Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A Line In The Sand?

 

The case of Nathan Haddad should boil the blood of any good American. A twelve-year veteran of the Army, with four deployments, is a decorated combat veteran and now, probably, a felon. His crime: possession of five empty 30-round clips for an AR-15. The clips were stowed in the trunk of his car at the time of a traffic stop.

This is why, even though one is a law-abiding citizen, never talk to police officers and never give them permission to search your vehicle without a warrant describing in detail the area to be searched and the things to be seized. As Haddad found out, assuming that he did give permission to search his vehicle, thinking himself to be innocent of any crimes, now faces up to 35 years in prison, 7 years for each clip.

In legalese, they will probably give him something like 30 days if he pleads guilty to a felony, after which he will not be able to legally own a weapon, or even have access to a weapon for the rest of his life. This is called manufacturing a felony and the only reason to do so is to disarm as many people as possible by trumping up charges and pumping up sentences to frighten them into pleading to something that should be thrown out of court the minute the charges are brought. In the old days, when disarmament was not the goal, these things were always plead down, not up, for first time offenders.


More @ TL In Exile

A Suggestion to OathKeepers

Via WRSA

 

There’s been a lot of news lately about County Sheriffs’ publicly stating that they will not enforce unconstitutional gun restrictions. Someone reported hearing a cop in an elevator at SHOT show tell another cop that he’d shoot his lieutenant in the head if he ordered him to “confiscate” guns.

Here’s a suggestion to LEOs who consider themselves Oathkeepers. You fellas need to figure out a way, NOW, to identify yourselves as “good guys.” Telling your buddies in the squad room that you’ll “do the right thing,” or posting a fucking letter on the internet, or surreptitiously posting it, under a screen name online is great. It’s going to be far more important that you figure out a way, NOW, to let the rest of us know, when you pull us over, on the side of the two-lane blacktop, at 0-dark-30, that you’re on our side.

This is something I’ve been pondering on for several weeks now, and the Haddad case in NY brings it to a very abrupt point.

Registration=>confiscation=>extermination.

Via WRSA


 It is rare for those who commit evil acts to acknowledge that their actions are evil, even to themselves. Very often the evil-doer will justify his actions to himself and others by claiming some over-riding superior purpose or moral imperative which supposedly outweighs the 'disadvantages' of the evil act, or by altering his perception of his target, or both.  Historically, when action against a particular group is envisioned, (for the greater good of course,) that group is often depersonalized or demonized prior to action being taken.  After all, if the subjects of your depredations aren't human, then whatever happens to them is their own fault, isn't it?  (Well, NO, but that is a subject for another time.)  In any case, such moral inversions are common among those who commit evil acts.

Some of those who wield authority in these presently united States  have engaged in exactly this sort of psychopathic behavior.  Characterization of those who respect the Constitution and the rights of the individual as 'bitter clingers,' 'extremists' or even 'terrrorists' are an effort to depersonalize those who oppose the present stampede towards collectivist totalitarianism.   But those who presently wield authority have a problem.  Not only are most of those who oppose them armed, and resolutely intent on retaining their arms,  but the government does not know who they are or what weapons they possess. Not only that, but most of those who support the push towards victim disarmament are unarmed, and an unknown number of police and military members would probably fight on the side of the Constitutionalists. 

Communist Party USA backs Obama gun grab, calls Second Amendment obsolete


 

Calling the Second Amendment "obsolete," the Communist Party USA announced through its publication that it supports Obama's attempt to limit the right to keep and bear arms, Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit reported Thursday.

According to the People's World, the CPUSA mouthpiece, "the ability to live free from the fear or threat of gun violence is a fundamental democratic right" that it says supersedes what it called "any so-called personal gun rights allegedly contained in the Second Amendment."

The article also bemoans the fact that the same people who support the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms are the same people who supported Mitt Romney.

"The Second Amendment is obsolete and now has been twisted to threaten the basic safety and security of all Americans," Rick Nagin wrote.

Nagin also went on to claim that the Second Amendment was only a tool used by "right wing extremists," and blames the NRA for every gun murder in the country.

"Having lost the 2012 election, these forces are now howling for utilizing 'Second Amendment remedies' to get their way," Nagin claimed, without providing any examples or citing any sources. He also falsely claimed that Fox News, the NRA and conservative talk show hosts have "goaded" such talk.

More @ Examiner

2013 Part 6: The Real Reason for Immigration Reform

Via southwind

 

The Kerfuffle of the Day (KoD) created by the globalist extremist left and the politicians looking to consolidate power and destroy the American way of life is a new “immigration” program designed to provide a pathway to amnesty, aka, citizenship. The Republicans trotted out the usual suspects plus their most dynamic RINO, Marco Rubio, who has agreed to become the face of this new idea by putting the old guard of Senators McTraitor and Graham into the background while giving a perceived Latino flair to support an old tired program to grant amnesty for the corporate agricultural industry and the alleged besmirched illegals who violated U.S. law to take jobs from American citizens.

So the KoD isn’t big enough to catch my reader’s attention and most people will say something like “well, we need to have people who will do the job Americans won’t do.” Really? Does everyone who has more than two functioning brain cells actually believe that? The more nefarious purpose is one that extends far, far, beyond the typical excuse machine provided by American crony capitalists and those who wish to dilute and destroy the American way of life.

The current estimates for illegals is far, far, below the reality because the mainstream media, the political elites, and of course the conservatives all rely on estimates placing the number around 10 million:


More @ John Galt

I am 82 years of age. My grandfather served the Confederacy under North Carolina Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew.

Via SHNV


Pettigrew's Brigade at Gettysburg
"In the midst of all our trials it is a consolation to reflect, that our reputation, next to Greece, will be the most heroic of nations."

VERBATIM

He died at the Battle of Gettysburg. I will allow his thoughts, written to my grandmother just a couple of weeks prior to that battle, to speak for themselves.

 “My lovely wife. I do so miss you, and the life we have there on the small plot of land God has given us. More and more, it seems that my thoughts are drifting back there to reside with you. Yet, as badly as I desire to be back home, it is for home for which I deem it best for my presence here with these other men.

The proclamation by the Lincoln administration six months prior may appear noble. Were I here in these conditions, simply to keep another man in bondage, I would most certainly walk away into the night and return unto you. God knows my heart, and the hearts of others here amongst me. We know what is at stake here, and the true reason for this contest that requires the spilling of the blood of fellow citizens. Our collective fear is nearly universal.

This war, if it is lost, will see ripples carry forward for five, six, seven or more generations. I scruple not to believe, as do the others, that the very nature of this country will be forever dispirited. That  

one day, our great great grandchildren will be bridled with a federal bit, that will deem how and if they may apply the gospel of Christ to themselves, their families and their communities. Whether or not the land of their forefathers may be deceitfully taken from them through taxation and coercion. A day where only the interests of the northern wealthy will be shouldered by the broken and destitute bodies of the southern poor.

This my darling wife, is what keeps me here in this arena of destruction and death.”

 Jefferson Smith, Charlottesville

Molon Labe, the Code of Those Born Fighting

Via comment by Roswell on One veteran on gun control 

 Confederate Louisiana Brigade Throwing Stones at Advancing Federal Army of the Potomac, c.1862 Giclee Print 

Or stones if that's all we have.

If you are a reader of comments here at American Thinker then you have probably noticed an increasing use of the term molon labe. For those of you unfamiliar with the term and too busy (or too lazy) to look it up, I've done it for you. 

It is a Greek expression first attributed to King Leonidas of Sparta when the Persian invader Xerxes I, prior to the Battle of Thermopylae, demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms and submit to him. Its essential meaning was, "Up yours, pal: come do your worst." In so many words, it is the Greek equivalent of the response of Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe* of the 101st Airborne Division, who when surrounded at Bastogne, Belgium during WWII, reportedly said, "Nuts!" to a German demand for surrender. Screaming Eagle lore has it that the defiant general's actual response to the German general was in language unreportable in those more discreet days, "Eff you, Kraut!" Whatever, the unflinching meaning of both statements is abundantly clear:


"Come on, hoss; take your best shot."

Democratic Sen. Menendez denies allegations of trips, prostitutes

Via Craig

 

 

Allegations resurface as Sen. Menendez is about to become chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

 Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey denied Wednesday that he accepted free plane trips and contact with prostitutes from a Florida eye doctor whose offices were raided by federal agents Tuesday night.

The raid, reported by The Miami Herald, targeted Salomon Melgen, a physician described by the newspaper as a prominent campaign donor to Menendez and other Democrats. The Herald said Melgen owes $11.1 million in back taxes.

The conservative Daily Caller news website quotes anonymous sources who allege Melgen provided Menendez with prostitutes — some of them underage — at his luxury home at the Casa de Campo resort in the Dominican Republic.

Menendez' office issued a statement Wednesday denying the allegations.

"Dr. Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of Sen. Menendez for many years," the statement read. "Sen. Menendez has traveled on Dr. Melgen's plane on three occasions, all of which have been paid for and reported appropriately. Any allegations of engaging with prostitutes are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false."

FBI Special Agent James Marshall confirmed Wednesday that "we are conducting law enforcement activity in the general vicinity" of Metrocentre Boulevard, the location of one of Melgen's offices in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Marshall declined to comment further.

According to the Herald story, the FBI investigation is believed to focus on Melgen's finances and allegations that he provided Menendez with free trips and prostitutes. Prostitution is legal in the Dominican Republic.

More @ USA Today

 

How the US government really operates

Via Hype And Fail

 

VERBATIM

The federal government is, in practice, a one-party state controlled by an oligarchy, which is a relatively small group, composed of financiers, politicians and journalists.

The oligarchy is roughly divided into two types of individuals: ideologues and pragmatists.

Ideologues are adherents to uncompromising and dogmatic policies and are determined and unyielding in achieving their goals. Pragmatists have no solid core principles and will adjust their political positions for the purpose of remaining accepted members of the oligarchy. The ideologues always drive the political agenda, which is only moderated or delayed when met by sufficient resistance.

Think of Washington, D.C. as a television drama. The financiers are the producers, the politicians are the actors and the journalists are the promoters.

The financiers or producers analyze the marketplace, determine how they can benefit or achieve their objectives and then they identify government policies. In other words, they write the script.

The politicians are hired by the financiers to follow their script and execute the policies they have identified. In return the politicians (actors) gain celebrity status and enormous wealth from the financiers, but also by milking their fans (citizens) through marketing spin-offs (taxes).

The journalists (promoters) make their living by hyping the program (The Obama Show) for the producers (financiers) through TV spots (network news) and guest appearances by the actors (politicians) in order to keep the fans (citizens) entertained, malleable and docile.

No one in the oligarchy wants to do anything to rock the boat and disturb such a lucrative business.

The ideological members of the oligarchy clearly have a hit with their Obama Show, which is now fundamentally changing the entertainment industry in Washington, D.C. Awed by this spectacle; the pragmatist politicians (actors) are rapidly adjusting their core principles to adhere to the current trend so as not to lose their guest spots and the great reviews offered by the promoters (journalists). Actors (politicians) who criticize the Obama Show are given bad reviews and black-listed from the entertainment business (Washington, D.C.).

The arrogance of the oligarchy has only gotten more brazen since 1993, when Lewis H. Lapham (“A Wish for Kings”) wrote:

“The politicians dress up the deals in the language of law or policy, but they’re in the business of brokering the tax revenue, and what keeps them in office is not their talent for oratory but their skill at redistributing the national income in a way that rewards their clients, patrons, friends and campaign contributors.”

Driven solely by an excessive craving for personal power and profit, while remaining unconstrained by the Constitution and the rule of law and unaccountable to the American people or even common sense, the conduct of the oligarchy has become pernicious to the health of the nation.

Malfeasance is defined as the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law. Federal governmental malfeasance fueled by political corruption is the single, most important issue of our time.

The method by which the oligarchy maintains the corrupt status quo is by fostering a culture of political dependency and by distorting the news in an attempt to manipulate public opinion and preserve the power of the state.

The Democrats create a culture of dependency by expanding government control through limitations on personal liberty, entitlements and tribal politics.

The Republican establishment produces a culture of dependency by limiting choice, pre-selecting candidates and carefully managing primary elections to produce a pre-determined outcome.

Republicans want to remain the sole alternative to the Democrats and preserve their membership in the oligarchy by cooperating to maintain the illusion of choice and democracy. The true anti-democratic face of the Republican Party is revealed whenever grass root movements like the Tea Party arise or independent thinkers speak out. They are both promptly co-opted or crushed.

There is a Cold Civil War now underway in the United States to determine who should control the federal government. It is not a contest between the nearly identical Democrat and Republican platforms, but a battle between the power of an oppressive and avaricious oligarchy and the rights and liberty of the American people.

Author Bio
Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Sellin is the author of “Afghanistan and the Culture of Military Leadership“. He receives email at lawrence.sellin@gmail.com.

Reagan’s Childhood Home to Become Parking Lot for Obama’s Library

 

The University of Chicago Medical Center has announced plans to turn Ronald Reagan’s childhood home in Chicago into a parking lot for President Barack Obama’s library.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks previously denied the Gipper’s home landmark status in 2012, according to The Washington Times, and the university subsequently scheduled demolition to begin in January. Officials claim the home does not reach landmark status because it is not architecturally significant and the nation’s 40th president did nothing notable while living there.

More @ Newsmax

Cuomo’s Approval Rating Plunges After Sweeping Gun Control Law

 

Aww, po' thing.

New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job approval rating plummeted 15 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll of state voters conducted Jan. 23-28, less than two weeks after he signed a strict gun control law.

The survey showed him with an approval rating of 59 percent and a disapproval rating of 28 percent, compared to 74 percent approval and 13 percent disapproval in December, which was a record rating for him.

"With approval ratings that consistently topped 70 percent, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had the political capital to spend when he set out to pass the toughest gun control laws in the nation," Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, said in a statement accompanying the results. 

More @ Newsmax

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Provides Free Firearms Class for 300 Teachers

Via Horace 

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) 


 

Windsor, CO – Tonight, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Colorado's largest grassroots gun rights organization, provided a free firearms training course for 300 teachers.

The 300 men and women braved snow and inclement weather to attend the four hour course focusing on firearms safety and handling, and Colorado gun laws.

“Colorado teachers have been beating down our doors to receive firearms training,” said Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Executive Director Dudley Brown. “They don't want their students to be a victim of the next Adam Lanza. They came here for training tonight because they want the next Adam Lanza to face the barrel of a .45.”


Tonight's class coincided with the introduction of Colorado Senate Bill 9, the Colorado Teacher Carry Bill, which would give school boards the ability to allow teachers to carry a firearm as long as they have a Concealed Weapons Permit.

Please visit our website www.RMGO.org and Facebook Page.

NY and NJ Gun Madness

Via Peter

 

5 30 rounders.  Oh my.........

"Assault" Rifle. Horror of all horrors.........

"Compromise" on guns

Via hefferman1
 

 We cannot negotiate with those who say, 'What's mine is mine, and what's yours is negotiable.'"

-- John F. Kennedy, Address to the American People, 25 JUL 1961

Most people tend to substitute the word 'compromise' for the first 'negotiate' in that quote, and it does tend to fit the current circumstances.

Once again the anti-gun people are starting to trot out the tired and hackneyed meme of "compromise" in the "national gun conversation".

One of the more highly linked of my posts is the one about the "Gun Rights Cake" analogy, which I will now re-post and expand a bit:

I hear a lot about "compromise" from the gun-control camp ... except, it's not compromise.

Allow me to illustrate:

Let's say I have this cake. It is a very nice cake, with "GUN RIGHTS" written across the top in lovely floral icing. Along you come and say, "Give me that cake."

I say, "No, it's my cake."

You say, "Let's compromise. Give me half." I respond by asking what I get out of this compromise, and you reply that I get to keep half of my cake.

Okay, we compromise. Let us call this compromise The National Firearms Act of 1934.


More @ The Law Dog

ATF's Milwaukee sting operation marred by mistakes, failures

Via Don

 David Salkin unknowingly rented his building at 1220 E. Meinecke Ave. to the ATF, which ran an undercover sting. Burglars broke into the business, ending the operation. Salkin says the ATF owes him $15,000 for damage and unpaid utility bills. The agency has refused to pay.

A store calling itself Fearless Distributing opened early last year on an out-of-the-way street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood, offering designer clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry and drug paraphernalia.
Those working behind the counter, however, weren't interested in selling anything.

They were undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives running a storefront sting aimed at busting criminal operations in the city by purchasing drugs and guns from felons.
But the effort to date has not snared any major dealers or taken down a gang. Instead, it resulted in a string of mistakes and failures, including an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets of Milwaukee and the agency having $35,000 in merchandise stolen from its store, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found.

When the 10-month operation was shut down after the burglary, agents and Milwaukee police officers who participated in the sting cleared out the store but left behind a sensitive document that listed names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents.

And the agency remains locked in a battle with the building's owner, who says he is owed about $15,000 because of utility bills, holes in the walls, broken doors and damage from an overflowing toilet.

More @ JS

How President Obama Lost His Shirt to John Boehner

Via Don

Official portrait of United States House Speak...

 Interesting.

The House, under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner, has precipitated a postponement in the debt ceiling fight until May. This represents a strategic choice by Boehner to make the Sequester fight, not the debt ceiling fight, the next major engagement. Much of the mainstream media now is accusing Congress of “kicking the can down the road.” They are missing the strategic implications.

In retrospect, at the Battle at Fiscal Cliff, Boehner took President Obama to the cleaners. He did it suavely, without histrionics. While Obama churlishly, and in a politically amateurish manner, publicly strutted about having forced the Republicans to raise tax rates on “the wealthiest Americans” Boehner, quietly, was pocketing his winnings.

Dazzled by Obama’s Ozymandias-scale sneer most liberals failed to notice that Boehner quietly made 99% of the Bush tax cuts permanent. As Boehner himself dryly observed, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board member Steve Moore, “”Who would have ever guessed that we could make 99% of the Bush tax cuts permanent? When we had a Republican House and Senate and a Republican in the White House, we couldn’t get that. And so, not bad.’”

“Not bad” is a resounding understatement. Dealt a weak hand, Boehner managed to 99% outfox, on tax policy, a president who had the massive apparatus of the executive branch, the Senate majority, and a left-leaning national elite media whooping it up for a whopping tax increase. Even more impressively, Boehner pulled it off with steady nerves while under heavy pressure from the anti-spending hawks in his own caucus.

More @ Forbes


Do Gun Bans Curb Violent Crime? (Part 2 of 3 on Reducing Violent Crime in the US)

 Do Gun Bans Curb Violent Crime? (Part 2 of 3 on Reducing Violent Crime in the US)

Who isn't sickened by the moral decay and heinous acts of violence across our country? My heart and prayers continue to go out to victims everywhere.

But do gun bans -- such as the one proposed this past week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which would outlaw 120 specific firearms -- curb violent crime?

Not according to a recent Fox News investigation titled "Assault-weapons ban no guarantee mass shootings would decrease, data shows." The report concluded, "Data published earlier this year showed that while the (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which was signed by President Bill Clinton) was in place, from 1994 to 2004, the number of mass shootings actually rose slightly during that period."

Examiner.com elaborated: "Crime statistics compiled by a Northeastern University professor, the Census Bureau, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show that in the 10 years before the Clinton gun ban, there were 173 mass shootings with 766 victims. But during the 10 years of the ban ... there were 182 mass shootings with 820 victims."

If one wants to see the ineffectiveness of countrywide gun bans and increased firearm regulations, one doesn't have to look any further than Mexico.

More @ Townhall

Reid declines to endorse Feinstein's assault-weapons ban

 2010_harry-reid_getty-thumb

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday declined to voice support for Democratic legislation that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.

Reid said he would bring gun-violence legislation to the floor and open it to a lengthy amendment process. But he declined to endorse the assault weapons ban introduced last week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), which has the support of the 2nd- and 3rd-ranking Senate Democratic leaders.

“She’s talked to me about her assault weapons. The new one. She believes in it fervently and I admire her for that. I’ll take a look at that,” he said in response to a reporter's question. “We’re going to have votes on all kinds of issues dealing with guns, and I think everyone would be well advised to read the legislation before they determine how they’re going to vote [on] it.”

More @ The Hill

NRA chief to call for ‘immediate blanket’ of armed school security

 nra

The National Rifle Association (NRA) will amplify its calls for armed guards in every school when it testifies at a Senate hearing Wednesday on gun violence.

According to his scheduled testimony, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre will tell lawmakers that lax enforcement of existing laws combined with holes in the mental health system — not lenient gun laws — have led to the rash of mass shootings that have plagued the country in recent years.

“It’s time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children,” LaPierre will tell lawmakers Wednesday as he promotes a new NRA program — dubbed the School Shield Program — designed to train armed guards at every school in the country. The group has tapped former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) to lead the initiative.

More @ The Hill

Texas senator reaches out to big banks, gun-makers pressured by Rahm Emanuel

 

Feeling bullied by Rahm Emanuel? Bring your business down to Texas.

That's the message Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is sending big banks and firearms companies, after the Chicago mayor urged those banks to stop lending to the gun manufacturers.

The freshman senator sent a letter Tuesday to the CEOs of Bank of America and TD Bank Group offering up the Lone Star State as a place where they could do business without hassle from the government. He said he understands that, since they do "considerable business" with Chicago, they might be worried about the "risks" of not complying with Emanuel's request.

 "In light of the reception you have received in the Windy City, please know that Texas would certainly welcome more of your business and the jobs you create," Cruz wrote in his Jan. 29 letter. "Texans value jobs and value freedom, and over 1,000 people a day are moving to Texas (often from cities like Chicago), because Texas is where the jobs are."

More @ Fox

Amnesty Gang Throws Law-Abiders Under the Bus

Via Angry Mike

 

12 years and my wife's brother and sister still aren't here.

President Obama and the bipartisan Gang of Eight in Washington who want to create a "pathway to citizenship" for millions of illegal aliens have sent a message loud and clear to those who follow the rules: You're chumps!

Have you patiently waited for months and years for the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to slog through your application? You're chumps!

Have you paid thousands of dollars in travel, legal and medical fees to abide by the thicket of entry, employment, health and processing regulations? You're chumps!

Have you studied for your naturalization test, taken the oath of allegiance to heart, embraced our time-tested principle of the rule of law, and demonstrated that you will be a financially independent, productive citizen? You're chumps!

Unrepentant amnesty peddlers on both sides of the aisle admit their plan is all about votes and power. Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain continues his futile chase for the Hispanic bloc. Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez is openly salivating at the prospect of millions of new illegal aliens -- future Democratic Party dependents of the Nanny State -- who could be eligible for Obamacare and a plethora of other government benefits despite clear prohibitions against them.

These cynical pols insist that the rest of law-abiding Americans and law-abiding permanent residents must support Washington's push to "do something" because "11 million people are living in the shadows."

To which I say: So? There are 23 million Americans out of work. Why aren't they Washington's top priority anymore? Didn't both parties once pledge that j-o-b-s for unemployed and underemployed Americans was Job No. 1? Why is the very first major legislative push of 2013 another mass amnesty/voter drive/entitlement expansion?

More @ Townhall

Farris to Supreme Court: Protect Marriage and Religious Freedom

 Mike Farris

 HSLDA
VERBATIM

Mike Farris, founder and chairman of Home School Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court this week, defending the right of American citizens to engage in the democratic process for religious reasons.

Several years ago, voters in California passed Proposition 8, an amendment to the California Constitution that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit, struck down Prop 8 as unconstitutional, and the case (Hollingsworth v. Perry) is now before the Supreme Court.

Writing on behalf of PHC’s Center for the Original Intent of the Constitution, Farris countered arguments made by the American Civil Liberties Union and other anti-marriage groups who have argued that because many supporters of Prop 8 were religious, the amendment itself is an establishment of religion. He defended the right of religious voters to participate in democracy, citing numerous historical examples of such participation.

Farris argued that from the founding of the Republic to modern times, this country has enacted countless laws supported by those who have advanced religious and moral arguments justifying the law. Such enactments include the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. He wrote that the courts are limited by the First Amendment and that as long as the Establishment Clause is not violated, every voter should be able to vote for the position of his or her choice for the reason of his or her choice. This includes the choice to uphold traditional western civilization concepts of marriage and the family, a concept vital to parental rights and freedoms.

The Court will hear oral arguments for Hollingsworth on March 26, 2013.

What if the Fed is short Germany’s gold?

Via Nancy & Bastiat Institute


Why are central banks buying gold, the opposite of their own creation, paper money?

Money is the opposite of gold and silver. Fiat money is based on ordinance and credibility and is not self-limiting (can be printed infinitely) whilst gold and silver is commodity based and physically limited to the amount of physical gold and silver available and mined, you choose either one or the other. One is purely based on credibility hence why notes need to mention the nominal value in order to give the piece of paper value. American paper money is backed by only the size and strength of the American economy. The other money is based on real value, the value of the gold itself. And especially for that reason investors should be warned considering the fact that more and more central banks are buying gold, the opposite of their own creation: paper money. This is so contrarian. It is like the butcher who doesn’t want to eat his own sausages because he knows what is in it. Why would central banks buy gold, which “limits” their creation of credit? The answer is: the fear of lost credibility of paper money, because of the constant undermining, dilution, debasement of their currencies with quantitative easing measures not sorting the desired effect of sustained economic growth because we have passed the tipping point whereby the overwhelming debt levels (Debt/GDP > 77-90%) have started to depress economic growth.

 Central banks have been buying gold since 2008!

In this context it is interesting that the world's central banks have been net buyers of gold since 2008. In 2011, global central banks continued to be net buyers of gold as they attempted to “diversify” from their dollar and euro holdings, rebalance reserves, and protect national wealth. Why, if gold has no monetary function any longer, why buy gold? Why buy the opposite of the US dollar, the anchor of the financial systemden="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> Total world production is around 2,700 tonnes, in other words central banks are purchasing about 20% of the world’s gold production!

A growing number of emerging countries have also increased their purchases of gold in recent years to bolster their rapidly growing currency reserves, as sovereign debt crises have weighed on traditional reserve currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the Euro. Nations from Brazil to Iraq to Russia are buying the precious metal to add to official reserves. National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said in late December it raised the percentage of gold in its reserves in 2012 to 7.72% from 4.36% a year ago. The bank said it is boosting its gold reserves “to avoid the negative impact of the global crisis on the economic development of the country as it works on diversifying the components of international reserves in Ukraine.” Brazil doubled its gold holdings in two months last year, buying 17.2 metric tons in October and 14.7 metric tons in November. According to data released late last month by the International Monetary Fund, Iraq bought gold during August-September, lifting its official precious metals reserves from 5.8 metric tons to 31.07 metric tons. The worldwide stimulus measures and ultra low interest rates will continue to support investor interest in gold in the absence of low-risk investments that can offer acceptable yields. The conclusion is that the central banks have been a major force behind the increase in the gold price. The gold price rose more than threefold between 2007 and late 2011 -- from around $600/oz to a peak of $1,895/oz. The most important question is why all these banks buy gold, the opposite of their own creation: paper money?

The “objective” of the Washington Agreement was “reversed”.

More @ LRC