Senator John McCain, Who Served in VietNam.....

I'm starting to see a bit of deja vu in this hyper-extended forever Presidential campaign. Recall four years ago, when on an almost-hourly basis, we were reminded that John Kerry served in VietNam, and that he earned several medals, including a couple of Purple Hearts. Remember also that, in the wake of the end of his service, he attended a number of anti war demonstrations, at one of which he flamboyantly threw his medals away. 'Twas also rumored that the very slight injuries that resulted in his Purple Heart medals were self-inflicted.

Sorry. I always go off on that guy because he's such an inept fool.

The point I'm taking a long time to making, is that in this interminable Presidential campaign, we're being reminded every bit as constantly, that Senator John McCain is a war hero, as a result of his service in the very same war. Well, in his case, he was. He deserves commendation for having survived an incredible ordeal.

It doesn't mean we have to hear about it as a seeming qualification for the office of President of the United States. Every day, several times a day. It makes one wonder if he's ever done anything else worthwhile, since. Well, he has. Not much of it is good, and it seems the 'steemed Senator kind of realizes it, too. According to one observer:

"When confronted with any of his misdeeds, Senator McCain tends to fall back on his record as a war hero in Vietnam. Let's talk sense. Benedict Arnold was a war hero but that did not exempt him from condemnation for his later betrayal. Being a war hero is not a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card. And becoming President of the United States is not a matter of rewarding an individual for past services. The Presidency is a heavy responsibility for the future of the nation, including generations yet unborn. Character and integrity are major qualifications." -- Columnist Thomas Sowell

It's pretty obvious from the bills he's sponsored that he's no conservative, as is currently being observed by most conservative commentators. He sided with Democrats to make it difficult for the administration to appoint judges. He, in a stunning renunciation of the First Amendment as it applies to political speech, conspired with Democrat Senator Feingold to squelch criticism of sitting politicians campaigning for reelection. The list goes on.....

Additionally, the Senator's rhetoric seems to indicate that he wishes to place the country in a perpetual war situation. He's expressed interest in initiating military action against Iran because of their dabbling in nuclear physics. Iran says (of course, I don't believe them either) that they want nuclear power plants. McCain and others think they want nuclear weapons. Based on the lousy intelligence our spy agencies, all but destroyed during the Clinton administration, we have no more idea what's the truth than we did regarding Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Senator McCain is fondly referred to by the leftist press as a "maverick." They like him because he allies himself with the Senate's Democrats very often. He's favored by the leftist press to become the Republican nominee because they think (probably rightly) that he'll cave to many of the leftists' desires.

His campaign rhetoric claims that he's "the only true conservative," but his record says otherwise. He's also noted to be a hothead, prone to angry outbursts and long-term grudges.

He's a card carrying algorian, who will continue the policies that keep America dependent on unstable foreign despots for our petroleum needs. He'll continue the harmful and wasteful programs that convert food crops into a substandard fuel, at the expense of the use of our very plentiful and accessible petroleum fuel--and at the expense of research that would otherwise lead to new technology to locate and produce petroleum from untapped sources.

The election of John McCain might be better than the election of Clinton or Obama, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. The very conserative Ann Coulter has said that she not only wouldn't vote for McCain, but that should he become the nominee, she'll campaign for Mrs Clinton. Given Coulter's somewhat bizarre sense of humor, and tendency to hyperbole, it'e hard to tell whether that's her real position, but one can certainly draw from her statements that she doesn't favor McCain.

It's not easy to make a decision given the very poor group of candidates from whom we must select. I favor Ron Paul, all the while realizing, given his vote results to date and the political climate in Washington, his chance of becoming the nominee are very slim. I'll vote for Paul in the hopes that his influence can be felt by whoever becomes the nominee.

Then, I'll hope that the coming administration can be held to causing as little damage as possible until voting Americans can be convinced that trying to live at the expense of others is not a life-enhancing policy.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Behold! A True Believer....

Again, my brother, the Texan, has provided welcome fodder for this virtual pamphleteer, in the form of a link to a column in his local newspaper, the Amarillo Globe-News. 'Twas in response to my most recent entry about the algorian religion. The columnist, whose name is Marie Fisher. Her byline refers to her as an accountant.

Ms Fisher bases her comments 'pon information gleaned from such august sources as The Weather Channel and the Discovery Channel. I don't think I'd bet the farm on, for example, the blathering of Dr Heidi Cullen, an agenda-driven climate reporter who is clearly a foot soldier for the algorians, and probably carries their membership card in her "No Animal Products Used To Manufacture This Product" handbag.

Now I didn't, at first regard Michael Crichton an unimpeachable source for information about climate change--even though I'd believe him well ahead of Dr Cullen--but he is a well published novelist with an extensive background in the sciences. But I do trust source material he provides with State of Fear--that because I find that his source material is a good fit with source material from other studies to which I've been referred.

That material also fits well with common sense--not to mention with the nature of the planet as it's been understood through history.

Finding a crisis in natural climate change (and there exists no other) is to ignore everything we know about the ability of this resilient planet to repair and remake itself. For example, where are the millions of gallons of petroleum products spilled by ships, planes and other war machines during World War II? Earth repairs itself. Had no one conducted a massive cleanup effort after the wreck of the Exxon Valdez, that oil would be pretty much gone by now by action of the flora and fauna.

Well, the algorians depend 'pon the Marie Fishers of the world to hear the loudest voices, know nothing of history before their own birth, and find crises and adopt causes offered by charismatic charlatans to fill voids in their own unfulfilled lives. Sorry. I ought not psychologize about individuals about whom I know little, but I've bumped into so many like Ms Fisher.....

Actually, I do occasionally watch the educational tv stations recommended by Ms Fisher but, they're tv stations. They're bought and paid for. They're superficial. All they're good for is to spark one's interest and to offer clues about where to begin.

So, Ms Fisher, the polar ice caps will be around for a long time. Should the world flip over on its other side, the ice caps will simply reform wherever the new poles find themselves. And there won't be a bloody thing we can do about it.

World without end, amen.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

If At First You Can't Fool 'Em, Make The Lie Bigger

The algorians have not yet left the building. According to a Breitbart story, Algore is now claiming that, in the face of one of the coldest winters in the past twenty or so years, global warming is "significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly than those on the pessimistic side of the IPCC projections had warned us...."

Of course there is climate change. It's part of the nature of the planet and the solar system. We get periods of relative warmth and periods of relative cold, along with all the weather phenomena that are involved. These changes have to do with the relationships between Earth, the Sun and the other planets. These relationships, far too complex for a dopey politician like Algore to understand--or any of us, for that matter--cause a continually changing climate pattern that can't be altered significantly by anything mankind can do (short of destroying the planet by means of global nuclear war), and wouldn't matter much if it did.

The algorians are after political power; they're perpetrating this hoax for no other reason.

A far more healthy perspective on the state of the Earth is presented by Michael Crichton, author of many science-smart novels, including Andromeda Strain and Next. One of the best novels I've read in the past three or four years, is State of Fear, by Crichton. The novel, chuck full of references to real scientific, peer reviewed studies, tells a tale that illustrates the falsity of algorian claims quite thoroughly--one of the characters in the book could even be Algore.

Environmentalism As Religion is a speech given by Crichton, apparently derived to expound 'pon the issues raised in Fear.

While I disagree that government should create a "super EPA" to replace the current very political, very corrupt EPA, I agree with the facts Crichton uses to come to that conclusion. I'd see it as sufficient to trust land owners to find incentive in the ownership of their property, to keep it "clean." For those few who would ignore the long-term self interest of a clean property in favor of short term profit, I'd think tort lawsuits, brought by injured neighbors, to take care of these individuals by force of court decisions.

Algore, your time is up. While any number of deluded followers mouth your gospel, your group of true believers has assaulted the truth far too long, and the seams of your religion are splitting, along with those of your shirts. You know you're lying and the world's power-mad leaders know you're lying. The masses of overburdened taxpayers are beginning to realize it.

Not all men are "rational animals."

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Roll Of The Dice

A couple of weeks ago, Guber Ahnold announced that the State of California is in a fiscal crisis. Apparently he was the last to find out. I've known it for years, and I know many others who do, as well.

The state was in fiscal crisis when Californians voted to toss Davis the Gray out on his narrow ass, just as it was when Guber Pete Wilson raised state taxes when he was in office. Most of the bad stuff started back when Guber Moonbeam started up with those daffy anti-pollution programs while he was boinking Linda Ronstadt and, while Jerry Brown is still involved in California politics, he apparently hasn't learned a thing. But, he did dump Ms Ronstadt.

Back to the point, Ahnold has been spending like a drunken George W Bush throughout his tenure so far, and now has the nerve to say we have to bring things back into balance. As The Lone Ranger's pal Tonto is rumored to have said, "What you mean we, White Man?" Ahnold is a very wealthy man. He caused much of the deficit to occur. He should personally make it good, not push it all 'pon we, the starving masses.

Meanwhile, he keeps creating more programs and promising special interest lobbyists (mostly the state's children's prison system) even more money.

He's suggested an across-the-board spending cut. Commendable, if it actually happens, but he's already suggested a number of exceptions to the cuts. Certain green programs and, you guessed it, the state's children's prison system--which already gets more money than any two other state departments and is only standing behind the interest payments on the state's debts, in size.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (the big spending state official, he of the state-paid $2000 hotel rooms in European cities in which he has no state business whatsoever, not the 1960's singer) has vowed to stop even these meager spending cuts.

I can only hope he cuts deeply into the budget of the Franchise Tax Board, those thievin' bastards.

He's cooked up a scheme--which is on the upcoming Primary ballot--to confiscate an even larger portion of the profits of the Big Four Indian gaming casinos in exchange for letting them have thousands more slot machines.

If and when Californians wise up and realize that the casinos will simply increase the house percentage to make up the difference, they'll quit going to the casinos. If large numbers quit gambling at the casinos, what'll that do for Ahnold's bottom line?

Of course, they won't see me there. Gambling's kind of fun, but what they're doing at California's casinos is no gamble.

Remember! VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENTS!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Man Who Would Be Warlord

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. Given my limited attention span with regard to the recent history of the burgeoning American fascist state, I find the current crop of Presidential candidates quite remarkable. Even after the recent dropouts, we still have:

• John McCain, US Senator from Arizona, and war hero
  
• Fred Thompson, recent US Senator from Tennessee and actor
• Dr Ron Paul, US Congressman from Texas and physician
• Mike Huckabee, recent Guber from Arkansas and fundamentalist minister
• Rudy Giuliani, recent Mayor of New York City
• Hillary Clinton, carpetbagger Senator from New York and former First Lady
• Barack Obama, US Senator from Illinois and former State Legislator
• John Edwards, US Senator from North Carolina and shyster attorney
• Dennis Kucinich, US Congressman from Ohio
• Mike Gravel, State Legislator from Alaska and former US Senator

A motley bunch, by all accounts. My reverse Darwinian Theory (devolution) seems to come into play here.

Despite a few minor quibbles and one major one (unless I fail to understand his ideas on foreign policy), I like Dr Paul as my fave since Roger McBride in 1976.

Cutting to the chase, I'm writing about the worst choice for the Republican Party--and possibly even the worst choice overall: Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani has, as his major (read only) claim to fame, the fact that he "cleaned up" New York City during his tenure as mayor. It truth, he did make Manhattan a more pleasant place to visit--and possibly even to reside, if you're a multimillionaire--by cleaning out a lot of the sleazier businesses in the downtown areas and making life really hard for unapproved individuals--unapproved individuals to be defined as homeless, hookers, street vendors and other black- and grey-market businesspeople.

Keeping the NYC Sullivan Law in place, he trained the police to shoot first, so there'll be no possibility of questions later, and made full use of NYC's built-in bureaucratic corruption to see that undesirables were zoned out of existence, and that NYC's thug unions run all non-union business operations out of town.

While Giuliani went through wife after wife and girlfriend after girlfriend (Hm....reminds me of a certain alcalde with whom I'm familiar, not to mention a certain recent President), a new NYC somehow emerged--one in which everything is visible only in 1950's black and white, and any disparaging word is answered by 50-odd shots by a couple of New York's finest. Mike Hammer, where are you when we need you?

Nobody paid much attention to the King of New York until the tragic and fateful Sept 11, 2001, when islamic savages destroyed the World Trade Center, and 3000-odd innocent lives along with it.

Giuliani was there. To his credit, he took control of an almost unprecedented situation, and the emergency actions of NYPD and NYFD showed that, when the need arises, they do what needs to be done, and do it well. I further have to give credit to Giuliani for having refused a large check from some Arab potentate, whose name I'll not take the trouble to look up, ostensibly to help pay for the rebuilding of the WTC.

While I have to offer kudos to Giuliani for his leadership in this crisis, I find it more than overbalanced by his refusal to allow New Yorkers their right to self defense by not repealing the Sullivan Law and any other local impediment to New Yorkers' Second Amendment rights. This failure is unforgivable, and is the reason why, should Giuliani become the GOP's nominee for President of the United States, he will not get my vote. He doesn't deserve it.

I could also add that he's promised to keep out troops embroiled in the war of altruism in Iraq for decades to come. While I don't disagree with the need to fight al queda and the other islamic savages who were involved with attacks 'pon the United States, Iraq fails to fit into that equation.

Pending Florida's Primary, Giuliani seems to be floundering. And that's a good thing! The last thing we need is a President that looks like an aging Butthead.

Remember! VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Few Pithy Quickies

I've read several of these before, but they bear repeating. This batch is courtesy of my Brother, the Texan.

If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed.
If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. - Mark Twain

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress.... but then I repeat myself.- Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. - Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. - James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. - P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. - Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. - Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! - P. J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. - Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! - Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. - Mark Twain (1866 )

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. - Unknown

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. - Ronald Reagan

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. - Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress. - Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. - Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. - Thomas Jefferson

These are some of the men who shaped/are shaping the world in which we live. One must hope that there are enough of these men and women to begin to reverse the trend of the past hundred years or so.

In a philosophical recession.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

To Whom It May Concern:

There are a number of comments to my recent entries which very much deserve responses, but have received none from me so far. This is a problem. At first, I thought it was my computer, since I've been having a bit of trouble with spyware, or something like that. I get a lot of strange popups and at times, my computer runs very slowly.

I plan to take it in for a cleanup very soon.

'Pon further research, though, I've decided that this is not the reason I can't publish responses in my comment section. Today, I attempted to make a response to MK, using my computer at the office, and it wouldn't post there, either. Hence, I've decided this problem belongs to Blogger, not to me. I have a few more tricks I'll try, but meanwhile, A is A.

My response to MK's comment on my criticism of the nation's police is as follows:

Well, MK, As I've said before, the best justice is when the intended victim saves himself by killing his attacker, in self defense. True, even though we'd all agree that it's even better when we can avoid the confrontation altogether.

I have no sympathy for a criminal, whether they (cop or citizen) shoot him with a taser or with a gun--if they've caught him in the act.

What I don't like, is the cops using tasers and/or truncheons against a guy who's just not submissive enough.

We have to remember that a cop isn't a god. He's just a guy with a job--a job most of us would rather not do. He should be paid well. That doesn't mean that, by employing a police department, we've given up our right to self defense.

We have to force politicians, judges and police to understand this.

Until I get my comments page straightened out, I'll answer comments this way. Please bear with me.

The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley....

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Quebec Ace From Fredericton

I first ran into Willie at a sporting goods store in La Mesa, a town just east of San Diego, in about 1982. I was playing amateur hockey at a rink in El Cajon, another town just to the north. I'd heard that this store actually had hockey equipment. No more need to pay the inflated prices at the rink store!

I can't remember whether I met the store's owner (a pleasant old fellow who really liked hockey) first, or Willie. I remember being very surprised to learn that Willie, a black man, not only liked hockey, but knew a lot about it--more than your average sporting goods store clerk.

Aside: How many people miss store clerks who actually know something about what they're selling?

So, I began buying my sticks and replacing my old, worn out gear with new stuff from this store. I eventually learned that Willie played amateur hockey at another rink, at a level well above my own. Then, I learned that he had played minor league pro hockey--right there in San Diego for the San Diego Gulls!

Well, to make a long story even longer, I finally learned that Willie O'Ree, a Canadian black man, had played in the Canadian minors beginning in the mid-1950's, had been called up to play several games for the Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League, in 1960 and again in 1961. Further, he was the first black man to ever play in the NHL.

Soon, Willie found his way into an office job with the San Diego Hawks, then later with the reformed San Diego Gulls. There's a bust of him in the San Diego Sports Arena, and for a number of years, his live self could be found there, too.

Since I moved back to LA, I hadn't heard much about Willie, until today. The sports page of the Orange County Register, which I happened to pick up at a local newsstand, has a story in which NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is going to honor Willie at a dinner tonight in his home town, Fredericton, New Brunswick, commemorating the 50th anniversary of his breaking the NHL color barrier.

Fredericton's sports complex will be renamed "Willie O'Ree Place. Saturday, Willie is going to be honored in Boston at a Bruins game.

Willie doesn't blow his own horn much, hence the reason why, even though we used to chat a lot at the sporting goods store, it took a long while for me to get to know who he is and what his accomplishments are. I learned a lot of it from others, in later years.

Today, Willie still lives in San Diego, is retired from hockey except for being employed as a director of the league's youth development and as an ambassador for diversity.


72 and still going strong.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Roswell, Texas

At the request of my friend, L Niel Smith, I'm extending an invitation to read his graphic novel, Roswell, Texas. It's a light-hearted romp through a Texas of a different time.....and a different probability. The story was written by Niel and Rex F May. The graphic novel was inked by Scott Bieser and painted by Jen Zach.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will again, starting now.

The trade paperback will be published in June, 2008.

Art is a peek at an aspect of the world as the artist thinks it might be and ought to be.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Addendum: Please allow me to apologize for failing to mention one of the more important actors in the drama of getting Roswell, Texas before us all--in the person of Frank Bieser at Bighead Press. Bighead Press has serialized several very entertaining graphic novels and is continuing to do so. Thanks, Frank.

A Proliferation of Taser Killings

Marshall Dillon pointed his Peacemaker at the cowboy without cocking the hammer. "Hand over your gun," he ordered.

"Sure, Marshall." The cowboy carefully took his pistol out of its holster and handed it, handle first to the lawman. "What did I do?"

"Found a dead man out on your ranch. Know anything about it?"

Now, Gunsmoke was hardly a historical duplication of the actual Dodge City of the 1880's, but it does point out the difference between the interface between the citizenry and the law in a more rational time.

"Get down on the floor and lie face down! Spread 'em!"

The man looked up from his sofa at the splintering of his front door, to see over a dozen fully armored men, armed with assault rifles pointed at him, storming into his home.

The man, reflexively, stood up. "What's this.....?"

One of the intruders shoots him with a taser. The man, who suffers with chronic episodes of heart arrhythmia, reacts badly to the voltage. His ailing heart gives up, and he dies.

Turns out, the maltrained SWAT Nazis had been given this address as a tip by a drug addict looking for a reduced sentence. The dead victim, who occasionally smoked some marijuana to ease his back pain, was dismissed as guilty even though he had no police record at all. He couldn't get his doctor to prescribe effective pain control because of federal scrutiny of physicians who specialize in these areas.

These are both dramatizations, but events similar to the second, or variations thereof, are happening every day. What with the unConstitutional asset forfeiture laws, it becomes profitable for police agencies to shoot first and never have to ask questions. The officers involved in these atrocities are almost always found to be acting properly, and are sometimes given promotions.

For those of us old enough to wistfully recall the days of Officer Mike, the beat cop, walking or driving through the neighborhood, knowing the names of many of the businessmen and residents, and always ready to help any way he (reasonably) can, from checking out the broken window you discovered when you returned from work to returning a child, who wandered out of his known neighborhood--not to child protective services, but home to his parents.

Police agencies have become paramilitary groups, far separated from the residents of their patrol areas. They usually don't live near their patrol areas. They don't talk to the residents or businessmen except when called, and then only to take a report and move on. In fact, there's a very real sense among police (acknowledged amongst themselves, that the citizenry are the enemy. Or they're "little people." They keep the peace by forcing the citizens they encounter to lie face down on the pavement and.....

Most of this us under the approving guidance of the breathing death's head, Michael Chertoff, and his recent predecessors. He'd do WWII Germany's top Gestapo men proud, and he hasn't yet approached his stride.

Well, Americans shouldn't have to prostrate themselves before authority. Not only is it demeaning, not only does it demolish one's right as a man to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but it ruins one's clothing.

Now the President, in accordance with his seeming desire to create a Fourth Reich, is dramatically increasing the ways to "keep track" of what Americans do and where we go. The President wants a universal ID card. He wants to be able to (and is many cases already does) check everyone's "papers, please?" at airports, train stations, and to keep track of people on surveillance cameras strategically placed just about everywhere.

One has to show ID and state one's purpose at entry to many public buildings. One has to show ID prior to just about any financial transaction (to be duly recorded in IRS records). Soon, there'll be ID checkpoints at random locations.

The President, and several of his recent predecessors, have created a plethora of special, sometimes secret federal police agencies, unConstitutional, one and all.

All of the above abrogations of Americans' rights to privacy, freedom of association and freedom of movement could be abolished, leaving Americans safer simply by reaffirming our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and to defend our own lives, families and property.

I wonder what might be the purpose of all this? If we all make a guess, I believe many of us will come to the same conclusion.


They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Wolves and The Sheep

This one, though written in 1788, seems like a good fit for today:

"[T]he natural process of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." The governments in Europe...."have divided their nations into two classes, wolves and sheep." If the people of America become......"inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, judges and governors shall become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions."--Thomas Jefferson, to Edward Carrington."

When we get comfortable, we get lazy, I guess, and there's always some power-mad criminal type to fill the void.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Some US Muslims No Less Savage

Aurora, over at The Midnight Sun, reminded me that I have to consider the notion that few, if any of the members of "the religion of peace" in the various United States are of the radical, crazed sort. While on one hand, there have been relatively few destructive incidents within our borders, we have to recall that in almost no case, have American Muslims emphatically condemned the actions and philosophy of the evil savages of ham-ass, al quaida or any of the other crazed islamic murderers around the globe.

While I'd never consider this attitude a racial one (Muslims are of various races), it's worth mention that birds of a feather do things together.

I was further reminded of the very recent murders of two teenaged girls by their islamic father. The story can be read at Debbie Schlussel's site. She's followed it up here. A further story can be found at the Free Republic site. Stories can also be found in local Dallas & Houston area newspapers. I first heard about it on Fox News. On cursory search, I find no stories in other national media sources--bringing me back to Aurora's entry, "Mainstream Media Colors the Facts."

It's demonstrably true that the msm soft-pedals, and even spikes stories involving Muslims, Blacks and Hispanics. White males are always fair game.

But, I digress. A taxi driver, whose name is Yaser Abdul Said, allegedly fatally shot his two daughters, Sarah and Amina, because they were dating infidels--that is, in sane people talk, high school classmates.

Note: Today, ABC News says " No word yet on a motive." They're right on top of it, as usual.

The solution to all this is that the law, and the media, must hold Muslims (and other groups) to exactly the same standards as anyone else. Rigorously. Although, I'll say that US law is better at that than, say, that of Great Britain.

I no longer hold any illusions about the innocence of many of the mosque denizens of the various American cities and States.


Trust, but verify.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Another Interesting Observation

This one comes from a friend, Mr Cecil Proulx.

Fred Thompson and Hillary Clinton were walking down the street when they
came to a homeless person. The Republican, Fred Thompson, gave the homeless
person his business card and told him to come to his office for a job. He
then took $20 out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.

Hillary Clinton was very impressed, so when they came to another homeless
person, she decided to help. She walked over to the homeless person and gave
him directions to the welfare office. She then reached into Thompson's
pocket and got out $20. She kept $15 for her administrative fees and gave
the homeless person $5.

Now, do you understand the difference?

The only variance from this I might suggest is that both of them would've taken the $20 bills from the public treasury, after they had been taxed from you and me.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Political Debate, Or A Seventh-Grade Classroom?

I watched ABC's Presidential debate yesterday evening, and while I found ABC's chosen format to be refreshing--giving the candidates time to expound 'pon their views rather than recite memorized sound bites. Charlie Gibson did a creditable job as moderator and referee, not getting in the way, yet keeping the battle under a degree of control.

I didn't watch the Democrat part--who can listen to the blathering of those who only debate the degree of enslavement they wish to impose 'pon America's Productive Class? Not that the Republicans are much better--but at least they speak in somewhat rational terms.

I thought.

The actions of five of the Republican candidates was shameful on numerous occasions. Fast forward to the Fox News analyses by numerous pundits and commentators later last night and today. Nearly all (or, as much as I've observed, absolutely all) of them made a lot of the barbs tossed at ex-Guber Romney regarding his real and imagined flip flops over the course of his career. There were such barbs, but they were relatively few and in the spirit of good-natured jabs among members of a club, over beers.

All the candidates did take advantage of their opportunity to expound on the views they've tried to offer and defend in thirty- to sixty-second sound bites in past debates. I think my candidate, Ron Paul, did less well at this than did the others. Part of this was his own fault, but much of it was because of the situation which I'll try to reveal: He was interrupted often by one or more of the other candidates, who didn't offer any sort of rational rebuttal to Paul's assertions and arguments, but who was essentially pointing a finger and laughing at Paul's positions with no attempt to demonstrate why they disagree, or to offer any better ideas.

Time after time, Paul was interrupted. Time after time (and ABC's cameramen were johnnies-on-the-spot to make sure these moments were on camera) candidates were seen to make faces and break into derisive laughter at some of Paul's points--whether it be his comments on hard money being a solution to inflation, or his mentioning that the undeclared wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are causing the dollar to sink on the world market, feeding the increases in oil prices. Whenever he mentioned the US Constitution, I thought Rudy (Butthead) Giuliani was going to whip out a straw and start shooting spitballs.

Sadly, my second choice among the Republicans, Fred Thompson joined in on this juvenile behavior. Aside: I have to fight with myself on this--I can't seem to forget that the President in Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged was named "Mr Thompson."

So, while I don't yet know how well Dr Paul will do in the various Primaries, I do know that none of the other candidates will be consistent advocates for liberty, hard money or capitalism. I expect more of the same whether the next President is a Republican or a Democrat.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Salag California

A Quick, But Pithy Quote

"The only reason anyone ever has for wanting to steal your guns is that they're planning to do something to you your guns could prevent."--from Ken Holder, Editor of The Libertarian Enterprise.

I'm going to import a quote I find particularly clever or timely, as I find them appropriate. I hope you enjoy them.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

On Becoming a Ron Paul Partisan



Looks like I'm one of many vocal supporters of Ron Paul for President. After reading a note from Patrick M Byrne, CEO of the very successful internet sales firm, Overstock.com, as part of a blog on his firm's site wrote the following:

Dear Customer,

Because Overstock advertises on Fox channels, Overstock has been receiving calls and email messages about Fox News decision to exclude Dr. Ron Paul from the upcoming January 6 forum in New Hampshire, a decision that seems especially rank given the fact that in yesterdays Iowa Caucus Dr. Paul out-polled Mayor Giuliani by a factor of 2.5:1. I always enjoy hearing from our customers, particularly those who display political commitment of any flavor, and I thank them for their calls and emails.

In October Dr. Paul came to Utah, and he and I visited for an hour in my office. After that meeting, I gave him the largest donation I could under federal law: it is rare to meet a politician who understands the Constitution, and rarer still to meet one who thinks it binds the government meaningfully (I would give Dr. Paul more were there not now a federal blackout on free speech known as "McCain-Feingold"). In a television interview last week I stated that, while for the first time in my life I felt there are several candidates qualified to be president, my #1 choice would be Dr. Paul.

That said, I believe that pulling Overstocks advertising from Fox would represent an inappropriate conflation of my personal politics with my corporate responsibilities: thus, fellow supporters of Dr. Paul, my answer to you is, "no." However, I have contacted Fox and told them that, as a major advertiser, I believe it is unconscionable of them to exclude Dr. Paul from participating in this forum on January 6, thus denying our polity the opportunity to make an informed choice.

Respectfully,

Patrick M. Byrne, Ph.D.

CEO, Overstock.com

After reading this, I've decided to a) take a second look at the possibility of making purchases from that form, and b) write the following to Fox Senior Political Producer Producer Marty Ryan:

Dear Mr Ryan,

It disturbs me greatly that Fox News has decided to take a hand in the 2008 Presidential elections by eliminating one of the more viable Republican candidates from the upcoming debate. Dr Ron Paul is the only candidate who is aware of the US Constitution and who often expresses support for the document. He has a record in Congress of consistently voting in accordance with its tenets--a record few, if any other congresspeople can approach.

Your commentators, Messrs Hannity and O'Reilly, to name two, seem to stand in opposition to this same document by their habit of referring to Dr Paul as "wacko," "nutcase," and many other derogatory references, liberally mixed with ignoring this candidate at moments when it would clearly be proper to include him.

Fox enjoys a position at the forefront of cable news stations in the US, and deservedly so. It seems a shame to put that leadership at risk for a mistaken political stance, inconsistent with Fox's stated mission: "We Report, You decide."

Sad to see the beginning of the downhill slide of a great organization.

Yours in truth,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

I don't have anything against the organizer of a political debate deciding whom should attend but, as I said, Fox News positions itself as a "fair and balanced" news outlet, and Ron Paul has tens of millions of pots in which to piss. He did get a score of 10% in the Hawkeye Cauci. I'll be surprised if he doesn't do better than that in New Hampshire.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Reason To Vote For Ron Paul

Yesterday, because of the good fortune of my location at the end of the work day, I had the opportunity to visit Casa de las Rocas Grandes, the home of my good friend TWC (The Wine Commonsewer). Incidentally, for those interested in the pleasures of the grape, his blog is a great place for wine reviews, not to mention cleverly woven political commentary and tax advice. Mrs TWC's blog, which deals with education issues, can be found here.

Consistent with the high level of graciousness to which I've become accustomed in my all-too-rare visits, he and Mrs TWC are consummate hosts. Their two youngster, Jake and Katie, are engaging and bright. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, and made every effort to continue my journey homeward before I wore out my welcome.

During the course of our chat, TWC suggested that I place the following video on this site, for your approval.



It's the most rational recommendation I've yet seen for voting for my chosen candidate, Dr Ron Paul, in the Primary election in your state. If you can't view the video, try finding it here.

Anyone can vote......but should they?

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

To Be Qualified To Vote

This isn't the first time I've debated with myself about voting. I've, for some years, wondered why I bother. Candidates, politicians, pundits and celebrities admonish us to be sure and vote. They talk to people completely devoid of interest and knowledge of the politics of the country, and ask them to vote anyway.

After the election of slightly over a year ago, the election for President--to occur in November of this year--the campaigns began the day after the polls closed, which will mean a full two-year campaign! Tell me this isn't stupid--then prove it!

Even today, the day before the Iowa Caucuses (whatever they are!), the news tells us simultaneously that most Iowans won't bother, and that that most of them haven't made up their minds yet. Several polls per hour announce this or that candidate is in the lead and the other is in second, and that if so-and-so doesn't win there, he might as well pack up and go home. Astonishing!

What happens in Iowa means practically nothing to anyone except Iowans. Fifty States will each decide which candidate should be nominated in each party, each in its particular way. Personally, I'd like to see a free-for-all bar brawl in one state, last man standing decides the nominee.

One thing I hear from many folks is a variation of: why vote for him, he can't win? Well, duh! Of course if nobody votes for a candidate, he can't win. That's why you vote. I certainly don't want to remind myself of my mental shortcomings by just voting for the candidate who the media say will win. Note to readers: If everyone who likes a candidate, but is told he can't win, would vote for him anyway....he just might win!

Robert A Heinlein proposed in one of his books that, in order to achieve full citizenship and the right to vote, one must serve a tour in the military or other public service. I don't agree with that, and perhaps the Dean of science fiction didn't either, because public service by its nature is not productive.

Some of the Founders thought that only real property owners should vote. I like that better. But what I like best of all is that, as required in the US Constitution, no one has the right to vote on issues involving the lives and rights of others. Not even Congress. Not even the President. The task of all three branches of government is to decide ways and means to best protect the lives and rights of all Americans. Their only task.

If this little rant seems to wander and weave its way down a very foggy path, it's because these thoughts have been stewing within me for a year now, and I've finally decided to void my political bladder and write "NO MORE!" in large letters in the snow in a bright canary yellow.

I know for whom I'm going to vote, and I've known it for most of a year. I don't care who wins in Iowa or New Hampshire; it won't make any difference to me. If my man doesn't win the nomination, I either won't vote in November, or I'll vote for the candidate of one of the little parties.

So there!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Alarm Tells the Cops Where to Find the Bodies

Thanks to a suggestion by Right Wing Rocker, I'm placing an answer I made to a comment to another of my entries here on the front page for easier access. It's relevant to one of my top priorities: the right to self defense.

The comment, lamenting the irrational and very dangerous Australian version of gun control, is from MK of MK's Views and other blogs:

Yep, we here are paying the price for the fear of guns, parents out here not have an irrational fear of guns, children are taught that guns are bad, there are hysterical campaigns against having gun shops in neighborhoods. It's almost as if people think the guns walk out around killing people or something.

The crime rate might be rising in Australia but i doubt the people will see the only answer.

My answer to the comment is as follows:

There's a tv ad by a home alarm firm here in the Stalag. It shows a thuggy looking guy breaking into a house, with a woman and a child cowering in a nearby room. The alarm goes off. The thug flees at the sound.

At that moment, the phone rings; it's a dispatcher from the alarm company. "Are you all right?" says the dispatcher.

"Somebody just broke in," she answers, looking like a rabbit under the gaze of a coyote.

"We'll be right there." he answers. She, of course, looks relieved.

I always ask, aloud, of whoever I happen to be with, "Lady, where's your gun? Don't you think enough of your child to want to protect him? In real life, the thug might not flee."

I always bring that up, and similar comments whenever I see something in the news in which I think having a gun might've saved a life.

I hope it makes people think.

The point is, whenever someone expresses an irrational fear of guns, of the sort that tells you that individual might be inclined to favor gun control, one must speak up. One has to, without taking on the role of a fire-and-brimstone evangelist, attempt to correct the oft-held view that private ownership and defensive use of weapons shouldn't be allowed.

News, mostly from alternative and local sources, continually offers stories of thugs robbing, maiming and killing unarmed innocents in Australia, England, New Zealand and other gun controlled countries--and of course, it happens here in the various United States too, as we're under a sort of de facto gun control here. Even in states that actually recognize the existence of the Second Amendment, sanctions against weapons carry exist. One need only scan recent US news stories to find many cases in which lives might've been saved had there been one or more weapons-carrying individuals nearby.

One must be vocal. One must write letters to the editorial pages of newspapers. One must write letters to sponsors of pro gun control radio and tv shows, and one must write letters to politicians.

To the extent one can afford the time and money, one should attend pro-self defense rallies and practice shooting at your local gun range. Bring a friend (I've taken several friends to the range; they always comment about how much they enjoyed it).

I'm sure this won't be the end of my comments on this subject, so stand by.

Shoot 'em if you got 'em.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Johann Strauß, For the Third Time!

For the third consecutive December, Debbie and I enjoyed the Andre Rieu Christmas concert at the Honda Ponda in Anaheim. Both of us dearly love Strauss waltzes, and Rieu and his orchestra play them so well, with a sense of light-hearted fun.

Last year's concert was very much a Christmas concert, heavily loaded with season's typical music selections, and done well. While I enjoyed the program and the Reiu arrangements, I missed a number of the Strauss works for which Rieu is famous.

This year, he went the other way. While the orchestra played its traditional version of "Silent Night," the audience sang along. We clapped enthusiastically during "Jingle Bells," and all were smiling during "Winter Wonderland" and the other Christmas songs.

There was more of a Strauss presence this year--a few dozen couples danced in the aisles to "The Blue Danube," and the applause was enthusiastic after a very energetic performance of "Radetsky's March," "The Emperor's Waltz and a couple of others.

While I'm not much of a fan of opera, and know very little about it, Rieu is beginning to turn me around. There are three tenors in his retinue, and three sopranos. Among them, they sang a few operatic excerpts and and other songs that lend themselves to powerful vocals. The most memorable of these was the aria called "O Mio Babbino Caro," from Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini, and sung by the lovely Carmen Monarcha. Many a tear was shed during Ms Monarcha's performance, even in this setting.

Here is the complete concert:

1. Seventy-six Trombones (M Wilson)
2. Tritsch Tratsch Polka (J. Strauss)
3. Rosen aus dem Süden (J. Strauss)
4. Chianti
5. Nessun Dorma (G. Puccini)
6. Eljen a Magyar (J. Strauss)
7. Song of the Wolga (F. Lehar)
8. Besame Mucho (C Velasquez), Laura Engel, Soloist
9. Silent Night (J. Mohr)
10. The Holy City (S. Adams)
11. White Christmas (I. Berlin)
12. Jingle Bells (J. I Pierpoint)

~~~Intermission~~~

1. Gold & Silver (F. Lehar)
2. Granada (A. Lara)
3. The Girls from the Chantant (E. Kalman)
4. Emperor's Waltz (J. Strauss)
5. O Mio Babbino Caro (G. Puccini), Carmen Monarcha, Soloist
6. The Blue Danube (J. Strauss)
7. Concerto Pour une Voix (C. Saint-Preux), Mirusia Louwerse, Soloist
8. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (I. Webber), Mirusia Louwerse, Soloist
9. Bolero (M Ravel)
10. Radetzky March (J. Strauss)

~~~Encores~~~

Rieu's concerts are literally the only ones we've attended in the past three years, except for the ones they have at the Scottish and Celtic fairs in which Debbie's Scottish Fiddlers of LA have performed.

Andre Rieu's concerts are not only a lot of fun, but they're a light-hearted introduction to classical music for those who've thought it dull or too stodgy.

Nineteenth Century rock 'n' roll.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Lesson in Gun Control

The following series of statements has been circulating through the e-mails for a year or so. If you've already read it, I'm sorry for taking up your time, but it is a subject I regard as very important--as many of you already know. My brother, the Texan sent it to me most recently, and I thank him for having done so.

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control.
From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

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China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

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Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

------------------------------

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australian taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.
Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.

Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY.

Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns.

The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'.

Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During World War II the Japanese decided not to invade because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

Australians will know that those first-year crime statistics are old by now, but the more recent stats have continued the trend. Also, the final comment about the Imperial Japanese refers to a ground invasion, since they obviously did attack Pearl Harbor by air. Had the Japanese mounted a ground attack 'pon the American mainland, it would've been very embarrassing for them.

Shoot 'em if ya got 'em!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Case For Freedom in Medicine

The following is a quote from Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged. I copied this paragraph once before, but I think the theme of this paragraph needs to be read, digested and understood now, more than ever before. Medicine is perishing in an orgy of government regulation and theft. Doctor Hendricks, a character in the book who goes on strike against government usurpation of his freedom and his medical judgment, tells why he decided to strike:

"I quit when medicine was placed under State control, some years ago," said Dr. Hendricks. "Do you know what it takes to perform a brain operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed that in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything--except the desires of the doctors. Men considered only the 'welfare' of the patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, only 'to serve.' That a man who's willing to work under compulsion is too dangerous a brute to entrust with a job in the stockyards--never occurred to those who proposed to help the sick by making life impossible for the healthy. I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind--yet what is it they expect to depend on, when they lie on the operating table under my hands? Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well, that is the virtue I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kind of doctors that their system will now produce. Let them discover, in their operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe, if he is the sort of man who resents it--and still less safe, if he's the sort who doesn't."

This statement, along with several other statements made by the striking men of the mind in the novel, crystallize the thoughts of every productive individual who's given it the proper degree of thought. Everyone who works for a living, and realizes that he'd take home roughly twice as much pay, but for the extortion of the slave masters in government, and that everything he buys would cost less than half what it now costs, but for the taxes and regulations producers of goods and services must endure, will see how Dr Hendricks' decision will apply to himself. Then, he must decide how long he'll live and work under the slavery of the parasite.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Priscilla the Knife

More years ago than can be counted on both your fingers and toes and mine, I was an elementary school student at West Elementary School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Admittedly, it was a different time, but the principles involved are the same. The stated goal of the government children's prison system is to help parents prepare youngsters to be able to function as adults in the real world. Today, the children's prisons are failing--not only by ineptitude, but by conscious intent. They are trying to make herd animals out of our youth!

I'm not sure they weren't already working in that direction in my skool daze; after all, most people my age are eight-hour-a-day wage slaves just as are those graduating colleges today. Seems like many of the high-profile successes 'bout whom we read in the business journals and society gossip pages got where they are after slipping the yoke in their own youth.

Now, I like what I do, and actually look forward to going to work most days, but sometimes I wonder why I'm not a movie studio executive or a famous writer or a crocodile hunter. Well, with age comes wisdom, and I finally realized that my difficulty is that I've always been afraid to take risks regarding my livelihood. Fact of life. Now, I have to ponder the question of whether it's too late to change.

But, I'm wandering away from the subject: the abominable and purposeful failure of the government children's prison system, and its stubborn and deliberate inability to make educated and functional adults out of children. Parents are also failing at their part, as well--they were inmates of children's prisons in their youth.

Yesterday, according to a story on the website of Local 6 News in Orlando, Florida, a ten-year-old girl, an inmate at the Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala, was arrested for having a knife on school property--a felony in Florida. She had a steak knife that she'd brought from home, and was using it to cut her lunch into bite-sized bits.

There was no allegation that she'd used the knife in a threatening manner. She was transported down to Juvie Hall, presumably to be flogged, then stretched on the rack until she admits membership in a pre-teen terrorist organization. Look for a much taller Priscilla if and when she's released (or when her cabal effects an escape for her).

The long-ago time I referenced earlier in this missive saw me and many of my contemporaries carrying knives to school, and everywhere else, routinely. We called them jackknives, and they were often given to boys as Christmas gifts by fathers and uncles. They were a permanent part of our trouser pockets, and we used them to make slingshots and to carve our initials into the bark of trees. As Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, our jackknives were an indispensable tool, to be used to do the tasks required to earn achievement badges.

I can only assume that young girls learned (in those days) to do Girl Scout things with knives, not to mention to learn to cook and bake under the tutelage of their mothers. And, of course, we all had to learn to handle tableware to dine without taking on the appearance of islamic savages.

What is it this that the Florida Children's Prison System is rejecting? The notion of eating meals like a civilized human being? Will the use of hands next be rejected? I can almost imagine the guards and wardens of the Florida Children's Prison System nodding in approval at the sight of the youngsters bent over the tables, faces in their plates and making snarling and snorting sounds while trying to snarf up gruel at the school cafeteria.

How long until walking upright will be forbidden?

Darwin was wrong. It's Devolution.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Stalag California In Fiscal Deep Scheiße, Says The Gubernator

Well, Duh!

In a story on the Bay area's NBC11 tv station's website, the Stalag will be over $14 billion in the 'rears by the end of the year. The story further observes that the Gubernator is going to announce the crisis in a few weeks.

I've yet to figure out why dopey politicians, in recent years, seem to have adopted the habit of announcing that they are going to announce (whatever).

State spending has increased by more than 40 percent since Schwarzenegger took office after the 2003 recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis. This after running on the platform of fixing state government, holding the line on both spending and taxes, while increasing spending for the children's prisons and the various welfare schemes that keep us all much poorer than our gross pay would seem to indicate. The contradictions are stunning. The fact that residents of the Stalag can't see it is even more stunning.

The Gubernator said, in an address in Long Beach today, that state government is in "fiscal crisis." In the same speech, he promised higher Medi-Cal payments to doctors and hospitals (shudder).

His announcement next month will supposedly declare a "fiscal emergency," which will give his office more power to make spending cuts. Seems he has an approximate 10% across the board cut waiting in the wings. We'll see how this flies with the Democrat-controlled State House.

This doofus actor has no bloody idea what he's doing. I don't think I'll ever watch "Twins" again!

Hasta la vista, Baby!

Warm regards,
Col. Hogan

To Kill A Thief

From a philosophical tenet I first read in an Ayn Rand essay, one has to realize that when a man sets out to take or damage the person or property of another, that's the moment he commits suicide. By not recognizing his victim's right to his life and property, he renounces the concepts of life and property--which effectively is a denial of his own right to his own life.

When his victim then shoots him in self defense, it's the criminal's own finger on the trigger. One needs never feel guilt over successfully defending himself.

Now, if only the law were to be rewritten to support this tenet......

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Savage Islam Religion Kills Again

According to a Breitbart story, found on Drudge, another religion-crazed muslim murdered his own daughter for having committed the sin of not wearing a scarf!

Michelle Malkin also has a comment here.

Perhaps I ought to apologize to the many thousands of peaceful, law-abiding, hard working Muslims residing in the various United States, and I do. But, how can a rational being even consider any benevolent thought toward a belief system that demands these kinds of inhuman acts of its adherents?

His name is Muhammad Parvez. He lives in a Toronto, Ontario suburb. Well, he's in custody now, and I hope he stays there for the rest of his miserable life. This beautiful young girl of only sixteen years is now dead because she merely wanted to dress nicely, like her classmates.

I'm afraid, though, that Canada suffers from the same kind of multicultural moral relativism as do many of the Western countries, including leftist US judges. I'm afraid this monster might be given a minimal sentence and be free to live the full life he denied his daughter.

May the rest of his life be short and miserable.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Another Eight Victims of Gun Phobia

I wish I didn't have all these murders 'pon which to comment. I'd rather comment 'pon cases of individuals successfully defending themselves against attacks by craven savages like Robert Hawkins.

Nebraska's laws allow for concealed weapons carry with a permit (any restrictions 'pon one's right to keep and bear arms is unConstitutional--a requirement for a permit shouldn't be imposed). Theoretically, any individual might have been able to stop this murderer, had he been carrying a handgun. What prevented any chance of this is the Westroads shopping center's policy not to allow weapons inside the mall property. Hawkins obviously didn't heed the signs admonishing that no firearms are to be carried inside the mall.

Aside from the killer himself, who mercifully offed himself after his rampage, liability belongs to the Von Maur mall management for creating a "gun free zone," guaranteeing that any insane monster wishing to commit murder uninterrupted, will be able to do so.

The mall posted signs at the entrances which, in effect, said, "If you want to kill a few people in the mall, come ahead. You will be unopposed."And Hawkins was unopposed. He was only limited by the extent of his bloodthirstiness and the amount of ammunition he carried.

John Lott, Jr has made an undeniable case for legalization of concealed weapons carry in his books, "More Guns, Less Crime" and "The Bias Against Guns." We ignore our own self-protection against these loons at our own peril.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Constitution of the United States of America

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

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

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

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

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

ARTICLE ZERO

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

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

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

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

Read the Constitution. Do what it says.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Leftist Celebrity Hypocrisy

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

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

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

Do as I say, not as I do.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California