Vote v Buy

    Is it easier to buy a gun than to vote?

 So you want to do your civic duty and go vote. You drive to the polling place and park you car.  You walk in and present your government issued drivers license. They scanned the bar code on the back. Ask you to verify the address then sign the tablet screen they were using.  You are then given a ballot and directed to a voting booth.  After filling out the ballot you dutifully take it to the tabulation machine. Out the door you go proud of yourself.  Easy Peasy.

  Feeling good about your civic duty you decide to exercise your civil rights and buy a firearm.  You drive to the local firearm dealer and go in.  At the gun counter you stand there admiring all the freedom on display.    A clerk comes up and asks to help you.  After trying several firearms you decide on a Smith and Wesson M&P AR15. Great says the clerk may I see your divers license. You hand it to him and he hands form 4473 from the ATF.  

  Please read the above form or go to www.atf.gov . You are to answer each question truthfully under penalty of perjury.  If you falsify any answer you are committing a Felony punishable by up to five years in prison in addition to fines!

 So you fill out the front, sign and date the back.  The clerk calls into NICS.  That is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.  Now if you answered truthfully on the form one of three things will happen.  After a wait of what seems like hours the answer will be YES you can buy the firearm; NO you cannot buy; or nothing.  Yes and no are pretty straightforward but silence could mean anything.   It could be millions of God fearing American citizens are buying boom sticks at the same time.  It could be lunch break.  Whatever the cause if no answer is forthcoming from NICS after three days you can go ahead and buy the gun.

  Obviously buying a gun is harder.  The example I gave you is from the Great state of Missouri.  If you live in the People’s Democratic Republic of Illinois you will need an additional government issued ID.  In Illinois it is called a FOID card.  That’s Firearm Owners Identification card.  That requires you to have gone to a gun store previously and filled out a form.  Got your picture taken.  Payed a fee and wait 6 weeks or more for the FOID card to come in the mail.  In Illinois you cannot buy a gun without this card.  In Illinois you cannot handle a gun without this card.  You go to a gun store in Illinois to look at guns the first thing they will ask is for your FOID card.  No card no handle.

  Many states also require waiting times depending on whether you are buying a handgun or long gun (aka: rifle or shotgun).  These waiting times can range from 2 days to 2 weeks.  It may also require additional background checks by police or the state which could lead to months of delay (for example New York City).

  Still think it’s easier to buy a gun than to vote?  Any gun purchase you try in a store goes through NICS.  Every gun show I’ve attended in Missouri or Illinois has required a gun purchase to go through NICS.  Every internet gun purchase requires the firearm to ship to a federally licensed dealer who will use NICS before they transfer the gun to you.  But the lie continues because it’s repeated over and over again.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Joseph Gorbbles

Candy Time Machine

   It’s just a little thing really. A bag of candy at Bass Pro. However when I picked it up it propelled me to 1963.  I was 8 years old again.

  I am sitting in my Dad’s car eating these peanut butter bars waiting for dad to come out of the hospital.  Mom was taking care of me and my little brother Steve keeping me quiet with candy. I remember dad coming out and for the first time in my life I saw my dad crying.  Grandma Janie, his mom, had died.  I asked mom about what was going on. When she told me I stupidly said out loud what I was thinking. “One down and two to go”. Mom looked at me in horror and exclaimed “don’t say that”. 

  By the end of the year mom’s mom passed away as well as her grandma.  In between those deaths JFK was assassinated.

What happens to a man reaching the twilight years that causes him to review events in his life?  Am I looking for forgiveness?  Am I trying to justify my actions of so long ago?  Or is it just a memory tied to a little piece of candy the little 8 year old me wishes to keep.  To keep it in that memento drawer with all the little and big events of ones life.  

I will eat that little piece of candy and remember.  I will also look forward to the next memory of a life lived.  A life of love and loss.  To put it another way: life.

Life

  The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins:

  “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

   We cannot pursue happiness if we are not free to do so. We cannot be free if we do not have liberty. We cannot have liberty if we are not alive. Everything depends on our right to life. That right as well as others are ours given by our Creator at our birth. To deny birth is to deny our right to Life. The first and foremost of our rights. As stated in the Declaration of Independence governments are instituted to secure our Rights and is therefore right and just to protect the Right to Life.
   The living in exercising their right to liberty cannot use this freedom to deny the right of life to the unborn. Freedom and therefore liberty comes with responsibilities.
   Our founding fathers knew that a republic was founded on a moral populace. They also knew that if we lost our moral way the republic would fall. Our insistence on denying this right to life to the unborn has broken our moral compass. We have lost our way and the country is on the precipice. One step and we are lost forever.
   The solution? Stop acting as spoiled children who have received a great treasure with no effort on our part. The founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to achieve the liberty we take for granted. Many of those did indeed sacrifice family, fortune and even their very lives for the liberty we enjoy today. We have lost sight of the idea of America and have replaced it with the instant gratification of the bread and circuses of our modern world.  All of which cheapens life, which brings us back to the beginning. Life is the beginning of freedom. Nothing else can be achieved without it.   “We the People” Choose Life.

In defense of Rough Men.

”People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because Rough Men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

  This quote has been attributed to Orwell, Kipling, Churchill among others. It doesn’t matter who wrote it. The saying stands. When it comes to the hard dirty work the Statesman stands aloof as the rough man gets into it.
  For many many years I’ve looked for the Statesman to return this country to its original idea. All to no avail. That man, if he even exist has not come forward. So an argument can be made for the Rough Man to step up and take charge.
  The American people have also grown tired of the career politicians and the way the country is run. They want a man who, when asked a question, answers that question in plain speech. None of the political blah blah blah. We’ve grown tired of the decline of all the things that has made America what it is. Our freedoms have been eroded. Our hard earned money going all over the world to places that hate us. Our trade deals that restricts our businesses and constricts our economy forcing us to borrow from foreign powers. We want someone who remembers the forgotten man. Enter Trump. The out rider. Not a politician. The Rough Man.
  Trump is a business man not beholding to special interest groups. He didn’t need their money or help to win the election. He loves America and the idea of freedom on which it was founded.
  Trump is crude some times. He does not speak eloquently. He wields his Twitter account as a broad sword. But he puts America first. Trump speaks like the common man in flyover country. He speaks for us when he stands up to our enemies and our friends. The majority of the People have stopped looking to politicians. We understand the Rough Man because we are as well.

A mosque was shot up in New Zealand killing dozens.
Christians are blown up in churches in Sri Lanka during Easter services killing hundreds.
A synagogue is attacked in California resulting in one death.
Hundreds of churches burnt and defiled in France and Europe.
Black churches in the southern United States burnt.
Sri Lankan churches are now closed to worshipers and guards put up on mosques.
 Evil is on the rise.

  I am a Christian and by the Grace of God Roman Catholic. My Faith as well as the teachings of other religions abhors this murder. We are made in the image of God. When you look into another’s eyes you must see God looking back. This is why it is written, Thou shalt not murder. To murder is to remove the Divine spark that resides in the Other. We must treat each other better. That’s why religions around the world also teach some version of the Golden Rule.

  “All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.” Matt. 7:12 (Douay Rheims Bible)

  In other words love your neighbor as your self. That’s the key isn’t it. To love each other. To love the Other. For the Other is God. If we therefore love God we will, we should, we must love the man or women made in his image. When hungry we want fed. So feed the hungry. When sorrowful we want comforted. So comfort the sorrowful. When we are in error we desire gentle correction. So correct with gentleness and love. This must be our chief purpose. Duty to God. Duty to others.
  Whenever these horrible events take place we feel hopeless. What can we do?  Especially when these events take place a world away. So we offer up our hopes and prayers. Our leaders also offer them up. They too feel helpless. The cynics cry out against our prayers and demand action. Action will indeed be done but prayers are not the same as doing nothing. Prayers unite people. Prayers turn the world to God. Prayers bend our will to God’s will. These events drive us to our knees. On our knees should be the first action taken in all things. If more people started with prayer and surrender the evil in this world would be lessened. But not altogether eliminated.
  Suffering will be with us always. Don’t take our suffering away. My suffering today helps me understand your suffering tomorrow. Just as a lump of ore is blasted by fire and forged on an anvil so too our toils form us into fine steel. Those who have lived through the above evils, and many others, are now better prepared to meet the next event. They can better offer comfort to the sorrowful. They can better attend the wounds of the injured; body, mind and soul. They are now a source of strength and inspiration to the world. By the Grace of God they have walked through the valley and the shadow of death. We shall not fear suffering or evil.
  Let us not fool ourselves evil is still out there. The first evil has been perpetrated by those who committed these murders. They will be dealt with. But there is a second evil. An evil committed by the carrion birds who swoop in after these evil events to feast on the dead. I’m not talking about actual vultures but the so-called leaders in this world who use death and destruction to advance their cause. They cannot stand on their own merits but must bend the narrative to perpetuate their evil. They stir up the masses to a fever pitch knowing all along this will continue the us vs them mania. Their only hope for power is to keep everyone at odds with each other. Divide and conquer! The easiest emotional response you can engender in someone else is anger. So, if I can make you mad I can manipulate you. If you have a focus for your anger it can be used to weaken their opponents. And so they point their finger at the Other. The world is full of these us vs them scenarios that destroys our inner peace and bleeds out into the world and perpetuates the evil.

  There is no others. There is only us. We are the light of the world.

Muslims

Muslims. What do you know about Muslims?  Well a recent poll of Muslims living in America is interesting.  A recent poll commissioned by The Center for Security Policy reveals the following:

Of those polled 55% were male,  88% are between 18 to 44 years old and are currently living in the United States.
47% characterize sharia as a guide to the personal practice of Islam
25% agree sharia is a comprehensive program governing all aspects of the faithful Muslim's life.

Sharia vs U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights: 43% for Constitution, 33% sharia.
39% support the American Courts over sharia.
36% think they should be free to choose either.
15% support sharia courts only.

51% want the choice of being governed by sharia.

29% agree with violence against those who insult Muhammad, the Qur'an, etc.

25% agree that violence against Americans here in the U.S. can be justified as part of the global jihad.

Jihad understood by 51% as peaceful, personal struggle to be more religious.
16% believe jihad is the violent holy war against unbeliever of Islam.
11% say jihad as non-violent actions to undermine non-Muslim states and peoples.

54% think that there are violent jihadist in the U.S.

19% thinks the use of violence in the U.S. is justified to make sharia the law of the land.
24% think violence is justified to punish those who offend Islam.
36% think the Muslim Brotherhood is present in the U.S.

According to the Pew Research Center (pewreach.org) in 2010 there are 1.6 Billion Muslims in the world. About 2.75 million Muslims (1% of U.S. population) live in America.  Looking at the afore mentioned poll of Muslims living in the U.S. approxamently 20,000 Muslims are living here who think the use of violence is justified to advance sharia.  If only 10% of them are willing to act upon their violent belief that's still 2000 people willing to attack us here.  Many more would be willing to look the other way or even help those who wish us harm.  Look what two Muslims were able to do in California last week.  Yeah I'd be looking twice at most Muslims I encounter.

We keep hearing about "peaceful" Muslims.  The majority may well be but enough are willing to hijack their so called peaceful religion to advance it to cause pain and suffering to the population around them.  The rest are unwilling to stop the jihadist, to protest or even turn the jihadist in. But we are looking at the problem with Islam all wrong.

Let me elaborate.  Islam calls itself one of the three religions of "The Book".  The Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an are revelations of the One True God according to Muslims.  But I contend the Qur'an is a distortion of God's Word.  Since Satan is the author of lies, he distorts and corrupts all he touches.  As a Christian I see the following as signs of Satan's work.

Islam condemns the Trinity. They view Christians as Polytheists, worshiping more than one God.
Islam considers Jesus a prophet not the Son of God.  They rank Jesus below Mohammad.

God's Law states:
Thou shall NOT commit adultery.  The Qur'an teaches against adultery, punishable by death, but a Muslim man can have several wives and many concubines.
Thou shall NOT murder.  But the Qur'an teaches a Muslim can murder any non-believer to advance the faith. The Qur'an teaches a Muslim can lie and falsely swear to advance the faith and is encouraged to do so.
A Christian man marries a woman and the two become one.  A Muslim man owns his wife(s) and considers them his chattel.  No different than livestock.  Examples of this last point can be seen time and time again when peaceful Muslim men, men put forward as examples of moderates within their faith, beat their wives or even kill them for some violation of the Qur'an.  Their daughters are subject to "honor killings" to atone for some slight to the honor of the father/family.

Time after time the Qur'an takes God's Law written on Man's heart and twists it into something abhorrent. Children, young girls, can be married.  Mohammad himself married children.  When asked how old a girl should be before a husband can consummate the marriage Mohammad is quoted as saying she should be able to bare his weight.  This is sick and flies in the face of Western Civilization's mores.

Many, the President included, point to the sins and writings of Christians as proof of prior bad deeds as an excuse for the Muslims.  The Bible was written by several men (inspired by God) over 1500 years.  Those who wish to point out the violent words of the Old Testament to justify the violent words of the Qur'an do so by ignoring the New Testament which is the Church of Christ.  The Perfect love shown by Christ and the writers of the New Testament is not mirrored in the Qur'an.  The Qur'an was written by one man, Mohammad.  The teachers of Islam say the newer verses of their book overrides the words written earlier.  Meaning the last writings, the ones most violent, have more importance and therefore precedence.

Islam is at odds with modern civilization and our mores.  Islam is a remnant of a mid-evil cult that is an abomination of the teaching of the Bible.  Muslims who behave in a civilized fashion may be at odds with their own religion.  Their conflict and their inability to quell the violent side of their faith is killing us.   It is difficult for me to understand how we can live at peace together.  I am willing to try but how can I be at peace with them when I cannot trust what they say?  If they cannot or will not assimilate into our culture what are they doing here?  I can only conclude that for a few of them they are here to move us in the direction of Islam.

All this rambling is to help me understand our world today.  I also want you to give thought to Muslims.  Our President wants to bring thousands of Muslim refugees here.  Christian refugees are noticeable absent.  65% of Syrian refugees are said to be illiterate and are coming from a war torn area where there is not much in the way of information to properly vet.  There should be a pause from accepting more refugees for those countries until we can set up a better vetting process.  I believe we should help but should we let our compassion get ourselves killed?  What about our families?  Do they deserve to live in fear because of our rush to accept refugees?  The first order of a Government is to protect it's citizens.

Finally.  The group of refugees just forced  upon Texas are young men of military age.  Why aren't they fighting in their own country?  These are not the widows and orphans the President talked about.  Muslims vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Are we being played?  I know what my answer is.

SCOTUS on marriage

These are my thoughts on the SCOTUS rulings this week.

Let me begin by saying I don't care who you marry.  When my daughter Sue gets married I will truly be happy for her and her wife.  I will dance at her wedding.  Not my business but I do have an opinion.

Now, SCOTUS got it all wrong.  It is not for them or any other Federal Government body to define marriage.  The U.S. Constitution does not address marriage.  Therefore it is by definition a States right as defined in the 10th Amendment and/or retained by "We the People" as defined in the 9th Amendment.  The use of the 14th Amendment in this decision is a stretch because that Amendment was passed to straighten out problems that arose after the Civil War when the southern states came back into the Union.  What the Supremes have done is remove the will of the people from the equation and replaced it with the rule of five.  The Government continually takes more and more power from the People and it's our fault.  We vote them in.  Not the Supremes I know but the ones who appoint and confirm them.  We keep running to the Supreme Court to get our wants validated.  We should try working it all out ourselves.

I or anyone else should not have to go to any government agency, hat in hand, and ask permission to enter into an agreement, contract or marriage with someone we love.  I realize some protections need to be in place to protect those who cannot answer or consent for themselves.  But that's not what this ruling was about.  It was the Government inserting themselves into our lives.  If we ask them to define marriage we are asking them to regulate marriage.  They can't help themselves.  We have asked the Government into our bedrooms after all these years of yelling for them to stay out.

Now same sex marriage is the law of the land.  What does that mean?  No one knows but we have some indications.  First every county will start issuing marriage licenses.  Well most will.  I've read of some counties in Alabama who will not issue marriages licenses at all.  For any type of marriage.  How do you get married without a government permission slip?  What are we going to do if the Government doesn't give us permission for every step in our life.  Time and lawsuits will tell.  Yes Lawsuits!  Lots and lots of lawsuits!  Lawyers are going to get rich over this because the government will have to pass laws, rules and regulations to counter all the nuances of enforcing this ruling.  All those laws will have to be adjudicated through the courts.  The Congress will spend time debating and passing these laws further inserting themselves into our private lives.

What about the religious rights of citizens who object to this ruling?  Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority option that our First Amendment rights will not be affected.  Well present and past practices say the opposite.  Already bakers and caterers have lost lawsuits defending their religious beliefs.  A Georgia state worker was fired because he was as a lay preacher in a church that opposed same sex marriage.  A Marine was discharged because of a scripture quote sitting on her desk.  The Solicitor General before the Supreme Court, in answering a question from a Justice about the tax exempt status of religious organizations, stated "That's being looked at".  I've written before how I think this administration would like to force a confrontation with churches so they could strip their tax exempt status to gain revenue and control.  To force a crisis with the Obamacare law so they could force single payer onto every one.  Single payer was the goal all along if you listen to Obama from his 2007 speeches, but I digress.  The President has stated that we have First Amendment rights in our worship and private homes but has indicated that is as far as it goes.  Being a Christian is fine and dandy as long as you keep it to yourself.  Don't take it to work with you.  It has no place in the public square.  Your business, adoption agency, hospital all must conform or be ruined, closed down and fined.

I am a Catholic!  My Church opposes same sex marriage.  Will I be barred from employment because of my faith?  Will I be barred from my social security next year when I reach 62?  Will the Christians have to return to hiding in the woods or the catacombs again?  I could write on how this might be a good thing but that's not for this discussion.

The future is uncertain.  The path is unclear.  But that doesn't matter.  I write to organize my thoughts and I publish to share them.  Thank you for putting up with me.