Roughly three-quarters (76%) of conservative Republicans
say that the government threatens their personal rights, and most (54%)
say the government poses a major threat, by far the highest percentage of any ideological group.
As Barack Obama begins his second term in office, trust in the
federal government remains mired near a historic low, while frustration
with government remains high. And for the first time, a majority of the
public says that the federal government threatens their personal rights
and freedoms.
The
latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People &
the Press, conducted Jan. 9-13 among 1,502 adults, finds that 53% think
that the federal government threatens their own personal rights and
freedoms while 43% disagree.
In March 2010, opinions were divided over whether the government
represented a threat to personal freedom; 47% said it did while 50%
disagreed. In surveys between 1995 and 2003, majorities rejected the
idea that the government threatened people’s rights and freedoms.
The growing view that the federal government threatens personal
rights and freedoms has been led by conservative Republicans. Currently
76% of conservative Republicans say that the federal government
threatens their personal rights and freedoms and 54% describe the
government as a “major” threat. Three years ago, 62% of conservative
Republicans said the government was a threat to their freedom; 47% said
it was a major threat.
By comparison, there has been little change in opinions among
Democrats; 38% say the government poses a threat to personal rights and
freedoms and just 16% view it as a major threat.
People who say they have guns in their households continue to be more
likely than those who do not to say that the government is a threat to
their personal rights and freedoms. About six-in-ten (62%) in gun-owning
households see the government as a threat, compared with 45% of those
without guns; this gap is no larger today than it was three years ago.
The survey finds continued widespread distrust in government. About a
quarter of Americans (26%) trust the government in Washington to do the
right thing just about always or most of the time; 73% say they can
trust the government only some of the time or volunteer that they can
never trust the government. Explore a Pew Research interactive on Public Trust in Government: 1958-2013.
Just 20% of Americans say they are basically content with the federal
government; 58% say they are frustrated while 19% say they are angry.
For the most part, these views have changed little during Obama’s
presidency. However, the percentage saying they are content with
government sank to a low of just 11% in August 2011, following
protracted negotiations between the president and congressional leaders
over raising the debt ceiling. The same survey
found that the percentage expressing anger at government had reached
26%, and just 19% said they trusted the government at least most of the
time.
Views of Congress: Problem Lies with Members, Not the System
Opinions
about Congress, while little changed over the past year, also remain
very negative. Just 23% offer a favorable opinion of Congress, while 68%
express an unfavorable view. Favorable views of Congress hit 50% in
spring 2009 but subsequently have plummeted.
For two decades between 1985 and 2005 Congress was generally viewed
more favorably than unfavorably. The low point during that period came
in the fall of 1995 – just prior to the government shutdown of that year
– when 42% offered a favorable opinion of Congress.
When asked if the current problem with Congress is a broken political
system, or the members themselves, most people continue to point to the
lawmakers. A majority (56%) says that the political system can work
fine, it is the members of Congress that are the problem.
Only about a third (32%) says that lawmakers have good intentions and it is political system that is broken. At a time when there are wide partisan differences in opinions about
government, there is broad agreement that members of Congress are the
problem. Virtually identical majorities of Republicans (58%), Democrats
(57%) and independents (56%) say that lawmakers, rather than the
political system, are the problem with Congress.
Government Viewed as ‘Threat’
Overall,
53% of Americans think that the federal government threatens their own
rights and freedoms; 31% say it is major threat, while 22% say it a
minor threat. Roughly three-quarters (76%) of conservative Republicans
say that the government threatens their personal rights, and most (54%)
say the government poses a major threat, by far the highest percentage of any ideological group. Among moderate and liberal Republicans, 57% view the federal
government as a threat to personal rights and freedoms and just 32% say
it is a major threat. These opinions, like those among Democrats and
independents, are little changed from March 2010.
Tyler Barge is an Army Veteran, served five years as an Infantryman with the National Guard, and also served a 9 Month deployment to Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan.
When asked about this flag, Tyler said, “I had the privilege of coming home and they didn’t. I try to do what I can to keep their memory alive.” Tyler further went on to say, "Being a veteran and growing up with good patriotic parents, I’ve always had a flag out."
Tyler received a notice from The Riverwalk Apartments in Salem, Virginia, "We need your help to keep our community one of the best in Salem! We
need for you to remove the following items from your patio..”
Here's a direct quote from the Riverwalk Management page: "Management Personnel Our approach to management is not about control and position,
but about the right attitude and a positive outlook. We believe if we
treat our residents like we would want to be treated, they will return
the favor- and isn’t that what anyone would want from their community?
While they have a great depth of experience, our management specializes
in building relationships with those around them. So come on in. We
can’t wait to start building with you."
Is this really the "right attitude?" Is this what our Country has come to, a place where a Combat Veteran can't put up a small American Flag to honor his fallen Brothers? If an American Flag detracts from any Community, it's sure not one I would want to be a part of!
I placed a call Tristan Byrely, the Manager of The Riverwalk Apartments, but found him unavailable. I would urge other Americans to share their feelings with him as well. You may reach the Riverwalk Apartments at: xxxxxxxxx.
After all the attention they've received, it now appears the Riverwalk Apartments has decided to "do the right thing" and allow Tyler to keep his flag! Thanks to all those who made phone calls!
New York's draconian Gun Ban has now claimed it's first VICTIM!
On February 1, 2013 at 1:15pm, I conducted a phone interview with Michael Haddad, brother of Nathan Haddad, the Veteran accused of violating New York's law which bans "large capacity ammunition feeding devices."
Nathan Haddad, a decorated combat veteran with 4 overseas deployments, including Iraq and Korea is now under Arrest! For obvious reasons, his attorney has advised him not make any statements.
Nathan Haddad served his Country for 12 years in the United States Army, before being injured during Special Forces Training. He was discharged from Fort Drum, New York in October of 2010, due to injuries sustained in training.
On January 6, 2013, at approximately 7:30pm, Haddad was traveling down Steinhilber Road in the town of LeRay, NY., when was pulled over by a Deputy from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. A search was conducted of Haddad's vehicle and 5 AR-15 magazines were found in the trunk of his car. It is unknown what, if any, probable cause was had to justify this search. Haddad is now being charged with Five counts of Third Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a Felony!
Prior to all the recent gun control legislation in New York, "pre-ban" magazines, those manufactured prior to 1994, were legal. The Sheriff's Department alleges the magazines in his possession were not "pre-ban" and that would make them illegal. Imagine someone banning spoons, now it becomes your duty to prove when you bought them, and if you can't, congratulations! You're now a Felon.
Michael Haddad reported that his brother is a true Patriot who loves his Country, but has even been forced to sell all of his firearms to pay the legal fees associated with this injustice. In addition, if convicted, Nathan Haddad will lose his Right to Keep and Bear Arms and all of the Veterans Benefits, including his disability payments - something he spent 12 years fighting for! Michael went on to say that his brother Nathan planned to donate any money left over money from his Legal Defense Fund to other Veterans facing similar persecution.
Many Freedom loving New Yorkers are refusing to register their guns and or comply with New York's unconstitutional, draconian gun laws, and are saying they will not register their semi-auto rifles or modify their magazines. Turning law abiding gun owners and American Heroes into Criminals doesn't keep this Country safe and only places fear and distrust into our most ardent defenders.
This author believes he should use a portion of those left over funds to re-purchase the firearms he had prior to this malicious prosecution as now, more than ever, we NEED more GOOD ARMED AMERICANS.
"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the Right to keep and bear arms, is as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government." -Thomas Jefferson
"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach." Adolph Hitler "Great liars are also great magicians." Adolph Hitler
As support for ObamaCare continues to wane, Team Obama is reportedly been holding "training" sessions with mainstream media groups on how to "correctly" write stories about it.
Gee! Where have we seen media being told what and how to write "news"? Et tu, Comrade?
As people find out more about this monstrosity, the fewer like it. The increase in SSN withholding across the board hit everyone, not just the "Rich", as Obama promised, blindsiding millions of low and middle income Americans. They were, of course, warned, but a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign by the Regime and the media was rolled out to poo-poo those sounding the alarm as extremist, uncaring, or just "misinformed"and "uneducated" to all of the intricacies of the wonderfulness of Obama's vision. As Nancy Pelosi arrogantly told us: "We need(ed) to pass the bill to find out what (was) in it."
As ObamaCare and even more taxes continues to be rolled out over the next few years, the sticker shock to duped Obama voters will bring on the realization of how thoroughly they have been betrayed by slick ads, and carefully choreographed rallies and conventions, extolling ObamaCare's greatness.
That Obama and his team have this type of operation shows the abject disdain Obama has for the American people. To him, the problem is not that ObamaCare is bad. It's that so many American people are too stupid to understand how good it is for them. To Obama, disagreement is not permitted. Disagreement stems from one of two things: You are too stupid to grasp his superior intellect, OR you have not been sufficiently propagandized, I mean "educated", on all of the incredible things that the Benevolent One and his Administration want to do to, I mean, "for" you.
Fortunately for Obama, he has a lapdog media that is too happy to do the propagandizing for him on a daily basis.
OBAMA OPERATIVES TRAINING MEDIA HOW TO SELL OBAMACARE
by WARNER TODD HUSTON 30 Jan 2013
The Old Media is getting a little help from team Obama on how to report about Obamacare the "correct" way.
To achieve that goal, Obama operatives are setting up propaganda symposiums for journalists and giving large cash donations to journalism associations to help spread Obama's word.
This Obamacare propaganda campaign seriously blurs the line between government and "journalism" and seems to be a blatant attempt by team Obama to write the media's Obamacare stories for them. Continue Reading
President Obama placed the struggle for Civil Rights and equality at the center of his Inauguration address. He cited examples of these struggles when quoting "Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall." These are indeed historic examples which symbolize the fight for Civil Rights and Equality.
Today, our Country and it's Citizens are in a better place because of the individual courage and perseverance of some great Americans. Great Americans like Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.
Given the enormous challenges our Country faces today, many things were markedly absent from the President's address. During a Gallop Poll taken from January 7-10, 2013, Americans overwhelmingly chose the Economy as the most important issue facing America today. Specifically, the National Debt and Unemployment. Instead, the President focused on Civil Rights.
When it comes to non-economic issues, Americans polled that they were most concerned with their Dissatisfaction with Government and issues related to Guns. Where were the calls for real cooperation in Government to address these issues? Instead, the President once again chose to focus more on Civil Rights...
I think it's time the President recognizes he's representing more than specific segments of our society and not just those who support his agendas. Until the President recognizes this fact, and stops trying to circumvent the checks and balances built into our system, then this Country will continue to be paralyzed by the polarity he alone has created. Some have given him the title of, "Divider-In-Chief."
In lieu of the Civil Rights focus, here are some statistics:
Black juveniles accounted for 51.6 percent of all juvenile arrests for violent crimes.
48.4% of all Adults arrested for Murder are Black.
Black males have the highest incarceration rate of any ethnicity with 2.1 Million currently in Jail or Prison, but make up 6% of this Country's population and comprise 38% of all males incarcerated. (as of June 30, 2011)
24.1% of black families live at or below the poverty level
29.3% of black households are single mothers with children
46.5% of black families with children under 18, headed by a single mother, live in poverty.
The abortion rate among black teenagers was FOUR times the rate for non-Hispanic whites
The unemployment rate for blacks is 13.2% compared to the U.S. average of 7.7%
Roughly 7,000 Blacks are murdered each year and 94 percent of the time
the murderer is black.
According to a study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
between 1976 and 2011 there were 279,384 black murder victims, which
means that 262,621 were murdered by other blacks, resulting in the 94
percent figure. Even though blacks make-up only 13 percent of the nation’s
population, they account for more than 50 percent of homicide victims. (Maybe this is an area where the President could focus his "gun control" problem)
Where is President Obama, Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and the myriad of other Reverends on this? I hear a lot about how everyone else needs to do something to help, but very little about what can be done to help yourself.
These problems are certainly NOT unique to the black community, but represent an overall BIGGER problem in America today - America's MORAL decline. A place where anything goes, to each their own, and it's become the land of someones elses responsibility to take care of me.
The problem starts with how we're raising children. Far too many parents aren't actively engaged and involved in their child's life. They're either too busy trying to make ends meet or simply absent, leaving single Mother's to struggle on their own. The meaning of "for better or worse" has turned into, "until I'm tired of you." When children do poorly in school, it's the teachers fault or the school needs more money. It should be about not goofing off, studying hard and parents investing the time to make it happen. Meaningful discipline and consequences have gone out the window. We now have this generation of entitled brats who believe it's in the Constitution that they have "The Right to an I-Phone." These same children struggle to hold a basic conversation, because it's not taking place in a text message. It's OK to think I-Phones are a Right, after they've EARNED the money to buy it, have their parent's over site and permission, and understand the responsibilities that go with it. Instead of being plugged in and talking about the importance of making responsible choices, our society is now offering the morning after pill. In addition, a "higher power" isn't something that is rewarded to you in a video game. I can think of one book that lays out the basics for any topic I can think of.
It's time for parents to pull their heads out of their Blackberries and realize that the behavior YOU model is far more important than anything you or anyone else can say. If you don't raise them right, rest assured the streets will! If you don't like the situation you're in, stop whining about it, look at your choices and do something to change it! This is still America. With HARD WORK and COMMITMENT you can achieve anything!
Personal responsibility ensures the continued Civil Rights of everyone in America.
The Right to help yourself
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but
the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”
―
Anne Frank
"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP) has composed a letter signed by more than 1,100 current, retired and former Green Berets in support of protecting the Second Amendment and explaining why “all Americans should be concerned” about doing so themselves.
Here is the Letter in it's entirety:
Protecting the Second Amendment – Why all Americans Should Be Concerned
We are current or former Army Reserve, National Guard, and active duty US Army Special Forces soldiers (Green Berets). We have all taken an oath to “…support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.…” The Constitution of the United States is without a doubt the single greatest document in the history of mankind, codifying the fundamental principle of governmental power and authority being derived from and granted through the consent of the governed. Our Constitution established a system of governance that preserves, protects, and holds sacrosanct the individual rights and primacy of the governed as well as providing for the explicit protection of the governed from governmental tyranny and/or oppression. We have witnessed the insidious and iniquitous effects of tyranny and oppression on people all over the world. We and our forebears have embodied and personified our organizational motto, De Oppresso Liber [To Free the Oppressed], for more than a half century as we have fought, shed blood, and died in the pursuit of freedom for the oppressed.
Like you, we are also loving and caring fathers and grandfathers. Like you, we have been stunned, horrified, and angered by the tragedies of Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Fort Hood, and Sandy Hook; and like you, we are searching for solutions to the problem of gun-related crimes in our society. Many of us are educators in our second careers and have a special interest to find a solution to this problem. However, unlike much of the current vox populi reactions to this tragedy, we offer a different perspective.
First, we need to set the record straight on a few things. The current debate is over so-called “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines. The terms “assault weapon” and “assault rifle” are often confused. According to Bruce H. Kobayashi and Joseph E. Olson, writing in the Stanford Law and Policy Review, “Prior to 1989, the term ‘assault weapon’ did not exist in the lexicon of firearms. It is a political term [underline added for emphasis], developed by anti-gun publicists to expand the category of assault rifles.”
The M4A1 carbine is a U.S. military service rifle – it is an assault rifle. The AR-15 is not an assault rifle. The “AR” in its name does not stand for “Assault Rifle” – it is the designation from the first two letters of the manufacturer’s name – ArmaLite Corporation. The AR-15 is designed so that it cosmetically looks like the M4A1 carbine assault rifle, but it is impossible to configure the AR-15 to be a fully automatic assault rifle. It is a single shot semi-automatic rifle that can fire between 45 and 60 rounds per minute depending on the skill of the operator. The M4A1 can fire up to 950 rounds per minute. In 1986, the federal government banned the import or manufacture of new fully automatic firearms for sale to civilians. Therefore, the sale of assault rifles are already banned or heavily restricted!The second part of the current debate is over “high capacity magazines” capable of holding more than 10 rounds in the magazine. As experts in military weapons of all types, it is our considered opinion that reducing magazine capacity from 30 rounds to 10 rounds will only require an additional 6 -8 seconds to change two empty 10 round magazines with full magazines. Would an increase of 6 –8 seconds make any real difference to the outcome in a mass shooting incident? In our opinion it would not. Outlawing such “high capacity magazines” would, however, outlaw a class of firearms that are “in common use”. As such this would be in contravention to the opinion expressed by the U.S. Supreme Court recent decisions.
Moreover, when the Federal Assault Weapons Ban became law in 1994, manufacturers began retooling to produce firearms and magazines that were compliant. One of those ban-compliant firearms was the Hi-Point 995, which was sold with ten-round magazines. In 1999, five years into the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, the Columbine High School massacre occurred. One of the perpetrators, Eric Harris, was armed with a Hi-Point 995. Undeterred by the ten-round capacity of his magazines, Harris simply brought more of them: thirteen magazines would be found in the massacre’s aftermath. Harris fired 96 rounds before killing himself.
Now that we have those facts straight, in our opinion, it is too easy to conclude that the problem is guns and that the solution to the problem is more and stricter gun control laws. For politicians, it is politically expedient to take that position and pass more gun control laws and then claim to constituents that they have done the right thing in the interest of protecting our children. Who can argue with that? Of course we all want to find a solution. But, is the problem really guns? Would increasing gun regulation solve the problem? Did we outlaw cars to combat drunk driving?
What can we learn from experiences with this issue elsewhere? We cite the experience in Great Britain. Despite the absence of a “gun culture”, Great Britain, with one-fifth the population of the U.S., has experienced mass shootings that are eerily similar to those we have experienced in recent years. In 1987 a lone gunman killed 18 people in Hungerford. What followed was the Firearms Act of 1988 making registration mandatory and banning semi-automatic guns and pump-action shotguns. Despite this ban, on March 13, 1996 a disturbed 43-year old former scout leader, Thomas Hamilton, murdered 16 school children aged five and six and a teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. Within a year and a half the Firearms Act was amended to ban all private ownership of hand guns. After both shootings there were amnesty periods resulting in the surrender of thousands of firearms and ammunition. Despite having the toughest gun control laws in the world, gun related crimes increased in 2003 by 35% over the previous year with firearms used in 9,974 recorded crimes in the preceding 12 months. Gun related homicides were up 32% over the same period. Overall, gun related crime had increased 65% since the Dunblane massacre and implementation of the toughest gun control laws in the developed world.
In contrast, in 2009 (5 years after the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired) total firearm related homicides in the U.S. declined by 9% from the 2005 high (Source: “FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Master File, Table 310, Murder Victims – Circumstances and Weapons Used or Cause of Death: 2000-2009”).
Are there unintended consequences to stricter gun control laws and the politically expedient path that we have started down?
In a recent op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, Brett Joshpe stated that “Gun advocates will be hard-pressed to explain why the average American citizen needs an assault weapon with a high-capacity magazine other than for recreational purposes.”We agree with Kevin D. Williamson (National Review Online, December 28, 2012): “The problem with this argument is that there is no legitimate exception to the Second Amendment right that excludes military-style weapons, because military-style weapons are precisely what the Second Amendment guarantees our right to keep and bear.”
“The purpose of the Second Amendment is to secure our ability to oppose enemies foreign and domestic, a guarantee against disorder and tyranny. Consider the words of Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story”: ‘The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons, who have duly reflected upon the subject. The militia is the natural defense of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpation of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the enormous expenses, with which they are attended, and the facile means, which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the government, or trample upon the rights of the people. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.’
The Second Amendment has been ruled to specifically extend to firearms “in common use” by the military by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v Miller (1939). In Printz v U.S. (1997) Justice Thomas wrote: “In Miller we determined that the Second Amendment did not guarantee a citizen’s right to possess a sawed-off shot gun because that weapon had not been shown to be “ordinary military equipment” that could “could contribute to the common defense”.
A citizen’s right to keep and bear arms for personal defense unconnected with service in a militia has been reaffirmed in the U.S. Supreme Court decision (District of Columbia, et al. v Heller, 2008). The Court Justice Scalia wrote in the majority opinion: “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.“. Justice Scalia went on to define a militia as “… comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense ….” “The Anti-Federalists feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved.” he explained.
On September 13, 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban went into effect. A Washington Post editorial published two days later was candid about the ban’s real purpose:“[N]o one should have any illusions about what was accomplished [by the ban]. Assault weapons play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a stepping stone to broader gun control.”
In a challenge to the authority of the Federal government to require State and Local Law Enforcement to enforce Federal Law (Printz v United States) the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in 1997. For the majority opinion Justice Scalia wrote: “…. this Court never has sanctioned explicitly a federal command to the States to promulgate and enforce laws and regulations When we were at last confronted squarely with a federal statute that unambiguously required the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program, our decision should have come as no surprise….. It is an essential attribute of the States’ retained sovereignty that they remain independent and autonomous within their proper sphere of authority.”
So why should non-gun owners, a majority of Americans, care about maintaining the 2nd Amendment right for citizens to bear arms of any kind? The answer is “The Battle of Athens, TN”. The Cantrell family
had controlled the economy and politics of McMinn County, Tennessee since the 1930s. Paul Cantrell had been Sheriff from 1936 -1940 and in 1942 was elected to the State Senate. His chief deputy, Paul Mansfield, was subsequently elected to two terms as Sheriff. In 1946 returning WWII veterans put up a popular candidate for Sheriff. On August 1 Sheriff Mansfield and 200 “deputies” stormed the post office polling place to take control of the ballot boxes wounding an objecting observer in the process. The veterans bearing military style weapons, laid siege to the Sheriff’s office demanding return of the ballot boxes for public counting of the votes as prescribed in Tennessee law. After exchange of gun fire and blowing open the locked doors, the veterans secured the ballot boxes thereby protecting the integrity of the election. And this is precisely why all Americans should be concerned about protecting all of our right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment!
Throughout history, disarming the populace has always preceded tyrants’ accession of power. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao all disarmed their citizens prior to installing their murderous regimes. At the beginning of our own nation’s revolution, one of the first moves made by the British government was an attempt to disarm our citizens. When our Founding Fathers ensured that the 2nd Amendment was made a part of our Constitution, they were not just wasting ink. They were acting to ensure our present security was never forcibly endangered by tyrants, foreign or domestic.
If there is a staggering legal precedent to protect our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms and if stricter gun control laws are not likely to reduce gun related crime, why are we having this debate? Other than making us and our elected representatives feel better because we think that we are doing something to protect our children, these actions will have no effect and will only provide us with a false sense of security.
So, what do we believe will be effective? First, it is important that we recognize that this is not a gun control problem; it is a complex sociological problem. No single course of action will solve the problem. Therefore, it is our recommendation that a series of diverse steps be undertaken, the implementation of which will require patience and diligence to realize an effect. These are as follows:
1. First and foremost we support our Second Amendment right in that “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. 2. We support State and Local School Boards in their efforts to establish security protocols in whatever manner and form that they deem necessary and adequate. One of the great strengths of our Republic is that State and Local governments can be creative in solving problems. Things that work can be shared. Our point is that no one knows what will work and there is no one single solution, so let’s allow the State and Local governments with the input of the citizens to make the decisions. Most recently the Cleburne Independent School District will become the first district in North Texas to consider allowing some teachers to carry concealed guns. We do not opine as to the appropriateness of this decision, but we do support their right to make this decision for themselves. 3. We recommend that Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) laws be passed in every State. AOT is formerly known as Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC) and allows the courts to order certain individuals with mental disorders to comply with treatment while living in the community. In each of the mass shooting incidents the perpetrator was mentally unstable. We also believe that people who have been adjudicated as incompetent should be simultaneously examined to determine whether they should be allowed the right to retain/purchase firearms.
4. We support the return of firearm safety programs to schools along the lines of the successful “Eddie the Eagle” program, which can be taught in schools by Peace Officers or other trained professionals.
5. Recent social psychology research clearly indicates that there is a direct relationship between gratuitously violent movies/video games and desensitization to real violence and increased aggressive behavior particularly in children and young adults (See Nicholas L. Carnagey, et al. 2007. “The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence” and the references therein. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43:489-496). Therefore, we strongly recommend that gratuitous violence in movies and video games be discouraged. War and war-like behavior should not be glorified. Hollywood and video game producers are exploiting something they know nothing about. General Sherman famously said “War is Hell!” Leave war to the Professionals. War is not a game and should not be “sold” as entertainment to our children. 6. We support repeal of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. This may sound counter-intuitive, but it obviously isn’t working. It is our opinion that “Gun-Free Zones” anywhere are too tempting of an environment for the mentally disturbed individual to inflict their brand of horror with little fear of interference. While governmental and non-governmental organizations, businesses, and individuals should be free to implement a Gun-Free Zone if they so choose, they should also assume Tort liability for that decision.
7. We believe that border states should take responsibility for implementation of border control laws to prevent illegal shipments of firearms and drugs. Drugs have been illegal in this country for a long, long time yet the Federal Government manages to seize only an estimated 10% of this contraband at our borders. Given this dismal performance record that is misguided and inept (“Fast and Furious”), we believe that border States will be far more competent at this mission. 8.This is our country, these are our rights. We believe that it is time that we take personal responsibility for our choices and actions rather than abdicate that responsibility to someone else under the illusion that we have done something that will make us all safer. We have a responsibility to stand by our principles and act in accordance with them. Our children are watching and they will follow the example we set.
The undersigned Quiet Professionals hereby humbly stand ever present, ever ready, and ever vigilant.
US Army Special Forces motto: "to liberate the oppressed"
The holiday season is historically the time of year that retail stores ensure that they turn a profit for the year. Specifically, "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving, is given that moniker for the reason that the red ink on their books goes into the black.
Therefore, you would expect that the fourth quarter would produce some of the largest growth in the economy due to holiday buying sprees. Nay, nay.
The latest report from the Commerce Department shows that the economy shrank 0.1% in the fourth quarter. What is the Dem response? That this is the "best-looking contraction in U.S. GDP you'll ever see." Excuse me? The spin is that this is a positive? If this were a Republican administration, they would be screaming bloody murder!
What these so-called experts fail to take into account is that both business and the consumer have little confidence in the fiscal policies of Barack Obama. People are being tighter with the money that they still have. Businesses are putting off hiring, or are failing to reinvest in their companies in the form of machinery, materials, etc. People are unsure of what is around the corner. And for good reason: millions of Americans saw a decrease in their paychecks on their first paycheck of the new year due to an increase in the Social Security tax, which Obama and the media skillfully hid to the public.
To be fair, economists are starting to predict a potential new recession due to out-of-control federal spending, of which Obama and the statists want to increase even more, and more new taxes and federal mandates on business in the pipeline due to ObamaCare.
I wonder how many more times that the media will report that experts are "shocked" at the state of the economy given the disastrous economic policies of Obama and his imperial presidency.
The dumbing down of America continues.
GDP Shows Surprise Drop for US in Fourth Quarter
Published: Wednesday, 30 Jan 2013 | 8:11 AM ET
The U.S. economy posted a stunning drop of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, defying expectations for slow growth and possibly providing incentive for more Federal Reserve stimulus.
The economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That's a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter. Continue Reading
I have never been one to believe in conspiracy theories, etc., but I am beginning to see an incredibly disturbing trend developing within this Country. I'm going point out some facts and situations which individually may mean very little, but collectively should give any Freedom loving American cause for concern. History is replete with examples of how his this very same model has
been used and abused by Governments to create oppressive, totalitarian
regimes.
I realize this is a long article, but I think you'll find it filled with information you're probably not aware of. The sum of which has the potential for GRAVE IMPACT upon the American People.
Please share this with others, Americans need to WAKE UP! Please LIKE and SHARE on FACEBOOK at bottom of page
THE PATRIOT ACT:
Originally enacted under the Bush administration in response to 9/11, on May 27, 2011, President Obama, over widespread bipartisan objections,
approved a Congressional four year extension of controversial parts of
the Patriot Act that were set to expire. In March of 2010, Obama signed a
similar extension of the Patriot Act for one year. These provisions
allow the government, with permission from a special secret court, to
seize records without the owner’s knowledge, conduct secret surveillance
of suspicious people who have no known ties to terrorist groups, and to
obtain secret roving wiretaps on people.
Wiretaps for oral, electronic or wire communications, approved by
federal and state courts, are at an all-time high. Wiretaps in year 2010
were up 34% from 2009, according to the Administrative Office of the US
Courts. There are at least 72 fusion centers across the US which collect local
domestic police information and merge it into multi-jurisdictional
intelligence centers, according to a recent report by the ACLU. These
centers share information from federal, state and local law enforcement
and some private companies to secretly spy on Americans. These all
continue to grow and flourish under the Obama administration.
In July 2010, the Washington Post released “Top Secret America,” a
series of articles detailing the results of a two year investigation
into the rapidly expanding world of homeland security, intelligence and
counter-terrorism. It found 1,271 government organizations and 1,931
private companies work on counterterrorism, homeland security and
intelligence at about 10,000 locations across the US. Every single day,
the National Security Agency intercepts and stores more than 1.7 billion
emails, phone calls and other types of communications. The FBI has a
secret database named Guardian that contains reports of suspicious
activities filed from federal, state and local law enforcement.
According to the Washington Post Guardian contained 161,948 files as of
December 2009. From that database there have been 103 full
investigations and at least five arrests the FBI reported. The Obama
administration has done nothing to cut back on the secrecy.
The Bay Area Transit System, in August 2011, hearing of rumors to
protest against fatal shootings by their police, shut down cell service
in four stations. Western companies sell email surveillance software to
repressive regimes in China, Libya and Syria to use against protestors
and human rights activists. Surveillance cameras monitor residents in
high crime areas, street corners and other governmental buildings.
Police department computers ask for and receive daily lists from utility
companies with the addresses and names of every home address in their area.
Computers in police cars scan every license plate of every car they
drive by. The Obama administration has made no serious effort to cut
back these new technologies of spying on citizens.
The Patriot Act even allows the Government to get records from your local Library, to see what books you're reading. It also allows for the WARRANTLESS search of your emails more than 150 days old, without justification or oversite. These concrete examples document a sustained assault on domestic
civil liberties in the United States under the Obama administration.
DHS Directive 110-01 specifically identifies information to be gathered from Social Media Sites on U.S. Citizens, amongst others. This includes, but is not limited to: Name, addresses, relatives, pictures, internet service provider information, account numbers, employment, education and lots more! In short, nothing is private to the DHS. DHS Data mining is also certainly not limited to Social Media sites, but from any available databases, including commerial sites specializing in it's collection.
Data-mining programs at
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are not fully reviewed by the
agency for their effectiveness and, in some cases, for their compliance
with privacy protection mandates, according to a report from the U.S.
Government Accountability Office. The DHS has not completed privacy impact assessments for two of the six data-mining programs the GAO reviewed, the report said. In addition, DHS violated
its own privacy rules by sharing information from the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Pattern Analysis and Information Collection (ICEPIC)
program with state and local law enforcement agencies, said
Representatives Brad Miller of North Carolina and Donna Edwards of
Maryland, both Democratic members of the House Science, Space and
Technology Committee.
One of the "most
disturbing findings" by the GAO was that ICEPIC rolled out its law
enforcement sharing component before it was approved by the DHS privacy
office, Miller and Edwards said in a press release. The program violates
the DHS privacy impact assessment created for the program, the GAO
report said.
The Utah Data Center is a data storage facility being built for the NSA and is designed to be a primary storage resource capable of storing data on the scale of yottabytes. It is alleged to capture "all forms of communication, including the
complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Internet
searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts,
travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital 'pocket
litter'," though its precise purpose is secret.[1] The US Senate has voted to approve the FAA Sunsets Extension Act of 2012,
which will authorize warrantless surveillance of Americans for
counter-terrorism purposes for another five years. The bill extends the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which granted retroactive immunity for wiretaps and email monitoring under the Bush Administration.[3]
STINGRAY DEVICES:
A federal court judge in Arizona next month will decide if the Department of Justice overstepped the 4thamendment
when it used a device called a “stingray” to collect evidence against
David Daniel Rigmaiden, a 30-year-old Arizona man accused of leading a
massive identity theft ring from 2005 to 2008. Stingrays look like cell
towers but are used to collect cell information (even when the phone is
not in use) from everyone within reach of the device. Law enforcement
officials say the tool is used in a targeted way to search for terror suspects. the defendant in this case says his fourth amendment rights were violated. READ HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS..
DHS EMERGENCY POWER EXTENDED, INCLUDING PRIVATE TELECOM SYSTEMS:
TheObama administration has given the Department of Homeland Security powers to prioritize government communications over privately owned telephones and internet systems in "emergencies." An executive order signed June 6 gives DHS the authority to seize control of telecommunications facilities,
including telephone, cellular and wireless networks.
When President Obama inked his name to the Assignment of National
Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions Executive
Order on July 6, he authorized the US Department of Homeland Security to
take control of the country’s wired and wireless communications —
including the Internet — in instances of emergency. The signing was
accompanied with little to no acknowledgment outside of the White House,
but initial reports on the order quickly caused the public to speak out
over what some equated to creating an Oval Office kill switch for the
Web. Now the Obama administration is addressing those complaints by
calling the Executive Order a necessary implement for America’s national
security.
FormerWhite House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden insists that “The [order] does not transfer authorities between or among departments,” but
the order does indeed allow the DHS to establish and implement control
over even the privately owned communication systems in the country,
including Internet Service Providers such as Time Warner, Verizon and
Comcast, if the administration agrees that it is warranted for
security’s sake. (everything justified by "Safety")
Immediately after last week’s signing, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said the order allowed the DHS "the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications." This is essential for any Government taking control of it's Citizens.
RETURNING WAR VETERANS LABELED AS "DOMESTIC TERRORIST THREAT."
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that she was
briefed before the release of a controversial intelligence assessment
and that she stands by the report, which lists returning veterans among
terrorist risks to the U.S.
“This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy
and civil liberties of many Americans - including war veterans,” said
Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee. The FBI has also characterized returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan as a major domestic terrorist threat. FBI documents show the bureau was working with investigators inside
the nation's uniformed services "in an effort to identify those current
or former soldiers who pose a domestic terrorism threat." The other
agencies working with the FBI are the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative
Division, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the
Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Freedom of information Act requests have revealed that the majoirty of DHS "intelligence" has been provided by none other than the "Southern Poverty Law Center."
LICENSE PLATE READERS - DESIGNED TO TRACK YOUR MOVEMENTS:
Today, tens of thousands of LPRs are being used by law enforcement agencies all over the country. The system's unchecked, and largely
unmonitored, use raises significant privacy concerns. License plates,
dates, times, and locations of all cars seen are kept in law enforcement
databases for months or even years at a time. In the worst case, the
New York State Police keeps all of its LPR data indefinitely. No
universal standard governs how long data can or should be retained.
The country's largest such company, Federal Signal Corporation (FSC), which sells LPRs under its PIPS brand name,
says it has sold 20,000 mobile systems across North America and another
15,000 fixed devices across the United States and the United Kingdom."We work with the 25 largest cities in the United States, over 100
cities in the US. Tim O'Leary, a company vice
president, in an interview with Ars said, "We think the market is growing at
8 to 10 percent, adjusted growth rate, annually."
Various agencies, in particular the Department of Homeland Security, the
Drug Enforcement Agency, and Customs and Border Protection have issued Millions of dollars in Federal Grants to local law enforcement to buy the hardware.
RECENT MILITARY "TRAINING" ACTIVITIES IN MANY U.S. CITIES:
HOUSTON: Following reports of a military exercise occurring in Miami this week, KTRK-TV
shot video of military-style helicopters roaming the skies in Houston,
Texas. There have also been several reports of gunfire in the area. The U.S. Army tells KTRK-TV that they
are overseeing a “multi-agency training drill” at the old Carnegie High
School on Houston’s south side. There were reportedly armed men in
fatigues, a lot of firearms and what many believed were real live
rounds. The Army did not give any additional details regarding what the training is all about or why it is being conducted in Houston.
MINNEAPOLIS:
Just as Chicagoans saw Black Hawk helicopters with “heavily armed men”
hanging out of them in April this year and were told it was part of a
routine training exercise, so too are the residents of Minneapolis being
alerted to an upcoming urban training.
WCCO (via CBS Local) stated Monday that residents are not to be alarmed
if they see a similar scene of low-flying military helicopters. It
reported the U.S. Special Operations Command would be conducting
exercises from now through the beginning of September.
What scenarios could the military be trying to make as real as possible?Glenn Beck has some ideas and it makes sense. Either a massive change in military
training has taken place OR the government is preparing for “something
big,” such as a civil breakdown.
MIAMI: Police sent out a warning [last] Monday that multiple police agencies would be providing support for a joint military training exercise somewhere over Miami and elsewhere in the county. The exercise will include the use of military helicopters. But those who don’t read the papers
were terrified at the sight of soldiers rappelling onto rooftops, as
what sounded like machine gun fire echoed off the high-rises. Josh Epperson, an artist who was visiting Miami during the drill, said
“I heard the machine gun fire and then I hit the deck…I didn’t know
what to expect, and it was one of the loudest things I’d ever heard.” One local resident, Frances Jerrals,
didn’t understand what was happening when she saw military helicopters
flying over her southeast Houston neighborhood.
“When you see this, you think the worst. When you hear this, you think the worst,” Jerrals told KTRK-TV. “I felt like I was in a war zone…It was nonstop. I was terrified,” she added.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND OTHER AGENCIES ORDER HUGE QUANTITIES OF AMMUNITION: These various agencies have ordered more than
1.6 BILLION rounds of ammunition!
when you add up all the contracts. This ammunition is designated for use here in the continental United States! The question begs, is the Government stockpiling ammunition to be used against the American People? Furthermore, future purchases are now be hidden from the American People by new Government policies. Why?
__________________________________________________________________________________ DHS PURCHASES 2700 ARMORED VEHICLES FOR USE IN THE UNITED STATES:
The Department of Homeland Security (through the U.S. Army Forces
Command) recently retrofitted 2,717 of these ‘Mine Resistant Protected’
vehicles for service on the streets of the United States.
DHS ORDERS ORDERED $2 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF "NO MORE HESITATION TARGETS" These targets depicted
pregnant women, children, and elderly gun owners in residential settings
as “non-traditional threats,”
R.I.O.T. SOFTWARE, DEVELOPED FOR DHS, TRACKS SOCIAL MEDIA USERS:
In this video obtained by the Guardian, Raytheon's 'principal
investigator' Brian Urch explains how the Rapid Information Overlay
Technology (Riot) software uses photographs on social networks. These
images sometimes contain latitude and longitude details – automatically
embedded by smartphones within so-called 'exif header data'. Riot pulls
out this information, analyzing not only the photographs posted by
individuals, but also the location where these images were taken.
HOMELAND SECURITY GIVEN GREEN LIGHT TO MONITOR AMERICAN JOURNALISTS - JANUARY 9, 2012:
Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative
that emerged from the Department of Homeland Security in November,
Washington has written permission to collect
and retain personal information from journalists, news anchors,
reporters or anyone who uses “traditional and/or social media in real
time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”
Genia products specializes in the development of lasers, capable of conducting laser scans from 164 feet. Lasers are capable are even capable of detecting gun powder.Imagine a suitable vehicle equipped in front of your home conducting such a scan.Are you over the "GovernmentLimit" of storing ammunition?
That could cause you to be classified as a "Beligerent" under the NDAA and permit your indefinite detention, without the writ of Habeus Corpus.Some of their information has been removed from their site, but here is >GENIA PRODUCTS< ______________________________________________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY REPORTING:
It has been reported that Department of Homeland Security has issued memo's to suppliers of MRE's to Report any "large purchases" made by individuals. Certain books, which are deliberately NOT being named here, also flag individuals to the Department of Homeland Security.
_________________________________________________________________________________ DR JAMES GARROW ALLEGES PRESIDENT OBAMA ASKING TOP GENERALS IF THEY'LL FIRE ON U.S. CITIZIENS, IF ORDERED TO DO SO:
It has also been reported that members of the 28th Infantry Division, the Pennsylvania National Guard, have also been asked if they would obey orders to forcibly confiscate guns from law abiding citizens.
__________________________________________________________________________________
This new National ID would utilize a computer chip and biometric features that would permit Radio Frequency ID signals (RFID) to monitor the movements of American Citizens along roadways, bridges, tunnels, office buildings and even any doorway with a sensor. Not to mention the ability to store every detail of your personal, private information, including your medical records and anything else deemed "important."
THE 2ND AMENDMENT -THAT WHICH UNDERPINS ALL OTHER FREEDOMS AND LIBERTIES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION: We now have the greatest, sustained assault on the Second Amendment that this Country has ever seen.....Including continued threats from various Government entities of additional, potentially unconstitutional, Executive Action and by some, even proposals confiscation.
Unconstitutional Official Acts
16 Am Jur 2d, Sec 177 late 2d, Sec 256:
"The general misconception is that any statute passed
by legislators bearing the appearance of law constitutes
the law of the land. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme
law of the land, and any statute, to be valid, must be in
agreement. It is impossible for both the Constitution and
a law violating it to be valid; one must prevail. This is
succinctly stated as follows:
The General rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though
having the form and name of law is in reality no law, but is
wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since
unconstitutionality dates from the time of it's enactment and
not merely from the date of the decision so branding it. An
unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative
as if it had never been passed. Such a statute leaves the
question that it purports to settle just as it would be had the
statute not been enacted.
Since an unconstitutional law is void, the general principles
follow that it imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no
office, bestows no power or authority on anyone, affords no
protection, and justifies no acts performed under it.....
A void act cannot be legally consistent with a valid one. An
unconstitutional law cannot operate to supersede any existing
valid law. Indeed, insofar as a statute runs counter to the
fundamental law of the land it is superseded thereby. No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts
are bound to enforce it."
Americans need to WAKE UP and understand the almost daily, incremental
loss of their Liberties. History is replete with examples of how his
this very same model has been used and abused by Governments to create
oppressive, totalitarian regimes.
Anyone who is NOT concernedsimply doesn't understand historyand is therefore doomed to repeat it.
PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ALL YOU KNOW - AMERICANS NEED TO WAKE UP! Please LIKE and SHARE on FACEBOOK at bottom of page
