Back to Basics

Every American gun owner, regardless of the state in which you live, is presently or will be the target of gun confiscation. A state-by-state framework of confiscation is being erected in front of us all to strip us of our rights under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Proof of this nefarious intent of disarming citizens was serendipitously caught by a “hot” microphone at the conclusion of the May 9, 2013 meeting of the New Jersey State Legislature.

At the conclusion of the New Jersey Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee meeting last Thursday, an open microphone caught three state senators, identified by voice as Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Assistant Majority Leader Sandra Cunningham, Senate Majority Whip Linda Greenstein, and at least one staff member talking candidly about their intent to confiscate all guns from the people they serve. It should be noted that Senator Loretta Weinberg is the chief proponent of the anti-gun legislation being moved through the New Jersey State Senate.

Although some of the candid conversation is a bit difficult to discern due to the ambient noise, their message is clear. “We need[ed] a bill that was going to confiscate, confiscate, confiscate,” stated one high ranking senate member. “They don’t care about the bad guys.  All they want to do is have their ‘little guns’ and do whatever they want with them,” added another in an obviously demeaning manner. Another conceded that gun owners do, in fact, want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but added that “they don’t have any regulations to do it.” Oh really?

For anyone doubting the bitter contempt these legislators hold for gun owners and pro-Constitutionalists, a YouTube video that captured the “open microphone moment” is available for review here.

During the second hour of The Hagmann & Hagmann Report that aired last night, we interviewed the highly credentialed Scott Bach, Esq., Executive Director of the Association of the New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs who explained the draconian laws being written and passed in the State of New Jersey. “Clearly, this is about nothing less than disarming the American public, and the current battleground is in New Jersey,”  stated Mr. Bach. “You might not be experiencing it in your state… yet, but you will. It’s just a matter of time.”

We must do everything we can to preserve, protect and defend our Second Amendment rights, or we will lose much more. Regardless of where you live, the fight is coming to you, if it has not yet arrived. We must be proactive, and yes, we can make our voices heard to counter the utter contempt of these lawmakers regardless of your state of residence – while we still have the chance. Let’s hold these opponents to our constitutional rights accountable for their words and actions.

The time is now, and the fight has been left to us. Make your views known and your voice heard by contacting the NJ Senate Majority Office by phone (609-847-3700) and/or fax (609-633-7254). Do it before it disappears as an option.

More information: Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs – A grassroots organization fighting to preserve our Second Amendment rights.

A man described as a lone-wolf, radical Islamist was arraigned yesterday with two counts of murder and two counts of desecration of human remains, according to a New Jersey law enforcement official.

Sergeant Peter O’Donnell said that detectives from the New Jersey State Police, working with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office and the United States Marshals Service, arrested Yusuf Ibrahim, a resident of Jersey City, N.J., earlier this month in the nearby city of Bayonne.

The 28-year-old man allegedly murdered two Jersey City men whose remains were discovered behind a home in Buena Vista, N.J.

Detectives from the Troop A Criminal Investigation Office responded to a report of suspicious activity in Buena Vista Township. Upon arrival, detectives from Buena Vista Station obtained permission to search a wooded area behind the residence. While searching in the wooded area, an area of disturbed dirt was located approximately 20 yards into the woods by cadaver dogs.

Armed with a search warrant, detectives from the Major Crime Unit, Criminal Investigation Office, and Crime Scene Unit continued the search of the disturbed area. During an excavation of the area, two male bodies were discovered without their heads or hands attached. Both bodies seem to have suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest. A short time later, a New Jersey State Police canine located another burial site which uncovered two human heads and four human hands.

The Atlantic County Medical Examiner’s Office was apprised of the investigation and took possession of the remains. The men were later identified as 25 and 27 year old Jersey City residents.

As the investigation progressed, Ibrahim was identified as the prime suspect. It was also learned that he was driving a white Mercedes Benz that belonged to one of the victims. Assistant Prosecutor John Maher approved desecration of human remains charges against Ibrahim.

Following investigative leads, detectives discovered that on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, the Mercedes Benz was located by the Philadelphia Police Department at 4110 Penns Grove Street in Philadelphia. The vehicle was abandoned and set on fire. The bi-state search for Ibrahim continued on throughout the weekend during the snow storm.

On Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, detectives from the New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit, Troop B TEAMS Unit and the Troop B Canine Unit apprehended Yusuf Ibrahim at a residence in Bayonne, N.J., where he was placed under arrest.

“These were grisly murders in which the defendant allegedly shot both victims in the chest at close range,” said Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa. “We allege that the defendant was ruthless and calculating in the manner in which he carried out the killings and attempted to prevent identification of the victims by cutting off their heads and hands before burying their bodies. The New Jersey State Police has conducted a thorough investigation, which will enable us to secure justice for the victims.”

“I want to commend our troopers and detectives who worked tirelessly in tough conditions during this investigation” said Deputy Superintendent of Investigations Matthew Wilson. “I hope the capture and arrest of this man for these heinous crimes will provide closure to the families of the victims and put the community of Buena Vista Township at ease.”

“I want to express my heartfelt sympathy for the families of the victims,” said Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain.

Rapid response photo ops

This just in from the “How many nightly newscasts would lead with this story if Bush were president” department:

I was fortunate enough to be in the pool of news photographers who accompanied the president on his tour of the devastation along the Jersey Shore, and among those who got to photograph [Donna] Vanzant’s presidential encounter.

I returned to Brigantine last week to see how she was doing.
[...]
Vanzant has been moved by the many kindnesses she received from friends, family and customers. She heard from countless people after the photograph of her hug with the president was published, including from strangers as far away as Vietnam who wished her well.

She said she was honored to meet Obama, but she is also frustrated that she has yet to receive help from either her insurance companies or the government. “The president told me I would get immediate help,” she said.

“Looking back on it, it wasted a lot of people’s time,” she said of the visit.

It’s getting so you can’t take a politician who shows up at the site of a natural disaster and makes promises shortly before a national election completely at his word anymore. In spite of what Ms. Vanzant might think, the president’s visit certainly wasn’t a “waste of people’s time” from the perspective of Team Obama. No word yet on if Jamie Foxx plans to accuse Vanzant of blasphemy over this bit of criticism.

Take note of who Vanzant says has been there for her so far, and who hasn’t, and then give another read to the New York Times’ post-Sandy editorial “Big storm requires big government.”

The original story and a photograph are still featured on the White House website.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)

On Sunday, Joe Biden was in New Jersey touring damage from Hurricane Sandy. Fully aware that the Disaster Response 101 manual calls for 70 year old men to use late 20th century street slang to calm nerves during any emergency, Plugs reminded those still affected by the storm that they can count on their homeboy:

“If you’re not an Easterner it’s hard to understand that the ocean to us is the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and everything else combined. It is a gigantic part of not only our economy but who we are. It’s a gigantic part of the culture as well.

“And every time the rest of the country is in real trouble, New Jersey and Delaware and New York and Connecticut, et cetera, we respond, we respond. And it’s going to be a heavy lift. These are difficult times in terms of budgets but the president has made it clear that we are going to do everything we can to make sure that the Corps is fully funded, that FEMA has their needs and that all the programs that exist under the auspices of the federal government not only continue to exist but are funded so that we can make sure that this area of the country is fully fully fully restored.

“So as the president said when he was up here with the governor, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere. And you’ve got a homeboy in the deal who gets it.”

Some think the “homeboy” Biden was referring to was Barack Obama, and others believe he was talking about himself. Either way, as usual, it was a cry for psychological help while the struggle continues for thousands and thousands of people.

Rumor has it that Biden was spotted selling these t-shirts just after his address, so it all makes a little more sense now:

Liberal labor unions in New Jersey have a message for those suffering in the wake of hurricane Sandy. That message is that you will suffer longer than necessary … in the name of union power.

Yes, while millions struggle without power, the unions are blocking utility crews from helping people get their power back on and their lives back on track. And why? All because the utility crews coming in to help are not unionized [1] and wont agree to union rules while working in the State.

Meanwhile, Governor Christie’s office flipped and flopped, issuing several different takes on the incident [2]. Funny how, at first, the story was called, “not true”. But then, later on, the Governor’s people stated, “The story is probably true …”. And then, finally, “We are welcoming whatever help comes in, union or non-union, to assist with the recovery,” once the news spread like wildfire.

Question for all you people in New Jersey who keep voting for liberals and who support the unions be they right/wrong/indifferent: How does it feel? How does it feel to suffer because the people you support turn away the help you now so desperately need?

It really does speak volumes about the sorts of people in charge of the unions in New Jersey.

What kind of uncaring creeps would turn away help and leave millions of residents to suffer?

What kind of vile human beings are so worried about something as trivial as to whether or not someone was union or non-union when so many are in need of help?

What absolute dregs of society think that it is a good idea to delay a return to normalcy because people who offer to help have chosen not be to part of their little group?

It is a shame to hear of such pettiness in the wake of a disaster the size and scope of Sandy. But there are apparently people who care more about their own power than a desire to help others. Worse, it always seems to be the same people who are standing in the way of things getting done.

Someday, maybe, people will wise up and stop letting these same people get in the way.

[1] http://www.waff.com/story/19981857/some-nonunion-ala-crews-turned-away-from-sandy-recovery
[2] http://www.theblaze.com/stories/who-is-telling-the-truth-nj-utility-says-it-didnt-block-non-union-help-alabama-utility-contradicts-their-statement/

I’ll bet you didn’t know that June 15th is Global Wind Day. Wind is part of the Earth’s atmosphere and, depending on whether it is blowing gently or strongly, there isn’t a darn thing anyone can do about it. Except for measuring its velocity and direction, wind like clouds remains largely a mystery to meteorologists.

Not so for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control, the people who brought you the global warming hoax, asserting that carbon dioxide, a gas on which all vegetation depends, was raising the global temperature—largely as the result of burning coal and oil as sources of energy.

The Earth, however, has been in a natural cooling cycle since 1998 and the advocates of “green energy” have been in a tailspin, a death spiral of an inadequate capacity to deliver electricity and the inability to compete with more reliable, affordable, and traditional energy sources.

Simply put, wind and solar energy is a fool’s dream and one that must be backed up by traditional energy sources at all times in the event the wind isn’t blowing or during the nighttime or if clouds obscure the sun, causing solar energy to cease producing electricity. Only an idiot would want to be dependent on wind or solar to provide a reliable source of electricity.

The Renewable Energy Industrial Index (RENIXX) tracks the stock value of wind and solar companies. In May—though you did not read about it in the mainstream media—it announced that thirty of the largest renewable energy companies were trading at “an all- time low” and the index “had lost over 90% of its value since 2008.”

So, naturally, the Sierra Club was eager to tell me about Global Wind Day and that my home state of New Jersey had the “potential to replace all the dirty coal and gas plants in the state.” The distance between “potential” and reality is roughly the distance between New Jersey and the planet Neptune.

The Sierra Club (along with a rogue’s gallery of environmental organizations) wages war on all forms of energy production and use. They urged me to join others “at a beach near you for a kite-flying rally and celebration of New Jersey’s offshore wind potential.” Not only does it oppose the use of America’s vast reserves of coal, but it also has a “Beyond Natural Gas” program as well; another huge source of power for the nation.

I won’t bore you with the list of RENIXX companies that have filed bankruptcy, but they include the ill-famed Solyndra, Beacon Power, Ener1, and others in which the Obama administration has “invested” and lost billions in taxpayer funds that could have been devoted to highway and bridge repair or restoring our ailing military power. Another fourteen companies were listed as “teetering on the brink” of bankruptcy.

In May 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie pulled the state from membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the only mandatory cap-and-trade program in the U.S. The RGGI would have required New Jersey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (the vital carbon dioxide plants need). Maine and New Hampshire had previously bowed out of the former ten-state coalition that would have reduced their capacity to provide electrical power.

U.S. House Democrats are ignoring calls by Republican lawmakers for them to offer an apology to the New York City Police Department for backing an amendment that effectively rebuked the NYPD over its counterterrorism surveillance and investigative techniques.

GOP lawmakers believe the House Democrats should apologize to the New York Police Department's commissioner, Ray Kelly, and to the officers involved in counterterrorism and intelligence gathering. Photo credit: NYPD Press Office

The formal rebuke of the NYPD, which failed to pass this week on a mostly party-line vote, would have punished the 40,000-member law enforcement department by prohibiting funding for police and security organizations engaged in alleged unconstitutional or unlawful discrimination.

GOP Rep, Peter King (R-NY) — chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee – and Rep. Bob Turner (R-PA) called the vote shameful, while several police officials told the Law Enforcement Examiner that the Democrats “stayed true to form.”

“The Democrats obtain campaign contributions from groups like CAIR and other Islamic organizations and they in turn protect them from the ‘big bad cops,’” said one anonymous police officer who works in the NYPD’s Arson & Explosion Unit.

While the amendment would apply to any jurisdiction in the nation, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) who sponsored the legislation made it clear that he was targeting the NYPD, especially those divisions and units tasked with combating terrorism.

“Holt did not even have official information on the allegations made against the New York cops. He was using stories gleaned from news organizations, such as the Associated Press, and complaints made by groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations — a group that always complains whenever cops attempt to protect Americans from radical Islamic terrorists,” said former New York police detective and military intelligence officer Mike Snopes.

“Holt practically scolded the NYPD saying they infiltrated neighborhoods because they were Muslim,” Snopes said. “That congressman sitting safely in his heavily guarded workplace should be praising the NYPD.”

In an official statement promulgated on Saturday by Reps. King and Turner, the congressmen rebuked Holt for his “politically-motivated” statements and condemned Democrat congressmen for supporting the amendment — the measure failed on a 232-193 vote, with only Democrats supporting it.

“We are utterly dumbfounded and shocked that after such a slanderous attack, the overwhelming majority of congressional Democrats and the entire Democratic leadership voted for the Holt amendment and against the NYPD,” Rep. King said. “The Democrats owe New York and the NYPD an explanation for their shameful surrender to political correctness.”

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and city officials, as well as King and Turner, have defended the department’s tactics as effective and perfectly legal. Their tactics also have not been found to be unconstitutional, meaning Holt’s amendment might not have had much practical effect on the NYPD’s funding.

Holder and Democrats screaming for blood?

New York’s Police Commissioner Ray Kelly — arguably the best police commander in that city’s history — continues to defend the tactics, calling them legal and necessary. But groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are practically screaming for blood, said former NYPD police detective Sid Franes.

“What the NYPD officials did in New York and New Jersey, they’ve also done overseas in countries such as the United Kingdom, India, Indonesia, and others,” said Franes. “They are collecting intelligence not investigating and arresting suspects. And they’re not using drones to spy on American citizens the way the feds do,” he added.

In what may be the mostly timely and important book of the year, Michael Widlanski lays out the current predicament that confronts America—and the West—and the potential consequences if we don’t recognize, acknowledge and combat it. The book is titled The Battle for Our Minds: Western Elites and the Terror Threat.

At a time that we find the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) welcomed into the White House, having taken control of Egypt’s parliament, and having backed off their pledge not to run a candidate for president in the upcoming elections, the message of Widlanski’s book hits home. This White House visit reversed a longstanding U.S. policy of no formal contacts with the Brotherhood. As Andrew McCarthy, the former U.S. Attorney who successfully prosecuted the “Blind Sheikh” involved in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, wrote in National Review, “Obama has overlooked the MB’s intimate ties to Hamas, which self-identifies as the Ikhwan’s [the Muslim Brotherhood] Palestinian branch and is formally designated a terrorist organization under American law. Administration officials have absurdly portrayed the Brothers as ‘secular’ and ‘moderate,’ although the organization, from its founding in the 1920s, has never retreated an inch from its professed mission to establish Islam’s global hegemony.”

McCarthy added that “The administration further hailed the Brotherhood’s triumph in post-Mubarak legislative elections and made a point of abandoning the policy against formal MB contacts—though, in now-familiar Obama fashion, it simultaneously claimed that this ‘outreach’ broke no new ground.”

I point this out because it exemplifies what Widlanski’s book is about. Our media, our intelligence agencies, our government—particularly the Obama administration—and academia have all sought to downplay the truth about radical Islam, and the threat it poses to the West. In doing so, they have actually aided our enemies, in some cases quite knowingly. He also highlights the media’s negligence in investigating terror organizations and their operations in the U.S.  Widlanski argues that a number of European countries, faced with a more immediate demographic threat, have begun to act to combat the threat in ways that we have not in the U.S.

In a recent interview with Accuracy in Media, Widlanski described the main sources of terror threats we face today:

“There are, basically, two or three major terror centers in the world today. The terror ideology, a lot of it originally came out of Arabia, what today we call Saudi Arabia—the Wahhabi doctrines that became the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood has moved around to various parts of the Middle East. It is the spiritual godfather of al-Qaeda. It is also the spiritual godfather of Hamas. The second major terror center, Arab-Islamic terror center, is in Tehran. The regime of the Ayatollahs came to power to spread jihad throughout the world, and they’ve been very successful.”

Michael Widlanski is an Arabic-speaking specialist in Arab politics and communication. His doctorate, which is one of five degrees he holds from three different universities (including three of them from Columbia University in New York) dealt with Palestinian broadcast media. He is a former reporter, correspondent, and editor, respectively, at The New York Times, the Cox newspaper Atlanta Constitution, and The Jerusalem Post.