The Police Want You Come Down and Answer Some Questions

I should start off by giving a tip of the hat to David Zincavage, AKA “JDZ”, over at Never Yet Melted for finding an obscure story I hadn’t seen anywhere else. David picked up this interesting item from the, Recorder, an on-line student publication associated with Central Connecticut State University.

The original story appears HERE :

“On October 3, 2008, Wahlberg and two other classmates prepared to give an oral presentation for a Communication 140 class that was required to discuss a “relevant issue in the media”. Wahlberg and his group chose to discuss school violence due to recent events such as the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred in 2007.”

“Shortly after his professor, Paula Anderson, filed a complaint with the CCSU Police against her student. During the presentation Wahlberg made the point that if students were permitted to conceal carry guns on campus, the violence could have been stopped earlier in many of these cases. He also touched on the controversial idea of free gun zones on college campuses.”

Later Wahlberg was “invited” to come down to the police station where he was questioned regarding the location of any firearm registered to him; so much for the 1st and 2nd Amendments, at least in Connecticut. The original article had plenty of comments; but above all the others, Sparky McDougall’s is worth sharing here.

Sparky McDougall

February 28, 2009 • 6:03 pm

Heaven forbid the student might have instead selected a topic on sexual battery or alcohol abuse on a college campus! Goodness, he would have actually brought the necessary instruments to class that could be used in a sexual assault.

Some friendly advice…(stolen shamelessly from somewhere on the web)
I was recently contacted by the Police.They want me to come in to the precinct to talk to them. What should I do?

So you got home from work today and there’s a Detective’s business card under your door. You call the number on the card. He tells you he’d like you to come in and talk to him. What should you do?

Call your lawyer, that’s what.

When the police want to chat, you most likely won’t be coming home from the precinct that day. You are going to be arrested.

No, you can’t talk them out of it. The police have already made their decision.

No, they won’t listen to your side of the story and change their minds. The other side already convinced them to arrest you.

No, they don’t care that you would never do something like that. That you have a good job. That you’re college educated. That you support your elderly parents, your five kids and your wife.

The police don’t care that you’re a really nice guy.

They don’t even care that you weren’t even there.

So what do you do when the police want to talk to you? Call your lawyer first.

But don’t take my word for it. Call that Detective with the business card and ask him what’s going on. He’ll tell you something like this: “We need to straighten this out.” “I need to hear your side of the story.” “I need to see you in person.”

Here’s what he won’t say: “You’re going to be arrested for a major felony.” “Pack your toothbrush.” “You won’t be going home for a while.”

Why? Because then you wouldn’t go see him, would you? Then he would have to come looking for you, which is a lot harder.

Call your lawyer.

No one is suggesting you should run from the police. That only causes more problems. But you cannot walk into that police precinct by yourself. If you go in with a friend or family member, the police will make them wait in the lobby for you. A few hours later, the officer at the front desk will tell your friend or family member that they can see you in court the next morning. Or at visiting hour at the jail after that.

So who should you call when the police are looking for you? Your lawyer.

And who should go with you to see the police? Your lawyer.

Why? Because your lawyer can call the Detective and find out what’s going on. The police will usually talk to us. We can find out if they are planning to arrest you or if you really are just a witness. We can find out if they really want to “hear your side of the story” or if that was just a lame ruse to get you to turn yourself in.

Your lawyer can sit with you and the police when you’re being interviewed. Your lawyer can tell you what questions to answer and what questions not to answer (in other words, when to shut up).

Realize this: If you’re not the victim of a crime, the police are not here to help you. And the law says that they can lie to you. As much as they want. If it gets you to confess. So, if you’re not the victim of a crime, if the police ask you to come in to chat, you can’t trust a thing they say.

The police are very good at using what you say against you. By instinct, most people want to please the police when they talk to them, which often makes them say things they think the police want to hear. Sometimes, those things aren’t exactly true. But they become part of your statement, and your statement can–and will–be used against you. That can’t happen if you have a lawyer with you. The police can’t get a confession from you if they can’t get you to say what they want to hear.

NO, bringing a lawyer with you to see the police does not make you look more guilty. And who cares if it does? They were planning to arrest you anyway.

Bringing a lawyer with you may be the only way you are going to go home tonight.

If you were wrong, if you really were just a witness, then consider it an insurance policy.

And if you do get arrested, the police and prosecutors have a lot less to work with down the line when it comes to proving you guilty in court.

So don’t call that Detective first. Call your lawyer.

Locksmith Continuing Education Update

State Representative Debbie Riddle

Capitol Office:
Room EXT E2.208
P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768
(512) 463-0572 (512) 463-1908 Fax

District Office
3648 F.M. 1960 West
Suite 106
Houston, TX 77068
(281) 537-5252 (281) 537-8821 Fax

Representative Riddle;

This letter represents a continuation of the conversations we have had in the past. I’m posting it to my blog, as I have with previously forwarded material. It thereby becomes an open letter, available to the general public and more especially, those in the locksmith industry to whom I will forward this article.

I recently completed the required state mandated 8 hours of Locksmith related material, to include the obligatory 1 hour Ethics class. I have mentioned the disconnect between what the State of Texas legislators have seen fit to mandate, the DPS/PSB middlemen and the actual business of individual or combined locksmith.

I have been involved in the locksmith industry since 1976, owned and operated my own locksmith business since 1978, the same year I became a member of the Associated Locksmiths of America. For some reason none of that is important, or so it would seem, as the 7 hour course of study I took on Saturday February 28, 2008, that oh so important requirement to be “continually educated” or lose my license and ability to make a living here in Texas, that course of study was met by listening to a fellow locksmith teach me about basic automotive locksmith work, work which I have done for the past 30 plus years. While it’s nice to visit and compare notes with my fellow competitors, learn how one accomplishes a job and “shoot the breeze”; paying a junior locksmith $ 125 to sit in his class, one who’s been at it for less than ten years and probably learned as much from me as was taught to the rest of the class, that I find unacceptable.

While I’m at it, the mandatory Ethics class, that same class which I take every other year is more than an insult. Any child reaching the age of 8 knows the difference between right and wrong. I might go so far as to agree that the Ethics class information is valid and should be included on the very first application to receive a locksmith license; however, people don’t forget the difference between right and wrong, they decide not to include ethics when dealing with others. A good example would be a quick study of our representative form of government; but my purpose is not to alienate, rather I would explain alternative means whereby those who make the laws might be more in tune with those who must satisfy the letter of those laws.

My first recommendation would be to write a provision into the law which provides for recognition of locksmiths who have a track record, a reasonable extension or courtesy which would exempt long standing members of the locksmith industry from certain aspects of the renewal of their locksmith licenses. The original stated purpose of the law requiring locksmith licensing was to protect the public from fly by night scoundrels flying under the radar, those who would take advantage of an unsuspecting public and apply the limited knowledge of locksmith work as if they had earned the public’s trust.

I submit that any locksmith who has been able to obtain a locksmith license in the State of Texas has provided the necessary litmus test which would pass for “earned the public trust”. The renewal of locksmith licenses would then be hinged on whether or not that locksmith has met the requirement of being insured; not that being insured makes anyone a better locksmith, it is a requirement and thereby should be reviewed at the time of renewal.

I’m not sure how the provision of “continuing education” got thrown into the renewal of locksmith licensing other than it “seemed like a good thing” to those attempting to justify licensing of an industry. Those who are capable of making a living with the level of skills they currently are “masters of” and are licensed have proven their ability in their field of choice; the likelihood of forgetting all the information, skills and accumulated knowledge, that which they use on a daily basis, to forget the basics to the point of having to be re-educated yearly or even every five to ten years goes beyond absurd.

The idea of mandating anyone to learn aspects of an industry for which that person has no interest and has no plans of becoming involved, regardless of the expanded definition and scope of the overall industry for which he could or might wish to enter is just as absurd. I happen to be a licensed locksmith and could, by law, work in any area of the locksmith industry to include commercial installation of security networks, camera security, computer security, lock installation and automotive locksmith work. I happen to work only on automotive locksmith work; leaving the other aspects of my field to competitors who center their skills in those other areas of the industry.

If I wanted to work on IC lock master key work and installation I would learn the details and become expert enough to engage in that field; but I have no interest in that end of the locksmith industry nor do I claim to have the skills, charge an unsuspecting public for those skills which I do not have or pretend that I have them. You could say the Ethics Class made me a true believer; but I think I was already a basically honest person before I took the mandated class.

Some “pencil head”, a person or persons, with the power to make me jump rope in order to obtain and/or renew my locksmith license believes I need to expand my skills through mandatory continuing education courses geared to the locksmith industry, in order to keep or maintain skills I already possess and use to earn my living; this is illogical. Not only is it illogical, it is impertinent to presume I would pretend to an unsuspecting public that I could, for example, install camera surveillance security systems under the all encompassing cloak of my legitimate state issued locksmith license. Such a venture would be impractical and dishonest, much less a fiasco since I am not trained in the skills associated with such an undertaking.

Here’s what should be included in an updated piece of legislation as would apply to individuals who already have a locksmith license:

Continuing Education provisions should be directed to those with 6 years of locksmith experience or less. Locksmiths with 7 years or more should only be required to expand their documented continuing education when and if they branch off into a field of interest for which they have not previously applied themselves, and then it would be a matter of self interest rather than the other way around, mandated by the state. Locksmiths with 15 years of experience should have the requirement of continuing education eliminated from the renewal process. As stated earlier, the Ethics class requirement should be a one time only issue and not part of the renewal process.

The provision to validate a minimum level of insurance, while I object to the state becoming involved in such civil matters, it would seem to be a “necessary evil” and thereby would be a continued requirement for a renewed locksmith license.

There should be a provision limiting the DPS/PSB from expanding the powers to implement rules and regulations without an equal input from each individual locksmith; you will note that I didn’t say locksmith associations, from each individual locksmith who falls under the laws, rules and regulations which are to govern his/her livelihood.

Presently, in order to make a statement, one which would reach the ears of those few in charge of the locksmith industry, an individual locksmith has to take time away from his/her business and appear before the board, an unjustified and expensive undertaking. It has been my experience NOT to trust the leadership of the ALOA or the TLA in matters which go before the state legislature, their having thrown my particular opinion out with the bathwater on major issues which have affected my industry. It is the DPS/PSB who should have the requirement of speaking directly to each individual locksmith to ensure that it is government serving the people rather than the people becoming servants of their government.

I got a note in the email section of an article, Go Texan Days, a “rant” I posted to my blog on the day I was to attend my mandated continuing education classes. Here’s the URL which links with my article along with aportion of the comment which would apply to the renewal of licensing for any field.

http://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2009/02/go-texan-days.html

“*heh* My Wonder Woman was going through something similar with her teaching certs about every other year until the state rep pushed her last one through in recognition of her accomplishments/contributions--it's now on a 99-year renewal. It's not what you know or how competent you are any more; it's ALL about who's in your pocket.”

While the commenter suggests some sort of black or covert under the table sort of “tack on legislation” in order to help a friend of the elected official, “it's ALL about who's in your pocket”; I would counter that such a “99 year renewal” clause written into locksmith legislation would be the type of extended courtesy for which all veteran locksmiths might be considered worthy, recognition in the form of legislation no different than honoring a soldier returned from service to his nation, state and citizenry

As always, I look forward to hearing your views.

A valued registered voter

T. F. Stern

Go Texan Days

This might turn into one of my “rambling on rants”; here’s hoping I stumble onto an item worth mentioning, eventually.

Last night was the Chili Cook Off at church, a yearly event timed to match up with the arrival of the trail riders on their way into town for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR). There were lots of entries, hot chili, medium and mild, corn breads with or without jalapeno chunks and several kinds of brownies to munch on later. Awards were given out for this that or the other with the Grand Prize going to my friend Joel for overall best chili.

I got an award for my chili many years ago, The Boot, for having the worst chili. At the time I was the Sunday School President so it was my responsibility to enter the chili cook off; even if I didn’t have clue on how to make chili. I did what I normally did when I wanted some chili; opened some cans of chili that were under the cabinet there in the kitchen. That would have been okay except I got distracted and let the chili sit on the stove way too long. I thought that burned stuff at the bottom of the pot added a rustic trail boss taste which would cover up the fact that it was nothing more than “store bought”; but everyone else kept saying it tasted like it was burnt and that I should stick to making keys. I still got an award, not that most folks would brag about havin’ the worst of anything, ‘less of course your trophy case is sort of barren to begin with.

The HLSR is/was one of the biggest rodeo events anywhere, some say it is, some say it ain’t (“taint” if you want to really get into this rod-day-oh thing); but it’s perty’ danged big any way you look at it. When working for the Houston Police Department they would issue the official HPD Go Texan bow ties to be worn instead of the regular black uniform tie. Back then some officers, like me, would call that clip on bow tie “hokey” ; but in today’s language that translates to “cheesy”. I guess they must have watched too many television episodes of Maverick and thought we needed to… not sure what exactly, just needed to.

I would, as part of my assigned duties, “bring in” the trail riders from the out skirts of town to their evening destination at Memorial Park, just inside Loop 610. Most of the riders took a great deal of pride, others found it difficult staying in the saddle the closer it got to sunset, all that Wild Turkey having set in. Each year at least one had to be put in an ambulance after falling on his head, or worse. BTW, it’s very early on Saturday, couldn’t sleep so I decided to blog. Today’s the Rodeo Parade so if you’re in the Houston area, that’s not mud on the road way; don’t step in it.

I get to attend an 8 hour block of State mandated locksmith credit course hours today so I can keep my locksmith license; oh how I look forward to this each time it comes around. I was talking with a fellow locksmith who started his involvement in the locksmith industry about the same time I did some thirty plus years ago. Fact is, he’s the one teaching the “basic automotive locksmith class” I’m sitting in on; yea, kind of makes you wonder now don’t it, my being an automotive locksmith specialist an making a living that way for the past thirty plus years.

I could take any number of classes on the list; just that I’ve no interest in those other aspects of the locksmith industry since I only work on the automotive end of it. I’ve no interest in door closers, IC, remote camera or any of the fringe security stuff that has been grouped into the industry; but it’s nice that some pencil head has decided for me what should or shouldn’t be important. I normally leave my pistol at home to keep from temptation; maybe I could‘a saved the rest of the locksmith industry if I’d only taken out a couple of those pencil heads years back; pencil heads, can’t live with ‘em, can’t can’t shoot ‘em!

Anyway, we got to talking and it turns out the folks who pull my strings up in Austin, the same sharp folks who mandate that I take 8 hours of remedial training, like “basic automotive locksmith” or the ever popular “ethics” just to keep my license; anyway, those folks are reportedly going to up the ante to 16 hours in the very near future. God how I love pencil head busy bodies who haven’t got any clue as to what it means to be part of America and the free market system much less what it means to be Texan through and through. Maybe we ought to take them out back behind the barn and thump ‘em a few times up aside the head till they get some sense.

If I had my choice of places to be today it would have been the Retired Police Officer’s Reunion over that the Houston Police Academy. I had some old slide photographs taken back in 1974 which I wanted to share so I made a trip over that way during the week. These pictures were taken by Lucy and showed a Chief’s Inspection of the Point Control Division, the old “Three Wheelers”. I weighed right at 140 pounds back then, soakin’ wet, ate five or six meals a day just to “maintain”; those days sure are gone.

I went through the slide pictures and was able to identify several of the individuals, not all. Carroll Lynn was the Chief back then, hope I spelled his name right; that was before he was convicted and sent off to prison. Lot’s of folks thought it was an embarrassment but I thought the row of numbers under his picture made him look distinguished. Lynn was either a Captain or a Lieutenant, in charge of hiring police cadets back when I first joined the HPD and, as was later found out, he was using the Department to fill the ranks of his own private security company; at least that’s what was alleged. Those who signed up to be cops; but were rejected for this that or the other, might find a job working as a security guard instead, until they acquired some street skills and then re-apply to be with HPD later on. I suppose that was a conflict of interests and Lynn should have had more sense; all water under the bridge.

It’s almost 5:30am now and I’ll hear the alarm clock going off soon. I can get ready for that mandated class time over at the Greater Houston Locksmith Association. I have a hard time justifying having to pay $ 125.00 out of my wallet to a fellow locksmith so I can get a check mark on my “dance card” which will alert the pencil pushers in Austin that I am following the rules and regulations set up to protect the public from scumbag fly by night crook/locksmith “wanna be’s”.

I like the opening scene from that stupid submarine movie, the one where the Naval Officer sets the golf ball on the tee, drives it toward the green and then the camera pans out showing the shot had been taken from atop a submarine passing by the golf course, “God I love this job!”. Can I sign up for another class, “Locksmith Tool Box” or perhaps, “Getting Along with Austin Pencil Heads”.

It’s a good thing I was at the police pistol range last week familiarizing myself with a new pistol I purchased; wouldn’t want it going off by accident during that class where I’m supposed to learn how springs and wafers line up with the cuts on the key and thereby permit the lock cylinder in the ignition switch to turn the car on. I’ve always been a fan of Smith & Wesson; wonder if the 40 Cal can be used to pick locks from the 5, 10 and 20 range markers; place the stubborn lock on pivoting target stands. “Is the line hot? The line is hot!” “GM side bar ignition blown away on lane two, Marksmanship award and CU credit points earned in the semi automatic pistol picking category.”

I saw where a group of racially motivated folks want to take over the HRLS and make it a public entity, fully stocked with a representative percentage of minorities; but only blacks and Hispanics with no mention of Asians, guess the Asians are too smart to play the “I’m a Loser But You Have to Hire Me Because I’m a Person of Color” game”; Milton Bradley is rumored to have that game in stock and available just as soon as their legal defense team has worked past the problematic Hate Speech function which continues to be an ongoing issue.

Johnny Mata ragged on and Sheila Jackson “Socialist” Lee had her face in front of the microphone lecturing everyone on the need for immediate legislation to open up leadership positions for minorities within the Good Ole’ Boy ranks of the Whitey establishment of the HRLS. It’s embarrassing folks, they still think we’re living in the 50’s; give it up with this race card BS.

“The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo said that it has awarded almost $12 million in scholarships in the last two years with more than half going to minorities.” Yup, that sounds like a big problem, not a fair percentage of white kids getting scholarships; better get a bigoted whitey in front of a microphone or the whole rodeo program needs to be scrapped.

I better get a quick shower and drive over the other side of town now. Looking forward to a “Zero Budget Day” for my locksmith business since I’m a one horse operation there really isn’t anyone to run my service calls today.

Plot to Infect Obama with HIV

I mean, I mean (try really hard to hear Arlo Guthrie, I mean…what was this guy thinking? According to the news article on the Fox website letters were sent to staff members and Obama which had been smeared with HIV infected blood. President Obama may already be the most dangerous individual to ever occupy the Oval Office; do we need to add to the list of reasons to be worried?

A friend of mine sent me an interesting article written by Dr. Sam Vaknin, a world authority on narcissism. Referring to President Obama:

“One must never underestimate the manipulative genius of pathological narcissists. They project such an imposing personality that it overwhelms those around them. Charmed by the charisma of the narcissist, people become like clay in his hands. They cheerfully do his bidding and delight to beat his service. The narcissist shapes the world around himself and reduces others in his own inverted image.”

Go read the rest of the article by Dr. Sam Vaknin which I linked to; but more importantly, with Obama being diagnosed as a Pathological Narcissist by a world renowned expert, how much more dangerous would he be were he to also be infected with HIV? Now that’s a scary thought!

( I was SO tempted to supply one last line; but thought how being crude would diminish the opportunity to form up your own thoughts; no, better leave that line off.)

Cap and Trade Insanity Explained

I was driving down the road when some fellow, couldn’t tell you his name, representing the Obama administration was being interviewed on the radio in regard to Cap and Trade policies which are at the “top of the agenda”. First off I had to wonder, with the challenges the economy is facing, why would Cap and Trade be near the top? Doesn’t Cap and Trade hurt industry by cutting off the energy sources necessary for production? More appropriately this imposition on the free market has been referred to as Cap and Spend since it really is nothing more than a redistribution of wealth directed by government rather than the free market.

Getting back to what I heard on the radio by the “honcho” representing the Obama administration, he broke it down into three parts. There was our growing dependence on foreign oil, the environmental impact of fossil fuels as relates to global warming, and lastly, how to achieve progress within the constraints of our sagging economy; hope I got that right since traffic was really my main concern and the radio talk show was background noise.

Let me see if this makes sense, we have a president of the United States of America who wants to put the coal industry out of business even though nearly half of the energy required for industry depends on coal. We have a stated dependence on oil, foreign or domestic, and yet the war cry from Washington is to deny drilling for new oil and at the same time limit the consumption of foreign oil because burning oil, regardless of its origin will destroy the planet through global warming. The economy is in the toilet and rather than stay out of the way and let industry continue to have the energy and tools that would assist in a general recovery our leadership has decided to starve industry and instead reward slackers; is this the way out?

After I heard this explanation, without the added self adjusted thought process I’ve added, I tried to think of a situation on a smaller scale, one that would make the average person sit up and take notice of what was being done.

I thought about a passenger plane flying through the air, running low on fuel and the flight attendants shooting holes in the wings to make the plane lighter. Never mind that the plane was unable to support itself in the air or that two of the jet engines were now overheating because of the extra strain after the fuel had been cut off on the other engines. Rather than worry about the airplane falling from the sky and the loss every passenger, the pilot was more concerned with the extra heat being generated and the thick black smoke trailing the last working jet engines, adding further to the carbon footprint, global warming and the destruction of the planet.

Let me tell you folks, with leadership like we have now, this “plane” is going down and it won’t be pretty. About the only good thing will be the lack of a huge fireball when it hits because there won’t be any fuel in the tanks to burn once it crashes.

We won’t let our home grown industries use cheap and abundant coal or take the chance on finding new oil; we’d rather let third world nations with start up industries take advantage of our internal meltdown and then sell us what we could have produced ourselves. Our insane leaders want to cripple American production in the name of being environmentally “aware/stupid”. The same fossil fuel our industry would have used will still be used, probably more since without any sort of regulation third world countries are interested in being competitive more than in saving the planet. We’d rather commit financial suicide as a nation, all in the name of a hoax which has been foisted on us by the global warming junk science environmental whacko progressives.

We’d rather destroy the free market system which rewards the industrious, those who supply all the wealth of this nation and instead, reward the least productive in our society, those who couldn’t produce anything except perhaps a good belch after having consumed a six pack of beer while sitting in their taxpayer assisted mortgaged house which they never could have paid for. Those of us who are somehow able to survive in spite of an unfavorable market place are being taxed to help pay for those entitlements which the government has seen fit to pass around; just make sure we don’t use up our carbon footprint credits and don’t forget, the value of each dollar is diminished with each newly created dollar bill being printed, so it’s not enough to take my money through taxes, what’s left isn’t worth as much.

Is that about the way Cap and Trade works; well why didn’t you say so? That’s the kind of America we have now, total insanity and more on the way.

Guess What, We Found the Key!

I ran a call for locksmith service at one of my regular customer’s location, a body shop where I visit a couple of times a week matching locks to original keys on cars involved in accidents or theft recovery units. Now and then I get to restore keys for a vehicle that came to them without one, or as turns out once in a while, a key they lost themselves; that’s what happened to a wrecked 2005 Dodge Dakota pick up truck that was being worked on.

They said they drove it into the work bay to pull the front end and fix the bent fenders and bumper; this morning the keys walked off all on their own. When they called I was told up front that the key was one of those “chip keys”, the kind that has to be programmed. Not too many Dakota trucks have the transponder technology; but that is an option, more money for me.

I figured out the “mechanical key” without much effort and it turned the door locks and ignition switch easily; the vehicle wouldn’t start, but I’d already been told it needed the fancy key and programming. I looked up 2005 Dakota in my “book of secrets” to verify which transponder key to cut and the type of programming designated for that model truck; it used the “S” type key and was supported by CAN 1 programming. In plain English that means it used the second generation Dodge transponder key, and even better; I wouldn’t need to obtain the four digit PIN code because the CAN 1 system would extract that information from the truck’s on board computer and program the key all at the same time.

“Error – Unable to Communicate”, not exactly what I wanted to see on the programming screen after thinking this job would be a piece of cake. I tried again, same answer, “Error – Unable to Communicate”. I double checked my book of secrets; I had it right. I then called “tech support” and was told what I already knew; they were very nice and yet the information wasn’t helping resolve the issue.

There was a body shop worker pounding away at the driver side bumper trying to align it with the bolt holes. He noticed I’d been on the phone and figured I’d run up against some sort of problem.

“The wrecker driver removed some of the fuses”, he pointed to the fuse box where a couple of holes shouldn’t have been. Yup, that might explain why it wasn’t working. We rounded up some replacement fuses; still no spark. That’s when I started double checking other simple items off the check list. The transmission lever was all the way over in park; but the indicator showed it to be in “drive”. It turns out the vehicle hadn’t been driven into the service bay; it’d been pushed in after the wrecker driver disconnected the transmission lock out linkage under the truck. Once those individual items had been restored the truck started right up, without having to be programmed; on that item they had been mistaken.

I wrote up my bill and charged them for the programmable key since they’d told me it was a transponder key to begin with. The manager agreed; it was their mistake and there were no hard feelings for the extra charge. I was on my way out the door when another body shop employee yelled out, “Guess what, we found the key!” Normally that would have been bad news for me and good news for them; but I’d done my part of the bargain and completed it. Some days are just that way.

Shrove Tuesday and the State of the Union Address

I’m wondering out loud at the chance combination that President Obama offered up the State of the Union Address on Shrove Tuesday, the first day of Lent, that day when we’re supposed to acknowledge our sins before God. For those wishing for a more detailed explanation of the antiquated term I found this after a Google search .

“The day before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday. To shrive someone, in old-fashioned English (he shrives, he shrove, he has shriven or he shrives, he shrived, he has shrived), is to hear his acknowledgement of his sins, to assure him of God's forgiveness, and to give him appropriate spiritual advice. The term survives today in ordinary usage in the expression "short shrift". To give someone short shrift is to pay very little attention to his excuses or problems. The longer expression is, "to give him short shrift and a long rope," which formerly meant to hang a criminal with a minimum of delay.”

I kind of like that last part, at least as far as the criminals we have fleecing us in Washington. Time for a “short shrift and a long rope” for those who voted to spend trillions of taxpayer dollars without ever reading the fine print which points to over 3000, that’s Three Thousand just to make sure your eyes are picking up on that huge number, 3000 earmarked pork barrel projects which had nothing what so ever to do with stimulating the economy.

Fight the Battles You Can Win

I read on the Fox website where some folks up in New York want to ban a video game that encourages rape . I can’t fathom what kind of degenerate mind came up with such a “game”, much less who would actively pursue playing or “acting out” the content of such depravity.

“Amazon and eBay have already banned the sale of the game, called RapeLay. But City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Monday that the game is available from other online sellers.”

A couple of years ago I sent off a letter to Amazon.com requesting they discontinue selling pedophilia material. I posted that letter on my blog along with Amazon’s rejection on the grounds that pulling pedophilia material from its inventory it was denying a portion of the public a product they deserved to have the opportunity to purchase.

“Thank you for writing to Amazon.com. As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our web site represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to display certain articles because we believe their message is objectionable.” ( emphasis was added )

I can only assume, a dangerous word to use according to a well known definition, I can only assume that Amazon.com has rationalized that pedophilia is perfectly okay to promote whereas rape is not. Information like this is crucial in determining the moral agency of our nation by measuring what is or isn’t offered up for sale. This has nothing to do with censorship; instead, shows how far down the toilet some folks would have us flushed in order to prove that in a free society “anything goes”.

Remember the movie, War Games , with Matthew Broderick? A sharp young high school kid stumbles upon a game called “Thermo Nuclear War”, and while breaking into the defense department’s computer to play the “game”, comes within a hair trigger’s breath of starting WWIII. Near the end of the movie, and after it is shown how dangerous certain games are, the computer’s voice asks, “How about a nice game of chess?” Wouldn’t we all be a lot better off playing a “nice game of chess” rather than seeking that which we know to be evil?

Edited Same Day:

Well, speak of the Devil… a late breaking AP story on the Fox web site says that, “A federal judge in Connecticut has ordered a man convicted of possessing child pornography to pay about $200,000 in restitution to a woman photographed as a child while being sexually abused.” I wonder if Amazon.com will be held to the same level of accountability.

“We think this is a terrific precedent,” said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “The photos stay out there forever. Every time they are downloaded, every time they are distributed, the victim in that image is revictimized.” ( emphasis added )

You folks at Amazon.com, the ones who claim that distribution of pedophilia shouldn’t be looked upon as exploitation of children, does that sink in a little deeper now that a judge has decided to start going after bank accounts of folks involved in the distribution of child pornography?

Rick Santelli - The Rant of the Year

I saw this on Facebook courtesy of my friend and fellow blogger Stephen Littau.

Everyone should have a chance to see and hear this explanation of the anger that is becoming more vocalized by middle America regarding the stupidity and misapplication of taxpayer money by Washington. This should be required viewing for anyone who lives in America. I listened to the drive by media as they down played it and marginalized Rick Santelli.

Bobby Carraway Passed Away

A friend of mine passed away this past Wednesday after trying unsuccessfully to overcome massive injuries he sustained in a work related accident. Last month Bobby was helping one of his neighbors while working on a piece of heavy machinery when a tree limb knocked him down and into the machinery.

Emergency folks had him air lifted to the hospital where teams of doctors and nurses did their best to prolong Bobby’s life; however it wasn’t to be. His funeral is set for this coming Saturday.

It’s been quite a while since I watched the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember a courtroom scene where the entire gallery on the second floor stood up in silent recognition for the efforts of Atticus Finch as he exited the building. His young son was there and didn’t understand until an elderly Black gentleman explained it to him. “A great man is leaving the room.” The line may have been slightly different; but the meaning remains unchanged.

Bobby Carraway’s name wasn’t listed in the Chronicle, not even in the obituary section; perhaps because he lived up near Magnolia so far out of the Houston area. I don’t suppose his name will show up in the Church News since he wasn’t a prominent leader of the Church.

I got to work with Bobby each Wednesday evening at the Houston Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Often times he’d be sore from driving a tractor while helping one of the sisters in his area get a field leveled, from pulling up tree stumps or any number of service oriented jobs for which the only pay he received was a hand shake and a smile of gratitude. Bobby Carraway lived and understood, “that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”

So, as we say goodbye to my friend, Bobby Carraway; take off your hat and quietly stand, a great man is leaving the room.

Darwinian Evolution - My Two Cents Worth

I’m the result of a public education system in which Darwinian Evolution was taught as a theoretical option, with heavy leanings towards the assumption that one day it would be proven to be the one and only process whereby all living things came to be; in other words, Darwinian Evolution would eventually be taught as pure scientific fact rather than theory in future science classes. ( English teachers have encouraged me to respect the term “run on sentence” with little success. ) We were given half a moment to consider alternatives to the theory of evolution to include religious explanations for how life came to be on this planet we call Earth; things which could not be considered “scientific” and yet were at least permitted as part of the general discussion.

I noticed a recent ground swell of discussion as the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin was celebrated, or cursed depending on which side of the isle you happen to be seated. I say that tongue in cheek and yet I’d bet dimes to donuts there are weapons scanning equipment at the doors where folks go to express their opinions on this matter; that’s how enflamed the discussions are and have been all the way back to the Scopes “Monkey Trial”.

I even noticed a movie, Flock of Dodos , on the television the other day, a movie which I recorded, not so much because I wished to be “entertained”; more so because it’s part of my education process which is on going and eternal in nature. Perhaps I shouldn’t use inflammatory phrases like “eternal in nature”; but I couldn’t resist pouring some gasoline on an already hot topic, one which has so many of our godless society up in arms.

My purpose for writing on the topic of evolution has little to do with how this so called “pure science of evolution” will be spoon fed to students via the public school systems of today; bearing in mind the influences of the teacher’s unions pull toward a godless society and their vested interest to impose the hoax which we have come to know as “separation of church and state”. I see little hope for the public school system since teaching has taken a back seat to indoctrination; those able to learn how to think for themselves in such an environment do so in spite of the environment.

I wish to put in my “two cents”, mostly in terms of philosophy and logic rather than what is being laid out as “pure science”. If science is the search for truth, regardless of the outcome, regardless of proposed theories or postulation, then science has room for even the most outlandish thought processes. The laws of probability and outcome fall into science, an extension of mathematics, and must include fringe theory as well as irrational conjecture, along with foolish notions or even religious belief. These thought processes, while they remain unscientific, cannot be ignored in the search for scientific truths on the basis of their being “impossible” simply because the percentage of probability is relegated as marginal at best in numbers so insignificant as to be improbable; but not absolute zero.

Think about the simple game of Black Jack, or as some call it, 21, a card game with a set of rules easily understood and with a given set of known variables which determine the odds of winning. Those who understand the odds of winning have a better chance of taking advantage of situations which arise during the ongoing game as odds either improve in their favor or diminish, those odds being tied directly to the remaining cards within the “shoe” of cards. These odds do not predetermine the out-come, they simple invoke percentages based on the mathematics of probability; pure science if ever there was such a thing.

The “house” encourages anyone with money to play (lose that money) while, as was shown in the movie, discourages “card counting”, and the improved odds which make winning against the house a probability rather than a gamble. The invitation to “sit at the table” of discussion when the science of “origins” remains within the “shoe” of possible answers would seem to have a “stacked deck”.

I visited and read many articles these past few days, most of which are quite interesting regardless of my own personal beliefs, beliefs which are based both on my knowledge of pure science and faith based teachings. What I found, and this point was brought out in the movie, Flock of Dodos; as a rule, those folks in the alleged scientific and teaching community, the ones supposedly in search of answers, regardless of whether or not the answers fit the popular model or theory; these folks show an enormous lack of civility or tolerance toward anyone with an opposing view, more especially anyone who even mentions the trigger words, “Intelligent Design”.

Rather than consider the possibility that other explanations for the “origin of species”, a generality to explain all forms of life, regardless of how slim or remote other explanations might be, “evolutionists” have already determined such explanations as having “zero” percentage outcomes and so refuse to consider them at all; hardly scientific methodology and more like, “I own the basketball, it’s my basketball court so you have to listen to me and me alone!”

In an article written to explain the humor and content of the movie, Flock of Dodos, Ker Than, a staff writer for Live Science came to a similar conclusion, “Despite Olson's dismissal of intelligent design in his film, scientists come off looking even worse. During interviews, evolutionists appear stiff, condescending, inarticulate and arrogant.”

I looked up articles which included the term “Intelligent Design” and found links to other terms such as “irreducible complexity”, as eloquently explained by a fellow named, Michael Behe, and the “watchmaker” or teleological arguments of William Paley who was peer of Darwin with opposing views on the origins of life.

Not surprisingly, the evolutionist community and spokespersons for the teachers unions slammed Michael Behe equating his insane notions with something akin to a snake oil vendor pretending to have an elixir with some social redeeming value, the concept of irreducible complexity was pooh-poohed as totally flawed and the self appointed gate keepers of human knowledge dismissed the watchmaker argument without so much as a “get thee behind me”; again, forgive my pouring gasoline on the fire of enraged sophistry.

Now, admittedly, I never heard of “irreducible complexity” until the other day; at least not in those terms. I’d have to add that to my list of interesting concepts which are worth at least more than a cursory glance; much more than the evolutionist crowd is willing to lend it. The same holds true for the basic concepts espoused in William Paley’s “watchmaker” deductions; actually having used this very same process of expression in an article I wrote over a year ago, Things Don’t Just Happen

I enjoy the writings of John Pratt, also linked within the content of, Things Don’t Just Happen, as he explained, in laymen’s terms and some fairly educated terminology, interesting ideas regarding calendars and astronomy. He has plenty of “credentials” to place him well within the scholastic community; however, since he intertwines scientific data with religion his opinions might not be accepted outside of a limited “fan” base; but that is speculation on my part.

He used a line of logic in his article, The Planets Testify of the Creator , a line which requires the reader to accept the laws of mathematical probabilities after having outlined and explained the “set times” of planets as they relate to each other and with the planet Earth; notice I didn’t say possibilities.

“This is the kind of order which argues most strongly that the solar system was created to be a precise timepiece. The atheist can continue to claim that all such alignments are chance coincidences, but such a posture becomes extremely unlikely, and much harder to believe than simply accepting that it was designed.”

I’d have to say the same kind of statement would apply to “irreducible complexity”, at least in the case of the organically driven motor, a biological wonder, which Michael Behe has shown as an example. Whether or not Michael Behe is correct is not the purpose of my reference to his work; however, taking into consideration the mathematical possibilities and probabilities makes his case stronger than simply taking the evolutionist’s alternate explanation that such was the result of an extended period of natural evolution. In the words of an old friend Mitch, who used to sell furniture in the same store along side my father, “What a crock!”; and he wasn’t referring to cheese.




My closing thoughts have little if anything to do with evolution and fall into the category of personal belief and the purpose of human life. Those who consider themselves the byproduct of an evolutionary progression rather than descendants with royal lineage directly linked with the Creator of Heaven and Earth, for you I feel true sadness.

You have no real reason to enjoy mortality, no more so than a stray dog who wanders in, stays to enjoy a meal, sleeps at the foot of the sofa or chases an occasional cat up the tree. You live without the hope of an eternal progression promised to the children of our Father in Heaven; for when life is over, if there is no God, no Grand Designer of Life then there is only a cold grave with a mound of dirt.

There can be no joy living in the United States of America with a government formed and dedicated for a free people with a Declaration of Independence which, as I believe, is an inspired document which our Creator wanted our nation to have, to set it apart from all the other nations, a nation where the fullness of the Gospel could be restored. Our Creator, in whose image we are made, wanted our God given rights to be established via the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in order to distinguish Rights from entitlements; without such distinction our government would/will become consumed with power and corrupt the very foundations of liberty. Yes, without the possibility of Intelligent Design, much less the probability that our “Watchmaker” took deliberate steps in all that was created, then arguing about how we came to be is pretty much pointless.

Sixty Minutes – Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick…

Sunday morning I attended a meeting in the Bishop’s office, an office which has been going through some repairs and painting of late. The large clock which normally hangs on the wall has been temporarily moved out of the room making it more difficult to begin and end our meetings in a timely fashion and so, knowing this before hand, I brought my pocket watch since it is able to “stand”, as it were, by itself in plain view to everyone.

The hour long meeting began with one of the brethren offering a prayer as we knelt around the Bishop’s desk. My ear was relatively close to the pocket watch, perched atop my scriptures, there to remind us of the passing minutes. My hearing aids may not pick up the spoken word as clearly as I’d like; however, they do a great job with mechanical noises. I jokingly exaggerate that I can hear the firing order of a car travelling down the freeway when I have my ears turned on, just don’t expect me to hear what you just said.

Yesterday, while the prayer was being offered I heard the distinctive, “Tick, tick, tick, tick…” of my pocket watch drowning out the words of the prayer. It was like the first few minutes of the television show, Sixty Minutes.

The photograph in this link was one I took and submitted to the Photolaureates contest a year or so back, and which I was told, made it all the way to the semi-finals. The watch, made in 1921, has a Hunter’s Case; one which opens to show both the face and, on the back, permits a view of the inner workings.

The folks at Photolaureates kept sending me emails regarding the great picture I took; every month a flattering word regarding that most excellent of pictures that should be enshrined along side the works of Ansel and other greats, that photo which should be enlarged and transferred onto canvass with a black walnut professional frame for the cost of only $299.95 plus shipping and handling, that photograph which would also be included in a fine leather trimmed book with other winning photographs at a reduced cost of only $89.95 plus shipping and handling; that photograph could be shared with the world as a beginning of my photo journalist career. I may have been born; but it wasn’t yesterday. Thank you very much; but I wear brown shoes every other day as a reminder not to take myself too seriously.

Gun Turn In Program Just Plain Stupid

I ran across an “offbeat but true” internet news story the other day, “Guns for roses a sweetheart deal for South Carolina Police” . They want those dangerous guns and to prove it they were giving away a rose on Valentine’s Day to prove it. Gift cards also were part of the deal, $50 for a handgun or $100 for a rifle or shotgun.

“Cowan said the idea was spawned in part by Columbia Police Chief T.P. Carter and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who has made headlines recently for investigating Michael Phelps after a photo surfaced showing the Olympic swimming champion smoking a marijuana pipe. The program was modeled after a California one; similar exchanges have been done in New York and San Francisco.”

I guess for those getting rid of junk guns it might have been a good deal; get rid of a worthless piece of metal for a gift certificate that would help buy that plasma television you’ve been drooling over; but what about the statement being made? “I don’t want to be trusted with a gun”, “I might go nuts and start shooting children at the elementary school while they have their afternoon cookies and milk”, “That gun might grow legs and go down to the local United States Post Office and trade itself in for a machine gun and go off on a shooting spree killing countless fellow employees and supervisors.”

Those evil guns and gun owners are at the root of all problems here in America, gotta’ get those guns! Watch the video below ( link also provided in the title bar )

Before I forget, March 29-30 are the dates for the South Carolina Gun and Knife Show in “progressive minded” Columbia; that ought to make Chief T.P. Carter thrilled. Do you get a free burial wreath with the purchase of a fully automatic assault rifle?

On a twist of fate, American Gun , a local rock group, was scheduled to perform in Columbia at a place called the Art Bar on Valentine’s Day. According to Kevin Oliver, No Depression, “On their second album, South Carolina’s American Gun sift Uncle Tupelo, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen through a filter of southern gothic story-telling and rock ‘n’ roll energy, coming out with a batch of pure, stripped-down twang ‘n’ roll.” A free pass must have been left at the door for good ole’ boy Chief T.P. Carter and his side kick Sheriff Leon Lott. Drinks on the house, y’all come back now, y’hear.



Edited Same Day:

Not on any of the National News Media today was this story out of The Palm Beach Post, “Popular band teacher reportedly shoots, kills masked intruder in Wellington.”

“Deputies were called about 1:50 a.m. today to 1382 White Pine Drive, near Wellington Trace and Forest Hill Boulevard, after a woman called 911 and reported someone had broken into the house and been shot by her husband.”

Other stories that made the National news today, “Pennsylvania College Student Shot to Death After Standoff” ; a reminder that students can’t be trusted with guns because they are mentally unstable and tend to be anti-social at times, kind of like all the other gun nuts who hide behind the Second Amendment.

“Woman wails, flails after missing flight”; yet another responsible citizen who might at some time consider owning a weapon, thank goodness she wasn’t “packin” when she missed her flight! This one comes complete with a video

Stimulus Bill Millstone Political Cartoon

Earlier I wrote, “Did Obama say Stimulus Bill was a Milestone or Millstone?”; ;but I thought a political cartoon might be in order. Maybe Stephen Macklin over at Hold the Mayo will jump in and save my bacon with a better piece of art. I don’t have one of those fancy “scratch pad thingies” to draw on so I did the best I could with the tools I have.

What kind of caption should go under the drawing? I was going to do that but didn’t know how to include it within the body of the drawing.

“Miss Liberty looks a bit strained under the load.”

“Get everyone out of the arm, looks like it’s about to buckle under the load!”

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be debt free.”

Okay, your turn; leave a caption in the comment box.

Did Obama say Stimulus Bill was a Milestone or Millstone?

The lead story on our local NBC affiliate, KPRC’s website, quotes President Obama in reference to the passing of the (never read) so called “Stimulus Bill” by both the house and senate a, “major milestone on our road to recovery”. I wasn’t sure if there wasn’t an error in the spelling; you know, “Milestone” inserted where “Millstone” should have been.

Had such a slip of the tongue been made by former President George W. Bush the media would be all abuzz over how ignorant and stupid Bush was for having used the wrong word. I guess when you’re a Democrat and the first Black president you can get a free ride.

I found several scriptural references to Millstone; the one below caused me to wonder if the great city Babylon might be used as a metaphorical comparison to the United States of America. No, I don’t claim to be making prophecy, just my warped sense of “free association” rising to the surface.

“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee.”

Stimulus Bill – Just Sign Here

If you were buying a new car and got down to the part where you had to commit to several years of paying it off, looking over the details of an agreement you were about to enter into; would you want to read it first or would you pick up the pen, follow the salesmen’s finger over to the “X” line as he tells you, “Just sign here”? I may have over simplified the analogy; but isn’t that what's going on in Washington today with our being told we need to pass the so called Stimulus Bill?

Let’s cover just the basics; there are about 500 pages, give or take, of fine print along with many scratch outs and changes which occurred as late as eleven o’clock last night. That means that nobody has had a chance to go over the changes, much less contemplate or debate the ramifications of them prior to today’s “hurry up and pass this massive spending bill” so we can save America. “Hey, it’s only a trillion dollars, remember, there’s interest to go along with the $789 Billion Dollar porking; just sign here.”

There are so many items hidden within the bill, items which have nothing to do with stimulating the economy; but will change not only the structured debt of our nation for generations to come, but fundamental societal environments such as the health care industry in general. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to take some time, more than a cursory glance at the title on the top of this document prior to committing our country into permanent poverty?

“We won the election, we have a majority now; just sign the damn thing and shut up!” That’s what it sounds like from where I’m sitting; maybe I heard wrong. There’s no need to explain the legitimacy of anything Congress does since they now have such an over whelming majority and the White House to boot. Where are the folks from the Democrat side of the isle clamoring for transparency in government with the integrity to ask serious questions about important issues?

I’m told each of us will start reaping a whopping $13 dollars a week as an immediate result of the stimulus package. Is that really an honest and fair presentation of the effects attached to this proposed Trillion dollar public debt? Let’s see; the government isn’t going to steal $13 dollars a week from my pay check in the form of taxes and at the same time I’ll eventually have to pay about $3,000 dollars to that same government to pay off the debt; sound good to me, where do I sign up for such a neat program?

That whopping $13 dollar per week boost will be given to everyone, regardless of if they pay into the program to begin with. Come on folks, tell it like it is; this is one huge wealth redistribution program, take from those who put in and give it to millions who don’t. Yep, that’s pretty transparent government in action to me.

What ever happened to the responsible approach to leadership, the part where careful consideration is given to each issue and where the attitude of “do no harm” overrides wild horses headed toward oblivion? The ground swell of disgust for our leaders in Washington sure makes for a bad taste in my mouth. “Just sign here”, yea right!

Harry Reid’s Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill

And you thought because better than 70% of the American public showed outrage, enough to quash the Illegal Alien Amnesty Bill of 2007, that our folks in Washington would have gotten the message; think again!

Sen Reid, Harry [NV] and his band of “Honorable Men” ( Please read Marc Anthony’s famous “Friends, Romans and Countrymen oratory” as written by William Shakespeare’s ) have sponsored yet another end around as they try and stuff “America without borders” down our throats. If you look at the “stated goals” of this legislation, how could anyone object?

(1) providing more effective border and employment enforcement;
(2) preventing illegal immigration; and
(3) reforming and rationalizing avenues for legal immigration.

With any luck the link I’m providing will take you to a video clip which highlights some of the incredibly bad goals included in this piece of “S#!7” legislation being considered, without the spotlight of public debate or consideration. A tip of the hat to my friend Bricks for alerting me to this video. I guess if we do away with the whole concept of “illegal” then this legislative dog and pony show isn’t an entire lie. Then if you can rationalize the goals as laid out, then you too can become a Senator and ignore the will of the American people.

Here’s the list of Harry Reid’s “Co-conspirators”, those who should be hung for crimes against the American public:

Sen Begich, Mark [AK] - 1/6/2009
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 1/6/2009
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 1/6/2009
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 1/7/2009
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] - 1/6/2009
Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] - 1/6/2009
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] - 1/6/2009
Sen Klobuchar, Amy [MN] - 1/6/2009
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] - 1/6/2009
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 1/6/2009
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] - 1/6/2009
Sen McCaskill, Claire [MO] - 1/6/2009
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 1/6/2009

American Experiment Nearly Over

Call me a boob for having fallen in love with the America of our Founders, for believing the “great experiment” would last and last. For the newer generation, the great experiment was/is the American form of government, a liberty loving people with a chance to prove how integrity, honesty and hard work along with divinely inspired documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights would prevail as the most perfect government on the face of the earth.

Our form of government remains the most perfect; unfortunately, a rather large percentage of our people have ignored the rest of the formula which requires integrity, honesty and hard work along with a healthy respect for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

How is it possible for those in positions of leadership and power to ignore, with impunity and outright hostility, the primary safeguards of individual liberties set forth in our founding documents? The rumblings of revolution are beginning to be heard as we find our nation precariously closer to the tyrannical thumb of oppression, not much different than that from Great Britain and King George as our ancestors stood up in arms; but from within as elected leaders elevate themselves to an aristocracy above those who elected them in the first place.

Not long ago the Supreme Court came down with a clear and unambiguous explanation of an individual’s right to bear arms as was included in the 2nd Amendment in The District of Columbia V Heller . The District of Columbia, or for that matter, any local, state or regional form of government does not have, within the powers of government granted to it by the governed, the ability to restrict the individual right to bear arms, with limited exceptions such as convicted felons or the mentally disturbed.

Quoting from the Widipedia article linked in the previous paragraph:

“The Scalia majority invokes much historical material to support its finding that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to individuals; more precisely, Scalia asserts in the Court’s opinion that the “people” to whom the Second Amendment right is accorded are the same “people” who enjoy First and Fourth Amendment protection: “‘The Constitution was written to be understood by the voters; its words and phrases were used in their normal and ordinary as distinguished from technical meaning’.”

Enter the “Incorporation Doctrine”, which according to an even more recent decision by the Second Circuit Court ignored the Supreme Court rendering and claims that individual states determine the entitlement to individuals to bear arms and that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to individuals. Does anyone, other than myself, see a rather large disconnect with the original intent of this being a United States of America, being built upon the same founding documents?

I won’t go into a long and drawn out explanation of Rights, which exist with or without government; Rights being bestowed to individuals from our Creator, God. Our Founders understood this principle as they restricted the powers given to government by the people so as to insure a limited government and prevent the tyrannies imposed on individuals by other forms of government throughout the world. Government can’t bestow Rights, government can only distribute entitlements; and entitlements can be taken away as easily as they are granted.

It would appear that regardless of how many letters are put behind a name or titles of respect are added to one’s station, the Second Circuit Court, along with many governing bodies across this country, either don’t understand or intend to disregard the most basic foundations of our national identity by throwing away the intent, both in spirit and law, as given by our most precious documents.

The Right to Bear Arms wasn’t included in the Bill of Rights so sportsmen could trounce around in camouflage outer wear going after prized bucks, although they are indeed covered. No, the Right to Bear Arms was included to give individual citizens protection at all levels of engagement from criminal acts which endanger both property and life and also from a tyrannical form of government. This Right to Bear Arms wasn’t singled out to folks who lived in Vermont, with exclusions for New York or Massachusetts; but for every citizen in the United States of America. How dare the courts attempt to exclude any citizen, how dare any state government attempt to limit a God given right, a right protected in our founding documents!

Last on this list of atrocities is Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, or H.B. 45. Greg Young alerts those interested in his article, “More Gun Control Introduced in Congress” , that the very government for which citizens are armed to protect themselves from potential tyranny is that government which will have the address of each and every armed citizen for future confiscation; and do not be lulled into a false sense of security, future confiscation is just around the corner.

“This nefarious bill seeks to strip us all of our Constitutional Rights to possess and bear firearms of any distinction. It requires, within the first two years, that all new guns be registered. The bill goes retroactive after two years. Meaning that two years after the passage of the bill, ALL FIREARMS in a citizen’s possession must be registered, not just those purchased after the bill passes, and this apparently applies to antique firearms as well.”

My friend Steve happened to send me an email the other day entitled, “A Firearms Refresher Course”. I’d just started putting some of these thoughts into what you see here today when I opened his letter. The image at the top of this article was included along with several others which I won’t share at this time. Here’s a list of the items we should be aware of:

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Colt: The original point and click interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.
11. What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.
15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

Well, that helicopter’s circling over my house again, the black one that sits there in quiet mode each time I post an article exposing our government’s steady and unrelenting usurpation of power under the guise of helping the citizenry. Remember, if someone knocks on your door and says, “We’re from the government and were here to help.”, be afraid, be very afraid.

Property Rights - Age Old Issue

It seems a treasure hunter may have found a lost treasure ship with the use of Google Earth mapping satellite information. Well, next thing ya’ know, he’ll be millionaire a movin’ to Beverly Hills, movie stars and swimmin’ pools; sorry couldn’t resist the temptation.

“Nathan Smith thinks he’s found a lost treasure ship that sank somewhere north of Corpus Christi during a hurricane in 1822.”

There is a problem; the folks who own the property upon which the treasure is buried have refused to let anyone excavate their land. Smith wants to dig so he wants the court to give him permission.

“Where we walked, your honor, there was gold, there was silver,” Smith told a federal judge in Houston in December about his initial visit to the site, according to the Houston Chronicle. “When you step off that area, you got nothing.”

I must be old fashioned thinking property owners had the final say on things like “their land”. Then again, if there’s a bunch of money involved folks tend to ignore right or wrong and even the law. If the treasure buried under the land is worth so much why didn’t Smith offer to purchase the property? He didn’t have to tell everyone what he believes is under the dirt and then he could dig to his heart’s content.

The scriptures, as found in Matthew 13:44 , explain this well known process through the use of a parable, one that anyone with the slightest understanding of property rights would understand. Is it any wonder our society has problems, folks aren’t reading their scriptures much.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”

Stimulus Bill Bankrupts America

If you liked reading about the Zimbabwean money crisis then you’re gonna just love what our own government is doing to the U.S. Dollar. There’s a video by Glenn Beck , posted over at Mover Mike, which shows how our treasury is printing money by the trillions with nothing to back it up. Some call this inflation; but to be honest I’d call it financial suicide or even murder.

Then you have to pay attention to the so called Stimulus Package being shoved down our throats by President Obama and the Democrat majority. If you recall, the Stimulus Package was presented to the American public as emergency funding to pay off Freddie and Fannie’s bad paper as if the sun wouldn’t come up in the morning without all that money being thrown down the toilet. We then were told that the sun wouldn’t come out if government didn’t bail out GM and Chrysler.

I’m not a fancy economist educated with all those market trends; but I can sniff out a liar better than most folks and this whole Stimulus Package is nothing more than a huge pork barrel orgy of the first order. Maybe it’s time to tell Washington to take their Stimulus Package and “stick where the sun don’t shine”.

I borrowed this other video clip from my friend David at Third World County . I don’t figure he’s going to be all that upset.