Friday, July 15, 2011

Don't Tell the Band

Via Conservative Heritage Times



As a boy I had a gig with a travelin’ show
Way back in ’63
We did a little pickin’ for the soldier boys
Of General Bobby Lee

But when we got to Pennsylvania,
I knew there’d be a change
We caught up with some boys from Georgia
And I heard one of them say

Don’t tell the band
The Devil’s on his way
Don’t tell the band
Just let the music play

Later on I had a job pouring gin and rum
On the grand queen of the sea
We set out on our first transatlantic voyage
Headed for New York City

But when I felt that lady shudder
I knew there’d be a change
I saw the captain grab the first mate
And I thought I heard him say

Don’t tell the band
The Devil’s on his way
Don’t tell the band
Just let the music play

In the Restaurant at the End of the Universe
In the year 3010
I was listenin’ to the Good Old Interstellar Boys
Playin’ “Let It Be” again

But when I heard the trumpet sounding
I knew there’d be a change
A prophet wearin’ robes appeared before us
And he looked at me and said

Don’t tell the band
The Devil’s on his way
Don’t tell the band
Just let the music play

Undersea Communication Infrastructure Map

Via Rich
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"Greg’s Cable Map is an attempt to consolidate all the available information about the undersea communications infrastructure. The initial data was harvested from Wikipedia, and further information was gathered by simply googling and transcribing as much data as possible into a useful format, namely a rich geocoded format."

“Ron Paul Republican” Stands Up to Police, Faces Ouster TONIGHT!

Via christianresearch7777777

Brian Miller

As regular readers of this blog are well aware, the May 5th shooting of former Marine Jose Guereña in Tucson, Arizona was both tragic and controversial. Sheriff’s Deputies and Police Officers forming the regional Pima County SWAT team entered his home to serve a search warrant, after what they claim was an extensive 20-month investigation that focused on several homes. Bizarrely, the warrant did not specify Guereña, nor anything specific in his home, as required by the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Despite overlooking this critical “technicality,” cops entered in typical paramilitary style, wielding overwhelming force, which can be seen in the subsequently released helmet-cam video taken by one the attackers. Mere seconds elapsed from their arrival, to their “dynamic entry” of breaching the front door and sending bullets flying. Over 70, to be exact. Jose was struck over 20 times, and the rest of the rounds, many from AR-15 rifles, flew through the house, some exiting out the back and coming to rest in the walls of neighboring homes.

Heh!:) Sheila Jackson plays race card again

http://i991.photobucket.com/albums/af33/globalmedia23/57483665.jpg

Vox Popoli
VERBATIM POST

And in other news, grass is still green, water is still wet, and Republicans are still going to cave under the media pressure:

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Friday strongly suggested that members of Congress are making it difficult for President Obama to raise the debt ceiling because of his race.
That's right, Sheila. They raciss! Everything is raciss! The sun rose this morning and it was raciss! The White Man don't like it when it's DARK outside. He raciss!

Here is a suggestion for Rep. Lee. In the event you do not wish people to believe you are genetically inclined to sub par intelligence, it might be useful to avoid publicly demonstrating a complete inability to identify the relationship between cause and effect.

Seward’s Search for Foreign Adventurers

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With some of its major cities boasting nearly 50% foreign populations, it came as no surprise that the North would rely upon foreign mercenaries to war against Americans in the South, many of the latter being descendants of the Founders. New York City in 1860 held nearly 400,000 foreigners out of a total of 805,000 -- Irishmen and Germans amounted to 323,000 of that total number. Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Seward, would recruit from Europe’s socialist revolutionary officers to help lead those foreigners against Americans.

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
=========
Seward’s Search for Foreign Adventurers:

“Probably no war has ever been fought in modern times…[which has] drawn men in whom justice burns brightly – knights errant; and no war has ever been fought to which have not gravitated men to whom fighting was as the breath of life – soldiers of fortune. Europe poured into the Union army hundreds of her best artillery, cavalry, and infantry officers.

Perhaps no better picture of the situation in regard to these adventurers is to be found than the one presented by the English journalist William Howard Russell. Writing on August 4, 1861, he said, “There are daily arrivals at Washington of military adventurers from all parts of the world, some of them with many extraordinary certificates and qualifications; but, as Mr. Seward says, it is best to detain them with the hope of employment on the Northern side, lest some legally good men should get among the rebels. Garibaldians, Hungarians, Poles, officers of Turkish and other contingents, the executory devises and reminders of European revolutions and wars, surround the State Department, and infest unsuspecting politicians with illegible testimonials in unknown tongues.”

There can be no question but that Seward approved and sought the enrollment of trained European officers in the undisciplined and raw American army. Through the American consuls abroad and through agents expressly sent to Europe, Seward encouraged war-eager officers of the Old World to cross the sea to find the fighting for which their souls thirsted.

{General George B.] McClellan received from General George Klapka, who had distinguished himself in the Hungarian [socialist] revolutionary army of 1849, a communication in which that Hungarian leader revealed that he had been invited by one of Seward’s agents to enter the Union army. Klapka was indeed ready to come, but shamelessly stipulated such conditions in his letter sent McClellan storming to President Lincoln, furiously demanding prohibition of such dabbling in military affairs by the Secretary of State.

As a matter of wonder and interest it should be recorded that Klapka demanded merely advance payment of a bonus of $100,000, a later salary of $25,000 a year, for a short period the position of chief of general staff, and later, after he had acquired a greater facility with the English language, appointment to McClellan’s place as general in chief of all armies! How many German and Austrian officers were sought out through Seward’s agents cannot be established. Seward felt that volunteers should not be refused because they could not speak English.”

(Foreigners in the Union Army and Navy, Ella Lonn, LSU Press, 1951, pp. 273-274)

========
Seward’s Search for Foreign Adventurers

GOA Alert :Push for Gun Control Treaty Continues

Wall Clock

The UN is After Your Guns

Push for Gun Control Treaty Continues

A UN committee wrapped up a week-long series of meetings on a massive treaty that could undermine both U.S. sovereignty and the Second Amendment. This is the third round of meetings by the so-called “preparatory committee” on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as the UN gears up for final negotiations in 2012.

The most comprehensive treaty of its kind, the ATT would regulate weapons trade throughout the world on everything from battleships to bullets.

And as information trickles out of Turtle Bay in New York City, it is obvious the UN is getting more clever about taking the focus off of “small arms.”

With an eye cast in the direction of the U.S.—in particular, toward the U.S. Senate which must ratify the treaty—the most recent Draft Paper for the Arms Trade Treaty recognizes in its preamble “the sovereign right of States to determine any regulation of internal transfers of arms and national ownership exclusively within their territory, including through national constitutional protections on private ownership.”

That statement, taken by itself, is troubling. Americans’ right to keep and bear arms exists whether or not it is “recognized” by some UN committee. The right enshrined in the Second Amendment predates our own Constitution, and does not need an international stamp of approval.

But the preamble aside, the scope of the treaty is what’s most damaging. Though negotiations will continue for another year, some provisions are certain to be contained in the final draft.

The ATT will, at the very least, require gun owner registration and microstamping of ammunition. And it will define manufacturing so broadly that any gun owner who adds so much as a scope or changes a stock on a firearm would be required to obtain a manufacturing license.

It would also likely include a ban on many semi-automatic firearms (i.e., the Clinton gun ban) and demand the mandatory destruction of surplus ammo and confiscated firearms.

Any suggestion that the treaty might not impact all firearms—right down to common hunting rifles—was thrown out the window after seeing the reaction to the Canadian government’s motion that hunting rifles be exempted from the treaty.

The Canadian representative caused a stir among the other delegates this week when he proposed that the treaty include the following language: “Reaffirming that small arms have certain legitimate civilian uses, including sporting, hunting, and collecting purposes.”

While Canadian gun owners were pleased with even the slightest movement by its government to protect gun rights, the proposed language is yet another indication that ALL firearms are “on the table.”

Feeble as it is, Canadian proposal was viewed as a major wrench thrown in the works, and had the anti-gunners crying foul.

Kenneth Epps is a representative with the Canadian anti-gun group known as Project Plowshares. According to Postmedia News, Epps said Canada’s move is hampering efforts to forge a comprehensive global arms control regime.

Noting that there is little difference between a sniper rifle and a hunting rifle, Epps said, “The problem is that once you introduce exemptions, others will do the same. It’s the thin edge of the wedge….From a humanitarian perspective, all firearms need to be controlled, and that’s the bottom line.”

Such statements are eagerly welcomed by the Obama administration. Since it has been largely stymied in pushing gun control in Congress, U.S. negotiators will push the envelope as far as they can.

The U.S. Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, a key negotiator of the ATT, is anti-gun former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher of California. Tauscher said last year that her team at the State Department “will work between now and the UN Conference in 2012 to negotiate a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty.”

In 2009, newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reversed the position of the Bush administration (which voted against the treaty in 2008) and stated that “The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area.”

International standards, however, may not be the only, or even the primary, objective. Former ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, observes that, “The hidden agenda of a lot of the people who sought to negotiate a small arms treaty really had less to do with reducing dangers internationally and a lot more to do with creating a framework for gun control statutes at the national level.”

Bolton explains that pressure from the groups agitating for the treaty—groups such as Amnesty International, Oxfam, and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)—is geared toward constraining the freedoms of countries that recognize gun rights. “And specifically, and most importantly, [to] constrain the United States,” Bolton said.

Negotiators, from abroad and within the Obama administration, view arms control as protecting human rights, rather than seeing civilian disarmament for what it is—the favorite tool of despots, dictators and tyrants to maintain power by engaging in mass murder and genocide.

And, perversely, in many instances those resisting an oppressive, genocidal regime would be held in the same light as criminals and terrorists and be legally prohibited under the ATT from purchasing weapons.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) makes this point in a letter he drafted to President Obama: “[T]he underlying philosophy of the Arms Trade Treaty is that transfers to and from governments are presumptively legal, while transfers to non-state actors…are, at best, problematic.”

Sen. Moran’s letter, in which he is joined by other pro-gun Senators, warned that any treaty “that seeks in any way to regulate the domestic manufacture, assembly, possession, transfer, or purchase of firearms, ammunition, and related items would be completely unacceptable to us.”

U.S. freedom is clearly in the sights of the ATT. The time to take action is now, before the treaty moves into final negotiations.

ACTION: Urge your Senators to oppose any UN effort to impose restrictions on the Second Amendment, and to sign on to Sen. Moran’s letter to President Obama in opposition to the ATT.

Click here to send your Senators a prewritten message.

Government Death Time


Ok, so I just got done listening to the TOTUS once again pontificate about how moderate changes in the budget can make things work.

This is a lie.

Here's another spreadsheet proving it - if we do not cut this crap out right now, we will become Greece.

I know you don't want to hear this. I know full well that there are a lot of people who believe they're entitled to their benefits, to their Medicare, to their Social Security, to their Welfare and Food Stamps.

I understand.

The math doesn't care what you claim you're entitled to, nor what I believe you're entitled to, nor what Congress wishes to grant you.

Here are the facts:

  • Government debt has grown 11% in each year for the last three years, more or less. This is a fact which you can verify from the Treasury's "Debt To The Penny" series. Please do so, because I hate having to post the numbers after someone pops up and claims I'm lying.

  • GDP growth since 2000 has averaged 4.1%. I'll use that number, even though our current GDP rate is under 2%. This spreadsheet is a lot worse at 2.1%; government interest expense exceeds GDP (or government size) about 10 years faster!

  • I am using a blended interest rate of 3% on government debt. This is consistent with the Treasury's own current numbers. It is also very low on a historical basis. I presume it will not rise, which is likely foolish. If it rises, the spreadsheet gets a lot worse.

  • I am using a government growth rate, all-in, of 5%. This provides us a doubling time of about 14 years. This is too conservative since 2000 (government has doubled in size in the decade, which is about 7%) but I am assuming we cannot maintain 7%.

Here's the deal. With these assumptions right now interest expense is about 11.3% of government's total budget. Within ten years it is 21.3%. In 10 more it will be 40.52%. In 10 more, that is 30 years from now it will be 76.98% (!) - in theory. And in 35 years, it will consume the entire government budget.

MORE.

National Police Misconduct NewsFeed Daily Recap 07-14-11

Injustice Everywhere

Here are the 21 reports of police misconduct tracked in our National Police Misconduct News



  • Houston TX cop suspended after caught on video, shown above, walking up to cuffed suspect & punching him in the face [0] http://bit.ly/qfSlaB
  • Washington DC police officer indicted on 9 counts for allegedly using firearm to sexually abuse 3 women [1] http://wapo.st/qJyH4y
  • Haines City FL cop resigns after arrested for sex w/teen prostitutes as young as 14 in exchange for favors [0] http://thesent.nl/qNxZcF
  • Isle of Wight Co VA deputy sentenced to 4mo jail in plea deal on 6 counts sexual abuse of a minor under 15 [0] http://bit.ly/oij2hX
  • Arkansas State police forced to rehire trooper after fired 2x & pleading no contest to negligent homicide [0] http://bit.ly/qUQOiT
  • Chula Vista CA cop sued by Navy surgeon alleging false arrest & excessive force in front of his family [3] http://bit.ly/mP6TPz
  • Ashville NC police investigate allegations of excessive force on musician arrested while handing out fliers [2] http://bit.ly/p7mPqw
  • 2 Altoona PA cops charged w/agg assault, record tampering & other charges for bar fight & cover up attempt [0] http://bit.ly/mQUk4p
  • Rutland VT cop gets $1,000 fine in plea deal for watching porn that was evidence in child porn case while on duty [1] bit.ly/oHZcvO
  • North Carolina state trooper suspended 4 days after investigation into DUI arrest of woman who tested 0.0 BAC [0] http://bit.ly/rgVy7b
  • Seattle WA police sgt suspended 10days w/o pay for failing to supervise “I’ll beat the Mexican piss out of you” cop [1] http://bit.ly/mORR6R
  • Lancaster NY cop fined $1,000 for beating up a 17yr-old during a New Years Eve house party, resigned after charged [0] http://bit.ly/n46BDh
  • Sanford FL cop rehired by arbitration now investigated for breaking into home to arrest man for traffic violation [1] http://bit.ly/oHPHUA
  • Gatineau QC cop faces 10 internal disciplinary charges related to the shooting death of man outside his mom’s home [0] http://bit.ly/nYcPdf
  • Spokane WA cop fired for obstructing illegal hunting probe after long string of misconduct including brutality [0] http://bit.ly/p4l2VN
  • Chicago IL cop investigated for shooting neighbor’s dog to death after it got into fight w/his dogs while off duty [1] http://bit.ly/qasr1f
  • Newark NJ cop & a bank loan officer indicted on bank fraud charges involving $1.9mil real estate loan [0] http://bit.ly/nkOayf
  • Norfolk VA police sergeant w/fugitive squad arrested on a solicitation charge in Virginia Beach [1] http://bit.ly/obXfXj
  • Worcester MA cop sentenced to 1yr prison and 1yr home confinement on conspiracy to distribute marijuana conviction [0] http://bo.st/ptyM2q
  • New Mexico state trooper subject of arrest warrant after failing to appear in court on DUI & child abuse charges [0] http://bit.ly/oMBhFl
  • Martin Co FL deputy arrested on drunk driving charges after crashing truck into barbed wire fence [0] http://bit.ly/oTt9Si

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

An Act of Self-Defense

Eye See You
Eye See You
topdog

===================

OLEG VOLK

". . . even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

Thomas Jefferson 1779

================================

Ten years from now, Congress is controlled by lobbyists, unions, corporations, federal agencies and power-hungry professional politicians. While stealing our wealth they've wrecked the economy and destroyed individual liberty.

Four angry individuals believe deadly force is justified to restore the Constitution and regain our liberty. If their plan succeeds . . . "the thieves that have stolen our liberty will pay with their lives, or resign, and if the voters agree, professional politicians will be forever barred from serving in Congress."

The Department of Justice begins a vengeful and bloody hunt for the "terrorists," but the hunt itself threatens our remaining liberties. When the first senator is "term-limited," it is clear the terrorists will not soon be caught. They have carefully prepared. They are inside federal law enforcement and they have access to the federal computer system.

But is deadly force justified to defend liberty?
Who decides?
When will it be too late?



$14.00 to your doorstep.

Congress: Say No to Amnesty and Yes to Enforcing Our Immigration Laws


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American voters are more concerned than ever over illegal immigration. The Gallup poll has asked Americans about the “Importance of Controlling U.S. Borders to Halt the Flow of Illegal Immigrants Into the U.S.” twice in 2006, once in 2010, and again in June 2011. The results for the first three polls showed 43, 44, and 42% said that the need for government action to halt the flow of illegal immigrants at the borders was “extremely important.” When asked the same question in June this year, a striking 53% considered government action to stop illegal immigration to be “extremely important,” an 11-point increase in the past year alone. Another 29% consider such action to be “very important,” 12% “moderately important,” while only 7% say it is “not that important.”

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 64% of likely voters say that gaining control of our borders is more important than legalizing the status of (otherwise known as granting amnesty to) illegal immigrants. Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree and think legalization should come first. Other recent Rasmussen polls have revealed: Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters say it’s better to enforce existing immigration laws than to create new laws to control illegal immigration; Sixty-one percent (61%) oppose automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to women who are here illegally; and Fifty-seven percent (57%) think the federal government’s policies and practices encourage illegal immigration.

Nonetheless, even though a solid majority of the American public favors fixing the illegal immigration problem by controlling our borders as the top priority, President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders continue to propose and introduce “comprehensive immigration reform” (amnesty) bills even as our borders remain open.

President Obama announced his comprehensive immigration reform proposal, “Building a 21st Century Immigration System,” in May. Then, on June 22 seven Democratic Senators announced their reintroduction of a comprehensive immigration bill, S. 1258, that would legalize the status of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

According to ImmigrationImpact.com, S. 1258 "includes the creation of Lawful Prospective Immigration (LPI) status. Applicants for LPI status would be required to submit biometric data, go through security checks and pay a fine. After six to eight years of LPI status, undocumented immigrants could transition to Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status after they pay taxes and additional fines, learn English and U.S. civics, and undergo additional background checks." According to S. 1258, "An alien may not be granted lawful prospective immigrant status ... unless the alien ... was physically present in the United States before June 1, 2011."

So there you have it. The Democrats’ new immigration reform bill would create a new procedure for legalizing the status of illegal immigrants who arrived before June 1, 2011, which would include the creation of a new status, “Lawful Prospective Immigration” status, or LPI for short. After registering and paying a fine, LPIs would be on track to become “Legal Permanent Residents” (LPRs).

We’ve already been through this type of legalization program with the major amnesty legislation of 1986 and other minor amnesties since. Millions of illegal immigrants became citizens through these earlier amnesty programs. And, guess what? We still have the illegal immigration problem with us today, only it's worse than ever.

It’s time for Congress to stop creating new amnesty programs with their deceptively soothing and disarming terminology that would lead ultimately to unlimited immigration and open borders.

Instead we need Congress to honor its oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,”which includes supporting Article IV, Section 4, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion...." Congress needs to pass the necessary and appropriate legislation to fix the illegal immigration crisis by:
  1. Securing our national borders;
  2. Strictly enforcing all existing immigration laws;
  3. Ending the economic incentives for illegal immigration;
  4. Ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants;
  5. Rejecting any form of amnesty for illegal immigrants;
  6. Placing a moratorium on temporary worker and guest worker legislation until illegal immigration has been brought under control; and
  7. Defunding, dismantling, or repealing any government programs or agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), President George W. Bush's Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), and President Obama's Beyond the Border Working Group agreement with Canada, that would lead to the eventual creation of an open borders North American Union (NAU).
Although the political climate has been very hostile for amnesty bills in recent years, we can’t get complacent and passive. We need to be proactive and tell our Representative and Senators that we oppose any type of amnesty legislation, and that furthermore we want them to begin fixing the illegal immigration problem in the seven ways listed above.

Contact your Representative and Senators and tell them to "Say No to Amnesty and Yes to Enforcing Our Immigration Laws!

Click here to learn more about our "Choose Freedom -- STOP Illegal Immigration" action project.

Thanks.

Your friends at The John Birch Society

What has value during a system disruption?

Via Global Guerrillas



What has value?

Once, while browsing a forum, this writer saw a post from a traveller who'd been present at multiple total systems disruptions primarily in Asia: total breakdown of society, money had no meaning, etc. He noted that the following commodities very quickly became bartered within the disaster economy:

  • coffee
  • tea
  • vodka
  • opium
  • tobacco
  • rice
  • sugar

Each of these items has obvious intrinsic, practical value. The value of some is tied to the inflated need of addicts (how many people could face a day without a cup of coffee?). Furthermore, according to the poster, the need for these commodities was apparent within a day or two of systems disruption.

Consider other uses for each of these items:

MORE.

World's Fastest Revolver Shooter & Team GLOCK concealed pistol shooting demo

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