Why hasn't this Weapon been Banned yet?

The following is an account of what is arguably the most dreadful weapon used in World War II.

This horribly efficient weapon was directly responsible for the death of over 48 million individuals between the years of 1933 and 1945. What is even more unlikely is the fact that, even in the years following the war, no effort was reliably made by the Western Nations to curb its use. The Soviet Union made many advances in controlling its use, but since the fall of that nation, it is becoming more and more prevalent in Russian Society.

In fact, huge quantities of this weapon have been made in the years following, and it is still being produced, in its various forms, to this day. Here in the United States and abroad, this weapon is being peddled to youths and minorities at an alarming rate. Millions upon millions of them have been sold this year alone. What is more, the owners of these death machines do not appear to consider them to be dangerous at all. In fact, at this moment I have one sitting in front of me. It sits there, looking innocent, when others of its ilk have the blood of many on them.

It was not introduced in World War II. The roots of this insidious machine reach far back through the annals of history. From its crude and humble origins, it has been the tool of genocide and violence. Still massed produced and sold, it has been customized and redesigned an untold number of times.

Still haven't guessed what tool this is?

Here's another hint: currently, there ARE nations that have managed to control its use, either by limiting its supply only to the government or by carefully monitoring its availability. In certain areas of the world, governments have even managed to nearly eliminate its use entirely.

One more chance to guess.

For the answer, click here.

Now that you know what it is, should we get on with outlawing it in this country?

Finally, a face to rally behind!

While reading through backlogs of The Smallest Minority, I came across a link to an article regarding a well known but little discussed American group. That's right, the Jacksonian Democrats, the self-righteous followers of 'Ol Hickory!' I would strongly recommend that everyone read this article. I WILL MENTION THAT NOT ALL OF THE NAMES REFERENCED WILL BE HAPPY ONES! This is an examination of a historical group of people that is closely tied to the fate of our Nation, hence it is impossible that such a group would have a past that is considerably cleaner than the nation which it is a part of. However, having made that point, please, take some time and read it closely, watching for familiar responses and recognition. I think you will find it quite instructive.

Those who fail to study history...

It is a great folly of our generation to believe our society cannot fail. We would be wise to remember that our civilization has been operating at current strength for not even four generations. Rome held its dynasty for far longer, and vast ares where once a pilgrim could tread unhindered are now devoid of any sort of public order.


To the South there are the ruins of civilizations that held sway for nearly a thousand years, where gangs of ruthless thugs do daily battle for dominion over the civilian population.

Within the span of written history, multiple major civilizations have risen to prosperity and then vanished, or at the least faded to obscurity, sometimes in the span of less than a single generation. In the last thirty years, Afghanistan has been degraded from First to Third world status, giving a snapshot of the progression from 'modern' society to embattle enclave, to pawn state, to anarchy.


Be wary should the rising stars begin to send aid to criminal elements to our South. We should not easily forget that once, the Visigoths were the mercenaries of Rome, an outcast portion of their society, refugees from beyond the borders. We would do well to treat our citizens better than they.

A Call to Arms...

I just received a letter from a cousin of mine. This man is enlisted in the military, comes from a military family (one cousin KIA Iraq, father and one uncle Vietnam, cousin Desert Storm, Grandfather WWII Europe), is a volunteer fireman (also a fireman family, numerous aunts and uncles involved in fire departments across rural America). This guy knows what he's talking about. He can explain what a mortar attack sounds/feels like without making shit up or thinking about movies. And he is right. I know that I said this was going to be MY blog, but when I got this email from him, it occurred to me that I don't think I could have said it any better, and he is far more qualified a source. I submit this letter now, in its entirety:

Viva Le Revolution! Maybe I should be careful what I say, I am in the military and as much as I hate it Obama is still my boss, but dammit when the hell are Americans going to be proud of being Americans again? We all have to quit being lazy and earn our pride once again. Sift through the bullshit, kick out the fat cats and institute a Republic that WILL stand for us! It's time for a REAL change! We need it now more than ever. However, remember JFK’s quote “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” We all feel like we are entitled to our riches, but this country was built on people that struggled in a new world to just survive. In other words, why is Paris Hilton famous? Why are our beloved sports stars being paid millions a year? For that matter, why has Brad Pitt become the man that every woman wants to be with and every man wants to be? What exactly have these people done to benefit society? The answer is entertainment! We have become a civilization that doesn’t care about society. All of these people are merely our court jesters. Their only value in life is to distract us from a little thing that I like to call life. What is sad is that a lot of Americans see these people as our “heroes”. Is it only because the ‘idiot box’ told us so? In my opinion, people should be paid based on how much they help society. Do you remember when 8 men from the “Black Sox” back in 1919 were so poor that they threw the World Series just to make a good living? Now, I’m not saying these men should have been paid such ridiculously low wages (they should have been paid a decent “working man’s wage”), but these men as well as our modern day sports icons should be paid in the amount that they have helped us….Like I said, they are merely court jesters. The only people actually being paid what they’re worth are doctors, let’s face it these people save our lives daily. How about our teachers, policemen, firemen, soldiers, and paramedics? How much do you think these people make a year? They’re amongst the least paid people in America. These people are our REAL heroes and yet we cast them aside and just expect them to do there jobs. For example: Whenever there is a war, the soldiers are sent to a foreign land where they are scared and unsure of what the enemy is planning…do you think they went there for the pay? How about when a teacher comes across a troubled student that has a learning defect …do you think she is planning on how much money she will earn from selling this story to a Hollywood agency? Or a fireman that hears a scream from the second story of a burning apartment complex and sprints into a wall of fire, hoping that the patient will still be alive by the time that he gets to the top of the stairs?...Do you think any of these people have chosen the almighty dollar when they decided to join their respective career fields? The answer is NO! These people joined their respective career paths for one reason…they care! They care about you and me! Why are these people not praised? Why do they not make the millions of dollars a year that our court jesters make? Our values need to change America! Why not celebrate the heroes amongst us? I really don’t care how far you can throw a football…Can you save a life?...Can you climb a stairwell not knowing what you’ll find at the top of a burning building? Can you educate the youth?...Can you stop a terrorist from planting an IED that will kill my cousin?...Can you…? I have to admit that I’m slightly bias, I’m both a soldier and a volunteer fireman, but that doesn’t mean that I am obliged to sit idly by and watch MY America fall to the people that are blinded to the glitz of Hollywood! WAKE UP AMERICA!! It’s up to our generation now to fix our priorities! The real heroes are the heroes amongst us!! We live in the greatest free nation on the planet, yet we are hiding from ourselves. After 9/11 I saw that most of us are true patriots. We’ve all receded in our shells since then, but the spirit is still within us all! It’s time for ALL of us to stand up and do whatever it takes to do what we need to do to take back our America. WE ARE THE NEW PATRIOTS!!! The only way to change America now is to voice ourselves!

At the end of this he issues an open invitation to debate at his personal email address, however I have removed that for privacy reasons. If you do feel the need to debate, however, contact me here and I will supply it to you.

Go forth, then, and be proud of what you do.

Hoplophobes, Alarmists, and Fools, oh My!

Examples!

This letter was recently submitted to the Arizona Republic:

I hope our lawmakers saw the video of a shootout in an Ohio bar last week involving "law-abiding citizens."

The graphic video should send chills down the spine of any intelligent individual and should get our leaders to rethink their policy of allowing concealed arms in bars.

- Stuart Epstein,Scottsdale

See it here at http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/10/17/20091017satlets176.html

Now read a related News story involving the quoted incident.

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=11328067

Hmmmm, notice any discrepancies? Oh, wait, yes, the fact that their actions were not only illegal, but were also possibly related to additional felony activities in the parking lot! In addition, Police in Toledo have charged two of the men involved with felonious assault, discharging a firearm, and possessing a weapon in a liquor permit premise. Ohio state law, it turns out, does NOT allow the carry of weapons in bars. Far from getting 'our leaders to rethink their policy,' this video is an eloquent example of the sort of violence present in the world, which is why we “law-abiding citizens” maintain our constant vigilance. Mr Epstein got one thing correct, however. The video does send chills down ones spine. For one thing, after all those shots were fired, there were no casualties. Thank God for gangbangers that can't shoot straight.

Streets and Bars not yet running with blood...

Many of the Uninitiated are actively misconstruing Arizona's new Concealed Carry clarifications. It seems the word on the street is that all sorts of miscreants are now allowed full permission to engage in public shootouts over the price of beer in our local establishments. Thus far I have, thankfully, not been witness to this occurrence. The spirit of this legislation, as I am aware of it, is that legal carry is now open to us at a table with our friends and family at many a nice eatery, without the need to leave our valuables and our protection in the parking lot, available to looting by aforesaid miscreants. On the other hand, anyone who is ready and willing to let slip the dogs of war when pressed on payment of a bar tab is probably not interested in legal concealed carry, possibly not able to pass a background check for the purchase of said firearm, and in any event still guilty of Murder. I have found no language in Arizona State Law which legitimizes gunfire as means negotiating payment. Possibly these alarmists are the same people who would blame a car manufacturer for the transgressions of a drunk driver, a gun manufacturer for the transgressions of a drug dealer, and a logger for the transgressions of an arsonist. Society is the product of the uses of tools, not the product of the tools themselves.

Testing, 1-2...

Finally, after reading thousands of words of other people's advice, agreeing with some, disagreeing with some, and becoming furious with some, I've decided to go ahead and start throwing some thoughts of my own into the blogosphere. Perhaps I will become a caricature of myself, get famous, burn out, disappear, be reborn from obscurity, die in obscurity, never attract a single reader, or all of the above, but its out there, now. This blog will be a few things, and a few things it will NOT be. First off, this WILL be a discussion on maintaining the culture of independence. Note that independence is spelled with a lower case i, not the habitual Capital I. That is due directly to the fact that independence is not a Proper Noun. Independence is a state of not being dependent, that is, a state of being self-reliant. In the future, I fully expect to cover topics such as firearms, the human right of defense, survival skills, nice places to hike and camp in Arizona and beyond, making, preserving and cooking food, political affiliations, and possibly light mechanic and construction work. I am hopelessly undereducated (having spent all my time in public academies), incontrovertibly rural, and possibly the new leader of the Republican Party (who isn't these days?). If I make you agree with me, then good, use that to our advantage. If I make you angry with me, also good, find out why and return with a well thought out response. If you find me laughable, then good, I will allow you your entertainment at my expense. If you find me egotistical and possibly a candidate for grandstanding, well, it is a blog. These things happen. Did I mention this is my first post Ever?