9-11 Never ForgetOnce upon a time, before September 11th, 2001, our country was at peace with other countries and religions despite their previous attacks. We were mighty but scaling down our military and using them almost solely at the behest of the United Nations. All was quiet and peacful in Manhattan. Then...
We were attacked. 20 radical islamist arab men, mostly from Saudia Arabia and all members of Al Queda hijacked 4 airliners and crashed 3 of them into targets selected by their leader. One of those targets was the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
I was sort of piddling about on my computer at the time and semi-watching Fox News Channel when suddenly Patti Ann Brown was saying something about a terrible accident at the WTC. Of course it was no accident. As I watched this incident unfold I learned that there were still Americans who would step up and make the difficult decisions that showed they were unbowed by this tragedy. Even in the air, against terrible odds, men and women deciphered their intentions and fought back against the hijackers on Flight 93, certainly saving other lives and perhaps our national treasures. Brave people called their loved ones to say goodbye. Others made terrible decisions about the end of their lives. Hundreds of brave men and women in the New York Fire and Police Departments rushed to save them and many lost their lives as well. The skies were empty of commercial aircraft, only the defenders of freedom flew. The nation wept and then we got down to the business of destroying our enemies.
Struck by the many images of patriotism, selfless service, and a country united against this attack we moved to attack our enemies where they lived. Moved to capture their leaders. Moved to bring them to justice. We have succeeded, in part.
We have forced their leaders to hide. We have removed despots who gave them aid and comfort, and we have isolated the sponsors of other terrorists. But we are no longer united. There are among us a number of quislings who would make peace to save our soldiers. There are many who volunteer to be soldiers to kill our enemies. There is a fifth column who would have us abandon the righteous to the evil ones.
Today, a friend told me that we are wrong to be in Iraq because we aren't fighting a people but an idea. I think he understates it. It is an idea, yes, but it is the idea that evil is benign, that we should acquiesce to evil, that we should allow evil to rule us and to make our decisions for us. This is wrong. We must resist evil. We must help others to resist evil. We can never surrender.
An Historic Day, But, Oh What a Disappointment
45 years ago today, the Reverend Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. A wonder of language and vision for the future it defined the civil rights movement for many white people. What a disappointment to me that it apparently did not do so for the many for whom Reverend King struggled.
You see, tonight, U.S. Senator Barack Hussein Obama will accept the nomination of his party for the office of President of the United States. How unfortunate that this man was chosen. He who can himself point to the many opportunities he has fully exploited but derides the nation as holding people down. He who's wife has called this country "mean". He who has exploited his racial minority appearance. He who's policies (in as much as he's gone on record by voting or speaking) are opposed to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He who will not care for the least of his actual brethren. He who has called friend and used the influence of a man (William Ayers) who has unrepentantly used the most violent of means to oppose this country. He who has run on change but has used old school politics to destroy his opponents.
This man who is a socialist/communist, raised by socialists/communists, friend of socialists/communists and radicals has been selected by one of the two major political parties as nominee/candidate for the office of President of the United States of America. How disappointing.
We could have had any number of hard working, USofA loving, men of character and integrity who were coincidentally men (or women!) of color. In not having such a person, in having a hater of America, in having a non-patriot, inexperienced in all but cut-throat politics, a product of the Daley Chicago political machine, who has lied even about his racial make-up in an attempt to exploit his "blackness", we have the antithesis of Martin Luther King's dream, of our dream. What a disappointment.
Tonight, he is attempting to further exploit his "rock star" quality in his acceptance speech. His performance will be opened by, not other speakers, but other rock stars. He will not be confined to a convention hall but in an open air venue on a stage arranged to look like a Greek amphitheater. It is as though the messiah, the god, had stepped down from Mount Olympus to call his flock to him. Speaker of the House, Representative (Democrat) Pelosi has called him a "gift of God". I rather think that anybody who dares think themselves such is anything but that.
Yet I hear, again and again, people, that is to say black people, will be voting for him because Barack Hussein Obama is "black" and for no other reason. What a disappointment.
Bernie Mac
Our condolences to Bernie Mac's family and friends. His humor was sometimes irritating, sometimes right on and he was not somebody I'd turn the channel to see but he was only 50. I was immediately reminded of my good friend Mike Mays who passed at age 52 in similar circumstances. That is just too young for anyone to die for such a reason.
The environmental movment guarantees discomfort...
My wife and I recently went to the Washington, D.C. metro area to visit some museums and our daughter. We stayed at the Hilton Hotel in McLean, VA. Previous experiences at Hilton hotels elsewhere didn't prepare us for our disappointing stay. Tonight I was given an opportunity to answer one of their surveys and this narrative I left for them pretty much sums it up for me...
The thermostat in the room is one which relies on a motion sensor to determine if the room is occupied. Only when occupied does the AC (in our case) operate at all. If one isn't moving about the room, and sleeping (the purpose of having the room) is too still, then the AC goes off and in summer the temperature immediately rises. Thus at night we were too still (i.e. we were sleeping) and the AC cut off and temp in the room shot up to 78 degrees. While this is "environmentally" friendly, it is unreasonably uncomfortable. After about 2AM we were constantly up to provide movment so that the thermostat would turn on the AC. Frankly, I could have slept better on the parking lot.
Frankly, I think it ridiculous that in a room in which one cannot open a window for fresh air one can't turn the thermostat to a reasonable temperature once you've occupied said room and leave to perhaps eat so that you can return to a comfortable room. But this environmental policing (and I'm sure it saves the hotel money in energy costs) makes the room more a high class sauna as both my wife and I awoke at about 2 AM in a sweat and spent the rest of our sleepless night trying to provide just enough movement to keep the AC on so that we could catch a few winks. For the money spent I would indeed have been more comfortable sleeping in secure quarters outside ON the PAVEMENT! How do I know this? Well I have actually slept on pavement, outside, in the summer so I have a basis for a comparison. At least outside one has the intermittent respite of a breeze.
So, in our society, we now think that it is right and proper to charge premium rates to put people in uncomfortable quarters just because we might be saving a bit of electricity. Do you think it will stop with hotels? No, they want to get into your homes, cars, everywhere you are just like BIG BROTHER and tell you just what you should do and how comfortable you should be. Do you want to return to the 1950s when most of us had neither money for travel or air conditioning?
Mary Jo Kopechne, I hope you're in heaven and not haunted by your ill-advised work for Teddy Kennedy. Meanwhile, since we can't put the SOB in jail, we make jokes about his self-serving life.
It wasn't Mr. Peabody's Coal Train
This past weekend the wife and I visited Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee on a mini-vacation. As far as I'm concerned we might as well have stayed home. Oh, the food was good, the people nice, and (when you could get away from the masses of people) the weather decent even though it rained 4" over the course of our visit. What really killed it for me is the massive development in the area. We're not talking just the many new roads, rental cabin developments off the "strip" or the conversion of the area from I-40 to the Great Smokies National Park borders into one continuous megalopolis. What I'm talking about is the wholesale reforming of the terrain with a multitude of hills leveled, removed, sliced & diced with huge concrete retaining walls. I'm talking about the number of these hills with tops sliced off and slid to one side or all around as fill to provide great level areas for parking lots and what all.
We've been going to this area together since we were married and my wife and her parents for decades before that. I've no doubt that we've helped contribute the cash incentive for these "improvements". It was once a gorgeous place. After leaving Bristol to the north and Knoxville to the west it was a little bit of heaven. Now, it is nothing more than another commercial area but with a twist. These folks, many natives included, have a complete disregard for their natural heritage and are removing what really made the place different, the innumerable hills and hollows. No more neat turns and tucked away treasures of life, just a strip hardly any different from Branson, MO's strip and approaching Las Vegas in gaudy.
It wasn't Mr. Peabody's coal train that carried off Sevier County, it was plain old greed.
In Memoriam - Tony Snow
I didn't know Tony Snow personally. I only watched or listened as he did his thing as radio talk show host, TV commentator/interviewer or Presidential Press Secretary. I did come to like him, very much. I felt he was honest, insightful, intelligent and genuine. He died the morning of Saturday, 12 July 2008 at age 53.
In his age weI find the real lessons in his passing.
1. He and I are the same age and I know that even though my children are grown, I feel as though I have a lot more to do in this life. What a shame that he wasn't able to fulfill those desires.
2. He found Christ. Christ's message gave him comfort and strength. It didn't give him reason to self-destruct or want his children to do so. He made him more of what he was.
3. He "manned up" and worked his buns off to ensure that his family was cared for after his passing. Knowing, or at least suspecting, that he was dying, he did something like General/President U. S. Grant and gave himself to the task of providing for those he was going to leave behind without asking for pity or handouts.
4. He was well-liked and respected by his professional peers. Those two things are not necessarily the same.
As always, we will say prayers for the deceased and his family. We hope that they will find the strength, hope and love that passes all understanding. We grieve with them as there are too few such as Tony Snow in this world.
Sullivan Ballou and His Letter
There is perhaps, no better letter written in the English language. Certainly, none that will come closer to expressing the feelings of countless soldiers as they approach battle, as they are distant from friends and family, than this letter from Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife 146 years ago.
July 14th, 1861 Washington D.C.
My dear Sarah.
The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.
Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure -- and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine 0 God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing -- perfectly willing -- to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.
But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows -- when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children -- is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?
I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.
I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.
Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.
The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me -- perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.
Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.
But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours -- always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.
Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.
As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.
ABC News does an bit on Open Carry...ABC News does an bit on Open Carry and considers the issue fairly. You can go to OpenCarry.org for more information on this movement to utilize a little known right...
Culture of Corruption - New London, CT
First thing I hear out of New London, CT is that they are stealing land from one private owner to give to another private owner who will presumably develop it to produce greater tax revenue for the city which is cleared and then it remains undeveloped producing minimal tax revenue for the city. So it should be no surprise that the same city discriminates against and won't hire as police officers people they deem to be too, yes, TOO smart. Can't have cops smarter than the city leaders, can we?
I for one feel that while the draft is likely a thing of the past until the Muslims are killing Christians here in the city streets, we do need more of a sense of civic responsibility among all citizens. It seems to me that 98% of the country doesn't care how they get to do what they do, only that they get to do it. The only people earning liberty are those who give it up for 2-30 years (and too many for the rest of their lives).
On the Subject of Homosexual "Marriage"
Much is being made of California's newly legal permissability of homosexual "marriage". I am reminded of President Abraham Lincoln, "How many legs does a dog have, if you call a tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." Calling some committment, legal or otherwise, between two (or more) homosexuals of the same gender a marriage doesn't make it one.
Flag Day - 2008
Today is Flag Day. The flag of these United States of America is a powerful symbol. People all over the world look for it in times of need.
It flies over public buildings.
The flag has had songs written about it not the least of which is "The Star Spangled Banner" but also "That Grand Old Flag" and other patriotic tunes.
It is draped over the coffins of deceased Presidents AND servicemen and women.
It is honored in many places in many ways by many people... Between the fields where the flag is planted, there are 9+ miles of flower fields that go all the way to the ocean. The flowers are grown by seed companies. It's a beautiful place, close to Vandenberg AFB. Check out the dimensions of the flag. The Floral Flag is 740 feet long and 390 feet wide and maintains the proper Flag dimensions, as described in Executive Order #10834. This Flag is 6.65 acres and is the first Floral Flag to be planted with 5 pointed Stars, comprised of White Larkspur. Each Star is 24 feet in diameter; each Stripe is 30 feet wide. This Flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants, with 4-5 flower stems each, for a total of more than 2 million flowers.
Barack Hussein Obama Finally has the Votes
What does it mean? Well, to start it means that the United States has proven that it has matured to the point that it can consider a black man as President (well, it has also matured to the point that it can consider a woman as President). Too bad it is one of these two people...
Yep, Barack Hussein Obama has finally gotten the vote count necessary to make him the presumptive nominee for the Dem/S. Michelle Obama is finally proud of the United States of America (for the first time in her life) and Mrs. Hillary Clinton is going to consult (or something) with her supporters.
The truth is that there is a hope among Mrs. Clinton's supporters that there will be enough dirt out on Obama that there will be a sea change in super delegate (read "party elite") support and that she will get those votes and the nomination. So, she's going to let it go to the convention. Good for her. Never give up.
Which is what I've heard some Republicans wanting to do, i.e. elect Obama and after 2-4 years the American public will be so fed up that the Republicans can't help but get elected. This is I think what happened with Bill Clinton, despite his personal popularity, but because he wasn't the raging fanatical socialist that Mrs. Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama are the switch was more gradual than they envision. The thing is that you never lose on purpose. Losing is losing. All that accompanies losing is what you get whether you lose after exerting every effort to win or just get up. Losing to the Dem/S on purpose, i.e. surrender, will have the same effect on the country as surrendering to the Japanese. The Dem/S are going to bayonet our freedoms, starve our economy and give us up to our enemies on foreign shores. They will kill this country.
We need to fight, we need to resist, and we need to start now. We need to reject every cockamamie socialist bill like the Warner/Lieberman act, even the whole idea of global warming, and move forward strongly to defeat the terrorists and establish a strong, stable, democratic republic in Iraq. We don't need to acquiesce to economic blackmail but start drilling off-shore Florida and take the oil the Chinese are already drilling to get. We need to develop our own sources of fuel including alternatives like nuclear energy. We need to eliminate mandates for fuelish actions like converting food (corn) to fuel and thus starving out our allies around the world. We need to improve the atmosphere for business through tort reform and permanent tax reductions including elimination of the death tax (inheritance taxes). We need to secure our borders. We need all of us to obey the law and keep laws reasonable and not go off on witch hunts we can't justify in court such as was done in Texas.
You won't see this from Barack Hussein Obama. You'll see instant surrender to our foreign enemies. You'll see appointments of judges who can't read the constitution. You'll see business (and job) killing taxes. You'll see rising fuel prices. You might just see the death of the United States. Hyperbole? I certainly hope so. But that isn't the kind of hope that Barack Hussein Obama was selling, is it?
Honoring the FallenI'm going to try my best to say this succinctly and politely but I don't know if I can. The subject is apparently just too complicated for some to understand and those that won't honor our fallen service people anger me.
Soldiers who serve their country honorably deserve remembrance. This all the more so if they give their lives in that service. It has been thus for millenia in all countries.
Now,in some instances this is apparently not the case. Take for example the desecration of some Confederate Soldier graves after this past Confederate Memorial day's remembrance ceremonies. Flags have been removed from the graves in some places such as Corpus Christi. Locally, the markers have been removed/stolen.
Whatever the motivation for such behavior it is reprehensible and must be stopped. How to stop it short of removal of such people from society is beyond me. Clearly, there are some people in whom gratitude for the sacrifices of others, defending their lives, homes and liberty has not been inculcated. They will likely never understand, surely they have never given of themselves in such service and indeed, many actively deride those that support or do serve.
I hope that on this Memorial Day you remember, at the very least, those you know, those in your family, those in your community, who have made the sacrifices necessary for our country to exist and for us to have the freedoms we have to pursue liberty and continue in our way of life.
Please join us at 3:00 PM as we stop everything to remember and honor those who died in our service.
Note: Yes, we know that the official holiday was on the 26th as part of the 3-day weekend. We hold to the traditional day even if it means "extra" rememberances.
Court: Sect children should be returned to parents By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO - In a crushing blow to the state's massive seizure of children from a polygamist sect's ranch, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that child welfare officials overstepped their authority and the children should go back to their parents.
The high court affirmed a decision by an appellate court last week, saying Child Protective Services failed to show an immediate danger to the more than 400 children swept up from the Yearning For Zion Ranch nearly two months ago.
"On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted," the justices said in their ruling issued in Austin.
The high court let stand the appellate court's order that Texas District Judge Barbara Walther return the children from foster care to their parents. It's not clear how soon that may happen, but the appellate court ordered her to do it within a reasonable time period.
The ruling shatters one of the largest child-custody cases in U.S. history. State officials said the removals were necessary to end a cycle of sexual abuse at the ranch in which teenage girls were forced to marry and have sex with older men, but parents denied any abuse and said they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs.
Every child at the ranch in the west Texas town of Eldorado was removed; half were 5 or younger.
"The moms are clearly very happy at the news that it looks like they're going to get their kids a lot sooner than expected," said Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for legal aid attorneys representing 38 mothers who filed the complaint that prompted the ruling. "It's definitely an emotional day."
The case before the court technically only applies to the 124 children of those mothers, but it significantly affects nearly all the children since they were removed under identical circumstances.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled last week that the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and had offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.
The ranch is run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches that polygamy brings glorification in heaven. It is a breakaway sect of the Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.
Roughly 430 children from the ranch are in foster care after two births, numerous reclassifications of adult women initially held as minors and a handful of agreements allowing parents to keep custody while the Supreme Court considered the case.
Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults. One was 27.
Under Texas law, children can be taken from their parents if there's a danger to their physical safety, an urgent need for protection and if officials made a reasonable effort to keep the children in their homes. The high court agreed with the appellate court that the seizures fell short of that standard.
CPS lawyers had argued that parents could remove their children from state jurisdiction if they regain custody, that DNA tests needed to confirm parentage are still pending and that the lower-court judge had discretion in the case.
The justices said child welfare officials can take numerous actions to protect children short of separating them from their parents and placing them in foster care, and that Walther may still put restrictions on the children and parents to address concerns that they may flee once reunited.
Settlement for Red's Trading Post?
David Hardy pointed me to this article on a tentative settlement between Red's Trading Post and the ATF to settle the case. Not a lot of detail but it does explain why the Red's Trading Post blog came down suddenly. It is common for participants in such agreements to be "gagged", i.e. unable to discuss the details of the settlement. It is great for the ATF, as it appears that they had seriously overstepped. However everybody has to get something from such an agreement. I guess we'll have to see what the actual results are...
Today, by law, we observe Memorial Day
This morning, I walked out into the sunshine and crossed the street to the bandstand in Gypsy Hill park for the Memorial Observance. As speakers spoke and musicians played I was struck both by the large number of cars which brought people in ones and twos to the ceremony and by the larger number of folks going on with their daily business of jogging, walking the dog, prepping their chosen site for the afternoon picnic and at one point the jarring backing horn of the city trolley. I couldn't help but think that while there were a number of citizens who had come to today's observance ceremony, the vast majority had no apparent interest. They never even paused in their run, never slowed the pace as they walked their children in strollers or their dogs on the leash. I thought, too, of those in our family who had offered themselves to the service of their country and those who had died in that service, far from home.
I hope you will join me at 3:00 PM on the 30th of May (the traditional Memorial Day) for a moment (or more) of silent prayer for these men and women who gave us so very much.
Frankly, I'm just posting this because it is about as risque as we're going to get and it hits all the buttons for those of you searching for nude riders of horse.
Senator Ted Kennedy
My earliest recollection of Ted Kennedy is him in front of cameras trying to explain how he was so very sorry for and had tried so very hard to avert the death of one Mary Jo Kopechne. Yeah, Chappaquiddick. Lots of other things were more interesting to me at that time but one could not avoid the constant news coverage of the accident, his heroic attempt to get help, his admission of fault, his plea deal and his "apology". I felt then, from the beginning, that something was wrong, but it was only after many years when I was able to see the facts of water levels, the time-line, and so forth that I became absolutely convinced that Ted Kennedy was a philanderer who took advantage of a young campaign worker, carelessly (perhaps drunkenly) drove his car into the water and left the woman to die in the rising tidal waters while he went searching for political cover. I know exactly what I think of this man and it is anything but charitable.
Just about a week ago we heard that Ted Kennedy had had a stroke, corrected to a seizure and finally that he had an inoperable, malignant, brain tumor. I have to admit that my first thought was "Why, dear God, was this man not given this 40 years ago?" Since the news of his disease we have been treated to news casts lauding his "service" to his country, we have seen Senator Byrd of West Virginia "sobbing" over his departed friend, and we have heard of his courage in leaving the hospital and getting on his boat to sail in a regatta this weekend. I am not moved. I believe that this man killed an innocent woman and was never called to account for that and that he has worked in opposition to the best interests of this country.
Stephen King, Renowned Author and Ignoramus
The renowned author, Stephen King, set forth his ideas about our US service people in an interview said this:
I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV but the fact is that if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you got the army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's not as bright. So that's my little commercial for that.
If Mr. King wants to promote reading he might better say something such as:
If you can't read you will not be able to pass the tests necessary for acceptance into the US military.
That would be closer to the truth. You see, in today's military you must, in nearly every case, have a high school diploma (although GEDs are sometimes accepted) and a meet a minimum level of intelligence as measured by various tests depending on the positions for which one applies. Every single one of those tests requires that you be able to read and read fairly well.
In some ways I find Mr. King's ignorant statement ironic in that his books are/were fairly popular with soldiers with whom I served.
This idea that US service men and women are somehow the dregs of society is a liberal/socialist idea which seems to be part and parcel of the socialist dogma imported from communists in Europe and the far East (i.e. China). It was indeed true, in those areas, that the common soldier was the among the lowest classes and often uneducated. In many instances it was either the army or starvation for the soldier but most of the time it was an excellent way for the the state (as in the nation/government) to control the trouble makers and use them to its own advantage.
The thing is that people like Mr. King and Senator John Kerry (who has said very nearly the same thing) never seem to expect better of the military when they are in power. We saw little effort to reverse this trend by politicians during the Carter or Clinton presidencies. All such initiatives came from either conservative political leadership or, mostly, within the military hierarchy.
The truth is that today a soldier/sailor/Marine/airman who can't read can't perform to expected standards. They can't use the equipment they are issued, can't complete the paperwork they must complete, can't complete the training they must take, can't train the soldiers they must train and so forth. It is also true that the military services today have the highest education levels of any military at any time in history. Perhaps it is Mr. King and Senator Kerry and their comrades who need an education...
Homosexuality, Politics and Popular Culture
Sure is a lot of it out there now. In our faces. That's homosexuality. From Rosie O'Donnell on The View to numerous designers on HGTV to characters in sit-coms to Congressman Barney Frank. Lots of "them" believe their being discriminated against and lots of those on the "religious right" are opposed to homosexuality as immoral based on the Bible or Koran or... In any case it has permeated our culture to the point that we always seem to be talking about homosexuality or seeing it or having to listen to arguments for or against. It wasn't like this when I was a kid. At least not that I remember. What has happened?
Well, as far as I can find, homosexuals are supposed to be about 10% of the population. About the same as the percentage of blacks in the population. I say about because nobody knows and nobody can know. You see there is a portion of the homosexual "community" who aren't really homosexual. You've got the folks in prison who are "gay for the stay", you've got people like Anne Heche who was straight then gay then straight as situationally appropriate to her needs (at least that's how it appears). You've got folks who likely truly can't see people of the other gender as sexually attractive and you've got folks that think that anyone who might get them off are sexually attractive. You've likely got some who just do it to rebel against parents, society, or something we'll never understand.
Obviously, there's a tremendous number of these people in a society of 300 million and you can't ignore them. But, the age old prejudices often show themselves even among those in industries where homosexuality is apparently common such as among actors, interior designers, dancers, and so forth. Some of the remarks made are infinitely more cutting and more obviously ANTI-homosexual than the don't-ask-don't-tell policy Pres. Clinton forced on the military. Yet, homosexuality has had a huge impact on politics.
Politics on AIDS/HIV, on homosexual "marriage", on adoption, and service in the military have dominated some campaigns. At least the major media outlets have given us the impression that those who ignore the homosexuals do so at their own peril. This view is reinforced by homosexual celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell. But is it true? How can one be in peril for ignoring the homosexual vote AND, at the same time, for ignoring the "Christian right" vote?
Quite frankly it is all tiresome. Very tiresome. I just wish they would all get out of my face. I'm tired of all the illogical arguments, ad hominem attacks, and just having to deal with it. I think it is a red herring intended by certain politicians to distract us from all the things they were elected to do that they haven't done. Because the subject is so polarlizing, they have been very successful in that. Look for the subject to come up in this fall's general election...
Barbarian or Tribal Music
Even in this enclave where we are sheltered from all social and fashion innovations, I've noticed an upsurge in European Barbarian/Tribal music. I've commented on this earlier with a post on one of these bands, Clann An Drumma, but there are others, many others it seems. Included would be Saor Patrol, Clan Wallace, and the aptly named Barbarian Pipe Band... Quite a change from the New Age/Celtic musicians like Enya, Clannad, and Loreena McKennitt.
Barbarian Pipe Band
Saor Patrol
Clan Wallace
What does this say about the direction of Euro-centric culture which is under attack by immigrants, mainly Muslims? Will they have to fight for Europe all over again? Does this presage a new Euro-Celtic nationalism?
This group, the FLDS (or Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), was apparently infiltrated by an informant and apparently had a member (a 16 year old girl who has yet to be located) who called complaining of being raped and beaten by her "husband" (which relationship might or might not be legal). There were 416 children taken from the group's "compound" (really a small town which hasn't been incorporated or otherwise recognized as a political entity) outside of Eldorado, Texas. Those children are being kept at the San Angelo Coliseum (in a sports venue?). The complications which follow from such actions affecting so many people have understandably strained the governmental infrastructure and will likely cost the people of the state a lot of money.
Before I continue, I should note that the "leader" of the group, Warren Jeffs, has been convicted of criminal activity resulting from acts he committed as leader of this group.
Without going into a lot of theocratic detail, the FLDS is an off-shoot of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints popularly referred to as Mormons. Once upon a time, polygamy was a practice accepted by Mormons. At that time it was not uncommon in society at large for 15 year old women (girls we call them now) to marry men aged 22 or more. Polygamy was not the usual thing and several sects of that time were attacked for their support of polygamy or a variation known as "plural marriage".
Any genealogist will find evidence of young women aged 13-15 marrying in most families although there is some greater likelihood of it happening in relatively isolated rural communities with lower population density. There are many instances of girls as young as 12 years of age being married even into the 1880s. (A recent (well, for us old farts) incident that is well known is the marriage of Jerry Lee Lewis to his 2nd cousin (twice removed) when she was 13.) However, this has now been labeled as pedophilia and it has been legislated against with age standards varying state-by-state.
The FLDS women dress "funny" in distinctive "pioneer" dresses and with an outdated hair style. All members seem to have taken to segregating themselves from society at large both physically by literally living apart from society at large in separate communities and by cutting off broadcast influences such as television and radio within those communities. The "compound" near Eldorado is one such place.
So, I have to get to my questions which I'm hoping somebody can actually answer...
#1 - Where is the informant/infiltrator and why, if conditions were so bad within the community, the government authorities didn't move to correct this earlier?
#2 - Where is the complainant? They say they can't find her? Did she exist? Was she a fraud? How can the warrants issued stand in such a situation?
#3 - What has happened within our society that we have defined (many of us) our ancestors as pedophiles for marrying 13-16 year old girls? (Are you afraid to look at your family tree?) Indeed, we now commonly refer to those in the 21-25 year age group as children. It is even held to be so in law and official statistical computations. How far will this redefinition of childhood go?
#4 - Why, if the women were victimized, is it that the children removed from their care? In other words, why weren't the MEN (as they are supposedly the ones committing the criminal acts) removed from the "compound"? Why weren't they arrested?
#5 - How, if the state is willing to act in this way and the FLDS is so bad, does the FLDS continue to exist? I mean, why haven't the various state governments gone after them and why hasn't the federal government gone after them for moving women across state lines (and international borders) for the purpose of prostitution or some such?
#6 - Why aren't other religious groups, with different standards of child rearing, thoughts on polygamy and polyandry, or health care similarly pursued?
Now, we know that speeding (or going too slow in some instances) is illegal because when one driver's speed differs substantially from every other driver it can cause a hazardous situation for the other drivers being overtaken and for the individual passing unaware drivers. Speeding might also exceed the capability of the car to interact with and maintain contact with a particular road surface. Since most drivers aren't trained or experienced enough to instinctively apply those limits to themselves, we post those for them. Still, there are times when speeding is permitted such as for ambulances, police officers responding to calls and, often, when pregnant women are being transported to hospital. In fact, going fast even faster than permitted by law is not a criminal offense because simply speeding is not an inherently dangerous act particularly on empty roadways.
"Running" red lights or stop signs are mortal sins either. If nobody is on the other intersections one can pass through without spontaneous destruction of oneself or others. But, we have laws about obeying these particular traffic rules because in normal situations puts the violator unexpectedly in the path of other traffic and is dangerous.
No longer satisfied with on-location enforcement by the happenstance of a police officer being present when a violation is committed, we've started to use technology to monitor stop-lights and stretches of roadway 24/7. But these technologies have drawbacks.
Without monitoring by a human, errors have occured. I have read that one camera was actually showing a violation and that the light was green when the car passed through. Speed radars, used by the anti-speeding setups, are notoriously subject to error. Multiple vehicles, some weather conditions, and so forth can render results unreliable or inaccurate.
Some communities are using a network or unofficial program to encourage citizens to report violations of law to police officials who, because they can't actually prosecute with this hearsay evidence, harass the supposed violator with a letter denouncing them for either committing the violation or allowing somebody to do so with their vehicle. I recently received such a letter. It proves my point in that neither my vehicle nor myself much less the two of us at the same time have been in this locality, ever, certainly not on the date or at the time in question. The reporting citizen was clearly inaccurate and wasted taxpayer money and time on this.
The abuser fees might be gone but I bet the creation of a culture of block spies a-la communist China and the Soviet Union continues.
License & Registration Please?
Perhaps it's time to call their bluff.
There is an often voiced mantra from the Anti-RKBA crowd of "why don't we treat guns like cars..." and it got me thinking... I think we in the pro Rights community should take heed. I mean this only half factiously. Really.
(Ex) President Bill Clinton once said, "Should people ought to have to register guns like they register their cars? Do I think that? Of Course I do...", and at that time proposed a national “drivers license” (picture ID and all) for gun owners.
Hello! We missed an absolutely splendid opportunity to stand up to the anti-freedom crowd and CALL THEIR BLUFF.
We should take them up on their offer (especially since it will only get shot down – by their side no less) and show the world once and for all how meaningless (and un-thought-out) their anti-gun talking points are.
Let's look at their "Guns = Cars" proposal not as another rights infringement, but (potentially) as a liberalization of the already confused and confusing plethora of gun control laws and turn it back in their face. How so? Examine what Driver's licensing & vehicle registration truly entails.
Drivers Licenses: 1: Drivers Licenses are Shall Issue permits with universal reciprocity, requiring only a basic knowledge of safe handling and use regulations.
2: Licenses are NOT required for purchase of a vehicle.
3: Licenses are NOT required for off (public) road use, i.e. agricultural use (farms/farm roads), racetracks, private land, USFS/BIA/BLM dirt trails etc.
4: Drivers education / auto safety classes are MANDATORY in many public school districts.
Vehicle Registration: 1: Registration of a motor vehicle is NOT required unless said vehicle is to be USED on public roads. Custom/show cars, racecars, farm equipment, antiques are exempt unless they are to be commonly USED on public roadways. If I am towing a '32 roadster (or ’99 dragster) through town, I cannot be cited for its' lack of registration.
2: Registration of vehicles exceeding "fleet" quantities is not required. I may maintain as many unregistered vehicles on my private property as I desire (provided they do not constitute an "eyesore" or some such other visibly property-devaluing neighborhood gripe.)
3: Registration and extra taxation of High Performance vehicles is NOT required, unless they are to be used on public roads. A 13,000 hp Pratt & Whitney Jet Car (which has no "practical" or "sporting" use) may be owned and kept, unregistered, alongside a VW powered off-road-only dune buggy, and used in non-public spaces with impunity.
Law enforcement of DMV rules: As we know, there are literally thousands of people out there driving without a license. The only time they get punished is if they are caught violating some other driving law (i.e. causing harm to or endangering another’s person or property). Vehicle registration is somewhat easier to spot, as registration is denoted by a sticker of some sort, visible while the vehicle is in use. (Someone sees you use it without a tag, you get a ticket.)
This is all well understood and simple enough, so, let's apply this exact legal paradigm to guns, on a national level, as the panderer in chief (and others) have said, and continue to say they want.
“Gun” Licenses: Gun owners would "get": 1: A genuinely nationally reciprocal, truly "shall-issue" concealed carry license. Now, while everyone hates DoL and the Licensing dept., you can't say they just arbitrarily deny licenses (as some "authorizing agencies" for CCW permits have done.) Only a basic knowledge of safe handling and use regulations would be required.
2: Licenses would NOT be required for purchase of a gun.
3: Licenses would NOT be required for non-urban non-public land use, i.e. agricultural use (hunting/varmint control), ranges, private land, USFS/BIA/BLM hunting areas etc.
4: True gun safety could be taught in schools, not just anti-gun rhetoric.
“Registration” DMV style… Gun owners would “get”: 1: A Licensing & registration system that is useful (to the government) only after the fact, i.e. after the shooting stops (ignoring for the moment the fact of door-to-door tracking and confiscation – see California and NYC). Registration of a firearm would NOT be required unless said firearm is to be USED in a public place. Custom/show guns, race-guns, long-arms or side arms, antiques, etc would be exempt unless they are to be commonly USED in public.
2: A DMV style registration system would deny “arsenal” registration rhetoric just as it currently does not apply to off-road “fleets”.
3: Removal of the National Firearms Act (1934) provisions against Class III (high performance/ specialized) weapons. If guns were to be treated as cars, the substantial similarity rules would apply. Just as "High Performance" or specialty vehicles are not restricted, except in their place of use (not on public roads), neither then could the law be justified in restricting the possession of "high performance" (Class III) firearms.
Law Enforcement: Like Cars, so Guns. It can be truthfully stated that a gun in my possession, regardless of type, in a public place, is NOT being USED, only carried (much like towing a dragster), and therefore it need not be registered nor licensed. However, should I use that firearm in said public place without License and Registration, I may be subject to penalty upon the assured following inquest … (to be judged by twelve) … perhaps.
Herein we see another potential benefit to "DMV style" gun laws... the principle of reasonable justification and Good-Samaritan laws. I may speed, drive an unregistered car, drive without a license, etc. in the commission of a life saving act. Judges and juries routinely throw out charges (if charges are even filed) of "rule violation" in such cases. Similar dismissals have obtained (and will continue to obtain) for many “rule violations” of current gun laws. Criminals would obviously receive no such benefit.
Admittedly, this “DMV-ing” argument plays into the Rights vs. Privileges debate, however, it has similarly been argued (with some precedent setting success) that motor vehicle ownership has grown from a privilege to a Right within today's society. (If motor vehicle ownership is now a Right (guaranteed nowhere) then how much more so is gun ownership?)
A dose of Reality: You and I know that my “best-case” writing of a “motor-vehicle” style of registration & licensing scheme would never be allowed, for precisely the benefits I’ve mentioned. That’s probably a good thing. A Right regulated is a Right denied. (There are NO (non-federal) firearm possession/carry restrictions for the law abiding in Vermont and Alaska. Theirs is a true right to bear arms.) But it sure would be fun to throw it in the face of the anti-gun establishment and watch them be forced to dump one of their longest standing talking points.
Oh well. Fight the good fight & license or no, keep your powder dry.
Happy Mothers' Day
Happy Mothers Day. A day to pay and pay for what you say? Well, everyday is Mother's Day in my house. My day is consumed with caring for my mother in one way or another. She gave me one heck of a good life and she's worth it. I'm betting your mother likely is worth it, too. The least you can do today is thank her. If you are a mother yourself, thank you for raising a responsible, self-reliant, intelligent, sober child who will contribute to not steal from society. If you haven't, well...
Today, we'll pick Mom up, have a cook-out and eat a lot, talk 'with' her and let her pet our dog.
Once upon a time, before September 11th, 2001, our country was at peace with other countries and religions despite their previous attacks. We were mighty but scaling down our military and using them almost solely at the behest of the United Nations. All was quiet and peacful in Manhattan. Then...
We were attacked. 20 radical islamist arab men, mostly from Saudia Arabia and all members of Al Queda hijacked 4 airliners and crashed 3 of them into targets selected by their leader. One of those targets was the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
showed they were unbowed by this tragedy. Even in the air, against terrible odds, men and women deciphered their intentions and fought back against the hijackers on Flight 93, certainly saving other lives and perhaps our national treasures. Brave people called their loved ones to say goodbye. Others made terrible decisions about the end of their lives. Hundreds of brave men and women in the New York Fire and Police Departments rushed to save them and many lost their lives as well. The skies were empty of commercial aircraft, only the defenders of freedom flew. The nation wept and then we got down to the business of destroying our enemies. 
Struck by the many images of patriotism, selfless service, and a country united against this attack we moved to attack our enemies where they lived. Moved to capture their leaders. Moved to bring them to justice. We have succeeded, in part.
Mary Jo Kopechne, I hope you're in heaven and not haunted by your ill-advised work for Teddy Kennedy. Meanwhile, since we can't put the SOB in jail, we make jokes about his self-serving life.
I'm going to try my best to say this succinctly and politely but I don't know if I can. The subject is apparently just too complicated for some to understand and those that won't honor our fallen service people anger me.
