Ironhold

In the aftermath of Covid, various online sleuths estimated that China's *actual* death toll was well into the millions; I want to say 7 - 14 million is the range most of the estimates were in. Even a country like China can't take that massive a hit to its population without some form of significant social disruption. People are also waking up to the routine and often massive human rights violations going on in China and so are trying to reduce the quantity of Chinese-made products they're purchasing to pressure companies into ceasing operations there. Hollywood has also found itself under pressure to cease pre-emptively censoring movies for Chinese audiences. Hong Kong is only "secure" because of marked police brutality, and the larger world knows this. North Korea is now a hot potato. The nation serves as a physical buffer between the West and China's borders, but the Kim regime is now so unstable that war is a constant danger. The events of the last few years are believed to be slowly rattling the foundations of the Chinese communist system, and the politicians & government-sponsored media are desperately trying to keep the word from getting out.

As of last weekend, we have street preachers here in town. They come from a local church that has a history of being a nuisance, and in fact they actually caused a small Covid scare a few years ago because they brought in a guest lecturer from two states over despite most government authorities warning people not to travel unnecessarily. For the past two Sundays they've set up at the intersection of the main highway through town and a main road, both of which are surface streets. Last weekend they were handing out Chick Tracts, which is something the church has done before. I'll occasionally find these materials on random shelves at various local stores, and warn the workers there when I do come upon any. (I just don't have it in me mentally or time-wise to catalog and debunk them like I used to.) This past weekend they had professionally-printed signs of the kind you normally see in Salt Lake City or Mesa. There were also double the number of individuals, and instead of just lingering at that one intersection they were also at a nearby intersection, a service road that supports some nearby businesses. On both occasions, they've proven brazen enough to just walk right up to anyone whose car window was rolled down and try to engage them. While the two I dealt with were professional, I'm concerned that it's only a matter of time before someone gets too bold or picks the wrong vehicle to go up to. As it is, homeless individuals frequently occupy those two intersections Monday - Saturday, and at least one local homeless individual is reportedly mentally unstable. I'm just worried these folks are taking chances they don't understand they're taking.

We went over Jeremiah chapter 1 in Sunday school yesterday. I pointed out that sometimes a person is given a calling because of what they're supposed to learn from the calling rather than what they can bring to it. Cue a bit of a panic because I was in the YSA branch and none of the younger members had considered this prospect.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50494845/a-cyber-attack-breached-some-latter-day-saint-member-data-heres-what-we-know Back in March an unknown entity - likely a state - sponsored or state - sanctioned organization - breached some of the church's systems. Law enforcement asked the church to remain silent about the matter while the investigation was ongoing, but the church has now released a statement and has begun contacting affected individuals by e-mail. Hate to say it, but Russia came to mind given the hyper-nationalistic effort to force non-"Russian" religious groups out of the country.

Best-case scenario is that they *were* considering it at one point, just like AOC was considering such a super-strict reduction in cattle-based methane as to essentially mandate a cow genocide, and someone put it on the website without actually being told to do so.

Basically, those bridges exist to help Russia exert its authority over the Crimea. That even one of the bridges has been taken down makes it harder for Russia to physically insert officials to control the region. And repairing the other would require them to maintain control of Crimea, as it would take a number of vessels and likely engineers working from both sides. Word I'm hearing is that Russian warships are wary of getting too close to shore because Ukraine has been supplied with enough anti-shipping missiles as to make any excursions a risky proposition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Yankee I know it's likely going to be hard to find a copy, but I very much recommend that people pick up and read "Team Yankee". Author Harold Coyle was a major in the United States Army at the time he wrote it, and he wrote it following a hypothetical outline of WWIII as published by General Sir John Hackett of the British Army. A *lot* of what we've been seeing happen is reflected in this book (and by extension, General Sir Hackett's outline), such as the infamously terrible Soviet supply lines being so bad that units have to rotate to the rear to resupply and the critical importance of bridges in the Soviets maintaining control over regions.

Let's just say that my plans for the next six months are all courtesy of the letters "E", "K", and "G".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_Falls,_Texas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawton,_Oklahoma They'll probably be shifted to Prosper if there isn't a dedicated temple serving Fort Worth.

There's also the fact that we're in a bit of a recession right now and gas prices still haven't returned to where they were. It may simply be *too expensive* for people to travel right now.

Theologically speaking, I'm the functional equivalent of a "dead hand" system. If I get off the couch, not only has something gone wrong, there's a good chance it's about to get even worse before it gets better. Those who read my previous discussions of what I did to ensure that the internet was free for religious discussion understand this point. There's a reason why the branch president just lets me sit and have an ear bud in on Sundays, and why when I do speak in church people listen.

Far too many people are unaware of what's out there already, and so they either don't prepare for what's coming or go for a few generic items that people commonly envision. For example, Gossner Farms (which is headquartered in Utah) has been making shelf-stable milk products since the 1980s, but people *still* react in shock when I tell them about it - https://www.dollartree.com/drinks/milk Yes, Dollar Tree sells Gossner Farms milk products *by the quart* as well as a number of nut-based milk alternatives. What else does Dollar Tree have? https://www.dollartree.com/post-cocoa-pebbles-cereal-3oz-packs/335912 3 - ounce bags of cereal that you can re-seal. I've actually had to take the Gossner Farms milk, pour it in one of these pouches, and eat it that way. So we've got breakfast (cereal + milk), lunch (barbecue chicken sandwich), dinner (barbecue tuna sandwich), and a vegetable blitz (the refried beans) as a possible fourth meal to keep calories going. That's on top of whatever vitamins and supplements a person could have.

Since I've had a few people ask me about meals that can be made without electricity - Check the shelf-stable meats aisle of your local grocery store. There are a number of pouched meal options available nowadays, such as seasoned tuna and seasoned chicken. You can simply pop open the pouch, spread it on a sandwich, and you have protein on the go. https://www.heb.com/product-detail/starkist-chicken-creations-classic-bbq-pouch-2-6-oz/3531028 For example, you have this name-brand product, which is chicken in barbecue sauce. https://www.heb.com/product-detail/starkist-tuna-creations-honey-bbq-tuna-pouch-2-6-oz/1964757 Or there's this name-brand tuna in barbecue sauce, which I actually had for lunch earlier in order to try it out. It's not the best thing around, but it's relatively inexpensive shelf-stable protein that actually tastes pretty decent. edit - https://www.heb.com/product-detail/isadora-original-refried-beans-15-2-oz/1533976 Pouched refried beans are also a thing, so you have a vegetarian protein source as well. Again, just pop open the pouch (you're supposed to boil-in-pouch, but it's refried beans...) and spread it on bread.

The simple, if unfortunate, truth of the matter is that many of these individuals are more concerned about being "right" than they are about being correct. For one reason or another, they have invested so much of themselves into the belief that they're right & everyone else is wrong that they literally cannot comprehend the prospect of their being incorrect. This leads to a fair bit of cognitive dissonance in which they actively refuse to believe that anything that contradicts how they see the world can actually be true, and more often than not they'll just keep nay-saying rather than step aside of themselves and investigate. In extreme instances, the strain of maintaining the cognitive dissonance can become so great as to trigger a mental breakdown, especially if they find themselves having come that completely unarmed to a battle of wits. The sad, unfortunate truth is that I've debated more than a few people into full psychotic breaks over the years, as they just couldn't handle it anymore. Thus, the best response is to simply keep it cordial. Explain what you personally believe and personally know. Do not escalate. If they seek to escalate, don't be afraid to ask a third party to intervene if you feel that the situation is getting out of hand.

Name a drug. If Hitler didn't smoke it, someone in his inner circle did. Substance abuse was *that* rampant in the German high command during WWII, and they often gave it to various soldiers, sailors, and pilots as well.

Also, crystal meth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine#History,_society,_and_culture One of the dirty little secrets of WWII was that Germany had developed what we now know as crystal meth. It was regarded as a "wonder drug" for how it stimulated people, and was sold over-the-counter in tubes under the name "Pervitin". Pretty much every German soldier was issued a supply of this, and it was also given to the factory workers at certain critical factories. The French reservists and second-line soldiers who were tasked with trying to defend the central portion of France from the German blitz simply didn't have a chance. They were poorly trained, poorly equipped, and having to fight tank-driving meth heads. Yes, France was so convinced that the Germans were going to invade through the flat northern portion and so put the bulk of their forces there; this left second-line and reserve forces in the center despite warnings from junior officers, and sure enough the German forces feinted in the north to conceal their push through the center.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mormons Almost forgot about the entry in the Handbook of Texas, a resource maintained by the Texas State Historical Association.

A lot of stores are *still* having massive gaps in their inventory well over a year after lockdowns began ending, and supply chains all over are still pretty badly disrupted. I would recommend that everyone be mindful of what's in stores.

Nope. Not if the ones I've encountered are anything to go by.

Disney's lawyers are infamous for filing suits over things that most companies wouldn't bother even paying attention to. For example, they once sued a day care because the day care had a mural on the inside of the building that featured Disney characters. Only workers, kids, and parents would have likely ever seen it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Pirates The most infamous bit so far is the years-long legal suit against the Air Pirates underground comic book group. The group published an adults-only parody of Disney that by all rights *should* have fallen under "Fair Use" as parody, but Disney and the head of the group got punch-drunk and kept going years after it should have been obvious that nothing of value was going to come out of it. Disney claimed it as a win for protecting the image and reputation of their characters, the head of the group and many others on the indie comics scene at the time saw it as a victory for free speech and parody, and just about everyone else wished the whole thing had never happened.

I say this as an entertainment writer - As noted by the so-called "Internet Rule 34", or just "Rule 34", the more popular a given franchise is, the more likely it is that one will find "adult" content based on it. In the vast majority of instances, the material in question is created by third parties for the consumption of third parties. Material produced by people who actually worked on a given franchise is rare and often done without authorization, such as material produced by disgruntled ex-employees or employees looking to make a quick buck. Only a small percentage is created by - or with the sanction of - actual rights-holders. The phenomenon actually pre-dates the internet, with female fans of certain 1970s rock bands developing a particular reputation for producing this kind of content. Rather, the internet has made it easier for this kind of material to circulate. Many content producers have a rule that they don't pay attention to fan creations under normal circumstances, the result of them fearing legal action if they make something too closely resembling materials produced by fans. As a consequence, unless something forces them to pay attention they just let it all slide. Because of this, it is actually quite easy to find "adult" content that's based on a wide variety of intellectual properties, even properties aimed at children; this is why it is so vital that parents and grandparents have an understanding of what kids are doing online. I myself actually once encountered a counter-cult minister who delighted in writing and posting obscene limericks based on religious figures he didn't like.

Not quite. The first book is public domain, but the others still have a few years to go and all things Disney are under their own copyrights.

Pretty much. The church will be periodically pruned of members who are not living in harmony with the faith or whose faith is lacking. The world, however, will be allowed to remain until the appropriate time comes, as there are a great many people who could be saved but won't if judgment is rendered too soon.

Disclaimer: YouTube owes me money. What happened was that after the first Ghostbusters 2016 trailer got down-voted harder than malaria the "good and proper" crowd started getting the vapors over the presence of the down vote button. When an annual end-of-year video by YouTube itself got down-voted even harder than that Ghostbusters trailer, it was the beginning of the end. Removing down votes kept people from seeing how unpopular something actually was, and they wanted it that way.

It's been my personal experience that the more a person chooses to focus on labels (intersectionality, critical race, et cetra) the less likely they are to actually see people as individuals. It's like... yes, I'm a fat white guy from Texas. That's what people see. Yet rarely do they see that I'm on the autism spectrum, that I've had threats of violence against me for being LDS, or that I've survived medical episodes & injuries that should have done me in several times over. It turns out that my mom didn't even notice I literally can't hold my head up straight anymore because of the scoliosis in my back. I am slightly deformed because the scoliosis had so long to set in it affected my entire skeletal structure, and one consequence of this is that it's hard finding off-the-rack clothing that fits right. When it comes to shirts I have to go one size bigger than what I need to compensate for how oddly everything fits, and this led to an argument when I tried to explain why I take my shirts so large and why it's so frustrating that the one store I normally get button-up shirts at is running low on my size. I literally had to remind her that she's seen my x-rays. If my own mom doesn't notice these things, how can I expect someone who only looks at labels to notice, let alone understand how it affects me?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Mill,_Burnet_County,_Texas I've been thinking about this over the last few days. Not many people know about this, but before his death Joseph Smith was eying Texas as a possible place to set up more colonies for the church. A few members were sent out, but Joseph's death pretty well ended this. However, Lyman Wright did indeed lead his offshoot group to Texas, where they set up two settlements. One, Mormon Mill, is still standing and is an officially designated historical site. The other, though, is underneath a man-made lake. What might have happened had an actual colony of members, under orders of Joseph Smith, set up shop somewhere in Texas?