The Welfare-Warfare State Thrives

Those who still delude themselves that there is some fundamental difference between the Welfare Party and the Warfare Party, should consider the following:

Bush Wins War Money, Dems Win Pork

War is the health of the State.

Randolph Bourne

More Orbitz Grief

I called Orbitz again today, to get the funds released that they encumbered for a flight they cannot provide. They assured me that they faxed the release to my bank yesterday, but they would send another one today.

Well, the funds still are encumbered. My bank says they've never received anything from Orbitz. I still can't book a flight.

Orbitz Suckz

I tried to book a flight on Orbitz yesterday. In a classic bait-and-switch, the lowest priced flight was rejected: "Not a valid flight. Please choose another."

I selected the next flight, about $4.00 more. "Your bank refused the charge." What the heck?

I logged onto my bank account. Sure enough, Orbitz had placed a hold on the account in the amount of the first, "invalid flight" fare total. Since I was attempting to book an overseas flight for the family, my second attempt exceeded my daily limit on my debit card.

I called Orbitz to obtain an immediate release of the funds. They promised me they would do it today. Do I need to tell you that the funds are still encumbered?

So, here I am: no flight, no funds, and a lot of time wasted. Thankz, Orbitz.

In Memoriam
January is Military Murders Month

Sgt. William Walker (1864).

Pvt. Edward Donald "Eddie" Slovik (1945).

Veterans Day Thanks

Thanks to all the men and women who:

Accustomed us to ever-increasing government interference in and control over our lives;
Taught us that servility to our leaders and blind obedience to orders, not independent and critical thought, are the true hallmarks of citizenship;
That socialism really does work;
That social engineering really does work;
That deficits, taxes, institutionalized lying, and social breakdown can be patriotic;
That martial glory trumps all laws of God and man;
That Power is self-justifying;
That there is no practical or moral distinction between men and women;
That Rosie the Riveter is better than June Cleaver;
That it does take a village to raise a child, when Mom and Dad both are at the front;
That War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.

Happy Veterans Day!

(Un)Happy Anniversary

Ngo Dinh Diem, First President of the Republic of Vietnam, 1955 - 1963. Elected in rigged referendum ("won" 98% of the vote) backed by the United States government.

November 2, 1963: Deposed and murdered in military coup backed by the United States government.

Maybe we can send ATF after them?

Military fails to properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons in Iraq

Samuel Was An Optimist

This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day.
-- 1 Samuel 8:11–18

Our new rulers send our sons and daughters to the front. They content themselves not with a tenth of our incomes, or even the feudal liege lord's one-third, but currently confiscate and squander over one-half of what we earn and say it's not enough.

Worst of all, the Lord does not answer our cries for relief because we do not make them. The right consider these oppressions patriotic (warfare) while the left deem them compassionate (welfare).

Thus do we trade away our birthright: Esau, at least, got some lentils out of the deal!

NRA Strikes Again!

"Defenders Of Freedom" wallow in state-worship at annual meeting.

Left Homeless By Affordable Housing

I've been trying to find a senior apartment complex for my mother. We don't need assisted living or anything like that; she just wants a place where she's near other people her age.

Unfortunately, she was a bit too frugal and prudent during her income-earning years. All the retirement housing here in Santa Clara County seems to be tied up in the market distortion known as "affordable housing." Mom has too much retirement income to qualify for any of them.

Chalk up another victory for government intervention.

The strange suicide of Col. Westhusing

Bush the Younger scores another triumph.

From the article:
[A]bout 1 p.m., a USIS manager went looking for Westhusing because he was scheduled for a ride back to the Green Zone. After getting no answer, the manager returned about 15 minutes later. Another USIS employee peeked through a window. He saw Westhusing lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

The manager rushed into the trailer and tried to revive Westhusing. The manager told investigators that he picked up the pistol at Westhusing's feet and tossed it onto the bed.

"I knew people would show up," that manager said later in attempting to explain why he had handled the weapon. "With 30 years from [sic] military and law enforcement training, I did not want the weapon to get bumped and go off."

30 years military and law enforcement training? Anyone with enough law enforcement training to have graduated from police academy knows you don't tamper with a possible crime scene. Anyone with enough knowledge to handle a weapon profesionally knows that a modern pitol is not going to "go off" if "bumped." And, if that truly was his concern, why did he risk "bumping" the pistol by "tossing it onto the bed?"

Glock 17

I bought my first Glock yesterday. Glock 17, factory night sights.

I caught the Glock bug mostly for professional reasons. As a LEFI and armorer, I really need to know the Glock system. 9mm practice ammo is cheap, and modern defensive ammo renders the Great Caliber Controversy moot. The G17 seems the best, all-around choice for teaching, practice and self-defense.

The armorer in me really appreciates the simplicity of the Glock mechanism. Unfortunately, off-white contact paper applied to the grip area seems as close as one can get to ivory stocks for the Glocks.

I tried the 10mm Glock 20 and really liked it. I'm glad to see the 10mm Auto round making a comeback (Glock never abandoned it). That may be my next purchase. Hey, CA law says "one gun a month." Who am I to argue?

Dog Bites Man!
NRA sells out again

Oops, they did it again!

This year's annual meeting of the National Rifle Association turned out to be more of a meeting of the Neocon Rifle Association, or perhaps the National Republican Association. Either way, lovers of freedom will find little to cheer in the events of this year's meeting.

As statist propaganda, the "Salute To The Heroes," a videotaped production which aired as part of the opening ceremony, falls somewhat short of the standard set by Leni Riefenstahl's 1934 masterpiece, Triumph Of The Will. Similarly, the presentation of this year's "Man of the Year" custom flintlock rifle to gun-grabber Dick Cheney, unlike Winston Churchill's presentation of a Crusader's sword to Joe Stalin at the Teheran Conference in 1943, couldn't actually be deemed sacrilegious. Both events mark the extent to which "mainstream" conservatism now conserves only the gains made by a liberalism grown increasingly illiberal, illogical, and inhumane.

Before the hate mail pours in, I'll mention that I am a Life Member of NRA and, as a law enforcement officer, am one of the "heroes" of the opening ceremony. Neither fact eases my qualms about the direction of NRA.

In its "Salute to the Heroes," NRA informs us that true heroes "put strangers before family." Funny, the Left have been telling us this for years, and trying, through taxes, welfare, and family dissolution, to make "heroes" of us all. We are told that the hero's "highest honor" is to have the Yankee battle standard draped over his coffin. Heroes "are willing to perish for that flag," an item that can be ordered online and which probably was made in China.

Over and over, NRA's "Salute" extolls the supposed virtues of servility to the government though of course they conflate the government with the country.

Only the winners decide what were war crimes.
? Gary Wills

Idiot

"The Governor's budget will hurt the economy and those who need assistance the most. Now is the time for those who are wealthy and fortunate to give back to society through paying their fair share so programs that are being cut can continue to serve our communities." -- Lydia Torres, Rehab Counselor, Drug and Alcohol, Santa Clara County

Let's see, now. The last time I checked, it was Ms. Torres' clients who were choking the jails, the courts, and the emergency rooms. Ms. Torres clients are the ones who get paid for being irresponsible, in the form of SSI, Food Stamps, AFDC, WIC, Section 8, etc. Tell me again: who needs to "give back to society?"

Doesn't He Know There's A War On?

Marine Corps Lawyer Slams Terrorist Tribunals

Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind; a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice.
– Spinoza

"The continuing U.S. casualties are lamentable, but the losses so far are low by the standards of guerrilla wars ? far fewer than the 500 soldiers the British lost in putting down a previous Iraq insurgency in 1920." -- Max Boot, Foreign Policy, January/February 2004

CHICAGO, Jan. 21, 2004 ? More than 500 pairs of empty Army boots were placed side-by-side in downtown Chicago Wednesday to serve as a reminder of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
The black boots, some dusty and dirty from use, were placed on Federal Plaza in front of a posterboard display that listed the names, ages and states of all soldiers killed in the war.

Lamentable Losses

Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.
? General Douglas MacArthur

The time has come to stop beating our heads against stone walls under the illusion that we have been appointed policeman to the human race.
– Walter Lippmann