In Retrospect: What Would You Tell Yourself At 16?

For the New Year:

If you could go back to when you were 16, what would you tell yourself -- knowing what you know now?

Customarily, the new year is filled with anticipated resolutions that are nominally broken within the first month.

Given that, I'm suggesting we change things up a bit:

If you could go back to when you were 16, what would you tell yourself -- knowing what you know now?

You may either answer here or -- preferably -- take a larger amount of time to answer in full on your own site.

If you do this, please provide a link to your own site because, if nothing else, I'm all about promoting other sites.

Let me start and set the tempo, if I may:

Welcome to your Youth. You don't have a clue as to what value your youth means. That's fine. Just shake with me and, if nothing else, print this blogpost out and do what it says when it says.

First and foremost, you were stronger and sharper and more intelligent than you could ever have imagined. Go with your gut. You seldom trust it.

When Candy Cochrane asks you to dance at Howe Avenue School, your junior high, say yes. Try pushing the envelope a bit. She was hot and you knew it. Blown chance. This time, don't blow it.

That said, first and foremost, learn a musical instrument. Insist on it. Start, perhaps, with the piano. Try the guitar. One of the biggest regrets you'll have is not becoming competent on a musical instrument other than noodling around on the bass guitar.

When you kicked Nick Yahle's ass in high school wrestling, and he was on the wrestling team (you didn't go out for sports), that's called a clue. You were a new transplant from California to, now, Ohio in the 60s. You were foreign and uncomfortable and transferred because your Dad was in the Air Force. You have great physical potential as well. Start running. Start lifting weights.

When you pissed off Norm Bradfield playing flag football on Fairmont East's field, that's called a clue. You were efficient, strong and effective. You beat him, fair and square. He hated it because he was taller and was from Ohio. You were the interloper.

So when he and Matt Carpenter braced you on your own home turf near Chatham Village, on the railroad tracks when your friend Rick Back was visiting, you should have pulled your folding knife and held it to their necks. You needed to realize early -- and didn't realize until much later -- that Evil and Strength only respect Strength in return. An excellent lesson. Yet you didn't learn from it. Don't back down. You didn't trust your strength. This will become a much larger lesson to be later learned.

You had the Photo Gene even back then. Take the time to buy all the film you can and shoot everyone you can. Your Mom, your Dad, all of your friends. You'll later develop an interest in trains. Get yourself the best camera you can either afford or talk your parents into buying. Start taking photographs of Southern Pacific in Sacramento, at their locomotive shops, and over Donner Pass.

I would also say: for those numerous years you worked as a kid throwing newspapers, as a teenager working for your townehomes shoveling snow, mowing lawns, building fences, painting, replacing filters, as a higher teenager: save every damned dime you make.

Conserve. Scrimp. Save. With houses costing a pittance of what you'll later pay for one in the 80s, coupled with low interest rates, you could own your own home by the time you're 21. From there, you can buy and sell houses all the way up to your actual dream house. There will be lots of money to be made in 70s and 80s real estate.

Beware of drugs. You'll be offered cocaine, heroin and psychedelics by Jerry. You avoided him. Continue to do that. You were smarter than him and that led to his later death in his 20s.

Embrace Karl Kimball. He was the Real Deal at Wright State. Continue on that path with King Crimson and your musical expansion. Learn from him. You won't be sorry.

Accept your position in radio and let loose; have fun. Recognize that you have a gift with regard to radio and music -- either having supported music or played the artists you loved, or toured with them or flown with them -- as witness Status Quo on the Live Album in Glasgow, Scotland, or AC/DC with Bon Scott.

You had a great idea, once; it was this:

Take a photograph on your birthday, for every year. At the age of 60 you'll have a collage that no one else on the planet will have.

Take a few hints:

Buy stock in Microsoft whenever you first see that name.

Buy stock in Google whenever you first see that name.

Buy stock in Apple whenever you first see that name.

Buy stock in Yahoo whenever you first see that name.

Find the winning California Super Lotto number on March 18th of of 2007.

Listen to your inner recommendations.

And when it comes down to the vehicle stop in the 70s south of Watsonville on the border with Monterey County: empty your .357 stainless Smith revolver into the motherfucker. Then reload. Don't stop at four.

He will die and you will live. Be glad. Rejoice. The guilt will pass.

That will be a major pivotal point in your life.

You will join four LE agencies overall. Stick with the last one, but take the Sergeant's Test the first time it is offered to you. You could be at least a Captain or a Chief Deputy. You could have sold your soul or enjoyed your work.

With this intuition, you could have done both: an unbeatable combination.

Finally:

Take photos of your parents. Document your parents. Ask them about their lives and their relatives and their families. Don't become as emotionally disengaged as your mother and father. Preserve their memories and their geneological history.

Treasure your family. Know this: your father will never once tell you he loves you.

Accept it. Move on. Tell him and your mother that you treasure them and you love them -- as much as you can.

Hug your mother. You didn't realize until -- too late -- that in those times and with a family of three boys and her husband, that she was adrift and on her own. She either became hard and tough or she drowned. The only person that finally took her down was her.

Hug your grandparents. Be good to your grandpa, and respect his wishes in their house at 2526 27th Street. He sacrificed for his wife and for your mother. Hug your grandmother again and again, for she surely was one of the kindest and sharpest people you'll ever encounter in your tumultuous life. Honor her and recognize that the time you spent at your grandparents' two story house, built in the 1800s, will generally be the most carefree of your entire life.

Hug your father some more. The only time you'll ever see him cry was when your mother dies with the marks of a nasal canula on her face. It shook you to your core that he unleashed his emotions, for about two minutes, in front of you. Appreciate his stoicism and recognize that they were the best of The Greatest Generation.

Hold your father close every time you meet since your mother passed, on May 14th of 2002. She lived to see her 80th birthday at least.

Your father's passing will affect you deeply: Wednesday, February 11th of 2009 at 0330 hrs. And when you leave your father's bedside the night before, kiss and hug him goodnight. You'll terribly regret not doing so for the rest of your life.

Finally: embrace God.

Push your parents to take you out of "Sunday School" at the Methodist Church off Del Paso Heights Boulevard and El Camino. You always told them you hated Sunday School and wanted to attend church. They didn't listen. You need to insist. And you need to embrace the Lord.

I left a few things out. But only a very few.

Let's see what you have to say.

BZ

Arizona: Feeling The Wrath!

Mr Manuel Renaldo, formerly of Guadalupe, Arizona.

ARIZONA LAW HAS DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT STATE

CONSOLIDATED PRESS (CPI)

(c)2011, by Roberto Hernandez

Illegal immigrants are boycotting Arizona by the thousands, showing their outrage with Arizona 's controversial new SB-1070 law by moving elsewhere.

In the small town of Guadalupe, AZ, south of Phoenix, Manuel Renaldo is one of those who is punishing Arizona by leaving.

As he loaded his car with his belongings and family of ten, Renaldo told this reporter through an interpreter "It's a matter of principle; I refuse to be supported by a state that treats me like a criminal!"

The effects of the exodus are being felt by Arizona retailers, who are reporting dwindling sales of beer, spray paint, and ammunition.

Also hit hard are the states hospitals, which have reported a dramatic decline in births and emergency room visits.

Tattoo parlors are in a state of panic.

Renaldo told a reporter through an interpreter that he and his family are moving to California, a Democratic state that will embrace and support them all with dignity.

Again, another story you won't read in the DEM/MSM yet: you read it here first.

BZ

[Thanks to my brother Jim!]

The Republicans Are Stinking Up The Place

Apparently the GOP presidential candidates can't do much but attack each other. Obama's rising numbers are making him look almost presidential.

Here's a recommended strategy: go after Obama.

Mr Obama = a target-rich environment.

This GOP ticket is comprised of clods.

BZ

What No One Will Say Or Write:

It would seem that the bulk of our Darker Brethren and Sistren think that a few pairs of sneakers are worth maiming and fighting for. Two-hundred "youths." Euphemisms. Check your melanin count.

Woman's Face Slashed, Man Beaten and Robbed of Air Jordan

Because, this month, the release of a stupid pair of sneakers has been the reason why there have been fights and riots and melees throughout the nation, in urban areas, by people attempting to get their own pair.

But what no one is saying or writing is the obvious: these criminal acts and riots and undisciplined behaviors are perpetrated by blacks. With a pittance of a few other races mixed in who have bought off on the black thug culture.

Frankly, I've known that for the past thirty years. I saw blacks kill other blacks in the 80s, when the Bloods and the Crips were still vying for power, over -- again -- shoes and jackets and hats and the colors blue and red.

People may wonder why the bulk of our prisons are filled with black males.

I know this is an amazing revelation but I'll dare to make it here:

It's because the bulk of our lawbreakers are -- hope you're sitting down -- black males.

I know. I'm going straight to Racist Hell.

With one exception: statistically, prove me wrong. You may have a bit of a difficult time doing that, however, because I know from personal experience that those statistics are purposely held close to the vest in every LE agency in this nation. I published a newsletter for my department in the early 90s when I was a detective in Robbery called "Break Yourself."

I had to account for my own monthly stats as a detective, and those stats were then bundled and sent upstairs to our executive staff. One of the stats I was purposely told to minimize was that of suspect race. Imagine that.

When I published that statistic in my internal department newsletter it was then suspended. Imagine that. Facts are stubborn things.

However, I submit:

When you have a culture that discredits achievement and education, you have a doomed culture.

When you have a culture that equates "keeping it real" to a life of ignorance, thuggery, sexism, violence and non-achievement, you have a doomed culture.

And so, unsurprisingly enough, goes the bulk of what constitutes the current "black culture" in urban America.

A culture replete with its own sense of entitlements simply due to melanin count, where a higher melanin count is more "real," where sports seems to be the only "way out" (a massive LIE in itself but still promulgated), where gangsta rap is more "real" when hosted by thugs who actually have "killed anotha nigga," where very few fathers take responsibility for their sperm, and where women are predominantly "be-yotches."

You want to talk about "disenfranchised"? That would be the generic urban black female.

Everyone else in major black media is a "nigga."

And so, ladies and gentlemen in the so-called "black community," you continue to still wonder why you acquire such little respect except that which is acquired at the end of a gun?

Watch the tow truck scene in the movie "Grand Canyon" and answer the question.

Let me again be blunt: urban blacks, you keep playing to your own stereotypes.

And you can't or won't get out of your own mold.

We talk about "assimilation" in America. Here's the most hated revelation that no one will say or write:

It's past time that urban blacks start to assimilate in America.

BZ

P.S.
I fully realize there won't be many comments here, due to the nature of the post. But at least if you read it and recognize the truth of my words, I will have made an inroad that, perhaps, you can forward to other people in the dead of night. Because, after all, the truth is The Truth. No matter how anyone else wishes to spin it. Or how guilty you feel. Because that guilt is Taught Industrial Memory Guilt (TIMG) and not justified guilt.

Just remember: this post BAD. This blog BAD. Must be CENSORED. Must be RACIST. Must be REMOVED.

You ever notice that the Common Press and interviewed Black Bleat is: "there should have been more security"?

In other words: you should have protected me from me.

Does anyone besides me detect just a bit of irony in that?

Futher: what do you think will happen when that State and Federal check stops arriving at the first of each month because the State and the Fed are bankrupt?

Try that on for size, America.

Precious metals.

Mitt Romney:

He's too desperate.

You can hear it in his voice, in every interview.

He's too slick, he's too "what you want to hear when you may want to hear it."

--------

I would ask you this:

The NEXT president will be THE most challenged, I submit, in the history of this nation.

There will be NO greater national economic challenge in our history.

Ask yourself: how will YOUR candidate not necessarily respond to abortion or SCOTUS but:

Our CRASHING economy?

BZ

Islamism: Assisted by the US Dept of DEFENSE

Islam cannot slaughter the greatest, most powerful nation of infidels on the planet by stark and open war.

It must subsume this nation with demography, the proverbial "frog in the boiling pot" . . .

. . . from within.

And our US Department of Defense is signing off on it.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Defense department agrees to allow Muslim cadets to wear hijabs
Muslims — posted by jeff kunerth on December, 22 2011 1:45 PM

Discuss This: Comments(574) | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced today that the Department of Defense will begin allowing Muslim and Sikh students who wear an Islamic head scarf (hijab) or a turban to participate in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).

“We welcome the fact that Muslim and Sikh students nationwide will now be able to participate fully in JROTC leadership activities while maintaining their religious beliefs and practices,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

How fitting, how ironic, how delicious it must be for Islam -- is it not -- that the very Secretary of Defense in the Obama Administration has personally stood up for and signed off on Islam's nose in the DOD tent. Literally and figuratively. Because, apparently, the word "uniform" has little if any meaning to the DOD any more. Nor do the names Sgt Hasan Akbar (2003) or Major Nidal Hasan (2009). As far as the Obama Administration is concerned, these events are nothing more than a bit of "workplace violence." Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

Imams the world over are rubbing their hands, all smiles, and commenting amongst themselves at the absolute naivete and ignorance of the Western World, particularly the United States of America.

At a time when Europe is just now beginning to come to grips with Islam -- witness the burkha ban in France -- America is simply ripe for the plucking. And "pluck" Islam will.

Because, as everyone realizes, Islam is again the religion of peace and tolerance:

Nigerians fear more church attacks after 39 killed
Email this Story

Dec 26, 5:02 AM (ET)

By LEKAN OYEKANMI and JON GAMBRELL

MADALLA, Nigeria (AP) - At a Nigerian Catholic church where a terror attack killed 35 people on Christmas, women tried to clean the sanctuary ahead of Mass on Monday while one man wept uncontrollably amid the debris.

Outside St. Theresa Catholic Church, crowds gathered among the burned-out cars in the dirt parking lot, angry over the attack claimed by a radical Muslim sect and fearful that the group will target more churches.

Rev. Father Christopher Jataudarde told The Associated Press that Sunday's blast happened as church officials gave parishioners white powder as part of a tradition celebrating the birth of Christ.

Some already had left the church at the time of the bombing, causing the massive casualties. In the chaos after the bombing, Jataudarde said one mortally wounded man, cradling his shredded stomach, begged him for religious atonement.

"Father, pray for me, I will not survive," the man said, according to the priest.

At least 52 people were wounded in the attack, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency. Victims filled the cement floors of a nearby government hospital, some crying in pools of their own blood.

On Christmas, attacks by the radical Muslim sect left 39 dead across Africa's most populous nation. A bomb also exploded amid gunfire in the central Nigeria city of Jos and a suicide car bomber attacked the military in the nation's northeast.

The Islamic Republic of Iran must also, by its definition, be a nation of peaceful and tolerant Muslims, as it is run by the Supreme Leader and a body of clerics, yes? Because, after all, a peaceful nation such as Iran would never think of taking advantage of US troops leaving Iraq, would it, in terms of a "show of force"?

Of course not.

Plus this.

Ah, Islam, the religion of peace and tolerance!

BZ

Merry Christmas, 2011:

Merry Christmas, to all of my BZ readers!



BZ

America Still Niave: Ignorance At Christmas

From PoliceOne.com:

By Dr. LaMaurice Gardner
Oakland County (Mich.) Sheriff’s Office

What would you do if in the middle of Catholic Mass, on one of the holiest days of the year, someone yelled out “Allahu Akbar?”

It was late Christmas Eve and my 17-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were preparing to leave for midnight Mass at Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Royal Oak, Mich. The church is quite a distance from our home and the weather was bad. Worried about drunk drivers on the holiday eve, my wife was hesitant to let our newly licensed daughter drive so far so late. But our daughter was persistent and my wife gave in.

I had my own apprehensions. Having read books and attended terrorism lectures by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and John Giduck — as well as hearing from numerous Israeli and UK terrorist experts at IACP conferences — I was sensitive to the vulnerability of American houses of worship to terrorist attacks, especially on high-profile religious holidays. A good 10 minutes behind my kids, I decided to leave too and catch up with them for the service.

At the church, my daughter greeted me with, “What, you don’t trust me?” I blamed my surprise attendance on my wife’s paranoia, and we all settled into my favorite pew in the back of the sanctuary. At midnight, a procession of altar boys and priests entered, followed by the executive priest, a monsignor. Mass began and the spirit of the season filled the capacity crowd.

I felt a little odd this Christmas Eve, because for the first time I was wearing a chain badge beneath my sweater. I always carry my gun off duty, a practice I learned in a Street Survival Seminar 10 years ago that has been further emphasized time and again in Dave Grossman’s lectures (“Never be a sheep when you are a trained sheepdog”).

That night, I considered the chain badge added protection against possible friendly fire in case the shit hit the fan. Having seen one of my captains as well as a K-9/SRT deputy at services before, I knew I was probably not the only LEO present, not to mention veteran and active-duty servicemen from Iraq and Afghanistan.

This midnight Mass was typical of previous years: song, ceremony, apostolic readings, a reading of the gospel. After the gospel, with everyone seated both in the audience and at the altar, there was a brief lull, then suddenly, from nowhere, came a shout: “Allahu Akbar!”

My world froze. Those two words are the common war cry of Islamic Jihadis. Immediately I went to condition orange. One hand was on my weapon, the other prepared to push my kids to the floor for their protection. I scanned the church for a target, anticipating an imminent explosion of flying shrapnel or gunfire. In my head I heard my SRT sergeant’s range command echo, “Two to the head!” No thought of body shots on a suicide bomber.

When I couldn’t identify a primary target, I looked for anyone in the crowd who followed suit and yelled the same homicidal chant. Everything was in slow motion and what was milliseconds seemed like minutes. I didn’t know if the dead silence was my auditory exclusion or shock from the parishioners. All I knew was that I was a sheepdog on automatic pilot.

Then the orator of the death chant stood and identified himself: the monsignor. He followed his striking words with, “I bet you didn’t expect to hear that!” He then went on with a homily about the greatness of God.

I didn’t hear a word that came out of his mouth for the next 10 minutes. Adrenaline rushed through my bloodstream, and my heart was racing. Not to mention I was pissed. I was ready to push my kids to the floor, jump over the pew, and run toward the perceived threat with the intention of taking it out — or die trying. I would hope that every officer/warrior at that service had also been ready to engage.

I suppose training, discipline, and FATS-machine shoot/no-shoot scenarios paid off, because no aggressive action took place. The sermon went on and the sheep went on grazing. But my daughter knew. She looked at me and recognized the combat mode. She asked, “Isn’t that what the terrorists say?” I responded, “Yes, it is.”

I calmed myself with deep breathing and convinced myself the monsignor really didn’t understand what he had done.

Eventually the service ended and the monsignor said, “Go in peace.” As I left the church, I saw him at the door. I calmly explained the threatening nature of his words and suggested he try to choose his words more wisely. He just laughed off my comments and went about his way.

I guess the saying is true, “No one understands the coliseum’s ring as clearly as the gladiator.” We do live among a community of sheep. Only those of us who have been there or who are trained to be there understand the terrorist threat we are under. I seriously doubt that anyone would have escaped with the “Allah Akbar” statement unchallenged in Israel or the UK, where sensitivity and awareness are much greater.

Although the outcome was benign, this Christmas Eve experience seems important to share for two reasons. First, to let the warriors who are protecting us overseas know that there are warriors here too, protecting your families and friends from terrorist threats on the home front. And to remind officers nationwide to be prepared. I was lucky, but I was trained and prepared in mind and body.

This time it was a false alarm. Next time it could be real. Pray for peace but prepare for war.

About the Author
LaMaurice Gardner, Psy.D., is a Veterans Affairs psychologist who also serves as a psychologist for several law enforcement agencies in Michigan, including Detroit P.D. He is a SRT hostage negotiator and reserve lieutenant for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Pontiac, Mich.

Any time of the year, any time of day, any point in time, the naivete of Americans can be absolutely staggering.

BZ

P.S.
What is a Sheepdog? Go here.

I Say: Boehner OUT, and McClintock IN!

It's interesting to note that Thursday's Hugh Hewitt show turned the entire second hour over to callers responding to the question: "Should John Boehner be retained as GOP Speaker?"

The massive bulk of callers said, clearly, NO.

There were perhaps three feeble exceptions.

With this current caving by Speaker Boehner, he's now placed himself and then gone out of his way to cement himself into the "I'm Irrelevant" category in the minds of those persons who are truly Conservatives. Myself included.

John Boehner's got to go. Period.

And YES, we CAN change horses in the middle of the stream.

Boehner has nice hair, a deep voice, an even tan, but that's where it ends for me.

I call on MY 4th District Fornicalia Congressman, TOM McCLINTOCK, to actually pull the Major Big Red Political Handle and marshal whatever forces and favors he possesses in order to step into Boehner's massively proven-incompetent shoes.

Too much Business As Usual. Too much "bi-partisanship." Too much "compromise." It's time to stack bodies and rack wins. In order to try to save this wonderful sovereign nation.

Boehner's got to go.

I am, essentially, calling for a GOP Putsch.

The New Breed of Freshmen Republicans were elected because of their -- OUR -- mandate that November. They listened, they are working, and Boehner was multiply incensed because they wouldn't trundle their carts in precisely the path that he ordained. As far as Boehner is concerned, the TEA Party doesn't factor. Never did. There is no principle, no line drawn.

Those days, I submit, must be over.

I'll make it clearer than clear:

Congressman Tom McClintock, I call on YOU to step up, rally the troops, rally your forces, rally your Freshmen, pull whatever political stops you must -- and step into the Speakership.

I can't be more blunt than this: there is no more logical, deserving, educated, professional, knowledgeable, incisive -- and READY -- individual than yourself to fill the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

If we have to go Night of the Long Knives, politically speaking, then I'm for that.

I suggest: this is your chance.

It is yours for the taking.

I submit: it isn't a matter of pulling politics for personal aggrandizement. It is a matter of pulling politics for the sake of the nation.

BZ

Oath Keepers

You may never know where you'll meet your next good friend.

I met a new friend today, a man who moved from service responder to acquaintance to friend, all in the span of one day. When we began speaking to each other, we recognized that we actually shared much in common. Starting with my Gadsden flag outside.

One of those items involved Oath Keepers.

Which made me realize: I haven't made much mention of Oath Keepers here on my blog.

I'm a member of Oath Keepers. And Oath Keepers, as they describe themselves, "is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution

Our motto is "Not on our watch!"

I have made a like vow: I will defend to the death the oath I swore as a peace officer. I don't take that oath lightly, and neither should any other peace officer in my state -- California -- or any other city, county, state or FEDERAL law enforcement officer.

These are trying times for those of us who defend this nation on foreign shores: our US military personnel -- and on domestic lands: our civilian peacekeepers.

ROEs -- Rules of Engagement -- seem to change on a monthly, perhaps even daily basis. They certainly change with each new administration, new Chief, new Sheriff, new President. Our Peacekeepers, military and civilian, keep that line drawn and defended as clearly as possible. Because there are Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs. We, my civilian and military brothers and sisters, are the Sheepdogs.

The state and federal courts don't do much to keep things simple either, in terms of search and seizure, arrest and contact opinions -- as well as civil torts.

Peace officers, it is little recognized, can find themselves subject to not just double jeopardy, but triple jeopardy: tried criminally in state courts, tried criminally in federal courts, and then sued in civil courts. And, further, subject to internal agency investigations. Quadruple jeopardy, anyone?

Unlike the rest of the civilian population.

That said, I joined Oath Keepers to support the TEN ORDERS that I will NOT OBEY:

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

Some people may think this is actual heresy. Frankly, I feel sorry for them.

Because these points are but only based upon the foundational documents of this nation when it was young and revolutionary itself.

Some people, my new friend included, believe that my clear posting of this and other information will place me on the various scopes of federal monitoring. To that I say: been there and done that. And I am not impressed.

If believing in the core foundational documents of this nation places me into the category of a potential "terrorist" then I am comfortable with that. Because when my moral, legal and professional oaths conflict with any temporary administrations fleeting wants, there is essentially no conflict whatsoever.

Because my philosophical tendencies are based upon what is right, proper and moral in consideration of this sovereign nation's history and its creational documents.

Because the bottom line is this. And it should be the most frightening aspect of any inner or outer corruptive influence: in order to do your potential Bad Works, you absolutely require the "buy-in" of your military and civilian law enforcement bodies.

Because if they refuse to cooperate, your plans are failed.

Which is why Oath Keepers had to be created in the first place.

I am an Oath Keeper.

BZ

P.S.
Thanks to you, Jeff, for enlightening and invigorating me.

Proving Again: The US Department of State Is Insane

The US State Department sometimes -- okay -- frequently runs counter to common sense, logic, proportion and reality because it is primarily populated by what I term GOWPs: Guilty Overeducated White People. A velvet painting of British PM Neville Chamberlain hangs in every office, illuminated by a hidden black light, as a reminder and inspiration.

So it is, again, with another State Department Loon. This time, she's the Number Three in charge and its senior career diplomat. From The Weekly Standard:

Wendy Sherman, undersecretary of state for political affairs at the State Department, had some rather nice things to say about the reclusive Kim Jong Il, the dictatorial leader of North Korea who died a few days ago. She had met the rogue dictator, Josh Rogin reports, when Sherman "served as State Department counselor and North Korea policy coordinator under former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, [and had] traveled to Pyongyang with Albright in 2000."

An NPR obituary quotes the high ranking State Department official as saying that "He was smart and a quick problem-solver," and that "[Kim Jong Il] is also witty and humorous. Our overall impression was very different from the way he was known to the outside world."

Wendy Sherman, now the No. 3 official in the State Department, who served as counselor to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and accompanied her to North Korea, said in 2008: "He was smart, engaged, knowledgeable, self-confident, sort of the master-director of all he surveyed. He was a conceptual thinker," Ms Sherman had said.

Let me also add, if I may, that he was kind to his cat named Class Envy, changed underwear daily, flossed when the filet mignon from the Kobe beef got caught in his upper back molar, and religiously put the toilet seat down for his nightly mistresses.

In consideration of Undersecretary of State Sherman's loving statements, even the left-leaning Wikipedia writes:

Human rights record

See also: Human rights in North Korea

According to a 2004 Human Rights Watch report, the North Korean government under Kim was "among the world's most repressive governments", having up to 200,000 political prisoners according to U.S. and South Korean officials,^[49] and no freedom of the press or religion, political opposition or equal education:^[50] "Virtually every aspect of political, social, and economic life is controlled by the government."

The Hermit Kingdom continues, now under the 27-year-old four-star general Kim Jong-un. Up to and until other military forces intercede.

Eight million North Koreans still struggle to overcome starvation every winter. North Korea can't even produce window glass that isn't flawed, pebbled and distorted. North Korea is, at its base, a suicidal and purposely-isolationist country that impedes commerce in Asian markets.

And why the massive disparity between North and South Koreas?

The clear answer: leadership, anyone?

Wendy Sherman, at least you don't disappoint; you loyally continue the US State Department meme of tinfoil caps and beautifully-iced shrimp at evening DC parties.

BZ

Republicans: The Reverse Is True

The Republicans are Evil, Greedy, Fascist and Racist.

From Bill Whittle:



Nicely done, except for this rather large caveat which differentiates, more and more, Republicans from Conservatives. And that is this:

Increasingly, Republicans look like Demorats insofar as they both want (or truly don't do much to discourage) Big Government.

There isn't much spending that isn't favored. There isn't much expansion of government power that isn't rubber-stamped. There aren't many pay or benefit increases to the House or Senate that aren't rushed through. And there are damned few -- if any -- rules issued from DC that likewise apply to their drafters/creators.

Both sides of the aisle shop at Exemptions R' Us.

Imagine that.

We, as Republicans (and more pointedly as Conservatives) have to "come together" through "bi-partisanship" and holding "moderate" (meaning: thinking more like Demorats) thoughts -- i.e., compromise. With, naturally, the idea of compromise appearing only to take the form of Demorat wishes.

These days, you can't put more than two or three sheets of paper between a Demorat and the average beltway Republican.

They both want to be treated with deference and demand separatism and exceptionalism from the masses. The laws they decree just don't apply to them.

They gaze down upon the Groundlings from Mt DC in their imperious and all-knowing mien.

Old School Demorats and Old School Republicans need to just step down.

"Politics as usual" just doesn't and won't "cut it."

Which is why, if some Americans have the actual brainpower to wonder, Congress is so "locked up."

It's because there's a new band of GOP Freshmen who won't arbitrarily "sign off" on whatever the leadership demands. And that simply grates and irritates on Boehner and the other GOP Ancients.

Which is why, on the GOP part, Republican Speaker John Boehner is so terribly disappointed that the bulk of the Freshmen Congressmen don't march lockstep to his demands. Because, of course, that's how Things Have Gone in the past.

The Senate is gone. Senate Republicans are soft Vampires out for their own warm blood. Just don't disturb their feeding.

The House is another matter entirely. Hence the distress of Boehner. Because these New TEA Party GOP Assholes just aren't "coming around."

Their numbers are small but they could increase.

Everyone loves their OWN Congressman. But not like I admire and respect mine. Because my 4th District Congressman is Tom McClintock.

And he is the Real Deal.

He is both Republican and Conservative.

BZ


[h/t to Geeeez!]

North Korea's Midget Is Dead

However, Nature abhors a vacuum.

Any takers?

BZ

Tim Tebow: Let Me Be Blunt

American sporting media just can't saying anything complimentary about Denver Broncos' quarterback Tim Tebow, though he's managed to take the team to the top of the AFC West.

This past Sunday in NFL week 14, Tebow's Broncos beat the Chicago Bears in overtime, 13 to 10. With two minutes to go the Broncos came back from behind.

More negativity towards Tim Tebow. From the Wall Street Journal:

Most expert analysts still consider him poor material for a pro quarterback.

Yet, in his second year, his team is leading their division. After his later-season installation.

Let me be blunt: here is why Tim Tebow so terribly offends and why few can praise his efforts:


Again, from WSJ.com:

And when the shouting was over, Mr. Tebow did what he always does—he pointed skyward and took a knee in prayer. In post-game interviews, the young quarterback often starts by saying, "First, I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" and ends with "God bless." He stresses that football is just a game and that God doesn't care who wins or loses.

Tebow doesn't offend because he's the NFL's worst quarterback. He offends because he conspicuously dares to embrace a Christian God in essentially a secular nation. And it's no act.

Anyone who knows me knows I don't proselytize. Far from it. Church or heart? I vote heart.

That said, American sports could use both some more church and heart.

Whereas Americans used to enjoy a good Underdog story -- now, America seems to embrace the All American Sports Thug. And wish the worst of Schadenfreude upon those who don't transmit and align that particular sports meme. Because, any more, that's predominantly what you get in sports. Less than a serial murderer with talent; more than an overweight white guy in tights.

Thuggery isn't a complete exclusive to blacks, though they are the bulk of the reprobates because they now comprise the bulk of American sports players. You want parity, equality and, moreover, numerical superiority? In this venue, "you got it."

So let's review only a few very recent headlines and issues:

• Barry Bonds, a 30-day home sentence: SF Giants
• Sam Hurd, arrested for cocaine and marijuana by federal agents: Chicago Bears
• Rolando McCain, arrested after firing a gun during a fight: Oakland Raiders
• Ndamukong Suh, stomping an opponent's arm: Detroit Lions
• James Harrison, helmet hit: Pittsburgh Steelers

After that -- in roughly only the last week or so -- it's time to take Tim Tebow to the proverbial woodshed for his knee hits?

So, how about the hard facts? He's a 7 - 1 starter. And he wins games in the fourth quarter or overtime.

But here's the truth: thousands and thousands of Americans can't wait for Tim Tebow to sell drugs, hire a prostitute, turn gay, wear womens' bras, fornicate with sheep, take a wide stance in an airport stall or run a red light. That'll teach him to be so pristine.

The pious prick.

Because, any more, that's what all the other overpaid sports assholes simply do.

Problem is: he's the real deal.

BZ

King Crimson - Lark's Tongues In Aspic, Pt. IV

From the 2003 Eyes Wide Open tour:



One can also see, far stage right in the dark, a keyboard player that I have yet to identify, though I have attempted to do so.

This iteration of King Crimson consisted of:

• Robert Fripp, guitar
• Adrian Belew, guitar
• Trey Gunn, Warr Guitar
• Pat Mastelotto, drums

BZ

P.S.
For full experience, expand the video to full screen, don thy headphones and turn up the volume!

Drone Hacked By Iran

With all of our technological prowess, it is now discovered:

Exclusive: Iran hijacked US drone, says Iranian engineer

In an exclusive interview, an engineer working to unlock the secrets of the captured RQ-170 Sentinel says they exploited a known vulnerability and tricked the US drone into landing in Iran.

A "known vulnerability."

Wonderful. Nothing like purposely handing our finest stealth technology directly over to our enemies. You can be guaranteed the Chinese were first in line to pay, then the Russians.

Yes, we are apparently that stupid. Next time let's just save the money and directly hand over the blueprints instead.

BZ

So: China Wants a Trade War?

From the Financial Times.com:

China will impose retaliatory duties on US car imports in the latest sign of trade friction between the world’s two largest economies.

In a statement, China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday that it was taking action in response to damage to its car industry from US “dumping and subsidies”. The move will affect several larger vehicles popular in China, including sport utility vehicles made by Germany’s BMW and Mercedes-Benz brands at their US plants. Shares of BMW and Daimler, which owns Mercedes, fell 5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively on Wednesday.

China overtook the US in 2009 as the world’s largest vehicle market, and sales there account for a substantial chunk of profits for BMW and Mercedes, who build the SUVs they sell globally in North America.

So as a result, what are "foreign" manufacturers doing? They're building factories in China for their vehicles. GM, the largest seller of "foreign" cars in China, builds almost all of its vehicles on Chinese soil. Employing Chinese workers in the plants. Employing Chinese to build the factories themselves.

I say: quid pro quo. China wants to break into the US market with its vehicles. I recommend a good 20% tariff on their conveyances as well. It's no secret that Chinese automobile showrooms will be opening up within another year or so on US soil.

Quid pro quo: if the Chinese want to sell cars here, they build their factories here using American contractors, materials, designers, plumbers, electricians. Then they staff those factories with American workers. Because, after all, just what is it that the Chinese haven't stolen or hacked or reverse-engineered from the US?

In the meantime, China's new aircraft carrier -- a true Blue Water (not littoral) ship -- was captured via satellite in trials on the Yellow Sea.


The former Soviet carrier known as the Varyag (keel laid as the Riga) now carries a Chinese flag after having been purchased for $20 million dollars at auction by a civilian front for the Chinese navy, then towed to China. News indicated its bulk was meant to be "only a casino."

At 1,000 feet and 68,000 tons, the carrier -- likely named Shi Lang -- will be the first major extension of Chinese sea power.

As was said in the 60s: "ass, gas or grass; nobody rides for free."

Another axiom immured in stone: you can count on the Chinese to lie.

BZ

Another reason I'm glad I don't live in a Big City:

DC Resident Fined Thousands For Not Recycling Cat Litter: MyFoxDC.com

From FoxDC.com:

By MATT ACKLAND/myfoxdc

WASHINGTON - It's the law in D.C. - recycle or face a fine from the Department of Public Works. But is enforcement of the law going too far?

Dupont Circle resident Patricia White says she has been fined eight times for throwing homemade cat litter in her trash. The fines total $2,000. White says she shreds old newspaper and junk mail to use as cat litter. She believes she is helping the environment by reusing the paper and avoiding cat litter you will find in stores.

After being fined several times, White says she called the Department of Public Works inspector who issued the tickets. According to White, the inspector admitted to digging through trash looking for violations. White even appealed the violations in D.C. court. Judge Audrey Jenkins agreed with the inspector after White explained the situation. FOX 5 tried to reach Judge Jenkins, but her office has declined to comment.

Again, amongst a host of other things, government intruding -- now -- into your trash piles.

As if it weren't already sufficiently intrusive.

Keep living in Big Cities, Americans. Be crushed like herring and fined and taxed.

Me? I'll keep my pine trees and mountains, thank you.

BZ

Asthmatics: Barack HUSSEIN Obama is here to help!

The Obaka Administration wishes to ban asthma inhalers because they destroy the ozone layer in a completely profligate manner!

From DougRoss:

Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”
--Barack Obama, 9 October 2008

Wonderful news from the environmental do-gooders in Washington: the Obama administration is poised to ban over-the-counter breathalyzers, I mean inhalators, I mean inhalers in order to save the ozone layer.

Further:

Remember how Obama recently waived new ozone regulations at the EPA because they were too costly? Well, it seems that the Obama administration would rather make people with Asthma cough up money than let them make a surely inconsequential contribution to depleting the ozone layer:

Asthma patients who rely on over-the-counter inhalers will need to switch to prescription-only alternatives as part of the federal government's latest attempt to protect the Earth's atmosphere.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday patients who use the epinephrine inhalers to treat mild asthma will need to switch by Dec. 31 to other types that do not contain chlorofluorocarbons, an aerosol substance once found in a variety of spray products.

The action is part of an agreement signed by the U.S. and other nations to stop using substances that deplete the ozone layer, a region in the atmosphere that helps block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.

But the switch to a greener inhaler will cost consumers more. Epinephrine inhalers are available via online retailers for around $20, whereas the alternatives, which contain the drug albuterol, range from $30 to $60.

Ladies and gentlemen, how wonderful is that?

Because, clearly, men, women and children need to be sacrificed on the Altar of ObakaKare in order to bring the point across.

Let the hoarding of inhalers commence!

I swoon at their intuition, insight and intelligence!

Your Demorat/Leftist assholes at work.

BZ

UC Davis Pepper Spray Video: What You DIDN'T See

Severely edited videos permeated the MSM and internet for weeks regarding this incident involving OWS people at the UCD campus in Davis, Fornicalia. Please watch the entire video first:



Fornicalia Penal Code section 409 states:

Every person remaining present at the place of any riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, after the same has been lawfully warned to disperse, except public officers and persons assisting them in attempting to disperse the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

All Fornicalia officers also know that prior to enacting this penal code section, training indicates you provide at least two verbal warnings -- some agencies provide more.

PC section 404.6:

(a) Every person who with the intent to cause a riot does an
act or engages in conduct that urges a riot, or urges others to
commit acts of force or violence, or the burning or destroying of
property, and at a time and place and under circumstances that
produce a clear and present and immediate danger of acts of force or
violence or the burning or destroying of property, is guilty of
incitement to riot.
(b) Incitement to riot is punishable by a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

405a PC:

The taking by means of a riot of any person from the lawful
custody of any peace officer is a lynching.

405b PC:

Every person who participates in any lynching is punishable
by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years.

Meaning that section 405a PC is a felony, as opposed to a misdemeanor.

Then there is section 410 PC, which should answer the question: "why were the police there at all?"

If a magistrate or officer, having notice of an unlawful or
riotous assembly, mentioned in this Chapter, neglects to proceed to
the place of assembly, or as near thereto as he can with safety, and
to exercise the authority with which he is invested for suppressing
the same and arresting the offenders, he is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Section 416 PC:

(a) If two or more persons assemble for the purpose of
disturbing the public peace, or committing any unlawful act, and do
not disperse on being desired or commanded so to do by a public
officer, the persons so offending are severally guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(b) Any person who, as a result of violating subdivision (a),
personally causes damage to real or personal property, which is
either publicly or privately owned, shall make restitution for the
damage he or she caused, including, but not limited to, the costs of
cleaning up, repairing, replacing, or restoring the property. Any
restitution required to be paid pursuant to this subdivision shall be
paid directly to the victim. If the court determines that the
defendant is unable to pay restitution, the court shall order the
defendant to perform community service, as the court deems
appropriate, in lieu of the direct restitution payment.

404 PC:

(a) Any use of force or violence, disturbing the public peace,
or any threat to use force or violence, if accompanied by immediate
power of execution, by two or more persons acting together, and
without authority of law, is a riot.

404.6 PC:

a) Every person who with the intent to cause a riot does an
act or engages in conduct that urges a riot, or urges others to
commit acts of force or violence, or the burning or destroying of
property, and at a time and place and under circumstances that
produce a clear and present and immediate danger of acts of force or
violence or the burning or destroying of property, is guilty of
incitement to riot.

407 PC:

Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an
unlawful act, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or
tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.

408 PC:

Every person who participates in any rout or unlawful assembly
is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Armed with those penal code sections, and having watched the video, now yourself being one of the officers present, what might you conclude?

Yet, did you see this story or these penal code sections or reasons portrayed, examined or even remotely referred-to in any of the DEM/MSM?

Of course not.

Please weigh in.

BZ

P.S.
I hope you noted that the same officer who sprayed the protesters is the same officer who, at 7:50, went down the line and explained to them -- again -- what would occur if they didn't get up and leave. Also note: this isn't just a line level officer; this is a lieutenant -- who took on the ultimate responsibility and action himself.

Megyn Kelly and Bill O'Reilly opine:



And now I opine: Megyn Kelly is correct. OC, otherwise known as Oleoresin Capsicum, is derived from a plant that occurs in nature: pepper.

Further, any law enforcement officer knows that a crowd can easily go sideways in a matter of moments, from allegedly peaceful to violent. Had that been myself in charge, I would not have forced my officers to physically pick up and move protesters. I would have had my officers either utilize the riot-sized OC spray (which the lieutenant possessed) and/or place pain/compliance holds on the protesters depending on officers' level of familiarization with same. My job, as supervisor in this situation, is not to get my officers hurt whilst still enforcing the law.

I've personally been Maced and OC'd before, numerous times. Purposely, in the academy's Gas House, and inadvertently by any multiple utilizations of Mace or OC by my fellow officers. I lived. So did all the students.

[Thanks, Chris, for the discovery!]

Murder A Cop -- Then Take The Coward's Way Out

In just the past week there have been three tragic incidents where the lives of law enforcement officers were taken, with the suspects subsequently shooting themselves dead.

The incident with the most media play because of the April 16th, 2007 massacre where 32 people were killed and 26 were wounded:

1. Virginia Tech Shooting, Thursday, December 8th:

Virginia State Police said Ross Truett Ashley, a 22-year-old part-time business student at Radford University, about 10 miles from the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, walked up to officer Deriek W. Crouse after noon on Thursday and shot him to death as the patrolman sat in his unmarked cruiser during a traffic stop. Ashley was not involved in the stop and did not know the driver, who is cooperating with police, they said.

Authorities said Ashley then took off for the campus greenhouses, ditching his pullover, wool cap and backpack as police quickly sent out a campus-wide alert that a gunman was on the loose. Officials said the alert system put in place after the nation's worst mass slaying in recent memory worked well, but it nevertheless rattled a community still coping with that tragedy.

A deputy sheriff on patrol noticed a man acting suspiciously in a parking lot about a half-mile from the shooting. The deputy drove up and down the rows of the sprawling Cage parking lot and lost sight of the man for a moment, then found Ashley shot to death on the pavement, a handgun nearby. No one saw him take his life and he wasn't carrying any ID.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said Ashley appears to have acted alone and didn't know the slain officer: "At this time we have no connection between the two of them, that they knew one another or had encountered one another prior to the shooting," she said.

2. Atchison PD (KS) Officer Ambushed & Shot In Head, Friday, December 9th:

An Atchison Police Officer was killed during a late Friday afternoon shooting near 12th and Division streets.

Authorities confirmed that Officer David Enzbrenner, 46, died Friday evening from a gunshot wound.

It has also been confirmed that Skyler Barbee, 25, was the alleged shooter in the incident. Officials report that while Officer Enzbrenner was on duty serving a nuisance order at the home of Jerome Bratton, Mr. Barbee appeared out of nowhere and shot the officer in the head. The assailant then turned the weapon on himself and shot himself. He died at the scene.

"The officer didn't have time to react," Atchison County Sheriff John Calhoon said of Officer Enzbrenner, a husband and father of three girls.

Barbee had at least one prior arrest involving an assault on an officer.

On Aug. 2, he was picked up for vehicle burglary, battery on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of the legal process.

3. North Carolina Deputy Shot & Killed, Wednesday, December 7th:

VASS, N.C. — A North Carolina deputy sheriff was shot and killed Wednesday as he tried to arrest an Iraq war veteran with an outstanding arrest warrant for not paying child support, authorities said. The suspect then took his own life.

Moore County Sheriff Lane Carter said that Deputy Richard Rhyne had spoken to the suspect around noon and determined he had an outstanding arrest warrant.

Carter said the suspect, Martin Poynter, pulled out a gun and fatally shot Rhyne outside an abandoned home near Vass, which is 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

Poynter then turned the same gun on himself and also died, the sheriff said.

The sheriff said the 58-year-old Rhyne went to the home after deputies received a trespassing complaint. The deputy found the 33-year-old Poynter and his brother and had time to check their names before he was killed.

Rhyne had been in law enforcement for 37 years and a Moore County deputy since 2007.

The constants in these three incidents?

• Officers working solo;
• Assaulted by solo suspects with handguns;
• Purposely targeted and/or ambushed;
• Two of the three were shot to the head;
• With a subsequent suicide by the perpetrator

I submit that these times are every bit as dangerous for today's law enforcement officer as it was for officers working during the societal anarchy of the late 60s and early 70s -- a time I am familiar with: because I worked then. And now. In law enforcement.

Not because stats indicate that crime is necessarily soaring.

Instead, I submit it is because many individuals encountered by law enforcement officers have been raised on entitlements, a welfare mindset, an inflated sense of esteem and ego, narcissism, lack of respect for authority or others, an indifference to the immediate utilization of violence and lack of discipline.

God bless the officers who gave their lives -- and God bless their families.

The thin blue line.

BZ

Related:

• A Deputy Killed: At Christmas;
• ODMP.org;
• Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs.