Tag: freedom
The HOAs of Israel
What is a West Bank settlement? If you read the press, it is a place where Israeli Jews have moved in and stolen the land of Arabs in order to occupy their land unfairly. It is a place where Arabs are forbidden, where apartheid has been established against the indigenous population.
Not only are these statements false, they actually turn reality on its head.
In my two visits to Israel I have stayed or visited four different West Bank settlements, and in each place my first impression was that I was visiting a typical American gated community, a suburban community run by a home-owner-association (HOA). You enter by driving through a gate where an attendant waves at you as you go by. He doesn’t stop you, because he either knows you or he has profiled you and sees no reason to ask you any questions. Once inside the roads wind about, passing individual homes or apartments. At the center of the community is a recreation center, often with a pool and library, where events are held and people go for entertainment.
The gated community of Alon Shvut, south of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
270 sheriffs and 8 state sheriff associations have said they will not enforce any unconstitutional gun bans.
Push back: 270 sheriffs and 8 state sheriff associations have now said they will not enforce any unconstitutional gun bans passed by the Obama administration.
Staying in the West Bank
This is my second visit to Israel and the second time I have stayed in a residence in the West Bank. Both times the experience has been quite different than what anyone who reads the modern press would expect. It is nothing like what you think.
Also, I have been delving into the background of both settlements, from this visit as well as my last visit back in 2003. Not surprisingly, the facts have little to do with what the press generally reports. And even when they do report honestly, they simply do not provide the important information that would provide some proper context. I myself have been astonished today with some of what I learned, as it was completely unexpected. For example, do you know that many of the land records for here in the West Bank are still kept in Istanbul, Turkey?
As I mentioned previously, however, it is difficult to post here in Israel. Though the internet service is fine, my laptop is beginning to show its age and to function too slowly for this work. Also, I want to include pictures, and I won’t be able to add them easily probably until I get home.
So stay tuned. It will be worthwhile reading.
Resistance to a new gun control law in New York appears to be rising.
Resistance to a new gun control law in New York appears to be rising.
This is what happens when you make the normal activity of ordinary citizens illegal. You breed contempt for the law, which in turn make it even less effective in doing what it is supposed to do.
A Texas Congressman has introduced a law to repeal “Gun-Free School Zones Act” of 1990.
Now this is a new law I can support: A Texas Congressman has introduced a law to repeal “Gun-Free School Zones Act” of 1990.
“We’re now in a society of violating one another.”
The boycott against the organizer of an outdoor trade show that tried to ban rifles has forced them to postpone the show.
Push back: The boycott against the organizer of an outdoor trade show that tried to ban rifles has forced them to postpone the show.
Now a Mississippi sheriff has vowed not to enforce any federal gun control laws that violate the second amendment.
Push back: Now a Mississippi sheriff has vowed not to enforce any federal gun control laws that violate the second amendment.
A Colorado county government, joining twelve other state governments and numerous local sheriffs, has passed a resolution supporting the second amendment and pledging not to enforce any federal laws that violate it.
A Colorado county government, joining twelve other state governments and numerous local sheriffs, has become the first county to pass a resolution supporting the second amendment and pledging not to enforce any federal laws that violate it.
This specific resolution is not as interesting as the growing list of defiance, described in the article, to the gun control effort of the Democratic Party.
The mass murder that didn’t happen.
Guess why: The mass murder that didn’t happen.
And then ask: Why was this not a major news story considering the focus right now on violence and mass murders?
New Year’s resolutions for believers in freedom.
A gun owner’s home listed on a map published by a New York paper has been targeted for robbery.
A gun owner’s home listed on a map published by a New York paper has been targeted for robbery.
Pretend gun control!
Now this is a great idea: Pretend gun control!
What we can do is pass a law banning a bunch of made-up things that sound scary, and many gun control proponents already have great ideas along this line. For instance, I read a column in which Howard Kurtz mentioned a ban on high-magazine clips — we can certainly do without something that nonsensical. And I’ve heard the press before mention armor-piercing hollow points and plastic guns (actually, I think we already banned that made-up weapon in the ’80s). And as long as the NRA and Wayne LaPierre go apoplectic about it (“This ban on sorcerer-enchanted guns is just a slippery slope toward eliminating all witch-hexed weaponry!”), gun control proponents won’t know the difference between this and actual gun control.
Considering the level of ignorance about guns exhibited by every one of the gun control advocates, both politicians and media pundits, I almost think we could get away with this.
David Gregory will not be prosecuted.
The law is for little people: David Gregory will not be prosecuted.
This despite the fact that the D.C. Attorney General even admits that Gregory clearly broke the law.
This travesty more than anything demonstrates how pointless these laws are. Gregory waved a high capacity magazine on camera to illustrate the need to ban such items, even though he was doing so in a place, Washington, D.C., where such magazines were already banned. Not only did Gregory prove the law was stupid, the decision not to prosecute him proves that the law exists merely for political reasons. It is used only when it benefits the powers in control. Gregory is on the side of gun control, so of course he gets a pass. Innocent gun owners and supporters of gun rights who happen to be caught traveling in DC with such a banned item, however, can expect jail time.
State lawmakers in Wyoming have proposed a law that would make it a felony to enforce a gun ban on semi-automatics or large capacity magazines.
State lawmakers in Wyoming have proposed a law that would make it a felony to enforce a gun ban on semi-automatics or large capacity magazines.
Bank of America arbitrarily froze the account of a firearms manufacturer because, in their words “We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet.”
Facism: Bank of America arbitrarily froze the account of a firearms manufacturer because, in their words “We believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the Internet.”
Quite rightly, the owner of the company told them they had “no right to make up their own rules” and that he was going to take his business elsewhere. I think every gun owner in the country should do the same.
“I am not your peasant.”
An atheist billboard opposing religion was ripped to shreds on Sunday in New Jersey.
Modern American tolerance: An atheist billboard opposing religion was ripped to shreds on Sunday in New Jersey.
A zoning board and the LAPD have shut down a thirty-year-old successful burger stand, apparently because they think it attracts crime.
We’re here to help you: A zoning board and the LAPD have shut down a thirty-year-old successful burger stand, apparently because they think it attracts crime.
Watch the video at the link. The result of this brain-dead action will be an abandoned building in an abandoned neighborhood. Good going, California!