The RogueNation: Holiday Edition

It's been nearly 7 months since I last posted an entry here at The Roguenation. In  that time, the economic depression I've been harping about for the past 3 years has made its way to Main Street. People are feeling the effects of an economic correction that was long overdue. The bad news? I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet. It took Japan the whole decade of the 90's and zero percent interest rates to recover from the malinvestment and bubble creation that they went through in the 80's (does anyone remember growing up to stories about how the Japanese were going to buy all of Hawaii from us and what we didn't lose in WWII we were going to lose in the 80's? I think that was a Magnum PI episode).

Well, at least the central planners in Washington DC know that the worst possible thing we can do is start bailing out companies, whether it's banks, or the "Big 3", or any other private enterprise. Because if we do that, it will only prolong the pain and dig us a deeper hole for us to get out of. Oh wait.... aww crap.

More things I need to get off of my chest (Larry King style):

• Given the past 8 years, can't we say that "GOP" and "Democrat" mean the same thing? That is, big government statism with central planning douchebaggery from the bureacratic parasites in DC? I mean really, anyone who thinks W is a conservative (in the mold of say Reagan, Goldwater, or Taft) probably still thinks that the Village People, like Tom Cruise's character in "Top Gun" aren't gay. At least the Dems are out of the closet, so to speak, on their grand politburo designs...



• Speaking of gay (not that there is anything wrong that), I switched over from a PC laptop to one of the new aluminum macbooks from Apple. Three words: FAB U LOUS. I've used Windows XP for years, (on both my desktop and laptops) and knowing what I know now, I probably should have switched years ago...it's easy to use, intuitive, plus I can run XP on the macbook (though I haven't had to yet)...oh yeah, I got an iphone for my personal cel and it runs circles around the blackberries that we got for company use...
  


• Here's a link to a SFW gallery of one of my favorite supermodels: Allesandra Ambrosio
  


• I like to think of it as a palate cleanser after that previous paragraph...
  
  
• Oh yeah, I'm in the market for a gas guzzling full size SUV, I was leaning toward the Chevy Tahoe (for business purposes). I can't carry all of the guns I'm going to start collecting in my Volvo (Nevada has a really healthy respect for the 2nd Amendment, a big plus in my book.)
  


• The good thing about the depression we are in: TAX REVOLTS! We are going to see more and more people say "screw  you, I need to feed my family" to government. This is a great thing, stop feeding the monster that is government and it will be forced to shrink (it's our fault for letting it get this big anyway). I think not paying taxes someone isn't liable for is one of the most american and patriotic DUTIES that we have as citizens of this country. Our country was founded on a tax revolt. THAT tradition will make a comeback in '09...
  

Merry Christmas to all! I wish everyone out there peace, happiness, and hope.

The Weekly Buchanan: Is Bush becoming Irrelevant

Pat writes:

Looking back on the years since 9-11, it is hard to give the Bush foreign policy passing grades. We pushed NATO eastward and alienated Russia. We have 140,000 Army and Marine Corps troops tied down in Iraq in a war now in its sixth year, from which our NATO allies have all extricated themselves. We have another war going in Afghanistan, where the situation is as grave as it has been since we went in.

The Bush democracy crusade was put on the shelf after producing election triumphs for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. And the Bush Doctrine of preventive war, after Iraq, appears to be headed there, as well.

Are we safer now than we were 8 years ago pre-9/11? If we are, has the cost in terms of American lives, money, and the constantly expanding nanny state been worth it?

In the final analysis, I don't think one can come to any other conclusion than it has not. One thing that Pat doesn't mention about our foreign policy is the risk that our trillion dollar a year liability puts us economically. Which, in my mind is the greater threat to us (and always has been).

It's so wrong, but I laughed out loud

http://www.sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.com/

Movie Weekend

Indiana Jones came out this weekend and I have my review of the flick at the end of this post. But first, I've a couple of things (movie related, of course):

First, MovieCrunch has a list of the 20 Worst Chick Flicks of All Time. Needless to say, my favorite movie of all time, "Species" (how can a movie with Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Forrest Whitaker and a constantly naked Natasha Henstridge at the peak of her powers NOT be our "Citizen Kane"?), is nowhere to be found. Which makes the only redeeming quality about this list is the drinking game that was tacked on at the end. Conveniently, I've cut and pasted that here:

1) Take a drink when someone dies of a lengthy illness.
2) Take a drink whenever someone has cancer
3) Take a drink the first time Matthew McConaughey, Richard Gere, or Tom Hanks appears.
4) Take a drink whenever you see a woman over the age of 40 (be careful with this one, you could easily die of alcohol poisoning).
5) Take a drink for every single mother that appears.
6) Take a drink whenever someone cries onscreen.
7) Take a drink whenever someone mentions men disparagingly.

Also, Cracked has a list of the 8 Least Intimidating Gangs in Movie History. I don't know anything about the writer of this particular piece, but how can any list like this be complete without mentioning Breakin II: Electric Boogaloo?



Finally, my review of "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull": Aside from me taking a snooze about midway through. I can't think of anything memorable about the movie. Except for thinking about 5 minutes after waking up during the film, what a waste of $7.50.

1984

So what good are all those surveillance cameras provided by the nanny state if they don't make anyone safer, deter crime, or sometimes go unmonitored? From Reason Mag's Hit and Run blog:

The Get Out Clause, an unsigned Manchester band who could not afford a camera crew for their video, 'performed' in front of a load of CCTV cameras, requested the footage from the camera operators under the Data Protection Act and then stitched the results together for their music video.

Tax dollars at work!

Good Bye

Ed Morrissey over at Hotair writes about Ron Paul:

For some reason, normally sensible people like John Derbyshire continue to put their hope for electoral victory into a candidate who consorted with and exploited racists and anti-Semites for years in order to bolster his political standing.

Ohhhh, did you see that? Ron Paul "consorted with and exploited racists and anti-Semites". Normally, Captain Ed is a fairly reasonable guy. Compared to the morons over at Ace's blog, or a lot of the 2nd tier bloggers that make up the Pajamas Media Right, he looks like Voltaire. But he and the rest of the PJM sound like Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton playing the "racist" card when they can't win on issues like, say, CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE FRIGGIN GOVERNMENT AND GETTING THEM THE FUCK OUT OF OUR LIVES. That's one thing the neoconservatives will never be accused of trying to do. You know the things that conservatives once stood for.

I entertained thoughts about coming back to the GOP, but naww, I can't do it in good conscience. They are as corrupt as the Dems. It'll be a cold day in hell before McCain gets my vote, my support or my dollars. Same with the GOP.

Good riddance.

Sin City

I'm coming up on two weeks in my new hometown and here are a couple of things that I've noticed about Las Vegas:

It really is a 24 hour city, there is always something to do, places to eat, things to see, and not just on the Strip. In fact, I've spent a total of maybe 4 hours on the strip in the time that I've been here.

So far, my favorite casinos: Southpoint (just because I like the blackjack game they have there) and Red Rock Casino (because it's about 5 minutes away, has lots of eyecandy, and has a cool, trendy vibe) but their blackjack game is ok.

CVS, Walmart, Target, and Home Depot seem to be the only stores that are allowed on the major intersections in Las Vegas. Seems like they are everywhere.

90 degrees isn't that bad when you have air conditioning. I don't know what I'm gonna do when summer rolls around and it's 120.

How come nobody told me that there are strippers and prostitutes in Las Vegas? I couldn't believe it, next thing you know, I'm gonna find out there are gay people in the arts.

Louisiana Gov. Jindal

David Weigel over at Reason writes about something that's music to my ears:

Jindal headhunted a Fortune 500 executive to run his state department of Labor and commanded him to prune it down. In response, the secretary came up with a plan for abolishing the department. This is what you fantasize about Republicans doing before they go and do things like hire Tom Ridge to lobby for the duct tape industry.

THIS is the GOP that wins elections not the "compassionate conservative" garbage that Kristol, W, and the rest of the neocons have shoved down our throats for the past 8 years. Now if the Republicans could start abolishing departments at the federal level, I might come back to the fold.

Vegas Baby! Vegas!

The RogueNation has moved it's HQ from San Diego to temporary diggs in Las Vegas after 18 years. My only vices are all-you-can eat buffets, gambling, and strippers, does anyone know how this story ends? lol

More to come on my new hometown very soon. In the meantime, the talk radio out here plays commercials for these guys all the time:

http://www.24-7privatevaults.com/index.htm

I know where I'm putting my collection of unopened SPAWN action figures!

Lew Rockwell Linkorama

Lew Rockwell has a few posts that I'm linking below. He's an old school conservative (like Taki or Ron Paul) and since one of my favorite things to read about that I never get from the Pajamas Media Right is stuff about the evil of big government. LR's site has been one of my everyday stops on my web travels.

Trevor Bothwell has a piece over there entitled "The Sordid, Wretched, Self-Serving State"

Also, is there such a thing as a "prison industrial complex"? Don Bacon makes the argument that there is one in California:

The California Prison system is the third largest penal system in the country, costing $5.7 billion dollars a year and housing over 170,000 inmates. Since 1980 the number of California prisons has tripled and the number of inmates has jumped significantly. In the past few years controversies involving prison expansion, sky-rocketing costs, and claims of mismanagement and inmate abuse have put the California prison system under heightened public scrutiny.

What caused prisons to be a growth industry in California? Did Californians suddenly become lawless? We need look no further than the CCPOA, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. "The Power this prison guards’ union wields inside our prisons, legislative chambers and governor's office disturbs me. It should disturb every citizen." ~ Judith Tannenbaum, formerly an English teacher at San Quentin State Prison

Read the whole thing here

Lastly, the thing about Cali is that trends that first appear there have a habit of spreading across the country here's one I'm sure everyone will be happy about. There is a special license plate issued by the state that basically gives immunity from all traffic laws to anyone privileged to work for the government. Since there are nearly a million of those plates out there, the math works out to about 1 out of every 9 cars in California having these plates.

Read about the rest of this outrage here.

Earmarks, Robert Byrd, and Taxes

I've never read a Dave Barry column before, but people say he's really famous and funny. Well, he is funny, here he is talking about earmarks and Robert Byrd from a column that came out around tax time:

The entire state of West Virginia is covered with a dense layer of federally funded buildings named after Sen. Robert Byrd, who will still be in office centuries after his death, which for all we know has already occurred. There is no end to the list of projects that congresspersons would like you to finance so that they can take the credit.

Further down, he talks about taxes and makes a very salient point:

My point is that, as you do your taxes, you should remember where your tax dollars are going, and recognize that you, as a citizen, have a moral obligation to prepare your tax return with the same degree of conscientiousness that Congress exhibits in spending your money.

Read the whole thing here.

Judge Napolitano should be nominated to the Supreme Court

He was on Bloomberg a month ago and did a great interview:

Here's part 1



Part 2 and Part 3

Most Over and Under-rated Presidents in History

David Wiegel over at Reason piles on with the Lincoln bashing (can't say I disagree with him either)

1. Abraham Lincoln. I'm sorry. By any definition of "over-rating," you have to go there. He has become our secular saint, with a multi-million dollar industry built around his veneration. That just makes it all the easier when some John Yoo or another seizes on Lincoln's abuses of power—suspending habeas corpus, directing funds without the approval of a rump Congress, the "rich man's" draft—to argue that the president has the right to split babies and shoot laser beams from his eyes.

See the rest here.

The Great Emancipator?

Economics Professor Thomas DiLorenzo on the Lincoln cult:

Lincoln was a masterful politician who could use tongue-twisting rhetoric to deceive the public better than any American politician in history. In this regard he was Bill Clinton times ten thousand. For example, referring to the part of Declaration of Independence that mentions equality (while ignoring the fact that the entire document was a declaration of the right of secession), he said: "The African upon his own soil has all the natural rights that instrument vouchsafes to all mankind" (emphasis added). The italicized words are the key to understanding Lincoln on this point. He considered black people to be some kind of alien beings, which is why he called them "the Africans." More importantly, he believed that they could never be equal here in America, but only "upon their own soil" or "in their native clime," i.e., Africa, Haiti, Central America, etc., as he often stated. Moreover, he also clearly believed that it was undesirable to attempt to enforce racial equality in the U.S., as he stated in the above quotation from the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Harry Jaffa has spent his entire career spreading the Big Lie of Lincoln as a champion of "equality" in order to justify the Republican Party’s foreign policy agenda of military aggression and imperialism in the name of spreading equality around the globe. (Spreading "equality" around the globe at gunpoint sounds a lot like the professed goals of 20^th-century communism, doesn’t it?).

Read the whole thing over at Lew Rockwell

Until maybe the last 4-5 years, I never really understood the fascination that people had with the Civil War. Of course, my public school education limited the reasons that we had a civil war to only one, to free the slaves. The idea of secession was never mentioned, or states rights, or the economic reasons behind the war.

But I still don't get the whole idea of recreating famous Civil War battles, someone needs to explain that to me, because that just seems stupid.

At What Price?

Andrew Sullivan writes about the classic deal we have made with the devil (our government):

The manner in which free societies lose their moral compass is always incremental. Step by step by step, certain core values are whittled away. There is rarely a moment at which a government stands up, and asks its people if they wish to abandon such "quaint" notions as the Geneva Conventions, the rule of law, humane interrogation or habeas corpus. These things are abandoned incrementally or secretly, slice by slice, euphemism by euphemism, the chronology always clearer in retrospect than at the time. And each incremental step is always portrayed as a small but essential temporary sacrifice for the sake of security in a time of great and imminent peril.

Read the rest here.

Justice Scalia on 60 Minutes

While not my favorite Supreme Court Justice (that would be Justice Clarence Thomas) I thought Justice Scalia's interview on 60 minutes was very enlightening:



See the rest here

The Revolution Lives

In Nevada:



Pilfered from Laura over at Red State Eclectic

TechnoViking

This video has 2+ million views on youtube and I saw it for the first time today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1nzEFMjkI4

Of course, there HAD to be a remix (which I like a little better) with Michael Jackson:

"The Revolution: A Manifesto"

UPDATE: Welcome Mises.org readers!

It's Friday night and I just finished Ron Paul's book "The Revolution: A Manifesto". It's so brilliant that I wept upon turning the last page, like seeing your first born for the very first time...

No, not really, but Dr. Paul's short (less than 200 pages) prescription for returning these United States to her rightful place in the world as the beacon of hope, peace, freedom, and prosperity comes at the proper moment in time. This country is at a crossroads economically and politically. We have a dollar that is in collapse (it has lost 35% of its purchasing power since 2001), and entitlement spending that is ballooning in the near future that requires at least double digit economic growth to barely keep up (hint, we don't have double digit growth and haven't for decades). Our civil liberties are being rapidly eroded (of course, dipping crucifixes in urine and calling it art is still OK) with our government conveniently ignoring or evading nine of the first ten amendments consistently. Don't worry, the 2nd Amendment could be on its last legs as well depending on how and what the Supreme Court decides on the Heller case.

What Dr. Paul has done is put out into the arena ideas that we used to talk about, that this country was built upon. He asks questions that you won't find in the MSM, National Review, or the Pajamas Media Right. It is those questions that have made him a pariah in his own party and exposes what constitutes "mainstream conservatism" as the morally and intellectually bankrupt school of big government statism that we used to easily label as "progressive" or "liberal".

One example is in foreign policy. The conservatism of Bill Kristol, David Horowitz, David Frum, or yes, George W Bush has given us nothing but a foreign policy that is incomprehensible to anyone unless you grew up watching "Cruel Intentions", "Wild Things" or are a fan of Woodrow Wilson. Like the prom queen that maybe was a little too privileged, and a little too good looking during high school that got what she wanted whenever she wanted yet never learned that the real world doesn't work the way it did in high school (especially if it's twenty years later and you are divorced with kids, put on 50 pounds and are still a bitch). Our country doesn't have to play games and meddle, back stab, or undermine other countries in order to have peaceful relationships with them.

Dr. Paul distills what our trillion dollar foreign policy currently amounts to. We treat countries either one of two ways: we either give our money and arms to them (see Saddam Hussein) or we go to war with them (see Saddam Hussein) all in the name of some Wilsonian vision that we can impose our will with our money or at the point of a gun (but don't try and guess which side you are on). Never does anyone, aside from Ron Paul, suggest that we take our founding fathers advice and do neither.

I could go on, because "The Revolution" addresses economics, civil liberties, and states rights. But the bottom line is that what Dr. Paul has written is a call to return to the foundations of our country. To understand and take seriously the words of our Founding Fathers and not doze through them like it's a Sunday morning sermon on the one day of the year that we bother to show up at church and only because we are there with our parents.

Anyway, buy it, read it, let me know your thoughts on it.

Why Socialism Will Fail

I'm in Las Vegas for the next few days so posting will be about what it has been this past week. After all, there is gambling to be done and the fortune I've made from the blog ads here isn't going to spend itself.

In the meantime:

Of all places, you will find an important point in economics at the Huffington Post (it shows you how far the right has fallen when you won't find any mention of this at the Pajamas Media Right):

The Federal Reserve insists that "inter-connections" require rescuing large institutions that might knock down other entangled financial dominoes. However, these would not have been so cocky or so inter-connected in their web-spinning if the Fed had not allowed so much greed and gamesmanship for so long. Ex-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is often singled out as a culprit, but most of what he did was what most of the financial sector wanted. They, too, loved making 4th of July speeches about the glories of free enterprise and free -- market profits while counting on the government to collectivize the perils of risk. Big, fat and dumb financial institutions could count on being big, fat and bailed-out.

There was a time in the annals of American finance when this kind of practice would have been unacceptable -- indeed, serious economists like Joseph Schumpeter recognized that "creative destruction" was part of a vital capitalism. Painful as the depression of the early 1930s was, its creative destruction so revitalized U.S. finance and enterprise that by 1950, the U.S. economy was the kingpin of the post-World War Two world, vital and vibrant.

Wow, how come you never see any of this talk on on the economy on the Pajamas Media Right?

Because, as Justin Raimondo points out, the big government socialists ARE the Pajamas Media Right.

Pilfered from Lew Rockwell