The Cliffs of Insanity

Issaildur: Piling on

2012-02-14T17:06:00.001-08:00

Just in case you missed it, I maintain that as Isildur is to The One Ring, the GOP is to Gunwalker.

How I missed this obvious opportunity to tee off on this both verbally and visually, I don't know. But here he is, make room for . . .

Issaildur

Dear John Boehner; Get moving or you'll find out what visual I have in mind for you.

Imagine

2012-02-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

JFK, Monster. The New Republic

To the tune of John Lennon's Imagine; Imagine if JFK hadn't been assassinated.

I would like to think that the Kennedy name would have been irreparably damaged and the mystique utterly destroyed. Imagine what America would have done with Monica Lewinsky (a type, not literally her) in 1964.

Instead of LBJ's Great Society, there could have been a great rollback of the New Deal. Which incidentally might have allowed men to still be going to the moon.

I would also like to think that Vietnam could have either been won decisively or avoided entirely.

I wasn't even born then, but it seems that America went through a great convulsion from 1963 onward. I'd be willing to bet that in many ways it was similar to what we lived through after 9/11/01.

But then, Kennedy made sure he was surrounded with Avox . . . didn't he?

Whitney Houston is America

2012-02-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

Whitney Houston: 1963-2012

I would say that I'll really miss Whitney, but I've missed her since about 1991.

Has any rendering of the national anthem been more powerful in our generation? Has Houston done anything half as powerful since then?

Disclaimer: Though the autopsy hasn't been released yet, it seems a pretty safe bet that the use/abuse of drugs at most caused or at least contributed to her death. We've seen this Hollywood story many times and it just doesn't change, does it. I will go out on the limb and submit to you that Whitney Houston is America. When it's all told, her tale will be our tale as a nation.

This morning, I heard some of the chattering entertainment journolists musing about the 4 bodyguards who were outside of Houston's bathroom when she died. How the people who surround these celebrities like Houston, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger and others are somehow falling down on the job of protecting these celebrities. This evening, another story hinting that her doctors will be probed regarding Houston's pills. Sigh. When a celebrity gets arrested for drugs, do they get cleaned up, or just fire the incompetent handler who allowed them to get arrested and get new, better handlers who do more to shield them from prying eyes and accountability? Is it not also clear that for many celebrities, doctor = pusher?

The job for most handlers is not to protect the celebrity from himself/herself. The job is to protect the celebrity from reality around them. Shield them from consequences of their own reckless and stupid actions as well as from any unwashed masses who might touch the hem of their garments. Anyone remember how Patti Labelle's bodyguards roughed up a West Point cadet?

Don't stop watching when the beating is complete, watch all the way to the end when bodyguards and LaBelle pose with Houston police more interested in LaBelle than the bleeding young man who was attacked. I understand there's some dispute over whether the young man said anything that provoked the attack.

Really?

He merely said something and that somehow justified a 3 on 1 gang beatdown? Would anyone be talking about "provocation" if the guards were white and the cadet black?

I'm reading through a book my son recommended to me called The Hunger Games. He really liked it and thought I would too. It's for tweens and young adults, but it's not too bad. Perhaps I'll write a review later.

In the book, there are people who are called Avox. An Avox is someone who has committed some act of treason against the nation of Panem and had their voice box removed as punishment. As further punishment, the now totally mute Avox is placed into a lifetime of slavery to the anointed where the only time they are spoken to is when they are given a command.

The handlers for these mega celebrities are Avox of a sort. Their only role is to give the celebrity exactly what they want, keep their mouth shut, keep the riff raff away, and shield them from reality and/or consequences of their behavior.

And yet, the chattering entertainment whores tell us that we must hold these celebrity handlers fully responsible for the consequences of bad celebrity behavior even though in many cases, they are little more than accomplices who did whatever the anointed ones wanted them to do.

But this isn't strictly an entertainment phenomenon.
Check out this story about judge Richard Baumgartner.

Give yourself plenty of time to read it all.

Just like these "tragic" celebrities, Baumgartner surrounded himself with people who would give him what he wants, not tell him the truth, and not tell anybody else. And since others around the judge refused to hold him accountable, he wound up presiding over the case of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom.

Not familiar with Chris Newsom and Channon Christian? Here, read this grand jury indictment. It stretches into 24 pages and 46 counts. The people who did this were brought to trial, found guilty, and sentenced.

At each new trial, the family had to relive this horror.

Thanks to Baumgartner, each of these animals will get a new trial and the family will relive these horrors again and again.

Hell is too good for Baumgartner.

Yet it seems those who enabled Baumgartner and the Christian and Newsom families are suffering more than he is. This is one judge in one city and one tragic case of justice miscarried and denied to the Christian and Newsom families. How many others are there? Oh…bunches. Let's cast the net wider. Beyond entertainment and the legal system. How about into the executive branch of our government?

How about Gunwalker? Where are the oathkeepers within our own government? Who stood up to Holder and said, "No, I will not do this." Yeah, it's a trick question-there are almost no oathkeepers. Isn't it interesting that where Gunwalker is concerned, it's okay to be an Avox underling just doing your job, but when you're an Avox for Michael Jackson you have to be held accountable?

Downstream of the scandal, the committee grapples with Eric Holder matching their strength against his own, they pass up obvious opportunities to leverage and flip the subordinates under him. In order to set the capstone on the pyramid, don't you have to build the base first? I've seen ponzi schemes better designed than Darrell Issa's committee as they wrestle with Gunwalker.

They have a golden opportunity here to go on the offense. Instead they seem content to play defense. Why? I submit that they are using the great corruption of their foe as shielding that will protect them from accountability for their own smaller corruption. An honest man in this position with no corruption in his life would not settle for being painted with the same wicked brush as his enemies. Yet that's exactly what the GOP does with their half-stepping on Gunwalker. The victims? Not just the Terry family, but all of us. Does anyone doubt that this goes all the way to the top, to Obama himself? It's worse than anything Nixon ever ordered done at Watergate, yet the most that can be generated is mild interest from Official Washington and their dutiful mouthpieces the Journolists.

How about Quantitative Easing 1 through 24? Banksters represent the wreck of a celebrity and the government, their Avox handlers. Four years ago, the logical outcome of all of this would have been a collapse of the house of cards and the hanging of the banksters. But these people work together with their counterparts from the government and the press to shield them from consequences. (See Denninger's piece here. Also note that NY and CA will settle on the robosignings and megafraud cases rather than imprisoning the guilty.) They work to transfer those consequences to others. And they hide all of those proceedings from those they intend to screw over (Journolists).

How about "hiding the decline"? Climate Change is gospel and anything that challenges that-no matter how factual is heresy. You'll recall that the outrage was over the messenger (who released these e-mails) not the message (climate change is a hoax). And yet the EPA continues full speed ahead towards disastrous environmental regulation in an effort to kill what little is still working in our country.

At every level of society, in entertainment, in the media, in academia, in business, in banking, in the police, in all branches of government, there are the anointed few who think that they can do whatever they want and be forever protected from the consequences of their action and accountability. And I'm shocked-SHOCKED to find that they are all in league together.

Whitney Houston is America. When it's all told, I think her tale will be our tale as a nation. I've dodged all around this, but the truth is that for the most part, America has been the Avox, silently granting assent to every reckless desire and behavior of the powerful, obeying every command, and whim.

God forgive us.

Truth Team

2012-02-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Saw this at Michelle Malkin today

That’s the Truth, Truth. Or 4T as I like to call it.

Attack Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch 7.2. What a waste. Or as some might say, “That is sooo 27 seconds ago.”

Chevy Silverado Mashup

2012-02-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

I've beem meaning to skewer this one since I saw it. There are just so many possibilities.

I've started with a little help from Mad Max. Enjoy!

Paul Kersey meets Occupy

2012-02-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

So what happens when Paul Kersey meets Occupy?

Watch and learn!

Action Needed: Georgia Constitutional Carry Hearing – 9 Feb 12 – 0800 – Coverdell Bldg, Room 506

2012-02-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

More from WRSA here.

Remove the permission slips? Make the Brady bunch have a conniption? Worthy goals.

Be there or be ...

Super Bowl Ads

2012-02-07T04:14:00.000-08:00

I went to the youtubes and saw the Clint Eastwood halftime ad for Chrysler. Sheesh. More preaching about Detroit.

Except that the ad used footage from places other than Detroit.

Thinking parody, I found this sendup already posted.

In other news, Chevy hits a new low with their halftime ad for the Silverado truck.

Chevy trucks once used Bob Seeger's, Like A Rock as their theme music. An actual man who's actually from Michigan.

Now, it's Barry Manilow.

Chevrolet's Man Card is hereby revoked and declared void.

What is it with these Government owned car companies? One tells us it's halftime. The other, the end of the world. So which is it? Perhaps it's halftime for destroying America.

The Opposition's Response To Gunwalker: Updated

2012-02-07T03:46:00.000-08:00

Two additional thoughts occurred to me after I walked away from the previous post:

I wondered what would happen if the Opposition was were handed this proposal: Reveal Gunwalker or be revealed. Why wait to reveal them though? What if friends of the Opposition instead made this offer that they couldn't refuse: "We're going to reveal you. Period. Your only hope of preserving your own skin therefore lies in revealing the full breadth and depth of Gunwalker and hoping that the resulting outrage gets pointed in their direction instead of your own."
In the way of happy endings, I submitted Isildur's death as a good thing. There's more good news; The ring fell out of his hand, did not fall into the enemy's hand, but was later recovered by others who were able to capitalize on the opportunity to destroy it. I can only hope that if Gunwalker is squandered, that it will fall out of the hands of the idle, away from the enemy, so that it might be destroyed at a later date.

The Opposition's Response To Gunwalker

2012-02-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Mike expounds on the failure of Obama's opposition to recognize what Gunwalker really is. (story here)

Sticking with The Lord Of The Rings theme, I propose an analogy: Isildur = Obama's Opposition.

Let's use Isildur's response to the ring to represent the Opposition's response to Gunwalker that we're witnessing right now.

"Gunwalker, you say. Hmmmm, I wonder how this can benefit me?"

"I think I'll hold this and use it as a bargaining chip later."

And what kind of impact did the continued possession of the ring have on Isildur's destiny?

He was ambushed by a band of orcs. Though he was the king, and should have led the battle, he put on the ring, became invisible, and slipped away from the battle leaving his comrades to fight it out on their own. (Say that doesn't sound familiar to the behavior of the GOP and others, does it?)

"Oh shiiiiiiiiiiit!!"

"So much for that invisibility. I should have cast it into the fire."

Though Obama's opponents seem to have the opportunity to take the offensive, destroy the Gunwalker ring and by extension, the ringmaker, they just can't bring themselves to do it. Instead, they seem perfectly content to use the breadth and depth of the enemy's corruption as cover for their own.

Looking ahead, does anyone think that the same "opposition" that will not destroy the ring will not eventually use it as a license to close the "corruption gap" in Washington so that both parties more equally matched on corruption?

Elrond should have pushed Isildur into the fire.

I think the GOP sits on this in fear that their enemy whispers: "If you reveal Gunwalker , we will reveal you." Shades of Clinton in 1998.

I perceive that they fear action. Perhaps then what is needed is to instill a greater fear of inaction. For example, what if the closest friends of the opposition-those who know where the bodies are buried told them, "If you don't reveal Gunwalker, we will reveal you."

We are so screwed. But I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and keep an upbeat, positive attitude. Here goes:

The happy ending to this part of the story is that in his cowardice, using the tool of the enemy to escape, Isildur was shot in the back by enemies that he could have defeated, and before he died he watched the ring escape from him and descend to bottom of the river.

May fate be equally kind to Obama's opposition if they squander the opportunity that they have in Gunwalker.

Open letter to Injustice Everywhere

2012-02-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

Read this post and the linked article from IE: It’s nice to know…

I don’t always stop by Injustice Everywhere, but when I do, it’s always worthwhile. Here is a guy who has poured his effort into doing something that is imminently worthwhile and valuable. The effort is worthy of your support.

Apparently some others have seen fit to reinvent the wheel-with government money of course.

A few thoughts in the form of an open letter to Injustice Everywhere:

“…is going to be stolen by these guys with support from the US government.” I disagree. What BGSU will seek to do is tell a different story. Namely, that there’s not that much police misconduct, what’s out there isn’t that bad, and those who experienced it deserved it. If I apply some Alinsky here, they’ll probably seek to polarize you, isolate you, marginalize you, and eliminate you from the playing field. The collective cannot tolerate the successful individual. They don’t want to steal your work, they want your work to go away so that what's left is not your facts, but their facts.
Your discouragement is precisely the outcome they seek. The more discouraged and distant you become, the more it serves their goal of being the loudest and only voice on the subject. Much like the SPLC claims to be THE authority on anything related to militia, racists, or people who own BDUs, “these guys” seek to grab a bigger megaphone, which clearly will make them the sole authority on this subject, and thereby grant them the eternal right to set the narrative.
O the positive side, the “new study” by BGSU and the grant could be viewed as the natural result of the success of efforts like Injustice Everywhere. If there wasn’t police misconduct, would there be anything to track/report? If IE was unsuccessful or ineffective, why would anyone need to develop a new narrative around this subject? You have struck a nerve here and this is what success looks like for one laboring for freedom. Don’t let up, put on more steam.
Josh McDowell was an agnostic who set out to definitively prove that the Bible was a fraud. Instead, he became convinced that it was exactly what it said it was and that it was all true. McDowell then became a powerful tool for Christ. Should any of these researchers begin to experience a similar change of heart, look for them to be ostracized and pushed out.
And let us not forget “hide the decline.” The group of “climate researchers” who chose to hide inconvenient data that did not support their pre-ordained narrative that the earth was heating up and that it was all due to man’s industrial activity. Nor should we forget that Fast and Furious aka (Project Gunwalker) was created to funnel guns from the US into Mexican drug cartels for the purpose of building a case that guns were being funneled across the border to Mexican drug cartels, ergo more gun control laws are needed to stop guns from being purchased by Americans. I’d be shocked-shocked if anything similar were to happen on this subject.
Finally, elimination/marginalization of NPMSRP allows for the Police Collective to prepare the battlespace. “What police misconduct? Our records don’t show that.”
Think about the guy who supposedly invented MS-DOS only to have it co-opted by the Microsoft collective. He knew how to write the program, but not how to leverage it and market it. I’m at a loss to think of people who have both the intellect to invent something that is groundbreaking and the business acumen to exploit it like Mr. Blofelt or Dr. Evil. However if you have it, you could beat these guys to the punch.
One idea for a way forward: I like the phrase, “Big Police.” Perhaps get the domain name, copyright it, and run with it on your own. An ugly thought, but if enough of us get brutalized by the police then perhaps Breitbart will adopt it into his "Big" family.

Friend, take heart. If you hadn't made a dent, then this "autobody shop" wouldn't be opening up at BGSU.

I believe in your work and I’m posting a donation to your PayPal site.

Cliff Dwellers, if you agree, then let him hear from you.

Dang’an 档案

2012-01-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

Dang’an

档案

From Wikipedia:

Dang'an is a Chinese word meaning "record". Used in the political and administrative context, it means an archival system that records the "performance and attitudes" of citizens of mainland China. Together with the hukou, it has been an important part of the government's efforts to maintain control of its people. Majority of the records are kept by the local archive bureaus, some by the State Archives Administration of China at the national level.

Contents:
The Dang'an includes information possibly found in a Western CV: physical characteristics, employment record, photograph, etc. However, it also contains many other documents that would be considered private in some other cultures. According to Wang Fei-ling and other sources, this includes appraisals by supervisors and peers, academic reports from primary school to university, professional credentials, any criminal convictions or administrative penalties, club/society memberships, employment records and political history (such as Youth League and CPC membership and assessments). Some of the material is composed by the subject. Even the death certificate and eulogy may be placed in the file.

There are two copies for adults: one held on behalf of their work unit by its supervisory organization, and the other at the local Public Security Bureau (PSB). Access to dang'an is strictly controlled. Citizens do not usually see their dang'an, although they may ask a Communist Party member to check it for them. Alterations may only be carried out by special cadres, and when combined with the custom of guanxi the result is that "Personal revenge, false entries and special favors are thus part of the game."

A Montreal-based human rights group has claimed that the PSB in the process of computerizing the hundreds of millions of dang'an.

Once upon a time, I worked for a company that decided that I could not interview for a job in another business unit of the same company. To say that I was upset is a gross understatement. I first swerved into the concept of Dang'an then. After running into a policy that wasn't published or known to anyone else in the company, I called it the Iron Curtain. The truth is that there was no such policy, just an agreement among the executives that the one business unit wouldn't "poach" employees from the business unit that sucked. I even had those Chinese characters as my desktop image for a while because I simply felt like it epitomized my predicament. A character I couldn't read or write, a "policy" that was never published, and the powerful making decisions about what I could and could not do to advance my career.

But that can’t happen here, right?

This story brought the term to mind again
Who Should Have Access to Student Records?

According to a 2009 report by the Fordham University Center on Law and Information Policy, some states store student’s social security numbers, family financial information, and student pregnancy data. Nearly half of states track students’ mental health issues, illnesses, and jail sentences.Without access to their child’s data, parents have no way of knowing what teachers and others are learning about them. (emphasis mine)

The federal government is taking steps to make the data more secure, however. In December, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was revised to give parents more control over their children’s records. According to a parent information sheet released by the government, the revisions give parents “certain rights with regard to their children’s education records, such as the right to inspect and review [their] child’s education records.” But it also allows student information to be shared without parental consent.

“Your child’s information may be disclosed to another school in which your child is enrolling, or to local emergency responders in connection with a health or safety emergency,” it says.

A quick search found that I'm not the first to draw this linkage-just the latest.

John Taylor Gatto has studied out the creation of Big Education and talks specifically about Dang'an here.

Every day, I learn something new. And most of the time, it’s not good. Or as CA says, as bad as you think things are, they’re really worse . Most of the time, it shows me how shamefully asleep I am.

The endarkenment continues full speed ahead.

Kerry breaks nose playing hockey

2012-01-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

...and lobbies for another purple heart.

Story here.

He actually looks better bruised than botoxed. Oh, no wait, that is the botox. Nevermind.

Last year, Senator Kerry participated in the annual lawmakers versus lobbyists hockey game which raised over $100,000 for the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club and the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Arena.
Lawmakers vs. Lobbyists?

La-aaaaaame!!!!

The score would be 14 trillion to 13.5 trillion or something like that.

You know the old saying about how people went to a fight and then a hockey game broke out?

Want to raise some real money? Why not a hockey event of lawmakers vs. actual citizens? I can’t skate for crap, but surely to goodness there must be some good Americans left who can skate and would take up the cause.

In such a game, an enforcer could rack up an entire game of penalty minutes. All for a good cause-of course.

Of course.

Rand Paul vs. TSA

2012-01-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

White House sides with TSA. (story here). This is my shocked face.

On the one hand, bravo to Rand Paul for saying no to TSA.

It’s fair to ask whether Paul attempted somthing like this prior to being elected to the US Senate. That is to say, thanks to the Constitutional protection afforded US Senators and Representatives, Paul can do this, be protected against arrest, and get support from the public.

So I ask myself; When a member of the public does this, will Paul be supporting them? How about any of those same people who cheer for Paul? Or will they hurry on by, barefoot with their plastic tote to make their flight?

So then what does this accomplish in the way of restoring rights to regular citizens like me?

Zip.

Party on Wayne.

Chuck Norris endorses . . .

2012-01-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

Story here.

Additionally, I was able to find video of Chuck's actual endorsement speech. Actual endorsement happens at about 1:30.

Avoid The Ghetto. Yeah, there's an app for that.

2012-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

Story here.

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – An in-development Microsoft smart phone app designed to help drivers and pedestrians avoid unsafe neighborhoods is proving controversial among some minority rights groups that find the software potentially discriminatory.

The as-of-yet unnamed product is being referred to as the “Avoid The Ghetto” app by those who are concerned with where it will guide users.

“I’m going to be up in arms about it if it happens,” said Dallas NAACP President Juanita Wallace.

Wallace spent her afternoon at a rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and said she felt safe there, but fears the app may project otherwise.

“Can you imagine me not being able to go to MLK Blvd. because my GPS says that’s a dangerous crime area? I can’t even imagine that,” she said.

Microsoft says the app will use crime statistics to determine what parts of town are to be avoided. But it’s unclear where the data will come from and how it will be interpreted.

It sounds to me like a static indication of where you are on the CW2 cube.

For all of the huffing, this could be a good thing for ALL people.

However, the CW2 cube is not perfect. Once it hits the fan, the “boundaries” of various areas are likely to be dynamic rather than static. An example:

In 2005, when the Superdome was well and truly trashed, people began to move out of the city. Some outside New Orleans resisted this migration knowing that they could not take care of all these people in addition to their own. If they allowed them in, they’d never get rid of them. They would come in, consume resources as long as there were resources. They would move on only when they had exhausted resources. Gretna, anyone?

That most of the people in the crowd moving out were of a certain demographic instantly meant that all who refused them must be racists. Logic is irrelevant. Critical thought is irrelevant. Truth is irrelevant. Your planning is irrelevant. Your needs are irrelevant. Provided that there is a drive-by media available to film it and broadcast it worldwide, it will work the same way in the future too.

Why should the app cause such an uproar? Can I just be that guy? Has not MLK Drive become a synonym for the ghetto? In any city if you want to know where the heart of the black community lives, find MLK and you won’t be far off. But don’t take my word for it. Juanita Wallace, the head of the Dallas NAACP drew the linkage in her own comments. She knows it. I know it. You know it. And you don’t need a GPS app for your phone to tell you when you’re in a high crime area . . . do you?

Caution: High Crime Area

Every Move You Make. . .

2012-01-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Story here.

"Napolitano admitted on Thursday that her omnipresence in Washington, D.C.’s metro subway system is indeed “a scary thought."

Progress: I guess we’re moving past the “denial” phase (it can’t happen here) to the “acceptance” phase.

Further, I didn't hear any intent to back off, back down, or roll back the scariness.

How do you say "MacRib" in Chinese?

2012-01-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

(h/t to GardenSERF) for this story.

Arctic Patriot does a great job of taking this down from the top rope here.

So like any good tag-team wrestler, I now tag in to continue the beating while the ref is ignoring me and berating my teammate for his brutal chops.

From the story:

As part of their winter break, the cadets are spending a week with the Alvin and League City Police departments and getting a firsthand look at how the justice system works.

“These guys are all the upper echelon,” Dr. Phillip Lyons said of the cadets.

Lyons is a professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. He said of the 10,000 people who apply to the Chinese police college, only 1,000 get in.

The Chinese police college is a blend of law school, a social science degree and a police academy, Lyons said. Of the students that get into the college, only 36 are admitted into the International Policing Cooperation program, and finally, only 16 get the chance to come study at Sam Houston State University.

The cadets will spend a year taking classes alongside the university’s other students. By coming to League City and Alvin, the cadets will gain experience in the community-policing model that will be useful to the cadets as policing in China evolves, Lyons said.

I guess they forgot to mention "intense political indoctrination" as part of their Chinese police training, but hey, why be redundant? It's not like we don't use government employment to build voting blocs here.

If I apply the Iron Law of bureaucracy, then this idea will surely have to grow. After all, only eeevil racist white domestic terrorists could disagree with something as fine and upstanding as The International Policing Cooperation program. It has to be a good idea...right? So next year, we need to double our numbers to show "growth". Which means more administrators for the program. And jobs! Maybe spread the program to many other institutions teaching criminal justice.

But why stop there? Why not hook up the Chinese police with the TSA? I mean...if we really want to show them the very best.
But why stop there? Why not make the training more realistic, deputize them and let them "assist?" You know, the routine, mundane jobs like writing speeding tickets at first. Then maybe let them ride shotgun on another Guerena raid to reinforce the idea that every "Jose Guerena" chalk outline is free.

I just wonder how long it will be until the first one of these kids gets injured or killed while out on patrol. Or maybe one of these kids has to respond with force to protect their "partner" and injures or kills an American? What could possibly go wrong with this idea?

So we influence them with our policing practices and they influence police with their communist doctrine. Let me guess, one of the totally predictable quotes from some of the policemen is "how similar we really are." Indeed. As a bonus, maybe the program can grow to massive proportions so that we all get comfortable with the idea of having a Chinese person in the car along with our "normal" police officers. A Chinaman in every police cruiser, I say!

Charlie Sheen would say, that's winning over here and winning over there-Bi-winning! Alvie asks, "How you say 'MacRib' in Chinese?"

I guess it would be too obvious of a creditor nation to take possession of a debtor nation Red Dawn style. Slower is better, wouldn't want to rouse the Wolverines-or Honey Badgers-or whatever cute but ferocious mascot we have these days.

OBAMA TO SHARE SECRETS

2012-01-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

A friend forwarded this to me. Story here.

AP has some thoughts here.

In an effort to save a thousand words, I offer a quick and dirty photoshop below.

Sharing performance data on the SM-3 missile with the ~~Soviet U~~ . . .Russia. . . what could go wrong?

How do you say, "fishy" in Farsi?

2012-01-06T15:53:00.000-08:00

US Navy rescues Iranian sailors held by pirates. Story here

You mean, the mighty Iranian Navy couldn’t have rescued them?

According to the Navy, a helicopter from the Kidd spotted a suspect pirate boat alongside the Iranian vessel. At the same time, the Kidd received a distress call from the captain of ship, the Al Molai, saying he and his crew were being held captive by pirates.

A team from the Kidd boarded the Al Molai, took 15 suspected pirates into custody and freed 13 Iranian hostages, the Navy said.

The suspected pirates, mostly Somalis, were taken to the Stennis to be held until a decision is made about prosecution, Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said Friday.

Pirates hijacked the Al Molai 40 to 45 days ago, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement. The crew was "held hostage, with limited rations and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations," according to the statement.

This just smells fishy.

How does the captain of the ship send out a distress call if they’re being held captive by pirates? I could chalk this up to the stupidity of the pirates.

They’ve been held for 40-45 days. Really? Any distress calls in all that time? No response from the Iranian Navy in all that time? No response from the USN in all that time?

So…did the Navy overwhelm 15 suspected pirates without firing a shot? (Amazing how the Navy could do this, yet police in America covered in body armor and Kevlar need to shoot first and honor the sacred creed of “officer safety”.) You mean the pirates didn’t fire a shot or resist?

More irony regarding the USS Kidd:

Originally named Kouroush, the ship was ordered by the Shah of Iran, but was undelivered when the 1979 Iranian Revolution occurred. Subsequent to this, the U.S. Navy elected to commission the Kidd class for service in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean, as they were equipped with heavy-duty air conditioning and were also well suited to filtering sand and the results from NBC warfare. Kidd-class ships were known in the fleet informally as the "Ayatollah" or "dead admiral" class. - Wikipedia

Ships were originally ordered for Iran’s navy by the Shah. The Shah was overthrown by the Ayatollah and the ships were never delivered and instead commissioned into service in the Navy.

Time to let the imagination wander:

Could this have been staged to play on US sympathy, observe reaction times and responses and report back? Could the Somali pirates have been “pirates” in league with Iran? In a battle between pirates from the religion of peace and Iranian sailors from the religion of peace, which one should you root for? Decisions, decisions.

Drawing in a USN warship close enough to disrupt pirates, then unleashing a coordinated attack seems like a good way to sink a ship. Or if they could bring the US warship in close enough, maybe to overwhelm the crew and seize the ship. Yeah, sailors are fighting men. But they aren't typically taught the same close quarters combat skills that Soldiers and Marines get. Does any warship of the US Navy have enough firearms to equip each sailor with their own rifle and/or handgun? Nope.

But I’m sure we have nothing to fear. After all, Iran wouldn’t have the "audacity of hope" that they could seize host of US sailors at sea, from their ship, in the Persian Gulf, transport them to Iran, and hold them as hostages and human shields-daring the west to attack whatever is left of their nuclear facilities while embarrassing an impotent leader through an entire election campaign then releasing them just as his successor takes office. They wouldn't dare party like it's 1979!

I wonder how the internal political situation is for the mullahs in the wake of the explosions at their nuclear facilities? After all, there's no remedy for domestic strife (and improving your political situation) like stirring up national pride and unity with some anger over foreign enemies. Maybe call them the Great Satan or something like that-Death to (insert country here).

As a not so subtle reminder to all, the USA still owes Iran with interest for those 444 days.

Vaporize Tehran and I'll crank up Lee Greenwood.

AmMerc: Two Minutes of Precision

2011-12-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

H/T to CA for forwarding this from American Mercenary.

WRSA post here with multiple links that are all worth the time.

Original AmMerc post here.

Got dry fire?

Lebensustainability

2011-12-20T03:23:00.000-08:00

With a h/t to Sipsey Street Irregulars for this post here:

Lebensraum German for "habitat" or literally "living space") was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. It served as the motivation for the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, aiming to provide extra space for the growth of the German population, for a Greater Germany. In Hitler's book Mein Kampf, he detailed his belief that the German people needed Lebensraum ("living space", i.e. land and raw materials), and that it should be found in the East. It was the stated policy of the Nazis to kill, deport, or enslave the Polish, Russian and other Slavic populations, whom they considered inferior, and to repopulate the land with Germanic peoples. The entire urban population was to be exterminated by starvation, thus creating an agricultural surplus to feed Germany and allowing their replacement by a German upper class.

Day By Day: 12/19/11

_________________

Thinking on what I posted yesterday regarding sustainability, let's bring this to a head in more current terms.

"Sustainability" is the new Lebensraum.

There! I fixed it!

Do you understand?

Erich Von Holder

2011-12-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

So let me get this right.

America is a nation of cowards who won't discuss race.

Yet those who correctly accuse you of perjury and call for your resignation, those who accuse you of much worse in the Gunwalker horror, they're being racist.

Whose the coward again?

EPA Ponders Expanded Regulatory Power In Name of 'Sustainable Development'

2011-12-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

Story here

Sustainability.

Think, “Obamacare for the EPA”.

Your car, your toaster, your phone, your computer, your bedroom light, your thermostat, your freezer-and the contents, what plants grow in your yard, how you handle rainwater from your roof, your commode, how many squares of toilet paper you may use, your sink, how you get from point A to point B, how goods and services are transported to you, hordes of administrators and regulators in every region, state, city, county, and town who will be appointed, career, government workers who are incapable of doing anything else.

In a word, Everything.

The regulatory powers being dreamed up for this agency will exist and perpetuate-regardless of who wins the 2012 election. As if that mattered.

And just as with every bureaucracy, they will need their own "enforcement" agency complete with all of the latest toys which you and I will pay for.

But remember, no pressure.

Yes...this is really what they're all about.

Kim Jong Il - Party Time!

2011-12-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

At the news of Kim Jong Il's death, it puts me in the mood to celebrate. Let's Dance!

Song:

Jimmy "Bo" Horne
Let's Dance

Move over Ted Kennedy, make room for the life of the party, Kim Jong Il!

The real bad news? Obama just moved up on tyranny's top ten.

Rick Perry as Tim Tebow

2011-12-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

Rick Perry: “I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.”

Tearbow (or Tearboy if you like) losing in the 2009 SEC Championship.
Just think, this could be Rick Perry!

Me too, Rick. Me too.

Disclaimer: Though in Alabama, I'm not a Bammer. However, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Florida and Tebow get served in the 2009 SEC Championship. After years of hearing about him from a sports press that daily bowed towards Gainesville and listening to Gators deify him, I was glad for the boy to finally return to earth. What's in the well comes up in the bucket. The crying jag was nothing more than his own immaturity overflowing for all to see.

Back to Perry: In the long run, the more likely outcome is that America will be crying no matter which one of you turds gets nominated.

Allow me to unravel a mystery. Obama loses to the “unnamed Republican” in polling, yet seems to poll ahead of any Republican you can name. On the face of it, this seems contradictory; Why is this so?

It makes perfect sense. Start naming the field, and start counting the years of government "service". The objective of the Decepticons is not to return the country to liberty, freedom, and prosperity. Their goal is the preservation of their particular collective of government careerists.

The Arctic Patriot: Michael Anderson Update...

2011-12-13T03:10:00.000-08:00

But that's in . . . Alaska, not . . . here.

The Arctic Patriot: Michael Anderson Update...

Anderson was abducted by federal goons, no warrant was read or served at the time of the raid to snatch him, and from what I've read, he has yet to actually be ...you know... charged with anything.

Read more at Patriot's Lament here, here, and here.

Unmanned Border, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Unmanned Capitol

2011-12-12T18:19:00.000-08:00

Three stories seemingly unrelated.

1) US Proposes unmanned border entry with Mexico. Story here.

Given Brian Terry’s death, an unmanned border entry sounds like simply another logical outcome of Project Gunwalker.

I’ll humor this idea for a minute though:

If an unmanned border crossing is good enough for Mexicans coming north, then it’s good enough for Americans to board a commercial airline flight.
______

2) The National Guard force on the Mexican border is set to be slashed. Story here.

Presumably, this will reduce the chance of there being more Brian Terry’s.

_____

3) Police employ Predator drone spy planes on home front. Story here.

We used to have a military-industrial complex in America-so they said. Now we have more of a "military-police complex."
Remember when Detroit lived on the saying,

Win on Sunday...

...sell on Monday.

Adjusting this only slightly for the Military-Police complex yields an all-too depressingly true slogan:

Kandahar on Sunday...

...Kansas City on Monday

In light of the free "surplus" deals offered by the Military to the Police, perhaps, "Attack on Sunday, give away on Monday" might be more appropriate.

The more I think about this program of free military stuff for domestic police forces, the more it sounds to me like a drug dealer offering a deep first time discount to an aspiring junkie. Give them just enough to get them hooked. And what an appropriate picture of the thugs in costumes as toy junkies that care nothing for the people they trample so long as they can get more free toys. Anything to preserve the sacred chant of "Officer Safety".

From the story:

But that was just the start. Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration have used Predators for other domestic investigations, officials said.

So back to that whole unmanned border thing. Does that mean that we can now expect for UAVs to troll the southern border and paint our northbound amigos so that resources can be vectored in on them? Oh…that’s right, they’ll be too busy watching us gringos.

Bastards.
I just hate it when my artwork comes true:

Heartbreak awaits Republicans who love Gingrich.

2011-12-07T18:14:00.001-08:00

Story here:

Can I go a step further? Maybe boil this down further?

Heartbreak awaits Americans who vote Republican.

If the GOP wins, then they will preside over a crash in which only half of us are wiped out, but a few of you might make it.

If the GOP loses, then Obama will preside over a crash in which all of us are wiped out.

Flight 93

Given how similar the GOP and DNC really are and the accompanying futility of voting, I could go with, "Heartbreak awaits Americans who vote."

Vote or not though, we're all screwed. Maybe it should just read, "Heartbreak awaits Americans."

But why stop in America? Considering the global nature of how screwed we really are, perhaps we can distill this one more time, "Heartbreak awaits."

There! I fixed it!

No, I didn't read the column. Is that really necessary?

DHSnowcones!

2011-12-07T15:57:00.001-08:00

Story here:

STANTON, Mich. (The Daily News of Greenville)- The United States is fighting terrorism - one snow cone at a time.

Montcalm County recently received a $900 Arctic Blast Sno-Cone machine.

The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) is a federal- and state-designated agency responsible for managing and administrating the homeland security program in Montcalm County and 12 other counties.

The WMSRDC recently purchased and transferred homeland security equipment to these counties - including 13 snow cone machines at a total cost of $11,700

So just to recap, the government will walk guns to Mexican drug cartels, give military surplus guns to the police, but sold snow cone machines in Michigan. Isn't that sort of like selling the proverbial refrigerator to the eskimo?

Ah....tyranny with a smiley face.

Would you like a snocone while we molest you?

Gator Hunters Wanted

2011-12-07T15:47:00.001-08:00

Story here:

Lady Zane's a real keeper and every once in a while, she surprises me with a great one.

Seeing this story she says that perhaps the Occupy (insert location here) could go to Florida and Occupy the Swamp and battle it out with the alligators.

Maybe the Jersey Shore cast too-provided that they could shoot a gun correctly instead of homeboy style

And think of the side benefits-the alligators have to win some of these battles. Perhaps "The Situation" could become "the dinner."
Occupy Lower Intestine!

Now that's must see TV!

As Charlie Sheen would say, that’s not bipolar, that’s biwinning.

Free Military Hardware!

2011-12-07T15:40:00.001-08:00

For the police. Story here: (h/t to instapundit.)

I was totally unaware of the FREE supply of military hardware available to police from our military.

So…our government sells guns to the Mexican drug lords, gives them to police forces, yet wants to deny them to me.

Did I miss anything?

Oh yeah, the money laundering.

The old saying was that if you got elected sheriff one time in Georgia, you were set for life. Maybe we should start our own...uh..."police" departments.

Where's Lee Greenwood when you need him?

Voltwalker!

2011-12-07T15:34:00.001-08:00

Story here:

The shameful international conspiracy of the US Government to put Chevy Volts into every garage thus ensuring that through battery fires, legendary Detroit quality and reliability, and the ensuing mass panic that a good portion of the population will either be jobless, homeless, walking, or some combination of all three.

Why...this whole Chevy Volt thing only needs a few fatalities to qualify as Voltwalker!

Coming soon, the Chevy Volt SS-preapproved by the Green Police.

At least the guns they walked to the drug lords actually worked.

Library of Congress to receive entire Twitter archive

2011-12-07T15:33:00.001-08:00

Story here:

BigBro now has like all of the randomass useless embarrassing thoughts (of 160 characters or less) ever chirped. That will never be held against anyone…right?

Mark Pitcavage as The Hindenburg

2011-11-29T15:57:00.001-08:00

Something Mike wrote about the juxtaposition of Mark Pitcavage and The Hindenburg triggered the creative juices. So to further blur the line between Pitcavage and the Hindenburg, I give you this photo for enjoyment and sharing far and wide.

As a note to my readers my job has changed significantly in recent weeks. I've had a lot more hours, more responsibility and less time for blogging. It is a temporary need that I'm filling for the oragnization. I expect it will wrap up within a month or two.

Jefferson County Commission votes 4-1 to file nation's largest municipal bankruptcy

2011-11-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Well here's something blogworthy!

Jefferson County Sewer Upgrade

Story here.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Jefferson County Commission has just voted 4-1 to file an estimated $4.1 billion bankruptcy, the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The commission's action came after it spent approximately six hours over two days meeting with its lawyers to discuss legal options, including a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing and a settlement with creditors on the county's $3.14 billion sewer debt.

About friggin' time.

This one's for you JP Morgan and Chase.

Ricin Plot Foiled!

2011-11-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Alleged Plot To Attack U.S. Officials Was Inspired By Online Anti-Government Novel, Authorities Say Fox News:

An alleged plot to attack federal and state officials by suspected members of a fringe north Georgia militia group was inspired by an online anti-government novel, authorities said.

Authorities said the group intended to use the plot of the novel "Absolved," written by Mike Vanderboegh, a blogger who has closely followed the botched federal investigation known as "Fast and Furious." He also runs a whistleblower website called Sipsey Street Irregulars.

During a phone interview with FoxNews.com on Wednesday, Vanderboegh claimed he was not responsible for the alleged plot.
___________________________

Sigh.

I haven't read around a whole lot to see what others think. I've had a long, productive day at work and have just a few minutes to type. So if I turn out to be wrong about this, all of you can get a full refund later.

This quote was particularly interesting to me:

Thomas and Roberts are accused of buying what they believed was a silencer and an unregistered explosive from an undercover informant in May and June. Prosecutors say he discussed using the weapons in attacks against federal buildings.

Hmmmm, silencer and explosives? I wonder who regulates those?

The same group that brought us this:

Waco, 1993

and this...

ATFail

and more recently, this...

Brian Terry, RIP

The same group that is now trying everything in their power to cover up their own misdeeds and the perjury of their boss, this guy:

Field Marshal Erich Von Holder,
Nationalsozialistische von Feiglingen Amerikaans Arbeiterpartei

Here's the first thought that came to my mind;

Watch the other hand.

I'm sure that this is totally unrelated in any way to the unfolding chaos and doom that Project Gunwalker spells for the ATF, for their bosses in main justice, and even within the White House.

Why, the folks that never let a crisis go to waste wouldn't be above manufacturing one so as to divert attention away from their own culpability in the Gunwalker scandal they created, would they?

The second thought that I had is that it sure is convenient. The media wouldn't mention the names of David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh when this story was breaking, yet can find space to report that, "Vanderboegh claimed he was not responsible for the plot."

Continue to watch the other hand folks. Holder goes up for hearings shortly and needs to be grilled like he was on the George Foreman, Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Keep up the pressure.

Insert Eric Holder here!

More from Denninger

2011-10-26T15:07:00.000-07:00

More Denninger (link)

There is only one valid argument for the use of violence: Self-defense.

Dear Great Britain,
We're sorry we rebelled against your lawful authority over us. Please restore the shackles of tyranny that you had previously prepared in 1775.

We joyfully submit to all of these acts with retroactive effect and interest. We gladly will pay reparations to you for the pain and suffering caused by our forefathers' use of violence in the pursuit of liberty and freedom.

Your humble subject,
Karl

. . .

It's a scary thing to face up to and applaud our liberty as a country. Because when you do, you must acknowledge and approve of the ends as well as the means. It's either that or you give it back with interest as if liberty were ill-gotten gain.

When you make that acknowledgement and approval, you are immediately open to the question, Will you follow in their footsteps? Are you? If not, why not? What excuse can you offer to the souls of those who died to secure the liberty that you enjoy?

According to Jesus, if a man puts his shoulder to the plow and then turns back, he's unworthy of the kingdom of heaven. I believe that this principle applies to liberty as well. How unworthy is it to enjoy the fruits of liberty, but disdains the seeds which must be planted and tended?

I direct the reader to an "oldie" here at the Cliffs:

Freedom requires offense.

NYT reporter is OWS activist/supporter

2011-10-26T14:48:00.001-07:00

Story here and here

Unexpectedly!

E-mail from the teacher

2011-10-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

So I get this e-mail from the teacher which reads, in part:

Hello again …

I wanted to remind you that this Friday the children may dress as book characters. No scary costumes or weapons. No masks … just fine, upstanding, respectable book characters. They can just dress up in funky stuff, but all outfits MUST BE within dress code. Hair: they may want to spray their hair. That’s ok as long as it does not cause a disturbance in the classroom.

Well there goes the Obama Gunwalker costume-complete with the AK-47 cutout on a leash.

Maybe my boy could dress up as Brian Terry. That might be acceptable.

Occupy the White House

2011-10-25T04:19:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me the other day, "So why haven't they occupied the White House?"

They already have occupied the White House.

Occupant-in-chief, Barack Hussein Obama II

Mission Accomplished!

Picketing the White House would be like a union going on strike and picketing the hall.

(click for full-size)

Do you understand?

Another tack on engaging Occupy

2011-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me this morning;

If only "mainstream" Islam had "engaged" with the Arab Spring, then perhaps all would be peace, love, and rainbow pooping unicorns in the Middle East.

Of course it wouldn't. Because the Arab Spring IS mainstream Islam.

Occupy is a natural expression of the left's jihad against America, against capitalism, and against liberty.

More from Karl Denninger about Occupy.

2011-10-24T03:37:00.000-07:00

Denninger responded the other day to the heat he's been taking for his views on Occupy. (link) I have a few thoughts of my own.

This is the Ticker I've been holding for roughly the last week, editing it as the days go by.

Please go pull an espresso, grab a beer, or (if you're easily disturbed) a shot of whiskey might be appropriate.

I've taken a boatload of heat for my alleged "support" of the "Occupy Everything" meme that is taking off across the country. There are a lot of people commenting on my positions that have displayed everything that is wrong with our education system, chief among them being its utter lack of teaching people to read for content rather than generating spittle-laced knee-jerk invective.

No matter. Since 2007 I have written what I believe on The Market Ticker and if you read Musings going back to 2004 you can see my commentary there too. A very few remember the rather-acerbic interviews and debates that I had with the ACLU and other organizations during the 1990s, including some tame appearances on Chicago Tonight and some much-more-lively ones on Usenet. If you think I can't take the heat that gets dished out you are rather naive; I believe there were entirely-new curses named for me back in the 1990s. In comparison the screeching of people on other blogs and media outlets today is the sort of thing that annoys with the intensity of a dog that occasionally barks next door.

OWS, whether you like it or not or whether you accept it or not, is displaying all of the hallmarks of a nascent political apparatus.

Why yes, yes it does. It looks like the beginnings of the French Revolution to me. Or perhaps Communism. Or Nazi-ism. Where oh where might I get that idea? Perhaps from the NP and CPUSA who have endorsed the Occupy movements?

In this nation we're free to organize with others, irrespective of our beliefs, into political parties. We usually remember only Democrats or Republicans, but in fact there are a whole bunch of actual parties; the Libertarians are one such example of a third party that has some prominence. The modern Democrat and Republican parties date to the 1800s; prior to them we had The Federalists, the Anti-Federalists, the Democratic-Republicans, the Toleration Party, The Anti-Masonic (really!) party, and of course the Whigs, among others.

Through our nation's history, however, we have more-or-less always had a two-party system. Sure, there have been times (like when Ross Perot ran for President) that this has been threatened, but it has never been a stable situation unlike many other nations that have several political parties active at any given time and revolve around coalitions between them to build consensus in their legislatures.

Whether this is good or bad from your point of view doesn't matter; it simply is.

Now add to your perception of OWS the following: They have and are explicitly disavowing any sort of "spokesperson" support from MoveOn, as just one example. In short they're refusing to "ally" with others - they see themselves as an independent group and are acting like it. That doesn't stop other organizations to claiming that they "stand with" or "in solidarity with" the protests, but that's no more valid of OWS' interest in the claiming organization than if I were to say I stand "in solidarity" with Harry Reid (trust me, I'm quite sure he wouldn't stand "in solidarity" with me!)

And you believe occupy when they publicly disavow support from MoveOn? Do you believe that the people who funded ACORN and MoveOn.org are sitting on their hands, or would they instead be inclined to fund OWS-seeing it as a vehicle to allow them back into the game?

As I see it "OWS" (in all of its branches across the country) will go one of two routes:

Someone will do something stupid. Specifically, the "movement" will turn toward violence. Public opinion will instantly shift against them and that will be the end of it. The people generally support the First Amendment but they will not stand for looting and burning cars, nor should they. I will leave the position I will immediately adopt if that happens "in my pocket" for the present time as I don't expect to have to show that set of cards, but trust me on this: I have pocket rockets and my position is founded in the Constitution as currently written.

Only two? Someone will do something stupid? Too late. The movement is already turned towards violence. Do they have to be violent to be "turned towards", or more plainly, "pointed in" that direction? Nope.

The group will maintain a peaceful organization, even if "in your face", long enough to actually coalesce around a core set of ideas. If that happens a formal political apparatus will almost-certainly arise.

Now you can dislike this but there is no legal means available to you to prevent it from happening nor should there be. Political activism is what we all be both supporting and engaging in ourselves. After all, if you're not politically active you have little room to bitch if you don't like the political outcome.

I believe the second is their goal; the people I've talked with, the videos I've seen, the emails that I've read on the various mailing lists lead me to believe that while there are some "bomb throwers" in the group there are in all groups and that the vast majority of those involved in OWS recognize that #2 is imperative if anything is to be accomplished (other than getting their head cracked, that is.) Indeed, if you watched any of the livestream coming from Times Square last weekend you saw this in action - the camerapeople were warning the protesters that the police were showing up with lots of plastic handcuffs intending to bust heads and that they had to keep their cool. They did.

Camerapeople were warning protesters. Hmmm. Would this be the same mainstream press types who said that if they were in a war zone, they wouldn't let our own soldiers know if there was an enemy ambush ahead? Maintaining their journ-o-list veil of neutrality above the water level-even though they were in it up to their necks? I don't suppose that the Journ-o-lists being in league with OWS has anything to do with this, does it?

Why have they kept their cool? Why haven't they started violence? Because it's not time just yet. Read that again and let it sink in. These people have a plan and it simply is not time yet.

This doesn't mean that the bomb-throwing nuts are all done and won't take their best shot. They might. I don't know what sort of goal doing that has in any kind of cogent movement, because there's only way that ever can "win": You have to incite a revolution and doing so requires at least high-single-digit percentages of the general population willing to die for what you believe in. If not you're simply going to go to prison - and in my view you should as you're a rioter, not a "freedom fighter."

You're making too much sense, Karl. Facts are irrelevant when we're talking politics-especially when it's the lefty style stuff. It's agitprop. When groups behaving as they do and are not swiftly brought into line, the behavior will get worse.

When it gets bloody, and only when it gets bloody, the police will be called upon to restore order. Rather than maintaining some domestic tranquility, it will be allowed to go off the rails and then ask the police to "restore order." Good luck with that.

Now add another nasty historical fact to the mix: Revolutions are odds-on things to produce dictatorships, not freedom. For every 1 George Washington you get 10 Hitlers. Oh, and by the way, if you think you'll be the dictator's new best friend if you "help" incite such a thing? You're wrong - you'll be one of the first shot since you could do it again and overthrow him! Don't be stupid: The first act of a dictator is to cement his power and he does that by killing anyone that could threaten him. Duh.

Agreed. Fair Warning to the Collectivists. But does that stop the revolutionaries from revolting?

So let's not play the romantic eh? It doesn't work like that and anyone who has bothered to pass history class in High School (say much less do any independent reading) knows it. I'm going to assume anyone reading this blog is well-aware of these facts and is too intelligent to fall for the sort of tripe that the agitators might run.

Back to the practical: If a new political party comes from this one of the existing ones will almost-certainly splinter and die.

The salient question: Which one will it be?

Did that deep chill go down your spine?

Wait a minute, I'm confused, Karl. You keep preaching that there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans. You keep preaching that the Tea Party is a sham having been assimilated into the Borg of Washington Republicans-and I agree. So if this particular frog farts in a tornado, does anyone hear it?

We have one party rule already. The Ruling Class. See Codevilla.

The ruling class is simply looking for an opportunity to solidify their grip and push the rest of us over the precipice-or The Cliffs of Insanity if you like.

As Claire Wolfe says, "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."

If not, you're not paying attention. And don't be smug either -- let's remember the facts, shall we? There are a lot of people who got screwed. The OWS folks have the "who did it" right. The Republicans and Democrats have both rewarded (and participated in!) the scammers games, but who takes the hit?

I honestly don't know, but my handicapping says that if you think the Republicans are "safe" on this you're playing with fire.

IF the Republican Party goes down then you have the Democrats and..... what, exactly?

I don't know, but I'm not at all sure I like it!

Do I like it if the Democrats go down? Not necessarily much better if the more-radical and mathematically stupid views prevail.

They don't have to. If you've been reading this blog for a good long while and listening to Blogtalk you know my position on this going back to before Obama's election, when people were calling him the "Marixist in Chief" and suggesting that he would never leave office (just as they did with Bush, incidentally): I have no fear of Obama. The guy who follows him, or worse, someone down the road later on in the throes of a real economic ****storm is an entirely different matter.

So…..you're thinking Obama can't be "that guy." Think again. He is nothing but a cult of personality and is totally digging the way things are going. I'm telling you that this is all connected. It may not be explicit, but it is so. It is being done in such a way that those in power can remain atop either a functioning nation or an ash heap of ruin and destruction. And it may be irrespective of the success of the means. If they go badly wrong, those in power can disassociate themselves quickly and dispose of the inconvenient protesters who went astray and thereby gain approval from the public. If they go terribly right, then those in power will remain in power over the ruins that are to come.

Think of it this way, the Occupy occult might very well lead to a con-con that destroys America as we know it while leaving Obama as the "President". The titles of the offices may be nominally the same, but the country won't be. Or, the occupy occult may be Obama's "Sister Souljah" moment where he runs to the center (for whom he has heretofore had nothing but scorn, condescension, and disdain) and captures just enough votes to remain in power.

Karl seems convinced that economic doom is coming. Seeing how economics and politics are so closely tied together, those in power will almost certainly seek to preserve themselves through the crisis and advance their position as a result of the crisis. Let's see, who was it that said, "Never let a crisis go to waste?"

History, if you recall, is replete with these examples: An economy goes "overcenter" due to exponential games that cannot be maintained. Rather than address it and get in front of it, accepting that which has to happen partisanship increases and the people become more and more restive. They recognize that the politicians and those in "private business" have conspired together to rip them off but they have no effective voice. Economic deterioration continues right up until someone stands and says "I can fix all this..... but there will be a few compromises."

He wins in a landslide.

I think you know what comes next - the last time six million gassed people came next, along with a global conflict that killed millions more. Today such conflicts come with body counts that can be in the tens of thousands or more per weapon used, which makes avoidance of such an outcome much more important than it was before (not that ignoring the risk then was very smart!)

So yeah, folks, I think you should all engage these people. Logic wins, if you can manage to get people to think.

Politics is not about logic though. Nor about critical thought, but feeling, emotion, naked ambition and instinct. So the Nazi terror was simply a failure of people to "get to" and "engage" the nascent Nazi movement? Or was it-to use your terms-logic lost because it could not get people to think? The Nazi party even early seems like they were beyond thinking. I see the same post-thought characteristics of OWS. Disclaimer; Before anyone says that I've compared Occupy to Nazi-ism, I remind you that the Nazi party stands with occupy.

The anger on the street is properly placed in terms of who did it, by and large, although they're not (yet) directing the proper proportion of it toward the elected and appointed officials that glad-handled the situation and "backstopped" their stupidity (and worse) by ripping you off.

The fact of the matter is that these problems are not new and cannot be solved without serious efforts by everyone involved, along with a lot of pain. But there are two principles we must adhere to if we're going to actually fix things:

Those who took on or have leverage on at present cannot be protected from what happens to them when the supports are removed - and they must be removed. That is, the entire problem, boiled down, is the amount of debt in the system. You can't reduce it without the people on both sides (who borrowed and who lent) foolishly taking the hit. If you shift it from one person to another to provide "relief" you have not reduced the amount outstanding, and what you're doing won't work. It's called a balance sheet for a reason - it balances.

The enabling policies in trade, taxation, immigration and on the monetary side must be fixed and then safety-wired closed so they can't be abused again. One of the big problems is that there are many regulations that prevent the sort of abuses we've seen (and we continue to see) in the laws governing acts by various government and quasi-government actors but there is no "or else" in those laws of materiality. That has to change.

Why should those who did this try to fix it now and admit their error? Why not instead, double down on their destruction of the economy and the country? The banksters and the government are hand in hand on this-each one protecting the other's ass. Remember, either way, they remain in power atop of a functioning nation or a mountain of rubble. From their perspective, all they have to do is run out the clock until doom arrives. When it does, they can dispose of the inconvenient middle class and return to a world where they are royalty and the rest of us are their slaves. It's so very close to happening. Why stop now?

Denninger uses logic to explain a rational, well-thought out argument against these folks. But there's no reasoning with tyranny.

These are the two keys folks. Everything else is open to debate - the exact how, the what and similar, but we cannot avoid these two realities if we intend to actually fix things.

Economic adjustment cannot be avoided. But we can stop propping up those who did evil, even illegal things. We can allow the market to work. We cannot avoid the pain but we can mitigate it, and we must.

As just one example we can restore the right of bankruptcy to all citizens irrespective of how their debt was acquired. This immediately collapses the college debt and college cost bubbles and neither gives students who did foolish things a free ride nor their lenders. A one-sentence law reversing decades of intentional gate-barring that our government has engaged in for the purpose of enslaving our youth. We can demand this today, and we should both demand it and enforce that demand. This is a demand that I suspect virtually everyone involved in OWS would support.

There is much more and I'm sure that readers have their own ideas. The key point is this: You can either engage or go hide in a cave - but you can't, through lawful means, stop what is going on. If we refuse collectively to engage then we own whatever comes out of this, and we owe it to ourselves and our children to each attempt to make this a constructive process before believing what someone else tells you - including me.

The "professional right" has gone into a tizzy over this movement, just as the left did with the Tea Party (remember calling the Tea Party "teabaggers", referencing an obscene act performed with a man's testicles?) The "Tea Party" in the professional sense was effectively marginalized (anyone who doubts this simply needs to look at how Bachmann is polling as the Tea Party "standard bearer" in the Presidential race; she's running at roughly "dog catcher" in terms of popularity) but don't be so sure that this will work with OWS. Remember that as of right now all you have from them for a platform is discussion points, which means they're deliberating - you're not being asked to support or not as written, you're being asked for input!

So give them input, and educate people - or, if you refuse, I hope you intend to shut up if what comes of this doesn't meet with your approval.

Actually, I intend to arm up because I am quite certain that what comes of this will not meet my approval. One commenter hit it on the head here recently:

Scott J said...

They want a Ft. Sumter and want it badly.

We must make sure we don't give it to them.

We must force them into giving us an Alamo instead.

If we're lucky, there might just be an Alamo moment that others may remember and have opportunity to respond to. Or it could be a Waco moment where we're surrounded, isolated, minimized, and cut off from all help or understanding-but at least many will witness it. Or a Thomas J. Ball moment-which is basically Waco on an individual scale where nobody sees or remembers. Unable to debate endlessly with people who have no intent of listening or reasoning, our liberty and property trampled, destroyed, taken, or regulated out of existence we seem doomed to a moment less than any of these. A George Winston moment where we hold on to the thinnest reed of hope of the smallest victory. That we can curse Big Brother with our dying breath as he shoots us in the back of the neck.

As for educating the Occupy occult, I'm not feeling it. The only way that they become a revolution is if people like you and me assist them. Otherwise, they remain a small group tht will be ignored. Did you feel that chill go down your spine? Until people come alongside them to give them mainstream cred, they'll remain a fringe group rather than the 99% they claim to be. I can only imagine how far Restore The Constitution would go with similar support.

Let them craft their own damn message. Let them keep shitting on cars and doorsteps and residents. Let them wear out their welcome. Let the left keep full ownership of occupy and all the fallout that goes with it. Seriously. Two things I know about "bipartisanship" as demonstrated in Washington. 1) Bipartisanship means the right acceding to the demands of the left today for the promise of quid quo pro from the left tomorrow. 2) Bipartisanship means hold on to your property and your liberty because one/both is about to be assaulted.

Remember this thought; Outcomes are determined before the game begins.

If you tried to do something like this when the "occupant" of the White House is not receptive, how far do you think it would go? Millions showed up in Washington on 9-12-10 and accomplished…..what? Did they stop Obamacare? Did they reverse anything?

Obama on the 9-12-10 march: "We got Obamacare, they got ignored."

So how far do you think it will go when the occupant of the White House is receptive and favorably disposed to such a crowd? Let me give you a hint; ALL THE WAY. For him to "like" this as if it was something unforeseen or new to him is ridiculous. It came from his own kitchen and is being funded and was mixed up by his own chefs. But his approval is absolute mob crack to the Occupy Occult.

So When they assemble their list of grievances next July, Obama will respond like a Dignified, Serious, Leader and listen intently and empathetically to their humble pleas like the Dignified Serious Leader that he is. "Moved by their plight", Obama will carry water for them in Washington. Like Skar in the Lion King, he might even invite them to come with him back to Washington-thus inviting the hyenas to occupy Washington itself.

Scar invites Hyenas into the Lion Kingdom. Or Obama welcoming "Occupy" into Washington

As a quick aside, there may be more than the draw of "3D" that brought folks to theaters recently to watch the re-release of Disney's, The Lion King.

What an appropriate tale for us to consider at this point in history. A Lion who hates his own kind and the kingdom in which he lives. Who ascends to the throne by unethical means. And who sets about the destruction of the kingdom by inviting the enemy of the lions (the hyenas) into the pride and then commanding the lions of the pride (i.e. the working class) to go and work harder to feed the hyenas who hunt nothing for themselves, yet always seem willing to swipe their EBT.

Do Lions need to negotiate with hyenas?

Occupy is the maskirovka for more tyranny.

If all goes well, then they will push through "reforms" and changes that are not in line with the founding principles of this country.

If things go poorly, then there will be blood and the DHS will be expanding their "business" even further into your life.

Either way, the longer that Occupy goes on, the bigger the win for them and the bigger the loss for America.

I'll leave you with this Disney song from The Lion King to ponder the genesis of occupy and their ultimate goals.

Resist!

Quote of the Week

2011-10-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

from commenter Lyle on this story at Oleg's place.

The problem with communists, Fascists, Progressives, Jihadists, et al, is that no matter how things play out, eventually you have to start killing them. They don’t give you any other choice simply because they can never leave you alone.

They can’t leave you alone because a free people, or even a free person, will make them look like the pathetic loser/criminals they are.

Tell me again why I'm supposed to "engage" with the Occupy occult?

Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions

2011-10-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Story here.

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything.
But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session.

House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it.

You know what this will do to the lemonade stand business, right?
I guess it also won't help the under the table funding of LSU athletes by shady boosters, agents, and such. (Disclaimer: Not that this doesn't happen at any/every other school. Louisiana just happened to be the first to put this law on the books so it will be interesting to see what "currency" will be used in lieu of cash to satisfy these athletes.)

So on your dollars where it says "THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE", it really doesn't mean that in Louisiana.

I suppose that we could get all bent out of shape here, but it may be that Louisiana is ahead of the curve. Think of it this way, they're dumping the dollar. So in exchange for a good or service, you could simply exchange another good or service in lieu of dollars. Might as well get used to the barter concept now. Perhaps Louisianans can pay their taxes in chickens, eggs, tomatoes, or alligator hide.

But the real aim is almost certainly to make every transaction recorded, traceable, trackable, and most importantly, taxable.

I wonder how this will go over with the Swamp People? Particularly these two:

Glenn and Mitchell Guist

Of all the folks on this show, these two strike me as the folks that I would least like to slight or insult in any way shape or form. I mean whatever lives in the swamp they've probably found a way to kill, clean, cook and eat. I think even the mosquitos probably steer clear of these guys. Chuck Norris wouldn't touch these guys. It wouldn't surprise me if Charlie Daniels met up with folks like these prior to writing Simple Man.

Future News Report:
Still no word about a Louisiana Department of Revenue agent who has been missing since Tuesday. He was last seen near Coleman Bayou where his car was found. If you have any information, the State of Louisiana encourages you to call.....

In our feel good story this evening, the Guist brothers, Glenn and Mitchell are having a huge BBQ hoedown at their place and have invited the entire county to come out and enjoy the food and fun!

Updated:
Regarding the arrogance of these alligator lawmakers, I'll quote another of the Swamp People, Troy:

Occupation extras

2011-10-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

Similar to the "Imported from Detroit" theme that Chrysler uses in their ads now, does anyone else find the "Occupation" of American cities a bit...awkward? The context of "occupy" as it's being used is in that of an opposing force moving in to occupy territory after a battle has been fought and won. Post WW II Germany and Japan spring to mind. In this case though, the occupation is in preparation for and earnest expectation of a battle yet to be fought. They are gaining experience in the AO and intimidating opposition away.
This may be obvious, but for these guys to have any sway in Washington, there must be soemone sway-able or already predisposed to agreement. Which is why this wasn't done while the previous occupant was occupying the White House. The current occupant of the White House in subtle and obvious ways is letting them know that he is their huckleberry. This will be highly important to them in July when they intend to take their next big step and gather in Philadelphia on July 4, 2012.

Occupy . . .Whatever

2011-10-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Who are these occupy people?

According to Dana Loesch, these "occupy" people are in league with the Journ-o-lists like Dylan Ratigan. Yes, the same Dylan Ratigan that Denninger tipped his hat to the other day. The Journolists in turn are known to be in league with the Democrats and team Obama.

How to make sense of all this?

I’m with Admiral Ackbar.

It all seems too convenient to me.

Ann Coulter had this to say recently.

"All of those quotes could have been said in 1789 France before the Revolution… this is always the beginning of totalitarianism... The Democratic Party loves mob uprisings, it’s their rise to power.”

We could take quotes from this movement and quotes and seamlessly plug them into other great revolutions; the French Revolution. The October Revolution. The Maoists, or even the rise of the Nazi party. Little surprise then that CPUSA and the Nazi party support the “occupy” movements.

Strangely, the movement hasn’t focused on the halls of power where our government continues to screw over every living American and generations of those Americans yet unborn of their rights, their property, of life, and liberty.

I keep trying to wrap my brain around this idea: These people are protesting against the people who fund the people who are directing the journolists who are helping to coordinate the theme of the protest.

Perhaps a visual would help.

Maybe it should be more specific...

My gut tells me that they’re speaking just enough honey to try and draw in others and thus fulfill the 99% fantasy they proclaim. Say, is this what the communists called, "useful idiots."

Remember this?

Madison, WI. The pilot episode for the Occupy occult.

In April, I said this:

...as Dieppe was a prelude to Normandy, Madison, Wisconsin might be a prelude to rallies a few orders of magnitude larger in Washington D.C.

I think that frustration will begin to set in with these people. For they will see little in the way of results. From there I figure that it's either apathy or violence. They are coming.

When that happens the blame will likely shift to the “others” who joined the movement later. You know, those racist, hate-filled, Tea Party types who came in later and then began throwing bricks and inciting the masses to riot. Why it was all peaceful until those people showed up.

Never letting a crisis go to waste, we could indeed see more restrictions on liberty-punishing all Americans for what the "Occupy" occult intended to do all along.

I notice that these occupations are happening only in rich, white, urban Big Cities. (refer back to CW2 cube as needed.) I haven’t heard of an “Occupy Pine Log” movement yet. Nor have I heard of an “Occupy Hurt Village” movement. Perhaps that's because those communities would organize and kick the asses of any group of squatters who decided to pitch camp in their area to hold unending protests.

Big Cities have many things in common. Many are financially broke because they are fundamentally broken. So when it becomes clear that they should evict the protesters from their parks and send them on their way, why don’t they?

In New York, the intent was to evict the protesters in order to clean the park. Protesters cleaned themselves and removed the basis. (story here) Check out this quote:

"Brookfield believes they can work out an arrangement with the protesters that will ensure the park remains clean, safe, available for public use and that the situation is respectful of residents and businesses downtown," Deputy Mayor Caswell Holloway said in e-mail.

In other words, the city is perfectly willing to sit on their hands and leave the property owner to negotiate with squatters for the free administration of their own property rather than to actually uphold the law and move them.

Many big cities also share a deep-rooted liberalism that dominates their politics and city policies. (See “fundamentally broken” above.) Thus, having sympathy for the occupy protesters-perhaps even being briefed about the protests in advance, they go soft and allow the protests to simmer.

Possible Briefing from Team Obama:
That sure is a nice city you've got there. Sure would be a shame if something were to happen to it. What with all the stimulus money gone and you having to keep up appearances and all...
Call it a campaign contribution for Obama 2012. Thus, they are shy to use police forces to evict the protesters-even when they behave badly-provided that they stop short of actual violence against other people.

My gut tells me that this is simply community organizing with a national franchise.

As this movement grew, my first thought was of Foreign Enemies and Traitors, the third volume of the Enemies Foreign and Domestic trilogy from Matt Bracken.

An explanation is given for how things went over the edge. The army of the poor, the march to Philadelphia, a Constitutional Convention, and the end of America as we know it. When I see “Occupy”, this is what I see.

I note today that Denninger is reviewing and commenting on the 99% declaration-or The Occult Manifesto, if you prefer. In it they call for a general assembly in Philadelphia-just like in FEAT. Really, Karl?

I can’t help but note that the timing is impeccable. For one thing, we’re entering election season. Have the troops come home as Obama promised? Has Camp Delta been closed? Has unemployment dropped? Has the economy recovered? Have any of the banksters been sent to prison?

Failing to actually fix any of the problems he “inherited”-Obama made them worse. Even better, he created a legion of new problems all on his own. But Obama needs another boogeyman. It can’t be Bush, so it must be Wall Street.

This cartoon is a favorite of mine because it is so true. There is no Republican or Democrat. There is only “Government”. And “Banks”. The banks and government are equally guilty, and corrupt, and stupid.

It is also impeccably convenient for this administration that the press (whom they control) are focusing their attention on the “Occupy” movement while systematically ignoring and minimizing the biggest scandal of this administration and perhaps of our time, Gunwalker. We're not talking about a soggy cigar, but a scheme and coverup of international proportions. We're talking about an American dead by a gun that your government bought and delivered into the hands of the executioner in another country. No telling how many Mexicans have died by such guns.

It almost certainly goes to the very top of this administration and in a just world, Gunwalker would unravel the entire administration and send the lot of them to prison. In our world though, it is likely that the Alinsky-ites will simply double down on their madness and hit the accelerator with a plan that is more risky, more brazen, more breathtaking than before. After all, if they can get through Gunwalker with "acceptable losses", then why not try something bigger?

You've no doubt noticed the lack of commentary at The Cliffs lately. I'm still here and kicking. But as the ground fills up the view through the windshield, there just isn't much to add.

Suspending Elections. really?

2011-09-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue jokes about suspending Congressional elections for two years. Story here.

File this in the random-things-politicians-say file.

No, file this in the Things Liberals Really Want But Are Embarrassed That They Got Caught Saying-file. People don't say stuff like this by accident.

Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election.

"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that," Perdue said. "You want people who don't worry about the next election."

Hmmm, well if we can suspend elections for two years, why not four? Or six? How many times do you have to suspend elections to have tyranny? Only once.

Or if you're really honest, zero.

"Don't hold it against them." Oh, you mean remove all accountability for a period? Isn't it already that way in principle? So then what you really mean governor, is to just make it that way in practice.

Be careful what you wish for. Because according to the law of unintended consequences, if Congress doesn't have to be held accountable for their actions, then I shouldn't either.

Presumably this would include people who currently refuse to pay any income tax. Not to mention the millions who would refuse to do so if you get your wish.

It would include people who decide to walk away from their mortgages and stiff the banks (who were bailed out with our tax money and should have plenty).

It would include people who decide that it's okay to tar and feather elected officials. Or perhaps to go a whole lot further.

Here's hoping that the good people of North Carolina will immediately call for the impeachment of their governor.

Fast and Furious Town Hall in Tucson TONIGHT!

2011-09-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Sipsey Street Irregulars: Fast and Furious Town Hall in Tucson TONIGHT!:

Maybe Tusconians could handgun/rifle up to the fullest extent possible to attend the townhall?

Just saying.

Texas school punishes boy for opposing homosexuality

2011-09-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Story here.

You notice anything missing here?

I see the name of the child who was punished. I see the name of the mother. I see the name of the attorney. But nobody from the school district. Nobody from the high school. And certainly not the teacher.

Let’s see if I can help;

Fort Worth Western Hills High School home page.
Principal: james.wellman@fwisd.org
Assistant Principal: william.hudson@fwisd.org
Assistant Principal: mark.cerja@fwisd.org
Assistant Principal: denise.kahn@fwisd.org

Assistant Principal: jill.thomason@fwisd.org

As for the teacher, Maybe he's on this page...

Maybe he's this guy, Kristopher Franks

Oh look, there seems to be no content on the German teacher’s website.

Unexpectedly!

I include this screen capture-just in case there is later no actual website:

In this screen capture, there’s a cute little hint of a rainbow, but no actual content. Why. . . what ever could be the matter!? Maybe we should write to him and ask him to update his webpage-und schnell!

The story goes on to say this:

After a meeting with Pope and her attorney, the school rescinded the two-day suspension so Dakota would be allowed to play in an upcoming football game.

“They’ve righted all the wrongs,” said Matt Krause, an attorney with the Liberty Counsel. “This should have no lasting effect on his academic or personal record going forward.”

Rescinded punishment. Good. Righted all the wrongs. Not feeling it.

Krause told Fox News Radio. “The principal is sincere in trying to do the right thing and hopefully they will tell the teacher, ‘Do not do that anymore.’ He won’t be pushing his agenda.”

Yeah....but. The teacher is out of line. Perhaps he could go to ISS. Just to make sure, perhaps we should . . . encourage them.

Violence as a legitimate union activity

2011-09-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Story here.

Be sure to check the embedded links within.

Did you know about US vs. Enmons? I sure didn't. Listen to this…

In 1946 Congress passed the Hobbs Act, aimed at a wide spectrum of union violence. Among other things, it defined criminal extortion as “the obtaining of property . . . by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence or fear [emphasis added].” In using the word “wrongful,” Kendrick says, “Congress left a narrow opening through which the U.S. Supreme Court would push a bulldozer in 1973.” In its decision in United States v. Enmons, the Court upheld a lower court ruling that three electrical union members indicted for sabotaging a substation and other violence had done nothing illegal because they were pursuing “legitimate” union objectives.

So then violence is okay, so long as they're pursuing "legitimate" objectives. Is that like a "legitimate businessman" in New Jersey?

You've probably seen the new series of Chrysler ads (This is the motor city. And this is what we do!) as well as my trashing of the inaugural Super Bowl advertisement that featured Eminem.

Let me show you something you may not have seen.

The Chrysler fist emblem. And now you can buy your very own! Because nothing says, "This is not your father's Chrysler" like fist superimposed over the logo, on a black beanie.

Hmmmm, now why would Chrysler’s emblem be covered over with a fist? I don’t suppose that it has anything to do with the fact that they are union owned now, would it?

So let's flip this. What if the whole league of patriots and liberty-minded form a Union? Presumably then the same law allows for violence so long as they are pursuing legitimate union objectives.

Unintended consequences.

If the law covers them, then it should cover us. If it doesn’t protect us, then it doesn’t protect them either. Just something to think about this weekend.

Stingrays

2011-09-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Story here.

They call them stingrays. Makes me think of these guys:

Sentinels from The Matrix (aka part of the Federal Family)

On Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether or not police need a warrant before secretly installing a GPS device on a suspect's car and tracking him for an extended period. In both the Senate and House, new bills would require a warrant before tracking a cellphone's location.

What’s the over/under on how the SCROTUS vote will break down? 5-4? 9-0?

Remember, this is the same bunch who declared that it was okay for cops to illegally enter your residence if they think you’re destroying evidence.

More from Morgan Freeman

2011-09-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Story here.

This may surprise you, but I agree 1000% with that sentiment. The rest of the interview is typical liberal horsehockey. But I can agree that Obama has made it worse.

See there, we can find common ground after all.

Can I get some Ebony and Ivory up in here?

But think a little bigger, Morgan. Obama doesn’t just make race relations worse. He makes EVERYTHING he touches worse.

Pakistan warns US

2011-09-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Story here.

“Pakistan warned the United States it risks losing an ally if it continued to accuse Islamabad of playing a double game in the war against militancy, escalating the crisis in relations between the two countries.”

We had/have an ally?

Seen at a Chinese restaurant

2011-09-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

No one was around so I just couldn't resist snapping this picture from the camera phone in the bathroom of a local Chinese restaurant.

Why one needs a picture of a tiger over the urinal, I'm not sure. Since I don't read Chinese, I have no clue what the message beside the tiger is.

Possible captions:

Eye of Tiger
To boldly "go" where no tiger has gone before
Try the mustard sauce. You will feel like great tiger!
If you can't run with tigers, then stay on porch! (if you know what I mean.)

Being that it's in Birmingham, there could be some Alabama-Auburn message in there too.

Feel free to add your own caption in the comments.

Sorry, I didn't look to see if there was a picture over the crapper.

Obama Catharsis - VDH

2011-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

Victor Davis Hanson column here.

It's a good one, worth the read.

Catharsis – Cleansing, purging.

I can't help but pick up on the optimism for the "after Obama" time frame. It sounds like it will be a great, grand, glorious time of rebirth and enlightenment wherein Americans will realize and shamefully admit how stupid they have been and will suddenly get smarter.

We’re not headed towards a renaissance. We’re headed towards Idiocracy.

Just for you Vanderleun!!

That Americans will suddenly get smarter after Obama defies decades of history in which we continue to elect people to public office who are worse than those they replaced.

Hanson captures a whole lot of truth about Obama and I have to admit that without him as an object lesson, there’s some things that I might not have swerved into. But he stops short of the full truth which is that Obama seeks to destroy America in every way possible. As a bastion of liberty. As an ideal. As a country. As a financial center. As a military power. As an independent nation. As a “can do” nation. As a people right down to the French fries that you can’t be trusted with. Obama's goal is to utterly ruin everything except his own place at the top of the ruined pile of rubble that will be America.

What comes after Obama is this: On the one hand, a ruling class that is entrenched in power, enriched by multiple bailouts, TARP, stimulus, Quantitative Easing 1 through 3, enabled by a shredded Constitution, and emboldened by a massive police state on the one hand and a massive coalition of the Free Stuff Army consisting of unions, the poor, and the illegals among us.

On the other hand, a nation of people of all races and creeds, rich and poor, young and old who are in chains, enslaved and under guard, weeping bitter, burning tears remembering what America was founded to be and how we allowed it all to be taken from us. A nation of people who mourn that their bravest and most capable who might otherwise lead the charge are already lost.

Lost to a decade of war with little gain. Or "encouraged" by Leviathan to do his bidding against ordinary Americans, or else.

Lost at home where, consumed by their grief and rage and without a friend in the world, they went alone to their doom to face Leviathan alone.

Joe Stack, anyone?

Lost to various hideouts when they retreated in the crushing realization that no other friends were committing to the cause.

Atlas, shrugging.

When I try to picture the "after Obama" time frame, here's what comes to mind:

Think about this indicator for America's future; In a couple more weeks, this video might have more hits on YouTube than all of the patriot blogs combined in their entire history of several years. That's how much America will repent of Obama. Just pause for a minute and let that sink in.

Remember, he is literally swiping your money with each swipe of the card. Apparently able-bodied and capable of working, but glorifying the lifestyle of being a sponge. He does have some talent though. Perhaps he could use that to do something productive.

In the after Obama time frame, do you think that he'll be ready to repent of electing Obama, or will he fight you to keep his EBT?

Perhaps just one more indicator. How are things in your neck of the woods, Victor?

So how do you say "bailout" in Arabic?

2011-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Story here.

A shortfall in funding from Arab states including Saudi Arabia had been identified as the cause of the crisis which has highlighted the authority's vulnerability as President Mahmoud Abbas prepares to press the Palestinians' statehood agenda at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self government in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, remains reliant on foreign aid to fill a deficit projected at $900 million this year.

So basically the main source of income for the PA is . . . other people's charity. Perhaps if they had not destroyed things that were working and productive (but formerly Jewish) when they came to power they could have something approaching an economy.

The PA is already starting to look like a real nation state-crying out to their neighbors to save them from their own problems. Only $100M more in deficits and you’ll be ready to run with the big boys in the UN!

Doom Snobs

2011-09-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Vanderleun takes a stab at the whole zombie/vampire meme.

It’s a peculiar technique of critique to use the disposable products of our popular culture to craft deeper observations on our present era. Efforts to reveal our culture at large by extrapolating them from current films are a popular exercise -- not to mention a drop-dead easy manner of making points without any larger areas of knowledge having to intervene. Why study history when you can just stream in a slick selection of pop-cult classics from Netflix and hose down your mind?

...as opposed to Very Serious People like Vanderleun who write Very Serious pieces about subjects like scarlettjohansoning and the Porn Doom Bunker.

Read the rest here.

I presume that he would not like my review of They Live, We Sleep, nor the poster that I created in 2009-no matter how on the mark they are upon principle.

Let's see if I can craft a response;

It's a peculiar technique of snobbery to hold in contempt and disdain, those people who may arrive at a solid conclusion by some means other than those approved by the ruling class. It's an easy way to score points against without having to actually examine the substance of what has been said. Why look at practical application when you can live your life in warm, fully insulated principle?

Seriously, why would the Grey Poupon crowd ever want to come out and get their hands dirty in the work of freedom so long as they can continue to make a living by idly talking about it

I'm thinking of guys like the Stuart Rhodes and Oathkeepers who were too afraid to show up to Restore The Constitution on 4-19-10. Gasp! Why ... this might have put their Oathkeepers pledge to a very public test. Tsk tsk, can't have that. But wow were they quick to gather around the chalk outline of Jose Guerena and speak boldly! That'll show 'em! Oh Stuart, any arrests yet for Guerena's murder?

I'm thinking of guys like Chuck Norris and his Trigger the Vote ad. The ad itself is bad enough. But the cruel truth is this: The "cold, dead, hand" quote is being mocked. In short, this is not your father's NRA. The quote that Charlton Heston used to energize America for the NRA is as dead as Heston himself. The central message of the ad though is that merely registering to vote is sufficient to protect our rights. If you think more is required, then you must be a dolt.

I'm thinking of guys like Judge Napolitano and John Stossel. Though both were contacted regarding the RTC rally, they wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't attend. Wouldn't mention it on their show-even though our messages align nicely. Well, I guess Napolitano might-provided that he be given $15,000 and first class accommodations prior to the rally for the privilege of being allowed to touch the hem of his royal garment.

In this piece, Why I am no longer a Libertarian, Daniel Almond-founder of the Restore The Constitution rally hits it out of the park regarding Stossel and Napolitano:

I guess those two only want to complain about offenses to personal liberty rather than get behind people who are on their side just because they have guns or just because there were “only” 75 of them. ... More likely there was no mention because RTC hit too close to home with them.

For some of us, the discussion of liberty is very personal and very serious. For Napolitano et al, the discussion about liberty is about entertaining a particular demographic and making a buck. And I'm sorely tempted to throw Vanderleun in the same boat with them.

America isn't just quitting on Republicans, but on all political parties as an idea. They aren't just soured on big government, but on government at all levels. And some don't understand how ominously significant this is.

Most have lived under the false belief that there really was a difference in who governs. In the last 5 or so years though, it's begun to set in that there really isn't a difference. So along comes Codevilla who brilliantly articulated it. We're don't have a choice of vampires or zombies, Democrats or Republicans. There is only a ruling class and a country class. And the one thing that the ruling class wants above all others is for the country class to shut up and obey.

This is especially true when you consider the way the ruling class treats folks on their own side of the issue. Let's see...what was it Boehner said to his own party about the whole debt ceiling deal this summer? How'd that all work out, by the way?

Seeing no choice, many are simply dropping out. Out of the debate. Out of the political process and of parties. Out of the NRA. Out of voting altogether. America is beginning to recognize that we will not vote our way out of this.

On the one hand, we are enraged at what we see and want to take action. On the other hand, we recognize what that action will cost us-and that our neighbors are not ready yet. So, insulted by enemies and mocked by "friends", we wait. Our anger ferments and is heated near boiling. But still we wait. We redeem the time to prepare, arm, train, stock up, and with dread we await the day when we walk out of our front door in our boots and with the rifle and see that yes, our neighbors are also in boots and rifles and yes, it really is showtime.

People use "disposable products of our popular culture" to communicate precisely because they are the products of our culture. I might read a King James Bible, but I don't speak King James English in day to day conversation. However, if we are at a football game and witness a particularly bad series of downs and I say "Lollygaggers!", then there's a good chance that you know what I'm talking about or can figure it out very quickly-thus saving me a lot of time and words.

So in conclusion, for the ruling class-whether they be in government, the media, acedemia, real or wannabes, I send this...

"...you, and the 'Grey Poupon' attitude you rode in on."

P.S., I don't subscribe to Netflix. I own the DVD.

Firefighters turned away in Bastrop Texas

2011-09-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Story here

Hmmm, let’s see, delaying a firefighting effort in Texas would lead to more property destroyed. Just like blasting the Missouri side levees back in May would flood hundreds of thousands of acres of productive farmland in order to save Cairo, Illinois. "So whatdujumean about it?"

I’m sure that Obama’s minions wouldn't delay putting out this fire as a way to punishing Texas for . . . you know, actually having jobs or anything. Riiiiight?

This kind of thing has become depressingly routine in America. You’re not allowed to help because you don’t have an approved laundry list of training or equipment. You haven’t signed release waivers and forms that absolve the (state/corporation/organization) of all liability, responsibility, or accountability. We saw this last year in the Deepwater Horizons spill. We’re seeing it in Texas now.

There’s another dimension to this though. Remember what your DHS garden gnome says, “See something, say something.” Not, “See something do something.” If you were to go in there and manage to rescue someone, to put out a fire, or stop a crime in progress, then you’re preventing a paramedic, a firefighter, or a policeman from “doing their job.” Why, you’re starving their children!!!!! Adding insult to injury, you’re stealing the glory and praise that (according to any of a dozen or so TV shows related to cops, firefighters, and rescue workers) belongs to them.

In my company I saw it several years ago.

Being in the southeast, we sometimes have to deal with recovery from hurricanes. Part of that is that employees from the unaffected areas may volunteer to go and provide help to employees in the affected areas. Clear debris, put down tarps over damaged roofs, deliver stuff, etc. This used to be simple, volunteer and go. Now, there is a list of “required training”, medical checkups, and other nannystate intrusions before you’re allowed to go.

Free men need not jump through hoops set up by lesser men who presume themselves to be our betters. The math works out this way; More hoops, fewer volunteers.

Longshoreman attacks media

2011-09-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

A reader sent a link to this.

At the International Union of F*** You, Local Up Yours, a worker confronts a media crew-demonstrating once again what unions are all about.

I couldn't help but lay down a soundtrack to accompany the threat of thugnut violence.

Do you understand?

They are coming.

Memorials of Grief

2011-09-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Memorials of Grief - Sultan Knish

Let us consider what memorials are for and what skyscrapers are for. Are they meant to be empty spaces or are they ways of reminding us who we are?

We don't need more holes in the ground, more places to feel empty and alone. What we need are things to aspire to. The World Trade Center's towers were not targets of convenience, no more than the Saudi and Emirati skyscraper building spree is. Towers are symbols of achievement. They are guardians of the skyline who remind us of what we can accomplish.

The terrorists and the memorialmakers have a common purpose-- to make us forget what we are capable of. To drown us in our own pain and grief, to make us drink of the Lethe waters of reflecting pools until we forget who we are.

Word.

Read it all.

I might only add that as terrorists can take over an airplane cockpit, they can also take over the halls of power of a nation.

America is Flight 93.

The Last Bread Wagon One Year Later

2011-09-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

A great piece from GardenSERF.

The Last Bread Wagon One Year Later

Read it all and the embeds.

From his original piece, let this idea sink in:

Countries give in today to pressure, but tomorrow I can tell you they won’t be able to. They won’t be able to give away what they don’t have.

When does the last bread wagon roll through? And how will you know?

Thugnuts strike.

2011-09-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Story here

Batman

Let me see, a horde of the official government costumed gang versus thugnuts. Sort of reminds me of the epic battle for Stalingrad. If only they could both come out losers.

Here's what unions do better than anything else....

Unions at their best!

Train Man

...impede the wheels of commerce.

Since this is a grain train, let me address this like a liberal would:

Organized Labor is starving our children, our senior citizens, single mothers, and minorities with a dozen exclamation points or more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thugnuts would love for you to believe that “train man” here is no different than this guy.

Except for this contrast:
Tank man stands alone to impede tyranny for the benefit of others while paying the full price himself and receiving no benefit.

Train man stands up with brothers to impede liberty for the detriment of others and demands those others pay the full price so he can receive all the benefit.

I would tell the engineer to floor it, but he’s probably in a union-just like his brother on the tracks, or the policemen called in to restore order. It's nothing more than propaganda.

And I'm sure it's just coincidence that it's happening ahead of Obama's (****)jobs speech.

"We've GOT to use Batman and Train Man in tonight's speech!"

Treat Blacks like Iowans

2011-09-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Maxine to Obama: Treat Blacks like Iowans

And just when I was about to ask Obama to treat whites like blacks.

Music

2011-09-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

As we approach another round of QE, that generational theft of trillions that dwarfs all others, this song has been on my mind. As a bonus, the the tune seems to capture the spirit of so many different items (see previous post) all headed towards a collision at maximum speed.

Rape of The Young - Utopia, 1977.

Lyrics:
Hey Mister Exxon
Won't you have pity
Won't you have pity on the guiltless ones
Hey Mister Chrysler
Won't you think about it
Won't you think about it? Judgment Day has begun

What will become of tomorrow's children
Who gives a damn for tomorrow's children
Pay no mind, you just keep on takin'
Keep on takin' 'til there's nothing at all

Sit on your hands and don't say nothin'
Cover your eyes, you won't see nothin'

Chorus:
Cry for the innocent sent to war
(Don't tell a soul)
Shed a tear for the ones waiting at the door
(They'll never know)
It's the last generation of a world gone wild
(You better watch your tongue)
It's the violation of the unborn child
It's the rape of the young

Hey Mister General
Can't you find something
Can't you find something else to do for a buck
Hey Mister President
Nobody listens
Nobody listens 'til we've run out of luck

Nobody cares for unborn troubles
Why should you care, it's too much trouble
You got yours so it just don't bug ya
It just don't bug ya 'cause you won't be around

Chorus:

Coincidence

2011-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that the timing of all this is just coincidence.

The big flashmobs in Britain this summer
The flashrobs
The flashriots in Wisconsin and "urban" rallies elsewhere
It's Over in the Eurozone. You know, when a 9.0 earthquake hits, a tsunami often follows.
Zero private sector jobs added last month
Pres__ent Obama waiting to give his "jobs" speech (as if another layer of Simoniz can help the turd to shine better)
And Jimmy Hoffa offering up his "Army", ready to march and "take these son of bitches out."

Updated:

Project Gunwalker
And now Project Gangwalker - walking guns to criminal gangs inside the US.

Why . . . it's like it's all building up to something.

I'm reminded of the words from The Road Warrior:

When it's all said and done, The Road Warrior may look like a happy, sunny memory compared to what we're about to go through.

Their leaders talked and talked and talked but nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled the cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear.

UN Gun Grab!!!!!!

2011-09-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

From now on, I'll refer to the UN Gun Grab!!! as the NRA Money Grab!!!

Tough guy Wayne LaPierre had his telemarketers pay me a phone call today. Right as I got in the house, I was greeted by the NRA.

I received the customary welcome message, then Wayne's 2 minutes of hate for the UN Gun Grab (with extra exclamation points!!!!), then a "poll question" of whether I supported the UN going after gun rights on American soil.

I gave no answer, but I did get another human on the line.

He gave me the pitch for a 5 year membership-all of the benefits, the perks, the free decal, and the commemorative NRA knife.

Forgive me but why not something that's at least related to firearms. A bayonet? Yes. A cute rosewood handled commemorative knife? Eh....not so much. Don't want to get in trouble with the tree popo.

Finally, my chance to talk.

Excellent...open bomb bay doors

Well sir, I actually dropped my NRA membership. And I'll tell you why I'm proud of that.

A couple of years ago, about 50 of us got together. We manned up and rifled up and carried openly on the banks of the Potomac-in sight of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Dome. Larry Pratt from Gun Owners of America came. But no NRA. Press from all over the world came, but the NRA wouldn't touch us.

As far as the UN Gun Grab goes, I've been hearing this talk from the NRA for years. Honestly, I don't care what the UN does, what Obama does, what Washington does.

My rights are God-given, they are unalienable and no piece of paper can take them away. My freedom doesn't depend on what a judge says, on what Washington says, or even what the majority says. If they want to come grab our guns, then let them try. And then we'll see what "fighting for our gun rights" looks like.

Understand that this sentiment isn't directed at you, but your bosses. Feel free to pass this uphill to them. Good day.

My only regret is that I didn't talk longer and thereby consume valuable working time in a non-productive effort. Starve the monkey.

After I hung up, I thought of so much more that I could have said.

How the NRA won't stand up for the Montana Firearms Freedom Act. How they didn't want to push Heller. How they gave Harry Reid a "B", yet couldn't see their way fit to endorse his opponent when he was clearly vulnerable. How they are so late to the party where Gunwalker is concerned. How they aren't a "cold dead hands" organization anymore, but instead insist we need to be tough like Chuck and trigger the vote.

I suppose I also could have tried to get the caller to look through the Hoffman lenses.

Well, I'll have something to talk about next time they call. Until then:

Post Irene criticism

2011-08-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

On a lark, I decided to search for the term “criticism of national hurricane center.” In the wake of Irene, there was much to do about the hurricane being hyped and overpredicted in terms of its strength-if not the actual track.

Being that the NHC is part of NOAA and therefore on the government teat, I wondered whether or not there is any pressure brought to bear on forecasters to increase the doom/gloom of their models.

The most interesting link was related to some guy named Bill Proenza. Here we delve into the world of boring weatherman politics.

Proenza, became head of the NHC in 2007. He stated then, in a public message that the loss of QuikSCAT would greatly harm the quality of hurricane forecasts.

What is QuikSCAT? QuickSCAT is the replacement for NSCAT.

What is NSCAT? NSCAT is NASA Scatterometer. This was the satellite previously used to help forecast hurricanes. It was launched in 1996. It failed in June, 1997. QuikSCAT was intended to be a quick recovery mission to replace this capability. It launched in June, 1999 a bare 2 years after the NSCAT failed. This was all supposed to happen faster than any NASA mission since the 1950s.

At this point, it’s worth pausing to note a few things. On the one hand, it's bad that a satellite failed after only a year in orbit. On the other hand, when need presses, America can still respond quickly.

In my lifetime though, we’ve placed that American “can do” spirit into a hermetically sealed case to be put on display and instructed all museum visitors not to touch the display. We've become a "can't do" nation full of excuses why something can't be done. Why you can't photograph the police. Why you can't row your boat down a flooded street. Why you can't buy an incandescent bulb. Why the founders didn't really mean what they said in the Second Amendment, but somehow did mean what they said in the First Amendment.

If you've been to the space museum in Huntsville, you’ll know what I’m talking about. While the Saturn V rockets get premium treatment, the other rockets in the yard are in terrible disrepair. Paint peeling. Paint fading. Metal rusting. No maintenance at all as far as my eyes can tell. The museum inside is little changed from my first visit. On my first trip there in 1983, I was in awe. Now it's just depressing.

Back to 2007: The staff of NHC revolted against Proenza and called for his ouster. Story here.

In January, Proenza took on the role of the nation's chief hurricane forecaster, the bully pulpit of meteorology. He quickly created controversy by criticizing NOAA spending priorities, arguing that more money should be spent for hurricane detection.

He targeted, among other things, the agency's anniversary celebration, for which he said the agency would spend $4 million.

At the same time, much of his staff was apparently becoming disgruntled.

Twenty-three members of the staff signed a statement last week asking for a new director, with senior hurricane specialist James Franklin saying Proenza had "poisoned the atmosphere here at the Hurricane Center."

The disgruntled staff members did not offer specifics with their criticism, other than to cite one example regarding an aging satellite: Proenza had warned that its loss would reduce forecast accuracy; the dissenting staff members said it would have no significant impact.

The staff members chose to detail their complaints instead to a team of inspectors who visited the center last week.

Emphasis mine.

Hmmmmm. Staffers wouldn’t offer specifics-instead sharing these with a team of inspectors. We say it smells smoky, therefore it must be a blazing inferno. Sounds sort of like a strike to me.

On November 23, 2009, QuikSCAT failed. Though it lasted for 10 years, it was only designed to last for 2. Story here.

Further, in 2015, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plan to launch next-generation weather satellites into space, and those are expected to provide a big boost to hurricane predictions.

Strange that QuikSCAT was such a rush job, lasted 10 years, did a great job, the replacement will provide a big boost to hurricane predictions, but there's apparently no hurry at NASA. Maybe they're too busy with Muslim outreach.

Then I saw this interesting piece (h/t Instapundit) by Cliff Mass: When Did Irene Stop Being a Hurricane?

On Sunday morning Anderson Cooper of CNN was asking about the strong winds that were being forecast and this brings up something that has really bothered me about the storm: there is really no reliable evidence of hurricane-force winds at any time the storm was approaching North Carolina or moving up the East Coast.

First, what is a hurricane? The official definition is that a hurricane is a tropical cyclone with SUSTAINED winds of 64 kt or more (74 mph or more). A gust of 65 kt or more does not indicate a hurricane unless the sustained winds reach 64 kt.

I took a look at all the observations over Virgina, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. Not one National Weather Service or FAA observation location, not one buoy observations, none reach the requisite wind speed. Most were not even close.

The rest is just data that seems to validate this.

No mention of QuikSCAT in any discussion of why the predictions for hurricane strength are off. But from the Wikipedia article, this nugget:

The scatterometer's ability to record wind speeds at the surface allows meteorologists to determine whether a low pressure area is forming and enhance the ability to predict sudden changes in structure and strength. Emphasis mine

Oh. You mean, sort of like what Cliff Mass said?

Could Bill Proenza have been right?

One last news nugget-this one from Jet Propulsion Laboratories in a news release:

This satellite image of Hurricane Irene, showing the storm's ocean-surface wind speed and direction, was acquired at 1:07 a.m. EDT on Aug. 27, approximately six hours before it hit the North Carolina coast. The data are provided courtesy of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from the OSCAT instrument on ISRO's OceanSat 2 spacecraft, launched in September 2009. Wind vector data processing was performed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The OSCAT winds are obtained at 15-by-15-mile (25-by-25-kilometer) resolution and do not resolve the hurricane's maximum wind speeds, which occur at much finer scales.

Since NASA's QuikScat ocean wind satellite ceased nominal operations in November 2009, scientists and engineers from NASA, JPL, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have collaborated with ISRO in ongoing efforts to calibrate and validate OSCAT measurements in order to ensure continuous coverage of ocean vector winds for use by the global weather forecasting and climate community.

Interesting. So the Indian satellite apparently did not provide the hurricane's maximum windspeed. More interesting to me is the collaboration to calibrate and validate the measurements. So if it's not calibrated, is it valid? In other words, it doesn't sound to me like you can hang your hat on the numbers from OSCAT. Yet.

I'm wading into a whole lot of technical stuff that I may not fully understand. What I do understand is this:

A satellite failed after about a year in orbit
A temporary satellite was rushed to orbit, then taken for granted as a permanent replacement
A director sounds the alarm 8 years later for a permanent replacement
A staff successfully lobbies to have him dismissed-in part because they said that the loss of QuickSCAT would have no impact on their ability to forecast
The temporary satellite predictably failed
A hurricane seemed to have been overpredicted where strength is concerned
An Indian satellite is providing data that is not valid.
A replacement satellite scheduled to fly in 2015.
And not a word about it in the press.

Your tax trillions at work!

So why would anyone want to inflate the status of a storm to a hurricane and pre-declare disaster? A few reasons come to mind.

Nobody wants to underforecast a storm should it become a monster.
A more gloomy forecast allows for states to declare states of emergency sooner and begin evacuating sooner
It supports quicker declaration of a disaster area. Take New York for example. No really-take them. Please. The disaster emergency was declared on 8-25. Before anyone had even suffered damages. Other states did likewise pre-declaring a disaster. When you think disaster relief, think "stimulus." Government control = political control.
Those states of emergency allow for “special” powers like in North Carolina where being armed in public is suddenly illegal during an SOE.
Never let a crisis go to waste. Remember that a logical extension of this is, "Don't solve a crisis while it's small." You'll recall how hamstrung the oil skimmers were to those trying to cleanup the oil (i.e. make the crisis smaller).

I don't have any concrete answers here and can't tell you what the surface windspeed is. But I can tell which way the weather vane is pointing.

Data Points for Consideration

2011-08-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

Spartacus offers spot on thoughts regarding what receives the "federal family" seal of approval these days.

Bonus: Some first hand observations of post-Irene FSA behavior. Unexpectedly!

Read it all.

Welcome to the Blogroll, Spartacus.

Profiles in Freeedom: Cledus Snow

2011-08-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've had an idea brewing for a while to begin exploring some profiles in freedom. In general, these are people who faced challenges or setbacks and then acted as free men to improve their situation. Sometimes, they include some violence. Sometimes they use means that don't have the Good Housekeeping seal of approval from polite society. But they generally include the theme of effective resistance.

Our first profile is Cledus Snow from Smokey and the Bandit. Snow faces a temporary setback at Lamar's Sportsmen's Club where he is baited into a fight by a biker gang. Taking the bait results in an all too predictable loss. But you'll notice that he'd rather fight than yield his honor-regardless of the outcome.

Snow has work to do though and though bloodied, he has to get back on the job. So he does. Snowman is really down until he looks up and sees an opportunity to reverse his loss. The biker gang is still inside, drinking and partying and paying no mind to the lone gear jammer that they were able to whip (as if it would matter).

Enjoy,

The Death of The Guitar continued

2011-08-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

Some additional resources have been shared which I'm passing on to you all.

1) GardenSERF offers this comment and a link to an earlier article, "The Lesser Evil is still Evil" he wrote about the destruction of a small business in America. It would do no injustice to extrapolate this to include all small business in America.

He also tipped me to the response from Gibson's CEO.

2) An h/t goes to Graybeard for the link to this piece by Doug Ross. Gibson CEO Henry E. Juszkiewicz isn't fooling when he says that other guitar manufacturer's use the same wood that Gibson does. For example . . . someone like C.F. Martin & Company.

One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.

Unexpectedly!

3) Graybeard also has some excellent insight in an article here.

Read them all and the embedded links.

The same government that is walking guns to Mexican Drug cartels doesn't even want you to have a stick to defend yourself with.

That dining room table looks pretty nice. I'm going to have to confiscate that and test it to make sure it's not illegal. We'll let you know later whether you'll be charged with a crime. Oh, those hardwood floors, those have to come up as well.

Well well well, lookie what we got heah! Looks like plywood under these boards. I think we're going to have to check each ply to make sure. And what's that!? 2 x 4's. Sure, it looks like a plain old pine 2 x 4, but we're going to have to check them out. Also the framing of your home-we'll have to look at that as well.

And isn't this a nice living room suite? Pack it up, fellas. And this bedroom suite? Yup, we'll have to check it as well. Let's just check that tool shed, shall we. Wow, this is a nice pitchfork. Where did you get the handle for this? Your grandfather's you say? Well, I'm still going to need to check it anyway. I'll leave you the fork, but I have to check the wood.

This cross you have over the fireplace, where did it come from? Uh-huh. Pack it, guys. We'll have to check it out. Where did you get all this firewood? Some guy on a truck sell it to you? Well, we're going to have to check it all out anyway, just to be sure.

Hmmm, this front door is really nice. I'm going to have to hang onto it-just to be sure. You won't mind will you? After all, you don't have the right to refuse even an unlawful entry and besides, there really isn't much left inside the house anyway.

This is a lot bigger than a guitar, a guitar company, a particular industry, or even small business. I almost hate to make this prediction, but I wonder how long it will be until we see lumber and paper mills "raided" and shut down?

We may be at the point of legal saturation. Everything is illegal. Being arrested is simply a matter of which laws the ruling class feel like enforcing against you.

Here we are.

Imagine were we'll be.

The Death of The Guitar

2011-08-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

In a move that I'm sure surprises few, but is nevertheless outrageous, your government is now spending your tax trillions to regulate . . . guitars.

Story here.

The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn't be a negligible offense. Peter Lowry, ebony and rosewood expert at the Missouri Botanical Garden, calls the Madagascar wood trade the "equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds." But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.

It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.

If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.

Words fail me. It's a good thing that there are images.

You can have this guitar when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

How to invoke Democrat fury

2011-08-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

I guess I should have seen this coming. Congresscritter gets shot and survives. Thus, they should be guaranteed a perpetual seat in Congress with no opposition. The logic being, “Well she was almost killed?! How can you run against her!!?? Especially when I’m using a dozen exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Anthony Prowell, noticing that Gabrielle Giffords has only voted once this year would like to challenge her in the primary. The Democrats are incensed.

Story here.

An open letter to Mr. Prowell,

You’re really falling down on it here. You’re going about this thing all wrong trying to play by the rules. Asking permission from Leviathan to run against one of their anointed ones!? Sheesh. You’ve got to show a little ambition!

Had you the courage of the corrupt, then we’d see names like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck on your list. My God, find a few illegal aliens to sign it-surely you can find a few of those!? Or maybe some dead people. Where is your creativity!? You’re never going to make it as a Congressman trying to be honest. How do you expect to ever survive in Washington if you can’t cheat a little? For that reason alone you ought to be banned from the ballot.

On the other hand, maybe I can help. I'll issue a call for “Arizonans” who are also “Democrats” to come your rescue and sign up so you can make it to the primary ballot and challenge Rep. Giffords for the nomination of your party.

And if I can find one, I'll get you a big, red, sparkly cowboy hat that is also a satellite receiver, 3G wifi hotspot, and attention getter on South Beach.

Two Years Alcohol Free!

2011-08-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

With a hat tip to Sofa at Coordinated Illumination; Yes, it's worth celebrating every year.

Dilbert gets it

2011-08-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

My desktop Dilbert calendar runs cartoons from a couple of years ago. In this brief series, think of the employees as government employees and the PHB as the chief.

(With apologies, you'll just have to open the link to see the third panel.)

Throwing free money at “the needy” seldom helps their need and often makes it worse.

United pilots to use iPad for navigation

2011-08-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

United pilots to use iPad for navigation

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and chart books its pilots have long used with 11,000 iPads carrying the same data.

The 1.5 pound (0.7 kilogram) iPad will take the place of about 38 pounds (17 kilograms) of paper instructions, data and charts pilots have long used to help guide them, parent company United Continental Holdings said.

...
United estimates that using the iPad will save 16 million sheets of paper a year, and that the lighter load it represents will save 326,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) in fuel.

"With iPad, pilots are able to quickly and efficiently access reference material without having to thumb through thousands of sheets of paper and reduce clutter on the flight deck," the company said.

Yeah, but books don't need electricity to be able to read them. Books can't be disabled by hackers and viruses. Bird strike? There's an app for that. Engine flameout? There's an app for that.

US suspends gold coins

2011-08-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

H/t to Sipsey Street Irregulars: Figured this was coming.

All US Mint Numismatic Gold Coins Suspended.

This morning the US Mint has suspended sales of all remaining numismatic gold coin offerings. The move comes as the market price of gold has jump another $35 to nearly $1,890 per ounce. Prior to the suspension, products were priced based on an average gold price in the $1,750 to $1,799.99 range.

later...

Commemorative gold coins, which are not covered by the numismatic gold coin pricing policy had their sales suspended on August 12. The US Mint plans to introduce a pricing grid for these products. The suspension still remains in place while the grid is being developed and implemented.
Late last week, the US Mint also suspended sales of the 2010 Silver Proof Set and 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set, pending repricing.

Think of it this way; It isn't that the value of gold is necessarily skyrocketing, but that the value of the dollar is plummeting.

Just one more indicator (as if you needed another) that now is the time to floor it where buying preps is concerned.

Why I am no longer a libertarian

2011-08-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

From Daniel Almond.

Why I am no longer a libertarian

Worth the reading.

I'd vote for him 1000 times!

2011-08-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Apparently Morgan Freeman frequents the four-pinky island of Martha's Vineyard and had a few words for HusseinO.

Story here.

On Obama’s chances for reelection, Freeman added, “If I could vote for him 1,000 times, I would.”

Well who's stopping you? It certainly isn't this guy:

Never let a crisis go to waste.
Ah, Chicago where the dead keep on voting!

It certainly isn't these guys...

Or this guy. Who won't prosecute those guys.

But remember what this guy says:

"If they get 6 rounds of 1 vote each, can I have 1 vote of 30 rounds?"-radiowave

Why certainly you may!

Convoy!

2011-08-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Story here.

The presidential motorcade on Martha's Vineyard peeled out of Blue Heron Farms at 5:15 p.m. with the president and Valerie Jarrett in tow.

After 10 minutes, we made an abrupt left turn on John Cottle Road — an unpaved, deeply rutted eight-foot-wide private path hemmed in by ivy, scrub oak and big, scary boulders.

After bottoming out four times — we're talking two-foot holes in a sand-and-gravel road, along with one hairpin turn — Obama and Jarrett arrived at the West Tisbury home of their friends Brian and Aileen Roberts, spokesman Josh Earnest informs us. It was 5:30 p.m.

What is it with this guy and bottoming out vehicles?!

Originally posted here

Could MicHELLe Ceaucescu have caused the vehicle to "bottom out"? Just saying.

REGIME COMING TO END!!!

2011-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

This story is about QGadaffiyyeee's regime ending, not Obama's.

What a tease. Jerks.

Are You Conditioned Not To Lead?

2011-08-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

In line with what I said in Lone Wolf about America producing submitters rather than followers and managers instead of leaders, this is an article you need to read.

Are You Conditioned Not To Lead? Article here. Read it all. An excerpt:

Almost everything we experience in life is based on a hierarchical structure. We're given grades A-F and go from first grade to twelfth grade. Once we reach college, we become freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. In the workforce we're given titles and pay grades that are designed to show our level and importance. For the vast majority of us, all of this development happens without the opportunity to ever really assume a true position of leadership. After so many years of conditioning to be role players, the challenge isn't to teach people what makes good leaders, but to break them of the programming that has convinced them they are not fit to be leaders.

Yeah, it's short. It doesn't offer you a lot of concrete actions to take so that you can close personal leadership gaps. Mainly it just simply suggests this, "Go. Do."

Why . . . that sounds a lot like, Be the leader you want to have, doesn't it?

Is there an opporutnity for you to grab hold of some leadership? A chance to step forward when you normally hang back? Something in your community? Something at your kids' school? A chance to grow yourself and to spread the word and pass out Hofman Lenses?

Do not adjust the horizontal or the vertical. The Cliffs have not gone all Oprah on you. But if we want more followers and better followers, does it not stand to reason that we ourselves will have to become better leaders?

I am Hank Paulson!

2011-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the better comments on the Awesome story this morning.

High Plains Drifter writes:
what is the definition of fake here? what he did was expose the sheep to what the system is really all about. it is paper and numbers on a page and doesn't mean anything with this fiat money system. he made up a draft of some sort , put the treasury secretary's name on it and presented it for payment and they accepted it. is that wrong? is that criminal? is that fraud? he did not try to hide anything? they are just pissed because it exposes their system to the sheep and it is easy to see that debts are not real........i alwhaays wondered if this would work. i heard about it but never had the stones to try it............ha ha ha

later walküre writes:

The man did only what was fair and just. He claimed his personal financial bailout. If all Americans had simultaneously defaulted on their debts in late 2008, early 2009 this country could be well on its way to a real recovery.

Ordinary Americans aren't allowed to print their own money even though its common practice for the cabal and their enablers.

Imagine, a type of "flash mob" default and then a "flash mob" distribution of fake US cash.

It would have been fantastic and the thieves and pirates on Wall Street and in the White House would have been absolutely freakin' defenseless and clueless.
I have the accompanying graphic for walkure's comment:

Awesome!

2011-08-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

From ZeroHedge.com

Man Pretends To Be Hank Paulson To Make Fake $353,000 Mortgage Payment To Citi, Succeeds

Perhaps the most surreal fact about the case of 35 year old Bryan Gardner who back in 2009 sent CitiMortgage a $353,000 money order "drawn on the account of the 'Secretary of the Treasury Hank M. Paulson, Jr." in order to satisfy the final payment for a property in Bowie, Md, is that.... he succeeded. Fox Biz has more: "CitiMortgage erroneously accepted the document and credited Gardner's mortgage account in full," according to a Secret Service affidavit. Within months, Gardner sold the property for $254,900 and then "distributed the proceeds to others," according to public records and the Secret Service affidavit. Investigators believe Gardner may have initially secured the mortgage under false pretenses. Through a spokesman, an FBI agent who investigates mortgage fraud said he was surprised the scheme succeeded, and a former Justice Department official who helped lead fraud enforcement efforts in the wake of the financial meltdown agreed, calling the approval of the money order "bizarre." Perhaps what is more bizarre is just how a plan like this, which a 3 year old could concoct, but not even a 3 year old would be dumb enough to believe it would fly, actually succeeded. Just how big is the pool of "unclaimed" cash on deposit at CitiMortgage is there was i) no actual account was debited for the full amount and ii) nobody noticed that the Treasury department was paying off a private mortgage.

Read it all.

Man....why didn't I think of that!?

In a way, I think it's hilarious that the scheme used the SecTrez name to pay off his home and thus illustrate just how little attention the banks are paying to their own documentation.

Where some of the highly technical stuff may be difficult to understand, everybody can get this one.

RIP Albert Brown

2011-08-17T04:02:00.000-07:00

Story here at Big Peace.

ST. LOUIS — A doctor once told Albert Brown he shouldn’t expect to make it to 50, given the toll taken by his years in a Japanese labor camp during World War II and the infamous, often-deadly march that got him there. But the former dentist made it to 105, embodying the power of a positive spirit in the face of inordinate odds.

“Doc” Brown was nearly 40 in 1942 when he endured the Bataan Death March, a harrowing 65-mile trek in which 78,000 prisoners of war were forced to walk from Bataan province near Manila to a Japanese POW camp. As many as 11,000 died along the way. Many were denied food, water and medical care, and those who stumbled or fell during the scorching journey through Philippine jungles were stabbed, shot or beheaded.

But Brown survived and secretly documented it all, using a nub of a pencil to scrawl details into a tiny tablet he concealed in the lining of his canvas bag. He often wondered why captives so much younger and stronger perished, while he went on.

By the time he died Sunday at a nursing home in southern Illinois’ Nashville, Brown’s story was well-chronicled, by one author’s account offering an encouraging road map for veterans recovering from their own wounds in many wars.

“Doc’s story had as much relevance for today’s wounded warriors as it did for the veterans of his own era,” said Kevin Moore, co-author of the recently released “Forsaken Heroes of the Pacific War: One Man’s True Story,” which details Brown’s experience.

Read it all. It's worth it.

Ponder the applicability and currency. There is nothing new under the sun.

Obama frets over 'lone wolf'

2011-08-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

Obama frets over 'lone wolf' attack as Sept 11 looms - Yahoo! News:

"The most likely scenario that we have to guard against right now ends up being more of a lone wolf operation than a large, well coordinated terrorist attack"

Well, given the often dysfunctional relationships in the patriot movement, I guess I can see that.
____________________________________

Which is all the more reason for the liberty minded to get it together so that they can stand together.

Governments can pick off lone wolves all day long, laugh while they do it, and still have time to fleece the sheep before dinner.

Extremely Dangerous Cuban lobosolo, Elian Gonzalez

Remember me? Thomas J. Ball

Joe Stack

David Olofson

Jose Guerena

Dangerous Lone Wolf Aiyana Jones, killed by Detroit SWAT

Erik Scott

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Now what happens when the government expects a lone wolf, but instead meets up with a pack?

Unexpectedly! (enjoy, DD)

Think: Swarm. Think: Pack. Think: 4GW

I am not looking for adulation for what I do here. I share what thoughts pop into my mind and you the reader get to peek in. I'm not a Super-hero, Nada, TankMan, or ReaperMan. I'm not even a Dan Almond. Sometimes, I'm a terrible example.

If there's something to be learned though from the flashriots, though it is the principle of swarm. Addressing a target from multiple axes, simultaneously, AND in a framework where there may not be a single clear-cut leader, but multiple or even a unanimous ability to step up and lead-as well as the ability to follow.

America has stopped producing followers and leaders. Instead, we replicate submitters and managers. The subliminal messages in They Live hit it right on the head:

Obey.

Remeber that your neighbors are products of this same society. Most of them have not yet seen the world through your set of Hofman Lenses.

...so show them.

Remember that most of "us" used to be just like "them". Remember also that we need more of "them" to become "us" if we have any hope of victory. Don't be surprised to see them struggle to cast off the yoke of "submitter". Don't expect former submitters to immediately be good followers. And don't expect new followers to instantly become good leaders.

You may want for a Captain Sullenberger and despair that the hijackers have thrown his corpse into the cabin. You may want for a better team. You may want for better training, preparation, and equipment. You may want for a better leader on your plane. You may want for a more experienced pilot to take the yoke-should you be successful in regaining control. But when the time comes, you may just have to roll with what you have, who you have, and the hand you've been dealt. Be the leader you want to have.

They Are Coming

2011-08-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Toning down the rhetoric

h/t to Scott for this gem. Original story here.

"Non-Union Boss Shot By Likely Union Member In Intimidation Operation"

I presume that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are the likely suspected thugnuts here. I can't imagine why though. Perhaps it was the "Union Till I Die" t-shirts?

Union Till I Die or get convicted

Don't many gangs employ a similar technique to boost retention of their membership? Just saying.

While the Monroe County Sheriff's office is encouraging anyone with information to call in, maybe it's time for a little RICO here.

Be A Little More Careful About What You Say

2011-08-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

Obama To Perry: "Be A Little More Careful About What You Say" RealClearPolitics:

"...you've got to be a little more careful about what you say. But I'll cut him some slack."

Sigh.....

I'm no Rick Perry fan and I shouldn't work blue, but here goes.

Dear Barack Hussein Sotero Obama,

In every tongue I can think of, with every ounce of my being, I can only say,

FUCK YOU!

Your bus. Your umbrella. Your birth certificate. Your beer garden meetings. Your ACORN buddies. Your SSEIU thugnuts. Your TSA. Your garden gnome DHS. Your Gunwalking. Your stimulus. Your QE 1 and 2. Your ARRA. Your Affordable Patient Care Act. Your Drilling Moratoria. Your bailouts. Your Weathermen pals. Your ballerina girl chief of staff. Your riding a girls bicycle. Your bowing. Your boots on the necks. Your knowing whose ass to kick. Your punch back twice as hard. Your "they bring a knife, we bring a gun." Your race-baiting. Your "inherited" problems. Your "special olympics." Your phony saluting at Dover. And your Elena Ceaucescu wife.

FUCK YOU!

That's me toning down the rhetoric.

By the way, I'm thinking of running for President for the FUP, maybe you'd like to come lecture me.

Sincerely

Alvie D. Zane

The Magical Misery Tour

2011-08-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Though I didn't think of the term first, I do have some snark to offer.

click to enlarge

Magical Misery Tour

Cough up, cough up for the magical misery tour, step right this way.
Cough up, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up WE'LL DESTROY THE NATION, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up GUNWALK ABOMINATION, cough up for the misery tour.
The magical misery railcar is waiting to take you away,
Waiting to take you away.

Cough up, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up NEED EVERYTHING YOU GOT, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up GREEN ENERGY COSTS A LOT, cough up for the misery tour.
The magical misery tour is hoping to take you away,
Hoping to take you away.

A misery trip.

The magical misery tour.
Cough up, cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up THERE’LL BE SOME PLUNDERATION , cough up for the misery tour.
Cough up FREEDOM EVAPORATION, cough up for the misery tour.
The magical misery tour is coming to take you away,
Coming to take you away.
The magical misery tour is dying to take you away,
Dying to take you away, take you to stay.

He Is . . . Most Interesting Comrade in World!

2011-08-16T04:03:00.000-07:00

Seen in yesterday's Vent in the AJC...

With all the items in the news lately about Vladimir Putin, I think he is trying to gain the title of "The Most Interesting Man in the World". I wonder if he drinks Dos Equis beer?

Indeed!

Here's to you, vent commenter...

USA = Flight 93

2011-08-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

I love Ann Barnhardt's brain and her courage. She's easy on the eyes too which is a lot more than I can say for about 98% of the women of AmSoc.

But characterizing the USA as Flight 1549 doesn't entirely hit the mark for me.

The infiltration of the Marxists into our government is not merely an unfortunate coincidence caused by the flight plan intersecting their flock. It is deliberate and intentional.
If the Marxists were a flock of birds then it would be immediately clear to all what had just happened and why the engines quit working. Instead, just as in They Live, we still can't seem to awaken more than a sprinkle of the population to the truth that is evident before our eyes.
If the Marxists were a flock of birds that knocked out the engines, then the scope of the impact would be immediately known and limited to the extent of the bird strikes alone. But that's not where we are, is it?
If the Marxists were a flock of birds, then we might have the opportunity to manage energy, trading speed for altitude and selecting a nice smooth place to set it down. Captain Sullenberger's flying was perfect and as a result, all passengers survived. Anybody think that we're going to have that smooth a landing? What percentage of the "passengers" will survive when our plane impacts the ground?
If the our airplane, the USA had merely been hit by a flock of birds, then we wouldn't be plummeting to earth at Vmax in a 70 degree dive. Someone would actually be trying to pull up, to steer for an airfield, to jettison fuel.
Finally, if the Marxists were birds then at least a few of them would have been killed in the process of being ingested into the engines. As we crashed, we could at least know that some of the bastards paid for it with their lives.

Instead, I offer this thought:

The USA = Flight 93.

On September 11th, Flight 93 was hijacked by people intent upon crashing the plane at a time and location of their choosing. They are few in number, but have acted with extreme violence to takeover the cockpit where all of the controls are. They disposed of the former pilots and cow the passengers into submission.

I have debated long about doing this, but here goes. I was at the Restore The Constitution Rally on April 19, 2010. Underneath the takeoff pattern for Reagan National, I stood up and delivered this speech.
_____________

In the next few minutes, I intend to take you on a journey through significant points in America's history, to draw some parallels, and then ask a few questions.

1775:
American colonists had suffered a long chain of abuses and insults from the crown. Increased taxation without representation, the Boston Massacre, government meddling into all areas of their lives, and quartering a standing army in their midst-even though the French-Indian War had been recently won. After years of ignored grievances, the colonists had little tolerance for any more insults or abuses to their liberty.

And so it was that on the night of April 18, 1775, a group of colonists around Boston became aware that a large force of British army regulars was on the move. Previously, the British army had sacked various locations, stealing gun powder and supplies from the colonists. However, this time would be different. William Dawes and Paul Revere made an historic and valiant ride-at night-and against British rules, through the cities and towns to awaken, alarm, and muster the men to stand to and be ready for action. Those who awoke, notified others. Like a modern day phone tree, or a story on the Internet, the word went viral and the entire area came to life with activity. The colonists grabbed musket, powder, cap and ball and they formed up for action.

The British army made their assaults in various locations and when there were skirmishes, the colonial militias fell back. But at the third strike of the match, at The North Bridge on April 19, 1775, the colonials stopped falling back. Instead they responded with deadly accurate fire from their muskets aimed at the leadership of the British regulars. At extraordinary risk to themselves, a group of ordinary men took up arms against the best equipped, best trained fighting force of the most powerful empire on Earth. But these colonists did more than stand up. They decisively routed the British regulars, sent them into panic, and harried them all the way back to Boston.

I've left off a number of details which many of you know far better than I do. I may have even gotten a few things wrong-for which I ask your apologies.

9/11/01
Four aircraft were hijacked. Three of those aircraft were crashed into highly visible and highly valuable targets.

The fourth aircraft . . . had a different outcome.

On board United Airlines Flight 93, the hijackers broke through the cockpit door, and attacked the flight crew-with deadly force. The hijackers then concentrated the passengers in the back of the plane so as to provide distance for themselves. They announced to the passengers that they would be returning to the airport. The hijackers announced that they had a bomb on the plane and that they would list their demands when they landed.

The citizens knew that this was a strange hijacking. I mean after all, who hijacks the plane, kills the pilots and then drags them out for everyone to see? If it were simply a political show, or a list of demands, then the pilot could fly the plane anywhere the hijackers wished.

These citizens had only a short time to talk. They called others to sound the alarm that they were being hijacked. They called their family to say their last goodbyes. They found out what had already happened that morning to 3 other airliners that had been hijacked and knew what fate awaited them.

And so, they united. They planned. They armed themselves. And they acted.

Though they surely fought with valor, they were not able to secure control of the plane to save their own lives. However their sacrifice is widely acknowledged to have saved either the White House or the Congress itself from destruction.

2010
It's been 235 years since the shot heard around the world.

In the last several decades, liberty has suffered assault after assault. For starters, we had to obtain a permit to legally assemble here today and exercise our First Amendment rights.
Here is a mercifully abridged list of things that our federal government is doing-which finds no mandate in the Constitution:

Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Student Loans
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
National Endowment for the Arts
FDIC
The Federal Reserve
Amtrak
School Lunches
PBS
Goldman Sachs
Lehman Brothers
GM
Chrysler
Health Care

Here are some others; The New Deal, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on illiteracy, the war on global warming, the war on obesity. (I thought liberals didn't like war?)

In 2005, the Supreme Court seriously eroded your property rights thanks to the Kelo case. We've watched government deny the right to life to the most defenseless before their birth and to favor euthanizing those whose utility they deem to have passed when they're old. And when we raised our voices in protest, they ridicule us and shut their ears. Recently, they passed and signed a health care bill that at nearly 160,000 words is 40 times longer than the Constitution. Worse, they've turned their political attack machine against the people who dare to disagree.

Make no mistake; this rally is not merely about guns. This is so much bigger than the right to keep and bear arms.

And so we gather on April 19, 2010 and I ask you; How similar is our political climate to that of our founding fathers? I ask you to consider whether these elements are not common to 1775 and to 2001?

Abuse of citizens' rights by an unjust authority.
An authority expects citizens to disarm and disperse.
Abuses committed under color of authority incite anger and unify the population for a common cause.
Most abuses ultimately fail to achieve their goal and may produce an entirely unintended consequence.
Even after repeated abuses and even direct attacks, patience is maintained.
An unjust authority cowers in fear of the citizens.
Citizens gain intelligence about their situation.
Some sound and spread the truth.
Some were awakened from their slumber and are prepared for action.
By merely uniting to talk and plan, citizens risk their own lives.

Is not this theme common as well:

Citizens recognize that they themselves are the intended targets.

In the case of Lexington Green and Concord, citizens responded with outrage at the insult to their freedoms. Authority's response was to turn their arms towards the citizens. Those Americans on Flight 93 knew that they were the targets.

Now let's bring this to a head; What if "Flight 93" is merely a euphemism for "The United States of America"?

Does our government not act like suicidal hijackers themselves?
What kind of government wrestles for control of businesses and then publicly fires their CEOs and other leaders?
Could the government not turn these businesses in any direction they wished through regulation and rules?
I ask you, what kind of authority is this that pushes us all into a corner-concentrating us, inciting anger and outrage, and stoking fear-and then turning their arms at us in cowardice?
And what course has our government taken?
Have they not made a clear 180° turn away from freedom, prosperity, and security and instead pointed our Republic towards destruction of all three?

In earlier days, we might have called these people communists fair and square. Given the self-destructive streak that they are on, perhaps the term "Commie-kazis" is more fitting.

What if we're all just passengers on Flight 93? The Constitution of the United States clearly enumerates the rights of the governed and the restrictions of the government. And that's where I rest. Our freedom is God-given and it is unchanging. So long as free men remain in the Constitution, then any conflict between man and the government is the fault of the government alone.

To my government I say, "Restore The Constitution."

To my friends here I say, "Stand Your Ground."

To my country I say, "May America bless The LORD our God, so that God may again bless America."
_____________________

From April of 2010 until now, I can't see anything that has changed except for the increase in speed and dive angle.

That's So Gay

2011-08-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Saw this on the tube this afternoon.

Your tax trillions at work.

Future ad-sermons you won't see.

Use of the term "teabagger"
Use of the term "terrorists"
Use of the term "hatriot"

Just a reminder folks; Civility is the new censorship. Say what ever in the hell you like. Especially when dealing with your government.

Here, I'll get it started; Our government is so gay.

They Are Coming

2011-08-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

A short PSA from Gandalf the Grey.

Holder vs. Churchill; Mob Violence

2011-08-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

With a h/t to Instapundit, here is a great, short piece regarding some comparison and contrast between Eric Holder and Winston Churchill.

It’s short. Read it all.

Got your CW2 cube handy?

The folks in one corner are committing violence where they are. When they run out of people to violate, shops to loot, and buildings to burn, then what? Will they quit or just change location? Where will they go? Towards you.

In the same way that the police are prevented from restoring order over there (Britain), the justice system over here is being prevented from taking steps to maintain it over here. Your government will not punish the guilty. Not for mere threatening as in the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia, 2008. Not for violence as in the recent flashmobs and flashriots.

Providing no disincentive before such behavior starts and no punishment after such behavior is committed, this behavior continue to grow in number, scope, and violence. It will also spread outward from the cities. Your government wants to isolate people by race.

Consider this:

It is already happening “over there” (London, Milwaukee, Akron, California, etc.)
It can happen “here” (i.e. wherever you are).
Your government will not punish the guilty, nor deter more of this behavior
This behavior will grow and spread
Thus, it will happen “here”

"They are coming."

“When.” Not “If”

2011-08-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

A great piece from ZeroHedge that I didn't have a chance to blog yesterday.

One quote:

In other words, the Status Quo is now addicted to unlimited flows of free credit issued by central banks. If the flow continues, then inflation will destabilize it; if it's cut off, then rising interest payments will destabilize it. No matter what policy path is taken, the result is the same: instability and destabilization.

Read it all.

You guys already know this, but collapse and doom is now just a matter of when, not if.

Sipsey Street Irregulars: FOX: U.S. Attorney's Office Rejects Family of Murdered Border Patrol Agent as Crime Victims.

2011-08-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

Story here.

Wow.

Let me boldly ask a question:

If U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke were shot dead, would there be a victim?

Might Burke be asked this question at his next "community forum?"

Obama at Dover

2011-08-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

I guess Hussein0 didn't want to allow the media to see his visit to Dover to pay his respects to the fallen members of Seal Team 6.

I saw a picture that disgusted me. I have fixed it here so as to better align with his actual feelings.

There. I fixed it.

More on the Mob

2011-08-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up on the rioters in Britain:
Remember this?

and a similar campaign from the WalMarTSA?

This is fundamentally little different than saying, “Let the police do their jobs.” In both cases, you have to let criminals do what they’re going to do first.

Let’s be honest though, in America, we’re lowering the bar to criminalize the most trivial of behaviors so as to classify everyone a criminal and put them under the thumb of the police state. British hoodlums, under the ever watching eyes of Orwellian surveillance may have just figured out that they’re all marked and considered criminals anyway and reached the flashpoint.

How long until it happens here? Who knows?

Here's my policy:

Image by Radiowave

Make it yours.

In order to help you make sense of the rioting, allow me...

Nothing New Under the Sun Tzu

2011-08-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

I saw a news blurb this morning that peaked my curiosity.

China's first aircraft carrier goes out for sea trials. Story here.

This is not it:

This is:

As with so much else China has done under communism, it was bought from someone else and will be reverse engineered to help them make others just like it.

What a story this is. The carrier started out life as the Soviet carrier Riga, later renamed Varyag. When the USSR stumbled, construction stopped.

In April 1998, Ukrainian Trade Minister Roman Shpek announced the winning bid—US$20 million from Chong Lot Travel Agency Ltd., a small company based in Hong Kong. They proposed to tow Varyag out of the Black Sea, through the Suez Canal and around southern Asia to Macau, where they would moor the ship and convert it into a floating hotel and gambling parlor. It would be similar to the attractions Kiev in Tianjin and Minsk at Minsk World in Shenzhen. - Wikipedia

The tow of the ship from Ukraine to China was another ordeal in itself.

In the Wikipedia article I read this morning there was this paragraph, which contains the real punchline:

Jane's Fighting Ships states that Varyag may have been named Shi Lang and assigned pennant number 83. Jane's notes that both the name and pennant number are unconfirmed. Shi Lang was a Ming-Qing Dynasty admiral who defeated Koxinga's navy and conquered Taiwan in 1681. (emphasis mine) (this paragraph was later removed on the Varyag Wikipedia page, but may be confirmed elsewhere as fact.)

I was interested in Shi Lang and read up a little about him. He seems to be quite a character.

He defected from the Ming dynasty over to the Qing dynasty in 1646. Whereupon his father, brother and son were killed.
After successfully leading his fleet to victory, he conquered the Kingdom of Tungning which is modern day Taiwan.
He lobbied the Kangxi Emperor to include Taiwan as a part of China’s recognized territory.
He seized almost half of Southern Taiwan for his own profit.
He instituted policies that deliberately aimed to isolate Taiwan from the rest of the Qing Empire- coastal provinces were forbidden to interact with Taiwan, and even people from inland provinces were disallowed to bring their families with them, effectively preventing them from taking any permanent foothold in Taiwan.

What a guy!

Sounds to me like the PLAN knew exactly what they were doing when they named this aircraft carrier. Truly, there is nothing new under the Sun Tzu.

Thugnuts Update: Wisconsin Recalls

2011-08-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

A great picture. It's hard to tell, but her shirt might even say, "Unite Thugnuts!"

Story here.

Yeah…the Democrats only won 2 of 6 races in the special elections in Wisconsin.

In my opinion, the real benefit for the SSEIU-thugnut crowd is contained within the story.

Cash flowing into the recalls already has approached $30 million, and total spending by third-party groups and candidates could top $40 million, election watchdogs say. That total would double spending on all 116 of last fall's state legislative races combined.

Outside interest groups have spent millions on both sides, from conservative organizations like Wisconsin Club for Growth, Wisconsin Family Action, and Citizens for a Strong America to pro-union and liberal groups like We Are Wisconsin, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democracy for America.

Where GOP affiliated groups have poured in their own money and even made the Wisconsin recall races a national priority, the ACORNholes, the SSEIUs, the Thugnuts have been spending your money. (As opposed to spending it on "shovel ready" projects.)

The empty holsters can briefly celebrate after stopping Saruman's Uruk-hai horde at Helm’s Deep. However, the net effect of such recall jihad by the left is to bleed the opposition of their strength, to weaken them for future contests-regardless of the outcome. Does anyone doubt that the Orcs will be back in the next election with truckloads full of your money to overwhelm the GOP incumbents who had to expend their campaign coffers to survive 2011?