FIREARMS REFRESHER COURSE

"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson

1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.


3. Colt: The original point and click interface.

4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.

5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?

6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

8. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any.

9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.

10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights Reserved.

11. What part of 'shall not be infringed' do you not understand?

12. The Second Amendment is in place in case the politicians ignore the others.

13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.

14. Guns only have two enemies; rust and politicians.

15. Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.

16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.

17. 911: Government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.

18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.


19. Criminals love gun control; it makes their jobs safer.

20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.

22. You have only the rights you are willing to fight for.

23. Enforce the gun control laws we ALREADY have; don't make more.

24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.


25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.


God Bless America!













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The Plantation

Article by:

Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist

Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam’s Plantation. I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it. I said in that book that indeed there are twoAmericas - a poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.

I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps. A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty. A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems - the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others. The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.

Through God’s grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.

I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed 50 percent. I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.

Instead of poorAmerica on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, richAmerica on capitalism is becoming like poorAmerica on socialism. Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."

Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash. There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.

In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus. "This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending - it's a strategy forAmerica ’s long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare, and education."

Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."

Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education. Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 - The War on Poverty - which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done.. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty.”

Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock births.

It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama’s invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom. Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?

"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

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Labor Unions Have Outlived Their Usefulness and Must Go

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Labor Unions in the United States have outlived their usefulness and need to be outlawed. As we look back we see that the Labor Union movement is barely over 125 years old. It can be tracked back to about 1880, maybe a bit beyond. When we consider the conditions for workers back then and through the Great Depression, the need for labor unions is apparent. If not for unions, children would be working in factories, people would be working much longer hours every day, and there would be no weekends off; all these are important facts. I believe unions were absolutely necessary and historically served a good purpose. I also believe they no longer serve a positive purpose, but they have actually contributed in a big way to our current economic crisis. We have come too far for our society to allow the conditions mentioned above, even without labor unions.

Consider that in modern times there is not one major corporation subject to labor union organization of its employees that has been successful. Not a single one! Oh, you will be able to find some second tier companies that seem successful in spite of unionization, but on some of these the jury is still out. Additionally, if you look at heavily unionized states, like California, it is pretty easy to see the enormous negative impact of the labor unions. If the state of California were not controlled by the unions and their unreasonable contracts, it would have a far easier path out of its financial woes.

Let’s take a look at the General Motors situation. With the U.S. economy continuing to shed jobs—In Detroit, the UAW has been in the way of a reasonable solution. While they have agreed to some concessions as part of the GM's bankruptcy negotiations with the federal government, their real goal was and is to keep GM afloat to provide jobs for their membership. GM has become about jobs, not about building automobiles. It should have been allowed to fail without government intervention, and it most likely would have were it not for the labor unions. Let’s face it… had the labor unions been eliminated five years ago GM would probably not have found itself in it’s current financial condition. Oh, I know there are some other factors, but those probably could have been dealt with were it not for the unions.

So, GM exists only to provide jobs for the union workers, and for no other reason. Even our government has acknowledged that allowing GM to disappear would cause such unemployment directly and in allied businesses, that it may be the kiss of death for our economy. However, having said that, it is my bet that GM will be allowed to fail as soon as it is determined that the economy could survive the impact.

A wise move by the United States government would be to outlaw all labor unions right now, before it has to deal with the Union Bosses when the time to let GM fail arrives. Outlawing all labor unions at this time would also prove to be an economic blessing to California and other states finding themselves in a similar position.

Tough times require tough decisions. I hope we are up to the challenge.

Be blessed,
Wayne

Love all – Trust some – Harm none

Link to me at: www.LinkedIn.com/in/wcweeks

Follow me at: http://twitter.com/wcweeks

Be a friend at: www.Facebook.com

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A Review of "Historic Photos of the Chinese in California"

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Text and Captions by Hannah Clayborn – Copyright (c) 2009 – Turner Publishing Company, Nashville, TN 37219
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The book "Historic Photos of the Chinese in California" recently came into my possession. It looked like the standard coffee table book of photos. However, there was something about the picture on the cover that caused me to examine it carefully. I was then compelled to turn it over and look at the nine photos reproduced on the back cover. Each one commanded a bit of my time to study it fully. I was drawn to each photo.

I found the same thing happened when I opened the book. I was not able to put it down and, in fact went completely through it twice, and no doubt will visit it again.

Being a California native, I have a modicum of knowledge about how the Chinese fit into the development of California. I think most of us know there was a significant Chinese contribution to the establishment of the railroads, at least in the west, but the enormous offering made to railroad construction overshadowed some of their other contributions to California. Having lived in northern California, I was also aware of the hundreds of miles of rock walls built by the Chinese as fences for the ranchers marking the boundaries of their lands. Beyond that, I knew very little of California Chinese history.

Hannah Clayborn has done a stellar job of bringing some of the other Chinese contributions to light by way of an excellent photographic journal, combined with on-target comments and captions. Like many others, the Chinese were attracted to California in part as a result of the Gold Rush. However, because they were unable to own land or file gold claims they mostly ended up working for others for very low laborer’s wages. Their dreams of riches by way of gold were pretty much wiped away.

In 1850 there were 25,000 Chinese in California as recorded in California’s 1852 census. Many left the gold fields to seek employment and income elsewhere. As Chinese women were somewhat restricted from immigrating, this was a largely male population and a very able work force. By 1870 Chinese made up ten percent of California’s population, but accounted for almost 25 percent of the unskilled labor force. Chinese laborers were active in farming, fishing, sharecropping resulting in vegetable sales and other menial labor-intensive tasks as well as working the gold fields. In addition they proved to be very adept as cooks and shopkeepers.

While I am able to relay a bit of Chinese history here, I want to credit Hannah Clayborn, as this book is the only reference I used as a source of information. If you have found what I have written interesting, I must tell you it pales in comparison to Hannah’s book. The book "Historic Photos of the Chinese in California" is a must see. From beginning to end, with hundreds of photos and comments, the history unfolds. If you are at all like me you will be spellbound.

I understand this review may seem more like a promotional piece for the book rather than an objective review, but there was just no other way I could write it. This book is an exciting piece of work.


Be blessed,
Wayne

Love all – Trust some – Harm none

Link to me at: www.LinkedIn.com/in/wcweeks
Follow me at: http://twitter.com/wcweeks
Be a friend at: http://www.facebook.com/

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Scams are Rampant in the Foreclosure Prevention / Loan Modification Business.

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No doubt you know by now that there are a lot of low-life scammers out there who are looking to take advantage of homeowners who are at risk of losing their homes via foreclosure. It is really a shame but it seems that mankind will always try to take advantage of others when they are down on their luck or facing trouble. It’s really the opposite of what it should be.

There are several types of scams you should be on the lookout for. One that is fairly common is where the scammer offers to make you a new loan. However, in that large stack of documents you are asked to sign is a document actually transferring the ownership of your home to the person or company. Don’t sign any documents unless you know exactly what they are. Don’t take anyone’s word for what they are except a trusted advisor or your attorney. Don’t let this be an attorney the scammer has referred you to.

Another common scam is the person or company who is coming to your rescue. They profess to take over all communication and negotiations with your lender or loan servicer. Typically, they will want a fairly large fee up front, and often an additional smaller fee when a successful agreement is reached. You may be instructed to not talk with your lender yourself as you may just get in the way of the negotiation process. Often, once the scammer has received your fee they do nothing. They don’t even contact the lender but because you have been instructed to not discuss your loan with the lender yourself, you won’t know they are doing nothing until some time further down the road. Now you are in a worse position because you are further delinquent and also out the money paid the scammer.

One of the newer schemes that is growing in popularity is attorneys who offer to file a lawsuit against your mortgage lender or servicer to stop the foreclosure process. The lawsuits are filed on the basis of an error in the loan documents causing a RESPA or TILA violation or filed on the basis that no legal promissory note exists. Often because of the loans being sold in the secondary market, no one knows where the note is. I am not suggesting that attorneys going down either of these avenues are working a scam. I would think they are not, at least the vast majority are not. They are providing a legitimate legal service. What I have seen though is that the cost to the homeowner for this legal service is very steep.

There are also many legitimate Loan Modification and Foreclosure Prevention firms in business that will provide an honest service to homeowners in trouble. The issue is how do you find a good one among so many dishonest ones? And if you do find one, they are normally very expensive, but at least you will get something for your money.

If you should decide to hire a firm to help you, be sure and do your homework. Check with the Better Business Bureau and licensing agencies. This is one of those times where a referral from someone you trust has real value.

Don’t forget that the federal government is now offering some help to homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes. You might want to consider starting with HUD who offers a state-by-state listing of counselors who are approved by the housing department and offer their services free or at a low cost.


Be blessed,
Wayne

Love all – Trust some – Harm none

Link to me at: www.LinkedIn.com/in/wcweeks
Follow me at: http://twitter.com/wcweeks
Be a friend at: www.Facebook.com

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