LAPD Not to Be Taken Too Lightly, or Too Seriously

LAPD, 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 cop was shot (this time not by himself) and the whole of the LAPD surrounded a neighborhood and proceeded to destroy a house. LAPD has a new toy. It's called BatCat, it cost over a million dollars and weighs 39,000 pounds.

Cops responded to a domestic violence call and one of them was shot at the door. Bad news. Certainly the kind of thing that deserves a heavy response from the police.

SWAT, a bunch of cops wearing nazi helmets and body armor, took over the scene, not having any illicit poker games to raid at the moment. Then comes the heavy stuff: Not being content to just warn folks of the danger in the neighborhood and telling them to stay indoors and keep their guns handy just in case, they kick people in the surrounding area out of their homes and send them......where? Away!

Despite SWAT having many excellent snipers, and despite several reported appearances of the madman iat the windows of his house--with his rifle and sometimes firing at police--no sniper even too a shot at him.

Comes the BatCat. As if waiting to try out this new toy, the police do nothing until it arrives. They set it to tearing the house apart one wall after another. The mind boggles. Apparently, in spite of the wanton destruction, they didn't find the guy right away. They finally sent in a robot camera in and they found him dead on an apparently intact bit of floor

They still haven't said whether he was shot by police or whether he shot himself. I'm guessing the latter.

I'm also wondering: if they hadn't found him in his now ruined house, would they have taken the awesome BatCat to tear up the house next door? Knowing LAPD's penchant for overkill, as seen in several events over past decades, anything is possible.

Sometimes I think I stay here to observe all the Los Angeles excesses.

There ain't no government like no government regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Goose Stepping Through Woodland Hills

Yesterday 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 thousands off from their homes and their children's day-prisons. Sealing more thousands into the area, unable to go to their homes elsewhere. 9000 students were locked down in their prisons (as if that's not the case during every weekday).

All because one cop was shot--not severely injured.

There was a time, not so long ago, that when a crime was committed, and a criminal was sought, police were able to investigate, search, find and arrest the suspect without bothering normal, uninvolved people. I know police aren't encouraged to use their minds much anymore, but I thought this was America! Or was.

I have a theory. The theory scares me, but starts to make more and more sense, the more I think about it.

What if some agency--probably federal--wants to try out sudden martial law? What if the officer was a volunteer and the shooter was really a police marksman to set up the scenario? What if the purpose is to see how urban sheeple will react to a federal takeover?

The bought-and-paid-for local media were out in force, in the aftermath of the atrocity, gauging the attitudes of the victims, both adult and student. Needless to say, most of the kids were mugging into the lenses of the tv cameras, "Were you scared?" Big smile, "A little." Most of the adults were miffed at not being given any news about their kids, or not being able to get home but, "If somebody's shooting people, the police have to do what's necessary to catch him."

Well, Woodland Hills fails the test miserably. When the lizards come to Earth for food, they can park their ship over Woodland Hills, because the sheeple there will line up, single file, to march into the ship's freezers for the trip back to the lizard planet. Without a fight; without a whimper. No need to bring the temperature down gradually, so no one will suspect until it's too late. They won't.

And if it's the federal government, that's ok, too!

People should not be afraid of their government; government should be afraid of the people!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

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 is the reason-free blathering of an alleged writer who calls himself DarkSyde (presumably because he doesn't want his friends and family shamed by what he does in the bathroom with his laptop). Following each of his "Ten reasons why you might not be a libertarian," ripping off both David Letterman and Jeff Foxworthy, will be a short comment.

Notice a propensity of newly minted Libertarians showing up lately? Perhaps it's just coincidence their ranks swelled in inverse proportion to George Bush's approval rating, ditto that so many are mouthing traditional conservative talking points. But what about the everyday gun toting townhall screamers and taxcutters and deficit hawks we see on cable news: are they really libertarian as so many claim, or just conservatives in glibertarian (sic) clothes? Here's a few warning signs.

10. If you think Ron Paul isn't conservative enough and Fox News is fair and balanced, you might not be a Libertarian.

Actually, Ron Paul isn't libertarian enough, and Fox News is far more fair and balanced than, say NBC. Also, we need to exclude commentators like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity from this judgement, because they're commentators--not news.

9. If you believe you have an inalienable right to attend Presidential townhalls brandishing a loaded assault rifle, but that arresting participants inside for wearing a pink shirt is an important public safety precaution, there's a chance you're dangerously unbalanced, but no chance you're a Libertarian.

If you replace "brandishing" with the more accurate "carrying," I do have that right--although I prefer a 1911-type handgun. While pink shirts aren't specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights, as is the bearing of arms, the fact was that the Code Pink ladies were noisy and disruptive, whereas the gun-toting attendee stayed well away from the melee.

8. If you think the government should stay the hell out of Medicare, well, you have way, way bigger problems than figuring out if you're really a Libertarian.

Medicare is a creature of government, and its existence impoverishes everyone. I remember when there was no medicare, and in that time, the United States was a far better place in which to live.

7. If you rank Anthonin Scalia and Roy Moore among the greatest Justices of all time, you may be bug fuck crazy, but you're probably not a Libertarian.

I've never heard of a Supreme Court Justice (federal or state) that looks straight to the US Constitution (or the state constitution) to render judgement. If they did, there could be no conscription, no anti-drug laws, and the vast majority of police and regulatory agencies could not exist.

6. You might not be a Libertarian if you think recreational drug use, prostitution, and gambling should be illegal because that's what Jesus wants.

There are religious libertarians--I have no idea how they make that leap, but they're entitled to their opinions, however wrong, as long as they don't try to force their will on others. There is no Constitutional justification for making drug use, prostitution or gambling illegal.

5. If you think the separation between church and state applies equally to all faiths except socially conservative Christian fundamentalism, you're probably not a Libertarian.

I agree with this. Government should not in any way recognize or facilitate any religious organization. Nor should it discourage or hamper the free exercise of any religious activity unless that activity violates the rights of others.

4. You're probably not a Libertarian if you believe the federal government should remove safety standards and clinical barriers for prescription and OTC medications while banning all embryonic stem cell research, somatic nuclear transfer, RU 486, HPV and cervical cancer vaccination, work on human/non human DNA combos, or Plan B emergency contraception.
   

Government and all medical professions should be separated by Constitutional Amendment. Safety standards can be set and enforced by private regulatory firms. Individuals must use or not use the advice offered by these firms as they see fit. One's own judgement is crucial for his own well being, and should be the final screed. Private research organizations should be free to seek knowledge, to the limit of their abilities, as long as they initiate no force and cause no harm.

3. If you think state execution of mentally retarded convicts is good policy but prosecuting Scott Roeder or disconnecting Terri Schiavo was an unforgivable sin, odds are you're not really a Libertarian.

Any executions should be held by the intended victim against his attacker. Government should not be allowed to conduct executions, because it its inherent incompetence. The unplugging of Ms Schiavo's life support was not, should not have been a government issue.

2. If you argue that cash for clunkers or any form of government healthcare is unconstitutional, but forced prayer or teaching old testament creationism in public schools is fine, you're not even consistent, much less a Libertarian, and you may be Michele Bachmann.

I don't see a relationship between the above issues, except that they are all government boondoggles. There is no Constitutional justification for the silly and destructive auto buyback program, nor for any kind of involvement with the medical industry. Nor is there any Constitutional justification for the existence of government education. I use the term "education" very loosely here. Lastly, I have no idea what the dropping of Ms Bachmann's name has to do with anything. Leftists, when they have no argument, will often attack individuals.

And the number one sign: if you think government should stay the hell out of people's private business -- except when kidnapping citizens and rendering them to secret overseas torture prisons, snooping around the bedrooms of consenting adults, policing a woman's uterus, or conducting warrantless wire taps, you are no Libertarian.

I agree with this one, too. George W Bush took many strides toward establishing a new fascist state, here in America. B Hussein Obama, however, instead of dismantling Mr Bush's evil work, has acted to extend and intensify the fascist state. He has not varied from the path Mr Bush would've taken, had he remained President.

The above silliness doesn't address the problems of the totalitarian state, it merely suggests that the writer wants a totalitarian state headed by his guy. His lack of understanding of conservatism, libertarianism, and even socialism is appalling. But he does, like both the neocons and the socialists (but, I repeat myself) extoll the wonders of the totalitarian state even in his ignorance. Oh well. Such is the meandering mental journey of the victim of the government children's prison system.

As for me, if there be any state at all, it should follow the Constitution to the letter and make changes only by means of the prescribed Constitutional Amendment process.

Conservatives don't agree with me, or most libertarians on many things, and I happen to think that most elected conservatives are not really very different from most elected leftists. Two sides of a (base metal) coin.

I kind of don't think I'll be any more likely to become a regular reader of Daily Kos because of the dubious wit and utter lack of logic expressed by Mr Syde, but it is kind of exhilarating to once again learn the very limited mental acuity of the average leftist political writer. The only problem is, the government children's prison system is cranking out people whose abilities are similarly limited, by the millions. Imagine how angry they'll be when they find out!

A tip of the old battered fedora to Moxie Cathedra.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

"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 don't, so far, know why Mixon committed the assault that resulted in the warrant for his arrest, but one has to suspect he's among those who cannot connect actions with their consequences.

He shot the two officers who pulled him over in a routine traffic stop, then shot two more of those trying to dig him out of his hiding place. Ultimately, he, and four Oakland police officers died.

According to this follow-up story in the Silicon Valley Mercury News, there were a number of individuals who knew where Mixon was hiding, but said nothing. "But you just don't want to be a snitch. The word, 'snitch,' it's almost worse than murderer," according to one neighborhood resident.

Tensions run high between the poor residents of this neighborhood in East Oakland after the recent police killing of an unarmed man on a BART car recently.

Which finally brings me around to my point.

For thirty-odd years now, there has been a concentrated effort on the part of the federal and local governments, as well as the police themselves, to separate themselves from the general public. Pursuant to the nefarious plots of the proponents of both the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror," there's a movement among federal thugs to militarize local police and place a federally-funded and influenced presence in the urban areas of the country. Arguably, this could be seen as a violation of the Third Amendment to the US Constitution. Maybe not so arguably.

Local government goes along because it's "sexy" to have an elite SWAT force at their beck and call. Local SWAT teams are used for everything from drug busts to in-home barricade situations to busting up neighborhood poker games. It's also good to be able to make a phone call and get a squad or two of BATFE or DEA thugs to help absorb the responsibility for blunders.

Police officers themselves play the game because it places them in an elite club--better than the "little people" it's their job to protect and to serve.

The result is mistrust and suspicion going both ways--the police sympathizers trying to disarm and pacify the public and the public resentful of callous treatment by seemingly thuggish police officers.

Until officials and police officers realize that they're in our employ to help those who pay their salaries to protect our selves, families and property, and not to be our moral and behavioral supervisors, there will be this adversarial relationship. Disarming us is not the way to endear themselves to the community.

Follow, if you will, this exchange between a local rancher and the town sheriff in the years prior to about 1910.

"Gonna have to take ya in, Carl."
"What for?"
"Give me your gun."
Carl hands the sheriff his sidearm, butt first. "What's going on?"
The sheriff sniffs the pistol's cylinder. "This gun's been fired."
"Shot a rattler on my way into town. Ain't no law against that."
"That's a fact, Carl. A dead man was found on your land. Shot."
"I don't know nothin' about that"
"I'll let ya go if you're tellin' the truth. Let's go."

And this exchange, in 2009.

"Freeze!"
Man turns to see who's yelling at him.
"I think he's got a gun!"
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Sounds of reloading. Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,
Col. Hogan

The Emancipation Proclamation, Disassembled

I'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. B Hussein Obama seems to have won the hearts (they certainly don't use their brains) of the airhead entertainers, surfer bums and welfare queens with his promise of a free home in every garage, and free money to buy their pot.

Chickens tend to come home to roost, though, and so do unpaid debts. When it's realized that Caesar can't run the printing presses forever, and eventually, we'll need a better Plan. If the plan turns off the money spigot, the welfare queens won't like it. And, well, the rest of the story won't be fun to experience.

Better to stop this drift into cannibalism now, while there's still a memory of the America that once was. Find the graphic The Road to Serfdom here.

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

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Addendum: TWC reminds me that the graphic strip was first published as a booklet as a part of General Motors' Thought Starter Series, then was published in Look Magazine.

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 president to take the oath of office there. He dressed in the casual clothes of an average citizen, as one account puts it, "without any distinctive badge of office" (Nash, pg. 267). Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall administered the oath of office, and a corps of local militiamen gave the new president a 16-gun salute."

According to Bartleby,

The outcome of the election of 1800 had been in doubt until late February because Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, the two leading candidates, each had received 73 electoral votes. Consequently, the House of Representatives met in a special session to resolve the impasse, pursuant to the terms spelled out in the Constitution. After 30 hours of debate and balloting, Mr. Jefferson emerged as the President and Mr. Burr the Vice President. President John Adams, who had run unsuccessfully for a second term, left Washington on the day of the inauguration without attending the ceremony.

One account tells us that Jefferson went to a tavern for a meal after his inauguration. The place was packed, and none of the patrons saw fit to give the new President their table. He had to wait.

So, in those times, there was a United States divided sharply along party lines between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans--much like the divide between Democrats and Republicans today. Yet, the new President was able to walk the streets of Washington DC without concern (and probably carried a weapon in his clothing to defend himself if necessary).

So, we go from that simple, unassuming tale of the succession of office in a young Republic to the outrageous, ostentatious wastes of millions of taxpayer dollars 'pon coronations designed to make European successions look like a child's clown, ice cream and cake birthday party by comparison.

Further, according to a Bloomberg story, B Hussein Obama's coronation party organizers plan to have a 42,500-strong security force comprised of members of every one of the unConstitutional alphabet soup federal jackbooted thug police agencies, not to mention the Army, the National Guard and members of several local police agencies from across the country.

Protesters will be beaten up and jailed. People who don't fit the mold of sheep in men's clothing will be harassed, scrutinized, searched and perhaps further assaulted by federal thugs. One can only guess at the number of instances of abuse of the Founding Documents will be perpetrated by these mindless subhumans in the days of this stunningly offensive fete!

Not singling out the current Kings Presidents, going back at least as far as Nixon.

I'd be fine with a large hall dinner and a roast of the new dictator President, provided the check is divided equitably among the attendees, and provided not taxpayer money is used, nor any bribes from lobbyists.

There's mainly a single, solitary reason why the fuhrers Presidents in recent decades are so despised, and it has to do with administrations stepping outside their boundaries and interfering so egregiously into the affairs of others, either foreign or domestic. Were the various government officials to mind the business of administration of a small government, designed to only operate within the constraints of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, most folks would treat him much like early Americans treated President Jefferson--just another one of us.

Wouldn't that be cool?

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag Califorina

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. The Audubon Society can, at its own expense, advertise any sort of persuasion in favor of bird preservation it cares to, but wild animals are the property of no one, and we deal with them as a resource.

A flock of seagulls (are they still around?) attacked a couple near the Main Beach in Laguna, while they were enjoying ice cream as they walked. One bird hit Mrs Djuric on the head as he went for her ice cream. Shades of Hitchcock's great film, The Birds! Mr Djuric, who acquired a nasty mess 'pon his head during the fracas, began waving a stick, hitting a couple of the gulls. One suffered a broken wing, and had to be destroyed.

Mr Djuric was cited for animal cruelty and will likely be fined.

The Audubon Society claims the birds are a subspecies called Heermann's gulls, and declares them an endangered species. Having spent a relatively significant amount of time at and near beaches 'round the western world, my heart just bleeds for the laziest birds 'pon the planet.

These are birds that are supposed to dive into the water and catch fish for a living. Scavenging about for bits of garbage and unguarded food on the shores places them in the class: Nuisance Critters. Like flies, fleas, roaches and lice, gulls are critters whose extinction would make the world a better place for all.

Now, the opinions of a private club are fine, but like the edicts of your favorite religious organization, they should not be written into law.

That makes Mr Djuric, who was merely defending himself and his wife, after having failed at the attempt to enjoy the ice cream they purchased, yet another victim of a government run amok. Just about anyone else would've done the same thing--including many Audubon members, I'll wager.

Never go to the beach without a hat.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

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. She asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to go out and reset the switch. Three plainclothes men jumped out of a van and grabbed Dymond. She wrapped herself around a tree and screamed for Daddy. The three men, vice goons, as it turned out began beating her and trying to pry her hands from the tree. "You're a prostitute! You're coming with me!" said one of the men. At no time is it observed that the thugs identified themselves as police officers.

Read the story here, and here. You can also read The Agitator's take on it here.

Dymond was released, but three weeks later police went to Dymond's school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Griffin says the allegations stem from when Dymond fought back against the three men who were trying to take her from her home. Her father was also arrested.

Turns out that there'd been a complaint about an alleged prostitute plying her trade nearby--two blocks away, as it turns out. Dymond is black. The hooker in the complaint was not. The police picked out Dymond solely (well, maybe not solely--she is black, after all) because she was wearing tight shorts.

The Galveston thug squad offers no apology and is persecuting prosecuting both Dymond and her father for the "assault." Apparently, the initial assault by the police thugs is not to be considered "the assault," and the message to all young girls is to go meekly with anyone who tries to drag them into a van.

The thing that amazes me is that more of these thuggish police officers aren't killed by property owners whose homes and property is invaded by unidentified, obviously hostile subhumans. Don't dare put me on a jury in such a court case as this. This is an example of the things that can happen when police are given a blank check by a federal government that ignores its own laws.

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

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

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 himself in the thigh with a handgun he was carrying in his pocket in a NYC nightclub. I can go on about handgun safety and the fact that no handgun has ever just "gone off" of its own volition, but suffice it to say that Burress, whether or not he knows anything about handgun safety, screwed up in a way that might have killed him. Depending 'pon the particular weapon, the safety must be engaged, the chamber should be empty or perhaps the weapon simply isn't the type to be carried in the trouser pocket. Burress has more than enough money to purchase any type of handgun, and perhaps should've been a mite more selective.

The interesting thing coming out of Burress' famous blunder involves the news coverage. The media seems to have roundly decided that Burress had no right to be armed in public. The NFL offers no defense of the player, citing its policy that if a player breaks the unConstitutional laws of any locality, the player is subject to punishment by the League--including suspension.

New York City, for its part, is as staunchly anti-self defense as is India or Britain--preferring victimhood to self determination. Rather than fighting crime, the DA of New York City, showing the same stupidity, arrogance and ignorance of the rights of individuals as did the NYC DA's in the tv series Perry Mason or Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer novels, plans to prosecute Burress (not for near-terminal stupidity, but for exercising his right to self defense), those who helped him to the hospital and the medic who failed to squeal on him.

A couple of interesting stats were brought up by John Lott, Jr at The Fox Forum. Lott points out that an NFL player stands twenty times more chance of being crime victims than does the average individual. And, since the police seem to be spending most of their time writing traffic citations and chasing the odd toker, gambler or hooker rather than dealing with crime (which should include supporting productive and law-abiding individuals in their efforts to defend themselves against such threats.

The Lott piece also has something to say about airport security guards hiding behind pillars in the Bombay airport, and British-inspired Indian gun control, for those interested.

A tip of the battered gray fedora to Alan Korwin for pointing me in the right direction.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,
Col. Hogan

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 individual carrying a firearm.

Not so bad in other areas. In the rural and small town areas of the midwest and south, for example, the sight of an individual with a pistol on his hip is less disturbing than seeing a man in public without a shirt.

Apparently we have to add West Allis, Wisconsin to the phobic parts of the country. According to a story at Freedom's Phoenix:

The West Allis police department sent two squads to investigate, and found Brad (Krause) in his yard, minding his own business planting trees. From behind him, police rushed him, yelling, "Don't move!" while bearing down on him with their weapons drawn.

This after a neighbor (a very poor neighbor, one might assert) complained that Krause was carrying a gun and he wanted something done about it.

Since it's not illegal to openly carry a firearm in Wisconsin, the police--holding Krause in handcuffs in his front yard for forty-five minutes--stood around trying to figure out how they could arrest him. Checking with a supervisor provided a solution: "claim his action of carrying a weapon is disorderly conduct, and haul him down to the station. His firearm was taken away from him without a receipt, and it has not been returned."

Since Krause had a voice recorder running, and recorded the events as they happened, I'm led to suspect this is the beginning of a test case.

It'll be a test case I look forward to following since, as you know, I'm of the opinion that many egregious crimes, both by criminals and by government (oops, I repeat myself!), could be thwarted by an armed population. 'Twould make our environment much safer.

Krause will be in court in West Allis, Wisconsin tomorrow at 8:00am.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

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 and the insurance industry. There seems to be a bit of hesitancy in the Senate, so while I don't think Senators are any more honest nor intelligent than Congressmen, they might have a less intrusive version. Maybe.

Adolf Hitler, from his little corner of hell, is smiling.

No, they're going to appoint a "Car Tsar" to strut about the corporate offices of the three auto building firms issuing edicts and apportioning the hard-earned spoils stolen from productive Americans to the ceo's according to how well they lick his jackboots. It'll be appropriate to envision a pompous preening rooster strutting about the halls of General Motors in shiny leather leggings and a faux Ike jacket, complete with epaulets and rows of medals, pacing back and forth in the boardroom, slapping his leggings with a riding crop, smiling smugly as the board members bow and scrape.

Look for a failed ceo from an unrelated firm to play the part of Cuffy Meigs in this farce.

Look for more Yugos driving at forty-five mph on our freeways. Look for electric cars stalled in lanes, their batteries having depleted their charge unexpectedly, blocking the Slauson offramp.

One of the biggest problems with the auto industry (and many other industries) is that its run by executives who are not car builders.They are either lawyers (for making compromises with EPA thugs, etc) or marketers (who attempt to sell whatever crap the lawyers and EPA thugs throw together). Hence, the quality individual conveyances as were being built prior to this Mordorian alliance are either nonexistent in today's market, or too expensive for the average individual to afford.

The statist's desire is and has always been to get the individual out of his individual conveyance and into public transportation to more easily control his choices of destinations, and to keep track of his movements.

Think not otherwise: at some point, the government's plan is to have every individual insert his id card into a slot on every bus, plane, passenger train or taxi to record his comings and goings. Private cars, should they still manage to exist, will (many already do) have gps locators on board to keep track that way, and ignition cutoffs should one wander off in an unauthorized direction.

All in the name of Homeland Security.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards,

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

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 increased government's intrusions into the affairs of Americans, and the piggy-backed War on Terrorism has pretty much eliminated the Bill of Rights as a guarantee of Americans' rights.

These days, only large and loud protests can offer any brakes on government excesses. These protests, the ones large enough to reach the ears of power-mad politicians and bureaucrats, have mostly only happened because of the focusing power of conservative talk radio.

Leftist politicians now speak of using a "Fairness Doctrine" to diffuse talk radio, thus taking yet another big chunk out of the already decimated First Amendment.

My interest today centers 'pon yet another, perhaps more physical threat to the liberty we all see slipping away. According to a Washingtonpost.com story found here, the Pentagon has plans and is beginning to implement a program that will include stationing 20,000 Army Regular troops among us "to bolster domestic security."

Several years ago, I was walking along a downtown Tijuana street looking for a restaurant. I don't know what was going on, and nobody was talking, but there were dozens of Mexican federales (army soldiers) carrying automatic rifles on the street corners. Creeped me out. I grabbed my lady, flagged down a cab and we dined in safe and sane San Diego instead. I've never crossed that border again, and doubt if I ever will.

While the plan is allegedly to have troops available to assist state National Guard units and local police in the event of a "domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive attack, or CBRNE event, as the military calls it," it promises to have many other, more insidious uses.

We've all seen how mission creep works as it applies to government programs, and this plan is a clear small step in a directed creeping mission that will tighten control of the populace with respect to freedom of movement. It is specifically targeted toward keeping people in line as disgust with the excesses of government increases.

Can strategically located checkpoints, manned by heavily armed jack-booted thugs really be very far behind? A program of house-to-house searches for who knows what--but we'll just take these dangerous firearms off your hands before you're harmed by them, would seem a logical subprogram.

One could (I don't) assume that the current crop of power-mad politicos are sincerely concerned for our security and safety, but what about the next administration?

In my opinion, this is serious stuff. Voting with your feet kind of stuff.

Before they cut off the routes of escape.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Second War Century

Right now I'm watching (listening to) a Rachel Maddow special on MSNBC. I really don't think that much of Maddow, who is pretty far on the socialist side. Her guest was Chris Matthews, of Hardball fame. I like Matthews a little better, but not much. His love for B Hussein Obama borders on the neurotic.

He was giving a monologue on the reaction of the Bush Administration (and the people of the US) to the destruction of the World Trade Center by mad-dog fascist muslims.

He described Bush's speech a couple of days after the attack, and the fact of Americans' near-unanimous agreement and resolve to bring the planners and financiers of this atrocity to justice, quickly and decisively. The military was quickly mobilized and prepared for action. They were sent to Afghanistan to find Osama bin Llama and all those who follow and protect him.

Matthews continued that, he didn't know exactly how and when, but a neocon cabal led by Cheney, Rove and Ashcroft, perhaps others, swerved the effort into Iraq for ideological reasons still not completely known.

According to Matthews, this act destroyed the trust of many in the Bush Presidency and split the nation.

Matthews' comments ended there, and I have to say that I generally agree with this view. While I certainly will never call Saddam Hussein anything better than a completely evil and despicable dictator, there are many completely evil and despicable dictators on the planet. Why him?

Meanwhile, bin Llama remains relaxing in his villa in the South of France, issuing orders by encrypted email to his lieutenants around the world and enjoying blonde women kidnapped from Stockholm, cuba libres and blt sandwiches.

Every now and then, another bomb goes off somewhere in the world, more often than not in Baghdad, and kills a few people. Bin Llama chuckles.

The one Bushian phrase that rings out, before the body cavity searches in airports, before the wiretapping without a need for a warrant, before the installation of video cameras just about everywhere, before the proliferation of quasi-military police departments in just about every city--even in Mayberry, I'll wager--and before handbag searches everywhere crowds gather, is the one he uttered in one of his early post 9/11 speeches to the effect that the "War on Terror" is likely to last a very long time.

I think he and his cronies are doing their best to make sure it does.

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Herding People

Maybe I'm slow. This has been going on for decades, but not long enough that I can't recall days when things were different.

It suddenly hit me as I watched a tv news show, observing Barry Hussein Obama walking across the pavement toward an aircraft, where he walks up a staircase to the doorway of the plane. We've all seen this repeated dozens, if not hundreds of times for as long as there've been passenger planes.

If you've been around for a while, you might remember walking across the pavement from the terminal (interesting choice of appellations) building to the movable boarding staircase leading up to the aircraft. Otherwise, well, the ritual can be seen in any of several older movies. Or whenever an upper-level politician arrives or leaves by plane.

They used to say that when any three Californians get together, they instinctively form a line. It's still true. At today's airports, anywhere within any of the various United States, one spends virtually his entire time in one line or another. Cars line up to enter parking lots. One has to line up to check one's luggage. To confirm one's ticket. To show your federally-approved id (papers, please?).

It's been a few years since I've visited an airport, and even more years since I've flown, so I might not have the drill quite right. Some of it's from hearsay from folks who've flown more recently than I.

One must line up to have his belongings searched and scanned, as well as his person. Randomly chosen items are confiscated, from knitting needles to bottles of shampoo, for no discernible reason. The federal thugs don't allow weapons, assuring that anyone sly enough to sneak a weapon on board can do anything he wants. If the passenger's not lucky, he might be pulled out of line to have a more complete search and/or questioning. Unless he's middle eastern in appearance, of course. We wouldn't want to accidentally offend any member of an islamic murder cult.

Penn Jillette tells of a TSA thug having played with his jewels during a search in the Las Vegas airport back in 2002. He carried his complaints through to a point in which he really had some of the federal TSA thugs worried. Now, we know for sure that Penn Jillette has a pair. Seems like we all should do that. Not only would we show that we haven't lost ours, but it'd probably put an end to this naziness once and for all.

Next, there's the line at the boarding gate. As one passes the gate, one finds himself inside of a dimly-lit cavern, seemingly being herded along toward the gates of hell. I always imagined an arched gateway with the sign "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here."

1st class lines up first and boards. Strange, since 1st class is forward. When the rest of the poor schlubs line up, they enter and must pass through the forward cabin. Time and grace is lost by the 2nd class passengers having to make their way through the 1st class cabin, whose members are stowing their carry-ons and finding their seats, and generally acting like rules of politeness don't apply to them, as regards to the "little people." Meanwhile, those selfsame little people are scanning the faces of the 1st class elites for celebrities. Deliberately planned confusion.

This, to me, is herding. Placing cattle prods into the hands of the TSA thugs to keep the line of cattle moving, is the small next step.

Meanwhile, the American aristocracy still walks out 'pon the taxiway, in the crisp morning air to the stairway that leads up to an aircraft the luxury of which most of us can only imagine.

Now, I wouldn't gripe if these elite were industrialists, builders and creators--men of self-created wealth. They deserve all the luxury they can afford.

These counterfeit aristocrats are parasites, men and women who've accumulated their wealth and status by having fleeced the productive people of America. Often never having held an honest job in their lives. And, 'tis they who've set up the rules thusly, so that the victims of their system know their place.

American life should be rethought, placing status in degrees according to an individual's creative and productive ability, not his ability to victimize others.

People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Memo to Fuhrer Bloomberg: The Attack Already Happened

The Mayor of New York City, not to be outdone by George Bush, has a plan to turn a once-great American city into a virtual prison. Since technology has almost outstripped the need for traveling papers, there's not really much need for "papers, please" checkpoints any more.

Second most scary phrase in the American lexicon: We're from the government, and we have a plan.

According to this story, the NYPD and police in the boroughs and in surrounding cities within 50 miles of Manhattan will be using radiation detectors to find nuclear weapons, illicit x-ray machines and old radium wristwatches. I'll be watching for the first time they send SWAT in smashing down the doors of a dentist's office.

NYPD will also be monitoring and recording the license plate numbers of all cars and trucks that enter lower Manhattan. They'll be installing more and more cameras all over the city so as to be able to track vehicles as they go about their business.

And....get this! They plan to place 3000 cameras below Canal Street--in the area surrounding the location of the World Trade Center.

Second memo to der fuhrer: They've already destroyed the World Trade Center. There's no point in protecting it anymore. And they didn't do it with anything that a camera in every square foot of Lower Manhattan, with a half-dozen cops watching each monitor could've stopped.

They're already rousting selected subway riders (being careful to never offend any islamic terrorists) to see if they're carrying any nunchuks or brass knuckles. They've already, decades ago, stripped New Yorkers of their right to self defense.

Here's the ultimate solution: Place a wall around New York City and dozens of machine gun towers at intervals atop the wall. Let no one in or out on pain of death. NYC will be safe, as will the ghost of the World Trade Center. It worked well in the movie.....Just make sure fuhrer Bloomberg remains inside! Y'know, I used to like New York.

Goose stepping toward totalitarianism.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

First, Kill All the Dogs

Looking through my handy dandy copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the accompanying Bill of Rights, I'm unable to find the clause that states that government has the mandate to regulate what one ingests. I've looked several times. Yet, the illegal War on Drugs, more properly called the War on Americans' Rights, continues unabated.

It's an oft-asserted fact that 'pears to even the casual observer, that this government's ongoing assault on individual rights costs far more, in any manner of measure, than does the kind of rampant drug use imagined by the evil federal government, even in its most loony fascist's worst imaginings.

The tales of police brutality against the guilty are only exceeded by their atrocities against the innocent. A casual search will turn up hundreds of instances in which due process is ignored, not only by police, but by elected officials, the news media and the courts--especially the bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court, every member of which should (and no doubt does) know better.

The most recent case of crime-by-police took place in Berwyn Heights, near College Park--itself just a few miles east of Mordor. The victims of this outrage were the Mayor of this little slice of suburbia, one Cheye Calvo, his wife and her mother. And, of course, the real victims were the family's two black labs, Payton and Chase, who were given an on-the-spot execution under the guns of this gang of thugs, merely for being dogs.

The sordid tale, starting in Phoenix as a convoluted cross-country movement of a quantity of marijuana to the area. Rumors that the mules were two scruffy guys riding Harleys proved to be untrue.

Arizona police learned of the drug movement and alerted the police agencies in Maryland that the pot was to be delivered in several packages, to various addresses in the area, including Calvo's. Before the packages were delivered, they were to be picked up by the local sellers with the addressees none the wiser.

The plot thickens. Prince George County cops caught the delivery boys and confiscated the drugs. Undercover cops delivered the packages to the addressees, not knowing that they were merely names picked out of a phone book (or the like).

Prince George County's finest then staged the raid 'pon the Mayor's home, killing the dogs, then tying up the Mayor and his mom-in-law on the floor beside one of the bleeding dogs. All the facts got sorted out, as the Mayor's wife came home to find the house covered in blood (the cops tracked all over the place) and torn apart.

Maryland has no law allowing no-knock search warrants by the cops, except they can if they feel like it.

Read the entire sordid story here. Also, see Balko's fine commentary here.

Oh, the County Mounties have not, and apparently will not apologize.

The FBI has been called in to investigate the matter which, if the Ruby Ridge murders are any guide, means the thugs involved in this atrocity will be given promotions, awards for valor and new squad cars.

And, for the capper, guess who has to clean up the Mayor's house (Hint: it won't be anyone with a badge).

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

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

I Can't Drive 55!

The 55mph national speed limit has once again reared its ugly head, and once again, it's leftists, in the guise of algorians, wearing their frightful mask. As one of the many unworkable plans to keep American oil companies from actually adding to the available petroleum supply, including solar power (which is still in its primitive stages,and will be for years to come) and windmill generators (which kill large numbers of birds and are too unsightly to be employed along the Massachusetts coastline) algorians now suggest that we "save" our existing, largely imported oil supplies by driving slower.

That's the "solution" the leftists of the day tried to apply to the government manufactured gasoline shortages of the Jimma Carter years--even more evidence that a B Hussein Obama Presidency will be Carter's second term.

There were many problems with the 55mph speed limit back then.

• The US Constitution has no language to allow a mandated national speed limit.
• No one observed that speed limit anyway.
• Cross-country driving took much longer than necessary.
• The cost of transporting goods by truck increased.
• State and local governments used the speed limit as a cash cow, stepping up enforcement to help fill government coffers.
• Commuters' drive time was increased, lengthening the time of their exposure to possible collisions and breakdowns.

It's an easily observable fact that Guber Schwarzengroper is looking for ways to lessen the state's deficit without actually cutting spending. CHP is already leaving non-injury collision victims to duke it out for themselves while they write citations. Thanks to a relatively new law allowing the doubling of fines for traffic violations in construction zones, virtually all of the Stalag has become a construction zone.

Two cities I spend a lot of time in, driving, are Culver City and El Pueblo de Los Angeles. There's no question that they've stepped up traffic enforcement. Parking enforcement is a growth industry, as well. Lovely Rita is working overtime.

LAPD sets up a ticket factory a couple of times a week near my work area, and CCPD has a truck checkpoint they set up, complete with portable scales, once or twice a month.

What's next? A 40 mph speed limit? Freeway bicycle lanes? Increased license fees for vehicles with engines of over a liter (61 cubic inches, in American) displacement? The algorians really want to see us looking under rocks for food.

Anything at all, to avoid the rational solution: Drill now, drill here and drill fast!

Drill, ye tarriers, drill!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Smith-Suprynowicz Freedom Test

I found this in the current issue of the online magazine, The Libertarian Enterprise.

* Would [you] support the right of a nine-year-old girl to walk into a hardware store and, without signing anything or producing identification of any kind, pay cash for a submachinegun, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and a supply of morphine? If [you] wouldn't, then whatever [you're] in favor of, it isn't freedom.

When I first read this, I muttered, "Huh? What would a nine-year-old girl want with a submachine gun?"

Then, recovering, I reasoned that as long as she doesn't use it to initiate force against me or someone else, it really isn't any of my business. Or anyone else's.

Same reasoning goes for the morphine.

One of the biggest things we can do to enhance the police state that now governs us, is to believe that what other folks do that we may not like or understand (in the absence of initiation of force) is something that needs to be controlled.

I justify this by means of the requirements of man's life qua man, but if you want to justify it by means of the Second Amendment, all you have to do is read it. The right isn't limited by age, race or gender. Arms can mean guns, knives, swords, truncheons, brass knuckles, nunchuks or anything else. As long as they're not used to initiate force.

There is no limitations mentioned as to where one might bear arms. If one has the right to be in a place, one has the right to defend oneself there.

As for morphine, there is no mention in the Constitution anywhere that allows government to tell one what he may or may not ingest.

Remember: VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Drill For Oil? That's Incredibly Naive!

I don't often watch Keith Ubermann--who wants to listen to an ex-sportscaster with a minor speech impediment talk about politics? Ok, as a good, politically correct libertarian, I have to apologize for calling him an ex-sportscaster. Problem is, I went to Fox to watch O'Reilly, but he started right off accusing "the evil oil companies"of price fixing, monopolizing, trying to profit at more than 4%, and probably child dismemberment. When it comes to anything sexual or anything involving oil, O'Reilly must have serious issues. There is no rationality whatever in the man's head regarding either of these issues.

So, I switched to MSNBC and the Ubermann show.

The topic with Ubermann, predictably, was oil as well. He showed a clip of McCain suggesting that it would be a good idea to allow offshore oil drilling. He still, stupidly, won't admit drilling in ANWR is a good idea, which must be a concession to his famed reputation for bipartisanship. Still, drilling off the coast of the Stalag, as well as Florida, the Caribbean, the Gulf and other places, would help. He then showed B Hussein Obama saying that "drilling won't have any effect on the price of gas today." I'm pretty sure this is an exact quote.

Of course it won't, dummy. We aren't drilling today.

The Aussie sang, "If you want your boomerang to come back, first you've got to throw it." The proper counter to B Hussein's proclamation is, "If you want the price of gas to come down, first you've got to drill it."

Aside: A clip of B Hussein at a campaign stop in Iowa where volunteers were filling sandbags. He said (subsequently cut from the clip), "I can do that! I've seen shovels before!" At which point he took up a shovel and slowly, deliberately placed part of three or four scoops of sand in and near a sandbag held by a swooning supporter.

The blushing Democrat then put the bag in the trunk of his car, saying he was going to have it bronzed and hanged on the wall in his den.

Back to the point. I don't know how many times lying leftists have quoted, word for word, the mantra, "We can't drill our way out of the gas crisis."

Well, yes we can. Drilling, in fact, is the only way. Developing an inexpensive, universally available high quality replacement for petroleum to fuel our vehicles, heat our homes and supply fuel from which to produce electricity will happen, but not today. Not tomorrow. And if government gets involved, not for a long, long time.

The truth of the matter is, most political officeholders, both Democrat and Republican, want to immobilize Americans. It's been observed that most feudal serfs never traveled more than ten miles from where they were born. They were far easier to manage that way.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of the people.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

What Will We Use For a Swastika Now That Swastikas Ain't Cool?

Swastikas are hated in the various United States, by most people. They won't play in the federal government as a symbol for our gestapo. It might cause a resistance to form. Americans would be very good at resistance if the heat in the proverbial pot were increased too quickly. The feds have been turning it up pretty quickly these past few years, and the portion of America that's not asleep with dreams of the security of a benevolent government, taking needed steps to protect us from an enemy that would destroy us all, are becoming increasingly aware that this is no longer the America of Thomas Paine, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, et al.

In a practice run at setting up checkpoints at all rail stations in the country, the feds have been helping finance the New York City police department's quasi military control of the city's subways. You know, the famous subways of many a stage play, movie and anecdote, in which one can get to within a few blocks of just about anywhere in the city worth going for a nickel. Of course it, like everything else, is no longer a nickel.

Police started, somewhat over a year ago, checking random grocery bags and book totes for what....? Oh, yes! It was for bombs. Everyone in city government and the media said it wasn't a violation of one's Fourth Amendment rights. If one wanted to avoid the search, he could walk from Fifth and Broadway to Jones Beach. Carrying one's MP3 player, Speedos, a sandwich and a thermonuclear device.

No big deal. If you take the subway, we'll just take a peek in your daypack and you're on your way.

Well, as government takes away your rights in big bites, and missions creep along the baseboards, it didn't stop there. Magee Hickey, a reporter for WCBSTV News in New York, reports here that NYPD officers, clad in full armor and carrying MP5 submachine guns and M4 carbines, and accompanied by drug--I mean bomb sniffing dogs are now manning (and dogging) the various subway stations in the city.

The story also states that similar squads of storm troops have been stationed around the Empire State building, Wall Street and other New York landmarks for years. What a joy! I wonder if they were stationed around the World Trade Center prior to Sept 11th.

All this money being spent, when all that'd be needed is an armed populace! Armed on their own nickel and unpaid, happy to just consider themselves capable of their own defense.

Welcome to the brave new world.

This is, of course, just a trial balloon, to see if the most compliant of all Americans, New Yorkers, will rebel. They won't. As long as the heat isn't turned up too fast.

NYPD, the organization whose members like to find a poor foreigner in a doorway, brace him (in plain clothes), and when he reaches for his wallet with his id, shoot him over 50 times (only hitting him 16 times. I wonder how many times they reloaded), is in charge of this fiasco. My guess is, it'll be a relatively short time until several subway riders will be killed after these Jack-booted thugs open up the MP5's at some drunk who runs when they brace him, and bullet ricochets fill the train station. They probably won't hit the drunk.

Why do you think these New York's finest are taking the precaution to wear armor?

I mentioned in a previous entry, there's little more the members of the Boot On Your Neck Party (both sects A and B), want than to control Americans' ability to travel at will. They'd put it in a request to Santa Claus every year, except that hizzonner Mr Claus can't go to New York any more without his bag being searched.

So, if the Neocons and the leftists (but, I repeat myself) get their way, and there are checkpoints every few blocks on every street, manned by armored thugs with submachine guns, what will be the symbol emblazoned 'pon their helmets and shoulders?

A cross within a crescent, maybe?

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California