Remembering Apollo 1

On January 27th, 1967, three US astronauts were burned to death when their Apollo 1 capsule caught fire during a ground test.

Lieutenant-Colonel Virgil I. 'Gus' Grissom, USAF, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward H. White II, USAF, and Lieutenant-Commander Roger B. Chaffee, USN, were performing a 'plugs-out' test of the capsule, in which it was disconnected from external power and resources and functioned on its own internal systems. As the subsequent inquiry would show, there were serious flaws in the capsule's design, not least of which was, as Wikipedia points out:

Following a worldwide survey of artificial oxygen-rich environments, it was found that rarely if ever had a 100% oxygen environment been created and maintained at such a high pressure, in which a bar of aluminum can burn like wood.

It was never determined precisely what started the fire. Many defects in design and workmanship probably contributed. Its results were tragic. All three astronauts died within seconds.



Following the tragedy, numerous improvements and modifications were made to the Apollo capsule, subsequent examples of which went on to reach the Moon and enabled astronauts to land there.


Today, Launch Complex 34 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is deserted, most of its structures demolished. Two plaques adorn one of the base pillars.

Let us remember their sacrifice with all honor.

Oh So True.....

How Are They Going to Twist This ???

A Roseville man escaped his crushed vehicle that was trapped underwater by an unusual method: gunfire.




Authorities said the 28-year-old man was driving in his station wagon on Industrial Avenue on the bridge over Pleasant Grove Creek when a hands-free cell phone device activated, startling him and causing the vehicle to veer into the chilly waters just before 9:00 a.m. Sunday.



The man, employed as an armed security officer at Thunder Valley Casino, found himself trapped inside his car about six to eight feet below the surface in the 50-degree water.



The Roseville Fire Department said the man used his handgun to shoot out his vehicle window, giving himself an opportunity to escape and swim to safety.



The man flagged down a passing vehicle and was treated for minor injuries by emergency crews.

'nuf said

If my blog does not meet your standards, then LOWER YOUR STANDARDS. Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?

Why Can't they Learn???

Not long after the Ayatollah Khomeini announced his fatwa against Salman Rushdie, the British novelist suddenly turned up on a Muslim radio station in West London late one night and told his interviewer he'd converted to Islam. Marvelous religion, couldn't be happier, Allahu Akbar and all that. And the Ayatollah said hey, that's terrific news, glad to hear it. But we're still gonna kill you.

Well, even a leftie novelist wises up under those circumstances.

Evidently, the president of the United States takes a little longer.

Barack Obama has spent the past year doing big-time Islamoschmoozing, from his announcement of Gitmo's closure and his investigation of Bush officials, to his bow before the Saudi king and a speech in Cairo to "the Muslim world" with far too many rhetorical concessions and equivocations.

And at the end of it the jihad sent America a thank-you note by way of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's underwear:

Hey, thanks for all the outreach! But we're still gonna kill you.

Just what is a FELON anyways?

In my personal opinion, a felony is a crime so heinous it generally results in the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison.
...life in prison...
Someone who commits a felony should be considered dangerous to society at large, and, for example, dealing in cat pelts doesn't quite rise to that level, yet it's a felony here in my home state.

Instead, we've declared writing a bad check for over $500 to be a felony. It's a crime, no doubt, but not one where someone should be punished for the rest of their lives.

The fact that you can have your right to vote restored, but not your Second Amendment rights without going through a near impossible dog and pony show.

I can hear some people now. "are you saying you want to give felons guns????". No, they can buy their own.

What I’m saying is this, and it’s a pretty easy concept to explain...

If you are such a danger to society that simply being in a home with a firearm is a crime, you should not be out loose in society.

Period.

We release people from jail because we consider them to no longer be a threat to those around them. If they are a threat, why are they out in the first place???

Gun control is closing the barn doors well after the horses have all hightailed it out of Dodge.

Attempting to ensure dangerous people don’t do dangerous things by making laws that they can’t be near a single, dangerous item is idiocy and madness rolled up in one.

Let’s look at all the other deadly things felons are legally allowed to do

Purchase cutlery
Obtain large quantities of flammable liquids as well as fire instigation devices
Take martial arts classes
Meander through public with their hands unbound
Operate a deadly assault vehicle
Maintain access to a vast array of chemical agents


Now, if 'giving felons guns' was such a dangerous concept, why would we still allow them the ability to cause harm and mayhem with the preceding list?

In summary, we're too fast and loose with the term felony and if a person is a danger to society, they shouldn't be in society.

Big Brother is Watching Y O U !!!!

"I wasn't ready to publicize this," Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo said. She and other department leaders hastily organized a news conference when they realized the local news channel had captured the entire event on camera.

"We still haven't even decided how we were going to go forward on this task, so it seemed premature to me to announce this to the media," Montalvo said. "But since, obviously, the media found out about it, then I don't see any reason why just not go forward with what we have so far."

Montalvo told reporters the unmanned aircraft would be used for "mobility" or traffic issues, evacuations during storms, homeland security, search and rescue, and also "tactical." She admitted that could include covert police actions.

A large number of the officers at the test site were assigned to the department's ticket-writing Radar Task Force. Montalvo insisted they were only there to provide "site security," even though KPRC cameras spotted those officers heavily participating in the test flight.

Remember when we first started flying Predator Drones in the Middle East for "forward observations"?

We were assured that they were "unmanned and unarmed vehicles, really - just large toys"

Remember when the CIA was tracking a Taliban Chief by drone video, and when the "un-named" Joint Chief of Staff Officer said "it's a shame we can't just reach out and kill him" the CIA agent in charge gave the order, and presto - the Predator fired a missle and took him out?

Try to remember that next time your on the interstate and you look up to see an unmanned aircraft being used for "mobility" or traffic issues.

It's just a toy....really...

Muslim Heritage Day????

Dear Mr. Obama:
Were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.

Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.

Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution? Declaration of Independence? Bill of Rights? Didn't think so.

Did Muslims fight for this country's freedom from England? No.

Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America? No, they did not. In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own 'half brother' a devout Muslim still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as "pug nosed slaves." Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family's "rich Islamic heritage" doesn't it Mr. Obama?

Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present. There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.

Where were Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights aren't they?

Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi's in killing Jews.


Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001? If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the middle east. No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day. Strangely, the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo, Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11.

To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.


And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the "rich heritage" Muslims have here in America.


And now we can add November 5, 2009-- the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That, Mr. Obama is the "Muslim heritage" in America.

Normally I would close this with "Love it or Leave it"...but you won't do either.

I'm Gonna be RICH!!!

During the Christmas Holiday Season, and an epiphany from the Lord, I have solved the airline terrorism problem.

PIGSKIN AIRLINE SEATS and an ALL PORK BBQ MENU!!!

Go ahead and disband the TSA, and mail me 10% of their take as a royalty.

No, really...just direct deposit it into my account.

Subversive Rant of the Day....

The right of a nation to kill a tyrant in case of necessity can no more be doubted than to hang a robber, or kill a flea.
A government of laws and not of men.


John Adams
(1735-1826)
Second President of the United States

Yes, this probably assures my place on some DHS or FBI list of subversives who quote those radicals of the past.

Seeing as how the words of the founders of this nation would have Napolitano wetting her pants, and her agency has already labeled military vets as people to be watched, I'll be in good company.

Who is Going to be Dragging You Out of Bed Now??

Is "treasonous" too harsh a word to apply to the arrogant politicians running Washington? You be the judge — in light of this:

Thursday, December 17, 2009, The White House released an Executive Order "Amending Executive Order 12425." It grants INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) a new level of full diplomatic immunity afforded to foreign embassies and select other "International Organizations" as set forth in the United States International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945.

By removing language from President Reagan's 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body now operates — now operates — on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Your (not mine) president has set an international police agency above the Fourth Amendment constraints of the Constitution.

Interestingly, Interpol's US headquarters is in the Justice Department.

Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?

Interpol works closely with the International Criminal Court, a gang of moonbats who would gladly round up prominent Republicans like Dick Cheney and throw them in jail on charges of insensitivity to terrorists.

America has always refused to surrender its sovereignty to this ultra-left kangaroo court — UNTIL NOW.

Sleep soundly now that CHANGE has arrived!

Get Out While the Gettin's Good!

Dear Texas, despite all of your shortcomings, I am here to inform you:

You are the last best hope of mankind.

The collectivists now have the votes in the Senate to pass the Health Care Enslavement Act. Everything else is procedure. Therefore I must recognize that now, to my utter horror…

I no longer live in a free country.

I will be forced by the power of the State to pay for a stranger’s MRI. I will be forced to beg the government for permission to get a heart transplant.

I am a slave. The government now has complete power over everything that constitutes my humanity, for if they control my health and body, they control me.

It appears then that, since collectivists now control the United States and wish to enslave me and my family, I must consider other options. Shall I move? To where? Name a country that is not collectivist in one form or another, or under threat of imminent domination. Europe is under the crushing velvet glove of socialism, Russia is a madhouse, all else froth and insanity, corruption and tyranny.

I want my United States, but it is no longer the United States. It is gone and has been since at least the 1950’s, as Rome was no longer Rome after the madness of the twelve Caesars, but still trundled on under momentum and past glories.

…Which brings me to the most important thing I know about Texas.

Dear big beautiful Texas with all your gorgeous pageant women and comfort food: you are the only state that joined our Union with a treaty allowing for legal secession.

Here’s the “long story short,” your favorite phrase, Dear Texas:

You can get out now and no one will stop you.

Just save room for me!

Well now...

The lead lawyer for Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan ... said he learned that police guarding Hasan at Brooke Army Medical Center cut short a phone conversation Hasan was having with one of his brothers on Friday because Hasan was not speaking in English.

“Police at the hospital refused to let him pray, in Arabic, from the Quran with his brother,” [the lawyer] said. “I think it’s illegal and a violation of his religious rights.” ...

Sooo...what happened to the rights (religious or otherwise) of the 12 people that were cut down at Fort Hood by this murderous, traitorous piece of slime in November?

And...why is he still breathing?

60 Votes

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience."

-- John Locke, 1690


Your government is no longer of the people, by the people, or for the people

god help us

are we Patriots, or mice?

The true measure of the patriot is steadfastness.

We all have small moments of wanderlust in us, tearing off on solitary paths that others may not follow, testing limits, testing ourselves.

That is the nature of man.

Yet when we strive to hold true, to stand firm to our beliefs as free men, together, to carry our weapons and defend our land, the weak become strong, and the wandering hold together as one. For then we are united in something much greater than the elemental whims of man.


Together as patriots, we are much more of the courageous and less of the selfish, we are brothers in arms.

Where and When did we Lose Control...

The Declaration of Independence states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The American understanding of democracy does not envision voters as slaves who enjoy the privilege of voting for a new master every few years. When the Declaration speaks of the right – and, later the duty– of the people to abolish tyrannical governments, it renders the notion of “mandates” to impose radical change on unwilling citizens absurd.

The vital role of consent in the structure of a just government is one of the most powerful ideas ever advanced by the human race.

On the other hand, the belief that consent can be manufactured by democratic majorities is one of the most cherished illusions of activist government.

The dissent of a minority is not rendered irrelevant by victory in a popular vote…

but the health-care debate in the Senate proceeds on the assumption that victory in a parliamentary struggle between a hundred elected officials will compel the consent of the millions of citizens – now a sizable majority of the population, based on the latest polls – who strenuously object to ObamaCare.

If Senate Democrats win this debate, huge amounts of our liberty will be destroyed, and vast sums of money will be seized from taxpayers… and we will not be allowed to object.

Any attempt to withhold your consent from this economy-shattering, life-changing radical legislation will end with you sitting in a prison cell.

Thought for Today...

One of the duties of a best friend should be to immediately delete the 'History' folder on your computer upon your death.

Just saying.

Why I Celebrate

The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, with the sun at its lowest and weakest. In the Northern Hemisphere it usually occurs around December 21st.

In pagan Scandinavia the winter festival was the Yule, celebrated by burning the hearth fires of the magically significant Yule log. In the Celtic Druid culture, the Winter Solstice was celebrated by hanging sacred mistletoe over a doorway or in a room to offer goodwill to visitors. Germanic tribes decorated a pine or fir tree with candles and tokens. The Inca held midwinter ceremonies at temples that served as astronomical observatories like Machu Pichu.

Romans celebrated this event with Saturnalia, a festival of merrymaking, and decorating their homes and temples with holly and evergreens. Also popular was the exchange of small gifts thought to bring luck on the recipient.

In the fourth century AD, Christian authorities in Rome attempted to eliminate the pagan festivities by adopting December 25th as Christ's birthday. The effort was never completely successful, and eventually many Winter Solstice customs were incorporated into Christmas observances.

Since so many of these traditions have persisted for thousands of years despite extensive efforts to eliminate them, I think it best to celebrate the Winter Solstice with these ancient customs, recognizing our links to the rest of humanity, past and present.

OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control."

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.