Defiance

(click image to enlarge)

From xkcd.

Two From Denninger

Karl Denninger drops the hammer on two well-aimed shots:

Here Come The Shills (Social Security)

Bill Black Lays It Out (Again)

Read 'em and weep.

When Baking Bread Becomes a Revolutionary Act

GardenSERF explains.

Got food?

A History Lesson

From Alvie at The Cliffs, with a related warning here.

Read both, and think.

Which way are YOU facing?

On Restoration

There is continuing useful discussion over the utility of "restoring the Constitution" as a primary FreeFor objective. To advance that discussion, I'd offer the following:

A) From an email last week:

To me, there are three important reasons to use the phrase "restore the constitution":

1) Lawfare Ambush KZ: I dare that SOB Holder to use the DOJ mechanism against anybody working or talking to restore the Constitution. I double-dog-dare that MF to do so.

2) PsyOps: When the .mil is sent by the NCA against their fellow citizens, I want each troopie to have to put their reticle on a fellow American standing for the same Constitution that the troopie is oathbound to protect and defend.

3) Paradigm Inflexibility: Many good and honorable people who will stand simply cannot bend their heads around a "return to the Articles" endstate at this time. They will evolve in their thinking, just as I have (hell, I was a freaking drug war prosecutor fifteen years ago -- talk about evolution!), and I can't ask them to both die and give up their core preconceptions right now.

The Old Republic is gone. Here's what we need:



I won't see that flag flown very often, if at all.

And it will take a decade or more to restore more than a handful of stars to the canton.

But it will fly.

Forward.

B) Having noted those pragmatic reasons for the continuing use of the phrase, I'd ask folks to really think through the following questions:

1) When we use the RTC formula, what specifically is being 'restored'? If we are talking about the literal language of the USC/BoR/subsequent amendments (the "as written" approach), what needs to be done about 220 years of Federal court opinions "interpreting" those words? And, having first defined what exactly is to be done with that body of common law (not to mention the judges who beget same), how does one go about doing that in the context of a Restoration conflict?

2) Some specific examples to illustrate the problem:

a) Korematsu vs. United States: Read both the Wiki entry and the actual US Supreme Court case (including the dissents).

Really makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it? Moreover, consider how the language in the following excerpt from the majority opinion could be used against other modern-day Korematsus:

***
Korematsu was not excluded from the Military Area because of hostility to him or his race. He was excluded because we are at war with the Japanese Empire, because the properly constituted military authorities feared an invasion of our West Coast and felt constrained to take proper security measures, because they decided that the military urgency of the situation demanded that all citizens of Japanese ancestry be segregated from the West Coast temporarily, and, finally, because Congress, reposing its confidence in this time of war in our military leaders -- as inevitably it must -- determined that they should have the power to do just this. There was evidence of disloyalty on the part of some, the military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short. We cannot -- by availing ourselves of the calm perspective of hindsight -- now say that, at that time, these actions were unjustified.

-- 323 U. S. at 223-224
***

Remember that Korematsu remains good law today.

b) Roe vs Wade: Again, read both the Wiki and the actual case. Now, put yourself in the midst of the Restoration conflict. Regardless of where you come out on the morality of abortion itself, are you going to shed one drop of sweat (let alone blood) to "protect and defend" the Federalization of what historically was a state law issue? How about your troops? How exactly are you going to persuade them that they should kill and die for this elitist delusion?

c) Brown vs. Board of Education: Once again, read both the Wiki and the case. Now read Articles I-III of the US Constitution and tell me how local educational decisions (no matter how morally abhorrent) are a concern of any of the Federal government's three branches. Think you'll get anyone to follow you into automatic weapons fire over that one?

For more examples of judicial bastardy most foul by both SCOTUS and the rest of the Federal judiciary, please read

- The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom, and

- The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land.

C) My point in asking these questions is not to belittle in any way those who stand for Constitutional restoration. In fact, as every one of you should know, I stand by your side in that endeavor, both literally and figuratively.

But -- and it is a big damned "But" -- we need to engage a lot more intellect in defining, in detail, just what exactly is meant by "restoration", as well as when those meanings shift. The best I can do at this point is the following concept-line:

- The RTC goal is easily understood and has practical short-term utility (see email excerpt above) in the preparation phase;

- During the conflict phase, the RTC message retains its easily-grasped utility and forces the Bad People's lawfare minions in both the executive and judicial branches to contort themselves madly so as to claim that resistance to their tyranny is illegitimate; and

- During the post-conflict criminal trials, the pre-war Constitution will be the scales upon which prosecution and conviction decisions will be weighed.

That being said, I remain gravely concerned about the RTC goal as the proper framework on which to hang a life-and-death struggle for Freedom, especially given the pre-existing Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation, not to mention American Constitution 2.0.

Your thoughts -- expressed logically and without personal rancor, please -- are welcomed in comments below.

"The Constitution Will Be Restored. The Only Question Is 'How Rough Do We Have To Get?''"

From Restore The Constitution, as filmed at the RTC 8/14 rally in New Mexico.

What are you doing on October 30th?

Sofa Makes An Important Announcement

At Coordinated Illumination.

Freedom?

Watch the powerful video above, as found at Vanderleun's shop.

Then, after wiping eyes, disengaging heart, and placing cultural memory on hold, ask yourself and answer the following questions honestly:

1) Is the life of the average American today more free from governmental oppression (domestic and/or foreign) as compared to the average American on

- V-E Day (8 May 1945)

- V-J Day (2 Sept 1945)

- The armistice date in the Korean conflict (27 July 1953)

- The date of the Paris Peace Accords (27 January 1973) or

- The date of the Gulf War I cease-fire (27 February 1991)?

2) Notwithstanding the undeniable contributions of American veterans, will the young people shown in the video live with more freedom from government interference than their parents and grandparents?

3) How many of the tough, experienced, brave, and patriotic veterans of every conflict from WW2 through Korea through Vietnam through the last 20 years of desert adventures can be relied upon to fight in the upcoming fracas, within the confines of their abilities ?

4) How many of those brave men are today actively sharing what they know about the operational arts with those who can benefit from their instruction?

5) How much longer are right-thinking Americans going to substitute illusion, mythology, symbolism, and "feeling" for hard-hearted analysis, planning, and execution to actually re-establish freedom in this country?

D2: A Note To Preppers

Robb hits the point with precision.

But The Election Will Fix...Something

First read this article from the former DoJ lawyer who left his job as a FedGov voting rights attorney over the New Black Panthers abomination.

Then read Rachel Peepers' take on the resulting potential disenfranchisement of .mil folks from NY, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Any questions?

The 'Crime' Of 'Lying To The FBI'

Jim Bovard teaches about 18 USC 1001, which provides:

§ 1001. Statements or entries generally

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section 1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be not more than 8 years.

(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a party to a judicial proceeding, or that party’s counsel, for statements, representations, writings or documents submitted by such party or counsel to a judge or magistrate in that proceeding.

(c) With respect to any matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative branch, subsection (a) shall apply only to—

(1) administrative matters, including a claim for payment, a matter related to the procurement of property or services, personnel or employment practices, or support services, or a document required by law, rule, or regulation to be submitted to the Congress or any office or officer within the legislative branch; or
(2) any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate.

Do you understand now why you should never talk to the police?

Never ever?

How Hyperinflation Will Happen

(Illustration from this article at Cato)

From ZeroHedge (h/t to More's Lawyer), a clear explanation of potential Big Ugliness; sample:

***
...But hyperinflation is not an extension or amplification of inflation. Inflation and hyperinflation are two very distinct animals. They look the same—because in both cases, the currency loses its purchasing power—but they are not the same.

Inflation is when the economy overheats: It’s when an economy’s consumables (labor and commodities) are so in-demand because of economic growth, coupled with an expansionist credit environment, that the consumables rise in price. This forces all goods and services to rise in price as well, so that producers can keep up with costs. It is essentially a demand-driven phenomena.

Hyperinflation is the loss of faith in the currency. Prices rise in a hyperinflationary environment just like in an inflationary environment, but they rise not because people want more money for their labor or for commodities, but because people are trying to get out of the currency. It’s not that they want more money—they want less of the currency: So they will pay anything for a good which is not the currency...
***

Read it all.

Still socking it away for retirement?

Perhaps some more thinking is in order.

RTC Drill, Little Five Points, Atlanta, 28 August

More at Restore The Constitution.

What are your plans for October 30th?

Restore The Constitution: WROL In NC

RTC updates us on another "Without Rule Of Law" situation, this time involving videotaping of police in North Carolina.

Read it, and note the Facebook entry for the judicial perpetrator above.

UPDATE 28 AUG 2010 2240 EDT: Insty links to this Examiner article on the situation.

Community Crisis Planning for Societal Collapse

Read and think carefully about all of the issues raised in this lengthy article from SurvivalBlog.

Alternatives should be discussed below.

It's one thing to say "F*#k that!".

But how will you do things, as your AO goes the way of Bosnia, Haiti, or Somalia?

Or haven't you yet thought through the consequence layers stemming from Fed/state/local governmental financial collapse?

Tempus fugit.

The Lairds of Fairfax Grapple With Themselves

David explains.

Count the NRA as one of the historic American institutions (along with broadcast and print media) rendering themselves more and more irrelevant each day.

Good riddance.

EPA Stands Down On Lead Ammo

David explains.

Not to worry -- they still intend to "regulate" every (exhaled) breath you take.

Do you understand yet?

The Case For Two Guns

Read all of this article from Gabe Suarez and Warrior Talk News.

Then try it.

Or do you prefer to test the drone imagery capture and consequent reactions of State Security to that rifle slung over your shoulder, once things start getting truly sporty?

Smart guys die later.

Much later, if at all possible.

Of What Use The November Elections?

Malone Vandam honestly faces one of the Hard Questions, while Billy Beck reminds us of those who will be voting in November and those who govern.

Ponder deeply, please, Billy's point of emphasis:

It cannot be referred to as a state of freedom when anyone must beg permission to produce under threat of force.

Do you understand?

Or do you seriously believe that the Boehners, McConnells, and Cantors of the world even understand the statement above?

RTC Round 3: Very Interesting Timing

(illustration from Oleg Volk)

From RTC:

"If the EPA approves the petition, the result will be a total ban on all ammunition containing lead-core components, including hunting and target-shooting rounds. The EPA must decide to accept or reject this petition by November 1, 2010, the day before the midterm elections.

Today, the EPA has opened to public comment the CBD petition. The comment period ends on October 31, 2010."

Remember, we have some RTC rallies scheduled for October 30th. Will you be getting out for round 3?

Restore the Constitution Open Carry Rallies (round 3)

What: 3rd round of Restore the Constitution open carry rallies

When: October 30th, the Saturday before the elections

Where: Your hometown, in the most visible firearms carry legal location possible (In my case that will be Little Five Points, Atlanta)

Who: You and anyone else ready to get started on some “Second Amendment remedies”

Why:

1) To practice gathering together while armed

2) To show friends, foes, and neutrals alike what can be done and to what extent Second Amendment rights can be used and to know where they stand

3) To bring attention to the fact that the Constitution is being violated in multiple ways.

It’s one thing to debate online; it’s quite another to speak to the public or the media while carrying a weapon.

Quote Of The Year

There is anecdotal evidence that the banning of traditional ammunition would have an adverse impact on government bureaucrat populations.

-- Tam; see also Ricketyclick, SayUncle and Kevin

Hao Yun*

From FT:

Banks back switch to renminbi for trade
By Robert Cookson in Hong Kong
Published: August 26 2010 17:55 | Last updated: August 26 2010 17:55

A number of the world’s biggest banks have launched international roadshows promoting the use of the renminbi to corporate customers instead of the dollar for trade deals with China.

HSBC, which recently moved its chief executive from London to Hong Kong, and Standard Chartered, are offering discounted transaction fees and other financial incentives to companies that choose to settle trade in the Chinese currency.

“We’re now capable of doing renminbi settlement in many parts of the world,” said Chris Lewis, HSBC’s head of trade for greater China. “All the other major international banks are frantically trying to do the same thing.”

HSBC and StanChart are among a slew of global banks – including Citigroup and JPMorgan – holding roadshows across Asia, Europe and the US to promote the renminbi to companies.

The move aligns the banks favourably with Beijing’s policy priorities and positions them to profit from what is expected to be a rapidly growing line of business in the future.

The phenomenon will accelerate Beijing’s drive to transform the renminbi from a domestic currency into a global medium of exchange like the dollar and euro.

Chinese central bank officials accompanied StanChart bankers on a roadshow to Korea and Japan in June. The bank held similar events in London, Frankfurt and Paris...
***
Read the rest.

While increased global acceptance of the RMB does not spell 'doom' per se for US interests, it is clear that the PRC is positioning itself as a primary heir to American hegemony as our country continues to spiral towards disaster.

Got Mandarin lessons?

*Mandarin for "good luck"

Third World America: 'Fast-Tracking to Anarchy'

Janet Tavakoli's essay.

Denninger's response.

A Chicago cop's story.

John GaltFLA's dissection of one of the catalysts behind the upcoming excitement.

Any bets on there not being a roadshow version of Zombieland coming to your town soon?

Know the rules.

Morgan Stanley Says Government Defaults Inevitable

From Bloomberg via Drudge:

***
Investors face defaults on government bonds given the burden of aging populations and the difficulty of increasing tax revenue, according to a Morgan Stanley executive director.

“Governments will impose a loss on some of their stakeholders,” Arnaud Mares in the firm’s London office wrote in a research report today. “The question is not whether they will renege on their promises, but rather upon which of their promises they will renege, and what form this default will take.” The sovereign-debt crisis is global “and it is not over,” he wrote...
***

Read the rest.

And when local and state governments start to default on their bonds, what do you think will happen with services such as police patrols?

On the other hand....

Ammo Ban?

Read this alert from NSSF.

Do you understand yet?

(h/t to reader SD)

A Big Hit By The Police

David explains.

As a British politician noted noted in 2007:

"When will politicians realise that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual?"

Do you understand yet?

The Inner Circle

Via Martin McPhillips comes this Belmont Club entry riffing off this serious piece from the People's Cube.

Read each item, along with their embedded links, for some serious discussion about the magnitude of the problem faced by the FreeFor.

To beat Smart, Well-Funded, and Bloodthirsty, you have to be at least Smart and Bloodthirsty.

That's merely table stakes.

Whose deal is it?

Quotes of the Week

USMC GEN James M Mattis, Commander, United States Central Command:

Take the mavericks in your service, the ones that wear rumpled uniforms and look like a bag of mud but whose ideas are so offsetting that they actually upset the people in the bureaucracy. One of your primary jobs is to take the risk and protect these people, because if they are not nurtured in your service, the enemy will bring their contrary ideas to you.

-- Speaking to an assembly of newly promoted one-star generals

In this age, I don’t care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony—even vicious harmony—on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines.

-- At JFCOM annual conference, May, 2010

Kerfuffle

Defined:

kerfuffle, carfuffle, kurfuffle [kəˈfʌf^əl]

n

Informal chiefly Brit commotion; disorder; agitation

vb

(tr) Scot to put into disorder or disarray; ruffle or disarrange

[from Scottish curfuffle, carfuffle, from Scottish Gaelic car twist, turn + fuffle to disarrange]

Observations:

a) Anyone who thinks I bear Mike or Bob any grudge whatsoever is completely mistaken. Nor am I anything other than an informed reader of Baugh's material.

b) Read the damned book, along with the rest of Baugh's material.

Or not.

Just know that if you are commenting on Baugh's ideas without actually, you know, reading them, you risk appearing rather silly, a la:

"Did you hear that Becky saw Amy telling Mary that Susie overheard Janet saying that Louise asked Sarah if Betty kissed Jimmy at the hop last Saturday?"

c) It is possible that the upcoming North American war games will be fought over luncheons and afternoon teas by white-glove-wearing proper ladies amongst various chapters of the Junior League, the DAR, and the La Leche League.

But it's a heckuva lot more likely that the festivities will be a tad more...informal.

And I don't just mean sandwiches with the crusts left on.

In that case, I want as many friends, allies, and situational partners-of-mutual-convenience as I can muster in my AO.

Put it this way:

1) Can anyone name three ways in which the local working girls might be useful to the FreeFor?

2) Same question re one or more the local outlaw motorcycle gang(s).

3) Ditto re the local moonshiner.

4) And what about the snaggly-toothed gentlemen with the booby-trapped patches of cannabis sativa up in the hollers?

5) How about the corrupt cop?

6) Think the politician videotaped in flagrante with his male assistant might be a useful intel asset?

7) Do you think the owner of the local stolen auto parts emporium/"chop shop" might be worth having a conversation or two?

8) Think the Mexican cartels are only hauling illegals over the border? What else might they be smuggling or be willing to smuggle for the right price?

9) Who's more likely to have the pain meds and antibiotics needed by your daughter with the compound fracture - your local pastor or the local gang who knocked over your town's pharmacy once things turned sporty?

10) Assuming security could be arranged, would anyone turn down a deal to buy a million rounds of fresh Russian 7.62x39 and 1,000 AKs in good shape from a known Islamist once the balloon goes up?

I know that merely asking these questions proves that I am a splitter, a heretic, a collectivist stooge, and someone who flosses only infrequently.

So be it.

d) Some final questions:

- Did anyone out there do PT yesterday? How many times this week?

- When and what is the course of fire for your next range day?

- How is your food storage? Water treatment? Med supplies? Ammo?

- Have you spread your materiel across several different secure locations to minimize chances of a complete loss due to criminal or OpFor action?

- Is the tribe-building going well? If not, how can you fix that?

- What new skills did you learn over the past month?

Focus on events in your area, do what you need to do, and don't get caught up in distractions.

There's going to be a lot of disillusioned folks in the near term.

And a whole bunch of them are headed your way.

Tempus fugit.

Mass Murderers! Soviets! ChiComs! Nazis! Bad Hair! Showtunes! Oh My!

A four-part musical interlude, courtesy of Maggie's Farm, plus a bonus classic:









Oh, my....

The Wookie-Sphere* Loses Its Mind, Or, Why We Will Lose

Come and join the hubbub as Charles-Johnson-Mania breaks out amongst the merry band:

Baugh Speech -- 8/14 NC RTC

Rebuttal #1: Tom Baugh & Me

Rebuttal #2: Spanking The Monkey

Surrebuttal: More Like Darth Helmet

Surreal Rebuttal #1: Spanking the Monkey: Nazi Asslick Farts Back

Surreal Rebuttal #2: No, I'm Not "Better Than That"

Well....

I guess we no longer need to read each other's books and other material before forming irrevocable conclusions.

And I am also glad to see that we have tossed the logical fallacies handbook aside and have adopted in full the Left's reliance on ad hominem and guilt by association.

Godwin is chuckling, as well.

Finally, contrary to what I wrote in a comment to Surreal Rebuttal #1, we must have every-effing-thing else so completely freaking squared away that we can afford to start shooting at each other inside the foxhole.

Disregard this comment, therefore:

My point in "Brouhaha" was to get folks (not you) looking at hard facts.

The good guys are deemed as utterly impotent by the Bad People.

Baugh, as an individual, doesn't really matter. His ideas do, at least some of them.

He is the only person I have read who speaks in detail of the central problem:

- The majority (> 150M, by my guess) of so-called "Americans" vehemently do not want the burdens of political liberty and individual freedom.

Some corollaries:

- That 150M+ mob will be used to tear apart and eat (literally, in some cases) the old-school minority known variously as Constitutionalists, individualists, et cetera.

- Neither that mob, their masters, nor their lackeys in press and politics fear the old-school minority.

- That absence of fear is because we of the despised minority have not given the looters and moochers any lesson at all, let alone a full-semester course, in 'Oderint dum metuant' -- "Let them hate, so long as they fear".

- Given the above, personal secession (my phrase) and physical isolation from the coming madness is an approach that will buy not only survival, but time for additional skillset acquisition.

Anyone who disputes these assertions needs to explain the arc of the past 30 (100?) years.

The Baugh issue is tertiary to the ones above.

Most of the audience is not thinking anywhere near enough about these points, IMHO.

Hence, "Brouhaha".

So let the fratricide continue -- and accelerate, even.

That way, the odds for the FreeFor can drop to mathematically zero.

For me, I'll be away for a while figuring out why the eff I have wasted so much of my 'only-ever life', in Billy Beck's phrase, on an endeavor that is so clearly and utterly effing doomed.

After all, I too have been denounced by two -- count them, two! -- leading 'freedom advocates' as both a 'Benedict Arnold' and an agent provacateur.

It was said, so it must be true.

Absolutely appalling.

(*h/t to Tam for the term)

RTC: Round Three

Go and read the latest.

Big Brotherly Love

Read the latest from Philly, via Drudge. David provides additional commentary.

Anyone out there naive enough to think this is merely an "emergency revenue measure"?

Anyone?

Bueller?

A Deep-Cover Blutarsky Operative?

(click image to enlarge)

Chris Muir raises the issue, suggesting possible coordination between the DBD crew, Senator Blutarsky, and Congressman Issa.

RTC 8/14: New Mexico Event Coverage

Here.

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession

From here.

Quote Of The Week

Comment posted in response to this note:

By the way, I'm a scalper.

Who wants to make up the tee shirts?

Tyranny - Pelosi Style

Read this piece from Boortz; key graf:

***
...Turn the clock ahead 20 years. Your child comes to you and tells you that he and you need to find a quiet place to talk. You've been through this before ... so you head into the garage, start the car, turn up the radio, and start whispering to each other. Your son, it seems, is in trouble. He participated in a protest against a proposed new law requiring the implantation of micro-tags in all newborns. Now he discovers that he's being investigated by a federal police agency for sedition. He looks at you and asks you what you were doing when these radicals moved into power 20 years ago...
***

Read the rest.

There is such a thing as a point of no return.

Whether you think so or not.

Senator John Blutarsky Issues A Letter of Marque and Reprisal Against ARRA Signs

Follow this link to the message from Senator John Blutarsky.

A long-time student of Prime Minister Churchill's wartime leadership style, Senator Blutarsky endorsed the transmittal memorandum:

"Action this day!"

UPDATE 20 AUG 2010 0030 EDT: Alvie suggests another tool, both for direct mission execution and for collateral support as a stand-alone sign:

Minitrue

Read Robert Stacy McCain's piece on the AP memo re Ground Zero Mosque coverage.

What is encouraging is that up until recently, average folks outside the news biz wouldn't ever learn of these kinds of shenanigans.

Now, in the post-Journolist environment, the good guys in the news biz are getting the Ministry of Truth's directive out into daylight almost immediately.

And thus, the mainstream media continues to spin itself into oblivion.

Good riddance.

A Modest Proposal

Made over at the RTC site.

For me, I prefer more contemporary imagery:



By any means necessary.

JDA: Revoke Krugman's PhD and Then Let's Talk Social Security...

Junior Deputy Accountant links to Denninger, and they both then proceed to savage this article by the People's Deputy Minister Without Portfolio For Economic Propaganda Paul Krugman.

Read both the JDA and Denninger links, then go through Krugman's balderdash.

"Stooge" is too kind a word.

"Accomplice" is a better choice, methinks.

The Latest From Thomas Sowell

Column from Boortz (with embedded link to TS)

Book.

Forty-minute interview, plus commentary from Powerline:



Take 'em all into your analysis and observation.

Lose your illusions.

Poem By POTUS

Written by a young Barack Obama, and published in 1981 in his college literary journal:

POP

Sitting in his seat, a seat broad and broken
In, sprinkled with ashes
Pop switches channels, takes another
Shot of Seagrams, neat, and asks
What to do with me, a green young man
Who fails to consider the
Flim and flam of the world, since
Things have been easy for me;
I stare hard at his face, a stare
That deflects off his brow;
I’m sure he’s unaware of his
Dark, watery eyes, that
Glance in different directions,
And his slow, unwelcome twitches,
Fail to pass.
I listen, nod,
Listen, open, till I cling to his pale,
Beige T-shirt, yelling,
Yelling in his ears, that hang
With heavy lobes, but he’s still telling
His joke, so I ask why
He’s so unhappy, to which he replies...
But I don’t care anymore, cause
He took too damn long, and from
Under my seat, I pull out the
Mirror I’ve been saving; I’m laughing,
Laughing loud, the blood rushing from his face
To mine, as he grows small,
A spot in my brain, something
That may be squeezed out, like a
Watermelon seed between
Two fingers.
Pop takes another shot, neat,
Points out the same amber
Stain on his shorts that I’ve got on mine, and
Makes me smell his smell, coming
From me; he switches channels, recites an old poem
He wrote before his mother died,
Stands, shouts, and asks
For a hug, as I shrink, my
Arms barely reaching around
His thick, oily neck, and his broad back; ’cause
I see my face, framed within
Pop’s black-framed glasses
And know he’s laughing too.

The Not-So-Great Generation

Read all of this Vanderleun piece on the cupidity of American progressives and their global allies (hotlinking not working for some reason):

http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/enemies_foreign_domestic/the_notsogreat_generation.php

A little foreshadowing:

***
...Their vision cannot be named, but it can be worked for on a daily basis. And it is. Now more than ever. We currently still believe that votes can stop it. We shall see. But should votes not stop it or votes be rendered as dubious as those in the third world, it will go, as it always goes, to guns...
***

Read the whole thing.

The endtime for illusions is nigh.

And reality is a stark raving bitch.

Native Son

As posted by Alvie a while back; take the time to read and listen to these lyrics by John Hiatt:

You finally found the mainstream
In the middle of your life
You tapped into a vein
Of endless gold chains
Now you’re locked up tight
Tearing down the middle of it
Splitting it right in half
Bobbing up and down the waves
Like a runaway slave
On a huck finn raft

Chorus:
Take your wife
Take your family
Take your gun
Running through the woods
And the burned out neighborhoods
Looking for someone
A member of your tribe
A place you can hide
’til the war has begun
’cause in the fields before the flood
You’ll be spilling blood
Like a native son

Where you gonna run to
There ain’t no underground
If only you could fly
You’d cut across the sky
Like a rifle round
Oh, who are your people
And where is your homeland
’cause they’re dying side by side
At the river of pride
Where we tried to take a stand

(chorus twice)

In the fields before the flood
You’ll be spilling blood
Like a native son

Word.

Brouhaha

Kerfuffle here.

Some related observations on the overall scene:

1) When the very few (that is, statistically approximating zero) of us who survive the upcoming North American War Games (a/k/a our humble piece of the New Thirty Years War) are sitting around a campfire circa 2040, then will it be useful to wank philosophic on many of the topics that occupy too many minds today. Today, the issues can be more crisply drawn:

Them: > 60% of the population, > 50% of industry via heavy regulation or outright ownership (e.g., auto, telecom, health, finance, electric generation, aircraft, energy production/processing/transport, mining, lumber, intellectual property, space, etc.), > 90% of media, > 90% of military, including nuclear weapons, >75% of police, and the Federal Reserve System, along with all organs of all three branches of government at the Federal level and the vast majority of states.

Us: < 10,000 active supporters (mostly men > 40 who are out of shape and/or varying levels of disabled) armed only with small arms and minimal ammunition stores, actively supported by no more than one percent of the overall population and a small part of a modestly influential "alternative media."

2) In addition to the superficial force disparity, there is the more significant fact that we "happy few" have, to date, provided our opponents with perilously close to zero reason to judge us as credible actors.

Do you doubt me?

Then explain the fact that in last spring's Window War, no more than 50 (much more likely < 25) windows were shattered across the 3.7 million square miles of our country.

Now those few broken windows did cause a wildly disproportionate reaction by the Powers That Be, proving once again the practical utility of asynchronous, asymmetric political expression.

But be serious -- do you really think that the Bad People have done anything but tweak their plans to account for a few more rabble than originally budgeted?

This lack of credibility in our opponent's mind -- that issue, and that issue alone, should be the focus, I submit, of any spare intellectual processing power possessed by the Three Percent.

3) To be blunt, the Bad People are out to destroy us, to enslave our children and progeny ad infinitum, and to take everything that we own. Worse than that, they have made the considered and fact-based judgment, based on our performance to date, that we are impotent cowards -- gutless capons too weak and too timid to act individually without seeking a "Mother, may I?" blessing from a distant stranger.

Do you doubt me?

Then read again Walter Mitty's Second Amendment and see, in the privacy of your own reading area, just how close it comes to describing the mindset of each "patriot".

Less talk.

Much more walk.

Or as the King put it:

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me
Satisfy me baby

***

Come on baby I'm tired of talking
Grab your coat and let's start walking
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Don't procrastinate, don't articulate
Girl it's getting late, gettin' upset waitin' around...

Forward.

By any means necessary.

Bovard: Bringing Freedom & Prosperity To Afghanistan

Read all of James Bovard's scathing article.

As a wise man once said to me:

One good thing about these wars -- they are sending hundreds of thousands of well-trained and completely-disillusioned-with-government combat vets our way.

Lemonade, from bitter lemons...

Patriot Or Loyalist?

Read it all.

Then pass it on.

Tom Baugh's Planned Speech At RTC 8/14

As noted here, Tom Baugh was unable, due to time constraints, to deliver his entire speech at the RTC rally in North Carolina.

Those remarks are now posted here.

Read them and think them through.

And go buy a copy of Starving The Monkeys while you're at it.

Really.

UPDATE 19 AUG 2010 0015 EDT:RTC founder Dan Almond gives his response to Tom's comments here.