Taking Stock of the New Fascist America

I haven't blogged for an entire week.  To be honest, I have had a feeling of futility in the fight to preserve our freedoms.  We have lost major battles recently, if not the war.  Leftist "progressivism" is ascendant and Obama's goal to "transform America" into a socialist nation appears well on the way to success.

Americans are under heavy surveillance by our new fascist masters (and I use the term "fascist" as an actual and accurate description of Obama and the Democrats, and not as a gratuitous insult).  The "progressives" (the new and modern word for fascist) think they know better than the rest of us what is good for us, what should be legal or illegal, what should be mandatory and what should be allowed.  We, the rest of society, are merely a huge lump of clay for these progressive "artistes" to fashion as they may, sculpting us into a new regimented, indoctrinated and submissive peonage that lives only to support the new "utopia."  You know, the utopia of Chicago and Detroit, or of western Europe, which is busily committing ritual hara kiri with an Islamic scimitar.

As for the surveillance, I have to wonder at the websites that have been scouring every post on this blog since the beginning -- what are they looking for?  I find myself suspicious of every email from a stranger.

Meanwhile, I am sick to death of the left's many "isms" that they use as whips to control aberrant thought,  racism and sexism being the foremost.  Those who have drank deeply of the fascist Kool-aid are becoming increasingly impatient with those of us who refuse the cup, furious at our political apostasy for denying the new secular religion.

Can America be saved from its "progressive" transformation?  With the Republican Party now acting like a spanked lap dog of the left, acquiescing in "immigration reform" that will add millions of new voters to Democrat rolls, I am not optimistic.  Again, secession seems to be the only viable solution.  We can only hope that Texas, great Texas, will show us the way.

Grade School Fascism and Anti-Gun Hysteria

Yosemite Sam

Fascism is force.  Fascism is indoctrination.  Fascism is ostracism, punishment and intimidation of those who violate its tenets, however far-fetched the crime, however young and unwitting the perpetrators.

For several years I have watched in increasing anger and dismay at the severe indoctrination and intimidation of grade school children by progressive fascists, mainly over guns and knives.  The latest example is here, where a 7 year old was suspended for allegedly eating his pop tart into the shape of a gun.

The extremism of local school boards has reached unprecedented levels of absurdity, but it is not without purpose or design.  The current generation of grammar school children will someday grow up to be the adults who vote.  By then these new adults will be so terrified of guns that they will vote away the Second Amendment in a heartbeat.  To create the new docile and manageable American adult, any and all discussion or depiction of guns must be ruthlessly suppressed.

One must never be allowed to think about guns, mention guns, depict guns in any way, either by toy replicas, or by drawing guns, or by pointing one's fingers to simulate a gun, or by eating pastry into a gun-like shape.  Those who do will be severely punished, not for actual deeds, but for thought crimes.

"Come and Take It!"

It is time to counter such insanity with strong measures.  If it were up to me, the Maryland community that is served by this school would picket the school, hoisting signs and placards that depict real guns in photographs and drawings.  Informational pamphlets would be handed out to passers-by with pertinent facts, such as "this is a picture of a real gun.  It does not shoot.  It cannot harm anyone.  Depictions of guns harm no one!  Know the difference.  End anti-gun fascism now!"

They could hand out toy guns to school kids outside of school grounds, offer free pastries baked into gun shapes, post pictures of cartoon guns on telephone poles, patrol the school perimeter armed with super-shooter squirt guns, bubble guns and toy guns with barrel flags that say "BANG!"  Candy makers could make bubble gum in the shape of tiny handguns;  women could wear handgun earrings and (fake) bullet necklaces, men could wear gun-shaped lapel pins.  Informational pamphlets depicting real guns, and how they differ from imaginary guns, could be mailed to every member of the school board and teachers' union.  Planes could be hired to drop leaflets depicting comic guns with "bang" flags over all local school grounds.  T shirts with Yosemite Sam brandishing cartoon six-shooters could be worn by all protesters.  (What are they gonna do, arrest Walt Disney?)

In other words, absurdity should be fought with counter-absurdity.  Everywhere the grade school fascists turn, they should see the comical depiction of a gun.  I say comical so they can't claim intimidation or interpret the depictions as any kind of implied threat.  The goal is to rub the fascist nose in the asininity of progressive paranoia while deliberately flouting its program.

Obama Listens (to Your Phone Calls) -- Cartoon

Found on Facebook.

Obama and Fascism

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about fascism, debunking a liberal's phony article about the "14 attributes of fascism."  The liberal's article was really a disguised attempt to link conservative traits to fascism; in other words, it was propaganda, not an honest discussion.

I have been studying fascism and have become convinced that Obama's administration shows some real traits of this form of government.  However, there are some differences as well.

There is no precise definition of fascism.  Neither Mussolini nor Franco sat down and made a list for what fascism must include.  (Hitler, by the way, was more than a fascist, he was a genocidal meglomaniac, and not the best example of fascism.)

From my readings, here is a loose list of fascist traits:

1.  Fascism is a near-worship of the State, a kind of secular religion where God is replaced by the State.
2.  Every aspect of life is within the purview of the State and nothing is outside of it.  Fascism is totalitarian.
3.  The State knows best and can regulate all aspects of the lives of its citizens, relying on committees of experts for policy decisions rather than democratic elections.  The State is not limited by a Constitution or Bill of Rights.  Individualism is suppressed, and all personal ambition and individual interests are subordinated to the State.  The purpose of the individual is to serve the State, and anything that he does or accomplishes must be judged by this one criterion.
4.  The citizenry are kept in a constant state of mobilization and militarization, similar to wartime conditions.  The State's goals are best carried out by a motivated citizenry who strongly believe in State goals and have a sense of urgency in their achievement.  Fascist leaders (and their progeny) are constantly looking for a new crisis to keep this motivation going, to find what has been called "the moral equivalent of war."  This motivating force may be from either an internal or external threat, real or imagined.
5. Fascist states are socialist, but this does not imply that all socialist states are fascist.  Fascist states generally direct the economy through both force and economic incentives, forcing government, corporations and labor unions to work together under terms dictated by the State.  Labor unions cannot strike.
6.  Fascist states are nationalistic rather than internationalist, and this is a key difference between fascism and Soviet communism.  (This is also, in my opinion, a point of departure for the Obama Administration, which tends to be internationalist or globalist.)
7.  Fascist states seek to change human nature so it is more amenable to the dictates of the State.  This is accomplished through indoctrination, particularly of children and young people through education early on, and by weakening the bonds of the nuclear family so that old beliefs will not be passed to new generations through the parent.  Indoctrination is also widely achieved by mass media that are loyal to the State.  Competing views are suppressed or prohibited altogether.
8.  Citizens who refuse to cooperate in the goals and programs of the State are ostracized and punished, and this punishment may be extreme.  This ostracism and punishment are carried out by agencies of the State, not limited to police and military agencies (e.g. during the fascistic Wilson Administration, the Post Office would refuse to deliver newsletters and magazines that opposed Administration policies).  Obama's recent flap, with the IRS denying equal service to citizens based on their political support or opposition, was entirely fascist in nature.
9.  Fascist states tend to oppose religion because religious beliefs often contradict state policies and offer a competing view of reality, morals and behavior, all of which may weaken loyalty to the State and to State dogmas.  Religion is hated simply because it is a form of competition for the loyalties of the citizenry.

Note:  Fascism does not require ethnic hatreds like those of the Nazis.  Hitler's antisemitism was peculiar to German fascism and not followed by either Mussolini or Franco.  However, in the search for the "moral equivalent of war," ethnic hatred may be a useful tool for motivating the masses, and therefore always a possible tactic in the Fascist lexicon.

Fascist states may or may not be expansionist.  Both the German and Japanese governments of the 1930's and 1940's were motivated by conquest, i.e. the desire to obtain additional territory and resources by force, which included using conquered peoples as slaves.  Sometimes the greatest "moral equivalent of war" is war itself -- Mussolini invaded Ethiopia as a tactic to strengthen his political power when Italians began to tire of fascism.

D-Day + 69 Years

This week, Rush Limbaugh visited Normandy, France and toured the scenes of D-Day, the allied invasion of Nazi-held France, 69 years ago today.

No matter how much time passes, that day in history will always be foremost in my mind, when I think of valor and courage and victory over evil.  I hope to visit Normandy, and Omaha Beach, before I die.  I would like to pay my respects to the American dead, thousands of whom are buried there under white marble crosses and green grass.

Rush describes his impressions and emotions of the visit here.

On the 40th anniversary of D-Day, President Ronald Reagan gave one of his most inspiring speeches at the scene, "The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc."  Here it is.

Bro and Stogie Jam Out to "Black Magic Woman" (Video)

Over the weekend I visited my older brother (Bro) in Fallon, Nevada. We jammed for two days straight! In a jam, you play many songs that you may not have played before. Bro and I haven't played music together for three and a half years, but had a great time and were pleased with the results. Because it's a jam, the renditions will not be as polished like they would be if previously rehearsed. That adds a bit of fun to the efforts, because improvization is required. In the vid below, Bro is playing a black Fender Stratocaster guitar, but you can't see it behind his keyboard. Too bad, it's a beautiful guitar -- but you can certainly hear it well. I am in the fedora playing my new Fender Jazz Bass. Bro does the singing.  (I am not coordinated enough to play bass and sing at the same time.) Have a listen.

 

Here's the guitar Bro is playing:

Black Fender Stratocaster

Off to Nevada to See Bro! Serious Jamming Ahead.

Tomorrow I am driving to a town near Reno, Nevada to see my older brother, "Bro."  It will be a welcome interruption to my daily rut.  Bro is an accomplished musician and plays lead guitar, steel guitar and keys.  He teaches guitar and gigs around the locale where he lives.  We will do some serious jamming, and yes, I am bringing my new bass guitar.

Right now I am sitting in my lovely backyard gazebo, enjoying the very mild California weather, and listening to a CD of Anat Cohen (jazz clarinet) that my friend Rick Darby (of Reflecting Light) sent me.   (Thanks Rick!)

The problem with reaching retirement age is that every significant goal in life has been achieved:  you completed your education, got your degree, started a career, found a mate, had children and grandchildren and finally retired.  Now you get to do nothing all day!  Just hang around and wait for the grim reaper.

Doing nothing is absolutely boring.  Without a major purpose in life, one can lose his zest for life, even his will to live.  So to increase my sense of purpose, I have turned to my long-deferred goal of becoming an excellent bass player. Will I make it?  No matter.  When I croak they will have to pry my bass guitar from my cold, dead hands.

For the past three weeks I have been studying music and practicing bass for anywhere from 3 to 5 hours a day.  I am not just practicing what I already know, but pushing myself to gain new skills, to break through to the next level.  My practice involves practicing jazz chord progressions to backing tracks, watching how-to videos (Scott Devine's are best), practicing speed and accuracy drills, playing to music and recording it for analysis, among other things.  Because so many riffs and bass lines are presented as written music (with notes and time and key signatures), I can see that I will have to renew my study of reading music, too.   And that's fine!  I want to be a real musician, one who is literate and can sight read.

From time to time I will post recordings of my progress.

The Incredible Denial of Apologists for Islam

As Islamic terrorism, murder and violence continues to accelerate across the globe, more and more of the naive among us apologize for -- that is, attempt to explain away -- Muslim violence.  Some retired teacher wrote a guest piece in the Hollister newspaper last week, claiming to have "researched" Islam.  His conclusions:  Americans have nothing to fear from Islam or Muslims.  Dhimmis were a protected class of people (actually, they are and were an expendable third-class, reviled caste, and dhimmitude a form of slavery).  This retired teacher also claimed that the Koran was a beautiful book of verses similar to Psalms (obviously overlooking the 109 verses that call for murder and violence against non-believers).  Women are not mistreated in Islam, and their absence in schools is more a factor of poverty than ideology.  The writer's wishful thinking and self-delusion are striking.

There are, in fact, many Americans who no longer need to fear Islam.  They are dead, killed by Muslims for religious reasons.  Islam is a religion that practices a form of human sacrifice:  if you aren't a Muslim, it is perfectly honorable, moral and pious to kill you.

The invaluable website "The Religion of Peace" has compiled a list of Americans killed and injured by Muslims in America. The list goes back to 1972 and extends through the Boston atrocity.  The total number of Americans murdered by Muslims (in America) since 1972 is 3,085 and the number injured is 1,592.  These figures include 911.

If we subtract the casualties of 911, there have been 109 Americans murdered by Muslims and 1,288 injured since 1972.

If we count only the casualties since 911 (2001 - 2013) there have been 64 killed and 228 injured.

So we have nothing to fear from Islam and Muslims?  The percentage of the total population represented by the above figures is fairly low.  However, those tallies only include successful Muslim murders.  They do not include the many plots discovered and stopped, or those that failed.  There were at least 29 failed and foiled Muslim plots to murder Americans since 911.  They are listed here, but the list does not appear complete.

Update:  Here's a film about Sharia, Islamic law that Muslims hope to substitute for the Constitution.  Hat tip to "Sharia Unveiled."

Memorial Day 2013

My New Fender Jazz Bass!

My New Fender Jazz Bass

Sorry for the lack of blogging (as if you cared), but for the past week I have been OBSESSED with one goal:  to buy the new "Modern Player Fender Jazz Bass."  The bass is made in China but is of excellent quality.  Read all about my quest at my other blog, "Playing Bass."

I figured out how to get one and bought it yesterday.  I also figured out better ways to record MP3 files, and here is an MP3 of me playing bass to "Cold Shot," a rock song by the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Rockin' Mama Lorraine does a good job of imitating Vaughn's incredible guitar playing, and Ashley does a fine job of singing the tune.  I play the bass and all I can say is that I didn't make many mistakes!

Here it is:

Chris Matthews Loses His Tingle (Photoshop)

Chris Matthews finally cures his persistent leg tingle. Right Truth tells why here.

The "Fourteen Attributes of Fascism": A Highly Self Serving Definition by a Liberal Writer

It's difficult to find an objective definition of fascism on the web.  Most are self-serving, usually leftist screeds, designed to incorporate conservative or Republican attributes into the definition.  For example, see this rather blatant example at this link.  This website, and others, make use of a dubious list of 14 attributes of fascism.

Liberal websites rely on a fraudulent list of "fourteen attributes of fascism" that was written by a Democrat, one Laurence Britt, during the 2004 election cycle. It was never intended to be a scholarly analysis of fascism, but only a partisan political argument against the Bush Administration.  (Read more about it here.)  Nevertheless, this phony and biased "list" is widely disseminated even today by leftists and liberal writers and bloggers, as if it were real and accurate.  They usually describe it this way:

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, published research on fascism in which he examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each fascist State.

Note that Laurence Britt (note proper spelling) was neither a doctor nor a political scientist, and his list was not derived from any analysis of past fascistic regimes.  Here are his 14 phony attributes (with my comments in red):

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.  [So if you are patriotic and fly the flag, you might be a fascist.  According to this definition, the former Soviet Union, Red China and North Korea are fascists too.]

2. Disdain for the recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarceration of prisoners, etc.  [Waterboarding is allegedly torture, therefore Bush was a fascist because he used it on captured terrorists. The "long incarceration of prisoners" is probably a dig at Gitmo and its residents.]

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists; terrorists, etc.  [So any concerns over an external threat like radical Islam or Communist aggression makes you a fascist.  However, a "frenzy" over the non-existent threat of domestic, right-wing terrorists is okay, even supported by Big Sis of Homeland Security.  How about the "unifying cause" of non-existent global warming and its pending destruction of the human race?]

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military are glamorized.  [That's why we fascist Republicans want a strong military instead of spending all that dough on transforming the ghettos into the City of Oz.]

5. Rampant sexism – The government of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.  [The last sentence describes key liberal agendas and makes the bias of the author transparently obvious.  Quite a few of the Nazi regime were blatant homosexuals (see here).  As for abortion, Although the Nazis banned abortion for Aryan women, they enthusiastically peddled and promoted abortion for non-Aryans. In fact, the Nazis mandated legalized abortion in several European countries where it had never been legal before (see here). It is utter nonsense to assert that if you oppose abortion, i.e. the extermination of the helpless unborn, you are a fascist.]

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.  [Hmm, I agree with this one.  It clearly describes the mainstream media and their slavish support of Democrats and Barack Obama.  As for "censorship in wartime," FDR did plenty of that and I don't disagree with it.]

7. Obsession with National security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.  [You mean like fear of the Tea Party?  Fear of "racists" (see the Southern Poverty Law Center)?  Fear of non-existent "right wing" domestic terrorists?]

8. Religion and Government are intertwined – Government in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.  [This is B.S., another obvious play to the liberal bias against religious conservatives.  The French Jacobins, fascists in the true sense of the word, hated religion and executed priests.  Hitler hated Christianity and Nazis were pagans, vegetarians and occultists.  Benito Mussolini was an atheist.]

9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation are often the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.  [This is almost accurate.  In fascism, there is a strong partnership between the government and major corporations, but it is false to say the latter put the former into power.  Labor Unions probably have more power to effect elections than corporations today.  Government grants benefits and power to those corporations who support its goals, shields those corporations from competition or gives those corporations monopolies over various economic activity.  In turn, the corporations require their employees to also support government goals, memes and beliefs.  See the Wilson Administration, e.g. "We do our part."] 

10. Labor Power is suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated, or are severely restricted.  [Another self-serving but inaccurate definition.  Hitler didn't banish labor unions, as the left has disingenuously asserted; he brought them into the Nazi movement by creating the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF), which was comprised of two primary entities, the National Socialist Factory Organization and the National Socialist Trade and Industry Organization. Benito Mussolini, leader of fascist Italy, was a union activist who was expelled from Trentino province for his union activities.]

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.  [Brazen nonsense.  Hitler originally aspired to be an artist, and the Nazis stole great art from the nations they conquered.  They used artistic displays and statuary to glorify Aryan man.  Mussolini celebrated and supported Italian artists.  It would be more accurate to say that fascism loves art, especially art that justifies, glorifies and rationalizes its political goals.  As for education, higher and otherwise, fascists supported education, particularly as a means of indoctrinating students in its goals and philosophy, much as is the case on leftist controlled campuses today.]

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.  [The first sentence is accurate, the second is liberal propaganda.  Under fascist regimes, the people do not have the option to "forego civil liberties" since they aren't given that as a choice.]

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.  [I know of no historical examples that would make cronyism a trait limited to fascists.  It is true of any and all governments, including that of Barack Obama.  As for massive governmental theft, I know of no better example than our system of taxation and "redistribution of wealth."]

14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassinations of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.  [This was probably a reference to Bush's alleged theft of the 2000 election, when the Supreme Court ruled against the Democratic Party of Florida.  In actuality, the left now controls the mainstream media to an extreme degree, and Democrat judges often overturn the results of elections that they do not approve of -- like those outlawing Sharia law or prohibiting gay marriage.]

In a later post I will attempt to provide a more concise and accurate description of what fascism really was and is.  

Has Fascism Come to America? Part One: Benghazi

Let's see...the President has been campaigning with the slogan "Osama is dead and GM is alive!"  He has been touting the benefits of the "Arab Spring," proof that all the Middle East really needed was a President who apologizes for past American hubris and above all else, wasn't George Bush -- and now those same Arabs are overthrowing dictators and installing "democratic" governments.

Suddenly an American embassy in Libya comes under Islamic attack two months before a presidential election.  Does the President worry about the safety of embassy personnel?  Does he dispatch the military to disperse the radicals and save the embassy staff?  But wait...if he does that, won't his Middle East Peace In Our Time meme be disproved?  Might it hurt his chances of re-election?  Hell, embassy staff are expendable.  He orders the military to "stand down" and not fire on the radicals.

Once the embassy has been burned to the ground and the American bodies collected for burial, there is the problem of spinning it all to the American people.  Let's see...that's it!  Recast this latest terrorist attack as a demonstration that just got out of hand.  It wasn't a planned attack...Middle East Peace In Our Time is still a viable meme for the election....now we just need something or someone to blame for the "demonstration."  Ah ha!  Here's an unknown video on YouTube about the actual history of Mohammed -- let's blame it on that film and its filmmaker!  There won't be a problem with the press...they'll play along like they always do.

So as dirt is shoveled in the faces of four dead Americans, the Prez and his Secretary of State go on Arab television to apologize to the terrorists for having had to murder them in the first place.

"That Thing You Do" -- a Rock Band Movie by Tom Hanks: 1960's Authentic or Merely Cheesy?

If you like the history of rock music and Tom Hanks films, you may want to read this post at my other blog, "Playing Bass."  It's about Tom Hanks's film "That Thing You Do," a story of a rock band in 1964 that achieves sudden fame with a "one-hit wonder."  I found some aspects of the film authentic to the time period but there were some glitches.  For example:

Other blacks included a female singing group reminiscent of the Supremes, highly coiffed, dressed in pastel colors and looking pretty, but singing tunes even too cheesy for the early 1960's. In one scene they are singing "When you're holding my hand, you're holding my heart," followed by hand claps. I had a brief mental image of a doctor holding a beating heart during surgery as I suppressed a brief wave of nausea. C'mon! The Sixties were never that awful.

Read the whole thing here.

Whales Sighted Up Close and Personal: Moss Landing, CA May 12, 2013

I took the Mrs. Chomper to Phil's Fish Market restaurant, in Moss Landing, California, for Mother's Day.  Moss Landing is near Monterey, California; there's a beach behind Phil's, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  While waiting to dine, we took a walk down to the beach and heard someone say "There's a whale over there."  A couple of folks began walking quickly in the direction of the alleged whale, so we decided to follow.

Whale's Flipper Protruding 

There was a whale all right.  One whale was frolicking about ten yards off the beach, occasionally raising a barnacle-encrusted flipper, exposing its back, spraying water from its spout.  It was the first time I had seen a whale.  I was surprised that a whale could come so close to the beach; it was probably of a smaller species, possible a humpback.

Whale's Dorsal Fin (Looks Shark-Like But It's a Whale)

Fortunately, I had brought my digital camera and captured some stills and video of the whales.  I posted a couple of stills above and will upload the video footage to YouTube later.

UPDATE:  Videos of my whale watching experience can be seen here and here.

Police File Charges Against "Naked Pope" Girl

Last month there was an annual Art School parade at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.  One of the CMU students, 19 year old Katherine O'Connor, participated in the parade dressed as the Pope, but naked from the waist down.  Her pubic hair was shaved into the shape of a cross.  She reportedly gave out condoms to the onlookers as she marched along with the parade.

Pittsburgh Police have now decided to file misdemeanor charges against O'Connor for indecent exposure.  Her supporters claim her "artistic expression" is protected speech under the First Amendment.

Why did O'Connor do it?  She probably just wanted to show off and achieve notoriety, using a leftist-approved meme, i.e. bashing the Church.   College students are always so brave and courageous while attacking the traditional culture; they will get pats on the head from their left-leaning teachers and kudos from their colleagues.  However, as former Communist David Horowitz has pointed out, "the issue is always the revolution," no matter what the issue pretends to be.

The left is determined to root out religion from the culture so it can be replaced with something else, i.e. an almost religious belief in the state.  Such incidents, like the piss-Christ photograph and the elephant dung-Mary, are designed to be a kind of cultural acid, slowly weakening the mortar that holds the bricks of western civilization together.  Over time we become less sensitive to such displays, weakening our will to resist the cultural and political changes the left has planned for us.

As for Katherine O'Connor, she has her own cross to bare.  If she gets off, it will be a close shave.

Zen and the Art of Playing Bass

Finally, finally, finally, I am making a serious effort to raise myself from the ranks of amateur bass players to professional bass players.

I have a long way to go.  But I have learned, thanks to a bass teacher named Dale Titus, that it can be done with patience and repetition.

Oh, the learning regimen is fairly traditional:  learn scales, learn modes, learn arpeggios.  Absorb scale theory and how it relates to chords and keys.  Learn every inch of the neck.

However, a lot of successful bass playing (or playing any instrument) is great execution.  Getting your fingers on the right fret at the right time, without string rattle or buzz, plucking those strings accurately and quickly -- those skills are hard to attain.  You attain them by playing exercises (Titus calls them "chop builders") slowly at first, concentrating on a good sound.  You then slowly increase the speed of playing those chops until you can do it quickly as well as accurately.

So much of learning an instrument is developing the muscle memory to play it well and right.  Break it into its various parts and learn each part well, taking as much time as you need to do it.  Keep at it on a daily basis.  If you learn one small thing each day, your knowledge and skill will accumulate faster than you think.

I think this principle works for mastering just about any skill or body of knowledge.   It's like the old but useful analogy of the snowball rolling downhill.

Boston Bombing Victim Jeff Bauman Waves Flag at Boston Bruins Playoff Game

Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the bombing of the Boston Marathon, waved the "Boston Strong" flag the Boston Bruins NHL playoff game.  Here's a great picture of him doing so (hat tip to Twitchy.com).  Jeff is a great guy who personifies the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

Amusing Bunni's Lesson to Us: a Positive Message Ain't Bad

Stogie Bunnies?

One of the things I have learned from the late Carol Mack, who blogged as Amusing Bunni and died a week ago today, is that of a positive message.  (See Curmudgeon's lovely tribute to Bunni here.)  Bunni was upbeat, encouraging and nice to just about everyone.

Looking back through my last 3,000 or so blog posts, I feel somewhat depressed:  so much negativity.  Too much fighting, arguing, bashing other bloggers and getting bashed in return.  Blogging for me and for many has been like a bar fight:  I hit you over the head with an empty beer bottle and you return the favor with a bar stool.  Well, let's be honest, fighting is often fun.  However, it probably doesn't change anyone's mind.  If you were convinced I'm a fool before I smacked you in the mouth, you probably think I'm still a fool and a bully to boot.  This is okay if your only purpose is to vent.   That's not my purpose...or not the major one, anyway.

I love bunnies.  I have ever since my parents took me to see Bambi when I was around 6 or 7 years old.  I thought Thumper was great.  Nevertheless, I won't ape Bunni's style with pictures of bunnies, cats and squirrels.  What works for one blogger won't necessarily work for others (see my kind of bunnies in the pic above -- probably not what Amusing Bunni had in mind).  I can, however, find more positive things to write about, more life affirming, more hope engendering, more upbeat.  I'll try to do that, not exclusively, because "politics is war by other means" and "war is hell," to quote Clauswitz and Sherman.  Nevertheless, I'll try to use more humor, more explanation and less anger.  I won't stop fighting, but maybe I will hit people with a softer bar stool.  And I'll make a point of including more posts that don't involve politics.

Thanks for your great example, Bunni.

Geller Gets It (Finally)

For years Pamela Geller and her close associate, Robert Spencer, have been exposing the means and methods of jihad and the threat posed by Islamic mass-murderers.  However, they were always infuriatingly politically correct, never accurately defining the true nature of Islam (there is no "moderate" Islam or "radical Islam," there is only Islam, and it is irredeemably hostile and violent).

My late friend Lawrence Auster used to fume about this.  He thought Pamela Geller's approach was weak, as she never dared to speak the full truth about Islam and recommend effective cures for Islamic terrorism.    I know he really got under her skin a few times, since his blog "View From the Right" was widely read.

Auster began to change his mind about Geller after she began posting pro-Israel ads on municipal buses in various major cities, and suing cities to allow the ads after the cities initially refused them.  He even signed up for one of her seminars and found it of value.

Today Auster would be very proud of Pamela Geller.  She finally gets it.  She has an organization now called  the "American Freedom Defense Initiative" (AFDI) and its platform for rolling back Islamic incursions into western societies is solid.  For example, it recognizes that Islam is not merely a religion, but a violent, totalitarian ideology that does not deserve to hide its nefarious activities behind a demand for "religious" freedom.  Further, AFDI calls for a stop to Islamic immigration into non-Muslim majority countries. It also calls for a prohibition of foreign funding of mosques and Islamic Studies departments at universities -- as these are a form of stealth jihad.

AFDI is definitely on the right track, and not a moment too soon.

Read more about it at this link.

Hat tip to American Power.

Cancer Claims Another Conservative Blogger: Amusing Bunni, RIP

Amusing Bunni, RIP

Carol, who blogged as "Amusing Bunni," has succumbed to cancer.  She was diagnosed with an aggressive, untreatable form of cancer in October and was disabled from that point on.  Many bloggers sent her cash donations to help her stay in her home and pay the bills for the last few months of her life.  Carol died in a hospice last Sunday evening.

She released photos of herself taken in her youth; I enhanced the one included herein to show her lovely nose, which is almost invisible in the original.   She was a beautiful lady.  Go with God, Bunni.

Now Dan Riehl needs our help in paying his hospital bills for the recent pulmonary episode that nearly killed him.  Please consider a donation of any amount to Dan:  here's the link.

See more about Bunni here and here.

Bunni's blog is here.  Her last post was on April 1.

And Now For Something Completely Different....."Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run" (Stogie Band Videos)

Too much negativity lately.  Time for a music video break!

My band played at a party over the weekend. Rockin' Mama Lorraine is one of the best guitar players I have ever played with, and she rocks out on these two old Ventures tunes, "Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run."

Terry Bishop and The Giant Unfolding Conspiracy

Every Bad Thing That Ever
Happened Is The Result 
of a Giant Unfolding Conspiracy

Terry Bishop, conspiracy theorist, has attacked me in the comments section of my post "The False Flag Kooks Are Out In Force Re The Boston Bombing."  Terry blogs at the Site "Hard Nox and Friends."

Terry apparently believes that world history and every daily mishap, lunatic murder and tragedy is the result of a Giant Unfolding Conspiracy (GUC).  Oklahoma City, Aurora, Sandy Hook, now Boston -- all part of the GUC that is threatening to turn us all into Eloi, food for Morlocks.  If you don't believe me, read this:  read his rant here.  Note that Terry doesn't refute a single point in my blog post (he can't).  The dead, the maimed and wounded at the Boston Marathon are real people, not actors.  They were injured by a real bomb, not harmless "flash powder."  Only the truly delusional could believe such "false flag" nonsense.

What the conspiracy peddlers prove, is only this:  there are crazy kooks on the right as well as the left.  The "truthers," no matter which conspiracy they are pushing, are a great example of a theory in search of facts -- they are in ruthless pursuit, not of truth, but of an agenda.  Since most people aren't nuts, the "truthers" do conservatism far more harm than good.

Worse, they dishonor the dead and injured, the victims of such tragedies, by providing cover for the evil that harmed them.  Shame on you, Terry Bishop, and any other blogger who supports you in this dishonorable pursuit.

Hear Interview of Bombing Victim Jeff Bauman on ViralRead

Jeff Bauman

Jeff Bauman, the young man who lost both legs below the knee in the Boston bombing, gave an interview to a radio personality.  A recording of the interview can be listened to here.  Jeff describes what it was like to be blown up and nearly killed, and how it all went down.

Jeff made eye contact with Bomber #1 as he dropped his bomb-containing bag and departed.  Five minutes later the bomb blew off the lower half of Jeff's legs, as well as killing three people and injuring over 200 more.

Carlos Arredondo, a civiian in a cowboy hat, saved Jeff's life by pinching off the artery in his right leg, preventing him from bleeding out.  Carlos commandeered a wheelchair and rolled Jeff to an ambulance.  Since the explosion, Jeff and Carlos have kept in touch on a daily basis.  Jeff was invited to come to a Red Sox game for a presentation to the fans, but said he would only do it if Carlos could come too.

Listen to the interview at the above link.  Jeff is an inspiring guy, and Carlos is no slouch either.

The False Flag Kooks Are Out In Force Re the Boston Bombing UPDATED

It's amazing to me how many Americans are just plain nuts, bonkers, delusional -- completely devoid of any common sense or attachment to reality.

The tinfoil hat brigades are already forming to denounce the Boston bombing as a "false flag" operation.  One kooky website claims that all the wounded were "actors," that no pressure cooker bombs were set off, it was only "flash powder."  The blood on the ground wasn't the right color red, or there wasn't enough of it.  The man with a bloody stump with a bone sticking out of the end was merely wearing a prosthetic device.  And why did they escort him away from the scene in a wheelchair instead of using a stretcher?  Hey kooks, why don't you ask him?  His name is Jeffrey Bauman and he is 27 years old.  He lost both legs in the blast.  The Concord Monitor reports on WHY Bauman didn't bleed to death:

Bauman, 27, was waiting at the finish line for his girlfriend to cross when the bombs exploded. [Carlos] Arredondo was watching from nearby bleachers, handing out American flags while he cheered on members of the National Guard and a suicide prevention group that were running in honor of his two deceased sons. When the bombing hit, adrenaline and instinct kicked in, and he immediately hopped the fence and ran toward the people on the ground.

“There were so many people on the floor, so many serious injuries in the legs. It was unbelievable, people were everywhere,” Arredondo said.

When he saw the extent of Bauman’s injuries and the rapid loss of blood, he knew Bauman needed his help the most. He ripped up a sweater and used it to try to stop the bleeding from Bauman’s legs and immediately got the attention of a woman with a wheelchair. He placed Bauman in the chair and began pushing, but the fabric he used as bandages kept getting caught in the wheels. Arredondo took matters into his own hands, literally, throwing off the fabric and pinching closed an artery on Bauman’s right leg – the image of humanitarianism seen around the world.

“The picture that you see, that’s what it is and that how it happened, you know,” he said. “I was just trying to help him in every way I could, and thank God he gave me the opportunity to help this beautiful young man.”

When they finally reached an ambulance, Arredondo asked for Bauman’s name. “Jeff,” he managed to say, then spelled out his last name for Arredondo.

Carlos Arredondo, in Cowboy Hat, Saved Jeff Bauman's Life

The conspiracy crowd are unlikely to believe any of this, however.  Never mind the bits of shrapnel, the little girl who was perforated with numerous nails, the several other people who lost limbs, the four dead, including an eight year old boy.  Never mind the bbs all over the street, the dozens of injured with shrapnel, nails and bbs embedded in their bodies.  It was all a big put-on.

The people who believe this atrocity was somehow faked, are nuts.  They deserve our contempt.

See some of these kook sites here and here.

Meanwhile, check out a list of some of the bombing victims who lost limbs or their lives, here.  Yeah, these folks were all actors in the massive conspiracy, don'tcha know.  Flash powder my ass.

P.S.  Carlos Arredondo is a hero.  God bless him.

Religious Motive Cited in Boston Bombings: What Did I Tell You?

What did I tell you in my last post?

Actually, it was a no-brainer except for the millions of Americans who are in denial as to the irredeemably violent nature of Islam

Read it here.

Why the Boston Bombers Did It (Hint: It's In the Koran)

Mohammed Would Approve

To anyone who has studied Islam's teachings, history and the example of Mohammed, the "Why" of the Boston atrocity is no mystery.

Fourteen hundred years ago, Mohammed's followers made the Second Pledge of Aqaba, in which they pledged to commit unending war on all mankind, until the whole world was Muslim, dead or slaves.  As reported in the Haddith:

Ishaq:208 "When Allah gave permission to his Apostle to fight, the second Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of submission. Now we bound ourselves to war against all mankind for Allah and His Apostle. He promised us a reward in Paradise for faithful service. We pledged ourselves to war in complete obedience to Muhammad no matter how evil the circumstances."

Well now, mass murder of innocents in the Bostom bombing is indeed "evil circumstances."  So we see that unending violence is not an exaggeration, nor a slander against the Islamic faith.  Mohammed's admonition for unending war, terror and slaughter is well documented in Islamic holy texts.  The Boston bombers were merely following the commands of their prophet, as have thousands of other terrorists before them.

Here is a great reference on the violent admonitions of Mohammed, found in the website The Religion of Peace.  The site introduces the violent Koranic verses with this introduction:

Question:Does the Quran really contain dozens of verses promoting violence?

Summary Answer:The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.  Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding.  Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter. Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text.  They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran. Most of today's Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book's many calls to violence according to what their own moral preconceptions find justifiable.  Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny.  Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology. Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed.  Muhammad's own martial legacy - and that of his companions - along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.

The site then lists some of the most important of these verses, like Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 327: - “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”  Read them all.

UPDATE:  Here are the words of modern Muslim leaders, who describe a Muslim's duty to kill unbelievers, including women and children:

From Iraq:

“There is no doubt that Allah commanded us to strike the Kuffar (unbelievers), kill them, and fight them by all means necessary to achieve the goal. The servants of Allah who perform Jihad to elevate the word (laws) of Allah, are permitted to use any and all means necessary to strike the active unbeliever combatants for the purpose of killing them, snatch their souls from their body, cleanse the earth from their abomination, and lift their trial and persecution of the servants of Allah. The goal must be pursued even if the means to accomplish it affect both the intended active fighters and unintended passive ones such as women, children and any other passive category specified by our jurisprudence.”

Statement by the head of Jama'at al-Tawid wal-Jihad ("Group for Monotheism and Jihad"), a Sunni terrorist known for bloody massacres, including 86 Shiites at a mosque.

And no, this cretin is not describing active combatants, like the U.S. military, but all unbelievers, because there are NO non-combatants in Islam's holy war against humanity.  This statement is from a Chechyan Muslim, where the Bostom bombers hail from:

“I ask you to step up Jihad against enemies of Allah... Destroy Allah's enemies wherever you have them, wherever your hands reach you may open a front... When there is a total war, there are no more civilian objects or civilian population."

Doku Umarov, a leader who has taken personal responsibility for dozens of terror attacks in which many civilians were left dead.

The "Religion of Peace" is anything but.  Bookmark these pages for future reference.

Comparative Religions (Photoshop)

This Is Your Brain On Islam: Alcohol Forbidden, Mass Murder Okay

Drudge quotes the dead terrorist:

Tamerlan says he doesn't drink or smoke anymore: "God said no alcohol." A muslim, he says: "There are no values anymore," and worries that "people can't control themselves."

God says no alcohol, but mass murder is okay.

This is your brain on Islam.

UPDATE:  Second perp ("white hat" guy) captured and in custody.  He was hiding in a boat stored in a citizen's backyard.  He appears seriously injured and was taken to a hospital.

Surprise, Surprise! Boston Marathon Bombers are Radical Muslims! Who Would've Guessed?

One Down, One to Go

A lot has happened since early this morning.  The two marathon bombers were brothers, radical muslims, and managed to murder a MIT campus policeman as he sat in his car.  They attempted to rob a 7-11 convenience store, then kidnapped a man and his Mercedes, forcing him to withdraw cash from several ATMs.  They let him go but kept his car.

The police closed in on these perps and a gunfight ensued, with one policeman wounded and one terrorist (the black hat guy) shot dead.  The white hat terrorist has so far eluded police and is on the run.  The black hat terrorist was twenty-six-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev.  The white hat perp is his brother, 19 year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The two terrorists were brothers from Chechnya.  Unfortunately for them, the modern world is one with a thousand eyes, in the form of surveillance, cell phone and digital cameras, and police were able to identify the perps within 24 hours of their crime.

FBI Releases Photos of Suspects in Boston Marathon Bombing

The FBI has released photos of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.  Both are young men, seen carrying backpacks in the vicinity of the blasts, just minutes before the bombs went off.

One was wearing a white baseball cap turned backwards and carrying a white backpack slung over his right arm.  A white backpack was deposited near the finish line and later exploded.  One of the victims, who lost both legs in the ensuing blast, got a good look at the perp as he dropped the white backpack and departed.

The FBI has learned that at least one of the bombs was detonated using a remote control mechanism and battery from a hobby store, where such items are used to control toy cars or planes.

The devices used in the bombing have previously been described on Al Qaeda websites.  Though the perpetrators have not been identified as Muslim or Middle-eastern, it appears likely that they obtained their knowledge of this type of bomb from Al Qaeda sources.  It will be interesting to discover the perpetrators' motivation for this atrocity.  I see a slab and a drip line in the perps' future.  Too bad.  Such crimes would be so much better punished by an old-fashioned hanging or electric chair.  Call me a traditionalist.

Boston Bombing: Who Did It?

Whenever an atrocity occurs, like the bombing of the Boston Marathon yesterday, the left immediately blames it on the "far right" or on budget cuts, or something equally self-serving.  The right immediately suspects Muslim terrorists.  I am in the latter category, of course.

Nevertheless, nothing is definite without evidence and facts, and we should try to withhold judgment until we have some.  John Douglas, the FBI profiler whose books have recently caught my attention, talks about erroneous investigations and convictions.  These are generally caused by jumping to conclusions, developing a theory, and selectively looking for facts to fit that theory.  Douglas says that in any crime, you must step back, view the whole picture, and determine what is known and what is not known.  You first examine the facts and the evidence and formulate a theory based on those.

What we now know is this:
1.  Person or persons unknown planted makeshift bombs made from pressure cookers at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, and timed those bombs to explode when and where the crowd would be thickest.  This appears a deliberate attempt to kill and injure as many people as possible.

2. Recent events in the past decade have shown Muslim terrorists planting bombs (in London and Madrid) with the intention of killing or wounding civilians.  Such crimes seem to have no purpose other than murder for the sake of murder, or in the case of radical Muslims, for the sake of their violent ideology.  Douglas calls this type of crime a "group cause" crime, carried out for ideological or political reasons.  The Islamic reason is merely to follow the command of their prophet, i.e. to kill infidels and unbelievers.  It is a well-established fact, based on 14 centuries of experience, that Islam is a religion of mass murder that intends to spread itself through terror.

3.  A recent Al Qaeda magazine described how Muslim terrorists could make bombs out of pressure cookers, filled with shrapnel and a flammable liquid.  The article advised:

“The pressurized cooker is the most effective method,” the article said. “Glue shrapnel to the inside of the pressurized cooker then fill the cooker with inflammable material.” A small light bulb can be used as a detonator, it said.

“Place the device in a crowded area,” the article said. “Camouflage the device with something that would not hinder the shrapnel such as cardboard.”

It would appear a reasonable theory that the world's most violent and hateful religion has probably carried out yet another crime against humanity.  However, I will withhold conclusive judgment until more facts are in.  There is always the possibility that the crime was perpetrated by some extremist like Timothy McVeigh or some lunatic like Ted Kaczynski.  However, the odds are in favor of a Muslim perpetrator.

Famous Crime Cases, Murder, Evidence and Who-Dunnits

I saw my last tax client of the season last night at 8 PM.  He owed.  Told him he was underwithheld.

I left the office shortly after 9 PM and went home, had a cigar and read some more from my latest book interest, one by John Douglas, a famous FBI profiler and expert on crime scene investigation and murder.  Last week I read his latest book, "Law and Disorder," where he analyzes several recent murder cases and gives his opinion on the guilt or innocence of  those convicted of the crimes:  the West Memphis Three:  completely innocent, though they spent 20 years in prison, one of them, the alleged ringleader, on death row. They were recently released.  Others for whom the evidence indicates innocence are Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in Texas for arson and the death of his three children, and Amanda Knox.

I am now reading his book on famous crimes and the evidence for and against the suspects, e.g., Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, executed in 1936 for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby.  The evidence against Lizzie Borden, accused of hacking her parents to death in 1892, is compelling.  Though she was acquitted of the murder, she is the only person who had motive and opportunity to do the crime.  The jury refused to convict in the absence of any direct evidence, and I cannot disagree with their decision.  Her guilt was not established beyond a reasonable doubt.

The evidence against Hauptmann appears overwhelming, but there are still those who argue for his innocence all these years later.  Personally, I believe he was guilty as sin and deserving of his fate.  There was much direct evidence against him.   Douglas believes that Hauptmann was guilty, but had to have been assisted in the planning and carrying out of the crime.  Douglas would not have applied the death penalty.  I disagree.

However, whether you agree or disagree, Douglas's analysis of the facts and evidence of famous cases gives the reader much greater insight into these cases, even though it is impossible to draw any conclusions with certainty so many years later.  Now I am going to get another cup of coffee and read Douglas's dissection of the Zodiac murders in San Francisco during the 1970's.

Renewal of the Soul After Adversity

My Persimmon Tree Blossoming in Glorious Spring Renewal

My friend AOW (Always on Watch) makes a point of interspersing happy posts with all the negative political ones.  That's a good idea, lest we become cynical sourpusses, devoid of hope and optimism.

Well let's see, what can I be positive about?  Hmmm.

My persimmon tree's new buds and branches are exploding in a flurry of greenery and growth.  I wish my soul were like that:  able to renew itself with that kind of vigor and color.  Life could trim off my branches and leave me denuded and bare in winter, and in spring I would blossom all over again, filled with ambition, optimism and promise.

Well, the tax season ends in another week.  Yay!  Then its plucking my Rickenbacker bass guitar and groovin' like the really cool cat that I imagine myself to be.  Oh yeah.

I have some money in my pocket, not enough to buy a Bushmaster, but enough to keep me in cigars for a few weeks.

I now know more about income taxes than at any previous time in my long career.  I also found that clients like me.  I relate well to them.  I should be able to earn some dough after leaving Fleecem Tax, where they bill the suckers $400 an hour (I am leaving for two reasons:  low pay for me and absurd prices for clients.)

Today in Hollister, the sky is blue and cloudless; there's a gentle breeze wafting spring fragrances, and pollen, but my allergy medication is holding its own.

Well, that's all the positivity I can fake for today.  Come back tomorrow for continuing installments.

Mellow Fellow. That's Me. But for How Long?

I see that socialist and leftist scumbags are "celebrating in the streets" over the death of Margaret Thatcher.  Leftism is evil, but in banal way.  I am mildly disgusted, but no longer wish to machine-gun the whole lot of them.  Guess I am somewhat mellow following the death of my friend Lawrence Auster.  Nothing shocks me much anymore, and very little really pisses me off.

So wallow in your evil, your hatred, your profound ignorance, lefties.  It's what you do and who you are.

Margaret Thatcher, 1925 - 2013

A Great Lady:  Rest In Peace

The Scapegoat With a Thousand Faces: Musings on Justice, Memory, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

NOTE:  the article below discusses how a former Nazi guard became a scapegoat for Holocaust crimes committed by one Ivan the Terrible.  My use of this guard, one John Demjanjuk, as an example, does not imply any sympathy for Nazis, nor any belief in Holocaust denial.  I am a strong supporter of Israel.  Do not read more into the discussion than is intended.

****

One of the best books I ever read on criminal justice was "Witness for the Defense" by Elizabeth Loftus.  She explains quite convincingly how memory can be polluted and distorted, and how eyewitness testimony is often suspect in any criminal trial.  Victims of a crime are often asked to view mugshots and later, line-ups of suspects to see if they can identify the perpetrator.  They see a face that looks entirely familiar, and finger that  suspect as the perpetrator.  Except that the suspect is not the perpetrator.  The witness has found the suspect's face very familiar because she first saw it when viewing mugshots.

Another aspect of Loftus's writing is the scapegoat phenomenon.  People who have been victimized by criminals desire revenge.  I don't blame them, it is a very natural reaction to losing a loved one to murder, or from enduring pain and suffering.  However, we must understand the scapegoat phenomenon:  people desirous of revenge will often settle for a scapegoat, the punishment of someone who acts as proxy for the real criminal.  Victims need someone to blame, and it matters not that their target for hatred is innocent.  Scapegoats are borne of a strong psychological need to believe in their guilt, regardless of facts or evidence.

As a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, I have long been interested in the American Civil War.  I became interested in the story of Andersonville Prison and its Confederate commander, Major Henry Wirz.  Wirz was arrested after the surrender of the Confederacy, given a sham trial by a military tribunal and hanged for crimes against humanity.  However, he was innocent, a mere scapegoat for the Northern conquerors.  I base this largely on the writings of people who were there, especially a Northern Lieutenant, one James Madison Page, who was a prisoner of war in Andersonville.  In his book, The True Story of Andersonville Prison, he wrote that Wirz was merely a scapegoat who was used "to draw the Northern rath to satiety."  No one cared if Wirz was actually guilty or not.  The grieving families of soldiers who died there needed closure, and the framing and execution of Wirz supplied that.  It also served to direct blame away from the Lincoln Administration, who could have saved many of the POWs but considered them expendable.

Loftus also discussed the trial in Israel of Ivan (John) Demjanjuk, a former Nazi prison camp guard who was accused of mass-murdering Nazi, Ivan the Terrible.   Demjanjuk immigrated to America after World War II, lived a quiet life as an auto worker, until accused by Nazi hunters of being Ivan the Terrible. When so accused, the USA stripped him of his citizenship and extradited him to stand trial in Israel.  Demjanjuk was not "Ivan the Terrible" and the evidence did not support this belief.  However, the Israelis wanted a scapegoat for the Holocaust crimes and Demjanjuk would do.  His Israeli defense attorneys were excoriated and hated for representing him.  Yoram Sheftel, the main attorney, received death threats and was the victim of an acid attack that nearly blinded him.  However, he believed in Demjanjuk's innocence and later wrote a book, The Demjanjuk Affair:  the Rise and Fall of a Show Trial.

Demjanjuk was convicted based on documents, some obviously forged, and the testimony of Treblinka survivors who identified him as Ivan the Terrible.  However, the prosecution was relying on memories four decades old, and a very old man who looked a lot different at his trial than he looked in 1943.  Elizabeth Loftus, an Israeli and an expert on memory, was asked to help defend Demjanjuk; she declined, due to the immense public pressure to convict Demjanjuk and ostracize anyone connected with his defense.

Demjanjuk, scapegoat, was sentenced to be hanged for crimes against humanity.  However, four years later, the Israeli Supreme Court overturned his sentence and freed him.

Demjanjuk was no angel, he had been a willing volunteer at Nazi concentration camps and a guard there.  That is undisputed.  He was later convicted in a German court for other war crimes and sentenced to five years in prison.  He died of old age at 91 while waiting for an appeal to be heard. However, his appointment as proxy for Ivan the Terrible illustrates well how the scapegoat phenomenon works:  if you can't get the actual perpetrator of the crime, a stand-in will do fine in placating the hatred of the victims and their families.

Amanda Knox is a new scapegoat, someone to blame and to hate for the murder of Meredith Kercher.  Kercher's family believes in Knox's guilt, not because of any evidence against her (there is none), but because of the scapegoat phenomenon.  They want someone to pay for the crime.  The actual perpetrator of Meredith's murder, a thug named Rudy Guede, is already in prison for "participating" in Meredith's death, sentenced to 16 years for his alleged supporting role.  However, his role was not a supporting role, the evidence is overwhelming that he alone killed Meredith when she surprised him in the act of burglary.  The Kerchers have their perp, a real one, who has been given a sentence far too light for the crime he committed.

I don't know Amanda Knox, don't know if she is a liberal (probably) or a conservative, a sexual libertine or a complete airhead.  Frankly, I don't care, as such personal aspects have nothing to do with her guilt or innocence in the murder of Meredith Kercher.

I see myself in this case as someone who is in ruthless pursuit of truth.  Others, the "guilters" like Ann Coulter, are in merely in a ruthless pursuit of an agenda.  They will have their scapegoat at all costs, including those of truth and justice.