From The 5" Forecast

"........President Obama’s deficit commission........Sometime after Election Day but before the end of the year........will issue a series of recommendations. They are likely to include some or all of the following."

  • Raising the retirement age (currently 67 if you’re born after 1960)

  • Raising the early-retirement age (currently 62)

  • Raising the cap on wages subject to the payroll tax

  • Limiting benefits for higher-income retirees
Makes you wonder if the reaction will go something like this…











Via Bazz

General Lee’s Last Days

lee2.gif

“The end was now drawing near, yet the General uttered no complaint. He was meeting the last enemy as he had met Grant at Appomattox, without parade or ostentation.

An incident of these last days should be preserved. It was related by Mrs. Tabb Bolling Lee. This former Petersburg belle had been in the habit of rising at a late hour, anywhere perhaps from ten to noon. Now, on her first visit to her husband’s people, she was horrified to learn that breakfast would be ready at seven o’clock and each member of the household was expected at family prayers promptly at 6:45. The first morning, the new arrival jumped into her clothes and hastened down to the parlor to find that the General had finished the “lesson” and was well into the “prayers.” As she slipped in and knelt by his side she felt his arm about her. Without interruption the prayer went on and was concluded.

Next morning the new daughter did not get down to prayers at all, but did manage to be on hand at breakfast. After the meal the General approached and quietly remarked that no day should be lived unless it was begun with a prayer of thankfulness and an intercession for guidance. “And now, my child,” he softly concluded, “unless you get down to morning prayers your old father will give you no more kisses.” The punishment was adequate. Thereafter the new daughter was on time for prayers.

The evening of September 28 was raw, damp and unseasonably cold. At that unpropitious hour the vestry of Grace Church met in the unheated building. After presiding at an extended session the General walked up the hill to his home. Tea awaited him. Slowly moving to his pace at the head of the table, he stood, as was his custom, to ask the blessing. His tongue failed to function. The summons had come. From the couch, in the recess window of the dining room, where they laid him, he did not again move.

The physicians treated him for venous congestion of the brain, and, at first, held out hope for recovery. The symptoms were favorable. He was not paralyzed and could move his arms, legs and body, though with pain. He was entirely conscious. Sometimes he spoke. He answered questions, but in monosyllables. His mind was clear and seemed independent of his body. One day the doctor, seeking to cheer him, referred to Traveller. The General must make haste and get well; Traveller was lonely and was looking for him. The sick man shook his head and closed his eyes.

During the final days there was no death-bed scene, no posing, no sadness of farewell. Silence filled the sorrowing chamber. Toward the end chilliness set in. Powerful restoratives were then administered. The intellect was dimmed. The poise and self-restraint of a life-time vanished. The dying man was on the battle field again, astride his war-horse. “Strike the tent!” he exclaimed, as a great storm swept the valley. “Tell Hill he must come up!”Lees Tomb.jpg

At nine o’clock on the morning of October 12 the heart ceased to beat, and a great gentleman, please God, was dead.”

(Robert E. Lee, A Biography, Robert W. Winston, William Morrow & Company, 1934, pp. 411-413)



Via Bernhard

Nine Online Photographic-Related Services I Actually Use

"I am a lucky guy. I have access to just about every single online photographic service known to man. I test most of them. I review a few of them. I actually USE (regularly) only a fewer still. Since I have my pick, and am exposed to most everything, I thought it might be of interest to some to see what I actually use."

Via Jason, Belle Grove

Old Age


I have the .38 LCR as a CCW, but now that the .357 model is somewhat available, I'm thinking about selling and moving up.
Oleg Volk

Mailvox: Homeschool Or Die!

"Yet another example. Which makes one wonder: what good is that all-important socialization to a corpse?" More HERE.

Historic Site Holds Civil War Re-Enactment

"The answer to how North Carolina soldiers came to be known as the Tar Heels lies in an upcoming Civil War re-enactment.

Visitors to Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham this weekend can find out the solution. Activities on Saturday and Sunday will include cooking and musket firings.

There are also demonstrations on the unique style of equipment and uniforms made by the state’s thriving textile industry.

More than 125,000 Tar Heels served in the Confederate Army, more than any other state. During the war, more than 32,000 North Carolina soldiers died."



Elmira: Death Camp Of tThe North

By Michael Horigan
SWR/SHNV Price: $14.96


http://astore.amazon.com/souhernewvie-20/detail/0811732762

"The Civil War (sic) prison camp at Elmira, New York, had the highest death rate of any prison camp in the North: almost 25 percent. Comparatively, the overall death rate of all Northern prison camps was just over 11 percent; in the South, the death rate was just over 15 percent. Clearly, something went wrong in Elmira. The culmination of ten years of research, this book traces the story of what happened. Author Michael Horigan also places the prison in the context of the greater Elmira community by describing the town in 1864 and explaining its significance as a military depot and draft rendezvous."
========


Elmira, The Death Camp Of The North (My Great Uncle)






Petition To PERMANENTLY Adjourn Congress!

"Rather than adjourning to campaign, this Congress should be:
  • Fighting Illegal Immigration and Securing Our Borders
  • Repealing the Unconstitutional Takeover of the Healthcare Industry
  • Renewing the Bush Tax Cuts and Killing the Death Tax Once and for All!
  • End Bailouts
  • Lower Taxes on small Businesses to Stimulate the Economy and Create REAL Jobs!"
Sign HERE.

The Reason We Shall Never! Give Up Our Guns

olegvolk



wolfrick
That last photograph breaks my heart. Because I know what happened to these women immediately after it was taken.

NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!
--------

[info]olegvolk

Two of the people in it were relatives of a person I know.


The End Of Diplomacy

The End Of Diplomacy

"The End Of Diplomacy......is what your picture said to me, with the composition of the pencil used to the nub and seemingly no answer coming except at the end of a bullet."

Dawn
BelleGrove
========
Picked up by
Western Rifle Shooters Association