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Showing posts from June, 2016

WAS LINCOLN A RACIST?

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  Short answer, yes. In my view Lincoln had a liberal attitude about race for his time when it is safe to say that most white people North and South were racist. Depending on your opinion of Lincoln you can find anything you want in the form of evidence to prove your point of view. That is if you are trying to make a case that he was racist. For example the following are quotes from Lincoln on race. "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality ... I will add to this that "I have never seen, to my knowledge, a man, woman,

JOHN W. JONES - ANGEL OF HELLMIRA

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  John W. Jones was born a slave on June 21, 1817 in Leesburg Virginia. He belonged to a kindly woman named Sarah Ellzey who liked John very much. Miss Sarah was elderly and John was afraid of what might happen to him after she passed away. On June 4, 1844, John and four others, which included his two half brothers, decided to escape using the Underground Railroad. They were nearly captured in Maryland by slave catchers. John and his group found a barn on the farm of Dr. Nathaniel Smith in Pennsylvania. When the doctors wife found them they were exhausted and hungry. She cared for them until they were strong enough to travel. After Mrs. Smith died flowers would mysteriously appear on her grave until Jones died in 1900 and it was believed that he was the one responsible. Jones group reached Elmira New York on July 5, 1844. He settled there and helped other slaves escape north on the Underground Railroad. John became a sexton of his Baptist church and assisted the volunteer fire depar

GUN CONTROL - BEING ABLE TO HIT YOUR TARGET

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  The first time I remember anyone talking about gun control was after the assassination of John Kennedy. The libs were upset because Lee Harvey Oswald ordered his rifle through the mail. As a result mail order guns were outlawed. Charles Whitman climbed into a tower on the University of Texas on August 1, 1966 and gunned down 49 people, killing 16. This was the first such mass shooting and would begin a long line that continues to the present day. Again there were calls for gun control. At the time of both incidents I wasn't passionate one way or the other on the issue of gun control. That was because I was a teenager and knew very little about guns. My father had used a gun to kill my mother but I don't remember ever blaming the gun, or God for that matter. I blamed my father.  My first real experience with guns was when I arrived at basic training in the Air Force. About the second or third week we went to the firing range. The only time I had ever fired a gun was whe

COUNTING THE COSTS

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I love this picture of August Landmesser who is standing in a crowd of Germans with his arms folded in a gesture of defiance. He is refusing to salute Adolph Hitler, who is addressing ship yard workers where August was employed on June 13, 1936. August's nonconformity was based on his love for his wife who was being mistreated by the German state. He could have been imprisoned or killed for this simple act of defiance. August joined the Nazi Party in 1930. This was during the depths of the depression and he thought that joining the party would put him on the fast track to getting a job. August met Irma Eckler in 1934 and fell deeply in love with her. This was a problem since Irma was a Jew. It mattered not that she had been baptized into the protestant church as a child. In 1935 they would become engaged and this would get August expelled from the party. Under the Nuremburg laws their marriage application was denied. Their daughter Ingrid was born in October 1935. In 1937 the fa

HITTING THE NAIL ON THE HEAD

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Statements from Donald Trump: In a tweet: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!" A statement from the Trump campaign today:  “In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam,’” “For that reason alone, he should step down. If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the Presidency.” "If we do not get tough and smart real fast, we are not going to have a country anymore. because our leaders are weak. I said this was going to happen - and it is only going to get worse. I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can't afford to be politically correct anymore. Compare this with Obama's world view: ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing of innocents. And the vast m