Virtual Mirage

Will the Chinese Trump the US Intel Initiative?

2012-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

Facebook is saving the USGOV a lot of money, and that's a good thing. The news that Congress has voted to continue funding it is perhaps the only thing that Congress can put in their "plus" column in otherwise dismal performance. The "Twitter Initiative" is an example of a failure and one can't help but wonder whether or not it will continue to exist.

"400 billion tweets and not one bit of useful information."

However the danger of the new Chinese network WANBEE can't be overstated. (link here) and then check out what Facebook users are saying about it here: https://www.facebook.com/wanbeeorg

Will the Worker's Paradise be able to lure people worldwide away from the American program after so much effort has been put into it?

The Chinese do have one ringing endorsement:

The Chinese don't seem to be as subtle as the Americans. Submit your secret here and only time will tell whether or not they manage to pull ahead in the world of spy vs spy.

In Gov We Trust

2012-01-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

The State of the Union Address would have been boring to watch if it hadn't been so infuriatingly empty of meaning and divisive; while all the time attempting to sound profound to people with limited insight and education.

The President said that he'd try an accelerate his agenda (in the next four years, if elected). What is that agenda, how does it play out, and who will pay for it?

Are you better off now than you were four years ago? If you are, you're likely the recipient of some form of government largess. That's not what built the country. However with 50% of the nation not paying any income taxes, the strident cry to tax those who do pay - at a higher rate, rings true to many Americans who want to keep their protected status.

Obama is an unabashed socialist who feels that all justice is reposed in the government. He's a product of the corrupt Chicago political machine where every spare dime ends up in a political pocket. And he wants four more (dismal) years in office for he and his cronies.

American Politics

2012-01-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

Newt or Mitt? That's what it's come down to. Who do you want to replace Barack Obama as President of the United States and Leader of the Free world?

Or would you prefer to sit on the sidelines and allow the Prince of Fools another four years in the White House?

That's the choice.

The simple fact that Americans voted for Obama in the first place brings their national character into doubt because the guy wasn't qualified, he had a questionable past that is still nowhere near transparent and he drug a hodgepodge of disaffected Black Panthers, socialist reformers, political hacks (that could double as circus freaks) and (near) criminal hucksters from the Chicago political machine, into the White House with him.

Newt has even more baggage than Mitt, but both are RINOs. Is it better to have a RINO or to have Obama in the White House?

How do you deal with addiction?

2012-01-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

Addicts can't stop on their own. That's the definition of addiction. It's not manageable in any real sense of the word. It applies to people (and institutions) who have lost the ability to put the brakes on the use of illegal narcotics, drugs, food, gambling, sex -- and to the government's inability to stop borrowing and spending.

h/t Dale

There's something intoxicating about somebody else's money. Ask any thief. There's something intoxicating about a fire. Ask any arsonist. It's a sickness and an addiction.

At the end of 2011, America, like much of the rest of the Western world, has dug deeper into a cocoon of denial. Tens of millions of Americans remain unaware that this nation is broke — broker than any nation has ever been. A few days before Christmas, we sailed across the psychological Rubicon and joined the club of nations whose government debt now exceeds their total GDP. It barely raised a murmur — and those who took the trouble to address the issue noted complacently that our 100 percent debt-to-GDP ratio is a mere two-thirds of Greece’s. That’s true, but at a certain point per capita comparisons are less relevant than the sheer hard dollar sums: Greece owes a few rinky-dink billions; America owes more money than anyone has ever owed anybody ever.

50% of this country works hard and produces. The other 50% are what Ayn Rand called "looters"-- these are people who basically believe the idea that their “economic self-interest” means voting yourself a share of your neighbor’s earnings. The easiest way to reference this is the "Occupy Wall Street" mentality.

Not only does the left "aim low", their fundamental economic assumption is that the only way to get wealth is to steal it from someone else because they cannot imagine how to create it. The looter simply cannot imagine running out of other peoples' money. For them, "hope and change" means finding newer, more improved ways of stealing it.

So, how do you deal with addiction?

New Years Eve Reprise

2012-01-02T20:14:00.001-08:00

The Holidays have passed, but this is your retrospective:

Tough Christmas for the Cartels

2011-12-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

The Sinaloa Federation has had a rough Christmas Season so far, and their 'luck' seems to have deserted them. The Mexican drug cartels take December off and usually go back to their wicked ways after the first week of January. This year has been no different. But while crime has taken a holiday, and while you've been enjoying your Christmas Season, oblivious to the 'war next door', they have been punched again and again thanks to a partnership between the Mexican Government and their allies in the United States.

Cartel Security Chief - Filipe Cabrera Sarabia (El Inge/The Engineer) was arrested in Sinaloa on Friday (almost a week ago). (link)

Cartel European Operations Chief - Luis Rodriguez Olivera was arrested in Mexico yesterday as he tried to board a commercial flight to Paris. (link)

Cartel Weapons Chief - Nicolas Balcazar Lopez (El Bronco) was arrested in Guadalajara a little over a week ago, but strangely, he was subsequently released.

Christmas in Mexico this year has a different spin on it.

Merry Christmas, Drug Cartels...

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

Peace on Earth

The season conjures up memories of holidays past, of the present, and hopes of future joy with family and friends. Irrespective of your faith or system of religion (or lack thereof), the concept of a time when peace is celebrated and family values are practiced is something to be sought after.

It has nothing to do with spending money in packed shopping malls and everything to do with what is important. Not everything that counts can be counted - not everything that can be counted, counts. There is a higher standard of living and it has to do with sharing love and fellowship. At Christmas, we seem to put aside some of the pettyness of routine life (I said some, not all) as people and to think about those who matter to us in our lives. At least that is the ideal. I hope that you all have an ideal Christmas.

Good will to everyone, everywhere.

However, for those of you who are not Christians...and on the lighter side...

It's all about choice

2011-12-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

In a difficult world where situations can call for an aggressive defense, you need to find something that works for you.

This is my official endorsement for the Heckler and Kock MP7A1. I carried the H & K G-36 Commando and my unit was the first in the United States to be so equipped. I thought that it was an exceptionally fine weapon until the MP7A1 was introduced. There are still situations where the G-36 has advantages, but for a personal defense weapon, it's going to be a long time before somebody tops the MP7. It's clearly superior to the much-loved MP5-K.

The MP7 essentially operates like a scaled-down rifle with the same short stroke piston style action as the G-36. It fires a specially designed, armor-piercing round with a muzzle velocity nearly as high as that of the 5.56x45 mm NATO cartridge used by many modern rifles. This ammunition is unique among submachine guns in that the bullet is made almost entirely of a hardened steel penetrator instead of softer copper or lead designed to defeat body armor. The ammunition is virtually exclusive to the gun. VBR of Belgium produces a 4.6x30mm 2-part controlled fragmenting projectile that is claimed to increase the content of the permanent wound cavity and double the chance to hit a vital organ.

The weapon allows a conventional 20-round, 30-round, or 40-round box magazine to be fit within the pistol grip (the 20-round magazine being comparable in size to a 15-round 9mm magazine, while the 40-round magazine compares to a 30-round 9 mm magazine). The weapon features an ambidextrous fire-select lever and rear cocking grip. It has an extendable stock and a folding front grip; it can be fired either one-handed or two-handed.

It can also be fitted with a silencer for situations where you don't want to announce your presence.

PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIREPOWER

Mexican Politics Today

2011-12-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

In China, politics has been described as two chameleons having sexual intercourse.

Mexico is a little different. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had thrown his hat into the ring to represent the Democratic Revolution Party (Mexican Communist Party) for the presidential contest once again. Six years ago he almost won.

However, the smart money is with Enrique Pena Nieto, undeclared winner of the sifting contest held by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The Last two presidents [Fox and the presently seated Calderon are from the National Action Party (PAN)], which is not expected to do well since their last two winners are not particularly popular, having lead the nation into a bloodbath-style narco-war.

Can I share snarky short hand on the two leading candidates?

Andres Lopez Obrador wants to take from the rich and give to the poor. Not a bad way to earn votes (see USA - Barack H. Obama). But he won't win any friends among the business, and middle classes, who he wants to loot to pay the peyones.

Enrique Pena Nieto wants to stop the war with the narcos. Cynics will say that he wants to go back to the old days when the Army decided who moved drugs when and where and they franchised out the business. With the Army (SEDENA) picking winners and losers, the narco-war might end. So say the Pena Nieto supporters. There is only one flaw with that way of thinking. SEDENA already picks winners and losers and the war drags on with more and more casualties. Informed insiders put the death toll of President Calderon's administration at somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 organized crime murders. Mexico cheats on the statistics to try and keep those tourism dollars flowing south and to keep their supporters voting for the PAN party...

The narcos seem to be lining up behind Enrique Pena Nieto, and in a nation where well over a third of all business loans are financed by drug cartels*, voters may consider their pocket books.

Meanwhile, in the United States, nobody seems to take the narco-war over the fence on the other side of the border very seriously. However, we are still spending trillions on war and foreign aid in the Middle East and the Asian Subcontinent. If anyone can tell me why, and you can make sense, please respond below.

LAST YEAR - The US sold firearms to drug cartels without making an effort to track them.

LAST WEEK - The United States proposed an unmanned border crossing between the US and Mexico four days ago. (Fox News Link). I only have one question - Why? It makes no sense to me, however, the US National Park Service wants this. Read for yourself.

And if my postulate above comes to pass and the organized crime/drug mafia approved candidate comes to office in Mexico, what does that say to people living in the US about the people on the other side of the border. Or, in the end, does it even matter?

Graphic courtesy WoFat

*Statistic courtesy - Mexico Operations Group (MOG)

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

2011-12-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

The Obama Administration, frustrated by the lack of any substantial evidence that legitimate American firearms dealers were selling guns to drug cartels came up with an ingenious plan. They'd do it themselves through the gun dealers, and then use the statistics to deprive Americans of their Constitutional right to own firearms (Second Amendment guarantee). However, trusting a law enforcement agency to engage in a clandestine political activity and not botch the job completely has never been a very good idea.

"But ultimately the Obama administration still faces a bigger problem. Can they ever come up with any remotely plausible explanation for why anyone would have started a program to push untraceable guns into Mexico? The longer it takes to provide an explanation, the more plausible the conspiracy theorists sound that this was all done for politics."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/09/fast-and-furious-scandal-cries-out-for-answers/#ixzz1g7diPlG8

Law Enforcement is not able to toss the cloak of "national security" over an operation like Gunrunner/Fast and Furious. Particularly when they don't even attempt to track the weapons that they sold to Mexican drug cartels.

The "Fast & Furious" scandal is getting messier and messier. New e-mails finally released late this past Friday reveal that the Department of Justice personal viewed the then-secret operation as a way to push for more gun control laws. Read more at American Perspective.

And I can't help but think that this gross attempt to deprive Americans of their Constitutional Rights is one of those things that the US Justice Department was designed to prosecute. The problem is that it's that very Justice Department who promoted this practice. What then is the remedy. Who prosecutes the US Justice Department? Congress is not really set up to do that. They can Impeach but they're not prosecutors. We could call for a removal from office, but it would be that very same Obama Administration who replaced the wrong doers with other operatives from its ranks of Democratic Party Faithful.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

(Who watches the guards?)

It's useful at this point to review the Mexican Organized Crime Groups that are operating in Mexico today because you can't tell the players without a program.

    Sinaloa Federation  Cartel 
       Los  Zetas 
Arellano  Felix Organization (Tijuana  Cartel )
Carrillo  Fuentes Organization  (Ciudad  Juarez Cartel )
       La  Familia  Michoacana , officially destroyed this summer, because they changed their name to Los Cabelleros Templario (The Knights Templar). So were they destroyed by the Mexican Government or did they just call themselves something different in order for MEXGOV to claim a victory in their war against drug cartels?
       La  Mano con  Ojos  (The  Hand  with  Eyes) 
       South  Pacific  Cartel (Beltran Leyva Cartel)
Milenio Cartel (also known as the Valencia Cartel or the New Colima Cartel
       La  Nueva  Administracion  (The  New  Administration Cartel, operating principally in Mexico City) 
       El  Cartel  Independiente de  Acapulco  (CIDA)  (The  Independent  Cartel  from  Acapulco)
       El  Cartel  de  Jalisco  Nueva  Generacion 
El Cartel de Colima Nueva Generacion
La  Resistencia
Gulf Cartel
Norte del Valle de Colombia (Yes it's a Colombian Cartel, but they have a presence in Mexico
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (FARC) - Colombian Marxist revolutionaries who are not strictly operating in Mexico and across the US Border, but they have a close working relationship with Mexican Organized Crime so I added them gratuitously to the list.

If I missed your favorite cartel, please forgive me. They do tend to pop up regularly under new organization.

Now, this is my question to you, dear readers. Which of these drug cartels should the US Justice Department sell firearms to without tracking them and call it a "secret law enforcement operation"? Should we be a respecter of cartels, or should we sell to them all out of a sense of fairness? AND if the shoe was on the other foot and Mexican Drug Cartels sold automatic weapons, purchased from China and the Middle East to American drug gangs, should we protest (because they do)?

This mess is brought to you by the US Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Attorney General - and his boss, President Barack Hussein Obama.

Welcome to the ObamaNation...

An Encounter in Iraq

2011-12-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

A Marine squad was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist who was badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road an American Marine lay on the ground in a similar but less serious state.

The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened.

The Marine reported:

"I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road.

"I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein was a miserable, lowlife scum bag who got what he deserved.

"And he yelled back that Barack Obama is a lying, good-for-nothing, left wing Commie who isn't even an American.

"So I said that Osama Bin Laden dresses and acts like a frigid, mean-spirited lesbian!

"He retaliated by yelling, 'Oh yeah? Well, so does Nancy Pelosi!'

"And, there we were, in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us."

###

The War Next Door

2011-12-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's an interesting war really. And somewhat unique since there are occasions when prisoners are released from a prison, go forth, commit massacres and then they go back into custody that night. Check out this link from PBS.

As the reporter in the PBS piece reports, it's not unusual for one political hopeful who is doing badly in the polls to hire a narco-assassin to murder his more successful opponent. Welcome to modern Mexico. I haven't read the book being touted by PBS - El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency. However, I sort of live that every day so I'm sure that I'd end up finding fault here and there. Part of the problem with the whole examination of Mexican drug cartels is a general ignorance on the part of Americans (even most in law enforcement circles) as to how they really work.

There was a time when 220 lbs (100 kg) of cocaine sounded like a lot to me. Today, a ton of cocaine (standard or metric ton, doesn't matter) doesn't even cause me to raise an eyebrow. Am I becoming a cynic?

I hear people asking, "what is the United States doing" about the war across the border. The official death toll is 45,000 - and the real numbers according to people who live the war are likely exceeding 150,000. To get an official answer, you'd have to go to somebody like Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. However, she doesn't have a clue. And US Attorney General Eric Holder would lie to you in much the same way as he lies to Congress regarding his roll in Operation Gunrunner (Democratic Party effort to impose gun control on the innocent firearms owners in the US by manufacturing false statistics through facilitating the transfer of thousands of firearms to the Sinaloa Federation in the hope that they'd use them in the US against citizens, therefore creating a hue and cry against US gun stores).

It's the War Next Door.

Cool Cars

2011-12-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

I happen to like cars. And BMW has become my favorite brand of driving car simply because I am a BMW owner and love that manufacturer. It doesn't mean that I am talking down other brands. I simply prefer BMW.

The new I-8 (CHECK IT OUT HERE) is something that I'm looking at to replace my 2011 535(M). You might imagine that I don't fit in well with the 'occupy wall street' crowd. I don't feel the slightest bit of shame driving a cool car.

Unfortunately, this is a concept car. The actual production model is due out in 2014. It's an electric car with an engine to keep the battery charged. Sadly, environmentally correct cars aren't cheap. This one picks the pocket to the tune of around a quarter of a million dollars. So maybe, I'll have to satisfy myself with a 'regular car' until I have the cash to throw down.

All the same, the new I-8 is a very cool car.

BUT - no, it doesn't mean that I'll give up my 4x4. It's not a sin to have single-purpose autos.

Bloody Blogging in Mexico

2011-11-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

As some of you know who follow the rantings on this blog know, I try to keep touch with what's going on in Latin America. It's a hobby with me.

Yesterday while I was slumming in Northern Mexico, I learned that apparently Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion is targeting bloggers who bad-mouth drug cartels. I immediately felt somewhat slighted because I've been bad-mouthing the bastards for a long time with no repercussions. That leads me to believe that I haven't been bad-mouthing them enough. (check this out) And the subliminal message is that I'm a looser.

CBS News carried this story (LINK) where 26 men were shot in the head and dismembered a day or two ago in Guadalajara. I know, it's not real news because another 26 or 260 people dismembered, beheaded or hanging from an over pass with piano wire is sort of 'life in the fast lane' in Bloody Mexico these days.

The CBS News piece (cited above) suggests that this is the result of a gang war between Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Federation, or perhaps La Resistencia (a joint cartel effort dedicated to resisting Los Zetas that has some interesting dynamics attached to it). I suspect that it's a turf war within the Sinaloa Federation and that the 26 dismembered bodies (I could show photos here, but good taste forbids it) simply sent a message. So I differ from the locals in Guadalajara who harbor an opinion other than mine.

But one thing that I know (not for sure) is that the 26 dismembered corpses were not bloggers, because some of them had their hands remaining on their arms. And when the cartel murders a blogger, they always cut off his or her hands -- to send a message.

If you want a nice vacation, go to Mexico, it's the antidote for civilization. (LINK) You can do everything on your Mexican vacation or you could end up doing absolutely nothing...

The Sin of Ingratitude

2011-11-24T02:27:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of faults, but I hope that ingratitude is not among the list.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I feel more profoundly moved toward being grateful for the bounty that I have enjoyed in my life. Reflecting back to my youth on the things that I had hoped to do both professionally and personally, I managed to do them all. It's not small thing when you consider both my ego and ambitious nature. Less that be considered boastful, let me assure you that it's a matter of thankfulness that I have had the circumstances presented to me where I could do those things.

One of the nice things about being in middle age is the presence of grandchildren in my life. It's a reward for raising children with the sort of values that they themselves would want to bring their own children into the world and raise them up to honorable adulthood.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that what I have had as an American, and as a man has come easily. The shouters and marchers who crowd some urban centers even today on Thanksgiving are demanding a free ride through life. Freedom isn't free, and neither is bread.

In order to keep from drowning, the US Navy taught me techniques called "drown-proofing". Going through this ordeal wasn't easy, but I learned how NOT to drown. And I'm thankful for those hard times that helped to make me hard. The movement for 'free everything' doesn't understand that whatever you do to earn freedom involves some sort of pain. And while I didn't want the pain at the time, I'm even thankful for that. (though endless flutter kicks in training conjure up a really painful memory)

I'm thankful for my country and for what it usually stands for, though there have been times in my life where I looked at the flat - or at some of the people voted into positions of great responsibility, and felt ashamed. For the most part, my nation has stood for the right things, and has encouraged people to work and earn so that they could have the dignity of earning what they ate. There is a dignity that is imparted by work. I'm thankful that I was healthy enough to work and to earn compensation for my labor.

I'm grateful for love, having loved and having been loved. Some people don't know that they are loved. A lot of those people are well compensated actors and reality show participants, who can be seen wallowing in their sorrows on television every single day. I don't fit into that category, and I'm thankful for it.

I'm fortunate enough to have friends. Not a lot, but enough, and people that I care about and who in turn care about me. A couple of days ago an acquaintance asked me about a friend of mine, who was part of the Somalia disaster that inspired the feature film Blackhawk Down. He was shot three times on the streets of Mogadishu while he served his country, and survived to fight another day. I explained, "He's my friend because he'd take my back. And if somebody hit me in the back, I'd know that he was laying dead behind me." That is my definition of friendship. The friendship I give and that which I demand. It's a litmus test for commitment demanded of true friends. A man with friends like that can't help but be humbled by the honor they do by offering that sort of friendship.

Happy Thanksgiving - It's our right as Americans to eat too much, watch football on TV and spend some time with family and friends.

###

Bloody Mexico - and Central America

2011-11-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot of buzz about the Mexican drug cartels moving into Central America. It's not news because they've been there for a long time. What is newer (though not exactly new) is the trend for Mexican narcos to buy estates/ranches/estancias in Central American countries to avoid the narco-politics and hassles in Mexico.

And while a vacation in Bloody Mexico is clearly 'the antidote for civilization', you can rub shoulders with a lot of famous and not-so-famous drug kingpins when you visit Central America. But usually they're on vacation too posing as 'industrialists'. That means that 'you' may not get your first choice in seating at the best restaurants, but you can dine with confidence because the bodyguards will shoot first and ask questions later if some 'suspicious outsider' tries to worm their way into the restaurant where you are seated. You see a lot of age disparity both with vacationers and narcos when you visit hotspots in Central America.

"Guatemalan President-elect Otto Perez Molina told Mexican newspaper El Universal on Nov. 9 that he plans to engage drug cartels in a “full frontal assault” when he takes office in 2012. The former general said he will use Guatemala’s elite military forces, known as Los Kaibiles, to take on the drug cartels in a strategy similar to that of the Mexican government; he has asked for U.S. assistance in this struggle."

Even the Central American governments are trying to cash in on the chase to apprehend narcos now. It makes sense when you think about it. The USGOV doles out cash and helicopters (used for joy rides mainly) and when groups like Los Kaibiles apprehend a narco, they expect a bribe to let him go. So it's really a win/win for nations such as Guatemala.

Do I sound like a cynic?

Why Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate in 2012

2011-11-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of political buzzzz in media circles as the mainstream media struggles to remove Herman Cain from the Republican gene pool. It simply wouldn't do for a half-black man to run against a black man for president. What would that do to affirmative action? What would that say about America? It is a liberal's worst nightmare. The mainstream media will keep pounding on Herman Cain - like an unwanted stepchild. (Palin scenario all over again) Herman is not ready to be president anyway, but the mainstream media isn't concerned with that - just as they weren't concerned about Obama's dismal lack of qualifications.

But this blog post is about Mitt Romney, not Herman Cain. And it's not about Rick Perry, who is trying to learn to debate and figure out what to say while he's running. Because there is a steep learning curve in the race to be president. You have to nail those talking points down. Rick didn't know that before he started out on this and he's ended up looking less than qualified. Newt Gingrich has surged in the polls because people have jumped ship on Perry and they saw Herman failing and didn't like Mitt enough to want to vote for him. But Newt won't be nominated for president by the Republican Party. You heard it here first... (maybe not first)

It comes down to the comparison between Romney and Obama, because that's who will be left standing next year when all of the shouting dies off and the race begins in earnest.

Romney (unlike Perry) has been running for president for the past several years and has a smooth machine in place. He's thought through the issues with his brain trust and they have a line to promote that doesn't take a firm stand anywhere. It makes political sense while infuriating groups like the Tea Party who want to see a conservative scrapper take on Obama and the establishment left. Unlike Cain, he's not black (not a threat to the establishment media's ability to define one candidate as opposed to another) and he's a genuine RINO. He's every bit as liberal as John McCain and looks more presidential than McCain. If that makes the American voting public seem shallow - recall that they put Barack Hussein Obama in the White House.

The average American mistrusts Obama at just about every possible level and Romney will appear to be that firm, steady, just slightly right of center candidate who gives them a comfortable alternative to the seated president.

There's not a lot to hate about Mitt Romney because he hasn't given America anything to hate about him, unless you simply hate Mormons in a generic way. And most people don't. Not anymore than they hate Black Liberation Theologists like Barack Obama.

Romney will appeal to voters by promising to bring a palatability to government and by removing the radical change-and-rearrange Obama socialist movement that flopped so badly. He will also offer home for an improved economy while Obama is running with double digit unemployment in place. In short, Romney will be the Republican Candidate because he's not making mistakes. He's been running for a long time and he knows what to do and what not to do in order to win. And Romney quite simply intends to win.

Meanwhile, Obama is trying to reinvent himself (yet again).

Where's there is a FARC, there's fire.

2011-11-14T00:59:00.000-08:00

I know that nobody in the lower 48 really cares that Alfonso Cano (true name: Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas), the leader of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) went to the hot place last week. Yes, Cano (pictured - left) died in a shoot-out on November 5th, after he was tracked down and killed. Really, he's not much more than another drug kingpin and he ended badly as they tend to do. Some in Colombia will assert that he was a freedom fighter. And that FARC, funded almost entirely by cocaine profits, is 'pure in its Marxism'. But personally, I fear that people who feel that way are 'using their own product' far too much. Cano had a lot of blood on his hands while living and now his clay rests in a government freezer in Bogota, waiting for final internment.

Today, FARC supplies selected Mexican drug cartels with cocaine product, which they move across the US Border to American consumers. When it becomes tough to move dope, they kidnap people. Trying to put a happy revolutionary face on FARC is impossible, but I'm shocked at the number of liberal Americans (mostly college professors) who try to.

Just FARCing around

2011-11-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

In my work in Mexico, I've recently become aware of how deeply the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo) is in bed with many of the Mexican Cartels. I don't know how involved they are with Los Zetas, but they seem to be joined at the hip with the Sinaloa Federation and The Caballeros Templario (formerly La Familia Michoacan, for those of you keeping track).

FARC is a Marxis-Lenninist guerrilla army, that was formed from the Colombian Communist Party. It is based in Colombia and it opposes US involvement in Colombia. FARC fields about 10,000 soldiers and roughly the same number of non-combatants who provide logistical support, intelligence and work as plainclothes militia in the barrios.

They (among others) are part of the coterie of actors who supply cocaine to the Mexican Narcotics Cartels. Some downplay FARC's involvement in the cocaine trade, but those doubters would be wrong. I'm not contending that the traditional Colombian Drug Cartels (not to be confused with their Mexican cousins) are out of the picture. I merely suggest to you that FARC and possibly Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), the other and smaller communist revolutionary army in Colombia, have more to do with supplying cocaine than I (and anyone I know) thought that they did.

However, Presidente Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) supports FARC, and we all know that Hugo and President Barack Hussein Obama are friends. So I don't know where it puts the USA in all of this intrigue. I don't have any information that the US Government is facilitating smuggling firearms to FARC in the way that they did to the Sinaloa Federation through Operation Fast and Furious (with ATF as the front man).

In Operation Castaway (LINK HERE), the US Government sold firearms to criminal gangs in Honduras through the ATF Tampa Field Division according to the Fox News Report. But they didn't sell to Colombians as far as anyone knows. Right?

President Obama and Presidente-for-Life Hugo Chavez (Venezuela)

Presidente-for-Life Chavez and Linda Panetta, daughter of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

Presidente-for-Life Chavez will hug anyone, but it seems almost sexual

when he's with Iranian strong man President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

I don't know for sure how close Chavez is to FARC. But HE provides them with weapons and ammo. (LINK TO CNN). It makes you wonder if Hugo buys his arms and ammo in the US these days, doesn't it?

Silk?

2011-11-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

What's up with Silk (besides being a self-assembling protein)?

I guess that it's not just for men's ties and women's scarves anymore.

Thanksgiving Day 2024

2011-10-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

This is not original with me, however, it's food for thought in the land of the ObamaNation.

"Winston, come into the dining room, it's time to eat," Julia yelled to her husband.

"In a minute, honey, it's a tied score," he answered.

Actually Winston wasn't very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington.

Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its "unseemly violence" and the "bad example it sets for the rest of the world", Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be.

Two-hand touch wasn't nearly as exciting. Yet it wasn't the game that Winston was uninterested in. It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey. Even though it was the best type of Veggie Meat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce, and mincemeat pie), it wasn't anything like real turkey.

And ever since the government officially changed the name of "Thanksgiving Day" to "A National Day of Atonement" in 2020, to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims' historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated CFL light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold.

Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats - which were monitored and controlled by the electric company - be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.

Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family.

Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of life-saving medical treatment.

He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort.

"The RHC's resources are limited", explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. "Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I'm sorry for your loss"

Ed couldn't make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2016 outlawed the use of the combustion engines - for everyone but government officials.

The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn't want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.

Thankfully, Winston's brother, John, and his wife were flying in.

Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added "inconvenience" was an "absolute necessity" in order to stay "one step ahead of the terrorists."

Winston's own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2020. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for "unequal scrutiny," even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. "A living Constitution is extremely flexible", said the Court's eldest member, Elena Kagan. "Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example", she added.

Winston's thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but finally got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism, or any of a number of other calamities were "just around the corner", but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility.

It didn't help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being.

Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13. The latest round of "quantitative easing" the federal government initiated was, once again, to "spur economic growth." This time, they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.

Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement.

At least, he had his memories.

He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life "fair for everyone" realized their full potential.

"Maybe we wouldn't be where we are today if we'd just said 'enough is enough' when we had the chance," he thought.

Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.

Do we live in the City of Brass?

2011-10-23T05:01:00.000-07:00

Tax the rich, feed the poor? 'till there are no rich no more?

..They said: “Who has hate in his soul? Who has envied his neighbour?

Let him arise and control both that man and his labour.”

They said: “Who is eaten by sloth? Whose unthrift has destroyed him?

He shall levy a tribute from all because none have employed him.”

They said: “Who hath toiled, who hath striven, and gathered possession?

Let him be spoiled. He hath given full proof of transgression.”

They said: “Who is irked by the Law? Though we may not remove it.

If he lend us his aid in this raid, we will set him above it!

So the robber did judgment again upon such as displeased him,

The slayer, too, boasted his slain, and the judges released him.

----Kipling, The City of Brass, written in 1909. Read the whole work at the link cited.

The Secret Plans

2011-10-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

It may be that I'm the only one who notices that every single presidential candidate running for office is "working on his plan for America's financial health"... except Herman Cain. The secret plans are getting a little old. When you announce that you want to be the leader of the free world, shouldn't you already have a plan?

Call me old fashioned if you will. (h/t Dale for the graphic, right)

The odious, coercive politics of 'pass the bill so you can see what's in it' is at the same time what we're seeing with the presidential field - none of whom want to come out with anything out of fear that it won't be popular.

America has seen Obama's plan and we know that it didn't work. By extension, we know that his new plans (more stimulus, more debt, more spending) won't work any better than his last one has. The hope and change fizzled and nobody in Europe is planning on pushing for another Nobel Prize or any other reward for Obama. He was acclaimed for the color of his (father's) skin. That's about as far as it's gone. Even though a black man can be president, we still have affirmative action and all of the welfare vestiges of Johnson's Great Society.

Secret Plan Example: We know that Obama and friends had a plan to institute tough gun control in America. They would sell guns from America secretly to narcotics mafia members in Mexico and then have the Mexican Army seize them and demonstrate that there was a NEED for gun control. However, the secret plan didn't work.

What I don't want to see is a field of Republican presidential candidates who all have 'secret plans' for America's economic recovery. There is no need for a secret. TELL US and we'll make up our minds for ourselves.

Explaining to me that you are working on a plan that I'm sure to like is not enough! Suggesting that once you're in the White House, you're going to unveil your new plan -- is a secret plan.

One parting shot: I hate the idea of a national VAT (Cain's 9-9-9) and would rather see a flat income tax of somewhere around 18% for EVERYONE who earns money in America. No deductions for anything. However, I'm sure that a lot of you will take exception with my suggestion.

Breaking Bad (TV Series)

2011-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big TV series guy. However, I need to confess that lately, I've become a fan of Breaking Bad. The AMC television series recently completed its fourth season and I'm told by one of the law enforcement advisors who works with the show that there will be a fifth season with 16 episodes that may show over two years.

The law enforcement types who I'm friendly with have been urging me to watch this show and I resisted (see paragraph one). Until lately. I didn't want to watch at television show about people who cooked meth. However, friends prevailed on me. Utilizing my daughter's Netflix account, I went back to the beginning and when there was 'nothing on' in the evening, retreated to the den and watched past episodes on the computer. Now I'm hooked.

For those of you who didn't see the show, this is the plot (no big spoiler): Breaking Bad is set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies. However, he doesn't die. His cancer went into remission.

I don't know whether it's a dark comedy or a television drama. However there is a vast amount of 'reality' in the series. Watch a recap of the first two seasons below:

>>WARNING: SPOILER<<

As of the end of Season Four, "Walt" and "Jessie" are still not money ahead.

Four More Years?

2011-10-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

He could be a contender.

Really it's the Republican's ball to fumble, and they haven't been all that impressive so far. Yes, I know that people will vote against Obama. But, is that all that the conservatives have to say for themselves?

53% Movement

2011-10-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

47% of Americans pay no income taxes at all.

For the most part, those are the people that you see protesting that they want more free stuff from the government (which means, from the 53% who do pay income tax) fall into that 47% category. Should I be proud to be one of the people subsidizing the lives of those shiftless protesters who are camping out on Wall Street?

"The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners -- households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 -- paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government. "(LINK)

I'm thrilled to be in the category who paid 73% of the taxes. However the Obama plan to levy another 5% tax on me and my high-living crowd doesn't seem to be quite fair when roughly half of all Americans pay no income tax at all. The Democratic Administration feels that the 'rich' don't pay their fair share. 73% isn't a large enough percentage...

Anyone who works a regular job, 40 hours a week, will end up in the 53% category of people who pay at least some income taxes.

This means that the patrons of the Obama Administration are the chronically lazy.

The so-called 99% group that now are protesting aren't quite 99%.

Thoughts on the Grenade Walker Scandal

2011-10-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

How many thousand hand grenades?

Read more about the M-67 hand grenade HERE - and at FAS.

(CBS News - Sharyl Attkisson) Police say Jean Baptiste Kingery, a U.S. citizen, was a veritable grenade machine. He's accused of smuggling parts for as many as 2,000 grenades into Mexico for killer drug cartels -- sometimes under the direct watch of U.S. law enforcement.

This story continues to develop in all its permutations. And when you consider the implications of the United States of America's conduct in this ongoing scandal, it boggles the mind. The US Attorney's Inspector General's Office is investigating this. However since Cynthia Schnedar (photo right) is a close personal friend and political patron of Attorney General Eric Holder (READ MORE HERE), nobody believes that this is going anywhere except to the shredder.

It's interesting to see that DOJ's take on hand grenades 'walking' across the US/Mexico Border is that they are 'novelty items'. The BATFE and the DOJ took a wholly different view of these “novelty items” when they were in the possession of the Branch Davidians. When the Davidians had them, they were evidence of a conspiracy to build an unlawful arsenal of automatic weapons and explosive devices. (The Davidians had sold the inert grenades mounted on a wooden base with a numbered tag that said "Complaint Department – Please Take A Number" attached to the pin at gun shows for years.)

As an aside -- Let me get this straight. It's 'legal' to walk over 2,000 hand grenades from the US to Mexico, but it's illegal for the average citizen to carry a loaded handgun in California... (I'm simply asking for a reality check)

In addition to the hand grenades (MORE HERE), stand by for 'machine gun walker' and more breaking news as the scandal continues to unfold.

(NY Times) Meanwhile, Attorney General holder is prosecuting Mansor Atbabsiar (photo left) for plotting with the Los Zetas Drug cartel to kill the Saudi Ambassador, His Excellency Dr. Adel A. al-Jubeir. Based on the news reports, the Iranian Qods Force (a branch of the Republican Guard) wanted Atbabsiar to use a bomb to kill the ambassador while he ate lunch in a crowded restaurant, but WHAT IF, they'd have settled for the Los Zetas Cartel to have used hand grenades instead? Novelty items...

(on a lighter note) Could things get this crazy ->

The Mexican government had a high level cabinet meeting. The country was about to go bankrupt and couldn't seem to find its way out of the crisis. Actually this is the scenario with every Mexican Cabinet meeting - but hang with me on this.

After much arguing, Patricia Espinosa said: "I know how to save our country. We will declare war on the United States!"

Everyone was struck dumb for a moment and then started questioning the Secretary of State's sanity.

Jose Francisco Blake Mora, the Secretary of Gobernacion thought about it for a moment and nodded his head vigorously. "Patricia is correct! The Americans have traditionally helped their former foes after war. Despite long-drawn out war with Germany and Japan, the U.S. did so much, they were returned to world leader status in a few short years. So I propose we declare war, have a few skirmishes, then surrender and negotiate our way to greatness."

Everyone of the cabinet ministers liked the idea. Tequila shots were poured and everyone drank a toast to Patricia Espinosa for coming up with the best idea during the meeting. Everyone except General Guillermo Galvan, who had one of those depressed looks spread across his face that he's famous for.

"General, what is wrong, my friend?” President Calderon asked. “We will declare war on the United States, lose, and then have my good friend Barack Hussein Obama stimulate OUR economy and pay our way to greatness. How could you be so sad?"

The general lifted his big head from his hands and slowly, painfully asked, "But what happens if we win?"

###

When the Zombies Rise!

2011-10-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

My children have been asking me for quite some time, "What are you preparing for?"

My stock response is, "When the Zombies attack, I don't want to be caught with my pants down."

I don't know if my children simply trust what I say so much that they never questioned me, but apparently they ACTUALLY believed that I feared that the dead would rise (hungry for living flesh to consume) and would attack. This came up last weekend and I informed them that Zombies were a (politically correct) metaphor.

Living in California, one simply can't be too careful when it comes to preparation. There is a massive unprepared population that will panic if things start circling the drain and there's essentially nowhere to run.

There are two kinds of people trained/untrained. Best to be trained. You can be prepared or unprepared. Best to be prepared.

I'm not touting prudent measures to protect yourself and feed yourself. You need to do that yourself and if you're satisfied, maybe you're prepared and trained.

One thing is certain. If you live in a large city and order breaks down, you need food, water, shelter and a means of defense. If you live in a small city, people from a large city will be there soon (they may be Zombies).

My Advice: Walk softly, carry a big stick.

And if the undead rise from their graves, I'll say, "I told you so...I just joked about the metaphor."

The little dog is unprepared to deal with the inevitable.

###

How Cool is THIS?

2011-10-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been referred to at times as a 'techno nerd' because I love cool gadgets. Mia Culpa...

Nothing is immune from technical improvement, not even a stove top. (LINK)

When I was a kid, my grandparents had a coal stove at home. That's right, you had to put newspaper, then kindling, then small pieces of coal to get it hot enough to burn larger pieces of coal. So breakfast was an hour from when you started heating the stove. And once hot, the stove was hot for the day, making the warmer days...memorable. That explains why antebellum homes had the kitchen in a separate building. To take a bath, you put pans of water on the stove and then moved them to the tub. Not exactly space age technology.

With a coal stove, you control the heat by moving the pan around. It's a long way from "The William".

Gunrunner: Sinister Lies and Dark Motives

2011-10-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

Sinister lies and dark motives underpin the US Justice Department's OPERATION GUNRUNNER.

Why did the US Government (in effect) sell at least 2,000 firearms to the Sinaloa Federation Narcotics Cartel in Mexico? Why did they do the same thing in Honduras?

To find the answer, we need to look at what the government claimed - "90% of the firearms seized in Mexico came from US gun dealers." The Ninety Percent Lie. The truth of the matter is that, "Of the 100,000 weapons recovered by Mexican authorities, only 18,000 were determined to have been manufactured, sold, or imported from the United States, and of those 18,000, just 7,900 came from sales by licensed gun dealers."

Because the statistics claimed by the Obama Administration in 2009 were unsupportable by any genuine data, somebody, and we don't know precisely who, floated the idea that DOJ needed to let a lot of firearms move from US Dealers to the drug cartel(s). The operation, fronted by ATF, supported heavily by DEA and FBI needed to be funded and the Obama Administration deftly slid the funding into HR1 - The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009), also called "Stimulus 1".

‘For an additional amount for ‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’, $40,000,000, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner.’ (link above)

I do understand that few in Congress actually read the $800 billion bill before they signed it, but SOMEBODY in the Obama Administration understood what the money was for. They tried to obtain the funding for Operation Gunrunner before HR 1 in HR 495, but that never made it out committee. It must have seemed a lot easier to slip it into the "Stimulus".

There was a widespread effort on the part of the US Government to facilitate the shipment of firearms to Latin American countries (Operation Castaway to Honduras - Operation Gunrunner to Mexico) (LINK). Why?

It would seem that members of the US Government conspired to create the statistics that they presented to the public but were unsupportable for the purpose of facilitating enhanced gun control in the US.

There is really no other possible conclusion.

Obama's Pet Reporter - Brian Williams (NBC)

2011-10-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Brian Williams - one of the LEAST credible reporters in Washington DC

Whenever the President of the United States wants to talk to the camera under the guise of an interview, he calls NBC and Brian Williams trots over to let Barack Obama spin it anyway he wants - and by so doing, show his absolute contempt for real reporters and for the press in general.

Many people find the mainstream media's slavish devotion to the Obama Administration troubling, which is why FOX News leads in the polls. I personally gave up on such media icons as CBS Sixty Minutes because when it came to the Obama Administration, they have provided the Fourth Estate with a sheet of music and the media sang the song to the public.

One of the few exceptions to this absolute lack of credibility on the part of CBS has been the fair, forthright and courageous coverage that Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson has given to the Administration's unconscionable lies to allegations raised by the Congressional Investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. The Baltimore Sun ran THIS STORY.

David Surawik (Baltimore Sun) put it this way: The blowback from the White House and DOJ has been petty, nasty and has failed to responsibly address the serious charges Attkisson's reporting raises. This is exactly the White House contempt for the press that I wrote about shortly after Obama's inauguration. It's the White House I came to know when I criticized it for its war against Fox News in 2009... But here's the larger point that needs to be made: Team Obama is in full campaign mode, and because of their fundamental contempt for the press, that means they reward those who come on bended knee and they punish those who dare to question them. (emphasis is mine)

Team Obama, under the direction of David Plouffe, will try and find a way to punish CBS News for Attkisson's work, make no mistake about it. As I said two years ago, I have not seen a White House as vindictive in its dealings with the press since the one inhabited by Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. But CBS News isn't backing down so far.

What a shocking change by CBS - and maybe it's a return to the old days when the took they hard stories and did genuine reporting.

Meanwhile, don't wait for a real story to come from Brian Williams and NBC. Obama will write their scripts and the news drones will read them.

What About Obama's Transparency Standard?

2011-10-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

Obama on transparency in government:

The Obama White House has taken a different approach to the scandal involving the Operation Gunrunner/Operation Fast and Furious/Operation Castaway Scandal. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has constantly explained to the American people that the Obama Administration is withholding information from the Congressional inquiry, and Attorney General Eric Holder's statements under oath to Congress are nothing short of outright lies.

A growing list of congressmen are calling for Attorney General Eric Holder's resignation (The Daily Caller). Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said, "In Main Street America, you’d never get away with this,” Gosar said. “The people who’ve been responsible would’ve already been in jail. There is something wrong and there is something right. This crossed the threshold of what was wrong.”

“I think we need to find out all the facts because this is wrong,” Gosar said. “We’ve clearly gone astray. We broke into a hotel and burglarized in Watergate, and those people were held to criminal charges – and they went to jail. How do you define this to the [Border Patrol Agent Brian] Terry family?”

“If those guns hadn’t walked, if those guns had surveillance, if those guns had had tracings, they would’ve known exactly where they were and this wouldn’t have happened – or at least the chance of it would not have happened.”

In addition to obscurity on the totality of the role that Attorney General Holder played in the scandalous and irresponsible conduct that led to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's death, we are also left wondering about the totality of what the FBI and DEA did in connection with this matter. These agencies are changing their story as weeks pass just the way that Holder is trying to 'remake' his perjured testimony before Congress.

Charge Holder in State Court as an Accessory to Murder?

2011-10-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Can Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff be tried in state court for accessories to murder if they knowingly supply guns to felons (and members of Mexican drug mafias) who then use those firearms to murder law enforcement officials or American?

That's the question that people are now asking and the legal answer isn't clear. Holder, BATFE Agents, and DOJ facilitators are not immune from prosecution for willful acts that are crimes under state law. I'm sure that the Attorney General's Office (DOJ) wouldn't prosecute its chief executive. State courts could be another matter.

California Penal Code Sections 30-33 suggest that the US Attorney General could be vulnerable. No, I'm not suggesting that Eric Holder would ever be tried for a felony in the People's Republik of Kalifornia. However the California Penal Code is instructive since there's hardly any state in the union that is more liberal.

CPC 31 and 33
31. All persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether it be felony or misdemeanor, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, or, not being present, have advised and encouraged its commission, and all persons counseling, advising, or encouraging children under the age of fourteen years, or persons who are mentally incapacitated, to commit any crime, or who, by fraud, contrivance, or force, occasion the drunkenness of another for the purpose of causing him to commit any crime, or who, by threats, menaces, command, or coercion, compel another to commit any crime, are principals in any crime so committed.

33. Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed, an accessory is punishable by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Does furnishing firearms to a drug mafia with reckless abandon meet the standard? You be the judge because maybe you'll be the juror.

Sheriffs Want Truth About 'Fast and Furious': MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Perjury and Holder's Guns

2011-10-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Lying under oath may not be a crime for a politician. The natural defense is that when you lie for a living, telling a whopper is simply normal and natural.

However that defense strategy may make sense to Attorney General Eric Holder, it doesn't wash with anyone outside of the beltway.

Slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry died at the hands of Mexican Cartel members who wielded Holder's guns. So did a LOT of innocent Mexican citizens inside Mexico and who knows how many citizens inside of the United States?

It's the ultimate in hubris for the Attorney General of the United States to sit before Congress and LIE for the sake of his own skin and that of his boss, President Obama.

CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson (left) is one of the more courageous investigators in the news business these days. The lady is known for absolute integrity, huge moxie, and fearlessness. The Weekly Standard reported that CBS may be attempting to muzzle her and put a spike in her efforts to expose the criminal enterprise of Holder/Obama. (READ MORE HERE). However, Attkisson reported on Twitter yesterday: @SharylAttkisson Don't worry! Nobody is being silenced.

The news media asks questions
and the White House responds with hubris and smugness.

Listen to the White House spin below:

I'm gratified that Congress and the news media is asking the right questions.

Let's review Holder's testimony one more time (below).

What do YOU think? Did Holder lie to Congress?

Operation Fast and Furious Damage Control

2011-10-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

How much damage control at the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is enough to distance the now disgraced Operation Fast and Furious/Gunrunner program from President Obama and attorney general Holder personally? There were 'reassignments' and the acting director is connecting paperclips, pulling full pay in some bureaucratic oblivion. The NSC staffer who kept the President informed was transferred to the State Department and shipped to Iraq where he will remain on a 'secret mission' so long as Obama is in office so that he won't have to testify before Congress.

Congressional investigators for Republicans Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have asked to interview O'Reilly by September 30. But the Administration informed them that O'Reilly is on assignment for the State Department in Iraq and unavailable. (CBS News)

A White Paper has been circulating through the Department of Justice for some time suggesting that the ATF should be eliminated and its 450 agents, dismissed from government service. (how's that hope and change working for the ATF agents?)

Despite White House assertions that neither President Obama nor Attorney General Holder knew about the operation allowing over 2,000 firearms to be sold to the Sinaloa Federation narcotics cartel, their arguments are wearing thin. For a more detailed understanding of the views of those INSIDE ATF on this situation, you may wish to visit CLEAN UP ATF.

"Managers, Counsel, Internal Affairs and staff of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (BATFE or "ATF") have repeatedly given false testimony, concealed substantial waste, fraud and abuse, abused their lawful authority, and waged systematic campaigns of reprisal against their own employees that dare to speak out. This website is intended by members of the ATF community to promote restoration of integrity, accountability and responsibility to ATF's leadership, and regain the trust of the American taxpayer." (http://cleanupatf.org)

New Disclosures

(Link to CBS News) CBS Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson learned that in addition to OPERATION FAST AND FURIOUS (Phoenix OCDETF Investigation including ATF, DEA, FBI, etc.), and OPERATION CAST AWAY (Miami OCDETF Investigation including ATF, DEA, FBI, etc.), a third operation was underway from the Tuscon Office called "OPERATION WIDE RECEIVER". I honestly don't know how many similar operations were being run through the Department of Justice, but nobody has looked in Texas, New Mexico or California yet... (hint)

One administration source says White House national security staffers were "briefed on the toplines of ongoing federal efforts, but nobody in White House knew about the investigative tactics being used in the operation, let alone any decision to let guns walk." (CBS News)

To read the most recently disclosed e-mail between the White House and the Operation Fast and Furious team in action CLICK HERE.

Is Herman Cain really Black?

2011-09-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Liberals seem very upset that black businessman and conservative, Herman Cain, is doing well in polling on the run-up to the Republican primary process. And why shouldn't they be? The black political stereotype is cracked beyond recognition by Cain's candidacy. Thieves-in-office such as Congressman Charlie Rangle (D-NY) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) tend to be the people that we think of when we think of the Black Congressional Caucus.

Liberal actor and lesbian issues activist, Janeane Garofalo feels as if Herman Cain is simply not 'black enough' and is the Tea Party's boy. Listen to her rant.

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American businessman, columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He is the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza and a former deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the board of directors to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Before his business career he worked as a mathematician/civilian employee of the United States Navy. Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He lives in the Atlanta suburbs, where he also serves as a minister at Antioch Baptist Church North. He's not a "Black Religion Theologist".

He simply doesn't fit the model of shiftless political gadfly Barack Hussein Obama Jr., the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson and other 'famous, but useless' activists and political organizers. Herman Cain has actually had jobs with massive responsibilities -- which from a liberal point of view, paints him as dangerous and suspicious.

From a 'progressive' point of view, Herman Cain simply can't be trusted. Clearly (following Garofalo's logic), any Republican who supports Cain's candidacy must be a racist. His big win in Florida's straw poll is clear proof that Republicans are racists according to the progressive icons. It's a good example of how they think and how they process information.

Rosh Ha Hanah Wishes

2011-09-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

To my pro-Israeli and Jewish friends, I wish you all a happy new year:

אנו מאחלים לכולכם שנה של ניצחון ונקמה באויבנו, שנה של התיישבות שגשוג ופריחה בכל מרחבי ארצנו הקדושה, שנה שבה נחזור אל עצמנו כיחידים, כעם וכמדינה, שנה של שלום אמת, שנה של בנין המקדש ותיקון עולם במלכות ש-די.

שנה טובה!

I do understand that there are people out there who don't have the same wishes toward those in Israel. The American Government under Barack Hussein Obama Jr. has repeatedly sought to undermine the State of Israel and its security interests despite the fact that it's the only reliable American Ally in the region. That may be because Obama is the first post-American President...or maybe it's a coincidence.

I'm not Israeli, nor am I a Jew. I understand that there have been times where Israeli interests have sharply diverged from American Interests (sinking of the USS Liberty among them). That notwithstanding, I believe that America is best served by supporting our allies as best we can. And by keeping in mind who our allies are and who aren't our friends.

Here is a regional guide for your reference:

ENEMY

FRIEND

Why do we still cling to the United Nations?

2011-09-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

What possible value does the UN have to the United States of America today?

I understand what many other nations get out of it. They can send spies posing as 'delegation staff' to New York, they get free money and every minor despot and potentate gets a pulpit from which to attack the US.

http://daletoons.blogspot.com/

Isn't it time to allow the UN to go somewhere else? Why not Cuba or some other 'worker's paradise'? Let the minor nations of the world gather in Cuba and rant against Europe and the US like they do in so many other forums that nobody cares about. Why do we fund the rants against us?

Obama - The Job President?

2011-09-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Van Jones, Black Panther, communist, Green Jobs Czar -- retired

The Los Angeles Times may have turned on President Obama. Maybe it's one of those 'honeymoon is over' cases of buyer's regret? You can read about their latest rant against this failed administration HERE.

Maybe Obama played a Jedi mind trick on the LA Times? (Those are not the jobs you're looking for) The Green Jobs portion of Stimulus I spent $38.6 billion (36,800,000,000.00) to create 3,545 jobs. (LINK HERE) That does not include the jobs that will be lost when some of those companies will go bankrupt. If the nation ends up with 1,000 permanent green jobs for $38.6 billion, I'm sure that Obama will link arms with Senate Majority Leader and take a bow. After all, the money did not come from Obama's personal fortune.

Seattle, WA received $20 million and managed to create 14 jobs. It's a success story when you consider that's just over $1 million per minimum wage job. Not nearly what the "results above" indicate. (LINK HERE)

Fox News asks if President Obama's Green Jobs Initiative is falling apart. (LINK HERE)

The Democratic Party is working hard to distance themselves from this cornerstone of the Obama Presidency (sort of like ObamaCare), but the American People are left holding the bag.

Why would we want to spend half a trillion dollars on Stimulus II when Stimulus I flopped so badly?

Confidence Men

2011-09-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Obama White House has a long record of mis-steps, of bungles and blunders. There have been a number of books that have come out about Barack Hussein Obama jr. from the tell-all book written by Larry Sinclair, his homosexual lover: Cocaine, Sex and Murder to Ron Suskind's new book, CONFIDENCE MEN, which will be coming out next week.

Suskind had unique access to the White House, interviewed staffers and now the White House is unhappy because he's printing what they told him and naming names. Obama can take the author's to court for libel if what they write is false. But that hasn't happened with any of these books. And it's unlikely to happen with Suskind's account of sausage making in the White House.

Obama the man simply isn't impressive.

Obama the leader is less impressive.

Obama the visionary has a vision that is strongly at odds with the vision that most Americans have of themselves, of their country and of their history.

The President's Jobs Act - Yet another Obama Boondoggle?

2011-09-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

The American Jobs Act (read it at THIS LINK) is 199 pages long. The President says that it is a bill that "must be passed". So it might be a good idea if you read what he's proposing to spend half a trillion dollars of your money* on. This Bill has a few sections that seem reasonable and several that are problematic. I don't represent that this is a complete analysis of the Bill. I've borrowed comments that others have made and will include them in the commentary.

*No it's not really YOUR money. Even though he claims that it will be money saved from other places, most people including his fellow Democrats believer that we'll end up borrowing it at interest from the Chinese.

Three Years

Section 312 (Page 92) extends unemployment benefits for those receiving benefits for one additional year (to a total of three years). There will also be no waiting week. You can collect immediately. I do understand that some may think that I'm cruel to suggest that three years of unemployment benefits are simply too long a period to offer. But that's what I'm suggesting. The President wants voters to be happy with the money that they're getting so they'll drop a vote his way. They used to call that 'buying votes' with taxpayer dollars**.

**I think that they still call it that in Chicago, but it's an art form there, not something shameful.

A New Protected Class (analysis link HERE)

Sections 371-379 (Pages 129-134) are titled “Prohibition of discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual’s status as unemployed“. That’s right, the bill would add “not currently doing anything useful for money” as a protected class in the realm of employment discrimination to the ones we are used to, such as race and sex. It states, in part, that “[i]t shall be…unlawful…for an employer to…publish in print, on the Internet, or in any other medium, an advertisement or announcement for any employee for any job that includes…any provision…indicating…that an employer will not…hire any individual for…employment…based on that individual’s status as unemployed”. The provision also outlaws hiring decisions on the same basis.

Some might say that’s a good thing. Why dump on the down-and-out who are otherwise qualified? The answer is that in practice, this is a provision that primarily benefits plaintiff’s employment lawyers, as the section goes on to award attorneys’ fees and a $1000 dollar-a-day award (for days not having been hired, and that can really add up by the time you get to trial) to anyone who sues under this provision. I’m allowed to say that since I used to be a plaintiffs’ (and also defendants’) employment lawyer.

President Obama is creating a nightmare for any prospective employer.

Look for the Union Label (analysis link HERE)

Section 5 “Wage rate and employment protection requirements.” It states, in part, that “all laborers…employed…on projects funded directly by or assisted in whole or in part by and through the Federal Government…shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a similar character similar in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor…”

In non-right-to-work states at least, the “prevailing rates” will almost by definition be determined by the state of labor union contracts, having the effect that any employer who happens to employ non-union, and thus often more affordable, labor, will nonetheless be forced to accept a wage schedule handed down by the federal government commensurate with what union employees earn. At that point, there would no longer be any incentive at all to avoid non-union labor on a cost basis.

I haven't read a lot of analysis on Stimulus II (American Jobs Act), but it would seem to me to follow Stimulus I into history's abyss as one of those 'money down a rat hole' schemes. Stimulus II will cost 20 times the nation of Greece's deficit. Roll that around in your head for a moment.

Another Stimulus Fiasco?

Likely. Stimulus I was a complete failure by all accounts since it didn't create more than a handful of jobs after spending nearly a trillion dollars. Why should we even entertain the notion of Stimulus II?

Let's take a look at some of the boondoggles we've learned about in Stimulus I ($800 billion).

Operation Gunrunner, a secret program by which the Department of Justice allowed firearms to 'walk' into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. --Funded by Stimulus I

$9 billion went to fund housing on Indian Reservations. The Dept. of the Interior has an investigation running there regarding fraud, waste and abuse but won't discuss it publically.

Green Energy Scams (LINK)*** SpectraWatt, Inc, Solyndra, Mountain Plaza, Inc., Olsen's Crop Service and Olsen's Acquisition Co. have all failed to date. We wait in anticipation of more fraud, waste and abuse. The White House claimed that Stimulus I would create 44,000 jobs in Green Energy. OMB reported that it created 3,500. And some of those will be lost with the failure of these bankrupt companies.

***A 2009 report by the Energy Department's inspector general warned that DOE lacked the necessary quality control for the $38.6 billion loan-guarantee program.

To report this blog about the President's "Jobs Bill" to President Barack Hussein Obama's Attack Watch, where you denounce your friends and neighbors to the government, please CLICK HERE - ATTACK WATCH

A Business Opportunity & Pathway to Prosperity

2011-09-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

For every business, there first must be a plan.

Here's my plan:

(1) Type of Industry: "Green Energy" --Details don't matter because if you intend to go into the Green Energy business, you may be able to get a Hollywood Spokesperson to volunteer to tout your product for the sake of saving the planet, free of charge. Van Jones will hold a rally at your groundbreaking ceremony (for a fee).

(2) Plan of Action: Donate to the Obama Campaign --Again, what you're doing isn't nearly so important as the assurance that with adequate government loan guarantees you can keep donating. Half a billion, half a trillion, who cares? The numbers support the Democratic Party and more importantly, the President himself.

(3) Have the Workers Organize: Courting organized labor and throwing a few bones to the union bosses personally will increase your ability to get government loan guarantees because the government knows that the union kicks back to the Obama Administration too.

The plan works. It's been successful in the past. And when things simply don't work out because you didn't have a workable business in the first place, loot the company eight ways from Sunday, default on the government loan/bail out and head for an Island where you can---

Work on your tan, your tennis game, your golf game (for when Barack comes to visit when he's been deposed by the voters and he wants to collect his cut), and sip tropical drinks.

No, it's not a bad business plan. The best part about the plan is that it works. It's not simply a pipe dream. If it worked for Solyndra, it should work for me.

Since the President is pushing for that jobs bill (Stimulus II), asking for a cool $450 billion, there would seem to be a better than even chance that I could end up with a billion of it at least. Especially if I promise to employ black people (until the company folds). That would be a real vote-getter for the Democratic Party.

It's the Chicago way.

And it's a genuine "pathway to prosperity"--
for friends of Obama.

Arming the Cartels

2011-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

I watched this season's second episode (Season 4 Episode 2) of Sons of Anarchy where a Mexican drug cartel is buying firearms from an outlaw biker gang, who in turn are supplied by the Irish Republican Army. Yeah, I know. It's Hollywood.

In real life, they're supplied by the US Government through cut-outs and front men, backed by the US Department of Justice. The Justice Department stonewalls Congress because the guilty knowledge of what they'd been doing goes all the way to the Attorney General, to White House staffers, and likely to President Barack H. Obama Jr. Hollywood isn't that creative. Nobody would believe it. A plot like that can only come from real life.

Operation Castaway may be the latest installment in the pattern of corruption that we've seen in Holder's Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (Tampa [FL] Field Division).

"Whether the allegations of our source refer to the ongoing Operation Castaway remains at this hour unclear, but our source is certain that O'Brien has allowed the "walking" of straw-purchased firearms to Honduras using the same failed strategy as the Phoenix Field Division's Operation Fast and Furious." (op cit - link above)

Michelle Malkin carried the story that CBS News originally broke wherein eight violent crimes and three additional murders have been tied to the BATFE Operation Fast and Furious debacle.

According to a letter from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the disclosed incidents may be only a partial list of violent crimes linked to Fast and Furious weapons because "ATF has not conducted a comprehensive independent investigation." (CBS/Malkin - linked above)

I find it personally disturbing that given the gravity of the situation, ATF hasn't yet conducted a comprehensive investigation. Based on Asst. Attorney General Weich, it doesn't appear that BATFE has even initiated an investigation.

On May 27, 2011, three AK-47 type assault rifles purchased by Fast and Furious targets were recovered in Jalisco, Mexico after having been fired. No other details of the incident were provided, but the date and location match with another incident previously reported by CBS News. On May 27 near Jalisto, cartel members fired upon a Mexican government helicopter, forcing it to make an emergency landing. According to one law enforcement source, 29 suspected cartel members were killed in the attack. (CBS News, Sharyl Attkisson is CBS News' "Follow the Money" and Investigative Correspondent)

This is very interesting because I was near this location when it went down. It strikes home. Sharyl (above cited) wasn't, but I applaud her for reporting it.

What are American intentions in this regard? How deeply are we involved in arming the cartels? Castaway and Gunrunner/Fast and Furious are clearly not the only programs that the government has been pursuing. I suggest this because we keep getting more details of new (and gory) details almost every day of DOJ's participation in these illegal and sinister operations.

All the President's Relatives

2011-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

How many illegal alien relatives of President Obama are roaming the country, collecting welfare, and committing crimes? We may never know. The two most noteworthy cases, that of Omar Onyango Obama (Uncle Omar) and Zeituni Onyango (Aunt Zeituni) have been swept under the rug by the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Isn't that special?

"Two weeks ago, President Obama ordered a massive review of 300,000 deportation cases of illegal aliens because they had either not broken any other laws while living in the country illegally or are considered “lesser offenders.” The first high-profile beneficiary of the policy has a familiar name: Obama."

The courts quietly released Uncle Omar last week after he was arrested for drunk driving. He's been using a fraudulent social security card to work at a liquor store as a part time clerk while collecting welfare benefits. The Boston Globe reported the story last week.

His successful evasion of the nation’s immigration laws mirrors that of Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, who was granted asylum. She has to stay in the US - receiving welfare benefits - because if she went back to the rock in Kenya that she crawled out from under, she might be treated unfairly because she's related to the US President. Based on those criteria, all of the extended Obama family could flee their ghettos in Africa, arrive in the US and be supported by the taxpayers.

WBZ explained Auntie Zeituni’s case and her nephew’s involvement succinctly. “[Obama’s] done nothing to get her off public assistance,” the station reported in September 2010. “But he is the reason she was granted asylum after she had been living her illegally for many years. All this time she has been burden to taxpayers, and that hasn’t changed with her nephew moving into the White House.”

Auntie Zeituni, who claims she is only person on earth who can pinch the president’ ear and smack him, said she must be honored, as African custom requires.

Uncle Omar Onyango Obama won’t, of course, be only the drunk-driving illegal alien the government releases, given the president’s order to review 300,000 deportation cases.

As The New American has reported in late August, President Obama stopped the deportations because leftist and revanchist Hispanics were enraged that “lesser offenders,” such as petty thieves and drunk drivers like Onyango Obama, were nabbed and scheduled for deportation thanks to cooperation between state and federal authorities via the Secure Communities program.

We haven't heard much from George Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's half brother lately. At last report, he was in custody in Narobi on drug charges (LINK HERE). Has George Obama left the slum in Kenya where he was living? Is he quietly staying in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House? I have no idea. However when Barack Hussein Obama leaves office, can we send all of his illegal alien relatives home to Africa? Please?

Stimulus Two - a modest suggestion

2011-09-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of Presidential noise directed toward passing 'Stimulus Two', which is half the size of 'Stimulus One' and is designed to do about half of what Stimulus One accomplished. I know, there are cynics out there who will assert that Stimulus One did nothing and that it's impossible to do half of nothing. All well and good, but for me personally and for my community, there is a way to make Stimulus Two mean something.

My letter to President Obama:

President Obama: Write a tax-free check to me, personally, for one billion dollars. That's only 1/447th of what you want Congress to appropriate, so it's literally chump change from a national perspective. With that money, I promise to stimulate the local economy.

I live in California. California is a red state. If I get the money, I promise to spend the money inside the red state and boost the local economy. No, I'm not an oligarch at the moment, but the money will allow me to become one and the hope and change that it will bring to the struggling proles in California will be sure to buy a few votes for you in the 2012 election. For a mere billion, I'm sure that I can get quite a few people to vote for you instead of your Republican opponent. Giving me a billion dollars (of money you plan to borrow from China) tax free, will demonstrate your commitment to hope and change on a local level.

To show you that my heart is in the right place, after the check clears, I promise to spend $100,000,000. of the one billion on charities that dole out money to black people. It will leave me a mere 900,000,000 to spend on a really nice yacht, mansion, domestic staff, private jet and other luxury items that will pump the stimulus funds into the economy. Yes, I'm obviously a Democrat.

I think this explains why LOVE is at the heart of my request.

After all, Mr. President. As a narcissist, you know the true definition of love.

Free at Last -- Free at Last!

2011-09-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you will recall that Uncle Omar (Onyango Obama), an undocumented person (illegal alien) who crashed into a Farmingham City (Plymouth County) Police Car while drunk, was taken into custody for drunk driving (a misdemeanor) and using a fraudulent social security number (a felony) and the Department of Homeland Security/ICE placed an immigration detainer on him.

I know that you shared my outrage that Uncle Omar was arrested by the police in the first place. It appeared to me to be a blatant case of racism and by extension, of bias toward Uncle Omar because he had a blood relation to the first Black President. Yes, it's the same bias used against Auntie Zeituni Onyango (Obama) because (1) she's black, and (2) She has been in the US illegally and (3) has been on welfare while here illegally. Is it a crime to be Black in America? When will the outrages against people of color stop?

The White Man ordered him returned to Kenya in 1992 but there are no jobs and no government money back home in Kenya to support him in a way that is only decent. He stayed in the US. Who wouldn't? It's a free country isn't it? All Uncle Omar wanted was access to free medical care, food stamps, welfare, and the ability to take a drink now and then when the need took him. It's depressing to be a Black Man who is continually oppressed by Whites. Who wouldn't take a bit of pop-skull to ease their pain?

But don't despair! Justice has been done. Likely the Leader of the Free World whispered a word in the right ear.

"He has been quietly released from federal custody and all lips are sealed. DHS won’t say a word. The White House won’t say a word. Onyango Obama’s immediate family in Boston won’t say a word. And the lawyer who was all set to appeal his deportation is out of the loop." (Malkin)

"The policy that allowed Omar to disappear is “voluntary departure” — a security-undermining mechanism that allows illegal alien border-jumpers and visa-overstayers to simply deport themselves after going through the federal immigration court system. Omar lost his first case to stay in the country in 1989; he lost a second bid with the Board of Immigration Appeals in 1992."

Where in the world is Uncle Omar?

"The 2012 election is about our future. Help change the world again". - President Obama

911 Day Commentary

2011-09-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

911day.org (supported by the Obama Administration) has set September 11 aside as a day of service to do a good deed. President Obama (early on) suggested that it also be a day when we recognize the hard work put in by community organizers. The term 'community organizer' can also be viewed as 'special interest agitator', or one who follows the Alinsky Rules for Radicals (Wikipedia Link) the way that the President did when he was a community organizer on the mean streets of Chicago.

Rules for Radicals has been the Democratic Party's playbook during the Obama Administration.

When I think of September 11, 2001, my mind does not jump to people like Rev. Jessie Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, President Barack Hussein Obama, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, or Saul Alinsky.

I think of an attack on the United States of America by fundamentalist Muslims intent on bringing bloodshed to our shores.

Graphic below h/t Dale.

September 11 is not a day to remember good deeds as 911day.org would suggest. It's a day to recall an attack on all of the people of the United States by Islamic Fundamentalists. President and Mrs. Obama would like you to forget that we were attacked on September 11 (look here) would redirect your attention away from that horrible day in American history.

September 11 is a day to remember who declared war with America and to recall that their goals and objectives have not changed since Obama officially ended the "war on terror" and replaced it with "a foreign contingency operation".

I have not forgotten what the Islamic War was about.

I will not be thinking about all of those community agitators "who did so much for me" on this September 11th.

I will not spend any time on September 11th contemplating how the 911 Victory Mosque proposed near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center will unite 'Muslims and non-Muslim Americans'. Because it won't. Not any more than opening a pig slaughterhouse next door to every Mosque in America would make Muslims happier.

I suspect that I will read some Kipling. Possibly The Grave of the Hundred Head and the City of Brass. I will think about America's allies in the War on Terror. I will not think of what we did and what we are doing as a 'foreign contingency operation'. A lot of them have died and given their all for the sake of freedom. Sometimes we forget that not just Americans fell over the past ten years in the battle against jihad.

I ask that you remember September 11 not as a community organizers and service day, but as the day thousands of innocents were murdered in cold blood by Muslims. And never forget that it can happen again. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Don't be swayed or lulled by wolves in sheep's clothing that September 11 is about some other rainbow and unicorn remembrance.

"THE MOSQUES ARE OUR BARRACKS, THE DOMES OUR HELMETS, THE MINARETS OUR BAYONETS AND THE FAITHFUL, OUR SOLDIERS." ---TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ERDOĞAN (h/t Pam Geller)

The Republican Field for 2012 - Narrows

2011-09-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

The GOP Debate hosted by MSNBC shouldn't have happened because it predictably turned into the liberals spinning the questions and carefully tip toeing around any issue that the Republicans could use to make their candidate, Obama, look incompetent.

Ok, that aside, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

Absent some major gaff, the race for the Republican nomination is between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. Both have advantages and disadvantages - but neither is Obama, and it might come down to that in the long run.

Rick Perry reminds me a lot of Ronald Reagan and America's enemies won't feel nearly as comfortable with him in the White House as they have with Barack Hussein Obama. I think that Perry given a choice, will do the right thing for the nation.

Mitt Romney (yes, he's a RINO) does look very presidential. He says a lot of the right things and if he became the Republican choice, I'd back him with cash and personal support. Then again, I'd back anyone who would defeat Obama and send him back home to Chicago. I wonder if Michelle plans to run for the US Senate from Illinois?

Michelle Bachmann is flagging while she continues with her talking points. She looks a bit wooden and while I predict that she'll be in all the way to the Convention, she's going to start losing ground. The money that she had will start drying up.

Herman Cain is in it because he is, because he has something to say and because people just like him. But he won't be the next president.

Santorum, Gingrich & Huntsman all want to be valid in the Republican Party so they're going to continue their efforts, but the die is cast. At the risk of being branded a religious zealot, I'm going to quote from the Book of Daniel (the handwriting is on the wall):

"And this is the writing that was inscribed: mina, mina, shekel, half-mina. This is the interpretation of the matter: mina, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; shekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; half-mina, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." (Daniel 5: 25-28) In this case, Medes and Persians means Romney and Perry.

I'm leaving Ron Paul last for a reason. While much of his campaign is based on sound conservative principles, Ron is not the messenger who should be delivering the message. I hope that doesn't sound unkind because I like him. His son, Senator Rand Paul, would be a better choice. Ron represents the Fredrich A. Hayek school of economic philosophy, and I agree with that approach to government. But he doesn't do a good job of selling it to the American People - and that's what he needs to do in order to win anything beyond a Congressional seat in Texas.

Who do YOU want teaching your children?

2011-09-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Teachers are role models to impressionable children. Having the right people teaching the rising generation are important. Education (also called learning, teaching or schooling) in the general sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. What values do we want to transmit?

This photo comes to us from a recent California Teachers Union demonstration in downtown Los Angeles.

I don't oppose their right to demonstrate, to speak freely and express their opinions. However, I don't want them teaching my children/grandchildren.

I don't want this person teaching my children/grandchildren either. And perhaps it comes down to simply spending more money to send children to private schools and boycotting public education as a practical matter. Maybe Charter Schools are the way to go?

Clearly, teacher's unions are doing for education what the United Auto Workers did for automobile manufacturing in America. I'm not calling for an end to teacher's unions, however I don't know whether or not it's in MY children's/grandchildren's best interest to attend a school where the teachers are unionized because it seems to breed corruption and the 'inclusive' nature of the system allows people to teach who I personally am not comfortable with at the head of a class.

Happy Labor Day.

###

How much do the Obama Drones love The One?

2011-09-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

The DOJ originally claimed that Fast and Furious weapons had been recovered at 11 crime scenes in the United States, but a Fox News investigation now reveals that a total of forty-two Fast and Furious firearms were recovered at those crime scenes. Revised DOJ figures now also admit that an additional 21 Fast and Furious guns were tracked to violent crimes in Mexico.

But has the Sinaloa Federation (cartel) publicly thanked the Obama Administration yet for helping them fight Mexican Government troops, rival cartels and murder Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry? I'm sure that's the only outrage that Obama is feeling now -- ok, that and the fact that Congress is investigating the matter.

The nation's chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Eric Holder, has compromised the integrity of federal law enforcement in this country, at a time when the respect for federal law enforcement is essential for the security of the United States. This is not "role model" behavior. This is Chicago political behavior--perfectly normal and appreciated in Chicago, but not here, and not from the Attorney General of the United States. The Chicago standard should not be the American standard despite what the people from Chicago who inhabit the White House believe.

This investigation will reach Eric Holder. It may or may not reach Barack H. Obama Jr. depending on who is willing to fall on the sword to perjure themselves before Congress and risk federal prison.

The question President Obama may be asking himself now is -- "How much do my drones love me?"

Another Outrage from ATF

2011-09-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

ATF Celebrates the conclusion of Operations Gunrunner and Fast and Furious. For those of you who have followed this scandal, the outrageous behavior keeps on rolling.

This email is said to have been generated by Teresa Ficaretta and it references Arthur Herbert. Redactions have been made to protect sources.

From: (REDACTED)
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 9:36 AM
Subject: Rifle Multiple Sale Reporting Program Celebration

Please join us on Wednesday, August 31, at 9:30 a.m., in Conference Room B to celebrate the successful completion of the rifle multiple sale reporting program. Collaboration among many directorates made this program possible, and REDACTED and I want to recognize and thank all the employees who contributed to our success.

This celebration will be held in connection with our EPS supervisors meeting to be held in the same room beginning at 10am. Please forward this invitation to all the remaining EPS supervisors in Martinsburg. I initially tried to list all their names, but I know I will leave some of the section supervisors out, and our celebration would not be complete without them. (REDACTED) and I look forward to seeing you all in Martinsburg.

In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and in fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriations, ATF received $21.9 million in funding to support and expand Project Gunrunner. In May 2009, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) opened an evaluation of Project Gunrunner, which is ongoing. We are issuing this interim report on Project Gunrunner plans as ATF is expanding the project. (Source: OIG Interim Report)

The question you might want to ask yourself is how much Operation Gunrunner did to stimulate the economy since that was how it was funded. Clearly it did a great deal to provide the Mexican narcotics cartels with better arms and ammunition, which they subsequently used to slaughter both each other, Mexican and American law enforcement and innocent civilians who were caught in the middle.

And more from cleanupatf.org, a forum of ATF Agents who are outraged at the conduct of their agency and of the Obama Administration. (graphic right h/t Dale)

Why the ATF scheduled a National Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit on 30 June 2009 in NM.

"It is essential that our efforts support the strategies and policies of the President and the Attorney General and where possible, complement the strategies of other agencies." -- "Project Gunrunner: A Cartel Focused Strategy," internal ATF report, September 2010, Page 2.

On April 27, 2009, the Department of Justice released guidelines for the consideration of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) designation in firearms related cases involving Mexican cartels. The memorandum identified firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico as contributing to the escalating levels of cartel-related violence and as a particular concern for law enforcement on both sides of the border. The memorandum emphasized the important role that the OCDETF program plays in connection with the United States' government-wide efforts to stem the southbound smuggling of arms to Mexican drug trafficking organizations and stated that investigations principally targeting firearms trafficking are eligible for OCDETF designation if there is a sufficient nexus between the firearms and a major Mexican drug trafficking organization. It is not necessary that every OCDETF prosecution include specific drug charges, but every OCDETF prosecution must be drug-related. The specific charges may be firearms, explosives, or other non-drug violations as long as the targets have been identified as major drug violators and otherwise meet OCDETF standards.

In June 2009, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. The strategy represents another key contribution to the U.S. response to the threat along the Southwest border. The strategy acknowledges the close link between drug trafficking and firearms trafficking and the increasing powerful nature and sophistication of the firearms acquired and used by Mexican drug trafficking organizations. In fact, Chapter 7 of the strategy is devoted to weapons and contains significant language pertaining to ATF investigative responsibilities and enforcement programs. The strategy includes the goals of improving intelligence and information sharing relating to weapons trafficking among Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement partners; increasing interdiction of illegal weapons shipments destined for Mexico; enhancing cooperation with international partners in weapons investigations; strengthening domestic coordination on weapons investigations and increasing the likelihood of successful Federal prosecution of weapons cases.

On June 25, 2009, ATF released a memorandum detailing a revised national firearms trafficking enforcement strategy focusing on among other things the identification and investigation of specific domestic trafficking corridors. While not a Southwest border focused document, the national firearms trafficking enforcement plan makes reference to Project Gunrunner and firearms trafficking cases with an international nexus. The document is referenced here since it provides guidance for conducting firearms trafficking investigations generally and may include information pertaining to investigative, technical, and preventive tactics that may be applicable when investigating matters related to the Southwest border.

The memorandum "detailing a revised national firearms trafficking enforcement strategy" was only part of a concerted ATF effort to do what their executive branch masters wanted them to do, consistent with the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.

The "field manual" continues:

On January 7, 2010, the Department of Justice reemphasized its commitment to combating firearms trafficking to Mexican cartels and the use of the OCDETF program as a means of disrupting the cartels by releasing its own strategy. The strategy is premised on the notion that a significant share of the violence, drug trafficking and corruption along the Southwest border is perpetrated by a relatively small number of hierarchical criminal organizations. The DOJ strategy concludes that “the most effective mechanism to attack those organizations is the use of intelligence-based, prosecutor-led multi-agency task forces that attack all levels of, and all criminal activities of, the operations of the organizations.” A significant component of the DOJ strategy pertains to attacking the southbound flow of firearms. The strategy states that “given the national scope of this issue, merely seizing firearms through interdiction will not stop firearms trafficking to Mexico. We must identify, investigate, and eliminate the sources of illegally trafficked firearms and the networks that transport them.” The DOJ strategy calls for closer collaboration between ATF and the efforts of multi-agency drug task forces along the border, including OCDETF strike forces. All ATF field divisions with an OCDETF strike force must consider assigning a complement of special agents to the multi-agency strike force and/or establishing a collocated ATF-led OCDETF group within the strike force.

Lastly, ATF’s 2010-2016 Strategic Plan provides broad direction intended to guide ATF operations over the next few years and includes information regarding ATF’s efforts to combat firearms trafficking, to include trafficking along and across the Southwest border. The document reiterates that one of ATF’s fundamental responsibilities is addressing the threat posed by firearms violence associated with drug trafficking and specifically the threat posed by Mexican based drug trafficking organizations that acquire firearms from the United States. The document summarizes a wide variety of ATF capabilities useful in suppressing firearms trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Additionally, in June 2009, ATF and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) intended to address areas of mutual concern and responsibility. To the extent possible, this revised cartel focused strategy will conform to agreements between ATF and ICE and other law enforcement partners that may exist.

The press release:

DOJ Officials to Speak at National Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit

Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:00pm EDT

WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Officials from the U.S.Department of Justice (DOJ) will join Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, U.S. Attorneys, states attorneys, local prosecutors and law enforcement executives to discuss national policy development and strategies at the Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit in Albuquerque, N.M. Also at the Summit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalizing a partnership to combat firearms trafficking.

Media are invited to attend the opening session Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. MDT and the separate signing event at 9:30 a.m. MDT. For media not able to attend the signing event, a national news teleconference will be hosted at 10:15 a.m. MDT.

WHO:

David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General, DOJ

Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, DOJ Criminal Division

H. Marshall Jarrett, Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys

Kenneth E. Melson, Acting Director, ATF

John Morton, Asst. Secretary, ICE, DHS

WHAT:

Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit (Opening Session)

ATF, ICE MOU Signing Ceremony, Question and Answer Session

WHEN:

Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 9:00 a.m. MDT - Opening Session

9:30 a.m. MDT - Signing Ceremony

10:15 a.m. MDT - National News Teleconference Begins

Conference Call-in #: 1-888-469-3045 (call will be moderated; media encouraged to dial-in up to 15 minutes in advance)

WHERE:

Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel 2600 Louisiana Blvd, NE Albuquerque, N.M. 87110

Note: Media attending the opening session of the summit and/or the MOU signing ceremony will need to present valid media credentials. Media should be set by 7:45 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom for the opening session and pre-set by 9:15 a.m. in Baldwin Room for the signing event. Any inquiries concerning DOJ officials should be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at (202)514-2007. Any inquiries concerning the Summit should be directed to John Hageman at (609) 743-2987.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD+1-202-514-1888

This was a big deal. In addition to speeches by Deputy Attorney General Ogden, and Assitant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, ATF Acting Director spoke, as did NM U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and H. Marshall Jarrett, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Even Andrew Traver was there, as was, according to my sources, Phoenix ATF Field Division SAC William Newell, aka now as "Gunwalker Bill."

John Morton's speech does not seem to have been posted on the net, the careful man.

Lanny Breuer makes it clear where the new effort and energy on firearms trafficking came from:

You just heard from my partner at ICE John Morton; we are all in great hands over there. John and I worked briefly together in the Criminal Division, where John was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General before becoming Assistant Secretary at ICE. He's a spectacular public servant. It's my privilege to share a podium with John and all my distinguished colleagues from DHS and DOJ, including the Deputy Attorney General from whom you will soon hear.

As many of you know, a little over two months ago, the Attorney General stood on Mexican soil with his law enforcement counterparts from the Mexican government. At that time, the Attorney General announced a firm commitment by the U.S. government to work with Mexico to attack the plague of gun trafficking and related violence that has infected the U.S./Mexico border and regions deep in Mexico itself.

Since the Attorney General's visit to Cuernavaca, the Justice Department, under the leadership of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, has taken a number of positive steps to address the southwest border issues, including increasing the resources that are focused on the southwest border and, specifically, firearms trafficking.

###

The Democratic Party's Position

2011-08-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

(h/t Barco Sin Vella II)

This lays it out the argument in about three minutes. I know you've heard it before so feel free to indulge yourself in rhetoric. Racist, homophobic, Tea Party Republicans may be offended.

The Drug War in Mexico (Redux)

2011-08-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

If the US stopped importing illegal drugs from Mexico...

This is the way it always begins.

Ok, let's examine what would happen:

(1) Addicts are addicted, which means that they'll find drugs or addicting substances somewhere else, legal or illegal. History proves that this is the case time and time again. So replacing Mexican importation routes with new sources and routes outside Mexico would only have a modest and temporary impact on the American drug problem.

(2) Various experts have different opinions but many who are familiar with the problem speculate that 25% of the Domestic Mexican Economy is derived directly or indirectly from the drug trade. Knock one leg from a chair and what happens?

(3) Prevention and treatment of addicts has had very limited success by anyone's measure.

(4) Enforcement nabs roughly 15% of the narcotics that enter the United States - maybe less. Over the past thirty years the US has sent five times as many people to prison for trafficking narcotics as they did before and the price of cocaine has dropped by about 80% during that time period. Supply and demand tell you what incarceration has done to solve the problem.

(5) Legalization is a dismal hope. Alcohol is the only addictive intoxicant made available on a commercial basis. There are about four times as many alcoholics as there are people who are addicted to illegal drugs. About one half of all Americans behind bars are there because of drunken violence (including domestic violence). Full availability of narcotics would expand this problem significantly. Libertarian sentiments aside, it won't work in the real world.

(6) Legalizing marijuana/cannabis would decrease imports from Mexico by 1/5th according to a Rand study. Mexicans in the drug business would simply shift to opium or would expand the already insanely high laboratory production of methamphetamine products.

(7) The Drug War in Mexico between rival traffickers and the Mexican Government results in somewhere between 1,000 deaths (official Mexican statistics) and 3,000 deaths (studies by those outside government in Mexico) per month. Nothing that the US is doing or could do is likely to have much impact on those numbers.

If you read down this far hoping that I had some sort of innovative solution that nobody else has thought of, you're wrong. There is a HOPE program that has been successful in Hawaii and elsewhere in which addicts are not treated, they're tested. A positive test sends you back into custody.

The Mexican solution to their problem with violence is to return to the old system under the PRI Party where the Army manages the drug distribution network through Mexico with one large cartel (the Sinaloa Federation being the Mexican Government's cartel of choice at the moment) handling most of the business. It won't work, but it's the solution that you hear tossed about in Mexican government circles (soto voce). The drugs will still pass through Mexico, but 'managed' by the government.

We will not see a drug free world or a world free of drugs because people want them and are willing to pay a great deal for them. The drug genie was never in a bottle so the concept of "putting it back in" is foolish.

Hardening the US Border will have a greater impact on illegal imports from Mexico than anything else we can do. Remember, I work on the Mexican Drug Problem for a living and talk with traffickers all of the time. This thing they fear above others. I'm not saying that it will do much more than drive the street price up and force traffickers to find other routes or other drugs.

In Southern California the use/addiction to heroin is on the increase. WHY (I hear you asking that question even if you didn't)? Because it's relatively easy to ship a pound of heroin (not a kilo = 2.2 lbs) across the US/Mexico border and a pound of heroin has a street price of $60,000.00. Easier to ship, more profit - makes sense. Thus this is the trend. And it's becoming more fashionable to put a spike into your arm these days among young people.

###

I Believe that Obama is the Problem

2011-08-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

The most concerning problem with the economic disaster we're stuck in courtesy of run-away Congressional spending paired with the Obama Administration's Keynesian economic model is that we don't seem to have found a bottom yet. You can't pull out of it until you bottom out. Yes, Vice President Joe (Slow Joe) Biden has said that we're climbing out for the past three years as the numbers get worse. Ignore him.

There are a number of books predicting gloom and doom (and they sell). People want some sense of certainty in a very uncertain world and they turn to the 'experts'. Unfortunately the experts are seldom more correct than a broken clock (right twice a day). Because I'm clearly not an expert, I don't fall into that model ;^).

Quite frankly, I think that the only thing that will inspire sufficient confidence to pull out of this mess that we're in will be Obama's departure from public office. The business community (other than Warren Buffet) doesn't trust him and they're not going to go out on a limb and hire people in anticipation of a better business environment with him sitting in the White House. Obama's dismal leadership, his un-American behavior and his anti-business stance are a leading factor in why things are not getting better. Even the labor unions are leaving that sinking ship. (LINK).

Obama almost single handedly created the Tea Party in America. So, yes, he has done something right.

Will History Repeat in 2012?

2011-08-26T04:32:00.000-07:00

In 1980, Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory of 44 US States and 489 electoral votes to defeat Jimmy Carter, who was then viewed as the weakest and possibly the worst US President in the 20th Century. In 1984, Ronald Reagan won 49 US States and 525 electoral votes to usher in his second term as President.

1980 Electoral Map (Reagan vs Carter)

1984 Electoral Map (Reagan vs Mondale)

The liberal media sees a potential parallel between 1980 and 2012 as Governor Rick Perry surges ahead of the Republican pack of potential presidential candidates.

I don't know who the Republican Party will choose to run against Barack Obama, but at the moment, Governor Perry has emerged as the largest threat to two groups: (1) The Democratic Party and by extension, the mainstream media, (2) RINOs, which include the Republican consultant class (including Carl Rove). Because Perry isn't their constituent.

The mainstream media are working long hours to mount campaigns against Governor Perry, who has replaced Mitt Romney as the poster child (and target) for their angst. The parallels between Reagan and Carter are simply unnerving to them.

Perry is a conservative. He's a close personal friend of rock musician Ted Nugent. For any of you who don't know where Nugent stands on firearms ownership and a host of other conservative issues, I wonder where you've been for the last decade at least.

I'm going to tick off a few boxes on where Perry stands on some key issues:

Securing US Borders - Perry favors a Mexico-United States Barrier to keep out illegal aliens. If Governor Perry were to enter the White House, I don't think that Arizona would need to fight that battle (in their state) alone anymore.
In the speech kicking off his campaign, Perry said that he wanted to make "the Federal Government as inconsequential in your lives as possible". In other words, he'd reverse the socialist trends that have been the hallmark of the Obama Presidency.
He is critical of the Federal Reserve's policies and of the Federal Reserve itself.
He is pro-life.
He is pro-America, unlike his potential opponent, President Obama.
He is pro-Israel
He opposes the legal recognition of same-sex marriages.
He favors domestic oil drilling and exploration.

To be fair to Romney, I'm not clear where he stands on some of these issues. That's part of the problem. However, I know where Obama falls out on every one of these issues, and there couldn't be a clearer distinction than the one between Obama and Perry.

Forbes came out with an article on Wednesday, August 24, speculating on who Perry might pick for a Vice Presidential running mate. You can read about Forbes' speculation here. Not to be too big of a spoiler, they're suggesting that Governor Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio or Congressman Paul Ryan should be high on the list of potentials.

For Jimmy Carter, there has been some vindication in that it is possible to be a worse president than he was. Some of us who recall 'the Carter Years' never thought that we'd see it in our lifetimes, but we were proven wrong.

Solving the Government Labor Union Problem

2011-08-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

I ask those of you who read this blog to support efforts to enact legislation that would prohibit government labor unions from directly or indirectly funding a political campaign where the politician running for office could be expected to vote for the salary rates of the workers that they represent.

I read an interesting article by George Will (here) on IBD. He cites the decline of public employee unions in situations where the government stopped acting as a collection agent for union dues.

After Colorado in 2001 required public employees unions to have annual votes reauthorizing collection of dues, membership in the Colorado Association of Public Employees declined 70%. In 2005, Indiana stopped collecting dues from unionized public employees; in 2011, there are 90% fewer dues-paying members.

In Utah, the end of automatic dues deductions for political activities in 2001 caused teachers' payments to fall 90%. After a similar law passed in 1992 in Washington state, the percentage of teachers making such contributions declined from 82 to 11.

Democrats furiously oppose Walker because public employees unions are transmission belts, conveying money to the Democratic Party. (emphasis added) Last year, $11.2 million in union dues was withheld from paychecks of Wisconsin's executive branch employees and $2.6 million from paychecks at the university across the lake.

Having spent improvidently on the recall elections, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the teachers union, is firing 40% of its staff.

It's fair to ask why the majority of employees who are represented by labor unions in the US work for the government. And it's also very important to note that the government unions influence elections for the politicians who vote for their salaries. Isn't that a monumental conflict of interest?

It is time that we brought things back into balance and this would be the single most important piece of legislation to reign in corruption in the ranks of unions that represent government workers.

The inability to offer legal bribes to encourage legislators and government bureaucrats to increase pay and benefits would mean that collective bargaining would return to a balanced process.

Don't look for those sorts of laws to originate from an political body that is composed primarily of Democrats. It would hurt their pocket book.

The American Summer Malaise

2011-08-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

The mainstream media is working overtime trying to destroy any political candidate who affiliates with the Tea Party Movement or who has anything bad to say about Obama. Summer is coming to an end in this hemisphere, unemployment has increased in many states (California is officially at 12% - which means with under employment and the small guys who went out of business and are not able to work but don't qualify for unemployment benefits, that number is pushing 25%).

President Obama is off on yet another vacation and while we all know that he could care less about anything but getting re-elected and keeping the scam rolling for another four years, we still expect him to put up somewhat of a show at feeling our pain. (the way that Bill Clinton did) Then again, he is our first post-American President. So we shouldn't be all that surprised. He's simply being himself.

The challenge ahead of us to pull out of the hole that we find ourselves in is not as easy as simply voting for a Republican candidate, though that's a start. Americans have to be who we were when we became that shining light on the hill.

The Europeans do not have the answer. Becoming a more immoral and more corrupt nation does not make us a better nation. Embracing socialism will not work. Exercising class envy as a political strategy won't work. Eating bread that we did not earn will not pull us out of this mess. Accepting Sharia Law as an acceptable 'parallel system of jurisprudence' will only sink us faster. Allowing politicians to implement unemployment benefits where the benefits are higher than people could earn if they were working only compounds the economic malaise.

We're in our third 'summer of recovery' and things are worse than they were in the previous two summers of recovery. There is a reason for this. And it has to do with borrowing 40 cents on every dollar the government spends. Raising that number to 50% as the Democratic Party suggests, will not improve anything. It will only make matters worse.

Liberal Womyn oppose Michele Bachmann

2011-08-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

The ideal liberal woman seems to be what man American men would classify as a 'cold hearted bitch'. The really classic liberals have that lesbian theme going full tilt don't they? They seem to feed on forming themselves into a crude, controlling, abusive, disparaging, dismissive model that formed some time in the 1960's as how a progressive woman should be. They howl and boast at successive abortions and joke that it's like 'flushing a turd' (not my words).

They embrace Obama as 'their own', even though his ideal is his father, Barack Sr., a philandering, drunken African socialist who dumped woman after woman after they bore his children. It makes no sense, but neither do the 'classic liberal women'.

Rachel Maddow, American Liberal Womyn

MSNBC

And therefore it shouldn't surprise anyone that they really hate - with a foaming at the mouth style anger and passion - powerful conservative women who have taken the national stage and captured the American imagination.

Women such as Sarah Palin who have children, are married, enjoy an active lifestyle with their families, are educated, believe in God, shoot guns and are MORE POPULAR than their liberal counterparts are viewed with hatred at a level that is hard to really grasp until you see how their mainstream media fellow women treat them. That Fox News embraced Palin and gave her a job, simply makes the liberal womyn want to cut a bigger chunk of flesh from her hide.

The media, having chewed on Palin for the past three years, has found new animus in Michele Bachmann, a candidate for President of the United States.

Michele Bachmann (R-MN) - Presidential Candidate

Let's count down the reasons that liberal women hate Michele Bachmann:

She's educated. In the progressive mindset, only liberals should be educated. They view conservatives as a barefoot and pregnant underclass that they're trying to liberate so that these cretins can be free (the way they are). Bachmann has a Juris Doctorate from Oral Roberts University. She also holds an LL. M. from the William and Mary School of Law.
She's a Christian. In the lexicon of liberals, that would mean that she's deluded because all people of faith are. Liberals (and particularly femyle liberals) can only be self actualized once they've shucked off the chains of philosophies that hold human life (which includes the lives of the unborn) as sacred.
She's a mother. There are liberal womyn who have born children - usually 1. Bachmann has 5 children and raised 23 foster children. Any woman with that sort of maternal and nurturing instinct is a woman to be shunned in polite liberal society. Being pro-life is bad enough from an 'enlightened liberal' perspective, but raising 23 foster children who by all rights should have been killed in-utero borders on the liberal notion of sin.
She is a wife. While some liberal womyn are married, Bachmann is by all accounts a 'traditional Christian wife'. That means that she works with her husband and includes him in key decision making. She listens to his opinions and factors them into political and personal moves that she makes. By all accounts her husband reciprocates since they are both involved in Bachmann and Associates, a Christian counseling practice.
She is a politician. Having started out in the Minnesota State Senate, she moved on the the US House of Representatives. From a liberal perspective, all women who are in the political world should be liberals. They view the women's vote in all races to be theirs and theirs alone. Allowing a bright, articulate, educated, mother of the likes of Bachmann and Palin onto the national stage sets a dangerous precedent. What if others of their type took heart of those women and considered them role models?
She's conservative. Having a 'token conservative woman' in the US House is bad enough. Having one like Bachmann who rejects every liberal pet program: ObamaCare, fluorescent light bulbs, opposes federal funding of education, feels as if global warming is a scam, advocates domestic oil exploration and production, opposes a global currency, opposes auto manufacturer bail-outs, and feels that their champion, Barack Hussein Obama is a dangerous and possibly un-American (fool) person -- well, Bachmann has to go. What other conclusion could any liberal draw from this?

I don't think that Michele Bachmann will be President in 2012, but she's a great lady and stands with Sarah Palin as one of those people who are willing to say NO to big government and the disastrous status quo in Washington, DC.

The Ames Straw Poll - more commentary that doesn't matter

2011-08-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ames Straw Poll

(snark and bias included) (link to LA Times results)

Pawlenty - hung out in Iowa for a month kissing babies and promising the moon, and spending most of the money in his warchest for third place. He came off as weak and whining in the debates and I think he's lucky to get 2,300 votes (rounded up). Maybe it means that people will continue to send him money -- maybe not. I know that he wants to be the next POTUS and that he thinks that he's cool, but he's not. Maybe he could be the Mouse that Roared if elected, but he won't be elected and that's that.

Paul - is accused of bussing people in to vote for him. If he did, good for him. The 4,700 votes (rounded up) mean that Libertarians will continue to send him money for another few months until he's throttled in the first series of genuine primary elections (beyond the straw poll at the Iowa State Fair). I am not anti-Libertarian per se. Their (and Ron Paul's) limited (and naive) view of foreign policy in a world where we are in the very center of a global economy, mystifies me. Though I am generally anti-war (Maj. Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC said 'War is a Racket' and he was right), there is such a thing as trade. Trade becomes 'war by other means' all too often. Ron Paul doesn't pack the gear to be leader of the free world. He's lucky to keep getting elected to Congress where he almost always votes the way I'd vote if I was in Congress. Maybe I should run for Congress?

Santorum - can't get elected to anything in his own state. But he'd like to be President and seems to be willing to hold his finger to the breeze, decide which way the wind is blowing and to say things intended to please the Iowa State Fair attendees (and us). But he didn't do well despite spending a month in Iowa and most of his money. How much did he spend for 1,657 votes broken down in dollars per vote? Just curious.

Bachmann - won and lost. She lost because Gov. Rick Perry announced that he's running on the same day that she won, which means the end of most of the cash for Bachmann. I think that she worked for her 4823 votes. She's a solid conservative but in my (not so) humble opinion, it would be nice to see her actually run something. Being a tax attorney and in Congress isn't enough to qualify you to be President. She may be in it to win it - but I'm curious to see how she'll do in the first primary vote next year.

Cain - ended up with 8% of the votes (1456 votes). I think that's more or less where he is in the pack. I would love to have Herman Cain over to my house for dinner. I think he's a delightful guy and that his heart is in the right place. I simply don't believe that he has the staying power this time around. I don't believe that the money will follow his candidacy.

Romney - showed up, gave his speech and pulled in 567 votes. Rick Perry didn't show up, didn't speak, wasn't on the ballot and edged him with 718 votes. One could say that Iowa voters were underwhelmed with front-runner Mitt. They liked him in 2008 and he came in first in the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll - not so much this time. However I don't think that he mingled much or kissed many babies (or asses) in Iowa.

Gingrich - is not my choice for President, but his experience and polish shown through in the debate. He convinced 385 State Fair attendees to cast their ballot for him. A win (imho) in the debate and a loss in the polling. The Party won't back him. The Tea Party considers him a RINO and he'd be a poor President. He's hanging out for the sake of ego. I think he needs to write another historical novel or something. His name will get him a juicy publishing contract. But it won't get him elected President.

Huntsman - in his first time at the podium on the Presidential trail, he sounded halting, unsure and weak. He got 69 votes. I'm surprised that he did that well, but he may have flown in relatives from Utah to puff his numbers. That's just speculation on my part. I don't know for sure. Obama likes him. That puts me off him.

McCotter - scraped 35 votes together. He's running for President, though I don't think there are any more than 35 people in the entire country who know it. He spent $18,000 for campaign space (plus expenses) and it means that he's out roughly $600 per vote. If he simply handed out six, hundred-dollar bills to each voter who would cast one for him, he would have done better.

Palin? - is leaving her options open. I personally doubt that she'll run for President (ego not withstanding). She's simply trying to keep a chip in the big game. I get it, I don't blame her. She wants to be a power broker at the convention - and beyond. Fox has not canceled her contract, which means that she told them that she's not running. But when you put a camera on her during her bus tour, she loves to play mind games with the press.

Perry - managed more votes than Romney even though he had not announced for President at the time and didn't show up to the Fox News Debate. Because he beat Romney, Gingrich, Huntsman, and McCotter, I have to mention him here. My sense is that the big campaign money is his to loose. Romney has been running for President for over a year now, doing the rubber chicken circuit, etc. Perry has been busy running Texas and by all accounts, he's done a good job. Texas is one of the few states in the nation that are doing well. Perry-Ryan or Perry-Rubio would be difficult tickets to beat. Obama is up late at night worrying about Romney, but I think that he has more to worry about with Rick Perry.

Are American Riots Likely?

2011-08-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

How weak are the American people? How corrupt is our character? We seem unphased by the millions of murdered/aborted children every year. We elected Obama, a pathological narcissist (therefore a chronic liar) to be president. Harry Reid is the Senate Majority Leader - so maybe the answer is obvious. (h/t Dale for the graphic - right)

---

I've been poor and I've been comfortable -- and comfortable is more...comfortable. However the lifethat my grandparents lived wasn't horrible, but there were things they didn't do that I'm able to do. I know that's our American dream, isn't it? I want my children and grandchildren to be better off in all respects than I have been.

However, a lot of that has been stolen by socialists, not the least of whom is Pres. Barack Hussein Obama. But he's not the only one. Politicians pay for votes by using taxpayer money. It's the oldest game in the book. Julius Caesar did much the same thing (adjusted for his time in history).

So the bees are in the butter and we can't shoo them away? Is that where we are in time and history?

Rasmussen Reports presents a dismal survey:

Nearly one-out-of-two Americans (48%) think that cuts in government spending are at least somewhat likely to lead to violence in the United States, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But that includes just 13% who feel it’s Very Likely.

Nearly as many Adults (44%), however, believe violence as the result of spending cuts is unlikely, but only 12% say it’s Not At All Likely.

Americans under 50 raise the possibility of violence more than their elders. Most adults not affiliated with either party (58%) think spending cuts are likely to trigger violence, compared to 46% of Republicans and 42% of Democrats.

Tax hikes and a crashing stock market are seen as less incendiary in the minds of most Americans. Thirty-seven percent (37%) think increased taxes are at least somewhat likely to lead to violence, but 59% view that as unlikely. This includes 14% who say such violence is Very Likely and 20% who believe it’s Not At All Likely.

The poll showed that 48% of Americans feel that there will be civil disorder if the US stops borrowing 40% of each dollar it spends. Are the American people THAT dense? Pulling the lolly pop out of the mouth of the mouth of the spoiled child will cause it to riot. Well, maybe we are as pathetic as the British are in their riots - because the government is reducing their welfare payments.

Weakness can also be measured in terms of appeasement. The Obama Administration has recast the nature of Islamic Terrorism. I wonder if it's Saudi money (bribes) that spurs the government in this sad and ineffective approach.

Appeasement of Islamic Terrorists (LINK)

(Commenterama) Quintan Wiktorowicz is the main inspiration for the policy paper. Would you like to hazard a guess as to where he is coming from? Well, after 9/11, he authored several treatises on how al-Qaeda (my preferred spelling) must be distinguished from moderate Muslim organizations such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. He also distinguishes between good Salafists and bad Salafists (a very violent offshoot of the Brotherhood). That's a bit like distinguishing between the SS and the Gestapo. His arguments haven't changed with time, and now the President of one of the largest Muslim nations on earth has singled him out to plot American strategy to bring Islam into mainstream America and deflect violent extremism.

The underlying philosophy of Barack Obama, as evidenced by this paper and his choice of the authors, is that if the fox keeps killing your chickens, put the fox in charge of the henhouse. The paper actually suggests that the most devout Muslims are the ones who are best for combating radicalism. "Very religious Muslims are the most resistant to radicalization while those most likely to be radicalized lack a good grounding in Islam." Very religious Muslims like bin-Laden, al-Awlaki, and Adam Gadahn ("Azzam the American")?

The American people need to decide what is and what is not in their best interests. Appeasing Islam is not a good idea. Presidential Candidate Ron Paul said in the Iowa debate last night that we should completely ignore it.

You know, if we try to crack down on terrorists - they might riot too! Then where would we be? Islamic radicals rioting? People rioting because their food stamp allotment has been cut may join with them.

Looking Forward to 2012

2011-08-11T00:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who I'll tout for the Republican Party Presidential Ticket in 2012. Though Michelle Bachmann is in the lead at the moment, I'm almost certain that we'll see that star fade as the money goes to former Governor Mitt Romney (MA) and Governor Rick Perry (TX). At the moment, I'm edging toward Perry though the jury is not yet in on him. Romney is a RINO. Yes, he's an order of magnitude better than Obama, but his conservative credentials are tarnished.

The Obama Campaign has vowed to destroy Romney through the press, etc. (Politico) I'm sure that the mainstream media will be willing Obama pawns once again.

"Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, a strategy grounded in the early-stage expectation that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee."

We all know that Obama can't run on his record, so he'll go ugly early in the hopes of the press (backed by Obama campaign money) doing to Romney what they did three years ago to Sarah Palin.

The rest of the Republican pack: Newt Gingrich (I think he's still in but why?), Jon Huntsman (John who? - Obama's friend, oh, that's who), Ron (I believe in flying saucers) Paul, Herman Cain (the Republican black man) and Milk Toast Tim Pawlenty round out the field. I don't think that any of them will be Romney's or Perry's vice presidential picks. I still default back to Paul Ryan as an extremely good pick for Vice President. He's said that he's not running for President but he's never ruled out the VP job.

Imagine with me, if you will, the Joe (Slow Joe) Biden vs Paul Ryan debate! Ok, it may never happen, but if it does, I'm going to record it.

What to watch for in the Democratic Party's camp:

(1) Obama will dump Biden and will find another Democrat who's not such a screaming idiot. Biden is old and can decide not to run based on health reasons.

(2) The only current challenger to Obama's nomination to the Democratic Party ticket is Randall Terry (don't feel bad if you don't know who he is -Link to DNC). The Democrats are looking for a serious alternative to Obama and I have no idea who they'll be propping up. Most of the Democratic Party's Senators are a lot like Harry Reid and John Kerry - as cold as vipers. But don't rule out Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). I would be shocked if Hillary Clinton got back in that game.

Obama fails again

2011-08-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Some call Obama clueless. Others think that he's simply obtuse. And it's tough to know whether it's an act or if he can really possibly be as stupid as he pretends to be.

He tried to calm the stock market today and failed miserably because he made it clear that he's completely out of ideas on how to build the economy, grow jobs and get us out of the morass that he and the Democratic Congress planted us in. After his remarks the market fell an additional 5.5% (to 6.9%).

He played the class-envy card suggesting that heavier taxes on the sector that creates jobs would spur more job growth. That certainly inspired the stock market. He wants to spend more on roads in his third "summer of recovery" but we lost 330,000 jobs last year between June and September when his 'recovery' program was in full swing. The shovel-ready jobs never appeared. Obama also wants to extend unemployment benefits from two to three years. Now there's a plan to spur people to find work. Many people find that they make more on unemployment than they'd make working. Does anyone think it would spur the economy to keep the unemployment payments flowing for a third year? He also wants to extend the temporary payroll tax cut that didn't do anything to improve the economy. That's it - and it's why the markets continued to tank.

Yes there are culprits - the evil fifth column, called The Tea Party - those radical people who demand that the government not borrow more than it can afford to repay. If it wasn't so absurd, I'd think that it was a Saturday Night Live skit.

Weekend Update (musings)

2011-08-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

The Obama Administration didn't exactly pop into being, propelled by a brain trust of the best and brightest. I felt that the "summer(s) of recovery were a joke when Obama put poor old senile Joe (Slow Joe) Biden in charge of "jobs", "the recovery" and so forth. It's like putting your your sister's retarded step-child in charge of balancing the company's books because you're too cheap to hire somebody. It doesn't work. It can't work.

The Democratic controlled legislature didn't even to bother coming up with budgets for the past two years, 'deeming' whatever they spent to be 'the budget'. I find it amazing that there are still Democrats who vote for them. Or are we going to define Democrats in future elections as - unemployed people receiving princely benefits, members of labor unions and those racially attuned to the president? With the number of unemployed, Obama might win the next election given those criteria.

The problem is that the people in charge are socialists. Their view of what the nation needs has nothing to do with what the nation actually needs.

(Reuters) The latest jobless numbers showed just 117,000 jobs were created in July, a number that — like this year's GDP data — probably will be revised downward. Official unemployment, not including job seekers who have just given up, stands at 9.1%. The participation rate, which measures the percentage of people working or searching for jobs, fell to 63.9%, the lowest in 27 years.

This weekend, the president is off to Camp David for more birthday celebrations. I didn't have the opportunity to wish him birthday greetings personally (this blog will have to suffice).

MEANWHILE, Obama's chief apple-polisher (and future Democratic Party Presidential Hopefull), Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz assures all of us that the economy has turned the corner. Beat that drum hard, Rep. Wasserman.

Sidebar: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz always reminded me of a female version of former congressman Anthony Weiner. But since she hasn't texted me with photos of her unappealing nude frame, it remains to be seen whether she delivers the goods the way that Weiner did.

A few friends who read this blog (and you know who you are) called me and asked me where the stock market is heading. I give free advice so they get their money's worth - and I suggested that with rising interest rates a foregone conclusion that housing prices would be going down as people are less able to afford even the cheap homes on the market today. And housing starts (lowest since 1948) are a good economic indicator in America. The only real question is whether unemployment will be higher than 10% when the elections roll around next year.

However, unless/until the Republican Party finds somebody to run for President that the public has the slightest degree of confidence in, Obama could still possibly be re-elected in 2012.

And to friends vacationing in Chicago this weekend - we need a report on the mood in the streets from Obama's City.

###

The Modern Arab Mind Set

2011-08-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

The Arab world is suffering a crisis of humiliation. Over the past century their armies have routed not only by Americans, the British, French and Turks, but also by tiny, Jewish Israel.

Arthur Koestler said, "The Arab world has not, in the last 500 years or so, produced much besides rugs, dirty postcards, elaborations on the belly-dance esthetic and, of course, some innovative terrorist practices. They have no science to speak of, no art, hardly any industry save oil (and they hire others to pull it out of the ground for them), very little literature, and portentous music which consists largely of lugubrious songs celebrating the slaughter of Jews."

Now that the Arabs have acquired national consciousness, and they compare their societies to other nations, these deficiencies become painfully evident, particularly to the upper-class Arab kids who attend foreign universities. There they learn about the accomplishments of Christians, Jews, and women. And yet, with the exception of Edward Said, there is scarcely a contemporary Arab name in the bunch. No wonder, then, that major recruitment to al-Qaeda's ranks takes place among Arab university students. And no wonder that suicide bombing becomes their tactic of choice: it is a last-ditch, desperate way of asserting at least one scrap of superiority—a spiritual superiority—over the materialistic, shameful West.

Some assert that the changes set in train by modernization are particularly toxic to the Arabs. No doubt this is true. Besides sharpening their sense of inferiority relative to the West, modernization threatens to bring about the liberation of women (as in Afghanistan and Iraq) threatens their culture because the self-esteem of Arab males is in large part predicated on the inferior position of their women. The Arab nations have for the most part lost their slaves and dhimmis, the subject peoples onto whose persons the stigmata of shame could be downloaded. But anyone who has spent time among them knows that Arab males have not lost their psychological need for social and sexual inferiors.

"In the absence of slaves and captive peoples, Arab women are elected for the special role of the inferior who, by definition, lacks honor. Arab men eradicate shame and bolster their shaky self-esteem by imposing the shameful qualities of the dhimmi, submission and passivity, upon women. Trailing a humbled woman behind them, Arab men can walk the walk of the true macho man."

The Arab world has stunted the female half of its brain pool, while the men acquire instant self-esteem not by real accomplishment, but by the mere fact of being men, rather than women. No wonder, then, that the Arab nations feel irrationally threatened by the very existence of Israel. Like America, the Jews have brought the reality of the liberated woman into the very heart of the Middle East, into dar al-Islam itself. Big Satan and Little Satan: the champions of Muslim women.

The Arabic culture of fanaticism, bizarre behavior in the name of "honor"; and simultaneously the cultural oppression, subjugation, and humiliation of women and others perceived as "weak" (and therefore "shameful") has become (yet another) hallmark of their failure to achieve anything noteworthy besides living in a place with a sea of oil under the sand.

The sad truth is that if there was no oil under the sand, nobody would care the slightest about the Arabs, what little they can claim in the way of culture and their dubious footprint on history. As it is they've made themselves into a shameful smudge on the pages of history. It can be reversed, but not without admitting that a 180 degree course correction is desirable. And I don't see that coming any time soon.

Enabling Evil

2011-07-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

I can only tolerate so much quibbling over the US Budget before my brain simply forces me to shift gears while the politicians posture, puff and build their personal fortunes.

But I want to fire a shot across the bow at those passive aggressive political creatures like Noam Chomsky, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Hussein Obama who build their careers on enabling evil. Thus begins my rant.

There is a strange sort of populist authoritarianism that has become all the rage in intellectual circles. The Left - and Obama in particular - have an way of locking arms with the mainstream media and applauding dictators who are swept into power by the "poor", who can always be counted on to cheer the empty promises of a tyrant offering an easy way out of poverty. Their mantra is always blaming the condition of the 'poor' on the usual scapegoats: the 'rich', America, Israel and capitalism. That those dictator's reigns inevitably turn to misery and bloodshed are ignored.

How many millions have the devastating socialist experiments of the last century killed? A quarter billion might be a good number to start with when we consider:

National Socialism - German Socialism: Liberals never want to concede that Hitler was an unabashed socialist.
Marxism Leninism - Russian Socialism: As practiced by Joseph Stalin and those of his ilk.
Maoism - Chinese Socialism: The 'Great Leap Forward' literally starved 50,000,000 Chinese (numbers provided by the current Bejing government).
The Petty Potentates: Pol Pot, Kim Il Jung (father, son and grandson Kim), Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Saddam Hussein and his Baathists (who practiced a peculiarly Middle Eastern strong-man form of socialism) - and the list goes on.

I'm discouraged to see this whole pattern cheered on by the American Administration with the likes of Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales who are building their head of steam to reach their full anti-human potential. Why are we seeing this happen over again once more? Didn't the world learn with a quarter billion crushed lives? The short answer is, no. It seems not.

Barack Obama's mother's milk was socialism, class envy, and a genuine hatred of the system that propelled him into office. So I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. The revolutionary myth, like religion, continue to thrive in an environment where even a hundred proofs of abject failure are insufficient to wean us from those primordial illusions that some (Obama, Carter, etc.) wish so profoundly to be true. After all, who doesn't want to see the wicked and arrogant put in their place? Who among the downtrodden and dispossessed can fail to be stirred by the promise of a world in which all men are equal and each has what he needs?

Obama paints himself (in his own mind) as one who offers a socialistic (apocalypse) option where he stands charismatically promising revolutionary defiance to the poor's oppressors. His promise to "fundamentally change and rearrange America" is proof enough of those intentions.

However socialism isn't a quick fix for anyone's social ills, no matter how much it's cherished by the mainstream media, progressives and the enablers of evil. And when you are persuaded that it might be, let those numbers - a quarter of a billion lives - and uncounted human misery roll around in your mind for a while.

America's Best

2011-07-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine, compadre from the Old Days, passed away today. There's not much I can offer by way of final comment except to suggest that his life, well lived, is his benediction.

SFC John Granger US Army

ODA3125

Is the US Govt 'smuggling' military grade weapons to Mexico?

2011-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder where the drug cartels obtained ALL of those military grade weapons?

We know that Operation Gunrunner and it's child Operation Fast and Furious were clandestine operations in which over 2,500 civilian grade firearms were smuggled to narcotics cartels in Mexico. We know that was responsible for deaths and that the Obama Administration has been unsuccessfully stonewalling the Congressional investigation.

But as Alice in Wonderland asked, "how deep does the rabbit hole go?"

The El Paso Times published an article suggesting that in addition to Gunrunner/Fast and Furious, that we've been supplying the Los Zetas Cartel with military grade weapons, unavailable to civilian gun dealers. Read about it HERE. (excerpted below)

The brutally violent Zetas drug organization may be smuggling military-grade weapons through El Paso and Columbus, N.M., to feed its ongoing battles against other cartels and to possibly disrupt the 2012 elections in Mexico.

Phil Jordan, a former director of the DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center and a former CIA operative, said the Zetas have shipped large amounts of weapons through the El Paso area.

"They are purchasing weapons in the Dallas area and are flying them to El Paso, and then they are taking them across the border into Juárez," said Jordan. Jordan said the Zetas were flying weapons caches out of the Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, and after they arrive in the El Paso vicinity, the Zetas smuggled them into Juárez.

"What's ironic is that the DEA also uses the Alliance Airport for some of its operations," Jordan said. "The Zetas were working out of a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in the Dallas area to smuggle the weapons to the border."

The DEA has its Aviation Operations Center at Alliance.

Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, supported Jordan's allegations and said the Zetas allegedly also purchased property in the Columbus-Palomas border region to stash weapons and other contraband.

DEA Special Agent Diana Apodaca, spokeswoman for El Paso's DEA office, said the agency did not have any information about the Zetas allegedly operating in this border region. No one from the Border Patrol or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives returned calls Tuesday for comment.

"The military task force became concerned that its information about arms smuggling was being compromised," Plumlee said. "From the intel, it appears that a company was set up in Mexico to purchase weapons through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales program, and that the company may have had a direct link to the Zetas."

Under the Direct Commercial Sales program, the U.S. State Department regulates and licenses businesses to sell weapons and defense services and training for export. Last year, according to U.S. statistics, the program was used to provide Mexico $416.5 million worth of weapons and equipment, including military-grade weaponry.

The program is different from the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, which operates on a government-to-government basis.

Plumlee said military-grade weapons were found in a Juárez warehouse two years ago, and some of them were moved later to a ranch elsewhere in Juárez. Arms stash houses have also been reported in places across the border from Columbus and Antelope Wells, N.M.

Is this just Los Zetas being clever or is it a US Government sponsored operation? The question begs an answer and unfortunately there aren't any readily available. What is the Obama Administration up to? The question isn't merely rhetorical - because these violations of PUBLIC TRUST are very significant, if true. As bad as Operation Gunrunner was, this sounds even worse.

Characteristics of the Obama White House

2011-07-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

In America today, the single-minded pursuit of the irrelevant by the self-important progressive movement has a poster child in President Obama. America's "golden age" of personal responsibility has been trashed; reason and truth trivialized in our society where the celebration of victimhood is the pinnacle of self-empowerment and self-actualization.

Between the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, a fundamentally fascist (i.e., anationalistic socialist) movement; and with the second wind that has been given to the remnants of the 20th century's failed socialist and communist 'experiments' (in which millions of people were slaughtered by the compassionate and progressive left), we have truly entered a golden age of narcissism.

(H/T Dale - for the graphic - right)

Consider the characteristics of the malignant narcissist:

1. Shamelessness: Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.

2. Magical thinking: Narcissists see themselves as perfect using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others.

3. Arrogance: A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.

4. Envy: A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.

5. Entitlement: Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage.

6. Exploitation: Can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed.

7. Bad boundaries: Narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and are expected to live up to those expectations. In the mind of a narcissist there is no boundary between self and other.

The ideology of the political left in all its various iterations--socialist, communist, radical environmentalism, progressive; call it what you will -- is, at its core an essentially narcissistic and self-indulgent pursuit of power, with all the unhealthy psychological attributes that implies.

This is not to suggest that narcissism or sociopathy exit merely within the political left. Clearly it does not. But, having made that qualification, today's progressive leftist is steeped in and encouraged by an ideology that rewards only feelings and not critical thinking or truth; fantasy and not reality; and good intentions instead of actual outcome in the real world. The narcissists of this world (characterized above) lead the the poor, innocent and unsuspecting lefist into cognitive dissonance in his thinking patterns and wreak all sorts of misery and spiritual destruction on the people who are the targets of the leftists' supposed goodwill.

But they neither care nor notice, since the primary determinant of why they do what they do is to make themselves feel good; to escape for one brief moment the emptiness of their own individual souls and the self-hatred and rage that motivate them.

Democrats and those on the left HAVE NO MORAL OR ETHICAL STANDARDS TO BEGIN WITH (that's what moral relativism is all about), hence when their reprehensible behavior is exposed for all to see, they are utterly shameless about it. They have managed to convince themselves that they are, on the whole, morally superior to the common riff-raff (and certainly compared to evil Republicans and conservatives they perceive themselves to be virtual saints; champions of the poor and oppressed and leaders in goodness). For such a person how can any traditional rules of behavior apply? When you subscribe to an ideology that emphasizes how loving, compassionate, and caring and "reality-based" you are as its central theses, then you are home free! So, even when your reprehensible behavior is made public, then you are not mandated to feel any shame--shame is for losers. Think back for a moment to former Congressman Weiner, sending photos of his part to ladies nationwide from his chair on the floor of Congress.

Many Democrats and certainly most leftists are completely shameless in the sense that they will never ever, for as long as they can possibly get away with it, going to admit to bad behavior. And in those rare cases where they simply cannot wiggle and maneuver and lie and deceive; or self-righteously tell you how wonderful they really are and all the wonderful things they have done for the 'little people'; they will simply pretend they are still virtuous and have been victimized in some way. What's sad is that they often believe it themselves.

Municipal Bankruptcy - Orange County (CA)

2011-07-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

The US Bankrutpcy Code allows for counties and municipalities to seek bankruptcy protection under Chapter 9. No mention is made in the code for US States. The largest municipal bankruptcy in history occurred in Orange County, California and I managed the criminal investigation that resulted. Now, sixteen years later, a (90 page) report of that investigation will soon be available on Amazon.com, Kindle, on e-books and in book stores (on a for-order basis).

Orange County is the richest county in the richest half of the richest portion of the richest state in the richest nation on the planet. How did this happen?

For the first time, the true story of what transpired, and who caused what is available to the public. This report is factual and is made without prejudice or bias. It's not written by a third party reporter or someone who had access to some of the facts. I had access to ALL of the facts and personally conducted most of the key investigative interviews. This is not a tell-all book in the sense of casting blame or pointing fingers. There was blame enough to be shared by everyone involved - The Orange County Board of Supervisors, The Orange County Treasurer, Merrill Lynch, Standard and Poors & Moodys Rating Services and other broker dealers.

***

On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. County officials believed this action was necessary because of market losses to the Orange County Investment Pool (OCIP) estimated at the time to exceed $2,500,000,000. Due to a favorable selling environment, the actual losses were later tabulated at about $1,690,000,000. Citron managed funds worth $8 billion but had leveraged them to amounts from 158% to almost 300%. (The OCIP had been leveraged to $21 billion dollars.)

Orange County Treasurer Robert L. (Bob) Citron was the only Democratic Party politician within the Orange County Executive political community and the only one holding office on December 6, 1994 when Orange County declared bankruptcy.

Citron pled guilty to six felony counts and three special enhancements. Charges also included filing a false and misleading financial summary to participants purchasing securities in the Orange County Treasury Investment Pool. The court ordered Citron to serve five years of supervised probation, and to perform 1000 hours of community service. Citron did not serve any time in prison.

There are many lessons that can be drawn from this investigation, but perhaps the most striking one, which I believe that Bob Citron would agree with, was that he had absolutely no qualifications to manage funds of this magnitude. He ran for office unopposed for over twenty years, the public elected him because his name was the only one on the ballot. During the course of the investigation, I learned that Bob Citron kept his personal record of the funds, leveraged to $21 billion on the backs of a few manila folders. We obtained the ‘ledgers’ by way of a search warrant and they were duly booked as evidence.

Orange County arrived at a settlement with Merrill Lynch & Co, Inc. in 1998. Merrill Lynch paid $400,000,000 in civil fines and $10,000,000 in criminal penalties to settle accusations that it sold inappropriate and risky investments to Orange County Treasurer Robert L. (Bob) Citron. The agreement stipulated that Merrill Lynch not admit any liability. It remains the largest criminal fine levied and collected in the history of the State of California. Orange County lost $1.69 billion and eventually recovered about $600 million in total, including the $400 million from Merrill Lynch.

From the Investigative Summary-

"Robert L. Citron, elected Treasurer, his Assistant Treasurer Matt Raabe, and the Director of Management and Budget, Ronald Rubino were in a position to have “saved” the County, had they chosen to put the responsibilities of their office ahead of their personal ambitions and egos. Auditor-Controller Steve Lewis should have known, and had he exercised even the basic responsibilities of his office, he would have known the danger to the County, which resulted from Citron’s disastrous investment policy. The Board of Supervisors, and in particular, Supervisor Roger Stanton failed to supervise those elected officials who directly diverted funds, and failed to detect those illegal acts. Neither did he heed both implied and outright warnings of the impending disaster.

"Once the magnitude of the financial problem was known, Supervisor Stanton counseled other County officials, “do nothing, because if we do anything, it will be said that we could have done something.” (emphasis added) In large part the necessity of filing for Bankruptcy Protection under Chapter 9 resulted from the inability of the Supervisors to come to a decision. An eleventh hour bailout at very favorable interest rates had been arranged by J. P. Morgan & Co., which received the blessing of the Federal Reserve. That deal had been predicated on the acceptance of Orange County Government and their ability to appoint a Fiduciary.

"Had it been accepted, the County would not have needed to declare bankruptcy, and the resulting expense associated with the “less than investment grade” bonds the County sold would have been far lower. That deal was not accepted because there was no willingness to do anything. The investigation showed there was no resolve at the highest levels of County Management to do anything but blame each other in the hopes of retaining their political aspirations for future (and higher) office. In that way, in addition to those set forth previously, both Steiner and Stanton showed a total disregard for their public trust and responsibility."

In a sense, it was politics as usual, and because of that, the lessons learned are as applicable today as they were in back then.

###

ObamaNomics

2011-07-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Ovid writes [in Metamorphoses XI] that Dionysus found that his old schoolmaster and foster father, the satyr Silenus had disappeared. Apparently the old satyr had been drinking wine and had wandered away drunk, later to be found by some Phrygian peasants, who took him to their king, Midas. King Midas recognized him and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus delighted Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On the eleventh day, he brought Silenus back to Bacchus in Lydia. Bacchus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold.

And things didn't work out quite the way that Midas wanted them to. The Obama Administration wants to create jobs but the unemployment rate keeps rising --- because job creation is not a function of government. It's a function of private industry. Government can get out of the private sector's way, which will naturally result in job creation. Or they can impede private industry with more taxes, regulations and worst of all, UNCERTAINTY.

Every time the economy takes another dip, Obama takes the podium and talks about how happy days will soon be here again, if only he can spend MORE MONEY to 'spend our way out of a depression'. But it doesn't work that way - and horse apples will never be turned into gold. (H/T Dale for the graphic)

Casey Anthony - Mother of the Year

2011-07-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

A jury of her peers found Casey Anthony (mother of the year) not guilty of murdering her baby daughter. And people howled. How could the jury do that?

However we need to take a big step back and look at it the way a "progressive" would (which is the leftist's code word for "Democrats"). I'm sure that there were some progressive people sitting on that jury.

Casey Anthony - from a Progressive Perspective - is a hero!

She wanted to party - (LINK to Casey Anthony Party Photos) and the baby got in the way. It happens to millions of American women. And there are a lot of women who feel that a baby would be a millstone around their necks. (roughly 4,000 babies are aborted in America every day (LINK)

Really, the Casey Anthony situation is very similar to the 1.4 million babies aborted (stats op cit) every year in America. They're inconvenient - they will potentially interfere with lifestyle, and they have to go.

That's simply my view of the situation. And if you're outraged at her conduct, look around. That same philosophy abounds.

INSINKERATOR - Buyer Beware!

2011-07-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

About 4 1/2 months ago, I bought a replacement kitchen garbage disposal unit. Trying to get the best unit available, I bought the Insinkerator Evolution Excel (Serial No. 10031649882). The Excel is the 'Rolls Royce' of garbage disposals if you read the literature. I paid an insane $350.00 for the unit and the cord comes extra (not included with the disposal unit). I bought it because it they advertised it as being very quiet.

I strongly recommend that you consider buying a different product.

Please don't make the same mistake that I did. Judge for yourself.

Just over four months later the entire lower seal has failed through routine kitchen use:

Just because I was STUPID enough to buy one of these units doesn't

mean that you have to follow in my footsteps. Unless you've bought

one already. In that case -- you have my sympathy.

Insinkerator promises a hefty warranty that is not worth the paper that it's printed on. When I called the 1-800-558-5700 customer support number, nobody answered for fifteen or twenty minutes, but I was offered the option to leave a message. I punched '1'. The message said that the mail box was full and then bid me, "Good Bye!"

I bought the unit at Home Depot. Their in-store warranty only lasts for 90 days -- just short of the service life of the Insinkerator Evolution Excel. I have no problem with Home Depot. My problem is with the company and the JUNK that they sell to the public.

The cheap disposer unit that came with the house lasted 12 years. This unit didn't even make 6 months before it totally failed.

Treason - and a New Birth of Freedom

2011-07-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

It was treason for those founding fathers to gather together in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Putting pen to paper condemned each of them to the gallows or the headsman's tender mercies. It was the brink that they couldn't step back from, and yet they did it.

A woman asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin as he left the hall what kind of government they created. He responded, "A Republic, if you can keep it."

Sometimes I feel as if the Constitution hangs by a thread, and the Republic, under God has been diluted through the lusts of the 'progressive'. The 'new morality' is simply the old immorality. There's really no other way to couch it. We will survive so long as we are a moral nation. Yet the most dangerous place to be a black person is in the womb...in New York City. You can't separate the sanctity of life from the sanctity of freedom.

The men who signed the Declaration 235 years ago. Understood this. It's a pity that so many of us do not.

What manner of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, 11 were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough.

John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart.

Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags. And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton. Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson died bankrupt.

But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. Five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, 3 million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world. In recent years, however, I’ve come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation.

It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history.

Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

- President Ronald Reagan

I wish you all the best of Independence Days. And may Freedom reign in the Spirt of '76!

It moves me!

2011-07-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid.

The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem titled Defense of Fort McHenry.

The poem was eventually set to music that had originally been written by English composer John Stafford Smith for a song titled "The Anacreontic Song". The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance, and after that it was repeated for every game. Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

It never ceases to move me.

The End of the Rainbow in 2014?

2011-06-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

When Mr. Obama came into power, he seemed determined to make Afghanistan 'his war' - even though we'd been there for a long time already. Now, he's not so sure that he wants to link his presidency to the Afghan War. And I don't blame him. As with so many other similar conflicts throughout history, you first have to ask yourself where the end of the counterinsurgency rainbow is. And while you're searching, consider why we went there in the first place and why we remain.

When the British left Asia and the Middle East, the US took their place and the power vacuum was temporary and rather small. If the US suddenly decided to abandon the Middle East and Asia it would create a problem for the world and I am not suggesting that we take that Libertarian course of action. When we left Viet Nam, we didn't leave Asia.

A 10 year land war in Asia for the sake of fighting Muslim extremists can turn into a 20 year war or a 30 year war if we plan to turn Afghans into Americans. (The Afghans have a stubborn historical precedent for remaining Afghans no matter who occupies their country) Political Islam failed to deliver on its promise of a just government. It failed to provide a prosperous society. And it has failed to foster a flourishing culture. Islam, the faith doesn't translate into good government. Brutal Sharia Law doesn't lead to a blossoming society full of new science and 'the good life'. And the Afghans have their own brand of Sharia based on the jirgha (literally 'circle') of elders who decide what the tribe will do. It has been and will be the basis of Afghan society and law no matter how much we try to change it.

Our broad strategic objectives for Afghanistan are part of the problem. Keeping America safe can remain a goal for keeping troops in Afghanistan at some sustainable level. However, when you look at the map (above), you need to ask yourself if Six Corps (a lot of people) will make the social change we seek by 2014. Is that the end of the counterinsurgency rainbow?

US Roadmap for Afghanistan (Opinion)

2011-06-27T16:03:00.000-07:00

Nobody has ever accused me of being a peacenik, however, the question of where we should be heading in Afghanistan remains. Is America's continued involvement there is a good idea or not.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times wrote: "When President Barack Obama announced his decision to surge more troops into Afghanistan in 2009, I argued that it could succeed if three things happened: Pakistan became a different country, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan became a different man and we succeeded at doing exactly what we claim not to be doing, nation-building in Afghanistan. None of that has happened, which is why I still believe our options in Afghanistan are: lose early, lose late, lose big or lose small. I vote for early and small."

I am pessimistic that the US will be able to achieve any long term nation building in Afghanistan (a bronze age tribal culture armed with modern small arms).

Whether the surge is working or not may soothe our egos in the short term, but in the long term, unless we are going to continue to pour soldiers and money into that tribal morass for all eternity, it will eventually revert to its natural state which is feudal and chaotic and not worth one American life nor a penny of American taxpayer funds.

Killing Al Qaida was a noble, necessary, and achievable aim; anything beyond that is only wishful, unrealistic, and very expensive thinking.

Back to Friedman:

"My wariness about Afghanistan comes from asking these three questions: When does the Middle East make you happy? How did the Cold War end? What would Ronald Reagan do? Let's look at all three.

"When did the Middle East make us happiest in the past few decades? That's easy: (1) when Anwar Sadat made his breakthrough visit to Jerusalem; (2) when the Sunni uprising in Iraq against the pro-al-Qaida forces turned the tide there; (3) when the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was routed in 2001 by Afghan rebels, backed only by U.S. air power and a few hundred U.S. Special Forces; (4) when Israelis and Palestinians drafted a secret peace accord in Oslo; (5) when the Green Revolution happened in Iran; (6) when the Cedar Revolution erupted in Lebanon; (7) when the democracy uprisings in Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Egypt emerged; (8) when Israel unilaterally withdrew from South Lebanon and Gaza.

"And what do they all have in common? America had nothing to do with almost all of them. They were self-propelled by the people themselves; we did not see them coming; and most of them didn't cost us a dime."

We need to let the Afghans sort out their own problems with or without Pakistani involvement - it's up to them.

P. S.

Until the US has a comprehensive, sane energy policy, the Middle East will matter more to us than it should. So we have to keep a hand in the mix -- but the sooner that we take a step back and make the hard choices for a long term independence from Middle Eastern oil, the better off we'll be.

News of the Weird

2011-06-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the news is weird and sometimes you think you're reading a Monte Python script.

Woman Dies After Waking Up at

Her Own Funeral (LINK) in Russia

Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov (age 49) (pictured above, with her husband on a better day) woke up in a funeral home and found herself laying in a coffin, surrounded by grieving relatives, praying her soul from hell.

She began to scream as it sunk in that they were getting ready to bury her. Apparently Fagilyu became so agitated by the circumstances that she induced a heart attack. Her loving friends and family rushed her to the local hospital in Kazan, Russia...but she didn't make it. Doctors pronounced her genuinely dead at the scene.

(LINK) "Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital," her husband Fagili, 51, said. "But she only lived another 12 minutes before she died again, this time for good." He said: "I am very angry and want some answers. She wasn't dead when they said she was and they could have saved her."

There is a lesson here. If you are in Russia and they say you're dead, friends and relatives should confirm that before they plant you in the ground to enjoy your eternal rest. ONLY in Chicago are the dead allowed to rise (and vote) before returning to the earth.

Some things are TIMELESS

2011-06-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Time to put Obama on a lie detector...

WHO is the Old Whore?

2011-06-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is more shameless self-promotion of my work. Some of the preliminary reviews from editors and even a couple big-name reviewers are promising. For those of you who read my novels, thanks. For those of you who dodged the bullet -- well, there's still time for you to catch the wave.

I had not intended to write this book in this order, but a number of people were kind enough to ask/beg for another book in the Cartel Wars Series. Thus, the genesis of The Old Whore: A Novel of Cartel Wars.

It's true that there's not that much good fiction set in Mexico because the reality of the situation down there is bizarre enough to keep you reading non-fiction. The Old Whore should be available sometime in August. If you want to know who the old whore is, you need to buy the book - available at the best book stores, on amazon.com, Kindle, e-books and if it's not at your local lending library.

Publisher's Entry: Back of the Book

Here is the second volume in Larry B. Lambert’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes Bloody Mexico and The Old Whore. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern, all too real, dramatic fiction, espionage, intrigue, romance and adventure. The story transports us to modern Mexico, where the absence of a just and moral government has led to a vacuum where evil runs virtually unchecked. Already heralded as a classic, Larry B. Lambert’s stunning series provides a with an image of what may be, as Mexican society festers and an underground empire rules a land in self-destruct mode.

The cult of Holy Death threatens to unleash unthinkable horror, through their ‘Dead Saint’s’ thirst for blood. An American intelligence failure requires a cover-up. Argentine and Macedonian hit squads miss the mark. A murder in Paraguay sends a bereaved widow on a quest for justice and retired CIA case officer Gary Granger is called on to manage a deniable solution to the American President’s problem.

I continue to work in Mexico dealing with cartel-related issues, and depending on how you define success, I've been successful of late. While the novel is a complete work of fiction, I hope that as you turn the pages that you feel the vibe and some of the roller coaster ride that the Cartel Wars provides to those who dip their cracker into the soup.

No, I don't have anything to do with ATF. Operation Fast and Furious was ill conceived and reflects badly on the US Government and is an embarrassment to the American people.

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