Guffaw in AZ
legal stuff
Three Republican Senators promise to filibuster Democrat Gun Control Bill
(From John Lott)
Three Republican Senators promise to filibuster Democrat Gun Control Bill
How just a few new Senators can make such a big difference in how the Senate operates. These Senators are focusing on how these bills will hurt “citizens’ right to self-defense.” A filibuster might give these Senators a real chance to educate people about exactly how these laws will cause harm. From The Hill newspaper:
Carney said a filibuster would be “unfortunate” and would send the wrong message to the families of gun violence victims.
“I don’t think you need to tell the families of those who have lost their children to gun violence that bills like this may be filibustered. I don’t think that would be welcome news,” Carney said.
GOP Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah), and Ted Cruz (Texas) threatened to filibuster the bill in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that argued it was an infringement of Second Amendment rights. The bill would expand background checks and penalties on straw purchases of firearms.
The senators pledged to “oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions.”
“The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens’ right to self-defense. It speaks to history’s lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history’s warning about the oppression of a government that tries,” they wrote. . . .
Considering the proclivities of the current administration to enforce ex-post-facto legislation, if this does pass, it would be interesting to see prosecution of all the Fast and Furious BATFE folks, as well as Mark Kelly for straw purchases. With the increased penalties, of course.
After all, no one is above the law, right?
Bank of America Does It Again!
The Daley Gator pointed us to recent events surrounding a local firearms business, American Spirit Arms. They’ve been producing AR15 rifles and parts (in Arizona) for some years now, with good success, largely due to their customer service and attention to detail.
Recently, Bank of America ((in)famous for giving bank accounts to illegal aliens) decided to freeze this legally licensed manufacturer’s funds as they were engaged in the wholly legal business of making and selling guns and gun parts.
They did so, because they mistakenly assumed that ASA were selling guns illegally over the Internet!
Go and read about the whole sordid affair.
I’m already thankful I don’t do my banking there. (Although my C.U. does cater to illegal aliens, too.)
FTC: American Spirit Arms gave me nothing for mentioning them. I did once own some of their products.The right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the federal constitution…
In the United States the right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the federal constitution, which specifically prohibits Congress from abridging “the right of the people…to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Although often overlooked in favor of other more famous freedoms, and sometimes taken for granted,[1] many other civil liberties are enforceable against the government only by exercising this basic right.[2] The right to petition is a fundamental in a Constitutional Republic, such as the United States, as a means of protecting public participation in government.[1](Wikipedia)
Way Up North (and now Tam) brought to our attention (in demure fanfare, as is their tradition) a movement regarding individual States of these United States petitioning for peaceful secession from the same!
I went to the All Petitions/whitehouse.gov website, and was amazed! First, that such a group of petitions existed and second, that ‘the government’ had allowed such behavior, given their track record on such things!
By my count, there 24 States, including mine, with listed petitions!
Is this treasonous, or simply the right to petition?
In Loco Parentis, Part Two…
Free North Carolina reports on the NYC Department of Education dispensing morning-after and other birth 
control drugs to students at 13 high schools.
From the New York Post article…
School nurse offices stocked with the contraceptives can dispense “Plan B” emergency contraception and other oral or injectable birth control to girls without telling their parents — unless parents opt out after getting a school informational letter about the new program.
CATCH — Connecting Adolescents To Comprehensive Health — is part of a citywide attack against the epidemic of teen pregnancy, which spurs many girls — most of them poor — to drop out of school.
Regardless my personal feelings regarding family planning, abortion, birth control and related matters (which are not germane here), my concern is the State taking this initiative in such a fashion.
I was a parent once. I wouldn’t want my daughter being given such serious medication without the purvue of our family physician and me and my wife’s approval. A school informational letter hardly would suffice. Not all poor teens are sexually active and irresponsible. Or incest victims. But the State assumes the worst, and takes the decision making away from the parents.
Yet another example of progressive policies attacking the family unit.
Pay NO Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain…
“There is nothing to see here, move along!”
Cold Fury links to report in Business Insider (an incendiary rag to be sure!) that the current (and certainly the future) administration has installed and is using/will use the Trapwire intelligence gathering tool.
From the article…
Anyway, here’s what Trapwire is, according to Russian-state owned media network RT (apologies for citing “foreign media”… if we had a free press, I’d be citing something published here by an American media conglomerate): “Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology—and have installed it across the U.S. under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.
Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it’s the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community.
The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the Pentagon, CIA and other government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation’s ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented. The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.”
So: those spooky new “circular” dark globe cameras installed in your neighborhood park, town, or city—they aren’t just passively monitoring. They’re plugged into Trapwire and they are potentially monitoring every single person via facial recognition. (emphasis Guffaw)
In related news, the Obama administration is fighting in federal court this week for the ability to imprison American citizens under NDAA’s indefinite detention provisions—and anyone else—without charge or trial, on suspicion alone.
So we have a widespread network of surveillance cameras across America monitoring us and reporting suspicious activity back to a centralized analysis center, mixed in with the ability to imprison people via military force on the basis of suspicious activity alone. I don’t see how that could possibly go wrong. Nope, not at all. We all know the government, and algorithmic computer programs, never make mistakes.
Have you guys seen Person of Interest?
Prepping
Rev. Paul recently commented on a blog post of mine suggesting stocking up on ammunition via cash means was an appropriate thing to do. This in response to the pending approval by the U.S. Senate of the U.N. Small Arms Treaty, which has content related to signatory countries internal control of small arms.
Kinda a slap in the face of The Bill of Rights and our sovereignty.
And the good Rev. is a clear thinking individual and good friend who normally doesn’t go off ‘half-cocked’ in such matters. I don’t see him hunkered down up there in the Frozen North, surrounded by out of date mil-surp equipment and Gadsden flags. He is a man of God and believes in the Rule of Law.
And, even though our courts have held Our Constitution is Supreme over any treaties which we join, there seems to be much consternation and gnashing of teeth over this one.
I remember prepping somewhat for Y2K, but increasing my arm and ammunition supply, and ‘prepping’ with those I loved. Just in case.
Is this kind of thinking out-of-bounds, or good, even if nothing untoward occurs? (I did use most of my Y2K ammo subsequently, for practice. Kinda wish I had it, now)
What do you guys think?
7 Items You Won’t Believe Are Actually Legal
Cracked.com is the Internet version derived from Cracked Magazine. (You guys remember, the mag next to MAD that no one bought?)
ANYWAY, they have all manner of bizarre, twisted stuff on the site. I found this link entitled,
7 Items You Won’t Believe Are Actually Legal
(Of course, they then place legalese warnings about how some stuff MIGHT be illegal in your area. And your guys, being gunnies and all, will believe they are!)
The list includes Tannerite and GE Mini-guns…
Of course, Cracked isn’t libertarian, and asks after every item “Holy Balls, Why is it Legal?”
Go check ‘em out at the above link!
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Community Legal Services, the Sequel…
Evening last was highlighted by an hour long conversation with a very bright and informed woman from Community Legal Services.
While not an attorney, she works with them daily, is a paralegal, and has been tasked with advising debtors in these matters for the past fourteen years.
The short version is I will NOT be filing bankruptcy!
And she is sending me tools to deal with some of the other matters.
The home-ownership situation remains up-in-the-air, but there is time and I have tools and help.
Thanks for all your ongoing support and advice!
Guffaw
Community Legal Services
aka, underpaid charitable bureaucracy.
Without recounting yesterday’s tale of cell phone calls lost, land-lines with failing batteries, being transferred to voice mail, and one hour on hold, I’m finally in the loop to get professional legal help filing bankruptcy.
whoopee
Being old school , I’ve much shame going this route, even though it’s not my flagrant lifestyle that brought me here. It’s stuff beyond my control, like illness and disability.
HOWEVER, the process has begun…
PS – CLS had me call Take Charge America (a charitable home-saving org.) Based on my numbers, they don’t think I’ll be able to stay in my home. BUT, they aren’t lawyers, and they aren’t my mortgage co.
So, who knows?
