And that's not all...

“Whether we want to own up to it or not, the welfare state has done what Jim Crow, gross discrimination and poverty could not have done. It has contributed to the breakdown of the black family structure and has helped establish a set of values alien to traditional values of high moral standards, hard work and achievement.” —Walter Williams

As usual, Mr. Williams is correct. However, he doesn't mention that the "War on Poverty" did in many white families, too, particularly in Appalachia. My home county in southeastern Kentucky is still feeling the effects of generations of welfare recipients that sat at home drawing a check instead of moving to where there was work.

Anticipating a funeral

I've mentioned my paternal Grandmother a few times in the course of my blogging. She's my last living grandparent. She has been quite ill, and news from back home this morning was not good.

Her doctor and the hospice nurses have told the family there is nothing more they can do for her in hospital except try to make her comfortable, and they can do that at home. It may be hours, it may be days, but I don't expect it will be much longer than that. Renal failure, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, probably pneumonia soon, will surely make sure of it.

A friend read the following to me yesterday evening. When I spoke to my Mother this morning, the words came back to mind.

On the occasion of their daughter's death, General Robert E. Lee wrote to his grieving wife,

"...I cannot express the anguish I feel at the death of our sweet Annie. To know that I shall never see her again on earth, that her place in our circle, which I always hoped one day to enjoy, is forever vacant, is agonising in the extreme.  But God in this, as in all things, has mingled mercy with the blow, in selecting that one best prepared to leave us.  May you be able to join me in saying 'His will be done!'
...I know how much you will grieve and how much she will be mourned. I wish I could give you any comfort, but beyond our hope in the great mercy of God, and the belief that he takes her at the time and place when it is best for her to go, there is none.  May that same mercy be extended to us all, and may we be prepared for His summons." (from Recollections and Letters of General Lee)

The apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to

... sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And I'll try to take that good advice myself, and share it with my family in the sad days which shall surely come.

Shipping firearms

Over at VFTP, Tam posts about her anticipation of a problem shipping an antique firearm. She was pleasantly surprised.

Coincidentally, I received a call today from a gentleman who is buying a couple of modern firearms from an out of state individual, and wanted to know if the guns could be shipped directly to me, or if they would have to be shipped thru an FFL holder on the other end.

The Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide (ATF P 5300.4) says:

B8) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U. S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own state or to a licensee in any state. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. A nonlicensee may not transfer any firearm to a nonlicensed resident of another state. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms.

(B9) May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by carrier?
A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by carrier to a resident of his or her own state or to a licensee in any state. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm. [18 U. S. C. 922( a)( 2)( A) and 922( e), 27 CFR 178.31]

The buyer, the seller, and the transferring FFL holder are also required to abide by any applicable statutes or regulations of the respective states or localities. For example, because of the extra requirements of the California DOJ, I won't transfer a gun in or out of California, even to or from another FFL holder.

If I haven't said it lately, let me go on record now. I thank God I live in Kentucky. Firearms law isn't perfect here, but according to The Brady Campaign's 2007 ranking of 49th (tied with Oklahoma), we're getting close.

Yes!

The feds say federal institutions are in trouble for giving money to those already in debt. That’s the problem. They gave money to those already in debt. So, why are we paying taxes? Who’s more in debt than the government? What, are they $9 trillion in debt? We’re giving them more money? We’re enablers. We need to stop this.   - Jay Leno

"Irrational and ahistorical"

From The Washington Post.

What’s missing in our debate,’ Mr. Obama said [last week], ‘is a discussion of the strategic consequences of Iraq.’ Indeed: The message that the Democrat sends is that he is ultimately indifferent to the war’s outcome—that Iraq ‘distracts us from every threat we face’ and thus must be speedily evacuated regardless of the consequences. That’s an irrational and ahistorical way to view a country at the strategic center of the Middle East, with some of the world’s largest oil reserves. Whether or not the war was a mistake, Iraq’s future is a vital U.S. security interest. If he is elected president, Mr. Obama sooner or later will have to tailor his Iraq strategy to that reality.”

Irrational and ahistorical. Yup, sounds like most Liberals I know, though there are a few exceptions.

And this from The Washington Post? My, my...

Greetings, Staff Sergeant Cornell.

And in case I've never said it out loud, thank you for your service.

It was good to talk to you.

We're doomed...

"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

-- James Madison (letter to W.T. Barry, 4 August 1822)

The more I talk to people, the worse I feel about November. And I wasn't a happy camper to begin with. Unless something changes, this may be the worst defeat for Republicans in the history of the party.

We have met the enemy, and can't tell him apart from most of our side. Though there are clear differences, too many are too willfully ignorant to make an informed decision, depending primarily on emotional responses to their immediate circumstances which pretty much delivers them into the Democrat camp at election time. God forbid any of them would fill up their gas tank before going to the polls.

We're doomed.

'splain this to me.

I've had a Sprint cell phone for 11 years.

I've lived in my current house for over 8 years.

I've used my cell phone as my main phone during that entire time, and have logged countless hours on my cell phone from my home.

But according to my current statement, I've racked up about $50 in roaming and long distance charges on calls I made from my living room on my cell phone.

I live smack in the middle of two Sprint tower coverage areas.

In over 8 years, I've never had a roaming minute from my home.

I am not happy.

"a duty to give serious thought..."

“While the media may treat the elections as being about Democrats and Republicans... elections were not set up by the Constitution of the United States in order to enable party politicians to get jobs. Nor were elections set up in order to enable voters to vent their emotions or indulge their fantasies. Voting is a right but it is also... a duty not just to show up on election day, but a duty to give serious thought to the alternatives on the table and what those alternatives mean for the future of the nation.” —Thomas Sowell

Blonde jokes...

Listening to a co-worker tell a joke, I suddenly remembered something that happened years ago.

I had been talking to a friend in Florida. He ended the conversation with a really great blonde joke. Had me crying.

After I hung up the phone, I immediately called my parent's house to tell the joke to my youngest sister A., a blonde. My other sister, D., also a blonde, answered the phone and told me A. was over at a friend's house.

Well, it was one of those jokes that you just had to tell someone right away (of course I can't remember it at all now), so I started telling the joke to D. It was a bit long, but worth every second. I delivered the punch line, and I remember waiting expectantly for the huge laugh I knew was coming. And I waited. And I waited.

Then several seconds later, D. said, "Yeah, and?" Yup, right over her head.

I lost it. I gasped out, "I'll talk to you later!" Then I fell out of the chair onto the floor laughing. Yes, literally ROFL.

My wife walked into the living room and wanted to know what was so funny, but every time I tried to tell her, I lost it again. I think it was the next day before I could tell her the blonde didn't get the blonde joke.

Now, maybe you had to be there, but that, "Yeah, and?" was one of the funniest things I ever heard.

From the original "Democrat"

Or so say his supposed spiritual heirs...

“Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.” Thomas Jefferson

Apparently the current Party management didn't get that memo.

I am constantly amazed at the many Democrats I meet who are moral, independent, industrious, entrepreneurial, and self-sufficient. No, not amazed at their admirable qualities, but at their allegiance to a Party which has long abandoned the nurture of those qualities to preying upon those who still hold them.

Not that the "Party of Jefferson" doesn't appreciate those folks. There wouldn't be any income to confiscate and redistribute without them.