I've created a special feature for the print media and broadcasters ("Page Nine" regardless of where or when it runs), that covers stories afresh, not the way news rooms typically flavor things. It would help reduce the distrust so many news consumers feel and could be the most avidly followed item you carry -- if you carry it. It certainly is well received by my audience.
This casual sample might make you say, "We'll NEVER run that!" but Page Nine is being built around ad revenues from clear-thinking mainstream businesses.
Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America
"The Uninvited Ombudsman"
--Tell your friends--
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PAGE NINE
The Uninvited Ombudsman Report, No. 61
by Alan Korwin, Mar. 10, 2009
1- Gun Sales Astronomical
2- 4473 Form Shortage
3- Bloomberg Shot Down
4- Hate Crime Hoax
5- Not Obama's Budget
6- Book Beats Socialism
7- Barack Born Again
8- Obfuscating AIG's Malfeasance
9- "Ban" Becomes "Change"
10- Freest States Identified
11- Baloney From Stem-Cells
12- Government Schools Shrinking
STARTERS:
Accountability plan of the month: "Compel members of Congress to wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers, so we can identify their corporate sponsors." Thanks to business consultant Brad Harper.
Underreported (as in, not reported): "I was at Bass Pro Shops in Mesa the other day and the gun/ammo guys said they get two shipments per week and there is usually a line of people waiting at the elevator inside the store when they bring it up. It usually never makes it to the shelves (which were increasingly barren). --JD" And: "My family and I went to the desert Saturday to have some fun and do some target shooting. It took 3 different stops at three different stores before I could find any 40 caliber shells. --CT"
The NRA Annual Convention will be in my home town this year, Phoenix, May 14-17. They expect 60,000 interesting people and scores of leaders of the pro-rights movement. You should plan to hang out with these people -- your compatriots -- no matter how you feel about "lobbies" per se, and push the attendance to 120,000, wouldn't THAT send a message. Join me there. http://www.nraam.org
***Back in print again at last (in plain English)***
Gun Law Guide for MICHIGAN!
Gun Law Guide for MASSACHUSETTS!
Gun Law Guide for OHIO!
Gun Law Guide for NEW HAMPSHIRE!
Gun Law Guide for SOUTH CAROLINA! https://www.gunlaws.com/books.htm
Plus -- we're introducing the Armed Response series of self-defense DVDs, truly excellent, take a look: https://www.gunlaws.com/videos.htm
CORRECTIONS:
I forgot to mention that Eric Holder, according to "news" reports wants to ban guns to stop the flow of grenades and machine guns to Mexico, but grenades and machine guns are not openly available to the public in stores (a very limited inventory of MGs nationally can be obtained with special FBI and local LEO clearance at $10K and up each); he also wants to ban the sale of "cop killer" bullets, which is actually two mistakes -- any bullet aimed at a cop is a potential killer and totally illegal already (with death penalty as punishment), and special ammunition so named by the Brady gun-ban group is already banned to the public. Thanks to Howard Nemerov for pointing out these shortcomings, and noting, "Holder proposes to ban something that is already banned... so he can dramatize 'doing something about crime' on the public stage." Mexican drug lord sources for grenades and MGs was not reported.
Regarding the human intelligence article ('our nation of cowards won't discuss race'), of course intellect is distributed across the globe, but it is not EVENLY distributed. Why else would at least one continent still be having a hard time figuring out indoor plumbing? I left out the "ly" on "evenly." Ooops. Sorry.
I failed to detect another gross error in AP's report on their preposterous swim-across-the Atlantic-stories, when they said, "Benoit Lecomte... French long distance swimmer... first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean... for cancer research... tribute to his father... electromagnetic field to ward off sharks... took him 72 days, with 6-8 hours spent swimming each day..." Bob Solomon, who like me also owns a "calculator" figured Lecomte's 5,980 kilometer route would require about 10 km/hr. -- but the 10 km open water Olympic marathon last summer achieved only 5.36 km/hr. (for a 2-hour race). I apologize for not noting the AP's additional ridiculous blatant error.
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1- Gun Sales Astrobomical
The lamestream media told you:
The economy is so far in the tank it's hopeless and you're all doomed.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Overlooked somehow by the "news" media, retail firearm sales leaped 23.3 percent in February to 1,259,078, compared to 1,021,130 in February 2008, based on the number of NICS background checks performed by the FBI. The increase follows a 29 percent rise in January, a 24 percent rise in December and a stunning 42 percent jump in November, when a record 1,529,635 background checks were performed. Actual sales are higher, since the government cannot track private sales between citizens.
The continuing increase in firearm sales coincides with a BATFE announcement that firearm retailers may continue to photocopy the Form 4473 -- the federal document required for purchase of a firearm from a retailer -- since the Distribution Center for the forms is swamped with backorders. President Barack Obama's threats to gun rights have been credited with the massive order stimulus.
2- 4473 Form Shortage
The lamestream media told you:
Nothing.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The federal Bureaucracy of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives has run out of Form 4473, the form federal firearms dealers use to permanently record the retail sales of guns in America.
The form, which has grown to six pages from its original two, is printed on yellow paper, and the bureaucracy has apparently run out of yellow paper too, in addition to printing delays. The source of this information is from BATFE itself in a plea to its dealers. http://www.atf.gov/firearms/030209notice-to-ffls.htm
It seemed clear that the massive sales of guns, which have left dealer shelves bare nationwide and manufacturers in frenzied backorder production mode has led to the shortage of forms. The bureaucracy has taken the unusual step of allowing dealers to make their own copies of the forms, provided all six pages are made, stapled together, permanently stored, and "of good quality."
The shortage of record keeping paper and printed forms comes at an embarrassing time for the government, while it is trying to hand out hundreds of billions of dollars to every manner of avaricious gaping maw and keep track of the action. Skeptics question whether agencies that can't keep forms in stock for tracking innocent people can take over the health care industry, run the car manufacturing business, manage the banks, control the world's climate and justify 8,000 earmarks it formerly said it would quash, while ensuring the public it can do this without any problem and that our money is perfectly safe.
The effect on crime of 7.5 million sheets of yellow paper used to record and store innocent people's purchase records in February is unknown, but at least federal officials didn't have to pick, pack and ship the paper to dealers everywhere last month.
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3- Bloomberg Shot Down
The lamestream media told you:
New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has conducted a private sting operation to halt the flow of illegal guns into New York City, where guns are thankfully banned to most of the public. Using private investigators, the city's wonderful mayor has identified stores in backward southern states and elsewhere that could be persuaded to sell guns they shouldn't, which would end up "on the streets." Everyone applauds the brave mayor's efforts to rid our streets of gun crime.
"A federal judge said that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration did not commit a crime when it sent undercover investigators into gun shops to attempt illegal weapons purchases," according to the AP last year.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Putting an end to nine years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear New York City's request to continue a lawsuit that sought to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. "We are very pleased by today's ruling to not review lower appellate court rulings that dismissed cases based on the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
"These baseless lawsuits against responsible, law-abiding companies are the type that Congress intended to prevent by passing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005." A federal judge threw out the New York lawsuit, originally filed in 2000. Then in April of 2008, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision, saying the new law was constitutional. New York's final recourse was to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court refused the case this week.
Regarding the illegal stings orchestrated in distant states by the maverick mayor, he has been roundly criticized for exceeding his authority, conspiring to break the law, falsely using private citizens as law enforcement officers, and prompted a number of states to enact statutes banning such activity with prison terms and fines for future violations. http://tinyurl.com/cwyvqc.
"Bloomberg's gun sting was a criminal stunt." (Charleston.net); "Mayor Bloomberg is taking the law into his own hands." (NY Post); "U.S. Department of Justice refused to prosecute any of Bloomberg's targets. It told Bloomberg that his actions lacked 'proper law enforcement authority' and opened agents he sent out on such stings to 'potential legal liabilities.'" (Reason).
"Gun manufacturers have been sued dozens of times by city and state officials across the country, without success," says the New York Times. The gun dealers attacked in courts with the public's money however do consider that a success.
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4- Hate Crime Hoax
The lamestream media told you:
"The second suspect in the brutal December beating death of an Ecuadorean immigrant in Brooklyn did not bother to offer any denials upon his arrest, according to the police. The police commissioner, who appeared at a morning news conference with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials, said Mr. Phoenix made a full confession in the killing of Jose O. Sucuzhanay," according to the New York Times.
Police say Phoenix and his accomplice "were shouting antigay and anti-Hispanic slurs." The accomplice hit the victim on the head with a bottle, and Phoenix hit the victim in the head with an aluminum baseball bat, knocking him down, and then returned to hit him again when he saw him move.
"This horrible act appears to have been fueled by a deadly combination of ethnic and homophobic prejudice," Mayor Bloomberg said.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
"Hate crimes" are a cruel hoax perpetrated by politicians and do-gooders re-writing the criminal justice system. A heinous criminal act does not get better if your thoughts meet with the approval of self-described thought leaders in society, and it doesn't get worse if your thoughts are deemed inappropriate.
The crime of murdering a person with a baseball bat is in no way measured by how much you like or hate the dead victim. The mere suggestion that less punishment is due if you murder people without hate is an Orwellian effort to introduce thought control into society.
Americans with a memory will recall that "thought crime" was an obnoxious, detestable, vicious and arbitrary tool for government control and authoritarian fear-mongering invented in the novel "1984" by George Orwell. It has no place in our judiciary, law books, legislatures, or politicians bent on mind control and power. A hate murderer, a clever murderer, a stupid murderer, a political murderer and a plain vanilla murderer deserve equal treatment under the law.
The public is correct to hate officials who promote or use the idea, and should remove them from office pronto.
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5- Not Obama's Budget
The lamestream media told you:
"President Barack Obama's first federal budget lays out the most far reaching agenda for American life since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The Obama priorities reflected in the $3.6 trillion budget guarantee a fierce political battle ahead over taxes and spending," according to the Associated Press.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
It is beyond impossible for one man to develop a budget that large within the first four weeks in office. Suggesting it is "his" budget misleads the public to the point of deliberate fraud. It has become so routine in "news" circles however it is barely noticed, let alone scolded.
The federal budget is a product of thousands of bureaucrats, apparatchiks, departments, clerks, special interests, vested interests, lobbyists, specialists and writers working non-stop in cubicles year in and year out, lined up to grab tax dollars and public debt dollars with two hands. The president (reportedly a very busy guy) can't even know what's in it any more than any other single individual can, let alone be in a position to call it "his."
"Hundreds of unidentified federal operatives today announced the release of a 3.6 thousand billion dollar budget which they have typed up and delivered to the Democrat-controlled Congress and newly elected president, who have agreed to call it their own," is more like it. "Congress and the president are rumored to have had some input on parts of it, but which parts are unknown, and the rumor could not be confirmed. Names of people who actually wrote the budget have not been released."
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6- Book Beats Socialism
The lamestream media told you:
Obama's plans aren't socialist, and even if they are, they're good and what America needs. People who use the "S" word are just trying to hold America back and bring down the greatest president we've ever had, at least since Bill Clinton -- who was really the first black president, according to TV commentators.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
I read a short book last night. I got so much more out of the book than I would have ever gotten over hearing Wolf Blitzer rant (what kind of name is Wolf?), or Bill O'Reilly expound, or Olbermann act snide, that I have a new motto. "Anything is better than TV."
A book is harder than TV.
With TV, I let my mind go numb and soak up what they program, while clicking the gizmo. With a book, I had to think about what was being said, and apply my own free intellect to it. I could take whatever time I needed, didn't have to fit my thoughts into the time slots between breaks, and I got a lot. A real lot. It was a beautiful thing.
The book was "Inclined to Liberty" by Louis Carabini, the man who invented and became rich from the metals-trading company Monex. I was wondering if Bloomfield Press should carry this obscure book, from the Von Mises Institute, and it so impressed me that I decided we would be crazy not to carry it. I underlined almost everything. https://www.gunlaws.com/books3.htm
Carabini, a died-in-the-wool successful capitalist has identified why our system works, the way to prosperity, the way out of poverty and the heart of the American dream, in a modern and shorter take on what Adam Smith found in Wealth of Nations. He completely guts socialism. The freedom to have cash to buy a gun (or ten) is central to our liberty and the vibrant core of this book.
I'm living those principles without trying, it just comes naturally, and you are too if you love and pursue freedom. The world needs to do these things and understand these principles if it truly wants to lift itself out of the natural order -- poverty and want -- and into the bright light and abundance that freedom and liberty bring. They sure aren't teaching this in public schools.
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7- Barack Born Again
The lamestream media told you:
The first of hundreds of black babies named "Barack" was born today to a single mother from a small town in Alabama.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The media hasn't reported this yet, but I'm taking bets that they will.
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8- Obfuscating AIG's Malfeasance
The lamestream media told you:
"The U.S. government is boosting its investment in embattled insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG), providing the firm with an additional $30 billion in capital..." according to Business Week, reporting from CNN, which reported from Dow Jones. The Treasury Dept. will get preferred and common stock in exchange for the money. AIG reported a fourth-quarter loss of $61.7 billion.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
AIG, a failed insurance company deemed "to big to fail" by government socialists, will receive $30 billion dollars extracted from tax payers who have not agreed to giving their money away like that. This is on top of $40 billion already handed over to the (undeclared) bankrupt firm.
AIG didn't actually ask for the money, someone within AIG did, but the person's name has not been revealed, following standard policy for "news" organizations. The person who was asked to give the money to them was also not identified. If they were, they might face consequences from an outraged public.
Every facet of the "news" release is devoid of names of those responsible and filled with double speak, bogus jargon, obfuscation and outright deception ("embattled... existing credit facility will be modified to reduce the existing floor... overhaul of their government rescue... the cost of not helping the company was judged to be too high... company continues to face significant challenges... has made "meaningful progress" in addressing its liquidity issues...) for the firm that would be dead without the government takeover. http://tinyurl.com/amqlmt
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9- "Ban" Becomes "Change"
The lamestream media told you:
"Some lawmakers have pressed president Barack Obama to veto the $410 billion budget bill, because it includes $7.7 billion for legislative projects known as 'earmarks.' As a candidate, Obama pledged to change the earmark process," said 'America's newspaper,' USA Today.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Bending over backwards to provide cover for their object of worship, the new first black president of the United States, USA Today has twisted the truth to the point of gross violation of the journalistic Code of Ethics, https://www.gunlaws.com/NewsAccuracy.htm which says in part, "Deliberate distortion is never permissible."
By rewriting Obama's pledge to say "change the earmark process," they shamelessly hide the fact that he actually said, "We are going to ban all earmarks." One USA Today apologist was believed to have said, "Well, but that's change," without admitting it is also a broken promise.
Some 459 of the 8,000 earmarks, all of which Obama previously promised to ban, are for legislators who aren't even in Congress any longer, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
In other news, the first mulatto president (a non-cowardly term used to satisfy the first black attorney general's directive on race speech), had his aides, after referring to the new budget as "his budget," claim the budget is actually "last year's business," and so "he" isn't responsible for it or its earmarks. They also omitted the fact that he has no money to pay for it, a point reporters somehow forgot to question.
Even pure idjits know that a budget for this year, to be signed this year, by this year's president, for spending this year, is this year's bidness.
--------
10- Freest States Identified
The lamestream media told you:
Nothing.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
The first-ever comprehensive ranking of the American states on their public policies affecting individual freedoms in the economic, social, and personal spheres has been released by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
"We find that the freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending and middling levels of regulation and paternalism. New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Maryland.
"On personal freedom alone, Alaska is the clear winner, while Maryland brings up the rear. As for freedom in the different regions of the country, the Mountain and West North Central regions are the freest overall while the Middle Atlantic lags far behind on both economic and personal freedom. Regression analysis demonstrates that states enjoying more economic and personal freedom tend to attract substantially higher rates of internal net migration." See the entire ranking, charts and details -- http://mercatus.org/PublicationDetails.aspx?id=26154
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11- Baloney From Stem-Cells
The lamestream media told you:
"President Barack Obama made his most forceful break yet from his predecessor's scientific agenda Monday, opening the door to a major expansion of government-funded research on embryonic stem cells and ordering federal agencies to strengthen the role of science in their decision-making," according to the Chicago Tribune.
He, "urged researchers to follow science and not ideology as he abolished contentious Bush-era restraints on stem-cell research," according to the AP. "Our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama declared as he signed documents changing U.S. science policy.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Companies nationwide braced for an onslaught of unfair competition as the U.S. government, although deeply in debt, plans to pour money into stem-cell research, undercutting enormous strides being made by the private sector which uses its own money for its work.
"News reports have led people to think stem-cell research has been banned, but that's completely false," said one unidentified scientist doing work on stem cells for a firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange. "Hundreds of scientists are racing for new cures with this technology, and now we'll face competition from the government, which does its work by forcing people to pony up taxes. This will hurt private-sector research and bring more socialism to the sciences." If anything should be left up to personal creativity and not government management and control, it is science, he said.
"News" outlets have framed the controversy as being between right-wing moralist Bible-thumping retromingent cretins, and desperately needed cures for the incurably ill, when it is really about who is "free" to do scientific research, and who picks up the tab.
Reporters failed to question how a president could authorize massive spending and fundamental shifts in national policy without an act of Congress. Executive Orders, used for this action, were originally intended to be used for managing executive staff, and buying supplies like pencils and paper. Firms are expected to scramble and fight each other to scoop up Obama's cash handouts of taxpayers' money.
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12- Government Schools Shrinking
The lamestream media told you:
Schools Preparing For Worst-Case Budget Scenario -- Schools nationwide are planning for staff and program cuts as they prepare to absorb millions of dollars in lost education funding, news outlets are reporting in communities everywhere. State budget cuts, a slow economy, decreased tax revenue and especially funding-cuts due to declining enrollment are hurting schools.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
Government schools are finally seeing declining enrollments, bringing huge cost savings to beleaguered taxpayers, and reducing the bloat that has plagued tax-funded schools for decades.
Schools receive huge cash supplements for every student attending each day, so they are hard pressed to keep the head count up, even resorting at times to falsified attendance records. When students transfer to private schools, charter schools, parochial schools, home schooling and other options, taxpayers save the enormous costs, what the "news" media and the schools call "lost funding."
As government-run schools lose students to better alternatives, the schools can reduce staff, cut expenses, and limit the burden on taxpayers, while better teachers can migrate to the private sector with their students and truly earn their keep. The idea that central government authorities should have responsibility for educating the nation's youth cannot be found in the U.S. Constitution, where the word "education" itself is absent.
--------
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----------
Thanks for reading!
Alan Korwin
The Uninvited Ombudsman
Alan Korwin
Bloomfield Press
"We publish the gun laws."
4848 E. Cactus, #505-440
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================================
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LINK REQUESTERS:
If you're like some folks who ask if they can link to or forward my stuff, the answer is YES, and I'm honored by such interest. You can use the PageNine logo or any art from my site, with my thanks and appreciation. https://www.gunlaws.com/PageNineIndex.htm https://www.gunlaws.com
"I only got part of the last Page Nine, table of contents that didn't link, seemed truncated... Alan, I'm sorry I just received this corrected version... and kudo's for you on an OUTSTANDING issue… keep up the good work !!!! [Note: The last issue tested OK before posting, but something went kerflooey; you all should have gotten the full version a few hours later.]
I will be delighted to be included on anything & everything you disseminate. Just wish there was more of it -- and more of you. One person just isn't enough to go around. -Pam M.
Alan Korwin
Bloomfield Press
"We publish the gun laws."
4848 E. Cactus, #505-440
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
602-996-4020 Phone
602-494-0679 Fax
1-800-707-4020 Orders
https://www.gunlaws.com
alan@gunlaws.com
Call, write, fax or click for our f r e e full-color catalog
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you're reading this in English, thank a veteran.
"No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little." --Edmund Burke
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