Another Mancus Jewel
"They'll [Christians] start a moral debate, and just as you begin to win it, they'll start to sputter, and then get creepily calm. Then they'll give you a patronizing smile and say "Well, you can't understand how I'm right because you don't believe in anything higher than yourself." They'll bring it in as their final trump card into any issue, and you can't argue with it because they'll put their fingers in their ears and hum. If you bring up contradictions, then they'll say: "Well that's not my faith!" and you try to get them to explain their faith and they start to, but when you point out a single contradiction, they'll pretend they never said it. Or, they'll pretend they have "Powers" that you cannot possibly understand. And that you are not morally worthy of learning them, as you are a *snort* atheist." -- Diane Duncan
# Peter J. Mancus at Cloud 9 Photography - The Most Important Link: Liberty, Courage, and Firearms - good examples of why America must always remain a nation of riflemen. And why any man who attempts to take your guns away, for any reason, no matter how big a majority supports him, is a criminal with no right to be alive. Very long. I only read the beginning. So far. [price]
Example No. 3: Lessons From Imperial Japanese Army Generals and Navy Admirals
A friend who enjoys credibility with me told me that around 1947 he heard something by an American journalist who interviewed surviving Japanese Imperial Army generals and Japanese Imperial Navy admirals. What he told me he remembered went something like this, paraphrased.
"Since you were so successful at Pearl Harbor on December 7th why did you not invade the United States' west coast?," the journalist asked these senior Japanese military leaders.
Their reply was, "We did not know for certain how successful we were on December 7th. The west coast of the United States is far from Japan. We would have had horrible logistical nightmares. We could not have transported that many soldiers to your mainland. We could not supply them well enough for them to penetrate deeply into your heartland. We were convinced that they would not survive for long in your country."
"So, you were afraid of the U.S. military?," the journalist asked.
"No.," the Japanese said. "We had contempt for your military."
"So, what were you afraid of? Why did you believe the soldiers you put ashore would be wiped out if you were not afraid of the U.S. military?," the journalist asked.
"We were afraid of the American deer hunters.," was the reply.
Think about that answer--from hardened, experienced, senior Japanese military leaders.
"American deer hunters" can instantaneously switch purpose and function as an unorganized or organized militia, the U.S. Constitution's built-in, Constitutionally sanctioned, original, homeland security force.
...
Your Enemy
Anyone who tells you you need to surrender your rights for dependence on government to protect you from harm is your enemy. I repeat: your enemy.
The Plea of Tyrants
Alleged necessity has always been the historical plea of tyrants and their useful idiots. When you hear anyone advocate that it is necessary to surrender any right codified in the Bill of Rights to promote the general welfare, that person is your enemy. Regardless of that person's intentions or good faith, that person is your enemy. A well intentioned person can still be, and often is, your enemy. A tyrant wannabee and their useful idiots, by definition, are your enemy.
It is never necessary for an ordinary citizen to surrender Liberty. Never.
# David Carr at Samizdata - It is the answer to everything - poking a little well-deserved fun at British Home Secretary Blunkett's latest National ID propaganda. Hehe. If you follow the link to the referenced BBC article, you'll see that Mr. Blunkett was saying he'd prevent terrorism with the new ID card, but Mr. Carr talks about preventing global warming. Really the same thing, another government-created false emergency. [samizdata]
# Vin Suprynowicz at The Las Vegas Review-Journal - If it's a threat .. shoot the cat - nicely expresses exactly what I would do if I found a mountain lion in my yard. A load or two of double-zero buck, shovel, and shut up. I've never seen one around here, but some friends of ours who live under ten miles away have, so it might happen.
Now, I have nothing against these majestic creatures. I'm glad we live in a part of the world where we can still see such animals, and I'm not recommending that anyone go out to stalk and kill them -- certainly not without a proper tag.
But here's what you should do if a mountain lion is on your property, and you are legitimately concerned that it might attack, kill or injure you, your children, your pets or your livestock: Shoot it.
# David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker at The New York Times via The Toronto Star - U.S. set to storm Falluja - Unless the Iraqi patriots disarm, which is bloody unlikely, the Busheviks are going to bomb them to hell. [whatreallyhappened]
After declaring Friday evening in Florida that "America will never be run out of Iraq by a bunch of thugs and killers," Bush flew to Camp David, Md., for the weekend, where administration officials said he planned consultations in a video conference with the military commanders who are keeping the city under siege.
But in interviews, administration and senior military officials portrayed Bush's choices as dismal.
"It's clear you can't leave a few thousand insurgents there to terrorize the city and shoot at us," one senior official involved in the discussions said yesterday.
"The question now is whether there is a way to go in with the most minimal casualties possible."
No decision to begin military action has been made.
# Rahul Mahajan's Empire Notes - Things are looking very bad for Fallujah - Commentary on the coming massive attack. I linked to it for this great quote: [whatreallyhappened]
It should be clear to anyone with basic knowledge of the situation and with no ideological axe to grind who the few thousand people terrorizing the city are. They're the ones that have assaulted it with tanks, AC-130 gunships, F-16's, and snipers, not the ones who have been defending it from assault.
# Richard Tyler at World Socialist Web Site - Blunkett to legislate for "thought crimes" and guilt by association - somebody needs to convince Mr. Blunkett of the error of his ways. With extreme prejudice. [whatreallyhappened]
