Bretigne Shaffer's Blog, page 7

A Change in the Weather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had an article up last week over at LewRockwell.com last week, about the work that needs doing, the urgency of doing it, and the very strong possibility that we just might win. Check it out.As I leave my friend, the wind blows a lone cloth mask in front of me and it rolls across my path like a tumbleweed.

This wind. It’s tearing apart old alliances, old tribes, even long-held friendships. Even families.

But it’s also sweeping people into new groupings, pushing us together out of necessity, whereupon many of us realize: These are the people we should have had in our lives all along. These are the right alliances, better tribes. And it seems crazy that it’s taken this wild windstorm to bring us together.

By afternoon, the wind is in a real fury. Our giant inflatable pumpkin family has been blown across the yard and now sits huddled around our tiny weeping cherry tree. I go out and corral  them back into place next to the giant inflatable Halloween tree, and for a while anyway, all seems as it should be.

I don’t mean to suggest that any of this is going to be easy, or that there’s nothing to be afraid of...

 

Read the rest here.

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6 Years Ago, I Wrote this Piece on Vaccine Mandates - But it's Really About Narrative Manipulation

From my piece:

"The manipulation of the conversation around vaccines in the mainstream media has been nothing short of a tour de force. If you read only mainstream publications, you might come away with the impression that outbreaks of measles are the most serious public health crisis since the Black Death. You might think that those who do not vaccinate are uneducated, superstitious, “anti-science” zealots who get their information from daytime talk shows. You might even start to feel outrage at these people who – for no good reason at all – have decided to endanger everyone else by refusing to do what every doctor knows is perfectly safe, effective and the socially responsible thing to do.

"The presentation of this issue has been a study in just how easy it can be to generate mass hysteria around a particular threat – even while much more serious threats inspire no such response. It’s as if every mainstream reporter has been given the same playbook to use in putting together their articles about vaccines – a playbook designed to elicit the above response from the public. I’ve tried to imagine what this playbook must look like and I think I’ve come up with a pretty decent facsimile. Here it is, along with my own annotations:

"1. Make it clear that parents who choose not to vaccinate their children are only getting their information from Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carey and other celebrities with absolutely no scientific credentials.

"Pretend that doctors and scientists who are critical of vaccines – doctors like Dr. Suzanne Humphries, , Dr. Kenneth Stoller, Dr. Robert Rowen, Dr. Janet Levatin, Dr. Stephanie Cave, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Meryl Nass, Dr. Jay Gordon, Dr. Jane Orient, and many of the members of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, CDC researcher Dr. William Thompson, and all of the doctors and scientists listed here and here – don’t exist. Because really, if you don’t write about them, they don’t."

Read the whole thing here.

         

WTMWD #72: How to arm your teen against the Brave New World? I talk with Ernie Hancock about Freogan Fellowship Learning

I was on "Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock" last week, talking about my new venture: The Freogan Fellowship Ministry. (It's the first interview here, although you might want to stay on for the second one  with Dave Ridley, about the New Hampshire secession bill!)



We talk about the mission of Freogan Fellowship (rebuilding the foundations of civilization for free men and women), the origins of the word "Freogan", and our first project: Freogan Fellowship Learning, and the classes for teens that we'll be offering later this month:



"Propaganda and the Personal" - This course will explore propaganda, politics, and the personal, with a focus on the 20th Century up to the present moment. We will examine some of the key players, the ideologies, and the techniques that have led us to the current crisis, as well as what our part in it has been and could be. 

"Our Common-Law Foundations" - This course will utilize the Socratic method to explore the roots of the modern western legal system. We will be using outside sources, and students should expect lots of real-time conversation. There will be some reading to be done outside of class, as well as some thinking.

 Beginning in the spring, we will also offer courses in literature, history, and economics.



Parents can get more details, and sign up for classes here.



...sign up before October 10th to get the Early Bird rate!

 

 

         

Propaganda and the Personal

 

"Propaganda and the Personal" is one of the first two classes that our new PMA education venture (Freogan Fellowship Learning) we will be offering,  beginning the week of October 25th. You can get more information, or sign up now by emailing us.

This course will explore propaganda, politics, and the personal, with a focus on the 20th Century up to the present moment. We will examine some of the key players, the ideologies, and the techniques that have led us to the current crisis, as well as what our part in it has been and could be. 

We will compassionately interrogate our own biases and assumptions so that we are not doomed to repeat, and we will find ways forward – to begin building a future that we truly want for ourselves and our communities.

Each class runs for eight weeks, with two live class sessions per week.

For those who sign up before October 1, the cost is $240 plus a small materials fee.

Starting on October 1, the class fee will be $320.

Note that Freogan Fellowship Learning is part of a private membership association, and serves only members of the association. This means that anyone taking our courses must first become a member. Membership is free, and can be cancelled at any time.

 
Please get in touch if you have any questions!
 

         

COVID shows we need Sanctuaries For Medical Freedom!

For anyone who missed it earlier, here is my presentation on Sanctuaries for (Medical) Freedom, with Freedom Hub: You can find more Freedom Hub videos here or here.

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How to be Free in an Unfree Society

Recently, I was on Josh Scandlen's show, talking about our upcoming education venture, building the structures that will replace what is crumbling around us, PMA healthcare, backyard chickens & CSAs, the rebirth of China in the late '80s and '90s......

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There's a Revolution Happening in Education - Oct 1-3

This conference is not for everyone. My friend Dr. Edith Ubuntu Chan has brought together some of the most powerful voices in homeschooling and unschooling, for a three-day conference dedicated to breaking old education paradigms and building new ones. This...

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Japanese Scarecrow Village

Creepy? Or wonderful? Or maybe a little of both?

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Election-Night Custard

It's a little after 8:00pm on the night of the recall election - the election to remove (or not) California Governor Gavin Newsom. I really have no idea which way it's going to go, and I'm not even sure I...

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WTMWD #71: Jeff Tucker on the launch of the Brownstone Institute - and the racist history of infectious-disease fearmongering

In this episode, I speak with long-time liberty hero and entrepreneur Jeff Tucker, about his launching of the Brownstone Institute in response to the worldwide authoritarian response to Covid-19, and why the Institute's efforts are so needed now. We also...