Commentary by James H. Shott

There was banging on the door at 8:20 p.m. The 14 year-old daughter answered the door and found some 30 armed Washington, DC police officers in full tactical gear with a search warrant. She let them enter the home.

After entering the house, the police immediately went upstairs, pointed guns at the heads of the homeowner and his girlfriend, and forced them to lie facedown and be handcuffed.

The 16-year-old son was in the shower. “They used a battering ram to bash down the bathroom door and pull him out of the shower, naked,” said his father. “The police put all [four] children together in a room, while we were handcuffed upstairs. I could hear them crying, not knowing what was happening.”

The police shut down the streets for blocks and spent more than two hours searching the house. “They tossed the place,” the homeowner said. He provided photos to the writer of an article in The Washington Times that he had taken of his home after the raid to document the damage, which he estimated at $10,000.

What horrible crime had the man committed to justify a 30-man SWAT team to block off streets, point guns at and handcuff the adults present, isolate and terrify the children, and trash the home in a two-hour search of the premises?

The search occurred because of a charge by the man’s estranged wife, who had persuaded a court clerk to issue a temporary restraining order against him, charging he had threatened her with a gun. As it turns out, a judge later found the charge to be without merit.

The squadron of SWAT police was searching for guns, for which registration with police is required in DC, based solely on the estranged wife’s fraudulent charge. They found none. They did find other things, according to The Times: “The police found no guns in the house, but did write on the warrant that four items were discovered: ‘One live round of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition,’ which was an inoperable shell that misfired during a hunt years earlier. [The homeowner] had kept it as a souvenir. ‘One handgun holster’ was found, which is perfectly legal. ‘One expended round of .270 caliber ammunition,’ which was a spent brass casing. The police uncovered ‘one box of Knight bullets for reloading.’ These are actually not for reloading, but are used in antique-replica, single-shot, muzzle-loading rifles.”

In DC only registered gun owners can possess ammunition, which bizarrely includes spent shells, and because of this the homeowner, Mark Witaschek, a successful financial adviser with no criminal record, is facing two years in prison for possession of unregistered ammunition.

This is an outrageous use of force, misapplication of the law, and simple overreaction. Did the police perform due diligence before subjecting a good citizen, his girlfriend and children to this intolerable episode? Obviously not. How many of those responsible for this outrage will lose their job or be charged for their malfeasance? Given the increasing number of such asinine actions, it sometimes seems that police breathlessly await an excuse to play army against the citizens for whom they work.

To make this hyperactive episode seem even more ridiculous, one month earlier, thinking he had nothing to hide, Mr. Witaschek allowed the “Gun Recovery Unit” to search his home without a warrant. Ninety minutes later, the police had found one box of Winchester .40 caliber ammunition, one legal gun-cleaning kit and a Civil War-era antique revolver that he kept on his office desk, and even though antique firearms are legal and don’t have to be registered, the gun was seized. Mr. Witaschek keeps his hunting weapons at his sister’s home outside the District.

Such episodes result from the anti-gun hysteria that grips the nation, and this one is an example of the increasing militarization of local police. DC’s 1976 gun law is one of the strongest in the nation, but appears to have had little effect on gun crime.

In the weeks immediately after the law was passed, The Times reported on several gun crimes that occurred, one in which a U.S. Senator was the victim. “Since the ban was passed,” the story continued, “more than 8,400 people have been murdered in the district, many killed by handguns. Nearly 80 percent of the 181 murders in 2007 were committed with guns.”

Looks like the hoodlums didn’t get the message about the new gun law in the District of Columbia.

Based upon data from the Centers for Disease Control and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, a study found that Washington D.C. has a higher rate of gun homicide than Brazil, one of the deadliest nations for gun violence in the world.

In DC, the people who carry weapons are primarily law enforcement and criminals. The criminals are always up to no good, and the police may be too busy terrorizing law abiding citizens who might have accidentally run afoul of the broad, over-achieving gun law to fight the crimes that are being committed against citizens who are restricted from using guns to defend themselves against thugs with guns.

Cross-posted from Observations

If At First You Don't Succeed ...
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
**********

The old saw about "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again" may seem apprapo to the democrats dilemma with Obamacare, but, it isn't.

I would be laughing my bippy off -- rolling on the floor, holding my sides in uproarious laughter, save for one thing:  the Obamacare mess is so darned serious!

This scribe, along with a few thousand others, warned for years,  years mind you, that all these problems WOULD occur if Obamacare became law. 

We were laughed at, hooted down, made the punch line of off-color jokes, and generally derided for our temerity to even question the superior intellect of Obama and his coterie of brainy brats and computer models and their exclusive circle of leftist whiz kids all with the common purpose of saving us --  the lowly peons of the proletariat  -- from ourselves.

Well, they failed... failed miserably.  And we have God to thank for it. 

As my family gathers round the Thanksgiving table in a few days, I intend to offer thanks to God for all the blessings of the past year -- among them His interference in the machinations of the wicked political left as they have so forcefully attempted to curtail and deny Americans the rights granted us by God, Himself, through the entanglement of a law spawned in the deepest, darkest, bowels of Hell, itself, Obamacare.

And NO.  I am not kidding.  I feel THAT strongly about the dangers to myself, my family, and my country presented by Obamacare.

Have you wondered just WHY the government is having so much trouble setting up Obamacare and getting it running?   There is a very good reason why they are failing so miserably.

See, the government of the United States was NEVER intended to do such a thing. It was not devised by the minds of the Founding Fathers to run the lives of its people.

When America was founded, the LAST THING Americans wanted was a strong central government. They fought a revolution to rid themselves of just such a government.

America was never intended as a nation of people who were wards of the government.  That's one reason our laws were centered on individual freedoms. 

The Founding Fathers -- and all early Americans -- simply understood that Americans were responsible for themselves.  They knew there was no such thing as a "right" to healthcare.  Had one raised the question one would have been laughed down as a complete idiot back then.

Yes, Americans have rights.  They are  the rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. And that's it!

The people who founded this country knew there was a demarcation line, a conceptual separation, if you will,  between governing and meddling in the lives of their citizens.  They also knew that government meddling would end in reduced freedoms for the citizens of the country.  So,  they deliberately stayed their hand to leave us the most free people on the globe.

At first that list of guaranteed rights for American may seem short.  Ask yourself why ONLY those rights were codified in our laws.  Then consider this:  "Why only THESE? Observe that all legitimate rights have one thing in common: they are rights to action, not to rewards from other people. The American rights impose no obligations on other people, merely the negative obligation to leave you alone. The system guarantees you the chance to work for what you want—not to be given it without effort by somebody else." (Emphasis mine)   SOURCE:  http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?id=13873

Am I saying that they (the early Americans) were smarter than modern Americans?  Yes, in fact, I am. They were certainly better educated and far more intelligent than most of our intelligentsia today.   And as smart politicians go, they were light years ahead of the Washington brain trusts in our government today.

America's government was never supposed to do what the ACA (Affordable Care Act -- aka-- Obamacare) calls for it to do today. 

Americans were intended to be FREE!  The ACA slaps a ball and chain on EVERY American -- effectively stripping Americans of the right to think for themselves, fend for themselves, and be responsible human beings and good citizens.

Not even completely out of the starting chute yet and already Obamacare is a massive failure.  It will only get worse.

Now the political left is offering up every possible explanation as to why it isn't working and offering all sorts of "fixes" for it. 

Now they want to "reform" it.  BEWARE!  Reforming Obamacare will only make it worse. 

Obamacare MUST be REPEALED, not reformed. If Americans wish to save their country, they must repeal Obamacare -- and forget any sort of socialized medicine for America.

Look.  Let me make it as plain as I know how:  We can have either America or socialized medicine.  WE CANNOT HAVE BOTH.

J. D. Longstreet

     Footnotes:

Section 1. Fox was the first network to call Florida for Bush. Before that, some other networks had called Florida for Gore, and they changed after Fox called it for Bush.

The following chart shows the 5 year moving average of the percentage of employees in information services who are not production and nonsupervisory employees. In other words, it basically shows how many supervisors there are.


Click to enlarge.

1. How are we going to get accurate propaganda in this environment? Anarchy!!

2. The higher paid propaganda jobs are vanishing before our very eyes! Why don't we hear more about this? What does this mean for college students expecting to get these jobs?

3. There's a black helicopter circling overhead. I don't think I'll be able to...

4. Please make a comment on our blog and include your full name and address. We are still who you think we are. Nothing to worry about. We are most certainly not highly compensated employees of the National Security Agency. Let us assure you of that. We just need to know where you live so we can deliver fresh tasty pizzas to you and your loved ones. We have so many fresh tasty pizzas. Oh, they smell so fresh and tasty. There are more than enough for everyone but we cannot guarantee their freshness if you do not respond immediately. It is just a small token of our appreciation for showing interest in the Illusion of Prosperity blog.

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart

House Speaker Boehner says, the House GOP leadership has "no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate (immigration) bill," thus killing any hope immigration reform will be brought to the House floor for a vote before the 113th first House session ends in less than two weeks.

One of the best parts about the ORC is hearing everyones comments. It is so interesting what people notice and what sparks their interest. I've had several source requests so I thought I'd lay it all out nice and neat, just like this room was - for about an hour. I am happy to report it is now perfectly trashed, and will probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. Also, the sun finally came out so I got some more true-to-life pictures.



The white stools were purchased several years ago at my favorite local antique store and have been in just about every room in the house and every color in the rainbow. I had just barely enough Les Touches to cover them and I love how they tie the red accents from the front of the house to the back of the room.

The console is an outdoor buffet table. It folds up, has a zinc top and weights practically nothing.

The blue and white is from my collection that has made its way around the house and the lovely brass hardware is from Rejuvenation.

The backs of the bookshelves are planked, just like the far wall. Tutorial to come soon.


The fabric for the slipcovers is plain white denim from housefabric.com (they are local for me). All the fabric was prewashed and the slipcovers were made without piping to prevent shrinkage when they are washed. And they will be washed. Frequently.

The red and white pillow is from Etsy, the white table used to be black, the mirror is from the side of the road (classy) and the toy under the table is probably Fisher-Price. (real life)


The plaid fabric, floral fabric and blue and white fabric are all from housefabric.com. They know me well there.


The color on the chairs is Rust-Oleum Lemongrass. The green pillow is from World Market (although I don't think it is available any more) and the ikat pillow is from Etsy. Rainbow Pom-pom garland from Furbish and sconce from IKEA.


I told you it was a sunny day. Can you believe all of this light came in from the door at the top of the stairs?!


I think that about covers it. Do you have furniture that you recycle from one room to the next? Ever dump something in storage for a while and all of a sudden it seems new and exciting? How excited do you think HouseFabric.com is going to be when they hear I'm actually sewing now?

Israel World's Only Hope!
The Cloak of Authority Now On Israel's Shoulders.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet****************

We have told our readers many times over the past five years that Obama would not attack Iran's nuclear facilities and would, in fact, allow Iran to gain the nuclear "Islam Bomb."

We are seeing the final details fall into place as the scenario above becomes reality.

Just as we warned of the dangers of Obamacare we have warned about the dangers of Iran getting its hands on a nuclear weapon.

Iran has promised time and time again that it intends to bomb Israel out of existence with nuclear weapons and then turn those weapons on the US.  There is absolutely no reason to doubt their sincerity.  THIS scribe is absolutely convinced that the mad mullahs of Iran will do exactly that as soon as the idiots now negotiating with them are finished getting "rolled" and made complete fools of as the Persians laugh uproariously behind their hands at the amateurish machinations of Obama, Kerry, et al.

It is now clear as crystal to anyone not self-blinded that the US President is not a leader.  He is most certainly not a military man, nor a very good strategist.  He is weak, thin-skinned, narcissistic, and arrogant with a greatly inflated idea of his own importance.    He tends to wallow in unwarranted importance out of his own overbearing pride.  Like Nero of ancient Rome, he is dangerous to his country.  Unlike Nero, however, he is also dangerous to the entire world.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the only military on the globe with the unquestioned ability to stop Iranian nuclear aspirations and save the world from the coming global nuclear conflagration, he refuses to step up to save the world.  There is no excuse for such inaction.  None whatsoever.  It hasn't been that long ago that such inaction in the face of such danger was referred to as "cowardice."

So now, the mantle falls upon the shoulders of little Israel.  The cloak of authority has now shifted from the US to Israel.  It is to tiny Israel the world must look for salvation from the barbarism of the Muslim hordes threatening to overrun the world and set up a worldwide califate, or global theocratic government.

But first there must be a world wide cataclysm to pave the way for the return of the Twelfth Imam who, it is believed, will lead the Mohammedans to world wide domination.

Israel's military is prepared to undertake the mission to impart as much damage as possible to Iran's nuclear facilities as they possibly can.  They have been in constant training for years now and are "leaning forward."  Israeli military assets have been moved about what is expected to be the middle eastern theatre of war in the coming fight and are on station prepared to strike at a moment's notice.  That moment is drawing nigh... swiftly. 

A large portion of the remainder of the world community will publicly decry the attack, expressing strong disapproval of Israel's actions, when they come, but secretly urge Israel on to the highest degree of victory possible for their limited forces.

And yes, that is pathetic, but that, unfortunately, has been the history of the European states when time comes to put up, or shut up.  There are exceptions, of course, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany, and a handful of other nations, which have managed to hold on to their manhood.

Many in the Israeli air forces understand that theirs will be a suicide mission.  Yet they are prepared to go the distance, put their lives in the balance to save, not just Israel, but the entire world. And yes, they DO understand that even if they succeed they will still be reviled through out much of Europe with an anti-Semitic passion not much less than that of the Nazis in the 1930's and 1940's. 

As an American, it shames me that that the President of my country is such a wimp.  As a Christian American I remember the edict handed down by God concerning the treatment of Israel:  "I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you."

Obama has set America up to be the recipient of God's curse on our nation.  The warning is plain and extremely clear:  "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."  Galatians 6:7

Obama has sown the whirlwind in America's name, and the whirlwind we shall reap. Indeed, the fields are white for the harvest, and the day draws near.

Once again, Israel has become the center of attention as she has been since the earliest days of human settlement.

For five years, Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned the world that Israel was ready for military action to preempt a nuclear-armed Iran.  SOURCE:  http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2013/November11/111.html#eDJSpQlIUFBAeme7.99 

As a final note -- do not be lulled into believing Israel will be all alone in the fight when it comes.  This scribe is convinced that Providence has not only removed the mantle of authority from America's shoulders and placed it upon Israel's shoulders. He has also removed His protection from America and added it to the centuries old protection afforded his "chosen" people.

The world, including Iran and the Obama administration, should understand that Israel reserves the right to retaliate --  and they have the capability of retaliating -- if attacked -- even if they are the recipients of a devastating nuclear attack from Iran.  The Persians should understand that if they issue a nuclear death warrant against Israel, they will have signed their own nuclear death warrant, as well.  There can be no question that Israel will  retaliate and the country of Iran will no longer exist as a viable nation state.

We suggest you read an article I wrote sometime back (September 2012) in which I referenced Israel's "Samson Option."   It will raise the hair on the back of your neck.  You'll find it at:  http://insightonfreedom.blogspot.com/2012/09/never-again-j-d-longstreet.html

For the first time in America's history we will be engaged in a global war completely alone, without a reliance on God, for having spurned God, He will not be there.

J. D. Longstreet

Randy Stewart, Ariel Shepherd, aka, Arielle Oliviaa and Queric Richardson

Click to enlarge.


Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Chicago Fed National Activity Index

CHANEL AT HIRSHLEIFERS

VINCE CAMUTO

TOM FORD AT HIRSHLEIFERS

BEAUTY BAR

HERMÈS

LACOSTE

THEORY

     I have mentioned before my great experience with Americana Manhasset Here and Here. To celebrate their Holiday 2013 Lookbook (which is one of my favorites, full in color and fantastic styling and not to mention the beautiful appearance of the "unique face" - Lindsey Wixson-) they are so kind to offer a $500 Americana Manhasset gift card to one lucky reader!
I'm very happy to share this giveaway on my blog and to make one of you " the happy winner" even though you all deserve that!
This giveaway is worldwide, so you all can enter. The gift card can be used only at Americana Manhasset in New York ( so you have to come to NY).  *It cannot be used online.

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Lenard Terrell Pickett, Joseph Lamont Williams and Diamaris Gonzalez