- EverVigilant.net - "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." - John Philpot Curran
Written in an age in which minutemen rose to dress and fight at a moment's notice, the Second Amendment was no doubt motivated by a young nation's concern for its own safety and stability. But now, when the United States is protected by the most powerful security forces on the globe, the Second Amendment is neither relevant nor useful. Rather, it has become an impediment to vital public policy, and it should be repealed and replaced with nuanced federal legislation.
First of all, the Second Amendment reflects the belief of the founders that "we, the people," have the right to defend ourselves -- not just from foreign invaders, but from our own government. So, as long as cops and soldiers have guns, we should have them.
Secondly, "the most powerful security forces on the globe" were unable to protect the United States on September 11, 2001. And those who attacked us used box cutters, not guns. I would submit that those attacks succeeded precisely because the passengers and pilots aboard those planes were denied their Second Amendment rights.
But this editorial did get something right, and I must give credit where credit is due.
While the views expressed are misguided, and what passes for logic is dubious at best, the staff at the Crimson at least recognize the fact that the Second Amendment is the law of the land. That's something politicians haven't figured out yet.
The unfortunately named Yankee Magazine is holding the "first-in-the-nation primary for the presidential candidates' best cookies." Cast your vote here.
Naturally, I liked Ron Paul's choice:
Carol Paul's (Mrs. Ron Paul) Apricot-Coconut Balls
You don't have to bake these and they look so pretty on a Christmas cookie tray -- so good!
8 ounces dried apricots (chop in food processor)
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup condensed milk
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Mix dried apricots with coconut. Add condensed milk and chopped pecans. Roll in small balls and then in confectioners sugar and refrigerate.
It's interesting to note that Paul's selection reflects his recipe for politics: straightforward, simplistic, and not a lot of fluff. Coincidence? I think not!
"United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts" (31 U.S.C. § 5103).
The Liberty Dollar is not legal tender and its creators have never claimed that it was. Black's Law Dictionary defines legal tender as "the money (bills and coins) approved in a country for the payment of debts, the purchase of goods, and other exchanges for value." What that means is you cannot pay your taxes with Liberty Dollars and no one is required to accept Liberty Dollars as a payment of debt.
However, there is nothing in the U.S. Code or the Constitution that prohibits citizens from bartering. For example, if I offer you a toaster in exchange for a coffee maker, and you agree, the government cannot prevent the transaction from taking place.
In essence, that is how the Liberty Dollar works. If I offer you 20 Liberty Dollars (i.e., $20 worth of precious metal) in exchange for the same coffee maker, and you agree, the government cannot (or at least should not) interfere. We are simply making what each of us believes is a fair trade.
The federal raid on the Liberty Dollar headquarters in Evansville, Indiana, is an assault on liberty. First of all, it is the latest example of how the government cracks down on perceived competition. Secondly, it shows just how fragile the U.S. fiat currency really is. The last thing the private bankers in charge of the nation's money supply want is for people to realize that the "legal tender" they are supposed to be using is completely worthless. Finally, if the U.S. dollar is undermined, there will no longer be an endless stream of it to finance the welfare-warfare state.
So, you can see why the feds are taking this "threat" seriously.
Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers -- and a voice calling her Mummy.
But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.
Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet. ...
... At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to "protect the planet".
Incredibly, instead of mourning the loss of a family that never was, her boyfriend (now husband) presented her with a congratulations card.
While some might think it strange to celebrate the reversal of nature and denial of motherhood, Toni relishes her decision with an almost religious zeal.
What I find interesting is that people like this have no problem sacrificing their children to "save the planet," but they never seem to think of sacrificing themselves or their sex lives. They aren't environmental heroes; they're sick, twisted, selfish individuals who are practicing child sacrifice in an effort to appease their pagan god.
A fight breaks out. Someone calls the police. A cop swoops in to "protect and serve." A young man is Tasered. He dies. Just another day in Police State, U.S.A.
It seems the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are just as effective in dealing with mentally and/or emotionally disturbed individuals at airports as U.S. officers. Just take a look at this video of some of Canada's finest Tasering to death an unarmed Polish immigrant who couldn't speak English. (More on that story here.)
I'm guessing that whoever said, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," didn't have in mind the kind of fascist tactics employed by agents of the state under the guise of "protecting and serving" their fellow citizens.
It's bad enough that parents and children are subjected to tyrannical compulsory education laws. Now, parents in a Washington, D.C., suburb are facing fines and jail time for failing to immunize their children so that they can attend school. From the Washington Post:
The parents of more than 2,300 Prince George's County students who failed to get needed vaccinations could face fines of $50 a day and up to 10 days in jail if their children do not meet the state's immunization requirements, county officials said yesterday.
The threat of legal action is a last resort after months in which Prince George's has struggled to get its 131,000 students immunized for chicken pox and hepatitis B, as mandated by the state. More than 2,300 students have not been immunized and have been barred from attending schools, almost two months after a Sept. 20 deadline for meeting the requirement.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it's got to get done," Prince George's State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said at a news conference in Upper Marlboro. "I'm willing to move forward with legal action."
But what's even more disturbing is that it isn't the health of children that these bloated bureaucrats are worried about. They simply don't want any child to slip through the cracks and somehow escape being assimilated into the collective:
Schools officials said they were sorry the crisis had gone this far, but that it needed to be solved immediately.
"This has really, really been a difficult time for us," said Betty Despenza-Green, the school system's chief of student services. "It hurts us when any child is out of school because he needs to be immunized, and so we felt we needed to be creative. We need those students immunized. We need them in schools."
This is exactly the kind of draconian measures we can expect when you give up your rights to a group of arrogant fools who think they know better than you how to raise your kids. What more evidence do we need that these government indoctrination centers, along with their brutal intimidation techniques, are tools of the police state?
Laurence Vance's essay prompted one Vietnam veteran to respond: "I am not proud of travelling 10,000 miles from my home at the age of 19 to help kill people I didn't know and with whom I had no argument for a cause I didn't understand."
Laurence M. Vance gets right to the point in his latest essay:
We have too many veterans. We have too many living veterans. We have too many dead veterans. We have too many wounded veterans. We have too many disabled veterans. We have too many veterans who have fought in wars. We have too many veterans who have never fired a shot. Any way you look at it, we have too many veterans. ...
... Why do most Americans hold veterans and current members of the U.S. military in such high esteem? Why is there such a military mindset in the United States?
One reason people feel this way is because they falsely believe that those who serve in the military are somehow defending our freedoms. They are convinced that it is the military that stands between a free society and subjugation by some foreign power. They think that it is because of the military that we still have our First Amendment rights. It is inevitable that whenever I write about the military I receive an e-mail or two from a current or former member of the military who closes his rebuke (which usually argues that I have the freedom to write the "trash" that I write because of the U.S. military) with this simplistic cliché: "If you can read this e-mail, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English, thank a Marine." Has anyone ever thought this through? Are we are supposed to believe that the German army that couldn’t cross the English Channel to invade Great Britain and make its population speak German was going to cross the Atlantic Ocean to invade the United States and make us all speak German if it wasn’t for the Marines? Or was it Japanese that the Marines kept us from speaking? Or perhaps it was Spanish because of the tremendous threat we faced from Spain during the Spanish-American War? Were we in danger of having to speak Russian during the Cold War? Looking at the history of U.S. military interventions, there is one thing we can thank the Marines for: We can thank the Marines for helping to carry out an evil, interventionist U.S. foreign policy. Thanks a lot, jarheads. Semper Fi and all that jazz. Our freedoms, our liberties, and our Constitution that all Marines swear to uphold are under attack by our government. The state is a greater enemy than any foreign country or ruler. If the Marines are to really defend our freedoms, then they should be deployed to Washington D.C. After they oversee the closure of most federal agencies and expel the bureaucrats from the city, they can protect the Constitution (with fixed bayonets) from its daily assault by the members of Congress. In that case I would even say with you: "The few, the proud, the Marines."
On 21 April 1787, the Continental Congress of the United States authorized a design for an official penny, later referred to as the Fugio cent because of its image of the sun shining down on a sundial with the caption, "Fugio" (Latin: I flee). The image and the word combine to mean "Time Flees". This coin was reportedly designed by Benjamin Franklin, and as a reminder to its holders, he put at its bottom the message, "Mind Your Business". This design had also been used on the "Continental dollar" (issued as coins of unknown real denomination, and in paper notes of different fractional denominations) in February of 1776.
Some historians believe that the word "business" was intended literally here, as Franklin was an influential and successful businessman. However, considering the full saying of "mind your own business," which would not have fit on the coin, it can just as easily be interpreted as a statement of privacy.
The reverse side of both the 1776 coins and paper notes, and the 1787 coins, bore the third motto "We Are One" (in English).
Following the reform of the central government with the 1789 ratification of the 1787 Constitution, gold and silver coins bore the motto "E pluribus unum" from the Great Seal of the United States.
In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union (North) introduced a two-cent coin with the motto "In God We Trust". In 1956, Congress declared "In God We Trust" the official national motto and mandated its appearance on all U.S. currency, but more recently there have been calls to restore the original mottoes.
I'm reminded of another motto: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The apathetic establishment elite have tried to shrug off Ron Paul's success by saying that he appeals to crackpots. "Sure, he's popular, but only on the internet."
Naturally, their story changed as his popularity began to spill over into the mainstream media. "There is no question that his crackpot supporters are spamming online polls. That's how pathetic and desperate they are."
But then came Paul's November 5 donation surge: over $4 million. That's the most money raised in 24 hours by any Republican candidate during this campaign. Until now, Mitt Romney held that record by raising around $3 million on January 8 of this year. After such a stunning performance, even the major news outlets could no longer ignore Ron Paul.
So, what theory will be floated next? I think we will start hearing that Paul is being supported secretly be rich Democrats who see this as an opportunity to sabotage the Republicans' chances next November. I also think the reich-wingers will fall all over themselves trying to prove it, while virtually ignoring the fact that Hillary Clinton has already received money from foreign special interests.
Atheists have this strange notion that once they have destroyed all belief in the supernatural and have convinced everyone to embrace "rational thought" (their twisted version of proselytizing), the world will be a better place. Sorry, but no.
What exactly do you get when the atheistic worldview is carried out to its logical conclusion? Chaos. Death. Destruction. The citizens of Jokela, Finland, found that out earlier today:
Finnish police said five male pupils, two females and the middle-aged female principal were shot dead when an 18-year-old pupil the building at around midday with a .22 calibre handgun and started shooting randomly.
The suspected gunman, Pekka-Erik Auvinen, had no prior criminal record, but he did have other problems:
Auvinen, described as holding "extreme Darwinian" views, is also thought to be responsible for another video recently posted on You Tube called "Just testing my gun" where an individual dressed in black shoots a pistol at a piece of fruit in a snowy forest.
"I'm a natural selector and will eliminate all those I see as unfit," Sturmgeist89 wrote on You Tube recently.
That's Darwinism in a nutshell.
Anyone adheres to an atheistic worldview lacks the necessary foundation to make moral judgments. Oh, the atheist will try to say that his worldview allows for things like good and bad, right and wrong, but such notions are meaningless in a philosophy that wishes man to remain unaccountable to a Creator. Doing what's "right" boils down to doing what feels good "right now."
Brian Godawa, a Christian screenwriter and director, carried out the atheist philosophy to its logical conclusion in his short film Cruel Logic. You may find it a little disturbing, but I think it depicts perfectly the kind of world the atheists are trying to force on the rest of us -- whether they realize it or not:
60 Minutes has identified the man whose fabricated story of Iraqi biological weapons drove the U.S. argument for invading Iraq. It has also obtained video of "Curve Ball," as he was known in intelligence circles, and discovered he was not only a liar, but also a thief and a poor student instead of the chemical engineering whiz he claimed to be.
60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon's two-year investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Curve Ball is an Iraqi defector named Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who arrived at a German refugee center in 1999. To bolster his asylum case and increase his importance, he told officials he was a star chemical engineer who had been in charge of a facility at Djerf al Nadaf that was making mobile biological weapons.
