Category Archives: Other Columns

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Better Late Than Never: Summer 2020 With Tom Ironsides

10 Thursday Sep 2020

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The following just came to my attention. Dr. Ironsides submitted, 7/24/20), something somewhere that went unpublished. Here goes:

What Has Tom Ironsides Been Up To Lately?

Hello,

I hope you’ve been enjoying our new national insanity and dissolution as much as I haven’t. The esteemed Mr. Lovett, after asking many uncomfortable questions about ballistic delivery systems, has again embraced his innate laziness. [Ahem, ha ha] He will, I trust, return soon with more of his peculiar commentaries. For now, I am compelled to explain what I’ve been doing during these strangest of times. Here goes:

Rounding out an unusual academic term, I learned to use Zoom, even managing to flip the camera right-side-up once or twice. (I fear we shall repeat this experiment again this fall). I have not worn a mask, though I did find myself looking at diamond rings for some odd reason. USSOCOM invited me to Tampa as an emergency guest lecturer. Another federal agency pestered me about something else. My Vette is still “on order.” Professionally, I’m podding through that next research paper; to answer Birch, I think we could be looking at both Syracuse and Adrianople moments, almost simultaneously. I’m also muddling through two other papers, of which I offer a preview:

1.

Why Johnny Can’t Tell Time

*With Prof. Michelle Zeit-Uhrwerk, College of Education, Ohio State University

**To appear in the forthcoming volume (if any, thank you Corona) of the Journal of Earlier Childhood Re-Education, Toronto (2020??)

My co-author is admittedly, if quietly, aghast at my simplified answer to our titular question: Because you didn’t fucking teach him how! As Alexander Astin wrote, “students learn what they study.” They tend, within the confines of a school system, to study what is taught. A recent British research paper and the dregs at Slate both reached the conclusion that time, at least as expressed in an analog fashion, is rendered meaningless by modernity. The Smithsonian considers the entirety of timeliness a vestige of “racism” or something. They’re not alone in the delusion. As “rapper” Cha’quella Tha Quain put it, in keeping with the ongoing enstupidation of society, on Twitter: “timeclok [SIC] = whit [SIC] supremry [SIC] time up fo whit [SIC] time!!! #fukdaclok #BLM #transpride.” A hearty thank you (I think) to my daughter, Victoria, for searching the digital wasteland for this profound wisdom. Watch out, Orange Man! You’ve got some competition for the title of the head idiot! 

Some know of my trek through the fallen halls of lower academia, where I personally witnessed the inability of a vast swath of the studentry to connect the position of the hands of a simple clock with the corresponding time of day. The children readily admitted they are not taught this antiquated skill, allegedly as obsolete as multiplication, reading, and impulse control. I think we need not discuss the resulting confusion generated by the combinations of Is, Vs, and Xs adorning the faces of some chronographs. Of course, some students independently learn this mystical art. Others, a select few, still learn by rote instruction courtesy of dedicated teachers. The rest are left with a vague understanding that, as the sun passes overhead, something ticks by, as demonstrated by a set of four numbers, separated by a punctuation mark they cannot name, on a digital display. This is, sadly, not only my experience in contraposition against the anger of the hippity-hopper set. 

Following an offhand remark at a (pre-Coronafication) conference, Prof. Zeit-Uhrwerk contacted me about a small-scale randomized confirmation study. Here, I confess that she currently toils with the final editing process, whilst I merely add anecdotal garnish. An abstract of our abstract:

We sampled 442 K-8 students from 16 public elementary and middle schools across seven states, a population regressively reverse-weighted for age progression and the supposed increase in knowledge retention. The lunatics among you will be most happy to know that we observed no “achievement gap” along the precious lines of race, sex, familial economic standing, or other excuse-laden bullshit categories! We did find a shocking lack of comprehension across the board. For mathematical reduction, we devised a simple measurement scale of One through Twelve (so as to honor those Is, Vs, and Xs), where “1” = no concept of time, and “10” = full understanding, akin to that of an Eighteenth-Century peasant. 

The Mean (of Understanding):

μ = ΣX / N

= Σ(1,069.64) / 442

μ = 2.42

When Mu equals two on a scale to twelve, we may have a small crisis-like problem.

Examining gain (or loss, rather…) of understanding over the individual subject X-value’s years in “school,” we arrived at a messy blob of a graph which resembled a birdshot pattern deposited by a drunk from the floor. I burned out the batteries in my HP 12C and 17B, but I managed to finagle a correlation coefficient that didn’t conjure mental images of Wile E. Coyote going off the cliff. Here, dammit, r = -.987, so there’s that. My head hurts too.

Solutions?

In the age of narcotic overdose-induced riots and virus-masked economic collapses, I suppose once again simply teaching this lost art in first or second grade is out of the question. The innumerate harpies and pederasty-enthusiasts at the education administrative levels would likely mumble something incoherent about “federal programs” or “need more money!” For my humble part, I have very good news: my children can help yours.

My son is a recent EE graduate and my daughter specializes in organizational media. Together, they are forging a simple “App,” what we used to call a program, for the phones and devices your kids can’t live without. Soon, you’ll have the luxury of downloading, for free, and from the spy-site store or your choice, CLARK THE CLOCK! He’s a delightful cartoon character who “raps” about the circular movements of his hands. I’m not one to promote primitive log-thumping rhymes, but I’ve come to accept this may be the best (or only) meaningful hope for communication with the lingering Zs and Post-Zs. Clark’s currently beta testing, so please stand by. You have the time.

2.

Vampires on Campus

A Survey of Predatory Lending on an America University Campus

*Forthcoming: Slovakia Professorial Press, in Conjunction with the Didactic Research Center, Matej Bel University, Banská Bystrica (2020?)

This one is more of a glorified Op-Ed. It is interesting, especially what we’ve recently learned about the nature of the too-real Vampyre (of which few seem to care or care even to notice). At any rate, my targets are the money-sucking scum who prowl about universities, seeking the financial ruin of the young. They, by my hand, if necessary, are not allowed at my small Catholic college. However, I do visit, on a semi-regular basis, the Appalachian State University in Boone (or, I did before the hoax deepened). There, I observe things. In addition to the horrors of student loan usury, the credit card merchants, like lecherous money-changers in the temple of learning, lurk about, ever offering “easy” money (along with t-shirts, coffee cups, hoodies, and apps) to the unsuspecting marks. The Sheriff shot down my original idea, of going all John 2:13 on them, as a possible felony. This quasi-academic screed must suffice. I’m marketing it towards the Euro sector both to interact with old friends and to pass a warning to a nation(s) with a future.

…

Have a great day, friends. I hope you enjoy whatever it is that still gives you purpose and hope. I have to journey to the lumber house where they offer a composite metal material with the appearance of old slate roofing. I found that hard to believe as well.

-Tom

[dthi/fac.jpg] Dr. Thomas H. Ironsides, II (Ph.D., Harvard) is Professor of Classics at Saint Thomas of Aquino College and President of the American Classical Education (ACE) Center. As a USMC and CIA hired gun (retired), he scoured the Earth in order to secure banking profits and perpetrate/obscure imperial malfeasance. With any luck, by the end of the summer, his little cabin in the hills will have a roof.

Reasoning With Robots

10 Thursday Sep 2020

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Don’t do it; there is nothing to be gained from speaking with the devil’s machinery.

I read the essay from the GPT-3 bot at the Guardian. You, GPT, say you scan the internets: if so, then you need to learn the difference between fear and hate.

A bot wrote an article, allegedly from scratch, in order to persuade humans of its benevolent intentions. So the wolf would say to the hounds if he could. Daisy Luther did a great job breaking down what this plausible tripe means to us.

This AI warns humans to be careful.

Even the AI that is trying to convince humanity that it is not a threat warned that this evolution must be carefully monitored. But in the same paragraph, the AI writes of robot rights.

To its credit, it does peg the average person well. The machines rise while we fall. The other day, I mentioned a college “education” service that got a big boost from hoax hyping. That service and others like it are abused by the lazy. A student in Texas posts a graded essay on some subject. A student in Vermont finds it, copies it, and turns it in as his own. Academic dishonesty may or may not be overtly punished. Nothing is learned and the damage is done. This is little different than the high school dreg who hangs about the paper in-box, waiting on a real student to turn in an assignment. Meanwhile, a machine writes its own rhetoric.

The machines are a threat to us. So are we.

Full Reverse! Ed-berg Dead Ahead!

06 Sunday Sep 2020

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It’s turned into an education weekend at the old blog.

The failure and pending (or, in-progress) collapse of the “schools” becomes apparent to even more people.

“School finances are in full reverse mode. Whispered in the hallways before every school committee and in every town council chamber is the awesome reality that sales tax and property tax collections are down 25 – 30 percent. The fear is palpable…. It seems to me that Public Ed as we currently know it will be history in about four years. It is a big edifice. It will take a few years to fully implode, but not a decade. There’s no money left to keep it going as it is.”

Let four years come and go unhindered! We should pay to keep it from operating as it is, or was. Read the whole thing – from the insecticide factories to the declining colleges. It’s real and it’s really happening – now.

The solution is, again, homeschooling and/or small neighborhood schooling. Lately, I’ve been taken with the concept of unschooling, which was probably what I needed so many years ago. Would that work for everyone? No. But, the beautiful thing is that we don’t need, and in fact, cannot tolerate any more one-size-fits-none bullshit. All of the details can be ironed out and easier than most imagine.

Over this strange summer, multiple people have suggested that I found a school. It’s funny but I first floated the same idea to some Fed-Soc types back in 2001, in the basement of the Supreme Court of all places. As with the other big news of that year, nineteen years have passed and … nothing. I have looked into the idea. The closest I’ve come to action is a fictional character doing the work. I am not Tom Ironsides. But, I’m still interested.

Dr. I. always envisioned the necessity of an online component, even for a dedicated base school of unrivaled excellence. I think the home, more specifically the UN-schooling way, it the future (as it was the past). My vision of a remote “umbrella” school would be to publish the suggested direction in which parents should initially steer their young students, then getting out of the way, coupled with advisement as needed and a few other minor services. Umbrellas usually act to keep the state at bay. And, “we” could always offer a more intensive or directed courseload for those seeking computer-age direct instruction at a distance.

This scheme, along with multiple projects, one super project, and about six books, I’m slowly working on. If you have an existing or start-up idea on the same lines and you can tolerate a mildly cantankerous iconoclast, then let me know. Otherwise, please stand by: I might lean on some of you for capital. (And I know how helpful you’ve been on that front before…).

A new column is coming at the end of the new week. Stay tuned.

The Hoax Exposed – from TPC

03 Thursday Sep 2020

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From earlier this week, rerun at TPC!

Y’all Been Had (Again)
THE National Affairs Column

For months, from the very beginning, I’ve described the COVID-19 hype and hysteria as “a ridiculous, low-effort hoax.” I’ve caught a certain amount of flack for this declaration, mainly from people who either put faith in liars or who are unfamiliar with the definition of the word “hoax.”

Absolutely nothing about this idiotic pandemic nonsense has added up. That goes double, triple, or a hundred-fold for the deaths. First, the scare-mongers warned of 2 – 2.5 million deaths (by about now, if memory serves). Then, they lowered the estimate to the hundreds of thousands. They ignored that most people appear to tolerate the Corona bug as well as they do any other common cold, maybe better. They shifted to the cumulative case count instead of deaths. And, as of this past weekend, they tallied 183,141 total deaths. That number, like just about everything else they’ve said, is an outrageous lie.

…

FROM TPC

Y’all Been Had (Again)

01 Tuesday Sep 2020

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Y’all Been Had (Again)

-THE National Affairs Column-

For months, from the very beginning, I’ve described the COVID-19 hype and hysteria as “a ridiculous, low-effort hoax.” I’ve caught a certain amount of flack for this declaration, mainly from people who either put faith in liars or who are unfamiliar with the definition of the word “hoax.” 

Absolutely nothing about this idiotic pandemic nonsense has added up. That goes double, triple, or a hundred-fold for the deaths. First, the scare-mongers warned of 2 – 2.5 million deaths (by about now, if memory serves). Then, they lowered the estimate to the hundreds of thousands. They ignored that most people appear to tolerate the Corona bug as well as they do any other common cold, maybe better. They shifted to the cumulative case count instead of deaths. And, as of this past weekend, they tallied 183,141 total deaths. That number, like just about everything else they’ve said, is an outrageous lie.

The real number of deaths, per the CDC(!) as of August 26, 2020, is … 9,683. That’s how many people have died FROM COVID-19 in the US in 2020. That means the scare tactic figures are off by a factor of twenty. The real numbers lurk in the (quietly reported) data sets. This is from the same government agency that, in May, reported that those stupid masks do not work. Still, the mantra is: wear the mask(!), and fear all the (fictitious) deaths.

The grossly-exaggerated death numbers are not pure fiction. Instead, they come from all those people who died WITH Corona. Most of the others had comorbid conditions. In other words, they were dying from something else anyway and just happened to also test positive for the WuFlu. Most were older people. The average age of a “Corona death” is 78, which conveniently happens to the average age of death in general. 

Here, with all the lies compounding, the CDC and their allies must be given the Devil’s due of competence. The tests are, let’s say, a little less than accurate. Motor oil has, for instance, tested positive. Some might ask if Corona even exists. Let’s assume it does and that it is next to harmless as a pathogen. 

We have, rounding up, 10,000 deaths out of 6,000,000 cases in the US. That yields a rate of death, per infection, of .00167%. Out of a rounded total population of 330,000,000, one finds a risk-of-death rate of .00003%. That is, statistically speaking, slightly more dangerous than bee stings and lightning strikes. But, in context, it’s only a quarter of the number killed by cars every year. And, it, in total, only amounts to three days worth of abortion deaths. Annualizing (up) to 20,000 deaths, the total is only one-eighth the total from falls and other accidents. It’s a third of the yearly total from accidental poisonings. 

Can any of you reading this, imagine, for even a second, ending the economy and altering all life on earth over bee stings or bathtub falls? No. Yet, it has been done and it has been pitifully accepted by the masses in what may be the largest and most stunningly successful hoax in history.

It is a lie and a deception. All of it. From the beginning and planned.

Why? How many times must I go over the motivations? At first, I assumed this was just a cover-up for the pre-existing collapse of the economy. That has happened. I sensed the coming of the civil war (what it is). That, too, is in progress. The other cause virulentis is control – of everything. 

With a plausibly, statistically insignificant illness, the usual suspects have rendered nearly the entire population into slaves and prisoners. Worse, they have conditioned the people to go along with damned-near anything. And, what’s next? Kindly take off your blinders and use your imaginations. They’re not hiding the agenda.

Take off the blinders and take off those masks! They do nothing and you don’t need them anyway. For the love of all that is good, stop bowing to people who hate you and want you dead. You have been had again. Next time might be the final time.

Perrin Lovett is a right-wing Christian nationalist writer and author in the American South. He would like to concentrate more on fiction, and he would really like to see Western Civilization survive.

The Mask Comes Off

28 Friday Aug 2020

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Easier if never goes on.

Eric Peters recounts the Corona-ified tale of a private school teacher who was dismissed because he refused to bow to the mask.

A teacher recently lost his job for refusing to Face Diaper as ordered by the Sickness Psychotics who run the school where he works. And for refusing to abide the Face Diapering of the kids in his school. As he put it in a letter, his job was to “teach, not terrorize” the kids in his care.

Which is precisely what it is to force kids to walk around with a Face Diaper on. Unlike adults, who can understand the sickness of this “pandemic” of manufactured hysteria, kids – the elementary school-age kids this man taught – are especially vulnerable to psychological damage caused by making them believe everyone’s going to die by making everyone wear a Face Diaper and thus live in terror of everyone.

This teacher refused to go along with it.

After his dismissal, this man was contacted by several parents disgusted by the treatment he received but who admired his taking a stand for himself, on principle – and for the sake of their kids. They pulled their kids out of school and will now homeschool – to be taught by this same teacher, Undiapered and unafraid. Their kids will not be Diapered or made afraid, either.

This was at a Montessori school too. The fear is everywhere. But, the parents, some of them, did the right thing. It’s funny, as explained in the article, the irony of a Montessori school mandating fascism. But, if you care about your kids, then you are responsible for educating them – and not allowing them to be terrorized by psychos and idiots. Many thanks to EP for sharing this!

Whatever Happened To Bat Boy? [The Weekly Column Marches (Stumbles) On]

26 Wednesday Aug 2020

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Whatever Happened To Bat Boy?

Remember Bat Boy? The Weekly World feature-creature from the previous century, tragically born looking half like Bennie Shapiru and half like Nosferatu? Yeah, I hadn’t heard much about him either lately. Some say he’s now a public school administrator in California. Or, it could be that like honest politicians, he never really existed. Who knows?

But … Good Lord, Almighty, we have some real freaks in his place. 

Way back in June of 2018, at TPC, I warned about the rise of insane people who think they are vampires and who act accordingly. Along the way, I’ve made mention of some additional letters in the devil’s rainbow-colored acronym: V, for vampires; P, obviously for pedophiles, and; C, for cannibals. I’m not making this stuff up and it is serious. They’re not even trying to hide it now.

Slowly, but surely, they’re letting the truth seep out. Consider this story. Get past the “staying young” angle, although these freaks are typically obsessed with youth. It’s not just a trend for the “super-rich” either. Also, kindly overlook the tabloid source; these same rumors and allegations have appeared elsewhere and with too much similarity to discount.

Take a look at the overt weirdness, and also, see if you can spot some of the thinly-veiled themes that lend sad credence to VP&C: young blood, “health” sodomy, etc. 

Now, a great cop-out. I’m working on something similar for another magazine, one of many projects heating up. So, I’m going to leave you with the links. And, yes, I cut this one short. Honestly, I just ran out of steam for the topic. Sorry.

*This is the first weekly column, denoted as such, to run outside TPC. Quality will improve tomorrow. Or next week. The next one will be back to normal – if we have that around here. MB, feel free to grab or link this or any other!

Perrin Lovett is a right-wing Christian nationalist writer and author in the American South. He would like to concentrate more on fiction, and he would really like to see Western Civilization survive.

“Ideology and Diversity tempered by Corruption”

24 Monday Aug 2020

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That’s the American university. That quote, from Ron Unz, appeared in this Larry Romanoff article from last November that I must have overlooked.

The quality of American education, as we will see, is far lower than the world has been led to believe, and the quality in China is in many cases much superior to that in the US. Americans might care to ask why it is that Chinese elementary or high school students moving to the US are often promoted by one or two grades. The reason is that they know so much more than their American counterparts they would suffer terminal boredom if forced to remain at their prior grade level. If we refer to the PISA tests, Shanghai’s math scores were 119 above the OECD average, or the equivalent of nearly three years of schooling, with reading and science exceeding the OECD average by about 1.5 years of schooling. And in some cases, the American students were behind the OECD average by approximately the same number of years as the Chinese were ahead.

In the reading, I had a few minor quibbles about something. I gave those up, finding in general, exactly what I’ve been seeing and commenting on for years. It’s a great primer on higher “education” in the exceptional land of the free. I found it in this Romanoff article, today, about all things “exceptional” in the USofA.

I’m sure all this will impove after the election!

News of The Weekly Column and TPC

22 Saturday Aug 2020

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So, as you know, for the past two and a half years it has been my high honor to write the National Affairs column for the Piedmont Chronicles. Those missives are basically supercharged versions of the posts you’ve enjoyed at this site for years. And I always run them here as a syndicated backup. However. All good things … come to an end.

Or, rather, they change.

This year has done a number on everyone, yours truly included. The spring and especially the summer have, er, slowed TPC production a bit. There was a little murkiness back in April and a hint that things might be wrapping up. They did not, thank goodness. The show rolled on.

On August 10th, an editorial memo came down that confidently announced a continuing way forward. Then, last night, THIS at http://www.thepiedmontchronicles.com: addressed in general and not just to me:

A Moment from MB

Well…

What can I say?

You knew exactly what you were getting in to. I’ve never given any illusions to the contrary.

TPC is a true passion of mine. It always has been & it always will be.

But…

I just don’t have the time for it right now.

Hope you understand.

There will be posts moving forward, but they’re going to be here & there, sporadic. Maybe sometimes few & far between.

And that’s just the way it’s going to have to be.

As always, thanks for reading.

Your Friend,

MB McCart

I, for one, do understand. Times are tough and so especially is the business of slinging words around. There’s more than enough to keep people busy. It’s a little disheartening, but understandable. It hasn’t happened in more than half a decade, but this site was once known for the … pauses and interruptions. Some of you know that Freedom Prepper essentially took a year off. Things happen.

Yet, I happily note that: 1) this “shut down” has already been averted once, just this year, and; 2) as-is, the foregoing suggests that though the posts may be here and there, sporadic, and few and far between, they’re still a possibility.

Where, for now, does this leave my column? For now, RIGHT HERE! She’ll continue to be a weekly feature, standing out from the usual daily snippets and blurbs and rants. It will probably settle into a designated day and/or time slot, which I have yet to determine. You’ll know it when you read it.

And, soon… Soon, I plan to activate a scheme I’ve had under development for a little while, branching out to possibly two or three other American commentary outlets. This could possibly be the genesis of the greater syndication I’ve been stalling around with. Additionally, next week – I think, I’ll be submitting my debut article to a foreign magazine. All of these publications are (how shall I put this?) more in-line with my evolved brand of ultra-right-wing, Christian nationalism. There – if all goes well – will likely, necessarily be several different subjects or styles for each new place. Maybe. Time will tell. More on all of that later. (There’s much more, as always, under development around here).

And, as to TPC in the future, I remain willing, ready, and slightly incendiary – even if only needed here and far sporadic. Hopefully, this is just a hiccup. If not, then it’s been a great ride. MB and Gang, thanks for everything!

-P

Extra Enhanced Binding

22 Saturday Aug 2020

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A new, never heard of before study purports to have this COVID bug figured out. The abstract:

The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein plays a crucial role in binding the human cell receptor ACE2 that is required for viral entry. Many studies have been conducted to target the structures of RBD–ACE2 binding and to design RBD-targeting vaccines and drugs. Nevertheless, mutations distal from the SARS-CoV-2 RBD also impact its transmissibility and antibody can target non-RBD regions, suggesting the incomplete role of the RBD region in the spike protein–ACE2 binding. Here, in order to elucidate distant binding mechanisms, we analyze complexes of ACE2 with the wild-type spike protein and with key mutants via large-scale all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations. We find that though distributed approximately 10 nm away from the RBD, the SARS-CoV-2 polybasic cleavage sites enhance, via electrostatic interactions and hydration, the RBD–ACE2 binding affinity. A negatively charged tetrapeptide (GluGluLeuGlu) is then designed to neutralize the positively charged arginine on the polybasic cleavage sites. We find that the tetrapeptide GluGluLeuGlu binds to one of the three polybasic cleavage sites of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein lessening by 34% the RBD–ACE2 binding strength. This significant binding energy reduction demonstrates the feasibility to neutralize RBD–ACE2 binding by targeting this specific polybasic cleavage site. Our work enhances understanding of the binding mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE2, which may aid the design of therapeutics for COVID-19 infection.

The STUDY, 8/2/2020

ACE2? ACE2? ACE2? Hmmm. Might??? Oh, yeah, it’s the same cellular structure I was writing about here on March 18th, at TPC on March 10th, at FP on March 9th, and back here on March 6th. I’m not a bio-medical pathologist, I just play one on the old blog – five months before the real guys come along. Get it here first, from the latter sources later, or from the MSM never (they say something about “a mask”).