Category Archives: Freedom

Thought Experiment: Grant-Milking Business Plan

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

One of the ways that the Federal government could be defrauded is by applications for grants or loan guarantees in support of companies or projects which are designed to fail, but which extract large quantities of money from the government in the process.

What would such a business plan look like?  Features of such a business plan would probably include a mechanism for allowing those who would receive the greatest benefit to avoid personal (or corporate) liability in the event of a failure.  Other features might be a lack of meaningful oversight or accountability.  This sort of thing would be easier to pull off in an environment where there are indicators of regulatory agency capture.

It would be helpful to have a few examples to discuss.  At first … Continue reading →

Chicken Soup for the 9/11 Soul

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

The inestimable Charles Krauthammer nails another one.  No we did not go crazy after 9/11 and create our own self-perpetuating climate of fear.

There was a terrorist threat before Al Qaeda, and there will still be one after it, but make no mistake — AQ is dying, and we killed it.

Al-Qaeda, uninvited, came out to fight us in Iraq, and it was not just defeated but humiliated. The local population — Arab, Muslim, Sunni, under the supposed heel of the invader — joined the infidel and rose up against the jihadi in its midst. It was a singular defeat from which al-Qaeda never recovered.

We have achieved successes that are more impressive the more you know about the problem.  And that in itself is a huge problem–to … Continue reading →

Force Protection

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Something that has always bothered me is “force protection” measures which have active duty military hiding among US civilians. “You don’t want to stand out in a hijacking–keep your military ID in a hidden pocket. No uniforms allowed. You may be targeted just for being in the military.” That sort of thing.
How dare the military hide among civilians?

I understand the desire to not have another Robert Stethem situation, but when the rubber hits the road, isn’t that why we’re here? At the last resort, to take the hit so that our civilians don’t have to?

We have lost a lot in the desire to understand and control situations which are better met with simple brutal action. The guiding principle I trust the most is “They … Continue reading →

The Ingrates of Wrath

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Well, Obama’s army is at it again, both in the streets of Washington, and the editorial meetings of the Associated Press.  This time we find terrorists damaging critical infrastructure that our economy depends upon.  Why?  Because one group of union thugs is upset that their strike (or whatever, I don’t care) was upended by — wait for it — the hiring of different union workers.  Ooh, those filthy capitalist yankee running dogs! How dare those pigs hire people from a different union?

Hundreds of Longshoremen stormed the Port of Longview early Thursday, overpowered and held security guards, damaged railroad cars, and dumped grain that is the center of a labor dispute, said Longview Police Chief Jim Duscha.

Six guards were held hostage for a couple of hours after … Continue reading →

Sources: Obama Administration To Drop Troop Levels In Iraq To 3,000 | FoxNews.com

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Obama’s purse chihuahua yaps about disastrous U.S. troop levels in Iraq.

A senior military official said by reducing the number of troops to 3,000, the White House has effectively reduced the mission to training only.

“There is almost no room for security operations in that number; it will be almost purely a training mission,” this official said. The official added that a very small number of troops within that 3,000 will be dedicated to counter-terrorism efforts, but that’s not nearly what Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, wanted.

This shift is seen by various people as a cost-saving measure and a political measure. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that the U.S. has operated responsibly to meet the year-end deadline to remove troops from … Continue reading →

The Undiscerning and Dangerous Appreciation of Ron Paul

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

Here’s a scorching article describing why Ron Paul is a coward and a liar.  He refuses to clean out his camp, and he purports to hold  a set of views which are so miserably inconsistent that it cannot be an innocent mistake.  One cannot love liberty enough to act for it without hating tyranny enough to act against it.  Ron Paul does not actually love liberty–he merely hates an unusual grouping of people.

One can not spend thirty years connected to holocaust-deniers, anti-semites, and explicit anarchists without red flags going up.  For what it is worth, I do not believe Ron Paul is a holocast denier or an anti-semite.  I think he is worse.  I think he is a coward.  Ron Paul knows full well that his closest … Continue reading →

Sympathy for the Devil

By | | , , , , , ,
2 Comments

[Published on: Aug 27, 2011 @ 21:32]

Blaming Obama is a popular pastime around here. Around my keyboard, that is. Yes, he’s a Marxist, no he’s never accomplished anything, and maybe his anti-Americanism is manifest, but perhaps it’s merely latent. His economics are disastrous and unyielding, his foreign policy is disastrous and always yielding, and he either does not understand how to protect America or does not care to do so. His obsequious bowing and kowtowing will be remembered long after his “historic” status is forgotten.  Someday a black President who doesn’t hate blacks will be elected by Americans who don’t hate America. He is nothing.

[pullquote]America deserves Obama.[/pullquote]The real problem is America itself, and we fool ourselves by thinking that electing a majority here, taking the executive chair … Continue reading →

Fatwa Against Ron Paul

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

[dc]I[/dc] direct your attention to the excellent and overlooked article  The Case Against Ron Paul by Gregory Hilton.  He goes to some length puncturing the inflated claims and exposing the outright falsehoods made by the Ron Paul crowd.

Make no mistake, among other complaints, Ron paul is:

  • a third-party spoiler
  • an isolationist
  • a protectionist
  • an open borders advocate
  • anti-Israel

Don’t take my word for it.  Read the backing facts on Hilton’s blog.

Ron Paul subscribes to a number of conspiracy theories, and has a snake-handling literalist’s view of the Constitution.  I’m a staunch originalist, but that does not mean I view the only valid means of defending our country to be the issuance of “letters of marque and reprisal”.  To Ron Paul, that’s exactly what it means.

… Continue reading →

Gibson Guitar Stamp Act

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

[dc]T[/dc]his is tyranny, folks. 

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson’s chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company’s manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. “The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier,” he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

…

It’s not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What’s the bridge made of? If it’s ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and … Continue reading →