BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin will pry your Klondike bar from your cold dead fingers.

calendar   Monday - September 08, 2014

Once More, Lafeyette, With Feeling

“So that freedom lives, men will always have to stand up and fight against indifference or resignation.”

Hermione Tastes The Waves

Nearly twenty years in the making, the 213 foot long replica French frigate went out for sea trials yesterday. Plans call for the oak square rigged 26 gun ship - a “fast light frigate” - to cross the Atlantic next spring to visit Canada and New England in time for Bastille Day.

The original Hermione was the ship that brought the Marquis of Lafayette over the aid George Washington, and she and her four sister ships carried several thousand troops, and stayed to harry the British and help the struggling colonists win the war of independence.

In those days crossing the Atlantic from Rochefort France by sail power alone took 38 days; the modern frigate sports a pair of hidden propulsor pods which could make the journey a bit faster.


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A reconstruction of the 213-foot (65-meter) frigate used by France’s Marquis de Lafayette to bring reinforcements to American revolutionaries in 1780 has tested the waters for the first time.

The test run at high tide Sunday was a key step in an ambitious 17-year project aimed at sending the ship next year across the Atlantic, retracing Lafayette’s journey and the foundation of French-American relations.

Maritime and history experts and aficionados have made rebuilding the Hermione a major project for the French port of Rochefort in southwest France.

Ship builders and researchers have painstakingly rebuilt the ship using the same construction materials and methods as those used to build the original, from the pulley systems to the massive oak hull.

After some delays, the boat set out at high tide early Sunday morning from the Rochefort docks toward the Ile d’Aix. It is meant to be the first in several test runs before the ship sets sail for Boston.


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To replicate the frigate exactly as it used to be, it was necessary to gather archive documents such as ‘L’Hermione’s log-book(s) and the blueprints of La Concorde, ‘L’Hermione’s sister-ship which had been drawn by the Royal Navy after she had been captured. To these documents, one had to add the informations delivered by the wreck of the original ‘L’Hermione’, which was discovered in 1992, off Le Croisic, where she had sunk in 1793.

Specializing in the restoration of historic monuments, the ASSELIN firm in Thouars was allotted the task of ‘L’Hermione’s timber-work. The association thus took advantage of the outstanding professional qualities and experience of carpenters’ fellows of the craft, as well as of the technical collaboration of Raymond Labbé, a naval architect from Saint-Malo and of the precious historical cooperation of Jean Thomas, a former student of Jean Boudriot, a renowned historian and a specialist in naval construction.

The undertaking of the project took place in conditions and circumstances as close as possible to those which had surrounded the building of the original ‘L’Hermione’, i.e. it took place in the double graving dock of the historical naval shipyard of Rochefort, “a modern city of the XVII th century”.

The construction of the frigate started in May 1977. On July 4th,1997, the American national day, after 3 years’ research and preparation, the ship’s keel was laid.


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The new Hermione – also known as the ‘La frégate de la liberté’ or ‘freedom frigate’ – is an incredible achievement, especially as funds have come via donations. The ship and her armaments contain a total of 400,000 different bits of wood and metal, and there are more than 1,000 pulleys alone to build and fit. To provide the wood around 4,000 oaks have been felled in forests around France, the trees chosen for their natural curves. The gun carriages for the iron cannon barrels were cast in a foundry in Angoulême and transported by barge down the River Charente. On top of all this the modern builders have had to contend with safety rules over seaworthiness that didn’t really constrain their forbears.

Fifteen years after the project was started, the Hermione was launched in 2012, 65,000 people gathering in Rochefort to see her float in the water – the River Charente – for the first time.  The following year the masts were erected, towering above the Arsenal. Next came the crows nest, followed by the rigging, the latter requiring about 25 kilometres of hemp ropes.

The final stage of construction was completed in spring 2014 – the installation of the 19 different sails, all 2137 square metres of them and made from traditional flax.  Although virtually identical to the original, the Hermione does have one or two modern touches including an engine on board for safety reasons as well as a power generator for the comfort of the crew.

Still, sailing in the Hermione will still be tough for Commandant Yann Cariou and his 69 crew members – only 15 are professional sailors; the rest are volunteers trained up to sail and who will work in shifts. All have to be fit enough to climb the rigging in all weather and be prepared to live life as it was on an 18th century boat – sleeping in hammocks in often cramped conditions.

In April and May 2014 the sails were put up and the frigate was made ready for the sea trials which will precede the final exciting phase of the project – retracing Lafayette’s voyage by taking the ship to North America.


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See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 09/08/2014 at 03:13 PM   
Filed Under: • FRANCEFREEDOMHistoryplanes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles •  
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calendar   Friday - July 11, 2014

Gypsies I Could Live With

Badges? We Don Need No Steenking Badges!

Lyft, a Transportation Networked Service, vows to roll onto the streets of New York City today, despite not having “taxi badges” (medallions) purchased for tens of thousands of dollars each from the NYC TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission, perhaps the 2nd most corrupt quasi-government in America, behind the NYC Port Authority).

Good for them. Sometimes the best way to break a system is just to ignore it. If you’re willing to pay me to drive you around in my car, that’s between the two of us, and the nanny state can go suck eggs.

Despite being chastised by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which declared quasi-taxi firm Lyft as an “unauthorized” firm, the startup says it will go ahead with its scheduled Friday evening launch.

Lyft is a San Francisco-based startup that allows its users to book rides from drivers via its smartphone app, effectively acting just like a taxi service.

In a statement sent to Ars on Thursday, the commission said that the firm had “not complied with TLC’s safety requirements and other licensing criteria to verify the integrity and qualifications of the drivers or vehicles used in their service, and Lyft does not hold a license to dispatch cars to pick up passengers.”

The TLC also noted that “drivers who sign-up with Lyft are at risk of losing their vehicles to TLC enforcement action, as well as being subject to fines of up to $2,000 upon conviction for unlicensed activity.”

Presuming that Lyft drivers go forward, they would not have traditional TLC taxi medallions, and would be effectively considered like the city’s myriad of unauthorized taxis, sometimes known as “gypsy cabs.”

In a statement, Katie Daily, Lyft’s spokeswoman, told Ars that the company was still moving forward despite the commission’s actions.

“Where we differ with the TLC is that we do not believe its licensing and base station rules apply to the Lyft ride sharing model,” she’s said. “We put safety first, and we have made this clear in our conversations with the TLC.”

In NYC, taxis without the official medallion are known as gypsy cabs. Lots of them out on the streets, looking for fares. Are they clean? Are they safe? Are they insured? Tens of thousands of people don’t really care; they cost less. Actually, almost anything costs less than a 10 minute ride in a NYC cab. And they expect a nice fat tip too.

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In September 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission, the agency responsible for regulating taxis in the Golden State, created an entirely new class of transit firms, known as “Transportation Networked Companies” (TNCs). This move legitimized Lyft’s operations in California months before New York stymied the startup.

See? It’s only an actual taxi if it’s out on the street prowling for fares. If it’s all arranged ahead of time, by any means at all IMHO, then it’s somebody compensating somebody else for doing them a favor. And the TLC can go take a flyer off of one of the many rotting ferry piers along Manhattan’s west side, all put out of business ages ago when the Port Authority took over all the bridges and tunnels in the city, along with all the ferrys. I think, if they time it just right, one of those piers will be pointing at the moon.

PS - these days, the tolls to cross the bridges or tunnels into Manhattan - $13 for a regular car - are so steep that swimming is starting to look like a good option. Except that the PA has power over every place you’d crawl out of the water, if you made it across. 


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/11/2014 at 02:12 PM   
Filed Under: • Big BusinessFREEDOM •  
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calendar   Friday - July 04, 2014

Freedom Day!

On this day we declared our independence from government. The government at the time being King George III. Today is also a time to rededicate ourselves to advancing freedom from government/Obama.

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Remember when our President was an American?


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 07/04/2014 at 12:44 PM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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calendar   Saturday - May 03, 2014

Samizdat Saturday: Totalitarianism, Neo-Puritanism, and a kick ass video from Bill Whittle

Hey, what more could you want?

If you didn’t already see this over at Rodger’s, here’s your weekend Must-Read/Listen.

And I mean it. I really really do. Even if you won’t spare 4 minutes to read the first essay, or 8 minutes to read the second one, at least play the Bill Whittle video and listen to it. There’s very little to see, but it’s imperative that you hear what’s being said.

In the first section of Part 1, Ed Driscoll writes and quotes on how a bunch of grumpy, constipated, ex-Nazi commies started the ball rolling that gave rise to the latest form of totalitarianism: repressive tolerance, whose evils we have witnessed at least twice in just the past couple of weeks

a spirit of puritanism of opinion is abroad. This puritanism is not puritanical in the old sense. On the contrary, it is inclined to attach itself to libertinism. But it wants to send to Coventry all those who think that the removal of restraints on conduct is not necessarily a good thing. It brands them as ... bigots ... for holding the wrong opinions.

Thus are created what one might call microclimates of totalitarianism in which people live in fear: fear of losing their jobs, fear of social ostracism for having said or even thought the wrong thing.
...
The new puritans, viewing themselves as tolerant, would be prepared to repress the intolerant—by definition, those with whom they disagree. Thus does repressive tolerance come to have a real meaning in our time. As Herbert Marcuse’s favorite philosopher, Hegel, said: The owl of Minerva takes wing at dusk.

In the second section of Part 1, same link, page 2, Bill Whittle fires off a red hot broadside tracing this history again, along with it’s madness.

In Part 2, Jack Cashill has a mid-size essay up at American Thinker all about “The Suffocatiing Neo-puritanism of Progressive America”.

Which is exactly what it sounds like: We heard for decades how we had to be ever so understanding of the beliefs and feelings of various outcast groups. We had to tolerate them. And when that wasn’t enough, we had to venerate them. That too soon wasn’t enough, and now, not only do we have to worship them and bow to their omnipotence and genius (eg, ref. “wise latina"), we now are guilty of hate crimes even if our opinions differ in private. Get your Scarlet Letter on Hester; wear it in shame.

Celebrity chef Paula Deen did not commit the sin of racism; she is a “racist.” She must forever wear the Scarlet R, just as Mozilla’s Brendan Eich must wear the Scarlet H for “homophobe,” and activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali wears the Scarlet I for “Islamophobe.” From the Neo-Puritan perspective, nothing else counts; that letter is their identity.

The cult’s clerics add new sins regularly and new sinners daily. Of late, in addition to Eich and Hirsi Ali, Cliven Bundy, Phil Robertson, even Alec Baldwin have joined the ranks of the damned. Hawthorne described his seventeenth century ancestors as “being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived,” but these “little Puritans” had nothing on the big ones that would flourish four centuries later.

Read these. Learn from these. Spread the word. Share the links.

We are teetering on the very last, final, one remaining splinter on the edge of the bottomless abyss. You’ve seen what happened to these people in the news. You saw how lightning fast the brainless herd turned against them; worse even you’ve seen how just as quickly those who styled themselves shepherds also turned (eg Fox News’ Sean Hannity). You saw how statements and beliefs, a thousand times worse than these newly burned modern “witches” ever had, were encouraged and applauded from the far Left by the far Left ... it’s a one way street, and it always has been. Now that there’s a hundred car pileup in the cul-de-sac, can we finally get people to stop turning into this dead end?? And then insisting on pressing down on the gas????


Is there a ray of hope, anywhere? Either on the horizon or at the end of this long dark tunnel?

Well, maybe ...

The very success of Neo-Puritanism, however, may be its undoing. Each spectacular new public burning reveals just how empty and oppressive the movement is at its heart. For instance, in exposing Sterling the media have unwittingly shone light on Al Sharpton and the NAACP.

In fact, the NAACP banquet that was to honor Sterling for lifetime achievement was to honor Al Sharpton as “Man of the Year.” This was the same Sharpton who dissed the work of “Socrates and them Greek homos”; the same Sharpton who instigated the lethal Crown Heights pogrom with the rallying cry, “If Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house”; and yes, the same Al Sharpton who said of Sterling, “No one should be allowed to own a team if they have in fact engaged in this kind of racial language.”

But as always, the light only shines if you can get the willfully blind to open the eyes they pretend they don’t even have. And society provides eyelid epoxy, because to explain the falsity of Al “Tawana Brawley” Sharpton, just this one example, is a heinous act of hatred and racism.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/03/2014 at 01:21 PM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOMPolitically-IncorrectThe New Conservatives •  
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calendar   Wednesday - April 30, 2014

farewell to freedom part two and btw …. F*** the NBA!

Something caught my eye in the morning paper and really got to me. Pissed me off in bad but plain English.
So I came here to post my thoughts on the subject to find that Drew has spoken on the very same subject.
Well, that makes two of us.

I don’t follow the NBA, never did.  But the story about the Clippers owner has made the press here and frankly, I don’t understand.

Ok so the man is a bit bigoted.  He voiced a thought, most unpolitically correct, in a conversation he thought was private.  Unfortunately there was a recording device near enough to pick up the argument he was having with his 20 yr old girl friend.
He’s 80 btw, but she’s only with him for his brilliant mind.  Papers here have described her as his girl friend, so I was surprised to read that she was an ‘archivist’ for the Clippers owner.

Apparently she sent a photo of herself and Magic Johnson to Instagram, and Mr. Sterling, who owns the Clippers, came unglued.  He told her she should not be photographed with black people and told her not to bring black to any of the Clipper games.

All hell broke loose over his weathered head.

So, I have a couple of problems understanding the lengths that the NBA has a right to go.

They have banned him for life from the game.  He is no longer even allowed to go to his own offices or have anything to do with the Clippers, a team he bought with his money and btw, he is the longest holding team owner in the league. So he is banned for what he said in what he thought was a private conversation.

That’s understandable.  After all, in the world we live in today, one must never but never ever, give voice to thought that is not in keeping with politically correct ideals.
What I have the most trouble understanding is the fine.

He is fined 2.5 million dollars by the NBA.
Where the fuck does that lobby get the right to fine a man that much, for an unpopular thought or opinion? 
On top of that, they are also going to force him to sell the team.

Oh btw …. horror of horrors. 
He is no longer to be allowed to attend any NBA games. Ever.

Keeping with that thought, if the same applied to folks attending any sports venue,
you would see a large subtraction of fans attending any games.  Because lots of people have lots of feelings that are not exactly warm and cuddly toward certain highly protected groups. 

My guess is he probably isn’t exactly the warmest hearted person on the planet.
He’s 80 years old and his feelings were set long ago.  He most likely made some very important enemies along the way.
Today is payback for them.
The racial bull shit is a blind.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 04/30/2014 at 09:40 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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Farewell To Freedom

Am I the only one who thinks that NBA Clippers owner Donald Stirling is being hung out to dry? Thrown under the bus? That he has a solid case for a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the NBA?

I don’t have to agree with what he said. Although what he said ... I’ve certainly heard far, far worse. From people of every color, about people of every color.

But it was said in private. And illegally recorded.

Is there any Freedom of Speech left at all? Because this is exactly what it’s all about.

Have the Thought Police completely taken over America? Looks like they’ve already won in Europe.

On the other hand, was this conversation illegally recorded? I keep hearing that this “V. Stiviano” woman was hired as his archivist, and tasked with recording conversations? Who does this guy think he is, Moses? Abraham, that every word he utters is so important? Very strange. Certainly it was illegally published, right? “Leaked”? Not that that seems to be a crime, or even a faux pas these days. I gather she gets one helluva paycheck for her work, and a couple cars each worth more than the house you live in. And a $1.8 million apartment to live in. Nice deal for a simple scribe. So ... girlfriend, mistress, archivist, grand-grandpa puffer?

And is she really that hideous? Everyone is talking about this situation, and every woman who has said anything about it to me has always cut her to shreds, primarily over her looks, and the plastic surgery they assume she’s had. Wow. I thought she was kind of hot. Ok, hot in a bit of a bitchy ghetto skanky way, but that’s all the rage these days, isn’t it? Not really my style, but you try to keep an open mind and be accepting.

I am so confused.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/30/2014 at 08:54 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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calendar   Tuesday - April 22, 2014

burning up an hour

Via the Rott, a massive, hour long read of a superb essay ... from Taxicab Depressions blog comes The Pig Trap.

From a conversation in a taxi to the Declaration of Independence, to the NSA, Fast and Furious, civil war, limited government, and more and more and more ... it’s all here.

And some of the conclusions are the polar opposite of “feel good, win-win solutions” ...

“These people are playing with matches… I don’t think they understand the scope and scale of the wildfire they are flirting with. They are fucking around with a civil war that could last a decade and cause millions of deaths… and the sad truth is that 95% of the problems we have in this country could be solved tomorrow, by noon… simply by dragging 100 people out in the street and shooting them in the fucking head.”

And lemme tell ya, he had the list… he rattled off 25 or 30 names of well-known, prominent politicians, mostly Democrats, but a few Republicans, several members of the current Cabinet, a couple of Obama’s “czars”, a couple of figures from the Bush administration and the Republican establishment, several media company executives and on-camera newscasters, reporters, and pundits, a couple of people who are active in leftist politics but not in elected office… he had obviously thought about this to some degree already.

I was struck by his cold, detached, matter-of-fact tone. I said, “Dude… that’s more French Revolution than American Revolution. Do you really think that is the way to go?”

Wheeler said, “I believe in efficiency and economy of action. You wouldn’t trade one hundred of those criminal bastards for ten million of your fellow Americans?”

I don’t remember if I actually answered out loud, but in my my head, the answer was, “Yeah, I probably would…”

It’s not all a 3% solution or a Reset Button pushing. There is some sipping of some rather bitter tea, along with some barbecue ..

All I want is the government that I was promised by my ninth grade civics teacher… a government of laws, not of men, a government with checks and balances, lawfully enforced to restrain and contain the government from infringing on the rights of populace. But all of this has been swept aside in my lifetime; now criminals like Eric Holder and Charlie Rangel and Al Sharpton and Lois Lerner and Jon Corzine suffer no sanction or consequence for openly and nakedly breaking the law. They are now part of a protected class, when 250 years ago, they would have been lucky to only have suffered being tarred and feathered.

... and the wonderful, classical allegory of trapping pigs ...

He said that commercial traps are available, but pigs are smart, and will often be wary of a new metal object suddenly appearing in their environment, and his home-made trap was much more effective. He told me that these three sections are left up year round, and over time, the pigs learn that this metal object poses no threat, and there is frequently delicious corn, slop, and beer to be had here. The scent of the slop and beer travels a long way across the property, and over time, the pigs are conditioned to not fear the strange metal object.

... national debt ... gun control ... even nasty ol’ Mooch comes into play. 

Wow. well done.  Read it. React to it. Opine on it. Let the debate and discussion commence.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/22/2014 at 02:15 PM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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Affirmative Action Dies In Michigan

SCOTUS: 6-2 Ruling:

States Can Decide Whether Race Is College Admission Factor



The Supreme Court has upheld Michigan’s affirmative action ban, ruling that the state has the right to determine whether racial preferences can be considered in college admissions.

In a 6-2 ruling on Tuesday, the justices said that a lower federal court was wrong to set aside the change as discriminatory. The Supreme Court ruled that Michigan voters had the right to change their state constitution to bar public colleges and universities from using race as a factor in admissions.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, suggested that right extends even beyond college policies.

“There is no authority in the federal constitution or in the [courts’] precedents for the judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit to the voters the determination whether racial preferences may be considered in governmental decisions, in particular with respect to school admissions,” he wrote.

Kennedy said voters chose to eliminate racial preferences because they deemed them unwise.

“This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved. It is about who may resolve it,” Kennedy said.

Well, kind of. And the answer about who is ... We The People. Always was anyway.
And one way to “resolve” them is to eliminate them. And make college a choice for the best students, ignoring race, gender, religion, sports ability, and sexual alignment entirely.

The decision reads inside-out: the federal government does not have the power to annul state laws that give the people of that state (ie the voters) the power to shut down Affirmative Action programs in state institutions, primarily regarding school admissions, but extending to all government functions.

Hell, that still isn’t very clear, is it? Here: The people can vote to get rid of race preferential policies at the state government level. That includes the state colleges. The people can also vote to put Affirmative Action stuff into place at the state government level if they want.

Bottom line: the power’s to the people. Right on.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision tramples on the rights of minorities, even though the amendment was adopted democratically. “But without checks, democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups,” said Sotomayor, who read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor in dissent.

At 58 pages, Sotomayor’s dissent was longer than the combined length of the four opinions in support of the outcome.

Yeah, well what else would you expect from a crazy chola? She had to pitch a fit or somebody could cut a bitch.

I would like an absolute social avalanche to come of this. I don’t want there to even be a box to check for race or gender on any state mandated form. Not on a college admission, not on a mortgage application, not on your driver’s license. And I want to see those columns dropped from all the government databases, everywhere. They simply aren’t necessary, and their very existence degrades real equality.

Today is a great day in American history.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/22/2014 at 10:46 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOMRacism and race relations •  
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calendar   Monday - April 21, 2014

More Mark Steyn Please

What all the above stories have in common, whether nominally about Israel, gay marriage, climate change, Islam, or even freedom of the press, is that one side has cheerfully swapped that apocryphal Voltaire quote about disagreeing with what you say but defending to the death your right to say it for the pithier Ring Lardner line: ‘“Shut up,” he explained.’

A generation ago, progressive opinion at least felt obliged to pay lip service to the Voltaire shtick. These days, nobody’s asking you to defend yourself to the death: a mildly supportive retweet would do. But even that’s further than most of those in the academy, the arts, the media are prepared to go. As Erin Ching, a student at 60-grand-a-year Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, put it in her college newspaper the other day: ‘What really bothered me is the whole idea that at a liberal arts college we need to be hearing a diversity of opinion.’ Yeah, who needs that? There speaks the voice of a generation: celebrate diversity by enforcing conformity.

Right on target. The drones have been well trained.

Read Mark Steyn’s essay, The Slow Death of Free Speech, at the UK Spectator. Before it gets banned.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/21/2014 at 09:40 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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calendar   Saturday - April 12, 2014

A little ramble on that other preamble

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.



As plain as day. The Bill of Rights exists solely to more specifically limit the power of the federal government. That’s its job.

I could go on and on. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes even the Supreme Court gets it wrong; the Kelo v. New London decision severely weakened your right to own property, even though it seems to be a reiteration of 1945’s Berman v. Parker. Just one of many. So far, about the only right that hasn’t been violated is the Third Amendment, the forced quartering of troops in your home.

I’m sure you can find violations of most of the other Amendments, and violations of other sections of the Constitution. When you come right down to it, many or most of the departments of the federal government shouldn’t even exist. The whole idea of constitutionally severely limited central government seems to have been forgotten a long time ago.

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/12/2014 at 09:29 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOM •  
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calendar   Wednesday - April 09, 2014

Another Ruby Ridge Coming Soon

Put The Cow Down, Step Away From The Prairie

Hundreds of armed federal agents surround Nevada ranch



A two-decades-old battle between a Nevada rancher and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has resulted in officials armed with machine guns surrounding the ranch and forcibly removing the owner’s cattle, according to the rancher’s family.

Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Clark County, Nev., has been fighting a “one-man range war” since 1993, when he decided to take a stand against the agency, refusing to pay fees for the right to graze on a ranch run by his family for centuries.

After years of court battles, the BLM secured a federal court order to have Bundy’s “trespass cattle” forcibly removed with heavy artillery, the family said.

“The battle’s been going on for 20 years,” Bundy told theWashington Free Beacon. “What’s happened the last two weeks, the United States government, the bureaus are getting this army together and they’re going to get their job done and they’re going to prove two things. They’re going to prove they can do it, and they’re gonna prove that they have unlimited power, and that they control the policing power over this public land. That’s what they’re trying to prove.”

Bundy said the government has brought everything but tanks and rocket launchers.

The area that Bundy and his family have ranched on since the 19th century was declared a protected critical habitat for the desert tortoise. Bundy has also refused to pay massive “user fees” to graze his cattle on public lands.

“The story is a lot about the cattle, but the bigger story is about our loss of freedom,” Carol Bundy added. “They have come and taken over this whole corner of the county. They’ve taken over policing power, they’ve taken over our freedom, and they’re stealing cattle.”

“And our sheriff says he just doesn’t have authority, our governor says he doesn’t have authority, and we’re saying, why are we a state?”

“I’m a producer,” Cliven Bundy said. “I produce edible commodity from the desert forage, and all of these things are governed under state law. So, in other words, this type of government has eliminated all of our state law, eliminated our state sovereignty, and has took control over our public lands and even took control over our Clark County sheriff. They’ve taken the whole county over. The whole state, almost.”

“This is just about power of the government,” Carol Bundy said.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R.) voiced his concern about so-called “First Amendment Areas,” designated locations set up by the BLM where citizens can protest the removal.

“Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment Area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

Good golly, now that’s a real surprise. Amazing, ain’t it, how once you get outside of college campuses where the indoctrinated mindless juveniles are, actual adults aren’t at all willing to limit their opinion venting to “free speech zones”? Crivens ("Clivens" in this case maybe?). Good for them: the only free speech zone we have starts in Alaska, runs down to Hawaii, then east up to Maine and then down to Florida. We call it the First Amendment. They call it a troubling non-compliance with federal regulation.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 04/09/2014 at 10:31 AM   
Filed Under: • EnvironmentFREEDOMGovernmentJack Booted Thugs •  
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calendar   Thursday - March 06, 2014

In The Inbox

Four from Doc. Well done! Thanks!


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Connecticut: Firearms Confiscation Plan On Hold: 2/3 Of Police Force Is On The List Too

Connecticut has been making news due to their hastily passed gun registration laws. According to some sources as few as 15% of gun owners have actually registered their firearms. News Blogs have been warning state officials are talking about mass confiscations of the unregistered firearms.

Plans for these confiscations hit a snag when a legislative intern dared to ask a question. “Who will be going door to door to take all the guns away?” asked the 21-year-old college senior.

Reportedly multiple people in the room in the most sarcastic voices they could muster said “the police”.

The unnamed intern then pointed at the list and said, “my dad’s name is on the list, and he is the police chief. I see three other names on this list of family members, all cops.”

Within hours a print off of all sworn Law Enforcement officers in the state was obtained. Comparisons of the list of gun owners who failed to comply with registration requirements and sworn LEOs showed a startling figure. Just over 68% of Connecticut cops had failed to register firearms according to the new law.

An anonymous source in the Governors office said lawmakers were dumbfounded.
...
So now Connecticut is in little quagmire. The powers that be are making all kinds of threats, but there is no one to follow through on the threats.

Dumbfounded? Really? I’d say those lawmakers are not just stupid, but willfully blinded by their own beliefs.

On the other hand, since when has total hypocrisy ever stopped those in power or with badges from doing whatever they wanted?

On the third hand, if the state already had a list of who owned what guns, then why did they need to make the people go through the BS of registration? Was that just an exercise in brow beating, and object lesson to remind the plebes who was in charge?


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 03/06/2014 at 11:19 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOMGuns and Gun ControlInternationalJack Booted Thugs •  
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calendar   Monday - November 18, 2013

race - ism …. it’s whatever the left bedwetters say it is. even when it isn’t.

I guess I let the damnedest things annoy me, so things like acid reflux shouldn’t be any surprise.
Thing is ... I see something like the following article and just don’t understand the idiots that honestly believe the crap they do.

Hey, personally I think the kids who did this look kinda silly, but on the other hand it was a clever stunt.
A send up of Somali pirates.  The pose the girl took in this photo looks plain dumb, but then I suppose not being an actress or a professional model, she struck the pose she felt looked .... ?  Smart?  Whatever.
But for all the folks now shouting RAAAAAAACE.  I tell ya I’d like to mowem all down. Somali pirates happen to be black. Or at least a very dark brown. So the kids dress up but since they’re white, they are now condemned AND ....  The suck ups at the newspaper want someone to ID the kids.
This is all the result of very successful brain cleansing and indoctrination on a massive scale, by the politically correct left bed wetters, of generations of youth from the time they enter schools. And maybe before. They have managed to carry things so far that nowadays, to use the term colored in reference to a person is now “offensive” and “insensitive.”

Meanwhile, for all the advance in medicine, in science and technology and other other spheres of human endeavor, people are becoming more and more like sheep and not much smarter.  Here. See for yourself.


Law society students ‘black up’ for university drinking event while pretending to be Somali pirates

Four students pictured at fancy dress event with faces painted black
One critic brands it ‘an image of black and ethnic minority oppression’
Student union boss says ‘it’s not acceptable and should not be condoned’
Drinking session organised by The Edinburgh University Law Society
Organisation ‘apologises unreservedly for any upset caused’

By Simon Tomlinson

A group of law students were at the centre of a racism row today after they ‘blacked up’ for a fancy dress drinking session.

The ‘Beerienteering’ event, organised by The Edinburgh University Law Society, had an Around The World fancy dress code.

But four members sparked outrage after pictures emerged of them dressed as Somali pirates with their faces painted black.

Do you know the students involved? Contact us by emailing editorial @ mailonline dot co dot uk

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The group - made up of three males and one female - happily posed for pictures but were later challenged by angry members of other societies.

One student said: ‘This is an image of black and ethnic minority oppression becoming manifested in students’ costumes.

Is that last line some kind of major pc bs er what? Does the jerk actually believe what he has said?  Or does he say it because he thinks he should believe it?
I’m telling you folks ... the universities are taking in and graduating fools and worse.

Note to readers. For some reason bmews engine or whatever controls things, will not allow the address in the request to ID the awful perpetrators of the latest crime of the century. Which is why I had to write in the dot co dot uk stuff.  I hope at least one of you will drop the pc editor a line. Or two.
And btw ..... for those who can understand Shakespeare.

Would any white actor playing Othello be a raaaaaaacist? 

‘Racism should be opposed on every level and Edinburgh University and we as a student body should do all within our power to make sure these attitudes are called out.’

An official event page describes Beerienteering as ‘a steeplechase around the bars of Edinburgh full of plenty challenges and surprises’ and tells attendees to ‘expect over-the-top fancy dress.’

Teams of four students including one girl, must race around Edinburgh’s pubs completing various ‘challenges’ along the way to find out their next destination.

The winning team is the one which completes the route in the shortest time.

It is understood that door staff at The Hive nightclub in the city were challenged by other students after allowing the controversial group entry to the venue.

The door staff are believed to have replied that those who were offended could ‘head somewhere else’.

The Edinburgh University Law Society is an independent society and is not affiliated with the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA).

Nadia Mehdi, vice president of Societies and Activities at EUSA, said: ‘I’m really shocked to see that in this day and age these students weren’t aware of or chose to ignore the offence they would cause by painting their faces black.

‘It’s not acceptable and should not be condoned. The Law Society is not a EUSA society so we can’t discipline them, but I will be bringing this to the attention of the Law School.’

Keir Gilius, President of the Law Society, said in a statement: ‘The fancy dress theme was All Around the World.

‘As a society, we try to arrange our events with innovative and interesting themes leaving scope for attendees to use their imaginations.

‘In no way was this theme intended to incite racism or cultural appropriation and, as a society, we are vehemently opposed to discrimination of any form.

‘On behalf of the members of our society, we apologise unreservedly for any upset caused.

‘In response to some of the costumes designed, in the future we will strive to ensure that any fancy dress events will actively discourage the use of any costumes that could be perceived as being offensive.

‘If so, the wearers may be denied participation in said event.

‘As a society, we respect our members’ right to freedom of expression, however, cultural insensitivity is intolerable and this is something that we are completely opposed to.

Funny innit how some folks feel they are qualified to decide what is culturally insensitive and intolerable. I guess anything that isn’t politically correct by all these future lawyers is intolerable.

‘In light of the ongoing and comprehensive commentary on our Facebook page, I would not propose to discuss any further details.’

A spokesman for the University of Edinburgh said: ‘The University takes issues relating to equality and diversity very seriously and hopes and expects that all members of the University community do the same.

‘To this end, it has a range of relevant policies and procedures in place to address such issues as they arise.’

source for story


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 11/18/2013 at 01:12 PM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINEDemocrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsFREEDOMPolitically Correct B.S.Politically-IncorrectRacism and race relationsStoopid-People •  
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calendar   Wednesday - September 11, 2013

Twelve Years Ago Today

I SHALL NOT SUBMIT

NOT NOW, NOT THEN, NOT EVER

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Islam is the enemy of all human civilization. It is not a religion, it is an excuse for tyranny, misogyny, pedophilia, the abuse of women and children, sloth, corruption, violence, murder, torture, and inhumanity.

It is the absolute antithesis of what America is all about. It is our enemy, now and forever; we must strive as a people, as a Judeo - Christian culture, to enlighten those poor souls under its yoke and bring them out of darkness. Failing that, we should kill them wholesale. Because that is EXACTLY what their Koran tells them to do to us.

Our pResident is completely wrong: their call to prayer is not “one of the prettiest sounds on earth”. It is a banshee’s scream in the night, a soul blackening warble from Hell, the sound of your worst nightmares, because hearing that awful cacophony tells you that you are too close to Satan and his depraved influences.

If you love peace, if you love freedom, if you love equality, even if you love Capitalism, then you must fight, you must push back, you must speak up, you must never submit ... every day and every hour. This abhorrence must be cleansed from God’s good world.


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big_us_flag  big_uk_flag







I’d fight against Islam forever just because of bacon. And because I love dogs. And because I love the heck out of women who love being and looking female. And because of wine. And art. And savings accounts at the bank. Seriously, WTF is wrong with their brains? 


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 09/11/2013 at 07:31 AM   
Filed Under: • FREEDOMRoPMA •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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