Disturbing update...

Originally posted without comment, now with a few questions.

Mystery Prison in Arizona

I know, right?

Karl Denninger responds to the "open borders" idiots:

There's no problem with mobility of human capital provided you don't leave the food dish out and allow those who are mobile to steal the food that they did not have any part of creating. If said immigrants get nothing they didn't help create themselves then and only then will they come here for reasons of putting in hard work and upward mobility rather than the parasitic behavior they display now.

What you can't do is support both a state "safety net" that is present (or larger) in one place while it is absent (or smaller) in another and at the same time have open borders.

If you do this, and we have been doing this, you don't get migration for economic opportunity, you get locusts who strip the land raw -- people who come to your nation as thieves, not participants.

RTWT.  As if we don't have more than enough native-born parasites?

Let's see...we're saying, "Come here--legally or otherwise--and we'll give you everything and ask for not one single ounce of effort in return.  You don't have to get a job, learn our ways, respect our customs, follow our laws, speak our language or assimilate in any way.  You'll get free food, shelter, money, medical care, cable and a cell phone, all for contributing absolutely nothing."

Gee...what could possibly go wrong?

Judge Pirro for President!

After all, it's been over four years since we had one...

"Why do you need...?"

Ah, the plaintive whines of the gun-grabbers.  "Why do you neeeed an 'assault rifle?'"

Well, first off, it's called the Bill of Rights, not the "Bill of Needs."  I find your false premise that I have to justify my God-given human rights to you or anyone, so repugnant it's laughable.  But, just for grins, I'll give you an answer.

Borepatch reminds us that today is the 21st anniversary of the 1992 LA riots, where the authorities basically abandoned the city to rampaging mobs of urban savages.  These mobs, due to a hundred years of Proglodyte race-baiting and enforced dependence, were composed of ignorant racists who harbor a deep, bitter resentment towards anyone who works hard and succeeds.  So they descended on LA's Koreatown--composed of hardworking, successful Americans--with the intent of destroying it.

That didn't work out too well.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “From the rooftops of their supermarkets, a group of Koreans armed with shotguns and automatic weapons peered onto the smoky streets…Koreans have turned their pastel-colored mini-malls into fortresses against looters tide.”

Rhee claimed that the storeowners shot off 500 rounds into the sky and ground in order to break up the masses of people. The only weapons able to clear that much ammo in a very short time are assault weapons. Single shot pistols or rifles might not have been able to deter the crowd hell-bent on destroying the neighborhood.

By the end of the day storeowners had slain four looters and fended off the mob. It would be 24 more hours until the National Guard arrived and another two days before the riots were completely put down. Had the riots occurred just a couple of years later when the Congress banned assault weapons, many of these storeowners may not have been so lucky. It’s situations like the LA riots, which, while being rare, can occur anywhere from the streets of Los Angeles to far off countries during the Arab Spring.

When the cops crap their pants and run away, leaving you facing a horde of barbarians, it's a bit too late to run down to the local gun shop and stock up.  In the end, you are the only one responsible for your own defense.  If you wish to put your trust in the empty promises of the government, that's your ill-considered decision.  But the evidence of history is not on your side.

So, that's one big reason why Americans "need" firepower:  to protect themselves from the consequences of Proglodyte policies.  Any questions?

Yeah, I know...

...they're "just doing their jobs."

Moving Days

Posted by Ann Barnhardt - April 28, AD 2013 9:15 PM MST

I'm moving so posts will be thin for a few days.

First, thanks to the buyer of the license plate for an amazing $1337. Once again, I am humbled.

Thanks also to all of the folks sending me emails telling me that I am a fraud and a thief and a moral degenerate for doing my estate sale auctions. Yes, I know. I can't win. If I sell stuff I'm going to hell for being a money-grubbing fraud, and if I don't do anything I am being prideful in not asking for help when it is needed, and there is nothing that sends a person to hell as quickly and surely as the sin of pride. So, yeah. It's pretty much existential for me. Waking up breathing makes me a sinner. Please pray for me. Obviously.

And, just so you know, the hits keep on a-comin'. After being told by the phone company that they were charging me a $1200 cancellation fee, the next day the security system company told me that they were going to charge me a $1000 termination fee.

The first punch didn't quite destroy my kidney. Please, just punch me right there again. It's cool. I have another kidney, so no prob.

But in all seriousness, this is just a testament to how far gone our culture is, and not just on the macro level. Fifty years ago people would never treat others like this. If someone went broke, or whatever, generally people didn't kick them when they were down. If contracts became untenable, human decency kicked in and contracts were voided according to A.) common sense and B.) human decency.

This ruthless interpersonal behavior is a direct function of the decent into Marxist-Communism or whatever you want to call this. When human beings are reduced to economic units by the government, that eventually trickles down to the personal level. It is the ultimate irony. Capitalism tempered by Christian culture has a built-in incentive for people to be good to each other - in business it is called "goodwill", and it is a very real asset. So while the Marxists lyingly claim that they will deliver a charitable, merciful culture, it is exactly the opposite. Marxism makes people ruthless, hard and unforgiving. Capitalism restrained by Christian culture yields the most fertile ground for charitable interpersonal dealings.

The funny thing is, if the security system company would have been cool about it, I would have totally plugged them here on the blog. They really were a good company in terms of their service. After I burned the koran I upgraded and added video surveillance and all the bells and whistles, and it was great. Too bad they blew the opportunity for massive "goodwill".

And no, I won't say their name in order to poison their well. I'll just bear their hardness with a smile - thanks to all of you.

Emphasis mine. 

I'd rather go up against people who flat-out want to destroy me and make no bones about it.  At least then, it's a straight fight.  Unfortunately, we're dealing with people who don't hate us, necessarily; they just don't care.  They're "just doing their jobs," and the consequences of their actions never cross their minds. They've been trained very well not to think, just to follow directions.

I have some sympathy for those who've been brainwashed to this degree.  I really do.  But I'm fast developing the mindset that "ignorance is no excuse." This crap has to stop if we've any hope of reviving a culture of civilized human beings.

Godspeed, Ann.

Captain Hook With a 12-Gauge

Repost.

In Ayn Rand's most (in)famous work, Atlas Shrugged, an unlikely hero by the name of Ragnar Danneskjold explains his mission in life:

"I'm after a man whom I want to destroy. "

"What man?"

"Robin Hood. ...He was the man who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. Well, I'm the man who robs the poor and gives to the rich – or, to be exact, the man who robs the thieving poor and gives back to the productive rich." (2.7.2.93-97)

I know exactly how Mr. Danneskjold feels. While I wish him luck on his quest, I have a target of my own to take down. I've been after this punk for years, and I won't stop until justice has been done. If it's the last thing I do...

...I'm going to kill Peter Pan.

Yep. Green tights. Flies. Hangs out with a pixie. That Peter Pan.

At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking I've finally blown a critical synapse. Why the hell is the Wraith declaring war, not only on a fictional character, but on a cute, mischievous, puckish young man? "What," you may wonder, "did Peter Pan ever do to you?"

It's not what Peter Pan did, it's what he represents. Anyone who's ever heard of Peter Pan knows him as the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. Now, this is a cute basis for a children's story, but far too many people in the Western world seem to have taken the message to heart--with disastrous consquences.

Back in the dim and distant past, children were children and adults were adults. There was a fairly clear demarcation between the two, and children couldn't wait to grow up. Rites of passage, like wearing makeup or the gift of a first knife, were eagerly anticipated. Children looked to the responsibilities of adulthood as a great gift to be worthy of, and parents did their best to make sure their children were equipped to deal with adult life independently. In short, childhood was considered a transitory stage, not a lifestyle.

Such does not seem to be the case today. We are now being overrun with Theoretical Adults; people who have reached the 'age of majority,' but who still dress, act, and worst of all think like children.

There is a vast difference between how a child thinks as opposed to how an adult thinks. An adult knows that life is not fair. That he is responsible for his own actions, his own successes or failures. That the only person obliged to take care of him is himself. A child lives in a fantasy world, where everyone gets exactly what they deserve and nothing they don't. Where there's always someone else to blame for his failures. Where he's simply taken care of, with no thought as to how and why. This is normal for children. They have not yet had the time to learn enough so that they can comprehend the bigger picture.

I shall illustrate with an example: Let us say our hypothetical child goes to the refrigerator and grabs a Mountain Dew. He has no idea how that frosty green can of flourescent yellow caffeinated goodness got there. His parents know that the 12-pack of Dew cost $4.69 with the Super Saver Card Club Member Special at the local Safeway. They know that the refrigerator runs on electricity, which is something they have to pay for and is indirectly related to the price of oil. They know that the refrigerator resides in a house which must be paid for, and that it's making that weird noise, so they budget for unexpected expenses, because they know that if the fridge dies or the roof springs a leak when they have no money to fix the situation, they're hosed. They know that the money for all this comes from the time and effort they expend in working at their chosen profession, and that every penny they earn represents a moment of their life that is gone forever.

The child knows none of this. He wants a Mountain Dew, so he goes to the fridge and gets one, and it's going to be there because he expects it to. That's it. Nothing beyond the immediate moment is of any concern. And this is how too many 'adults' continue to think today. There is no past to learn from. There is no future to extrapolate to. Stuff just happens, without any sort of cause or context. Welcome to the prevailing thought processes of our aforementioned Theoretical Adults--the disciples of Peter Pan. They won't grow up. They refuse to take on the mindset and responsibilities of real adults. They aren't going to think, and you can't make them!! Reality isn't the boss of them!!

Well, actually, it is.

A is A. Reality is real. Facts exist.

Too many people in the formerly-intelligent Western world have chosen to ignore these simple concepts, and in doing so, have repudiated their humanity. The one thing that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom is our capacity for rational and coherent thought. When we give that up, we throw away what makes us human. We become voluntary, perpetual children.

Let's look at the totality of recorded human history, which stretches back 8-10,000 years or so, depending on which method of 'recording' you start with. That's a lot of time, however you slice it. Then, let's compare it to the history of the United States, which has been around for going on a quarter millennium. Why is it that America went from just another rebellious colony of Britain, to the dominant power on Earth in less than 250 years, while every other nation on Earth continued to wallow in the mire of statism? Why is it that this upstart country, with its personal automobiles, personal computers and audacity to leave footprints on the surface of the moon, has rocketed past every other socioeconomic system ever devised by man?

Free Men. Free Minds. Free Markets.

That's it. That's how we did it. Our personal liberties were upheld. Our opinions, no matter how unpopular, were defended. Our right to voluntary economic interaction with our fellow man was considered sacrosanct. In the days of our Founders, this was considered an experiment, and a risky one at that. But it worked. The hypothesis has been proven correct, both by America's success and by the fact that the further we stray from the original Constitutional principles, the worse things become in our Republic.

Fact 1: A combination of limited government and free markets is the recipe for success.

Now, let's take a look at the statist, Marxist/Leninist philosophies--socialism, and its big brother communism. Notice that, where communism has held sway, it has led to oppression, suffering, loss, misery, mass murder and devastation. Every time. While socialism's consequences are usually not as obviously horrific as communism's, I would argue that they are even more dire, simply because the poison spreads so slowly as to escape notice by most. This is often aided by ignoring, excusing or underreporting the prevailing trends of poverty and violent crime. Often, the trends are concealed until conditions reach the boiling point. But inevitably, sooner or later, the whole system starts to crumble. Even Fidel Castro, after six decades of ruthless oppression of the Cuban people, admitted defeat recently.

Fact 2: A combination of unrestrained government and market interference is an unsustainable failure.

These two statements are just what I have called them: FACTS. They are based on the laws of economics, which are, arguably, just as real as the laws of physics. You may or may not like the fact that gravity exists, but it does anyway, and you step off that ledge at your own peril.

Remember my comparison a few paragraphs ago? Adults recognize reality. The facts are what they are, and it is the adult's job to adjust to them, because it's never going to be the other way around. Children simply cannot comprehend this. They think that anything--including the retraction of all the basic principles of existence as we know it--is possible if you hope for it, wish for it...Tinkerbell will come back to life if you just believe enough.

This is a mindset fit for children, who cannot vote, enter into contracts, or be held responsible in any meaningful way for their actions. When this attitude continues past the legal 'age of majority,' it is very dangerous indeed, for this leads to the eventual rule of rational, civilized people by the irrational.

My fellow Americans, we are being ruled by a mob of mentally unbalanced children, and this has to end now. We, as a people, need to grow up. We can no longer afford the luxury of living in Never-Never Land. There is no Santa Claus. There is no Easter Bunny. There is no Tooth Fairy. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as sustainable socialism. That politician who promises to take care of you? Haven't you noticed he smells funny, and that van he's driving has no windows in the back? Turn down his candy, scream your head off and run like hell. Despite his carefully crafted smile and promises, what he has planned for you--for all of us--is something you don't even want to imagine.

That's why I'm gunning for Peter Pan. Because the fantasy that we can all be eternal children is ageless, and it has destroyed one great nation after another. One by one, some of the most advanced civilizations the world had ever seen succumbed to that siren song of dependence; of ignoring responsibility in favor of the distractions of the moment, of believing that one could simultaneously be a free man while entrusting his fate to others. Peter Pan is simply that poisonous mentality personified, and America ain't big enough for the both of us.

Discuss.

"So you think private nukes should be legal?"

Denninger grabs this argument by the throat, tears its head off and drop-kicks it up its ass.

Is there a reasonable argument to be made that a person possessing a nuclear device would have reason to use it under any rationally-foreseeable circumstance that would be deemed, in full totality of the circumstance in hindsight, self-defense?

I can't come up with the circumstances under which that would apply, despite putting a fair bit of mental effort into it.

We answered the question with logic, didn't we?

RTWT.  I love this guy.  (In A Totally Non-Gay-Way(Not That There's Anything Wrong With That(Insert Any Further Appropriate PC Disclaimers Here.).).)

Cats and guns and Proglodyte idiocy

Ah, cats and guns.  Two of my favorite things.  (BTW, it's Sam's 7th birthday today.  Still a finicky little prima donna, but we love him.)

Anyway, I know most Conservatives are dog folks, but I don't hold it against 'em.  It is possible, contrary to popular belief, to train a cat.  The method?  A squirt bottle.

Most cats hate getting wet.  So, when your furball starts acting the fool, give him a couple of blasts of water, and he'll immediately run off somewhere private to lick that nasty dihydrogen monoxide off his precious fur.  But if you want the training to stick, it's important that, to him, it comes out of nowhere.  You can't let the cat see you hose him.  If he does, he'll do whatever he likes when you're not around.  He'll walk up to the squirt bottle, sniff it, mark it and pay it no attention...until you reach for it.

See, it doesn't take a cat long to figure out that it's not the device, it's the human pulling the trigger.  So, Proglodyte gun-grabbers, if you are unable to wrap your brain around this selfsame concept, you officially have less critical thinking ability than a common housecat.

How does it feel to be that stupid?  It hurts me just thinking about it--I don't know how you survive.

This is how WE do it...!

Ah, the sweet, sweet sound of a female US Navy sailor beating a rapist's ass...

He then stopped where several other buses were parked and tried to kiss her. After she refused, he pulled out a knife and tried to rape her.

Prosecutors said that she knocked the knife from his hand, broke it in two, bit him in the hand, forced him to the ground and locked him between her thighs, the Daily Mail reports.

The man, known as K S, has been charged with attempted rape, threatening to kill, assault and consuming alcohol illegally, the Daily Mail reports.

Emphasis mine.  Broke the knife in two??  Holy crap--this lady should have joined the SEALS!! 

Well done indeed, ma'am!!  I'm amazed the scumbag was actually charged in an Islamic country, but I'm quite happy about it.  It's my personal opinion that all f*cking rapists must f*cking hang. 

Preferably by their nuts.

(HT Conservative Treehouse)

And they actually think they're intelligent.

Cold Fury dissects the tragicomic irony of so-called Proglodyte 'intelligence,' in particular regarding the Boston Atrocity.

And now we have the unappetizing spectacle of “liberal” idiots opining endlessly on TV and in op-eds everywhere about how utterly mystifying, how completely BAFFLING, how very nearly impossible it is for smart folks like them to discern the motives of the latest batch of Islamist killers to hit us.

Even after it’s been going on for more than thirty years. Even after they’ve told us themselves, again and again and again, in plain, direct language, what they intend to do to us and precisely why. When you think about it, it has to be pretty frustrating for the Muslims, not to be able to penetrate thick-as-a-brick “liberal” skulls with even the most pointed and stark language they can come up with.

Ignorance I can forgive, maybe, or at least partially overlook. This isn’t ignorance; it’s stupidity. Incandescent, blinding, brain-searing stupidity.

RTWT.  In the next post, I shall provide proof positive that Proglodytes(particularly the gun-grabbing variety)are dumber than house pets.

Well, they won't have far to take me...

(HT Wirecutter)

UPDATE:  I've been mulling this over, and Google-Earthed it myself.  It's real.  It's there.

Now, the final part of Rev. Hopkins' video goes deep into the Book of Revelation, and while I can see some disturbing parallels, I'm not going to get into matters of faith here.  You either believe or you don't, and that's your decision.  God did give us free will, after all.

Also, I can't see if those are vehicles belonging to FEMA, DHS, FBI or MiB.  I still don't know how she reached that conclusion.  Not saying she's wrong, I just can't tell from this resolution. 

However, there are things here that should concern you.

First off, this is clearly a prison complex.  The perimeter roads, the cages, the layers of fencing, the inward-facing razor wire, the no-man's-land...it's a prison.  Google other complexes and you'll see the similarity.  It just can't be anything else.

Second, Rev. Hopkins is right:  I've looked over the Federal and State prison registries, and this place isn't on any of them.  Officially, it simply does not exist.  Yet, here it is.

Third, those pits.  Now, plenty of places have runoff pits.  You see them near rest areas, fuel stops, any place that might have hazardous spills that could contaminate the ground and groundwater.  But this doesn't explain these.  Runoff pits are right next door, not across the road.  And even the skankiest truckstop, let alone a prison facility, doesn't generate enough hazmat spillage to justify that huge conglomeration of holes in the ground.

Furthermore, runoff pits are lined with impermeable sheeting to keep the spills from contacting the environment, and they're gradually sloped.  These pits are fairly square-edged, and there's no evidence of any sort of liner.  These aren't runoff pits.  So...what are they for?

Fourth, the "killing field."  I can't come up with another explanation for it.  If anyone has better photos, or a theory that makes sense, I'm open to seeing it.

Yeah...this is Very Not Good.

ARRESTED???

By now, the knee-jerk Proglodyte "zero tolerance" policies of Publik Skool towards anything that might possibly look like, resemble or remind anyone of a ZOMGEVILGUN, have been so well-documented that it doesn't surprise me anymore.  But this is absolutely outrageous.

Eighth grader Jared Marcum wore a shirt that featured the NRA logo and a hunting rifle. The shirt didn’t violate school policy, which specifically bans clothing that features profanity, violence, and discriminatory messages, but says nothing about guns.

When Jared arrived at school, his teacher demanded that he remove the shirt. He refused. His teacher then had him removed from the class room, he was suspended, and then arrested and charged with obstruction and disturbing the education process.

All for wearing a NRA T-Shirt that says “Protect Your Rights.”

Emphasis mine. 

Suspension?  Removal from class?  This kid, in fact any American kid, ought to take it as a badge of honor in this context.  But...arrested?  ARRESTED?  For wearing a damn T-shirt?  What country do these people think they're in?

Any cop who would make this arrest doesn't deserve to wear a badge.  Period, blanket statement, don't give me any "I was just doing my job" bullshit, I'm not gonna hear it.  This is wrong, and if you don't know that, you're on the wrong side of...well, everything.

If you have children in Publik Skool, move Heaven and Earth to get them out of there.  This crap is only going to get worse.  Jared, God be with you and yours during these trials.

Calm analysis of the Boston Lockdown

OK, so...

This recent unpleasantness in Boston, along with the usual overreaction by the authorities, has gotten the American blogosphere into quite a stir.

On the one side, you have the pro-lockdown folks, many of whom are current or former LEO.  They're all like "Look, dude, this was an emergency!  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to find these guys!"  On the other, anti-lockdown side, the opinion runs "If you can do this every time there's a so-called 'emergency,' where does it end?"

I stand mostly on the anti-lockdown side, although I will concede that both sides have a valid point.  How about we all just take five, calm down and discuss this thing rationally?  Like this:

• It's in order for the authorities to 'lock down' an area immediately adjacent to or surrounding an incident, or where suspected terrorists are hiding, and order people not to leave their homes. On the other hand, it's not in order for them to enter homes without permission to search for those they're seeking. They need probable cause to do so, and a search warrant. If I'm in that position, I'll certainly refuse permission for a search, unless the officer(s) concerned can articulate both probable cause and immediate, overriding necessity. If they can't or won't, I'll resist any attempt to search my home without a warrant. Under such circumstances, they're the criminal(s) - not me!
• If authorities restrict citizens to their homes to minimize the risk to them from dangerous individuals, it's incumbent upon those same authorities to allow those citizens to defend themselves if necessary. That means allowing them to possess effective means of defense: namely, firearms - and not just any firearms, but effective defensive weapons. Vice-President Biden notwithstanding, a double-barreled shotgun is not the most efficient means of defense. It's much harder to control and has a much shorter effective range than (say) an AR-15 rifle. Massachusetts is one of the most restrictive states in the Union in terms of gun rights, and Boston is even worse than the rest of the state. If the authorities there aren't in a position to protect or defend their people against attack, they need to lift those restrictions so that their people can defend themselves. Anything else is hypocrisy.
• The authorities' response must be rational and proportionate to the threat. In Boston, it wasn't. They 'locked down' hundreds of thousands of citizens over many square miles of urban area, shut down rail traffic over more than 100 miles of track, re-routed air traffic, etc. This was a ridiculous over-reaction. In New York in 2001, Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Mumbai in 2008 and many similar incidents, no city was entirely locked down like that (although, of course, individual buildings and specific areas were locked down). Boston's panicked reaction cost hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in economic damage. Chalk that up as a terrorist success. It must not happen again.

RTWT.  Let's start planning ahead here.

"Sister...you have a twin sister!"

Either we're all trapped in the Star Wars Universe Of Completely Improbable Coincidences or Erin has perfected some kind of Symbiotic Mind Meld and is expressing my attitude perfectly.  Reposted in full because this one's too good to let get away:

QFT

Note for future reference: Any proposal by any politician containing the words “common sense” contains none of it.

Patriots, Americans, Children of God...

...heed these words.

lessthantolerant – though we will most likely be forced into a grim business, it’s important that we not enjoy it. Go look at the pictures and video from Boston. That’s what the sort of war that’s brewing here will look like – innocents bear the brunt of civil wars, and collateral damage is inevitable – while I am pretty sure no patriots would target a civilian social event, when shit gets real, accidents and collateral will happen. Women, the elderly, and children will die because of the direct actions of both sides in the fight.

Things are going to get despicably black, and whatever needs to be done, will be so – but it’s important that we not come to relish the black acts. We’ll have enough to answer for in the end as we stand before God, without having to justify blood-lust.

Ain’t nothing fun or glorious about what’s coming. After years of abuse, I know the desire to get some payback long deserved. Once the pot start boiling over, and reactions and results meet reality, it will quickly become apparent that “real” ain’t very pretty.

There won’t be any greatness to this. Just a lot of slaughter and suffering. By all parties. And it’s going to last a long time. The satisfaction of retribution fades. The jubilation over a victory calms. Guilt, pain, loss, these things are forever.

Don’t be too happy about what’s probably coming. I ain’t trying to dissuade anybody from paying liberty’s toll. But I won’ t be called to the table for blowing sunshine up anybodies assholes either. Not over this. This is reality. There is no riding off into the sunset and a happy ending.

War is the second worst word in the world.

Right behind “slavery.”

Misha's expansion:

You just won the thread, LC HempRopeAndStreetlight.

Pay attention, everybody, because HRAS just nailed it, right on the fucking head. Every word of that comment ought to be engraved in a brass plate and put in a prominent place wherever patriots gather. Not to demoralize, but to help understand the full gravity of the situation.

What we’re looking at, should it come to pass, is not a reason to be cheerful. It’s quite the opposite. There is no glory in bloodshed, there is no such thing as a “splendid little war”, and there is precious little consolation to be found even in victory, should that be granted to us. I’ll proceed in the following as if we will win, portraying the best case scenario. And that’s not pretty. If we lose, it will be worse.

War is sometimes, regrettably, necessary, but it is never desirable. It is not a consummation devoutly to be wish’d for, and one should never find pleasure in the thought of it. Because if one is capable of doing so, then one hasn’t understood the concept at all.

The second revolutionary war, or second civil war if you prefer, will be bloody. It will leave a lot of people dead. A lot of us writing here today will be among them. So will a lot of our loved ones. And a lot of innocent people who wanted no part of the fight but became casualties of it nonetheless.

Songs will, most likely, not be sung about us either. We’ll be numbers, statistics, just another butcher’s bill, and though those fallen for liberty will most likely be remembered fondly as a concept, as in “we thank those who fought and died for liberty” every anniversary of our victory, statues most likely won’t be erected in our honor, any more than the vast majority of those fallen before us are household names now. Some will be, to be sure, but most will not be.

So if it’s glory you’re after, you need to pick up another hobby.

Then there are those of us who survive. They might very well end up envying those who did not.

Because, again, there is no such thing as “a splendid little war.” Innocents will die, orders will be given and we’ll either be the ones giving them or the ones following them, that will lead to the destruction of people who never deserved to die. That is the nature of the beast. The enemy won’t be polite enough to place himself in areas where he can be safely and clinically wiped out without impacting the surrounding civilians, and we won’t always have the option of not striking anyways. In fact, most cases we won’t have that option at all.

So we will end up with innocent blood on our hands, and no amount of cheering that we got the bastards as well is going to make up for that.

As HRAS already said, jubilation that you just scored a hit on the enemy is temporary. Guilt, shame, remorse and hindsight, on the other hand, are not. They’re forever. And that’s a long, long time.

If what is happening leads to what increasingly looks inevitable, then that is not a reason for good cheer and “America FUCK YEAH!”, because all of us, no exceptions, will have a lot to answer for. Both to ourselves in the unlikely event that we survive and to G-d when we face Him.

I’m not trying to be a downer here, because we have to do what we have to do and slavery is not an option, it is worse than any alternative, but keep all of this in mind.

Grim resolve and determination is the order of the day if, Heaven forbid, it comes to that, we’ll do what we have to do as free human beings, but don’t delude yourselves into thinking that it will, in any way, be glorious.

Because it won’t be.

I can promise you that much.

Exactly right, brothers.  God help us all.

Leftist Dormice

At Pass the Garum, the author is waxing eloquent about Roman culinary history.  I'm seeing a disturbing parallel here concerning those who wish to vote themselves Free Stuff...

5) Glirarium - The Dormouse Jar

©SANP

You have this great house at the bottom of a jar. Even better, once a day a hand appears from the heavens and drops some acorns in at the top! You roll out of your cosy straw nest, stretch a bit, and then scamper up to the top of the jar to get some treats. Scampering is getting quite tough, as you're putting on a lot of weight, but that doesn't matter too much - you're living the dormouse dream. That kind, gift-giving hand starts to reach into the jar again. More treats already? Not this time - before you can say 'squeak' you've been scooped up, thrown into a pan, covered in honey, peppered with poppy seeds, and gobbled up by some wealthy senator. Your house, it turns out, was a glirarium, used solely to fatten up dormice for eating.

Welcome to the Glirarium, Proglodytes.  Enjoy your Free Stuff for the moment...

A Blast From The Past

A repost regarding exactly why I started this collection of ramblings:

The 'Productive Class' and why we're revolted.

I am, as some might have deduced, an admirer of the works of Ayn Rand.

Note that I am not necessarily an admirer of the woman herself. By most accounts, Rand got high on her own supply of publicity and ended up acting like much like the intellectuals she despised. The woman who laid out the philosophy and principles of Objectivism("To put nothing--nothing! above the verdict of my own mind.")wound up shutting her own mind to anything but her own theories, blacklisting anyone who disagreed with her even slightly, and was generally a hateful bitch. So, I'm not a 'Randian' by any stretch of the imagination.

But it's hard to fault the basic premises of her work. And lately, the USA is starting to resemble more and more the dystopian horrors contained--predicted?--in her magnum opus Atlas Shrugged. Besides, it's been said that

It's my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of son of a bitch or another. --Malcolm Reynolds

I'll admit that Atlas Shrugged is, frankly, a pretty horrendous book to slog through. There's two ways highly intelligent people deal with the rest of the world. When you don't have an ego, you think everyone is as intelligent as you are, and have no idea why your tangent on theoretical quantum laser astrophysics is resulting in deer-in-headlights-stares from the entire room.

When your ego spans entire galaxies, however, you believe no one is as smart as you are, and therefore, you have to bring every single point home with a pile driver. If you want to read Atlas Shrugged, and I really think you should make the effort, I recommend you start here, with Francisco d'Anconia's "Money Speech." Then follow with the radio address at the beginning of Part III. This is the mysterious main character John Galt letting the world know that he has destroyed it, and the reasons why. It's the whole basic premise of the book, and will give you an idea of what you're in for. Then start from the beginning. That's how I ended up having to do it.

Many people either just read the Cliff Notes, or had someone read the book to them and fell asleep in the middle, or are outright misrepresenting the truth for their own questionable purposes. These people believe, or at least maintain, that John Galt's strike was a strike of the 'rich against the poor.' Anyone who has read and comprehended this book finds this description laughable.

Plenty of poor folks wound up on Galt's side, and plenty of rich folks didn't. The strike was that of the Productive Class against the looters.

The Productive Class doesn't just include company owners, industrialists, inventors and the like. It includes waitresses, truck drivers, construction workers...it includes anyone who pays their own way in the world. It includes anyone who produces more than they consume. It is we, the Productive Class, who make possible the lives of those who live off of us.

Read that last sentence again. If it were not for those of us who work for a living, ie; produce a good or service and exchange it in an atmosphere of voluntary mutual consent, the looters would not survive. Lest anyone become confused, the exchange doesn't necessarily have to be monetary--a traditional housewife, for example, isn't earning a paycheck per se, but by keeping house, raising children and the like, she is exchanging her effort for support. (Hopefully, the intangible benefits inherent in a loving relationship are part of the exchange. They should be, anyway.)

When I speak of the looters, I am describing those who contribute nothing, yet expect everything. Who take large portions of our earnings, under threat of violence, in the name of some nebulous 'greater good.' Who believe that they are entitled to the results of the effort of others, simply because they cannot obtain these results on their own.
In the not-too-distant past, people were expected to do for themselves. To not earn your way in the world, and to live off the largesse of others, was considered shameful. This ensured that the minimum amount of people would attempt to make a lifestyle out of parasitism, and those who had fallen on hard times through no fault of their own, would make every effort to get back on their feet as soon as they possibly could. But this was

Before the dark times. Before the Empire. --Obi-Wan Kenobi
 

Once private charities began to be replaced by government handouts, it wasn't long before an entitlement mentality developed. No longer were people considered losers for not supporting themselves. They were now considered helpless victims. They didn't have to show up, hat in hand, at a church or charity...'society' owed them a living. Nothing was their fault, and they couldn't possibly do for themselves anyway. When you tell people that they're victims, and condition them to expect that any effort they put forth is doomed to failure, is it any wonder that this is the result?

But the programmed-to-be-unmotivated welfare/WIC/EIC/etc. recipients are a drop in the bucket compared to the real looters. Any 'businessmen' who seek government regulations to stifle competition, or who want grants, handouts or subsidies because they can't compete in a free market with free choice? Looters. Federal government agencies not specifically authorized by the Constitution? Looters. Any company or organization of any kind that could not survive without government funding or support? Looters.

The looters need us. We do not need them. This is why they believe, and espouse, that 'need' evokes some kind of claim on those who aren't in 'need.' Wrong. If you think you 'need' something, you can work for it, you can trade for it, or you can attempt to persuade someone why they should provide it to you. But if you think it's acceptable in the slightest to take something from me by force(or threat thereof), simply because you claim you 'need' it...well, so does a rapist.

I have no problem with true charity. I've been both the donor and the recipient of it. But 'charity' collected at gunpoint is simply theft, and--as you're now no doubt aware--I call it as I see it. So now, when I refer to the 'Productive Class' and the 'looters,' you'll know what I'm talking about. And call me whatever names you want, but please at least try to come up with something original.

NO amnesty without security!!

No.  Not just no but HELL NO.  Not just HELL NO but F*CK THAT.  We're not falling for this crap again.

The Border Patrol caught 1,874 people in a 150 square miles of border. In the Sonora Desert from October 1, 2012 – January 17, 2013 the system also identified an additional 1,962 who evaded arrest. The Border Control calls them “gotaways”.

Millions of illegal aliens will receive amnesty once DHS submits a plan to Congress dictating how secure the border is. They only have to submit a plan. They don’t have to follow the plan. This is 1986 all over again. They promised in 1986 that the border would be secure. Nothing happened, and that is why we are offering amnesty again.

Sheriff Paul Babeu writes:

“As you have seen all over the news, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees in Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas were ordered by their administration to release 2,228 criminal illegals from custody. These criminal illegals are now living in neighborhoods throughout the United States. President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano denied any prior knowledge of their release but both have said all of those released were “low risk” and “non-violent detainees”. Does a criminal illegal detainee who is accused of committing a murder or those who have been charged and/or convicted with molesting young children, drug smuggling, cartel members, narcotics traffickers, those who commit forgery, weapons offenses, aggravated robbery, aggravated DUI or aggravated assault against peace officers sound like somebody who is “low risk” and “non-violent” to you. The answer is NO!!! This was yet another lie and cover up committed by the White House and Secretary Napolitano.”

RTWT.  Once you secure the damn border, and I mean actually secure it, using whatever means necessary to keep invaders out of our country, THEN we can talk about what to do regarding those who are already here.  If they've committed no crimes--other than crossing illegally--and wish to become Americans in full, I've got no problem with us hammering out a compromise which tempers the rule of law with compassion and mercy.

But the first priority, before anything else, must be a secure border.  We were promised that last time, and got nothing.  We have seen that we cannot trust our opponents to keep to their word.  Anyone who votes for amnesty without border securement being an iron-clad, you-first, guaranteed condition, is a traitor to the United States of America, and deserves to be treated as such.

I leave you with the wise words of Teddy Roosevelt:

We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birth-place or origin.

But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. . . We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding-house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.

Amen.

The rejection of false sympathy

We have come to a point in our society where we aren't supposed to learn from our mistakes.  When I was coming up, if I did something stupid and got hurt, I was grilled as to why I did that, what the hell I was thinking, and what did I learn from the consequences?  That's how human beings learn.  Now, whenever a kid does something stupid, helicopter parents do everything possible to deflect the consequences and place the blame on everyone else in the world.

And the resulting kids turn out with the attitudes of these people.  But Karl Denninger's having none of it.

Listen up, you incompetent and defective sack of meat -- your son is dead because you are unfit to be parents.

You sat silently by while your state and our nation erected signs telling people who are criminally insane where they can find the maximum number of defenseless people to murder.

You are personally, jointly and severably responsible for the consequences.

You are unfit to possess a uterus and your husband is unfit to possess testicles.

You, Mrs. Wheeler, having willingly and intentionally refused to take responsibility for your acts of omission and commission that led to your son being murdered by a madman now have the audacity to stand in front of the nation and demand that everyone else give up their children to murderous goons as well.

Go to Hell Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, and take your state and its alleged laws with you.

RTWT.  It may seem cold and callous, but it's a sorely-needed bitch-slap of truth.  And don't call it 'blaming the victim,' either.  These people aren't the victims; they are the perpetrators of an evil and stupid policy that allowed a bunch of innocent children to be murdered with impunity by a bitter, disturbed hateful man who was told--in black and white--that he would face no resistance.

Gun-grabbers, grow the hell up, put your precious feeeelings aside and engage your brain.  Mr. Denninger's absolutely correct in his assessment, and I'll back him to the hilt on it.  If you'd learned the concept of personal responsibility when you were younger, maybe those kids would still be alive.

I said it in an earlier post, and I now reiterate:  The blood is on your hands.  Not ours.

Nonconformity: The more you try...

...the more you fail.

On with the story of the Most Punk Rock Dude I Ever Knew.

Take a trip back in time to the 1980's, when the punk subculture was growing across the land like a noxious weed, offending the sensibilities of pretty much everybody.  Punk, like Metal, like the Hippie movement before it and Rock & Roll before that and Jazz before that, was about pushing the boundaries.  It was free-form:  do what you want, look how you like, just do something different.

And, like all the other movements, it got co-opted, sanitized and turned into a popularity contest.

The spirit of individualism was shoved aside in favor of the herd mentality.  If you dared to like music other than 3-chord hardcore, if you didn't dress in the appropriate style, if you didn't subscribe to a strange and contradictory mix of anarchism and communism in your political views, if you didn't hate capitalism and America, if you didn't bow down at the altar of Political Correctness and constantly bemoan one "-ism" after another, then you were a "poser," not a Real Punk.

I call bullshit, just like I did then.  A real punk does what s/he wants, and doesn't give one rat's ass who thinks they're punk or not.  Which brings me to my friend Ray.

A general description of punk rockers would illustrate how truly indistinguishable most of them were.  Weird hair, jacket with anti-government/pro-communism sayings and symbols, T-shirt, torn jeans and black footwear.  So one guy would have blue spikes and one a green mohawk.  One guy would have SMASH THE STATE on his jacket, another would have the circle-A.  One had high-tops, one had combat boots.  One wore a Rancid shirt, another favored the Exploited.  Without specific details, you couldn't tell them apart. 

But you couldn't miss Ray.

Ray had normal hair, carried a briefcase and wore slacks and a pinstripe shirt with the sleeves ripped off.  He was all about business and capitalism.  Yep--a capitalist punk.  And that made him more punk than anyone else in the scene.  Ray was truly doing his own thing, and didn't care who thought it was cool.  Compare that to the mindless lockstep mentality found in any liberal enclave, anywhere in America.

I took a lesson from him, and learned to think for myself, do what I wanted, and form my own opinions regardless of who liked it.  So I've become a redneck in an import truck, a first-generation American who wants secure borders, a conservative who favors drug legalization, and a beer-swilling, tattooed biker and truck driver who loves his cats and collects stuffed penguins.  No, I don't fit a stereotype, nor do I care to...and if you're worried about whether a "real" lib/con/whatever would do this or that before you do it?  You're trying too hard. 

Think for yourself, pursue the truth, and do whatever the hell you want that doesn't violate the rights of another.  It's called liberty.  Take advantage of the little we have left.

Why they lie right in your face

(Sorry, the Most Punk Rock Dude Ever post is pushed back one.  This is too important to let slide, and I'm going to steal it in full from Blue.)

Dear Blue,

Did you see Obama's speech yesterday, calling for more gun control?

Did it make your blood boil?

It made a lot of people's blood boil because Gun Control is a BIG LIE and Obama is a master at the BIG LIE.

Responsible, sane Americans are being mentally abused.

Have you ever heard the term gaslighting?

Check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory, perception, and sanity.

Instances may range simply from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim (Dorpat, 1994).

You are being told repeatedly by anti-gun advocates, politicians, and the media that they support the Second Amendment and that no one really wants to take your guns, yet the President is pushing Congress for more restrictive gun control legislation that will substantially impact your gun rights.

You're being told that the gun control measures they want to take are "reasonable" and reflective of "common sense," yet your own common sense makes it clear not a single measure being suggested would have prevented any of the mass shootings we've seen.

You are being told that law enforcement supports gun control when in fact law enforcement officers surveyed reject gun control.

You're being told that civilians have no need for an AR-15 or 30-round magazines, yet the people who seek to ban them are routinely protected by the same weapons with the same high-capacity magazines, along with their families.

You are being told that gun registration can help reduce violent crime; yet we know criminals are not going to register their guns, and every modern despot who came to power used gun registration to ultimately disarm the public before invoking tyrannical policies.

You will soon be told that the actions being taken are necessary to stop the senseless violence and murder of innocent children. Yet, effective solutions like armed security in schools or the elimination of gun-free zones where mass murders tend to occur, are dismissed outright, all while armed security protects the halls and residences of those in power.

To the weak minded these reforms will seem acceptable. Rest assured, however, that when the next mass murders occur, directly as a result of more gun control shifting the balance of power further into the hands of criminals by disarming the law abiding, the government will insist the changes did not go far enough and they will come after the remaining guns.

You are told gun confiscation will never happen, that gun registration is simply to prevent criminals from having guns, yet gun confiscation occurred after Hurricane Katrina and is happening now in the state of New York and in the state of California.

The Nazis understood the effectiveness of using authority to manage average people who were reluctant to believe that the regime would ultimately harm them. The Warsaw Ghetto, where the Nazis segregated Polish Jews before sending most of them to die in Treblinka during WWII is a good example. Initially the Jews vastly outnumbered their Nazi overlords yet these people complied with the edicts imposed upon them, thinking it wise to do so - until it was too late. The same was true of the Russians who were murdered under Stalin, the Cambodians under Pol Pot, the Rwandan Tutsis under the Hutus, and every other example of the imposition of tyranny.

Don't think it could happen here?

You are being Gaslighted. You are being told lies about the true intentions of those who seek to take your gun rights by attrition and they have much history to show them how to do it. 170 million people have fallen for this tactic and were eventually killed by their own governments.

Those who suggest this is happening are branded as paranoid conspiracy nuts, a tactic of the gaslighting process. The approach is as clever and effective as it is diabolical and many in America are falling prey to it.

Those who recognize it for what it is will face difficult choices -- comply or resist both of which carry adverse consequences.

We study history to understand where the future is likely to carry us and now you are living it. Either you are going to be a part of deciding your own destiny or you will allow others to determine it for you. I choose the former.

Make no mistake. ANY politician who introduces, supports, or votes for ANY gun control is either uninformed and uneducated on the subject or is knowingly violating our Second Amendment rights.

Either way, whether an idiot or a traitor, THEY NEED TO BE VOTED OUT OF OFFICE. Make sure they know, each and every day through an e-mail, a call or a letter that YOU ARE WATCHING THEIR EVERY MOVE on the gun issue.

Here is a link to find your representatives. http://capwiz.com/gunowners/dbq/officials/

And remember, if all else fails, the only thing they can't take from you is your ability and willingness to use the guns you have to defend yourself against all enemies, foreign and domestic so make sure YOU ARE TRAINED.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ignatius Piazza
Founder and Director
Front Sight Firearms Training Institute
7975 Cameron Drive, #900
Windsor, CA 95492
http://www.frontsight.com
info@frontsight.com
1.800.987.7719

That's what they're doing to us.  And when evil people are intent on making you mistrust your sanity, you gotta have an anchor in reality.  So, yes...I AM 'bitterly clinging' to my Bible, my Constitution and my sacred honor.  Nothing else matters.  And, in respectful disagreement with Dr. Piazza, I'm not voting any more.  My God-given human rights are not up for a vote, and if the last few years haven't proven the utter and complete corruption of the entire political process, then you're beyond all hope of anything approaching an IQ.

I'm going to live my life as I will, and aggress against no one, but I will defend my rights, life and property to the end.  Win or lose.  What 'laws' this gang of thugs and criminals pass, mean just as much as Fat Tony's decree that I owe him 'protection' money.

Suck on that, you arrogant, self-important Proglodytes.

Tragicomic irony

So many of the Left's useful idiots still think of themselves as "nonconformists."

Bullshit.

Gun grabbers: Read if you dare.

"Why are you gun nuts so rabid about Common Sense Gun Control?  You're just a bunch of Bambi-killing, little-dicked honkies!  Why do you have such a problem with our proposals?"

Because THIS.

Today, as I write this, I realize how crucial the ability to defend oneself truly is. It’s not about having to justify myself to anyone in power anytime I want to purchase a certain weapon. It’s not about being registered like a common criminal simply because I want to own a gun. It’s not even about being called a “gun nut” or an “NRA freak.”

It’s about the slow, systematic destruction of dignity and strength. It’s about the methodical erosion of our personal defenses. And all of the above are definitive symptoms of that erosion.

For once you’ve taken away a person’s self-respect – once you’ve taken away a person’s dignity – it becomes all the easier to take away his or her means of self-defense. And once that’s gone – that’s the precise moment you know you’ve been completely defeated.

RTWT.  If you still don't get it, then there's simply no hope for you.

Not that I give a damn if you get it or not.  My God-given human rights are not up for debate, and woe betide those who would seek to violate them.

"Law-Abiding?"

And what happens when injustice becomes law? 

Here's one that many Law & Order types cling to when discussing 2A: All law-abiding Americans are entitled to 2A.

Most of us immediately red-flag that law-abiding part of the statement.

What laws must we abide to remain in good graces for retaining 2A? Does it mean that anyone who has commited "crimes" in the past, or served time, is no longer entitled to 2A? Does the guy smoking pot, or dealing pot or heroin surrender his 2A because dealing in pot or heroin is against the law? What about the poor slobs who have done 20 years for dealing pot, only to be released into a new America where it is now legalized? Is he still a criminal to be debarred 2A?

Good questions. 

It is said, "When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty."  And, as I've been saying for a while, when the government ignores the rule of law, then there is no law.  We live in a state of anarchy, folks...time to wake up and realize that.

So, having made that clear, what does the law have to do with our God-given human rights?

Wise words

Chained in a Gilded Cage.

It seems as though our local, state and federal governments are not as inclined as their citizens to tighten their proverbial belts. Stockton, California is the latest (and largest) of our cities to declare bankruptcy in the face of rising expenditures and lower tax revenues. Rather than make hard decisions, live within their means and feel the pain now, they continue to increases taxes, borrow money and rob Peter to pay Paul until the inevitable happens - insolvency. And then, they scream, cry foul and demand - you guessed it - more tax money, because, heaven forbid, if the people don't pay up children will go hungry, poor, helpless single mothers will be forced to live in poverty and the wealthy elite (who should have been paying their "fair share" from the beginning) will take over the world, re-introduce work houses and trample on the human rights of the under-trodden. Oh, the inhumanities!

But, in all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth, you will never hear a confession of guilt. Not once will the government officials stand before the taxpayers and humbly admit that their overspending, poor stewardship and wanton excess was, in fact, the greatest contributing factor to the fall of the civilized world. They will never beg forgiveness, right their wrongs and move forward with honesty and integrity. Our leaders, in fact, are not the least bit repentant for the part they have played in the dismantling of our nation.

Budgeting is not a matter of politics and rhetoric, but rather a matter of not spending more than you make. Many a Professor of Economics can lecture We the People on the complexities of federal budgets, tell us that we "can't possibly understand", however, we know the truth. The truth is that you pay what you owe, you don't spend more than you bring in and you always have at least six months in reserve for a rainy day. Plain and simple. When your income decreases, you expenditures must decrease. And yes, it can be painful. It can hurt. But it has to be done.

Yep, but it won't be.  It won't even be considered until it's far too late.