We explore real-life reformation here in this informed, online community.
"They do not know what words mean;
they do not know how to ward them off or blunt their edge or fling
them back; they are a prey to words in their emotions instead of being the
masters of them in their intellects.
"We who were scandalized in 1940 when men were sent to fight
armoured tanks with rifles, are not scandalised when
young men and women are sent into the world to fight massed propaganda
with a smattering of “subjects”; and when whole classes and whole nations
become hypnotised by the arts of the spellbinder, we have the impudence
to be astonished.
"We dole out lip-service to the importance of education—
lip-service and, just occasionally, a little grant of money; we postpone the
school leaving-age, and plan to build bigger and better schools; the teachers
slave conscientiously in and out of school-hours, till responsibility becomes a
burden and a nightmare; and yet, as I believe, all this devoted effort is largely
frustrated, because we have lost the tools of learning, and in their absence
can only make a botched and piecemeal job of it."
British Novelist Dorothy Sayers, 1947
Bill Madden writes, "Refusing illegal orders in the military is difficult to do because they normally are generated high in the chain of command and very few officers in the chain really know what is or is not a legal order. Immediate superiors can be very demanding and the orders are usually given in high pressure environments. Refusing an illegal military order is tantamount to whistleblowing and, as much good as it does for the concept of truth, the whistleblower’s life is made miserable as a punishment for his honesty and a warning to others."
I watched this happen with Army Spec Michael New during the Clinton years. He disobeyed an illegal Clinton order, was arrested on base in Germany, was then given an unjust, unconstitutional trial, and then a Bad Conduct Discharge. But he stood his ground the whole time and has been proven right since.
“Fact check; not locking down at all (like Sweden) would have saved lives in UK. Hard to believe how much money the UK spent on its sham covid inquiry.”
--Jay Bhattacharya
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry cost millions. It finally released the core political chapters of its long-awaited report. After nearly three years of hearings, millions of documents, and tens of millions of pounds spent on legal fees, the conclusion is now unmistakably clear.
They’ve learned nothing, even while watching millions suffer from lockdowns and vaccination.
Worse, they may not want to learn. The Inquiry’s structure, its analytical frame, even its carefully curated narrative all point in the same direction: away from the possibility that Britain’s pandemic response was fundamentally misguided.
Not the personal sub;
the private American car. Americans owe $1.66 trillion in auto debt. Delinquencies just hit levels not seen since the Great Financial Crisis. Nearly 30% of all trade-ins are underwater. Average amount owed: $7,000 more than their cars are worth.
Auto loans are now a bigger consumer debt category than student loans (8.9%) and significantly larger than credit cards (6.6%).
So is that shiny late model vehicle a blessing, or a curse?
