Book Review: We Are Doomed

So I read this book about a month or so ago by John Derbyshire called We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism. I read it and quite enjoyed it, and promised I'd do a book review.

And then I found this article by the same author-- which just happens to be the article which he later expanded into the full length book. So rather than tell you what I think about the book or to try and reinvent the wheel explaining it, I will link to the article itself.

If you enjoy what you read, by all means pick up We are Doomed by John Derbyshire.

Here.


+++AWESOME QUOTE+++
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." --Thomas Jefferson

Part of the reason for my abortion post earlier...

Was this.

What's the difference, I'd like to ask the pro-abortion types, between what this guy did and an everyday, common abortion?

A: Location, location, location!

/disgust.

Happy Birthday, Robert E. Lee

"He was a foe without hate; a friend without treachery; a soldier without cruelty; a victor without oppression, and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices; a private citizen without wrong; a neighbour without reproach; a Christian without hypocrisy, and a man without guile. He was a Caesar, without his ambition; Frederick, without his tyranny; Napoleon, without his selfishness, and Washington, without his reward."
— Benjamin Harvey Hill of Georgia referring to Robert Edward Lee during an address before the Southern Historical Society in Atlanta, Georgia on February 18, 1874

Happy Birthday to an American Hero.

Margaret Sanger on Abortion and Eugenics

From the founder of Planned Parenthood herself:

“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.


“Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race.”
Margaret Sanger. Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.


“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.


“Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need … We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock.”

Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review.


“Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems."

Margaret Sanger. “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda.” Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.

Absolutely horrendous.

Does anyone take the ATF seriously anymore?

They shouldn't.

The airsoft folks and the reporter are right-- there isn't any way to turn an airsoft rifle into anything capable of firing a real bullet. What people seem to forget is that a bullet is, in essence, a controlled explosion in your hands directed down a steel tube (specifically built, as is the bolt, chamber, firing pin, etc., for such a purpose). The plastic used in even top-of-the-line airsoft toys is not built to withstand those pressures.

That said, airsoft can be a fine way to train you and your friends in squad tactics, movement, etc. Besides the danger of swinging loaded weapons around a field, forest or building with your friends, there's also the "militia" element. Simply put, if you put on full battle-rattle and brought your FAL or SKS out into the woods to practice fire and manuever tactics, its gonna scare the shit outta some people that don't know any better. But if you do the same with airsoft rifles in hand, people will just look at you odd and go about their business. I will leave my ire for the ATF for another post.

+++AWESOME QUOTE+++
"The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice, and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage, and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty-- and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies." -H. L. Mencken

Happy New Year

It's fast approaching midnight, and a new year. I'm sitting at work listening to people going crazy in the hallways. Gonna have to ask them to keep it down.

Around Thanksgiving most people put together lists of what they're thankful for. I never did. It's not because I'm not thankful; its mostly because I'm lazy. So in addition to one of those "New Years' Resolutions" things, I'll also list what I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for...

-Family. Sure, you get on my nerves sometimes. But God threw us together, and I'm really happy for that.

-Friends. Considering how much of an asshole I can be, I'm surprised I have as many friends as I do. Thanks guys. I know I can be hard to put up with.

-my fellow OPERATORS. Really, it's great to know people that are as crazy right-winger/survivalist/pro-gun as I am. It keeps me grounded.

-I'm thankful for having no debt-- as well as a ton of memories. I'm not sticking with the National Guard thing past my first enlistment, but I'm glad I signed on the dotted line-- and signed for Guard and not active-- all the same.

-For lost friends. If you're reading this, I miss you. Even though it ended the way it did, I'm glad you were an important part of my life. My door is always open.

-Liberty. I know I don't truly understand what that word means, and I'm am living in an age where we do not fully understand the true implications of that word... but I treasure the rights I have, and will fight so my children live freer than I did.

-My wife. I don't know who you are. If you're out there, I miss you. And if you're not, and never will be... I still miss you.

-A God that is willing to take me back again and again despite my excessive failures to follow him. You are the greatest of all Gods.


Now, for some resolutions. In 2011, I will...

-Try to get in better shape.
-Finish building my .308 battle rifle
-Learn to hit a dinner plate sized target from the prone at 600 yards with said .308 battle rifle. With iron sights.
-Get a much school done as I can.
-Learn more carpentry skills.
-Learn how to weld.
-Learn auto repair.
-Read "The Brothers Karamazov".
-Read the Narniad (lolMike), Lord of the Rings, and the Iliad again.
-Finish at least one comic book storyline.
-Set a prayer schedule.
-Perfect a diet that will avoid the intestinal problems I'm developing.
-Raise my GPA.
-Practice my Close Quarters Marksmanship, as well as my long-range marksmanship.
-Learn point shooting with my pistol.
-Start saving money.
-Stock up on food.
-Stock up on more ammo.
-Live a life worthy of my Master.

...and that's about it.

Happy New Years, all.

+++AWESOME QUOTE+++
"It is the duty of every patriot to defend his country from his government." --Thomas Paine

New Years Musings

I have standing invitations to no less than three New Years' Eve Parties tomorrow night. I have to gently refuse all of them, because I'm working. Third shift blows, but I can't quit my job in this economy. Also, I have to go into work two hours early tomorrow because my coworker on the 3-11 shift wants off early to be at her NYE party in time. No, they didn't ask me.

*sigh*

Did some rifle and pistol drills today. Also dropped weight-- a big deal for me, since I have issues with it. The high fat/protein/veggies diet seems to be working. Also, fasting Wednesdays and Fridays (no meat, fish, or dairy) is also working out well. I've made it my personal goal to memorize the Nicene Creed, and I'm just about there. Working on a set "personal prayer time". Its hard to do, but setting concrete goals about prayer makes it seem more achievable.

For a lot of prayer stuff, I really have to give credit to "The Jesus Prayer" by Frederica Mathewes-Green. Its got a lot of good advice and tips about setting a prayer time, what/how to pray, etc. Its unbelievable how much depth and power and truth and light are in twelve little words.

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Registration is next week. Too bad KCU is Christian in name only these days. Oh well. I'm only trying to finish up to get to Law School. On that note, my GPA needs to be much higher than it is, (and that IS my fault) so prayers are appreciated.

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+++AWESOME QUOTE+++
Gold is for the mistress -- silver for the maid --
Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade."
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall,
"But Iron -- Cold Iron -- is master of them all."
--Rudyard Kipling