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Gun Owners Mad As Hell And Will Not Take It!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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There is a purge of Congress in the offing.  It  will be historic in its magnitude.   

Allow me to be as clear as I possibly can about this because the disconnect between the people of America and their government has become so complete, the distance between the citizen and the government has become so broad, that Washington is hearing only a faint whisper (If they hear anything at all!) coming from those of us outside the beltway.

So let me say this clearly, loudly, and in a declarative manner:  Attention Senators and US Representatives: If you vote for the new Assault Weapons Ban your political career in the US Congress is OVER.  That is O V E R!  Complete, finished, ended, kaput!

For the past few days I have been going over and over Senator Diane Feinstein's proposal for a new Assault Weapons Ban and it reads like some sort of "edict" handed down from the politburo in old Soviet Socialist Russia.  (The politburo is the chief executive and political committee of the Communist Party.)

It IS as bad as I had suspected --  but it is much, much, worse!

If you have not read the proposed bill, there is a "Summary" of the bill in PDF format you must read.  You will find it here:
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve/?File_id=10993387-5d4d-4680-a872-ac8ca4359119 

The full text of the proposed bill has been taken down from the Senator's website and, instead, we find the summary.

I am including a copy of the text of that summary below which was taken from the Senator's website:

Summary of 2013 legislation

Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:

    Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
        120 specifically-named firearms;
        Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
        Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
    Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
        Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
        Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and
        Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.
    Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
    Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
        Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;
        Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and
        Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.
    Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
        Background check of owner and any transferee;
        Type and serial number of the firearm;
        Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
        Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
        Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.

A pdf of the bill summary is available here:  http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/files/serve/?File_id=10993387-5d4d-4680-a872-ac8ca4359119
 
What we have here is a full-out, frontal assault on gun owners of America -- not to mention a complete infringement of the rights of gun owners as spelled out, clearly, in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.  It is as if the 2nd Amendment does not exist. 

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." ... 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution

I keep wondering what part of "shall not be infringed" do they not understand???   The definition of "infringe" is:"to go against."  That, then, would mean, it seems to me, the entire proposed 2013 Assault Weapons Ban is unconstitutional from the git-go!  It is clearly an "infringement" on the rights of US citizens as spelled out in the 2nd Amendment.

As we learn, by dribs and drabs, what's in Feinstein's bill it becomes even more disturbing.

In my family we have a long standing tradition of "handing-down" our guns to the next generation.  I have been looking forward to the day I will hand-down my weapons to my grandson.  Now I learn that should Feinstein's bill pass into law, I will not be able to do that.  Nor will you.

"According to the outline of Feinstein’s bill, it will grandfather in all legally owned weapons, but it will require they be registered and the owner fingerprinted. It will require a $200 per weapon tax be paid. The guns will not be transferable, meaning that upon the death of the owner the guns will become the property of the Federal government. It will allow the sale of 900 specifically named weapons, but none that can accept a detachable magazine that holds more than 10 rounds."  SOURCE:  http://personalliberty.com/2012/12/31/the-gun-grab-cometh/

All this is bad enough, but consider this:  If the Congress refuses to pass Feinstein's bill into law, isn't it reasonable to expect that Obama will issue the necessary Executive Orders to do much the same thing by way of rules and regulations, which have the force of law, and those rules and regs will be executed by the alphabet agencies under his control such as BATFE and the DHS, and even the agency, or agencies, charged with the supervision of Obamacare.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!  Losing our freedom, our liberty, and our COUNTRY is a consequence of the November sixth election.  But to be honest, we have to admit the problem began when the American people turned to socialism and a strong central government.  THIS is the price we pay. 

But what the hey!  It's only freedom.  It's just our liberty.  It's just our birthright!  And finally -- it is just the soul of our country.

This is about far more than guns and who has them.  This is about slavery to the state.  Pure and simple.  It's not hard.  It's not difficult.  It is easily understood -- if you're not afraid of the truth.

In the not too distant future there will come a call -- a clarion call.  Whether America lives -- or dies -- will depend upon who among her people answers that call.  The faint-hearted need not bother themselves.  Their services will not be required.  When the call comes you can be sure the "Land of the free" is in need of rescue by those Americans from the "Home of the BRAVE." 

Mark my words:  The call  WILL come.  The rapid rate at which America is spiraling downward is matched by the rapid rate at which patriotism is spiraling upward among freedom loving Americans.  The men and women who have always stepped forward from the masses to save America will step forward again for they are the sons and daughters of heroes.  They know the cost -- and the price  -- of freedom for their families have paid it many times before. THEY will do the RIGHT thing -- because IT IS THE RIGHT THING.

"Through the travail of the ages
Midst the pomp and toil of war
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.

I have sinned and I have suffered
Played the hero and the knave
Fought for belly, shame or country
And for each have found a grave.

So as through a glass and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names - but always me."

--- General George S Patton, Jr. 

The poem above is from the pen of a man who, as a boy sat at the feet of, and rode with  an aging Col. John Singleton Mosby, the "Gray Ghost" of Confederate Army fame. Gen. George Patten knew that the men and women I write of above are with us always and when called upon they unflinchingly step forward.   And they will again.  They only await the call. 

© J. D. Longstreet

All things considered, it's been a pretty good month. I continue to climb a minimum of 20 extra flights of stairs each day.


Click to enlarge.

I started the month off at 204, which is my lowest weight in years. I ended at that same weight. Go figure.

I can really feel the seasonal effects. For the most part I managed to offset them (either consciously or subconsciously, not exactly sure which).

On the one hand, my girlfriend made 6 pies since Thanksgiving. Since there are just two of us, I think it would be safe to say that roughly 3 of them went into me, lol. The Tillamook ice cream sales this month at the local grocery stores did some damage as well. I'm particularly fond of chocolate and peanut butter with chocolate syrup on top. As I've said from the beginning, this is not a diet plan. I eat what I want and when I want. In my opinion, life's too short to be eating rice cakes.

On the other hand, I walked more than 150 miles outside. Just like last month! It was very enjoyable. Our dog would strongly agree. I also did 3 marathon sessions on the indoor stair climber. On the 5th of December, I set what I think is a new all-time personal best of 44 minutes and 57 seconds to climb 200 flights of stairs. As far as my legs and cardiovascular system go, I consider myself to be in relatively good shape right now.


Click to enlarge.

I walked outside a minimum of 1.5 miles each and every day since November 1st (averaging about 5 miles per day). I thought it was just a November thing, but I can't seem to stop. Maybe it's turning into a new habit too. Exercise begets exercise.

Once again, it all started with baby steps.

Here's a fun fact. It takes about a minute to climb up and down 5 flights of stairs. I have never regretted doing it afterwards. Something is still better than nothing. Give it a try sometime. You might like how you feel. You've got nothing to lose (except excess weight).


Considering walking! In the rain! With an umbrella! It apparently works for me. I may not be singing in the rain, but I'm smiling more often than not. :)

And lastly...


See Also:
The "Free Lunch" Weight Loss Plan v.000

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


While Governor Huntsman was not my favorite to land the rEpublican nomination in 2012 (Ron Paul was) looking back he would have made a formidable candidate in the effort to unseat President Obama. Instead the party nominated Mittens the Flip Flopper Romney and we all know the results of that brilliant move to pacify the more (false) conservatives in the rEpublican Oligarchical power structure. Unless the party wakes up and gets some sense it will pay a lasting price as America, including America's real conservatives and libertarians move on to a new era. Jon Huntsman should figure predominately in a new future for the rEpublican party.

The Telegraph - The Republican Party is leaderless and "devoid of a soul" but can rebuild in the wake of its election defeat if it embraces its history of supporting limited government, Jon Huntsman has said.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the former Utah governor and leading Republican moderate said the party must accept "a strong dose of libertarianism" on social issues and allow state governments to move ahead with gay marriage.

Offering his prescription for the party's renewal, Mr Huntsman said the early stages of the Republican presidential primaries rewarded extreme conservatives rather than "long-term competitive candidates" who could effectively take on the Democrats.

Barack Obama appointed the Mandarin-speaking 52-year-old US Ambassador to China in 2009, a decision the newly-elected President hoped would keep Mr Huntsman out of this year's election.

Obama campaign aides openly acknowledged that they believed the two-term governor would be a difficult general election opponent and possibly the most dangerous Republican in the field.

He returned from Beijing in 2011 to media fanfare but his presidential bid collapsed in the early stages as he failed to connect with the conservatives that make up the Republican primary electorate.

Mr Huntsman said that his work for a Democrat president, his belief in climate change and his relatively liberal attitude on gay rights had obscured his conservative stances on budgets, gun control and abortion.

"You get caught up in a lot of the issues on which you're easily dismissed without people giving you proper consideration," he said.

However, the scale of Mitt Romney's defeat in November has left the party reeling and may create a fresh opening for the socially-moderate but fiscally-conservative ideas Mr Huntsman espoused in the primary.

"The party right now is a holding company that's devoid of a soul and it will be filled up with ideas over time and leaders will take their proper place," he said.

Mr Huntsman urged the party to "reflect a little bit on our winning chapters" and face up to a demographic reality where white conservatives represent a shrinking portion of the electorate.

"We can't be known as a party that's fear-based and doesn't believe in math," he said. "In the end it will come down to a party that believes in opportunity for all our people, economic competitiveness and a strong dose of libertarianism."

He said he "absolutely" supported individual states being allowed to implement gay marriage, saying that Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, believed that "equality under the law is an American value".

Mr Huntsman did not rule out a second presidential run in 2016 but said he was not spending his time "looking for some opening that we can fit in". {Continue Reading}

I'm still thinking the Libertarian Party is maybe the best way for America Ultimately. However, given the lock the dEmocrat and rEpublican party has had on American electoral success perhaps it makes a lot more sense to support a candidate in the rEpublican party that can win and then lead America in the direction that makes both social sense and fiscal sense. Jon Huntsman could very well be that individual.

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


This is just a guess but I'm thinking I just might be the only fiscal conservative that understands what the President is saying. But then again there aren't any real fiscal conservatives in the nation's capital these days anyway. I find myself more and more each and every day wondering exactly what has happened to the conservatives of old. You know, the William Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Dwight Eisenhower, and the Gerald Ford types. The types that actually understood what conservatism (in these days aka classical liberalism) really means as well as recognizing that community and government actually can play a positive role while at the same time remaining as limited as reasonably possible.

Preparing for inevitable criticism from the false conservatives, as well as likely skepticism and taunts from the partisan liberal progressives I can only respond by saying... "Nuts". Or to put it another way "frankly I my dear I don't give a damn." Yeah, I know I'm cribbing.But when the quote makes sense I say use em.

President Obama may be many things I do not approve of politically. However, when you are right you are right. In my view both the rEpublican and dEmocrat parties bear responsibility for the eleventh hour drama surrounding the political fiscal cliff. And yes, it is true IMNHO the rEpublicans have been the most intransigent. That aside I applaud the sentiment of the President. In reality the damn Congress and Senate ought to be in DC tonight working their tails off finding a compromise for the American People. The millions of individuals whom they have been elected to both represent as well insure that both the public welfare and responsive government is maintained. For the past 12 years they have failed miserably.

The Weekly Standard - President Barack Obama tipped his hand today during a speech at the White House ... about how he plans to spend this New Year's Eve.

"Democrats and Republicans in Congress have to get this done," Obama said, according to a rush transcript, referencing the ongoing "fiscal cliff" talks. "But they're not there yet. They are close, but they're not there yet. And one thing we can count on with respect to this Congress is that if there is even one second left before you have to do what you're supposed to do, they will use that last second."

Obama then veered into his New Year's Eve plans. "So as of this point, it looks like I'm going to be spending New Year's here in D.C.," he said. "You all are going to be hanging out in D.C. too."

It's not clear where else he'd go, though his family is currently vacationing in Hawaii.

"I can come to your house? Is that what you said?" the president said, playing off the friendly White House audience. "I don't want to spoil the party. But the -- the people who are with me here today, the people who are watching at home, they need our leaders in Congress to succeed. They need us -- they need us to all stay focused on them, not on politics, not on, you know, special interests. They need to be focused on families, students, grandmas, you know, folks who are out there working really, really hard, and are just looking for a fair shot."

Yes the President lapsed into the liberal narrative that plays well with middle America and the poor. Given the current rEpublican and Tea Party stance I can hardly blame the guy. The lot of false conservatives have actually turned many who have always supported limited government and fiscal responsibility against the rEpublican party. Perhaps it is time we all started to think outside the Oligarchical box we so willingly allowed ourselves to be herded into.

Via: Memorandum

PS: Afterthoughts, The United States of America was created by great thinkers and politicians of the Age Enlightenment. Our great nation was built by the the generations immediately following.

Our founders made great compromises to achieve their vision of a nation under a limited government led by the governed. Today, two and a quarter centuries later we have politicians that can not only find workable compromise but do great dishonor to our founding principles.

But I suppose understanding this actually requires thinking beyond the rEpublican Tea Party myopic existence.

By Findalis
Monkey in the Middle

Stolen From Holger Awakens who stole it from other sites

What You’ll See In The Rebellion

Let me explain, gun grabbers, how your confiscatory fantasy plays out. Let us imagine for a moment that a sweeping gun control bill similar to the one currently suggested is passed by the House and Senate, and signed into law by a contemptuous President.

Perhaps 50-100 million firearms currently owned by law-abiding citizens will become contraband with the stroke of a pen. Citizens will either register their firearms, or turn them in to agents of the federal government, or risk becoming criminals themselves. Faced with this choice, millions will indeed register their arms. Perhaps as many will claim they’ve sold their arms, or had them stolen. Suppose that as many as 200-250 million weapons of other types will go unregistered.

Tens of millions of Americans will refuse to comply with an order that is clearly a violation of the explicit intent of the Second Amendment. Among the most ardent opposing these measures will be military veterans, active duty servicemen, and local law enforcement officers. Many of these individuals will refuse to carry out what they view as Constitutionally illegal orders. Perhaps 40-50 million citizens will view such a law as treason. Perhaps ten percent of those, 4-5 million, would support a rebellion in some way, and maybe 40,000-100,000 Americans will form small independently-functioning active resistance cells, or become lone-wolves.

They will be leaderless, stateless, difficult to track, and considering the number of military veterans that would likely be among their number, extremely skilled at sabotage, assassination, and ambush.

After a number of carefully-planned, highly-publicized, and successful raids by the government, one or more will invariably end “badly.” Whether innocents are gunned down, a city block is burned to ash, or especially fierce resistance leads to a disastrously failed raid doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is that when illusion of the government’s invincibility and infallibility is broken, the hunters will become the hunted.

Unnamed citizens and federal agents will be the first to die, and they will die by the dozens and maybe hundreds, but famous politicians will soon join them in a spate of revenge killings, many of which will go unsolved.

Ironically, while the gun grab was intended to keep citizens from preserving their liberties with medium-powered weapons, it completely ignored the longer-ranged rifles perfect for shooting at ranges far beyond what a security detail can protect, and suppressed .22LR weapons proven deadly in urban sniping in Europe and Asia.

While the Secret Service will be able to protect the President in the White House, he will not dare leave his gilded cage except in carefully controlled circumstances. Even then he will be forced to move like a criminal. He will never be seen outdoors in public again. Not in this country.

The 535 members of the House and Senate in both parties that allowed such a law to pass would largely be on their own; the Secret Service is too small to protect all of them and their families, the Capitol Police too unskilled, and competent private security not particularly interested in working against their own best interests at any price. The elites will be steadily whittled down, and if they can not be reached directly, the targets will become their staffers, spouses, children, and grandchildren. Grandstanding media figures loyal to the regime would die in droves, executed as enemies of the Republic.

You can expect congressional staffs to disintegrate with just a few shootings, and expect elected officials themselves to resign well before a quarter of their number are eliminated, leaving us with a boxed-in executive, his cabinet loyalists trapped in the same win, die, or flee the country circumstance, military regime loyalists, and whatever State Governors who desire to risk their necks as well.

Here, the President will doubtlessly order the activation of National Guard units and the regular military to impose martial law, setting the largest and most powerful military in the world against its own people. Unfortunately, the tighter the President clinches his tyrannical fist, the more rebels he makes.

Military commands and federal agencies will be whittled down as servicemen and agents will desert or defect. Some may leave as individuals, others may join the Rebellion in squad and larger-sized units with all their weapons, tactics, skills, and insider intelligence. The regime will be unable to trust its own people, and because they cannot trust them, they will lose more in a vicious cycle of collapse.

Some of these defectors will be true “operators,” with the skills and background to turn ragtag militia cells into the kind of forces that decimate loyalist troops, allowing them no rest and no respite, striking them when they are away from their most potent weapons. Military vehicles are formidable, but they are thirsty beasts, in terms of fuel, ammo, time, and maintenance. Tanks and bombers are formidable only when they have gas, guns, and can be maintained. In a war without a front, logistics are incredibly easy to destroy, and mechanics and supply clerks are not particularly adept at defending themselves.

Eventually, the government will turn upon itself. The President will be captured or perhaps killed by his own protectors. A dictatorship will form in the vacuum.

If we’re lucky, the United States of America, or whatever amalgam results, will again try to rebuild. If we’re very lucky, the victors will reinstate the Constitution as the law of the land. Just as likely though, we’ll face fractious civil wars fought over issues we’ve not begun to fathom, and a much diminished state or states will result, perhaps guided by foreign interests.

It will not be pretty. There will be no “winners,” and perhaps hundreds of thousands to millions of dead.

Yet, this is the future we face if the power-mad among us are not soundly defeated at the ballot box before they affect more “change” than we, the People, are willing to surrender to would-be tyrants.

Hi all! Hope you all are enjoying a peaceful New Years Eve. I'm over at Design Thoughts today talking about something I don't mention much - motherhood. Head over and check it out!

The Play's The Thing!
Home of the Brave -- or -- Lair of the Knave
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Definition of knave: 
/nāv/
Noun
A dishonest or unscrupulous man.
Synonyms:  rogue - rascal - jack - villain - scoundrel - scamp

I can't take credit for the title above.  I stole it from some positively ancient would-be playwright named Bill Shakespeare.  I understand there is some question, even today, as to the actual author of those words from Hamlet. So, to whomever wrote it, my thanks! You were -- and remain -- spot on!

As the so-called Mainstream Media continues its propaganda tsunami warning that we are all about to be swept over the fiscal cliff, it has begun to irritate me.  I have begun to question their motive(s) even more. 

The MsM (the Mainstream Media, the Press, the Non-Fox Media, the Democrat Propaganda Bureau, the Ministry of Propaganda, JUST PICK ONE!) has finally dropped its thin camouflage and it is now apparent the MsM is  one huge propaganda machine for the political left.  I trust nothing I hear, see, or read, that has the MSM as its source.

We told you during the early months of 2012 that the MsM would report the American economy as "improving" as we drew nearer the election.  They did. The same with unemployment. In fact, they painted a picture of an economy on the rebound. Of course, Obama's economic policies were hailed as the cause of the "recovery." 

But there was no recovery -- not even the hint of a recovery.  It was all sheer propaganda to assist their hero, Obama, reclaim his seat in the Oval Office from whence he could continue to plot America's fundamental transformation into a socialist/Marxist country.

If you visit my personal blog, "INSIGHT on Freedom," you will see that it is a site for conservative thought, opinion, commentary and analysis.  I make no bones about it nor apologies for it.  I'd like to see all news organizations be as up-front about their political ideology as that.  But, hey, I won't hold my breath! 

I have come to believe we have a knave in the Oval Office.  Oh, I'm pretty sure that as soon as the folks on the left have time to look up the word "knave" in the closest dictionary, I will be labeled a racist.  Never mind that one's skin pigment has nothing, whatsoever, to do with one's being a knave -- or not.

As noted above, a knave is: A dishonest or unscrupulous man.  Knaves exist throughout the government as they do throughout our society.  It is only the word "knave" we are unfamiliar with today.  The knave's actions are too well known to us. 

Knave is old English dating back as far as the year 1000. It's a good word, very descriptive,  and frankly, I wish it had not fallen out of use. But, then again, I am a man out of time and place as my mother-in-law, may she rest in peace,  never tired of reminding me.

Obama's knavish behavior is a dead giveaway.  The man lies.  I'd like to think that his administration will be remembered in the history books as the liers they are -- but THAT will not happen as the history books are mostly written by persons who share Obama's political ideology.

He's a flim-flam artist -- a con man.  Take the "fiscal cliff" (Puh-LEASE!).  His striving to save us from the plunge is all an act.  Obama has no intention of saving America from crashing to the bottom of that ravine.  In fact, in my opinion, that is exactly what he wants!

I find it amusing that Obama and his willing cohort of fellow socialist and Marxists in the Congress and the various alphabet agencies within his administration love America so much they absolutely MUST fundamentally CHANGE it!  Doesn't that strike anyone as, well, rather, uh, strange?             

Right-wing commentator Dinesh d'Souza said of President Obama:  "President Obama has an agenda for downsizing America that he dare not share with the American people because it would endanger his support."  He goes on by saying that Obama:  " ... wants America to have less wealth and power so that people in other countries can have more wealth and power."  SOURCE:  http://hnn.us/blogs/dinesh-dsouza-knave-or-fool

What Mr. d'Souza just described is wealth redistribution, or, as we like to call it -- SOCIALISM.

You may recall that Dinesh d'Souza released a film entitled  "2016: Obama's America" prior to the 2012 election.  The film was hailed by many on the right while simultaneously being denigrated by the political left as a "trashing" of President Obama.

As I write these words, the great melodrama over the avalanche of taxes about to sweep across America is playing out on our TV screens.  It is orchestrated, choreographed, produced and directed just like any other play.  And it is mostly pure bovine scatology.  And I, for one, have had a belly full.

It is clear to anyone, interested enough to look, that Obama's mission is to deconstruct America and rebuild it in the image of a socialist/Marxist state.  But first, he needs the old system to crash.  THAT'S why it is so important that the US go over that fiscal cliff and crash and burn at the bottom. It is from those ashes Obama and his Marxist allies intend to build the new Socialist/Marxist America.

One needn't have a crystal ball to foretell this future.  It's right out there for any and all to see. 

Ah.  But the play's the thing, right?  And it is the play to which our eyes are being directed.  Never mind the man behind the curtain (as they say) keep you eyes center-stage.

Unlike Hamlet's devised scripting of his play, we do not have to watch for the tell-tale flashes of guilt cross the faces of the audience members to discern the guilty party or parties.  We already know the identity of the knave.

Sadly, however, the audience clearly supports such machinations.  How else to explain the enthusiastic support at the polls in November for the knave's agenda of supplanting freedom with slavery?

How quickly we have become a nation of knaves and slaves.

© J. D. Longstreet

A “Changed” America Is No Good
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet


Change is not always good.  This “changed” America is definitely not as good as the America we had before we decided to exchange freedom for socialism.

Today, Americans are beginning to awaken and learn the nightmare they are experiencing is not a nightmare one experiences during REM sleep.  In fact, they learn, to their utter surprise, they are NOT sleeping.  This nightmare is NO DREAM.  It is REAL.  And, Americans who THOUGHT they wanted, and yes, even NEEDED change brought it on.

Many of the votes that were cast for our current Presidential Regime for “change” were votes from young people who had no idea what they were trading and what they were getting for the trade. They are the product of a public education system in America now almost totally ruled over by the political left, which still seeks the Nirvana of Utopia through Socialism.  After 12, or more, years in the public education system, then 2 to 4 more years in those bastions of liberalism/socialism we refer to as colleges and universities, is it any wonder their Pavlovian response in the voting booth was to pull all the levers by the names of the candidates who were decidedly left-wing candidates? Hardly!  They were simply reacting to the stimuli implanted in their malleable minds as they made their way through an education system designed to do just that.

And now after the deed is done, we are just on the cusp of the avalanche of hurt coming our way as our country is about to collapse around us.

Those of us who knew socialism’s sad story of lies, deceit, and destruction are not surprised at America’s precarious position today.  We knew it would happen. We have watched socialism from its birth.  We watched socialism’s struggle to grow while it murdered its host country all the while.  Like a physician trying to heal a patient, by draining the patient’s body of all its blood, socialism drains a nation of its life-giving force and leaves it a broken shell of its former self. Even as robust a nation as Russia required assistance from former enemies, just to survive, after throwing off the bonds of socialism a few short years ago.

Pope Pius XI once said: “It is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to the community at large what private enterprise and industry can accomplish.  So, too, it is an injustice, a grave evil, and a disturbance of right order for a larger and higher organization to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower bodies.”

Now we are observing this “wrong,” and this “injustice,” Pope Pius XI warned of, play out right before our eyes here in America.

The “old” America was truly “something else!”  She was a dream.  She was a land of unlimited opportunities and horizons that went on forever.  She was the envy of the world!

Americans were optimistic people who threw themselves into the task of firing the furnace of the engine of democracy and delighting in the rewards of their own labor. The “American Dream” was so big and so multifaceted that no one could describe it! 

One British author, John Keegan, described America this way:

“Left to themselves, Americans build, cultivate, bridge, dam, canalize, invent, teach, manufacture, think, write, lock themselves in struggle with the eternal challenges that man has chosen to confront, and with an intensity not known elsewhere on the globe.

Bidden to make “War” their work, Americans shoulder the burden with intimidating purpose.  If I were obliged to define the American mystery, I would say it is the ethos - masculine, pervasive, unrelenting - of work as an end in itself.  War is a form of work, and America makes war in a particularly workmanlike way.  I do not love war; but I love America!”  - John Keegan, author of “Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America” is a British military historian, lecturer, and journalist.

Mr. Keegan had it right  This is what America USED to be like. And for those of us who STILL remember her, as she was, today’s “changed” America  is a bitter pill to swallow!

J. D. Longstreet

Today outfit is actually an outfit that I wore couple weeks ago, along with my favorite green beanie (Bogdan's beanie :) A black-green-grey combination, in a casual, edgy approach. I guess the pop of color is evident: beanie + bag, strategically combined= green power. I'm happy that I got to wear this Pulicati bag again, because the color is perfect and just refreshing for any outfit.
That's it for today!
I want to wish you all a Happy & Colorful New Year and "see"you next year!

P.S. We have a winner of Sheinside giveaway! Congrats Christine Bonnivier Photography! I will contact you soon for more details!
Thank you all for participating and SOON a I'll have a new giveaway for you !


                                                                                Coat: thanks to Sheinside/ similar Here
                                                                                Jeans: H&M(old) option Here 
                                                                                Bag: Pulicati
                                                                                Heels: BCBGeneration/ similar Here
                                                                                Beanie: 686/ option Here
                                                                                Sweater: Tommy Hilfiger/ similar Here 
                                                                                Watch: Burberry/ similar Here   
                                                                                Bangle bracelet: Hermes
                                                                                Ring: vintage

Click to enlarge.

Gongol.com: December 25, 2012


Don't get me wrong. I enjoy reading what Brian Gongol has to say. I visit his website often. The "no sensible reason" argument is a bit difficult to stomach though. Not one sensible reason? Not one? Seriously? I'll certainly give it a shot. Let's talk about Japan.

In hindsight, Japan's investors certainly haven't felt that their stock market was risk free even over the long-term. Note what's happened to their stock market since the early 1990s. That's when their housing bubble popped. They've replaced much of that prosperity with excess government debt. Sound familiar? How did that work out for them so far? How will it work out for them in the future?


I became a permabear in 2004. I was and am a strong believer the "new normal" theory. The 5 Charts I Shared with My Tax Preparer sum up my reasoning. The old normal's math is absolutely unsustainable. Exponential growth is *always* doomed to failure (think the end stages of a locust swarm). That's just basic math.

In my opinion, those who think we're going to rocket back to the old normal exponential growth curve (as seen in the red trend line of the chart above) are going to find themselves in a world of ignorant pain. I would bet every last penny of my nest egg that it is not going to happen.

Keep in mind that I'm generally not known for taking excessive risks. I would definitely make the bet though. I wouldn't even need favorable odds. Bet it all to win 10%? Absolutely. There will be no economic rocket. There will be no satellite of economic love. Mere words cannot adequately express how strong my opinion is on this. The party ended in 2000. All we can do now is adapt to the new reality. Sigh.



Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Real DJIA (November 2012 Dollars)

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

In sorting it all out as the nation continues the debate on firearms, high capacity magazines and the rest, I thought the following information very pertinent and germain to the discussion.

It seems that while firearm sales have significantly increased in California (2002 - 2011) the number of gun related injuries has declined 25% during the same period.

The Sacramento Bee - Gun deaths and injuries have dropped sharply in California, even as the number of guns sold in the state has risen, according to new state data.

Dealers sold 600,000 guns in California last year, up from 350,000 in 2002, according to records of sale tallied by the California Attorney General's office.

During that same period, the number of California hospitalizations due to gun injuries declined from about 4,000 annually to 2,900, a roughly 25 percent drop, according to hospital records collected by the California Department of Public Health.

Firearm-related deaths fell from about 3,200 annually to about 2,800, an 11 percent drop, state health figures show.

Most of the drop in firearm-related injuries and deaths can be explained by a well-documented, nationwide drop in violent crime.

The number of California injuries and deaths attributed to accidental discharge of firearms also has fallen. The number of suicide deaths involving firearms has remained roughly constant.

Two caveats: State figures track gun sales, not ownership. They treat a family's first gun purchase the same as a collector's twelfth. Second, gun sales in California peaked in the early 1990s, as violent crime also peaked.

These charts show gun injuries, deaths and sales trends over the last ten years. {Continue Reading, Charts Follow}

In any reasonable discussion of firearms control these stats need to be recognized and discussed. As much as the advocates of stricter and tightened gun control laws may not wish to acknowledge these facts they are relevant and therefore need to be included in the discussion. Which is not to say we should do nothing. By the same token the nation should not over react.

Via: Memeorandum

By Findalis
Monkey in the Middle


And took them out of their hands in Great Britain.  They promised the population that they would be safe, that crime would reduce to almost nothing.  It didn't happen.  In fact, crime increased.  Crime with knives increased.  So now they will ban the knife.

The good news is that if we ever do get that assault rifle ban, followed by a handgun ban, followed by a ban of anything that can shoot bullets, the “Banners” will still have a banner year of banning all the other ways with which people kill other people.

Violent crimes haven’t gone away with the UK’s gun control. They’ve actually gone up.

Britons suffer 1,158,957 violent crimes per year, which works out at 2,034 per 100,000 residents. The U.S., meanwhile, has a rate of 466 crimes per 100,000 residents, which is lower than France’s, at 504.

Instead of gun crime, the UK worries about knife crime. And has been practicing knife control.

The UK outlawed the switchblade and gravity knife in 1959.

In 1988 possession of a pocket knife with a blade larger than 3 inches in public became illegal.

In 1996, it became illegal to sell a razor blade to anyone under the age of 16.

In 2007, you needed a license to be able to sell “non-domestic knives.”

Despite all that knifepoint robberies rose by 10 percent this year and there are some 60,000 stabbings each year. So the push is on to outlaw long kitchen knives. Once that’s done, surely utopia will be at hand.

A team from West Middlesex University Hospital said violent crime is on the increase – and kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.

They argued many assaults are committed impulsively, prompted by alcohol and drugs, and a kitchen knife often makes an all too available weapon.

They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen.

None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed.

The researchers say legislation to ban the sale of long pointed knives would be a key step in the fight against violent crime.

“We suggest that banning the sale of long pointed knives is a sensible and practical measure that would have this effect.”

Certainly no law-abiding person needs a long blade kitchen knife. No one is talking about outlawing all kitchen knives. Just the ones with long blades. No reason for anyone to go beyond a paring knife anyway.

The chefs say so and what does Julia Child know anyway.

Take a good look America. This is where we’re headed under liberal dominion.

Source

What happens if you are a young girl and you need to shave your armpits? Or a boy age 15 and that peach fuzz is growing dark

I suppose the 10 top chefs they asked were vegans.  I need a long, sharp blade to filet fish.  Need a long, thick blade to butcher a kill.  Heck try to carve a roast or a turkey with a steak knife.  I need a very sharp long knife (and sharp fork) to do that too.

You cannot legislate safety for every situation.  You can kill with a steak knife, razor, heck a very sharp Swiss Army Knife.  Unless you have a cop following each and every person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, you will never prevent murders.

I suggest every person who cooks, who carves, who loves their freedom to rise up and strike a blow for freedom and kill this stupidity before it gains any grounds with the ruling Elites.

  I promised you one more post from New York and here it is. I was invited by Sienna Ray &Co owner, Jaclynn Brennan, to visit her new shop in N.Y and I couldn't be more excited because I'm a fan of her leather bags creations. This is not the first time we meet. This year, I had the pleasure to be part of her wonderful project "wander(lust) ...around the world with sienna ray"(see the post here ), and to meet her in person at NYFW in september.
This  time while in N.Y, I visited her new shop located at 252 Mott Street and I also met the creator designer Natalie Kathleen, and what do you think we all talked about? Bags!!! Jaclynn had a surprise for me: she offered me a bag of my choice from her new collection and soon you will get to see what I picked (a versatile bag in a beautiful color & print)
You can also see here bags on her website HERE
This was my N.Y diary around Holidays Season!
I already miss you New York and I hope to see you soon...

Here's a chart of new private housing units authorized by building permits divided by the number of civilians employed.


Click to enlarge.

As seen in the chart, we're currently attempting to recreate the prosperity of the 1990s!




Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

Click to enlarge.


Click to enlarge.

Red line? Blue Line?


See Also:
Extreme Initial Claims Danger v.28

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Initial Claims
DOL: Initial Claims

America's Faustian Deal With Obama
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**************
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome every time is the definition of insanity.  

By that definition, the American electorate is stark, raving, mad!

We are streaking toward that fiscal cliff at supersonic speed with little, if any, chance that we will be halted before the final plunge.

... And WE did it!  You and I -- the voters did it.  

Too often we look around for some one to blame when the defecation hits the rotary oscillator.  But this time, dear reader, we need look only in the nearest mirror for the culprit.

Now, I am not excusing my own culpability, either.  I am just as much to blame as anyone.  I can't get past the feeling that I didn't do enough -- or do MORE -- to try and convince more readers that the path Obama and the democrats have this nation on is leading us straight to perdition. That's my personal burden to bear.

We had four years to evaluate Mr. Obama's agenda, which is pure socialism.  He has told us AND PROVEN, in so many ways, that he is a rabid "wealth redistributionist." He is a statist, and, I believe, a Marxist. 

But, the American electorate decided that it was time for America to give up its leadership role and join the mass mediocrity of the remainder of the world's nations. So, in order to facilitate that "fundamental change" in America, we reinstated the Socialist-in-Chief, Obama.

Many democrats grudgingly admit that Obama is a socialist.  Others in the Democratic Party happily agree that Obama is a socialist because they themselves are socialists.  Much of the Democratic Party is now socialist to the core.

I've never been under any illusion about Obama's brand of socialism.  His is the deep, dark, sinister brand of socialism that enslaves, and finally, murders nations.

Oh, you may argue that Obama's is "... a big-government philosophy that uses wealth redistribution to fund a massive nanny state of cradle-to-grave entitlements." SOURCE: http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/21/obamas-brand-of-socialism/#ixzz2GAM36ytD

You'd be wrong.

See, Obama's brand of socialism is an "...  authoritarian socialism once seen in the Eastern Bloc countries (many of which are now free-market economies) and some nations in Central and South America. It’s used by harsh and oppressive authoritarian regimes that repress their people."  SOURCE:  http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/21/obamas-brand-of-socialism/#ixzz2GAOu5rdK

Think I'm wrong?  Wait a few months.  You are about to see the "pig in the poke" America bought on November 6th.  Once America goes off the fiscal cliff, the hammer will be brought down.

I'm concerned we are just months away from a collapse of our financial system with the US dollar taking a dive into worthlessness.  We are already in the first stages of a nationwide battle to disarm American so that only the government has weapons. 

Gun owners are going to lose this fight.  (At least partially.) I don't like it, but that is the way I see it.  The REASON of gun owners has no chance in an atmosphere that is charged through and through with EMOTION.  Emotion precludes clear thinking, the ability to weigh consequences -- both intended and unintended.  Emotion demands satisfaction regardless of the cost and the severity of the self-inflicted wounds emotional decisions ALWAYS render.

Look.  It's not just a fiscal cliff we are approaching.  It is a sanity cliff.   America is about to go crazy. 

I've been writing for years now that there is an undercurrent of rage permeating American society today and it is nearing the surface.  One small fissure and it will boil to the surface with devastating results.  Another recession might do it, but frankly, I tend to think the left's move to disarm America will be the tipping point.

There are reports circulating now that the government has been preparing, for rather a long time, for another civil war within America.  Munitions and war fighting materiel have been prepositioned at strategic locations around the country in preparation for just such an eventuality.  

There was a time in the not so distant past when I would have laughed at such speculation.  But not any more -- not now.

It's really quite simple.  Half the country is willing, and even eager, to follow Obama into socialist ruin.  The other half will have to be forced to follow, in chains, if necessary.

I agree.  It sounds like a plot for a made for TV movie. But I am very afraid we are actually living in the early days of just such a breakdown in American society.  I have repeatedly reminded younger Americans that current events in America resemble the early days of Bolshevism in Russia, which, as we know, eventually became Soviet Socialist Russia and finally the Union of Soviet Socialist Russia. 

America is in a state of "becoming."  With Obama's leadership there can be no doubt that whatever America becomes -- it WILL be socialist/Marxist.

As I watched the subdued Christmas celebrations this year, it became obvious to me that we KNOW something is ending in America.  You can see it written on the faces of the crowds on the streets. There is a "melancholia" about Americans today.  It is a form of depression and the shrinks tell us depression is suppressed anger.  So, we are back to that anger I mentioned earlier.

As we slouch fearfully toward a new year and a new national identity, we are truly a house divided with each side locked in a marriage that is strangling the life out of both sides.  It is the nature of socialism.  It does that.  It murders nations.

A huge portion of America would happily leave the United States, and found a new country, even now, just for the opportunity to continue to pursue their dreams. But the socialists are hell bent on dragging us down into oblivion with them -- because they cannot allow us to prosper and put the lie to their promised Utopia.  Misery loves company, you know.

There can be no doubt the deal struck with Obama on November 6th is a Faustian deal.  We traded America's soul for a promise, a PROMISE,  mind you, of a collectivist's portion of a meager harvest where the workers are few and the shirkers are many.  It is an untenable deal doomed to utter failure -- and WE did it.

© J. D. Longstreet

by: Les Carprnter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy in which 20 innocent children lost their live to a sick and mentally unstable individual the subject of gun control has remained center stage.

This is understandable, and as it should be. The pursuit of finding improved methods to better identify unstable individuals and thereby keep firearms out of the hands of such individuals is a worthy pursuit.

As we consider how to deal with increasing societal violence we must find a happy medium that will both improve public safety and preserve our second amendment rights. It can be done, if both sides of the gun control debate will start listening to each other rather talking AT each other.

We have heard from the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, who has offered essentially the same solution as the organization did in 2007. Put armed police guards in every school in America. Not anything most suburban and rural Mom's and Dad's will be comfortable with.

 Senator Dianne Feinstein will be introducing a bill  in 2013 to strengthen gun control legislation. It is by no means perfect, and it leaves questions unanswered, yet it is something from which to build a bipartisan consensus. Assuming of course the goal is to effectively reduce the incidents of death by gun violence n America.

Here then is a summary of the bill Senator Feinstein will be introducing to the Senate in 2013. Rational Nation USA, in publishing the Senator's proposal is not making a statement either in support of or against the bill as outlined.

Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:

•  120 specifically-named firearms

•  Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept adetachable magazine and have one military characteristic

•  Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds

          Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:

• Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test

•  Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors fromthe characteristics test

•  Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to addressattempts to “work around” prior bans

Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than
10 rounds.

Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:

•  Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment

•  Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting orsporting purposes and

• Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons

Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms
Act, to include:

•  Background check of owner and any transferee;

•  Type and serial number of the firearm;

•  Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;

• Certification from local law enforcement of identity and thatpossession would not violate State or local law; and

•  Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration

Not perfect, most certainly their are legitimate questions to be asked and needed answer to the same. What is important, at least IMNHO, is that we ask the questions and in the spirit of making things better (without violating our 2'nd amendment rights) we find a reasonable solution.

Captain Fogg over at The Swash Zone  says it best. At least IMNHO.

O' course Bill Cody didn't use a Glock, but he could have bought anything from a Gattling gun to one of the newly popular Mauser and Colt and Browning autoloading pistols every bit as deadly and some more than the plastic gun in the picture. Maybe he did, but I doubt it. Guns are much harder to come buy these days. I don't know how to make it harder unless we require licensing.

Shooting exhibitions were the most popular spectator sport before we learned to watch steroidal men beat each other half to death while we get drunk and cheer. I have it on good authority (my own)that the old showman wasn't death's blue eyed boy unless death is a Buffalo.

But all kidding aside, I have no cowboy origins or fantasies and I think the love of the power firearms convey is just plain old "will to power" humanity we inherited from the other apes. I think it's more that weapons have been restricted to the gentry in Europe for so many thousands of years, it seems natural to them as it seemed natural to change that for the colonials who damned well needed them to survive.

Looking at magazines from 50 or 60 or more years ago, gun ads were everywhere with images of boy scouts holding Ithaca 49 saddle guns, red shirted men in canvas canoes shooting ducks with shotguns and deer with rifles.
After bear? You're not going to want a single shot weapon really.

You know, that's still the real world for some people. In Australia crocodile hunters use spears and ropes. In Louisiana, Swamp Men use repeating rifles or pistols and they have a much higher life expectancy. I have a feeling outdoorsmen all over this huge and empty country fear legitimately that their lives are going to be controlled by people who have no clue and no care for them or their "obsolete" lives.

I hope that's not true, but in a country where boys don't grow up reading Stuart Edward White and Baden Powell and Hemingway and Faulkner and think Central Park is 'nature:' where people's first and only exposure to firearms is in lurid TV coverage of murders, I think it may become so -- with one size fits all laws and stereotypes about people of the "gun culture."

There's a difference between being part of a culture obsessed with anger and acting it out, where people love military looking vehicles and half believe in apocalypse movies with zombies in the streets and who build underground bunkers with booby traps -- a difference between Rambo and Daniel Boone and if I can use that prejudiced term "gun Culture" I think there are several.

And how often have we heard that we need gun control without any clue as to what that might constitute, about what has been done and what effects have been had? What gun owner, what sportsmen or women can fail to ponder what might be suggested next when nearly all the rhetoric not only paints them with the same bloody brush and the same, sometimes outrageously prejudicial and always wrong language? Sniper rifles, automatic weapons, cop killer bullets and of course everything from a slingshot ball up is "high velocity"

Sorry, I agree that the NRA is fond of playing word games and fallacies and fear mongering, but perhaps this is one of those times when we're nearly as bad and by looking at only one aspect of why people buy and use guns we're engineering the conclusion.

I'd like to know why there was a big surge of buying in 2011 and why it came from Democrats and women, while Republican males ownership has remained more steady in the last decade?

But I feel intimidated and drowned out by people who keep illustrating Nietzsche's observation that every word is a prejudice and don't know a Glock from a Glockenspiel.

Hardly anyone who spent his best years paddling remote lakes and rivers and spending weeks in the woods or ordinary afternoons hiking his own land likes to be described as an anachronism or a drug store cowboy because he liked having a rifle with him when a long, long way from anyone else and the same thing goes for Country Club sportsmen and professional target shooters or hunters or Biathlon contestants and if that kind of life dies, replaced by a Western clone of iron fisted Singapore in all its suffocating safety, something American will die and I want no part of that future.

No, I'm not against gun legislation because it's gun legislation or because I'm from the NRA and I think that's true of a great many people. I resent the constant equation. I just don't want more faith put in any more fake bans and trigger locks and waiting periods and arguments about "saturday night specials" and automatic weapons that aren't and all that stuff that did nothing whatsoever but provide false security.

I just don't have faith in the naive proposals, the lack of concrete plans based on concrete data and I'm against the state of mind that assumes everything is getting worse and worse and life is more dangerous than ever - where not only is one in a million too much but the price of civilization is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I've yet to hear anyone ask why Americans' private dreams seem to be military and apocalyptic and we see it in their Hummers and AK's and their shootouts. Buffalo Bill made a living with guns and guns were everywhere, but I've not heard of school shootings by him or Annie Oakley or anyone else back over a hundred years ago.

I wanna know what's changed, why everyone is afraid and I don't want to ban first and ask questions later pardner.

Certainly there are reasonable solutions that will address the concerns we all have over firearm safety and keeping firearms, to the greatest extent possible, out of the hands of the mentally unstable and criminals. Most Americans value the right to "keep and bear arms." At the same time it is admittedly hard to understand why any law abiding citizen needs an arsenal of semi automatic assault weapons with extended magazines for either 1) home protection or 2) hunting.

Via: Memeorandum