Month: September 2025

I think I said my thing about the Charlie Kirk funeral on Saturday. I still don’t understand some people’s insistence in sticking to, at best, questionable accusations about his mortifications.

Why spend time looking at what he’s actually said? Ilhan Omar says he’s a white nationalist; must be true.

But, in the news about the shooting, Utah Governor Spencer Cox has gotten a lot of attention about his statements and actions regarding the manhunt, etc..

The Free Press ran a long interview with him.

I do appreciate his desire to exit the political sage after his term; politics shouldn’t be a vocation. He’s also a W&L Law alumnus, and I’m a little shocked that they weren’t forced to change their name during The Great Awokening.

They did get into the evaporation of community organizations. Callbacks to Bowling Alone. (If you’d like to read the Wiki bit on it, enjoy.) I have some vague memories of it being the new hotness when I was in college. Whichever prof recommended wasn’t able to officially put in the course because there hadn’t been sufficient academic review. (Yes, I was an undergrad when it was published….)

But the idea that there’s a group who’ll do important things to improve quality of life for people who are proximate.

Somebody you know needs something, you try to help them out. Someone might prioritize catering to local friends and family, perhaps at financial disadvantage, is just something that government doesn’t do.

Government doesn’t do things well. Government Doesn’t Work.

Bubuhbut, there’s a noble civil servant who’d be employed to make sure government isn’t working to fix problems!

If you want something done, you can: 1. Pickup the phone and call someone. 2. Pay for it yourself to get the problem taken care of.

This is the sort of think that Spike Cohen is trying to do with You Are The Power.

(I stumbled across this listening to him on the Lions of Liberty network. Much of the episode focuses on his recent adoption of Lutheranism)

Get things done. Don’t wait for the government to steal money from others~ Geez.

Has been a busy week trying to wrap things up a bit more tightly.

Getting disability straightened out is a royal pain. I suppose many of the groups who normally deal with this are dealing with situations different than mine, but it is, shall we say, bothersome that things don’t move more quickly. We are in a situation where things aren’t dire, unlike the past couple of times I considered this.

The one thing I did try to do to busy myself, somewhat, ended up being of questionable repute. I am addressing, but that, too, takes longer than I’d like.

So. Fall back to other things that might bring some fulfillment. I never really was interested in being a keen Federal Reserve watcher, but I think there’s a few things that play into all of it. President Trump doesn’t help matters; if he does something, for a not-insignificant portion of the population, it must be the worst thing ever.

In my last article, I wrote about the OUTRAGE about him firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

UNPRECEDENTED. INVESTORS RELY ON THIS NUMBERS! Don’t you understand? ORANGE MAN BAD!

The equities had about a four-hour panic, then things settled down.

Hmm. Maybe this isn’t the big deal CNBC would have us all believe.

But my big point in all of it was that if you’re not good at your job, you deserve to be fired. BLS showed that it really doesn’t have a handle on the numbers; the first estimate following the former director’s firing were off. Again, a small blip in the markets. Distraction, too, with the story about the marginally-qualified Fed governor who’s accused of personal mortgage irregularities. So OrangeManBad tired to have her removed.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Tyrant!

The courts stepped in, and it looks like she’s safe for the moment. She sat on the latest meeting, and they voted to cut rates. The Trump appointee was the sole vote against, but only because he thought the cut should be bigger.

I won’t degrade drunken sailors by comparing the spending levels to their mythical exploits. It’s been worse than that certainly since 2005, but really since 9/11.

My contention from before remains true, I think. If you suck at your job, even if you’re a noble civil servant, you deserve to be fired.

---

Other stuff:

Again, I’m really disgusted by some of the Charlie Kirk reactions. I very much disagreed with him on a number of issues. Many of his Debate-Me-Bro takes didn’t hit firmly for me, but the same is true of many of his opponents’ arguments.

I’m bothered by what I’m hearing so often, where one take is true forever. Let’s not ever revisit past conclusions.

I don’t even know how to approach some of these things. Throughout history, there’s been things that have shed completely new light on FACTS. Saddam Hussein had a massive stockpile of chemical weapons. OrangeManBad was colluding with the Russians to get elected. Russia is not going to invade Ukraine, but if they do it’ll be quick, and any resistance will result in nuclear war. Pershing II missiles in northern Europe will result in nuclear annihilation. Gulf of Tonkin. The Killing Fields. Smallpox blankets. Lusitania. “Fine people on both sides.” One could go on for hours.

Many of the things that led to his pre-assassination cancellation have shown to be untrue. *cough* WPATH. *cough*

THE SCIENCE isn’t settled. It may seem cruel, but, laws and regulations establishing firm age limits on things make sense. Was seventeen-year-old me upset I couldn’t go buy cigarettes more easily? Yes. Was that a bad thing for the world? No. Was I going to kill myself if I was deprived nicotine? Probably not, though there were certainly a few times when I felt that way.

I mean, one of the biggest Gen X stars famously blew his head off; why wouldn’t I follow suit if I couldn’t have a smoke? Did I hit the all-night convenience store shortly after midnight after I’d dropped off my girlfriend? Absolutely. Were my parents okay with me killing myself? Nope.

I really didn’t know much about CK. He was born when I was in high school after all. Did I agree with many of his takes? Nope. Is it okay that someone else who had disagreements shot him? Nope.

Cato has had some good takes on it. This, for one. Absolutely no justification. None.

Very much enjoyed Thor on WTF. What the hell is going on in South America is of interest for a variety of reasons. I was familiar with Thor some when he was working with FIRE Obviously, he kind of fell off my radar as I stepped away from some of the Libertarian world for many years. This is in the news because the Navy is blowing up drug boats from Venezuela in International waters.

Um. Hmm.

Should I be more upset about this? Maybe.

Am I curious about whey he’s so upset with Reason? Yep.

---

Okay. MS brain fog is taking over despite the late-in-the-day coffee. Maybe I get to writing about The Fed and BLS Monday.

I called my Substack thingamajig “Okay With This.”

So much of the coverage this week has been related to the Charlie Kirk assassination. I really didn’t know much about him, honestly. It’s pretty clear that he was one of the inspirations for one of the South Park references earlier in the season with Cartman imploring the other kids to debate him.

Well, in modern Western societies, there are cameras everywhere. Campus security cameras showed someone sketchy-looking roaming around the part of the campus where the shot had probably come from.

He managed to slip off into woods that neighbored campus, discard the rifle he’d used, and slip off into the ether.

The photos were released.

Someone in his family recognized him.

And his retired cop dad detained him until he could be turned in.

But aren’t all cops bastards?

i don’t know what to make of this binarization of everything. It’s so difficult to explain to people that I’ve never voted for President Trump. My reasons for choosing not to do so are incredibly complex. I could explain them, but you’d have to spend some time speaking to me. Same goes as to the reasons I didn’t vote for Officer Harris.

Charlie Kirk seemed to be trying to go beyond the binary simplification, but, clearly, that really irked some people.

Obviously, my typical reaction to these sorts of conflicts is to retreat. And I’ve kind of done that on this, but I do keep notes in my head. If you’ve been offensive enough to me to land on that list, understand that you’re going to have to do a lot to convince me to ever interact with you again.

Sorry, not sorry.

But you can say nothing, and you can leave.