RANDOM SHOTS - CMA Awards Rip ObamaCare, Tea Party Compared To Talban, God Created Man, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

CMA Awards 2013 Rips ObamaCare 

The Liberals at the major networks are plenty mad at the Country Music stars for making fun of ObamaCare at CMA awards.

Today, the day after the broadcast, Liberals from everywhere are calling ALL of the people there at the CMAs "racists" akin to the Ku Klux Klan!

No kidding! They do not like that fact that "ObamaCare by Morning" brought down the house at the CMAs.

Viewers who tuned in to watch the 47th Annual Country Music Association Awards, held Wednesday night in Nashville, might have confused the show with a roast of ObamaCare.

Country music’s hottest stars had a bone to pick with the faulty Healthcare.gov website, and using our right to Free Speech to address a grievence with the government.

Short and to the point, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood gave it to the Obama Administration with both barrels.

CMA Awards host Brad Paisley jokingly told his co-host Carrie Underwood that his back hurt and he needed to see a doctor.

Underwood asked the singer if he had signed up for ObamaCare.

“ObamaCare, what’s that?” Paisley asked Underwood.

“Oh, it’s great!” Underwood quipped. “I started signing up last Thursday and I’m almost done!”

The “Blown Away” singer proceeded to help her co-host sign up for ObamaCare and “join the six other people” who have reportedly signed up successfully for the healthcare service.

The routine had the Nashville audience clapping their hands, and us at home laughing, while the tune of newly crowned entertainer of the year George Strait’s "Amarillo by Morning," but with the words changed to "ObamaCare by morning - Why’s this taking so long? - I’m going to end up with hemorrhoids - If I sit here ’til dawn."

It was great because ObamaCare was being looked at for what it is - A JOKE!

Problem is that the penalties will start rolling in on all of those young people out their who supported Obama and thought that they would get something for FREE!

Now they are going to pay big time, and I can't help but think that that's just a little bit of Karma coming around to bite them in the ass for voting for Obama!

SECOND SHOT!

Police Shoot Teen For Not Turning Off Engine

Out of Ames, Iowa, it was reported today that a father’s attempt to teach his teenage son the penalty of stealing turned tragic on Monday when a local police officer shot the boy dead.
James Comstock called the police on his son Tyler after the boy took his father’s work truck without his permission when James refused to buy him cigarettes.

Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson spotted the lawn care company truck and followed it onto the Iowa State University campus.

During the traffic stop, Tyler refused McPherson's orders to turn off the truck engine.

Instead of ordering Tyler out of the vehicle, McPherson fired six shots into the truck at the boy.

Two rounds struck the boy and he was later pronounced dead.

Now here comes the lie to CYA!

Believe it or not, the official police report claims Officer McPherson’s actions were "necessary in order to stop the ongoing threat to the public and the officers.”

The boy was unarmed at the time? What threat was there?

““So he didn’t shut the damn truck off, so let’s fire six rounds at him?” Gary Shepley, Tyler’s step-grandfather, told the Des Moines Register.

““We’re confused and we don’t understand,” he added.

James told the paper that while his son did have a few minor run-ins with the law in the past, he was adamant about turning his life around and was working on obtaining his GED at Des Moines Area Community College.

““He was a smart kid. He made his own computers. He was interested in IT,” James said.

The family grew even angrier when it was revealed that a member of the police department suggested twice that McPherson abort the chase.

““He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him,” James said. “It was over a damn pack of cigarettes.”

McPherson is currently on paid leave and may be punished more severely following an investigation.

Yes, this really did happen. So where is the Justice Department when they are truly needed!

Folks going in and out of Ames should be WARNED:

If you are in Ames Iowa, make sure you turn off your engine if you're stopped! If not, the Officers there just might shoot you dead!

THIRD SHOT!

Democratic Senate candidate likens Tea Party folks to the Taliban

There are some states like New York, Illinois, and California which I just expect this sort of crap from - but certainly not Montana.

Then I remembered that Montana has a Judge who was so Liberal that he gave a teacher only 30 days in Jail for raping a student - who later committed suicide.

So no, maybe Montana is becoming more like California that I thought,

Another example of this is the Democrat who announced his bid for the Senate on Wednesday.

His first action was to take a swipe at the Tea Party, believe it or not, the jerkweed compared it to "the Taliban."

But the fool wasn't done yet, he then likened the government shutdown to the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II.

This is not some know nothing liberal jerkweed high on drugs, this clown is former Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger.

He said these very ignorant things when he announced that he would run for the Senate seat being vacated by Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus.

“We need to challenge the tea party representatives who, like the Taliban, shut our country down,” Bohlinger told reporters, the Billings Gazette reported.

According to the paper, he then continued, likening the actions taken by the Tea Party leading up to the government shutdown in October "“to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the terrorists’ actions on Sept. 11, 2001."

There is already one Democrat in the Senate race: Lt. Gov. John Walsh — who has been endorsed by Montana Democratic Sen. John Tester.

On the other side of the aisle, Republican Rep. Steve Daines also formally announced his bid for the seat on Wednesday.

This race is going to be interesting to watch to see if the voters back fools like this jerk Bohlinger who ignorantly compares the death of thousands on 9-11 and during the bombing of Pearl Harbor to fellow Americans wanting responsible government spending - which of course is the Tea Party's main issue.

If Bohlinger were high on drugs when he said such a thing, then maybe he'd be forgiven for being so damn stupid.

But he wasn't, so in that case, I can only wonder what possessed him to say something so dumb?

LAST SHOT!

Study Says Life Began With Clay - Echoes Bible Creation Story

A new study came out on November 6th, suggesting clay may have been the birthplace of life on Earth.

As incredible as it might sound to atheists out there, Cornell University researchers found that clay may have served as the first breeding ground for the complex biochemicals that make life possible.

Yes, unlike atheist who think they know it all, these findings may reverberate with anyone familiar with the Biblical creation story.

"We propose that in early geological history, clay hydrogel provided a confinement function for biomolecules and biochemical reactions,” said Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering and a member of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, according to Science Daily.

The clay absorbs liquids like a sponge and acts as the perfect place for chemicals to react with one another to form proteins, DNA and eventually living cells.

According to the Old Testament, God made the first man Adam from earth or clay.

Adam comes from the Hebrew word adamah, which means earth. And yes, even Greek mythology and other creation stories also say God molded man from clay.

Scientists found that the clay hydrogel could have protected the chemical processes until the membrane that surrounds living cells fully developed.

The study cites further evidence, nothing that geological history shows the first appearance of clay to be at the same time biomolecules began to form into cell-like structures.

How the biological machines evolved remains to be explained, Luo said.

Luo and his fellow researchers are still trying to figure out why clay hydrogel is such a successful material in cell-free protein production.

Maybe they will now take the Bible a little more serious, but I don't really think so - it's too hard to fix those who do not want to believe.

by Tom Correa

ObamaCare: America's Greatest Catastrophe

Dear Readers,

Famed Western Author Louis L'Amour once wrote, "Everything a man does is an indication of his character, whether he cheats at cards or takes an unfair advantage because it is legal."

  

Looking at his character, we all now know for certain that President Obama is a liar!

Right now, at least 3.5 Million Americans have already received notices that their health insurance policies have been cancelled.

And no, they cannot keep their health care if they want to because the ObamaCare law's regulations and mandates make it impossible for Insurers to keep those folks.

It is a flaw in the law, it's a flaw that the Obama administration knew damn well about,

Yes friends, it doesn't stop with these 3.5 Million Americans. Records now show that the Obama administration and the Democrats who voted for ObamaCare knew that over 100 Million Americans can possibly lose their Health Care coverage once ObamaCare goes into effect.
For over 5 years, a lot of us on the Conservative side have stated our objections to Obama's policies.

For this, we have been called everything in the book - including being accused of being "racists" because Obama is our nation's first black president. 

The left has made it their mission to attack us because we have seen where his policies are not good for Americans, our economy, our military, our society in general, and yes, even our standing in the world.  

We have been vilified and ruthlessly attacked with some of the worse hatred that can be launched against citizens who have decided to get involved in our political system.

For years, for years, I have heard our politicians say that Americans need to get involved. They need to attend Town Hall meetings, attend rallies, write letters, volunteer as pol workers and help to get out the vote.

For as long as I can remember, Americans have been encouraged to get involved and voice their concerns on the issues of the day.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, we were called the "Silent Majority" because we kept quiet while working hard and bringing up our families.

During the last 5 or 6 years, we have done just what we were asked to do. We rose up and join hands and became the Tea Party and other mostly Conservative groups - not surprising since the majority of Americans are Conservatives - but the liberal left hasn't like it.  

Because Obama has now been exposed for the liar he is, even by the Liberal Media who now sees what he has done, Liberals are having to eat crow and admit that our concerns were not unfounded - that we have been right about this and other things.

We have been right about the criminal acts of the Obama administration running guns into Mexico in Operation Fast & Furious; right about the IRS illegally targeting Conservative groups; right about the EPA giving private information about farmers and ranchers to environmental extremist groups; right about the needless death of Brian Terry or the needless deaths of those Americans in Libya; right about the vindictive nature of President Obama who like Nixon has an "Enemies List" - and who went out of his way to order the closing of open-air War Memorials just to be mean-spirited and inflict pain and discomfort upon the American people. 

Now, now the Left has to admit that we were right about ObamaCare - and more importantly, that we were right in that President Barack Hussein Obama is in fact a Liar. 

That he did in fact lie to the American people on this and other issues.    

Fact is with millions of Americans losing their Health Care as a result of the ObamaCare law's regulations and mandates, even the ultra-Left, the extreme-Liberals, like those folks over at MSNBC, who would lie and cheat and steal for Obama, now have to admit that America's First Black President is a Liar and a Con Artist.

And if you've asked yourself if it can get any worse?

Well now President Obama is lying about his lies

Here is Obama trying to get the American to NOW believe that it is the Insurance Company's fault and that we simply didn't understand what he was saying.

He is now saying, "what we said was you can keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law passed."

No! None of that is true! Obama is still being dishonest!

Yes, Obama the Con Artist is still working his con trying to get over on the American people and make us all think that this catastrophe is not his fault.

While Obama doesn't want to admit that this is a catastrophe - friends, 130,000,000 Americans, yes 130 Million Americans are projected to lose their Health Insurance because of the federal laws under ObamaCare

This is the greatest catastrophe to ever befall our nation.

By their own projections, the Obama White House knew that a FULL ONE THIRD of our nation's entire population may be out of Health Care coverage by January 1st, 2014, when the rest of the ObamaCare Insurance Mandates go into effect.

Since these are regulations and legal mandates that the Democrats who voted for this knew that Insurance Providers could not meet and would have to opt out of - the question should be asked, who is holding Democrats responsible for this?

Where their initial goal was to get coverage of the 3 to 7 Million Americans that didn't have coverage, now their Socialist work of art is about to have tremendous negative ramifications - the likes of which has never been seen on such a scale in all of American History.

Socialism on a scale unimagined in America is the Obama dream, and our nightmare.

The president is trying to rewrite the history of his "you can keep it" promise on health care.

For me, I don't care about Obama's credibility and the public’s faith in government simply because it is at the lowest in my lifetime - and yes, I was in the Marine Corps when President Nixon was in the White House.

Yes, I remember those times and the feeling of having a President who was crooked, a liar, a cheat, and power hungry.

The shame is that Americans are again able to say the same thing - that they too lived in an era when a power hungry man in the White House was crooked and a liar.

Right now, the president of the United States is busy trying to lie to the public about the lies he is on record telling.

In a speech last night to his political team, Obama said, "what we said was you can keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law passed."

But no, that’s not what Obama said.

Obama said, "No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."

That is exactly what President Obama said in a speech to the American Medical Association on June 15th, 2009, during the debate over health insurance reform.

So yes, the President just keep lying - and in the meanwhile more than One Hundred Million Americans are getting screwed by the Democrats who passed this law.

So now, if the Democrats thought they could fix 3 to 7 Million Americans not having Health care coverage - and their fix will result in over 100 Million Americans losing theirs - wouldn't you say that ObamaCare qualifies as the America's Greatest Catastrophe.

I certainly would.

by Tom Correa

Florida Cattle Ranchers Seek Locally Grown Beef Label

Published November 02, 2013 / Associated Press


Oct. 15, 2013: In this photo, a cow eats in a feedlot at Suwannee Farms in O'Brien, Fla. (AP)

This report comes out of Florida via Fox News.

Under the "Fresh From Florida" marketing campaign offered by the state's agriculture officials to stores and consumers, people are encouraged to buy things that are grown and raised in the Sunshine State.

Alligator, tomatoes and, of course, oranges are on the list.

One thing isn't highlighted: Florida beef. That's because, unlike many other states, it's nearly impossible to buy beef that's been born, raised, slaughtered and processed in Florida - even though it was the first state to have large-scale cattle ranches.

There are nearly 1 million head of calves and cattle in Florida and the industry contributes about $2 billion to the state's economy.

Seven of the nation's 25 largest cattle ranches are in Florida, according to the Florida Beef Council.

Most calves are born and raised here, but are finished and processed in states like Texas or Oklahoma, as there's only one large slaughterhouse in Florida at the moment.

Despite ranking 10th nationally in the number of cattle, Florida ships the majority of them -- 700,000 feeder calves -- to other states.

Cattle ranchers who realize there's a demand for locally grown meat have asked agriculture officials for a designation.

But before the likely tag can be applied, the state must first decide what, exactly, Florida beef is. Does the cow have to spend its entire life in Florida?

"Adding value to Florida beef through the Fresh From Florida brand is something we are excited about," said state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, a fifth-generation Floridian from a cattle-ranching family.

The ranchers' quest to be included on the "Fresh From Florida" list is a testament to how popular local food has become - and because ranchers know it's more sustainable and cheaper to keep an animal in state.

Small farms, farmers markets and specialty food makers have emerged nationwide, and Florida is no different.

"It's a niche that I believe people will respond to," said Don Quincey, a cattle rancher.

During the winter months, it's easy to find plenty of local veggies and fruits here. But cattle ranchers say that it will take a little for them while to bring local farm-to-fork beef to the public.

"Let's face it. If went into the supermarket and you saw `Fresh from Mexico,' `Fresh from Arizona' and `Fresh from Florida,' and you're in Florida, which one would you buy?" said Florida rancher Tom Harper.

Over the centuries, cattle have thrived in Florida, freely grazing the swampland and eating wild oranges and scrub brush -- a scenario that would make any locavore drool.

North America's first cattle were brought in 1591 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon'

At one point in the mid-17th century, more than 20,000 head of Spanish cattle were counted in a tax collectors' census.

These cattle tolerated the heat and were free-ranging; known as "Cracker Cattle," they are leaner than other breeds and also more ornery.

But by the 1960s, the number of Cracker Cattle had greatly diminished because of rapid development.

Florida's heat and humidity aren't conducive for large-scale feedlots of less hardy cattle like those found in Midwestern states like Texas and Oklahoma.

And with the rise of corn-finishing cattle on the feedlots, Florida was out of luck -- while there's lots of grass in Florida for weaned calves, the state doesn't grow much corn.

"We didn't have any options other than to send our cattle west to be fed," said Harper, who owns a purebred Angus breeding operation in north-central Florida, near Gainesville.

Quincey said he and a few other Florida ranchers have been able to work around the lack of options by building feedlots and facilities to hold a grain mix for the cattle. He has 1,000 head of cattle he hopes will soon get the "Fresh From Florida" label.

Many are born and raised on his Chiefland ranch near Gainesville, then weaned, preconditioned and moved onto a finishing feed operation on the same property.

"We save a lot of fuel by not having to truck this animal all over the United States," he said, adding he sells some cattle and ships others for finishing out of state.

Another hurdle for the state's ranchers: There's only one large slaughterhouse in Florida that can handle 150 head a week, and a handful of smaller ones, like Quincey's.

Harper said a second slaughterhouse will open soon near Gainesville, which is the region where many of the state's cattle are located. It will process about 300 head of cattle a week.

It would be cheaper for farmers if they could breed, raise, finish and slaughter their cows in Florida, he said.

"Just the cost to send them out west averages about $60-$65 a head," he said. "If we just eliminated extra freight, we would save money. Add that with the fact that people may prefer locally grown beef."

RANDOM SHOTS - Obama Grabs More Power, New Poll, and More ...

FIRST SHOT!

Another Obama Power Grab!

Obama's executive order used to  takeover U.S. climate change policies

On November 1st, 2013, President Obama used his executive powers to take control of climate change policies in an attempt to "streamline sustainability initiatives".

In other words, circumvent Congress and skirt legislative oversight and push a federal agenda on states.

The executive order establishes a task force of state and local officials to advise the administration on how to respond to severe storms, wildfires, droughts and other potential impacts of climate change.

The task force includes governors of seven states — all Democrats — and the Republican governor of Guam, a U.S. territory. Fourteen mayors and two other local leaders also will serve on the task force.

All but three of those appointed are Democrats.

The task force will look at federal money spent on roads, bridges, flood control and other projects.

It ultimately will recommend how structures can be made more resilient to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and warming temperatures.

Critics of the order charge, among other things, that it groups together everything from forest fires to heavy rains as evidence of climate change - despite scientific testimony from both sides of the debate.

“The devil is in the details,” a former senior government official said to FoxNews.com earlier this month, referring to a recently released study that proposed the streamlining between federal and state agencies. “Who gets to decide what sustainability is? Or what its outcome means?”

Officials for the EPA released a statement praising Obama, saying it will be vital in their attempts to help local-level communities “adapt to a changing climate.”

Critics say the order has the potential to do much more, including:

• Hold back money to communities unless they meet new standards on various items and agendas set by the federal government. For example, using new policies that will encourage communities to rebuild to pre-disaster standards instead of stronger ones.

• A possible mandate to bring sweeping new changes to land use and resource policies.

• More control and refocus of climate change data and use of it to push a new agenda into every priority of the federal government.

• Create the need for a new internal organization for coordination efforts during a government sequestration and possible future shutdowns.

The task force includes Govs. Jerry Brown of California, Jay Inslee of Washington and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, as well as Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

The panel also includes several big-city mayors, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Houston Mayor Annise Parker. All three are Democrats.

The task force builds on efforts Obama announced for his Climate Action Plan last June, which include the first-ever limits on climate pollution from new and existing power plants.

The plan is intended to reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020, but many see this as a scam!

The news release said, "The plan is to boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures. The 12 hottest years on record all have occurred in the past 15 years."

But folks, that's all a lie!

Fact is the hottest years on record was during the 1930s. The actual hottest year on record is 1934.



It seems convenient that Global Warming folks want to ignore that date.

But then, if they they admitted to the truth - their whole argument and subsequent scam falls apart.

Many scientists argue there is no proven link between extreme events and global warming.

For example, Roger Pielke, Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research who has called for climate mitigation, argued recently that -- heat waves aside -- there is little evidence for an increase in extreme events themselves.

Take a look at this Contiguous U.S., Palmer Modified Drought Index (PMDI), 24-Month Period Ending in December, 1896-2012.



No, Global Warming con artists don't want us to see this because it screws up their scam.

But this is not about Climate Change or Global Warming, if anyone thinks this is then I have a bridge to sell them real cheap.

We should be honest and say what its really about, it is all about the government grabbing more control. It's all about government control. 

The Obama White House is the most controlling administration in the history of the United States - that's not my opinion, that's the opinion of historians and scholars who see what Obama has been doing since taking office.

And yes, its scary!

SECOND SHOT!

Jimmy Carter now calling Obama "an incompetent loser"

As President, you know when you are in trouble when you make former president Jimmy Carter look great.

It is happening, and to the glee of Carter who has lived long enought to see some other President worse than he was, the former president Jimmy Carter has called President Obama "incompetent" in the family-friendly pages of Parade magazine.

"He’s done the best he could under the circumstances," Carter said of Obama in an interviewed published on Thursday.

"His major accomplishment was Obamacare, and the implementation of it now is questionable at best."

Carter presided over what was, until the current recession, the longest period of economic stagnation since the Great Depression.

There was runaway inflation, super high unemployment and an ongoing energy crisis. There was a hostage crisis in Iran involving the capture and imprisonment of 52 Americans for 444 days.

In the summer of 1979, Jimmy Carter gave one of the least effective speeches any president in the history of the American presidency.

The deeply unpopular “Crisis of Confidence” speech became widely known as Carter’s “malaise” speech.

Carter lost his 1980 reelection bid to Ronald Reagan by an electoral vote total of 489 to 49.

He won only six states, along with the District of Columbia.

Jimmy Carter's interview touched on several subjects in addition to Obamacare, and his wife Rosalynn was also present at the interview and contributed to it.

When asked “how he hopes history will remember him,” Carter joined the rest of America in preferring to skip over his presidency.

“I’d like to be judged primarily by our work at the Carter Center for the last 32 years,” he told the magazine. “I don’t mean to exclude the White House. But in my more self-satisfied moments, I think about our unwavering promotion of peace and human rights."

I don't blame him for wanting to exclude his White House years!

Like many Americans, I lived those days of what I call the last Economic Depression in American History. It was horrible times!

What made things worse was a boob in the White House.  These days, while the economy is a better than back then, we have a boob in the White House.

The problem with this boob though, he's power hungry!


THIRD SHOT!
  Obama Won't Attend Gettysburg Address Remembrance

President Barack Obama will not attend next month's event marking the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Pennsylvania.

Officials at Gettysburg National Military Park said Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will represent the administration the Nov. 19 sesquicentennial.

Jewell and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson will share the role of keynote speaker.

Other events include a reading of the Gettysburg address by a Lincoln portrayer.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett also plans to attend the ceremony.

Lincoln delivered the immortal words of the address at a dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863, more than four months after the Civil War's pivotal battle.

More than 3,500 Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Gettysburg are buried there.

Too bad Obama sees no significances in this.

NEXT SHOT!

New Poll: 81% of Americans Don't Trust The Government To Do Right

Yes, that is the flip side to the new poll just out that says: Only 19% of Americans Trust Govt to Do Right

That's right. The way this was reported by the liberal news media attempts to play it down. Yes, just another attempt to deceive the American people.

The new national survey released recently found just that 81% of all Americans say they do not trust the United States Government to do what’s right for the American people.

Even during the dark days of the Great Depression and the Nixon administration, the American people had more trust in its federal government than they do today.

THIS sad state is one of President Obama's greatest legacy.

NEXT SHOT!

ATF Whistleblowers Could Get "Firing Squad"

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives apparently has put out a warning to potential whistleblowers, suggesting in its training manual that leaking secret government information could result in death by firing squad.

Citing a federal law-enforcement official, The Washington Times reports that the training materials not only warn that whistleblowers could be shot -- but include a turn-of-the-century photo of a firing squad in the introduction to its annual National Security Information online course.

The ATF already is under fire for its handling of the controversial Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

The agency also is battling the American Civil Liberties Union and Congressional Conservatives over blocking publication of a book, written by John Dodson, an ATF agent who blew the whistle on problems with the Fast and Furious program.

You remember Fast and Furious? If not, well then that should make the Obama administration very happy happy.

NEXT SHOT!

Obama Wants a Third Term

Legislation in House To Permit Obama Third Term

For you folks who think that your vote doesn't do any good, if he flips the House to the Democrat side, they will pass a bill allowing him to run for a third term! 

Representative Jose Serrano, Democrat from New York, keeps introducing legislation calling for a Constitutional Amendment to remove the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as president of the United States.

The current generation is H.J.Res.15 — 113th Congress (2013-2014)

In the past, when the Congressman has put forth these similar pieces of legislation, most didn't pay attention - but that's changing!

With Obama in the White House, many seeing him as a genuine threat to our Republic, now many are taking Serrano's move a lot more serious.

Americans now see that there is no limit to the depths of circumvention of our legal system or of the intent of our Constitution to which Obama is willing to go.

My belief is that that is the reason Obama is trying so hard to kill the Republican Party and return all of Congress Blue - he wants a third term.

With total control of Congress, if he can make that happen, then I believe he can somehow present an edict in the form of an Executive Order or through Democrat legislation to suspend the Constitution - or at least the law on term limits and get his third term.

His actions to inflict pain on the American people at every twist and turn, with even his own supporters getting pass their drugs and hero worship now taking note of Obama's imperial ambitions.

He doesn't want to just hold the White House for the Democrat Party, he wants to be King.

Rep Jose Serrano is just an a pawn of the White House. If it weren't him, I'm sure Obama can find another liberal jerkweed to submit the same legislation.

With Barack Hussein Obama in power, as our "Ruler" as "Commander and Chief of the U.S. military which he refers to as "my military" - Americans better pay attention to any legislation that might garner Obama a third term.

LAST SHOT!

Chocolate Is Good For Us

Heart disease and cardiovascular disease kill more people every year than all cancers combined.

On "A Healthy You and Carol Alt," nutrition expert David Wolfe discussed alternative ways to battle the sudden killer.

Wolfe explained that there are common foods that can help lower your risk.

There are two foods proven to combat heart disease and lower mortality rates: olive oil and raw chocolate.

Wolfe cited studies that found, “The highest fraction of chocolate eaters had the lowest rate of heart attack.”

Now, go have a Hershey Bar and do your body some good!

Have a good day!

Tom Correa

American History 101: Why Are We Called Americans?

Dear Readers,

An email from a young gal struck me as interesting - among other things, she wanted to know why we are called Americans?

Besides saying how she has an anti-American teacher, she went on to ask a few questions including why aren't the folks in Canada and Mexico called Americans since they too are from North America? Her teacher says they should be.

Thinking about this, I figured the short answer is that we are called Americans simply because this is America - and this is where we are from.

Then I remembered one of the crewmen of a fishing boat in Baja Mexico who told me that he was "also an American" - a North American.

Both he and I knew that besides being called the derogatory word "gringo" by almost everyone south of the border, that the more polite way of referring to Americans down there is by calling them "Norte Americanos" - which means North Americans. 

And just for the record, although being accepted more today, actually calling an American a "gringo" is pretty much the same as calling an Italian a "wop," an Irishman a "Mick," an Asian person a "chink" or "gook," a white person a "honky" or a "cracker," or a black person a "nigger."

Calling a black person "colored" was generally accepted as inoffensive years ago, but the word is now considered disrespectful - yet for some strange reason the term "a person of color" is not.

Of course, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) continues to use its full name - and they do did it unapologetic with absolutely no desire to change it.

While the nations of Canada and Mexico are on the North American Continent, their citizens are known for the name of their nations - Canadians and Mexicans.

If someone were to refer to either as North Americans, they would be correct if they were talking about what continent their nations are located. But if one were to refer to Canadians and Mexicans as Americans, they are wrong and may be looking for a fight.

It is sort of like the term African-Americans. Africa is a continent, not a nation. I met a man who was a Egyptian-American.

When I referred to him as being an African-American because he was from the African continent, he quickly corrected me and told me that he was "from Egypt, not Africa."

That would be the same as referring to two people from Germany and France as Europeans and making the mistake of thinking that they are the same people.

While it's true that Germans and the French reside in Europe the continent, both speak completely different languages and have completely different cultures.

They are two distinctly different people. The same as Americans and Mexicans are two distinctly different peoples.

As for Yankee?

"Yankee" or "Yank" is a colloquial term for Americans pretty much around the World because of it being applied to Americans since the 18th century by the British.

And yes, one of the earliest recorded uses is in a 1784 letter by famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Before that, in 1758, British General James Wolfe made what is believed as the earliest recorded use of the word Yankee to refer to people from what was to become the United States. He referred to the New England soldiers under his command as Yankees

But believe it or not, Yankee was a derogatory word to some - and may still be.

During and after the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Confederates popularized it as a derogatory term for their Northern enemies.

There's an old joke in the South where a Southerner says, "I was twenty-one years old before I learned that 'damn' and 'Yankee' were separate words."

Of course, for us here in the United States, "Yankee" usually refers to people specifically from "the North" -  the Northern United States.

Why the "United States of America"?

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere as "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.

Yes, that's how it happened. It was just that simple.

Before it was officially known as the United States of America, it was unofficially known as British America.

The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq.

He was George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army.  He referred to our new nation as the "United States of America" when he wrote a letter to Lt. Col. Joseph Reed.

The first publicly published evidence of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymously written essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia on April 6, 1776.

In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson included the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence.

In the final Fourth of July version of the Declaration, the pertinent section of the title was changed to read, "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America".

In 1777, the Articles of Confederation announced, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'".

The United States of America short form is the "United States." And yes, other common forms include the "U.S.", the "USA", and of course simply "America." Colloquial names include the "U.S. of A." and, internationally, its the "States".

"Columbia", a name popular in poetry and songs of the late 1700s,  derives its origin from Christopher Columbus; it appears in the name "District of Columbia".

"United States", "American" and "U.S." are used to refer to the country adjectivally - for example: "American values" or "U.S. forces".

The phrase "United States" was originally treated as plural, a description of a collection of independent states—e.g., "the United States are."

The American Civil War changed all of that when the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1865. 

After that, it became common to treat our nation as a single unit — e.g., "the United States is."

The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States".

The difference has been described as more significant than just one of usage. It reflects the difference between a collection of states and a unit.

In non-English languages, the name is frequently translated as the translation of either the "United States" or "United States of America", and colloquially as "America".

How About The Term "American"?

First uses of the adjective "American" referenced European settlements in the New World.

"Americans" referred to the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and later to European settlers and their descendants.

English use of the term "American" dates to the 17th century; the earliest recorded appearance is in Thomas Gage's The English-American: A New Survey of the West Indies in 1648.

"American" applied to people in British America, and its use as a demonym for the United States by extension.

The United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 refers to "the thirteen united States of America", making the first formal use of the country name; the name was officially adopted by the nation's first governing constitution, the Articles of Confederation, in 1777.

The Federalist Papers of 1787–1788, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison to advocate the ratification of the United States Constitution, use the word "American" in both its original, Pan-American sense, but also in its United States sense.

The Federalist Papers refers to the "American possessions" of Britain and Spain, i.e. land outside of the United States, while Federalist Papers also refer to the United States as "the American republic".

People from the United States increasingly referred to themselves as "Americans" through the end of the 18th century; the 1795 Treaty of Peace and Amity with the Barbary States refers to "American Citizens."

George Washington spoke to his people of "the name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity…" in his 1796 farewell address.

Eventually, this usage spread through other English-speaking countries; the unqualified noun "American" in all forms of the English language now chiefly refers to natives or citizens of the United States.

In the English language, the word "American" is only used to refer to citizens of the United States.

While different languages use different terms for citizens of the United States, who are known in English as Americans.

All forms of English refer to United States citizens as "Americans," derived from "The United States of America."

The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States is as an "American".

So yes, "American" is the name for a citizen of the United States of America.

Yes, Our Culture Baffles The World!

Our culture, the culture of the United States, is primarily Western European.

But as a melting pot, our culture is influenced by Native American, Mediterranean, Slavic, Asian, Spanish, African, and much much more.

As Americans, we have our own unique social and cultural characteristics such as American-English dialects, various types of music, arts, social habits and traditions, regional and ethnic foods, and folklore.

The United States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country. This is as a result of large-scale migration from many ethnically and racially different countries throughout its history as well as differing birth and death rates among natives, settlers, and immigrants.

Since we are all in this great melting pot that we call "The United States of America," and no one former nationality is superior to the others, I believe that that is the reason that no other nation on the earth truly understands us.

Americans of all former-nationalities work together.

And yes, that fact alone makes us unique and exceptional. It makes us unlike every other nation on the planet. We have no one majority.

Americanism?

Whether some like it or not, through assimilation we unite and get things done.

In fact, so much so that we Americans have developed a uniquely American ideology called "Americanism" which is based on:

• liberty, and the value of individuals to have control over their own actions, to own one's free will; 
• equality for all people, that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status;
• individualism, the moral worth of the individual to exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reliance - individualism holds that man has inalienable rights which cannot be taken away from him by another person, or other people, nor by any number, group or collective of other men and women - it holds that each man exists by his own right and for his own sake, not for the sake of the group or institutions such as the government or some sort of collective;
• freedom, the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle to retain one's right of the individual freedom and self-realization;
• republicanism which stresses "unalienable" rights as our central values, makes the people as a whole sovereign, rejects aristocracy and inherited political power - it expects citizens to be independent in their performance of civic duties and it totally vilifies corruption of those who we give our trust;
• populism, the concept that one sides with "the people" against "the elites"; and
• laissez-faire economic policy which encourages an economic environment in which transactions between private parties are free from government restrictions, tariffs, and subsidies, with only enough regulations to protect property rights.

As for why so much discontent lately?

Well, today there's a lot of worry and genuine concern that the "state" (the government) is over-extending its power and authority over Americans.

A recent poll shows that 81% of Americans don't trust the government, and today more people are feeling pressure to "obey" the government.

We have 50 states today, but when we became united to stand against the British in 1775 - there were only 13 states.

What governs our federal government is the Constitution of the United States. It is our Owner's Manual.

The Constitution was not written to keep the people from enjoying their freedom. It was not designed to "rule over" the people. It was written to keep the United States government in line.

When our Constitution was written back in 1789, Americans just got finished fighting a war against a British government that practiced taking away their rights, imposing high taxes, over-regulation, and enslaving Americans through force, fine, penalty, prison, confiscation of property, or all of the above.

Sound familiar? Yes, many think these same things are taking place today by our government.

Our federal government is supposed to be governed with the intention of never allowing that to take place again.

A free people stays vigilant and reminds the government that it works for us, not vice-versa. And yes, this in itself makes us exceptional in the world around us.

Did I Cover Everything?

So now Megan, I hope I answered all of your questions. 

Good luck in that class with that teacher who doesn't see anything special about America or believe that there is any such thing as American Exceptionalism.

Try not to be too disappointed in your teacher. For me, I've grown to just feel sorry for teachers like her who do not see our nation as one that is exceptional among other nations.

Remember the quote, "there are none so blind as those who cannot see." American exceptionalism is easy to see for those who want to.

And yea, I believe that that's really what it comes down to. It's not a matter of cannot see it, but simply a matter of refusing to see America for what she is.
 
Until later,
Tom Correa

Ghosts In The California Gold Country & More

The Preston Castle

Dear Readers,

I wanted to do a story, a work of fiction, a ghost story of some sort for Halloween. But frankly, because I'm so behind getting ready for winter, I don't see that happening.

Then I started thinking about how back in the 1850s, people were crawling all over the Sierra Nevada Mountains up here looking for gold.

It's said that this area was the most populated area in the world for a little while, while everyone was chasing their dream. We do dream don't we. And no, dreaming is not restricted to Americans. 

Back during the California Gold Rush, dreams were of gold. Once it was found at Sutter's Mill up near Sacramento, people from all over the world were convinced there was enough for everyone. But the fact is, only a few got rich. Many Easterners returned East with empty pockets and heartache. And I'm sure they were glad to get away from the toil and the blood.

Because of murder, mayhem, suicide, and the like, there is no shortage of haunted places throughout California. While some are really well known, others are known only to locals who live in the area.

When I was living in Alameda County in the Bay Area, I remember being told that the USS Hornet (CV-12) docked in Alameda is the most haunted ship in the entire US Navy. It saw a lot of action in its day. Some say voices of sailors and Marines are heard in the passage ways when no one's there. Some even say the sound of someone hitting the metal hatches of compartments can be heard during tours. 

In Oakland, they say the old jail above City Hall is haunted by jailers who used to torture prisoners. But really, what do you expect from a murderous town?

In Piedmont, Mountain View Cemetery is a historic graveyard full of very prominent people in California's history. It is also loaded with spooks running around everywhere. Back in the late 1970's, when I was supervising security guards, I had a couple of guards at that location who swore they saw all sorts of things not of this world. Frankly, it was always very hard for me to find anyone who would work there.

Among other problems at the graveyard were the vandals who came through and busted into some of the crips and smashed open a few caskets. I remember one having a glass top. The bones and dress of the woman was on full display.

I found out later from the Oakland Police Department that the vandal who broke into that crip and smashed that 1890's glass cover on that casket was found dead soon after that break-in. He was found dead of unknown causes at the gate of the old cemetery. Later, on of the security guards reported that he and his partner saw the same vandal in the cemetery. When they went to escort him out, he ran and somehow vanished.

In Fremont, Mission San Jose is reported to be haunted after many tragic deaths that occurred after fires and earthquakes that damaged the mission property. Some say the pioneer graveyard across from the Fremont Train Station is active as well.

In the town of Pleasanton, the Pleasanton Hotel was built in the 1850s and is said to be haunted. During it's history, besides a hotel and saloon, the hotel served as a impromptu courthouse back in the 1800s and later had an opium den under it even though it was just a few yards from the town's police station. Its bar has seen its share of shootings and killings over the years. Its said that even Joaquin Murrietta made his way through there on more than a few occasions.

Down in Sunnyvale, at a Toys "R" Us store, employees have reported seeing unusual rearranging of toys in the aisles, and reported sightings of a man in his thirties dressed in old clothing. His name is believed to be Johan, and he's believed to be a farmer who used to live on the site of where that store sits today. It's said he's just keeping "an eye on the old place." The store remains open today but most customers are completely unaware of this legend. The manager there is said to have ordered his employees not to talk about the sightings.

Of course, that area has the famous Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. It is supposedly haunted by the ghost of its eccentric builder, Sarah Winchester. She is said to have built the strange mansion to protect her from the spirits of all of the Indians killed with her late husband's famous line of rifles.

The problem with that story is that Oliver Winchester was never a Gunsmith like say Sam Colt or the team of Smith & Wesson. Actually, Winchester only got involved in gun manufacturing after becoming wealthy making shirts. I can't help but wonder if maybe the people who haunt the mansion are those who hated his line of shirts?

Over the range in Santa Cruz County, The Brookdale Lodge in Brookdale is reportedly haunted by the spirit of Sarah Logan, the niece of the former owner, who drowned in what is now known as the Brook Room. Up the coast in San Mateo County, there's the Moss Beach Distillery in Moss Beach. The bar and restaurant overlook the ocean and is reported to be haunted by the spirit of a Blue Lady. Yes, a Blue Lady!

When I was in the Philippines in 1975, there was a White Lady. When I worked down South off and on during the 1990s, I was told about a few White Ladies here and there. But in Moss Beach, their lady is blue. Not a dark Navy Blue, more a light blue. That's so she can be seen of course.

She supposedly died in the area awaiting her husband to come back from sea. The restaurant has been featured on a number of paranormal television shows where of course they report the accounts are true. Shocking as it might sound, one television show had props that helped reenact the experiences for guests. Can you say tourist draw?!

I have a friend who used to live up near Del Norte County. He told me about the Battery Point Lighthouse near Crescent City. It is reported to be haunted by a resident ghost that has been seen by six different people. And no, I don't know if it is the story about the Lighthouse Keeper who went mad and killed himself.

In Tracy, the Banta Inn is reported to be haunted since the 1930s, including the sighting of the former owner of the inn, Tony Gallegos, who died of a heart attack in the building. There are also reports of poltergeist activity that happens in the bar.

Over in Antioch, there is The Black Diamond Mines area where it has been reported to have had numerous accounts of paranormal activity. In fact, there is the story of the White Witch. Supposedly she was executed for being a witch after all the kids she was caring for died of some strange illness. Another story for that area is that of Sarah Norton, who haunts the Rose Hill Cemetery after she was run over and crushed to death by her horse and carriage.

Up at the far end of the California Gold Country is Placer County. Christine's room at The Richardson House in Truckee is said to be haunted by Christine Richardson, a young woman who mourns the loss of her child. She has been reported as being seen standing by the room's window.

The National Exchange Hotel in Nevada City is reportedly haunted by spirits that have died during the night. The Stonehouse Brewery in Nevada City is reportedly haunted by Chinese immigrants that were killed in the tunnels underneath the property.

I remember being told that the Del Oro Theatre in Grass Valley is haunted. Its said to have "a few resident ghosts." The Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley has housed many famous residents including Mark Twain and three U.S. Presidents.  It is also home to the famous suicide gambler, a man who slit his own throat and was found dead in a pool of blood. While it is hard to believe that anyone is capable of cutting their own throat, his suicide letter can be found at the Doris Foley Library in Nevada City.

The Holbrooke Hotel's spooks don't stop with a gambler at the end of his string of luck, that hotel has plenty of spooky stuff taking place there. It has chairs moving across the floor, lights turning on and off, and voices lingering in the air, guests report hearing the sounds of little ghost children jumping on old mattress springs, as well as sighting the notable cowboy ghost who appears only from waist up and a Victorian-dressed maid who walks the halls of the Holbrooke.

Old Sacramento is reportedly haunted by victims of influenza, fire, and flooding. The other part of Sacramento that most folks don't know about is that it was actually more violent than Dodge City and Tombstone combined. The spirits of those who died during those gun battles are said to roam Old Sacramento.

The Cary House in Placerville is reported to have a haunt that dates back to the 1930's involving a lot of unexplained noises and phenomena. And yes, since the town was originally called Hangtown, they have had their share of sighting of convicts who were hung by Vigilantes.

Closer to home in Amador County, in the town of Ione where my Mom lives, is what locals call "The Preston Castle" or simply "The Castle." Real name is The Preston School of Industry. It was once a home to troubled youths. "The castle" had its share of deaths and suffering. Allegedly, the ghost of a caretaker who was bludgeoned to death by students still resides there.

But for me, when I visited the castle, I remember feeling a cold presence of the lady who was the school's cook. She was killed and put in a closet, only to have her body found later the next day. It is said that she scratches the closet door to be let out. The boys who killed her were never found.

The National Hotel in Jackson is another place that was built in the 1850s. It is reported to house some specters that have died on the hotel premises. Supposedly one is the ghost of a depressed miner who hung himself. Another is said to be a bartender who was shot in the Hotel bar by a jealous husband.

Across the Mokelumne River here in Calaveras County, we have our share of spooks. The Hotel Léger in Mokelumne Hill is reported to be haunted by the spirit of George Léger, the former owner of the hotel. His presence is most felt in the room he died in. That would be Room 7.

In San Andreas, they say a women who was jilted by her lover can be seen waiting outside of the old library. People say she has waited there for him for more than a century. In Angles Camp, its said that famous writer Mark Twain has been seen once on the sidewalk downtown heading for a bar that he used to frequent when he lived there.

Of course, there are the ghosts of those who fought the tough Sierra Nevada Mountains to get to California by wagon train. Up on Highway 88 near Immigrant Pass, it's said that the crying of a baby has been heard by a few folks camping up near the summit. Some think that it may be the spirit of a child that may have died along the way and now rests in an unmarked grave up there somewhere.

Over on the other side up near the summit at the end of Highway 4 is the Lake Alpine Lodge. That place is said to be haunted by a couple who died when the top floor of the lodge collapsed in a massive snowstorm back in the 1920s. There's also the tale of a lady that haunts the lake. There are reports of sightings of that lady since she drowned in the lake and her body was never found. That was back in the 1950s, and both locals and summer visitors have said that she can be seen sitting on the rocks at the lake during the spring and summer months.

In Sonora, the Tuolumne General Hospital is reportedly haunted by miners and patients who died from neglect. I really don't know too much about the rest of the state, but I'm sure there are places throughout the rest of California where spirits linger.

A local writer put together a series of books which are clippings from the archives of local newspapers in the Calaveras County Glencoe area here. The news articles talk about runaway wagons and teamsters who meet their end, miners who fall down shafts that go hundreds of feet into the earth, loggers crushed, Indians found dead, and murders by those who wanted to get rich off some else's hard work.

As for those who broke the law, it's said that justice was swift in most cases and the murderers were hanged. Sometimes those who broke the law got away with it and are never found. One example of this was noted in among those clippings.

The story goes that back in the 1930s, a man was digging a post hole and came upon a human skull. When he dug more and more, he unearthed the bones of many killed very violently. The county authorities were called in and more bones and skulls were unearthed. Come to find out his property was the site of a gold mining camp, a small town. There was a saloon at that spot. It was called a Fandango House.

It was a sort of brothel, gambling place, and dance hall. The bones belonged to young travelers and miners who stopped there and were murdered for their goods and gold. Those found were never identified. They left their families to get rich in California and were murdered instead. Of course, unlike today, those who left and went missing were not thought of as missing, but only out on their own.

Death and calamity follows man wherever he goes, that's just a part of life. Some say that there are those who still call out for a rope from the bottom of a mine shaft. Some say that the old Indian who froze to death along the trail up near Alabama Hill can still be seen now and then over a hundred years later.

Some say that there are those who search for their way home after being met with a club or a bullet because of another man's greed. It's as if their spirits simply can't find rest. I can't help but wonder if they ever will. I can't help but wonder if they ever find peace.

Tom Correa

Bigger Than "Hogzilla"

In 2007, Alabama 11 Year Old Boy Killed 1,051 Pound Monster Pig



Jamison Stone, 11, poses with a wild pig he killed near Delta, Ala. (AP)

An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog that just may be the biggest pig ever found.

Jamison Stone's father says the hog his son killed weighed a 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.

If the claims are accurate, Jamison's trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.

Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 1,000 pounds and measure 12 feet in length. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 800 pounds and was 8 feet long.

After seeing the pig in person, taxidermist Jerry Cunningham told The Anniston Star it was "the biggest thing I'd ever seen ... it's huge."

The Anniston Star reported that the feral hog was weighed at the Clay County Farmer's Exchange in Lineville.

Workers at the co-op verified that the basic truck scales used were recently certified by the state. But no workers from the co-op were present when the hog was weighed.

Jamison is reveling in the attention over his pig, which has a Web site put up by his father — http://www.monsterpig.com — that is generating Internet buzz.

"It feels really good," Jamison, of Pickensville, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big."

Jamison, who killed his first deer at age 5, was hunting with father Mike Stone and two guides in east Alabama on May 3 when he bagged Hogzilla II. He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot.

Through it all there was the fear that the animal would turn and charge them, as wild boars have a reputation of doing.

"I was a little bit scared, a little bit excited," said Jamison, who just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school.

His father said that, just to be extra safe, he and the guides had high-powered rifles aimed and ready to fire in case the beast with 5-inch tusks decided to charge.

With the pig finally dead in a creek bed on the 2,500-acre Lost Creek Plantation, a commercial hunting preserve in Delta, trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods.

It was hauled on a truck to the Clay County Farmers Exchange in Lineville, where Jeff Kinder said they used his scale, which was recently calibrated, to weigh the hog.

Kinder, who didn't witness the weigh-in, said he was baffled to hear the reported weight of 1,051 pounds because his scale — an old, manual style with sliding weights — only measures to the nearest 10.

"I didn't quite understand that," he said.

Mike Stone said the scale balanced one notch past the 1,050-pound mark, and he thought it meant a weight of 1,051 pounds.

"It probably weighed 1,060 pounds. We were just afraid to change it once the story was out," he said.

The hog's head is now being mounted on an extra-large foam form by Cunningham of Jerry's Taxidermy in Oxford. Cunningham said the animal measured 54 inches around the head, 74 inches around the shoulders and 11 inches from the eyes to the end of its snout.

Mike Stone is having sausage made from the rest of the animal. "We'll probably get 500 to 700 pounds," he said.

Jamison, meanwhile, has been offered a small part in "The Legend of Hogzilla," a small-time horror flick based on the tale of the Georgia boar. The movie is holding casting calls with plans to begin filming in Georgia.

The Anniston Star reported that congratulatory calls have come all the way from California, where Jamison appeared on a radio talk show. Jamison apparently has gotten words of congratulation from Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, country music star Kenny Chesney, Tom Knapp of Benelli firearms and Jerry Miculek of Smith & Wesson.

Jamison is enjoying the newfound celebrity generated by the hog hunt, but he said he prefers hunting pheasants to monster pigs.

"They are a little less dangerous."

(AP)

Some of America's Great Banned Books - Part One

The Library of Congress created an exhibit, "Banned Books that Shaped America," that explores books that "have had a profound effect on American life" yet have been banned in one way or another. 

Below are some of my favorites from the list of books from that exhibit that have been banned or has had its language or content challenged.

One of the very interesting part of this is that some of these works are considered some of America's greatest literary treasures.

These are not all of the banned books from that exhibit listed, these are just my personal favorites which I found to be great reads.

And yes, these are books that I have read. Why did I repeat that? Well, for a person who has a hard time getting through a novel because they lose my interest - my saying that is a big deal to me.

Something written really has to hold on to my interest for me to get through, that is the reason I love Short Stories instead of Novels.

Warning! The titles of what has been banned might surprise you.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884

Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism.

It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective).

It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

And by the way, as an interesting side note, Twain named his fictional character Tom Sawyer after a San Francisco fireman whom he met in June 1863.

The real Tom Sawyer was a local hero, famous for rescuing 90 passengers after a shipwreck.

The two remained friendly during Twain's three-year stay in San Francisco, often drinking and gambling together

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River during the mid 1800s.

Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist about twenty years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes - particularly racism.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was criticized upon release because of what some called "coarse" language and became even more controversial in the 20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes.

That was mostly due to its frequent use of the 19th century colloquialism "nigger".

Of course, this was all despite the many who still argue that the protagonist in the story as well as the tenor of the book is in reality anti-racist.

Because of the language, the first ban of Mark Twain’s American Classic came in 1885 from the same stiff neck folks who burned witches up there in Massachusetts.

Someone who's name is now completely forgotten even called it "trash and suitable only for the slums."

Objections to the book have evolved, but only marginally. Some hate literature that doesn't lie while others enjoy perpetuating the lie.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does not lie. It tells us how things really were. 

Twain’s book is one of the most-challenged of all time and is frequently challenged even today because of its frequent use of the word "nigger" - which was not a word looked upon as something taboo in the 1800s.  

Those who want it banned allege the book is "racially insensitive," "oppressive," and "perpetuates racism" - when in fact it fights racism by telling the truth about what too place.

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936

Slavery in Gone with the Wind is a backdrop to a story that is essentially about other things. 

Southern plantation fiction (also known as Anti-Tom literature) from the early 19th century - culminating in Gone With the Wind - is written from the perspective and values of the slaveholder and tends to present slaves as docile and happy.

The characters in the novel are organized into two basic groups along class lines: the white planter class, such as Scarlett and Ashley, and the black house servant class.

The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork, Prissy, and Uncle Peter.  

House servants are the highest "caste" in Mitchell's caste system of the slaves. They stay on with their masters after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and subsequent Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 sets them free.

Of the servants that stayed on at Tara, Scarlett thinks to herself, "There were qualities of loyalty and tirelessness and love in them that no strain could break, no money could buy."

One criticism leveled at Gone with the Wind is for its portrayal of African Americans in the 19th century South.

Former field hands during the early days of Reconstruction are described behaving "as creatures of small intelligence might naturally be expected to do. Like monkeys or small children turned loose among treasured objects whose value is beyond their comprehension, they ran wild—either from perverse pleasure in destruction or simply because of their ignorance."

For me, why read a lie about how it was in the South before or after the Civil War. If I want to know how slaves were looked upon - why should I go to some work which as been cleansed and sanitized so not to offend someone.

Gone With The Wind is a Pulitzer-prize winning novel which follows the life of the spoiled daughter of a Southern plantation owner just before and then after the fall of the Confederacy and decline of the South in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Just three years after its publication, it became an Academy-Award Winning film. Today, it considered one of the best films ever made - a true classic.

Critically praised for its thought-provoking and realistic depiction of ante- and post-bellum life in the South, it has also been banned for more or less the same reasons.

Its realism has come under fire, specifically its realistic portrayal – though at times perhaps tending toward optimistic - of slavery and use of the words “nigger” and “darkies.”

It was banned from the Anaheim, California Union High School District’s English classrooms in 1978, according to the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association, for its depiction of the behavior of Scarlett O’Hara and the freed slaves in the novel.

It was also challenged in the Waukegan, Illinois School District in 1984 because of the novel’s above-mentioned use of the word “nigger.”

Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852

Like Huck Finn, and Gone With the Wind, the contextual, historically and culturally accurate depiction of the treatment of black slaves in the United States has rankled would-be censors.

It is said that the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was tantamount to its popularity as the second best-selling book of the 19th century behind the Bible.

Published in 1852, it did indeed have great influence by giving a needed shot in the arm to the Republican Abolitionist Movement bend on defeating the Democrats who supported the buying and selling of slaves as wee as the owning of black slaves.

While this book gave life to ridding the nation of slavery, Democrats and prosperous plantation owners had some influence too - and banned the book due to its anti-slavery themes.

Surprisingly, they were not alone in their decision. Tsarist Russia did the same in objection to the book’s “undermining religious ideals” and presenting a model of equality.

Another subtheme was the moral authority of motherhood.

The author, Stowe, saw motherhood as the “ethical and structural model for all of American life,” and believed that only women had the moral authority to save the United States from slavery.

Critics have noted that Stowe’s female characters are often domestic clichés instead of realistic women - but then how much weight can you put in what her critics say.

Like most Democrats at the time, those who were critical of her work wanted her book killed and gone - and yes, they would use any excuse they could find to do it.

Unable to stop her, Stowe’s novel nevertheless reaffirmed the importance of women’s influence and helped lay the seeds for the women’s suffrage movement and women's rights several decades later.

Why Are Democrats In Favor Banning Books?

In the same way that the Nazi Party in Germany in to the 1930s burned books to keep the truth and ideas of freedom out of the heads of those who they were trying to enslave, Democrats have wanted to bury their deeds because their history is not very nice to look at.

They want to bury and ban a lot of America's Greatest Literature simply because Democrats don't want us to know that they were in fact against freeing black slaves, that it was Democrats who started the Ku Klux Klan, and were a part of the same Democrat Party who fought against giving freed blacks their 2nd Amendment rights to guns to defend themselves against Democrats and the Klan.

Democrats have been against Christians and Catholics, and have a long history of being against women's rights.

One way to hide their infamous history is to ban books showing what they have done.

And yes, that in itself is the real reason that most Democrats who are teachers, school administrators, on school boards, and are in politics fight to suppress some of America's greatest literature.

They simply don't want us knowing about their past before Franklin D. Roosevelt, and they use the excuse that certain literature is racist to keep it from us.

Think about it, would you?

During the 1840s and 1850s, Democrats insisted on protecting slavery in all the territories while Republicans resisted them and fought to fight the spread of slavery.

In 1860, Democrats adopted a pro-slavery platform in an election campaign that was won by Abraham Lincoln and the newly formed Republican Party which consisted of people who were anti-slavery.

Democrats took the nation to war over their beloved slavery. After the Civil War, most opposed the Republican Party's Radical Reconstructions support of black civil and political rights.

The Democrat Party identified itself as the "white man's party" and demonized the Republican Party as being "Negro dominated."

Determined to re-capture the South, Democrats considered it a mission to "redeem" state after state - sometimes it was peacefully, other times by fraud and violence.

By 1877, when Reconstruction was officially over, the Democratic Party controlled every Southern state.

The South remained a one-party region until the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

Democrats throughout the nation, most of whom had prejudicial attitudes towards blacks, offered no challenge to the discriminatory policies of their brothers in South.

One of the consequences of the Democratic victories in the South was that many Southern Congressmen and Senators were almost automatically re-elected every election.

Due to the importance of seniority in the U.S. Congress, Democrats were able to control most of the committees in both houses of Congress and kill any civil rights legislation.

Even though Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a Democrat, he rarely challenged the powerfully entrenched liberal Democrat politicians during that time.

To give you an example of how racist Democrats were under FDR: when the House passed a Republican Anti-Lynching bill several times in the 1930s with bi-partisan support, the Democrat senators filibustered it to death in the Democrat controlled Senate.


by Tom Correa