Friday Follies Happy Hour 2012.07.13

We leave on Sunday for a week in the Caribbean. In a couple of days I plan to have:

My toes in the water.
My ass in the sand.
Not a worry in the world.
A cold beer in my hand.

Bearding The Lion

The phrase "beard the lion" means to confront a danger; to take a risk. It comes from a Bible story (I Samuel 17:35) about the shepherd David, who pursued a lion that had stolen a lamb, caught it by its beard, and killed it.

Which brings us to Mitt Romney and his speech at the NAACP convention.

There's no doubt Mitt was venturing into unfriendly territory, confronting a danger to his election chances, and taking a risk in speaking to a group that is in obama's hip pocket. His reception was what you might expect.

Mitt Romney ... drew boos at times during a speech to the nation’s oldest civil-rights group as he said his policies would help the economic interests of blacks more than those of the Obama administration.

He is unlikely to capture the votes of many members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People over Obama, who won 95 percent of the black vote four years ago... Obama has overwhelming support from black voters over Romney, 92 percent to 2 percent, according to a July 1-8 survey by the Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Thought exercise I: replace "Romney" with "Obama" and "NAACP" with "NRA." What would the media reaction then be?

I think we all know the answer to that.

Thought exercise II: suppose 95% of the white voters supported Romney over obama. How many articles would we see calling that racist?

Again, I think we all know the answer to that.

Meanwhile, obama couldn't even be troubled to show up at the NAACP convention. Instead, he sent his flunky VP Joe Biden. Even Wolf Blitzer scolded the prez for that.

Here is something I’d like to say to President Obama: You should have attended the NAACP convention in Houston today. Mitt Romney did. It was the right thing to do. The Republican knows the nation’s oldest civil-rights group isn’t exactly friendly turf but went anyway.

The president should not take the African-American vote for granted. Let’s not be under any illusions. He received 95% of the black vote four years ago. He’ll do almost as well this time around for sure.

My bottom line is this: Romney did the right thing on this day, the president did not.

Talk about a slap in the face to a constituency he's obviously taking for granted.

BTW, answering the question asked in the above picture: "How has that (obama/dems) worked out for the black community?"

As the overall U.S. unemployment rate stayed at 8.2% in June, the rate among black Americans rose nearly a full percentage point.

The unemployment rate for blacks rose to 14.4% from 13.6% in May, the Labor Department reported Friday. That's a sharp contrast to the white unemployment rate, which stayed put at 7.4%, and the Hispanic rate, which held at 11%.

Just think how bad things would be for the black community if there wasn't a black person in the White House helping them out...

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

The Internet has been an amazing success story. From the early days of ARPANET back in the 1980s to its ubiquitous presence today, the 'Net has enjoyed explosive growth and mind-boggling technological advances. So how can we improve on this? Why, through government regulation, of course.

White House official calls for broad regulations on Internet use

A White House official on Tuesday called for a broad and flexible regulatory framework for Internet use...

Daniel Weitzner, deputy chief technology officer in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology, spoke at the conservative Hudson Institute, where he pointed to President Obama’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights -- which the administration released in February -- as an example of policy Congress should pass into law to set parameters for use of the Web.

Left unexplained was exactly just why the hell congress needs to "set parameters for use of the Web."

“We think the flexibility of having a broad sense of principles but then tuning them to a particular business context is critical,” Weitzner said, “and provides . . . what we think the Internet needs.”

"...what we think the Internet needs.” If that doesn't scare the hell out of you then you must be a liberal, because as all liberals agree, the government knows better than anyone else what the Internet needs.

The Federal Trade Commission would act as a “safe harbor” to ensure industries were complying with the broad framework, Weitzner added. He also pointed to a set of proposals the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development laid out -- including global free flow of information and intellectual property protection -- as guidelines for broad Internet regulation.

As we all know, there is no "free flow of information" today. But with government regulation we can all rest assured that information won't be restricted, altered, or controlled ... right? And of course the FTC is totally immune to pressure and influence from large corporations and special interest groups. Plus what better model could there be for "broad Internet regulation" than the OECD (which is, incidentally, headquartered in Paris, France)?

The basis of these guidelines should fit three main principles, he said.

The first relates to the large scale of the Internet, which, according to the White House, indicates that regulatory structures cannot mimic those of other industries. The widespread nature of Internet development does not lend itself to “traditional command and control” guidelines, Weitzner argued.

The Internet "...does not lend itself to 'traditional command and control' guidelines."

Thank God.

Second, the Obama administration official said Internet public policy must “accommodate and encourage” the speed of the rapidly developing Internet medium.

Seems to me the Internet is "rapidly developing" on its own just fine, thank you very much. From where I sit it doesn't need any public policy assistance, other than perhaps a public policy of "hands off."

Finally, Weitzner emphasized the need for international cooperation in regulating the Web, comparing any company that does business on the Internet to a multinational corporation. He called for global standards to fill the void left by a lack of treaties.

"...international cooperation in regulating the Web." Why do these bozos always feel the need to regulate things? What's wrong with "leave well enough alone?"

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid...

Quick Hit

From here:

The long-standing reputation of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., as an ineffective politician has earned him a reference in the Urban Dictionary.

... a "Harry Reid" is "A sexual position where you climb on top and then do absolutely nothing."

Perfect. He's trying his best to screw us, but is so incompetent he can't get it done.

That's Harry Reid in a nutshell...

Family Update

While there is quite a bit going on in the outside world that grabs our attention, there's also a lot happening in everyday life - at least there is in mine. That's probably a good thing, because it helps keep me grounded (and keeps my head from exploding due to too much exposure to the idiots and imbicles roaming around out there voting and reproducing).

My three kids all have birthdays between June 17 and July 1 (there must be something about football season that gets the ol' testosterone flowing...). This year there were a bunch of landmark birthdays.

My oldest son (from a previous marriage) turned 40. In a vain attempt to prove he's still spry, he and his family (wife and two kids -- my grandkids -- aged 15 and 13) hiked down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, spent the night down there at Phantom Ranch, and hiked back up the next day. That was a week ago and he's still moaning and groaning about it. Just wait, kiddo, it gets worse...

I have two kids from my current marriage. The oldest, a boy, just turned 18. He left June 30 to work for a month straight at Laity Lodge Youth Camp, a faith-based summer camp here in Central Texas. He's gone there for the last 10 years as a camper. This year he 'gets to' go back as a staff member. The catch is that its a non-paying gig - the staff does it 'for the experience.' From where I sit it sounds like Tom Sawyer and whitewashing the fence, but it does keep him busy and out of trouble, and it is good experience, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Our daughter just turned 16. The next day she got her driver's license, and began casting coveteous glances at my SUV. It's not much - a 2006 Honda Pilot with around 200,000 miles on it (those 400 mile round trips to Laredo and back really add up). But right now a new or even gently used vehicle just isn't in the budget.

Fortunately, we've bundled her off to a couple of tennis camps* (one run by John Newcombe and one at Texas A&M ), so I get to keep my vehicle a little while longer. But soon I'll have to hand the keys over to her, and start driving our 'extra' vehicle - a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup, also with about 200k miles on it. It's my hunting truck (4x4, oversize tires, brush guard, etc.). I also use it for light hauling and towing. It's in decent shape, but I don't know how long it will last as everyday transportation, especially in light of the weekly Laredo-and-back trips. (It's so old it has a cassette player installed in the dash. I'm so old I still have a bunch of cassettes that I enjoy listening to when I drive it.)

* It's not that she's a great tennis player. She's middle-of-the-pack, but she enjoys the game and the camps. Plus it gives my wife and I some couples time. If we make it through those two weeks without killing each other our marriage will be stronger.

Next week the wife, daughter, and I am off for 6 days at a posh beach house in Punta Cana, D.R. It's not that we can afford a luxury vacation. We just happen to be friends with someone who has connections with a property investment firm that owns a few places down there. It's all about who you know...

Sand, sun, cheap rum and good cigars ... I'm looking forward to forgetting about all the nonsense going on in the world and just relaxing.

There's a lot to be said for hedonism...

Something's Fishy

I have mixed emotions about this story. On one hand, it shows that the federal government can occasionally respond quickly and accurately to citizen questions and concerns.

On the other hand, it shows that citizens of these United States can be clueless idiots. (Of course, we already knew that. Witness the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.)

So what happened?

In May the Discovery Channel broadcast a show about mermaids. The show, although somewhat tongue-in-cheek, was a fictional program about mythical creatures. Apparently, however, some viewers thought it was a scientific educational show. Somewhat confused, a number of people turned to the government for help.

(I'll let pass the opportunity to make a snide remark about that course of action, other than to say that (1) when I'm confused it's usually because of something the government has said or done, and (2) going to the government for help is definitely not the first thing that springs to mind when I have a question or problem. In fact, it ranks right down there near the bottom of the list. Anyway...)

There is no evidence that mermaids exist, a US government scientific agency has said.

The National Ocean Service made the unusual declaration in response to public inquiries following a TV show on the mythical creatures.

It is thought some viewers may have mistaken the programme for a documentary.

"No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found," the service wrote in an online post.

The National Ocean Service - a division of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) - posted an article last week on its educational website, Ocean Facts.

The article was written from publicly available sources because "we don't have a mermaid science programme", National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanagh told the BBC.

Now that the question of mermaid existence has been settled, can we move on to finding out what's really going on in Area 51?

Sorry, fellows, she's just a figment of your imagination.

Something To Think About

I ran across an intriguing essay today. The author, J.E. Dyer, suggests that the upcoming election is a potential turning point in American politics, but that Mitt Romney is not the right person to lead that turn-around.

It's not a hatchet job on Romney.

"He comes across as a decent, accomplished man who wants to do the right thing, but he is perfectly comfortable with big government, and seems to have no philosophical underpinnings: certainly not conservative ones..."

Rather, it is a thoughtful examination -- almost an indictment -- of the American voter.

The period of the Obama tenure, and now the 2012 election, are forcing Americans to reconsider, in a way I’m not sure we have for a good 200 years, what the vote means, and what politics means to our lives.

I see two ways for conservatives to view the vote in November.  One involves a pragmatic view of government as something to be handled, as much as possible, through prudent tactics.  This view emphasizes method and calculation over philosophy.  The other involves a view of government that makes the choice of president a form of positive affirmation of what we believe in.  With this view, philosophy is paramount; if philosophical sympathy is absent in the leading candidate(s), no mere method of politics is a way of correcting the deficiency.

Neither perspective stands alone.  In most election years, campaigning entails a combination of these perspectives, and a candidate is chosen who seems to marry them as effectively as possible for electoral politics.  In 2012, however, conservatives simply can’t make of Romney a “what we believe in” choice.  He is instead a “prudent tactics” choice: a placeholder who will basically not be Obama for the next four years.

The only strategically significant point of having a placeholder is so that the people themselves can regroup.  Romney cannot be a savior, and in policy terms, he is not the answer to our problems.  In the foreseeable future, we have to do the heavy lifting.

It is a lengthy piece, but I urge you to set aside 10 minutes or so to read it, and then think about it.

Our Founders were profoundly – and properly – skeptical of government.  They stated repeatedly that their reliance was ultimately on the good sense and character of the people.  In 2012, it’s all about the people: who we are and the clarity with which we see our predicament and our options.

Think about it...

All That Glitters Is Not Gold

California is known as the Golden State. But lately it's become more Fool's Gold than the real thing.

A few days ago the California state legislature voted to begin funding a controversial $68 billion bullet train. Meanwhile, the state is so desperate for cash that it has cut three weeks off the school year, and is actually considering reducing public-employee pensions. It is also seeking approval from voters for a 'temporary' tax increase. (Have you ever seen a temporary tax increase get rolled back? On the other hand, tax cuts like the Bush income tax reduction come with an expiration date. But I digress...)

The sales levy, already the highest in the U.S., would go to 7.5 percent from 7.25 percent. Income tax rates would rise on earnings over $250,000 a year. Those making $1 million or more, now paying 10.3 percent, would be assessed at 13.3 percent.

Ah yes, raise taxes on the evil 1% who either work hard enough or are smart enough -- or both -- to be successful. Sound familiar?

It's also worth noting that California cities such as Stockton and Mammoth Lakes have declared bankruptcy, and several others are close to it.

Yet in the midst of all this looming insolvency CA state officials insist on spending money they don't have on things that nobody wants.

“It’s incredibly tone-deaf to reject something voters want, like pension reform, while approving something they don’t want, like high-speed rail,” said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the anti-tax campaign.

Need I add that both houses of the CA state legislature are controlled by democrats, and the governor is likewise a dem?

All of which brings to mind the following.

In 1850 California became a state.

The State had no electricity.

The State had no money.

Almost everyone spoke Spanish.

There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically, it was just like California today; except the women had real breasts and the men didn't hold hands.

FOD 2012.07.09

The one thing I cannot abide is a liar. A person who lies will also cheat, steal, and do Lord knows what else in order to get whatever he wants. I realize that politics is filled with liars, which is one reason I despise most politicians. But the current occupant of the Oval Office is in a class by himself when it comes to lying. Here's a recent example.

Undeterred by independent fact-checkers that have debunked the thrust of their claims, the Obama campaign is redoubling attacks on Mitt Romney as an "outsourcer" in a new TV ad airing in eight battleground states.

The Romney campaign called the latest ad a continuation of "desperate lies," citing reports by several independent fact-checkers that have discredited the suggestion that Romney himself had a direct role in relocating U.S. jobs overseas.

"We found no evidence to support the claim that Romney — while he was still running Bain Capital — shipped American jobs overseas," FactCheck.org concluded in a report last month.

Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler also concluded that while Bain-owned companies may have engaged in outsourcing, Romney's ties to the practice are tenuous.

The ad blitz comes in spite of Obama's comments to audiences on his bus tour last week decrying the negative tone of the campaign on TV.

"You guys are getting bombarded with all kinds of nonsense on TV. So I know that sometimes politics can be discouraging, and especially Washington politics can be discouraging, and it can seem small and it can seem petty," Obama said Friday.

Independent media monitors that track campaign advertising report that 76 percent of the TV ads Obama's campaign has aired over the past month have had a negative, "anti-Romney" message.

Not just a liar, but a hypocrite as well.

More evidence that you can't believe anything obama says - or writes: last month David Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Washington Post editor, published Barack Obama: The Story, a deeply researched 600-page study that compares and contrasts obama's autobiography (Dreams From My Father) with historical records and facts.

The result: "more than three-dozen instances of material discrepancy where Dreams fails to align with the facts."

A catalog to those lies, and others like them, can be found here.

While the individual lies are troubling in and of themselves, taking a big picture perspective reveals a couple of themes that are familiar, yet no less disturbing because of their familiarity.

One, obama is a serial, perhaps pathological, liar. Here's a particularly egregious example, taken from an obama statement during the 2008 debate.

For my mother to die of cancer at the age of 53 and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they’re saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don’t have to pay her treatment, there’s something fundamentally wrong about that.

The problem with that statement is that in fact the expenses relating to his mother's cancer were paid by her health insurance - and obama knew it.

It bears repeating that the president knew this account was false because he served as his mother’s attorney in all her dealings with the insurance company.

This account was actually reported by no less than the New York Times, although they did bury it on page 14.

But that didn’t stop the Obama campaign from refloating the same falsehoods about Ms. Dunham having perished for lack of insurance coverage in an autobiographical campaign film narrated by Tom Hanks. Not only has the president never apologized for lying to the American people about his mother’s plight, he rightly assumed that even though the truth was uncovered by the New York Times, neither that paper nor the rest of the mainstream media would follow up on it as they undoubtedly would had a Republican ever tried to sell the voters such a transparent whopper.

That leads to the second theme, which is not surprising but is nonetheless troubling. It is painfully obvious that the mainstream media, rather than carrying our its watchdog function, has not only refused to expose the falsehoods but is helping to make excuses for them, or even cover them up. Consider that Maraniss himself never directly accuses obama of lying: "Some of what he did was the result of mythologies that were passed along from his family, and some were for the purposes of advancing themes in his book which had more to do with finding his racial identity."

Or consider what was said by Gerald Early, professor of English literature and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis:

"It really doesn't matter if he made up stuff."

Maybe it doesn't matter to you, Professor Early. Maybe you enjoy being lied to by the person responsible for leading our country. But it bothers the hell out of me. I have zero respect for anyone who intentionally and continuously twists, bends, obscures, and otherwise tortures the truth - much less a hypocritical lying scumbag who will write, say, and do anything to cling to the office for which he is so obviously unqualified.

That is most definitely NOT the type of person I want sitting in the Oval Office making decisions that affect me, my family, and our country, and representing America to the rest of the world...

EMRATIO Rules!!!

Okay, this time I am really going to post something with a comment - honest.

I don't need to comment, because the chart speaks for itself. It depicts employment (civilian employment, that is - excluding government 'workers' and the military) in the U.S. compared to the population.

And it originates from a Harvard professor, no less. That should be enough to establish its validity for the left.

Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado I hereby proudly present EMRATIO (Civilian Employment - Population Ratio)!

Remind me again who was elected in 2008...?

Why???

Dateline Laredo, Texas -

I am in this God-forsaken hell-hole because I have a meeting tomorrow.

A one-hour meeting.

For that I had to drive three hours down here today, and will repeat the three hour drive home tomorrow.

Did I mention this is for a one-hour meeting?

I teach in the business school of an international university. We stress to our students the benefits of technology, and how to leverage the Internet, social media, mobile technology, and the like to take advantage of things like globalization, telecommuting, virtual employees -- all trends that don't require the physical co-presence of employees to get things done.

This is a classic example of  "do as I say, not as I do."

I am meeting with the dean, associate dean, and my department chair on a matter that could very easily be handled via Skype, Go To Meeting, or any other virtual conferencing technology. But nooo, we have to all be in the same room.

Why?

I have no friggin' idea.

And I doubt if the people who called this meting do either. With the exception of yours truly, who actually teaches students and produces publishable research, the others are an ungodly crossbreed of bureaucrats and government employees -- they neither toil, nor do they spin.

I feel the need for Shiners ... many, many Shiners.

Sigh...

You Can't Argue With Facts

Posted without comment:

Unemployment Rate Dropped In Every State That Elected A Republican Gov. In 2010

In 2010, influenced by the Tea Party and its focus on fiscal issues, 17 states elected Republican governors. And, according to an Examiner.com analysis, every one of those states saw a drop in their unemployment rates since January of 2011. Furthermore, the average drop in the unemployment rate in these states was 1.35%, compared to the national decline of .9%, which means, according to the analysis, that the job market in these Republican states is improving 50% faster than the national rate.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate in states that elected Democrats in 2010 dropped, on average, as much as the national rate decline and, in some states such as New York, the unemployment rate has risen since January of 2011.

Well, okay, just one comment (sorry- I can't help myself).

Combine this with the failing European model and it should be painfully obvious to even the most oblivious observer that big-government nanny states are destined to fail.

They. Do. Not. Work.

How friggin' hard is that to understand?

Sunday Funnies 2012.07.08

The quote below is from a story in yesterday's San Antonio Express-News.

"The Fourth of July holiday signifies that college football is just around the corner."

For those of y'all that aren't aware of it, football in Texas isn't a sport. It's a religion. So here's a little humor to celebrate the beginning of football season in Texas.

The three most popular sports in Texas are high school football, college football, and professional football.

Three Texans, Slim, Billy-Bob and Bubba, died and went to heaven.

At the pearly gates, they were met by St. Peter, who explained that although it was late and God had retired for the evening, he had asked Albert Einstein to show them around so they wouldn't get bored before they met God in the morning.

After Einstein had introduced himself to Slim, he asked, "By the way, Slim, what was your IQ when you were alive?"

"159", said Slim.

"Great!", said Einstein. We'll discuss my general theory of relativity and maybe a little unified field theory as I show you around."

"What an exciting opportunity!", said Slim.

Einstein then introduced himself to Billy-Bob, and when he was done he said, "Tell me, Billy-Bob - what was your IQ when you were alive?"

"141", said Billy-Bob.

"Good," said Einstein. "If you'd like, we can discuss a little mathematics and philosophy as I point out the heavenly sights."

"Nothing I'd like better!" was Billy-Bob's reply.

After Einstein had introduced himself to Bubba, he asked, "What was your IQ when you were alive, Bubba?"

"78" said Bubba.

Punching him on the arm, Einstein said, "Hey, Bubba - How 'bout them Aggies!"

By the time Bubba arrived at the football game, the first quarter was almost over.

"Why are you so late?" his friend asked.

"I had to toss a coin to decide between going to church and coming to the game."

"How long could that have taken you?"

"Well, I had to toss it 14 times."

For those of you not familiar with the University of Texas, the picture below was taken during an ESPN pre-game show at the UT stadium. It features the iconic UT tower and a UT cheerleader.

And of course, no collection of football cartoons would be complete with the classic Lucy-Charlie Brown scene.

Things I Can't Live Without

This thing is just like a wife. It opens beers for you while keeping track of how many you've had at the same time. All that's missing are the snide remarks and tsk-tsk's of disapproval.

Spending an afternoon drinking in the alley with your favorite neighbors is all well and good, but around the 8th bottle of Alamo things might get hazy. The Intoxicase for iPhone not only tracks how many man sodas you've consumed, it will even crack you open a freshie as well.

The Intoxicase is a two part system composed of a bottle-opening iPhone 4/4S protector and drink-tracking free app. The case includes a sturdy bottle opener mounted on the phone's back, rather than weaker bottom edge like other opener-cases. The case actually comes in two varieties: the Intoxicase, which features a fixed Pub-style opener, and the Intoxicase Plus, which features a slimmer, folding-style opener.

The app will keep track of the bottles you've opened with the case, call you a cab when you're too buzzed to drive, find your car when you're too dumb to call a cab, play a song whenever you crack open a new bottle, and even post your evening's total to Facebook and Twitter. It also records your drinking habits to an on-board "beer log" by brand and graphs your descent into alcohol dependency as a function over time.

If it could throw things it would be just like my second ex-wife...

Danger Will Robinson

By now hopefully everyone is aware of this, but just in case, here's a Bergheim Follies Public Service Announcement.

You can’t say you haven’t been warned: On Monday, the FBI will shut down servers seized in a raid, and in doing so will cut off Internet access for those whose computers remain infected with the DNS Changer malware.

For months, the feds have been sounding the alarm that folks whose machines are infected will need to get clean by July 9. If the malware is on your Windows-based PC, it is using Domain Name Service servers that at one time were redirecting victims to rogue sites. Late last year, the FBI busted six Estonian nationals allegedly running the scam and took over their servers, opting to keep the machines operating so as not to disrupt Internet access for millions of victims.

To be on the safe side, if you'd like to check your status and you live in the United States, go here. If your PC is clean, you’ll see this screen:

If you see something with a red background instead, that means your machine is infected. There's a link at the above link that tells you what to do to remove the malicious code.

Better safe than sorry...

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2012.07.06

I've been on a Texas roll lately, and I'm feelin' a mite ornery just now, so here's a message from Texas to the rest of the world.

The Perfect Solution

Here's the perfect follow-up to my last post about Don't Mess With Texas.

(Shamelessly 'borrowed' from kerrcarto.)

Don't Mess With Texas

A new program is teaching US border agents to run, hide and call for help when they are confronted by a shooter. The following was first posted on the National Border Patrol Council (a union representing Border patrol agents) Local 2544 website. This particular entry was dated 06-20-12. The bold emphasis was added by yours truly.

In another nauseating series of "Virtual Learning Center" brainwashing courses that Border Patrol agents are forced to sit behind a computer for hours and endure, we are now taught in an "Active Shooter" course that if we encounter a shooter in a public place we are to "run away" and "hide". If we are cornered by such a shooter we are to (only as a last resort) become "aggressive" and "throw things" at him or her. We are then advised to "call law enforcement" and wait for their arrival (presumably, while more innocent victims are slaughtered). Shooting incidents cited in the course are Columbine, the Giffords shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting.

These types of mandatory brainwashing courses and the idiocy that accompanies them are simply stunning when they are force-fed to law enforcement officers. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that any three of the above shootings would have been stopped cold by an off-duty law enforcement officer or a law abiding citizen with a gun. The Fort Hood shooting would have been stopped cold by someone with a gun as well.

I've never understood the 'logic' behind gun-free zones. That just turns students and faculty into targets (the definition of a gun-free zone is "a target-rich environment"). But I guess common sense has no chance against fear and ignorance.

Meanwhile, back at Local 2544, the following update was added on 07-03-12.

Since this information was posted and after media scrutiny the agency has offered to revise and clarify this training...

It's amazing what a little publicity can do.

As a reminder, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed with one of the weapons the ATF allowed to walk across the border as part of the Fast & Furious gunrunning fiasco. Terry and his fellow agents were operating under DHS rules of engagement that require them to use non-lethal beanbag rounds initially, as opposed to live ammunition. The bad guys, of course, are under no such constraints.

Here’s the part Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Border Patrol management are trying to hide: Border Patrol Agent Terry and the BORTAC team were under standing orders to always use (“non-lethal”) bean-bag rounds first before using live ammunition. When the smugglers heard the first rounds, they returned fire with real bullets, and Agent Terry was killed in that exchange. Real bullets outperform bean bags every time.

Run and hide instead of fighting back. Bean-bags vs. AK 47 rounds. Typical idiotic federal policy.

Contrast that with Texas' most recent move in securing its border with Mexico.

Law enforcement officers working along the U.S.-Mexico border are stepping up efforts to respond to what is in effect a war going on south of the border, where drug cartel violence has spun out of control.

In Texas, where the two countries are separated only by the Rio Grande River, stopping the violence from spilling into the United States means taking to the water -- with 34-foot-long gunboats that pack some serious firepower.

Four new “shallow water interceptors” are now patrolling the river, and two others will be commissioned soon. Those will be responsible for guarding the intercoastal waterway, where cops are seeing a spike in smuggling activity through the Gulf of Mexico.

These gunboats are outfitted with bullet-proof panels, fully automatic machine guns and 900-horsepower engines.

No bean-bags on these babies.

Who would you rather have protecting your family and property? A bean-bag toting patrol or a high-speed armored gunboat?

Let me rephrase that.

Who would you rather have protecting your family and property? The federal government or the state of Texas?

I know what my preference is...

Post-Independence Day Post

Yesterday -- Independence Day -- I posted something about how we all need to stand up, speak out, and re-claim our country. Today I ran across the following that makes taking such action even more imperative.

A new study funded by the Department of Homeland Security characterizes Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing” terrorists.

Entitled Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970-2008 (PDF), the study was produced by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland. The organization was launched with the aid of DHS funding to the tune of $12 million dollars.

While largely omitting Islamic terrorism ... the study focuses on Americans who hold beliefs shared by the vast majority of conservatives and libertarians and puts them in the context of radical extremism.

The report takes its definitions from a 2011 study entitled Profiles of Perpetrators of Terrorism, produced by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, in which the following characteristics are used to identify terrorists.

- Americans who believe their “way of life” is under attack;

- Americans who are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”;

- People who consider themselves “anti-global” (presumably those who are wary of the loss of American sovereignty);

- Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”;

- Americans who are “reverent of individual liberty”;

- People who “believe in conspiracy theories that involve grave threat to national sovereignty and/or personal liberty.”

I don't know about you, but I'm a solid 5 out of 6 on the above checklist (I have my doubts about a vast left-wing conspiracy, although I wouldn't put it past them).

The rush to denounce legitimate political beliefs as thought crimes, or even mundane behaviors, by insinuating they are shared by terrorists, has accelerated in recent months.

Under the FBI’s Communities Against Terrorism program, the bulk purchase of food is labeled as a potential indication of terrorist activity, as is using cash to pay for a cup of coffee, and showing an interest in web privacy when using the Internet in a public place.

That last paragraph is particularly frightening. I have on occasion bought food in bulk. I always pay in cash for small purchases (typically $20 or less), and I take steps to ensure my privacy and security when using public-access Internet connections.

So to summarize, because I love America, prefer limited government, believe in liberty, and pay with cash, the our MY government thinks I might be a terrorist.

Yet another example of why I love my country but fear its government...

Dangerous Right-Wing Extremist Terrorist

Independence Day 2012

Today we are celebrating 236 years of America's independence.

Today we are also in the midst of another, albeit more subtle, insidious, and undeclared war of independence.

Like the original, today we are fighting for our independence from an oppressive and overbearing government that no longer listens to its citizens, but cares only about expanding its powers.

In 1776 our forefathers weren't standing around waiting for someone else to do something. Now, in 2012, it is time once again to stand up and proclaim our independence from a government that presumes to know better than we what is best for us.

Speak out. Make your voice heard. Take back your independence. Live free and enjoy the blessings of Liberty for yourself and your posterity.

And enjoy some BBQ and beer while you're at it...