Death By Crazy Cat Lady

It occurred to me the other day that all of the folks who are hell-bent on "diversity" and "migrants" aren't much different from crazy cat ladies.

Progressive: I found this (kitty, migrant) and it was sad, so I brought it home!

Me: You already have (23, 20,000,000) (kitties, illegals). You can't take care of the ones you have.

Progressive: But it was sad!

And that's how we ended up with 20,000,001 illegals in the country. Well, that and the Democrats' desire to change America's demographics so they never lost another election. That and certain businesses short-term interests in quasi-slave labor. Still, the psychopaths in politics and business couldn't have gotten it done without the crazy cat ladies.

We're being destroyed by pathological empathy.

I brought home a new kitty because it was sad!

Dames Folles Aux Chats

In Europe, it's even worse as they have been importing imperialist, Islamic conquerors. That's like the crazy cat lady bringing in a litter of Bengal tigers. It won't be long before she's on the menu and they own the house.

In France, Marine Le Pen had the temerity to suggest that Muslims were there to take over, not to coexist. That kind of harshing of the empathy mellow was impermissible, especially coming from a political candidate who was leading the pack, so the French elites had her thrown in jail.

Good idea, Pierre. That's not going to lead to any problems. Take an ethnic majority who feels that it's being replaced and toss their leader in the hoosegow on charges that could be used against all of her political rivals and see what you get. Why we haven't yet seen "direction action," as it were, is anyone's guess.

Over on the Maiden, Mother, Matriarch podcast there was an interview with an expert in unconventional warfare who discussed the potential for a civil war in Britain. A cheery fellow with decades of experience, mountains of credentials and who has been an advisor to the military and politicians, he predicted a civil war within the next 5 years. He claimed historical precedent for demographic majorities who feel they are being overrun and their wishes suppressed deciding to take matters into their own hands.

If England had thought it was in the lead in the Civil War Derby, the French have decided to take a short cut by imprisoning the voice of the ethnic French.

I've written before about the nature of a civil war here in the US. The expert on the MMM podcast had the same ideas.

It's not a (traditional) civil war because there's not really two sides who can fight. Instead, it would be more of a self-inflicted scorched earth campaign by the Blue cities. Recall that a scorched earth campaign is where a retreating army destroys all of the supplies it can't carry so that the enemy cannot resupply by foraging.

Here, the Blues wouldn't be able to resupply through transportation. The end result is the same, a completely unsustainable campaign. In fact, the campaign could be carried out with a simple trucker strike and a couple of power lines knocked out. No need for massive bloodshed.

Hmm. Paris without power or water. Things might get ... interesting once the "migrants" decide that's the best time to rise up and really get going on their traditional Citroen BBQ festivities. Allahu akbar, mon cheri.

The Wrong Metrics For Islam, Video Version

From a recent post:

In the West, we use metrics like GDP, Per Capita Income, education statistics and the size of our militaries to gauge how well we are doing. We assume everyone else does the same. When we went into Afghanistan and then Iraq, we figured that once we gave the residents elections, electricity, money and schools, they'd fall in love with us. How could they not if we were improving their GDP, Per Capita Income and education statistics?

We didn't bother to look into Islamic culture or the cultural metrics implicit in Islamic imperialism. For more than 1400 years, Islam has pursued its openly stated goal of bringing all people into the Ummah. For the Islamic world, the primary goal is to make all people Muslims. That's 80% of your grade right there. All the rest, including GDP, Per Capita Income and education statistics are just icing on the cake.

We didn't get much cultural purchase in Iraq and Afghanistan and those two countries have now reverted to their means because the people there don't put much value on GDP, Per Capita Income and education statistics.

The British Value Politeness

A fake asylum seeker attacks a defenseless woman, but British police are more concerned with the woman's language than the crime committed. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/EN70aekJaN

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) March 30, 2025

The Muslims Don't Value Politeness Or Getting Rid Of Trash

Tourist shocked by what he sees in London. pic.twitter.com/pH8kRm3gJB

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) March 30, 2025

The Muslims Value Islam

"We Muslims don't care about British values ​​and laws, we just want Sharia law." pic.twitter.com/CgjMxGULP4

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) March 30, 2025

Bonus Material: Sadiq Kahn Is The Gavin Newsom Of Joseph Goebbelses

Islam celebrates diversity? I'm sorry, what?

Sadiq Khan: "Islam celebrates diversity. Diversity is our strength! We need more immigrants in London.” pic.twitter.com/o0lboI7bQb

— Jennifer Bradley☆ (@jenbratt1) March 30, 2025 

Bonus Material: British Surrender Category

Note that there was no similar message about Lent.

Eid Mubarak to all Muslims celebrating in the UK and beyond. pic.twitter.com/jgkheVDc4c

— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) March 29, 2025

Dealing With Existential Dread And A Loss Of Meaning

As I get older and realize that my options for what to do next with my life are dwindling down to a small, single-digit number of big things, I sometimes despair. What is the point of learning something new when I won't have the time to make a difference with it? What is the point of starting a new project that I will most likely have to give up in 5-10 years because my body will fail?

I was listening to a recent Jordan Peterson podcast where he spoke with John Vervaeke and Jordan Hall about all manner of topics related to meaning and purpose, when he hit upon what I was feeling when I fell into despair, why I was feeling it and why my dread was baseless. All manner of corollaries followed.

Here's the segment that struck me with the transcript below. It starts with a summary of a conversation Jordan had with Elon Musk, but moves on to an example from his practice as a therapist.

He (Elon Musk) was about 12 or 13 when he had a very serious existential crisis and started reading religious material. And his existential solution to that was really a quest.

Like he found that if he concentrated on learning and investigating, that, that produced a sufficient influx of meaning so that his propositional concerns were, they were no longer foregrounded. I had clients who are like that to creative people, if they ever stopped creating, they'd fall into the grip of their rational mind and just tear them into pieces.

Yeah, but as long as they focused on that continual exploration, play creativity, then then they were fine. They'd fall into it like a child playing. And that's it. Kind of interesting because, you know, you might think of the real as what you think, because there's certainly lots of people who are intellectual falling to that problem.

But it's one of the things you do as a therapist with people who are depressed, especially if they're intelligent, is help them identify, it's probably something like a higher calling. You say, look, let's attend to your experience and see when you're depressed and when you're not, and then see if we can characterize the moments when you're not and then concentrate on expanding them.

Right. And for this gentleman (not Elon Musk, but another man) who was a very creative architect, as long as he was creating, he was fine. Now and then, his rational mind would crop up and say, well, what's the what the hell's the point of all this creativity? You know, which is, it's kind of a bottomless pit, isn't it? If the if the ultimate goal is ineffable, there's no there's no final answer to that question that you could propositionalize.

"What's the point of all this effort?" is the very question that bedevils me from time to time.

If you've been following Jordan, you'll know he has found his way to Christ. He's not crossed the Tiber publicly, but you can hear his conversion shining through in his topics and thoughts. By "ultimate goal is ineffable," he means that God is the ultimate good for which we should strive and the life of Christ is the ultimate example of the selfless sacrifice that is the model.

Direction, Not Magnitude

Since you can never reach God, since none of us can, the question of "what is the point of this one, particular goal in my life" is beside the point. It is the direction of the vector that matters, not its magnitude.

I've had some funding problems with my contract this year. That, combined with the current dip in the stock market may mean that I will never achieve my goal of a vacation house in Dixie. I may go my entire life having served my family without ever having served myself in a substantial way. I'm staring directly into that prospect right now and there are times that I feel resentment.

The key to escaping that particular sin is to realize that as long as I've been heading in the right direction, in the direction of sacrifice for others, I've been achieving all that could be expected. 

Corollary 1: No One Is Ahead Of Anyone Else

It's easy to look at others and think they've done better than you. However, if the ultimate goal is infinitely distant from me, it's infinitely distant from them, too. There's no difference between my infinite undershoot of the goal and theirs, no matter what they've accomplished or obtained.

Corollary 2: Don't Compare Yourself To Others, Compare Yourself To Who You Were Yesterday

This is one of Jordan's Rules for Life and it makes even more sense now. If the direction is what matters, then your only yardstick is where you were in the past. If you're farther along the proper infinite path, then that's a success. Sufficient unto the day is the service you can render to God's will - sacrifice for others.

Corollary 3: Happiness And Success Come From The Journey, Not The Destination

As long as I'm going in the right direction, I should just relax and make the best of the situation. Instead of wondering if I'll ever write a book or ever create one more revolution at work or own a house in Alabama, just keep going and find joy in the adventure.

My adventure will end with hundreds of unfulfilled ambitions. So what? That was never going to happen anway.

Corollary 4: Age Lies

I never felt this way when I was in my 30s or 40s even though I was just as far away from the infinite goal then as I am now. Back then, I faced the same existential issue I do today - a finite lifespan means that I won't be able to do that many things in my life.

Getting wound up about it now is a lie. I'm the same person I was back then and having time to do 8 new things or 3 new things or 1 new thing is effectively the same problem when there are 257 new things which would be fun to try.

Bone-in Roasts And Cowardly Bishops

 We had a dinner party on Sunday because, in December, I'd bought a 3-bone standing rib roast and I wanted to get it out of my freezer to clear up space. We had dinner for 8 and the results were excellent. I used this recipe from Alton Brown. I think this is the fourth time I've done it and it's been a winner every time.

Cowardly Bishops

During dinner, I was sitting with a good friend who is a thoroughgoing lefty and has done work with Catholic Charities. The topic of the migrant invasion of America came up and I made the mistake of saying how I thought that Catholic NGOs and the bishops had flipped us all the bird. They knew we didn't want the illegals in the country and they did it anyway. Then they lectured us about having "respect for the dignity of all people." I've ranted about that before, so I won't repeat it here except to clarify it.

What's good for the illegals is not good for Americans. We have competing interests. Prior to the invasion, you wouldn't have said that the Springfield, Ohio would be improved by the addition of 20,000 Haitians. In fact, the suggestion of dumping that many Haitians into the place would have been met with horror by the residents. 

For the Haitians, just about anywhere on Earth is better than Haiti. America is paradise by comparison. More to the point, an American suffering a currency crisis with 40% inflation, mass unemployment and unrest is still better than Haiti.

The Haitians and the Springfieldians have competing interests. You can choose to support one side or the other, but you are choosing sides. The bishops, and here I'm using the bishops as markers for the whole Catholic NGO ecosystem, talked about human dignity, but that was all cowardice. They made a choice and came down on the side of the Haitians over the Americans.

We are frequently exhorted by our clergy to be brave in standing up for our faith, but here, our prelates were simpering, flaccid wieners. A decent case can be made for favoring the Haitians over Americans. After all, they are just about the neediest people on the planet. The bishops made no such case and instead, tried to use a smokescreen of guilt to keep from having the answer why they shafted their fellow citizens.

Also, it's not just picking the Haitians over us as they came into the country. The bishops also signed us up to pay the Haitians' bills in perpetuity. There's no way their ever going to be revenue-neutral. Maybe 5% of them might get to that point after a couple of decades, but for the most part, they're nothing but boat anchors for a nation that is $36T in debt with $2T annual deficits.

If you're going to be the Quislings who helped the illegals invade the country, at least have the courage and integrity to admit what you've done to the rest of us.

Then you might be able to talk about respecting the dignity of all people. 

We burdened you with massive numbers of indigent illegals because, unlike you, we are filled with love.

Made In The Image Of God

When I was little, I always took Genesis 1:27

God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them

to mean that God looked like a person. When I was little, he was always a bearded, old man on a throne in the clouds.

At the gym this morning, I was listening to Jonathan Pageau's podcast where he was talking with Peter Leithart about using the Bible as a way of seeing the world. It's an excellent conversation, filled with wisdom, but here I only want to talk about one aspect.

It struck me that "made in the image of God" refers, in part, to creativity. Birds make the same nest over and over again. The males sing the same mating songs they've always sung.

Yes, I know, evolution and change and no, sparrows weren't singing those songs 350 million years ago and all that, but work with me here, people.

When I drive around San Diego, I see things people have created, things unique to the individuals who created them. When I walk around my house, I take in the aesthetics of our recent remodel from the change in the layout of the house to the art on the walls. The design and overall feel is unique to wife kitteh and me. We created something distinct from all other houses.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters. Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good.

We created something unique and we saw that it was good.

Made in the image of God is an assertion of how different we are from the animals. Some creatures might deviate from their species norms slightly, but no other living thing exhibits our imaginative effects on the world around us.

Industrial Policy And Baby Fever

 ... or, Paying More For Procreation.

The West, in pursuit of cheaper goods and seduced by the profits that come from globalization, has offshored nearly all of its manufacturing to China, Vietnam and India. In doing so, it lost a ton of good-paying, blue-collar jobs the could provide high school graduates with meaning, purpose and fulfillment. In particular, we lost some of the essential elements of manhood for those not going on to college.

Women don't want to marry a man who makes less than they do. That's been born out by studies over and over again. In fact, you don't need a study when you can just sample the TikTok or YouTube videos of single women talking about what they want in a man. Blue collar men struggle to make a living when there aren't any blue collar male jobs.

Fertility rates across the West have dropped and are now well below replacement. In Italy it's 1.3, in Germany it's 1.5 and in the US it's 1.7. Replacement rate is about 2.1. Many countries have tried to tinker with their tax code to encourage women to have more children. It never works because that's not the problem. The problem isn't the lack of a $500 tax credit, it's the lack of acceptable men.

I wonder if, as the Trump Administration pursues onshoring manufacturing, partially driven by VP J. D. Vance's own post-industrial Ohio experience, it will simultaneously onshore babies. Yes, we will pay more for our goodies, perhaps, because the labor costs might rise, but at the same time, we will could ensure that there will be a future generation to support those same industries.

Are widgets and babies interchangeable? In most ways no, but in some important ways, maybe yes.

I'll See Your Hysteria And Raise You A Frenzy

Seriously, it's hard to keep up with all the different reasons the left has for violence and mayhem. Why, it was just a few months ago that they were blocking roads, gluing themselves to floors and throwing soup on priceless paintings to stop Global Warming Climate Change. They wanted an end to all petroleum use and their favorite things were electric cars.

Now they're attacking electric cars.

Oh well. I guess if it made sense, they wouldn't be doing it.