Wednesday, July 11, 2012

My Hunting Guns

I bought a used, 8 Inch .357 Colt Python in 1977 for $140. Amazingly enough, I sold it in 2004 for enough to buy a Glock 30 and 21.

Oh my! Just realized that Friday is the 13th and Dixie gives a speech in front of 12,000. Should work out just fine.......:)

Reminds me of A Christmas Memory




Brad Paisley, Alison Krauss - Whiskey Lullaby

Kindness of Miss V


Jesse Jackson Jr’s office: He’s being treated for a “mood disorder”

Hate his guts as he's the one responsible for our WBTS battlefields becoming PC.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



His spokesman says one thing and NBC News, surprisingly, says another.

Whom to believe in a low-credibility battle like that?

A statement from Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s office says the Chicago Democrat is receiving “intensive medical treatment” for a “mood disorder.”

The statement Wednesday gives no details about his location and comes a month after Jackson went on medical leave.

The statement says Jackson is at a residential treatment facility and is responding positively to treatment. It says he’s expected to make a full recovery.

“Mood disorder”? Not so, says NBC:

Jackson’s wife and aide denied it, but watch the clip below and you’ll see that Mitchell doubled down on her claim for tonight’s Nightly News.

More @ Hot Air

Peace

Via Keads

Motivator: Gangs Growing In Rural Areas and a Word about LEOs

The Lizard Farmer
VERBATIM POST


A Deputy Sheriff (we’ll call him Deputy Prepper) sent me a link via the blog to a very interesting article. Take a moment to read and absorb it. Then ponder its main points:

  • Gang related crime has grown as much as 25% in 2011 in Tennessee – much of it in rural areas.
  • Gang related crime has Tripled in Tennessee since 2005
  • From 2005 to 2011, cities with fewer than 50,000 residents saw gang crimes rise 232%

This quote grabbed my attention: “But rural towns often have small and sometimes ill-equipped police departments, which can make the communities vulnerable and attractive to young criminals trying to dodge larger cities with more sophisticated gang units. Also, gangs find rural areas to be full of eager, new drug customers and devoid of competition from other gangs.”

I’ve stated before I believe that the first real and credible threat after SHTF to rural communities will be from gangs roaming outside of the cities and towns after they have either been picked clean or when the challenge to their dominance becomes unfavorable. Given the fact that they already have their own tribe assembled NOW time will not be on the rural communities side. I did a bit more digging and found some rather startling facts from the latest unbiased* report published in 2010.

  • In one year (2009-2010) Gang related homicides in rural areas increased 12.4% nationally despite the overall gang related homicide statistic decreasing 3%. Rural areas are making up for the larger cities.
  • Small cities (under 50k) and rural areas account for over 36% of gang related activity in 2010

Rather startling when you think about it. But the article above and the statistics reinforce one idea – If you fail to pay attention and collect Intel on gang activity in your area you’re probably ignoring a credible threat.

* The 2011 FBI report has been criticized as being lenient on a lot of the traditional militant black gangs and separatists as well as understating the threat from radical Muslims and their presence in the Narco-Cartels. It has also been criticized for overplaying the “homegrown extremist” threat posed by Constitutionalists and Libertarians. It’s statistics in regards to rural communities has been shown to be flawed.

Now my second point. Remember I said a Deputy Sheriff sent this in via the blog. I see a lot of blogosphere types mouthing off about how Law Enforcement is a tool of the machine and they’re going to target them all, etc. I’m drawn to a conclusion about quite a few of these types of folks. I’m pretty convinced they don’t live in a rural area and their comments show their lack of what rural law enforcement is and how it works. Sure you read about “Sheriff’s Deputy shoots family dog” but how often is that in a rural area? And folks – Austin isn’t rural. If your house is 20 feet from your neighbors you aren’t rural. Just because you have a backyard garden doesn’t make you rural. Around these parts the Sheriff’s Office (SO) has been pretty aggressive busting the meth trade. I have no doubt it’s an uphill battle but they have yet to conduct a mistaken raid, point a firearm at anyone that wasn’t armed and breaking the law, shoot someone that wasn’t shooting at them first, or kill a dog that wasn’t foaming at the mouth with Rabies. YMMV.

And here’s my point. Just because someone in the blogosphere has an experience or story in Bugtussle WV don’t take it for granted it applies to your area as well when it comes to LEOs unless you live in that area. Get to know them, use them for intel, and form your own opinion as to whether they are “nefarious actors” or not. Have and use some common sense. You focus should be local.

Hurry! Hurry! An easy $16,000,000:)


Hello friend,

I want to trust you with this confidential proposal. Before I continue,let me introduce myself to you, I am Col. Michael Bowman the commander of the Special N.A.T.O coalition force with the United Nation troops in Afghanistan, on war against terrorism. I was working with General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S and NATO forces in Afghanistan before he was replaced last June by another General David Petraeus. I am serving currently in a Taliban territory; a remote Village in Bamyan province to the bustling capital Kabul (CBC’s Doc Zone).

Because of series of killing of United States troops in Afghanistan especially the shot down of US helicopter that killed 30 American soldiers on the 5th of August 2011 and the five American soldiers who were killed by a bomb in Afghanistan on Thursday. After this series of killing I and my colleague decided to share the money we recovered on our raids on terrorist’s camp in Afghanistan. I have now in my possession the sum of $16M (Sixteen million US Dollars).

I have carefully packaged the money in a box, I have made contact with a friend who is working with the UNITED NATIONS here in Kabul. He will assist me move the consignment out of the trouble area down to London which is the only safer means of moving it out of this hell hole, he will deposit it with the United Nations Clearing Union London as a diplomatic luggage, as I have told him that the luggage belongs to one of our soldier that died during the attack but before giving up he told me to make sure the luggage get to his family. He will deposit the consignment for safe keep and to make contacts for its proper use.

So I need someone I can work with on trust and that is why I contacted you. So if you accept, I will put you forward as the beneficiary/owner of the funds and then the box shall be deposited on your name as the beneficiary and the United Nations will transfer the box to you anywhere in the world. I just need your acceptance and all is done. I have 100% assurance that you will surely receive the box without any hitch through United Nations, every arrangement will be made to proceed to your country.

Once I confirm your interest to my proposal, and your positive reply I will proceed with the arrangement to move the consignment out of the trouble area and register your name as the beneficiary then move the consignment to London. I am willing to give you 30% of the total sum when the money is delivered to you. I wait for your response so we can proceed immediately. In less than 7days the money should be in your safe custody.

The only telephone access we have here is radio message which is for our general use and is being monitored, therefore all communication will be via email till we finish our assignment. Please keep it to your self even if you are not interested, thank God for President Barrack Obama whose keen interest is to call us back home soon.

Regards,

Col. Michael Bowman

Emancipation to Help Achieve Southern Independence



Historian Kent Masterson Brown has written that the Confederate lines at Gettysburg contained many black faces, and that some 6,000 to 10,000 black men went with Lee’s army into Pennsylvania and returned South with them. By 1864, there was much discussion and opinion regarding the use of black regiments to help achieve Southern independence. Read more about “African Slavery and the War” at http://www.ncwbts150.com/AfricanSlaveryandtheWar.php

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Emancipation to Help Achieve Southern Independence:

“Lincoln has acknowledged that he relies more upon his two hundred thousand Negro soldiers, than upon all the whites at his command. Without them, he says, it would strip the North of its white population to conquer the South and end the war. However this may me, we know that he is making good use of Negro soldiers. When, therefore, we see a Government controlling a population three times greater than ours, buying up European mercenaries and pressing our slaves into its service to save its native population from the ravages of the sword, it becomes a question for us to consider whether our prejudices should longer allow us to condemn the flower of our population, the hope of the country, to be wasted and destroyed, rather than to mould to our use and make subsidiary, to the great ends of independence….the race that has for so long acknowledged our guidance and control.

We believe that an army of two hundred thousand able-bodied slaves….could be organized and induced to fight for their freedom on the Southern side of this question. We should agree to give it to them and a home amongst us for themselves and their posterity in all time to come. If they will fight for freedom by the side of strangers from the North, they will fight better for the same boon in the armies where the sons of their former masters contend for the homes of both master and slave.”

(Lynchburg Virginian, October 8, 1864 editorial; The Gray and the Black, Robert F. Durden, LSU Press, 1972, pp. 76-77)

How Many Checkpoints in One Morning?! Welcome to the Police State!

Via The Feral Irishman


North Carolina Run-off Election Gives Pro-gunners a Great Opportunity!

-- Vote for Robert Pittenger in the 9th District

Over the next week, we have a tremendous opportunity to elect another strong constitutionalist to Congress to fight the anti-gun agenda of Nancy Pelosi and her left-wing allies.

Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund has endorsed Robert Pittenger for Congress in the 9th District and we urge all pro-gun, pro-Constitution North Carolina voters to help Robert win this important race.

America cannot afford any more wishy-washy politicians when it comes to protecting our country and our Constitution. Robert Pittenger is a true believer in the Second Amendment.

“I have always believed gun ownership is one of our most fundamental rights,” said Pittenger. “That is why I have spent so much time and effort defending it from attacks, and why I am such a friend to our gun owners here in North Carolina. I hope to continue that fight in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Elections are WON by doing one thing -- voting!

Please make sure you vote Robert Pittenger for Congress if you live in North Carolina’s 9th District and urge your friends and family to do the same.

Early voting began on Monday and runs through Saturday, July 14. If you can’t vote early, then please make plans to vote on Tuesday, July 17.

Thank you,
Tim Macy
Vice Chairman

191st Birthday Tribute to General Forrest

Via Calvin


By Calvin Johnson Jr. Staff

"After all, I think Forrest as the most remarkable man our 'Civil War' produced on either side."
--Union Gen. William T. Sherman Not that I'm fond of quoting him.:)

Please share this story with teachers, students, historians, church members, librarians, civic groups, Civil Rights groups and all who love American history and wish to hear both sides of a story. This should especially be shared with the young people of different races and backgrounds and people throughout the world.

Nelson W. Winbush, a Black and respected member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, as a child accompanied his grandfather Louis Napoleon Nelson to United Confederate Veteran Reunions. Private Nelson was a Black Confederate who saw service during the War Between the States Battles of Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Brice's Crossroads and Vicksburg--as a soldier and served as chaplain in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, under Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

It should be also noted that after the War Between the States, Bedford Forrest returned home with the 'free' black men who fought with him. Sixty-five black troopers were with the General when he surrendered his command in May 1865. Forrest said of these black soldiers, "No finer Confederates ever fought.”
In 2011, a Memorial was held at Forrest Park in Memphis, Tennessee commemorating the 106th anniversary of the dedication of the Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest statue where Forrest and his wife are buried. The headline of a news story reads:

Memphis: Forrest: A Confederate figure who still divides,


And the first paragraph begins the story with, quote “Gray-uniformed soldier re-enactors fired long-barreled muskets in salute and United Daughters of the Confederacy in ankle-length dresses set wreaths before the towering statue of Nathan Bedford Forest in Memphis, paying tribute to a Confederate cavalryman whose exploits still divide Americans today.” unquote

Read more HERE.

Some people believe Forrest to have been a controversial Confederate Cavalry Officer but by definition the word “controversial” can refer to anyone or anything some folks don’t understand. Some people disapprove of the sex, violence or excessive language in some Hollywood movies but movies are seldom referred to as controversial. The word controversial however is often used to describe some American and World Leaders and events of the past and present but this apparently doesn’t apply to those who are “PC” Politically Correct in their reasoning and actions.

Why do some people criticize men like General Nathan Bedford Forrest, General Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis who stood honorably for the Southern cause of Independence, 1861-1865? The men and women of the Old South believed they were standing for the same principles as did their Fathers and Grandfathers during the American Revolution of 1776!

Why is the Confederate Battle flag, the banner of many brave soldiers, also under attack?

There is much written about the War Between the States but very little about the relentless and unprecedented destruction suffered by the civilians of a free and sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America. There also seems today to be complacency about the history of the destruction of the American-Indian and his way of life. Do you know which Union Commander said “the only good Indian is a dead Indian?”…Or is this too un-politically correct or controversial a topic to discuss with our young people?

Union Gen. William T. Sherman said of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest,

"After all, I think Forrest as the most remarkable man our 'Civil War' produced on either side."

This came from a man who was once a foe of Forrest on the field of battle.

Nathan Bedford was born on July 13, 1821, in Chapel Hill, Tennessee.

Some folks continue to criticize General Forrest for leading the first Ku Klux Klan. It is however written that Forrest denied this and more importantly was responsible for disbanding the Klan after only two years of operation, but….

What about the original Ku Klux Klan?

The original Klan was formed during the dark days of the so-called reconstruction period that lasted from the end of the War Between the States in 1865 until 1870. During this time the South went through a relentless-merciless Carpetbagger rule where Southerners had no vote or say and could not defend themselves. Black and White women of all classes were not safe on the streets. Southern People were not even allowed to hold memorial services for their war dead, display the Confederate flag or criticize the Commanders of the occupying Yankee forces.

And some criticize General Forrest for the March 16, 1864, so-called massacre during the War Between the States “Battle of Fort Pillow”, but he was exonerated by Northern officials of wrong doing. This was during a time when the Confederate President Jefferson Davis served two years in prison and some wanted to put him on trial and hang him for treason. Cooler heads seemed to prevail however as some felt this might have more legitimized the late cause of the Southern Confederacy. Confederate Captain Henry Wirz however was hung for so-called war crimes as Commandant of Andersonville Prison and some wanted the same punishment for Gen. Robert E. Lee and other political and military leaders of Dixie.

Why have we forgotten or just never knew about a dark episode of the nation’s history where Mary Surratt, a Southerner, was the first woman ever hung on July 7, 1865? She was among those who were found guilty in the so-called conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln however she continued to deny her involvement. Forrest might have been given the same punishment with the attitude in post-war Washington, D.C.

Some people have called General Forrest an early advocate for Civil Rights.

Forrest's speech during a meeting of the "Jubilee of Pole Bearers" is a story that should be told. Gen. Forrest was the first white man to be invited by this group which was a forerunner of today's Civil Rights group. A reporter of the Memphis Avalanche newspaper was sent to cover the event that included a Southern barbeque supper.

Miss Lou Lewis, daughter of a Pole Bearer member, was introduced to Forrest and she presented the former general a bouquet of flowers as a token of reconciliation, peace and good will. On July 5, 1875, Nathan Bedford Forrest delivered this speech:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the Southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is any one on God's earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. (Immense applause and laughter.) I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to elevate every man, to depress none.

(Applause.)

I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going. I have not said anything about politics today. I don't propose to say anything about politics. You have a right to elect whom you please; vote for the man you think best, and I think, when that is done, you and I are freemen. Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you. I am not much of a speaker, and my business prevented me from preparing myself. I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us. When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment. Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I'll come to your relief. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity you have afforded me to be with you, and to assure you that I am with you in heart and in hand." (Prolonged applause.)

End of speech.

Nathan Bedford Forrest again thanked Miss Lewis for the bouquet and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. Such a kiss was unheard of in the society of those days, in 1875, but it showed a token of respect and friendship between the general and the black community and did much to promote harmony among the citizens of Memphis.

This year, 2012, is the 107th anniversary of the dedication of a General Forrest Statue in Memphis, Tennessee.

In the year of our Lord 1887, efforts were begun to raise the necessary funds to erect a statue to honor Forrest. In 1891, The "Forrest Monument Association" was formed in Memphis. The ladies Auxiliary was formed to help this committee and the United Confederate Veterans helped to raise money. Politician and business folks were the backbone of this committee. The "Who's-Who" of Memphis served on that committee.

The price of the statue to General Forrest was the huge sum of $32,359.53. It should be noted that the ladies auxiliary worked hard to raise $3,000, which was a great deal of money in those days.

In 1901, during the United Confederate Veterans convention in Memphis, the cornerstone of the monument was dedicated. During August of that year Charles H. Nichaus was given the contract to build a bronze casting of the statue. The statue was produced in Paris, France and was shipped to New York, then to Savannah, Georgia, and finally by rail to Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1904, the son of General Forrest, Captain William Montgomery Forrest gave the Forrest Monument Association permission to re-inter the remains of his father Nathan and mother Mary at Forrest Park where the statue would be dedicated the following year.


There was a full moon on Monday, May 15, and on Tuesday, May 16, 1905, over 30,000 people congregated at Forrest Park in Memphis to take part in the statue dedication. The memorial began at 2:30PM with many speeches of tribute to the general and was finalized with General Forrest's granddaughter pulling the cord that unveiled the larger than life statue. This was preceded by the reverent playing of everyone's favorite song from North and South "Dixie."

Wonderful words are inscribed on the Forrest monument that was written by Mrs. Virginia Frazer Boyer, "Those hoof beats upon crimson's sod, but will ring through her song and her story; He fought like a Titan and struck like a god, and his dust is our ashes of glory.”

The War Between the States Sesquicentennial, 150th Anniversary, runs 2011 through 2015. The Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans joins the nation in remembering this historic time in our nation’s history. See information at:http://www.150wbts.org/

God Bless America and Have a Dixie Day!

Black Confederate Pictures

Via SHNV

Point Lookout Pilgrimage



June 30, 2012...On a day of extreme heat and following severe storms the night before, 6 Va Flaggers made their way to Point Lookout to participate in the Descendants of Point Lookout Organizations' annual pilgrimage.

It was the first trip for all of us, and we were absolutely amazed by the work that has been done by the DOPLO. We were told that the Confederate Memorial Park was created when Confederate flags were no longer welcome at the ceremony at the Federal Monument, and speeches from Confederate friendly speakers were red-lined for "inappropriate content". What they have created is stunning!

The main section is a monument, with the state flags of the Confederacy surrounding it. Throughout the park are tablets with information about the WBTS and Point Lookout. The tablets are beautifully done and the information is free of the Northern bias that taints most "official" Civil War locations today. We were excited to hear Pastor John Weaver speak and he did not disappoint.

The service was beautiful, and afterwards, we visited the Federal Monument, which was magnificent in its size and stately in appearance, but sadly, very poorly maintained, with large weeds growing in the monument. We were happy to see a Confederate Battle Flag flying at the rear of the monument, behind a fence, and it was explained to us that the man who owns the private land behind the monument put up the flag in protest when the restriction on Confederate Flags inside the Monument grounds began. GOD BLESS THE MARYLAND FLAGGERS!

We also visited Point Lookout State Park. There is a one room museum there. The most interesting thing we found was a section on the drawings of Jacob Omanhausser, who is Va Flagger Fred Merridew's ancestor! The actual site of the "rebel camp" on the Peninsula contains just a roadside marker. Of course, we could not leave without leaving a few flags there to honor the men who lived and died in unspeakable conditions. We planted stick flags at the Confederate memorials, both pow-mia and Confederate battle flags, and carried both to honor the memory of our ancestors, and so many others.

Please visit http://www.plpow.com/ for more information about the Descendants of Point Lookout Organization, and support this most worthy endeavor!

For more information on the Confederate POW-MIA Flag, visit this site... http://www.confederatepowflag.com/

More photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151071328594274.488947.698334273&type=3

"The Brave So Far From Home"

Here the brave lay,
who wore the Confederate Gray.
They are all so far from home,
beneath the Heavens dome.
No notice of exchanges were ever sent,
so now they are here under this great monument.
But only their mortal remains are here,
for their Southern souls are God's heirs.
For pride and honor are what they were about,
and now they lay here at this mass grave at Point Lookout.

- John B. Stober, Jr. descendant member
Written on Christmas Eve 2001

- Great-Great-Great Nephew of
Private Rufus Bowden
Company G, 47th North Carolina Infantry
Died January 20, 1865 Pt. Lookout, POW

vaflagger@comcast.net

Robert de La Rochefoucauld, Wartime Hero and Spy, Dies at 88

Via Northern Blogger



Robert de La Rochefoucauld belonged to one of the oldest families of the French nobility, whose members included François de La Rochefoucauld, the author of a classic 17th-century book of maxims. For 30 years he was the mayor of Ouzouer-sur-Trézée, an idyllic canal town in the Loire Valley, and he used the aristocratic title of count.

But he is best remembered as a courageous and celebrated saboteur who fought for the honor of France in World War II as a secret agent with the British.

His exploits were legend, involving an eclectic and decidedly resourceful collection of tools in the service of sabotage and escape, including loaves of bread, a stolen limousine, the leg of a table, a bicycle and a nun’s habit, not to mention the more established accouterments of espionage like parachutes, explosives and a submarine.

And perhaps befitting a man whose wartime adventures were accomplished out of the public eye, the news of his death, on May 8, in Ouzouer-sur-Trézée, emerged slowly, first announced by his family in the French newspaper Le Figaro and then reported late in June in the British press. He was 88.

Robert Jean-Marie de La Rochefoucauld (pronounced ROASH-foo-coe) was born on Sept. 16, 1923, in Paris, one of 10 children in a family living in a fashionable area near the Eiffel Tower. He attended private schools in Switzerland and in Austria, and, at age 15, he received a pat on the cheek from Hitler on a class visit to his Alpine retreat at Berchtesgaden, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.

Two years later, Hitler’s army invaded France and Count de La Rochefoucauld’s father was taken prisoner. Count de La Rochefoucauld became a follower of Charles de Gaulle, who was assembling Free French forces in England, and one day a postal worker tipped him off to a letter he had seen that denounced him to the Gestapo.

With the help of the French resistance, Count de La Rochefoucauld took a pseudonym and fled to Spain in 1942 with two downed British airmen, who were also being sheltered by the underground. He hoped to go on to England and link up with de Gaulle’s movement.

The Spanish authorities interned the three men, but the British secured their freedom and were so impressed with Count de La Rochefoucauld’s boldness and ingenuity that they asked him to join the Special Operations Executive, the clandestine unit known as the S.O.E., which Prime Minister Winston Churchill created in 1940 to “set Europe ablaze,” as he put it, by working with resistance groups on the German-occupied Continent.

Count de La Rochefoucauld was an asset to the British in another way. As their ambassador in Spain told him, according to The Telegraph: “The courage and skill of British agents is without equal. It is just that their French accents are appalling.”

More @ The New York Times

Chart Of The Year: The Fed Has Doubled The S&P Admits... The Fed

Prepare to have your minds blown courtesy of what is easily the most astounding chart we have seen in a long, long time, prepared by the economists at the, drumroll, New York Fed, which finds that absent what the Fed calls "Pre-FOMC Announcement Drift", or the move in the S&P in the 24 hours preceding FOMC announcements, the S&P 500 would be at or below 600 points, compared to its current level over 1300. The reason for the divergence: the combined impact of cumulative returns of in the S&P on days before, of, and after FOMC announcements. But, but, fundamental, technical, coffee grinds, Finance 101, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Cramer and Econ 101 analysis (in declining order of relevance and increasing order of voodoo) all tell us this is im-po-ssible? Because if the Fed is right about the Fed induced drift, it is all about, you guessed it, easy money.


More @ Zero Hedge

Flags at Half-Mast, Please


My gay cousin once told me that the beauty of modern living is that there are so many different ways to have a family. I was inclined to agree with him, although my unorthodox upbringing gave me a desire to either have a conventional family or none at all. For people like me, the traditional family trumps the modern family hands down. But that’s my choice, and I don’t seek to impose my preferences on others.

When the subject of gay marriage became a hot-button issue a few years back I remember thinking that if enough people want something they should be allowed to have it without anyone or anything—especially the government—standing in the way.

But at this point I would be happy if I never heard another word about gay marriage again. Against my naive hope that people might be able to live and let live, gay marriage has divided the country, if not the world. I am sick to death of having gay marriage stuffed down my throat by supporters as well as detractors. Why am I being punished for minding my own business?

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like I will find relief anytime soon. Freak flags and anti-freak flags are flying higher than ever before. Damn you all!

“Why can’t we all agree that the freedom to choose our own identity is no one’s business but our own?”

Last week in the Netherlands a plump and balding man in his mid-forties married two—yes, two—pudgy, ginger-haired women. The bisexual thirty-something pudgy gingers married each other as well—it was a mariage à trois, so to speak. Technically it was a civil union, but both brides wore white. The trio are treating their unusual partnership like any other. And why not? However ridiculous it might seem to you or me, it obviously means a lot to them.

More @ Taki's

Tactical Training Leadership: A Primer


While small-unit leaders have obvious duties of critical importance in actual combat operations, any professional, experienced combat leader will tell you that gunfights are not won on the battlefield. Gunfights, logistics considerations aside, are won on the training field ("The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat."). The single, most absolutely critical skills task of any effective tactical leader is the development, validation, and guidance of realistic, relevant training of all subordinate elements.

The first elemental building block of tactical training is the individual. The individual operator must master the safe use of his weapon in order to be able to train with a team element (everyone wants to do cool-guy, high-speed shooting shit, and it's relatively easy to get good enough quickly on a square range. Shit gets a lot more complicated though, when everyone is moving in different directions, at high speed, gunfire is raging all around, and the stress-induced tachycardia starts kicking in...). The shooter who cannot learn to maintain muzzle awareness AND situational awareness at the same time isn't ready to work on team drills live-fire.

Ticks

Via Moonbattery

blood-sucking-tick

Mostest and importantest again



Vox Popoli
VERBATIM POST

Joe Farah cracks under The Fear of a Black Second Term:
Do we hold our noses and vote for Mitt Romney? Or do we follow the none-of-the-above prescription?

Based on his long and contradictory political record, I do not have much hope that Romney is going to do a 180 if he wins. I don’t think he will steer the nation on the U-turn course that is absolutely necessary to save us from the brink of disaster.

However, the idea of a second term for Obama genuinely scares me. I don’t believe America could ever recover from such a cataclysm. The country will suffer irreparable harm, if it hasn’t done so already.

While I remain a principled constitutionalist who doesn’t believe in voting for anyone who does not understand and embrace its limitations on federal power, I believe 2012 is one of those rare election years in which freedom-loving Americans will, out of necessity, be forced to vote defensively.

I won’t be voting for Romney because I think he will save America or reverse our dangerous course. But I will likely be voting for him to buy America the time it needs to avoid catastrophe. It’s just that simple – and sad.
Yeah, that's a new one. Principles are important, except of course when they are trumped by the frightening possibility of someone becoming president who is already president. It's disappointing to see Farah buying the usual nonsense, which we have heard every four years since 1992, especially since he is throwing a lot of his hard-won credibility out the window.

Is President Goldman Sachs really that much worse than President Bain Capital? Is he actually worse than Satan himself? After all, less than seven months ago, Farah wrote: "I would not vote for Mitt Romney if he were running against Satan himself."

My prediction: if Farah does vote for Romney and Romney wins, we'll be reading a self-flagellating column sometime in 2013 where he laments having sacrificed his principles and voting for a man who so badly betrayed all the conservatives and the small-r republicans who voted for him. Doesn't anyone ever learn from the past? Can't anyone see how the game is played?

And in tangentially related news, it's nice to see that conservatives attempting to manipulate others into voting against their principles are still mathematically illiterate.
“Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for Romney's opponent, Barack Hussein Obama – a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage,” [Brad Pitt’s mother Jane Pitt] continued. “I hope all Christians give their vote prayerful consideration because voting is a sacred privilege and a serious responsibility.”
If you truly do not understand that a non-vote for Romney is absolutely not a vote for Obama, you are an astonishingly stupid individual. 1+0!=2. A vote for Obama is a vote for Obama. Not voting for Obama cannot, in any sense, be considered a vote for Obama. Political applications do not alter mathematics. If you cannot master basic addition, I not only don't want to hear your opinion about the election, I don't think you should be permitted to vote. Negative, "pragmatic" voting is an inherently self-defeating concept that only guarantees the very results it is supposed to oppose.

Update on: Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting



Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting

  • 90% say the medical system is on the WRONG TRACK
  • 83% say they are thinking about QUITTING
  • 61% say the system challenges their ETHICS
  • 85% say the patient-physician relationship is in a TAILSPIN
  • 65% say GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT is most to blame for current problems
  • 72% say individual insurance mandate will NOT result in improved access care
  • 49% say they will STOP accepting Medicaid patients
  • 74% say they will STOP ACCEPTING Medicare patients, or leave Medicare completely
  • 52% say they would rather treat some Medicaid/Medicare patient for FREE
  • 57% give the AMA a FAILING GRADE representing them
  • 1 out of 3 doctors is HESITANT to voice their opinion
  • 2 out of 3 say they are JUST SQUEAKING BY OR IN THE RED financially
  • 95% say private practice is losing out to CORPORATE MEDICINE
  • 80% say DOCTORS/MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS are most likely to help solve things
  • 70% say REDUCING GOVERNMENT would be single best fix.

Tree-rings prove climate was WARMER in Roman and Medieval times than it is now - and world has been cooling for 2,000 years

Via Northern Blogger

Global cooling: It is the first time that researchers have been able to accurately measure trends in global temperature over the last two millennia

Rings in fossilised pine trees have proven that the world was much warmer than previously thought - and the earth has been slowly COOLING for 2,000 years.

Measurements stretching back to 138BC prove that the Earth is slowly cooling due to changes in the distance between the Earth and the sun.

The finding may force scientists to rethink current theories of the impact of global warming.

It is the first time that researchers have been able to accurately measure trends in global temperature over the last two millennia.

Over that time, the world has been getting cooler - and previous estimates, used as the basis for current climate science, are wrong.

Their findings demonstrate that this trend involves a cooling of -0.3°C per millennium due to gradual changes to the position of the sun and an increase in the distance between the Earth and the sun.

More @ Mail Online

'It's not real': 911 tape in Broomfield shooting shows family warned police of pellet gun

Via CATO

A 911 call recorded just before Kyle Miller was shot to death by Broomfield police officers last week shows that his family warned dispatchers the 21-year-old was armed with an Airsoft pellet gun -- not a real handgun.

In response, a dispatcher assured the victim's brother, "Officers are trained in this kind of thing. They're not going to go around shooting people."

Broomfield police received a 911 call around 7:20 a.m. June 28 about a "mentally distraught" man in the Aspen Creek subdivision. While officers were en route, they encountered Miller near the intersection of Aspen Street and Durango Avenue. Miller pointed the pellet gun at police and was shot by officers.

The 911 tape shows that Miller's younger brother, Alex Miller, told police about the Airsoft gun in an attempt to avoid a dangerous confrontation.

"My brother is having a breakdown," Alex Miller told the dispatcher, adding that he woke up to his mother's screams because Kyle Miller was trying to cut himself with a pocket knife. Screams can be heard in the background throughout the 911 call.

On the recording, Alex Miller repeatedly said his brother was carrying an Airsoft gun.

"Can you tell them he has a gun in his hands? Is there any way you can let them know he's got the gun in his hands?" Alex Miller said. "It's not real."

"I know," the dispatcher replied. "The officers are trained in this kind of thing. They're not going to go around shooting people."

More @ Denver Post

The Captain Louis Renault Award


‘Fundamentally transforming’ the military

In “Lone Survivor,” a chilling firsthand account of the loss of 11 members of the Navy’s elite Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) Team and eight Army aviators, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell describes the fateful decision that led to disaster for him and death for his comrades. It came down to a judgment call about whether to risk prosecution and jail time for doing whatever it took to complete their mission, or to allow three Afghan goatherds to rat out his unit to the Taliban.

Petty Officer Luttrell cast the deciding vote to turn loose the farmers who had stumbled upon him and three other SEALs shortly after they had been dropped behind enemy lines to take down a particularly dangerous Taliban leader. He describes the thought process:

“If we kill these guys, we have to be straight about it. Report what we did. We can’t sneak around this. … Their bodies will be found, the Taliban will use it to the max. They’ll get it in the papers, and the U.S. liberal media will attack us without mercy. We’ll almost certainly be charged with murder.”

Such concerns prompted Petty Officer Luttrell to make the call to release the goatherds, setting in motion calamity for his buddies and 16 others dispatched to rescue them from the massive Taliban assault that ensued. It turns out those concerns were well-founded, as was demonstrated most recently in a case before the U.S. Military Court of Appeals. By a 3-2 vote, the judges outrageously determined that an Army Ranger, 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, had no right to self-defense when he killed an Iraqi prisoner he was interrogating after the man threw a concrete block at him and tried to seize his firearm. Unless he is pardoned, Lt. Behenna will remain incarcerated for the next 12 years.

Unfortunately, under President Obama, service members’ rising fears of being prosecuted for acting to protect themselves and their missions are among many ways in which the military is being “fundamentally transformed,” to use Mr. Obama’s now-infamous turn of phrase. Consider a few examples:

More @ The Washington Times

Update on: Religion of peace and fairness: Afghan woman publicly executed near Kabul

Religion of peace and fairness: Afghan woman publicly executed near Kabul

==========================

Nato prepared to hunt Taliban fighters who executed woman for adultery

Footage of the execution of 22-year-old Najiba showed men cheering as she was shot several times in the back and head.

The incident in the Shinwari area of Parwan province recalled similar public executions which were commonplace during the Taliban's government of the 1990s.

General John Allen, commander of American and Nato forces, said: "Let's be clear, this wasn't justice, this was murder, and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty.

"The Taliban's continued brutality toward innocent civilians, particularly women, must be condemned in the strongest terms." He added that his troops were "ready to assist the Afghan security forces in tracking down and holding accountable the perpetrators of this heinous act".

The killing reportedly took place late last month after the woman was accused of being married to one Taliban figure and having an affair with another.

More @ The Telegraph

Immigration officers doubted Obama birth story


Immigration documents filed in 1961 cast doubt on whether Barack Hussein Obama Sr. was the president’s biological father and indicate federal officers were prepared to investigate whether the Kenyan was married to the president’s mother, Ann Dunham.

Aside from the image of a long-form birth certificate released by the White House April 27, 2011 – a document Sheriff Arpaio’s law enforcement investigation has found probable cause to believe is a forgery – what documentary evidence is there that Barack Obama was the biological father?

The recent biography of the president by Washington Post editor and author David Maraniss, “Barack Obama: The Story,” quotes concerns about Obama Sr.’s sexual promiscuity expressed by Immigration and Naturalization Service officers, but he dimisses them as racially motivated.

Maraniss, on pages 162-163, examines a 1961 INS memo that indicates Obama Sr. continued to have multiple girlfriends at the University of Hawaii after his supposed marriage, Feb. 2, 1961, in Maui to Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham.

In the memo, written by a Lyle H. Dahlin, Obama Sr.’s student adviser, a Mrs. McCabe, indicated Obama Sr. was “very intelligent” but had been a “playboy,” “running around with several girls” since he arrived. The adviser also noted he was married to an American, though he already had a wife in Kenya.

Maraniss writes regarding the memo: “There was a fine line between how Obama acted and the racial attitudes and expectations of those who were working with him, the unanswerable but valid question being whether the official concern was heightened because he was a black man interacting with white women.”

However, a close analysis of the INS documents in Obama Sr.’s immigration file makes clear Maraniss either misunderstood the true concerns of the INS or misrepresented them.

The primary concern of the INS, according to the memos, was not that Obama Sr. was sexually involved with white women, but that he might have engaged in a sham marriage to Dunham so he could remain in the U.S. or gain U.S. citizenship.

More @ WND

Introducing the Saiga Talon Tactical Stock by ATI®

My TAPCO stock certainly doesn't reduce the recoil, unfortunately. A 10 round mag is brutal.:)



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DRTV
VERBATIM POST



Milwaukee, WI- Advanced Technology International® (ATI), the leading manufacturer in gun stocks and firearm accessories introduces the Saiga Talon Tactical Stock with Scorpion Recoil System for 2012.

The Saiga Talon Tactical Stock System includes the Talon Tactical six position buttstock with Scorpion Razorback Buttpad and Scorpion Rear Pistol Grip. The Scorpion Recoil System allows users to absorb recoil energy. The recoil impact is absorbed when shooting anything from a three inch magnum turkey load to a door breaching load with no pain being transferred to the shooter! The Scorpion Razorback Buttpad gives the users a non-slip, removable buttpad. Shooters will gain an ergonomic, Sure-Grip textured Scorpion Recoil Pistol Grip with the Saiga Talon Tactical Stock. The Scorpion Recoil system reduces the challenge of reacquiring the target by minimizing the muzzle lift. Other unique features include not being affected by chemicals, remaining flexible in extreme temperatures and removing limitations from spring and piston type recoil suppression systems.

The Triton Mount System is constructed out of Military Type III anodized 6061 T6 aluminum. The dovetail mounting system securely fastens your ATI Tactical stock or Rear Pistol Grip with no specialized tools when the Triton Mount System is being used. Other features of the Triton Mount System include interchangeable sling mount locations for left and right handed shooters, an additional spacer for when sling mount is not in use and an angled self-aligning dovetail locking system for easy, secure installation.

Other features of the Saiga Talon Tactical Stock by ATI includes a removable and adjustable cheekrest (3/8”), 3M® industrial grade self-adhesive soft touch cheekrest pad and DuPont® Extreme Temperature Glass Reinforced Polymer Stock. Also, no modifications of the Trigger Assembly are required for installation of ATI’s Saiga Talon Tactical Packages. The Saiga Talon Tactical Stock fits all Saiga firearms and is manufactured in the USA.

For more information on the Saiga Talon Tactical Stock System with Scorpion Recoil System by ATI, please visit www.ATIgunstocks.com.

Tenure

The Controversy Behind Teachers Unions & Tenure

Inside the Amazing General Motors Heritage Center [HD]

Roundabout via Tom



AutoInsane was invited to tour the General Motors Heritage Center on January 11th, 2011. The Heritage Center is not open for public viewing and thus, any chance to see what is held inside is a special occasion. Come with Executive Editor, Zane Merva, as he walks through the lineup of over 150 cars currently on display.

More Information:
The GM Heritage Center serves as a showplace for the vehicles of the GM Heritage Collection, and as the home of the Heritage and Media Archive. Located in an 81,000 square foot facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the Center has approximately 200 vehicles on display, while the Archive houses 15,000 linear feet of shelving containing significant documents, manuals, brochures, and artifacts documenting GM's rich history of innovation.
http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/

Copyright 2011 AutoInsane.com