Celebrity Hypocrites

Again we watch as liberals and progressives launch yet another assault on our constitutional second amendment rights. Some of the loudest have been the so called celebrities out of Hollywood, California. The below videos brilliantly display Hollywood's hypocrisy as they demand an end to gun violence, after collecting millions of dollars glorifying gun violence in their movies and hiring armed security guards for themselves.

Isn't it time that Hollywood stopped being such hypocrites?

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf RIP

Just seen on Twitter: "AP source: Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf has died in Tampa, Fla." at the age of 78.

May he rest in peace. Til we meet in Fiddler's Green, General

More from Politico

Former President George H.W. Bush released the following statement from his hospital bed,

"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great Nation through our most trying international crises. More than that, he was a good and decent man — and a dear friend.  Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family."

Schwarzkopf's sister says he passed away from complications with pneumonia.

Vets, whispers, and a little horse sense

BY REES LLOYD (Reposted by author's request)

A great gift to give to veterans with stress this Christmas or for the new year is information about or sponsorship in the unique “Join-Up”® equine therapy program of Monty Roberts, the internationally famous horseman, horse trainer, and humanitarian known as the “Horse Whisperer.”

Roberts’ “Horse Sense & Soldiers” workshops, through his International Join-Up® Organization, are being credited with transforming the lives of veterans wounded by service-related post traumatic stress injury by teaching them to use his unique method of working with, and ultimately “joining up” with, untrained horses without the use of any violence whatsoever.

There are more than 3,000 veterans in the San Gorgonio Pass, many of whom suffer from post traumatic stress and could benefit from Roberts’ “Join-Up”® workshops, which he offers free to veterans.

On Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 2012, Roberts, put on his first “Horse Sense & Soldiers” workshop to be carried out in conjunction with the Patriot Outreach organization, and the American Legion Department of California Patriot Outreach Pilot Project. The three day program was held Dec. 7 through 9, 2012, at Roberts’ “Flag Is Up Ranch” in Solvang, CA. A second is planned for Jan. 11 to 13.

The Pearl Harbor Day workshop began with the lowering of the Flag and silence as Taps was played by Banning Bugler Robert Morgan, in remembrance of the veterans who were killed or wounded in the Japanese Empire attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec.7, 1941. Morgan, now 20, is a former Banning Eagle Scout and VFW’s “Scout of the Year 2009-10 (from among 60,000 nominees). He has bugled for three Memorial Honor Detail teams at Riverside National Cemetery since he was 12, in almost 1,000 military services. Now a college student headed for a military career, Morgan went through the “Join-Up” process at the invitation of Monty Roberts to learn just how it works.

Roberts is now internationally renowned as “The Horse Whisperer,” the name Hollywood gave to the movie based on his remarkable life. He has been celebrated by monarchs and presidents ranging from Queen Elizabeth II to President Ronald Reagan, and applauded by literally millions throughout the world who have seen his performances demonstrating that untrained, and even wild horses, can be trained by his “Join-Up” method of understanding and using the horses’ body movements as a discernible, predictable, and effective language he calls “Equus,” without “breaking” them by brutality and violence.

His autobiography, “The Man Who Listens To Horses,” has sold over 6.5-million copies. Over 10-million of his various books have been sold all together. In addition to the movie “The Horse Whisperer,” his life has been the subject of documentaries, television features and programs. He is in demand to teach his Join-Up method across the globe, from England to Germany to Brazil.

But he expends his time, money, and resources to also put on his “Horse Sense & Soldiers” workshops for veterans, whom he regards as “special people, who answered the call of the country to serve in order that the rest of us might remain free.”

When he teaches in a workshop to veterans of how debilitating post traumatic stress can be overcome by “joining up” with the horses in a non-violent partnership by using the silent body language of the horses, Equus, Roberts talks “down” to no one, and embraces everyone, with humility and gratitude for what he has learned from the some 70,000 horses he has worked with in a lifetime. “It’s not me who is teaching,” he says. “It’s the horses. Everything I know the horses have taught me. Everything I am, I owe to the horses. My only aim is to leave the world a better place for people, and the horses.”

Although he was rejected for military service because he is totally color blind, Roberts is a man who can speak of post traumatic stress because he knows it up close and personal: Among other things, his ultra-brutal father broke 72 of his bones in beatings when Roberts was a boy. He knows what it is to be in the depths of despair, even though he is now world renown. Learning the language and the lessons of the horses, he overcame his own post traumatic stress, and is engaged in great humanitarian work for veterans, abused children, battered women, autistic kids. There was a great quote about him at the veterans’ workshop from his wife, Pat Roberts, a noted sculptor, artist, and humanitarian herself: “I married a cowboy and got a missionary.”

Roberts is, indeed, a man on a mission—a mission to help vets overcome stress, and he is achieving results, as attested by those who attended the Pearl Harbor Day workshop.

Col. Antonio Monaco (USA, ret.) is a 38-year Army combat veteran who founded Patriot Outreach to try to reach, by various “Coping Strategies,” the 97 percent of veterans that the Veterans Administration estimates need help with stress but decline to seek it for various reasons, including the “warrior ethic” or fear that a medical record for post traumatic stress could negatively affect employment opportunities. He said:

“Monty Roberts’ ‘Horse Sense & Soldiers’ workshop was a great success. Seeing is believing and what we saw are veterans being transformed, getting their lives back, through Monty Roberts’ ‘Join Up’® program with horses… Miracles do happen.”

Terry Tracy, retired Marine who served as the American Legion Department of California Service Officer for some nineteen years, and is one of the most knowledgeable people in California if not the nation on Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation, said:

“I was skeptical when I went to participate in Monty Roberts’ ‘Horse Sense & Soldiers’ workshop based on veterans learning to work non-violently with horses, and ultimately to ‘join up’ with them, in order to help those veterans overcome what Roberts insists is PTSI—Post Traumatic Stress Injury, which can be cured, not PTSD, a ‘Disorder’ veterans are born with which can only be managed.”

“After witnessing veterans following Monty Roberts instructions learning to control and actually ‘join up’ with 1200 pound horses without even touching them, I was greatly encouraged. Then, after hearing those veterans critique their experiences and tell how profoundly it affected them, I left convinced that Monty Robert’s ‘join-up’ method really does work and is an effective way to help veterans overcome debilitating stress, including PTSI.”

James G. Banakus, Chairman of the California American Legion Riders Commission, and a personal friend of Monty Roberts, said:

“Having been involved since the beginning of the idea of using Monty Roberts non-violent Join-Up process with horses to help veterans suffering from PTSI, I have seen remarkable progress in the lives of those who have attended several sessions. Even after their first three day clinic, you can see them starting to come out of the shell they arrived with on Friday morning, to learning to trust in themselves again by Sunday afternoon.”

Stephen Harrison is a former Marine forward observer who served from 1988-1993 and is now an Assistant Chaplain in the California Army National Guard. He is awaiting orders to deploy to Afghanistan, his third assignment to the Middle East. He says he was “transformed” when he experienced “Join-Up”® and has since been working as a volunteer assisting Roberts aid other vets. He said of the Pearl Harbor Day workshop:

“I suffer from and also work with those who suffer from the hurts of this current conflict and have seen most of what military medical has to offer in helping adapt. No pill or group session has come close to working as much as going through “Join Up”® and having Mr. Roberts and his staff introduce me to a new and special type of healing.”

Maj. Gen. George R. Harris (USA, ret.), who is associated with Patriot Outreach’s planned construction of Assisted Living facilities for veterans, including nine scheduled for California, said:

“Monty Roberts’ lifetime of work with horses has unlocked some eye-opening techniques to address post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) suffered by so many of our military. His concepts dig deep and prompt rediscovery of the individual’s capacity for trust - in their environment, in their relationships and in themselves.”

Fred Spain, CEO of “Ranson Green,” the huge, innovative effort of Patriot Outreach to establish a state-of-the-art, hydrogen-powered “green city” providing medical treatment, housing, and jobs for veterans, said:

“Some fifteen of us Patriot Outreach executives witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of Monty Roberts’ techniques as stress-affected veterans engaged with horses in Roberts’ ‘Join-Up’® program. As a result, we are enthusiastic about these efforts and have decided to advance into the teaming effort with Join-Up International to bring active military and Veterans to the ‘Flag Is Up Farm’ for engagement with Monty Roberts’ programs.”

In summary, Roberts’ “Horse Sense & Soldiers” workshop and “Join-Up” program is an experience of a lifetime. It was for mine, for which I will forever be thankful to Monty Roberts and his family, to Col. Monaco and Patriot Outreach, and to the American Legion, for creating the opportunity. I hope veterans dealing with stress, from minor to life destroying major, will seize that opportunity for themselves, and their families, who also suffer.

For more information or to register to participate for the Jan. 11-13, 2013 Monty Robert’s “Horse Sense & Veterans” workshop, go to www.Join-Up.org/veterans; or call 805-688-3483.

REES LLOYD is an American Legion Life Member and Judge Advocate Riverside Post 79, Past Commander District 21 (Cal.), Co-founder and Director, Defense of Veterans Memorials Project of The American Legion, District 21, Dept. of California and a longtime California civil rights attorney and veterans activist now residing in Portland, Oregon.

Copyright © 2012 - Record Gazette

Vietnam, Through The Eyes Of The Entertainers

Most of us that served in Vietnam were occasionally treated to some entertainment in the form of Go-Go Dancers, singers and musicians who would come to Vietnam and entertain us.

The best known was the Bob Hope Shows, but few of us were ever actually able to attend one of his Christmas Specials. Most of us who saw such shows were treated to Filipino bands or occasionally Australian or American entertainers.

Not until today did I know that many of those entertainers were not under the USO, but were booked privately to play at various Military Clubs and remote bases, being largely left to their own accord for security and protection, except of course when at a Base camp performing.

Some lost their lives while there to entertain us.

A 53 minute documentary has been produced from their perspective by one of those performers, Mara Wallis who spent two years in country, traveling and entertaining the Troops.

Her documentary features much footage from the era taken by her friends and interviews with some from later today. Previously only available on DVD, it is now available for full length viewing online.

“Entertaining Vietnam”

A must see trip down memory lane, seeing it from the perspective of those who came over to entertain us, giving us a momentary escape from the rigors of war.

15 Reasons Another Assault Weapons Ban is a Wasted Effort

America has seen another tragic incident where a madman has stolen legal weapons, forced his way into an elementary school and murdered 28 people, 20 of them small children. That he took his own life is of little consolation, having saved the state the effort.

As expected, the gun used now receives all blame as all across America, gun-hating politicians once again push for another "Assault Weapons Ban" as the previous such ban expired in 2004. That such a ban did nothing to prevent such murderous events is completely ignored.

Politicians imposed an "Assault Weapons Ban" in September 1994 with a 10 year sunshine clause, allowing it to expire in September 2004. During the time of that ban, we saw the following happen,

1) 11/15/95 - Lynnville, Tn School shooting. 2 Dead, 1 injured, .22-calibre Remington Viper semi-automatic rifle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richland_High_School_shooting

2) 2/2/96 - Moses Lake, Wa School shooting. 3 dead, 1 injured, .30-30 caliber rifle, .357 caliber pistol, .25 caliber pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_Middle_School_shooting

3) 2/19/97 - Bethel, Ak School shooting. 2 dead, 2 injured, Mossberg 500 12-gauge shotgun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Ramsey

4) 10/1/97 - Pearl, Ms School shooting. 2 dead, 7 injured. Marlin Model 336 .30-30-caliber rifle, knife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_High_School_shooting

5) 12/1/97 - West Paducah, Ky School shooting. 3 dead, 5 injured. .22 caliber long rifle, 12 gauge pump-action shotgun, Ruger MK II .22-caliber pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_High_School_shooting

6)4/24/98 - Edinboro, Pa School shooting. 1 dead, 3 injured. .25 caliber pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Middle_School_dance_shooting

7) 5/21/98 - Springfield, Or School shooting. 4 killed, 24 injured. 9 mm Glock 19 pistol, sawed-off .22LR Ruger 10/22 rifle, .22LR Ruger MK II pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_Kinkel

8) 4/20/99 - Columbine, Co School shooting. 15 dead, 21 injured. Intratec TEC-DC9, Hi-Point 995 Carbine, Savage 67H pump-action shotgun, Stevens 311D double barreled sawed-off shotgun, 99 explosives, 4 knives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

9) 5/20/99 - Conyers, Ga School shooting. 0 dead, 6 injured. .22 caliber long rifle and a .357-caliber revolver

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_High_School_shooting

10) 11/2/99 - Honolulu, Hi Office Shooting. 7 dead, 0 injured. Glock 17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_murders

11) 12/26/00 - Wakefield, Ma Office Shooting. 7 dead, 0 injured. AK-47 variant, 12-gauge Winchester 1300 shotgun, .32 caliber Retolaza pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefield_massacre

12) 3/5/01 - Santee, Ca School Shooting. 2 dead, 13 injured. Arminius .22 caliber long-barreled revolver

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Andrew_Williams

13) 3/22/01 El Cajon, Ca School Shooting. 0 dead, 5 injured. Weapon unknown

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite_Hills_High_School_%28El_Cajon,_California%29#Shooting

14) 1/16/02 Grundy, Va College Shooting. 3 dead, 3 injured. .380 ACP semi-automatic handgun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_School_of_Law_shooting

15) 4/14/03 New Orleans, La School Shooting. 1 dead, 3 injured AK-47, semi-automatic pistol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McDonogh_High_School_shooting

15 mass shootings while so-called "Assault Weapons" were banned, 13 of them in our schools and this does not include thousands of other murders committed by other means.

Here in Washington State, we see a new push to ban "Semi-Automatic" Weapons by 3 gun-hating Democrats, spewing such rhetoric as "If they're used in the army, used in the war — that's what this ban is about," by Ralph Fascitelli, the board president of Washington Ceasefire.

Fascitelli seems to be echoing a similar uninformed sentence uttered by Barack Obama in the second presidential debate this past October where in the midst of one of his extensive answers he stated, "weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets."

Apparently, neither realizes that unless obtained illegally, stolen or procured on the black market, such weapons ARE NOT ON OUR STREETS! Why? Because they are ALREADY BANNED! Citizens cannot legally obtain the same weapons used by our Military, those are fully automatic, meaning as long as the trigger is held down, they continue to fire until you empty the magazine.

What citizens are able to have is a semi-automatic that LOOKS similar, but will only fire once for each pull on the trigger. They function no different than any hunting rifle.

Referring back to the 15 incidents during the previous Assault Weapons Ban, you'll notice that in the majority, the weapon used would not fall under such a ban.

What we see is the usual knee-jerk reaction of people with an unfounded fear or hatred of guns, always seeking to disarm innocent people and not realizing that since criminals already ignore all laws, there is no reason to expect they will heed a new one. They will just see more easy targets.

In the examples given above, in at least 2 the shooters were stopped and held for Police by others who also were armed. Pearl, Mississippi saw the vice-principal retrieve a gun from his truck and hold the shooter as he was heading off to another school to do more harm. The Appalachian Law School shooter was apprehended by 3 students, at two that were armed.

But gun-haters oppose training and arming qualified personnel in schools. They falsely believe do so places school children in more harm instead of protecting them.

To that I can only answer, if training and arming qualified school staff will not protect school children, then how does arming secret service agents protect Barack Obama's children, who have armed body guards wherever they go? And they are not necessarily armed with single shot weapons, but fully automatic weapons in some cases.

Are his children somehow more important than yours?

We would do far better addressing the mental health of people than disarming innocent citizens and leaving them easy prey to whatever criminal element roams our towns.

It is time we turned our focus to where the problem really lies, mental health and not the NRA who teaches and advocates gun safety.

See also Reality Clark County Tools for Teachers

Surviving an Active Shooter Event: Run. Hide. Fight.

The following video was produced by the city of Houston, Texas and the Department of Homeland Security as a training aid to inform citizens of how to react and what to do to survive an active shooting incident like we have seen lately. While there is some excellent advice, depending on the exact situation a person my find themselves in and of course, the location, they do not mention getting the proper training on the use of a firearm, arming yourself and being prepared to use it if need be.

It is unlikely that any of us would ever be faced with such a situation, but not as unlikely as it once was. It could happen in a location where you cannot run, cannot hide or do not have anything to improvise as a weapon to defend yourself. Buying a gun alone is not good enough. You must be trained, maintain proficiency and be prepared to take a life. If not, you should not arm yourself.

Read more as well a version in Spanish here

It’s Time to Get Realistic About Gun Control

Once again, pure evil visited a community in America and the media wasted no airtime informing the world of it. At least 28 people, 20 of them small children lie dead because of the callous act of a lone mentally disturbed gunman who felt he should end so many lives at an Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Barack Obama said, “As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago -- these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a long time gun control advocate says, “With all the carnage from gun violence in our country, it’s still almost impossible to believe that a mass shooting in a kindergarten class could happen. It has come to that. Not even kindergarteners learning their A,B,Cs are safe. We heard after Columbine that it was too soon to talk about gun laws. We heard it after Virginia Tech. After Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek. And now we are hearing it again.”

Boston, Massachusetts Mayor Thomas Menino adds his voice with, “Now is the time for a national policy on guns that takes the loopholes out of the laws, the automatic weapons out of our neighborhoods and the tragedies like today out of our future.”

Actress Mia Farrow left on twitter, “I don’t want to hear one idiotic word out of the NRA. Gun control is no longer debatable- it’s not a ‘conversation’- It’s a moral mandate.”

Bombastic filmmaker Michael Moore brayed, “The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy.”

Within hours of the news breaking of the carnage, as level-heads were saying “now is not the time” for more discussion on guns, MomsRising.org, a spin-off the far left Moveon.org sent out an email blast stating, “We are beyond heartbroken as we think of the kindergarteners and others that died today in Connecticut. Today is the 3rd day this week when there’s been a mass shooting in our nation. We are parents. Many NRA members are parents. And none of us want to live in a nation where children are gunned down. #Todayistheday for the NRA and for Congress to step up and start proposing laws that protect children and all people.”

Throughout the day and continuing today we read of more calls for new laws concerning guns in America. From the style of gun to the capacity of the magazine, even to the false claims of “automatic weapon,” the cry goes out to “do something.”

I agree, we must do something and we must do it soon to protect our children and our families.

December 1, 1997 saw three students killed and five wounded at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky.

May 21, 1998 we saw two students killed and 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon.

April 20, 1999 in Littleton, Colorado 15 students, including the 2 shooters and one teacher were killed, 27 others wounded at Columbine High School.

April 16, 2007 saw Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech University killing 32 students and faculty, and wounding another 17 people.

And now, December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, 20 children and 7 adults are dead, including the mother of the shooter.

And it isn’t only schools were it happens. We recently saw the shooting at the Clackamas Town Center Mall that left 3 dead, including the shooter.

Back on October 16, 1991 saw 23 people slaughtered as they peacefully dined at a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas by a madman.

November 5, 2009 saw Maj. Nidal Hasan murder 13 soldiers and injure 32 others at Ft. Hood, Texas.

July 20, 2012 saw another madman kill 12 people and wound scores more in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater.

We have seen far too many of these incidents, but those demanding more gun laws, more gun bans and neutering of the NRA all miss the common denominator in every one of these shootings.

Each and every one of them happened in a place that already had a strict, no guns allowed policy.

That’s right, in each case, the gunman was already openly ignoring and in violation of existing gun laws as well as ignoring the policies of “no guns allowed” when they entered and began their carnage, knowing there was little to no chance of anyone stepping up to oppose them.

In simpler words, our increasingly strict laws against guns and their use has never stopped one single bullet exiting the barrel of any criminal or madman. They pay no attention to written law and often the gun used was stolen or obtained illegally.

Even those who obtained their gun legally and “snapped” pay no heed to laws and if bent on killing masses of people, seek out those “gun free” places to carry out their mayhem.

This argument on disarming American citizens is not new. An April 30, 1866 editorial in the New York Times argued against students carrying pistols, citing “A boy of 12 has his pantaloons made with a pistol pocket; and this at a boarding-school filled with boys, who, we suppose, do or wish to do the same thing. We would advise parents to look into it, and learn whether shooting is to be a part of the scholastic course which may be practiced on their boys; or else we advise them to see that their own boys are properly armed with the most approved and deadly-pistol, and that there may be an equal chance at least of their shooting as of being shot.”

For a very long time we have seen efforts to establish what opponents to guns label as “common-sense” gun regulations. And for a very long time we have seen those very regulations ignored and violated by criminals and madmen, seeking out those very well known “gun-free” areas to carry out their dastardly deeds.

What those who condemn the gun ignore is cases where an armed citizen out a stop to any carnage by drawing their own legally concealed firearm, just as thousands of homeowners have done, defending and saving their own lives and the lives of others.

News reports may mention citizens stepping in to stop the mayhem, but often do not mention that those who stepped up did so with their own gun, many times not needed to even fire it, shooters stopping realizing they were about to be shot.

Suzanna Gratia-Hupp gave an emotional account of seeing her parents gunned down in the 1991 Luby’s cafeteria shootings before Congress and how her compliance with the then Texas Law prevented her from saving her parents and others, leaving her own firearm locked in her car. The gunman paid no attention to the law that was expected to keep people safe.

A 1997 school shooting was stopped in Pearl, Mississippi when Vice-Principal Joel Myrick retrieved his Colt .45 from his truck and held the shooter for Police as he was about to leave Pearl High School, headed to the nearby Junior High to continue his carnage.

Had Mr. Myrick been allowed to have his gun on his person he might have been able to prevent at least some of the dead or wounded, but he definitely prevented more deaths planned at the other school.

In 2002 we saw a lone gunman who decided to terrorize the Appalachian Law School being tackled by three students, two of whom were armed, putting a stop to the gunman’s plans before the body count reached that we saw in the Virginia Tech shooting years later where no one was permitted to be armed.

Again, the gunman ignored the laws and regulations, seeing easy targets in another “Gun-Free” school campus.

We saw another gunman who decided to slaughter worshippers at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado brought down by an armed citizen in attendance that day before he killed more.

April 2012 saw a knife wielding man stopped dead in his tracks in Salt Lake City, Utah as an armed citizen put an end to his rampage stabbing and slashing others.

Time and again, qualified, licensed citizens have sprung into action stopping criminals and madmen before their rampage caused a much higher body count than planned.

We are just now learning that the shooter at the Clackamas Town Center was confronted by a man with a concealed carry license.

Since it is now known the gunman had several loaded magazines, did he take his own life thinking he was about to be shot or arrested, ending his body count at 2 instead of dozens that he might have hoped for?

Time and again we see where properly trained, legally licensed citizens with a firearm prevented high body counts when these criminals and madmen go on a rampage. No law passed, no matter how bold you may print “we really mean it this time” has stopped these gunmen.

Guns are here and criminals have no intent of surrendering their gun, no matter what law is passed. If they want to create mayhem, they can obtain a gun easier by illegal methods than legal.

If they don’t have access to a gun, many just use a knife, a hammer, a screwdriver or mix regular household items into an explosive device to carry out their intent.

They just ignore the laws.

Guns were banned in England and strict controls put on them. Yet they saw an increase in gun crime.

They also saw such an increase in knife crimes, where the victim was unable to defend themselves due to those strict gun regulations, doctors began advocating a kitchen knife ban.

What else will they propose be banned or heavily regulated before they wake up and realize the problem is not in the tool used by criminals and madmen, but the criminal and madmen themselves?

We do need gun regulations, no one argues that. Certain people should not be able to purchase or possess a gun. Few people argue that.

But guns are here to stay.

We do not need to disarm innocent people and leave them an easy prey to madmen and criminals. As we saw in examples above, a properly trained and licensed teacher, vice-Principal or Administrator in a school could put a stop to the mayhem before it grows.

When seconds count, Police are but minutes away.

How many more must die while waiting on them to arrive?

Isn’t A Job Also a “Basic Human Right?”

It seems everywhere we turn today, some Progressive twit is declaring what they want to be a “basic human right.” Abortion, birth control, medicine, healthcare, a home, public transportation, recreational drugs, food and any number of other wants are declared basic human rights that should just be given to them, free of charge with someone else footing the bill.

But it seems that when it comes to a job, that is not a basic human right and judging by the actions unfolding as the Michigan legislature passes Right to Work legislation, you should not be able to have a job or work for a paycheck unless you are held hostage to a union.

Right to work very simply says that someone may not be required to join a union and be forced to pay dues to a third party (the union) in order to be hired and work at a company or place of business, drawing a paycheck.

It does not kill the union, but makes joining the union voluntary.

Unions, who use the collected dues often to donate and support Democrats, who in turn write legislation favorable to corrupt unions, hate right to work for obvious reasons, people do not like being forced to pay a third party in order to be able to work and feed their families.

All too often, unions see their membership drop and dues decline as workers opt out of union membership after right to work legislation is passed. The worker does better with more money in their pocket, spending it on their family instead of ensuring union bosses have luxurious lifestyles and freely give money to Democrats, but the union abhors people being able to succeed on their own, beholding to no one, held hostage only to their talents and abilities.

Unions are known for their violent rallies and protests, even murder to force their way into people’s lives an Michigan is seeing that very thing happen today as they passed the latest right to work law.

The video below one such violent outburst by union zombies against an Americans for Prosperity tent set


The tent was occupied by people freely using their first amendment rights to support or oppose legislation, just as any of the rest us have and do. Some union thugs were armed with knives as their tore down and ripped up the tent, all because they oppose other people not being forced to join their union against their will.

We saw this last year in Longview, Washington as the Longshoremen’s union turned violent in protesting a company using another union, taking hostages, destroying private property and terrorizing the citizens.

Unions also promote lies about their worth and history, falsely they are who brought about the 40 hour work week. That was Henry Ford who brought about the 5 day, 40 hour work week and Henry Ford was very much anti-union, fighting to keep them out of his early corporation.

The effectiveness of unions can be seen in the economic decline of Detroit, Michigan, once a thriving center of American Automobile production. The city is nearing bankruptcy, neighborhoods that once were filled with productive workers now see empty dilapidated houses and deteriorating sidewalks and streets.

We recently saw city council members calling for a federal government bailout as one member expressed to Barack Obama, “we elected you now bail us out,” explaining his job was to “bring home the bacon.”

We even see Barack Obama, who champions himself a protector of basic human rights inserting himself into the Michigan right to work matter, telling union stooges, “What we shouldn’t be doing is try to take away your rights to bargain for better wages or working conditions.”

Newsflash for Obama, Right to Work does not remove anybodies rights to collective bargaining or improved working conditions, it only makes membership in a union voluntary, removing the unions’ ability to force membership and dues collection.

What it does it lets workers decide on their own if they will join a union or act as free agents when it comes to employment, not be held hostage by a third party.

Obviously, voluntary union membership strokes a note of fear in the union bosses hearts.

To be clear, when I say a job is a basic human right I do not mean that everyone is owed a job. No, but we should be free to pursue any job we want and work wherever we can impress the owner that they need our talents, not being held hostage to third party unions who only take from workers and produce nothing but more violence.

We cannot be the “Land of the Free” if we are forced into owing our souls to thuggish union bosses in order to just have a job and care for our families.

Union appreciation for our first amendment freedoms


Do you want to be held hostage to these thugs?

Stoners Stumble Across the ‘Law of Unintended Consequences’

The enlightened people in the states of Washington and Colorado pushed through their measures to legalize marijuana smoking in the last election, many euphoric over the electoral win and believing their choice of drug, once legalized, will be broadly accepted and they will no longer face consequences for smoking a joint when they so choose.

Since marijuana use is sill illegal under federal law, the question left unanswered for the time being is what will the feds do in the two states, now that they have decided to not follow federal law?

As of this posting, there is only speculation on what the feds may or may not do.

The states have one year to work our regulations concerning the use of marijuana, such detection standards if caught driving under the influence as well as standards to be used should such a case draw a user a citation and they appear in court.

While that was pretty much expected, one area it seems no one considered was the workplace, s seen in the AP article appearing in the Saturday Columbian, Employers vs. legal pot.

We read of a man who lost his job when a routine drug screening detected his use of marijuana, even though he uses for “medicinal” reasons and his addressing being terminated under the companies “drug free” policy in court.

In this day of “zero tolerance” wherever we look, we shouldn’t be surprised that someone loses their job is pot use is detected, even though “medicinal.” Workplaces have long strived to cut costs of health insurance, increase productivity and maintain a safe working environment for all and any level of impairment is no longer tolerated.

For me personally, I do realize that marijuana use by some afflicted with certain diseases or conditions does help the person. But by and large, we also know that most claims of “medicinal” use of pot are a real stretch, using that as a smokescreen to justify their use of the drug.

Many felt that the initiatives of the people to legalize the recreational use of drug would free them up and the realization that they are not immediately free to walk around or show up at work with it in their system is not being well accepted.

What they forgot in their haste is that marijuana does contain many of the same concentrates of toxins found in tobacco. Some varieties have even larger concentrations of the carcinogens used over the years to demonize tobacco and have it banned nearly everywhere in some communities.

In Washington State, initiative 901 was passed back in 2005, placing very strict prohibitions on smoking tobacco, banning it within 25 feet of opening windows and doors of businesses and homes and even banning it inside of private homes should the homeowner operate a child or adult daycare facility in that home.

The so-called “Clean Indoor Air Act” was passed overwhelmingly by a 63.25% to 36.75% margin.

Legalizing marijuana passed by a smaller 55.7% to 44.3% margin in Washington State.

Clearly, people show they are very concerned about second hand smoke and the claims of carcinogens on those nearby.

Subsequently, additional measures and bans have been imposed by localities on smoking tobacco and taxation to, as Vancouver city council member Jeanne Harris put it, to “change cultural behavior.”

Simply put, people do not want to be exposed to smoke.

Today’s AP article makes mention of the former employee not being shown to be “impaired” at work. But forgotten again is that it is not about being impaired, but about ingesting smoke and potential health hazards that drive up the cost of health insurance an employer must pay.

Comments supporting the legal use of marijuana are saying, “This is not about the right of old hippies and lazy stoners to light up. It's about the rights of responsible people to exercise basic human rights in their own homes,” “So now employers can tell us whether or not we can engage in a legal social activity while off duty?,” “Cannabis use and a safe work place have very little to do with each other” and “The blatant collusion between the insurance lobby and the federal government should have covered MANUFACTURED WHITE POWDERS, not a plant that grows in the ground.”

As to the last quoted comment, do they miss that tobacco also “grows in the ground?”

But where was all of this angst and opposition when employers announced that even off the job smoking of tobacco would be ground for termination? Where was their outcry when court challenges failed, courts siding with employers banning employees from smoking at any time?

Too many stoners raised their blinders in their quest to have their herb legalized without ever considering that their choice of smoke will inevitably fall under the same restrictions of smoke as tobacco.

Many pot smokers even sided with the bans on tobacco and now reality comes smacking them in the face.

They are now facing the uncertainty of although the two states have legalized marijuana use, where will they be allowed to use it without repercussion of some sort?

And just wait to see their reaction when they find out that ‘nickel bag’ ends up costing them maybe as high as $25 after legislators decide to reap revenues off of it.

It’s likely they too will become the subject of efforts to “change cultural behavior” by prohibitive taxation.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

As we all know, Sunday, December 7, 1941 saw a sudden and deliberate attack on the U.S. Navy at anchor in Pearl Harbor Hawaii. The attack drew America into World War Two and was labeled by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as “A day that will live in infamy.”

But few of us know much of what those men in the ships saw and endured on that fateful morning.

I was fortunate to have attended the 70th Commemoration of that attack last year and recorded the words of the few remaining survivors in our area.

May we never forget or let our guard drop like that again.

Mark Levin Schools Speaker John Boehner

The Heritage Foundation says of Boehner's "counter-offer" to Barack Obama, "At first blush, it appears little more than categorical, pre-emptive capitulation."

In this bloggers not so humble opinion, Boehner is a disgrace and either should resign of be removed from the position of Speaker of the House.

It's high time we rid ourselves of the Vichy Republicans selling out conservatives under their false banner.

Barack Obama Commemorates Rosa Parks With a Photo of Himself

I ever there was any doubt that Barack Obama is indeed a narcissist, putting out a photo of himself sitting inside a bus similar to the one Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on back in 1955 should settle that question. That was 6 years before Obama was even born.

That Obama injects himself into an event long before he was born and one that sparked the struggles of Black People in the South to gain the rights that always should have been theirs is just unbelievable, considering he never endured the jaunts of Democrats opposed to Civil Rights, had stones thrown at him by angry Democrats lining the route of marches or never experienced the Democrat Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in his front yard or dragging him out of his home in the dead of night to beat and whip him.

No, he came along later to reap the rewards of what others struggled for and when it is time to honor one known as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement,” he instead of honors himself.

Far different was former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush who after Rosa Parks passed away and her coffin was placed in the Capitol Rotunda, placed a wreath next to her coffin then blended back with the crowd, not taking the attention or significance to him, letting it rest with Rosa Parks where it belonged.

The following year he “ordered a statue of [Rosa] Parks to be placed in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. and when signing this resolution, stated, ‘By placing her statue in the heart of the nation's Capitol, we commemorate her work for a more perfect union, and we commit ourselves to continue to struggle for justice for every American’.”

Again, the attention was focused on her legacy and not himself.

But, Obama has his photo put out, calling honors to himself and not to Ms. Parks or her legacy. And let’s face it, there is no shortage of photos of Ms. Parks courageous stand

Without a doubt he is the most narcissistic person to ever occupy the Oval Office, at least in my lifetime.

We cannot allow the importance of what Rosa Parks did in the fight for Civil Rights to be lost and assigned to a ‘Johnny Come Lately’ who has not done anything to promote Civil Rights, leaving most of today’s Black People much worse off than when he came to power.

Rosa Parks took a courageous stand for justice and civil rights when she refused to give up her seat to a White man back in December 1955.

Decades later, Barack Obama relishes in the attention he draws to himself instead of honoring the legacy and the sacrifices made by others that allowed him to one day even be in the Oval Office.

The memory of Rosa Parks deserves better.

The Sound of Christmas

The latest release from Michael and Angela Souders and of course, those wonderful kids at Tussing Elementary School, Colonial Heights, Virginia

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