Saber Point Nears a Million Hits

My oldest hit counter just passed the 900,000 visitors mark, which means I am now in the countdown to the million hits mark.  Okay, it only took me six years, but what the hey, better late than never.

I remember I almost quit when my daily hits were around 35.

I figure it will take a month or two to finally hit one million.  Whoopee!

Okay, there are some blogs who get that many hits in a month.  A pox on them!

Israeli Veteran Proud of His Confederate Heritage

After a ceremony to join the Sons of Confederate Veterans,

Arieh O'Sullivan displays the Confederate flag he took

into battle with him when he and his Israeli

paratrooper unit invaded Lebanon in

the 1982 war, Feb. 22, 2012. (Arieh O'Sullivan)

Here's an interesting story in the Jewish press, about an Israeli Arieh O'Sullivan, a former paratrooper and officer in the Israeli Defense Force.  O'Sullivan, a citizen of Israel, drives around in an army jeep with a Confederate flag on the spare tire.  He recently joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans, aligning himself with a chapter in Biloxi, Mississippi.

O'Sullivan fought with the IDF in Lebanon in 1982, and like thousands of Confederate descendant-soldiers, carried the Confederate battle flag into battle -- concealed in one of his pouches.

O'Sullivan's ancestor was in the Confederate cavalry of Alabama (so was mine), and O'Sullivan notes similarities between the Confederate nation and Israel -- as have I.  His impressions are not quite the same as mine, however.  O'Sullivan says this:
“There’s some kind of kinship between Israel and the Confederacy: Both are mired in self-pity, victimology and obsession with history.”

My impressions of the two nations' similarities are these:

1. Both are (or were) small nations surrounded by hostile forces bent on their violent destruction.
2. Both are the target of unending lies, distortions, ignorance and slander about their origins, purposes and the reasons they are/were attacked.
3. Both are/were absolutely determined to survive against seemingly overwhelming forces.

The Jewish Times reported this story factually and impartially, without trying to slime it with leftist or Yankee spin, as is done regularly by the American propaganda press (also known as the mainstream media).  Read the story here.

Finally, A Day Off

The Tax Agency gave me this and the next two Saturdays off.  We are in the mid-season lull.  I gladly accepted.

This is my first day off in more than a month.  Working seven days a week finally makes one mentally exhausted, if not physically.  Getting more sleep won't do it.  You have to have time off to relax and think about other things, i.e. fun things.

So what am I going to do with my day off?  We'll see.

Gasoline to Hit $5 a Gallon Soon?

Our years of ignoring our energy needs is leading, quite predictably, to soaring gas prices.  Premium is pushing five dollars a gallon.

High energy costs echo through the economy like cannon fire.  Everything we make or do economically requires energy.  Transportation costs of all goods from manufacture to retail store, from farm to grocers, will increase, and so the prices of everything transported will also increase.  That means more for food, clothing, computers, and (gasp) cigars!

The Democrats, however, want high energy prices.  Why, I am not sure.  Perhaps because one of their major constituencies is the ecology fanatics who want to suppress humanity by suppressing the economy.  Yes, let's make the world safe for squirrels.

Fortunately, squirrels can't vote.  But we can, and November is getting closer every day.

Why I'm Reading "Mein Kampf"

I am reading "Mein Kampf," Adolph Hitler's autobiography and statement of purpose.  Why, is it because I'm a budding Nazi?  Are my secret, repressed proclivities finally surfacing?  Am I practicing goose-stepping around the house with a pot on my head?

Well no.

I just want to know what this man thought and why.  I found a free pdf copy of the book by searching the web, but I bought a Kindle copy of it from Amazon.  The Kindle copy automatically takes you to the last page you were reading when you quit, and that alone was worth the price.

Today antisemitism seems to making a comeback in a big way.  Perhaps this has something to do with the left's embrace of Islam, their fellow hate-America ideologues, the only religion to make Jew hatred and murder official and integral parts of its doctrine.

I became interested in reading Hitler's point of view when I started reading "Berlin Diary" by William L. Shirer. Shirer's book is quite compelling -- through his eyes one can see the Nazi movement in its early days, see Hitler as if he were still alive and making speeches.  It is scary being in Berlin in the late 1930's, seeing the rising peril, the elevation of a madman to the pinnacle of power in Germany.  Everywhere is the tramp of marching, boot-clad feet, Hitler's angry rants echoing over loud-speakers, men and boys in gray and brown uniforms, crowds of people with their arms raised in unison and shouting "Sieg Heil!"

The Nazis were Group-Think in its most extreme and dangerous form.  Now let's see what else I can learn from Mr. Hitler.

Update:  D. Charles, one of the most extreme Islamic apologists I have yet encountered, is ticked because I wouldn't post his last comment in which he calls me a bigot and says I have "lost the argument" (over the innate evil of Islam itself as opposed to extremists misinterpreting Islam).  He says I lost the argument because I have never visited an Islamic country.  This is a total non-sequitur.

Well DC, I have never visited Germany or Japan, but I still hold informed opinions as to the evil of the fascism that once dwelled there; I have never visited North Korea but hold an informed opinion that its government is genocidal and tyrannical.  I can read news reports, see films and videos, read published histories, and listen to eye-witness accounts -- and also read Islam's holy texts and written histories of Muhammad and his deeds.  I do not have to contract cancer to know that it is a horrible and often fatal disease.  Likewise, I do not need direct experience of Islamic evil to know the religion is evil and worthless to humanity.   Your argument and the premise it is built on are extremely weak.

Jew hatred is an intricate, innate part of the religion of Islam.  Quoting a reader at View From the Right:

While looking at the website of the Jewish Virtual Library, I came across the following chilling quote from Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia, in 1937.

While speaking to a British colonel, H.R.P. Dickson, he said, "Our hatred for the Jews dates from God's condemnation of them for their persecution and rejection of Isa (Jesus) and their subsequent rejection of His chosen Prophet." He added, "that for a Muslim to kill a Jew, or for him to be killed by a Jew, ensures him an immediate entry into Heaven and into the august presence of God Almighty."

[Auster responds]:   This statement by Ibn Saud shows that it is not "radicals" alone who hate us "infidels" and want to conquer us. It is mainstream Muslims. And it did not start with the establishment of Israel in 1948, or Khomeini taking over Iran in 1979, or the U.S. keeping troops in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s to ward off a possible invasion by Saddam Hussein, or the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It started with Muhammad, and it is mainstream and universal among Muslims.

Oh, and one more thing, D.Charles: I kicked your butt like a soccer ball and we both know it.

Strange Connections

Yesterday my colleague friend and I had lunch at a restaurant, and while there discussed famous people we have met or with whom we had some connection.

I think we all have had these connections.  I bragged about meeting Martin Sheen while working as an extra in the movie "Gettysburg."  I also told him about meeting Stu Cook and Tom Fogerty of the Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner and Jack Cassady of the Jefferson Airplane.  Those groups made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but to kids growing up today, they mean nothing.  I may as well say I once met Charlemagne.   Other famous people I've met include Jack Dempsey in his New York restaurant in August 1974 and members of the band "Chocolate Watchband," who appeared in "The Slender Edge" starring Sidney Poitier.

My friend had some interesting stories to tell as well.  Harry Chapin was a folk singer back in the 1970's and wrote and recorded a song I love (especially during my busy season), called "Cats in the Cradle."  In that song a dad tells how he never had time for his son while the latter was growing up, because he was too busy with work.  Nevertheless, the son hero-worshiped his dad, saying "Someday I'm gonna be like you, dad."  Years passed, and finally the dad had time to spend with his son...but the son was now too busy with his own career and family.  "My son had grown up just like me," he laments.

My friend's former wife had lived next door to Chapin in Long Island, New York and knew him and his family.  Her younger sister dated one of Chapin's sons (perhaps the one described in the song?)   My friend also once met Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, when my friend was only eight years old.

Harry Chapin died in a car crash in 1981.

So in celebration of the life and his great song, which always fills me with pangs of guilt during the busy season, let us listen to Harry Chapin singing "Cats in the Cradle."  Don't neglect your family, kids, time is short.

Navigating the Streets of San Francisco

I'm working on the audit of a high rise housing cooperative, which is located in San Francisco.  Tomorrow I must venture forth to the City by the Bay, to visit the client and do fieldwork for the audit.

I feel apprehensive.  I have never liked driving in San Francisco.  Some streets are at 45 degree angles from the perpendicular; some streets are one-way only; left hand turns are illegal in much of the downtown, and the drivers there are stark raving mad.  Only that movie character "Mad Max" should ever drive in San Francisco, and then only with his shot gun loaded.

San Francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, so there are limited ways into and out of the city.  The traffic is a nightmare going in and coming back out.

I suppose I will survive.  I always have before.  But I ain't looking forward to it.

Abraham Lincoln Was An Ass

In celebration of the birthday of the worst U.S. president in history, I am reprinting this essay by Ron Holland.  Abe Lincoln was a tyrant and not the great shining hero the public believes in.  Lincoln the Man has long been replaced by Lincoln the Myth.

Whereas I do not agree with Holland that America today has any kind of empire, I do agree with him about the grossly unconstitutional war and the crimes against humanity created by this ridiculous oaf.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: AMERICA’S GREATEST WAR CRIMINAL

By Ron Holland

from Southern Caucus http://www.southerncaucus.org

Abraham Lincoln should without a doubt be named America’s greatest war criminal. His war of invasion not only killed over 600,000 innocent Americans but it was obvious from his earlier speeches that he had previously advocated the prevalent constitutional right of democratic, state by state secession. Lincoln’s War also effectively overthrew the existing decentralized, limited federal government that had existed and governed well in the US since established by America’s founding fathers. Lincoln bastardized a respected federal government with limited powers into a dictatorial, uncontrollable Washington federal empire.

Because of Lincoln, the former American constitutional republic fell from a dream of liberty and limited government into the nightmare big government we have today without the earlier checks and balances of state sovereignty. After Lincoln, In foreign policy, the US forgot George Washington’s warning about neutrality and we became an aggressive military abroad until today we have troops defending the Washington Empire in over 144 nations around the world.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connections as possible. It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world.—George Washington

Lincoln shares his war criminal actions with other well know tyrants that waged war on their own people. History shows us that politicians make war against their own citizens even more than against foreign nations. The reasons are often to establish and preserve their power base, as was the case in the Russian Revolution and the Mao Revolution. For others, like Hitler, it was misguided super patriotism and racism that brought death to tens of millions. Sadly, in the case of Abraham Lincoln’s war against the Confederacy and Southern civilians, it was all for money, company profits and government tariff revenues. A simple case of political pay back in return for the Northeastern manufacturing interests that supported the Republican Party and his campaign for the presidency. Early in his career, Abraham Lincoln was an honorable statesman who let election year politics and the special interests supporting his presidential campaign corrupt a once great man. He knew what he was doing was wrong and unconstitutional but succumbed, as in the case of many modern day politicians, to the allure of money, power and ego.

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right - a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people, that can, may revolutionize, and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit. -- Abraham Lincoln January 12, 1848

This quote above shows Lincoln as a statesman 12 years before he plunged the United States into its most disastrous war. Suffering a death toll so high in death rates as a percentage of total population, his act of carnage ranks with the political genocides of Stalin, Lenin and Mao during their communist revolutions. A death toll so great that it dwarfs the American deaths in all of our many declared and undeclared wars before and since this American holocaust of death and destruction.

From the following quote you can see that later Lincoln radically adjusted his rhetoric to meet the needs and demands of his business establishment supporters and financial supporters.

No state, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union. Plainly, the central idea of secession, is the essence of anarchy. --Abraham Lincoln

Why the complete change in rhetoric and actions? Simple, to preserve high tariffs and corporate profits for the Northeastern business establishment. Lincoln who earlier in his career had obviously favored the right of peaceful secession, provoked a war that killed 600,000 Americans, as a pay back to the eastern manufacturing establishment that bankrolled his presidential campaign. These special interests would have suffered serious financial loss if a low tariff Confederate States of America were allowed to peacefully, democratically and constitutionally secede from the United States in lawful state constitutional conventions of secession which were identical to the ratification conventions when they had joined the Union. Thus the real reasons for the death and destruction of Lincoln’s War were covered up and hidden by historians who continue, even today, to deny the truth and hide the ultimate costs of Lincoln’s American holocaust. While Lincoln’s death toll is small in comparison to total deaths by Mao, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler, there are many similarities between these men. In the Russian Civil War, from 1917 - 1922 around 9 million died under Lenin and we must add another 20 million under Stalin from 1929 to 1939. The Mao communist regime in China killed 44 to 70 million Chinese from 1949 – 1975.

Still the US constitutional republic, as established by our founding fathers, was in effect destroyed by Lincoln’s unconstitutional war just as surely as Mao and Lenin over threw the existing Chinese and Russian governments. The multitude of Lincoln apologists would say that this is just another Confederate argument certainly not accepted by most historians. I might counter that the opinions and books of these "so called" establishment historians who live off my tax dollars through government funding at liberal controlled universities and think tanks are prejudiced towards Lincoln and Washington DC. They are no different from the official government historians in China, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Their job is to lie to the American people and cover up a true and honest account of our history in order to support the government and political system in power.

History shows us that a fair and honest discussion of Lincoln’s wartime actions will not be possible as long as the Washington political establishment remains in power. Since Lincoln, the Washington Empire has reigned supreme and omnipotent and for this reason, establishment historians have never honestly debated the Lincoln war crimes.

Consider this. Was a fair and honest account of Lenin or Stalin written and published during the Soviet Communist regime? Of course not. Could a less than worshipful history of Hitler’s Third Reich have been published until after 1945? No! Even today, with only nominal communist control of China, an honest appraisal of Mao’s revolution and crimes against the Chinese people still is not possible. It is no different today in the United States than it is in Red China or was in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Just as Lenin’s statue could not be toppled in Red Square until after the fall of the Soviet Communist government, or the truth about Hitler couldn’t be told until after defeat of Nazi Germany, it is the same here in the United States. It is my hope that someday, in the not too distant future, a true account of the war crimes of Lincoln will be discussed, debated and even acknowledged. The Lincoln Memorial should be remodeled to show the horrors of "Lincoln the War Criminal" with the opportunity for all to visit Washington and learn how war crimes, genocide and holocaust are not just crimes that foreign politicians commit. Government and political tyranny can and has happened here just like in Germany, China and the Soviet Union and that through education and honest history, it will never happen here again.

In the future, may we have the opportunity to learn about the Nazi holocaust at the United States National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and then have the chance to visit the Lincoln War Crimes and American Holocaust Museum a few blocks away. One will state for all the world that NEVER AGAIN will a tyrant or government be allowed to target, exterminate and destroy an ethnic, racial or religious minority. The other will pledge NEVER AGAIN in America will we allow a president or government to make unconstitutional war against Sovereign states or their citizens and then cover up the truth up for over 145 years.

We should start today with an honest appraisal of what Lincoln really did to Dixie, how our black and white innocent noncombatants suffered under his total war policy against civilians. Finally we should address the cost in lives, lost liberty and federal taxes the citizens of the US have had to endure because our limited constitutional republic was destroyed.

Abraham Lincoln was a great man, a smart politician and he could have been an excellent president, had he considered the short-term costs of his high tariff and the long time price every American had to pay for his war of invasion. It is time to stop worshipping Lincoln and educate the public about the war crimes he committed against the citizens of the Southern States so this WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN

Another Singer-Super Star Self Destructs: Whitney Houston Dies

I hate it when a once great artist self destructs with alcohol and drugs.  Whitney Houston has joined that dubious fraternity (sorority?) with so many others:  Hank Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and scores of lesser known singers and musicians.  Following several years of drug-addled decline, Houston is now dead at the ripe old age of 48.

In her prime, Whitney Houston was both gorgeous and extremely talented.  Then she got involved with Bobby Brown, a soul singer who was often in trouble with the law for drug and alcohol related offenses.  She went downhill after marrying Brown and divorcing him 11 years later, appearing anorexic in public appearances where she often seemed to have lost her once great voice.

Update:  Whitney Houston was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

I can't help but wonder why so many famous and talented entertainers self-destruct.  Someone ought to do a study on the phenomenon; I'd really like to know.

Philosophical Reflection and a Fine Repast After a Full Work Day

Here I am, comfortably ensconced in my lush hotel suite, relaxing after my usual fine gourmet meal, i.e. genuine South American cuisine, served on a white napkin and with a snifter of the finest Burgundy.

Okay, okay, the hotel is really a $50 a night cheapy directly under the flight path to San Francisco Airport; the cuisine actually a Belly Bomb Burritto from 7-11, the white napkin a wash cloth and the snifter of Burgundy a bottle of Diet Coke.  Sue me.

I have been working seven days a week for the past two weeks.  I have never done that before.  I decided to try an experiment and see how long I can last before I go postal.  So far, the stress is manageable.  The good thing is that on the weekends I am working on individual taxes, whereas during the week I work on corporations, partnerships and LLC's.  I am having a blast.  I enjoy it.  I am productive.  Look ma, I'm working!  My wife was so cute last week when I brought home an actual paycheck.  "Oh my God," she exclaimed, "What is it?  A p-p-paycheck??  I remember hearing about those once!"

"What do I do with it?" she queried nervously.  

"Take it to the bank, dear," I replied.  They'll help you with that."

Lucky for her, I knew the answer to that question.  I am not a CPA for nothing.

Strange Things Are Happening....Donald Douglas Annoyed by Leftwing Blogger

Donald Douglas, a friend of mine, seems very upset these days by a blogger named Walter James Casper III, who also goes by the pseudonym Respac3 and blogs at American Nihilist.

Donald seems exasperated, outraged and frantic over Casper's critical comments of Donald and his blog, American Power.  I can see why he might be upset...Casper's blog seems to be one continuous rant against Donald Douglas.  Casper seems obsessed with Donald, and is in fact, cyber-stalking him.  Casper rarely writes about anything but Donald Douglas.

Donald is now adamantly claiming that he will get the FBI involved to get Casper to cease his online harrassment, quoting federal laws governing the internet.

One thing is apparent.  Casper has won.

Donald has allowed this individual to get under his skin in a very big way.  All Casper has to do now is make any small remark and Donald has a mental breakdown...or so it seems.

Donald, there is much truth to the saying "Don't feed the trolls."  You have been serving Casper a 16 oz steak on a daily basis.  You have rewarded his efforts.  Stop commenting about Respac3 aka Walter James Casper III.  Stop reacting to him.  Stop referring to him as "hate blogger Walter James Casper III."  Is he a hate blogger?  Who knows?  Who cares, but why give him such a fearsome reputation?

Frankly, I never heard of WJC III or his pseudonym, Respac3, until I read about them at American Power.  So stop advertising for him, Donald.

And puh-leeze, don't use the Confederate flag to symbolize racial hatred.  That flag is a sacred heritage symbol to many, me included.

Six Favorable Trends for Barack Obama

This just in...all economic trends are UP!  Obama's wise policies are working!  Here are the facts:

1.  Unemployment is decreasing!
Of course, that's because many former unemployed have committed suicide.  The rest are now serving burgers at McDonalds, delivering newspapers or digging ditches.


2.  Homelessness is declining!  
Thousands of the formerly homeless have found homes under freeway overpasses or have frozen to death.


3.  America is finally at peace with the Islamic world!
Or at least it will be just as soon as Obama signs the surrender documents.


4.  Americans are coming together like never before!
It's massive rioting as Americans attempt to strangle each other.


5.  America has finally solved the energy crisis!
We no longer need energy now that all industrial activity has ceased.


6.  We have finally wiped out hunger in America!
We are eagerly awaiting the next shipment of Soylent Green.

Madeline Kahn and I Are Tired, So Tired

I'm tired..I need some rest. I understand so well Madeline Kahn's expressed feelings in this scene from "Blazing Saddles." She was tired of love. I am just tired of working. Not mentally tired, just physically tired, but I am happy for it. I haven't been tired from working for more than two years.

My first week in this CPA firm is over and it has been both challenging and enjoyable.  I will be happy, however, when I climb into my car tomorrow after work for the trip home...my dog will be ecstatic!