Friday, March 22, 2013

REMOVE THE Monsanto Protection Act!


REMOVE THE Monsanto Protection Act!

Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has attached the Monsanto Protection Act Section 735 (HR 933) to the spending bill.  This is the same company which created Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.  Agent Orange is the combination of the code names for Herbicide Orange (HO) and Agent LNX, one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its chemical warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects as a result of its use.[1] The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange (Wikipedia).  Not only were the people of Vietnam adversely affected but so were US soldiers. The Department of Justice (Eric Holder) launched an extensive investigation.  This investigation ended abruptly without any explanation.  For more information please refer to the article entitled “Justice Department Shuts down Monsanto Investigation without Explanation”.  http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/monsantoantitrust11282012/


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The NRA is CORRECT


Based on all of the rhetoric that has been floating around about the massive shootings in recent history, one would conclude that certain weapons should be banned i.e. assault weapons.  I recently visited the NRA’s website (http://www.nraila.org) and found a host of information that has NOT been properly reported.  First of all, a clear definition of an assault weapon should be given.  There seems to be confusion with the public over differences between fully automatic and semi-automatic firearms.  The difference is that a fully-automatic firearm can fire repeatedly and quickly as long as you hold down the trigger, but a semi-automatic, like any firearm other than a fully-automatic, fires only once when you pull the trigger.  Gun control supporters say that semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 are “military-style assault weapons” designed for “war” on “the battlefield.” But the military uses fully-automatic rifles, which are regulated as “machineguns” by the National Firearms Act of 1934. I decided to review the Constitution and initially made the mistake of thinking that the “Founding Fathers” did not have semi-automatic weapons in mind when the Constitution was conceived and therefore the Second Amendment was not applicable.  I am a “techy” and I applied this thought process to modern communication to the first Amendment.  I immediately concluded that this amendment would be moot.as applied to modern communication.  As technology has evolved then our interpretation of the Constitution must do so.  I am quite certain the “Founding Fathers” did not have computers, faxes, cell phones, etc. in mind when the First Amendment was conceived.  Our weapons have evolved.  Sticks and stones were our first weapons.  By the time our Constitution was implemented, the basic weapon had undergone major transformation.  For example, in the ancient days, when Egypt was at its peak, the Hyksos invaded it only because they had superior weapons made of iron. They thrust into Egypt using chariots — a tactical and logistical innovation which amazed the Egyptians.  The Macedonians surged ahead of all other civilizations by introducing siege weapons such as the catapult, and field weapons such as the pike, which was employed to deadly effect by heavily armed infantrymen arranged in phalanxes. The Romans subsequently improved the quality and technology of siege equipment, arms and armor, and battle tactics and so on (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_weapons).

Apart from using weapons in combat and warfare situations, they have been used for hunting and gathering since prehistoric times.  A gun has been utilized as a great equalizer i.e., a ferocious animal versus a human or a weaker individual versus a stronger individual).  The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. Invented by Richard Gatling, it is known for its use by the Unionforces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat.  The first illustrations of the Gatlin gun date back to 1865 and was patented by the United States Patent and trademark office.  The legal basis for the United States patent system is Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.  So, the Constitution guarantees the right to obtain a patent on any invention.

Now, let us get back to the latest shooting in Connecticut.  Adam Lanza brought three weapons inside Sandy Hook Elementary school on December 14 and left a fourth in his car, police said. Those weapons were a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and two handguns -- a Glock 10 mm and a Sig Sauer 9 mm.

In the car he left a shotgun, about which police have offered no details. Lanza used one of the handguns to take his own life, (CNN).  All of these weapons were obtained legally by Lanza’s mother.  The guns appear to have not been properly secured.  Lanza’s mother was at fault for not securing the weapons.  She knew that her son was emotionally unstable.  There was a report that he was seen at the school on a previous day arguing with the principal and other faculty members. Nevertheless, he was allowed access to these weapons and he committed a horrific crime.

There are municipalities across the US that ban law abiding citizens the right to obtain weapons in order to protect their family and their possessions.  I would like to note that there has not been any appreciable decline in gun violence in those areas.  I listened to a CNN host state that weapons should be banned in the US but the track star (blade runner) in South Africa needed weapons for protection.  WOW what a double standard.

Baseline, we need our second Amendment right protected more now than we have ever needed.  REMEMBER:  The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights (Wikipedia).