Monthly Archives: October 2014

Happy Birthday!

Posted on by

I missed a birthday yesterday. I knew about it, was going to say something and then…I forgot. It happens.

I’m going to make up for it today. Quoting Lewis Carroll, “Happy Unbirthday!”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/US_Navy_031029-N-6236G-001_A_painting_of_President_John_Adams_(1735-1826),_2nd_president_of_the_United_States,_by_Asher_B._Durand_(1767-1845)-crop.jpg

John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

Who, you ask? Why John Adams‘ birthday, the second President of the United States, Washington’s Vice President, first Ambassador to Britain, President during the United State’s first, undeclared war, and father to John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Abigail_Adams.jpg

Abigail Adams, 2nd First Lady of the United States

John Adams is also known as the husband of Abigail Adams. Their relationship would make modern romance novelists envious. But little recognized today is Abigail’s support of her husband and her thoughts on government and the nature of man in general that contributed to the creation of our nation. Her correspondence to John in the period leading to the Declaration of Independence provides insight to their characters.

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 27 November 1775

November 27 1775

Tis a fortnight to Night since I wrote you a line during which, I have been confined with the jaundice, Rhumatism and a most violent cold; I yesterday took a puke which has releived me, and I feel much better to day. Many, very many people who have had the dysentery, are now afflicted both with the jaundice and Rhumatisim, some it has left in Hecticks, some in dropsies.

The great and incessant rains we have had this fall, (the like cannot be recollected) may have occasiond some of the present disorders. The jaundice is very prevelant in the Camp. We have lately had a week of very cold weather, as cold as January, and a flight of snow, which I hope will purify the air of some of the noxious vapours. It has spoild many hundreds of Bushels of Apples, which were designd for cider, and which the great rains had prevented people from making up. Suppose we have lost 5 Barrels by it.

Col. Warren returnd last week to Plymouth, so that I shall not hear any thing from you till he goes back again which will not be till the last of nextthis month.

He Damp’d my Spirits greatly by telling me that the Court had prolonged your Stay an other month. I was pleasing myself with the thoughts that you would soon be upon your return. Tis in vain to repine. I hope the publick will reap what I sacrifice.

I wish I knew what mighty things were fabricating. If a form of Goverment is to be established here what one will be assumed? Will it be left to our assemblies to chuse one? and will not many men have many minds? and shall we not run into Dissentions among ourselves?

I am more and more convinced that Man is a dangerous creature, and that power whether vested in many or a few is ever grasping, and like the grave cries give, give. The great fish swallow up the small, and he who is most strenuous for the Rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the perogatives of Goverment. You tell me of degrees of perfection to which Humane Nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances.

The Building up a Great Empire, which was only hinted at by my correspondent may now I suppose be realized even by the unbelievers. Yet will not ten thousand Difficulties arise in the formation of it? The Reigns of Goverment have been so long slakned, that I fear the people will not quietly submit to those restraints which are necessary for the peace, and security, of the community; if we seperate from Brittain, what Code of Laws will be established. How shall we be governd so as to retain our

Liberties? Can any goverment be free which is not adminstred by general stated Laws? Who shall frame these Laws? Who will give them force and energy? Tis true your [Resolutions] as a Body have heithertoo had the force of Laws. But will they continue to have?

When I consider these things and the prejudices of people in favour of Ancient customs and Regulations, I feel anxious for the fate of our Monarchy or Democracy or what ever is to take place. I soon get lost in a Labyrinth of perplexities, but whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the Stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted, by patience and perseverance.

I believe I have tired you with politicks. As to news we have not any at all. I shudder at the approach of winter when I think I am to remain desolate. Suppose your weather is warm yet. Mr. Mason and Thaxter live with me, and render some part of my time less disconsolate. Mr. Mason is a youth who will please you, he has Spirit, taste and Sense. His application to his Studies is constant and I am much mistaken if he does not make a very good figure in his profession.

I have with me now, the only Daughter of your Brother; I feel a tenderer affection for her as she has lost a kind parent. Though too young to be sensible of her own loss, I can pitty her. She appears to be a child of a very good Disposition — only wants to be a little used to company.

Our Little ones send Duty to pappa and want much to see him.Tom says he wont come home till the Battle is over — some strange notion he has got into his head. He has got a political cread to say to him when he returns.

I must bid you good night. Tis late for one who am much of an invalide. I was dissapointed last week in receiving a packet by the post, and upon unsealing it found only four news papers. I think you are more cautious than you need be. All Letters I believe have come safe to hand. I have Sixteen from you, and wish I had as many more. Adieu. Yours.

Happy post-birthday, John Adams. May you and Abigail not be forgotten.

Facebook

The day of the Tyrants…

Posted on by

…will soon begin to end…or at least, hit a speed bump. The level of tyranny changes on a daily basis. One of the most egregious acts by a tyrant, an act clearly unconstitutional, has been reversed. Houston Mayor Annise Parker has told her enablers to withdraw the subpoenas to seize the sermons of five Houston pastors. Her reason for the subpoena? It violated her new anti-gay/anti-free speech edict.

She received immediate push-back. The Texas Attorney General wrote her a letter informing her that she was violating the 1st Amendment. The Houston-Five, as they are now known, refused to comply with the Mayor’s order. Christians and conservative began to send Bibles to the mayor. Finally, when she realized she had really stepped into a pile of hot, steaming dung, she reversed her order.

Houston mayor drops bid to subpoena pastors’ sermons

By , FoxNews.com

Subpoenas issued to five Houston pastors demanding all sermons and correspondence dealing with homosexuality, gender identity and the city’s Equal Rights ordinance have been withdrawn, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor announced at a Wednesday press conference.

“After much contemplation and discussion, I am directing the city legal department to withdraw the subpoenas issued to the five Houston pastors who delivered the petitions, the anti-HERO petitions, to the city of Houston and who indicated that they were responsible for the overall petition effort,” said Mayor Annise Parker in remarks covered by television station KPRC.

My column on the issue sparked a bit of national outrage – well – a lot of national outrage. To be honest it was a full-scale hullabaloo. City Hall was deluged with telephone calls, letters, emails – along with hundreds of Bibles and sermons. More than 50,000 supporters signed a petition.

Nevertheless, the mayor still seems hell-bent on defending the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance – a piece of legislation that will in part give grown men who identify as women the right to use the restrooms of their choice.

“It is extremely important to me to protect our Equal Rights Ordinance from repeal, and it is extremely important to me to make sure that every Houstonian knows that their lives are valid and protected and acknowledged,” Parker said. “We are going to continue to vigorously defend our ordinance against repeal efforts.”

Tyranny retreats in the face of opposition. As she was quoted above, Houston’s tyrant has no intention of backing down. This setback is just a small pause in the progress of her tyrannical agenda.

We, here near Kansas City, have another example of tyranny. Over the summer, Kansas City Mayor Sly James rammed through the city council an ordinance banning the open carry of firearms. In itself, such an act has been done in cities across America. What was most tyrannical in this case was the motivation behind the ordinance—suppression of free speech.

He said aggressive open carrying of weapons can be intimidating for customers and bad for business. — Kansas City Star.

Mayor James’ logic for the ordinance was that he didn’t want to see people legally carrying firearms openly in Kansas City. He could not provide any evidence that carrying weapons increased lawlessness but he could create a law to make open carry illegal. The Missouri Legislature passed a law this year that made James’ ordinance invalid—but only for those licensed carry a weapon concealed.

Mayor James knew his ordinance would soon be invalid but he pushed it through anyway. His purpose was not public saftety. He knew he had no evidence that his law would improve that. No, the ordinance was enacted solely to curb acts of free speech from the Open Carry advocates.

There are more instances of liberal tyranny across the country. In Idaho, a city passed an ordinance requiring churches to perform same-sex marriages regardless of the minister’s religious views. The order was a clear violation of the 1st Amendment but liberals ignore the Constitution when they violate it.

That Idaho city has now backed off from their order—which included jail time and heavy fines for non-compliance. But never doubt, tyranny is only waiting for attention to wander and they will return. That is why we must be always vigilant and ready to respond to every tyrannical act.

Facebook

One week

Posted on by

We’re a week away from the election. In a number of states, including Missouri, people have already voted. In Missouri, it absentee voting. The other states have early voting, a scheme by democrats to make vote fraud easier.

Easier? How?

It’s simple. Most county clerks really don’t do a passable job. For them it’s best to just ease along, not making any waves. When people register to vote, they don’t cross check to see if the person is already registered with another name. For instance, I, like most Americans, that three names. Let’s make up one, John Thomas Roberts. Mr Roberts could be registered as John Roberts, Tom Roberts, John T. Roberts, J. Thomas Roberts at 123 Main Street. If the clerk mistypes the address, some of those entries could be at 123 Main Street, others at 124 Main Street—and everyone version would be registered as a real voters. Mr. Roberts could, therefore, vote four times—more if he voted early and then showed up at the polls as well. You see, most county clerks never cross-check, nor remove early voters from the poll registry. Mr. Roberts could, theoretically, vote eight times.

In areas in Kansas City, St. Louis, and other liberal bastions across the state, the local poll judges wouldn’t be able to stop them. In times past, some judges were blocked from the polls, or intimidated by thugs. Kansas City’s past history in the last decades has had both.

http://media.cleveland.com/plain_dealer_metro/photo/11647531-large.jpg

Polling station with paper ballots

Can we eliminate vote fraud? No, not completely. What we can do, however, is make vote fraud much more difficult. First, require voting by paper ballots. In my county, we mark our choices in black ink on the ballot and then it is scanned and read. Fool proof? No. If the ballot is improperly marked it could be misread. The scanner can have basic logic to reject ballots that have no votes, two votes for the same office, or marks outside of the selection box. But, if there is a question later on the vote count, those paper ballots are still available for a real person to check.

What else can be done? Photo Voter-ID, using a photo taken at the time of registration. Liberal claims to the contrary, if a photo ID is required to cash a check, there is no reason why a photo-ID can’t be required to vote. All claims to the contrary are just tactics by liberals to preserve their ability for vote fraud.

What else? Eliminate early voting. The democrat adage, “Vote early, vote often,” is real. Should we eliminate absentee voting? No, there are legitimate reasons for absentee voting. Citizens in the military, deployed  outside the country or based in other states, retain their right to vote and to have their votes counted. There are mechanisms in place for the military to vote. There are also legitimate reason why others, not in the military, cannot be present to vote at their polls. But, in those cases, the absentee voter should present and sign an affidavit attesting to their reason for not voting at their home polling station, such as travel or illness to name two.

Our Republic is based on the fundamental right of its citizens who meet the established requirements for a voter. That means that aliens, non-citizens, whether here legally or illegally, do NOT vote. The democrats want those illegal votes, it dilutes the votes of citizens and the democrats believe those illegal votes can be bought. The legality of voting is irrelevant to them. Voting is nothing more than a means for them to gain and retain power. If they thought they could get away with it, and if we don’t fight them, one day our right to vote and have it counted, will be no more.

This election appears to be leading to a ‘Pub victory in many areas of the country and in Missouri. Let’s work with our legislators, local and national, in the 2015 session to pass, and override vetos, for some real voter security—paper ballots, audits of the voting rolls and insuring they are clean, passing Photo-IDs for registration and voting, and putting some real teeth in penalties for vote fraud. In many instances, vote fraud is only a misdemeanor. Vote fraud should be a felony with a long prison term and heavy fines.

The United States is a republic, not a democracy nor a mobocracy. We must have the tools to insure it remains a republic. Else, we will have not a republic, not a democracy, but the rule of elites of a single party—just like the old USSR.

Facebook

Home again

Posted on by

I took some free time last week. I did so for a number of reasons, a bit of political burnout, a bit of malaise, and a bit of irritation that some things I wanted to do never seemed to get done.

We did, however, take time to celebrate the success of a close friend, Daryl, a man who went to school with our daughter and is the son of our Pastor. He was inducted into the Pittsburg State University Hall of Fame for baseball on Saturday.

DarylCronkDaryl has been a ball player all his life. A pitcher in high school and later in college. He tried out for the majors but didn’t quite make it but did make plenty of personal friends and contacts, and created more when he was a scout for a MLB team. He received a Master’s degree in Sports Administration, was an assistant coach for Central Missouri State University and is now the head coach for Avila University in Kansas City.

DarylCronk-2Daryl has worked hard for his achievements and on Saturday those achievements were recognized. Congratulations, Daryl!

Facebook

On a blogging vacation

Posted on by

Not gone anywhere, just busy with family and friends. I’ll be back Monday, October 27, 2014.

Facebook

The Muse has left the building

Posted on by

This coming weekend will be a busy one for us. We’re scurrying around, doing errands, going hither and yon in preparation.

I’m taking a short blogging vacation. If I find something to post without too much verbiage, I will. If not…well, “I’ll be back,” says I in my best Schwarzenegger voice, next Monday.

Facebook

Partial Solar Eclipse, October 23rd

Posted on by

A semi-rare event will occur here in the US on Thursday. A partial solar eclipse will occur late in the afternoon. The best viewing will be west of the Mississippi to the left, uhhh, west coast. The eclipse will start around 4:30pm and peak at 5:45pm CDT.

http://vortex.accuweather.com/adc2004/pub/includes/columns/newsstory/2014/650x366_10201937_pse-2014-10-23-nam.jpg

Partial Solar Eclipse, October 23rd, 2014

If you want to see the eclipse, remember, NEVER look directly at the sun. You can permanently damage your eyes. You can make a viewer using a sheet of think paper with a small 1/4″ hole in the middle. Hold the paper in the sunlight. In the shadow created by the paper is the outline of the sun and the eclipse.

Another method is to use a medium-sized cardboard box, say a foot on a side with the top removed. Make a small hole in the middle of one side of the box. When that side of the box is presented to the sun, the image of the eclipse will be shown on the opposite side of the box.

Here is a link to a calculator (the chart below was created with this calculator) that will provide viewing times for your location.

Event Time in Kansas City Direction Altitude Looks like Comments
Partial Eclipse begins Oct 23 at 4:36 PM 237°West-southwest 18.9° Eclipse as seen from earth The Moon touches the Sun’s edge.
Maximum Eclipse Oct 23 at 5:45 PM 249°West-southwest 7.0° Eclipse as seen from earth Moon is closest to the center of the Sun.
Sun close to horizon, so make sure you have free sight to West-southwest.
Sunset Oct 23 at 6:27 PM 256°West-southwest 0.2° below Not directly visible Below horizon
Partial Eclipse ends Oct 23 at 6:47 PM 256°West-southwest 0.2° below Not directly visible Below horizon

This eclipse is in progress during sunrise or sunset, so the Sun is displayed only partly in some phases, according to its altitude below the horizon. The animation’s bottom edge represents an ideal, flat horizon, which is at the same altitude as the observer.

Times are local for Kansas City (CDT – Central Daylight Time).

Happy viewing!

Facebook