I found this jewel over at Mike's place on Sipsey Street.
Honor Your Oath!
An Open Letter to the Servicemembers of these united States
Written by an American Servicemember
“Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.” - General Robert E. Lee
Every oath administered at every enlistment, commissioning, and promotion across all branches of military service begins with the individual swearing or affirming to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic and ... [to] bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” Should our country and government fall under attack from foreign armies, there is no question that we will defend this country and our Constitution to our last. But what should be the proper course of action for the servicemembers of these united States when our Constitution is threatened from within, by those who themselves have taken a nearly identical solemn oath to support and defend (or preserve, protect, and defend in the case of the President) the very document they usurp? The answer to this quotidian question, it would seem, is not self-evident when one considers the near silence of our military personnel.
When elected officials, regardless of political affiliation, whether Representative, Senator, or President, repeatedly defy the Constitution by legislating on and regulating all aspects of American life, commerce, privacy, and health in direct defiance of the limited scope to which the Constitution binds them (see Article I, Section 8), what recourse is available to the servicemembers bound by their oath? What options remain when repeated written and oral petitions for redress of grievances addressed to these officials are answered only by repeated injury? How many petitions of this nature must be ignored before American servicemembers and civilians alike finally muster the courage to ask such questions?
Some may say that the servicemember’s duty is to maintain the status quo and remain silent, declaring that it would be unwise or unprofessional for military men and women to opine on political matters. However, these matters are not of a partisan nature. The nature of addressing unconstitutional advances, rather, is that of a servicemember fulfilling his sworn duty and at stake is the nature of the relationship between the federal government and the people and States.
It is also perhaps not surprising that our servicemembers largely have remained silent considering the dearth of education pertaining to the Constitution military personnel and Americans at large receive. Is this willfully negligent or is it another effort to abstain from appearing partisan? Is this negligence to teach the Constitution sufficient to relieve the servicemember of his sworn duty to support and defend our governing document? Certainly not! Ignorance in this case is a terrible shame but is no excuse. The ethical responsibility is on the individual servicemember to fully understand his sworn oath and it falls equally on his leadership to ensure comprehension of and adherence to the oath.
If the servicemember’s duty to support and defend the Constitution persists, again what recourse is available? Seeking to engage fellow servicemembers in discussions about Constitutional authority for current legislation has the potential of yielding sarcasm, indifference, or being labeled a domestic terrorist threat. The time has sadly arrived where servicemembers who have sworn to support and defend the Constitution are marginalized for voicing their concerns that our governing document is being metaphorically shredded.
So again, what remains for the servicemember who sincerely holds himself accountable to his oath when he finds his fellow servicemembers and elected officials to be guilty of neglecting their own? Should he remove himself from military service? Should he abandon his sworn duty because so many others find the implications of supporting that oath an uncomfortable or unacceptable option? Common sense and an obligation to honor tell us that to do so would be absurd. Rather, it is the duty of the individual servicemember to continually and emphatically advocate the long-forgotten notion that the federal government abide by the law of the land. To that end, let this letter serve as a call to all those who have raised their right hand, often invoking divine assistance, to reexamine their willingness to abide by their oath and to accept its full weight and responsibility. This inevitably will yield only two options: deciding to dutifully act in full accord with the oath, thereby truly supporting and defending the Constitution, or deciding to depart military service. Any other option would be a dereliction of duty.
August 7, 2009
Sunday
Friday
Government always goes after flies with sledgehammers
Who has not heard by now of the kidnapped Jaycee Dugard found alive after being held for 18 years as a sex slave? It’s a hideous case to be sure.
But among sordid details of that case now coming to light is a report that at some point a neighbor called the police about tents being set up in the back yard where the Dugard girl was held. Police responded to the call but did not do a full search, not did they take note of his status as a registered sex offender. Consequently there was a chance to have ended her captivity that was missed. (Remember, even one of Jeffrey Dahmer’ victims almost escaped, and the cops delivered the drugged man back into the hands of his killer)
Clearly the cops dropped the ball here. But as in every instance where someone commits a crime of a particularly heinous nature, the government is certain to use that as leverage to enact new and intrusive legislation.
Look for there to be legislation in the near future (probably even called the Dugard Law) that will allow the police to walk right into your home without any sort of warrant – because some Gladys Kravitz type of neighbor hears or sees something in your yard they don’t like.
I’ve pointed out here before the ever increasing trend in America to spy and snitch on each other. Stalin and his KGB would sure be proud of how far America has come!
But among sordid details of that case now coming to light is a report that at some point a neighbor called the police about tents being set up in the back yard where the Dugard girl was held. Police responded to the call but did not do a full search, not did they take note of his status as a registered sex offender. Consequently there was a chance to have ended her captivity that was missed. (Remember, even one of Jeffrey Dahmer’ victims almost escaped, and the cops delivered the drugged man back into the hands of his killer)
Clearly the cops dropped the ball here. But as in every instance where someone commits a crime of a particularly heinous nature, the government is certain to use that as leverage to enact new and intrusive legislation.
Look for there to be legislation in the near future (probably even called the Dugard Law) that will allow the police to walk right into your home without any sort of warrant – because some Gladys Kravitz type of neighbor hears or sees something in your yard they don’t like.
I’ve pointed out here before the ever increasing trend in America to spy and snitch on each other. Stalin and his KGB would sure be proud of how far America has come!
Thursday
No Nanny State - an economics reality check
Let The Other Mike give you an overview of the giant sucking sound that is the US economy. He does it so darn well! In fact, you will be cringing by the time you're finished reading.
"Banks are sucking wind, regardless of the 'green shoots' that Barry is planting in your butt. All of the Nanny accounting, "get out of jail free" cards have been played. They are having to report their actual earnings. The numbers of non-performing loans is still skyrocketing, and it's showing in the bank numbers"
Go find out What They're Not Telling You.
"Banks are sucking wind, regardless of the 'green shoots' that Barry is planting in your butt. All of the Nanny accounting, "get out of jail free" cards have been played. They are having to report their actual earnings. The numbers of non-performing loans is still skyrocketing, and it's showing in the bank numbers"
Go find out What They're Not Telling You.
In defense of capitalism
It is so enjoyable to me to watch Milton Friedman so completely flummox Donahue, especially the in last seconds of the video.
An act of treason
I’d much rather take my time and blather on and on about this, but I suppose I should make a few remarks about the treachery of the late senator Kennedy while it’s still a current item of discussion.
WRSA posts an article discussing Kennedy’s offer to assist the Soviets back during the Reagan administration. Now this came to light when the USSR’s files were opened after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As expected, the main stream media gave it no attention and thus most people are unaware that it happened at all. As a consequence, Teddy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery where his rotting flesh will only serve to despoil the ground where real heroes lie.
I consider it beneath contempt that anyone (but most especially an elected official) would reach out to offer aide to what is CLEARLY an enemy regime! Of all the contemptible things Ted Kennedy did during his remarkably contemptible life, this act trumps them all in my opinion.
WRSA posts an article discussing Kennedy’s offer to assist the Soviets back during the Reagan administration. Now this came to light when the USSR’s files were opened after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As expected, the main stream media gave it no attention and thus most people are unaware that it happened at all. As a consequence, Teddy will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery where his rotting flesh will only serve to despoil the ground where real heroes lie.
I consider it beneath contempt that anyone (but most especially an elected official) would reach out to offer aide to what is CLEARLY an enemy regime! Of all the contemptible things Ted Kennedy did during his remarkably contemptible life, this act trumps them all in my opinion.
A pro-gun candidate in California!
Wow! This hardly seems possible. There's a solidly pro-gun candidate vying for the 10th district seat recently vacated by Ellen Tauscher, who has taken a position in the Obama administration.
Go check out Chris Bunch and lend him your support if possible.
Go check out Chris Bunch and lend him your support if possible.
Wednesday
Remembering the hero of Chappaquiddick
The following is an e-mail from an anonymous patriot that is meant to counter all the liberal attempts to white-wash Ted Kennedy’s disgraceful betrayal of America and his equally shameful personal life. Feel free to send this article to all your friends.
As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the “canonization” of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media. They are saying what a “great American” he is. I say, let’s get a couple things clear and not twist the facts to change the real history:
1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.
2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops! The man can’t count to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea , where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that President Bush received).
3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris , never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his “education” NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!
4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia , he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver’s license was never revoked.. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!
5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a “state secret” until in the 1980’s when the report was unsealed.. Didn’t hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?
6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts . At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur’s keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and sank into Poucha Pond.
7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew – that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead, Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. Kopechne was able to stay alive for a while breathing a bubble of air inside the car.
One source notes “A diver was sent down and discovered Kopechne’s body at around 8:45 am. The diver, John Farrar, later testified at the inquest that Kopechne’s body was pressed up in the car in the spot where an air bubble would have formed. He interpreted this to mean that Kopechne had survived for a while after the initial accident in the air bubble, and concluded that: ‘Had I received a call within five to ten minutes of the accident occurring, and was able, as I was the following morning, to be at the victim’s side within twenty-five minutes of receiving the call, in such event there is a strong possibility that she would have been alive on removal from the submerged car.’ ”
The Kennedy family began “calling in favors”, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne and he didn’t call police because he was in a state of shock.
It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident, Kennedy’s “political enemies” have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS.
Kopechne’s family received a small pay out from the Kennedy’s insurance policy, and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy’s family paid their attorney’s bills… a “token of friendship”?
8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the “standard-bearer for liberalism”. In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.
9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of “what’s right”.
10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than “great American”. “A blond in every pond” should be his motto.Let’s not allow the spin doctors to make this disgraceful drunk and whore of anti-American special interests a hero. It’s shameful that more people don’t know what his real legacy is.
As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the “canonization” of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media. They are saying what a “great American” he is. I say, let’s get a couple things clear and not twist the facts to change the real history:
1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.
2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops! The man can’t count to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea , where a war was raging. No preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that President Bush received).
3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris , never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his “education” NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!
4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia , he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark. Yet his Virginia driver’s license was never revoked.. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!
5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash, and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a “state secret” until in the 1980’s when the report was unsealed.. Didn’t hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?
6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts . At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur’s keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and sank into Poucha Pond.
7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party, passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew – that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead, Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. Kopechne was able to stay alive for a while breathing a bubble of air inside the car.
One source notes “A diver was sent down and discovered Kopechne’s body at around 8:45 am. The diver, John Farrar, later testified at the inquest that Kopechne’s body was pressed up in the car in the spot where an air bubble would have formed. He interpreted this to mean that Kopechne had survived for a while after the initial accident in the air bubble, and concluded that: ‘Had I received a call within five to ten minutes of the accident occurring, and was able, as I was the following morning, to be at the victim’s side within twenty-five minutes of receiving the call, in such event there is a strong possibility that she would have been alive on removal from the submerged car.’ ”
The Kennedy family began “calling in favors”, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne and he didn’t call police because he was in a state of shock.
It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident, Kennedy’s “political enemies” have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS.
Kopechne’s family received a small pay out from the Kennedy’s insurance policy, and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy’s family paid their attorney’s bills… a “token of friendship”?
8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors and is widely held as the “standard-bearer for liberalism”. In his very first Senate roll, he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries.
9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in immigration, up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of “what’s right”.
10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than “great American”. “A blond in every pond” should be his motto.Let’s not allow the spin doctors to make this disgraceful drunk and whore of anti-American special interests a hero. It’s shameful that more people don’t know what his real legacy is.
An excellent column I strongly urge you to read
Ahh the glory of public education!
By ANJANETTE FLOWERS / NewsChannel 36
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- You would think the word "education" is pretty easy to spell. Well, think again.
It was a costly and embarrassing mistake made by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Career and Technical Education Department when they decided to hand out some freebies to teachers.
"That's pretty bad if they approved that and it's not even spelled correctly," said Louise Wood, a parent.
The misspelled version of "education" was printed on 1,800 beverage coasters, the kind that you use in your car.
Last week, they gave about 500 of them to teachers during a teacher appreciation meeting. It wasn't until after that meeting that school officials realized the mistake.
The "a" in "education" was missing -- spelled "eduction."
We tried to get Superintendent Peter Gorman's take on it.
"No idea what you're talking about," Gorman said. "Haven't seen it, haven't heard of it until just this second."
A CMS spokesperson told us the company that printed the coasters, Ad Concepts, didn't catch the mistake and neither did CMS when they approved the proof.
That's hard to believe for some parents.
"Nobody picked it up? Nobody was able to proofread this?" asked parent Talia Goldman. "It doesn't make me happy."
CMS did not foot the bill for this mistake. CTE paid for it using donations. It cost them $1,500 for the 1,800 coasters.
"You know what? I always say everybody makes mistakes, but it's what you do with that mistake that counts," said Goldman.
CMS is trying to work out some kind of deal with the vendor.
Tuesday
I cannot even articulate how silly this is!
Okay... let's run through the facts.
1. This from a Yahoo News headline: the White House is predicting a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion more than the sum of all previous deficits since America's founding. And it says by the next decade's end the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy.
2. Elsewhere I read: President Obama said he's keeping Ben Bernanke on as federal reserve chairman because Bernanke averted disaster. "Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free fall,"
3. Now consider that every prediction for such things as the unemployment rate, inflation, the price tag for the stimulus spending, etc., has been lowballed or understated! In other words they've all fallen far short of telling how bad it REALLY is!
BUT NOWHERE DOES ANYONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GOVERNMENT CAUSED ALL THIS CRAP!!!!!!!
In my view Bernanke should be arrested as some sort of economic terrorist...but NOOOO he gets presidential accolades and probably a pay raise and bonus! The Fed should be immediately dismantled, and government should get the hell out of soviet style centralized economic planning !!!
Rant over [whew]
1. This from a Yahoo News headline: the White House is predicting a 10-year federal deficit of $9 trillion more than the sum of all previous deficits since America's founding. And it says by the next decade's end the national debt will equal three-quarters of the entire U.S. economy.
2. Elsewhere I read: President Obama said he's keeping Ben Bernanke on as federal reserve chairman because Bernanke averted disaster. "Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free fall,"
3. Now consider that every prediction for such things as the unemployment rate, inflation, the price tag for the stimulus spending, etc., has been lowballed or understated! In other words they've all fallen far short of telling how bad it REALLY is!
BUT NOWHERE DOES ANYONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GOVERNMENT CAUSED ALL THIS CRAP!!!!!!!
In my view Bernanke should be arrested as some sort of economic terrorist...but NOOOO he gets presidential accolades and probably a pay raise and bonus! The Fed should be immediately dismantled, and government should get the hell out of soviet style centralized economic planning !!!
Rant over [whew]
More Big Brother crap to contend with
Since it's a given that every cell phone now has a built in GPS locator (required to I'm told), is it hard to imagine the Nanny State taking steps to bug your computer as well?
Long ago I stopped believing that my government was anything other than a monster. Leviathan most definitely IS a ravenous monster that has been unleashed from even the tiniest restraints once held in place by the constitution. If you can imagine something evil... then the USG has, or is, doing it!
But I digress...
Read this blog entry from an electrical engineer who insists that keystroke loggers are being installed on all new computers! And he makes a cogent argument that DHS is on the receiving end.
Long ago I stopped believing that my government was anything other than a monster. Leviathan most definitely IS a ravenous monster that has been unleashed from even the tiniest restraints once held in place by the constitution. If you can imagine something evil... then the USG has, or is, doing it!
But I digress...
Read this blog entry from an electrical engineer who insists that keystroke loggers are being installed on all new computers! And he makes a cogent argument that DHS is on the receiving end.
Monday
State Dept. outreach to Muslims during Ramadan
Thanks to Atlas Shrugs for pointing this out:
In a time when making fun of Christianity is the "sport of the day", it's particularly galling to see this approach to an Islamic religious season being taken by our own State Department.
Of course keep in mind that we have a "closet" Allah worshiper in the White House, so what do you expect.
One of the best town-hall rants I've seen YET!
Marine Corps Vet Blasts Dem Congressman for Calling ObamaCare Protesters 'Brown Shirts'
On August 5, Congressman Brian Baird (D-Wash.) likened recent town hall meeting protesters to Nazis: "I, David William Hedrick, a member of the silent majority, decided that I was not going to be silent anymore. So, I let U.S. Congressman Brian Baird have it. I was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening. Not expecting to be called on, I quickly scratched what I wanted to say on a borrowed piece of paper and with a pen that I borrowed from someone else in the audience minutes before I spoke. So much for the planned talking points of the right wing conspiracy."
Go here to watch
"What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics. I mean that very seriously."
On Tuesday, at such a political gathering in Vancouver, a Marine Corps veteran named David William Hedrick blasted the Congressman for this disgraceful depiction.
What follows is a video from this town hall meeting in Washington state that every person in America -- especially those on the Left and their media minions who continue to shamefully besmirch average citizens for having the nerve to oppose the government takeover of healthcare!!! -- should be required to view
Go here to watch
National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies
The following organizations have lent monetary, grassroots or some other type of direct support to anti-gun organizations. In many instances, these organizations lent their name in support of specific campaigns to pass anti-gun legislation such as the March 1995 HCI "Campaign to Protect Sane Gun Laws." Many of these organizations were listed as "Campaign Partners," for having pledged to fight any efforts to repeal the Brady Act and the Clinton "assault weapons" ban.
All have officially endorsed anti-gun positions.
CLICK HERE FOR LIST
All have officially endorsed anti-gun positions.
CLICK HERE FOR LIST
Friday
The absolute LAST word on guns appearing at Town Hall meetings
From New Hampshire to Arizona, Americans openly carrying firearms have been seen outside presidential appearances. The most remarkable thing about this is that some find this behavior to be remarkable.
American citizens are the sovereigns in our system of government. Indeed, We the People created the government which, at least in theory, only does what we tell it to do in the Constitution. Sovereigns are expected to be armed.
The Second Amendment was added to our Constitution to ensure that the individual right to keep and bear arms not be infringed. Infringement would impair the proper functioning of the militia which had been America’s homeland security system all through colonial times and well into our republican era.
Go to GOA to read this wonderful piece that REALLY sets it straight!
Ever heard of Cloward & Piven?
Borrowed from DiscovertheNetworks.org:
First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
Inspired by the August 1965 riots in the black district of Watts in Los Angeles (which erupted after police had used batons to subdue a black man suspected of drunk driving), Cloward and Piven published an article titled "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty" in the May 2, 1966 issue of The Nation. Following its publication, The Nation sold an unprecedented 30,000 reprints. Activists were abuzz over the so-called "crisis strategy" or "Cloward-Piven Strategy," as it came to be called. Many were eager to put it into effect.
In their 1966 article, Cloward and Piven charged that the ruling classes used welfare to weaken the poor; that by providing a social safety net, the rich doused the fires of rebellion. Poor people can advance only when "the rest of society is afraid of them," Cloward told The New York Times on September 27, 1970. Rather than placating the poor with government hand-outs, wrote Cloward and Piven, activists should work to sabotage and destroy the welfare system; the collapse of the welfare state would ignite a political and financial crisis that would rock the nation; poor people would rise in revolt; only then would "the rest of society" accept their demands.
The key to sparking this rebellion would be to expose the inadequacy of the welfare state. Cloward-Piven's early promoters cited radical organizer Saul Alinsky as their inspiration. "Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules," Alinsky wrote in his 1972 book Rules for Radicals. When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judaeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short. The system's failure to "live up" to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist "rule book" with a socialist one.
The authors noted that the number of Americans subsisting on welfare -- about 8 million, at the time -- probably represented less than half the number who were technically eligible for full benefits. They proposed a "massive drive to recruit the poor onto the welfare rolls." Cloward and Piven calculated that persuading even a fraction of potential welfare recipients to demand their entitlements would bankrupt the system. The result, they predicted, would be "a profound financial and political crisis" that would unleash "powerful forces … for major economic reform at the national level."
Read the rest here:
First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
Inspired by the August 1965 riots in the black district of Watts in Los Angeles (which erupted after police had used batons to subdue a black man suspected of drunk driving), Cloward and Piven published an article titled "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty" in the May 2, 1966 issue of The Nation. Following its publication, The Nation sold an unprecedented 30,000 reprints. Activists were abuzz over the so-called "crisis strategy" or "Cloward-Piven Strategy," as it came to be called. Many were eager to put it into effect.
In their 1966 article, Cloward and Piven charged that the ruling classes used welfare to weaken the poor; that by providing a social safety net, the rich doused the fires of rebellion. Poor people can advance only when "the rest of society is afraid of them," Cloward told The New York Times on September 27, 1970. Rather than placating the poor with government hand-outs, wrote Cloward and Piven, activists should work to sabotage and destroy the welfare system; the collapse of the welfare state would ignite a political and financial crisis that would rock the nation; poor people would rise in revolt; only then would "the rest of society" accept their demands.
The key to sparking this rebellion would be to expose the inadequacy of the welfare state. Cloward-Piven's early promoters cited radical organizer Saul Alinsky as their inspiration. "Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules," Alinsky wrote in his 1972 book Rules for Radicals. When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judaeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short. The system's failure to "live up" to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist "rule book" with a socialist one.
The authors noted that the number of Americans subsisting on welfare -- about 8 million, at the time -- probably represented less than half the number who were technically eligible for full benefits. They proposed a "massive drive to recruit the poor onto the welfare rolls." Cloward and Piven calculated that persuading even a fraction of potential welfare recipients to demand their entitlements would bankrupt the system. The result, they predicted, would be "a profound financial and political crisis" that would unleash "powerful forces … for major economic reform at the national level."
Read the rest here:
Thursday
Some randon thoughts from Thomas Sowell
Now I am as much a redneck Southern cracker as it’s possible to be, and if the stereotypes are to be believed, then my rabid hatred of Obama just must be rooted in bigotry and racism…right?
Well, here’s a black guy I’d vote for in a heartbeat: Thomas Sowell
And here are a few of his observations on the passing scene:
Different people have very different reactions to President Barack Obama. Those who listen to his rhetoric are often inspired, while those who follow what he actually does are often appalled.
New York and Chicago have both recently had their coldest June in generations. If they had had their hottest month, it would have been trumpeted from the media 24/7 by "global warming" zealots. But the average surface temperature of the earth has not changed in more than a decade, according to the Cato Institute.
Many years ago, there was a comic book character who could say the magic word "Shazam" and turn into Captain Marvel, a character with powers like Superman's. Today, you can say the magic word "diversity" and turn reverse discrimination into social justice.
I would rather see politicians hanged than see their children smeared.
Someone pointed out that blaming economic crises on "greed" is like blaming plane crashes on gravity. Certainly planes wouldn't crash if it wasn't for gravity. But when thousands of planes fly millions of miles every day without crashing, explaining why a particular plane crashed because of gravity gets you nowhere.
Neither does talking about "greed," which is constant like gravity.
Political ideologies are fairy tales for adults.
What did we learn from the "beer summit" on the White House lawn, except that Vice President Joe Biden doesn't drink alcoholic beverages? Considering the many gaffes that the vice president has made while cold sober, the thought of an intoxicated Joe Biden boggles the mind.
Seeing children repeating the cant they have been taught is not only depressing in itself, it provides a depressing preview of the future, when those children become voting adults, with a habit of reaching conclusions after hearing only one side of an issue.
Since no one seems overly concerned about putting a racist on the Supreme Court-- provided it is a politically correct racist-- the moral of the story seems to be that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, that doesn't matter if it coos like a dove at Senate confirmation hearings.I hate seeing a referee keep giving warnings to a boxer for low blows. Taking a point away is the only kind of warning that is likely to make the low blows stop. The rules of boxing don't say you are entitled to one free low blow, much less repeated low blows.
Perhaps the scariest aspect of our times is how many people think in talking points, rather than in terms of real world consequences.
Over the years, unions in the private sector have been declining, while unions in the public sector have been thriving. The United Automobile Workers are getting a big return on their investment in the election of Barack Obama because the government takeover of General Motors makes the UAW more like a public sector union, whose demands can be met at the taxpayers' expense.
Recently I was foolish enough to try to reason with an environmentalist. But it became obvious that he had his mind made up and didn't want to hear any evidence to the contrary. The Pope is more likely to have read Karl Marx than an environmentalist is to have read even a single book that criticized environmentalism.
With Velcro and other modern adhesives available, can't someone design a boxing glove that doesn't require fights to be stopped in the middle of a round so that loose tape can be repaired? Often the break in the action changes the whole tempo of the fight and can affect the outcome.
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all sermonettes by Barack Obama-- especially since nothing that he is doing is actually working?
The 150-year prison sentence for Bernie Madoff has implications that go far beyond this particular swindler. There was a time when a simple life sentence would have kept him behind bars. But today the practice of over-stating the sentences that will actually be served-- in order to soothe the public-- has gotten so widespread that a ridiculous sentence like 150 years has to be given, in order to try to make sure he won't be back on the streets again.
The Survivor's Library
Here's an excellent listing of books as recommended by Jim Rawles that any survival minded person should begin acquiring.
Wednesday
Taking rifles and guns to a public event
For some reason YouTube will not allow this to be embedded. So you need to watch this video over at YT.
It's worth the time and effort.
Regarding the same story, FOX interviews Jim Rawles of SurvivalBlog.com.
It's worth the time and effort.
Regarding the same story, FOX interviews Jim Rawles of SurvivalBlog.com.
Mr Denninger asks: Will it all come tumbling down?
Let's juxtapose two stories. First, from Bloomberg:
Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- More than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival.
Ok. Now how about this one?
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Delinquency rates for loans and leases at U.S. banks increased to a record 6.49% in the second quarter from 5.58% in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve announced Monday.
So let me see if I get this right.
At 5% of non-performing loans a bank is at risk of being insolvent.
But the entire banking system in The United States had its non-performing loan ratio increase from 5.58% in the first quarter to 6.49% in the second, a record, and higher than the 5% level at which the survival of a bank(ing system) is threatened with collapse.
Hmmmm.... So should we take from this that the entire US Banking System is about to collapse?
This much we know for certain - you're being screwed - systematically - to cover the sins of these banksters who made loans to people who they had no reason to believe could pay:
Being in debt is about to get a lot more expensive for millions of Americans. Credit card issuers have been rushing to raise rates in advance of this Thursday, when the first provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) will go into effect, with other protections starting in February 2010.
Right. Including those who are good credit risks.
He's just getting started. Go here if you dare!
Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- More than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival.
Ok. Now how about this one?
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Delinquency rates for loans and leases at U.S. banks increased to a record 6.49% in the second quarter from 5.58% in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve announced Monday.
So let me see if I get this right.
At 5% of non-performing loans a bank is at risk of being insolvent.
But the entire banking system in The United States had its non-performing loan ratio increase from 5.58% in the first quarter to 6.49% in the second, a record, and higher than the 5% level at which the survival of a bank(ing system) is threatened with collapse.
Hmmmm.... So should we take from this that the entire US Banking System is about to collapse?
This much we know for certain - you're being screwed - systematically - to cover the sins of these banksters who made loans to people who they had no reason to believe could pay:
Being in debt is about to get a lot more expensive for millions of Americans. Credit card issuers have been rushing to raise rates in advance of this Thursday, when the first provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) will go into effect, with other protections starting in February 2010.
Right. Including those who are good credit risks.
He's just getting started. Go here if you dare!
Monday
Nearly forgotten in all the hub bub - Americorps
Expanded Americorps has stench of authoritarianism
Examiner Editorial
March 26, 2009
With almost no public attention, both chambers of Congress in the past week advanced an alarming expansion of the Americorps national service plan, with the number of federally funded community-service jobs increasing from 75,000 to 250,000 at a cost of $5.7 billion. Lurking behind the feel-good rhetoric spouted by the measure’s advocates is a bill that upon closer inspection reveals multiple provisions that together create a strong odor of creepy authoritarianism.
The House passed the measure overwhelmingly, while only 14 senators had the sense and courage to vote against it on a key procedural motion. Every legislator who either voted for this bill or didn’t vote at all has some serious explaining to do.
Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama threw civil liberties to the wind when he proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military. The expanded Americorps is not quite so disturbing, but a number of provisions in the bill raise serious concerns.
To begin with, the legislation threatens the voluntary nature of Americorps by calling for consideration of “a workable, fair and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people.” It anticipates the possibility of requiring “all individuals in the United States” to perform such service, including elementary school students.
The bill also summons up unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying the new program should “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,” while establishing “campuses” that serve as “operational headquarters,” complete with “superintendents” and “uniforms” for all participants. It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And, it calls for the creation of “a permanent cadre” in a “National Community Civilian Corps.”
But that’s not all. The bill also calls for “youth engagement zones” in which “service learning” is “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”
This updated form of voluntary community service is also to be “integrated into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula” at all levels of schooling. Sounds like a government curriculum for government-approved “service learning,” which is nothing less than indoctrination.
Now, ask yourself if Congress members who voted for this monstrosity had a clue what they were voting for. If not, they’re guilty of dereliction of duty. If they did, the implications are truly frightening.
Examiner Editorial
March 26, 2009
With almost no public attention, both chambers of Congress in the past week advanced an alarming expansion of the Americorps national service plan, with the number of federally funded community-service jobs increasing from 75,000 to 250,000 at a cost of $5.7 billion. Lurking behind the feel-good rhetoric spouted by the measure’s advocates is a bill that upon closer inspection reveals multiple provisions that together create a strong odor of creepy authoritarianism.
The House passed the measure overwhelmingly, while only 14 senators had the sense and courage to vote against it on a key procedural motion. Every legislator who either voted for this bill or didn’t vote at all has some serious explaining to do.
Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama threw civil liberties to the wind when he proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military. The expanded Americorps is not quite so disturbing, but a number of provisions in the bill raise serious concerns.
To begin with, the legislation threatens the voluntary nature of Americorps by calling for consideration of “a workable, fair and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people.” It anticipates the possibility of requiring “all individuals in the United States” to perform such service, including elementary school students.
The bill also summons up unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying the new program should “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,” while establishing “campuses” that serve as “operational headquarters,” complete with “superintendents” and “uniforms” for all participants. It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And, it calls for the creation of “a permanent cadre” in a “National Community Civilian Corps.”
But that’s not all. The bill also calls for “youth engagement zones” in which “service learning” is “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”
This updated form of voluntary community service is also to be “integrated into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula” at all levels of schooling. Sounds like a government curriculum for government-approved “service learning,” which is nothing less than indoctrination.
Now, ask yourself if Congress members who voted for this monstrosity had a clue what they were voting for. If not, they’re guilty of dereliction of duty. If they did, the implications are truly frightening.
Sign of the times
5 Steps to a better national-socialist health care:
• beat up the opposition
• call the other side fascists
• whip up hysteria
• criminalize difference of opinion
• report dissenters to flag@whitehouse.gov
Thursday
Obamacare: The “Post Office” of Health Care Plans
At his orchestrated townhall event today, President Obama defended the notion that his government-run public health care plan wouldn’t crowd out private insurers by referencing the symbiotic relationship between UPS, Fedex and the Post Office. Bad timing Mr. President. On Friday, the New York Times Business Section actually called for the privatization of the post office amid staggering losses, and even said it was in “General Motors territory.” So while the President sells you on his “post office” of health care plans, here are some questions to consider:
1.) The U.S. Post Office is the only entity allowed by federal law to deliver first class mail to your mailbox. In fact, Fedex and UPS are strictly prohibited from delivering “non-urgent” letters. If the government can fairly compete and is setting fair rules, wouldn’t the post office be open to competition at your mailbox?
2.) If Americans were offered “free” postage paid for by massive government spending and tax hikes, would Fedex and UPS still exist?
3.) The Post Office is on track to lose a staggering $7 billion this year alone. How will a government-run health care plan manage taxpayer resources more efficiently?
4.) Postmaster General John Potter says he lacks the “tools” necessary to run the Post Office effectively like a business. Would a government-run health care system have the tools it needs to run as effectively as the private sector entities it is replacing?
5.) On the one hand, the President remarks how great his public health care plan will be. On the other hand, he notes it won’t be good enough to crowd out your private insurance, i.e. the Post Office comparison. So which is it Mr. President? Will it be so great that private insurance disappears or so awful that it isn’t worth creating in the first place?
6.) But the most important question is this: if you have an urgent piece of mail you need delivered, life or death, who are you going to call? Everyone saying the government…please raise your hands. (crickets)
The most frightening line from Joe Nocera’s New York Times piece is this: “As for Mr. Potter himself, while he may want more freedom to run the Postal Service like a real business, he, too, seemed surprisingly wedded to outmoded ideas about mail service in America. ‘This country needs to have and to protect universal service,’ he said.”
Protecting universal service at the expense of cost, innovation, and quality of care. Sound familiar?
Source: The Heritage Foundation
1.) The U.S. Post Office is the only entity allowed by federal law to deliver first class mail to your mailbox. In fact, Fedex and UPS are strictly prohibited from delivering “non-urgent” letters. If the government can fairly compete and is setting fair rules, wouldn’t the post office be open to competition at your mailbox?
2.) If Americans were offered “free” postage paid for by massive government spending and tax hikes, would Fedex and UPS still exist?
3.) The Post Office is on track to lose a staggering $7 billion this year alone. How will a government-run health care plan manage taxpayer resources more efficiently?
4.) Postmaster General John Potter says he lacks the “tools” necessary to run the Post Office effectively like a business. Would a government-run health care system have the tools it needs to run as effectively as the private sector entities it is replacing?
5.) On the one hand, the President remarks how great his public health care plan will be. On the other hand, he notes it won’t be good enough to crowd out your private insurance, i.e. the Post Office comparison. So which is it Mr. President? Will it be so great that private insurance disappears or so awful that it isn’t worth creating in the first place?
6.) But the most important question is this: if you have an urgent piece of mail you need delivered, life or death, who are you going to call? Everyone saying the government…please raise your hands. (crickets)
The most frightening line from Joe Nocera’s New York Times piece is this: “As for Mr. Potter himself, while he may want more freedom to run the Postal Service like a real business, he, too, seemed surprisingly wedded to outmoded ideas about mail service in America. ‘This country needs to have and to protect universal service,’ he said.”
Protecting universal service at the expense of cost, innovation, and quality of care. Sound familiar?
Source: The Heritage Foundation
This has been around but I don't care - I still love it
NO APOLOGIES ACCEPTED
At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country`s prior actions, here`s a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.
These are good
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded "does that include those who are buried here?
DeGuale did not respond.
You could have heard a pin drop
When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.>
Heanswered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?
You could have heard a pin drop.
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.
You could have heard a pin drop.
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, Son, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."
You could have heard a pin drop.
At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country`s prior actions, here`s a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.
These are good
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded "does that include those who are buried here?
DeGuale did not respond.
You could have heard a pin drop
When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.>
Heanswered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?
You could have heard a pin drop.
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.
You could have heard a pin drop.
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, Son, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."
You could have heard a pin drop.
Cash for Clunkers, a Highway to Hell
By: Victor Riesco Article Font Size
Last week, the Senate approved an extra $2 billion dollars to extend the popular, if senseless, cash for clunkers car rebate program. On Friday, Obama signed the bill.
It’s working, luring consumers into car dealerships like sheep.
Yet it’s sad to see the American people being bribed by their own government, and with their own money no less, and spending their savings and burdening themselves with yet more unproductive debt.
It’s an unavoidable and undeniable fact: All the money the government is using to stimulate the economy is being funded with federal debt which in turn will have to be paid by Americans through higher taxes (which are coming for sure) and by the destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar.
Since March 18, the Fed has been monetizing federal debt (translation: printing new money out of thin air) in order to keep interests artificially low and to help fund gargantuan fiscal deficits. This has tanked the dollar index to 79 from 87 at its close last Friday. In less than 5 months, the dollar has lost 10 percent of its value.
Sure, in the near future we might get some “growth” thanks to all the fiscal spending and massive money printing. These factors have also benefited stocks, causing them to rally from the March bottom. Uncle Sam is using his credit card to prop up the economy, but it is only a matter of time until he maxes out, so don’t expect a sustainable recovery.
Remember, real economic growth comes from production and savings, a path to prosperity that the government is studiously avoiding.
Instead, they are busy building an express lane to a bigger and sadly inevitable new economic crisis. Sustaining a debt-and-consumption economy forever is mathematically impossible. It will end, and badly.
Last week, the Senate approved an extra $2 billion dollars to extend the popular, if senseless, cash for clunkers car rebate program. On Friday, Obama signed the bill.
It’s working, luring consumers into car dealerships like sheep.
Yet it’s sad to see the American people being bribed by their own government, and with their own money no less, and spending their savings and burdening themselves with yet more unproductive debt.
It’s an unavoidable and undeniable fact: All the money the government is using to stimulate the economy is being funded with federal debt which in turn will have to be paid by Americans through higher taxes (which are coming for sure) and by the destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar.
Since March 18, the Fed has been monetizing federal debt (translation: printing new money out of thin air) in order to keep interests artificially low and to help fund gargantuan fiscal deficits. This has tanked the dollar index to 79 from 87 at its close last Friday. In less than 5 months, the dollar has lost 10 percent of its value.
Sure, in the near future we might get some “growth” thanks to all the fiscal spending and massive money printing. These factors have also benefited stocks, causing them to rally from the March bottom. Uncle Sam is using his credit card to prop up the economy, but it is only a matter of time until he maxes out, so don’t expect a sustainable recovery.
Remember, real economic growth comes from production and savings, a path to prosperity that the government is studiously avoiding.
Instead, they are busy building an express lane to a bigger and sadly inevitable new economic crisis. Sustaining a debt-and-consumption economy forever is mathematically impossible. It will end, and badly.
Wednesday
MSNBC newsmen wet their pants at the sight of a gun
OMG its a gun! Someone get an emergency injunction! Quick! Find us a lawyer!
Watch Chris Mathews interview this guy. He does everything possible to make the man sound like a nut...and fails utterly!
Oh by the way. This was NOT a Town Hall meeting even though the media talking heads keep referring to it as such. More spin to portray average Americans as extremists.
Tuesday
Special Instructions in case of being summoned for jury duty
Brought to you by the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA).
I'm sorry, this is only available via a link. But trust me, it's good stuff.
How'd you like to make the IRS just go away?
HOW SOME STATES DID NOT LEGALLY
RATIFY THE 16TH AMENDMENT
Bill Benson's findings, published in "The Law That Never Was," make a convincing case that the 16th amendment was not legally ratified and that Secretary of State Philander Knox was not merely in error, but committed fraud when he declared it ratified in February 1913. What follows is a summary of some of the major findings for many of the states, showing that their ratifications were not legal and should not have been counted.
The 16th amendment had been sent out in 1909 to the state governors for ratification by the state legislatures after having been passed by Congress. There were 48 states at that time, and three-fourths, or 36, of them were required to give their approval in order for it to be ratified. The process took almost the whole term of the Taft administration, from 1909 to 1913.
Knox had received responses from 42 states when he declared the 16th amendment ratified on February 25, 1913, just a few days before leaving office to make way for the administration of Woodrow Wilson. Knox acknowledged that four of those states (Utah, Conn, R.I. and N.H.) had rejected it, and he counted 38 states as having approved it. We will now examine some of the key evidence Bill Benson found regarding the approval of the amendment in many of those states.
Continue reading here.
Who's REALLY buying the 'astroturf'?
The Obama-bots and socialist media mavens are desperately trying to spin the Town-Hall blow ups as being the result of "astroturf" - a false grass roots movement. Their claim is that these people have been hired by the GOP or insurance companies, and bused in.
But check THIS out. Now who is REALLY paying for the support of their rotten bill?
But check THIS out. Now who is REALLY paying for the support of their rotten bill?
Where oh where is Corrine Brown?
Last week I made a plea for my readers to demand Town Hall meetings of their congressman. In my case, that would be the thoroughly dishonorable Corrine Brown. I'm pretty sure I got her phones ringing last week. But she still has not scheduled a Town Hall meeting. So I'm repeating my request for folks to demand of her that she face the music.
Here are her office numbers:
Jacksonville Office 904-354-1652
Orlando Office 407-872-0656
Gainesville Office 352-376-6476
I also sent this letter to the editor of the Florida Times-Union in the hopes that it will increase the pressure on Her Royal Corruptness to come out of hiding:
The liberal democrats leading this country are shocked and amazed that Americans have awakened to the mess that Washington has made. Issues like Healthcare, Deficit Spending, the debasement of the dollar, and a porous border have galvanized the average American to stand up and shout at their elected officials at town-hall meetings all across this country! Since our leadership expects us to act like sheep, they’re frightened when we don’t. Now the mantra being spun by Washington is that these outbursts are the product of the GOP machine or paid hacks employed by insurance companies. Nothing could be further from the truth! This is Mainstreet America showing its anger over what rotten politicians have done and are doing to America. I’ve spent the last week calling Corrine Brown’s office, and encouraging others to call her office, and demanding to know why she has not scheduled a town-hall meeting during the current recess. It’s time she faces the angst of the people and made some accounting for her support of the leftist agenda being forced down our throats. Don’t let her hide from the citizenry!
UPDATE:
I just got a call from the Times-Union editorial department seeking to verify that I sent that letter, and seeking my permission to publish it.
Hotdog!!!
Lies about the .50 BMG
The anti-gun crowd is trying desperately to outlaw the .50 BMG rifle. And in the process they're telling a lot of WHOPPERS!
Go here and get the truth about the .50 BMG.
Damn I want one so bad!
Go here and get the truth about the .50 BMG.
Damn I want one so bad!
Stop the Looting - NOW!
From The Market Ticker:
Put the kids away before reading.
If this does not make your blood boil.....
Herein lies the problem. The FHA’s standard insurance program today is notoriously lax. It backs low downpayment loans, to buyers who often have below-average to poor credit ratings, and with almost no oversight to protect against fraud. Sound familiar? This is called subprime lending—the same financial roulette that busted Fannie, Freddie and large mortgage houses like Countrywide Financial.
The article goes on to note that as of the end of this year FHA and Ginnie will have issued and hold one trillion dollars of mortgages, that the current default rate is now 7%, and the delinquent rate is running some 13%.
Why?
Because the same crooks, swindlers and thieves that infested the housing market in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 in "subprime" and "ALT-A" have now moved into the FHA product.
There is only ONE way to guarantee safety and soundness in mortgage lending. ONE!
That is to require twenty percent down payments, limit the back end ratio, or debt-to-income, to no more than 36%, and fully-underwrite EVERY SINGLE FILE, with CRIMINAL penalties ruthlessly enforced for ANY fraudulent misrepresentation BY ANYONE.
PERIOD!
Go here to read the rest of this eye opening article.
Put the kids away before reading.
If this does not make your blood boil.....
Herein lies the problem. The FHA’s standard insurance program today is notoriously lax. It backs low downpayment loans, to buyers who often have below-average to poor credit ratings, and with almost no oversight to protect against fraud. Sound familiar? This is called subprime lending—the same financial roulette that busted Fannie, Freddie and large mortgage houses like Countrywide Financial.
The article goes on to note that as of the end of this year FHA and Ginnie will have issued and hold one trillion dollars of mortgages, that the current default rate is now 7%, and the delinquent rate is running some 13%.
Why?
Because the same crooks, swindlers and thieves that infested the housing market in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 in "subprime" and "ALT-A" have now moved into the FHA product.
There is only ONE way to guarantee safety and soundness in mortgage lending. ONE!
That is to require twenty percent down payments, limit the back end ratio, or debt-to-income, to no more than 36%, and fully-underwrite EVERY SINGLE FILE, with CRIMINAL penalties ruthlessly enforced for ANY fraudulent misrepresentation BY ANYONE.
PERIOD!
Go here to read the rest of this eye opening article.
Friday
Expelled: No intelligence allowed
I watched this documentary last night and found it to be fascinating. Ben Stein does an excellent job showing how free speech is an endangered species in American academic and scientific circles. Using the issue of Intelligent Design as the focal point, he interviews several accomplished and previously respected scientists in various fields who, upon revealing even an interest in ID, found their careers derailed with extreme prejudice. Stein is a hoot, and he uses a low key, very balanced approach in his extensive interviews with both sides of the issue.
One of the hardcore Darwinists Ben interviews is a fellow named Michael Ruse. I've been to a debate where Ruse defended his Darwinian views. I thought Ben Stein made Ruse look like a complete fool in this film. And he did so effortlessly!
Watch it and I believe you’ll find it both entertaining and educating.
Thursday
August 6th, 1945
Sixty four years ago, at about 8:15 this morning, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic weapon ever used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. An estimated 80,000 people perished in just moments from the blast and the fireball, while untold thousands more died later, or were maimed for life from the effects of the radiation. The horrors of nuclear war were demonstrated to the world in such a hideous fashion that the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will doubtlessly last forever.
As a lifelong student of the Marine’s WWII pacific campaign, I have long held the attitude that the bombs were necessary to end the war and save American lives. I still hold that view for the most part. Even a cursory study of the fierce resistance that the Japanese were famous for should make it abundantly clear what the result would have been if Americans had found it necessary to land on mainland Japan. When the Marines took Tarawa in November 1943, only 17 of the original 4,000 man Japanese garrison surrendered. At Iwo Jima the Japanese fought ferociously for 36 days, and by the battle’s end less than 5% had survived.
American invasion plans of the Japanese homeland included a half million white crosses – to bury the Americans expected to die in the fighting. God only knows how many Japanese, including civilians, would have perished as well.
The bombs saved both American and Japanese lives, I have no doubt. But being such a softy when it comes to children, I have always wondered if it wouldn’t have been possible to spare the civilian targets and chose instead a target where so many innocents would not have lost their lives. As crowded as Japan is, I suppose that wasn’t possible.
Update on the grandchild
I found out recently that my first grandchild is currently under construction. Just found out that it will be a little girl!
While I am thrilled to see this arrival, I am also deeply concerned about her future and the future of the nation she will grow up in. I know one thing: She will be taught to shoot, hunt and fish! She will also be taught that Jesus is cool and the government sucks. LOL
While I am thrilled to see this arrival, I am also deeply concerned about her future and the future of the nation she will grow up in. I know one thing: She will be taught to shoot, hunt and fish! She will also be taught that Jesus is cool and the government sucks. LOL
Good News from the White House
The War on Terror is offically OVER!
I wonder if any one has told Al Qaeda, Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, el al.
I wonder if any one has told Al Qaeda, Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, el al.
Hard Times are Here--Are You Ready?
From SurvivalBlog.com:
The hard economic times that I--and many others--warned you about are now here. We are clearly now in the opening stages of a full-scale depression that will last a decade or longer.
This news article (sent to me by SurvivalBlog reader Eric C.) about an unemployed couple in Indiana is a microcosm of what we will be witnessing for the next decade. Take a few minutes to read it.
Our pampered society is in for a rude wakening. Now, at the risk of sounding unkind and judgmental, the term "white trash" comes to mind. Note that this man in Indiana had no savings, plenty of debt, and obviously no food reserves. Also note that despite his "austere" budget on unemployment insurance, he wastes hundreds of dollars per month as he smokes cigarettes, drinks soda pop, drinks beer (in large quantity), gambles, and pays for commercial car washes. His wife still carries a Blackberry with an airtime contract. Why are they buying disposable diapers, when they could be washing cloth diapers? The article also mentions that the husband has gained 40 pounds in the year since he was laid off. Did he consider planting a vegetable garden? Or washing his own car? (Both would have saved money and provided exercise.) This couple needs a serious lesson in budget priorities. They say that they are worried about their children's school grades, yet they still have a television and XBox games. It is time for a garage sale, to sell those time-wasting gadgets. Then regularly-scheduled trips to the local library, to get their children literate!
This gent is in his thirties, yet he has ruined his health with drinking, smoking, and over-eating. He and his wife seem to view military service as a last resort for their high school senior son. Well, I have a news flash for them: Both the son and the father should have enlisted! In 2006, the US military raised its maximum age of enlistment to 42. (BTW, as the economy continues to worsen, I expect the military to raise their standards considerably and eventually begin turning away large numbers of candidates, just as they did in the 1930s.)
It is also noteworthy that this man is on anti-depressants. He is not alone. Consider this article that was sent to me by Karen H.: Antidepressant Use Doubles in US, Study finds. That is alarming just by itself, but just consider what will happen if and when the Schumer Hits the Fan, and all those patients run out of their medications. (And their booze, and their cigarettes, and their marijuana, and their MTV, and their Crackberry instant messages, and their chocolate, and their American Idol, and their Dunkin' Donuts, and their porn, and their meth, and their soap operas, and their "Energy" drinks.) This could get very ugly, very quickly, once so many millions of suddenly very cranky, very desperate people start roaming the streets. My suggestion is: Don't be near them, in any significant numbers. Move to the hinterboonies.
In summary: I had no idea that wallowing in self-pity was such exhausting, time-consuming work. At least they have a comfortable couch and recliner. This old quote mentioned by a SurvivalBlog reader sums up their situation: "The Lord does not bless the farmer who leans on his hoe."
Here is my advice for SurvivalBlog readers on how to survive the currently unfolding Depression:
* Work cheerfully and diligently. It is slackers that find themselves unemployed first.
* Get debt free and stay debt free. Take on no new indebtedness, and pay down the debts you already have.
* Learn to distinguish essentials from non-essentials.
* Write a budget, and stick to it. Whittle it, as necessary, to avoid debt.
* Sell off your useless Beanie babies and assorted knickknacks.
* Increase your savings
* Build up your food storage
* Diversify your investments. Don't put all your money in one bank.
* Check your bank or S&L's safety rating at TheStreet.com. Check your stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and insurers, while you are at it.)
* Hedge your investments with some tangibles
* Sell off any vacation or rental properties that don't have retreat potential
* If you move, then it should be to a place near a secure job, and preferably to a piece of farm or ranch land that provides some self-sufficiency.
* Develop a second stream of income.
* Release yourself from your addictions. Pray fervently, and if need be, seek help.
* Plant a garden.
* Stay in shape.
* Be willing to accept work that is lower paying or less appealing
* Be charitable.
* Most importantly: Get right with God. (Believe, repent of your sin, confess Jesus as your savior, and be baptized.) It is time to pray hard, folks! I believe in predestination. If you are reading this, and feel convicted to make change in your life, then you are fulfilling what God has had planned for you since "before the foundations of the Earth."
Forgive me for ranting, but that article about the unemployed family in Indiana got me a bit riled up.
One suggestion, in closing: If you get laid-off, do not move to a relative's basement in Michigan. Instead, move to where you can find work, even if it hard, "rolled up sleeves" work.
The hard economic times that I--and many others--warned you about are now here. We are clearly now in the opening stages of a full-scale depression that will last a decade or longer.
This news article (sent to me by SurvivalBlog reader Eric C.) about an unemployed couple in Indiana is a microcosm of what we will be witnessing for the next decade. Take a few minutes to read it.
Our pampered society is in for a rude wakening. Now, at the risk of sounding unkind and judgmental, the term "white trash" comes to mind. Note that this man in Indiana had no savings, plenty of debt, and obviously no food reserves. Also note that despite his "austere" budget on unemployment insurance, he wastes hundreds of dollars per month as he smokes cigarettes, drinks soda pop, drinks beer (in large quantity), gambles, and pays for commercial car washes. His wife still carries a Blackberry with an airtime contract. Why are they buying disposable diapers, when they could be washing cloth diapers? The article also mentions that the husband has gained 40 pounds in the year since he was laid off. Did he consider planting a vegetable garden? Or washing his own car? (Both would have saved money and provided exercise.) This couple needs a serious lesson in budget priorities. They say that they are worried about their children's school grades, yet they still have a television and XBox games. It is time for a garage sale, to sell those time-wasting gadgets. Then regularly-scheduled trips to the local library, to get their children literate!
This gent is in his thirties, yet he has ruined his health with drinking, smoking, and over-eating. He and his wife seem to view military service as a last resort for their high school senior son. Well, I have a news flash for them: Both the son and the father should have enlisted! In 2006, the US military raised its maximum age of enlistment to 42. (BTW, as the economy continues to worsen, I expect the military to raise their standards considerably and eventually begin turning away large numbers of candidates, just as they did in the 1930s.)
It is also noteworthy that this man is on anti-depressants. He is not alone. Consider this article that was sent to me by Karen H.: Antidepressant Use Doubles in US, Study finds. That is alarming just by itself, but just consider what will happen if and when the Schumer Hits the Fan, and all those patients run out of their medications. (And their booze, and their cigarettes, and their marijuana, and their MTV, and their Crackberry instant messages, and their chocolate, and their American Idol, and their Dunkin' Donuts, and their porn, and their meth, and their soap operas, and their "Energy" drinks.) This could get very ugly, very quickly, once so many millions of suddenly very cranky, very desperate people start roaming the streets. My suggestion is: Don't be near them, in any significant numbers. Move to the hinterboonies.
In summary: I had no idea that wallowing in self-pity was such exhausting, time-consuming work. At least they have a comfortable couch and recliner. This old quote mentioned by a SurvivalBlog reader sums up their situation: "The Lord does not bless the farmer who leans on his hoe."
Here is my advice for SurvivalBlog readers on how to survive the currently unfolding Depression:
* Work cheerfully and diligently. It is slackers that find themselves unemployed first.
* Get debt free and stay debt free. Take on no new indebtedness, and pay down the debts you already have.
* Learn to distinguish essentials from non-essentials.
* Write a budget, and stick to it. Whittle it, as necessary, to avoid debt.
* Sell off your useless Beanie babies and assorted knickknacks.
* Increase your savings
* Build up your food storage
* Diversify your investments. Don't put all your money in one bank.
* Check your bank or S&L's safety rating at TheStreet.com. Check your stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and insurers, while you are at it.)
* Hedge your investments with some tangibles
* Sell off any vacation or rental properties that don't have retreat potential
* If you move, then it should be to a place near a secure job, and preferably to a piece of farm or ranch land that provides some self-sufficiency.
* Develop a second stream of income.
* Release yourself from your addictions. Pray fervently, and if need be, seek help.
* Plant a garden.
* Stay in shape.
* Be willing to accept work that is lower paying or less appealing
* Be charitable.
* Most importantly: Get right with God. (Believe, repent of your sin, confess Jesus as your savior, and be baptized.) It is time to pray hard, folks! I believe in predestination. If you are reading this, and feel convicted to make change in your life, then you are fulfilling what God has had planned for you since "before the foundations of the Earth."
Forgive me for ranting, but that article about the unemployed family in Indiana got me a bit riled up.
One suggestion, in closing: If you get laid-off, do not move to a relative's basement in Michigan. Instead, move to where you can find work, even if it hard, "rolled up sleeves" work.
Wednesday
Latest Book in the GunRights4US library
Invariably, armies are accused of preparing to fight the previous war. In Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl—a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and the current conflict in Iraq—considers the now-crucial question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the course of conflicts for which they are initially unprepared. Through the use of archival sources and interviews with participants in both engagements, Nagl compares the development of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice in the Malayan Emergency from 1948 to 1960 with what developed in the Vietnam War from 1950 to 1975.
In examining these two events, Nagl—the subject of a recent New York Times Magazine cover story by Peter Maass—argues that organizational culture is key to the ability to learn from unanticipated conditions, a variable which explains why the British army successfully conducted counterinsurgency in Malaya but why the American army failed to do so in Vietnam, treating the war instead as a conventional conflict. Nagl concludes that the British army, because of its role as a colonial police force and the organizational characteristics created by its history and national culture, was better able to quickly learn and apply the lessons of counterinsurgency during the course of the Malayan Emergency.
Here's Nagl's own article in the NYT.
A plethora of police perversions
Will Griggs' site, Pro Libertate', gives a lengthy rundown of police abuses from all around the country - complete with video and firsthand accounts.
They ARE the standing army the Founders feared so much!
They ARE the standing army the Founders feared so much!
Tuesday
Shake your fist in the tyrant's face!
Unless you are of the opinion that government is what makes America great, then chances are you’re angry at the nonsense coming out of Washington.
Regardless of the issue, our government is making a mess of things. Whether it’s socialist medicine, porous borders, or printing and spending money like there’s no tomorrow, there’s enough foolishness going on that your Congressman needs to hear the outrage.
And letters and emails aren’t getting it done! It’s time there was a face to face accounting for their actions.
Congress is in recess right now, and traditionally that means they go home to their districts to get in touch with We The People. But those Congressmen that have held town hall meetings have met with MAJOR outrage, including some who’ve had to be escorted to safety!
Remember: "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. "
I called my Congress Critter yesterday to demand why there’s no town hall meeting scheduled. I am NOT going to let Corrine Brown hide from the wrath of the electorate. Join me in calling her office and demanding that she schedule a town hall meeting. It’s time she faced a crowd of people who are not backslappers and sycophants.
Here’s her phone number. Stiffen up your resolve, call over there and demand that she come out of hiding! It will only take a moment.
Jacksonville Office 904-354-1652
Orlando Office 407-872-0656
Gainesville Office 352-376-6476
Do it!
And if I am successful in getting her to crawl out from under her rock, then I am going to ask you to show up and tell her what you think of our wonderful government, and the part she’s playing in destroying The Republic.
Regardless of the issue, our government is making a mess of things. Whether it’s socialist medicine, porous borders, or printing and spending money like there’s no tomorrow, there’s enough foolishness going on that your Congressman needs to hear the outrage.
And letters and emails aren’t getting it done! It’s time there was a face to face accounting for their actions.
Congress is in recess right now, and traditionally that means they go home to their districts to get in touch with We The People. But those Congressmen that have held town hall meetings have met with MAJOR outrage, including some who’ve had to be escorted to safety!
Remember: "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. "
I called my Congress Critter yesterday to demand why there’s no town hall meeting scheduled. I am NOT going to let Corrine Brown hide from the wrath of the electorate. Join me in calling her office and demanding that she schedule a town hall meeting. It’s time she faced a crowd of people who are not backslappers and sycophants.
Here’s her phone number. Stiffen up your resolve, call over there and demand that she come out of hiding! It will only take a moment.
Jacksonville Office 904-354-1652
Orlando Office 407-872-0656
Gainesville Office 352-376-6476
Do it!
And if I am successful in getting her to crawl out from under her rock, then I am going to ask you to show up and tell her what you think of our wonderful government, and the part she’s playing in destroying The Republic.
Why can't we see the tryranny crashing down upon us?
Ok...it's Washington DC. You know, the capital of the land of the "free". It's a peaceful political protest. Keep these words firmly in mind as you watch the video:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Note that the taser was VERY close to being used on this kid. Perfectly understandable right? he was obviously dangerous to the officer's safety!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Note that the taser was VERY close to being used on this kid. Perfectly understandable right? he was obviously dangerous to the officer's safety!
Monday
Useful books for anyone wanting to resist
Blaster's Handbook by Dupont
Improvised Munitions Handbook by DOD
The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army, Third Edition
Home Workshop Guns for Defense and Resistance
Improvised Modified Firearms
David’s Tool Kit: A Citizen’s Guide to Taking Out Big Brother’s Heavy Weapons
The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives
Bert Levy’s "Guerrilla Warfare"
Shots Fired in Anger
Total Resistance
Improvised Rifle Grenades
Improvised Munitions Handbook by DOD
The Ordnance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army, Third Edition
Home Workshop Guns for Defense and Resistance
Improvised Modified Firearms
David’s Tool Kit: A Citizen’s Guide to Taking Out Big Brother’s Heavy Weapons
The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives
Bert Levy’s "Guerrilla Warfare"
Shots Fired in Anger
Total Resistance
Improvised Rifle Grenades
Saturday
The Militarization of America's Police
“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.” ~ James Madison
“When once a standing army is established, in any country, the people lose their liberty.” ~ George Mason
Our founding fathers greatly feared a standing army, as any serious student of history will agree. But I don’t think the founders ever considered the possibility that the constabulary would assume the role that formerly had been filled by the military, and in so doing become the oppressive monster they feared.
Since about 1991, when Congress authorized the US armed forces to provide surplus gear to civilian police forces, we have watched the steady militarization of our police – at every level. Every little po-dunk town in America now has SWAT teams, real assault rifles (not the semi-automatic variety found in the civilian gun community), heavy caliber sniper rifles, armored personnel carriers, night vision, FLIR, etc. These tools in and of themselves aren’t the threat. It’s the mentality of the police bureaucracy that controls these weapons that constitutes the threat to liberty. Simply put, when you have a large hammer – every problem takes the shape of a nail.
Now let me back up at this point and explain the change in view that I have personally undergone to reach the point where I am now at. I grew up believing that the police have a terrible and thankless job and that the citizenry should support them 100%. My political roots are that of your garden-variety law and order republican. I have always been in favor of being tough on crime and I voted for public officials that espoused that view. Now make no mistake…I still believe that crime needs a tough response from the public. But in recent years I have watched our courts descend into utter chaos and injustice largely due to political polarization.
You’ve got tough, take-no-nonsense judges benched right alongside bleeding-heart liberal judges, and their disparate rulings smack of pure nonsense. And this has led to a loss of faith by many Americans that they can get a fair deal in a courtroom. And there’s the ever present trampling of any sense of constitutionality at every level, again leading the citizenry to feel that the fickle whims of the judge are what matters, not an objective legal standard that gives equal protection under the law. So at the same time there is a lessening of control over the police departments by the legal system, there is an increased investiture of power via weaponry and a general broadening of enforcement scope for those same departments.
Think I’m nuts?
Start regularly reading The War on Guns Blog. David Codrea is trying to counter a fallacious point that is common among the gun-control advocacy that only police are adequately trained with firearms, and that only the uniformed officer is to be trusted with that power of life and death. Every post on David’s blog that contains the phrase “Only Ones” in the title is an incident of police misbehavior somewhere around the country. And there is a LOT of them! Furthermore, there are many many cases of officers being slapped on the wrist for something you and I would be held to a higher standard; the exact inverse of how it OUGHT to be. And this is exactly the point I am trying to drive home: Justice can only be just if it is applied equally. But all too many times the police are held to a LOWER standard of justice than the citizenry, which in turn leads to a loss of faith in “the system” in general.
Now let’s change tac for a moment. Over the years the corrupt political class, which never misses an opportunity to claim it has solutions to all our problems (usually problems that same political class caused) has rolled out the War on Terror, the War on Crime, and the War on Drugs; and they’ve gotten the support by and large of the law and order types of folks (like I once was). The War on Drugs is a prime example where police exuberance to catch even the small time drug dealer has led to mistakes that cost innocent people’s lives. And VERY rarely (if at all) is anyone within the police bureaucracy ever held accountable. But is a small baggie of pot, worth someone’s life? Again…if you aren’t looking at something like The War on Guns, you won’t know the pervasiveness of the problem, because the regular media actively suppresses stories of police misbehavior.
The War on Terror gave us the unconstitutional abomination known as The Patriot Act, a grossly misnamed piece of legislation if ever there was one. I foolishly supported that thing once upon a time, mainly because I felt the threat of Islam made it necessary. Now I realize that, while Islam is indeed a terrible threat to this nation, the bigger threat is the political class which is daily stealing our liberty bit by bit thru unconstitutional legislation. If the government can throw the 4th amendment out the window by claiming they’re chasing a terrorist, then all they have to do is redefine what a terrorist is, and they can chase anybody they want. So I am being totally honest when I say that I fear Barack Hussein Obama more than I fear Osama bin Ladin. It appears that they both want to enslave me, and/or steal my entire way of life…but Obama is far more likely to succeed in that quest.
Okay back to how this relates to the police. For eight years I ran the cash collections operation for the concessionaire at an NFL stadium. In that role I used local police officers for security and cash escort duty. During that time I got to know lots of officers personally and I made many friends among them. Like any human organization I found that they were mostly good men with an occasional scumbag thrown into the mix. I met officers who genuinely saw themselves as servants of the community, and I met officers who were pure thugs who were operating under the color of law. In fact, I can think of one police lieutenant I met who was so bad that if he were chasing me today, I would do my best to shoot him dead rather then fall into his evil clutches.
But there was one overriding quality that ALL those men had. I am referring to the attitude that all cops have of dividing the whole world into cops versus non-cops. Without exception they all have the view that it’s cops against the world. I never met a cop that didn’t have that view, and over the years I probably met hundreds of them. Even the best cop will defend another cop against non-cops. It’s a code that they have, and nothing is going to change it. So three cops pull you over, and one cop decides you are belligerent and need an “attitude adjustment”. Those other cops aren’t likely to come to your rescue no matter how unjust it is. And with the justice system in such chaos, you can’t expect help from that quarter either!
Now tie it all together:
- rotten judges
- unequal application of law
- jury manipulation or "Voir Dire" (see Vin Suprynowicz’s book Send in the Waco Killers for an excellent explanation)
- total disregard for the constitution displayed by all branches of government
- the mindless knee-jerk support of the police by a cowed and ignorant citizenry
- the code of the cops and the tendency to see EVERYONE else as a criminal
- the empowerment of cops derived from the hugely expanded scope of enforcement brought on by “emergency” situations
- the large “hammer” that has been placed in their hands thanks to Congress
What you have is a veritable perfect storm of threats lining up to smash our blood-bought liberty on the rocks and shoals of tyranny!
Now let me toss out some personal anecdotes that will further clarify my views on law enforcement these days.
About 18 years ago there was a local man whose wife and five year-old son had left him and moved into the home of a local cop. The man, accompanied by a friend, went to the cop’s house and knocked on the front door. In his own testimony the cop indicated that he literally opened the front door shooting. The estranged husband was in front so he was hit first. He fell facedown into the flowerbed by the front door, and the cop admitted standing over him and shooting him multiple times in the back at point blank range. Then he turned the gun on the friend who had accompanied the husband, who was now running for his life. That poor slob made it to the truck and started to back out even as the cop poured gunfire thru the driver’s side door, even going so far as to re-load his pistol and chase the retreating vehicle down the street - firing all the way. The “friend” crashed into a telephone pole a short distance down the street, his body riddled with bullets. Both men died. Neither man was armed. The state’s attorney ruled the shooting was justified.
About 10 years ago my then 15 year-old son, and a friend of his, were stopped by a cop as they were walking alongside the road. The officer said they were accused by another teen of beating him and stealing his watch. The boys were arrested, put in the back of the cruiser and taken to the accuser’s house, where he positively identified the boys as his attackers – while they were seated in the back seat of the squad car, and the”victim” stood on his doorstep a distance of some 50 yards away! Never mind that the accuser said his attackers were both black, and my son is obviously a mix of white and oriental! Never mind that the bike the attackers were riding was described as silver, and the bike my son and his buddy had was dark blue. Oh …and did I mention we later discovered the teenaged accuser was himself a troubled youth with personality disorders?
That begin a three-day stint in jail for those boys, and a courtroom appearance complete with orange uniforms and leg shackles! It also began nine months of probation with constant unannounced visits by a juvenile probation officer who continually urged the boys to admit their guilt. Many thousands of dollars in legal fees later I was able to get the charges dropped and their records supposedly expunged. But eight years later my son tried to get his insurance license from the state, and he was rebuffed because of his “criminal record”. Several more thousand dollars was required to resolve that.
Here’s another incident I’ve blogged about in the past that further describes police misbehavior as it relates to me and my family. There’s nothing like opening the front door and finding a black-clad SWAT team in attack mode on your front doorstep!
And finally there is what’s currently happening to my youngest son who is 19 years old. He was caught with an open bottle of beer. His punishment consists of:
- $300 fine
- 6 months of “pre trial intervention” that looks and acts exactly like probation
- Monthly trips (2 hours away) to the county where the “offense” occurred
- Supervisory costs of $50 per month for the six months (another $300!!!)
- 50 hours of community service
- Mandatory completion of a drug and alcohol awareness class
- LOSS OF HIS RIGHTS TO POSSESS A FIREARM (No … I am not kidding!)
And as if all this was not enough, the county decided to contact the university where he attends (with a 4.0 GPA in a nursing program) and inform them of his “offense”. That had the effect of putting his scholarship at risk as the bureaucrats there just went bonkers over the whole affair! All this over an open bottle of beer. Words cannot express the rage I feel over this crap.
Yes, there is indeed a standing “army” in this country that does the bidding of the political class in a sort of parasitic or symbiotic way. And yet the sheep, in their slack-jawed willingness to trade liberty for security, are ever-clamoring for additional police on the streets. And the politicians make ample use of the excuse that any hint of budget cutbacks will scale back essential services like fire and police. And thus are the budgets preserved and even grown at the mere threat of a reduction in police forces. The thoroughly cowed public has been groomed from birth to outsource all the major life decisions in deference to the overarching Nanny State…and most especially the right of self defense.
We've reached a point in our society where we applaud heavily armed, masked men, who kick down doors at night while conducting warrant-less raids where many times the results are innocent people getting killed!
Is this the America we want for ourselves and our children?
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