Response to ‘Why would anyone need a Military Styled Assault Weapon’

I am writing in full agreement and to congratulate Dr. Pease on his excellent article on the 2nd. Amendment. He is precisely correct and it is time that other Americans re-educate themselves on the founding and history of this most exceptional and unique country before it is too late.

Here are just a few quotes from our founders on the need for the 2nd amendment.

“Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.” — George Washington

“Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not.” — Thomas Jefferson

“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms.” — Richard Henry Lee

“Congress has no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American ... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” — Tench Coxe

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — Thomas Jefferson

As the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The Founders understood human nature. They also understood where real liberty and freedom come from and who its source is. They acknowledged the author of these freedoms.

Reread the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. It states, “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 to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — 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.”

Steve Rangel
Shannon, IL

Prove It

I read your note in the Jan. 30, 2013 Letters to the Editor about Obama’s birth certificate being a fake, and that you could prove it. Can you really prove it? Then do so!

Like many others, I wonder why this issue was never settled before Obama was nominated as a candidate for the presidency, and why the Democrat party has never come to his defense all this time that this issue has been in question. It wasn’t until Donald Trump put the squeeze on Obama, 3 years after his first term, that they came up with this visibly fake copy of a birth certificate, and no one seemed anxious to pursue its validity.

Shortly after the Trump action, as I remember, some statesman from Hawaii made a statement on one of the primary national news channels that he knew Obama was a natural born citizen of the U.S. and that he (the Hawaii statesman) would prove it. That never happened.

If Obama is not a natural born citizen of the U.S., than we do not have a legal president. If he is a citizen, someone needs to provide legal documentation. That should not be difficult to do.

Mt father was four years old when he came to this country with his parents early in the 20th century. About six years later, he became a citizen along with his parents - and that was 100 years ago. We have a copy of that decree of citizenship.

My final question: If we can provide a copy of a decree that occurred 100 years ago, why can’t Obama and the Democrat party find a birth certificate from about 50 years ago?

My challenge to you - “You say you can prove it” - do it. We would all like to know the truth.

Sincerely,
Lawrence Schafer
Savanna, IL

Publisher’s Note: The White House, on their web site, released a pdf version of the long form birth certificate of the President on April 27, 2011, 3 years after his proof of birth was posted. In the Jan. 30, 2013 Publisher’s Note, I stated that “The Obama birth certificate released by the White House, on the WH web site, proved to be a doctored fake, and we can prove it, like thousands of other graphic artists, computer experts, grade school children, etc.” There is no opinion in this; it is fact. There is nothing similar in the definitions of opinion and fact.

The long form birth certificate was downloaded by The Prairie Advocate News from the White House website shortly after it was posted. Several people on The Prairie Advocate News staff opened it in Adobe Illustrator. It is layered and definitely manipulated. If you have any knowledge of PDF files and Illustrator, there is no question that the document is a forgery. You don’t have to be an expert to know that. Please reference countless You Tube videos to get the take by graphic artists: LINK

“I could spot the shadowing around the letters and I just had to check it out myself,” said Lynn Kocal, Editor, who wrote about this in the May 25, 2011 Prairie Advocate News as a commentary. “Obama Senior’s age is even wrong on the document. He was 27, not 25.”

Just like Mr. Schafer can provide a century-old document proving citizenship, any one of you reading this could easily contact the Courthouse in the County where you were born, pay a fee of $25 bucks or less, and have a copy within a week. Obama’s took over 3 years and several million dollars of taxpayer money, only to see that it had been tampered with upon release. But then again, Obama himself wrote an Executive Order that prohibits the release of any of his records.

These are the questions that nobody is asking: Where was Congress when this all happened nearly 4 years ago? Where is Congress now?

Support CASA as a Volunteer

Every year there are millions of abused and neglected children who have become wards of the Court. CASA is a program where volunteers are appointed by the court to speak for the child’s best interest. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are trained volunteers from our community.

These children are at risk because of their circumstances, i.e. they are abused and/or neglected. The CASA volunteer reviews all records and speaks to all parties involved in the child’s case. The CASA volunteer then provides the judge with factual, researched details about the child to help the judge make an informed decision regarding the child’s future. CASA is often the one consistent person throughout the duration of the child’s case, providing continuity for the child until the case is permanently resolved.

We always need volunteers for our program as the number of new children assigned to us changes on a monthly basis. There is no special experience or education to become a CASA volunteer. All one needs is a commitment to children and the desire to help.

The American Bar Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the Office of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice have endorsed CASA.

Please think of our children and consider becoming a CASA volunteer. For more information, visit our website, www.casaleecarroll.com or call 815/288-1901.

Marguerite Nye
CASA 15th Judicial Circuit Board Member
(serving Lee, Carroll and Ogle Counties)

Morrison Historic Preservation Commission

The Morrison Historic Preservation Commission met on Feb. 5, 2013, 5:00pm at city hall.

Slavin, Shirk, Moore, and Vaughn were present along with King and Wise. Rice was absent. All the seats in the room were filled.

Judy Zuidema stated there needed to be corrections in the minutes from the Jan 3, 2013 meeting. She stated that her property description was incorrect. No one had ever sold pianos from that property or it had ever been a USDA office. The commission approved the minutes with NO corrections.

On the agenda there were six (6) properties that were asking to opt out of the historic district. Property owners, Steven and Paula Penn have decided to withdraw and talk to the commission about any possible benefits. The five others: Luke Vander Bleek-124 E. Main; Larry Vos-317 E. Main; Linda and Terry Johnson-624 W. Lincolnway; Exner’s Sportsman’s Paradise-101 W. Lincolnway; and Darrel and Nancy Quinn-104 W. Main have asked for exclusion from the historic district. The Historic Preservation Commission decided to pass the decision for these properties to opt out on to the city council without considering the criteria and making no recommendations.

Al Bush was asking for 117 W. Wall be removed from Local Historic Landmark Register. I don’t think that property ever was on the Landmark list. He said he did not like being lied to or mislead by things CA Wise had told him to do. He is going to talk to the Commission and make a decision at a later date.

Tim Slavin was insisting the City of Morrison provide a “drop dead” date on when they would be replacing the hand rail that is in front of The National Bank. There was discussion among the commission and asked for a vote. I interrupted; since the agenda said it was a “public hearing” anyone can make a statement. Finally, Slavin said I could speak-I read a prepared statement that stated: the handrail and steps that are in front of The National Bank were put in place due to a safety issue. The City of Morrison spent over $8,604 plus city worker’s time to restripe the parking spaces so it should be left as it is. I was not aware that it was a temporary fix. I also noted two businesses across the street have similar handrails for safety also.

Maybe the Historic Preservation commission should be concerned about the appearance and safety of 101/103/105/107 W. Main St. I asked why we are not getting “drop dead” dates for making this area safe and compliant with the Historic District regulations. It seems that the commission wants to make decisions for others, but when it comes to issues that have been there for quite some time, they let them slide.

It was decided they would readdress the hand rail issue in December 2014.The next Historic Preservation Meeting will be March 5, 2013 at 5:00pm at City Hall in the basement.

A Morrison Taxpayer

Marti Wood

Capitol Report

By Jim Sacia, State Representative, 89th District

I hate it when someone gives me factual information and it isn’t. Regretfully I recently did the same to you. My comment on the “Rambo Granny” was incorrect. I did not wait for verification. I do apologize.

Moving on, I came across a great article about Bill Gates. Few are not aware that he is the co-founder of Microsoft, a computer genius, and among the world’s richest persons. He is also a great philanthropist helping many less fortunate through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He recently spoke at a high school, and it would be very hard to disagree with his advice to his young audience, as he talks about how feel good, politically correct teaching created a generation of kids with no concept of reality.

Mr. Gates listed eleven rules that are good reminders for all of us and I quote as follows:

“Rule 1 – Life is not fair - get used to it.

Rule 2 – The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 – You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 – If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

Rule 5 – Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 – If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes; learn from them.

Rule 7 – Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 – Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 – Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 – Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 – Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.”

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at 815-232-0774 or e-mail us at jimsacia@aeroinc.net. You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.