But....It's For the Children!

According to a story on C-Net, Congress is dead serious about controlling access to social network sites to minors. These sites include MySpace, Livejournal and Facebook. I'm behind the bell curve on these sites, only having visited a couple of friends' sites on MySpace. While youngsters will still be able to access these sites on their own computers, they will be blocked from doing so on computers in government children's prisons and government libraries.

Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, a Neocon Republican from Pennsylvania, along with the fat and waffling Rep. Dennis Hastert and other unscrupulous Republicans are pushing a bill called the Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA. It's rather an apt acronym, because it describes both the Act and its proponents.

One of the many problems with this proposed law is that it's very broadly written. It would include Blogger.com, as well as AOL and Yahoo's instant messaging features and the XBox 360, which allows in-game chat, for example.

Thanks to Laura Ingraham's radio show, I hear that the bill has been voted 'pon in the House and passed with a large majority (who's going to vote against the children in an election year?). Remember, though, congressfools, that these same children will be voting in a few years, and they just might remember!

Sadly, and tellingly, Ms Ingraham (donning her very own neocon cloak), supports this distressing proposed new law, once again illustrating her own unease with the Bill of Rights in particular and human liberty in general. Wasn't it conservative Republicans, not too many years ago, who often voiced the sentiment, "why don't they understand that 'Congress shall make no law' means 'Congress shall make NO LAW?'"

This new proposed law, "DOPA," is obviously a blatant violation of the First Amendment. We can't predict, totally, what the unintended consequences of this new law might be. I mentioned the (maybe remote) possibility that today's youths might vote their anger, a few years hence. More seriously, it almost certainly will drive young students away from public libraries during the exact time in their lives when they ought to be acquiring the habit of using them.

Another important intended consequence is that this intrusion takes even more of a parents' rights away from them and places them in the hands of government. It's very sad if the parents resent this, and even more so if they don't.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Getting Wacko In Waco

I guess there was a delay in getting this to the news. Delays are only one of many weird (never good) things that happen when the feral government is involved.

According to a story released by KCEN-TV in Waco, Texas, in the wee hours of July 21, Special Agent John Lewis of the US Secret Service was being rude to other customers at the Crickets Bar. When the bar manager asked him to leave, Lewis became agitated and banged the door open so hard that he cracked it.

Two off-duty Waco police officers attempted to arrest Lewis and he resisted. He was tasered in order to make the arrest. After a medical checkup he was jailed, then released on $1000 bond.

Not mentioned in the story is the fact that often proves to be a factor in clashes between federal police agencies and the local police: Federal police think they are in many ways superior and have more power than do local cops. They often try to run over them and use the federal "big stick" to move local law enforcement officials out of their way.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie "Blade Runner" in which the police chief regards non-police citizens as "little people."

One has to wonder what current or past official of the US lives in Waco, who needs the protection of the Secret Service.

One wag suggests that perhaps they are lagging there to shoot David Koresh again, should he arise from the dead.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Baseball Fan No More

When the Grand Forks Chiefs, a second-tier minor league Team were playing in Grand Forks Stadium, lo those many years ago, I was not only one of their die-hard fans, but a fan of the major leagues as well. I was a Yankee fan. I won't say I knew the stats of all the ball players, but I did pay attention to the more famous players.

I was a member of the Knothole Gang (bleachers along the third base line in the outfield, fifty cents for every home game for twelve-year-olds and under), then I sold ice cream sandwiches in the grandstand, just to be there.

Then, I observed (from afar) the move of the Dodgers and the Giants to the west coast. It seemed strange. at the time. These teams had been in New York forever, then suddenly, they were gone.

I've been to only one Dodgers' game in LA, though I've seen a few on TV.

My disenchantment with baseball started in the early 1980's. Seems a couple of ball players, leaving the stadium in street clothes after a game, thought it'd be funny to throw a cherry bomb into the crowd of fans waiting to watch the players depart--possibly in the hopes of getting an autograph. The cherry bomb exploded in the air near a small child who was being held in her mother's arms. The little girl suffered some hearing damage from the explosion.

I think the Dodgers organization reached a settlement for a payment for damages over the incident, but the sleazy part of it was the half-assed "politician's apology" that the Dodgers' spokesman gave the news people, and the fact that they lawyered up before saying or doing anything.

The thing that really did it for me though, happened much earlier. I learned about it several years ago and haven't been able to think positively about baseball since.

Seems the city of Los Angeles, back in the late 1940's/early 1950's, was nearly as corrupt as it is now. The city wanted to create a housing project for the poor. They chose Chavez Ravine, I guess because there were only about 2000 Hispanics living there, some in run-down houses. The city condemned the area setting off a series of protests, acts of resistance and fights that lasted ten years.

After the "Better Dead than Red" crowd declared the public housing project a socialist idea (which, of course, it was) it was decided to use the property to lure the Dodgers to LA. The rest is history.

Read the story of The Battle of Chavez Ravine.

I don't know how deeply involved Walter O'Malley, the then owner of the Dodgers, was in the theft of the Chavez Ravine, but his shenanigans with Brooklyn officials left little doubt as to his desires.

So, after 2000 Mexican-Americans, some of whom were recently home from fighting in WWII, were forcibly removed from their homes, Los Angeles acquired a Major League baseball team.

I suppose this kind of story has been repeated several times around the country, with many big-league sports teams and many criminal city officials, but I still despise the notion of Eminent Domain.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Ok, So Call Me Spoiled.

I recognize that seventy-five or more years ago, nobody ever heard of air conditioning, and that when it was hot, it was just hot.

We've gone beyond that now, and but for wacko environmentalists, will go a lot farther. One book I read, The Probability Broach, suggested air conditioned and heated cloaks to wear out in the street. That could be done in the very near future.

Meanwhile, if we work, play or wait for the bus outdoors, we live with the elements.

Such was the case yesterday. I was out on one of my long drives through urban Orange County. I do these partly because I love to just drive, and I like seeing various parts of the area in which I live. And partly because I now have a really cool car in which it's fun to cruise.

The temperature here yesterday ranged from 85 degrees at the beach to close to 100 in the Anaheim Hills. 'Twas also quite humid. I ran the car's a/c for a while, but I really like to drive with the windows down, so I soon turned it off.

I enjoyed a drive through Cypress, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana (where I live), then thought I'd stop for a spot of lunch.

I like to stop at the one-off mom & pop eating places pretty often, but this time I opted for a pretty good chain Mexican place, Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, because their food is very good and very consistent. And, I like it.

What I have I spot of trouble with, is that for a Mexican restaurant, they tend to be kind of pc and even a mite green. Like Starbucks, they seem to follow leftist pop trends a little too much.

Apparently, they don't use air conditioning. I hadn't noticed it before, I guess because I'd never been there when it was hot.

After working for eight hours, then spending two more cruising in the heat, I was looking forward to stepping into an eating place to sit down and cool off. After I ordered, I sat and started reading my current book. After a bit, I realized that I was sweating and that it was bloody hot in there!

I considered for a moment, then decided that I didn't want to sit there sweating and eating, eating and sweating. I went to the cashier and asked for my money back.

She referred me to the shift manager, who seemed unable to understand my complaint. I finally said, "if you can't make it twenty degrees cooler in here right now, I want my money refunded."

I went a couple of doors down to a Subway and got a pretty good (better than I expected) Italian sandwich and it was cool!

We're hearing a lot about what a strain this heat wave is on the state's power grid, and I guess it is. Governor Davis the Grey was fired for having totally screwed up the state's power systems a few years ago. Our current Governator Schwarzeneggar has done absolutely nothing to even begin the construction of new power plants.

Let me hasten to add that it's an unfathomable travesty that state government is involved with the generation, distribution and sale of electrical energy at all, and that everyone doesn't have a choice of at least a half-dozen energy sellers from which to choose, but facts are facts, state government has a good deal of control over what Edison does, and they're stopping Edison from doing what needs to be done.

Instead, Davis the Grey initiated a program for we, the great unwashed, that he called Flex Your Power. Basically, the program tells Californians to turn everything off and slowly sweat in the dark.

Well, Davis, you butthead, and Schwarzeneggar, you George Bush neocon wannabe, I absolutely, positively refuse to "Flex my power." My thermostat stays where I want it: 74 degrees. If we have a brownout, it'll still be at 74 when the power comes back on again. Six bits says it's at 74 degrees at the governator's mansion right now.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Cool regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Substitute For Good Police Work

In what still stands out to me as an astounding disregard for the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Orange County (Stalag California) Superior Court Judge Daniel Didier "....signed a preliminary injunction restricting the activities of more than 150 suspected gangs members...."

See story here.

The injunction "....prohibits gang members from associating with each other in a designated area of Santa Ana and drinking alcohol in public....."

"It enjoins people from doing things that are completely legal," (Defender Tony) Ufland said. "Things like wearing certain colors, drinking in places where it is legal to drink, associating with people of your choosing. They are looking for a brass ring and going well beyond what the law says is constitutional in this injunction."

Within the limits of Mr. Ufland's quote, he's right. The Constitution says what it says, and if we're going to get back to being a Republic of laws, not of men, we have to limit our arresting, prosecution and punishing to those individuals who actually break the law.

Maybe each and every member of the Santa Nita street gang has broken the law any number of times each, and maybe they should all be in prison, but according to the rules, they each have to be tried for his specific crime in a court of law, and if found guilty, sentenced.

We never, in the United States of America, should be saying that because an individual belongs to a particular group, he's guilty of a crime. That's unAmerican, not to mention immoral by any philosophical system for which I have any respect.

My opinion? I think the Santa Ana police are lazy. First, I shouldn't single out the Santa Ana police--the Los Angeles police have been following a similar path for some time now. Lazy.

I remember my hard-boiled detective stories. You identify a crime. You inspect the site, gathering clues and reconstructing the crime. You identify, locate and question witnesses and other involved persons. Eventually, you identify one or more suspects. You investigate them, question them, and with any luck, you can make an arrest and assemble the information to be used by the prosecutors.

Never having been a cop, I may not have all the details, but I think it's fairly close.

Sometimes it comes fairly easily, and other times not. Maybe some criminals don't get caught. That's unfortunate, but it's a better situation than arresting people willy-nilly, based mostly on the color of their shirts.

Perhaps we should force all suspected members of street gangs to pin some kind of a badge on their shirts?

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Pssst! Hey Kid! Smarties! Fifty Cents a Pack!

Cicero, over at To the People, reminds us of yet another stunt the government childrens' prisons are initiating to avoid actually having to teach anything. I've been hearing a quite a bit, over the past few months, about yet another war.

One might think we're involved in enough wars at present, most of them both stupid and futile, without having to start yet another.

Cicero points us to an article that shows what some childrens' prison administrations are doing and planning--in part at the behest of the feral government. Yes, that George W Bush.

Now. Let me tell you, mes enfants, how it's gonna be.

When I was a kid, it was squirtguns. We wanted to have water fights at every opportunity, and the screws were constantly looking for the squirtguns to confiscate them. There was no end to the inentive ways we had of concealing these weapons, to be drawn and fired at any opportunity.

It'll start with recloseable plastic bottles of soda in their backpacks, along with candy bars and potato chips. Prison officials will counter by having random backpack searches. Older brothers will hand candy through the chain-link to kids in the yard, and these kids, in turn, will sell candy to their hungry classmates. We'll see children concealing candy bits in their clothing.

Janitors will find tofu smeared onto the undersides of the tables and vegetable medleys clogging the drinking fountain drains. Rival smuggling gangs will evolve, and there'll be fights over who can sell candy to whom. The more enthusiastic of the screws will discover flops of steaming broccoli in their desks and soured milk in the coffee pourers in their staff rooms.

Gang members will unplug the drink machines to leave the drinks unchilled.

It could get nasty. Fruit and vegetables in the cafeteria could be destroyed or contaminated. Childrens' prison officials could call for a no sweets zone within a mile of every prison. Daily universal strip-searches could become the daily routine. Punishment for possession, smuggling, and attempts to sell illicit confections could include felony punishment and mandatory minimum sentences.

Meanwhile, the teaching of academic subjects would suffer and eventually cease, as enforcement efforts take up more and more time.

Youngsters would graduate, not only unable to read and work basic arithmetic, but looking like Auschwitz survivors.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Dumbing Down the Kids

Trey Givens wrote a short bit about a woman's reaction to some youngsters lighting off some fireworks. It reminded me of something I've been thinking of, off and on, for years.

I raged on about the fact that the nanny state has severely limited the availability of the really fun fireworks here, last year. This, though, is different.

When I was a little kid, my parents did the fireworks. My uncle Jim once put up a twelve-foot length of rain trough against the back fence and put a skyrocket in it. He pointed it steeply upward, and lit it. 'Twas one of those starburst thingies, and at the time, it was the best shot I'd ever seen. Soon thereafter, the state made certain fireworks illegal, including big skyrockets, but we still could get bottle rockets, those helicopter thingies, Roman candles and all manner of pinwheels.

As my dad lit off the fireworks each year, sometimes in the company of the neighbors and their kids, they'd hand us lit sparklers to swing around in between the larger items. The neat thing was that we always were shown how to light the fireworks and were taught safe use of them. We all knew we'd be able to do it ourselves when we were older.

I was a newsie from the time I was ten years old, and so I always had some money. Rather than trying to buy big fireworks for the 4th each of those wonderful years, though, I preferred fire crackers and bottle rockets. Cheap, quick and capable of being used in many ways.

Oh, I wasn't the only one. Far from it. Most of my friends did the same thing. Sometimes we'd work together, or in competition, to see who could get the biggest bang by tying several firecrackers together or pouring the powder from several firecrackers into a pile and wrapping it in newspaper and masking tape. The thing is, we used our heads and nobody got hurt.

Attendez!

In the Eighteenth Century, 10-12 year-olds handles horses, did farm work, fixed fences and roofs--did all kinds of work, and did it well.

In my childhood, in the 1950's, my brother and I used to climb on slow-moving trains, we'd run across the top of the boxcars and climb along the flatcars and tankers and try to get off the train at the caboose, at the location where we got on at the first boxcar.

Friends and I banked up snow in the empty lot between our house and the house next door, then took the garden hose and made our own ice rink. We went down to the slough in the summer and built a raft 'pon which we floated out on the water. We built treehouses in the woods outside of town.

I took $75 of my saved newsie money and bought a car when I was twelve. 'Twas a 1950 Chevy sedanette. The guy I bought it from drove it home for me and handed the bill of sale to my dad. He registered it for me, in my name. I drove it back and forth down the driveway (I couldn't drive it on the street) and wrenched on it to try to make it run better.

I never owned a gun, other than a bb gun, but some of my neighbors did. 'Twas nothing to see a couple of 12- or 13-year-olds walking or biking to the edge of town with .22 rifles, to shoot cans and stuff.

When my elder son was four, I'd take him out in the street and instruct him on how to cross the street safely. I showed him how to push the button for the walk signal, and watch traffic as he crossed. A little later, I showed him how to make himself a sandwich and warm up some soup, and do various other simple kitchen things.

We went ice skating together a couple of times a week for several years.

When he was about twelve, I taught him to handle handguns safely and to shoot a little Ruger Bearcat .22 revolver.

Since I was a single dad, he learned to do many things on his own, and had plenty of time to adventure with his friends.

Contrast this to the way most youngsters grow up these days. They're driven to their local government childrens' prison by Mom, and picked up after. They're driven to the park to play little league. If the parents are wealthy enough, they live in gated enclaves, and rarely get to interact with outsiders. They're rarely unsupervised and hardly ever get to just go out and have an adventure. They can't work until they're at least sixteen, and can't drive until they've had the ultra bland childrens' prison version of driver ed.

Now, at long last, I'm finally getting to my point.

Today's kids can't do anything!

They live uninspired, fully supervised, fully programmed lives, then are sent out into the world virtually experience-free.

No wonder they drink and get into drugs.

No wonder they live at home until they're thirty (or more).

No wonder they go plumb crazy when they go to college.

No wonder they grow up to be empty-headed socialists who have no idea how the world could be and ought to be.

I'm having the horrible vision of the world John Spartan encountered when he was revived in the movie "Demolition Man." A world in which every off-color word is heard, and your citation pops out of a nearby wall, and every restaurant is a Taco Bell.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Yes, But Is It Really Funny?

With exceptions, I usually don't like comediennes. Most of them are really full of not-too-repressed anger, which reaches their audiences more as outrage than humor.

An LA-based radio talk show hostess, Stephanie Miller, does a better job of controlling this and going for really clever humor, than most. I occasionally listen for the humor--but not for the commentary. There is almost no serious political commentary, in spite of the show's being billed as a "progressive" talk show.

Incidentally, I really hate their having co-opted the word "progressive." to mean socialist. Once, they were proud to call themselves socialists. Jack London proudly called himself a socialist. Eventually, "socialist" became a pejorative term, so they started calling themselves "liberals." This in spite of the fact that free marketeers had been calling themselves liberals for decades. Now, if you refer to A. J. Nock as a liberal, people assume you mean socialist. Recent years, the term "liberal" has become pejorative.

People now know a "liberal" is a socialist. After experimenting with words like "communitarian," which most people (correctly) confused with communist, socialists have finally begun to call themselves "progressives." How we can apply the term "progressive" to a group comprised of "environmentalists," who want to put an end to technology and reduce mankind to roaming bands of hunter-gatherers, and wealth redistributors, who want to take wealth from the productive and turn it over to the non-productive, is well beyond my ability to understand.

They're not liberals. They're not progressives. They are socialists.

And I have digressed.

Back to the very lovely and quite talented Stephanie Miller. She's clever, she's quick, she's funny and she's interesting. She is not informative. She very rarely actually gives a rational discourse on any part of the Democrat agenda, rational reasons for hating GW Bush (there are many), alternatives to his programs, the Democrat platform or anything! Her radio program is basically a three-hour standup routine--with numerous commercial breaks.

Today, however, she slipped up. She actually allowed a bit of real "War on Terrorism" news to slip through, along with an actual rationally formed conclusion. 'Twas a welcome event!

Apparently, the Afghan drug trade is very business-as-usual, in spite of the efforts on the Iraq-depleted US forces there. It's coming out that the money from this trade is financing a resurgance of the Taliban. This, in turn, is making the job of our Afghan-stationed forces even harder and more dangerous. By the way, does anyone know what is the current job of our forces in Afghanistan?

Y'know? (sez Col. Hogan, not Miss Miller) This wouldn't even be possible, but for the other really stupid war the feds are waging: The War on the Bill of Rights.....er the "War on Drugs."

One of the major effects of the "War on Drugs," other than:

• Huge amounts of land, money and property stolen from their rightful owners as "booty" in the "WOD."
• Competing, often warring drug gangs throughout the nation.
  
• Increasing numbers of innocent bystanders killed and injured in battles between drug gangs and the police.
• The romanticization of drugs to rebellious young people.
• The paramilitarization of local police forces, separating them from the local people.
• The creation of a non-productive drug subculture dependent 'pon social welfare programs.

Is the fact that drug prices increase to the point where such monsters as the Taliban can make huge profits on the trade; enough to re-energize the organization which served to repress the Afghan people for these past many years.

So, as the very clever and somewhat oblivious Miss Miller has inadvertently revealed, the federal government is once again working at cross-purposes with itself.

It's not making the President and his Administration look very good.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A New Global Climate Crisis

Scientists are beginning, as more and more evidence piles up, that the real global crisis we face is not global warming, or even global cooling.

It's Global Climate Stagnation.

Scientists are gradually coming to the conclusion that, as our methods of measuring such things become increasingly sophisticated, that the world's climate isn't actually changing at all. Whenever it gets hot and sultry here, there's a complimentary cool and windy period there. Where it's dry in Arizona, it's very wet in the Yucatan. When the ice cap melts in the Arctic, it gets colder in the Antarctic.

Animal species are dying off, becoming extinct. Ecologists say it's because of the encroachment of man into their habitat. Not so, say zoologists. Animal species are dying of boredom.

We don't have chinooks any more. Never heard of a chinook? A hot, dry west wind across the Canadian Rockies that turns winter to summer for a day or two, melting the snow and making the trees think it's spring? I guess they still happen occasionally in Saskatchewan, but I recall a couple of them from my childhood in North Dakota. Not in the past fifty years!

Global Climate stagnation.

Ever see a second story door on a farmhouse in Manitoba or North Dakota? A door with no stairs to the ground? Sometimes the snow would pile up that high, and folks used that door to walk out of their houses. Not any more. Of course, that much snow is more curse than blessing, but it's an indicator that the climate is getting more mundane.

Global climate stagnation.

The Northern Lights? Aurora Borealis? The phenomenon still happens in Alaska, Norway, probably northern Canada and other near-arctic regions. We used to see it fairly often in the northwestern states.

We are having more hurricanes and tornadoes than in the recent past. Some think that's a prelude to the deterioration of the Gulf Stream. This would normalize weather in the British Isles and Scandinavia, with the rest of the world at those latitudes.

Global climate stagnation.

We won't like it. Do you think your teenagers are complaining of being bored now? Wait until even the weather is predictable as the phases of the moon.

Global Climate Stagnation could be the end of the world as we know it.

And I feel fine.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Day's Best Fireworks Show

The US Shuttle Discovery just launched from Cape Canaveral. 'Twas a beautiful, textbook launch that was a joy, once again, to behold.

I'm hoping that private interests will take the reins and move space exploration forward at a faster rate. It's past time we were living in Moon cities and mining the asteroids.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Happy Independence Day!

Today is the Republic's 230th birthday.

While all of the numerous reasons for concern I cited in last year's entry still exist, I've decided to take a more optimistic attitude, based 'pon the fact that I know more individuals that see the problems more or less as I do, and who work toward similar solutions.

Politicians and bureaucrats are held in far less esteem than in the past, indeed, in general contempt. I see that as healthy, as long as the main mission of government seems to be placing more and more limits 'pon the rights of Americans.

I doubt that any return of American liberty will come from government, since their incentives lie elsewhere, but as more and more Americans resist the restrictions imposed by our increasingly oppressive government, It'll become more and more difficult for them to continue tightening the shackles.

Enjoy the day, and remember those who fought for the freedom we're currently losing. Perhaps the fight for freedom can continue!

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag Clifornia

Nobody Deserves It More

My friend Ice Scribe has been writing and submitting short stories for some time now. She's sold a couple. The first one to see publication is called "Professional Courtesy," and appears here. It's a delightful read!

Write on, Ice Sribe!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Interviewing on the Slant

Not being very sophisticated in the art of the interview, it's taken me a long time to even begin to isolate the tricks and ploys that make a good or a bad interview. I've long been aware, in a general sense of the slant many interviewers bring to the table; their personal perspectives and biases, but the way they set up the questioning to make the interviewee look smart or stupid, honest or deceitful, rational or emotional often eludes me.

Today, I heard an excellent example of bias in first a very hostile, then a very favorable interview on the Laura Ingraham radio talk show.

I was working, so I couldn't listen in full concentration, so I missed the names of the two interviewees, but I heard most of their interviews.

The first one had been a captain in the Marines. He's currently a professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (a school with a perennially competitive varsity ice hockey team) . His thesis was that evidence seems to indicate that something other than--or rather, in addition to, the airliners brought the World Trade Center towers down.

Now, I know a few people who don't accept the official explanation of the collapse of the buildings, and think there must be more to it than that. I haven't had a chance to converse with any of them at length about their evidence and theories, so I was curious to hear what this man had to say.

Ingraham was continually interrupting him, butting in with questions that took him off-message, interrupting with statements of trust for the Administration and the 9-11 Commission (in spite of having poo-poohed the Commission in the past), and questions designed to make the professor seem wacky. She acted hostile and contentious throughout the interview. Fortunately, the professor was able to sidestep some of Ingraham's subversions, but unfortunately, he really wasn't able to get his message out--this according to Ingraham's plan.

The other was also a Marine officer--one who has been involved in the current Iraq war. He also was a well-spoken gentleman, but his agenda was very different. He has a book on the difficulty of fighting over there in the face of lack of media support over here. He also spoke on recent statements by leftist politicians and on the recent Supreme Court decision on military tribunals.

Throughout the interview, Ingraham lobbed softball questions designed to allow the gentleman to speak his mind. She was affable and supportive throughout. She gave the gentleman plenty of time to respond fully.

I enjoyed the chat thoroughly and generally agreed with his responses.

My difficulty here is with the way Ingraham, after inviting the professor to come onto the show, didn't allow him to make his points. I listen to talk radio quite a bit and have observed this phenomenon several times. This was, however, the first time I've seen such blatant opposites within an hour of each other.

We all (who pay attention to this stuff) know that Ingraham is a conservative, and a bit of a Kool-Aid drinker, but I'd never thought of her as incompetent. Or, maybe the truth is that she thinks her listeners are stupid.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

I've Got a Secret!

A lot's being made right now about the New York Times' story about the federal government's snooping into the financial records of those suspected of financing al queda terrorists. 'Twas leaked by a government official to the Times and others, followed by a request by the White House that the story not be published for national security reasons.

Now, let's step back and take a closer look at that.

By what Constitutional authority does the government keep secrets from Americans? Any one of us, with very few Constitutional exceptions, could actually become President of the United States. If a craven, amoral oaf like Bill Clinton-Rodham can be trusted with the keys to the White House, and all that implies, who's not to be trusted?

If the government is monitoring financial records (and we all know they are), what's the big deal if the Times tells us about it again? How many people (of those who actually pay attention to the slimy underside of federal snooping) don't think this monitoring occurs? C'mon, let's be real!

A couple of randomly selected Republican Congressfools have been on tv recently reminding us that private banking records don't have the degree of privacy protection that do other forms of communication. It has been thus decided by the US Supreme Court (may we all prostrate ourselves and pay humble homage to the Sacred Shrines in Washington DC, omniscient though they are in making our lives safe and event-free) long ago.

Problem is, if you look no farther back than the Supreme Court decision, which probably happened in the wake of the (illegal) adoption of the US Income Tax--I haven't checked--you'll come away with that opinion. If, as you ought, you simply read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights themselves, you'll find no authorization for the Executive Branch, or either of the others, to blanket-monitor the financial records of the public at large.

The 4th Amendment specifically prohibits such searches in the absence of due process (a search warrant).

The Supreme Court in question obviously found a way around the letter of the Constitution to make such searches "legal." The proper way to make such decisions is not to wader through reams and reams of erroneous, bought-and-paid-for Superior, Circuit and Supreme Court decisions rendered over the decades, but rather to simply read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and go by what it says.

There is no justification in the founding documents for blanket mining of the financial records of those who trust their dealings to US financial institutions. It will only undermine their standing in the world market. That harms the American economy, and ought not be tolerated. Banks should, as an industry, refuse.

I hope many of you will join me in condemning the present Administration in the strongest terms, for trying to fight a war by destroying the civil and financial liberties of Americans, rather than simply finding and punishing America's attackers.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Teach Them Spanish And Teach Them In Spanish

M.E.Ch.A. is an organization, mostly of college students, I guess, in the Southwest. Although a number of individuals who were members of the group in college retain their membership as they meander along their career path.

One such member is Cruz Bustamante who, after a career in California politics, is the current Lt Governor of California. A leftist Democrat. Another is Antonio Vinaigrette, El Alcalde del Pueblo de Los Angeles.

'Tis of El Alcalde I wish to write today.

El Alcalde is now lobbying the Governor's office to make hin Czar of the behemoth Los Angeles Unified School District. Having been trounced soundly by LAUSD officials and the evil California Teachers' Assoc, he has retreated to a position of desiring an advisory role over the district, its budgets and operations.

I don't know if el alcalde will actually change anything, but I'm pretty sure he'll try to inject more diversity programming into the classrooms. He'll find a way to increase the amount of M.E.Ch.A. doctrine into the programs of those Los Angeles schools in heavily Latin areas, and increase tolerance for it in the others. He'll be a force to lessen the ability of Latins to fit into the American economy. He'll be a force to lessen the amount of classroom time devoted to academic studies in favor of ethnic studies.

It's hard for me to make suggestions as to how to improve government childrens' prisons, since I really don't think they can be improved much, and I don't think that's the way to go. Parents should do whatever's necessary to get their kids out of these prisons and into a program of real education. Individuals need to find a way to get out from under the yoke of the confiscatory taxation that finances these wasteful and harmful organizations--and that will be a much more difficult task, but with great financial rewards and rewards in additional personal freedom.

The best thing that can happen to Antonio Vinaigrette, el Alcalde del Pueblo de Los Angeles is that he should be rendered El Alcalde de Nada.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

When Was the Coronation?

"....We just saw this as we walked in here this morning....," said the President with regard to Pajama Boy's request for a one-on-one tet a tet with President Bush personally, regarding the current missile issue.

I hadn't really noticed, 'cause I don't listen to him much (who can stand that "lowest common denominator" monotone of his?), but has he been using the royal "we" for a long time, or has that come about recently? Did he get declared King while I wasn't paying attention? Did he declare himself King, then say "It's Constitutional because We say it is?" Or does he just think of himself as King?

These and many other questions, I hope, will be answered over the next two-and-one-half years as he slowly drives America to the poorhouse.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Global Warming: The Next Word

I recently wrote a bit about my take on the deliberately misleading quasi-phenomenon "Global Warming" here, as a part of my mini-review of Michael Critchon's book, "State of Fear." I've now found a somewhat more scholarly article in The Libertarian Enterprise.

The article, Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophy, by Tom Harris, a mechanical engineer and Ottawa Director of High Park Group, a public affairs and public policy company, is a review of Algore's new documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

He indicates that not all world climate experts agree that the phenomenon actually exists. The article argues further that the scientists cited in Algore's film are not really world climate experts at all, but rather that many of them actually study the effects of climate change, not the causes.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm Regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Hugo Aguilera, Do You Still Like Castro?

I was sixteen years old and working as a bagboy in Hugo's Piggly Wiggly in Grand Forks, North Dakota, my home town. There were several of us, who became friends and did stuff together after work and sometimes double dated on weekends.

One day, a new guy joined our group. Well, he was hired as a bagboy, but he was an Engineering student at University of North Dakota, across town. We were pals at work, but he didn't hang out with us after.

His name was Hugo Aguilera and he was Cuban, here to learn, and take his knowledge back to Cuba. He used to joke, "This is Hugo's Piggly Wiggly, and I'm Hugo." The actual owner was Hugo Magnusson, father of three boys who went to Central High with us, and soon to become Mayor of Grand Forks.

This all was around the time that Fidel Castro had just taken control of Cuba and everyone was wondering what would happen next. All of my friends and I had generally been for Castro and the revolution, naively comparing it to America's Revolution. Little did we know.

At the time, we were busy speculating how Cuba would be changing as Castro took over. Hugo was an absolute Castro supporter, insisting that Cuba was about to become a much better country. He wasn't very specific about his personal philosophy, so to this day I don't know whether he was communist, or merely anti-Batista.

A little over a year later, Hugo went back to Cuba, and we all graduated high school. One of us became a conscientious objector and moved to Winnipeg, where he still lives. Four of us joined the Navy. Two went to work and soon were married, and the other two went to University.

Strangely, two years later I was an Engineman aboard USS Saratoga, an aircraft carrier, when we sailed into Caribbean waters to take part in the Cuban Blockade, in which President Kennedy tested Kruschev's resolve to place nukes 'pon Cuban soil. Kruschev ultimately backed down, but it was a tense couple of weeks.

I occasionally wonder what happened to Hugo and whether he's still alive and still as gung-ho for Castro as he was back in 1960.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

May Was a Busy Month

And June is starting out the same way.

Geotechnical engineering follows the construction industry. Not only do we follow construction, but we preceed it. We sample the soils in future construction zones, as to determine its suitability to support the work that's contemplated.

As a geotechnical lab manager, I perform testing on the samples, according to schedules laid out by our project engineer. The testing often includes soil classification tests, strength tests, tests for expansive potential and for compressive potential.

Engineers use the results of this testing to determine cut and fill quantities, maximum steepness of graded slopes, minimum distances of structures from edges of graded slopes, width and depth of structural footings, structural cross sections of roadbeds, and more.

Once the engineers' and architects' plans are drawn and approved, construction begins. Field technicians observe the contractors' work and perform field testing to assure that the cut/fill and grading operations meet specs. To support their testing, more samples are brought into my lab for further testing to assure that the work is as the preliminary testing projected, and that the soils and materials used meet specs.

There's a lot of construction going on in Southern California right now, as we aren't expecting much inclement weather for the next few months. It's also true that we don't get very much bad weather, ever. A few days' rain delay from time to time in the winter months, and that's about it.

The firm is a little short-handed right now and we're all under pressure to get the work out.

Now that I've told you a lot more than you want to know about my business, by way of apology for an expected sparseness in my mental meanderings.

I shall endeavor to perservere.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Thwarting the Pederast

"Pedophiles" have been much in the news lately, and for the past several years. I placed the word pedophiles in quotes because it just doesn't seem like the proper term for those who victimize children. "Pedophile" means "child lover." Somehow, it doesn't seem like these guys love children. They love to hurt children. Let's call them pederasts.

A number of new laws have been enacted to deal with pederasts; tougher sentences and restrictions while they're on parole. They're largely ineffectual, as are most laws, because the effect is to cause these desperadoes to kill their victims.

So what can be done? First, I'd dismiss government. They make ridiculous laws to seemingly justify their existence, but the new laws are rarely enforced. Or selectively enforced. Each parent (or couple) must deal with it as it pertains to their own children.

Every individual (or couple) has the ability to make the big choice. To have children or not. To not have kids is every bit as noble as to have them.

After the decision is made to start a family, styles rapidly become cramped. One of the parents has the obligation to be with the children constantly for the first three or four years or, on occasion to give them over to the care of someone they trust. Really trust.

Innocent children are wonderful and it's all sweet and nice, but these are not innocent times. I don't think any times are innocent. I often think the best time in the history of mankind to be a child was when I was one--but these are rose-colored glasses and what do I know?

We have to teach the kids to protect themselves, for those years after the first three or four. Put him in martial arts classes as soon as he can take instruction. Theach him self defense and self reliance. Take him camping early and often. (When I say "him," it's for brevity. This applies equally to girls.) I wouldn't trust the Boy/Girl Scouts, unless I personally know and trust everyone that'll come in contact with my kid. Ditto schools, and double giant ditto to the church. Actually, I think kids ought to be kept from church until they decide to go on their own.

We have to teach our kids to be assertive and to take no crap. Teach him how to get away from an adult and run like hell, making a lot of noise. Teach him, as best you can, how to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Teach him to be respectful and polite, but wary.

I think kids ought to be taught to use firearms and knives for self defense. When they're old enough. I started my elder son out with a .22 revolver at the age of six. No, I didn't let him have it outside of my presence, but I think by the time he was thirteen or fourteen he could've handled it (if everyone wasn't so stupid about it).

Kids need to be taught about honesty and property. Early. Partly to be able to judge the honesty of others.

They need to be taught the dangers of mind altering substances. If thet girl in Aruba had been taught that it's very dangerous to be out of control of her faculties in a strange place, she'd probably be alive today.

As they learn this stuff, they can be on their own more and more, and they'll be as safe as it's possible to be.

Most parents live in a dream world in which everyone is nice and everyone can be trusted, and you're safe as long as you drive a Volvo. Sorry. Like that it has never been. The kids who are street smart and tough will be the ones who escape danger unscathed. After the first few years, they can be out and about, but know this: if they get into trouble, they'll likely have to get themselves out. It's your job to give them the tools.

Young adults still have the choice of not having any kids. For many, it's a good choice.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Beating Islam To The Punch

And here I thought the Fourth Amendment had already been destroyed by the Bush Administration, in his attempt to destroy America before the islamic funny-mentalists can. It now looks like the evil police agencies here in Stalag California are not to be outdone. Who needs a fascist federal government when we have our own police state right here?

Seems the Stalag California's Supreme Court and Rubber Stamp Society have punched yet another hole in our quickly dwindling list of liberties. They can now break down your door, without a warrant, and give you a blood alcohol test after they've dragged you out of a sound sleep in your bed. All they have to do is claim to suspect you've been driving under the influence.

Of what? One might ask. Alcohol is the stock answer, but heck! We had the drug dog in the car anyway, and everyone knows the temperature in a car can go up twenty degrees in five minutes. We can't leave the poor dog out there to suffer.....

Might it matter that it's not easy to drive while asleep in your bed? One also wonders whether or not the actual ownership of a car would make a difference.

This decision seems a mite harsh (not to mention irrational and antiAmerican), even in the light of the police state tactics in use by the federal administration under the Hitlerian USA Patriot Act.

This current fear of the Demon Rum has long ago eclipsed the earlier hatred of the beverage by the 19th Century Sufferagettes, and seems to get more severe with every month that passes.

While we all hope that everyone will partake in a responsible way, this current trend of punishing people because what they've done might possibly result in harm to others is suicidally dangerous. What's even more dangerous (some dare call it futile), is punishing people for harm to others that they might have done, but didn't(!). As I, and other commentators far more intelligent than yours truly, have warned for decades, we are becoming America's Founders' worst enemy. We're doing to ourselves what the third Reich, the USSR Evil Empire and the current Islamic Funny-mentalist Hegemony has thus far been unable to do: return a free society to the Dark Ages.

Tip of the battered old grey fedora: The Agitator.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Those Awful Cartoons (Again)!

There have been calls for a boycott against Borders Books for their cowardly handling of a recent issue of Free Inquiry in which were printed those now-famous Danish cartoon depictions of Mohammad. Borders apparently cites concerns for the safety of their clientele and employees as the reason for its having refused to place the issue on its magazine rack.

Liberty loving individuals all over the country decried the bookstore chain's pitiful handling of the situation. Many individuals have decided to avoid Borders, and have called on others to do the same. An occasional customer of borders myself, I have decided to join this effort.

Now there's an interesting addendum to the story: the June issue of Harpers also has the Danish cartoons in its pages. Anybody care to give odds that Borders will refuse to carry this issue of Harpers? Anybody?

Robert Bidinotto, Editor-in-Chief of The New Individualist, the Objectivist Center's magazine, alerts us in his blog, to the current status of the story, and provides links to analysis by others.

Kudos to Mr Bidinotto for his stand on this issue!

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Never There When You Need 'Em

There are many evil individuals 'pon the planet. This particular group got a surprise. A former US Marine, Thomas Autry, is making a few of them rethink their way of life--those who survive.

Police often say that one should submit and give the thugs what they want. According to this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Autry didn't. First, Autry ran, hoping to escape his attackers, but they caught and cornered him. At that point, armed only with a jackknife, Autry's military training kicked in.

Result: One thug dead, one critically injured. All five arrested.

Autry is a mite more humble than he needs to be, however, he is still alive and in control of his stuff.

Tip o' the battered grey fedora: Ice Scribe

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Hit the Dirt! He's Got a Nail Gun!

Yesterday, as just about everyone who wasn't spending the day at Disneyland knows, much of Washington was shut down because of a report of gunshots in the Rayburn Building near the Capitol. Read about it in a Washington Post story here. Seems that US Representative The Most Honorable Jim Saxton, (R) New Jersey, while riding in an elevator, heard what he though sounded like a series of gunshots. Alarmed, he immediately phoned 411 and asked for the phone number to 911.

Without going into the relative benefits to productive individuals all over these Untied Skates, of a Washington DC shut-down, there are a number of issues that might be observed and mentioned.

All Americans have the (Second Amendment) right to "keep and bear arms," which means, to have and, if necessary use tools of self defense. Laws put in place by the various federal, state and local governments run afoul of this right, and government's minions minions, those charged and sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States, betray that oath and deny that mandate utterly.

Government enforces this betrayal by projecting, in a host of ways, fear of personal weaponry. Fear of self defense is taught in schools. News stories overwhelmingly are skewed against personal self defense. Even the police who, one might think, would find that effective personal self defense would make their job much easier (it's worked wherever it's been tried) and would actually advise individuals under attack by criminals to meekly comply with their demands.

What, one might ask, has this to do with the incident in Washington DC?

US Representative Jim Saxton (R) NJ is afraid of guns. Scared to death of them. Nearly everyone in the Untied Skates is afraid of guns. A fair percentage of those who live west of the Mississip' are to be excluded from that count (exepting those who live on the west coast--the big cities in Stalag California, Oregon and Washington) but almost every American has been taught to fear guns and self defense.

Convenience store clerks should bow their heads and allow themselves to be shot by any stray gang thug who's trying to build a rep.

US Representative Jim Saxton (R) NJ turned in the alarm when he heard the sound of nail guns. Hundreds of law enforcement officers from several Washington DC police agencies responded (The sounds of Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut! still echo through the hallways of the Rayburn Building). Hundreds of marching morons at rates of pay between $25 and $75 per hour. Hundreds more in lockdown in the buildings affected.

All someone actually had to do was ask, "Hey! What was that?"

I want US Representative Jim Saxton (R) NJ to pay for all this overreaction out of his personal fortune (which has undoubtedly become mucho enhanced during his tenure in the House). Then, he should familiarize himself a little more about what a real handgun sounds like.

Were he not so afraid of guns, and not such a coward, he could've investigated the noise himself, his own personal weapon handy, and scared the crap out of a few carpenters.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Julie, Get Your Gun

Many of my acquaintances wonder why I'm such a gun nut. Well, here's one reason. I don't know if Bill Kelly's short tale is literally true or not. He doesn't actually say--but if you read or watch the news with any kind of regularity, you've seen that this sort of thing happens fairly often, over the length and breadth of these Untied Skates.

A few years ago, before Smith & Wesson sold its soul to Bill Clinton-Rodham, they had started to market light-weight, small-framed revolvers to women. The weapons still exist; not only does S&W still market them, but they've appeared in the form of copycat revolvers by firms like Taurus, Rossi, and probably some others.

In my never humble opinion, any woman who is ever alone ought to be carrying a pistol, or at the very least, pepperspray. This after (important!) learning to shoot the pistol--at your neighborhood indoor range, preferably after having taken a combat lesson. (They're fun!) If you opt for pepper spray, waste one of them checking it out. Make sure you do it in the open, and stay upwind while you're spraying it about.

While I'd never carry a firearm in violation of the law (wink, wink!), I always carry pepper spray and a number of other legal items useful for doing damage to an attacker: a pocket knife, a couple of pens and a fairly substantial keychain.

I'd carry a blackjack if it was legal here in the sadly socialist Stalag. It's funny: one faces worse penalties for possessing a blackjack (or brass knuckles, etc), which normally aren't lethal, than for illegally carrying a handgun. A blackjack is a helluva weapon, but one that almost can't kill someone.

Hey! I'm an old man. I can't go toe-to-toe with these twenty-five-year-old thugs--any more than your average 110-pound woman can outthump a 220-pound rapist.

I'm all for martial arts. I wish I had learned some of that stuff when I was in my teens or twenties, but I didn't. Not many of us did.

The sooner the fascists are subdued, and we the people can take advantage of the wonderful rights enumerated in not only the Second Amendment, but also the whole of the Bill of Rights, the better off we all will be able to make ourselves.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Fountainhead Cafe

Traveling to New York City? Hungering for some Ayn Rand moments in the city in which she set her last two novels and lived for forty years? Check out the new Fountainhead Cafe on West 10th St. There are vegetarian dishes and non-alcoholic drinks.

"....If you watch people as they drink, you'll see that they get progressively less objective." says the proprietor, Chad Brandon, a Montana native who now lives in New York.

The Fountainhead Cafe is planned to be a place where objectivists can "get together and talk about ideas."

Next time I get to NYC, it'll be one of the places I'll visit.

Tip o' th' grey Fedora: The Wine Commonsewer

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

It's Just a story!

I haven't seen "The Da Vinci Code," the movie, yet. I do plan to see it, but I'm not sure when. I had a bit of difficulty with it from the start: I'm not sure Ron Howard was the right director. He often has a difficult time making believable bad guys. Ditto Tom Hanks as the protagonist. He's always seemed too timid and too much the good guy. We'll see.

I read the book months ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was a better than decent action adventure that has a clever premise and is internally coherent. I remember thinking the denoument was a mite fuzzy, but I really ought to read it again. I always get a better handle on a book, reading it a second time, after the "wow" factor is past.

I wrote this about "The Da Vinci Code," a few weeks ago. It concerns the Roman Catholic reaction to the book. Watching some of Catholic pundits on the cable news shows makes one think there'll be picketing and boycotts. Catholic spokespeople seem to be trying to project the notion that they're under some sort of attack, and that The Da Vinci Code is part of it. Well, if that's true, perhaps it's time somebody kicked their asses a little bit for the Dark Ages and the Inquisition.

For my part, I don't believe either The Da Vinci Code or Catholic Doctrine. If, however, I was asked to choose which story is the more believeable, I'd have to pick the former.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Waco II: The FBI Is Preparing to Strike Again

We hear in the MSM that the FBI recognized their errors in their Waco Massacre of April 17, 1993. I find that very difficult to believe. No one of the individuals who conducted the massacre has been criminally prosecuted, or even charged. None have even been disciplined, that has been made public. Janet Reno, the Bill Clinton's evil Attorney General, was the architect of the massacre, and is undoubtedly most guilty in the shameful episode. No one in government has ever suggested she be tried for her crimes.

Now, we have the potential for another outing for the Boys Who Can't Shoot Straight But Have A Lot Of Bullets. Warren Jeffs, a seemingly reprehensible character, has been placed on the FBI's Most Wanted list--for polygamy?? Well, many of the young girls are under age, and for that he needs to be brought to justice, but .....the FBI's Most Wanted? To be compared with Osama Bin Llama? Puh-leeze!

The FBI has called him....armed and dangerous, in spite of the fact that no one outside his cult has seen him in two years. He's rumored to be living in a compound in Eldorado, Texas. The leader of a bizarre religious cult. Armed and dangerous.

Ring a bell?

We don't know if he's really armed and dangerous, or not. Many of the feds' minions and pretenders regard anyone who owns a gun "armed and dangerous." The Second Amendment is one of the parts of the Bill of Rights that these individuals skip over on the rare occasions that they think of it at all.

The FBI has a record of lying to the public. Ditto BATFE, which was also involved with the Waco massacre. BATFE is a fascist-spawned, certifiably out-of-control gang of thugs. If they get called into this fiasco, beware!

David Koresh was living in a compound near Waco, Texas. He was the leader of a bizarre religious cult. He was rumored to be armed and dangerous. We all know what happened to him.

Do we have another religious cult massacre to look forward to? We'll see.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Just One Thing After Another

Flash! They're patting people down at airports. "It's ok. It's legal. We've always had discretion to inspect what's going aboard our airlines."

Flash! You have to remove your shoes before boarding airliners. "It's ok. It's legal. "Shoes are a good place to hide things."

Flash! They're groping genital areas and women's breasts at airport checkpoints. "It's ok. It's legal. What if someone hid something there?"

Flash! Random searches of bags at New York subways. "It's ok. It's legal. Anybody can leave the subway and not be searched.

Flash! They're searching every bag at the subways. "It's ok. It's legal. What if a terrorist carries a bomb to another subway station?"

Flash! They're setting up checkpoints at random locations on the streets to search bags and persons. "It's ok. It's legal. What if the terrorist wants to bomb a building?"

Flash! They're incarcerating war protesters at Gitmo. "It's ok. It's legal. We don't want our wonderful political system held up to ridicule by the world's media."

Flash! They're putting American citizens of Arabic descent in camps in the Arizona desert. "It's ok. It's legal. President Roosevelt did it with the Japanese in WWII. Worked like a charm!"

When I heard about the data mining being done by this and prior administrations, some time ago, the first thing I thought about was "mission creep." Government programs tend to gradually get larger and slip into other areas than those originally intended (allegedly).

When GWB began sucking up our long-recognized civil liberties beginning immediately after the destruction of the World Trade Center, I automatically knew that these usurpations would mirror those of the so-called "War on Drugs" and that they would flow together and gradually become more and more all-encompassing.

I'm looking for the "National ID Card" which is being sold to us as a federal-spec state driver's license, to become necessary "papers" for travel on airlines (done deal), trains (done deal), busses and taxis. I'm also expecting, at some not-too-distant point in time, "papers" checkpoints for travellers in private autos on the open highway.

GWB makes this happen by simply declaring that this particular travesty "is legal," because I say it's legal, and "it's not a violation of individual privacy" because I say it's not.

This is the kind of Government by Men (not Government by Law) the US Constitution was adopted to prevent--obviously unsuccessfully!

"People Should Not Be Afraid Of Their Governments. Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People." --V

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Rights of Passage

It looks like I was right all along. According to the California Department of Education, the only requirement on California youngsters to achieve a high school diploma is the fact of attaining the age of eighteen years, and have their butts in the seats a certain number of times a year for twelve long, endless, boring years.

After some parties actually interested in seeing California kids get something resembling an education, pushed for the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Examination), and it was finally adopted, there was an expectation (among some) that California kids might actually finally begin to benefit from government schools.

The first crack in the dike appeared when high school teachers left off (to some extent) teaching the curriculum and started coaching for the Exit Exam.

Now, what I've heard termed a fifth grade-level exam, is just too tough for many poor and disadvantaged students. A lawsuit has been filed, and one of California's many utterly unqualified judges has indicated he plans to place an injunction against the test based on "equal protection" concerns.

I've written many times that I regard government-operated schools little more than children's prisons (observe the architecture of newer school campi), designed to warehouse children to keep them off the streets, and to indoctrinate them in political correctness and compliance with social(ist) norms far more than to actually teach them to reason, to be creative, to learn the 3 r's, to have an historical perspective and a real appreciation of the arts.

In short, government schools are child abuse.

The CAHSEE is irrelevant. If a youngster wants to learn, he'll learn. Try and stop him! Actually, it seems that the California Department of Education is trying to stop him! With all the time and opportunity available in school, most kids should exit in twelve years with an education well beyond that we normally expect of a Bachelor's degree. Today's schools actually do more to inhibit learning than they do to facilitate it.

Fast food outlets have for years now replaced the digits on cash registers with pictures of the food items! Who has time to figure out those incredibly difficult Arabic hyroglyphics, anyway? Many high school grads are unable to make change or to balance a checkbook.

Aside from accelerated and college prep curricula (which are a little better), most kids are kept down to the level of the slowest in any given class.

Many teachers are unqualified to teach the assigned subject. One youngster about whom I have personal knowledge was "taught" algebra by a football coach. When he found the subject difficult, and started asking questions, the "teacher" got angry, told him to study the book, do his homework and the problem would clarify itself. The boy dropped, went into a basic math class, and slid out of the college prep curriculum. The lad did graduate high school as scheduled, has yet (after several years) to take on the challenges of "higher education."

As it turns out, were he in high school today, he would have to do nothing to get a diploma but show up each day.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Pulling Our Punches

I've long thought that the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq were fought poorly. When I say poorly, though, I mean POORLY! Criminally poorly! Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff should go to prison for criminal negligence poorly!

Before I go any farther, I hasten to assert that, while I agree with the need to go after Osama Bin Llama and his al queda gang, and to lay waste to Afghanistan if said dictatorship gives him safe harbor, I think the attack 'pon Saddam Hussein, evil emperor that he was, is frivolous at best, a pure waste of lives, time and money at worst.

As was stated by many a pundit of the more rational (read, less listened to) class, the administration of Iran was, and is, the philosophical leader of the revolt against reason and civilization that was and is the cause of islamic funny-mentalist ire. I suspect that, if and when the truth ultimately becomes known, Osama Bin Llama recieved much of his logistic aid from the administration of Iran.

The US military pulled every punch. They fed the enemy while they were fighting them. They avoided certain locations for political reasons. They gave the mullahs a pass. We don't know exactly what happened, but we know that most of the mullahs are still at large, acting as coarse sand tossed into America's military gears. When they had Bin Llama cornered at tora Bora, they decided to take a day off and let him go.

Troops are still in Afghanistan, doing who knows what, one of them occasionally getting killed or injured--for what?

As bad as Afghanistan seems, Iraq is, by comparison, what we veterans used to call a colossal clusterfuck. I don't care if the troops over there all claim that they're doing fine and really, really love helping the Iraqis put their utopia together in the image of the USA. Our own troops have been turned into half social workers and half sacrificial lambs.

Note the early months, after Baghdad was "secured," when the troops began taking casualties from "terrorists" in hiding, when the troops were ordered to exercise restraint. When they were fired upon by Iraqis from the shelter of mosques, troops were not allowed to destroy the mosques to get to their attackers. Had the troops leveled a single mosque, which was being used as a refuge for snipers, no mosque would ever be used that way again.

When the troops sealed off and "neutralized" Najaf, amid criticism from the world's MSM, they backed off asap and let Moqtada al-Sadr and his gang of killers leave (to come back and fight another day). I'm not sure exactly how all of that went down; there's a lot of conflicting verbiage in the reports that've been released, but suffice it to say, the troops didn't even try to win a decisive victory over Sadr and his band of merry men.

And now, they're ba-ack!

Again, I think our having invaded Iraq was utterly unnecessary, and a bad idea. But, having written that, we have to observe that every one of America's (unnecessary) wars and other military actions since WWII, has been fought with one arm tied behind "our" back. Not good.

Perry de Havilland, writing at Samizdata, observes some of the problems with restraint in warfare: more Americans (and allies) get killed.

Shelby Steele's article on "White Guilt and the Western Past," offers part of the reason why America pulls its military punches. The white West, guilty over the fact of white supremacy around the globe since the Renaissance, has no will to be accused of white supremacy now, in the wake of the many third world revolts against the white west, and of America's Civil Rights revolution. The US government lacks any sense of moral authority that can counter worldwide condemnation of its actions--not only in war, but in immigration control and other international debates.

Steele has some of the answer, but not all of it. American politics is a rudderless ship They have no morality and guiding principes beyond getting re-elected. The philosophy that built America is completely unknown to them--even, nay especially on conservatives. That's obvious by the fact that when al queda destroyed the World Trade Center, the first acts of the Bush administration were to limit the civil liberties of Americans. That trend continues to this day, and shows no signs of letting up.

Back to the subject, while the US government has to fight al queda, after its many attacks on this country, there is no such need to involve ourselves in the political/religious quagmire that is Iraq.

Better we should, claiming the moral high ground of self defense, attack al queda with all our strength, with an eye toward finding a way to neutralize Iran as necessary.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The Greater Good

Politicians, many of them members of the conservative persuasion, who command fat salaries for, in essence, extract by force pieces of our lives (often the whole of someone's life) to use for their own ends, love to cite "the greater good" as the goal of their thefts. "For the greater good" is also cited as the reason why certain individuals make sacrifices to the benefit of such nebulous concepts as "humanity," "my country," "future generations," etc.

"The greater good" is very often an euphemism for "god" or "god's will," as decreed by a priest or witch doctor, or such. One should always take "the greater good" to mean the good of the individual who makes the pronouncement. Because that's what he means when he invokes the phrase (whether he'll admit it or not).

One might observe that, for example, nearly all of those who praise American military men and women for contributing to "the greater good" are beyond eligibility to enter the military, and most of them have never done so.

I reject any notion of "the greater good."

The greatest possible good is what's good for me. Depending 'pon the context, that might also mean what's good for those about whom I care.

While most of the world is writhing in an orgy of self-sacrifice, the truth comes out: the world works best when each individual takes care of himself. For those relative few who have periods of need, there are friends, relatives and private charity can provide relief. In the absence of the all-consuming vortex of "the greater good," each of us can easily deal with those relative few who hit rough periods.

The sooner each of us can dispose of these silly concepts and learn to truly enjoy his own life, the better for the world and every one of us.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Roswell, Texas?

My all-time favorite science fiction author is L Neil Smith. I actually grew up on Robert A Heinlein, and continue to re-read his stories occasionally, and I enjoy many other S-F authors as well, but I find myself watching and waiting for El Neil's next.

El Neil builds the worlds in which I would most like to live. From his first novel, The Probability Broach, which is currently in print both as a print novel and as a graphic novel (Art by Scott Bieser), is the first in an alternative history series that begins during a quirk of history during America's Revolutionary War. I could go on about the several subsequent novels Smith has written, including a couple of S-F/pirate swashbucklers, but nobody wants that!

What's new now is a graphic short story which is being serialized at Bighead Press. Roswell, Texas is another alternative history story, a "sci-fi western romantic comedy," based on a quirk of history during the Siege of the Alamo. Reading the first several pages reveals it to be a very interesting story, at least for me! I'm waiting impatiently for the next installment.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm Regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

While El Alcalde is Away, the Peones Will Play

There was a very large pro-immigration rally in many cities today. I, in one of my drives about areas of Southern California, found myself Cruisin' Bristol this afternoon. There were literally hundreds of Hispanics, mostly young folks, cruisin' in their cars up and down Bristol Avenue, Santa Ana, flying Mexican flags and generally making noise. It was a trip.

Santa Ana is home to more Hispanics than any other group, including, I think, we of the northern European persuasion. It's the county seat of Orange County is located pretty much in the center of the county.

Some time I'm going to have to ask why an expatriate Mexican, driven out of his country by the spectre of poverty, poor medical assistance an early death following an unfulfilling life, why he still reveres the country that, in effect, threw him out. If the United States ever finds a way to make me want to leave, I triple gawdamm guarantee I won't be flying the stars & stripes ever again.

Meanwhile, Senor Antonio Vinaigrette, El Alcalde del Pueblo de Los Angeles is out of town. Very convenient, being out of town when the events of the day are such that he doesn't want to dis the peones, nor does he want any photographic evidence of his support of them. Of course, the trip to Houston to meet with officials of the National Football League to see about a new football team for LA, was planned decades ago, and the timing has nothing to do with this day of protest, but his heart is with the Hispanic folk just trying to make a living in the good ol' USA.

There are future campaigns, after all!

I say, if they can find work, fine. We pay many people not to work by means of various forms of social welfare, and somebody has to do that stuff!

Conservatives claim that these folks ought to get citizenship the legal way, like "our ancestors did." What they forget is that the rules were very different fifty, a hundred, a hundred fifty years ago. The immigration system, however flawed, worked.

Today, INS is so lazy and smothered in its own bureaucracy that prospective immigrants grow old and die waiting for the process to work. Much easier to overstay one's visa and just get the best job you can.......

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Starting Their Own Jihad

Fearing the fact of being outdone in the world's headlines by islamic funny-mentalists over the publication of 'toon images of Mohammed in the newspapers and web pages of the more civilized portion of the world, the vatican announces a boycott on the movie "The Da Vinci Code."

One has to wonder whether the continuing demonstrations over immigration will, like a tidal wave, overwhelm the vatican's pronouncement and leave theater-goers at peace to enjoy the film in suburban mega-plexes. I've noticed that our local cardinal, Msnr Mahoney, after singing the praises of the immigration reform demonstrations for lo! these many weeks, has suddenly begun to admonish government school inmates to stay in their classes and resist the temptation to escape and join the festivities. Might this have something to do with the upcoming actions regarding the premier of "The Da Vinci Code?"

Will there be bands of marauding catholic youths keying cars in Hollywood with their rosary crosses? Will scientologists be burned at the stake in Malibu? We non-catholics must be on our guard, for one never knows what evil lurks in the hearts of funny-mentalists!

Meanwhile, one has to also wonder how long it'll take for historical scholars to prove that the new testament was made up from whole cloth by monks in the 4th century, and how the vatican will react to that news!

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California