The Girl Child and I just walked over to The Sister’s house. On the way, I passed a car parked at an apartment complex sporting this bumper sticker:

It’s a Che Guevara quote: “The true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love.”

I didn’t have a piece of paper, and I didn’t want to paraphrase, so when I got to The Sister’s house I looked up a couple of quotes I’m familiar with and wrote them down. I’ll be leaving this note on the car when I pass back by:

“I carried out a very summary inquiry and then the peasant Aristidio was executed. …It is not possible to tolerate even the suspicion of treason.” – Che Guevara 1956

“Hatred [is] an element of the struggle. …A relentless hatred of the enemy, impelling us over and beyond the natural limitations that man is heir to and transforming him into an effective, violent, selective and cold kiling machine. Our soldiers must be thus; a people without hatred cannot vanquish a brutal enemy. We must carry the war into every corner the enemy happens to carry it: to his home, to his centres of entertainment; a total war.” – Che Guevara, “Message to the Tricontinental”

FEELING THE LOVE? STUDY HISTORY, not BUMPER STICKERS.
<3, A Revolutionary

This is better than the time I left a note because someone had a bumper sticker that said “It doesn’t take a war to power my bicycle.” The bumper sticker was on their truck.

LJ friend Amy just tipped me off to a deal on Amazon – the John Adams miniseries on DVD for $23.99. (Plus, if you buy some other eligible item worth at least $1.01, you get their free shipping.)

JA is totally worth owning and watching again and again and again. It gets the official PGB stamp of approval (which, yes, I just made up).

I’m not sure how long that sale is on for, so if you want a copy (or ten) – don’t wait!

Check out what my mom found out – my great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa was John Rainey, who served under General Greene in the Revolutionary War.

The connection is matrilineal all the way back to Rainey, who fathered my great, great, great, great, great grandma, Nancy Rainey.

Now, to dig up all the documentation for this, so I can join DAR. :)

A very happy 233rd birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

To my husband, brother-in-law, and many friends and family who are called Devil Dog – thank you for your service, and for upholding – with the highest honor – your oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I am proud to know you all.

I was just checking out a forum that is populated primarily by crunchy parents, mostly women. Depending on which sub-forum you’re in, they range from raving Obama liberals to preparedness homesteaders. Anyway, I was perusing the financial forum (which seems to lean toward the conservative prepared types), and came across a thread about buying gold. The author was asking whether it’s better to save money by buying in 1-ounce increments, or spend extra to get 1/10 ounce coins that would be more spendable in times of need.

Someone replied:

“In an economic depression, you are better off having goods to trade (food, clothing, gas/oil, etc), and weapons to protect your cache of goods. If people are starving, it won’t matter how much gold you have on hand – people can’t eat gold.”

Then the original author replied, and here’s part of what she said:

“thanks for the heads-up guys!! good point about stockpiling other goods! we’re not allowed to bear arms in australia… “

As the title says: Count your blessings… and keep your powder dry.

Last year, I posted the following – one of my favorite quotes from the American Revolution – on the 4th. This year, I figure I’ll post it on the 2nd, in celebration of the day our Declaration was actually signed:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. 

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. — John Adams, writing to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776

I know I’m all hormonal and stuff, but that makes me get teary-eyed.

I’m stoked for Independence Day. There shall indeed be Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations in my corner of the continent, anyway! There will also be a reading-aloud of the Declaration, which I encourage you to read through at least once between now and the 4th, and to share with your family and friends. 

On a related note: If you guys haven’t yet watched John Adams, get with it. It’s excellent. 

1. I realized (a bit late) that not everybody knows that Patriots’ Day is celebrated on the anniversary of April 19, 1775 – the day the shot heard ’round the world was fired at Concord bridge. If you’re unfamiliar with the significance of Lexington and Concord, educate yourself here. (My dear Inconvenience would argue that the war began long before April 19, perhaps with the Boston massacre or HMS Gaspée affair – but we celebrate Patriots’ Day all the same!)

April 19 also marks the anniversary of the siege at Waco (1993) and the Oklahoma City bombing (1995), neither of which I find occasion to commemorate. I believe both of those events were clashes between two sides generally lacking in sympathetic characters.

Anyway, we observe Patriots’ Day with shooting and festivities to honor the American traditions of independence and marksmanship. Last year, the Inconvenience proposed (on a bridge!) and we followed it up with shooting. This year, we happened to have access to Tannerite, so we had a bit of fun with the effigy of a Redcoat. I of course have no intention of blowing up any actual subjects of the Queen. :)

2. I really hope you’re all watching John Adams, or making arrangements to procure the DVDs. It is simply incredible. I dare you to watch this – just the intro – and try to avoid coming away inspired:

The casting is brilliant, the script is excellent… it’s truly history come alive. It’s also caused me to have a bit of a crush on Thomas Jefferson (as if I didn’t already), played perfectly by Stephen Dillane. The Inconvenience has been pleading Hamilton’s case for months, but it’s falling on deaf ears… And the miniseries isn’t helping. I hate that sleazy little self-serving parasite. I’m totally on Team Burr.3. In addition to spending copious amounts of time fangirling over the founding fathers, I’ve also:

• Continued on in my position at the ice rink, with new and improved summer duties.
• Helped found the Palouse Sons of Liberty.
• Organized a team for and participated in the Relay for Life – for which, by the way, I also owe late donation thank-yous to JJ and Brody. :)
• Kept an eye on Heller, the elections, and other news and current events with the potential to affect our lives profoundly. Idaho Republicans will finally get around to holding the primary on May 27th (when it totally matters, hurrr…) – but there’s still an ongoing pissing match about the closed primary rule, so who knows – maybe I won’t even get to vote.
• Gotten rather involved in a potential lawsuit and am developing a cursory involvement in another… Don’t worry, I’m not in any trouble, nor is the Inconvenience. I’m just a fan of putting my time and money where my mouth is, and as much as I’d like to elaborate at this time, I can’t. Trust me… they’ll be intriguing stories sooner or later.
• Started talking about an entrepreneurial opportunity with a friend. This, too, is in the works, with more details to come once I have a clue what they are!
• Been running here, there and everywhere with this friend’s party and that friend’s shower and on and on… May is only going to be worse. Out of nine weekend days in May, I currently have plans for eight. *thud*

So anyway, those are my lame excuses for severely neglecting the politics, guns, and politics-as-pertaining-to-guns portions of this blog lately. Forgive me?

4. Don’t forget, those of you who have occasion to be on a college campus this week – the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Spring 2008 “Empty Holster Protest” is currently in full swing. You can find details here, along with guidelines for safe, effective participation.

5. On a personal note, I’d like to congratulate Mike – my dear Inconvenience – on his new job, which he started today. He’s also preparing to graduate on May 10th with his B.A. in History, with a Political Science minor… and a 3.5 GPA! ‘Bout damn time one of us graduated. ;)

Patriots’ Day pictures are after the jump. I don’t know if any of the rest of the PSOL crew care to appear on PGB, so I’ve cropped these accordingly.

Warning – 56k death! :)

Read the rest of this entry »

I hope you all got a chance to go out shooting in celebration of 233 years of American asskickery and fine marksmanship. Incidentally, it’s also the first anniversary of the day I was asked (and agreed) to become Mrs. Inconvenience. :)

Our day thus far involved the Palouse Sons of Liberty and Tannerite. It’s about to involve steak and beer.

A good day, friends. Pictures and video to come!

I have long maintained that FDR was one of the worst things to ever happen to this country. Amity Shlaes at OpinionJournal tackled this topic on Sunday. Give it a read – it’s both enlightening and frightening.

Here’s a highlight:

Roosevelt personally experimented with the currency–one day, in bed, he raised the gold price by 21 cents. When Henry Morgenthau, who would shortly become Treasury Secretary, asked him why, Roosevelt said that “it’s a lucky number, because it’s three times seven.” Morgenthau wrote later: “If anybody ever knew how we set the gold price through a combination of lucky numbers, etc., I think they would be frightened.”

How very 1984.

And, on the topic of why Americans as a whole are often so reluctant to criticize FDR’s administration and New Deal policies:

My own sense is that there is a final reason we have all paused at the New Deal–a generational one. To insult the New Deal is to insult the Social Security that we, our parents, or grandparents receive. The Baby Boomers have a reputation as being selfish. But their reverence in regard to Social Security, not to mention Medicare Part D, is overly unselfish, and comes out of misplaced filial piety. Younger Baby Boomers and the generations after them will doubtless pay higher taxes because of our current unwillingness to criticize entitlements. Americans owe them as much as we owe senior citizens.

Read that, and read it again and again. I have heard so many times that we owe it to the old folks to make good on our promises – which we do, sure… But we also owe it to younger generations (not just mine – all that come after me, too) to reexamine our policies and make sure they are fair and sustainable. Right now – they’re not, and reverence for “the greatest generation” is shooting us all in the foot.