Feb 12 2010

The Speech That Changed The World

Category: Uncategorized — harmonicminer @ 1:19 pm

“House Divided” Speech by Abraham Lincoln

On June 16, 1858, more than 1,000 Republican delegates met in the Springfield, Illinois, statehouse for the Republican State Convention. At 5 p.m. they chose Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. At 8 p.m. Lincoln delivered this address to his Republican colleagues in the Hall of Representatives. The title comes from a sentence in the speech’s introduction, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” which paraphrases a statement by Jesus in the New Testament.

Even Lincoln’s friends believed the speech was too radical for the occasion. His law partner, William H. Herndon, thought that Lincoln was morally courageous but politically incorrect. Herndon said Lincoln told him he was looking for a universally known figure of speech that would rouse people to the peril of the times.

Click the link above to read Lincoln’s world-changing speech (Harry Jaffa’s phrase).

Feb 12 2010

Arming the feds

Category: government,guns,taxes — harmonicminer @ 9:09 am

IRS Acquiring Shotguns

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to purchase sixty Remington Model 870 Police RAMAC #24587 12 gauge pump-action shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division. The Remington parkerized shotguns, with fourteen inch barrel, modified choke, Wilson Combat Ghost Ring rear sight and XS4 Contour Bead front sight, Knoxx Reduced Recoil Adjustable Stock, and Speedfeed ribbed black forend, are designated as the only shotguns authorized for IRS duty based on compatibility with IRS existing shotgun inventory, certified armorer and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.

Submit quotes including 11% Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax (FAET) and shipping to Washington DC.

Those tax return auditing sessions must be getting really, really tense.

Seriously, this underlines the essential threat of violence that underlies all taxation.  How is it that so many people who claim to be nonviolent, and to support only nonviolent policy, are the ones who vote for MORE taxation and redistribution to cure the “inequalities” of society?

h/t:Of Arms And The Law

UPDATE:  That bit about “compatibility with IRS existing shotgun inventory” is interesting.  That implies a rather large existing inventory, since if you’re buying sixty new ones, you wouldn’t worry about whether they were compatible with only a small number of currently owned ones.

Hey…  maybe they’re just going skeet shooting.

Do skeet pay taxes?