Category Archives: Dickens – The Amalgamated Heavy

Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.
He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; we’re not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.
Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.
In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!

Dickens: Informed or Misinformed? The Big Bamboozle

Bamboozle is a funny-sounding word, but if you’ve ever been bamboozled, it’s not funny at all; in fact, it’s an experience you’ll probably never forget, but not for Merkan’s, we’re bamboozled every hour of every day; so often, in fact, that we no longer recognize it; we’re desensitized, oblivious, and inured.

Bamboozle: to deceive by underhanded means or methods: to confuse, frustrate, throw off wholly and thoroughly, cheat, hoodwink, trick, fool, dupe, perplex, or hornswoggle.

I just spent the last few hours skimming through my posts on the Federal Observer. My goodness, I write a lot. I want to thank my good friend Jeff Bennett for sharing and archiving my work, but I’m not alone there on FO (interestingly, there is an alternate interpretation for those initials ). Jeff has more information on this site than any human could possibly absorb. Not to mention his three other sites, but that’s not the point of this current work, although we all owe Jeff our gratitude for his efforts to make America a better-informed republic.

Shakespeare said it best: What’s Past is Prologue.”
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Dickens: Truth or Consequences… Either, Neither, or Both?

But where’s the beef?

The year was 1984, and the fast-food battles were in full swing as purveyors employed every tactic imaginable to discredit one another. The phrase ‘where’s the beef’ became an advertising icon and was used in every possible sense, even straying into the political arena. Even Congress, the opposite of progress, used this catch-phrase…

The phrase implies that something is missing.

The missing component is recognizing and accepting responsibility for words and actions… You know, consequences.

There is a reaction for every action; that’s Newton’s third law. It’s been parsed and rehashed into various phrases like ‘cause and effect’ and ‘Nothing comes from nothing…’ It boils down to actions and reactions. Although Newton’s laws are primarily applied to physics, they also extend to more mundane aspects of life. Continue reading

Dickens: Do You Trust AI? Why?

Who or what do you trust?

Just look at where we are!

Why is probably the most open-ended indirect question ever posed, yet it’s on my mind constantly. An indirect question is a rhetorical device used to provoke thought or conversation, and it makes an excellent opening for this article.

My formal training leads me to question everything, how to discover answers and possible solutions, and then how to test them. However, the questions I’ve been asking lately don’t seem to have clear-cut answers; they lead to more questions. That’s what I learned outside of the formal arena.

Life is a cruel teacher; after all, she kills all of her students.

Am I asking the wrong questions, or are the answers that ambiguous? Continue reading

Dickens: Maybe It’s Time… Let it Rain!

It’s a common practice that when things have gone wrong for too long, the ailing system requires a complete reset. It’s an opportunity to reassess the current process and incorporate changes to address deficiencies or rectify problems. However, when the system is so corrupt and focused on divisive elements rather than its intended goal, it’s time to start over.

That’s a direction we haven’t taken for a very long time as a country; not since 1776, as a matter of fact. Merka seems to prefer the band-aid and cobble approach to everything, but there are only so many patches you can make before the underlying fabric will no longer support them, and the patches hold other patches in place, rendering the original indistinguishable from the changes. You can’t tell where the repairs end and the original begins.
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Dickens: The Collapse of Our Civilization

But I’m near the end and I just ain’t got the time… and I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home

It happens to every society, eventually, and Merka’s next in the queue…

I was unsure of the title for this piece. What-cha-ma-call-it is too vague, and Business as Usual is non-descriptive but true, and I can’t believe what I’m seeing is threadbare and worn out. Truth be told, this is not only a title, but a synopsis of the article, which is what a title should be.

Congressional hearings are like a train wreck, a structure fire, an automobile accident, or a dumpster fire; something compels you to stop, to look, and to watch; you can’t seem to turn away. That’s how I feel about the direction we’re headed after watching these pointless congressional hearings. In my last article, I called them “The Real Housewives of Congress.” Continue reading

Dickens: Merka’s Next Civil War 2.0

Illegal Immigration & Sanctuary Cities

Go ahead. Tell me I’m wrong.

Today’s Illegal Immigration fiasco is this generation’s slavery, and it’s causing a significant rift today, just like it did in 18th-century America. The prominent difference is that today we excuse violence as an expression of our Constitutional right of Free Speech, rather than the violent insurrection that it is. God forbid we should hurt someone’s feelings by speaking truth, you know ‘tellin it like it is.’ by ‘callin a spade a spade’, and maybe even meet that or meet it in kind. Merka is a nation of Karens.

– The pejorative term “Karen” refers to someone perceived as entitled, demanding, and often using their perceived social status to their advantage, and this behavior is not limited to any particular gender.

If we used reciprocal force, wouldn’t that be protecting their own lives? We are still allowed to do that.

So, unknot your knickers, park your prejudice, and open your minds for a while. Continue reading

Dickens: McCarthy was Right ~ The Cancer in America IS Marxism

Senator Joseph McCarthy: American hero

Senator Joseph McCarthy’s primary assertion was that communists had infiltrated the US government, particularly the State Department. He famously claimed to have a list of 205 such individuals, although he never provided concrete evidence to support his accusations.

McCarthy’s claims fueled the Red Scare, a period of widespread fear of communist influence in the United States following World War II. His accusations led to investigations, hearings, and blacklists in various sectors, including government, Hollywood, and academia.

While McCarthy’s accusations were never fully substantiated, they did have a significant impact on American society and politics in the 1950s. The Army-McCarthy hearings, which were televised, were instrumental in exposing McCarthy’s tactics and ultimately contributed to his downfall.

Fast-forward to today; there are proudly self-professed, self-identified, and self-confirmed Socialists, Marxists, Communists, and Terrorist Sympathizers in the US Congress, the opposite of progress, leading this republic over a cliff. Continue reading

Dickens: Merkan Kritocracy II: Who’s Really Running This Republic?

Merka’s Kritocracy – Judges are in charge.

                  Heah Come de Judges

In this political cycle, voters elected #47 to lead the Executive Branch of the Republic for four years. But the Radical Democrat appointed judges are blocking his every effort to fulfill his campaign promises with injunctions and restraining orders. Who’s running the country?

Partisan politicians’ weaponization of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to persecute #45, and now #47, has led to the resurrection of an ancient style of government. Merka’s rejiggering of the US Constitution brought forth a new, selective judicial tyranny: the emergence of the Merkan Kritocracy.

This judicial seizure means that Merka is no longer a democracy; it’s now a kritocracy, that is, a system of rule by judges, similar to the one in ancient Israel. According to the Book of Exodus, Moses began the kritocracy before establishing a united monarchy under Saul, as described in the Book of Kings.

Scholars place this date between the 13th and 15th Centuries BCE, which is strangely appropriate in the 21st century. What was once very old, 36 centuries old in fact, is new again. Continue reading

Dickens: The Church of Perpetual Outrage (Worship at the Altar of Righteous Indignation…)

I’ve been aware of a disturbing contrarian trend for some time, but recently, it’s become more of a religion than an attitude or frame of mind. Religion is the best way I can describe what I see playing out in partisan political arenas. It’s as though we’re reenacting the Crusades of the 11th through the 13th centuries. This time, the armies are the Marxists and the Federalists; the Holy Land is Merka.

The tactics are reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition, only in a suit and tie, performed in congressional chambers, broadcast for the faithful to partake in the Left’s righteous indignation. You’re guilty because we say you are.

Evidence? No problem: we’ll create whatever we need. After all, we own the Black Robed Bandits throughout Merka. It is an example to any who dare challenge the Holy and Almighty American Marxist Party’s viewpoint

How dare you disagree – you know we’re right! Continue reading

Dickens: Meanies Justify the Ends

The Ends Justify the Means” ~ Machiavelli

If the ends truly justify the means, who determines those ends? Is it the meanies?

If the ends justify the means, someone must determine the importance of that end or the goal. If we are willing to forgo morals, ethics, and everything we hold essential to attain that goal, then someone must have set that priority at the highest level imaginable. Transcending righteousness requires an overwhelming cause and sincere consideration before taking any action. Who decides, or are these ends whimsically eccentric? Continue reading

Dickens: A House Divided Cannot Stand!

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How  then will his kingdom stand?” ~ Matthew 12:22

It essentially means that if a group or entity is internally divided and at odds with itself, it will eventually fail. This idea was famously used by Abraham Lincoln in his “House Divided” speech, arguing that the United States, with its division over slavery, could not endure as a nation. Continue reading

Dickens: Oh Well… We The People

Merkans are deeply fascinated, spellbound by politics, to the point where their attention is completely absorbed and they are unable to think about anything else. It’s a state of intense interest or attraction, often accompanied by a sense of being entranced or captivated.

Why do we tolerate it?

The intro music answers it: America is Mesmerized:

– holding the attention of someone to the exclusion of all else – transfixed

– in a hypnotic or trancelike state; hypnotized

– having the attention completely absorbed; fascinated, captivated, or spellbound

The average person spends roughly 70 minutes daily consuming news and another 143 minutes on ‘not-so’ social media each day. That’s the hold the media has on our society. Continue reading

Dickens: Addicted to Incongruity ~ The New Normal

Addicted to incongruity.

– Incongruous: absurd, ludicrous, ridiculous, unsuitable, discordant, contradictory, contrary.

‘Modern Politigencia’

The inmates in the monkey house, Congress, the opposite of progress, live up to their elucidation. All they seem to do is monkey around, accomplish next to nothing, and cause problems for the republic. Their primary primate goal is self-aggrandizement and amusement. They’ve even taken to flinging poo just like their simian namesakes. Continue reading

Dickens: Ridiculousness ~ What Is Wrong with You?

How can you see anything with your head that far up your derriere?

To our elected representatives in Congress, the opposite of progress, and all the other government decision-makers who tirelessly work all the angles, shake all the hands, kiss all the babies, make impossible promises, craft all the back-room deals, spend all our money on new and better ways to enrich their supporters and friends at our expense, concentrate your efforts on all the things that damage this republic, ignore the people who elected you, and cultivate the art of mendacity. It’s frustrating to see how you prioritize your interests over the nation’s well-being. Continue reading

Dickens: Black Robed Bandits ~ The Courts are now in Charge!

In old movies, especially westerns, you could always tell the good guys from the bad guys, the hero from the villain, by the color of their clothes, especially their hats. Good guys wore white, and bad guys wore black. This was designed so audiences in the early silent-movie era could distinguish characters in black-and-white films.

The stereotype carries over into our modern thinking. Continue reading

Dickens: Non-Compos Mentis ~ Oh, The Luxury!

Non-compos mentis: Not of sound mind, insane, lunatic, unbalanced.

We must be absolutely crazy, out of our minds to waste the luxury of our First Amendment rights attempting to destroy this country for absurd political gains. It’s gang warfare on a national level. Two rival gangs vie for control of this turf called Merka and will fight to the death, even if it’s the death is the country itself.

This oppugnant mentality is rooted in the idea that if something is not available to oneself, it’s better to prevent others from having it, even if it means a loss of resources or opportunity for everyone. Does this sound familiar? One particular partisan political party is willing to destroy this republic to keep the other from having it. In psychology, it’s called spite, where the lack of something is seen as preferable for everyone rather than simply for oneself.

The Ends Justify the Means…

It doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? Since we’ve done nothing about it, it’s of little importance because if it were really important, we would do something about it. Right? Continue reading

Dickens: Once In A Lifetime – Talking Heads: Same As It Ever Was”!

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same. ~ Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr – French journalist & critic

It means that despite superficial changes, things’ underlying or fundamental aspects often remain constant. Turbulent changes do not affect reality on a deeper level other than to cement the status quo.

Did Alphonse Karr define the partisan political climate in the United States?

Consider the gilded turd analogy – you can dip a turd in gold, but it’s still a turd; it’s not a solid gold bar, what’s counts is just below the surface. Continue reading

Dickens: Treasonous America? “It Can’t Happen Here…”

It Can’t Happen Here! ~ Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention… (1966)

I chose this piece precisely because of the intentional discord and how it typifies the dissonance in our republic, particularly in Congress, the opposite of progress.

America will never be a Socialist or Communist country.” ~ Donald J Trump… 2016

It can’t happen here…

Well, guess what campers… It did… Continue reading

Dickens: Merka’s New Curse Words… Oh, the Humanity!!!!!

WARNING: this post contains language that you may find offensive – (Especially if you’re liberal!)

I want to introduce some new curse words from the Merkan Left’s lexicon. The CMC and Congress, the opposite of progress, use these words glibly in conversation to agitate their constituent base and inform the Right-Wingnuts of the connotation change from acceptable to repugnant. Continue reading

Dickens: What God Hath Wrought

The title ‘What God Hath Wrought‘ has been a recurring theme in our history. It symbolizes our reverence for technological progress and serves as a poignant reminder of the potential harm that can arise from the misuse of our advancements.

Beware the Djinn.

– AI The word djinn comes from the Arabic jinn, a plural noun that means both “demons or spirits” and also, literally, “hidden from sight.” The word genie shares the same Arabic root.

My title comes from the Biblical Book of Numbers 23:23, which Samuel Morris used in 1844 to demonstrate his telegraph, marking the technological beginning of a new communication age.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, forever altering our communication. Its first successful connection in March of that year marked a pivotal moment in history.

A few years later, in 1897, Guglielmo Marconi introduced his wireless radio, a groundbreaking invention that sent a simple message through the air, without the need for wires. This marked a significant leap in global communication.

The world, especially our world, will never be the same. Continue reading