A Concise Statement Against Tyranny

It’s a shocking thing to acknowledge, but it’s been slowly dawning on me for the past couple of years that the federal government and federal agencies that are supposed to look out for and work for the citizens of this country, are actually working against the citizens of this country. One way they do this is by making rules and regulations that make basic commodities scarce. I’ve come up with four major areas where this happens, and it is hurting the American peoples’ wealth. 

1. Fuel - Gasoline for cars, airplanes, and trucks has gotten more and more expensive by design of the government. Instead of being energy independent, which we were a few years ago, we are now energy dependent. Increased fuel costs not only affect me when I fill up my car, but also the costs of goods that have to be transported across the country.
2. Energy - Similarly, energy costs have increased as power companies have been pushed toward green energy, which are not as reliable as traditional energy-producing fuels.
3. Food - There are more rules and regulations around food production that is hurting Americans when they go to the grocery store. 
4. Value of money - There is more money around, but the value of the more money is less than it was. Inflation is the enemy of middle-class wealth production. Even saving money is losing money. 

I came up with a bumper sticker that I plan to put on my car.

21 Obscure Pop Songs from the 2000s That I Like

I’ve previously listed 5 Obscure Songs That I Like from the 1960s; 20 Obscure Pop Songs That I Like from the 1970s; 25 Somewhat Obscure Pop Songs from the 1980s That I Like; and 26 Somewhat Obscure Pop Songs from the 1990s That I Like.

 

In the early 2000s, the explosion of digital music sharing, downloading, and the emergence of iTunes created a time of expansion of styles of music. Everyone could find music to fit his or her tastes, the problem was digging through the dreck to get to the good stuff. With radio’s diminishing influence in introducing new music, people might look to tv series soundtracks, iTunes recommendations, or YouTube to find popular music that would otherwise be too hard to find.

 

I consider the 2000s to be the best decade for pop and rock music. Here are 21 songs that may have slipped under your radar:

 

21. “Don’t Let the Nightlight Dance” by Track a Tiger
Acoustic guitar mixed with electronic drums and synthesizers. A lot of Track a Tiger music is constructed like Smashing Pumpkins songs, but with a softer feel overall. “Don’t Let the Nightlight Dance” is fun and a good introduction to Track a Tiger’s catalog.

 

20. “Kid” by Still Life Still

Still Life Still is a Canadian alternative band, and to me their best song is “Kid.” This style of music is different than most of the pop music today.

 

19. “Come On, Come Out” by A Fine Frenzy

A very pretty piano-based pop song.

 

18. “These Fangs” by Say Hi to Your Mom

A simple, yet energetic song, but with a creepy lyric that reminds me a little bit of “Possum Kingdom” by The Toadies.

 

17. “Shine a Light” by Wolf Parade
Another energy song. I enjoy finding little treasures like this song while browsing around on iTunes.

 

16. “After All That, It’s Come to This” by Amos the Transparent
Amy Milan, the lead singer of Stars, has a really inviting singing style. Here, she guest vocals on an obscure song that demonstrates the rise of the man–woman dialog-style duets that seemed to crop up in the 2000s.

 

15. “Nuclear” by Ryan Adams
I saw Ryan Adams in his famously disastrous First Avenue concert in December 2003. (From a synopsis of that concert: Uff da. Railing against the stage monitors, City Pages, and Paul Westerberg—the latter had said in an interview that Adams “needed to get his teeth kicked in”—our fledgling young rock star unmistakably unraveled in front of a sold-out crowd. He switched from full-volume rock to an all-acoustic set on a whim, broke a cocktail glass on stage, bragged about dating actresses, and weepily confessed toward the end, “I just want to go home for Christmas.” Half the crowd had left in disgust by the time he snidely blurted, “This is one of my worst shows ever, but I like it.”) “Nuclear” is my favorite Adams’ song.

 

14. “Let’s Roll” by The Stills
The Stills opened for Ryan Adams at the aforementioned concert. They sounded like rock gods by comparison.

 

13. “Laryngitis Blues” by +/- (Plus/Minus)
An almost great song, but is missing that one element to put it over the top. Still very good.

 

12. “The Boat Song (We’re Getting Loaded)” by Ike Reilly Assassination
The production is really good on this song, and the tune sings itself.

 

11. “Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” by Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
A weird, but infectious song. I wasn’t a fan on the first listen, but it grew on me. The warbling vocals actually give this song a fun personality.

 

10. “Summer and Smoke” by Track a Tiger
A quiet, tuneful song with good lyrics. Track a Tiger deserves a bigger audience.

 

9. “Drink the Night Away” by Romantica
Telling the story of a drunk-driving tragedy, this song ends with a theological question. Structurally it is uncommon—a song in two parts and without a chorus.

 

8. “Closest (Look Out)” by Matt Pond PA
Matt Pond PA is not a household name, even in alternative music circles. And this song is not one of his hits, but I like it quite a bit.

 

7. “Tampa to Tulsa” by The Jayhawks
Written by the group’s drummer, this song hearkens back to some acoustic music of the 1970s. For some reason, I am put in the mind of a John Denver song.

 

6. “Not California” by Hem
The song is slow, but it pulls on you. I have listened to this melancholic song many times and have not grown tired of it. 

 

5. “Untitled Duet #3” by Softlightes
Soft, melodic electronic rock is a narrow genre, but this song sounds great to me. 

 

4. “Fiona” by Romantica
Another wonderful song by the Minnesota-based group, Romantica. I enjoy singing and playing along with this song on my guitar.

 

3. “Hurry Up Let’s Go” by Shout Out Louds
Howl, Howl, Gaff, Gaff, might be the best album of the decade. Starting with “Very Loud,” “The Comeback,” “Shut Your Eyes,” and this rocker makes that album both deep and excellent.

 

2. “Wild Mountainside” by Eddi Reader

This song was written by the guitarist from the ’90s alternative group, The Trashcan Sinatras. It is given a beautiful rendition by Eddi Reader. It sounds both ancient and brand new.

 

1. “Remember When (California)” by Tim Myers

One trend I really liked in the new millennium, was the increased numbers of male–female duets. Here is one of the best. Tim Myers, songwriter and former bassist of One Republic, pairs with Schyler Fisk to make a wistful and nostalgic song. 

A Good Comment from Power Line Blog Post

John Hinderacker wrote a blogpost, “We Have Always Been at War with Eastasia,” which touched on the left’s efforts to tie conservatives to being supporters of Russia in their war with Ukraine. I have seen people argue why Russia feels the need to invade, but I have not seen any conservative of note rooting for Russian to prevail.

 

A reader named Tennhauser wrote a comment to that post that summed up my understanding of the situation very well (it also has 39 upvotes, which is the most I’ve seen for any comment on Power Line). 

 

I am Ukrainian. My parent emigrated here. I have family in Ukraine and have visited them.

 

And let me just say, I feel a certain . . . discomfort with how many people are behaving. Just a lot of people jumping on a bandwagon and saying, “rah, rah, rah, let’s go to war!” I’m also not remotely hostile to people saying Ukraine is corrupt (it is) or there are issues there with fascist groups (there are). I’m fine with people pointing that out, and I don’t think they are “tools of Putin.” They are just reminding us of things we should remember. Ukraine isn’t perfect.

 

Good news is the Ukrainians can beat the Russians with minimal involvement from us—they need some money, some supplies, and some weapons. There are loads of countries supplying all that, so, while things are rough right now, I have zero doubt the Ukrainians will prevail.

 

What we can do is drill for oil and natural gas, reduce energy prices worldwide, and supply Europe with the energy so they can say goodbye to Russian oil and gas. I’d also repeal the renewable fuels standard, and free up as much corn as possible for export to keep food prices low. These actions benefit us as well as Ukraine and should be a no-brainer. And like I said, just keep supplying the Ukrainians with what they need to keep fighting—they’ll do the rest. Heck, 3–4 weeks Russia will give up and give in. They won’t have a choice—Russian losses are unsustainable.

 

To me, Tennhauser’s comment is a common sense, non-controversial take on the invasion.

What Game Is Xcel Energy Playing?

Driving my kids to various events after school, I typically listen to KFAN, the local sports talk radio station in the Twin Cities.

Recently, KFAN has been airing a bunch of ads from Xcel Energy, the company that provides electricity to the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. Amazingly, the basic thrust of the ad campaign is to inform customers that Xcel’s goal is to be “carbon-free” by 2050. 

As a resident of Minnesota, a customer of Xcel Energy, and a shareholder of Xcel Energy, I have to say that I disagree totally with that idea. Instead of worrying about being carbon-free in 28 years, I think they should reaffirm their commitment to “reliable energy for our customers.” 

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the number of other countries that have gone down the “green” path, we can see the danger of that approach. And as my electric utility company, I think Xcel should not follow that lead.

The most recent radio ad from Xcel was the stupidest of the bunch. In looking online, I can see that it also has a video version.
Here is the narration:

At Xcel Energy, we’re going carbon free by 2050. We’ll use the energy of the wind and the sun. But other things too—all kinds of energy. Because energy is everything. It’s intelligence and it’s vision and it’s imagination. Sometimes energy even comes in 16 fluid ounce cans of caffeine. You know, just to get us through. Energy is good vibes. It’s a road trip powered by electricity. Energy is science, like really high-tech super science. And it’s you, your energy, super-charged by a bajilliion, million, zillion volts of optimism. Together we’ll get to cleaner, safer, less-expensive energy for a carbon-free future. Everything is energy. Energy is everything.

I do not see myself as the target audience for this ad (although I am in the main demographic of sports talk radio: men ages of 21–54), but I have so many issues with it. Let’s break it down.

At Xcel Energy, we’re going carbon free by 2050. 
In the early 21^st century, there are many ways to generate energy: coal, natural gas, petroleum, hydro, nuclear, solar, wind, geo-thermal, biomass, and even burning wood. It seems to me that if you are a utility company like Xcel Energy, you should be looking at all ways to generate reliable energy for your customers, and not limiting your company to just one or two energy-generating avenues. Carbon-free means no coal, no natural gas, and no petroleum. These are reliable ways to generate power in all seasons and weather conditions.

We’ll use the energy of the wind and the sun. 
Even I, who is not an expert when it comes to electricity, know that wind and solar are not silver bullets that will by themselves be able to supply energy for a population the size of Minnesota. There are limits to the amount of wind and sun that can be converted into electricity. And what happens when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. Well, maybe we can store the energy in batteries. (Don't bet on it.)

But other things too—all kinds of energy because energy is everything. 
Don’t hold back! Please tell us all the other “things” that will supply carbon-free energy for Minnesotans in 2050. They can’t tell us what they are, but be assured that it’s “all kinds of energy.” And then the stupid branding line that appears here and at the end of the ad: “energy is everything.” Which looked at logically doesn’t make any sense because is means equals, and everything does not equal energy. I also am not a fan of the totalitarian overtones of this glib, Ministry of Information phrase.

It’s intelligence and it’s vision and it’s imagination.
It’s also a tell that you’re making this all up as you go along. If you knew what carbon-free in 2050 looked like, you would tell us.

Sometimes energy even comes in 16 fluid ounce cans of caffeine. You know, just to get us through. Energy is good vibes. It’s a road trip powered by electricity. 
Ah! Energy drinks—I get it! Whatever energy drinks have to do with Xcel is trite. This little section is just blah, blah, blah. It is meaningless, but meant to make people feel that Xcel is cool—that they are on the cutting edge of things like electric cars and going heading off into the future.

Energy is science, like really high-tech super science. 
Whoa! Don’t confuse us with the “like really high-tech super science.” Maybe you guys at Xcel should just go ahead and do that wacky science and let us non-science types know when we can hit the light switch.

And it’s you, your energy, super-charged by a bajillion, million, zillion volts of optimism. 
Yea! I’m a part of science! Thank you, Xcel Energy for noticing me up here in row 12 of section 218. I’ll just cheer you on with all your crazy super-science words and ideas.

Together we’ll get to cleaner, safer, less-expensive energy for a carbon-free future. 
“Cleaner,” maybe. “Safer,” not for the birds. “Less expensive,” no way. Also, call me old-fashioned, but I’d like to see something about reliable here (but then they’d be lying instead of just making marketing claims).

Everything is energy. Energy is everything.
And the creepy, totalitarian, focus-grouped tagline reappears: Energy is everything.

A few final thoughts:

• I know that this is aimed at kids and young adults (thus running on a sports talk radio station), so it’s meant for a younger demographic. But all the hip, with-it language and imagery is so calculated and so patronizing, it makes the whole thing feel smarmy. It also makes me feel like something unpleasant is being forced on us.
• Nuclear energy is not mentioned at all in this ad, but nuclear is the cleanest, most reliable energy out there. If Xcel is planning on nuclear expansion, I’m all for it. In fact, I will go so far as to say that without nuclear energy as part of the plan, their goal of carbon free by 2050 is unreachable.
• And on that subject, who came up with the directive for a carbon-free Xcel Energy? Was this mandated by the legislature or some government agency? If so, they should say so in their ads so voters know who to blame when their power goes out in the middle of the winter and all their pipes freeze. If it comes from the leadership of Xcel, I can only say shame on them—they should know better. Again, as a stockholder and customer of Xcel Energy, my two main requests are simple: I want reliable energy, and I want low-cost energy. The green part of it is a distant third.
• Power Line Blog is one of my daily go-to sources for commentary on current issues. Most of the links in this go to Power Line articles. So here are two more links just for fun.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/08/the-disaster-of-green-energy.php

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/07/more-evidence-of-the-uselessness-of-green-energy.php

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/02/wind-and-solar-energy-dont-work.php


The old joke is apropos here: Q: What did socialists use for light before candles? A: electricity.

UPDATE: Dennis Prager wrote an article last year that explained how he now understood the "good German"—how regular, not evil people in WWII Germany could not speak up about the killing of 6 million Jewish people. In that vein, I think I can now understand how the Soviet Union was able to kill millions and millions of their own people through overt killing and allowing people to die through starvation. I never thought I would see a time in America where the leaders of of the country are absolutely driven to the politics of scarcity. They want to make gasoline, food, and money scarce in pursuit of their policy goals, even if it means misery for the people of the US. It is shocking to me.

Giving Our Children Stones and Serpents

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? —Luke 11:11 NKJV 

Some of the things I have come to think and believe about our society and culture come from connecting dots from various articles or books I have read. These points don’t necessarily fit in an explicit way, but they connect in a way that makes sense to me. Here is an example: 

John Hinderacker of Power Line blog had an interesting post about how leftist school administrators are working to indoctrinate our children into the racial and sexual fads of the day. In his post, he linked to an article that includes a quote from a school administrator: Whenever they follow the Google Doodle links or whatever, right, we make note of those kids and the things that they bring up with each other in chats or email or whatever,” Baraki can be heard to say. Beyond electronic surveillance of kids’ internet use, “we use our observations of kids in the classroom—conversations that we hear—to personally invite students. Because that’s really the way we kinda get the bodies in the door. Right? They need sort of a little bit of an invitation,” Baraki says in the clip. 

As Hinderacker notes, these people are actually stalking our kids. A link on Instapundit goes to a Federalist story about a Los Angeles school sponsored LGBT club that includes kids down to four years old. When I read those posts and the linked material, I think about the bible verse at the beginning of this blogpost. There is a connection there. 

Similarly, I saw a link to an article on Instapundit about a family in Wisconsin who was suing a school district that refused to listen to the parents’ objections to the school using male pronouns for their 12-year-old daughter. 

This reminded me of a passage from The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. In the days after the Anschluss, the Trapp family had to listen to lies on the radio, be careful of what they said in town or at school, and be prepared to give up everything. “How long would this go on? The children came home from school saying that this or that old teacher wasn’t there any more, new teachers, even a new principal taking their places. ‘This morning, we were told at the assembly that our parents are nice, old-fashioned people who don’t understand the new Party. We should leave them alone and not bother. We are the hope of the nation, the hope of the whole world. We should never mention at home what we learn at school now.’” [Emphasis added.] 

I wonder if the people who run these schools ever make the connection that their intellectual forebearers were Nazis and Communists. As Pink Floyd most eloquently sang, “Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone!”

How Did It Come to This?

Dennis Prager is a conservative commentator who runs PragerU, a company that makes short videos from a conservative perspective on a variety of topics and posts them to YouTube and other social media platforms. He titled one of his fireside chats, “Are Americans Okay with Losing Freedom?” My answer to that is, “No way,” but I feel powerless to stop it. 

Here is a transcription of a Twitter Thread by a professor named Eric Weinstein: 

“I’m watching our National suicide, which I am powerless to stop or even slow for reasons I simply cannot fathom. Perhaps I’ve just outlived my time; I cannot recognize this world hell bent on madness and self harm to aid a communist superpower rival rising in the east.” 

“Any one of us ordinary Americans should just be able to say, ‘Stop. Think. This is madness.’ And get the Democrats to snap out of their trance-like devotion to the destruction of the U.S. But not one of us can make ANY real impact to slow this without institutions or resources.” 

“Is there not one single U.S. billionaire who wants to try to save the U.S. research pipeline? One major tech CEO? Is there no research university president who wants to stand for academic freedom and our most talented students and future scientists? How is there no one at all?” 

“This was a functional nation until very recently. And the secret to our power and prosperity was largely about brainpower. And we are getting to the point where gifts and talents are simply seen and portrayed as privilege and oppression to one of our two political parties.” 

Although Weinstein’s comments come in response to the ending of the gifted and talented programs in New York City schools, I think he speaks for me as I survey the current culture. 

I have come to believe that the U.S. is in a terminal decline that can only be reversed by a turning back to God. I don’t think there is anything any one person, event, or institution can do to stop the slide into disaster. I think it will fall to me and my peers to be a witness to the end of the American Experiment.  

Why the Profession of Journalism Is Corrupt, and Why People Have Contempt for the Media—a Case Study

We live in a time of the corruption of many Western institutions, including one of the most important that needs to be free of corruption: the news media. Truly freedom cannot survive in the United States if journalism is not held to a higher standard. 

I have read many articles on sites like Yahoo.com where the intent of the article is to actually confuse or mislead the reader instead of enlighten. As an example, I would like to point to an article I recently read on Yahoo.com.

 

The article is titled: “Iowa teacher, 38, dies days after testing positive for COVID-19: 'There's a lot of sadness'. I was interested to read the article, because the headline was written in the wishy-washy passive way that so many online headlines are written nowadays. I thought that if the teacher died of Covid, the headline would more clearly say: “Iowa teacher, 38, dies of COVID-19: ‘There’s a lot of sadness”.

 

So I read the article, and unsurprisingly, there was no place in the article where it actually said how the teacher died. 

 

“We sent him home early that Thursday and checked on him that Thursday night and that was the last time we heard from him," Frazier said.

 

On Sunday, police were called to Englert's home to perform a welfare check after he did not return his father's calls, and police found his body. Police concluded he died suddenly a day or two earlier, Frazier said.

 

If you read the last sentence carefully, an intelligent reader would come to the conclusion that the teacher died in a way that was unrelated to COVID-19.

 

I’ve never heard of a person dying suddenly from Covid, usually it is a drawn-out affair with hospital stays and ventilators. This sounds more like an accidental death or suicide.

 

The article on Yahoo.com was written by a reporter for the Des Moines Register, so I clicked the link and read his article on the newspaper’s website. Interestingly, the third paragraph of the Yahoo.com article does not appear in the Des Moines Register article:

 

An outbreak at the district's secondary school was reported the previous week, Frazier said, believed to be linked to students who were getting together outside school and spreading the virus. He said some of the students brought the virus to school.

 

That paragraph was just for Yahoo.com. And if we are being honest, that paragraph is the reason this article is considered nationally interesting. I think the effort by this journalist to insinuate that teenagers are responsible for the teacher’s death is reprehensible.

 

When I first read the story on the Des Moines Register’s website, there were three comments to the article, one was explicitly political:

 

“So sad and so unnecessary. His death can be blamed directly on those in his community who refuse to wear a mask and keep their distance.  He most likely was exposed to the virus from a student who contracted it from a family member or a friend who belongs to the "I don't have to wear a mask if I don't want to! It's my RIGHT!" club.

 

Why is it that the likes of Trump, Meadows, Rand Paul, and the others who have been lying about and downplaying this virus for months can get this virus and get through it with virtually no ill effects, and good decent honest people like this teacher will get it and are gone within a few days? Life is truly not fair! When we do venture out we need to automatically assume that EVERYONE, including ourselves, is carrying this virus and act accordingly. Its the only way well ever get through this with the least amount if deaths.” 

 

If you use Google to search this story, here is the first page of results:

 

 

 

Note that this story of a small-town teacher’s death is showing up in People magazine, the NY Post, and USA Today. Subsequent search pages show it appearing in The Hill, The L.A. Times, and the Daily Mail (UK).

 

But I guess nothing is out of bounds when it comes to pushing the Corona Virus Panic Narrative. News outlets, for whatever reason, are searching high and low for stories that make people perceive COVID-19 to be bigger and more dangerous than it is, and to slap down people who want to live their lives as normally as possible. In contrast to this narrative, many Americans believe that we have rights that even a flu outbreak does not take away.