The American Way

Well, just wanted to give a shout out to our country, the United States of America, and share some thoughts and feelings I have concerning this day. (Readers be warned: there probably won't be a lot of humor in this post; I'm going to attempt to be serious, so read at your own peril.)
Will and I recently saw the new Superman movie. I really enjoyed the movie and recommended it; but there was one part that bothered me just a little. In the other Superman movies, the man of steel stood 'truth, justice and the American way.' In this newest one, the screenwriters played to the sentiment of the day and changed the wording of the phrase to 'truth, justice and that other stuff.'
It seems in the world today, the 'American Way' is mocked and ridiculed by people both foreign and domestic; those who espouse such a mind set are deemed at 'radical' or 'old-fashioned' in their thinking. The George Clooney's, Natalie Maines', Howard Dean's, Alec Baldwin's and Susan Sarandon's of the world would have us believe that America is the tyrant of the world, pushing around the world to accept our way of government. They would have us believe those who fight for our peace and safety are murderers, thugs and rapists. This is a hasty generalization, an unfounded assertion based on the actions of a minute contingent of immoral military men. Yet we would be led to believe it is common occurence.
I love this country; I love the precepts upon which it was founded. The wording of the Declaration of Independence, written my Thomas Jefferson and championed in the First Continental Congress by John Adams, strengthens my belief in the goodness of this cause called Independence. Below are some excerpts of the Declaration.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation
on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security...We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States...And for the
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our
sacred Honor."

There should be little doubt the Founding Fathers of our country were men of deep faith in a Supreme Being, who were courageous and honorable me. It has been said they were the best the Lord had on the earth at the time. And of the 56 men who signed the document, the oldest was Benjamin Franklin, age 71; the youngest, Edward Rutledge at 26. As a result of their conviction to the cause of independence, these men were forced to make terrible sacrifice. Five of the signers were captured as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary War; another had two sons captured. Nine died from wounds or from the hardships of the war.
Yet these were men who did not back down, who did not yield to the enemy of freedom. Liberty was the cause and they championed it until their deaths. I believe these men were inspired by God to set up a nation where religion was a right to be had by all, where the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be brought forth and prosper.
While I've mostly just rambled incoherently, I'll conclude with this. I love this country; I admire the men who pledge their lives, fortune and sacred honor for the establishment of a place where the individual is master; I pray that responsible citizens, men and women of good judgement and sound understanding, will step up to the task at hand and protect our freedoms from wicked and conspiring individuals. As J. Reuben Clark stated: "...the price of liberty is and always has been blood, human blood, and if our liberties are lost, we shall never regain them except at the price of blood. They must not be lost!"
So, as we spend today with family and friends, as we go to parks and lakes, as we spend time in the city or the mountains, as we watch fireworks and see the flag, let us remember those who went before us, who sacrificed all they had that we might enjoy such things.
Happy 4th.

Iiittttt’ss been one week...

A week ago today was when I arrived home to find the door bashed in and our apartment emptied of most of our electronic devices, some earrings and a couple of gym bags. I’ve learned a lot in the past week. Here are some of them.

The initial reaction:
My temper isn't as controlled as I thought it was
The control over my language is greater than I thought it was
My lust for revenge outweighs reason

The trespassers:
Are idiots and a myriad of other names (see comments in Violated)
Don’t know good comedy (they left Seinfeld)
Shouldn’t underestimate my ability to hold a grudge

The gun:
You have to drive to Cumming, Georgia to find a place that’ll sell you one
Without a criminal record, buying a gun’s easy
Anonymous wants me to ‘PLEASE BE CAREFUL!”
My sister wants me to “hit ‘em with your best shot”
My brother’s girlfriend wants me to “fire away”

The mental aftermath:
It’s hard not to stereotype
It’s hard not to stereotype
It’s hard not to stereotype

Couple of lessons learned:
Get to know your neighbors
Replace the 2” screws in your door with 4” screws
You can’t have too many locks
You can only have so many locks

The moral lesson:
Things are just things; they can be replaced
Joy comes from people, not material goods
I need to be more like the friends I have
Don't let the actions of others determine your happiness

Paula and I are safe. We appreciate the outpouring of concern, support and help we’ve received.
Amy, Melissa, Todd, Mark, Noelle and Holly: a special, heartfelt shout for your incredible generosity and undeviating friendship. Thank you all so much. We are blessed to have you as our friends.

An ounce of prevention...and a slug

"I know what you're thinking. 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

Any punk who tries to violate my home and disturb my peace of mind is going to find themselves in a similar situation as did the criminal in the movie Dirty Harry. They won't have the luxury of staring down the barrel of a little .44 Magnum; they'll get to face the consequences of a 12-gauge pump action Winchester shotgun with 3" slugs. Like to invade people's homes and steal things? Try it with a whole in your gut. How you like them apples?



This is one of the measures I've taken to help secure our home after the experience we had on Wednesday. (If you don't know what I'm referring to, just read the previous post.) It is a Winchester 12 gauge shotgun. Holds four shells plus one in the chamber. I've loaded a warning shot with pellets, followed by some 3" slug cartridges. Having experienced what we did and having experienced first-hand the depravity and pathetic behavior some of the baser human beings with whom we coexist, I've decided there are to be no chances taken as pertaining to the safety of Paula and myself.
So, Mr. Low-life Punk who has chosen a life of criminality and deviance, next time you want to trespass and take something that doesn’t belong to you, don't bring a knife to this gunfight. Papa bear has a little present waiting for you.

Violated

At 4:27pm on June 21, 2006, I received a call from Paula as I drove into our apartment complex – Eagles Pointe. Her voice was shaking.
“Logan, I think someone tried to break into our apartment.”In a moment I had parked the car and was at the door. There was significant damage to the door and frame; I was enraged.

The Door

More door

You can see how they use a crowbar and hammer to bus into the apartment

Without taking into account the appropriate safety precautions, I pushed open the warped door and surveyed the scene. Someone had not only tried, but had succeeded in breaking into our apartment. At once I noticed things missing. The rack which held all our DVD’s (20+), my X-Box games (10) was practically empty; our DVD player was missing; my X-Box and the three controllers I had were also gone.

The rack that used to be full of DVD's; the idiots didn't take Season 3 of Seinfeld. The most expensive set besides Band of Brothers.

Walking down the hall, I came to the first bedroom. All the drawers were pulled out and on the ground; the mattress and several blankets were strewn about the room. Several of Paula’s bags were missing, as was the Canon Rebel 35mm camera she loved.

Note all the books are still there.


Onto the master bedroom, I found several drawers open, the contents strewn about. Paula’s jewelry box was open and several items were missing, including her favorite watch, a Christmas gift from her mother. The most expensive item stolen was her school-issued laptop computer, and IBM Thinkpad. Totaled up, these thieves and low-life’s made out with at least $3000 worth of merchandise from our apartment; they transported the stolen goods in her gym bag was also stolen, in which was her MP3 player and headphones.


The most frustrating thing is not that these worthless individuals made off with some of our material possessions; it isn’t that we had no renters insurance; the thing that makes me angrier than I have ever been in my entire life is my home was violated. Strangers, individuals without morals, the thugs who are worthless except to God (and only through a love I cannot comprehend) rummaged through our possessions and violated the place we are supposed to be safe.
These imbeciles who trespassed into our home were not intelligent individuals; no books were taken. These asinine juveniles who stole from us were not doing it because they were hungry; no food was taken. These no good, dimwitted jackasses who have robbed my wife and I of our peace of mind were not in need of shelter or warmth; no clothes or blankets were taken. These pathetic wastes-of-flesh were punks who stole those things they can sell and get money for.
These subhuman encroachers, these parasites, are individuals who will never hold a job; they are putrid scum who will lie, cheat and steal their way through this mortal existence, robbing individuals of material possessions, peace of mind and eventual they will take someone’s life. These despicable vermin will not take advantage of a free education; they will not take advantage of government grants and subsidies. They will not use the gifts of living in the most generous country in the world because they are lazy, pathetic, loathsome creatures.
These miserable excuses for human beings will slough their way through life, leaching of your tax dollars and mine as we pay for their meals, housing and vehicles because they don’t work; our tax doalrs will pay their legal fees every time they are arrested; our tax dollars will pay their burial fees when they are shot by police, meet their end at the hand of one of their peers in prison or with a needle full of poison.
And when that finally happens, good riddance to bad rubbish.
I won’t cry.

TFTOPDAM

People driving slow in the fast lane bothers me. A lot. It definetly makes my top five of things other people do that annoy me. (My TFTOPDAM.) Up for discussion today is another item in the TFTOPDAM. This gripes me more, actually. This item is the lack of respect and patriotism for this country. The basic freedoms and rights afforded the citizens – and non-citizens for that matter – are second to none; as such, these rights and freedoms are often abused by those individuals whose selfish endeavors belittle the noble and undermine the brave. It is the slimy byproduct of these inherent freedoms.
Patriotism – loving one’s country and supporting its authority and interests – is an essential attribute for maintaining freedom. Any organization that is successful over the long term understands the necessity for internal solidarity and unity in a common cause; without this, an organization may be successful, but only until a stronger and more unified organization decides to assert itself. Then it will fall to pieces.
Likewise with our country: unless the people have an overarching sense of loyalty and support to the nation in which they dwell, their country begins a swift and dangerous spiral towards ambivalence; from ambivalence to discontent, from discontent to disarray, from disarray to ambiguity. It is then the collective is weakest, having destroyed itself from the inside; and with no interior support its strength is an apparition.
Many of the malcontents who feel the need for this outdated passion (patriotism) come from a little town called Hollywood. It is interesting that many of these people are some of the least educated as to history and social science; many are the overindulged who have never been told ‘no’ and get what they want when they want it because of their status or money. One trio of gripers is the Dixie Chicks. In a recent interview with the London Telegraph, lead singer Natalie Maines made her view of patriotism very clear:

"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity
for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our
land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the
whole country... I don't see why people care about patriotism."

Ah, the wisdom of the overindulged; why care about anything but yourself? Pick your social woe, become a vigilante for its cause and who cares about anything – or anyone – else. I think we should all adopt this type of mentality.
Let’s call in Mainestality.
Definition: It’s about me.