From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #291 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Wednesday, October 13 1999 Volume 02 : Number 291 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 99 08:47:00 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: No Time To Go Wobbly, George (fwd) On Oct 11, Exegesis wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Exegesis A Compass For Moral Excellence Published Worldwide From Washington http://www.sm.org/exegesis October 12, 1999 ________________________________________________ Have you read our daily online newspaper? We produce it just for you! PAGE 1 NEWS Real News from the Real World http://www.page1news.com ________________________________________________ ExTel =46act: Despite deregulation, 70% of Americans are paying too much for=20 their long-distance service! Are you one of them? Unitel: 5.9 cents a minute anywhere in the US. Your own toll-free=20 number for just 5.9=A2 a minute - and no monthly fees! http://unitelagent.com/?crosslink Opex: 7.5 cents a minute anywhere in the US, super-discounted=20 international and instate rates. 6 second billing, no monthly fees! http://ld.net/7.5/crosslink AccuLinq Calling Cards at 9.9 cents a minute http://ld.net/linq/?crosslink See our expanding range of wholesale services http://ld.net/?crosslink ________________________________________________ No Time To Go Wobbly, George "Look George, this is no time to go wobbly. We can't fall at the first fenc= e." Margaret Thatcher to President George Bush, August 1990 Just as reluctant conservatives were dipping a cautious toe into=20 George W. Bush's lukewarm pool of compassionate conservatism, he has=20 poured cold water on their hopes with two troubling speeches. =46irst, he made what can only be described as a dreary, disconnected=20 and lackluster speech to the Christian Coalition. His twenty minute=20 blather to almost four thousand Christian activists never used the=20 words 'God' or 'Jesus Christ'. This was not a promising start to the=20 courtship. Before he began his usual stump speech, he mumbled=20 something about being in favor of faith, but faith in what was never=20 specified. He's probably against road accidents and the common cold=20 too, but he sounded like a third-rate actor spitting out lines he=20 didn't write and didn't really believe. He was received with a mixture of polite applause and quiet despair.=20 Is that it, people wondered? That is our next president? As usual,=20 the television cameras were switched off before Alan Keyes spoke, but=20 he could teach GW a thing or two about oratory. Even Steve Forbes,=20 who bought everyone lunch the next day but has never been regarded as=20 an outstanding public speaker, achieved standing ovations and genuine=20 enthusiasm. He also has much to teach Mr. Bush. When Mr. Bush applauds "faith", he sounds vague and uncomfortably=20 close to the pernicious avoidance of Bill Clinton. If it was right=20 to condemn the murders of homosexual Matthew Shepard,=20 African-American James Byrd and a Filipino mail carrier, and the=20 attack on Jewish people at a California community center, as Mr.=20 Clinton did, why has he remained virtually silent about the deaths of=20 Cassie Bernall and other Christian Columbine students, and the seven=20 people shot in a Fort Worth Church last month? Do the senseless=20 murders of born-again white Christians somehow not count as much?=20 According to Attorney-General Janet Reno, it is "too early" to label=20 the Fort Worth shootings "a hate crime", even though they were=20 clearly motivated by anti-Christian hatred. So why did Mr. Bush also remain silent about this at the Christian=20 Coalition? He should seize such perfect moments to defend the=20 Christian foundation of America as if his life depended upon it=20 because, politically-speaking, it does. It was no time to go wobbly,=20 George. Secondly, a few days later, Mr. Bush spoke at a Manhattan Institute=20 lunch in New York. Earlier in the day, he had attacked conservative=20 principles by quoting Bill Clinton, of all people, when he said=20 America "must not balance the budget on the backs of the poor". In=20 his lunch speech, he said: "Too often, on social issues, my party has=20 painted an image of America slouching toward Gomorrah. Of course=20 there are challenges to the character and compassion of our nation=20 =2E.. but many of our problems are yielding to good sense and strength=20 and idealism." Rightly or wrongly, many conservatives interpreted the speeches as=20 minimizing America's moral crisis and paying only lip service to that=20 much beleaguered special interest group: sincere, believing=20 Christians. Even Rush Limbaugh took him to task. America's moral=20 abdication is at the heart of all her problems, and on that subject,=20 this was no time to go wobbly either, George. Mr. Bush was also lambasted for his apparent disdain of Robert Bork's=20 seminal work "Slouching Towards Gomorrah". Some say he was just=20 being optimistic. Everyone wants to help the poor to help themselves=20 and there's always room for optimism, but his already faltering=20 credibility seems to have been dented by these speeches. They were=20 either ill-advised or designed to rid the Republican Party of=20 conservatives. However, for three years he has been the Establishment's choice, so=20 he will surely win the White House. But then what? Is=20 middle-of-the-road politics the prescription to cure America's ills?=20 On the contrary: America needs a conservative agenda, and step on it=20 please. Almost every shade of socialism has been tried, from the hot=20 pink of Bill Clinton to the deep red of FDR and Lyndon Johnson. They=20 have all failed. The only kind of government America has not tried=20 since Teddy Roosevelt is a minimal, conservative one. So what would a conservative government be like? Let me illustrate.=20 Instead of measuring how badly government has failed, it would be=20 refreshing to measure savings and improvements by abolishing=20 government functions, retaining only small, efficient versions of=20 those which are desperately needed. Public education would be=20 abolished. There is little point in tinkering with a system which is=20 expensive, unconstitutional, unchristian, and grossly inefficient.=20 Abolition is the only cure. Christian parents have no business=20 placing their children in public schools. This most important=20 function of parenting cannot be delegated to government employees, no=20 matter how dedicated they may be or how bright the children may be.=20 Teaching should be done at home. Consequently, the Department of=20 Education would be abolished too, along with the Departments of=20 Commerce and Trade, and hundreds of other agencies. The cost of government would be slashed. As a result, income tax and=20 the IRS could be abolished, and if necessary, partially replaced with=20 a national sales tax, which would encourage saving and thrift rather=20 than spending. And there's a moral dimension too. Liberals bleat about separating=20 religion from the state. Does that also apply to government funding=20 for grossly indecent works of art which insult the Christian faith?=20 If elephant dung had been smeared all over a painting of a Star of=20 David or of Martin Luther King instead of the Virgin Mary, do you=20 imagine for one moment that public funding for the Arts would have=20 survived the week? That's the kind of domestic agenda George W. Bush=20 should be advancing. And how about foreign policy? Look at the reverse of a dollar bill.=20 Under the pyramid on The Great Seal, you'll see the words "Novus Ordo=20 Seclorum" - New World Order. GW's Dad was very keen on it, but he=20 says unconvincingly that he's not part of the Elite, though his=20 advisors, who include George Schultz, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, sure=20 look like NWO fans. Will he be strong enough to resist those who act=20 as if they, not God, are running the universe? Or will he go wobbly=20 on foreign policy too? Mr. Bush will have to move swiftly to reassure disillusioned=20 conservatives that he prefers limited, constitutional government in a=20 sovereign nation rather than a worldwide government run by a group of=20 corrupt businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats with swollen egos. The Republican Party generally must stop sounding like willing=20 accomplices in the advancement of Satan's counterfeit kingdom on=20 earth and start addressing decent, hard-working, God-fearing=20 families. Of course, Mr. Bush's NWO friends can easily ensure his=20 victory via their control of the voting system. While I was in New=20 York this week, I visited Voters News Service, the media-owned=20 company which counts votes in all national and statewide elections:=20 I have no remaining doubts about their role. Furthermore, Pat=20 Buchanan and Howard Phillips would be glad to have the votes of=20 conservatives who believe that, in the words of Dr. James Dobson, a=20 vote of conscience is never wasted. The Republicans should take=20 nothing for granted. Not everyone is resigned to America's terminal=20 decline. Not everyone has gone wobbly. It isn't that George W. Bush wants to see a national decline, but=20 after the demonic possession of the White House for seven years, many=20 will need to be convinced of just how different GW is. His advisors=20 seem to share Bill Clinton's foible of being strong on money-raising=20 and strategic devices, and weak on sincerity and the constitution.=20 It's time for him to take the opportunity to tell us where he stands=20 with God, the New World Order, and on every issue that concerns=20 Christians. Gone are the days when ignorance could be the shield of politicians.=20 The Internet has brought much more knowledge than anyone dreamed=20 possible in the pre-Clinton days. Therefore, the 2000 election=20 cannot be run as if it were 1992. Mr. Bush needs to realize that.=20 He deserves an opportunity to talk about his positions, and he should=20 take it sooner rather than later. There's a final reason why Mr. Bush shouldn't go wobbly. The=20 purveyors of the New World Order seem to have forgotten that=20 Christians are no longer willing to be insulted, marginalized and=20 degraded, and have at their disposal a weapon far more powerful than=20 anything they can produce: humble, sincere prayer. The only thing that puzzles me is why we don't use it more often.=20 It's time to stop being nice to Satan and his disciples "because the=20 One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1=20 John 4:4) So why wait? We must be battle ready, pure and faithful.=20 Now, shall we pray? =87 Steve Myers =D7 Editor ____________________________________________________________________ Have you read our daily online newspaper? We produce it just for you! PAGE 1 NEWS Real News from the Real World http://www.page1news.com ____________________________________________________________________ ExTel =46act: Despite deregulation, 70% of Americans are paying too much for=20 their long-distance service! Are you one of them? Unitel: 5.9 cents a minute anywhere in the US. Your own toll-free=20 number for just 5.9=A2 a minute - and no monthly fees! http://unitelagent.com/?crosslink Opex (formerly PremierCom): 7.5 cents a minute anywhere in the US,=20 super-discounted international and instate rates. 6 second billing,=20 no monthly fees! http://ld.net/7.5/crosslink AccuLinq Calling Cards at 9.9 cents a minute http://ld.net/linq/?crosslink See our expanding range of wholesale services http://ld.net/?crosslink ____________________________________________________________________ =A9 Exegesis 1999 Post Office Box 789, McLean, Virginia 22101, USA Subscriptions US Fax/Mail $32.95, World $44.95 * E-Mail $19.95 E-Mail exegesis@sm.org Please visit our Web Page at http://www.sm.org/exegesis where you can=20 update or delete your mailing address, read back issues and much more. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 11:18:02 -0500 (CDT) From: Paul M Watson Subject: The Left's war against America - --------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 07:14:31 -0700 From: Ken Chafin Subject: CAS: NA: The Left's war against America The New Australian The Left's war against America By James Henry No. 137, 11 - 17 October 1999 Few people appreciate the power of ideas. When they experience the social and economic effects of intellectually inspired long-term trends, many tend to ascribe the process to a conspiracy of some kind. (If only that were so). More than 160 years ago J. S. Mill wrote of how the ideas of a few writers can eventually influence the thinking of a nation's intellectuals. Keynes made a similar point when he wrote: "Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas. Not, indeed, immediately, but after a certain interval. . . . But, sooner or later, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil."=20 The strength of the Left has, in my opinion, always lain in its understanding of the power of ideas. With few exceptions the so-called right has tended to treat ideas with disdain, preferring to concentrate on traditional values, as if these were independent of ideas. This gross error by conservative forces allowed Leftist ideas to capture the media, universities, much of the school system and the entertainment industry, especially Hollywood. In a sense, its greatest triumph was in giving America the most corrupt administration in the nation's history.=20 Once a nation's so-called elites begin to think alike, regardless of the content of their ideas, they will tend to direct the nation along a path that accords with their view of the world. Once we understand this fact, even the most incredibly stupid statements will make sense. Let take as an example Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott's publicly expressed view that the United States might not exist in its current form in the 21st Century because he believes that nationhood will have become obsolete. (A view not shared by the Russian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean governments, just to name a few).=20 Ordinarily, anyone with Talbott's views would not have found a position in a responsible and intellectually sound administration. But this is the sensitive '90s and Bill 'I-feel-your-pain' Clinton lounges about in the Oval Office. It took a Chinese columnist, Peter Zhang, to cleverly sum up the situation with the observation that America is being run by the "Arkansas Hick and his merry band of '60s dipsticks with their fairyfloss intellects and LSD-coloured view of the world [who] continue to pursue policies that puts the United States mainland at considerable risk."=20 And the '60s is the key. The likes of Talbott and the Clintons have their intellectual roots in the left-wing ideas that swept through American universities in the '60s. The malevolent fruits of that intellectual plague captured the humanity faculties and after 30 years of relentless Leftist indoctrination succeeded in thoroughly polluting the nation's intellectual environment. The products of this intellectual pestilence now dominate the media and much of the legal profession, including the judiciary; our schools have been contaminated to an extraordinary degree as has the entertainment industry. Even corporate boardrooms have succumbed to this poisonous brew.=20 The basis of this ideology is a pathological hatred of America.=20 Understanding this fact makes us realise that Talbott, a former journalist and college roommate of Clinton, is not really calling for the a world government but the destruction of the USA, an oppressive, exploitative and racist society. These were the ideas they absorbed during their college days and they have never renounced them. This is the principle reason why Talbott and the rest of Clinton's "merry band of '60s dipsticks with their fairyfloss intellects" are so light on China1. It's really all America's fault, meaning "white America". This lot are so riddled with shame and guilt they are prepared to sacrifice America's interests in order to atone for her alleged sins while exculpating their own.=20 Talbott is an interesting example of the political decay and hypocrisy of America's self-anointed political elites. He shared the radicals' enthusiasm for the 'peace movement' and their doctrine of 'moral equivalence' that not only equated America's faults with the totalitarian Soviet Union's atrocities but which also accused Reagan of being provocative but never the Soviets. Talbott's ridiculous assertion in Time that the collapse of communism proved the peace movement had been all along served to demonstrate that this ideological moron is congenitally incapable of learning the lessons of history. The trillions of dollars the US had spent on holding Soviet barbarism at bay were, according to Talbott, a complete waste of resources. That Reagan's defence push finally precipitated the Soviet collapse does not even register with Talbott. No wonder State Department veterans treat Talbott and the rest of Clinton's Leftist trendoids with contempt.=20 The Washington-based Institute of Policies studies has been at the brain center of the Left's war against America. Established in 1963 by Richard Barnet and Marcus Raskin (both former government bureaucrats) and funded by the Rubin Foundation (Rubin was a thief, a Soviet agent and a member of Stalin's Comintern). The IPS is a phony educational organisation, registered with the IRS as a 501 (c)(3) organisation, that has waged a relentless war against this country, supporting its enemies abroad, including Hanoi, the Sandinistas, Castro, the defunct Soviet Empire, etc, and giving aid to its enemies at home. According Raskin the US deliberately started the Cold War as part of its plan to "reach for the brass ring: world hegemony."=20 The insidious and destructive influence of the IPS pervades the media and now reaches into the Oval Office, with Clinton giving appointments to IPS luminaries like Derek Shearer, Anthony Lake and Morton Halperin, a former Kissinger aid and a character witness for Philip Agee, traitor and KGB agent. Incidentally, Agee was strongly connected to the IPS. These people are not even the tip of the IPS iceberg, hundreds of people with IPS links are now operating =97 or should I say maggoting away =97 through government agencies and departments. To these ideologues America is the real enemy.=20 Harvard's W.E.B. DuBois Institute provides a graphic example of the degree to which the Left has corrupted our universities, turning them from centers of learning to centers for hating. The Institute encouraged Noel Ignatiev to launch "whiteness studies," the absurd basis of which is that "whiteness" is a "social construct that is oppressive and must be abolished." Far from being amusing, disciples of this racist left-wing cult produce a magazine called Race Traitor. To this crowd to be white is a social cancer that has to be removed by violence. If you think there is not much to choose between these left-wing fanatics and Nazi's, you'd be right.=20 That these ideological thugs are preaching race hate and inciting racial violence seems to meet with the approval of the Harvard faculty and other universities, the mainstream media and most of America's publishing houses. Why? Because they too are infected with the self-hating leftist ideology of the '60s. It should be patently clear that their ultimate aim is the destruction of America. It is their ideology that drove prayer from our schools and devastated educational standards; it is the same ideology that foisted multiculturalism on us and damns its critics as racists; this is the ideology that is subverting our cultural heritage by indoctrinating our children with a hostile view of their history and culture.=20 The Left's malicious nihilism is impacting on every aspect of the nation's culture. The almost farcical response of Clinton to the discovery of Kennewick Man is a sickening example of the pervasiveness of the Left's ideology and its contempt for scientific truth. Kennewick Man is thought not only to be more than 9.000 years old but of Caucasian origin. If this is true, then a momentous scientific and cultural discovery has been made. But such a discovery does not fit the Left's ideological view of the US. In keeping with this view, Clinton ordered the site destroyed and the bones vandalised in the hope of destroying any possibility of determining the remains racial origins. This is a calculated Orwellian attempt by the Left, through Clinton, to try and control the present, and hence the future, by destroying historical evidence. There is no clearer evidence of the Left's power, influence and malice, especially in the media.=20 The Left's campaign is not a culture war but a war against a culture by creatures who have nothing to offer but hate and loathing. These ideologues and their media allies are the real enemy. These are ones who have to be confronted and defeated.=20 Clinton's venality and moral turpitude should not blind anyone to his Leftist beliefs.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Thismailing list is for discussion of Clinton Administration Scandals. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send electronic mail to majordomo@admin.listbox.com. In the message body put: unsubscribe cas - ------------------------------ - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Oct 99 18:24:32 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Jeff Cooper's Commentaries - Aug/99 (2/2) (fwd) On Oct 12, Barry Needham wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] We note from perusing the gun magazines that a great many people do not understand the technique of the telescope sight. This applies mostly to the rapid use of the weapon, since even the ignorant can use a telescope from a bench rest. The correct system requires the mounting of the piece so that when the butt hits the shoulder and the cheek hits the comb, the eye is automatically in line with the optical axis of the instrument. You do not hunt around, you practice until when you mount the piece with both eyes shut, you open them to find yourself right on target. This calls for a little practice, but it is not mysterious nor difficult. When you understand it, you can hit that flying clay bird, or, more dramatically, the wishbone of that charging leopard. It is true that snapshooting is the exception rather than the rule in the field, but it is very comforting, as with a seat belt or a life jacket. You do not need it often, but when you need it, you really need it. * * * The new regime in Africa has now passed a law to the effect that you cannot leave your rifle with your professional hunter without elaborate red tape in both the U.S. and Africa. There is no good reason for this, of course -- it is pure spite. One of the nice things a satisfied client could do previously was to leave his piece with his PH as a gesture of appreciation. The life of a PH is hard. Apparently the new revolutionary government simply wants to make it harder. * * * In a recent news report some correspondent from the other side suggested that something should be done about the sale of "high capacity ammunition." I guess he was referring to that new 300 Remington "Ultra Magnum". * * * I am not usually enthusiastic about Russian ideas, but the people at Baikal have now come up with something which actually fills a niche. They have produced a "bug shooter," which is a BB gun which looks exactly like a Makarov pocket pistol. It shoots BBs using a CO2 cylinder as propellant. For people who are troubled with scorpions, centipedes, wooly worms, and such, this should be just the ticket. (I once resorted to my 1911 for wasp defense in a quonset hut on Saipan, but those were different times, and that was a different place.) * * * Family member Bill O'Connor reports that he was hassled recently at the Philadelphia Airport because his pocketknife had a serrated edge. Apparently carrying a knife with a serrated edge is politically incorrect in the City of Brotherly Love. The aparatchik at the gate promised to mail the knife to him at a later date, but as you might suppose it has not showed up yet. Somehow it appears quaint to attempt to hijack an airliner with a pocketknife, but then a lot of things appear quaint in the Age of the Wimp. * * * Just as a good many people illustrated in the magazines do not understand the proper use of the telescope, a good many more do not understand the use of the shooting sling. I trust that all the faithful understand fully that a rifle sling is more than simply a carrying strap. The loop sling, properly used. increases your hitability in slow-fire situations by about 33 percent -- or such is my experience. I was taught it in high school ROTC and benefitted from it on half-a-dozen big game hunts. I assume that all family members understand fully about the shooting sling. I guess that makes us a somewhat exclusive club. * * * I have needled the factory now a couple of times about the forthcoming 376 Steyr cartridge, so far without results. I have shot it, and I like it, but where is it? Stay tuned. * * * We learn that three Americans met with bush disaster just last month in Africa. In the first instance, the sportsman thought to dangle his arm over the side of a mocorro on Lake Kariba. Something grabbed it. The owner is missing and presumed dead. In the second instance, a female hunter took the notion to take a pleasant evening walk outside the compound, despite being told vigorously that she was not to do this. She was taken by a hyena, but at last report, she was expected to live, though terribly disfigured. As you know, the hyena goes for the face. (Do we detect an element of feisty feminism here? Or the basic lack of discipline of the flower children?) Third case was a wounded leopard followed into high grass in a column of three, tracker in front, PH in the middle, client in the rear. The leopard hit from astern. Here again, the sportsman is expected to live. As our late good friend Peter Capstick said, "In Africa, everything bites." * * * Not long ago some citizen was busted for carrying a concealed weapon in Arizona because he was carrying it on the side away from the cop. I do not think they can make that stick, but it is interesting that they should try. * * * Back in the Dark Ages when I was a mere tad, the top African trophies were called "The Big Four." These were elephant, buffalo, rhino, and lion. In the past decade or so people have been adding the leopard to this list, and referring to it as "The Big Five." I think this is a mistake. The leopard is certainly scratchy, but he is not big. The rhino is big, but besides being essentially unavailable today, he is too dimwitted to be dangerous. Personally I would place elephant, lion and buffalo in "The Big Three" and rhino, hippo and leopard in the second tier. The hippo is underrated as a trophy, but if he is easy in the water, he is a serious problem on land. You would not want his head mounted on the wall of your living room, but neither would you want to be bitten in half if you failed to stop his charge. * * * Recent cheerful accounts from the bushveld tell of an American high school graduate who got a brand new Steyr Scout for her birthday. She had most of her graduation pictures taken featuring the rifle, and then she went to Africa and secured four one-shot stops in a row. Now there is a rifle chick of consequence! * * * As you may know, Randy Garrett of Chehalis, Washington, has been making up what may be called "Plus P" loads for the excellent 45-70 cartridge for over ten years. They are about ideal for the great bears, and for lions, and they complement Jim West's "Co-pilot" to perfection. Now Randy has introduced a new 530-grain, super hardcast, "hammerhead" bullet, to be started at 1550 f/s for a Taylor KO rating of 54. It is designed to shoot clear through a buffalo at "charging range." Contact Randy Garrett, Garrett Cartridges, Inc., at Box 178, Chehalis, Washington, 98532. * * * "Good judgement comes from experience. Most experience comes from bad judgement." -- via Bill O'Connor * * * If you are curious about the veracity of the profusion of rumors of organizational changes at Gunsite, we can only paraphrase Winston Churchill: "They are all true, or they ought to be, and more and better besides." * * * The more I work with rifles, the less I am concerned about the speed of the second shot. Certainly a self-loading rifle offers you that second shot faster than any mechanically operated repeater, but just how important is this? When a rifle of any considerable power fires, it recoils, moving rearward and upward, together with the shooter. On that rearward motion, a skilled rifleman opens the bolt, ejecting the empty. As the rifle is brought back onto target, he closes the bolt, placing a new cartridge in the chamber. If he does this properly, his second shot, if it is well aimed, is so little slower than that offered by a self-loader that it is hard to measure and probably does not matter. The straight-pull is quicker than the bolt-action, as is the lever, but I cannot hypothesize a scenario in which that might count. When I pulled off that double on buffalo some years ago in Tamafuta, both my companions opined that it sounded as if I were using a self-loader -- and that with the long action of the ZKK 602. This is not to boast, but simply to point out that proper bolt work can be put to good advantage, assuming that a second shot is needed. On the lion I shot four times, but I need not have, as the beast was terminated with the first shot. All the experts, including our good friend Ross Seyfried, told me that with a lion you keep shooting, no matter what you think you did with your first round. So I did. But a self-loading rifle would have made no difference. This matter was called to my attention in connection with the slick action of the Blaser R93. The 93 is a superb weapon, but among its various excellent features speed of the second shot rates about number six in importance. The best thing about the Blaser is its revolutionary trigger-action, which has no sear. And the second most important thing is the fact that you can turn it into a left-hander by simply slipping in a left-handed bolt. Yes, you can fire two well-aimed shots from the Blaser 93 a bit more quickly than you can with any turn-bolt rifle, but let us not be bemused by PII (preoccupation with inconsequential increments). * * * Our good friend Hans Edelmaier of Salzburg has asked me to do a feature on the employment of the Spanish sword in the conquest of the New World. I look forward to this effort with pleasure. I know something about the sword, and something about the Spanish sword, and something about the conquest of the New World, having done a research paper on that subject in graduate school. So I will get to work and put this together just to see how it comes out in German. * * * We must avoid the error of thinking of people as members of groups rather than as individuals. This is a manifestation of mental laziness. It is called "groupthink" and it has been the curse of the twentieth century, and long before. * * * Meanwhile, keep your focus on that frontsight, and surprise yourself when the hammer falls. * * * Please Note: These "Commentaries" are for personal use only. Not for publication. - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP Personal Privacy 6.0.2 iQA/AwUBOANc3qNvVgasqrT0EQJVEwCfYFI4hg59HD8KJO25Q0ATBshxj0wAn0tK mjJNp3FTERCOA2qEPeYNFjws =vfw9 - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Barry Needham barry@needham.vip.best.com Pager: 1-888-530-5814 PGP 5.0 key available on request barryn_p@pager.sgi.com [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Oct 99 08:47:59 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: 2 Time Polls (fwd) On Oct 13, Bob Mueller wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] These may have already appeared in this space, but I couldn't recall, so here we go: http://www.pathfinder.com/time/daily/poll/0,2637,gunliability,00.html Should local and state governments and individual citizens be allowed to sue gun manufacturers for damages related to crimes in which firearms are used? No: 86 % Yes: 10 % D K: 3% http://www.pathfinder.com/time/daily/poll/0,2637,guncontrol,00.html 1. Should the U.S. have stricter gun control laws? 70% - 28 % against stricter laws 2. How would you rate the effectiveness of the Brady Bill and the assault-weapons ban in preventing the illegal use and distribution of guns? 74 % somewhat ineffective or not at all effective Bob Mueller [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Oct 99 10:19:54 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fratrum: Julius Clinto Crosses the Rubicon--excuse me, Atlantic! (fwd) On Oct 13, Terry A. Hurlbut, III, MD wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Everyone: It has happened! Guillermus Julius Clinto Jeffersoniens--excuse me, William Jefferson Clinton, who continues to emulate Gaius Julius Caesar--has just gone Caesar one better. He has just emasculated the Posse Comitatus Act big-time, by establishing a military command with power to deploy troops _on American soil_ in aid of American _civil law enforcement._ And this without actually declaring martial law. It is as if that pioneer of _coups d'etat_, Caesar, had been appointed Dictator of Rome without having had to lead a legion of troops across the Rubicon River, in violation of his proconsular charter, in the year of the consulship of Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor and Lucius Aemilius Lentulus Crus (49 BC). Read for yourselves the WorldNetDaily exclusive from their newly-appointed staff writer, Jon E. Dougherty. And if you don't credit this, follow this link: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_dougherty/19991013_xnjdo_new_milita.shtml New military unit for domestic deployment Cohen says Americans should 'welcome' troops on home soil - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- By Jon E. Dougherty © 1999 WorldNetDaily.com Critics are denouncing recent congressional changes to the Posse Comitatus Act that will allow a broader use of U.S. military forces in a domestic law enforcement role including a new unit for deployment in assisting civilian officers during a terrorist attack. The new command, established Oct. 7 in Norfolk, Va., will be called the U.S. Joint Forces Command, and replaces the former U.S. Atlantic Command. At a ceremony commemorating the new unit, Defense Secretary William Cohen told participants the American people shouldn't fear the potential of seeing U.S. military forces on the streets of U.S. cities. The military must "deal with the threats we are most likely to face," Cohen told reporters, downplaying concerns about troops operating on home soil. "The American people should not be concerned about it. They should welcome it." The new command is designed to prepare U.S. troops to fight abroad or to respond if terrorists strike with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. In opposing the measure, critics cite the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits federal troops from participating in domestic law enforcement activities under most circumstances. With the concern over domestic terrorism rising since the World Trade Center bombing and numerous incidences of cyber-attacks on U.S. defense and financial institutions, the Clinton administration has begun to relax some of those restrictions. In July, WorldNetDaily reported the new measures would end the requirement for local law agencies to reimburse the federal government for any local use of military equipment, as well as enable the Department of Defense to deploy military troops in cases of anticipated or actual terrorist attacks. Then, David Kopel of the Independence Institute warned that the measures would, if passed, "set (bad) precedents for years to come." Since the Waco debacle in 1993, when federal law officers and military personnel assaulted a church community resulting in the deaths of over 80 men, women and children, Kopel said the federal government has been "eroding the protections contained in the Posse Comitatus Act." In the past, he told WorldNetDaily, most of the amendments to the original law had been based on bogus drug issues. Now, he said, that issue seems to have shifted to so-called terrorist attacks, or at least the threat of them. The Defense Department has said only the military has enough equipment to operate in a poisoned environment, or to manage a massive decontamination effort. Secretary Cohen told reporters last week that federal law will not be violated because the military would only respond if requested. "It is subordinate to civilian control," he said. But Gregory Nojeim, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C., told WorldNetDaily he is concerned about "nightmare scenarios" like those in the recent films, "Enemy of the State" and "The Siege." "Soldiers are not equipped, by training or temperament, to enforce the laws with proper regard for civil and constitutional rights," he said. "They're trained to kill the enemy." Nojeim said the ACLU is concerned about "letting loose the most effective fighting force in the history of the world" on American civilians. Cohen said that the creation of the Joint Forces Command would better coordinate the training of the four armed services. However, history is replete with reasons why some Americans continue to be hesitant about using military troops in a law enforcement capacity. Besides questions about the Army's Delta Force role during the Waco siege, most recently, in 1997, U.S. Marines assigned to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in combating illegal immigration accidentally shot and killed an 18-year-old goat herder. That force has since been withdrawn and reassigned, but lawmakers have remained committed to expanding the military's civil law enforcement role in other ways. For example, the military also has been given an expanded role in defending against cyber-terrorism, or assaults on U.S. computer systems. The U.S. Space Command in Colorado will be leading that effort. Nojeim questioned the need for such an expansion of federal military forces into the domestic law enforcement arena, even though U.S. officials have said the nation is now at greater risk of terrorist attack. He also believes the White House should do a better job of educating the American people about why the changes to the Posse Comitatus law are needed. "For years the federal government has showered the FBI with hundreds of millions of new dollars to help it combat crimes involving chemical and biological weapons," he told WorldNetDaily. "Taxpayers need to know where that money has gone and why the president now wants to call in the troops." Addressing the long-term ramifications of the change in military law enforcement policy, Nojeim said, "When the crisis hits, those with the biggest guns will be subordinate to no one." - ------------------------------------------------------- Let me give you some perspective: The Roman Republic originally had a mechanism to deal with society-threatening domestic and international crises: the Senate appointed a special plenipotentiary magistrate, who carred the title of "Dictator" and had the power to order summary execution within Rome's _pomerium_, or city limits (which were held sacred, BTW), and also to raise and station an army within Rome or Italy or wherever he felt the situation demanded. The most famous of Rome's early Dictators is, of course, Cincinnatus--who, after walloping the particular enemy that troubled Rome's peace at the time, laid down his _imperium_--that special kind of authority which said that its possessor could do no wrong unless the Senate removed him--and went back to being a country squire. With that background, consider the Dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Sulla specifically came to Dictatorial power in Rome by leading an army, which he had just used to good effect against King Mithridates of Pontus, against Rome itself. Not wanting anyone else to emulate him, Sulla specifically amended the Constitution (_mos majorum_) to state categorically that _any provincial governor who led his army out of his province and into Italy itself would be guilty of treason._ But Sulla underestimated Caesar--even though he had actually met Caesar and had observed, "In that young man I see many Marii," referring to Gaius Marius, under whom Sulla had once served and whom everyone knew to be Sulla's predecessor as First Man in Rome. Caesar--who had had Marius as a tutor in military science before ever he held a sword--essentially raised an army and paid for it out of his own purse. This was a fat purse he built by securing a massive tribute from King Ptolemy the Fluty-Voiced of Egypt, and pocketing the proceeds. The Senate of Rome waited too long to clip Caesar's wings--long enough, in fact, for Caesar to conquer and pacify an additional Roman province (Gallia Comata, literally "Gaul of the Longhairs, or modern France) and to make it work for him. And when they finally declared a national emergency, and tried to arrest Caesar's tame tribune-of-the-plebs, Mark Antony, Caesar had the perfect excuse--not in any legal sense, but rather in the court of public opinion, a court where he had always--always--prevailed whenever he had "tried" himself before it. Caesar led just one single legion, or regiment, across the Rubicon, and with that one legion managed to secure all of Italy. And within months of doing that, Caesar wrung from the rump Senate that remained in Rome the title of Dictator. Though he laid that title aside when the Centuriate Assembly elected him senior consul for the second time, his future was secure--and the Republic was doomed--from that moment on. Now come back to the present. I have suspected ever since this Kosovo affair broke out, that Clinton was getting troops into position to "cross the Atlantic" the way Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Now, behold! A "Joint Command" with authority to deploy troops in an American city? As if the cities cannot learn how to defend themselves against a chemical or biological warfare attack? Do you understand now why I advocated the specific amendment of our Constitution to _forbid_ the President to declare national emergencies, and to permit _only the Congress_ to do such a thing, and that by a _two-thirds vote of the full membership of both Houses?_ The stage is now set. Forget Barbara Olson's dire prophecy about Hillary Clinton running to be President in 2005. We have a mechanism in place to usher in the Emperorship of William the First! Terry A. Hurlbut, III, MD [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RKBA! ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** RKBA! - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #291 *************************