Have indoor Garden...Get raided...

This is what is in store for us as the culture changes in the United States.  just having the suspicion of possibility that you might have pot in the house, the stack shows up and roust the owners...Oh Snap..they got their information wrong.  The patsy Judge signed off on this warrant with incomplete or fabricated erroneous information.   Ain't judges supposed to help safeguard the bill of rights?  These people have a lawsuit in...Usually governments have immunity from lawsuits so I am curious what will happen.   I saw this on Yahoo News.

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  View PhotoAssociated Press/Orlin Wagner - Bob Harte stands next to his now shut down indoor garden in the basement of his home in Leawood, Kan., Friday, March 29, 2013. Harte and his wife Adlynn, who are former CIA employees, …more 

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LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — Two former CIA employees whose Kansas home was fruitlessly searched for marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted, possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables.

Adlynn and Robert Harte sued this week to get more information about why sheriff's deputies searched their home in the upscale Kansas City suburb of Leawood last April 20 as part of Operation Constant Gardener — a sweep conducted by agencies in Kansas and Missouri that netted marijuana plants, processed marijuana, guns, growing paraphernalia and cash from several other locations.

April 20 long has been used by marijuana enthusiasts to celebrate the illegal drug and more recently by law enforcement for raids and crackdowns. But the Hartes' attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said she suspects the couple's 1,825-square-foot split level was targeted because they had bought hydroponic equipment to grow a small number of tomatoes and squash plants in their basement.

"With little or no other evidence of any illegal activity, law enforcement officers make the assumption that shoppers at the store are potential marijuana growers, even though the stores are most commonly frequented by backyard gardeners who grow organically or start seedlings indoors," the couple's lawsuit says.

The couple filed the suit this week under the Kansas Open Records Act after Johnson County and Leawood denied their initial records requests, with Leawood saying it had no relevant records. The Hartes say the public has an interest in knowing whether the sheriff's department's participation in the raids was "based on a well-founded belief of marijuana use and cultivation at the targeted addresses, or whether the raids primarily served a publicity purpose."

"If this can happen to us and we are educated and have reasonable resources, how does somebody who maybe hasn't led a perfect life supposed to be free in this country?" Adlynn Harte said in an interview Friday.

The suit filed in Johnson County District Court said the couple and their two children — a 7-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son — were "shocked and frightened" when deputies armed with assault rifles and wearing bulletproof vests pounded on the door of their home around 7:30 a.m. last April 20.
"It was just like on the cops TV shows," Robert Harte told The Associated Press. "It was like 'Zero Dark Thirty' ready to storm the compound."
During the sweep, the court filing said, the Hartes were told they had been under surveillance for months, but the couple "know of no basis for conducting such surveillance nor do they believe such surveillance would have produced any facts supporting the issuance of a search warrant."
Harte said he built the hydroponic garden with his son a couple of years ago. He said they didn't use the powerful light bulbs that are sometimes used to grow marijuana and that the family's electricity usage didn't change dramatically. Changes in utility usage can sometimes lead authorities to such operations.
When law enforcement arrived, the family had just six plants — three tomato plants, one melon plant and two butternut squash plants — growing in the basement, Harte said.
The suit also said deputies "made rude comments" and implied their son was using marijuana. A drug-sniffing dog was brought in to help, but deputies ultimately left after providing a receipt stating, "No items taken."
Pilate said no one in the Harte family uses illegal drugs and no charges were filed. The lawsuit noted Adlynn Harte, who works for a financial planning firm, and Robert Harte, who cares for the couple's children, each were required to pass rigorous background checks for their previous jobs working for the CIA in Washington, D.C. Pilate said she couldn't provide any other details about their CIA employment.
Pilate said any details gleaned from the open records suit could be used in a future federal civil rights lawsuit.
"You can't go into people's homes and conduct searches without probable cause," Pilate said.
Leawood City Administrator Scott Lambers said Friday that he couldn't comment on pending litigation. The sheriff's office also had no comment.
"Obviously with an ongoing lawsuit we are not able to talk about any details of it until it's been played out in court," said Johnson County Deputy Tom Erickson.

DHS buying more ammo.....again

I have been afraid to go shooting much because I would have to dip into what I call my "Combat stock".  I wonder if that is what the intent is, force people to abstain from shooting for fear of running out of ammo and a skill that is not used tends to atrophy,  Also with the cost being high, it forces people to choose between bullets and bills.  I also wonder if this is the intent to inflict pain on the gun owning populace.   In the past the elitist would impose "sin" taxes on various activities that they consider "harmful" like booze and cigarettes.  I wonder if this is a back door tax on ammo due to the cost.
     I was reading the drudge report and another report made it out that the DHS is buying more ammo...again and Big Sister is refusing to answer the query of congress about the large amount of ammo purchases.  I will cut and past the associated article.

    

Big Sis Ignores Congressman’s Demand For Briefing on Bullet Buys

“Congress deserves an answer” on huge ammo purchases
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
March 28, 2013

Janet Napolitano. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Janet Napolitano has ignored a letter written by New Jersey Congressman Leonard Lance calling for the Department of Homeland Security chief to attend a congressional briefing and provide an explanation as to why the DHS has committed to purchasing more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the last year.

Lance, who first promised to investigate the matter during a Tea Party event on March 15, sent a letter five days later noting how there was “growing public concern surrounding the Department’s procurement of ammunition.”

“He is not asking for Napolitano to testify but to give us a congressional briefing because Congress wasn’t aware of it. It deserves an answer,” Lance spokesman Todd Mitchell told the Daily Record.

Over a week after the letter was sent, Lance’s office has still not received a response, similar to how 15 other members of Congress were stonewalled by the DHS when they demanded to know if the huge bullet purchases were an attempt by the federal agency to restrict ammunition supplies.

Instead of a formal explanation, the federal agency released a glib statement to the media claiming the amount of ammunition purchased was not abnormal, that the bullets were bought in bulk “because it’s cheaper for the agency,” and that the rounds were for training purposes only.

However, the DHS has completely failed to address the fundamental flaw in their explanation. Most of the bullets purchased are hollow point rounds which are twice as expensive as full metal jacket bullets, rendering the claim the agency is buying in bulk to save money redundant.

As former Marine Richard Mason told reporters with WHPTV News in Pennsylvania earlier this month, “We never trained with hollow points, we didn’t even see hollow points my entire four and a half years in the Marine Corps.”

Earlier this week, a weapons manufacturer who supplies ammunition to the federal government told the nationally syndicated Savage Nation radio show that the ammo purchases were an attempt to “control the amount of market that’s available on the commercial market at any time,” by forcing manufacturers to hold back stock.

Ammunition is in short supply across the country, with police departments being forced to barter between themselves to meet demand while gun stores across America have resorted to bullet rationing.

Earlier this week, the DHS put out a solicitation asking for 360,000 more bullets to be delivered to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, New Mexico, the same destination for 240,000 hollow point rounds which were purchased only last month.

Last week, retired United States Army Captain Terry M. Hestilow sent a letter to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) warning that the ammo purchases represent “a bold threat of war by that agency (DHS), and the Obama administration, against the citizens of the United States of America.”

The Entitlement belief.

I saw this from another Blog that I started to frequent.  They have a great way to make Pemmican which I will try out plus many other self sufficiency ideas.

    

There is a pervasive sore that has slowly spread in American culture within the past few decades which I believe is leading to the downfall of this once great nation. What I’m referring to is an undeserved sense of entitlement.
Many of us think we are entitled to a job, a bail out, health care, or a home that we can’t afford — not because of anything that we’ve done but because we feel it is our “right” to have it. And when problems come our way and we achieve less than this, we immediately begin to blame our parents, teachers, bosses, government, or God for this apparent injustice. We never want to fully face the real source of our problems – which is ourselves.
It’s not until we drop this sense of entitlement and take upon ourselves 100% responsibility for the outcome of our lives, that we will ever see the success we want as individuals and as a nation.

Two Choices

Jack Canfield, author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, taught a seemingly simple but very important formula that illustrates this idea of 100% responsibility. The formula goes like this:
E + R = O (Event plus Response equals Outcome)
Breaking this formula down, it basically means that your success or failure, your health or lack thereof, the measure of your relationships, how you handle a survival situation and basically every outcome of your life, is a direct result of how you have responded to the events that have happened to you.
Looking at this equation, you can see that you have two choices:

Choice #1: You can blame the events for your situation in life

When failure or disaster comes your way, you can blame the weather, blame your boss, blame your parents, blame society, blame the economy, blame your lack of resources, or blame the government for your failures, but it’s not your environment or any external factor for that matter that limits you – it is your response to that event!
Blaming the events takes the focus away from you (the Response) and sets it upon what’s not in your control (the Event). When you avoid taking 100% responsibility for your outcomes, you remove yourself from the equation and rewrite it as: Event = Outcome. You are thereby left with a convenient scapegoat for your problems. But with this faulty equation, you are only limiting yourself. These limiting thoughts and beliefs become roadblocks to your pathways to success, survival, or whatever outcome you desire.
It’s been said before that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you continue to engage in unhealthy eating habits, smoke and drink, waste time in front of the television, fail to build your relationships, not become prepared with food storage and survival skills, spend more than you earn, and then wonder why your life has turned out the way it has, you are following this recipe to insanity.
Unfortunately, this is the recipe that most people end up embracing. They achieve less than optimal outcomes in their lives and then they begin to point the finger beyond themselves exclaiming that they should be entitled to all those benefits without putting a nickel of effort in themselves. This is the easy way out. If you want to be average, choose #1, otherwise here’s another option:

Choice #2: You can simply change your responses to the events until you get the outcome you desire

 

Looking again at that equation, we see that we have no control over the events of our lives. The one variable that we do have complete control over, is our response to those events or stimuli.
The animal kingdom is dictated by stimulus and response. When a certain event happens in their life, they respond in an instinctual way. There is no forethought as to how they will respond, they just respond. We are unique from other creatures in the ability that we have to choose our response to a stimulus. This is exclusively a human endowment. In other words, we have free agency.
The bottom-line is that you are the one who has created your outcomes. If you’re not satisfied with how your life has turned out, then take a look at your past and realize that all your thoughts, words, and actions have resulted in your current situation. You may not be responsible for the events that happen in your life, or the environment in which you’ve been placed, but realize this one powerful fact – you are responsible for how you react.
If you want to be more successful, then respond in ways that produce more success. If you want a better relationship, then respond in ways that create better relationships. If you fear economic or natural disaster, then pull up your bootstraps and start preparing. If it’s health and fitness that you want, then know that it is your response to what foods are available to you and what day-to-day choices you make regarding exercise that determine your ultimate health.
It may sound simple. Well, that’s because it is. But remember, simple isn’t always necessarily easy. But I promise you that once you make this mental shift, you will be amazed at what the gift of free agency can bring you. Self-reliance is not an entitlement, it is a choice.

Quick Moral Guide about Guns...

'Bout says it all.  I saw this surfing through one of the many sites that I frequent.

Monday Music "Kung-Fu Fighting"

I remembered this song in the early 70's.  We were in the family car a 1972 Dodge Demon, it had a 340 Cubic Inch Displacement and was a bad to the bone car.  I am a Ford guy but I do like the dodges..especially the older ones.

We were shipping the car to Germany where my Dad had orders to report.  We had left Macon Georgia to go to Charleston South Carolina to put the car on a boat to Bremerhaven.  This song came on 7 times on the radio before we got there and it was a catchy little song   

Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written and performed by Carl Douglas and composed and produced by Biddu.^[1] It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to reaching number one on the Soul Singles chart.^[2] It received a Gold certification from the RIAA in 1974,^[3] won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Selling Single,^[4] and popularized disco music.^[5] It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide,^[5][6] making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song uses the quintessential Oriental riff, a short musical phrase that is used to signify Chinese culture.
"Kung Fu Fighting" was rated number 100 in VH1's 100 Greatest one-hit wonders, and number 1 in the UK Channel 4's Top 10 One Hit Wonders list in 2000, the same channel's 50 Greatest One Hit Wonders poll in 2006 and Bring Back ... the one-hit Wonders, for which Carl Douglas performed the song in a live concert.
    
The song was originally meant to be a B-side to "I Want to Give You My Everything" (written by Brooklyn songwriter Larry Weiss, and sung by Carl Douglas).^[7][8] The producer Biddu originally hired Douglas to sing "I Want to Give You My Everything" but needed something to record for the B-side, and asked Douglas if he had any lyrics they could use. Douglas showed several, out of which Biddu chose the one that would later be called "Kung Fu Fighting" and worked out a melody for it without taking it too seriously.^[1]
After having spent over two hours recording the A-side and then taking a break, "Kung Fu Fighting" was recorded quickly in the last ten minutes of studio time,^[1] in only two takes, due to a three-hour time constraint for the entire session.^[5] According to Biddu, "Kung Fu Fighting was the B-side so I went over the top on the 'huhs' and the 'hahs' and the chopping sounds. It was a B-side: who was going to listen?" After hearing both songs, Robin Blanchflower of Pye Records insisted that "Kung Fu Fighting" should be the A-side instead.^[5]
Following its release, the song didn't receive any radio airplay for the first five weeks and it initially sold poorly, but the song began gaining popularity in dance clubs,^[1] eventually entering the UK Singles Chart at #42 on 17 August 1974 and reaching the top on 21 September, after which it would remain at the top for three weeks.^[9] It was then released in the United States, where it was equally successful, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[1] The single would eventually go on to sell eleven million records worldwide.^[5]
   

"Olympus has fallen..."

I and the wife went to a movie last night with some friends...she wanted to see "Olympus has fallen".  I was kinda surprised since this is a serious shootemup movie.  My impression was that it was a good movie and a human side to the movie about redemption and such movies do appeal to me.  Watching the troops being shot up, even though it was a movie was a bit difficult.  It bothered me since the scenario depicted in the movie is plausible, that is what made it more realistic...and disturbing.

    

    There was one movie that I had a real hard time seeing for many years after the event was "Black Hawk Down."  And there were several reasons for this.  One is that they wore the same equipment and weapons like I did when I was in the Gulf. second is that my brother was there with 10th mountain at the time.  3rd is that it could have been me there if situation was a little different.

    

Let the Snitching begin.....

I am a student of history as my friends and the people that read my blog regularly will attest to.  When I heard this from JPFO and I am kinda surprised that this information took this long to be released.   I am surprised that they didn't start the "snitching" program earlier.   in the defunct East Germany, 1 out of 7 East Germans were snitches for the Stasi the East German secret Police.  Nothing like turning neighbors against neighbors for a few dollars or in the future for an extra food ration.  You have a problem with your neighbor...call the snitch hotline and watch the stack show up and toss your neighbors house without due process.  

The State of New York has resorted to a "turn in your neighbor" program, for enforcement. Knowing that people will not willingly comply, the state has resorted to a tried and true tactic of turning the citizens upon each other to aggrandize the power of the state.

Does this strike a responsive historical cord, in anyone???

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Press Release:

At a time when all of us are finding ourselves doing more with less, a reminder about a resource available from New York State that can assist you in your efforts to solve cases, prevent crime and better serve and protect your communities.

The state has established a toll-free tip line - 1-855-GUNSNYS (1-855- 486-7697) to encourage residents to report illegal firearm possession. The tip line also allows for information to be submitted via text -- individuals can text GUNTIP and their message to CRIMES (274637). While the state will provide the administrative support and fund the rewards, the investigation and validity of the tip will be up to each local department.

To spread the word about this free resource, New York State is planning a comprehensive campaign, including public service announcements that will air on television and radio stations across Upstate.

The tip line can provide your agencies with another avenue for receiving intelligence about crimes being committed in your jurisdictions. This initiative is designed for communities where no tip lines are in place and is not meant to replace existing gun tip lines.

Here's how the tip line operates:

The New York State Police staff the tip line 24 hours a day. Upon receiving a call, troopers will solicit as much information as possible regarding a firearm tip, while allowing the individual to remain anonymous. The caller will be informed that this program is not the traditional gun buyback program but rather is focused on identifying individuals who are carrying an illegal firearm.

The State Police will in turn contact the appropriate police agency with the lead to initiate an investigation. Staff from the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) will follow up with that agency to determine the validity of the lead. Once the investigation is completed, the police agency would convey to DCJS the outcome of the investigation.

If the information leads to an arrest for the illegal possession of a firearm, the anonymous 'tipster' will be awarded $500. DCJS staff will handle all of the financial transactions.

State Police staff will explain the program in its entirety upon notifying an agency that a lead has been generated for their jurisdiction. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact DCJS Deputy Commissioner Tony Perez in the Office of Public Safety at 518-485-7610.

Janine Kava
Director of Public Information
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
(518) 457-8906 - work
(518) 275-5508 - cell
(518) 485-7715 - fax

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nyspublicsafety
And follow us on Twitter: @NYSPublicSafety

Colorado Sheriffs refuse to obey new gun control

I saw this on Yahoo News.  There is a growing dichotomy between what I call Rural America and the Urban areas.  The Urban areas tend to control the political process due to sheer numbers ACORN, Democrat party voter fraud, and the gerrymandering of political districts to pad the representatives  in congress and the local politicians like docile populace that cannot question " their betters" and when I hear about some police chief supporting gun control...To me it is an empty gesture a Police chief is a political appointee of the same politicians that like unarmed sheeple that cannot have a say in their destiny and the local Sheriffs by constitution of their states are the highest law enforcement official in their counties.   This shows a growing split between what I call Blue America and Red America.  Blue America is the urban areas that overwhelmingly go democrat and the rural areas that tend to be red.  There has always been a split between the "hicks" and the "city slickers" but it has been getting worse in recent years.
      The gun control debate is systematic of the split.  The cities or urban areas favor gun control because of the crime that is in the urban areas, and the blue state people would rather blame an inanimate object than blame their constituents because individual responsibility is a red state belief and that goes against the rat bastard commies ingrained bluestater since all they understand is group or hive think.  Our rights are individual rights guaranteed by our creator, and codified in our bill of rights.  Government deals in group rights and what the government gives, the government can take away.    The split will get worse and there will soon be bloodshed over this because this is a line in the sand.  If we agree to be "reasonable" with the gun control crowd and agree to MORE restrictions, we have lost the moral high ground that we have.  Every time I hear the word "reasonable" I cringe  So far we have been the ones giving up rights...So far the gun control crowd hasn't given up anything.  I am tired of being reasonable.   I believe the darkest times for America are coming and like many people will not go into the darkness like the people that boarded the train to Auschwitz or homeland equivalent.

Colo. sheriff refuses to enforce gun-control bills

Associated Press

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  View PhotoAssociated Press/Brennan Linsley - Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, center, backed by a group of fellow sheriffs, testifies against proposed gun control legislation in the Colorado Legislature, at the State …more 

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado sheriff says he won't enforce two aggressive gun-control measures waiting to be signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told The Greeley Tribune (http://bit.ly/141Ee2z ) that Democratic lawmakers are scrambling after recent mass shootings, and the bills are "feel-good, knee-jerk reactions that are unenforceable."
One bill expands background checks on firearm purchases, and the other limits ammunition magazines to 15 rounds. The 15-round magazine limit would make Colorado the first state outside the East Coast to ratchet back gun rights after last year's shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn.
Colorado's gun-control debates have been closely watched because of the state's gun-loving frontier heritage and painful history of mass shootings, most recently last summer's movie theater shooting that killed 12.
The sheriff said he "won't bother enforcing" the laws because it would be impossible for officers to keep track of how the requirements are being met by gun owners — and he and other sheriffs are considering suing the state to block the measures if they are signed into law.
Cooke said the bill passed Friday requiring a $10 background check to legally transfer a gun wouldn't keep firearms out of the hands of those who use them for violence.
"Criminals are still going to get their guns," he said.
The sheriff's office did not immediately return calls left by The Associated Press.
The magazine-limit bill passed earlier in the week will technically ban all magazines because of a provision that outlaws any magazine that can be altered, he said, adding that all magazines can be altered to a higher capacity.
Expanded checks have been a top priority for Hickenlooper, who called for the proposal during his State of the State address in January.
Cooke oversees law enforcement in Colorado's third-largest county by area. His jurisdiction includes its largest city, Greeley, and large swaths of farmland and areas of oil and gas production.

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Information from: Greeley Daily Tribune, http://greeleytribune.com

Monday Music "Rhinestone Cowboy"

Recovering from a bout of the "don't know what the hell happened" so I took a day of from work.  I remembered listening to certain songs when i was little, and I remember several of them like "Kung Fu" fighting and "Rhinestone Cowboy".  Now I inflict my taste of music on my son...Joys of fatherhood.

     "Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and most famously recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. The song enjoyed immense popularity with both country and pop audiences when it was released in 1975.
   

Background and writing

Weiss wrote and recorded "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1974, and it appeared on his 20th Century Records album Black and Blue Suite. It did not however, have much of a commercial impact as a single. In late 1974, Campbell heard the song on the radio and, during a tour of Australia decided to learn the song. Soon after his return to the United States, Campbell went to Al Coury's office at Capitol Records, where he was approached about "a great new song" — "Rhinestone Cowboy."^[1]
Several music writers noted that Campbell identified with the subject matter of "Rhinestone Cowboy" — survival and making it, particularly when the chips are down — very strongly. As Steven Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic put it, the song is about a veteran artist "who's aware that he's more than paid his dues during his career ... but is still surviving, and someday, he'll shine just like a rhinestone cowboy."^[2]

Chart performance

Released in May 1975, "Rhinestone Cowboy" immediately caught on with both country and pop audiences. The song spent that summer climbing both the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts before peaking at No. 1 by season's end - three non-consecutive weeks on the country chart, two weeks on the Hot 100.
During the week of September 13 — that was the week the song returned to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, after having been nudged out for a week by "Feelins'" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn — "Rhinestone Cowboy" topped both the country and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. This was the first time a song had accomplished the feat since November 1961, when "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean turned the trick.
"Rhinestone Cowboy" was one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country Singles charts. The other songs were "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender; "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry"/"Calypso," both by John Denver; and "Convoy" by C.W. McCall.
The song was also the sole Glen Campbell track in a promotional-only compilation album issued by Capitol records entitled "The Greatest Music Ever Sold" (Capitol SPRO-8511/8512), that was distributed to record stores during the 1976 Holiday season as part of Capitol's "Greatest Music Ever Sold" campaign, which promoted 15 "Best Of" albums released by the record label.

A quote to think about

"You may come to the moment when you will have to fight

with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance

of survival.  There may be a worse case.  You may have

to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves

If you are going to go through hell, keep going"

                                                                                                                -Winston Churchill

Defunding Obamacare...?

Maybe the Republicans are getting a set of balls...finally.   The GOP unless they have principles will be in the wilderness crying because they are not being heeded.   President Obama and the democrats will demagogue the issues, they will play it the "Rich vs the rest of the nation" but they will not offer a plan of their own since it is easier to pass continuing resolution and play politics than actually try to solve any problems.

The Houston Chronicle suggests that the amendment being offered by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to delay funding for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in the continuing resolution is starting to gain some support in the Senate. 

Other Republican conservatives have joined

The Houston Chronicle notes that a number of conservative senators have joined in support of Cruz's amendment, including Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The continuing resolution will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. Cruz's amendment is called "Restore Growth First" because it delays funding for Obamacare until economic growth in the United States rises to the historical average of 3.3 percent per year, according to a press release published by Breitbart News. Cruz does indicate that his ultimate goal is to see Obamacare repealed.

Mitch McConnell will support the amendment

The Washington Examiner reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will support Cruz's amendment. While the Republican Senate caucus remains somewhat divided about what to do about Obamacare, with enthusiasm flagging among moderates for opposing the law, McConnell's support may provide some motivation for that faction of the Senate Republicans to get on board Cruz's amendment. The amendment, even if it comes up to a vote, is unlikely to pass. It is expected that the 55 senate Democrats will march in lockstep and will vote against the Cruz amendment. But the purpose is to force Democrats, especially vulnerable Red State senators who are up for re-election, to once again vote in favor of a law that Reason Magazine notes is becoming increasingly unpopular again after a brief spike in support after the November election.

Meanwhile, in the House
The House has sent mixed signals concerning Obamacare. After the House GOP leadership squashed an attempt by conservatives to defund Obamacare in its own version of the continuing resolution, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has produced an FY2014 budget that assumes complete repeal of the health care law. The budget bill, which also reforms entitlements and taxes, may well pass the House but would unlikely get much approval in either the Democratic Senate and certainly not in the Obama White House. However, it is expected that the document will serve as a negotiation position with which House Republicans will use in talks with the White House to attempt -- once again -- to come up with a deal to fix the continuing budget deficit.
Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network

Monday Music "Dance Hall Days"

I have been very busy with work and Cub Scouts, I take a bit of time here and there to try to keep up with my blogroll.  Todays song is "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung.  it is the quintessential 80's song.  When anybody be it video game or movie of the 80's will have this song in it.  This song got a lot of airplay on MTV....back when they actually played music.   This song is one of the reason why I liked the 80's decade.  The music video's told a story to accompany the song.  You can see the change of the music video's as the decade progressed.

     
"Dance Hall Days" is one of Wang Chung's most popular and best known hit singles. It was released in 1984 on the album Points on the Curve. This was their only song to make the Top 75 charts in the UK, narrowly missing the Top 20. In the U.S. it peaked at #16 on the Hot 100, reached #8 on the Mainstream Rock radio chart, and went all the way to #1 on the Dance/Disco chart, their highest showing on the latter two charts.

Single by Wang Chung
from the album Points on the Curve
B-side	"There Is a Nation"
Released	14 January 1984
Format	CD, LP, cassette
Recorded	Abbey Road Studios, 1983
Genre	Pop rock, New Wave
Length	3:58
Label	Geffen Records
Writer(s)	Jack Hues

"Dance Hall Days" in popular culture

• The song can be heard playing in the background during the strip club scenes in Bachelor Party and To Live and Die in L.A., for which Wang Chung also composed and performed the original soundtrack. It was later featured in Pretty in Pink', Gotti, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Adventureland, Blood and Bone, The Informers, I Love You Phillip Morris, Duplicity and The Fighter.

• A remix version can be heard during the frat party scene in The Sure Thing.

• It can also be heard on the Flash FM radio station and in the Malibu Club in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as well as a brief appearance in a commercial for Major League Baseball 2K9 featuring Tim Lincecum.

• In the commercial, the animated Lincecum character is chastised for listening to the song. The actual Lincecum intones, "and we don't listen to that", as they are driving and listening to music.^[1][2]

• The song is briefly heard playing during a party in the Breaking Bad episode "Over", apparently a reference to the 80's crime dramas such as Scarface and To Live and Die in L.A. which the series ironically recalls.

• The song was featured in the ABC series The Middle in the season one episode "The Fun House"

• In the American version of Wilfred, the song plays in the montage of Ryan and Wilfred practicing their dance routine in the episode "Avoidance".

Gun Owners arming themselves with Lawyers...Proactively

I was reading Yahoo News like I tend to do when I log into the computer.  I have heard of more and more law-abiding gun owners proactively having lawyers or having one on retainer.   I have had friends get railroaded by the court system because they had a public defender because they tried to be cheap.  I told them that the judicial system isn't interested in justice..Just results.  If you don't have a good lawyer, you can get steamrolled by the system even though you were in the right.  I can't say a whole lot, I havn't gotten a lawyer on retainer either.  I know of one(actually a friend of my dads) but I havn't spoken to him about the cost.  I havn't checked on one of those insurance policies either.  Something that I need to do with the times being uncertain and more people turning to crime for a myriad of reasons the possibility of my using a pistol will might increase. and the last thing I would want after having to go through the shooting is having to go through the legal system afterwards.

Gun in hand (Thinkstock)

Beyond guilt or innocence, the case against Florida murder suspect George Zimmerman will undoubtedly leave him broke.
The controversial concealed handgun license holder made headlines last spring when he claimed he killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense during a violent scuffle. Zimmerman hasn’t worked in the year since the shooting and faces a mountain of debt to avoid a possible 25 years to life in prison.
“He’s going through $1 million of costs, and his life is being destroyed because he acted properly in the use of his weapon,” his attorney, Mark O’Mara, told Yahoo News. “Other people need to learn a very expensive lesson from George, in that you need to be careful even when you use your weapon properly.”
Gun owners seem to be heeding the message that, even in self-defense, pulling the trigger can be a costly proposition. Exact stats aren’t kept, but anecdotal evidence points to more gun owners proactively seeking legal assistance.
Around the country, a growing number of attorneys and gun-rights groups now offer prepaid legal plans for self-defense shootings. The programs, which are sold as either insurance or legal services, range from $100 to $300 a year and vary in coverage. Some reimburse set amounts for attorney fees, while others are like having a lawyer on retainer.
In Texas, 49,000 gun owners have signed on with the legal defense program U.S. Law Shield in less than four years. The firm made up of gun-rights attorneys recently expanded to Florida and Oklahoma. Last year, the NRA began selling self-defense coverage to its members. Oklahoma City attorney Doug Friesen now markets his prepaid services at YourGunLawyer.com.
“For the first time in the last year, we’re seeing people buying guns because they are genuinely afraid of what can happen in life to them,” said Friesen, who offers single coverage and family plans. “And they are saying something bad can happen if I’m not prepared to defend myself. I think it’s that reality.”
[Related: Why did George Zimmerman abandon 'stand your ground' hearing?]
Zimmerman, whose parents are mixed-race, did not have a prepaid legal plan. He and his wife were living paycheck to paycheck when the volunteer neighborhood watchman shot Martin, who is black, during a violent scuffle in their gated Sanford, Fla., community, O’Mara said.
Mark O'Mara and George Zimmerman in court. (File)
“No savings, no nothing, so they are well worse than broke,” the attorney said. “It’s a great idea that gun owners have some type of insurance coverage to protect themselves from the liability of their weapon and from having to defend their actions.”
While O’Mara has vowed to represent his client without compensation if necessary, he said at least $30,000 a month in donations is needed for experts, security and other expenses. Zimmerman now sends autographed thank-you notes to donors of his legal defense fund.
“We’re at the point now where we need money to literally survive,” O’Mara said.
Media attention and the circumstances of his case have made Zimmerman’s legal fight extremely expensive, but legal experts agree that even routine gun cases can escalate from thousands to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[Related: Homeowner who shot at burglar takes plea deal]
For $10.95 a month, U.S. Law Shield clients get criminal and civil representation for any gun-related charge as long as the member was lawfully carrying the weapon. Exclusions vary by state but could include incidents occurring in a bar, hospital or at a school sporting event.
While not all calls involve actual shootings, U.S. Law Shield attorney Kirk Evans said the phone rings with new cases nearly every day.
“Part of the benefit hopefully is getting cases dismissed earlier or getting you no-billed at the grand jury,” Evans said.
One of his cases that went to trial involved a motorcyclist whose money was falling out of his pockets on the freeway. The man shot at people who were attempting to steal his cash before he could scoop it back up.
“He plea-bargained to attempted obstruction of a highway, which is a Class C misdemeanor,” Evans told Yahoo News. “He did not receive a complete acquittal, but he sure as heck didn’t get convicted of attempted murder or assault with a deadly weapon.”
Texas attorney Philip Hilder scoffs at the defense-by-subscription trend.
“There is no rule of thumb,” said Hilder, a former prosecutor who now defends criminals. “Every case is going to be fact-specific. What they are charging is unrealistic. You get what you pay for.”
Staying out of jail is one thing, but gun owners are also being warned about being sued by people they’ve shot.
The NRA’s self-defense plan, priced at $165 and $254 a year, includes liability insurance in addition to civil and criminal defense. Options include $100,000 and $250,000 limits.
“It does not surprise me that the products are out there,” said Amy Bach, co-founder of United Policyholders, a nonprofit advocate for insurance consumers.
Homeowner policies seldom pay for shootings, she said.
“Insurance is supposed to cover accidents, not when you do something on purpose,” Bach said. “If I were a gun owner, which I am not, I would consider this a worthwhile expense.”
[Related: Researchers report sharp rise in 'patriot' groups]
Alan Korwin, author of “AFTER YOU SHOOT: Your gun's hot. The perp's not. Now what?” doesn’t endorse any particular lawyer or plan, but he does advocate being proactive.
He warns on GunLaws.com: “If you’re not able to put up decent money, you’re simply not a player and you are likely to be trampled by the system.”
A lesson Jay “Rodney” Lewis learned during 103 days behind bars in 2011-2012.
Four months before Zimmerman made headlines, Lewis, who is black, said he shot a drunken driver who sideswiped his car and then physically threatened to attack him in West Des Moines, Iowa. The white man he shot suffered a nonlethal shoulder and arm wound.
Lewis, a former law enforcement officer and concealed handgun permit holder, wasn’t aware of prepaid gun lawyers and didn’t hire an attorney.
“I was very naïve,” he told Yahoo News. “I honestly believed that if I told the police the truth that they would investigate and let me go.”
Instead, police charged the 49-year-old with three felonies. Lewis, who was barely earning $30,000 as an IRS call taker, couldn’t afford to make bail and was appointed a public defender. He refused to accept a plea deal.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Lewis said. “I wasn’t going to sign something saying I did something illegal.”
Lewis lost his job, his apartment and most of his possessions while in jail. He was finally freed when a jury acquitted him of all charges.
“There’s not a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t think about it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s done me any favors. I’m stone-broke.

Possible Plan of the President.... Endgame.?

I was working the airplane...it is nice when they cooperate with me and I don't have to say unkind things to them...Anybody that has a background on Customer Service will understand this.  Anyway..I was thinking about what the presidents endgame is....He is going out of the way to marginalize the GOP, blaming them for everything that has transpired..despite his hand in the events and he has a complicit media to assist him in his desires.   There was a news on Yahoo I saw earlier that has now vanished where President Obama wants to replace the democrats with his SUPERPAC, Apparently the democrats are having funding issues and Obama is flush with cash and wanting to create another group that will charge $500,000 to be part of this panel for access to the President.  Nothing like loading the warchest with more cash...Wait he can't run for a 3rd term...?   Well to let me continue...I believe that President Obama wants to marginalize the GOP to such an extent that the democrats will retake the house in 2014 and that they will be PERSONALLY beholding to him.  Nothing like getting the 22 amendment repealed(the one that limits a presidential term). 
     What the President will not realize or doesn't care is that right now the people that don't like his policies have the outlet of voting..it is a pressure release valve.  If they realize that voting is totally ineffective due to the machination of voting fraud and total suppression of the conservative votes, they will realize that voting is no longer effective, they will take more active approaches to their dislike of the policies of the President.   That is already a movement in the conservative atmosphere(for lack of another word.. I am an airplane mechanic, not a writer...so there....) to no longer vote, it is ineffective in stopping the federal government juggernaut.    As long as people believe that voting matters, there will be peace.  Once most of the conservative people realize that voting will no be effective then violence will start.

 I wonder if this is the endgame of the president..either mold the United States to his vision by political force...or start off a shooting war to compel people people to submit to his vision of utopia...the future of America.

Monday Music.."That was Yesterday"

I was watching "Are you tougher than a Boy Scout" on NAT GEO and it reminded me of some of the stuff that I used to do " back in the day in the late 70's and early 80's"  I have few regrets, and one of them was not getting my Eagle when I was a boy scout.  I was a life scout working on my Eagle project and got side tracked by other things and never finished.   I can't go back to yesterday, one of the pieces of wisdom when one gets older is to realize that you cannot go back to the past, and the mistakes that you have made help define you into the person that you are.  I have made mistakes but they have made me into a stronger person.  It is who I am.   here is a song by Foreigner called " That was Yesterday"  

    

"That Was Yesterday (remix)"
Single by Foreigner
from the album Agent Provocateur
B-side	"Two Different Worlds"
Released	February 1985 (1985-02)
Format	7"
Recorded	early 1984
Genre	Rock
Length	3:50 (single), extended version - 6:23 (single)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Lou Gramm, Mick Jones
Producer	Gary Lyons, John Sinclair
Foreigner singles chronology
"I Want to Know What Love Is" (1984) "That Was Yesterday" (1985) "Reaction To Action" (1985)

"That Was Yesterday" was the second single taken from the album Agent Provocateur by the band Foreigner. This song was available in four versions, as a remixed single, a very popular extended remix, an orchestral version, and the original mix. The song was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and the B-side "Two Different Worlds" is also of note for being the first solo-written Lou Gramm song to appear on a single. The single reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and also reached #4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #24 on the Adult Contemporary chart.^[1] It also reached the Top 40 in the UK (#28), the Netherlands (#19), Switzerland (#29) and Germany (#31).^[2][3]
The extended remix added additional lyrics in its intro, and these lyrics can be heard in the live version from the DVD All Access Tonight - 25 - Live In Concert. The video was filmed at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
Allmusic critic Bret Adams called the song "a terrific hit single," citing its "catchy chorus" and "nifty synthesizer lick."^[4]