Did Syrian Rebels Sell Steven Sotloff to ISIS?

You can read the speculation here. 

The White House denies that there is any evidence to suggest this was done.  How did ISIS get their hands on Sotloff to make a show of his beheading?

Speaking for the family of the murdered journalist, Barak Barfi said that sources "on the ground" indicate that Sotloff was sold for $25,000 to $50, 000.  The spokesman says it is believed that "... Sotloff had been lured to a fake checkpoint after he crossed the border into Syria where ISIS captured him."

So why would the Obama regime bother to deny this assertion?  Remember Obama's "red line"?  That was to support the very Syrian rebels who may have been involved in Sotloff's capture and murder.

Assad, Mubarak, Gaddafi -- no one suggests that these are or were good guys.  We had already seen the havoc in Iraq caused by taking out Hussein -- though that did motivate Gaddafi to surrender his chemical and biological weapons.  Strongman rule bothers us as Americans, but it is preferable to a militant Islamic regime like Iran, the ongoing mess in Libya, and a monster like ISIS.

We have really put ourselves and our allies, especially Israel, into a difficult position.  This is not all Obama's fault, though his tendency to enthusiastically support terrorist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the very Libyan rebels who murdered our ambassador, and the ISIS-affiliates in Syria have made matters worse.  Bush failed us by refusing to name the real enemy and unite us by formally declaring war.  He gave us the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, and the TSA, stealing the liberties of all rather than profiling and focusing on those who carry out these heinous deeds.  Our State Department is run by entrenched old-hippie bureaucrats -- as is the CIA.  But the main culprit turns out to be the Pentagon and the military command structure with officers more interested in promotions, politics, shiny toys and budget increases than in winning wars. The last fighting general we had -- with the possible exception of Schwarzkopf, was MacArthur who -- despite what revisionist historians say -- was fired by the idiot Truman for doing his job.  His job being to win wars not prolong or lose them or play twiddly-winks with the UN. 

Bikes On Bacon

Motorcycle runs on bacon grease. 

This leaves me deeply conflicted.  On the one hand, I consider bacon grease far too valuable to use as fuel.  On the other hand, it would smell great, women would chase you, and you would offend Muslims. 

I just don't know.

Not Exactly Graceland

Via David Webb at Breitbart's "Conversation", we have an attack by feral Utes in Memphis shown in this report from TV station WREG.

The video was shot by someone in the Kroger store on their cell phone, and it's not nearly as comprehensive as the CCTV video from Springfield.  The report itself, though, is of interest.  I was particularly struck with the two gentlemen who are working with gang members, trying to address these issues.  One of them says that we should imagine all those kids doing yard work. 

That's something that worries me.  How is it that kids no longer have jobs and chores and responsibilities?  How do people suddenly transition from spoiled, over-sized infants into working, trustworthy, accountable adults when they reach some magical date on the calendar?  I'm pretty confident at this point that it does not happen through the efforts of our government indoctrination educational system.  Just a wild guess here but possibly we develop a sense of responsibility by having it modeled to us by our parents then practicing it in increasingly meaningful ways as we grow older -- which leaves the average urban youth without a lot of traction. 

The man who talked about yard work and behavior modification also said something rather ominous.  He predicted that if something is not done to stop this, in five to ten years, gangs will be running Memphis.

It's not just Memphis.  While I'm imagining hundreds of kids picking up trash, raking leaves and singing "Kumbaya", the other side of my imagination's split screen has scenes of Blackhawk Down playing out in various American cities.  Race-based gangs are elements of every one of our urban centers -- Detroit to Dallas and Des Moines and South Central to Springfield. 

It's been a while since I've seen the 1979 movie Warriors so I don't remember the exact numbers the gang leader Cyrus used in his call for the gangs to unite.  It was something along the lines of there being 20,000 cops in NYC and 60,000 gang members.  The gangs, Cyrus believed, could control the city. 

I am against the increasing militarization of our police departments, but organized and armed gangs are one of, if not the primary motivation driving this development.  It would be rather difficult to convince police departments facing gangs armed and equipped by Mexican and South American drug cartels to de-militarize. 

Criminal Ecology in Springfield, MO

The LiveLeak header has police calling this a 'hate crime'. 

Via the local news, Ms. Cole explains that the attack was not a hate crime but the continuance of an earlier sexual assault.

Cole's boyfriend and the father of her child (probably can't get married without losing Medicaid benefits for their bastard; nothing personal just English) works as a disc jockey at a club in downtown Springfield, MO.  Cole had gone outside the club when she was accosted and forcibly touched by a "group" of men.  She got away and went back inside to tell her boyfriend.  They, I would say, unwisely, went back out to get a better description of her attackers.  Presumably they were attacked as they were then leaving the area, thinking that the confrontation was over.

Cole strikes me as a native, if not of Springfield, at least of the region.  She comes off as your typical low-class white person, as our president might say, but she doesn't seem to be at fault here, aside from imprudence.  She is a scrappy, tough little redneck girl who, after being scared, became angry and wanted to punish her attackers.  That was reasonable, but, she didn't really consider the odds.  I give her boyfriend credit for nerve if not for sense. 

I can't fault him, though, because I know Cole's type, and she would never have let him forget that he backed down.  She reminds me of my wife and my granddaughter -- who inherited her grandmother's Crusader mentality.  Unfortunately, right does not always make might.  As you can see from the video, scrappy and defiant, while noble, has trouble overcoming a significant mass deficit. 

If you look at this map on any given day, you will usually see a cluster of pins dead-center in downtown -- right where this assault occurred just off the Square, mere yards from where the Wild Bill Hickok-Davis Tutt Shootout took place.  You can zoom in on the map and see where South Street comes off Park Central Square. 

Not only does nothing good happen after midnight, not a whole lot good happens around the Square after dark.  Last summer, I took my train-obsessed grandson down to Commercial Street, and we crossed the "historic" footbridge over the train tracks while his mom and grandma waited for us by the car.  This was before sundown, and what they call the C-Street district was already rife with bums and loiterers.  I was unarmed, except for a few knives.  While I wasn't concerned, I would not have left my wife and daughter there alone outside of a vehicle after dark even for the fifteen or twenty minutes it took us to cross the bridge, check out the trains and discuss various manly issues.

In my opinion, this couple was fortunate to come out of the incident with minor injuries.  Had the police not had a presence nearby and been able to respond quickly, do you think the thugs would have been content to shove and run?  

 One of the lessons that is obvious is that these type do not attack looking for a fight.  They like overwhelming odds in their favor.  I counted six, including the larger person who came in late, threw the man down, and got in a few cheap shots (rather like a mastiff coming in to clean up after the terriers have brought the prey to bay).  The DJ may not have done a lot of damage to his attackers, but he didn't quit.  Part of the reason for him doing as well as he did was that some left the party rather early, either because they didn't really want to be involved in an assault or because they knew the cops were not far enough away.   He would have done better had he been quicker to turn, gotten his girlfriend between his back and the wall, as much to help anchor him and add mass as to protect her.  As it was, he was at a disadvantage right from the start. 


This was a "territorial" conflict.  This pack considers that area, within certain time boundaries, to be their territory.  Females that are present in that space and time frame are viewed as potential property.  In one sense, the victim is right.  It was not a "hate crime", but it does have an undeniable racial component.  I seriously doubt the dynamics would have been the same had the victims been of the same race as the attackers. 

Speaking of dynamics, an ecosystem, whether woodland, desert, or concrete jungle, changes with the position of the sun. At this moment, in the middle of the day, I would have no concern about my wife driving around the Square by herself or with another woman or two, even getting out and doing a little shopping or visiting one of the restaurants there.  I would have no qualms about taking her to supper at a downtown eating place.  I'd certainly be paying attention to what was around if we came out at nine o'clock or so, but I would not be worried. 

As the good citizens, the taxpayers, and the people who have to get up the next morning head off to bed, the predators begin to poke their heads out of their holes, and some niches become more dangerous places.

Targeting the Poor

The Washington Post has a sob-story about how St. Louis County municipalities such as Florissant generate revenue from those citizens in poverty.  The story revolves around the case of a single mother of four who had a number of traffic violations and warrants for failure to appear in court.  She didn't show up in court because she could not afford to pay her fines. 

Her story is rather extreme, and I certainly have some sympathy for her.  There are speed traps, cops do target people and use ticky-tack city ordinances to harass citizens and kick up evidence of other crimes.  It is a legal system and not a justice system, and it functions primarily to fund more government jobs and enrich the lawyers who help write the rules.    

The fact is that, these days, if I get nailed for speeding, I don't have to worry about expired plates or my lights being out or no insurance, or being able to afford the fine.  On the other hand, I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since 1998.  I think I have had two moving violations and one other total in the last 30 years, and one of those was bogus for going through an intersection on yellow -- which was perfectly legal.  When I was young and poor and drinking every day, I was making other bad decisions and trying to beat the system which ended up costing me more when I could least afford it.  I've perhaps unwisely wasted money on lawyers since for other reasons but only because I knew I had the money to cover it. 

One of the reasons poor people are poor is because they make bad decisions and then compound those with more bad decisions trying to extricate themselves.  The woman in the story has four tattoos along with her four children by, likely, different men to whom she was never married.  The article complains about the legal setup, but it feeds on the stupidity of those who get caught in it.  As long as a person blames someone or something else for their troubles, nothing will change.  Change has to start in the attitude and approach of an individual.

I do not like our current system of government or our current law enforcement structure, and I detest our legal system.  Nevertheless, I recognize that, as a whole, we have the kind of system that we deserve.  We have brought it on ourselves, and it will change when enough of us start to change.  If we would have liberty and freedom of opportunity, we have to be moral and prudent and responsible individuals.         

Rockwell Talks About the Libertarian Moment

Via Mises, we have Lew Rockwell on the zeitgeist.

I don't always agree with Rockwell, but he makes an excellent point about the way the New York Times recently addressed the libertarian movement:

... [R]eporter Robert Draper sought out not quite the top libertarian thinkers in the world, but instead those people most easily reached within a ten-minute walk from the Capitol or the Empire State Building.

Draper begins with an ex-MTV personality and proceeds from there. None of the people whose work and writing have shaped the libertarian movement, and who have converted so many people to our point of view, make an appearance. Ask the hordes of young kids who are devouring libertarian classics how many of them were introduced to libertarianism, or even slightly influenced, by the figures on whom the Times chooses to rely. You already know the answer.

To some conservatives, libertarianism boils down to hookers and dope.  Any conversation I try to have with some of the social conservatives immediately devolves into talk about legislating morality and isolationism.  Rockwell says in the article that libertarians "... oppose aggression, period. That means we oppose the State, which amounts to institutionalized aggression."

If you had to bring it down to one sentence, that one is not bad.  For those who want to not just tell other people what is good for them but force them to conform, libertarianism is what water was to the Wicked Witch.  I like "mind your own business" myself -- or the line my father once used to start a street fight:  We are in the habit of doing as we please.  

I do not care much what my neighbors do, so long as they do me no harm and don't ask me to pay their bills.  The problem is that government, by forcing all of us to have "skin in the game", can, as a consequence, demand that we all act "responsibly".  The answer is to stop forcing some people to pay for the irresponsible behavior of others. 

Peter should not be robbed for Paul's sake, regardless of whether Paul is an unfortunate victim of a traffic accident or a victim of his own crack addiction.  Medicare and Medicaid were the nose of the camel.  The whole beast is in now and dropping Obamacare all over the floor.

Most social conservatives are in agreement with libertarians to that point. 

I don't gamble, smoke, drink, or do drugs.  I've never even been inside a Hooter's let alone anything like a "gentlemen's club".  I do, however, like girls.  I think abortion is murder, and, while I can't condone or in anyway approve of what he did,  I can understand the thinking of the man who murdered the odious Wichita abortionist, Dr. George Tiller.  I think local communities ought to be able to decide, based on their local standards, whether or not it is acceptable to pray before a football game. 

No matter how someone chooses to define it, I am socially conservative.  The trouble is that the system powerful and far-reaching enough to coerce everyone into adhering to my social standards is also powerful and far-reaching enough to coerce me into adhering to someone else's.  See how that works?

When we see something egregiously wicked, we are apt to scream, "There ought to be a law!"  And that's exactly what the people who forced Obamacare on us thought.  Sure, it's tyrannical, stupid, counterproductive and likely to bankrupt us, but some fool thought it was a good idea to force people to buy government-approved insurance -- the same way a whole bunch of fools thought it was a good idea to prohibit the consumption of alcohol or lock up people who smoke weed or that what a couple of consenting adults do for entertainment is somehow their business.

Golden Rule:  Whatever you want others to do for you, do the same to them, the Man said. 

I want them to stop minding my business so I've stopped minding theirs. 

Gay To Play

I was busy doing something important -- painting the living room, I think, when Missouri played Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl this year, but, as noted here, my wife watched it.  The Cotton Bowl victory was sealed when now-notorious Michael Sam brought down the OSU quarterback from behind (ha). 

The truth is that Michael Sam was a good Division I college defensive end.  Good.  Ten times better than most of us could be but still not great.  Michael Sam was never going to be drafted by the NFL even in late rounds.  As a walk-on, he would have had no chance.  The NFL gets to pick from the very best, most talented, gifted college athletes.  There are hundreds of potential players vying for a handful of highly coveted openings on a mere 32 teams.  A smattering of veterans exit the league every year for various reasons, but somebody is usually there to plug the hole.  For a man to be drafted suggests that he might be able to play better than the men already lined up for that spot.

Michael Sam may have been the best homosexual defensive end in college football.  Unfortunately for him, no team has, as yet, a roster spot for Gay DE.  Each team wants the best available player for any given position regardless of their choice of roommates.  The great Redskins' tight end, Jerry Smith, who played for Vince Lombardi and George Allen, was homosexual.  He was not a great homosexual tight end (I'm sorry -- that was his position, and, yes, it means he was a catcher); he was a great player.  Smith never admitted to being homosexual, but another gay football player of about the same era, running back Dave Kopay, confirmed what everybody knew after Smith's death from AIDS in 2005 1986 (no idea where I got 2005).  

Men like Smith and Kopay and numerous other NFL-quality players had no need to make an issue of their homosexuality because they were gifted football players who would be drafted because of their skills and abilities.  That was not the case with Sam.  To even get a shot at the professional level, he needed a victim card that he could play in the event he was not drafted.  Thus he publicly "came out of the closet" just in time to make it an issue on NFL Draft Day.  The Rams took the hit for the league in the third round.

Surprising exactly no one who has any understanding of football, Sam was first cut from the 53-man roster and now has been eliminated from the 10-man practice squad by St. Louis.  He could have been picked up on waivers by a team desperate for a DE, but no team wants Sam.  It has nothing to do with his sexual preference or what might happen in the showers.  It has to do with his ability to accelerate and his burst speed -- rather his lack thereof.  Notice the, in my opinion, overly kind bottom line:  Compares favorably to Chargers 2009 first-round pick Larry English, an overhyped, overdrafted, marginal producer in the pros.

Next time the homosexual activists should pick a faster horse to ride.