"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." - William Blum, former U.S. State Department employee
Today on Clay & Buck they said of recently publicized Democrat threat against No Labels Party to find and expose dirt, "It's worse than that; they'll lie."
To this current conversation, who's to say that unethical bureaucrats, like the kind that willfully destroy evidence under subpoena or lie through omission, would hesitate to fabricate transactions like these? Who would protect the indicted masses? The Justice System? Ha!
When I was in the intelligence field, we never considered such things. The closest we came was uncovering a funding connection between the East German MfS and the Berlin Democratic Club. Collaterally, we learned of a California Democrat whose first campaign was funded by East Germany. He was very senior in the House, and we were instructed to drop it.
If you have not recently bought any kind of modern television/video display, don't have a Netflix subscription/Hulu account/pay for some other digital infotainment cause celebre du jour service?
And persist in writing politically inconvenient things on non mainstream yet higher traffic media sites in a sort of literate fashion?
You clearly need to be brought back to reality. It's for the good of the children.
Roll your fucking eyes, you asshole! You come to The Racket to get informed, but roll your goddamn eyes at something that YOU CAN DO that would incredibly help our country. Fuck off you bitch.
I avoid Amazon for everything but books. Barnes & Noble doesn't seem like a place I should support, and local bookshops are even worse. What alternatives do you recommend?
HL Mencken was officially censured/condemned by the Arkansas State Legislature in the 1920s. If you get thrown on some kind of list today, it just shows the intellectual level of the tool who developed the criteria-and that of their human precedents.
It says it right there in FinCEN's words, "subscriptions to other media containing extremist views." Who's taking bets that Racket News and other like-minded Substacks are considered "extremist views" by the lovely people of FinCEN and the alphabet agencies?
Seriously, the predilection for imposing narratives on people that strip them of the basic right to define for themselves what they believe and what their motives are ("You pretend you have a grievance with immigration policy; in reality we know this is just your covert way of expressing your racism!") is one of the most sinister and Orwellian expressions of the censorship industrial complex's drive to control information. Not only are dissenters deemed heretics, they no longer even get to choose their own heresies (which in the end I suppose doesn't really matter, since they aren't going to be allowed to make a case for any in any event).
If independent reporters like Matt, Glenn, and Arron aren't on the list of "media containing extremist views" yet, after today you can bet organizations like the NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, CNN, and the rest of legacy media will be lobbying they should be tomorrow.
As mentioned in a previous post, in a galaxy far far away... If your name does not appear on a list, it is not the fault of the FBI or DoJ. Check your local Obit listing.
You're not understanding what an "extremist" actually represents. Matt, Glenn and Aaron, are not dissenters---they're middle-of-the road fabulists and propagandists. They are disinformation agents. Just as a travel agent will help you get to where you want to go, these guys get you to go where someone else wants you to go. Simple. Lewis Carroll figures, really.
There is a block function. Click feldspar's username... then click on the circle with "..." in it, then select block. He then doesn't see and can't reply to one's future comments.
Not to boast, but it's often been said that my basal cleavage is nearly perfect. Fetching to the naked eye and even more alluring under the microscope---more of a soubrette than coquette, really, though.
Easy antidote: subscribe or view nytimes, wapo, cnn, etc. cover the entire media spectrum so when they take you away your defense is you ingest legacy media. Also you know what everyone is saying not just reinforcing your personal opinion.
Hmmm. Maybe when Google renamed themselves 'Alphabet' it was an insider joke on us, or a sad cry for help by somebody on a spectrum just a bit too clever to get the point across.
Here? Racket News? Extremist? It's mostly far-fetched hallucinatory delusional always amusing sometimes maddening overlaid with a thick veneer of stupid. Nobody here has anything to worry about, trust me.
"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." - William Blum, former U.S. State Department employee
So you're saying this article is far-fetched? That's straight out of rags like the Guardian's playbook, before they ramp up with accusatons of being far-right, Putin apologists, antisemitic etc etc.
More far-fetchiness. You just buffed my comment into a bright sheen. You fell into a rhetorical trap of your own fashioning with this poorly articulated response. I suggest restructuring the body of the comment and give focus to a defense of Taibbi's gibberish rather manufacturing straw men, chimeras, non-existent positions held by non-existent people and drawing in the "Guardian."
The whole prison experience will take place in a pair of glasses they staple to your head. Rows and rows of "offenders," strapped in chairs with VR-goggles stapled to their heads.
Me, too. All my paid Substacks are on one credit card. Several are dollar denominated payments outside the US. And I buy all my books from Amazon (all Kindles). See Lee Fang's recent Substack on Andy Slavitt's interaction with Kindle to suppress certain books. If Amazon agreed to suppress books, one can easily believe they will provide information on who purchased unflavored books.
Price and selection. It's not a matter of "supporting"... as someone who haunted bookstores in his youth, I can confirm that there's simply no alternative to Amazon for the types of books I buy (philosophy, intellectual history, European literature in translation, etc.).
I'm in the same position as Susan: my book purchasing history would be quite easy to track; and as a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library, I have no doubt I'm listed in a file somewhere as a potentially dangerous subversive (all the more since I've never attempted to 'purify' my reading ideologically, consuming books from every part of the political spectrum).
Mark, thanks for your explanation so I don't have to explain. I'd ask WAHomeowners where should I buy books if not Amazon as 90% of my purchases are ebooks. I am unashamed of any purchase I have made, and am resigned to being on various lists. Not using Amazon does not solve the real problem, a government who wants to criminalize thoughts, opinions, and recreational activities it does not approve of.
I am quite fond of thriftbooks.com. They have free shipping on any purchase over $15. They are often better than amazon for out of print material, too.
In my view you're behind the curve, my dear Erin. Thrift Books is where the library I laboured in for two and half decades sends its discards, and they're often in terrible shape. Usually, the only time I receive deliveries from that seller is when I've made a careless ordering mistake.
You can get second hand books in much better condition from a wide range of other sellers on ABE Books, which is indeed where you should seek them rather than on Amazon. ABE's search default is set on 'lowest price,' but if you're smart you'll switch it to 'highest,' both to get fuller book descriptions and some idea of how highly a first edition of what you're after is valued by collectors. You can then scroll down the list for bargains that fit your budget.
My personal advice is never to buy anything from Thrift Books if you intend to give it as a present. You may be very disappointed when it arrives, Thrift Books often being a little delinquent in its own descriptions.
Abebooks is a subsidiary of Amazon, so those individuals trying to avoid Amazon for whatever reason would likely also have an issue with it.
I have personally never had an issue with the quality of the books from thriftbooks being different than advertised. I am not generally in the market for valuable books, however, and certainly trust that you have more experience with that than I do. I am usually just looking for books not carried by my regional library system, which has pretty poor selection in several topics which are of interest to me. It has always suited my particular needs without issue.
And consider the next stop. Track the hit list of reading material from
publishers to purchaser whether ebook flavour or hardcopy. Next require
the purchaser of the material as in an online library or actual brick and mortar library to provide access to their customer data base for the hit list check outs and their identity. Don't feel left out..you could make the list. Maybe that already happens.
Moved moved from the East Coast to a small town in Texas. There are no department stores, clothing, stores, target, Walmart or Pizza Hut. No dominoes either. I choose to shop at Amazon, so I don’t have to spend the money on gas which would add to the total price of my product. I realize, this is not optimal but it’s the best I’ve got. When I lived in the East Coast, I had an abundance of options now in the flyover state, I have limited accessibility to variety. You make do.
There are plenty of other online places to shop, I don't buy your argument. Sorry. Everyone who gets those phallic boxes on their doorstep is part of the problem.
Wow, I bet you're right, things are so messed up, the saddest part is 1/2 of the country will always support the oppression and abuse of those they disagree with
I try to disguise myself by also subscribing to The Free Press. They are all for spending many, many billions of our dollars to finance Israel's destruction of Gaza, so at least the current powers have an outside reason to think I may be with them.
I subscribe to the free press as well, there is a lot of good content, even though Bari goes a little hard on the Israel can do no wrong, but I balance that with Greenwalds opposite bias.
Brilliant. My idea to track the new $60 billion we are sending to Ukraine is to make sure they have to order everything through Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's. Apparently US Treasury is interested in tracing those transactions.
Maybe we should all pay our taxes with personal exemptions on where the money can be spent. Like: I oppose using these taxes for Ukraine, surveillance by our government, open border policies, police military armor, etc.
If you aren't already, work with an accountant to get your tax return to as close to zero as possible. At least then you know you only loaned them a couple bucks.
By many metrics the US has always been an Oligarchy. It's just more noticeable today that the Oligarchs have been consolidating power to a disturbing degree since the Regan administration.
Before the growth of the welfare state in the 1960's civil society at the local level managed society and solved problems. Civic duty and pride have been eroded to the point that we have forgotten how to govern ourselves. Bread and circus diversions while corruption and rot become the norm are the result.
As a gun toting redneck, several of these entries jump out at me.
Academy/Bass Pro - sell guns and ammo, but mostly sell general hunting/sporting equipment
Dillon Precision - No guns, small amounts of ammo, mostly sell ammo reloading supplies (no disgruntled postal worker is reloading their own ammo)
Numrich/Gunpartscorp - no ammo or (I think) serialized parts, AKA no actual guns, only sell used gun parts for repair purpose.
So either this list was made by somebody who has no idea what they're doing, or the whole "preventing shootings" explanation is a cover for trying to kill an industry.
I don’t think the point is to prevent shootings, it is to create dossiers of potentially problematic (from the perspective of the government) people in case they need to be suppressed, arrested, etc. They are straight up fascists, and that is what fascists do.
Add to that list Dicks Sporting Goods which stopped selling guns in 2020 at all but 17% of its stores after an attack of woke. Sales cratered and they still ended up on the naughty list. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. ;-)
Jettisoning the guns was an investment for Dick's. And a good one. Sales did not "crater," they declined. Momentarily. And then...
"...Between the lines: It's obviously risky for a gun retailer to wade into the Second Amendment debate, and these corporate actions initially cost the retailer millions, but Dick’s made up for it over time through apparel sales, according to a Harvard Business School case study.
"Stack and his leadership team committed to the decision, created a business plan to combat revenue loss, and communicated their stance proudly across national news broadcasts."
“Ultimately, the leader of Dick’s Sporting Goods followed his conscience, and the strategy worked — largely because he resisted an impulsive move, built consensus, and communicated effectively,” writes George A. Riedel, the Henry B. Arthur Fellow and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School."
Dick's Sporting Goods markets their merchandise to a broad public, not just gun-toting, fetishistic 2nd-Amendment chuds.
My impression is that it's more than just killing an industry. It's actually about monitoring firearm & ammo sales to determine how much of the citizenry are arming themselves in possible preparation for a REAL insurrection next Jan 6.
Sweet Jesus. I had to explain to my 17 year-old daughter yesterday why dad is actually not a conspiracy theory guy, but just someone who has awakened to this bastard censorship and government overreach. The five eyes are on us and I want them off. These buggers are wrecking our freedom and democracy.
The EU Vassals & the Empire of Lies speaks often about China's 'Social Credit System; & its various Horrors... yet what they themselves do to the common citizen these days is infinitely worse.
This is a classic 'pointing to the Mote in the eye of another whilst having a Beam in your own!'
I used to think that if censorship, financial black listing or similar practices became known then public opinion would force the perpetrators to back down. But it seems that a big and very influential segment of US society embraces authoritarianism as necessary to combat the ignorance and suggestibility of MAGA voters. The MSNBC/NPR crowd would probably support 1984-style Ingsoc if Big Brother identified as a Democrat.
Joy Reid of MSNBC was gleeful when a few unvaxxed individuals were thrown out of a restaurant during the pandemic. She even tried to make a "joke" on Twitter about it, ordering them to stay home and use Door Dash whenever they need food. Just one example out of many. MSNBC has already supported authoritarianism, pretending it has to do with MAGA.
Could you provide more detail? What does "debank" mean in this context? Did they freeze your account? Close the account? Or block just the transactions they viewed as suspicious?
Chase shuts accounts down and sends a check for the balance with no prior notice. This happened to my 75yo mother for no good reason and the only explanation was "suspicious activity".. Pay in cash while you still can..
This is going to drive an underground black market where guns are sold back and forth to individuals with cash. We can certainly do that where I live, no problem. This new surveillance is really scary and looks more like some communist-type government. I appreciate Jim Jordan, but when can this be forever stopped? Also, real, consistent criminals rarely buy guns at the sporting good store.
Jordan could locate a warehouse in D.C. full of the severed heads of political dissidents and the major media wouldn’t cover it and Congress would still be setting their hair on fire about needing more electric vehicles in the military and other super important stuff.
They're working on that "problem" too. In case you haven't noticed, there has been a steady agenda of incrementally pushing digital currency and eliminating the usefulness of cash.
I've noticed. The serfs really need to agree on a barter system where we can. The funny thing is that I have nothing to hide, I just have bad feelings in my gut about this stuff. Bad.
We can fix much of this with two tracks of reform. It gets back to the corruption of the media and tech.
1. Underway - destroy the economic opportunity of Theory-based indoctrinated campus clones by laying them off like Musk started, and not hiring them based on simple open-ended interview questions where they will not be able to resist demonstrating their fealty to the woke cult. This will cause the business of higher learning to clean up their act for financial reasons as parents stop sending their little green-haired monsters in the making to these expensive institutions of learning that end up damaging, rather than helping, economic outcomes.
2. Needed - update anti trust rules to count cross-ownership of corporations (Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street together own controlling interest in the four mega media corporations and all big tech instead of Twitter/X) and also update to prevent corporate mergers that damage competition from smalls.
The goal here is to get the press back to independence where it isn’t just Matt and a few others doing the hero work to call out the rats and their power abuse behavior. When you distill everything down to the source of these tyrannical changes it is the failure of the mainstream corporate media to stay independent and hold these politicians and government officials responsible. Private business is only trying to comply with government so government does not abuse power to harm the private business. Lawfare happens because the media does not soundly condemn the government abuses of power. There is no higher power than government except the real journalists that will call them out.
Right? I doubt the Treasury Dept has a keyword list pertaining to anything related to the TRA crowd. Evidently, it's only MAGA folks who can be "potential terrorists."
"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." - William Blum, former U.S. State Department employee
Even if you're not paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
Today on Clay & Buck they said of recently publicized Democrat threat against No Labels Party to find and expose dirt, "It's worse than that; they'll lie."
To this current conversation, who's to say that unethical bureaucrats, like the kind that willfully destroy evidence under subpoena or lie through omission, would hesitate to fabricate transactions like these? Who would protect the indicted masses? The Justice System? Ha!
When I was in the intelligence field, we never considered such things. The closest we came was uncovering a funding connection between the East German MfS and the Berlin Democratic Club. Collaterally, we learned of a California Democrat whose first campaign was funded by East Germany. He was very senior in the House, and we were instructed to drop it.
How does that definition of fascism go again?
"No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up."
Lily Tomlin
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lily_tomlin_383212
Brad: Please consider reviewing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CL2HLC3N
It's very on point to this discussion.
If you have not recently bought any kind of modern television/video display, don't have a Netflix subscription/Hulu account/pay for some other digital infotainment cause celebre du jour service?
And persist in writing politically inconvenient things on non mainstream yet higher traffic media sites in a sort of literate fashion?
You clearly need to be brought back to reality. It's for the good of the children.
Won't look at that. I boycott Amazon.
Good for you WA! I'm trying to get there!
🙄
Roll your fucking eyes, you asshole! You come to The Racket to get informed, but roll your goddamn eyes at something that YOU CAN DO that would incredibly help our country. Fuck off you bitch.
I avoid Amazon for everything but books. Barnes & Noble doesn't seem like a place I should support, and local bookshops are even worse. What alternatives do you recommend?
I do a lot of shopping at thriftbooks.com.
Barnes & Noble is a MUCH better option than Amazon for books. But an even better option is Powells Books out of Portland.
Thrift is good as are, abebooks, alibris, and better world books.
WAH: How charming - clearly a candidate for Great Guy of the Month.
You Can't Understand Normal Thinking, can you?
I'll have not done the paperback yet. Am trying to get someone like Matt to read and maybe offer a blurb...
Thanks for the referral.
Is there a non-kindle version?
Is there a non-AMAZON version???
Not yet. I'll trade a PDF version for a review on Amazon.
Not yet. I'll trade a PDF version for a review on Amazon.
Next time scare up a few friends to do the logrolling for you. I mean, jeez, you shouldn't have to do it all.
I Imagine I'm on some government shit list because I subscribe to Matt, Glen Greenwald, and several other independent journalists.
If you're not on a list or two by now, you're doing America wrong.
💯
HL Mencken was officially censured/condemned by the Arkansas State Legislature in the 1920s. If you get thrown on some kind of list today, it just shows the intellectual level of the tool who developed the criteria-and that of their human precedents.
Mencken was not censured by the Arkansas State Legislature—a resolution was passed asking the citizens of Arkansas to “pray” for Mencken.
It says it right there in FinCEN's words, "subscriptions to other media containing extremist views." Who's taking bets that Racket News and other like-minded Substacks are considered "extremist views" by the lovely people of FinCEN and the alphabet agencies?
Badge of honour. Wear it with pride.
Seriously, the predilection for imposing narratives on people that strip them of the basic right to define for themselves what they believe and what their motives are ("You pretend you have a grievance with immigration policy; in reality we know this is just your covert way of expressing your racism!") is one of the most sinister and Orwellian expressions of the censorship industrial complex's drive to control information. Not only are dissenters deemed heretics, they no longer even get to choose their own heresies (which in the end I suppose doesn't really matter, since they aren't going to be allowed to make a case for any in any event).
Exactly. Sinister mind-readers.
If independent reporters like Matt, Glenn, and Arron aren't on the list of "media containing extremist views" yet, after today you can bet organizations like the NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, CNN, and the rest of legacy media will be lobbying they should be tomorrow.
As mentioned in a previous post, in a galaxy far far away... If your name does not appear on a list, it is not the fault of the FBI or DoJ. Check your local Obit listing.
You're not understanding what an "extremist" actually represents. Matt, Glenn and Aaron, are not dissenters---they're middle-of-the road fabulists and propagandists. They are disinformation agents. Just as a travel agent will help you get to where you want to go, these guys get you to go where someone else wants you to go. Simple. Lewis Carroll figures, really.
OK, moonstone
Feldspar's only purpose here is to drag this site into the gutter.
There is a block function. Click feldspar's username... then click on the circle with "..." in it, then select block. He then doesn't see and can't reply to one's future comments.
Feldspar! Hope you are well. Your mica-like posts have been missed.
Not to boast, but it's often been said that my basal cleavage is nearly perfect. Fetching to the naked eye and even more alluring under the microscope---more of a soubrette than coquette, really, though.
Easy antidote: subscribe or view nytimes, wapo, cnn, etc. cover the entire media spectrum so when they take you away your defense is you ingest legacy media. Also you know what everyone is saying not just reinforcing your personal opinion.
Hmmm. Maybe when Google renamed themselves 'Alphabet' it was an insider joke on us, or a sad cry for help by somebody on a spectrum just a bit too clever to get the point across.
Here? Racket News? Extremist? It's mostly far-fetched hallucinatory delusional always amusing sometimes maddening overlaid with a thick veneer of stupid. Nobody here has anything to worry about, trust me.
OK, moonstone
Did you not see Brad's quote above?:
"No matter how paranoid or conspiracy-minded you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." - William Blum, former U.S. State Department employee
Stop being dense.
So you're saying this article is far-fetched? That's straight out of rags like the Guardian's playbook, before they ramp up with accusatons of being far-right, Putin apologists, antisemitic etc etc.
More far-fetchiness. You just buffed my comment into a bright sheen. You fell into a rhetorical trap of your own fashioning with this poorly articulated response. I suggest restructuring the body of the comment and give focus to a defense of Taibbi's gibberish rather manufacturing straw men, chimeras, non-existent positions held by non-existent people and drawing in the "Guardian."
You must have better things to do... but maybe not, which is sad; in any case I'll remember to ignore your daft comments in the future
There is a block function, btw
OK, moonstone
Again - utterly devoid of evidence that supports your insults. You just reeeeely want attention, don't you honey?
Fuck off, lady.
Ok we get you, Why are you here? It seems to trigger some reflexive unsanitary wording, notably free of evidentiary support..
Me too. I like to buy and read all the wrong things. I am just not a good progressive Democrat proudly obeying and believing the oligarchy.
Me three. I have dibs on the gulag bunk with the least fleas.
(In all seriousness, this digital panopticon is fucking terrifying.)
The whole prison experience will take place in a pair of glasses they staple to your head. Rows and rows of "offenders," strapped in chairs with VR-goggles stapled to their heads.
Playing a constant stream of Ava DuVernay movies, I'm sure. A Ludovico technique for our times.
Very good looks like there’s hope for you. Now if you don't mind rolling up your sleeve and get your next mRNA shot.
Subscribe to Tucker. That will get you sanctioned in all the Western Democracies.
lol I have
Me too. I like Tucker. The dude has balls
I do need to travel to the EU from time to time to visit family. I'd like to not be on "a list".
Carlson's too much of a SpongeBob SquarePants type of clown to pose a threat to anyone. Anyone in particular, at any rate.
Me, too. All my paid Substacks are on one credit card. Several are dollar denominated payments outside the US. And I buy all my books from Amazon (all Kindles). See Lee Fang's recent Substack on Andy Slavitt's interaction with Kindle to suppress certain books. If Amazon agreed to suppress books, one can easily believe they will provide information on who purchased unflavored books.
Why would anyone support Amazon who claims to be as widely aware as you have claimed?
Price and selection. It's not a matter of "supporting"... as someone who haunted bookstores in his youth, I can confirm that there's simply no alternative to Amazon for the types of books I buy (philosophy, intellectual history, European literature in translation, etc.).
I'm in the same position as Susan: my book purchasing history would be quite easy to track; and as a retired reference librarian with over 8000 books in my home library, I have no doubt I'm listed in a file somewhere as a potentially dangerous subversive (all the more since I've never attempted to 'purify' my reading ideologically, consuming books from every part of the political spectrum).
Mark, thanks for your explanation so I don't have to explain. I'd ask WAHomeowners where should I buy books if not Amazon as 90% of my purchases are ebooks. I am unashamed of any purchase I have made, and am resigned to being on various lists. Not using Amazon does not solve the real problem, a government who wants to criminalize thoughts, opinions, and recreational activities it does not approve of.
You should be ashamed of purchases through Amazon, sorry, but you should.
Powell’s in Portland OR has been good, at least up to now. Amazon is evil.
I am quite fond of thriftbooks.com. They have free shipping on any purchase over $15. They are often better than amazon for out of print material, too.
In my view you're behind the curve, my dear Erin. Thrift Books is where the library I laboured in for two and half decades sends its discards, and they're often in terrible shape. Usually, the only time I receive deliveries from that seller is when I've made a careless ordering mistake.
You can get second hand books in much better condition from a wide range of other sellers on ABE Books, which is indeed where you should seek them rather than on Amazon. ABE's search default is set on 'lowest price,' but if you're smart you'll switch it to 'highest,' both to get fuller book descriptions and some idea of how highly a first edition of what you're after is valued by collectors. You can then scroll down the list for bargains that fit your budget.
My personal advice is never to buy anything from Thrift Books if you intend to give it as a present. You may be very disappointed when it arrives, Thrift Books often being a little delinquent in its own descriptions.
Abebooks is a subsidiary of Amazon, so those individuals trying to avoid Amazon for whatever reason would likely also have an issue with it.
I have personally never had an issue with the quality of the books from thriftbooks being different than advertised. I am not generally in the market for valuable books, however, and certainly trust that you have more experience with that than I do. I am usually just looking for books not carried by my regional library system, which has pretty poor selection in several topics which are of interest to me. It has always suited my particular needs without issue.
Powell's, Portland, OR.
And consider the next stop. Track the hit list of reading material from
publishers to purchaser whether ebook flavour or hardcopy. Next require
the purchaser of the material as in an online library or actual brick and mortar library to provide access to their customer data base for the hit list check outs and their identity. Don't feel left out..you could make the list. Maybe that already happens.
Moved moved from the East Coast to a small town in Texas. There are no department stores, clothing, stores, target, Walmart or Pizza Hut. No dominoes either. I choose to shop at Amazon, so I don’t have to spend the money on gas which would add to the total price of my product. I realize, this is not optimal but it’s the best I’ve got. When I lived in the East Coast, I had an abundance of options now in the flyover state, I have limited accessibility to variety. You make do.
There are plenty of other online places to shop, I don't buy your argument. Sorry. Everyone who gets those phallic boxes on their doorstep is part of the problem.
We don't all live in an English speaking country! It's not always about the US
I do buy my books from Amazon. I am Irish and live in France where there are no English bookshops except in Paris.
I read about 5 books a week ..................
I'll bet that there is another way to buy books in your country. Don't give me this shit.
C'mon, 'WAH' tell us what they did to you.
Amazon ruined Seattle.
That’s why Bug Eye Bezos left and went to Florida. His work there was complete. Seattle is ruined.
Exactly
Reason enough.
And Amazon is ruining the U.S.
We may even have the beginnings of a new third party: The Shitlist Party.
Well, I know I am . I have purchased from 16 of the companies listed!
Wow you're toast for sure, your best bet is to convince them you are in the country illegally.
The list is missing a bunch. I only purchased from 5 on the list.
Ha! If you subscribe to The Babylon Bee you're on the list.
Wow, I bet you're right, things are so messed up, the saddest part is 1/2 of the country will always support the oppression and abuse of those they disagree with
I try to disguise myself by also subscribing to The Free Press. They are all for spending many, many billions of our dollars to finance Israel's destruction of Gaza, so at least the current powers have an outside reason to think I may be with them.
I subscribe to the free press as well, there is a lot of good content, even though Bari goes a little hard on the Israel can do no wrong, but I balance that with Greenwalds opposite bias.
Read "Three Felonies A Day".
We are all on a list or five.
If you are NOT on a list, its not the FBI’s DoJ fault... Check your local obits see if you’re listed.
Same. I'm screwed.
As I sit here and work in my income tax returns, it occurs that I'm paying for this. Unbelievable.
Be sure you claim Zelensky as a dependent.
I chuckled at this and thought of doing it on my taxes…..then realized it would land me on a watchlist or subject me to an IRS colonoscopy
A 'Taxoscopy'!
Zelinsky is a dependent of every U.S. citizen.
...and Israel, too.
Brilliant. My idea to track the new $60 billion we are sending to Ukraine is to make sure they have to order everything through Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's. Apparently US Treasury is interested in tracing those transactions.
Maybe we should all pay our taxes with personal exemptions on where the money can be spent. Like: I oppose using these taxes for Ukraine, surveillance by our government, open border policies, police military armor, etc.
If you aren't already, work with an accountant to get your tax return to as close to zero as possible. At least then you know you only loaned them a couple bucks.
Is the world crazy by accident or design?
The tsunami of madness suggests the latter.
It's like we're trapped in some hideous MKUltra experiment.
It's def no accident. Not even a little bit
Takes a lot of anger, disgust and apathy for people to give up on self rule. That is what you are seeing at play. Walking us into fascism.
I agree but I think it's been a long time since we had anything approaching self rule.
Maybe our defeat is just becoming too obvious to ignore.
By many metrics the US has always been an Oligarchy. It's just more noticeable today that the Oligarchs have been consolidating power to a disturbing degree since the Regan administration.
Before the growth of the welfare state in the 1960's civil society at the local level managed society and solved problems. Civic duty and pride have been eroded to the point that we have forgotten how to govern ourselves. Bread and circus diversions while corruption and rot become the norm are the result.
It’s The New Cruelty.
As a gun toting redneck, several of these entries jump out at me.
Academy/Bass Pro - sell guns and ammo, but mostly sell general hunting/sporting equipment
Dillon Precision - No guns, small amounts of ammo, mostly sell ammo reloading supplies (no disgruntled postal worker is reloading their own ammo)
Numrich/Gunpartscorp - no ammo or (I think) serialized parts, AKA no actual guns, only sell used gun parts for repair purpose.
So either this list was made by somebody who has no idea what they're doing, or the whole "preventing shootings" explanation is a cover for trying to kill an industry.
I don’t think the point is to prevent shootings, it is to create dossiers of potentially problematic (from the perspective of the government) people in case they need to be suppressed, arrested, etc. They are straight up fascists, and that is what fascists do.
Wonder if IBM is helping them, like they helped the Nazis track Jews.
Google is building dozens and dozens of data centers all over.
I loved how a few years ago they were literally moving into the old East German STASI headquarters.
https://ibb.co/gz45qw1
The old "Red" files, updated now that the reds are in charge.
Add to that list Dicks Sporting Goods which stopped selling guns in 2020 at all but 17% of its stores after an attack of woke. Sales cratered and they still ended up on the naughty list. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. ;-)
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/dicks-sporting-goods-admits-decision-to-abandon-gun-sales-cost-shareholders-250m-in-revenue/
Jettisoning the guns was an investment for Dick's. And a good one. Sales did not "crater," they declined. Momentarily. And then...
"...Between the lines: It's obviously risky for a gun retailer to wade into the Second Amendment debate, and these corporate actions initially cost the retailer millions, but Dick’s made up for it over time through apparel sales, according to a Harvard Business School case study.
"Stack and his leadership team committed to the decision, created a business plan to combat revenue loss, and communicated their stance proudly across national news broadcasts."
“Ultimately, the leader of Dick’s Sporting Goods followed his conscience, and the strategy worked — largely because he resisted an impulsive move, built consensus, and communicated effectively,” writes George A. Riedel, the Henry B. Arthur Fellow and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School."
Dick's Sporting Goods markets their merchandise to a broad public, not just gun-toting, fetishistic 2nd-Amendment chuds.
They can day whatever they want, their business has declined since.
Tell me about it. Ruger's on there. I know I've mentioned that I recently bought one and like it.
Glock is also on the list, but not Colt or Kalashnikov. It makes no sense.
"Never attribute to malice what is more easily explained by incompetence or stupidity."--Napoleon.
I think this list was made by somebody who has no idea what they're doing.
🪒🛎️
My impression is that it's more than just killing an industry. It's actually about monitoring firearm & ammo sales to determine how much of the citizenry are arming themselves in possible preparation for a REAL insurrection next Jan 6.
Sweet Jesus. I had to explain to my 17 year-old daughter yesterday why dad is actually not a conspiracy theory guy, but just someone who has awakened to this bastard censorship and government overreach. The five eyes are on us and I want them off. These buggers are wrecking our freedom and democracy.
And how'd it go?
It was never conspiracy.
It was always policy.
The EU Vassals & the Empire of Lies speaks often about China's 'Social Credit System; & its various Horrors... yet what they themselves do to the common citizen these days is infinitely worse.
This is a classic 'pointing to the Mote in the eye of another whilst having a Beam in your own!'
(For those interested)
If you wish to read (& listen!) to more of My commentary, here is my Main Stack:
https://thefallofthewest.substack.com
Thank You Kindly to everyone!
Pimping your Substack..
Our American oligarchy is jealous of the authoritarian powers held by the Chinese one.
Don't forgot Canada, Trudy openly said as much.
That's right, he did, didn't he? Was he wearing blackface at the time, perchance?
You've been one of the only other voices consistently on this type of story, which I firmly believe is one of the most important of our day.
I used to think that if censorship, financial black listing or similar practices became known then public opinion would force the perpetrators to back down. But it seems that a big and very influential segment of US society embraces authoritarianism as necessary to combat the ignorance and suggestibility of MAGA voters. The MSNBC/NPR crowd would probably support 1984-style Ingsoc if Big Brother identified as a Democrat.
Joy Reid of MSNBC was gleeful when a few unvaxxed individuals were thrown out of a restaurant during the pandemic. She even tried to make a "joke" on Twitter about it, ordering them to stay home and use Door Dash whenever they need food. Just one example out of many. MSNBC has already supported authoritarianism, pretending it has to do with MAGA.
She’s lovely.
big brother is a democrat. fascism and socialism are two sides of the same coin.
Probably? We've been witnessing it in real time for the last decade, at minimum
"Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds."
The Black Panthers
Chase debanked me a year ago for “suspicious activity.” I belong to a private gun range and made purchases at a gun store.
Could we talk? Taibbi@substack.com...
JFC....this is terrifying
Could you provide more detail? What does "debank" mean in this context? Did they freeze your account? Close the account? Or block just the transactions they viewed as suspicious?
Chase shuts accounts down and sends a check for the balance with no prior notice. This happened to my 75yo mother for no good reason and the only explanation was "suspicious activity".. Pay in cash while you still can..
Did they keep your money as well? Or return it to you?
Given the amount of “bad” materials we’ve purchased since 2018, I suppose it’s a good thing we keep cash and fungible metals at home.
Protected by those materials.....
Anne would you consider posting your locale?
😳
Go back and read or reread “1984” and see how prophetic Orwell was. What was once considered fiction is now reality.
I think Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has been a more accurate depiction of what is slowly becoming reality.
They are both modern prophets
ESG x CBDC = CCP social credit score system. Calculate your ESG score here to see if you are virtuous enough to avoid the gulags: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-raise-your-esg-score
Pimpin your Substack
LOL. You had me at the 1st questions. I see I'm gonna fail BIG TIME! (back to the quiz)
Save me an ice block to sit on comrade. While I did not think it was possible, I scored BELOW 0!
And I laughed and laughed at the picture here: https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8521a8fb-8a97-427d-87c4-2e80a0b72ca7_1170x623.png
I have never been afraid of my own government until these last few years. I no longer recognize my own country.
And that's the way they like it!
This is going to drive an underground black market where guns are sold back and forth to individuals with cash. We can certainly do that where I live, no problem. This new surveillance is really scary and looks more like some communist-type government. I appreciate Jim Jordan, but when can this be forever stopped? Also, real, consistent criminals rarely buy guns at the sporting good store.
Jordan could locate a warehouse in D.C. full of the severed heads of political dissidents and the major media wouldn’t cover it and Congress would still be setting their hair on fire about needing more electric vehicles in the military and other super important stuff.
😵💫 right.
They're working on that "problem" too. In case you haven't noticed, there has been a steady agenda of incrementally pushing digital currency and eliminating the usefulness of cash.
I've noticed. The serfs really need to agree on a barter system where we can. The funny thing is that I have nothing to hide, I just have bad feelings in my gut about this stuff. Bad.
We can fix much of this with two tracks of reform. It gets back to the corruption of the media and tech.
1. Underway - destroy the economic opportunity of Theory-based indoctrinated campus clones by laying them off like Musk started, and not hiring them based on simple open-ended interview questions where they will not be able to resist demonstrating their fealty to the woke cult. This will cause the business of higher learning to clean up their act for financial reasons as parents stop sending their little green-haired monsters in the making to these expensive institutions of learning that end up damaging, rather than helping, economic outcomes.
2. Needed - update anti trust rules to count cross-ownership of corporations (Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street together own controlling interest in the four mega media corporations and all big tech instead of Twitter/X) and also update to prevent corporate mergers that damage competition from smalls.
The goal here is to get the press back to independence where it isn’t just Matt and a few others doing the hero work to call out the rats and their power abuse behavior. When you distill everything down to the source of these tyrannical changes it is the failure of the mainstream corporate media to stay independent and hold these politicians and government officials responsible. Private business is only trying to comply with government so government does not abuse power to harm the private business. Lawfare happens because the media does not soundly condemn the government abuses of power. There is no higher power than government except the real journalists that will call them out.
We now have evidence of two manifestos of mass shooters who are trans or have some other mental disease. Any comments?
When you close most State mental institutions and ruin involuntary commitment laws you get...
Right? I doubt the Treasury Dept has a keyword list pertaining to anything related to the TRA crowd. Evidently, it's only MAGA folks who can be "potential terrorists."
- Looking to buy a gun for sport or personal protection= bad.
-Threatening to rape and kill a TERF= acceptable speech.
Yup.