Reinke Faces Life

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070813/EDITORIAL/108130006/1013

Bearing arms
Scott McPherson
August 13, 2007

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Scott McPherson of the Future of Freedom Foundation writes: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an important and integral part of what it means to be an American. In fact, it could be said to represent the most important and integral part of being an American. When our ancestors followed the example of half the state governments and included a “right to arms” provision in the Federal Bill of Rights, they unapologetically and irrefutably established a nation of free and autonomous individuals.”

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Hopefully, we can get control of the government without using the final “check” in the Constitution’s “Checks and Balances”. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem unavoidable.

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http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/13/commentary/lashinsky_atlas.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007081406url

Why is America falling apart? Ask Ayn Rand
Collapsing bridges, flooded subways, trapped miners: our recent disasters recall a novel from a half century ago. Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky explores the nation’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ moment.
FORTUNE Magazine
By Adam Lashinsky, Fortune senior writer
August 14 2007: 6:16 AM EDT

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As for the political leadership, infrastructure spending is one of those rare instances where President Bush’s take is spot-on correct, though his words likely won’t be heeded because he is so unpopular and divisive. (The immigration debate, where the president has been pragmatic and right from the beginning, also comes to mind.) Asked if gasoline taxes should be raised to pay for infrastructure improvements, the president chastised Congress for favoring attention-getting new projects over boring maintenance needs.

He’s right. Liberals like Chuck Schumer agree. “Routine but important things like maintenance always get shortchanged because it’s nice for somebody to cut a ribbon for a new structure,” Schumer recently told the New York Times.

Today’s Randians, of course, have an answer to our woes: Privatize everything. No way a bridge falls if a profit-seeking company, properly incentivized, had been charged with maintaining it, goes the argument. That, however, is dangerous thinking. There are certain things the market just can’t be trusted to handle. Imagine that bridge-maintenance company having to cut expenses this quarter by delaying work for just a few days. Imagine how the CEO might feel if the stock would drop if he couldn’t make the quarter.

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Of course, the CEO of the bridge maintenance company might delay maintenance for a profit. But, I’ll bet a dollar that the insurance company and the Board of Directors, and their insurance companies, will be all over his ass!

If there is a one thing that insurance companies know, it that collecting premiums is much more profitable than paying claims.

And, auditors usually report directly to the Audit Committee of the BoD. All they have to do is whisper that there is a problem and everyone is running around like their shorts are on fire to solve it.

So, I’d suggest that we would all be far safer if the gooferment got out of planning, operating, and maintaining anything.

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http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/tle430-20070812-04.html

The Problem with Conservatives
by Sean Gangol

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It reminded me of the reasons why I chose Libertarianism, instead of becoming a die-hard conservative. If you truly want to live in a free society, you must have tolerance for things you don’t like. You may not like abortion, drugs or homosexuality, but these are things you have to co-exist with if you want to live free. If you are the type that want control over other people’s bodies or if you want to treat a certain group of people like secondary citizens, then a police state is the only place you belong.

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Sounds reasonable to me.

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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/08/12/zimbabwes_horrors/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+–+Jeff+Jacoby+columns

Zimbabwe’s horrors By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | August 12, 2007

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NO ONE is surprised when a Roman Catholic bishop condemns the violence of war. But when was the last time you heard of one pleading for a military invasion?

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No, sorry, it’s not up to the taxpayers to fund a “nation building” exercise. As we learned in Iraq, you can’t build a nation without using force. And, you become the bad guy

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http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3188

New Jersey State Police Seeking to Enact Further Firearms Restrictions by Regulation
Monday, August 06, 2007

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Please Mail Your Comments in Today!

The New Jersey State Police recently issued new rule proposals for the regulation of firearms, magazines, and retailers in the Garden State. If approved, these regulations will have the rule of law without ever being debated by our legislators in Trenton, turning thousands of unsuspecting citizens into felons!

The proposal would do the following: It would require law-abiding gun owners to surrender or pay to render their “large capacity” magazines permanently blocked. Possession of a temporarily blocked “large capacity” magazine would be a crime. Certain semi-automatic shotguns and handguns would be classified as “assault firearms” because of cosmetic features, which have not been named in any statute enacted by the New Jersey Legislature. Another proposal seeks to harass lawful owners and retailers of “assault firearms” by requiring that licensed dealers who accept an “assault firearm” and/or machine gun from a citizen for transfer, resale, or repair must notify the Superintendent of the State Police within 48 hours. Also, all firearms sold by retailers would be mandated to be secured by steel cable. Finally, the proposal forces those placing handguns on consignment to produce a new permit to retake possession of the handgun.

Law-abiding firearm owners have until Friday, August 17 to voice their opposition to the new rules and the Superintendent needs to hear from you today! Public comments will only be accepted by mail.

STAND UP AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
PLEASE MAIL YOUR COMMENTS IN TODAY!

Please cut and paste the below letter onto a new page, date, sign, and mail to the listed address:

Date:

Colonel Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent
New Jersey State Police
PO Box 7068
West Trenton, New Jersey 08638

Attn: Firearms Investigation Unit
Re: Comments to PRN 2007-199

Dear Colonel Fuentes:

As a law-abiding New Jersey firearm owner, I respectfully object to, and urge you to not to implement certain proposed changes to the New Jersey Administrative Code set forth in your Rule Proposal dated June 18, 2007. These proposed changes would unilaterally turn thousands of honest citizens into criminals. Furthermore, it would impose this legal jeopardy in the complete absence of legislative intent, debate, and open discussion.

For many years, numerous state authorities have issued formal written advice to law abiding citizens, licensed firearm dealers, and police officers around the state permitting temporary blocking of magazines. Thousands of people have relied upon that advice by purchasing, possessing, transferring, transporting, and selling temporarily blocked magazines. These people would be forced to either surrender their private property with no compensation or pay to render their magazines permanently blocked. Rule proposal 13:54-1.2 will make thousands of unsuspecting, law-abiding firearm owners who are unaware of this dramatic reversal into felons by classifying a temporarily blocked magazine as a “large capacity magazine.

Also, under 13:54-1.2, certain semi-automatic shotguns, the most “commonly used firearm” by New Jersey sportsmen and semi-automatic pistols with common features, would be classified as “assault firearms” even though some of the supposedly undesirable shotgun features are particularly helpful to disabled shooters. Many of the supposedly undesirable features listed have not been identified in any statute passed by the New Jersey Legislature and are tantamount to new legislation even though legislating is beyond the scope of the executive branch.

Rule proposal 13:54-5.1 Section (c) assumes illegal activity without probable cause upon the firearm owner and forces the retailer to delay sometimes needed repair by mandating that licensed dealers who accept an “assault firearm” and/or machine gun from a citizen for transfer, resale, or repair notify the Superintendent within 48 hours. Delaying repairs pending approval by the Superintendent of Police will only add to greater expense and unjustified inconvenience for the firearm owner and lost business for the retailer.

New Jersey already mandates some of the toughest security measures for firearm retailers in the country. Additions to rule 13:54-6.5 would impose significant financial impacts upon retail firearm dealers by requiring dealers whose firearms are on display to secure firearms by a steel cable. Cabled firearms are more likely to “dry-fire” as the cable rests on the triggers of the firearms. Dry-firing can be particularly harmful to shotguns and antique firearms causing damage to the firing pins and actions of the firearms. Securing firearms by steel cables could also result in deep scrapes and permanent damage of those firearms and force retailers to sell the items for significantly less than the suggested retail value.

Rule proposal 13:54-3.20 forces those who place firearms on consignment to produce a new permit to purchase a handgun even though they may have dropped off the firearm as early as one day previously. This will place a new unnecessary burden on licensing authorities to reissue permits. This proposed regulation could redirect what is currently a safe and legal commerce to the black market.

I object to these proposals and urge you not to implement them.

Sincerely,

P.S.: How do you rationalize these rules with the Second Amendment to the US Constitution?

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Argh!

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http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/08/jims_quote_of_the_day_533.html

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

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“The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer’s cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.” – George Orwell

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There ought a be a law. Oh yeah, there was … … the Second Amendment!

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http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3190

Missouri Cities Take Aim at Your Second Amendment Rights and Hunting Heritage!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007

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On August 2, in a speedy and quiet manner, the City of Maryland Heights enacted a far-reaching, ominous ordinance that bans all discharge of firearms within the city limits. In taking this draconian swipe at law-abiding gun owners, the City Council has effectively stripped gun owners of their ability to sport shoot, hunt and defend themselves and their loved ones from a violent attack! That’s right, under the new ordinance, even the discharge of a firearm in self-defense is banned in Maryland Heights!

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What kind of stupidity is this?

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http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2007/tle429-20070805-03.html

This Hurricane Season
by Sean Gangol

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Yes, George deserves his share of the blame. However people seemed to forget that the local governments didn’t handle the emergences any better. The mayor of New Orleans is the one I blame the most. The man acted surprised when his city ended up underwater. Gee, who would ever think that a city that was built below sea level would be prone to flooding? I remember going to New Orleans ten years ago and hearing the locals dread the day that the big one would hit. Apparently the locals have known for a long time that New Orleans was destined to be hit with a catastrophic hurricane. So why is it that a city official never thought to plan ahead for a disaster like Katrina?

Then there were members of the New Orleans’ PD that showed compassion for their citizens by going door to door confiscating legally owned firearms. Of course they had to take the guns out of the hands of law-biding citizens; so that they could protect the officers that participated in the looting.

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When one plans your personal recovery effort, where you cache your weapons is a critical choice. Considering how the gooferment quickly confiscates them, you should have some spares put away.

Remember the Jews being rounded up and sent to the camps.

Can’t happen here? Have you forgotten the Japanese Internment, Katrina, and all the other demonstrations of the gooferment’s SOP.

Yup, I believe deep in my heart, that if each Jewish family had a gun when the storm trooper broke in and just killed the first thug, the Nazis would have run out of thugs very quickly.

So to, here in the new USAMERIKA, there will come a time when they will be coming. How will you meet them? As docile as a sheep, or like a porcupine?

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Arrests at the IRS office

The FreeStaters are taking on the IRS and Homeland Security. No First Amendment Rights in Federal Buildings? That’s news to me. And, I bet it would shock most lawyers.

—–Original Message—–
From: Luddite
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 9:46 PM
Subject: Guns or Butter?

That is the question, isn’t it right now? Money to spend on guns for the war, or money to spend on repairing a weak infrastructure? We probably can’t afford both, since we can’t afford what we spend now!

***My Response***

Not only can’t we afford the guns, or the butter. The financial house is rotten to the core! There are so many chickens coming home to roost, it’s hard to itemize them all. Let’s take a few big hitters:

* The money has no backing hence we have institutionalized inflation that jacks costs, taxes, and gooferment salaries.

* The Chinese and Japanese are send us stuff for green pix of dead presidents.

* Social security trust fund.

* Medicare/Medicaid/The drug benefit.

* Unfunded liabilities like gooferment pensions.

* Gooferment education making us globally uncompetitive.

* Laws, regulation, and diktats that make entrepreneurial activity near impossible.

* A large portion of the population with an entitlement mentality.

* The phony drug war.

* Multi-generation welfare “farmers”.

* Rich people gaming the system to capture “benefits’.

* Fascism where regulators and those regulators conspire to screw the people, consumers, and the country.

Did I overlook anything?

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Upon reflection, perhaps I wasn’t strident enough. Just about any one of these things would kill an empire. But, again as they say in football, “after further review”, it’s our paradigms and memes that are going to kill us. And kill off the American experiment. And where do we get those? From Gooferment Education!

Gooferment is in “education” up to its nose. There seems to be a federal rule about everything. And, what has it done for us? Created minds full of mush. That’s probably our biggest obstacle to a solution. We are creating people, half of whom might vote in elections, who haven’t learned the basics. In the one size fits all education system, doesn’t ever pretend to attempt to maximize output. Genius or dullard, both get the same “education”. No wonder people revolt.

In today’s global economy, we can’t afford to waste a single brain. I’ve laughed when Iran had the fashion police. They are putting half their brain power on hold. Bad for them; good for us. We should encourage them to propagate that idea around the world. Meanwhile, we need to allow all our people the freedom and liberty to outperform the world.

And, that starts with education. It’s too important to be left tot he gooferment.

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