The Logical Dead End of the Nanny State (Excellent)

Via Western Rifle Shooters Association

VERBATIM POST

The Silicon Graybeard
====================

Quote of the Day from Mark Steyn in today's Orange County Register:

This is the logical dead end of the Nanny State. When William Beveridge laid out his blueprint for the British welfare regime in 1942, his goal was the "abolition of want" to be accomplished by "co-operation between the State and the individual." In attempting to insulate the citizenry from life's vicissitudes, Sir William succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. As I write in my book: "Want has been all but abolished. Today, fewer and fewer Britons want to work, want to marry, want to raise children, want to lead a life of any purpose or dignity."

In Steyn's unique style of wit and sarcasm, and having witnessed much of it personally, he speaks the truth no one else dares to:

...one-fifth of children are raised in homes in which no adult works – in which the weekday ritual of rising, dressing and leaving for gainful employment is entirely unknown. One-tenth of the adult population has done not a day's work since Tony Blair took office on May 1, 1997. (emphasis added)

The European Nanny State is collapsing in front of TV news cameras every day. There are really only two possible outcomes that I can see: either the governments collapse into bankruptcy and currency destruction, or the EU turns into a giant command economy: communism, fascism or National Socialism (Nazism). Years ago, I remember quipping "who would have thought world communism would collapse because there's no money in it?", but it's true. A command economy can never out compete a free market economy, even one like ours which had been hobbled by a century of socialist policies. If the EU becomes a command economy, it just kicks the collapse can down the road and makes it worse. Janet Daley, writing in the Telegraph last week said,

The truly fundamental question that is at the heart of the disaster toward which we are racing is being debated only in America: is it possible for a free market economy to support a democratic socialist society?

As both Steyn and Daley emphasize, and we can clearly see, the idea that a capitalist economy can support an ever-expanding socialist welfare state is collapsing in flames right in front of us. It's not the poor vs. the rich. It's bored kids who have never earned any self-esteem by accomplishing anything (precisely because of the welfare state) going "wilding" and burning and stealing because they're bored. How else do you explain the millionaire's daughter breaking down stores to add to her (presumably) already stuffed closets? Or the "stunning 22 year old model", and the others who give the lie to the story that it's poor people getting revenge.

Back to Steyn,

The London rioters are the children of dependency, the progeny of Big Government: they have been marinated in "stimulus" their entire lives.

There is literally nothing you can't get Her Majesty's Government to pay for. From page 205 of my book: "A man of 21 with learning disabilities has been granted taxpayers' money to fly to Amsterdam and have sex with a prostitute."

Hey, why not? "He's planning to do more than just have his end away," explained his social worker. "Refusing to offer him this service would be a violation of his human rights."

If taxpayers funding a man's flight to Holland to employ a prostitute (is this one of those jobs that British women just won't do?) isn't enough; Ann Coulter contributes this:

A year earlier, in 2007, another product of the new order, Fiona MacKeown, took seven of her eight children (by five different fathers) and her then-boyfriend, on a drug-fueled, six-month vacation to the Indian island of Goa. The trip was paid for -- like everything else in her life -- with government benefits.

(When was the last time you had a free, six-month vacation? I'm drawing a blank, too.)

This is one of those cases where you need a Ph.D. in economics to be stupid enough to fall for the idea that everything can be paid for by a productive class and will be forever. "From each according to his abilities to each according to his need" always, always, falls apart at that "need" part, when need turns from a meal to a flight to Amsterdam for a prostitute or to India for six months vacation. From bread to circuses. At some point, the system falls apart. The productive class sees the life that parasites lead, sees progressively less and less of their efforts, the sweat of their brow, being "allowed" to stay in their wallets, and they quit. Then the whole society collapses.

Starting now.

‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome." - Robert A. Heinlein

How-To Field Strip and Clean a Glock With Ashley

I forgot where I saw this, so can't give attribution. Sorry.
====================================================

Atlanta Appeals Court Crushes Obamacare Argument

The Market Ticker
VERBATIM POST
========================

This decision is one of the best - and most-expansive - I've seen on the matter of health care and the "individual mandate."

The Court has struck the individual mandate, but decided against enforcing non-severability - a result that I found somewhat surprising, given the congressional record. However, this ruling, assuming it is upheld, will end Obamacare anyway, since should the remainder of the law stand it will destroy the private health insurance marketplace - an outcome that is at least as good in the end analysis as just striking the entire law.

Let's look at some of the points raised:

As a preliminary matter, we recount what the record reveals regarding the cost-shifting effects of the uninsured. To the extent the data show anything, the data demonstrate that the cost-shifters are largely persons who either (1) are exempted from the mandate, (2) are excepted from the mandate penalty, or (3) are now covered by the Act’s Medicaid expansion.

Yep. Illegal aliens cost-shift like crazy - from them to you and I. But none of them are required to buy insurance. Low income persons also are exempted, as they are covered by either Medicare or exempt from the penalty. Further, those with pre-existing conditions who were denied coverage no longer can be denied, so they disappear from the impacted segment as well!

Who's left? Healthy persons who forego purchasing insurance. In other words, the government penalizes you for being of normal weight and taking care of yourself. If you do so and by doing so decide you do not need to purchase this medical insurance, you are forced to either become sick or pay a penalty!

That's just a bit backward, don't you think?

The court also rejected the mandate on the principle of federalism. This is an important finding, for it is one of the few decisions I've seen of late that recognize the inherent distinction between federal and state regulatory power. In fact, this is exactly what our founders intended - 50 "laboratories" in which one could choose to live, and should one not like the outcome in one of those laboratories of government they could move and enjoy the experience of pleasure (or pain) in a different one!

Federalism is at the core of a limited federal government with most regulatory activity taking place in the States. It has been lost over the decades, and as such it is vitally refreshing to see this argument raised "front and center" in the Obamacare litigation chain - and defended by the 11th Circuit.

As the court found:

For these reasons, we conclude that the individual mandate contained in the Act exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power. This conclusion is limited in scope. The power that Congress has wielded via the Commerce Clause for the life of this country remains undiminished. Congress may regulate commercial actors. It may forbid certain commercial activity. It may enact hundreds of new laws and federally-funded programs, as it has elected to do in this massive 975-page Act. But what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.

It cannot be denied that the individual mandate is an unprecedented exercise of congressional power. As the CBO observed, Congress “has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.” ^{CBO MANDATE MEMO, supra p.115, at 1}. Never before has Congress sought to regulate commerce by compelling non-market participants to enter into commerce so that Congress may regulate them. The statutory language of the mandate is not tied to health care consumption—past, present, or in the future. Rather, the mandate is to buy insurance now and forever. The individual mandate does not wait for market entry.

Because the Commerce Clause is an enumerated power, the Supreme Court’s decisions all emphasize the need for judicially enforceable limitations on its exercise. The individual mandate embodies no such limitations, at least none recognized by extant Commerce Clause doctrine. If an individual’s decision not to purchase an expensive product is subject to the sweeping doctrine of aggregation, then that purchase decision will almost always substantially affect interstate commerce.The government’s five factual elements of “uniqueness,” proposed as constitutional limiting principles, are nowhere to be found in Supreme Court precedent. Rather, they are ad hoc, devoid of constitutional substance, incapable of judicial administration—and, consequently, illusory. The government’s fact based criteria would lead to expansive involvement by the courts in congressional legislation, requiring us to sit in judgment over when the situation is serious enough to justify an economic mandate.

Have a nice day Obamacare....

Bears

Parks usually warn visitors not to feed wild animals. Habituated to handouts, creatures such as bears get aggressive and attack visitors who disappoint them by not providing the expected food. Then the park rangers have to shoot the "problem bears". It's the same with the people: habituating them to handouts and letting them think the handouts are tribute is a surefire way of getting riots when the bread and circuses cease or merely decrease.

Oleg Volk

Crossing the border

Iowa Straw Poll: Bachmann 28.55 % Paul 27.65 %

Via Conservative Heritage Times

Rep. Michele Bachmann wins the 2011 Iowa Straw Poll with 28.55 percent of the vote, with Rep. Ron Paul following in second place with 27.65 percent and former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty finishing third with 13.57 percent.

Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll Saturday, affirming her status as a top-tier candidate in the Republican race to challenge President Obama in 2012.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in second, followed by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in third.

The political festival is the first indication of how these Republicans are faring with the GOP base. Nine candidates were on the ballot, and voting ran six hours for the day on the campus of Iowa State University.

MORE

Eyeballing and digging WBTS bullets in the river

Via Old Virginia Blog

With malice toward none and charity for all........

Via Bernhard

“You rebels better get your hands up high while

we loot your homes, take your food and kill all

your livestock – and we’ll take the slaves our

fathers sold you years ago when we “freed”

our slaves. We’ll send teachers down here

to instruct the freedmen that those who

resist the federal government are traitors --

we’ll make good loyal voters out of them.



We’ll also take over your legislatures and

State governments since you cannot be trusted

to govern yourselves; the 14th Amendment we

force you to accept will invalidate the Bill of

Rights and make all subjects of the federal

government, and States will no longer

determine the qualifications of voting for

representatives. We’ll take care of

things from now on.



Oh, I almost forgot, we are doing this with

malice toward none and charity for all.

Have a nice day.”

========
With malice toward none and charity for all........

10 Southern Pictures 1862 - 1932

"Young Brock T. Guarding The Farm.":)
PoPs
2008
========

HERE

Divers find unique wooden ancient pagan idol at the bottom of the Drissa river in Vitebsk , Belarus

LINK

I Am Now An Ex-Marine

A re-post in response to a Dedicated_Dad comment.:)
===========================================
22 Apr 2010

A Southerner Speaks

"I have always been proud of my time spent as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. I served in the Republic of Vietnam in 1969 and, while I was certainly no "John Wayne" type, I tried to do my duty to the best of my ability and I did bring all of my platoon out of Vietnam alive.

This past summer, the son of a friend of mine was very 'gung ho' about joining the Marines and asked my opinion, which I tried to give as honestly as possible, warts and all. I don't know if my discussions had any influence on him, but he enlisted, completed all of the pre-enlistment tests and physical exams and went to all of the pre-enlistment meetings. To say the least, he was very excited about serving his country in the Corps.

Shortly before he left Nashville for boot camp, he was told he could not serve his country because he had a Confederate Battle Flag tattooed on his shoulder in an area that would be completely covered by a t-shirt, and certainly by his uniform.

When informed of this, I went to the local recruiting station that had processed this young man to see if I were getting the entire story. The recruiter, a staff sergeant, told me, "Yes, sir. The Marine Corps considers the Confederate Flag a 'hate symbol,' but if the young man in question had a state or U.S. flag tattoo, that would be acceptable."

I informed the young sergeant that my family had defended the State of Tennessee (also his home state) against a sadistic invasion under that flag and to call our sacred flag of honour a 'hate symbol was an insult to ALL southerners, but especially to those Southerners who had risked or even given their lives in service to the Marine Corps. Southerners had served at Belleau Woods, at Tarawa and Iwo Jima, at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir, and at Khe Sanh and Hue City, but now we are no longer wanted in the politically-correct don't-offend-any-minorities military? (This was just prior to the Fort Hood massacre)

He was polite, even sympathetic, but said the flag policy was a Marine Corps policy from Headquarters Marine Corps and not a local decision. After informing the sergeant that it seemed to me that our military was building a mercenary force of illegal aliens while rejecting native-born Americans in order to have a ready force to turn, without question, on American citizens, I asked the sergeant if he had taken out the trash yet.

He replied that he hadn't.

I then said, "Please add these to the day's garbage," and returned my lieutenant's bars, my gold and silver Marine Corps emblem from my dress blues, my shooting badges and my Vietnam ribbons.

I, like many of you, have always been told, "Once a Marine, always a Marine," and "There are no ex-Marines, only former Marines," but for me that is no longer true.

I was born in the South. I was raised here. I raised my family in the South and some day, God-willing, I hope to be buried in the native soil of our Southern homeland. I have always considered myself a Southerner first, and will remain so, despite any other organization that I may temporarily join.

I will never make a critical remark about a veteran, from any branch of the service, but from now on, I will do everything in my power to discourage any Southern young man, or lady, from becoming a future veteran. I am now an ex-Marine."

Gene Andrews
___________________
Gene Andrews ex-Marine, 1st Lieutenant 3rd Marine division Vietnam 0106580
========
(Update, Southronman, Southern War Room. Very interesting. BT)

"I took my grandson a few years ago to an SCV meeting and I introduced him to Mr. Andrews. He was 18 at the time and was thinking about joining the Marine Corps.If my memory serves me correct, Gene told him to think seriously about it first and then if he wanted to join, then join. He also made the comment that he thought our troops need to be at home protecting our borders and citizens rather than fighting wars in some far off foreign country."
========
(Update, Pawmetto, SWR. BT)
"Gene is a fellow delegate with me to the SNC. His story is our latest article on the We Hold These Truths series of freedom and how we must preserve it."
========
I Am Now An Ex-Marine

UK riots: Amazon withdraws truncheons after bumper sales

Via Godfather Politics

Unbelievable.
=====================

Amazon has removed several police-style telescopic truncheons from sale on its site as soaring sales of truncheons, baseball bats and other items that could be used as weapons sparked fears of vigilantism in the wake of widespread rioting.

Sales of one type of aluminium truncheon rose 50,000% within 24 hours, entering the top-10 bestselling items in the sports category. Before they were de-listed, two different "police-style" truncheons had seen sales increase more than 400-fold overnight, though from a low base.

Amazon.co.uk also stocks, either directly or through third parties, self-defence sprays and Kubotans, short lengths of plastic or steel used as a concealed weapon. Carrying such items on the street can be against the law – entertainer Darren Day was convicted in Edinburgh in 2010 for possession of a Kubotan – but their sale is not an offence.

Michael Gomulka, a barrister at 25 Bedford Road chambers, said English and Welsh law split offensive weaponry into different categories. Items that were unambiguously weapons, or those adapted as weapons, are illegal to sell as well as to carry. However, dual-use items – which can include antique samurai swords, which have a decorative function – can be sold legally.

Telescopic truncheons are only illegal for sale, Gomulka said, if they are spring-loaded. The two seen for sale on Amazon were manually extendable. Kubotans are only illegal to sell if they are spiked, but can be illegal to carry even if they are not spiked.

Amazon users were divided about the site's continued sale of metal baseball bats and similar items in the wake of the riots.

"[Let's] call upon amazon.co.uk to ban this item temporarily as it is obviously currently abused as a cheap, quick weapon to be used in the London riots. Ban it now!" said Patrick Hoelscher, who started a discussion thread to this effect.

Other users agreed, but some supported the sales to encourage self-defence:

"Have you considered they may be being bought by respectable business & home owners for self-defence only. In that case I fully commend the purchasers," Dave Woodhead commented, while others warned against the risks of vigilantism.

MORE

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 08-12-11

VERBATIM POST
Injustice Everywhere
========================

• Pima County AZ sheriff’s dept & members of a regional swat team are being sued by the family of an ex-marine who was shot to death during a questionable raid that turned up nothing. [0] http://t.co/WO0RVUQ

• Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission agent was sentenced to 20 years prison for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl who was helping with a sting operation targeting alcohol sales to minors. The sentence is to be served concurrently to a 10yr sentence for soliciting a minor. [0] ow.ly/1vGltC

• BART CA police have admitted to blocking cellular phone signals in an attempt to prevent rumored police brutality protests. Police cite public safety concerns as justification for the action which appears to violate constitutional free speech protections and put the public at risk for those who may have needed to call 911 during the outages. [0] ow.ly/1vFV9v

• Whitman MA police have charged a man with felony wiretapping for recording a cop during a traffic stop over tinted license plates after he went to complain about how he was treated and told police he recorded it. The officer wasn’t investigated. [5] ow.ly/1vFUdt

• A study claims that Oakland CA cops pulled gun without justification on people who were not posing a threat at at the time in at least 28% of the cases were firearms were pulled. [0] ow.ly/1vFSbA

• 5 Kansas City KS cops are suing their own dept claiming the chief and other commanders illegally detained them at gunpoint after a sting operation that targeted swat teams suspected of stealing during raids. They were not among the officers who were eventually charged afterward. [0] ow.ly/1vGoN6

• Brookline NH police are accused of failing to investigate a domestic violence incident involving the police chief’s son [1] ow.ly/1vGm0n

• Hamlin TX police officer jailed on unspecified charge, rumored to be harassment, after fired for tasering friend on video. [1] ow.ly/1vGg0z

• Redmond OR police lieutenant pleads guilty to charges for stealing guns & ammo from his department and selling them for personal gain [0] http://ow.ly/1vFbpP

• Sonshohocken PA police sgt gets probation in guilty plea to stealing money from parking meter collections [0] ow.ly/1vF0Mv

• Goshen County WY sheriff’s dept says they’ve been receiving complaints by officers from other agencies because their deputies arrested and cited two Aurora CO cops for drunk driving & littering while they were driving a cop car on the way to a police funeral in South Dakota. This is not a case against Goshen County, but I do wish we could find out what agencies the officers who are complaining are from and add those to the database. [0] ow.ly/1vFS2n

August 27 Quartzsite Rally Update & THE MESSAGE OF FREEDOM

THE MESSAGE OF FREEDOM

Sons as I write you this letter of days past and days yet to come
And the message of freedom, the message of freedom
I stand at the edge of the pages of history & lessons unlearned,
It feels like these pages are remaining unturned
But boys it’s no mystery
Children I’m sorry to leave you this world in a state of disaster
It was given to me in a similar state, and I woke up so late in the game
Now it’s spiraling faster

Freedom’s the answer, what is the question?
Resist the advances of force and aggression
& leave to your children the promise of something more
& as God is my witness I’ll be a slave no more

Boys listen close for our souls may depend on the actions we take
& the causes we choose to defend, so treat every man as a friend
& Live your own lives in their divine processions
& transform your world with your selfless expressions
& reach out your hands, in time you’ll understand
Children one day I’ll be gone and you’ll have to remember
These words and be strong as you cling to each other,
Your family, your faith, and your father’s song
You’ve known this all along

Freedom’s the answer, what is the question?
Resist the advances of force and aggression
& leave to your children the promise of something more
& as God is my witness I’ll be a slave no more

The message of freedom endured every tyrant and second rate despot
The world’s ever known and for one simple reason
The people have kept it alive
& with no end in sight to the level of violence
That men in high places will sink for to silence
The will of the people, in you it must survive

Freedom’s the answer, what is the question?
Resist the advances of force and aggression
& leave to your children the promise of something more
& as God is my witness I’ll be a slave no more
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet to be purchased with chains from our necks to our feet?
Forbid this Lord, I know not what is left
Give me liberty or give me death

===================================

August 27 Quartzsite Rally Update!

Oathkeepers, this rally in Quartzsite, AZ on August 27 is now more than just a march in support of ten oath keeping officers and a stand-up Marine veteran Mayor.

This is going to be a liberty celebration BASH. (See detailes itinerary below).

After the march in honor of the Quartzsite ten, we will have a big barbeque and then live music on into the night by some excellent local bands and also a live concert by freedom fighter musician JORDAN PAGE.

Jordan is a nationally known superstar in the freedom movement, and a big supporter of Oath Keepers (he often wears an Oath Keepers Tee shirt when he performs). He’s the Thomas Paine of music. He loves Oath Keepers and is honored to join us for this historic event.

We do need to help cover his costs, so we have created a chip in where folks can donate to help get Jordan Page to our event in Quartzsite, Arizona on August 27. Please donate and spread it around to others.

MORE

White Nationalists As The New Queers

Via Matthew

Peter Brimelow writes: We are cross-posting with American Renaissance this mordant reflection on Frank Borzellieri’s recent disgraceful firing as principal of a Bronx Catholic elementary school after he was attacked for his political views by New York Daily News reporter Corinne Lestch (email her). AmRen’s Jared Taylor posted a definitive account of this atrocity here. We published an excerpt from Borzellieri’s memoir Lynched: A Conservative's Life on a New York City School Board in 2009.

It is important to note that nothing Lestch alleged against Borzellieri’s political activities was new or even recent. Nor, even more to the point, were Frank Borzellieri’s views unknown to his superiors, who had twice confirmed that they did not conflict with Catholic doctrine. Indeed, Borzellieri was a colorful public figure in New York, where he was three times overwhelmingly elected to the school board until it was abolished as part of government schooling’s protracted death throes.

Obviously the Archdiocese of New York simply panicked when confronted with a left-wing flash mob.

One day, this sort of thing must stop.

MORE

Quinnipiac Poll: New York Turns Negative on Obama

The evidence continues to mount that President Barack Obama’s re-election bid is in trouble. The latest news: a Quinnipiac University poll showing that 49 percent of New York State voters disapprove of his job performance, compared to 45 percent who approve.

That’s the first time Obama has registered a negative differential between his approval and disapproval ratings in the heavily Democratic state. And the result represents a sharp drop from late June, when the president had a 57 percent approval rating and a 38 percent disapproval rating in the state.
Among Republicans disapproval totals 86 percent, compared to 10 percent approval, and among independents disapproval totals 58 percent, compared to 36 percent approval. Among Democrats, approval outstrips disapproval by 75 to 19 percent, but even that represents a sharp decrease from the 82 to 12 percent margin in June.

MORE
=================

Most Americans these days would agree with Thomas Paine’s famous declaration in 1776:

“These are the times that try men’s souls.”

We lack confidence in the economy, government, elections, the president, Congress, both political parties, even our military missions abroad, with little hope in sight.

MORE

Family files $20M lawsuit after fatal SWAT raid

Via MENTAL PINPRICKS

Good to go! Of course, tax payers have to pick up the tab.
===================================================

The family of a former-marine killed during a SWAT raid at his home, filed a $20 million dollar lawsuit against several agencies this week.

Vanessa Guerena, the wife of former Marine Jose Guerena, filed the lawsuit against the Pima County Sheriff's office, Pima County, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the Town of Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita, and several members of the Regional SWAT team.

Chris Scileppi says he is filing the lawsuit to send a strong message to law enforcement officers everywhere. Was a SWAT team warranted to issue this search warrant?

"We are not living in a police state here. There is still a bill of rights. There is still a constitution. Under certain circumstances of course it's warranted to send a SWAT team in, but not this," said Scileppi.

He said the eight seconds officers gave Guerena was not enough time for anyone who was asleep, to respond. Scileppi also said, Guerena was armed with a rifle because he believed someone was trying to break into his home, and was not aware it was police officers outside.

In statements, SWAT team members said they were told they would be entering the home of an "armed and dangerous" man.

Scileppi says officers fired 71 rounds into the home, 22 of which hit Jose Guerena.

All of this happened while his wife and child were in another room.

New video released by the sheriff's department on Friday shows Vanessa Guerena being dragged out of her home. It shows Vanessa Guerena and her 4-year old child crying outside, while SWAT team officials raided their home.

MORE