The Thick Black Line

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech debacle, much has been said and written about the police response. Or lack thereof. Vox Day had a rather thought-provoking little blurb about the phenomenon over on his blog a while back.

Without detracting from Vox's blog entry on the subject, one cannot help but wonder which the SWAT teams are more afraid of -- the nutcase with a weapon, or the idiot bureaucrats and their penchant for playing Monday morning quarterback? When every move by the police is removed from context and placed under a microscope and examined ad nauseam, it should surprise no one that they second-guess themselves into paralysis.

There was a case some years ago of some kook who was standing on a street corner, brandishing a Japanese sword. Naturally, the police were called. (Imagine that!) The usual nonsense ensued until ELEVEN HOURS LATER, he was brought down by a bean bag round from a shotgun. Eleven hours. Had any of us normal people been there, that stand-off would surely not have lasted eleven minutes. At any rate, no longer than it would take to load the aforementioned shotgun with a bean bag round while issuing ONE verbal warning.

Perhaps the great tragedy is that Americans have allowed themselves to be cowed into submission to the point where they're terrified of doing the obviously right thing.

Dead Cat Bounce

Two recent rulings -- one by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and one by the Supreme Court -- are being used to invigorate those who believe in individual rights and the rule of law.

In the first ruling, the Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment does indeed apply to individuals. (Imagine our shock at discovering that the Constitution actually means what it says.) In the second, the Supremes upheld the constitutionality of the ban on partial-birth abortion.

Don't fall for it.

Our long downward slide into Hell has only hit a speed bump. As nice as they were, these two rulings are only a slight up-tick.

Even a dead cat will bounce.

Happy Birthday, Vlad....

...from all the "useful idiots" who brought us "Earth Day" (thinking that we wouldn't notice the "coincidence").

The Massacre in Virginia

Undoubtedly, you've read more than enough concerning the recent goings-on at Virginia Tech, but we couldn't let the situation go without some commentary.

By now, of course, the usual assortment of left-wing lunatics, moonbats, and usefule idiots have prostituted themselves in front of the all-too-willing microphones and TV cameras of the collectivist media. But the most inane -- not to mention insane -- question of the day was what Pres. Bush was going to do about the situation. Naturally, such a question could only be raised by some cretin whose understanding of the Constitution is easily exceeded by the average third-grader's.

One wonders just how many existing gun laws were violated by the miscreant who mercifully saved the taxpayers a bundle of dough by ending his own miserable life, but that won't stop the hoplophobes from calling for yet more legislation to further restrict your rights. (Wasn't it the Lunatic Left during the '92 election that said insanity consisted of "doing the same thing over and over, each time expecting a different result"? And yet, here they are again, about to do the same thing that never worked before.) That restrictive gun laws have never prevented crime is beyond question. But, as the old tagline goes, "you can lead people to facts, but you can't make 'em think".

The other pathetic aspect of this whole tragedy is the way the professional grief-promoters have so quickly come out of the woodwork. Has this nation sunk so low that no one can cope with anything anymore without "professional" help?

God help Amerika.

Boys Will NOT Be Boys

the radical feminist movement is a political movement to emasculate men and to brainwash women.

We've not heard of Nancy Levant before, but she writes quite an article. The above was actually a quote from Mr. Carey Roberts, to whom she refers in an article over at Sierra Times. (We'll have to remember to provide a link to them soonest.)

There was a time when boys could be boys -- taking risks, challenging each other, and learning skills (like standing up for themselves) that would serve them well as men. But then along came the social engineers of the lunatic left who recognized that manly skills were a threat to their goal of world domination. And thus began the cultural genocide of the American male.

With too few real men left in America, perhaps this is how the universe ends -- not with a bang, but a whimper.

The Castle Doctrine

Maybe a return to the so-called Wild West wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. It used to be that "a man's home is his castle". Unfortunately, the collectivists have the idea that a man's home isn't even his home anymore, let alone his castle.

Let's face it: there are two kinds of people in this world -- those who believe in the individual, and those who believe in the collective. This country was founded on the ideas and ideals of individual freedom and personal responsibility. That's why the Constitution doesn't "grant" rights to the citizens but guarantees the rights that citizens already have. But it does put limits on the government, which is something the collectivists really hate.

That's really what it all boils down to. Not how effective any particular means of protectin might be, but whose responsibility it is. As we've said repeatedly over the years, gun control was never about guns -- it's always been about control.

As Well He Might

It seems that that opportunistic little twerp in North Carolina has "apologized" for destroying the lives of those three Duke lacrosse players, now that the State Attorney General has stepped in and ruined his game.

Unfortunately, it's not near enough. Not only does he need to be disbarred and do some jail time, but the exotic dancer stripper who brought the original allegations needs to be dealt with. This sort of travesty will not end until false accusers wind up doing jail time.

And those like Nifong who are guilty of prosecutorial misconduct need to spend some time at the Grey Bar Hotel as well.

Screwed Again

OK, so we popped on down to the grocery store to pick up some of our favorite carbonated beverage, only to find that the 24oz bottles are no longer 24oz bottles -- they're now 16.9oz bottles. Naturally, the first question that presented itself was where in the world they came up with such a ridiculous amount. What? They couldn't add another tenth of an ounce and make it an even 17? Who are the cretins who come up with this sort of nonsense?

The second idea that popped up was reminiscent of the '70s when candy manufacturers started packaging smaller candy bars in the same old packages. (Like none of us would notice!) The bottling companies are probably counting on the possibility that no one would notice that we're paying the 24oz price for 16.9 ounces. Fat chance.

One lesson to keep uppermost in one's mind is that any businessperson who tries to tell you that "______ is our number one priority" where "______" is anything other than "making a profit", that person is either a liar or a complete imbecile.

Imus In Mourning

Oh, dear... It looks like radio talk show host Don Imus might be headed for political re-education sensitivity training. Here we thought he had lost his edge, and he goes and makes an insensitive remark.

Naturally, the usual gang of race pimps -- led by Al Sharpton -- are coming out of the woodwork to lead the lynch mob.

Never mind the question of what exactly was "racist" about Imus' remark. Or the fact that Blacks say much worse things about each other -- and non-Blacks -- all the time. Offense has been taken and they're going to milk it for all it's worth. And then some.

Makes you wonder what would happen if Imus said something really bad.

A National Disgrace

Perhaps the most distressing recent news concerns the atrocious conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the military operation in Iraq, those soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are fulfilling the terms of their contract and deserve much better than what they're getting.

Unfortunately, the bean counters at Fort Fumble are more interested in numbers than they are in people. Major Ziegenfuss has an excellent re-cap, as well as a pretty fair solution. We're still lookng for a decent link to the original Walter Reed story. Check back later.

What's really disgusting here is that illegal aliens can sneak across our borders and hospitals are required to provide them medical care without any hope of reimbursement. On the other hand, our military people come home with all sorts of health problems and the same government doesn't give a damn about them.

The Supremes Get One Right

In all our recent reading, some links get lost. But surely this has been a big story. It seems someone finally got the Supreme Court to rule on the issue of the applicability of the 2nd Amendment. To the suprise of some and the dismay of others, the Supremes finally ruled that the 2nd Amendment actually applies to individuals and not the government.

Lest anyone get carried away celebrating, these masters of the obvious actually acknowledged what many of us have known for years. Anyone who has actually read the Constitution would understand this matter intuitively. Those of us who have bothered to study the Constitution have seen that the word "right" or "rights" occurs no less than 14 times. In every case except one, it refers to the rights of individual people. (Anyone care to guess what the lone exception is?) How, then, could anyone with more than three functioning brain cells come to the conclusion that the 2nd Amendment applies to "militias" and not individuals?

In other news, the Supremes also noted that fire is hot, the sun rises in the East, and electrical appliances should be kept away from the bathtub.

What Global Warming?

Snow.

Albuquerque.

April.

Think about it.


Yeah, global warming is a real problem. Just ask Astro. Go ahead, he's home today. Couldn't get to church today because of that snow up there in Cold-air-ado.

And.... we're back

We now know how Mark Twain felt at reading the news of his death in American newspapers while he was on holiday in Europe. Since when is taking a sabbatical equivalent to dying?

Not to worry, The Old Sarge will be doing penance for his part in this. Perhaps something along the lines of sweeping the driveway with a toothbrush.

At any rate, being back is a mixed bag. Catching up on all that's happened in the last few months is going to be a challenge. But it should prove to be enjoyable, the ravages of age notwithstanding.

The new Blogger does not seem to hold much by way of advantages over the old Blogger, but the learning curve is going to be bothersome. No doubt there are new features we probably won't bother with, which is par for the course with any "new" or "improved" technology.

We note with some concern that the dominant news media are still obsessed with elected the junior senator from New York as the first female President. Those of you who doubt that she'll achieve that are in for a rude awakening. You would do well not to underestimate her, as it could prove to be dangerous. Nothing would make us happier than to see her lose big-time next November.

As a side note, today (being Easter) seems a rather auspicious time to announce our return. No worries; God has a sense of humor.
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