Mission Accomplished!

I don't know if most large cities are as utterly dysfunctional as is El Pueblo de Los Angeles, but it seems to be following a pattern set by the state, originally seen (in this country) in the US federal government. Since these governmental entities attract power-mad controller types, these individuals see the way to increased power (over others) is to control as much of the infrastructure as possible.

Trouble is, these little fascists are neither very smart nor very imaginitive. To them, it's a one-size-fits-all world. Ultimately, their grandiose control schemes fail. Today, el Pueblo de Los Angeles is failing, the state of California is failing and the federal government of the United States is failing. Various petty little dictators are biting off way more than they can chew and trying to control far more than can be controlled.

In this case, I'm spotlighting the LA Unified School District and the LA Police Dept.

Seems there's a children's prison down in South Central called the Santee Education Center. There is also a severe gang problem in the area. Many youngsters ride the LA Metro buses to school, which stop at an intersection two blocks from the children's prison. The kids have to walk the remaining two blocks.

Seems that local gangsters often prey 'pon the kids, harassing them about gang affiliation and/or robbing them of cash and valuables. Finally, officials of el pueblo decided to do something. They added another bus stop only one block from the children's prison.

Patience, my friends, it gets better from here.

According to stories in the LA Times, including this one, at the inauguration of this new bus stop, a bus carrying Antonio Vinaigrette, el alcalde del Pueblo de Los Angeles, schools Supt. David Brewer and Santee Principal Vince Carbino, a posse of LAPD officers and news reporters (an unconfirmed rumor states that the new bus stop cost $7 million) was tagged by a student!! Tagging, for those of you in south Indiana, is scribbling graffiti 'pon the outside of the vehicle with spray paint or a magic marker.

The lad, wearing a gray hoodie and looking very mean, wrote his handle, "Zoner," on a bus window. He bolted when he realized that a news reporter was taking pictures of him through the very bus window 'pon which he was scribbling. El Alcalde, who reportedly was quite angry, wanted the police to catch and arrest the kid, but cooler heads prevailed as they realized they might cause a traffic problem in the street. Mr Carbino was sure he could locate the youngster through school records.

I would have loved to have seen the Keystone Kops chase routine that might've erupted at that point. Too bad; a great opportunity was missed.

A tip of the old battered fedora to Doug McIntyre, talk show host at KABC-AM in LA, for asking why the city isn't, instead of creating a new bus stop, going after the gangs, arresting those who commit crimes.

Meanwhile, children's prison officials battered each other trying to get at the mike to be first to say that they don't want this tagger punished; his action is a "cry for help."

I wonder if Charles Manson's 1969 Tate-Bianca murder spree was a "cry for help."

I fear for the life of the Republic.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Let Them Eat Cake

Jolly Prince Charlie went on the record here as being opposed to MacDonald's burger joints in Great Britain, apparently not for the first time. He thinks his subjects, especially the children, ought to eat a balanced diet. He wants to ban the Big Mac, which is about as nutritious as a plate of fish & chips (if not as tasty).

The general decline of the British economy, caused by the increasing degree of government intervention creeping into the economy, makes it difficult for many of the working class, not to mention the out-of-work class, to be able to eat according to the standards of royalty.

Hence, I declare Charles, Prince of Wales the winner of the First Occasional Marie Antoinette Foot-In-Mouth Award. May he find a conspicuous place for it 'pon his chest with all his fake military medals.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Clever, These Parasites....

This past November, we (those of us who haven't yet decided that voting is futile) voted in the election that turned Congress back over to Socialist Party A, dealing a blow to Socialist Party B's plan to pursue The Forever War.

More relevant to many of us here in the Stalag, was the then-current installment of bond issues up for a vote so the state parasites can spend a bunch more money without having to raise taxes.

It's been said that much of California's budget goes to pay interest on past bond issues.

Proposition 1B of 2006 is a proposed bond issue to pay for needed work on the state's highways and freeways to alleviate traffic bottlenecks. A little more research that I want to do right now, will expose the fact that there was another bond issue just a few years ago, to accomplish precisely that same task. One might wonder where those billions went, since they apparently didn't go to the state's highways then.

Since Stalag Califonia is a sort of floating ponzi game, Prop 1B passed handily. CalTrans now has $20 billion to spend on who-knows-what, and to line any number of thieving pockets.

The California Highway Commission, a group appointed by the Governor, has just come out with its list of recommendations as to how the $20B should be spent. It turns out that a relatively small amount of the bonanza will be spent in El Pueblo de Los Angeles.

Antonio Vinaigrette, el alcalde, stands beside himself. What about I-405 through the Sepulveda Pass? What about the I-605/I-10 interchange?

I have personal knowledge about the deplorable condition of I-405. I don't even go there anymore, even though it used to be the easiest way to get to the OC from here. Not anymore.

I can't vouch for I-605/I-10 one way or the other. I only rarely venture out that way at all, because, well.....everyone knows there's no intelligent life east of I-5.

Here's the clever part, folks. This'll crack you up. One of the Los Angeles area State Assemblymen, one Fabian Nunez, Democrat, Los Angeles, says he'll propose yet another highway bond proposition to address these areas.

As one of the all-time great stand-up comedians, Mort Sahl, said on more than one occasion, "The true stuff is the funniest stuff, folks."

You just can't make this stuff up!

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Two Great Graphic Novels

I've mentioned this to some folks, and CC also mentioned it recently: Big Head Press has begun serializing a number of graphic novels, each of which is continued each week. Two of the stories are by L Neil Smith, my favorite Sci-Fi author.

The first is Neil's first novel, The Probability Broach. It's been over ten years since I first read the print novel, but the graphic novel, drawn by Scott Bieser, is a lot of fun.

The second, not yet released in print, is Roswell, Texas. This one, like TPB, is an "alternate universe" story. It's set in a universe in which Texas remains an independent nation, which requires its citizens to carry a sidearm for personal protection, unless they declare themselves conscientious objectors.

Both novels are a lot of fun, and offer the reader a view of a possible libertarian society.

I await each week's installment of each story with a great deal of anticipation, much as many of you ladies wait for the next episode of As The World turns.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm Regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Parasites--Same the World Over

I always thought the state legislature here in the Stalag was the single most useless body of wasted humanity 'pon this planet, next to the (nearly) whole of Washington DC. It may still be the case, but I'd like to enter, for your consideration, the North Dakota State House. Much smaller and less opulently endowed than that of the Stalag, it still manages to waste money (extorted from others) to a degree that, I'm sure, holds its own on a per-capita basis.

In a story on the BusinessPortal24.com site (with additional commentary from Ole Bjugstadt of Finley, North Dakota), we find that, in a rare show of restraint, the North Dakota State House rejected a measure to honor Bono, of the rock band U2, for his efforts to relieve the debt of third world countries (presumably debt to us, here in the United States).

Bono, who has worked very hard throughout his youth to make a success of the band U2, and who now is enjoying the bountiful fruits of his labors, has been hob-nobbing with Hollywood "philanthropists," and has learned from them the means of becoming well thought of in the larger society (outside of the world of rock 'n' roll).

You simply announce that you wish to help the poor, then you talk other people into doing it with their money. Then, you take credit for the whole thing.

An Assemblyman from Fargo submitted the bill to the august body, even though Bono has no connection whatever with the State of North Dakota and, to my knowledge, has never even been in North Dakota. One Assemblyman was heard to say that he thought they meant the late Sony Bono.

Some say U2 gave a concert in Fargo once, but the truly savvy know that it was actually Babe's Bitch, a garage band from Brainerd, filling in for them on an occasion in which they accidentally booked two locations on the same night. After they costumed themselves in "depressing European suicide rock band" drag, each of the members of Babe's Bitch drank a pint of Canadian Club before the concert to be able to truly look convincing in the role.

Major music critics have yet to weigh in on the success of the concert, and many Fargo concert attendees said they enjoyed the music, though one fan who traveled down from Winnipeg said he thought the singer sounded Norwegian.

Fortunately, a majority of the state's Assembly didn't hit the Canadian Club on this occasion and cooler heads prevailed. Bono will have to, for the time being, remain "just another Irishman" in the records of the North Dakota State Assembly.

Yet another thing for Europeans to hold against America.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Another Case of Not Enough Guns

According to a story on BusinessPortal24.com--and many other places--the trench-coated Sulejmen Talovic would've killed several more people in the Trolley Square shopping Center in Salt Lake City, had Ken Hammond, an off-duty officer from nearby Ogden, not confronted the murderer. I applaud Mr Hammond for his valor.

Talovic killed five individuals and wounded four more, in a rampage that could've been far worse had Mr Hammond not been nearby and willing to get involved.

My opinion? Because the vast majority of Americans are complacent about the possibility of violence, and no longer find it fashionable to be capable of defending ourselves, and since some have extended this attitude into law, this majority staggers through life as sheep at the mercy of the first criminal who will do them harm. Even the police urge individuals to give the evil-doer what he wants and do what he orders.

Bow meekly before the asshole who, through force of arms, holds my life in his hands? I don't think so!

Had several others within the shopping center been armed as this fool began his rampage, the situation might've been controlled much like Scott Bieser's 'toon about the Sept 11, 2001 hijackings. At the very least, someone might've been able to stop this fool before he killed anyone.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Politician With Common Sense?

I never thought I'd see the day.

I don't think much of politicians and political leaders. Not much at all. I only bring this up because it is (to my knowledge) unique. In a Drudge story, it seems the President of Czech Republic is another one of those evil Global Warming Denier.

Mr Vaclav Klaus, in an interview for "Hospodárské noviny", a Czech economics daily, says, "IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body....." of the green variety. Asked why none of the world's senior statesmen share his views, he says, "Other top-level politicians do not express their global warming doubts because a whip of political correctness strangles their voice."

I particularly enjoyed reading Mr Klaus' doubts as to the sanity of Algore.

Refreshing.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Prince of Phallic Symbolism

It might seem like I'm stuck of talk show hosts, and maybe I am, but I just have to write about this, since it at once stands out as irrefutable proof that the christian taliban right is obsessed with sexual symbolism, if not with the sex itself.

I watched the HyperBowl game yesterday, and enjoyed it, in spite of the fact that I'm not that much of a fan of foopbaw. I've always rather enjoyed the game played under inclement weather conditions. It's interesting to see how the players deal with rain, snow, cold and/or a muddy field. In yesterday's game, the main problem was a steady rain that lasted troughout the game. One of the reasons my interest in the game has flagged, is the proliferation of covered stadia. Traditionally, foopbaw is an outdoor sport.

Debbie and I watched the halftime show with a high degree of enthusiasm, both being Prince fans. While I might've picked a slightly different playlist, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. As did Debbie. I commented that this was one of the only halftime shows that actually worked, in several years.

This morning, on the infamous Laura Ingraham talk show, I found out how wrong I was. I didn't notice this, I was enjoying the show: seems that, at one point, Prince used a wind machine to blow a large, white cloth sheet to a vertical, flapping, moving screen 'pon which the lighting caused his shadow to be displayed as he sang and played his guitar. For a brief moment, Price turned so that the shadow of his body hid the guitar body, and the neck of the guitar appeared to be sticking out of the front of his pants. As he ran his hand up and down the frets, well, you can imagine how that looked.

Ms Ingraham, sexually repressed individual that she appears to be, jumped 'pon that image like Miss Balbricker in the shower scene in the film Porky's.

Ms Ingraham spent a large portion of her show discussing this, bringing up the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake show a few years ago. It seems we can see which kind of individual is sex-obsessed.

One of the excuses Ms Ingraham (and others--Hannity, O'Reilly, et al) uses for her fixation 'pon these kinds of images is that of protecting the children.

We have to protect the children.

I don't think it's the job of the christian taliban right to make the world child-safe. I don't want the world to be child safe, nor is it its nature to be so.

Parents, care for your children. Love your children. What you teach them in their first four years will go far toward their psychological makeup throughout their lives. What you teach them in the next ten or so years will make young men and women out of them.

And, for the sake of their safety and future sanity, keep them out of the government's children's prisons!! They're getting more and more dangerous and more and more destructive of the uniqueness of the individual.

No one has ever been able to convince me that casually observed sexual images are destructive to children. Usually, they elicit an attack of curiosity--normal and healthy for a child. You tell the youngster the truth--just enough to satisfy his curiosity. You can tell him more later, as he gets older.

"Protecting" a child from his own adulthood is far more destructive than any casually observed sexual images he might encounter. If you can manage to protect your children from sexual abuse--a formidable enough task--that'll do. That'll do, along with his education and your love.

Government schools are child abuse.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

It's Not Only the Islamists

This afternoon, I was watching Fox News. A program called "Heartland, with John Kasich" was on. I don't often watch this show, because Kasich seems such a stupid man. A topic on his show caught my eye.

He was interviewing a couple of women on the subject of teaching "exotic dancing" to teenage girls. One of the women conducts classes on exotic dancing, and offers reasons why a teenage girl might want to learn the techniques. The other, obviously, thinks this is stupid. Or rather, in today's typical non-judgemental speak, not helpful.

Kasich is downright hostile. Clearly, he thinks any mention or suggestion of anything sexual to any girl under the age of, say sixty, is robbing a girl of her childhood.

Well, unlike John Kasich, I was a child once, and though I had a pretty good childhood, at the time, I was continually wishing it was over so I could go out and do real stuff. Childhood, though a carefree time of learning and playing (ideally) seems vastly overrated.

What could be wrong with teaching young girls to dance, in any manner, when they've decided that they would like it?

I know from previous experience that Kasich is a christian conservative. He was in Congress for a short time and, fortunately for all of us, is no longer there. As far as his opinions on the subjects of girls, women and sexuality, Kasich falls in the same category with other christian conservatives like media personalities Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham and others. Put girls in burqas and keep them from any knowledge of things sexual until marriage. Put the boys in uniform and send them to war.

Girls ought to be educated by their parents gradually, as they express curiosity about things sexual--especially the dangerous aspects--and then guided as they grow up. Then, they should be trusted to behave intelligently as they attain adulthood.

Most parents are way too protective of their kids, for far too long. It often leaves them unprepared to deal with the world as they become adults.

Kids are always smarter (in many respects) than adults think they are.

We should let them be adults.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Blame Canada!

I don't know. I don't find anything wrong with this.....well, there is one thing, which I'll mention later. According to this story from BBC, and this story from Telegraph.co.uk, the small town of Herouxville, about 100 miles northeast of Montreal, has adopted a resolution detailing certain kinds of behavior that immigrants to the town shall not be allowed to do. The resolution reads: "We consider it completely outside norms to... kill women by stoning them in public, burning them alive, burning them with acid, circumcising them etc."

The resolution adds: "....That women are allowed to drive, vote, dance and own their own homes."

It further states, "The rules ban Sikh children from carrying ceremonial daggers to school...."

Here's where the City of Herouxville and I part company. Canadians, like most other British Commonwealth states, are not very smart with regard to the notion of self defense. Presumably, because in the end, the British Crown regards all of its subjects to be its chattel. It can't allow the serfs the right of self defense, since the serfs might someday realize that their worst enemy is, indeed, the Crown.

So, in the event of a robbery or an attempt at murder or rape, the Crown wants its serfs to simply lie down and die.

I don't accept that and, at least in a ceremonial way, neither do the Sikhs. I'll allow them their daggers, whether ceremonial imitations or real, sharp, steel daggers. I'll allow them sidearms, swords, blackjacks, nunchuks or brass knuckles--so long as they use them only to defend themselves and not to initiate force.

As to the former, islamists are notorious in their hatred for women. I have no idea how they manage to multiply--how women in islamic societies put up with their savagery.

I think it would serve all of Western Civilization well to require civilized behavior of all their immigrants.

Thanks and a tip of the battered gray fedora to Thaddeus Tremayne at Samizdata.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Children's Prisons Under Siege

I was reading the story through the plastic window of the vending machine. It was the Los Angeles Daily News, a leftist-run newspaper that I don't purchase because of its bias.

Later, I found the story (containing a lot of leftist spin) on the net.

The story tells us that students at several San Fernando Valley High Schools are experiencing an increasing number of violent attacks in recent times. I might wonder how this could possibly be, in light of the fact that LA children's prisons are legally "safe school zones," in which there are high penalties for possession of a weapon or committing various other crimes within the area.

David Brewer, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, neatly sidesteps the issue by claiming it's "the community's fault." He pledges to work closely with Antonio Vinaigrette, el alcalde del Pueblo de Los Angeles to reduce gang activity.

El alcalde, a member of MEChA, a latino power organization, is failing miserably in the battle against criminal gangs, partly because he refuses to acknowledge the racial aspect of gang dynamics, and partly because he refuses to recognize the means of their funding: illegal vice. He further casts a blind eye 'pon anything that might actually lessen their power. His idea of fighting gangs is with negotiation, and attempts to learn more about their grievances so he can find a way to satisfy them. "I feel your pain," or the like.

I have news for you, Senor Alcalde: They want money and they want power over others. Just like you do. Just like the city council does. Just like the federal government's elected officials do.
They, and you, want the unearned. You want respect and adulation even if you have to get it by force of arms.

I know this is the farthest thing from your mind (such as it is), but if you really wanted to do away with gangs, here are three things that will go a long way toward a solution:

• Repeal all of the municipal gun laws. All of them. This is the most important, and would be the most effective of this entire list. One of the biggest reasons for the success of gangs in El Pueblo is the fact that most of their victims have no way of effectively defending themselves.
• Repeal all municipal drug laws. The enforcement of drug laws is far more harmful to the populace than are the drugs themselves. If the drugs to which we refer as "recreational" were readily available at drug stores (or even head shops) at market prices, gangs will have lost their primary source of revenue, not to mention power.
• Withhold tax payments to the state and federal governments. They are doing nothing to help the problem. Their actions seriously aggravate these and many other local difficulties, and they deserve no payment for their lack of effective effort.
• Permanently suspend any and all mandatory taxes, and solicit donations from the public to fund police and court activities. The poor can't afford to pay your confiscatory taxes; the better off could afford to invest in businesses that could offer honest work to ex-gangsters and the honest unemployed alike. Offer all municipal services on a fee-for-service basis at market prices.
  
• El Pueblo should divest itself of all services that can be offered on the free market. Fire fighting and prevention, education, health services, utilities, public transportation, routine police patrolling, construction inspection and even streets and highways can be privately owned and operated. It'd be done far more efficiently and at less expense outside of municipal control.

The only reason that these solutions won't be considered is that, in the deepest analysis, Senor Vinaigrette, the City Council, the Chief of Police and the heads of the various municipal departments are a gang in their own right, and will only mount a serious battle against street gangs if they actually challenge the power of city government itself.

....And that could happen, amigos mios. It could happen soon.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Addendum:
As I write this, according to a story in the Long Beach Press Telegram, four of nine gang thugs who beat up three young women of another race in nearby Long Beach this past Halloween because they are of another race, were sentenced to probation and house arrest for their actions. These women are not yet recovered from their injuries. This is a perfect example of municipal governments' inability (of lack of desire) to deal with gang activity.