Defending Freedom, 24/7

The Transportation Security Administration is on the job, detaining and questioning people who discuss, uh, airline safety.

In addition to pulling Mr. Irfan and his family off the plane and causing them to miss their flight, the Feds also yanked the plane's crew and 95 passengers off and forced them yet again through the humiliating exercise in submission known as "passenger screening."

FBI agents cleared the family and asked the airline to put them on another flight. AirTran Airways issued a full refund and told the family they could fly on the carrier again, but refused to book them on a later flight so they could get on with their vacation. AirTran did rebook the family on another airline, but complained that one of the party "became irate and made inappropriate comments" when told they would not be allowed to complete their trip on AirTran (think several more days lost while your luggage gets re-routed). Maybe the airline thinks the family needs some time to think about whether or not they want to think about airline safety. The Feds, suddenly remembering the concept of "private property," say the airline acted within its rights in booking the family on another carrier.

Your tax dollars at work. I'd say I feel safer, but I don't want the FBI knocking at my door to ask why I'm discussing safety.

Do The Right Thing

I stumbled across Gov. Mike Huckabee's book on Christmas Eve, while grocery shopping in Costco. I thumbed through it a bit and I think it's fair to say, it sucks. I won't even link to it.

In one chapter, the Huckster conflates the pious Dr. Ron Paul with the anti-religious faction of the libertarian movement. In another chapter, Huckster goes ga-ga for militarism and imperialism. He hopes that American boys (and girls now, because we have no sense) will continue signing up in large numbers to get their arms and legs and faces and nuts blown off while doing the same to men, women and children in countries the world over that never attacked or threatened the United States. If they don't -- and who could resist such a proposition, really -- he plans to dragoon them into various, uneconomic "public works" projects, all for the greater glory of the State.

If the Reverend Huckster really wants Americans to do the right thing, he might begin by encouraging them to study the Christmas Truce of 1914, a brief, shining moment when men summoned the courage to heed the Prince of Peace rather than butcher each other in the service of the Father of Lies.

Banks: "We don't do accounting"

Banks can't or won't say how bailout billions are being spent

TASER death?

San Jose to pay $70,000 to settle TASER death

The author of the article, Mr. John Woolfolk, neglected to mention that the late Mr. Rios, in addition to being morbidly obese, had a 98% blockage of his coronary arteries due to cocaine abuse. The police became involved when Rios began beating his wife in public. Call me old-fashioned, but I see this as a lifestyle issue not a "TASER death."

So the widow Rios now gets $70,000 of the taxpayers' money, in addition to whatever other subsidies she soaked up over the years while living la vida loca with an unproductive, drug-abusing, violent fatass. Makes you proud to be an American.

Moonbeam gives me a reason to support Proposition 8

I opposed Prop. 8, though I am sure the gay lobby would disapprove of my reasons:

• I believe in rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; for that reason, I believe in strictly limiting the number of things that might arguably be said to belong to Caesar. This whole fight, on both sides, is not about marriage but about Caesar.
• The government can decree cats to be dogs. It doesn't change the facts or my thinking.
• If my experience in dealing with gay domestic violence is any indication, gay divorce should be hugely entertaining ("'No on 8. Bring popcorn' What does that mean?" "You'll see...").

Still, I am old enough to remember when the gay battle cry was to get government out of the bedroom; now they're saying their relationships are meaningless unless the State is a third party to them. And I have a long-enough memory to know that when the Left promises that a particular initiative is not the camel's nose under the tent, that we'll have the whole camel inside sooner rather than later. Fortunately, we have an Attorney-General of Jerry Brown's candor to let us know what's really up:

Jerry Brown urges court to void Prop. 8

The kicker comes in the penultimate paragraph of the article:

Brown compared his decision to oppose Proposition 8 to Attorney General Thomas C. Lynch's decision to oppose Proposition 14, a 1964 constitutional initiative that overturned a state law that prohibited housing discrimination based on race.

So Jerry Brown sees "gay marriage" as a means to further seize control of private property, and to ride roughshod over property owners' freedom to associate -- or not associate -- with whomever they choose. So much for "No on H8's" bland assertion that "gay marriage" is nothing to fear.

Surprise, Surprise!

US won't honor Iraq withdrawal commitment

Remember the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing? 19 American service members died because the US government reneged on its promise to leave Saudi Arabia at the end of the First Gulf War. The Empire's promises to Arabs carry no more weight than it's promises to American Indians did.

War is Peace

According to the outgoing Emperor, invading and occupying a country that never attacked or threatened the United States; killing and maiming its citizens; unleashing an orgy of nihilistic violence by extremists from within and without that country; and bankrupting our own country in the process, was an act of peace and benevolence.

I'm glad he cleared that one up for me.

More warrantless surveillance

First, financial privacy had to be eliminated to fight racketeering. Then it was to fight terrorism. Now it's under the guise of saving the housing market.

Buried deep in the bill's 700 pages is a provision requiring credit card companies to report all credit card transactions to the federal government. That's right, every single credit card transaction you make will be reported to the IRS.

As usual, the always heroic Dr. Ron Paul is the only one blowing the whistle on this provision. Click on the "Housing Bill" video for the gory details.

The Boy Emperor is expected to sign the bill soon.

The Smith and Wesson Model 41

I have a page on the Smith and Wesson Model 41 .22 pistol here. I explain why I believe it is the best buy in a .22 pistol for target and general use.

We're bringing it here so we don't have to fight it over there

Under the guise of fighting AIDS in Africa, Senators John Kerry (D - Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R - Ore.) have introduced a bill to lift the ban on HIV-positive immigration.

Putting aside the question of what Constitutional authority Congress has to forcibly expropriate money from Americans and give it to Africans, the bill's supporters offer some real howlers in its defense. Here are a few:

"There's no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry said Tuesday at a speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies HIV/AIDS Task Force. Even people with avian flu or the Ebola virus have an easier time than those with HIV when it come to applying for visas, he said.

Well, Senator, what is the excuse for an immigration policy that imports contagious, deadly and sometimes incurable diseases? I'm old enough to remember when tuberculosis was virtually eradicated in the US; now it's back, with a vengeance, thanks to mass immigration from the Third World.

Under current law, HIV is the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law. The Kerry-Smith provision would make HIV equivalent to other communicable diseases where medical and public health experts at the Health and Human Services Department — not consular officials at U.S. embassies — determine eligibility for admission.

If they're doing such a good job of it now, why are we worrying about drug-resistant TB in the US?

Those with HIV seeking legal permanent residency would still have to demonstrate they have the resources to live in this country and would not become a "public charge."

What a joke! I work at a public hospital. I see all the new immigrants, who signed the very same promise not to become public charges, pitching up with Medi-Cal cards before the ink is dry on their entry stamps. Sometimes they come into the emergency room in crisis, because their families told them not to refill their medications (heart, blood pressure, diabetes, etc. -- not HIV) until they got here and qualified for Medi-Cal. There's no enforcement of this provision, which is one reason why immigrants -- legal and illegal -- drain about $30 billion more annually from the Treasury than they contribute.

I'm not anti-immigrant; my wife is an immigrant. But clearly this bill is intended to create a new, rent-seeking class that the politicians can exploit for their own ends and the taxpayer be damned!

Fannie and Freddie Must Die!

Michael S. Rozeff explains why.

The mainstream media, of course, are gushing over the prospects of a federal takeover and new regulations.

Fighting Small Scams To Protect The Big One

The August, 2008, issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance features the following article at page 61:

Taking Aim At Military Scams: The men and women who protect our country are getting ripped off.

The unquestioned assumption, and the scam it promotes and protects, is that being in the military involves protecting the United States. Unless you truly believe that the United States is or ever has been threatened by Iraqis, Serbs, Somalis, Haitians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Panamanians, Grenadans, Dominicans, Filipinos, Spaniards, etc., then you must admit that the military is a tool of imperial force projection, not self-defense.

I'll give the final word on this to Marine Major General and two-time Medal of Honor recipient Smedley D. Butler:

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

Here we go again

Butler Shaffer on the death of another Big Government shill.

Shoot! The Day

The gang at Photoshelter are on a mission to revitalize stock photography. One day, five categories, prizes. So, register for the event and, wherever you are on 20 July, Shoot! The Day.

Ammo Prices

Like everything else, ammo prices are dramatically up. They've doubled in the last two years.

Some reasons are obvious. Ammunition is heavy and expensive to ship. Transportation costs are up due to high oil prices.

Copper, used to make bullet jackets and brass cartridge cases, is also high due to increased global demand.

Less obvious is the market distortion introduced by the ultimate Big Government program (and that's all it is): War. The Boy Emperor's legions are burning through an incredible amount of the stuff in the Global War For A Legacy: about 5.5 million rounds per month, according to this House Armed Services Committee report.

Thanks, Dubya, and God Bless America!

AB 2062 Idiocy

The reliably anti-gun San Jose Mercury News today editorialized in favor of California Assembly Bill 2062, by Kevin De Leon (D - Los Angeles).

AB 2062 would introduce a complex, cumbersome, expensive and needless series of restrictions on vendors and buyers of ammunition in California, as well as prohibit Internet sales of ammunition.

There is nothing new in De Leon's bill. We had almost 20 years of this very thing, nationwide, between the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the McClure-Volkmer reforms of 1986. It was repealed because everyone -- law enforcement, ATF, everyone -- admitted what the "gun lobby" said all along: it was an expensive, intrusive waste of time.

18 years of ammo dealer licensing, record-keeping, warrantless surveillance, no mail-order sales, etc., could not produce a single crime either solved or prevented. Yet, the advocates of "reasonable regulation" screamed like babies when it was repealed. Now they want to bring it back. Isn't it time the SJMN editors come clean and tell us what they really want?

Squidoo

I've just discovered Squidoo. It looks interesting. I've already created my first lens, on the subject of photography.

Unfortunately, the site is having major problems this weekend. I hope this isn't normal.

Edit: Site is back up. I'm working now on a lens about disaster preparedness and recovery.

iCasualties.org is back online

Cyber-vandals launched cowardly attack on truth-telling website.

A Triumph For The Culture Of Death

The pro-abortion team hit the trifecta on this one: Artist hanged herself after aborting her twins.

Wake up, people! It is not "a woman's right to choose" (the verb, "to choose," requires a direct object). It is murder, every bit as much as "waterboarding" is torture. Only a society bent on descending into barbarism and tyranny pretends otherwise, in either case.

The Gray Lady makes a mess

NYT Public Editor condemns McCain/lobbyist story

This would be the same NYT that continues defending its first Pulitzer, won by Walter Duranty for covering up Stalin's Ukrainian genocide. And if they've ever condemned Senator Arthur Vandenberg for helping sell the US into a foreign war after British Intelligence placed at least two high-born sluts in his bed, I've never seen it.

NYT's Executive Editor, Bill Keller, defends the article. The April 11, 1999, Style section of the Times announced the wedding of then-Managing Editor Keller and author/journalist Emma Gilbey. That article concluded:

The bridegroom's first wedding ended in divorce.

Well, yes it did. Bill had his own adulterous relationship with Emma. Emma got pregnant; Bill divorced his wife and abandoned his two kids; Bill and Emma married; Bill got promoted to Executive Editor. But Emma, well-known for her "power dating," was John Kerry's ex-girlfriend. Did she unduly influence the Times' endorsement of Kerry for President?

I'm no fan of McCainiac. Or Barack Star. Or Satan-In-Heels. If Ron Paul is not on the ballot, I'll write him in. But the timing of this hit piece is most strange. McCainiac has plenty of ethical lapses, past and present, to be hammered with. Why a sex-for-favors scandal, especially such a thin one, and why now?