Stand Your Ground

Does that phrase bring to mind being aggressive or posing a threat to other people?  Not to anyone with sense, but the liberals are seeing it that way.  Now a few liberal politicians, in an effort to further enforce the 'nanny-state' on us, are attempting to repeal Michigan's Stand Your Ground law.

Enacted in 2006, the law simply states that "(1) An individual who has not or is not engaged in the commission of a crime at the time he or she uses deadly force may use deadly force against another individual anywhere he or she has the legal right to be with no duty to retreat if either of the following applies:

(a) The individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or imminent great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another individual.

(b) The individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent sexual assault of himself or herself or of another individual."

Yet liberal democrats are now saying that this law "promotes violence"  and say
"What we should be trying to do is get people to be more civil".  More civil?  Really?  This comment was from Woodrow Stanley, the very man who was mayor of Flint, one of the most violent cities in Michigan.  His 'civility' is about as useful as an UN resolution.

It has been proven over and over again that crime rates drop when the general population is allowed to exercise their right to protect themselves by bearing arms.  It is also simple logic that gun laws affect only the law-abiding, not the criminals.  If a crook wants a gun, he will obtain it by whatever means he can, not by jumping through all the governmental hoops and adhering to regulations.

It seems the liberals cannot, or will not, understand these two basic truths.  But they do understand that "A well-armed populace is the best defense against tyranny" and they will stop at nothing to get rid of the Second Amendment.  They have seized on the Martin case in Florida as a chance further their agenda.  After all, it was the current Pretender's chief of staff who said: "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

He's not referring to feats of courage and strength that come with that extra surge of determination and adrenaline that one gets in a stressful situation.  No, the liberals are quick to use anything, especially a crisis, as an excuse to further erode our God-given rights, our freedom, and our privileges, to impose rules that they didn't think would be possible before.

Here's a few sources:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120518/POLITICS02/205180362/1409/metro/Michigan-debates-Stand-Your-Ground-law

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/%28S%28aevhs355ide55a553zczqe45%29%29/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-780-972

http://www.wnem.com/story/18511791/mi-dems-seek-repeal-of-stand-your-ground-laws

And this one was very interesting, giving a cop's eye view on the right to carry:

http://forums.officer.com/t167248/

I am hopeful that the Michigan Legislature will not bow to the current liberal shenanigans.  But even if this move is defeated this time around, the liberals will be back with another attempt to curtail our rights and enforce their brand of tyranny.  Be vigilant!

Moving On Up!

Which actually means endless trips up and down the basement stairs.  My seedlings have prospered in their little grow station, and I've been busy transplanting them.  I ran out of room under the lights long before I ran out of seedlings, so I quickly cobbled together a primitive cold frame.  Even though the days are mild now, the nights are still too cold and frosty for unprotected seedlings.

I used two longer planks that had actually been the sides of my trailer before I rebuilt it, and some leftover bits of what had been an insulated, heated, paneled, doghouse.  (Long story.)  The corner braces were made from parts of pallets I picked up for free.  Topped with a couple of old windows a friend gave me after a remodeling project, and lined with black plastic left from landscaping, it's not pretty but I hope it will be enough to protect the plants.  As I have time and can find a matching third window, I may refine it and try to use it for growing some greens during the off season. 

I did say 'primitive'

Here's another upwards moment:  actual customer service!  And from my local internet provider, no less.  They're changing over from 3G to 4G (I have no idea what that means but it's supposed to be good) and had to come replace the equipment at my house.  The tech was a new guy, very young, but good natured and he worked fast.  Unfortunately, he was also a little careless and when he replaced the cable from the antenna on the roof, he did not tuck it up under the soffit, but left it lay in the eavestrough, and the just let it run down into the house without a drip loop.  Augh!  I took pictures and emailed them to the company and politely mentioned that I was NOT happy.  I figured I'd hear back in a week or so, only to be very surprised by a phone call within twenty minutes of the email, and two trucks in my driveway within two hours.  Wow!  No arguments, no "but that's our policy" nonsense, just the young guy and his supervisor replacing the cable and doing it right and being very polite and respectful the whole time.  Now THAT'S how you do customer service!  I didn't even have to call the Philippines or ask for an interpreter.  See what happens when you don't outsource?  So I would highly recommend SpeedConnect, if you're in need of an internet service provider in Michigan. 

Until next time, God bless, and take care, my friends.

It Is Time

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."

There is so much wrong in our country right now.  Our "unalienable rights" are under attack every day; everything from the current Pretender in the White House using executive orders to bypass the legislative process, to ever more restrictive gun laws, to large corporations controlling our access to food and medical care, to our children having home-made lunches taken away, to judges 'interpreting' the constitution and making laws instead of judging by them, to animal rights groups giving more value to the life of a rat than the life of a child....it seems to just go on and on.

Michigan especially has been in an uproar lately.  Our economy was going bad even before the big real-estate bust, and now it's even worse, ranking somewhere at 49 or 50 in a list of healthy state economies. Don't believe the talking heads on tv who are saying things are turning around; it's not better here in the heartland, and it won't be for some time.  I live here, I have family here, and I spend a lot of time on the road, and I've seen it with my own eyes.  Everything is changing, upside down, and backwards.  A family member who has always been apolitical was passing out petitions for signatures.  Schools are closed, factories are closed; small towns are becoming ghost towns with over half of their homes empty and up for sale.  There's no people where there used to be hundreds. Workers and unions are in a state of panic as pension funds disappear and jobs are cut; social security cuts threaten the financial security of our seniors. Fewer and fewer people are paying into social security or the pension funds.  Fewer and fewer people are in our cities and there's no tax base to maintain basic police and fire services.  Many people, myself included, find themselves in a mid-life crisis that was not of their own making.  Used to be that earning a college degree, finding a job and working hard at it brought you stability and a pension.  Not anymore.  Now we have twenty years or more in at a job, yet the pension and the security that we have labored for is gone.

In my opinion one of the root causes of all this distress is Roe vs. Wade.

Think about it.  How can the wholesale slaughter of our children ever be a good thing?

In 1973 the Supreme Court decided it was ok to legalize the murder of unborn children.  Since then over 50 million children have been killed.  Far more than the approximately 11 to 12 million casualties of WWI and quickly approaching the 60-70 million total for WWII.  Our society has created a legally acceptable holocaust with a greater toll than what Nazi Germany perpetrated against the Jews.

This practice is a sad and tragic burden for our country in so many ways.  Firstly it is a heinous sin, destroying the gift of life given from God, a defiant, evil act worthy of the worst of pagan rituals. 

Secondly, we have lost entire generations of our people.  We have no children in our schools, growing up in our churches, strengthening our society, finding jobs and supporting our seniors.  Where there should have been the sounds of children we have empty, echoing halls.

This leaves us with a torn and ripped society that is folding in on itself.  Add to this the loss of a moral compass, the lack of personal responsibility, the sense of entitlement and "me first" that seems so prevalent now, and it's easy to see how troubled our country is, and how bleak our outlook.  We are no better than the thousands that thronged the Coliseum of Rome to watch a daily bloodbath while madmen destroyed the empire from within.

It is time and past time for a change.  The pendulum has to swing back before the socialists cause us to crash like Rome.  We're ramping up towards a presidential election - consider your vote carefully!  These people who want to be our leaders, examine them closely.  Are they worthy?  Are they of good moral character?  Are they capable?  We must focus on those questions, and not meaningless "hopey changey" slogans.  Those who are not worthy must not be elected again.  And, if enough careless people blindly vote for the one who promises handouts and more government programs, instead of one who acknowledges the necessity of hard work and personal responsibility...perhaps then it's time to assert our Right to abolish the government and start over.

An excellent first step would be the repeal of of Roe vs. Wade.

It's not too late to pray for our country.