One Last Thanksgiving Day Thought....

 From those of us who have to work this Thanksgiving day to those of you who don’t:

STAY HOME AND ENJOY YOUR TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!

If it isn’t medically necessary, don’t go to a business.  The sales can wait.  Those of us who are required to work because of corporate greed envy your time to relax and enjoy.

To those in the military, those who work as first responders, law enforcement, medical, thank you for being away from your families today.  I wish it weren’t necessary.  Your sacrifice is appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving 2020....

 

Michigan Thanksgiving 2020....

 I have seen some who profess to be Bible-believing Christians state publicly that they intend to violate the guidance issued by the MI state government and have their large Thanksgiving Day gatherings.  Some of the same people have stated that they will defy masking and social distancing orders as well.

What follows after my remarks hasn’t changed in the 2,000 years that have passed since it was written, and I quote it here in the version claimed by some to be God’s only true Bible to take THAT argument away.  

I will also note at the outset that the passage that follows has no exemption for a society in which governing power derives from the people.  Like it or not, agree with the outcome or not, the people of Michigan spoke.  A governor and other officials reflecting that voice were elected to positions of authority; they, in turn, appointed other officials in accordance with Michigan law.  So until such time as they are a) removed from office via vote or impeachment or b) it can be clearly demonstrated that their orders require us to violate scripture or are proven to be illegal, as believers we are OBLIGATED to obey.

You may not agree with the health department orders or the officials implementing them; heaven knows I don’t.  But I will obey them because they don’t require me to violate scripture; THAT is the test of whether I must disobey.  This post is written specifically to those who claim to be born again Christians, who claim to believe and obey the WHOLE Bible, to the ones who have placed their US citizenship ahead of their heavenly citizenship and forgotten that they are ambassadors of HEAVEN, not the US, and that HEAVEN’S laws supersede man’s laws. Our rights may have been given by the creator, but they can also be LIMITED by that same creator.  And sometimes, as He told us through the apostle Paul in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, He requires us to put our rights aside for the sake of others.

This is one of those times.  

As He commands us through the Apostle Peter,

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims... Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

“Submit yourselves to EVERY ORDINANCE OF MAN FOR THE LORD’S SAKE: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and NOT USING YOUR LIBERTY FOR A CLOKE OF MALICIOUSNESS, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king,” 1 Peter 2:11-17 (KJV), emphasis added.

I may not agree with the health department orders or the officials implementing them, and I may not like that they deny me the opportunity to gather with loved ones that I already see seldom enough during the year, but as for me and my house, we will obey this scripture, and as a result, we will obey the orders and guidance issued by the state government.

Kyle Rittenhouse: NOT A Hero....

To preface, I sell firearms for a living, an occupation I take VERY seriously.  I know the applicable firearms laws in play in this situation; I work with them on a daily basis, and I have stopped numerous transactions that would have violated those laws.

Rittenhouse was a minor in possession of a firearm when he killed those people, end of story.  He could not legally be hired to protect business property, as he says was the case, because he is a minor.  He could not legally carry the loaded firearm in public as a minor unless in the company of a parent/legal guardian, which was not the case.  He violated Wisconsin and federal firearms laws regarding firearm possession.  He gave money to a third party to purchase a firearm on his behalf that he could not legally purchase/own himself - a straw purchase, and a federal felony.  As an aside, unless the friend who made the illegal purchase said something to the dealer at the time of purchase indicating that he was buying the firearm on behalf of an ineligible party, there is no way the dealer could have possibly known and is innocent of any wrongdoing, end of story.

His friend, 19 year old Dominick Black, who says he bought the firearm in Wisconsin on Rittenhouse’s behalf has admitted to violating federal law.  He executed a straw purchase, lying on a federal form, buying the gun on behalf of and receiving payment from an individual he knew to be unable to legally purchase/own the firearm himself; this is a federal felony carrying a $250,000 fine and a 10 year prison sentence.  He aided and abetted a minor to own/possess/carry a firearm in violation of both Wisconsin and federal law.  He has finally been charged with two state felony counts of supplying a minor with a firearm leading to death; he should also be facing federal felony charges relating to straw purchase and lying on a federal form.

If Rittenhouse had been protecting his own home or a business owned by his parent that evening using a firearm purchased/possessed by that parent, this would be an entirely different story.  As it is, Rittenhouse and his friend should both be facing both state and federal firearms charges.  He was not a hero, and he gives those of us who ARE lawful firearms owners a bad name.

PS: even though Rittenhouse was declared not guilty in a kangaroo show trial that the prosecution and judge did everything to throw, I still maintain that Rittenhouse is a murderer who should be facing federal firearms charges.

An Open Letter To The Editors Of Mlive/Grand Rapids Press

You have now published a few articles regarding the call to defund the Grand Rapids Police Department. I am disappointed to see that your reporting smacks of a singular point of view. 

Most significantly, you detailed the number of emails and calls received by the mayor’s office/city Council demanding the defunding or even disbanding of the Grand Rapids  Police Department, yet not a single word has been said regarding the number of communications those offices have received opposing such measures or even supporting the GRPD.

For the first time in our city’s history we have a black chief of police. Chief Eric Payne has shown himself to be a man of integrity and deep concern for this community. He has only been in his office for a short time; certainly not nearly long enough to enact the kinds of reforms he believes necessary to address the concerns raised by our minority communities.

In the interest of fair and balanced reporting, Mlive has a moral and ethical obligation to do a better job reporting not just on the calls to radically alter or even eliminate our police department, but also the communications the city government has received SUPPORTING law enforcement.

I suspect far more people in our community - including a majority of those in the black community - support our police department, even support strengthening our police department, than those who advocate defunding or even eliminating it altogether.  This would be in line with a recent Gallup poll (on which Mlive never reported) indicating that an overwhelming majority of blacks - EIGHTY-ONE PERCENT - want police to maintain OR INCREASE the amount of time they spend policing their communities.

I don’t believe anyone will argue against the need to reform law enforcement.  I have been saying for many years that we need to get law enforcement off the “war on crime” footing that began with the North Hollywood bank robbery and return to the days of “TO PROTECT AND SERVE”.  ALL communities would be better served with the return to that gold standard of policing.

In the meantime, Mlive has a moral and ethical obligation to provide more balanced coverage of this issue, to report not only on the calls to radically alter law enforcement, but also on the calls supporting maintaining, even strengthening our police department as well.  Your job is to report, not inflame.

“Christians” Defying Executive Orders....

This message is specifically to those who call themselves Christians.  I don’t like or want to wear a mask in public any more than the next person.  With my claustrophobia and some breathing issues, wearing a cloth or surgical style mask was a daily exercise in fear.  And while I have a doctor’s note excusing me from wearing one, I found a work around.  Still, given a choice, I would rather not wear one.

But here’s the problem:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king,” 1 Peter 2:13-17 NASB.  

The KJV renders verses 13-14 this way:

 “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”

I hear a lot of people who call themselves Christians saying they will not comply with the executive orders issued by our governor. Like it or not, agree or not, under Michigan black letter law, specifically MCL 10.33 and MCL 30.405(3), passed by duly elected Michigan legislators and signed into law by the duly elected governors in power at those times in accordance with the Michigan State Constitution, determines that failure to obey an executive order is a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and/or 90 days in jail. I would like you to take a moment to think seriously about how that attitude squares up with God’s clear instructions through Paul.

I don’t like it, but I will comply until such time as her directives instruct me to violate God’s Word.

When the Governor Sanctions Confrontation — and Violence?

A statement from Gov. Whitmer’s press conference on 7/9:

“... Human behavior is the thing that is going to determine what direction we’re headed in. We [the government- added] will do everything we can to encourage the right choices. But at the end of the day, it’s on ALL OF US [emphasis added] to do our part, to educate the people around us, whether it’s in the store or it’s in our household, or it is in our neighborhood or in our workplace. We’ve got to implore one another to step up and to do the right thing. And Michiganders are smart. We’re tough. We can figure out how to do it politely, but also forcefully because it’s on all of us...” emphasis added.  

We have already seen incidents in which those not wearing masks have been driven out of places of business, even threatened with violence, by their fellow customers.  Now the governor says it’s on EACH OF US to COMPEL the appropriate behavior, “the right thing”, FORCEFULLY?!

That’s either a really bad choice of words, or the governor has just sanctioned such behaviors.

Time to Retire the Pledge of Allegiance....

I grew up beginning each school day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  I knew it, I believed it.  It embodied what I hoped America would be.

Sadly, I have come to see that, more and more, the lofty ideals it contains have very little correlation with the realities of America, especially in recent decades.  And if we do not return to those ideals, then it is a lie - and it should be relegated to history.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.”  Our states are not united in any way, shape, or form.  We are a loose federation of self-serving states, each one intent on pursuing it’s own interests and agendas - and the good of the nation and the Constitution be damned.  And no, I can think of no more appropriate way to characterize that outlook.

“And to the Republic for which it stands.”  The account is given of a conversation between Benjamin Franklin and Mrs. Powel of Pennsylvania:

“Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”

“A republic,” replied Franklin, “if you can keep it.”

The Founders strenuously resisted setting up a democracy.  They recognized that democracies all meet the same fate: they devolve into struggles between factions and die.  Thomas Jefferson said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." Benjamin Franklin observed that “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.”  And Alexander Hamilton, lionized in the musical, Hamilton, stated, “It has been observed by an honorable gentleman, that a pure democracy, if it were practicable, would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved, that no position in politics is more false than this. The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one feature of good government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.” 

The idea of a Republic, based on Constitutionally defined principles and God-given rights protected from government intrusion and infringement was the goal.  It wasn’t perfect.  It initially incorporated compromises that were intended to be short-term, that were enacted in an effort to hold the fledgling Republic together.  The Founders were fully cognizant of its shortcomings.  That’s why they built in mechanisms by which laws - and even the Constitution itself - could be changed to eventually protect the rights of ALL of our citizens.  The incorporation of the amendatory process was the poison pill for the institutions of slavery and misogyny.

Instead, the citizens of our country have overwhelmingly chosen the tyranny of democracy.  Our schools and universities incorrectly teach and promote the misconception that we are a democracy.  The warning given by Hamilton (who, by the way, was an elitist who bought slaves on behalf of his family and was far from being the abolitionist the musical portrays him to be) has become a reality.  In its quest to be a true democracy, this country is destroying itself.  The Republic is dead.

“One nation.” We are not one nation, we are a conglomerate of many nations and interests, each intent on serving itself and imposing its will on others.  Once upon a time, those who came to America did so with the idea and intent of becoming as American as possible.  They gave up their native languages and learned english.  They learned new cultural norms. And they encouraged their children to fully adopt their new identity, to become AMERICAN.  They personified what Teddy Roosevelt wrote in his essay, “True Americanism”: “... We do not wish German-Americans and Irish-Americans who figure as such in our social and political life; we want only Americans, and, provided they are such, we do not care whether they are of native or of Irish or of German ancestry. We have no room in any healthy American community for a German-American vote or an Irish-American vote, and it is contemptible demagogy to put planks into any party platform with the purpose of catching such a vote. We have no room for any people who do not act and vote simply as Americans, and as nothing else...” That I am of german and dutch ancestry is incidental to the fact that I am an AMERICAN, yet this country has turned that idea on its head.  We are not “one nation”, we are a collection of nations in which everything comes before -American: german-american, mexican-american, asian-american, african-american, the list goes on.  And every flag, linguistic, and ethnic designation takes precedence over the idea that we are, first and foremost, Americans.

“Under God.” This is self evident.  We have declared ourselves to be a secular society.  Humanism is the religion of America.  Religion has no place in the public arena.  The ten commandments are removed from court houses.  Religious sculptures are removed from the public square.  People who declare themselves to be “Christians” divorce themselves from what they claim to believe in order to vote for individuals who in no way, shape, or form exemplify God’s values, arguing that we don’t elect a “pastor-/theologian-in-chief”.  Yet we continue to invoke God’s blessing on the USA.

“Indivisible.” Do I really need to say more about this?  We are divided and fractured along every conceivable line.

“With liberty and justice for all.”  While we have come a long way in this regard, we have far to go. Discrimination is an ever-present factor in our society.  Delivery of justice is arbitrary.  We are far from achieving the goal enunciated by Teddy Roosevelt in his essay: “... We believe in waging relentless war on rank-growing evils of all kinds, and it makes no difference to us if they happen to be of purely native growth. We grasp at any good, no matter whence it comes. We do not accept the evil attendant upon another system of government as an adequate excuse for that attendant upon our own; the fact that the courtier is a scamp does not render the demagogue any the less a scoundrel...” It is an indisputable fact that blacks were brought here as slaves, that laws have been promulgated over the years to keep them “in their place,” and that they were exterminated in large numbers when their usefulness ended.  It is an indisputable fact that chinese were brought here as indentured servants to build our railroads, work canneries in Alaska, and man our laundries.  When a section of the railroad was completed in the Snake River canyon, hundreds of chinese workers were herded into a cave and its mouth was dynamited.  It is an indisputable fact that, in no small part, our nation’s infrastructure and wealth was built in the back of slaves and indentured servants.  And it is an indisputable fact that many who call themselves “Christians” have coopted, contaminated, the message of the Bible to justify their treatment of minorities.  We have and we continue to deny justice and liberty to all.

There are many things that I am NOT saying here.  There is simply not time or space to cover everything, so please don’t PRESUME that you know where I stand on an issue based solely on what I have said here; you will likely be wrong. But it has become painfully evident to me that the Pledge of Allegiance has no correlation with the realities of life in America.  It is time to stop pretending otherwise.

Michigan H.R 5717...

Members of the Michigan state house of representatives are trying to make use of the pandemic to push through H.R. 5717, a bill that will impose a 30% tax on firearms, a 50% tax on ammunition, raise the age to buy both firearms and ammo to 21, and require a FEDERAL license to purchase both.

This law is unConstitutional, already declared so by the Supreme Court - in 1943.

Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943), from the syllabus:

“Murdock v. Pennsylvania

No. 480

Argued March 10, 11, 1943

Decided May 3, 1943*

319 U.S. 105

[...] A State may not impose a charge for the enjoyment of a right granted by the Federal Constitution. P. 319 U. S. 113.

5. The flat license tax here involved restrains in advance the Constitutional liberties... and inevitably tends to suppress their exercise. P. 319 U. S. 114...

7. Since the privilege in question is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, and exists independently of state authority, the inquiry as to whether the State has given something for which it can ask a return is irrelevant. P. 319 U. S. 115.

8. A community may not suppress, or the State tax, the dissemination of views because they are unpopular, annoying, or distasteful. P. 319 U. S. 116...”

Yes, this law is VERY unConstitutional.

Gov. Whitmer: Refund Motorized Watercraft Registration Fees....

Governor, 

Since according to your EO’s and your interpretation of them we can’t use our motorboats or other motorized watercraft, it is only right that all registration fees paid for this year be refunded to all affected owners.

Mr. President, Rescind The Prohibition Against Truckers Exercising Their Second Amendment Rights...

“The 15,000-member SBTC is calling on federal authorities to preempt state and local laws regarding the right to carry a firearm.

Therefore, in accordance with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, we hereby request the U.S. Department of Transportation please issue a preemption order nullifying any and all state and local laws that restrict truck drivers from carrying firearms across state lines throughout America in order to enable them to protect themselves and their cargo as they engage in interstate commerce.

As this is now a matter of life and death, please issue same forthwith.”

I fully agree.  Truckers are background checked.  They are susceptible to violent crime, especially during times of social unrest; truck stops are not the safest places on the interstate.  It is not possible to provide protection to every truck on the road; the right to defense of those who transport the necessities of life must be protected.

Please sign this petition!

White House Petition to Rescind the DOT prohibition Against Truckers Carrying Firearms

Gov. Whitmer: A Word Regarding Chloroquine And Covid-19....

From the CDC:

“Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine

 “Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are oral prescription drugs that have been used for treatment of malaria and certain inflammatory conditions. Chloroquine has been used for malaria treatment and chemoprophylaxis, and hydroxychloroquine is used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and porphyria cutanea tarda. Both drugs have in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and other coronaviruses, with hydroxychloroquine having relatively higher potency against SARS-CoV-2 [1,4,5]. A study in China reported that chloroquine treatment of COVID-19 patients had clinical and virologic benefit versus a comparison group, and chloroquine was added as a recommended antiviral for treatment of COVID-19 in China [6]. Based upon limited in-vitro and anecdotal data, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are currently recommended for treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in several countries. Both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have known safety profiles with the main concerns being cardiotoxicity (prolonged QT syndrome) with prolonged use in patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction and immunosuppression but have been reportedly well-tolerated in COVID-19 patients.

Due to higher in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 and its wider availability in the United States compared with chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine has been administered to hospitalized COVID-19 patients on an uncontrolled basis in multiple countries, including in the United States.  One small study reported that hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with azithromycin reduced detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory tract specimens compared with a non-randomized control group but did not assess clinical benefit [7]. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are associated with QT prolongation and caution is advised when considering these drugs in patients with chronic medical conditions (e.g. renal failure, hepatic disease) or who are receiving medications that might interact to cause arrythmias.
Hydroxychloroquine is currently under investigation in clinical trials for pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and treatment of patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19. In the United States, several clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection are planned or will be enrolling soon.  More information on trials can be found at:  https://clinicaltrials.gov/external icon.
”There are no currently available data from Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) to inform clinical guidance on the use, dosing, or duration of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.  Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing such as: 400mg BID on day one, then daily for 5 days; 400 mg BID on day one, then 200mg BID for 4 days; 600 mg BID on day one, then 400mg daily on days 2-5,” https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/therapeutic-options.html, emphasis added.

No, it isn’t a proven therapy.  Certainly not the proven cure the president appears to make it out to be, but the fact is that Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine, particularly in combination with azithromycin, are being used WITH GOVERNMENT APPROVAL to treat coronavirus, apparently with at least some beneficial effects.  You are wrong to threaten to penalize doctors for using a therapy that even the CDC recognizes to have potential therapeutic effect.

I do not support Pres. Trump.  I take what he says with a healthy dose of skepticism.  However, just as I did not automatically dismiss everything said by former Pres. Obama - despite my disagreements with so many of his policies and positions - so I also do not automatically dismiss everything said by Pres. Trump, despite my many disagreements with him and general disregard for his character.  But let’s not make the mistake of allowing disagreements with, or disregard for him to prevent us from making use of all the tools we have at our disposal for fighting this virus just because he is the one advocating for it.

A petition calling on the governor to rescind this ban can be found here: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/gov-whitmer-rescind-your-ban-of-off-label?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=&quote_id=quote4&title_id=title2&recruiter=15451848&loc=dashboard

03/26/2020: US Reaches 1,000 Coronavirus Deaths....

In related news, the mortality rate for pneumonia in the US SO FAR this season is 7.1% (compared to a mortality rate of 2-3% for coronavirus), just .2% under the threshold of 7.3%, the point at which an epidemic is declared, with 38 million flu illnesses, 390,000 hospitalizations and 23,000 deaths from flu.  Per the CDC, the rate of children getting the flu this season EXCEEDS the rate experienced by children during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

But we're not hearing about any of that.

A little perspective.

No, the World Health Organization is NOT Advising Against Using Ibuprofen....

I took the following screenshot from the World Health Organization’s Twitter page.  You will notice the March 18, 2020 date.

Careening Towards Bankruptcy...

Ok.  Unless we can get a grip on the panic the media are driving regarding the coronavirus, we are literally going to bankrupt people.  The stock market lost thousands of points last week, and it is gearing up for more losses this week.

There are illnesses out there that have put more people in the hospital and taken far more lives in the US alone than the corona virus has worldwide.  And because the media are feeding a steady stream of gloom and doom, sky is falling hysteria, the retirements of thousands of people are on the verge of being wiped out - your parents, my parents, anyone with an investment-based retirement.

This has gotten out of hand.  It cannot be allowed to continue.  We cannot afford to buy into the hysteria.

The panic ends here and now.

Bloomberg: Tyrant In The Making...

I was recently asked a question about Bloomberg’s stance on gun control, and whether he would be likely to write a gun control executive order if he is elected. 

Even though it is not supposed to be in the power of a president to enact laws on his own, It would not surprise me in the least if, should he be elected, Bloomberg  issued a gun control EO on his first day in office. It would then either be on congress to pass a law overriding that EO - something that will by no means be a certainty depending on the makeup of congress at that time - or for the supreme court to rule it unConstitutional.

Bloomberg has imperial ambitions; he proved his willingness to micromanage the lives of those under him while mayor of NYC (his ban on large soft drinks, trying to control their sodium intake, his stop and frisk policy that let police frisk you without probable cause, etc.). He truly believes his intellect is far superior to the rest of us mere mortals, as he stated in a recent speech at Oxford University: “… We, the intelligentsia, the people who could make it into this room…” He went on to state his belief that as a member of that elite group HE knows and understands things that the unwashed masses (that’s us) can’t begin to comprehend (specifically, why “a guy in a dress should be in the same locker room as your daughter”). HE knows what’s best for us - and he is willing to outspend everyone else, all the while using his media empire to push his views and agenda, to make it into the White House. And to top it off, he is a card carrying member of the Trilateral Commission (http://trilateral.org/download/files/membership/NA%20members%20April%202018(2).pdf) AND the Council on Foreign Relations (“[Full disclosure: Bloomberg (the candidate) is a life member and Bloomberg (the firm) is a corporate member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Bloomberg Philanthropies has generously supported the work of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Global Health Program, https://www.cfr.org/blog/meet-michael-bloomberg-democratic-presidential-candidate)” - the kingmakers of the US; Trump is a member of neither group, neither is Steyer. This group isn’t just putting their stamp of approval on a candidate, as they did during those three days when Obama mysteriously disappeared from the campaign trail, showing up at the annual meeting of the Trilateral Commission and securing their approval over Hillary Clinton, this time it’s ONE OF THEIR OWN, putting them firmly in the driver’s seat of the government. For those who doubt, the DNC rules kept a number of candidates out of the debates because they failed to meet certain fund raising and endorsement criteria, yet they are looking to change those rules to allow Bloomberg, who hasn’t raised a dime, and so far only has the endorsement of Obama, to allow him on the stage for their next debate. Why?  These two groups are the ones that elevate the candidate of their choice. One of their own is running, and they want him on the stage.

Sanders is scary because of his socialist ideology, but he would have a difficult time pushing his agenda through congress.

Bloomberg is TRULY scary because, not only does he have the wealth and media empire (his own personal propaganda machine) to shape opinion and policy, he is a member of the very organizations to which so many in government are beholden, the true, behind the scenes power brokers not just of the US, but of the world.

EDIT:  02/18/2020.  The DNC has announced that, despite raising no funds and only collecting ONE endorsement, Bloomberg has “earned” a place in the Nevada debates.  As I said, the Trilaterals and CFR’s WANT Bloomberg on that stage, and the DNC is willing - if not happy - to comply with their wishes.

I Don’t See Color....

This statement has triggered debate in recent years from both sides of the racial divide.

On one hand, there are those of all chromatic persuasions who state that they don’t see color, which is immediately denounced as an impossibility; one cannot NOT see color.  And there are those who will also argue that the statement, “I don’t see color”, is a repudiation of the injustices suffered through the years by minority communities.  It is a deliberate attempt to deny the implicit bias they assume that all people - particularly those of the majority “race” - MUST have.

On the other hand, there are those who truly use this statement as a way to deny that minorities have suffered as a result of their ethnicity.

Then there is a third group who say they don’t see color; I am one of these.  No, I’m not blind or colorblind, nor am I ignorant of history, so what do I mean when I say this?

It means, very simply, that I - and many like me - have made a conscious decision not to let color play a role in how I treat people.  I am fully aware of the injustices suffered by minorities, and I make every effort to ensure that I treat all people with respect.  When my minority customers come to my store, they receive the same high level of service with which I provide my non-minority customers.  A black male in a hoodie doesn’t elicit any more attention or concern from me than a white or hispanic male in a hoodie; frankly, with the desire to hide their identity, they all concern me equally.

I disagree with the notion that ALL people, particularly non-minorities, suffer from implicit bias against ethnic minorities, and it is too easy a conclusion to which to jump to automatically assume that everyone who makes this statement is denying an implicit bias of which they are either unaware or deliberately trying to cover up.

It is sad that those who assume non-minorities MUST be biased against them nonetheless allow themselves to indulge in the same biases of which they accuse others.

The Richmond, VA, Second Amendment Protest And MLK Day - Not The Contradiction Some Make It Out To Be....

“... the idea of a mass armed rally at the state capitol on a holiday devoted to civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. is its own form of tyranny..,”  Noah Robertson, What Virginia gun rally says about future of Second Amendment rights, Christian Science Monitor, January 17, 2020.

The author who penned that sentiment conveniently ignores that, while MLK did indeed stress nonviolent protest - the same idea espoused by the vast majority of the pro-Second Amendment protestors who will be in attendance with the same firearms they carry WITHOUT INCIDENT every day - he availed himself of his right to own MANY firearms for the defense of himself and his family.  One of his friends characterized King’s home as “an armory” because he owned so many firearms, while William Worthy, a journalist who covered the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, reported that he almost sat on a loaded gun while visiting King’s home. King applied for a concealed pistol license which, predictably for that time period, was rejected.  I can’t think of a better time to protest in support of our Second Amendment rights - a right in which MLK strongly believed and, within the limitations of his time, exercised to the fullest extent possible.

Public Comment Re: Proposed Change to Form 4473...

The ATF has called for public comment regarding proposed changes to the federal 4473 firearm purchase background check form.

One of the changes concerns a change to Section B, Sex: Male/Female.  The ATF is proposing to add a third option to this question: Nonbinary.

I sent the following to the ATF:

Regarding Section B, question regarding Sex: Male/Female/Nonbinary.  Nonbinary is not a question of sex, it is a question of perceived gender.  And since the question relates to the ability of ffl’s and law enforcement being able to readily identify an individual, the previous question regarding Sex: Male/Female is the most accurate question.

Changing this question as a nod to some social trend is counterproductive in this instance.

Leave the question as it is.  It is not worth the expense required to change the forms, nor does it aid relevant parties in readily identifying the individual attempting to transfer the firearm.

The ATF needs to hear from the public regarding the futility if this proposed change.  Comments will be accepted for the next 43 days, and can be sent to the following email address: FederalRegisterNoticeATFF4473@atf.gov