Walking around central Moscow, the thing you notice is the Russians—I mean, the near-total absence of non-Russians.
There is, of course, a tourist element. Appearance is not much to go by here, but I can recognize—not necessarily understand, but recognize—most of the world’s major languages by ear, and Chinese seems to predominate. The Chinese travel in groups of half a dozen or so, middle-class academic or professional types mostly, exchanging scandalized comments in Mandarin about the price of everything. (Moscow is a very expensive city.)
That small tourist element aside, well-nigh everyone here is ethnically Russian. The cab drivers are Russian. The waiters and waitresses are Russian. The staff in barbershops and nail salons are Russian. The maintenance men in the subway and the ladies issuing subway tickets are Russian. The beggars are Russian. The guy selling fags and candy from a sidewalk kiosk labeled PRODUKTY (“stuff”) is Russian. The girl serving me in the pharmacy is Russian. The models shown in ads for escort agencies and “Private Club and Restaurant” are Russian (just as they are in New York, come to think of it).
Even—good grief!—the lady who cleans our hotel room is Russian. She spoke fluent Russian, anyway, though her features had a slight Mongolian. To make sure, I asked her. Yes, Russian—from Yugra, up in the north Urals somewhere, and so presumably with some Siberian-aboriginal blood contributing to the physiognomy. Where in the Anglosphere nowadays would you have your hotel room cleaned by a native of that country?
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Down, But Still Russian
Worthwhile to keep our ears perked
I have my ear to the ground and wanted to relay to you that:
National Guard troops in Southern Indiana were given a poll about bringing armed force against US Citizens if called to do so. A Spc laid his weapon on the deck and said he could not. The rest of the enlisted men followed suit. The Spc is now being held in the brig for his actions.
This is current out of the OathKeepers and in the process of being duly verified. Either way I wanted to shoot it your way as I know you like to relay that stuff far and wide. I'll try and give you better 5w's and H when and if it's verified.
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I grabbed this from a gentleman of our Facebook page.
Paul Lowe
OUTSTANDING!! I just left my neighbors house. Devon is with the National Guard for this area. He just got home from a EDRE (emergency deployment readiness exercise) at the armory. He said that during the exercise 3 companies of infantry were polled by questionare about the drill and it's purpose. One of the questions was, will you as a member of the Nat. Guard use lethal force against the American public if ordered to do so? One of the men stepped forward and refused to take the poll and explained that it was a moral judgement on his part and that he could not do so. He then placed his weapon on the ground and fell in behind the formation. Devon said it was like a waterfall, Every member layed their weapons on the deck and fell in beside the one lone specialist. This included ALL NCO's, STAFF NCO's and SENIOR NCO's. The only people left in front of the original formation was 3 Capt's. 2 Lt's and the BN Commander who was so upset he started having chest pains from yelling and screaming about court martials and disbandment of the unit into other units. Devon is a Mstr.Sgt and he went with his troops and told them that he could not be prouder of any of them. He was floating while he was telling me this. Maybe we have more than just hope on our side. SEMPER FI. my thanks for the honor of being here Robert.
=========That first post was followed by a bunch of yeas from everyone happy to hear the good news. Next pertinent post:I just heard from Devon. He was TX'd by his Plt LDR and advised that the Specialist Who first layed down his weapon is being held in county jail by the Bn CMDR, awaiting a hearing under the UCMJ. Devon couldn't get any more info than that. I don't want to post the mans name until we have more information. I am so upset by this that I am having chest pains. How can they do this to one soldier and not them all. I will let you know how things go. Think I might go lay down for a bit. SEMPER FI.
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Nothing really pertinent other than those two posts and that the Oathkeepers Board of Directors are aware of the story in current form and efforts are now being taken to verify it. All the info right now is being gathered from a Facebook contact from someone on there. If I hear anything else I will surely let you know. If confirmed, a poll like this in conjunction with the NDAA bullshit that just passed makes it abundantly clear that offensive tyranny is coming down the pipe. Divide and conquer, division then desolation...looks like we are in for an interesting 2012.
Chuck
Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence that we have “unalienable rights from our Creator...
...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. Obviously President Barack Hussein Obama believes in a “guarantee of happiness” and that he, along with his liberal disciples, are the arbiters of fairness. America is about equal opportunity, not the liberal progressive mantra of equal achievement. Nice try Mr. President but teleprompters and poll tested messages do not equal visionary leadership. Sorry… I know, that ain’t fair!
Allen West
Update: NC Principal forced to retire amid 9-year-old boy's suspension
A Gastonia principal who accused a 9-year-old of sexual harassment retired abruptly Tuesday night.Principal Jerry Bostic told Eyewitness News he retired as of 5 p.m.He told the Gaston Gazette the Gaston County School District gave him one hour to decide whether to quit or be fired."One mistake in 44 years, and I'm not given the benefit of the doubt. I really don't believe I was treated fairly," Bostic told Eyewitness News.
Senator Grassley : “They were giving themselves a license to legally lie”
The synonyms thesaurus.com gives for “whistleblower” are even less charitable than the word’s definition: canary, nark, rat, snake, snitch, squealer, stoolie, tattletale, weasel…. But none of these labels seem harsh enough to federal bureaucrats. They’ve left whistleblowers in legal limbo; they’ve barred whistleblowers from offices and forced others to transfer to backwater districts; they’ve mined records to publically disparage at least one recently (more on him in a moment); they’ve deemed a few to be “traitors” and had them shunned by colleagues … and this is just the beginning of what they’ve been doing to the few courageous squealers who exposed Operation Fast and Furious, the once-secret operation that, by design mind you, let thousands of guns “walk” from U.S. gun stores to the arsenals of Mexican drug cartels.
To find what is being done to protect these and other government whistleblowers, I sat down with Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). He’s the Obama administration’s gadfly on this topic. Grassley was one of the original authors of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. Thanks to this legislation, if authorities in a federal agency take (or threaten to take) retaliatory action against a whistleblower, then they’ve broken the law. Nevertheless, the bureaucrats who often make life difficult for whistleblowers have had little to fear from this law.
The quasi-judicial agency that adjudicates government whistleblower complaints (called the Merit Systems Protection Board) uses appointed judges to hear whistleblower cases. These judges have more often than not sided with the government; in fact, since 2000, this board has ruled in favor of whistleblowers only about 5 percent of the time (just three times in 56 cases) according to a Government Accountability Project study.
Senator Grassley has criticized this board for allowing the federal bureaucracy to have its revenge on those who uncover corruption. More recently, he’s been working to update the Whistleblower Protection Act and he’s written multiple letters to Attorney General Eric Holder telling him not to punish whistleblowers.
As Senator Grassley is clearly passionate about this topic, I said, “Just speak your mind Senator Grassley. Don’t let me stop you.”
He smiled warmly and leaned over his Capitol Hill desk as he said,
Madison Rising Patriots Denied Permit to Play in Zuccotti Park
A patriotic rock bank describing themselves as pro-Capitalism and anti-Occupy say they were denied permission to perform this week at Zuccotti Park, the site where the anti-Wall Street protesters are holed up.
“We wanted to get a legally properly permitted concert together to say thank you to the hard working men and women on Wall Street and also to say thank for all that the New York Police Department and the Fire Department of New York had to put up with for the last couple months with these Occupy guys” said Dave Bray, the lead singer of the band, Madison Rising.
“We want to say thank you but we can’t even do it legally with the proper permit. But anybody who wants to bash America, it seems like they can stop on down to Zucotti and poop all over cop cars,” said Bray, speaking yesterday in a radio interview.
Jennifer Cohen, the Madison Rising’s director of marketing, told KleinOnline the owners of Zucotti Park refused to let the band go through with plans for the concert they had hoped to perform today.
“We started at the NYPD 1st Precinct, where we were sent to the Mayor’s office,” she said. “After an hour meeting at the Mayor’s office on Thursday, we were told we needed to contact the owner’s of Zuccotti Park.”
Cohen forwarded to KleinOnline an e-mail to Debra Simon of Brookfield Properties, the owners of the park, asking for an application and requirements to procure a permit for a
live performance.Cohen said Simon caller her this past Friday to deny the band permission to play. Cohen said Simon refused to put the denial in writing.
Matthew Cherry, director of Bloomfield’s public relations, confirmed the company denied a permit to the band.
“Brookfield respectfully declined the request for a permit and is currently not permitting any staged concerts in the park,” he told KleinOnline.
That same day alternative rock band Third Eye Blind visited the park where they reportedly belted out songs in support of Occupy Wall Street.
The Robert E. Lee, the USS Stonewall Jackson & the USS Dixie
George Washington Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 25 August 1958, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 18 December 1959; Commissioned, USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601), 16 September 1960; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 30 November 1983; Final Disposition, disposed of through NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 30 September 1991.
The 17th LAFAYETTE - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on February 9, 1995, the STONEWALL JACKSON subsequently entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington. Recycling was finished on October 13, 1995.
The design above is the ship's insignia.White lettering and stars on a blue and red background are intended to suggest the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy -- the cause Stonewall Jackson served so well. The words "Strength -- Mobility" emblazoned on the banner are taken from letters written by General Jackson, and apply to the Polaris submarine as well as to the tactics he used so successfully. The American Bald Eagle suggests the strength inherent in the Polaris system, while the arm clothed in Confederate sleeve, thrusting a Polaris missile out of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, suggests the power and concealment of the FBM submarine along with the strength of our heritage from General Jackson.
Dixie Class Destroyer Tender: Laid down as the lead ship of the Dixie Class Destroyer Tenders, 17 March 1938, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, NJ Launched, 27 May 1939 Commissioned USS Dixie (AD-14), 25 April 1940
UBS' Advice On What To Buy In Case Of Eurozone Breakup: "Precious Metals, Tinned Goods And Small Calibre Weapons"
What if Napoleon had a B-52 at Waterloo?
Three months ago, Zero Hedge presented the first of many narratives that started the thread of explaining the "unmitigated disaster" that would ensue should the Euro break up, which in the words of authors Stephane Deo and Larry Hatheway, would leads to such mutually assured destruction outcomes as complete bank failure and/or civil war or far worse. Because if there is one thing the banks have learned in the aftermath of Hank Paulson, is that scaremongering when bonuses are at stake is the only to get taxpayer money to fund exorbitant lifestyles. Unfortunately since the first UBS report, despite the best intentions of the status quo, the Eurozone's plight has only gotten far, far worse, reaching a Lehman-like crescendo when the house of cards threatened to collapse if not for a last minute Fed rescue. However, as Deutsche Bank and every other bank knows well, that measure was merely a short-term fix.
Today, Larry Hataway has released yet another sequel to the original piece, focusing on this so very critical week for Europe, which as Olli Rehn said, must find a solution by Friday or see the EU "disintegrate", in which the vivid imagery, loud warnings and level of destruction are even greater than before. In other words, Europe has 4 more days, something which S&P tried it best to remind Europe of, as the alternative is "or else." And here comes UBS to remind everyone that anything but a "fix" to a system that was broken from the very beginning, would be a catastrophe, captured probably the best in Hatheway's recommendations of assets to be bought as a hedge to a Euro collapse: "I suppose there might be some assets worthy of consideration—precious metals, for example. But other metals would make wise investments, too. Among them tinned goods and small calibre weapons." But even that is nothing compared to the kicker: "Break-up runs the risk of becoming one wretched scenario. Sadly, however, it can’t be ruled out, just as it would have been improper to rule out the horrors of the first half of the 20th century before they happened." And there you have it: a reversion by Europe to the perfectly stable system from a decade ago, is now somehow supposed to result in World War. And with that the global banking cartel has official jumped the shark, just like the FT's latest rumor earlier today did the same by indicating that the well of European "bailout" ideas has officially run dry.
Here is how Hatheway frames the end of the world:
Lawmakers Blast Administration For Calling Fort Hood Massacre 'Workplace Violence'
Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday blasted the Defense Department for classifying the Fort Hood massacre as workplace violence and suggested political correctness is being placed above the security of the nation's Armed Forces at home.
During a joint session of the Senate and House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, the Maine Republican referenced a letter from the Defense Department depicting the Fort Hood shootings as workplace violence. She criticized the Obama administration for failing to identify the threat as radical Islam.
Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations
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Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.
In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.
On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:
"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."
The Climate Change Grave
........global warming theocracy merged perfectly with power-hungry socialism, providing the perfect endless crisis to justify limitless power. It wasn’t a response to a problem that was occurring right now, although the lowbrow rabble-rousers of the Church of Global Warming were not above cherry-picking weather headlines to keep the masses good and frightened. Global warming was an imposition of ultimate control – from which, by definition, absolutely no dissent could be permitted – based on a prediction.
It was mass-produced, elegantly packaged fear. The genius of this power grab is that its assertions could not be “falsified,” because they had not happened yet. Hesitate to obey the Church of Global Warming, and you doom the Earth!
Never mind what you’re seeing outside your window – that’s just a false moment of grace before the world-boiling doom that your skepticism will visit upon us all! Stop asking why the world’s worst polluters are not required to participate in our growth-destroying programs – the priesthood assures you that only what America does is important! Do not wonder how your car and air conditioner could be affecting the climate more than mighty volcanoes, or the activity of the Sun – small deeds of Man will accumulate into apocalyptic doom!
Has Obama Set the Stage for Pearl Harbor All Over Again?
Here is the scenario: The U.S economy has hit the skids. Millions of Americans are unemployed. Federal stimulus programs have piled up debt but haven’t brought back jobs for most Americans. Critics charge that the stimulus funds have mostly gone to friends of the President. At the same time, the defense budget has been cut to the bone, and America’s troops have neither the weapons nor the personnel to carry out their assignments.
Sound familiar? Actually, we are describing the U.S. on Dec. 7, 1941—the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and dragged the U.S. into World War II. What can we learn from the Pearl Harbor disaster?
A lot. In FDR Goes to War, we tell how President Franklin Roosevelt spent his first seven years showering money on social welfare programs that bolstered his party’s majority. FDR showed the world how federal spending, when carefully targeted, could win elections from coast to coast. Roosevelt and his social engineers designed programs for farmers, for city dwellers, for needy youth, and especially for voters living in key battleground states.
At the same time that FDR was pouring out cash for welfare programs, he was starving the military of supplies needed to defend America. In 1935, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Douglas MacArthur said that his “hopeful” goal for the coming year was a 30-day supply of bullets for the U.S. Army. Even as America’s enemies gained strength in the late 1930s, FDR refused to arm the military for an adequate defense. By 1940, the U.S. still had fewer than 50 heavy bombers in its continental defense, few antiaircraft guns, only primitive tanks, and little ammunition for either bombers or guns.
Commissar Alec Baldwin booted from plane at LAX
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A flight attendant was the subject of a Twitter tirade from Alec Baldwin after the actor was booted from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for playing a word game on his cell phone as the plane was about to depart for New York.The "30 Rock" actor was playing a game called "Words with Friends" while the plane idled at a gate Tuesday, said Baldwin's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik.
"He loves 'Words with Friends' so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it," said Hiltzik, who added that Baldwin boarded another American Airlines flight to New York.
Other passengers say he was actually talking on the phone, not just playing a game, reports CBS News correspondent Betty Nguyen. A crew Member told the New York Post he was removed because he became "violent" and "aggressive" toward staff.
Saudi Arabia to Give Australian 500 Lashes, Jail for Blasphemy
Insulting the friends of the founder of Islam earned an Australian national 500 lashes and a year in jail in Saudi Arabia last month.
Mansor Almaribe, a resident of southern Victoria state, was arrested by religious police on November 14 in Medina while participating in the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca known as the hajj. His eldest son Jamal told The Melbourne Age newspaper that Almaribe was reading and praying in a group at the time.
Family members told Australian media that Saudi officials accused the 45-year-old of insulting companions of Islam's Prophet Muhammed; blasphemy is considered a serious offense in Saudi Arabia, which is governed under Shari'a (Islamic) law.
No information is available about exactly how or when he insulted them, or even which companions of Muhammed he allegedly had insulted.
He was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to two years in prison and 500 lashes. The court later reduced the sentence to "only" one year in jail, in the presence of an Australian consular official who attended the proceedings.
The maximum number of lashes ever allowed to be used as a sentence under Jewish law during the time of the Holy Temples was 39, and that was to be delivered under the supervision of a medical doctor, in sets of three, so as to ensure the convicted person did not die as a result.
A sentence of 500 lashes is considered equivalent to a death sentence.
9 arrests in wild Staten Island incident, as unruly students overrun cops, police say
Firefighters came to the rescue of two police officers outnumbered in Mariners Harbor today, in a scene so chaotic that New York’s Bravest employed a truck-mounted deluge gun -- a water cannon -- to fend off the marauding group of teens.The scene unfolded at about 3:30 p.m. in front of 83 Harbor Rd., where a large group of teenagers had amassed to confront a teenage girl who lives in the residence.
By the time it was over, two officers were sent to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, for treatment, and nine teens ended up under arrest, said Inspector John Denesopolis, the 120th Precinct's commanding officer. Police also recovered a starter pistol, he said.
The officers were OK, but "banged up," Denesopolis said.
"It was chaos," said one neighbor, who lives across the street but declined to give his name, stating that he feared retaliation. "The yelling got louder and louder and louder... There was probably 50 to 55 kids out here, and they were challenging one girl."
A short history lesson from The Arctic Patriot
Driving the Alaska Highway in Winter
A funny thing that happened was while the kids were watching “Gods and Generals” on DVD in the back. At the beginning, a Confederate battle flag is shown, and when it came on, my four year old daughter said to her siblings, “Ooooh look guys, that’s the good guys’ flag!”. I think it’s safe to say that the history lessons I’ve given my children has sunk in. While I think wars rarely can be fairly broken down to good guys/bad guys, it is obviously simpler to children (and many adults). With adults, the good guys always win, because the winners write history. History is the past seen through the eyes of the present.
I can hear the SPLC’s cries of “wacist” and “bwainwasha” already. (Ironic to me in the movie is Jeff Daniels’ character, Joshua Chamberlain, making a long winded anti-slavery/anti-South speech, wherein he questions a government’s (and people’s) commitment to freedom while slavery existed and is protected by law. He uses that to make a fairly convincing speech against the South, until one realizes he is speaking from false premises and hypocrisy. At the time of the speech, he was fighting in an army that was the tool of a government that condoned and allowed slavery in the territory it controlled, and had previously, before the War Between the States. For all of his high speech about hating slavery and loving freedom, he was fighting for a government that condoned slavery, and slapped down Southern states’ freedom in the bloodiest war in American history.
Choosing collapse
Verbatim Post
This is a rather timely poll, following as it does my recent column on the subject. It makes it very clear that there is no point looking to the Republicans to save the nation. John Hawkins polls the nominal right-wing blogosphere about the Republican primary:If you had to pick a 2012 GOP contender today, which of the following candidates would you select?This is why I have absolutely no sympathy for Americans whatsoever, especially not Republicans who claim to be so distraught over what "the Democrats" are supposedly doing to the country. They are revealing themselves to be EVERY BIT as stupid and clueless as the "Hope and Change" Obama Democrats. They are an integral part of the problem, not the potential solution they imagine themselves to be.
7) Jon Huntsman: 2.5% (2 votes)
6) Rick Santorum: 5.1% (4 votes)
5) Michele Bachmann: 6.3% (5 votes)
4) Ron Paul: 7.6% (6 votes)
3) Mitt Romney: 12.7% (10 votes)
2) Rick Perry: 26.6% (21 votes)
1) Newt Gingrich: 39.2% (31 votes)
Which candidate would you LEAST like to see as the GOP nominee in 2012?
7) Rick Santorum: 1.3% (1 votes)
6) Rick Perry: 1.3% (1 votes)
5) Newt Gingrich: 3.8% (3 votes)
4) Jon Huntsman: 9% (7 votes)
3) Michele Bachmann: 11.5% (9 votes)
2) Mitt Romney: 25.6% (20 votes)
1) Ron Paul: 47.4% (37 votes)
If your top choice couldn’t get the nomination, which candidate would be your second choice?
7) Ron Paul: 3.8% (3 votes)
6) Jon Huntsman: 6.4% (5 votes)
5) Michele Bachmann: 10.3% (8 votes)
4) Mitt Romney: 14.1% (11 votes)
3) Rick Santorum: 15.4% (12 votes)
2) Newt Gingrich: 19.2% (15 votes)
1) Rick Perry: 30.8% (24 votes)
I find it particularly telling that Ron Paul is the Republican for whom they harbor the most distaste. No one likes the man who tells you that you aren't a beautiful snowflake whose every action is justified, much less the one who tells you that the good times are not going to continue rolling and happy days are not here again.
Canada cools to global warming
Canada has flat-out rejected the proposals pushed at the United Nations‘ annual global-warming summit in South Africa. This could be the start of a trend of countries dumping environmentalist fashion statements and returning to rational energy policies. If only the United States would do the same.
As the U.N. conference heated up in Durban, Canada poured cold water on attempts to extend the Kyoto Protocol limiting carbon-dioxide emissions before the treaty’s Dec. 31, 2012, expiration date. “Kyoto is the past,” Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent told reporters in Ottawa. On Monday, he clearly stated that his government had no interest in renewing the treaty.
‘Absolutely Abhorrent’: Bachmann Shocked After White House Ignores Bestiality Question
Last week, we reported that the Senate had voted to repeal bans on sodomy and bestiality in the military. That raised more than a few eyebrows. Considering the many questions that surrounded the move, a reporter decided to ask White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about the move this week. The reporter was shunned and even mocked.
On Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann joined Glenn Beck on his GBTV program. After discussing Newt Gingrich, Beck decided to play the video of Carney brushing off the question and get Bachmann’s reaction. She didn’t disappoint.
“It’s absolutely abhorrent, reprehensible,” Bachmann said, before adding, “people have to be outraged and they have to let their member of congress know, and the White House, that they expect better than this.”
“Are we really going to say ‘ho hum’ and laugh and go back to sleep? There’s got to be something we stand for?”
Beck then wondered out loud if this was an example of “watch the other hand.”
Lincoln’s Gift to Posterity
It is ironic that Lincoln stated as a US Congressman on January 12, 1848 that “Any people anywhere, being inclined, and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better”; 13 years hence found him waging total war against Americans and denying them the right of self-government.========
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
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Lincoln’s Gift to Posterity:
“An abiding interest will always attach to the greatest war of modern times,” says historian Ellis (Vol. V, p. 266), 2,326,168 men of the North and 750,000 Southerners took part in the struggle. Of these, according to Fox’s estimates in the Photographic History, Vol. X, the North lost 259,528 men killed in the field and died of wounds and disease, and the South lost 135,000 all told.
In this stupendous conflict, therefore, the loss aggregated nearly half a million lives lost and ruined in the armies, and even a greater number of Negro lives caused by neglect, disease and starvation, making a total of upwards of a million human lives. Not only this but the women and children on both sides suffered miseries. Then at the South there was desolation and ruin and poverty estimated in the long run at twenty billions of dollars.
The war was unnecessary. Lincoln could have averted it. Emancipation might have been delayed, but would have come in the natural course of events, without the loss of a single man or a single dollar. With the North calling the South all kinds of names the question could not be calmly considered in 1861.
This unnecessary war was Lincoln’s real gift to posterity, his contribution as a citizen – all else was accidental. So Mr. Lincoln stands in history as one who did more evil than any other man known to the world. It was thought that as President he would not stand by the Constitution…that he was a dangerous man and would tolerate Negro insurrection. Therefore the people of South Carolina thought it best to escape Negro insurrection by leaving the Union. Then six other States followed that example. So it was a personal matter with Abraham Lincoln and he determined to start a war to keep the Southern States in the Union. In his inaugural he sought to lay the basis of a war with the new Confederacy.”
(A Southern View of the Invasion of the Southern States and War of 1861-65, Capt. S. A. Ashe, Raleigh, NC, 1935, pp. 64-65)
Lincoln’s Gift to Posterity
Gorgeous concept car predicted future in 1969 — and now it's back
Via Cousin Colby
Holden, the Australian-born unit of General Motors, has gone back in time like Doc Brown, restoring its very first concept car — the 1969 Holden Hurricane. Not only does it still look insanely gorgeous more than 40 years later, but the advanced technologies it displayed — a rear-view camera, route guidance system and digital instruments — show yet again why GM's down-under division was years ahead of its time.
The futuristic research vehicle, originally designed as an experiment "to study design trend, propulsion systems and other long-range developments," has been restored to its former glory 42 years after it originally hit the floor of the 1969 Melbourne Motor Show.
Codenamed RD 001, the Hurricane is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat sports car featuring such innovative, forward-thinking features and technology as electronic digital instrument displays, station-seeking radio, automatic temperature control air conditioning, rear-view camera and an automated route finder were all showcased in this car.
Support Regulatory Reform with REINS Act Take Action Now!
Article One of the United States Constitution established and enumerated the powers vested in the Legislative Branch. The core tenet is that “all legislative powers” were “herein granted” to Congress. Not to the Judicial Branch, and not to the Executive Branch. This was the establishment of the principle of the separation of powers. Congress was given the exclusive authority to make laws, and Congress was not to delegate that legislative authority to the other branches.
However today the trend, either through the laxness of Congress, or usurpation of power by the Executive Branch, has been for federal agencies residing within the Executive Branch to issue thousands of regulations carrying the force of law, often with severe consequences, for just about every occupation and business in the United States. According to the Heritage Foundation, the “administrative state,” is a bit of a fourth branch of government wherein “bureaucrats make law, execute law, and adjudicate” as well. This administrative state is completely inconsistent with Article One.
We have been afforded yet another opportunity to return some of the vested legislative authority back to Congress with H.R. 10, the REINS Act -- Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act. The House will consider H.R. 10 on or about December 7. The House bill already has 204 cosponsors. There is a companion bill in the Senate, S. 299.
The REINS Act would provide “that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law.” New, major regulation that costs more than $100 million per year, would lead to major increases in consumer prices, or would create substantial job losses must be approved by Congress. From 2009 until March 2011 over 75 major regulations costing $100 million or more annually were imposed on the economy and consumers in the private sector by unaccountable federal agencies. The Small business Administration says total regulatory costs average about $1.75 trillion annually which often prevents investment and new growth in business.
Whether it be the FCC, the FDA, EPA, USDA, DOJ, DOL, or any other of the alphabet-soup agencies, that are inflicting costly regulation on consumers or businesses, REINS would ensure that Congressmen can no longer blame the federal agencies, as they would have to review all excessive and burdensome regulations, going on record with a vote, up or down. It’s a win-win situation -- Congress becomes more accountable by holding federal agencies accountable, all under the vigilant eyes of the general electorate.
There are many large and powerful organizations who oppose the REINS Act -- Teachers Unions, Big Labor, pro-abortion groups, gay and lesbian groups, the recording industry, and even farm organizations. However construction trade groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are supporting the bill. Most importantly, this country’s citizens are overwhelmingly in favor of regulatory reform.
It’s about time Congress asserts itself and begins once again to exercise its proper authority under the Constitution over regulatory policy. Contact your Representative and Senators and insist they support H.R. 10 and S. 299, the REINS Act. Isn’t that why you elected them?
Thanks.
Your friends at The John Birch Society
It won't happen in America, yeah, well it just did.
This morning while I was working on a bid for a job, my phone quit working. I tried it a few more times and then thought about it for a minute and then asked my wife, is your phone working? It wasn't.
So I sat and waited.
Then they came.
I watched them scatter.
My wife came running down the stairs yelling, "Josh, there are a bunch of men surrounding our house and they have guns!!"
I have 8 children, all of them watching the scene unfold before their eyes. Dozens of agents wearing body armor and carrying machine guns, swarm around our house.
I think over my options,(there is only one, they kill kids) and I walk to the door, and yell loud enough for the thugs outside and my family inside to hear, "It's the FBI , don't be scared, just be quiet and sit down!" I open the door and am looking at Michael Anderson's wife, they have her in front of them, between us, and she is crying.
WOW! Armed and Ready: New Mexico Residents Defy Government
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Opposing Views
Verbatim Post
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By Larry Pratt
GOA member Dr. Ray Seidel alerted me to the stirring of freedom that is taking place in his village of Ruidoso, New Mexico. I have already reported on the first battle with Mayor Ray Alborn and how he tried to impose an unconstitutional gun ban in the village. To get the full story of what happened in Ruidoso, you can go here and listen to my first debriefing session with Seidel.
I recently interviewed Dr. Seidel a second time on my Gun Owners News Hour weekly radio program and asked him about several acts of local interposition in the surrounding counties -- all of which underscores the importance of the office of the sheriff and the militia.
For example, over near Deming, New Mexico is the Gila National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service wanted to make almost all of it off limits for people -- until the militia of Luna County intervened. They told the feds that they would resist any effort by the Forest Service to restrict access to visitors. The result? Visitors have continued to access all of the Gila National Forest!
In the Southeast corner of the state, many landowners have working oil wells on their property. The EPA told the oil operators they would have to stop operating their wells because there was too much risk of harming the environment. At a town hall meeting convened by the EPA, a woman in her 60s rose to address the feds. She pointed out that her land had been in her family for over 200 years, and she was not about to let some official from an unconstitutional bureaucracy tell her what she could or could not do with her land.
The woman ended by warning the feds that her family has many guns and a huge supply of ammunition, and they would use all of it if needed to keep the EPA off of their land. The locals who had packed out the hearing room jumped to their feet with a shout and prolonged applause. That was in August of this year. As of November, oil is still being pumped at full tilt.
In Otero County, villages in the mountains are surrounded by forests. The county commission voted to establish an 80,000 acre plan to manage forest overgrowth. Residents wanted to cut fire breaks to protect their homes in Cloudcroft, but the Forest Service said, “No.” The residents responded that they had to for safety’s sake and were going to construct the fire break in spite of the Forest Service. Residents were told that if they cut down any trees, they would be arrested. But Sheriff Raymond Cobos told the Forest Service that if they made any arrests, they would be arrested for false arrest.
Not only were the trees cut down with no opposition from the feds, the first tree was cut down by Congressman Steve Pearce (R-2ndDistrict). Would that there were many more like Rep. Pearce. The folks in the Second District are blessed with a constitution-supporting congressman and a number of constitutional sheriffs backed by the militias of their counties. This is the way that local governments can push back and help the feds to live within the limitations that have been placed upon them in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.
As you can see, there’s a lot happening in New Mexico. And Dr. Seidel has been at the center of a lot of it. Two weeks after the people of Ruidoso prevailed in the gun ban debate, Mayor Alborn decided to seek revenge. He went to the state capital of Santa Fe and met with federal officials there. That same week, Seidel got a notice from the IRS that he had until a certain date to file his taxes, which he has refused to do for several years.
Seidel makes no secret of his refusal to submit to the IRS which he considers as part of an unconstitutional regime in Washington. The IRS intended to encumber his assets if he did not bend his knee. Seidel visited with the county sheriff who understood what Seidel was trying to do and told him he “would have his back.” The same was true for the village police chief – the same officer who refused to have his men arrest people who were defying the Ruidoso gun ban by carrying openly in the village council chambers.
Not only was the sheriff and police chief alerted to the possibility of IRS action against Seidel, but so was the militia in Lincoln County – some 200 plus men who keep their rifle and battle bag in their vehicles 24/7. They can muster in about 30 minutes at any place in the county.
Seidel visited with the village assessor, who would be the official to place the encumbrances on his assets. Seidel explained (as he does with everyone) that Title 42, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, Section 1983 of the federal code would be used to sue her personally for violating his civil rights -- that is, he would sue her if any of his assets were encumbered without having first secured a warrant from an Article III court.
Seidel has frequently argued that he will gladly submit to a federal court (authorized under Article III of the U.S. Constitution) as opposed to a mere tax court (which is an unconstitutional creature within the IRS). As with many administrative agencies, the combining of legislative, executive and judicial powers within the same four walls constitutes the very definition of tyranny which James Madison warned us about in Federalist 47.
Seidel has used Title 42 on other occasions. One involved a state trooper with an anger management problem who made a false arrest on Seidel’s son. Since being served with a Title 42 suit, the officer has been able to control his anger.
The deadline is long past, and the IRS has done nothing, so the assessor is off the hook for now. But New Mexico is becoming a text book example of how the Founding Fathers envisioned the states would rein in an out-of-control government.
As stated by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 28: “It may safely be received as an axiom in our political system that the State governments will, in all possible contingencies, afford complete security against invasions of the public liberty by the national authority.”
If there were more sheriffs like those in New Mexico serving around the country, we would be well on the way to safeguarding our liberties against Washington’s “invasions of the public liberty.” It also might occur to the Congress that more examples of sheriffs interposing themselves might result in shrinking down the federal government to do little more than just funding the national defense.