The USS Independence aircraft carrier, which operated during

April 2015 ~ Volume 44
April is a busy month with so
many events included from tax
day, to Easter, to even Arbor
Day.
But the first day of the month, April
Fool’s Day has some history one may
otherwise not know. In the Middle
Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated
on 25 March in most European
towns. In some areas of France, New
Year's was a week-long holiday
ending on 1 April. Some writers
suggest that April Fools' originated
because those who celebrated on 1
January made fun of those who
celebrated on other dates. The use of
1 January as New Year's Day was
common in France by the mid-16th
century and this date was adopted
officially in 1564 by the Edict of
Roussillon.
The USS Independence aircraft carrier, which operated during
World War II, has been located about a half mile underwater
off California's Farallon Islands.
After operating in the Pacific Ocean from November 1943 to August 1945, the carrier became
one of 90 vessels in a target fleet for atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in
the Pacific Ocean in 1946. Called Operation Crossroads, the project consisted of two atomic
bomb tests: an airstrike and an underwater strike meant to reveal the effects of a nuclear
explosion on a naval fleet, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). (The tests continued until 1958 and included the explosion of the first
hydrogen bomb in 1952, according to UNESCO.)
The USS Independence, like dozens of ships involved in Operation Crossroads, was damaged by
the shock waves, heat and radiation from the tests and ultimately was sent back to U.S. waters.
While the Independence was moored at San Francisco's Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, the U.S.
Navy ran decontamination studies on it. Then, on Jan. 26, 1951, the U.S. Navy towed the carrier
out to sea and sank it, according to the NOAA statement.
Read more here: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/04/21/wwii-ship-used-for-atomicbomb-tests-found-amazingly-intact/?intcmp=latestnews
A cool department in government resides
in a corner of State Department. The Office
of the Historian maintains many treasures
and they include letters written to the
America by foreign leaders over the death
of Abraham Lincoln.
Take a visit:
http://history.state.gov/historicaldocument
s/frus1865p4
When President Lincoln was killed there was an outpouring of well wishes sent
from abroad.
For instance, a group of French men from the “Lodge of the Friends of Perfect
Union” sent this note to First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln:
Madam: Some misfortunes are irreparable, and for which there is no consolation;
these have fallen to your lot, and the world deplores it.
These are not then vain efforts of comfort we extend to you, but simply the
humble tribute of the profound regrets that weigh down our hearts. If the pure
and holy life of your great husband made him the favorite of a great nation, his
death has rendered him immortal.
The liberator of slaves had to be a martyr! Was not the Nazarene crucified?
Lincoln is now surrounded by a halo of glory that ages can never efface; his name
will be forever blessed.
Be resigned, madam, to the inscrutable decrees of Providence, who needed a
great soul to accomplish its designs, and fixed upon the man most suited to its
purpose.
We remain, madam, with the most profound respect, your very devoted servants.
Selecting a Container for Potted Wildflower Plants
Any container that will hold soil will do fine for wildflowers.
Make sure that the container is clean and dry before you begin.
If there are no drainage holes in the bottom of the container,
make several holes to allow the water to drain.
If desired, you can also place some pea gravel in the bottom of larger containers
to help with drainage. Use a lightweight, porous planting medium in your
container. This will help the flowers establish and the water drain. Mixing a
lightweight planting medium with some compost is an excellent idea because it
gives the plants plenty of nutrients.
Purchase high quality wildflower seed mixtures with a high germination
percentage, for either sun or shade, depending on where you are locating your
container. It is always a good idea to choose wildflower plants that are suitable for
your growing region. If you are unsure of what does well, visit your local
Cooperative Extension Office; they can assist you in making your selection. Follow
the planting instructions and watch your container grown wildflowers take off.
Caring for Container Grown Wildflowers
Potted wildflower plants require little attention other than watering when dry. A
light layer of mulch on top of the planting medium will help retain moisture.
A fraternity (Latin frater : "brother") is a brotherhood, although
the term sometimes connotes a distinct or formal organization.
A fraternity (or fraternal organization) is an organized society
that together in an environment of companionship and
brotherhood is dedicated to the intellectual, physical, moral,
religious, and/or social development of its members.
Serving each other and Community with a group of people for
the benefit of the public or its institutions.
TEACHING SELF RELIANCE
disposition to do good
an act of kindness
a generous gift
inspire greater
generosity
towards strangers
Islamic State (ISIS) continues to take it's jihadist terror war online and to the West, with a newly revealed
online manual by the group instructing jihadists in the West on how best to conduct attacks.
The 70-page manual - written in fluent English - instructs interested terrorists on creating one or two-man
sleeper cells, having them change their names, appearances and mannerisms so as to go undetected and slip
past Western security, reports IBN Live.
The guide starts by giving would-be terrorists pointers about how to raise funds for their jihadist attacks.
ISIS recommends robbing people through online scams and fraud, writing "if the (shedding of) non-Muslim
blood is permitted by scholars, then no doubt (the taking of) their wealth is."
Once the fledgling jihadists have stolen funds, the next step according to the guide is building home-made
weapons, including crude bombs and cell phone detonators.
The 10-page section on building improvised bombs teaches how to use jars of nails, pressure cookers, gas
canisters and microwave ovens to make lethal explosives, and there is even a description of how to make a
car bomb. Along with funds and weapons, one last aspect the guide teaches is the methods of covert
operation needed to keep the terrorist attack secret and launch it without attracting attention.
The guide instructs terrorists not to wear Islamic clothing, to take on a westernized name, and wear colored
contact lenses to confuse witnesses to the attack.
As part of the covert tactics to cover up the acts of terror, the guide's section on "secret white converts"
explains how to manipulate Westerners to use them for alibis, and how to influence people in power.
"Befriend good decent white people who are dissatisfied with their governments, be close to them and offer
them support and guidance in life," it suggests. "If these people open up to you, you can decide if you want
to tell them about Islam. You will tell them enough information to satisfy what service you require off them,
but not more than that.“ More here. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/194292#.VTZtF1_D_85
The Second Amendment right to bear arms is not limited to the home and Maryland’s requirement that residents show a
“good and substantial reason” to get a handgun permit is unconstitutional, according to a federal judge’s opinion filed
Monday.
The right to bear arms has historically been understood to allow for militia membership and hunting, which extends the right beyond the home, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett
Legg wrote. States can channel the way residents exercise their rights, but because Maryland’s goal was to minimize the number of firearms outside homes by limiting the privilege to
those who could demonstrate “good reason,” it had turned into a rationing system, he wrote.
“A citizen may not be required to offer a `good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” Legg wrote. “The right’s existence is all the reason he
needs.”
Plaintiff Raymond Woollard obtained a handgun permit after fighting with an intruder in his Hampstead home in 2002, but was denied a renewal in 2009 because he could not show
he had been subject to “threats occurring beyond his residence.” Woollard appealed, but was rejected by the review board, which found he hadn’t demonstrated a “good and
substantial reason” to carry a handgun as a reasonable precaution. The suit filed on Woollard’s behalf by the Second Amendment Foundation in 2010 claimed that Maryland didn’t
have a reason to deny the renewal and wrongly put the burden on Woollard to show why he still needed to carry a gun.
“People have the right to carry a gun for self-defense and don’t have to prove that there’s a special reason for them to seek the permit,” said his attorney Alan Gura, who has
challenged handgun bans in the District of Columbia and Chicago. “We’re not against the idea of a permit process, but the licensing system has to acknowledge that there’s a right to
bear arms.”
The lawsuit names the state police superintendent and members of the Handgun Permit Review Board.
“We disagree with this ruling,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Fader said in a statement. “In light of the very important implications of the ruling for public safety, the defendants
will be appealing to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The defendants will also be seeking a stay of the ruling pending appeal.”
Jonathan Lowy, director of legal action project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which assists states and cities in facing gun law challenges, expects the 4th Circuit to
overturn the ruling.
“The Supreme Court has recognized the right to have guns in homes, but there is no right in public places,” Lowy said. “What Maryland does is reasonable. It allows law enforcement
to make judgment based on substantial reasons why someone needs to carry a loaded gun in public. That’s not rationing and certainly not unconstitutional.”
But Gura disagrees, noting that many states require gun permits, but six states, including Maryland, issue permits on a discretionary basis. He’d like to see Maryland develop a
licensing system that is “objective and straightforward.”
This suit is one of several federal suits the foundation is bringing across the nation, but it is the first time the foundation has had success before reaching the appeals level, according
to foundation Founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.
“Momentum is moving in our direction,” he said.
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a western Maryland Republican who has introduced a bill to protect the right to obtain a firearm for self-defense or to protect one’s home or family, applauded
the ruling.
“As Judge Legg correctly ruled, the burden should be on the government to prove that an American is unfit to exercise this Constitutional right,” he said.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/md-gun-law-found-unconstitutional/
Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, CA is closing its doors today. The Bay
Area facility has been serving the community for 50 years, but has been losing
approximately $18 Million a year for the past several years. The West Contra
Costa Healthcare District board voted in March to begin the closing process,
which included selling off land and nearby buildings that were part of the
campus. The city, of course, picked up that tab.
The reason for the closure? 80-90% of the patients are on the dole. More specifically, Medicare and
Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. As the bureaucracies work through their processes, only about
60% of each dollar due finds its way to the hospital to pay patient’s bills.
This leaves about 250,000 residents in the area without a nearby hospital. No telling how many of those people
are on the dole (perhaps 80-90%?), and will now force other hospitals in neighboring cities to have to take them
in, meaning those hospitals will now have to deal with the deadbeat Medicare and Medi-Cal payment process.
Thanks, Obamacare!
Because the Affordable Care Act's authors
believed they'd forced all states to
implement Medicaid expansion,
Obamacare vastly cut hospital payments,
the Associated Press reports.
The Supreme Court ruled that states could
reject Medicaid expansion in 2012, as
part of the decision that upheld
Obamacare generally. Since that decision,
the Obama administration has so far
instituted 28 unilateral delays and
changes to the health care law's
implementation without congressional
approval.
Flunking Civics Should No Longer Be An Option
By Cal Thomas
"Why civics at the college level?" I asked. "Aren't young people supposed to learn about their government in high school, or earlier?"
"They're not learning it there," Pressler replied. "It isn't being taught."
When I was in high school, we were expected to read and memorize the Declaration of Independence and study the history and importance of the Bill of
Rights, as well as understand how a bill becomes law and how the three branches of government are supposed to function.
A May 2011 article by Mark Hansen in the ABA Journal entitled "Flunking Civics: Why America's Kids Know So Little," addressed the problem: "Those under
the age of 25 are less likely to vote than were their elders or younger people in previous decades, according to a 2003 report by the Silver Spring, Md.based Campaign for the Civic Mission of School, a coalition of about 40 organizations, including the American Bar Association ... students also are less
interested in public or political issues than were previous generations, and they exhibit gaps in their knowledge of fundamental democratic principles and
processes."
Partly, I suspect, this is due to the deepening cynicism about politics and politicians, exacerbated by the packaged and insincere comments of too many of
our leaders. It may also be caused by the political indifference of parents. But largely, I think, it is the failure of too many schools to teach about our own
government and the next generation's responsibility to preserve it.
Pressler thinks young people must learn about our constitutional republic in order for it to remain strong: "My thinking is turning toward mandating that
high school students, vocational students, even college students learn the basic functioning and interactions of federal, state, tribal, county and municipal
governments and how much their votes really count in all of these elections."
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia reportedly asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we
got, a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."
The current generation -- tied to social media and their smartphones with no requirement they serve their country in the military or anywhere else -doesn't seem interested in "keeping it." They must be awakened from their indifference because, as Ronald Reagan said: "Freedom is never more than one
generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the
same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were
free."
At the end of 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported that more states were requiring civics in order to graduate from high school. As the Journal noted
then, this was sorely needed because, "about two-thirds of students tested below proficient on the civics portion of the National Assessment of Educational
Progress in both 2006 and 2010." Citing the Education Commission of the States, WSJ added this sobering stat: "Only 10 states require a social studies test
to graduate from high school."
More should. In fact, all should.
Catholic priest tells his parishioners to carry guns because
'they can't trust in God to stay safe'
A Catholic priest has told his parishioners to carry guns warning that faith alone is not enough to keep them safe.
Edward Fride, the pastor at Christ the King in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, suggested churchgoers attend classes to gain a
concealed pistol license.
In a pro-gun letter to parishioners, he warned that crime had
gone up in the area while budget cuts meant that there had
been a ‘significant reduction in the availability of an armed
police response.’
A Catholic Priest?
After highlighting mass killings at schools across the US, he
wrote that police were supportive of ‘doing what is necessary
to adequately protect our families and our homes.’
His letter was called ‘We’re not in Mayberry Anymore, Toto’ in
a reference to the Andy Griffith Show set in a North Carolina
town in the 1960s.
According to the Detroit Free Press, he wrote: ‘It is very
common for Christians to simply assume that they live in
Mayberry, trusting that because they know the Lord Jesus,
everything will always be fine and nothing bad can happen to
them and their families.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article3048489/Catholic-priest-tells-parishioners-carry-guns-t-trustGod-stay-safe.html#ixzz3XxjRZAoT
The film documents Islamists’ plans for domination over first
Western Europe and then
America.
The idea for Mawyer’s documentary came from former FBI
agents who caught his attention. Mawyer said they were
discussing how they believe Western Europe could fall to
radical Islam within the next 10 to 20 years.
“I got caught up listening to their conversation as they spoke
about the mass flow of immigrant Muslims into Europe, the
presence of Islamic ‘no-go zones,’ weak political leaders and
the silencing of Islamic critics,” Mawyer explained.
Watch
the
trailer
He said that to believe Muslims could dominate Western
Europe in just 10 to 20 years didn’t seem plausible.
“After a few months of delving into the predicted demise of
Western Europe, it seemed the only way to get at the truth was
to travel to Europe and investigate the story first hand,”
Mawyer added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&
v=aeRJ8q2QCa8#t=6
Google and Facebook both spent close to record-breaking amounts on federal lobbying, Amazon.com smashed its previous quarterly record — and all three
surpassed first-quarter spending by Microsoft and Oracle, two high-tech names that have reliably dominated the industry’s outlays on K Street.
Google, the search giant whose lobbying has sprawled into every corner of Washington as it has expanded into new ventures, spent $5.47 million on federal
lobbying in the first three months of 2015 — awfully close to the record $5.5 million it paid out in the second quarter of 2014 and more than it has spent in the
first quarter of any year, including 2012, when it posted $5.41 million in payments. That was Google’s biggest year so far, with a total of $18.2 million spent on
lobbying. This quarter’s big tab in D.C. accompanies the company’s recent spending spree on lobbyists across the Atlantic, where the EU recently announced
antitrust charges against it.
Amazon.com, which has also been reaching from its original core business into television content, phones, delivery via drone and other areas requiring
interaction with regulators, also had a huge first quarter. The Seattle company spent $1.9 million, more than twice what it has spent in any other first quarter
and more than its previous biggest quarter, the final three months of 2014.
Facebook spent $2.44 million — not a record first quarter for the social media company, but still its fourth highest quarter of all time. In the first quarter of last
year, Facebook spent $2.7 million, and in the first quarter of 2012 and the third quarter of 2014, it paid $2.5 million for federal lobbying.
The numbers posted by the three companies all take on added significance when compared to those of the more traditional high-tech firms, like Microsoft and
Oracle, both of which are older companies that have maintained large presences in Washington for years.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/04/explosion-in-tech-lobbying/
James Naismith
In December 1891, Canadian-born James Naismith, a physical
education teacher at the YMCA (Young Men's Christian
Association) training school, took a soccer ball and a peach
basket into the gym and invented basketball. In 1893, James
Naismith replaced the peach basket with iron hoops and a
hammock-style basket. Ten years later came the open-ended
nets of today. Before that, you had to retrieve your ball from
the basket every time you scored.
James Naismith - Background
James Naismith was born in Ramsay township, near Almonte, Ontario,
Canada and attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. After
serving as McGill's Athletic Director, James Naismith moved on to work
at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. The
game of basketball was inspired by a children's game James Naismith
knew called duck-on-a-rock, in which players throw a small rock at a
"duck" placed on top of a large rock in an attempt to knock the "duck"
off. While at Springfield, James Naismith invented basketball as a sport
to play indoors during the cold Massachusetts winters. The first game of
basketball was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as
goals. After changing the peach baskets for open hoop nets, James
Naismith soon wrote thirteen official rules for the game.
http://inventors.about.com/od/inventorsalphabet/a/James_Naismith.h
tm
Google is fighting a proposed amendment to Rule 41 of the U.S. Criminal Code that might allow the U.S. to hack into computers
abroad, GCHQ has used fake LinkedIn pages to target telecom engineers, and the NSA has forced U.S. high-tech companies to include
back doors in their hardware and software.
President Obama has insisted -- not quite truthfully, it turns out -- that the U.S. government is not conducting surveillance on
Americans. Despite trumpeting the president's strong support of privacy, the White House has just come out in support of the renewed
CISPA bill. http://www.technewsworld.com/story/81960.html
By:
BUBBA- State Coordinator of Kentucky
An Essay on the Living Constitution
A Living Constitution is defined as the Constitution’s ability to meet the needs of each generation without major changes; it is a concept of interpreting the
Constitution of the United States. It is based on the notion that the Constitution has relevant meaning beyond original text, and changes over time with the
view of a contemptuous society; and should be taken into account when interpreting constitutional phrases. Is this document bigger than original meaning,
bigger than the framework the founding fathers wanted it to be on the basis to construct a nation? Does it have the room to change over time without the
amending process being honored; and for Congress, a President, or sitting Supreme Court Justices to change it because of their political beliefs?
When the liberals and/or conservatives try to use the term Living Constitution to take away our freedoms and rights, we have a major problem within this
country- of constitutional laws being broken. When we face a President that changes laws, and bypasses Congress and the Supreme Court by Executive
Order, that is neither a Living Constitution nor originalism; that is tyranny. Under the Constitution, Congress has its jobs and powers it needs to do things, and
the President has his. And the Supreme Court is supposed to make sure they fall under Constitutional guidelines.
Throughout history, the Supreme Court has taken on awesome powers, such as the 1857 court case which ruled that due to the Fifth Amendment process
being previously determined as merely as a procedural guarantee, that laws had to be fairly applied. Now it had a new substantive content that prevented
Congress from barring slavery in Federal territories, and that basically nullified the Missouri Compromise of 1820; that basically slaves were considered
property, and never really did have freedoms. (This ruling helped ignite the Civil War). The Dred-Scott ruling was based off more of the Supreme Court
principal, which is a determination of whether the right principals at issue in a case have expanded or declined since previous landmark decisions, that may
change over time to be more acceptable or unacceptable in a changing society. We see this with the prominent rulings in two very major cases of the Supreme
Court:
The 1896 ruling of Plessy V. Ferguson, which was basically “blacks are separate but equal”. And the 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown V. The Board of
Education, which more or less overturned the ruling of Plessy V. Ferguson, even though slightly different, and helped launch the Civil Rights Movement of
the 1950’s and ‘60’s. With these two rulings and the Dred-Scott ruling, if the court, even at an earlier time, would have honored any of these words from the
Declaration of Independence-“that all men are created equal, having inferred the right that ALL, without exception, have unalienable rights”, these three cases
never would have been an issue.
One of the problems with the Dred-Scott case was the fact that most of the Supreme Court were Southerners, and pressure from President Buchanan was on one
of the Northern judges to side with the ruling from the Southern Justices to end the argument over slavery. These three rulings are a basis for a Living
Constitution; now opponents of the Second Amendment use this argument (Living Constitution) and that because of changing times, the fact our founding
fathers could not assume the basic weaponry we would have at our disposal, is why the Second Amendment is under attack. We have already seen through
political leanings a retired Supreme Court judge wanting to change the Second Amendment to “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms while serving in a militia, and that shall not be infringed”. A lot of the Living Constitution supporters argue
it’s not natural law or unalienable rights but legal realism, and that the Constitution was an experiment.
Take Judge Wendell Oliver Holmes Jr., and his book “The Common Law”. The book departs from legal formalism in that he wanted to change and re-invent the
common law to make it a new tool for a changing, modern society. One of Holmes’ arguments is-through biology and social science-, it should allow for a better
resolve of the results of individual acts and proper meanings, of culpability that the proper object is to give a fair chance of avoiding doing harm before being
held responsible for doing it; and that morality through punishment is not the way to go. Holmes was a fan of “law is experience” which leads to a Living
Constitution. But you did not hear the term until 1927 in a book of said name by a Professor McBian. Holmes’ views and beliefs lead to activism.
Supreme Court justices are supposed to be impartial and lean neither to the left or right. But due to political activism, or Judicial activism, which is the view that
Justices and other judges can and should creatively re-interpret the text of the Constitution, and the laws and order to serve the judges’ own vision regarding the
needs of a changing society. Activism believes the judges assume a role as independent policy-makers or trustees on behalf of society that goes beyond their
traditional role as interpreters of the Constitution, which makes the court now a mockery of what it should be.
You have the right and left deciding along political lines and beliefs, not interpreting laws from the framework of our laws and what government should be.
Anymore, political leanings are what makes Constitutional law and makes a Living Constitution, due to evolving standards of decency applied to decisionmaking. Meaning that every 5-10 years the laws of the Constitution should change due to who is in power, the leaning of the court, and societal needs, because
the fact that the Constitution has a broader meaning and interpretation, not as the writers intended.
Lincoln once stated, “ Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution; that must be maintained, for it is thy safeguard of our liberties”. Was he talking literally
or figuratively? Honestly? I do not know. Literally, he is correct because it does safeguard our liberties. Or could he have been referring to activism and justices
being partial, and this was his way of saying keep politics out of it? And that brings us to-Is the Constitution set in stone?
George Washington said, “ The Constitution is the guide I will never abandon”. Let’s define the word “guide”. Noun- a thing that helps someone to form an
opinion or make a decision or calculation. Verb- 1. Show or indicate the way to someone. 2. Direct or have an influence on someone or something.
Washington’s statement says a lot for how long-reaching the laws of this document are. The rights and powers giving into it is the framework of a nation that
should never change, but may need to be tweaked from time to time by applied common sense to today’s problems, and the process by which you amend it.
The common sense side of it: for example, it gives the power of Congress to raise and keep a standing Army and Navy. Now, do we need to amend those
powers because in 1947 the USAF was created? Or is it common sense that this is included under those powers? The Fourth Amendment is a good choice of
something being added to an amendment. The original intent of Search and Seizure was primarily physical and of property. Now, due to new technologies and
advancements 200 years in the making, is it illegal now for law enforcement or the federal government to fly a plane or drone with cameras and microphones
to spy on you or monitor what you are doing; then say they have probable cause to arrest you without a warrant? Original intent is to keep things like this
from happening, which would lead to adding to the Fourth Amendment; so that our privacy and property is kept within reasonable Search and Seizure
guidelines. FDR is quoted as saying that “The US Constitution has proved itself the most marvelous, elastic compilation of rules of government ever written”.
Why are they the most marvelous compilation of rules? And what is the meaning of the word “rules”? Verb: Exercise ultimate power or authority over an area
and people. Noun: One of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principals governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere. By definition of
rule, the laws of the Constitution do not change. And that leaves the term “Living Constitution” with political views and changing with society to be eternally
buried.
Now this matters to us as Watchmen because we need to know first-what the socialist left is trying to take away from us and the false lies they perpetrate to
take our freedoms and destroy our country. Second- we need to have better instructed Watchmen, with the correct information by better educating and
teaching.
We must understand our rights and the freedoms we have, to teach our youth as we build a Junior Watchmen program, and to be able to teach others, so we
can keep and restore this country to greatness. In teaching our members understanding of the Constitution of the United States, the rights we have under it,
and keeping them well-informed of illegal laws under those rights that Congress tries to pass and uphold, we will have a stronger, smarter brotherhood within
the organization.
In closing, do we have a Constitution that does not change and is set in stone? Or a Living Constitution, which changes
every so often due to evolving standards of decency? My answer to that question is- we have both. We do have a
Living Constitution that does change through proper intent and enshrinement of what the Constitutional framework is,
and the amending process that keeps it changing and living. The Nineteenth Amendment is one of the best examples of
this. It took 50 years to get it to pass, but the system worked the way it was supposed to, even though it was difficult.
Now, with social and mainstream media, it would not be as hard to make amendments to the Constitution. As Madison
stated about the Constitution, “When we separate text from historical background, you will have perverted and
subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardization form of illegitimate government”, because
there is no thought of the original framework of the Constitution. When the original intent and historical meanings of
said Constitution is followed, the process for a Living Constitution is also found in the authorial meaning and intent,
without it having to change on the whim of every administration and what they want.
MARION — A few miles south of town, just past the intersection of Justice Drive and Prison Road, Ghassan Elashi
is serving out the remainder of a 65-year sentence in a controversial, restrictive unit at the U.S. Penitentiary that
opponents have nicknamed “Gitmo North” and “Little Guantanamo.”
There, along with about 40 other male inmates largely of Middle Eastern descent, his every spoken or written word to anyone on the outside is
scrupulously monitored by the federal government. The few phone calls he’s allowed to make weekly must be pre-arranged and cleared in
advance. He cannot intermingle with the other hundreds of inmates in the prison’s general population.
Elashi is separated from his visiting loved ones by a Plexiglas window — including his three girls and three boys ages 14 to 29. He can speak to
them only through a telephone, while prison officials listen nearby to their exchanges.
The scheduled release date for the 61-year-old man is October 2069, meaning he could die without any physical contact ever again from his family
members. That possibility became increasingly likely earlier this year as the federal government finalized its rules concreting the use of two socalled Communications Management Units — the one in rural Marion that opened in 2008 and the original one that opened in Terre Haute,
Indiana, in 2006 – for inmates officials believe need to have their communication monitored to protect national and international security.
Further, on March 15, a federal judge upheld the government’s use of the units, saying the defendants challenging them as unconstitutional failed
to show they represent an “atypical and significant hardship … in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.”
Then there are some that whine about prison terms:
http://thesouthern.com/news/local/new-gitmo-terroristinmates-housed-in-marion/article_44b3639a-7b9d-55ea-8bcc3f8f086c6b43.html
190 cities across America where 318 “affiliates” of the U.S.
Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and
Migration will act as Refugee Processing Centers. In effect,
these cities will be the “receiving communities” to welcome
and nurture the “seedlings” that will grow to become “a
country within a country.
The White House created a new task force….
‘New Americans’. No kidding….
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2014/11/21/presidential-memorandum-creatingwelcoming-communities-and-fully-integra
Check to see if your city and mayor are cool with having NEW Americans…whatever that is coming soon.
http://www.wrapsnet.org/Portals/1/Affiliate%20Directory%20Posting/FY%202014%20Affiliate%20Direc
tory/26SEP14_Public%20Affiliate%20directory.pdf
Odette Sansom 1912 – 1995 - French / British spy
who worked as an SOE operative in occupied France.
Captured and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp, but survived the war.
Odette Sansom was born in France, but later moved to England. In 1941 she
responded to requests by the War Office for people to send photographs of
France. These photographs encouraged the War office to recruit Odette into
the Special Operations Executive SOE; the SOE was responsible for training
agents to be dropped into France.
After receiving basic training in England, she was taken to France by boat in
October 1942. For over a year, Odette, using the codename Lise, worked as
radio operator, for group leader Peter Churchill. Radio Operators was one of
the most dangerous task, as the Gestapo were always on the lookout for radio
signals. The fact she survived undetected for over a year is testimony to her
care and professionalism.
Profile in Courage
She was betrayed by a double agent, ‘Colonel Henri’ in April 1943. Colonel Henri
was a German officer who claimed he wished to work for the allies. Despite,
Odette’s suspicions, his involvement led to her arrest.
She was taken to Fresnes Prison in Paris, where she was interrogated and
tortured on many separate occasions. The torture involved, beatings, having her
toe nails torn out and her spine branded by a hot iron. Yet, despite the torture
and pressure she remained firm to her story. She maintained she, not Peter
Churchill, was the leader; she also refused to give any information about other
members. Eventually, she was sentenced to death and sent to Ravensbruck
concentration camp for her execution.
However, her execution was never carried out. The Gestapo believe that her
‘husband’ Peter Churchill was related to Winston Churchill. The SS wanted to
keep her as a bargaining tool. During her internment she suffered brutal
treatment including long periods of solitary confinement in the dark. But,
eventually the camp was overrun and she won her freedom as the Camp
commandant tried to use her as a hostage.
After the War
Despite her appalling treatment, she was not over consumed with bitterness.
Instead after the war, she worked for various charities seeking to lessen the pain
of war. For her service, she was awarded the George Cross. Her humility meant
she was not keen on accepting the award, but she did accept it on behalf of all
agents who suffered during the war. She briefly married, Peter Churchill, before
marrying her third husband Geoffrey Hallowes. She died in 1995 aged 83.
http://www.biographyonline.net/military/odette-sanson.html
Closets
Complete guide to Spring Cleaning:
http://www.today.com/home/ultimate-spring-cleaningchecklist-t15761
1.Give it a quick sweep: Working on only one shelf at a time, tidy the
closet. Refold items that need it, keep like items together, place items
you no longer want or use in a donation bag.
2.Match shoes into pairs: If those shoes are scattered throughout the
space, take a few minutes to match them back up.
3.Reorganize: Make the most of hanging space. Fold clothes that don't
really need to be on hangers (jeans, sweaters, pajamas, etc.).
4.Take a look at the linen closet (if applicable): Remove linens from
closet, one shelf at a time. Wipe shelf with microfiber cloth.
5.Dust: Dust the entire closet from top to bottom, from shelves to
baseboards, especially the cobwebs in the corners.
6.Remove smudges and scuffs: Take a look at the door. If there are
marks, grab a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove them.
7.Vacuum floor: Check out these tips though before you get started.
8.Remove and clean the light fixture.
9.Organize smaller items: Place smaller articles, such as scarves or
gloves, on shelves or in bins to keep them together.
Conceal all wiring - Burglars often look for wiring around the
exterior of a house and can cut it to disable the security
system. Keep your home security wires hidden.
Give the appearance that your house is occupied –
Professional burglars scour neighborhoods looking for
homeowners who are away from their home for an extended
period of time. Automatic timers are great ways to turn lights
on and off while you’re away.
Use metal bars on sliding doors – Any sliding glass doors, patio
doors, or sliding windows should have a metal bar that is
placed along the bottom track of the door or window. The
metal bar will prevent a burglar from forcing the door or
window open.
Protect your windows – Burglars often gain entry into homes
through windows. Protect these vulnerable areas with window
locks and/or burglar-resistant glass. Installing many small panes
of glass instead of one large pain of glass is a good option as
well.
•CAKE
•3 cups all-purpose flour
•1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
•1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
•1⁄2 teaspoon salt
•1 cup butter, softened
•2 cups granulated sugar
•2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
•4 large eggs, at room temperature
•3⁄4 cup buttermilk
•1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
•GLAZE
•1 1⁄2 cups confectioners' sugar
•1 tablespoon milk
•2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 325°F Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2.Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
3.Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl with an electric
mixer at medium speed until creamy.
4.Add the eggs, one at a time, until just blended after each addition.
5.With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients,
alternating with the buttermilk and lemon juice.
6.Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 75-85 minutes, or
just until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes
out clean.
7.Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake.
8.Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool
completely.
9.GLAZE; Beat the confectioners' sugar, milk, and lemon juice in a
medium bowl until smooth.
10.Drizzle over the cake.
Nukes in the News
Think about this scenario: An ordinary-looking freighter ship heading toward New York or Los Angeles launches a missile
from its hull or from a canister lowered into the sea. It hits a densely populated area. A million people are incinerated. The
ship is then sunk. No one claims responsibility. There is no firm evidence as to who sponsored the attack, and thus no one
against whom to launch a counterstrike.
But as terrible as that scenario sounds, there is one that is worse. Let us say the freighter ship launches a nuclear-armed
Shahab-3 missile off the coast of the U.S. and the missile explodes 300 miles over Chicago. The nuclear detonation in
space creates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
Gamma rays from the explosion, through the Compton Effect, generate three classes of disruptive electromagnetic pulses, which permanently destroy
consumer electronics, the electronics in some automobiles and, most importantly, the hundreds of large transformers that distribute power throughout the
U.S. All of our lights, refrigerators, water-pumping stations, TVs and radios stop running. We have no communication and no ability to provide food and water
to 300 million Americans.
This is what is referred to as an EMP attack, and such an attack would effectively throw America back technologically into the early 19th century. It would
require the Iranians to be able to produce a warhead as sophisticated as we expect the Russians or the Chinese to possess. But that is certainly attainable.
Common sense would suggest that, absent food and water, the number of people who could die of deprivation and as a result of social breakdown might run
well into the millions. Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122748923919852015