friendly_iconoclast
friendly_iconoclast's JournalA question in the form of a cartoon (via Amendment II Democrats)
Since I don't personally buy into the Large Magazine Scare/moral panic- I'd go with either "post hoc, ergo propter hoc" (the magazine enables spree killings) or plain old animism (the 'big' magazines
somehow impel people to go haywire).
John Adams was also very much opposed to slavery, as you can see here:
(Note: Robert J. Evans was an abolitionist)
Quincy, 8 June, 1819.
I respect the sentiments and motives, which have prompted you to engage in your present occupation, so much, that I feel an esteem and affection for your person, as I do a veneration for your assumed signature of Benjamin Rush. The turpitude, the inhumanity, the cruelty, and the infamy of the African commerce in slaves, have been so impressively represented to the public by the highest powers of eloquence, that nothing that I can say would increase the just odium in which it is and ought to be held. Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. If, however, humanity dictates the duty of adopting the most prudent measures for accomplishing so excellent a purpose, the same humanity requires, that we should not inflict severer calamities on the objects of our commiseration than those which they at present endure, by reducing them to despair, or the necessity of robbery, plunder, assassination, and massacre, to preserve their lives, some provision for furnishing them employment, or some means of supplying them with the necessary comforts of life. The same humanity requires that we should not by any rash or violent measures expose the lives and property of those of our fellow-citizens, who are so unfortunate as to be surrounded with these fellow-creatures, by hereditary descent, or by any other means without their own fault. I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in such abhorrence, that I have never owned a negro or any other slave, though I have lived for many years in times, when the practice was not disgraceful, when the best men in my vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their character, and when it has cost me thousands of dollars for the labor and subsistence of free men, which I might have saved by the purchase of negroes at times when they were very cheap.
If any thing should occur to me, which I think may assist you, I will endeavor to communicate it to you; but at an age, when
“From Marlborough’s eyes the streams of dotage flow,
And Swift expires a driveller and a show,”
very little can be expected from, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant.
From:
The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 10.
More like: Disagreeing with the Great And Powerful Guardian of Progressivism is disruptive
(Nice touch implying that you speak for "most of the posters here", btw). Self-appointed zampolits hate the Gungeon because:
a) We don't automatically buy what they're selling and are not shy about saying so, and
b) We've seen their grandstanding, appeals to emotion, speechifying, and bloviating before from other sources, and know how to counter it.
So, yeah, if I were you I'd be pissed too...
While you are perfectly free to treat gun owners like Pamela Geller treats Muslims, consider this:
(And when I say "like Pamela Geller treats Muslims" I mean claiming the actions of the criminal minority is indicative of the majority, while simutaneously 'knowing' how the entire group thinks)
Legal gun owners constitute about 22-25% of the entire US population. And being legal gun owners, the are all old enough to vote.
And they do so, at a rate higher than the population as a whole. "Fine", you might say "we can still do without them".
But here's the nub of the gist-being +/- 25% of the population, that means as a group they are larger than:
*Asian-Americans
*African-Americans
*Hispanics
*GLBT people
*Union members
So, while you, personally may be willing to do without their votes- are you going to grasp the nettle and demand Democrats as a whole do without their votes?
Further, did you not consider that all the RW needs to do to find Gellerish remarks here about gun owners is to quietly drop a few $ on a membership?
For the anniversary of Apollo 11: "How the Eagle Landed — the Grumman Construction Log"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/7610058658On July 20, 1969, Eagle landed on the moon. These are the handwritten notes from the Grumman engineers as they pushed to complete Lunar Module LM-5 in 1968. On the last page, they learn than this particular Lunar Module would be the one to bring the first humans to the moon.
The Grumman Engineering Log served not only as an engineering notebook but also as an intercom between the day and night shift – separate teams that needed to push the ball forward from where the other left off. So we are offered a rare peek into the concerns, uncertainties and conversations that might have otherwise been quietly undocumented .
This log has informed the writing of Pellegrino’s book Chariots for Apollo, but only a few scholars have had access to these pages to date. Heritage reported that this original document is the only one in existence, with no copy on file anywhere. So I thought it would be good to make a color scan of the entire book, and make it available to all. So, here is the PDF file (8MB).
My hope is that we can collectively decode some of its mysteries, or better yet, find some of the engineers to see if it jogs their memories. There is a list of all of the engineers on p.2. We only have first initial and last names. So any insights to the full names or their whereabouts would be appreciated...
A scan of the complete log (in *.pdf format):
http://www.dfj.com/ApolloConstruction/Apollo_11_LM-5_Construction_Log.pdf
An extremely funny take on the Norquist-Bachmann throwdown...
as described here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002998261
Report cited by Bachmann claims Norquist linked to Muslim Brotherhood
via Fark:
http://www.fark.com/comments/7226858/Can-we-now-assume-that-Tax-Pledge-that-Norquist-had-majority-of-Repubican-lawmakers-was-in-reality-a-Muslim-Brotherhood-plot?cpp=1
Laughed my ass off..
My my, this *has* gotten you lot upset, hasn't it? The masks are slipping- badly
Excusing the fatal back-shooting of a 14 y.o., advocating life imprisonment without specifying a charge- it's blatantly obvious:
There are, indeed, TaliBanners in our midst- and they've shown up on this thread
Justice Department Sues Telecom for Challenging National Security Letter
Source: Wired
Justice Department Sues Telecom for Challenging National Security Letter
Last year, when a telecommunications company received an ultra-secret demand letter from the FBI seeking information about a customer or customers, the telecom took an extraordinary step — it challenged the underlying authority of the FBI’s National Security Letter, as well as the legitimacy of the gag order that came with it.
Both challenges are allowed under a federal law that governs NSLs, a power greatly expanded under the Patriot Act that allows the government to get detailed information on Americans’ finances and communications without oversight from a judge. The FBI has issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs and been reprimanded for abusing them — though almost none of the requests have been challenged by the recipients.
After the telecom challenged its NSL last year, the Justice Department took its own extraordinary measure: It sued the company, arguing in court documents that the company was violating the law by challenging its authority....
...The government’s “Jabberwocky” argument – accusing the company of violating the law when it was actually complying with the law – appears in redacted court documents that were released on Wednesday by EFF with the government’s approval. Prior to their release, the organization provided them to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the case Tuesday night. The case is a significant challenge to the government and its efforts to obtain documents in a manner that the EFF says violates the First Amendment rights of free speech and association.
Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/doj-sues-telecom-over-nsl/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Interesting
The relevant page at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where you can d/l the documents mentioned above:
https://www.eff.org/cases/re-matter-2011-national-security-letter
'After 9/11 NSA had secret deal with White House'
RT talks to Andrew Drake, a former National Security Agency executive in the US who sacrificed his career to blow the whistle on wrong-doings inside the NSA.
Hoyt, are you perchance Jim Channon? If so, it would explain a lot...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Channonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion
Service members of the First Earth Battalion would practice meditation, yogic cat stretches and primal screams to attain battle-readiness, and use tui na or shiatsu as battlefield first aid. First Earth Battalion trainees would learn to fast for a week drinking only juice and then eat only nuts and grains for a month. They would be able to: fall in love with everyone, realize the different paths of spirit, perceive the auras of living organisms, attain the power to pass through objects such as walls (phasing), bend metal by using the power of the mind (i.e. psychokinesis), walk on fire, operate based on spirit communications (e.g. mediumship), become a peacemaker, actually change a violent pattern in the world (e.g. the Maharishi Effect), organize a tree plant with kids, calculate faster than a computer, control their heart rate—including making it stop—with no ill effects, intuit information from the past (retrocognition) or future (precognition), have out-of-body experiences, live off nature for twenty days, be 90%+ a vegetarian, and be able to intuit other people's thoughts and feelings via telepathy[5] LTC Channon coined the term "warrior monk" for these new service members of the First Earth Battalion,[6] which is anyone who has the presence, service and dedication of a monk and the absolute skill and precision of a warrior. In “The Warrior Monk’s Vision,” Channon imagined an Army made up of awakened warriors.[7] Channon’s ideal warrior monk would be proficient at every level of force.[8] The warrior monk will learn different self-defense systems of martial arts (such as taiji, aikido, etc.), which are based on the notion of using the force of their attackers against themselves. To alleviate negative stressors and promote healing in self and others, the warrior monk will employ various affirmation, relaxation and visualization techniques, as well as a number of methods like yoga[9] qigong and reiki[10] to help strengthen and improve the mind/body connection with spirit.
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