Congressional Reform Act of 2009

This needs to grow legs and move across America

Representative Ron Paul might introduce such a bill in the house. Senator Tom Coburn might introduce it in the senate.   The proposal is to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2009."  It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.   I know many of you will say, "this is impossible." Remember, Congress has  the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when  Americans will join together to reform Congress - the entity that represents  us.   If all else fails, something like this needs to be added to the ballot for the next election. After what's been going on for the past few years,  I'm certain the American public will vote for these changes *********************************** Congressional Reform Act of 2009 1. Term  Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below. A. Two  Six-year Senate terms B. Six Two-year House terms C. One Six-year Senate  term and three Two-Year House terms Serving in  Congress is an honor, not a career.  The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve  your term(s), then go home and back to work. 2.  No Tenure / No Pension:  A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.   Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.  The  Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then  go home and back to work. 3.  Congress (past, present & future)  participates in Social  Security:   All funds in the Congressional retirement  fund moves to the Social Security  system immediately.  All future funds flow into the Social  Security system, Congress participates with the American people.  Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work. 4.  Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all  Americans..... Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen  legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work. 5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.  Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. Serving in Congress is an  honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen  legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work. 6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as  the American people. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work. 7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding  Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to  work. 8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/10.    PLEASE REMEMBER: The American people did not give all these perks to congressmen; congressmen gave all these sweetheart deals to themselves. We need to take back the Congress.  They all seem to have  forgotten: Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

FBI Reports Huge Decrease in Murders as Firearms, Ammunition Sales Increase

Last week, the FBI issued its preliminary 2009 crime report, showing that the number of murders in the first half of 2009 decreased 10 percent compared to the first half of 2008. If the trend holds for the remainder of 2009, it will be the single greatest one-year decrease in the number of murders since at least 1960, the earliest year for which national data are available through the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Also, the per capita murder rate for 2009 will be 51 percent lower than the all-time high recorded in 1991, and it will be the lowest rate since 1963 - a 46-year low. Final figures for 2009 will be released by the FBI next year.

According to gun control supporter dogma - "more guns means more crime" - the number of privately owned firearms must have decreased 10 percent in 2009. To the contrary, however, the number rose between 1.5 and 2 percent, to an all-time high. For the better part of the last 15 months, firearms, ammunition, and "large" ammunition magazines have been sold in what appear to be record quantities. And, the firearms that were most commonly purchased in 2009 are those that gun control supporters most want to be banned - AR-15s, similar semi-automatic rifles, and handguns designed for defense. The National Shooting Sports Foundation already estimates record ammunition sales in 2009, dominated by .223 Remington, 7.62x39mm, 9mm and other calibers widely favored for defensive purposes.

Also indicative of the upward trend in firearm sales, the number of national instant check transactionsrose 24.5 percent in the first six months of 2009 compared to the first six months in 2008, the greatest increase since NICS' inception in 1998. Through the end of October, NICS transactions rose18 percent, compared to the same period in 2008.

More Guns Means More Crime? Hardly. In 2009, more guns meant less crime, in a very, very big way.

U.S. Placed under International Police-State

December 26, 3:49 PM  Columbia Conservative Examiner by: Anthony G. Martin

In the dead of night on December 17, 2009, President Barack Hussein Obama placed the United States of America under the authority of the international police organization known as INTERPOL, granting the organization full immunity to operate within the United States.
According to Threatswatch:

Last Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order "Amending Executive Order 12425." It grants INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) a new level of full diplomatic immunity afforded to foreign embassies and select other "International Organizations" as set forth in the United States International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945.
By removing language from President Reagan's 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body now operates - now operates - on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

What, exactly does this mean?  It means that INTERPOL now has the full authority to conduct investigations and other law enforcement activities on U.S. soil, with full immunity from U.S. laws such as the Freedom of Information Act and with complete independence from oversight from the FBI.
In short, a global law enforcement entity now has full law-enforcement authority in the U.S. without any check on its power afforded by U.S. law and U.S. law enforcement agencies.
A bit of background is in order here, and Hot Air provides it:

During his presidency, Ronald Reagan granted the global police agency Interpol the status of diplomatic personnel in order to engage more constructively on international law enforcement.  In Executive Order 12425, Reagan made two exceptions to that status.  The first had to do with taxation, but the second was to make sure that Interpol had the same accountability for its actions as American law enforcement — namely, they had to produce records when demanded by courts and could not have immunity for their actions.
Barack Obama unexpectedly revoked those exceptions in a change to EO 12425 last (week)...

Thus, Interpol now can conduct its operations on U.S. soil with ZERO accountability to anyone in this country.
And you beginning to understand now just what the 'end game' is on the part of those who are currently running the U.S. Government?
Let's go a step further in fleshing out exactly what this means in practical terms.  It gets ugly...and scary.  Again, from ThreatsWatch:

Section 2c of the United States International Organizations Immunities Act is the crucial piece.

Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable. (Emphasis added.)

Inviolable archives means INTERPOL records are beyond US citizens' Freedom of Information Act requests and from American legal or investigative discovery ("unless such immunity be expressly waived.")
Property and assets being immune from search and confiscation means precisely that. Wherever they may be in the United States. This could conceivably include human assets - Americans arrested on our soil by INTERPOL officers.

Why would INTERPOL be arresting American citizens on our own soil, without oversight from our own law enforcement agencies?  And remember, citizens who are thusly arrested would have no legal authority to demand full documentation from the International Police concerning the charges brought against them.
Andy McCarthy at National Review asks these crucial, sobering questions of the secretive Obama order:

Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?

At least one answer to these questions is very clear.  A coup is underway in the United States of America, the goal of which is to establish complete, unquestioned authority over the citizens--a 'fundamental change' to the United States where citizens have no legal recourse against an authoritarian central government.

AARP's Fall from Grace

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

-In case you missed this in the past,  AARP is in Obama's pocket with large contributions to him, and loves Obamacare because it will cause a huge increase in AARP sales of medigap insurance.  They still pretend to represent people over 50, but all they want to do is sell insurance products.  If you are against the Obamacare abomination, you should not belong to AARP.  Join the conservative American Seniors Association.

     I  find this very interesting reading, so let's keep it going if you agree.  It only takes a few days on the Internet and this will have reached 75% of the public in the U.S.A.  Seniors need to stand up for what is right, not what the politicians want or big Corporations want. 

The disillusionment on the Internet is becoming increasingly repetitive - the country's backbone is waking up.  Will they listen?  Or do we have to embrace the radicals she mentions?

This was sent to Mr. Rand who is the Executive Director of AARP.

THIS LADY NOT ONLY HAS A GRASP OF 'THE SITUATION' BUT AN INCREDIBLE COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!

Dear Mr. Rand,   

Recently you sent us a letter encouraging us to renew our lapsed membership in AARP by the requested date. I know it is not what you were looking for, but this is the most honest response I can give you. Our gap in coverage is merely a microscopic symptom of the real problem, a deepening lack of faith. 

While we have proudly maintained our membership for several years and have long admired the AARP goals and principles, regrettably, we can no longer endorse it's abdication of our values. Your letter specifically stated that we can count on AARP to speak up for our rights, yet the voice we hear is not ours. Your offer of being kept up to date on important issues through DIVIDED WE FAIL presents neither an impartial view nor the one we have come to embrace. We do believe that when two parties agree all the time on everything presented to them, one is probably not necessary. But, when the opinions and long term goals are diametrically opposed, the divorce is imminent. This is the philosophy which spawned our 200 years of government.      

Once upon a time, we looked forward to being part of the senior demographic. We also looked to AARP to provide certain benefits and give our voice a power we could not possibly hope to achieve on our own. AARP gave us a sense of belonging which we no longer enjoy. The Socialist politics practiced by the Obama administration and empowered by AARP serves only to raise the blood pressure my medical insurance strives to contain.. Clearly a conflict of interest there! 

We do not understand the AARP posture, feel greatly betrayed by the guiding forces that we expected to map out our senior years and leave your ranks with a great sense of regret. We mitigate that disappointment with the relief of knowing that we are not contributing to the problem anymore by renewing our membership. There are numerous other organizations which offer discounts without threatening our way of life or offending our sensibilities.      

This Presidential Administration scares the living daylights out of us. Not just for ourselves, but for our proud and bloodstained heritage. But even more importantly for our children and grandchildren. Washington has rendered Soylent Green a prophetic cautionary tale rather than a nonfiction scare tactic. I have never in my life endorsed any militant or radical groups, yet now I find myself listening to them. I don't have to agree with them to appreciate the fear which birthed their existence. Their borderline insanity presents little more than a balance to the voice of the Socialist mindset in power. Perhaps I became American by a great stroke of luck in some cosmic uterine lottery, but in my adulthood I CHOOSE to embrace it and nurture the freedoms it represents as well as the responsibilities it requires.     

Your website generously offers us the opportunity to receive all communication in Spanish. ARE YOU KIDDING??? Someone has broken into our 'house', invaded our home without our invitation or consent. The President has insisted we keep the perpetrator in comfort and learn the perp language so we can communicate our reluctant welcome to them. 

I DON'T choose to welcome them.

I DON'T choose to support them.    

I DON'T choose to educate them.    

I DON'T choose to medicate them, pay for their food or clothing. 

American home invaders get arrested.    

Please explain to me why foreign lawbreakers can enjoy privileges on American soil that Americans do not get?    

Why do some immigrants have to play the game to be welcomed and others only have to break & enter to be welcomed? 

We travel for a living. Walt hauls horses all over this great country, averaging over 10,000 miles a month when he is out there. He meets more people than a politician on caffeine overdose. Of all the many good folks he enjoyed on this last 10,000 miles, this trip yielded only ONE supporter of the current administration. One of us is out of touch with mainstream America. Since our poll is conducted without funding, I have more faith in it than one which is power driven.      

We have decided to forward this to everyone on our mailing list, and will encourage them to do the same. With several hundred in my address book, I have every faith that the eventual exponential factor will make a credible statement to you.     

I am disappointed as hell.  I am scared as hell. 

I am MAD as hell, and I'm NOT gonna take it anymore! 

Walt & Cyndy 
Miller Farms Equine Transport 

What Health Care Reform Really Means

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Health Care “Reform” predictions

Robert A. Hall
http://www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com/

Permission to forward or post on other blogs granted.

Now that it looks like President Obama will get to sign something labeled “Health Care Reform,” what does that means for the United States? Here are my predictions for what happens after the bill goes into effect.

The budget deficit will go up, not down as they claim, because there will not be the political will to cut Medicare. This will hasten the coming economic insolvency in the United States, with the resulting economic and political chaos.

More states will find themselves in California’s position, facing default, as Medicaid bills are pushed through the roof. There will be widespread anger that the Democrats exempted some states from the pain, in order to buy votes for passage.

As the taxes kick in, and the details leak out, the Democrats will take a beating in the 2010 elections. But HCR will stay in place, as it’s harder to repeal something when you have to over ride the President’s veto, even if Republicans won control of Congress. And entitlement programs build their own political constituency of recipients and bureaucrats, making repeal difficult. Plus Republicans are unlikely to win control as Democrats buy people’s votes with their own money through earmarks and delayed spending of the economic “stimulus” funds to impact the elections. Stimulus funds will continue to be spent in Democrat districts to keep them Democrat. Because of this, there will be a large increase in tax avoidance and cheating, as people increasingly lose faith in the fairness of the system.

The Lawsuit Industry, already one of the largest in the country, will explode. Trial Lawyers will get a huge payoff on the many millions they have spent to put Obama and Democrats in power. This will continue to drive up the cost of health care through doctors’ liability premiums, the needless expense of defensive medicine, and the astronomical costs of bringing new drugs and medical devices to market.

The quality of healthcare will decline. As profits disappear into taxes, lawsuits, and restrictions on charges, far fewer new drugs and medical devices will be developed, because they will become money losers. Thousands will die prematurely because of this, not knowing it was Barack Obama and the Democrats who killed them. Many of them will be trial lawyers and Democrat voters, so there will be some rough justice.

There will be an acute doctor shortage, like Canada has now. Declining incomes for doctors mean that the best and brightest will go into business (or, God forbid, into law!) or other fields, rather than medicine. Already, some specialties, like hip and knee surgeons, are finding many fellowships going unfilled due to declining reimbursement rates, even though the need for these services is exploding. Before Government-run healthcare, Canada had a very high ratio of doctors to patients. Now it has a very low ratio. There will be attempts to fill the gap by importing lesser-trained doctors from the third world, as Britain has had to do under government health care. This will results in worse care in both the United States and the third world, which Democrats pretend to care about. The addition of the uninsured and of “undocumented” parasites to the system, without any way to add more doctors or facilities, will make access to care much more difficult for everyone.

When you adjust for car accidents ad homicide (about which HCR does nothing), Americans currently live longer than any people in the world. The lack of innovation, declining number of doctors and inefficiencies in a government system will decrease life expectancy in the US. Our kids won’t live as long as we will. Cancer death rates will go to the levels they are in Britain under government-run healthcare.

All diseases will be political. Coverage will depend on lobbying groups. Already, expansion of services and mandates drive up the cost of insurance, which is why you can’t buy a policy in NY from a company in AL where it’s cheaper due to fewer mandates. We currently have a lot of political diseases, like AIDS, the putative effects of Agent Orange (see:http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2009/12/agent-orange.html) and breast cancer. Currently we spend six times as much on research per breast cancer death as we do on research per lung cancer death. Are people who die of breast cancer six times more valuable than those who die of lung cancer (including about 40% who don’t smoke but get it anyway?). Don’t believe me? When have you seen a “run for the cure” for pulmonary fibrosis, which kills as many people each year as lung cancer, but is little known? How about a lapel ribbon for prostrate cancer? Oh, that kills men, never mind. How about a postage stamp to raise funds for colon cancer research? The politicization of all diseases is perhaps the worse part of the whole mess, because governments make choices based on politics, not consumer needs. If the lobby for lung disease is stronger than the lobby heart disease, lung disease will get better coverage. Will we deny expensive life saving drugs to elderly cancer patients, as they do in Britain, because the cost isn’t worth the few good years they might have left to live?

And as things get bad, the statists’ answer will be more government planning, more government control, more government programs, and more government taxes to pay for it all—and more unionized Democrat-voting bureaucrats to run it all.

Europe is on the way to economic collapse . They have aging populations, a birth-rate below replacement levels, a huge social welfare systems that depends on a growing population of young workers to support the old folks, huge immigration of “guess workers” from Muslim countries, who are not assimilating to democracy, freedom and the culture and who bring large numbers of non-working parasites with them to make the system even more unsustainable. Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have put the US on the same path.

Buy ammo and canned food for your retirement plan. It’s going to get ugly.

Robert A. Hall of Des Plaines, IL is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate.

Freshman Alabama Congressman Switches Parties to Join GOP

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, announced Tuesday that he's switching parties to become a Republican.

"I have become increasingly concerned that the bills and policies pushed by the current Democratic leadership are not good for north Alabama or our nation,"  Griffith said during a press conference Tuesday.

"I am announcing today that I'm joining the Republican conference immediately," he said.  "Our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt."

Griffith, a retired oncologist and businessman, succeeded former Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer, who retired earlier this year, in a hard-fought contest for the northern Alabama seat.

Republicans thought that district would be hard for Democrats to hold without Cramer on the ballot, but Griffith defeated Republican Wayne Parker by 4 points -- 52-48 percent -- even though Republican presidential nominee John McCain won every county in the district.

Read More Here

I expect to see more of this happening as the party in the majority keeps up with the back room private meetings and twisting arms and bribery to get votes. 

Sign of the Times!

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Welcome sign at a homeless camp at Colorado Springs, CO. The sign speaks for itself!

NSSF Awards $109,500 in Grants to Colleges to Promote Recreational Shooting

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

NSSF Awards $109,500 in Grants to
Colleges to Promote Recreational Shooting

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- With an increasing number of college students taking up target shooting at competitive and club levels, the National Shooting Sports Foundation is providing $109,500 in support to ensure that even more young men and women have the opportunity to give shooting a try.

NSSF is awarding the grants through its new Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative, which was launched earlier this year to raise awareness about shotgun, rifle and handgun shooting at the college level and to provide assistance for the development of shooting clubs and varsity teams.

"NSSF is making these grants available in response to a growing interest in the shooting sports on campuses across the country," said Zach Snow, NSSF's senior shooting promotions coordinator. "Graduates of scholastic shooting programs like the NSSF-developed Scholastic Clay Target Program want to continue participating in their favorite sport when they go off to college, and once there they're eager to introduce new friends, classmates and faculty to this lifetime activity. At the same time, collegiate shooting programs help create a positive image for the shooting sports and firearms ownership."

Grants were issued to 16 colleges and universities, from prominent Harvard to smaller schools like Fort Hays State University in Kansas, with awards ranging from $4,000 to $7,500 per school. Some colleges will use their grants as seed funding to launch new shooting clubs and teams; other schools will use their funds to expand existing programs and publicize them on campus by developing Web sites and hosting "fun shoots."

Colleges requested grants through an application process with NSSF, which evaluated the proposals and made the awards.

The grant recipients are as follows:

Bethel University, McKenzie, TN -- $7,500
Program: Implement a new shooting team and promote safety and responsibility in the shooting sports (participation requirements include passing the hunter safety course); and promote the sport to the public.

Clemson University, Clemson, S.C. -- $7,500
Program: Expand the university's shotgun club; add a shotgun sports Web page to the school's club sports directory; establish one competitive squad to represent the club at larger competitions; increase club participation to 50 members; and compete at the ACUI Nationals.

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO -- $7,500
Project: Expand the shooting club, hosting trial shooting to introduce students and faculty to shotgun sports; add a competitive team; host a tournament; and develop a Web site to raise awareness about the club.

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO -- $7,500
Project: Have the Shotgun Sports Project educate students and faculty about firearms safety and the shooting sports; promote intercollegiate competitions; and promote Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative to other colleges and assist them with getting a club started.

Fort Hays University, Hays, KS -- $,7,500
Program: Establish an ambassador squad to promote the shooting team and engage other students wanting to try shooting; host an intercollegiate event inviting all college shooting teams from the Midwest region; and provide positive exposure for the shooting sports on campus.

Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA -- $7,500
Program: Increase shooting opportunities for the target shooting club, which provides future attorneys, legislators and public servants with an understanding of firearms and the shooting sports; field intercollegiate team; and assist with coordinating the New England Collegiate Shotgun Championships.

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA -- $7,500 
Program: Revive the Harvard Shooting Club, founded in 1883, and which has been dormant since 2003; raise awareness of the shooting sports within Harvard community and general public; and host firearms education events on campus.

Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI -- $7,500 
Program: Develop a marksmanship club that will endorse shooting as a legitimate sport; introduce college students and area residents to shooting; provide competitive opportunities to stimulate interest and improve skills; and host youth hunter safety courses.

Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL -- $7,500
Program: Develop a new shooting program and participate in intercollegiate competition; promote gun safety on campus; and develop a sporting clays, skeet and trap club Web site.

Northeastern University, Boston, MA -- $7,500
Program: Develop a new shooting program with goal of 25 to 50 active shooters; conduct safety classes for new and current shooters; train shooters in all shotgun sports activities; and compete in the New England Collegiate Shotgun Championships and ACUI Nationals.

Salem State College, Salem, MA -- $7,500 
Program: Develop a new shooting program; participate in league shooting with other college teams; and compete in New England Collegiate Shotgun Championships and ACUI Nationals.

Schreiner University, Kerrville, TX -- $7,500
Program: Strengthen the Schreiner Sport Shooting Society by hosting an introductory day for students and faculty interested in learning more about the shooting sports; survey participants to gain feedback; and compete in the ACUI National Clay Target Championship and at the NSSA World Skeet Championship.

Southeastern Illinois College, Harrisburg, IL -- $7,500 
Program: Recruit new shooters to the varsity shotgun team (many team members are enrolled in Game Preserve/Shooting Complex Management); provide scholarship assistance for new team members; and compete in ACUI Nationals.

Trinity University, San Antonio, TX -- $4,000
Program: Host an educational clinic and fun shoots to introduce students and faculty members to the shooting sports and recruit new members to the club. Trinity plans to compete at the ACUI National Clay Target Championship with twice the number of shooters that attended last year.

University of Arkansas -- Fort Smith -- $4,000
Project: Expand the air rifle team; increase participation at both intercollegiate and intramural levels; create a club Web site to promote the club; and retain competitors by providing top-notch equipment to compete at NCAA level.

University of Vermont, Burlington, VT -- $4,000 
Program: Expand shooting sports club with clinics and shooting "fests"; and compete in intercollegiate tournaments.

Participation in college shotgun sports has grown remarkably in recent years. Between 2006 and 2009, the annual ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target Championships has seen a 40 percent increase in participation, with 37 schools and 337 clay target shooters competing in last spring's championship. Much of the increase can be directly attributed to high school students graduating from programs like the NSSF-developed Scholastic Clay Target Program and 4-H, and then continuing to compete in college.

For more information about NSSF's Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative visit www.nssf.org/college or contact Zach Snow at zsnow@nssf.org.

About NSSF

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT
Vol. 16, No. 50      12/18/09

Appropriations Wrap-Up:
Rider Passed Protecting Military Firearms, Ammunition, and Components 

Our efforts on the huge spending bill were rewarded with the restoration of a longstanding rider to protect M-1 carbines, M-1 Garands, M-14s, .22 caliber rifles, and others from being destroyed.With the holiday season upon us, and the end of the year fast approaching, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3326 -- the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010.  With the passage of this bill, NRA-ILA wraps up its appropriations work for the year.

This language also includes a prohibition on the destruction of small arms ammunition and components, and a response to the short-lived concern over destruction of spent brass casings earlier this year.

Amtrak Update:  As we reported in last week's Grassroots Alert, on December 10, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an NRA-backed amendment, introduced by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), to allow Amtrak travelers to transport firearms in checked baggage where checked baggage service is available.  The Wicker amendment was included along with several government agencies' appropriations bills in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010.

Hunting Threatened In Mojave National Preserve:  The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in concert with the Sierra Club and other anti-hunting organizations, has filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission to ban most hunting in the Mojave National Preserve, including rabbit and varmint hunting.  What hunting remains (resident game birds, deer, and bighorn sheep) would be restricted.  The "Petition for Rulemaking Regarding Hunting in the Mojave National Preserve" blames hunters for the declining population of the desert tortoise, a threatened species under the state's Endangered Species Act.  CBD filed a similar petition in 2003, but the Commission did not act on it.  The Commission will likely consider the CBD's petition next week and could schedule a hearing on it early next year.
The NRA Online Advisory Panel:  A few weeks ago, we launched a brand new service -- the NRA Online Advisory Panel --  a community of our most active and loyal supporters.
Help Defend Your Gun Rights One Click At A Time:  We have a revolutionary yet simple tool that will allow you to stay connected to NRA-ILA and raise valuable contributions to defend our Second Amendment rights without spending a dime!  It's the NRA-ILA Toolbar, and you can make a difference by downloading and using it. 

STATE ROUNDUP  (Please note the only items listed below are those that have had recent action.  For other updates on state legislation, please go to the state legislation section at www.NRAILA.org, and check each week's issue of the Grassroots Alert.") 
CALIFORNIA:  Hunting Threatened on Mojave National Preserve  The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in concert with the Sierra Club and other anti-hunting organizations, has filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission to ban most hunting in the Mojave National Preserve, including rabbit and varmint hunting.  What hunting remains (resident game birds, deer, and bighorn sheep) would be restricted.  The "Petition for Rulemaking Regarding Hunting in the Mojave National Preserve" blames hunters for the declining population of the desert tortoise, a threatened species under the state's Endangered Species Act.  CBD filed a similar petition in 2003, but the commission did not act on it.  The commission will likely consider the CBD's petition next week and could schedule a hearing on it early next year.
The petition contains the flimsiest of evidence that hunting in the preserve is the cause or even a contributing factor of the decline in the tortoise population.  In fact, statistics confirm that vehicular traffic and increased tourism within the designated critical habitat of the tortoise have increased substantially since 1994 when the preserve was established.  Those activities are believed to be the leading causes of tortoise mortality.  Further, there is sufficient research to suggest that predation by ravens and coyotes are also taking its toll on this protected species.  The objective of the petition is not to protect and enhance the tortoise population.  Rather, it is an attempt by this coalition of anti-hunting organizations to permanently end hunting in the Mojave National Preserve.  CBD was also behind the ban on the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game within the range of the California condor, and earlier this year, CBD attempted unsuccessfully to extend that ban to all game species.
Please take a few minutes to contact the commission and ask that they deny the petition. Please address and mail comments to:
John Carlson, Jr., Executive Director
California Fish and Game Commission
1416 Ninth Street, Room 1320
Sacramento, CA 95814
fgc@fgc.ca.gov
Hunters are continually being harassed with restrictions on hunting and access to hunting areas for reasons not based on science.  Please do not let CBD impose their pseudo-science on those who hunt in the Mojave National Preserve!
COLORADO:  Support Needed to Re-Open Rampart Shooting Range!  Following an accidental shooting last July, the Forest Service closed the very popular and heavily used Rampart Shooting Range on the Pike National Forest.  In its nearly 20 year history, Rampart had never before experienced a shooting-related injury or fatality.   Rampart is the only free public range in El Paso County and receives 40,000 visitors a year.  The Service called the closure a "time-out" in order to assess whether the design of the range was a factor.  An investigation determined that the range was not a factor in the accident.  Safety experts have said that the accident could have happened at any range.  But after it closed Rampart, the Forest Service devised a scheme to keep the range closed permanently.
The Forest Service has listed requirements that must be met before it will reopen Rampart.  There is no timetable for meeting these requirements and likely no money to cover costs.  The most significant issue is the requirement of full time supervision.  Most ranges on federal lands operate without supervision and this requirement could place all such ranges in jeopardy.  Rampart Range is in need of improvements which were identified more than two years ago.  Such improvements can be addressed and implemented with the range reopened.  The Forest Service has said that it could take up to five years before Rampart is reopened, but there is no guarantee that it would reopen Rampart in that timeframe or at any time in the future.
NRA has been working to get Rampart Range reopened since the day it was closed, but we need the help of Colorado hunters and shooters to show the Forest Service and your elected officials that the federal government cannot continue to close public lands to recreational shooting, and certainly not without replacing those areas lost with other areas of the same or great value.  Rampart Shooting Range is an important resource for the shooting community along the Front Range.  There is no incentive for the Forest Service to reopen Rampart unless the shooting sports community demands it!
Shooting ranges on public lands are few and far between in Colorado.  In addition to the closure of Rampart, the Forest Service has closed its lands to recreational shooting near Boulder and on the Pawnee Grasslands, and large acreage closures have occurred west of Sedalia.  The Forest Service is not planning for recreational shooting.  Closures are imposed without opening new areas and needed improvements to existing areas, including the Rampart Shooting Range, have not been made.  Recreational shooting is not being treated by the Forest Service in Colorado as a legitimate and valued recreational activity on forest lands.

Please send an e-mail in support of the immediate reopening of Rampart to:
Tom Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, at ttidwell@fs.fed.us, and copy your letter to:
Senator Mark Udall at senator_mark_udall@markudall.senate.gov,
Senator Michael Bennet at http://bennet.senate.gov/contact/,
Congressman Doug Lamborn at CO05ima@mail.house.gov, and
Governor Bill Ritter by clicking here.
Please stress that keeping the range closed is not supportable by the investigative report; that the closure has robbed the shooting community of a valuable resource; and that needed improvements to the range can be planned and implemented without closure.

INDIANA:  Indianapolis Star Jumps on the Concealed Carry Permit Database Bandwagon!  This week, the Indianapolis Star revealed its own gun database in an attempt to capitalize on the same misguided policy as the Bloomington Herald-Times.  The Star's database is modified from a street-based catalogue of the number of permit holders in a defined area, to a demographic listing of Indiana ZIP codes, including the percentage of the population that are permit holders, as well as the their gender, race and age. However, such differences do not hide the paper's intent.  The searchable database of law-abiding carry permit holders is included in the "Public Safety" section of the paper's website. The paper seems to believe that it's a matter of "public safety" for people to know how many lawful permit holders live near them.  Apparently the Star thinks that law-abiding concealed carry permit holders are to be regarded with caution.  It remains NRA's firm belief that media outlets abuse their First Amendment rights when they harass and demonize lawful citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights.  Please contact the paper and express your disapproval of the Star's treatment of law-abiding gun owners.  For contact information and more information on this issue, please click here.

PENNSYLVANIA:  "Lost or Stolen" Ordinance Passed in Borough of West Mifflin  On Tuesday, December 15, by a vote of 6-1, the Borough Council of West Mifflin passed an ordinance that will require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within a 72-hour period or face fines and possible imprisonment.  Councilman Richard Olasz was the sole dissenting vote.  This law not only violates Pennsylvania's state preemption laws, but also turns law-abiding gun owners -- who have already been victimized by theft -- into criminals.  Please contact the members of the Borough Council of West Mifflin TODAY and respectfully voice your opposition to the passage of this unwarranted, unjust and illegal ordinance.  Contact information can be found here.

VIRGINIA:  King William County Board of Supervisors Discuss Shooting Ordinance  During its committee meeting on Monday, December 14, the King William County Board of Supervisors tabled discussion of a proposed ordinance that would ban the discharge of a firearm within 100 yards of a home or business.  The Board plans further review of the issue and may possibly draft an ordinance at the January 2010 meeting. It is important that you contact your Board member today and request that they oppose any proposal.  Such a proposal is unnecessary and detrimental to the rights of gun owners, sportsmen and land owners.  To identify your Supervisor and to find their contact information, please click here.

NRA will be closing at noon on Thursday, December 24, and will
remain closed on Friday, December 25.  Additionally, NRA will be closing at
noon on Thursday, December 31, and will remain closed on Friday, January 1. 

Because of this abbreviated schedule, we will not transmit the Grassroots Alert next week. We will transmit our annual "Year In Review" wrap-up Alert on Wednesday, December 30. 

We will re-open on Monday, January 4, at 8:30 a.m., EST. 

Please have a safe and happy Holiday season!

Electric Fence

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

For any of you that has lived out in the country, you will know what an electric fence is and probably have experienced how they operate at one point in time just as I have before. This is a fictitious article of what an electric fence can do to you.
~~~~~~~~~~
We have the standard 6 ft. fence in the backyard, and a few months ago, I heard about burglaries increasing dramatically in the entire city. To make sure this never happened to me, I got an electric fence and ran a single wire along the top of the fence.

Actually, I got the biggest cattle charger Tractor Supply had, made for 26 miles of fence. I then used an 8 ft. long ground rod, and drove it 7.5 feet into the ground. The ground rod is the key, with the more you have in the ground, the better the fence works. One day I'm mowing the back yard with my cheapo Wal-Mart 6 hp big wheel push mower. The hot wire is broken and laying out in the yard. I knew for a fact that I unplugged the charger. I pushed the mower around the wire and reached down to grab it, to throw it out of the way.

It seems as though I hadn't remembered to unplug it after all.

Now I'm standing there, I've got the running lawnmower in my right hand and the 1.7 giga-volt fence wire in the other hand. Keep in mind the charger is about the size of a marine battery and has a picture of an upside down cow on fire on the cover.

Time stood still.

The first thing I notice is my pecker trying to climb up the front side of my body. My ears curled downwards and I could feel the lawnmower ignition firing in the backside of my brain. Every time that Briggs & Stratton rolled over, I could feel the spark in my head. I was literally at one with the engine.

It seems as though the fence charger and the piece of shit lawnmower were fighting over who would control my electrical impulses.

Science says you cannot crap, pee, and vomit at the same time. I beg to differ. Not only did I do all three at once, but my bowels emptied 3 different times in less than half of a second. It was a Matrix kind of bowel movement, where time is creeping along and you're all leaned back and BAM BAM BAM you just crap your pants 3 times. It seemed like there were minutes in between but in reality it was so close together it was like exhaust pulses from a big block Chevy turning 8 grand.

At this point I'm about 30 minutes (maybe 2 seconds) into holding onto the fence wire. My hand is wrapped around the wire palm down so I can't let go. I grew up on a farm so I know all about electric fences.....but Dad always had those pieces of shit chargers made by International or whoever that were like 9 volts and just kinda tickled.

This one I could not let go of. The 8 foot long ground rod is now accepting signals from me through the permadamp Ark-La-Tex river bottom soil. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to just man up and take it, until the lawnmower runs out of gas.

'Damn!,' I think, as I remember I just filled the tank!

Now the lawnmower is starting to run rough. It has settled into a loping run pattern as if it had some kind of big lawnmower race cam in it. Covered in poop, pee, and with my vomit on my chest I think 'Oh God please die... Pleeeeaze die'. But nooooo, it settles into the rough lumpy cam idle nicely and remains there, like a big bore roller cam EFI motor waiting for the go command from its owner's right foot.

So here I am in the middle of July, 104 degrees, 80% humidity, standing in my own backyard, begging God to kill me. God did not take me that day.....he left me there covered in my own fluids to writhe in the misery my own stupidity had created..

I honestly don't know how I got loose from the wire...I woke up laying on the ground hours later. The lawnmower was beside me, out of gas. It was later on in the day and I was sunburned.

There were two large dead grass spots where I had been standing, and then another long skinny dead spot where the wire had laid while I was on the ground still holding on to it. I assume I finally had a seizure and in the resulting thrashing had somehow let go of the wire.

Upon waking from my electrically induced sleep I realized a few things:

1- Three of my teeth seem to have melted.

2- I now have cramps in the bottoms of my feet and my right butt cheek (not the left, just the right).

3- Poop, pee, and vomit when all mixed together, do not smell as bad as you might think.

4- My left eye will not open.

5- My right eye will not close.

6- The lawnmower runs like a sumbitch now. Seriously! I think our little session cleared out some carbon fouling or something, because it was better than new after that.

7- My nuts are still smaller than average yet they are almost a foot long.

8- I can turn on the TV in the game room by farting while thinking of the number 4 (still don't understand this???)

That day changed my life. I now have a new found respect for things. I appreciate the little things more, and now I always triple check to make sure the fence is unplugged before I mow.

The good news, is that if a burglar does try to come over the fence, I can clearly visualize what my security system will do to him, and THAT gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over, which also reminds me to triple check before I mow.

Bend Over, Here It Comes!

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Make-or-break for fate of health care on Saturday





Dec 19, 7:50 AM (ET)
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats appear within reach of the 60 votes necessary to pass President Barack Obama's health care legislation after a long year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining with holdout Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Emerging from marathon talks with Majority Leader Harry Reid and White House officials late Friday night, Nelson said "real progress" had been made toward his call for greater restrictions on abortion within the legislation.

Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to go public a final package of changes in the long-debated legislation on Saturday "and is confident that it will prevail," his spokesman, Jim Manley, said in a late-night statement.

Reid made no comment to reporters, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., another participant in the talks, sounded pleased. "I've been in Harry Reid's office for 13 hours and I'm glad to get out of there," he said. "But I'm particularly glad with what has happened in that office."

With Nelson's vote, Obama's Senate allies would have the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster by Republicans.

That gave Nelson enormous leverage as he pressed for concessions that included stronger restrictions on abortions to be covered by insurance policies offered in a newly overhauled health care system. Officials said he was also seeking to ease the impact of a proposed insurance industry tax on nonprofit companies, as well as win more federal funds to cover Nebraska's cost of treating patients in Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for the poor. These officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said the administration and Democratic leaders had offered concessions on those points.

The Nebraska Democrat has already rejected one proposed offer on abortions as insufficient, and the presence in the talks of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., indicated additional changes were on the table.

Boxer has a strong record in favor of abortion rights. She told reporters as she left the Capitol at the end of the evening there had been progress made on the issue of separating personal funds, which may be used to pay for abortions, from federal funds, which may not.

The issue is contentious because the legislation provides federal subsidies to help lower and middle-income families afford insurance and the other federal health care programs ban the use of government money to pay for abortions.

Obama devoted his weekend radio and Internet address to the issue he campaigned on in 2008.

"Now - for the first time - there is a clear majority in the Senate that's willing to stand up to the insurance lobby and embrace lasting health insurance reforms that have eluded us for generations," Obama said. "Let's bring this long and vigorous debate to an end."

"As this difficult year comes to a close, let's show the American people that we are equal to the task of meeting our great challenges," he said.

In the Republican response, Sen. John McCain warned that rushing through legislation now would do more harm than good.

"The best thing government could do to ensure more Americans have access to health care insurance is to institute reforms that would rein in costs and make health care more affordable," said McCain, R-Ariz. "Regrettably, there's nothing in this legislation that effectively addresses the problem."

In an article she wrote in Saturday's Washington Post, Vicki Kennedy, the widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said that while the Senate bill is imperfect, it would achieve many of the goals her husband fought for over four decades.

"I humbly ask his colleagues to finish the work of his life, the work of generations, to allow the vote to go forward and to pass health care reform now. As Ted always said, when it's finally done, the people will wonder what took so long," she said.

The legislation would expand coverage to 30 million people now uninsured and try to curb rising health care costs. Insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage to people with health problems, or charging them more. All Americans would be required to have health insurance, or eventually face fines. The nearly $1 trillion, 10-year cost would be paid for mainly with Medicare cuts and new taxes on insurance companies and other parts of the health care industry.

The week saw an intraparty brawl among Democrats, with liberals seething over the compromises Reid has already made to keep the bill moving.

Gone is a government insurance plan modeled on Medicare. So is the fallback, the option of allowing aging baby boomers to buy into Medicare. The major benefits of the bill won't start for three or four years, and then they'll be delivered through private insurance companies.

Associated Press writers David Espo, Ken Thomas and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

List of Achievements!

The articles that I post is because I think they are of interest to someone else. By posting these articles doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.


Remember when Ronald Reagan was president,

We also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash still with us…

Now we have Obama and no hope and no cash.

How They Vote in the United Nations

Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records:

Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time

Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time

Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time

United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time.

Jordan votes against the  United States 71% of the time.

Tunisia votes against the  United States 71% of the time.

Saudi Arabia votes against the  United States 73% of the time.

Yemen votes against the  United States 74% of the time.

Algeria votes against the  United States 74% of the time.

Oman  votes against the United States 74% of the time.

Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.

Egypt votes against the  United States  79% of the time.

Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.

India votes against the United States 81% of the time.

Syria votes against the  United States 84% of the time.

Mauritania votes against the  United States 87% of the time.

U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us:

Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.

Jordan votes 71% against the United States and receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

Pakistan votes 75% against the United States and receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

India votes 81% against the United States and receives $143,699,000 annually.

Perhaps it is long time to get out of the UN and give the tax savings back to the American workers who are having to skimp and sacrifice to pay the taxes (and gasoline). 

Disgusting isn't it?

Personally I think that the United Nations should be dissolved as it's the most worthless organization on the face of this planet. At the very least, the United States should dissolve it's membership and have this disgusting outfit move it's headquarters somewhere else... I would suggest Pluto or Saturn as a better place or better yet a black hole in space would be more fitting!