Tis fiting that the last widow of the War of Northern Aggression Passes on Decoration Day

May 31, 2004, 5:34PM

Last widow of a Civil War veteran dies at 97

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2601550

"MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alberta Martin, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, died on Memorial Day, ending an unlikely ascent from sharecropper's daughter to the belle of 21st century Confederate history buffs who paraded her across the South. She was 97.

Martin died at a nursing home in Enterprise of complications from a heart attack she suffered May 7, said her caretaker, Dr. Kenneth Chancey. She died nearly 140 years after the Civil War ended.

Her May-December marriage in the 1920s to Civil War veteran William Jasper Martin and her longevity made her a celebrated final link to the old Confederacy.

After living in obscurity and poverty for most of her life, in her final years the Sons of Confederate Veterans took her to conventions and rallies, often with a small Confederate battle flag waving in her hand and her clothes the colors of the rebel banner.

"I don't see nothing wrong with the flag flying," she said frequently.

Chancey said she loved the attention. "It's like being matriarch of a large family," he said.

"She was a link to the past," Chancey said Monday. "People would get emotional, holding her hand, crying and thinking about their family that suffered greatly in the past."

Wayne Flynt, a Southern history expert at Auburn University, said the historical distinctiveness of the South, which is so tied to the Civil War, has been disappearing, but Martin provided people with one last chance to see that history in real life.

"She became a symbol like the Confederate battle flag," he said.

The last widow of a Union veteran from the Civil War, Gertrude Janeway, died in January 2003 at her home in Tennessee. She was 93 and had married veteran John Janeway when she was 18.

In 1997, Martin and Daisy Anderson, whose husband was a slave who ran away and joined the Union Army, were recognized at a ceremony at Gettysburg, Pa. Anderson, who lived in Denver, died in 1998 at age 97. Janeway wasn't invited to the Gettysburg event because, at the time, no one outside her family knew her whereabouts.

Alberta Stewart Martin was not from the "Gone With the Wind" South of white-columned mansions and hoop skirts. She was born Alberta Stewart to sharecroppers on Dec. 4, 1906, in Danley's Crossroads, a tiny settlement built around a sawmill 70 miles south of Montgomery.

Her mother died when she was 11. At 18, she met a cab driver named Howard Farrow, and they had a son before Farrow died in a car accident in 1926.

Stewart, her father and her son moved to Opp. Just up the road lived William Jasper Martin, a widower born in Georgia in 1845 who had a $50-a-month Confederate veteran's pension.

The 81-year-old man struck up a few conversations with the 21-year-old neighbor and a marriage of convenience was born.

"I had this little boy and I needed some help to raise him," Alberta Martin recalled in a 1998 interview.

They were married on Dec. 10, 1927, and 10 months later had a son, William.

She said her husband never talked much about the war, except the harsh times at Petersburg, Va.

"He'd say it was rough, how the trenches were full of water. They were so hungry in Virginia that during the time they were fighting, they had to grab food as they went along. They came across a potato patch and made up some mashed potatoes," she said.

Asked if she loved her husband, Martin said: "That's a hard question to answer. I cared enough about him to live with him. You know the difference between a young man and an old man."

William Jasper Martin died on July 8, 1931. Two months later, Alberta Martin married her late husband's grandson, Charlie Martin. He died in 1983.

She became the focus of a dustup over the depiction of her and her late Confederate husband in the 1998 book "Confederates in the Attic." Among other things, the book by Tony Horwitz described William Jasper Martin as a deserter.

A group that defends Southern heritage disagreed, contending there were at least two William Martins who served in Company K of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment and that Horwitz got the wrong one. Horwitz said his research was carefully checked and the book was accurate.

The state government considered Martin's record clean enough to award him a Confederate pension in 1921 and to give Alberta Martin Confederate widow's benefits in 1996.

Martin's older son, Harold Farrow of North Little Rock, Ark., died last June. Her younger son, Willie Martin, lives in Elba.

Alberta Martin is to be interred at New Ebenezer Baptist Church six miles west of Elba, in an 1860s-style ceremony following her funeral June 12."

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For those able to attend, or desiring to send condolences and flowers, you may find the information at the website of the Last Confederate Widow.

--WP

On Memorial Day

The men of my family (and recently one of our daughters) have a long record of military service on this continent, in fact going back nearly four (400) hundred years. They have fought both for and against the Union and this is a day, amongst several in my family, to remember.

US Memorial Day Organization

In addition, for remembrance of this day’s founding, Mr. Sharkey sent along the following poem:

The Blue And The Gray

Francis Miles Finch (1827-1907)

By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the one, the Blue,
Under the other, the Gray

These in the robings of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat,
All with the battle-blood gory,
In the dusk of eternity meet:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgement-day
Under the laurel, the Blue,
Under the willow, the Gray.

From the silence of sorrowful hours
The desolate mourners go,
Lovingly laden with flowers
Alike for the friend and the foe;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgement-day;
Under the roses, the Blue,
Under the lilies, the Gray.

So with an equal splendor,
The morning sun-rays fall,
With a touch impartially tender,
On the blossoms blooming for all:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Broidered with gold, the Blue,
Mellowed with gold, the Gray.

So, when the summer calleth,
On forest and field of grain,
With an equal murmur falleth
The cooling drip of the rain:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment -day,
Wet with the rain, the Blue
Wet with the rain, the Gray.

Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
The generous deed was done,
In the storm of the years that are fading
No braver battle was won:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the blossoms, the Blue,
Under the garlands, the Gray

No more shall the war cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves of our dead!
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day,
Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray.

--WP

The Venus Files: History Repeats on June 8

The Venus Files: History Repeats on June 8

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/venus_transit_history_040528.html

"Venus will pass in front of the Sun on June 8, and skywatchers in many locations around the world will have their first chance in nearly 122 years to see the planet as a black dot against the solar surface. The event is among the rarest of predictable viewing phenomena.

Venus transits recur like clockwork, though in an odd pattern.

Pairs of these events occurring eight years apart, either in June or December. A pair of December transits will follow a June pair after 105½ years. A June pair will come 121½ years after a December pair.

As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. Both hold an interesting place in astronomical history. The main reason is the slightly different times that the events occur as seen from different locations on the surface of the Earth. The diameter of our planet is appreciable when compared to the distance to Mercury and Venus, allowing astronomers to triangulate on the planets from various points on Earth when they are seen against a bright background as the surface of the Sun."

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It is time to mark your calendars for this will provide a grand opportunity to forget the drivel we put up with daily- and be amazed once more.

If you are a photography buff as well, and enjoy taking photographs of the night sky, then visit Richard Shell’s site for some tools you may need.

Camo cops catch speeders and, in Urban Camouflage, we have more in a second article...

Camo cops catch speeders

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_196220.html

By Bob Stiles
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 28, 2004

"First came state police troopers sitting in cars equipped with radar guns.

Then came helicopters tracking motorists from the air, followed by troopers disguised as PennDOT workers.

Now meet the "Camo Cops," dressed to catch speeders and make roadways safer.

This week, state troopers from the Indiana barracks began donning camouflage gear to nab fast-moving motorists in Indiana County.

And they plan to do more of the same."

AND, IN URBAN CAMOUFLAGE, HERE WE HAVE MORE...

Arlington camera acts as a rolling tax collector

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040527-103628-7477r.htm

By Tarron Lively
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

"Property-tax evaders and parking-ticket scofflaws in Arlington County take notice: Officials are collecting outstanding taxes and fines at the rate of about $900 an hour with the help of an electronic roving eye.

County officials last month began using the BootFinder, a small, hand-held camera that scans license plates of parked cars to identify people with delinquent property-tax bills and unpaid parking tickets.

The county spent $27,000 to buy the camera, which was developed by Alexandria company G2 Tactics, and has recovered about $900 each hour of its use, said Arlington County Treasurer Frank O'Leary.

"We have collected $29,847.51 on 72 vehicles in just 33 hours, since we began the program April 19," Mr. O'Leary said. "So in the first month of operations, the camera has paid for itself."

Two treasury workers patrol the city in a van, aiming the camera at the license plates of parked cars. The camera is connected to a laptop computer that compares the license owner's name against a database of persons with outstanding taxes or fines."

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The first article was disgusting on it's own, and then I found the second article via Karen De Coster's Blog, from her May 29th posting, and I concur, it is a sickness.

However, I do wonder, do they have a bag-limit, or, do we?

--WP

A Saddam Souvenir

A Saddam Souvenir

President Bush keeps the former dictator's pistol at arm's reach
By MATTHEW COOPER

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040607-644112,00.html

Saturday, May. 29, 2004
"When Saddam Hussein was rousted from his spider hole in Dawr, a town near Tikrit, by U.S. soldiers last December, Iraq's fallen dictator was clutching a pistol. He is now in detention at an undisclosed location, being questioned by American authorities and awaiting charges for war atrocities and crimes against humanity. But what ever happened to the pistol?

The sidearm has made its way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Sources say that the military had the pistol mounted after the soldiers seized it from Saddam and that it was then presented to the President privately by some of the troops who played a key role in ferreting out the old tyrant. Though it was widely reported at the time that the pistol was loaded when they grabbed Saddam, Bush has told visitors that the gun was empty—and that it is still empty and safe to touch. "He really liked showing it off," says a recent visitor to the White House who has seen the gun. "He was really proud of it."

The pistol's new place of residence is in the small study next to the Oval Office where Bush takes select visitors after pointing out better-known White House pieces like the busts of Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower and a watercolor called A Charge to Keep, which gets its name from a Methodist hymn. The study—the one where Bill Clinton held some of his infamous trysts with White House intern Monica Lewinsky—has become a place where Bush keeps the memorabilia that hold special significance for him. Another of the room's mementos: a photograph of special-forces soldiers in Afghanistan praying after burying a piece of the World Trade Center there as a tribute to those who died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001."

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I am not sure which is the more stupid part of the sentence, "Though it was widely reported at the time that the pistol was loaded when they grabbed Saddam," or "...Bush has told visitors that the gun was empty—and that it is still empty and safe to touch."

An unloaded weapon is worthless tool and a pistol is a tool, as all weapons are. A weapon is not safe or unsafe, for it is the man handling the tool, whose inherent responsibility it is, to ensure the safe handling- of any tool.

However, I suppose it is TIME MAGAZINE'S intrinsic hoplophobia and, in my opinion, agenda to control others, which had the writer and the editors, phrase this sentence in such a leading fashion.

--WP

Airport security tricky in court - Criminal case dropped to guard secrecy

Airport security tricky in court

Criminal case dropped to guard secrecy

HUGE LINK

Rebecca Carr - Cox Washington Bureau
Monday, May 24, 2004

"Washington --- Last fall, Miami prosecutors thought they had a solid case against a federal baggage screener who was caught on videotape stealing CDs from passengers' luggage.

Just one small problem: The defense would be allowed to question a key prosecution witness from the Transportation Security Administration about Miami International Airport's security and training of baggage screeners.

Fearing the testimony could put what the government calls Sensitive Security Information in the hands of terrorists, prosecutors dropped the charges.

U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan set the defendant free. He is now in Miami studying radiology.

The case reveals a growing tension between the public's right to know about a crime at one of the nation's busiest airports and the federal government's desire to protect sensitive security information from disclosure.

The federal government argues that even seemingly innocuous information about the nation's transportation systems could aid terrorists and other criminals in their plots. Critics disagree, saying that to cloak such information in secrecy undermines the public's ability to protect itself.

The Miami case is ''a rather shocking story,'' said Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

''It sounds like TSA has confused ends and means. They are compromising security for the sake of secrecy,'' Aftergood said.

The critics have it all wrong, said Lauren Stover, the eastern field director for TSA public affairs based in Miami.

''Our agency does not like to hide under the SSI umbrella,'' Stover said."

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I stumbled across this here, while waiting for an appointment with a client. I did not want to register with the Austin American-Hatesmen, so I searched Google and found, what I think, is the original article, dated two day previous to the Hatesmen's running of the story.

The FAS Project On Government Secrecy information can be found here.

--WP

Found via Claire Wolfe's Blog

I found this via Claire Wolfe's Blog this morning.

As the facts come out, it is apparent that some of those "caught" dealing in "illegal" firearms, were not breaking any laws at all. Where have we heard this before?

--WP

Govt Computer Surveillance Rings Alarm Bells

Govt Computer Surveillance Rings Alarm Bells

Link is Long

Thu 27 May, 2004 05:10

By Andy Sullivan

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine months after Congress shut down a controversial Pentagon computer-surveillance program, the U.S. government continues to comb private records to sniff out suspicious activity, according to a congressional report obtained by Reuters.

Privacy concerns prompted Congress to kill the Pentagon's $54 million Total Information Awareness program last September, but government computers are still scanning a vast array of databases for clues about criminal or terrorist activity, the General Accounting Office found.

Overall, 36 of the government's 199 "data mining" efforts collect personal information from the private sector, a move experts say could violate civil liberties if left unchecked.

Several appear to be patterned after Total Information Awareness, which critics said could have led to an Orwellian surveillance state in which citizens have little privacy.

"I believe that Total Information Awareness is continuing under other names, and the (Defense Department) projects listed here might fit that bill," said Peter Swire, an Ohio State University law professor who served as the Clinton administration's top privacy official.

Defense Department officials did not respond to a request for comment."

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And I ask, Whose Paranoid are you?

--WP

May 27- How Many Remember?

May 27- How Many Remember?

For those that do not, the answer is that the Tyrant Lincoln ordered the Union Army to invade Virginia, which led directly to the death of the Republic to which he was elected to serve.

Many citizens today, have been indoctrinated into the lie, that Patriotism is Nationalism, and refuse to see the truth. So many have tossed aside the understanding of, and, so many more never taught, the differences between the two, particularly since September 11th, 2001. So much so, that laws that are an anathema to our Republic, are passed with glee and a lack of concern by the majority, in the name of safety, of which the cost is Liberty.

Moreover, the President of the United Sates signs another, seemingly not related, even though he stipulates he believes the bill to be un-Constitutional, therefore, abrogating his Oath of Office, his previous Oath as an Officer and relegating the responsibility of both oaths to “nine-old men� whose disregard of their oaths is legendary and as consistent as the wind.

These disgusting laws are not in our interest or benefit, but nothing more than ways to divide us, and our union- excessively, as Man naturally divides himself to his likings, his distaste, and his locale. Furthermore, no matter how long that gun is held to his head, Man will never enjoy the taste of the feces he is forced to feed upon, and at the first real opportunity will grab that gun- and turn it.

--WP

Officer's Taser is used on girl, 9

Officer's Taser is used on girl, 9

http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/metro/23436.php

By C.J. Karamargin
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

"A veteran South Tucson police sergeant is under investigation for firing his stun gun to subdue a handcuffed 9-year-old girl.

At the request of Chief Sixto Molina, the Pima County Sheriff's Department is trying to determine if the sergeant committed a crime when he sent a jolt through the child's body.

The police officer used a Taser on the girl at about 5:30 p.m. May 8, Molina said. The nonlethal weapon uses a pulsating electrical charge to immobilize a person for several seconds.

"I'll be the first to admit, you've got a veteran sergeant Tasing a 9-year-old girl, it doesn't look good," said Molina.

The sergeant was one of at least two officers who responded to a call from the Arizona Children's Home, a school for special needs children, on South Eighth Avenue, he said.

"It had to do with a runaway from the institution," the chief said. He declined to provide further details.

The school could not be reached for comment late Monday. But Molina said that the facility is the source of frequent calls to his 25-person department.

Molina said one officer initially responded to the call from the school. That officer requested assistance from another officer and specifically asked that the second officer bring a Taser.

He said the girl was handcuffed at the time the weapon was used."

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He specifically asked for an officer with a Taser, while he had that nine-year old girl handcuffed, so of course they had to scramble the electrical impulses to her brain!

Astounding!

Moreover, that fine veteran officer is still on the job, and they must perform an investigation to understand what occurred- I suppose we should be thankful, that he did not fear for his life.

However, once that investigation is completed, and his punishment is being decided, I would like to suggest that he suffer the same scrambling of the electrical impulses to his brain, as depicted at the videos at this location, of, say for the rest of his miserable life.

A Google search on Tasers, reveals this, and the newsgroups much more. Moreover, information on the field of "non-lethal� weaponry can be found here, and there.

Oh yes, one last piece of information, or trivia if you prefer, but May 8th, 2004, was the fifty-ninth (59) anniversary of VE Day. I know it swells me with pride to see this, in the united States of America, fifty-nine years after my Father turned twenty-one, which was the day after VE Day.

He had always said, it was the best birthday present he had ever received, and I am so happy to know that he is not alive to see that, what he, and his fellow soldiers, did storming Normandy Beach, of which he was in the first wave, accomplished.


--WP

An E-mail discussion I am having with several friends.

I receieved the following link from a friend of mine, which had also been Carbon Copied to a few others, and our friend was quite thrilled with it.

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/01/schwarzlayne.htm

However, I find that there is nothing new about these men’s commentary or proposals; did not President George Washington say it best in his Farewell Address of 1796?

Others, and there have been many, have said essentially the exact same thing for well over one-hundred or more years- it is not our business to involve ourselves in foreign wars and conspiracies, let alone, to police the World.

I, on the other-hand, lack the eloquence so often desired to express these sentiments in a palatable fashion, and for me, a simple, “FTW� suffices.

--WP

Professor seeks to ban KKK from campus

Professor seeks to ban KKK from campus

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/05/21/university.klan.ap/

Friday, May 21, 2004 Posted: 7:51 AM EDT (1151 GMT)

"LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- University of Louisville professor Ede Warner has a unique plan to keep the Ku Klux Klan off his campus: He wants the school to ban the group, then argue in court that it's a terrorist organization.

"Nobody has ever done that," Warner said.

Klan members started posting fliers on campus early in the spring semester to protest diversity programs sponsored by the school. That stirred debate among faculty and administrators that has taken place on campuses around the country: how far the university can go to keep some groups off campus and how to best deal with unpopular ideas in the academic setting."

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I had intended to post this, this past weekend, however, it was laid aside due to other obligations.

Nevertheless, I post it today, and, here is very interesting quote by the professor:

"My philosophy is simple. I work hard, listen to arguments and try to make the best decision possible. I won't dismiss any argument out of hand and try to vote based on the competing claims made during the debate. I believe topicality is important, negatives should get sufficient ground, and I reward teams willing to make decisions."

Thus, Professor Warner's statement begs the question: What happened to your philosophy?

--WP

Found at TFL: The Gullibility of the Governed.

The Gullibility of the Governed.
by Edward J. Williamson

"Almost 220 years ago, our founding fathers embarked upon their quest to create an independent nation, a nation in which individuals would be free to prosper according to their abilities, initiative, and self-discipline without the previous requirements of inherited entitlements so endemic to European societies of the eighteenth century; a society in which one need not be born to privilege in order to enjoy a life of plenty, but rather a society where one could create his own opportunities through individual effort, ingenuity, initiative, and achievement; a society in which free and independent citizens could celebrate the results of their efforts, become successful, accumulate wealth, and fairly enjoy the fruits of their own labors. The founding fathers also understood that the greatest threat to individual achievement and the smooth functioning of a fair and free society was government, specifically a strong centralized government such as the one they fought against and set about separating from."

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Exellent article sir.

--WP

The $200 Machine Gun

The $200 Machine Gun

http://www.jpfo.org/commonsense03.htm

Commentary by Richard W. Stevens, Esq.

"Ever heard of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

The 18th Amendment, ratified on January 16, 1919, made it illegal to make, transport, or sell alcoholic beverages anywhere in the United States. January 16, 1920, marked the beginning of the 13-year social experiment called Prohibition.

Americans who learned nothing from the Prohibition experience now heedlessly seek laws that prohibit the sale, possession and use of firearms. Gun prohibitionists don’t realize that their policies will backfire."

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Though, the introduction may seem unrelated to the title, this article is well worth the read and quite short. Here, is the Google web search on Mr. Luty's book, and the newsgroup search produced these results.

--WP

www.bigbrother.gov

www.bigbrother.gov

The feds want to know who’s been visiting the Web site of voting watchdog Bev Harris, and they’re likely to get what they want.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0420/040519_news_blackboxvoting.php

by George Howland Jr.

"In the past 20 months, Harris has become America’s leading critic of electronic voting (see “Black Box Backlash,� March 10). Her reporting on the problems with new computer voting machines has been a key component in a national, grassroots movement to safeguard voting. Her astounding discoveries have resulted in important studies by distinguished computer scientists. She has been leaked thousands of pages of internal memos from Diebold Election Systems, one of the country’s leading electronic voting companies. She is frequently cited by newspapers across the country and is a guest on national and local television and radio stations. Thousands of people visit her Web site and participate in its reader forums. Now, Harris claims, the government wants our names, forum messages, and computer addresses.

Following the advice of her lawyer, Harris will not talk publicly about the government’s investigation. Seattle Weekly used postings from Harris’ Web site and interviewed other people involved with the investigation to put together this account."

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I found this article, via WorldNetDaily.com, and I say that this courageous woman, Bev Harris and her website and it's companion, deserves a long and hearty thank you from every one of us- well, maybe not Diebold. One can find quite a bit of information and what people think on Diebold, via this Google search link and information on electronic voting, here and there, as Diebold is not the only game in town.

If, perchance though, anyone thinks that electronic voting is a good thing, then I have some swamp- er, wetlands and old growth-bottom land for sale- cheap. (ACT FAST! Plots are going quickly!)

--WP

From Drudge: Officials To Look for People Wearing Bulky Jackets on Warm Days

FLASH - From the Drudge Report Flash

FBI BULLETIN: LOOKOUT FOR SUICIDE BOMBERS INSIDE THE U.S.
Thu May 20 2004 19:09:51 ET

Warns Officials To Look for People Wearing Bulky Jackets on Warm Days; Smell of Chemicals; Trailing Wires from Jackets Bombers May Disguise Selves As Pregnant Women

"New York - The FBI has disseminated to 18,000 law enforcement agencies an intelligence bulletin advising police officials to be on the lookout for suicide bombers attempting to strike inside the US, TIME's Elaine Shannon reports today on TIME.com. The lightly classsified bulletin, headlined "Possible suicide bomber indicators," and circulated earlier today (May 20) via the FBO's secure Law Enforcement Online (LEO) Intranet, warns local badge-carriers to look for obvious signs of trouble - people wearing heavy, bulky jackets on warm days, smelling of chemicals, trailing wires from their jackets - and, as well, more subtle ones, such as tightly clenched fists. Someone who never shows his palms could be gripping a detonator rigged to go off when a button is released. "If you shoot him, you're still not safe because his hands relax and the bomb explodes," says a counter-terrorism official, TIME reports.

The FBI bulletin also notes that suicide bombers may disguise themselves in stolen military, police or firefighter's garb or as pregnant women, TIME reports.

Developing..."


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I wonder if this is the type of individual they warn about, or possibly these boys, maybe the men who wear these heavy clothes or even these? Alternatively, could they possibly be worried about these fine folks?

Certainly, all of these types of apparel do tend to make one perspire. Particularly, if our fine boys in blue get a tad nervous...

--WP

Bill Cosby: Blacks can't speak English

Bill Cosby: Blacks can't speak English
NAACP leaders stunned by remarks of prominent comedian

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38565

"Cosby said, according to Leiby: "Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids – $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'

He added: "They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"

The Post said Cosby also targeted imprisoned blacks.

"These are not political criminals," he said. "These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, [saying] 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"

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Hmm, and to think, I once read a very entertaining End of the World story twenty years ago, and Bill Cosby was leading the children to revolution via his Jell-O Pudding commercials- subliminally of course.

--WP

"...a firearm is loaded if the ammunition for that firearm is stored in proximity to the firearm..."

Currently in the Kalifornia State Sentate:

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1101-1150/sb_1140_bill_20040426_amended_sen.html

SB 1140, as amended, Scott. Firearms: minors.

"Existing law defines "loaded firearm." Existing law provides that a person commits the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm" if, among other things, he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or injury, as specified.

This bill would expand the definition of 2nd degree criminal storage of a firearm by specifying that a firearm is loaded if the ammunition for that firearm is stored in proximity to the firearm so that gaining access to the firearm also provides immediate access to the ammunition for that firearm. This bill would remove from the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm" the requirement that the child gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child' s parent or legal guardian. Because this bill would expand the definition of an existing crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program."


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How people live there, without constantly tar & feathering those elected criminals, is beyond me, but does prove that they are not just on a national level...


--WP

Massive Gun Owner Sell Out Of Basic Rights

Massive Gun Owner Sell Out Of Basic Rights

http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/04/05/17/gaddy.htm

"In ever increasing numbers, gun owners in this country have, by their actions, said to government: You are my master, all rights flow from you, I bow down before you and will beg, no, even pay for your permission to have my firearms. I have watched this occur here in my home state of New Mexico since January of this year, although it has been happening in many other states over the past decade or so."

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I became aware of this article via the Liberty Round Table discussion list. And one of the subscribers, Lawhobbit, had this to say to the list:

How would you answer a judge who asked you, “Did you not acknowledge the right of the state to control firearms when you petitioned the state for the "right" to carry and paid them for it?�

"And the answer is, "No, Your Honor, I did not. I paid the State for a piece of paper - costing me essentially a dollar thirty five a month - that would act as cheap insurance against interference by agents of the State in the exercise of my natural and constitutional right to keep and bear the tools of self defense. My payment of this cost was no different than my keeping of a small sum of money to give to any other criminal who'd seek to deprive me of life or liberty. My paying off a robber does not mean that I acquiesce to his behavior, only that it's less costly in this day and age than it is to defend the right. Money can be replaced - my life and liberty cannot. Much the same with my payment of money to the State for a card that would prevent it from depriving me of life or liberty on a whim. It's a cost of doing business in the modern age, and one that's preferential to the consequences."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This man's honesty, intelligence, and forthrightness deserves a posting.

--WP

Prefer a handshake

Prefer a handshake

http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm
May 19th, 2004

"The nation's lawmakers are increasingly using e-mail to communicate with constituents, but these same elected officials don't trust the authenticity of e-mails sent to them.

"What we heard was that [special] interest groups can generate tons of e-mails from anywhere, and the legislators don't even know if they're from authentic people," says Lilliard Richardson, associate professor at University of Missouri at Columbia's Truman School of Public Affairs.

"So, they don't know anything about these people, yet their e-mail boxes are filling up. Rather than 'grass roots,' the legislators call this abuse 'AstroTurfing.' "

Mr. Richardson says nearly 80 percent of respondents in his survey expressed concern about fake e-mail. Even photographs can't be trusted, as several news organizations learned of late after publishing doctored photos surrounding the Iraqi war.

Most legislators surveyed, he adds, expressed concern that relying upon e-mail communication could result in biased representation, as many constituents do not have access to e-mail. They also were concerned about the confidentiality of e-mail, and whether the sender was actually a constituent. For this reason, many prefer more traditional means of interfacing with their constituents.

"Legislators still place a higher value on phone calls or letters and especially personal visits," Mr. Richardson says."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though, once can argue that this is a legitimate concern, I rather think that it is, because now, these self-styled potentates and princes, find out, rather quickly, just exactly what the unwashed masses really think of them and their congressional crimes, and it is easier to make excuses in just this fashion.

--WP

Pentagon may use IRS to find reservists

Pentagon may use IRS to find reservists

http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/05180002aaa0076b.upi&Sys=rmmiller&Fid=NATIONAL&Type=News&Filter=National%20News

"FORTH WORTH, Texas, May 18 (UPI) -- The Defense Department has proposed using U.S. Internal Revenue Service data to track down reservists with which they have lost contact.

The measure, which department officials say has been vetted by its lawyers, would allow the Pentagon to access the addresses for tens of thousands of people who still face active-duty recall, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Congress and President Bush would have to approve an amendment to the tax code in order legalize the practice.

Lt. Col. Bob Stone, a spokesman for reserve affairs at the Pentagon, said the proposal is unrelated to the military's current troop shortage and has been in development for several years. "While the military today is comprised of an all-volunteer force, every individual who volunteers for service in the armed forces voluntarily accepts an eight-year military service obligation," Stone said.

Troops are obligated to keep the military informed with updated contact information, but 34 percent of former Army soldiers cannot be tracked."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was not this promised?

--WP

A Very Interesting Blog

Mr. Sharkey sent me a couple of blog links this morning, and the one I am posting is by a Saudi:

The Religious Policeman

Very interesting reading.

--WP

The Firing Line is BACK!

The Firing Line is BACK!

One of the finest sites ever dedicated to firearms!

--WP

How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.

In from Mr. Sharkey:

THE GRAY ZONE
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.
Issue of 2004-05-24
Posted 2004-05-15

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040524fa_fact

"The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt America’s prospects in the war on terror.

According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence officials, the Pentagon's operation, known inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld's long-standing desire to wrest control of America's clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A."

Information links on Stephen Cambone- the key player:

http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/cambone_bio.html

http://www.defenselink.mil/usdi/camboneinterview.html

From the above:

"What is the purpose of the horizontal integration study your office is doing with the CIA?

A Its origins are in work that we've been doing here in the Defense Department, with components in both the DCI's office and in the CIA, since the spring or summer of 2001. We have been working hard to think about what our combined needs are going to be in the way of intelligence capabilities, not today but 15 to 20 years in the future. And the reason for focusing on that time frame is that it's going to take us a considerable period of time to develop the new capabilities, processes and organizations that will be needed. Over the course of two years, we arrived at a point where we began to look at the value added by making information more easily accessible across the intelligence community, both defense and national."

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Steven_A._Cambone

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2003_hr/022703cambone.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think Hersh is right on.

Go ahead, put the spooks under DOD, now wouldn't that be lovely? Further, if you believe the fifteen to twenty years, then I have an investment for you.

Mr. Sharkey

"Hey sport. You connect the dots. You pick up the pieces."

"Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual"

"Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual"

Two days ago, Mr. Sharkey sent me the link to this manual. I was not able to finish reading it until this morning.

It is part of the National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 27, which deals with the CIA in Latin America, which in turn, is part of the National Security Archives hosted by George Washington University.

Perusing the site can be quite educational, and worth the investment in time for the newly paranoid, as well as those who have been for quite some time.

--WP

On Wayne Mann

I just wanted to publicly thank Wayne Mann for his ten years of sending out news clippings.

More times, than I can remember, Wayne's clippings have been of a great usefulness to me, and the many others that subscribe.

In addition, for what it is worth, I have added a link to his site.

--WP

CSPAN2 airs debate on the book The Bias Against Guns on Saturday at 1PM

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/cspan.csp?command=dprogram&record=177262668

For those interested, CSPAN2 airs debate on the book, The Bias Against
Guns, by John Lott, Saturday at 1PMEDT and again tonight at Midnight Eastern Dayling Time.

Jim Kessler from Americans for Gun Safety as well as Lloyd Cohen from
George Mason University Law School debate the book.

Presidential push fails to quell GOP fear of Patriot Act

Presidential push fails to quell GOP fear of Patriot Act

http://www.hillnews.com/news/051204/patriot.aspx

By Alexander Bolton

"A group of libertarian-minded Republicans in Congress is blocking President Bush’s effort to strengthen domestic counterterrorism laws and reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, which the president has made one of his top domestic priorities this year.

As a result of this opposition, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was forced last week to cancel panel consideration of legislation that would have given law-enforcement officials more tools to pursue suspected terrorists."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who is willing to bet, that next year, this un-Constitutional POS will pass, and our elected leaders will say that the public wanted it, so they had to pass it as opposed to upholding their Oath of Office?

Further, the only "libertarian-minded Republican" that I know of, is Representative Ron Paul.

--WP

Editorial: A failure of leadership at the highest levels

Published: May 17, 2004

Editorial: A failure of leadership at the highest levels

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2903288.php

"Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war.

Indeed, the damage done to the U.S. military and the nation as a whole by the horrifying photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious prison is incalculable.

But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons.

There is no excuse for the behavior displayed by soldiers in the now-infamous pictures and an even more damning report by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. Every soldier involved should be ashamed.

But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and its civilian leadership."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Sharkey asked me, when was the last time I read, in a semi-official u.S. government publication, the calling for not just "...the highest reaches of the military hierarchy," but, "...its civilian leadership," heads as well.

I do not recall- ever, until I read this article.

I must presume, that some of the soldiers at the Army Times are feeling a tad paranoid for those six, since they will be scapegoats, and I do not think they like it.

--WP

The Fruits of Appeasement


http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13106

By Victor Davis Hanson
City Journal | April 23, 2004

"Imagine a different November 4, 1979, in Teheran. Shortly after Iranian terrorists storm the American embassy and take some 90 American hostages, President Jimmy Carter announces that Islamic fundamentalism is not a legitimate response to the excess of the Shah but a new and dangerous fascism that threatens all that liberal society holds dear. And then he issues an ultimatum to Teheran’s leaders: Release the captives or face a devastating military response.

When that demand is not met, instead of freezing Iran’s assets, stopping the importation of its oil, or seeking support at the UN, Carter orders an immediate blockade of the country, followed by promises to bomb, first, all of its major military assets, and then its main government buildings and residences of its ruling mullocracy. The Ayatollah Khomeini may well have called his bluff; we may well have tragically lost the hostages (151 fewer American lives than the Iranian-backed Hezbollah would take four years later in a single day in Lebanon). And there may well have been the sort of chaos in Teheran that we now witness in Baghdad. But we would have seen it all in 1979—and not in 2001, after almost a quarter-century of continuous Middle East terrorism, culminating in the mass murder of 3,000 Americans and the leveling of the World Trade Center.

The twentieth century should have taught the citizens of liberal democracies the catastrophic consequences of placating tyrants. British and French restraint over the occupation of the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the absorption of the Czech Sudetenland, and the incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia did not win gratitude but rather Hitler’s contempt for their weakness. Fifty million dead, the Holocaust, and the near destruction of European civilization were the wages of “appeasement�—a term that early-1930s liberals proudly embraced as far more enlightened than the old idea of “deterrence� and “military readiness.�

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Hanson's article, is well worth the read.

However, I wish he would have asked President Bush, why he did not threaten Saudi Arabia with the same, on September 12th, 2001, instead of allowing the bin Laden family to fly out of the u.S., when all commercial flights were grounded.

--WP

Hornswoggled?

Have you been Hornswoggled?

http://www.flagday.com/history/hornswoggled/index.shtml

Which Flag is Which? by Richard McDonald

"The people of the United States actually have two national flags: one for our military government and another for the civil. Each one has fifty stars in its canton and thirteen red and white stripes, but there are several important differences.

Although most Americans think of the Stars and Stripes (above left) as their only flag, it is actually for military affairs only. The other one, meant by its makers for wider use (peacetime), has vertical stripes with blue stars on a white field (above right). You can see this design, which bears civil jurisdiction, in the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs flags, but their service insignias replace the fifty stars.

I first learned of the separate, civil flag when I was reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850. The introduction, titled "The Custom House," includes this description:

From the loftiest point of its roof, during precisely three and a half hours of each forenoon, floats or droops, in breeze or calm, the banner of the republic; but with the thirteen stripes turned vertically, instead of horizontally, and thus indicating that a civil, and not a military post of Uncle Sam's government, is here established.

It took me two years of digging before I found a picture that matched what he was describing: my second clue was an original Illuminated History of North America (1860). If this runs against your beliefs, look up those two references."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up until now, I have, and was by my original post. However, a very detailed article on this, which the man spent quite a bit of time at, should be read. He proves the post is actually false.

Mea Culpa.

--WP

Senate Committee Passes Bill To Lower Voting Age To 14

Posted: 05.07.04 @ 12:10 a.m. Updated: 05.07.04 @ 12:55 p.m.
Senate Committee Passes Bill To Lower Voting Age To 14

http://sacobserver.com/government/050704/voting_age_bill.shtml

Proposed State Constitutional Amendment Seeks To Increase Participation

By Susie Fowkes | SACOBSERVER.COM WIRE SERVICES

"(BCN) - A bill designed to get youth more involved in the elections process passed the state Senate Committee on Elections and Reappointment on Wednesday, May 5.

SB 1606 by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose) would lower the state's legal voting age to 14. The catch is that it would take four 14- or 15-year-olds to make up a whole vote.

The proposed constitutional amendment would give 14- and 15-year-olds 1/4 of a full vote, while 16- and 17-year-olds would get 1/2 a full vote.

Vasconcellos dubbed his bill "Training Wheels for Citizenship," and says it is designed to encourage early and regular voter participation among young Californians by affording them a real live stake in the political process."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Horseshit!

This is nothing more than an attempt by the Democraps in California, to manipulate children into permanently keeping them in power. These children will be lead by the socialist/communist teachers into voting for the Democraps.

People do not like conspiracy theories because they have been programmed to, but this is a prime example, just as motor/voter is!

--WP

Is this not what a Democratic Republic is Supposed to Provide the People?

Text of Nationally Televised Address to Iraq by Ambassador Paul Bremer

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-Bremer.html

"Militias also threaten security. Ultimately, Iraq cannot be secure, free and united if people can set up armed militias and define the law of the land to suit their own ambitions. That is why all armed elements in Iraq must be controlled by the central government, not just now, but during the next government and the next and the next.

This applies equally to those armed groups who fought valiantly against Saddam's tyranny. For some time we have been engaged in talks with these groups over how their members can be integrated into Iraq's armed forces or move into civilian life. I urge our partners in these talks to move quickly to comply with the Transitional Administrative Law, including those provisions which prohibit militias and other armed groups."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I received this in from one of my news subscriptions, the Privacy Alert. I then went out and read the speech, and the lines above truly stuck out, along with many others...

However, now you know why the new Iraqi Constitution does not have anything like the united States Constitution or Bill of Rights (which should have labeled the Restrictions upon the Central Government, because that is what these words actually are). Interestingly enough is the lack of an amendment similar or identical to the u.S. Bill of Rights Second Amendment.

I remember last year, when the first drafts of the Iraqi constitution were spoken of in the news, and comments were requested by the u.S. Government, I telephoned the White House, and suggested that we give the Iraq's our's, particularly in light of the fact that our government was no longer using it- I was hung-up upon…

Oh, and by the way, just how many governments, "...during the next government and the next and the next.� are the Iraqi people going to get?

--WP

Microsoft reward snags suspected Sasser author

Microsoft reward snags suspected Sasser author

http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-5208762.html?tag=nefd.top

"Aware of this program, individuals in Germany approached Microsoft investigators," Smith said. "We did not hesitate and made a decision to offer a reward of $250,000."

Smith wouldn't say how many people came forward, except to indicate it was fewer than five. Moreover, while he would not comment on whether a relationship existed between the Sasser suspect and the informants, he did say that they both live in the same part of Germany.

"These were individuals who were aware of who the perpetrator was; they did not stumble upon this because of technical analysis," Smith said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As with most crimes "broken" by police, the facts are actually a "tad" different than what is initially reported.

Though, I do not care for virus or worm writers who release such things into the wild to cause havoc or destruction, I post this as proof of the statement above- TRUST NO ONE.

--wp

Patsy McVeigh

by Mr. Sharkey, professional paranoid.

When NPR's "All Things Considered" does a story on the others involved in the OKC bombing, the conspiracy theory has come out the dark of such publications as “Solider of Fortune� in to the Saabs of Marin at drive time.

James Pate years ago showed links in his articles in SOF between McVeigh and the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) but it was dismissed as right wing paranoia.

Now NPR does a story on it and brings more pieces to the table.

Go listen to the link and ask just why such a rush to convict and execute? Who knew what and when? Why does the FBI laboratory keep losing evidence? Why won't the FBI check the fingerprints, found in McVeigh's motel the night before the bombing with those of know ARA members?

“Attorneys representing Terry Nichols in a state trial that could result in his execution present evidence suggesting Timothy McVeigh had other accomplices in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City -- the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.� Hear the whole story at this NPR link.

"Hey, kemosabe! Long time no see. Hey sport. You connect the dots. You pick up the pieces."

TINY TIPPERR II

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix_u.htm
(May 7th, 2004)

GOV. PATAKI'S 30G FLORIDA PAYDAY

"GOV. Pataki is proving that it really does pay to have friends in high places. Pataki will receive $30,000 tomorrow when he delivers the commencement address at little-known Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Post State Editor Fredric U. Dicker reports that the speech was arranged by Anthony Casale, vice president and executive assistant to Lynn University president Donald Ross. Casale just happens to be a close Pataki political ally whom the governor once appointed as head of the New York State Liquor Authority. The two also served together as Republican colleagues in the state Assembly. Pataki, whose campaign once fiercely criticized former Gov. Mario Cuomo for accepting paid speaking engagements, has delivered very few commencement addresses at colleges in New York state since taking office in 1995, and when the governor does speak in New York, he doesn't charge. A spokesman from Pataki's office confirmed the Florida speaking engagement and the fee."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And to think, he could only afford a $1.00 tip on a $17.00 bill, just the other day (See May 4th posting TINY TIPPER).

--WP

Hysteria at work?

What's the latest take on Washington, D.C., by Travel & Leisure magazine?

http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm (May7th, 2004)

"Surely this was not what Pierre Charles L'Enfant intended when the Frenchman proclaimed that he would create an American capital 'worthy of a great republic.' "

Yes, the magazine rightly points out, increased security is necessary.

But is the federal government taking too many precautions and turning the nation's capital into a city "under siege?"

Judy Scott Feldman, an art historian and president of the National Coalition to Save our Mall, is quoted as saying that row after row of concrete barriers around the city "reflect fear, not the optimism inherent in a democracy."

"The Secret Service and the [National] Park Service think in terms of the worst-case scenario," she says. "Our capital was designed as a symbol of democratic government and the openness of our society. The security measures have a symbolism that becomes oppressive."

Travel & Leisure contributing editor Michael Z. Wise recalled that Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York warned: "The task is to keep our nerve in the face of obvious, but scarcely overwhelming threat. We begin to look as if we are afraid, and we ought not."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miss Judy Scott Feldman has it right about the barriers reflecting fear, but she also does not seem to understand what our Founding Fathers created- a Republic.

Maybe that is why she considers calling WWII Memorial design, fascist. Stating that saying so "is not a moral judgment," but in fact, "it is an historical observation."

Getting back to the barriers though, I seem to recall, that most of those concrete barriers were put up due to a fear of this nations citizens.

Ah well, what is the old "canard"? "Fear the government that fears its people."

--WP

IN HONOR OF MRS. SHARKEY

Tomorrow in Texas history, Mrs. Sharkey won't let me forget her 2nd Great Grandfather was the Lt. Colonel for the Texas 4th that day.

Tomorrow, May 6, 2004 is the 140th anniversary of the supreme sacrifice that the Texas Brigade made in the Wilderness of Virginia.

The Army of Northern Virginia(ANV) was on the verge of being split in two by the massive attack of Hancock's and Burnside's corps along the Orange Plank Road employing 5 divisions against A. P. Hill's defense line of 2 divisions. Relentlessly the Federals pushed their way almost unopposed up the Orange Plank Road until they approached the Widow Tapp's farm - the only cleared area in the vicinity. General Lee and his staff watched nervously as A.P. Hill's Corp was disintegrating by the massive Federal assault. The situation for the ANV was critical. General Lee sent General Wilcox to hurry General Longstreet and the 1st Corps forward.

The Texas Brigade - 800 Texans and Arkansans -- in the front of Longstreet's Corps advanced at the double-quick with tattered battle flags flying and surged down the Orange Plank Road ready for action. A scene of utter confusion met their eyes as they approached the rear of A.P. Hill's fast disappearing battle line.

As General Gregg - C.O. of the Texas Brigade - was forming the Brigade in line from column-of-fours, General Lee approached General Gregg and inquired of him what troops was he commanding. "The Texas Brigade," Gregg proudly answered. " I am glad to see it!" replied Lee, adding, "When you go in there, I wish you to give those men the cold steel. They will stand and fire all day, and never move unless you charge them." Saluting General Lee, Gregg took his leave, rode to the center of the Texas Brigade and shouted: "Attention, Texas Brigade! The eyes... of General Lee... are upon you! Forward...march."

One of the most famous and dramatic incidents of the war occurred at this moment - the famous "Lee to the rear" episode. Lee removed his gray felt hat and lifting himself in the stirrups was heard to say by those soldiers nearest him, "Texans always move them!" General Lee greatly affected by the response to his words, moved through the opening in the Texas Brigade and attempted to lead the Texans as they started their advance. As General Lee urged Traveller on, several of the soldiers nearest him sprang to the front and surrounding Traveller , grabbed at the reins in an effort to stay General Lee's forward course. Words to the effect of "General Lee to the rear," "We won't move until you go back," Go back General Lee, go back," were heard.

As General Gregg advanced across the clearing of the Widow Tapp's farm, his regiments were aligned in what had become their usual battle order - the 3rd Arkansas on the left and the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas posted in that order on the Arkansans' right.

And so the Texas Brigade crashed into the Federal infantry and thus saved the ANV from probable destruction that day - but the cost was staggering - of 800 Texas Brigade men less than half stood standing and more would die later - and the Texas Brigade after that day for all practical purposes ceased to be an effective military combat force due to their meager numbers - less than 10% of the number in the Old Brigade just three years earlier.

YES - this day was Texas' Finest Hour.

Long Remember.

The above extracted from Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard by H.B. Simpson, 1970.

My NO SEAT-BELT Ticket

At the request of several folks who know me, I was asked to post the story of a ticket I received, just before Thanksgiving last year, four blocks from my home.

Here it is...

PART I

Last November, I received a ticket for no seat belt from a DPS trooper. The trooper did a U-Turn and was in back of another car that was immediately behind me and did not stop me until I turned north on my street. The trooper, LG treated it as a Felony Stop. He told me to exit the vehicle and come to the back and then screamed at me when I exited my P/U about the knife in my back left pocket. When I told him it was a knife, he screamed at me to leave it in the truck (left index finger pointing at me while right hand had his pistol partially drawn. I did so and then as I turned, he went spastic about the Surefire: "Is that a knife!?!" Which he repeated two more times, until he noticed the Leatherman in the sheath to the right of my belt buckle, and then repeated that questions three times for it. I pulled the Surefire out and with it pointing down pressed it's button to show him what it was and explaining that it was a flashlight while doing so. He then screamed at me to leave it in the truck to, and "that one too!" I complied.

I then walked to the back of the P/U and handed him both the DL and CHL, which was on top. He handed my CHL back to me immediately and told me to wait close to the sidewalk. I did. After about three minutes, he pulled his spastic routine again and asked me if I had my weapon on me, and I told him, quite bluntly that yes, and that is the only reason I handed him my CHL. He then asked me, again in that same spastic manner, where my weapon was. I asked him which one and that flustered him even more. He then asked where my guns were, with the felony stop stance, and I told him strong and weak sides as I only had the brace of .45's on me at the time. "Put them in the truck, put them in the truck!" (At least that time, he only told me twice). I complied once more.

Now, the thing is, I had a Spyderco Endura in my right rear pocket and the outline was plain to see but he never said one word about it nor did he ask me if I had any other weapons on me and he watched me walk to the drivers side and back.

The rest of it went, as you would think, stupid questions and the eyeballing. After he ticketed me for no insurance (I did not have my card with me but just had renewed it the previous day on the internet with my Insurance Company as I do every month) and no seat belt, I told him that was the first time I had been treated in such a fashion and I asked him why did so and why he disarmed me as no DPS or cop ever had. He told me for safety, and I then had to ask him three times: "Whose?"

"Mine!"

He then got in his P/U and waited until I got in mine and buckled up and drove away. He followed me to my house four blocks North.

PART II

Last December, I had to go the local Judge's office for the ticket and she was late forty minutes. While waiting, those of us waiting started talking about our tickets and I found out two women had received the same treatment and was really surprised about it. I did not ask the women for the trooper's name. When it was my turn to see the judge, T., I told her what happened and she asked me about Surefire and Leatherman. I showed her both and she was O.K. with them and then she told me to fight it, that it was my right to fight it and this type of treatment had to stop. I figured I had a good shot, so I said I would fight it. She told me that they would mail me my court date and she would see me then.

PART III

I had my court date in late March at 13:30. I arrived at 12:50 and parked in front of her offices in the middle of the road parking zone as the two parking spots directly in front of her offices were marked for her and Police Only. Her offices are supposed to open at 13:00 but did not until 13:10. Folks had already lined up and actually left so I when I got in and signed up, was the third one on the sheet. She arrived at 13:40 with her granddaughter who obviously had gone through chemo as she had no hair and a bloated face. The girl then ran right away to one of the office computers and started playing on it as the judged rushed into her court. There were now fifteen of us (I counted) in a 12x12 room with barely any A/C. The trooper arrived a bit after two (I checked my phone again to be sure) and more folks had arrived. By this time, I tired of waiting, so I went to the desk and before I could ask, another man asked if those with lawyers were going first, and the girls there said yes, those with lawyers went first and I then asked: "Why? Wasn't my time just as valuable?" A young man then said" That's the way it works..." I quickly responded that: "No., our justice system is not supposed to work that way!" and everyone went quiet.

I sat back down and waited until 15:15 to see the judge and as soon as I walked in she told me sit down which I did and trooper G. jumped right up and said: "Judge, I want to make sure Mr. WP does not have his weapons on him." I told him that I knew the CHL laws and that my weapons were secured in my P/U. He then responded with: "What about your knife!?!" I said yes, I had my pocketknife and stood up to show it to the judge and she said that a knife is a weapon and could not be in her courtroom and told me to take it my P/U. I stared to go and trooper G. then asked: "What about those?" referring to my Surefire and Leatherman and I again showed them to the judge and reminded her that she was O.K. with them when I was in her court in December. She told me to take the knife to my P/U. I hurriedly headed out to my P/U and dropped off both the Cold Steel and the Spyderco. On my return, another trooper who wanted to know what the Surefire and LeatherMan were and had a second trooper flanking me from the left stopped me in the middle of the street. The trooper who asked me about the Surefire and Leatherman told me to put them in the truck and then asked me to empty my pockets and told me to also leave my 2" SAXET Swiss-Army knock off and the Buck Knife 1½" multi tool as well. The trooper did not ask me to take my vest off so I said nothing about the two spare mags in the SOB mag pouch and left them alone and returned to her courtroom and sat down.

The first thing out of trooper G.'s mouth, as I was sitting down again, was: "Judge, I want it on record that Mr. WP came into court with a weapon!" I said yes, a pocketknife and as soon as I understood that it was a mistake, I did as the judge told me. My tone was not friendly, but sarcastic.

The judge then had the ADA ask her questions of trooper G. and that is when I found out that he has been with DPS for nine-years. The ADA asked boilerplate questions of him and about my stop. He stated that he saw me without my seat belt but when he pulled me over I did have it on. The judge asked me if I had any questions and said of course. I then asked the trooper about his stop of me and also about his actions. I then asked if he was so observant why did he immediately hand me back my CHL particularly after his actions regarding my knife and why did it take him three minutes to then tell me to put my guns in the truck.

The judge asked me if I was questioning the ticket or his actions and I told her both. The judge then asked me how I knew it was three minutes as she had been in here since one o-clock and she could not tell three minutes. Before I could tell her she had only been in the office since 13:40, she then told me "the trooper saved your life."

My immediate response was to tell her that: "Judge, that is PURE speculation on your part."

She then told me that these laws were to protect us and that if anything had happened to me, his superiors would have been on his back about not writing Mr. WP a ticket. I told her that I have a seat belt and an air bag and if that did not save me then nothing would. She ignored me and told me again he saved my life because even if I was wearing it and had an air bag, there were crazies on the road who could hit me. Trooper G.'s chest visibly swelled. He then told the story of a "veteran" trooper who had been shot last year by a seventy year old man over a seat belt stop. (Anyone remember this- I do. The trooper's name was Randall Vetter, the man who shot him was Melvin Hale, and IIRC, there was a bit more to the story than trooper G.'s recollection).

I again told her that was speculation and that and as of late, it was fashionable to call police and firemen "FIRST RESPONDERS," and trooper G.'s chest swelled even more. I then told the court that that was a lie. If I am a victim of crime, I am the first to respond to it and that I take my safety quite seriously and responsibly; that I have family, and that was one of the reasons I have my CHL. Further, I put on average on my P/U 25K miles per year and that I knew the road and the rules of the road.

I then went on to say that trooper G. also appeared angry the day he gave me my ticket and acted as if he did not want to be there, which he immediately said no and the judge interrupted him to tell me that he did his job because he cared about the people and just wanted to see them safe.

She then immediately told me that everyone was telling her the same story today and that it was always the troopers were wrong and that she was finding me guilty and to take my folder to the front desk.

I knew I had lost so I got up, took the folder and then thanked the judge for telling me to fight the ticket and she burst from her chair, and so did trooper G., and told me: "You eat your words! You eat your words!"

I looked at her and figured she was ready to throw me in jail and said: "All right judge I apologize." She then ranted while leaning far over her desk: "No! You eat your words! You eat your words! I told you it was your right to fight it!"

I stopped and pointed at her with my left index finger and said: "Judge, I told you I apologize!"

She then sat down and as I walked out of her courtroom and she commanded me to be careful with her door, as it was broke. A girl ran up and told me it was O.K. and she closed the door. As soon as I turned around, I was asked if I got what I wanted, from someone in the waiting room, and said quite loudly: "HELL NO! I got no satisfaction" and then went to pay the fine and was told that they only accepted Money Orders. I pointed out that Federal Reserve Notes were good for all debts Public and Private and was rebuffed and again told only Money Orders. "Why don't you go get one and come right back?" I told her NO, that I had other things to do and asked about the next day and was told that it was O.K. I told the girl to write down on paper what my fine was, took the Post-It Note and left.

Three people followed me out to ask me what happened because they said they were real curious to know why I "stormed out" and the DPS Troopers followed me (when I took my knives to the truck). I said I did not storm out, but walked very quickly out. They then wanted to know about the shouting and my ticket and I told them what happened. Yes, I was pissed, but more at the judge's outburst then the guilty finding.

--WP

The Handwriting Is On The Wall

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/body_headline.cfm?id=3896

The Mogambo Guru

"St Petersburg, Florida - Tom Webber, a reader of the MoGu who foolishly thinks that by sending me things to read that I will maybe get an education and hopefully smarten up one of these days, sent an interesting but somewhat lengthy article entitled "Fractional Reserve Banking As Economic Parasitism (PDF LINK)," by a guy named Vladimir Z. Nuri.

The thrust is that the science of physics applies directly to economics, as in "applying statistical and computational modeling techniques to come up with...theories of money flow in...large economies," and there is now an emerging body of research actually doing this, and he calls it "econophysics."
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The investment of your time, to read the Mogambo Guru’s article (as well as his archives), the sixty-two pages in the PDF, and browsing Mr. Nuri’s posts, are well spent.

--WP

TINY TIPPER

Found, May 4th, 2004

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix_u.htm

"GOV. Pataki proved he's a fiscal conservative after all the other night - at least when it comes to tipping bartenders. Our spy reports that Pataki and his wife, Libby, bought a cocktail and a soda during intermission of "The Valkyrie" at the Met Opera. Pataki paid his $17 tab with a $20 bill. "He thought about it for a while, then left a $1 tip and pocketed the other two bucks," sniffs our source, who happens to be a bartender himself. "You'd think that the governor, of all people, would leave a better tip than that."
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Yes, but it was his two dollars!

--WP

U.S. Reveals Iraqi Prisoner Deaths as Scandal Grows

U.S. Reveals Iraqi Prisoner Deaths as Scandal Grows

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=716&e=11&u=/nm/20040505/ts_nm/iraq_abuse_usa_dc

By Alan Elsner

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Iraqi prisoners were murdered by Americans and 23 other deaths are being investigated in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), the United States revealed on Tuesday as the Bush administration tried to contain growing outrage over the abuse of Iraqi detainees."

"The prisoner abuse is so disgusting, so degrading, that I think humanity has been hurt broadly," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. He said it could undercut U.S. efforts to bring democracy to Iraq."

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I am sure that quite a few folks are thinking that the CIA is out of control, but I do not think so, at least no more than usual- particularly since 9/11.

I am sure they are under orders, and several of those type of operatives decided to be very diligent in their efforts and then maybe several dozen murders, but why be surprised?

I have this to ask Senator Frist: Do you, or anyone else, remember Ruby Ridge, Waco, and several others...

--WP

"For the power to create money is a heady and profitable privilege indeed."

Inflationary Fiat Paper

http://mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1503

"For nearly a half-century the United States and the rest of the world have experienced an unprecedented continuous and severe inflation. It has dawned on an increasing number of economists that the fact that over the same half-century the world has been on an equally unprecedented fiat paper standard is no mere coincidence. Never have the world's moneys been so long cut off from their metallic roots. During the century of the gold standard from the end of the Napoleonic wars until World War I, on the other hand, prices generally fell year after year, except for such brief wartime interludes as the Civil War.[1] During wartime, the central governments engaged in massive expansion of the money supply to finance the war effort. In peacetime, on the other hand, monetary expansion was small compared to the outpouring of goods and services attendant upon rapid industrial and economic development. Prices, therefore, were normally allowed to fall. The enormous expenditures of World War I forced all the warring governments to go off the gold standard,[2] and unwillingness to return to a genuine gold standard eventually led to a radical shift to fiat paper money during the financial crisis of 1931-33.

It is my contention that there should be no mystery about the unusual chronic inflation plaguing the world since the 1930s. The dollar is the American currency unit (and the pound sterling, the franc, the mark, and the like, are equivalent national currency units), and since 1933, there have been no effective restrictions on the issue of these currencies by the various nation-states. In effect, each nation-state, since 1933, and especially since the end of all gold redemption in 1971, has had the unlimited right and power to create paper currency which will be legal tender in its own geographic area. It is my contention that if any person or organization ever obtains the monopoly right to create money, that person or organization will tend to use this right to the hilt. The reason is simple: Anyone or any group empowered to manufacture money virtually out of thin air will tend to exercise that right, and with considerable enthusiasm. For the power to create money is a heady and profitable privilege indeed."
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On April April 7th, the price for once ounce of gold was $422.00USD, currently it is $391.50. On April 29th, it was $382.75.

On April April 5th, the price for once ounce of silver was $8.20USD, currently it is $6.02. On April 29th, it was $5.57.

Most of you are saying: "SO WHAT!" And I say your WRONG!

Take some time and dig into links that are provided here, and then GOOGLE for how much actual GOLD & SILVER there is.

Then, take a real hard look the debt clock, and how the system is rigged.

Go ahead, pull out that fiat dollar and say, "SO WHAT!"

--WP