Michigan Hunter Bags First Buck at Age 83

Out of Grand Rapids area...

Dick Hollebeek hoped to get out and hunt on his 83rd birthday, the opening day of Michigan's bowhunting season. But it rained so hard he had to put it off.

So it was a few days later when the Grand Rapids hunter got out with his son Dave Hollebeek and got the best birthday present yet: his first deer, a six-point buck.

"At least I got it during my birthday week," said Hollebeek who began hunting deer just after World War II, using an 8 mm Mauser, the German army rifle he brought back from the war.

Hollebeek still has the Mauser. In fact, he plans to go back out and try again during the November firearm season.

But his inaugural buck was dropped using a crossbow. Hollebeek gave up hunting with a regular bow some years ago after developing detached biceps tendons. The malady made him eligible for a state permit to hunt with a crossbow. He could no longer pull back the string on a regular bow.

Hollebeek had no idea that the peep site recently installed on his bow would be far more accurate than the faulty red-dot sight he had been missing with for several years.

"I didn't expect to get one," he said. In fact Hollebeek, who has hunted deer regularly since the war, except when in ill health, has grown fond of telling people, "There's more to hunting than killing a deer,"

Of course, Dave Hollebeek chides his father, saying that's what everyone says when they come up empty.

So starting five years ago, the younger Hollebeek made it his mission to see that his father got a deer.

"If I never get another deer in my life that would be fine," said Dave Hollebeek. "When I said, 'We finally did it' and gave him a big hug. His eyes started welling up. He just couldn't believe it."

It was 10 years ago that elder Hollebeek began joining his three sons at their deer camp near Baldwin. His health was better then. He was able to climb a ladder stand. He could still draw a bow. He just never got a chance to shoot a deer, said Dave Hollebeek.

As his father's health deteriorated, Hollebeek worried about leaving his father sitting alone in a blind.

"So I started sitting with him," Hollebeek said. "I'd bring my bow, but never shoot. I just wanted to make sure he was safe. That's how it has been the last four or five years."

Until the morning of Oct. 6, that is. The pair got out in the field at 6:30 a.m., hunting on private land in Talmadge Township. A doe and two yearlings came and went. Then a buck showed up and started coming straight for the blind.

"He hits me on the leg and says, "Buck. Buck,' " Dave Hollebeek said. "I said, 'Shoot!' and heard the safety come off."

The rest, as they say, is family history.

Guns - Prison

Where else, but the Big Apple?

A public service campaign displaying the slogan "Guns = Prison" across New York City is an affront to law-abiding firearm owners and an attempt to scare younger people from pursuing legal gun ownership, a group that supports the Second Amendment charged on Thursday.

The group added that if New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had his way, all guns in America would be outlawed.

Each of the posters blanketing New York City contains a brief message: one proclaiming "Guns Open Doors for Young People ... Prison Doors" and another simply portraying the word "JAIL" in capital letters, with the "L" as an image of a semiautomatic pistol.

At the bottom of each ad is a message that reads in smaller print: "Get Caught Carrying an Illegal Gun, Get 3 1/2 Years in Prison."

The posters are being displayed on space donated by corporate partners, including 1,000 Verizon phone kiosks, 500 posters for restaurants, clubs and bars, 50 backlit illuminated posters, 50 outdoor display panels and 1,500 bus interior ads.

Launched by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Citizens Crime Commission of New York City (CCC) President Richard Aborn, the campaign was criticized on Thursday by Alan Gottleib, president of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), as "perpetuating social bigotry against firearms and their owners."
If the mayor had his way, Gottleib told Cybercast News Service, "all guns would be illegal. In his utopian fantasy world, signs like that would not be confined to the Big Apple, they would also show up in places like Lander, Wyo., or Ft. Collins, Colo."

"If Bloomberg truly wanted to do something about criminal misuse of firearms, instead of teaming with Aborn to pander social bigotry against guns and the people who own them, then these posters would carry a different message so that the average person, looking at the poster from a distance, would not be left with the impression that guns in general are bad," he said.

Gottleib added that one of the mayor's partners in the new campaign -- Richard Aborn, past president of Handgun Control, Inc. -- is "one of the most virulently anti-gun extremists in the nation."

On the CCC's Web site, the group describes itself as "an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization working to reduce crime and to improve the criminal justice system and the safety of New York City."

But "it's not about reducing crime," said Gottleib. "It's about attacking gun ownership."

"And Mayor Bloomberg is in bed with this bunch," said Gottleib. "He should publicly apologize to people who legally own and carry firearms every day in every corner of this country. Right now, he is holding up guns and their owners to public scorn and ridicule."

When Bloomberg introduced the campaign at a public ceremony in July, he declared that "last year, our administration succeeded in pushing through a law that gives New York the toughest penalty in the country for carrying an illegal loaded handgun."

"Almost 70 percent of murders in New York City are committed with firearms, and the vast majority of those weapons are illegal," said Aborn. "These ads, much like the law itself, are crystal clear in their simplicity - carry an illegal gun in New York and go to prison for 3 1/2 years.

"We are hopeful that this hard-hitting campaign will help keep guns off our streets by showing the serious consequences of carrying a gun and put an end to a tragic cycle of violence," Aborn added.

"This important community service project generated a lot of passion and excitement within our creative department," stated Brendan Ryan, a member of the CCC board of the directors and former CEO and chairman of Draftfcb New York, the advertising agency that designed the campaign.

"Our message of 'Guns = Prison' is purposely simple," Ryan noted. "Everyone can understand it. It's cut and dried - just like the new law."

The campaign "makes the point that illegal guns will simply not be tolerated in our city," said Bronx County District Attorney Robert Johnson. "That message must be spread. The new gun law has led to increased incarceration for gun offenders, and getting guns off our streets will make us all safer. Everyone should support this effort."

But on Thursday, Gottleib had a different perspective on the campaign.

"If Bloomberg wants us to believe he really isn't trying to take guns from everyone, he should revise those signs so people can tell the difference," he challenged, "and if he doesn't change the wording, then he is showing his true colors."

"As it now stands, Bloomberg is frightening people into giving up their firearms or never buying a firearm in the first place," Gottleib added. "He is demonizing inanimate objects in the furtherance of his anti-gun agenda, and planting the subliminal message that anyone who owns a gun is a criminal who belongs behind bars."

Telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment from the mayor's office and the CCC were not returned by press time.

Quote of the Day, October 28 - November 3

"Be mild with the mild, shrewd with the crafty, confiding to the honest, rough to the ruffian, and a thunderbolt to the liar. But in all this, never be unmindful of your own dignity."

- John Brown

The Greatest Ever?

I apologize for the scant postings... life is getting in the way of blogging. I do apologize. I enjoy posting, and I enjoy reading so many other blogs, but there are many more urgent things taking up my time for the past few weeks.

So, as a token of my appreciation for dropping in and visiting, check out the greatest football play of the last 25 years. This play is so awesome, it just might be better than that classic Stanford-U Cal game back when John Elway was the Stanford QB and the Marching Band was squashed at the end of the game.

Enjoy.

Quote of the Week, October 21-27

"Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash."

General George S. Patton, Jr.

Parrots Save Man's Life

A homeowner shot to death an intruder Tuesday after his parrot alerted him that someone was on the property, police said.

Dennis Baker, who keeps several pet birds, said his Mexican Redheaded parrot named Salvador says "hello" when he sees someone. As someone passed by a window at his home, Salvador began saying "Hello, hello," awaking Baker from a sound sleep.

Baker approached John Woodson, 46, in a detached garage, and shot him. Woodson was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died, Dallas police Sgt. Larry Lewis said.

Lewis said the home, also used as a locksmith shop, had been burglarized four times this month.

"They were coming here like they owned the place. I hate what happened, but somebody has to do what's necessary," Baker said in the online edition of The Dallas Morning News. "The fifth time is enough. It's not something you want to do, but you have to do."

Police said they would turn the case over to a grand jury.

On Sunday, a welding-shop owner fatally shot one intruder and wounded another in the second such fatal shooting at the business in three weeks. No charges were expected in those cases.

A bill passed earlier this year by state lawmakers this year gives Texans a stronger legal right to defend themselves with deadly force in their homes, vehicles, and workplaces. The so-called "castle doctrine" states that a person has no duty to retreat from an intruder before using deadly force.

Quote of the Week, October 14 - 20

"Abolish God, and the government becomes the god."

G.K. Chesterton

Attention Michigan Handgun Owners

You know the annoying "safety inspection" you have to do whenever you purchase a handgun? You know, where you take the gun in to the police department and have them harass you and look at the gun to make sure the serial number is on it? Then you go and file the paperwork for the pistol in another part of the station?

Gun purchases are already highly scrutinized by state and federal authorities. This "safety inspection" isn't about safety at all. The cops conducting the inspection aren't trained gunsmiths, and the cops conducting the inspection have better things to do. Neither side - the gun owner or the cop - like these inspections, or see a need for them.

All this might stop, soon.

From NRA-ILA:

State Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93) has introduced legislation that seeks to repeal the required "safety inspection" for newly obtained handguns. House Bill 4490 would also require law enforcement agencies to destroy safety inspection records on file. Current Michigan law requires anyone who comes into possession of a pistol to take it to the police or sheriff’s department for a safety inspection. The requirement of a safety inspection is a burdensome waste of time for law-abiding gun owners and HB4490 will end that inconvenience.

HB4490 is expected to receive a hearing in the House Committee on Tourism, Outdoor Recreation, and Natural Resources soon. Please contact the members of the Committee and respectfully urge them to support passage of HB4490.

State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-103), Committee Chair
(517) 373-3817
joelsheltrown@house.mi.gov

State Representative Kate Ebli (D-56), Majority Vice-Chair
(517) 373-2617
KateEbli@house.mi.gov

State Representative Tom Casperson (R-10, Minority Vice-Chair
(517) 373-0156
tomcasperson@house.mi.gov

State Representative Terry Brown (D-84)
(517) 373-0476
terrybrown@house.mi.gov

State Representative Ted Hammon (D-50)
(517) 373-3906
tedhammon@house.mi.gov

State Representative Kenneth Horn (R-94)
(517) 373-0837
kennethhorn@house.mi.gov

State Representative Kathleen Law (D-23)
(517) 373-0855
kathleenlaw@house.mi.gov

State Representative Steven Lindberg (D-109)
(517) 373-0498
stevenlindberg@house.mi.gov

State Representative Mike Simpson (D-65)
(517) 373-1775
mikesimpson@house.mi.gov

State Representative John Stakoe (R-44)
(517) 373-2616
johnstakoe@house.mi.gov

State Representative Howard Walker (R-104)
(517) 373-1766
howardwalker@house.mi.gov

An Update to a Classic

We've all seen the original list. Here is the updated version. I wish I knew who gets credit - I've enjoyed the list, and the variations, for years. And all you Hillary fans and Michigan auto workers - be sure to read to the end.



DEMOCRAT
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office that put a tax on your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money, buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous. Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
You have two cows. The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.

AMERICAN BUREAUCRACY
You have two cows. The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours the milk down the drain.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

AMERICAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself, and do an IPO on the 2nd cow. You force the 2 cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when they drop dead. You spin an announcement
stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that
you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are trans-ferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.

FRENCH CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch. Life is good.

JAPANESE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school. You create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.

GERMAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, run a hundred miles an hour, live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves. Unfortunately they demand 13 weeks of paid vacation per year, and have their hearts set on grazing in France, Belgium, Holland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Russia, Greece, and England.

BRITISH CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Both are mad. You make a documentary about them for BBC that nobody watches. Someone else makes a witty comedy about them and everyone watches that.

ITALIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. While you are ambling around looking for them you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

RUSSIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. The Russian Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

SWISS CAPITALISM
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them. You charge extra for not disclosing to whom the cows belong.

INDIAN HINDU CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Your children are starving, so you pray to the cows for divine relief.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Both are on the barbie. Life is good.

CHINESE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the true numbers, execute him, and sell his organs in Hong Kong.

POLISH CAPITALISM
You have two bulls. Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

TALIBAN CAPITALISM
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. Then you kill them and claim a USbomb blew them up while they were in the hospital. Saudi Arabia pays you $100,000 for each martyred cow.

FLORIDA CAPITALISM
You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who like the brown one best, vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out of State tell you which is the best-looking one.

NEW YORK CAPITALISM
You have fifteen million cows. You have to choose which one will be the leader of the herd, so you pick some fat cow from Arkansas.


FORD MOTOR COMPANY
You have two cows. You send them through process improvement training on how to produce more milk, run more aerodynamically, be more physically appealing to the bulls. You make them give you a business plan and goals by day, week, month, quarter, and for the year. You make them fill out reports on how they walk to the milking stalls, eat, milking process, and how much they produce each day. They get so stressed out they stop producing milk. You send them back for more meetings on milk production.

Quote of the Week, October 7 - 13

“A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.”

- Thomas Jefferson

The Approaching Tidal Wave

It's happening. Kathleen Casey-Kirschling will sign up for Social Security on Monday.

Why should you care? Because she is the first of 78 million Baby Boomers that will hit the U.S. Social Security system in the coming years.

Ms. Casey-Kirschling was born January 1, 1946, at 12:00 a.m., and is known as the first member of the Baby Boomer generation. Come Monday, she will go from paying into the Social Security system to drawing money out.

Of course, millions of workers will follow her in the coming months and years.

Gun Owners Are Law Abiding? Libs Plead "Say it Ain't So"

Michigan anti-gunners predicted disaster when the Legislature permitted ordinary citizens to carry concealed pistols.

You know the typical catch-phrases they use. "Blood flowing in the streets." "Back to the lawless wild West." "Legalized murder." Ad nauseum.

They predicted the same thing when the Castle Doctrine went into effect last year.

What most libs don't know, or won't acknowledge, is that Michigan tracks CPL-holder crime statistics and make the reports available to everyone online at the State Police website. It turns out that Michigan CPL holders are extremely law-abiding - especially compared to the rest of the population.

As of the last report, there were well over 100,000 CPL-holders in Michigan. This accounts for over 1% of the total population and over 3% of the adult, non-institutionalized population.

The report includes all crimes that CPL holders were charged with during the year, including crimes that have no connection to firearms at all.

CPL holders, for the entire year, were charged with a total of 548 crimes. Of those, there were only 175 convictions. There were 101 instances of brandishing or using the pistol total. 148 crimes did NOT involve the use of a firearm.

What's this mean?

Even if we assume convictions on all the pending crimes that involved brandishing or using the pistol, there are only about 100 gun crimes per 100,000 CPL holders. This means that more than 99.9% of CPL holders committed NO GUN CRIMES AT ALL for the last year that data has been compiled.

CPL holders don't spill blood all over the streets - and they have a better law abiding record than overall law enforcement in this state. I'm not saying cops are dirty. I am saying that there are a higher percentage of cops convicted of (both firearm and non-firearm) crimes than CPL holders.

The stats on the Castle Doctrine are almost as devastating to lib arguments. The Detroit Free Press, of all publications, published an article on the first anniversary of the Castle Doctrine legislation. Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said:

Of course, you're going to get a case once in a while where someone's out waving a gun or something, but overall, most people are responsible.

And that's as bad as it got! From the Free Press!

Sheriff Hackel continued explaining that the law was very basic - it's about self-defense:

I get asked all the time: 'What does self-defense mean?' Every case is going to be reviewed individually by police agencies and prosecutors. It boils down to the totality of circumstances: Do they feel their life is in imminent jeopardy?

It's the same level that we use in guidelines for police to use force.

While the libs rely on scare tactics, all the evidence shows that Michigan CPL holders, and gun owners in general, are law-abiding men and women.

Click here to view the latest report (period ending June 2006) from the Michigan State Police website.

Looks Like Hillary's Got the Nomination

Four Democratic presidential candidates — U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and former U.S. Sen. John Edwards — are withdrawing their names from Michigan's Jan. 15 Democratic Party primary.

The four Democratic candidates still on the Michigan ballot are U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd(D-Conn.), U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Ala.).

Hillary's got it locked. No shock, but now it is as official as it can be before the Democratic convention.

My Sales Tax Prophecy Is Coming True!

Last week, I wrote:

You watch - this [the new 6% service tax] will all be put aside to jack up the sales tax. By Michigan Constitution, a sales tax hike must be approved by the voters.

Here is the scenario I envision - the Dems will come back in a week or two and offer to get rid of the new service tax, if voters will up the sales tax by 1 to 3%. Voters will get their chance to say "yes" or "no" in January 2008.

Now, hot off the press, this news out of our state capitol in Lansing:

House Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) plans on revisiting the recently enacted sales tax on services with an eye toward giving Michigan voters a chance to change it to a 7 percent sales tax instead.

Dillon told the Off the Record panel this week that none of this is finalized, but he is clearly interested in exploring a ballot alternative to bring the voters into this budget deficit debate.

It's happening! The thieves are out to get us one way or another.

Giving Up Jerusalem?

From Israel National News:
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is ready to screw his people again.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will put Jerusalem on the negotiating table as he hurtles toward a “joint declaration” with the Palestinian Authority ahead of next month’s U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit. The prime minister says that a joint declaration with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas prior to the summit will lead to direct negotiations.

Yeah, just like all the other failed programs.

The Arabic Al Quds Al-Arabiya newspaper reported Monday morning that Olmert has now come to an agreement with Jordan that Arabs in eastern Jerusalem will be granted Jordanian citizenship. The plan would leave Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites under the control of the Hashemite kingdom, according to the report.

Olmert vehemently denied the report in a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office. "The idea never existed," said the statement.

Yeah, just like all the other failed programs.

This is unbelievable "leadership" coming from Olmert. Hopefully the Knesset will move forward with a no-confidence vote and get rid of this joker and his government before their enemies achieve their desire to push the Jewish people into the Mediterranean Sea.

Wasn't it only last month when North Korean-supplied nukes were confiscated from Syria during an Israeli commando raid?

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem.

[...]

They confirmed that samples taken from Syria for testing had been identified as North Korean. This raised fears that Syria might have joined North Korea and Iran in seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

[...]

Evidence that North Korean personnel were at the site is said to have been shared with President George W Bush over the summer. A senior American source said the administration sought proof of nuclear-related activities before giving the attack its blessing.

Diplomats in North Korea and China believe a number of North Koreans were killed in the strike, based on reports reaching Asian governments about conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials.

Quote of the Week, September 30 - October 6

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and thus clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

- H.L. Mencken

MI Residents - Say NO to New Taxes

From the Michigan Chamber of Commerce:

Repeal Job-Killing Service Tax!
By now you are likely aware that as part of the state budget solution the Governor has signed into law a major expansion of the use tax (companion to sales tax) to approximately 60 new services! The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is unalterably opposed to this $700 million tax increase on families and job providers.
The ONLY good news is that this legislation does not go into effect until December 1, 2007 which means there is still time to stop this extremely damaging proposal from becoming law. Chamber members need to act immediately by contacting the Governor, Speaker Dillon, Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, and your own respective Legislators and ask them to repeal this legislation. We encourage you to call, write, and email.
Furthermore, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce is currently exploring all options about how to repeal, overturn, undo this legislation including but not limited to:
1) Pursue Legislation to repeal this plan prior to December 1.

2) Pursue a Statutory Initiative to repeal this statute. This would require 304,101 signatures gathered to place repeal language before the Legislature. If the Legislature were to approve it -no Gubernatorial signature would be required. If they did not, it would go to the voters at the next General Election on November 4, 2008.

3) Pursue a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit sales/use taxes on the purchase of all services. This would require 380,126 signatures to place the Amendment on the November 4, 2008 ballot.
Below is an email message you can send/edit immediately. In addition, please continue to check the Michigan Chamber's website for updated information on this issue.

Suggested Letter for business owners:

As a Michigan job provider, I urge you to reconsider the passage of the new service tax.

This is a major tax increase on working families and job providers at a time when Michigan is struggling, and will be very damaging to our state’s economy. Furthermore, taxing services is much easier to talk about than it will be to implement.

This ill-conceived proposal will be extremely complicated to define properly and understand; it introduces a whole new level of complexity to business operations in Michigan and will significantly drive up the cost of doing business in Michigan.

Furthermore, proponents have attempted to paint this proposal as taxing just “luxury” services! Not only does that attempt to diminish the role that every job provider contributes to Michigan’s economy, but it is simply false. Some of the services that will now cost more provide families protection, help root out crime, help protect the environment, transport individuals who cannot otherwise afford a car, and more.

In total, this proposal will just make it harder for Michigan job providers to be competitive and is the wrong approach to resolving Michigan’s budget issues. We urge you to focus on spending reductions and meaningful cost-saving reform measures instead. Please say no to this tax increase and work to repeal it!

Quote

Seen on the net:

When guns are outlawed, only Hillary's thugs will have guns.

The Football Sabbath

Tuesday has always been my football Sabbath. The day I rest from football.

Now, I don't watch a lot of football except for the high school ranks (I'm an assistant coach). But I do enjoy tuning in and out while working around the house.

Wednesday, we have high school freshman football. Thursday's belong to JV. Friday is reserved for the Varsity. Saturday is college, and Sunday and Monday feature the pros.

Tuesday has been the football Sabbath. No one plays football on Tuesday.

But tonight, when I got home, Memphis was hosting Marshall. A Tuesday game? Don't they know it is the football Sabbath?

You Watch - It Will Come Down To A Higher Sales Tax

So, the State of Michigan is collecting $750 million in new taxes on people like palm readers and wedding planners.

You watch - this will all be put aside to jack up the sales tax. By Michigan Constitution, a sales tax hike must be approved by the voters.

Here is the scenario I envision - the Dems will come back in a week or two and offer to get rid of the new service tax, if voters will up the sales tax by 1 to 3%. Voters will get their chance to say "yes" or "no" in January 2008.

Of course, voters simply choose between a mousetrap and rat poison - either option stinks. They'll chose to approve the sales tax. Then, in January 2009 (after the November '08 elections), the Legislature will back stab the voters and re-instate the service tax - at a new, higher rate to match the new sales tax rate.

Celebration!

It has been one year since Michigan's Castle Doctrine took effect!

Something to cheer about after the ghastly tax hikes our legislature screwed us with in the wee hours of the morning. Personally, I was getting ready to celebrate a government shut down.

Michigan. Last person out, be sure to turn off the lights.

Courtesy of the Free Press, here is a list of businesses the government will rape:

• Administrative services

• Armored cars

• Astrology

• Baby shoe bronzing

• Bail bonding

• Balloon-o-grams

• Bondspersons

• Business service centers

• Carpet and upholstery cleaning

• Check room services

• Coin-operated blood pressure testing machine services

• Coin-operated locker services

• Coin-operated personal service machines

• Coin-operated photographic machine services

• Comfort station operation services

• Commercial landscaping

• Concierge services

• Consumer-buying services

• Courier services

• Credit card notification services

• Dating services

• Discount buying services

• Document preparation

• Escort services

• Fortune-telling services

• Genealogical investigation services

• Ground passenger services

• House-sitting services

• Interior design

• Investment advice

• Janitorial

• Massages

• Numerology services

• Packaging and labeling

• Palm-reading services

• Party planning services

• Pay telephones

• Personal fitness trainers

• Personal shopping services

• Phrenology services

• Porters

• Private investigators

• Psychic services

• Restroom operation services

• Scenic transportation

• Self-storage

• Service contracts

• Shoe shines

• Singing telegrams

• Skiing

• Social escort services

• Social introduction services

• Storage

• Tanning salons

• Transit

• Travel agent services

• Warehousing

• Wedding chapel services

• Wedding planners

Animal Rights People are Crazy

Out of Spokane, Washington:

A pet rabbit named Sugar Bunny was stolen from a preschool and fliers protesting circus animal acts were left in its empty cage.

The preschool’s children gathered in a circle Monday to remember Sugar Bunny.

“We talked about how some people have different ideas about animals,” said teacher Lori Peters. “Some people don’t think they should be in cages.”

[...]

The fliers expressed protests against the Ringling Brothers Circus, which was in town during the weekend, and had a picture of a bear trying to escape from a cage. The fliers bore the names of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Northwest Animal Rights Network.

Isn't that lovely? Stealing the pet of a classroom of 4-year olds... another low for PETA.

West Virginia

Good news, Michigan CPL-holders. West Virginia just extended full reciprocity to us.

If you're heading down that way, you can find a copy of their gun laws here.

Quote of the Week, September 23 - 29

"One man with courage makes a majority."

- Andrew Jackson

Our Monthly Payment Economy

This was written by Rich Galen and one of his recent emails from mullings.com.

The sub-prime mortgage mess which a few months ago we were assured would cause no more than a ripple in the economy because so many of the potentially bad loans had been securitized and the risk was spread and … what's the official financial term for "blah, blah, blah?"

That ripple turned into a tsunami as mortgage brokers, banks, stock markets, hedge funds and financial powerhouses were flooded with bad news, bankruptcies, and margin calls. The sub-prime mortgage issue will probably be made worse once the Congress sticks its nose into it and decides to bail out people who took out those impossible loans - meaning you and I will be helping make all those bad mortgage payments.

Think about that the next time your landlord takes his sweet time fixing the garbage disposal unit in your one bedroom, one bath apartment which is conveniently located on the third floor of a building which has no elevator.

One of the reasons we are in this mess - and there will be more messes to follow - is because we have become a Monthly Payment Economy. Watch a car ad. Any car ad. You are not likely to every get the total price of the car. The only number you will see is the monthly payment (for highly qualified customers). Want that luxury car? Not to worry about the total cost, we'll just stretch out the payments to 84 months - seven years. Think I'm kidding? Head over to your car dealer and hear it for yourself.

Need anything from any store for any reason? No problem. Stick it on your credit card. Card maxed out? No problem again. You've be PRE-APPROVED for another $2,500 or $5,000 or however much at a low, low annual percentage rate of 15 - 20%.

Anyone can afford another $50 or $70 per month payment. It's when you add $70 almost every month for a couple of years when you suddenly discover your walletful of credit cards is now costing about $1,500 a month just to make the minimum payments.

For those of you sending Trent or Missy off to college in the next week or so, keep this in mind: According to an article in the Ventura County Star, "freshmen who start out with no debt are likely to owe about $1,500 to credit card companies by the end of their first year of college."

Someone tell me the difference - other than scale - of a 17-year-old college freshman being driven by peer pressure to fill out app after app for credit cards (and getting an official school logo-emblazoned plastic beer stein for the effort) and someone 25 years older being brow-beaten by a mortgage broker into a mortgage which the recipient can't even make the payments under the "teaser rate" much less after the rate is "adjusted."

I know this doesn't apply to you, but according to a Marketwatch article on the foxnews.com website, "On average, households that carry a balance on their credit cards owe more than $13,000."

In Washington, DC there is a move afoot to put the brakes on the payday loan business. These are shops - generally in minority neighborhoods - which lend relatively small amounts - in the hundreds of dollars to be repaid on the next payday.

Of course, they are often not repaid so the initial annual percentage rates (which, according to the Washington Post "range from 349 to 550 percent" is jacked up even higher by fees and additional loans to pay off the initial note. According to the Post "99 percent of payday loans turn into long-term debt because the average borrower renews a loan eight times per year."

From the Congress' spending bills to the payday loan recipient. Our entire economy is based on making our monthly payments. If very many begin missing those payments, it will make the sub-prime mortgage tsunami look like … a ripple.

Jimmy Carter vs. Jews

On this Yom Kippur, I thought it was appropriate to focus on Jimmy Carter's support of terrorism and dislike of the Jewish people.

Jimmy Carter's War Against The Jews

Warning - there are some graphic photos of carnage in the aftermath of terrorists attacks.

(h/t TFS Magnum)

Concealed Carry Holder Thwarts Robbery

Viewer discretion is advised! This video shows a man using a concealed pistol violently against an armed robber to defend innocent lives. The criminal was shot. Do not watch if this will disturb you.


Stats: All 3 shots fired hit the bad guy. The gun was a Glock 23, .40 cal using 165grain Gold dots.
(h/t USCCA)

News Story:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police said a desk clerk shot a man who was attempting to rob an east side motel on Saturday night. Officers said that shortly before 9:30 p.m., a man walked into the Super 8 Motel, located at 2055 Brice Rd., showed a gun and demanded money. Police said the desk clerk on duty then shot the alleged robber, Antoine Stephens.

Stephens, 20, was transported to Grant Medical Center and was in serious condition on Sunday morning, NBC 4 reported. Police said he would be charged with aggravated robbery. No charges filed against the shooter.

USCCA tip:
To me, this video makes it look like the Good Guy put two innocent by-standers very close to the line of fire. I am not judging his actions one way or another, as I have to assume that he used his best judgment, and probably determined that he would be putting their lives in greater risk by not acting. I'll leave it up to you!

My analysis:
GFWs will lament that a man defended people. They'd much prefer to see 4 people dead and the police arrest the murderer/armed robber months later.

Billions and Billions...

The Forbes List is out again. You know, that list of the impossibly wealthy people who could own New York City if they wanted to.

I tears me up to say this, but for the 42nd straight year, I haven't made the list. I can't stand when Forbes discriminates against me because I am a non-billionaire. Or is it billionaire-challenged?

But there is something very interesting about this years list:

For the first time, it takes more than $1 billion to earn a spot on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans. The minimum net worth for inclusion in this year’s rankings released Thursday was $1.3 billion, up $300 million from last year.

The new threshold meant 82 of America’s billionaires didn’t make the cut.

82 of American's billionaires? You mean there are more than 82? Wow. That's cool. Take that, European Union.

Michigan Legislators Still Debating How Much to Screw Citizens

The "Raise the Income Tax" meetings have stalled again.

Michigan is in red ink, and rather than cut meaningless services or cut waste (because obviously anything the government does is never meaningless or wasteful), they want to pass the cost on to the consumer - Michigan taxpayers.

Unfortunately for that analogy, consumers have a choice as to what they will spend their money on, and in what amounts. Tax payers don't.

By 7:00 a.m. a bill to raise the tax rate from 3.9% to 4.6% was still four votes shy of the needed 56 votes. The voting board showed only one one Republican joining 51 Democrats voting for the measure. One Democrat and two Republicans were uncommitted, as the board remained open after eight hours.

[...]

Without an agreement for a 2007-08 budget -- or an extension of this year's budget -- the state faces a partial government shutdown October 1.

The problem with this threatened shutdown is that most citizens see it as a blessing, not something to be frightened over.

Since 2002, Michigan has consistently been in the economic toilet bowl, and still has the weakest economy of any state. Businesses are fleeing at a record rate, and citizens are moving out of state to find work. So, what is government's solution? Raise the income tax. Like the Guinness beer ads would say: "BRILLIANT"!

Quote of the Week, September 16-22

"A good plan, executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."

General George S. Patton, Jr.