tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90679248521714917372024-03-13T15:16:22.159-07:00InvertebrateNationIlluminating the Idiocy of the Age of Cultural Osteoporosisfireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.comBlogger244125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-35328465274770625842010-10-31T18:20:00.000-07:002010-10-31T18:20:07.967-07:00Betsey Markey and Other Traitors<i>Traitors. Yep. that's the word...</i><br />
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by TL Davis at <a href="http://www.washingtonreb.com">Washington Reb</a><br />
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<b>"It seems that all of the representatives who threw their weight behind the passage of Obamacare in the last few days are staring defeat square in the face. As one of the people who walked the halls of Congress on that week, trying desperately to communicate with my representative Betsey Markey to encourage her that my business would be wrecked by the economic uncertainty of the bill, I couldn’t be happier. Had I not pleaded with her staff time and time again to let me impart the pleas I had personally; had I not visited her office three times in two days; had I not intreated her to save the jobs of the four or five people I had left working for me, I might be kinder, but I can’t.<br />
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There is a difference between passing legislation and transforming a nation from one thing to another. I submit that when the representatives of the people gather and in contravention of public opinion seek to effectively destroy the nation as it exists and endeavor to replace it with something of another form, what else could it be called but treason? Where there was a moment when the impact and import of the legislation had not been known, it could be understandable that one might support a bill offered by one’s political party, but when that legislation and the impact of it to society is known and still supported, there is no understanding.<br />
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The people had come to understand the law as moving the nation from an ostensibly capitalistic republic with some democratic methods toward an openly socialistic nation and they rejected it. There could have been no mistake that the people were not ready to give up the nation as founded. There could have been no mistake that the answer to this transformation was a resounding NO.<br />
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With this knowledge the representatives had a decision to make: would they support the legislation and move the nation into open socialism, or would they oppose the legislation and retain the government as founded? That answer was given to us on March 25, 2010 and people like Betsey Markey decided to thwart the efforts of people like me and to thwart the opinions and demands of the American people to establish for themselves the mantle of transformer. Now, today, the rest of the story can be told. Despite their efforts to put us under the yoke, they themselves face the same unemployment they have caused to spread throughout the land with their improvident actions.<br />
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These few, who knew what their votes would mean, what it would do to the nation as constructed and to the people who expected honest representation, committed nothing short of treason. It was, in effect, a coup that failed and now the conspirators must suffer the penalty of those Valkyrie conspirators of the last century. I believe that the whole of the supporters of Obamacare should be removed from office and cast defenseless to the people. Instead, I and others, have allowed for the orderly dictates of our republic to do the work with less upheaval, but this is a limited-time offer and is largely dependent upon the actions of the newly minted representatives we will send in the places of the conspirators. <br />
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Long live the republic!"</b><br />
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And my comment: Great post. I’m linking it at my blog. I’m in Colorado too. We may rid ourselves of one Betsey Markey, but barring a stunning upset we’re about to get another for governor. I’m preparing my escape while it’s still legal to leave.<br />
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I DO remember what the law was, back before everyone EXCEPT the criminals was a criminal. The Founders tried. They gave us the law of the land, our Constitutional Republic.<br />
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Knowing that law could always be twisted and abused, they gave us free speech.<br />
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Knowing that speech wouldn’t always hold sway, they gave us the ballot box.<br />
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Knowing that voting didn’t work infallibly either, they gave us nullification.<br />
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Knowing that even nullification might fail, they gave us the Second Amendment, and informed us of our right and duty to alter or abolish OUR OWN government, should it come to abuse us.<br />
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JFK said “those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” This must be exactly what they wanted, because they’ve toiled diligently to bring us here.<br />
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So be it. Every mind ruined in public school, every name on a list, every moment under camera surveillance, every checkpoint, every warrantless search, every e-mail intercepted, every phone call recorded, every gun registered, every lie told, every dollar printed, every effort taxed, every citizen beaten, framed or killed by a cop, every shred of ludicrous propaganda, every plane into a building, every body scanner, every asset seized – none of these indignities will suffice to repress the American spirit when it is deprived of essential Liberty just one minute too long.<br />
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And time’s up.<br />
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Again we’ve patiently suffered through a long string of abuses, and this election is our 1773. Again, it’s business as usual for the ruling class. Again they take no heed, because again, we do not matter.<br />
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We all know what’s next. Pray we avert it, work to avert it, but make your decisions now. Be ready.<br />
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And many thanks to <a href="http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/">Western Rifle Shooters Association</a>, where I spotted this!fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-62364307001529404742010-10-31T08:38:00.000-07:002010-10-31T08:38:10.866-07:00Must Watch NIA Video: "End of Liberty"The best video yet, from an organization that gets it. Do you???<br />
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<object width="400" height="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AQv-sdMCClQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AQv-sdMCClQ&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="400" height="320"></embed></object>fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-18107790480453428102010-10-28T15:44:00.000-07:002010-10-28T15:45:23.482-07:00Erik Scott UpdateBill Scott has posted a flurry of entries at the <a href="http://erikbscottmemorialblog.blogspot.com/">Erik Scott Memorial Blog</a>. I particularly liked "Erik's Testimony: First Installment". There are some interesting developments - check them out...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-10345142709402788592010-10-18T17:48:00.000-07:002010-10-18T17:49:35.760-07:00The Bell Tolls for Benoit MandelbrotLarger than life mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot has passed away. He died last Thursday at age 85, of pancreatic cancer. Perhaps best known for his pioneering work on fractal geometry (he coined the term "fractal" and wrote the original book) Mandelbrot was also a significant intellectual force in the field of finance. His book "The (Mis)behavior of Markets - a Fractal View of Risk, Ruin and Reward" was a best seller and won the financial book of the year award. Mandelbrot was the beloved mentor of Nassim Taleb who authored "The Black Swan". He and Taleb made frequent joint appearances on financial news shows as the present economic crisis unfolded.<br />
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I loved his wry, gentle manner of presentation, which was quite accessible to the layman. (He reminded me of physicist Al Bartlett in that respect, who can also tell us we're screwed, with a smile, and keep the audience chuckling.) Another giant of science, one of the most important mathematicians of the post WWII era, gone...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-65732882414081218502010-10-11T14:38:00.000-07:002010-10-11T14:44:51.682-07:00Camel's Back, Two Straws...My dire prediction for the housing market is based on two recent developments. First is B of A's nationwide suspension of foreclosures. Expect this to spread until all foreclosures are halted for some indeterminate period. At issue is documentation, and whether anyone attempting to seize a house actually has the secured interest needed to legally foreclose.<br />
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This impacts not only pending and future foreclosures, but completed foreclosures. Also hit hard are past and pending purchases of foreclosed homes. If you bought a foreclosed home in the last couple of years, it's quite possible that the foreclosure wasn't properly documented, and title may now be in question. Among other things, this will develop into a title insurance crisis that could take years to resolve.<br />
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The second big development is the Countrywide Mortgage class action lawsuit. Among the many claims, plaintiffs have asserted that Countrywide and various retail lenders who wrote Countrywide paper deliberately shopped for high appraisals in order to overvalue properties. This will be easy to prove, as everyone familiar with this mess knows that "optimistic" appraisals have been used industry wide for at least the last decade.<br />
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That's called fraud. Every real estate transaction in America over the last 10-15 years is now in question, tainted by this universal practice. Many homes have changed hands two or three times in this time period, and every buyer has paid too much. They've been defrauded.<br />
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There's no statute of limitations on fraud, nor can such liabilities be discharged in a bankruptcy.<br />
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It's easy to demonize and marginalize subprime borrowers who can't pay their mortgage. But, how do you dismiss someone who did everything right, paid his loan on time every month but who was overcharged for his house? When those people realizes what happened, they'll sue. And they're sympathetic victims. Virtually every realtor, every appraiser, every mortgage broker and every bank in the country participated in this fraud, many knowingly and the rest looking hard in the opposite direction.<br />
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As this sinks in, the next realization is that the government was a willing participant. Government regulators looked the other way as taxes poured in from the incomes and purchases of contractors, realtors, appraisers, mortgage brokers and bankers, and from capital gains. Our government knowingly caused the mess, and was on the take from day one.<br />
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I expect a total loss of faith to follow on the heels of these revelations, and I doubt they can keep a lid on this until the election.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-78356172674537528352010-10-11T13:02:00.000-07:002010-10-31T09:43:37.307-07:00Republican Women vs. Democrat Women<object width="400" height="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sXzrUztyd1Y&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sXzrUztyd1Y&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="400" height="320"></embed></object>fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-64323161616562779422010-10-10T13:36:00.000-07:002010-10-10T13:39:48.099-07:00Housing Meltdown: Panic TimeThe bailouts to date went largely to financial houses for a reason - they were attempts to cover up the massive housing market fraud by filling the equity chasm with taxpayer dollars. Said attempts were blessed by politicians of both parties - all puppets of the very bankers who were in trouble. Nary a thought has been given to merely acknowledging, let alone finding a remedy for the staggering underlying fraud. I'm relieved that those days seem, at last, to be coming to a close. <br />
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As more lenders suspend foreclosures, more state attorneys general look into this mess and as more class action lawsuits are filed, it finally appears that this is coming to a head. At issue now is whether there remains any semblance of civil and criminal justice in America, or whether the bankers have corrupted even that.<br />
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Bad as they were, the housing/mortgage related problems we've seen up to now have merely been the warm-up. The real show starts soon. For a short and not at all sweet look at where we're at, read <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/10/this_is_the_biggest_fraud_in_t.html">Ezra Klein Interviews Janet Tavakoli</a> from the Washington Post. As Janet says in the interview, "this is the biggest fraud in the history of the capital markets"<br />
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A massive writedown is in the offing, and trillions of dollars of paper wealth will simply disappear when that happens. As this plays out, it will devastate the financial markets. Markets that have already priced Quantitative Easing II into the equation. Markets that are poised at recent highs, entirely unsupported by fundamentals. It's time to take a VERY defensive basic position with your investments. Food, gold and silver, household supplies, fuel and guns/ammo come to mind. (Anything Bernanke can't ruin.) Then cash, in hand, sufficient to pay at least half a year's payments. Only after that level of self-sufficiency is achieved should any money be at play in any market, and I'm at a loss to discern where such money might be safe through what's coming.<br />
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(Dang. I'm going to have to dust off my Jubilee article and re-post it...)fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-51484442076636085752010-10-10T10:59:00.000-07:002010-10-10T10:59:47.932-07:00An Open Letter to Ted Nugent - "The Day I'll Join the NRA"from <a href="http://jpfo.org/">Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership</a><br />
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Dear Ted:<br />
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First, I personally thank you for the valuable work you have done, and are doing, for the Second Amendment. You have used your talent, success, wit, and celebrity to fight for our freedoms.<br />
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Additionally, you are a member of the Board of Directors of the NRA. So this letter is directed to you in strictly that capacity. Why? Because I believe that you will listen. And you have the standing and respect within the NRA to actually do something regarding the issues I’d like to bring to your attention.<br />
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We at JPFO recently received a letter from an angry and very articulate fellow who took the vast majority of gun owners to task for not being NRA members. He rightly points out that there are more than eighty million gun owners and only five million members of any pro-gun organization, the NRA obviously being the largest.<br />
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I read this fellow’s letter a couple of times, and could not fault him on his spirit or personal philosophy. What bothered me was that he was asking me to join the NRA.<br />
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Ted, the day I’ll join the NRA is…<br />
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1. When the NRA announces, from the rooftops, that the police have NO LEGAL DUTY to protect the average American citizen. Time after time, our courts have upheld this. If every American understood this, we would see gun ownership, and Second Amendment awareness, burgeon across our nation. The tide would resolutely turn in our favor.<br />
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One of JPFO’s finest projects was the book “Dial 911 and Die”. It is meticulously documented with actual court cites. Why didn’t the NRA, years ago, publish this material in a reader friendly format for nationwide distribution?<br />
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♦ Why didn’t the NRA, years ago, publish this material in a reader friendly format for nationwide distribution?<br />
<br />
NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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2. When the NRA aggressively presses to abolish all concealed carry permit laws. How has an unalienable right to self defense been demoted to a revocable government granted privilege? Unregistered concealed carry has been no big issue in both Alaska and Vermont for decades. Arizona just passed unregistered concealed legislation. It’s time for the NRA to start swimming strongly with this tide. Yes, it’s a victory for gun owners when a State like Minnesota finally allows registered carry, but we must see it for what it still is: an un-Constitutional infringement on our G-d* given right to self defense, see: "The Ten Commandments of Self Defense". It is also an obvious way to add more gun owner names to a list and database. (*Out of respect, observant Jews do not write out the name of the Almighty in secular texts.)<br />
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♦ How has an unalienable right to self defense been demoted to a revocable government granted privilege?<br />
<br />
NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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3. When the NRA calls for the complete and unconditional disbanding of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). Gun owners should be appalled at the NRA leadership’s incestuous “good cop/bad cop” dance with the BATFE. For decades there has been a symbiotic, and liberty threatening, “good ole’ boy” relationship between NRA and BATFE. They should instead be mortal enemies.<br />
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♦ They should instead be mortal enemies.<br />
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The BATFE’s abuses are legion and despicable. These criminal acts crested like a bloody wave with the horrific deceit and treachery the agency displayed at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and then at Waco, Texas.<br />
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JPFO has produced a documentary about the BATFE called “The Gang” for which you kindly donated footage, showing you teaching teenagers how to use firearms safely. As you know, “The Gang” is not specifically about Ruby Ridge or Waco, it’s about how, with deliberate regularity, the BATFE criminally harasses honest gun owners.<br />
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Did you know that, back during the Administration of Ronald Reagan, President Reagan actually wanted to dismantle the then “BATF”? Who stopped him? The NRA! See this Time Magazine article that reports this hypocrisy.<br />
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The NRA has publicly stated that it wants to “work with” BATFE to punish the criminal use of guns, see: copy of NRA response letter. We don’t need these bucket headed, jack booted paramilitary goons playing cops in our lives. Let the local police, county sheriff, State police, or the FBI, do what they were assigned and sworn to do in the first place.<br />
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♦ We don’t need these bucket headed, jack booted paramilitary goons playing cops in our lives.<br />
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On top of that, tobacco is a drug. Alcohol is a drug. Give that authority to the FDA. Explosives? Wasn’t that an FBI specialty already?<br />
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And then there’s the firearms. This means “gun control”, and every single threat to our freedom that comes along with it.<br />
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NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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4. When the NRA soundly condemns, and works tirelessly to abolish, the “Gun Control Act of 1968”. NRA lawyers actually helped to write this piece of totalitarian legislation. JPFO was the first to expose “GCA ‘68” for what it was: a near carbon copy of the Nazi German gun laws of the 1930s. See: "Gun Control" Gateway to Tyranny.<br />
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The NRA needs to “man up” and confess that it made a terrible mistake here. It needs to go on an Obama style apology tour of every State, and personally confess this sin to American gun owners. And then repent.<br />
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Gun registration (brought to you by GCA ’68) is intolerable in a free society. In Nazi Germany, Jews were forced to identify themselves with a yellow star. In America, our citizens are forced to identify their ownership of firearms with a form called a “4473” and concealed weapon permits.<br />
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♦ In Nazi Germany, Jews were forced to identify themselves with a yellow star.<br />
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Now, with the computer age fully entrenched in our society, a centralized database of all gun owners and their firearms’ serial numbers is just a mouse click away. The BATFE claims it would never do this. But they are already doing it with their phony 'eTrace' program. They actually share information about American gun owners with foreign governments! This could have ominous repercussions.<br />
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Let’s analyze why “GCA ‘68” even passed. It was because of the political assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Without those three murders, the American people would have scoffed at the idea of national “gun control”. The highly emotionalized loss of the lives of three public figures, tragic though it was, created enough manipulated hysteria in this nation to essentially throw the Second Amendment out the window.<br />
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But what about the hundreds of thousands of brave Americans who have died fighting, generation after generation, to protect our Bill of Rights? Instead of standing firm in the face of this 1968 “gun control” travesty, when a far more conservative America could have been effectively rallied, the NRA got in bed with the gun prohibitionists and actually helped pen the legislation. See: "NRA Supported the National Firearms Act of 1934"and GCA68.<br />
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NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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5. When the NRA quits kowtowing to authoritarian police bureaucrats and takes a no compromise stand against the increasing paramilitarization of our local and State law enforcement agencies.<br />
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It’s time to quit building a standing army in America, masquerading as local SWAT teams and hooded “tactical units”. Federal money is lavishly splashed at these local law enforcement agencies. And, as we all know, payback day cannot be far away.<br />
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When push comes to shove, can we depend on local cops who have been suckling at the Federal teat, and attending Federal brainwashing seminars?<br />
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The NRA has to get in the face of all local police and ask them, point blank: “Will you ever assist in the disarming of the American citizenry?” Any cop who answers in the affirmative must be drummed out of the ranks.<br />
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♦ Any cop who answers in the affirmative must be drummed out of the ranks.<br />
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“To Protect and Serve” does not mean “To Disarm and Enslave”.<br />
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NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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6. When the NRA assertively speaks to our active duty military personnel and respectfully (but emphatically) reminds them that any disarming of innocent Americans is a blatant and evil breach of their oath to uphold and protect our Constitution. The NRA needs to follow the lead of Oath Keepers in reaching out to both soldiers and cops.<br />
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That disgusting “czarette” Janet Napolitano, of Homeland Security, actually had the gall to imply that homecoming soldiers posed a threat because they could be “recruited” by “extremist” groups. The NRA should be at the top of that list of so-called “extremist” groups!<br />
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These hard line Leftists have to understand one thing: If forced to, we are unwilling to give them any quarter to protect our freedom. And every freedom loving American should expect that active duty soldiers, who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic, will stand, gun in hand, by the side of The People if push ever comes to shove.<br />
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♦ These hard line Leftists have to understand one thing: If forced to, we are unwilling to give them any quarter to protect our freedom.<br />
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NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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7. When the NRA forcefully and persistently brings up the uncontestable fact that every major genocide of the 20th Century was preceded by “gun control” policies. Disarmed millions became the victims of government sponsored or condoned mass murder.<br />
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What far too many American gun owners are so hesitant to face is that the greatest criminals in history have not been common street thugs. By a huge, huge factor, the greatest criminal element in modern history has been government-gone-bad.<br />
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The Founders didn’t pen the Second Amendment to protect us from muggers and rapists or burglars. That’s actually a secondary benefit. They penned the Second Amendment to protect us from our own government! See: "2A Today for The USA".<br />
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At one time in America, this somber ideal was actually taught in public schools. Now a kid can’t even draw a picture of a gun or take a “Goody Gun” cookie to school for lunch. The insane poison of political correctness runs amok in our nation today. Ted, you don’t put up with the p.c. garbage, why does the NRA?<br />
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♦ The Founders didn’t pen the Second Amendment to protect us from muggers and rapists or burglars.<br />
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NEXT: I’ll join the NRA…<br />
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8. When the NRA honestly and accurately “grades” politicians for their real position on the Second Amendment. Hillary Clinton’s and Charlie Schumer’s pet protégé Kirsten Gillibrand got an “A” rating from the NRA. This is insane.<br />
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Gillibrand is now on the band wagon for a reinstated “assault weapons” ban. The NRA: Suckered and betrayed once again.<br />
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Ted Nugent running for office gets an “A+” grade from the NRA. That’s the standard they must start with. We cannot grade on a bell curve when it comes to our freedom.<br />
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Our politicians must not simply be “pro gun”, they must be fervently pro Second Amendment. It is now time for zero tolerance for any form of “gun control”. Far too often, American gun owners have seen “A” graded politicians waffle and cave on gun law after gun law. If the NRA has to step away from any candidate to uphold our rights, so be it.<br />
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♦ Ted Nugent running for office gets an “A+” grade from the NRA. That’s the standard they must start with.<br />
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Millions of American gun owners will reject any candidate who betrays our G-d given right to defend our lives.<br />
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The time for any sort of compromise is over. We must now retrieve ground that has been lost to past retreats. It is time for the NRA to really start “walking the walk”. Radically downgrade every single politician who has betrayed us in any way in the past.<br />
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Ted, you have the clout and celebrity status to bring any or all of these issues directly to the NRA’s Board of Directors. You can also, through your website and fan base, expose countless younger Americans to these critical matters.<br />
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♦ You can also, through your website and fan base, expose countless younger Americans to these critical matters.<br />
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It’s time to give the American people a very loud wake up call regarding their freedom. No one can say you are shy, Ted. Please, make some of that trademarked Nugent Noise over these crucial issues.<br />
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<br />
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Sincerely, and Yours in Freedom,<br />
<br />
Aaron Zelman, Founder and Director of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.<br />
<br />
Copyright 2010 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-58521268665183537422010-10-08T23:27:00.001-07:002010-10-08T23:28:41.066-07:00Obama Plan: Flee to India After Mid Term Election<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Obama-to-arrive-in-India-on-Diwali-night/articleshow/6694694.cms">Just can't wait to get outta here...</a><br />
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Regrettably, it's a round trip.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-12657542520703952952010-10-07T10:27:00.000-07:002010-10-07T10:27:10.447-07:00Slow LearnersBloomberg reports a new form of subprime security: "asset-backed auto debt linked to loans to consumers with credit considered subprime"...<br />
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And investors, liking the high yields, are snapping them up.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-18371755494306623272010-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:002010-10-04T20:15:42.710-07:00Words aren't necessary...<a href="http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2010/10/speaks-for-itself.html">...because a picture's worth a thousand of them.</a><br />
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h/t to WRSA...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-58313202545186818002010-10-04T20:08:00.000-07:002010-10-04T20:09:23.742-07:00I Smell a (liberal) Rat...So the black-robed legislature is back in session, and newly minted Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan is recusing herself from fully HALF of the cases on the court's docket.<br />
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I suspect that if I had the time to research those cases, I'd know why.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-72173667646920817102010-10-04T18:26:00.000-07:002010-10-11T14:02:57.662-07:00Erik Scott Inquest ResultsDuring a long conversation with an out of state friend last night, I was asked why I hadn't followed through on the Erik Scott inquest. I didn't want to get sidetracked, so I promised to catch up on the story in print. Bottom line is, I have to admit to not having the stomach to follow the entire inquest into Erik's murder by Las Vegas police. <br />
<br />
I understood that by any rational standard the process would be a joke. What I wasn't prepared for was the fury I experienced as the family sat helplessly through the proceedings. And fury is what it was - by the end of the second day, I could feel my blood pressure! The Scott family's attorney was present, but he was NOT allowed to speak. No cross examination, no objections, nothing. He was allowed to submit written questions(!) but the inquest wasn't required to show the questions to the "jury" - let alone read them out loud during the proceeding in a timely fashion. The whole proceeding looked like what you would expect to see in a corrupt third world hell hole, which is apparently just what Las Vegas is.<br />
<br />
So it was that I only managed to watch the first two days of one-sided testimony. It was damning testimony, as expected, but if you were paying attention various details presented ranged from implausible to contradictory. Since the inquest ended, I've caught up on the low points (there were no high ones) from the third day on by way of print media.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, the cops looked at themselves in their own mirror and liked the image they saw. In the kangaroo court that is a Clark County inquest, government marsupials painted a picture of Erik that was almost comically one-sided - as contrived and simplistic as an old western, with the good guys (cops) dressed in white and the bad guy (Erik) dressed in black. The farce ended with the jury ruling that the three cops who shot Erik seven times (five times in the back) were justified in killing him. (Right. Try shooting someone five times in the back and see if the cops let YOU get away with calling it justified...)<br />
<br />
This isn't over. In fact, for those interested in the truth, it's just getting underway. From here on out, the Scott family will be able to speak. In court. They'll be allowed to present witnesses who contradict the "official" story, and to cross examine government witnesses. They'll also enjoy the power of the subpoena, which should lead to some very interesting revelations. And, thank God, the Scotts won't be compelled to sit silently while government thugs slander their son, which means I'll be able to watch again.<br />
<br />
I hold out the hope that the truth will come out someday, by way of civil court or perhaps a federal civil rights case. Perhaps at that time the powers that be will have no choice but to prosecute the killer cops criminally. I also pray that something like the Innocence Project, which has secured the release of a large number of innocent people through DNA testing, will spring up to shine the light on all police misconduct. By freeing innocent people, the Innocence Project has had the delightful side-effect of killing the careers of a few dishonest cops and dishonest prosecutors. (See? The law of unintended consequences works just fine when you start out seeking the truth!) And, who knows? Perhaps the seeds of just such an effort are here: <a href="http://invertebratenation.blogspot.com/2010/04/amazing-police-corruption-website.html">Amazing Police Corruption Website</a><br />
<br />
Those close to me know my alarm and disgust at the transition of American cops from "peace officers" to "law enforcement officers" - a transition that pretty much took place during my lifetime. We commonly call this the militarization of the police, and it's an apt term. By temperament, armament and near-total immunity they constitute a domestic standing army, which the founders would have found intolerable.<br />
<br />
One is now best off to avoid all contact with the police. It is unwise to call them, regardless of the circumstances, and even less advisable to talk to them - particularly if you are innocent. Which leads me to ask - again - what the hell's wrong with us??? Why do we put up with this? If you ask me, we are again shirking our birthright as Americans, and the large part of the answer is to be found here: <a href="http://invertebratenation.blogspot.com/2010/07/are-cops-constitutional.html">Are Cops Constitutional?</a><br />
<br />
Surprisingly, many of my fellow conservatives (liberty oriented people, supposedly) are so blindly pro-cop that over the last several years of speaking out on this mess, I've taken serious abuse and even lost friends for my position that America is descending into a police state. Well, I'll take it, and continue to protest, for whatever it's worth. Increasingly, I'm just saddened that this denial remains so pervasive that public opinion perpetuates abuse by cop, and that my countrymen must continue to awake to this problem through the needless beatings and deaths of family members.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-24249152534556397792010-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:002010-10-04T19:35:48.078-07:00Teach Your Children WellJoe Sobran's untimely death prompted some re-reading of his work - or at least the small portion of it that resides in my library. Herewith one of my all-time favorites, penned in 1999:<br />
<br />
<b>"Because I write about politics, people are forever asking me the best way to teach children how our system of government works. I tell them that they can give their own children a basic civics course right in their own homes.<br />
<br />
In my own experience as a father, I have discovered several simple devices that can illustrate to a child's mind the principles on which the modern state deals with its citizens. You may find them helpful, too.<br />
<br />
For example, I used to play the simple card game WAR with my son. After a while, when he thoroughly understood that the higher ranking cards beat the lower ranking ones, I created a new game I called GOVERNMENT. In this game, I was Government, and I won every trick, regardless of who had the better card. My boy soon lost interest in my new game, but I like to think it taught him a valuable lesson for later in life.<br />
<br />
When your child is a little older, you can teach him about our tax system in a way that is easy to grasp. Offer him, say, $10 to mow the lawn. When he has mowed it and asks to be paid, withhold $5 and explain that this is income tax. Give $1 to his younger brother, and tell him that this is "fair". Also, explain that you need the other $4 yourself to cover the administrative costs of dividing the money. When he cries, tell him he is being "selfish" and "greedy". Later in life he will thank you.<br />
<br />
Make as many rules as possible. Leave the reasons for them obscure. Enforce them arbitrarily. Accuse your child of breaking rules you have never told him about. Keep him anxious that he may be violating commands you haven't yet issued. Instill in him the feeling that rules are utterly irrational. This will prepare him for living under democratic government.<br />
<br />
When your child has matured sufficiently to understand how the judicial system works, set a bedtime for him and then send him to bed an hour early. When he tearfully accuses you of breaking the rules, explain that you made the rules and you can interpret them in any way that seems appropriate to you, according to changing conditions. This will prepare him for the Supreme Court's concept of the U.S. Constitution as a "living document".<br />
<br />
Promise often to take him to the movies or the zoo, and then, at the appointed hour, recline in an easy chair with a newspaper and tell him you have changed your plans. When he screams, "But you promised!", explain to him that it was a campaign promise.<br />
<br />
Every now and then, without warning, slap your child. Then explain that this is defense. Tell him that you must be vigilant at all times to stop any potential enemy before he gets big enough to hurt you. This, too, your child will appreciate, not right at that moment, maybe, but later in life.<br />
<br />
At times your child will naturally express discontent with your methods. He may even give voice to a petulant wish that he lived with another family. To forestall and minimize this reaction, tell him how lucky he is to be with you the most loving and indulgent parent in the world, and recount lurid stories of the cruelties of other parents. This will make him loyal to you and, later, receptive to schoolroom claims that the America of the postmodern welfare state is still the best and freest country on Earth.<br />
<br />
This brings me to the most important child-rearing technique of all: lying. Lie to your child constantly. Teach him that words mean nothing--or rather that the meanings of words are continually "evolving", and may be tomorrow the opposite of what they are today.<br />
<br />
Some readers may object that this is a poor way to raise a child. A few may even call it child abuse. But that's the whole point: Child abuse is the best preparation for adult life under our form of government."</b><br />
<br />
Originally written for http://mises.orgfireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-20973394642493773172010-09-30T22:41:00.000-07:002010-10-01T09:27:00.407-07:00The Bell Tolls for Joe SobranThe irreverent Joe Sobran, one of America's great conservative writers, has succumbed to complications of diabetes. He was just 64.<br />
<br />
After years of stellar service at National Review, Sobran's opposition to the first Iraq war cost him his job, at the hands of CIA man William F. Buckley. It was Buckley who called him an anti-Semite, which prompted me to track down these entries from Joe's Dictionary:<br />
<br />
anti-Semite: a person who’s hated by Jews<br />
<br />
association, freedom of: discrimination<br />
<br />
bigot: one who practices sociology without a license<br />
<br />
bribe: an irregular transaction through which the citizen may get his<br />
money’s worth of service from the government<br />
<br />
civil rights: government power used in behalf of large groups<br />
<br />
guilt: the deepest vested interest<br />
<br />
isolationist: an American who thinks America should behave like other<br />
countries<br />
<br />
opinion polls: clever devices to make the hostages think they control<br />
their captors<br />
<br />
political correctness: the felt pressure of enlightened public<br />
opinion, under which we sense that certain thoughts, though<br />
technically legal now, are already destined to become taboo.<br />
<br />
psychoanalysis: a form of aggression for humorless people<br />
<br />
public opinion: what everyone thinks everyone else thinks<br />
<br />
rich: politicians’ nickname for “other people” (as in “tax the rich”)<br />
<br />
rights: authorizations for new areas of government control<br />
<br />
rogue nation: a country that behaves like America<br />
<br />
voting: trying to say something with a gag in your mouth<br />
<br />
A big H/T to Joe, for contributing decades of principled articulate wit to the discussion. <br />
<br />
Thank you, Sir, and Rest Peacefully...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-15334685077079843132010-09-28T13:05:00.000-07:002010-09-28T13:05:48.702-07:00End of an EraJust saw an interesting statistic that drives home how far America has fallen as a manufacturing power: 2010 manufacturing employment is under 12 million. Last time manufacturing employment was this low was in 1941, before America ramped up production for WWII.<br />
<br />
How will there ever be a real recovery, let alone a lasting recovery if we don't produce?fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-79689770750405170492010-09-25T09:31:00.000-07:002010-09-25T09:31:20.549-07:00Housing Market: Fecal Matter, Meet the Whirly ThingieEveryone knows that the summer months are the best months for residential real estate sales. So how did it go this year, in the summer of recovery? <br />
<br />
2010 summer period: (June, July, August) 82,000 new homes sold (not seasonally adjusted). The worst summer sales period since record keeping began in 1963.<br />
<br />
And how was August? Those numbers are just in, too:<br />
<br />
2010: the worst August on record since 1963: 25,000 new homes sold (not seasonally adjusted). 1981 was the second worst August with 34,000 sales.<br />
<br />
Yet the Dow is soaring(!). Perhaps the index should be loaded up with homebuilder stocks, so it could reflect reality...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-48427217473144852912010-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:002010-09-23T09:29:43.503-07:00Erik Scott Inquest UpdateWell, results from the first day of the inquest are in.<br />
<br />
LVPD is indeed going the character assassination route. They're going decades into Erik's past alleging drug use, although no illegal drugs were found in his system. These arguments have no legal validity, but when you don't have a real case you run with emotion.<br />
<br />
The medical examiner admitted that Erik was shot five times in the back. His death was ruled a homicide, for whatever that's worth.<br />
<br />
The medical examiner spent a long time on his tox results, with the help of giant charts. She made much of the fact that Erik had five times the lethal level of morphine in his blood when he was shot. (Apparently he was dead the whole time he was in the store.) If only the family attorney could have cross examined that bimbo on her lethal dose BS - but cross examination is not allowed in this marsupial court.<br />
<br />
Once yesterday, the Scott family attorney lost all self control and dared to object to something out loud. He was scolded for being out of order, but I'm sure the cops wanted to shoot him for behaving erratically.<br />
<br />
LVPD produced an eyewitness, a Costco employee, who testified that Erik drew his gun and aimed it at a cop. She swears that she was eight feet away and saw the whole incident clearly. Yet, she saw only one cop (??!?!?) and failed in several other ways to corroborate earlier police testimony. Again, we need cross examination...<br />
<br />
The Scotts fully expect to lose at the inquest.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned. (Or, if you wish to watch something less staged, I recommend Survivor, American Idol and Lady Gaga videos.)fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-49930655776601755112010-09-22T23:47:00.000-07:002010-09-23T02:27:40.895-07:00A Few Statistics On That Pesky Recovery1) (850 KOA Radio News) The unemployment rate here in Colorado rose three tenths of a percent in the last month.<br />
<br />
2) (Federal Reserve) Americans lost $1.5 Trillion in household net worth in Q2 2010, which is the most recent data available.<br />
<br />
3) (CNN) One in seven mortgages in America is at least delinquent if not in foreclosure.<br />
<br />
4) (various) The residential foreclosure rate in August 2010 was 25% higher than in August 2009<br />
<br />
5) (FDIC) Through August 2010, the annual bank failure rate is nearly 50% higher than it was in 2009 through August.<br />
<br />
6) (AP) 2009 saw the highest increase in the poverty rate in America in the 50 years that the statistic has been tracked.<br />
<br />
7) (US Gov) The number of Americans on food stamps has risen more than 50% in the last three years, to 41 million.<br />
<br />
8) (NAR) There are 4 million homes currently listed for sale - a 12.5 month inventory.<br />
<br />
9) (Moody's) Another 2 million homes will be seized by lenders between now and the end of 2011.<br />
<br />
10) (Me) Boomers reaching retirement age at the rate of 4 million per year starting in 2011 will seek to downsize and simplify, adding far more high-end homes to inventory. That is, they will if they can get their damn kids to move out.<br />
<br />
11) (Morgan Stanley) Nearly 8 million bank owned and foreclosure bound homes have yet to hit the market.<br />
<br />
12) (Bloomberg) As of July 2010, sales of new and existing homes fell to the level on record. <br />
<br />
13) (Me) The massive student loan debt of recent college grads, combined with limited job prospects, will prevent marriages, families and home purchases for years to come.<br />
<br />
14) (Various) The problems in commercial real estate are far from over.<br />
<br />
15) (Shedlock) There is little reason to hang onto an underwater home, and no reason at all to buy one right now.<br />
<br />
16) (Me) Retiring boomers will begin to liquidate the stock that remains in their qualified plans, putting significant downward pressure on markets.<br />
<br />
17) (Me) With younger Americans drowning in debt, the likely buyers for those stocks are furriners - Chinese and Arabs saddled with trillions of our declining dollars. Most American companies that aren't already foreign owned will be within 10 years.<br />
<br />
18) (Me) Expect downward pressure on employment, wages, home prices, stocks and consumer spending for years - with luck a decade, much longer without.<br />
<br />
19) (Me) Expect rising food/commodity prices and taxes during the same period.<br />
<br />
20) (Me) There will be no recovery. Never. The burden of government debt guarantees that. You'll never again live in a period remotely resembling the last two decades of economic activity.<br />
<br />
21) (Me) For those finding hope and change to be of low caloric value, I suggest stocking up on food, seeds, precious metals and ammo - pronto. This mess is just unfolding, and I suspect our only way out is forward through a collapse.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-62576560546343243502010-09-22T10:01:00.000-07:002010-09-22T19:17:56.047-07:00Letter to NSSFHere's a letter I just fired off to NSSF president Steve Sanetti regarding the Erik Scott murder by LVPD. I'll post developments as they happen.<br />
<br />
<b>Dear Steve,<br />
<br />
I am writing out of anger over the murder of Erik Scott by LVPD, and in concern that the next SHOT show is to be held in a city where such a thing could take place. If you are not familiar with this case, here are the basics:<br />
<br />
Erik Scott was a West Point grad, an honorably discharged veteran, a Duke MBA grad and a medical service rep who made house calls to service defibrillators and pacemakers. He was shot outside a Las Vegas Costco store where he was shopping with his girlfriend. Scott was carrying concealed, with a valid permit. A Costco employee saw the gun when Scott knelt down and his jacket rode up, and set this mess in motion. LVPD cops were happy to join in, shooting Scott seven times just outside the store. Two rounds in front, one in the armpit and four in the back. No exit wounds. By the credible accounts (which do not include LVPD) Scott's gun never left the holster, nor was there ANY indication it would. He wasn't shot for anything more than the joy of shooting someone, by cops who have shot several others.<br />
<br />
The department that killed him is the same department that issued his permit.<br />
<br />
The shooting took place on July 10, but the inquest is just getting underway this morning. There is a massive cover-up underway, and LVPD has decided on the course of character assassination of the victim rather than accountability. This is part of a much larger problem in America - the militarization and corruption of the police - and all the bad actors in this drama know they have the full support of the Obama/Holder justice department, thanks to the undeclared but obvious federal war on gun owners.<br />
<br />
FYI, I am 51 years old. I've been shooting since I was 11. At two times in my life I have been an NRA certified instructor, and have taught handgun classes for concealed weapon permit applicants. I am also an entrepreneur. In this economy and in our present national circumstances, I have been seriously considering starting a preparedness store and had planned to attend SHOT in 2011.<br />
<br />
But now, I will not be coming to Las Vegas. Not for SHOT, nor for anything else. Never again. Clark county Nevada is not a safe place for gun owners.<br />
<br />
This decision is reversible, but not without cleaning out the sewer that is the Clark County government.<br />
<br />
The cops are shooting your industry's customers, on the sidewalks of the city where you're holding your next trade show. So, you have a role in this, whether you like it or not. If you think the "SHOT" industry is sustainable on government contracts, well, feel free to hold the show anywhere you please. But if you want to maintain the level of consumer support you presently enjoy, you will need to get the NSSF on the right side of this mess, pronto.<br />
<br />
I've no doubt that venues for shows the size of SHOT are booked half a decade to a decade in advance. I don't expect you to move the show. But, I do expect you to let the hotels know that the cops they control (and they do control them) have gone too far, and that attendance may suffer to the point where their relationship with NSSF is in jeopardy. This situation needs to be dialed back, a lot, and the cops and the current bosses need to go. As in, to prison. Economic pressure will be more effective than moral pressure. (This is true everywhere these days, but it's particularly powerful in Las Vegas.) You can exert the same pressure on the Clark County commissioners, and I expect you to. Every correspondence should remind these clowns how much money SHOT brings to Vegas.<br />
<br />
NSSF should address this on its website, and soon. There is a groundswell starting, and you would look good to be ahead of it rather than lagging behind. I think it would be a grand idea to set up a virtual SHOT show for people who are boycotting Las Vegas. People could browse a virtual show, presentations could be streamed live and archived, and company reps could devote a day or two to web conferences after the live show closed, with the same incentives and promotions they offered at the show. I would happily pay for access to such a thing, and just might proceed with my business idea under those circumstances. Your press release could start "Obviously, NSSF wants everyone to attend SHOT. That's what makes the show a success, and success of the show means success for the industry. But we understand that a lot of gun owners are boycotting Las Vegas in the wake of the repugnant killing of Erik Scott. We appreciate that position, and have set up a virtual SHOT show so those people can attend SHOT without patronizing Clark County, Nevada."<br />
<br />
Under the circumstances, it's a shame that SHOT will be held in Vegas next year. By then, this is going to be a gigantic scandal. Erik Scott's dad Bill is an honest to God test pilot and an acclaimed aviation journalist, with years at Aviation Week and several published books. The LVPD thugs don't begin to grasp the connections this guy has, and is digging it's grave as you read this. <br />
<br />
I'm sure you're aware of the rising disgust with the NRA. I hope the NSSF doesn't operate by a similar philosophy. I intend to find out, starting with this letter. It will be easy to organize a boycott of Las Vegas over this incident, and such is already underway. I'm helping with that, and, pending your response, I plan to contact every SHOT exhibitor as well. I will do everything I can to make this mess as big as possible, because this crap has to stop before America is completely lost to corruption and thuggery. I am not alone. That subset of gun owners that is highly attuned to liberty issues will be all over this long before your show opens. It is my hope that this subset of your market matters to you, but I understand the economic reality that the cops who shoot at us may represent more revenue to your manufacturers than we do, and that NSSF may be just that pragmatic. Time will tell.<br />
<br />
My contact info: <br />
<br />
omitted<br />
omitted<br />
omitted<br />
omitted<br />
<br />
My blog entry: http://invertebratenation.blogspot.com/2010/09/warm-blooded-murder-of-erik-scott.html<br />
<br />
Bill Scott's blog: erikbscottmemorialblog.blogspot.com/<br />
<br />
Thank you for your attention to this, and my apologies if the pungent nature of my words offends. Fact is, Americans have neglected the source of their liberty for a long time, and that neglect is now coming home to roost, with interest. I'm pretty angry, and expect to remain so for some time. I look forward to hearing back from you.<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
<br />
omitted<br />
</b><br />
<br />
UPDATE: Had a nice reply from Steve Sanetti in my e-mail tonight. Prompt. Thoughtful. Not a form letter. As of now, NSSF is verifying the info...fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-57824958455869019362010-09-21T19:58:00.000-07:002010-10-04T19:30:23.305-07:00The Warm Blooded Murder of Erik ScottWarm blooded murder?<br />
<br />
Yep.<br />
<br />
In the Las Vegas desert sun, even the reptilian cops have warm blood.<br />
<br />
On July 10, 2010 Erik B. Scott, West Point grad, honorably discharged veteran, Duke MBA grad and medical service rep, was executed by Las Vegas police for the crime of shopping at Costco with his girlfriend. You see, Scott was in possession of a permitted concealed weapon, which permit was issued by the department that killed him. <br />
<br />
This is part of a much larger problem in America - the militarization of the police. That militarization isn't helped by the fact that tens of thousands of departments use a version of IQ testing to deliberately hire people who are slightly BELOW average to average. Whether this is an outgrowth of affirmative action or a result of departments simply not wanting smart people looking at them from the inside, this is an intolerable practice. Then there's the fact that power corrupts, and the corollary fact that the police have far too much power these days.<br />
<br />
I know this will anger many LEO's and .gov types, but the situation is completely out of hand. Cops have been getting away with executing people for years, aided and abetted by compliant coroners, prosecutors and judges. I would hope people's patriotism will eventually overrule their blind support of law enforcement and bring a halt to these murders.<br />
<br />
The majority of police shootings I've studied are tainted, at best. Up till now, it has been all too easy to marginalize those they executed, and get away with the crimes. It's been obvious to anyone watching this that they would eventually screw up and kill a really good guy, and they did just that when they shot Erik Scott. He comes from an intact family. Father William Scott is an Honest to God test pilot and acclaimed aerospace journalist, with years at Aviation Week. This guy has contacts all over. Powerful contacts. He's giving them a chance to fess up to his son's murder, but sooner or later, his patience will run out.<br />
<br />
Erik, from his bio, was an exemplary man. To reiterate: West Point grad. Honorable service. Graduate degree (Duke MBA) while working full time. The only blotch on his life was two failed marriages (not at all difficult to understand in a military man's life) and allegations of threats and violence, made during divorce proceedings by an ex, later dropped and subsequently sealed by the judge(!).<br />
<br />
Sealed, that is, until the untouchables need to get away with his murder.<br />
<br />
Lots of people carry guns. The ones who bother to get a permit are, by definition, the good guys. Costco apparently has a policy against carrying guns in their stores, which they don't post anywhere. (Dang. How many of us have carried into a Costco, not knowing our peril??) The Costco employee who set this mess in motion only saw Erik's gun because his jacket rode up when he bent down. He wasn't waving it around, and he wasn't acting erratically. He was SHOPPING with his girlfriend.<br />
<br />
Did the employee ask him to leave? Don't know. We do know that Erik Scott informed the employee that he had a permit, that he was carrying legally, and that he then went back to his shopping. From there, the only thing we know for sure is that the employee called a manager.<br />
<br />
Did the manager ask Erik to leave? Don't know. It's essentially a certainty that Scott told the manager he had a permit. We do know the manager called a security guard, who called the police. Now, I belong to Costco (did, anyway. Mine expired two weeks ago, and pending resolution of this case I have not renewed) and I know how they operate. Managers carry radios. That's how they communicate. I was in a Costco office once, too, talking with a manager about a special order. I saw where the security camera monitor sat, and it was not monitored by a live human being. In fact, there was a stack of paperwork on that chair. The security guard, wherever he was, has a radio too. It's pretty likely (obvious, actually) that the security guard who called 911 was at best acting on radio transmitted hearsay, and more likely was engaged in his own speculation (spelled L Y I N G) when he said Erik was acting erratically and that he might be on drugs. That's called false reporting, and when someone dies as a result, Costco is complicit in the death.<br />
<br />
Is it possible that Erik Scott was asked to leave and refused? Yes. But we don't know, and Costco likely would have been trumpeting that long before now if it was true, as a CYA/PR measure. I'm guessing he wasn't asked to leave. Erik was a smart guy, and he was with his girlfriend. The only plausible response would have been for him to say "sure - I'll take my business elsewhere, and I'll leave just as soon as you refund my membership fee". That's exactly what I would have done.<br />
<br />
Then there's the trigger happy cops. They screwed up big time on this one. They should have shot a Mexican or a black man, preferably one with a long criminal history. (And simmer down. I'm being cynical, not racist.) Anyway, how do you explain shooting a guy like Erik?<br />
<br />
The answer is you don't explain it. You CAN'T explain it. You just don't kill West Point grads for shopping at Costco with their girlfriends. And here's where this turns truly disgusting. The cops are trying to smear Erik Scott in order to get away with it. They have managed to unseal the allegations made by his ex, and are trying to make hay of the fact that he was on painkillers, implying addiction, but conveniently ignoring the back injuries he sustained jumping out of military aircraft in service of his country.<br />
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A smart crime family, one that has gotten away with murder hundreds of times, takes their lumps when they finally get caught. Cops, though, aren't anywhere near that smart. They're untouchable, so they're smearing an outstanding man instead of fessing up. A man they killed in cold blood, entirely without cause. And, they've had plenty of time to figure out who the father is, and that he's not a man to trifle with. Yet on they go, digging their own grave...<br />
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The inquest, long delayed, will supposedly be broadcast live for the next three days on mynews3.com starting at 10 AM PST tomorrow - and it's a kangaroo court if there ever was one. The family and their counsel are not allowed to cross examine anyone, and only evidence deemed acceptable by the County marsupials will be allowed.<br />
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This isn't over, and I predict it will blow up big time. (Sure hope so.) Conservatives, who usually rationalize police violence because they support "law and order" will have a tough time swallowing this one. A really tough time. A lot of us are already choking, and the word is still spreading. And conservatives are the support base of law enforcement, at least as far as the public is concerned. Because of who the victim was, and who his father is, this case has the potential to blow the lid off this sordid aspect of police corruption nationwide, and I hope and pray it does. Killings by the police shouldn't be routinely swept under the rug in a free society, no matter what kind of people they kill. It's gone on long enough.<br />
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ETA: Eric Scott's father, William Scott, has a blog going about this. <a href="http://erikbscottmemorialblog.blogspot.com/">Here.</a>fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-64717975767914265502010-09-20T00:24:00.000-07:002010-09-20T00:24:25.369-07:00Vocabulary Word of the DayOK, so I do one of these about six times a year. But, I've been ruminating on political correctness, which has it's origins in Marxism, so here you go: The word is Zampoliti<br />
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Zampoliti were Red Army political/cultural officers. One was assigned to (infllicted on) every unit, and was responsible for the maintenance of ideological purity. Zampoliti monitored all speech and thought, and set errant Soviets back on the straight and narrow when they drifted from unquestioning admiration of all things Commie. Can't have those conscripts poking fun at socialism, after all. Why, they might get all cynical and pretend to work or something. <br />
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Zampoliti were the thought police, and Orwell would have been proud...<br />
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Most of the time, their mere presence was all that was required to stifle independent or critical thought. However, the unit Zampolit could and did rat people out to Moscow, and ruined many a career.<br />
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This relates to modern PC in a rather sick way: Today, Zampoliti are alive, well and entirely homegrown. They're our own children. We pay dearly to have them transformed into political officers by our "educational" system. PC indoctrination begins at an early age in America, and reaches its apogee in college, with disastrous results for society. PC is censorship, censorship which works by instilling fear of the truth in people otherwise capable of apprehending it. PC prohibits the telling of many truths about our predicament. Of course, our predicament is dire, and these truths need telling.<br />
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I ran across this excellent video on the origins of PC by way of Billy Beck's blog two--four. It chronicles the entire sordid history of this form of censorship.<br />
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Watch it. Forward it. Do something to stem the tide.<br />
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<embed id=VideoPlayback src=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8630135369495797236&hl=en&fs=true style=width:400px;height:326px allowFullScreen=true allowScriptAccess=always type=application/x-shockwave-flash> </embed>fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-11685827858478417512010-09-19T10:45:00.000-07:002010-09-19T10:45:42.016-07:00Obama's VacationsMartha's Vineyard. Chicago. Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon (do ya suppose he realized how we feel, peering into an abyss?) Send the wife to Spain. Take the family to Hawaii for 11 days.<br />
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Much is made of these vacations, which are certainly a perk of the office. All presidents do it, and the only thing that changes is which side is doing the complaining.<br />
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Enough. Far as I'm concerned, people should quit objecting and thank God the boy king only works part time.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-13292929187673867722010-09-18T18:50:00.000-07:002010-09-18T18:50:06.657-07:00Succeeding, Where the Soviet Union FailedIt happened gradually. Few noticed. Fewer complained. But here we are, on the cusp of totalitarianism. What's left of America is all about appearances.<br />
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The illusion of press freedom persists, but in reality the press speaks little truth, and much propaganda. The press isn't exactly controlled by the government, but the press and the government are in the same hands.<br />
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The illusion of democracy remains, too, but no recent election has offered a meaningful choice. Would things have been meaningfully different under President McCain? After all, he suspended his campaign to vote for the bailout, and campaigned for socialized medicine. Sure, there'd be a few more black Marxists stranded in academia, but what would really be different?<br />
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Then there's the facade of an independent judiciary looking out for our rights. Sure. What is the court, really, besides the mechanism by which the ruling class thwarts the public will? The court acts as a ministry of culture, imposing transformative laws like abortion, the elimination of gun rights and corporate control of vast areas of life that could never pass by an honest vote.<br />
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We have "democracy" that circumvents the will of the people, a "free" press in which only certain things are said, "education" wholly divorced from learning, a state war on religion, etc., etc., etc. We have handily demonstrated that if the masses of people have even vaguely comfortable lives, they will care about nothing else. <br />
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This vague comfort will soon be the only difference between the old USSR and the present USA. Pathetic, isn't it? But for the fact that the Soviets never quite managed the comfort part, we're damn near the same. We're succeeding, where the Soviet Union failed.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9067924852171491737.post-89966565786120539822010-09-14T21:03:00.000-07:002010-09-14T21:03:18.387-07:00FlagsBought a nice Gadsden flag from a Craigslist advertiser today. Noticed it's made in China. Checked, and found my US flag was made in China as well.<br />
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Apparently the only flags we still make here are the false ones.fireplaceguyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09137875201699993308noreply@blogger.com0