On the Banks

Update: I'm Taking a Short Break

 

 

Just a quick update: A couple of days after Christmas, we had to take our daughter into the hospital because she was having non-stop seizures. I'll have more to say about that, but for now I'll just say this: It was heartening to be reminded that there are legions of really good, competent, caring and hard-working people stuck inside an increasingly dysfunctional system. It is long past time for a change to that system, and when we change it, it won't only be for us–the consumers of healthcare–but for them, the producers, too. 

Anyway, we were there for 12 days, her seizures are mostly under control now with some powerful meds, one of which comes off in a few weeks, and the other one hopefully soon too. Then we need to come up with our next plan.

Needless to say, I haven't been blogging or podcasting during that time, although I have been taking lots of notes, and I've got lots of guests planned. I'll be catching up on things over the next couple of weeks, but should get my next episode–my first one of 2021–up near the end of January.

Until then, thanks for listening and for reading, I'm still posting a bit on Twitter (mostly things for myself, to go back and look at later), MeWe, and (once it's up again) Parler. And if you're feeling crappy about where things are right now, just go and watch some J.P. Sears. Oh and read Annabel Pickering & the Sky Pirates. It's not just for kids you know.

And don't feel crappy. Because 2021 is going to be an amazing year for freedom. You'll see.

 

 

 

What Then Must We Do? Protest? ...or Something Better?

 

Image: Public Domain

 

 

 

I am heartened to see all of the massive protests that have been going on over the past year. But I agree with Don Cooper, below, that protesting itself is not going to change what needs changing. It won't address the fundamental problem of some people being in a position to rule over other people, nor the problem of those people being insulated from any real accountability for their actions.

So what to do then? Don has some practical ideas here that I recommend listening to. My only point of disagreement with him is that I think "enough" people DO give a shit. We don't need a majority, or anything close to that. How many do we need? And how many of them need to fully recognize that it is the institution of the state that is the problem? I don't know the answers to those questions. But whatever those numbers are, I believe we are closer to them than we ever have been in my lifetime.

From Don Cooper:

 

People gathering together in a town square or in the streets and protesting and chanting and screaming and waving signs accomplishes absolutely nothing. People have been protesting for centuries and look where we are. The politicians don't care, in fact they encourage it since getting everyone gathered together in one place is exactly what the state wants. That way they can control the crowd, kettle them into a bottleneck and blast them with water canons, tear gas and make arrests. We have to evolve, we have to think outside the box, we have to work smarter not harder.

 

A new strategy is required, a strategy that takes advantage of our numbers and makes it logistically impossible for the state to prevent and physically impossible for them to use their crowd control measures because there is no crowd.

 

All government authority is an illusion and throughout history governments have been rendered impotent when that authority has been challenged and the illusion exposed. In government, nobody will obey you unless they believe you are in charge. Once they no longer believe you have the authority to tell them what to do, the illusion is over. That's why those running the government have to work so hard to keep the illusion alive with intimidation techniques, bright lights, loud sirens, loud voices and an omnipresence in the media. Public schools, voting, debates, parades, color guards at sporting events,government holidays and celebrations etc. the list is long.

 

So the strategy is to expose the illusion of government authority by no longer obeying but not in an act of civil disobedience but in our everyday lives, everywhere, every day, all the time.

 

There's a scene in the movie "Free Range" in which the sheriff tells two cattlemen that he has a warrant for their arrest. The cattlemen say right back to the sheriff that they have a warrant for his arrest and they mean to see it served. The sheriff immediately balked. Voila`, his illusion of authority was exposed in front of everyone and the cattlemen left. An illusion is only as good as the show you put on to create and maintain it. That's why the state's agents wear costumes and shiny badges, they have bright lights and loud sirens on their cars. They have large spot lights, a communication network and they run in groups.

 

We need to fundamentally change the way we live our lives every day. Instead of going out alone we need to go out in small groups of 10-20. We need a communication network and we need all the resources they have: bright lights, loud sirens etc. All of which are easily available on line. Cop Block does something very similar and now everyone needs to.

 

Then we go about our daily lives prepared to expose their illusion every time we go outside. Open your store, and when they show up with their people and resources, we show up with ours. If they say they're serving some sort of city order, then we serve them a written order to leave. Our piece of paper with words on it is just as valid as their piece of paper with words on it, that's the illusion. We don't stand and argue or try to reason with them, we don't even acknowledge their actions we simply mirror them, we put on the same show. We let everyone see that the people will no longer recognize their authority and expose them for the fraud they are.

 

Knowing the state and its history, this will no doubt lead to some of those state agents wanting to engage in violence but if everyone does it, everywhere, every day all over town, all over the state, they would be helpless to do anything about it in the long run, they simply don't have the resources. The power is now and always has been with the people.

 

The problem is, not enough people give a shit. They'd rather stay home and watch Netflix and eat fast food than stand up for their free-will and dignity.

 

WTMWD #54: Does America need to break up? With Mises Institute President Jeff Deist

 

 

 

 

 

"We deserve to live peaceably as neighbors," says Jeff Deist, "even if that means breaking up and creating new political entities." The divisions in our society are undeniable. Is it possible that making them official is the best way forward?

Jeff's article "What Will It Take for Americans to Consider Breaking Up?" is here.

(The audio version of the article is here.)

You can read some of the best writing on liberty and economics at the Mises Institute, here.

 

 

 

WTMWD #53: Dr. Paul Thomas on the suspension of his medical license 5 days after publishing a "vaxxed vs. unvaxxed" study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the Oregon Medical Board, pediatrician Dr. Paul Thomas is "...a serious danger to the public health..." Oddly, they only discovered this after he published a peer-reviewed study comparing health outcomes of patients who had been vaccinated to those who had not. You can see some of the results of that study below.

I speak with Dr. Thomas about what's going on here, about his study, and about the meaning of informed consent. We also talk a little about the nature of medical boards, how he came to be skeptical of vaccine-safety claims, why more doctors AREN'T skeptical, and what we should be watching for in the first year of Covid-19 vaccines. 

His study is here.

The order from the Oregon Medical Board, suspending Dr. Thomas' license, is here.

Dr. Thomas' book,  "The Vaccine-Friendly Plan" can be found here.

And you can support his defense fund here, at his Freedom to Choose site.

There are other ways you can help too. From his site:

MORE WAYS YOU CAN HELP

1. Support the legal effort - donation (PayPal, Credit Card or check)
2. Contact Providence Health Plan by Email, send letters, make phone calls (list provided at the end of this press release), and request they cancel the termination of Integrative Pediatrics in Portland, Oregon, as this removes the only option for parents seeking their legal right to informed consent when it comes to vaccines. 
3. Send a copy of all your correspondence to:
   Troy S. Bundy and Hart Wagner
   1000 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97205 (tsb@hartwagner.com)
4. Contact the Catholic church leadership demanding they stop the discrimination and abandonment of the vulnerable children being cared for at Integrative Pediatrics. The latter have nowhere else to go where they can get informed consent.
5. Contact Kathleen Harder MD Chair of Oregon Medical Board
6. Contact Governor Kate Brown to reinstate Dr Paul Thomas’ license and take their complaints through the proper channels.

And I would also add that parents (and anyone else) seeking to have more decision-making power over their medical care choices consider alternatives to insurance. I spoke last week with Charlie Frohman on that very topic, (episode here) and you can get information on the medical cost-sharing plans Charlie discussed, here.

 

 

WTMWD #52: Empowering patients, and fighting medical authoritarianism, with Charles Frohman

 

 

 

 

I speak with long-time health freedom advocate Charlie Frohman, about his cash pay alternative to health insurance, how medicine is becoming even more authoritarian, and about some practical ways to combat that.

Charlie's organization, the National Health Federation, is here, and you can send letters to your representatives and senators from here.

His slide presentation on the cash-paying patient is here.

The medical cost sharing organization, MBP Health, is here.

The NVIC presentation on fighting vaccine mandates that he mentions in this episode can be found here.

 

 

WTMWD #51: The Centralized Economy Up Close - A Personal Story

 

 

 

 

 

I talk a lot about the evils of centralized control, and have had several guests on to talk about it too. But I think that unless you've experienced it firsthand, it's hard to fully appreciate what that means. 

In this episode, I speak with a woman who grew up in Hungary when it was under Communist rule. She describes what it is like to live under a centralized power, of what it means for each individual in that system and the impact it has on every aspect of one's life.  

If you (or maybe someone you know) still don't get why some of us are up in arms over "just a mask" or the other violations of fundamental human rights that so many are so comfortable with... you might want to listen to this one. 

 

No Madonna, We Are Not "All in this Together"

 

From Susan Lang:

 

Holding hands, hugs and Vitamin C,

Hikes in sunshine and coffee shops with friends,

Strangers who dance cheek to cheek.

Don't tell me it's subversive to be a person,

There's nothing worse than

Being human all alone

And I won't do it.

Compassionate people, they don't crash economies

Every bartender, every waitress, every manicurist

Deserves this, to be of service

To whosoever does choose--

That's me, and I hope it's you.

Humanity, stand up and make your choice;

Humanity, stand up, stand up and make your noise.

 

Comedian Yogi Weirdo Produces Better Analysis of our Situation than Any Mainstream Journalist's

 

Here he is again:

 

 

"Together, we can reimagine a braver tomorrow"

 

JP hits another one out of the ballpark:

 

 

 

Letter to my Grandchildren from Inside a Cult

 

Image: Public domain

 

From my latest article on LewRockwell.com:

I don’t have any grandchildren yet. But if I ever do, I want them to understand what it is we went through during this time in history, and even more, to understand how it is that we got here. So this is for them:

I first learned about “cults” when I was 13, the age my son is now. I watched with fascination as the horrific events of the Jonestown mass suicide/murder were revealed to the world. I paid close attention to the story, clipped all the newspaper articles about it, and imagined scenarios in which I would find a way to hide until everyone was dead or gone, and save myself–and my family, if they were there too–had I been there.

What didn’t occur to me at the time was that, had I been there–had I uprooted my life to go and join this group of people in the jungles of Guyana, had I been in the frame of mind to go along with everything they did leading up to the events of November 18, 1978 (including practice runs for the mass suicide)–then chances are, I would have willingly stood in a circle with my friends and drunk the cyaninde-laden Kool-Aid as so many others did.

And that is what is so puzzling, and so fascinating, about cults. From the outside, we can’t imagine why those people would have done those things. What could possibly drive otherwise normal people to act in ways that seem not only insane, but counter to their own interests–in the case of Jonestown, counter to their most fundamental instinct for self preservation?

What could get someone to be willing to sacrifice their own life, and the lives of the people they love?

I hope to provide some insight into this question, as I find myself now, at the end of the year 2020, living in the midst of what I can only describe as a massive, dangerous, and self-destructive cult.

SO WHAT IS A CULT?

Teri Buford O’Shea escaped from Jonestown only a few weeks before the mass suicide and murder. She defines a cult this way:

“A cult is when you aren’t allowed to see your friends or family…I’m talking about total isolation – someone takes all your money and brings you to a place where there’s no communication, or if there is you aren’t allowed to use it.”

Cult deprogrammer Steven Hassan created the BITE model to explain some of the key elements that cults employ to control their members:

Behavior Control: An individual’s associations, living arrangements, food, clothing, sleeping habits, finances, etc., are strictly controlled.

Information Control: Cult leaders deliberately withhold or distort information, lie, propagandize, and limit access to other sources of information.

Thought Control: Cult leaders use loaded words and language, discourage critical thinking, bar any speech critical of cult leaders or policies, and teach an “us vs. them” doctrine.

Emotional Control: Leaders manipulate their followers via fear (including the fear of losing salvation, fear of shunning, etc.), guilt, and indoctrination.

Reading both O’Shea’s definition, and Hassan’s BITE components in 2020, it is striking to me the extent to which all of these things have been inflicted upon Americans over the past eight months:

Isolation and the intimate control of our activities and relationships, in the form of forced social distancing, the closing of businesses and schools, and most cruelly, the isolation of the elderly and others in care homes; taking money, or in our case, destroying the source of income and livelihood for millions of people in this country;control of communication and information, through what has now become overtcensorship, with hints that some forms of communication may be shut down entirely; emotional manipulation through the shaming of those who do not go along with the diktat of the day, and other tactics; and an authoritarian thought-control regime, where critical thinking on the part of individuals is ridiculed, views that contradict those of the leaders are actively censored, and intellectual debate is replaced by “us vs. them” tribal warfare.

It is this last part that gets to the heart of it. To me, the essence of a “cult” is that it provides an external replacement, a substitute, for one’s own power of reasoning and moral judgement. It demands blind obedience to this substitute, and punishes harshly anyone who dissents from its pronouncements.

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

 

WTMWD #50: Kevin McKernan on the review of the Corman-Drosten PCR methodology that he co-authored–and some words of appreciation for my listeners!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I speak with Kevin McKernan about the report he co-authored calling for the retraction of the paper upon which much of the world's Covid-19 PCR testing is based. Kevin also thanks you guys–my listeners–for possibly helping to get the attention of some of those who are starting to reverse course on the lockdowns (and the badly flawed testing they are based on). So keep it up!

The Corman-Drosten Review Report (with comments) is here.

"Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) by real-time RT-PCR", by Corman, Drosten, et al, is here.

The five other papers that Kevin mentions are:

Jung, et al.

Gand, et al. (Download.)

Etievant, et al.

Muenchhoff, et al.

Konrad, et al.

Kevin's company, Medicinal Genomics, is here.

And you can find Kevin on Twitter, here.

I spoke with Kevin about problems with PCR testing generally, back in October–you can listen to that here.

 

 

The Latest in One Man's Tireless Effort to Keep Me Sane

 

Thank you, JP.

 

Dog-Eat-Dog Statism for Special-Needs Families: You’re Either at the Table or You’re on the Menu

 

Image: Non-commercial use

 

I wrote this six years ago, but I think the issues I raise here are more relevant than ever:

 

I wouldn’t have expected a conference on therapy for children with autism and related disorders to have much to say about politics, but in a country where the state’s tentacles reach into pretty much every aspect of human life, I should have known better.

My daughter is developmentally disabled and I am pursuing more child-centered therapies for her than the more widely recognized ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) method, so last fall I attended the DIR Floortime Conference on Floortime, a more play-based form of therapy.

As soon as I walked in, I was struck by two phrases: “Parent Choice” and “Advocacy.” I was pretty sure that “Parent Choice” wasn’t going to mean what I hoped it would mean. So I asked someone who was wearing a big button with the phrase on it, and found that indeed, “Parent Choice” in this context simply refers to having the “choice” to force your insurance company to pay for alternative therapies in addition to the more established ABA method.

The issue revolves around a bill that was passed in 2011, SB 946, that mandates insurance coverage for developmental therapies to treat autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, either due to the way the bill was written or to the way it has been interpreted – and with much thanks to the ABA lobby – the insurance codes only apply to ABA therapy and not to alternatives. So now the DIR/Floortime lobby is rallying to change that. Of course, as someone who doesn’t believe in forcing other people to give me anything, I couldn’t support this kind of “choice”, but I just smiled and moved on.

As it turned out, the guest of honor at the conference’s gala dinner was Dr. Louis Vismara, senior policy consultant to California Senator Darrell Steinberg, the author of SB 946. Dr. Vismara spoke on the first morning of the conference and assured parents that he would work hard to get the problem fixed so that parents could also force their insurance companies to pay for Floortime therapy. There was much applause.

There were other concerns too. Some parents had felt the effects of state budget cuts and had to struggle to get the services they needed for their children. Dr. Vismara sympathized with these concerns and stressed the importance of being active in “advocating” for their children. He said that, in the world of public policy, “you’re either at the table or you’re on the menu.”

He ended his talk by urging parents to get involved in the political process, and to contact his office with any practical proposals. “If a specific problem is identified and there is a solution”, he said, then that solution has a “strong chance” of being implemented.

I had identified a specific problem and had a solution in mind. So at the end of his talk, I went up to him and asked him about it.

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

Support These Rebel Businesses!

 

There are some exciting things happening around the US, and around the world. Here are a few highlights:

Staten Island pub "Mac's Public House" has declared itself an autonomous zone and is continuing to operate, in defiance of orders from the State Health Department and the revocation of its liquor license. Their video is awesome, and I'm going to try to get the owners to come on my show and talk about what they're doing:

 

You can support their GoFundMe fundraiser here. Or, just call them up and offer to pay for someone's lunch or dinner. Or beer.

And in Lexington, KY, the Brewed coffee shop is likewise remaining open in defiance of government orders. A family member tells me that they were in court today over this, and I will update here once I hear what happened. 

In the meantime though, you can do what I did and call them up and offer to pay for the next customer's purchase. 

Or, do some Christmas shopping at their online store. They have some pretty cool Revolutionary T-shirts and stuff.

These folks aren't the only ones. I wrote last week about the NY gym owners who threw county health officers and officers from the sheriff's department off of their property, sheriffs around the country are refusing to enforce the unconstitutional lockdown and related orders, a huge orthodox Jewish wedding took place in Brooklyn, without a mask in sight, and Qantas Airline's CEO received a much-deserved pie in the face after declaring that travelers will not be able to fly without having had a Covid-19 vaccine, once it becomes available.

The Revolution may not be being televised, but it is absolutely happening–one act of defiance at a time. 

 

 

Celebrate Your Dystopian Christmas with Urban Yogini: The Christmas Episode!

 

 

Can Urban Yogini defeat the forces of fear and division? Find out in the Christmas installment in the Adventures of Urban Yogini: A superhero who can't use violence.

Order from me directly (BretigneATgmailDOTcom), this week only, and you can get the Special Dystopian Christmas Price of only $8.00 (includes shipping within the continental US)!

 

Dystopian Christmas Deals on "Annabel" and "Urban Yogini" - this Week Only!

 

 

 

This week ONLY, I'll be offering signed copies of Annabel Pickering and the Sky Pirates, and Urban Yogini: A Superhero Who Can't Use Violence, at special discounted prices. Because... you know... Christmas and everything. 

To get the special price, you just need to email me directly (BretigneATgmailDOTcom).

"Annabel" normally sells for $14.99 on Amazon - the special price (this week ONLY!) will be $10.00, including shipping within the continental US.

"Urban Yogini" is normally $17.88 on Amazon - this week's price is $15.00, including shipping within the continental US.

And "Urban Yogini, the Christmas Episode" is normally $9.45 on Amazon - this week, it is $8.00, including shipping within the continental US.

Again, you need to email me directly to get the discounts, and yes, I can give a slightly bigger discount for bulk purchases!

 

 

 

This Video Gets to the Heart of Where We Are - Lockdown: The Dark Side of History

 

I urge everyone to share this, even with those who you don't think will listen. Especially with those ones.

From the Very Opinionated Kate Wand:

 

 

 

WTMWD #49: Ayurvedic Medicine and Covid-19, with Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya

 

 

 

I speak with scientist, international public health specialist, MD and Ayurvedic practitioner and teacher, Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya, about the nature of Ayurvedic medicine, barriers to alternative medicine in the US, and using Ayurveda with Covid-19.

Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya's website is here.

You can find her column "Everyday Ayurveda" here.

And her article mentioned in this episode, "To Vaxx or Not To Vaxx" is here.

The book she mentioned, "The War on Bugs" can be found here.

 

 

The Scouring of the Shire - in Buffalo, NY

 

This is one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a long time. 

 

 

According to the post description on YouTube, these are the gym owners. They start off by appealing to the humanity of the sheriff and health department officer who have come to enforce lockdown orders, and when that doesn't work, they assert their rights. And the result is beautiful.

I believe this is the gym where this happened.

Here's the thing. I–and my AnCap buddies–have been talking for a long time about how we need to eliminate the monopoly state if we are to live freely. I do believe that is true. But even in the absence of that, in the absence of achieving an AnCap world (I won't call it a "utopia" because that's a strawman) WE ALREADY HAVE THE TOOLS TO FIGHT TYRANNY.

We already have a tradition of common law. We still have the foundations upon which the Constitution was built, and it includes things like what these folks assert here: The right to face your accuser if charged with a crime. 

The common-law tradition also–from my own limited understanding of it–maintains that "crimes" must have victims, and cannot simply be things that autocratic governors or politicians declare them to be. I suspect that it also does not provide for "licensing authorities" to have the power to take away someone's right to do business, for any reason. 

I'm going to try to get some more knowledgable people than myself on this topic, to come on my podcast and further clarify. Because this is key. This is one of the most powerful tools we have to fight this crap, and everyone needs to know more about it.

 

You Can Still Protest Tyranny in Sacramento

 

Image: Public domain

 

 

I've written before about those who have been standing up against the state of California's outrageous power grabs in the area of medical freedom, since long before anyone ever heard of Covid-19. If you're familiar with my writing, you know that I don't believe that appealing to the better nature, or the intelligence, of politicians is going to get them to come around and see reason or decide to stop stomping on other people's rights and lives. 

And yet I have tremendous respect for the thousands of Californians–parents, mostly. Moms, mostly–who have been taking time out of their lives for YEARS now, to go and demand that the people who claim to "represent" them actually do that. If nothing else, they are exposing for the rest of us what this system is all about, and that the interests it represents are its own (and those of the folks who bankroll their positions.)

I've been watching this unfold since 2015, when SB 277 was passed, eliminating both personal belief and religious exemptions to vaccines for school–ANY school, even private–in the state. I've watched the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of parents line up calmly to go and stand for hours to be able to stand in front of a microphone for a few seconds and say the few words allowed to them to the bored legislators who sit at the front of the room not even pretending to listen and who then go on to trample the parents' rights without a second thought.

I've never gone to testify at one of these hearings, partly because I know that I don't have it in me to remain that calm in the face of abject tyranny committed by ghoulishly arrogant petty authoritarians in that room. So I was not at all surprised to see these same parents finally begin to explode last fall. I was surprised it didn't happen sooner. And now, with the lockdowns taking most of the energy for protests, only a handful of protesters are going to the capitol to make their voices heard. Both the State Assembly and the Senate have been holding hearings this week, and will continue next week. You can see the schedules in the links in the previous sentence.

I want to encourage anyone who has the interest, and is able to, to attend some of these hearings and help support this tiny handful right now. Why?

1. If you've never seen the workings of the political machine up close, you should. It's not what they taught you in Civics 101, and it can even be quite stomach churning. I think that the more people who understand how this works, that there are these little groups of people that sit around all day coming up with laws to govern how we live our lives, what we may and may not do, and what substances must be injected into our children... well, that by itself is bad enough. And that is what we should be opposing. But the unvarnished pulling of the politicians' strings by the people who really own them is something that every American should have to witness before they say they "support democracy";

2. Getting in these peoples' faces and calling them out on their tyranny forces a reaction from them that only further demonstrates their lack of concern for our rights, or for how we feel about them. It shines a light on the fact that they are in no way accountable to the people over whom they rule;

3. Because maybe I'm wrong. Maybe going down there and making enough noise will get some of them to listen. Maybe just one. Maybe you will be the last little Who who says "Yopp" and is heard. So who am I to tell you not to try?

So please check out the hearing schedules and if you can, go down and help support the people who have been trying to make the elected representatives who sit there stop steamrolling over our most fundamental rights. If nothing else, it will be an education.