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

(link)
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

Gun Facts, Part Six

Myth: Every firearm leaves a unique "fingerprint" that
can pinpoint the firearm used

Fact: "Firearms that generate markings on cartridge casings can change with use and can also be readily altered by the users. They are not permanently defined like fingerprints or DNA."²³

Fact: "Automated computer matching systems do not provide conclusive results.”²⁴

Fact: “Because bullets are severely damaged on impact, they can only be examined manually”.²⁵

Fact: “Not all firearms generate markings on cartridge casings that can be identified back to the firearm.”²⁶

Fact: The same gun will produce different markings on bullets and casings, and different guns can produce similar markings.²⁷

Fact: The rifle used in the Martin Luther King assassination was test fired 18 times under court supervision, and the results showed that no two bullets were marked alike.²⁸ “Every test bullet was different because it was going over plating created by the previous bullet.”

²³ “Feasibility of a Ballistics Imaging Database for All New Handgun Sales”, Frederic Tulleners, California Department of Justice, Bureau of Forensic Services, October, 2001 (henceforth “FBID”)
²⁴ Ibid
²⁵ Ibid
²⁶ Ibid
²⁷ “Handbook of Firearms & Ballistics: Examining and Interpreting Forensic Evidence”, Heard, 1997
²⁸ “Ballistics 'fingerprinting' not foolproof”, Baltimore Sun, October 15, 2002

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

Just a little comment from me

Regarding my previous post about the Harvard Study:

Since I seem to have drawn the attention of Mr. Tim Lambert, for picking on a "scientific" study that he apparently favors, as soon as I get paid (this coming Friday) I will purchase and read the article in question, and then I shall render a more informed, though obviously, less scholarly review.

After all, I'm not college educated.


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

More Junk Science from Harvard

link

States With Higher Levels of Gun Ownership Have Higher Homicide Rates

For immediate release: Thursday, January 11, 2007
Boston, MA -- Firearms are used to kill two out of every three homicide victims in America.. In the first nationally representative study to examine the relationship between survey measures of household firearm ownership and state level rates of homicide, researchers at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found that homicide rates among children, and among women and men of all ages, are higher in states where more households have guns. The study appears in the February 2007 issue of Social Science and Medicine. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.09.024

Matthew Miller, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Injury Prevention at Harvard School of Public Health, and his colleagues David Hemenway and Deborah Azrael, used survey data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest telephone survey with over 200,000 respondents nationwide. Respondents in all 50 states were asked whether any firearms were kept in or around their home. The survey found that approximately one in three American households reported firearm ownership.
Matthew Miller, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Injury Prevention at Harvard School of Public Health, and his colleagues David Hemenway and Deborah Azrael, used survey data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest telephone survey with over 200,000 respondents nationwide. Respondents in all 50 states were asked whether any firearms were kept in or around their home. The survey found that approximately one in three American households reported firearm ownership.

Analyses that controlled for several measures of resource deprivation, urbanization, aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, and alcohol consumption found that states with higher rates of household firearm ownership had significantly higher homicide victimization rates for children, and for women and men. In these analyses, states within the highest quartile of firearm prevalence had firearm homicide rates 114% higher than states within the lowest quartile of firearm prevalence. Overall homicide rates were 60% higher. The association between firearm prevalence and homicide was driven by gun-related homicide rates; non-gun-related homicide rates were not significantly associated with rates of firearm ownership.

These results suggest that it is easier for potential homicide perpetrators to obtain a gun in states where guns are more prevalent. “Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes,” said Miller.

This study was supported by the Joyce Foundation.

All I can say is...BULLSHIT!   To get the type of statistics THEY want to see, they divide the states into "quartiles." WHY? Because if they did it on an individual state level, or, as Prof. John Lott did, by county, they wouldn't get the "desired" results. Their desired results? They want to prove that more guns equal more crime, not less, as Dr. Lott has shown.

I also recommend you check out the Alphecca blog on this subject. I think Mr. Soyer says it more eloquently than I can. But then, I'm not college educated either.


Current Mood: Pissed Off
Current Music: None
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP

Two Denver Nuggets players seeking permit to carry concealed

2 Nugs seek permits
Hodge, Evans filed paperwork to carry guns 2 months ago

By Cbs 4 News Reporter Brian Maass, Special to the News
January 13, 2007
A Denver Nuggets player who was shot nine months ago and traded this week was one of two Nuggets in the process of trying to obtain concealed handgun permits.

But apparently their desire to legally carry guns was not a response to the death of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams.

Guard Julius Hodge, who was traded Thursday to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a multiplayer deal, and Nuggets forward Reggie Evans, began the process of trying to get permits about two months ago, well before the shooting death of the Broncos cornerback.

Asked about his application for a concealed weapons permit, Hodge said, "Who said that?"

Hodge did not deny applying for the permit but refused to answer questions about why he wanted to carry a gun. (For the rest of the story, click on article title.)

Ok, SO WHAT? What is the big effing deal? Two law-abiding citizens want to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. WHO'S business is it, other than the issuing authority? Yet, this reporter, Brian Mass, is trying to make it seem like a big deal.

Colorado needs to alter their law on CCW permits to make that info confidential, like it is here in Michigan.

And Mr. Maass needs to go find a REAL story to report on, not the private business of two law-abiding citizens.

Current Mood: Awake (at 4:00AM!!!)
Current Music: None
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP

Denied right to bear arms

Denied right to bear arms
From staff reports
Article Last Updated: 01/10/2007 11:32:15 PM PST

A few months ago, I made a life-changing decision.

After years of being a gun owner and an N.R.A. member, I decided to apply for a Carry Concealed Weapon (CCW) permit. The permit allows an individual to carry a concealed firearm on his or her person or inside of a vehicle. The reason for the permit is to provide law-abiding persons the ability to protect themselves and their loved ones in the event that a situation demands it. No one can be sure when such a situation will arise, a breakdown on a deserted highway or a car-jacking in a dimly lit parking lot, but regardless of the environment, crimes do take place and one should be ready for any possibility.

Being a resident of Lake County for 7 years and residing in a rural area such as Cobb Mountain with the local authorities at least 30 minutes away, I thought taking such an action to be appropriate. I had heard that Lake County Sheriff Rodney Mitchell believed that law-abiding individuals have a right to carry firearms and should be able to protect themselves if necessary, so I decided to file an application.

After completing the required two-day training session and an interview by a staff member of the Sheriff's Department, I was told that I would receive word on their decision in a few weeks or so. After a couple of months I received a disappointing letter from the Sheriff's Department stating that my application had been denied because "I was not a U.S. citizen".

I promptly wrote a letter of appeal stating that I was a Canadian citizen living here in the U.S. as a Permanent Legal Resident for 24 years now and I supplied them with the documentation to prove my claim. However, my application was still denied.

Now I know that the State of California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country and acquiring a CCW permit here can be quite a task, but according to the representative that I spoke with at the California Department.of Justice in Sacramento, Legal Permanent Residents are treated no differently from citizens when it comes to firearm ownership and are issued CCW permits on a regular basis. In fact in most counties, in most of the states in the country, CCW permits are issued on a regular basis to Legal Permanent Residents.

After further research, I discovered that even though Lake County approves many more CCW applications than other counties such as Sonoma or Napa, they seem to have a reputation for denying ordinary individuals permits on the basis of not "being a longtime resident", or not being "a prominent member of the community". It seems to be part of a "good old boy mentality" that still exists in various communities in California where friends, relatives or neighbors are granted permits by the local agencies while the common everyday person is considered an outsider and is denied their rights. (Unfortunately in California the final decision is left up to the issuing agency and an application can be denied for any reason that they deem fit).

I see this whole experience not as a negative one but as an awakening to become more politically active in the drive to allow people "the right to bear arms". Individuals who apply for CCW permits are aware of the civil and criminal responsibility that goes along with using lethal force to protect one's life and take this responsibility very seriously. Criminals, however, are not inclined to apply for permits [thereby] subjecting themselves to fingerprints and background checks but they will carry weapons illegally and will commit crimes with them.

I encourage anyone who is a firearm owner or a person who is concerned about constitutional rights to challenge elected officials and representatives and perhaps one day California will become a "right to carry" state.

David W. Adams

Unfortunately, this is what can happen when you live in a Socialist state, such as California. EVEN when the person is charge is said to believe in the "Right to Bear Arms." It just goes to show, bigotry is STILL alive and well in the Lake County California Sheriff's office.

If Mr. Adams lived here in Michigan, he could not be turned down for a Concealed Pistol License, just because he's from Canada. As long as he's a legal resident, without any felony convictions, and no other disqualifying problems, the authorities here would HAVE to issue him a permit.

What a difference a few thousand miles and 3 time zones can make.

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

General Wants Gay Ban Lifted

In an op-ed published in Tuesday's New York Times, John M. Shalikashvili, retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Congress should give "serious reconsideration" to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. Shalikashvili, who supported the ban on open service in 1993, writes that "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," and goes on to say that "Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."

"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is out of step with both the American public and those within our armed forces," said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). "The counsel of military leaders increasingly supports repeal of the law. Congress must, as General Shalikashvili urges, consider the overwhelming evidence of the past fourteen years. If they do, the clear answer is that we must lift the ban."

Read the rest of the story here.


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

70 Million More Guns…38% Less Violent Crime

Data released by the FBI on Monday showed that in 2005, the nation’s total violent crime rate was 38% lower than in 1991, when violent crime hit an all-time high. Rates of the individual categories of violent crime were also much lower in 2005 than in 1991. Murder was 43% lower, rape 25% lower, robbery 48% lower, and aggravated assault 33% lower. The FBI’s report came on the heels of a Bureau of Justice Statistics crime survey that found that violent crime was lower in 2005 than anytime in the survey’s 32-year history.

Defying the anti-gunners’ claim that more guns means more crime, from 1991-2005 the number of privately owned guns increased by more than 70 million....(To read the rest, click on the title of this article, it will take you to the NRA's full article on this very important info)

Yup, that's right, 70,000,000 more guns equals 38% less crime. Sounds incredible doesn't it? I mean, the anti-Freedom crowd is always telling us "there are too many guns on the street." Problem is, they REFUSE to distinguish between legally owned guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens, and guns in the hands of criminals.

Oh, and guess where the highest murder rate is? Yup, the murder capitol of the USA, is the Capitol of the USA, Washington, D.C. A city with some of, if not the toughest anti-gun laws in our country, and yet, murder and mayhem continue unabated in this city.

Don't you think it's time something that has proven to be effective, should be tried in our nation's capitol, to stem the tide of crime? Yes, I referring to Right To Carry. I think it's past time when the handgun ban should be lifted, and concealed pistol licenses should be given out as in any other shall issue state. They've tried outlawing guns, and it doesn't work. The statistics PROVE that, beyond a shadow of a doubt. How about we go with something proven by FBI statistics to work, legal, concealed carry.

It's an idea who's time has come, and is still waiting to be implemented.

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

Concealed gun era under way in Kansas

Concealed gun era under way in Kansas
State is the 47th to have a conceal-carry law. Applicants must undergo training.
By LAURA BAUER and BENITA Y. WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star

Today, Kansas will begin issuing permits to the nearly 3,000 Kansans eligible to carry concealed weapons in the state.

On Monday, Kansas became the 47th state to adopt a conceal-carry law, with permits available on the first business day of the new year. Because of the day of mourning Tuesday for former President Gerald Ford, the first wave of successful applicants had to wait until today to pick up their permits at Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license offices.

Just after Christmas, the Kansas attorney general’s office mailed approval notices to 2,981 residents who had requested a permit by Oct. 31.

Others, who completed applications later, must wait a few weeks before they are notified.

More than 4,800 Kansans have applied to carry concealed guns, state officials say, and most have been approved.

“We’ve been working hard to get the notifications out,” said Chuck Sexson, director of conceal-carry services. “It’ll be pretty busy in our shop for the next few weeks.”

The office still must release a guide for law enforcement agencies on the procedures that licensees must follow.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Phill Kline approved a sign for establishments to post if they don’t want concealed weapons on the premises. Concealed weapons will not be allowed in libraries, courtrooms, government buildings, schools, bars, sporting events, places of worship and buildings that post the approved sign.

The application period began in July, and law enforcement officials across the state are beginning to see an upswing in applications.

“I imagine at least for another year we’ll still get a high level of traffic,” said Deputy Tom Erickson of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department.

Initial predictions had 20,000 to 48,000 Kansans seeking permits in the first four years.

Before they can get a permit, Kansans must pass a background check and take a training course.

The training prepares people to know when a shooting would be justified.

“It’s not like you just sign up and here’s your permit,” said Ed Daniels, a certified firearms instructor from Olathe who has provided training for conceal-carry permits.

In the eight-hour course, students learn everything from breaking down a gun and cleaning the parts to firing the weapon properly and knowing where the guns are allowed. Students spend time on the firing range.

“A lot of the people who take the class have backgrounds in shooting as hobbyists,” Daniels said.
Getting a permit

To carry a concealed weapon in Kansas, you must:

•Be a Kansas resident older than 21, without a criminal history or record of multiple DUIs, drug arrests or domestic violence. Those involuntarily committed for mental illness or substance abuse are disqualified for five years.

•Take a certified conceal-carry training course.

•Submit an application to the local sheriff’s department along with a training certificate, a color photo and a $150 fee. You will be fingerprinted.

•Pass the application review by the attorney general’s office and the background check by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

•Take your driver’s license and the approval notice you receive from the state to a Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles driver’s license office. An examiner will check the information and take your picture. You can have your conceal-carry status noted on your driver’s license or request a separate card.

Your conceal-carry permit will arrive in the mail within 10 days and is good for four years.

Current Mood: Awake
Current Music: No Music, watching NYPD: Blue
Current Gun: EAA Witness .45ACP