Midwesterngal5

Midwest gal in the south. Believer. Jesus is Lord.

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

Amazing! Would order 🤣

[mrs. dobbins ☕️🪶 @mrsdobbins_]

live. in my shop right now. 🏷️😂

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

Sounds awesome

[John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad]

Now, with funding pulled and uncertainty rising, those loans are in jeopardy.

Elon Musk isn’t just cutting off their cash flow. He’s yanking the foundation out from under their entire financial structure.

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@VanceE What about if you’re pregnant? No go?

[Mike Benz @MikeBenzCyber]

If USAID was using even its HIV programs as a cover for covert regime change operations, what do you think USAID is doing with its food programs?

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@libsoftiktok Does anyone know where this is?

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

“Why doesn’t anyone want to get into ham radio”

[S2 Underground @s2_underground]

Alas, all good things are not without opposition at times. Despite my mild annoyance from time to time, it is all the more important to remember that this is a good thing.

Take my own experiences with my own radio network, for instance. Something that I created, and many of you have helped grow and turn into something good. I know it's rather underwhelming for the non-radio folks out there, but as radios get better, so will the things we can do with them.

But again, this effort has not been without opposition. Deliberate jamming, malice from hams using their real callsigns, politics, plagiarism, and of course....rumor, paranoia, slander, and lies. This is not new by any means, but this is the kind of thing that is often left out of the world of radio.

Take this gentleman (and let's be honest, it's most certainly a man) for a moment. This man, using a fake callsign, has made quite a few accusations here, the larger idea of which I would like to address.

For one, I find it rather entertaining to imagine this man being so paranoid that he thinks that ham radio is illegal.

Secondly, Dear Sir, you have used a FAKE callsign. Praytell, would it not also be appropriate thus to surmise that one so concerned might also echo your own efforts? And therefore your own concerns of surveillance made irrelevant by your own actions? What misfortune has befallen you yourself, having crossed into the dark lands of such unbecoming dissemination?

Despite this rather inept transmission that unfortunately desecrated my antenna this eve, the larger idea here is certainly worthy of consideration. After all, I myself have been voicing my own concerns regarding the FCC's PUBLIC databases of all amateur radio operators for years, with nearly all hams I've met (mostly those on HF) turning a deaf ear toward these concerns. I understand more than anyone the privacy concerns with radio, and have fought tooth-and-nail to at least urge the radio community to really examine why they do the things they do.

No, I'm not interested in citing formal sections of law or federal code. And I'm not interested in listening to lectures on what a "privilege" radio is, as I think the entire argument is akin to a house being built on sand. Nor am I interested in grand philosophical debates on the nature of rights; I'm a simple folk in that way. I would rather get to work while others are busy arguing about the rules or being so paranoid that they never get anything positive done.

Yes, it's justified to be concerned about the FCC's unconstitutional (in my mind) and open database of PII. But, to the gentleman who left these kind words for me this evening (with the goal of gaslighting, manipulating, and stirring up dissent), I would also urge you to think outside the box for just one moment...and realize that you are indeed already living in a zero-trust environment. Yes, the FCC's database is a risk to personal security, from identity theft to straight up door-kicking (as you are transmitting with several thousand dollars worth of radio equipment, and using a callsign that tells bad guys where they can find you). The ham radio culture made this acceptable, and there's not much that can be done if I'm the only voice with a reasonable-sized audience who is voicing these privacy concerns with regards to HF radio (as most others seem to be okay with the arrangement).

The trick is in mitigating these risks, and understanding what the bigger risk really is...not being able to communicate at ALL when things go sideways, because you didn't practice and train when things were calm. No, I do not log anyone's callsign myself. I purge my txt file constantly, and don't have an account on QRZ to look anyone up. I personally try to encourage a code of honor with radio, and don't look up someone on an internet database when I talk to them for the first time. Side note, how rude would it be for you to meet someone, shake their hand, and immediately pull out your phone and google their name? Maybe I'm too old-fashioned but I think that's a bit disrespectful of an arrangement, though it's the standard in radio.
Also note that I redact ALL callsigns when I take screenshots to put in my intel update briefings. However, this is but a meaningless gesture for two reasons. For one, I do not expect anyone to trust me, but secondly because it doesn't really do any good. It's unencrypted radio....OF COURSE there's somebody listening. I can't guarantee that my own creation isn't subject to some kind of spying effort, who knows, with the way things are today it undoubtedly is. At least, training with that assumption in mind is always helpful when it comes to risk mitigation. That's why we practice, and talk about the weather, share short news stories, and do all the silly little things that don't really matter. It's about training, but also getting some everyday use out of it all so that we don't go stir crazy and get super bored every week.

There are risks to everything in life, so let's train like it and learn how to overcome this stuff.

Somewhat ironic, no? That I myself have the same concerns as this gentleman, the man trying to sow discord among my friends all around the world. The VERY crucial difference being: I am actually doing something about it, and trying to learn (and teach others) how to operate in a semi-permissive environment...instead of just shouting to the ether.

All in all, though I am rather annoyed with my own creation some days, generally speaking I'm happy that the idiots and the ultra-paranoid cause problems...because it gives me (and all of you) a chance to 1 - see what truly free speech is like for once, and 2 - find ways around the disruptive activity.

Especially after a few days of little sleep, when I could have easily just ignored this schizo and moved on, the constant reminder that there are indeed malign actors out there is always helpful to remember, so that we can do better tomorrow 👍

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

I just reintroduced H.R. 899, a one sentence bill to TERMINATE the federal department of education and return power back to teachers and parents.

This is it, the entire bill:

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@Oilfield_Rando No

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@L0m3z Cc @BillboardChris have you read this book?

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

Don’t care at all if the govt. Shuts down. They all get back pay! it’s not even real.

[RWNutjob @Stickelliott]

Truth

[Oilfield Rando @Oilfield_Rando]

They shut down the whole country and caused suicides to skyrocket but ONG WE CAN’T SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT WE JUST CAN’T IT WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC TO THE LIVES OF FEDERAL WORKERS

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@RepBeccaB lol it has a bunch of other crap in it nice try

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@Cernovich That can’t be the reason. Turn one of those unused federal buildings into dorms or something.

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

I'm getting a lot of grief from federal workers over my posts encouraging a federal government shutdown.

The amazing thing is that NONE OF THEM seem to understand that uncertainty about your next paycheck is the constant, normal lifestyle of small business owners--you know, the small business owners who actually create wealth and pay the federal workers' salaries at the point of a gun.

The cluelessness of government workers about just how good they have it is a huge reason why they are so despised.

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@elonmusk @DOGE True

[Auron MacIntyre @AuronMacintyre]

From Curtis Yarvin's essay where he predicted that Congress would stop Elon Musk's DOGE reforms

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@RepJeffries lol shut it down

they all get back pay anyway it’s all Fake

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@Byzness Yeah, but they move to red states and try to turn them blue.

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@BowTiedGatorDDS @MolonNukei I render my own lard when we buy half a pig every year, many people who buy beef or pork in bulk could do that. Of course, it takes a day to do it.

[Midwesterngal5 @Midwesterngal51]

@realJeremyCarl It wasn’t supposed to be a career. The system is broken and has been for years.