The Constitution of the United States of America

I might occasionally mention disagreement with certain segments and clauses in the Constitution but, though flawed, it's by far the best government charter in existence and in history. The main difficulties with the document are those that, in a civil contract, would be nullified by just about any court: a) it applies, by force of government arms, to everyone by virtue of happening to live in a certain geographical area--even to those who haven't signed it and b) one--either an individual or a group--can't opt out except by leaving the described geographical area. Moreover, restrictions against traveling beyond the limits of the borders become more rigorous every year.

Yet those in whom we're forced to place our trust with carrying out the mandates of this document are more and more wont to ignore its restrictions. In spite of the fact that each and every one of them is sworn to an Oath to uphold and defend the US Constitution, they wantonly and constantly try to create programs that deeply harm their constituents, making convoluted and rationally indefensible justifications for their violations of their Oaths of Office. The founders, one and all, federalist and anti-federalist, would be up in arms waging a new Revolution, were they alive to see this nullification of all that for which they gave their lives, fortunes, their sacred honor.

A very few in Congress, according to a column by Chuck Muth, are swimming against this tide, showing that they 're actually familiar with the document, but respect it and their Oath. Congressman John Shadegg (R-Ariz) has written a proposal to this end. His “Enumerated Powers Act” stipulates that “Each act of Congress shall contain a concise and definite statement of the Constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that act.”

He has only thirty cosponsors so far, including Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Texas). In light of the spinelessness and the contempt most Republicans (trumped only by that of the Democrats) feel towards American independence and liberty, one has to wonder what's happened to this Great Experiment.

A more radical proposal, more palatable to the free-minds-and-markets advocate that is my very own self, is that suggested by L Neil Smith, in The Libertarian Enterprise. The Zeroth Amendment, to be placed in front of the other ten Amendments of the Bill of Rights, reads as follows:

ARTICLE ZERO

I. Any public official or employee who, knowingly or unknowingly, violates—or participates in the violation of—any provision of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution shall, in full public view and over such media as exist at the time, be hanged by the neck until he is dead.

II. The word "he" is not to be construed so as to exclude female public officials or employees.

III. This amendment, upon ratification, shall be inserted in the Constitution just before the First Amendment.

The "Zeroth Amendment" might seem a bit extreme to some, unless you consider the amount of your productivity they've been stealing from us throughout the length of our lives, and further consider that there's never been any leniency shown by the jack-booted thugs of the IRS, DEA, BATFE and a host of other terrorist squads created unConstitutionally by these selfsame Oath violators.

Read the Constitution. Do what it says.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Leftist Celebrity Hypocrisy

According to a story in TMZ, a car driven by Julia Roberts' hubby Danny Moder was found and photographed parked in front of Malibu's How's market yesterday, in a Handicapped parking space!

Roberts, a member in good standing if Hollywood's Airhead Left, is often seen and heard railing against all things conservative, and in favor of all things socialist and irrational (but, I repeat myself!), anywhere she can find the front end of a camera.

Well, she found a host of paparazzi cameras in front of How's, showing her true stripes: those of a Hollywood elitist hypocrite.

Do as I say, not as I do.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Algorians' Game

A friend of mine, the Philosophical Detective, has linked and article by Orson Scott Card, a science fiction and fantasy author. The article can be found in Meridian Magazine, a publication catering to members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

The article is fairly long, but very easy to read. It describes the genesis of the climate change religion, nee "global warming." I won't attempt to analyze or criticize the article, but to say that it flows parallel with the evidence and the assumptions I've made about the algorians and the Global Warming Hoax from the early days of its announcement.

I highly recommend reading this work, if you're interested in fighting the further diminishment of our liberty that is the only thing this trend offers.

Tip of the old gray fedora: Philosophical Detective

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The American Holiday

As I relax, letting my Thanksgiving dinner settle in, and feel the drowsiness brought on by my tryptophan fix, I find myself contemplating the meaning of the day. I'm old enough to remember having been taught that Thanksgiving was a celebration of the success of the Plymouth Colony, having a bountiful harvest after giving up communal farming in favor of private farms. The guards at the government's children's prisons don't teach that anymore. They'd have us all drown in a sea of altruism.

I've just finished reading two excellent columns about the day, as published on the Atlasphere website. The first is by John Stossel, the well-known co-anchor of the ABC newsmagazine, "20/20." It briefly outlines the beginnings of the holiday and points out the problem solved by the Pilgrims by having privatized their farming efforts.

The second column is by Debi Ghate, of the Ayn Rand Institute. In it, she describes the rational pride we all ought to feel in our work, as productive individuals. She points out that Ayn Rand referred to Thanksgiving as "a producer's holiday."

Both columns are well worth a read.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

You, Too Can Own A Gun--If You'll Wear A Bullseye Tattoo On Your Forehead

In honor of National Ammo Day, I went to my neighborhood Turner Outdoorsman sporting goods store to buy some cartridges for my wee Bersa, and a couple of speed loaders for my ancient wheelgun. 'Tis the first time I've purchases any ammo since relocating to El Pueblo de Los Angeles. I didn't realize just how far down that nasty fascist path El Alcalde has led his evil City Council these past couple of years!

In order to purchase handgun ammo, I had to show identification, sign a registration form 'pon which I had to place a thumb print. Let me hasten to add that I'd never have capitulated to this atrocity, except that my fingerprints and other identifying bits have been in the filthy hands of the various hounds of state since I was a wee lad, and trying to become incognito at this late hour would be futile.

So I did it. But, I'm pissed.

You see, this is only necessary within El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Anyone can go over to Burbank or Glendale, or any of the cities surrounding El Pueblo, but I was unaware that El Pueblo had sunk to such depths. Well, I was kind of aware; it's hard to miss all the corruption and self serving crapola at City Hall, even if you're a foopbaw fan.

I'll be driving to another town next time I want to purchase ammo.

People shouldn't be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Warrant? Warrant!? We Don't Need No Steenking Warrant!!

In the wake of all the federal search and seizure violations, caused by the President's blatant disregard of his Oath of Office, a news story in the Boston Globe informs us that Boston's finest, no strangers to violations of the Bill of Rights themselves, want to have permission to enter and search local residences for guns without a warrant!

The fascist-inspired Homeland Security Act has set up an alphabet soup of Gestapo-styled agencies, unConstitutional every one, designed to examine every bit of information transferred by any medium, and to regulate any travel and most trade transactions, on the pretext of protecting us from a gaggle of primitive savages who live ten thousand miles away and would have no means of travel faster than camelback, but for the federal government's own meddling.

So now, the Boston police are taking another step on the way to totalitarianism.

They aren't supposed to be looking for guns. They're supposed to be looking for criminals!

The reason for a search warrant is contained in the 4th Amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 4th Amendment is very explicit, and allows for no exceptions, other than the unfortunate use of the word unreasonable, which would've been better left out. It's up to the judge to decide whether the search is reasonable.

As if to belie any reasonable rationale for the searches, Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis says that the police won't be targeting the homes of known or suspected criminals, but will "focus on juveniles 17 and younger...." Juveniles who are not suspected of any crime?

Now, there likely won't be very much misuse of this program at first, but the fact of being able to search homes without a warrant is a small step leading very quickly to the proverbial slippery slope. And, that first step is unConstitutional.

At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, do I have to remind everyone that America's socialists have been trying, in every way possible and some not possible, to put an end to every American's ability to defend himself for over a century? I shouldn't.

This program isn't aimed at a gaggle of Boston juvenile delinquents. It's aimed at us all.

People shouldn't be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Calling All Neocons! Stop Ron Paul Any Way You Can!

It's been amazing to watch, and it's been happening in leftist Republican circles for, I don't know, thirty years. Maybe more. Leftist Republicans, currently called Neocons and previously called Country Club Republicans, are actually working to thwart the efforts of free market, limited government Republicans.

Nothing new here: the Rockefeller types battled against Goldwater back in the 1660's, handing Washington to the Democrats for 25 years--with Nixon (a really nasty leftist type) and Reagan (better, but weak in certain areas, and GHW Bush, a true Neocon) as the main exceptions. Leftist Republicans fought against Reagan, but lost.

Here in the Stalag, an incumbent, very leftist tax-and-spender, Governor Pete Wilson was opposed in the Primary by the free market Republican Ron Unz. The state party backed Wilson, which put me out of the Republican Party for many years. Unz almost won anyway. Then Wilson faced a Democrat whom anyone could've beaten--even I. Kathleen Brown was unelectable and everyone knew it. For California Republicans to endorse Wilson for reelection was an explicit rejection of free market, limited government politics.

I'm sure this sort of thing happened dozens, if not hundreds of times around the country since the end of WWII.

Now, we come to the 2008 Presidential Primaries. We have eight contenders still in the race, seven of whom are either leftists of various stripes or who haven't yet made all their positions clear--and one free market, limited government candidate, Dr Ron Paul.


Most of the Republican pundits, favor any of the seven leftist/neocon candidates and save more venom for Dr Paul that even for most of the Democrat candidates. Read an entry by Radley Balko in his blog The Agitator about what Republican columnist/pundit Mona Charen has to say about Dr. Paul.

Observe that whenever talk show superstar Sean Hannity does post-debate analysis of a Fox News Presidential debate, and when Ron Paul is winning their own telephone poll, Hannity always snidely dismisses it as, "the Ron Paul telephone campaign," or some such. Hannity rarely even mentions Paul during his radio show, during which he's always talking to or about one or more of the other candidates (usually the goose stepping, anti-self defense, philandering, Rudy Giuliani).

Michael Medved, to whom author L Neil Smith used to refer as "conservative light," goes off like Mount St Helens at every caller's mention of Dr Paul's name.

Rush Limbaugh, while usually fair and occasionally complementary of Dr Paul, is clearly not on his side, preferring the more warlike candidates (which he must realize is an endorsement of federal empire building and rampant federal meddling in the affairs of other countries.

America's military is, by mandate of the Constitution, defensive by its nature.

As for me, I've all but decided not to vote. Call it withholding the sanction of the victim. I'm tired of placing myself among the numbers that, by implication, approve of the actions of this (and last) century's federal government and the virtual impossibility of bringing it back to the required limits of its Constitutional mandates.

The exception? Dr Ron Paul. In my view, he's not perfect, but none of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat, are balls tall to the doctor, and he's close enough to deserve a chance. If he wins, ok. If he doesn't, none of the others is worth the effort or the gasoline to drive to the polling place.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Addendum:

It's so very obvious that the evil FBI raid 'pon the premises of Liberty Dollar, to steal around 60,000 Ron Paul coins, was a bought-and-paid-for hit by neocons, in the person of George W Bush. The reason? It's hoped that some of the bad press will rub off on Dr Paul's campaign. He's doing too well.

Note that dozens of private companies have been minting and printing coins and notes for decades, many of which could more likely be considered a parallel money than the Liberty Dollar. Disney Dollars, for example. Casino gaming chips, for another. They fit the criteria for fiat money to a T.

Why single out the Ron Paul Liberty Dollar? Now you know.

At least, the silver, gold and platinum Liberty coins have some intrinsic value, as containing a known amount of precious metal. The value of the paper crap put out by the Fed is currently sinking toward its actual value.

Remember, Remember the 19th of November

I shoot guns, and I do it every chance I get (though life in El Pueblo de Los Angeles offers precious little opportunity to shoot legally). I like handguns, since they present more of a challenge than do rifles. Most places where one can shoot in the urban area are indoor ranges that allow only handguns, and a few light rifles, such as .22's, which fits into my preferences quite well.

Monday, the 19th of November is National Ammo Day, as proclaimed and promoted by Nation of Volunteers, Inc, which is, as I understand it, a pro-2nd Amendment special interest group promoting traditional American values--particularly as regards to the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution.

National Ammos Day is a day to empty the ammunition from the shelves of your local gun store, sporting goods, or hardware store and put that ammunition in the hands of law-abiding citizens. Make your support of the Second Amendment known--by voting with your dollars!

Seems like a worthwhile idea, and it happens that I need to fill my inventory of ammo for my next trip to the range.

Fits together kind of nicely.

People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

War Is the Health of the State

I'm of two minds when I think of the men and women who've lived and died for our country in the US military.

Words can't express the gratitude I have for the warriors and those who didn't want to be warriors, but took up arms anyway to fight in wars that would've altered our society drastically, had we lost. I joined the Navy right out of high school, mostly to learn a trade and to avoid being a conscript in the Army. It was an experience I'll never forget. While most of my hitch was a peacetime cruise, we did face danger once, for a few days.

We were in the Caribbean taking part in the Cuban Missile Blockade. 'Twas a tense time, those few days we worked, mostly at General Quarters, waiting to see who'd blink or who'd launch. It scared me even more later, after I learned more of the story.

Which brings me to the other side of the coin. How many of these wars actually had to happen? In how many of these wars did we really need to involve ourselves?

The Revolutionary War--the war of independence from the British Crown, was the war that helped create the greatest nation on earth, a Constitutional Republic (not a democracy), and the pattern for dozens of other republics around the world--many of which have failed for lack of an individualistic philosophical base. There's no end to the respect I have for the Founders and all the individuals who fought to form the greatest nation in earth's history.

Unfortunately, the philosophical base that helped form the United States of America has deteriorated as well.

Most of the wars in which we've involved ourselves since could've been avoided, with less inept Presidents and Congresses. Simply adhering to the Founders' idea of avoidance of foreign entanglements would've left the nation far more capable of conducting trade and communication with other parts of the world, and allowed an always innovative America to advance and prosper in ways unimaginable to the people of less free parts of the world.

Might the United States, as a politically isolationist trader-state, have been attacked by foreign powers? Possibly, but with the ability of a free people to invent and industrialize, and the inability of dictatorships to marshal true enthusiasm on the part of the oppressed classes, it wouldn't have come to much.

So, while we celebrate the remembrance of our military veterans, living and dead, it behooves us to also remember that a moral government (if such isn't a contradiction) could've avoided the need for so much tragedy and so many needless deaths.

Of the many guns of the state, more are pointed inward than outward.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag california

Niggardly, Niggardly, Niggardly

In one of their most courageous moves of the year, the City Council of El Pueblo de Los Angeles passed a symbolic resolution to ban a word which is notorious for the volume of its use in South Central and other parts of El Pueblo heavily populated by Black folks. While the LA Times, to its credit did at least identify the word in question, I'll refrain from using it because, well, it's banned.

The word is so evil that words that sound similar turn heads. The word niggardly got a fellow in deep trouble in Washington DC a couple of years ago, because an illiterate Congressfool didn't know what it meant, and thought it was the word.

The funny part of Friday's Council session was that no one but the City Parasites seemed to care about the foul word.

The ignorant fools really wanted something done about all the gang warfare in their neighborhoods. They wanted an end to the robbing, mugging, shooting, killing and burgling. They wanted an end to the interracial battling between Black and Latin gangs.

The City Parasites quickly explained that, while they're aware of their concerns, the banning of a nasty word is far more important that the occasional crossfire killing or interracial gang war. Get your priorities straight, fer cryin' out loud!


So, I guess the status quo remains. The LAPD will continue to be in the station houses watching mandatory sensitivity lectures, except when they don full paramilitary battle armor to go down to a park and thump some heads.

People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of the people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

It's Easy to Hold Your Head High If There Ain't Nothin' In It!

Let me play a little game here. As a fairly recent Valley Rat, I'm getting to know the unusual sort of individual that inhabits this unique part of the Stalag. Gag me with a spoon!

No, they're good people, many of whom have never known want or real frustration, beyond the difficult but critical choice of the best gown for the Prom.

The woman of whom I speak is probably a beautiful woman. She's 31-years of age. She put in her time in the government's children's prison system and, I'm sure, earned a degree at (I'll make a wild guess) UCLA. She probably has a pretty lucrative career in a non-technical profession and she's married to a successful professional man, and they have two young sons.

She has never had to be responsible for any difficult personal decisions in her life. She's unable to put together a chain of probabilities to try to make a life-important decision. The connection between actions and their consequences is very tenuous with this person, as such teaching is very poorly carried out both by parents and the government's children's prisons, in recent years.

She never realized the following could happen (to her).

As detailed in Steve Lopez' column in the LA Times, she grew up in the Valley wishing she lived in Beverly Hills. Recently, she spent $3 million to buy a house in 90210.

In April, wildfires "came too close for comfort." In July, she heard about a burglary ring in the area. Last month, a coyote ate her miniature beagle.

Her home is on a hillside just below famed Mulholland Drive, abutting an undeveloped canyon with plenty of brush, grassy and wooded space between the multi-million dollar estates in the area. When asked whether she'd thought of the possibility of coyotes in the area, she said she'd have no problem with the occasional deer, "But we didn't know coyotes lived here."

I live on the flatlands less than a mile from the foot of that very same ridge, and I've seen coyotes, raccoons, possums, squirrels, hawks, and a fox in my yard, and in and near my street, for cryin' out loud. You don't leave your pets outside (unless they're big dogs).

This poor woman's taking a long time to grow up, and still has a ways to go.

To top it all off, and to add insult to injury, while she was complaining to the city of Beverly Hills about their shortcomings in their wild critter control department, she learned that her home isn't actually in Beverly Hills. It has the coveted 90210 zip code, but it's outside the Beverly Hills city limits in an area of El Pueblo de Los Angeles we fondly call Beverly Glen--still a posh and exclusive area but, alas, not Beverly Hills.

Into every life some rain must fall.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Hot Rod Fever

The preliminaries, called "qualifying," of the NHRA Finals at Pomona, are going on as I write this. I'd rather be there than here, but where's the time, where's the money? Qualifying goes on for three days, and is both exciting and fun. The fourth day, Sunday, is Final Eliminations, in which the race winners in each of four classes are determined. It's all very noisy and very exciting. If you've never heard (and felt) the roar of a 8000+ horsepower engine covering a quarter-mile from a standing start in four-and-one-half seconds, you've missed an extreme assault 'pon your senses.

A story in the LA Times Sports section the other day reminded me of the long history drag racing has in Southern California. It started here, as did many things, in the wake of World War II, with surviving veterans looking for outlets for the excitement to which they'd become accustomed while slogging through the mud and sands of faraway places.

There were the bikers, and there were the hot rodders.

Hot rodders would work on their cars, making them lighter by taking off superfluous parts and faster by installing bigger engines, modifying them and by using different tire/wheel/brake/suspension combinations. Naturally, they'd race against each other to measure the success of their efforts.

At first, the races were on rarely used roads ans streets. After a number of collisions and pileups, when the local police started cracking down, enterprising individuals started setting up dedicated race tracks around the Los Angeles area, for use by area hot rodders for a reasonable fee. For years, these tracks thrived. Between 1950 and the early 1980's, there were as many as eleven drag strips in Southern California.

Now, they're all gone but one, and that's at Pomona. It's not available for today's young hot rodders to use on any weekend.

Some say they all closed because of the rise in land values in Southern California. Others cite high insurance costs, in an era when a signed release of liability by an adult means nothing in a court of law.

Meanwhile, thrill seeking young men (and now, young women) still want to race. With no drag strips available this side of Bakersfield, where do they race? The streets. At night. In the normally quiet suburbs.

Since Southern California has a far denser population than in the late 1940's, quiet roads and streets are increasingly harder to find. There are more racing collisions, some involving the public, and some involving death.

But for an unknown and unknowable government regulations, edicts and unneeded laws, insurance organizations would be willing to write policies for reasonable prices, and in the absence of draconian taxes, land would be more available at lower prices.

I don't know if an absence of government intervention would mean more drag strips or not. A favorite theory of mine is that cars would soon become obsolete in favor of personal aircraft. That process was begun (by some of those same post WWII thrill seekers) and quickly squelched by the evil Civil Aeronautics Board in the 1950's. It will still happen, once government is gotten out of the way. And then, it won't be any time at all before aero hot rodders will be racing 'em.

Feeling the need for speed.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California