Left Wing Democratic Senators Try to get back at Rush.

Democrats Get Personal Against Limbaugh

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 8:27 AM

Written by Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Senior Editor

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) leveled a personal attack at radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh from the Senate floor on Monday.

In a speech blasting Limbaugh for his "phony soldiers" comment, Harkin concluded, "Well, I don't know, maybe he (Limbaugh) was just high on his drugs again. I don't know whether he was or not. If so, he ought to let us know, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

"I want to make it clear that I respect Mr. Limbaugh's right to say whatever he wants, but we also have a right," Harkin said. "We have a right not to listen to him. I think the best thing to do for him is tune him out. Just tune out Rush Limbaugh and listen to more responsible talk show hosts in this country."

Three years ago, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Authorization bill, calling on American Forces Radio and Television Service to provide "political balance" in its public affairs programming. (See story)

It was part of a liberal effort -- spearheaded by Media Matters for America -- to remove Rush Limbaugh's radio show from taxpayer-funded Armed Forces Radio.
(To read the whole story, click on the Link above)

I have to tell you, this makes me mad. Dingy Harry and his ilk, going after Rush, misquoting him ON PURPOSE, to make it look like Rush called ALL American Service men and women "phony." Rush did NOTHING OF THE KIND. If you want to know what's really going on, read the real story here. I heard this from Rush before the SHAMEFUL attack on him from the Senate floor. I knew then what he was talking about. But, ever on the lookout to find something to use against him, his left wing enemies, as usual heard what they wanted to here, and not what was actually said.

Come on Senators, get the ear wax out of your ears!! I think YOU owe Rush an apology.

Current Mood: I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.
Current Music: The Village People - "Macho Man"
My Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS 9x19mm

History Channel: Tales of the Gun - Automatic Pistols: A Review

For those of you not familiar with "The History Channel," they have a series titled "Tales of the Gun." There are many different subjects in this series, about different types of guns. This review is about Automatic Pistols.

This episode tells the story of automatic pistols, from the first one, until present day. Or at least until the day the episode was made. I sat through this one, several times, thinking I was going to catch a mistake. The only thing I could really find was one of the historians had a bad habit of putting his finger on the trigger, when he shouldn't. Lots of people make that mistake.

The only other "mistake" might be the description of the M1911 Colt .45 as having stopping power, by the Late, Ian V. Hogg. I know some people will disagree with me on this, insisting that the M1911 is a great man-stopper. Even if I were to point to verified incidents where people who were shot with a .45, were not stopped or put down. Regardless, there is also much anecdotal evidence that says it is a great man-stopper, and this review is not about disputing that in either direction.

I wish they had covered more, as there are so many different models that have been and are being made, but this program was made to fit within an hour time slot, complete with commercials (Which are not included in the DVD, thankfully). A more in-depth show on this subject, would likely take more than a few hours. But for the time alloted, I think this does an excellent job.

For those who want to know, this episode gives some details on the Borchardt C93, Mauser C96, Browning Pocket pistol, Colt 1903, 1911, the Webley-Fosbery Automatic Revolver, Luger, Walther PP, PPK, and P-38, the Roth-Steyr, Beretta 92, and various Glock pistols. It also delves into the future just a bit with discussion on the "safe" pistol. The model that various companies (Colt is the one in this episode) are working on, that can only be fired by the owner.

In any event, I could not really find any historical (or ANY) fault with this episode of "Tales of the Gun." As with all the other episodes I've ever seen in this series, The History Channel does not go into the pros or cons of gun ownership, although, in their intro to the section on the "safe" pistol, they do mention the possible, results that can happen when pistols fall into the wrong hands. Regardless, I highly recommend it to those interested in the subject.

Current Mood: Content
Current Music: None
My Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14.45

General Lies and Power

WHAT IF, Moveon.org had existed during World War II? Would we have seen an ad like this?



Unfortunately, I think we would have. Assuming they could have found a newspaper back then that would have printed it. During WWII, the News media was not as "un" biased, and as "un" patriotic as it is today. Back then, the troops in the field were "our boys."

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: The Village People - "Macho Man"
My Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

eBay's latest ANTI-Freedom announcement

Hello everyone…In mid-August, we will be updating our Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy to place more restrictions around gun-related items. Once these changes take effect, we will prohibit listings of any firearm part that is required for the firing of a gun. This includes items like bullet tips, brass casings and shells, barrels, slides, cylinders, magazines, firing pins, trigger assemblies, etc. Please read the Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy for more details on our current policy.

As you may know, eBay does not allow the listing of any items which are regulated by individual states or the federal government; however, there are still a large number of firearm-related parts that are legal and are widely available in retail stores. These items have also historically been allowed on eBay.

After learning that some items purchased on eBay may have been used in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, we felt that revisiting our policies was not only necessary, but the right thing to do. After much consideration, the Trust & Safety policy team – along with our executive leaders at eBay Inc. – have made the decision to further restrict more of these items than federal and state regulations require.

This new update continues to encourage safety among our community members and brings our policies in the U.S. and Canada in closer alignment with our existing policies in other markets around the globe.

Sincerely,

Matt Halprin
Vice President, Trust & Safety

That's ok. I haven't done much on eBay anyway, so dumping them won't bother me in the slightest.

I suppose if I sold cars, and someone I sold a Chevy to, went and ran someone over with it, I'd have to stop selling Chevys. Makes a lot of sense, don't it.


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: "In The Navy" by The Village People
My Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

Some good News from the House of Representatives....for a change.

By ANDREW TAYLOR,
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Pro-gun rights Democrats teamed with House Republicans on Thursday to block local governments and law enforcement agencies from gaining routine access to gun-purchasing data.

The House Appropriations Committee defeated two attempts by gun control advocates to strip four-year-old restrictions on the use of information from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tracing gun sales. The votes were a victory for the National Rifle Association and came despite the Democratic takeover of Congress in
January.

The committee's emotional debate often focused on broader gun rights issues rather than the matter at hand, involving when the bureau can share such information.

Gun control advocates say the gun sales data is essential to uncovering dealers who sell guns that disproportionately end up in the hands of criminals.

Gun rights advocates, led by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., said mayors such as New York City's Michael Bloomberg want the data to sue out-of-state gun dealers.

Tiahrt, the key sponsor of the restrictions on sharing gun trace data, also said easing the restrictions could lead to the disclosure of police officers' identities and other details to criminals.

"What the Tiahrt amendment does is protect those who protect us," Tiahrt said.

Pro-gun advocates say the data-sharing restrictions protect gun owners' privacy. But Bloomberg and other mayors contend they hamper law enforcement authorities' ability to trace illegal guns and arrest weapons traffickers.

"This handcuffs the cops, not the criminals," said Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, D-Md.

More than a dozen Democrats, most from rural districts, joined with all but two committee Republicans to defeat a bid by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to ease the data sharing restrictions but ensure that police officers' names would not be compromised.

Earlier, a bid by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to reject Tiahrt's language altogether lost by a voice vote.

The mayors say gun tracing data helps police departments determine the source of illegal guns, who buys them and how they are distributed.

Almost three-fifths of guns used in crimes are sold by just 1 percent of gun dealers, who forge relationship with gun traffickers making multiple purchases.

Under Bloomberg, who recently left the GOP amid speculation he may run for president as an independent, the city has sued out-of-state gun dealers in an attempt to reduce the flow of illegal guns into New York. The NRA-backed restrictions block cities from getting ATF data for such suits.

The committee chairman, Rep. David Obey — a liberal Democrat representing a rural Wisconsin district — said the issue was only marginally related to gun rights. He opposed the efforts to ease the data restrictions.

But Obey lashed out at both the NRA, which failed to endorse him in his most recent race despite his pro-gun rights record, and Bloomberg. He said the mayor's representatives met with his staff and threatened to run television ads attacking him.

Lindsay Ellenbogen, a Bloomberg aide, denied any threats. Bloomberg is co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Gun Sales, which has run ads in a few congressional districts.

"As happens too often in Washington, common sense didn't carry the day — special interests did," Bloomberg said.

Thursday's result continued a run of back luck on Capitol Hill for gun control advocates. They have lost many times since a Democratic-controlled Congress pushed through an assault weapons ban in 1994. Many Democrats credited the ban for losses in rural seats as the party took a drubbing at the polls that year.

The return of Congress to Democratic hands did not appreciably hurt the NRA's position because many of the newcomers are from rural, pro-gun rights districts.

"To allow this information to be misused by trial lawyers and gun control groups who want to sue gun manufacturers because criminals misused legally made and legally sold guns is not only bad policy but bad politics," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's top lobbyist.

The votes came as the committee approved a $53.6 billion bill for the departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as NASA and science programs.

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Rob Zombie - Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Remix)
My Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS

Michael Moore's Open Letter to CNN

An Open Letter to CNN from Michael Moore
7/14/07

Dear CNN,

Well, the week is over -- and still no apology, no retraction, no correction of your glaring mistakes.

I bet you thought my dust-up with Wolf Blitzer was just a cool ratings coup, that you really wouldn't have to correct the false statements you made about "Sicko." I bet you thought I was just going to go quietly away.

Think again. I'm about to become your worst nightmare. 'Cause I ain't ever going away. Not until you set the record straight, and apologize to your viewers. "The Most Trusted Name in News?" I think it's safe to say you can retire that slogan.

You have an occasional segment called "Keeping Them Honest." But who keeps you honest? After what the public saw with your report on "Sicko," and how many inaccuracies that report contained, how can anyone believe anything you say on your network? In the old days, before the Internet, you could get away with it. Your victims had no way to set the record straight, to show the viewers how you had misrepresented the truth. But now, we can post the truth -- and back it up with evidence and facts -- on the web, for all to see. And boy, judging from the mail both you and I have been receiving, the evidence I have posted on my site about your "Sicko" piece has led millions now to question your honesty.

I won't waste your time rehashing your errors. You know what they are. What I want to do is help you come clean. Admit you were wrong. What is the shame in that? We all make mistakes. I know it's hard to admit it when you've screwed up, but it's also liberating and cathartic. It not only makes you a better person, it helps prevent you from screwing up again. Imagine how many people will be drawn to a network that says, "We made a mistake. We're human. We're sorry. We will make mistakes in the future -- but we will always correct them so that you know you can trust us." Now, how hard would that really be?

As you know, I hold no personal animosity against you or any of your staff. You and your parent company have been very good to me over the years. You distributed my first film, "Roger & Me" and you published "Dude, Where's My Country?" Larry King has had me on twice in the last two weeks. I couldn't ask for better treatment.

That's why I was so stunned when you let a doctor who knows a lot about brain surgery -- but apparently very little about public policy -- do a "fact check" story, not on the medical issues in "Sicko," but rather on the economic and political information in the film. Is this why there has been a delay in your apology, because you are trying to get a DOCTOR to say he was wrong? Please tell him not to worry, no one is filing a malpractice claim against him. Dr. Gupta does excellent and compassionate stories on CNN about people's health and how we can take better care of ourselves. But when it came time to discuss universal health care, he rushed together a bunch of sloppy -- and old -- research. When his producer called us about his report the day before it aired, we sent to her, in an email, all the evidence so that he wouldn't make any mistakes on air. He chose to ignore ALL the evidence, and ran with all his falsehoods -- even though he had been given the facts a full day before! How could that happen? And now, for 5 days, I have posted on my website, for all to see, every mistake and error he made.

You, on the other hand, in the face of this overwhelming evidence and a huge public backlash, have chosen to remain silent, probably praying and hoping this will all go away.

Well it isn't. We are now going to start looking into the veracity of other reports you have aired on other topics. Nothing you say now can be believed. In 2002, the New York Times busted you for bringing celebrities on your shows and not telling your viewers they were paid spokespeople for the pharmaceutical companies. You promised never to do it again. But there you were, in 2005, talking to Joe Theismann, on air, as he pushed some drug company-sponsored website on prostate health. You said nothing about about his affiliation with GlaxoSmithKline.

Clearly, no one is keeping you honest, so I guess I'm going to have to do that job, too. $1.5 billion is spent each year by the drug companies on ads on CNN and the other four networks. I'm sure that has nothing to do with any of this. After all, if someone gave me $1.5 billion, I have to admit, I might say a kind word or two about them. Who wouldn't?!

I expect CNN to put this matter to rest. Say you're sorry and correct your story -- like any good journalist would.

Then we can get back to more important things. Like a REAL discussion about our broken health care system. Everything else is a distraction from what really matters.

Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

P.S. If you also want to apologize for not doing your job at the start of the Iraq War, I'm sure most Americans would be very happy to accept your apology. You and the other networks were willing partners with Bush, flying flags all over the TV screens and never asking the hard questions that you should have asked. You might have prevented a war. You might have saved the lives of those 3,610 soldiers who are no longer with us. Instead, you blew air kisses at a commander in chief who clearly was making it all up. Millions of us knew that -- why didn't you? I think you did. And, in my opinion, that makes you responsible for this war. Instead of doing the job the founding fathers wanted you to do -- keeping those in power honest (that's why they made it the FIRST amendment) -- you and much of the media went on the attack against the few public figures like myself who dared to question the nightmare we were about to enter. You've never thanked me or the Dixie Chicks or Al Gore for doing your job for you. That's OK. Just tell the truth from this point on.

What really gets me, is his last sentence, in his PS. "Just tell the truth from this point on." GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK! He wants CNN to tell the truth? How about a little truth from him, for a change? SHEESH!!


  Current Mood: Amused
  Current Music: Rob Zombie - Dragula
My Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS 9mm NATO

A question for Media Matters dot org

On their site, under "About us," they start out with the following paragraph.

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

So, if they're watching the conservative media, who's monitoring the Liberal media? It seems to me that any organization that wanted to monitor the liberal media, would need a HUGE staff, just to keep track of all the misinformation they broadcast.

But, can some one tell me WHAT misinformation the conservative media is passing out?

  Current Mood: Amused
  Current Music: Village People - In The Navy
My Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS 9mm NATO

R. Lee Ermey speaks up on RKBA

Our Favorite Gunny, R. Lee Ermey on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.




Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: Village People - In the Navy
   Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS 9x19mm

HR 2640, Gun Owners of America, World Net Daily get it all wrong

Your doctor could put you on no-gun list

This is how WND's article (written by Naomi Laine) starts out. (If you want to read their article, click on the title of this one, it's a direct link)

What they don't tell you is, you doctor can ONLY put you on the list with a court order. That's under the NEW rules. The new rules also, FINALLY give us a way to appeal these decisions. Oh, the old rules had an appeals process too, but they were not funded, so there was no effective way to appeal being put on the "no guns allowed" list. HR2640 fixes that problem.

But GOA would have us all believe it's another way to "curtail" our ability to own guns, as if the NRA would really stand for that. The NRA worked very hard to make sure this would NOT affect lawful gun owners. I think they succeeded rather well.

If you don't believe me, go read the bill yourself. You can find it at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2640.

I challenge ANYONE to read this law and find where it says, or implicates that any doctor can put you on the "no guns allowed" list on his say so, alone, without adjudication, and/or without being involuntarily committed.

Current Mood: Pissed off
Current Music: None
   Carry Pistol: Taurus PT92AFS

An Immigration Survey

The News Media and Immigration Attitudes
This survey is designed to help us understand what Americans like you think about immigration and the news media. We are very interested in your thoughts on this matter and greatly appreciate your participation.

Click here to take the survey:
http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/stu/crweber/TAKESURVEY/videohuddy.htm

Chicago Priest calls for murder of gun shop owner

ISRA: Chicago Priest Calls for Murder of Gun Shop Owner

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):
Nobody expected Saturday's Operation PUSH protest at Chuck's Gun Shop & Range to be anything other than a circus of the bizarre. However, nobody anticipated that an address by a Chicago priest would include a call for the murder of a suburban gun shop owner and legislators who oppose gun control.
During an address at an anti-gun rally in front of Chuck's, Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina's Church, exhorted the crowd to "drag" shop owner, John Riggio, from his shop "like a rat" and "snuff" him. Rev. Pfleger went on to tell the crowd that legislators that vote against gun control legislation should be "snuffed" as well. As many know, "snuff" is slang for especially violent murder.

"Certainly Fr. Pfleger has offered Absolution to a murderer or two during his tenure as a priest," commented ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson. "That's why it's shocking to hear him actually advocate the murder of a gun shop owner who has never committed a crime in his life. He then compounds the problem by calling for the murder of legislators who disagree with his personal political views -- something I suspect is a felony in this state. Pfleger's comments were disgusting and dangerous. And, I seem to remember that the Fifth Commandment frowns on murdering one's neighbor."
"This week, I'll be penning a letter to the Archbishop, expressing my concerns over Rev. Pfleger's comments," continued Pearson. "I would hope that the Archbishop would reply with words of comfort for Mr. Riggio, his family, state legislators, and all others who were injured by Rev. Pfleger's thoughtless, inflammatory remarks."
The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful, and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding firearm Illinois firearm owners.


SOURCE Illinois State Rifle Association

Isn't this just great? A Catholic Priest, calling for someone to be murdered?


Current Mood: Angry
Current Music: None
   Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

2008 Democratic Convention Schedule

(link)
From the Conservative Underground, I found the following.

For the Democratic National Convention for 2008.

7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning.
7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to U.N.
7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
7:30 till 8:00 P.M. Nonreligious prayer and worship. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.
8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:05 P.M. Ceremonial tree hugging.
8:15- 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding-- Barney Frank Presiding.
8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally. Cindy Sheehan and Susan Sarandon.
9:00 P.M. Keynote speech. The proper etiquette for surrender-- French President Jacques Chirac
9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund
9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters from Guantanamo Bay by Sean Penn
9:40 P.M. Why I hate the Military, A short talk by William Jefferson Clinton
9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
9:50 P.M. Dan Rather presented Truth in Broadcasting award, presented by Michael Moore
9:55 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
10:00 P.M. How George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld brought down the World Trade Center Towers by Howard Dean
10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Mahmud Ahmadinejad
11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
11:05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents Internet
11:15 P.M. Our Troops are War criminals by John Kerry
11:30 P.M. Coronation of Mrs. Rodham Clinton
12:00 A.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
12:05 A.M. Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home

I would love to see that convention!

Current Mood: Seriously Amused
Current Music: Village People - Y.M.C.A.
Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

SPLC Not the group it used to be

Sad news today. With the addition of the Young Americans for Freedom as a hate group by the SPLC, it is apparent now, if it wasn't before that they are no longer, (if they ever were) an unbiased, non-partisan group.

If nothing else, it shows they don't have a sense of humor, and they don't know sarcasm when it hits them in the face. Their "reason" for putting YAF on their list of hate groups, is a list of 13 points.

Having read this list, it's obvious to me that he's being sarcastic. Whether he actually means what he says with any of those 13 points, is quite another question. But to call for the elimination of representation to ASMSU of various minority councils, and in the same list, call for the creation of a "Caucasian student council," a "Man's council," well, if you can't see the sarcasm, get new glasses.

For your edification, here is the list of thirteen points, with some comments by the originator.

I'm dedicated to representing the conservative students of Michigan State University. If you are a leftist, communist, socialist, or moderate, please do not contact me to represent you. You are not my constituent. As your representative, my goals are to do the following:

1. Eliminate funding for all non-heterosexual organizations.

2. Eliminate representation to ASMSU for all of the following groups:
Culturas De Las Razas Unidas, Alliance of LBGT Students, Arab Cultural Society, Asian Pacific American Student Organization, North American Indigenous Student Organization, Black Council, International Student Association, and the Women¹s Council.

3. Allow a Christian organization to be represented on ASMSU.

4. Create a Caucasian Caucus and give them representation on ASMSU.

5. Put a US Flag in every classroom and lecture hall on campus.

6. Reduce the amount of taxes ASMSU gets from the students.

7. Change the MCRI decision that the ASMSU reps made last year.

8. Spend tax money to bring conservative speakers to campus.

9. Create a Man's Council.

10. Force the Planned Parenthood on Grand River Ave. to leave.

11. Hunt down illegal immigrants in the Lansing area and have them deported.

12. Start a sex offender registry and have a link to it on the MSU website.

13. Start a "Straight Club" and give them representation on ASMSU.

If I am forgetting something important, please contact me. I have a few other goals that aren't listed, because steps might possibly be taken by my opponents to stop me from implementing them. Viva Kyle Bristow!

It's also apparent, based on an interview on WJIM talk radio, that State Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer can't see sarcasm either. But what else can we expect from the former lawyer for the KKK?

As far as hunting down illegal aliens, I have no problem with that at all. If they're here illegally, then they are breaking the law, and they should pay for it.
(link1)
(link2)


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Village People - Macho Man [12" version]
Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

What is it with the "Hate monger" and "Racist" tags?

Really, I'd like to know. Why is it, those on the political left feel it necessary to call those on the political right things like "racist," "hatemonger," and others. Or course, these people don't stop there. Anyone who comes out in support of Coulter, Limbaugh, or Hannity, get labeled "knuckledraggers."

What gets me is so many on the left claim to be "tolerant" or more accepting of the Gay lifestyle. Yet, when it came down to whether or not to allow Gay marriage, the majority in Michigan voted for an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. I find it really strange, when you consider that these same people voted for a democrat for senator, and this same majority gave this state's electoral votes to John Kerry.

With so-called friends like these, I think we're better off with our enemies. At least with them, we know where we stand.

But to get back to Ann Coulter, I suppose I'm just ticked off at the name calling. Yeah, I'm not happy with her use of fag in referring to John Edwards....although, he is kinda cute.

Still, I do understand the context that it was used. She was referring to the incident that occurred among the cast of "Grey's Anatomy." Should she have used something else to insult John Edwards? Maybe. But then it seems to me, in the political scene of pundits, controversy seems to be the name of the game.

So, if I can see it, why can't everyone else? I am not an overly educated person. I graduated from high school, didn't go to college. Partly because I couldn't afford it, mostly because I never really liked school.

As for this person or persons who want to stop Ann from speaking at Cleary U, or rather, they don't want her to get paid for speaking. Having been invited to various Universities myself, I can tell you they just about always pay you for speaking. It's expected. I just wish I could get $30,000.00 for doing so. That would make my decade!



Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: Village People - San Francisco
Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

So much for tolerant Liberals

(link)

Coulter speech still on
By Dan Meisler
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

The Coulter show will, apparently, go on.

Cleary University President Tom Sullivan said Thursday in a written statement that the university board's executive committee decided to let the ap-pearance by conservative columnist Ann Coulter scheduled for October proceed....(If you want to read more, click on the "link" above.)

To which I say good for the Cleary University administration. And contrary to popular opinion, Miss Coulter's appearance there does NOT blacken the eye of Livingston County. It can only enhance their reputation for being fair minded. However, if she is "un-invited," it will only prove how bigoted some of the people there truly are.

Of course, this current furor over Ann Coulter only shows how truly UN-tolerant liberals really are. They're all for free speech, as long as it's from THEIR point of view.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with Ann Coulter's comments about "fags" and such. But I don't think her right to speak should be curtailed either. She'll either mend her ways, or she'll dig a hole she can't get out of. So I say, let her dig away!


Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

So Much for Free Speech...Again.

(link)
CNN just announced that CBS has permanently canceled Don Imus' radio show, effective immediately. While I do not listen to Don Imus, nor have I watched his simulcast on MSNBC (which was canceled earlier by MSNBC), I also deplore what is happening to him.

Granted, he made some comments that should not have been said. But I always thought the USA was the land of the free (speech) and home of the brave (can take some insults). Instead I find America is the home of the Politically Correct and the thin skinned. "Oh, don't call me a ho, that might hurt my feelings!" Give me a break.

To Mr. Imus I say this: You really need to think first, before you stick your foot in your mouth. Talk about stupid!

To the Rutgers women's \/\/hatever Team: You know, rappers have been calling you "nappy headed hos" for a lot longer than Mr. Imus has. Either start picking on the SOURCE of the problem, or get over it!

Sheesh!

Current Mood: Disgusted at what American is turning into
Current Music: Haddaway - What is Love
Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14.45ACP

Global Warming is a Hoax? Wow, Imagine that!

(link)

The Tempest

By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, May 28, 2006; W08

As evidence mounts that humans are causing dangerous changes in Earth's climate, a handful of skeptics are providing some serious blowback.

IT SHOULD BE GLORIOUS TO BE BILL GRAY, professor emeritus. He is often called the World's Most Famous Hurricane Expert. He's the guy who, every year, predicts the number of hurricanes that will form during the coming tropical storm season. He works on a country road leading into the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in the atmospheric science department of Colorado State University. He's mentored dozens of scientists. By rights, Bill Gray should be in deep clover, enjoying retirement, pausing only to collect the occasional lifetime achievement award.

He's a towering figure in his profession and in person. He's 6 feet 5 inches tall, handsome, with blue eyes and white hair combed straight back. He's still lanky, like the baseball player he used to be back at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington in the 1940s. When he wears a suit, a dark shirt and tinted sunglasses, you can imagine him as a casino owner or a Hollywood mogul. In a room jammed with scientists, you'd probably notice him first.

He's loud. His laugh is gale force. His personality threatens to spill into the hallway and onto the chaparral. He can be very charming.

But he's also angry. He's outraged.

He recently had a public shouting match with one of his former students. It went on for 45 minutes.

He was supposed to debate another scientist at a weather conference, but the organizer found him to be too obstreperous, and disinvited him.

Much of his government funding has dried up. He has had to put his own money, more than $100,000, into keeping his research going. He feels intellectually abandoned. If none of his colleagues comes to his funeral, he says, that'll be evidence that he had the courage to say what they were afraid to admit.

Which is this: Global warming is a hoax....

(To read the whole article, click here.

At least I know I'm not alone in my theory, that Global Warming is a hoax.

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: Para Ordnance P14.45

IL Politician Caught in a lie. (So, what else is new?)

IL Politician Caught in a Lie

4/5/2007

When anti-gun Illinois Senator Dan Kotowski held a press conference to promote a gun ban the other day, I’m sure he didn't expect someone who knows a thing or two about the guns being banned to be in attendance.

So when the senator pointed to an Armalite .50-caliber rifle and called it a "military weapon," he got the shock of his life. The top guy from Armalite stood up in the audience and told the crowd that's not true. He said they'd never sold the rifle to the military.

Kotowski was shocked, and started dancing his best back-and-fill routine.

Armalite is an Illinois company, and the proposed .50-caliber ban would mean they'd have to move operations out of state. But more importantly, a ban on that rifle would lead to a ban on more firearms, and Armalite's Mark Westrom knows that.

In fact, he said at the press conference, "When the .50(-caliber) is restricted, okay, so then we modify it and we convert it into a 49(-caliber). Then what happens next here to the 49s and the 45s?"

Westrom is right. Because bans don't solve problems, they only lead to more bans, and gun owners should NEVER stand for it.

Kotowski made some ludicrous claims about the rifle, including that it could shoot down an airplane flying 6,000 feet overhead. These gun-banners make idiotic statements like this all the time, but rarely is their stupidity confronted by someone so highly credentialed.

I'm glad Mark Westrom was in the audience last week ... I just wish the Illinois media saw fit to report his truth, instead of Kotowski's lies.

(From NRANews)

Personal Note: I was in the Army. I saw first hand what a .50 caliber MACHINE GUN can do. A .50 cal Machine gun can shoot down an air liner. But it takes more than just one bullet to do so. It takes a virtual hail of bullets to bring down an airplane. The best sniper in the world can not bring down an airliner with one shot from a .50 caliber rifle.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm Auto Pistol

Midland (MI) schools give control over to UN

(link)

IB program outsources our children's education
By Pat Hartnagle

Outsourcing has been a very popular news item in the last few weeks. I was quite impressed with all the support received for those involved in Midland's recent discussion of it. Everyone in the system seemed to support keeping the local people and not going to an outside group for help.

I was quite surprised to see one letter to the editor by someone in defense of her husband's job state that the support staff is the "bread and butter" of our schools. Whatever happened to the students, who bring in all the tax dollars, provided by parents and all citizens, providing the need and means for the entire system?

This person also is the parent of three Midland Public School students and a member of the community who has no problem apparently with outsourcing her children and their curriculum to a company in a foreign country.

Apparently that view is shared by the teachers, who do not have a problem with outsourcing their academic freedom, training and input into curriculum.

The superintendent of MPS has no problem with outsourcing his authority for responsibility for the students and parents whom he is supposed to represent.

The school board has no problem with outsourcing the oversight of students, curriculum, choice of textbooks and protection of student records. Apparently, parents have no problem with any of the issues of curriculum, education, testing and student records outsourced for their children either.

With the adoption of the International Baccalaureate Program to be started in the fall, our already limited freedom in education will be taken away from local schools, states and even the federal government as authority is given over to the United Nations, under which UNESCO operates. It already has been writing curriculum and has begun to write textbooks -- much of that taking place under the International Baccalaureate Program.

This curriculum will meet international standards and the UN already has made the content of its international standards perfectly clear. Professor Allen Quist of EdWatch outlines those standards. "Required content will include "education for sustainable development," as defined by its Earth Charter, which includes abortion rights, gay marriage, indoctrination in Pantheism, universal disarmament, income redistribution between nations and advocacy of all the UN environmental treaties, to identify just a few of it's doctrines. The UN's required content also will include its Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says that people have no "inalienable" rights, only those rights the UN says they have. This UN document also clarifies that education must promote the UN and all its activities and that the UN is the highest court of appeals on all human rights issues, higher even than our own Supreme Court.

The UN's required content also will include the dictates of its Treaty on the Rights of the Child, which says that parents have no right to decide what their children will be taught. That right will now belong to the UN. All of education will be geared to"international standards." That means that the UN sets the standards. Since the tests are geared to the standards, the UN will dictate the content of the tests.

Do teachers teach to the tests? Yes, especially when they are paid more when students conform to the international curriculum. The IB does not focus on knowledge, instead it focuses on the attitudes and values of the internationalist left. The educational curricula and achievement tests are based on a political and educational philosophy that is not consistent with the world view and wishes of most parents and other citizens in the United States. Perhaps that is why the plan also calls for the elimination of locally elected school boards. The United States will be required to establish a national system of education as opposed to a state and local system."

Gene Edward Veith, journalist for "World" magazine writes, "Public schools to bolster their academic quality are turning to what they publicize as AP and IB courses. AP refers to Advance Placement, toughened up classes that can earn college credit. But IB is a different animal. International Baccalaureate courses follow a globalist, relativistic curriculum that many taxpayers would object to. Some 500 schools in the United States, each of which pays the Geneva organization between $5,000 and $9,000 per year, and for that will obtain curriculum, special teacher training and even some of the grading. Why would public school districts, most of which by law are required to be locally controlled, give up their control to a company in Switzerland?

"Knowledge," according to IBO's website. is considered to be an in-depth understanding of significant ideas, not merely the acquisition of "fact and skills." And this "understanding", that replaces objective learning consists largely of environmentalism, peace studies, leftist politics, and above all, multiculturalism. The IBO goal is the formation of students "who understand that other people with their differences, can also be right." Not just that other people can be right, but that people with differences can "also" be right. At the heart of the IB approach is a view that no actual culture holds truth.

It does take a certain kind of braininess to convince oneself that it is true that there is no truth and it is no wonder that major universities -- the patrons of postmodernist theory -- are impressed with all of the young relativists clutching their IB diplomas. But the philosophy does not produce a good education: rather it produces a mindset in which good education in impossible.

This program which sets the pathway for No Child Left Behind being totally acceptable, completely undermines everything this country and its education system has stood for. It will make "world citizens" to the point where our country, as we know it, will no longer exist. As Abraham Lincoln said, "The government of tomorrow sits in the classrooms today." For more information, go to website: www.edwatch.org/

Pat Hartnagle is a Midland resident.

Gee, do you think it's time for a NEW American Revolution?


Current Mood: Angry
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14.45ACP

Raw Story's Forums?

(link)
The left wing site, "The Raw Story" USED to have a great forum. Now, in my humble opinion, they suck. I wondered what happened when I tried to log in and it said user did not exist. I first logged in early last year. It was a great forum then. Now, it looks like something I used 10 years ago.

Come on guys, get with the program. Wake up and smell the espresso, this is the 21st Century!

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

So, where's CNN when you need them?

(link)

Feinstein quits committee under war-profiteer cloud
Report documents military contracts for firms owned by senator's husband
Posted: March 28, 2007
10:05 p.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has abruptly walked away from her responsibilities with the Senate Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee after a report linked her votes to the financial well-being of her husband's companies, which received billions of dollars worth of military construction contracts she approved.

As reported in Metroactive, an online report from the Silicon Valley, Feinstein's resignation followed six years of subcommittee work during which time her alleged conflict of interest stemmed from her husband Richard C. Blum's ownership of Perini Corp. and URS Corp.

Feinstein, chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee, regularly reviewed and accepted contracts from her husband's companies for not only construction work for military bases, but also addressing "quality of life" issues for the veterans of the United States military services.

Really, WHERE is the main stream media on this? WHY do I have to find out about it through World Net Daily? You know, if she was a Republican, someone would want some congressional investigation on this one.

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

A Survey (Not mine)

I received a request from a researcher (best description I could think of) from Stony Brook University. I decided to go ahead and post their message here. Respond, don't respond, it's your choice.

Exploring the Role of Internet Advertising in American Politics


This survey is designed to help us understand what Americans like you think about internet advertising, modern campaigns, and politics. We are very interested in your thoughts on this matter and greatly appreciate your participation.


Click here to take the survey:

http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/stu/crweber/TAKE%20SURVEY/internet_advertising.htm

Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: None
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

Gunguys.com don't know crap about guns. (So what else is new?)

(link)

...Handguns– as we know them– did not exist at the time the Constitution was written, until the forerunner of the modern handgun became mass marketed after the Civil War. So how can they have been protected under the Second Amendment when they didn’t exist at the time?...

In their latest, DUMBEST article on guns, or more specifically, on the recent overturning of Washington DC's ILLEGAL gun ban, they make the mis-statement above, that handguns did not exist when the 2nd Amendment was first written!

Mind you, they added the caveat, that "as we know them." Not that it matters. A handgun, is a gun that can be held and fired by one hand. It doesn't matter if it holds 1, 2, 6, 10, or 15 or more rounds. IF you can hold it in one hand, and shoot it with some fair amount of accuracy, it's a handgun. And those of us who know guns, KNOW that pistols have been in existence for a very long time.

What I find interesting, the "Gun Guys" don't publish an email address, nor do they allow comments on their blog, because they KNOW, those of us who REALLY know guns and history could show them where they are wrong in their opinions.

As usual, they are the typical, cowardly left wing, anti-gun liberals, who spew their typical anti-gun/anti-freedom rhetoric, and don't want any rebuttal to prove them wrong.


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Macho Man - The Village People
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

Crime, in nearly gun-free UK? Oh my!

(link)

Gun gang threatens police

Police were threatened by a gang at gunpoint -giving rise to fears the latest wave of gun crime could be spreading into the Richmond.

Concerned residents called officers to Boileau Road, Barnes, at around 11pm on Thursday, March 8, after a group of men were seen acting suspiciously.

The three men made off as soon as police arrived and were chased on foot to a nearby cul-de-sac, where one aimed a single-barrel sawn-off shotgun at officers and threatened them.

No shots were fired and when police withdrew the suspects made off in the direction of Kilmington Road.

Search teams were combing through a taped-off area surrounding Baynes House, a block of flats in Kilmington Road, the following day for vital clues as to the suspects' identities.

They are described only as wearing balaclavas or bandannas.

Nigel Magid, whose mum Eileen lives in the flats, said: "My mother has only just moved in here.

"She had the scare of her life - there was so much commotion."

One other resident, who did not want to be named, said: "At about 3am there were helicopters all over the place.

"There were some lads out here with a gun - they tried to break into someone's house down the road.

"Police were walking up and down all night and all the neighbours were out talking.

"It was mad - it's normally quiet around here, you just don't expect this sort of thing."

The two police officers were unharmed in the incident.

Police have said enquiries are ongoing and are now appealing for anyone with information to come forward and contact the incident room on 020 8217 7366. No arrests have been made.

11:19am today

By Natalie Fahy

If it weren't so tragic, it would be funny. The UK has practically outlawed the private possession of firearms, yet gun crime is on the rise in the island nation. I think they need to do two things, at least. One, repeal all the laws that have disarmed the law-abiding populace, and arm their police, completely. It's long past due.

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Come out ye Black and Tans - Wolfe Tones
Carry Pistol: EAA Witness 10mm

My final word (hopefully) on Jim Zumbo

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David E. Petzal, a writer for Field & Stream Magazine speaks on Jim Zumbo. I agree 100% with what he says. I only hope that many of the people he's talking to, take it to heart.

ZUMBOMANIA: David E. Petzal’s take on the Jim Zumbo fiasco

In case you just emerged from a coma and have not heard, the shooting world is agog over a blog posted by Jim Zumbo, former contributing editor at Outdoor Life, over the weekend of February 17. In it, Jim stated that any semiauto rifle with an AR or AK prefix was a terrorist rifle, had no place in hunting, and should be outlawed for that purpose. Then, courtesy of the Internet and all its blogs and chatrooms, the roof fell in.

The speed with which Zumbomania spread, the number of comments it drew, and the rabid nature of same were a revelation. Overnight, this thing became as big as Janet Jackson’s clothing failure or—dare I say it?—Britney Spears’ shaved head. Jim Zumbo is now as employable as the Unabomber, and Sarah Brady will no doubt adopt his comments to her own gun-control purposes.

For the last several days I’ve been visiting all manner of blogs and chatrooms, which has reminded me of when I used to deliver used clothing to the local mental hospital. I’ve tried to make some sense of it all, but because the waters are still full of blood and body parts continue to rain from the sky, I haven’t come up with any Great Truths. Lacking that, here are some Lesser Truths.

What Jim said was ill-considered. He’s entitled to his beliefs, but when a writer of his stature comes out against black guns, it sure as hell does not help our cause.

Even so, Jim made an immediate apology. He did not equivocate, or qualify, or make excuses. He acted like a gentleman and said he was wrong, and he was sorry. Apparently this is not enough anymore. We now live in the era of one strike and you're out.

For 40 years, Jim has been a spokesman and ambassador of good will for hunting. Through his tireless efforts as a teacher and lecturer on hunting and hunting skills, he has done more for the sport than any 250 of the yahoos who called for his blood.

Jim has paid dearly for what he said. He has lost his blog and his association with Remington. Cabela’s has suspended its sponsorship of his TV show; and Outdoor Life has accepted his offer to sever ties. To all the chatroom heroes who made him unemployable, I have a word of warning: You’ve been swinging a two-edged sword. A United States in which someone can be ruined for voicing an unpopular opinion is a dangerous place. Today it was Jim’s turn. Tomorrow it may be yours.

If Sarah Brady is smart—and she is very smart—she will comb through the same blogs and chatrooms I’ve been reading, excerpt some of the most vicious and foul-mouthed entries, print them up, and distribute them to Congress. Then it will be interesting to see how the men and women who wrote that stuff enjoy seeing their efforts being put to use by every anti-gunner in America.

Stay tuned.

Current Mood: Hopeful
Current Music: Village People - Key West
Current Pistol: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

The missing blog pages from Jim Zumbo

For your edification, here is Mr. Zumbo's Original post to his now defunct blog.

Assault Rifles For Hunters?

As I write this, I'm hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We're testing Remington's brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes.

I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms.

I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers."

Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms."

This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

And the following was his apology

I was wrong, BIG TIME

Someone once said that to err is human. I just erred, and made without question, the biggest blunder in my 42 years of writing hunting articles.

My blog inflamed legions of people I love most..... hunters and shooters. Obviously, when I wrote that blog, I activated my mouth before engaging my brain.

Let me explain the circumstances surrounding that blog. I was hunting coyotes, and after the hunt was over and being beat up by 60 mph winds all day, I was discussing hunting with one of the young guides. I was tired and exhausted, and I should have gone to bed early. When the guide told me that there was a "huge" following of hunters who use AR 15's and similar weapons to hunt prairies dogs, I was amazed. At that point I wrote the blog, and never thought it through.

Now then, you might not believe what I have to say, but I hope you do. How is it that Zumbo, who has been hunting for more than 50 years, is totally ignorant about these types of guns. I don't know. I shot one once at a target last year, and thought it was cool, but I never considered using one for hunting. I had absolutely no idea how vast the numbers of folks are who use them.

I never intended to be divisive, and I certainly believe in United we Stand, Divided we Fall. I've been an NRA member for 40 years, have attended 8 national NRA conventions in the last 10 years, and I'm an advisory board member for the United States Sportsmen's Alliance which actively fights anti-hunters and animal rights groups for hunter's rights.

What really bothers me are some of the unpatriotic comments leveled at me. I fly the flag 365 days a year in my front yard. Last year, through an essay contest, I hosted a soldier wounded in Iraq to a free hunt in Botswana. This year, through another essay contest, I'm taking two more soldiers on a free moose and elk hunt.

When I started blogging, I was told to write my thoughts, expressing my own opinion. The offensive blog I wrote was MY opinion, and no one else's. None of the companies that I deal with share that opinion, nor were they aware of what I had written until this firestorm started.

Believe it or not, I'm your best friend if you're a hunter or shooter, though it might not seem that way. I simply screwed up. And, to show that I'm sincere about this, I just talked to Ted Nugent, who everyone knows, and is a Board member of the NRA. Ted is extremely active with charities concerning our wounded military, and though he's known as a bowhunter, Ted has no problem with AR 15's and similar firearms. My sincerity stems from the fact that Ted and I are planning a hunt using AR 15's. I intend to learn all I can about them, and again, I'm sorry for inserting my foot in my mouth.

I did not hear the podcast, but he was reportedly on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk. According to one listener, his apology was sincere. Too bad he's messed up his career now. He should know, guns are guns, are guns. If you support the 2nd Amendment, it doesn't just mean "sporting" firearms. It means ALL firearms.

We need to learn a lesson from this. NEVER post to your blog when you're tired, exhausted, intoxicated or just plain angry. (No, I'm not saying he was ALL of these, but I believe, he was at least tired.)

One other thing, Mr. Zumbo quoted a well known line, or at least, part of it. He said, "To err is human." Well, I think most of us know the follow up is, "To forgive, devine." How about some forgiveness folks? It won't hurt, he's already lost his blog and his sponsors.

Current Mood: Hopeful
Current Music: Q Lazzarus - GoodBye Horses (Music from "Silence of the Lambs")
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

An Honest Confession by an American Coward

(link)

An Honest Confession by an American Coward
Pat Conroy
Author: Pat Conroy
Source: This essay is from his book, My Losing Season.
Date: November 7, 2006

The true things always ambush me on the road and take me by surprise when I am drifting down the light of placid days, careless about flanks and rearguard actions. I was not looking for a true thing to come upon me in the state of New Jersey. Nothing has ever happened to me in New Jersey. But came it did, and it came to stay.

In the past four years I have been interviewing my teammates on the 1966-67 basketball team at the Citadel for a book I'm writing. For the most part, this has been like buying back a part of my past that I had mislaid or shut out of my life. At first I thought I was writing about being young and frisky and able to run up and down a court all day long, but lately I realized I came to this book because I needed to come to grips with being middle-aged and having ripened into a gray-haired man you could not trust to handle the ball on a fast break.

When I visited my old teammate Al Kroboth's house in New Jersey, I spent the first hours quizzing him about his memories of games and practices and the screams of coaches that had echoed in field houses more than 30 years before. Al had been a splendid forward-center for the Citadel; at 6 feet 5 inches and carrying 220 pounds, he played with indefatigable energy and enthusiasm. For most of his senior year, he led the nation in field-goal percentage, with UCLA center Lew Alcindor hot on his trail. Al was a battler and a brawler and a scrapper from the day he first stepped in as a Green Weenie as a sophomore to the day he graduated. After we talked basketball, we came to a subject I dreaded to bring up with Al, but which lay between us and would not lie still.

"Al, you know I was a draft dodger and antiwar demonstrator."

"That's what I heard, Conroy," Al said. "I have nothing against what you did, but I did what I thought was right."

"Tell me about Vietnam, big Al. Tell me what happened to you," I said.

On his seventh mission as a navigator in an A-6 for Major Leonard Robertson, Al was getting ready to deliver their payload when the fighter-bomber was hit by enemy fire. Though Al has no memory of it, he punched out somewhere in the middle of the ill-fated dive and lost consciousness. He doesn't know if he was unconscious for six hours or six days, nor does he know what happened to Major Robertson (whose name
is engraved on the Wall in Washington and on the MIA bracelet Al wears).

When Al awoke, he couldn't move. A Viet Cong soldier held an AK-47 to his head. His back and his neck were broken, and he had shattered his left scapula in the fall. When he was well enough to get to his feet (he still can't recall how much time had passed), two armed Viet Cong led Al from the jungles of South Vietnam to a prison in Hanoi. The journey took three months. Al Kroboth walked barefooted through the most impassable terrain in Vietnam, and he did it sometimes in the dead of night. He bathed when it rained, and he slept in bomb craters with his two Viet Cong captors. As they moved farther north, infections
began to erupt on his body, and his legs were covered with leeches picked up while crossing the rice paddies.

At the very time of Al's walk, I had a small role in organizing the only antiwar demonstration ever held in Beaufort, South Carolina, the home of Parris Island and the Marine Corps Air Station. In a Marine Corps town at that time, it was difficult to come up with a quorum of people who had even minor disagreements about the Vietnam War. But my small group managed to attract a crowd of about 150 to Beaufort's waterfront. With my mother and my wife on either side of me, we listened to the featured speaker, Dr. Howard Levy, suggest to the very few young enlisted Marines present that if they get sent to Vietnam, here's how they can help end this war: Roll a grenade under your officer's bunk when he's asleep in his tent. It's called fragging and is becoming more and more popular with the ground troops who know this war is bullsh*t. I was enraged by the suggestion. At that very moment my father, a Marine officer, was asleep in Vietnam. But in 1972, at the age of 27, I thought I was serving America's interests by pointing out what massive flaws and miscalculations and corruptions had led her to conduct a ground war in Southeast Asia.

In the meantime, Al and his captors had finally arrived in the North, and the Viet Cong traded him to North Vietnamese soldiers for the final leg of the trip to Hanoi. Many times when they stopped to rest for the night, the local villagers tried to kill him. His captors wired his hands behind his back at night, so he trained himself to sleep in the center of huts when the villagers began sticking knives and bayonets into the thin walls.

Following the U.S. air raids, old women would come into the huts to excrete on him and yank out hunks of his hair. After the nightmare journey of his walk north, Al was relieved when his guards finally delivered him to the POW camp in Hanoi and the cell door locked behind him.

It was at the camp that Al began to die. He threw up every meal he ate and before long was misidentified as the oldest American soldier in the prison because his appearance was so gaunt and skeletal. But the extraordinary camaraderie among fellow prisoners that sprang up in all the POW camps caught fire in Al, and did so in time to save his life.

When I was demonstrating in America against Nixon and the Christmas bombings in Hanoi, Al and his fellow prisoners were holding hands under the full fury of those bombings, singing "God Bless America." It was those bombs that convinced Hanoi they would do well to release the American POWs, including my college teammate. When he told me about the C-141 landing in Hanoi to pick up the prisoners, Al said he felt no emotion, none at all, until he saw the giant American flag painted on the plane's tail. I stopped writing as Al wept over the memory of that flag on that plane, on that morning, during that time in the life of America.

It was that same long night, after listening to Al's story, that I began to make judgments about how I had conducted myself during the Vietnam War.

In the darkness of the sleeping Kroboth household, lying in the third-floor guest bedroom, I began to assess my role as a citizen in the '60s, when my country called my name and I shot her the bird. Unlike the stupid boys who wrapped themselves in Viet Cong flags and burned the American one, I knew how to demonstrate against the war without flirting with treason or astonishingly bad taste. I had come directly from the warrior culture of this country and I knew how to act.

But in the 25 years that have passed since South Vietnam fell, I have immersed myself in the study of totalitarianism during the unspeakable century we just left behind. I have questioned survivors of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, talked to Italians who told me tales of the Nazi occupation, French partisans who had counted German tanks in the forests of Normandy, and officers who survived the Bataan Death March. I quiz journalists returning from wars in Bosnia, the Sudan, the Congo, Angola, Indonesia, Guatemala, San Salvador, Chile, Northern Ireland, Algeria.

As I lay sleepless, I realized I'd done all this research to better understand my country. I now revere words like democracy, freedom, the right to vote, and the grandeur of the extraordinary vision of the founding fathers. Do I see America's flaws? Of course. But I now can honor her basic, incorruptible virtues, the ones that let me walk the streets screaming my ass off that my country had no idea what it was doing in South Vietnam. My country let me scream to my heart's content - the same country that produced both Al Kroboth and me.

Now, at this moment in New Jersey, I come to a conclusion about my actions as a young man when Vietnam was a dirty word to me. I wish I'd led a platoon of Marines in Vietnam. I would like to think I would have trained my troops well and that the Viet Cong would have had their hands full if they entered a firefight with us. From the day of my birth, I was programmed to enter the Marine Corps. I was the son of a Marine fighter pilot, and I had grown up on Marine bases where I had watched the men of the corps perform simulated war games in the forests of my childhood. That a novelist and poet bloomed darkly in the house of Santini strikes me as a remarkable irony. My mother and father had raised me to be an Al Kroboth, and during the Vietnam era they watched in horror as I metamorphosed into another breed of fanatic entirely. I understand now that I should have protested the war after my return from Vietnam, after I had done my duty for my country. I have come to a conclusion about my country that I knew then in my bones but lacked the courage to act on: America is good enough to die for even when she is wrong.

I looked for some conclusion, a summation of this trip to my teammate's house. I wanted to come to the single right thing, a true thing that I may not like but that I could live with. After hearing Al Kroboth's story of his walk across Vietnam and his brutal imprisonment in the North, I found myself passing harrowing, remorseless judgment on myself. I had not turned out to be the man I had once envisioned myself to be. I thought I would be the kind of man that America could point to and say, "There. That's the guy. That's the one who got it right. The whole package. The one I can depend on."

It had never once occurred to me that I would find myself in the position I did on that night in Al Kroboth's house in Roselle, New Jersey: an American coward spending the night with an American hero.

Pat Conroy's novels include The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and Beach Music. He lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina. This essay is from his forthcoming book, My Losing Season.

Current Mood: Proud to be an American
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

Big boo boo, followed by mea culpa

(link 1)
(link 2)

Mr. Zumbo of Outdoor Life magazine made a big mistake with regards to gun owners. He posted a personal opinion on use of military style semi-autos for hunting. Ok, he made a big mistake. But he apologized for it (Link 2). Still, there are more than a few "holier than thou" types among us gun owners, who just can't forgive an honest mistake.

Of course, many of them don't believe it's an "honest mistake." That's more the pity. They're not willing to give the benefit of the doubt. They are not willing to take the high road of forgiveness. For that, I truly pity them. They forgot, "To err is human, to forgive divine."

I just hope, for their sakes, they never find themselves in a similar situation. If any of you do, just picture me laughing my ass off at you. It's something that I think should happen to all hypocrites.

UPDATE:
Due to the overwhelming number of protesters, it appears that Outdoor life has caved into the pressure and suspended Zumbo's blog. Only time will tell if this is permanent or not.

While I disagree with Mr. Zumbo's mistaken position on semi-automatic military style rifles, I fail to see how ANYONE can tell if a person is sincere or not in their apology, when said apology is in a typed format.

Apparently, not only do we have a large number of saints still living, we also have a large number of clairvoyant people among the gun owning public. Accordingly, the links no longer lead to Mr. Zumbo's blog, but to the notice from Outdoor Life, regarding the removal of the blog.

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

From the Mustang Bobby's blog

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I found this on Mustang Bobby's "Bark Bark Woof Woof" Blog. I thought it was worth sharing with everyone who reads this blog.

Contrition - a fundamental act

Do you think fundamental religious leaders and their followers will ever acknowledge the harm to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people -like certain denominations have apologized for once condoning racism in America?

How close is the day when they realize bigotry disguised as religious truth not only harms others but themselves? How close is the day that they say they're sorry?

I can't answer how close that day is.

But I do know that I can no longer wait.

I carried the Religious Right's anti-gay banner for many years but am thrilled to say today that I'm no longer held captive by bigotry disguised as religious truth. It's tough admitting your words, thoughts and actions were once guided by bigotry. It's more difficult yet to realize the harm you caused.

Three years ago, I was in a conversation with a dear family member. As a 43-year-old fundamentalist-leaning Christian, I was railing about how homosexuals were out to destroy America. My mother stopped me mid-sentence with a question: "Was the attitude I held toward gay men and women truly a Christ-like attitude?"

I had so often stated how I "loved the sinner but not the sin" but I never stopped to consider if I really meant that. More importantly, what did the gay co-worker actually feel when I spoke those words. It seems consistent with God's message of love and forgiveness that I should treat everyone with love and compassion. But being reared in a fundamentalist Baptist church, I was taught that the Bible says homosexuals are engaged in sinful behavior and that they want to bring about moral decay within our society.

Yet, can any student of the Bible say that the overall message - from beginning to end - is not one of forgiveness, love and redemption? God calls upon Christians to love as Christ did. God forbids us from judging or condemning people based on what we consider sin. That, I believe the Bible says, is God's job. As I pondered these questions, God began to slowly open my heart and mind to what I know as truth today - gay men and lesbians are not wicked and evil individuals and their sexual orientation is simply how God created them. They have jobs, homes, families and many desire a meaningful relationship with God just as I do. While I'm no theologian, I believe deeply that God grants us the ability to discern spiritual truths. One truth that God allowed me to discern is that judging a group of people as wicked and evil because of their sexual orientation - and deeming them as unworthy of my association and unworthy of a relationship with God - was wrong.

It didn't reflect a Christ-like love toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Certain religious leaders who espouse attitudes of discrimination and condemnation when it comes to the issue of homosexuality are quick to say they love the homosexual - it's just their sexual orientation they have a problem with. We cannot have it both ways. Christ accepts us just as we are? Shouldn't we do the same?

Over time I have had the opportunity to speak with numerous of my gay and lesbian neighbors - some Christians, some of other faiths and some who profess no particular faith. They tell me how the harsh and condemning language coming from certain conservative Christian organizations causes them great psychological and emotional distress. When they hear Christians espousing a condemning and judgmental message, they feel no love, compassion or respect. Each time I hear this from a gay or lesbian person it reinforces what I came to realize about my past attitude toward homosexuals - condemning people as sinners because of their sexual orientation prevented me from showing the type love and compassion that Christ calls us to exhibit in all our relationships. Sometimes we accept certain biblical teachings as truth without placing those teachings up against God's overall message of love, forgiveness and redemption.

It often takes a step out in faith to question a long-held religious belief. Perhaps we're afraid that changing our belief on something we've accepted as truth will lead us to discard other truths found in God's Word. It reminds me of how Christ was perceived as a threat by religious leaders of his time because he challenged many of their long-standing religious beliefs and practices.

At the end of my days, this is what I will know in my heart: As I discarded my attitude of discrimination and condemnation toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, my faith was strengthened as I realized the difference between genuine love and insincere words.

It's ironic. After years of wanting to change what I perceived as the hardened hearts of homosexuals, God changed my heart instead.

There's one thing I still must do and thus the reason for this post.

To all the wonderful, decent and loving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the world, I have to ask your forgiveness?

I unfortunately know that I can't undo the hurt that I caused with my condemning words and hateful thoughts, so it seems very insufficient to say I'm sorry.

But I am.

Brent Childers
Visit faithinamerica.com

Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Taurus PT92AFS 9x19mm

US House of Reps rebukes the President, and "UN-supports" the troops.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled House issued a symbolic rejection of President Bush's decision to deploy more troops to Iraq on Friday, opening an epic confrontation between Congress and commander in chief over an unpopular war that has taken the lives of more than 3,100 U.S. troops.

The vote on the non-binding measure was 246-182....

No matter how you white wash this vote, it was a slap in the face to US Service men and women serving in Iraq.

Speaking as a former soldier, if you don't support the mission, you ARE NOT supporting the troops. The best way to support the troops is to help them finish the mission... SUCCESSFULLY. Do it any other way, and it's Vietnam, all over again. And I would not want our current service men and women to go through that. I did, and I didn't even go to Vietnam, but because I was in during that time, I got the same treatment that our combat vets did, including getting spat upon, and called "baby killer."

I don't care if you like President Bush or not. This "non-binding resolution," is just the first step in a very wrong direction. If you are like me, in that you want to support the troops, contact "Non-Stop" Pelosi, and let her know you're not happy with this, so-called, non-binding resolution.

Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100

On the other hand, if you agree with her, go ahead, let her know you agree. But know this, you are not worthy to shine my boots, if you agree with this cowardly, "non-binding" resolution.

As with most statements on this blog, this one is my personal opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree. But I hope that most of you do.

Current Mood: Sad
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14 .45ACP

PRESS IGNORES FBI STUDY SAYING GUN LAWS IGNORED BY COP KILLERS

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While not really surprising, it is more than a little disappointing that our police chiefs would prefer to ignore this vital report. I expect such treatment from the press. But I expect better judgment from our top law enforcement officers.

BELLEVUE, WA – For more than two months, a damning report on a five-year study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about how cop-killing criminals ignore gun laws and where they get their guns has languished in the shadows, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms revealed today.

“The public has a right to know the contents of this report, which was revealed to the International Association of Chiefs of Police last year,” said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. “According to the Force Science News, research focused on 40 incidents involving assaults or deadly attacks on police officers, in which all but one of the guns involved had been obtained illegally, and none were obtained from gun shows.”

The study is called “Violent Encounters: A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers.” Waldron called it a “smoking gun” in terms of revelations about the sources of crime guns. Anti-gun politicians and police chiefs do not want the public to know as they campaign against the so-called “gun show loophole,” he said.

The newsletter quotes Ed Davis, who told the IACP that none of these criminals who attacked police officers was “hindered by any law – federal, sate or local – that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership. They just laughed at gun laws.” The Force Science News is published by the Force Science Research Center, a non-profit institution based at Minnesota State University in Mankato. The newsletter also stated, “In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows.”....

If you want to read the rest, click on the link, here or at the top.

BGA


Current Mood: sad
Current Music: none
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP

Another American Traitor in the Press.

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Another American Traitor..Oops, I mean Journalist...
Mr. Arkin says the troops need to support the American People. I thought the that's what American troops have ALWAYS done. Usually in battle, with their lives.

While Mr. Arkin has the right to express his opinions, I also have the right to disagree. I think Mr. Arkin owes the American service men and women a HUGE apology.

Below is just a portion of Mr. Arkin's post. You can click on the link above to read the whole thing. I included the "highlights," for your edification.

William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security
The Troops Also Need to Support the American People

I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States.

I'm sure the soldiers were expressing a majority opinion common amongst the ranks - that's why it is news - and I'm also sure no one in the military leadership or the administration put the soldiers up to expressing their views, nor steered NBC reporter Richard Engel to the story.

I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people.

Friday's NBC Nightly News included a story from my colleague and friend Richard Engel, who was embedded with an active duty Army infantry battalion from Fort Lewis, Washington.

Engel relayed how "troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for."....

...These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.

Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order.

Sure, it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail. But even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy. We don't see very many "baby killer" epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.

So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?.....

.....But it is the United States, and the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.

The notion of dirty work is that, like laundry, it is something that has to be done but no one else wants to do it. But Iraq is not dirty work: it is not some necessary endeavor; the people just don't believe that anymore.

I'll accept that the soldiers, in order to soldier on, have to believe that they are manning the parapet, and that's where their frustrations come in. I'll accept as well that they are young and naïve and are frustrated with their own lack of progress and the never changing situation in Iraq. Cut off from society and constantly told that everyone supports them, no wonder the debate back home confuses them.

America needs to ponder what it is we really owe those in uniform. I don't believe America needs a draft though I imagine we'd be having a different discussion if we had one.

Why is it, when it comes to the American military service men and women, the vast majority will ALWAYS be graded according to the excesses and crimes of the pitiful minority? What I mean is, we have a SMALL number of people in our military who committed a small number of crimes. Barely a percentage, as compared to the vast majority of law-abiding troops. Yet we constantly have these few crimes tossed into our faces, as though we all participated in the crimes.

I guess when you have nothing else sensational to write about, you have to drag up the past, just so you can rub our collective noses in the dirt one more time.

Frankly Mr. Arkin, you can kiss my big, white, hairy ass.


Current Mood: Angry
Current Music: Dulaman (Irish Folk Music) - Altan
Current Gun: Taurus PT92AFS 9x19mm

Global Warming = Junk Science

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Don't believe me? Click on the link, check out their info. Makes sense to me.

First, if the world is getting warmer, WHY do we have so much snow? I know, global warming.

Second, if the world is getting warmer, WHY has it been so cold this Winter? I know, global warming.

Third...Global Warming makes NO SENSE, unless of course you're a left wing weenie trying to take over the world. It's about the only political weapon they have left.


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Taurus PT92AFS 9x19mm

The Ghost of Tokyo Rose

Anyone who remembers anything about World War II, or has studied anything about World War II, will understand and remember that during World War II, the Japanese developed a way to demoralize the American forces. The Japanese psychological warfare experts developed a message they felt would work.

They gave their psychological warfare script to their famous broadcaster "Tokyo Rose" and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in different ways, hoping it would have a negative impact on America and GI's morale.

What was that demoralizing message?

It had three main points:

1. Your President is lying to you.
2. This war is illegal.
3. You cannot win the war

Does this sound familiar?

Is it because

Tokyo Hillary,

Tokyo Harry,

Tokyo Teddy

Tokyo Nancy ,

Tokyo Durbin,

Tokyo Kerry,

etc. have all learned from the former enemies of our country and have picked up the same message and are broadcasting it on

Tokyo CNN,

Tokyo ABC,

Tokyo CBS,

Tokyo NBC,

etc., to our troops?

The only difference is that they claim to support our troops before they demoralize them.

Come to think of it... Tokyo Rose told the American Troops she was on their side, also.

Yup, sure sounds familiar to me. Only one they left out was Hanoi Jane.


Current Mood: Angry
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para-Ordnance P14.45

More on Harvard Junk Science about guns

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Since first posting my very amateurish attempt at showing how the Harvard study was flawed, (States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates,) , Prof. John Lott has posted his own article on the subject. Suffice it to say, he does a much better job than I can. He also shows how the anti-gun "academicians" (and I use the term VERY loosely) have a tendency to not release the data on their "research." What's wrong Mr. Hemenway? Afraid we'll come to a different set of results?


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Current Gun: Para Ordnance P14.45

Evangelical LGBT congregation snaps up extra elbowroom

(link)

Evangelical LGBT congregation snaps up extra elbowroom
By SHARON GITTLEMAN

MADISON HEIGHTS -

While some peg LGBT people as ultra-liberals in all aspects of their lives - from faith to politics, the Reverend Rick Green knows better. Green leads the Praise Fellowship Christian Church in Madison Heights, a conservative sanctuary that recently expanded to accommodate its membership's growth.

The house of worship more than doubled its size on Dec. 1, now taking up 2,800 square feet.

Another factor prompted the change - to ensure that its 40-member primarily gay, lesbian and transgendered congregation would have enough space to enjoy their religious-based social groups and gatherings.

"We have room for some children's programming," Green said. "We'll be having a healthy living group focusing on issues like diet and exercise."

Future activities include a spring conference about how to inspire the growth of churches and expand the Kingdom of God.

Praise Fellowship is protestant and affiliated with the Alliance of Christian Churches.

"Theologically, we're a little on the conservative side, with the exception of homosexuality," he said. "We believe in the inspiration of scripture. I guess you can classify us as evangelical. We believe in a personal relationship with Christ."

Some parishioners have made Praise Fellowship their faith home after experiencing gay bashing at other churches.

Green believes bible passages that appear to condemn gay sexual relations are misinterpretations of scripture.

"Most of the so-called clobber passages used to beat up on our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are actually talking about pagan temple worship," he said. "In the ancient pagan fertility worship, part of that process was sexual relationships with temple prostitutes both male and female."

The verses actually denounce the exaltation of things other than God, he said.

"It's more an issue of idolatry," said Green.

While members believe the bible is the divinely inspired, infallible word of God, and those who die without affirming Jesus as their savior endure an eternal separation from the Almighty, they are not entirely accepted as part of the conventional evangelical movement, he said.

"For the most part, we don't have a lot of contact with mainline churches like the Baptists," said Green.

Worshippers will find a familiar service in an unusual setting - inside the Farnum Plaza shopping center.

"For some people, having a different environment is a good thing," he said. "We have people who are incredibly hurt by the traditional church."

Services include contemporary praise music played on the piano, guitar and drums, lead by a worship team, Green said. A message or sermon is presented, followed by time dedicated to praying for people's needs.

What is his church's best quality?

"Our people are friendly and kind," he said. "They never met a stranger. Anyone who comes in is welcome."

Women play a big role at Praise Fellowship, from helping lead prayers to performing music during the service.

Everyone is invited to participate in social activities, including picnics, concerts, game nights and holiday outings, like the one church members recently took to Greenfield Village.

Worship services are held at 10 a.m., on Sundays at the church, which is located at 27627 John R. Road in Madison Heights. Small home fellowship groups also meet throughout the community.

To learn about special events or to read the church's newsletter visit www.praisefcc.org or call (586) 201-7884.

I guess you could call this the "Gay" part of this blog. It is in my opinion, a good bit of news for the LGBT Community. So I thought I'd pass it along. It also takes place in Michigan, a happy circumstance, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately for me, they're located near Detroit. Now if we could get one going somewhere near Lansing.

Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: Rob Zombie - Dragula
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP

Mexico wants US Assault Weapon Ban reinstated

MEXICO CITY - The Mexican village of Zazalpa got a chilling lesson in American-made firepower recently. Homes, cars, everything was destroyed. Even the cows were shot.

About 60 Mexican drug smugglers rolled into Zazalpa, 300 miles southeast of Douglas, looking for a rival trafficker in November. They rounded up residents, then raked the empty village with American-made AR-15 rifles.

The destruction of Zazalpa is just one of dozens of unrelated drug skirmishes in Mexico with a common element: American guns....

We should make them a deal, they stop the illegal aliens from their side of the border, and we'll stop the guns from our side of the border. But I doubt they'll call it a fair trade.


Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: None
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP

Harvard Study on Guns: My final word...maybe

Regarding the Harvard paper that says: States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates.

Ok, first a very kind Tim Lambert, (Thank you) sent me a copy of the Harvard paper, so I could evaluate it. However, not being college educated myself, I had to resort to my own research, based in part on theirs, in order to figure out what they were really trying to say.

In their report, they made references to several studies, books and other research. And one of the items they mention is the BRFSS Survey Results 2001 for Nationwide Firearms. According to their claims, the states with the highest rate (percentage???) of gun ownership, have the highest rates of gun (firearm) related deaths. In this respect, they are correct.

I went to the site for the BRFSS study, which is at the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. I'll grant, my "research isn't as scientific. Then again, my research wasn't funded by the Joyce Foundation either.

The states with the highest rate of gun ownership, did appear to have a slightly higher "rate" of gun death. However, typically, the physical numbers are significantly lower than those states with "lower" rates.

I ran California ,Illinois, New York, Alabama, Idaho and Wyoming through the CDC's WISQARS system. And I also got their rate of ownership numbers from the BRFSS study. In the table below, you can see my findings.



*=Death by firearm of all categories, i.e., murder, suicide, etc., etc.
**=Wyoming also has an F rating from the Brady Bunch, WAY TO GO, Wyoming!!!


You'll notice, just like the Harvard study claims, the states with the higher rates of gun ownership, have higher rates of firearms related deaths.

As our anti-gun counter parts like to point out in other examples (British and Australian crime rates since their gun bans went into effect, for instance.), percentage rates don't tell the whole truth.

In MY OPINION, I think basing this kind of research on a state level, is a mistake. It seems to me that the more sparsely populated states have a higher rate of firearms ownership. When looked at on a state wide level. It seems that county level is the best way to judge this sort of thing. However, I have to add this. I understand why they did it on a state level. The BFRSS report on gun ownership is on a state level, so I suppose they were constrained by that study with regard to their own. Still, it doesn't make their findings valid.

Then again, it's only my opinion.

And, as those of us on both sides of the gun debate are fond to quote, "there are lies, damn lies, and statistics."

Current Mood: Amused
Current Music: Wolfe Tones - Rifles of the IRA
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP