NO TEARS FOR TED

First, I want to apologize for not keeping up with my usual one-post-a-week. I've been on a vacation this past week with my wife and I will be in Colorado from September 10th to the 20th mule deer and elk hunting with my unofficially adopted son, Aron. Those of you involved with PETA should say a prayer for those animals, I promise only as quick a kill as I can possibly deliver and to give the reverence and respect that all my prey deserves.

Secondly, I want to apologize for what I'm about to say about Ted Kennedy, but damn it, someone has to say it.

Senator Edward Kennedy died this week and for his service to this country (USA), he has my thanks. However, as most of you know by now, I'm not the kind of guy who believes that if you work in a mission or help the elderly it gives you forgiveness for what you've done in your past. To truly get forgiveness in my world you have to follow the three "R's" of asking forgiveness. First, you have to 'Recognize' what you have done wrong. That means coming completely clean about the details of your mistake and admitting you were wrong. Second, you have to 'Repent". That means you have to stop whatever it is that you were doing wrong and do it no more. And thirdly you have to 'Repair'. That means you have to make it up to whoever you did wrong. A good example is; you steal something from a store. You admit to the owner what you have done, then you ask his forgiveness and promise in return to never steel again (and you honor that pledge) and finally, you pay for what you stole and offer to do some work around the store to make up for your actions.

Ted Kennedy has not completed those three R's when it come to Chappaquiddick and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

For those of you unaware of what Ted did on that fateful night of July 18, 1969, let me remind you. Ted threw a party for what was know as the Boiler Room Girls (young girls who had worked on his brother Bobby's campaign). At the party, was a noticeable absence of the wives of any of the men in attendance, including Mr. Kennedy's. After several hours of drinking and carousing, Ted offered to drive young Mary Jo Kopechne home according to his own testimony. Upon reaching the bridge leading across a bay, Ted misjudged a turn and drove into the water flipping his car on it's back. Ted managed to get out of the car but poor Mary Jo was left to die. There are sooo many things wrong with the many versions of that night that Ted gave that I can't even list them all, but here are a few.

1) Despite the fact that the car was in only six feet of water, Ted claims he couldn't get Mary Jo out. This despite the fact that he got out himself (which means a door or a window was open) and was such a good swimmer that he claims to have panicked and then swam over 500 yards to the other side.

2)Ted waited until the next day to report the accident (after he discovered that the car had been found) , despite that he conferred with several people about the accident.

3)He used every one of his connections to attempt to silence the story and fought the release of his testimony.

It should be pointed out here that the rescue swimmer, John Farrar, later testified at the inquest that Kopechne's body was pressed up in the car in a spot where an air bubble would have formed and may have lived as long as two hours after the accident.

I know that this all happened a long time ago, and only God and Ted knows what truly happened on that night. But one thing is certain in my mind. Ted Kennedy never gave Mary Jo Kopechne's family or the American people the truth and he certainly never followed my three 'R' rule for forgiveness. Ted would routinely ask other Senators if they had heard any good Chappaquiddick jokes and even named his dog "Splash". Ted never took full responsibility for his actions and for that he get no tears from me. I save my tears for the victims of men in power like Ted Kennedy. It took all of you approximately 5 minutes to read this post. I want you to stop and think what it must have been like for Mary Jo to struggle for air for 24 times that, all while pinning her hopes on a man that she greatly admired and was certain would save her while he plotted how to save his own ass. A man who wouldn't even come clean on his death bed. H.C.

GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, IRRATIONAL LOGIC KILLS PEOPLE

Occasionally, I get into a little debate with my good friend and fellow blogger, Andre. Lately, we've been goin' at it over guns. That's not a problem, Andre and me both know how to respectfully disagree. That's not to say that we don't throw our full weight behind what we think is right. Andre see things from the prospective of someone that has only seen guns used for killing, robbing and threatening. I, on the other hand, am exposed to people being far more responsible. Most of what I see is hunters and well-trained gun enthusiasts. Since I have never compiled what I believe are the true facts about guns into one post, I thought this would be a good opportunity.

The history of guns in America goes all the way back to the very first settlers. While England allowed the settlers to have some guns, they damn sure didn't want a well-armed insurgency on their hands. For that reason, gun manufacturing was not allowed. When the Founding Fathers decided to break away from England and gain their own independence, getting more guns was high on their list of important steps. For this reason, my hero Ben Franklin went to France to enlist the support of King Louis XVI who brought over the guns necessary for us to free ourselves. The Founding Fathers were well aware that guns were kept from them to keep them subservient. For that reason, they saw fit to enshrine the possession of guns into what we now know as the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

Many years and changes have happened since that wondrous time. Slowly, with the help of people who fear guns, our attitudes have turned against guns. With that movement has come a lot of hyperbole on both sides of the argument. In an effort to clear up some of that misconception (IMO), here are some of my best arguments for keeping guns in the hands of capable and law-abiding people.

Since 1986, the number of states allowing people the "Right to Carry" a firearm has blossomed. From it's early inception, the movement has managed to turn nearly every state into a "Shall Issue" state. Meaning that if you want to be able to carry a handgun on your person, the state "shall issue" that permit unless you are deemed unworthy. Despite irrational claims by the anti-gun crowd that we would all end up shooting each other, each and every state has seen a drop in crime after Shall Issue was implemented. In fact all crime, including suicide has declined.

The left in this country tries desperately to convince people that the proliferation of guns by legal means is causing all the gun violence. They even go so far as to site the "gun show loophole" (which accounts for less than 1% of guns used in capital crimes) as a main means of trafficking guns into the hands of criminals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The guns used in crimes, particularly capital crimes, are mostly illegal guns that were purchased illegally. That's probably contrary to what you've heard either from your Liberal media or your Liberal professor or teacher. The truth is, there are a lot of anti-gun sites and radical pro-gun sites out there and good research is hard to find. Most of those anti-gun sites center on incidents and not on facts. They want to play to your emotions rather than to your logic. Here is the best research I've ever been able to find. It shows that over 78% of guns used in violent crimes were purchased illegally. The research was done by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics and if you look at the date it was published, you'll notice it was compiled during the Clinton Administration. Arguably the most anti-gun administration in U.S. history.

Guns are used every single day in this country to protect life and property. Most of the time it is not even reported. I know this to be true because I have, myself, used a gun to stop a crime. And I never reported it. I was working late at a liquor store in Flint (already a bad idea) and to make a long story short, three young men came in and attempted to rob me. I became suspicious when two young men came in and appeared to be "casing the joint". When they left, I saw three different men get out of the same car and make their way toward the store. I grabbed a .32 caliber handgun the owner had under the counter, and when one of them reached for his gun (I saw it in his pants under his coat) I beat him to the punch and demanded they leave the store. Since I wasn't certified to have the gun, I figured I had better leave well enough alone. Stories like that are buried by our MSM on D-12 or on the Police Blotter and very few people ever see them. However, the NRA compiles them in their monthly magazines under the heading "The Armed Citizen". Click on the link and then type "gun" for the keyword and then enter your state. Since a lot of you will dismiss the NRA as a unreliable source (and you should always be sceptical), take the time to research each story using the source and the date. I did and came up with the story nearly every time (some sources weren't archived very well). As a little more proof. As I'm writing this piece, the news is reporting on a 72-year-old man who shot 4 thugs who attempted to rob his store and pistol-whipped one of his employees. Like I said-it happens every day.

The U.S. of A. is one of the most heavily armed countries in the world, and for me to pretend that we don't have a problem with gun violence would be disingenuous. What I'm trying to say here is that the problem isn't the gun-it's our culture. Since our beginning, everyone has had a gun and it was never a major problem. It was only within the past few decades that it became one. The devaluing of life, the absence of any structure or discipline in our families, mass media that glorifies killing, particularly with African Americans, are the most likely culprits. We can't really have a gun problem in America. A gun is, after all, an inanimate object, incapable of doing damage on it's own. What we do have is a irrational logic problem. Too many people believe a gun gives them power, will cure their problems and will get them respect. To believe that, I believe, is irrational. Especially when those that use a gun disrespectfully, almost always end up dead. And that doesn't give you power, doesn't cure your problems, and damn sure won't get you respect, particularly from me. H.C.

SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

Since nothing has really struck a nerve or pushed my blood pressure up this week, I thought I'd run through a few things that have sort-of struck a nerve, pissed me off or made me go WTF. So here they are in no particular order.

*Tough Girl?*

I am always hearing from the female side of our genetics how strong a woman Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is. So why is it that when Hill fractured her elbow she had to work at home? Couldn't she just put it in a sling? Hill was MIA for nearly a month and a half while Iran went ballistic and North Korea lobbed missiles over Japan and at Hawaii. So how is it that soon-to-be-Justice Sonia Sotomayor, breaks her ankle (considerably harder to move around with) and can still show up to face a daily Inquisition by Congressional Republicans. Hillary a tough girl? I'm taking Sonia in one round.

*Poverty Causes Obesity?*

Thinking logically, one would assume that the poorer you get, the thinner you'd get. If you look at all the countries with the highest poverty levels, you'd also notice them all looking mighty slim. America seems to be an exception to this rule. With unemployment in Michigan now at 15.2% and climbing, we have somehow found a way to make ourselves even fatter as more of us become unemployed. Michigan ranked as 9th highest in obesity according to according to a new report by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Only in America are all the rich people scary thin while the poorest wallow in obesity.

*Michigan Looking for Prisoners?*

Michigan is apparently so desperate for tourism that it is now courting other states' corrections departments. Governor Jennifer Granholm, aka Buffy the Job Killer, has offered to take California's inmates to fill up some of the Michigan prisons scheduled to be closed. I guess since our College Graduates are leaving at a record rate, we have to do something to get our state population back up. As if that wasn't bad enough, recently I've found that we're on the short list to take some of the Gitmo detainees. Isn't this cruel and unusual punishment? They're all going to end up obese and unemployed.

*Can't Seem to Make Up Their Minds*

As the Republican talk show hosts turn up the heat on Obama's Heath Care Reform, one topic keeps coming up contradicting itself. If, as the Talking Heads say, a Government run program would be a monumental disaster, proven by the fact that the Government "Fails at everything it tries, just look at the U.S. Post Office." How is it that those same radio ramblers also say that the Government run program would push all other Health Care Insurers out of business? They can't compete against a monumental failure? By the way, Fed-ex and UPS seem to be holding their own.

*Kwame's Legacy Lives On*

Detroit has finally managed to rid itself of Hip-Hop Mayor Thief-of-the-Century Kwame Kilpatrick. But his legacy lives on. Detroit Public Schools is $360 million in debt and the city itself is in debt for another $300 million. In the mist of all the thievery that has been uncovered in that God-forsaken Hellhole, we've recently discovered a a sweetheart (pun intended) deal Mr. Kilpatrick set up for another of his high-class, low morals beetches. Sheryl Robinson Wood, was hired by Kilpatrick to oversee reforms in the Detroit Police Department to the tune of $180,000 a month. All told, Sheryl managed to fleece the City of Detroit for an astonishing $13 million. The citizens of Detroit are holding their City Council elections tomorrow, we'll see how many of that band of theives hold their jobs.

O.K., that's it for now. Enjoy your day and if you don't live in Michigan, remember to Thank your lucky stars. H.C.