Happy birthday to me. Counting my blessings.

Today is my 58th birthday. It feels like 88, but that's because I have never BEEN 88. I am extrapolating without enough data.

Things I have to be thankful for:

Two days ago, my oldest daughter wrecked her mother's car. Fortunately, neither she nor her alleged boy friend (as opposed to boyfriend) were hurt. She was not paying attention, someone turned left in front of her, and she hit the ditch to avoid the rear end collision. She did manage to screw it upside the only concrete culvert for a few hundred yards. (Sigh.) Still, this is a cause for celebration. She was not hurt. Unfortunately neither was her attitude, but that's another story. Everything else is just money, and money isn't important (as God continues to remind me in all sorts of ways).

I am less invested with abject joy at the fact that her alleged boy friend escaped injury, viewing him as I do as a lizard-brained penis life support system typical of the teenage breed of the species. I have a similar jaundiced view of my youngest daughter's boyfriend (no attempt to shade THAT truth on HER part). Yet the danger that these creatures pose to my daughters is, for the most part, yet to realized, if at all, in the future. For this I am thankful. I will probably end up either

a. having them as sons-in-law, or, more likely,

b. trying to console my daughters on long distance telephone (with them at Southern Miss and me in Alabama) when the relationships with the faithless lizard brains fall apart (having already done this with my oldest daughter WITH THE SAME GUY a year or so ago, I know whereof I speak).

Yet, this too shall pass, and I am grateful -- and thankful -- that we have raised them to the point where they CAN both go off to college as well-rounded, independent (Oh, Lord HOW independent) young women.

I am also thankful that my hyperbaric oxygen treatments are done, as they took a huge chunk out of my days during the week and left me feeling wasted. My wounds remain, although much reduced and well on the way to healing. We will see how they fare without HBO.

My son Matthew is past the half-way point of his third tour of Iraq safely and I am very thankful for that. I am even more thankful for his wife, Nicole. After his awful experience with his first wife, the boy deserved a break and she sure has been that. A wonderful girl, a loving wife and the mother of my second grandson Gabriel, Nicole is real jewel. Like me, I think, this will be Matthew's second and last wife.

I am grateful beyond words, too, that Rosey and I have made it this far (our 25th wedding anniversary approaches in November) and that soon, with the girls off to college, we have a chance to just be the two of us again.

I am less happy about the state of Absolved, now almost out of editing limbo. It is obvious that I lied when told y'all back in April that it was done. I thought it was. It wasn't. No published work is done until the editing process is done and I was stupid (out of inexperience, surely, but stupid nonetheless) to think differently. There have been changes. I think they make the work better, although I will confess that some of them I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to. At present, it looks like I'll have hard-copies by October and I intend to set up at Knob Creek and thumb my nose with a great big smile at the ATF as they walk by.

Mostly though I am grateful for the success of Sipsey Street and for the continued attention or y'all to my scribblings. I think we have made some slight difference to the world we find ourselves in. I hope that we will make more of a difference in the future. Certainly being denounced by the serial perjurer Bill Clinton is an indication that we are pointed in the right direction.

I am also grateful for the catechism written for us by "Female III" the other day, who summed up how I am thinking at this particular moment:

We're conceived, we live this life and we die. Most die from illness or old age. Some from accidents. Others are given the chance to do great things for great reasons. How would you choose to live and die? On the golf course?

I am grateful to be facing the enemy of God and my country because it is a chance for me to inflict great damage upon them. Nobody gets out of this alive. I choose to live and die fighting the enemy. What a great time to be an American.

What a great time indeed. We are called to the greatest cause that men and women CAN be called to: the retrieval of liberty from the jaws of voracious tyranny.

History is watching. Let us fight, and win.

THAT would be the greatest birthday gift of all.

But, like most things worth having, it won't come cheap.

Mike Vanderboegh
III

Perhaps the best commentary I have read on the Sherrod affair. "Polarization & partisanship": What's so bad about that?

One vision of the American house. Unseen behind the advertising are the pimps and the bouncers who enforce the rules and take theirs off the top. Don't get out of line.

From RedState. Erickson is much more direct than this bit of fuzzy thinking while dancing around the real subject, entitled "The Age of Rage."

Look, we are here because the left-collectivists have been in a war against the Founders' Republic (assisted by their GOP fellow-travelers of the ruling class) for at least a hundred years. Again, I refer to Billy Beck, "All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war."

Folks can cluck their tongues about "polarization" and "partisanship" but the fact of the matter is that such people are always using those words to refer to THE OTHER GUY AND NOT THEMSELVES.

It is foolish to try to tar paper over such a structural divide. In fact, it cannot be done and to spend all your time trying is to offer yourself up to eviction by the guy who thinks he is the landlord and has the right to chuck you out of your own house.

I welcome "polarization" and "partisanship" for that very reason. Let us quit beating around the bush.

We view the house as our home, they view it as a house of prostitution run by a corrupt gang enforced by particularly vicious bouncers.

One or the other vision is going to win out in the end.

I vote that it be ours, not theirs.

Mike
III

My congressman, Barney's Frank's buttbuddy.

Spencer Bachus, permanent congresscritter from my district, is in trouble with the GOP. And considering their well-nigh non-existent gag reflex on principle, that's saying something. When Spencer gets reelected in November (his is a gerrymandered Republican "safe" district), he will be set for a twenty year run. It would be impossible to detail in this small space what a sell-out Spencer has been over the years. We had an opportunity to throw him out in the primary a couple months back, but the candidate the Tea Party folks decided to back was too much of a nice guy and wasn't

a. willing to call a corrupt politician a corrupt politician, and,

b. was unable to overcome the huge money advantage that every incumbent has in politics these days.

So now, we are reduced to hoping that Spencer gets his wings clipped by the GOP establishment.

Sheesh, how embarrassing.

Praxis: A storage idea for less than bucket load quantities.

Nairb has an interesting and useful idea here.

Coffee Cans for Storage. The plastic kind that just about every coffee brand has switched to in the past few years. There are a number of food items that I do not want to store in glass canning jars or five gallon buckets. Glass jars get nixed because of the potential for breakage when moving, and buckets get nixed because I do not want to buy such a quantity of that I can fill a five gallon bucket. The solution I have found is to buy the one gallon mylar food grade bags and pack them inside plastic coffee cans that I would otherwise discard. Between home and office I get about two of these each month. An added bonus is that six of the cans fit into the same size box as six number 10 cans. This size of storage container is ideal for spices, seasoning/gravy/sauce packets, and drink mixes such as Kool Aid. Once full and the mylar bag is sealed, pop on the lid and seal with 100% silicone.

I like the idea of putting the coffee containers into cardboard boxes of the same size as Number Ten cans. Storage is good. Storage AND portability is better. Also, boxing them up facilitates stacking.



In the past I have used both margarine and cottage cheese tubs with snap-on lids in similar fashion.

Another country heard from . . .

"The American people are turned off by all the agitation to violence. It isn't part of our heritage." -- "Steve of IL."

The Sons of Liberty sack the Boston mansion of the Royal Governor of Massachusetts.

So, my name came up in the comments to this story.


"Steve of IL" wrote:

That's it guys. Keep blaming unions and government for all the problems when in fact both those institutions have been in retreat for thirty years.

I never understood people so in love with their own ideas that they lack a basic curiosity about other sources of information and views. In my opinion, it is the height of ignorance to sit in front of FOX all day and then listen to Rush Limbaugh or some other hater/name caller and think one is "educating" ones self.

I have always availed myself of conservative ideas, albeit those expressed intelligently by scholars who have produced respected, peer reviewed research. I have as much contempt for sloppy, inaccurate left wing smear and hyperbole as I do for that on the right!!

People have been subject to a barrage of hateful propaganda by the organized right which is intimately connected to the GOP. This is beyond dispute. Many GOP elected officials routinely stump for the tea parties and repeat the lies and myths often heard on FOX news publicly. They use violent innuendo such as "don't retreat, reload" and “You’ve got to make the fella scared to come out of his house,” a public campaign statement to supporters by Allen West of Florida referring to his election opponent Ron Klein.

Apparently, there are many disciples of the "Sarah Palin School of Public Rhetoric" spewing violent speech. This is frequently called "dog whistling," a subtle message to supporters that what was formerly unacceptable is now ok. In essence, it's a covert plea to take the gloves off.

"West’s mentor Sarah Palin is also no stranger to using violent references in her communications. Palin last month unveiled a national political map using rifle crosshairs to mark the members of Congress across the country who supported healthcare reform. “West and his mentor Sarah Palin are shamefully stoking violent language and symbolism that threatens the safety of our leaders and public officials,” Ceasar said. “The hard working people of South Florida know that inciting people with extreme and violent language sometimes leads to far more violent and monstrous acts. It’s sad that Allen West and Sarah Palin lack the basic decency, common sense and responsibility to realize this.”

http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/04/dems-blast-gop-congressional-candidate-allen-wests-make-the-fellow-scared-remark-about-klein/

Mike Vanderboegh, former leader of the Alabama Constitutional Militia, recently called for hundreds of thousands of gun owners to "point their muzzles at the hearts of tyrants" when discussing ways to oppose recent congressional legislation. Reports have come out linking Vanderboegh's statements to recent violence against Democratic Party offices.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/24-11?page=1

Over the past two years there has been several violent incidents linked to official, organized right wing agitation. Shootings and other violent acts were knowingly inspired by violent public pronouncements by popular figures in the GOP and other conservative activists. The American people are turned off by all the agitation to violence. It isn't part of our heritage.

Two countries. One Zombieland, the other not.

Praxis: More on Military Vegetation

Rick Warren temporarily blinds himself with the sap of a firestick plant.

Just in case you think you're smarter than Rick Warren.

I can't decide whether to title this "Clueless in Eugene" or "Zombies in Space."

A scintillating example of brilliant left-collectivist analysis.

A snippet:

When the right wing thinks of change they think of armed insurrection because they own all of the guns. When you own a hammer every problem looks like a nail. All of these wannabe weekend warriors have bought a dozen weapons and tons of ammunition and it is just sitting there doing nothing. They like to get dressed in Camo and play soldier on the weekend to show off their nifty weapons, and a 50 caliber isn't too good for rabbits. but wouldn't it be fun to go out and shoot some liberals or gays or minorities?

Of course most of the volunteer army and the rest of the military is conservative and they also think that force is the answer to many of the world's problems. But the difference is these soldiers have seen the real horror of a real shooting war and would never want that to happen at home. Besides they have all sworn allegiance to their Commander in Chief.

Not only is this guy going to end up as so much cannibal food, but I find myself rooting for the cannibals.

When liberals turn hungry.

LATER: Since some people seem to be having problems with the link, here is the entire essay:

Rant: Solutions Pt.1 Insurrection or Democracy?

Written by Altruist Eugene, OR

Now that my Father is in his sunset years he likes to watch nothing but Westerns. Westerns are always pretty simplistic and easy to understand. Justice is often found when the guy in the white hat shoots the bad guy in the black hat. The Tea Party with its arm chair quarterback critiques and simplistic solutions sound attractive. Unfortunately as H. L. Mencken said, "For every complex problem there is a-solution-that is simple neat and wrong".

Sometimes like in High Noon, the entire town abandons Gary Cooper and he is left all alone to defend justice. We have a new sheriff in town and he has lots of problems to solve and it would be nice if all the townspeople would pull together to help him, but most of the time it seems like half the country is working for the bad guys.

There were often "Lynching Parties" when the loudmouths in town stirred up the town drunks and decided to take the law in their own hands. The good guy would always defend the rule of law. Sometimes the mob would catch an actual horse thief but more often than not they hung an innocent person. Whenever mob rule took over they were wrong because they broke the law. It is always better to leave the law to the courts, to find out who the real bad guys are.

When our founding fathers formed this nation they tried to eliminate the need for mob rule by putting in place the means to bring about meaningful change. The Law came to town if you will.

In 2008 the people used their constitutionally mandated rights and voted for change. The losers of that election never got behind the new sheriff. These poor losers are the ones that are still resisting any change, and now they are calling for his lynching.

Some members of the Tea Party are calling for "Second Amendment Remedies" if they
lose again at the ballot box. The leaders are the loudmouths that are inciting the excitable and impressionable to abandon law and return to mob rule.

Over time the leaders of this great nation could see the endless bloody coups and military takeovers that occurred all over the rest of the world. We had our own bloody civil war and it was so horrendous that our leaders vowed to never allow that to happen again. They insured that would not happen here by having civilian control of the military and by having the military take an oath to support the Commander in Chief. But the major way that our founders insured that the nation would not be torn apart is by allowing change to happen at the ballot box.

In almost every election the losers vow to work with the winners and cooperate for the good of the country. After this past election that did not happen. The Republicans acted like spoiled schoolboys who if they lost, would take their ball and go home. They decided that politics was war, and that if they lost on the battlefield that they would continue a guerilla war. Never before at least in my memory has the opposition been so adversarial.

Their very effective propaganda machine which took the country to an unnecessary and illegal war, shifted to attack our president and the Democratic party. Instead of compromising and helping solve the countries problems, the Republicans decided that they would do everything they could to make Obama and the nation fail. They abused little known procedural rules to force a supermajority vote to get anything done, and did everything they could to bring our country to a stop. If they couldn't have things their way they would make it impossible for anyone else to play the game.

When the right wing thinks of change they think of armed insurrection because they own all of the guns. When you own a hammer every problem looks like a nail. All of these wannabe weekend warriors have bought a dozen weapons and tons of ammunition and it is just sitting there doing nothing. They like to get dressed in Camo and play soldier on the weekend to show off their nifty weapons, and a 50 caliber isn't too good for rabbits. but wouldn't it be fun to go out and shoot some liberals or gays or minorities?

Of course most of the volunteer army and the rest of the military is conservative and they also think that force is the answer to many of the world's problems. But the difference is these soldiers have seen the real horror of a real shooting war and would never want that to happen at home. Besides they have all sworn allegiance to their Commander in Chief.

When the left thinks of change they think of collective bargaining and using the non violent protests of the majority of the people, to overcome the totalitarian authoritarianism of the minority.

The right has the American revolution as inspiration but unfortunately there are thousands of other examples where violent revolution resulted in more violence, genocide, and oppression. Few revolutions result in Democracies. The strong men who lead the revolution generally turn into dictators. What makes the United States different than hundreds of other nations that suffer one revolution after another, is the Constitution. The Constitution protects the rights of the minority and provides for a mechanism for change without violence.

When the left thinks of change they also have historical success stories they can look to for inspiration. They have Gandhi who brought about the end of British colonialism in India and Pakistan through non violence. They have the example of Mandela who ended Apartheid and the formation of Africa through non violence, they have the example of Lech Walesa and the freedom of Poland through non violence, they have the example of Mother Jones and the suffragettes that allowed women equality through non violence, there is the example of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and many others who won civil rights victories and ended segregation through non violence.

Why is it that the left relies on the majority: Democracy, Majority Rule, Non Violence, and Collective bargaining to make life better for all, but the Right relies on the use of force by the minority to make life worse for the majority so a few can live in luxury?

There is no possible way that a bunch of weekend warriors can take on the most powerful military in the world, no matter how many weapons they acquire. That is just plain crazy talk, and it should not be encouraged or tolerated. The most they can hope to do is blow some people up, as Timothy McVeigh and his co conspirators did in Oklahoma City.

Let me be clear. This is not just some western on TV where conflicts are settled with a gun fight at high noon. If Americans take up arms with the intent of overthrowing the government, they are not patriots, they are not modern revolutionaries. They are terrorists, and they will be treated as terrorists.

A recent Washington Post report indicated that there are 1,271 government entities and 1,931 private companies engaged in intelligence-gathering work. If you are hoarding weapons and advocating the overthrow of the government, how many of them do you think are reading your posts and listening to your phone right now?

Most of the members of the Tea Party are rational and good people but some on the extreme right are just plain crazy and only need a little encouragement to harm others. Those who encourage "Second Amendment Remedies" are legitimizing the real right wing Whackoes, and they are enabling unstable armed and dangerous elements to take the law in their own hands and blow up government buildings and harm innocent civilians. They are encouraging domestic terrorism and the return to mob rule.

I applaud the Tea party for energizing people who were unwilling to participate in the political process before. If they are successful and they do "Take their Country Back" , what happens then? Do they have any solutions to the nation's many problems?

This is the first in a series exploring solutions. The first step is to realize that in this country, the majority rules.

What caliber was that hot-house lily?

"Gimme yer money or I'll fire up your allergies."

Sheesh.

Gee, ya think there might be a link between these two stories?

Congress Ranks Last in Confidence in Institutions.

What Congress Bought Itself With Your $1 Billion.

Praxis: The Guerrilla Sniper Rifle Project.

From WRSA.

Nothing at this level happens by accident. "Health Care" law goes after gold coins and the people who own them.

Schmeckel: Yiddish for small penis. Not a flattering term. Often used to describe a person in unflattering terms. -- Urban Dictionary.

I kid you not. It is no accident that Schumer protege Anthony Weiner, a left-collectivist advocate of citizen disarmament (rated F minus by both NRA and GOA) is behind this attempt to limit economic liberty as well.

It looks like we're going to have to start hosting precious metals shows (with armed guards) where we flaunt their damn regulations and dare the IRS sonsabitches to do anything about it.

I've never gotten into gold coins (not having the resources) and I prefer investing in copper, brass and lead, but I could learn to like a K-rand or two if it meant having the opportunity of demonstrating that Weiner is no weiner, he's just a schmeckel.

Mike
III

Congressman Shmeckel.

Gold Coin Sellers Angered by New Tax Law

Amendment Slipped Into Health Care Legislation Would Track, Tax Coin and Bullion Transactions

By RICH BLAKE
July 21, 2010

Those already outraged by the president's health care legislation now have a new bone of contention -- a scarcely noticed tack-on provision to the law that puts gold coin buyers and sellers under closer government scrutiny.

The issue is rising to the fore just as gold coin dealers are attracting attention over sales tactics.

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will amend the Internal Revenue Code to expand the scope of Form 1099. Currently, 1099 forms are used to track and report the miscellaneous income associated with services rendered by independent contractors or self-employed individuals.

Coin Dealers Flipping

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.

This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Taking an early and vociferous role in opposing the measure is the precious metal and coin industry, according to Diane Piret, industry affairs director for the Industry Council for Tangible Assets. The ICTA, based in Severna Park, Md., is a trade association representing an estimated 5,000 coin and bullion dealers in the United States.

"Coin dealers not only buy for their inventory from other dealers, but also with great frequency from the public," Piret said. "Most other types of businesses will have a limited number of suppliers from which they buy their goods and products for resale."

So every time a member of the public sells more than $600 worth of gold to a dealer, Piret said, the transaction will have to be reported to the government by the buyer.

Pat Heller, who owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., deals with around 1,000 customers every week. Many are individuals looking to protect wealth in an uncertain economy, he said, while others are dealers like him.

With spot market prices for gold at nearly $1,200 an ounce, Heller estimates that he'll be filling out between 10,000 and 20,000 tax forms per year after the new law takes effect.

"I'll have to hire two full-time people just to track all this stuff, which cuts into my profitability," he said.

An issue that combines gold coins, the Obama health care law and the IRS is bound to stir passions. Indeed, trading in gold coins and bars has surged since the financial crisis unfolded and Obama took office, metal dealers said.

The buying of actual gold, as opposed to futures or options tied to the price of gold, has been a particularly popular trend among Tea Party supporters and others who are fearful of Obama's economic policies, gold industry members such as Heller and Piret said. Conservative/libertarian commentators, such as Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck, routinely tout precious metal on the air as being a safe, shrewd investment in an environment in which the financial system -- and paper money backed by the rest of the world's faith in the U.S. government's credit -- is viewed as increasingly fragile.

The recently revealed investigation by California authorities into consumer complaints against Goldline International, which has used Beck as a pitchman, and Superior Gold Group (which has not) has put a spotlight on what one liberal leaning politician, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., calls the "unholy alliance" between gold coin sellers, such as Goldline, and conservative talk personalities, such as Beck.

Beck, who through his spokesman, Matt Hiltzik, declined to comment for this story, and Goldline marketers portray gold coins as a better alternative to owning bullion in the event that the U.S. government ever decides, as it did under FDR in 1933, to make it illegal for private citizens to own physical gold. At that time, the U.S. dollar was still pegged to the price of gold; the gold standard was abandoned during the Nixon administration.

Rep. Daniel Lungren, R-Calif., has introduced legislation to repeal the section of the health care bill that would trigger the new tax reporting requirement because he says it's a burden on small businesses.

"Large corporations have whole divisions to handle such transaction paperwork but for a small business, which doesn't have the manpower, this is yet another brick on their back," Lungren said in a statement e-mailed to ABCNews.com. "Everyone agrees that small businesses are job creators and the engine which drives the American economy. I am dumfounded that this Administration is doing all it can to make it more difficult for businesses to succeed rather than doing all it can to help them grow."

The ICTA's Piret says identity theft is another concern because criminals may set up shops specifically to extract personal information that would accompany the filing out of a 1099.

The office of the National Taxpayer Advocate, a citizen's ombudsman within the IRS, issued a report June 30 that said the new rule "may present significant administrative challenges to taxpayers and the IRS."

A Three Percent Catechism: "How would you choose to live and die? On the golf course?"

A catechism (pronounced /ˈkætəkɪzəm/; Ancient Greek: κατηχισμός from kata = "down" + echein = "to sound", literally "to sound down" (into the ears), i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present. -- Wikipedia.

In a comment on the 20 July 1944 anniversary post below, commenter Female III said...

We're conceived, we live this life and we die. Most die from illness or old age. Some from accidents. Others are given the chance to do great things for great reasons. How would you choose to live and die? On the golf course?

I am grateful to be facing the enemy of God and my country because it is a chance for me to inflict great damage upon them. Nobody gets out of this alive. I choose to live and die fighting the enemy. What a great time to be an American.

I have read nothing that better expresses the Three Percent Catechism.

LATER: A deep bow and flourish of the boonie hat to Female III. I have printed this out and posted it at my work station.

Not really telling us anything we didn't already know about state-run media, but interesting nonetheless.

“You have done a good job in your reporting of the USSR.” -- Joseph Stalin to Walter Duranty, reporter for the New York Times.

The descendants of Walter Duranty let their hair down on JournoList. Jonathan Strong has a story at The Daily Caller on the JournoList Email Scandal entitled "Documents show media plotting to kill stories about Rev. Jeremiah Wright."



Here's a taste of the internal thought processes of the Walter Duranty Press Collective.

Part of me doesn’t like this shit (defending the Reverend Jeremiah Wright) either. But what I like less is being governed by racists and warmongers and criminals . . .

I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.

And I think this threads the needle. If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction. -- Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent, in emails on JournoList, a private discussion group for "journalists."

"Walter Duranty is the greatest liar I have met in journalism.” -- Malcolm Muggeridge.

Walter Duranty was Joe Stalin's favorite New York Times reporter. Duranty tried his damnedest to ignore the Great Famine that Stalin had forced upon his people in order to get rid of "undesirables." Worse, he attacked other journalists who were honestly reporting on the tragedy.

We always knew that the state-run media in this country slanted, lied and did everything they could to achieve the result their political masters wished. Reading it in their own words -- so boldly and so brazenly collectivist -- is illuminating. It makes you think that Bill Clinton was onto something when he declared the press and intelligentsia of his Serbian enemies were legitimate targets of war.

Well, as Billy Beck said, "All politics in this country is now dress rehearsal for civil war." Obviously, according to JournoList, all journalism is now dress rehearsal for civil war as well. I wonder when the present-day Durantys are going to figure out that we've figured out that Acton was right when he said "The theorist is worst."

German newspaperman Julius Streicher after his date with the Nuremberg hangman.

Anniversary: 20 July 1944.

Memorial at Bendlerblock

The 20 July plot of 1944 was the closest attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi regime. The failure of both the assassination and the military coup d'état which was planned to follow it led to the arrest of at least 7,000 people by the Gestapo. According to records of the Führer Conferences on Naval Affairs, 4,980 people were executed, resulting in the destruction of the resistance movement in Germany. -- Wikipedia.

There is a scene toward the end of the movie Valkyrie, where the principal actors of the failed plot to kill Hitler on 20 July 1944 are hustled out to be shot -- the first of almost 5,000 to be executed by the Nazis in revenge for the attempt.

In the movie, Oberleutnant Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 – 21 July 1944) Klaus von Stauffenberg's adjutant interposes his body between the firing squad and von Stauffenberg. If you had not read the history, you might think that this was Hollywood hyperbole. It was not.

Haeften and his brother Hans were born in Berlin to Hans von Haeften, an army officer and President of the Reichsarchiv. He studied law in his hometown and then worked for a bank in Hamburg until the outbreak of World War II, when he joined the German army. In 1943, having recovered from a severe wound he had suffered on the Eastern Front, Haeften became adjutant to Oberstleutnant Claus von Stauffenberg, one of the leading figures in the German Resistance.

On 20 July 1944, Haeften accompanied Stauffenberg to the military high command of the Wehrmacht near Rastenburg, East Prussia, where the latter planted a briefcase bomb in Hitler's Wolfsschanze bunker. After the detonation, Stauffenberg and Haeften rushed to Berlin and, not knowing that Hitler had survived the explosion, engaged in a coup d'état, which would swiftly fail.

On the same day, Haeften, along with Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators General Friedrich Olbricht and Oberst Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, was arrested and condemned to death by General Friedrich Fromm. All four were shot after midnight by a ten-man firing squad from the Grossdeutschland Guard Battalion in the courtyard of the War Ministry, the Bendlerblock. When Stauffenberg was about to be shot, in a last dramatic gesture of defiance, Haeften threw himself into the path of the bullets.

Haeften's brother Hans was executed on 15 August at Plötzensee Prison. -- Wikipedia.

Operation Valkyrie Last 8 Minutes - Watch the top videos of the week here

Remember.

VDH on the Postmodern Cultural Elite.

He wants us to pity them. Since they're the ones who are about to kick off the next American civil war, how about we shoot them first and pity them later?

What is it about Oakland California? Nobody can hit what they're aiming at.

I mean, really.

OK. Gangbangers aren't the only ones who can't hit shit. California shootout (video with expert local commentary).

So here we have a shoot-out involving a convicted felon, who is described in one story as "unemployed" and "frustrated at being unable to find a job and 'left-wing politicians,' according to his mother." Later this description is further refined in another story into the ever popular short-hand "anti-government."



"Anti-government." Isn't that what the Tea Parties and militias are? The perp, seen above, is described thusly:

Williams has an extensive criminal history, and is currently on parole after being convicted of two felonies. Criminal records show he has been convicted of assault, a hit and run, property destruction, theft and driving under the influence. He was drunk and driving with a suspended license at the time of the incident, they said.

Yup, sounds like a typical Tea Partier militiaman, I'm sure. (Voice dripping sarcasm.)

OK, so watch the video above with two neighborhood guys giving expert local color commentary and understand that shoot-outs are definitely confusing affairs, especially to those who are exchanging shots. On the other hand, the fact that CHP fired as many shots as they did to so little immediate result makes you wonder if they're doing the "gangsta grip" too.

The only thing that can be said for their collective marksmanship is that it was better than the perps, who apparently killed a lot of glass and nothing else. Of course the fact that he was drunk probably didn't help. And the cops' excuse was . . . ?

Anyway, watch the video. The commentary is a hoot.

Mike
III

Wild morning shootout between gunman, CHP hospitalizes three
By Jennifer Courtney July 18, 2010

(6/18) — 21:43 PDT — OAKLAND — An anti-government 45 year-old parolee — armed with three guns and wearing body armor — engaged 10 California Highway Patrol officers in a frightening overnight gun battle on Highway 580 in Oakland early Sunday morning that witnesses said lasted more than 30 minutes.

The gun battle left the parolee, identified as Byron Williams of Groveland, California, a town near the western edge of Yosemite National Park, wounded by CHP gunfire and sent two officers to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries after they were hit by shattering glass during the shootout.

A witness recorded video of the shooting incident and posted it onto YouTube. Twitter user MannyBlack recorded dozens of gunshots exchanged by Williams and the Highway Patrol from his Oakland Avenue apartment.

Cars backed up on Westbound Highway 580 in Downtown Oakland Sunday morning. Twitter Photo by @bjsunlove

According to the CHP, officers used a loudspeaker to direct Williams off the freeway after they observed his white Toyota Tundra pickup truck speeding and swerving erratically in the westbound direction at approximately 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

Williams pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway near Grand Avenue. According to authorities, when CHP officers approached the vehicle, they saw several firearms, including a handgun and rifles.

The officers began retreating back to their patrol car as Williams opened fire on the officers, who radioed an emergency call for back-up, the Highway Patrol said.

Ten CHP officers returned fire and wounded the man, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest. He was transported to Highland Hospital in Oakland and is currently listed in serious but stable condition.

Officials said Williams has an extensive criminal history, and is currently on parole after being convicted of two felonies. Criminal records show he has been convicted of assault, a hit and run, property destruction, theft and driving under the influence. He was drunk and driving with a suspended license at the time of the incident, they said.

Dozens of officers responded from throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties to the CHP call for assistance.

About 60 gunshots were fired in all in an altercation that witnesses say lasted about half an hour.

Interstate 580 was closed in both directions until about 8 a.m., when all eastbound lanes were opened. Later in the afternoon the freeway was again closed on both sides because authorities suspected the vehicle might have contained explosive devices.

“Due to the potential threat to public safety it is important to shut down both sides of the freeway,” California Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Trent Cross explained.

The hard closure resulted in extensive traffic congestion through the Oakland area. Traffic on the Nimitz Freeway through Oakland was especially heavy because of drivers seeking an alternate route around the freeway crime scene.

Eastbound 580 was shut down at the Interstate 980 interchange, and westbound 580 was closed at Highway 13 to allow the Alameda County Sheriff’s Dept. bomb squad to investigate items in the Toyota truck.

Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were also called in to start their own probe Sunday afternoon.

On request from Oakland Police Homicide investigators, the bomb squad detonated several suspicious items that were removed by a robot. Other items, including a white binder with the word “CALIFORNIA” printed on its cover, were also removed from the truck.

CHP confirmed later that no explosive devices were found in the truck.

All lanes of westbound 580 were reopened after 9:30 p.m. Sunday evening. Traffic is now flowing smoothly in both directions, and the incident should not affect Monday morning commuters through the area.

America's Ruling Class: As good a description of the enemies of the Founders' Republic as you are likely to find.

Long, but worth every minute. I disagree with the author's hopeful expectation that this divide can be bridged by anything other than bodies and blood -- if history teaches us anything, it teaches us that -- but Codevilla's analysis of our self-appointed "ruling class" is largely on point.

"You shall not pass."

One gang beating up on innocents so they won't have to beat up on the really dangerous gang.

Nice story of "law enforcement" south of the border, complete with anti-cop witnesses who turn up dead.