No One Said Liberals Are Very Smart

Democratic Party Campaign Ad 1860

Dear Readers,

After reading about what Liberal have to say about the issues, whether its about the horrible fiscal policies that have us spending more than we take in or regarding social issues such as black-on-white racial attacks, it is apparent that Liberals are spreading hate and inciting violence against Conservatives.

Take for example a Hollywood actor type by the name of Chris Noth. And yes, I never hear of him either - at least not until I read this report.

The guy had the nerve to threaten Tea Party members with "being horsewhipped".

Now, as a matter of full disclosure, after reading the story I wanted to send this Hollywood bozo a horsewhip and offer him the opportunity to follow through with his statement.

It's true, I really wanted to send him a horsewhip and ask him if he'd like to come try to dish out the punishment he had in mind  -- on me!
He would have found out that I'm not the kind of Christian that turns the other cheek.

You see, I hate people who think they are better than others. I also don't like being threatened. or seeing others threatened.

 In fact, in my younger days, I'd take it real personal if or when someone did such a thing.

Actor Chris Noth saying that "Every Tea Party member should be horsewhipped" was a challenge that I'm sure he wouldn't want someone to take him up on.

Like most Liberals, for some reason Chris Noth sees himself as a privileged class of people - and political activism as something meant to be exclusively for Liberals.

I would love the chance to ask him, "I'm a member of the Tea Party because I believe in fiscal discipline because our nation in going broke. And for that, for that, you think I should be horsewhipped?"

Noth tweeted his desire to see everyone in the Tea Party "horsewhipped."

It was reported on October 17th, that second-rate actor Chris Noth of “Law and Order” and “Sex and the City” tweeted a call for violence against every member of the Tea Party.

"Every Tea Party member should be horsewhipped," he tweeted in early October.

Just one minute prior to issuing that violent message, he accused Republicans of racism, and falsely claimed they forced the partial shutdown that took place after Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid refused to consider a single Republican proposal to keep the government open.

"Highest level of racism was showed yesterday when Republicans forced a shutdown of our government. Mostly because our President is black," Noth said.

Imagine what sort of idiot equates a difference on fiscal policies and a new law that exempts the privileged and the powerful to racism?

"[I]s this America? Are we now not allowed to have our own opinions? We are not wrong if we don't agree with you, diff strokes," one person said in response to Noth's call to beat everyone in the Tea Party.

"[H]ave your opinions and own it," Noth said in response.

Yes, I'll own it. And if supporting becoming active in our government, supporting core American principles of freedom and liberty and self-government, and calling for fiscal responsibility makes be deserving of a horsewhipping?

Well then, Noth is one screwed up actor. And as for horsewhipping someone? 

Well Noth must be a real bad ass, especially when he's surrounded by security, but of course that fits the bill for most Democrats.

How do I know this? Because it is the way they operate!

For some time now, liberals have advocated violence against Conservatives and have especially targeted members of the Tea Party.

Here an example: the man in the picture to the left was inspired to make death threats against Republican Sen Ted Cruz by Liberal Democrats. 

And yes, their rhetoric is so out of control.

The man under FBI investigation for making violent threats against Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was inspired to encourage violence by Democratic Party messaging efforts.

We know this because he is in custody and has confessed to as much.

Troy Gilmore, Jr., who identifies himself as having served in the U.S. Navy, is under FBI investigation for possible violent threats on Twitter against Texas Republican Senator Cruz.

The FBI has communicated with Gilmore as part of the investigation and is monitoring for possible violence inspired by Gilmore’s online writings. …

The Twitter account of Gilmore, named “DarkNight,” is now protected.

But Gilmore wrote numerous threats toward Cruz on his Facebook page, the address of which ends with the term “countdown543,” while linking to anti-Republican activist web pages paid for by the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a Democratic congressional campaign.

“I WILL SAY IT AGAIN LET’S GO TO TED CRUZ,HOME AND KICK HIS STINKING ASS FOR CAUSING THIS MESS.YOU CAN BET HE HAS HIS PAYCHECK AND HEALTH BENEFITS FROM THE SENATE AND CANADA. HE LIVES AT [address redacted by The Daily Caller], THE F@#$KING SCUM,” Gilmore posted on Facebook October 14, linking to a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee web page entitled “Demand Ted Cruz Denounce Disgusting Tea Party Attacks on President Obama.”

There’s much more at the link. Gilmore posted over and over again Cruz’s home address, possibly inspiring other unhinged liberals to go after Cruz and his family.

Yes, Ted Cruz is now living a life in a sort of protective-custody because of Liberals who see violence as the answer.

And please, please don't think this is only the Lefts reaction to something right now. Facts are that Democrats, extreme Liberal types, have been encouraging violence against Conservative for years.

Here are some examples:

"A spoiled child (Bush) is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp: [audio sound of 4 gunshots being fired.] Just try it, you little b*stard. [audio of gun being cocked]." -- A "humor bit" from the Randi Rhodes Show

Can you just imagine if that was said about President Obama instead of Bush? Let's face facts, Rhodes would have been arrested!
"I want to go up to the closest white person and say: 'You can't understand this, it's a black thing' and then slap him, just for my mental health" -- New York city councilman Charles Barron

"..And then there's Rumsfeld who said of Iraq 'We have our good days and our bad days.' We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall and say 'This is one of our bad days' and pull the trigger." -- From a fundraising ad put out by the St. Petersburg Democratic Club

"I believe in ecoterrorism." -- James Cameron, Hollywood Director of the movie Titanic

"...In an ideal world, American consumers could be convinced to do the right thing through an appeal to logic with public service messages like the 'What Would Jesus Drive?' TV campaign, but the kind of people who would buy a car that increases the risk to other motorists in an accident can't be reasoned with. They're selfish and stupid. It's unfortunate that drivers must worry that their SUVs are being targeted by insulting stickers and Molotov cocktails, but one thing's for sure: It couldn't be happening to a more deserving group of people." -- Ted Rall winks at ecoterrorism

"F*** God D*mned Joe the God D*mned Motherf*cking plumber! I want Motherf*cking Joe the plumber dead." -- Liberal talk show host Charles Karel Bouley on the air.

"Republicans don't believe in the imagination, partly because so few of them have one, but mostly because it gets in the way of their chosen work, which is to destroy the human race and the planet. Human beings, who have imaginations, can see a recipe for disaster in the making; Republicans, whose goal in life is to profit from disaster and who don't give a hoot about human beings, either can't or won't. Which is why I personally think they should be exterminated before they cause any more harm." -- The Village Voice's Michael Feingold, in a theater review of all places

(Rush Limbaugh)" just wants the country to fail. To me that's treason. He's not saying anything different than what Osama Bin Laden is saying. You might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight. ... Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that?" -- Wanda Sykes

"You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody’s going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he’s going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But we’ll be there to watch. I think he’s Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you watching, Rush?" -- Chris Matthews

"I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn't be dying needlessly tomorrow....I'm just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That's a fact." -- Bill Maher

"Drudge? Aw, Drudge, somebody ought to wrap a strong Republican entrail around his neck and hoist him up about six feet in the air and watch him bounce." -- Liberal radio host, Mike Malloy

"I know how the 'tea party' people feel, the anger, venom and bile that many of them showed during the recent House vote on health-care reform. I know because I want to spit on them, take one of their 'Obama Plan White Slavery' signs and knock every racist and homophobic tooth out of their Cro-Magnon heads." -- The Washington Post's Courtland Milloy

Some, like talk show host Mike Malloy, have expressed a bloodthirsty desire to see everyone in the small-government movement of the Tea party murdered.

Liberals in the media are helping to foment violence against Conservatives with even calls for military force and other action.

The day after he said we members of the Tea Party need a horsewhipping, he was in an interview with the Huffington Post.

Noth called members of the Tea Party "Confederates" and accused them of being "un-American" racists for opposing Obama.

So f irst Noth tweets a message saying that everyone in the Tea Party should "be horsewhipped," then he let's his mouth run away with itself and calls all of us Tea Party folks "un-American."

The jerkweed went on to tell the Huffington Post, "I think its gotta be the worst Congress since right before the Civil War. And I think rightly – who was it? Was it Carter or someone who called them a bunch of ‘Confederates. I mean they practically are. Why don’t they just secede from the Union?”

A Democrat Representative might have been listening to Noth's stupidity, because just yesterday Florida Rep. Grayson sent out an e-mail that portrays the Tea Party as Ku Klux Klan.

As incredibly stupid as it sounds, Rep. Alan Grayson, Democrat from Florida, sent his supporters an email with the image of a burning cross comparing the Tea Party and its members to the Ku Klux Klan.

And the horrible thing, I'm betting that he has Democrat constituents who believe such Liberal horseshit!

In a Monday campaign email, Grayson included the transcript of an interview he did recently with MSNBC in which he said the politics of the government shutdown had turned many Americans away from the Tea Party, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

"At this point, the tea party is no more popular than the Klan," Grayson told the newspaper.

The email included a photograph of a burning cross with Klansmen in the background. The cross forms the "T" in the words "Tea Party" superimposed over the picture.

Below is the caption: "Now you know what the 'T' stands for," the Sentinel reported.

The email drew immediate criticism.

"The depiction of burning crosses in Congressman Alan Grayson's most recent fundraising ask is despicable and needlessly hurtful to the many millions of families that still deal with the wounds of racial prejudice," wrote Republican Jorge Bonilla, who's challenging Grayson in 2014, the Sentinel reported.

"What's worse, he does so for no other reason than to troll for donations for his re-election campaign."

Jennifer Burke, national outreach director of TheTeaParty.net, called the email "deplorable," CNN reported.

"As a black tea party activist, I could say that there's nothing more offensive than equating the Tea Party with the Ku Klux Klan," Ms Burke said.

"The hate speech uttered by sitting congressman Alan Grayson is deplorable, even by the low levels reached in recent years when Democrats routinely call us racists and suicide bombers."

Republican operatives at the Republican National Committee, as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, called on President Barack Obama and Democratic counterparts to condemn the language.

Grayson is using tactics straight out of  Nazi Germany when the Socialist there sought control of their people.

The campaign Grayson is using is the very same that the Nazi used against the Jews to turn the German people against them.

As the Nazis rose to prominence in the 1930s, they were supported by many in the Democrat Party back here in America.

Contrary to what people think, the Nazis in America remain a Leftist group simply because they do not believe in equality, individual liberty or tolerance, which are the principles that inspired the Founding Fathers and forged the American character.

The KKK, similarly, was founded by Democrats to oppose the equality and personal liberty of blacks freed slaves and Republicans in the Democrat controlled South.

Republicans were lynched and shot and mutilated along side the blacks. All done by Democrats in the KKK during Reconstruction.

Democrats created the KKK, invented Segregation, and installed a system of putting down black-Americans until the 1964 Civil Rights Act which the Democrats fought tooth and nail to stop.

And yes, they have the nerve to call Tea Party folks "racist."

It wasn't that long ago that the Democrat Party included a prominent KKK member who rose within the KKK to the position of Grand Cyclops.

Democrat Robert Byrd was a KKK Recruiter and wouldn't fight for the United States during World War II. Yet, Byrd rose to prominence in the U.S. Senate as a member of the Democrat Party.

If not the Tea Party, than who does the Democrat Party see themselves as having something is common with?

How about, The American Communist, Socialist and Nazi Parties, all of which have endorsed the Occupy Wall Street movement - just as the Democrat Party has.

None of them have endorsed the Tea Party or the Republican Party.

It is the Democrat Party that has the legacy of being racist and segregationists in America.

They have the history bringing the nation to war to keep their beloved Slavery; they were the Slave-Masters; they fought against every opportunity to better the lives of blacks and Hispanics; they kept blacks in the back of the bus.

And yes, in Birmingham, Alabama, Bull Connor was a Democrat!

It was Democrats who unleashed the dogs and fire hoses on those black-Americans.  

As for us Tea Party members, veterans, and other believers in the Constitution being threatened for our beliefs, our stance, our very fortitude to not take the socialization of American just laying down?

My belief is that we don't have a choice. We have to fight back and be steadfast in our beliefs that we are Americans and that we are doing right for our nation.

Besides, just ask yourself where your beliefs would fit in better?

Would it be at a Tea Party rally, or at an Occupy Wall Street demonstration backed by the Democrats?

Despite the Left's many attempts to inspire racism and violent incidents at Tea Party rallies, you won't find any reports of crimes instigated by Conservatives.

Now as for Liberal protests, in comparison there are usually rapes, thefts, fights, drug use, and of course the burning of police cars and smashing of shop windows.

Besides being stupid, completely ignorant of American history to not know that their own party created both the KKK and segregation in the South, they are too dumb to understand that all the destruction that they do during their Occupy protests mostly effects the blue-collar workers and small businesses who are usually having a tough time getting by.

So yes, preaching hate and violence seems to be the thing that Democrats do best these days.

But unlike days gone by where the Liberals simply pointed over at the Republicans to divert the attention away from themselves, we the American people are not buying it and see exactly what they are up to.

We understand the twisted logic and screwed way of thinking coming out of Liberals. And yes, it's true, no one said Liberal are very smart.

by Tom Correa

Shutdown Deliberately Orchestrated by White House...

According to the former foreign editor of Newsweek and editor-in-chief of the New York Times Magazine, "the shutdown was deliberately orchestrated by the White House."

Did the White House intentionally cause such pain as a ploy to win votes, some believe that's the case.

Many are coming forward to say that that is one aspect of why it was done, the other being Obama's desire to destroy the Republican Party.

Author Ed Klein told the New York Post that President Obama’s closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett, developed a strategy to force a showdown with Republicans over ObamCare.

Jarrett recommended shutting down government because, Klein said, she believed voters would pin the blame on Republicans.

Supposedly, with the help of those vile folks at MSNBC, she believed the people would be so mad at the Republicans that that would give Democrats the win and subsequent control of the House of Representatives in the 2014 midterm elections.

Klein wrote a critical biography about Obama last year called “The Amateur.” He said he interviewed more than a half dozen White House and former presidential advisers about the shutdown plan.

Think you know the real Barack Obama? You don’t – not until you’ve read “The Amateur.”

He called Jarret the "architect" of the strategy of refusing to negotiate with Republicans over ObamaCare.

"She convinced the president that a government shutdown and default offered a great opportunity to demonize the Republicans and help the Democrats win back a majority in the House of Representatives in 2014," he explained.

"Valerie also came with the idea of using the words 'hostage,' and 'ransom' and 'terrorists' against the Republicans," Klein maintained.

He said Jarrett’s advice to Obama was, "Do not cooperate one iota on ObamaCare. Don’t give an inch. Let the Republicans stew in their own juice."

Klein added, "Republicans walked into a trap set up by Valerie Jarrett and President Obama."

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, believes there was evidence in plain view that the administration planned the shutdown in advance.

Gohmert told Fox News that on the eve of the shutdown, Sept. 30, the administration already had barricades and cones in place.

"They had worked out in advance they were closing these things down."

The congressman said "that’s the only thing that explains" why the White House turned down their proposals and compromises.

Klein said White House insiders call Jarrett the "The Night Stalker" because she is the only presidential aide who is allowed to spend much time in the family quarters.

"Everyone in the Beltway knew Valerie Jarrett was influential," he said. "They didn’t know how influential she was."

He quoted top Democratic insider Vernon Jordan, whose wife is a cousin of Jarrett, as saying, "Her power derived from one simple fact — proximity. No one except Michelle Obama is closer to the president than Valerie."

This is one of those stories that I file under thanks, but I really already had an idea that that was what really took place.

I'm putting it here because I know there are those out there who want to blame Republicans for everything, but many of us don't need to have people confirm what we already knew.

I believe that many of my readers see Obama for what he is, a con artist, a street punk, a puppet to his masters on the other end of his teleprompter, a jerk who couldn't lead a boy scout troop nevertheless a nation.

He tried to inflict pain upon the American people during the shutdown. He closed parks and memorials that were not his to close. He spend more money trying to hurt us than simply leaving us alone.

Obama might have a thousand or even ten thousand who will ignore what he does and who will support him even if they themselves personally witnessed his setting a match to the Constitution - for those people, I actually feel sorry for them.

Like Christ Mathews and his ilk, they are America's Judas and work for silver.

They are Benedict Arnolds, but yet see themselves as being above us. They are the scum who have a microphone but not a shred of honor.

Yes, while Obama has a thousand Chris Matthews all marching lock step, there are millions of us who know better than what they are trying to sell us.

We will always remember the barricades and the police that were brought in to keep 80 and 90 year old veterans from visiting their memorials - maybe for the last time.

Come election day, though Obama and his stooges might think that us in the Tea Party are done, we will remember the little girl who as a last wish wanted to see the Statue of Liberty but was turned away by Obama's stooges in the National Parks Department.

Come election day 2014, we will remember that arrogant Democrats and some idiot Republicans believed that they are above following the same laws as the rest of us.

There are millions of us who might hate John McCain for his backstabbing other Republicans, but we also remember that it was Obama that needlessly went out of his way to make things harder and inflict pain on American citizens.

To have an American President actually go out of his way to make life harder on Americans just to show us that he is boss!  No, we won't forget very soon - if not at all!

Our job between now and the next election is to remember that it wasn't Republicans, it was Obama and his conspirators in the Democrat Party - criminals who one day should be brought to justice.


by Tom Correa

AAFMAA - Insuring American Troops Since The Little Big Horn

Dear Readers, 

I was recently contacted by AAFMAA to find out if I would write a blog about that organization. 

Frankly, I didn't know anything about them other than the fact that they were called the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA).

I found out that they are a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, member-owned association that provides life insurance and survivor services to the U.S. Armed Forces communities.

I found out that in 2012, AAFMAA membership exceeded 90,000. That's right, 90,000 of us!

Specifically, AAFMAA membership includes life insurance benefits, Member/Survivor Assistance Benefits with no war clause, no terrorist clauses, and no aviation clauses or exclusions, Wealth Management and Trust Services.

"Let's Pass The Hat Around!"

In my life, I've "passed the hat" around asking people to put money in a hat for friends in need, neighbors in trouble, students needing help, military friends and families who were having a tough time making it from paycheck to paycheck or fix the family car.

To "pass the hat" around is a way to collect donations of money from people to help others.

While I was in the Marine Corps, we passed the hat around to help others in the same way that many others in our military have done over the years.

"Passing the hat" has everything to do with AAFMAA

Everyone who reads my blog knows that I love history, especially Old West History.

Well, come to find out, the AAFMAA was started as a result of a huge event in American Military History in the American West. 

And yes, you'll probably be a little surprised at the connection. 

Believe it or not, AAFMAA was actually founded in 1879 by a group of U.S. Army Officers in response to the aftermath of the Battle of the Little Big Horn or "Custer's Last Stand" in 1876. 

In the Old West, during frontier times, when an soldier died, the remaining soldiers would literally "pass the hat" to raise money for the surviving family.

A dollar or two from the troops went a long way, at least for a while. And yes, a survivor could depend on the help of the other troops to help ease the burden and the loss.   

But what took place at the Little Big Horn was not seen since the Civil War, an entire unit was wiped out.

In the solitude of the Western Frontier, for that unit, there was simply no one to pass the hat to for any sort of help. 

That was really the moment in time when the soldier's system of passing the hat collapsed.

Along with Custer and his over 200 troops at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, another casualty of that battle was the ability for the survivors to fend for themselves.

There were simply too few survivors to pass the hat, thus leaving the deceased soldiers' families in need.

To remedy this situation, a group of U.S. Army officers stepped forward and established the association that today we know as the AAFMAA. 

What started as the Army Mutual Aid Association, later evolved to include the Air Force, as in the Army Air Force Mutual Aid Association. 

During its time, some of the notable AAFMAA members include:

• Gen. John J. (Black Jack) Pershing
• Gen. George C. Marshall
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Gen. Carl A. (Tooey) Spaatz
• Gen. Omar N. Bradley
• Gen. William C. Westmoreland
• Gen. Creighton W. Abrams
• Gen. Walter T. “Dutch” Kerwin
• Gen. Michael S. Davison
• Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf

In 2013, the Army Air Force Mutual Aid Association name was officially changed to the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA) as it is known today - and it included all branches of our military.

One vital Mission: Secure our Military Families during Reduction in Force
Since starting my small blog, I'm contacted from folks in the military seeking guidance about what to do for their families if they are affected by the draw down — big choices about life insurance, retirement benefits, survivor services and much, much more.

Many military members across our country face choices in the days ahead that could have a permanent impact on the security of their families. The costs of poor decisions could be high and they know it.

As a blogger, one who has made my own poor decisions in the past. I know first hand how poor decision making is usually a case of getting bad information.

Since I was asked to help our troops, our men and women in uniform, by informing them about their rights and their options, I'm proud to say that after a lot of research -AAFMAA could be the difference between a secure financial future and one that is not so secure.

I told the AAFMAA that I would help spread the word to members of our military - explaining to them that they have rights and a choice.

I know I speak for many when I say that if you served your country — if you put your life on the line for your country — then household budget issues like higher life insurance premiums should never stand in the way of family security.

So with us knowing that, where do we start?

Well, let's start by talking about the AAFMAA's stability

• As I mentioned before, AAFMAA was found in 1879 after "Custer's Last Stand"
• They have more than $1 billion in assets
• There are over 90,000 members
• And Membership Eligibility is your service to our nation.

The AAFMAA is open to all ranks of Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force who are:

■ Active Duty (or within 120 days after separation)
■ Guard or Reserve (full or part time)
■ USMA, USNA, USMMA, USCGA, and USAFA cadets or midshipmen
■ ROTC contract/scholarship cadets
■ Retirees

It's also available to Honorably Discharged Veterans residing in Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, or Virginia.

And how about "Low-Cost" Insurance

AAFMAA offers some of the lowest-cost insurance in the business.

The details of their plans, their costs and their benefits are considerably different than anything available in the commercial marketplace

But really, price should not be the only comparison.

All insurance policies are not the same and military families have to understand what they are getting for what they pay.

Many commercial plans have exclusion clauses that mean they don’t have to pay if the policyholder dies in battle, by an act of terrorism, or in an aircraft crash, for instance.

That's not the case with AAFMAA.

Not only are AAFMAA life insurance policies less expensive than the competition, they also have no exclusion clauses.

And yes, AAFMAA coverage is available up to $1,000,000 regardless of the dangers faced.

All AAFMAA Life Insurance Policies Include:

• Competitive rates for service members and military spouses
• Survivor Assistance Services for members’ spouses
• No war, terrorist or aviation clauses, exclusions or surcharges
• No coverage limitations based on deployment status
• Coverage available up to $1,000,000 ($800,000 term)
• Continuation after separation or retirement from the Military (as policy allows)


They also have Low-Cost Loans

Everyone knows the feeling of being stretched a bit too thin at times.

The AAFMAA offers low-cost loan program known as CAP, which dishes-up as much as $4,000 in cash at just 1.5% interest to help service members get through hard times.

These loans are for AAFMAA members who are on Active Duty, including Guard and Reserves in pay grades E5-E9, WO1, CW2 and 01-03. There are other requirements which may apply, but I'm not going to go through all of the what have you here.

The point is that help is available without costing anyone an arm and a leg in interest.

I made the mistake of getting a loan when I was in the Corps. Yes, they had loans back in the Stone Ages!

I needed it to help my folks who were having a tough time at home. The interest rate was huge and I ended up learning the hard way from that horrible experience.

I can only hope that that doesn't happen to you.

And how about "Spousal Services"

One of the reasons that some of the guys who I knew in the Corps who never got married was their not wanting to leave a widow behind with no support and maybe a child to raise.

Today, while the loss of a loved one is still the greatest challenge a military family will face - there are ways of preparing that simply weren't available years ago.

Dealing with these decisions is hard enough, and making life-long choices in a time of anguish can be overwhelming.

AAFMAA Survivor Services is there with sound and caring advice and a steady hand in navigating the maze of benefits and entitlements.

Survivor Assistance Services is included with all member policies.

Losing a loved one is never easy. AAFMAA’s Survivor Assistance Services Team helps with immediate, personal and knowledgeable assistance.

• Notify DFAS of the member’s passing and assist widows and widowers with all necessary forms
• Initiate the life insurance policy death claim and discuss settlement options
• Notify the Veterans Administration of the member’s passing and assist with all necessary claim forms when applicable
• Claims Initiation and continuous follow-up

SpouseLink.org

Anyone who has been in the military knows that we are more than a collection of individuals.

When you serve, your families serve as well. And yes, I've said it before and I'll say it again, military families are the true backbone of our military.

Those left at home to worry and wait, all while taking care of home and family with money and other pressures - they are our warriors at home.

They don't have it easy! And yes, they have my respect and admiration.

From the information that was sent to me by the AAFMAA, I gather only AAFMAA offers SpouseLink.org

This is an invaluable online tool connecting and strengthening the broad network of military spouses who hold these families together.

For advice, the latest news from the military community or just a sympathetic ear, SpouseLink.org is the place for military spouses.

So what are the Member Benefits?

As one of the AAFMAA family, you have access to a range of services to help you through every stage of life — in the military and beyond.

AAFMAA Member Services Team offers expert guidance on military benefits and entitlements.

AAFMAA Survivor Assistance Services Team offers compassionate and caring assistance in difficult times from the moment of death notification through the surviving spouse’s entire life.

Premier Services (Only $5.95 per month)

•Digital & Physical Vault Document Storage
•VA Disability Claims Coordination
•Military Benefits Analysis and Transitions Readiness Assessment

Wealth Management

For over 134 years, AAFMAA has had the best interests of its members at heart.

Their Wealth Management experts work closely with you to develop and implement a plan appropriate for your — and your family’s — specific financial situation and goals.

As for Financial Planning

Buying a home. Saving for college. Retirement planning.  We all have financial goals we want to achieve.

From financial road maps and cash flow analysis to retirement and estate planning, the AAFMAA may be able to help you plan for a secure future.

Investment Management

Managing and growing your hard-earned money is key to a secure future.

Their experts can help determine your optimum investment strategy, define and manage a portfolio customized for your goals in a way that suits your needs.

Trust Services

A well drawn trust manages and distributes assets on behalf of its beneficiaries.

As your trustee, AAFMAA Wealth Management and Trust works to ensure that your wishes are carried out.

Their attitude is "Members First, Always"

Commercial insurance companies often keep proceeds from death benefits in separate bank accounts held in a general corporate investment account.

These accounts earn investment income for the insurance company, while survivors receive uncompetitive rates.

AAFMAA does not have retained asset accounts. All funds are always invested for the benefit of members or their survivors at competitive rates.

The AAFMAA invests settlement amounts for the survivors, as well. All income after expenses is returned to the members or their survivors.

AAFMAA is based on the principle of “mutual aid.”

It is this "all-for-one, one-for-all" spirit that means military men and women know that someone else always has their back, no matter what the circumstances.

If you would like to look them over, just click AAFMAA

For me, I like the folks at AAFMAA.

Most of this information comes from the information that they made available to me. I checked most of it out and so I felt comfortable about posting it here.

As a matter of full disclosure, I am making absolutely no money for writing this blog about AAFMAA. 

AAFMAA is not paying me to write this blog, nor are they paying me to "advertise" their organization by way of this article.

In fact, the AAFMAA does not advertise with me on the American Cowboy Chronicles at all.

Fact is, I was contacted and simply asked if I could take a look at their organization and write an honest evaluation of what they have to offer - all in an effort to help our troops.

"Members first always," tells me a lot about them. 

As a former Marine, as a disabled veteran, I really wish I had these sorts of services available to me back when I was serving - and later when I was ready to get out.

If there were something like AAFMAA actually available at the time, I didn't know it. And yes, that's why I am writing this blog today.

Besides telling Kara, the rep for AAFMAA that I would do this, this blog post is to help you, my brothers and sisters in the military.

This is being provided to you so that you can take a look at AAFMAA in the future. You might find that it fits your needs, and the needs of your family.

If by chance you are one of my readers in the military right now, I hope and pray that you don't mind me saying how much I appreciate your service.

I am proud of who you are. I admire and respect your sacrifice. I believe with all my heart and soul that you are the hope of America.

And yes, you are my heroes!

Tom Correa
Editor
American Cowboy Chronicles


 

Speaking A Language Other Than English In America

Dear Readers,

I've always had a great respect for language, and I've admired people who can speak different languages.

Being brought up in Hawaii, a true melting pot, as a kid there I was exposed to many different languages.

And yes, like most people from Hawaii, I picked up a lot of foreign words here and there - some were Chinese, some Filipino, Japanese, Samoan, and of course some Hawaiian.

While "Pidgin English" or "broken English" was spoken daily, at home where my great-grandfather could not speak English - we spoke Portuguese.

Since my first few years of going to school was at St Patrick's Catholic School in Kaimuki, we learned Latin because in those days Sunday Mass was always in Latin. And since it was a French Catholic Order, the nuns taught us French a few days a week.

In High School, I took a class in Japanese - and I didn't do too bad.  But as for "proper" English? Yes, I admit it. I got straight F's in English in High School.

Like many in Hawaii, I found Pidgin English easier and not so anal as "proper" English with all of its rules and pronunciations. And yes, believe it or not, I still get it wrong.

While in the military, the Marine Corps made me take MCI courses to help "clean up" my English.  But in the meanwhile, I was also picking up bits and pieces of other languages from friends from around the country.

Living in California, one can't help but learn some Spanish. I call my knowledge of Spanish, "bar-Spanish". Other than being able to order another beer or shot of tequila, or ask where's the banos, or how someone's day is - I'm definitely limited.

I worked for an Italian family back in the '80s who taught me some Italian. Today, because of my association with them, I can swear a blue streak in Italian!

To me, hearing foreign words in our everyday conversations is just a part of being an American.

But though we are a melting pot of different languages, we need to speak a common language if we want to communicate in a half-ass understandable way.

Like it or not, that language is American English.    

What has me thinking about this? Well, a few days ago my nephew left this facebook post:

Anuanu i kēia kakahiaka, akā, pono au e hana!!! Aloha kakahiaka kākou!!!

I answered:

I looked up what you said in Hawaiian. My translator says you wrote "Your feet stink this time of the day and you don't like taking a bath!' Good to know! Thanks for posting it."

Then, after more thought, I wrote:

Send me a link to your Hawaiian translator - the New England Missionaries who translated Hawaiian into a written language for the Hawaiians might have left out a few letters.

I can't find a translator for your version of Hawaiian. At least not one that will accept what you wrote. It keeps saying that no such language exists. What gives?

After leaving it alone for a while, I went back to see if I received a reply. I did, but not from my nephew.

I then wrote:

I've just been informed that about 7,000 people in Hawaii speak Hawaiian on a daily basis. Out of a population of 1.7 Million people, that ain't that many?

So now, the question is, how many people in Idaho speak Hawaiian on a daily basis to know what my nephew is saying?

If you are my nephew's friend in Hawaii, do you speak totally Hawaiian on a daily basis? Now I'm sort of curious - because there must be someone out there who knows what he's saying on every post?

Just as a matter of full disclosure, back when my grandfather (my dad's dad) got to Hawaii in 1909. He learned to speak Hawaiian because a lot of people still spoke it daily back then.
But, he said by the 1930s hardly anyone did.

And yes, I do know a little being from there. But I don't know anyone who speaks conversational Hawaiian - especially on a daily basis at home or work or talking on the phone or anytime.

I'm now curious how common is it?

This morning my nephew wrote:

Cold this morning but, I have to work... Good morning everyone!!

Then he wrote:

My translator works.... It's called "I worked hard hard for the past three years and learned my language

He then wrote:

I have a linguistic professor for a friend that told me, what I'm doing is actually cool and amazing, he also speaks Hawaiian and we converse as much as we can.... I don't think you realize what your telling me, and how I am understanding it... You said, only 7,000 people speak Hawaiian out of 1.7 million.... Well that's why I'm doing what I do.... I really don't need a reason to do anything..".

While leaving the whole "my language" thing alone, I replied the following:

I agree that its cool to speak another language - but just do it with people who understand it and don't need a translator every time they hear from you!

By the way, I speak my rotten bar-Spanish with my Mexican friends all the time. I throw out a word here and there in Portuguese when I'm with your grandma (my mom). I've been known to use a phrase of two of Italian when I'm with a few friends who are old Italians who I once worked for back when, a few Chinese and Tagalog words here and there, and I still remember some Japanese from when I was growing up in Hawaii and took a class in Japanese in school. But with the majority of my friends, I speak American English so that we can understand and communicate with each other.

When someone asks me, "How am I doing?" I don't respond, "O ia mau no! Pehea oe?"

First, I don't do it because it is impolite. Second, why be pretentious? And third, they understand it easier if I simply say "Same as usual! How are you?"

A common language puts people and friends at ease. It unites people. It even allows Uncles to read a post from their nephew on facebook or anywhere else!

This essay has more to do with the need of Americans to speak one language than it does with my communication problems with my nephew in Idaho.

He's just a good example of someone who wants to speak a language that most people do not understand - or as a matter of fact can even pronounce. 

There is an old Hawaiian proverb that goes: "He lawai'a no ke kai papa'u he pokole ke aho; he lawai'a no ke kai hohonu he loa ke aho."

Translation in English: "A fisherman of shallow seas uses only a short line; a fisherman of the deep sea uses a long line."

Explanation: You will reach only as far as you aim and prepare yourself to reach.

If any of us decides that we want to speak Hawaiian or any other language to everyone, then we should understand that like the fisherman in the proverb who uses a short line - we will only reach a few people.

Of course, that is hoping that they understand us in the first place and does not misconstrue what we may be trying to say.

A common language is no different than that fisherman using that long line. A common language doesn't limit us.

And before someone writes saying that we limit ourselves by speaking only one language, remember that I'm not against speaking as many languages as one wants.

All I'm asking is what's so wrong with speaking American English as a common language?

Germans speak German, the French speak French, the Spanish speak Spanish, the Chinese speak Chinese.

What's wrong with Americans wanting to speak American English as an official common language?

Since there are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today, with about 2,000 of those languages having fewer than 1,000 people speaking them, and since America is made up of people from all of the world, why shouldn't America use its one common language to communicate among our people?

Since an American version of English has been used for centuries here, why not use English as an official way of speaking to communicate better?

In the world, the #1 spoken language is Chinese (Mandarin), #2 Spanish, #3 English, #4 Hindi, #5 Arabic, #6 Portuguese, #7 Bengali, #8 Russian, #9 Japanese, and #10 Javanese.

English as America's one common language unites us, make us more efficient, and allows us to understand each other better.

And really, isn't understanding each other better a good thing?


Story by Tom Correa

 

Obama Criminal Indictment - Part Three

In this, part three, we will start by looking at the Department responsible for ObamaCare.

Department of Health and Human Services

President Obama has made this department responsible for setting up and running Obamacare including issuing regulations pursuant to it such as the abortion mandate that requires nearly every health insurance plan to provide for free access to abortion inducing drugs and contraceptives.

This mandate flies in the face of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment as it forces employers, individuals, and many religious institutions to provide health insurance that covers items that they find objectionable under the tenants of their faith.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is also using her position to raise funds for Obamacare from the very businesses and industries she regulates.

Secretary Sebelius is also in some hot water for violating the Hatch Act when she used her official position to campaign for President Obama at an event in North Carolina during the 2012 presidential election cycle.

Secretary Sebelius also took it upon herself to grant waivers to parts of Obamacare to various Unions and even whole states without statutory authority to do so.

Yes, it's called extortion. And yes, she can get away with it because the president doesn't see anything wrong with what she has been doing - and keeps doing.

As for Obamacare?

The ObamaCare individual mandate which requires that a person must purchase health insurance that meets the government’s approval or be fined is criminal in itself.

It was originally argued that the individual mandate was lawful under the commerce clause of the Constitution, that argument was torpedoed by the Supreme Court.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the mandate was permissible under the governments taxing authority.

There is just one problem, as pointed out in a brief by Landmark Legal Foundation, the individual mandate doesn’t qualify as a tax under any of the taxing provisions of the Constitution.

The individual mandate is not a direct, excise, or income tax, it is not a duty or import, nor any of the other things permissible under the Constitution.

In effect, you - as a free man or woman - will be penalized for not entering into a contract of the government's liking simply because you are alive.

And yes, those are only a few of the many many problems with ObamaCare.

The Department of Homeland Security

The DHS is responsible for the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement(among others) and is thus at the front lies of both border security and enforcement of our nations immigration laws.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Obama had taken it upon themselves to usurp the powers of Congress and rewrote our immigrations laws by granting people who were brought to the US illegal as children by their parents de facto amnesty.

According to the head of the Union representing ICE agents anyone who merely claims that they meet criteria for deferred deportation(i.e amnesty) are automatically given that status with no verification at all.

Reports indicate that 99% of all people who have applied for deferred deportation status have had it granted.

The criteria used to determine who is eligible for deferred status are nearly identical to those found in a piece of legislation called the DREAM Act, however neither the DREAM Act or deferred deportation have ever been approved by Congress which under the Constitution has the authority to set immigration policy in this country.

Again according to ICE Union head Chris Crane even criminal illegal immigrants and those who have assaulted law enforcement are given deferred status effectively putting the brakes on Immigration and Customs Enforcements ability to enforce the laws enacted by Congress.

Crane also alleges that DHS and Obama administration officials have threatened to punish ICE agents for enforcing existing immigration law.

The Department of Homeland Security was created following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has been responsible for preventing another terrorist attack on our homeland.

They and the FBI failed miserably at that in the case of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who are responsible for the April 15th, 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon that killed three, injured nearly 100 others, and subsequent murder of a Boston area police officer.

The Tsarnaev brothers came to the US with their parents seeking political asylum after they left the Chechen region of Russia.

Years later Tamerlan would spend six months in the area meeting with a known terrorist leader.

Russian authorities would alert the US to Tamerlan and his suspected ties to terrorist and the FBI conducted a brief investigation that obviously didn’t dig deep enough.

In addition to DHS not monitoring Tamerlan on his overseas travels or re-entry into the US, they also failed to check to see if the Tsarnaev’s were eligible to remain in the US given that they were on welfare for years and that Tamerlan was arrested for domestic violence against his then girlfriend.

That girlfriend according to media reports says Tamerlan pressured her to hate the US like he did.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shoot out with police following a car jacking and chase in which explosive devices were thrown at police.

The younger Tsarnaev brother, Dzhokhar, was found by police the next day hiding in a boat and had written a note in his own blood calling the Marathon victims collateral damage and claimed to have carried out the terrorist attack in retaliation for the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq allegedly writing, “When you attack one Muslim, you attack all Muslims”.

There were multiple warning signs and ample evidence provided to us by the Russians that at a minimum Tamerlan was a potential threat, and yet nothing was done that would have prevent the deaths of those four people at the hands of these terrorist brothers and that is unacceptable.

Obama and his administration of criminal incompetents

They have to answer for what action they did and did not do during the terrorist attack on the US diplomatic compound and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya.

On September 11, 2012 100-150 members of the Al Qaeda linked group Ansar al-Sharia laid siege to the compounds with heavy weapons fire killing Ambassador Chris Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith, and CIA security personnel Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods over the course of an 8 hour attack.

During the course of the fighting Gregory Hicks, the head of US presence in Libya with the Ambassador out of contact, made repeated request for military assistance.

Those request went unanswered all the while some 30 American were in harm’s way. At no point during those 8 hours did the US seek the approval of the Libyan government to enter their airspace with fighters of helicopters to repel the terrorist.

With two unarmed UAV drones taking turns providing real-time video to officials in Washington no help ever came for our fellow Americans.

It took more than a day for a special forces unit meant to respond to this kind of situation to get out of the Balkin country they were in.

No aircraft from Italian air bases or US aircraft carriers were launched. Keep in mind a commercial plane could travel from London to Benghazi and back in the time the attack was taking place.

It is the contention of Mr. Hicks that had any US aircraft arrived on the scene the terrorist would have retreated.

That could have possibly saved the lives of Doherty and Woods who were the last to die when a mortar hit their position.

Then Defense Secretary Leon Panetta contends that no military assets could have reached Benghazi in time to help, which he couldn’t have known since no help was sent and no one at the time knew how long the fighting was going to last, whether or not there were any hostages or the status of Ambassador Stevens who went missing during the siege.

In the days and weeks following the terrorist attack President Obama, Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did the unthinkable and blamed the deaths of four of our own, not on the terrorist who had killed them, but on a little seen Youtube video.

Susan Rice would do the rounds on the Sunday talk shows blaming Benghazi on the Youtube video.

Hillary Clinton and President Obama would cut a commercial that ran in Pakistan doing them same.

Two weeks after the attack President Obama would speak to the United Nations and continued the Benghazi Youtube video line.

The problem is they were lying. During the attack Mr. Hicks and others specifically called what was going on terrorism and even named the group responsible Ansar al-Sharia.

Talking points crafted by the CIA called what had happened a terrorist attack, named Ansar al-Sharia, and documented previous terrorist attacks in the months prior in Benghazi.

Those talking points were changed by State Department officials who took out the truth and inserted the lie about the Youtube video which the Obama administration ran with.

Then CIA director David Petraeus said that he would rather not use the State Department altered talking points. Why, because they were bull crap.

Even after emails and other proof emerged that the talking points used by Susan Rice were lies Obama administration officials continued to downplay the significance of using them instead of telling the American people the truth, which was what the original CIA talking points were.

It is clear that President Obama’s reelection and narrative that Al Qaeda had been defeated and was on the run was more important than the truth.

Aside from being briefed in the first few hours of the attack by Leon Panetta and a late night phone call to Hillary Clinton, which many contend was to begin to establish the cover-up, we have no idea what President Obama did or where he was during the attack on our people.

To this day we still do not have any hard copies of orders, if any, President Obama gave.

We do not know who in the administration came up with the notion that what happened was a result of a video.

We don’t know who decided to run with the Youtube video lie over the terrorist attack truth.

And no, we don’t know why no help was sent to our people under attack which is the most intolerable action taken by this President and his subordinates to date.

These are but a few of the intolerable actions taken by President Obama and those he has appointed to various post.

Now The Last Straw!

Along with all that has been document, there are also Obama’s unconstitutional recess appointments, the failed $1 trillion stimulus, the fact that Obama has the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression, the auto bailouts, and the screwing over of GM bond holders, the multiple examples of crony capitalism including Solyndra, and dozens upon dozens more examples of government overreach.

But as a late, they all pale in comparison to the straw that has finally brought even his allies in the liberal media to take a harder look at what he has been doing to our nation.
Since compiling all of this, the government has been in a "partial" shutdown.

And yes, what Obama and his administration has done since the shutdown has started leads us into Part Four.

Obama Criminal Indictment - Part Two

As stated in part one, it is my belief that President Obama and his cohorts have abused their positions of power, over-stepped their authority, sought to intimidate and coerce the citizery, and have even commited felony crimes against the citizens of the United States.


All with no accountability or actions taken by the president to remedy these actions - and yes, that clearly indicates an approval of those activities on the president's part.

This is Part Two, of a detailed indictment of the crimes that have been perpetrated against us, the citizens of the United States, by President Barack Hussein Obama and the Federal Government which he commands.
Let's continue and take one agency or Department at a time:

The Environmental Protection Agency

Simply known as the EPA, they are being used as a tool to accomplish what President Obama wants them to do - stifle agriculture through over-regulation and bankrupt small family farms.

The EPA has tried to do this by using unmanned drones to spy, they say to "monitor" as if they have the right to do that, farmers and other agriculture producers without just cause.

The EPA has released the private information of thousands of farmers to radical environmental groups.

The EPA is using the Freedom of Information Act to reward, by nearly always waiving the fees for Liberal environmental groups - while at the same time forcing Conservative groups to pay those fees with nearly no waivers ever granted.

Former EPA head Lisa Jackson used a fake name and email account to converse with other Obama administration officials and outside groups in the crafting of regulations in violation of various laws and standard procedure.

In a laughable moment that fake name used by Jackson won EPA awards.

President Obama is using the EPA to wage a "War On Coal" by forcing coal mines and coal-fired power plants to shut down, putting thousands out of work and increasing our dependence on foreign energy.

The Obama EPA has also retroactively revoked coal mining permits issued to a coal mine under the Bush administration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture

The USDA has been using taxpayer dollars to advertise the Food Stamp program in Mexico, explaining in Spanish how people can apply for and receive this welfare benefit.

Food Stamps currently account for 75-80% of the Departments total $100 Billion budget with a record 45 million people enrolled in the program.

Then there is the "Pigford Scandal," where black farmers have been awarded billions of dollars for alleged past discrimination.

The problem here is that a large number of the people seeking to get money from this program have never farmed a day in their life - and what few there are that are actual farmers don’t have to prove or display any evidence of any discrimination.

Simply fill out the form and receive your money - if you are a black.

The Department of Veterans Affairs

The VA currently has a massive backlog processing claims by our wounded warriors and aging veterans inhibiting their ability to get medical care and treatment.

Tens of thousands of veterans are waiting a year or more for their claims to be processed.

And yes, this backlog has existed for years and only gets worse as time goes by.

President Obama has cut veteran services while he gives billions to ensure more college graduates in Indonesia.

The Department of Energy and Interior Department

These two agencies of the Federal Government are combining their efforts to ensure that the United States does not become energy independent.

How? By denying, stonewalling, or blocking permits to energy companies for the exploration and development of oil and natural gas on federal land.

If it were not for a boom in energy production on private land thanks to hydraulic fracturing domestic energy production would be down under President Obama.

The Obama administration has used the Energy and Interior Departments to stop production of oil on federal lands while colluding with the EPA and State Departments to block the Keystone XL pipeline.

Department of Education

This department does not directly employ any teachers nor does it directly teach a single student in our entire nation, but it does however have a SWAT team to knock down people’s doors and arrest them in a very Soviet style display of government power.

The Department of Education is also helping to push "Common Core" on the states.

Common Core is a set of national education standards that dumb down our children, promote liberal propaganda like man-made climate change, de-emphasizes American history, and much more that is detrimental to our nations education system.


Obama Criminal Indictment - Part One

The Fate of a Gang of California Ruffians, Alta California, 1871

The Fate of a Gang of California Ruffians.

The Stockton Independent, noticing the refusal of the Grand Jury of Lincoln county, Nevada, to indict Barney Hood for killing Thomas Coleman, at Pioche, gives the following history of some ruffians with whom Coleman was associated:

In 1867, Edward Lloyd shot and killed a teamster named Thornton, at Oroville.

After two or three trials he was sentenced to ten years in the State Prison, but, through some decision of the Supreme Court, finally escaped.

He and his two brothers George and Thomas Lloyd, kept the Mountaineer saloon, in Sacramento, in 1861-62.

In the last-named year, if we are not mistaken, that the great fight occurred at the foot of K street between the steamboat runners.

There were two men, named Thomas Coleman, in Sacramento at the time.

The fight commenced between Edward Lloyd and Coleman, the steamboat runner.

Both drew pistols and commenced firing simultaneously.

Lloyd was reinforced by his brother George, his cousin Patsey Callahan and McAlpine, who has since earned a wide reputation us a prize fighter.

Coleman was supported by Joe McGee and F.N. Smith.

The Lloyd party was armed with but one pistol and one knife.

McGee stood a short distance off and fired with a revolver, wounding George Lloyd in the right shoulder and McAlpine in the wrist.

In the heat of the conflict, Smith approached Edward Lloyd from the rear and shot him in the side, killing him instantly.

Smith remained in the county jail just about six months, when the Grand Jury ignored the charge against him.

George Lloyd had by that time recovered.

Within fifteen minutes of the time Smith was discharged, George Lloyd shot and killed him, inflicting four bullet wounds.

Lloyd was tried several times and finally acquitted.

A year or two later Patsey Callahan was stabbed and killed at the Bank Exchange in Sacramento, by Thomas Sherman.

George Lloyd went to Nevada and Thomas Lloyd went to Idaho.

While in Sacramento, George Lloyd had had a rough and tumble fight with Johnny Daly, which was the subject of considerable talk among their friends.

The silver excitement took over to the vicinity of Aurora, George Lloyd, John Daley, Jimmy Sears and the other Thomas Coleman, who was a brother-in-law of the Lloyds, but who had nothing to do with the steamboat business.

Sears, soon afterward, while traveling on foot on the Aurora road, jumped on a horse in front of Johnson's Hotel, and rode off. He was pursued, shot and killed.

The Lloyd party was armed with but one pistol and one knife.

A short time afterward, Daly and Coleman engaged in a barroom fight with George Lloyd, concerning mining claims, the respective parties having been retained as fighters by conflicting claimants.

Several shots were fired and Lloyd was killed.

It was generally believed that the fatal shot was fired by his brother-in-law, Coleman.

Soon after this occurrence, Johnson, the hotel keeper, visited Aurora and was murdered in the night.

The proof was conclusive that he had been murdered in revenge for the killing of Sears.

A Vigilance Committee, previously organized, arrested, tried, convicted and hung Daley and three others for the Johnson murder.

The Thomas Coleman, who was recently shot and killed at Pioche by Barney Flood, is, we believe, the brother-in-law of the Lloyds.

One evening, perhaps in 1853 [1863], a man whose name we have forgotten, while in a saloon in Carson, was shot and killed.

The assassin fired through a window with a shot-gun, and escaped. Suspicion rested on McGee.

Precisely a year afterward, at the same hour in the evening, McGee, while in the same saloon, was shot, through the same window, and killed.

This assassin also, for the time, escaped. The same gun was found on the ground, having been used an on the first occasion.

Thomas Lloyd returned from Idaho to San Francisco. About eighteen months ago he shot and killed a man named Barry at Seventh and Stevenson streets, and is now serving out a ten-year term in the State Prison for the offence.

We understand the Coleman who fought the duel with Mulligan, to be the steamboat runner who still resides in San Francisco.

Mulligan, while under the influence of delirium tremens, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, resisted the efforts of the police to arrest him.

An immense crowd gathered around the hotel. Mulligan fired and killed two men in the crowd, and was himself shot and killed by a policeman.

This is indeed a dark chapter in the criminal record of the coast, and we regret to say that in the matter of assassination we observe no change for the better within the last twelve years.

The only instance of punishment by law, in connection with this entire list of crimes, is that of Thomas Lloyd.

-- end of article

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The above article is published exactly as it appeared in Alta California, April 15th, 1871.

And yes, for the folks who somehow think that the Old West only means what went on back East in places like Kansas and Nebraska and Missouri, the goings on in California and Nevada and Arizona rivals anything that took place back East over the Rockies. 

Two of my favorite quotes:

"Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready."

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1903

“I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”

― John Wayne, The Shootist, 1976

Ragtown: An Oasis Of Those Known Only To God

Dear Friends,

Along U.S. Highway 50 just West of Fallon, Nevada, a historical marker designates the site of the old town of Ragtown. It was later to be called Leeteville. 

Back in the Old West, the town was of huge importance to early-day travelers to California. Fact is, it was the last leg of America's Westward push over the Sierra Nevada. Because of that, it's said that Ragtown was never a town but more welcome oasis.

In reality, Ragtown was little more than a seasonal tent city. It was born each spring and was torn down each fall by enterprising men and women hoping to cash in and make a profit from the transcontinental wagon-train trade of the Westward movement. It's said that every Westward California-bound emigrant, weary from their crossing of the dreaded Forty-Mile Desert, found their first water, grass, shade, and rest along the banks of the Carson River right there in Ragtown.

The name "Ragtown" came about because travelers saw laundry hanging on nearby bushes to dry. It's true, local lore says the town site was named for the ragged clothing of those pioneers. Washed in the river nearby, they hung their ragged clothing to dry on every bush and tree they could find.

Originially called "Ragtown, later the name was changed to "Leeteville". And yes, before making the hard climb over the Sierra, travelers coming from the East would stop to rest and re-provision themselves there. In 1855, travelers Jules Remey and Julius Brenchley reported the station consisted of "three huts, formed of poles covered with rotten canvas full of holes."

That soon changed when Asa Kenyon, a pioneer and Churchill County settler, purchased the property the year before the Remey-Brenchley journal account. He farmed along the rich bottomlands of the Carson River and built the first permanent, wooden-framed structure that became his general store. Kenyon and his family owned and operated the station along the Overland Road for many years. 

Ragtown remained an Overland Stage Station after the Simpson route was surveyed and adopted in 1860. Nevada newspaper reporter Dan DeQuille reported in his 1861 column Washoe Rambles, "We were now heading for the ancient and well-known city of Ragtown. The whole town is owned by Mr. Asa Kenyon."

The Ragtown post office was established on May 14, 1864, and was active until May 29, 1867. It flourished again between 1884 and 1887. Asa Kenyon served as postmaster. An Order of Sale of Real Estate filed in Churchill County in July 1891 transferred the property of Ragtown from Catherine Kenyon, widow of Asa, to James Leete. And yes, With the change of ownership the property came to be known as Leeteville.

Leete had come to Churchill County about 1882. The Leete family ranched the area along with operating the old stage station and trading post for many years. It was the only stopping place between the county seat, Stillwater, and the communities of Wadsworth or Virginia City, depending on the road westward.

Today the district is still known by the name of Leeteville. The interchange of Highway 50 to Fernley and Highway 50A to Silver Springs and Carson City carries the name Leeteville Junction.

Early sketch of Asa Kenyon’s Ragtown, most likely from the second half of the 19th century. During this period, Kenyon developed his property into a successful farming operation as well as a way station on the Overland Road.

Known Only To God

I have always had an interest in old graveyards and gravestones. I guess my interest started when I found a grave and an old marker in the middle of nowhere on a large piece of land that a friend's family owned. It was thousands of acres and they didn't even know it was there until the day that I stumbled on it while ferreting out a few head of cattle from a small grove of trees during a gathering.

That was many many years ago, and I have since been amazed at how many graves there are here and there un-noticed, tucked out of the way, most with stones or boards unread for generations. Other than a deer or some other critter, all only visited by the wind, the rain, the sun and the stars at night. 

There is a small Pioneer Cemetery across from the train depot in downtown Fremont, California. I'm amazed at how many people living in that town don't even know it's there. And yes, among the few dozen folks buried there, there is a gravestone there that I found both touching and poetic, a loving tribute. The weathered stone reads:

Annie Hibbard

1866 

19 years, 11 months, and 15 days

This Whisper Of Her Own Sweet Self

Of Her So Wildly Dear

Who Was For Earth And Earthly Scenes

To Pure To Linger Here 

She Left Us As An Angel Leaves

She Gone Where Angels Go

And Tho We Feel Our Loss Her Gain

Still Bitter Tears Will Flow.

It's said that at one time there was a cemetery at Ragtown right there in the windswept plains of Nevada. The graveyard supposedly held over 200 graves. Imagine that. 

Hazards along the trail took many lives of our early pioneers. Besides raiding parties made up of both Whites and Indians, the most prominent ailments that lead to their death were cholera, fever, and exhaustion. Remember, many walked the trail West. Supposedly, graves along the trail were marked by pieces of furniture that was being hauled with the families. But also logging chains, wagon wheels, wooden crosses, boards, piles of rocks, or whatever else was at hand were used.

During the winter of 1861 to 1862, floods obliterated everything in the Ragtown area including that old graveyard. All of the names of the folks buried there was lost. And yes, it makes me wonder sometimes if we will ever find them again.

Though it's a shame that we will probably never find their graves, or know who they were, I've heard it once said that what's lost to man is known only to God. And yes, that's really all that counts.

Tom Correa

ObamaCare Big Brother Data Sharing

 

ObamaCare Data Hub = Big Brother Data "Sharing"?

Yes, Your Personal Data Can Be Given To "Law Enforcement" And For "IRS Tax Audits"

And yes, it can also be used as an unofficial National Gun Owners Registry.

It is called the "Federal Data Services Hub."

The Data Hub is a comprehensive database of personal information being established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement the federally facilitated ObamaCare health insurance exchanges.

The purpose of the Data Hub, according to a June 2013 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, is to provide “electronic, near real-time access to federal data” and “access to state and third party data sources needed to verify consumer-eligibility information.”

So would you trust thousands of low-level Federal bureaucrats and contractors with one-touch access to your private financial and medical information?

Under ObamaCare you won’t have any choice about whether it happens or not.

It is being reported that Maryland's Health Connection, the state's ObamaCare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment for ObamaCare.

If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website's privacy policy, which of course the "fine-print" agreement on websites that often go unread.

The ObamaCare privacy policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary "cookies" used by the site, and website accessibility.

Users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms - but really, that's just a formality. Fact is once you give them your person private information, you're screwed!


Sure they say that your personal information submitted with an application will be secure.

Sure they say they adhere to what the policy states about how all information to help in applying for coverage and even for making a payment will be kept strictly confidential and only be used to carry out the function of the marketplace.

And yes, officially, there is however one exception:

"[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities."

Here is the entire paragraph from the policy the includes the exception [emphasis added]:

1)  Should you decide to apply for health coverage through Maryland Health Connection, the information you supply in your application will be used to determine whether you are eligible for health and dental coverage offered through Maryland Health Connection and for insurance affordability programs.

2)  It also may be used to assist you in making a payment for the insurance plan you select, and for related automated reminders or other activities permitted by law.

3)  We will preserve the privacy of personal records and protect confidential or privileged information in full accordance with federal and State law.

4)  We will not sell your information to others.

5)  Any information that you provide to us in your application will be used only to carry out the functions of Maryland Health Connection.

6)  The only exception to this policy is that we may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.

The site does not specify if "appropriate authorities" refers only to state authorities or if it could include the Federal law enforcement agencies as well.

Neither is there any detail on what type of law enforcement and/or tax audit activities would justify the release of the personal information, or who exactly is authorized to make such a determination.

This does not cover the information contained in the Data Hub that is accessible to all according to the Freedom Of Information Act.

But as I said earlier, you give them your information and you are screwing yourself!

The Federal Services Data Hub is the worse thing that can happen to our Freedom because Information is Power and the Government does not Need to know everything about us!

Friends, in an era when the Obama administration has authorized secret domestic surveillance by the intelligence community, and political appointed IRS officials and state tax agencies are using private information for political purposes, its not smart to give all of your information to one source.

Today the police can electronically log every license plate that passes by, so yes, the idea of the centralized Federal Big Brother Information Data Hub should be enough to make a citizen think twice about handing over every bit of information to the Federal government.

Is the potential for abuse enormous? You bet it is!

Fact is, the massive centralized Federal database will include all comprehensive personal information such as your income and financial data, family size, citizenship and immigration status, incarceration status, social security numbers, gun ownership information, vehicle ownership information, contacts both social and business, and of course your very private health information.

It will compile files on you based on information obtained from the IRS, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration, state Medicaid databases, and for some reason the Peace Corps.

And yes, that includes any groups that may be deemed a threat to the government such as the VFW, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Republican Party, and even the Libertarian and the Tea Party.

Depending on who is in control of the White House, a threat to the United States may be your membership to the Sierra Club and the Democratic Party.

The Federal Services Data Hub will provide web-based, one-stop shopping for anyone who has the desire to pry into a person’s personal affairs.

If you were worried about the National Security Agency and a lot of other Federal Government agencies spying on you, just go ahead and give up even more of your private information to ObamaCare Date Sharing program called the Federal Services Data Hub.

Then, and only then can you see what happens?

Find out if ObamaCare sends that information to your employer, or school, or maybe your insurance company?

What happens if they send derogatory information to DMV and you lose your license to drive, or wrong information to Credit Bureaus and it effects your credit rating or you get turned down for loans?

What happens if they send your information to the FBI, the IRS, the ATF, or ICE? Maybe they will send it Homeland Security?
Can they use that information to stop you from buying and owning a firearm, or how about stopping you from taking a trip to sun and fun in Mexico?

You bet they can!

Can you see yourself investigated by one of the dozens of law enforcement agencies in the Federal Government?

Who do you think will investigate you?

You'll know who received your information when the Feds come out and start asking your neighbors pointed questions about you and your family.

That's usually how it works before they knock on your door to talk with you.

Information compiled by Tom Correa