Jim, of Smoke on the Water, has been a little lax on posting of as late, but you have to admit after reading his latest, it was well worth the wait.

I concur with Jim, we are at that "awkward" stage where it just might be too late for the present system to last, but too early for the final defense against the coming collapse.

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Nikola Tesla
Inventor
1856 - 1943

"Science is but a perversion of itself unless it has
as its ultimate goal the betterment of humanity."
—Nikola Tesla

While looking through my referal logs at Site Meter, I noticed a visit from Annika of Annika's Journal. I went over to check her out and found a post about "who is the greatest American". Annika nominated Willis H. Carrier for his invention of air conditioning. I can see her reasoning and I agree that Mr. Carrier did, indeed, make a contribution to the world that is taken for too much for granted.

HOWEVER, I believe I have say that there is a man who made an even greater contribution, and who is all but forgotten. That man is Nikola Tesla. WHO, you say? Well, you would not be reading this without the contribution that Mr Tesla made to the benefit of the entire world, and Mr. Carriers air conditioning would be useless without Mr. Tesla. Edisons light bulb would still be a limited curiosity without it. In fact, most of the modern convienences that we take so for granted depend on it

Mr Tesla invented the first practical, safe, system to generate and transmit alternating current. Without alternating current, the modern world would not be possible.
Thomas Edison always fought the idea of alternating current as "too dangerous", despite the fact that direct current severly limited the distances that power could be carried, making it impractical for widespread use.

Mr. Tesla also developed in rapid succession the induction motor, new types of generators and transformers, fluorescent lights, and a new type of steam turbine. He also became intrigued with wireless transmission of power. Had his financial backer not deserted him, we may have had broadcast power now, without need for transmission line cluttering up the landscape. Engineers today are exploring the possibility of using microwaves for just that purpose. With Tesla's genius, I wonder if we wouldn't already have had it. Imagine the impact that THAT would have had. Totally electric cars would have been practical within the first decade of the twentyth century, forstalling many of the pollution problems we have now.

At the time of his death on January 7, 1943, he held over 700 patents.
Tesla was well known in his time, hundreds of admirers attended his funeral, but as with so many, he's all but forgotten today, eclipsed by another great genius of the time, Thomas Edison. Tesla was a loner, not interested in anything but his own work; Mr. Edison had not a little of the showman in him, with the result being that he is remembered and Tesla has faded into obscurity, despite his great contributions to the modern world.

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1 Tesla rocks. Good choice man; he's not well known outside the geek community but a talented man he was. I still don't think his "Death Ray" was a hoax. I think he had one and just destroyed it for the good of mankind.

Posted by: phnxfire54 at June 18, 2005 11:41 AM (uTM33)

2 thanks for the link. i saw a tesla coil in operation once. it's an awesome sight. isn't there an urban legend that edison was against AC because he invented the electric chair, which used DC?

Posted by: annika at June 18, 2005 05:45 PM (fpito)

3 Interesting choice; I of course, would have to go for my father being the greatest American. Sometime after he retires and no longer works with the Department of Defense, I will tell you why.

Posted by: Andy T. at June 18, 2005 10:54 PM (jMADI)

4 Excellent choice, I own the book by Thomas Commenford Martin "The inventions. Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla". Tesla was light years ahead of the pack, reading it today still leaves me awestruck. Other greats come to mind also: Edwin Armstrong, we wouldn't have modern communications without his inventions. Edward Teller, it all started at Stagg Field in Chicago

Posted by: Jack at June 19, 2005 12:53 AM (Fg/s0)

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One of my oldest readers, Jack, sent me this disturbing e-mail. It was a transcript of a speech given by Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado to an Immigration conferance meeting in Washington D.C.

As an emigre myself, I have always been sensative to immigration issues, and I feel that this country has fallen from the correct path in many of these issues with the advent of PC multiculturalism, bilingual education, deference to foreign cultures in governmental services, and not too long ago, referance to foriegn laws by our Supreme Court in making a judgement. We are giving up our national identity on the alter of a false ideal; that all cultures are equal and should be held to without expectation of assimilation into the American culture.

Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my heritage, and I never wnat to forget where I came from, BUT I came here to be an AMERICAN, had I wanted to hold to my native culture, I would have stayed where I was. Remembering and respecting a heritage is a good thing to do, but trying to live that heritage to the exclusion of becoming a part of the new culture you find yourself in is destructive.

Without further blathering on my part, listen to what Governor Lamm has to say on the effects of uncontrolled immigration , and low expectations of newcomers top our shores:

We all know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that
context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an
immigration-overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to
capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant
college professor named Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest
book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal
was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march
across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American
Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and
gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat
spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the
United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too
self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that
hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time.
Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and
that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit
suicide.'"

1. "Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "Turn America into a bilingual
or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation
can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more
competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to
be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual.

"The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: 'The histories
of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are
histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada, Belgium, Malaysia,
Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press
for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided.
Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with
Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans."

2. Lamm went on: "Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to
maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all
cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would
make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are
due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other
explanation is out of bounds.

3. "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much
effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As
Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been
achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that
once dictated ethnocentrically and what it meant to be an American, we
are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.'"

4. Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own
language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the
salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various
cultural subgroups living in America reinforcing their differences
rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

5. "Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the
least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated,
undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

6. "My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big
foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would
invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of
'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think their lack of
success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry
blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

7. "My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship
and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity.
I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people
worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they
are not killing each other."

"A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical
precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation
together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they
belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and
literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in
the Olympic games. A common enemy Persia threatened their liberty. Yet
all these bonds were not strong enough to over come two factors: local
patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political
divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- >From many, one. In that
historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of
the 'unum,' we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

8. "Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits ~ make it taboo
to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a
word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion
and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt
discussion and debate."

"Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established
multi-culturist, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of
'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our
immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration
has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every
individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of
millions of them."

9. In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow.
Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor
Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It
exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be
destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous
cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that
room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically,
quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Every
discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the
foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness.
Barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we
celebrate 'diversity.'

American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create
a Third World in America - take note of California and other states -
to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of
George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved
in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is
slavery,"and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm, walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the
conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is
deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration
monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California
wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American
Dream.

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Can YOU say "irony"?

The article states that the animals were "picked up from the shelter for euthanization at PETA's headquarters" WTF?!?

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I received this in an e-mail, and no I didn't Snopes it, so I can't guarentee it's accuracy, but it's a response that Should have been made, if it wasn't.

Shoe Bomber

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe
and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV/Radio?
Didn't think so.

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.
Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had
anything to say.

His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record,
Reid also admitted his "allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to
the religion of Allah," defiantly stated "I think I will not apologize
for my actions," and told the court "I am at war with your country."

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

January 30, 2003, United States vs. Reid. Judge Young: "Mr.
Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the
custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and
7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the
sentence on each count to run consecutive with the other.
That's 80 years. On count 8 the Court sentences you to the
mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court
imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the
aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's
recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the
amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines. The
Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment.

The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release
simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life
sentences so I need go no further. This is the sentence that is
provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a
righteous sentence.

Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any
of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We
have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here
and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court,
we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as
individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are
not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that
reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether
it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it,
or if you think you are a soldier. You are not----- you are a
terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with
terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down
one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big
fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known
warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of
multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago
had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody
and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were, and he
said: "You're no big deal."

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United
States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know
how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What
was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I
ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable
hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of
doing. And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I
search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most
precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual
freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or
not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very
wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining
sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here
in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see, that
justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is
for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your
behalf and have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you
before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that
the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.
Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bare any burden;
pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom.
Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say
here. Day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however,
will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across
America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual
justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The
very President of the United States through his officers will have to
come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can
be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that
evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United
States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all
forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.

So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV
sets?
We need more judges like Judge Young, but that's another subject.
Pass this around. Everyone should and needs to hear what this fine judge
had to say. Powerful words that strike home.

God bless America.

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1 That's right! The guy's name is Reid. Any relation I wonder?

Posted by: Rhod at June 18, 2005 12:05 AM (M7kiy)

2 i saw that a few months ago and loved it! so i snoped it cause my brother has me trained to snope everything and look what i found: Claim: Judge delivers stinging rebuke to "shoe bomber" terrorist at sentencing hearing. Status: True. http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/reid.asp they also have a link to the sentencing.

Posted by: roklobsta at June 19, 2005 03:13 PM (kPmXY)

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This story is one that should receive far more coverage than it will. Ion Hihal Pacep, a former National Security advisor to Rumania's Nicolae Ceausescu and an agent of the KGB for over twenty years, has revealed that the Communist Bloc had, and HAVE an ongoing operation to turn the U.N. into a kind of international socialist republic, inimical to the U.S.

He also states that John Bolton is the best choice that could have been made to represent the United States in the U.N. As he stated: "John Bolton not only acts forcefully, he also gets results."

Mr. Pacep also reveals that much of the Anti-American, anti-Capitalist rhetoric coming out of the European Left, and parroted by our own "Progressives" was also carefully formulated and backed by planners in Moscow:

This is a familiar theme. For 27 years of my other life I was involved in creating various Antonio Negris throughout Western Europe and using them to spread the seductive theory of economic determinism that still defines the mindset of EuropeÂ’s Left. I helped write the lyrics to the siren song according to which America, symbolizing the worldÂ’s rich, is to blame for all the evils of the world. I was steeped in its rhetoric. To me today, these Cold War agitators revived by Kofi AnnanÂ’s U.N. are even more disturbing than the terroristsÂ’ Kalashnikovs now aimed at us.

And for those people of the Kum-Ba-Ya persuasion that claim that "war never solved anything", this is what a former member of the opposition has to say:

Nazism, the Holocaust, and Communism were not defeated by international organizations or by blue-ribbon commissions. They were defeated by the military actions of the United States, which is now working on crushing the evil of terrorism. The U.S., not the U.N., initiated freedomÂ’s current domino effect in the Middle East, a movement that now is even reaching into Ukraine, Georgia, and other former Soviet republics, while the U.N. is busy encouraging the growing anti-American barrage.

We need to invite the U.N. to move their headquarters to a more suitable area in keeping with their idiology...Darfur perhaps? They are so excited by the prospect of "saving Africa", they should jump-start the effort by putting their bodies where their mouths are. They are always going to be inimical to the U.S., we don't need to add injury to insult by providing them with comfy quarters from which to spew their acrid venom.

WHY are we providing the majority share of financial support for an organization that is predicated to destroying everything that America believes in?

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Ward Churchill is back in the news as CU is investigating allegations of research misconduct by Professor Churchhill.

It's an ironic twist to think of an Ethics Professor to be charged with plagerism, copyright infringement, and misrepresentation of his lineage....couldn't be happening to a more deserving guy IMHO.

Those that defend him say that Professor Churchill's First Amendment rights are being attacked, but I don't see that plagerism, fraudulent information dissemination, and fraudulent scholorship in academic papers are covered in any way by the First Amendment.

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From Practical Penumbra I took this quiz....pretty close to my belief, I'd say.

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 88% Idealist 50% Existentialist 50% Materialist 44% Postmodernist 38% Romanticist 31% Modernist 19% Fundamentalist 13% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

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While searching some images from Google, I came across this picture from a custom/restoration motorcycle company's website when I came across this little beauty. It's almost a dead ringer for the bike I learned to ride on with the exception that mine was Candy Apple Blue instead of Red, and had a suicide clutch. It sure brought back a lot of happy memories, and at the same time, deepened my sadness at not currently having a "steel stallion" to get some wind in my hair. Maybe next year......

AIN'T SHE A BEAUTY?

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Eugene Girin has an article outlining a group calling itself the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA).

I wouldn't be surprised to see Moonbats using links to PJSA items in attempting to bolster their arguments against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they do, so just remind them of the background of a couple of the major players in the group (from the article):

The leader of the PJSA is the vehemently anti-Israel activist Simona Sharoni. A native of Israel and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor from Romania. Sharoni has devoted her adult life to anti-Israel and anti-American activism.
Sharoni is a founding member of the "Women In Black,” a group of Israeli women who sided with the Palestinian terrorists during the first Intifada. “Women in Black” were nicknamed "the black witches" by Israeli soldiers for their disruption of counter-terrorism activities and for their harassment of Israeli security personnel at roadblocks and checkpoints.

PJSA includes peaceniks who dwell in a transparently delusional world. A perfect example is Howard Richards, a professor in the Peace and Global Justice Studies department at Earlham College. What is Professor Richards solution to achieving World Peace?

"Reduce, reuse, and recycle";
"Cultivate an organic garden";
"Use less fossil fuel"; and
"Process inner anger by following a spiritual path or getting some form of therapy."

"Plant flowers, see a psychotherapist—this, according to Richards, is the way to defeat al-Qaeda and Zarqawi's butchers in Iraq."

As Mr Girin concludes his article:

"While the PJSA might be seen as an obscure leftist group with insane or repugnant views, the sobering reality is that most PJSA is an association of educators who have authority over hundreds if not thousands of young Americans yearly. American parents should be aware that the teachers of their children could be PJSA-supporting pedagogues. Far from being a peace organizaton the Peace and Justice Studies Association is a division in the fifth column army that is at war with America and the West."

I agree, we as parents MUST become more aware just WHO is teaching indoctrinating our young skulls full of mush, to borrow a phrase from El Rushbo. It is a disservice not only to our children, but our country not to become educated on the state of Higher Education today.

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I'm probably going to get called a racist/hatemonger/Nazi for stirring this pot, but when the facts show the truth, what else can you go with?

According to the latest HIV statistics released by the CDC, Blacks constitute 47% of the population infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. Pretty damning of "black culture", when you consider that Blacks constitute only 13% of the general population.

The PC crowd would have us embrace all cultures for the uniqueness and flavor that they bring to the culture as a whole. But what do you do when that sub-sub-culture can lead you to an increased risk of contracting a fatal didease?
No I am NOT saying that Blacks are responsible for HIV/AIDS, but it does seem that segments of the sub-culture are responsible for a growth in the number of cases. These are the sub-sub cultures of the black intraveineous drug user and the sub-sub culture of the Black gay/bi communities, NOT the Black sub-culture as a whole. So save the "racist" accusations.

HIV/AIDS is a lifestyle disease in the vast majority of cases, (barring the few that contracted it from blood products/natal infection) and the studies show that the high risk behaviour occurs more often in the Black community. Unprotected sex, intravenous drug use, multiple sex partners in a short time span....these are things that the Black community needs to address if these numbers are to ever go down. They can't blame it on "The Man". They will have to look closer to home and try to do something to educate the young to the dangers they face.

I believe that people such as Bill Cosby are trying to show the way, too bad that so much of the "Black Leadership" castigate the messenger and his message. Dr. Cosby has a lot of common sense to impart. But it's not too surprising, after all, his message is one of responsibility and accountability, and where is the profit/power for race issue whores in that?

I do find some measure of blame in the Political arena in this....As I noted in an earlier post, "you get more of what you subsedize" and polititions have created a whole sub-class of people that have never learned that they are responsible for their own well being. Whites are greater in number in this sub-class, but I am sure that if the numbers were screened, a large number of Black HIV/AIDS victims would also be members of this sub-class that have come to depend on the government for direction in every facet of their life.

We need to bring back the concepts of real self pride (not the vacuous "race" pride and "entitlement attitude" the the Race Whores have tried to forward as their agenda) and self reliance that made this country great. It needs to be done for ALL races, but the cancer has eaten farther in Black community with the help of the race whores and limosine Liberals, and is more urgent to correct, if the next generation of Blacks is to have a decent chance of making themselves and their community the great assets to the country that they have every right to be.

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While going through my daily rounds in the Blogosphere, I found a link at Kim du Toits that discusses something that doesn't get the attention it merits.

I often post my feelings about the Second Amendment and it's purpose as envisioned by the founding fathers,namely that it was intended as a last defense against tyranny from our own government. But I have always left out what just may be the most important part: Just WHEN is it time to invoke that defense and let the bullets start to fly? this essay addresses that issue in the most thoughtful manner I've seen.

We've all seen the bumper stickers that say "They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold dead fingers", and while it evokes a certain sense of bravado and spirit, I don't think that anyone can regard an individual incident in that vein as an effective way of defending the 2nd Amendment; the public merely sees it as "oh, another gun nut/fanatic/insert meme here pulled off an idiotic stunt and got arrested/shot by the police, good for them".

Go get a cup of coffee, get a note pad to make notes and jot down questions, settle in and really READ and absorb the wisdom contained in the words there.

I am not a religious man as Ron S. is, but I do agree with him that the wisdom contained in the Bible dealing with the secular and intrapersonal relationships within a society were one of the twin pillars in the founding of this country. You don't have to suscribe to a particular tenant to see where he's coming from, if you translate the meanings of the religious wisdom into the secular terms of "how do we form a society that truly works to the betterment of all".

I find myself in complete agreement with Ron on his premise/conclusions/strategy. Go there, read it, ponder it, and put your own two cents in. Start to really think about it, and begin planning Your course of action when TSHTF. It will, inevitably, sooner or later, and Ron has a thoughtful
outline of a good course of action. Remember that it is your DUTY as a citizen of a free Republic to become informed, and to defend the freedoms that Republic affords you, for if not you, who? "The tree of Liberty requires refreshment with the blood of patriots" are not idle words, they are a fact borne out time and again in history. As Ron also notes, our forfathers expected tyrany from government:

The founding fathers of our country had no such illusions of trust: they understood the depravity of human nature. They understood that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They understood that government must be restrained with the chains of the Constitution. They did not incorporate the system of checks and balances because they had faith in the government. Having faith in the government is a complete reversal of the founders' original theory of eternal distrust and vigilance.

Why is this discussion so important? I think that Ron said it best:

All this discussion of armed resistance may beg the question: What's the big deal about gun control? Why should we hazard our lives to stop it? And, where is this tyranny? To answer briefly: the Second Amendment is the guarantor of the rest of the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights. Therefore, an attack on the Second Amendment is an attack on the entire Constitution. Without the Second Amendment, we have no means to physically retain our other rights; they become dusty words on an old piece of paper that can be ignored. If we lose the Second Amendment, we lose all the other rights at the same time.

First, our rights came into existence because of the principles in the Second Amendment--arms and militias. They had no rights, no Constitution, no liberty, and would never have had any without the Second Amendment.

This point can be easily demonstrated by examining the justifications given for the American revolution in 1776 in the Declaration of Independence: "In every stage of these Suppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury." The colonists exhausted every available means of appeal over a long period of time, but the oppressive conditions only worsened, and they had no peaceful means left to use. The only recourse is elegantly stated by Patrick Henry: "An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!". All our rights were literally born from the Second Amendment, and, I might add, God is equally a part of Patrick Henry's equation.

Where will you stand when the bullets start to fly? You'd be wise to ponder the question before the need to make a decision arises. If your on the side of patriots, you need to become prepared, if not, prepare for living as a subject, not a citizen.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:15 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The verdict is in. Michael Jackson was found NOT GUILTY on all ten counts

The people have made their decision through the offices of 12 members of the electorate. At least now, we may not have to hear more jackson news 24/7

Now that Mikey was found "innocent", I guess can't show you his proposed "new look" for prison.

I trust the jury made the right decision on the facts of the case as they heard them. Let Jackson go back to Neverland and, hopefully, fade from public sight.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:28 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Michael Fumento is one reporter who put his body where his mouth is and took the trek to Iraq to get a first hand picture of the events there.
He almost paid the final price in doing so.

I think that his first hand account really does show that the MSM isn't getting it right the majority of the time. Maybe if the pool reporters would get out of the hotel bar more often the picture would change. Seems the only time they DO get out is when they report what the Islamofacists Insurgents want to get out on the media.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A certain Progressive aquaintence of mine once said in a discusion with me that "at Least Ted Kennedy is working for the little guy", and that "we have to do something about the greedy rich.

Wish I had had this item then. I have no problem with making money on an investment, but to pontificate about the evil side of capitalism engaged in by the rich, while your engaged in what your railing against just once again shows the hypocracy of the swimmer from Massachussetts, and by taint of association, of his supporters.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:57 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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HERE'S an interesting take on Watergate. It doesn't change the fact that Nixon was forced to resign (deservedly) due to his participation in a post event cover-up, but if true, it does change the whole background of the event, and should lessen Nixon's iconic stature as the symbol of evil by the Left, were they intellectually honest.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Royal Navy has egg on it's face...
I'm very pro-military , but when your stupid enough to deny ownership of expensive equipment, when it's got your id stencilled on the side of it, and then refuse to follow well established salvage rights, you deserve a modicum of public mockery and approbation.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Progressive meme is that "Bush Lied-People Died", and that meem has been a large part of a lot of reporting by the unbiased LSM.
The charge is that there were no WMD's found (untrue). They further tout the UN as being the body to believe, and the condemnation coming from that august body about the actions the coallition took in Iraq...

So I have to find THIS STORY as particularly amusing as it is telling. It doesn't go into enough detail (surprie,surprise) but the mere fact that the UN now has evidence of the means of WMD's being removed from 109 sites in Iraq should be a big frog sticking in the craw of the LSM's throat...won't be of course, they will do as they always do, ignore it; and continue portraying the US as an evvviiill empire in the making.

MY meme would be "Saddam LIED- People Fried,shredded,hung,shot,stoned..."
guess it's too unwieldy and unpoetic to catch on though.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I'm gratified to see that some Republicans are standing up against President Bush's attempt to expand the powers of the Patriot Act.

The initial act was a hastely concocted response to terrorism after 9/11, and with all such law, it was ill conceived. There are sections of the law that were things that should have been done long ago, such as information sharing between law enforcement agencies, but these could have been accomplished in a manner that was not as great a danger to our individual civil liberties.

The original act should be allowed to die, not be expanded upon.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:44 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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As all the GFW's out there know, I'm rabidly pro-2nd Amendment; in fact I am on the far fringe of that belief, because I believe that it's every adults right (barring criminal history/insanity) to carry a firearm, and licenses/permits be damned. I believe that basic gun safety/marksmanship should be a required course in high school.

That being said, there is a danger out there, and it's killed far too many of our innocent children out there. And it's caused by adults that have no valid reason for possessing these instruments of death. They are mostly just status symbols of the power that wealth can bring. A substitute for a small penis perhaps?

In 2002, 1095 children between the ages of one and nineteen were victims of this pernicious atrocity. That same year, 166 children were the victims of firearms-related incidents...and 7,550 died in MVA related incidents. Yet the only outcry you hear of are against firearms.

I am thinking about starting my own lobbying group (ala Handgun Control Inc.) , legislating against this dangerous possession of irresponsible adults.
And considering there isn't an enumerated right to own one of these child killers in the Constitution, I should have an easier time of it than Sarah Brady has with guns.

I'll have to ponder it a bit more.....I have come up with an acronym for it already though: P.A.P. And I promise that the literature will be full of just that, much the same as in HGC Inc.'s

What is this deadly killer in our midst? Why do we allow these to be owned by people when they pose such a hazard, and they're totally needless,expensive, and mainly owned by the rich; you know, those people that cheat and rob from you to live their life of luxury? The acronym says it all: P.arents A.gainst P.ools.

And it's not just the fatalities we have to be concerned about, for every death there are near fatalities that have lifelong health consequences. They have used supposed "public health care costs" to attempt to ban smoking, yet the costs involved with near drownings far outweigh those.
Health care costs per near-drowning victim typically range from $75,000 for initial emergency room treatment to $180,000 a year for long-term care.
The annual economic costs of residential pool drownings and near-drownings of young children are estimated to be $450 million to $650 million.
Orange County Fire Dept

If Progressive are truly concerned for the welfare of our children,as they claim in the case of firearms, I hope they join me in this fight to stamp out these even more dangerous symbles of wealth and machismo. After all a gun can be used in protection, but a pool is just a tragedy waiting to happen.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:22 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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