tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61100932012-01-02T20:59:07.255-08:00Philosophy, politics, humor and commentaryCol. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.comBlogger5981100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-70136939432182572742012-01-02T20:25:00.000-08:002012-01-02T20:54:40.370-08:00

In Drugs We TrustI have to wonder why the pharma firms ever advertise. I guess it's the FDA that requires them to describe in minute detail everything bad that can happen if one takes a particular medication, but when you actually listen to what's said in the ad, well, it just scares the shit outa me! Thinking about moving the tv to the bathroom to keep from soiling the rest of the house!

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-45508405500772899762012-01-02T20:02:00.000-08:002012-01-02T20:58:13.698-08:00

The Demise of the Rule of LawAt some point in our lifetimes, the rule of law has been destroyed. 'Twas a slow process by administrations of both political parties and by federal, state and local politicians. Law is now a wet, floppy, slippery thing that no one can get his hands around. Definitions are flexible as overcooked pasta and no law applies to everyone. Politicians seem to make sure

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-62800533337539994892012-01-01T23:47:00.000-08:002012-01-02T20:59:07.269-08:00

Sam Clements is Turning Over In His GraveRegarding journalism: in my youth, it was procedure to check out stories and see if they're true. This included stories from politicians. Today's "press release journalism," in which the reporters listen to the politician and simply write it, would never pass a real editor. "Go find out if he really did that!" "See if you can dig up a little more on

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-87949802531508646052011-04-05T19:55:00.000-07:002012-01-02T20:48:05.384-08:00

LAPD Not to Be Taken Too Lightly, or Too SeriouslyLAPD, as a Demigod of Los Angeles, is a Jealous Demigod. He doesn't like to be trifled with. He doesn't like to have His authority questioned and most of all, He doesn't want His minions attacked.The only thing necessary to disrupt the lives of thousands and to destroy a neighborhood in Los Angeles is for someone to shoot a cop. Once again, a

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-49012626818744464392011-01-20T19:13:00.000-08:002011-01-20T19:20:59.396-08:00

Goose Stepping Through Woodland HillsYesterday a cop was shot. He wasn't hurt severely; he had a bulletproof vest under his uniform (Btw, if any of us "little people" wear a bulletproof vest, we're automatically suspected to be criminals. It may not even be legal.) Within minutes, some 350 LAPD storm troopers cordoned off a 7-square-mile area of the West San Fernando Valley, sealing

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-3262701290573747432011-01-01T15:54:00.000-08:002011-01-01T16:00:53.681-08:00

Theft, Theft and More TheftStalag California, in its ongoing program to separate every productive resident from every dollar he earns, has increased the cost of traffic citations by $4. The claim is that this $4 is earmarked to help pay for emergency services, seems quite modest compared to some increases.It's still a tax increase.Tax increases are supposed to (by law) be approved by

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-27054380668750262872010-07-04T16:23:00.000-07:002010-07-04T18:04:31.934-07:00

Of Independence Days Past Today I reminded myself of a particular July 4th, 1951 I think it was, in which I really enjoyed the holiday for the first time--even though I had no idea of the political or historical issues implied by the day.We had a picnic at the park in Larimore, where we lived at the time, after which we all went home to wait for dark, and fireworks. Uncle Jim brought a long

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-35833442859703484082010-06-13T10:34:00.000-07:002010-06-14T08:14:53.393-07:00

Republicans.....Our saviors? A writer on facebook suggests that Republican pundits are assuming a grand salvation will happen as more Republicans are elected in this coming election. Of course, the lady is quite right. Gains will be modest at best. An end to the Democrats' super majority is about the best we can expect.This though, is only part of the story. I hold my nose and vote for mostly

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-39698967994838936002010-05-10T20:49:00.000-07:002010-05-10T22:06:52.771-07:00

ArizonaI've been thinking about Arizona's new law regarding illegal aliens for several days--since it was passed. At first, it seemed like competing principles--in order to uphold one, I'd have to betray the other.Normally, I'd have no qualms about inviting any Mexican, Canadian, Englishman, Asian, African or South American to come to any one of the United States to work. In the capitalist

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-79575986870695638512010-04-24T11:08:00.000-07:002010-04-24T11:16:17.055-07:00

Time to Break Out the Tar & FeathersRight wing pundits are fond of saying that B Hussein means no harm, but is simply mistaken in his economics and his ability to govern.They're wrong.Obama has no moral compass--or at least his moral compass' magnetism has gone away by means of his having mentors who have no regard for individual rights and property. He has assumed the posture of a sort of

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-26176072541255139052010-03-04T19:56:00.000-08:002010-03-04T20:02:59.067-08:00

Kindergarten: Behind Chain Link in Diapers I didn't go to kindergarten as a child. It wasn't offered. I don't think I've suffered for the lack of it, and I regard it as just another step by government to get children away from their parents as early, and for as much of the day as possible.One of the reasons I think this is that some statist "educators" are pushing to start kindergarten even

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-20776601266121683132010-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:002010-02-08T18:58:20.494-08:00

Katrina Bowl Ok, so we're all really happy that the Saints won the Hype-er Bowl this year. Everyone, that is, except the folks from Indianapolis. I really was hoping thay'd win inspite of the fact that foopbaw rates a very poor third behind a couple of other games that can be played 'pon a carpet.I just have one little niggling problem: why is it that every--literally EVERY news or sports

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-74088372783602623022010-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:002010-02-03T09:29:17.196-08:00

Activists Missing After Declaring “War on Leather” at Motorcycle Rally This looks like a very effective way to counter the moronic antics of the peta idiots. A counterpoint to the throwing of fake blood on furs and leather clothing. Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-9699141441851529022010-01-20T12:41:00.000-08:002010-01-20T12:48:31.707-08:00

Unintended Consequences An excellent example of unintended consequences that favor liberty.Hat tip: Betsy SpeicherThey've killed Freedom! Those bastards!Warm regards,Col. HoganStalag California

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-5349007781619689512009-12-26T22:23:00.000-08:002009-12-26T22:43:33.847-08:00

A Trip To Whole Foods Since the day John Mackey made his wonderful statement opposing socialized medicine, and the lefty wackos announces a boycott of Whole Foods, I've been meaning to go there and do some food shopping. Then, perhaps regularly. Finally, recently, I actually went to one of his stores.Well, I was appalled! There was nothing at all I recognized, outside the meat and produce

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-86361745776719307302009-12-21T18:47:00.000-08:002009-12-21T18:57:48.008-08:00

No Chance That There's Any Context In Which This Is A Good Question "How did you feel as you gripped the trigger of that gun." --Paula Zahn, Fox News.This is a question asked by Ms Zahn of an unknown (by me) person about an unknown (by me) event. The nature of the event doesn't really matter to my thesis.If she asks the question of a person who killed an intruder to protect his loved ones and/

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-86974795035413932772009-12-05T14:50:00.000-08:002009-12-06T09:59:51.656-08:00

Technology is Still Scary to SomeLet me preface by saying that I, even to this day, observe that many people approach the common escalator with a degree of awe. One can watch them: Stop at the edge of the abyss, look down and judge the proper moment to step off. After these many decades of escalator use, one might think we'd find them second nature by now.Today, I went to my neighborhood Target

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-85667614934976392732009-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:002009-11-29T15:38:14.771-08:00

War Is The Health of the StateWe don't really know if we can trust anything that comes out of the Senate, since each member is wholly involved in a personal quest for undeserved wealth and power. By the same token, we can't trust the words of the various minions of the Administration, either. For the same reasons.Apologists for the GW Bush Administration have, since sometime during the second

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-62038172143397681532009-11-22T10:36:00.000-08:002009-11-22T18:19:13.393-08:00

Health Care, Even If It Kills The one thing He-Who Shall-Not-Be-Named has promised that he intends to fulfill (even if it costs him reelection) is health care. He intends to fulfill it even if it trashes all his other campaign promises. You know, the promise not to raise taxes on the poor, to improve on GWB's economy, etc.He wants a health care bill passed even if it costs the consumer more than

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-6655229481818521282009-11-14T14:43:00.000-08:002009-11-14T18:58:06.293-08:00

The World's most Pussified Army First, I was angered that a deranged religious fanatic would charge into a crowded group of soldiers and their families and open up with an automatic rifle. I remember that the first question I asked to myself as I watched the reportage on tv was, "What religion is he?" already pretty sure I knew the answer.Well, I was right. He was both an insane islamic

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-21177996176332600242009-11-08T10:46:00.000-08:002009-11-08T20:54:26.598-08:00

A Well Lived, Happy and Eventful Life Yesterday, I finally gathered together a small sum of cash I'd been wanting to use for the purpose of buying some common silver coins, for use in the event of disaster to make purchases on the black market. I'm convinced that this will become an issue, maybe soon. I've been making these small purchases, as I can, for many years. If such a disaster never

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-50652429300433868462009-09-20T11:33:00.001-07:002009-09-20T15:40:03.074-07:00

Texting vs SpellingI find the tendency of (mostly) youth to spell words incorrectly to make texting easier (I guess) very annoying--it tends to bleed out into other writings. I recall a few years ago, when government children's prison "teachers" were telling kids that wrong answers were "all right" to avoid offending their students' tender sensibilities. Then, along comes texting, which becomes a

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-85453144924565052012009-09-01T18:15:00.000-07:002009-09-01T21:27:35.963-07:00

The First Time I Ever Read Anything On the Daily Kos Since leftists are many times proven to be utterly unable to deal with facts (A fact to a liberal is like kryptonite to Superman -- Larry Elder), I've gotten used to the snide sniping and sneering, insulting insider humor they use to unfocusingly, not quite make what in the ever-fuzzy leftist world, be inaccurately called a point.What follows

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-18992423127907830342009-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:002009-08-30T09:18:54.710-07:00

C'mon! Let's Be Real! I'm hearing all the standard moaning and groaning about the death of Ted Kennedy, and the recriminations against those who point out the many dangerous, irresponsible and downright evil things he's done. Don't speak ill of the dead.I'm not going to attempt to list all the nasty and damaging things done by this man in life; it would make this entry unreadable in its sheer

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-80579940951705803212009-08-17T18:22:00.000-07:002009-08-17T20:25:43.044-07:00

My One Day At CourtSeveral days ago, I was required to go to the Superior Court of the City of Los Angeles, possibly to sit on a jury. I've had jury duty before, and only once was I selected to be a juror. The case ended up being decided by means of a misstatement by the plaintiff, which proved the defendant innocent.This time, I listened once again to the lengthy and repetitive blather about not

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-58851346331677847612009-08-02T20:53:00.000-07:002009-08-03T21:28:01.849-07:00

Adventures In The Mediterranean I've always kind of regretted that I left the sea when I left the Navy, those many years ago. I've always loved the idea of sailing, especially of traveling by sailboat. I don't (regrettably) have any experience with sailboats, but in the Navy days I was occasionally engineer on a 50' power utility boat. I always enjoyed working on the utility boats. One of those

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-73186577140584607202009-07-30T20:27:00.000-07:002009-07-30T21:04:57.683-07:00

Just When You Think They Can't Get More Stupid....The one thing that every elected official and top-level appointed employee of el Pueblo de Los Angeles is that each and every one of them is stupid beyond belief. Individuals who can actually do things never become Bureau chiefs or City Councilmen. El Alcalde's main ability is that of straight-arming his way in front of any news camera that is

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-28637622878201557172009-07-17T18:08:00.000-07:002009-07-17T19:52:09.688-07:00

System? SYSTEM!!! We Don't Need No Steenking System!!! In light of the gradual nationalization of medicine, I keep hearing reference to a thus far undefined term, "health care system." Health care system. What might be the definition of such a phrase?Was the mythical doctor in the tv series Gunsmoke part of America's "health care system?" Was the almost as mythical small town doctor I went to as

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-64200259027724176832009-07-14T20:03:00.000-07:002009-07-14T20:34:10.514-07:00

Drought I've been a mite slow lately adding new articles to this blog. The well is (I hope) temporarily dry. I just can't bring myself to get excited right now about anything political. Both of my Senators, my Congressman, and my state legislators (may they all rot in their own private hells) are raging socialists who won't be swayed by reason or anything else other than vast sums of money. This

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-27316953813573861172009-06-22T18:23:00.000-07:002009-06-27T13:19:33.225-07:00

Exodus From Reality All the years that I've lived in the southern part of Stalag California, I've been aware that there are a large number of Jewish people here. I became even more aware during my twelve-year relationship with a lovely Jewish woman who hails from New York City. Even though she was secular, she introduced me to parts of the Jewish communities in New York, Miami, San Diego and Los

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-74181965212709155132009-06-15T21:16:00.000-07:002009-06-15T21:50:28.899-07:00

Reasons To Fear B Hussein Obama I guess I stepped away from politics for a while, out of utter disgust for the speed with which the once free United States are being thrust into collectivism by one one would be dictator after another. Not only is the slope slippery, but it's getting steeper, fast!The Patriot Depot, from whom I bought a couple of Gadsden-style car window flags, has brought a

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-53969127714860268422009-06-13T14:22:00.000-07:002009-06-14T21:01:32.870-07:00

A Trip Back In Time I've always liked Knott's Berry Farm. I think the first time I went there was in 1969. I was fully involved in reading Western paperbacks at the time, Louis L'Amour in particular. I also like the few Donald Hamilton Westerns and read some of Zane Gray's. Going to Knott's was a way to immerse myself in the trappings of the Old West that didn't involve a long trip.I won't go

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-90184734374600122192009-06-06T13:43:00.000-07:002009-06-07T19:54:18.634-07:00

A Quick And Easy Way To Quit Smoking I used to like cigarettes. A lot. It's probably why I returned to smoking twice after having quit. I really didn't want to quit. The third time, I wanted to quit, and I quit for good.The first thing you have to do, is want to quit.The second thing is that you have to ignore all those messages that say that smoking is addictive. I don't actually know if tobacco

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-17462237949568756902009-05-31T20:49:00.000-07:002009-05-31T21:01:58.219-07:00

A Better Children's Prison? This blog article is worth a read. While I still think that education should be separated from the state by a titanium wall thirty feet thick, and while I think regimentation and enforced conformity is a huge mistake, these children's prisons seem to be getting results.Wolf Howling: An Educational Revolution In California?You can learn, or you can leave.Warm regards,

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-6259030633363387942009-05-23T07:29:00.000-07:002009-05-24T22:14:16.319-07:00

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Waste I always feel a little twinge when I hear that some young mind, 'pon taking his BA degree, announces that he's going on to law school. Of course, any intellectual endeavor isn't a bad thing--learning is always useful--but.....law school?Law is a growth industry, which is why so many students choose the discipline. Legislators (mostly lawyers) continually create

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-33376985139770530162009-05-20T19:38:00.000-07:002009-05-20T20:39:54.273-07:00

The Hidden Bonus In This Election This past weekend, John & Ken, a pair of local talkers on KFI-AM radio in El Pueblo de Los Angeles, held a party/protest out at Tom's Farms, a sort of farmer's market complex outside of Corona, Calif. It was a protest against Guber Schwarzengroper's tax & spend referenda 'pon which some of us voted yesterday. The set of referenda were sniggeringly sold as a way

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-6898645080915065642009-05-15T18:32:00.000-07:002009-05-15T19:46:47.686-07:00

Facebook, Your Agenda Is Showing! Rep. Jeff Flake (R Ariz), who appears to have been named after his personality, has been selling himself as a fiscal conservative, bordering 'pon libertarianism, for longer than I've known of him (a couple of years or so). He has been hyped as being tight-fisted with taxpayer dollars and has signed on to the Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-18543724303918101902009-05-12T19:24:00.000-07:002009-05-13T20:38:44.584-07:00

Do What You Want--Leave Me Out Of it All the stuff I've been hearing/reading about the lovely Carrie Prejean doesn't make me regret my vote against Stalag California's Prop 8--well, it kind of does after watching those bloody fools go crazy protesting the way the vote went. If you live by the ballot, you die by the ballot. As I gradually follow many of my libertarian friends toward non-voting, I

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-73928444048423202602009-05-07T11:20:00.000-07:002009-05-07T13:56:18.939-07:00

Dating In The 21st Century When I was a wee lad, those many years ago, even the bums riding the rails wore suit jackets and hats--often a long time between cleanings, and usually a mite threadbare, but they wore 'em. Men dressed in suits for dinner in a restaurant, and wore suits for indoor work and hats (if not hardhats) for outdoor work.Things have deteriorated over time. The breakdown seems

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-33017967120126089052009-04-29T13:36:00.000-07:002009-04-29T14:40:16.105-07:00

Chief Pontiac Dies a Second Death I've never owned a Pontiac car. My brother had a 1969 Pontiac GTO, which he graciously let me drive a few times. Great car! During the many car searches I've experienced, I've answered a few ads for Pontiacs, and almost bought a couple of them, but never actually owned one.A good friend, the Kosmik Kid suggested that this week's news deserved comment. Though I've

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-13442829707341361472009-04-25T12:33:00.000-07:002009-04-27T13:10:31.020-07:00

A Much Needed Amendment to the Constitution The following is a proposed Amendment to the US Constitution. It's an amplification of an idea proposed in an essay in The Libertarian Enterprise, penned by L Neil Smith.Proposed: Amendment XXVIIIWhereas: Legislators and other elected and appointed officials, and law enforcement personnel no longer see a need to pay any heed to the limits placed 'pon

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-65624308755214631552009-04-20T23:38:00.000-07:002009-04-21T19:28:08.088-07:00

Plenty of Money For Guns, None to Fix the Ravaged Streets For months we here in and around El Pueblo de Los Angeles have been regaled by Antonio Vinaigrette, el alcalde, with his song of woe regarding the city's financial shortfall--never once blaming himself for his dozens of wasteful and useless programs. Listen to any local news broadcast and you'll hear of proposals to cut programs--never the

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-6296737520412089632009-04-05T19:45:00.000-07:002009-04-06T21:06:51.302-07:00

We Don't Get No Education.....I' ve had numerous conversations over the years with parents about the perils of sending your kids to the government children's prisons--my term for government schools, and a more accurate term than those used by the government or the media.Some tell me that the academics at their kids' school are better than the ones we hear about all the time. Maybe so. Maybe not.

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-62477319748643766142009-03-28T09:36:00.000-07:002009-03-30T12:16:59.724-07:00

North Dakota's Annual Water Follies I grew up in Grand Forks. Actually, I went to 1st and 2nd grades in a little town 13 miles west of Grand Forks in which my grandfather owned a general store and a fleet of grain trucks. In his teens, Dad drove one of the trucks to bring farmers' wheat to the railroad. After high school, my dad worked for the Great Northern Railroad in those years, and took jobs

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-61594956848623923312009-03-22T20:58:00.000-07:002009-03-23T19:58:29.897-07:00

"Clancy On The Beat" Went The Way of The Dodo We all feel sad for the murders of four Oakland police officers and, unlike his father, thoroughly condemn parolee Lovelle Mixon, their killer. The Bay area leftist press is doing its best to come up with excuses for Mixon, starting with his presumed depression at the thought of having to return to prison--for not keeping the terms of his parole. We

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-85519813336900607142009-03-22T12:56:00.000-07:002009-03-22T14:20:57.422-07:00

By His Gods Ye Shall Know HimI was opposed to GHW Bush's Iraq war from the start. The short reason? Iraq hasn't attacked the US. Iraq's oil is Iraq's oil, not ours. I might lament the fact that the oil isn't owned by a number of private oil firms, but I have no chips in that pot.I don't know how much GHWB's war had to do with the intensification of the crazed islamist hatred of all things

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-72321497103897033262009-03-16T18:00:00.000-07:002009-03-16T19:45:50.448-07:00

It Was A Freer Country In 1969 For weeks I looked at these murals and wondered who did them, why, and what they mean. They're popping up on large buildings all over El Pueblo de Los Angeles. You see them on the sides of buildings on Highland Blvd, on Hollywood, on Vine, on Sunset, on La Brea--many other places. They must've cost a fortune to put in place, and there are many of them.The leftist

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-58165099800654024562009-03-04T19:19:00.000-08:002009-03-04T21:21:58.651-08:00

More On Backseat Child Coffins After an interesting exchange with my friend TF Stern about child restraints for cars, I realized that I may have been a mite flip in my response. While my opinion of these foul gadgets hasn't changed, there is far more to my answer than I have given thus far.TF is a retired traffic officer who has far more experience than I with handling the aftermath of auto

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-33762053595316169262009-03-01T17:43:00.000-08:002009-03-01T19:02:41.141-08:00

Protected to Death Buried in a "news in brief" column in the OC Register today is a sad story about a car crash in which a car went off the road and skidded down a 60-ft bank into the Colorado River. The woman and her 11-year-old daughter escaped the car, but her 5-year-old daughter apparently sank with the car.My knowledge of some of the laws foisted 'pon us by our omnipotent federal government

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-26358099798201219842009-02-26T19:17:00.000-08:002009-02-28T10:46:15.178-08:00

Riddle Me This.....I got the following in an email from a friend, who prefers to remain anonymous. In many cases, I wouldn't regard this sort of thing important--just amusing--but there are a few reasons why I modify my view in this case. I'll comment further after you've read the riddle.I was born in one country, raised in another. My father was born in another country. I was not his only child

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-73347620402589093812009-02-24T20:46:00.000-08:002009-02-24T22:03:37.177-08:00

Pulling Together As a Team (Of Really Stupid Oxen) I knew he was going to do it. It was inevitable. It's been done by every petty dictator since the beginning of time.Do what?Today, in his phony State of the Union Speech....or was it a practice State of the Union Speech? Or was it yet another step down the short, steep slide into national socialism?He played the "shared sacrifice" card. The only

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-68424462324844004722009-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:002009-02-24T20:45:27.501-08:00

The Emancipation Proclamation, DisassembledI've seen this strip before, but today my pal KC reminded me of it. It's a graphic version of Friedrich A Hayek's book, The Road to Serfdom. It was originally published in Look Magazine not long after the end of WWII.It looks like not too many people read that issue......The strip takes on additional meaning in the light of our new charismatic empty suit

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-73746997183684911052009-02-22T21:33:00.000-08:002009-02-23T19:52:25.891-08:00

Lies, Damned Lies And Filthy Lies Yesterday, Guber Schwarzengroper was heard to say, "The budget problems plaguing Colliefornia are caused by the worldwide monetary crisis." (May not be a precise quote, but it's close.)That, Ahnold, is a filthy lie. Colliefornia's budget problems go back for decades, and are exacerbated by each guber in his turn. Ahnold, your predecessor was recalled for

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-80691032616309702432009-02-16T14:46:00.000-08:002009-02-16T16:34:19.787-08:00

Guber Schwarzengroper, You're Fired! A couple of weeks ago, an essay by L Neil Smith in The Libertarian Enterprise planted an idea in my mind. After a short germination, I wrote on my facebook page a quip to the effect that I'm ready to sign a recall petition to remove Guber Schwarzenegger from office. Some months ago, the state's prison guard union attempted a recall petition though: In spite of

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-20220416749163738242009-02-08T09:43:00.000-08:002009-02-16T17:34:14.966-08:00

Spoiled Brat in the White House We all might have heard it it on Friday. It was on many tv stations--more than his predecessor typically got. I watched/listened to part of it, but who can actually listen to a thievin' politician's blather for more than a minute or two? A fairly good AP article can be found on Yahoo news here.Seems the new Messiah has decided to combat the ill effects of nearly a

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-73600923623221566792009-02-06T22:42:00.000-08:002009-02-07T11:33:47.122-08:00

The American Leftist I try very hard not to refer to leftists as liberals. First of all, I hate following the herd. Second, look! Thomas Paine was a liberal. Ben Franklin was a liberal. Thomas Jefferson was a liberal. These men are heroes of mine. And B Hussein Obama, you ain't no Thomas Jefferson.Today's leftist is a very different animal. He begs for tolerance, yet he is intolerant to the

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-30655547205812273462009-02-01T18:27:00.000-08:002009-02-01T20:16:20.358-08:00

Another Great American Hero (from England)I'm just starting to read Christopher Hitchens' 2006 book Thomas Paine's Rights of Man. I regard Paine as one of my revolutionary heroes since having read his The Rights of Man some time ago.In the early pages of Hitchens' book, I find reference to a parody of the British National Anthem, the melody of which is the same as our My Country 'Tis of Thee.

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-36296348418812843942009-01-25T12:32:00.000-08:002009-01-25T18:34:26.598-08:00

The Most Predictable Fumble of the Century--So far.... It was as if it was planned to be a huge mass screwup from the start. Hundreds of thousands of hippies outatime converging 'pon the Woodstock of 2009, there to see, and perhaps even to touch the hem of their messiah's robes.Buzzing about the various chatrooms and message lists of the less-in-touch-with-reality from all over the country and

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-64357147840105966532009-01-24T19:23:00.000-08:002009-01-24T20:33:55.314-08:00

Atlas Is Shrugging? One of my Facebook friends, Maggie Willow Stine, posted the following on her page. I thought it appropriate to repost it here, for those who haven't yet seen it. It's very timely.To All My Valued Employees,There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-26868027975303675662009-01-17T10:18:00.000-08:002009-01-17T16:40:05.927-08:00

A Coronation by Another Name..... One thing government does well: it stages great fiascoes.I find myself wondering what it might've been like to attend the inauguration of President Thomas Jefferson. There was no FBI, BATFE, Homeland Security, According to an article on the PBS website, Jefferson "walked from his boardinghouse along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, where he would be the first

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-28719387916260003792009-01-14T20:29:00.000-08:002009-01-14T21:41:19.071-08:00

Some Animals Need Killing In a news story that proves that some endangered species should be endangered--by whatever means is available to their intended victims. This is the sort of silliness that happens when a private club of enthusiasts (the Audubon Society) manages to get its sometime dopey opinions written into law. See the story in the OC Register Local News here.It should never happen.

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-64885025498511876962009-01-04T21:39:00.000-08:002009-01-05T08:24:16.803-08:00

What Is A Libertarian, Anyway?Over the years (over 40 of 'em, in my case), I've bumped into advocates of quite a number of varying opinions as to just what libertarianism is. I've run into even more opinions of what libertarianism is by non-libertarians. Particularly, by conservatives.We're crazy, drug-addled ne'er do wells who only want drugs legalized.....and those individuals do, in fact,

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-67246796410110351212008-12-28T18:04:00.000-08:002008-12-28T19:31:34.941-08:00

Requiem For A HamburgerMy love affair with hamburgers began as soon as I had my own money to spend. At the age of ten, I began selling the Grand Forks Herald on the streets of downtown. Only on rare occasions did I indulge myself with the burger-fries-Coke combination which cost, at the time, about forty-five cents. That, of course, was in the pre McDonald's midwest when a handmade hamburger came

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-76271442291490565282008-12-24T21:16:00.000-08:002008-12-24T23:38:00.255-08:00

Socialist Scientists War on Christmas Well, it wouldn't be fully accurate to call it a war on Christmas. It's a war on technology. It's a war on property rights. It's a war whose main justification is that they know better that your own self what you should be doing and how you ought to act.Here in El Pueblo de Los Angeles, we're constantly told we ought to conserve energy, water, gasoline, even

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-75579367331718396502008-12-21T19:38:00.000-08:002008-12-21T21:00:42.762-08:00

Statutory Violation The original story is a couple of years old. The reason it's back in the news (well, is it really in the news? I heard about it through libertarian circles, never the news!) is that the wronged family is being prosecuted by the Galveston branch of the American Nazi Party Police Department for assault.About two years ago, Emily Milburn was doing Mom things when a breaker blew.

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-28579752217219196302008-12-19T10:29:00.000-08:002008-12-19T12:33:18.820-08:00

Foopbaw Players Have Rights, Too! Ok, we all know that foopbaw players have been fortunate in getting great athletic genes. It's only assumed that they paid for it by a shortfall in intelligence genes. After all, Brett Favre doesn't even know how to pronounce his own name.Hence, when a foopbaw player fumbles in public, no one is really surprised. Like on Nov 29th, when Plaxico Burress shot

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-61274152268826266112008-12-15T19:46:00.000-08:002008-12-15T23:53:57.936-08:00

Rated R--For Winking, Leering, Lascivious Smiling and Brief Smoking I've never been a fan of the MPAA Rating System, for a host of reasons. One reason is that certain films seem to be able to be rated PG, with plenty of cussing, violence and even a little nudity, while others become R rated for the ambiguous "adult themes." Please make me believe wealthy, successful producers can't smooth-talk

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-51073852645795583102008-12-15T12:11:00.000-08:002008-12-15T13:21:18.227-08:00

Gun Phobia, Again The government children's prisons, for many years, have subtly, and not so subtly, been running a program of fear inducement against guns. The leftist news media have been doing the same thing, in the way they frame stories involving guns. It's worse in some parts of the country than in others, and here in the Stalag, it approaches utter horror at even the mention of an

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-70138476610231959182008-12-10T22:53:00.000-08:002008-12-13T15:26:11.680-08:00

The End Of The American Automobile Today, the idiots in the US House of Representatives voted to bail out America's three automaking corporations. It'll be seen as the beginning of the end of the industry.They didn't simply throw huge sums of money at the firms. They're all but nationalizing the industry. Like they've done with the banking industry. Like they want to do with the medical industry

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-35530346798921863222008-12-07T08:57:00.000-08:002008-12-12T22:29:07.640-08:00

A Legend of a Different SortMy dad, who passed away a few years ago, and whom I think about often, was a lifelong railroad man. I've already chronicled a couple of my railroad adventures and will undoubtedly write about more of them in the future. Railroads played a big part in my youth.When I was, I suppose twelve or thirteen years old, I discovered magazines. I was selling the Grand Forks

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-83196714815205752922008-12-05T18:24:00.000-08:002008-12-05T19:29:41.820-08:00

Constitution! Constitution? We Don't Need No Steenking Constitution!! Article I, Section 6. Paragraph 2. "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shell have been encreased during such time, and no Person holding any Office under

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-24142661516386210352008-12-02T15:01:00.000-08:002008-12-02T16:09:45.294-08:00

Creeping Fascism Is Learning to Walk--Faster Readers who've been with me for a while know that I've long been warning of the coming of the equivalent of a Fourth Reich--right here in the United States. I've seen no reason to back off from this stance. My awareness of this threat was begun by my having read The Ominous Parallels, by Leonard Piekoff. I highly recommend this book.The War on Drugs

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-58075991623111356602008-11-28T16:17:00.000-08:002008-11-28T18:53:03.049-08:00

Things I Did Not Learn At School When I first flew into the Stalag, so many years ago, it was complements of Uncle Sam, sending me on a scenic cruise around a pretty big chunk of the western hemisphere. The first stop was the Recruit Training Center on Point Loma, a part of the seaside town of San Diego. Thence to the Training Center in Waukegan, Illinois to learn to maintain and repair diesel

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-72610294125623300802008-11-28T11:24:00.000-08:002008-11-28T13:58:16.511-08:00

Fight For What You Want For many years, extended out of WWII, through Korea and VietNam, flying in the face of the Thirteenth Amendment, the United States forced Americans into involuntary servitude by requiring them to enter military service. For several years, particularly during the VietNam war (the very definition of a war of choice; a war that had nothing to do with the security of the

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-1979264682689430582008-11-24T12:45:00.000-08:002008-11-24T22:21:56.169-08:00

Music: Better Listened To Than Seen For the third year running, I once again made the honest attempt to watch the AMA Award Show last night. I just couldn't. I think I lasted up to whoever followed Pink. I'd never paid attention to her before, except I read somewhere that she made a big public deal about having her nipples pierced. Why anyone would care is well beyond my ken. Last night, though,

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-30725363175960663732008-11-22T13:40:00.000-08:002008-11-22T14:44:21.887-08:00

The Future of the American Automobile Industry I stumbled onto this prognostication by Iowahawk as to the cars that'll go into production by model year 2012, after the government bailout, the enactment of the conditions therein contained, the mergers and the final nationalization and takeover by the federal government.Fortunately, there's nothing dramatic or unexpected in this forecast: the auto

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-30344970174903727512008-11-15T22:11:00.000-08:002008-11-15T22:50:21.904-08:00

The Hottest Coldest October in Fifty Years Telegraph.co.uk doesn't call the evil Dr James Hanson a complete bloody idiot (with an anti-life agenda), but it might as well have done so. According to a story written by Christopher Booker of that newspaper, after the algorian Dr Hanson declared this past October "the hottest October on record," and in spite of reports from the real world.This was

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-17424835229064091112008-11-14T18:52:00.000-08:002008-11-14T19:37:05.903-08:00

I Guess I Can Fix Up the Old OneI drive an old 1957 Chevy. It's a hot rod, but it's reaching a need for some reconstructive work, and it can be made to get much better gas mileage with a few updates.The plan was to buy a new car, put the ol' Chevy in the back yard and start wrenchin'. I'm not quite as enthusiastic about diving under the car as I used to be, but with the ability to take my time

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-40094488281555727192008-11-11T10:20:00.000-08:002008-11-11T12:59:47.914-08:00

The Brain Drain Tax Back in the 1960's, I recall #1 all time Hall O' Fame Science Fiction Writer Robert A Heinlein saying that as the United States drifts toward socialism, and as USSR is gradually forced to accept degrees of capitalism, USSR would surpass the US in the degree of freedom by, I think it was, approximately 1980. While part of sci-fi writers jobs is to suggest possible futures, this

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-7012562722624634832008-11-08T23:36:00.000-08:002008-11-09T01:46:29.226-08:00

Two Wolves and a Lamb..... I'm watching the tv news coverage of an estimated 1200 demonstrators protesting against the referendum to change the impossibly complex California state Constitution to require that marriage be only between one man and one woman. While I don't think government has any role to play in this area, other than possibly as an arbiter regarding the contractual issues involved

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-33043392146497314142008-11-05T05:10:00.000-08:002008-11-05T11:52:16.058-08:00

Guy Fawkes, Where Are You When We Need You?"Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot. We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!"Today is the fifth of November, and today we have a new king. For decades now, our four year- and eight year kings have been progressively leading us in the direction of less and less liberty, and King Barry will be no

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-20081861527889451642008-11-04T13:44:00.000-08:002008-11-04T15:43:44.778-08:00

The Lie In Leftist Feminism This is election day, and it's too early in the day to know who is the new boss (same as the old boss), so I thought I'd ignore the vote count for a while. A story was just brought to my attention that will be, but ought not be ignored. This sort of thing happens very often in the uncivilized parts of the world, and even occasionally in what we like to call

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-87108419316461549562008-11-03T11:03:00.000-08:002008-11-03T12:11:11.736-08:00

Voting According to RaceWith the very tardy arrival of candidates of races other than caucasian, the the specter of racism has lifted its ugly, and wholly erroneous, head. Nonetheless, there will be those who vote based 'pon race. It's the theory of myself and many others that there'll be far more who vote for Obama because he's half black than will vote against him for that reason.In my opinion,

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-89702543868999618142008-10-31T16:02:00.000-07:002008-11-01T21:31:11.088-07:00

Putting Priorities In Order Never accustomed to making suggestions as to how local governments prioritize the spending of the money they steal from productive individuals, I tiptoe in with a degree of discomfort. My normal train of thought goes toward the notion that government officials have no bloody idea what they're doing, and they simply attempt to appease the loudest whiners, and to

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-58635108218361323372008-10-28T19:59:00.000-07:002008-10-28T20:17:40.561-07:00

An Argument For Gun Control: An Editorial Rebuttal In all the blog entries in which I've championed the individual's Right to Keep and Bear Arms, I've never allowed the other side to be heard. I've finally relented to allow a reasoned rebuttal to my arguments.Please weigh the arguments carefully, as I wouldn't want anyone to say I never gave the other side a chance.Tip of the battered gray fedora

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-43965700967861103562008-10-27T21:11:00.000-07:002008-10-27T21:32:51.268-07:00

A Lesson In Obamanomics Doug Powers, writing in World Net Daily, explains redistribution of wealth from Joe the Plumber's point of view. As for me, I'll just sit back and let you enjoy the column.Tip of the battered gray fedora to Kent C for tipping me off and yet again for the photo.Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT! Warm regards,Col. Hogan

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-42192658447190800482008-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:002008-10-21T10:07:42.332-07:00

Self Defense -- As It Might Be And Ought To Be The following is a video which was the introductory minute for an episode of the ABC tv series Boston Legal. It exemplifies, in a humorous way, how an honest, self reliant man would deal with a criminal in a free society.Denny Crane- Guns @ Yahoo! VideoSeems a mite cold, until one realizes that when a man turns to crime, he is metaphysically

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-38469850895761742562008-10-17T21:27:00.000-07:002008-10-17T22:29:16.227-07:00

Want Universal Health Care? It'll Be Universally Bad! Just about every wants-something-for-nothing airhead in the country, including most elected officeholders who know better, advocate some form of government paid health care. Costs are so high, they say, and very few can pay for the care they sooner or later will need.What they are really saying is, "I want my medical bills sent to you." In

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-83366995727481874972008-10-14T15:35:00.000-07:002008-10-15T14:02:40.422-07:00

Whatever Works An eight-year-old Little League ball player hits a single. The next batter hits a sharp ground ball that's bobbled by the shortstop, who then picks the ball up and tosses it to the second baseman. The baseman, not yet at second base, swooped his glove, containing the ball, toward the base runner. The base runner reached second base. The umpire signs "Safe!"The second base runner

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-2042031958288237982008-10-14T14:24:00.000-07:002008-10-14T15:17:03.836-07:00

The New ThugeesSunday afternoon, as Debbie and I were exiting the Ventura Fairgrounds after the Highland Games, we saw a table set up in the walkway toward the parking lot. A sign saying, "Register to Vote. Democrat." There were two young men standing by, cheap ball points in hand, waiting to help their victims register.Democrat.In the Stalag, it's required that anyone collecting voter

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-2313511617550396202008-10-09T12:41:00.000-07:002008-10-09T13:10:54.469-07:00

Taking The Weekend Off Debbie and I will be driving off to the scenic seaside town of Ventura, Stalag California for the weekend to attend and participate in the Seaside Highland Games.In spite of all the rollicking fun in the news this month, there won't be any more reportage here until next week. We have to have one more wild fling before have to settle down and start looking for food under

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-63219199598564636842008-10-03T16:06:00.000-07:002008-10-03T17:53:06.114-07:00

We Have To Do Something.....Anything....Even If It's Wrong! Listening to the pundits on radio and tv, these past few day's, both before and after the already infamous vote to (further) socialize America's financial system, a number of things became painfully clear.First and foremost, the overwhelming image scampering out of Washington DC is of "the blind leading the blind." The vast majority of

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-65629954586287582382008-10-02T13:43:00.000-07:002008-10-02T14:58:57.315-07:00

The Current Attempted Ripoff Is Nothing New The current attempt at "The Big Ripoff" of all productive Americans isn't without precedent. We've seen three or four of them in recent years, starting with the Chrysler Motors bailout of 1979.Here's a particularly timely poem that fits today's situation every bit as well as it did when it was written, in 1936.The Profits and LossBy Berton BraleyFrom

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-1230639472743910392008-09-29T15:15:00.000-07:002008-09-30T14:45:54.468-07:00

Turning To The Dark Side The Democrat Party likes to style itself as "the Party of Jefferson." They must mean the Jefferson from the tv show "All in the Family," 'cause they sure don't mean the very libertarian President Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was an advocate of the principles of freedom to which the Constitution's Bill of Rights refer.One once was guardedly able to point to the First

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-1681729170862132542008-09-27T15:43:00.000-07:002008-09-27T15:44:59.363-07:00

On Blue Bayou During a lunchtime conversation on the jobsite one day last week, some of the chatter reminded me of the several trips I made to a little town in the Louisiana Bayoux.It started in Navy Engineman school in the Great Lakes training facility in Waukegan, Ill. I met another Engineman, Julius was his name, and we became fast friends. Eventually, when we finished the school, we received

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-49755243265484099092008-09-27T10:14:00.000-07:002008-09-27T13:45:34.634-07:00

Giving A Debate Away I usually find that I can't stand to listen to politicians talk for more than a few seconds. I'm continuing, usually in vain, to hope they'll make their points quickly so I can change the channel. The current exceptions to this include Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin (so far), with whom I disagree profoundly on many premises. Newt Gingrich is very clever, has a good sense of

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-80621636682892466552008-09-26T17:40:00.000-07:002008-09-26T19:49:23.780-07:00

The Condemnation of a Small Town The "California" section of the Sept 23, 2008 issue of the LA Times happened to be lying 'pon the butt gaskets in the reading room of our construction office. I succumbed. I regret it. Above the fold I found Steve Lopez' column--Nowhere exposure: visiting Wasilla, Alaska. I wrote an entry about one of his columns last year--about an airhead Beverly hills woman

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-46017110937856715522008-09-21T09:09:00.000-07:002008-09-21T10:25:06.497-07:00

Freddie And Fanny Were Lovers..... Now that the largest, most complex house of cards has collapsed, all of Washington, as well as the mainstream news media, is a) pointing fingers into space trying to avoid blaming those who caused the mess and b) proclaiming that the solution is MS, PhD (more of the same, piled higher and deeper). To protect the guilty, and to avoid having to deal with the real

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-44067560026565771132008-09-18T17:10:00.000-07:002008-09-18T22:22:56.348-07:00

....As Long As Only We Get To Use Them.... Yellowstone National Park is a huge place. Its footprint comprises a very large bite out or the northwest corner of Wyoming, along with appreciable bits of Montana and Idaho. It's a beautiful place, and one which very few people would not like to visit and spend some time. It's even more beautiful in winter, in my opinion, but kind of hard to travel

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6110093.post-17502137038197363492008-09-17T17:10:00.000-07:002008-09-17T18:37:38.287-07:00

Sacrificing Our Young People Yesterday, I had a particularly long drive home, and during part of it, I listened to the Hugh Hewitt radio show. I didn't get to hear much of it because, I had to change the radio station to keep from denting the dash with my fist.Hewitt was interviewing someone connected with John McCain's campaign (whose name I didn't catch) about the differences between McCain

Col. Hoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16661036185268724026noreply@blogger.com11