about the context here…

1. Berry was already aware of the Nashville school shooting, and the murder of children, by a woman who thought she was a man. Berry is a press professional plugged in to mass communications working in government; by the time her tweet went out this was already becoming “old news” in the mainstream media.
2. Since Berry was already aware of the nature of the Nashville shooter as well as the religious identity of her victims, it is impossible to understand her tweet as anything other than a celebration of the murdered children in Nashville and an exhortation for other trans terrorists to carry out similar attacks.

Please understand what I am saying here…. Berry was indicating she was aware of the attack, the nature of the attack and was celebrating the attack and calling for more of the same.

Okay, but how does this implicate Hobbs?

Berry was Hobbs’ press secretary, a carefully vetted position responsible for communicating the governor’s issues stances and public statements. Hobbs herself chose Berry to put out her “public face.” Here is a lesson in leadership…. if you make someone your spokesperson, and give her a microphone, you are responsible for what she says. Hobbs can try and back pedal from this all she wants, but she’s the CEO of a state and she chose this woman as her spokesperson. It’s her responsibility.

Also consider that even when Hobbs did finally put out a statement, she simply said Berry resigned, not that she was fired. Not firing Berry, and allowing her to resign demonstrates Hobbs’ continuing sympathy for Berry and the message she put forward in the governor’s name. Hobbs owns this every which way.

This is what we’ve come to… the Democratic Governor of a U.S. State cheering a terrorist murdering third-graders and calling for an encore. This is what we have to face is our new reality. Refusing to acknowledge it will not make it go away.

Crazy people… https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/28/nashville-shooting-expert-on-violence-agrees-that-crazy-people-are-dangerous/

Bananas…. https://whoresandale.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/what-says-banana-republic-like-a-visit-from-the-irs-on-the-day-you-testify-in-congress-orions-cold-fire-freedom-is-just-another-word/

Gather no foot…. https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/young-men-keep-your-mouth-shut/

Crocogators to blame…. https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/hug-a-tree/

Unsure… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/glorifying-god-by-being-yourself/

IDK… https://deepstrength.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/how-do-you-truly-become-outcome-independent/

RTL… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/29/scott-klusendorf-discusses-right-to-life-assisted-reproduction-and-end-of-life/

Angelus… https://proof-proofpositive.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-angelus.html

Money morality… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/against-the-mountains-of-madness-ep-17-is-capitalism-moral/

The Death of Liberty

Thoughts from discussion on at Sigma Frame… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/order-out-of-chaos/

I Peter 2:15-16 (NKJV)
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

This is our national failure, and the greatest threat to our liberty. Our government, and most especially our courts, have reduced the ideal of liberty to nothing more than a cloak for vice.

— The First Amendment, we are told, protects pornographers and blasphemers, but not the prayers of a school teacher.
— The Constitution, we are told, protects the right of sodomites to engage in pseudo-marriages, but not the natural rights of fathers.
— Due process, we are told, applies to the worst of murderers and pedophiles, but not to political enemies of the ruling class.
— The right to assemble, we are told, protects looters and rioters, but not assembling as the church to sing hymns.

Our liberty is a great blessing given by God. When the people forget God, and use His blessings against His will it is only a matter of time until God removes those blessings. In His grace God may allow time for us to repent, but eventually judgement must come to those who insist on defying His will.

Our leaders have sown the whirlwind, and now pray for a crop failure.

Galatians 5:13-15 (NKJV)
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Today in many of our major metropolises, including New York City, in the name of liberty rulers allow thieves to run rampant, despoiling honest storekeepers and businesses without fear of any temporal consequences. The result is a society devouring itself, where a few hundred criminals have cowed a city of millions and are ripping the social fabric to shreds. Liberty for the lawless makes all the world a prison.

Today in many of our schools, including even many posh private institution, children are taught that liberty entails debasing themselves through obscene abuses of their bodies. The pedagogy of perverse pedophiles seems the order of the day, and any who oppose it risk career and physical attack. When all the world is a brothel, even children are forced into whoredom.

Today in much of our popular culture, including especially what passes for music, crimes that were unthinkable a generation ago are celebrated as expressions of liberty. Liberty for the libertines makes all society an opium den.

Our society has used, and continues to use, liberty as an opportunity for the flesh. The false prophets of this filth would have been better off dragged to the depths of the sea with a cement necktie.

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

² Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

⁴ For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

⁵ Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

⁶ For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

⁷ Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Romans 13, KJV

At the federal level, and in “blue” enclaves, our nation today has inverted this passage. Romans 13 presents God’s charge to Christians in dealing with civil authority; in so doing Paul also explains the purpose of God’s extension of authority to civil government.

Our federal rulers now use the power of the state to resist God; hence the legal battle to force acceptance of every type of sexual degeneracy.

In blue states the police are no longer a terror to the evil; thieves travel in packs looting the innocent without fear, while local police and citizens alike cower… not in fear of the thieves they could easily overpower, but of the iron shod boot of Federal Law Enforcement that will crush them if they interfere with the looting. In many blue areas looters are paid for having looted, see recent developments in both New York City and Philadelphia.

Insofar as facing actual criminals, our law enforcement apparatus does indeed now bear the sword in vain. The sword is reserved for those who pray at the wrong time and place, for those who refuse to give their services to celebrate sodomite degeneracy, for those who speak out against child molesters in schools.

Our federal government has completely inverted Romans 13, and this inversion is Satanic.

Our nation has turned aside from a loving God who gave us liberty. Only repentance can save us now.

Pray without ceasing. Pray for strength and courage to publicly speak the truth without fear. Pray for courage and strength to assemble and worship as a church especially when the government forbids it. Pray for courage and strength to risk career, wealth and comfort by refusing to participate in other men’s sins. Pray for courage and strength to be a light to children struggling in the dark.

Never, ever give up.

Our enemies are never as strong as the world would make them seem.

If you trust in and rely on God you will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

If every man is against you, then congratulations… you’ve just been dropped into a target rich environment. Use the sword of the spirit.

Freaks… https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/22/the-covid-19-fetish-community/

Not marriage material…. https://whoresandale.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/question-answered/

Nobody wants to date Ms. Personality…. https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/23/the-roaring-twenties-personality/

Wrong knife, wrong car, wrong everything… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/22/dude-knows-how-his-butter-is-breaded/

Good on them…. https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/22/young-people-are-more-likely-than-older-people-to-think-that-women-power-has-gone-too-far/

Free sci-fi…. https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/the-golden-age-ep-02-the-age-of-saturn/

Alvin Braggs Endgame, DeSantis Wild Card

Alvin Braggs, Soros’ pet prosecutor currently serving as a worm in the Big Apple, seems to be gearing up to arrest President Donald Trump on charges that are beyond trumped up. The main charge is a misdemeanor allegedly committed no later than 2016, well outside New York’s two year statute of limitations for misdemeanors; Braggs plan to elevate it to a class E felony is to tie it to a federal crime that federal prosecutors have already examined and found to be non-existent. As a state level prosecutor Braggs has no authority to levy the charge much less prosecute it in a state court, yet he has NYPD out in force apparently preparing to bring President 45 in with a hand-cuffed perp-walk.

What is Braggs’ endgame? Is it simply to get a perp walk on camera and then let DJT go? That would be the sheerest lunacy, but hey, he’s a Soros prosecutor, so that’s still a possibility. Does he think he can get a conviction on a charge he’s not authorized to even pursue? Well, it’s a blue state blue city court, so that’s not out of the question. Perhaps he believes he can truly get the conviction and judges fearing for their own safety from Antifa/BLM will not intervene. That’s something one could imagine happening today.

Worse? Braggs real plan is to arrest President Trump, and request that he be held without bail (despite NY’s new no bail cash law) due to DJT’s “danger to the people” and his tweet telling his supporters to protest his arrest. One could see that happening with a left wing NYC judge, undoubtedly hand-picked by Braggs for just such a purpose. At that point President Trump is escorted to Riker’s Island. I’ve heard multiple commentators talk about how this would guarantee Trump’s re-election in ’24, but I think they’re missing the point. If DJT is incarcerated on Riker’s, do you think Braggs and the rest of his cabal intend for Trump to ever walk out again, under any circumstances?

In short, this is a plot to assassinate DJT. Literal assassination, not character or political. Braggs means to kill the President.

How is DeSantis the wild card? Many Republican leaders have issued strongly worded statements on the depravity of Alvin Braggs over the last 48 hours, which is all well and good, and accomplishes just as much as all the other strongly worded statements they are always issuing. DeSantis has not, and has for this been roundly criticized. Yet, unlike the other leaders who have spoken, DeSantis is in a position to shut this whole thing down. Braggs is a state level prosecutor; he cannot arrest DJT in Florida without extradition. DeSantis can, and must, say no if it comes to that.

DeSantis is now in the speak softly/carry a big stick phase of the game. He has spoken softly, will he use the big stick of his power as Governor of Florida to shut Braggs down? One suspects many, many lives may hang in the balance.

No, they are not… https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/21/the-answer-is-yes/

Jonah…. https://whoresandale.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/whales-in-the-news/

Title IX… https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/20/the-reduction-of-male-sport/

I see dead people… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/cemetery-celebration-causes-cops-to-come/

I so want to be a warlord… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/20/the-glorious-warlord/

AI idolatry…. https://gunnerq2.com/the-idol-of-nollij/

The argument is illegitimate… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/21/does-the-legacy-of-slavery-explain-black-womens-72-out-of-wedlock-birth-rate-5/

Stupid games, stupid prizes… https://pushingrubberdownhill.com/2023/03/21/to-play-is-to-lose/

More on AI…. https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/against-the-mountains-of-madness-ep-16-a-i-and-the-end-of-the-world/

Forgetting who we were… https://freemattpodcast.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/a-true-tragedy-that-covid-19-brought-us/

Asa Hutchinson, Drugs and Chinese Deals for Non-Immigrant Work Visas

Timeline…

January 24, 2016: William Asa Hutchinson, son of then Governor of Arkansas Asa Hutchinson, arrested for DWI and careless driving. Judge throws out conviction due to clerical error on ticket.

May 2016: William Asa Hutchinson III, son of then Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas arrested for possession of two capsules and four tablets MDMA/ecstasy/Molly. Sent to diversionary program. Diversionary program contingent on no further criminal convictions.

May 28, 2018: William Asa Hutchinson III, son of then Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas arrested for DWI and speeding.

May 18, 2019: William Asa Hutchinson III, son of then Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas arrested for DWI.

November 2019: William Asa Hutchinson III, son of then Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, accompanies his father and other businessmen on trade mission to China. Both Hutchinsons insist the younger Hutchinson’s invitation has nothing to do with his father being governor. China generally has a policy of not allowing entry to anyone convicted of a crime; this is nearly absolute for drug crimes. Hutchinson III working to secure non-immigrant visas for Chinese workers.

1/13/23 : William Asa Hutchinson III arrested for DWI, possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) and simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm (Glock 43 9mm).

1/26/23: Hutchinson’s law license suspended by Arkansas Supreme Court.

Side note:

2/3/23: Jeremy Hutchinson, nephew of former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes.

Now: Asa Hutchinson exploring Presidential candidacy… Because Hunter Biden proves he is perfectly suited for job.

Humor me… https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/the-roaring-twenties-humour/

Be like this guy… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/feel-good-friday-127/

Yes… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/glorifying-god-through-the-courage-of-upholding-his-moral-laws/

With wistful approval…. https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/17/how-do-you-respond-to-the-conquests-and-wars-in-the-old-testament-5/

Kickstarter… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/shapers-of-worlds-kickstarter-announcement/

The check is in the mail.. https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/17/in-the-mailbox-03-16-23/

It’s Been Worse Than This… and Likely Will be Again

As is common throughout the South, the church I attend has a Wednesday night Bible class/prayer service. This past Wednesday the topic being presented was Ephesians 4, with an emphasis on the effects of the world on Christians. The class was being conducted by one of our two regular preachers, with solicitations for questions from the audience. I had settled in, expecting nothing especially out of the ordinary, when our preacher explained that in the current state of the world the negative influence of the world on Christians is the worst it has ever been in all of history.

I was somewhat taken aback by this statement, and raised my hand to ask a question. The preacher, seeing whose hand was up, for some reason seemed a bit leery of calling on me, but evidently felt obligated to do so. “Do you really believe,” I asked, “that we have it so much worse than Christians of the early church huddled in the catacombs beneath Rome?”

The preacher seemed a bit miffed at my question, but then found his footing and explained that while we may not suffer as much as early Christians, or Christians in other parts of the world, the effects of the world on the church are still the strongest they have ever been. One older brother of the Boomer generation then lent his assent to this argument, explaining that he is incapable of driving down the street without seeing a billboard with a half naked (nekkid?) woman on it.

I agreed that this was indeed unfortunate (and also highly unlikely in our community, but didn’t add that part), but that the early Christians in Corinth couldn’t walk down the street without encountering a half-naked prostitute plying her trade, which is probably worse than a billboard. The preacher then replied, somewhat grumpily, that not all Christians lived in Corinth, which I had to admit was true.

The preacher then begin listing the various ways in which the world exerts its evil influence over Christians. The very first item on his list was “television.” Once again, I raised my hand, now receiving a positively baleful glare from our presiding teacher, who nonetheless felt duty bound to call on me for a question. “Since television is the number one way the world influences Christians,” I asked, “have you disconnected your TV?” Now all eyes were wide, and I believe I may have heard a few snickers as the preacher managed to be both flummoxed and indignant at the same time.

“Well maybe you have a problem with TV!” he finally shot back at me. I then explained that first of all, I do not believe we live in the worst time ever for worldly influence, and secondly, he was the one who had listed TV as the number one avenue of worldly corruption. The intrepid cleric then advised the entire audience, along with myself, that TV was not a problem for him, but he was concerned that it might be for the rest of us. Through all of this I refrained from telling him my TV was disconnected years ago, as it seemed it would have been unsporting to mention that fact.

After a bit of meandering back and forth, I brought up Christ’s admonition that if your eye causes you to sin you should pluck it out rather than be cast into hell with it still in your head. I questioned whether anyone who believes that TV is such a pernicious influence, but will not remove it from his home, is following either the spirit or the letter of this command. At this point the preacher realized that time had expired for this week’s class. I must admit that in all fairness I felt quite uplifted yesterday evening.

Yes, along with everything else… https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/16/is-your-meme-a-federal-felony/

Apropos of above… https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/15/young-men-winning-arguments/

Crazy people are dangerous… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/16/the-choke-is-in-the-bus-not-the-kid/

MOAR evangelical craziness… https://gunnerq2.com/do-it-like-a-daddy-rainer-counsels-pastors-to-abdicate-their-authority-like-adam-did-in-eden/

Can’t choose your relatives…. https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/16/the-seven-fatal-flaws-of-moral-relativism-9/

Learning from mistakes of the past… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/last-crusade-03-rip-van-conservative/

More Fun in Arkansas

1. Arkansas Senate passes bill to end affirmative action in all state agencies and sends it to the House, eventual passage expected. Interestingly, the local NPR affiliate described the bill as having passed “narrowly.” The Senate vote was 18-12 in favor of the bill, which in percentile works out to 60% yea, 40% nay. When you win by 20 points and the official media organ of the state calls it narrow you see how things work. On the other hand, compared to some of the votes lately only losing by 20% is doing pretty well for the progressives in the Arkansas legislature.
2. Governor Sanders today signed the bill allowing minors to sue doctors who performed genital mutilation and similar procedures upon them. Individuals who were given puberty blockers or had experimental surgical procedures performed upon them at the behest of the trans activist movement will now be able to bankrupt the quacks who disfigured them. I am still hoping for criminal penalties, but their are ex post facto problems to consider.
3. The Arkansas legislature is considering a bill that would restrict the ownership of farmland by the nations of, or corporations headquartered or owned by the nations of, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. The main one here is of course China, the rest are just thrown in for good measure. Arkansas produces 50% of the rice grown in the entire U.S., so it seems clear why China is interested in buying up Arkansas farmland.
4. Rep. Jim Wooten, Rhino, from Beebe introduced multiple poison pill bills to try to prevent private, and especially private religious schools, from receiving voucher money under the new Arkansas Learns Act. He attempted to force private schools to a) accept any student with a voucher, no exceptions (even public schools do not currently have to do this). b) Force private schools to provide full transportation to any and all students who wish to enroll (some public schools in Arkansas are currently exempt from this requirement) c) He asserted, most laughably of all, that some parents send their children to private religious schools because such schools have “lower academic standards” and are “easier” than public schools. Liar, liar, pants on fire. d) Tried to force all private religious schools to give the same standardized tests as public schools, with the private schools footing the bill. His efforts were defeated 12-4 in committee. No word from NPR as to whether this was a “narrow” defeat.
5. The legislature voted to make stealing catalytic converters an automatic felony and increase the penalty. This will be miserable for the meth heads.

So what’s going on in your state right now?

Check your mail….. https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/14/in-the-mailbox-03-13-23/

Boring 20s…. https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/14/the-roaring-twenties-boring/

Naked or nekkid?…. https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/14/aliens-are-among-us/

Only if she thinks it’s a good thing… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/14/should-you-marry-a-woman-who-calls-male-leadership-in-religion-and-morality-patriarchy/

New stuff… https://pushingrubberdownhill.com/2023/03/13/its-got-all-the-fruit/

Insurrection… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/worse-insurrection-ever/

Arkansas Leads… Who Will Follow?

Changes in the state of Arkansas in the last year. Some have already occurred, the others are being fast tracked through the legislature and are almost certain to pass and be signed, all before the end of March.

1. Abortion is completely illegal with the sole exception being to save the life of the mother.
2. Education dollars will no longer go to school district; they will go directly to families to allow parents to enroll the child in the school of their choice, including private schools. The unions’ education monopoly is crumbling.
3. It is illegal to teach transgenderism to grade schoolers, and probably at the high school level as well.
4. It is illegal to teach critical race theory in public schools.
5. It is illegal for biological men to use women’s restrooms/locker rooms and vice versa. It will now be a criminal offense.
6. It is illegal for students in public schools to use any private facilities other than those for their true biological sex.
7. Librarians will soon be held criminally liable if they provide pornography to minors.
8. A bill advanced to make it illegal for public school teachers to address students with false pronouns that do not correspond to biological reality. It is on track to pass the legislature and be signed by the governor.
9. The same bill as 8 also makes it illegal for public school teachers to address students by a fictitious name of the opposite sex.
10. Any minor who was the victim of genital mutilation may now sue the surgeon/medical staff.

The state of Arkansas has thrown down the gauntlet. Who amongst you will stand with Arkansas?

Waffle House is what’s funny…. https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/13/urgent-breaking-news-snl-is-funny/

Gator hater…. https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/wally-gator-welcomes-worried-workers/

Glory… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/the-glory-of-the-glory/#more-17895

It won’t last… https://gunnerq2.com/portland-has-a-moment-of-clarity-spoink/

Yes… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/13/did-silicon-valley-bank-die-from-diversity-inclusion-and-equity-virtue-signaling/

Yes again… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/mountains-of-madness-ep-15-is-it-good-to-be-good/

Spider Monkeys Are Evil… And So Are We

Over two decades ago I had for a time a pleasurable job working at a city zoo (if I have any regular readers, you may start to notice that yes, Okrahead has indeed had many different, and varied, jobs). A large part of my job entailed collecting, collating, organizing and storing keeper notes of various animals. If you’ve never worked at a zoo you might be interested to learn that many, if not most keepers have college degrees, often advanced degrees, in various scientific fields and conduct research on their charges. Not rat in a cage Covid Vax research mind you, but instead behavioral observations. There is a great deal to be learned in how animals interact, especially when they know you’re watching, and when they think you aren’t.

Our zoo had a “monkey island” with rocks, climbing terraces, all manner of structures for swinging around, and a moat to prevent escape (most monkeys absolutely detest and fear water). Our particular monkey island was home to a troop of spider monkeys, an typically scheming and nefarious example of monkeykind. One of our keepers had written extensive notes of her observations on these detestable examples of primates which I believe are enlightening and instructive.

The troop would choose one small, weak monkey as the troop’s scapegoat. Whenever they were agitated, infuriated or exasperated the various troop members would beat and bite the poor little fellow, yanking out tufts of hair and damaging his tail. Eventually the keepers would intervene and remove the suffering simian from the ministrations of monkey justice, placing him in a secure area separate from his brethren until they simmered down.

The spider monkeys, being more intelligent than Democrats, were able to put 2 and 2 together and figured out that whenever the keepers saw them abusing their fellow they would remove him from the island. As they had no desire to give up their punching bag, the monkeys hatched a plan. I am not making this up, although I cannot blame you in the least for believing otherwise. Unless of course you have ever dealt with monkeys yourself, in which case you know I am telling the gospel truth.

The monkeys’ plan went along these lines… They would abuse the poor scapegoat at will… until a lookout spotted keepers approaching, at which point the entire troop would cease attacking the poor little fellow. Not only would the attack cease, but various monkeys would begin to groom him, a sign of monkey love and affection. Other monkeys would make a great show of offering to share some choice food treat with the little guy. The keepers would approach to find the odd spectacle of the scapegoat monkey surrounded by his peers, who were grooming and fawning over him in preposterous fashion. The poor little fellow would set their shaking and shivering, eyes wide with fear, while apparently being feted as royalty, and with good cause, for as soon as the keepers moved on his regularly scheduled beatings would recommence with even greater ferocity than before.

Now, that’s all well and good, but what does it have to do with us? Well, if you’ve ever worked at a school whose administration elected (or was ordered by a court) to pursue a policy of “restorative justice” than you know where this is going. Criminally minded students will prey on their smaller classmates in all sorts of fashions, from the petty and ridiculous to the felonious and horrifying. At some point administration will finally give in and address the situation, albeit almost always far too little far too late. If the school has embarked on a program of restorative justice this means the victim will be forced to sit down and hash things out with the criminal under the watchful gaze of some adult. To an education school graduate this sounds like a wonderful plan. To a much smaller, physically weaker, usually socially less popular child forced to sit and “discuss” things with the much larger and more popular, often significantly older thug who robbed/beat/extorted etc. them, this is a moment of pure terror and public humiliation. The bully will generally know exactly how to play the game, making a great show of contrition in the moment, and, as soon as both are out of adult view, redoubling the previous abuse. Administration, however, will congratulate themselves on not having perpetuated the mythical school to prison pipeline and successfully keeping any record of criminal activity off of their school’s state reports.

The Big Guy gets his 10%…. https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/13/bailouts-and-bulls-fed-officials-claim-no-cost-to-taxpayers-in-svb-deal/

Pay a visit… https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/12/want-everything-get-nothing/

Low price for 3 hots and a cot…. https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/12/i-want-my-two-one-dollar/

What has been stolen from us… https://sigmaframe.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/the-glory-of-the-glory/

On Public Education 8: The Great Books?

A few years ago I was part of a group of teachers being introduced to a new English literature curriculum for the students of the largest school district in the state. The course was entitled “British and World Literature” and was allegedly intended to inculcate seniors with a love of great literature from beyond the shores of the U.S. I did find that our vendor seemed to have a curious idea as to what constituted British Literature, demonstrated in what was left out. Nowhere in the course was there any mention of Milton. Not only was Milton not present in the main text, he was likewise absent from all supplemental materials. There was no Milton. It was Milton Lost, and never would it be Milton Regained. Milton’s masque had become a cask, sealed up with the amontillado.

Milton is, in my humble estimation, the second greatest and most important writer of British Literature, behind only the bard himself; I have found few who have knowledge of the subject who disagree. Yet he had been excised. One could make suppositions as to the reasons, first and last of which would be his religious ideals now considered treasons.

I did, happily, happen upon a stack of older literature books in pristine condition. I absconded to my room with the unexpected treasure, and found something marvelous inside. The books contained actual, real, beautiful literature… including extended texts from various translations of the Holy Bible, including the King James Version. The Genesis account of creation, the Book of Ruth, and various Psalms, including the 23rd, were all included. These were official textbooks that had been approved and purchased by our school board at some point, which warmed my heart. When I looked to the front of the book I discovered two profound things… First, these books, massive and expensive, had been purchased a decade prior to my discovering them abandoned in a closet. Secondly, they had never been issued. No student had ever seen or read from these books. The money had been spent, the materials acquired, and then they had been shoved aside and forgotten. Our students were given laptops to read from computer screens, which they mostly instead used for playing video games, and gruel for reading material, while these magnificent books sat safely locked away from all possibility of children’s eyes. I now wonder how often this happens.

I took the books out and passed them out to my class. I began to teach from these books. I was happy for a time, but of course all good things must come to an end. I’m sure you think that it must have been that my administration walked in, discovered my purloined tomes of official heresy against the secular, and shut us down. I wish that had been the case. It was the kids.

When I had them open to Bible passaged (in their official school textbooks), they were at first astounded, then aghast that I would do such a thing. In the spirit of self-righteousness that can only be achieved by juvenile Trotskyites they raged that I should engage in such criminal activity as having them read a passage from the Bible. They swore they would have me fired, my license revoked, and quite likely imprisoned. These students had completely internalized the secular hatred for all things of the good, beautiful and true. Confronting them with scripture was in their minds closely akin to being on the receiving end of an indecent proposal. The same kids were addicts to porn, pills and violence, none of which fazed them in the least, but being exposed to the 23rd Psalm elicited the howls of the damned. Of course, I must add on a final note, that even this otherwise admirable tome…. contained no Milton.

Fake elites… https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/12/freddie-deboer-elite-overproduction-and-the-inevitability-of-competition/

Yeah, the house always wins…. https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/12/want-everything-get-nothing/

Chicago is Chicago… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/12/idiot-places-swastikas-in-windows/

Masters of their own domain (snicker, giggle)… https://deepstrength.wordpress.com/2023/03/11/mastering-the-domain-of-women/

Embrace the pain… https://gunnerq2.com/there-are-no-more-gates-for-the-gatekeepers-to-keep/

Ruth was a practical woman… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/12/alistair-begg-preaches-on-practicality-and-initiative-in-the-story-of-ruth-3/

On the house of mourning… https://stageinthesky.com/2023/03/12/demonstrating-your-love-for-god-lessons-from-a-funeral/

Silicon Valley Bank 2008 Redux

Well, here we go again. In 2008 I took a part time job on the evening shift at a large local bank working on a support team trying to salvage as many of the banks mortgage assets as possible in the wake of the 2008 melt down. Here are a few things I learned first hand, and what they mean for what happened with SVB yesterday.

First, the 2008 melt down was in large part caused by fraud. During the Clinton administration the federal government sought to increase home ownership by offering a tax break for home owners; namely, if a property was your primary residence, and you lived there for at least two years, then any profit you made on selling it was tax free. Let me say now that I believe this was a good law, and makes for good public policy. But here is what happened. Many, many people in certain states (California and Nevada were especially egregious) were taking out interest only loans on multiple houses at a time. These people were then listing each house as their “primary residence,” even though the law stipulates you can have only one primary residence at a time. These individuals planned to hold the property until the two years was up, and then “flip” it for a profit, as the real estate market had been going up at a ridiculous rate. One guy I had to deal with in Nevada had eight different properties in a subdivision, each of which he was listing as his “primary residence.”

This type of activity was tax fraud, bank fraud and mail fraud; probably several other laws were broken as well. Not only was this fraud; the fraudsters were responsible for driving the market price of new homes up in many areas, keeping honest buyers on the sidelines. Families wanting to take out an honest loan (not interest only) and have their own home simply could not keep up with the price hikes created by the fraudsters. The bubble was bound to burst if for no other reason than that it was predicated upon fraud and kept honest buyers out of the market.

To make matters worse, states like California require that if the owner of a property defaults on his mortgage, he can walk away scot free. Many states instead require that the party in default still owes the bank the difference between the property value and the mortgage; in California the lender is out of luck. States with stronger lender protection in this area experienced far lower rates of default. At any rate, in California and Nevada, not only were the borrowers with multiple properties not able to cover the payments, but as they went into default they did not maintain the properties, and often intentionally trashed them out of spite. The result was promising developments turning into blighted areas in a matter of months.

What does all this have to do with SVB? Well, apparently SVB was making hires based on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI), and at least one of these hires was supervising risk management for SVB. Recently SVB had so many assets coming in that it was having a hard time processing them; their DEI Risk Management specialist made the “interesting” decision to plow vast sums, perhaps an overwhelming majority of these assets (we will probably never know just how much) into the same mortgage “securities” (as if) that led to the 2008 banking meltdown.

No risk management expert in his right mind would have done this. We are only 15 years out from 2008. This tells us this particular DEI hire was both 1) Very young to be in charge of risk management and 2) Colossally ignorant and/or stupid. In other words, our new banking crisis was caused by putting a proudly queer millenial in charge of the risk management of a major bank. This should never have happened, and SVB should never have been in danger with the level of assets at their disposal. It’s ineptitude of epic proportions.

What happens next? Well, I’m happy to see that both the Gingerbread Prince and Oprah stashed their loot in this bank, maybe there is some small justice even in this lifetime. Our worst case scenario is NOT a government bailout (although that would be bad, and I am NOT advocating for it); our worst case scenario would be a “bail in” where bank customers have their assets confiscated to pay off as much of the bank’s bad paper as possible. Might be a good time to make sure you have some liquid assets on hand, IYKYKAITYD.

Update… Okay, so now reports are that SVB put 97% of their assets into mortgage securities. This is insane. Have these people never heard of “all your eggs in one basket.” Who lets a millenial DEI hire plow over 200 billion into paper like that? Literally insane. Their risk management people literally BET EVERYTHING on a single investment option… Apparently no diversification whatsoever (which is especially ironic considering the “D” in DEI).

Not sovereign against bullets…. https://theothermccain.com/2023/03/11/death-of-a-sovereign-citizen/

DEI profs, that’s what… https://spawnyspace.wordpress.com/2023/03/10/young-men-what-to-avoid-at-the-university/

The attractive women won’t be the ones doing it… https://sylg1.wordpress.com/2023/03/11/ich-bin-ein-naked-berliner/

Because they want a monopoly of ideas, that’s why… https://winteryknight.com/2023/03/11/why-do-people-tell-you-not-to-discuss-religion-or-politics-at-work/

RIP… https://www.scifiwright.com/2023/03/the-life-of-jane-lamplighter/