Original Americans: Native Americans

Black History [should be called African American History] was celebrated for one week, but in 1976 it was extended to a month. The original people that occupied the Americas do not have a week or a month. They are Native Americans who were incorrectly called Indians because Columbus thought he had sailed to western India. In Canada, they called themselves the people/tribes of the First Nation.
So many tribes are now extinct and so much of their cultures have been lost. There should be a time of the year set aside to the original Americans, whose history goes back tens of thousands of years and beyond to prehistorical with Clovis man.
When the United States was formed from the original thirteen colonies becoming united states, the people who immigrated here were from various places in Europe, primarily British people. The story of the Native American is the story of America and the tragic events that occurred as the United States became a nation and expanded from 13 states to 50, treaty after treaty broken. The story of the Native American is the story of North, Central, and South America; whose culture suffered from expansion from the Old World to the New World. That "new" world was not new at all, some tribes developing a civilization and community to match the ancient Egyptians.
Forced to assimilate and discard their heritage, their story is just as, if not more so in terms of centuries, genocide, and lost history as tragic as the history of the African American; the latter people were forced to come to the New Word through slavery, while first Americans were forced from their historic homelands onto reservations under the authority of a corrupt and prejudice Indian Affairs department of the US government. Their children were sent to schools where they were forced to take "Christian" names and eliminate memories of their history and culture.
The following video, entitled 500 Nations, is one of the best that celebrates and examines the long history of the first Americans, an important part of the history of the United States and Canada ...

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”― George Orwell

Old West: The Cowboy

I should've been a cowboy,

I should have learned to rope and ride.

Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive.

Stealing the young girl's hearts,  Just like Gene and Roy.

Singing those campfire songs - Oh, I should've been a cowboy

I might have had a sidekick with a funny name, Running wild through the hills chasing Jesse James.

Ending up on the brink of danger, Riding shotgun for the Texas Rangers.

Go west young man, haven't you been told, California's full of whiskey, women and gold. Sleeping out all night beneath the desert stars With a dream in my eye and a prayer … In my heart … Oh, I should've been a cowboy.

Lyric from Toby Keith (Covel) song – Should Have Been a Cowboy

Wyatt Earp

Wyatt with his mother

John Moses Browning became famous as an engineer of innovative firearms and a master gunsmith of the late 19^th century on into the 20^th century making firearms that characters of the Old West used for defense and hunting for food and criminals used in their chosen careers,but men and a few women became famous using those firearms on both sides of the law.

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19^th, 1848-January 13^th, 1929) is probably the best-known figure of the Old West of the United States as a famous lawman, who has been probably the most misrepresented – outlaws and lawmen alike. 

From the Range: Julie Golog - World Female Shooting Champion

Julie Golob is a world shooting champion, veteran, hunter, and author and as she puts it: living my dream. She is the captain of the Smith & Wesson shooting team and has won over 120 championship titles. She is the author of SHOOT: Your Guide to Shooting and Competition.

Julie is a member of the Prois Hunting Apparel Pro Staff and enjoys the outdoors. When she is not hunting or shooting in competition, Julie is shooting photos and sharing recipes using wild game meat.

Julie was recruited to the US Army Marksmanship Unit in 1995, where she gained experience and a reputation in practical shooting, winning the US Army Female Athlete of the Year award in 1999. She has a website where you keep up on what is going on and learn some new recipes.

With all that activities, she is also a mom.

Crime Fighters Report: Two More Food Stamp Fraud Cases

FBI reports that two more retailers have been arrested for food stamp fraud. Both incidents occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. Last year it was reported that food stamp fraud has been on the rise, and in October 2013, Fox News reported that even Craiglist was the avenue of some perpetrators in order to turn food stamps into case with the SNAP program. 

Weapons of Choice: Caliber Myths and Safe Defense Information

There is a lot of talk about calibers and ballistics and much has to do with personal preference and myth. Smart preppers choose calibers that will give them a reasonable amount of range and dual purpose: hunting and defense. Some rely upon Hollywood action films who have been partly to blame for much of the myths that is circulating. Still others make their choice, especially in pistol calibers, “stopping power”. 

SHOT Show 2014: Video Tour with Destinee

SHOT Show 2014 has been going on between January 14^th to January 17^th at Las Vegas, Nevada this year. You have two days if you intend to check it out.

Fate of Destinee provides a YouTube video for folks that could not make the show this year.

Destinee has a series of videos (below) covering the different booths available at SHOT Show 2014, like Emerson Knife Booth, Windham Weaponry, Springfield Armory, MAGPUL, and other manufacturers. Events also take place at the local range.
It is an event for collectors, for people who want to see what is new for 2014 (and do it in Las Vegas), and for dealers and gunsmiths looking to purchase new inventory.

Madison Metro Bans Firearms on Buses Despite Conceal Carry Law

Madison Metro Transit has imposed a ban on carrying concealed firearms with permits on their buses. It is a public service institution and not a private enterprise where the latter has the freedom of choice to choose to have a No Firearms policy. The Wisconsin Statute 66.0409 prohibits political subdivisions of the state including cities, villages, towns, and counties from enacting or adopting resolutions that regulate the possession, bearing, and transportation of firearms unless those ordinances or resolutions are the same as, similar to, and no more stringent than, a state statute.

Wisconsin Carry, Incorporated sent a letter to the Madison Metro Transit authority on November 19^th, 2013 to protest the prohibition of law-abiding people with permits to carry concealed firearms to exercise their Second Amendment Rights according to the federal and state constitution. The letter was an attempt to avoid litigation against the city of Madison at the expense of taxpayers, which the city officials have ignored. A civil lawsuit was filed on January 9^th, 2014 in Dane County Circuit Court.

New York Continues to Ignore Constitutional Law

Patriot Post reported:

Buffalo Federal District Court Judge William Skretny upheld New York's anti-gun “SAFE” Act – the post-Sandy Hook bill that banned standard-capacity magazines as well as semi-automatic rifles that look scary. Skretny said the law is just fine because it serves to “further the state's important interest in public safety.” Unbelievably, he also wrote that gun control “is not a judicial question; it is a political one.” Wrong. It's a question of Rule of Law – either the Constitution means what it says or politicians can do whatever they please. The case is no doubt headed to the Second Circuit, where we hope constitutional sanity prevails. 

Selling the Second Amendment.
How can a federal district judge not understand/know that gun control violates the Second Amendment to the US Constitution? A political question?
Banning firearms because they "look scary" is as senseless as most who serve [pretent to serve the People] in Washington, DC.

War Returns to Anbar Province: Fallujah and Ramadi Fall

On January 3^rd, 2014, Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, Iraq fell in the hands of al Qaeda forces, reported by AFP and other news networks. Iraqi police and tribesmen battled Al-Qaeda-linked militants, who declared the occupied area an Islamic state. Along with the Al Qaeda forces were Levant (ISIL) forces from Syria – the place that Obama supported in his backwards foreign policy.

American troops fought for years with British troops and Sunni tribesmen and in the Sahwa militia forces in order to clean the area of militants. Almost one-third of their total fatalities occurred in the Anbar region. Two years after US forces withdrew from Iraq, the power of the militants returns to the province.

Theodore Roosevelt: Naturalist, Cowboy, Author, Politician, Statesman, Soldier, Explorer, Adventurer, and 26th President of the United States

Prolific Life of Theodore Roosevelt Jr

Much is written about Theodore Roosevelt Jr, the 26^th President of the United States and leader of the famous Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War in Cuba. He was an historian who wrote while attending Harvard University entitled The Naval War of 1812. Theodore was a state assemblyman, a member of the Republican National Convention from 1882 to 1884. He was a rancher and cowboy whose herd got wiped out in the severe winter of 1886-1887, when he returned to the state of New York building the Sagamore Hill estate in Oyster Bay.

Roosevelt built a second ranch named Elk Horn, 35 miles north of Medora, North Dakota on the banks of the Little Missouri River where he practiced riding western style, roping and hunting from horseback. He said of the cowboy:

...few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists, but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation.

2013 Was the Year New and Increased Taxes Were Imposed

 

While putting tax records together for 2013, I thought I would pass on the thirteen tax hikes of that year – a year when unemployment still remained above acceptable percentage rates – and worse than the Obama administration reported …

Payroll Tax: from 4.2% to 6.2%

Payroll Tax [earnings more than $250,000]: Rose 0.9% on top of the previous rate increase, the top marginal rate rose from 35% to 39.6%.

Personal Exemptions Change: Couples earning more than $300,000 were phased out for exemptions. The same went for itemized deductions.

Capital Gains & Dividends Tax: increased from 15%to 20%.

Hero of Russia Dies at Age 94

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the AK-47 died on December 30^th 2013 at the age of 94. He was in his 20s just after World War II, when he created the assault rifle used all over the world, only more popular than the AR-15 because of its cheaper price. Even in adverse conditions the weapon is reliable, rarely jamming and began to be used by Russian armed forces in 1949, still being used today. 

Happy New Year - 2014

The Hill  has an excellent brief year-in-review on the political scene for 2013.
From Georgia Gun Owners, Inc., a bit of photographic humor ...