1st Inning.
Cool videos...
Montauk Chronicles...I remember reading books on the Philadelphia Experiment about 20 years ago which also lead to me reading up on the Montauk Project which this fake documentary focuses on, although it does include the actual people from the books I read. Freaky stuff!
Fly...like an eagle...No words can really describe this but 'really cool' is up there!
2nd Inning.
American history lesson...Birth of
Robert E. Lee. On January 19th, 1807, Robert E. Lee was born in Stratford, Virginia. He was the son of Colonel Henry Lee, Revolutionary Cavalry leader and former Virginia Governor. Being from a family that was among the ruling elite, they were not wealthy. Due to that lack of wealth, instead of attending a university, Lee opted for the United States Military Academy at West Point. At West Point, he graduated without a single demerit and received perfect scores in his studies of artillery, infantry, and cavalry.
He first saw the battlefield during the Mexican/American War where he fought under General Winfield Scott from 1846-48. Scott would later describe Lee as the
"best soldier I ever saw in the field". Lee was also called upon by the Federal government to end the slave insurrection lead by John Brown at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. With the South going through secession, President Lincoln offered to Lee the command of Union forces but Lee declined the offer. Lee, of course, decided to stand with his fellow Virginians and left the Union Army where he had served for 36 years and accepted the command of the Virginian forces.
Distinguishing himself again on the battlefield, Lee was given control of the Army of Northern Virginia. In command of those forces in 1862, he pushed back the Union Army in Richmond during the Seven Days Battle and later that year a victory at Second Manassas. He would not always see his forces victorious. At Antietam, he lost 14,000 of his men to either being captured, wounded, or killed. Then in 1863 at Gettysburg, the Southern army would suffer such casualties that it almost devastated them. During the middle of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant and his Northern forces had turned the tide of the war by obliterating Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. By April 1865, Lee had to abandon Richmond and a week after that found himself surrendering to Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. He was quoted as saying, "I suppose there is nothing for me to do but go and see General Grant...and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
Lee would return to Richmond with his family, after Lincoln saved him from being hanged. He would stay there until accepting the position of president of Washington College (later renamed Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia in later 1865. His wife's home in Arlington had been occupied by Union forces for much of the war and later turned into a cemetery for their dead. On October 2, 1870, Robert E. Lee would finally lose his battle with heart disease.
Per
History.net,
"He had become a symbol of Southern resistance to the Union armies and was made an icon of the Lost Cause in the post-war South. Today, he remains internationally respected as a daring, often brilliant tactician, a gentleman who never referred to Northern soldiers as 'the enemy' but as 'those people over there,' a man who opposed secession but felt honor-bound to serve his native state. He applied for restoration of his American citizenship, but the papers were lost until the 1970s, when his wish was granted."
3rd Inning.
Politics...Pork Barrel Spending.
With the discussion of budgets, appropriations, cuts, and debt increases it's always good to examine more closely what the Feds are spending money on. When examining these items we need to ask a few questions such as 'Can we afford this at this time?' and 'Could this money have been better spent or not spent at all?' and 'Is this a national priority or is this something benefiting a special interest?' and 'Does this fit the role of the federal government, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution?'. This week's entries:
- During the recent Federal government shutdown in October, more than 100,000 federal employees being paid a salary of at least $100,000 were furloughed as non-essential. Each of these were paid $4,000 for the time off of work during the shutdown. Is it fair to charge billions of dollars to pay others not to work to taxpayers working to cover their own bills and the bills of the government? This is especially true when the non-essential federal employee is being compensated more than twice the average U.S. family income of $51,000.
Uncle Sam is paying to make the web a little more romantic. The Popular Romance Project has received nearly $1 million from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) since 2010 to "explore the fascinating, often contradictory origins and influences of popular romance as told in novels, films, comics, advice books, songs, and internet fan fiction, taking a global perspective—while looking back across time as far as the ancient Greeks."
Ever dream of escaping it all and owning a dream home on a remote island paradise? Didn’t think you could afford it? Think again. There is now a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) home loan program here to help you. Created to assist those with low and moderate incomes in rural areas obtain "safe and sanitary dwellings,"the program has expanded to cover "mortgages
for millionaires" and homes in suburban and urban areas, as well as seaside "resort communities." In 2013, more than 100 individuals or families received loan guarantees for $500,000 or more from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase a residence in Hawaii.
If these new homeowners later cannot afford their new homes, it’s no problem; the federal government will protect the banks from losses by repaying 90 percent of the loans. "There
is no down payment requirement" for the loans,"no maximum purchase price," and—according to USDA—the government "is required to serve all borrowers who meet eligibility requirements and seek to purchase homes in eligible areas" (emphasis added). And despite the name of the program, it serves more than just rural areas. An independent analysis found that, "today, the program covers nearly the entire U.S. land mass. That has helped turn the program into one of the sweetest deals available."
As the U.S. war effort in the Middle East winds to a close, the military has destroyed more than 170 million pounds worth of useable vehicles and other military equipment. The total amount of equipment eventually to be scrapped—the equivalent of 77,000 metric tons—is approximately 20 percent of the total war material the U.S. military has in Afghanistan. The
military has decided to simply destroy more than $7 billion worth of equipment rather than sell it or ship it back home.
- In an era of technological advances that make the machines of war smaller and more agile, the Army spent three and a half years developing a football field-sized blimp that would provide continuous surveillance of the Afghan battlefield – called by some an "unblinking eye."
In 2013, however, the Army closed the blimp’s eye forever when it brought the project to a halt after spending nearly $300 million. The Army sold the airship back to the contractor that was building it for just $301,000.
(Information obtained from Senator Tom Coburn's 'Waste Book 2013')
4th Inning.
Uncle Jeremy's Tips To Getting The Nation Back On Track...Take all the idiots committing crimes through these 'Knockout' games and send them to boot camp with an immediate ticket to the front line...Pass a law that eliminates any future bailouts of private sector companies...Pass a law that mandates national reciprocity on conceal carry permits...Put the unemployed back to work building a fence/wall along the southern border...Make it easier for legal immigration to the U.S....Make it a mandatory 5-day waiting period for review before any legislation in Congress can be voted upon...Open up the Presidential debates to all parties on the ballot in the majority of states...Abolish the U.S. Department of Education and remove Federal mandates to give control to the local communities...Promote giving to charities...
5th Inning.
Articles of the week...
- Slummin' it..."There have been no reports of toga parties at the legendary Capitol Hill
residence, but the interior decor certainly echoes John Belushi
bellowing 'Food fight!'" An interesting look at how some folks in Congress live in D.C.
- "SECEDE!... "For anyone who lived in the United States during the eight insufferable
years of the Bush Administration, you’ll recognize that liberals really,
really, really don’t like D.C. meddling in their business when it’s the other guys in charge." A humorous look at why the liberals would want those on the right to secede.
- A Tale of 4 Cities... An interesting look at four cities in the United States by Derrick Wilburn of American Conservatives of Color.
- Denny Crane, Please?...A gay man sued the police in Colorado Springs for violating his 2nd Amendment rights. Now that would have made a great story for Boston Legal with Denny
Crane as his attorney.
A man who sued police in Colorado Springs, Colo., for violating his Second Amendment rights has reportedly won more than $23,000 from the city, as local officers apparently did not know it was legal to “open carry” firearms at public parks.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/bang-payday-for-man-suing-cops-over-guns/#mK7JVboXRCvYqwwB.99
A man who sued police in Colorado Springs, Colo., for violating his Second Amendment rights has reportedly won more than $23,000 from the city, as local officers apparently did not know it was legal to “open carry” firearms at public parks.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/bang-payday-for-man-suing-cops-over-guns/#mK7JVboXRCvYqwwB.99
- Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you... Conspiracy theories that turned out to be true.
- Robot Wars..."The real world has not caught up yet with "Star Wars" and its talking, thinking robots, but some of the most sophisticated units that exist are heading to Florida this week for a Defense Department competition." These are the droids you are looking for.
- Keep your guns..."When Katie Worthman was a little girl in Austria, she witnessed firsthand Adolph Hitler’s rise to power and the Soviet communist occupation that followed. She also witnessed, for decades, the distortions of the media when it came to the reporting of the events." A view of history from someone that was there.
- Google=Skynet..."Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon." When they start unveiling security robots that are ready to replace police and soldiers...beware.
- 3..2..1..Lift off!... "If you have ambitions of being one of the first people on Mars, listen up: A Dutch company says it is moving along with its plan to send four lucky Earthlings to colonize the Red Planet. The catch: They won’t ever come back."
6th Inning.
Sports...Chiefs playoff losses. I was a year out of high school when the Kansas City Chiefs last won a playoff game. That game in Houston was a huge win since the Chiefs were underdogs going in against the dreaded Buddy Ryan defense. But since that year they have been to the playoffs 7 times and lost their first game each time and killed any chance at making it to the Super Bowl. Even worse is that they had earned home-field advantage in a few of those years but couldn't get it done at home in the glorious Arrowhead Stadium. There were offensive no-shows, missed field goal kicks, and porous defenses that lead to those defeats. For more analysis let's look closer at each game.
1994:
Chiefs 17 vs Dolphins 27. A match that pitted Joe Montana against Dan Marino. KC scored with passes to Derrick Walker and Kimble Anders and a field goal by Lin Elliot. Two turnovers by KC to none by Miami. We had a decent offense and a good defense but couldn't get it done. Miami would lose the next week to the Chargers.
1995:
Chiefs 7 vs Colts 10. A match that pitted Steve Bono against Jim Harbaugh. KC scored with a pass to Lake Dawson (remember him?). Four turnovers by KC to one by Indy. Oh yeah, Lin Elliott missed 3 field goals that day. He escaped KC alive somehow. We had a decent offense and a great defense. The Colts would make it to the AFC Conference Championship game and lose to the Steelers.
1997:
Chiefs 10 vs Broncos 14. A match that pitted Elvis Grbac against John Elway. KC scored with a pass to Tony Gonzalez and a Pete Stoyanovich field goal. No turnovers for KC but 2 for Denver. We had a decent offense and a good defense but Elway was on his way to winning his first Super Bowl at the end of his career. The stars were aligned for Denver that year.
2003:
Chiefs 31 vs Colts 38. A match that pitted Trent Green against Peyton Manning. KC scored with a pass to Dante Hall, a field goal by Morten Andersen, two rushes by Priest Holmes, and a kickoff return by Dante Hall. One turnover by KC to none by Indy. There were no punts in this game by either team. We had a super offense and a horrible, horrible defense (thanks, Greg Robinson). The Colts would lose to the Patriots the next week in the conference championship.
2006:
Chiefs 8 vs Colts 23. A match that pitted Trent Green against Peyton Manning (again). KC scored with a pass to Tony Gonzalez and a two-point conversion to Kris Wilson. Three turnovers by both teams. It was Trent's last year in KC and we had no offense and a so-so defense. The Colts would go on to win the Super Bowl.
2010:
Chiefs 7 vs Ravens 30. A match that pitted Matt Cassel against Jo Flacco. KC scored with a rush by Jamaal Charles. Five turnovers by KC to two by Baltimore. We had a decent offense and a decent defense. The Ravens would lose the next week to the Steelers.
2013:
Chiefs 44 vs Colts 45. A match that pitted Alex Smith against Andrew Luck (both #1 overall draft picks). KC scored with passes to Dwayne Bowe, Anthony Sherman, and Knile Davis along with a rush by Knile Davis and three field goals by Ryan Succop. One turnover by KC to four by Indy. We had a really good offense and a defense that was prone to giving up too many big plays. The Colts would lose the next week to the Patriots.
7th Inning.
Firearms Corner...With the panic buying of 2013 behind us I am starting to see the shotguns, rifles (including MSRs), handguns, and both rifle/handgun magazines back in stock with my wholesale firearms suppliers. The ammunition is still a bit slow to reappear but can be found every so often except for the .22LR. There are many theories as to why but Guns.com posted a
video the other day that really explains what is going on.
8th Inning.
FFL Factoid...Required documents. Brandon Maddox over at FFL123.com has some great
advice about the required documents an FFL must have on hand when conducting business even if you are a home-based dealer. He states that the first document you need is a copy of your FFL license. I have mine framed in a simple picture frame along with my city & county business licenses. If you are working a gun show you will need a copy of the FFL license to keep on hand. I remember my first gun show and I forgot a copy and had to have my step-dad run by my home and get a copy from my wife and rush it up to me as I was freaking out not having it. Another document that needs to be kept available (and I have mine hanging right below my licenses) is the Youth Handgun Safety poster. I don't carry the poster to gun shows but I do put the Youth Handgun Safety Act Notice pamphlets out on my table. A third document you will need to keep on hand is your inventory record(s). I purchased a nice Acquisition & Disposition book from MidwayUSA that I record all inventory in and out. I keep that in a file with all of the Form 4473s for the transfers I have completed. These will definitely be part of an ATF inspection when they conduct one. One little bit of information that Brandon also mentions among his suggestions is keeping your personal firearms labeled as such if you keep your FFL inventory in the same location/safe as your personal firearms. Since I do keep both in the same location I picked up some personal firearms tags from Brownell's
here.
9th Inning.
Baseball video...Chicks dig the long ball, man. Chicks dig the long ball. Pitchers and catchers report next month.
