Vaccine? No vaccine?

I imagine that our anti-vaccine folks are starting to feel as confused as a chameleon in a bag of Skittles, just as the Left (which would be opposed to oxygen if Trump were to explicitly endorse it) is. Because PDJT is obviously pushing hard for a vaccine. And similarly for the very anti-mask amongst us, as Trump appears to have endorsed face masks as well, at least in certain contexts.

I think it’s all part of the effort to ensure we are able to physically (and safely) go to the polls in November, an effort to force the Left to concede that it’s safe to do so–after all, the Left claims masks work and the Left loves vaccines uncritically.

It does matter, greatly, what sort of vaccine it is too, as Wolfm00n pointed out yesterday. The Gates vaccine? No fricking way, and I am by no means anti-vaccine as a general rule. But those who approve of any vaccine, qua vaccine, will be forced to accept the Trump-approved vaccine or admit that sometimes a vaccine is a bad idea. Unless they truly can engage in Orwellian doublethink: the ability to simultaneously accept two obviously contradictory ideas as true.

Orwell was very good, not just at pointing out the value to a dictatorship of having a monopoly on the media and the historic record, but also the sorts of thought processes such a dictatorship would want its mid-level people to have. Doublethink is essential for the low-level people to remain loyal to the movement, otherwise they could be redpilled if the media monopoly cracks.

Reminder of the Most Important Thing about the MAGA Movement

Yes, I am going to harp on this, because it is the most important thing President Donald J. Trump has to do, and he hasn’t really gotten started on it yet.

Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.

Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump

Lawyer Appeasement Section

OK now for the fine print.

This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines,  here, with an addendum on 20191110.

We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.

And remember Wheatie’s Rules:

1. No food fights
2. No running with scissors.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
4. The gun is always loaded.
4a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty.
5. Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy.
6. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
7. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.

(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)

Mandatory Coin

Now it wouldn’t be one of my posts without a coin, would it?

In honor of the fact that gold has been skyrocketing…well, let me point out that silver has been skyrocketing even more. It was in the eighteen dollar range while gold was in the upper $1700s, and now it is in the twenty two dollar range now that gold has just poked over $1900. In other words, silver is climbing relative to gold, and gold is climbing against the dollar.

There was a time, not too long ago, that if you wanted gold in a coin form, and didn’t want to pay extra for collector value, the South African Krugerrand was it. Actually, it wasn’t all that long before that, when it was illegal for US citizens to hold gold bullion at all. Exceptions were made for coins with collector value, because their primary value wasn’t the gold in them.

(Much of our then-common gold went overseas to Europe after FDR tried to confiscate it, and has been gradually repatriating to the US market ever since it became legal again in the 1970s.)

Once gold became re-legalized here, bars and Krugerrands were the main options; then other countries got into the act, including Canada, Austrilia, the then-Soviet Union, Red China, and of course the USA. At this point, apparently, the USA is the market leader! (My avatar is a picture of the reverse of the US series.)

The US coinage actually has favorable tax treatment (unless something changed in the Trump tax cuts). Coins and coin collections are always taxed at the sort term capital gains rate of 28% even if you’ve held onto them for more than two years…except for the US silver, gold, platinum and palladium eagles, which drop to the long term rate after two years.

Should one run off and buy gold, since it’s going up so quickly? Not so fast. It’s going up too quickly. This shows the signs of being a speculative spike or bubble, and therefore, only if you have nerves of steel and are willing and able to cut out just when it seems as if you should stay in, can you go in and hope to get out before it collapses. For the rest of us mortals (including me), it’s too likely you’ll be burned. More likely it’s a good time to sell.

But people who bought gold twenty or so years ago when it was under $300 an ounce are sitting pretty.

Disclaimer: Neither this, nor any other coin I post, is mine. With older coins, I’m going to find the best pic of one on the internet, so even if I happen to have one, it’s not the nicest one on earth…and some coins are worth more than my net worth so I certainly won’t have those! As far as Krugerrands go, I’d rather own the US gold eagles, if nothing else because of the favorable tax treatment, and besides the brown color of the Krugerrand is ugly.

Important Reminder

Just one more thing, my standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!

Remember Hong Kong!!!

中国是个混蛋 !!!
Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!!
China is asshoe !!!