Of Independence Days Past

Today I reminded myself of a particular July 4th, 1951 I think it was, in which I really enjoyed the holiday for the first time--even though I had no idea of the political or historical issues implied by the day.

We had a picnic at the park in Larimore, where we lived at the time, after which we all went home to wait for dark, and fireworks. Uncle Jim brought a long trough, made of two 1x4 boards nailed together in a 10-ft long V. He leaned it against his truck, at a steep angle and tied it off to part of the bed.

He brought out the rocket. It was a foot or so long with a two-ft stick trailing behind. "This better work" he said. I could only afford one," he said as he lay it into the trough.

Some of the neighbors came over and brought their fireworks with them. Then, we fired bottle rockets, burned sparklers, fired off firecrackers and Roman Candles. We had a few fountains and some of those little helicopter fliers. Being not quite seven at the time, I had to content myself running around with sparklers--kind of a thrill at the time--and watching the other stuff.

Finally, we started seeing the high-flying rockets going up all around town. Uncle Jim shouted, "Ok! Here we go!" As we all gathered around, "not too close," as my Dad and other parents kept saying, Uncle Jim lit the fuse of the big rocket. The fuse burned for what seemed like minutes, but was really just a few seconds. Suddenly, there was a whoosh of sparks blowing out the bottom of the rocket, which quickly turned into a roar as the rocket flashed up the trough and into the sky. We followed the lengthening trail of burning powder until it looked like it was higher than the moon. Then the rocket exploded with a slightly delayed boom into a vast, multicolored umbrella of fire. Oohs and aahs escaped the lips of everyone there.

Well, it only lasted a few seconds--well under a minute. I watched the trail of smoke, in the light of the moon, until it drifted away and dissipated.

We stayed outside for a while longer, watching fireworks of neighbors, and other high-flying ones still going off around town.

That particular Independence Day sticks with me to this day, I guess because it was the first, very exciting fireworks of my young life. I feel for the kids born in other places, and more recent times, who miss the joy of the family/neighborhood Independence Day celebration with the picnics, softball games, followed by a fireworks show of which the kids are really a part.

How many of today's kids get to use ordinary firecrackers to "shoot the anvil," the anvil in this case being just a plain inverted empty tin can?

Those times are gone in this part of the country, for a number of reasons: Perversely over-protective parents. A government that wants us to forget our heritage. Lazy and authoritarian police and fire departments (they could teach kids how to use fireworks safely, not just ban them). Those times are forgotten by many, and never known by the young.

As adults work ever more toward the attempted creation of a nerf-world to keep the kids safe until they (the adults) die, many of the kids will grow up utterly unable to face the dangers--great and small--of value-seeking. The attainment of anything of value requires risk, and kids are learning to avoid risk at all costs, of they are simply not learning to deal.

The adventure of risk taking to attain goals is what built America, and it will slip away--it is slipping away--as America's parents produce more geldings in lieu of stallions.

Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Republicans.....Our saviors?

A writer on facebook suggests that Republican pundits are assuming a grand salvation will happen as more Republicans are elected in this coming election. Of course, the lady is quite right. Gains will be modest at best. An end to the Democrats' super majority is about the best we can expect.

This though, is only part of the story. I hold my nose and vote for mostly Republicans at each election, knowing that there is no coherent philosophical base behind their alleged convictions and that they betray America with astonishing regularity. Democrats are only slightly worse.

No Republican candidate or officeholder I know has announced opposition to taxes in principle, as a gross violation of individuals' right to property, nor has any of them committed to the notion that the task America's military is limited to protecting America from foreign attack. Wars of adventure and attempted nation building (never successful) seem to be the order of the day in Republican circles.

In order to avoid actually doing the simple things the US Constitution and reason requires of it, power hungry (yet unbelievably incompetent) elected officials try and invariable fail to control every aspect of the lives of Americans, and by the inconsistent use of force and fear, cause chaos and destruction every step of the way.

Actually, I'm not at all looking for leadership from government. Many decades longer that my lifetime have shown that government's only leadership is leadership in the areas of theft and murder (aka taxation and war).

All I want from government is protection for my absolute right to my life, rights and property--and that only until I can find a private organization that will do it better and cheaper!

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

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Arizona

I've been thinking about Arizona's new law regarding illegal aliens for several days--since it was passed. At first, it seemed like competing principles--in order to uphold one, I'd have to betray the other.

Normally, I'd have no qualms about inviting any Mexican, Canadian, Englishman, Asian, African or South American to come to any one of the United States to work. In the capitalist society we once were, there was always too much work to do and too few minds and hands to do it. Despite the excesses of some few government subsidized industries and the excesses that attend them, there was plenty of work for immigrants from all parts of the world, and room for them to advance their lives by the use of their own minds and skills.

Today, the once great States have been cruelly smeared into a slimy mess that is becoming more and more like an European fascist dictatorship. Skilled technicians, professionals and scientists are finding it ever harder to enter the country to seek to better their lives, while unskilled laborers are allowed to sneak in, and once here are never to be questioned or challenged.

Many find work, and that's fine. They also are invited to avail themselves of all the largess of a bloated government without having to pay the dues. Free medical care (which most citizens don't get), free government schools (such as they are) many of which offer classes in the student's first language (eliminating the need to learn ours), and the ability to drive the public streets unlicensed and uninsured with impunity (which citizens cannot), to name three.

Many have called for the closing of the borders, to stem the flow of illegal aliens, though I have not. A far better solution would be to disassemble the welfare state, to detax and deregulate business and return to the capitalist origins that made the States great. The services that the illegal aliens get gratis and that the rest of us pay confiscatory taxes for could be provided for far lower cost, far more efficiently and with no strings attached by the free market--in which everyone buys and pays for what he desires--and gets it!

Arizona is a sovereign State. Under the Tenth Amendment, an admonition which the rogue federal government chooses to ignore almost completely, Arizona can control its own affairs independently of the federal government. True, the Constitution reserves to the feds the task of controlling the borders, but the federal government is criminally derelict in this duty.

Further, the federal government unConstitutionally forbids Arizona to withhold welfare state services from illegal foreigners. Arizona is challenging the federal government to "do you job, or we'll do it."

I can't blame them, and I think it'd be good if other States follow Arizona's example.

Or, better still, do away with the welfare state, embrace laissez faire capitalism, and let us pursue our careers in freedom.

Remember, VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Time to Break Out the Tar & Feathers

Right wing pundits are fond of saying that B Hussein means no harm, but is simply mistaken in his economics and his ability to govern.

They're wrong.

Obama has no moral compass--or at least his moral compass' magnetism has gone away by means of his having mentors who have no regard for individual rights and property. He has assumed the posture of a sort of demigod-king who believes that the Constitution is a pain in the ass he has to sidestep, Congress is his tool, and the people of the united States and the world are serfs who must be controlled and protected. Mostly controlled.

The conservatives, having very shaky moral compasses themselves, are wrong. Most of them don't want to be too severe in their criticism because any one of them might find himself in the driver's seat himself, one day. Also, conservatives in office are mostly spineless oafs being led by the rings in their noses by the leftists.

B Hussein Obama is systematically and deliberately trying to destroy America.

B Hussein Obama is taking the (admittedly very flawed) American capitalist system apart. He's destroying individuals' ability to be productive with ever higher taxes, ever increasing regulation and by placing industry deeply in debt to government in order to be able to exert even more control over it. When it happened in Germany, we called it Nazism. We can't call it that though, because Obama isn't killing people. Yet.

He is, though, beginning to scapegoat. Scapegoating is the act of demonizing a segment of society by way of blaming that group for the nation's ills. By referring to the Tea Party demonstrators as racists and potential terrorists, he's beginning to set up the machinery. By sending up trial balloons, using university stooges to abridge free speech, he's undermining the 1st Amendment. By borrowing and spending (wasting) trillions of dollars he's deliberately placing the country in the position of being in a financial hole from which it can never escape. These are steps toward a goal that bodes nothing but ill for us all.

Obama's policies will reduce the united States to the level of a second-rate or a third-rate country, financially, and they will reduce Americans to the level of wards of the state.

Advocates of freedom vary as to what might stop this treason. Some would like their own state to secede and return to being an independent State. This would be wonderful if the new State doesn't become a little dictatorship of its own. The citizens of this state will need to guard against making the same mistakes made by the US federal government. They'll have to commit themselves to laissez-faire capitalism and an absolute right to life, liberty and property, and strict adherence to the Non Aggression Principle by government as well as by each individual.

Meanwhile, many individuals are retiring early or just quitting (shrugging) to avoid feeding the monster in Mordor DC. I find this appealing, and happen to be setting myself up for retirement very soon--this in spite of the fact that I love productive work. It's hard to quit, but perhaps a small sandwich shop in Carson City isn't the worst way to retire.

While we all can agree that paying taxes is just an enabling mechanism, and should be avoided, no one wants to spend their valuable time in government shackles.

Whatever is to your taste, and whatever your genius can devise, find a way to stop feeding the monster, and simultaneously stay out of the line of fire. Best of luck!

Remember: VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENT!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Kindergarten: Behind Chain Link in Diapers

I didn't go to kindergarten as a child. It wasn't offered. I don't think I've suffered for the lack of it, and I regard it as just another step by government to get children away from their parents as early, and for as much of the day as possible.

One of the reasons I think this is that some statist "educators" are pushing to start kindergarten even earlier, at the age of four or even three. They've also begun "free" breakfast and lunch programs at some districts so that the kids come earlier in the morning and don't leave to go home for lunch.

Parents can do what they want, as far as handing over their children to strangers to raise and indoctrinate, my only issue, other than a general sense of wonderment as to why they went to all the trouble of having kids if they don't want them, is that they're gleefully forcing me and other dissenters to pay for it.

A couple who are dear friends of mine send their kids to a government children's prison, then spend untold hours trying to undo the damage caused by the (large amount of) pro-government propaganda when they come home. Commendable. They say that the government school their kids attend is of very high quality and has an excellent academic standing.

Let's consider this.

Government "education" is so all-encompassing that it effectively eliminates any attempts at innovation. Even if a private school or a religious school sets its own curricula, it has to follow government approved methods, restrictions and even lesson plans. No one can legally attempt any serious innovation in education without running afoul of government regulations.

So, how can we possibly say that even the best schools are really anywhere near as good as they could be? The top-drawer institutions in the country are held to standards enforced by the ultra-mediocre members of teachers' unions and government drones. How can any critic possibly consider any school high quality if the best that exists is mediocrity?

We've all heard the stories of super successful individuals, a large number of whom dropped out of school early to improve their education. Or, as it's more often phrased, school is too boring. I hate to hold myself up as an example; I doubt that anything I've done or will do is going to change the world for better or worse, but I emerged from high school with no knowledge of mathematics beyond being none-too-adept at the four functions. After my hitch in the Navy, I took a private course in which I learned math through basic algebra, analytic geometry and trigonometry, including principles of surveying, in a little over a year, studying on evenings and weekends.

Standards in education have been slipping downward for decades. I recall looking at some of my dad's high school homework. It scared the crap out of me. My son went to high school in the early 1980's. After a teacher-caused hard disappointment in the prep program, he got disgusted and floated through in the general ed program, which seemed like an eighth- or ninth-grade education by the standards of the high school I attended.

I really hope that parents will withdraw their sanction from government children's prisons, "keep their kids off-book," and teach them at home. Today's computers being what they are, parents can find everything they need to educate kids to college level and beyond--and perhaps learn a little themselves in the bargain!

Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Katrina Bowl

Ok, so we're all really happy that the Saints won the Hype-er Bowl this year. Everyone, that is, except the folks from Indianapolis. I really was hoping thay'd win inspite of the fact that foopbaw rates a very poor third behind a couple of other games that can be played 'pon a carpet.

I just have one little niggling problem: why is it that every--literally EVERY news or sports story about this game and this team never failed to mention how a win for the Saints would do wonders for the folks in N'Awlins trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

WHAT!!??

Hurricane Katrina, for those with memories de-enhanced by children's prisons, happened almost four-and-a-half years ago. Four-and-a-half years! Get over it!

South Florida had a class three or four hurricane every two or threee years. Typically, they're rebuilt in a few months, and saying it's worth the nuisance to live in such a wonderful place.

Folks equally devastated in coastal areas along the gulf coast of Mississippi and Alabama got relatively little news coverage, very little disaster aid (by comparison) and rebuilt and resumed their lives within a few months.

Four-and-a-half years after N'Awlins' first bad hurricane in recent decades, and there, it seems, has been little or no recovery yet.

To be fair, N'Awlins had a really bad break in the criminal mismanagement of disaster aid by local, state and federal relief agancies, for which literally dozens, maybe hundreds of local, state and federal officials should be taken out to the nearest concrete wall and shot. Literally.

Also, to be fair, a majority of the voters in N'Awlins deserve the hard times they managed to survive for having the suicidal stupidity to re-elect that profoundly inept thievin' idiot they have the incredibly poor judgement to have called Mayor. But for the few thousand remaining productive individuals in that fair city, who certainly voted to give the dunderhead Mayor Nagin a lift from the pointy tip of their boot, not only out of N'Awlins, but out of existence.

The hurricane was only the bare beginning of their problems.

Government defines incompetence.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Activists Missing After Declaring “War on Leather” at Motorcycle Rally

This looks like a very effective way to counter the moronic antics of the peta idiots. A counterpoint to the throwing of fake blood on furs and leather clothing.

Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside several fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials.

“Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong.”

The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activist groups, “growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats,” decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it…ergo, they should stop.”

According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960’s era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began.

“They peed on me!!!” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’, and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!”

“I…I was trying to show my outrage at a man with a heavy leather jacket, and he…he didn’t even care. I called him a murderer, and all he said was, ‘You can’t prove that.’ Next thing I know he forced me to ride on the back of his motorcycle all day, and would not let me off, because his girl friend was out of town and I was almost a woman.”

Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads.”

Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations.

“That’s preposterous,” said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.”

When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activists meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret handshake,” assured the organizer.

For more on this story, check with the ultimate hoax busting site to track late-breaking developments.

Point----->Counterpoint!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag Californis

Unintended Consequences

An excellent example of unintended consequences that favor liberty.

Hat tip: Betsy Speicher

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Trip To Whole Foods

Since the day John Mackey made his wonderful statement opposing socialized medicine, and the lefty wackos announces a boycott of Whole Foods, I've been meaning to go there and do some food shopping. Then, perhaps regularly. Finally, recently, I actually went to one of his stores.

Well, I was appalled! There was nothing at all I recognized, outside the meat and produce departments. No Cheerios, no Campbell's soup. Nothing! The word "organic" was emblazoned 'pon not only every aisle and every sign, but on every package. Now, as some of my friends know, I often quip, "I wonder what an inorganic food would be like?"

That's only partly in jest. I know that what the semi-articulate call "organic food" refers to food grown or handled in a particular way. Let's look at that, shall we?

The regular agricultural industry, which most of us grew up with, is the best on earth. Other countries have starving millions, America supplies an abundance of food for the entire country, as well as food for many of the countries unable to do the same. We're, in the aggregate, healthier than most of the peoples of the rest of the world. Food suppliers, understanding that such a vast growth, handling and distribution system find that handling large amounts of their products requires some innovation above and beyond growing food and off to market.

I don't begin to know all the tricks of the trade. Fertilizers are used to increase crop yield. Insecticides are used to mitigate destruction by pests. Preservatives are employed to extend the useful life of foodstuffs between the farm and your plate. Without these and many other processes, food would be much more expensive, if not scarce for the millions of us who occasionally find ourselves hungry.

"Organic" food skips several of these enhancements. "Organic" food is thus expensive, sometimes shows evidence of insect damage, and has a shorter shelf life. It sometimes looks quite gross. In my excursion through Whole Foods, I noticed that the apples were blemished with black spots here and there. The bananas were mostly over-ripe. On the other hand, the meat in the butcher shop looked scrumptious, but was expensive to the extreme.

Packaged food is generally in drab packaging, small package size and, those things I bought while I was there ended up largely flavor-free. I couldn't shop for brand, because there were no brand names I'd ever heard of or seen advertised. I suppose the small packaging was needed because the food would spoil if not eaten immediately.

It rankles that "organic" food producers don't give me my fertilizers, nor my preservatives, nor my colorful packaging; the stuff just doesn't look as good, and yet they charge more for it. Third world people eat what environmentalists call "organic food," all their short, miserable lives. They appear to be chronically malnourished and unwell.

All this is not to say that one shouldn't eat "organic food" if one happens to be wealthy or is so spartan as to eschew flavor and shelf life, but those of us with budgets can suffer with richer flavor and the ability to store food for lean times.

I intend to avoid what's erroneously called "organic food," and look for quality and value on my local supermarkets, and to supplement that food with selected vitamins, minerals, etc. from my favorite vitamin websites.

Deer have a place in Stalag California.....Next to the peas and mashed potatoes.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

No Chance That There's Any Context In Which This Is A Good Question

"How did you feel as you gripped the trigger of that gun." --Paula Zahn, Fox News.

This is a question asked by Ms Zahn of an unknown (by me) person about an unknown (by me) event. The nature of the event doesn't really matter to my thesis.

If she asks the question of a person who killed an intruder to protect his loved ones and/or property, she's showing a disdain for defensive action. How would she "feel" if she walked into her apartment to see her daughter being raped? "How could he do such a thing to me?"

Screw feelings! Kill the bastard!

If she asks the question of a murderer in a prison setting, she's appealing to the mentally unhealthy ghoulish curiosity of a sick person who ought to be in a loonie bin. I can imagine the murderer smiling lasciviously, perhaps drooling a bit, and saying, "I wanted to watch her die, dude!" and Ms Zahn imagining the tenement dweller watching and saying, over his beer, "Awright!"

Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry.

It's part of a promotional ad for Ms Zahn's daytime show on Fox News, which is apparently designed to play off Ms Zahn's past fame, even at the expense of her credibility during the decline of her career. It's not a dumb question. It's a question that tells far more about the questioner than it ever could about the interviewee. Why would any serious journalist even think about asking something hideous as that?

Does Ms Zahn know that by asking that question she's expressing bias? Does she know that she's telling the world that she'd rather see a young woman lying dead, face down in the mud, having been raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her standing, gun in hand, over the dead body of her assailant?

It goes without saying that one doesn't grip the trigger of a gun. Ever.

These are just a few of the bits of the ugly soul of Ms Paula Zahn revealed by that short question.

We report, you roll over and play dead.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Technology is Still Scary to Some

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

Today, I went to my neighborhood Target to pick up a few items. After taking care of business on the first floor, I took the upscalator to the second. I had to stand idly on the bloody thing, because the folks in front of me wouldn't move. A common thing. It seems as though very few people understand that, even though an escalator is moving, it's still possible to walk it like stairs to change floors more quickly.

On the second floor, I picked up a few items and had to return to the first floor to get one of the Items being prepared for me. That's when I learned that the downscalator was stopped, out of order and had caution tape over the entrance. I went to the two (and only two) elevators to see that there was a deep crowd waiting.

There probably is a regular staircases somewhere, but it isn't apparent, nor is it obviously marked. There is one out in the parking structure, but you can't go to the parking structure without passing through the checkout and paying for your goods, This, I was not yet ready to do.

Being the ne'er-do-well rabble rouser that I am, my solution was to duck under the caution tape and walk down the stalled downscalator. I picked up the rest of my purchases, paid for everything and went to the door, where I braced the security guard.

Does everyone know that the escalator is broken?"

"Yes. We have a call in to the repair shop."

"Do you know that it's possible to walk down a stopped escalator as if it's a normal stairway?"

"The escalator has been closed for safety reasons."

"Do you know that everywhere in the world that has escalators leaves them open when they're broken so that they can still be used as stairs? Your two little elevators ain't making it."

"We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we have to think of the safety of our guests."

"Well, I guess that'll have to do, if thinking isn't an option," I said finally as I headed for the parking structure. I didn't tell him that I just walked down the broken escalator, thinking that with him, I might face arrest.

I'm on the lam, but I ain't no sheep!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

roken Escalator - Watch more funny videos here

War Is The Health of the State

We don't really know if we can trust anything that comes out of the Senate, since each member is wholly involved in a personal quest for undeserved wealth and power. By the same token, we can't trust the words of the various minions of the Administration, either. For the same reasons.

Apologists for the GW Bush Administration have, since sometime during the second year of his Presidency, been falling all over themselves trying to tell us that not taking Obama bin Llama at Tora Bora was either not feasible, not possible or not a good idea at the time.

I distrust any and all of this rhetoric. It's my opinion bin Llama wasn't captured because a shortened war over there wouldn't fulfill the President's not-quite-sane dreams of a fully pacified Middle East under the control of the US.

Such dreams are now, and were at the time, the musings of a fool, but they were his dreams, and would also serve to further another function dear to most elected officials in the past hundred years or so: erode the Bill of Rights and severely lessen individual liberty in the United States. Along with the war came the evil Patriot Act, under the umbrella of an entirely new herd of jack-booted thugs in an unConstitutional goon squad called Homeland Security. Can't you just hear the goose-stepping heels thudding in a death rhythm for American freedom?

Meanwhile, the vast majority of Middle Easterners are peaceful and at least as civilized as are most Americans. My biggest problem with them is that, like leftists, they rarely condemn their members at the wacko end of the scale.

Back to the point: According to this story in Yahoo News, there's a report issued by the US Senate to the effect that the GW Bush military could have captured bin Llama had they mounted "a rapid assault with several thousand troops at least" It further states that "a review of existing literature, unclassified government records and interviews with central participants 'removes any lingering doubts and makes it clear that Osama bin Laden was within our grasp at Tora Bora.'"

Yet the troops, while nearby and ready, were never ordered to mobilize. A "vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the Army, was kept on the sidelines." Instead, "fewer than 100 U.S. commandos, working with Afghan militias, tried to capitalize on air strikes and track down their prey."

On or about Dec. 16, 2001, bin Laden and bodyguards "walked unmolested out of Tora Bora and disappeared into Pakistan's unregulated tribal area," where he is still believed to be based."

And we're still fumbling around in Afghanistan, under an incompetent Commander-in-Chief. The best military units on earth, virtually leaderless, under the constant threat of Courts Martial for insulting, scaring and/or injuring the enemy.

Thank you, President Bush, for mucking up what should have been a quick attack and capture and turning it into another forever war.

War is, indeed, the health of the state.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Health Care, Even If It Kills

The one thing He-Who Shall-Not-Be-Named has promised that he intends to fulfill (even if it costs him reelection) is health care. He intends to fulfill it even if it trashes all his other campaign promises. You know, the promise not to raise taxes on the poor, to improve on GWB's economy, etc.

He wants a health care bill passed even if it costs the consumer more than the current system, if the health care deteriorates, if medical innovation becomes impossible, if care of the aged becomes a death gulag, if physicians and other health care workers resign their careers and even if doctors become witch doctors with their bleeding lancets, leeches and multi-colored rattles and feather headdresses.

It no longer matters what's in the health care bill, as long as it is big, thick and says Health Care on the cover page. It no longer matters whether or not it bankrupts the country or that it kills more than it saves. It has to be passed.

It's becoming clear that up to 20% of physicians will quit or retire if this bill passes. Some already have done so because of the heavy government and insurance regulations and reporting requirements mandated in recent times. Imagine how that will increase as government takes over the whole of the medical industry!

Prepare for a massive black market, in which real care and medicines will only available by word of mouth and with hard cash on the barrel head.

We have to do something--anything--even if it's wrong!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The World's most Pussified Army

First, I was angered that a deranged religious fanatic would charge into a crowded group of soldiers and their families and open up with an automatic rifle. I remember that the first question I asked to myself as I watched the reportage on tv was, "What religion is he?" already pretty sure I knew the answer.

Well, I was right. He was both an insane islamic fundamentalist and an Army shrinkologist; a combination that should be watched very carefully. The only reason the Army needs shrinkologists is that the politicians keep involving our military in parts of the world and for reasons not only unnecessary, but unConstitutional and wasteful, and the soldiers know this and know that they are being used merely to further the interests of political agendae.

Most of the news media, in tune with, and under the orders of the Obama Administration, completely avioded and continues to avoid any mention of the murderer's religion, in line with the Administration's guidelines designed to appease Middle Eastern savage despots, dictators Obama apparently admires.

Ok. After realizing all of this, it gave me time to make an observation that many others also noticed. On an Army base, with presumably several thousand soldiers on board of many different ranks and specialties, no one in the area was armed. No one.

Well, this is the part I find embarrassing. Not only are Americans effectively legally disarmed throughout most of the country, but so are those individuals whose task it is to defend the nation from invasion and to protect the rights of individuals. Not only are the orders from the top circumventing those tasks, but they're placing these men and women in danger for reasons linked more closely to the personal desires of self-serving politicians than to their Constitutional purposes.

Note that the Israeli and Swiss militaries allow--indeed require--soldiers to be armed on and off duty. Unlike deputy Barney Fife, the even get more than one bullet!

To prosecute its Constitutional mandate, the military doesn't really have to be very large. A very small regular military to maintain the toys and keep the brass polished, and a good reserve militia system in each state, to be called upon in case of invasion.

But, they should be armed....as should we all, those of us who actually have values we'd like to see protected.

Evil and stupid state and federal administrations for many decades have been trying to convert American men and women into a vast herd of sheep, easily led and regularly shorn. Is that what we have to look forward to?

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

A Well Lived, Happy and Eventful Life

Yesterday, I finally gathered together a small sum of cash I'd been wanting to use for the purpose of buying some common silver coins, for use in the event of disaster to make purchases on the black market. I'm convinced that this will become an issue, maybe soon. I've been making these small purchases, as I can, for many years. If such a disaster never happens, I'll have a coin collection to sell to augment my retirement, should I ever decide to do so.

The gentleman 'bout whom I write will not. He'll die on the job, having lived a happy, healthy life.

I walked into his store in the early afternoon. It's a little hole-in-the-wall just off a major boulevard, almost unnoticeable among the sidewalk cafes and trendy shops. COINS & STAMPS, it says on the window. I stepped inside; there was no one there--just glass cases full of silver dollars, half dollars etc, and a wall covered with envelopes full of stamps.

An elderly man stepped out from the back room with a smile and a "Can I help you?" I told him I was looking for circulated, common date silver--probably half dollars. He directed me toward a case filled with various styles of halves--Franklin, Liberty Walking and Barber. I presume he had some Liberty Seated halves in the safe, but they're out of my price range and too valuable to use as cash.

After a few minutes looking at various coins and package deals, we settled on a package and a price.

I offered him my debit card, but he says he doesn't accept cards or checks; just cash. Well, fortunately I had enough cash to make the transaction. "I like to keep things simple," he said. I told him, "That's fine, I'll make sure I have cash with me in the future, as well."

By way of explaining his preference for cash, he started talking about his youth in Boston. In high school, he got a job in a coin and stamp store and began saving a little money. This was in the middle years of the Great Depression. He started putting a little money away just in case.

His parents were secure in their careers and he continued living at home even after he graduated high school . They wanted him to go to college, but he kept putting it off.

He rented a little storefront downtown for $20 a month and set up a coin and stamp store, not long after graduation.

He told me he would close the shop and go down the street to a deli for lunch each day, then go across the street to a Cadillac dealer and look at a particular black LaSalle coupe he liked. It was priced at $997. A 60 Series Cadillac's prices started at $1200. The salesman started referring to him as the "Lookie Lou." He studied that car every day for a long time. One day the salesman addressed him as "Lookie Lou" and asked him why he kept looking at the car.

"I'm going to buy it." "When?" "Now." "How are you going to pay for it?" the salesman chuckled.

"I'll write a check. You can call the ****** Bank and talk to Mr. ******."

Fact was, the young man-had, by that time, well over a thousand dollars saved up. He bought the car.

He was drafted into the Army in the early part of WWII. Because of his high scores in the tests, and his performance during basic training, he was kept on as a drill instructor. He attained the rating of Staff Sergeant. He was sent over to Europe in time to participate in the D-Day attack, where 17 of the 40 men in his platoon were killed or wounded.

After the war, he reopened his coin and stamp shop, married a lady who had been an Army nurse over there. They moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950's, where he opened another coin & stamp shop in downtown LA, then to where he is now. He worked alone in his shop every day except Sunday and Monday, though now he only opens for afternoons.

He'll be 90 this spring, and says he'll keep the shop open as long as he's able. He loves his work, and says it's what helps keep him healthy.

One of the neat things about my two-plus hour visit with him: No paperwork. I handed him the cash, he handed me the coins, and we shook hands. The way it's supposed to be.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

Texting vs Spelling

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

I find texting suspect in its value anyway because all it's good for is "passing notes in class" and for causing auto collisions. Seems like a regular phone call would suffice--after safely parking the car, or finding a private corner in which to make the call.

In business, as well as in polite society, an inability to spell properly and use proper grammar brands an individual as semi-literate at best, and as a Victim of Government schools at worst, or just plain stupid.

Dumbing down the herd.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

The First Time I Ever Read Anything On the Daily Kos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A tip of the old battered fedora to Moxie Cathedra.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

C'mon! Let's Be Real!

I'm hearing all the standard moaning and groaning about the death of Ted Kennedy, and the recriminations against those who point out the many dangerous, irresponsible and downright evil things he's done. Don't speak ill of the dead.

I'm not going to attempt to list all the nasty and damaging things done by this man in life; it would make this entry unreadable in its sheer length. Nor will I attempt to list the relatively few good things in his legacy.

I'll rather address the fact that his admirers and partisans, deluded as they may be, are trying to suppress mention and comment on the man's many failings. Leaving aside the drunkenness and the philandering; the reckless partying that led to (at least) one death, he has been a parasite 'pon all those of us who actually work productively, and has diminished us all throughout his life.

As a Senator from one of the most politically corrupt states in the country, he has worked tirelessly for decades to separate earnings from those who work productively. Simultaneously, he has tried to leave no means unutilized to harass and shackle those who would be productive and innovative.

If there has ever been a tax hike Kennedy has opposed, I've never heard of it. If Kennedy has ever stood up against the excesses of a teachers' union or an industrial union, it has slipped right past me. If Kennedy has ever stood up for the rights of the individual, it's never been recorded.

That I've been able to find.

Kennedy, like all socialists, was an expert at piling individuals into groups, and pitting each group against the others for his own aggrandizement.

But if Ted Kennedy's death ends his personal tapping of the country's wealth, even that will help. Sadly, he will soon be replaced by another just like him, and a once-free country will continue to sink into the dark hole that is national socialism.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California

My One Day At Court

Several days ago, I was required to go to the Superior Court of the City of Los Angeles, possibly to sit on a jury. I've had jury duty before, and only once was I selected to be a juror. The case ended up being decided by means of a misstatement by the plaintiff, which proved the defendant innocent.

This time, I listened once again to the lengthy and repetitive blather about not allowing anything not heard in the courtroom influence me, and not speaking to anyone once placed on a case. Interesting how government drones are so certain that all of us are stupid. It must be caused by their view of their fellow drones.

At length, I was part of a panel chosen for a trial. I was #27 in a panel of thirty-six.

The prosecutor looked like a 60-year-old Telly Savalas. His assistant looked like a not-too-pretty 30-year-old Jewish girl. The defense attorney was an ever-so-typical Jewish-looking 40-year old who had a balding patch where his yarmulke would normally go. The judge was a 55-ish white guy who, though he seemed affable enough, gave no clues as to his degree of fairness or of intelligence.

The one standout in the little drama was the defendant. He was a black man, about 40 or so, about 6' 3", fit and slender, handsome but tough looking. He was wearing a black pin-stripe suit a bit out of style. He sat stoically at the defense table and said nothing; showed nothing.

As the attorneys detailed the charge and what each intended to say in court, I became more and more disturbed. The defendant was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, and mentioned that the defendant had $44 in his pocket. I'm not sure of the relevance of the money.

The judge questioned the first 24 prospective jurors about their prejudices and their experiences vis a vis the police, crime and the law. The defense attorney asked about their opinions on race and whether the defendant would have to testify. There was more, but to me it was all irrelevant.

The man was not alleged to have harmed anyone. If he did what they said, he merely possessed a commodity, and was attempting to sell the goods at a profit. In reason, there is no way that can be a crime. The truth is, for those of us who are aware that there really was history prior to our own birth, that anti-drug laws were originally imposed to control black people.

They dismissed a few of the first 24 candidates, and chose a jury from the rest, not including those of us numbered 25 through 36.

I find myself wondering, had I been picked for the jury, how things would've shook out when I refused to convict based on the unjustness of the law.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,
Col. Hogan

Adventures In The Mediterranean

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

Once in the seas south of Mallorca, we had to make a transfer of some people and supplies from one carrier--my ship, the USS Saratoga to another--the USS FD Roosevelt.

Turns out, the swells were about 20 feet--which the aircraft carriers didn't even notice, but the utility boats did.

I had the bow line, I was standing 'pon the foredeck ready to tie up as we approached the Roosevelt, and as we made our approach, a massive swell kicked the boat up and toward the side of the Roosevelt. The swell ebbed suddenly, leaving me about ten feet in the air, just holding onto that line for dear life!

The next swell brought the boat back up, violently (as far as my body was concerned). The boat surged upward as I fell downward, with painful results. I landed hard on the foredeck and managed to hang on. I got up and tied the line off and got back into the hold before the next big swell, which banged the boat into the side of Roosevelt. It knocked everyone off his feet but the Bosun, who was hanging on to the wheel. I still remember the bruises and muscle strains from that bit of acrobatics!

Ah, for the good ol' days!

The positive part of the story was liberty in Palma the next day. What a town!

From the Adventures of a wandering boy.

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California