If you are one of the millions of Americans with a good household income and reasonably good credit who cannot get a mortgage to buy a home, I have bad news: The lawyers, lobbyists and politicians in Washington, DC have no intention of making a mortgage loan available to you or even Ben Bernanke anytime soon. The former Fed Chair recently said he got turned down in an attempt to refinance his mortgage.
Don’t blame the bankers, though. It is your government and your elected officials who stand between you and your dream house.
Revisit that: it is your government and your elected officials who stand between you and your dream house.
It’s been exactly six years since former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan described the housing crisis and the collapse of the mortgage finance systems as a “once in a century credit tsunami.”
While the storm may have passed, the damage remains.
After being taken over by the federal government, the American mortgage finance system still hasn’t been fixed, and it may not be for several more years.
No one argues that mortgage lenders should be left to their own devices. But respected leaders are now saying that Washington has swung from reckless disregard of what lenders were doing to extreme micromanagement of the lending process.
I still say: going into Syria is completely unnecessary and wrong. It will be a quagmire to be used against the United States. I don’t see good things coming out of this for either the US or Israel. Mostly, Mr Obama couldn’t care less about either one.
Assad knows we’re coming, he reads newspapers too. Whatever strategic materiel may have existed in specific places — are now quite likely moved. Just as Syria received the WMD and gas from Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Where, for example, do you think Syria acquired the gas for their most recent play time?
When you broadcast a time and a date, Mr Obama, then people will respond. You are apparently transparent in your transnational attacks, but opaque when dealing with domestic issues. How nice to know.
And smacking Syria, roughly a week after the event, is like walking up to your dog — a week after he shat in your boots — and smacking him with a newspaper. It’s pointless.
The dog doesn’t make the connection, nothing is learned, behavior isn’t corrected, and the dog begins to make plans to kill you in your sleep.
There have been any number of movies portraying the American military as inept, bloodthirsty, bent on killing, incompetent, blundering, blithering idiots.
And frequently those adjectives are completely applicable to the civilian overlords of our military forces. To wit, from Bloomberg.com:
Twenty years ago, in a debate over the war in Bosnia, Madeleine Albright, then the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, issued a challenge to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell. Albright wanted the U.S. to confront an aggressive Serbia; Powell and the Pentagon were hesitant. Albright grew frustrated: “What’s the point of having this superb military that you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?” Albright asked. Powell later said that he thought Albright was going to give him an aneurysm.
An issue of the civilian federal government simply declaring that there will be faeries and unicorns issuing from the US military.
But the response from a US Army General, Martin Dempsey, who may actually possess an intact and full set of testicles? Read on:
Dempsey informed Kerry that the Air Force could not simply drop a few bombs, or fire a few missiles, at targets inside Syria: To be safe, the U.S. would have to neutralize Syria’s integrated air-defense system, an operation that would require 700 or more sorties. At a time when the U.S. military is exhausted, and when sequestration is ripping into the Pentagon budget, Dempsey is said to have argued that a demand by the State Department for precipitous military action in a murky civil war wasn’t welcome.
As in: we did this before. As in: you Blithering Idiots may want to re-think doing this again.
Map of the Middle East, Syria in the center. Click to expand.
Apparently so.
As I am still in LE, I still have sources around the nation from the contacts I’ve made over the years, both in the civilian LE side and the military side. Those sources also occasionally have three letters.
Two of those persons are telling me that the US is silently marshaling its forces for a possible incursion into Syria. Special Forces are being alerted first.
I remain unconvinced that American soldiers placed into Syria solve anything. And I remain unconvinced that many videos and photographs of this “gas attack” were not staged.
In the video below, a 71-year-old man at an internet cafe in Ocala, Florida on Friday, July 13th, takes umbrage with two purposely-hooded “youths” who decided to rob said cafe via handgun and baseball bat:
OCALA, Fla. — Authorities in central Florida say two men were trying to rob an Internet cafe when a 71-year-old patron began shooting his own gun, wounding the suspects.
Surveillance video shows two masked men entering the Palms Internet Cafe around 10 p.m. Friday. The Ocala Star-Banner reports one pointed a gun at customers while the other swung a baseball bat.
Nineteen-year-olds Duwayne Henderson and Davis Dawkins were later arrested and face attempted armed robbery with a firearm and criminal mischief charges. Both posted bail and were released.
The video shows patron Samuel Williams pulling a handgun and shooting. He continues firing while the suspects fall over each other as they run out the door.
Williams has a concealed weapons permit. Bill Gladson of the Marion County State Attorney’s Office says the shooting appears justified.
Because race means everything to the DEM/MSM and Leftists, I should care to point out that the aged shooter was white, and the “youths” were black.
To Mr Williams I say: nice crouch, nice two-handed Weaver stance, sir. And nice aggression. Take the fight to the enemy. Keep moving. You were textbook.
God bless you sir.
Now that’s a Seasoned Citizen who clanks when he walks.
Finally, this most interesting tidbit from UK’s The Telegraph (indicating, once again, that if you wish to discover what’s really occurring in this country, I strongly suggest scouring UK news):
According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas.
It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November.
On Dec 23 alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history.
The actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if individual customers took home more than one each.
Explanations for America’s surge in gun buying include that it is a response to the stalled economy with people fearing crime waves. Another theory is that buyers are rushing to gun shops because they believetighter firearms laws will be introduced in the future.
In that light, I would suggest that under a Leftist administration such as Mr Obama’s, tighter firearms laws are an absolute guarantee. Further, I submit that you can count on a vicious clamp on ammunition, restrictions to include the types and amount of ammunition purchased and lengthy backgrounds checks, as with firearms, involving sales of rounds.
The trend had already started in 2008 (again, UK’s The Telegraph) just before the November presidential election.
“I’ve sold probably four times as much in the last six months as I have in 20 years combined,” said Cliff Hunter, owner of Tommy Bronson Sporting Goods in Memphis. “Hand guns and the tactical weapons, they’re absolutely off the charts.”
Most of his gun sales used to be for hunting, or personal protection in a city riddled with crime. But just before the November election, anxiety that Mr Obama would win and enact a radical programme of curtailing gun rights began drove business right up.
“Obama’s a liberal socialist and I think he’s proven quickly how extreme he is,” he said. “When they get through healthcare, guns are on the table. They’re not talking about it but it’s going to happen.”
The FBI recorded a 49 per cent rise in gun background checks during election week compared to the same week a year earlier.
This should come as no shock to any right-thinking individual.
1791
The Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment — “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” gains final ratification.
1837 Georgia passes a law banning handguns. The law is ruled unconstitutional and thrown out.
1865 In a reaction to emancipation, several southern states adopt “black codes” which, among other things, forbid black persons from possessing firearms.
1871 The National Rifle Association (NRA) is organized around its primary goal of improving American civilians’ marksmanship in preparation for war.
1927 Congress passes a law banning the mailing of concealable weapons.
1934 The National Firearms Act of 1934 regulating only fully automatic firearms like sub-machine guns is approved by Congress.
1938 The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 places the first limitations on selling ordinary firearms. Persons selling guns are required to obtain a Federal Firearms License, at an annual cost of $1, and to maintain records of the name and address of persons to whom firearms are sold. Gun sales to persons convicted of violent felonies were prohibited.
1968 The Gun Control Act of 1968 – “…was enacted for the purpose of keeping firearms out of the hands of those not legally entitled to possess them because of age, criminal background, or incompetence.” — Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms The Act regulates imported guns, expands the gun-dealer licensing and record keeping requirements, and places specific limitations on the sale of handguns. The list of persons banned from buying guns is expanded to include persons convicted of any non-business related felony, persons found to be mentally incompetent, and users of illegal drugs.
1972 The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is created listing as part of its mission the control of illegal use and sale of firearms and the enforcement of Federal firearms laws. ATF issues firearms licenses and conducts firearms licensee qualification and compliance inspections.
1977 The District of Columbia enacts an anti-handgun law which also requires registration of all rifles and shotguns within the District of Columbia.
1986 The Armed Career Criminal Act (Public Law 99-570) increases penalties for possession of firearms by persons not qualified to own them under the Gun Control Act of 1986. The Firearms Owners Protection Act (Public Law 99-308) relaxes some restrictions on gun and ammunition sales and establishes mandatory penalties for use of firearms during the commission of a crime.
1989 California bans the possession of semiautomatic assault weapons following the massacre of five children on a Stockton, CA school playground.
1990 The Crime Control Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-647) bans manufacturing and importing semiautomatic assault weapons in the U.S. “Gun-free school zones” are established carrying specific penalties for violations.
1994
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 103-159) imposes a five-day waiting period on the purchase of a handgun and requires that local law enforcement agencies conduct background checks on purchasers of handguns. (ATF’s Brady Law web site.)
1997
The Supreme Court, in the case of Printz v. United States, declares the background check requirement of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act unconstitutional.
The Florida Supreme Court upholds a jury’s $11.5 million verdict against Kmart for selling a gun to and intoxicated man who used the gun to shoot his estranged girlfriend.
Major American gun manufacturers voluntarily agree to include child safety trigger devices on all new handguns.
1998 – June A Justice Department report indicates the blocking of some 69,000 handgun sales during 1977 while Brady Bill pre-sale background checks were required.
1998 – July An amendment requiring a trigger lock mechanism to be included with every handgun sold in the U.S. is defeated in the Senate.
But, the Senate approves an amendment requiring gun dealers to have trigger locks available for sale and creating federal grants for gun safety and education programs.
1998 – October New Orleans, LA becomes the first US city to file suit against gun makers, firearms trade associations, and gun dealers. The city’s suit seeks recovery of costs attributed to gun-related violence.
1998 – November 12 Chicago, IL files a $433 million suit against local gun dealers and makers alleging that oversupplying local markets provided guns to criminals.
1998 – November 17 A negligence suite against gun maker Beretta brought by the family of a 14-year old boy killed by an other boy with a Beretta handgun is dismissed by a California jury.
1998 – November 30
Permanent provisions of the Brady Act go into effect. Gun dealers are now required to initiate a pre-sale criminal background check of all gun buyers through the newly created National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) computer system.
1998 – December 1 The NRA files suit in federal court attempting to block the FBI’s collection of information on firearm buyers.
1998 – December 5 President Clinton announces that the instant background check system had prevented 400 illegal gun purchases. The claim is called “misleading” by the NRA.
1999 – January
Civil suits against gun makers seeking to recover costs of gun-related violence are filed in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Miami-Dade County, Florida.
1999 – May 20
By a 51-50 vote, with the tie-breaker vote cast by Vice President Gore, the Senate passes a bill requiring trigger locks on all newly manufactured handguns and extending waiting period and background check requirements to sales of firearms at gun shows.
1999 – August 24 The Los Angeles County, CA Board of Supervisors votes 3 – 2 to ban the the Great Western Gun Show, billed as the “world’s largest gun show” from the Pomona, CA fairgrounds where the show had been held for the last 30 years. (Typical Gun Show Rules & Regulations here.)
And likely you can’t either.
