The Jack Boot Thugs Pandemic

In its rush to establish a techno-police state, the current administration is pursuing various seemingly minimally intrusive, and sometimes more intrusive methods of getting We The People more used to the omnipresence of police among the population, who are to be seen as having power to accost, identify and question any individual at any time for any or no reason.

Note a new initiative to thwart "terrorists" in Miami (which has to be distinguished from Miami-Dade, which is in a part of Florida that has many and various problems of its own) a known locus of illegal activity of all sorts. Seems the local Jack-Booted Thugs pick banks, hotels and other public places to seal off the location and check identification of those incarcerated therein, to be allowed to exit, presumably. Woe to the individual who forgets his wallet! Details here. This, presumably, in lieu of actually doing anything effective (and Constitutional) about the evil fundie islamists.

At least one person, Deborah Davis of Arvada, Colorado, is resisting this new pandemic (I use the term "pandemic" not in its real sense, but in the attempt to increase the State of Fear, much like the way it's used by the news media). When she rode a public bus to work, and the bus route happened to pass through a government installation (for the convenience of the government sloths who occupy space in that installation for eight and no more than eight hours a day whenever they can't get out of it) . At a bus stop inside the government drone farm, she was asked to produce identification. She refused. She said no. She was arrested. Some of her supporters refer to her as "the Rosa Parks of the Patriot Act generation." Details here.

As the shackles of the George W Bush police state tighten around the wrists and ankles of all of us (unless you are an Arabic-looking young man), we need to learn to say NO to tyranny in whatever ways we can.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Bitter-Sweet Thanksgiving

The bad part was my fault, really. We're not really given to spending most of the day cooking and baking, so some years we find a nice restaurant to have Thanksgiving dinner. That's what we tried to do this time.

My mother, and recent years my sister, are unbeatable as far as great Thanksgiving dinners go. I'll stack 'em up against anybody. They all went to my brother's new digs in the Zone this year, and I wasn't able to get away.

Debbie got together with my old hot rodding pal from El Cajon, and he and his wife decided to drive up and join us for dinner at a restaurant. As far as the restaurant went, we made an unfortunate choice.

We had a wonderful visit; talked about many things. We really don't do it often enough, and that's really my fault. I'm the busy one who often works six days a week and has more other interests than I have time for. Nonetheless, it was a good afternoon and a great visit.

Now, for the bad news. The restaurant we chose (most restaurants being closed for the holiday) was a touristy sort of European village place that was having a special Thanksgiving buffet. Since it was a special deal, they set it up in a dance hall which, in the daylight, devoid of the dance hall decorations and lighting, had all the ambiance of a small airplane hangar.

The food was.....ok. Unfortunately, our reservation time was fairly near the end of their day, so some of the items on the buffet were in short supply. The serving people were anticipating closing time, so they had their minds elsewhere.

In short, the dinner was a less than satisfactory experience. I'll know better next time. I don't think Old World Village will see me tippy-toeing over their threshold for a long, long time.

The visit from our friends saved the day. As time goes by, I appreciate the time spent with good friends more and more.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Tin Man is On the No-Fly List

Here it is, the dreaded Holiday season once again. Time to go over the river and through the woods, to visit loved ones for Thanksgiving, then on its heels will come Christmas and a plethora of other holidays that just happen to fall on Winter Solstice (which is the real reason for the season). I'll have to avoid driving too close to the malls for a while.

The one-horse open sleigh is obsolete, at least partly because most grandmas live more than five or ten miles away. They're as likely to want to meet at a ski resort as at their homes.

So we fly. We fly to meet them at their cabin in South Lake Tahoe or their Manhattan apartment.

The temptation now, is to remind everyone of the barbarity of the very intrusive and unConstitutional searches that happen every day at airports, and that one now has to have government approval to fly. This while the baggage that is checked into the cargo space in the plane gets virtually no scrutiny at all. So much for resisting temptation.

Well, I won't be flying. If the airlines want my money, their corporate officers will have to grow spines, and tell the Evil Emporer to remove his thugs and "we'll take care of our own security, thank you very much."

So, I'll drive my 275-horse open sleigh. It works just fine.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Why Hate Republicans?

As most of you know, I pay attention to politics. I don't have time to watch it as much as the real bloggers; maybe not that much interest, but it gives me something about which to complain.

As most of you also know, I'm a libertarian. A pretty radical one. When I say radical, I mean that it all starts from the fact that no individual may initiate force against any other--never, never, not ever. Even the National Libertarian Party, which once required one's signature on a pledge of non-initiation of force as a term of membership, has continually been trying to get its members to put an end to the requirement to sign that Pledge. I'm not sure if they still require it or not. I do.

My handy-dandy quick-snap gauge to separate capitalists from socialists is the following: Any individual who advocates government's right to forcibly tax its citizens, that is, initiate force to raise revenue, that individual is a socialist. Any individual who denies government (or any entity) that right, is a capitalist.

Which brings me to my point--why hate republicans? Well, I don't only hate republicans, I also hate democrats, greens and other assorted socialists. The thing is....democrats, greens, peace & freedom types, etc. are so nearly incoherent, are so opposed to everything that sustains life and makes it worth living, that only the very worst victims of the government's alleged school system can be taken in by them (the bad news: thanks to these same schools, the incoherence is growing). Republicans at least sound as if they have coherent arguments. That, of course, deserves more scrutiny.

If you listen to most conservative (republican) intellectuals, politicians and pundits, they talk a fairly good game proclaiming their interest in and perference for capitalism. They praise the virtues and benefits of the free market, individual rights and the wonder of individual initiative. They proclaim that capitalism makes us free. That the free market raises the tide of man's ability to live in comfort and happiness. That the tide of a free society "raises all boats." Indeed it does.

When we see the inconsistencies inherent in the conservative philosophy (such as it is), we have to wonder, though, what do they mean when they call up the revered word "capitalism?" Of what, to a conservative, does a free market consist? What is the philosophical justification for individual freedom?

Here, my friends, is where conservatives stand foursquare, unmoving and unmoveable, rockribbed and square-jawed, on a foundation of quicksand. They base their entire (some dare call it) philosophy on the christian god. They're ever so fond of pointing to their "god-given rights" as an answer to just about any political question or challenge. Oh, my!

When one answers any question with, "because god says so" or "it's in the bible," there is no where you can go with that. It's of course, not true, but there's a not-so-implicit moral sanction that says, "say no more, god said it, I believe it and that settles it."

God didn't say it. It may be in the bible, but who wrote the bible? How many times has it been translated and retranslated? What about the inconsistencies from book to book? Why do so many people read the bible and come away with widely differing conclusions? It makes no sense.

Man's rights derive from his nature as man. Every individual has the same rights and there is no multiplication of rights by virtue of number. These are rights to life, liberty and property. Therefore, to deny an individual's right to his property by force is to steal. George Bush has no more right to steal my property (my money) than does Alfredo Simpson of Merced. 290 million Americans don't have the right to vote to take the farm of one--no matter what the intended use.

Republicans often (not always) agree with much of this, although they grant government the right to steal some portion of my property for various purposes "as long as it's reasonable." This is where they fail, but it gets worse. Republicans espouse the virtues of a gruel of capitalism mixed with a reasonable amount of government theft, regulation and redistribution (the degree varies with the individual republican), as long as it's for "good purposes," but hold that, to a certain degree (the degree varies), that men should be free and have the right to life, liberty and property. To a degree.

Ok, you can kind of live with that. Now, wait until the republican runs for public office and gets elected. His conservative philosophy is so tenuously held and so ill-defined that when the left opposes him on any issue, he always folds. Always. Republicans, when elected, check their spines at the door of Congress (or whatever office to which they are elected).

That's why I hate republicans. I grew up in a republican atmosphere. It was from conservatism that I moved toward libertarianism. I get their philosophy, even though I no longer agree with much of it. Would that they could actually firm up their principles (such as they are), take them to Congress and fight for them, they'd win. If they would actually firm up those principles, though, they'd either move farther toward socialism--or maybe toward libertarianism. Republicanism is kind of an icky place filled with soft, wet things like Dennis Hastert and Trent Lott. No thinker would want to stay there.

No Republican will vote to deny the government to prerogative to initiate force against American citizens. They won't.

They're socialists.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Taking a Short Vacation

I'll be away for a few days, starting tomorrow after work. Once again, I'll be attending The Freedom Summit in Phoenix Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday.

The Freedom Summit is one of several weekend fora around the country each year in which it's possible to be around like-minded people (and no one but like-minded people) for an entire weekend. It's kind of cool when you can wear a sidearm on your belt and have no one freak out at the sight of it.

Speakers this year include George H Smith, Sunni Maravillosa and David Friedman. There are several others about whom I know little or nothing but, hey! that's how you learn new stuff.

So, I'll be back Tuesday or Wednesday with a new outlook and even more dislike for all things governmental.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Lamenting the Disappearance of Monica

I think it was love at first sight. Monica White wrote a short article for the Atlasphere on the tv series "Firefly," back in August of last year, then followed it up with another on the art of Jack Vettriano about a month later.

Well, I'd been watching "Firefly" when it was on first run. I loved it! Space anarchists freelancing on the edges of the Empire! A libertarian dream! What Monica did was put a lot of my thoughts on the series into words, in a way I hadn't tried. I went right out and bought the series boxed set and have watched each episode a couple of times (so far!).

I hadn't heard of Jack Vettriano, but her review of his art, infused with images of several of his works, added another artist to the list of those I like.

Reading her Networking Profile told me that she was from Perth, Australia, now living in London. It told me she was an objectivist (in London!) and that she had a blog she called Th'inkwell--just a minor example of her witty use of the English language.

I read her blog and quickly realized that Monica has a degree of perceptiveness matched only by her artful and rational way of writing about that which she experiences. I devoured each entry to her blog as it appeared. She wrote fairly regularly about a wide variety of subjects until late this past February when she announced she was quitting, her interest in writing the blog was on the wane.

Well, it was a wonderful blog. Currently, since the site is still up, I'm reading the archives from time to time when I need a Monica fix. I'm nearly caught up to the place where I started. Oh well.

Several of the blogs I read are sites whose links I first found on Th'inkwell.

Thanks, Monica.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

(Over)sensitivity?

There was a segment on one of the tv talk shows about a "girl-cott" over a line of t-shirts for young women sold at Abercrombie & Fitch. The t-shirts have slogans like "I had a nightmare I was a brunette," "Do I make you look fat?" and "Blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored."

The leaders of this "girl-cott" are using such politically correct buzz words as "inappropriate" and "not empowering" and even "racist" to denounce this clothing line. We can start by wondering how one gets racism out of the battle between blondes and brunettes.

Now, there are a lot of t-shirts worn by both men and women that I don't like. T-shirts promising physical assault for various actions and thoughts (such as burning the flag), t-shirts prostletyzing religion and Che Guevara t-shirts come quickly to mind. Am I going to make a big deal out of it? Nope. I just won't be buying any of those t-shirts, and I probably won't be befriending individuals who make those kinds of wardrobe choices.

One begins to wonder about the adaptability of these individuals to the highly competitive, dog-eat-dog, laugh-in-the-face-of-death world of full-contact career-seeking professionals, if they're so easily offended (to the point of being driven to action) by such trivialities. How will they cope, how will they cope?

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California