Apparently there are portions of Arizona where this scenario may not be far from reality.  Pinal County Arizona which is only 30 miles from Pheonix has become overun with Mexican drug cartels.  Their local sheriff, Paul Babeu describes the situation;

“”Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona.  They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills, and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has….This is going on here in Arizona.  This is 70 to 80 miles from the border — 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”

As you would expect, the sheriff has asked for help.  Unfortunately he has asked the Obama Administration for the help in the form of 3,000 National Guardsmen to help deal with the lawlessness.  Sheriff Babeu probably also expected the guardsmen to be armed.  It seems that the joke was on the citizens of Arizona as the help was in the form of wood and not enough to build a border fence, but just enough to install 15 signs warning travelers of the dangers.

Surprisingly the signs are not rigged with white flags to call greater attention to our border surrender.  The Obama Administration and his henchman in the Justice Department, Eric “Snidley Whiplash” Holder is far too busy suing another Arizona county sheriff, Joe Arpaio.  It seems that our Justice Department (and it still is ours) has too many lawyers and not enough law enforcement agents.  The placement of signs rather than kicking ass and taking names (for the toe tags) is not only lame, but perhaps a sign to our enemies of our will to do what is necessary to protect our citizens. 

It is incomprehensible that the greatest country on Earth will not secure the borders for the safety of our citizens.  Local citizens who try to protect themselves face prosecution by Obama’s minions in the Justice Department as they are doing with Sheriff Apaio.  Kill an illegal alien in an act of self defense and some sleazy lawyer will sue you on behalf of his family and take your farm, take your savings, take everything.  I have to wonder how much more it will take to get the attention of politicians.  Even John McCain seems to get it…finally.

Obama doesn’t get it.  George Bush didn’t get it.  There are some politicians who thankfully get it and are working hard to fix it.  Arizona was the first to pass an illegal immigration law and many other states are considering the same thing.    The following is an advertisement by Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer;

I have a great idea.  Since Obama announced the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, we could have these battle-tested soldiers patrol our southern borders.  We could give our returning warriors some time off in the Arizona sun and rotate them into patrols along the border.  The rules of engagement would have to be simple…if you have a weapon and are not a citizen we will shoot you. 

Imagine a Mad Max scene where the good guys are being overrun by drug cartels’ thugs only to have a Blackhawk helicopter swoop down.  I don’t think the drug lords have those…yet.

The strained relationship continues between lone-wolf Harvath and other United States’ agencies.  Even with a common goal Harvath often is at odds with them as they try to capture or kill a mysterious silver-eyed assassin.  In an unusual twist a group apparently turns the tables on Islamic terrorists by engaging in a determined campaign to seek vengeance using their own terrorist tactics. 

Brad Thor hits another home run with this fast-paced thriller and I look forward to reading his next volume.

“…you’re doomed.  Doomed to the middle.  Doomed to be one of those who are acted upon, not one of those who act.  That’s all right.  We can take care of that.  This book will take you by the shoulders, shake you, and make you begin to live your sorry life differently.  To take stock of a situation and ask yourself, before you act:  What would Machiavelli do?  And the answer, in almost all cases, is:  Whatever is necessary.”

In What Would Machiavelli Do? author Stanley Binglooks at Machiavelli’s writing to provide advice to todays leaders.  Bing uses some of today’s most famous characters and take a humorous journey through brutal corporate America.  You could read this book in two ways.  I read it as a humorous parody pointing out some of the over-the-top behavior of powerful people.  Others will probably use it as a real how-to manual for getting ahead.

Consider some of Bing’s characteristics and notable examples:

• Obnoxiousness – The Donald:  In perhaps one of the funniest quotes in the book Mr. Trump remarked to Larry King during an interview; “Do you mind if I sit back a little?  Because your breath is bad – it really is.”
• Taking Criticism – Saddam Hussein:  A first-person account recounted an event where one of Saddam’s generals offered some unwanted advice whereby Hussein asked him to stand up and proceeded to shoot him six times.
• Self love – Oprah Winfrey:  her quote says it all, “I see myself as an instrument of a will greater than my own and I really try to keep myself connected to that.  All my life I have always known I was born to greatness.”  I could also use this as an example of narcissism.
• Self satisfaction – Lou Gerstner:  “No one has ever met my expectations, with the exception of my wife.”  Any chance she has photographs of him in some compromising position?
• Madness – Caligula: “I have existed from the morning of the world, and I shall exist until the last star falls from the heavens.  Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men, as I am no man – and so, I am a god.”
• Honesty (or more correctly the lack thereof to get off the hook) – Bill Clinton:  “I didn’t inhale” and I would add;  “I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman.”

I found the book to be enjoyable though there are just as many examples of successful people who don’t do things this way.  Read Winners Never Cheat by Jon Huntsman.  My guess is that even a man who seems as forthright as Mr. Huntsman has to watch his back for the Machiavellians with knives.

Brief 1:  “The King is gone but he’s not forgotten.   This is a story about Johnny Rotten.   It’s better to burn out, cause rust never sleeps.  The King is gone but he’s not forgotten.”  Sometimes the left is so out in left field and it is fun to watch them try to “eat” one of their own only to have it thrown back in their face.  Famed Sex Pistols front-man, Johnny Rotten apparently was criticized for planning a concert in of all places, Israel.  It is very posh to be anti-Jewish and Pro-Palestinian on the left, but Mr. Rotten would have none of it;

“I really resent the presumption that I’m going there to play to right-wing Nazi Jews. If Elvis-f-ing-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he’s suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won’t understand how anyone can have a problem with how they’re treated.”

Brief 2:  You probably have not heard this story or read the headline; “Police say it’s ‘very possible’ attacks near fairgrounds had racial overtones” in most media outlets.  This would certainly capture nation attention had the perpetrators been “whitey,” but the hate crimes were against whites at an Iowa state fair. 

“On-duty officers at the fairgrounds advise there was a group of 30 to 40 individuals roaming the fairgrounds openly calling it ‘beat whitey night.”

and this excerpt from the story;

“State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, who has worked to fight gang-related violence, said he doesn’t have enough information to decide if the fights were racially motivated. He said police comments that race was involved could miss other factors, such as nonracial taunting.  ‘Unfortunately, like any other city, you have certain parts of town that individuals congregate in,” Abdul-Samad said. “You have those that go into that area with no problem, and those who cannot.’  He added, ‘We of course need to work on race relations. If anyone says we don’t, they are playing games with themselves.”

I’ll leave to you to ascertain to which race Mr. Abdul-Samad belongs, but his words are BS.  It sounds like “beat whitey” night was followed by “blame whitey” day.

Brief 3:  This one will probably be found in the next edition of the Darwin Awards.  The headlines sums it up nicely;

Amateur NC ghost hunter looking for ‘ghost train’ hit and killed by real train

My question is that since they writer used the term “amateur” to describe the ghost hunter are there actually professional ghost hunters?  What do they make?  and is it anything like Ghostbusters?

Brief 4:  HP booted their CEO recently over claims that he harassed an employee in a sexual way.  Actually Mark Hurd resigned after his actions came to light.  HP took the high road even though under Hurd’s five year tenure HP’s stocks doubled in value.  The comments/releases from HP are interesting;

“An investigation found that Hurd falsified expense reports and other financial documents to conceal the relationship. The company said it found that its sexual harassment policy wasn’t violated but that its standards of business conduct were.  Hurd’s “systematic pattern” of submitting falsified financial reports to hide the relationship convinced the board that “it would be impossible for him to be an effective leader moving forward and that he had to step down,”

If only the Executive Branch of the United States Government had that much righteousness 18 years ago.

Brief 5:  I recently read Life Without Lawyers as I do harbor a belief that the law is often twisted by practitioners to exploit people, companies and apparently schools.  Children attending Charleston West Virginia schools will no longer have to contend with evil, dangerous swings.  The school district has decided the cost to maintain surfaces and litigious parents no longer make it feasible to have swings.  It takes two to tango and sleazy lawyers need sleazy clients to represent. 

I think about the things we attempted on swings, getting hurt, but NEVER would have dreamed of suing because we were stupid kids.  Maybe there will be some ARRA (porkulus) money available to hire swing watchers/catchers? Are we that far away from a generation of bubble boys?

This photo ran on The Drudge Report on August 30, 2010 contrasting the American President Obama and Russian Prime Minister Putin.  God help us!

I had heard good things about author Brad Thor’s novels featuring U.S. Secret Service agent Scot Harvath.  Rather than read the latest volume, I went back and bought his first novel. The Lions of Lucerne lived up to what I had heard, but it grabbed me and pulled me in like I love novels to do.  The Secret Service’s main role is to protect the President, however, powerful forces pull off perhaps the crime of the century killing all but one of a Secret Service detail.

Scot Harvath survives and uses his Navy SEAL training to avenge the deaths of his comrades and bring justice to those who committed the crimes.  Sophisticated weapons, intrigue, Washington politics, international criminals, and hostile sister agencies (FBI and CIA) plague Harvath’s efforts.  An interesting component of Harvath’s arsenal is a dry sense of humor which adds to the flavor of the hero.

If you want action…read The Lions of Lucerne.  My only recommendation is that you don’t start reading the book until the weekend so you’ll have plenty of time to finish what you started.

The homelands of my ancestors have changed names so many times, I often hesitate when answering a question about my nationality.  I guess in today’s PC world I would be a Slovak-American, but an American none the less.  I got a shot of native homeland pride recently when I read an article about one of the home countries, Slovakia.

In an effort to boost their economy Slovakia is undertaking some measures that the United States should copy;

• Eliminate red tape,
• Relax labor laws,
• Introduced a flat tax rate for companies,
• Push for further tax cuts as the economy improves and
• Plans to cut their deficit to 2.9% of GDP from its current 8% (United States’ deficit is at 10.4 % of GDP)

Slovakian leaders actually seem to want business rather than demonize them like in America.  Unlike in the United States the terms corporation, business, and capital are welcomed by our cousins to the east. 

To summarize, they are making a business-friendly climate and signs are that it is working.  That should not be a surprise as decreasing tax burdens, decreasing government meddling, and sound fiscal policy always worked.  The leaders in Slovakia recognized that when they had more state control of the economy.  Business hates uncertainty and will not invest in troubled waters.

Contrast Slovakia’s actions to those in America.  It is not hard to find stories about companies laying off workers or deciding not to hire new people because of the ways the federal government is slithering its way into every crack and crevice of their business. 

It would be funny that a country that was under the iron thumb of Communist Russia is now perhaps a more capitalistic country than the United States.  They seem to have an advantage in that when they “throw the bums out” of office they are not rewarded with a “lite” version of politicians as we are with the Democrats and Republicans.  They seem to be able to enact true change.  Some of the vigor may be because many of the citizens still remember what life was like under complete government rule; a concept more and more Americans are starting to feel.

Score this one for the Hunkies.

“We the Living is not a story about Soviet Russia in 1925.  It is a story about dictatorship, any dictatorship, anywhere, at any time, whether it be Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, or – which this novel might do its share in helping to prevent – a socialist America.  What the rule of brute force does to men and how it destroys the best, will be the same in 1925, in 1955 or in 1975…When at the age of twelve, at the time of the Russian revolution, I first heard the Communist principle that Man must exist for the sake of the State, I perceived that this was the essential issue, that this principle was evil, and that it could lead to nothing but evil…I am still a little astonished, at times, that too many adult Americans do not understand the nature of the fight against communism as clearly as I understood it at the age of twelve:  they continue to believe that only Communist methods are evil, while Communist ideals are noble.”

I obviously agree with the anti-Communist sentiment, but the novel does not preach.  It illustrates Ayn Rand’s experience as she LIVED there at that brutal time.  Many of us have heard stories about what life was like in Soviet Russia some even romanticize it.  We The Living does not portray a romantic period, but rather the stark reality of living in a society where success and the successful are punished by those lessor, who are now are in power. 

You could read this novel as a simple love story as it has all of those components, but it is so much more.  We The Living grabbed me early and kept me until the end.  It is so much more…

“Can you sacrifice the few?  When those few are the best?  Deny the best its right to the top – and you have no best left…I loathe your ideals because I know no worse injustice than the giving of the undeserved.  Because men are not equal in ability and one can’t treat them as if they were.”

While summer doesn’t officially end until September 22 this year for all intents and purposes summer is pretty much over for us.  We have recently been blessed with some needed rain, cooler temperatures, and a great deal of sun.  I can go outside before 7:00 PM without breaking out in a sweat and our windows are open to the fresh air since the humidity level is now bearable.  I think I can count on one hand the number of times left to cut the grass.  That may be wishful thinking, but there cannot be too many more than that. 

Driver's side rear door

The end officially started last weekend when we took our middle child back to school.  It was a little early, but she volunteered to help the incoming freshmen move in and help orient them to college life.  Most of her college friends live far away and they did not see each other over the summer break.  Most of them moved in early also so I suspect they are now enjoying college life without the studying.  

Passenger side rear - she actually fit in there for the trip.

It is my contention that my daughter actually took more stuff to college this year than her freshman year.  She and my wife dispute that fact, but I have the photographs to prove it.  Our trip last year filled our Rav 4, but I was still able to use my rear-view mirror.  No such luck this year.  It was full to the brim including the stow away compartment under the rear floor.  I have to check, but I don’t think this included any winter gear. 

The second sign/event was when our eldest started school on Monday.  He is going to work full-time and go to school full-time and I suspect that his days and weeks will be busy for the next four months.  He does have some light at the end of his tunnel and should graduate from college in May (right son?).  

The third sign was this morning when our youngest started back to school.  Her summer was somewhat muted as she takes honors classes and had to read and write about three books and had a great deal of biology homework.  She is now an upperclassmen in high school and one benefit is that she can skip school buses since she has friends who drive.  I wasn’t home when she got back today, but her text pretty much summed up her first day, “school sucked today =(“ 

A final sign is the fact that we have nothing scheduled for this weekend.  No parties, reunions, trips, etc.  Whether we’ll relax remains to be seen.  My wife has her eyes on the garage with a strong desire to “take everything out and hose it down.”  Maybe it will rain.  Cleaning out the garage sucks =( 

I still have a few things to accomplish, however.  I am still waiting on my first tomato.  My aunt gave me some purple striped heirloom seeds and I started them back in April.  I hope they’re worth the wait.  I had a few green ones getting ready on the vine, but some critter (I suspect a raccoon) availed himself of them in July.  I have a few that have replaced them and I am watching over them, but the coon has been a pest most of the summer. 

There will be a few weeks to enjoy mild weather before the autumn chores start…leaves…trimming trees…winterizing…cleaning out the garage….