Monday, August 15, 2011

Actions that make heroes: Medford man returns rare handgun to Medal of Honor winner

History buff George Berry, of Medford, has a Colt .45-caliber, semiautomatic pistol he has long coveted, which he received after returning a similar pistol that had been stolen from a Medal of Honor winner in 1978. Mail Tribune Photo / Jamie Lusch

Marine John J. McGinty's brave act on March 12, 1968

President Lyndon Johnson presented John J. McGinty with the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House on March 12, 1968. In the presentation, then Marine Staff Sgt. McGinty was cited for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" during Operation Hastings in July of 1966.

The troops had been battling toe-to-toe with a larger force of North Vietnamese army troops attempting to push south near the demilitarized zone. McGinty was commanding a 32-man platoon serving as a rear guard as the Marine battalion withdrew at the end of a three-day battle.

For four hours, his platoon was attacked by small arms, automatic weapons and mortar fire, the citation reads. At one point, two squads became separated from the main body of the platoon.

"With complete disregard for his safety, McGinty charged through intense automatic weapons and mortar fire to their position," it read. "Finding 20 men wounded and the medical corpsman killed, he quickly reloaded ammunition magazines and weapons for the wounded men and directed their fire upon the enemy.

"Although he was painfully wounded as he moved to care for the disabled men, he continued to shout encouragement to his troops and to direct their fire so effectively that the attacking hordes were beaten off," it continued.

The citation mentions his Colt .45 pistol.

"When the enemy tried to out-flank his position, he killed five of them at point-blank range with his pistol," it concluded.

— Paul Fattig

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The Last Waltz - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Via American Apocalypse
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More on the Paul Ames Media Blackout

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CONSERVATIVE HERITAGE TIMES
VERBATIM POST
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RedPhillips

The media blackout of Ron Paul’s impressive 2nd place finish in the Ames Straw Poll must be pretty obvious, because a lot of people are noticing it.

See Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner.

If Paul had garnered 153 more votes on Saturday, winning the straw poll, you can be sure that every wrap-up story would have focused on the event’s irrelevance…

So, again, why doesn’t Paul get the attention he seems to deserve? Mostly because the mainstream media and the Republican establishment wish he would just go away.

Jim Antle has a article on how differently the press has treated Pawlenty vs. Paul.

And here is Jim Antle on Paul and the media.

And here Philip Klein tells us why the media is right to not take Paul seriously. Make sure you read the comments. Klein is getting brutalized.

Paul Krugman: Space Aliens Could Save U.S. Economy

INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
VERBATIM POST
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By Mary Theroux

As Dave Barry used to say, I’m not making this up.

Deeply mired in the fatally flawed myth that World War II ended the Great Depression, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman yesterday proposed that an invasion by space aliens would well provide the economic stimulus this country needs:


As Dr. Robert Higgs has more than ably shown, the Great Depression continued, and deepened, throughout the New Deal and throughout World War II. The World War II years were a time of shared privation, with virtually every item that we take for granted today either rationed: e.g., meat, gasoline, sugar, clothing; or not available at any cost: e.g., new cars, appliances, etc. The American standard of living throughout World War II remained at an excruciatingly low level that no 21st century American would accept. Meanwhile, unemployment disappeared simply because 16 million able-bodied people were sent to war, paid below-market rates and subject to danger, death, and maiming they may not have preferred to unemployment.

As I earlier detailed in “One More Time: World War II Did Not Bring Us Out of the Depression,” the Great Depression ended in 1946, when 10 million individuals were returned to the ranks of the unemployed, and federal spending plunged 40% in the aftermath of FDR’s death and the abandonment of the New Deal.

If Dr. Krugman would quit reading Keynesian theory and start reading history, he could earn his Nobel and look for salvation not from aliens but from the creative engine fueled by free individuals unencumbered by regime uncertainty and widespread diversion of productive resources to government programs.


How Can Anyone Not Be Outraged?

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INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE
VERBATIM POST
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By Anthony Gregory

An eighteen-year-old Floridian is pulled over for riding a bike without a night light. A small amount of marijuana is found on him. He is thus in violation of probation for a crime he committed years before as a juvenile. He is arrested and tossed in a jail cell. He suffers a medical emergency and spends hours vomiting and desperately screaming for help. More than six hours pass before he sees a nurse, by which time it is too late. He died a torturous death.

This is the result of one injustice piled atop another: the police searching someone for something to which police in a civilized society would likely respond with a friendly warning, marijuana possession triggering a probation violation that sends someone previously allowed to roam free into a jail cell, and a criminal justice system that is so cruel, overcrowded, and incompetent, that it allows its victims to suffer an unambiguous personal health crisis for hours before attending to them.

This one incident alone should damn the entire drug war and resulting swelling of the criminal justice system. When a basketball star killed himself with cocaine in 1986 it resulted in a national hysteria culminating in stricter penalties and an expansion of the ridiculous, invasive, and since-discredited DARE program. When a kid is killed by the system, all over the possession of a small bit of a mostly harmless substance, the outrage is deafening in its silence.

At atrocity like this summer’s negligent homicide (to put it charitably) of Eric Perez at the hands of the West Palm Beach lockup authorities should shock America out of its longstanding, complacent coma regarding all these issues. Had something like this happened years ago, before it became a completely accepted cost of the drug war and a routine occurrence of modern life, it would have been scandalous and humiliating for the whole official community, one would hope. The entire criminal justice system and American approach to drug policy needs to be radically rethought before this country eats itself alive.

This Was Once A Country Where People Made Things

Via Old Virginia Blog


HOLT COLLIER

Via Jamey



HOLT COLLIER
LIVE OAK CEMETERY, S MAIN
Greenville MS

Born a slave in 1846, Collier served as a Confederate sharpshooter and cavalryman. Famed as a bear hunter, he guided Pres. Theodore Roosevelt on a a bear hunt near Onward MS in 1902. When Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear Collier had roped, cartoonists coined the term "Teddy Bear". Collier was buried here in Live Oak Cemetery in 1936.

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Widow: After 8 deployments, Army Ranger takes own life

Via California Tree of Liberty


Home invasion

Via Sipsey Street Irregulars

North Branford, Conn. (WTNH) - The state police Major Crimes Unit is in North Branford helping town police investigate a home invasion.

It happened on Autumn Court Sunday night around 10.

We're told five black males, who were armed, entered the home and pulled a woman out of the shower at knifepoint. An elderly woman who was watching television was held at gunpoint. During the melee, a three year old boy who was sleeping is awakened. The two women were tied up and the suspects waited for the male homeowner to return home.

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Media Lies Exposed

Via Bazz


Webster’s Newest Definition of Democrat

Via PUMABydesign



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Gun Control: Lessons from European Violence

London riot police

The recent outbreaks of indiscriminate violence in Europe highlight a disturbing trend of decivilization throughout Western society. Pundits and "experts" weave countless theories to try to explain what's happening. Some sound plausible enough, but only those of us who understand sound economic theory have the tools to decipher the meaning of these current events. Those who use these tools will discover that the state has not only caused this turmoil directly in various ways (via welfarism, militarism, inflation, state schooling, and more), but it is also preventing people from defending themselves and their property. I am referring, of course, to gun-control laws.

England

First we'll consider the riots that erupted across England last week. Vandals and looters were wantonly destroying property, committing arson, stealing goods from stores, and mugging passersby. Innocent people were rightfully scared for their well-being, especially since the police are evidently too inept to stop any of this. One reporter, after being mugged and beaten, called the authorities only to be told to "go home."

It should hardly be surprising people are so defenseless. As of 2007, England, Wales, and Scotland ranked below nearly every other developed country in terms of private firearm possession.Download PDF British gun-control laws can only be described as draconian. The 1997 Firearms Act all but banned handguns from private ownership. (Interestingly, this legislation was not applied to Northern Ireland, where gun ownership is far more widespread.) All "legal" firearms require a state-issued license to possess. License holders must report their firearms purchases to the police and renew their licenses every few years. Local police precincts can impose additional restrictions on gun ownership within their turf. Police have the power to revoke the license if they suspect the license holder has violated their rules.

"Those of us familiar with Misesian theory know that the state will always tend to respond to the disastrous consequences of intervention with even more intervention."

All of these hurdles and red tape significantly raise the cost of purchasing and possessing a firearm. On the margins, we should expect this to lead to less firearm ownership and fewer means for innocent people to defend themselves and their families.

In the wake of the recent violence, British property owners have had to resort to alternative means of self-defense. Amazon.co.uk reported that baton and aluminum baseball bat sales soared over 5,000 percent overnight on the third day of the riots. One customer wrote the following review:

This bat is perfectly weighted and will suit any UK shop-owner looking to protect their property. Thanks to the ergonomic handle, one easy swing should be enough to shatter patellas, skulls or any other bone on your targeted looter. Personally, I would recommend also investing in some fingerless gloves for extra grip.

Another point to be made about the debacle in England involves the murder that triggered all this. A 29-year-old man named Mark Duggan was shot and killed by agents of the state on August 4th, 2011, in Tottenham, where the riots began soon afterward. Police quickly accused the victim of firing at them, but the Independent Police Complaints Commission reported on August 10th that there exists no evidence that the victim's gun found at the scene had been fired at all.

Maybe police would be less inclined to murder citizens in cold blood if they were facing an armed populace.

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Investors: Concealing Black Hate Crimes

Via What BUbba Knows


Racism: Across the U.S., mobs of black youths are organizing on Facebook to loot stores and beat whites. Yet none dare call the "flash mob" attacks hate crime, least of all the attorney general.

The Associated Press is reporting that at least one of those arrested in the Wisconsin State Fair beatings said the mob was targeting whites, making it a hate crime. Where is Eric Holder's civil rights division? About this epidemic of black-on-white assaults, we hear nothing.

At the Milwaukee fairgrounds, dozens of black teens suddenly appeared, knocking over children, looting the Midway games and stealing prizes. They pulled whites from cars, flung them to the ground and punched and kicked them in the face. At least 18 people were injured, including some cops.

A similar beat-down took place August 2010 at the Iowa State Fair. Organized as "beat whitey night," bands of black teens targeted white kids, fracturing one of their skulls. Then the thugs swarmed police, hitting one cop from behind and busting both his eye sockets.

Earlier this month in Philadelphia, marauding black flash mobs beat and robbed tourists and other innocent bystanders. Several people were hospitalized, including one man with a fractured skull.

Mayor Michael Nutter, Philly's second black mayor, said enough is enough. In an angry lecture from the pulpit of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, he blasted the punks, saying "you have damaged your own race."

Similar attacks are under investigation in Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Washington, D.C., where our first black president remains mum.

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Police Misconduct NewsFeed Weekend Recap 08-13-11 to 08-14-11

VERBATIM POST
Injustice Everywhere

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Here are the 15 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News Feed for this weekend of August 13-14, 2011:


  • 3 Davie FL cops are the subject of a suit by an 18yr-old honors student, shown above, who was repeatedly punched, kicked, tasered and attacked by a police dog before arrested for resisting arrest with violence, charges which were later tossed because it was ruled that he couldn’t be arrested for resisting an unlawful arrest. [3] ow.ly/1vHE6
  • Highlands County FL is being sued by an 81yr-old man claiming a deputy used excessive force by throwing him onto his cruiser and fasely arrested him. The ending quote from the sheriff is a gem. [3] bit.ly/nVMPXw
  • The Canadian Border Service apparently strip searched a 66-year-old woman from the US and the RCMP detained her for 12 days after a field drug test yielded a false positive on an oil bottle in her car. The police are also accused of taking their time verifying the results from the unreliable test. [0] http://t.co/AvOlFmZ
  • Kentucky State trooper who now works for the US DHS is being sued by a man & his son claiming the trooper broke down their door, threatened them at gunpoint, then falsely arrested them because they called 911 after the trooper’s wife hit their car while she was driving under the influence. [5] ow.ly/1vIAo8
  • Orange County FL deputies are accused of raiding & ransacking the wrong home before they raided the right home next door, which resulted in the fatal shooting of the warrant’s subject. [3] bit.ly/oRh2hH
  • Muskogee Co OK deputy arrested on multiple charges for allegedly firing her service weapon during an off-duty domestic argument while drunk. The man she was with was also arrested as well though. [0] bit.ly/oxIYAI
  • Metcalfe Co KY deputy pled guilty to multiple charges for stalking, harassing & assaulting a woman in dispatch center that he used to have a relationship with. [0] ow.ly/1vILcL
  • Lawrence MA cop is still on paid leave 6 mo after his DV conviction despite the police chief recommending termination. [0] ow.ly/1vIK6Q
  • Florida police unions boast about 80% success rate using arbitrators to force law enforcement agencies to rehire of cops fired for misconduct [0] bit.ly/nK5frr
  • US Border Patrol officer sentenced to 1mo home det & anger mgmnt for threatening to kill BC teen in road rage case [0] ow.ly/1vInkp
  • San Jose CA police sued by biker club claiming police are profiling them for “driving while biker” [0] bit.ly/nx1rWQ
  • Williamston SC police chief resigns over racist jokes & images posted on his Facebook page [0] ow.ly/1vICy1
  • Indiana State trooper pleads to releasing a female DUI suspect who failed a breathalyzer test and destroying the test results. The investigation also found he downloaded pics from her Facebook page. [0] ow.ly/1vIB4i
  • Louisiana DPS officer suspended 100hrs for pics of him having sex on duty in patrol car found on the cruiser laptop [0] ow.ly/1vHR6R
  • Sandwich MA cop disciplined for hit&run crash now investigated for alleged harassing txt msgs to fellow cop [1] ow.ly/1vHOKS

Also, we have a service provider bill coming due tonight so we could really use a few donations if at all possible. So if you haven’t donated yet, please give it a thought if you support what we do here. Thanks!

That’s it for today, stay safe out there!

Old enough to be home alone?

Via Willowtown News Blog

This looks like an Oleg Volk photograph to me, but it was unattributed on the site where I found it.
(Update: See comments)

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Rerun: Milton Friedman on the Phil Donahue Show

Via Cousin Bill

Why The Second French Revolution Is Coming To America

Via Western Rifle Shooters Association


For our closing post of the day we once open the floor to Sean Corrigan who proves that just when we thought all historical comparisons to the current deplorable economic miasma have been used up, a new one springs up, this time perhaps the one most indicative not so much of the past but of the future. Indeed, if history is any indication, and it is, America's catastrophic and untenable position is worse than even that of one Louis XIV, better known as "The Sun King", whose rule set the stage for the downfall of the French monarchy and which ultimately culminated with the French Revolution of 1789.

For arguably the best indication of historical parallels to the present, and yet another confirmation that there really is nothing new in this world, especially in the world of central planning of monetary affairs, we present the following summary of the practices of Louis XIV which is verbatim applicable to the actions of the current central planning cartel:

"The administration of the finances appears to have practised a subtle and ingenious tactic… [and] by modifications in the monetary unit, attempted to influence economic phenomena. Changes… were made to prepare for the issue of loans or to audit the circulation of the treasury notes, or to regulate exchange, to modify the balance of trade… to effect a redistribution of wealth, to influence the price level of commodities, perhaps to attenuate economic crises and famines…"

It may come as a surprise to some that the very same type of central planning that Bernanke, and his central banking brethren, are trying to inflict (and failing) upon the world, was the same that was attempted on so many occasions in history, most poignantly, and catastrophically in the late stages of the French monarchy. Needless to say the attempts by one man to control a far simpler French economy well over two centuries ago failed, yet ironically, not even then did the economy reach our current level of collapse.

Which begs the question: how long until our own "Sun Chairman" finally forces the hundreds of millions of great unwashed out of their hypnotic trance following the realization that their "equity" in the great American experiment, their pensions, lifetime accrued benefits, retirement funds, and of course savings, have been completely wiped out, and another historic 'storming', only this time not of the Bastille, but of the Marriner Eccles building, the focal point of all that is broken with not only America but the world, finally ensues. Just as over 200 years ago, the longer the wait, the greater the ultimate loss for the working class... and the bloodier the ultimate outcome for the modern day iteration of the clergy and aristocracy, also known as contemporary politicians and bankers. And to those saying we are getting ahead of ourselves, we borrow a phrase from the lexicon of unconventional wisdom: "this time is never different."

From Sean Corrigan: If It's Broke, Don't Fix It

In Elgin Groseclose’s magisterial ‘Money and Man’, the following, eerily contemporary quote appears in his chapter on paper money:

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