Posted on 07/30/2011 6:17:27 PM PDT by jongaltsr
A couple of hours ago receive a hard knock on the door. I answered the door and about 7 or 8 agents all flashing badges (claiming to be FBI and/or CIA) rushed me and pushed me against the far wall.
My dog attacked and they would have shot him had I not broken free for a second and covered him by laying him on the floor beneath me.
After things calmed down a bit and I received assurances that nothing would happen to him if I placed him in the bedroom and closed the door.
I did so and they then read me my rights and explained that my opinions expressed on Free Republic were the reason they were there. I had expressed my opinion of what I thought of the current President and the majority in congress and was therefore a potential threat to the government. After what seemed to be hours they came to the conclusion (I hope) that I was merely expressing my opinion and not a leader of a counter revolutionary army - as they saw it.
They searched my apartment for weapons and found 4 (which I have not fired in over a year or more) and they seized them for testing. My dog (Ranger) was not happy with the situation so I had to hold on to him during the search to keep him from being shot.
They also seized my computer and downloaded my entire files system. I suppose they also copied any files erased by normal erasure techniques. They returned the computer as "WAS" (as far as I can tell) but I after careful consideration the past few hours I have concluded that they are monitoring me closely.
I'm not even sure this message will make it through but what else can I do but try?
If (Big IF!) this does make it through, beware. They are watching and may make a visit to your residence and give your the same routine.
It really shook me up and I have trouble keeping my nerves steady and my thoughts straight as I write this message.
Once this gets out (IF THIS GETS OUT) I can pretty much expect their return but this time they probably won't be quite as considerate of myself and my dog who they will probably shoot on sight.
I have packed my truck with essentials but I suspect that there are those that are watching so I may not make it to one of my favorite mountain camping sites.
There I will not have any communications except when I get into town and use WIFI to make any contact.
Good luck and keep your heads down.
They have become serious about enforcing their new powers - and some of us might not make it.
I'll probably be #1 on their list.
Semper Fi and God Bless one and all.
(Guess I chose my alias correctly) (John Galt_
The definitions of "reason" and "unreason" remain a subject of wide-ranging philosophical and psychological debate; the nature of human thought and consciousness is a very large discussion, indeed, and one that I didn't really wish to wade into. I thus opted for wisdom and foolishness, which speak not so directly of a presence or absence of reason, but of polar qualities of it. Wisdom would be reason of the highest quality; foolishness of the lowest, which by virtue of its poor quality would be very nearly a lack of reason, to wit: unreason. So, while Mr. Mitchell might well engage me further on my specific choice of terms, I don't think them ill-suited to my purpose.
Also, he was speaking only of his own mind, rather than the minds of “all men.”
Ah, I was fooled by his final declaration: "And the same is true of you, and of each of us." I took him rather literally, I'm afraid.
Are people with a serious mental illness never capable of using reason?
I would say that, yes, some are truly incapable, but not all. I have had experiences with deranged persons having lucid moments, and as you have noted, they can sometimes speak quite sensibly. Still, there are those tragic souls who have no lucid moments. May God grant them eternal mercy.
Other than the fact that the awards were probably well-deserved, it sounds like an annual corporate shareholders' meeting.
Dude, it's never going to fit into a tagline.
I think I'm following this. "Wit and Wisdom" are often paired and compared, while foolishness would be to wit, unreason.
And therefor, by interpolation: The vaunted political characteristic of compromise would correspond to half-wittedness.
That WOULD be some tagline : )
I got voluntold to go to a pre-deployment to-do tomorrow, all day. My argument that I’m not being deployed and therefore have no reason to go was, of course, ignored. I almost ended up having to teach damage control this afternoon, but I avoided that by dissappearing to the base laundry for a few hours.
Some days..
If (as Mr. Mitchell does) we describe “reason” as the capacity to analyze one’s own thoughts, to examine their correspondence to reality, and to seek greater understanding of our own minds, then I would say that there are very few who are not capable of reason, however rarely they exercise it. “Unreason,” the failure to attempt the process of determining truth, can indeed be said to be behind a great deal of harm. If a person fervently believes, and vigorously acts upon, beliefs that are false, we do end up, among other problems, Hitler. And Barack Obama.
Consider the idea that voting for a candidate with a dark-skinned African father “proves” that the voter is not racist. Obviously, this idea doesn’t stand up to rational consideration for a moment, since the very definition of “racist” is “making decisions based on outward signs of genetic heritage.” Is doing what we imagine is good for the “black” person - such as electing him president, or admitting him, unqualified, to Harvard Law - any less racist than doing something obviously bad, such as beating him up or forcing him to do farm labor? This demonstrates the real danger of Unreason, because the same false belief, acted upon to produce “warm feelings in the belly,” can have results ranging from apparently positive to obviously disastrous.
Mr. Mitchell posits, and I tend to agree, that anyone capable of using language consciously is capable of exercising reason, at some times and to some extent. This would leave out the catastrophically insane and very young children. (Pat can reason, James - maybe, Vlad really isn’t although he talks up a hurricane.) The extent to which each person uses reason depends on both internal and external factors unique to the person.
It’s almost over. Don’t get yourself in trouble before Thursday!
I can guarantee that those who received the “Whitewater Sports” merit badge can raft and kayak without damage to themselves or others, and recipients of the “Photography” badge successfully took pictures.
Shareholder meetings have skits?
Sounds reasonable.
They call them "presentations".
Your cat does the same thing.
The cats’ presentations have a purpose, such as persuading me to fill their bowls, or to get in bed and let them shed and drool on me.
Pat and I just came back from Ash’s walk to find Vlad and Frank playing with knives. Vlad learned you can cut yourself on a sharp edge. Treatment was cold water, followed by a bandage on his fingertip.
“I almost ended up having to teach damage control..”
Uh oh.
“Now listen up, you take newbie landlegged Jensen here, slap him against the leak in the hull and duct tape him to the hull, leak solved!”
“But.. that’s not how it goes!”
“For today it is! Up against that bulkhead!”
*Duct tape sound*
So now the question is, did the boat sink, or not?
The boat has been safe, thank you very much, ever since Jensen was inducted.
Oh, snap! I'm going to have to figure out a way to use that ...
Frank discovered that the dirt in the garden didn't taste nearly as good as it looked. Fortunately he didn't ingest any tomato hornworms.
The capability to reason might be there in most people but how many take the time to stop and exercise it. Many are so busy doing what believe is good that they never think about what there doing.
The elite liberal left is the opposite , they spend all their time trying to reason with out ever doing. Forming groups with with little or no connection with the rest of the world. These people if not careful ending up living in flying castles and paying the rent.
Liberalism is oppositional defiant disorder to common sense.
Jensen, sent to clean the air ducts, was never seen again.
He may be the cause of the rattles and thumps in the ductwork.
What's wrong with living in a flying castle?
I wouldn't want to live in one that had gotten demoated, but that's not the question.
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