Rangel's Latest Draft

Charley Rangel, the draft loving über Democrat has once again introduced a bill that would institute a draft, the Universal National Service Act of 2007. This time, tho it's not just any old draft that this lunatic politician wants to impose on people. It's much worse than the old military draft. Rangel's latest version would enslave all people from the ages of 18-42 not just for military service, but also for an inadequately defined federal service with a minimum of 2 years required of the enslaved inductees.

To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the favorable treatment afforded combat pay under the earned income tax credit, and for other purposes.

Regardless of who you were you'd be snapped up and forced to do the bidding of the federal taskmasters at whatever job they decided to place you in, if you fall within their age ranges. And, lest you think the bill is unfair it does go to some length to see to it that women are now included in the draft, (fair's fair, I guess) and the exemptions are so few that even homosexuals and the Amish would likely be forced into service eligible for induction . So, no longer will they only be after our sons as their servants, now they'll be after our daughters, too.

Fortunately, this bill is in committee, has no current co-sponsors and will likely (hopefully) die a well deserved bureaucratic death. But....given the sheer numbers of hard left socialists in control up there, this Euro inspired "service" bill could conceivably find its way to the floor and be placed up for a vote. All too often we have heard people on the Right and the Left blather on about the need for national service. This type of bill will have supporters, both vocal and silent on both sides of the aisle. I have no faith that it won't sit around until the situation is optimal for it to be re-introduced under a Democratic President where it could gain serious traction. This is certainly something that all people, (especially if you are between the ages of 18 and 42 or a parent) should be keeping a close watch on.

via Cryptogon.


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Libertarian, Draft, Politics

Down Home Wisdom

Via our comrade in arms (and iMac PrOn) Bill St. Claire comes a glimpse of truth in television. As a good southern boy, I grew up watching The Andy Griffith show and have no doubt that it shaped my views as to what a cop should be. As far as I am concerned Andy is the standard by which all police should be measured. Yeah,yeah....there are people out there who'll say that Andy never had to deal with meth addicts,crack heads and their ilk but they'd be mistaken. Sheriff Andy dealt with a plethora of timely criminals ranging from heavily armed bootleggers, teen aged gangs and kidnappers to big city gangster and thieves. He managed to do all of this with the aid of his trusty .38 revolver and the occasional rifle or shotgun.

Andy didn't need a S.W.A.T. Team or DoD supplied surplus equipment to protect and serve the people who elected him to office. He certainly didn't need a Drug Czar, the feds or anyone else telling him how to take care of the citizens of Mayberry. Andy didn't have no knock warrants, flash bangs or illegal wiretaps and, as we see in this clip, he had a keen understanding of the rights of people. We need a lot more of Andy and a lot less of Jack Bauer and the "24" mentality and a lot more of the Andy Taylor way of doing things.

Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Andy Griffith, YouTube, Policing

Government Registration Of Bloggers?

Well, we knew the day had to come when they would require us to register for one thing or another, but who would have thought it would be for exercising our right to speak freely? Politicians are posed to pass Senate Bill 1, (go figure that this particular piece of crap would be the first thing they attempted to ramrod through) in an attempt to further muzzle free speech in this country. This particular bill would require bloggers who communicate with at least 500 people to register and make quarterly reports to the Congress. Those who choose to be refuseniks may well face fines and/or jail time.

“Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Section 220 would amend existing lobbying reporting law by creating the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever. For the first time in history, critics of Congress will need to register and report with Congress itself.

“The bill would require reporting of ‘paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying,’ but defines ‘paid’ merely as communications to 500 or more members of the public, with no other qualifiers.

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“On January 9, the Senate passed Amendment 7 to S. 1, to create criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, if someone ‘knowingly and willingly fails to file or report.’
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While there is currently an amendment out there to remove section 220 from the bill, it should be noted that one of the bills sponsors is involved with that. Knowing politicians as we do I can only assume that he would rather see his bill passed than amended out of existence.

Those of us who belong to or are even on the mailing lists of an organisation which may lobby Congress will likely find ourselves behind the 8-ball on this one. And, lest some think this is solely the hideous stepchild of the leftists in Congress, I'd urge you to look at the list of co-sponsors. This crosses back and forth across the party lines in an almost orgiastic disregard for freedom, liberty and our rights. When you see both Trent Lott and Diane Feinstein on the same bill you know that there is truly no difference between the "two parties" and that you are well and truly screwed. Those so-called "libertarians" who think that siding with Republicans because "we" are more like them than the left had best check their premises.

Of course the Leftists have yet to raise a cry over this. Wonder what Kos and MoveOn think about this? Probably loving it, since it "can't possibly apply to them". Heh...maybe they should check their history books and call up the ghosts of some of their Marxist forefathers.

Will this be the final straw for libertarians and others? Doubtful, given the previous depredations foisted upon us. It'll likely be business as usual until people are hauled away to some Halliburton built kampf and most people won't even raise an eyebrow. Then again, bloggers may just surprise me and break out their torches, pitchforks and nooses. I'm not going to hold my breath, tho even if blue doesn't look all that bad on me. I wonder what colour star they'll make us wear?

UPDATE: Section 220 was amended out of existence by a Senate vote of 55-43 (all 43 were Democrats and were the "usual" suspects such as Kennedy, Biden, Rockefeller, Byrd, Boxer, Obama, Kerry, etc...). There is always a chance that the House could "re-invent" section 220 or that El Presidente' could add a signing statement to replace it. The government is unlikely to rest until the people who blog are reined in.


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Libertarian, Free Speech, Blogging, Senate Bill 1
Republicans, Democrats

To Switch Or Not To Switch?

Now that Blogger has come out of the beta period for the "new and improved" version of their site/operation I need to figure out whether to switch or not. One assumes that the switch will have to come at some point, regardless of my wishes on the matter. Have any of you who read here and use blogger made the switch? I'd really like to know if anyone has run into serious unresolved issues with the change. Losing links and having to redo even the few add-ons I have are truly unappealing to me. So...any ideas, comments or suggestions? Advantages? Disadvantages?

Given the limited amount of information Blogger gives in their "See What's New" tour I don't see huge advantages that outweigh the potential risk of losing things and the aggravation of repairing them. If I have a blog with a custom template (I am associated with one that does have a custom template) am I going to have issues that will require mental health duct tape? Inquiring minds really, really want to know.

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Blogger, Blogger Beta, Switching