The blog of The Michael Dukes Show

I know I haven't been posting.....

2010-03-06T21:13:00.001-08:00

My life is very busy, and it seems the best and fastest way for me to share with you what I'm reading, watching or thinking is for you to follow me on Facebook.

You can either search for "The Michael Dukes Show" on FB or if you don't do social networks, you can simply bookmark this page and follow my updates on the Box below.

The Michael Dukes Show on Facebook

Finding your own Freedom...

2009-07-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

My last post left me interested in looking at back issues of Backwoods Home magazine. I was browsing through and found another great article by Claire Wolfe.

It addresses what I think is a common feeling among many libertarians, and also the problems with how we, as individuals, are dealing with them.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/wolfe93.html

Finding your own freedom

By Claire Wolfe

The letter to Backwoods Home pleaded:

I have long aspired to a simpler life in a quiet area where I may live as my forefathers did and support and sustain myself. I would like to buy a small farm where I could raise poultry and produce and network with like minded people for companionship and barter. The biggest question for me is the one I’ve never been able to glean an answer for from your publication: Where?
Where can a person go to escape the tyranny of overbearing government and brutal law enforcement? Where can a person experience the elusive liberty of days gone by? Where the hell is Hardyville anyway?
Where would someone begin researching “livability” of specific areas? I must get out of this vile, filthy, vermin ridden prison of a city within about 36 months. The farm is the ball and I have had my eye on it but the clock is ticking and I don’t want to do this twice.
Signed, Miserable in Metropolis

This letter poses so many dilemmas that Dave and Company could devote multiple articles—maybe even entire issues—to finding answers.

Only one problem: After all those future issues of BHM had thundered off the presses, we’d still be waiting for a universally satisfactory solution to Miserable’s puzzles.

As I interpret his letter, Miserable actually asks three very heavy questions. The answer to one is simple—but unsatisfying. The others we can ultimately only answer for ourselves.

The questions I hear are:

Dave Duffy began his simpler, more free life eight miles down a dirt road in Oregon’s Siskiyou Mountains. (Issue #1) From there, he founded Backwoods Home Magazine. A freedom seeker with different needs might have said, “No thanks!” to the snow, the isolation, or Oregon’s infamously strict environmental laws. But it worked for Dave and family.

1. How can I live as my forefathers did?

2. Where can I find the most livable geographic location?

3. Where can I live in freedom?

We can toss out question one right now. We can’t live as our forefathers did. Even the Amish use cellphones and have to put up with the Internal Revenue Service. Even ardent backwoodsmen enjoy the benefits of power tools and suffer the nuisances of the welfare state.

We can recapture some of what we believe was pleasant about “the olden days.” But the olden days were never as glorious as we imagine and we can’t get them back.

The days of our forefathers imposed unimaginable work and hardship on most individuals. Those fondly imagined olden days had some very serious troubles: slavery and indentured servitude; the threat of terrible hunger after a bad harvest; war on the homefront; savage bosses, satanic factories, and seven-day work weeks; hellish penal colonies; malaria in the nation’s capital; unwanted immigrants; poor sanitation and high infant mortality; women and children treated as chattel.

Gentlemen like Thomas Jefferson had leisure to ponder the great questions of life. The majority simply worked their tails off, hoped they’d have food on their tables, and died young.

For good or ill, our forefathers and their ways are dead. Try to resurrect the dead past and you know what you end up with? The cultural equivalent of a zombie flick.

Next question.

Where can I find the most livable geographic location?

This is a far more meaningful question and is in some ways right up BHM’s alley. It’s also a more challenging question.

I don’t mean to sound glib, but you’ll find the best answer to that question where you find it, not where anyone else may suggest you look.

As a perfect example of what I mean, take the Free State Project.

Please.

Seriously, the Free State Project (FSP) is the first place to turn if you’re seeking a preassembled wealth of information about livable locations within the U.S. It’s also the first place to turn for a vivid demonstration of why one person’s heaven is another person’s hellhole.

The FSP was born in 2001 in the mind of then-grad student Jason Sorens. His notion was that if 20,000 freedom activists moved to a single low-population state, those activists could change the state’s culture and political climate.

Even if you have no interest in politics and no desire to relocate for political purposes, there’s great information to be gleaned from the Free State Project’s website. If you have no Internet access at home or work, book a computer at you local library. (See sidebar for more information on this and other relocation resources.)

Thermopolis, Wyoming, appeals to anyone who likes high, dry places, bubbling hot springs, and a blessedly laissez-faire attitude. (Issue number 85.) Wyoming is truly one of the nation’s prime havens against high taxes and government brutality. Finding work can be tough, though. And when the cold wind howls, many newcomers want to run for “home.”

Members of the FSP spent two years compiling their wealth of info. Then in the fall of 2003, they voted to select the one future State of the Free.

Prior to the vote, passionate advocates for each candidate state offered facts, figures, contacts, and the voice of experience to back their favorites.

They also argued endlessly and often acrimoniously.

The state eventually chosen was New Hampshire.

And today members and former members of the FSP are still arguing acrimoniously.

Let me give you an example of why the FSP couldn’t determine the best “livable” spot for everybody, and why nobody else can do that, either.

It became obvious well before the vote that FSP partisanship was split between one eastern state (New Hampshire) and three western states (Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho).

The arguments on each side were varied. The following won’t even try to do them justice. But ultimately the arguments could be summed up as a giant clash of values:

New Hampshire partisans: New Hampshire is near Boston where we can get jobs! There are too few jobs in the west!

Western partisans: Boston, with all its congestion, regulation, and taxation is a perfect example of what we want to get away from! Give us wide-open spaces and room to expand!

There was more, of course. Western partisans pointed to land as little as $500 per acre. Eastern partisans said $5,000 per acre and up was no big deal if the land was more fertile and had easier water sources.

Western partisans cried, “New Hampshire has lousy weather!” Eastern partisans rolled their eyes and groused, “Look at the pot calling the kettle black!”

So the arguments go to this very day.

No one can define “livability” for another person. But the facts others have discovered and the subjective reasons others have given for their choices can help you clarify—and move toward—your own goals.

For starters, I’ll offer my own 10-Point Livability List by which I’d judge any small town or rural area. Your mileage will vary. My own mileage might vary, if I were to compose this list on another day. But here’s what immediately rises to the top of my mind:

1. Low land cost

2. Low cost of living

3. Wide-open spaces with lots of room to roam

4. Beautiful surroundings

5. No huge metropolitan area that dominates the entire state’s politics

6. A welcoming attitude toward polite strangers

7. Reasonable access to water for irrigation, animals, and drinking

8. A positive, laissez faire attitude toward guns and gun owners

9. Respect for privacy; lack of busybodies

10. The absolutely indefinable something that simply says, “You’ve found your home!”

It’s perfectly possible that your list might not have a single element in common with mine.

It’s perfectly possible that something as indefinable as a sense of “Home” could overrule every pragmatic consideration on your agenda.

That’s life. It’s an adventure.

Hearty adventurers like the Stram family find quiet, freedom, and opportunity in Thorne Bay, Alaska. (Issue number 84.) You might find your dreams in Alaska, too. But it’s a sure bet that some BHM reader looks at a photo like this and says, “Give me sunshine!” or “Give me a shopping mall within driving distance!” Our concepts of livability are as varied as we are.

Of course, it’s not always a pleasant adventure—which brings us to the next, and even more difficult, question.

Where can I live in freedom?

I realize that “Miserable’s” three questions are ultimately bound up into one. Being free and living like his forefathers mean much the same thing to him. Therefore a livable location must also be one where freedom reigns.

Understandable.

Unfortunately, political freedom doesn’t reign anywhere on earth. You can go to wide-open Wyoming and end up running afoul of bureaucrats. Randy and Vicki Weaver had one of the world’s most horrible jackboot encounters high on a ridge in rural Idaho, in what they imagined to be splendid, self-sufficient isolation.

Given that all of us face limitations on our freedom, we have to choose the kind of freedoms that most matter to us (just as we must choose the elements that constitute “livability”) and seek to maximize those freedoms in our lives.

Once again, one person’s heaven may be another’s hell.

Acquaintances of mine recently moved to a Central American country, praising it for being more free than the U.S. However, their report included a casual account of being stopped at a checkpoint in the middle of that nation and forced to show their “papers, please!”

To them it was no big deal. Me, I crossed that country straight off my list.

Other acquaintances have “gone ex-pat” on Caribbean islands, in Mexico, in other Central American countries, in Asia, and in Canada. They call out to their stateside friends, “Move here! Be free!”

I ask, “Can I bring my guns?”

And they respond, “Well, no.”

Or they respond, “It’s easy. All you have to do is a apply for a permit and fill out form XYZ ...”

Or they respond, “Just smuggle ‘em in and bribe the customs officials. That’s the way it’s done around here!”

And I say, “No way. I ain’t goin’ from a place where I can own firearms in complete privacy to a place where gun owners are either permission-seekers or criminals.”

Those offshore friends think I’m less free than they. And I think they’re fooling themselves. And on it goes.

Although pure political freedom doesn’t exist anywhere on the planet, there is one place where we can seek and find our personal maximum degree of freedom—in our own attitudes and actions.

And I hate to tell you, “Miserable in Metropolis,” but I don’t think you’re going to find freedom.

“Miserable,” this stab of the reality needle isn’t just meant for you. Your plea is one I’ve heard before—a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. I expect that Dave has also received hundreds of letters like yours.

Most freedom lovers understand and share the anguish of your cry for liberty, a peaceful life, and simple values.

If I’m going to jab you now, it’s a jab I’ve even had to administer to myself at times.

Go back to the top and look at “Miserable’s” letter. When I do that, several huge “reality gaps” gape before my eyes.

“Miserable” wants desperately to be out of the city in 36 months and hasn’t even begun researching yet.

Instead of going to the library or the Internet, he passively awaits answers from an outside party.

He believes freedom should be obtainable simply by going somewhere other than where his is now.

Even after reading BHM, he still has one very starry-eyed vision about country life. A few chickens, a little barter, guaranteed neighborly neighbors and—bingo!—you’re a Jeffersonian yeoman farmer, living the self-sufficient life according to the values of yore.

The major reason we’ve lost freedom is that millions of people sit idly by, trusting others to provide or protect their freedom. Almost nobody admits to being against freedom. They just don’t care enough to do anything about keeping it.

Then it’s lost and even sincere, hard-working freedom lovers don’t know where to turn.

But how hard has Miserable in Metropolis been working toward any of his desperately professed goals?

There’s no clue in his letter. The desperation and passivity say he’s probably envisioning himself to be in a deep hole. Instead of trying to climb out, he’s sitting in the pit crying for someone else to lift him.

But freedom doesn’t arrive like an ambulance or a firetruck to save us. It doesn’t get delivered to our doors in pink ribbons. Nor can we find it simply by renting a moving van.

Same with self-sufficiency. It amazes me how many people claim a desire for self-sufficiency—when they don’t seek to be sufficient within themselves.

Backwoods Home gives volumes of information on everything from honeybees to firearms. It can certainly offer both encouragement and tools to sad city dwellers wanting out. It can help country people be more happy and successful.

But—DUH!—self-sufficiency is a do-it-yourself project!

It’s a lifelong do-it-yourself project. Ceaseless work from now until your personal doomsday.

And so is freedom.

Dorothy Ainsworth built her economic freedom, literally, with the incredible determination it took to design and build her vertical-log home—then built it all over again when it burned down. (Issue numbers 27, 38, 50, and 86.) Claire Wolfe admires Dorothy Ainsworth from afar—while finding her own freedom in a tiny cabin on which she did only the "lite" finishing work. Each woman made the decision that was right for her at her point in life; neither would say that her solution was the only one for everybody.

If you don’t think and act like a free person, then you’ll be unfree wherever you go.

If you do think and act like a free person, you’ll always find a degree of personal empowerment even if your home is a prison cell.

Being free means not only taking responsibility for our own choices. It means taking initiative so that we have choices.

It means we figure out what we want in life, then begin actively heading in that direction.

It means when we run into an obstacle we figure a way around it or we change our course. But we don’t just shrug and wait for a bailout.

Sure, ask for a helping hand along the way. But don’t expect others’ hands, or weary backs, to haul you the whole distance.

One familiar obstacle every freedom lover has smacked into at one time or another is that the life we desire is so far from the life we have. Worse, what we want is far from any life that even seems possible to attain. Our ideals glow on the horizon—but the horizon always remains distant.

Miserable’s dilemma seems to be a classic case of the perfect being the enemy of the good.

If you’ll settle for nothing less than total gloriousness, delivered to you wrapped in the aforementioned pink ribbons, you’re already lost. Enjoy those city vermin. Because either you’ll never get out of the slums or you’ll dash out to the country unprepared and end up running back to the comforts of shopping malls and cable TV within six months, disillusioned and probably broke.

If you must have total freedom or nothing...you’ll end up with nothing.

Here’s a plan for achieving our own best possible degree of both freedom and country livability. It’s not a plan for achieving perfection, but it is a plan that can help us pull ourselves out of a pit of despair and into a better, freer life.

Read Harry Browne’s book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. Although written approximately 30 years ago, there is still no better resource to help you begin your journey. Browne helps us recognize the many false assumptions that keep us from moving toward a better life. Get it. Study it. Make its attitude your own.

Know what you want.

Set realistic priorities and deadlines for moving toward your dream, recognizing your limited amount of time, money, skills, and the restrictions of the outside world.

Research. Consider the costs, the benefits, and drawbacks of every backwoods or small town location that interests you.

Adjust your goal if necessary.

Visit the places that interest you and talk with people there. Spend as much time as you can in your chosen locations.

And again, adjust your goal if need be as new data and new impressions come in.

Don’t reject a location because it doesn’t have perfect freedom; no place has perfect freedom. Find a place that’s got the best laws and least oppressive law enforcement you can. A place where you can reasonably expect people to mind their business as long as you mind yours.

On the other hand, don’t ignore your “spidey-sense.” If you perceive anything importantly wrong about a place you visit, you’ll really, really, really perceive that wrongness after you move there.

Once you’ve chosen your location, then choose your specific land or home with equal care. (See sidebar.)

Then when you run into problems—as you absolutely, guaranteed, 100 percent will—be prepared to adjust again. And keep on keeping on.

Finally, as rural freedom seekers have already figured, one of our jobs in a free, self-sufficient life is to give as much assistance to others as we get.

Read BHM and glean what you can from its pages. But what you find here is a friendly hand to help you along your own chosen—and hard-earned—way.

Find data for planning a move—on and off the Internet

The Internet is the best place to begin any search for relocation information. You’ll have easy access to an abundance of statistical data. But even better, a few clicks of a mouse will also take you to photographs, discussion forums, real-estate agencies, state law codes, local business directories, and online visitor centers. It’s really the way to go.

If you have no Net access, your local library almost certainly has Net-capable computers you can use.

One of the best sources of data for people who are specifically seeking freedom in their new home is the Free State Project.

Go to www.freestateproject.org/. Click on “Site Index.” Then head for “Archives—State Data” and “Archives—State Reports.” You’ll be busy for many days and you might just get a lead to your dream haven.

This data focuses specifically on a double handful of low-population states. But even if you’re not interested in those states, the data can lead you to other sources of information and can help you set your own priorities for selecting a future location.

If you’re uneasy on the Net, then your library is still the place to begin. Ask the librarian to show you publications like these:

The Statistical Abstract of the United States—A very dry, but comprehensive publication that describes the population, education, geography, economy, job picture, and other detailed characteristics of every region of the country. The Abstract also contains a list of other useful sources of information. (The complete Abstract is also online at http://www.census.gov/statab/www/)

USA Counties—Another Census Bureau publication focusing on county data. This is available in both book and CD-ROM form. The CD will let you easily compare counties.

“Best places” publications. Several magazines and organizations periodically name “best places” to live in the United States. Keep in mind that these usually focus on cities. Also remember that what’s “best” for your neighbor might be pure awfulness to you. Nevertheless, these surveys can give you factual data that might lead you to the best rural area or small town near one of these “bests.”

Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country by Les and Carol Scher. BHM has called this the “bible” of locating and buying rural land. What more can anyone say?

And finally, don’t forget How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Harry Browne. Every freedom seeker should have it nearby at the beginning of the journey.

When is 90% not 90%? Mexican Gun Statistics.

2009-07-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

One of the most informative articles on the statistics often quoted by the media in regards to weapons seized in Mexico.

http://www.rightsidenews.com/200907095405/border-and-sovereignty/mexico-economics-and-the-arms-trade.html

MEXICO: ECONOMICS AND THE ARMS TRADE
Written by Scott Steward and Fred Burton
Thursday, 09 July 2009 16:29

STRATFOR.com

On June 26, the small Mexican town of Apaseo el Alto, in Guanajuato state, was the scene of a deadly firefight between members of Los Zetas and federal and local security forces. The engagement began when a joint patrol of Mexican soldiers and police officers responded to a report of heavily armed men at a suspected drug safe house. When the patrol arrived, a 20-minute firefight erupted between the security forces and gunmen in the house as well as several suspects in two vehicles who threw fragmentation grenades as they tried to escape.

When the shooting ended, 12 gunmen lay dead, 12 had been taken into custody and several soldiers and police officers had been wounded. At least half of the detained suspects admitted to being members of Los Zetas, a highly trained Mexican cartel group known for its use of military weapons and tactics.

When authorities examined the safe house they discovered a mass grave that contained the remains of an undetermined number of people (perhaps 14 or 15) who are believed to have been executed and then burned beyond recognition by Los Zetas. The house also contained a large cache of weapons, including assault rifles and fragmentation grenades. Such military ordnance is frequently used by Los Zetas and the enforcers who work for their rival cartels.

STRATFOR has been closely following the cartel violence in Mexico for several years now, and the events that transpired in Apaseo el Alto are by no means unique. It is not uncommon for the Mexican authorities to engage in large firefights with cartel groups, encounter mass graves or recover large caches of arms. However, the recovery of the weapons in Apaseo el Alto does provide an opportunity to once again focus on the dynamics of Mexico's arms trade.

White, Black and Shades of Gray

Before we get down into the weeds of Mexico's arms trade, let's do something a little different and first take a brief look at how arms trafficking works on a regional and global scale. Doing so will help illustrate how arms trafficking in Mexico fits into these broader patterns.

When analysts examine arms sales they look at three general categories: the white arms market, the gray arms market and the black arms market. The white arms market is the legal, aboveboard transfer of weapons in accordance with the national laws of the parties involved and international treaties or restrictions. The parties in a white arms deal will file the proper paperwork, including end-user certificates, noting what is being sold, who is selling it and to whom it is being sold. There is an understanding that the receiving party does not intend to transfer the weapons to a third party. So, for example, if the Mexican army wants to buy assault rifles from German arms maker Heckler & Koch, it places the order with the company and fills out all the required paperwork, including forms for obtaining permission for the sale from the German government.

Now, the white arms market can be deceived and manipulated, and when this happens, we get the gray market - literally, white arms that are shifted into the hands of someone other than the purported recipient. One of the classic ways to do this is to either falsify an end-user certificate, or bribe an official in a third country to sign an end-user certificate but then allow a shipment of arms to pass through a country en route to a third location. This type of transaction is frequently used in cases where there are international arms embargoes against a particular country (like Liberia) or where it is illegal to sell arms to a militant group (such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym, FARC). One example of this would be Ukrainian small arms that, on paper, were supposed to go to Cote d'Ivoire but were really transferred in violation of U.N. arms embargoes to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Another example of this would be the government of Peru purchasing thousands of surplus East German assault rifles from Jordan on the white arms market, ostensibly for the Peruvian military, only to have those rifles slip into the gray arms world and be dropped at airstrips in the jungles of Colombia for use by the FARC.

At the far end of the spectrum is the black arms market where the guns are contraband from the get-go and all the business is conducted under the table. There are no end-user certificates and the weapons are smuggled covertly. Examples of this would be the smuggling of arms from the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Afghanistan into Europe through places like Kosovo and Slovenia, or the smuggling of arms into South America from Asia, the FSU and Middle East by Hezbollah and criminal gangs in the Tri-Border Region.

Nation-states will often use the gray and black arms markets in order to deniably support allies, undermine opponents or otherwise pursue their national interests. This was clearly revealed in the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s, but Iran-Contra only scratched the surface of the arms smuggling that occurred during the Cold War. Untold tons of military ordnance were delivered by the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba to their respective allies in Latin America during the Cold War.

This quantity of materiel shipped into Latin America during the Cold War brings up another very important point pertaining to weapons. Unlike drugs, which are consumable goods, firearms are durable goods. This means that they can be useful for decades and are frequently shipped from conflict zone to conflict zone. East German MPiKMS and MPiKM assault rifles are still floating around the world's arms markets years after the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist. In fact, visiting an arms bazaar in a place like Yemen is like visiting an arms museum. One can encounter century-old, still-functional Lee-Enfield and Springfield rifles in a rack next to a modern U.S. M4 rifle or German HK93, and those next to brand-new Chinese Type 56 and 81 assault rifles.

There is often a correlation between arms and drug smuggling. In many instances, the same routes used to smuggle drugs are also used to smuggle arms. In some instances, like the smuggling routes from Central Asia to Europe, the flow of guns and drugs goes in the same direction, and they are both sold in Western Europe for cash. In the case of Latin American cocaine, the drugs tend to flow in one direction (toward the United States and Europe) while guns from U.S. and Russian organized-crime groups flow in the other direction, and often these guns are used as whole or partial payment for the drugs.

Illegal drugs are not the only thing traded for guns. During the Cold War, a robust arms-for-sugar trade transpired between the Cubans and Vietnamese. As a result, Marxist groups all over Latin America were furnished with U.S. materiel either captured or left behind when the Americans withdrew from Vietnam. LAW rockets traced to U.S. military stocks sent to Vietnam were used in several attacks by Latin American Marxist groups. These Vietnam War-vintage weapons still crop up with some frequency in Mexico, Colombia and other parts of the region. Cold War-era weapons furnished to the likes of the Contras, Sandinistas, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity movement in the 1980s are also frequently encountered in the region.

After the civil wars ended in places like El Salvador and Guatemala, the governments and the international community attempted to institute arms buy-back programs, but those programs were not very successful and most of the guns turned in were very old - the better arms were cached by groups or kept by individuals. Some of these guns have dribbled back into the black arms market, and Central and South America are still awash in Cold War weapons.

But Cold War shipments are not the only reason that Latin America is flooded with guns. In addition to the indigenous arms industries in countries like Brazil and Argentina, Venezuela has purchased hundreds of thousands of AK assault rifles in recent years to replace its aging FN-FAL rifles and has even purchased the equipment to open a factory to produce AK-103 rifles under license inside Venezuela. The Colombian government has accused the Venezuelans of arming the FARC, and evidence obtained by the Colombians during raids on FARC camps and provided to the public appears to support those assertions.

More than 90 Percent?

For several years now, Mexican officials have been making public statements that more than 90 percent of the arms used by criminals in Mexico come from the United States. That number was echoed last month in a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on U.S. efforts to combat arms trafficking to Mexico (see external link).

External Link

GAO report on arms trafficking to Mexico

(STRATFOR is not responsible for the content of other Web sites.)

According to the report, some 30,000 firearms were seized from criminals by Mexican officials in 2008. Out of these 30,000 firearms, information pertaining to 7,200 of them, (24 percent) was submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for tracing. Of these 7,200 guns, only about 4,000 could be traced by the ATF, and of these 4,000, some 3,480 (87 percent) were shown to have come from the United States.

This means that the 87 percent figure comes from the number of weapons submitted by the Mexican government to the ATF that could be successfully traced and not from the total number of weapons seized by the Mexicans or even from the total number of weapons submitted to the ATF for tracing. The 3,480 guns positively traced to the United States equals less than 12 percent of the total arms seized in 2008 and less than 48 percent of all those submitted by the Mexican government to the ATF for tracing.

In a response to the GAO report, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote a letter to the GAO (published as an appendix to the report) calling the GAO's use of the 87 percent statistic "misleading." The DHS further noted, "Numerous problems with the data collection and sample population render this assertion as unreliable."

Trying to get a reliable idea about where the drug cartels are getting their weapons can be difficult because the statistics on firearms seized in Mexico are very confusing. For example, while the GAO report says that 30,000 guns were seized in 2008 alone, the Mexican Prosecutor General's office has reported that between Dec. 1, 2005, and Jan. 22, 2009, Mexican authorities seized 31,512 weapons from the cartels.

Furthermore, it is not prudent to rely exclusively on weapons submitted to the ATF for tracing as a representative sample of the overall Mexican arms market. This is because there are some classes of weapons, such as RPG-7s and South Korean hand grenades, which make very little sense for the Mexicans to pass to the ATF for tracing since they obviously are not from the United States. The ATF is limited in its ability to trace weapons that did not pass through the United States, though there are offices at the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency that maintain extensive international arms-trafficking databases.

Mexican authorities are also unlikely to ask the ATF to trace weapons that can be tracked through the Mexican government's own databases such as the one maintained by the Mexican Defense Department's Arms and Ammunition Marketing Division (UCAM), which is the only outlet through which Mexican citizens can legally buy guns. If they can trace a gun through UCAM there is simply no need to submit it to ATF.

The United States has criticized Mexico for decades over its inability to stop the flow of narcotics into U.S. territory, and for the past several years Mexico has responded by blaming the guns coming from the United States for its inability to stop the drug trafficking. In this context, there is a lot of incentive for the Mexicans to politicize and play up the issue of guns coming from the United States, and north of the border there are U.S. gun-control advocates who have a vested interest in adding fuel to the fire and gun-rights advocates who have an interest in playing down the number.

Clearly, the issue of U.S. guns being sent south of the border is a serious one, but STRATFOR does not believe that there is sufficient evidence to support the claim that 90 percent (or more) of the cartels' weaponry comes from the United States. The data at present is inclusive - the 90 percent figure appears to be a subsample of a sample, so that number cannot be applied with confidence to the entire country. Indeed, the percentage of U.S. arms appears to be far lower than 90 percent in specific classes of arms such as fully automatic assault rifles, machine guns, rifle grenades, fragmentation grenades and RPG-7s. Even items such as the handful of U.S.-manufactured LAW rockets encountered in Mexico have come from third countries and not directly from the United States.

However, while the 90 percent figure appears to be unsubstantiated by documentable evidence, this fact does not necessarily prove that the converse is true, even if it may be a logical conclusion. The bottom line is that, until there is a comprehensive, scientific study conducted on the arms seized by the Mexican authorities, much will be left to conjecture, and it will be very difficult to determine exactly how many of the cartels' weapons have come from the United States, and to map out precisely how the black, white and gray arms markets have interacted to bring weapons to Mexico and Mexican cartels.

More research needs to be done on both sides of the border in order to understand this important issue.

Four Trends

In spite of the historical ambiguity, there are four trends that are likely to shape the future flow of arms into Mexico. The first of these is militarization. Since 2006 there has been a steady trend toward the use of heavy military ordnance by the cartels. This process was begun in earnest when the Gulf Cartel first recruited Los Zetas, but in order to counter Los Zetas, all the other cartels have had to recruit and train hard-core enforcer units and outfit them with similar weaponry. Prior to 2007, attacks involving fragmentation hand grenades, 40 mm grenades and RPGs were somewhat rare and immediately attracted a lot of attention. Such incidents are now quite common, and it is not unusual to see firefights like the June 26 incident in Apaseo el Alto in which dozens of grenades are employed.

Another trend in recent years has been the steady movement of Mexican cartels south into Central and South America. As noted above, the region is awash in guns, and the growing presence of Mexican cartel members puts them in contact with people who have access to Cold War weapons, international arms merchants doing business with groups like the FARC and corrupt officials who can obtain weapons from military sources in the region. We have already seen seizures of weapons coming into Mexico from the south. One notable seizure occurred in March 2009, when Guatemalan authorities raided a training camp in northern Guatemala near the Mexican border that they claim belonged to Los Zetas. In the raid they recovered 563 40 mm grenades and 11 M60 machine guns that had been stolen from the Guatemalan military and sold to Los Zetas.

The third trend is the current firearm and ammunition market in the United States. Since the election of Barack Obama, arms sales have gone through the roof due to fears (so far unfounded) that the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress will attempt to restrict or ban certain weapons. Additionally, ammunition companies are busy filling military orders for the U.S. war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan. As anyone who has attempted to buy an assault rifle (or even a brick of .22 cartridges) will tell you, it is no longer cheap or easy to buy guns and ammunition. In fact, due to this surge in demand, it is downright difficult to locate many types of assault rifles and certain calibers of ammunition, though a lucky buyer might be able to find a basic stripped-down AR-15 for $850 to $1,100, or a semiautomatic AK-47 for $650 to $850. Of course, such a gun purchased in the United States and smuggled into Mexico will be sold to the cartels at a hefty premium above the purchase price.

By way of comparison, in places where weapons are abundant, such as Yemen, a surplus fully automatic assault rifle can be purchased for under $100 on the white arms market and for about the same price on the black arms market. This difference in price provides a powerful economic incentive to buy low elsewhere and sell high in Mexico, as does the inability to get certain classes of weapons such as RPGs and fragmentation grenades in the United States. Indeed, we have seen reports of international arms merchants from places like Israel and Belgium selling weapons to the cartels and bringing that ordnance into Mexico through routes other than over the U.S. border. Additionally, in South America, a number of arms smugglers, including Hezbollah and Russian organized-crime groups, have made a considerable amount of money supplying arms to groups in the region like the FARC.

The fourth trend is the increasing effort by the U.S. government to stanch the flow of weapons from the United States into Mexico. A recent increase in the number of ATF special agents and inspectors pursuing gun dealers who knowingly sell to the cartels or straw-purchase buyers who obtain guns from honest dealers is going to increase the chances of such individuals being caught. This stepped-up enforcement will have an impact as the risk of being caught illegally buying or smuggling guns begins to outweigh the profit that can be made by selling guns to the cartels. We believe that these two factors - supply problems and enforcement - will work together to help reduce the flow of U.S. guns to Mexico.

While there has been a long and well-documented history of arms smuggling across the U.S.-Mexican border, it is important to recognize that, while the United States is a significant source of certain classes of weapons, it is by no means the only source of illegal weapons in Mexico. As STRATFOR has previously noted, even if it were possible to hermetically seal the U.S.-Mexican border, the Mexican cartels would still be able to obtain weapons from non-U.S. sources (just as drugs would continue to flow into the United States).

The law of supply and demand will ensure that the Mexican cartels will get their ordnance, but it is highly likely that an increasing percentage of that supply will begin to come from outside the United States via the gray and black arms markets.

FCC Claims Right To Warrantless Home Searches

2009-05-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/fcc-raid/

You may not know it, but if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.

That’s the upshot of the rules the agency has followed for years to monitor licensed television and radio stations, and to crack down on pirate radio broadcasters. And the commission maintains the same policy applies to any licensed or unlicensed radio-frequency device.

“Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference,” says FCC spokesman David Fiske. That includes devices like Wi-Fi routers that use unlicensed spectrum, Fiske says.

While on the surface that seems very inocuous, the problem lies in what any Federal Agent may see while inside your residence during one of these 'administrative inspections'.

But if inspectors should notice evidence of unrelated criminal behavior — say, a marijuana plant or stolen property — a Supreme Court decision suggests the search can be used against the resident. In the 1987 case New York v. Burger, two police officers performed a warrantless, administrative search of one Joseph Burger’s automobile junkyard. When he couldn’t produce the proper paperwork, the officers searched the grounds and found stolen vehicles, which they used to prosecute him. The Supreme Court held the search to be legal.

With this kind of precedent, the stretch to an 'HR45' type of inspection system seems all the more onerous.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

AP Economic Stress Map

2009-05-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

I found this link at the Colorado Gazette.

The map, and the numbers behind it, cannot tell us everything. No single number can track Americans' net worth, no monthly barometer indicates the pain factor of people who lost retirement funds, whose stocks vanished out from under them, who dutifully set aside nest eggs that now amount to little or nothing.

But it can help compare and contrast places, then find the people who breathe life into the numbers that characterize their regions and their hometowns. It can illustrate emerging trends - why are certain areas starting to recover while others are lagging behind? - and offer early hints to where the tightness of economic stress might be starting to loosen.

Pretty interesting stuff....

I am shaken....

2009-05-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

This essay has shaken me to my core. To see then (in 1908), that people saw their liberties eroding, is both encouraging and disheartening. Can this fight be won in my lifetime?

Anarchism and American Traditions (1908)
by Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912)

AAT.1 American traditions, begotten of religious rebellion, small self-sustaining communities, isolated conditions, and hard pioneer life, grew during the colonization period of one hundred and seventy years from the settling of Jamestown to the outburst of the Revolution. This was in fact the great constitution-making epoch, the period of charters guaranteeing more or less of liberty, the general tendency of which is well described by Wm. Penn in speaking of the charter for Pennsylvania: “I want to put it out of my power, or that of my successors, to do mischief.”

AAT.2 The revolution is the sudden and unified consciousness of these traditions, their loud assertion, the blow dealt by their indomitable will against the counter force of tyranny, which has never entirely recovered from the blow, but which from then till now has gone on remolding and regrappling the instruments of governmental power, that the Revolution sought to shape and hold as defenses of liberty.

AAT.3 To the average American of today, the Revolution means the series of battles fought by the patriot army with the armies of England. The millions of school children who attend our public schools are taught to draw maps of the siege of Boston and the siege of Yorktown, to know the general plan of the several campaigns, to quote the number of prisoners of war surrendered with Burgoyne; they are required to remember the date when Washington crossed the Delaware on the ice; they are told to “Remember Paoli,” to repeat “Molly Stark’s a widow,” to call General Wayne “Mad Anthony Wayne,” and to execrate Benedict Arnold; they know that the Declaration of Independence was signed on the Fourth of July, 1776, and the Treaty of Paris in 1783; and then they think they have learned the Revolution – blessed be George Washington! They have no idea why it should have been called a “revolution” instead of the “English War,” or any similar title: it’s the name of it, that's all. And name-worship, both in child and man, has acquired such mastery of them, that the name “American Revolution” is held sacred, though it means to them nothing more than successful force, while the name “Revolution” applied to a further possibility, is a spectre detested and abhorred. In neither case have they any idea of the content of the word, save that of armed force. That has already happened, and long happened, which Jefferson foresaw when he wrote:

“The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may become persecutor, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated that the time for fixing every essential right, on a legal basis, is while our rulers are honest, ourselves united. From the conclusion of this war we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of this war, will be heavier and heavier, till our rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.”

AAT.4 To the men of that time, who voiced the spirit of that time, the battles that they fought were the least of the Revolution; they were the incidents of the hour, the things they met and faced as part of the game they were playing; but the stake they had in view, before, during, and after the war, the real Revolution, was a change in political institutions which should make of government not a thing apart, a superior power to stand over the people with a whip, but a serviceable agent, responsible, economical, and trustworthy (but never so much trusted as not to be continually watched), for the transaction of such business as was the common concern and to set the limits of the common concern at the line of where one man's liberty would encroach upon another’s.

AAT.5 They thus took their starting point for deriving a minimum of government upon the same sociological ground that the modern Anarchist derives the no-government theory; viz., that equal liberty is the political ideal. The difference lies in the belief, on the one hand, that the closest approximation to equal liberty might be best secured by the rule of the majority in those matters involving united action of any kind (which rule of the majority they thought it possible to secure by a few simple arrangements for election), and, on the other hand, the belief that majority rule is both impossible and undesirable; that any government, no matter what its forms, will be manipulated by a very small minority, as the development of the States and United States governments has strikingly proved; that candidates will loudly profess allegiance to platforms before elections, which as officials in power they will openly disregard, to do as they please; and that even if the majority will could be imposed, it would also be subversive of equal liberty, which may be best secured by leaving to the voluntary association of those interested in the management of matters of common concern, without coercion of the uninterested or the opposed.

AAT.6 Among the fundamental likeness between the Revolutionary Republicans and the Anarchists is the recognition that the little must precede the great; that the local must be the basis of the general; that there can be a free federation only when there are free communities to federate; that the spirit of the latter is carried into the councils of the former, and a local tyranny may thus become an instrument for general enslavement. Convinced of the supreme importance of ridding the municipalities of the institutions of tyranny, the most strenuous advocates of independence, instead of spending their efforts mainly in the general Congress, devoted themselves to their home localities, endeavoring to work out of the minds of their neighbors and fellow-colonists the institutions of entailed property, of a State-Church, of a class-divided people, even the institution of African slavery itself. Though largely unsuccessful, it is to the measure of success they did achieve that we are indebted for such liberties as we do retain, and not to the general government. They tried to inculcate local initiative and independent action. The author of the Declaration of Independence, who in the fall of ’76 declined a re-election to Congress in order to return to Virginia and do his work in his own local assembly, in arranging there for public education which he justly considered a matter of “common concern,” said his advocacy of public schools was not with any “view to take its ordinary branches out of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much better the concerns to which it is equal”; and in endeavoring to make clear the restrictions of the Constitution upon the functions of the general government, he likewise said:

“Let the general government be reduced to foreign concerns only, and let our affairs be disentangled from those of all other nations, except as to commerce, which the merchants will manage for themselves, and the general government may be reduced to a very simple organization, and a very inexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants.”

AAT.7 This then was the American tradition, that private enterprise manages better all that to which it IS equal. Anarchism declares that private enterprise, whether individual or cooperative, is equal to all the undertakings of society. And it quotes the particular two instances, Education and Commerce, which the governments of the States and of the United States have undertaken to manage and regulate, as the very two which in operation have done more to destroy American freedom and equality, to warp and distort American tradition, to make of government a mighty engine of tyranny, than any other cause, save the unforeseen developments of Manufacture.

AAT.8 It was the intention of the Revolutionists to establish a system of common education, which should make the teaching of history one of its principal branches; not with the intent of burdening the memories of our youth with the dates of battles or the speeches of generals, nor to make the Boston Tea Party Indians the one sacrosanct mob in all history, to be revered but never on any account to be imitated, but with the intent that every American should know to what conditions the masses of people had been brought by the operation of certain institutions, by what means they had wrung out their liberties, and how those liberties had again and again been filched from them by the use of governmental force, fraud, and privilege. Not to breed security, laudation, complacent indolence, passive acquiescence in the acts of a government protected by the label “home-made,” but to beget a wakeful jealousy, a never-ending watchfulness of rulers, a determination to squelch every attempt of those entrusted with power to encroach upon the sphere of individual action - this was the prime motive of the revolutionists in endeavoring to provide for common education.

AAT.9 “Confidence,” said the revolutionists who adopted the Kentucky Resolutions, “is everywhere the parent of despotism; free government is founded in jealousy, not in confidence; it is jealousy, not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power; our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which, and no further, our confidence may go... In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

AAT.10 These resolutions were especially applied to the passage of the Alien laws by the monarchist party during John Adams’ administration, and were an indignant call from the State of Kentucky to repudiate the right of the general government to assume undelegated powers, for said they, to accept these laws would be “to be bound by laws made, not with our consent, but by others against our consent – that is, to surrender the form of government we have chosen, and to live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority.” Resolutions identical in spirit were also passed by Virginia, the following month; in those days the States still considered themselves supreme, the general government subordinate.

AAT.11 To inculcate this proud spirit of the supremacy of the people over their governors was to be the purpose of public education! Pick up today any common school history, and see how much of this spirit you will find therein. On the contrary, from cover to cover you will find nothing but the cheapest sort of patriotism, the inculcation of the most unquestioning acquiescence in the deeds of government, a lullaby of rest, security, confidence – the doctrine that the Law can do no wrong, a Te Deum in praise of the continuous encroachments of the powers of the general government upon the reserved rights of the States, shameless falsification of all acts of rebellion, to put the government in the right and the rebels in the wrong, pyrotechnic glorifications of union, power, and force, and a complete ignoring of the essential liberties to maintain which was the purpose of the revolutionists. The anti-Anarchist law of post-McKinley passage, a much worse law than the Alien and Sedition acts which roused the wrath of Kentucky and Virginia to the point of threatened rebellion, is exalted as a wise provision of our All-Seeing Father in Washington.

AAT.12 Such is the spirit of government-provided schools. Ask any child what he knows about Shays’ rebellion, and he will answer, “Oh, some of the farmers couldn’t pay their taxes, and Shays led a rebellion against the court-house at Worcester, so they could burn up the deeds; and when Washington heard of it he sent over an army quick and taught ’em a good lesson” – “And what was the result of it?” “The result? Why – why – the result was – Oh yes, I remember – the result was they saw the need of a strong federal government to collect the taxes and pay the debts.” Ask if he knows what was said on the other side of the story, ask if he knows that the men who had given their goods and their health and their strength for the freeing of the country now found themselves cast into prison for debt, sick, disabled, and poor, facing a new tyranny for the old; that their demand was that the land should become the free communal possession of those who wished to work it, not subject to tribute, and the child will answer “No.” Ask him if he ever read Jefferson’s letter to Madison about it, in which he says:

“Societies exist under three forms, sufficiently distinguishable. 1. Without government, as among our Indians. 2. Under government wherein the will of every one has a just influence; as is the case in England in a slight degree, and in our States in a great one. 3. Under government of force, as is the case in all other monarchies, and in most of the other republics. To have an idea of the curse of existence in these last, they must be seen. It is a government of wolves over sheep. It is a problem not clear in my mind that the first condition is not the best. But I believe it to be inconsistent with any great degree of population. The second state has a great deal of good in it ... It has its evils too, the principal of which is the turbulence to which it is subject. ... But even this evil is productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government, and nourishes a general attention to public affairs. I hold that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”

AAT.13 Or to another correspondent:

“God forbid that we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion! ...What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that the people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take up arms ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”

AAT.14 Ask any school child if he was ever taught that the author of the Declaration of Independence, one of the great founders of the common school, said these things, and he will look at you with open mouth and unbelieving eyes. Ask him if he ever heard that the man [Thomas Paine] who sounded the bugle note in the darkest hour of the Crisis, who roused the courage of the soldiers when Washington saw only mutiny and despair ahead, ask him if he knows that this man also wrote, “Government at best is a necessary evil, at worst an intolerable one,” and if he is a little better informed than the average he will answer, “Oh well, he was an infidel!” Catechize him about the merits of the Constitution which he has learned to repeat like a poll-parrot, and you will find his chief conception is not of the powers withheld from Congress, but of the powers granted.

AAT.15 Such are the fruits of government schools. We, the Anarchists, point to them and say: If the believers in liberty wish the principles of liberty taught, let them never entrust that instruction to any government; for the nature of government is to become a thing apart, an institution existing for its own sake, preying upon the people, and teaching whatever will tend to keep it secure in its seat. As the fathers said of the governments of Europe, so say we of this government also after a century and a quarter of independence: “The blood of the people has become its inheritance, and those who fatten on it will not relinquish it easily.”

AAT.16 Public education, having to do with the intellect and spirit of a people, is probably the most subtle and far-reaching engine for molding the course of a nation; but commerce, dealing as it does with material things and producing immediate effects, was the force that bore down soonest upon the paper barriers of constitutional restriction, and shaped the government to its requirements. Here, indeed, we arrive at the point where we, looking over the hundred and twenty five years of independence, can see that the simple government conceived by the revolutionary republicans was a foredoomed failure. It was so because of: 1) the essence of government itself; 2) the essence of human nature; 3) the essence of Commerce and Manufacture.

AAT.17 Of the essence of government, I have already said, it is a thing apart, developing its own interests at the expense of what opposes it; all attempts to make it anything else fail. In this Anarchists agree with the traditional enemies of the Revolution, the monarchists, federalists, strong government believers, the Roosevelts of today, the Jays, Marshalls, and Hamiltons of then – that Hamilton, who, as Secretary of the Treasury, devised a financial system of which we are the unlucky heritors, and whose objects were twofold: To puzzle the people and make public finance obscure to those that paid for it; to serve as a machine for corrupting the legislatures; “for he avowed the opinion that man could be governed by two motives only, force or interest”; force being then out of the question, he laid hold of interest, the greed of the legislators, to set going an association of persons having an entirely separate welfare from the welfare of their electors, bound together by mutual corruption and mutual desire for plunder. The Anarchist agrees that Hamilton was logical, and understood the core of government; the difference is, that while strong govermnentalists believe this is necessary and desirable, we choose the opposite conclusion, No Government Whatsoever.

AAT.18 As to the essence of human nature, what our national experience has made plain is this, that to remain in a continually exalted moral condition is not human nature. That has happened which was prophesied: we have gone down hill from the Revolution until now; we are absorbed in “mere money-getting.” The desire for material ease long ago vanquished the spirit of ’76. What was that spirit? The spirit that animated the people of Virginia, of the Carolinas, of Massachusetts, of New York, when they refused to import goods from England; when they preferred (and stood by it) to wear coarse, homespun cloth, to drink the brew of their own growths, to fit their appetites to the home supply, rather than submit to the taxation of the imperial ministry. Even within the lifetime of the revolutionists, the spirit decayed. The love of material ease has been, in the mass of men and permanently speaking, always greater than the love of liberty. Nine hundred and ninety nine women out of a thousand are more interested in the cut of a dress than in the independence of their sex; nine hundred and ninety nine men out of a thousand are more interested in drinking a glass of beer than in questioning the tax that is laid on it; how many children are not willing to trade the liberty to play for the promise of a new cap or a new dress? That it is which begets the complicated mechanism of society; that it is which, by multiplying the concerns of government, multiplies the strength of government and the corresponding weakness of the people; this it is which begets indifference to public concern, thus making the corruption of government easy.

AAT.19 As to the essence of Commerce and Manufacture, it is this: to establish bonds between every corner of the earth’s surface and every other corner, to multiply the needs of mankind, and the desire for material possession and enjoyment.

AAT.20 The American tradition was the isolation of the States as far as possible. Said they: We have won our liberties by hard sacrifice and struggle unto death. We wish now to be let alone and to let others alone, that our principles may have time for trial; that we may become accustomed to the exercise of our rights; that we may be kept free from the contaminating influence of European gauds, pageants, distinctions. So richly did they esteem the absence of these that they could in all fervor write: “We shall see multiplied instances of Europeans coming to America, but no man living will ever seen an instance of an American removing to settle in Europe, and continuing there.” Alas! In less than a hundred years the highest aim of a “Daughter of the Revolution” was, and is, to buy a castle, a title, and rotten lord, with the money wrung from American servitude! And the commercial interests of America are seeking a world empire!

AAT.21 In the earlier days of the revolt and subsequent independence, it appeared that the “manifest destiny” of America was to be an agricultural people, exchanging food stuffs and raw materials for manufactured articles. And in those days it was written: “We shall be virtuous as long as agriculture is our principal object, which will be the case as long as there remain vacant lands in any part of America. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe, and go to eating one another as they do there.” Which we are doing, because of the inevitable development of Commerce and Manufacture, and the concomitant development of strong government. And the parallel prophecy is likewise fulfilled: “If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption, indifferent and incapable of a wholesome care over so wide a spread of surface.” There is not upon the face of the earth today a government so utterly and shamelessly corrupt as that of the United States of America. There are others more cruel, more tyrannical, more devastating; there is none so utterly venal.

AAT.22 And yet even in the very days of the prophets, even with their own consent, the first concession to this later tyranny was made. It was made when the Constitution was made; and the Constitution was made chiefly because of the demands of Commerce. Thus it was at the outset a merchant’s machine, which the other interests of the country, the land and labor interests, even then foreboded would destroy their liberties. In vain their jealousy of its central power made enact the first twelve amendments. In vain they endeavored to set bounds over which the federal power dare not trench. In vain they enacted into general law the freedom of speech, of the press, of assemblage and petition. All of these things we see ridden roughshod upon every day, and have so seen with more or less intermission since the beginning of the nineteenth century. At this day, every police lieutenant considers himself, and rightly so, as more powerful than the General Law of the Union; and that one who told Robert Hunter that he held in his fist something stronger than the Constitution, was perfectly correct. The right of assemblage is an American tradition which has gone out of fashion; the police club is now the mode. And it is so in virtue of the people's indifference to liberty, and the steady progress of constitutional interpretation towards the substance of imperial government.

AAT.23 It is an American tradition that a standing army is a standing menace to liberty; in Jefferson's presidency the army was reduced to 3,000 men. It is American tradition that we keep out of the affairs of other nations. It is American practice that we meddle with the affairs of everybody else from the West to the East Indies, from Russia to Japan; and to do it we have a standing army of 83,251 men.

AAT.24 It is American tradition that the financial affairs of a nation should be transacted on the same principles of simple honesty that an individual conducts his own business; viz., that debt is a bad thing, and a man’s first surplus earning should be applied to his debts; that offices and office holders should be few. It is American practice that the general government should always have millions of debt, even if a panic or a war has to be forced to prevent its being paid off; and as to the application of its income office holders come first. And within the last administration it is reported that 99,000 offices have been created at an annual expense of 1663,000,000. Shades of Jefferson! “How are vacancies to be obtained? Those by deaths are few; by resignation none.” Roosevelt cuts the knot by making 99,000 new ones! And few will die – and none resign. They will beget sons and daughters, and Taft will have to create 99,000 more! Verily a simple and a serviceable thing is our general government.

AAT.25 It is American tradition that the Judiciary shall act as a check upon the impetuosity of Legislatures, should these attempt to pass the bounds of constitutional limitation. It is American practice that the Judiciary justifies every law which trenches on the liberties of the people and nullifies every act of the Legislature by which the people seek to regain some measure of their freedom. Again, in the words of Jefferson: “The Constitution is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the Judiciary, which they may twist and shape in any form they please.” Truly, if the men who fought the good fight for the triumph of simple, honest, free life in that day, were now to look upon the scene of their labors, they would cry out together with him who said:

“I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifices of themselves by the generation of ’76 to acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be that I shall not live to see it.”

AAT.26 And now, what has Anarchism to say to all this, this bankruptcy of republicanism, this modern empire that has grown up on the ruins of our early freedom? We say this, that the sin our fathers sinned was that they did not trust liberty wholly. They thought it possible to compromise between liberty and government, believing the latter to be “a necessary evil,” and the moment the compromise was made, the whole misbegotten monster of our present tyranny began to grow. Instruments which are set up to safeguard rights become the very whip with which the free are struck.

AAT.27 Anarchism says, Make no laws whatever concerning speech, and speech will be free; so soon as you make a declaration on paper that speech shall be free, you will have a hundred lawyers proving that “freedom does not mean abuse, nor liberty license”; and they will define and define freedom out of existence. Let the guarantee of free speech be in every man’s determination to use it, and we shall have no need of paper declarations. On the other hand, so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.

AAT.28 The problem then becomes, Is it possible to stir men from their indifference? We have said that the spirit of liberty was nurtured by colonial life; that the elements of colonial life were the desire for sectarian independence, and the jealous watchfulness incident thereto; the isolation of pioneer communities which threw each individual strongly on his own resources, and thus developed all-around men, yet at the same time made very strong such social bonds as did exist; and, lastly, the comparative simplicity of small communities.

AAT.29 All this has disappeared. As to sectarianism, it is only by dint of an occasional idiotic persecution that a sect becomes interesting; in the absence of this, outlandish sects play the fool’s role, are anything but heroic, and have little to do with either the name or the substance of liberty. The old colonial religious parties have gradually become the “pillars of society,” their animosities have died out, their offensive peculiarities have been effaced, they are as like one another as beans in a pod, they build churches – and sleep in them.

AAT.30 As to our communities, they are hopelessly and helplessly interdependent, as we ourselves are, save that continuously diminishing proportion engaged in all around farming; and even these are slaves to mortgages. For our cities, probably there is not one that is provisioned to last a week, and certainly there is none which would not be bankrupt with despair at the proposition that it produce its own food. In response to this condition and its correlative political tyranny, Anarchism affirms the economy of self-sustenance, the disintegration of the great communities, the use of the earth.

AAT.31 I am not ready to say that I see clearly that this will take place; but I see clearly that this must take place if ever again men are to be free. I am so well satisfied that the mass of mankind prefer material possessions to liberty, that I have no hope that they will ever, by means of intellectual or moral stirrings merely, throw off the yoke of oppression fastened on them by the present economic system, to institute free societies. My only hope is in the blind development of the economic system and political oppression itself. The great characteristic looming factor in this gigantic power is Manufacture. The tendency of each nation is to become more and more a manufacturing one, an exporter of fabrics, not an importer. If this tendency follows its own logic, it must eventually circle round to each community producing for itself. What then will become of the surplus product when the manufacturer shall have no foreign market? Why, then mankind must face the dilemma of sitting down and dying in the midst of it, or confiscating the goods.

AAT.32 Indeed, we are partially facing this problem even now; and-so far we are sitting down and dying. I opine, however, that men will not do it forever, and when once by an act of general expropriation they have overcome the reverence and fear of property, and their awe of government, they may waken to the consciousness that things are to be used, and therefore men are greater than things. This may rouse the spirit of liberty.

AAT.33 If, on the other hand, the tendency of invention to simplify, enabling the advantages of machinery to be combined with smaller aggregations of workers, shall also follow its own logic, the great manufacturing plants will break up, population will go after the fragments, and there will be seen not indeed the hard, self-sustaining, isolated pioneer communities of early America, but thousands of small communities stretching along the lines of transportation, each producing very largely for its own needs, able to rely upon itself, and therefore able to be independent. For the same rule holds good for societies as for individuals--those may be free who are able to make their own living.

AAT.34 In regard to the breaking up of that vilest creation of tyranny, the standing army and navy, it is clear that so long as men desire to fight, they will have armed force in one form or another. Our fathers thought they had guarded against a standing army by providing for the voluntary militia. In our day we have lived to see this militia declared part of the regular military force of the United States, and subject to the same demands as the regulars. Within another generation we shall probably see its members in the regular pay of the general government. Since any embodiment of the fighting spirit, any military organization, inevitably follows the same line of centralization, the logic of Anarchism is that the least objectionable form of armed force is that which springs up voluntarily, like the minute men of Massachusetts, and disbands as soon as the occasion which called it into existence is past: that the really desirable thing is that all men – not Americans only – should be at peace; and that to reach this, all peaceful persons should withdraw their support from the army, and require that all who make war shall do so at their own cost and risk; that neither pay nor pensions are to be provided for those who choose to make man-killing a trade.

AAT.35 As to the American tradition of non-meddling, Anarchism asks that it be carried down to the individual himself. It demands no jealous barrier of isolation; it knows that such isolation is undesirable and impossible; but it teaches that by all men's strictly minding their own business, a fluid society, freely adapting itself to mutual needs, wherein all the world shall belong to all men, as much as each has need or desire, will result.

AAT.36 And when Modern Revolution has thus been carried to the heart of the whole world – if it ever shall be, as I hope it will – then may we hope to see a resurrection of that proud spirit of our fathers which put the simple dignity of Man above the gauds of wealth and class, and held that to, be an American was greater than to be a king.

AAT.37 In that day there shall be neither kings nor Americans – only Men; over the whole earth, MEN.

Mother Earth 3, nos. 10-11, December 1908-January 1909

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

h/t to WRSA

Demographics can be a bugger.....

2009-05-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

And people laugh at me for having 5 children....I'm just trying to do my part to keep the status quo.

in omnia paratus

Is Secession In Our Future?

2009-05-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

The folks over at the von Mises Institute have come up with a brilliant article on state secession. They even mention Alaska as a model state for the project.

Can states secede? There are three levels on which this question can be answered:

the inalienable right of secession,
the international law of secession, and
the US law of secession.
All three say yes.

While we are not calling for secession(yet) I think that this gives plenty of food for thought.

This says it all....

2009-05-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

LOL!

Confessions of a Former Communist Turned Patriot

2009-05-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

If this story does nothing but show you the evil that is socialism/collectivism/communism then there is nothing more to discuss.

I can never and will never go back. So when somebody whispers in your ear, "Well, you can't trust him, he used to be a communist," think twice. For he may be the only one who sees clearly enough to point your way through the minefield of bad choices that collectivism -- any and all collectivism -- represents.

Take heed my friends. Read, learn, delve into what the Founders believed and wanted for us a a Nation. Maybe it's not too late.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

At What Point Is a Traitor a Patriot?

2009-05-06T11:32:00.001-07:00

The question actually becomes who is the traitor. Those who seek to lift the Constitution above men to substantiate the rule of law or a rule by men who hold themselves above the Constitution in interpretation. I have commented before that the Supreme Court is the use of robed government employees to expand and approve the growth of the Leviathan state at the expense of individual liberty with an imprimatur of legitimacy and it has proven out.

Is this a question that our Forefathers asked of themselves?

Think BHO is not all about 'Gun Control'....Think Again.

2009-05-06T10:50:00.001-07:00

Call you Senator today and express your outrage at this back door effort to infringe on your 2nd Amendment rights.

There will be no more free Wacos.

2009-05-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

Like I said, Eric, you only get one free Waco. It was your original sin. The botched raid, the massacre, the cover-ups, we've been through them already. You may remember that no one was held to account for that -- not very reassuring to the citizenry. And if, as is apparent, someone in the Department of Justice hasn't learned the lessons of the first Waco, we, the millions of "bitter clingers" out here in fly-over country, have. We have no reason to be trusting of your motives. For we, and you, have been here before.

Michael Vanderboegh has a few choice words for AG Holder. I hope someone in his office is paying attention.

The Government....Explained.

2009-05-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

A great explanation of Government

Live Free or Die

2009-05-05T15:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.hillsdale.edu/images/userImages/mvanderwei/Page_4221/ImprimisApril09.pdf

When President Bush talked about promoting democracy in the Middle East, there was a phrase he liked to use: "Freedom is the desire of every human heart." Really? It's unclear whether that's really the case in Gaza and the Pakistani tribal lands. But it's absolutely certain that it's not the case in Berlin and Paris, Stockholm and London, New Orleans and Buffalo. The story of the Western world since 1945 is that, invited to choose between freedom and government "security," large numbers of people vote to dump freedom every time—the freedom to make your own decisions about health care, education, property rights, and a ton of other stuff. It's ridiculous for grown men and women to say: I want to be able to choose from hundreds of cereals at the supermarket, thousands of movies from Netflix, millions of songs to play on my iPod—but I want the government to choose for me when it comes to my health care.

This is quite possibly one of the most powerful articles I have read in recent memory on Freedom. Shocking and startling, if you can read it without shaking your head, you might want to check your pulse.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

BB&B....the new outlook for SPAM

2009-03-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.howestreet.com/articles/index.php?article_id=8806

Spam, Guns, and Gold Are
About to Hit the Fan

We'll probably see $1,500 gold in the next 12 to 18 months. And that's based on my "optimistic" outlook for our society. In the worst-case scenario, the global financial system could run off the rails. If that happens, you'll want plenty of gold ... and Spam and guns, too.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But even without a worst-case scenario, you may want to consider putting Ruger, Hormel and gold in your portfolio.

And when he says 'portfolio' I'm taking that to mean my basement or larder.

Here's a clearer picture of what he was talking about.

Beans, Bullets & Bullion.....words to live by.

H/T to MV @ sipseystreet

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

The "We're not hard enough on those Pesky Patriots" Guy..

2009-03-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/02/the_realist_chas_freeman.asp

The Realist Chas Freeman

Chas Freeman, who has reportedly been offered and accepted a job as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, offered his take on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 on a listserv in 2006. Here is the full text of his email to that group:

From: CWFHome@cs.com [mailto:CWFHome@cs.com]
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 9:29 PM

I will leave it to others to address the main thrust of your reflection on Eric's remarks. But I want to take issue with what I assume, perhaps incorrectly, to be yoiur citation of the conventional wisdom about the 6/4 [or Tiananmen] incident. I find the dominant view in China about this very plausible, i.e. that the truly unforgivable mistake of the Chinese authorities was the failure to intervene on a timely basis to nip the demonstrations in the bud, rather than -- as would have been both wise and efficacious -- to intervene with force when all other measures had failed to restore domestic tranquility to Beijing and other major urban centers in China. In this optic, the Politburo's response to the mob scene at "Tian'anmen" stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action.

For myself, I side on this -- if not on numerous other issues -- with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be. Such folk, whether they represent a veterans' "Bonus Army" or a "student uprising" on behalf of "the goddess of democracy" should expect to be displaced with despatch from the ground they occupy. I cannot conceive of any American government behaving with the ill-conceived restraint that the Zhao Ziyang administration did in China, allowing students to occupy zones that are the equivalent of the Washington National Mall and Times Square, combined. while shutting down much of the Chinese government's normal operations. I thus share the hope of the majority in China that no Chinese government will repeat the mistakes of Zhao Ziyang's dilatory tactics of appeasement in dealing with domestic protesters in China.

I await the brickbats of those who insist on a politically correct -- i.e. non Burkean conservative -- view.

Chas

Given Secretary Clinton's recent comments "that the debate with China over human rights, Taiwan and Tibet cannot be allowed to interfere with attempts to reach consensus on other broader issues," one gets the sense that the Obama administration will be giving the Chinese a free hand to deal with dissent however they see fit.

Although the conclusions reached in this piece are chilling in and of themselves, I find the reference and mention of the 'Bonus Army' being rightly dispatched (read burned, shot, trod to death) truly abhorrent. This guys avocation of the use of brute force to quell any dissent is truly Stalinistic in it's cold rationalism.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Glenn Beck learns a new truth....

2009-03-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

The 'look' on Glenn's face, after the Michael Scheuer makes his bombshell statement about not stopping the 'bubba effect', is just priceless.

Welcome to the trenches Mister Beck.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

2009-02-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123146363567166677-lMyQjAxMDI5MzAxOTQwNjkzWj.html#printMode

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

By STEPHEN MOORE

Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used to label any new hire who had not yet read "Atlas Shrugged" a "virgin." Being conversant in Ayn Rand's classic novel about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok was practically a job requirement. If only "Atlas" were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.

Getty Images

The art for a 1999 postage stamp.

Many of us who know Rand's work have noticed that with each passing week, and with each successive bailout plan and economic-stimulus scheme out of Washington, our current politicians are committing the very acts of economic lunacy that "Atlas Shrugged" parodied in 1957, when this 1,000-page novel was first published and became an instant hit.

Rand, who had come to America from Soviet Russia with striking insights into totalitarianism and the destructiveness of socialism, was already a celebrity. The left, naturally, hated her. But as recently as 1991, a survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found that readers rated "Atlas" as the second-most influential book in their lives, behind only the Bible.

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as "the looters and their laws." Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the "Anti-Greed Act" to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel's promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the "Equalization of Opportunity Act" to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the "Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act," aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn't Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

When Rand was writing in the 1950s, one of the pillars of American industrial might was the railroads. In her novel the railroad owner, Dagny Taggart, an enterprising industrialist, has a FedEx-like vision for expansion and first-rate service by rail. But she is continuously badgered, cajoled, taxed, ruled and regulated -- always in the public interest -- into bankruptcy. Sound far-fetched? On the day I sat down to write this ode to "Atlas," a Wall Street Journal headline blared: "Rail Shippers Ask Congress to Regulate Freight Prices."

In one chapter of the book, an entrepreneur invents a new miracle metal -- stronger but lighter than steel. The government immediately appropriates the invention in "the public good." The politicians demand that the metal inventor come to Washington and sign over ownership of his invention or lose everything.

The scene is eerily similar to an event late last year when six bank presidents were summoned by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Washington, and then shuttled into a conference room and told, in effect, that they could not leave until they collectively signed a document handing over percentages of their future profits to the government. The Treasury folks insisted that this shakedown, too, was all in "the public interest."

Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus. But Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Washington want to do the opposite: to raise the income tax "for purposes of fairness" as Barack Obama puts it.

David Kelley, the president of the Atlas Society, which is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas, explains that "the older the book gets, the more timely its message." He tells me that there are plans to make "Atlas Shrugged" into a major motion picture -- it is the only classic novel of recent decades that was never made into a movie. "We don't need to make a movie out of the book," Mr. Kelley jokes. "We are living it right now."

Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal editorial page.

When Fiction becomes Fact, it's time to read up on what your solution is.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

By STEPHEN MOORE

Politicians don't care about American's Safety

2009-02-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

Glenn doesn't buy that statement.

I feel it's completely true. Can't wait to read this guys book.

A Flag of Conviction

2009-02-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

Christopher Gadsden was a man of principle who understood that government, unless held in check, grows slowly and inexorably. And a government that has no limits, no constitutionally drawn boundaries, soon becomes the master and the citizens become heavily-taxed workers little more than slaves. Without representation — the ability to fight for their interests — the colonies would be subject to the whim and will of politicians ever in search of more revenue and swag to grant the "court locusts" who buzz around institutions of power expecting a handout.

When the Stamp Act was passed the British envoy who was set to enforce the new law tried to land in Charleston. But Gadsden led the Sons of Liberty against the tax-collecting functionary. The patriots would not let his ship anchor to enforce the illegal act.

Then, the captain of the British ship turned back through the mouth of the Charleston harbor to anchor at Fort Johnson.

The Sons of Liberty, no doubt alcohol-fueled and intoxicated with raucous songs of their victory, heard of this and decided to show Parliament just how much they hated oppressive taxes. They traveled to the fort, took it over, and aimed the British guns at the Stamp Act collector's ship.

Outmatched and obviously outgunned, the captain set to sea never to return. Gadsden and his men then went home. Through legal channels, the patriots continued their resistance to the Stamp Act and eventually had it overturned.

Eight years later, America was in full rebellion against British rule, which had become more capricious and still threatened unjust and burdensome taxation. It was then that Gadsden became a colonel in the Revolutionary Army and presented his unique ensign as the flag of the Cause.

The coiled snake might seem a strange symbol today. But it was and is effective. No American who ever sees it forgets — and that's just the kind of message the revolutionaries wanted to send.

In December 1775, Benjamin Franklin published an essay in the Pennsylvania Journal under the pseudonym American Guesser in which he suggested that the rattlesnake was a good symbol for the American spirit:

I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids—She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.—She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage.—As if anxious to prevent all pretentions of quarrelling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenceless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defence, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:—Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.—Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?

I've always held a special place in my heart for the Gadsden Flag. It make me remember the price that was paid by those who came before.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadsden_flag
http://www.claremont.org/publications/pubid.162/pub_detail.asp

Will we be a nation of mortgage slaves?

2009-02-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

Will we be a nation of mortgage slaves?

If the intent is to help homeowners, then foreclosure is undoubtedly the best solution. Household balance sheets have been destroyed by taking on too much debt via the purchase of inflated assets. With so little savings, a household with negative equity almost implies negative net worth. Walking away from the mortgage immediately repairs the balance sheet.

What?!! Allow the markets to self-correct? What would the government do then?

Uncle Jay Explains Congressional Recess

2009-02-19T17:48:00.001-08:00

Wow, so how many days is it?

Lou Dobbs an important voice for gun rights....

2009-02-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

From Codrea's Examiner Column:

For all the slams against CNN in conservative circles, and admittedly, they have their share of lefties, I find them much better on RKBA issues than supposedly right-wing Fox News--and much more consistent. This is thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Lou Dobbs and reporter Bill Tucker.

Thanks for keeping us up on this David.

Things to do before you die

2009-02-18T11:30:00.001-08:00

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

WOW.....(click icon to expand to full screen!)

No one says it like Fred....

2009-02-17T00:45:00.001-08:00

How dare I apply 'common sense' to these difficult and complex situations!!

Standing Up.... Finally

2009-02-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

Nearly 700 people filled the auditorium at a local church tonight as the '2nd Amendment Taskforce' met for the second time in Fairbanks. Just a week before 140 people attended the meeting that took place at Denny's, where only 20 people were expected.

I would say that something has finally gotten Gun Owners attention in the Interior of Alaska.

Meeting organizer Schaeffer Cox encouraged everyone to be vigilant and upright, and do the best to adhere to the letter of the law. State lawmaker's names and phone numbers were passed around and attendees were encouraged to call to support a bills that would help support the 2nd Amendment including one in the state house that that would force State judges to inform juries of their nullification rights.

Tomorrow I will be sending Governor Palin two pieces of potential legislation. One will be the 'Alaska Firearms Freedom Act', modeled after Montana's it will hopefully be able to give Alaskan gun and ammo manufactures the ability to sell products to instate customers without interference from the Feds. The second piece is an amalgam. There are eight states that currently have State Sovereignty legislation before their elected bodies. I took the best from the bunch and put together our own 'State Rights Omnibus'. Hopefully we will get support from Sarah to get some traction with these two pieces in the Alaska Legislature.

The energy and enthusiasm that this group showed, has given me renewed hope that we might be able to mobilize more grassroots support for a 2A fight with the Federal Gov.

I'll keep you updated with more as it develops.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Another reason these guys are the 'Only Ones' that should have firearms.

2008-12-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

All we ever hear from those on the left is how police are the 'Only Ones' that should be able to have firearms. Because they are the 'only ones' who have the correct 'training' and correct 'temperament'. And apparently because they are the 'only ones' with the skills to rape a woman with a foreign object.

When she refused to provide a urine sample, deputies obtained a warrant for bodily fluids. She offered to give blood but was told by one of the deputies, “in a black cowboy hat,” according to her, that the judge wanted urine. Next step: a male guard stripped her in front of several other male guards. She was held down and a catheter was forced into her.

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/utah_woman_raped_by_drug_task_force/C564/L564/

So, yeah sure! Give them all the guns, and let all of us languish at their mercy.

Sounds like a great idea.

Reloading Class, Saturday the 13th

2008-12-05T17:41:00.001-08:00

**RELOADING CLASS**
December 13th from 10a-2p, taking place at Frontier Outfitters. Kevin McCarthy will be hosting the class. Space is limited and is on a first come, first serve basis.
Cost is $40.

To sign up, send me an email, including your name and phone number, plus the top 4 calibers you plan on reloading. My email address is me (at) michaeldukesshow.com

Watch this site for information on how many spaces available as we fill up.

Lessons in Gun Control

2008-12-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

The following is a excerpt from Aaron Zelman's book 'Death by "Gun Control"'. Aaron is the President of the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. This is one of the premier 'no compromise' gun rights organizations in the country.

The Australian reference is the the laws passed in 1996, outlawing all private ownership of handguns in the country.

A little Gun History Lesson

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953,
about 20 million disside nts, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated.

------------------------------

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5
million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

---------------------------

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total
of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves
were rounded up and exterminated

------------------------------

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million
political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

----------------------------

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000
Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

------------------------------

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000
Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

------------------------------

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one
million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated.

-----------------------------

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.

------------------------------

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by
new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by
their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than
$500 million dollars.. The first year results are now in:

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent

Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent

Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300
percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the
criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!

It will never happen here? I bet the Aussies said that too!

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in
armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in
the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey
is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of
the ELDERLY. Aust ralian politicians are at a loss to explain how
public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense
was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The
Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians
disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes,
gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my=2 0fellow Americans, before it's too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind him
of this history lesson..

With Guns...........We Are 'Citizens'.

Without Them........We Are 'Subjects'.

During W.W.II the Japanese decided not to invade America because they
knew most Americans were ARMED!

Note: Admiral Yamamoto who crafted the attack on Pearl Harbor had
attended Harvard U 1919-1921 & was Naval Attaché to the U. S. 1925-28.
Most of our Navy was destroyed at Pearl Harbor & our Army had been
deprived of funding & was ill prepared to defend the country.

It was reported that when asked why Japan did not follow up the Pearl
Harbor attack with an invasion of the U. S. Mainland, his reply was
that he had lived in the U. S. & knew that almost all households had
guns.

Blank Spot

2008-12-05T16:26:00.001-08:00

Sorry bout the lack of posting. Seems like between vacation and getting caught back up on work I run out of steam by the time I think to post anything.

Hopefully the next couple of weeks will give me more time to fill the blogosphere with more useless drivel.

Vampire Exterminator Gun

2008-10-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

This would be a great addition to my collection.....I expect all of you to send some money to my collection fund. You're gonna...right?

http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/Vampire+Gun

That guns have been part of myths and mythology has been part of firearms history cannot be denied by anyone familiar with either genre.

The "Vampire Exterminator" Colt Detective Special was engraved by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini and cased in a specially fabricated ebony casket.

Some time ago, a spectacular Colt Detective Special was offered up for auction at Butterfield & Butterfield in San Francisco, California, that more than proves the above aphorism.

The "Vampire Exterminator Gun," which was purchased as part of the Petersen Museum Collection, is one of the most spectacular—perhaps the most spectacular—examples of an embellished Detective Special extant.

As its name implies, its motif is in keeping with the legends of Dracula, himself. Engraved in 1975 by Colt master engraver Leonard Francolini, who claimed the gun was undertaken on the order of one Dr. Abraham van Helsing, the gun is entirely silver-plated. Decorations include elaborate scroll engraving that includes such designs as bats, dragons and tangled foliage of the type one might find on the weathered battlements of some Transylvanian fortress. The muzzle through which the bullet must pass is emblazoned with a cross, further strengthening its effect against the unholy undead. Even the traditional rampant colt is depicted as standing on a coffin. The smooth ebony grips are capped off by a silver band and lanyard ring and have two small bats inset into the lower left panel—presumably trophies of some successful anti-Nosferatu foray.

Clockwise from top left. 1)A dragon signifies the origin of the name Dracula-"Son of the Dragon." 2) Two small silver bats embellish the left grip panel. Two less vampires? 3) A sleeping bat nestles comfortably with the guns' cylinder flutes. 4) A cross at the muzzle sanctifies the bullet's travel to its unholy quarry.

The gun is cased in a scaled-down ebony casket by Jeffrey Brundege of Rogersville, Missouri. Its French-style, blood-red velvet lining has spaces for the revolver, a silver bottle engraved with "Holy Water" and an ebony cleaning rod that also serves as the handle for a supplied screw-on wooden stake. Too, there is a hidden mirror in the coffin lid used to identify the quarry—for as we all know, vampires cast no reflection.

At the small end of the container in the shape of a cross, are six .38 Special cartridges, the silver bullets of which are fashioned into meticulous likenesses of The Count.

The silver bullets have been fashioned into images of The Count. Included in the "kit" are a silver holy-water bottle and a combination cleaning rod and wooden stake.

Upon further examination of the box, we found two recovered spent bullets, which with the exception of the rifling engraving, were relatively pristine. We can only assume that these are the two bullets that accounted for the grip trophies.

Whether one believes in vampires or not, there is no question that this gun is one of the most evocative, mysterious and beautiful firearms creations of modern times.

I WANT IT!! MUHAHAHAHA

545 PEOPLE

2008-10-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

(based in part on the article linked below)

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices, 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Led by the Speaker.

The Speaker is the leader of the majority party. The Speaker and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ ..

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics' that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

http://www.apfn.org/APFN/woes.htm

2008-10-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

This says it all.......

Obama: 'Yes I Can.....make US defenseless'

2008-10-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

And if you believe that a 'kinder, gentler' America will make Russia and the rest of the world capitulate, I have beach front property in beautiful downtown North Pole, Alaska to sell you.

Sheesh....

‘No One Will Bail Out America'

2008-10-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Remember David Walker? Former Comptroller General of the US? He's the one that tried to tell the politicians the dire news about what was really happening in our economy. When they didn't listen, he took it on the road to the people.

Worse, if the U.S. isn’t careful, Walker said “increasing entitlement benefits” – with unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare now estimated at $53 trillion--could trigger a tsunami of debt--and whopping tax increases--could drown our economic future.

Astonishing! As I have talked about before, Walker has been going around the country for the last 3 years (2 of them working for the .gov) warning citizens and politicians alike that we have a serious problem on the horizon. Will there be anyone who wakes up on this?

Only time (what little we have left) will tell.

Frank Under Indictment

2008-10-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck, holding the Peoples Court, with lots of info and insight into Frank's involvement and with more intel on Obama's ties to this as well.

ps: Look for Freddoso to be on my show in the near future.

Rant of the Week....

2008-10-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most bombastic talking heads out there, Bill O'Reilly takes on Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank. Frank is one of the keep factors in the current meltdown on Wall Street, and all he does is throw out partisan rhetoric....Pathetic.

Then you get to see alittle more in-depth (read non-screaming) analysis of Frank's part in the banking scandal with one of my favorite Political Acolytes. (ignore the title)

Mike Bloomberg, 3-dom Fighter

2008-10-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

"I've been reading that Mayor Bloomberg might be interested in serving a third term," the cosmetics heir said.

"Because of the unprecedented times, this is welcome news. To me, Mayor Bloomberg's brilliance in the financial sector, particularly Wall Street, would be invaluable."

Just when you thought our favorite gun hating mayor couldn't sink any lower. Turns out that even though he fought against changing term limits when he wasn't effected, Michael Bloomberg has decided that 'for the financial good of New York' he's going to fight to run for a third term. No wonder he wanted to disarm New Yorkers first.

Is it Wednesday Already?

2008-09-24T16:55:00.001-07:00

Another week flys by. More Palin bashing, more McCain bashing. More Obama using things out of context.

That's right!! Just another opportunity to be a better American lost.

Who will overcome in this race......

Only time will tell.

Droopy Drawers mean Jail Time!

2008-09-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Droopy Drawers mean Jail Time!

Behind the indecency laws may be the real issue — the hip-hop style itself, which critics say is worn as a badge of delinquency, with its distinctive walk conveying thuggish swagger and a disrespect for authority. Also at work is the larger issue of freedom of expression and the questions raised when fashion moves from being merely objectionable to illegal.

Where does the line between freedom of expression and public decency fall? I'm not sure the First Amendment covers all these guys showing me the bottom of their boxers. Maybe this will help the parents of these 'youths' get their kids some clothes that actually cover up that underwear.

Portrait of Obama

2008-09-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

You can discount certain things in this video. I only put partial credence in the fact that he was raised in a muslim school etc. The most interesting thing in this video is the discussion regarding Reverend Wright and the whole 'Black Liberation Theology' movement. If this is what Obama has been supporting, even quietly, over the last 22 years as a parishioner at Wright's church, then we have a HUGE problem.

Watch and decide for yourself.

Mental Health Break.......WWJBD?

2008-09-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Can't Frickin Wait.

Now....Get Back To Work.....

YES We Can!!

2008-09-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Long before the great messianic hope. There was one who reminded us that Government is not the answer, it IS the problem. And he reminded us that YES We Can.

Rest in God's Peace Dutch, we miss you....

Mental Health Break......Favorite TV Shows

2008-09-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, So what do you get when you mix two of my all time favorite TV shows?

Doctor Who on Top Gear!!

There you go!! Fastest TARDIS in the universe.

Now, get back to work.

Sneer at God...at your own peril.

2008-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, Charlie Gibson's interview with the Governor was very condescending. A real sneer-fest. The biggest eye rolling came during the discussion about whether Sarah believed that our troops were on a 'mission from God'. Although Elwood was not in the interview, even he was insulted by Charlie's behavior.

Now Newt Gingrich would like to educate some of those out in America that would mock one of our leaders who would dare to 'Cling to religion' and invoke the name of the Almighty.

Thus endeth the lesson.....

edited to add:

The lessons keep on coming...

Troopergate Redux

2008-09-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

POW!! BIF!! WHACK!!

The McCain-Palin campaign came out swinging yesterday, putting all the "Troopergate" facts on the table. Although I did have to snicker at their attempt to relabel the so called 'scandal' as "Tasergate", no doubt a reference to Trooper Wooten's use of a State owned taser on his 10 year old stepson. The rest of the info disseminated by Meghan Stapleton was a wicked counterpunch to what we have been hearing in the media for the last couple of weeks.

Fact:

The facts are really quite simple. From the Fall of 2007 through mid-2008...Commissioner Monegan repeatedly tried to undermine the Governor's authority by working against her and the administration over the Department of Public Safety's budget.

It wasn't really all about the hiring OR firing of Trooper Wooten or anyone else. It was about insubordination. It was about going behind the Governor's back and undermining what she was trying to do with the budget for the State.

Fact:

As everyone knows, this Governor came into office on a reform platform and one of her principal accomplishments has been to reduce wasteful spending. Commissioner Monegan refused to abide by this fiscal reform policy. One of the governor's top Department of Public Safety priorities was to fill as many as 56 trooper vacancies, but the Commissioner re-routed dollars away from these positions and into his own chosen areas of funding. Last Fall, Commissioner Monegan proposed a 10-year strategic plan that committed state dollars and removed the governor's constitutional budget authority; he also traveled to Washington, DC to lobby Congress for federal earmarks without the Governor's knowledge; and then finished off the year by engineering a press conference that included his friend Senator Hollis French to present the department's own budget - just days ahead of the Governor's reform budget.

Then you have Monegan telling the Anchorage Daily News in his own words that no one had EVER asked him to fire Wooten. Not Sarah, not Todd, nor any of the staff. So where did all this crap come from?

Fact:

It is important to note that Commissioner Monegan and John Cyr, the head of the police union who filed a Complaint against the Governor before the Personnel Board, and who appeared with Trooper Wooten on a recent CNN interview, repeatedly changed their stories as to why Monegan was dismissed. While at first Monegan had no idea, John Cyr actually talked about budget differences.........Monegan and Cyr began to morph into an evolution of excuses and repeated retractions by Monegan, Wooten, and Cyr. And they enlisted blogger Andrew Halcro to launch their smear campaign against Governor Palin........And thus... the genesis of what turned into a partisan effort... to take down the Governor. The bar room banter turned into a full-blown Legislative investigation spearheaded by Monegan's friend and well-known Obama supporter Hollis French, and overseen by another Obama supporter Chairman Kim Elton, who contributed $2,250 to the Obama campaign.So when all was said and done, it turns out that the 'scandal' of Troopergate" or "Tasergate" or "Whatevergate" is nothing more than another partisan attack. An illicit, unconstitutional, vindictive witchhunt against a Governor who dared to take the Legislature of the State in hand and tell the little children that Mommy was here to scold and watch over them.

Bottom Line? The Commisioner's position is part of Sarah's Cabinet. He serves at her pleasure. He went behind her back and tried to undermine her to the public, to further his own budgetary self interests. He got demoted for it.

Yeah, demoted. Not fired. Go figure......

Palin and the Angry Man

2008-09-15T23:07:00.001-07:00

Was it just me or was Charles Gibson the angriest man on the planet during this first televised interview with Sarah Palin? During the questioning he either looked over his spectacles at her like a disgruntled Headmaster or sat with his eyes closed like he was mentally counting to 10.

And her answers at times seemed to just hack him off.

And what's with the 'gotcha' questions? And even set up with questions that were definetly set ups. The question on the so called 'Bush Doctrine' was a prime example. Alot of people perceive it to be Bush's assertion that helping to promote democracy around the world would make it a safer more cohesive place to live or that it was Bush's announcement that if a country harbored, sponsored or supported terrorism, then those countries were fair game for America militarily.

But I guess thats what happens when you are trying your hardest to discredit your interviewee instead of just getting the goods.

Live from the Airplane Hanger

2008-09-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I was there. On hand as Governor Sarah returned to Alaska for the first time since the announcement of her pick as VP. Nearly 3000 people showed up and waited for nearly 5 hours to see and hear what our famous Lady had to say.

In this speech she needed to solidify what she had said previously. She needed to assure the Nation that she was capable and ready to take on the challenge of the office. She was of course preaching to the choir, as this was a Republican Rally. But still, she needed to move forward and take ground.

After a good nights sleep I want to revise some of my comments that I made during the broadcast. All in all it was a good speech, not great, not phenomenal, just good. She covered some of the things that needed to be said about energy independence and the economy, but I think that the McCain Campaign had the reins held alittle too tightly. She really wasn't allowed completely to be the Sarah that we know. To you folks in the McCain campaign, 'Let Our Sarah Go.' Let her be herself, she won't let you down. We trust her, you should to. If you do that, her next speech will not be good, but GREAT.

I'm looking forward to her interview with Charles Gibson tonight, and the future debate with Joe Biden.

We Shall Never Forget

2008-09-11T16:28:00.001-07:00

7 Years and 7 Verses. Visit the Dissident Frogman, creator and owner of this reminder.

May we never forget and never lose sight of why we fight.

May God Bless those who fell.

Obama is the new Messiah?

2008-09-10T19:01:00.001-07:00

We've heard all about the 'Lightworker'. Now someone has gone and done it. Finally saying what the really feel. Someone finally compared Obama to Jesus Christ....

Oh and by the way, another cheap shot at my Governor, Sarah Palin.

Let the backlash, ensue.

Wow! I'm embarrased for him too....

2008-09-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

We can only hope that no one on the conservative side makes this kind of blunder.

Not that I expect Sarah would.

Edited to add:

Now I picked the one with the first 20 seconds on the front so that it's in context. But you can't tell me that someone as politically astute at Obama didn't make that connection to Sarah Palin. Obviously the crowd did.

More news from the British Front

2008-09-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

How is it that even the British Press seems to get it better than our own? I for one would not have my feelings hurt if these attacks on Sarah continued. Every time she is attacked it's actually forcing another vote out of the 'undecideds' for her.

Some American women are beginning to recognise that the Democrats talk a good game about shattering glass ceilings - provided the beneficiary is a liberal feminist who has bitched her way to the top; but if an average American wife and mother presumes to come out from behind the white picket fence she will be put down with ruthless calculation. Some ladies are getting quite upset about that.

Although I will say that some of the comments are pretty ugly.

How NOT to teach your spouse about firearms...

2008-09-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

What am I going to say except.....MORON. Now she'll never want to go shooting with you. Oh! And you can forget about that new Kimber Custom you were looking at.

Obama on Guns

2008-09-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Although Obama has guaranteed us that he won't take our guns, it might not be that easy.

Obama said: "I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration."

Riiiigggghhhhtttt.....

Turns out that even though he may want to, he understands that he doesn't have the support of the rest of his congressional pals.

“Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said. “This can’t be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I’m not going to take away your guns.’’

Of course when he announced that in public it went over like the proverbial lead balloon.

Now it turns out that the 'sportsmen' he talks about, and the 'sporting purpose' that's bandied about by the media and loose in so many in statutes may be open to HIS interpretation.

I support the re-imposition of the ban on the sale of assault weapons that expired in September 2004 because I believe these guns are used primarily for criminal rather than sporting intent.

Ok, I may have a problem with that interpretation. Considering that DOJ stats show that 'assault weapons' are used in less that 2% of all gun crimes, and less than 0.25% of all violent crime. In some major metros (San Antonio, Nashville, etc) and even some states (New Jersey, Maryland, etc) the rate is less than 0.1%.² In fact you're 11 times more likely to be beaten to death than to be killed by a so called 'assault weapon'. ¹

By the way, all of those statistics are from before the original AWB was in place.

So I'm sorry that those facts get in the way of what you 'believe'. Of course that's never stopped you in the past.....

Thanks to http://olegvolk.net/ for photo.

¹-FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994
²Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns”, 1997, compilation of 48 metropolitan police departments from 1980-1994

The Brits Like Her Too....

2008-09-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

A Moose Loose
in our Hoose? -The Sun(UK)

Showing steel beneath her magnolia jacket, she slaughtered Obama’s lack of experience, his vanity, his emptiness beneath the windy waffle.
It was the most powerful demolition of the Democrat hero I have heard in two weeks on the US election trail.

Our very own Margret Thatcher? Whoo hoo!! Amazing how someone from across the pond seems to get it, yet those on our very shore, those who are supposed to be reporting on relevant FACTS with cool, unbiased detachment, seem to do nothing but spin, inveigle and obfuscate.

Tah tah, cheerio and all that, what?

Dear Mr. Obama

2008-09-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

'Nuff Said.....

2008-09-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sarah should stay home
with baby and Pregnant daughter... -CNSNews

“I think the idea of nominating her to commandeer some of the disenfranchised Hillary voters just because she wears a skirt is ridiculous,” MacLaine said, adding that critics who say she should stay at home with her infant son, who has Down syndrome, and her teenage daughter, who is pregnant, might be right.

Isn't it amazing how fast women on the left, especially those who have in the past espoused beliefs in the tenants of the feminist movement, have come to demean and criticize Sarah Palin for doing exactly what they told her women should do?

Sarah should is THE model for feminist in America. She's got the good looking husband, the 5 beautiful kids, the high powered job. She's got it all! You would think that every woman's organization in the country would be clamoring to hold her up for all to see.

But no, people like Shirley MacLaine continue to lip off about how horrible it is that she would dare put a career move over the welfare of her children. How in the world could Baby Trig get the care and love that he needs if Mama has a job? How will Bristol deal with her (gasp) teenage pregnancy if Mom has to be in the Whitehouse?

Maybe it would just be better if she just stayed home in the kitchen....barefoot and pregnant. I can't believe Gloria Steinem isn't screaming at the top of her lungs instead of just saying "oh, I regret that's what people are saying"

I think that we 'non-elites' in America can see the hypocrisy of those statements and see all these comments for what they really are.

Fear.

Fear that Sarah, is the silver bullet that will finish off Obama's aspirations of glory for good.

Get back in that kitchen!

2008-09-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Get back in that kitchen! -Worldnetdaily

They've condemned Sarah for shirking her motherly duties because of her career commitments, breaking an untold number of commandments from the feminist code of conduct.

If they can watch Sarah's speech and come away without finding one thing to be positive about, their bias becomes glaringly apparent. Even Democratic pundit Howard Wolfson was blown away by her poise, delivery and strength.

Those on the left who continue to decry her as 'inexperienced' or as having a 'hairstyle 40 years out of date' are basically terrified of the effect that she is having not only on the Republican (conservative) establishment, but on her swaying of those middle ground voters that will make or break this next election.

The more they howl and detract on the little, useless things the more you know that Sarah is a force to be reckoned with.

Sarah puts Obama over her knee.

2008-09-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to comment on Sarah's speech last night, but the media coverage has got things all stirred up here at the radio station.

All I can say is that her speech was the proverbial spanking for Obama. She took him to task in every major area that she has taken criticism in during the last 4 days. Her comments, delivered with as smile, mocked his messianic self-importance. The question of experience was laid to rest as she explained exactly who had the most practical experience in running a government. She showed you how Obama's message of 'Change' was nothing more than an advertising slogan cooked up by some suits on Madison Avenue. That that slogan was just as empty as the promises that Obama has delivered over the last two years on the campaign trail. With her charm, her wit and her honesty Sarah reached out and showed America what we here in Alaska have known for the last 6 years.

She is a real, caring, honorable person. She believes strongly in the values that made this Country great. She has touched that core in every American who has been yearning to see those values become mainstream again. Folks who had little or no intention of participating in this election cycle have changed. They're not just talking about voting, they're talking about voting, with excitement. They're talking to their neighbors and their co-workers, to the folks at church and to people they meet at the store.

And these Americans are right to be excited.

My brother lives in Arizona and told me today that people who know he's from Alaska are stopping him wherever he goes asking the same questions. Is Sarah real? Is She too good to be true? Does she have what it takes?

His answer is the same as mine.

Yes America. There is a true Conservative, a true Christian, a true American who wants to make our government work for the People of this great Nation.

Her name is Sarah Palin.

God Bless Her.

Sarah Palin for VP

2008-08-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

My phone started ringing at 5:30 this morning. News of a woman matching Sarah's description, seen getting off a plane in Dayton, Ohio. Shaking the sleep off, I stumbled around to the PC and started crawling the web.

Yep, it's true. Sarah Palin is McCain’s choice for VP.

Say it ain't so!! We needed her for just a couple more years! Come on, we would have gladly given her to you once she had finished putting the State back on track towards prosperity.

Ok, I’m over that now. And the longer I surfed and read the pundits view on our Governor the more excited I became. Here's a candidate that makes up for everything that Conservatives hated about John McCain.

She's young, where he's old. She's a staunch fiscal and social conservative where he is a moderate at best in social issues. She's articulate and has a genuineness that charms the people she meets and speaks to, he's a little too stiff and pugnacious and comes across very stilted most of the time. She's strong on the 2nd amendment, he's a unknown at best or a cloaked ‘gunshow loopholer’ at worst. She's Hot, he's not.

Sarah makes up for a lot of the McCain scabs and will allow Conservatives to go to into the voting booth this November and actually have a conservative to vote for. Strategically McCain couldn’t have picked a better candidate to steal momentum away from the “O-Express” on the day after a nomination acceptance speech that left most of the mainstream media going ‘gaga’ for most of the night.

So, congratulations Sarah! We’ll miss you while you’re gone, but we’ll be behind you all the way to the Whitehouse.

More on the US economy....

2008-01-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

I keep saying that things are going to continue to get worse if we don't wake up and smell the coffee. Here is yet another bit from US Comptroller David Walker, with some more alarming numbers on what we will be facing in this country is we don't admit to ourselves as a country that we have a problem

The Thick Blue Line

2007-09-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here something you never thought you’d hear (emphasis added):

The new police generation is here and the "old timers" need to pass on the respect for the police. It goes without saying that the public needs to respect us, but we must also respect each other. We have the career that no one wants, unless it's on TV. We have to deal with...well...how do we say it politically...the sh*theads!

This charming little blurb comes from a site called copswritingcops.com. It’s an online venting place for LEO’s of all sorts who felt that they have been wronged by their fellow officers who had the audacity to write them a ticket for breaking the law.

Yes that’s right, it’s another one for David Codrea’s ‘Only Ones’ file. These cops feel that it’s not just a privilege but a mandatory right that once they (or their spouse, fathers, nieces, etc) flash their badges or drop hints about their Law Enforcement connections that there should be absolutely no punishment for their crimes.

Don’t believe it? Here’s a classic excerpt from their FAQ:

Are we above the law?
No.

Should we be given breaks on tickets that normal people would be given a break?
Yes. Best Buy employees get an employee price (which is awesome), Subway employees get free subs, military people get free hops on planes, airline employees get the jet around the world for free ($50 is free). Every profession gets some kind of 'perk'.

Is it fair?
No, but when is life ever fair.

But it gets even better. Not only does it seem that they expect to be given a pass on simple speeding tickets, they really expect a free ride for almost any moving violation including ones that endanger fellow motorists.

I was a highway patrol officer and Sgt in Westchester County New York for 16 years before I had to retire on disability after being struck by a car. I stopped hundreds of cops in my career. I never wrote one but I did drive quite a few home who were "unable" to make it on their own.

Any of us who were not ‘Only Ones’ would go (and do) go straight to jail.

So much for equal protection under the law….

I couldn't help it....

2007-06-28T23:19:00.001-07:00

I get so sick and tired of the Mainstream Medias preconceived notions of what the troops feel over in the sand. I thought that this cartoon pretty much summed it up.

Plus its funny as hell....

MD

Amnesty Averted

2007-06-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! One of our congressional delegation decides to listen to the people. The Immigration Reform Bill was voted on this morning and it looks like Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens did the 'right' thing by not voting for cloture, effectively sending the bill into political limbo.

Yesterday I played an interview that the two senators held early this week, discussing the bill with 'real' journalists. During the interview both of them alluded to the fact that they had received ALOT of calls from folks in Alaska as well as those from the lower 48. Yet both of them commented that they felt like leaving this bill alone or voting against it was not the 'right thing to do'. Obviously 'we the people' don't really know what the hell we are doing, so we need someone like Ted or Lisa to come and take care of us.

But it wasn't just us. Across the country people were flooding the Senate offices with phone calls, faxes and emails. People were hacked off and the outcry was growing everyday. The national news media was touting the bills passage on Wednesday, saying it might be close, but it was pretty much a done deal. That just caused the opposition to increase.

In fact it was reported on the Senate floor that there were so many Americans calling in about this bill that it actually crashed the phone system in the Senate office building. No new calls could be taken this morning, but by then the tide had turned. 18 Senators who had voted earlier this week, changed their vote and said no to cloture.

But even this was a wimpy way to take a stand. Saying no to cloture, just sends the bill to the back burner. It would have been nice to see then close debate on the bill, then vote again and kill it completely.

But that would have been too much like taking a stand.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to be happy that we won't be admitting another 12-30 million illegals to our country....oh wait they're already here.

Anyway. Thanks Ted & Lisa, its nice to see you doing the job that we pay you for....for once.

MD

Artwork for Firearms Friday shirts almost complete....

2007-06-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the initial mockup of the Firearms Friday shirt. I have 2 different choices on the back design, so let me know in the comments if you want the back with or without the MD Show Logo. Color choice is probably going to be limited to black, or maybe a dark grey.

Front Pocket Logo: (click on pictures for larger versions)

Back Logo with MD Show logo:

and finally without the MD Show Logo:

Remember I will be getting these in real people sizes (2XL and 3XL) I will also be getting a couple in 4XL. So sound off in the comments section and let me know which one you like and what size you'll need. Expect it to be about 3 weeks until we have these ready for sale.

Any questions email: michaeldukesshow AT gmail.com

The New Hats are In!

2007-06-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

As promised the new hats are finally in. Each one is $21.00 each, and we will also have some grey ones with black flames in the near future.

Click on the photos below for larger pictures:

So show your support and irritate your liberal friends. Buy a Michael Dukes Show hat today!

Just email me: michaeldukesshow AT gmail.com

The ATF is NOT your friend...

2007-06-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

With everything that we've been hearing the news the last couple of years you would think that the BATF has only been making collective asses out of themselves in the recent past. But if you look closer you will see an agency that since its very inception has had one goat-rope after another perpetrated by its agents.

From their very first 'no knock' warrant, served on a man and wife by 'plain clothes' agents from part of the treasury departments narco unit, (you can imagine how much these guys looked like scumbags) where the man, thinking that his home is being invaded by drug addicts, grabs his legally owned pistol to defend himself and his wife, and and is shot in the head by the agents. This of course leaves him as a vegetable for the rest of his life. Oh and oops....wrong house.

Flash forward 30 years. You would think that in this time they've gotten their act together. They'll serve warrants the 'right' way and they will do their best to protect citizens civil rights while they do so. Right?

Wrong.

THE LIVES OF Harry and Theresa Lamplugh were turned upside down on the morning of May 25, 1994. Early that day, 15-to-20 armed men and women burst into their rural Pennsylvania home. Under the threat of violence, the Lamplughs cooperated completely with the intruders as they opened safes, locks and cabinets. In spite of their compliance, however, Harry and Theresa were treated with contempt. Throughout the ordeal, a fully automatic machine gun was intermittently thrust in both their faces.

According to Lamplugh, there were a total of six cars full of agents. They were not dressed in any uniform, and only two had the identifying ATF vests on. All firearms were drawn. An M-P5 machine gun was stuck in Harry's face. They did not announce who they were or why they were there, and no search warrants were displayed. "When I asked if they had a search warrant, their first reply was 'shut the f___ up mother f___er; do you want more trouble than you already have?', with the machine gun stuck in my face." Harry said. "They then proceeded to tear my house apart."

The Lamplughs watched in horror as the thugs literally trashed their home. Furniture was overturned or smashed and papers were scattered everywhere. Three pet cats were ruthlessly killed--one literally stomped to death. The gang ransacked their home for more than six hours. When they finally left, Harry and Theresa stood confused and angry in the midst of their demolished home.

The brutal and inhumane events that you have just read about are not fiction. They were taken from the testimony of Harry and Theresa Lamplugh. Only the intruders were not some violent street gang members or foreign terrorists; they were agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Why would two federal agencies send a small battalion of agents to terrorize this couple in the supposed safety of their home? What terrible crime did Harry and Theresa Lamplugh commit that prompted this brutal six-and-a half hour ordeal? Shockingly, there are no good answers to these questions.

Harry Lamplugh, however, is in the politically incorrect business of promoting gun shows. His organization, Borderline Gun Collectors Association, happens to be the largest gun show promoter in the Northeast. As anyone who has ever attended a gun show knows, there are more than firearms and accessories on display. A gun show is also a place where people of common interests meet to express their political views and share opinions. Not surprisingly, criticism of the BATF runs deep at such a forum. And it is no secret that the BATF spends considerable time and effort infiltrating these shows.

Since gun show infiltration is a massive undertaking that yields relatively small returns, the BATF has now honed in on a primary source, Harry Lamplugh. On May 23, 1994, the agencies obtained a search warrant authorizing both the BATF and the IRS to "search" the Lamplugh home. Included in the list of items to be seized were any firearms, ammunition, holsters, cleaning kits, gun cases and firearms accessories. The Lamplughs' attorney points out that the warrant failed to name even one specific item. "Such warrants are vague, overbroad and therefore unconstitutional," he said.

The agents also seized complete financial and business records of the Borderline Gun Collectors Association from 1988 to the present. This included all computer records and any other documents related to the sale and purchase of firearms. Obviously, the BATF was on some sort of "fishing expedition." But the most amazing aspect of the warrant is what was NOT on it. There was no reference to any crime by any person. The BATF appears to hold not only the Second Amendment in disdain, but the Fourth as well. --

So next time your watching the news and you see the 'ATF' logo on someones back, or you hear some story about how some 'dirty' gun dealer is under ATF scrutiny and will probably lose his license and/or go to prison. Ask yourself this question: Are these the guys that we really want to be protecting OUR gun rights?

I think not...

MD

Milking the Mat Maid

2007-06-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for Sarah Palin.

Here is a Governor that will stand up for what is right. She ran on a platform of not doing business as usual. Not playing the party politics. Not being a 'yes man' for the political machine.

Case in point. Mat Maid Dairy. Here is a state owned and operated dairy, that's been in operation (in state hands) since 1986. And its been making money all these years. Then suddenly after 20 years of making a profit it starts to lose money. Until out of the blue, the Creamery Board decides to shut down the dairy without notice and without really seeming to care about the consequences to 6 dairy farms and countless other businesses effected by the closure. Now this is a Corp. that is run with state money, and is supposed to be overseen by people who are responsible to the public for the money that they spend.

Enter Sarah Palin.

As Governor, she realizes the extent of the damage that will be caused by this shutdown and she wants to stop it. So she authorizes the dispersal of an additional $600,000 dollars to help the Dairy stabilize its finances so that if nothing else, they can cut back production to accommodate, at a minimum, the local/state dairy farms.

The Creamery Board refused. Saying that it just wasn't feasible to keep Mat Maid open any longer.

Then the Governor scheduled a tour of the dairy. She is trying to get a handle on what is happening, and why the board would refuse to use the money offered by the state. So she shows up at the appointed time, and *poof*, nothing happens. I mean nothing. The Governor of the State of Alaska is left cooling her heals in the waiting room for over an hour, finally she has to move on to another appointment.

The reason for the snubbing? Well, the tour couldn't be conducted without the CEO present. Security procedures had to be followed. They couldn't just show up 'unannounced'.

Yeah, my 10 year old could come up with better excuses.

Now the Governor doesn't have the authority to dictate the Creamery Board what they should do. Even though the Dairy is owned and operated by the State of Alaska. The one thing she DID have control over is the Board of Agriculture, which in turn DOES control the Creamery Board. In fact the Board of Agriculture had a couple of members on the Creamery Board on it as well. So Sarah exercised that control she had..... and fired everyone of the them.

Now she has re-filled the board with people that she is convinced will come to the table new ideas, ideas that may bring Mat Maid back from disaster, or maybe make its death throws more manageable or at least survivable by the dairy farmers and supporting businesses.

So BRAVO Governor! You have once again made a tough call and exercised your authority in a way that surprised a lot of people.

But it made us proud too....

MD

2007-06-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was blog surfing this afternoon, I started out at David Codrea's site, but since he's gonna be on hiatus for a month or so, I started clicking around on his links. One of them led to 'A keyboard and a .45' gun blog. And that finally led to the 'Free Constitution' blog, where I found this hysterical, and chillingly accurate video. Pay special attention to the "100% Preventable" and "Counting Beans" sections.

As always, thoughts comments appreciated!

ps. I'm now trying to stop following all the links! Argh! Help!

Michael

Chat Room Address

2007-06-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

Here it is folks:

www.techtak.com

MEDIOCRITY AT ANY PRICE

2007-06-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

I think of my grandfather everyday. Every summer was spent at Harding Lake, splashing, swimming, skiing and tinkering by his side. He was for me, until his death, a pivotal figure in my life. And he taught me many things. But most of all he encouraged me.

He encouraged me to not only be better, but to do my best. To BE the best.

Many of today’s youth are not being encouraged as I was. In fact, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. Instead of being encouraged to stand out and step beyond the crowd, the youth of today, especially students, are being told that it doesn’t matter if you excel. It doesn’t matter that you stayed up late studying for that final, putting the final touches on that science project or put off TV for just a few more minutes with your textbooks. You won’t be recognized for those achievements and hard work.

Why?

Because, you might hurt someone’s feelings.

School officials in some districts across the country have suffered a bout of ‘touchy feely’ soft headedness, and have started to question or even remove time honored systems for rewarding students for achievement. The systems include honor rolls, spelling bees and even academic pep rallies.

School officials are afraid some underperforming student may be offended or embarrassed for their lack of achievement.

And to bring things even closer to home, Superintendent of Schools Ann Short came up with a brilliant plan a couple of years ago for Fairbanks. A plan where a student who fails high school, is still able to attend the graduation ceremony. No, not just attend, but actually participate in that ceremony. These students would receive a ‘certificate of completion’ for the year instead of the diploma that is being given to the other students. That way they, or their parents, are not embarrassed for failing to perform.

But what does that do to the other students? You know, the ones who went the extra mile, doing their best and coming out at the top of their class for the year. What does that say to them about their efforts?

Here’s what it says…….Why Bother?

Why go through all the extra effort when in the end, instead of standing on the field of victory, they find a playing field, leveled by mediocrity? Rewarding students not for their achievements, work ethic or character. But simply giving them something for showing up?

Sound Familiar? It should, you’ve heard of it before. It’s called ‘communism’.

We, and the rest of the world have already seen how well that system works. When you reward people according to their needs instead of their efforts all incentive to be productive is lost. Is this the system we want our children to be learning?

If you’re a parent, you should be outraged that your son or daughter is going to share their moment in the sun of graduation with someone who hasn’t earned it. You should be outraged that your child takes a test and passes, but because some students didn’t pass, that same test is now going to be dumbed down and reduced academically to apply to the lowest common denominator.

What happened to ‘No Pain, No Gain’? What happened to learning from our mistakes? What happened to taking a little embarrassment, shame or even anger and using those emotions to fuel our desire to stretch farther? How are you ever going to learn how sweet success can be if you have never had that bitter taste of failure in your mouth?

Why don’t you pick up the phone, or a pen or the keyboard, and place a call or send a note to to our local leaders. Let them know that you don’t want mediocrity at any price. You want character building fairness.

Maybe that spirit, that pioneering attitude, is still out there.

Maybe we should find it.

Open Borders = The Unraveling of America

2007-05-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

OK. I'm sick of it. All of it. This constant dance by politicians great and small. Not one of them is willing to protect you, protect me, protect America from the greatest threat we face today.

No, I'm not talking about Osama or al-Qaeda. I'm not talking about islamofacists (although they are a huge threat to us). I'm talking about the Souther border. From President Bush in the Whitehouse to podunk congressmen from some big eastern state, there is not ONE who will really stand up and say that we have a serious problem. A problem that was typified in the violence we saw just two weeks ago in Cananea, Sonora. Drug Cartels, hit squads, Mexican Army Units all of them slugging it out amongst themselves on the border of Texas and Northern Mexico. 50 armed gunmen, entered the town of Cananea and kill 22 people including 4 police officers, and then kidnapped 3 more private citizens. Another 16 people were killed in a running gun battle as authorities chased the Cartel hit squad out of town. People on both sides of the borders have been preparing for the fighting to spill over the border to the north as well.

And it's just beginning.

Just read the latest commentary from syndicated columnist and commentator Lionel Waxman. It tells the same story that I've heard from countless callers, and in conversations with folks from the Border states. People who are on the ground, fighting the rising tide of Illegals flooding across their borders and properties. And they are mostly alone right now. Our Border Patrol, without the support of the Whitehouse or any other powerhouses, they are questioning whether they should even continue to watch the border.

So I'm all in a lather about that, then I read the latest review of Paul L. Williams new book "The Day of Islam" which includes in the open interviews with many US Government employees and relies heavily on the court testimony of Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, an al Qaeda operative who defected to the US in 1996 and supplied information regarding the start-up and organization of al Qaeda. Williams conclusion is that al Qaeda has access to, or has already aquired up to 12 nuclear devices and that they have plans to use those devices in 7 US cities.

Now, whats the best place to bring stuff illegally into the US? With over 185,000 O.T.M.'s (Other Than Mexicans) coming over the border every year, it should be no surprise to any of us if the next major attack on US soil is tracked back to our gaping back door.

And believe me folks, that's the only way the spineless politicians in Washington will ever do anything REAL about closing our borders. When the mushroom/chemical/biological cloud on is on the horizon, then they will close the barn door on the empty stall.

2007-05-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

Finally I've gone and done it! I set up this blog in September of last year and I've finally gotten around to flushing out the information and posting.

Not a whole lot to say right now, although I have to thank my wife for spurring me on with this blog. I spent all afternoon setting up the daily blog that she uses to keep up with friends and family, and it was enough to make me think that I ought to do the same.

Now I can't promise that I will be updating the site everyday, or even every other day (ok, so to be honest, you'll be lucky to get a weekly update) but I will do my best!

So dear listeners, keep your powder dry and stay tuned for more Common Sense™.

Michael

The blog of The Michael Dukes Show

I know I haven't been posting.....

Finding your own Freedom...

When is 90% not 90%? Mexican Gun Statistics.

White, Black and Shades of Gray

More than 90 Percent?

Four Trends

FCC Claims Right To Warrantless Home Searches

AP Economic Stress Map

I am shaken....

Demographics can be a bugger.....

Is Secession In Our Future?

This says it all....

Confessions of a Former Communist Turned Patriot

At What Point Is a Traitor a Patriot?

Think BHO is not all about 'Gun Control'....Think Again.

There will be no more free Wacos.

The Government....Explained.

Live Free or Die

BB&B....the new outlook for SPAM

The "We're not hard enough on those Pesky Patriots" Guy..

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/02/the_realist_chas_freeman.asp

The Realist Chas Freeman

Glenn Beck learns a new truth....

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years

Politicians don't care about American's Safety

A Flag of Conviction

Will we be a nation of mortgage slaves?

Uncle Jay Explains Congressional Recess

Lou Dobbs an important voice for gun rights....

Things to do before you die

No one says it like Fred....

Standing Up.... Finally

Another reason these guys are the 'Only Ones' that should have firearms.

Reloading Class, Saturday the 13th

Lessons in Gun Control

Blank Spot

Vampire Exterminator Gun

*545 PEOPLE *

Obama: 'Yes I Can.....make US defenseless'

‘No One Will Bail Out America'

Frank Under Indictment

Rant of the Week....

Mike Bloomberg, 3-dom Fighter

Is it Wednesday Already?

Droopy Drawers mean Jail Time!

Portrait of Obama

Mental Health Break.......WWJBD?

YES We Can!!

Mental Health Break......Favorite TV Shows

Sneer at God...at your own peril.

Troopergate Redux

Palin and the Angry Man

Live from the Airplane Hanger

We Shall Never Forget

Obama is the new Messiah?

Wow! I'm embarrased for him too....

More news from the British Front

How NOT to teach your spouse about firearms...

Obama on Guns

The Brits Like Her Too....

Dear Mr. Obama

Get back in that kitchen!

Sarah puts Obama over her knee.

Sarah Palin for VP

More on the US economy....

The Thick Blue Line

I couldn't help it....

Amnesty Averted

Artwork for Firearms Friday shirts almost complete....

The New Hats are In!

The ATF is NOT your friend...

Milking the Mat Maid

Chat Room Address

MEDIOCRITY AT ANY PRICE

Open Borders = The Unraveling of America

545 PEOPLE