Critical Lessons Lost To History….

Insights from two men of history who were much smarter than I.

"A principal source of errors and injustice are false ideas of utility. For example: that legislator has false ideas of utility who considers particular more than general conveniencies, who had rather command the sentiments of mankind than excite them, and dares say to reason, `Be thou a slave'; who would sacrifice a thousand real advantages to the fear of an imaginary or trifling inconvenience; who would deprive men of the use of fire for fear of their being burnt, and of water for fear of their being drowned; and who knows of no means of preventing evil but by destroying it. THE LAWS OF THIS NATURE ARE THOSE WHICH FORBID TO WEAR ARMS, DISARMING THOSE ONLY WHO ARE NOT DISPOSED TO COMMIT THE CRIME WHICH THE LAWS MEAN TO PREVENT. CAN IT BE SUPPOSED, THAT THOSE WHO HAVE THE COURAGE TO VIOLATE THE MOST SACRED LAWS OF HUMANITY, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE CODE, WILL RESPECT THE LESS CONSIDERABLE AND ARBITRARY INJUNCTIONS, THE VIOLATION OF WHICH IS SO EASY, AND OF SO LITTLE COMPARATIVE IMPORTANCE? Does not the execution of this law deprive the subject of that personal liberty, so dear to mankind and to the wise legislator? and does it not subject the innocent to all the disagreeable circumstances that should only fall on the guilty? IT CERTAINLY MAKES THE SITUATION OF THE ASSAULTED WORSE, AND OF THE ASSAILANTS BETTER, AND RATHER ENCOURAGES THAN PREVENTS MURDER, AS IT REQUIRES LESS COURAGE TO ATTACK UNARMED THAN ARMED PERSONS," Cesare Bonesana, "On Crimes and Punishment," 1764.

"But the position laid down by Lord Sandwich, is a clear demonstration of the justice of defensive arms. The Americans, quoth this Quixote of modern days, will not fight; therefore we will. His Lordship’s plan when analized amounts to this. These people are either too superstitiously religious, or too cowardly for arms; they either cannot or dare not defend; their property is open to any one who has the courage to attack them. Send but your troops and the prize is ours. Kill a few and take the whole. THUS THE PEACEABLE PART OF MANKIND WILL BE CONTINUALLY OVERRUN BY THE VILE AND ABANDONED, WHILE THEY NEGLECT THE MEANS OF SELF DEFENCE. THE SUPPOSED QUIETUDE OF A GOOD MAN ALLURES THE RUFFIAN; WHILE ON THE OTHER HAND, ARMS LIKE LAWS DISCOURAGE AND KEEP THE INVADER AND THE PLUNDERER IN AWE, AND PRESERVE ORDER IN THE WORLD AS WELL AS PROPERTY. The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; BUT SINCE SOME WILL NOT, OTHERS DARE NOT LAY THEM ASIDE. AND WHILE A SINGLE NATION REFUSES TO LAY THEM DOWN, IT IS PROPER THAT ALL SHOULD KEEP THEM UP. Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them; for while avarice and ambition have a place in the heart of man, the weak will become a prey to the strong. The history of every age and nation establishes these truths, and facts need but little arguments when they prove themselves," Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War," published in Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775. 

What is true of nations is true of individuals as well. Since some will not lay down their arms, others dare not. While a single bad guy refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all should keep them up.

Remember, Thomas Paine was a Quaker - a pacifist, but even HE recognized the truth of this precept.

MICHIGAN PASSES ABORTION OPT-OUT!!!

By a vote of 62-46 in the House, and 27-11 in the Senate, Michigan has passed the abortion opt-out!!! It failed to achieve a 2/3 majority by just a few votes, so it goes into effect 90 days after the close of this legislative session instead of taking immediate effect.

This vote makes Michigan the 24th state to opt-out of mandatory abortion coverage, meaning that women who desire such coverage must elect to receive it and pay for it themselves, instead of forcing EVERY insurance customer to pay for a medical procedure that is reprehensible morally and Biblically.

THANK YOU, LORD!!!

The Average Military Man...

GUNS (Virtual State of the Union 2013)

The Graphic Says It All...

Two School Shootings This Week....

The week of October 26, 2013.

First, Nevada.  Two days later,  a Massachusetts teacher is murdered on school grounds.

"...there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called 'soft targets' are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.

'Societies have to think about how they're going to approach the problem,' Noble said. 'One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you're going to have to pass through extraordinary security... 

How do you protect soft targets? That's really the challenge. You can't have armed police forces everywhere... 

What I'm saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, 'Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat...'"

Ron K. Noble, Secretary General, Interpol

Interpol chief ponders armed citizenry 

Providing "extraordinary security" for schools is a practical and financial impossibility. It is too expensive, and there have been cases where school shootings take place outside the buildings where metal detectors and bag searches are going to find nothing. Half-mile gun free zones around schools have stopped nothing.

It is time to admit that the gun free school zones experiment, which has been ongoing for over twenty years, is a complete and utter failure and let teachers, staff, and parents defend themselves and their students.

Period.

This IS the common sense approach.

Open Letter To Congress:- End The BrinksmanshipGuarantee - Debt Payments

October 17, 2013

Legislators:  

United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, SECTION 4:

"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.  But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."

That the President would use the threat of defaulting on our debt payments as a loaded gun to the head of congress is reprehensible in the extreme, and it must never be allowed to happen again.  His threat to default on our debt payment in violation of the Constitution, placing not only our own economy, but the world economy as well, into a state of panic is an impeachable offense.

Legislation MUST be passed FORTHWITH to insure that no entity - presidential or congressional - can ever use this threat again by GUARANTEEING that debt payments will be made.  Such a guarantee will not only calm our own citizens, but will also reassure foreign creditors as well.

In addition, while the Constitution bans default on LEGITIMATE debt, it also bans payment of any obligation to enemies of this country.  We have no business supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or any other terrorist organization that has threatened or waged war against the United States, or has worked to recruit citizens of this country with the goal of insurrection and rebellion.  Such payments are not legitimate obligations and must be banned.

The brinksmanship ends now.

An Angry Constituent

An Open Letter To Pres. Obama And Congress: DEFAULT IS NOT AN OPTION...

October 16, 2013

Mr. President, Legislators:  

United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, SECTION 4:

"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."

No matter what else doesn't get paid, you don't have a choice:  DEFAULT IS NOT AN OPTION; YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY THIS.  THIS BILL GETS PAID BEFORE ALL OTHERS.

PERIOD.

The House of Representatives has passed legislation to pay this.  The CONSTITUTION, which you have all sworn to uphold, prohibits you from playing politics with America's debt.

GET IT DONE, NOW. 

An Angry Constituent

Partial Gov't "Shutdown" and Military Personnel....

I just read the following post regarding the son of a friend who is stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina:

"Just found out ***** ***** not only has no commissary ( I can understand that) but now the Defax (Mess hall) is closed and they aren't feeding him either. He now has to go off base and fend for himself."

So now not only are our military personnel not being PAID, they aren't being FED, either; the commissaries are also being shut down due to the partial government "shutdown."  In order to buy groceries or eat, on-base personnel must now leave their bases and buy their necessities at the more expensive civilian stores and restaurants, yet the Commander in Chief of US military forces demands that they remain on active duty.

Do you see the lengths to which Pres. Obama displays his contempt for our military personnel and makes them endure his anger because of the attempts to derail his agenda?

Capitol Shooting - Mother Was Depressed. Obviously We Need Vehicle Control Laws....

Regarding the recent capitol shooting: the driver was known to Connecticut police, it appears that she was suffering from depression and had been hospitalized for it at one point, and she rammed the barrier at the White House because she believed that Pres. Obama was stalking her (actually, she wasn't far from wrong on that count!).

Obviously, her right to own a vehicle should have been taken away long ago. 

We need to provide comprehensive, universal background checks as a condition to owning a vehicle, and we need to limit the capacity of gas tanks of all vehicles to not more than 10 gallons to insure that someone can't try something like this again. We need to immediately ban all high capacity gas tanks (11 gallons or larger), and register all vehicles in a federal database that can take a high capacity gas tank. Sen. Pelosi should waste more tax payer dollars looking at photos of vehicles so that she can come up with a list of scary-looking assault vehicles that should be banned from ownership unless you buy a tax stamp first; this list will grandfather in historic assault vehicles. It is imperative that the President pass an executive order banning the reimportation of any US-made historic assault vehicle that may have been provided to another country 60 years ago during the course of a war.

Further, the right of anyone associated with such a person to own a vehicle, especially one with a high capacity gas tank or, heaven forbid, an assault vehicle, should be curtailed as well to insure that the disturbed person can't illegally acquire the vehicle by running the owner over with their own vehicle. In addition, vehicle free zones should be established to prevent such people from getting too close to the White House, congress, and schools, and teachers and other school staff should be forbidden to possess a vehicle in a school zone. Malls, theaters, hospitals and other commercial entities should have the right to post themselves as vehicle free zones. The simple act of posting a vehicle free zone sign will be sufficient to deter someone who is potentially dangerous from using their vehicle to commit a crime, such as ramming a 7-11 for the purpose of dragging out the ATM.

If we take these measures, we can insure that something like this never happens again, because everyone knows that disturbed people, or even hard core bad guys, would never try to circumvent this system by illegally acquiring a vehicle or modifying a legal vehicle by adding a high capacity gas tank and other assault vehicle features.

Sound absurd? I can think of at least one other area in which these same conditions are considered to be "common sense," even though that area accounts for a fraction of the deaths that occur in the US as compared to automobile ownership.