RANDOM SHOTS - Angela Prattis Is Wonderful, Obama Is A Liar, And Much More!

FIRST SHOT!

A Women To Be Admired In A Town Without Shame

Chester Township, Pennsylvania, officials to fine a resident $600-a-day fine for feeding needy neighborhood kids.

It was reported on August 14, 2012, that a Chester Township woman who offers free lunch every day to low-income children in her neighborhood faces a $600-a-day fine next summer if she continues.

Why? Well, because she did not clear the food giveaway with township officials. We have to report to the state every little detail don't you know!

I think it's plain bullshit! Just bullshit!

Angela Prattis donates her time to distribute the meals - supplied by the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia - and adheres to strict paperwork, like filling out weekly reports and being visited bi-weekly from a state worker. And yes, that has been checked out by MyFoxPhilly.com.

"Angela saw it as a way to contribute to the community in a positive way," Anne Ayella, a member of the Archdiocese, said. "There was nothing in it for her."

Prattis laughed and said, "I don’t make a dime."

Prattis lived in the township for three years. She reportedly distributes the meals to the 60 or so children at a gazebo on her property during the summer months, when children are home from school.

The Delaware County Times reports that another resident "alerted" the council about the distribution a few weeks ago. The council investigated and ruled that the practice is not permitted without a variance, the paper reported.

"You have houses here, the roofs are falling in, and they could be focused on a lot of more serious issues than me feeding children," she said.

Chester Township, which has a per capita income of $19,000 a year, says Prattis lives in a residential zone - and because of that, handing out food to children is not allowed.

"I don't think it's my responsibility to go to her to say, 'why don’t you come to talk to me to see if there’s something that we can do to help your program,'" said William Pisarek, the Chester Township business manager.

No, but he believes it is his responsibility to stop a woman from feeding the hungry in his one horse town!

Prattis told The Delaware County Times that she is not going to stop feeding the children in the area. The township says she needs to go before a zoning board to ask for a variance, which would cost her up to $1,000 in administrative fees.

Well, that was the 14th of this month. This was reported yesterday the 18th:

Angela Prattis vows to keep feeding needy kids from her driveway despite city crackdown.

Angela Prattis says she'll find a way to feed hungry kids next summer. And yes, I believe her.

Her vow is for real. She swears that she will continue doling out free lunches to children in her hard hit neighborhood - even if the city goes through with their threats to fine her $600 a day.

Angela Prattis was ordered by the Chester Township Council to wind down the makeshift dining room she runs in the driveway of her modest home during the summer for the hungry kids who come to her daily in search of a good meal.

Under pressure from the community, the local leaders agreed to let Prattis finish her mission this summer, but told her she would need a zoning variance to resume the operation next summer.

"I'm going to continue to feed the children," Prattis told Fox News. "I'm just doing this for the kids. I don't want a big fight.

"I just want to be in right standing with the town," added Prattis, who feeds 20 or more kids on some days. "I know how to follow protocol, as long as its clearly defined."

The mother of four, who works as a massage therapist, says she serves up the lunches while the kids are out of school because many are too poor to get good lunches at home.

Imagine that! Poor and hungry in America!

Why? No jobs! Businesses who employ people are being taxed out of business. The result is that there are no jobs.

Prattis gets the food from the Philadelphia Archdiocese, which makes daily deliveries of pre-packaged lunches, drinks and snacks to her doorstep. She pointed out that the archdiocese required her to take a preparatory class focusing on nutrition - and other essentials - before serving kids.

"I'm not working with some fly-by-night operation," she maintained. "This is the archdiocese, for crying out loud."

Prattis, her husband, Derrick, and their children recently moved into the home after living for years in the Delaware County Housing Projects in nearby Woodlyn. She says her new neighborhood isn't affluent, but the people are the salt of the earth.

"This isn't a working-class neighborhood," she quipped. "It's a hard-working class neighborhood."

The neighborhood kids enjoy the lunches and benefit from the nutrition, she said.

"We have tons of children, here," Prattis said. "There's a lady who baby-sits a bunch of kids and she brings them around because the parents can't afford to have them in day-care and feed them at the same time.

"We had a nasty storm last Wednesday, and I only set up one table because I didn't think the kids would come in the pouring rain," she said, before adding, "They all came. I served 20 children in the pouring rain."

On a typical summer weekday, neighborhood men set up three plastic tables in Prattis's driveway, along with about 25 folding chairs donated by The Church of The Overcomer in nearby Trainer, Pa.

Food from the Archdiocese's "Feeding Program" arrives around 9:30 a.m. truck. Prattis said the eager children are usually on hand when the Archdiocese truck arrives, and help unload their own meals.

"They know that I'm committed and going to be there at that particular time for them. "It means a lot for them to have a friendly face that they know will be there every day. And for me, I know when they're with me, at the least, they are safe and having fun, and out of harm's way, and not getting into trouble."

But on July 31, Councilman William Kennard showed up at a meeting of the neighborhood civic association and told the gathering Prattis's free lunch program was unlawful.

At the town council meeting two days later, elected officials with their heads firmly up their ass voted to levy a $600-a-day fine for each day Prattis fed the kids.

Lately, Kennard has be unable to be reached for comment. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that he understands how the town council screwed up? Absolutely!

Prattis continued to serve the meals, and, although no fine was levied, on Aug. 10 she received a letter from the township saying she could serve kids until Aug. 24, but that she must apply for a variance next year.

 It costs $1,000 to apply for the variance, she said, and there is no guarantee the council will accept it, Prattis said.

One way or another, she said she'll be feeding kids next summer.

"What's in my heart?" she asked. "I feel like they could be focusing on a lot of other serious issues that are taking place in my neighborhood, instead of something I think is very positive and keeping our kids on the right side of the law."

To think that a person can get fined for feeding those in need? Yes, it's down right shameful.

My advice for folks out there is to think twice about doing business with Chester Township, Pennsylvania.

At least not until they get smart and allow good natured individuals like Angela Prattis to do what they can to help there own. It is people like Angela Prattis who make towns and cities across America wonderful places to live.

It's asinine laws and ordinances like that which they want to use to prosecute her that are turning would-be prosperous towns and cities into high unemployment, drug areas.

Dear God, I love people like Angela Prattis! She is a women to be admired by all. She has her priorities straight in a place where the city officials make the old Communist red tape seem easy to deal with.

I'm amazed that so many fools can be in charge of one small township at the same time!

SECOND SHOT!

Imagine that! Poor and hungry in America!

No, no one can get it into Obama's thick skull that in a Capitalist system - businesses who make the jobs need funds to do so! In a Communist / Socialist system - the government takes all the money, gives it away to others including foreign countries while no jobs are made and the private sector gets screwed. 

Obama is supposed to be a smart man, yet he couldn't see that that the Communist / Socialist system brought the old Soviet Union to ruin and had their people starving.

Their citizens were treated like cattle instead of people. They relied totally on the State to feed them, house them, give them health care, and provide for them.

Want to read horror stories? Then read about how it really was in the old Soviet Union under the State.

Hospitals run without medications, patients families having to bring in food from home to feed them, Doctors non-existent, nurses using and reusing and reusing the same needles over and over again. But hey, it was free!

The Soviet state had a quasi-police force who used to go into the bars and homes to force people to get to work because the Soviet state depended on them. Stores and markets ran out of goods and food.

One problem they had was that truckers didn't get paid by the state, so they didn't deliver. Farmers quit growing food because they didn't own the land and the state told them when and how to plant. Subsequently, farmers sat on barren land and waited to be fed by the state.

Factories were silent because their was no incentive to produce anything, it all belong to the state. Besides, in a Communist country, everyone gets the same pay even if he isn't working - so where's the incentive to work hard. There is none.

Today, business is running hard in Russia because they had a 70 year taste of being treated like cattle. Today, from what people are saying, the Russian economy is booming. And yes, Russians are alive with freedom to work hard and succeed.

Obama just refuses to accept the concept that businesses run America and not the government. He just refuses to accept the whole notion that government can be a hindrance to product.

He just doesn't understand that when production slows, businesses can't hold on to employees.

You would thing that a member of Congress as he was, really would understand the Capitalist system that drives America. Why doesn't he?

Is he so indoctrinated in the idea of hating America that he is blind to what he is doing to the nation.

Besides taxing the so-called "rich" who own small businesses, and who are working 20 hours a day to keep their small business running, Obama has the nerve to send taxpayer money to foreign countries.

Last year, Obama gave $2 Billion to Egypt’s "new government." It was part of a $20 Billion foreign aid package that went to some countries that are richer than most everyone else.

Since entering office, he has given more money away to foreign countries than all other presidents. And yes, I know about his outsourcing his fundraisers to Sweden, France, Dubai, and Communist China, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with the money he gave those countries. Yeah, right!

Yet, we have kids that are going hungry in this horrible economy. An economy that Obama keeps saying is Bush's fault almost 4 years after Bush left office.

I believe that if Obama is reelected that it will get worse. And yes, I believe that if that happens, Obama will blame Bush for another 4 years!

Why not? He knows that there are people out there who believe his line of crap!

Since Paul Ryan was picked as Mitt Romney's VP choice, the Democrats have accused him of wanting to cut Medicare. For Christ sake, they even have a commercial that shows Paul Ryan throwing a woman in a wheelchair off a cliff.

God knows they don't want to truth to get out. The truth, Obama and the Democrats have already cut Medicare by $700 Billion dollars when they signed ObamaCare into law.

Remember all of that Nancy Pelosi stuff about "We have to pass it before we know what's in it" bullshit? Well, it's all coming out now.

And yes, he has cut Medicare!

Obama's signature health care law mandates that $700 Billion dollars be taken from Medicare - to fund, yes to be used in ObamaCare. Why, because the end result was supposedly the end of Medicare - because everyone would be on ObamaCare sooner or later.

The Liar and Chief is trying to say that Republicans want to take that money out of Medicare, they want to strip Social Security, and run over everyone crossing the street!

What, you haven't heard? Well, yes!

According to Democrats, Republicans want you and me to drink dirty water, breath polluted air, feed DDT to our children, burn books, stop people from having sex, and have everyone live in mud huts.

And yes, according Republicans want to own Slaves! On Democrat on television said that Republicans did indeed own slaves when in fact Republicans did not - Democrats did.

In fact, just the other day, Joe Biden - who is the dumbest man ever to be a heartbeat away from the nuclear codes - said that Republicans wanted to put "y'all in chains!"

Of course, he failed to mention that the Republican Party was founded as a group wanting to free slaves. But that really doesn't matter.

Whether of not in fact Democrats were who owned slaves, were who indeed started the KKK, were in fact against Civil Rights Acts - it doesn't matter.

You see, Obama, and guys like Joe Biden, really don't care if they lie to you to get your vote. They know that they have a lock on most votes from liberals, college kids, Union members, and of course immigrants who are to get amnesty.

Fact is, Democrats just want "y'all" to believe that Republicans are evil because they think every one's frick'n stupid! Their arrogance will be their down fall.

THIRD SHOT!

You Think You Can Avoid ObamaCare’s 3.8% Surtax

What is the ObamaCare 3.8% Surtax?

"It’s a tax that punishes people that have been diligent over the years and did the right thing," says Certified Public Accountant Bob Keebler on the Medicare surtax that kicks in on January 1st of 2013.

As I wrote last week, the additional 3.8% tax is part of the president's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ak.a. “Obamacare,” and affects individuals Congress has decided are “wealthy:” single taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $200,000 or more and married couples with a MAGI of at least $250,000.

If you fall into one of these categories, you’ll pay 3.8% more in federal income tax on the lesser of your investment income or your “excess” MAGI- the amount that exceeds the $200,000 or $250,000 threshold.

“Congress has introduced a third dimension- this surtax- that will affect every investment decision and transaction you make,” warns Keebler, who holds a Master of Science degree in taxation and addresses tax professionals around the country.

If you’ve got two or three children, $250,000 is a relatively modest income in areas of the country where the cost of living is especially high. Nonetheless, couples with two working spouses are vulnerable to the surtax. (Note that if they were not married, their household income could be $400,000 before the surtax kicked in!)

Retirees could be surprised to find that they are victims of the surtax if, as Keebler puts it, they “did the right thing”and worked hard, lived modestly and invested wisely so that they wouldn’t be a burden on their kids or society when they left the workforce. Here's the problem: If the decide to sell the home they’ve lived in for 35 years when they retire, thanks to the surtax, they could lose some of the profit they make because it’s considered a “capital gain,” that is, investment income.

Although income received from a pension, traditional IRA or company-sponsored retirement plan is not subject to the additional tax, it can push your other income above the threshold, exposing it to the surtax. This is referred to as the “bubble” effect.

Here’s how it works:

Fred and Wilma are in their mid-60s and semi-retired. Wilma is a freelance writer, earning $20,000 per year. Fred worked part-time job at the hardware store and earned $17,000. Their CDs and mutual funds generated $45,000 in income.

Each receives pension income, for a total of $120,000. They withdrew $80,000 from Fred’s traditional IRA to buy a new car and a time-share unit so they could escape the Massachusetts winters.

Here’s what Wilma and Fred’s taxable income looks like:

Earned Income $ 37,000
Investment Income $ 45,000
Pension $ 120,000
Taxable IRA Withdrawal $ 80,000
(Less Threshold Amount) $ (250,000)
Amount Subject to Surtax $ 32,000
Surtax of 3.8% $ 1,216

The 3.8% surtax is applied to the $32,000 because this is less than the $45,000 in investment income that Fred and Wilma received.

Although their pension income and IRA withdrawal are not, themselves, subject to the surtax, they form a $200,000 “bubble” that causes Fred and Wilma’s other income to rise above the $250,000 threshold.(1)

Is there something Fred and Wilma could have done to avoid the surtax? Definitely!

Although you need to consider whether this would push you into a higher bracket, converting some of the assets in a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is one strategy. That’s because withdrawals from a Roth IRA are not subject to federal income tax.

Here’s how and $80,000 withdrawal from a Roth IRA would change the situation for Fred and Wilma:

Earned Income $ 37,000
Investment Income $ 45,000
Pension $ 120,000
Taxable IRA Withdrawal $ 0
(Less Threshold Amount) $ (250,000)
Amount Subject to Surtax $ 0
Surtax of 3.8% $ 0

According to Keebler, “If some of your modified adjusted gross income will be subject to the surtax, a Roth conversion can only help you.”

Furthermore, he adds, “If you are in the highest tax bracket already, it’s a no brainer.” When the top two tax brackets increase next year, the cost to convert will be higher.

Municipal bonds are another option since, like Roth accounts, they also offer income that is not subject to federal income tax.

Tax-favored investment vehicles such as annuities are something pre-retirees might want to consider, says Keebler. “If you’re working and subject to the surtax, invest the low-risk portion of your portfolio in a fixed annuity.”

Since the interest you earn is sheltered from federal tax until you take it out, you want to wait until after you retire to start withdrawals. By then, your income will have dropped below the surtax threshold.

This is what’s termed a “leap-frog annuity” because, as Keebler explains, “you’re leaping over your wage years.”

“Life insurance will have a renaissance,” predicts Keebler. “All of the growth will be tax-free if [your policy] is designed correctly.”

Income earned inside your account avoids tax until you withdraw it. As long as total withdrawals don’t exceed your original investment, they’re considered a tax-free return of principal.

If you think next year’s income will potentially be high enough to subject you to the surtax, you need to start adjusting your portfolio and income sources today.

This is especially true for trusts. Keebler cautions that it’s critical to find a tax expert who really understands this topic.

This is just more from Obama that he doesn't want you to know about. Maybe that's why he takes so much pleassure bashing the other guys instead of talking about what he'd done good for America for that last almost 4 years. 

FOUTH SHOT!

A Political Cartoon from the 1930's!

It's interesting that their plot is the same, just the characters have changed.

 

Story by Tom Correa

9/11 Museum Takes Atheist To Court

Another attack on the 9/11 Cross. Yes, the damned atheist are at it again!

Last year, I wrote an article entitled The 9/11 Cross

My article was triggered by a report from NBC News in July of last year. According to NBCNewYork.com, dated 7/27/2011:

"An atheist group has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent a cross made out of World Trade Center steel beams from going on display at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. American Atheists sued this week in state court arguing that the group opposes the placement of the cross in the museum because members believe it is the only religious article getting special accommodation there. The cross, made of two intersecting steel beams, was found standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks."

The article finishes by quoting 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels, who said,

"This steel remnant became a symbol of spiritual comfort for the thousands of recovery workers who toiled at ground zero, as well as for people around the world. In the historical exhibition, the cross is part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the story of 9/11 in a way nothing else can.”

He said it much better than I could have. Fact is that the 9/11 cross is an "authentic physical reminder that tells the story of 9/11 in a way nothing else can.”

Besides standing for those who worked tirelessly, besides giving hope to those there in the aftermath, the 9/11 cross stands for those who died on 9/11 and others who were murdered by Muslim terrorists.

The 9/11 cross is part of what happened to America that changed us as a free nation. We should remember everyday what happened on 9/11.

Now the National 9/11 Museum is fighting a group called Atheists Inc. in court.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum wants to smite a group of godless activists opposed to its planned display of the famed World Trade Center cross.

In court papers, the National 9/11 Museum says American Atheists Inc. doesn’t have a prayer of proving that the iconic, cross-shaped steel beam will impose religion "through the power of the state."

The Manhattan court filing seeks to toss out a lawsuit the atheists filed last year over claims that inclusion of the 17-foot-tall “artifact” in the museum’s collection would violate the First Amendment.

"As a threshold matter, the 9/11 Museum is an independent non-profit corporation," court papers say.

"Its curators’ decisions to display particular objects, such as the artifact, in the museum are not state actions to which Constitutional protections apply."

Plans call for the cross of steel beams — found in the rubble two days after the Twin Towers fell — to be displayed in a section of the underground museum titled “Finding Meaning at Ground Zero.”

According to the museum, the cross is an “important and essential artifact” that “comprises a key component of the retelling of the story of 9/11, in particular the role of faith in the events of the day and, particularly, during the recovery efforts.”

"After its discovery, the artifact was venerated by certain workers during the course of the rescue and recovery operation at Ground Zero, including in religious services conducted by a priest," the court papers say.

"Many of them came to regard the artifact as a source of comfort and spiritual symbolism during their time at Ground Zero, and they treated it as such."

The museum also blasts the atheists for suggesting that a “17-foot-high A for Atheists” or an American Atheists lapel button also be included in its exhibition.

"It is not irrational for the 9/11 Museum not to feature those items in the museum; as [museum director Alice] Greenwald explained, the 9/11 Museum is ‘not in the business of providing equal time for faiths, we are in the business of telling the story of 9/11 and the victims of 9/11,' " the court papers say.

These days, I find that I usually take things in stride. Sure I shake my head and wonder how such a small percentage of our population can have such an impact on the rest of us.

A Moral Compass

And though I'm not usually a violent man -  sometimes I can't help but wonder if some of the more militant types at groups like Atheists Inc. would benefit from just a good old fashion ass kicking for putting America through so much grief. 

They do want to push the envelope when it comes to demanding that their belief in nothing is the norm in America.

I can't help but wonder how they'd like it if America just got so fed up with their demands that they were deported to some country that doesn't have a population who is overwhelmingly Christian or believes in God in some other way?

Maybe then they'd find out what it is to live with a group a people who believe in nothing?

And yes, if you believe in nothing - you have no moral compass. Without morals as a guide, it's no wonder that atheist don't know the difference between right and wrong behavior.

UPDATE:

Court says 9/11 Cross will stay at WTC 9/11 Memorial Museum

Fox News
Report Published July 28, 2014

The 9/11 Cross, which appeared in the rubble of the buildings destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has been a sore spot for the Liberal Atheists in the United States since it appeared after the attacks.

There will be no separation between this steel “cross” and the World Trade Center memorial.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a bid by American Atheists Inc., a Liberal Leftist group with ties to the Democrat Party, to remove the famed cross-shaped steel beams that survived the 9/11 attacks from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

The federal appeals panel sided with Manhattan federal Judge Deborah Batts’ ruling last year that the relic’s historical importance outweighs potential concerns over issues of separation of church and state.

The panel wrote: “[Given] the absence of any evidence of ulterior religious motives, and the undisputed historical significance of The Cross at Ground Zero, we conclude that, as a matter of law, the record compels the conclusion that the actual purpose of displaying the cross in the September 11 Museum is a genuine secular interest in recounting the history of extraordinary events.”

The atheist group had sued the Port Authority and museum operators in 2011 — roughly three years before the museum opened in March underneath a national memorial dedicated to documenting the history of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the heroic rescue and recovery efforts that followed.

The historic artifact is a 17-foot, 4,000-pound steel crossbeam shaped like a Christian cross that was found by excavator Frank Silecchia in the rumble right after the Muslim terrorist attack on 9/11/2001.

The Rev. Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest who performed rites at Ground Zero, blessed the cross as a point of refuge.

While this ruling is a huge defeat for the Liberal Left in America, one has to be naive to think that this will not stop them from trying to have the 9/11 Cross removed.

Like it or not, Liberal Atheists are trying to remove any and all Christian symbols from public view -- and yes, it irks them that the 9/11 Cross simply appeared and gave comfort to all there at the time of the Muslim attack.

Tom Correa

RANDOM SHOTS - "Fast and Furious" Goes To Court, Bob Hoskins Retires, Railroads, The EPA, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

Republican Representatives In Congress File Suit Against Holder Seeking "Operation Fast and Furious" Documents

So now, "Operation Fast and Furious" goes to court.

Operation Fast and Furious was a government arms sting that was supposed to lead Federal Agents to Mexican Drug Cartel members. It launched in Arizona in late 2009 by the ATF with help from the U.S. Attorney's office there.

Federal agents gave over 2,000 guns to buyers who ran them into Mexico with the help of the Federal Government. They didn't use a few guns, they used thousands of guns!

And what happened to the guns? Well, the guns ended up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States, including the December 2010 murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Republican lawmakers have been looking into the botched Justice Department sting for months. One big reason is to find out who is responsible for giving the guns to the killers of Brian Terry. His family among others would love to know.

Now leading a congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious, they have filed a lawsuit in federal court urging a judge to compel the Justice Department to turn over documents related to the gun-running probe.

In the lawsuit, lawyers representing House Republicans said Attorney General Eric Holder's "intransigency" and "contumacious refusal" to comply with a House subpoena have prevented congressional investigators from determining whether the Justice Department intentionally tried to obstruct their investigation.

After President Obama asserted Executive Privilege over the documents nearly two months ago, the full House, mostly along party lines, held Holder in criminal and civil contempt of Congress.

But with a Holder ally as the gatekeeper to criminal proceedings in Washington, the criminal contempt citation was virtually dead on arrival. Basically, the Justice Department is being run by a someone who has been convicted for criminal contempt.

So now Republicans are hoping a judge will enforce the civil contempt citation - since the justice department won't.

The documents at the center of Monday's lawsuit are mostly composed of internal Justice Department emails after Feb. 4, 2011, when department officials realized they would have to retract a letter to Congress that denied Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents ever let guns fall into the hands of suspected criminals.

A Justice Department official has insisted the documents at issue "show no intention or attempt to conceal information or mislead (Congress)." But if that's the case, why withhold them, hide them, or use have Obama assert Executive Privilege?

The lawsuit filed on Monday says those documents "would enable the Committee (and the American people) to understand how and why the Department provided false information to Congress and otherwise obstructed" the Congressional Investigation.

The "principal legal issue" is whether the Justice Department can withhold documents under Executive Privilege when "there has been no suggestion that the documents at issue implicate or otherwise involve any advice to the President" or otherwise involve "core constitutional functions of the President," according to the 41-page lawsuit, filed on behalf of Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The lawsuit says Holder's "conception of the reach of 'Executive privilege'" would "cripple congressional oversight of Executive branch agencies" altogether. It's unclear whether the law is on the Republicans' side -- something the judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will have to determine.

After the lawsuit was filed Monday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the Justice Department "has left the House no choice but to take legal action."

But the ranking Democrat member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., called it "all politics," saying it "seems clear that House Republican leaders do not want to resolve the contempt issue and prefer to generate unnecessary conflict with the Administration as the election nears."

It's interesting that Cummings sees the investigation to find out who was ultimately in charge of running guns into Mexico and into the hands of the killers in the Drug Cartels, as an "unnecessary conflict" with the Obama administration.

What's that all about? Why is there a conflict?

Doesn't the Obama Administration want to know who broke the law and is responsible for getting a Border Patrol Agent killed?

I would hope so!

SECOND SHOT!

A Resurgence Of Railroads Across America Creates New Jobs

Right now across America, railroad tracks that once rattled with loads of goods have been dormant and overgrown. The good news is that that is changing.

With gas and oil prices rising, rail shipping is seeing a resurgence, and the small town of North Creek, N.Y., is seeing the reopening of tracks that were shut down more than two decades ago.

"Trains use only about a fourth of the fuel that trucks use, and they emit only one-fourth of the pollutants -- so it's a much more environmentally friendly way to move anything," said Ed Ellis, president of Iowa Pacific Holdings, the rail company that's working to clear 30 miles of track between North Creek and Tahawus, where an old mine will provide long-leftover rock for new projects.

Ellis says the railway may one day be used for other products like lumber or minerals. "We're excited about the idea that we're bringing rail freight back to the North Country after a lapse of over 20 years."

Ellis says many new jobs will be created, and he envisions success that may one day provide for more than 100 workers.

"There will be a number of new jobs created. We have people out working on the track. We've created train service jobs, the people who actually run the trains and work the trains but, in addition to that, there will be jobs crushing the rock, loading cars," said Ellis.

George Canon, the town supervisor of nearby Newcomb, says the work will be welcome.

"In this particular town of 480 people, a job with 10 people or 20 people is huge," said Canon, who once worked at Tahawus Mine, where the railway will soon lead, as soon as next summer.

He hopes to see big machinery back in action at the mine and fresh paychecks in the pockets of workers. "If they started a big crushing operation here, it could be 10 or could be 100."

Short line railways across the nation have been gaining steam. With an annual operating revenue of nearly $32 million, these smaller regional lines operate in 49 states, employing roughly 18,000 people.

According to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the industry started to surge again in the 1980s when the Staggers Act was enacted, softening regulations.

In 2006, short line freight traffic reached its height. It spiked again in 2011, up in almost every major commodity over 2010. Traffic in steel, metals, minerals and ores increased by 7 percent. Transfers of lumber and chemicals increased by more than 10 percent, and the movement of automobiles and parts increased by 25 percent.

Not everyone wants to see the trains back on track. As the clearing of tracks gets under way in the miles surrounding North Creek, environmental organizations are expressing concerns about the Forest Preserve where the tracks are routed.

Local environmentalist and activist Charles Morrison says the government never should have used eminent domain to lay the rails through the area in the 1940s.

"The solution is to have the land that was taken by the federal government returned to the people of New York State. That can only be done by removing the rails and going to court," said Morrison, though it's unclear if efforts to appeal the approval process will be able to stall development.

The project has yet to be derailed by lawsuits, and Ellis projects a bright future for short line business across the nation.

"There are dormant tracks and there are now 600 short line railroads across the country that have preserved or reopened essential lines for freight and passenger service and there are new lines that can be opened. So yes, this is something that's just going to continue to grow over the next decade," said Ellis.

Good news for all Americans. Those who are looking for work, those wanting to get out of there car and subsequently that nasty commute traffic, and those train buffs like me who know that trains a part of the solution to our energy troubles.

Trains are a solution that has been waiting patiently, as if knowing that someday someone will give trains another look.

THIRD SHOT!

Actor Bob Hoskins to Retire after Parkinson's Diagnosis

There are certain actors who I really like. For one reason or another, their work or maybe just one piece of their works stood out and made me take notice. Bob Hoskins is one of those actors.

Last many others, I saw him in different roles. But there was a role that he played that I'll remember always, it was as a British Infantry Sergeant in a movie called Zulu Dawn.

In the movie, Bob Hoskins played Sergeant Major Williams. He played the part of the epitome of a professional British Soldier of the time.

He was loud and aggressive. As a Sergeant Major, he was a high-ranking NCO viewed by his soldiers with a mixture of fear and respect. Hoskins character displays genuine concern for his troops.

As a Sergeant Major, Hoskins took a special interest in making a good soldier out of a young Pvt Williams. He was on him at every move. In one scene during a formation, Hoskins ripped into the young private for moving in formation seeming more interested in something else going on around him.

Hoskins barked, "You moved! You moved! Go and tell the NCO at that black shambles that you love him more than you love me! NOW!" And with that bark, Private Williams was sent running off.

Bob Hoskins as Colour-Sergeant-Major Williams with his troops

In the final scene when Bob Hoskins playing Sergeant Major Williams was making ready his troops for the Zulu attack, Private Williams was there next to him. At one point, to give the young soldier confidence - Hoskins winks at him as to say "Don't worry!"

During the battle, Hoskins as Sergeant Major Williams loses many of his infantrymen during hand-to-hand fighting, and is injured while defending a group of unarmed artillerymen. Williams is stabbed in the back while attempting to save the life of the young soldier Pvt Williams. Having killed several Zulu soldiers with his bayonet, he dies at the hands of a large band of Zulus.

Zulu Dawn is a 1979 film about the historical Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu forces in 1879 in South Africa.

The film centers on Lord Chelmsford's invasion of Zululand without the knowledge of the British Government in the hope that he could Capture Cetshwayo, the Zulu King, before London discovered that hostilities had started.

The movie Zulu Dawn is about the biggest military defeat in British history. The size and scope of the massacre at Isandhlwana Hill, Zululand, on the 22nd of January, 1879, makes Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Big Horn look small in comparison.  

It was called the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. It was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.

Eleven days after Lord Chelmsford commenced the invasion of Zululand in South Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians.

The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields, but also had a number of muskets and old rifles though they were not formally trained in their use. 

The British and colonial troops were armed with the state-of-the-art Martini-Henry breech-loading rifle and two 7 pounder artillery pieces as well as a rocket battery.

Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, the numerically superior Zulus ultimately overwhelmed the poorly led and badly deployed British, resulting in the killing of over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line.



In "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"



Bob Hoskins was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was living after being evacuated as a result of the heavy bombings during the German Blitz.

Growing up, Bob Hoskins received only limited education and he left school at 15, but with a passion for language and literature instilled by his former English teacher.

A regular theatre-goer, Mr Hoskins dreamed of starring on stage, but before he could do so he had to work odd jobs for a long time to make ends meet.

His acting career started out more by accident than by design, when he accompanied a friend to watch some auditions, only to be confused for one of the people auditioning, getting a script pushed into his hands with the message "You're next". He got the part and acquired an agent.

His broke through was in 1978 in Dennis Potter's mini TV series, "Pennies from Heaven" (1978), playing "Arthur Parker", the doomed salesman. After this, a string of high-profile and successful films followed, starting with his true major movie debut in 1980's The Long Good Friday (1980) as the ultimately doomed "Harold Shand".

This was followed by such works as The Cotton Club (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), which won him an Oscar nomination as well as a BAFTA award, Cannes Film Festival and Golden Globe), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (Golden Globe nomination), Mermaids (1990), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995), Felicia's Journey (1999) and Enemy at the Gates (2001).

Mr Hoskins has always carefully balanced the riches of Hollywood with the labor of independent film, though leaning more towards the latter than the former.

Bob Hoskins recently announced that he will be retiring from acting due to his Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

The condition, which affects as many as 1 million people in the United States, causes symptoms that can grow more severe with time and include tremors, stiffness, and balance and movement problems, according to the National Institutes of Health.

While there is no cure for the condition. Some treatments, like drugs and surgical options, can help with symptoms. My prayers go out to all who suffer from such a cruel condition.


In "Hook"

 Bob Hoskins, whose career has spanned four decades and earned the actor several accolades, has announced that he will retire following a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis.

In a statement released Wednesday, the 69-year-old actor’s agent announced that the British-born star would withdraw after a “wonderful career” to spend time with his family.”

“He wishes to thank all the great and brilliant people he has worked with over the years and all of his fans who have supported him during a wonderful career,” the statement read.

“Bob is now looking forward to his retirement with his family, and would greatly appreciate that his privacy be respected at this time.”

I wish him the best in his retirement. He has given us so many wonderful roles to pick from, now it's his turn to enjoy live and his family. He can rest on his laurels and feel good about what he has given others.

We should now give him something in return, his privacy.

LAST SHOT!

Environmentalist Extremists Want West Virginia Strip Mine Ruling Overturned

It's not surprising when Environmental Extremists groups side with the EPA, they seem to be working hand in hand at every turn.

Their mission is to ruin American industry and agriculture capabilities through over-regulation, fines, and unreasonable authority.

Now five environmentalist extremists groups say that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had legal authority to veto water-pollution permits for one of West Virginia's largest mountaintop removal mines, and that the federal judge who ruled otherwise improperly considered the potential economic implications.

In a brief filed recently with the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Environmental groups say Judge Amy Berman Jackson's March ruling on the 2,300-acre Spruce No. 1 mine should be overturned "to prevent unacceptable harm to vital West Virginia waterways."

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Coal River Mountain Watch, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the Sierra Club say the Clean Water Act plainly gives the EPA the power to withdraw - and effectively reverse - permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.

These environmentalist groups act hand in hand with the EPA. They are the ruin of our nation.

Not surprisingly, the groups argue that Judge Jackson was wrong to impose economic policy decisions on what is solely an environmental issue.

Though coal operators may want "finality" in the permitting process, the groups say, there is no such thing.

Under Judge Jackson's interpretation, they say, "EPA would be powerless to act." And yes, that pains them to no end. Unless the Justice System works in their favor, they refuse to recognize the ruling.

Jackson ruled that the EPA exceeded its authority in January 2011 when it revoked a permit that the Army Corps of Engineers had issued four years earlier to St. Louis-based Arch Coal and its Mingo Logan Coal Co. subsidiary.

Again, not surprisingly, the environmental extremist friendly EPA concluded that "destructive and unsustainable mining practices would cause irreparable environmental damage and threaten the health of communities nearby."

As I said, no surprise there. They do not work for American - they work against Americans. And yes, they are not above using scare tactics. 

It was only the 13th time since 1972 that the EPA had used the veto authority it was given by Congress and the first time it had acted on a previously permitted mine.

The EPA said it reserves the power for rare and unacceptable cases, but Judge Jackson declared the action "incorrect and unreasonable."

Coal-state politicians and industry officials see Judge Jackson's ruling as a victory for those states and confirmation of an overreach of the federal government's authority.

It was one of several setbacks this year for the EPA and their extremist friends.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that the agency overstepped its authority by setting up water-quality criteria for Appalachian strip mines. That ruling said the authority belongs to state regulators under existing clean-water and surface-mining laws.

The EPA appealed the Spruce No. 1 ruling in July, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection filed paperwork indicating that it, too, will file a brief in the case.
Mountaintop removal is highly efficient form of strip mining.

Should the court determine that the language of the Clean Water Act is vague, the agency argues, "it should uphold EPA's interpretation of the statute as reasonable and permissible."

The question before the appeals court is whether or not to send the case back to Judge Jackson for a hearing on whether the EPA's actions were arbitrary and capricious.

In its appeal, the EPA said that while one section of the Clean Water Act lets the corps issue permits for the dumping of fill material, another gives EPA the "unambiguous right" to "prohibit, deny, restrict or withdraw specification of fill disposal sites."

When I see that some federal agency believes it has the "unambiguous right" - I read as them thinking they have "unbridled power".

That power was created in a legislative compromise the EPA says was intended to let the agency do its job and prevent unacceptable environmental damage. The EPA says it can invoke that authority before, during or after the corps' permitting process.

Too bad Judge Jackson doesn't agree!

These days, a smart man on the bench is hard to find. I tip my hat to Judge Jackson for doing the right thing despite the political pressure coming in from liberal environmental extremists.

Story by Tom Correa

An American Icon: John Moses Browning

He epitomizes American genius.

A firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world today.

John Moses Browning is the most important figure in the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms in the world.

He is credited with 128 gun patents.

John Browning influenced nearly all categories of firearms design.

He invented or made significant improvements to single-shot, lever-action, and slide-action, rifles and shotguns, but his most significant contributions were in the area of auto-loading firearms.

He developed the first auto-loading pistols that were both reliable and compact by inventing the telescoping bolt, integrating the bolt and barrel shroud into what is known as the pistol slide.

John Browning's telescoping bolt design is now found on nearly every modern semi-automatic pistol, as well as several modern fully automatic weapons.

He also developed the first gas-operated machine gun, the Colt-Browning Model 1895 which has a system that surpassed mechanical recoil operation to become the standard for most high-power self-loading firearm designs worldwide.

But why stop with small arms like pistols, rifles, or even machine guns? Believe it or not, John Browning made huge contributions to automatic cannon development.  Yes, cannons.

The M4 cannon, a 37mm auto-cannon, was initially designed by Browning in 1921, and entered service in 1938.

During World War II, the M4 was used in both aircraft like the Mitchell Bomber and on U.S. Navy PT boats. It was also used in the Army Air Corps Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra fighters. It provided interceptors with a weapon that could shoot down any bomber with as little as one hit. 

The M1895, the M1911, the Ma Deuce, the BAR!  

Based on a John Moses Browning design dating to 1889, the M1895 Machine Gun was the first successful gas-operated machine gun to enter service.

The M1895 Machine Gun saw action in the Spanish-American War with the United States Marines.

The Colt-Browning M1895, nicknamed "the potato digger" due to its unusual operating mechanism, is an air-cooled, belt-fed, gas-operated machine gun that fires from a closed bolt with a cyclic rate of 450 rounds per minute.

Mr Browning's most successful designs include the 1911 pistol, the Browning .50 caliber machine gun, the Browning Automatic Rifle, and the Browning Auto-5 which was a ground-breaking semi-automatic shotgun.

Of the M1895, the M1911, the Ma Deuce, and the BAR (or B-A-R), the M1895 is the only one that I haven't gotten a chance to fire.

The M1911

The M1911 is by far my favorite pistol. I have a couple of them. I bought one old standby almost 40 years ago. And yes, she is as dependable today as she was then.

John Browning's M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge.

It served as the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985 - and, believe it or not, it has been pressed back into service in recent months with the Marine Corps Special Ops Command.

The M1911 was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1911 is still carried by some U.S. military forces and law enforcement agencies.

Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924.

The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era. Today's Marine Corps is designating the M1911 as the Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M45. This modern M1911 is being used by some elite units within the U.S. Marine Corps right now.

The M1911 was replaced by the M9 pistol as the standard U.S. sidearm in the early 1990s, but due to its poor knock down power and so-so performance in the field, it appears as though it is being slowly phased out.

Designed by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. The pistol was widely copied, and this operating system rose to become the preeminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols.

The M2


U.S. Marine mans his Ma Deuce 

The M2, fondly referred to as the "Ma Deuce", has been in use longer than any other small arm in U.S. inventory except the .45 ACP M1911 pistol which was also designed by John Browning.
The Ma Deuce, also known as the M2 Machine Gun or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun, is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning.

It is very similar in design to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge.

The M2 is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries, and has been used by many other non-NATO countries.

The M2 uses the much larger and much more powerful .50 BMG cartridge, which was developed alongside and takes its name from the gun itself (BMG standing for Browning Machine Gun).



Today's U.S. Navy M2 "Twin .50s"



During World War II, the M16 was a Half-Track with four M2 .50s in a single mount. It was called the "Meat Chopper!"

B-25H "Barbie III" with nose canopy open showing the four .50 cal M2 Browning machine guns and feeds, and note the 75mm M5 cannon below. Stuart airshow 2011

The M2 has been referred to as "Ma Deuce" by American Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen for the better part of a hundred years. She is also known as "the fifty" in reference to its caliber.

The design has had many specific designations; the official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is extremely effective against ground tropps, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles, boats of all sorts, light fortifications, and low-flying in range aircraft.

The Browning .50 caliber machine gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States from the 1920s to the present.

It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and these days during operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world right now.


M2HB

Rhe M2HB is manufactured in the United States by General Dynamics and U.S. Ordnance for use by the United States government, and for US Foreign Allies via FMS sales. FN Herstal has manufactured the M2 machine gun since the 1930s.

The M2 Browning machine gun, the timeless .50 caliber "Ma Deuce", which was developed in 1918 and entered service with the US Armed Forces after World War I in 1921, still remains in active service for nearly a century with various armed forces across the globe in a variety of roles.

U.S. Ordnance developed their M2 Quick Change Barrel system after years of manufacturing machine guns for the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies.

The BAR

John Browning's Browning Automatic Rifle, the "B-A-R", was one of a group of automatic rifles, or "machine rifles", and light machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century.

Of the different variations of the B-A-R, the primary variation was the M1918. It was chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge.

I had the pleasure of firing it many years ago. I instantly fell in love with it's big .30-06 round.

It was specifically designed by John Browning in 1917 for the U.S. Expeditionary Corps in Europe as a replacement for the French-made Chauchat and M1909 Benet-Mercie machine guns.

The B-A-R was designed to be carried by advancing infantrymen using a sling over the shoulder or fired from the hip, a concept called "walking fire" - thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare.

However in practice, it was most often used as a light machine gun and fired from a bipod which was introduced in later models. A variant of the original M1918 BAR, the Colt Monitor Machine Rifle, remains the lightest production automatic gun to fire the .30-06 Springfield cartridge, though the limited capacity of its standard 20-round magazine tended to hamper its utility in that role.

Though the BAR was designed for World War I, it was used into the 1970's by Army National Guard units.

These arms are nearly identical today to those assembled by John Browning, with only minor changes in detail and cosmetics.

Even today, John Browning's guns are still some of the most copied guns in the world.

His life was one of genius. He rivals Thomas Edison and other great inventors for a place in history.

John Moses Browning was born on January 23rd, 1855 in Ogden, Utah. He died on November 26nd, 1926, half way around the world doing what he did best - designing firearms.

He made his first firearm at age 13 in his father's gun shop, and was awarded his first patent on October 7, 1879 at the age of 24.

John Browning was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two-year mission in Georgia beginning on March 28, 1887.

His father Jonathan Browning, who was among the thousands of Mormon pioneers in the mass exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, to make the journey to Utah. Once there, he established a gunsmith shop in Ogden in 1852.

Jonathan Browning had built a gunsmith business in Nauvoo, developing and refining advanced (for the time) repeating firearms and manufacturing techniques. The Browning gunsmith in Nauvoo is now operated as a museum, and is open to the public at no charge.

His son, John Moses Browning worked in his father's Ogden shop where he was taught basic engineering and manufacturing principles. And there is something else, while there as a young boy, he was also encouraged to experiment with new concepts.

Because of this, he developed his first rifle which was a single-shot falling block action design - then founded his own manufacturing operation and began to produce this firearm.

Production examples of the Model 1885 Single Shot Rifle caught the attention of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, who dispatched a representative to evaluate the competition. Winchester bought the design for eight thousand dollars and moved production to their Connecticut factory.

From 1883, Browning worked in partnership with Winchester and designed a series of rifles and shotguns. Most notably, the Winchester Model 1887 and Model 1897 shotguns, the falling block single shot Model 1885, and the lever-action Model 1886, Model 1892, Model 1894 and Model 1895 rifles, most of which are still in production today in some form or another.

Over seven million Model 1894s have been produced, more than any other centerfire sporting rifle.

John M. Browning and Winchester Repeating Arms Company

Winchester manufactured several popular small arms designed by John M. Browning.

For decades in the late 19th Century-early 20th Century, John Browning designs and Winchester firearms were synonymous and the collaboration was highly successful.

Like most things though, this came to an end when Browning proposed a new semi-automatic shotgun design, a prototype finished in 1898, to Winchester management and they refused to back the development of the shotgun.

Ultimately it became the Browning Auto-5 shotgun.

The problems that divides folks usually has something to do with money.

As was the custom of the time, Browning's earlier designs had been licensed exclusively to Winchester (and other manufacturers) for a single fee payment. With this new product, Browning introduced in his negotiations a continuous royalty fee based upon unit sales, rather than a single front-end fee payment.

If the new shotgun became highly successful, Browning stood to make substantially more fee income over the prior license fee arrangements. Winchester management was displeased with the bold change in their relationship, and rejected Browning's offer.

Remington Arms was also approached, however the president of Remington died of a heart attack as Browning waited to offer them the gun. This forced Browning to look overseas to produce the shotgun.

Having recently successfully negotiated firearm licenses with Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium (FN), Browning took the new shotgun design to FN; the offer was accepted and FN manufactured the new shotgun, honoring its inventor, as the Browning Auto-5.

The Browning Auto-5 was continuously manufactured as a highly popular shotgun throughout the 20th century.

In response, Winchester shifted reliance on John Browning designs when it adopted a hammerless shotgun design of Thomas Crossley Johnson for the new Winchester Model 12, which was based upon design features of the earlier Browning-designed Winchester Model 1897 shotgun.

This shift marked the end of an era of Winchester-Browning collaboration.

John Browning designed products to the end of his life. He was known as a dedicated and tireless inventor, an innovator, an experimenter, who sought breakthrough consumer-oriented features and performance and reliability improvements in small arms designs.

He did not retire from his career in his elder years, but dedicated his entire adult life - literally to his last day of life - to these pursuits.

On November 26, 1926, while working at the bench on a self-loading pistol design for Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) in Liège, Belgium, he died of heart failure in the design shop of his son Val A. Browning.

Even the 9 mm self-loading pistol he was working on when he died had great design merit and was eventually completed in 1935, by Belgian designer Dieudonne Saive. Released as the Fabrique Nationale GP35, it was more popularly known as the successful Browning Hi-Power pistol, a favorite of sportsman and law enforcement.

The Browning Hi-Power would have a lengthy period of service outside the United States, and remains the standard side arm of the Australian, British, and Canadian armed forces.

The premium priced Browning Superposed shotgun, an over-under shotgun design for the ages, was his last completed firearm design and possibly his most elegant. It was marketed originally with twin triggers; a single trigger modification was later completed by his son, Val Browning.

Commercially introduced in 1931 by FN, Browning Superposed shotguns, and their more affordable cousins, the Browning Citori made in Asia, continue to be manufactured and come with different grades of fine hand engraving and premium quality wood. They are a wonderful tribute to a great gun maker and inventor.

Throughout his life, Browning designed a vast array of military and civilian small arms for his own company, as well as for Winchester, Colt, Remington, Savage, and Fabrique Nationale de Herstal of Belgium.

John Browning's firearms have been made, both licensed and unlicensed, by hundreds of factories around the world.

In 1977, FN Herstal acquired the Browning Arms Company which had been established in 1927, the year after Browning's death.

John Moses Browning was the most famous and competent gunmaker the world has ever known. He invented more firearms than any other gunmaker in the history of the world.

He is truly an American Icon!

Story by Tom Correa