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Poor Pratt’s Almanack - page 2

Macho Man Covid-19 Optics Best Way For LP To Win Voters And Recruits?

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Macho Man Covid-19 optics best way to win LP voters and recruits?

I appreciate the spirit and enthusiasm behind macho statements about heroic Libertarian defiance of the Covid-19 disease. These bravely spoken chest-thumping comments, however, remind me of the lyrics to the song ‘Macho Man’ by The Village People:

Macho in the eyes of some may strike voters and potential Libertarian recruits as insensitive foolishness at best.

See this thought-provoking video by Arvin Vohra on the moral issue of excluding higher risk delegates and attendees from a physical convention, not to mention bad optics for the LP.

Posted by Arvin Vohra on Saturday, May 2, 2020

After all the hard work put in by the COC and others on this convention, why take moral and optic shortcuts now?

If the LNC is going to lead by example, the ten day delay might provide a window of opportunity for soul searching as to personal motives for ignoring practical priorities and moral imperatives and ways to save face before we are stuck with a June or July physical or hybrid convention that could easily be canceled due to causes outside our control.

If June or July physical or hybrid convention is canceled, what then? Punt? Better to go with a May virtual Zoom LNC/state delegation chair convention that will maximize delegation participation, campaign length, and ballot access, with ZERO, I repeat, ZERO CANCELLATION RISK.

Here are the practical priorities and moral imperatives as I see it:

1. Health safety is a moral imperative and an opportunity for the LP to set an example

2. Accommodation of voting rights for ALL delegates, including those with health issues or concerns that limit attendance options is a moral imperative. This will be an ongoing issue that will have to be resolved in the future with or without pandemics.

Like it or not, virtual meetings will increase delegate participation in votes. If we limit ourselves to physical conventions, it will not bode well for the future of the Libertarian Party.

Electronic meeting technical difficulties MIGHT compromise a few delegates votes. However, a physical non-hybrid convention will DEFINITELY eliminate far more delegate votes through inability to attend.

3. Early selection of candidates and LNC/Judicial Committee members will allow candidates to promptly launch campaigns and leave us with a fully functioning LNC and legitimized Judicial Committee. Both committees are faced with challenging times ahead.

4. 50-state ballot access risk will build if we miss a Memorial Day virtual meeting opportunity for LNC members and state delegation chairs

5. Limiting conventions to physical events will skew votes by age, health, wealth, and random happenstance preventing physical attendance, and could open the door to disruptive and detrimental shenanigans made possible by skewed attendance.

Today’s vote to postpone convention decisions for ten days is not all bad. The door is left open for further due diligence and soul-searching that may increase the likelihood of wise decisions. Today’s vote is a second chance for Libertarian leaders to shine.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, May 2, 2020

Chinese Roulette? House Majority W.H.O. Funding Cut Probe Aids And Abets ChiComs? Who Should House Be Investigating?

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Chinese Roulette? House majority W.H.O. funding cut probe aids and abets ChiComs?

Today members of the U.S. House of Representatives majority thoroughly disgraced themselves by initiating a World Health Organization (W.H.O.) funding cut probe despite W.H.O. disinformation that killed thousands of innocent victims while Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci defended W.H.O. and Chinese Communist pandemic response.

The House majority probe reeks of political partisanship. Worse yet, the probe infers house majority support for W.H.O. and Chinese Communists. It is just as plain as the nose on your face that W.H.O. and their Maoist Directory General Tedros Adhanom are in bed with the Chinese Communists.

Would you vote for a party and their candidates who support the World Health Organization and Chinese Communists while we suffer under the W.H.O. recommended world economy lockdown and Chinese Communists continue their ‘ends justifies means’ bald-faced lies about China pandemic data and take advantage of the world economy lockdown to rebuild their own economy?

Are you as outraged as I am? Does politics as usual bring out the worst in us?

What party offers social tolerance and the freedom to determine your own destiny, instead of playing Chinese roulette with our economy and the lives of thousands of innocent victims?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 28, 2020

China Says All Wuhan Virus Patients Discharged – Only 6,000 Virus Deaths in China – Travel To Wuhan?

in Activism/News/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
China says? Do you believe?

Have you passed the Chinese Communist ‘Ends Justifies Means’ gullibility test before finalizing travel plans to Wuhan?

Are you considering Bill Gates, Dr. Fauci, and W.H.O. Director General Tedros Adhanom as guides for your journey with gullible W.H.O. apologist U.S. celebrity travel companions?

Keep the following article in mind when you judge the institutional authoritarian motive for the trackable vaccines project being pushed by W.H.O. defender Bill Gates:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Now-not-time-Bill-Gates-defen…

Chinese Communist counterattack:

https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/chinese-government-clai…/

Who do you believe?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 27, 2020

NEBREXIT, Secession-lite Movement To Establish Nebraska As A Legal Nullification Sanctuary From Big Brother

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NEBR*EXIT secession-lite Nebraska legal nullification sanctuary to get Big Brother's attention.

Building on the success of BREXIT, Britain’s secession from the European Union, today a new movement is born in the ‘colonies’.

Welcome to NEBREXIT (pronounced Nee*BREXIT), or NEBR*EXIT (Nebraska Exit) to make the nomenclature more explicit.

Link to the brand-spanking new NebrExit Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/LocalizeNebraska

There is nothing like the threat of secession to get the attention of Big Brother.

The first step is to float the idea of creating a secession-lite legal sanctuary in the state of Nebraska where we decide which federal regulations we will honor and which we will nullify, similar to jury nullification.

Will this lead to a sovereign free state of Nebraska? Hard to say, but the more important issue is the need to reverse the accelerating growth trend of Big Brother.

Despite heroic efforts of freedom seekers in Nebraska and elsewhere, we are still hurtling out of control in the wrong direction toward mud-hut Socialism, poverty, misery and conformity.

A fresh localization effort is needed to point the needle back toward freedom.

Let’s think outside the box on how to leverage an NEBREXIT movement to put us back on the roads to freedom, nothing more, nothing less, for all people IN OUR LIFETIMES.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 23, 2020

$128 Million U.S. Celebrity Fundraiser for World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Headed By Communist Tedros Adhanom WHO (Pun Intended) Is In Bed With Chinese Communists

in Activism/Free Market/Information/Media/News/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
Do you still admire and trust U.S. Celebrities after $128 million fundraiser for World Health Organization (W.H.O.) in bed with Chinese Communists?

Are you shocked by $128 million celebrity fundraiser for World Health Organization (W.H.O.) openly in bed with Chinese Communists while Covid-19 deaths continue to mount as a result of W.H.O. and Chinese Communist lack of transparency and disinformation?

If you are considering using economic and social ostracism to counter advocacy of Chinese Communist agenda by celebrities and other WHO apologists like Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci, see some of the contact names below.

Quote from Axios website:

https://www.axios.com/one-world-together-at-home-coronavirus-lady-gaga-91872b2e-0a41-44ca-a4a0-617d5dfae3c6.html

“The star-studded Lady Gaga-curated fundraising event “One World: Together at Home” raised $127.9 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO and $72.8 million for local and regional responders, organizer Global Citizen said in a statement early Sunday.

Saturday’s online event honoring and celebrating those on the front lines of the fight against the novel coronavirus was broadcast worldwide and billed as the biggest concert since the 1985’s Live Aid, watched by 1.9 billion people.

Former first ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama were among more than 70 artists and celebrities to take part from their homes.

The event was broadcast live on TV from 8 p.m. ET and most leading streaming services, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, Twitter, Apple and Amazon Prime Video.

Other big names included Taylor Swift, Elton John, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Celine Dion and The Rolling Stones. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon were hosting the virtual event.”

Google Search:

“Global Citizen is a movement of engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty by 2030. Through our mix of content and events, grassroots organizing, and our action platform, we are building a movement to end poverty.”

My question: Is the Global Citizen agenda to end poverty or make poverty much worse via smoke and mirrors advocacy for the W.H.O. and Chinese Communist agenda?

This event raised $128 million for WHO’s Chinese Communist advocacy and $73 for “local and regional responders”.

I leave it to your judgement as to what is really going on and the obvious threat to our economy, principles, and freedoms.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 20, 2020

What Do You Think Is The Primary Purpose Of The Libertarian Party And Movement?

in Activism/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
What do you think is the primary purpose of the Libertarian Party and movement?

In the midst of the challenging Covid-19 pandemic on top of a hectic presidential election season, have you stopped to smell the roses?

On the other hand, have you stepped back recently to reflect on the purpose of the Libertarian Party and movement?

This post started with a Facebook discussion initiated by Tom Arnold, our ‘Libertarian Santa Claus’ with a magnificent white beard that I am trying to emulate during our extended quarantine.

Tom’s post struck a chord and prompted a number of thoughtful responses. Rob Stratton’s contribution caught my attention. Rob suggested that the primary purpose of the LP is education.

Rob’s education purpose suggestion was particularly timely in tandem with tonight’s LPTV town hall topic of homeschooling during the pandemic.

LNC Chair Nicholas J. Sarwark’s guests were Lauren Daugherty, former LNC Interim Executive Director, and Kerry McDonald, Cato alternative education adjunct scholar.

.

Click the following link to watch a replay of tonight’s stimulating LPTV town hall on homeschooling challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic.

https://www.facebook.com/libertarians/videos/2588827881359487/?notif_id=1587078407458052&notif_t=live_video_invite

I agree with Rob Stratton’s suggestion that education is the primary purpose of the Libertarian Party and movement, but with the following caveats.

Education can take many forms, including classroom, on the job training, self-education, online, homeschooling, working on collaborative projects, school of hard knocks, and brainstorming like we are doing right now.

Disregarding the topic at hand for a moment, step back and think about your favorite form(s) of learning. What comes to mind?

For many Libertarians, the education tool of choice is leading by example and making and keeping commitments that reflect our principles as they tackle ambitious projects like voluntary free market governance and steadily moving the needle toward freedom.

We are all in this together. We can help each other achieve our personal and shared Libertarian goals by offering our personal precise definition of the purpose of the Libertarian Party.

Don’t be bashful. Take the plunge and enlighten us with your suggestions on the purpose of the Libertarian Party and movement. All of us, both party members and movement activists, will benefit from your thoughtful suggestions.

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 17, 2020

Trump Cancels U.S. Funding For WHO – Gates Says Defunding WHO “Is Crazy” – WHO In Bed With Chinese Communists

in Activism/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
Who do you trust, Trump or WHO, Bill Gates, Dr. Fauci, and Tedros Adhanom on Trump's decision to remove U.S. funding for WHO?

World Health Organization (WHO) calls for extended world economy lockdown except for China.

WHO infers by omission and commission that China has handled the pandemic marvelously and is safe to unleash their economy before the rest of the world.

Is WHO believable, or, more precisely, are the Chinese Communists believable?

Trump cites WHO pandemic mismanagement and cuts U.S. financial support for WHO.

Bill Gates actively supports WHO and says that that Trump’s action “is crazy”.

Who do you believe, Trump or WHO and Gates?

Do you think WHO is in bed with the Chinese Communists? Do you think the evidence is conclusive? Can you tell us why? What would you do in Trump’s shoes?

Thoughts?

Update after reviewing the following video:

While this video is clearly more emotional than objective, some basic facts emerge.

1. Quote from Wikipedia:

“Tedros Adhanom is an Ethiopian microbiologist and internationally recognized malaria researcher, who has served since 2017 as Director-General of the World Health Organization.

Tedros is the first non-physician and first African in the role.

He has held two high-level positions in the government of Ethiopia: Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016.”

2. Tedros Adhanom was a card-carrying high-ranking member of the Communist Party of Ethiopia.

The U.S. has designated that organization as a terrorist organization.

During his term as head of the Ethiopian health organization, that organization was accused of misrepresenting epidemics and near-genocidal mishandling of famines among minorities.

3. Tedros Adhanom, as a card-carrying Communist, is the current Director General of WHO.

As Director General of WHO, Adhanom has been complicit in parroting the Chinese Communist line with highly dubious statistics on severity.

WHO delayed reporting the Chinese outbreak for 6 critical days.

WHO praised the Chinese handling of the pandemic.

WHO representative caught on national TV refusing to acknowledge existence of Taiwan.

WHO recommends that rest of the world economies remain in extended lockdown, very possibly intended to allow China to get a head start on recovery.

4. Bill Gates says that Trump’s defunding of WHO “is crazy”.

Bill Gates is pushing a vaccine development and vaccine tracking system.

We shall see if that program recommends mandatory vaccinations or relies on the tracking system to ensure compliance in order to get jobs, travel, and other privacy concerns.

5. Dr. Fauci praises Communist Director General of WHO Tedros Adhanom on national TV for the “wonderful work” he is doing with WHO.

Dr. Fauci, in the same breath, refuses to answer reporter questions about the connection between Communist Tedros Adhanon and the Chinese Communists.

I am dubious about most conspiracy theories. However, there are several moving parts in this story that, at a minimum, smell like some level of collusion.

The verifiable facts in this story, at a minimum, destroy the credibility of WHO and bring into question the moral credibility of Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci.

Going beyond U.S. government mismanagement of the pandemic and loss of credibility due to disinformation, and given the facts and inferences provided in the video, what conclusions do you come to about the advisability of trusting any of the leaders in this chaotic debacle, including Trump, World Health Organization, Communist WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom, Chinese Communist officials, Bill Gates, and Dr. Fauci?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 16, 2020

Is Dr. Fauci Right? Vaccine Panacea For Covid-19 Or Just Another Smoke And Mirrors Big Bucks Boondoggle For Big Pharma And Big Brother?

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Vaccine Panacea For Covid-19 Or Big Pharma and Big Brother Boondoggle?

Will Covid-19 Coronavirus vaccines be any better than flu vaccines with their 10-20% efficacy and high death rates?

Why are there no vaccines for other Corona viruses like the common cold?

Vulnerable people die from Corona common cold-induced pneumonia all the time. Not enough bucks for Big Pharma to take the risk in light of flu vaccine death rate failures?

Who is Dr. Fauci fooling? Will Covid-19 vaccines be any better than flu vaccines or will the big beneficiary be Big Pharma?

You can bet there is some high-level big bucks skulduggery going on within the FDA and CDC as Big Pharma players, lobbyists, and bureaucrats with approval authority go for the spoils with little regard for protecting our health.

What if a Covid-19 vaccine is not the panacea? Perhaps a wiser strategy would focus on TREATMENT and PREVENTATIVE health care.

Facts:

Health care professionals will be heavily involved in developing treatments and thus will be an effective check and balance on government and Big Pharma in treatment research.

Preventive medicine is estimated at only 7% of very expensive ACA Obamacare insurance-based ALLOPATHIC health care.

Preventative medicine is estimated at 70% of cash-basis health care with better outcomes at a fraction of the cost.

Who would you rather have calling the shots on treatment development:

1. Health care professionals?

2. Big Pharma?

3. Big Brother?

Let’s say you are aware of a possible or likely pandemic frequency uptick in the future. You realize that you will have to take charge of your health, particularly if you are vulnerable with preventable underlying conditions.

What preventive health care choices will you have and which will you choose that will allow you to take charge of your health instead of relying on government, with all its corruption, cronyism, and health care mismanagement and disinformation, to cover for you on managing your health?

1. Cash-basis health care with 70% preventive medicine with better outcomes at a fraction of the cost?

2. ACA Obamacare insurance-based allopathic health care with only 7% preventive medicine at outrageous economy and budget-busting expense?

Doesn’t sound like rocket science to me. How about you?

Thoughts?

D. Pratt Tseramed, April 13, 2020

Immediate Across The Board Free Agency For All Big Brother Agencies And Programs. Bench Them Today Or Cut Them Loose To Compete, Flounder, Sink, Or Swim As Free Agents In The Free Market.

in Activism/Free Market/Opinion/Politics/Poor Pratt's Almanack
Free agency - Cut 'em loose to compete, flounder, sink, or swim as free agents in the free market

Today’s tipping point of egregious Covid-19 pandemic mismanagement dictates the necessity of instituting immediate across the board FREE AGENCY status for all federal agencies and programs.

Consider the benefits of free agency in light of unmitigated failures of the FDA and CDC during the Covid-19 pandemic that dramatically illustrate the destructive unintended consequence of all federal agencies and programs that proliferate due to the inability, legal license, and lack of government will power to balance the budget.

First, bench the FDA and CDC today, not tomorrow, before they can do more damage as we cope with and recover from the Corona pandemic. But don’t stop there.

In preparation for future pandemics and life after coercive non-competitive tyranny of the majority, cut all federal agencies and programs loose before they drown us in a tsunami of bureaucratic corruption and cronyism leading to Socialist bankruptcy.

Do us and and government authorities, agencies, and programs a huge favor by setting them free so they can compete, flounder, sink, or swim as free agents in merit-based free markets, the only true direct democracy where there no need to elect authoritarian leaders

In free markets, we voluntarily vote individually with our wallets and personal decisions in countless trillions of win-win, mutually-beneficial agreements and transactions every day.

Free markets do not foster coercive leaders by authority, electioneering cronyism, or dishonest political correctness. Why? Because they are not competitive. Collaborative competition is the name of the game in the free market.

The best of non-competitive governments fail in less than two or three hundred years due to cronyism-induced bankruptcy if not overthrown before then.

Contrast the stark fact of predictable government failures with the overwhelming evidence that free markets have never failed since internal and external tribal barter economics human action and decision-making evolved at the dawn of mankind.

Oppressive governments can force free markets into grey or black markets but free markets always recover and survive in spite of coercive government failures.

The fact that the human species continues to survive and thrive, despite the worst that governments and other institutional authorities can throw at us, is eloquent testimony of the durability and benefits of free markets that lift people out of poverty, misery, and slavery.

It occurs to me that human gravitation toward free markets and Golden Rule ‘personal governments’, used to define limits for personal behavior and social/economic relationships, are indelibly etched in our human psyche and DNA.

Now there is a challenge and gauntlet thrown down to incentivize scientific research. Prove my hypothesis wrong and come up with a better theory. Have at it, but ‘ends justifies means’ political correctness will not cut the scientific ‘mustard’ and are out of bounds.

In conclusion, there is a lot to be said for free agency as a remedy for out-of-control Big Brother counter productive bureaucracy overhead.

?

Thoughts? D. Pratt Tseramed, April 7, 2020

We Are All In This Pandemic Together And Will Emerge Stronger With A Bond Of Love For Our Fellow Travelers On Planet Earth

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Love For Our Fellow Travelers On Planet Earth - We Are In This Together And Will Emerge Stronger

Here is a copy of a boots on the ground pandemic dose of reality social media post authored by Christian Baldwin, my former First Data/Fiserv colleague and trusted friend.

Christian and his wife, along with neighbors and friends Diane and Steve Becker, have generously helped us with grocery shopping and mail pickup while Re and I are in extended age-related self-quarantine going on five weeks and who knows how long.

Christian’s wife is on the front lines as a nurse in Omaha and likewise for Christian’s son in an essential grocery service capacity. Christian says he is tempted to hose his son down every day when his son returns home from work. The entire Baldwin family is at considerable risk, yet they step up to the plate because of their moral stance that we are all in this together.

Both Becker’s have underlying conditions yet they continue to risk exposure while taking care of neighbors.

A big mental hug and heartfelt thank you to the all the heroic Baldwin’s and Becker’s of the world who lead by example and risk themselves daily while getting stuff done that our well being and future depend on.

Just as medical providers commit to the Hippocratic Oath, our concerned friend and neighbor benefactors operate on what might be called the ‘Golden Rule Oath’.

Salute!


“-Christian Baldwin post from Facebook

-Just so I never forget…..

April 4, 2020:

-Gas prices in NE are $1.60

-School canceled

-Yes, canceled

-Self-distancing measures on the rise

-Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6 ft) from each other

-A limited number of people inside stores, therefore, lineups outside the store doors

-Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed

-Parks, trails, entire cities locked up

-The entire sports season canceled

-Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events canceled

-Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings canceled

-No masses, churches are closed

-No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 10 or more

-Don’t socialize with anyone outside of your home

-Children’s outdoor play parks are closed

-We are to distance from each other

-Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers

-Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill

-Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer

-Shelves are bare

-Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE

-The government closes the border to all non-essential travel

-Fines are established for breaking the rules

-Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients

-Press conferences daily from the President and the governors. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths

-Government incentives to stay home

-Barely anyone on the roads

-People wearing masks and gloves outside

-Essential service workers are terrified to go to work

-Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families

-This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020

-Why, you ask, do I write this status? One day it will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted. We have so much! Be thankful. Be grateful. Be kind to each other – love one another – support everyone. We are all one!

❤️Copy and share


~Christian”

Thank you, Christian!

Thoughts? D. Pratt Tseramed, April 4, 2020

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