Two Stories I Ran Across in the News / Blogosphere

So, first I come across a story about the increase in the use of shotguns - stolen shotguns - in crimes in Britain. Since the all-knowing, all-powerful British Parliament, Prime Minister, etc. outlawed private ownership of firearms, crime has actually gone up (similar to the effect seen in Australia). But, being the benevolent Nanny rulers they are, UK subjects were allowed to keep shotguns for hunting. How kind. Apparently grouse hunting is a huge deal across the pond. If you read the article (it's short) pay attention to all the hoops you have to jump through to own and keep a shotgun as a private citizen.

So.....criminals are finding it easier to commit burglary to obtain a firearm in the form of a shotgun. Huh, the criminal is the one using the legally owned firearm for illegal purposes including hold-ups, car-jackings and murder.

Then, I cruise over to another blog, where I find a link to this story. (I also found this one too.) Sir Nanny (or Lady Nanny?) wants to install closed circuit TV in "private" homes in an attempt to "make sure the kids are doing their homework, going to bed early and eating their vegetables." What the f* is that all about? Apparently, Nanny now really wants to be a nanny. Some more quotes from the article outlining the plan:

"the kids and their families will be forced to sign “behavior contracts”
which will “set out parents’ duties to ensure children behave and do their
homework.”

"The idea is that, if a child has a more stable home life, he
or she will be less likely to stray into crime and drugs."

How long before the installed cameras are used to lock up parents for disciplining their children, feeding them junk food, letting them spend too much time in front of the TV or playing video games, etc? Or to confiscate legally-owned shotguns for the "protection" of the subjects? Good luck with that one, chaps. Really, good luck!

Local Idiocy = Federal Idiocy

In case you couldn’t tell, I am growing more and more fed up w/ government “leaders” at all levels. If you watch the news or listen to any talk radio outside of NPR (or its network and cable equivalents) then you know pretty much what the Fed is doing, and trying to do, these days. It is pretty sickening. Sadly, though, the BS doesn’t stop in DC.

Our local city council in their infinite wisdom, prudence and logical forethought relied on a $3M grant from the Fed to fund city police and fire services in an effort to close the $20M budget deficit. (There is also a $40M deficit projected for next year. How much do you want to bet it turns out to be bigger?) Guess what? Shocker of all shockers, the grant didn’t come through. This is the same city council that tried to close last year’s deficit in part by installing red light cameras to catch local taxpayers running red lights, then mail tickets to the car’s registered owner (maybe not the driver), to raise funds (hidden tax) instead of cutting costs. Great idea folks.

This little ploy to threaten to lay off cops and firefighters is very similar to the California legislators “worrying” that great state may have to lay off teachers and cops and open up the prison doors in order to cut costs. They still haven’t done it months later.

But back to The ‘Nati… I understand that in bad times all departments need to make sacrifices, but that is only after all unnecessary programs have been slashed and/or killed. This is definitely not the case. They found it necessary to put in $3M for a new environmental department for a 4th layer of EPA-type oversight (isn’t $3M what the supposed grant was for?), they want to give section 8 housing in a new riverfront commercial / condo development downtown, etc. and they are pursuing a trollycar / streetcar on a fixed track route. This would cost at least $100M, all for a downtown area near a part of town recently ranked #1 on deadliest neighborhoods list in the nation?! WTF?? Talk about an Epic Fail if that goes through. How many tourist and suburbanites are gonna be mugged or killed on the streetcar if they build it? We’re already claiming we can’t afford the cops and extra jail space. (The voters did turn down a wopping tax increase to build a new jail, but if they could have come up with a plan for a jail at a reasonable price, it would have gotten the votes.)

There is still a little problem of a $7M deficit that they haven’t addressed – and have gone into a summer recess. I had this very short exchange on Twitter with a member of city council. The first 3 were posted before I logged in to check the updates.

Council Member: Sigh. Another suburbanite telling Enq street car is wasteful and analysis needed. Well, we did anlysis, which is why we want to build it.
Council Member: Maybe city residents should start complaining more about the billions we spend on sprawl highways to subsidize your suburban lifestyle?
Council Member: Well, we want an urban lifestyle here--based in transit, not 3-car garages.
Me (ajh1836): @Council Member: urban life=hi pop density. you have 2 clamp dwn on crime b4 any1 agrees 2 live dwntwn & use streetcar sys. can't RiF cops.
Council Member:(By Direct message) Well, 64 percent of our budget goes to public safety--$103 mill to CPD. Obviously this Council prioritizes safety.
Me (ajh1836): (By Direct Message) Yet Council threatens 2 layoff cops & firefighters because foolishly relied on gov grant? Politcal tactic? other cuts (enviro dept) better.

And then the conversation was ended. Why didn’t he (or likely his aide) respond? Notice how “they” responded by direct message, out of the public timeline? Easier to be snarky and make misleading assertions where the public won’t see. Pathetic,but not unexpected.

So, is it any wonder people across the country are fed up with their government at all levels? When you hear threats of layoffs for cops and opening of prison doors, is it any wonder gun sales are up across the country?

Here is an article from a senior law enforcement professional in Columbus, OH. Sobering stuff. It isn’t just crazy, end of the world, folks buying up guns and ammo. Cops, grannies, working stiffs... all worried about a breakdown of government services, mainly cops and jails, riots due to loss of jobs/income, etc., general disenfranchisement and distrust of government - buying firearms and getting their concealed carry permits, if Nanny allows it. Do you see what is going on in France? Could it be coming here? Throughout history, the best way to control a people is to disarm them. A majority of the population are already mindless sheeple waiting for their feed at the Public trough. Maybe it won't be too hard for the gov to take that next step. They tried it in New Orleans after Katrina...
--- ---- - - - -- ----

Every move the Congress and President have made over the last year (obviously longer, but we’ll stick to recent events) has been about control. Not the welfare of the people or the future of the country. As the Fed amasses more power and takes oversight of, stock in, and partnerships with, private business we’re further down the fascist road. How many “leaders” move in and out of government and private sector jobs in big corporations? Goldman Sachs, Fannie/ Freddie, SEIU, AFL-CIO, ACORN, etc, etc. And the state / local level politicians, and Congressional Reps grovel for scraps of bailout and stimulus money, “sweeteners” (aka bribes), selling their states and constituents out in hopes of getting enough dollars for the next campaign and enough uninformed voters to keep them in power.

“I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take the power from them, but to inform them by education.” – Thomas Jefferson

Uh-oh....not the change he was talking about.

I normally don't have much use for polls. I think you can make them say whatever you want them to say by changing up a few words in the questions / making them a bit confusing / less straight-forward. But we'll assume Rasmussen is reliable and respectable. Barry went negative for the first time a week or two ago, then hit -2, -3.... Now this week he's hit -5 and -8 in two straight days of reporting.

Is it the growing deficit for this year, the mounting national debt, the 2009 Euorpean/ Mid-East apology tours he's been on, the lack of transparency he's pushing with Crazy-Eyes Pelosi and Whorehouse Harry, the capNtax / Gorebal Warming nonsense, the Sotomayor nomination, the nomination (and confirmation) of transnationalist Harold Koh, paying back the unions big time with the GM and Chrysler bailout/nationalization/restructure/screwing of the primary creditors, pushing EFCA, agreeing to a nuclear disarmament deal w/ Russia, staying silent on the Iran protestors, but siding w/the Leftist would-be dictator in Honduras in record time (with Castro, Chavez, et al), etc. etc. Quite a list off the top of my head.

So, maybe, just maybe the American Sheeple and starting to wake up and say to themselves, "This doesn't seem right. Maybe this isn't what I bargained for when I flushed my vote down the toilet and let the patients run the asylum." I hope I'm right and the tide is turning. Only time will tell, but it may already be too late save the ship.

And some random notes from the news......

Holy crap. Big Nance did something I actually agree with. Don't know why she did it, and for now, I don't care. This Rep. Jackson-Lee is a whack-job. She's been pimping this resolution so much it is sickening. Check out this nice recap at RedState.com. As a bonus you'll get to see Rep. Peter King (R-NY) turn a nice little partiotic piece into a great tirade against MJ and the media. I don't agree with the guy on everything he says and does, but on this one, I think he's pretty much got it down.

Of course the money is going to those who put him in office. I don't necessarily think there is anything conspiratorial going on here. Like the article says, they are just signing checks and sending them out to whoever asks and maybe qualifies. If you look at a breakdown of the '08 Presidential voting like this one, with the county bubbles and county leaders filters, you see that Barry won in the NE, Midwest and West coast where there are large cities and mostly urban population centers. So if you ship the money off to big cities blindly, you end up giving the money to those who voted for you.

Dear lord! First he gets punked by Chavez in the whole sucker "book gift" photo-op at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, then he bows to the king of Saudi Arabia, bows the Putin, now he's glad-handing it with Qaddafi? WTF? I'm not buying this whole "repairing the US image around the world BS." You can "repair" our image without making us look like the class punk whose next in line to get his head flushed down the toilet after gym class. This guy doesn't know the first thing about earning respect. Kissing ass just gets you laughed at and used. If America has been so horrible that he needs to "transform" it, why have we been the lone superpower in the world for the last two decades?

And a good story to end the day. Video of a guy who fought off a car jacking punk in Florida. It's great to see the good guy win!

Random Thoughts on the World's Craziness

Sotomayor Wrong Again

This New Haven, CT firefighters case is ridiculous. These firefighters studied their asses off and passed a test that was created by specialty firm, hired by the city, then tested and validated to be an effective and accurate tool to determine who were the best of the bunch and who would make the best candidates for promotions. Why the hell did the city then penalize them for playing by the rules that they set? To avoid a "potential" lawsuit from civil rights groups. So they screwed one group of people to "help" another? Sounds like Barry redistributing the wealth.

Why didnt' the city stand up for itself when they were right? Unless they didn't want to be right, or they were plagued by "white guilt" like so many in government are. It is absolutely ridiculous.

I don't want people in critical positions in my own company who only got where there are through the help of a numbers game instead of on their own skill and merits. Not to mention jobs where lives can be at stake, such as police, firefighters, auto mechanics, pilots, construction workers, Supreme Court Justices....

Sotomayor is a self-admitted product of the affirmative action system. She claimed her test scores coming out of college were not the best, but she still got into a top law school. She said in the early 1990's that she is "...a product of affirmative action" and her "test scores were not comparable to my colleagues at Princeton and Yale." And now we find out this isn't the first time she's been on the side of the "oppressed." In the 1980's she helped hispanic police officers challenge a promotions exam in NYC while part of a Puerto Rican legal advocacy organization. Shocking!

Past colleagues and lawyers who have argued cases in front of her speak negatively of her professional demeanor and approach to cases, her opinions are described as short, weak, and poorly thought out. She has been accused of showing blatant disrespect to and belittling of lawyers. Her opinions lead to more centralized power with the Fed and less power for the states- exactly opposite of what the country needs now.

But alas, she will still get in because the Dems are blind to right and wrong, and the Repubs are weak and won't stand up for principle and the best for the nation. It won't change the make up of the court - Souter was no conservative or centrist. It is the next 1, 2 or 3 that Barry may get to appoint that will screw the country for decades.

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More from across the vast web of news.

Story of the day - good for this homeowner, bad for the burglar. Ouch!

Barry waits over a week to say anything about the Iran uprising against dictators, but rushes to the teleprompter to speak out against the Honduras gov and military removing their President when he tried to grab power through unconstitutional additional terms in office. He is on the same side as Castro, Ortega and Chavez. Is anyone surprised by this?

Holy cow, I hope this isn't true, but you can put the pieces together and decide. What about this one? Pamela Gellar over at Atlas Shrugs is no nonsense. She puts it all out there to read and see.

All for now. I can't read anymore tonight. Sleep tight.

Self Defense and Home Security

This picture was taken by a local police department down in Texas.

The back story is that a woman was abducted and taken into this home where she was held captive and assaulted. The first officer responding could hear her screaming as he approached the house. He quickly decided to not wait for back-up and rammed the door with his shoulder. This cop is the brother of a coworker. Apparently, he’s a pretty big guy and his shoulder is still pretty bruised and sore a few days later. The woman was rescued and the bad guy is in custody.

Several points came to my mind regarding this story. First is, I should probably check my external doors to make sure the frames and/or walls won’t give way like this one did. Obviously this was an older house and not very well taken care of, but how many older homes out there were flipped to look pretty nice and may or may not have had much, if any updating / securing done to the doors.

Other thoughts: Quick reactions are critical. This cop didn’t know what was going on in that house and waiting for back up could have been a really bad decision for the woman inside. But, if you are not trained properly, going it alone in any situation can be an equally bad decision for the responder or you if a similar position. Obviously you won't necessarily have the choice to wait for support in most situations, so quick decisive action is a must. I don't know how this woman was abducted, but more than likely if you give in early to a kidnapper and they move you, it's bad news. They aren't moving you for any reason other than to protect themselves from outside eyes seeing what they intend to do. You're better off fighting and every study I've seen supports that.

Second, be aware of your surroundings and people acting strangely. One should always try to stay out of questionable situations or parts of town, etc. There are four levels of readiness: Unaware, Aware, Alert and Alarm. It’s no good to go through life on Alert or Alarm as this would seriously erode your quality of life and make you nuts (if you aren’t already), but one has to be Aware. One good thing I’ve noticed about trying to maintain Awareness, is all the stuff you notice that you never would walking with your head down, with the iPod on, texting, etc. An expression I have heard several times (and ignored repeatedly in my youth) is that “nothing good ever happens outside after ten o’clock at night.” If you do happen to be out late, be sure to run your OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act).

Three: Acquaintances. I don’t know, or pretend to know, who the perpetrator was in this case. Most likely, though, it was an ex- or someone she knew. Avoiding sketchy characters will certainly reduce the odds that you’ll get caught up a bad situation. Random acts of violence aren’t always random. Another old axiom: “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”

Four: Home security is not as simple as locking your doors, but that is an important step. Building in layers and zones of security is important. Keeping your hedges and trees trimmed away from doors and windows to limit hiding places for the bad guys, keeping on outside lighting at night (I’m guilty of not following this one), some combination of door locks, jams, alarms, etc., and a sturdy door frame. If your home is older or was mass-produced by certain builders putting up cookie cutter boxes should consider an inspection of their frames. Establish zones in and around your house and a plan for protecting your property and family. How do you want to confront someone standing on your lawn or in your car, if at all? What if they are stealing your TV and on their way out the door? Etc. etc.

Did I forget anything? Do I have something wrong? Let me know. I am always looking for suggestions, ideas and facts.

Quick! Look Over Here....

Look, I liked the guy. He was great. He was on TV almost every weeknight for decades. Ed McMahon was so comfortable with himself playing "second" to Johnny Carson. Many think he made Johnny better, setting up his jokes, laughing at the jokes, making his own, etc. And who could forget the Publisher's Clearinghouse work he did. Classic.

Never cared for Farrah, but can't say I watched her much. Maybe she was hot in her younger days. Beauty fades and from what I saw, she turned out to be nuts. Remember her appearance on Letterman years back?

As for MJ, I can't say I care much. Nobody, including me, ever wishes for, or rejoices in someone's demise, but..... is anyone surprised? He made good music, but his personal life was nuts and he may or may not have spent "alone time" with little boys. I can't respect that and I can't pretend to get all broken up over his death. And to top it all off, he was reportedly in debt to the tune of a "measly" $400M!!!! WTF???!?? He sold 61M albums in the US alone! How many people is he screwing over via this debt? Bye bye to all his music rights, his home, cars, cash on hand, furniture, art, dishes, bath towels, toothbrush, old noses, etc.

The media fawns and crowds weep. Meanwhile, back on the Hill, our duly elected distinguished leaders in the House took another step to royally screw the country (mainly taxpayers and businesses w/ out connections) with the Crap and Tax bill. Where is the media on this? UCLA med center trying to find out what MJ's last meal was. The utter dumbing down of our society is leading to the ruination of the country. Hopefully, nobody will die when ObamaCare or EFCA come up for a vote. Or God forbid there be a rainstorm, or a celebrity cat fight.

Can we talk about the N Korean's and their nukes? Can we talk about China looking to dump the dollar and not buy our debt any longer? The trillions we're printing? Harold Koh got confirmed by the Senate - anyone hear about that? He's a bad dude and, like Barry, wants to "transform" the nation. But, we lost MJ and Farrah ON THE SAME DAY!!!! OMG! For sure! What a joke.

Pure Evil

This just pisses me off. If ever there was a case where the death penalty was utterly justified, this is it. Quick appeals, fast-track it.

Free Help?

Good quote I heard this week on the Dennis Prager Show, in relation to the government: "Every helping hand is a controlling hand." I was already told this week that this was very cynical, and maybe it is, but I think it is more realistic than anything, especially since it came in the context of "government help." Ever heard or read the line, "Relax, I'm from the Government. I'm here to help?" They probably aren't going to help, and they almost always want something in return.

The government doesn't give anything for free. There are usually more than tax in place or coming to cover the cost. Education isn't free, whether it's grammar school where property is generally taxed, state/Federal loans come with interest and now Barry wants the gov. to take over the whole student loan market. If you want a loan for college, you're going to have to give a few years in "public service" (read "Youth Corps" or "Brown Shirts"). Welfare and government housing aren't totally free. The gov. wants something in return or wants to tell you how to live. In most areas, guns are prohibited in public housing complexes. Can anyone explain the rationale there, let along the legality? The NRA just settled a lawsuit in January of this year with the San Francisco Housing Authority which had a inserted a clause in their lease ducments that banned guns in the public housing residences. They have agreed to remove the provisions and admited that they are not lawful. Score one for the good guys.

Personally, I think this can apply to other areas of life as well. I do not like being in debt to others, especially financially. I believe the adage that "the borrower is slave to the lender."

Barry Loves Big Labor

"Craig Becker and Mark Pearce are President Barack Obama’s nominees to fill two of three vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). .......Becker is associate general counsel to the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO."

No shit, really? A lawyer for the SEIU and AFL-CIO? I said it before, it's all about payback now.

And how about this little piece of info that hasn't gotten much, if any reporting - Barry decided that the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) in the U.S. Department of Labor can do without $4M of it's 2009 budget for 2010, a decrease from $45M to $41M. For anyone who doesn't know, this is the government agency that investigates fraud, embezzlement, etc. by union leaders and officials. It's a good thing that corruption is not a serious issue anymore in Big Labor. Did I miss that goernment report? It must have been released on a Friday afternoon.

Check out the link to this story over at Atlas Shrugs for a very solid rundown of the stories linking Barry w/ the SEIU and ACORN.

Feel Good Story of the Day

College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader

I love the way the one POS dirtbag started yelling for someone to call the police to come and help him. One less bad guy in the world. Too bad one girl was injured, but I'm sure she's glad to be alive.

The student who acted and ended the situation is a friggin' hero. Buy that man a drink.

Poor People and Gambling. Downtown?

I was downtown with the family this past weekend enjoying a nice day of sunshine and mild temps - a much needed break from winter. While talking with some friends who happened to be there also, a lady walked up with a clip board- either looking to sell something or taking a survey, I thought. Wrong, she was getting signatures for a petition to get casinos on the Ohio state ballot... again.

She made certain to tell us that if we signed it she'd get credit - I assumed she was a paid organizer with ACORN or the like. Maybe I'll do some research on that another time. Two of her selling points on why Ohio needs casinos: 1) everyone who wants to gamble leaves the state for Indiana or Kentucky - riverboats & horseracing and 2) poor people can't afford to make the drive all way out to the casinos or maybe they don't even have cars to get there.

My friend Nick quickly replied, "I don't think those people should be gambling at casinos. If you can't afford a car, you probably shouldn't be gambling." I agree, but "you can't fix stupid." (apparently Ron White gets the credit for that one)

I find myself leaning more and more towards a libertarian way of thinking- If people want to spend their money gambling, so be it. We all have a vice of some kind. I've been known to play blackjack, buy a lottery ticket here and there and enjoy a scotch. However, I do not think we as a society should make it easier for the poor and desperate to ruin their lives or remain in their self-induced poverty by pissing away their $100 weekly check (earned or government paid).

Would the economic benefits of putting a casino(or 4) in Ohio outweight the social costs that would/might come along with it? I don't know. But I am certain that putting a casino in the downtown area of a midwestern city, instead of out in the sticks, is a bad idea all around. Who thought this one up? Wouldn't adding a casino to a downtown already stricken with a fair amount of crime in the surrounding neighborhoods, and one already struggling with the issue of suburbanites not wanting to come back to the city after hours and on weekends, only add to the problem with a casino that would likely become a hangout for gangsters, panhandlers, hookers, etc.? Why not make them drive 30-40 minutes to get near the action like everyone else?

Assault on Firearms, America, Veterans

Anyone who is at all interested in firearms, hunting, self defense, government, politics, political activism, the evening news, newspapers, etc. etc. knows that there has been a sharp increase in firearms purchases of all kinds (and ammunition) in the last few years, with the largest spike coming since early 2008.


Some claim this is all in response to the election of Barack Obama, the appointment of Eric Holder as AG and the real possibility of a reinstatement of the Clinton "assault weapons ban" (AWB) or something much stricter.

From the graph to the right(credit to B.Weeks @ "You Get What You Pay For"), showing the avg monthly NCIS backgrond checks, you see that the trend really started to increase in 2003-2004 and hit the gas around 2005. The rise of Obama in 2008 was the icing on the cake, every firearm dealers dream (sort of). Heck, The Outdoor Wire made President Obama its “Gun Salesman of the Year.”

I would have argued a few weeks/ months ago that the cause(s) for the rise in firearms and ammunition sales was more complex than "he's gonna take them all away" or "the world is gonna end" or even "WWIII is coming!" But lately, my opinion has been evolving. I believe there is a general uneasiness across the country that "something just isn't right" and "I don't like the direction things are heading." From Islamic terrorism to the worsening local economies across the country and the resulting increase of unemployment, dispair and in some circumstances the release of criminals from jail / prison. I wouldn't give much credit to terrorism as a cause in the recent sales spike, but personal / household defense against local criminals seems very rational. If criminals are being released and there are no jobs for them when they get out, they revert to what they no best, even if some manner of rehabilitation held any influence over them for a time. And of course you have the weak who, out of fear, dispair, or some form hatred of any group or society as a whole, seeks to wreak some kind of havoc (Binghamton, Oakland, Pittsburgh).

But let's look at three recent statements by Officials in the current Administration. One: Secretary of State Clinton pressing the myth, easily debunked, that 90% of the weapons confiscated in the Mexican drug wars have been linked to the U.S. Wrong. The actual number is closer to 17%. The weapons are mostly coming from China, Russia, S. America etc. It's easier and cheaper. But facts don't matter to Clinton and the other anti's at DHS and ATF, Sen. Feinstein, et al. Even the Mexican Ambassador to the US and Mexican President Calderon have drank the Kool-Aid. But doesn't it benefit them to cast blame on the US? We need to control our guns. We need to control our drug market. We're to blame. Nevermind the corruption at all levels in the Mexican government. They have lost control and are sprialing into a 3rd world state. The US military ranked them as the #2 security threat to our country, with Pakistan being #1. Mexican gangs are the "biggest organized crime threat to the United States” according to the US Justice Dept. But I digress.....

Two: Speaker Pelosi on Good Morning America saying that she and her ilk "don’t want to take their guns away. We want them registered.” Rep. Rush of Illinois has introduced HR45 as a big proposed step in 2nd Amendment infringement. Guess what comes next folks....confiscation. Maybe not this year or next, it's a process, but look at what has happened in Canada, Australia and The UK. First you register the guns, as a backlash to some event, so you know where they are - at least the one's owned by law abiding citizens. Do they really think criminals are going to register their weapons? Then another event and you make them all illegal. Do you really think the criminals are you going to turn theirs in? Now you've effectively nuetered the populace. Guns supposedly come off the street and, surprise! the crime rate actually increases. Logic and facts have never stood in the way of ideologs. Look back thru history. What did Mao, Castro, Hitler, Pol Pot etc. do? The outlawed private ownership of firearms so they could run roughshod across the country and the people. The old axiom is true (that's why it's an axiom) - when you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns.

Now to #3, and perhaps the most disturbing of all. The Dept. of Homeland Security issued a report warning of a rise in "rightwing extremist activity." It cites the economic recession, the election of our first black president and the repatriation of disgruntled war veterans that could join "white-power militias." The report also identifies and warns against those groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. So, if you believe in the Constitution, you are an extremist who must be watched over by the government. I guess Jefferson, Franklin and Washington were extremists. Are they serious with this sh**?? Yes, I am afraid they are. Secretary Napolitano gave it her blessing. The politicization of this issue, making it into a Left v Right thing is unfortunate enough, but not surprising. But the accusasion and disrespect of Veterans is dispicable. Does anyone wonder why Napolitano is the DHS Secretary? She was Gov. of Arizona which has a huge issue with crime - Phoenix is #2 in kidnappings in the world - and a huge issue with illegal immigration. And yes, the two are directly related. She couldn't protect her own state, who the hell thinks she can, or wants to, protect the country. Illegal immigration will be another post in the coming weeks. Remind me.

It is interesting to me that this Administration has abandoned the phrase "global war on terror" in favor of "Overseas Contingency Operation" and terrorist attacks are now "human-caused" disasters. It seems as though the government is getting soft on the real dangers, but coming down pretty hard on it's own citizens. We're going to talk to Iran (while they enrich uranium) and we're gonna write strongly worded letters to N. Korea (while they launch admittedly crappy rockets) only to have them start up their nuke reactors after Bush-43's Administration paid them off to stop. That doesn't look like it worked, does it?

So, where is this going? I don't know for sure, but something stinks. And there are alot of people out there who feel the same way. Stock prices are down, bonds are down, housing is down. Gold is up and down. Ammo is definitely up.