Tag Archives: respect for life

defense of others, Inspiration, mindset, resistance, self defense, Terrorism

The Path

March 15, 2017 Sheila Stokes 5 Comments

Disclaimer: The following are my opinions and information. Any errors are mine alone, Joe had nothing to do with it, except for the graphics I stol borro appropri , um, asked nicely if I could use.

So why did I do this series? Because as I get older I realize I am not exactly as ten foot tall and bulletproof as I thought I was in my 20s. Honestly in my 20s and 30s people were different. I think there was more respect for life, liberty and property. When I was growing up the sight on hundreds of people pouring on to a highway with the purpose of shutting down traffic and terrorizing drivers was not called a “peaceful protest”. It was called what it was, a riot. People flooding through a town burning the shops of people who had worked hard all their lives to build their business, attacking police, firefighters and people of a different color was not called a “peaceful protest calling for justice”, it was called a riot. The Governor would not have sided with a criminal over the police without having a clue about the facts. And no one race was elevated over another, ALL lives were to matter, we were humans, part of mankind. Did all people subscribe to that philosophy? No, but that is what I think the majority of us wanted and worked towards. I remember the riots of the 60s, my Dad went down into the city to get his Mom out of downtown Riotsville. I was a little kid, and I was scared to death till he got home with Ma (my grandma). The media did not portray this as a peaceful protest, nor did they glorify the burning and looting.

I’m a lot older now, but I still have my Mom and an Aunt I like to do things with, I have sisters and we like to do things when we can get together. I like to go visit places where I know I will be disarmed and there are attacks on even people that are armed. That was how I got started in this, covered in The Warrior’s Path, Systema Part 1. Actually, you don’t even have to leave your neighborhood. It’s not so much that I would choose a knife for my primary defensive weapon, but if someone came at me, or someone I love, I’d dearly like to know I’ve taken at least some steps to have some kind of operating options as what I can and should do.

These articles all refer to the U.S.

NEW TERROR TACTIC: ISIS orders Western jihadis to become SERIAL KILLERS to spread fear

ISIS Forum Urges ‘Lone Wolf’ Attacks in US

ISIS Calls for Random Knife Attacks in Alleys, Forests, Beaches, ‘Quiet Neighborhoods’

After the bladework class, and the weapons of opportunity class I realized the martial arts training I had done in the past might not possibly help me all that much. Sigh, and I really liked Katas.

I was under no illusion that I was Chuck Norris, or that I would have a handy pair of Sai or Kamas right there. Not to mention that was so long ago, who knows if I’d be able to remember anything.

Attending the classes did spark how I think about things though. I need to train my mind to look at a can of peas differently, along with kitchen implements. Not for competition or points, for life, to live. For my life, and the lives of those I’m responsible for.

It’s part of the “Warrior mindset”. I do what I need to do to take care of those I’m responsible for, without emotion, as a professional. The skills I need should become a part of me, as automatic as making coffee and driving. Yes, I need to pay attention, I need to be aware of everything that is going on around me, I need to be aware of things that seem out of place. But if I am hyper-focused on these things it leaves little resources to allocate to other things. Do you have to give full attention to putting your foot on the brake or the clutch? If you do, will you see that car coming into your lane without signaling? That’s my point.

What about breathing? Yep, it’s a good idea for all of us, it definitely prolongs life. Trust me, I’m an expert, those that don’t will not be around for long. But remember seeing people on TV, or in real life, how women breath when they are having a child? They change their breathing pattern. One of the things I learned in Systema is that if we change our breathing pattern it can help us cope with fear and pain. There is a certain way to do it. I observed that in the last class. I didn’t understand exactly why Joe’s son Joseph would breath the way he did during demonstrations. I mean I’m sure what Joe was doing didn’t feel good, but the way Joseph was breathing was very purposeful. There are instructions in the book about Systema breathing and now I have the DVD on breathing and fear. I also have one on knives. I know, I’m a strange girl, my idea of popcorn and a movie could be a little different from some folks. The DVDs are done by Vladimer Vasiliev and available from his online store. They also have downloads. This isn’t like trying to learn Karate from a book like in the Karate kid, Mr. Miyagi. This is actually from the DVD.

Fear, fear can be deadly. And really it can have such an impact on our lives. Not just in life threatening situations either. From The Systema Warrior Guidebook,

3. Fear is always about loss; loss of life, loss of wealth, loss of security, loss of comfort, etc. The fear of loss is directly proportionate to the intensity of the attachment you have. Dissect your fear or worry down to what you fear will be lost and ask yourself, “If this fear came true, what is the worst thing that can happen?” Often you will find that your worst-case scenario is a long shot and your fear can be easily overcome with the right plan of action.

4. Fear is present only when there is a desire. Fear arises only when there is conflict between what we want and what we think “might” happen. We build up expectations around life and come up with a concrete picture of how our lives “should” turn out. This inflexibility forms a strong foundation for fear. If we are open to new possibilities and a new vision of safety, comfort and success, we can be courageous. When we flow with life, fears dissolve. When you find yourself wracked with fear, ask yourself, “Why should I resist this?” You may find the strength to let go and flow.

But is fear always wrong? No, for me it’s why I wear a helmet when I ride, buckle up in my car and stay out of places that I know probably aren’t safe. I’m not saying things can’t happen even in “safe” places, they can. But if Roosters bar & grill is known to be frequented by members of MS-13, I’m not a-goin’. I don’t need french fries that much.

Fear is like injury

The Philosophy of Violence, I haven’t been able to watch all of this one yet, but the part I saw is very good.

But the book and Systema are about life, with a instructions for dousing (brrrrrr) harmonizing your life, and fasting which does a lot more than I realized! Joe talks about Humility and becoming human and this is something I myself need to work on. Theres a recipe for meditsina, along with how and why, and a chapter on Russian penicillin, and if you’re so inclined, a bit on vodka.

Now you understand what I mean when I say there is way more to this than a book about how to block a punch?

I think most readers of The Zelman Partisans intrinsically have a martial mindset, we tend to be the warriors. But we are human, we age, we sustain injuries and things that used to work well for us may not work so well anymore. I recently read a column about The Psychology of Previous Investment it talked about how people buy guns that don’t really work that well for them and the things they go through trying to make it work for them. Rather than just admit that they made a mistake and that something will not work for them, they continue to throw money and try to force it to work. It will not work. So as warriors, rather than keep trying to force things that should work, could work, used to work, why not add some tools to our bag and perhaps get something better? Why not learn new practical ways of doing something, or doing something new and become even more effective because now we have more resources? We all want to be the best we can for ourselves and those we care about, be they human bipeds, or furry or feathered friends.

The Systema Warrior foundation is to me, chesed חסד kindness, or loving kindness, part of Tikun Olam, repairing the world. It is a good and noble thing, and I thought perhaps others would want to learn about it, as I did.

Whether we pick up a gun, a can of peas or a tactical pen (they do so come in hot pink) our mindset is going to be the same. And in our mindset and our breathing and our movements, we need to be the best we can. Because we are warriors, and we take every advantage.

I have an autographed copy of the book, it says “To Sheila, Always fight the good fight! G-d Bless, Joe Mayberry”. And we ARE warriors, all of us at TZP are warriors, we are all fighting the good fight, the righteous fight, in whatever way we are blessed with ability. My hope was to bring us all some insight and tools a bit off our usual path, because as warriors? We want to be our best.

I want to thank Joe for the generous gift of his time (and graphics), to thank the other students in class who knew a lot more about what we were doing and trained with me anyway. I want to thank Scott “Buzzkill the safety squirrel” Van Kirk, for introducing me to Systema, Joe and my Systema “Happy Place”. Scott told me he was passing it on, and now, I am too.

May G-d bless us all as we fight our good fights.

Fight like a warrior, live like a warrior

gun grabbers, mindset, So Much Stupid!, You can't fix stupid

Intent

February 1, 2017 Carl Bussjaeger 6 Comments

LSU art student Jordan Marcell speaks of the “intent” in the creation of firearms. A lot.

Opinion: Guns dangerous by nature, effects not containable
“Even when not performing their purpose, the ever present danger with firearms, is that— somehow— they will.”

Too much, and yet still misses two points.

Let’s start with that intent. Marcell claims to believe that firearms are simply built to be deadly destroyers of biological life, and that this is a continuing and progressive trend towards ever more deadly weapons. If that were true, there would be no handguns produced, as long guns can project bigger, faster, more damaging rounds than could — effectively — any handgun. If simple killing were the goal, I’d stick to a AR-15 pattern rifle and a vest full of 30 round magazines, and junk the compact polymer pistol in wimpy 9mm which I do carry everyday.

I don’t carry that handgun to kill. I carry it to defend myself (and others, should the circumstances warrant). My handgun was not designed by Ruger to be the penultimate killing machine. It’s designed to be carried routinely and comfortably and to provide basic protection.

Or take this little number.

Does anyone seriously believe that was designed for anything other than punching holes in paper? One could use it to kill, but so could such a determined person bash in his victim’s skull with Marcell’s coffee mug.

Next, consider Marcell’s fear that all firearms will perform the deadly purpose mistakenly attributed to the inanimate gadgets.

According the CDC, in 2015, 36,252 people died by firearm; that includes homicide and legal intervention (such as self-defense) and accidents. We’ll pretend each death was accomplished with a separate firearm: 36,252 guns.

Conservative estimates of firearms in civilian hands in America range from the wildly implausible 265 million to a more likely 500 million, to a possibly over the top 750 million.

If you studied math, rather than Marcell’s “Studio Art” you probably see where I’m going with this.

36,252 firearms were seemingly used in accordance with the “intent” Marcell believes imbued their design. Out of 265-750 million firearms. If Marcell were correct then — conservatively — 99.98632% of firearms suffered gross design failures: 264,963,748 guns failed to kill anyone (as they are allegedly designed to do).

You’d think that if 60-130 million gun owners (estimates vary as wildly as estimates of firearms) thought their guns had malfunctioned, there would be a monumental class action lawsuit wending its way through the courts. As some anonymous Internet wag noted, “If guns kill people, where are mine hiding the bodies?”

Or, just maybe, those inevitable deadly effects are “containable,” because of the intent of the owners.

There is no “intent” conferred upon firearms. As always, intent resides in the person operating it. Yes, even in negligent or accidental discharges, some had the intent to do something — likely stupid — with the gun.

So Marcell missed two points. Did you notice a third point which he implied?

“A firearm, as a tool, is an instrument that was created with the purpose of eliminating biological life— or killing, if you prefer that term.”

“Killing.” He fails to distinguish between murder and self defense. Or to differentiate between murder and hunting for food. Or murder and putting down a terminally suffering animal. Even in “killing” intent varies. Unless one is a liberal arts student incapable of more than simplistic over-generalizations bearing no resemblance to reality.

If Marcell equates all killing to murder, I wonder what our young student eats. Surely not meat, yet…

And you who feed on nothing but plants
Don’t hold your pride so high
For plants are living, and just might feel
And they take so long to die.
– Fisher’s Chant, Leslie Fish

Does Marcell heartlessly murder suffering plants for sustenance?

Inspiration, mindset, spirit of rebellion

Do you smile every day?

April 27, 2016 Carl Bussjaeger 7 Comments

By MamaLiberty

Everyone knows there is plenty in this world to worry about. Even those who avoid the world and national “news” as much as possible can’t help but note the downward spiral in their own financial situation, especially if they or those they love are unemployed. There is the constant push to destroy natural rights to life and liberty, and increasing efforts to criminalize and control everything. Then there is the cost of everyday necessities, increasing due to the sinking national economy and shrinking dollar. A great many people are seriously worried about their health, and the increasing Obummercare insanity replacing free market medicine and insurance. And so much more. Did you know that stress, worry and fear, are far more detrimental to good health than you might think?

It’s almost impossible to know the truth about the “news” or, often, even what’s really happening in our own area. Even people who are present during disturbances and crises seldom have a grasp on the whole problem, much less the whole solution. And, unfortunately, this creates a sort of vacuum that we too often fill with our imagination, our prejudices and the ghosts of our past. All of which can and will be used by the unscrupulous to direct, or even precipitate the next crisis. Trust, but verify. Don’t expect to know or understand everything. Do you need to know? What could you do about it if you did? Good questions to ask yourself, I think.

No hero on a white horse is going to come along and save the day. Not this election, or any other. And expecting the politicians to limit their evil and restore our “rights” is as empty of promise as intergalactic space. Maybe more so. And hoping to do that by threatening not to re-elect them would be a hysterical joke if it wasn’t so painful to watch good people continue to believe in that insanity after all these years, after watching endless rubber room elections.

What can you do? You may not agree at first, but I think there is something we can do, and it has to start with each of us as individuals.

1. How many times have you asked yourself, “by what authority” do people control my life and property. By what authority does anyone pretend to control my thoughts and feelings? Do you participate in trying to control others? Why would anyone do that if they love liberty and justice? This is an important place to start. Read “The Most Dangerous Superstition.”

2. As much as possible, ignore “the law.” Remember the jokes about the tags on the mattresses? There are hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of “laws” and regulations, petty rules and even actionable “suggestions” on the books. Take a really close look at that, and ask yourself how many are ever enforced. Take a second look and find out the circumstances in which they are ever enforced. Can you figure out a way to avoid those circumstances? Sure you can. Millions of people do avoid them every day. There aren’t enough cops or jails to go around, so all of those prosecuted are targets of opportunity. Only you know your situation, and how close you are willing to skate toward the edge… but millions of people who don’t even file income tax reports should be proof enough that it isn’t impossible.

3. Laugh at them. No, really! Truly look for and appreciate the politician’s contradictions, implausible ideas, idiot posturing and
stupid blunders. Look for them, and laugh out loud. Remember that they want you fearful, tearful, worried and willing to do anything to make that pain stop. Well, do something yourself to relieve the pain, rather than expecting your torturers to stop. Just say no to the hype, the lies, and the other hundred and one evils directed specifically to control your emotions, as well as your soul. The ultimate answer to kings is a belly laugh.

4. Don’t construct your entire life around the controllers or the “law.” Are you spending a great deal of time and effort working for political causes or candidates? Going to council meetings, writing letters to congresscritters? Reading the full text of proposed “laws” and ordinances? Even protest marches and demonstrations? Why? Your reasons may be very good, but I wonder how many people truly think about them in relation to the effect all of it has on their inner peace and joy.

Instead, I suggest folks center their thoughts and activities on what they need to do to be a person of integrity, non-aggressive, and a part of a cooperative voluntary society. Some may have to reach for this if their indoctrination into the socialist herd is extensive, but it seems it would be a far more valuable use of time and effort, mind and soul than useless worry about what the politicians are trying to cook up next. And then, a serious part of this is the necessity of teaching integrity, non-aggression and so forth to one’s children and other family – and by extension, the community. The very best way to do this is to demonstrate it all in your every word and deed, of course. Learning to be articulate and helpful in discussing it, without becoming didactic or overbearing, is a big plus.

5. Smile, laugh, enjoy life as much as you can. Is there some person, object, picture on the wall that makes you smile or laugh with joy each time you see them? I have orchids in my bathroom. Each time I go in there, I see the blooms and new growth, the shiny leaves and note the smell of flowers and clean soil, and I smile. I have a goofy Welsh Corgi dog that gives me a load of laughs and smiles many times during the day, and the cold nose on my hand first thing in the morning, of course. I’ve filled my house with as many of these smiles as I can manage, and you might be surprised at how many you already have… and have been neglecting. Take a good look, and resolve to smile at the kids, or even just the cat, instead of worry about the world.

6. Go shooting. I smile each time I see my rack of rifles, or strap on my carry gun. Now this doesn’t appeal to everyone, naturally, but it is astonishing how often someone newly introduced to guns and shooting tells me how much better this makes them feel about themselves and everything else, even their relationship to the rest of the world. It is empowering, to internalize the fact that one need not be a passive, helpless victim – even if they don’t actually ever expect to be attacked!

Many of us already understand much of this, but how many really think about it and work to increase that joy? It is also important to seek out and communicate with those of like mind, to share the joy rather than the worry. It is so easy to sit in the office and stare at the “news” of the world, and nibble at your ulcer meds… But why do that? I’ve heard a number of people who complain that there aren’t any “of like mind” near them, but when they are really challenged to explain that, it is usually obvious they never really looked. And some live in places inhabited mostly by those who would love to control everyone else’s lives and property. I always ask them why they stay there… And, of course, that’s completely up to them, but I wonder why people who insist on swimming in a swamp spend so much time complaining about the snakes and alligators.

I understand the urge some people have to remain in touch with government meetings and issues. I look at them from time to time myself, but I refuse to let any of that get in the way of my smiles, or the daily romp with the Corgi. Someone tell me why a city council meeting is better for my peace of mind and ultimate joy than a tug a war with a good dog.

Now go find some things to smile about, do something that makes you laugh and feel glad to be alive. Talk to your neighbors, and then go home to hug your family, or at least the dog.

Originally published at The Price of Liberty.

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would lik>e to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!

defense of others, gun grabbers, guns, hoplophobia, Media, mindset, Politics

Mother’s Day Musings

May 11, 2015 Sheila Stokes 8 Comments

Mothers, most of us had or have one. There are some politicians that I’ve wondered if they weren’t perhaps hatched out of a dodo egg, but that’s another discussion for another day.

I just want to say thank you, thank you to the Mothers that actually love their children. Up front disclaimer, all my children have either 4 legs and fur, or 2 legs and feathers. And I love them all. And as challenging as it can be to be a Mother to them, I understand from those that have children with skin and two legs, they are even harder to raise. Ok, I won’t dispute that, but will take your word.

When I was growing up, I was one of the very lucky kids. By that I mean I didn’t really grow up needing to be afraid. I didn’t have dreams of monsters under the bed or the killer clowns breaking in. Why didn’t I? Because I knew that my Dad had a revolver in the underwear draw and a shotgun in the closet. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if my Dad didn’t drop them with a punch, he had the means and motive to use defensive tools to sort the issue. Now, while I view my Dad as a combination of Roy Rogers and John Wayne, I knew that when it came to his children, our safety was not a negotiable issue. I would like to think a lot of Dads are protective of their families.

So why do I consider myself so blessed? Because not only was my Dad willing and able to take care of us kids, so was my Mom. My little 5’4” Mom was a tough little farm girl. Not a lot fazed her when it came to taking care of her kid’s safety. Mom was a good Southern Baptist, and she was all about turn the other cheek, peacemaking and treating your neighbor as you would want to be treated. But there was no doubt in my mind she would look out for her brood.

“Mom, what would happen if someone broke in one day?”

“Sheila, your Dad will handle it, don’t worry”.

“But Mom, what if Dad’s not home?”

“Then I’ll handle it.”

By then I was about as tall and big as my Mom, which isn’t saying much. Sorry Mom.

“Um, how Mom?”

“I’ll shoot them.”

“Um, Mom, do you know HOW to shoot?”

Actually as it turns out, my Mom is a crack shot. Growing up on a farm, hunting squirrels or anything else she needed to, with not a lot of ammo to spare makes one a very good markswoman.

My respect for my Mother grew that day. I knew she loved us enough that she would do whatever she needed to in the effort to protect us, and she wouldn’t hesitate. I’m a blessed woman.

I knew that rather than fight and die to protect us, she would most likely fight and live to raise us herself.

I think about the pressures facing responsible Mothers these days. You have people like Shannon Watts who make a habit of telling Mothers their children don’t matter. She is supported financially by people like gazillionaire Mickey Bloomberg who I’m sure has a staff of security people armed with massive tasers and pepper spray to keep their families safe. He can afford them. We couldn’t.

Hollyweird celebs like Rosie O’Donnell, Melissa Joan Hart, Prince and a cadre of others who have private security telling us little people we will be safer if we are defenseless.

Pediatricians asking parents if they own guns, and yes, this happened to a friend of mine.

Then you have the mainstream media presenting biased stories against firearms, and for some bizarre reason people still watch stuff like CNN and MSLSD.

So to all the Mothers that stand against the pressures that would keep them from being prepared and able to protect their children, I applaud you. It has always been a sense of horror to me that I am more prepared and willing to defend a flock of chickens from a coon, possum or fox than some Mothers are to protect their children. More than one predator has met his eternal reward measured in shot. I figure I bought the critters, 2 and 4 legged, they had no choice where they wound up, I took on responsibility for them. Part of that responsibility is food, water, shelter, companionship, education and safety. Then I hear women with children (not sure they should be called Moms) say they are scared of guns, they don’t want them in their house or anywhere around their children. If there was a threat they would just call the police. While I am more than willing to admit perhaps I’m being too judgmental, an occasional failing, I can’t help but think if you didn’t want them, why did you have them? You have a smoke detector, a fire extinguisher, the pediatrician and Domino’s Pizza on speed dial, but one of the most urgent situations you could ever face you are willing to wait till someone can get there to help you. And you assume help will always be able to get there on time do you? Wow. Awesome.

So on this Mother’s Day, thanks Mom, I applaud you, and your “True Grit”. One of the highest compliments in our family, True Grit. And she has it.

gun control, gun grabbers, guns, hoplophobia, Media, mindset, Political philosophy, Politics

Block Party in Baltimore

May 1, 2015 Sheila Stokes 10 Comments

I have watched with horror the carnage taking place in Baltimore. It brings back memories of the riots in the 60s in the area I lived at the time. My Dad drove into the city to get his Mom out and bring her out to our house in the suburbs where she would be safer. Scary stuff for a little kid. I was worried about my Dad and my Grandma.

I watched the breakdown of society in Baltimore. Do black businesses matter? Does black owned homes and property matter? Do human lives matter? Firefighters were fired on like they were in Ferguson, fire hose was cut. At night, when families are presumably asleep in their beds, row homes were set on fire. The police seemed powerless to stop the carnage.

Let’s compare and contrast shall we with the Rodney King riots in 1992? Now I picked this particular video to illustrate two things. First, there was part of town that was untouched by the riots, and I think why will be very apparent. Two because the news readers are so darn stupid. I mean talk about missing the big picture. If you listen to what they are fixated on it’s mind numbing. A town is burning, one section of town is being left alone, it’s obvious why, and rather than discuss that and perhaps learn something they choose to chase the ideology. Well, they don’t call it the lamestream media for nothing I suppose.

But the government is usually there to protect life and property, right?

One of these things is not like the other. Is it?

authoritarian swine, defense of others, gun grabbers, hatred of Jews, Israel, Jewish history, mindset, resistance, self defense, Sellouts and traitors, spirit of rebellion, Voting

Yom HaShoah or יום השואה

April 15, 2015 Sheila Stokes 6 Comments

Tomorrow is Yom HaShoah. It is the Holocaust Remembrance day. In my area the memorial service will be Sunday. I intend to go. I can do nothing but go. It is my personal feeling, just mine, this is only my opinion, that for me to forget what happened, to allow the memory to become comfortably cushioned in the soft cotton of foggy faded distant memory is folly and disrespectful.

Folly because those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. I’ve learned some pretty painful long term physical lessons working with my horses. Weather changes bring about certain reminders, very clearly. Care to place a wager on me forgetting how I got them and what needs to be done to prevent a repeat performance? I don’t forget.

Disrespectful because the nazis* goal was to erase Judaism from the earth, to blot out all the names of the victims, to resign them to the faded pages of distant memory. As long as I have breath and am able, I will not be part of that. I will be there, I will pay my respects and I will try to keep their memory and their fate plain. The horrible cost of trusting and disarmed people.

No, I do not mean all of them, but too many. hitler* was elected after all. Not all those that died were Jews either. Estimates are six million Jews died, and five million others made up of groups of gypsies, Poles, Political dissenters, mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and communists. I’m guessing some of those that died and their family members voted for hitler. Someone pointed out to me last year basically, the Holocaust wiped out the population of Israel. Israel’s Jewish population in 2014 was 6,218,000. The total population was 8,296,000.

Last year I was in Israel during Yom HaShoah. I went with my girlfriend that I stayed with to Ben Gurion University for the memorial service. Since she worked at BGU (אבג) getting in was not a problem. The courtyard where the ceremony was held was packed and people were standing in the windows of surrounding buildings to see the ceremony. We got there early and so sat in the chairs in the courtyard. One thing we noticed, of all the Arab and muslim students that attend there, none that we could see attended the services. It was a profoundly moving services. I didn’t understand a lot of it, it was all in Hebrew of course, and I would only catch words from time to time. But somethings go beyond words. They are universal. One was a dance that was performed.

The dancers were dressed in either white or black, and it was very very clear what the dance was about as the dancers dressed in black appeared to flog, beat and kill the dancers dressed in white. At one point during the dance one of the dancers dressed in white quietly slipped off the stage and disappeared behind a column. When she came back out in a bit it appeared she was being comforted by a staff member. She was unable to finish the dance. The dance finished with the dancers gathered around a pile of their shoes they had all taken off and placed in a corner as they came onto the elevated dance stage. Yeah, like that.

It was very emotional. I can speculate on what those around me felt. I know what I felt, and I suspect it might be different than the majority of those around me.

Following that was the portion where Holocaust survivors or family members came up and read something. I apologize, but my Hebrew just wasn’t/isn’t good enough to recount the stories. But at the end each of the six people went over and lit a candle. Each candle represented a million people. As they read their speeches you could hear something in the background. At first I thought it was suppose to be the sound of muted rifle fire. But then with each person it seemed to be a bit louder and more clear. Not rifle fire. Trains. The sound of trains on the tracks. Damn.

I was already angry from my visit to Yad Vashem just a few days before when I had been livid about the miniscule display of “Resistance during the Holocaust”. It was a miniscule display for more than one reason, but what was going through my mind was that the elected nazi government used all branches of government to target a group of people. And then they used already on the books common sense gun laws like universal background checks to more easily eliminate them.

An article recently appeared that brought to light that among those who tried to help rescue the Jews, were other Jews. They feel that the concept of Jews saving themselves has been muted or lost. The article stated

Part of the mission of the Jewish Rescuers Citation is to re-instill the idea that Jews are not only capable, but prone to be hardened heroes.

The article raises some very interesting ideas. Even if you don’t read the linked article, you might want to check Yad Vashem for a short list and photos of nine people who served in the Resistance, many of them at the greatest cost to save lives. Their names and their lives deserve to be remembered. Their price was large, perhaps you can spare a couple minutes to meet them?

For people to live in freedom, freedom from slavery, from poverty, from annihilation, the first thing we need to do is to quit committing suicide.

By that I mean there is ONE JEWISH state, in all of the world, there is ONE. Look at your elected officials attitudes towards that one state and you will have an idea of their attitudes towards your group.

Look at remarks made towards your group, are they accurate and fair? I’m thinking of the last two years worth of comments at the annual prayer breakfast here.

Are branches of the government targeting certain groups of political dissenters?

Do you put money into the pockets of people that urge you to become disarmed and vulnerable to any of the above? Harry Weinstein, Babs Streisand, Tim McGraw or any of the many other anti-gun entertainers that will then use their bully pulpit to disarm you?

Saddle pads and skirts folks. Check your patterns

There is a stone in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, it is to ALL, not Jewish, or non-Jewish, but ALL.

To Those, located in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem

Please G-d, may we need no more of them. The cost is far too dear.

* Some things and some people do not deserve capital letters. Not a typo.

gun grabbers, mindset

Respect for Life

October 11, 2014 Nicki 17 Comments

I’ve written numerous times about the gun grabbers’ lack of respect for human life. My contention is that they don’t consider life precious enough to protect. They don’t want the responsibility. They want to rely on the almighty state to protect them, and they want no one else to have that option.

Nowhere is that fact more obvious than on the Mothers Demand Gunsense in America Twitter feed. The #gunsense feed is rife with Mad Mommies and their henpecked husbands dutifully reposting every bit of spew that flies from the ever-so poisonous mind of Shannon Watts – the Bloombergian Stepford Monster who heads the hysterical mommy group.

I won’t post photos of every abusive post, but I would like to point out that their jokes about murder, their sarcastic glee every time a crime is committed with a gun that results in the death of another human being, and their snide and very public hopes for the death of those who oppose them are indicative of a general attitude – an attitude of hatred.

People have a tendency to dehumanize their enemies – to paint them as something soulless and fundamentally different from themselves in order to trick their mind into accepting that the death wishes they heap on the opposition aren’t really being directed at other human beings.

Every story of murder they post, gleefully pointing to death by gun, not considering that the innocent victim in whose blood they dance to advance their political goals is an actual human being…

Every ill wish they heap toward their political opponents, snidely pontificating how great it would be if open carry advocates died by gunfire…

Every threat to call police and report an active shooter or another type of threat when they see a peaceable citizen doing nothing more than exercising the right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution…

…is proof that these people couldn’t care less about actual lives.

What they care about is their political agenda, and they will stop at nothing – not even criminal acts – to get what they want.

I carry. I carry concealed. I believe open carry – especially of long guns – is tacky and unnecessary. Firearms are tools of defense – whether from street thugs or from government ones – not props for your attempts to shove your ability to carry down the throats of others. I also believe it’s tactically dumb. It gives those who are intent on committing crimes time to plan out their possible attack against you and robs you of the element of surprise.

That said, I won’t begrudge others their rights. I will not advocate disarmament of those whose tactics I find distasteful. I will not wish death on my opposition.

But then again, I have respect for life – both mine and others.

You obviously can’t say the same for the gun-grabbing crew of Bloomberg’s astroturf kingdom.

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Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.