.: 08/2012

The world is a bit emptier today.

Today we lost a hero and a great American.

Neil Alden Armstrong

passed away at the age of 82.

August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012

       Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut; indeed the first person in the entire history of mankind to set foot on a world other than our own. Out of the billions of human beings that live or have lived on our planet, only 12 have ever walked on another piece of this universe. He was the first.
      Sadly, although his legacy will remain forever, Neil Alden Armstrong died today: August 25th, 2012 at the age of 82. Our prayers go out to his family and friends; and to a nation who watched his accomplishments with amazement as many a child dreamed of following in his footsteps.
     That is a feat actually possible not only figuratively, but literally. The footprints of all 12 of the brave pioneers that walked on the moon are still there for the inspiration of those that surely will follow.

Possibly best remembered for his iconic statement “That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”, heard by the world audience as he stepped on to the moon, he and Edwin "Buzz" Aldren also planted the first of six American flags still proudly on the moon.

Watch the first moon landing here

As far as is known, theirs is the only one of the six not still standing, having been blown over by their spacecraft exhaust upon takeoff from the moon.

On July 20^th 1969, America jumped ahead of the Soviet Union in the space race by sending Michael Collins, Edwin Aldren and Neil Armstrong to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

About 600 million people watched as the first humans landed; and then walked on another piece of real estate in our solar system.

At 2:56 UTC (EDT=10:56 pm,20 July) he set his left foot down in the moon dust. He was followed about 20 minutes later by Buzz Aldren. Michael Collins drew the short straw and remained aboard the command module, orbiting the moon.

After fighting a battle with heart disease and undergoing heart surgery earlier this month, Neil Armstrong passed away today; the 25^th day of August, 2012.

He was the hero of a generation.

He will be missed.

Rest In Peace

Moon Landing Trivia: The first galactic phone call was placed on July 21^st, 1969 UTC. Shortly before midnight Washington DC time, then-President Richard Milhous Nixon called the Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. He spoke via Houston Texas Mission Control for about 3 minutes congratulating them on their successful mission. The two astronauts were in Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. They traveled from Apollo 11 to the moon in the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module).

You can listen to the entire call here:

Every since I was a child; and probably before, there has been a conspiracy in the United States to outlaw private ownership of firearms. My father warned me frequently that, once universal gun registration was the law of the land, the next step would be confiscation. Since the liberal left knows that they would never get away with an outright ban on firearms, they have been slowly chipping away for 60+ years at our basic right to keep and bear arms and protect ourselves, our families, our country and our American way of life.

Beginning with The National Firearms Act of 1934 that prohibited or severely restricted private ownership of machine guns and moving on to Assault Weapons ban, with the included High-Capacity Magazine ban, the Brady Bill, and many more federal and state laws and regulations, the totalitarian left-wing arm of our government keeps trying to disarm the law abiding citizens of America.

As every despot knows, the first thing a conquering force must do before subduing a population is to disarm them and remove their ability to defend themselves. Is that what our government has planned for us? To make us into slaves by disarming and oppressing us? If so, they're on the right track. It's what dictators throughout history have done.

"All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party."-Mao Tse Tung

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty."-Adolf Hitler

"The measures adopted to restore public order are: First of all, the elimination of the so-called subversive elements .... They were elements of disorder and subversion. On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results.-Benito Mussolini

"If I could have banned them all - 'Mr. and Mrs. America turn in your guns' - I would have!"-Diane Feinstein¹

      When the American government wants to help a people or government attain or regain their freedom, the first thing they do is supply the oppressed people with guns. It has been said that the reason the Japanese and Germans never considered an invasion of the United States in WWII is because they knew that so many Americans are armed that they (the Axis) would suffer unacceptable causalities and face armed resistance far fiercer than in any other country. According to Admiral Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the imperial Japanese navy during WWII, "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."

"And they are ignorant that the purpose of the sword is to save every man from slavery^."Marcus Annaeus Lucanus Roman poet (A.D. 39-65)
Source: De Bello Civili (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library, 1988), IV, 579, p. 216
"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals."President James Monroe (November 16, 1818)
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."Thomas Jefferson, letter to Archibald Stuart, Philadelphia, December 23, 1791; “The Works of Thomas Jefferson,” Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5) Vol. 6
"There exists a law, not written down anywhere, but in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice; not by instruction but by natural intuition: I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right."Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC-43 BC) Roman Orator and Statesman at the trial of T. Annius Milo in 52 BC ²

     The Jul 31, 2012 edition of Daily World states “In addition to the need for self-defense, our Founders understood the bearing of arms was essential to protecting this country from tyrannical governments. Fresh on their minds was the revolutionary clash between the tax-happy British government and a population of armed and ragtag citizens with the dream of freedom burning in their souls.”
      Now the would-be slave masters in our government have decided try a new avenue. They have teamed up with tyrants, dictators and murderers around the globe in an attempt to have the United Nations dismantle our constitution through the Arms Trade Treaty.
      On Jul 29, 2012, Townhall Magazine³ reported on the then on-going UN negotiations regarding the Arms Trade Treaty⁴ which supposedly would only affect international arms trade and have no effect on 2^nd amendment rights within the borders of the US of A.
      According to the treaty supporters, our constitution would always override any international treaty. They say “The ATT will only apply to international export, import, and transfer of conventional weapons.⁵”Besides, didn't the Supreme Court just rule that we all have the right to bear arms and the it is an individual; not a collective right⁶? Our government wouldn't possibly try to take away our basic rights would they?

Let's look at the facts
       The countries that are pushing the hardest for the Arms Trade Treaty are Algeria, China, Colombia, Cuba, the Russian Federation and Indonesia.⁷ Now there's a list of people who support personal freedom. Yeah...and I'm a famous super model

It would ”Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp). And “Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.³”
In 1952, Secretary of State and Council on Foreign Relations member John Foster Dulles told the American Bar Association that “Treaty law can override the Constitution.” “Treaties for example…can cut across the rights given the people by their constitutional Bill of Rights.” and...A century ago, Theodore Roosevelt signed and implemented the terms of a treaty “...for two years before the Senate acted.” In his defense, he said “The Constitution did not explicitly give me power to bring about the necessary agreement with Santo Domingo. But the Constitution did not forbid my doing what I did.” ⁸
This U.N. Arms Treaty has caused so much controversy because it outlines a plan to target all types of conventional weapons...⁹

As of last week, the Arms treaty has failed to pass the UN; at least in part because President Obama feels that he needs to wait for his re-election before he shoves it down our throat. “A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, also blamed the U.S., saying 'they derailed the process,' adding that nothing will happen to revive negotiations until after the U.S. presidential election in November.¹⁰”That sounds a bit like what Obama said to Vladimir Putin, doesn't it?

      The US wasn't the only country that decided not to sign on the dotted line. Russia and China joined the United States in saying that “...they needed more time to consider the issues.¹¹” My thanks to Presidents Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin. Not sure what their real reasons were.

     Although it isn't getting a whole lot of press, there was another reason that Obama decided not to try to sign away our constitution. At least for now. According to The New York Times [July 27, 2012] A large group of senators sent a letter to Obama assuring him that the treaty stood a snowball's chance in hell(sic) of being ratified. It takes at least 67 senators to ratify a treaty and 51 of them signed the letter.
      Don't think that's the end of it though. Whether Obama wins or loses in November, he will have nothing to lose by trying to persuade a lot of senators to go along with him. AND... if the Dems lose a lot of senate seats in the election, the lame duck session is liable to feel that they have nothing to lose either and push to get it ratified before January restores some sanity to congress and the White House.

      In the meantime, Liberals in congress are launching a parallel attack at our ability to keep our country free by continually aligning all gun ownership with sporting use. How many politicians and vocal gun-grabbers have you heard say “Give me one good reason why anybody needs a magazine that holds 30, 40 or 50 bullets to hunt a deer?” As I and many others have said over and over, the 2nd amendment has nothing to do with hunting ducks. Or deer. Or target practice and competition. The reason we need as many rounds as possible at our disposal is to help level the playing field a bit if we have to defend our country from enemies without or within. Reloading takes time; time that costs lives in a firefight.

In the July 31^st edition of USA Today Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is quoted as saying there is no viable civilian use for large-round (sic) magazines. "It's rare that anyone has to fire 33 rounds in self-defense.¹²" He's absolutely correct. And as long as criminals and people bent on harming Americans and America know that many of us HAVE lots of guns and ammunition, our odds of having to use them will remain low. The US military has hundreds of nuclear warheads and it's rare that they have ever had to use them due primarily to the deterrent affect. Thank God.

Let's face the truth. Whiny, nanny-state, we-know-what's-best-for-you liberals have for decades been trying to – and slowly succeeding in their attempt to completely outlaw private ownership of firearms and remove our capacity for self-defense. We the people need to remain ever-vigilant and let our elected officials know in no uncertain that we will not tolerate the usurpation of any part of our constitution by another country or some international group of do-gooders. Or any body else, for that matter. At least for now we have not only the ability but also the will to resist. With lethal force if necessary.

At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

For an entire page of very quotable quotes regarding the need to be – and remain armed, see: Notable-Quotes
Want to know what some congressional representatives consider to be reasonable gun control? For quotes...and a real insight into the liberal mindset, see: "Nobody Wants to Take Your Guns."

Citations

¹Anti Gun Quotes

²ProGun Quotes

³Townhall.com

⁴U.N. Arms Trade Treaty

⁵Arms Treaty Rhetoric

⁶2nd Amendment Decision

⁷ Fake Treaty or Real Treaty?

⁸Obama-backed UN treat

⁹Treaty to disarm Americans

¹⁰Arms Treaty Fails

¹¹UN Chief Dissapointed