But You Have to F*cking Rock

Need a drummer?

Dean Zimmer is available.


Drummer Wanted : Dean Zimmer from rossangeles on Vimeo.

Happy New Year.

Our limitations shall not define us or dampen our resolve.

Earth Wind

What else did we get this year that was nearly this cool?

Click this link to open site for viewing current wind direction/intensity anywhere on the planet.  Click "earth" in lower left-hand corner to view/change strata, jump ahead 3 hours or day-by-day, and so on.

Click anywhere on globe and get details at that lat&long.  Scroll to zoom, click and drag to pan.

Imagine you here.  Imagine me there!

Like I said...cool.

Afterburner 12/19/2013

Bill Whittle.  Dot.  Com.

Perversions

Looks like Phil Robertson, if you believe the tabloid news, is in "trouble" over his outspokenness.

And, if you think that his world (and that of his family) revolves around being on a teevee show, you may be inclined to agree that it's trouble, and serious.  At some point, your principles may come into dire conflict with your meal ticket.  A fortune is on the line, either subordinate your outdated, inflammatory attitudes, or Hollywood shuts off the limelight.

Phil likens homosexuality to bestiality, and the LGBT and GLAAD spin out of their orbits.  That's exactly what I've said, too (and I've also compared their perversions to pedophiles and necrophiles), but I'm not beholden to the queer-power fueled idiot box, like the Robertsons (presumably) are.

Yes, homosexuality is perverse, just like monkeying around with monkeys.

Mainstreaming and attempting to legitimize perversion is also perverse, whether you're a bigshot teevee executive, or an entire Denomination of "organized" Christianity, as well as any "leading medical organizations."  Men can say what they want about God and Science, but Nature is God, and God cannot be in conflict with Himself.  He didn't make you into a cross-dresser, or a pillow-biter, or a pig-fucker.  He gave you the freedom of choice.  You've chosen poorly.  God doesn't give a rat's ass about the State's blessing your lifestyle.  You can quit blaming your genetic disposition, and you can quit blaming God.

The pervert organizations, and those that support them like the Human Rights Campaign and A&E, will pressure Phil and his family to walk back his statements and suppress their beliefs.  I hope the queer coalition and the fruitcake lobby make a huge stink over it.  I hope the cocksucker-in-Chief weighs in on it.  This is so right up his onesie.

I've only watched the show a couple of times.  "Reality" teevee isn't quite my cup of tea.  But, everything I've seen from the Duck Dynasty guys suggests to me that their family identity preexists and outlives beyond their teevee business.  I have a feeling that the courage of their convictions will be a pleasant surprise and simple victory to those of us in flyover country. 

We shall see.

2013 Reading Stack

Kahr40 recently listed his reading accomplishments of this year, and I thought, "well there's a fine idea."  Considering the work load I carried this year, it was a fairly productive one, reading-wise.

A book of poems called Sending Christmas Cards to Huck & Hamlet by Joseph Mills.

The Enemies Foreign & Domestic trilogy by Matthew Bracken:

• Enemies Foreign & Domestic
• Domestic Enemies, The Reconquista
• Foreign Enemies & Traitors

Matt Bracken's Castigo Cay.  Click this link to read a huge excerpt!

Whittaker Chambers' Witness

Patriot Dawn by Max Velocity

The Road From Gap Creek (and a collection of short stories the name of which escapes me, and which is not listed under the published works on his website) by Robert Morgan

A Life Worth Celebrating

It took me about 15 minutes yesterday, to reach a saturation point of sappy-assed, bullshit nonsense over the Communist thug, Nelson Mandela.

Unrepentant murdering Communist thug, that is.  The one that murdered whites and blacks, not in a fight against Apartheid, but to further the religion of Karl Marx, Che Guevara, Chairman Mao, and Fidel Castro.

I remember that Liberation Theology video that Little Steven did back in the 80's, maybe early 90's: I Ain't Gonna Play Sun City, with all those left-wing moonbats.. Bruce Springboard, Bone-O, Run DMC, Bonnie Raitt, Joey Ramone, Hall & Oats, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Ringo Starr, Dylan, George Clinton...et al.  I wonder if they knew that whole "anti-Apartheid" business was a whitewash.

Instead of weepy memorials over a scoundrel like Nelson Mandela, how about we celebrate the life of an infinitely greater man.  Greater in every single way.  On today, December 6, the 124th anniversary of his death: Jefferson Davis.

Want to see a much better video than Little Steven's "We Are The Stasi" drivel?  I present for your edification, Rebel Son:



Thank you, Nelson Mandela, for at least not having the temerity to die on same day as this genuine hero.  Here's hoping that History, correcting its misdirected recent trend, keeps great men like President Davis rightfully honored, and your memory rightly despised.

Briefly

On hearing that someone had hijacked dirty-bomb-worthy radioactive material in Mexico yesterday, my first reaction was to wonder whether anyone can account for the whereabouts of this guy when the theft occurred...

(NOTE: I pilfered the pic from SSI, if any credit is warranted/necessary).

Perhaps You're A Warrior

Perhaps you are the page-boy.  And perhaps you are the shards of a once-great sword.

And you're not just a man in a kingdom, but also a kingdom in a man.

Commentary from Bill Whittle dot com.

"Upstream Of Everything But My Faith In God"

What is upstream of everything, for you, but your faith in God?

For this Anonymous Reader at Western Rifle Shooters Association, the only answer is Liberty.  He encourages you to spread the word, and I concur wholeheartedly.

The essay reprinted in its entirety (there are a few grammatical & spelling errors ignored).  Permission presumed...based upon the heading.

Spread the word.

Do the one thing that the ruling class and their sycophants can not survive.
Withdraw consent.
All you have to do is believe they represent illegitimate power.
Not much to it really.
Change in thinking, add a bit of reason, a minor grasp of the intent of our system of rule of law, and it becomes preference and culture.
Quietly mention it to everyone in the sphere of your life.
The truth becomes self apparent to those who have open minds.
Change one mind, you change the world.
Politically, crisis of legitimacy is political assassination of those who hold power through illegitimate means.
The elites can not survive a plurality who withdraws consent.

The folks in the liberty movement who advocate the movement of the 3 percent are far more prescient than they may know.
Where consent of the people is politically critical for the elites to hold onto power.
A cascade of preference among the governed, just regular people like us, who withdraw consent, is the most dangerous political force possible the ruling class faces.
Nothing represents as existential a threat to power, continuation of that power, the entire system of tyranny and corruption, the elitists have created, as loosing legitimacy in the minds of we the people.
Not our arms, our rule of law, revolution, political assassination via the vehicle of impeachment, nothing has the power of secession of political thought among the governed as withdrawal of consent to legitimacy of what our republic has been turned into by the ruling classes.
It is not only those who come up for election, but the people who really run things who don’t ever come up for re-election who require consent of the people for the elected in order to have the power to rule over us.

Hence it is not only the elected we deny consent thus legitimacy, it is the insidious rule of the unelected permanent bureaucracy.

It only requires an act of withdrawal of support for the status quo among consenting adults to achieve change in the thinking of the body of the people.
Once a plurality begins to believe, not only what is possible, but in itself as a force that is righteous, it begins to take on a political emphasis. It self perpetuates. It snowballs. It is culture up stream of politics. It is self perpetuating because by the very human nature of it’s simplicity, this plurality occupies and holds the legitimacy of moral high ground. It is this high ground which gives the advantage of power both political and cultural that supersedes all forms of governance.

Here is the thing.
Millions are looking for a sign, something that is self actualizing, the truth of who and what we are, in this atmosphere of universal deceit, treasonous dissimulation, and corporate system of corruption the elites create and perpetuate.

It is the elites sowing of disorder, doubt, Potemkin fantasy, the shell game system of big lies, crisis as means for manipulating and socially engineering, scandal as camouflage, purposefully deceiving continuously, overwhelming the body of the people, to wear them down, discourage them, disenfranchise them, manipulate them, make some subservient, creating classes of useful dupes, using fear as a lever to manipulate and instill false narratives, obfuscating the truth, creating but a fig leaf of legitimacy, to distract people from the truth it is they themselves who hold all the power. Truth it is the people who grant power. Not the other way around.

And all you have to do is believe.
And if you can, so can others.
It is the people’s sacred prerogative to distinguish what is legitimate and what is not.
There is comfort and security in believing as others, and knowing the truth.

Consent.
Such a simple thing when the lies and obfuscations are stripped away.
Consent is yours as sure as your soul.
Withdrawal of consent costs nothing.
But it gains everything.
It requires no political party or entity.
You don’t vote for it.
It isn’t granted.
You don’t need permission to use it.
It requires not official sanction.
Indeed, what higher sanction than the natural born law of self determination, free thought, and will.

In that free will lies the beauty and the power of consent. Of the power a plurality possesses naturally, power to change the world. A plurality can not be denied. It’s mere existence would require extermination to do so. It can not be bargained with, because what, is it to bargain to relinquish it’s legitimacy to something illegitimate in the first place? It needs nor requires leadership, for it is the body of the people through it’s awareness, of it’s inherent legitimacy in numbers and thought that leaders are contradictory to the truth we are all born as freemen, and as freeman, we do not require to be led in our beliefs, principles and morals. Is this not the essence of what a freeman is to begin with?

Just imagine if you will the power of a plurality, it’s self awareness, it’s primal right to arm itself not only with truth of sovereignty, but with it’s natural right to possessing arms to defend itself.
It is a tyrants worst nightmare.
It is the stuff that changes the world.

A plurality did just that.
It was 3% of a population of 2.5 million, a plurality of 750,000, who accomplished an unknown feat in 5000 years of humanities history.
It destroyed a great and elitist tyranny and the ruling class power behind it.

Three percent did this. Three quarters of a million American’s fought the most kick-ass, successful revolution in all of history. And not only did this plurality win, against all accepted odds, against an empire that singularly ruled more of the world than any tyranny before or after, it went on to design and create for the very first time in all of history a nation where liberty and intent of the idea of rule of law placed all power of a government upon the simple concept of consent of the people.
A place where more people lived in liberty, than all the people combined in all of history, including those who have lived in liberty in America to this day.

Some contend the republic was flawed from the start. As soon as it began it ceased to be a republic. Well you know what, if so, then it was illegitimate only because people who abused others liberty acted illegitimately. What is the crux of what happened because of a plurality is Liberty lived. And I care not what but that today I am a freeman because of a plurality. I do not give consent to the illegitimate. It is My preference to determine my life, what I believe in, whom/what I give My consent to. Killing me because I refuse consent means I lived, and die a freeman. That is Liberty. That is preference. It is upstream of everything but my faith in God.

The Replacements

No, I not talking about the rock 'n roll band.

I'm talking about those candidates to be Kay Hagan's replacement for US Senate.  These three are all good people, but one really stands out.

Mark Harris thinks he'd make a great leader, and I tend to agree with him.  He thinks people get elected here in North Carolina for their leadership skills, and that those folks in Washington, DC are just poor leaders.  I disagree with him on both those points, but due to the same premise.  I don't need political leadership, and neither do the other citizens of this state.  If we need anything from a politician, it's representation that stands opposed to Washington, DC.  He should continue to lead his congregation.

Heather Grant is probably the nicest of the three.  I truly sense that she wants to be part of the solution.  And, I believe she recognizes that the Left is not just misguided, but wicked.  Certainly, she'd be a quantum leap in the right direction after the disastrous Kay Hagan (in a way not unlike how anything improves the taste in your mouth after you've bitten into a not-quite-ripe persimmon).  But, I'm not convinced she could effectively rebut the clever rhetoric of the Marxists.

It's easy to see why Rand Paul endorses Greg Brannon, though.  Just listening to Brannon, reminded me of Sen. Paul: relatively soft-spoken, with the confidence of his convictions.  For example, he responds to a question regarding healthcare by saying that there's a "healthcare crisis because government got involved in a Free Market apparatus.  Government caused the problem."  Enjoy this video from NC Tea Party.




He had me at "Individual Sovereignty" and "Constitutional Dollar".  This is what the Tea Party is all about.

Hey Kay, pack your shit.

Max Velocity: Patriot Dawn - Free Kindle This Weekend

I just finished reading the paperback version, and can (sort of) highly recommend it.  Certainly, I would highly recommend it to the Operators, and would-be-Operators among us, and I'll post a link over on the OathKeepers forum with those guys in mind.

For general consumption, though, the Special Forces nomenclature gets tedious (The ARF's ECP was too FUBAR for OPSEC, so they attached a TACO to their FLIR), and Max's character development leaves a bit to be desired.  Note to Max: If you want a co-author next time to help bridge the gap between the choir and congregation, just drop me a note.  I'll clear some room on the schedule.

That being said, Patriot Dawn The Resistance Rises, is an unbeatable value this weekend: FREE kindle download at Amazon.com.

Platforms for other "E-readers", also, apparently.

Gitcha some, y'all.

Members Only Content

So, you haven't  heard of an alternative to Obarrycare that solves every failing of that monstrosity?

Well, you would if you were a member of BillWhittle.com, where you could view this new installment of the Virtual President.

What are you waiting for, a particular shade of green?

"True-Cons"

This label is Sister Toldjah's concoction, not mine.  And certainly not GWR's, either, so far as I know.  A favorite strategy of a leftist/collectivist is to belittle its opposition by defining it into an unflattering box, such as her newly-fashioned, "true-cons".  Ouch, don't do me like that.

One of the longest-standing inhabitants of my blogroll (right over there) is Sister Toldjah.  In fact, I like her so good, that I link her up twice.  I don't read everything that's posted there, but when I do, I expect a better product than collectivist drivel, regardless the nature of that collective.

Her diligence in exposing "liberal" dishonesty and corruption is exemplary, and she's generally a voice of sanity rising above the din over in North Carolina's Little Austin (Asheville).  So, prominently ensconced in my blogroll she'll remain.

But that doesn't mean that she's always right, or beyond reproach.  And whenever she decides that criticism (of her pal Phineas) is better stifled, than debated, well, reproach is what's for dinner.

Phineas found himself in grand company: Thomas Sowell, Charles Krauthammer, Jason Lewis et al, with his argument against Ted Cruz's filibustering stance, and Congress' looming shut-down of the Fed-Gov last month.  Phineas didn't want Republicans to look bad, and used Bogart's Sam Spade character from The Maltese Falcon as an example of how perilous a tightrope walk it would be to publically battle Obamacare, while trying not to be seen as an oppositional force to a popular pResident, which may cost Republicans a vote in 2014.

I'm glad Phineas wants to be on the side that doesn't like Obamacare or its authors.  But, I don't just see that monstrosity's demise as a victory for Republicans.  The prospect of R's in this hall or that assembly is no longer even a moral victory.  I oppose Obamacare, not for it's perceived failure to improve medicine or insurance or pharmaceuticals, but because its core purpose has always been to effect evermore sinuous governmental control over this country's citizens (I say perceived failure, because it was never meant to succeed).

And, if you like that piece of wisdom, you can keep it.  Period.

Here's the coup de grace that the Sister used to slam the critics of her beloved Phineas:

Got it, guys – staunch conservatives like Phineas and myself who have fought tooth and nail against big government liberalism for years (decades) are “part of the problem” and shining examples of the white flag coalition simply because we disagreed on the best strategy when it came to opposing Obamacare.

Good to know.

I get so sick of this “true cons” bull sh*t. I’m closing this thread before I lose it. If either of you have anything further to say to me on this you can do it over email. We’re done here.

Actually, I have much more to say.  But it'll be said in the light, not in the email realm.  And my take is, if you can't stand a bloody nose, then you aren't fighting "tooth and nail."

I also believe that it's telling that she says, in the next few words no less, it's "big government liberalism..." that they're fighting against.  Not just big government, or liberalism, either of which is bad, but which she doesn't distinguish, but such that the natural rejoinder might be, "so, you'd be okay with big government, if it weren't so liberal?"  And this is where Phineas' argument for opposition without resistance devolves to a point beyond being simply excusably weak.  It's wrong, bad wrong.

If you're a "shining example" of anything, I should hope for your sake the white flag coalition would be preferable to McCain/Graham/Boehner enablers, because that's who wins using Phineas' "strategy."  I believe that my immediate response to Phineas in that first piece of his was, "How's that working out for you so far, brainiac?"

No, you're not "part of the problem" just because you disagree on the best strategy.  But, if your so-called strategy includes criticizing Cruz or remanufacturing something as hideously wicked as government "healthcare" just so you can win an election, then you certainly are a big part of the problem.  If the only battle you're willing to fight is one to expand your collective, then you are no better than them, but simply a different pale pastel.

Socialism-lite is not acceptable.  And so long as there is a white flag coalition, the GOP remains deceased.  And, I'm not convinced that there'll even be a legitimate 2014 election, for any of us to be angling toward.

The comments are open.  You can actually type "bull shit" here, if you like, spell it all the way out.  I won't shut down an argument for the hurt of a few feelings.

510 Subscribers

But, that doesn't include me, because I had already subscribed.

Perhaps four other NC right-minded bloggers can team up with me, and we can be a wrench.  And then, we will do...things.

Should you join Bill Whittle dot com?

Yes.

510 new subscribers helps those citizen producers meet a minimum financial goal to launch something as cool as the Virtual President, Afterburner, and Firewall combined.

Should you make yourself a part of the Common Sense Resistance?

That, I can not tell you.

Last Day For Free Castigo Cay

Friends,

Today is the last day to get a free Kindle download of Matt Bracken's Castigo Cay.  Go to Amazon.com, and have others do likewise.

To whet your appetite, how about a short-story of Matt's, from about this time last year?

What I Saw at the Coup
-by Matt Bracken


This is the first time in many years that I have put pen to paper for a lengthy letter, so please forgive my misspellings, poor handwriting or any other errors. I will probably do this in one go and be finished with it. I won’t need much of this new notebook. It’s a nice room, desk and chair, but really, no computer? I just wish they would stop the hammering outside. I need to focus in order to write well.

No one person could possibly expect to know the full truth about such a complex history, so near to its time. But I know what I know, saw what I saw, and heard what I heard. Now it’s time to set the record straight, at least about what transpired between some of the key players in the lead up to the recent events.

What I have heard called “the plan” began as idle office chat, nothing more. (Of course, not much chat is ever truly idle at the very highest levels of power, between senior presidential advisors.) The first time I heard it mentioned was over lunch with Dennis in the White House Mess, down in the basement next to the situation room. We were at a quiet corner table of the wood-paneled dining room, tossing ideas for the next talking points back and forth. Routine.

Read the rest at WRSA...

A Perilous Era

"A fundamental element of our Constitution will have been destroyed.  The power of the purse will have shifted from the representatives of the people, to the executive."




Recommended by my Oath Keeper brethren.

If You See Something...

Say Something, right?

That's the line from Big Sis, that we're supposed to warn the government of potential threats (to them, of course).

But what if the nefarious mucking about belongs to those untrustworthy vultures in our current regime?

Would we know them if we saw them?  Could we differentiate them from the friendlies?

With talk of truckers shutting down DC, and a Million Vet March on the Capitol to restore access to their own Memorials (physically, if necessary, I'm sure), how unsurprised would you be at an armed force to "quell the resistance?"

I saw these on Thursday & Friday, and had to wonder about their legitimacy...



Those of you out there marching or trucking to stick your thumbs in the tyrant's eye: be careful, please.

Scum

If this is true, Paul Ryan, please go straight to Hell.  And everyone else sleeping with you and Boehner.

Free Bracken

Anyone who knows me can contact me, and because I believe in the value of these books for reaching into the hearts of good men and forging their purpose through some coming trouble, those people could ask of me, and I would gladly purchase for them Matt Bracken's Enemies Foreign & Domestic trilogy.  Dystopian thrillers that read like unfolding prophecy.

But, if you have a Kindle, guess what!

I don't have to buy them, and you don't have to wait for me to deliver them.

Beginning Monday (and available for four days), and on each subsequent Monday, Matt is offering free Kindle downloads of each book of his trilogy, plus his fourth novel, Castigo Cay.  Each book, in its entirety, kids!  Get them at Amazon.com

I can't imagine any reading material, right now, that I could more-highly recommend.

He says: "I can’t see much point in “hoarding” the Enemies trilogy. If it’s going to do any good, make any impact outside of the already-converted patriotic American “choir,” it has to happen pretty soon. Nobody will give a damn about the Enemies Trilogy as a footnote to history if we lose our freedom. I don’t want people talking about my novels “in the camps.” (I won’t be there: I’ll be dead, or I’ll be long gone over the horizon.)"

Aside: even if you're my many family members who disagree with the things I write, if you don't have a Kindle, I'll still buy them for you.  How's that for generous?

Also from Matt, courtesy of Western Rifle Shooters Association, this essay...

Great Ideas

It still seems like a mighty good idea to me for Congress to refuse funding for Obamacare.  Keep sending those partial government olive branches to the Senate, and keep letting America's #1 enemy show them his ass.  I think it's working better than expected.

Another pretty fine idea, is the million trucker march, actually called Ride For The Constitution.  I think it's a good idea for them to simply shake their fists at the Corruptocrats, but it seems that they're far more serious.

The truckers are planning on arresting some of those Corruptocrats, or having them arrested.  “We are coming whether they like it or not. We’re not asking for impeachment, we’re asking for the arrest of everyone in government who has violated their oath of office.” -Earl Conlon




But the best idea I've heard?  That would be the this from Oath Keepers...

Oath Keepers is open to non-vets, too.  C'mon...let's go.

Oath Keepers is Going "Operational" by Forming Special "Civilization Preservation" Teams

Oath Keepers is instructing its 30,000 members nation-wide to form up special teams and sub-teams in each Oath Keepers chapter, at the town and county level, modeled loosely on the Special Forces “A Team” (Operational Detachment A ) model, and for a similar purpose: to be both a potential operational unit for community security and support during crisis, but also, as mission #1, to serve as training and leadership cadre, to assist in organizing neighborhood watches, organizing veterans halls to provide community civil defense, forming County Sheriff Posses, strengthening existing CERT, volunteer fire, search-and-rescue, reserve deputy systems, etc., and eventually to assist in forming and training town and county militias (established by official act of town and county elected representatives). We want our chapters to organize themselves as a working model that we can then take to other veterans organizations, such as the VFW, American Legion, Marine Corps League, etc. in each town and help them establish such teams within their already existing veterans halls. And likewise, to serve as a model and training cadre to help churches, neighborhood watches, and any other civic organization organize.

We are basing this on the Special Forces model, which has a twelve man “A team” of specially trained soldiers who are inserted into a community to train and lead that community in resistance to oppressive regimes (hence their motto: “De Oppresso Liber). SF’s primary mission is to teach, organize, and lead, rather than to directly fight. They can fight, of course, but they are most dangerous as a force-multiplier by helping an entire community to fight. We will do the same – be force multipliers to help prepare communities so they can preserve civilization by providing their own security, disaster relief, infrastructure preservation, emergency communications, strategic food reserve, and medical care.

In an SF team, there are:

The Sword and the Arm That Wields It

Afterburner:

WW III

Help the "Brilliant One" kick-start World War III.  "And any moon war he might want to start..."

Hat tip: NCRenegade



Because Obama, y'all.

Do you really think it (getting checkmated into global conflict) is an accidental move on Obama's part, rather than his assisted/orchestrated destruction of America?  Was this what he was confiding with Putin over, when he said "Wait until after the election, for more flexibility"?

Whether you believe that he is a narcissistic mad scientist or a choom-gang buffoon, the results are the same: America is sliding further and faster towards its own undoing.  I suggest that that is by design, not coincidence.

It'd be funny, if it wasn't so terribly, incontrovertibly real.

At the risk of mixing metaphors, I'll remind you of the scene in Jaws, where Hooper tells the Mayor that the dimensions on the vandalized billboard are accurate, that the real threat dwarfs the scale of your comprehension.

They're intentionally wrecking the economy.  Intentionally weakening America's fighting strength, and global image.  Intentionally corrupting and dulling its citizens' senses.  Intentionally ramping up the police-state and confiscating your wealth.  They are killing American business and thwarting the notion of energy independence.  Intentionally castrating America for the benefit of the Chinese, Russians, Koreans, and muslims.  They're killing the terrorists, no, they're placating the terrorists, no, they've got the terrorists on the run, no, they're only helping the "moderate" terrorists, and maybe you Constitutionalists are the real terrorists.  They are intentionally making you feel more inept, overwhelmed, and alone.  It's manufactured crisis on top of manufactured crisis.

It's like a cheesy SyFy Channel movie: MegaOligarchoShark!

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

Dark

In cooperation with Western Rifle Shooters Association, ST&L goes "dark" for 09/11/13.

We are offline for 9/11/2013 and pledge to commit no commerce for the entire day, denying the NSA, the US Government and all other consumers of tax dollars our productive output.

We are taking this action because of the outrageous nature of the NSA’s and other government agency actions — acts that disrespect the unalienable rights delineated in the Declaration of Independence, enshrined in The Constitution and which all Federal, State and Local governments are obliged to honor.

In addition to the above the rank hypocrisy of our government’s blacklisting of Huawei’s products — made in China, and a blacklist that this site has openly supported — while our government is and has been engaging in the very same conduct is utterly unsupportable and is likely to have a materially-destructive impact on US technology firms and our economy.

We pledge that should this protest be ignored we will escalate with additional consecutive days of similar protest in coming months, until our demands are addressed.

We demand:

1. An immediate end to all warrantless interception, collection, storage and retention of data from American Citizens on US Soil, including the public destruction of all currently-stored data. All future collection shall take place pursuant only under a valid, issued warrant as specified by the 4th Amendment, delineating with specificity what is to be searched or seized and specifying the probable cause upon which each item to be searched or seized is based. “Data” shall have the broadest-possible interpretation and shall include but not be limited to voice, text, images, video, internet, IP address, location, billing information and other “metadata” irrespective of how it is generated. All warrants for the search or seizure of data generated by US Citizens upon US soil shall be issued by a sitting judge, shall not be issued in blank or without the personal inspection of the claims of probable cause and the list of data to be searched or seized by said judge and shall not be classified or privileged from disclosure or challenge. Such protections and requirements by definition preclude “bulk collection” by any party whether performed by the government directly or at its behest by third parties.

2. The introduction and passage of federal legislation creating a criminal penalty of not less than ten (10) years imprisonment for any person, irrespective of agency in Federal, State, County or Local government, that violates the strictures of (1) above, in addition to the imposition of personal civil liability under 42 USC 1983 for Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law or Authority. Said legislation shall provide that such a complaint, once sworn by a citizen, shall be pursued by the Department of Justice under pain of each person failing or refusing to do so being subject to the same penalty as the original offender. Said law shall also specify that all information developed, delivered or collected as a consequence of such an unconstitutional search or seizure as delineated in (1) above shall be suppressed in any civil or criminal action brought by any government instrumentality within the United States.

3. Due to the incessant, outrageous and escalating militarization of our police forces and the rampant abuses that same have and do engage in all officers with police power shall be required to wear a video and audio recording device at all times while exercising their jurisdiction and such record of their interaction with any citizen shall be provided at the time of that citizen’s initial appearance for any citation or criminal offense alleged. The failure to so-produce, obstruction with the provision thereof or destruction of said evidence except when caused by the direct act of the suspect(s) so-involved shall serve as cause for dismissal of charges with prejudice for any and all acts alleged to have occurred for which said production is refused, tampered with, altered or obstructed.

Other links embedded in original found here:
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2013/09/10/denninger-tomorrow-we-go-dark/
http://market-ticker.org/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/nsa-phone-records-spying-violated-court-rules-for-years.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/nsa-spying-seen-risking-billions-in-u-s-technology-sales.html

Amended to suggest...

It might also be a good day to visit your bootlegger.  Swing by the alphabet store and tell the clerk there that you won't be buying any government likker this day, and you're on your way (or you just came from) your favorite moonshiner.  That'll get 'em.

Fight All the Enemies

From Francis Porretto, Liberty's Torch, regarding the true nature of the "DEMS":

And I, in the special clarity I seem to be able to achieve at 4 AM, replied thus:

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for.” – Howard Dean.

You are the enemy.
You are not benevolent.
Your first goal is to disarm us.
Your second goal is to eliminate privacy.
Your third goal is to criminalize our opinions.
You want power for yourselves, and nothing else.
You believe yourselves entitled to rule us absolutely.
You routinely wish for the deaths of conservative figures.
You would have us forcibly “re-educated,” if you could pull it off.
You are trying to destroy all remaining restraints on the federal government.
You’re doing everything you can to criminalize disagreement with your agenda.
You accuse your political opponents of every foul crime and motivation in the book.
And you do it with a contemptuous smirk that says “You can’t stop us no matter what you do."

I tried to grant you the presumption of integrity.
I can’t.You’ve forfeited all claim to decency or benign purpose.
The only difference between you and the Communists of North Korea is your skin tone.
From here to the end of my life, I will do all in my power to have you seen for what you really are. Not decent people with different opinions about what’s best, or what means are acceptable.
Not persons agonized over America’s residuum of violence, or poverty, or racism.
Not neighbors peacefully willing to agree to disagree with other Americans.
You are none of those things.
You are the enemy.
You are villains.
Traitors.

Yep.

More Busy

Okay, sure, it's a crowded theatre.  Nothing to worry about here, though, Ethel.  Just keep watching the picture show with your 3-D glasses.

Best not to even let your eyes look around the paper frames of those glasses.  Whatever you'd see will only detract from your picture show experience.  Even if Bracken is whispering in your ear about some trouble that he is keenly aware of, and even if you smell smoke (I smell it, too), don't look away from the picture.  A snippet from Alas, Brave New Babylon, the short story I referenced earlier.

And that FEMA and National Guard fiasco was the last I saw of the official United States government. I dove into the forests and have kept within them, or at least kept them on my flank, ever since. What I know I only know from word of mouth, rumor stacked on rumor. The worst rumors came from travelers who claimed to have escaped from the cities. They invariably reported complete social breakdown: anarchy, madness, race war, mass rape, torture, widespread arson, and wholesale murder. Hunger and hatred squared, madness and murder cubed, the blood fevered by fear, desperation, and the long-simmering racial hatred finally boiling over.


The consistent theme that every city survivor repeated was the utter callousness of average, ordinary people. Shoot on sight at the effective range of your weapon became the only rule of engagement. The further away, the better. Before their faces were clear. And within a month, food took on a different meaning—predator and prey within the same species.

The few city folk who found their way to the Appalachian Trail stuck slavishly to the paths marked by trees with painted blaze marks. I avoided the marked trails; they were studded with trolls waiting in ambush for the unwary traveler. The greatest danger in the forests came from hunters and other armed woodsmen, and there were plenty of them out there, especially at the beginning. If you were seen first, you might be shot without ever seeing your killer. Or you might walk into a snare, a deadfall, a tiger pit, or some other kind of trap. One of those hunters had carried a top-grade compound bow before he took a fatal tumble. I found his camouflage-clad skeleton at the bottom of a ravine, his bow hooked on the stub of a pine limb above him as if he’d left it there for me.

I spent the first winter in a little place between Greenville and Asheville, population a couple hundred in a few clusters of homes and roadside businesses spread out over a mile or two of twisting mountain roads. No name, not officially a town. Trailers, cabins, retirement homes. I was welcomed because I’d befriended a pair of brothers on the trails who later vouched for me. They were bugging out to a retired aunt and uncle’s vacation cabin. We were heading in the same direction, away from crowds and up into the mountains. They had a place to stay, maybe, and I had maps and trail skills. Even back in that early time there was strength in numbers: everybody has to sleep sometime.

If there was real trouble, someone you know and trust would interrupt the program and tell you all about it.  Someone other than Bracken, or that Livermush fellow.

There's nothing you can do about it, anyway.  Right?

Stick your head in the sand, Ethel.

Alas, Brave New Babylon in its entirety (reprinted with the author's permission), after the jump...

Busy

If anybody comes looking for me, I'll be over at Western Rifle Shooters Association reading Matt Bracken's latest.  Short fiction, in its entirety (I think).

Join me, please?

Burr, Senator

I sent my Senator, Richard Burr (the only Senator from NC that I recognize as being "my" anything) an email via his online form the other day.  It in, I told him that I'm a registered Republican and two-time cancer survivor, and that I'm disappointed that he hasn't pledged to defund Obamacare.

I also mentioned that I'd heard his statement regarding those efforts to defund it, "the dumbest idea I've ever heard," and asked him if he hadn't, in fact, heard the "we've got to pass it, to find out what's in it" statement.

Seriously, Senator, which concept is the dumber of the two?  What do you think voters of North Carolina think is dumber, an elected representative who exhausts every last effort to fight against exploding Statism, or one who carefully cultivates his own political future.

His website claims he wants to "repeal & replace" the Affordable Care Act.  I think that's because, in the end, he still wants State control of my life and yours, but just doesn't like who gets the credit/blame for it.

He has my number and my email addy.  I've yet to hear back from him.

You can let him hear from you, though: Don't Fund Obamacare

Defund It

It's Congress' obligation to control the purse strings of government.  They could fund the armed forces and border security, then prioritize other programs accordingly, with the great monstrosity, Obamacare, being last, and effectively shut out for funding.

I think that many, if not most, other programs should experience scaled-down funding also.  But, if there's a (OMG!) government shut-down, let it be that part (or those parts) that are least palatable and most onerous.



Pretending that the cost of the political capital is extreme, is just a head-fake.  Because, the decision to either accept the budget without OBC funding or "shut down government" would fall to the Oval Office.  It's a win/win for Republicans this way, unless you're a big-government Republican.

The folks who want to keep it "funded" are those that also want to tinker with it, and keep Washington DC's thumb on it.  Why?

Power.

That's why.

I Believe, Part II

I believe that hard work is its own reward, and that it takes no special talent to hustle, that is, to try.

I believe that you almost never get what you want, but you usually get what you need.  Especially, if you're hustling.

I believe that there is no such thing as "the common good."  There is no universal goodness, except for that which comes from the Creator.  Every other imagined collective good is a farce.

I believe in the Oath Keepers.

I believe that the response time to a 911 call is, on average, about 23 minutes.  And the response time of a .357 Magnum is about 1400 feet per second.

I believe that the DNC nominating Hillary (when that is bound to happen) is them telling us that the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty were of little consequence to them.  And, I believe that any media personality/pundit or delegate (or voter) that endorses her campaign holds those lives in similar disregard.

I believe that not paying taxes defunding Leviathan is less like stealing from your neighbor, and more like stealing from Tony Soprano.

I believe that Duramax makes a damn fine engine, and Allison a damn fine transmission, but that I'll probably never again buy anything from Government Motors.

I believe that Bill Whittle and Judge Andrew Napolitano would make great 3rd party candidates for President.  Matter of fact, I think we'd be better off if they were the only two choices, and the loser got the Veep slot, as in years past.

I believe that each State should consider Levin's Liberty Amendments, and that only those States that amend their own Constitutions thusly, should be allowed to continue belonging to the Union.  Reverse-secession, maybe.

I believe that Ranya Bardiwell, is the modern-day Dagny Taggart.  That is not intended to disparage either author, but to honor both.  And, I believe the EFAD trilogy should be made into a movie.

I believe the sport of American football is being ruined by the NFL, and I predict tackling will be altogether against the rules within the next 5 years.

I believe that Coach Smith should not accept the Congressional Medal of Freedom, until it's presented by someone with America's best interests at heart.

I believe the sweetest sound I know is a spirit-filled congregation singing How Great Thou Art.

I believe that no matter how many people are crowded atop this marble, abortion is wrong.

I believe that replenishing the Tree of Liberty with the blood of Patriots and tyrants alike will happen in our lifetime.  And I'm okay with that.

I believe that my dog is waiting for me on the other side of the bridge.

I Believe

I apologize for the incoherence, but that doesn't mean that you can consider yourself blameless.  Some feedback would be nice, if only for a toehold or steadying purchase.

I am a fan of Mark Levin.  And I believe that he is correct that we need (or more accurately, from my perspective, will need) to amend the constitution to further limit the federal government.  But, I do not concur that fixing the Constitution will fix the Leviathan.  For one thing, the Leviathan will not allow it.

Fixing the Constitution and/or fixing the government...It's nearly like a chicken/egg equation, but not quite.  It's more like a chicken and some eggs, and a hatchet.  And a Dutch oven.

A point to consider, friends: even if some organic mass-uprising cited Levin's list for guidance in securing a Constitutional Convention, which group of Congress-critters do you trust to actually write those amendments?  Name ten "representatives" who are that trustworthy, even if you got to pick them.  And guess what.  I doubt you'll get to pick them.  It's only a great idea if they actually do what you sent them there to do in the first place.  How's that worked out so far?  That system is how we get Arkansas pork in a Hurricane Sandy-relief bill.

Even if a Constitutional Convention came to pass, and those Amendments were ratified just as Levin outlines, we currently have a government which chooses to not abide by the law and/or enforces only those laws convenient to its own well-being.

Here's an outrageous supposition for you.  I submit that we've seen the last legitimate national election (even if the 2012 presidential election was truly legitimate, and I am highly skeptical).  I do not believe that there will be another.  I suspect that, true to form, the Socialists will manufacture a crisis so profound that time and energy spent on campaigns and elections will be deemed wasteful and risky.  If the administration said, "Hey, things are just too fragile right now.  Let's just suspend the election cycle for a few months, and ride this thing out",  could we trust the traditional media to kick up much fuss in opposition?

As much as I hope for political debate to somehow cure our national bleeding ulcer, I sadly cannot convince myself that there is a political solution to be had.  I don't think 50% of the populace will ever vote against Santa.  Even if notable atrocities (read: Benghazi, Fast & Furious, NSA, IRS) continue piling up, the traditional media will continue refusing to give a damn.  For every major news outlet, the raging wildfires around the city-state only merit Nero's fiddle-tune as report-worthy.

When I'm out on the road, I listen mostly to talk radio, as signal permits.  And, I have some apps on the old smart phone for this, too.  Most areas, I can get Rush & Hannity, though I find their respective "shticks" a bit predictable and stale.  As mentioned before, Mark Levin is generally worth a listen, but he's too big a fan of "Honest" Abe for my liking.  That's about my only complaint with him, but Glenn Beck's unbridled infatuation with the North and disdain for the South has earned him a permanent "no thanks" from me.  Bad mouth Jefferson Davis, Glenn, and this is what you get: Buh-bye.

My smart-apps aren't very reliable, but the best listening by far is Town Hall Radio, led by Dr. Bill Bennett's Morning In America.  Also very worthwhile are TH's Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher.

Another of my sketchy smart-apps is the one that dials up some Jason Lewis.  Generally very good, but last week he belabored the point that we need to abandon opposition to Obamacare, just so the peoples can experience the full effect of that monstrosity.  I'm not down with that, as they say.  And I'm certainly not down with his repeated nonsense that this administration's foreign policy isn't fundamentally different than Republicans (for some reason, he pretended this somehow made his case on a parallel level).

Sorry, Jason.  What previous administration can you cite that has been so antagonistic to America's friends, warm to America's enemies, derelict in its duty, and criminal in its devices?  Which one bowed to a Chinaman?  Who else made an apology tour?  Yes, other GOP admins had deplorable behavior, too.  But, I don't agree that we've ever seen such inept or egregious foreign policy.

And that brings me to this latest unpleasantness: my Senator is listed as one who won't pledge to defund the "Affordable Care Act".  Don't know why, but I'll surely try to find out.  In the meantime, if you're reading this, Richard Burr, there are no longer any worthwhile GOP victories.  Either you're steadfastly opposed to the single most un-American piece of legislation ever conceived, or you're helping to facilitate it.

And back to the so-called "Liberty Amendments".  Good idea Mark, but what do you say to the Con-Con scenario in Bracken's Foreign Enemies & Traitors?

"Well, we didn't just 'give up' our rights. It wasn't like that. Not at all. It's more like they were stolen in broad daylight, at the constitutional convention."

Carson asked, "How did that happen? I was down in the Caribbean then. American news wasn't so big down there. Panama was going through its own troubles, and I was keeping a low profile. I didn't have cable TV, that's for sure."

"I'll tell you what happened--I watched it happen. When the convention was over, that's when we knew that the old America was gone. It was over. Finished."

Those of you who haven't, please follow the link above to the rest of a long excerpt from FEAT, and from there to reading the entire EFAD Trilogy.  Bracken told you what was going to happen, and it is happening.  Wishing it weren't is no solution.

Again, I'll say that I believe placing hope in any political solution is ultimately misplaced, but that shouldn't stop Mr. Burr, et al, from doing the right thing.  I'll be defunding it in my own way, from where I stand.  And that will make me a target for a vengeful regime.  But, since I've already/previously contributed to GOP candidates, have "NoBama" and "I Am John Galt" stickers on my truck, subscribe to TownHall.com, the Heritage Foundation, and PajamasMedia.com, have ordered items from Cheaper Than Dirt and Jebadiah Fisher, contributed American folding dollars to Mike Vanderboegh and the Reese Defense Fund, not to mention my unwaveringly uncooperative ST&L rants, I am pretty sure the NSA and IRS (and who knows how many alphabet-others) have long ago flagged my behavior as attention-worthy.

I'm currently reading Whittaker Chambers' Witness, and I know how he felt, sticking out as a sore thumb and knowing it's not a matter of "whether" that vengeance will come, but "how & when."

Ex-Republic

If this is your government...



Then, you and I are not citizens, but subjects.

Time to cast off the yoke of oppression, no?

Justice

I read a couple hours ago that George Zimmerman was acquitted.  I was worried that the jury would be unduly influenced by the idiot-box media and the bias of the judge, so my first reaction was relief.  My second sentiment was that Zimmerman had to endure a year which included the scornful machinations of his own President's administration along with those of the grievance industry.

I think it a testament to his character for holding up so well against that year-long tidal surge.  Is he a hero?  Well, maybe not directly to me, but certainly to those in his community.  He'd been involved in his Neighborhood Watch program for some years, not just that night.  And, he'd apparently never shown any animus toward anyone because of their skin color.  I think he just wanted a safe, crime-free neighborhood, and was willing to look critically at a person and situation as being possibly criminal.  And, I think he was right about the criminal.

There is no question in my mind that the dead guy was a thug.  Perhaps he wasn't plotting to rob someone, and perhaps he hadn't already mugged somebody.  But this fact remains: Zimmerman did not pick the fight and he didn't start it.  He was armed, and (duh) knew he was armed.  He didn't have to get into a fist-fight.  All he really had to do, given the onset of confrontation, was to again call the cops, who were standing by to rush in and do their duty (ok, sorry...I threw up a little in my mouth, there).  In reality, though, that was his reasoned expectation, flawed as it may have been regarding the LEOs.  But, back to my point, as he was armed, there was really no reason to engage in a fist-fight.

At some point, we all have to be willing to look critically at our world without fear.  Such as, "hey, that guy dressed the exact same way as a muslim terrorist, might just be a muslim terrorist, so I'm going to keep my eye on him" -Juan Williams.  Okay, I'm paraphrasing.  But it's the exact same situation.

Do I feel sorry for the dead guy?  Yes and no.

I am not sorry that he picked a fight with a citizen and got shot dead for it.

I am, however, very, very sorry for his supporters that they have no better hero in life than him.  I am sorry that so many people want to hate Whitey so bad, that they'll stretch the definition of Zimmerman's ethnicity well beyond the bounds of sanity, and threaten riotous racial vengeance over the perceived "injustice".  Professional victimhood run amok, I say.  I am sorry that the dead guy's family weren't concerned enough for his well-being previous to that fateful night, that they'd steer him away from his thug-life ways.  I am sorry that thug-life, itself, is glorified in parts of our subculture.  I'm sorry that folks that identify with the dead guy, racially, are so screamingly stupid, that they can't or won't see through the manipulative tactics of the Jesse Jackson's & Al Sharpton's & Rachel Maddow's of their world.

The dead guy should have fought for a world without the soft bigotry of diminished expectations, instead of contributing to those expectations.  Lesson: if you chose to look like a criminal, and act like a criminal, don't be too surprised or disappointed if you're treated like one.

And if you want to organize your hatred, consider the real source of your predicament.  Here's an analogy...

The Department of Wildlife here in North Carolina, confronted with deer overpopulation, introduced coyotes to the habitat.  In a brilliant move to "balance" the populations of wild turkeys, again in their infinite wisdom, introduced new species of rattlesnakes.  The method to their madness?  Control nature through "managed" conflict.  Most of the political class (and most notably Obama, Holder, & Company) believe it's in their best interest to tweak the chaos of conflict.  They love, love, love it when the peasants are pointing their pitchforks at each other, rather than at them.

Who benefits from your hatred?  Certainly not Whitey.  And certainly not blacks, either.  Only those in the race-baiting industry and the ruling class realize any real profit from the strife.  You would-be rioters might consider the very real possibility that we're actually on the same side!

If you want to organize a violent march protest on your real oppressors, show up at the White House in Washington, DC.  Tell the occupiers there that you're tired of them keeping you around just for your stupidity and manipulability.  If they gave a damn about you, or the dead guy, they'd be honest with you.  But they're not.  They're using you like so many coyotes and rattlesnakes.  If you want to honor the dead guy, and like him are tired of being so disrespected, then turn your ire on those who purposefully cultivate it.

Feeling Particularly "Free" These Days?

Having just finished a project in SC on this past Wednesday, July 3rd, I considered going to the coast for a few hours to do some boat items.  Things that were on the "could do" list, but not the "must do immediately" list.

But before I departed the Palmetto State, I heard about TN highway patrol partnering with Department of Jackbooted Thuggery Homeland Security to conduct "DUI Checkpoints" in the Volunteer State.

There was no mention of similar "checkpointing" in NC or SC, but a trip northeast and then west, would have been 4 hours more driving than the 4 hours to just get home.  So, I opted for the path of least resistance, that is, of least potential conflict.  You might say I was domestically terrorized.  When confronted with bullying force, my standard operating procedure is to respond in kind, so it's probably a good idea I curtailed my travel plans.

How bad can it be?  Well, you tell me...



Currently, that video has some 2.3 million hits on youtube.  I wonder what the outcome would have been if the citizen had refused to open his door, or pull over into the "detainment-but-not-detainment" area.

Here's another video, also from COPBLOCK.ORG.  If you can get past the title of the video, and watch the whole thing, please tell me if you could answer "never."

As the narrator says, "asking fascists to not act like fascists, has a pretty poor track record throughout history."



The 4th Amendment reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

It's in their best interests (your Government's, that is) to have you trade your Freedom for perceived security, but is it in your best interest?

Historically, I have a fine respect for cops.  But, I'm just not convinced that they have any respect for me.  And to answer the question posed in the title of this piece?  No.  Not so much.

Here's an idea: stop early and spend a few minutes videotaping the next time you come to one of these blatantly illegal checkpoints.  Enough citizen-journalists, with overlapping evidence, and this crap ceases to exist.

Dear Paul Ryan

I tried responding to you, Congressman Ryan, but my email was returned as undeliverable.  Apparently, you'll solicit and receive my monies, but not so much my concerns?  Presumably, you sent this because I'd given your group my hard-earned folding money in the past.  You wrote:

Jeff, President Obama and his Left-wing allies will stop at nothing to win back the House and put Nancy Pelosi back in the speaker’s chair.

We cannot let the Democrats do this.

If Democrats take back the House, we will continue to see bigger more intrusive government. We must continue to hold the President and government agencies, like the IRS, accountable for their gross abuse of power.

I need your help to stop Pelosi today.

Our June 30th fundraising deadline is critical – every dollar counts, and will help us keep the majority and Pelosi out of the speaker’s chair.

With only four days until the end of the fundraising quarter, every dollar counts. We are so committed to stopping Nancy Pelosi that we will match every contribution that we receive before June 30th.

Contribute $100, $50, $25 or what you can to help us keep the majority and Pelosi out of the speaker’s chair.

Thanks, Paul Ryan

Since the pachyderm party blocked my reply, you'll just have to read it here at ST&L...

Hey Paul, If you really want to "match me," do so by growing a pair.

Sun, Wind, Water

Bookending the daylight on a very long day's journey are these two photos.  The first, leaving port motoring SE, into the rising sun, and across barely unflattened water.

The second, running through a glass-flat canal toward the setting sun.

This pic would be serene, but for the known peril of remaining in this ditch after sunset.  For comfort & safety's sake, the bridge on the horizon should have passed overhead two hours earlier.  The 85 Statute Mile trip is quite doable in a single day, if your boat makes 7 knots.  With a foul bottom, however, maxed out at 5 knots, not such an easy feat.

Making the ensuing 3-hour end of this trip much more anxious was the combination of darkness, a stiffening wind, limited local knowledge, and pitching seas all the way in.  But, the sailor and his vessel survived.

I'll be putting together a video of this adventure and posting over on the sister-blog, when I get enough time.  Anyone care to hazard a guess as to where these photos were taken?

I'm Stealing It, Too

From a commenter over at Cold Fury, comes a quote many plan to appropriate...

"Arguing with a Socialist or a Muslim or an anti-gun advocate is like playing chess with a pigeon. They will knock over all the pieces, shit on the board and then declare victory" -Dave

And, I couldn't agree more.  Why debate them?  If you know that tyrannical control is their objective, what could you possibly gain by winning, or even engaging in, an argument?

If you are inclined to fight for that in which you believe, talking only empowers or emboldens your foe.

The time for threats, warning-shots across the bow, chest-thumping rhetoric, and reasoned discourse is over.

Quiet.

Steely.

Resolve.

I Am Mike Spartacus Vanderboegh

Excerpted from Mike's speech, video below...

My name is Mike Vanderboegh and I'm a smuggler. I am from the great free state of Alabama and I am a Three Percenter.

If you need to pigeonhole my politics I consider myself a Christian libertarian. I believe in free men, free markets, the rule of law under the Founder's Republic and that the Constitution extends to everyone regardless of race, creed, color or religion.

I most especially believe in the right of the people to keep and bear arms as the ultimate guarantor of liberty.

I have also been called a "seditionist" by members of the current regime. If faithfully fulfilling my oath to the Founders' Republic and unrelenting hostility to those who would undermine and overthrow it makes me a "seditionist" then I cheerfully plead guilty.

Sipsey Street Irregulars.

As Natural As The Fingers On Our Hands (UPDATED with replacement video)

For all those who would like to exhibit Abe Lincoln as some kind of Republican role-model, witness Judge Napolitano saying he could devote a month's oratory on the frontal assault Lincoln performed on the Constitution, as its worst offender ever.

Constitution For Dummies.  Video replaced...



Hat-tip to Brock Townsend at Free North Carolina.

Guard what is yours.  Trust your government at your own peril.  Resist.

Reading Materials

Kids!

I did not forget to dose out snippets of Evan Sayet's The Kindergarden Of Eden, as promised.  I just blasted through it and lent it out to some friends, when I finished.  True, that doesn't mean that I did actually live up to that promise of more excerpts.  So, as a way of making some amends, here's the interview that made me want to order up this book in the first place...even better than snippets, no?



When I get it back, I'll try to dispense some more nuggets from Mr. Sayet...but really, why don't you just go buy your own copy?

Finding time to read has been difficult.  But, over the past 10 days or so, I've devoured my way through the first 36 chapters of Matthew Bracken's Enemies Foreign and Domestic (link fixed).  The Batfee splinter sect has Brad in the hurt locker at their psycho-Gman funny farm, and Ranya's plotting to spring him before he gets waterboarded and/or dirt-napped.  I'm betting she calls in reinforcements and makes a surgical extraction...we'll see.

Do yourself a real favor, and order up the EFAD trilogy.  Go to Bracken's website (link fixed), and get signed copies, like I did.

Common Sense

If you're a moderate or left-leaning person, you may have considered the phrase "common sense gun violence solution."  Speaking just on your terms, the very simple nuts & bolts solution isn't a buffer  zone between guns and good people (like background checks and restricted ownership), or even between guns and bad or unstable people (like restrictions on ownership by felons and those with mental issues).  The "common sense" solution on those terms, would be a different kind of buffer: one between people who are violent criminals and the general public.  Another would be a buffer between the mentally disturbed and again, the general public.

These buffers already exist, or at least they used to:  Jails, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and insane asylums.

No one seems to be talking about the naturally-predictable consequences of pardons, early parole, and lax law enforcement.  If there were proper deterrents and actual crime control, for example, young Trayvon might not have had a gang in which to belong.  And he might not have learned to self-medicate with dextromothorphan and Skittles and Arizona Tea.  And even if there'd been a gang, he might have been arrested for being in one, and been alive in jail, instead of picking a fight with anyone (much less an armed citizen).  The common sense lesson in that exchange is that George Zimmerman did the two things that Florida Law Enforcement could not or would not do: he tried to disuade crime, and then punished a violent criminal while being the object of a violent crime!

Trayvon Martin is dead, not because of an inanimate object, and certainly not the wickedness in George Zimmerman's mind, but because of the unchecked wickedness in Trayon's mind.

In fact, if Mr. Martin had been thinking about a likely armed response to his thuggery, he'd perhaps have found some other exercise for working off his enthusiasm.  Like maybe some homework, or a job, or even a wholesome team sport!

But, as I've said before, "gun control" isn't about controlling guns.   It's about controlling people.  Specifically, controlling these good citizens who would, when push comes to shove, shoot those other bad people gang-banging our neighborhoods.  Those gangs include the obvious drug/turf gang examples like Trayvon's, but also self-legitimized versions swelling in rank and armament, sent by the tyrants who can only complete their dominion whence there's no longer the potential for resistance.

In a common sense debate, then, what really is the Bill of Rights?  Wherefrom did the 2nd Amendment come?

Well, if you believe that all of our rights come from our Government (and its mechanisms and structures, whether an imperial President, a 99:1 ratio in the Legislature, and "forward-thinking" Supreme Court or any similar collection of would-be tyrants), then you can't understand, or be made to understand, what the pure nature of these rights meant to those who wrote the Constitution.  They knew and firmly believed that there were rights which pre-dated their Document, and their Revolution, and Civilization, and all the rest of history.  And, one of those rights was the right to defend oneself...in any way seen fit.  They knew the dangers posed by wicked men in power would outstrip the dangers of sabre-tooth tigers, marauders, clans, thieves, and thugs named Trayvon.

And they knew that the only way for this new government of theirs to get out of hand, was an elimination of the citizens' means of self-defense.  Therefore, the common sense discussion begins and ends with the phrase, "shall not be infringed," and the understanding that God (or Nature, if you prefer) created and gave me this right, individually for my own benefit of self-preservation.  The Founding Fathers recognized that this right came from God, and they wrote it down as a manner of acknowledging so, taking care not to be seen as bequeathing it.

It's an infringement when any legislator or judge pretends to have any business defining what constitutes "allowable."  If I want a tank, or a samurai sword or a 30-round magazine clip (hahaha), that's between me and my Maker.  Same equation for you, if that's what you want and can afford or make.

It's an infringement if/when anyone, including an officer of the State, pretends it's his business whether I'm armed or not.  If and when I start shooting, then it's your business.  You'll be better off on my side, if this happens.  Spend your efforts to solve actual crimes or catch actual criminals.

It's an infringement if you, my presumed betters, scrutinize my credit history and insist on filing my fingerprints to assess my "carry-worthiness".

Any registration requirements, from pea-shooter handguns to bazookas?  Infringement.

Simply considering that anyone other than myself or my God has any voice in restricting my having or bearing, whenever and wherever I see fit any weapon I choose, is infringement of my right and an immediate violation of the 2nd Amendment, punishable also in any way I see fit.  And whether you're an imperial President, elected representative, appointed judge, sworn deputy, or Florida gang thug, once you've broken the rights given me (us) by God, your authority no longer has merit, and you are just another criminal.

Another criminal, like Trayvon, making mistakes about the difference between the laws of God and those laws of man.

Today is a beautiful day, even if it's just another day on the right side of the dirt.  I should be floating dries down the creek, or killing golf eggs, or riding my horse, or sailing my boat...or just playing couch-survivor in preparation for the ACC Championship basketball game.  But instead, I'm writing an essay about tyrants and then heading out to a gun show.  Because I'm a racist?

No.  It's because I'm afraid of what might happen if I'm not paying attention.

God bless you.  God bless America.  God bless Roy Williams and the Tar Heels.  And just as importantly, God bless me.  Happy St. Patty's Day.

About That Time

Hot Women, Loud Guns, and Fast Cars

Just because (A) I've been way too busy keeping all my fingers in all those dikes and have precious little time for real essay, and (B), the simplicity of the Virtual President is really enough in itself, here's some Bill Whittle for your edification.

Although he didn't say it specifically, the phrase that bumped its way into my head as he delivered this speech, was "natural anarchy".  That is, our leviathan by its very nature is about to get shed like a cocoon, just because of our very nature, individually, as we gravitate toward that which is more nimble and unencumbered.  And that is, of course, unless that same government, out of its own self-preservation, ratchets up the enslavement of its people.  And let us not discount that possibility.

The only exception I take is his presumption that the North's impetus for the War Between the States, was borne of some fairy-tale pure notion of emancipation, and their (dishonest) justification in acting on those notions.  Your thoughts?

Fiction?

Yes, to be sure.  But tell me which parts you find implausible.

A cousin of mine, before he voted for the Obamunist in round 1, told me with a straight face that "they'd never let that happen..." in response to my saying that Barry once said he'd have a civilian defense corps 500,000 strong that rivaled the strength of the US Military.

And I said, "Who is they?"

I can't more-highly recommend reading the longer excerpt of the following.  You can do so after the break, or even better, to its source at Western Rifle Shooters Association.  Please.  And don't forget that the comments are open.

From Matthew Bracken's Foreign Enemies & Traitors:

“Next came the Freedom from Gun Violence Amendment, and that’s when the Second Amendment was annulled. So you see, we didn’t want any of it. Not regular Americans. We didn’t ever vote for it; it was all done at the con-con by mob rule. It was a complete circus by then, the kangaroo convention. But it didn’t matter what average Americans thought, the amendments all became law. They became the new constitution. When the Second Amendment was repealed, the delegates in the arena had a mass orgasm. We watched it all on TV. It was surreal, like a bad dream you get after food poisoning.”

Carson asked, “What did the gun amendment ban?”

“Just about every legal firearm that was left. After the Washington Stadium Massacre, the semi-auto rifles were already outlawed. The ones they called assault weapons.”

...and...

“Nope, I don’t, not at all. But the con-con didn’t end with the gun amendment. The economic amendment was the last one. That was on the final day of the convention. It was a rubber stamp, another voice vote. By then the con-con was like a religious revival meeting, so of course the EJDA passed. That’s what they call the Economic Justice and Democracy Amendment, the EJDA. It was another mass orgasm in the Philly sports arena. We were in shock by then, watching it on television at home. It all happened so fast! Only a few months before the con-con, everybody thought the Poor People’s Party was a joke. We thought the constitutional convention would never happen, and even if it did, it wouldn’t really count somehow. But it did, and nobody’s laughing now.”

“What’s this economic amendment do?” asked Carson.

“The EJDA guarantees jobs for everybody; it guarantees a living wage, it guarantees affordable housing, free health care, free college and free child care. I’m sure I left out a few things it guarantees, but you get the idea. Almost any freebie or handout you can think of, it’s in the EJDA. Basically, it’s communism, written into the constitution. And believe it or not, they sold it as the best way to fix the economy! The new constitution was going to get us out of the depression, and make life fair for everybody at the same time. With the new constitution, the president could enact the ‘New New Deal’ and get us out of the depression. Fat chance! That’s like taking arsenic to cure a stomach ache.”

And do read up on why you ought to oppose a Con-Con, now.  That part is not fiction.

Fitty!

Happy Birthday, Mike.

UPDATE: I couldn't disable the autoplay, so here's a link to the video, instead.

"Shrugged"?  Yeah, well, go with it.

Video from ACC All-Access.

For The Upland Journal Gentlemen

Know this: nobody wants to dispose of all the "political talk" any more than we do.  We don't like it anymore, and probably much less, than you do.

But, as Bill Whittle says, "...politics has invaded everything.  And my friends, politics sucks."  It is our freedom to pursue happiness that is trampled upon.  You oldschool UJ'ers may be coming late to the party, in that some things that make you happy are currently getting constricted by the federal leviathan, but we've been getting "unhappied" for quite some time now.

You're not unlike those folks who'd previously been suckered into the Cult of Celebrity when they opened that first paycheck of 2013.  OMG, is right!

Fearful people are not happy people...



And we can all be happy, if we put...if we put this invasive, collectivist, ever-growing monstrosity of a State, back into the beautiful, competent, frugal, well-ordered, fiscally-responsible, government-sized box that it originally came in.

Thanks to NCRenegade for the video...which somehow otherwise slipped under the Livermush radar.