PantyBomber Fallout; Self Defense; Joe Louis and culture

As if any of us needed additional reasons not to fly again, we’re told the system did work and then that this was an isolated incident, by a POTUS not bothered enough about the near-murder or 300 Americans (not to mention Ontarians on the ground) to even put on a tie.

If we ever DO move to Texas and then cap & tax passes…my family will never see me again, will they? Someone invent a transporter, please, so my poor mother doesn’t spend her life in tears. Because I will NEVER FLY AGAIN. It’s a miserable, painful experience all around without our being poked and prodded, scanned, and having our carefully-packed belongings rifled through and, more often than not, stolen. Lobsters on their way to the pot have a more comfortable time of it.

Well. A few goodies, perhaps? I’m up to my ears in year-end stuff with my business after Christmas, so just a few snippets.

From Human Events, A Brief History of the Right to Self-Defense.

For the first 150-years of the existence of the U.S.A., the right of citizens to carry arms was so fundamental it was not considered worthy of debate. …No knowledgeable American–from the founding of the United States through the mid-1950’s–would have questioned that the Second Amendment to the Constitution meant exactly what it says, “… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This was not a right of a Militia. The “Militia” was–and under current law still is–all able-bodied adults, who are expected to keep their privately-owned arms similar to what is used by the military at the time.

…Nineteenth-century U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, called the American right to bear arms “the palladium of the liberties of the republic.” Our Founders believed that in a free society good citizens must always be prepared to defend themselves and their country. Thomas Jefferson said, “The God who gave us life, gave us freedom to defend life.” Being armed was more than a right. It was a moral obligation of citizenship.

Author Ben Heinritz then uses only the 20th century to quickly demonstrate the wisdom of our Founders’ intent that every able-bodied American not only possess, but be ready to use their arms, without government restriction (other than, of course, things such as murder). Gun-control advocates have a great deal in common with the Soviets, the German Nazi party, China’s communist government, and more, and the results of gun control are damning—and deadly.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property. Guns in the hands of honest citizens preserve freedom and dignity — from both criminal and government predators. And, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens. …All credible scholarship indicates so-called “gun-control” laws never work, are dangerous to the rights of the law-abiding, and are inconsistent with the values on which the United States were founded.

Read it all; valuable history lessons are therein. And pass it on, then remember: be a sheepdog, not a sheep (or a wolf). No one else, and I mean NO ONE ELSE, is going to protect you. It’s called “self” defense for a reason.

Victor Davis Hanson rightly notes that the current administration and its lapdog Congresscreatures are waging a War Against the Wannabe Rich:

Focusing tax hikes on those who in some years make between $200,000 and $500,000 makes no sense in a recession for a variety of reasons. They are neither the speculators who caused the panic of 2008 nor the Washington politicians who are bankrupting the country.

Instead, most are small-business owners who hire the majority of the nation’s employees. But faced with the talk of higher taxes, more regulations, and hostile rhetoric, they will remain confused, and so retrench rather than expand.

With the proposed new income, payroll, and health-care tax rates, along with increased state and local taxes, many business owners fear that 60 percent to 70 percent of their income will go to the government. That does not seem a good way to convince small businesses to hire more workers in hopes of greater rewards.

Thomas Sowell talks about the difference between modern athletes and classier ones from days gone by.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation shares what they consider the top ten pro-liberty books of the decade; a few (a majority!) have made their way onto my wish list!

If I’m not back, y’all have a wonderful New Year’s! Back to inventory for me.